《Unsealing Emptiness》


 Chapter 1

    The Abnormal Day


    It was an unusual day. The sky suddenly turned gloomy as darkness consumed the light.


    Everyone on the continent was in turmoil, except for a selected few who were more intrigued than frightened.


    Why was it like this today? Is the world about to end? Is an evil deity descending on the? Will this be thest day they get to live? People had endless questions. Everyone had goosebumps seeing the ever-increasing darkness.


    No one had an answer to the weird happenings. They could only pray for their lives. What could they even do if the Gods had a part in this urrence?


    Even though there were hardly any clouds present, the sky above a particr mansion in the Silverbird Kingdom was darker than any other ce in the continent.


    The atmosphere was quiet and calm, yet there was a looming presence that sent chills over everyone¡¯s spines.


    The mansion looked far morevish and extravagant than any other property in the vicinity. From just a look, anyone could tell that it belonged to a well-known family.


    This was the mansion of The Abilon Family, the family of a Duke in The Silverbird Kingdom. There are only 4 Dukes in The Silverbird Kingdom, apparently only below The Silverbird Family ¡ª the Royal family that ruled the Kingdom.


    .....


    However, at that moment, the situation inside the mansion was somewhat strange. People in the Abilon Family were also worried, but due to a whole separate reason.


    They could care less about anything unusual happening outside as today was a big day.


    Every servant of the family was immersed in their tasks as though their life depended on it. And they were not wrong; they were just servants, a single mistake of theirs could cost them their life depending on the situation.


    Today was such a situation where they could not afford to mess up.


    Because today was the day that the firstborn of the Duke Abilon woulde into this world.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Sylvia Ashfall was the concubine of Duke Abilon. She was a beautifuldy with a great demeanor, had long silver hair, gorgeous blue eyes, and a kind heart. Even though some people thought her to be amoner, her actual origins remained unknown.


    Nevertheless, today would be the day that she would give birth to a lovely baby. It was her big day. She had always dreamt of raising a child and have a beautiful family. She had even dreamt of ying with her grandkids.


    All in all, she had high expectations for the future.


    Until.


    And all those hopes, all those dreams, shattered like ss on this fateful day.


    She discovered that she would not live to see the days¡ªthe future she had imagined with her baby.


    The servants informed her that due to particr reasons, They could either save her or the child.


    Despite the tragic situation, she knew her priorities. She put away her grief and, without hesitation, chose thetter option.


    And the duke? Well, even if he was unhappy that he would lose Sylvia. He wouldn¡¯tpromise his child over a ¡®prized trophy¡¯.


    That is what he considered Sylvia, just a decorated trophy that elevated his prestige.


    And so it began, the time for the delivery came near, and her water broke...

 Chapter 2

    Ozul Ashfall


    Unknown POV.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The first thing that came into my vision was darkness... More precisely, it was just endless nothingness.


    But what am I?


    Why am I even thinking?


    What is existence? And... why do I know of it?


    Am I also that? Just nothingness? Nothingness with a conscience?


    What do I know of existence? And why am I even curious?


    .....


    All kinds of thoughts ran through my mind. After a while, I decided to put the notions of ¡®what am I?¡¯ in the back of my mind. Trying to focus on the surroundings, I could only see the endless abyss.


    In the end, I found... nothing. What can you even conclude out of pure emptiness? The only thing I could do was think and feel. And the only feeling I had was affection.


    Yes, affection. Like some kind of ¡®warmth¡¯ spreading through me as if the endless darkness was, but my extension.


    That was all I could do. So like any other nothingness with a conscious. I decided to do... nothing. And nothing I did. And nothing pas... uh... the time passed.


    What felt like nothing or so I think passed, I begin to see the light. Something new. Something contradictory to me? I don¡¯t know. But I do feel the warmth fading away now.


    Momentster, I saw colors. Colors different from white or just ck. Blurry, but colors nheless.


    And then I started to see, hear, and sense all at the same time. Like theplete emptiness surrounding me earlier was just an illusion. My vision got better in a matter of seconds.


    I could see different people all gathered, looking down at me. An old woman was holding me with a terrified expression. How do I know she is old or if she is a woman at all? I don¡¯t know... I don¡¯t know, why I know so much.


    Anyways, I turned a little to see a beautiful and lovely face looking at me with eyes overflowing with love and a tinge of sadness.


    Hmm... what is it that I am feeling? Warmth? Again? Just like the darkness surrounding me. Or even more? I don¡¯t know, but the pure bliss I am experiencing does not lose to it.


    Maybe... no, She is definitely my mother. She just exudes the quintessence of pure love.


    That may be the case, but why are people in the surrounding struck with panic on their faces?


    Am I weird in some sort?


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Sylvia was delighted upon sessful delivery. Even though they told her that they could save the baby at the expense of her life, she was worried about her unborn baby.


    When she saw her baby boy in excellent health, she sighed in relief even though she was worried about why he didn¡¯t cry yet.


    But upon seeing the weird looks that the surrounding people were throwing at her baby, she took another look at him.


    She was stunned at first, but what came next was just insurmountable grief. Because she knew her baby boy could not live a simple life. He will suffer. And she won¡¯t be there to help him, to be his only support.


    Sylvia was a wise woman. She could already predict that he wouldn¡¯t have a life in the Duke¡¯s estate or any other ce in this world for that matter.


    She knew that these few moments were the only time both the mother and son pair could be together. So she hurriedly took him in her arms from the midwife. Though the movement caused her pain, she endured for her child.


    Sylvia looked at him. Specifically, his eyes. His eyes, like a bottomless abyss, showed intelligence far surpassing a baby¡¯s. Somehow she knew that he was conscious of his surroundings.


    She kept looking at him until tears started to form in her eyes, threatening to fall out any second.


    Sylvia knew her time was near as she was starting to feel drowsy.


    A grief-stricken smile took ce on her pale lips as she neared the boy¡¯s face until her lips were caressing his forehead.


    ¡°... my boy..... I won¡¯t be there for you..... please take care of yourself. Be yourself... my Ozul... Ozul Ashfall...¡± Only Ozul heard these sweet but sorrowful whispers. Thest words Sylvia said before death embraced her.


    Even in death, she kept the same position, her body not willing to leave the child out of her care.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

 Chapter 3

    Devil¡¯s Spawn?


    ¡°... Ozul Ashfall.¡± were the words Ozul heard. Knowing it was his name, gave him a sense of belonging. It filled the empty part within himself. But at the same time, another void was created in him. A void that he would never be able to fill. His mother had died. Leaving darkness again as his solepanion.


    And then there was a somewhat sickening feeling as if he was the reason his mother died. But he shook those thoughts away as he knew that his mother loved him until her death. He wouldn¡¯t forsake himself, for that was thest wish his mother had.


    He was lost in his thoughts when suddenly the door burst open. A man walked in with steady steps. From just a look, you could see his fiery hair, brown eyes, a stern look on his face as he walked in. His hair kept short, he was about 6 feet tall with broad shoulders.


    With a straight back like a pole, he looked quite intimidating but was also a bit handsome and looked only in histe 20s. From his clothes, he seemed quite wealthy. He wore an embroidered red coat with silver thread linings at the sleeve ends, which looked quite extravagant.


    From the looks of everyone present in the room, Ozul concluded that he was the master in the house.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Edward Abilon was one of the 4 dukes of The Silverbird Kingdom and one of the close aides to the Emperor.


    However, his priorities lied only in his personal gains. He would go to great lengths just for small profits.


    .....


    He kept a facade of a kind person and only showed his real face whenever no one was around. It was also the reason that he could marry Sylvia.


    Once she saw how ¡®kind¡¯ he was to others despite being a noble, she had a good impression of him. But it was only recently that she got to know that she had been deceived.


    Just a while ago, Edward received the news of his firstborn. When he heard that he now had a child, he was excited, but listening to the next part put a stop to his thoughts.


    He hurriedly left his room.


    When he entered, he saw something that shocked him!


    He saw his chil... no! It was Not.His.Child!


    It was ¡®Devil¡¯s Spawn!¡¯ Yes! It must be!


    After a moment of contemtion, he decided not to even go near that ¡®thing¡¯.


    He regained his cool after a moment and started thinking about what to do about ¡®It¡¯.


    ¡°Empty the room!¡± he ordered everyone. And people began to leave the room one by one in an orderly manner. After a few seconds, Only the three remained in the ce.


    ¡°Come out!¡± He shouted at seemingly no one. But in the next moment, there were five people covered in ck clothes from head to toe standing behind Edward. All had masks on except for the one in front.


    ¡°What do you suggest, William?¡± Asked Edward Abilon to the middle-aged man standing in front of the 4 other guards.


    William seemed just like any ordinary middle-aged man you can find on the streets. Usually, people would not think he is any special if not for his cold beady eyes. He was the head of Duke Edward Abilon¡¯s guards and his most trusted aide.


    ¡°...I might not be capable enough to give you a satisfying answer, Sire. Please forgive my ipetence,¡± said William after not being able to think anything through.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want a satisfying answer. Just speak what¡¯s on your mind,¡± Edward spoke to William patiently.


    ¡°Sire, I think that the child must be the cause of the weird phenomena happening on the maind. The darkness also only started fading away after this child was born,¡± William spoke what he thought.


    ¡®He is right... This


    thing


    must be a Devil¡¯s Spawn. He also caused the darkness on the whole continent! I have to be careful,¡¯ thought Edward as he began to find ways to contain ¡®It¡¯. Otherwise, who knew what he could do next?


    ¡°Silence everyone who was in this room at the time of delivery. And spread the news that both the Concubine Sylvia and her child are dead,¡± ordered Edward as one of the four masked men disappeared within an instant.


    ¡°Take it to the warehouse in Azmar City,¡± ordered Edward Abilon as another one of the masked men approached Ozul.

 Chapter 4

    ¡®It¡¯


    After seeing Edward stop at a distance from him and not even ncing at his lifeless wife, Ozul knew that he would never find the samefort that his mother provided him from anyone else.


    He had already noticed that no one liked him. His mother was the only exception. There was panic, fear, and disgust in everyone¡¯s eyes that looked at him.


    The reason? Well, he is not so sure himself, but If he had to take a guess? He would probably say that the tattoo-like engravings on both of his arms and his left leg were perhaps the reason.


    Yes, There were some kind of symbols in ck colour slowly moving around the arms and his left leg like they were alive. The symbols visibly etched on his skin. Trying to move to other parts of his body but failing. They were strange in more ways than one.


    Other incidents involving him were also strange. The whole continent suddenly got engulfed in darkness during his birth, His deep abyss like eyes, And the dark aura surrounding him. Together with the mysterious symbols, just about anyone would call him a Devil¡¯s Child.


    He began to wonder about how he was even able to understand what people were saying.


    But just at this moment, one of the masked men under Edward approached him, and only when the masked man was about to touch Ozul¡¯s hand, the ancient lifelike symbols suddenly stopped and sent a streak of dark energy towards the man¡¯s hand which started burning the hand.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    .....


    Edward Abilon could see how the dark smoke swirling around the man¡¯s hand was slowly disintegrating it until the energy dispersed, leaving only the man¡¯s screams of agony and less than half an arm.


    Edward was stunned but not so surprised. He had already expected resistance from the ¡®Devil¡¯s Spawn.¡¯ That is why he sent his subordinate to test the waters.


    He also realized that only when the man¡¯s hand touched the engraved skin, did it act and retaliate.


    Meaning, except for the arms and the left leg, it should be safe to touch ¡®It¡¯.


    But he still wouldn¡¯t take risks with his life and ordered his guard to check it.


    The guy with half an arm was sent away. Another one of the guards came forward and instead of foolishly trying to touch him. He took a rod out seemingly out of nowhere and touched the normal part of the skin with it.


    He received no reaction whatsoever. Even though the masked man was not sure if direct skin contact could again trigger the dark energy, He now had a little more confidence.


    The masked man went forward to touch ¡®it¡¯, albeit slowly. He was relieved to find out that he did not have a hand slowly turning into dust.


    He picked ¡®It¡¯ up carefully, as not to touch or even go near the weird lifelike symbols.


    ¡°Take it away!¡± hurriedly ordered Edward as he did not want to take an unnecessary risk by keeping the Devil incarnate here.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Take it away!¡± was thest thing Ozul heard before being carried away like a piece of baggage to somewhere.


    He had already discerned that these people would not have mercy on a child, the way they kept calling him ¡®It¡¯. Like a thing, not even considering him alive.


    But what could Ozul even do besides thinking? After all, He was a newborn baby. Except for crying and swinging his hands, there was nothing much he could do to change the oue of the situation.


    Maybe... just maybe, if he had those engravings under his control. But he would need some time to figure out anything¡ªthe time which the current situation didn¡¯t allow him.


    After a long time, he was brought into the woods. But the masked man still did not rest and kept running nonstop.


    It was then that all of a sudden dizziness got the better of him and he started drifting into sleep.


    . . . . . . . . . . . . .


    Ozul did not know how much time passed, but when he regained consciousness, he was already in an area surrounded by trees. Other than the trees, he could only see a seemingly low-profile warehouse of some sort.


    No one was in the vicinity of the warehouse except for a supposedly drunk man sitting in front of it.


    Only when he was in front of the drunk man, did he ¡®notice¡¯ our presence.


    ¡°Hear our voices,¡± dumbly said the drunk man to no one as he kept a vacant look on his face.


    ¡°Trust and loyalty,¡± was what replied the masked man that carried Ozul.


    Hearing the reply, the supposedly drunk man stood straight and gave a swift salute. Following which he did not ask any questions and went straight towards the gate to open it.


    The masked man quietly went into the warehouse.


    All Ozul could see inside the warehouse was a table in the middle, and some chairs scattered around it. When the gate closed behind him, darkness engulfed him. He tried to see but could hardly manage to make heads and tails of things.


    The masked man did a weird chant, and suddenly a ball of fire appeared floating in front of him, Illuminating the surroundings a bit.


    Heid down Ozul on the table and sat down on one of the chairs. The atmosphere ever so calm.


    Ozul never resisted anything happening to him; he just kept observing.


    No one even thought of how Ozul needed something to fill his belly as it has been more than 24 hours that he came into this world.


    But hunger was something Ozul did not understand yet even though he figured out most of his emotions.


    He may not know it, but his body was dead tired, and all it could do to sustain itself was to sleep.


    And sleep it did.


    In the meantime, the guard did not even move from his position.


    . . . . . . . . . . . .


    A couple of days just passed like that. Nothing noteworthy happened in the meantime, except for how the guard went outside a couple of times but came back just the next minute.


    Ozul body was still hungry, but over time, the dark aura surrounding his body started seeping into his body.


    And each time it did, Ozul felt energized, which was why that he was still fine without milk or any other nourishment. It seemed the aura had a mind of its own and wanted to assist Ozul.


    On this day, things changed. Suddenly the door opened, and three shadows entered.


    With a closer look, there were three conspicuous men. Two of whom Ozul recognized as the man with fiery red hairs and his subordinate.


    The other man was elderly. He had white hair, a small beard, and some lines on his face. Despite the wrinkles, his straight posture and cold front showed no weakness.


    Like the age only affected his appearance but not his capabilities.


    He appeared to be a wise old man; anyone would have considered him as a kind man if not for the cold look in his eyes.


    In an instant, they were in front of the table that Ozul was on.


    The masked man hurriedly took his leave with the appearance of these men.


    ¡°This is the Devil¡¯s Spawn I was talking about, Physician Sleever.¡±


    Said, Edward was pointing towards Ozul on the table.


    The old man went forward to inspect Ozul. He tried to understand something from the symbols but was left disappointed. He had no other choice but to take some samples and research it thoroughly.


    He was a Physician that was considered one of the best in the Silverbird Kingdom. But even he could not figure out anything about those etched symbols.


    ¡°We have to take some samples back to research it carefully, I cannot be sure of anything with just a look.¡± said, Physician Sleever while shaking his head.


    ¡°Very well, Then we should do as you suggest,¡± replied Edward. He then motioned towards William, his most trusted aide.


    William just nodded and went forward before suddenly, a knife appeared in his hand.

 Chapter 5

    Absence of light or food?


    William brought a knife in his hand out of thin air. He positioned himself and shed towards Ozul.


    *Swish*


    It cut Ozul¡¯s left leg like butter. However, the shocking thing was that there was no blood involved. The leg was just separated.


    The three men were stunned at that sight but regained their cool as they expected something like this from a Devil¡¯s Spawn.


    Following which he did the same thing to Ozuls both hands.


    Here they were, brutally crippling a baby. Unfortunately, there was no one to witness this cruel sight.


    After the process, Physician Sleever took out three ss boxes with some kind of runes on their sides. He did some mysterious chant, and the severed limbs flew into the ss boxes. After this, he closed the lids and put the boxes away.


    ¡± What do we do with


    .....


    It


    , ¡°asked Edward while not being bothered by the scene at all. He wanted to exterminate this abomination as soon as possible. However, he was a greedy guy. What he wanted more than anything was profits.


    ¡°Seal the warehouse and lock this


    thing


    here. We may find something unexpected from it. Kehehe~¡± Physician Sleever replied with a greedy look in his eyes,


    His excitement was visible from his tone. Ignorant from what this decision may cost him in the future.


    Edward Abilon was afraid of what ¡®It¡¯ may cause if left alone. But he did not secure his position as one of the 4 Dukes while being fearful of every other potential risk. He knew that only with risks came the real gains.


    Besides, he had already found out that the Devil¡¯s Spawn was harmless as yet. Hepletely tossed out the thought that this child was his son. Greed truly made men blind.


    The three men then left the warehouse leaving the pitiful child alone in the darkness.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Ozul was in pain. He was suffering. But even that could not make him scream or cry for help.


    His face was scrunched up but he never shouted or cried.


    Although no blood dripped out of his severed limbs, it still hurt like hell.


    Furthermore, after his limbs were taken away from him like objects, he felt like a part of him was just lost. His already void self once again split into pieces. He could care less about being a cripple. But he wanted his


    self


    back.


    The agony he felt from losing his


    self


    was unbearable to him! A part of him was stolen; He wanted it back!


    However, he was left alone in the old familiar darkness.


    At least the darkness provided him with somefort.


    From the moment he was born, No from the moment he gained consciousness. It was just when Ozul was in this state did he find real sce. But after his birth, he kept losing himself more and more.


    Ozul was a newborn baby; only a week had passed since his birth.


    But the number of difficulties he had faced as of yet surpassed even those of adults. Even a grown man might have gone crazy after such traumas, but Ozul was still sane, only a little sad.


    Ozul had already decided to take back what is rightfully his. He wants to snuggle in the embrace of the darkness while being


    plete


    . Only that may bring him serenity.


    Time started passing, but no one ever bothered him.


    Every day, a fraction of the dark energy surrounding him was absorbed by what was left of his tiny body.


    He was so bored that he even tried to inspect himself, his powers, or how he was different. But he had no results. All he knew was what he desired. But his desires could not be met as of yet.


    He once thought of trying just to leave the ce but refrained from doing so.


    There were three reasons for this; 1st was that he used some brain and figured out that those people won¡¯t just leave the warehouse unprotected. They considered him a demon, after all. So, he had slim chances of being able to escape.


    2nd reason was that he only had one leg for god¡¯s sake! Just how much would he have to roll his body even to reach the exit?


    3rd? Well, it was simple. He was toozy even to try.


    Yes, why would he start struggling when he could justy on the table peacefully?


    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


    So the time flew.


    Days changed into weeks.


    Weeks turned into months.


    And months, into Years!


    Just like that, five whole years went by like clouds.


    Ozul was five years old now.


    All those years, but no one checked on him. It was like they were avoiding him now. Like they were afraid to evene near the warehouse that they sealed him in. They could deal with him when he was a newborn baby, but no one knew his capabilities now. They would rather not risk it.


    Things were all the same, but Ozul had grown up.


    . . .


    In an abandoned warehouse surrounded by trees, you could only see ck everywhere.


    But with a bit of focus, you would see a strange kid around the age of five to six years. Odd because the kid only had one right leg. No left leg, no arms, and no clothes.


    He was just lying there on his back, closed eyes, and facing up.


    He was Ozul Ashfall. The Devil¡¯s Spawn not listed in any document of the Silverbird Kingdom.


    Ozul suddenly opened his jade ck eyes.


    ¡®Thest amount of it is finally absorbed,¡¯ Ozul thought when thest wisp of the ck smoke surrounding him got absorbed into his body.


    Ozul, in all those years, only moved around when he felt tired. He would just sit up and stay like that until he felt tired again¡ªhe kept repeating the cycle over and over again.


    He had also noted that the dark energy slowly kept decreasing over time. And today, his body consumed thest bit of it.


    It worried him a little. Ozul believed that he could only survive until this day by consuming that energy.


    But only a minute had passed, and he felt something.


    ¡®


    URGHH!


    ¡® Ozul felt a jolt of pain pass through his mind. Few seconds passed, and he received some kind of knowledge. It felt like some sort of trick.


    Curious as he was, he immediately tried it.


    It was simple, He just willed it, and suddenly some kind of dense ck smoke seeped out of him and formed a ball. With only a thought, he could change it to any shape.


    Ozul felt it; he could also change its properties. Like changing it to a solid-state.


    Moreover, Ozul felt like this dense ck smoke was just a part of him. Simr to his right leg.


    With this thought, Ozul suddenly had an idea!


    ¡®Well, I can freely move about now,¡¯ thought Ozul with a poker face as he changed its shape into one of his legs and attached it to himself.


    After five years of his birth, it was the first time Ozul stood up on his own! He took his first steps after five years worth of time.


    People would think that it may be difficult to walk. But Ozul had no problem whatsoever as it felt just like moving a part of his body. Maybe he could move the ck mass of energy even better than his body.


    Anyways, he could walk now! The first thing he did after being able to walk? Heid back down on the table, removed the ck mass into his body, and drifted into sleep.


    He was used to it by now; for more or less 1,825 days, he could only pass his time by sleeping. Sleeping had be as natural to him as breathing.


    After some hours, he woke up again. This time he was a bit hungry. But he was not worried because controlling that ck mass was not the only thing he learned. Somehow if Ozul was inplete darkness, he could just eat it.


    You heard it right; he could just absorb the absence of light. Sadly, the absorbed ¡®darkness¡¯ would just replenish his body. It wouldn¡¯t even increase the size of the ck mass he could produce.


    As of now, he could use it only as one of the limbs. If he knew how to increase its size, it would be much more convenient.


    Ozul didn¡¯t put much thought into it. He never pondered on what he could or what he could not. He was just waiting for an opportunity to get out of here and get his ¡®parts¡¯ back.


    .....

 Chapter 6

    The Pigers?


    Ozul kept repeating his routine. He could not differentiate between day or night.


    It was all the same for him.


    So he never knew how much time had passed. Any sane person would go haywire with all this loneliness. But Ozul could never get enough of his dark surroundings.


    He had seen that


    big source of light


    up in the sky when he was just a child. Honestly, he felt it quite annoying. Ozul would rather stay cooped up doing nothing. Instead of going under that annoying thing.


    Ozul did not feel any weaker under the Sun, but it was just irritating as far as he could remember.


    Time started flying.


    .....


    Ozul may not know, but a year and two months had passed.


    In between this period, Ozul noticed that the amount of the ck mass that he could produce had increased ever so slightly. Albeit only a fraction of increment, he could now create something like an extra small needle.


    Why would he need a needle?


    His answer would be; What else can you make with this small quantity?


    Nheless, Ozul was in a better mood after his discovery. Because he knew that he could increase the amount he can generate over time.


    ¡®Maybe there are other ways to increase the quantity of the ck mass?¡¯ thought Ozul before shaking those random thoughts away. Whatever it may be, it was for the future. And the future was unpredictable. Ozul would not waste his time on these useless thoughts.


    He had better things to do. Thinking is much moreplicated than sleeping, and only an idiot would choose somethingplex over something so simple. And Ozul was no idiot! He kept his preferences straight and decided to sleep!


    Even after being able to walk, Ozul never once tried to get out of the warehouse. It¡¯s just he never felt like doing it.


    But after six years and a couple of months, things were not the same in the outside world.


    Unknown to Ozul, his ¡®parts¡¯ had caused changes in some of the political positions of the kingdom. He had no visitors all this time, not because they were afraid of him. Though it may seem strange, It was because all the people who knew about him had already met their demise.


    Ozul¡¯s father had arranged his loyal experts to set up a magical seal outside the warehouse. These types of magical seals were beneficial, but they were very delicate from the outside.


    Even a child might break the seal from the outside if he messed up just a single rune!


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Outside the warehouse, about fifty or so meters away, a group of people consisting of only men was marching towards it.


    They looked haggard; some even had severe injuries. From appearances, all the men looked like typical thugs.


    Abruptly, one of the seemingly short guys with no shirt excitedly ran towards a scar-faced guy.


    ¡°Boss! Boss Razor!¡± barked the half-naked man while some saliva dripped out of his mouth.


    ¡°What is it Now! If it is not something important, then don¡¯t me me for feeding you to stray dogs, You teeth less Bastard!¡±


    The guy named Razor growled as he was quite annoyed already. He was the leader of these bandits. They had just escaped from a ferocious beast. Never had Razor seen death so near him.


    He had fought many life and death battles, but just a look at that beast made his legs go numb. They had about one-third of their members killed before the monster became bored and just went away.


    They were miserable after encountering that beast. Only less than fifty bandits had survived, and even all their loot got lost during their escape.


    ¡°Hehe... Boss! I sense something ahead! We might find somece to stay!¡± replied the half-naked guy while cleaning his spit that flew all around.


    Razor was thrilled, he had nned just to rest in an inn at the Azmar town, but it was still a bit far away! And not to mention that they were bandits, and always had to worry about the town guards recognizing them.


    ¡°It looks like we have used all our bad luck, brothers! They don¡¯t call us The Pigers for nothing! We can recover our losses in a matter of days!¡±


    Razor encouraged his group with a few words. He was a leader; after all, he couldn¡¯t just leave their mental state be.


    All the surrounding thugs had their eyes lit up! With newfound strength, they advanced excitedly.


    . . .


    It took them less than a minute, and they could already see a worn-out barn-like warehouse surrounded by overgrown weeds but no signs of life nearby.


    Some were disappointed due to theck of quality. But mostly everyone just wanted to rx. The bandits had been on their nerves for the whole day, and it was quite taxing for their bodies.


    They couldn¡¯t just rest out in the open; the forest was full of unforeseen dangers.


    A ce to stay was just what they needed right now, and they could make a do with some old warehouse. At least they¡¯d have a roof over their heads


    The bandits neared the warehouse. But due to the overgrown weeds and wild nts, No one noticed the old dusty runes drawn on the ground. They just stepped past the runes; some stretched the dirt with their feet.


    Unknown to the bandits, they had removed many of the runes, which caused the magical seal to finally break but not before shing a bright light and creating some air fluctuations!


    All the runes began to disintegrate into thin air!


    This scene confused all the men. The bandits¡¯ leader Razor was the only person who could discern that it was some kind of seal.


    He exined it to everyone here, making everyone wary of the warehouse. You only put something troublesome inside a magical seal! They were bandits but at least hadmon sense.


    ¡°Should we check it out, Boss?¡± Asked the same half-naked man seemingly cautious of advancing any further.


    ¡°Hmm... The seal already came undone. I don¡¯t think there is any problem with just taking a look. Besides, If something dangerous was sealed here, there should have been some people at guard, no?¡± replied Razor after giving it some thought. He also did not want to walk another couple of miles.


    All the men agreed as everyonecked rest, and this warehouse was their best option.


    Seeing that everyone agreed, Razor ordered two of the burly men to go ahead and open the gate.


    The two were also worried about any possible dangers but obeyed Razor nheless and just removed the gate with brute force. After removing the big door, they quickly ran back to the group, not even taking a peek inside.


    They won¡¯t take any chances with their lives. They were not alone, as no sane person would gamble on their own life.

 Chapter 7

    A Polite Bandit


    Ozul had just gone back to sleep when suddenly he felt some air fluctuations. It was for the first time he felt some winds before they died down, following which he could hear some movement just outside his ce.


    Ozul had already guessed that the magical seal even blocked sound from reaching him! So him hearing sound from outside confused him a little.


    Just as he was thinking, The door suddenly burst open.


    He was annoyed by the loud sound, but the thought of seeing something new after all this while forced him to calm his nerves.


    Just as he soothes himself down, The opening from the big door let in the bright rays of light!


    This sudden light very much irritated him.


    Again, he was a six years old child who, from birth, hated the light. Not only that, but they locked him in apletely dark area for all six years of his life! So, even if the sunlight did not directly fell on his eyes, it bothered him to no end.


    Ozul instinctually closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes, but no one entered through.


    .....


    ¡°W-ho-o?¡± Ozul had no choice but to speak out loud. His voice was cracking a bit at the end.


    Outside the warehouse, Razor and the other bandits were stunned. They never thought that someone sealed a living person inside of here! Not to mention that the old setting of this ce told them that it could be at least a couple of years when someonest came here!


    It caused them to be even more suspicious. There could be other circumstances involved, but it would most likely mean that this person was dangerous!


    The bandits were already exhausted. They certainly did not want to run anymore.


    But the deed was already done. Now the bandits had to face the consequences.


    Resigning to their fate, They entered the warehouse. Not being able to see anything, Some of them did a magic chant, and suddenly, they had a ball of fire hovering in front of them. The floating fireballs were enough to light up the ce.


    What they saw stunned them again.


    The bandits saw a child. But the astonishing thing was that they saw a child about six years old with only one limb! His eyes were staring at them as they could just read everything about them.


    They felt naked under his emotionless gaze. The kid¡¯s face looked as if the gods contemted for decades just to carve this ideal doll! His skin was as if this world¡¯s impurities had never evene near him! He had ck eyes together with raven ck hair.


    [A/N: Reference Picture here. Just imagine him six years old. I am bad at appearance descriptions.]


    ¡®The world is undoubtedly unfair!¡¯ Was everyone¡¯s thought after seeing this perfect piece of a doll.


    They would have just considered him some child of a god if not for his missing limbs.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Ozul could see a group of men staring at him like he is some kind of an exotic item.


    He was always sensitive to emotions. Ozul could see the surprise, pity, and envy? In their eyes. Ozul had not taken out the ck mass, thinking that it may just scare the people away. He did not know what is normal in this world and what is unusual.


    ¡°Who?¡± Ozul asked again when he did not receive any answer from before.


    ¡°Oh... We were just passing by and stepped on the runes, which removed the seal outside...¡± The bandit leader came out of his daze quickly and replied cautiously. He hurriedly exined himself.


    ¡®This kid may look harmless, but I can¡¯t take any chances.¡¯ Razor thought inside his mind.


    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s okay.¡± Although Ozul found it weird that no one was standing guard outside and the seal was so easily removed, however, he did not put much thought into it. He kept his emotionless face as it is.


    Unknown to Ozul, There were monster repellents set in the vicinity of the warehouse. It kept the random beasts froming near it and destroy the seal by mistake.


    But the repellent cannot prevent humans from approaching it. Hence, after six whole years, the first group of people to venture here freed Ozul from this prison.


    ¡°Uhh... so how are you doing?¡± Razor awkwardly replied since he could not just stay standing there, staring at the kid. Razor could see the kid was not very into the talks.


    Ozul just kept gazing at Razor for a couple of seconds before heid back on the table, closing his eyes.


    ¡°Uhh...¡± Razor scratched the back of his head awkwardly.


    ¡®This kid is truly unusual! He was imprisoned here for who knows how long, and he does not even show a hint of excitement for being free. Instead, He chose to sleep! If only he did not have his arms and a leg missing, I would have even considered just to capture him and sell him as a ve! But the kid gives me weird vibes, and together with how he was sealed here, I should not anger him.¡¯


    Razor had a long monologue inside his mind. He considered everything before deciding not to test the kid¡¯s limit in case he would regret it. Anything can happen in this world, even a six years old disabled kid may be dangerous.


    Bandits or not being reckless would only cause their demise.


    Razor motioned with his hand towards the group to keep their voices down. Once done, they all gathered in a group some few meters away from Ozul.


    ¡±


    *whisper*


    The sun is setting, and we just need to spend the night here. The kid is odd, alright! We don¡¯t know who sealed him here and why. We better not disturb him in case things go south.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s justy around here and spend the night. The kid does not seem to find trouble with us, so we should not either. Tomorrow, before sunrise, we will be on our way.¡± Razorid out his ¡®n¡¯ in whispers.


    Every one of the bandits here had survived to this day due to the wits of Razor. Hence, they had no objections whatsoever.


    The group soundlesslyid down on the floor and tried to sleep in the eerie darkness.


    . . . .


    The morning came without any notice. The sun had not risen yet, at this time, The bandits slowly started to wake up only to find Ozul staring at them while sitting on the table.


    That vacant stare was unnerving for them.


    The bandits nned to leave. They were just in preparations when,


    ¡°Where?¡±Ozul simply asked.


    The meaning was clear; he was asking them about where they were nning to go. Even though Ozul liked sleeping, He knew that it would be much better while being plete¡¯. Staying here would not help him in that. So, leaving now was the best option.


    Again, Ozul was no idiot. He knew his priorities.


    Facing such an unexpected question, The group paused for a second. But the short half-naked guy was swift in his answer.


    ¡°We are heading towards Azmar town. Do you want us to escort you?¡± The short half-naked guy dumbly asked.


    Ozul did not bother replying but just nodded his head. Seeing their interaction, Razor was annoyed at the half-naked man.


    ¡°Dibly! Come out here, you idiot!¡± Razor shouted at him while walking outside. He did not want the kid to hear his conversation.


    ¡°Boss! What did I do now?¡± Dibly asked as he was confused as to why Razor was mad now.


    ¡°Why did you offer him for the escort!¡±- Razor.


    ¡°But didn¡¯t he let us stay? So I politely wanted to return his favor.¡±- Dibly.


    ¡°We are bandits!!! When did we start being polite?!¡±- Razor.


    ¡°Uh... sorry?¡±- Dibly


    ¡°Idiot!¡± Razor spat as he walked away. They had already offered the kid to escort him to the town. They couldn¡¯t take it back, and besides, the city was also their destination. Bringing a kid together won¡¯t matter much. It was just that he wanted to stay away from that mysterious kid.

 Chapter 8

    Ball of Purity


    Ozul just kept watching as the banditspleted their preparations.


    Just as if they were about to move out, they looked back at Ozul and then remembered that not only the guy waspletely naked, but was also missing a leg.


    Dibly, the half-naked dull guy took out a white shirt and some ck baggy pants from his baggage and helped Ozul wear them. The shirt did not matter much, but the pants were hanging from his waist like from a hanger.


    Seeing no other way, Dibly bent down and picked Ozul on his back.


    And so the bandits started their escort to Azmar Town. They would require at least two hours to reach the city because they were traveling in a forest. Otherwise, walking two miles would just be a matter of twenty minutes.


    . . .


    *Half an hourter*


    Inside the forest, you could see a band of rough-looking men surrounded by a pack of grey wolves. Each wolf was double the size of a normal wolf.


    .....


    ¡°Boss! These are Dim Wolves. But this pack is unusually big!¡±


    Hearing the shout, Razor thought of what to do. They were just Dim Wolves, and they could quickly deal with them. But Razor won¡¯t take any chances as he had already lost 25 of his men yesterday! He ordered them not to be reckless.


    These were not ordinary animals but monsters. Everyone called them monsters because these beasts had been enhanced by mana to such a degree that they had mutated.


    Usually, the mutation increases not only their physical strength but also their intelligence.


    The bandits were quite familiar with such beasts. They efficiently started killing the wolves.


    Meanwhile, Ozul just kept looking at the battle as if watching a show. Watching the bandits kill the wolves, Ozul had an idea.


    ¡®Can I also kill with the ck Mass?¡¯-Ozul thought as he created a pointed de out it. Ozul could move the ck Mass efficiently under a 3-meter radius from him. It operated at the speed of the sword swing of a master swordsman. No doubt, it could kill people!


    Right now, he was on the back of the guy named Dibly. Dibly did not participate in the battle and was watching from the sidelines. So, Ozul had no chance to test the de.


    Just as he was thinking this, One of the wolves came after Dibly. Dibly started panicking as he was carrying Ozul on his back, and the situation was not in his favor.


    Dibly was going to go all out! But suddenly,


    *fwooosh*


    A pitch-ck de flew past him and pierced the head of the wolf!


    Just like that, the Dim Wolf died! Some of the bandits who saw the situation were stunned to see that it was the six years old disabled kid, that controlled the ck de!


    ¡°Easier than expected.¡± Ozul just said in a monotone voice. He had expected to require a bit more force, but even this bit of power was enough to kill it.


    The bandits who heard him were spitting blood! Killing the wolf was not much of a big deal. Even a tiny bit of talented kid at magic could do the same. But doing it when you were only six years old and disabled, was quite an achievement.


    ¡®Boss Razor was right! This kid is unusual!¡¯- Every bandit had the same thought.


    It did not take much longer before they eliminated the wolves. The bandits quickly gathered the bodies before Razor waved his hand, and all the dead bodies disappeared. None of the bandits had any reaction to it.


    As they continued on their journey, Ozul, who had nothing to do, was starting to get bored. He couldn¡¯t sleep as the daylight wouldn¡¯t let him! Hence, he decided to satisfy his curiosity.


    He started asking Dibly questions about the world.


    ¡®Poor boy! God knows for how long he was kept in that forsaken ce. He does not even know about the world!¡¯-thought Dibly as he did his best to exin everything to him. He did not know how much a six years old kid will understand, but he did not hold back anything.


    [A/N: Info dump.]


    ¡°You see, thend we are on right now is called the Silverbird Kingdom. A kingdom is...¡±


    ¡°Just like this kingdom, there are others on this Egon Continent. We also call it Maind. A continent is...¡±


    ¡°You see, there is magic, martial arts, and all kinds of things in this world. People who do magic are called Mages, just like people who train their bodies are called Fighters. They each have levels based on the achievements in that particr area.¡± Dibly may be dull, but he was a knowledgeable guy.


    ¡°You are also a Mage, right? You did make that de out of magic. But I have never seen this type of magic before. Anyways, I won¡¯t ask about your original spell!¡±


    ¡°But you killed the rank-2 monster so easily! You are pretty talented, huh!¡±


    ¡°Rank-2 monster?¡±- Ozul


    ¡°Oh yeah, you don¡¯t know about them either! Just like humans, beasts can also improve! When the creature is only mutated from an animal, he will be considered a Rank-1 monster.


    Then it could further improve, and with each improvement, its physical strength and intelligence grow further. Each advancement raises its rank. Magical beasts can also learn magic when their rank increases!¡±


    ¡°I heard that some beasts also learn to talk in humannguage when they reach a certain rank. The wolves we encountered were a pack of Rank-2 Dim Wolves. Generally, a beast at the same level as a human is weaker, but few are exceptions.


    Usually, a Fighter is far weaker than a Mage at the same rank. A Rank-1 Mage could defeat a couple of rank-1 fighters, and the difference only grows with the levels.¡±


    ¡°You killed the wolf so quickly, so you must be at least Rank-2 Mage! You must have practiced hard.¡± It seemed that Dibly was impressed with Ozul.


    ¡®Hmm... I am not a mage if it requires training. Come to think of it; I was born different! This ck Mass also does not seem like a spell. It¡¯s more like a tool; That I was born with. I think I will learn more about myself as I improve.¡¯ Ozul started contemting while listening to Dibly¡¯s exnation.


    ¡°How did the bodies disappear?¡± Ozul asked after thinking for a while. He still remembered how his father¡¯s men took out things from thin air.


    ¡°Oh, that! Boss Razor has a spatial ring that can store things inside it. It¡¯s a bit expensive, so not every one of us has it. Besides, we don¡¯t require so many spatial rings.¡± ¨C Dibly


    Ozul just nodded as he had no more questions.


    ¡°Hey, hey! That de you used was so cool! At least tell me the spells name!¡± ¨C Dibly wanted to ask this question for quite a while now.


    ¡°Name? Hmm... It¡¯s ¡®Ball of Purity¡¯...¡± Ozul thought for a while before just giving out a name that first came into his mind.


    Dibly was confused about why a flying de was named Ball Of Purity but did not ask any further.


    Like this, they continued their journey. . .

 Chapter 9

    Dibly, A good guy.


    It did not take much long before Ozul saw the city structures.


    Ozul wanted his ¡®parts¡¯ back, but he was not in a hurry. Well, he could not do much as he was now either. He needed to improve before making any move.


    Besides, Ozul had all the time in the world. He could afford to ck off a little.


    Ozul is not sure what he is, maybe experiencing the world will give him some hint? No one¡¯s stopping him now. Sleeping is great, but he may find something else just as good.


    But the Sun is still annoying!


    Anyways, before entering the city, the bandits covered their faces with cloaks. They were wanted, covering their features was a necessity as city guards may recognize them.


    The city was called Azmar Town. It was a bustling city situated on the west of the Silverbird Capital. The name was never changed to Azmar City for traditional reasons. It was under the jurisdiction of a Count.


    Ozul got only this much info from Dibly before they arrived at their destination.


    .....


    Dibly did not want to leave a disabled kid on his own, but under Razor¡¯s stern gaze, he bent down and dropped off Ozul.


    Dibly was a bandit for sure, but he could not be so heartless towards a kid. He looked at both of his sides when he confirmed that no one was paying attention to him, Dibly sneakily put something inside Ozuls pocket before sprinting off, not knowing that what he had done today would change his life for the better one day.


    A few secondster, Ozul was alone sitting in the dark alleyway. Confirming that no one was around, he created an arm out of ¡®Ball of Purity¡¯ and attached it to himself. With that new hand, Ozul checked his pocket to find 4 Silver coins.


    ¡®A good man...¡¯ For the first time, Ozul had a small smile formed on his face before disappearing shortly after.


    4 Silver coins were not a vast sum, but it was quite a lot for the current him. Dibly had exined to him about the currency. It was a simple and in system.


    There were Gold, Silver, and Bronze coins. A single Gold coin is equal to a hundred Silver coins. Simrly, a single Silver coin can be exchanged for a hundred Bronze coins. For about ten or so bronze coins, you could humbly fill your stomach.


    Actually, there was another unit above gold. It was a Purple coin. Each Purple Coin is equal to a hundred gold coins, But they were mostly used for significant transactions.


    Dibly had left him 4 Silver Coins as it would let him eat for at least a week. But Ozul had other ns. He did not need to eat anyway. So, why would he waste his money on tasteless meals?


    He nned to get himself prosthetic limbs. He had seen people; limbs were quite convenient as he saw them. Ball of Purity could not substitute for both of his arms and a leg, and besides, he needed it for his defense and offensive!


    ¡®Sleeping was much easier.


    sigh...


    ¡® Ozul sighed as he was almost regretting his decision. Almost!


    Again with a sigh, he changed the arm into a leg and connected it to himself. His baggy pants hid how the whole leg was pitch ck. He stood up and went out of the alley, devoid of any life.


    His first task was to find someone who can make the prosthetics. There was only one thing that was standing between him and his goals... the Sun!


    But Ozul did not back down; He had to endure it. He did not have any other choice.


    ¡®Hmm... Actually, I do have another choice... maybe I should just go, and slee...¡¯- Ozul started thinking things before he shook his head and pushed those thoughts back.


    ¡®Ah, These slothful thoughts. I should be careful not to lose myself like this.¡¯ ¨C Ozul internally reprimanded himself while he still kept his stoic face.


    After walking for another minute, Ozul was standing under the shadow of the building on his side.


    ¡®I give up. Physical exercises are not made for me. Sleeping under this shade would be much more pleasant.¡¯ Ozul was already regretting getting out of his old warehouse.


    But God helps those who help themselves! Just as Ozul was going to help himself to sleep, God had sent help.


    ¡°Oh! boy, where are your parents?¡± Ozul heard an old voice approaching him from behind.


    Ozul turned to his side just to see an olddy with a kind smile spread over her face.


    ¡°Dead,¡± Ozul gave the ever-stoic answer. He knew his mother was dead and did not consider Edward as his father. So, he had no family now.


    ¡°Oh! Poor boy... I¡¯m so sorry... Why are you looking so lost? Do you have somewhere you need to go?¡± Tenderness started overflowing from her as she heard that he was an orphan. The boy was genuinely pitiful; he lost his parents and was also disabled.


    ¡°I need new limbs,¡± Ozul kept his answer short and straight.


    ¡®Hmm... a kind heart, huh...¡¯ Ozul was internally evaluating the olddy. She was the first human to consider him after a whole minute of search.


    ¡®Difficult times indeed, Humans are such heartless creatures. Only this one after a hundred bothered to stop...


    sigh


    .¡¯ Ozul thought while shaking his head a little.


    ¡°Hm... So, you need prosthetics,¡± After thinking about it, The olddy motioned him to follow her.


    Ozul did not ask any questions and just quietly followed after her. Anyways, she did not seem suspicious. If she had any other intentions, Ozul would know in the blink of an eye. His ability to read other¡¯s emotions shouldn¡¯t be taken so lightly.


    The olddy at the moment only showed sympathy directed towards him.


    Ozul hurried after her since the sunlight was itching him.


    Thankfully, it did not take much longer when he was standing in front of a seemingly low-profile house.


    ¡°This is Mr. Smith¡¯s house. He may have retired now, but he was a famous cksmith before. He also knows a thing or two about making prosthetics. Don¡¯t worry; he won¡¯t take any of your money. At least not when I am here.¡±- The kind olddy introduced the owner of the house. She reassured him about money problems while showing an evil smile.


    They knocked at the door before an old man appeared. He had a bushy beard along with a fat belly.


    Mr. Smith¡¯s eyes lit up, and heughingly greeted the olddy.


    ¡°Hey, Miss Carol! You look only more beautiful as the days pass. What brought you to my humble abode?¡± Mr. Smith asked the olddy now named Miss Carol. Smith rubbed his hands with a ttering smile stered on his face.


    If it was not visible, the old guy was definitely pursuing the olddy.


    ¡°Hoho... Surely you jest, Mr. Smith. As for why I am here. It is because I need a favor. Surely you won¡¯t reject this old heart, right?¡±


    Evidently, Carol may be old, but she had her fair share of experiences. She kept the Smith guy at bay using polite words. She then hooked the fish using her old heart as the leverage!


    Just as expected, Mr. Smith was hooked.


    ¡°Of course not, Miss Carol! How could I reject someone so


    close


    to me.¡±- Mr. Smith was smitten by old love. He thought they were close.


    So close, that he was still calling her Miss.


    ¡°Fufu... I knew I was not wrong about you, Mr. Smith. Do you see this boy? I would request you to make his prosthetic limbs. It shouldn¡¯t be any difficult for you, I assume?¡±


    Carol exined while hinting how someone like Smith should be up to the task.


    ¡°Haha... these bones may be old, but if that¡¯s what you want, then I can¡¯t back down now, can I?¡± Mr. Smith answered while lifting his head a little. He wanted to impress Carol; now was his chance.


    Carol showed her charm and was smug about it as she eyed Ozul, showing her prowess.


    Ozul nodded in approval. He had seen how she hooked the


    bait


    . She was a genius! Luckily, Old Carol was on the Ozul¡¯s side.


    After that, all three of them went inside the house...

 Chapter 10

    Adopt?


    Entering the house, Ozul took the first chair that came into his view and copsed on it.


    Old Carol watching him act like that, smiled and asked for a ss of water for Ozul. Just looking at the boy¡¯s doll-like face, her motherly instincts will start to act up.


    Old Carol had never married anyone. So, having a child was only a fool¡¯s dream. She already had an idea about what to do with the boy.


    ¡°Two arms... hmm... it may take a while,¡±- Mr. Smith mumbled.


    ¡°Also, a leg.¡±- Ozul spoke up, listening to Smith¡¯s words.


    ¡°Huh?¡±- Both Mr. Smith and Carol spoke up as they wondered why he would need a leg?


    ¡°It is fake.¡±- Ozul said as he absorbed the leg into himself.


    Seeing his left leg vanishing into thin air, both of them were stunned.


    .....


    ¡®Poor child. Just how much has he suffered?¡¯ ¨C Old Carol again started her inner monologue about Ozuls hardships up until now.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡±- Mr. Smith was sane enough to wonder how he made that leg.


    ¡°Magic.¡±- Ozul gave just a simple answer, not willing to reveal anything further.


    ¡°Oh.¡±- Mr. Smith had more questions but did not probe into his privacy.


    ¡°Well, it may take up to three hours making functional limbs.¡±- Mr. Smith gave his estimate. It was a magical world, with enough materials, unimaginable things were no longer impossible. He also took Ozuls measurements for the prosthetics.


    Ozul just nodded his head. He was under a roof; There was no sunlight directly falling onto his face. He was more than happy to wait here.


    Surprisingly, Old Carol also did not leave in the meantime. She started chatting with Ozul.


    ¡°Oh my, I did not even ask your name, did I?¡±- Old Carol.


    ¡°... Ozul Ashfall.¡±- Ozul took a few seconds to answer as he had almost forgotten that he had a name. All this time, No one ever called him, so it was understandable.


    ¡°Ah, Such a lovely name Ozul. You can call me, Grandma! If I had grandkids, they would just be at your age.¡±- Old Carol eximed.


    Ozul just nodded and did not say anything.


    They chatted for the time. Well, it was more like Old Carol kept asking, and Ozul replying with only simple words.


    Of course, Ozul did not say anything about how they prisoned him at birth, how his ¡®father¡¯ crippled him while calling him a Devil¡¯s Spawn.


    Three hours flew as Mr. Smith came back, and in his hands were two arms and a leg made out of some kind of polished metal.


    ¡°It will hurt like hell when connected. So, brace yourself, kid.¡±- Mr. Smith said as he bent down to Ozuls waist.


    Mr. Smith took out a knife and cut the base of Ozul left side where a leg is supposed to be. Smith was expecting some blood but was astonished to find no blood!


    Though he was not a physician, everyone knew that it was practically impossible to live without blood. However, looking at the situation, he didn¡¯t ask any questions. While Old Carol only thought that Mr. Smith had done something to stop the blood from gushing out.


    Both Mr. Smith and Old Carol were expecting Ozul to cry out. But when they looked at his face, all they could see was a child looking at his cut skin like watching a show. There was no reaction on his face whatsoever, Cold as ever.


    There may not be any blood, but the wound still burned Ozul. But he did not even twitch an eyebrow.


    Getting out of his surprise, Mr. Smith quickly joined the leg with the base. He then proceeded to do the same with arms. Once done, he took out some bandage and patched up the foundation of the arms and the leg.


    ¡°The cut will take some time to heal, but you can still try to move the arms and the leg.¡± ¨C Mr. Smith told Ozul to test the prosthetics.


    Ozul may not know, but the prosthetics were not so easy to make. Even experienced people may fail, and not to mention that it required quite an extraordinary amount of rare materials.


    Mr. Smith was an expert in this field. He may have retired but did not lose his touch. Ozul would never be able to afford his service with only the pitiful amount of Silver Coins that he had. Ozul may even need a couple of gold coins!


    Anyways he tried to move his left leg as he does with the right one.


    ¡®Hmm... I can stretch and bend them just as easy, but there is no feeling from it.¡¯- Ozul thought after trying out his prosthetic arms and left leg.


    ¡°Convenient.¡±- Ozul said out loud as this was the only reason he needed them.


    Old Carol was at least expecting Ozul to try out his new arms excitingly, but listening to his nd exmation ruined her fantasies. Just a cute smile on his face would have been enough, but s seeing his smile, is not so easy.


    ¡°Oh, Thank you so much, Mr. Smith! You gave me not only your precious time but also used such rare materials, and that too without asking anything in return!¡±- Old Carol thanked Mr. Smith.


    ¡°Hahaha... there is no need for thanks between us, Miss Carol, anything for you.¡± ¨C Mr. Smith again with the ttering smile on his face. He was getting a bit embarrassed now.


    ¡°Fufufu... I would have stayed to repay you somehow if only I were not busy!¡±- Old Carol went out together with Ozul. Mr. Smith was left behind, lost in his old lewd fantasies about Carol.


    . . .


    Outside the house, Ozul faced Old Carol and stopped.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±- Ozul expressed his thanks to Carol as he now knew that it would have cost him quite a sum to get the prosthetics.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have anywhere to live, right? If you want to repay me,e live with me!¡± ¨C Old Carol had decided to adopt this lifeless doll of a boy! So she struck when the iron was hot.


    Carol may be old but looked just in her mid-fifties. She always wanted a child of her own, and this was her opportunity!


    But listening to how the olddy wanted him to repay using his body, Ozul stared at her for a moment and then...


    He started moving his right hand towards the other hand¡¯s foundation and began to disconnect the arm.


    Seeing his behavior, Carol quickly stopped him.


    ¡°Hey, hey! What are you doing? I won¡¯t make you work for me or anything! I just want to adopt you!¡±- Carol quickly exined herself, seeing that he won¡¯t stop otherwise.


    Ozul finally stopped.


    ¡®Adopt? Hmm... I may consider it if I get to live in her house. Some sleep is just what I need. Booking a room in an inn would be a bother.¡¯ Ozul seriously began to consider her offer. It is not like he will lose anything. After thinking for a while, he gave his reply.


    ¡°My freedom and privacy?¡±- The meaning was clear; Ozul would notpromise on his privacy and especially his freedom anymore.


    ¡°Of course, but you will have to call me Grandma! And you will not bring a girl into the house without first introducing her to me!¡±- Old Carol stated her conditions. She forgot that he was just a six years old kid.


    Ozul just nodded his head in agreement. For him, it was more like a deal. He gets to sleepfortably, while Carol gets a grandkid.


    Coming into an agreement, Carol quickly went to hug Ozul. But Ozul promptly stepped to the side, narrowingly dodging it.


    ¡°Hmph! Come here, young man! You are my grandkid now. I have full rights to your hug!¡±- Carol eximed. She just did not seem like an olddy in her early sixties!


    After a few minutes of struggle, he was finally caught. Ozul was not yet used to the prosthetics.


    ¡°Aww! Look at you, shying away from the hug!¡± Old Carol thought that Ozul was just shy.


    Anyways, after the


    scuffle


    , they walked towards Carol¡¯s house.


    It was just around the corner. In a minute, Ozul was standing in front of a prominent house.


    The house stood in the back as, before him, there was a gate that allowed entry to the garden. There was a walking path in the middle that leads to the front door of the house. From the sides, the garden was surrounded by wooden fences.


    The garden surrounding the house was tranquil. There were many beautiful flowers nted in it. A few fruit trees were also scattered around.


    ¡°Beautiful, right! I sell flowers from this garden. No one lived with me, so my expenses were quite low. Hence, I put all the money into building the garden,¡± Carol exined as Ozul was staring at the flowers.


    Ozul replied with just a weak nod. Right now, He could not care any less about the garden; he needed an urgent nap right now! It was already noon and the sun was over his head.

 Chapter 11

    Light? Impure!


    Carol wanted to introduce the whole house to Ozul. But before she could say anything, Ozul found a room, and just copsed on the bed.


    Other things could wait.


    When he woke up, it was midnight. He couldn¡¯t just go back to sleep. So, he started to check out his surroundings.


    Checking out the house, he could see that there were only two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living room. The living room had a firece. The whole house was kept clean and moderately decorated.


    He quietly opened the other room to check that Old Carol was sleeping peacefully. He closed the door and went out of the house.


    It was the first time he had seen night. In his warehouse, there was no night and no day.


    Ozul only had one word to describe what he felt.


    ¡°Peaceful...¡±- Ozul said out loud.


    .....


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Ozul¡¯s POV.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C


    I went out of the house. Night huh... It was the first time I had seen one.


    It is beautiful. Darkness everywhere; There is serenity in the atmosphere. There is a unique feel to it; A feeling that you would not get in the daytime.


    No annoying noises, no humans, and most importantly, no Sun. That Moon was beautiful but the sunlight ruined it when it was reflected on it.


    Only the asional buzz of insects could be heard. At least, they were tolerable. How good it would have been if I was


    whole


    .


    No matter how peaceful the darkness is, there is always this feeling of emptiness.


    Sooner orter, I will get back myself. But first, I have to be stronger. I can feel that my ¡®parts¡¯ are still alive.


    Dibly had exined that Mages and Fighters had ten ranks. Fighters at rank-10 are rare, but with a little effort, you may find one. But a Mage of Rank-10? They are hidden powerhouses. Even only the Rank-9 Mages are Monarchs of their kingdoms.


    After probing a bit further, I had concluded that my father should be a 7th or 8th Rank Mage. Probably, thetter.


    He had crimson red hair. Dibly said that only the Abilon Family matches the description. The Abilon Family is a family of a Duke. He said that all the dukes in our kingdom are Rank-8 Mages.


    Why would people in essential positions even reveal their power? Idiots. Well, it¡¯s my good fortune if they are idiots.


    Hmm... now, how do I improve my abilities? It¡¯s funny how the only other ability I have other than Ball of Purity is eating darkness.


    Hm... Dibly said that there are cores generated at the hearts of magical beasts above rank-2. It contains pure mana. Maybe I can try eating them? I mean, if raw shadows can replenish me, Refined mana should only be better, right?


    It¡¯s only a guess, well more like intuition, but I can only test itter.


    Increasing the size of Ball of Purity could also help.


    Ah... thinking so much is harmful to my health.


    I sit down on the grass, resting my back against the apple tree.


    Gazing to the sky, I see some annoying twinkles, but the only word that escaped my mouth was,


    ¡°Magnificent.¡±


    Those twinkles are annoying, but the thing between them! Just so... so admirable.


    Pure void. Just a look at that, and I feel my non-existent heart pounding.


    At the same time, it was so confusing. Why does even the pure void feel like a part of myself?


    Even if I was somehow rted to it, shouldn¡¯t it be the other way around?


    Shouldn¡¯t


    I


    be feeling like a part of it instead?


    *Sigh*


    I will just find outter. There¡¯s nothing I can do at the moment.


    This helplessness is just as annoying as that Sun.


    It¡¯s also a mystery as to why I know so muchmon knowledge. Even before birth, I had consciousness.


    I don¡¯t even have a heart. Like physically. No blood, No heart to pump it. I don¡¯t need any more reasons to believe that I am, in fact, not a Human.


    *Yawn*


    hmm. Sleep huh. Well, it¡¯s a cozy ce; darkness is always intimate with me. My only beloved. I hope the Sun just never rises tomorrow.


    Yawn...


    . . .


    I open my eyes to find myself covered with a sheet.


    Mm.. Carol truly is a kinddy. Maybe I should just call her grandma Carol from now on.


    I rub my eyes to clear away the blurry vision. With my sight now clear, I saw Grandma Carol watering her nts. I cannot see the Sun right now. So, it must be pretty early.


    Sun will be showing any minute now; I should go inside.


    I stood up as Grandma Carol noticed me. She came towards me and said,


    ¡°Young man! Why did you sleep outside! What if you catch a cold?¡±- Grandma Carol. Carol was really worried as Ozul was just six years old, and now it was her duty to teach him.


    Mhm... I don¡¯t think I can ever get sick. But I can¡¯t just tell her that. She may even freak out. Although he doubts that she would be as heartless as his ¡®father¡¯, being careful does not hurt.


    ¡°It¡¯sfortable watching the night sky.¡±- Ozul answered after thinking for a while. Any other answer would juste out as rude.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay to watch the sky at night, but you should still sleep indoor. Remember that from now on.¡±- Grandma Carol just advised me and went to do her gardening.


    I nodded and quickly went into the house. Slumped on the bed after closing the curtains of the window. I don¡¯t want that annoying light here, now do I? Not being able to sleep, Ozul started contemting on his Ball of Purity.


    Mana, as it is known, is the natural energy present in the atmosphere. Mages refine this energy and then use it to store it inside themselves. The stored energy could then be used to cast various types of spells. Some of them could even strengthen their bodies, causing them to be just as strong as a Fighter. Hence, Mages are deemed better.


    People who create a Core inside themselves are considered as a Rank-1 Mage. With each improvement, the Core inside them does not only get bigger but also stores the mana in a purer form, which increases the output of the spell.


    All of this aside, Ozul did not want to be a Mage nor a Fighter.


    My instincts keep telling me not even to consider taking in that unclean ¡®thing¡¯, Mana in the atmosphere just felt dirty, Hence the reason that it was needed to be refined.


    Although not as impure as the light itself, I still won¡¯t take the impure mana inside myself.


    I can just test to eat the Mana Cores of the Magical Beasts or even... of some humans. If this does not work out, I will just wait it out. No one is stopping me from spending my days while only sleeping.


    Light is an impurity. I have at least understood that much.


    Only the void is pure. While the darkness at night may not be the most absolute; it is a hundred times better than when the light is present.


    Hence, I feel the need for more effort when controlling my Ball of Purity in the day time. That impure thing obstructs its path.


    After thinking for a while, I was starting to lose myself to sleep. Just then, I heard Grandma Carol¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Ozul! Come wash your hands; the breakfast is ready!¡±- Carol.


    Hm... I didn¡¯t really need to eat. Like the way I ate darkness was the most nutritious. What it does is simple, just like how only the void existed before some of the pure emptiness broke down into impurities¡ªcreating that light and other filthy energies. I just convert some of the darkness into my food.


    Darkness is also emptiness. Emptiness is the void. It may sound confusing, but my body just breaks some of the pure darkness and get energy.


    Anyways, Even though I do not need to eat the food physically, I have to be polite towards Grandma Carol. She has already been so kind to me. Listening to her is the least I can do.


    I do not like the feeling, though. Dibly had given me some food, but the taste was awful!


    Ozul gave it a second thought before he washed his hands and moved towards the dining table.

 Chapter 12

    Opening up.


    While eating, Grandma Carol kept making small conversations. After eating his fill, Ozul was just about to head to his room when,


    ¡°Ozul, we have to get some clothes for you. These are too big for you. We will leave early. Becauseter, I have to tend to the flower shop,¡± Grandma Carol said seeing that Ozul was about to head to his room


    Ozul just nodded his head and headed straight to his room. While internally, he was thinking about something else.


    Sigh... Do I really have to head out again? Is there no other way around it? Wait, I can always use Ball of Purity to block out the sunlight.


    But its size is too small. And besides, I cannot use it in an obvious way, or I can get into trouble. Not that I really care about it, but it¡¯s... troublesome. Yes... Trouble is annoying.


    Dibly helped me here again. He had informed me that all the Mages usually concentrate on only one element. Such as a Mage using Fire Element for his Magic Spell will most likely solely focus on the Magical Spells of the fire element.


    It is because they have to create original Spells when theyprehend that specific Element.


    There exist all kinds of Elements, such as Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Lightning, Ice, Light, etc. Darkness is also one of the Elements, But the issue is that it is associated with evil!


    .....


    Stupid idiot humans! Light is such an impure Element, yet it is considered as the bane of evil!


    It is also the fault of humans, though. Because in this world¡¯s history, there have been many Evil Mages who used Darkness Element. Hence, They dered the Element of Darkness itself as evil.


    Their idiocy knows no bounds. They create weapons to kill people, yet they don¡¯t announce it to be evil!


    There are also some people who are born with a special affinity to some Element. These people are called


    Gifted


    . It gives them an advantage over other people in that particr Element. Theirprehension of that Element would skyrocket.


    Anyways, all I can do is to create a solid umbre out of the Ball of Purity. Even though the pitch-ck umbre may attract some attention, it will be better than just covering me with darkness in the gaseous state of Ball of Purity. They will straight out dere me to be an Evil Mage if I do so.


    I will do that only when I am powerful enough to protect myself.


    Grandma Carol would be waiting for me. I head out of the room while holding a pitch-ck umbre.


    She was surprised to see the umbre in my hand, But she never asked me any personal questions. She always tries to respect my privacy.


    Together we went out of the house to find the tailor shop. On the way, some people joyously greeted Grandma Carol. She was quite popr around here. Most of the people looked curiously towards me as I was walking by her, and also holding that strange umbre.


    We did not mind it and just kept walking towards the tailor shop.


    In about 15 minutes, we arrived and entered the shop.


    The shop owner came in front of us and greeted Grandma Carol.


    ¡°Hoho... What can I do for you, Miss Carol?¡±- Tailor


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing; I was just looking for some clothes for the kid.¡±- Grandma Carol said, pointing towards Ozul.


    The shop owner did not waste any time and bought some shirts and pants in my size. Grandma Carol wanted me to try a few of them, but I just picked up the white shirt and ck pants.


    I quickly wore them in the changing room. Grandma Carol paid a Silver coin for them, and we went out of the shop.


    ¡°Hmm... Didn¡¯t you say that ck was your favorite color? I thought you would only choose ck clothing. What changed your mind?¡±- Grandma Carol curiously asked Ozul.


    ¡°I will stand out too much.¡± ¨C Ozul had thought it through. Even I, who does not mostly pay attention to the surroundings will notice a six years old child wrapped up in full ck clothing with an umbre in hand, which is also pitch-ck!


    ¡®He does not want attention? Probably it¡¯s because of something he is hiding. In his age, children would not even know how to have a conversation properly. And here he is, worrying about survival. Sigh... I believe he will open up to me sooner orter.¡¯ ¨C Grandma Carol again started her inner monologue about the hardships that Ozul has to face.


    They walked back to the house as they chit-chatted along the way.


    Upon arriving at the house, Ozul directly went to the area with the least amount of light present, his room. The umbre only protected his face from the sunlight, it helped, but it was not enough.


    Maybe he should just create a pointed hat next time. It will not be as eye-catching as the umbre but will work exactly like it.


    Grandma Carol just smiled a little seeing his dislike towards sunlight. She changed her clothes and picked out the flowers.


    She had turned a small portion of the outer wall of her house into a shop. Grandma Carol had the stuff to arrange the flowers into a bouquet. People who wanted to buy the flowers would just ring the bell outside, and in a second, Grandma Carol would be at the shop.


    Otherwise, you would only find her trimming or taking care of the garden.


    Speaking of Grandma Carol, She had told Ozul many things about her. Grandma Carol may look in her mid-fifties, but she was already 68 years old.


    Grandma Carol had told me that she did not marry anyone because she did not find someonepatible with her. But even if she could not find a suitable partner, she adored little children.


    Hence she adopted Ozul when she saw his circumstances.


    I haven¡¯t told her everything about me yet. It is not that I care if people know about me, but I can¡¯t be sure until I confirm that I can trust her.


    I still have to be careful in case my ¡®father¡¯ sends people to find me.


    As I am now, I don¡¯t know anything about the Forest in the west of Azmar Town. I want to test my theories, but blindly entering the woods to hunt Beasts was just straight out foolish.


    I will just have to spend my time gathering information about the Forest. It could contain Magical Beasts that I can¡¯t even fathom; I won¡¯t risk it.


    . . . . .


    Hence, Ozul again began to spend his days just sleeping.


    Well, few other tasks were also added to his routine, though. Such as thinking, watching the night sky, and sometimes he started to help Grandma Carol. Thatst part was an improvement.


    Even Old Carol was astonished! She had already discerned that Ozul did not like physical activity, especially in sunlight. But Old Carol was notining. Instead, she was happy because it meant that he was finally opening up to her!


    She was not wrong; Ozul hade to trust Grandma Carol. He would have already told her his past, but could not find the right opportunity.


    4 years flew past in the blink of an eye.


    Ozul was now 10 years old.


    He was already 4 feet and 5 inches tall! From the wooden doll, he was transforming into a cold and emotionless prince.


    There were not many changes in him except for the increase in his Ball of Purity. The increment only amounted so that he could create four more needles.


    This amount of increment was negligible, but Ozul could notin to anyone.


    He had already obtained precise information about the Forest. He was just waiting for the opportunity to ask Grandma Carol.


    Speaking of her, Ozul had already opened up to her. It was embarrassing, but when he could not find the right asion to tell her, Ozul had no other way than just to strike up the conversation himself. It went like this...


    [shback]


    Ozul was sitting on the couch facing Grandma Carol when suddenly he spoke out,


    ¡°Uhm... So hey, you haven¡¯t asked me about myselftely...¡±- It was nothing for Ozul to talk about himself, but he was afraid that it might get him into some kind of trouble.


    Grandma Carol was surprised to hear him say that. She wanted him to open himself to her, but he never did. She was seriously losing hope. When after all this time, he struck this conversation himself.


    ¡°Hmm... I just thought that you were not ready yet.¡± ¨C Grandma Carol quicklyposed herself and gave a satisfactory answer.


    ¡°I am ready now.¡±- This scene may look a little bit emotional, as you know, a kid opening up to her adoptive grandparent about his cruel past is touching.


    But it was ruined by Ozul¡¯s t tone and the still impassive face.


    Grandma Carol did not mind it though. She was used to his expressionless face, as she knew that Ozul never showed his emotions on his face.


    She was joyous that he was ready. He may not show his emotions, but Grandma Carol knew that he felt the sentiments. Ozul is just not so... expressive.


    Anyways, Ozul continued to exin to her that he was born different. Ozul told Grandma Carol only his mother was kind to him and that she died just after giving birth to him, how his father cut his limbs that had the runes engraved on them, and how he was locked up in the old warehouse for six whole years!!!


    To his surprise, after listening to his past, Grandma Carol had tears in her eyes. She hugged Ozul and started cursing all the lineage of my


    father.


    Old Carol had always thought that Ozul might have had a miserable childhood, but this much!? She never imagined that those people could be so Cruel towards a newborn baby.


    The next half of the day was spent as Grandma Carol kept hugging Ozul. She could not see, but for a second there, Ozul again had a smile on his face!


    [shback End]


    Hoo... even though I got the load off my chest, it is still embarrassing to remember it.


    But now I need to ask Grandma Carol to let me go into the Forest though it might be a little difficult.


    Ozul kept thinking of ways to convince her before moving towards the living room where Grandma Carol was sitting on a couch.

 Chapter 13

    Head pats?


    As Ozul approached the living room, he saw an olddy seemingly making something.


    On a closer look, she was Grandma Carol, and she was sewing a white shirt for Ozul. She looked much older than before.


    Age was starting to take a toll on her body. Before she only looked in her mid-fifties, but now just from a look, you could tell that she was around seventy years old!


    Actually, Grandma Carol became 72 this year.


    As if not having a kid in the house was holding her health to a standstill, after fully epting Ozul as her own, her body finally let go. She was starting to look at her age now. Ozul was somewhat worried about her health nowadays.


    These days she would sometimes be heard saying how she has no regrets, and she will wholly ept if death came. Whenever she said so, she would get a narrow eye from Ozul and shut up.


    Anyways, Ozul approached Grandma Carol and sat near her.


    ¡°Oh... you look lovely today,¡± Ozul said in the same old monotone.


    .....


    ¡®I have no other way but to praise her. She always falls for it.¡¯ Ozul thought inside his mind while hoping his n to work.


    ¡°Who are you trying to butter up, young man? So what do you need?¡± ¨C Grandma Carol replied in a slightly amused tone, but even though she said that you could tell by her expression that she was pleased nheless.


    ¡°I n to go into the Forest.¡±- Ozul taking the cue, exined his intent to venture into the Forest.


    ¡°Huh!? Do you know how dangerous the Forest is? Why would you even want to go near it?¡± Grandma Carol was genuinely worried about him. She tried to tell him how dangerous the Forest is because she knows that she would not be able to stop him once he made up his mind.


    ¡°I have studied it perfectly; I won¡¯t go deeper into it. It¡¯s important.¡± ¨C Ozul exined that he knew what he was about to do. He knew that she might be worried.


    ¡°Besides, I know I can easily defeat at least a Rank-3 Magical Beast.¡± ¨C Ozul further tried to ease Grandma Carol¡¯s worries.


    Hearing his words, Grandma Carol eased up a little. She knew he never lied and had a mature mind. But she was still worried about his well-being. She knew that convincing him otherwise was futile.


    ¡°Sigh... You don¡¯t make it easy for this old heart, you know... Promise me you wille back safe.¡± Grandma Carol sighed and said thest part in a stern voice.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ozul did not hesitate to make the promise. The part where he would venture into only has Rank-3 Magical Beast as the strongest. He was confident about this trip.


    Hearing him say that, Grandma Carol just shook her head and stroked Ozul¡¯s head.


    He had never imagined that head pats from Grandma Carol would be so satisfying. He would never admit it though. But unknown to him, it wasn¡¯t a secret to Grandma Carol that he liked the head pats.


    Anyways getting out of his trance, Ozul hurriedly went out of the room to hide his satisfaction. Grandma Carol just chuckled at his antics. Only in times like these did he show childlike behavior, and she enjoyed this side of him.


    Outside the house, Ozul walked towards the Forest with steady steps.


    In between the four years, Ozul had gone to Mr. Smith twice to renew the size of his prosthetics. Ozul¡¯s choice of clothes did not change much either.


    He had a pointed hat at the top, a white shirt, and ck pants. Ozul always had the conical hat on, so it was difficult to notice his face in the shade. If not, thedies on the streets would have already gone to Grandma Carol for his hand in marriage.


    Walking down the streets, he could see the same lively atmosphere. Some children yed near their parents while people strolled around the shops. Some hopeless fellows were just sitting at the sides of the road.


    Walking towards the Forest, Ozul repeated all the info about the Forest in his mind.


    He was just going to the region where the strongest Magical Beasts were only at Rank-3. The vegetation was not as thick to get lost in it either. He also memorized the area which he should avoid. All in all, it should be pretty safe considering his capabilities.


    It took him about half an hour to reach the woods. Magical Beasts usually stay away from the settlements. Walking a bit deeper, Ozul could see no signs of humans now.


    Ozul kept his vignce at its peak. The Forest was unpredictable¡ªdangers lurk at every corner.


    Eventually, after searching for quite a bit, he saw a wild boar. The wild board was also a Magical Beast and was only at Rank-2.


    The Boar had also noticed his presence. Ozul knew what kind of Magical Beasts to expect around this area. He quickly identified the Boar as just a Rank-2 Beast and lost his interest because only beasts at Rank-3 or above had Magical Core in them.


    Ozul just separated some Ball of Purity from his hat and created around ten or so thin needles out of it. The needles kept floating in front of him. he had a limited distance at which he could control the Ball of Purity. So, he just waited for the Boar to make his move.


    Ozul did not have to wait any longer as the Boar rushed at him, aiming his pointed tusks at Ozul¡¯s chest. Just as the Boar took its first step into the 3-meter radius around Ozul, The sharp, pitch-ck needles moved at blinding speed!


    The Boar did not detect the danger as all of the needles pierced its head.


    The momentum of Boar kept him running for a bit before he fell just right under Ozul¡¯s feet.


    Even in death, the Boar did not notice anything. There was no pain involved¡ªit was just that swift!


    It was useless, though. Ozul could sell the materials such as its bones, tusks, or meat at the market, but he could not bring this giant thing back.


    ¡®Maybe I should buy a spatial storage item. It will be convenient in these situations,¡¯ Ozul thought as he just stepped over the Boar to find some Magical Beast at Rank-3.


    An hour passed, and he kept encountering some Rank-2 Magical Beasts. Atst, he saw what he was looking for.


    Ozul noticed a bear twice the size of a normal one, drinking water from a cave. It was a Magical Beast at Rank-3! This Beast was called a Rugged Bear.


    You could consider them as one of the weaker beasts in Rank-3. The Rugged Bears were only famous for their sturdy defense and their explosive physical power.


    After forming their Magical Core, most Beasts would start to learn Magical Spells, but some are an exception like the Rugged Bear.


    Ozul wanted to finish him just like the other Rank-2 Beasts. This time, Hepletely changed the hat into fine long needles and quietly neared the Bear. Just as he was in the range, He sent all the needles to pierce the Bear¡¯s vitals.


    *Fwoosh*


    The needles generated the winds as they flew towards the Bear. The Bear was caught off-guard, but the scene did not y out as Ozul expected.


    The needles could not breach the Rank-3 Beast¡¯s defenses.


    If he had to pierce the thick hide of the Bear, He needed to put more force into the floating needles, which was practically impossible as he was now. Because to put more power into the needles, he would need the needles to be denser.


    So he chose the next best option, which was to make them thicker. Hebined the more than a hundred needles into a couple of sharp, pitch-ck des.


    But the Bear did not wait for him. Angry that he was disturbed, The Bear rushed furiously towards Ozul.


    If he did not dodge away from this, he would seriously get hurt.


    Ozul quickly ducked to his side as he used one of the des to intercept the Bear. This time the de pierced its right arm.


    The Bear groaned in pain before he frantically roared towards Ozul. But opening its mouth was the Bear¡¯sst mistake...


    In just a second, all the des were lunged in its mouth. It fell on the ground with a thud.


    *Fuu...*


    Exhaling deeply, Ozul recovered his breath. He had just survived a life and death battle but did not feel anything about it. When the Bear was about to hit him, death was so close. But unlike any human, he was not flustered.


    There was something off about this uncanny indifference to death, but no one was here to note this oddity.


    Regardless, He had to finish his business as the smell of blood would attract even more Magical Beasts.


    The Magical Beasts grew stronger by eating other Magical Beasts or Humans. So, a Rank-3 Beast in this area of the Forest was the best they could get.


    Ozul moved towards the now dead Bear and used one of the floating des to cut open its chest. He never used his own hands in all this time. He could make use of the Ball of Purity however he wanted.

 Chapter 14

    Worries...


    Ozul made a deep cut at the center of the Bears chest.


    It was difficult to locate but, the sight that greeted him was of a ss ball only around the size of a nail!


    From outside, you could only see a crystal ball, but this little ball contains refined Mana.


    Now he just has to test his intuition. Ozul picked up the Magical Core and cleaned it up before putting it in his mouth.


    Generally, Humans cannot eat the Magical Cores because such a sudden supply of refined Mana can cause their bodies to explode! They usually create drugs out of these Magical Cores, which they use to restore their lost Mana.


    But Ozul was neither normal nor a Human.


    Ozul gulped down the Magical Core as it began to release the refined Mana inside his body. Ozul was expecting some kind of bacsh, but to his surprise, the refined Mana was just absorbed in his body.


    Just as he thought the process was done, A massive burst of glistening Mana was released from his body into the atmosphere.


    .....


    This Mana was the impurity still contained in the so-called ¡®refined¡¯ Mana.


    ¡®Not so refined, I see,¡¯ Ozul thought as he began to check what changes the small amount of absorbed energy brought him.


    To his surprise, it took effect on both his physical and magical capabilities! It might not be huge, but Ozul could feel that he was a tiny bit stronger than before. But the second change was what delighted him the most¡ªhis Ball of Purity got dense!


    Just a tad bit more, and he might even be able to pierce the thick hide of Rank-3 Beasts with only needles! Other than the increase in density, he could not feel any other changes.


    But he was satisfied nheless; He now had a way to increase his strength.


    Maybe the higher rank Magical Core would bring even more gains.


    Ozul nned to head out home after just testing his hunch, but the excitement felt from getting stronger is now swaying his opinion.


    ¡®Sigh... Grandma Carol will be worrying for me if I do not return early,¡¯ Ozul just shook the thoughts of continuing to get powerful and headed back to the direction from where he came. It was better not to let her old heart have any stress.


    When Ozul came out of the Forest, it was past noon. It took him another half an hour to reach his home.


    Coming in front of his house, He could see Grandma Carol slowly pacing left and right, worry written on her face. Ozul felt warm inside him, seeing that there was someone who genuinely cared about him.


    Ozul¡¯s lips curled upwards for some seconds before returning to the ever-cold expression. These years, he would asionally let out a small smile, but even Grandma Carol had only seen him once with that smile.


    Of course, that was the first time that Ozul received a head pat.


    Anyways, Ozul entered the gate, notifying Grandma Carol as she looked at him, and all her worries disappeared. She smiled warmly at him and came to hug him.


    Ozul let her do that as he could guess that she was quite worried.


    ¡°You did not have any injuries, right? You sure you¡¯re not hurt anywhere? Come on, tell your grandma!¡± Grandma Carol started bombarding him with questions.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, as you can see,¡± Ozul simply replied to her as he just wanted to head in his room and enjoy the absence of sunlight for a bit.


    Taking the cue, Grandma Carol reluctantly released him and also went inside. She would ask him questionster; She knew that he needed rest right now.


    Ozul just slumped down on the bed and slept peacefully.


    . . .


    When he woke up again, he felt refreshed. The Sun had already set.


    Getting out of his room, he went to the living room. He saw that Grandma Carol was still awake and just sewing a white shirt for him.


    In the middle of the night, in front of the firece, an olddy was sewing a white shirt for her grandson¡ªIt couldn¡¯t get any more peaceful.


    Ozul went forward and sat near the couch facing the window.


    Grandma Carol gave him a warm smile and asked,


    ¡°So, you want to tell me about it?¡±- Grandma Carol wanted to know why he would put himself in danger.


    ¡°To get my ¡®parts¡¯ back, I have to get stronger. Killing the Magical Beasts is the only way.¡± ¨C Ozul exined his goal and the reason to venture into the Forest. It was a good thing that the ¡®Impure Mana¡¯ was just ejected out of his body; he would have been disgusted if such filth was inside him.


    ¡°Sigh... you will really give me a heart attack one of these days, young man. So, you will keep going inside the Forest?¡±- Grandma Carol asked thest with obvious worry.


    ¡°I have no choice.¡±- Ozul simply answered. He really could not think of another way to increase his power.


    ¡°Then promise me that you will be safe,¡± Grandma Carol again sighed as she couldn¡¯t think of anything to change Ozul¡¯s mind.


    ¡°I assure you that I will be fine... I will not overstep my boundaries to venture anywhere dangerous,¡± Ozul could only assure her that he will not go to any ce that he cannot handle.


    Grandma Carol again sighed as she focused on the work in her hand. She really can¡¯t help but stress out thinking that Ozul will keep diving into the danger.


    ¡°This young man will be the end of me, Hu... He won¡¯t even care if I die,¡± Grandma Carol started mumbling, but hearing thest part, Ozul narrowed his eyes, and Grandma Carol seeing that, stopped her ramblings, moving her focus back on the shirt.


    This young man had shown only two emotions ever since she saw him. She adored that little smile on his face, but the narrowed eyes would just give her the creeps.


    Ozul spent some time quietly before he moved outside the house to see the ever beautiful night sky. He had to think some things through.


    From tomorrow onwards, he would regrly travel inside the Forest to hunt Rank-3 Beasts.


    Also, it will be helpful for him if he can get money by selling the materials. For that, he also needs money to buy a space ring.


    ¡®I don¡¯t know how to separate the materials from the beasts, and with my abilities alone, I can¡¯t bring the whole corpse back.¡¯- Ozul began to think of a way to make money.


    Selling the Magical Cores is the only way. He can easily take them back to the market and make arge amount of cash. But the problem is that he also needs the Magical Cores to elevate his strength.


    Ozul sighed as he had no other choice but to sell the Magical Cores to buy a spatial item first.


    It is quite tricky to find Rank-3 Magical beasts in the area that he has selected. Yesterday, he took 2 hours just to locate one of them. Ozul would also not venture into a territory where Rank-3 Beasts are abundant because it means that he will also encounter Rank-4 beasts, and he was not ready for them yet.


    Thinking made him quite sleepy. As usual, he was leaning against the tree while gazing at the void.


    Ozul just closed his eyes, and in the next second, he was sleeping.


    Unknown to Ozul, a nket covered him just after the minute he went to sleep.


    ¡®Sigh... This kid will never listen and alwayse out to sleep in the open! Ah... who will take care of him if I ever...¡¯ Grandma Carol started her inner speech while gazing warmly at Ozul¡¯s sleeping face.


    All this time, Grandma Carol could never convince him to sleep under a roof at night. He would nod in agreement if ever discussed but will be found sleeping outside the next night.


    Grandma Carol can¡¯t help but worry what Ozul would do without anyone overseeing him if she ever passed away.


    . . . . .


    The next morning, Ozul woke up, feeling the harsh sunlight on his face. Today was more heated than usual.


    The intense heat changed his mind to go on the hunt today.


    Ozul picked up his nket and went inside. He was going to go inside his room when he heard Grandma Carol¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Ozul, you have to do something for me today. Please go out to buy vegetables. And while you¡¯re at it, why not have a chit chat with kids around your age? Try making friends with them,¡± Grandma Carol said thest part in an almost pleading voice.


    Buying the vegetables was just a ruse. Her real intentions were for Ozul to make friends of his age.


    Listening to her, Ozul paused for a moment before he actually nodded his head and immediately went outside.


    These days, Ozul would usuallyply with most of her requests.


    Walking on the streets, Ozul could see the same bustling town with annoying noises here and there. He sped up his pace, and in several minutes, he was standing in front of the vegetable stall.


    Ozul quickly bought the vegetables and did not heed theter part of Grandma Carol¡¯s request. He did not require any friends. What could he do with them? He was fine without any of those so-called friends.


    It took Ozul just 20 minutes to buy the vegetables and return home.


    Seeing him here so quickly, Grandma Carol sighed at her umpteenth failed attempt in making Ozul friends with kids his age.


    The rest of the day went by like usual, Ozul just kept sleeping and would wake up only to eat.

 Chapter 15

    Knight in a pitch-ck hat?


    When Ozul opened his eyes the next morning, He was delighted by the sight that greeted him.


    Why? It was because there was no sunlight. Instead, you could see dark clouds covering the sky, blocking the sunlight from directly reaching Ozul.


    Cloudy sky¡ªsuch dark rain clouds were also on Ozul¡¯s list of ¡®The Best Experiences¡¯. It could notpare to when it was night, but the rain clouds were a hundred times better than the sunlight directly hitting on Ozul¡¯s face.


    ¡®It will be a good day,¡¯ thought Ozul as he picked up his nket from the ground and went indoors.


    For today, Ozul only had two goals. First, He would venture into the forest, and second, He needs to gather enough Magical Cores to buy a spatial item.


    Ozul ate the breakfast that Grandma Carol had set up. Before leaving, he told her, ¡°I might bete... don¡¯t worry.¡±


    He just left those words before he went out, not letting Grandma Carol ask any questions.


    . . .


    .....


    Walking on the streets, it felt so much better without that annoying filth always itching his face.


    Not long after, Ozul was in front of a shop. This shop was for magical items. There were various things, including but not limited to Inscribed weapons, Mana Recovery Potions, Single-use Spell Scrolls, and the Magical Item that he was looking for, the spatial essory.


    When he went inside the shop, it was empty. Except for the Shop Owner, no one was present at this time.


    Walking towards the shop owner behind the counter, Ozul asked, ¡°Do you have Spatial Storage Items?¡±


    Ozul got straight to the point without any chit-chat.


    ¡°Hm... Ohoho! Of course, we have it. But can you afford it?¡± The Shop Owner was a bit skeptical of Ozul since he just looked like a ten years old kid.


    ¡°Price?¡± Ozul was just here to confirm the price of a Spatial Item. He did not have any money yet, but if he knew the price, he would be able to estimate just how much he would need to sell the Magical Cores.


    ¡°Listen here, kid, the cheapest Spatial Ring costs at least a Gold Coin, and the expensive ones in this shop can even go up to a hundred of Gold Coins. The cheapest one can only hold 5 cubic meters of space inside,¡± the Shop Owner exined the price patiently.


    The customer may look like a child, but he was a professional.


    ¡°Hm. Do you buy Magical Cores of Rank-3 Beasts?¡± Ozul asked after listening to the prices. He now needed to know just how much a Rank-3 Magical Core will profit him.


    ¡°Of course, Do you have any? I can give you 10 Silver Coins for a Core at Rank-3, at Rank-4, you will receive 50 Silvers!¡±, the Shop Owner quickly exined his offer. Rank-3 was the lowest grade for a Magical Core.


    ¡°I will be back,¡± Ozul left those words as he kept thinking of how he would need to exchange at least 10 Magical Cores before being able to afford only the cheapest Spatial essory.


    The problem was not hunting the Magical Beasts at Rank-3; it was finding them. He would not risk his life by tracking them in the area where even Rank-4 Beasts roam. Each advancement in the Ranks of Magical Beasts brings them a significant boost in their power.


    Ozul was not sure if he could even prate the thick hide of Rank-4 Magical Beasts with the des.


    It will take hours just to farm this amount of Magical Cores, and he still has to improve his strength.


    It was a long day ahead of Ozul as he sighed and went in the direction of the Forest. Only the dark rain clouds above his head were holding him back from abandoning his mission.


    Entering the Forest, Ozul did not waste a minute before he started looking for Rank-3 Beasts.


    The Forest was vast. Only the part Ozul was hunting in, spanned a couple of miles! And this Forest still hid areas where many of the Rank-7 Beasts roamed! Everyone in the kingdom called it, ¡°The Forest of the West.¡± Obviously, a simple name considering that the Forest was located to the West of the Capital City.


    Ozul spent at least an hour before only finding a Rank-3 Beast. They were scarce in this section of the Forest.


    Sadly, Ozul had to go back home as it was prettyte, and Grandma Carol will start to worry.


    Ozul only obtained 4 Magical Cores after the past 7 hours.


    ¡®I won¡¯t sell these 4 Cores as I can also just increase my capabilities, and next time hunt in the area where Rank-4 Beasts can be found,¡¯ Ozul contemted his options before he picked the obvious choice.


    One by one, Ozul started devouring the Cores. After just eating the 3rd Core, Ozul guessed that he would easily be able to survive a Rank-4 Beast. He then swallowed thest Core before heading towards the town.


    ¡®I also need to devour Cores of higher Ranks as the increment each time is declining,¡¯ Ozul had also faced this problem. But from tomorrow onwards, he could also hunt Rank-4 Beasts, so it was not a big deal.


    Ozul took another half an hour before he was on the streets of the town. Walking back home, Ozul could hear the thundering sounds in the skies as the atmosphere kept getting darker¡ªit was about to rain.


    Ozul was fine with anything as long as the darkness in the surroundings increased.


    Walking back, Ozul passed a dark alleyway when he suddenly halted his footsteps. He heard the screams of a child when he decided to check it out.


    In the alleyway,


    ¡°Stop. Resisting! Bitch! Give up now, will ya! I can make so much money by selling you off as a ve! hehehe...¡±- Spat a thug in a harsh voice.


    He looked disgusting just by his expression and wore dirty, torn clothes. He had greasy, unkempt hair.


    Right now, the thug was trying to restrain a little kid as the kid kept resisting.


    On a closer look, it was a little girl who looked around nine years old. The girl had short ck hair; She did not have any proper clothes but only a rag.


    She was crying as she kept shouting for help.


    Seeing the whole event, Ozul walked towards the thug.


    ¡®


    Sigh...


    It will leave a bad taste in my mouth...¡¯ Ozul started thinking.


    Usually, Ozul would not go out of his way for others since it would not benefit him. But this time the situation was peculiar¡ªhe noticed that she was only a little girl, and Ozul had seen it happening.


    If he did not save her, it would just leave a bad taste in his mouth. Besides, he was losing nothing by killing a random insect.


    Even though most people frowned upon the act of very, it was still a legal act. Once sold out as a ve, your whole life would be meaningless.


    Walking up to the thug, Ozul tapped on the guy¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Huh! Who are you, brat! Mind your own business! F*ck off now!¡±- The thug furiously shouted when he saw a kid wearing a conical ck hat was bothering him.


    The girl was also stunned by seeing someone here. Even though only a kid just like her, she held a little hope.


    ¡°Let her go,¡± Ozul simply wanted to end as soon as possible.


    ¡°Huh?! Ya Wanna be A Hero or something?!¡± The thug took out a rusty old dagger from his pockets.


    Seeing that talking out the situation will only escte it, Ozul had enough of the trash.


    Ozul¡¯s hat suddenly turned into a liquid before materializing into a sharp de and rushed towards the thug¡¯s throat.


    It all happened in a second. Before the thug knew it, his lifeless body slumped down on the ground. The thug wasn¡¯t even a Fighter. Though even if he were, the oue of the situation would not be any different.


    ¡°You were filthier, in this already filthy world. May your soul never ceases to find peace.¡± ¨C Ozul said those words before he turned around, about to head back.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C


    The victim of the situation, the ck-haired girl, was stunned that just a minute ago she was struggling and now she was... free? That big brother killed the thug in a matter of seconds! How can someone be so Strong?


    She was just a nine years old kid, and kids will think anything thates to their minds. But she was mature for her age, she quickly got out of her daze and looked back at the mister that saved her.


    He was the first person ever to give her a sense of... safety and hope after her parents.


    But seeing that the back of her only hope was moving away from her as the raindrops began to fall onto his figure¡ªshe felt as if she did not follow that reliable back, she would lose it forever.


    Standing up, she started walking behind that big brother. Well, more like limping towards him. Looking at her right leg, she was stabbed by a piece of ss. The wound was hurting with each step that she took.


    However, she did not stop even if it hurt like hell. She had lost too much already, and she won¡¯t let go of her only hope now.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C


    After finishing the matter in the alleyway, Ozul was now walking towards his home when he noticed that the girl he saved earlier was now limping behind him.


    Ozul did not mind her presence behind him and kept walking forward. The girl could have her home in the same direction, so why would he care?


    It did not take long for Ozul to notice that the girl was actually following him! Turning around to face her,


    ¡°What?¡± Ozul coldly asked her. He did not want to waste his time on the little girl.


    ¡°... Oh... N-nothing!¡±- The ck-haired girl was startled before she gave out a random response after not being able to think of any. How could she tell him that she wanted to follow him?


    ¡°Whatever,¡± Ozul did not know why she was following him, but... he would not care either way. Unless she were to harm him, Ozul would not give a damn about her.


    Ozul kept walking before he noticed that the girl was bleeding, and so much blood loss can cause her death!


    ¡®Sigh... if she really follows me back, Grandma Carol will see her. She will start lecturing on how I should treat my


    friends


    . Well, if Grandma Carol thinks that she is my friend, at least one of my problems will be solved...¡¯ ¨C Ozul began contemting his next action.


    But seeing that the girl might actually die of blood loss, he just willed it, and a part of the ck hat turned into liquid before rushing towards the girl. It wrapped around the wound and stopped the bleeding.


    Other than that, Ozul did not even look back at her again.


    The girl, seeing the ck mass rushing towards her, was afraid for a second, thinking that she might have angered the mister.


    However, noticing it wrap around her wound like a bandage, the girl smiled sweetly before following Ozul with a newfound strength.


    Several minutester, Ozul arrived at home, followed by the ck-haired girl.


    .....

 Chapter 16

    Friend?


    Entering the gate, Ozul noticed that Grandma Carol was pacing around as she held an umbre. Clearly, even after exining to her that he will bete, she could not help but be anxious.


    Noticing his arrival, Grandma Carol sweetly smiled at him before she saw that a ck-haired girl was following behind him.


    As both Ozul and girl neared, Grandma Carol turned her teasing mode,


    ¡°Ara ara... Already bringing a girl home. Aren¡¯t you too young for it, young man? At least introduce her to your grandma,¡± Grandma Carol was certainly notining if Ozul could hang out with kids his age.


    ¡°She just followed me back,¡± Ozul did not mind any of her teasings. Looking back at the girl, Ozul could feel... expectations from the girl. Expectations for what?¡ªHe didn¡¯t know and wouldn¡¯t bother to know either.


    Ozul shook his head and just went towards his favorite tree before sitting under it and resting his back against it.


    It was raining, so there was no sunlight, and what better time to enjoy himself than now?


    Grandma Carol was left standing at the doorsteps. Every time it rains, Ozul will not listen to one bit of her ramblings and spend his day while sitting outside.


    .....


    She then looked at the girl who just kept standing there looking here and there.


    On closer inspection, Grandma Carol noticed that the girl was in bad condition. She had some cuts and scrapes in different ces.


    Noticing how the girl kept stealing nces at Ozul, Grandma Carol smirked. She had her 72 years of wisdom working and could already guess the gist of the situation.


    ¡®Oho... my cold prince saved a girl in distress.¡¯ Grandma Carol suddenly had a light shining in her eyes as she started operating her mind gears.


    Looking back at the girl, Grandma Carol asked her name.


    ¡°Hm. What is your name, lovelydy?¡± ¨C Grandma Carol used a polite tone as not to scare the girl away.


    ¡°Ee... M-my n-name is Raven.¡±- Raven was startled as she kept stuttering after being addressed by the kind-looking olddy.


    ¡°Aw... no need to be afraid, little Raven. Why don¡¯t youe inside the house so we can do something about your condition?¡± Grandma Carol.


    ¡°I... I am fine!¡±- Raven was reluctant to leave Ozul out of her sight. She was afraid that she might lose him if he went outside her vision.


    Grandma Carol, noticing that the girl was hesitant, came near the girl and said something in her ears.


    Immediately afterward, the girl quietly followed her inside while she kept blushing while looking downwards. It was as if she was a thief caught in the act.


    Noticing the act, Ozul was curious as to what Grandma Carol said in her ears, but then he just shook his head and closed his eyes. The water drops hitting on the hat did not bother him.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C


    Inside the house, Grandma Carol was helping Raven clean her injuries as she asked her questions.


    ¡°So little Raven, where do you live?¡± Grandma Carol.


    ¡°... I... live on the streets.¡± ¨C Raven said in shaming, thinking that it may disgust the olddy.


    ¡°Ah, I am sorry... Do you not have any rtives?¡± Grandma Carol was stunned, hearing that the fragile-looking girl lived on the streets!


    ¡°N-no. Everyone died when the Monsters attacked the vige...¡± Raven dejectedly exined that she lived in a vige near the town.


    Unfortunately, Beasts had suddenly attacked the vige, and everyone died except for a few who managed to run away. Raven herself managed to escape only because of her parents who died trying to protect others.


    No one could figure out why the Beasts would suddenly attack a settlement.


    ¡°So... you have nowhere to go, huh. Why don¡¯t you live with us?¡± Grandma Carol asked as she had decided to make her stay at all costs.


    ¡°Come on! Besides, there is no one else that my grandson spends his time with,¡± Grandma Carol urged her when she saw that Raven was hesitating in making a decision.


    ¡°... Thanks,¡± Raven meekly muttered as she bowed. Thest part that Grandma Carol said was the final hit on the nail for Raven to ept the invitation.


    Looking at her still ragged clothes, Grandma Carol smiled kindly before,


    ¡°Wait... I only have Ozul¡¯s clothes that may fit you...¡± She began her ramblings on what clothes to give to Raven.


    ¡°...Ano... He... he is still outside. Won¡¯t he catch a cold?¡± Raven interrupted her as she was genuinely worried about the Big brother that saved her.


    Hearing the concern in her sweet voice, Grandma Carol smirked in her mind.


    ¡®Hehe... It will be easy to teach her.¡¯ ¨C Grandma Carol was happy that she might achieve her goal with this.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that boy always remains outside whenever there is no light. Honestly, even I was surprised to find out that he would never get sick even in harsh weather,¡± Grandma Carol exined to Raven as it might ease her worries.


    Raven went to change into the clothes provided by Grandma Carol.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C


    Outside the house, Ozul was just lying resting his back against the trunk of the tree. He was not asleep, though.


    When he heard the footstepsing towards him, he opened his eyes to look at the person.


    Grandma Carol came near Ozul and said,


    ¡°She will be living with us from today onwards.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Ozul asked as he was wondering why the girl would be staying with them.


    ¡°She lost her parents, and there is nowhere for her to return. Besides, She is your f.r.i.e.n.d, right?¡± ¨C She said thest part while pressing each letter.


    ¡°No-... She is my friend, right.¡± ¨C Ozul corrected himself just as he was about to mess up. If Ozul told her that he wasn¡¯t friends with Raven, Grandma Carol would again start to force things on him.


    Unknown to Ozul, Grandma Carol already knew that Ozul was not so friendly with Raven. But at the very least, he interacted with someone of his age.


    ¡®Well, whatever. As long as the girl is not annoying,¡¯ Ozul thought as he really did not care. As long as she does not disturb him, it¡¯s okay with him.


    After informing Ozul, Grandma Carol went back inside. Unlike Ozul, She had frail health, and it could worsen at any time.


    Walking back inside, Grandma Carol saw Raven was sniffing on the shirt that formerly belonged to Ozul.


    Smirking, she coughed and said,


    ¡°Is it nice?¡±


    ¡°Yes... N-no! I don¡¯t like the smell at all!¡± Startled, Raven slipped her tongue before her ears went red with shame.


    ¡°Hm? What are you talking about? I am asking if you like the clothes?¡±


    ¡°O-oh! Yes! They are nice.¡± Raven said as she sighed in relief, thinking she was not caught.


    ¡°Is that so... Anyway, it¡¯s almost dark, so let¡¯s make dinner.¡±


    ¡°Uhm... I don¡¯t know how to...¡± Raven was only nine years old. She did not know how to cook.


    ¡°I am not telling you to make dinner; You will only help me,¡± Grandma Carol assured her. She had felt that her health these days was getting more serious.


    She hoped that if something happened to her, someone would be there to apany Ozul.


    They both went to make dinner. After 30 minutes or so, dinner was ready.


    ¡°Go call Ozul, say that the dinner is ready.¡± Grandma Carol ordered Raven as thetter dashed outside.


    Walking out, Raven noticed that the rain had already stopped. But Ozul was lying in the same position as before.


    Nearing Ozul, Raven did not know how to start the conversation.


    ¡°Hey... Uhm... dinner is ready, pleasee inside,¡± Raven nervously spoke to Ozul.


    ¡°Hm,¡± Ozul only hummed in response. He had already woken up hearing the footsteps.


    He stood up and started to go inside.


    Raven just followed him back while she was thinking about some things. Such as, she had seen that both of Ozul¡¯s arms were only prosthetics. She was wondering what had happened to him to cause such severe damage.


    During the dinner, Grandma Carol kept making small talks with Raven while Ozul just quietly listened from the sidelines.


    After finishing the food, Ozul sat up and again left for his usual spot under the tree. Meanwhile, Raven was intensely watching Ozul as he went outside.


    ¡°Why is he going back outside? Isn¡¯t it almost night?¡± Raven asked. She was curious about everything rted to Ozul.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that kid has never slept under a roof when it is nighttime,¡± No matter how much she tried, Ozul never once slept inside his room when the time came. Grandma Carol could do nothing to change his mind.


    ¡°You go to sleep in his room. It¡¯s not like he ever used it at night.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Raven sat up and went toward Ozul¡¯s room.


    Closing the door, Raven saw that there was nothing special, just a regr bed and windows with curtains on them.


    She went towards the window and slid the curtain to have a look outside. There Raven saw how Ozul was again lying in the same position but this time, watching the sky.


    Even though Grandma Carol assured her that Ozul would be fine, Raven could not help but be concerned about him.


    She picked up a nket and went outside,


    Walking near Ozul, She nervously stood beside him.


    ¡°Um... Yes! Grandma told me to give this to you,¡± Raven quickly found an excuse, and before letting Ozul answer, She hurriedly covered him and ran back.


    Just as Raven entered, she saw Grandma Carol smiling at her while she also held a nket.


    .....


    ¡°Ara ara... You were worried about him? It¡¯s okay here, take this one,¡± Grandma Carol gave her the nket that she was holding. She patted Raven¡¯s head before walking back to her room.


    Raven, blushing to the ears, walked back inside her room and went to sleep.

 Chapter 17

    Take me!


    Waking up early in the morning, Ozul took the nket with him and went inside his room.


    Just as he opened the room, Ozul saw that the Raven girl was upying it. Seeing no other way around it, he went near the bed, pushed Raven down, and then copsed down on it.


    Raven, who woke up due to suddenly dropping on the ground, stood up, trying to look for the source of her suffering.


    When she spotted that Ozul was instead lying on the bed, she looked at him tearfully.


    Ozul, noticing that the Raven girl was starting to tear up, hurriedly stood up, and went in front of her before he began to pat her head to stop her from crying.


    ¡®If she began to cry out loud, Grandma Carol will lecture me to no end,¡¯ Ozul had no other choice but to pat her head. He had seen parents on the streets pat their children¡¯s heads to stop them from crying. So, he thought that it might work.


    Fortunately for him, his pat worked wonders.


    Raven, who was the victim of the situation, went bright red. Her ears and cheeks seemed even redder than a tomato! Though her thoughts remained unknown.


    .....


    Raven was in bliss when she noticed that Ozul had removed his hand from her head, and was now going back to sleep.


    Now Raven, who had just woken up, could not go back to sleep since Ozul had seized the bed.


    Luckily for her, Grandma Carol was also awake. So, she just went to help with her gardening.


    . . .


    The next time that Ozul woke up was when Raven came to call him for breakfast. He stood up and freshened himself before eating breakfast.


    After finishing the food, Ozul told Grandma Carol,


    ¡°I will probably bete. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Take care of yourself and don¡¯t wander deep into the forest,¡± Grandma Carol thought, still worried as no matter what, Ozul was still just a ten years old kid.


    Ozul left the house, but just as he was about to move through the gate, Raven came rushing at him.


    ¡°Wait! Can I go with you?¡± ¨C Raven could not help but feel anxious that he would be gone for the whole day.


    ¡°Hm? No.¡± ¨C Ozul simply found it a bother to bring the girl with him.


    ¡°W-why?¡± ¨C Raven was startled with his direct rejection but probed the reason.


    ¡°Are you a Mage? No. A Fighter? No.¡± ¨C Ozul asked her the question knowing that she wasn¡¯t any of that. If Raven were a Mage or a Fighter, she wouldn¡¯t have been in a situation where she needed Ozul to help her.


    ¡°I c-can be a Mage!¡± ¨C Raven showed her determination to tread the path of the Mage just toe with him.


    ¡°Hm? You know how to?¡± ¨C Ozul was surprised that Raven knew the practice to be a Mage.


    ¡°Yes! My father was the vige leader; he had told me many things!¡± Raven cheerfully replied, noticing that for the first time, Ozul had an interest in the conversation.


    She then continued,


    ¡°He had taught me a rare technique. I know it all! Father said that it was from my mother, who was also a Mage!¡± Raven exined how she could be a Mage.


    ¡°When you do, I will take you.¡± Ozul simply told her the case.


    Before waiting for her to reply, Ozul took his leave. Not caring about the dejected Raven as she kept staring at his back.


    ¡®I will get stronger!¡¯ ¨C Raven resolved herself before she went back to help Grandma Carol.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C


    Walking into the woods, Ozul was vignt because the area that he was hunting in also had some Rank-5 Beasts. Even though the forest was vast, finding individual sections where only Rank-4 Beasts reigned supreme was difficult, not to mention that those areas could be hundreds of miles away from him.


    Hence, there was nothing Ozul could do but pick the region where the least amount of Rank-5 Beasts were seen.


    Rank-5 Beasts in this area were pretty rare. Ozul could only depend on his luck to not encounter one.


    ¡®No need to bother about it now,¡¯ Ozul thought as he began looking for Rank-3 or Rank-4 Beasts.


    Only fifteen minutester, Ozul found his first target.


    It was an Earth Bear, a Rank-4 Beast. From the name, you could tell that the beast had Magical Spells rted to the Earth Element.


    It would be a new experience because his opponent, this time, had Spells.


    Ozul tried to sneak in on the beast to finish it quickly, but the Bear¡¯s senses and instincts were sharp!


    The Bear quickly turned around and prepared himself as he sensed that someone ambushed him.


    Seeing that his attack had failed, Ozul did not panic. He quickly created several jet-ck des from Ball of Purity and directed some of them to thrust towards the Earth Bear.


    But the Earth Bear generated a mud wall that blocked the des. The Bear then roared before it directed a big rock nearby to surge towards Ozul.


    Ozul could not direct the des stuck in the mud wall as it would be toote. Fortunately, He had kept half of the Ball of Purity with him.


    Ozul created a shield in front of him to block the rock whilemanding the des towards the Bear.


    The Earth Bear was confident in his attack that he never thought that those des stuck in the mud wall would suddenly thrust towards him.


    Before it could react, The des already split open its head, and with a thud, the Earth Bear dropped on the ground.


    All the fight took was about half a minute! In nearly thirty seconds, the Rank-4 Earth Bear was dead.


    Ozul arrived next to the corpse to collect his prize. He willed one of the des to cut open the chest of the Bear.


    Immediately, Ozul could see the little ball holding refined Mana. If the Core obtained from the Rank-3 Beast was only the size of a nail, this Core of a Rank-4 Beast was only slightly bigger.


    If you were not concentrated enough, you might not even be able to differentiate between them.


    Ozul again had two choices,


    1: He absorbs this Core¡ªincreasing his strength even just by a little bit.


    2: He stores this Core and sells it when he has enough of them to buy a Spatial Ring.


    ¡®It¡¯s not like I¡¯m in an urgent need of money. I should just get stronger...¡¯- Ozul contemted in his mind and chose the former option.


    Wealth was essential, but for now, he does not need it. Maybe soon, but not now.


    Ozul just put the Core in his mouth and swallowed it. Only the next second, Ozul could feel the changes in his body when suddenly, a burst of raw Mana released from him to enter the atmosphere.


    Rechecking his body, Ozul concluded that maybe he could even fight with a Rank-1 Beast, only using his body.


    But it was useless for him, though. The Reason? It¡¯s because Ozul never uses his body in a fight.


    The benefits were that a more durable body could take more damage. A Sturdier frame will stay in the fight for longer than a frail body even if the participants only use Spells.


    Moreover, if you are fast enough, you could dodge attacks that you could not be able to block.


    They were negligible now, but in the long term, there were only pros to the upgrade of his physical abilities.


    The density of his Ball of Purity also increased. Ozul guessed that it might require about 15 or so Cores of Beasts at Rank-4 for him to be able to fight a Rank-5 Beast easily.


    Ozul again started to look for a target.


    Unfortunately, even after 3 hours, he did not encounter any other Rank-4 Beast.


    All he could encounter were Rank-3 beasts.


    Ozul found 5 of them, but he discovered that eating a Core at Rank-3 provided no gains for him this time. Ozul stored the other 4 Cores to sell for a Spatial Ring.


    It was no use for him to absorb them, but selling them will earn him 40 Silver Coins.


    Ozul needed to head back home now. He had spent about 4 hours in the forest and walking back to the town from this area will take another hour.


    His hunting area this time was quite far away from the town. So, Ozul decided to end the day.


    Heading back, Ozul encountered only Rank-1 or Rank-2 Beasts; he effortlessly dealt with them.


    When he was back in the town, it was already past noon. Ozul sped up his pace, and in several minutes, he was back home.


    This time, Ozul could see not only Grandma Carol but also that Raven girl pacing around the front door with anxious expressions.


    As exined earlier, Ozul was proficient in perceiving the emotions of others. That Raven girl was not pretending¡ªshe was genuinely worried for him.


    When he entered through the gate, Both thedies sighed in relief as Grandma Carol finally sat on the wooden chair at the side.


    Ozul watching Grandma Carol resting, narrowed his eyes while he began to think,


    ¡®She physically became tired after worrying about me... her health is only getting worse... the physician also said that it was only due to her age and he could not do anything,¡¯ Ozul and Grandma Carol had already consulted a reliable physician.


    ¡®Maybe I should not go to the forest every day? It¡¯s not like I am in a hurry to increase my strength. Actually, I always feel like I have all the time in this world to get my ¡®parts¡¯ back,¡¯ Ozul, atst, decided not to hunt every day.


    Ozul then arrived next to Grandma Carol as he faced Raven and said,


    ¡°Get her a ss of water,¡± Ozul inly said, pointing towards Grandma Carol.


    Listening to Ozul order, Raven did not blink an eye before rushing inside. She then brought the water for Grandma Carol.


    Grandma Carol took the ss from Raven. After drinking it, she started talking,


    .....


    ¡°Fufu... You don¡¯t need to worry about this frail olddy, Ozul. It¡¯s not like I can liv...¡±- Grandma Carols¡¯ words were stuck in her mouth as she received a re from Ozul.


    The sun was still up. So, Ozul walked back into the house to get some sleep.


    Walking back to his room, Ozul closed the door and copsed on the bed before entering the dream world.


    His dreams, though, were only for him to dream and for others to guess.

 Chapter 18

    Parts or Potions?


    It was already dinner time when Ozul next woke up. Getting out of his room, he could see that the food was set on the table.


    Grandma Carol had eaten, and now she was sewing white shirts for Ozul.


    Ozul quickly finished his food and went out of the house. He was wondering why the Raven girl was not present during the dinner.


    But he received his answer when he walked outside to see her in a meditative position sitting just at the side of his favorite spot.


    ¡®She must be practicing to be a Mage, huh. Is that how you do it? Whatever...¡¯ ¨C Ozul wondered before he pushed the curiosity out of mind and sat at his usual spot.


    Just as Ozul was watching the sky, from his side, Raven opened her eyes. Raven got startled when she saw that he was lying just by her. Only a little bit of movement from any party and their shoulders wille in contact.


    Raven looked at Ozul¡¯s face that was staring at the faraway stars, or was it something else?


    She was in a trance after looking at the epitome of perfection. Raven felt her heart beating faster. Ozul was not wearing the hat; nothing was stopping Raven to stare at the wless being in front of her eyes.


    .....


    At least for Raven, there was nothing more perfect than Ozul in this world.


    Getting out of her daze when Ozul nced at her, Raven suddenly spoke out.


    ¡°H-hey! I am close to creating my Magical Core. Maybe in a few days, I will be a Rank-1 Mage!¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°Then, I cane with you, right?¡± ¨C Raven asked expectantly. She was not bothered by Ozul¡¯s dull reply.


    ¡°Maybe.¡±


    ¡°What?! But... but you promised me!¡± Raven was nervous that Ozul might not take her at all.


    ¡°Why do you even want toe with me?¡± Ozul was curious as to why Raven was so intent to join him.


    ¡°T-that... You don¡¯t need to know! I can do everything that you order me! I can be very helpful!¡±- Raven began to persuade Ozul when she thought that he might reject her again.


    ¡°Anything?... Okay,¡± When Ozul gave it some thought, he found it interesting to just sit around and have others do work for him.


    Anyways, Ozul never liked to work himself. He does it out of necessity.


    ¡®Now that I think about it... I can just make people do my work... Hmm... It¡¯s decided then.¡¯- Ozul thought of making a group of people that can do work for him while he just sits around doing nothing but sleep.


    ¡®Only... where can I find such people to work for me?¡¯ It was the only problem Ozul faced.


    Raven, who had heard Ozul, was lost in her thoughts about what Ozul meant when he said ¡°Anything?¡±


    But she just dismissed her thoughts when she saw that Ozul had again closed his eyes.


    Raven kept looking at Ozul¡¯s face as hesitation appeared on her face. It was like she was contemting doing something or not. After a while, as if Raven had resolved herself, she spoke out.


    ¡°Ozul... Oh, Can I call you that?¡±- Raven suddenly remembered that she had never called him by his name.


    ¡°Hm.¡± Ozul just nodded his head and opened his eyes.


    ¡°Can I ask you a question, Ozul?¡±- Happy that he did not reject, Raven now wanted to ask her original question.


    Ozul again just nodded his head.


    ¡°Why do you like darkness so much?¡±- This question was bothering Raven from when she realized that Ozul always likes dark ces. She was observant, alright! In just two days, Raven could tell what Ozul liked the most.


    ¡°Why, indeed?¡± Hearing her question, Ozul asked himself if he knew the answer. All this time, he was wondering about himself, but he never asked such a simple matter to himself.


    Giving it a thought, Ozul always just feels morefortable and secure when the nothingness envelops him. When there were no impurities near him, or at least when they were kept minimum, Ozul felt protected.


    It was just like Raven wanted to be near Ozul to feel secure. Only when alone would Ozul understand more about himself.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because... here in the darkness, I just know myself... know myself a little more...¡± Ozul muttered to himself. His words flowed through the wind as it felt like a mncholic melody was sung from a flute.


    Raven, who heard Ozul, suddenly felt a jolt of pain pass through her heart. She suddenly wanted to wrap the innocent being in front of her into a warm hug and let him express all his grievances.


    She got out of her stupor when she heard the footsteps that belonged to Grandma Carol.


    She was standing at the doorsteps looking over Raven and Ozul with a warm motherly smile.


    Raven hurriedly stood up and went towards Grandma Carol.


    ¡°It¡¯s gettingte, youngdy. Go and sleep. I will give him the nket,¡± Grandma Carol hade here to remind Raven that it was almost midnight.


    Grandma Carol gave Ozul the nket before she smiled at him and went back inside.


    . . .


    Waking up the next morning, Ozul again saw clouds in the sky.


    But he was not nning to hunt for the day. So, Ozul just ate breakfast, and before leaving, he assured Grandma Carol that he was just going to go for a walk on the streets.


    Actually, Ozul was nning to sell the Rank-3 Cores that he had obtained yesterday.


    Ozul arrived at the shop for Magical Items. He entered it, but this time, there was an unusual amount of people in the shop.


    He did not mind them and went straight towards the Shop Owner. Ozul put the Rank-3 Cores on the counter before he asked for the money.


    The Shop Owner seeing the four Rank-3 Cores in front of him went wide-eyed. He was surprised not because of the Cores, but because it was a kid that brought them! But that surprise suddenly turned into something else...


    ¡®Hmm? Malicious intent?... Oh. Greed, huh,¡¯ Ozul, who was sensitive to the emotions, immediately knew what the Shop Owner was thinking. But he did not pay any heed to it¡ªhe was pretty confident to deal with small problems like these.


    The Shop Owner also just gave Ozul 40 Silver Coins; his thoughts were unknown as he gave a fake smile to Ozul.


    ¡°Here you go, kid. Have a beautiful day,¡± The Shop Owner said to Ozul before moving on to other customers.


    Ozul, who received his money, was just about to leave when he suddenly heard a conversation between some of the people in the shop.


    ¡°Haha... See this? This new Potion costs 50 Silvers!¡± said a short guy, while showing a ss vial in his hands. There was a purplish liquid inside that vial.


    Gazing at that purple vial, Ozul suddenly had a sense of familiarity from it!


    ¡®It¡¯s familiar, wait... familiar... my parts! But how?¡¯- Ozul suddenly had this thought that the purple vial was somehow rted to his parts.


    Ozul¡¯s senses had never lied to him. So, he became interested in their conversation. Listening closely,


    ¡°Huh? Is it a new potion? But why is it so expensive?¡±- the fat guy asked curiously.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know, fatty? Are you living under a rock? This Potion given by the Church of Light is like another life!¡± the short guy said to the fatty in wonder. He then continued,


    ¡°This is a health potion! It can instantly heal any recent small injury! It is a life-saving treasure for mercenaries like us!¡±


    ¡°What!? Heal recent injuries? When did such a thing happen!¡±- asked the fatty in disbelief.


    ¡°This is only a downgraded version though! They do not circte the better ones to people without connections.¡±- the short man said as he was unhappy, not to be able to get a hand on better ones.


    Ozul did not listen any further. He already guessed what those despicable people were doing with his ¡®parts¡¯.


    Somehow, those filthy humans had extracted the essence of healing from his parts! They probably did that regrly to be able to create so many of these potions!


    ¡®Church of Light... Sigh... it¡¯s gotten moreplicated.¡±- Ozul had heard about the Church of Light. Apparently, they worshipped some God of Light.


    From what Ozul had heard, the Church of Light was one of the top powers in the Maind! All the people in the Church of Light were Mages who focused on the Light Element.


    Ozul was just confused as to why and how did his ¡®parts¡¯ get in their hands.


    ¡®If they have my part, then there is also the possibility that somehow my ¡®parts¡¯ are in the custody of different powers...¡¯- Ozul had to keep that possibility in his mind. It did not make any sense for his ¡®father¡¯ who was a Duke in the Silverbird Kingdom just to give his parts to other parties.


    The standing of the Silverbird Kingdom in the Maind was not any lower than the Church. It was just that the Church had its influence all over the Maind.


    ¡®Something must have happened...¡¯ Ozul thought that something unexpected must¡¯ve happened for the situation to get thisplicated.


    Ozul again sighed in his mind before he left the store to go back home.


    He had done too much thinking in just this short amount of time. Only sleep could cancel out the ¡®negative effects¡¯ of his thinking.


    Even though he did not show it on his face, Ozul was in a bad mood. He did not feel right whenever he thought that those filthy humans were experimenting on his parts.


    In a bad mood, Ozul just entered through the gate andid under the tree. He did not bother with anyone else. Dark clouds were already above his head. So, there was no sunlight bothering him.


    Only a secondte, Ozul fell asleep.

 Chapter 19

    You look lovely.


    Opening his eyes again, It was dark. Ozul stood up and wanted to check on Grandma Carol.


    Walking into the living room, he saw that she was again sewing a white shirt. She kindly smiled at him when he sat next to her.


    ¡°You seem down. What happened?¡± Grandma Carol was the only person who, even from his expressionless face, could tell that he was not in a good mood.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Ozul did not want to worry her.


    Ozul did not say anything else and just sat in silence while Grandma Carol kept stitching.


    After a while, Ozul quietly stood up and again went outside. Outside in the garden, Raven was again meditating next to his usual spot.


    He sat down while he gazed up in the sky. Ozul started thinking, but sometimeter, he shook every thought out of his mind.


    ¡®I can¡¯t gain anything by thinking. I can¡¯t do anything right now. It¡¯s better if I just wait it out.¡¯- Ozul did not want to think about things that he could not solve.


    .....


    It was at this time when Raven opened her eyes and smiled beautifully, seeing Ozul beside her.


    ¡°Hey! Ozul, Which element do you think I should focus on?¡±- Raven asked as she couldn¡¯t think of any element that she especially wanted to concentrate on.


    ¡°Darkness,¡± Ozul said. He knew all other things were but impurities. Only the emptiness had no filth.


    ¡°Eh...?! But isn¡¯t it like... evil?¡±- Raven was confused as it was justmon knowledge that darkness was an evil Element.


    ¡°Evil? Why do you think it¡¯s evil?¡±- Ozul wanted her to realize things on her own.


    ¡°Um... Many Evil Mages used Darkness Element in the past?¡±- Raven nervously replied.


    ¡°Evil Mages used Darkness Element. So, did the Evil Mages not wear clothes? Did they not breathe air? Did they not use Mana in the atmosphere? Why are all those things not evil?¡±- Ozul calmly exined to her.


    ¡°But if you¡¯re afraid of being judged... judged by some sheep, it¡¯s your choice.¡±- Ozul gave her a simple choice.


    Hearing Ozul¡¯s earlier words, Raven was stunned. It was true; all those Evil Mages also breathed air. Yet no one calls it evil.


    But hearing that she was afraid of some sheep judging her, Raven did not hesitate anymore and decided that Darkness Element would be her path.


    Seeing her resolve, Ozul said thest part.


    ¡°Besides, in this world, nothing is pure ¡ª a contradicting sentence...because only ¡®Nothing¡¯ is pure. Only the absence of all is genuine. Darkness is the closest thing to the emptiness that you can wield.¡± Ozul exined to Raven his insights on this ¡®filthy¡¯ world.


    But it shook Raven. Raven did not doubt any word that Ozul had said, but it was just too shocking for her to hear that Ozul considered anything that existed to be impure!


    Ozul just closed his eyes as he had nothing more to say.


    Raven took some time before she could digest the words. She then stood up and went inside to sleep as Grandma Carol would be worried about her.


    . . .


    The next day went by, and nothing unusual happened. Ozul did not go hunting today, either.


    He only slept and helped Grandma Carol with minor tasks.


    Night came, and Ozul again went to the living room and sat near Grandma Carol as she was still sewing a white shirt, albeit it was not Ozul¡¯s size but bigger.


    Ozul did not say a word, and you could only hear the sound of fire burning at the firece until Grandma Carol spoke.


    ¡°You do not go to the forest because of me, right?¡± Grandma Carol could observe that Ozul was not going to the forest because of her. She then continued without waiting for his reply.


    ¡°Be yourself, Ozul. Don¡¯t worry about my health,¡± Grandma Carol said with a weak smile, and continued,


    ¡°And start smiling a little more. You look lovely, smiling,¡± Grandma Carol patted Ozul¡¯s head and then turned her focus into sewing.


    Ozul listened to her quietly and took his time until he left for outside.


    He saw that Raven was meditating at her usual spot near the tree. Just as heid, Raven opened her eyes and looked at him with a smile.


    ¡°I keep getting a feeling that the Core will emerge any minute!¡± Raven excitedly told Ozul. If she bes a Mage, Ozul will definitely take her with him!


    ¡°Slow.¡±- This time Ozul actually said a little bit of harsh truth. Raven had told him that she was training for three years! Only now was the Core near thepletion!


    Talented people will only take one year! Three years was only above average. Besides, Ozul required more than just above ordinary people.


    Raven hearing that her progress was slow became downcast until she again resolved herself and decided to work harder next time.


    She then stood up to go to sleep.


    Ozul also slept, but the next morning was not so usual. Things changed...


    . . .


    Ozul was just waking up because of the sound of rain. He was going to sit up when,


    ¡±


    Ahhh!


    ¡°- Ozul heard the scream of Raven.


    Thinking something must¡¯ve happened, Ozul rushed towards the house when he heard Raven¡¯s sobs,


    ¡°G-grandma *sniff*... Wake up.... *sniff*...plea...¡±- The voices wereing from Grandma Carol¡¯s room.


    Ozul entered and saw that Grandma Carol was lying on her bed with a peaceful expression on her face, while Raven sat next to her holding her hand and sobbing.


    Nearing her peaceful figure, Ozul slowly shook her. Getting no reaction whatsoever, he checked her pulse, then her heartbeat.


    There was nothing...


    Only the sound of Raven weeping was heard in the room.


    Ozul just stood there, staring at Grandma Carol. The unfinished white shirt was just left at the side of the bed.


    No one knew how much time passed before Ozul moved. He went outside in the rain and stared at those flowers.


    Ozul then left to call some people who had be acquaintances with Grandma Carol over the years.


    While it was raining, the funeral was held.


    They buried her in themon graveyard nearby.


    Some people, like Mr. Smith, came to give their condolences. Only Raven and Ozul remained in the graveyard when it was afternoon.


    It was still raining while Ozul stared at the gravestone which read,


    ¡°Here lies the lovely Carol.¡±


    Grandma Carol¡¯s words began to rey in Ozul¡¯s mind.


    ¡°...You look lovely, smiling...¡±- These were thest words Grandma Carol had said to him.


    ¡°...Be yourself, Ozul...¡±-


    Her words then reminded Ozul of his mother...


    ¡°...Be yourself, Ozul...¡± These were thest words that bothdies had said to him before leaving this world.


    ¡°Be me? For that, I will need to find out what I am...¡± Ozul quietly muttered while gazing at the sky.


    He then looked towards Raven, who was still quietly crying. In just these three days, Raven had gotten attached to Grandma Carol.


    Ozul went towards her and patted her head. Raven looked towards Ozul, and when she felt his hand on top of his head, She hugged Ozul and cried.


    Ozul patted her head and her back to calm her down.


    Only several minutester did she calmed down, and when Ozul looked at her, she was already sleeping.


    Raven was exhausted, so when she foundfort in Ozul¡¯s embrace, she quickly fell asleep.


    Ozul picked her up and brought her into the house. He went into the room and put Raven on the bed before covering her with the nket.


    He then got out of the room before moving to his usual spot.


    All this time, Ozul did not show any emotion towards the death of Grandma Carol. Looking at him, people would think that he did not care as he was just indifferent, but Ozul¡¯s real thoughts were unknown.


    No one could guess as to what was going on in his mind.


    He knew that death was inevitable. Grandma Carol was not a Mage or her lifespan would have been much longer.


    Perishing under the wheels of time was a fate that no human could ever ovee.


    Just like that, the tragic day came to an end...

 Chapter 20

    Talent.


    The next morning, the sky was clear, and only some clouds were present. Ozul opened his eyes when he felt something alongside him.


    When Ozul removed the nket, he saw that Raven was sleeping while clinging onto his arm.


    It was at night when Raven woke up; she couldn¡¯t find anyone near her. She also couldn¡¯t go back to sleep because of how lonely she felt in her room.


    Opening her window, she saw that Ozul was still outside and the rain had stopped, Raven couldn¡¯t help but take a nket to sleep beside him.


    Suddenly, Ozul heard something. Listening carefully, Raven was muttering some words. She was sleep talking.


    ¡°...don¡¯t...leave... me...ple...¡±-


    Raven was just a nine years old girl. She had lost everything, and now she was afraid to lose what was left. And Ozul was everything she had now.


    Ozul, seeing she was worried that he might leave her, ruffled her hair until Raven calmed down and slept soundlessly.


    .....


    Ozul was going to go inside, so he picked her up before he shifted her to the room. He went into the living room and just sat there quietly.


    Sometimeter, Raven woke up and came out of the room. She sat near Ozul and looked at him.


    ¡°In the future, I might leave,¡± Ozul told her that because in the future if he found it convenient, he wouldn¡¯t stay here.


    ¡°Y-you... won¡¯t leave me, right?!¡±- Raven nervously asked as she thought that he would abandon her.


    ¡°Listen here, Raven. I have goals. There are only dangers in my path. If you follow me, your life will be in constant danger,¡± Ozul calmly exined to her the situation. If she still wants to follow him knowing the dangers, he would just let her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care! Even if I die, please don¡¯t leave me!¡± Raven had already lost everything. She did not care if she died as long as Ozul was beside her. Also, if it were not for him, she would have already been a ve of some noble.


    ¡°Very well, if the timees and you change your mind then let me know.¡±- Ozul gave her a choice if someday she realizes the dangers.


    ¡°Never! I will get strong and protect you!!¡± Raven truly wanted to be strong enough, so someday she can be of some help to him.


    Ozul was satisfied with her attitude. Even if her talent were not so great, hard work would get her to the heights that even geniuses may not reach. That is if she maintained her same conviction.


    For breakfast, Ozul had the money he obtained from selling the Cores. So, he bought some food from outside and gave it to Raven.


    Raven was confused as to why he did not eat something himself, but the reply she got from Ozul was, ¡°I don¡¯t need to eat.¡±


    It worried Raven as she thought that Ozul did not eat because they did not have enough money. On the other side, she felt warm inside that he cared for her so much.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C


    A week passed just like that.


    In this week, Ozul did not once go hunting.


    In this period, Raven had gotten colder towards everything¡ªOzul was an exception. She would only smile when Ozul was with her.


    Raven had also created her Magical Core and was now considered as a Rank-1 Mage. As for the Spells, They were mostly made up of the understanding of one¡¯s Element.


    She could wield the Mana to perform some of the basics, but it was up to her understanding of the Darkness Element to create original Spells.


    Understanding more about Darkness Element was not so difficult for her as Ozul would always tell her new things about it.


    Raven was already working on her Spell. She already knew some of the Basic Spells such as Body-Strengthening, and Agility, etc.


    But Ozul had advised her also to be a Fighter.


    Upon asking the reason, he replied;


    ¡°Yes, you can cast Body-Strengthening to be as strong as a Fighter physically, but what if you don¡¯t have enough time to cast the spell?¡± Ozul then continued,


    ¡°If you be a Fighter, not only will it be easier for you to handle Mana inside your body, but you will also have an advantage over others if they are not a Fighter,¡± Ozul knew this basic knowledge. Most people did not pursue this path because of the time it took to both be a Mage and a Fighter.


    Ozul was sure that the upper echelons of the wealthy factions in this world did the same thing. They had abundant resources to negate the only downside of this path¡ªtime.


    He wanted Raven to be the same. As for the resources? They could only do their best to obtain them. Not to mention, that with each advancement in the Ranks, a person¡¯s life span increases!


    To be a Fighter, one needed to use Mana in the atmosphere to fuse with their body. It results in them bing more vigorous.


    Only simple instructions are required to teach someone how to be a Fighter.


    On this day, Ozul was going to the forest along with Raven.


    Raven should be at a level where she could handle herself. And not be a burden to Ozul.


    Furthermore, Raven had no experience in fighting whatsoever. Fighting with Magical Beasts would help her in that.


    Ozul now required wealth because, for future travels, money was essential. So he decided that this time, he will just sell all the Cores that he will obtain from the Beasts to buy a Spatial Ring. The Spatial Ring will also help in future travels.


    They left the house early in the morning; it took them an hour and a half to reach the area where they¡¯ll be hunting.


    Walking in the forest, Ozul told some things to Raven;


    ¡°If there is any danger, you will not intervene. Focus on protecting yourself,¡± It will only disturb Ozul if she joined in a fight where she could not do anything.


    ¡°If pushes to shove, just run,¡± It would be better if Raven ran away. Otherwise, Ozul will have to divide his attention between fighting and protecting her.


    Raven did not like the idea of running away while Ozul was in danger, but under the stare of Ozul, she could only nod her head.


    On the way, Ozul found many Rank-2 and Rank-3 Beasts. The Rank-1 Beasts were only cannon fodder in this field. They likely stay in more harmless areas.


    Anyways, Ozul injured those Rank-2 Beasts so that Raven will be able to fight them head-on. She had not yet developed a Spell of her own, so she strengthened her body and went for the closebat.


    Surprisingly, Unlike most people, Raven did not even flinch at the sight of her first now-dead opponent¡¯s mutted corpse.


    While dealing with the Monsters, Raven did not resemble one bit like the childish girl persona that she disys in front of Ozul.


    As the number of times that Raven killed the Beasts increased, her efficiency in eliminating them also grew. It appeared as if she had a natural talent in ughter.


    It was probably because of Raven¡¯s hate towards the Beasts as they were the reason behind her vige¡¯s destruction!


    Ozul had not yet encountered any of Rank-4 or, better yet, Rank-5 Beasts.


    Suddenly there was a Boar that came running towards them. It looked like a Rank-3 Beast.


    Ozul just shed its neck in the blink of an eye. The boar did not look like something that Raven could handle.


    They were just collecting its Magical Core when they heard the voice of something running towards them.


    Looking at the direction, they noticed a kid at the age of about 15 years, followed by two men.


    From a look, the kid wore expensive clothes and walked as he owned the ce. The two men following him were probably the kids¡¯ guards.


    As they looked at Ozul and Raven collecting the Core from the boar, the kid¡¯s face turned red as he started shouting.


    ¡°See, you idiots!!! I didn¡¯t get to kill it! It¡¯s all your fault!¡±- the rich kid unmistakably was very arrogant, just like every other noble.


    ¡°Hehe... we apologize, young master. But at least we found it!¡± Both of the guards hinted at something.


    ¡°Hmph! I know that.¡±- The kid then looked at Ozul and Raven. He continued,


    ¡°You two, give me back the boar¡¯s corpse and return the Core as well. We found it first!¡±- The kid ordered as if the whole world owed him a living!


    ¡°No.¡±- Why would Ozul be cautious of some pipsqueak when even the Monarchs of the Maind were his enemies.


    The guards behind the rich kid were stunned hearing his t refusal after which one of them mockingly said;


    ¡°Kid you don¡¯t know, but young master Mathew here is the second son of Viscount Bedwell! It is in your best interest to just fulfill hismand!¡±- The guard thought that the kid before them was just a pheasant; he may not know the gravity of the situation.


    Raven had no say in the matter when Ozul was talking, and Ozul did not even bother to waste his energy to refuse again!


    Ozul had his pride, bickering with some nobodies was beneath him.


    The kid named Mathew noticed that they would have to use force; he gave a signal to one of the guards.


    He came forward and whispered in Mathew¡¯s ear;


    ¡°Young master, they are justmon peasants! Only the girl is a Rank-1 Mage while the kid does not even seem as a Fighter!¡±- The guards were both Rank-3 Mages while Mathew was a Rank-2 Mage.


    The guards could not sense any Mana fluctuations from the boy.


    Due to such a big difference in the ranks, the guards could conclude that Raven was only a Rank-1 Mage while the other kid seemed just an ordinary country bumpkin!


    Mathew smirked as they were just small fries. Earlier, he thought that they could be someone powerful, and that¡¯s the reason they did not fear him, but now it seemed as though they were just ignorant.


    Furthermore, the good-looking girl was also a Rank-1 Mage! She is suitable for bing his maid! Mathew eyed Raven with filthy intentions.


    ¡°Kill the kid, and take the girl. I will make her my maid!¡± Mathew barked the orders.


    The guards did not hesitate and rushed towards Ozul and Raven.

 Chapter 21

    Humans or Beasts?


    Raven was disgusted by Mathew and the way he looked at her. But she did not back down when she heard his order to kill Ozul¡ªInstead, her eyes went cold.


    The two guards rushing at them did not stop, though. There were confident smiles on their faces as they deemed the situation to be in their grasp.


    Yet, in the next instant, both of them fell face down on the ground! Their vision turned dark as they lost their consciousness. Even in their death, they could notprehend what happened to them.


    How could they see the thin, pitch-ck needles at such a speed?


    Mathew was also stunned! Why did the idiots just fell on their faces? He went toward their bodies and crouched down to check on them. As he checked their pulses, all the colour drained from Mathew¡¯s face.


    What happened to them? How could they just suddenly drop dead on the ground?!


    Concluding that the duo must¡¯ve done this in front of him, Mathew angrily looked at them and began to shout;


    ¡°Y-you!!! You Dogs! My father is a Viscount! Just wait till he hears about this! You will die a dog¡¯s death!!!¡±- Mathew did not realize the gravity of the matter as he threatened them.


    .....


    Just as he was screaming nonsense, jet-ck des bolted towards him, and in the next second, both of his arms fell on the soil.


    Mathew began to scream and yell, but Ozul was unfazed. Raven may be only a kid, but she must be ruthless to survive in this dog-eat-dog world.


    Ozul did not kill Mathew. Instead, he motioned towards Raven toplete the task.


    Raven understood what Ozul was trying to say, but whenever she thought of killing a human being, her hands start shaking.


    Ozul saw her hesitation and decided that she needed to understand reality.


    ¡°You did not hesitate while killing the Beasts. Why now?¡±- Ozul asked.


    ¡°T-they were Beasts... He... is human.¡±- For Raven, killing a fellow human being was difficult.


    ¡°No, It¡¯s because you think beasts are... evil. After all, they killed all your loved ones.¡±-


    ¡°...T-that¡¯s...¡±- Raven did not know what to say when Ozul exposed the real reason.


    ¡°How naive can you be, Raven?¡±- Ozul did not care about the shrieks of Mathew in the background.


    ¡°Do you really think that the destruction of your vige was simply because of some Rank-3 Beasts?¡±- Ozul then continued without waiting for her reply.


    ¡°You should know that Beasts at those Ranks never go anywhere near settlements!¡±-


    ¡°Azmar Town was almost connected with the vige. Yet there were none of those Beasts that attacked the city.¡±-


    ¡°My guess? Some nobles probably wanted something that came under the influence of the vige. Hence, they removed the vige by forcing the Beasts in its direction.¡±-


    What Ozul said, was urate. He did not mean to incite some sort of hatred of humans inside Raven but wanted her to see the real nature of humans.


    Ozul wanted Raven to understand that not everything is ck and white.


    Raven understood every part of what Ozul had said. She began to see the earlier ws in her thinking. Just under two weeks of living with Ozul, and it entirely remodeled Raven¡¯s mindset and temperament.


    Then she began to think of how the Mathew kid in front of her wanted to kill Ozul. Her hands stopped shaking, and she resolved herself and arrived before him.


    She killed Mathew but threw up momentster. Ozul came near her and rubbed her back, trying to soothe her.


    It worked wonders as Raven ignored the three corpses and started blushing.


    They cleaned up the scene before leaving the ce. There was a Spatial Ring on Mathew¡¯s hand, but Ozul did not take it. He thought that the Spatial Ring might be the clue to lead the investigators to them.


    Ozul wanted to return home¡ªit was a rough day for Raven. She needs to stabilize her psyche.


    Furthermore, it was afternoon, and they had already collected 19 Cores of Rank-3 Beasts, more than enough for them to buy the Spatial Ring.


    The Sun was setting when they arrived at the shop. Ozul put all 19 Cores and ten Silver Coins onto the counter, which amounted to a total of 200 Silver Coins or 2 Gold Coins.


    He then asked the Shop Owner if there is a Spatial Ring that was under 2 Gold Coins except for the cheapest one.


    ¡°Yes, Yes! Of course. It¡¯s precisely for 2 Gold Coins and contains a storage space of 10 cubic meters!¡±- the Shop Owner excitedly replied.


    Ozul bought the Spatial Ring and asked the Shop Owner on how to use it.


    The Shop Owner listening to him was excited as it meant that the kid in front of him was just a country bumpkin! He does not need to be afraid of him anymore.


    ¡°If you are a Mage, then pour some Mana into the Ring. If not, then drop some of your blood on the top of the Ring. Once the connection is established, you just need to will it to perform any action.¡±- He then continued;


    ¡°Also, once the owner is dead, the Ring bes ownerless. The next person to establish a connection with it will be its master.¡±- the Shop Owner calmly exined while hiding his malicious intent.


    Ozul took his leave with Raven following behind him. Of course, Ozul had felt the negative emotions from the Shop Owner.


    They were walking back while Ozul was thinking about some things. It was not about the malice of the Shop Owner towards him, but something else.


    It was about the Spatial Ring!!! Why?¡ªthere were only two methods to establish a link with it! Both were impossible for Ozul!


    Ozul was not a Mage! The Ball of Purity was much more of a tool that he was born with then a Magical Spell!


    Furthermore, Ozul had no blood whatsoever! Even if he wanted to, he could not bleed!


    ¡®Spatial Rings... They are not made for me... sigh.¡¯- Ozul sighed as there was nothing he could do about it.


    Looking beside him, specifically at Raven¡ªOzul had no choice but to give the Spatial Ring to her.


    Raven was blushing to ears when she received the Ring from him. When Ozul saw that her thoughts were going haywire, he gave a hand chop on her head, and said;


    ¡°Don¡¯t overthink. I can¡¯t use it; I am no Mage, nor do I have blood.¡±- Ozul had not yet told her his backstory. Ozul, at the moment, was powerful enough to deal with these types of problems, so he did not care if people knew about his particr circumstances, or not.


    Raven was confused at to what Ozul meant when he said he does not have blood, but decided to ask this questionter.


    They were walking home, but when they passed by a dark alleyway, some people blocked them.


    There were three people¡ªa thin man with brown hairs followed by two burly and oddly tall guys.


    ¡°This is the kid?¡±- The thin man asked.


    ¡°Yes, Boss! The description matches with him! And look that girl has the Ring.¡±- One of the burly guys replied.


    The burly guys were both Rank-3 Fighters, while the thin-looking man was a Rank-3 Mage. They were sent here by the Shop Owner!


    ¡°Boss, should we just finish it quickly? Shop Owner said that we should search him for any Cores and get the Ring back.¡±- The other burly guy suggested to the thin-looking man.


    ¡°Hm. Just hurry up and finish it already. That sly bastard won¡¯t even spare children.¡±- The thin-looking man ordered the guys behind him.


    ¡®Sigh...¡¯- Ozul sighed as he knew the trouble woulde¡ªNot even bothering to argue with them.


    Ozul just turned his hat into fine des before instantly killing both of the burly men.


    The thin-looking man was stunned because he still did not feel any Mana released from that brat! But those des¡ªsurely they were a Spell, Right?!


    But he was a Rank-3 Mage, So he hurriedly started casting all the defensive Spells in his arsenal. s, before he could even begin, a pitch-ck needle pierced his head, and he fell with a thud.


    A Rank-3 Mage and two Rank-3 Fighters were gone in just a matter of few seconds.


    Ozul did not even bother to check their bodies and just started walking in the direction of their house together with Raven.


    They arrived at the home and moved towards the living room. On the way, they had bought some food and stored in the Spatial Ring.


    Taking it out, Raven began to gulp it down. Ozul did not even take a bite. Remembering her earlier curiosity, Raven asked Ozul;


    ¡°Ozul... you said that you are not a Mage, and also that you do not have blood... How?¡±- Raven could not get why he would say something like that.


    ¡°This ck mass is not a Spell. It¡¯s just something only I can do.¡±- Ozul said while changing the Ball of Purity into many shapes one after another.


    ¡°As for not having blood, I was just born this way.¡±- Ozul did not bother exining further as he just wanted to have a good nap right now.


    It was already night time. So he walked outside and just rested against the tree while looking at the sky. The clouds were gone, and only the Void was seen behind some annoying fireflies...


    Ozul quickly fell asleep because he was exhausted after hunting all-day.

 Chapter 22

    Arrogance because of Intelligence.


    The next morning, Ozul woke up and again felt something beside him. Picking up the nket, he saw that Raven was hugging his arms like a Ko!


    ¡®Will she keep doing it from now on?¡¯ Ozul thought as he sighed.


    He picked her up, brought her to the room, and dropped her on the bed. He then went into the other room to take a nap.


    The clouds were gone, and the Sun would rise any minute now. Ozul would rather not stay to see that sight.


    Anyways, today Ozul had decided to hunt alone. He brought Raven with him yesterday because she needed to have some idea of her limits, at least.


    But today, Ozul just wanted to hunt for Rank-4 Beasts and increase his strength fast. Trouble was already getting in their way; he needs to get stronger.


    He will have to exin it to Raven when she woke up, though.


    Ozul did not have to wait for long when he heard the sound of the door opening. Raven came in from the door while eagerly looking towards Ozul.


    .....


    She was anticipating what they will do today. But s, she would be disappointed.


    Ozul bought breakfast from outside, and while Raven was eating, he said.


    ¡°You will stay at home today.¡±


    ¡°What? Why!?¡±- Raven was startled. Did she anger him somehow?


    ¡°You need to improve. At least have an Original Spell in your arsenal.¡± He then continued,


    ¡°I will only take you with me only every other day if you cannot be of help.¡± If Ozul just keeps helping her, how will he find the time to improve himself?


    Raven was dejected when she heard that. But she could also guess that at the moment, she was only a burden to Ozul.


    Instead of losing confidence, Raven used this rejection to fuel her determination to get stronger!


    ring at Ozul, she went outside to train. If getting more powerful is the only means to be with him, then she will just have to get stronger.


    Bing a Fighter is easier for Mages because they can fuse the refined Mana with their bodies, which caused it so they would need less time for the process.


    Furthermore, because their bodies are fused with refined Mana instead of the raw Mana from the atmosphere, they are more potent than a usual Fighter.


    Even if it will take Raven less amount of time to be a Fighter, it does not mean that she can do it in just a matter of days! Otherwise, why would people reject this path if it bes much easier?


    Furthermore, in higher Ranks, this time consumption truly bes a headache. Many people lose their will to continue when they make so little progress after so much time.


    That¡¯s the reason for needing a determination that surpasses others to continue on this path!


    It will take at least a weak just to be a Rank-1 Fighter for Raven. So, she chose the other option to improve herbat strength¡ªWhich is to create an Original Spell.


    Only after a Mage creates his or her Original Spell, do they qualify to be called a Mage.


    Raven was not a genius, but the more she couldprehend the Element, the more her potential will grow!


    And grasping the knowledge regarding darkness was as easy as a pie when Ozul was teaching you about it.


    Before learning from Ozul, like others, she also thought that darkness is just the absence of light.


    Ozul changed her whole view on Darkness Element when he said;


    ¡°If it¡¯s just the absence of light, why can a Mage produce it even in the light? Now you may say that they remove the light from that specific area, but even you know that the Mages produce things with the Mana, they cannot directly remove something.¡±


    ¡°If you keep thinking that Darkness is just the absence of something, you will never be able to do something with an absence,¡± Ozul did not directly tell her the answer. He will just give some hints so she can find the answer herself.


    Even an idiot would understand that what Ozul said made a lot of sense. Raven just had toprehend his words to increase the understanding of her Element to a whole new level.


    Raven immersed herself in the creation of her Original Spell, and Ozul went out for the forest.


    Before leaving, Ozul informed Raven that he might bete.


    As Ozul walked towards the woods, he did not forget how the Shop Owner had sent some men to bother him, but for now, he was toozy to do anything.


    ¡®Just a small fry.¡¯- Ozul thought it unbefitting of him to go out of his way just to crush a fly.


    When Ozul meets him again, he will pay him back then. Sunlight was just too sickening for Ozul so, he hurried his footsteps.


    When Ozul arrived in the forest, he kept his alertness at maximum. One or two Rank-4 Beasts could not threaten him, but what if a herd of Rank-4 Beasts or a Rank-5 Beast ambushes him? Leaving unscathed would be difficult.


    Ozul ignored all the Rank-3 and below Beasts; he would not gain anything by killing them.


    After four hours of hunt, Ozul only obtained 2 Rank-4 Cores. He was thinking of just ending the day, but walking back, he faced something he did not want to.


    ¡®I just had to jinx it...¡¯ Ozul was happily thinking of how he did not encounter any difficulties as of yet.


    But now, the atmosphere turned solemn as there stood a 3 meters tall monkey-like Monster in front of Ozul.


    This Beast was, in fact, called Lightning Fist Monkey¡ªa Rank-5 Beast. As the Ranks of the Beasts increased, their intelligence did so too.


    Experts say that an ordinary Rank-5 Beast has the intelligence of a 12 years old human kid.


    Ozul began to formte a n, but the opponent, this time, is also intelligent.


    ¡®Sigh... I will have to look for his weakness if there is any.¡¯- Ozul hoped that it had some sort of weakness that he could exploit. But so far, the Beast did not show any vulnerability.


    The monkey charged at him as electric sparks began to swirl around its arms. It became apparent as to how it got the title of ¡°Lightning Fist¡± from this gesture.


    As it arrived before Ozul, it sent a punch to him. Ozul generated a shield from the Ball of Purity. He did not know if it could survive the attack, but it was his only option.


    The shield did not get damaged, but the impact from the force pushed Ozul a meter back as he began to cough. Just the energy from that Beasts attack had damaged his internal organs.


    Ozul knew that it was not the time to show gaps as he braced himself for the uing confrontation.


    The only way Ozul could win was to outsmart the Beast somehow. This was difficult as the Beast did not just have the instincts, but also the intelligence to make the correct decisions.


    The monkey was ring furiously at Ozul because he survived its earlier attack. It could not understand why a puny human could sustain his life after its strike.


    Ozul knew that he would not be able to even prate the hide of the Beast with just single strikes.


    He had to think of a n as the Beast stared at Ozul with his big round eyes.


    ¡®Wait, Eyes! That¡¯s it. I just need to create an opportunity to strike its eyes,¡¯ Ozul eventually found a weakness that he could exploit.


    ¡®The next time it punches, that will be my chance,¡¯ Ozul waited for the Beast to throw the punch.


    The monkey was already enraged so this time, it put even more power into its punch. It expected the human to deploy that strange ck shield again.


    But, Ozul decided to dodge the attack as he created des from the Ball of Purity and sent them to the Beast¡¯s right eye.


    The Beast was stunned by the sudden attack, but with his right hand, it quickly blocked the des.


    After the block, the Beast should have been fine, but instead, it fell onto the ground! The Beast had protected his right eye, but he did not anticipate the thin-ck needles that struck its left eye and into its brain!


    Ozul defeated the Rank-5 Beast! It was only because of the Beast¡¯s intelligence. More urately, because of the arrogance brought by its knowledge. If the Beast were not so arrogant and defended properly, It would have been alive.


    How could intelligence bring arrogance? It was simple, really. The Beasts survived in the jungle only because of their instincts, but when they gain just a small bit of intellect, they forsake the very instincts that saved their lives up until then.


    The Rank-5 Beast underestimated Ozul because it thought that Ozul was no threat due to having no Mana. If he trusted his instincts, though, the battle could have turned out differently.


    It was difficult cutting the chest of the Beast, but with some effort, Ozul saw the gains of the life-threatening battle. The Core of a Rank-5 Beast!

 Chapter 23

    Picking on Viscount.


    Ozul picked up the grape-sized Rank-5 Core and gulped it down with no hesitation.


    The raw burst of energy again escaped his Body while the negligible amount of energy that his Body received was used to better his Body.


    ¡®With this, my body seems on par with a Rank-3 Fighter,¡¯ Ozul concluded while he checked his Ball of Purity.


    The Ball of Purity was still not dense enough to kill Rank-5 Beasts with single strikes, but Ozul was close to it.


    ¡®Maybe another two Rank-4 Cores would finish thest step,¡¯ Ozul thought.


    Ozul left the area; the smell of blood and the corpse of a Rank-5 Beast will attract too much attention in this region.


    Ozul arrived in the Town as he strolled towards the Shop Owner. It was not afternoon yet, and he had some free time. Ozul also wanted to know how the Shop Owner hired a Rank-3 Mage.


    ¡®Maybe, he had some connections? Whatever...¡¯- Ozul guessed that someone backed the Shop Owner.


    .....


    When Ozul stepped inside the shop, there were a couple of groups checking out the items when he noticed the Shop Owner¡¯s bloodshot eyes as if he couldn¡¯t sleep the previous night.


    Just when Ozul neared the counter, the Shop Owner noticed him, and his eyes showed fear and anger?


    Ozul calmly analyzed his behavior and said;


    ¡°What? Didn¡¯t expect me to be alive?¡±- Ozul showed no emotions on his face, but the Shop Owner could feel the temperature drop at an rmingly high rate!


    ¡°I-its You!!! You killed them! Hahaha! You won¡¯t get away with it when Viscount finds out that you killed his men!¡±- the Shop Owner yelled like a lunatic!


    It was not his fault, though. The Shop Owner had dealings with Viscount Bedwell, and when the men he sent on a minor task disappeared, the Shop Owner had to take the me.


    He couldn¡¯t sleep the previous night because of the consequences, but now, the Shop Owner could dump all the me on that kid.


    ¡®Sigh... trouble. Whatever... so many people heard it, this will surely reach that Viscount something...¡¯- Ozul sighed when saw that the surrounding people were already pointing towards him.


    ¡®If it¡¯s alreadye to this point, then a little more trouble will be nothing.¡¯- Ozul could not just kill all the surrounding people to shut them up. There was only one Viscount in Azmar City. He was the same Viscount whose son had been killed by Ozul and Raven.


    ¡°He won¡¯t let me get away, huh? Then it¡¯s not a problem if I take one more life, right? It¡¯s not like it will change anything...¡±- Ozul expressionlessly said to the Shop Owner.


    The Shop Owner understood the meaning behind his words and backed down, but just as he was about to do so, a de lunged towards him, and cut his throat!


    Since they were already at the point of no return, Ozul could freely act against them. Since the Shop Owner was now dead, and the items here mostly belonged to the Viscount or the Shop Owner, why not have some for himself?


    Ozul went towards the counter and picked up the rare pills and other resources that Raven could use for her advancement.


    Before the other people in the shop could react to this incident, Ozul had already left the shop.


    Walking back home, Ozul was thinking some things through;


    ¡®The Viscount will be after me, but he does not know that I killed his son. So, it is unlikely that he would send some powerful people after me. After all, those people should be searching for his son¡¯s killers.¡¯- Ozul concluded that this situation was straightforward to deal with.


    Besides, Ozul stole all those pills and resources. These may not be enough for Raven¡¯s future growth, but for now, they are valuable.


    Ozul arrived home while thinking about future concerns. He saw that Raven was practicing in the living room when he entered the house.


    He was satisfied with Raven¡¯s hard work. Ozul waited for her to finish and sat on the couch.


    When Raven opened her eyes, Ozuls tranquil sight greeted her, and she beamed in joy. Raven liked the feeling of seeing Ozul beside her whenever she opened her eyes. She felt secure around him.


    Just as she was thinking, Ozul handed her a pouch filled with many things.


    ¡°Some of these are pills for your cultivation, some to clear your mental state, and enhance yourprehension for a while. Use them well and don¡¯t disappoint me,¡±- Ozul exined to Raven with his typical Stoic face.


    Just as he was about to head for his room, he turned around and said;


    ¡°Oh, and don¡¯t go outside. Better yet, don¡¯t leave my side. Viscount Debleb or something is after us.¡±-


    It delighted Raven to hear that. Not because of Viscount, but because she can stay by his side!


    Ozul again turned around but remembered something and said;


    ¡°Oh, give me the pain killer from the pouch.¡±- Ozul did not show it, but the first strike of the Rank-5 Beast still hurt his insides. He did not cough out blood only because he did not have any!


    Raven hearing that he needed a painkiller was alert and worriedly asked him,


    ¡°What happened!?¡±


    ¡°Rank-5 Beast happened. Now give me the pill.¡±- Ozul again asked for the pill. He had to sleep after it, so he was getting a little impatient.


    ¡°Oh!¡±- Raven quickly searched for the pill inside the pouch while wondering if Ozul was all right or not.


    But Raven knew that her question would only anger Ozul further. So she asked nothing.


    Raven gave the pill to Ozul as he quickly swallowed it and returned to his room. Raven put the pills inside her Spatial Ring and went back to training.


    . . .


    The next time Ozul opened his eyes was when he heard the door of his room open, and a little figure tiptoed towards his bed.


    This time when Raven entered Ozul¡¯s room, he woke up and stared at her.


    In the dark, Raven could not know that she was caught. So, when she arrived at the bed and saw those eyes staring at her, she freaked out!


    *UEEEKK!*


    ¡°Shut up!¡±- Ozul got annoyed by the scream.


    Raven shut up by putting both of her hands to close her mouth. Not only was she caught, but she also disturbed him. She messed up this time!


    ¡°Now exin.¡±- Ozul asked her to exin herself when he saw that she shut up.


    ¡°...I...I¡¯m afraid?¡±- Raven could not find another excuse, so her tone sounded a bit confused.


    ¡°Are you asking me or telling me?¡±- Ozul knew that she was just making excuses.


    Seeing no other way out, Raven decided to show a tough front and be direct.


    *Cough* *Huuu*


    Raven readied herself as she exhaled deeply and cleared her throat.


    ¡°Listen here, Ozul! I¡¯ve been listening to your every order, and now you have to listen to my only request! You have to let me sleep with you!¡±- Raven¡¯s voice was stern as though she won¡¯t take no for an answer.


    Ozul listened to her demands, and when Raven finished her speech, he stared at her.


    He kept staring at her, while Raven thought he was considering her offer.


    In the end, Raven received a t ¡°no¡± from Ozul as he went outside in the garden to sleep.


    Raven wanted to follow him to the garden, but Ozul gave her the ¡®eye¡¯, and she did not dare to anymore.


    When Ozul slept though, again, a small shadow leaped out of the house and tiptoed towards him, and with a nket covered both him and itself.


    . . .


    The next morning, Ozul again had to drop the sleeping Raven inside her room.


    Ozul could not leave Raven alone at home from now on. So, he nned to go to a safer region in the woods, void of any Rank-5 Beast.


    ¡®It¡¯s better safe than sorry.¡¯ Ozul thought. After the fight with the monkey yesterday, Ozul realized that he could defeat a Rank-5 Beast. Besides, he was stronger after eating its Core.


    But fighting with a Rank-5 while protecting Raven will prove to be fatal.


    After Raven ate breakfast, they both left the house.


    They arrived in the region around half an hourter. The pills had helped Raven to be a Fighter overnight. So, Ozul had decided that she will be fighting a Rank-2 Beast without any help.


    They soon found a Rank-2 Beast. Raven seemed to fight it on even ground, but over time, her stamina lost to the Rank-2 Beast.


    Ozul intervened at that moment and killed the Beast. If Raven had any Original Spell, then she would have been the winner.


    They spent the whole day like this. Raven would fight a Rank-2 Beast, and then rest while Ozul would justze around at the sidelines.


    They decided to return just when it was getting dark.


    But they did not expect the sight that greeted them when they arrived back. Their whole house was a mess!


    The gate was destroyed, the garden was ruined, and the house was damaged!


    Ozul saw the sight and sighed. But the next moment he narrowed his eyes and thought,


    ¡®Viscount diblewible... or whatever, you started a fight... I will end it with a massacre...¡¯

 Chapter 24

    Attack.


    Walking through the gate, Raven¡¯s expression turned colder by the second. She was mature for her age. So, she figured out the culprit.


    ¡°It is that Viscount, isn¡¯t it?¡±- Raven turned around to look at Ozul.


    ¡°Presumably,¡± Ozul showed no fluctuations in his voice, but Raven knew that he was annoyed.


    ¡°Will we not do anything about it?¡± Raven wanted nothing more than to butcher that Noble! She hade to hate every Noble after realizing that they might be the reason for her vige¡¯s destruction.


    ¡°No, we will strike back,¡± It was a simple answer, but more than enough for Raven to calm down. Ozul then continued


    ¡°Rest, we will leave at night,¡±


    Hearing that they will strike back at night, Raven was stunned. It seemed as though Ozul was pissed.


    But she did notin, and after fixing a thing or two, she copsed on the couch. Ozul did not need any rest, because today he barely did anything. Instead, he was thinking some things through.


    .....


    ¡®Viscount, huh. Only the Count is above him in the Azmar City. And it ismon knowledge among people that they are not on good terms.¡¯


    ¡®Furthermore, the Viscount is only a Rank-5 Mage, and he is the strongest in his household. If he does not have any support from the Count, then it will be easy.¡¯


    ¡®The Count is a Rank-6 Mage, and I can¡¯t deal with someone like him. It will be troublesome only if the Viscount is also a Rank-5 Fighter,¡¯ Ozul does not talk that much, but inside his mind, he ns everything.


    The thing is, Ozul can take all of the Viscount¡¯s household alone just because of his advantage¡ªBall of Purity.


    No normal Mage could see the ck substance in the middle of the night. And Ozul could also change the Ball of Purity into the gaseous state; most people would fail to notice anything.


    Now imagine what will happen when you least expect it, your shadow kills you? Furthermore, Ozul can disperse the Ball of Purity anytime he wants and reproduces it from within.


    In simple words, Ozul was godlike when present in dark surroundings.


    . . .


    Hours passed, and the night came.


    Ozul could also not leave Raven behind. What if when he is away, some other peoplee here? He can¡¯t take any chances.


    He had bought two ck kitsune masks to cover both his and Raven¡¯s faces. If they are recognized, they can just leave the City. But Ozul preferred to avoid the trouble of moving between ces.


    Anyways, both Raven and Ozul leaped through the buildings in the middle of the night. Raven had already be a Rank-1 Fighter with the help of the pills. So, for the most part, she could keep up with Ozul.


    They would hardly see any people on the streets. But nearing the Viscount¡¯s Manor, things were not so quiet.


    Ozul would have to infiltrate the n as quietly as possible, and killing the outer guards will only make amotion.


    They went around the front and arrived at the left side of the outer walls. Ozul and Raven only had the advantage of surprise, and they did not want to lose it. So, they invaded the estate as silently as possible.


    Now inside, they just had to kill as many as possible. They entered the building¡¯s corridors. Some guards stationed there were alerted.


    ¡°Hey! Who are you, and how did you enter in here!?¡± One of the guards yelled loudly.


    But before they could do anything, a single, pitch-ck needle tore a hole through their heads, and they fell like chickens on the floor.


    No sound came from the corridor, except for Ozul and Raven¡¯s footsteps.


    They did not care about the corpses on the floor as they marched forwards. A gigantic hall came into their view after the corridor. Only two guards stood at the main entrance to the room.


    Only a single light crystal in the middle illuminated the hall. Ozul decided to destroy it first and then create amotion here.


    The guards noticing the two weird intruders decided to sound the rm. Just under a minute, tens of people surrounded the area!


    Ozul did not move from his position. He wanted to ask something to the Viscount.


    After another minute or so, from the stairs came down a man in his mid-forties. He wore a red robe befitting of a noble and walked with long strides.


    As he arrived, everyone present bowed their heads except for a teen boy who looked like the son of the Viscount. The teen looked just as arrogant as his now-dead brother.


    Some people present there had created small fireballs, which slightly illuminated the spacious hall.


    ¡°Who sent you? Ah, who am I even asking? It is that bastard, Oliver, isn¡¯t it!?¡±- The Viscount thought that Count Oliver was the one who sent the assassins.


    ¡°I will tell you if you answer my question.¡±- Ozul wanted to know if the Viscount was the perpetrator behind Raven¡¯s vige massacre.


    There were only two people who could order such a thing; the Count or the Viscount. No one other than these two had the authority or the means to aplish such a thing.


    ¡°Huh?! Of course, I did it. Those idiots refused to hand over the new Ochite gemstone mine. So, I removed them out of my way.¡± The Viscount admitted the act.


    Ozul saw Raven¡¯s whole body twitch for a second before she calmed down.


    The Ochite mentioned above was a gemstone used in jewelry. When they found the mine, it came under the influence of the vige. The Viscount razed the vige to obtain the Ochite mine.


    Getting his answer, Ozul decided to ask the final question,


    ¡°So, does your son knows where the treasury is?¡±- Ozul asked.


    ¡°HUH? Of course, he knows! He i...¡±- The Viscount could not finish his words when all the people present began to fall on the ground.


    ¡°Then, I shall not kill him.¡± Ozul inly said as he controlled all the needles hidden in the shadows behind everyone¡¯s necks.


    In just a few seconds, everyone was dead except for the Viscount and his son.


    ¡°Y-YOU! I will not forgive you for this! Just see how I will torture you until you beg for death!¡±- The Viscount was enraged as all his trusted people had died just in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°I do not want your forgiveness.¡±- Ozul said while he readied himself for the battle.


    The Viscount was a Water Mage; all of his Spells were water-based. He started by creating a water shield around him.


    The Viscount did not dare underestimate Ozul as he could not even feel Mana from him! Yet, he had killed so many people in mere seconds!


    Ozul clicked his tongue when he noticed that his opponent was not as arrogant as he thought him to be.


    ¡®It could get tricky.¡¯- Ozul wanted the Viscount to drop his guard around him, but contrary to his expectations, not everyone was an idiot.


    Ozul sent several des made out of Ball of Purity towards the Viscount. But before they could even reach him, they were shot down by water bullets.


    The Viscount then produced sharp spikes of water to strike Ozul. Ozul stopped all those spikes by side-stepping at the right times.


    He merged all the des to create a sizeable cone-shaped drill that rotated at high speed and lunged towards the Viscount.


    The Viscount realized that this attack could be fatal. He strengthened his defenses and created a giant ball of water to collide with the drill.


    The Viscount managed to prevent the attack; just as he was gasping for breath, the drill turned into hundreds of thin-sharp needles and shot towards him.


    He did not have time to cast another spell due to the speed of the needles. The Viscount could only put his hopes into the water shield.


    Unfortunately for Ozul, the Viscount was also a Rank-4 Fighter. Now, Under normal circumstances, it did not matter for Ozul¡¯s needles, but the water shield reduced the force of the attack by arge margin. This caused the needles not to be able to prate the Viscount¡¯s skin.


    The Viscount sighed in relief, but his expression turned furious after realizing how close he was to the Death¡¯s door.


    He prepared to cast another spell, but just then,


    Ozul turned all the needles near the Viscount into ck smoke and willed it to enter into his body through his orifices!


    The Viscount could only shake in fear when the ck smoke entered his body.


    Ozul turned the smoke into needles inside the Viscount and destroyed all of the Viscounts¡¯ organs.


    The Viscount died writhing in pain on the floor.


    ¡°I did not want to taint the Ball of Purity with your insides, but you forced my hand.¡±- Ozul¡¯s voice sounded out in the now serene hall.

 Chapter 25

    Count Oliver.


    No one created any sound in the room.


    The Viscount¡¯s son was stunned and cried while watching his father die. He wanted nothing more than to tear these people apart!


    Ozul stood up and arrived in front of the teen boy. The teen boy stared daggers at Ozul with his bloodshot eyes. Ozul ignored the tant bloodlust, and said;


    ¡°Take me to the treasury, and I will let you live.¡±- Ozul and Ravencked the resources, and the Viscount probably had abundant of them!


    ¡°I WOULD NEVER DO IT!!!¡±-the teen boy refused to listen to the assants that killed his father.


    ¡°Hm? You have a chance to live and take revenge. Anyways, even if you don¡¯t show me the treasury¡ªit will just take a long time to find it.¡±- It was true Ozul just wanted to save his time. He then continued,


    ¡°But you, on the other hand, will be dead.¡±-


    The teen boy gritted his teeth. He was infuriated and wanted nothing more to kill the guy in front of him, but he knew as he was now, it was impossible.


    .....


    The promise to let him live could also be just a ruse. But even if the chances of him surviving are close to null, it would be better.


    The teen boy led Ozul and Raven to the treasury. Raven put all the pills and vital supplies into her Spatial Ring.


    All these resources could help her for a very long time.


    Ozul kept his promise and let the teen boy go. Now, most people would object to leaving a root that could harm you in the future. But Ozul did so because he was confident. Confident that by the time that root will grow, he would already be flying in the sky.


    Furthermore, he had promised to let him go. It was beneath him to lie. He would rather not talk than lie.


    The teen boy took onest look at Ozul and went on his way. There were many emotions in thatst look. There was disbelief that Ozul let him go away, There was anger that Ozul killed his father, and then there was the determination to take his revenge.


    But how could he possibly know that his enemy was already years younger than him?


    Ozul and Raven did not linger any longer and ran back to their house. But unknown to them, some people hidden in the shadows had witnessed the entire scene.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-


    Some people dressed in the ck outside of the Manor; were hidden in the trees. One of them spoke to the rest,


    ¡°Abort mission. Report everything to Lord Oliver. He would like the news.¡±- The voice sounded raspy, and there was a tint of amusement in it.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-


    It did not take much longer for Ozul and Raven to arrive back.


    All this time, Raven did not do anything except for running. But she was still exhausted. All the stress of going against a group of strong people took a toll on her mental strength.


    At the same time, she was amazed that Ozul took down a Viscount and all his people single-handedly!


    The amazement though quickly subsided as she just believed that it was Ozul¡ªand he could do just about anything.


    After that, there was the feeling of butterflies in her stomach. Ozul took her revenge. The souls of people in her vige could now rest in peace.


    She also obtained so many expensive items from the treasury. All in all, she was on cloud nine.


    Both of them had just arrived in their room when Ozul started taking his shirt off! For the assassination today, he had changed the shirt to a ck one.


    Watching the chiseled abs on his lean body, Raven had steaming out of her ears!


    Ozul never worked out, but his body was as fit as one could get! It was not something muscr because his body muscles were tightly packed together. So, even though he did not look like it, his body packs quite a punch.


    ¡°W-what are you doing!¡±- Raven could faint any minute now. She could not understand why Ozul was taking off his shirt.


    ¡°Changing my shirt.¡±- Ozul simply looked at Raven like he was looking at an idiot. Isn¡¯t it apparent that he was changing his shirt?


    ¡°I...I know that! But why are you doing it here?!¡±- Raven, for some reason, had a problem with it.


    ¡°Does it matter?¡±- Changing a shirt in front of a girl was not a problem, but for Raven, it was a sensitive matter.


    ¡°N-no...¡±- Raven replied. She would stutter at every other word.


    As Ozul changed his shirt, Raven could only look on the ground with a bashful face.


    Only when Ozul changed his shirt and went out of the room did Raven regained her cool. But she could not shake out the image of Ozul with his ¡®godly body¡¯ out of her mind.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    -In anotherrge Manor-


    Inside the office, sat a man with blonde hair. In front of him, three men d in ck kneeled as the man himself looked outside the window.


    ¡°How did it go?¡±- The man spoke. He kept his eyes out of the window but was talking to the three people.


    ¡°We had to abort the mission.¡±- One of the kneeling men replied.


    ¡°Why?¡±-The blonde man frowned as he listened.


    ¡°Someone elsepleted the mission.¡±-


    ¡°Hm? Someone else? Who?¡±- The blonde man¡¯s frown turned into an expression of amusement.


    ¡°There were two people. Both covered in ck clothing a wore a mask. But from their heights, people would guess that they were only kids¡ªwhich is highly unlikely.¡± The masked man replied


    ¡°Highly unlikely, but not impossible. Search for them, if you can¡¯t find anything, then search for two kids who had some dispute with the Viscount.¡± The blonde man replied.


    ¡°As youmand, Lord cksport.¡±- The masked man addressed the person sitting on the chair.


    He was Oliver cksport¡ªThe Count of the Azmar City. For some reason, he had also set up an assassination for the Viscount.


    Now hearing that two masked assants had done all the work for him, he was intrigued.


    Oliver was a clever man; he would be a fool not to suspect some kids just because it is highly unlikely.


    He wanted to see if those people would want to work for him. Oliver always appreciates talented people.


    He only has two Rank-5 Mages under, and someone who could so quickly kill another Rank-5 Mage is wee to join under him.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    -Back to Ozul-


    Ozul did not bother with all the mess and just cleaned his spot before lying down and gazing at the ever-present void.


    On the other hand, Raven¡¯s mind could not sit well with all the rubbish and mess scattered around. It was around midnight, but she started cleaning the whole house.


    It took her about an hour before she finished. The house did not look like a broken-down, abandoned, and decades-old haunted house anymore.


    Seeing that she could finally rx, she took the nket and went outside towards Ozul.


    Ozul had not slept yet and still kept looking vacantly at the night sky.


    When Raven arrived beside him and kept looking at him with puppy eyes, he did not care. Raven was depressed that he will send her away again.


    But to her surprise, when she neared Ozul, there was no resistance from him.


    Ozul had given up to stop Raven from not sleeping with him and just epted his fate. Even if he were to push her away now¡ªshe will againe backter at night.


    When Raven saw that he had finally allowed her to sleep next to him, she was overjoyed. She hurriedly put the nket over both of them andid down beside Ozul. She did not like it when she sleeps alone in the dark and empty room.


    Before closing her eyes, she whispered;


    ¡°Thank you...¡±


    Ozul had done so much for her, but she had never done anything in return. Even expressing her thanks was difficult for her.


    ¡°Just repay me in the future.¡± Ozul did not need any thanks, not because of the notion of ¡°There is no need of thanks between us.¡±, but because he would rather have Raven do physicalbor than a simple thank you.


    Raven did not mind repaying him in the future. After all, it was her n all along.


    ¡°I will!¡± She dered while looking straight into Ozuls eyes.


    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t, I will force you.¡± Ozul said in a t tone.


    Raven pouted at Ozuls distrust in her conviction but did not say anything; the future would prove that she was sincere in her resolve to repay him.


    Both of them closed their eyes and slept peacefully.


    Tomorrow they may find something unexpected though...

 Chapter 26

    Invitation.


    Ozul and Raven woke up a littlete. The Sun was already up and annoying as ever. Even Raven had also started to think that the Sun was irritating after spending so much time with Ozul.


    Well, the real reason may be that it forced her to wake up instead of snuggling with Ozul.


    Ozul stood up and did not notice that Raven was awake. He picked her up and brought her to the room before he went to freshen up.


    Since the Viscount had diedst night, they had no enemy. So, Ozul was nning to absorb at least two more Rank-4 Cores. It will bring his Ball of Purity and physical strength a qualitative change.


    Half an hourter, Ozul stood up and informed Raven about his departure, who had woken up during that time.


    Raven looked gloomily towards Ozul before she shut the door and went back inside.


    Ozul being Ozul, did not care and just went alone. Midway, Ozul remembered something.


    ¡®Dammit! How could I forget the Core from the Viscount? I had told Raven to store it in her Spatial Ring. And here I was going to hunt for Rank-4 Beast Cores when I have a Rank-5 Mage Core.¡¯


    .....


    Last night, Ozul did not forget to cut open the Viscount¡¯s chest to obtain the Core. It will be the first time that he will absorb a Mage¡¯s Core.


    He did not stop and just took a U-turn back to his house.


    Knocking at the door, Ozul had to wait for quite a bit before Raven slowly opened the door. It looked like she was ready to fight any foe!


    Seeing his face tho, she rxed her posture. But then she remembered that he had refused her just a moment ago to bring her with him.


    ¡®Did he change his mind?¡¯- Raven thought as she was thrilled to have an adventure with him!


    Raven thought that Ozul might speak any minute saying that¡ªhe changed his mind. But...


    Ozul extended a hand towards Raven as if asking something from her. Raven tilted her head a little¡ªthinking what this gesture could mean.


    Seeing no response from Raven, Ozul again looked at her as if looking at an idiot. He spoke;


    ¡°Core from the Viscount.¡±- This reminded Raven that Ozul had taken the Magical Core from the Viscount and gave it to her for storage purposes.


    She took out the Core from her Storage Ring and put it on Ozuls palm. Raven again waited to hear the response she wanted, but Ozul walked past her and went into the living room.


    Raven stood frozen at her spot and only moved when she realized that Ozul did not n to go out.


    In the dining room, Ozul did not have any hesitation in swallowing the Core.


    Again, a burst of impure Mana was released from his body, and the rest nourished his body and Ball of Purity.


    Raven came running in when she felt the burst of Mana. Ignoring the worried Raven, Ozul was checking his improvements.


    The result tho was not so satisfying. Only his physical strength had a considerable boost; his body was as powerful as a Rank-4 Fighter. But the density of his Ball of Purity had stagnated.


    It improved a bit, but after that, it seemed to be missing something. Ozul felt as if it wouldn¡¯t advance any further if he did not provide that missing thing.


    ¡®What can I be missin- Of course... What could it be but my arms and my leg,¡¯ Ozul realized that the only thing he missed was, of course, his limbs.


    They were his emptiness, but removing them¡ªemptied him. It is a confusing concept, but he liked thefortable feeling brought by them. But the void left behind by separating him from his ¡¯emptiness¡¯ was agonizing.


    One emptiness ¡®filled¡¯ him, while the other left a painful void.


    But if he cannot improve, he will not be able to get his ¡®self¡¯ back.


    ¡®This is going to be a problem,¡¯ Ozul did not know any other way to increase his strength.


    Unlike Ozul, all the other Mages take years, if not decades, to reach his level. No one in the history of this world had advanced this much in a matter of only weeks.


    Ozul would be the enemy of the whole world if people knew about his feat.


    Then again, Ozul did not follow the general cultivation route. The Mages took years because they needed to refine each bit of the Mana. The Fighters took years because fusing with the Mana takes years!


    But Ozul? He just needed to eat some ¡®crystal balls¡¯.


    However, he had met his first bottleneck. Obtaining his ¡®pieces¡¯ would require him to be stronger while bing stronger needed him to get his parts back¡ªit was just an endless loop!


    Ozul suddenly had an idea and looked towards Raven with narrowed eyes.


    Raven, who was the target of Ozuls¡¯ ¡®narrowed eyes¡¯ had a shiver run down her spine. Ozul¡¯s look containedplicated emotions.


    Raven felt as if she was caught in some hunter¡¯s trap. She was right though. Ozul only had one other way to obtain his ¡®parts¡¯ back, and it was to use others.


    Ozul only had Raven in his arsena-....*cough*... as his friend. He needed more weapo-....*cough*... friends to ¡®help¡¯ him in his ¡®endeavors¡¯.


    ¡®It seems like it is time to move out,¡¯ Ozul nned to travel. Even if he did not find any people to do everything for him, it was his only way to spend the time.


    I mean, what could he even do except for that? Never give up and never forget the fire of revenge burning inside him to fuel his determination and keep working towards his goals like some stories¡¯ protagonists?


    It was just not Ozuls thing. He would instead pass the time while counting the fireflies than work hard.


    Just as Raven and Ozul were lost in their own thoughts, there was a knock at the door. Both of them went on high alert; no one would visit them. It could only mean trouble.


    Ozul slowly opened the door, but he was surprised to see a middle-aged man standing there with a smile on his face.


    He emitted no malicious aura. Instead, Ozul could feel a friendly gesture from the man¡¯s smile.


    Before he could ask anything, the man spoke first;


    ¡°You must be Ozul?¡±- The man asked while his smile reached to the ears.


    ¡°What do you want?¡±- Ozul did not bother to confirm anything. If the guy came for him, he wanted to know the reason.


    ¡°Oh, where are my manners! I am a subject to Lord Oliver. He sent me to invite you to his Manor in the afternoon for some discussions.¡±- The man said while bowing his head a little. He did not show any arrogance in front of this kid who did not even exude a tint of Mana.


    ¡°Okay.¡±- Ozul simply said before he closed the door on the man¡¯s face. There was no use in talking to someone who was just here to send an invitation.


    The man on the other side of the door did not mind it and just turned around and left.


    Ozul came back to the living room with Raven¡ªwho had a concerned expression on her face.


    ¡°Could it be that the Count knows?¡±- Raven anxiously asked Ozul. Even though Ozul massacred the Viscount the previous night, she did not know if he could do the same with the Count.


    ¡°Of course, he knows! You think the Count; the top authority in this whole City wanted to discuss with two random children about their hobbies while at a tea party?¡±- Ozul again looked at Raven as if he was looking at an idiot.


    Frankly, Raven was quite annoyed whenever Ozul gave her this look. But she could not refute anything as she was asking obvious questions.


    But the thing that irritated her the most was; that Ozul does not speak so much in ordinary talks, but when ites to scolding her, he nevercked any words.


    Raven pouted as she asked her next question;


    ¡°So, what are we gonna do?¡±- Raven wanted to clear her doubts.


    ¡°We will attend, of course. The Count does not have any evil intentions, at least towards us.¡±- Ozul exined. He could feel that the man was a Mage, yet he bowed towards him. It can only mean one thing; he received orders from the Count to be respectful.


    Raven still had her doubts, but she knew better than to ask any further. It will only start Ozul¡¯s long speech about how she is aplete idiot.


    Ozul also did not bother to exin any further and just went towards the room to sleep. Since he will have to attend the ¡®discussions¡¯ in the afternoon, Ozul decided to sleep extra topensate his body for the afternoon.


    In the meantime, Raven trained to grow stronger. She was not Ozul, who would go to sleep even after waking up from sleeping the whole night.

 Chapter 27

    Discussions.


    The Sun began to set, and Ozul woke up. Raven was still meditating all this time.


    When Ozul woke up, he waited for Raven to finish, and after that, they left the house in their usual clothes.


    Raven had an anxious expression, it eased only after Ozul said,


    ¡°Show this expression in front of others again, and I will never let youe with me,¡± Ozul would not force her to cover her every expression, but showing vulnerabilities was a no-no. It was also a lesson for Raven.


    Raven also did not want to leave Ozul¡¯s side. Hence, hearing thest part, her face involuntarily did the magic.


    Living in the City for four years, Ozul had studied all the ces. He knew where the Count¡¯s Manor was.


    In half an hour, Both Raven and Ozul were standing in front of Count Oliver¡¯s Estate. Entering through the gate, the guards did not dare to stop them. They had received their orders from above.


    Walking a bit further, Ozul saw the same smiling man waving at them.


    .....


    ¡°You came! Lord Oliver has been waiting for your arrival,¡± The smiling man said with a slight bow.


    Ozul just nodded, and the smiling man began to lead them inside the building. Raven appreciated the paintings and other decorations along the way.


    Soon they entered a room with a big door. The smiling man opened the door and gestured for them to enter while he stayed outside.


    Inside the room, Ozul and Raven saw a blonde man wearing professional clothes looking at them. His eyes beamed with excitement.


    A man in a butler¡¯s uniform was standing behind the blonde man.


    ¡°You must be Ozul and Raven!¡±- Even now, Count Oliver could not believe that the kids in front of them killed everyone in the Viscount¡¯s estate!


    One of them only emitted an aura of a Rank-1 Mage while the other one did not even have Mana!


    ¡°How did you know?¡±- Ozul only had this simple question.


    ¡°I am a Count. So, I can easily find out your names.¡± Count Oliver raised his head a little¡ªobviously boasting.


    ¡°I meant, how did you know it was us?¡±- Ozul really hated it when he has to repeat his question. Now this Count was just bing more and more of a nuisance.


    ¡°Oh. Well, you see, it is a long story.¡±- Count Oliver wanted to sound a little mysterious. But Ozul put an end to it when he spoke,


    ¡°Your people were hidden outside the Viscounts Manor, weren¡¯t they?¡±- Ozul said in a dull tone.


    ¡°W-wait. How did you kno-¡±


    Ozul did not let him talk and continued,


    ¡°They saw us and matched our heights to the only two kids that the Viscount had a feud with. Why did you send your people outside the Viscounts Manor?¡±- Thest part was just him muttering to himself.


    There was no other way Ozul could think of. It also meant that the Count before him was not your usual idiot Noble.


    ¡°Now you won¡¯t do it, unless... You were also nning to assassinate him.¡±- There was no other reason for the Count to station his men outside the Viscount¡¯s Manor.


    Also, When they were going to fight the Viscount, he had guessed that the Count sent them. It meant that they were at odds. Ozul just had to connect some dots, and the reason was apparent.


    ¡°W-what!


    *sigh*...


    You¡¯re also smart, huh.¡± The Count sighed as he did not anticipate such an oue.


    ¡°Well, you have already guessed so much, Do I really need to bother exining the next part?¡±- The Count asked in a deted voice. He wanted to reveal his ways slowly and sound mysterious in front of them, but his n failed miserably!


    ¡°You want to recruit me,¡± Ozul said as he shook his head. He did not want to work under someone else. Giving orders is much better than receiving them!


    ¡°At least you should consider my offer! I can provide you with resources, wealth, anything you desire. Well, at least what I can provide.¡±-The Count did not want to give up on such talented individuals!


    ¡°I don¡¯t like to work when I don¡¯t like it.¡±- It sounded confusing, but what Ozul meant was that he only liked to work when he feels like it.


    ¡°So, you won¡¯t reconsider, huh.¡±-The Count asked for thest time. But all he received was a shake of Ozuls head. The Count did not bother asking Raven because he noticed that she had left all the negotiations to Ozul.


    But the Count did not know that Raven was actually just an ordinary Rank-1 Mage and a Rank-1 Fighter. It was only Ozul that did all the work in the Viscount¡¯s Manor.


    ¡°Anyways, even if you don¡¯t want to work under me, there are other ways that we can cooperate.¡±- The Count did not want to let them go just yet.


    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡±- Ozul and Raven both sat down at the chairs opposite of Count Oliver.


    Raven began to think that the Count was a good-natured person after noticing his behavior. But Ozul knew better than to believe that fellow¡¯s act. The Count did not have any ill intent towards them, but the Count had probably done some ill deeds to gain such ferocious aura.


    The Count began to tell the real reason for him nning the assassination against the Viscount.


    ¡°We were in the same faction lead by one of the dukes, but that idiot broke some rules...¡±-The Count exined his reasons. There are always different factions under an organization.


    ¡°Causing the destruction of that vige for some small profits.


    *Sigh*


    He broke many rules. If he were left alive, the opposing faction would have used it to their advantage.¡±


    ¡°He forgot that we do things quietly!¡±- The Count finished exining.


    ¡°What do you want with me?¡±- Ozul did not care about anything else.


    ¡°Hm. Impatient, are we? I have a proposal for you. You do small tasks, and you get profits. As simple as that.¡±- The Count stated.


    ¡°I can work with that only if I get to refuse each time if I don¡¯t like the task.¡±- Ozul did not mind doing things; he nned to do so anyway.


    ¡°Haha! Decisive, I like it. You have got your self a deal!¡±- The Count happily praised Ozul.


    The Count did not care if he was discussing with a kid or not. All that mattered to him is that Ozul can do things! He would also not ask any of his secrets because it was outright disrespectful!


    ¡°Now that we havee to an agreement, I would like to offer you your first task. If you may.¡±- Count Oliver said as he waved his hand, and the butler presented a file in front of Ozul.


    ¡°What is it? I¡¯m toozy to read it all now.¡±- Ozul asked with a deadpan face.


    ¡°Haha, a man *cough* a boy of humor, I like it,¡± Count Oliver thought that Ozul was joking.


    ¡°I am not fooling around. And don¡¯t say, ¡°I like it¡± like a pervert,¡± Ozul said while weirdly looking at Count Oliver.


    ¡±


    *cough*...


    Well, the file is about your objective. Specifically, information about your target. I want the man dead,¡± Count Oliver¡¯s expression turned solemn and exined the task.


    ¡°I want pills andprehension tablets for small Rank Mages,¡± Ozul stated his demands.


    ¡°Hoho... Not even looking at the target? Very well, you have a deal,¡± Count Oliver wondered why he would need such things, but did not probe any further.


    ¡°Time?¡±- Ozul wanted to know the time limit for the task. The more the time limit, the better.


    ¡°Everything is exined in the file,¡± Count Oliver replied.


    ¡°Okay.¡±- Ozul handed the file to Raven and stood up. It was time to leave; there was nothing he wanted to ask anymore.


    Count Oliver did not ask him to stay, as well. He wanted his task done, and in return, he will provide resources¡ªnothing more, nothing less.


    Ozul and Raven left the Count¡¯s Manor. On the way, Raven did not say a word.


    When they reached the house, it was already nighttime.


    When Raven saw that the time was right, she said, ¡°Can we trust him?¡± Even though earlier Raven felt that the Count was friendly, after listening to the objective of the task, she was not so sure anymore.


    ¡°Of course not! But no one said that we have to trust him, or he has to trust us. We just made a deal; I willplete the task, and Oliver will reward us,¡± This time Ozul exined everything to Raven.


    ¡°If I don¡¯t like the task, I can refuse it. Besides, I can¡¯t even kill Oliver and loot all of his belongings,¡± Ozul said.


    ¡°Eh?! He is that strong?¡±- Raven eximed as it was a first for Ozul to say, ¡®he can¡¯t.¡¯


    ¡°Strong? A little. But it is not because he is strong that I can¡¯t kill him. It is because he is part of a faction, and the faction has more Counts, Marquis, and even a Duke... They will start a man-hunt on me If I kill a member.¡±


    Ozul was not afraid if they start hunting him or something, but it would get really annoying to travel in the future.


    ¡°Oh...¡± Raven felt that it made sense. How can she be so stupid not to notice such obvious things?


    ¡°Anyways, let¡¯s just sleep,¡± Even though Ozul had slept all day except for when he visited the Count, he still wanted to sleep!


    Raven sighed at his extraordinaryziness, but if she gets a chance to be close with him, she was notining.


    They did not care about the file and left it for tomorrow.


    From here on out, their lives will get busy.

 Chapter 28

    Assassination.


    Waking up the next morning, Ozul saw that Raven was practicing a Spell. She could not perform it though. Raven was practicing her Original Spell, but she had notpleted it yet.


    No matter what she did, it seemed as if something was always missing. Ozul noticed her predicament and went towards her.


    ¡°What do you intend for the Spell to do?¡± Ozul asked whileing from behind Raven. Raven was startled, but she was joyous after hearing that Ozul was willing to help her.


    ¡°You told me that you got stronger by eating the Cores of your opponents, right? So, I thought if I could make daggers using Darkness Element, which will absorb my opponent¡¯s blood to refill me with stamina or Mana,¡± Raven exined what she wanted to do with her Original Spell.


    ¡®Interesting concept. If Raven is sessful, then she would be able to take on tens of Mages at the same Rank alone. And even after the battle, she won¡¯t be exhausted,¡¯ Ozul analyzed the notion of such a Spell.


    ¡°Show me what you do.¡±- Ozul wanted to see where she was failing. Casting a Spell was simple, You put your intent on the Mana stored in your Core, and it would do the work.


    But the moreplicated the Spell is, the more difficult it is to maintain the same intent. Some functions are done better with certain Elements. For example, if you require a spell that will st, Fire Element will naturally be the most suitable choice.


    No one taught these things to Ozul; he knew basic principles such as these from birth.


    .....


    ¡°You want to create daggers that will perform certain tasks. You don¡¯t need to add all the functions in a single object. Try to divide the tasks for certain parts. For example, the task to steal the stamina or Mana from the opponent will be given to the de,¡± Ozul patiently exined the process with details.


    Raven was immersed in Ozuls¡¯ teachings. She did not dare to think about any useless stuff now. Ozul continued;


    ¡°Also, use the specialty of your Element... Darkness has unlimited potential, all because it¡¯s more than just emptiness. Use that to your advantage,¡± Ozul would only give some hints here and there; It was up to Raven to decipher the meanings. Otherwise, even in the future, Raven will keep needing his help.


    Ozul left Raven to her own devices and went inside the room.


    Raven finished after an hour and also went back in. Ozul had not gone back to sleep. Instead, he was vacantly looking up at the ceiling while sitting on the couch.


    The file was still sitting on the table. ncing at it, Raven asked,


    ¡°Did you read it?¡±


    ¡°No, I was waiting for you to do it,¡± Ozul did not even bother to read.


    Raven sighed as she shook her head and picked up the file containing their target. It hadn¡¯t been long, but Raven was already numb to killing. As long as Ozul was with her, the world could burn for all she cared.


    Raven knew how to read¡ªeveryone in the vige called her a genius when she learned how to read and write.


    She read the file and exined the details to Ozul.


    ¡°The man is named Tibor Strd. It says that he is a merchant,¡± Raven began to read out the essential details.


    ¡°Huh? Being Merchant is only a side business. He is actually a ve trader.¡±- Raven then began to read out all the crimes and deeds of Tibor Strd.


    ¡°Maybe, the Count is a nice person. I mean so far, he has only gone for the wicked men,¡± Raven gave out her opinion when she had read the whole file.


    Ozul hearing her opinion of the Count, again looked at Raven as if... she was an idiot. Raven knew the look and immediately spoke to defend herself,


    ¡°Now what? Am I really an idiot in your eyes!¡± Raven said while pouting.


    ¡°The Count is a nice person, huh. Did you hear how easily he talked about the elimination of your whole vige? And the only thing he did not approve of the Viscount was his methods in the dealings, not the dealings itself,¡±


    Ozul knew that he needed to exin it to Raven. After all, no matter how much he scolded her for being an idiot, Ozul also knew that she was but a nine years old girl. Still, Ozul wanted her to do better than just average; he wanted her to be


    in front


    of others, not


    with them


    .


    Raven again felt stupid when Ozul broke it down to her with an exnation. Ozul seeing that she was genuinely sad, decided to cheer her up for the first time! He patted her head and said;


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. But learn to read into people. It will help you in the future,¡± Ozul sounded like a parent worried about their children.


    But all Raven heard was the concern and care in Ozul¡¯s voice. She nodded her head with a foolish smile stered on her face. Not only did Ozul seemed like a parent, but now Raven also appeared as the child.


    ¡°Wake me up when it is time.¡±- Ozul left these words before going to the room for a ¡®nap¡¯.


    Only then did Raven get out of her fantasies and was embarrassed when she remembered that she showed such a side to Ozul.


    Ozul slept until night and opened his eyes, hearing the voice of Raven.


    The information that they received from Count Oliver stated that they should finish the business in only two days! Now it was not hard for Ozul toplete the assassination in only half a day since the Merchant Tibor was staying in an inn on the south side of the City.


    But Ozul, at the moment, just wanted to ck off. Why aren¡¯t there any capable people under him who could do all the work?


    Ozul gave Raven the eye and stood up to leave. If it was killing someone, it was best done at night, especially for Ozul¡ªwho was slightly overpowered in the darkness...Okay, maybe not just slightly.


    Raven was confused as to what wrong she did but shrugged it off and went out in the garden for training.


    Ozul would not take Raven with him this time. He just quickly wanted to finish the task.


    He freshened up and left the house in the care of Raven. It was nighttime; there were no crowds on the streets. It took Ozul twenty minutes before he saw the two-story building. The inn stood out from the rest of the structure surrounding it.


    Only the rich could afford to stay in such an inn. Needless to say, Ozul could not enter from the front door.


    He searched the entire surroundings, but there was not a single entrance except for the front door!


    Ozul had no other way but just to create a new entrance himself! He went to the back of the structure, which connected to an alleyway.


    Ever so silently, he used the Ball of Purity to cut into the wall! Using a de, he created a giant circle into the wall.


    Since it was nighttime, everyone was asleep. No one was in the corridor to see the giant hole in the wall.


    Everything, even the room number of the Merchant, was stated in the file. So, Ozul just had to find the room by checking the numbers written on the door.


    It took Ozul another minute to find the room. He used the Ball of Purity to fill in the keyhole and turned it into sold to form a key.


    He opened the door, and in the dark, he could see the fat middle-aged man sleeping naked. There were some clothes on the floor, and the alcoholic smell lingered in the room.


    Ozul did not bother to talk like a viin or a hero right now. He matched the appearance of the man with the poster that he saw.


    Confirming that it was his target, Ozul just cut the neck of the sleeping Merchant and checked his pulse before leaving from the same entrance.


    He had the same clothes and the ck kitsune mask. So, even if someone saw him, they would not recognize him.


    Fortunately, on the way back, Ozul did not encounter anyone. This time though, Ozul kept his attention on the surroundings. It was his mistake that caused them to be found out by the Count. He would not repeat his mistake.


    After half an hour, Ozul was back home. Raven sighed in relief that he was safe and sound. Although she knew Ozuls¡¯ prowess, she can¡¯t help be anxious every time she is away from him.


    Noticing Raven¡¯s worries, Ozul just ruffled her hairs for a bit and went to his favorite spot in the garden.


    Tomorrow, Ozul and Raven have to visit Count Oliver again to collect theirmission.

 Chapter 29

    Sharp.


    The next morning Ozul woke up and saw Raven at a distance from him. In her hand, though, were two weird ck des. The des seemed to exude ck smoke from it¡ªThey felt like a part of it.


    Realizing what it meant, Ozul stood up and went towards her. Raven noticed his presence and turned around with a bright smile on her face. She excitedly spoke;


    ¡°See!? I seeded! The des can both steal Mana and stamina from my opponents!¡±


    Raven showed the two daggers in her hand. Of course, no one except her could wield them, and it was just a Spell. So, whenever she wanted, they would disappear in thin air and reappear whenever she recast the Spell.


    Ozul nodded his head; he was satisfied with her progress.


    ¡®She may not be a genius, but herprehension can put her above most of them,¡¯ Ozul thought. Some people take months just to create a simple Original Spell. Yet Raven had created aplex Spell within a matter of a week.


    Raven beamed with happiness when she noticed that Ozul recognized her efforts. It was not only because of Ozuls¡¯ teachings but also because of her hard work.


    When she could¡¯ve spent her time cuddling with the sleeping Ozul, she instead chose to better herself.


    .....


    Now she needed to test the des on some real targets. Ozul wanted to see if he could wield the daggers. So, he asked,


    ¡°Let me try.¡± While extending his palm.


    Now Raven had no problem in doing so, but she had created the daggers with an intent that no one beside her could use them. She was about to exin it to Ozul when,


    Ozul did not wait for her and took the daggers out of her hand! It surprised Raven! Not because Ozul took them from her hand, but because they were supposed to dissipate and hurt everyone who touches it except for her!


    Just as Raven was about to apologize to the now ¡®hurt¡¯ Ozul, she noticed something... Those daggers seemed even more vivid and lively in the hands of Ozul!


    ¡®What the heck? How? Did my Spell not function properly?! But how can that be?¡¯ Raven was breaking down internally. She thought that her Spell did not work the way she wanted.


    ¡°Hm. They are suitable. Good job,¡± Ozul patted Raven¡¯s head after analyzing the daggers. But contrary to what he thought, Raven did not look one bit happy when he stroked her head.


    Noticing Ozul¡¯s confusion, Raven spoke up,


    ¡°They are supposed to hurt everyone who touches it besides me and dissipate into thin air afterwards...¡±- Raven exined why she seemed so downcast all of a sudden.


    ¡°Oh? That, don¡¯t worry, it might be because of me. I think your Spell works fine.¡±- How could Ozul not know; that the darkness itself is like a beloved to him? It would never hurt Ozul.


    Raven was confused as to what Ozul meant, but decided to ce her trust in him. Ozul had never disappointed her expectations!


    They would go in the woods to test her Spellter, but now they have to visit Count Oliver¡¯s Manor.


    Walking down the streets, Ozul had the jet ck pointed hat on top, but he could still hear the murmurs of people around him.


    ¡°Did you hear?¡±- Unknown 1.


    ¡°What now? Stop bothering me!¡±- Unknown 2.


    ¡°Dude! The Merchant Tibor was assassinated in his sleep!¡±- Unknown 1.


    ¡°Yeah, that again, I¡¯ve heard it like ten times today.¡±- Unknown 2.


    Ozul and Raven did not mind the talks and kept their pace steady. Sometimeter, they reached Count Oliver¡¯s Manor. The guards again did not bother with them.


    This time, no one was needed to show them the way. So, they kept walking until they were outside the Count Oliver¡¯s office.


    Raven knew the manners and gently knocked at the door. A few secondster, they heard a voice;


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    Ozul entered with Raven following behind him. They could see the content smile cemented on Count Oliver¡¯s face.


    ¡°As you know, it¡¯s done,¡± Ozul would not waste his time chit-chatting.


    ¡°Haha, I know! You did excellently. Even though the target was not some Mage, you left no traces.¡±- Count Oliver was happy because he found the right person. The assassination itself was easy, but he wanted to test Ozul, and he passed!


    If Ozul could not kill a single person, then he was not up to the standards. Count Oliver wanted someonepetent enough so that even his seniors in the faction would have to acknowledge him.


    ¡°Yeah, I know. Now pay up,¡± Ozul couldn¡¯t care less about how he did things. He wanted to receive the payment and just leave.


    ¡°Very well.¡±- Count Oliver motioned towards the butler. He was starting to understand that Ozul had a straightforward personality and did not like long talks.


    The butler waved his hand, and a pile of things appeared on the table in front of Ozul and Raven. Simrly, Raven waved her hand, and the resources were stored in her Spatial Ring.


    ¡°Inform me if you have a real task,¡± Ozul said while leaving through the door with Raven. He had guessed that the task yesterday night was only to probe him.


    Inside the room, you could hear Count Oliver¡¯s amused chuckle as he said,


    ¡°Sharp as ever, eh?¡±


    ¡°Takes one to know...¡± Ozul¡¯s voice came out as he started walking out the hallway. Ozul considered Count Oliver sharp because he did not treat him as any other Noble would¡¯ve done.


    Count Oliver knew when to take the friendly approach and when to use force. If Oliver used any other method to get Ozul to work for him, he¡¯d be dead already. Ozul wouldn¡¯t think about the consequences at that time.


    Ozul was walking back with Raven, who was excited, counting all the things inside her Spatial Ring.


    She would feel butterflies in her stomach whenever she thought that Ozul worked only to support her progression.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Raven said while giving a beautiful eye smile.


    Ozul though remained apathetic as he said,


    ¡°As I said before, repay me in the future.¡±


    No one talked after that, and sometimeter, they arrived at their house.


    Ozul wanted Raven to test her Spell in a real battle. Before she lost to Rank-2 Beast because of stamina, but now her Spell counters that part. She will only realize her ws when she fights someone else.


    And she can¡¯t fight with Ozul. He had no blood, no Mana; Raven wouldn¡¯t be able to test her limits while fighting him.


    Ozul informed Raven that they will leave for the woods in half an hour and went to take a nap. Raven was excited to test the prowess of her Original Spell.

 Chapter 30

    Genius?


    At around noon, Ozul was on a branch of the tree, resting his back against it. The real leg was bent a little, and the other hung down the branch. There was a ck pointed hat on top; It seemed as if he was sleeping.


    Down the tree, Raven was fighting a Rank-2 Beast. She was testing the Spell that she created earlier. If you were to look closely, you would find that she seemedpletely fine except for her disheveled clothes.


    But the Rank-2 Beast, on the other hand, had many small wounds on his body. It delighted Raven when she had the upper hand against a Rank-2 Beast while she was only a Rank-1 Mage and a Fighter.


    This could be credited to the fact that she was a Mage and a Fighter at the same time. But it was mostly because of the advantages provided by her Original Spell.


    There aren¡¯t many Mages who create a Spell that makes physical weapons for them to wield. Some people will evenugh at such Mages saying if they want to fight more physically, why not be a Fighter?


    But what if you were a Fighter and a Mage at the same time? It significantly raised Raven¡¯s fighting prowess.


    And since it is an Original Spell, Raven can evolve it and upgrade it however she wants.


    Actually, this was a third Rank-2 Beast that she had fought consecutively! Eventually, Raven defeated her opponent. Ozul woke up at that moment and noticed the now-dead Rank-2.


    .....


    ¡°Catch your breath. Let¡¯s see what you¡¯ll do against a Rank-3,¡± Ozul said without moving from his position.


    Sometimeter, Ozul found a Rank-3 Beast and let Raven fight with it. The result was, of course, Raven¡¯s total defeat.


    She can steal Mana and stamina from her opponents, but it won¡¯t matter when you can¡¯t injure them in the first ce. Furthermore, the Beast had magical spells. Raven was in bad shape at the end of the battle.


    And that¡¯s where the pills and potions obtained from the Count came into use. She just had to gulp down the Elixir, and her injuries healed at a visible rate.


    ¡°Woah! This potion is so miraculous!¡±- Raven eximed in surprise. She thought that the purple might take a little to heal her, but the effects were visible to the eyes.


    Ozul noticed the purple vial as the same medicine that those Humans created from his ¡®parts.¡¯ He gave Raven the ¡®stern eye¡¯ as to show his seriousness, and said;


    ¡°Don¡¯t ever, and I mean never talk about that Elixir in front of me again... And if you have to use it, don¡¯t do it where I can see it,¡± Ozul just felt weird inside when he sees someone consume that potion.


    It contains his essence, and when someone takes it inside of them, he just feels disturbed.


    Ozul would also not prohibit Raven to use it because it will only be a waste. And it¡¯s not like he can stop everyone on the to do so either. Again, Ozul was not an idiot, he knew his priorities.


    They returned just when the Sun was setting.


    ¡°As you can see, you need to improve your Rank. No matter how reliable your Spell is, nothing survives in the presence of absolute power,¡± Ozul exined when they entered the house.


    Raven nodded her head as she knew it was true. Her Spell gave her many advantages, but if her Rank improved, those benefits would only increase.


    Ozul could do nothing but wait for her to grow. For himself, Ozul had also thought of a few things. Such as, he could get a better grasp on Ball of Purity.


    He could control it just as he was able to control his limbs, but even professional martial artist does not have perfect control over their body.


    Ozul also wanted to try to further the radius under which he can proficiently use Ball of Purity. The three-meter range is big, but the more it increased, the better.


    The Sun had already set. So, Ozul went to sleep, but Raven could not rest with all the excitement. She was only a Rank-1 and had defeated several Rank-2 Beasts. That puts her into the category of geniuses!


    . . .


    The next morning, Ozul and Raven again received an invitation from Count Oliver. It seemed as though this time, the Count had a real business for Ozul.


    Ozul was ultimately bored; he did not hesitate to ept the invitation.


    They arrived at Count¡¯s Manor and went inside his office. Sitting on the couch, Ozul did not bother for any pleasantries and went straight to business.


    ¡°It better be worth it,¡± Ozul did not like being tested like before.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The task, this time is... a littleplicated,¡± Count Oliver exined as he continued;


    ¡°It is from above. I have little to no information. Of course, you can reject the task. But I assure you that you will be properlypensated if you ept the job,¡± Count Oliver offered.


    The task was assigned to him by higher-ups from his Faction. Naturally, he had the choice to refuse such a risky job. But to consolidate his standing in the Faction, he epted the offer.


    ¡°What are the risks, and what do I have to do specifically?¡± Ozul wanted to know the risks before he decides on what to do.


    ¡°You will have to bring a package from someone back to me. The package contains information. So, there may be some risks involved. Also, you may even have to face Rank-5 Mages...¡±- Thest part was what worried Count Oliver.


    Count Oliver knew that Ozul had killed the Viscount who was a Rank-5 Mage, but this time he might have to fight multiple Rank-5 Mages.


    Ozul though was indifferent, after eating the Viscount¡¯s Core. His advancement might have stagnated, but at this moment, Ozul had the confidence to fight and win against multiple Rank-5 Mages.


    He did not hesitate before epting the mission. Even Count Oliver was surprised to see Ozul¡¯s confidence.


    Count Oliver himself could also take multiple Rank-5 Mages as he was a Rank-6, but he did not know anything about Ozul¡¯s Rank.


    He had tried to find more about Ozul, but all the searches led to dead ends! The boy in front of him had appeared seemingly out of nowhere!


    But Count Oliver could only entrust Ozul with the task. If it were not urgent, he would¡¯ve never trusted someone he knew so little about.


    Ozul and Raven picked up the file containing the detailed information and left the Count¡¯s estate.


    When they left the room, the butler behind Count Oliver spoke;


    ¡°Can we really trust him, My Lord?¡± The butler spoke in a modest tone.


    ¡°We have no choice, Albert,¡± Count Oliver sighed as he shook his head to forget the negative thoughts.

 Chapter 31

    Jinxed.


    Walking back home, Raven¡¯s face ckened, and her eyes stole nces at Ozul while her brows furrowed.


    She appeared hesitant as her timid nature took over. Atst, she couldn¡¯t bear it anymore and decided to say what she was holding back. In a soft voice she spoke;


    ¡°Um. Will you be fine? You don¡¯t have to take the risk just for some resources...¡±- Her words trailed off as her voice kept lowering until it felt like she was whispering.


    Ozul kept walking with a straight face. Noticing the concern in her voice, he looked at her with the same cold front, but his eyes gleamed. If Grandma Coral were alive, she would have noticed that Ozul was happy!


    In a steady voice, Ozul assured Raven;


    ¡°Believe in me. I don¡¯t do something that I am not confident in.¡±- Ozul¡¯s tone might sound robotic, but Raven perceived the tenderness to assure her in that monotonous voice.


    A bright smile appeared on Raven¡¯s face as she tiptoed the rest of the way home. Ozul could not understand the reason for this sudden change, but he did not question it.


    When they arrived at home, Raven read the file which held all the details rted to the mission.


    .....


    Ozul had to retrieve a package while there may be some assants who will try to stop him. They don¡¯t want the information in that package to be in the enemy¡¯s hands.


    The threat can go up to an assault of multiple Rank-5 Mages!


    Ozul listened to the details as it might get dangerous if he did not take note of all the details.


    ¡°The package probably contains something else. Whatever...¡±- Ozul muttered when he had heard all the details.


    There are many other ways to transfer messages from long distances, so it was unlikely that the box contained some written information.


    Ozul, though did not care either way. He will justplete the mission and receive his payment.


    The only thing that irritated Ozul was that he had to leave now! The parcel was in Nork City, which was about half a day distance from Azmar City!


    Picking up the package and retrieving it back will take more than 24 hours!


    Even Raven was somewhat troubled that she would be away from Ozul for more than a day, but she did not insist on joining him as she knew that she would only get in Ozuls way.


    Her brows furrowed and her lips pursed as she kept darting her eyes towards Ozul.


    Ozul noticed her worries as he moved towards her and ruffled her hair. It always helped him, and he knew that it worked for Raven as well.


    Raven forgot all her concerns when she felt Ozul¡¯s prosthetic hand on her head. Even though she could not feel any warmth from his palm, Raven would just feel butterflies in her stomach whenever Ozul showed care towards her.


    Of course, Ozul left in his usual attire. Wearing only ck clothes and a ck kitsune mask while running in broad daylight will only draw attention!


    For a shortcut, Ozul ran through the forest. There were not any Beasts that could harm him in the way.


    Ozul did not need to enter the Nork City. The package was in a hideout located in the outskirts of the City. He would need to say the code sentence, and the people would give him the parcel.


    It took only 10 hours for Ozul to reach the City, and it was only because Ozul, in the meantime, did not once stop to rest!


    He did not rest, not because he was showing his determination or anything. He did it because he could.


    He looked for around twenty minutes before he found the hideout. It was well-hidden; even though Ozul knew the location, it still took him twenty minutes!


    The hideout was an old building, and debris was scattered all around it. Some wild nts grew on the walls; it looked as if it was some kind of ancient architecture that could not survive the tides of time.


    Furthermore, thick vegetation surrounded the archaic structure!


    Ozul arrived at the only door and knocked on it. He received no answer whatsoever even after waiting for several minutes.


    He guessed that he needed to say the code sentence. So he spoke;


    ¡°No light without Darkness.¡±


    Ozul gently whispered those words. But even after that, no response came from the other side of the door. He sighed as it did not work.


    ¡°You won¡¯t open the door after only changing it a little bit? Okay, It is Light in the Darkness.¡±


    Just as Ozul said thest part,


    *creak*


    The wooden door opened with the screeching sound, and a man¡¯s face covered in dirt appeared behind it.


    With a face which showed annoyance, the dirt-covered man spoke in a grumpy voice;


    ¡°You should¡¯ve said it the first time. Do you know how anxious I got after your prank!?!¡±- The man continued,


    ¡°And why did they even send a kid!? Ah! Whatever, It¡¯s in your hands. I don¡¯t care anymore!¡±- The dirt-covered man gave a small wooden box to Ozul.


    Just when Ozul received the box, the man shut the door with a bang, which caused quite amotion in the surroundings, as the birds on the trees flew away.


    It was not as Ozul wanted to joke around, he just did not find the code sentence to his taste. So, he thought maybe a little tweaking would not change much. s, it did not work.


    Ozul just strapped the box around his waist and started to head back.


    ¡®No obstacles until now. I hope it remains that way... I probably jinxed it.¡¯- Ozul thought and started running in the direction of Azmar Town.


    As expected, just as Ozul was leaving the outskirts of Nork City, several shadows began to follow him.


    Ozul sighed but kept jumping from trees to trees to create a distance from the City. After a while, he stopped, and all the shadowsnded near him.


    The shadows consisted of five male figures, covered in ck from head to toe, only leaving their eyes.


    Ozul was surprised when he noticed their Ranks though! There were three Rank-4 Mages and one Rank-5 Mage. But thest man... he was a Rank-6 Mage!


    He had prepared to face off against multiple Rank-5 Mages, but the involvement of a Rank-6 Mage drastically changed the situation!


    Advancements after Rank-5 can take years! And the power boost cannot evenpare to any of the previous Ranks. The people in Rank-6 and above can store Mana even in their skin cells!


    And now Ozul was about to face against someone who had taken the first step in removing the mortal shackles!

 Chapter 32

    The Fight.


    Even in this overwhelming situation, Ozul did not lose hisposure, and calmly analyzed the situation. Running was not an option as eventually, they will catch him.


    Ozul¡¯s only advantage in this situation was the factor of surprise and how his Ball of Purity needs neither an incantation nor any hand signs.


    Most Mages are required to either chant or weave hand signs to form a Spell. They can only cast the Spells without any chant or hand signs when they are proficient enough.


    The more yourprehension towards your Element, the easier and faster you can cast your Spell. When your understanding towards your respective Element reaches a certain level, you can then silently cast your Original Spells.


    He could also not use the same strategy as he did with the Viscount since the Sun was still up and running. Ozul needed to be in dark surroundings for it to work. Dark smoke in broad daylight will effortlessly be seen and then countered.


    If Ozul had a heart, the heartbeat would¡¯ve been faster than usual. Maybe for the first time in his life, he was a little nervous, although he did not show anything on his face.


    ¡®First, I have to thin out the numbers.¡¯- Ozul thought as he began to n his next move.


    The Rank-5 Mage looked at Ozul, and his eyes radiated mockery. He spoke;


    .....


    ¡°Kid, you don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve gotten yourself into. Hand over the box, and we¡¯ll let ya live.¡±


    He had a rxed posture like the rest of Rank-4 Mages, but the Rank-6 Mage still looked as if he would start casting Spells any second.


    Ozul exuded no Mana and appeared only as a kid to other Mages. But the Rank-6 Mage still kept his guard up as his instinct told him to be on guard.


    ¡®It makes no sense for them to send over a kid to retrieve it. Something is wrong...¡¯- The Rank-6 Mage was about to warn others.


    But he was a second toote as the three Rank-4 Mages dropped dead on the ground while the Rank-5 Mage got injured!


    Ozul took the opportunity when most of them were rxed around him and threw Ball of Purity needles¡ªinstantly killing the Rank-4 Mages, but the Rank-5 Mage managed to survive by erecting a stone wall in thest moment.


    ¡®It¡¯s a pity the Rank-5 survived, but he was never my target.¡¯- Ozul had used the factor of surprise and got rid of the three Rank-4 Mages.


    It will not work anymore as the other two would not make the same mistake.


    ¡°Idiot!¡±- The Rank-6 Mage spoke. His voice hinted at his old age. But the tone carried an unbearable pressure to the Rank-5.


    The Rank-5 bowed his head in shame. They had lost three of their men, and the fight hadn¡¯t even started yet!


    Ozul though did not wait for them and took this chance to strike first. He sent several des towards Rank-5 Mage.


    Both of the masked men used their defensive Spells and evaded the des. The Rank-6 Mage also used Earth Element.


    Ozul changed the des into needles and made them go around the defensive walls to strike the Mages.


    The needles again hit the Rank-5 Mage, but the Rank-6 Mage had cast agility and body strengthening on his body before the battle, so he was safe.


    When Ozul saw that some of the needles were stuck on the Rank-5 Mage¡¯s skin, he took this opportunity to turn the needles into smoky ck gas and enter inside him!


    Not waiting for the Rank-5 Mage to recover, Ozul destroyed him from inside, and the Rank-5 Mage died on the spot!


    The Rank-6 Mage who had just stabilized his stance was fuming in anger while his fists clenched and he gritted his teeth.


    ¡°Boy! You will pay for this! Do you think I will fall for your traps like them!?¡±- The old Mage had seen how Ozul¡¯s needles turned into smoke and attacked his insides.


    ¡®I will have to be careful of that. No matter how strong I am from the outside, my organs are still vulnerable.¡¯- The Rank-6 old Mage thought before attacking with his Spell.


    Ozul dodged the iing barrage of rocks and sent his Ball of Purity des to interrupt the Rank-6 Mage. If a Mage loses his concentration, the Spell they were using will automatically disperse.


    ¡®I have to take the risk, or eventually, I will be defeated.¡¯- Ozul began to think of a n.


    The old Mage used the big stones to block the iing pitch-ck des. It let Ozul rest for a second before the Mage again directed an attack Spell towards him.


    Even if he wanted to, Ozul could not do anything except for dodging. The old Mage did not let the des near him.


    ¡®If I can¡¯t find an opening, I will have to create one.¡¯- Ozul thought of the time when he created a hole in the wall when he couldn¡¯t find the entrance.


    Ozul began to run towards the iing rocks!


    ¡®Mad man! Does this boy have a death wish!?¡¯- The old Mage thought when he saw that Ozul was risking his life while advancing towards him!


    Many of the debris hit Ozul. Wounds started to pile on his skin. But he did not bleed from any of those. Ozul felt the pain from each cut, but he did not stop his approach.


    ¡®Now or never!¡¯- Ozul thought as he gritted his teeth.


    The old Mage thought of something and created a giant rock spear and sent it towards Ozul.


    At such a close distance, Ozul could not dodge such an attack. But he was prepared for such a situation. He put both of his prosthetic arms in the way of the spear!


    They are prosthetics anyway, and if it could save Ozul¡¯s life, he¡¯d be more than happy to sacrifice prosthetic arms made of some rare materials.


    However, the force behind the spear was something that Ozul did not ount for. But he did not falter under the attack; he willed the des to attack the old Mage from behind.


    The des would distract the old Mage as Ozul sent a wisp of ck smoke towards him. Since the old Mage knew that Ozul would be sent flying, he did not care about him and turned to face the des.


    Just at that moment, the wisp of ck smoke entered through his nostrils!


    Ozul was sent flying back by the force of the spear. He was hurt; it was excruciating! His internal organs were burning as he fell down.


    While with one hand on his stomach, Ozul stood up groggily. The sight would have been a mess if Ozul had blood!


    All the attacks were stopped as the atmosphere regained its serenity.


    The old Mage¡¯s face was ashen as he stood there petrified. He knew that he had lost.


    He had lost from a kid who did not exude even one bit of Mana.


    Just with Ozul¡¯s thought, the old Rank-6 Mage staggered and fell down as blood escaped from his mouth.


    The single wisp of ck smoke had turned into a needle and tore the insides of the old Mage.


    Ozul did not stay standing for long and also dropped on the ground to catch his breath.


    Several minutester, Ozul had somewhat recovered and resumed running back to Azmar City.


    He did not care about the Rank-6 Core that he could harvest from the now-dead Mage. Because not only it wouldn¡¯t really help him increase his strength much, but he was also exhausted from the fight. The injuries still hurt even though he had no blood.


    His pace had reduced because of the injuries, but he could not do anything about it. Ozul did not have a Spatial Ring, and even if he did, he would never drink the potion made from his own essence!


    The rest of the journey went without a hitch as Ozul started to see the outskirts of the City. He did not bother to go directly towards the Count¡¯s Estate as it would take like another thirty minutes.


    Ozul was exhausted after the fight and the constant running. He ran towards the direction of his house which was not so far away. He would rather not roam around the city looking like a beggar.


    He swiftly passed the gate and arrived at the door. He had to wait for a while after knocking before Raven¡¯s head peeked through the door.

 Chapter 33

    Compensation.


    When Raven saw the condition of Ozul, she mmed the door open and arrived before him.


    Upon seeing the haggard condition of Ozul, his wounds ridden body and his exhausted figure, tears formed in Ravens¡¯ eyes.


    ¡°What happened!? Who did it!? Are you fine?! Who dares to hurt you!? Does it hurt anywhere?!¡±- Raven started to bombard Ozul with questions.


    She radiated absolute bloodlust towards the people who had done this to her Ozul. Raven was ashamed of herself that she could not do anything for Ozul.


    She kept checking his injuries, and from time to time, Raven would think how weak she was, how she was not capable enough to change anything, how she could not protect him.


    Ozul, noticing the unstable state that Raven was in, decided to do something about it, or it might lead to something unexpected.


    He created a hand using Ball of Purity and patted Raven¡¯s head before he spoke in a firm tone;


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine.¡±-


    .....


    Even though this pat helped Raven to stabilize her mental state, but she was still dejected, knowing that Ozul was in this state while she could do nothing!


    Ozul went towards the dining room and arrived at the couch before copsing on it.


    The twelve hours of travel together with fighting a Rank-6 Mage¡ªdepleted all of his energy!


    Raven bit her lower lips as she followed behind Ozul. Her eyes could not look up straight as though she caused everything that happened to him!


    She thought that if she were powerful enough, Ozul would not have gone alone on a mission just to obtain some petty resources for her.


    She looked at Ozuls exhausted figure on the couch, his disheveled clothes, and the metal lumps that remained of what were prosthetic arms before.


    Tears again started to form in her eye as she thought of how she could live if something had happened to Ozul.


    Looking at the crying expression on her face, Ozul, for the first time, smiled for Raven!


    His expression turned soft as he spoke in a light voice;


    ¡°Idiot, it¡¯s not your fault.¡±-


    Raven, though did not hear anything that he said because seeing the smile on Ozul¡¯s face caused her brain to crash!


    Raven kept looking at his face as if the time had stopped for her. It felt that spring hade earlier for Raven as flowers started to bloom in the surroundings.


    The Sakura petals began to fall from the sky as the smiling face of Ozul was etched into her vision.


    It took several minutes for Raven toe out of her stupor! She was embarrassed to think about how she had literally logged out for a few minutes!


    Raven forgot all the negative thoughts earlier as if they were but an illusion. Only the feeling of pure delight remained as she couldn¡¯t get enough of the smiling face of Ozul.


    After her multiple rational breakdowns, Raven came into reality as she thought;


    ¡®How can someone¡¯s smile be so... breathtaking... hehe... He smiled for me...¡¯- All kinds of silly thoughts started passing through her mind as some drool starteding out of her mouth!


    When she noticed the drool, just as she was wiping it, she noticed that there was some blood on her hand!


    Upon further inspection, Raven realized that she was having a nosebleed!! All those thoughts about Ozul had increased her heartbeat so much that the blood came out of her nose!


    After wiping away all the blood, Raven furiously blushed as she began to think of her earlier behavior.


    Raven then noticed that she had dozed off for so long that Ozul had gone to sleep! All the exhaustion and countless sleepless hours had caused him to sleep after he arrived at home instantly.


    She sat near him on the couch. Noticing his ufortable position, Raven put Ozul¡¯s head on herp and began to pat his head gently.


    Hours passed, and night had fallen. When Ozul opened his eyes, the sight that greeted him was of Raven with a gentle smile on her face. She was ying with his hair from time to time.


    Ozul wanted to stand up first, but then he realized howfortable thep pillow was! And when Raven yed with his hair, the intensity of his coziness only increased!


    When Raven noticed Ozul looking straight at her, she was startled!


    But she did not lose control and kept her position although her body went rigid and wouldn¡¯t move even if she wanted to!


    Raven was having the time of her life while giving Ozul thep pillow and ying with his hair from time to time, but all of a sudden, Ozul had woken up!


    She was again embarrassed to face him. But just as she was thinking of excuses to leave, Ozul spoke up;


    ¡°Why did you stop?¡±- Ozul was confused as to why Raven would suddenly freeze.


    When Raven heard those words, as if her world had been lit up, she beamed in glee.


    She again began to y with Ozuls¡¯ hair, albeit this time she was flustered. Ozul did not mind, though¡ªhis position couldn¡¯t get any morefortable.


    Ozul looked out the window and noticed that it was around midnight. He again closed his eyes after feeling the gentle hands running down his hair.


    Raven had to stop herself many times from hugging Ozul whenever she saw his sleeping face.


    . . .


    The next morning came. Ozul and Raven woke up, feeling the sunlight enter through the window. They had both slept inside the house.


    When Ozul woke up, he noticed that most of his injuries had healed, and his wounds had closed! Just overnight, Ozul had returned to his peak! Only the destroyed prosthetic arms remained a nuisance.


    They both set off to Count Oliver¡¯s Manor. After about thirty minutes, Ozul and Raven entered in the Count¡¯s office.


    Count Oliver¡¯s cheeks were raised, and a smile was stered on his face, which showed all of his white teeth.


    Count Oliver was beaming in joy when he received the news that Ozul had returned from the mission!


    He stretched his right hand to gesture Ozul and Raven to sit down on the seats in front of him.


    Just as Ozul sit down, Count Oliver spoke with the ever-present smile;


    ¡°Haha, Ozul, so did youplete the mission?¡±-


    ¡°I did, as you can see.¡±- Ozul replied in his monotonic voice. He did not wait for Count Oliver to say anything before he continued;


    ¡°But first, let¡¯s talk aboutpensation...¡±-


    ¡°You see these? A professional cksmith made them with the Mathyx metal... I want 100 Gold Coins aspensation together with the previous reward we agreed upon for the mission.¡±


    Ozul exined his condition while pointing towards the lump of metals which stood in the ce of his prosthetic arms. The attack of the Rank-6 Mage had destroyed them.


    But hearing those words, Count Oliver¡¯s smile dropped, and the temperature in the room dropped by many degrees.


    The mood turned solemn as no one uttered any word.


    After some time, Count Oliver spoke in a cold voice;


    ¡°What is the meaning of this, Ozul!? I don¡¯t think it is my responsibility to pay for your damaged equipment during the mission!¡±


    Ozul was not fazed by Count Oliver¡¯s stare and replied;


    ¡°Yeah, but it is your responsibility to provide me with urate information. It would¡¯ve been fine even if you told me that you don¡¯t know anything as I would¡¯ve prepared for the worst.¡±- Ozul continued after a pause;


    ¡°But you gave me the wrong information. You told me that the worse would only be fighting against some Rank-5 Mages. A Rank-6 Mage was not what I had prepared for.¡±- Ozul knew that Oliver needed to know his standing.


    Count Oliver¡¯s eyes opened wide when he heard that a Rank-6 Mage was involved!


    He did not doubt any of Ozuls¡¯ words as if a Rank-6 Mage was really involved, the behavior of his higher-ups will be justified!


    They had explicitly asked for a Count to do the job himself. Oliver did not have a problem with that, but due to some urgent business, he could only send someone else.


    Even Marquis Orbthorn, his senior, had cautioned him about this mission. But he did not pay too much importance on the matter.


    ¡°Sigh... It¡¯s my fault.¡±


    Count Oliver spoke up after a few minutes of contemtion. His hands held his now throbbing head.


    ¡°I will pay the 100 Gold Coins. In fact, 100 Gold Coins are too littlepensation for putting your life at risk. You can ask something else as well.¡±


    Oliver spoke up in a defeated manner. His eyes would not meet Ozuls¡¯.


    The butler Albert exhaled a deep breath, which he was unconsciously holding since the moment Ozul asked forpensation.


    Ozul was not surprised by the sudden change in the tone of Count Oliver¡ªhe had already expected it to be such a case.


    A 100 Gold Coins was nothing for a Count. It was just that earlier, Oliver thought that Ozul was being unreasonable and disrespectful.


    ¡°Something else? Hm... Oh, I want to know some information.¡±- Ozul thought before he replied.


    ¡°Huh? Information? What type of information are you talking about?¡±- There were some types of information that could be regarded as kingdom secrets.


    And Count Oliver could not, in any way, disclose such knowledge.


    Ozul noticed Oliver¡¯s hesitation. He had an inkling about what Oliver was thinking. So, he spoke;


    ¡°Oh, nothing too serious.¡±- Count Oliver visibly rxed at those words. Ozul continued;


    ¡°What I want to know is everything you could tell me about a certain Family in our kingdom.¡±

 Chapter 34

    Reason..


    Count Oliver was puzzled about which Family Ozul was talking about. He tilted his head a little to show his confusion.


    ¡°Tell me about the Abilon family.¡±- Ozul just said in the dull tone.


    Even Raven wondered why Ozul wanted to know about some Abilon Family. She lived in the vige before. So, her knowledge of the kingdom was limited.


    ¡°Hm. The Abilon Family, the Family of one of the Dukes in our Silverbird Kingdom?¡±- Count Oliver was even more perplexed as to why Ozul wanted to know about them.


    But it did not have anything to do with him so, Count Oliver began to describe what he knew about the Abilon Family.


    ¡°I think that Family has kept their status for centuries now. Each generation had produced at least one capable Mage that can hold the position of a Duke.¡±-


    Ozul did not intervene, and every now and then, he would nod his head a little.


    ¡°But in the previous generation, there were two such geniuses!¡±- Count Oliver continued,


    .....


    ¡°s, one of them died like ten years ago.¡±- Oliver said with another sigh. He always admired talented people.


    ¡®Ten years ago... it could be my ¡®father¡¯... but why and how would he just die? Is it rted to why at least one of my part is with the Church now?¡¯-


    Ozul began to think of a few possibilities as he was also born just about ten years ago. Such timing can¡¯t be a coincidence.


    Count Oliver noticed that Ozul wanted more exnation, so he began to describe;


    ¡°Ten years ago, Edward Abilon was the Duke while his younger brother did not have any important position. Edward was, of course, the stronger between the two.¡±- He continued;


    ¡°Everything was going smooth for the Family. But all of a sudden, misfortunes befell on Edward Abilon.¡±-


    ¡°Misfortunes?¡±- Ozul wanted to know what kind of misfortunes Oliver was talking about.


    Count Oliver did not know why Ozul wanted to know about the recent history so much, but he exined nheless;


    ¡°First of all was the death of his most favorite concubine. I think her name was... Sylvia Ashfall?¡±-


    ¡°Syliva...Ashfall. That was her name, huh.¡±- Ozul muttered, but only Raven could hear him.


    She did not fail to notice Ozul¡¯s distinctive tone when he said the name. But she decided to askter. It was not the time nor the ce to ask such personal questions.


    Count Oliver did not hear Ozul as he began to count all the misfortunes of Edward Abilon ten years ago.


    ¡°The second would be the death of the baby inside Syliva Ashfall¡¯s belly, Edward¡¯s first and the only child. I think there wereplications during the delivery.¡±


    ¡®He dered me dead, huh.¡¯- Ozul thought while he did not flinch hearing the news of his own ¡®death¡¯.


    ¡°The third will be, of course, how he lost all his cultivation together with his mind before he...well, died.¡±


    ¡°And now the younger brother of Edward Abilon is the Duke, am I right?¡±- Ozul finished the rest of the story after putting the pieces together.


    ¡°Haha... You are right; His name is Edwin Abilon. Everyone calls him Duke Edwin though. He is also the other genius of the previous generation that attained Rank-8.¡±-


    Count Oliver awkwardly spoke since Ozul¡¯s earlier inquiry meant something else. Those were just unspoken words that everyone knew, but no one dared to speak out loud.


    ¡°Also, since Duke Edwin secured the position of the Duke, their Family is on the rise! No one knows how they could improve so much in just a matter of a few years.¡±- Count Oliver added thisst part.


    Ozul only had onest question;


    ¡°Is he in your faction?¡±- It will make things easier for Ozul if he were.


    ¡°Ah, It¡¯s a pity, but no. He is more like a neutral party. Duke Edwin has close ties with the Royal Family; he doesn¡¯t need to join a faction.¡±


    Count Oliver answered while shaking his head a little. Ozul learned all the information he wanted to.


    So, he just took his leave after receiving thepensation together with the reward from the mission after he handed over the wooden box.


    As Ozul walked back home together with Raven, he was in deep thoughts;


    ¡®No wonder they forgot about me¡ªas they are not even alive to think.¡¯


    ¡®Earlier the Count confirmed that most probably Edwin was behind the death of my ¡®father¡¯.¡¯


    Edwin was also a Rank-8 Mage; it goes without saying that he would be jealous of Edward due to his position as a Duke.


    ¡®Sigh...Couldn¡¯t even kill him myself. Well, Edwin sold my part to the Church of Light. I can kill him...¡¯- Ozul sighed, thinking of how his ¡®Uncle¡¯ was now in possession of his ¡®part¡¯.


    Raven kept stealing nces at Ozul and noticed his weird behavior on the way back home.


    . . .


    When Ozul sat on the couch in the living room, Raven sat near him, and after some hesitation, she asked;


    ¡°Um... Ozul. Can I ask you about thatdy named Sylvia Ashfall?¡±- Raven just wanted to know why Ozul was so interested in the name.


    Raven had never seen Ozul be interested in anything.


    ¡°Hm?¡±- Ozul looked at Raven and said;


    ¡°My name is Ozul Ashfall.¡±- This simple and in answer was enough for Raven to make the conclusions.


    Raven¡¯s eyes widened hearing that Ozul had the same surname as Sylvia who was the concubine of the previous Duke of their kingdom! She clearly understood the implications behind this.


    ¡®What could¡¯ve happened for him to end up here though...¡¯- She began to think of various scenarios.


    Ozul did not bother exining because he wanted to sleep right now.


    He neared Raven and just put his head on herp before closing his eyes! Unknown to Raven, Ozul¡¯s favorite spot had already changed from the tree outside to wherever Raven¡¯sp was.


    Raven had not processed Ozul¡¯s earlier words when she felt his head on herp!


    She happily smiled and began to run her hands through Ozuls¡¯ hair.


    But she did not forget the meaning of Ozul¡¯s earlier words. Raven did not ask anything further as she thought that it might be sensitive.


    ¡°Wake me up in the afternoon. We will go to Mr. Smith for the arms.¡±- Ozul said these words before going to sleep.


    . . .


    In the afternoon, Ozul and Raven went towards Mr. Smith¡¯s house.


    When the door opened, the old figure of Mr. Smith came into the view of Ozul.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you. Kid, I can¡¯t use any more precious materials on creating your prosthetics.¡±- Mr. Smith had already used so many expensive metals for free on Ozul.


    Ozul did not mind and just nodded his head. He gestured towards Raven, who took out the Gold Coins from her Spatial Ring and presented in front of Mr. Smith.


    ¡°100 Gold Coins. Make the prosthetics detachable and add some extra features like self-destruction or something...¡±


    He kept his straight face while exining Mr. Smith to make more of a weapon than some prosthetic arms. He also wanted to modify the leg to have the same features.


    Mr. Smith smirked and headed back inside. Making just t working prosthetics was too dull for him who had made weapons for wars before.


    He did not ask why Ozul would need such ¡®prosthetics¡¯ or how did he obtain 100 Gold Coins. He was a professional who does not ask any questions.


    His motto was simple; If you have the money, you will receive the service.


    Sometimeter, Ozul and Raven came back home with Ozul having a new pair of weapo...*cough*...arms.


    . . .


    Back home, Raven was ying with Ozuls¡¯ hair as hey in the garden and rested his head on Raven¡¯sp.


    Raven was still curious as to what was inside the wooden box. She wanted to know if Ozul knew;


    ¡°Um. Ozul, what do you think was in that wooden box?¡±


    The soft voice entered Ozul¡¯s ears as he opened his eyes and replied;


    ¡°You remember the healing potions? It is the same potion, but with about a hundred times more concentrated healing effects.¡±


    These words shocked Raven! A hundred times more! Could it also heal... missing limbs!?


    ¡°I know what you are thinking, and they won¡¯t work on me.¡±- Ozul could guess what was going on in Raven¡¯s head.


    How could mere samples obtained from his arms and a leg heal the very same limbs? The amount these people considered as concentrated would probably be regenerated in mere seconds by his limbs.


    Raven chose not to ask for the reason as she believed that Ozul would tell her if it was something important. But Ozul only didn¡¯t exin to her because he was toozy to do so.


    However, she was disappointed that she couldn¡¯t do anything about Ozul¡¯s arms and his leg.


    No one made another sound after that as Raven enjoyed the sleeping face of Ozul on herp as she caressed his face. Thoughts about Ozul¡¯s past ran through her mind.

 Chapter 35

    Mercenaries.


    -Ten yearster-


    In the forest near Azmar City, you could see a girl fighting multiple Rank-5 Beasts! The girl had short ck hair tied in a ponytail. In her hands were two pitch-ck des as she shed towards the iing Lightning Wolf.


    This girl, of course, was Raven. It was just recently when she advanced to Rank-5 Mage and Rank-5 Fighter.


    In these short ten years, her prowess had skyrocketed. She had Ozul to enlighten her about the Darkness Element and resources obtained afterpleting the missions from Count Oliver.


    Moreover, she noticed that as time passed by, cultivating both her Body and Mana Core together had benefits.


    With a sturdy body, she had an easier time circting Mana in her body, which helped in reducing the time and effort to advance as a Mage.


    While with a better Mana Core, fusing the refined Mana with her body became effortless.


    Both methodsplemented each other, and together with theprehension from Ozul, her talent stunned everyone who saw her growth.


    .....


    Count Oliver, in these ten years, hade to know that Raven was anything but a simple vige girl. When he saw her talent, he tried many times to recruit her but was declined every time.


    A bit far from herid a young man with a jet ck pointed hat on his face. His arms were folded under his head as he slept soundlessly, not paying attention to the massacre of Rank-5 Beasts.


    Ozul had grown into a young man from that ten years old kid. The only thing that changed was that he was getting a bit worried about his ¡®parts¡¯ now.


    It had been 20 years already, his severed arms can survive that, but the people are obviously experimenting on them. So, he could not rest easy.


    Thankfully, Raven was growing without a hitch. But he has not found anyone else besides her, Which was also worrying.


    He could not increase the density of the Ball of Purity, but his proficiency had skyrocketed. He could use fine needles even as far as a 5-meter radius from him!


    Alongside this, Ozul and Raven¡¯s fame had been increasing over time. Many upper echelons of the kingdom received the wind of this.


    Whatever Count Oliver threw at them, they wouldplete it. Since most of the tasks would have people killed, some sayings started to float around like;


    ¡°When you see your dark surroundings get darker; Don¡¯t resist,


    Perhaps, you will be devoured without pain by the Ravenshadow,


    By the Feral.¡±


    No one actually knew Raven¡¯s name, but people had given Ozul nicknames such as the Ravenshadow and the Feral.


    Count Oliver would always try to tease Ozul with such nicknames, but Raven woulde to his rescue. Although Raven also liked the sound of the Ravenshadow.


    Raven had also grown into a beauty. s, Ozul would onlye for her when he needed thep pillows. She did notin though. She was happy as long as Ozul needed her.


    Talking about their rtion, the two had obviously grown closer to each other. But not in the way that anyone might think. Although Raven wanted so much more to happen, she did not have the courage to make any advancement.


    On the other hand, Ozul tried his best to ignore things. He did not understand the reason, but he just could not bring himself to get into a rtionship. There was just something inside that reminded him to never even think in this direction.


    When Raven finished ughtering the Beasts, she looked as though nothing even happened. She had improved the Mana and Stamina steal of the daggers over time. She also named the des ¡®Lifebenders¡¯.


    Whenever Ozul went to the mission, Raven would also join from time to time. Now, she wouldn¡¯t even bat an eye before killing someone.


    Ten years with Ozul, she had experienced people who looked innocent, but back-stabbed just the next moment.


    Raven had seen the fickle nature of humans. These experiences turned her gentle beauty into the cold beauty that she is today.


    Nevertheless, all that coldness and indifference vanishes whenever Ozul came into her view.


    She went towards Ozul and woke him up. They had to leave now, even though Raven had only advanced yesterday, she was already better than most of the Rank-5 Mages!


    When Ozul woke up, he saw the smiling face of Raven, looking at him with anticipation. He could even see the imaginary tail wagging behind her.


    Ozul stood up and patted her head, which caused the wagging to intensify. He was not sure, but Ozul may have even heard the purr as he saw the blissful expression on her face.


    ¡°There there, you did well.¡±- Ozul said in a normal tone. He had also started to show some care towards her.


    They put together their things and went back home after that.


    . . .


    Sitting on the couch in the living room, Ozul spoke up;


    ¡°Let¡¯s be mercenaries.¡±-


    ¡°Okay~¡±- Raven did not question why Ozul wanted to suddenly be mercenaries after so many years of just working with the Count.


    Ozul wanted to travel as all these years he couldn¡¯t find anyone. Mercenaries have their guilds set in most of the cities around the continent. They are considered as a neutral faction.


    If united, Mercenaries can also be considered as a significant Power on the Maind. But the Mercenaries only work for profits, so they are regarded as a neutral faction.


    Later that day, Ozul and Raven arrived at Count Oliver¡¯s Manor.


    Count Oliver was in the garden as he sat there enjoying the beautiful day while the gardeners watered the nts. After ten years, Count Oliver had no change whatsoever in appearance.


    It was because he was a Rank-6 Mage. The life span of Mages increases tremendously after Rank-5 as they start to break the shackles of mortals.


    Each Rank advancement after Rank-6 would add centuries to your life span!


    Anyways, Count Oliver had established a good rtion with Ozul and Raven. Even though both parties sought their own interests, they had no qualms with each other.


    Count Oliver put the cup of tea down the table as he smiled towards Ozul and Raven before saying;


    ¡°Hoho, look ¡®The Feral¡¯ is here.¡±-


    Hearing the words tho, Ozul halted his steps and began to retreat!


    ¡°Hey! Hey! Stop, I won¡¯t say it again. I promise!¡±- Count Oliver began to shout when he saw that Ozul was actually about to leave!


    Only when he promised that he wouldn¡¯t repeat it did Ozul turn back.


    They sat on the chairs near Count Oliver as the Butler Alfred offered some tea and biscuits to Raven. Alfred was used to Ozul not having anything, so he didn¡¯t offer to him.


    Ozul got straight to the point;


    ¡°We will be joining the Mercenaries guild. So, in the future, I might not be able to work with you.¡±-


    ¡°Sigh... I knew this day would being.¡±- Count Oliver had no visible reaction to the sudden announcement.


    ¡°Here take this. If you ever visit the Capital, show this to Marquis Orbthorn. He will know you¡¯re trustworthy.¡±- Count Oliver gave a small badge to Raven. The badge had an eye engraved on it and looked like some pendant.


    ¡°If it is necessary.¡±- Ozul already had some wealth and resources stored, so he didn¡¯t need anything for now.


    ¡°But I do have onest request if you will?¡±- Count Oliver asked. It was not such an important task, but he had his hands busy at the moment.


    ¡°What is it about?¡±- This time Raven asked.


    Raven was only timid in front of Ozul. Otherwise, she had gained a cold personality and was also straight forward like Ozul.


    She showed no emotions in front of others, as well. Ozul had told her never to show weakness to others, but she had turned cold towards everyone else.


    Even though Ozul tried to do something about it once or twice, he didn¡¯t care about it anymore. It¡¯s not like he was any different. He just thought that it was his fault that Raven turned out as such.


    But he was wrong; she turned indifferent toward everyone else because she had seen the cruelty of the world. She hade to realize how wicked even the pitiable can be.


    Only Ozul was left in her world; it was fortunate that she didn¡¯t lose herself and would show her childish nature again in front of him.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. No bloodshed this time around. Just check out a particr vige for me...¡±

 Chapter 36

    Demon.


    ¡°What is so different about this said Vige?¡±- Raven asked as she couldn¡¯t think of a possible reason for them to check out a Vige.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. There have been some rumors going around of a ¡®Demon¡¯ or something.¡±- Count Oliver exined as he shook his hands sideways to indicate that it was not that big of a deal.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve some urgent business, and I can¡¯t send my own men. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve to bother you guys. Don¡¯t reject this old guy¡¯s request will you?¡±- Count Oliver said thest part in a hurt tone as if he would break down in tears if they refused him.


    Though, as always, Ozul and Raven just stared at him coldly and didn¡¯t say a word.


    Count Oliver dropped his act and gestured towards Butler Albert as he sighed;


    ¡°Sigh... Here take these 50 Gold Coins. If you find an anomaly, just remove it please.¡±- Oliver said while Albert handed out a pouch filled with Gold Coins.


    Raven put the coins in her Spatial Ring. It was not the same old Ring bought with only 2 Gold Coins. After so many years, they were quite wealthy themselves now.


    Ozul and Raven took their leave after the chit-chat. Well, it was more like Oliver chatting and him being stared at by Ozul and Raven.


    .....


    After they were gone, Albert the Butler spoke up;


    ¡°Are you sure you wanna let them just go like this, Lord?¡±- He spoke, still gazing at Ozul and Raven¡¯s back.


    ¡°What are you joking about, Albert. Do you think I can stop them? I can contain the Feral? The Feral who killed people even stronger than me without any signs of him ever being there?¡±


    Oliver spoke in a downcast voice. He may not be the best-natured man, but he always respected power. Ozul had gained his respect.


    . . .


    Ozul and Raven walked towards their house.


    ¡°Should we check it out now?¡±- Raven curiously asked. She really wanted to test her capabilities against some Demon¡ªif there is any.


    ¡°Not right now,ter. I have to get onest check for these prosthetics.¡±- Ozul wanted to have them upgrade in size for onest time.


    Thest time he had them renewed was two years ago. Although he didn¡¯t grow at all from then, it was better to have them checked.


    They spent half of their day preparing and only left in the afternoon.


    ¡°How long will it actually take?¡±- Ozul asked Raven as he really wanted to sleep. These years, sleeping was the only thing he enjoyed after Raven¡¯sp pillow.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, If we walk non-stop, the vige will be by the side of some hill about 2 hours from here.¡±-Raven assured Ozul as they started their journey.


    On the way, they met countless Rank-3 and some Rank-4 Beasts. Raven quickly dealt with them. She had created some more auxiliary Spells, but the daggers had be like a signature move of hers.


    After two hours, they saw as the outline of the hill began to recede, and the Vige structure came into their view.


    But, it wasn¡¯t anything they expected because the whole Vige was covered in ice spikes! When they arrived on the streets, blood flowed like rainwater! There were puddles of blood and dead bodies lying around.


    All of them impaled by Ice spikes!


    Raven even wondered what kind of demon could do such a thing. But Ozul¡¯s interest grew by the seconds while walking down the pavement.


    All his life, he had never found an answer as to what he really was. But he still remembered how they called him a Devil¡¯s Spawn. Maybe he can find someone simr to him here?


    Maybe he can find something more about himself?


    Though, he was left disappointed when all he saw was a 19 years old teen sitting in the center of the Vige as corpses littered around him.


    The man had his head hung down, but Raven could tell that he was alive when she noticed his rough breathing. There were also no wounds on his own body, but the young man looked exhausted.


    From the scene around him, anyone could tell the culprit behind this massacre. They easily guessed that this was the ¡®Demon¡¯ that the Count was talking about.


    Just when they were getting close to the man, he moved.


    He faced up to see the peopleing towards him. At that moment, All Raven and Ozul could see was the eyes of some broken little kid. It was like the man lived, but he didn¡¯t have to will to do so.


    However, the most intriguing feature wasn¡¯t the dead eyes, but the ice-like Crystals, which formed a crown on the guy¡¯s forehead.


    Ozul was again interested in him. The Crystals may not be the same as the life-like symbols on his now detached arms and leg, but they were still not normal.


    Raven stopped when the man looked towards them with hollow eyes. But Ozul didn¡¯t stop. He deeply looked towards those Crystals as he kept moving forward to get an even closer look.


    Ozul didn¡¯t even think that the man could be someone dangerous. All such thoughts were pushed aside by his newfound interest in the anomaly in front of him.


    ¡®Is he someone like me? Demon... they call him...¡¯ Different thoughts ran through Ozul¡¯s mind as he slowly walked forward.


    Raven was surprised when she saw Ozul so immersed in something.


    He never took any risks in a battle. And now that they didn¡¯t know if the enemy was safe to approach or not, he was mindlessly advancing. What had happened to him? Just as she was thinking things through,


    *sfwoosh* *fwoosh*


    Several sharp icicles separated from the giant ice spears and rushed towards Ozul! There was some distance between Raven and him so she couldn¡¯t do anything to protect him.


    Her eyes widened as she thought that this might hurt Ozul. He was not paying attention whatsoever for crying out loud!


    It was evident that the young man in front of them had attacked Ozul!


    Yet, Ozul knew what he was doing. His pointed hat quickly turned into liquid before blocking all the ice shardsing towards him.


    After a decade or so, the Ball of Purity also had around ten extra needles worth of increment.


    Ten extra needles weren¡¯t much if you look at it normally. But only when you take into ount that each one of those ten needles can rip apart a Rank-5 Mage like butter do you realize its worth.


    Moreover, Ozul¡¯s body had improved so much that it could rival a Rank-7 Fighter. But unfortunately, even his body reached a bottleneck after that.


    He would¡¯ve already moved onto a new destination in search of something that could help him if not because he wanted Raven to have a strong foundation.


    Since Count Oliver provided him with steady resources, he was toozy to go in search of something else.


    The young man was looking strangely at Ozul. He had never seen someone who could also control something without needing to weave hand signs or incantation!


    Nevertheless, the young man did not stop there, and the ice all around him started to rotate around Ozul. asionally, the icicles wouldbine to formrge spears and shot towards Ozul.


    However, Ozul blocked each one of them and did not even bother to counterattack. He just kept advancing towards the strange person in front of him that may have some simrities to him.


    Ozul approached the young man as he didn¡¯t shy away from him. The young man had a considerable height of around 6.2 feet, while Ozul was exactly 6 feet tall.


    The weird man was sitting on the ground so, Ozul had to bend his head to look at the ice-crystal beads on his forehead.


    The Crystals were as small as nails and connected one side of the forehead to the other, which looked as if it was some sort of a crown. Only the middlemost crystal was longer than the others.


    If people didn¡¯t see his dead blue eyes, the man looked quite handsome with his cyan hairs and the Crystals on his forehead.


    Ozul stretched out his hands to touch the Crystals. The young man didn¡¯t bother to dodge or swat away his hand as he knew that he was powerless in front of this man.


    No matter what he did, nothing worked as Ozul had effortlessly blocked all of his attacks while still keeping his attention on those Crystals.


    When Ozul touched the Crystals tho, he lost all his previous interest in the man before him. The Crystals only gave a chilling sensation that any ice would.


    He just instinctually knew that there was nothing at allmon between the man and him, aside from both being called evil names.


    Frustration actually showed on his expression as backed away. After so many years, he had thought that he might have found something that could exin his existence.


    Raven saw the disappointment on Ozul¡¯s face and wanted nothing more than to console him, but she knew that it wouldn¡¯t help. Heck, she didn¡¯t even know the cause of Ozul¡¯s frustration.


    Since Ozul couldn¡¯t get anything from the man, he decided to get down to the real business.


    Ozul coldly looked towards the man and spoke up;


    ¡°So... Why did you do it?¡±

 Chapter 37

    ze.


    ¡°Why did you do it?¡±- Ozul asked while looking down at the young man. He could already guess the reason, but he wanted to hear from the man¡¯s mouth.


    The man with the dead looking eyes stared at Ozul as he spoke;


    ¡°Why? WHY?! YOU ASK!? They all called me a Demon! They all wouldn¡¯t ept me! Even my parents! Just Because of this CURSE!¡±-


    The young man crazily began to shout as he pointed to the corpses scattered around him.


    ¡°Hm? So, you killed them all?¡±- Ozul asked confusedly.


    ¡°Huh!? You wouldn¡¯t understand! You will never know the pain that I had to suffer from the day I was born!!¡± It seemed as though the man had truly epted his defeat. He continued;


    ¡°You haven¡¯t seen the stares that all those people gave me! You will not know how I had lived up to this day! You...¡±


    However, just as he was screaming, he saw something that stunned not even him but also Raven, who stood beside Ozul now!


    .....


    Why? Because Ozul had a smile on his face! Of course, both of them were dumbfounded when they saw the heavenly smile. Raven was amazed, now more than ever.


    Ten years of living with Ozul and the number of times that she saw Ozul smile could be counted on one hand. And here he was, raising the tally just like that. Though, she could not understand the reason for his smile.


    The young man was stunned because he thought that the boy before him was just mocking him.


    He clenched his fists as he spoke through gritted teeth;


    ¡°YOU!... Why are youughing!?¡±- The young man would have already killed Ozul if he had the power to do so.


    ¡°Hm? Oh! I¡¯mughing at your idiotic reason.¡±- Ozul replied, the first time with amusement in his tone!


    Ozul understood what those crystals meant. He also knew that he had found what he needed. It won¡¯t help him find his answers, but there were other things that he needed help with.


    ¡°You said I wouldn¡¯t understand?¡±


    Ozul said as he folded over the sleeves and stretched the leg for the man to see his prosthetics arms and his left leg.


    ¡°You see these? ¡®They¡¯ chopped them off on the day of my birth.¡±- Ozul¡¯s sudden statement not only startled the young man but even Raven! Ozul did not wait for anyone¡¯s reply as he continued;


    ¡°On day one, They were chopped off by none other than my ¡®Father¡¯.¡±- He paused to let the young man digest his words as he went wide-eyed. Then he resumed;


    ¡°My mother died right after giving me my name... My ¡®Father¡¯ called me a Devil¡¯s Spawn the first moment that he saw me.¡±- Ozul would pause from time to time as he began to exin his past.


    His face reverted back to normal. At this moment, Ozul didn¡¯t care about who knows about his backstory at all. He was strong enough to protect himself.


    It was just that since all these years Raven hadn¡¯t asked anything about him, he didn¡¯t bother to exin. So, at this moment, even Raven was immersed in his painful past as tears were forming in her eyes.


    She wanted to find out why would such an otherworldly being would be dered as a Devil¡¯s Spawn on his birth!


    ¡°My ¡®father¡¯ locked me up in an abandoned barn. No one was there¡ªno one visited me for years. I spent six years of my life covered in the ever-present darkness. Though it was a wonderful feeling.¡±


    ¡°I would have still been there if some bandits identally didn¡¯t open the Magical Seal that bound me in the barn.¡±


    ¡°... I don¡¯t understand your grief you say... Can you understand my pain though?¡± Ozul again had a small smile formed on his face as he asked this question to the young man. He still didn¡¯t let him say anything and spoke;


    ¡°I was wronged as well, but did I start taking it out on everything I saw? No... what will you gain by killing some random ants?... Nothing. You will only gain true satisfaction when you destroy the cause of your suffering.¡±


    Ozul said thest part pressingly. Even Raven was a little bit surprised to hear him talk so much in just a single day.


    The man just bent his head in shame as he realized how much of an idiot he had been. All of this was ¡®that¡¯ man¡¯s fault, but he couldn¡¯t do anything to ¡®him¡¯ right now.


    He opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out were whispers;


    ¡°What are you waiting for? Kill me already.¡±- Even though he mumbled these worlds, Ozul heard them clearly as he shook his head and replied;


    ¡°Why would I kill you? Don¡¯t you want your revenge? You know, I am also in need of someone who can work for me...¡±- Ozul spoke as to let these words sink in.


    ¡°I mean, I am a Devil¡¯s Spawn after all... A Demon is just what I need to burn everything on the path to my goals.¡±- Ozul said as he extended his prosthetic hand towards the young man.


    The man was stunned when he realized the meanings of his words. But he did not have to think for much longer as the man before him not only understood his pain but was also willing to spare his life!


    His dead eyes lit up as life came back to them. It was as if the hand extended towards him was not an opportunity, but a new life. He had to grasp it before it goes away!


    A smile formed on his face as he grasped Ozul¡¯s hand and stood up.


    There was a reason that Ozul had decided to recruit the man. First, he needed capable men to do work for him as he was not able to improve for now. Second, he noticed the potential in the man.


    Ozul knew that some people are born with a natural affinity towards certain Elements. But the anomaly before him was even above the ¡®Gifted¡¯ people.


    The Element of Ice had actually fused a bit into the man. That means even among geniuses, if trained, this man would be a dragon among men.


    ¡°What is your name?¡±- Ozul asked when the man had swatted off the dust on his clothes.


    The man scratched the back of his head as he felt quite awkward. He didn¡¯t even resemble the man earlier that had lost his will to live. He said;


    ¡°Uh... They didn¡¯t give me a name.¡±- All his life, people only called him a Demon.


    ¡°Hm? Okay.¡±- Ozul was about to turn around, but he saw the expectations in the man¡¯s eyes as he eagerly looked towards him. Ozul knew what the man wanted, so he spoke;


    ¡°... I will call you ze... Just ze. Oh, and my name is Ozul,¡±- Ozul said after only thinking for a second. But the man, now named ze, showed his wide smile when he received his name.


    ¡°Yes! Master Ozul!¡±- ze bowed his head towards Ozul.


    ¡®hmm? Master? Sigh... whatever.¡¯- Ozul didn¡¯t expect such an oue, but he didn¡¯t care either way. As long as ze can do work for him, Ozul was fine.


    Ozul and Raven began to head back home while ze followed right behind them. On the way, Raven had given him some hat to cover the crystals on his forehead.


    ¡°So, tell me, who told everyone that you are a Demon?¡±- Ozul asked while walking forward. There was no way that people would link such artistic crystals to some Demon!


    ze was surprised to see that Ozul had figured out that it was someone else that spread the rumour. He clenched his fists as his face became serious, he said;


    ¡°It was that damn Priest! The Priest came from the Church Of light! He was invited to check on me.¡±


    ¡°Just after the day he left, he dered me as some sort of Demon!¡± ze still remembered the day when everyone turned against him just because of the Priests¡¯ words.


    Ozul heard everything ze had said but did not bother toment on it, and they continued their journey back.

 Chapter 38

    Strongest?


    As they kept walking back, Raven had countless thoughts running through her mind. She did not say anything since the beginning.


    Ozul had noticed Raven¡¯s weird behavior and decided to ask herter. Spending so much time with her had allowed Ozul to be a little more expressive.


    asionally, there would be some noises on the streets. Since the death of the Viscount, the Azmar city had only been flourishing.


    Count Oliver did his things in the shadows. So, no one thought wrong of him. Instead, everyone felt that it was due to him that their lives were getting better.


    It was nighttime. So, there was no one to notice the strange man covered in blood following behind Ozul and Raven.


    When they arrived in the garden, Raven went inside to prepare some things. ze did not dare enter inside the house when he saw the eye Raven gave him.


    Even though he had epted Ozul as his Master and swore to himself that he would follow him, he didn¡¯t know how things worked here.


    From the corner of his eyes, he saw that Ozul also didn¡¯t enter and just went under a tree to rest.


    .....


    ze went towards Ozul and just sat at a little distance from him with his legs crossed. He didn¡¯t know what he should be doing right now. Was he supposed to protect him? Or was he supposed to guard the whole house?


    Sometimeter, Raven came back with some rough clothes and some headband of sorts. She coldly looked towards ze and threw them onto him while gesturing towards the house with her thumb.


    ze understood what she wanted him to do. So, he took his leave to change into something that wasn¡¯t soaked in blood.


    Raven herself went towards Ozul and sat down. She put Ozul¡¯s head on herp and began to y with his hair.


    Ozul wasn¡¯tining either. But he knew that something was on her mind, So he asked;


    ¡°What is it? Do you think that I shouldn¡¯t have taken him under me?¡±- Ozul, who was sensitive to emotions, knew that Raven turned angry whenever she saw ze.


    ¡°Hmph! I don¡¯t care.¡±- Raven snorted, and then continued;


    ¡°It¡¯s just that bastard tried to kill you! And now here he is trying to act as if nothing happened!¡±- Raven began to rant.


    ¡°How dare he act like that!? And..and...¡±- Raven voice started to hesitate as Ozul asked;


    ¡°And?¡±- Ozul.


    ¡°And why didn¡¯t you tell me anything before!? You never told me anything, while in front of that guy, you exined your past like it was nothing!¡±- Raven was feeling really bad whenever she thought of this.


    ¡°Sigh... I didn¡¯t tell, yeah. But...did you ask?¡±- Ozul did not open his eyes as he asked this question. He was already numb to the past events; he didn¡¯t care about it anymore.


    Since Raven had never asked such things, he never bothered to exin either. All he wanted now was to get his parts back and learn about himself.


    Raven could not refute Ozul¡¯s im as she had really never asked anything about his past, fearing that it may hurt him.


    ¡°Raven, ze is already under me now. He may be together with us all the time... You will have to get used to his presence now.¡±- Ozul exined to Raven.


    He wouldn¡¯t like it when things did not get done just because of some small mimunication.


    Raven perceived what he was trying to say and did not bother to talk any further. The best she could do was not to kill that guy at first sight! She wouldn¡¯t make any promises.


    ze came out as he had changed his clothes, and there was a blue headband on his forehead that hid the ¡®Crystal Crown¡¯.


    There was actually no need to hide it, but it would only bring them unnecessary attention.


    He walked up to the duo and stood at some distance. He wanted to ask something but hesitated as he did not know how he should start.


    Ozul had noticed his presence, and when he saw that ze stood still at a distance, he asked;


    ¡°What are you standing there for?¡±- Ozul never understood many things about humans.


    ¡°Oh... I wanted to ask, what am I supposed to do? Guard the house or something?¡±- ze did not know what role he was given, so he could only ask.


    Ozul opened his eyes and weirdly looked towards ze. He said;


    ¡°Huh? You think I wanted you with me to guard some house?¡±-


    ¡°Uh... You didn¡¯t?¡±- ze thought that such a powerful man like Ozul would surely don¡¯t need his assistance to do anything major, right?


    Ozul did not even bat an eye when he blocked all of his attacks. It was because after ten years, Ozul¡¯s raw power may have stagnated, but his skills kept improving!


    When he noticed that ze didn¡¯t understand about his own talent, Ozul said;


    ¡°Idiot. I don¡¯t need some guards... I need people to do everything for me. And that everything is dangerous... So, those people need to be strong.¡±- Ozul had learned to talk more in the expense of pausing in between the sentences.


    He would give a little dy between sentences so he wouldn¡¯t tire out. This would also let his words sink in before he said the next sentence.


    His conversation skills also increased after the previous decade. He continued;


    ¡°You don¡¯t know your potential... I believe you can probably surpass the peak existence on the whole Maind.¡±- Ozul didn¡¯t know how else to exin his talent. So, he told him in a way that anyone could understand.


    He didn¡¯t want to exin it all from ¡®What are the Gifted people?¡¯ to ze.


    ze went wide-eyed at Ozuls ¡®exaggeration¡¯. He didn¡¯t think that he would ever be able to achieve something this big.


    But Ozul believed in him¡ªfor the first time ever, someone had ced their trust in him. ze was overwhelmed with emotions and his heart turned resolute.


    ¡°But... For now, go to sleep. And let me too...¡±- Ozul did not care about those bright emotions that were thrown at him from ze. It was alreadyte, so he wanted to sleep.


    ze nodded his head and went away to a different tree andid down under it. He couldn¡¯t sleep inside the house when even Ozul, his Master, was sleeping outdoors.


    He wanted to sleep, but all of today¡¯s events started ying in his mind. In just a single day, his life had turned over, but in a good way.


    Back to Ozul, just as he was about to close his eyes again, Raven asked;


    ¡°You... Did you tell the truth when you said that he could be the strongest on the Maind?¡±-Raven was starting to get jealous already.


    Ozul had never praised her like this. Even in the best times, he would just say that she did well.


    ¡°Hm? He has an exceptional affinity with the Ice Element... With just a little effort, he will surpass you. ¡°- Ozul looked at Raven and was somewhat dissatisfied that she had doubts about him speaking the truth.


    Raven realized her blunder and began to pat Ozuls¡¯ hair to divert his attention¡ªwhich was, of course, super effective.


    Ozul went back to sleep, but Raven could not rest easy.


    ¡®What if he leaves me when I am not powerful enough?...¡¯- These kinds of thoughts began to form inside her mind.


    She shook those thoughts away, and her determination to work harder grew. She will not ept that new guy taking her ce!


    But for now, all she could do was y with Ozuls¡¯ hair to calm herself down.


    ¡®I only have to work harder, that¡¯s it!¡¯- She nodded to herself before she also closed her eyes to end the day.

 Chapter 39

    Feeling.


    The next day, ze respectfully stood before Ozul.


    ¡°We will go to the Forest to test your capabilities.¡±- Ozul said while sitting on the couch. Raven¡¯s ear also perked up as she listened to their conversation.


    ¡°I want to go as well.¡±- Raven said she also wanted to spar with the new guy.


    The trio went into the Forest, where Raven first wanted to have a duel with ze. Standing opposite to him, Raven took her stance as she spoke;


    ¡°What Rank Mage are you?¡±- She wouldn¡¯t go all out if this guy were only a Rank-4 Mage.


    ¡°Hm? What¡¯s that?¡±- ze curiously asked while looking towards Raven.


    Raven looked towards ze as if she was looking at some rare piece of art.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me... you don¡¯t know what a Mage is.¡±- Raven asked with a deadpan face.


    .....


    Because if he really didn¡¯t know anything, then it meant that all this time, no one had taught him anything, and yet he had such abilities.


    ¡°So, how did you grow stronger all this time?¡±- Raven asked as her mood worsened by the minute.


    ¡°Oh, that? There is a ¡®Crystal Ball¡¯ inside my chest. Whenever I store the Mana inside, I would get stronger, I guess?¡±- ze confusedly replied.


    No one was there to teach him to control his abilities, so he could only rely on himself. He didn¡¯t know why he got powerful whenever the ¡®Crystal Ball¡¯ had an additionalyer on top of it, but he kept doing it.


    ¡°How manyyers are on your Core?¡±- Raven asked.


    ¡°Core?¡±- ze tilted his head again.


    ¡°Your ¡®Crystal Ball¡¯ idiot! You call them Magical Core! Eachyer provides a significant boost to Mage¡¯s capabilities, and the number ofyers determines your Rank.¡±


    Raven couldn¡¯t endure the nonsense any longer and began to exin everything to him.


    Ozul did not bother with them at all. He had already picked a tree and was lying on one of the big branches.


    ¡°Oh! Then I should be a Rank-5 Mage!¡±- ze excitedly replied. He had never heard of these terms before, but he was learning.


    Raven¡¯s face darkened even further! She had spent the previous decade to reach where she currently was with the help of not only Ozul but also countless resources. She trained every day to be better than yesterday.


    And here, stood the man that didn¡¯t even know what a Core was but had managed to be a Rank-5 Mage as well! And that too, without any guidance or resources!


    Only now she understood Ozul¡¯s earlier words¡ªwhy he said that ze could be stronger than the strongest on this Continent!


    Raven did not wait any longer and went all out from the start. ze was surprised, but he also went into action.


    Meanwhile, Ozul did not even nce at the ongoing duel.


    The battle continued with ze always using Ice spears and Raven easily dodging them. However, it didn¡¯t take long for the fight toe to a conclusion.


    Raven had her daggers touching the neck of ze as he was already sweating bullets. The duel was one-sided as ze did not have any Spell other than to create small stuff with Ice.


    ze also never had fought someone else. Killing everyone that came at him in the vige was also a one-sided battle.


    Raven had won the battle, but there was no satisfaction in such victory. She had fought the previous decade fighting monsters and humans alike. While ze didn¡¯t even know what a Core is!


    Furthermore, She was not only a Rank-5 Mage but also a Rank-5 Fighter. On the other hand, ze had not trained his body at all.


    The difference in powers was clearly distinctive.


    She wanted to leave ze on his own and go beside Ozul, but just as she was approaching him... Ozul waved his hands, shooing her away!


    He was telling Raven to teach all the small stuff to ze herself!


    She did not want to, but now that Ozul had said so, she couldn¡¯t refuse either.


    Hence, they spent the rest of the day training in the Forest. ze absorbed everything that Raven taught him while Ozul woke up from time to time only to go back to sleep again.


    He wanted both of them to get stronger, but there was nothing that he could do about it for now. It depended on themselves.


    Raven also had to exin ze on how to be a Fighter, and it¡¯s importance.


    Night fell, and the trio went back.


    ze and Raven were having their dinner as Ozul justid on the couch at the side. He had decided that tomorrow, they would leave to join as Mercenaries.


    Ozul did not need to join as Mercenaries, but it was the best way to spend his time. He could also maybe find some other people who could ¡®help¡¯ him!


    He also had to keep tabs on the Church and his ¡®Uncle¡¯. Count Oliver always informed him of some major incidents, but it was not enough.


    Ozul had to get more information for him to obtain his ¡®parts¡¯ back. There was not any quantitative increase in Ozul¡¯s prowess, but the qualitative change had had almost surpass the boundaries!


    Just ten years ago, he had to sacrifice two of his prosthetic arms only to defeat a Rank-6 Mage. However, now Ozul¡¯s situation had changed so much that it couldn¡¯t bepared!


    He had started to thin out his Ball of Purity to the point that ordinary people wouldn¡¯t be able to notice if he sent it in small amounts!


    He found it no problem to defeat a Rank-7 Mage as he was right now.


    ording to the recent reports on his ¡®uncle¡¯ also called Duke Edwin, Ozul knew that Abilon Family was flourishing day after day.


    No one had any idea as to what was the reason, but Ozul had a hunch that it might be about his limbs.


    Ozul could only slowly work on his prowess and wait for people under him to grow as both of them were still useless to him as of now.


    Azmar City did not have any branch of the Mercenary Guild. What Mercenaries do was also simple; when you be a part of them, you could ept different types of jobs that the organization would provide you.


    When youplete the mission, you will obtain the appropriate rewards, and the Guild receives itsmission from the person who wanted the task done.


    The jobs could be anything from finding a certain thing, clearing monsters in the forest, escorts, and etc.


    If Ozul joined the Guild, he could also create his own group. Which could let Ozul not do anything and make others do the work for him.


    He could also collect information while doing the tasks. He spoke in a low voice, but enough for Raven and ze to heard him;


    ¡°Tomorrow, we will leave for the Mercenaries Guild...¡±

 Chapter 40

    Mercenary Guild.


    The next morning, Raven went to inform Count Oliver that they had pleted¡¯ the task, but before they could even reach the vige, the ¡®Demon¡¯ had killed everyone else.


    Oliver could only sigh and thank Raven for taking care of the matter.


    She came back to find Ozul sitting under the shade of the tree watching ze practice.


    ¡°Start using smaller chunks of Ice...You can control it inrge amounts...But your control needs to be more precise.¡±- Ozul said with some pauses.


    ze started to turn the Big Ice chunks into smaller ones and threw them around. As expected, controlling the small pieces required more of his focus than therger ones.


    Most of them didn¡¯t even hit the tree and fell on the ground! The reason was that the small pieces were more in number, and each one of them required ze¡¯s attention.


    When they were smaller, each small one would require him to create an intent. It was different from Ozul¡¯s Ball of Purity because Ozul moved the Ball of Purity just like someone moves their limbs.


    Raven went around ze and approached Ozul. He had his ck hat made up of Ball of Purity to cover his eyes as he asked;


    .....


    ¡°Did you find out where Mercenary guild is?¡±- He left the handling of such things mostly to Raven. And when he said ¡®mostly¡¯, he meant every time.


    ¡°Yes, one of the closest two is in Capital City while the other is in the opposite direction, in Adron City. ¡°- Raven exined.


    Unfortunately, there was no branch established in the Azmar town, or they wouldn¡¯t have to travel to some other City.


    ¡°We will go for this... Adron City.¡±- Ozul did not think twice to decide their destination.


    Ozul did not want to settle in the Capital City yet. He could easily attract the Nobles¡¯ interest in the future due to his activities that may or may not be unusual.


    It¡¯s not like his actions won¡¯t be noticed in Adron City, but if he did something in the future that could warrant those people to take action, the matter would be dealt with much ease.


    Raven did not question his decision and went to prepare things as they would leave today.


    Later that day, the trio left the house and began to head to the east towards the Adron City. Ozul walked in front with Raven and ze following behind.


    The journey took them another half a day, and it went without a hitch. They took a road to the City as they were not really in a hurry.


    After half a day, they were walking on the bustling streets of the City. It looked all the same to Ozul, just a little difference in the routes.


    Raven took the lead as Ozul did not want to deal with people. He may have started talking a bit more, but he still hates it.


    Furthermore, it was around midday, and the zing heat was killing him! He would never be able to converse normally under such circumstances.


    Raven only had to re at a few passerby¡¯s to get the location of the Mercenary Guild.


    When they arrived at the ce, they saw a huge building. People were standing at the entrance, and the sounds of loud mor came from inside.


    When they entered inside, many people gave them the looks andughed it off. The smell of alcohol lingered in the air as people ate together in groups.


    The trio didn¡¯t pay attention to any of this and went straight towards the counter. Behind the bar sat a middle-aged man.


    The counter was empty, and the man seemed bored. When he noticed the trio moving towards the counter, he sat up and asked;


    ¡°Are you here to post any request?¡±- The man spoke with a long face.


    Since Ozul was not in the mood of any talk and ze did not know how to deal with such stuff, Raven took a step forward and answered;


    ¡°We want to join the Guild.¡±-


    ¡°Hm?¡±- The man seemed confused as to why such young people wanted to be Mercenaries, but he did not care and just followed the procedure.


    ¡°You just need to sign the papers and receive your ID that will state that your a Mercenary and will allow you to ept missions...¡±- The man began to exin everything.


    They did not care about how powerful you are or how old you are. The more missions youplete, the more your reputation and privilege increases.


    For example, there were also Ranks among Mercenaries, which will increase based on the number of missions that youpleted and their difficulty level.


    You start with no Rank and are only allowed to ept missions that can tolerate failure. After the Guild confirms that you arepetent enough, they will promote you to Bronze Rank.


    From Bronze Rank, a person can go to Silver Rank, then Gold Rank, and atst the tinum Rank.


    Most official requests restrict the lower limit of a Mercenary¡¯s Rank to ept the mission ording to its difficulty or importance.


    This meant that even though the Guild did not care who joins, you would still not be able to reap the real benefits if you are notpetent enough.


    Raven dealt with all the paperwork. Since she had quick learning capabilities, she had quickly learned all this stuff with some help from the Count.


    ¡°You can call me Rnd. Also, that board over there is where you can pick up the missions.¡±- The man now named Rnd pointed towards a big board with various papers pinned on it.


    There were countless mission requests pinned to the board, but the best one only had the requirement of Silver Rank Mercenaries.


    Rnd exined that the missions that are above this caliber are mostly confidential. So, the Guild privately assigns the Mercenaries the task if they want to ept it.


    He did not bother toment on anything else and just went back to his usual spot. He had seen many youngsters trying to make it big by bing a Mercenary, but they would all give up in the end or... well, die.


    Why would he waste his time on some kids who might not even live until tomorrow?


    There was a rule that stated that if a Mercenary or a group epts a task, but fails, they will have topensate the Guild!


    There was no loyalty or anything in the Mercenary Union as everyone just worked for their own profits. Of course, higher-ups in the Guild included some influential people, which is the reason that no one dares to oppose the Union.


    Since it was already past midday, they did not ept any task and went to look for a ce to live. Raven had plenty of Gold Coins with which they could even buy a Mansion!


    But she didn¡¯t know anyone who would sell a property. Hence, they decided to rest in an inn for the day.


    They booked a room with two separate beds. Ozul slumped down on one of the beds as soon as he saw it while Raven and ze checked out the surroundings to get a clearer understanding of their surroundings.


    Later that night, ze took one bed while Raven got on the bed where Ozul was sleeping and slept beside him.

 Chapter 41

    House.


    The next day when Ozul woke up, he was alone in his room. Raven and ze had both gone out for breakfast.


    ze had asked Raven to let him stay with Ozul, but Raven said that at the moment, he wouldn¡¯t need any of his assistance. Furthermore, she knew that not everyone was like Ozul, and people needed to eat human food to survive.


    They were not yet Rank-6 Mages who could even survive a couple of months without any food.


    ze reluctantly followed her, but not before threatening the Inn Owner not to disturb Ozul. Raven also did not say anything in this matter. Heck, she was going to do the same if ze had not done it.


    The Inn Owner was only an average human. He was not a Fighter nor a Mage, so he was quite easily scared of the big guy with shining blue eyes.


    Next, ze and Raven looked for quite a bit before they managed to find a property dealer.


    Since she had all the money with her, Raven did not waste any time and chose the best house they could get with the features that Ozul wanted.


    He had said that the house must not be so prominent. There should, of course, be a garden and it would be better if it were not close to the center of the city.


    .....


    Adron City was not some small run-down town. The whole city was under the jurisdiction of a Marquis.


    It was quite a prospering city after the Marquis took hold of the position as the City Lord.


    Raven searched for the whole day for an estate while ze went toplete some missions in the Mercenary Guild.


    Yesterday, Raven had already registered them as a team. So, no matter who performs the task, the whole team can advance in Ranks until Silver Rank! Each person would have to pass some test for them to be promoted to Gold Rank Mercenary.


    ze had no problem in doing minor tasks. They were quite easy, and even an experienced Rank-2 Fighter could perform them much less him who was a Rank-5 Mage.


    The strongest person that ze had noticed was a man with a Silver Badge on his shoulder, indicating that he was a Silver Rank Mercenary. But even that Silver Rank was only a Rank-3 Mage!


    Furthermore, these kinds of people do not have any solid foundation because they couldn¡¯t afford the resources.


    He did the odd jobs for the whole day and went back to the inn with three Bronze Badges! He only stopped when Rnd came to him with the promotion notice!


    He did not care about any promotion, but they would still need a higher Rank to ept the better missions.


    When he arrived back at their room, Ozul and Raven were preparing to leave. He informed both of them about their promotion and gave the badges to Raven.


    They didn¡¯t like to wear the emblem on their shoulders just to show that they were some big shots.


    . . .


    Raven had already bought the property, and she was now leading Ozul and ze to their new home.


    Half an hourter, they were on the outskirts of the city. You would hardly see any people because not only was it night time, but these parts of the city would barely have people living here.


    Only the poor would choose this location because living in the center of the city was not only safer but also expensive.


    Of course, they had enough money to buy some Mansion in the inner districts of the city, but Ozul preferred his peace.


    They arrived in front of a big property. It didn¡¯t look anything luxurious, but it still covered a rtivelyrge area.


    Again, there was a big garden before the structure. Wooden fences also protected the garden.


    Behind the house were only trees and emptynd. There were no houses or any type of structure nearby. It looked quite peaceful as well.


    When they entered the house, Ozul saw the big lounge with round couches in the center of it.


    ¡®Sigh... that girl just wasted the money. There are only three of us, and yet she bought a house this big...¡¯- Ozul thought that buying a house as big as this was only a waste of money.


    But he wouldn¡¯t care about it either way. He just shrugged it off and went outside to see if he could find a ce in the garden to sleep.


    Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t find any ce as the weeds and grass was too long for any site to befortable.


    Fortunately, he just needed to will it and Ball of Purity formed into several des and leveled the weeds! In only a few minutes, Ozul found a perfect spot andid down there.


    Raven and ze, on the other hand, decided to check the surroundings of the house and set some traps here and there. They were located in a dested area, and there could be some dilly-dallies who would want to disturb their peace.


    They weren¡¯t afraid of some bugs, but they would just be annoying to deal with.


    Later, when they went outside, they saw that Ozul was already fast asleep.


    Raven took out some pills and a spare Spatial Ring and threw them towards ze before going towards Ozul to provide him with thep pillow.


    Raven had already taught ze how to be a Fighter, albeit unwillingly. So, he sat down in the middle of the garden to start practicing.


    Mages at Rank-5 could go without sleep for a couple of days, and they still wouldn¡¯t feel anything. Hence, ze trained a bit before going to sleep.


    Not sleeping was one thing, but training would constantly drain your stamina so he was tired after a few hours.


    . . .


    The next morning, Ozul woke up to find that ze and Raven were meditating in the middle of the garden.


    He did not disturb them and went inside to sleep as the Sun would be outside any minute now.


    ¡®Sigh... I can¡¯t spend days or months only sleeping.¡¯- Ozul thought while sitting in the lounge.


    He quite liked the idea of just sleeping, but he knew that it wouldn¡¯t get him anywhere if he does so.


    Ozul decided that being so passive will only result in his downfall. So, he nned to join the future missions from the Mercenary Guild.


    Thinking some things through, Ozul took a nap on the couch until Raven and ze would finish their training.


    When they came inside, Ozul evaluated their progress and let them finish their food.


    Starting from today, they would regrly go on missions.

 Chapter 42

    Nuisance.


    When Raven and ze hadpleted their training sessions, Ozul gave them the instructions.


    Half an hourter, all of them headed to the Mercenary Guild.


    There were usual cheers and noise all around. The trio did not care about the looks that they received because of Raven and went straight for the Task Board.


    Raven took the quest where they just had to kill a few monsters in the forest nearby. Rnd, the receptionist, was a bit skeptical, thinking that the kids didn¡¯t know their limit, but he didn¡¯t care and just signed the task as epted.


    He had seen many who took on the dangers to make a name for themselves only to end up with nothing but death.


    Just as they were about to head out, a seemingly unpleasant voice entered their ears;


    ¡°Hehe~... Girl, Why don¡¯t you spend a night with me and forget about being a Mercenary? Huh?¡±-


    The man seemed drunk with his team members as others were sneering their way. The Mercenaries may not have any loyalty, but they did not like it when such people joined their ranks.


    .....


    And unity originates from simr minds. It seemed that the mass didn¡¯t very like the group of drunk men.


    But even though they didn¡¯t like it, no one interfered and kept their opinion to themselves.


    The drunk man stood up and arrived before Raven. He continued bbering;


    ¡°*Hic*... Haha! Bitch, I will pay you enough money tost for days..*Hic* Why don¡¯t youe here and join me...¡±


    Just as the man was about to touch Raven¡¯s shoulder, he did not notice, but a ck shadow shed towards the hand and disappeared in an instant.


    At this moment, everyone in the crowd was Rank-3 or below Mage. Hence, no one noticed the attack whatsoever!


    But the receptionist, Ronald, who was a Rank-4 Mage, had witnessed the attack. If he had blinked, even he wouldn¡¯t be able to notice it.


    However, his entire focus was on the newbie group exiting the building. Hence, he had seen the ck de that shed towards the arm before disappearing.


    A second passed before the extended arm of the drunk guy fell to the ground!


    A gush of blood spurted from the base of the hand, and the guy couldn¡¯t evenprehend as to what had transpired in such a short amount of time!


    Only the warm feeling of blood that fell on his face allowed him to face the harsh reality. Right after that, the burning pain rushed his mind as he began to scream.


    Now, even the people who were not paying any attention to the earlier fuss had their ears perked up.


    No one could understand the situation, but the one thing they knew was that this had to do something with the ck-haired girl.


    Only she showed an expression of indifference at the sight of such a gruesome scene.


    They also became wary of the situation¡ªno one wanted to get dragged into a mess that they couldn¡¯t handle.


    The team members of the drunk man had sweat forming on their foreheads. Their faces turned ugly after realizing that they had picked a wrong opponent.


    They also wanted to do something about their teammate who was writhing in pain on the floor. But they didn¡¯t dare to step forward.


    Receptionist Rnd saw the situation and left his counter.


    ¡°Now...now. Take your teammate, have him checked, and leave.¡±- Rnd said while looking towards the trembling teammates of the drunk man.


    They had rules stating that there will be no internal fights inside the building, or the involved will have their Guild membership revoked.


    The scene took ce just outside the door, but outside nheless! So, Rnd could not do anything even if he wanted to.


    Moreover, he had no interest whatsoever to go against a team whose member was probably above him in terms of power for the sake of some nobodies.


    Also, he had found something interesting due to this ¡®scuffle¡¯. He had his mind full of thoughts about this mysterious group that had a member who could even rival the Master of the Mercenary Guild¡¯s branch here in Adron City.


    Rnd guessed that the girl was at least Rank-5 Mage! Because he may have been able to notice the attack, but he was sure that matching the power and speed was not something he could do.


    And most of all, he was not a Fighter either. All he could do was examine the attack with his enhanced senses.


    The shadow had disappeared into thin air afterwards, which indicated that although rare, the weapon was part of a Spell.


    Hence, the girl was a Mage and that too of a higher tier than him since he couldn¡¯t sense her Rank when she used the Spell.


    All those thoughts concluded in a matter of only a few seconds. Ronald was a receptionist; his ability to calmly analyze people was the only reason for his employment.


    He didn¡¯t dare to stop Raven from leaving as the Guild Master of this branch was not present. And he alone couldn¡¯t do anything.


    He sighed in relief internally when he noticed that the girl didn¡¯t seem to want to make a scene out of this.


    Since this was the case, letting go of the situation was his best choice.


    When they noticed that no one had any intention to cause further nuisance, Ozul started walking away with any care in the world.


    Raven and ze followed right after him. None of them cared about the painful screams behind them.


    All they had to do was kill some Rank-2 Beasts.


    Ozul ordered ze only to fight using his body! Raven was instructed to help out only when his life was endangered. Otherwise, even if he were knocked down, she wouldn¡¯t help him.


    ze was stunned at themand, but he did not disobey and prepared for the worst.


    He was not even a Rank-1 Fighter, and yet, he had to face against Rank-2 Beasts!


    ¡®I don¡¯t need someone who would always run away in the face of dangers.¡¯- Ozul thought.


    If he wanted such people, couldn¡¯t he just hire some tinum Rank Mercenaries?


    They may cost a huge sum of money, but Ozul had plenty of that. If he does not use his wealth, what good is it for him?


    Fortunately for ze, his opponents were all Beasts with no intellect. His only advantage in this situation was his ability to n.


    Raven wanted to enjoy the sight of him suffering because to this day, she still couldn¡¯t get the scene out of her mind when he had attacked Ozul.


    Ozul did not want to waste his time. So, he began to better his control over Ball of Purity. No matter how much he improves, he knows that it is not even the tip of the iceberg.


    He would take a small amount of liquid form and concentrate.


    Ozul changed the liquid into a gaseous state and was trying to thin it out until a normal human eye couldn¡¯t see it!


    s, no matter what he does, it was just tooplicated.


    ¡®Sigh...It would take time. Expanding it so much requires a tremendous amount of concentration. Even with just a little distraction, and it all vanishes.¡¯


    Ozul did his training while ze did his by fighting the Beasts two Ranks higher than him.


    Raven also started meditating near Ozul when she saw that ze would only get small wounds from time to time. He may not even be a Rank-1 Fighter, but he was close.

 Chapter 43

    Rivalry.


    Ozul spent the rest of the day only improving his control over Ball of Purity while Raven and ze would, once in a while, go back to ept new tasks.


    Most of them consisted of killing some low-rank Beasts.


    Around midnight, Ozul took them deeper into the forest because ze also needed to hone his Mage skills.


    They spent a few hours as ze kept stacking up the body count. Each kill would give him insights on how to be preciser in the art of killing.


    Their group was quiet most of the time. Ozul was toozy to talk, and Raven respected his wishes while ze did not know what he should even say.


    They just had a tacit understanding between themselves to stay quiet and focus on the task at hand.


    When they were heading back, Ozul¡¯s ears perked up as he heard the noises from afar. Raven and ze were confused as to why he stopped.


    They couldn¡¯t hear anything because it was Ozul¡¯s specialty that he could hear or see better in the dark surroundings. His senses would be heightened when the filthy light was not present.


    .....


    They turned to look in the direction that Ozul was facing. A few secondster, they could see a group consisting of about five people running towards their direction.


    They all looked exhausted and kept panting while they ran. There was only one girl in the group, and she was running beside the man with short blonde hair. Three men with different get-ups followed them as they ran.


    Only when Raven and ze noticed the three giant Beasts furiously chasing the group did they understand the situation.


    Ozul realized that the Beasts chasing the group were all Rank-5! While the strongest person in the group was the short blonde hair guy who was also a Rank-5 Mage.


    The girl by his side was a Rank-4 Mage, and the three men following them were only Rank-4 Fighters. They had no chance against the three Rank-5 Beasts whatsoever.


    From the badges on the group¡¯s shoulders, anyone could notice that they were also Mercenaries. But Ozul and the rest did not have any intentions of helping.


    However, the desperate team of 5 also noticed Ozul¡¯s group. And instead of taking another route, the party of five ran straight towards them!


    ¡°Run towards those people! The Beasts will be distracted by them, and we can have chances to escape!!!¡±- Screamed the blonde man to his teammates.


    His expression showed his unwillingness to perform such an evil act to save his life, but in the face of death, he was all the same¡ªa coward.


    Since Ozul¡¯s team was pacing only with the walking speed, they quickly caught up to them.


    The blonde-haired man and the rest of his group didn¡¯t even nce at them to hide their guilt-ridden faces. It was their fault, and yet, someone else would pay for it.


    Of course, Ozul had understood their intentions. More than anything, he was annoyed. Killing those Rank-5 Beasts was not a problem for him, but he disliked the fact that someone had used him.


    The blonde-haired man¡¯s group left their sights, and the Beasts approached Ozul¡¯s trio. However, the next second, all three Rank-5 Beasts dropped dead with their heads rolling on the ground.


    Darkness was such an absolute thing that it would only blend in with something as pure as itself. But when it mixed in with itself, finding it was nigh impossible.


    Ozul may not have achieved a stage where he could spread the Ball of Purity too much for humans¡¯ eyes to notice, but the night provided him with this cheat!


    Even Raven and ze did not notice how the Beasts were killed because of the dark surroundings!


    Raven got out of her stupor and was going to chase the group that ran past them together with ze, but Ozul stopped them saying;


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother chasing.¡±-


    ¡°But, how can we let those bastards go like that?¡±- Raven wanted to tear apart each one of them because they had the intention to kill Ozul!


    He may be strong enough to not care either way, but how dare those parasites even think of such a thing?!


    ¡°You think I¡¯m not annoyed?¡±- Ozul said with a deadpan face. Raven understood the tone and did not say anything further.


    ¡°The blondie had a Gold Rank Mercenary insignia on his shoulder... And how many Gold Rank Mercenaries do you think... resides in Adron City?¡±


    Raven understood the meaning behind his words and bowed her head in shame as she had not noticed such an obvious point.


    ze had not even asked any question and stopped on his spot. But his eyes still burned with an unnoticeable re towards the direction of the escaped group.


    Ozul noticed their annoyance and shook his head.


    ¡®They should control their anger...¡¯- Ozul thought before he shook his head.


    Ozul understood that their reason for anger was because he was involved in the incident. Otherwise, they were pretty cool-headed.


    Well, cool-headed for the most part.


    Raven only showed cold expression whenever she was angered. ze, on the other hand, had shown his wild side while ughtering his enemies!


    There would be a wide smile on his face whenever he faced his foes. His sharp canines would only add to the wild yet the attractive appearance of his.


    Basically, ze was someone that people called a Battle Maniac.


    Ozul did not care about this nature of his as it meant that ze would not back down from a fight.


    They did not care about the dead bodies of the Beasts and just took their Mana Cores. Only these Cores were somewhat expensive enough for their efforts.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    -On the other side of the Forest-


    The group had already left the forest, and they were slumped on the ground panting while their eyes would dart towards the woods asionally.


    One of the men spoke up when he noticed that no one came out of the woods even after a long time;


    ¡°B-boss Larry, D-do you think those p-people are dead?¡±-


    The question was asked to the blonde man that led the group.


    ¡°Do you think that they could have survived three Rank-5 Beasts?... It was our only way...¡±-The blonde man now named Larry replied while his head was bowed in shame.


    The only woman in the group came tofort Larry as she said;


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault... W-we did it because it was our only chance to survive.¡±- Even her voice was trembling from the earlier fear of death that chased them.


    ¡°I...know...¡±- Larry said with his now dry throat.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    -Back to Ozul¡¯s group-


    It took them about an hour to leave the woods and again walk the streets of the City. As always, the usually loud areas were quietened down a notch because of the night. Another reason why Ozul loved the nights so much.


    ze went to submit all the missions that they hadpleted during this time while Ozul and Raven went towards their home.


    Ozul was tired. It was not because he had run out of stamina or something, but due to how he had to practice all day.


    He was dead tired after all the training with his Ball of Purity. He was improving with each step.


    But arriving in the garden made him let go of all the fatigue as he went to sit on his favourite spot in this new garden.


    ze cameter at night while Raven was training on the other side of the garden as not to disturb Ozul. She did not like the fact that ze could catch up to her with only a little bit of training.


    She could only train harder not to be left behind by him. However, ze also joined in on her training.


    Hence began the heated training between them to surpass the other!


    Even when the Sun rose the next morning, Raven and ze were stillpeting to see who willst longer. Circting the Mana in your body was a tedious thing, and continuing for the whole night would exhaust any Mage under Rank-6.


    Only the next morning did Ozul find out about their ¡®rivalry¡¯ in training harder.

 Chapter 44

    Odd.


    Ozul woke up, and the first thing he noticed was that both ze and Raven were meditating the whole night!


    How did he find out? Simple. Every time he slept, his position would be changed because of Raven. This time, however, it was clear that Raven did not sleep beside him the previous night.


    A few minutester, Ozul stood with his hands crossed, looking down at the two who were on their knees with their heads down.


    Ozul had a cold look in his eyes, which was not left unnoticed by Raven and ze. They were even more nervous right now.


    After a few minutes of ufortable silence, Ozul spoke;


    ¡°I told you that it is harmful to you when you go beyond what is necessary.¡±- His voice had a stern tone to it as their eyes wouldn¡¯t meet Ozuls¡¯.


    ¡°Raven, since you are also a Rank-5 Fighter, it wouldn¡¯t matter much to you... But you... ze, You are not even a Rank-2 Fighter yet.¡±- Ozul had instructed them to train hard but not to the extent where it would bring them more harm than good.


    It was okay for Raven not to rest the whole night; she could even go for a few weeks of training nonstop. However, ze was different. He had raw potential, and if not trained appropriately, it could have opposite effects.


    .....


    If he were at least a Rank-3 Fighter, continuing for two days wouldn¡¯t be a problem. But it was just this day that he advanced to a Rank-1 Fighter, and his power had not stabilized yet.


    ¡°And you, Raven... Why didn¡¯t you instruct him to stop?¡±- Ozul couldn¡¯t me ze as it wasn¡¯t much of time that they were together, and he couldn¡¯t teach much to him.


    But Raven, on the other hand, knew everything and still chose not to help! ze could have also thought that it was reasonable to train for the whole night when you were only a Rank-1 Fighter! He didn¡¯t know that training had its limitations.


    What if he trained his body to such an extent in a single night that it caused an internal injury? Advancing in Ranks was a tedious process, and it shouldn¡¯t be rushed. Otherwise, it may even cripple you!


    Raven couldn¡¯t lift her head until Ozul went inside the house. It was the same for ze as well. It may not have been too long since he joined the team, but he was afraid of displeasing Ozul.


    Even after Ozul went inside, they did not stand up from their position. Their expressions showed the anxiety of some children waiting for punishment from the parents.


    They had to stay on their knees for half an hour before Ozul called them inside and looked at them with an expression that they couldn¡¯t take in. His neutral tone vanished as he said;


    ¡°I don¡¯t ever want to repeat myself in the future. Don¡¯t fight amongst yourselves, and that¡¯s final. Do you have any objections?¡±- Ozul asked while looking towards both of them.


    Raven and ze had tingling sensations on their back of the necks when they heard his tone. Both quickly shook their heads and did not dare to utter a word.


    Ozul nodded his head and rxed his stern posture. He then spoke;


    ¡°Good... Now go and prepare. We will go to the Guild after a few hours... ze, take a nap. Your body is still not used to it... Have some rest.¡±- Again there were pauses in his sentences.


    ze felt good inside since Ozul did not seem angry anymore. He even showed his care when he instructed him to have rest.


    Raven also left to prepare small stuff. She didn¡¯t need any rest as being Rank-5 Fighter; her body couldst for a few weeks.


    She also sighed in relief when Ozul did not seem specifically mad at her. Just as she was about to head out though, she heard;


    ¡°Do not disappoint me, Raven...¡±-


    Raven did not dare to turn around and face Ozul to apologize. She could only nod her head. She went out of the house bringing her dejected self.


    At that time, Raven could only think of not letting ze surpass her. She did not consider the consequences. And now she was regretting it.


    Since Ozul had given her a chance, she would not disappoint him in the future!


    . . .


    Later that day, Ozul was sitting on the couch together with Raven and ze.


    ¡°You saw the three Rank-5 Beasts... right?¡±- Ozul asked while looking towards Raven.


    There were a few moments of silence before;


    ¡°T-they were not normal...¡±- Raven nervously replied as she discerned that it was a test. Ozul wouldn¡¯t just randomly ask her if she noticed the Beastsst night or not.


    ¡°And what was not normal?¡±- In the previous decade, Ozul would asionally test her observation skills.


    ¡°Three Beasts in the same Rank will never work together.¡±- Raven knew that she hit the spot when Ozul nodded his head. So, she continued;


    ¡°Unless... they were members of a pack. Which meant that there should have been a Beast in a higher Rank to lead them. But no one appeared after you killed them.¡±- Raven.


    ¡°Yes... There should¡¯ve been a higher Rank Beast... But there wasn¡¯t any that I sensed. Which would bring the question¡ªwhy did they work together only to chase weak humans?¡±- Ozul.


    Ozul nodded his head at Raven¡¯s exnation and began to exin the situation.


    It was an odd event altogether. Since there was no Rank-6 Beast leading them, there should¡¯ve been some reason for their co-operation.


    But only one Rank-5 Mage was not something that would¡¯ve made them join forces. Heck, they would¡¯ve been fighting over who will get to kill and eat him!


    Moreover, Rank-5 Beasts were not intelligent enough to understand that they could survive by uniting their forces.


    ¡°Remain cautious all the time... We don¡¯t know who or what was the cause, so just remain alert.¡±- Ozul advised both of them as they would frequently go in the forest to train.


    Raven and ze both solemnly nodded their heads. The situation could only be grave for Ozul to advise them specially.


    After that, the trio set off to leave towards the Guild.


    When they were closer to the Guild building, they could already hear the chatter;


    ¡°Did you hear? That the Gold Rank Mercenary came backst night?¡±- Unknown-1.


    ¡°Hum? You are talking about Larry?¡±- Unknown-2.


    ¡°Yeah, one of the only Gold Rank Mercenaries in Adron City!¡±- Unknown-1.


    ¡°Tell me something new. It¡¯s old news...¡±- Unknown-2.


    The trio heard these gossiping from various passerby¡¯s.


    ¡°Raven... note the name.¡±- Ozul said as he found it too much of a bother even to remember his name!


    Raven was notining either. Instead, she smirked while looking towards ze, who had an even wilder smirk!


    It was one of the only things that they both found familiar in themselves. Ozul ignored those battle maniacs and kept walking as the Sun was up in the sky, burning as bright as ever.


    The trio arrived at the Guild as the Mercenaries gave them the way. By now, everyone had heard the yesterday¡¯s incident. So all of them were wary of this group.


    Just as the trio was about to head towards the Task Board, they heard a voice;


    ¡°Ah! You guys are here...¡±

 Chapter 45

    Master Borin.


    ¡°Ah! You guys are finally here! I¡¯ve been waiting for you.¡±- Came the voice of Rnd as he smiled sheepishly.


    The trio turned to look at him as he arrived before them. They wondered what the receptionist wanted from them as Rnd spoke again;


    ¡°Hehe~ You see Master Borin came back from the Capital, and he wanted to meet you guys.¡±- Rnd said as he stood a little distance from Raven.


    He didn¡¯t give any importance to Ozul as the guy didn¡¯t exude even a bit of Mana. Instead, all of his focus was on ze and Raven.


    Raven knew of Ozul¡¯s mood, so she asked;


    ¡°And who is this Borin?¡±- The trio had not heard of someone named Borin that would want to meet them. Raven was also cautious because they did not know the reason for this invitation.


    She was cautious, not because she was afraid. It was because Ozul had always taught her to be prepared for what¡¯s toe. He had said;


    ¡°Even if death awaits in your next step, If you prepare for it, it will be a piece of cake.¡±- But honestly, Raven could not imagine how someone can prepare for death.


    .....


    Rnd awkwardly scratched the back of his head. He could not imagine how youngsters these days did not even know about Master Borin. He exined;


    ¡°Master Borin is the head of the Mercenary Guild branch here in Adron City. He has the top authority in the matter of Mercenaries in this whole City.¡±- Rnd dered with his head held high.


    He expected some reaction from the teenagers in front of him, such as fear, but all he received in return was silence.


    ¡°And why has he called us?¡±- Raven asked after a few moments of staring.


    ¡°Oh! Don¡¯t worry; it¡¯s nothing serious. He just wanted to have a chit.¡±- Rnd replied whileughing awkwardly. He had informed Master Borin about this team of teenagers, and he wanted to meet them.


    Raven nced behind at Ozul and only when he nodded did she say;


    ¡°Okay, lead the way.¡±- Rnd had noticed their interaction, and he was curious, but before he could say anything, Raven urged him to lead the way.


    They went to the 2nd floor, where only staff members were allowed to go alone.


    They walked down the corridor and arrived before an office. When they entered the room, they noticed how huge the room was from inside.


    A man in histe forties sat behind a table, and before him was a pile of files. A table and some chairs were ced in the middle of the room.


    The man had a visible scar over his left eye to the back of his head. Ozul effortlessly figured out that he was a Rank-5 Mage.


    ¡®Must be that Master Borin...¡¯- Ozul thought while he walked past the group andfortably sat on the chair.


    Both Rnd and Borin frowned at his impolite manner as they also couldn¡¯t sense Mana from this kid. Respect in this world was earned through the power, and such behavior was not eptable if you are not even a Mage.


    However, they did not say a word since the other teammates of his were as powerful as Master Borin himself!


    They did not measure Raven¡¯s power because of the amount of Mana she released but because Rnd had seen her in action. However, ze had not yet trained enough to contain his Mana pressure, which quickly gave away his power level.


    Borin was surprised to find out that two Rank-5 Mages had joined Mercenary Guild in this City. Bing a Rank-5 was also the minimum requirement for a Mage to be a Gold Rank Mercenary!


    After someone reached Rank-5 as a Mage or Rank-6 as a Fighter, they just needed toplete a certain amount of missions, and they would get promoted to the Gold Rank.


    Being a Gold Rank Mercenary had many advantages as it was a Rank only below the tinum. Even in the entire Adron City, there were only 2 Gold Rank Mercenaries!


    Only independent people without any background would be Mercenaries. Hence, the number of people that could achieve Rank-5 alone was not many.


    The Guild would provide you with discounts on many things and would also be willing to buy materials from you higher than the market prices.


    You could also ept the personal Missions under the condition that you would not disclose any information to anyone else.


    The Mercenary Guild was strict with its rules, and it had to be as such if it wanted to maintain the current trust that other powers had ced in it.


    Master Borin was thrilled to find out that two Rank-5 Mages would join their Ranks!


    Since Ozul had decided to take a seat, Raven and ze also joined and sat on the chairs. Borin did not mind such an attitude from someone of the same Rank.


    ¡°Haha, where are my manners, my name is Borin. You may have had heard of me before.¡±- Borin said while puffing his chest a little.


    But it got awkward real quick when the trio just stared at him like they were looking at some clown.


    ¡°...


    *Cough*


    ... You see, I invited you guys here because I learned about your prowess.¡±- Borin was a straight forward man and wouldn¡¯t waste his time on casual chats either.


    ¡°And?¡±- ze spoke out for the first time before a stranger. He was beginning to ept his role.


    He was a quick learner and always paid attention to how Raven dealt with things that Ozul found annoying. Since he had already adapted to his role, letting Raven do all the talks would be rude.


    Borin quickly misunderstood the situation and assumed ze as the leader of the trio. How could he know that the real leader did not even find him worth his words?


    ¡°Oh, you must be ze.¡±- Borin said when he looked at the files of the trio on his table. The data on them only contained necessary information such as their Rank as a Mercenary, their missions, and their names.


    ¡°I invited you here to promote your group into a Silver Rank Mercenary team.¡±- Borin said when he received a nod from ze.


    ¡°I wanted to promote you into Gold Rank directly, but I can¡¯t bend the rules to such an extent.¡±- He continued his exnation;


    ¡°Even though Silver Rank would not bring many benefits, but I found it necessary to have you guys directly as one.¡±


    Borin gestured towards Rnd, who presented the trio with their Silver emblems. The Silver badges had a bird¡¯s w engraved on each of them.


    ze just put the badges inside his Spatial Ring. Ozul had instructed Raven to buy him one just this morning.


    Borin also did not mind that the trio did not wear the emblems as they were already qualified to have Gold Rank ones. They had just notpleted the required amount of missions.


    ¡°Even though you guys could not ept any missions above your Rank. Joining another Gold Rank Mercenary or his team in the missions is still eptable.¡±- Borin said with a face full of smiles.


    ¡®He just promoted us to have us do some tasks he needs to take care of earlier. What could have happened to make him bend the rules?¡¯- Ozul thought in his mind.


    Count Oliver had told them that the authorities would never allow people to break the rules unless it was necessary. It meant that something hade up for Borin to need urgent assistance from Rank-5 Mages.


    Otherwise, Borin shouldn¡¯t even have been able to directly promote them to the Silver Rank! They had just joined the Mercenary Guild two days ago!


    When the business was done, Ozul stood up and left, followed by ze and Raven. Borin and Rnd could not understand their behavior as all they could see in Ozul was his unique looks.


    But the ze guy was not any less handsome either, and Raven was also a beauty!


    However, they refrained themselves from asking about their private interactions.


    The trio left the office and arrived on the 1st floor. Since they could now ept the Silver Rank tasks, ze went to the other end of the board to pick up the hardest missions.


    After selecting some tasks, they left the Guild building.

 Chapter 46

    Strange events.


    The trio was walking towards a specified location inside the forest. They had epted a mission to exterminate some bandits that had made an appearance recently.


    The mission was posted by some noble around that area. The bandits had already killed an entire vige and kidnapped their woman.


    ording to the intel, the bandits had made their hideout in a cave around that vige.


    Ozul was bored out of his mind during the entire journey. He could not even focus on training his Ball of Purity because they had to keep walking.


    If they had stopped to rest, the mission would only waste their time. Fortunately, Ozul did not have to wait any longer than two hours.


    They arrived to see the scene of a destroyed vige. Only the pping of birds¡¯ wings could be heard on the streets.


    The scene in front of them confirmed that they were in the correct location. Now Ozul just had to find the hideout of the bandits.


    All three of them were powerful enough to massacre all the bandits alone. Hence, ze and Raven split up to locate the cave.


    .....


    Meanwhile, Ozul did not want to search anymore. So, he decided to stay in the vige and just instructed them toplete the task.


    However, Ozul had also ordered ze not to use any Rank-5 Spells. He had to learn how to control his power. Every time ze fights, he goes all out and ends up exhausted! It was a fatal mistake to let your guard down just after the battle.


    Furthermore, ze also needed to learn to conceal his Mana. Borin had quickly figured out his power level because he couldn¡¯t even control his own Mana!


    Ozul closed his eyes as he sat under an apple tree far from the smell of blood that covered the entire vige.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Raven ran for half an hour searching for the cave when she stumbled upon a drunk man behind a tree.


    She was on top that exact tree, looking down at the filthy appearance of the man. She did not need to contemte before realizing that the guy looked just like a bandit.


    Since this guy was here, the bandit¡¯s cave must be close as well.


    She got jumped down the tree and appeared behind the drunk man. With the dagger ced on the guy¡¯s neck, she spoke;


    ¡°Take me to the hideout or die.¡±-


    Raven had practiced the Spell to such an extent that she never had to chant to create the daggers. And since the guy was drunk, he didn¡¯t notice it until he had no other choice but toply.


    ¡°*Eekk!* P-please d-don¡¯t kill me! I...will t-take you there!¡±- The drunk bandit was scared shitless when he felt the ominous feeling from the sharp dagger on the back of his neck.


    In this world, just like Spatial Rings, there were other Magical items such asmunication devices.


    The distance for themunication depended on the quality of these items. Raven and others had also bought such Rings. She just had to send a wisp of Mana in the Ring to activate it.


    Although Ozul could not use the item to ¡®call¡¯ someone else as he had no Mana, receiving the call wasn¡¯t a problem.


    Raven informed Ozul about the hideout. Much to her displeasure, Ozul instructed her not to kill them herself. He told her to inform ze and let him do all the work. ze needed every bit of experience he could get.


    Ozul also instructed Raven not to let ze use any Spell higher than Rank-4. He wouldn¡¯t improve if he kept fighting life and death battles with opponents only weaker than him.


    Raven grudgingly contacted ze and told him the location. She didn¡¯t ever want to anger Ozul again!


    When ze arrived, Raven had already located the cave. She had killed the drunk bandit right after finding their location.


    Both of them stood on the tree as they heard the maniacalughter behind those tall bushes. Their faces turned cold when they saw the scene behind those tall trees.


    They saw the naked corpses of women scattered on the ground. The nk look on their faces showed their misery before death knocked on their door.


    However, someone of those disgusting dogs did not even spare the corpses! Women of all ages were dragged there and humiliated!


    The bandits behaved even worse than animals! But Raven and ze knew that those bandits were not the only filth in this world.


    If it were before, Raven would have mindlessly charged after witnessing such a cruel sight.


    However, living these previous years with Ozul, she had learned that the scene before her eyes was just the tip of an iceberg.


    Moreover, she was not the all good-natured naive little girl from back then. Her personality had changed enough to not care about others! Only Ozul was an exception.


    And in the case of ze, he had already seen the worst in humans nature. He had no sympathy for them.


    While this might be the case, but they still found the act of these bandits as sickening. ze entered the field while Raven stood guard, so no one escapes.


    Their mission was to exterminate the bandits, so they didn¡¯t want even one of them to escape. ze went on his killing spree. No one couldst even a second before him as most of them were just Fighters.


    Only after most of them had died did the leader came out of the cave. He looked like a typical gang leader with a few scars on his face.


    ze realized that the bandit leader was a Rank-4 Mage. He was surprised because it was rare to see a Rank-4 Mage as a bandit.


    ¡°Huh!? Did that bastard sent you!? But we have alreadypleted our side of the deal!¡±- The scar-faced bandit leader spat.


    ¡°He wants to get rid of us now?!¡±-


    It seemed that he had mistaken ze and Raven for someone else. They did not wear the Mercenary emblems, so the bandit leader did not take those two for some Mercenaries.


    However, ze did not bother to exin and attacked. It would be a tough fight since he was not allowed to use any Rank-5 Spell.


    In the end though, ze won by arge margin. The bandit leader was not a Fighter, which provided a significant advantage for ze. His natural talent that surpassed even the ¡®Gifted¡¯ did not help the bandit leader either.


    ¡°Tch! I could take on multiple Rank-4 Mages when I first advanced...¡±- Raven muttered from a distance.


    Since all the bandits died, Raven and ze searched the entire cave and only found some women who were ¡®broken¡¯. They had the same lifeless eyes as the corpses with a difference that they were alive.


    Raven chose to end their miserable lives as they would never be able to live after such experience either.


    There were some expensive items in the bandit leader¡¯s Spatial Ring. But they were of no use to Raven.


    Since theypleted the task, the duo returned to the vige where Ozul was staying. Raven exined the details to Ozul when they were returning. On the way, he spoke;


    ¡°So...what is odd about the situation?¡±- His words brought the attention of both Raven and ze. Raven was about to answer, but Ozul gestured towards her to stop and let ze reply.


    Raven was already smart enough to figure out these details, but he also needed ze to do the same. ze took a few seconds of contemting before he answered;


    ¡°Master, There were... no children?¡±- ze was doubtful of his conclusion as he did not have muchmon sense.


    Ozul nodded his head as ze sighed in relief. Ozul then exined;


    ¡°Yes, the children disappeared... You guys did not even find them on their hideout... And...the strange wording of the bandit leader also adds up... to the oddness of the situation.¡±- Ozul said while the trio kept their pace.


    In just two days, Ozul hade across two strange events. First, the joint attack of three Rank-5 Beasts, and now the disappearance of the kids.


    There was also a possibility that the bandits had sold the children as ves, but it was highly unlikely due to the short amount of time.


    He had a hunch that the situation might not be so simple.

 Chapter 47

    Frowned Upon.


    The next day, Ozul and the duo arrived at the Guild.


    They received a stink eye from everyone else as all the Mercenaries had received the news of the newbies getting promoted to Silver Rank in just two days!


    Of course, Ozul¡¯s team could care any less about the opinion of some random nobodies.


    Just when they entered the Guild, Rnd noticed them and appeared before them in a sh. Before they could ask anything he said;


    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you, Ms.Raven and Mr.ze.¡±- Rnd said whilepletely ignoring Ozul in the back. For all his experience as a receptionist, he still couldn¡¯t figure out why Raven and ze¡¯s faces showed displeasure right after his greetings.


    They would¡¯ve already beaten the guy up if previously they had not received orders from Ozul not to create an unnecessarymotion.


    ¡°What do you want?¡±- ze asked with a cold voice. His natural Ice affinity didn¡¯t help to stop the drop in temperature either.


    ¡°H-haha... Master Borin wanted to see you.¡±- Rnd awkwardlyughed as he couldn¡¯t figure out what he had done wrong.


    .....


    ze turned his head towards Ozul and saw him nod. Only then did ze gestured with his hand for Rnd to take the lead.


    This time Rnd was paying particr attention to their behavior. When he noticed the respect these two Rank-5 Mages gave to Ozul, he realized his earlier blunder.


    ¡®No wonder...sigh. But what is so special about that kid?!¡¯- No matter how much he tried to probe, there was nothing unusual in the kid aside from his otherworldly looks when he removed his pointed hat.


    Just when they were walking down the corridor, they could hear the voices from Borin¡¯s office;


    ¡°Where had you been, Larry?¡±- It seemed to be the voice of Borin.


    ¡°H-haha... We had to take rest after the mission and couldn¡¯t report yesterday.¡±- The man Borin referred to as Larry spoke. The man continued;


    ¡°Forget about us, where have you been?¡±-


    ¡°Oh, I was summoned to the headquarter in the Capital.¡±- Borin exined. Mercenary Guild had set up headquarters in almost all the central locations of the Powerhouses on the Maind.


    ¡°Headquarters? Did something urgent came up for them to summon a Branch Master?¡±-


    Larry asked as long-rangemunications were not a problem for them. There must be something essential for them to summon Borin in person.


    ¡°Duke Edwin had issued some important missions. In fact, I summoned you for the same mission.¡±- Borin said with a grave voice. Just as he was about to exin, Ozul, followed by Raven and ze came in.


    All the eyes came onto them as Borin weed them with a smile. Larry watched with a confused face as he thought he might have seen these people somewhere before.


    When Ozul¡¯s groupid their eyes on Larry¡¯s team, it did not take them a minute to recognize their faces.


    ze and Raven¡¯s faces turned frosty as they red at Larry¡¯s team. However, Borin did not notice the weird atmosphere and gestured towards the trio to take a seat.


    Ozul sighed and began to speak himself since he saw that Raven and ze could not take their eyes off of Larry¡¯s team.


    ¡°So, why are we here?¡±


    Master Borin was confused as to why the ¡®not-even-a-Mage¡¯ kid was talking, but he answered nheless;


    ¡°I was just exining this to Larry. You see, due to some reasons, Duke Edwin in the Capital City has issued a secret mission whose details I can¡¯t discuss until you ept the task.¡±


    Ozul¡¯s interest piqued when he learned that his ¡®uncle¡¯, Duke Edwin, was involved. Borin continued his exnation;


    ¡°Also, due to the difficulty of the situation, you guys will have to work together.¡±- Borin said while pointing towards both groups.


    When Larry heard that he would have to work with some unknown people, he wanted to reject right away. But a certain man with cyan-colored hair spoke out first;


    ¡°No! We will not work together with these scums.¡±-


    Not only Borin, everyone else, including Rnd, was surprised by his sudden reply! Larry gritted his teeth as he heard the insult. Borin thought that the trio did not know about Larry¡¯s team, so he tried to soothe the situation;


    ¡°You may not know them, but he is Larry¡ªOne of the only two Gold Rank Mercenaries in Adron City! Just the day before, he came back from an important mission.¡±-


    But no matter how much Borin persuaded, he received no positive response from Ozul¡¯s team.


    Larry¡¯s team stood on the sidelines with ugly faces. They felt like some woman who was unwilling to even marry, but was divorced!


    Master Borin thought that there might be some grudges between the two teams, so he asked;


    ¡°May I ask why do you not want to work together? This will be an opportunity for you guys to get promoted to a Gold Rank!¡±- Borin said thest part in hopes of convincing them.


    The Headquarters had described this to be an essential mission. Duke Edwin had paid a ton of money to make this mission a priority.


    ¡°Hm?! You are asking me why we won¡¯t work together with these scums? Ask them!¡±- ze furiously spat. He could not wait to kill them right here, but Ozul had signaled him not to.


    Larry could not take it anymore; he was a Gold Rank Mercenary for crying out loud! He bellowed;


    ¡°This is enough!!! Master Borin, out of respect to you, I have not spoken a word yet. But I can¡¯t tolerate this guy anymore!¡±-


    Larry and the rest had not seen the faces of the trio that night. So, they still had not recognized the people in front of them.


    ¡°Oh? You don¡¯t recognize us? Don¡¯t you remember the people that you passed those Rank-5 Beasts to in hopes so they would ¡®kill¡¯ us and you could run away?¡±- This time, Raven sarcastically said.


    When Larry and his team heard those words, their faces turned ashen. Their eyes went wide as their pupils constricted.


    After two days, they had tried their best to forget about the incident. Only now did they recognize the trio that they thought to be dead!


    Borin and Rnd¡¯s eyes also went wide when they understood the implications. It was basically a murder attempt, even if to save your life! Even if a Mercenary¡¯s job included killing and other such tasks, they had their morals.


    If it was a normal fight and they killed someone, no one would have asked them any questions. But people heavily frowned upon this kind of act.


    Why did people even hire Mercenaries? Only because they were trustworthy!


    If the people in question would just run away in the first sign of danger, no one would want to hire their services.


    Borin had his doubts about the situation, but Larry¡¯s next behavior cleared those doubts away.


    ¡°Y-you... t-that can¡¯t be! T-those were R-rank-5 Beasts! How!?¡±- He did not even realize that with these words, he had admitted the act.


    Larry¡¯s image hit an all-time low in Borin¡¯s mind. All the officials of the Mercenary Guild highly valued their reputation and trust. This act only confirmed that the guy couldn¡¯t be trusted as much.


    ¡°This is not about how we ¡®survived¡¯, but how we will settle our ounts!¡±- ze said with a sneer.


    When Borin saw that the situation was getting out of hand, he intervened;


    ¡°Larry! Apologize for your actions.¡±- Borin knew who to choose between them.


    Larry was a Rank-5 Mage; he did not want to lower his head in front of some kids! He spoke;


    ¡°B-but...¡±-


    However, he was cut off by Borin who threatened him saying;


    ¡°If you do not, I will spread the news! No one will give you any missions after that.¡±-


    Larry¡¯s words got stuck in his throat, and he unwillingly apologized before running out of the room together with his team. Rnd also went out when he received the eye signal from Borin.


    Only Borin and Ozul¡¯s group remained in the room. Master Borin massaged his temples as he said;


    ¡°I know a simple apology is not enough. But I request you guys not to take revenge on Larry. He is a Gold Rank Mercenary, losing him would be a huge loss.¡±


    Raven wanted to refuse him, but Ozul spoke first;


    ¡°We will leave this matter here, but what is there for us to gain?¡±- He didn¡¯t really care about some revenge when he could get something he wanted instead.


    ¡°Hm... I can allow you guys to ept the Duke Edwins mission. Before, you could only ept it if there were a Gold Rank Mercenary with you.¡±


    ¡°I can let you guys do the mission alone since you are already qualified. There will be many benefits if youplete the task. You may even be able to form a connection with Duke Edwin!¡±


    ¡®Exactly what I needed!¡¯- Ozul smiled in his mind, but his face still kept the nk look.


    There was an opportunity to get near his ¡®parts¡¯, Ozul did not want to miss it since Edwin most likely had them.


    ¡°Exin the details.¡±- Ozul said.

 Chapter 48

    Mission Details.


    Master Borin sighed in relief when he saw that Ozul was willing toply with his request. Moreover, he needed their strength for this mission.


    The only downside would be to convince the higher-ups. Borin sighed as he began to exin;


    ¡°The mission was issued personally by Duke Edwin. It shows the importance he ced in it.¡±- Borin wanted the kids in front of him to know the significance of the task.


    ¡°Exin the details already...¡±- Ozul said with a deadpan face. He didn¡¯t have time for this bullsh*t.


    ¡°So it¡¯s like this... Duke Edwin wouldn¡¯t give the exact details, but there are some locations that he wants us to ¡®explore¡¯.¡±


    ¡°He also specified that the mission details should not, in any circumstances, leak out. So, you will have to sign this contract for me to exin in detail.¡±- Borin also couldn¡¯t just reveal all the information.


    The contract was a Magical Item. This Magical Item, when signed by someone, will send a streak of Mana in that person¡¯s body. That streak of Mana would then bind itself with the heart of that person.


    Every human had Heart in them. So this Magical Binding Item was practical on every human.


    .....


    The prerequisite was that the person in question had to sign the Item himself and willingly. If the contract is activated, all the uses automatically apply to the user.


    He or she will then not be able to escape the punishment if the contract is breached.


    Ozul read all the conditions. The contract only stated that if they were to in any way reveal the contents of this mission, they would die.


    Since there was nothing too harsh, Ozul had no problem signing it. There was no reason for him to divulge the information for some petty money.


    To tell the truth, he wasn¡¯t even interested in the rewards. Ozul only wanted to know the mission details. He asked for the pen from Borin.


    Borin seemed to hesitate as the contracts such as this were only signed by the team leaders. He looked towards ze and Raven, but he only received cold gazes in return.


    ¡°Young man, I don¡¯t want to sound rude. But only the team leaders sign the contracts.¡±- Borin professionally stated.


    But just as he said this, the temperature in the room drop at an rming rate! Borin readied himself as he felt like some enemy had attacked!


    ¡°What?! You think Master is notpetent enough to be the team leader!?¡±- ze couldn¡¯t ept any more disrespect towards Ozul from these people.


    His words dumbfounded Borin. The guy he thought to be the leader was calling this ¡®not-even-a-Mage¡¯ kid his Master?! What?!


    But then he remembered how ze and Raven behaved around this guy. He couldn¡¯t understand how this kid was the leader, but being a professional as he was, he quickly collected himself.


    He was also a Rank-5 Mage, but he had a feeling that if he were to fight ze or Raven, the result would not be in his favor.


    ¡°*Cough* Hahaha... I was just joking. Here take this pen.¡±- He may have his pride as a Rank-5 Mage and the Branch Master, but losing two Rank-5 Mages because of that would cause him extreme pain!


    He didn¡¯t even ask why they followed the not-even-a-Mage kid and quickly handed the pen to him.


    Ozul knew how the contracts worked, so he took the pen and wrote ¡®Ozul¡¯ at the bottom right corner of the paper.


    He had read about these types of Magical Items. As expected, the streak of Mana shot right into him from the parchment.


    Seeing the wisp of Mana entering Ozul¡¯s body, Borin knew that the contract was established.


    However, Ozul knew better because he noticed that when the wisp of Mana entered his body, it couldn¡¯t find any heart to bind with!


    How could the Craftsmen who created these Magical Items know that there is an anomaly in this world that has no heart?!


    The wisp of Mana just stayed there without doing anything.


    Ozul wanted to expel it right away, but he thought that Borin might notice it and ask countless stupid questions.


    Since the contract was ¡®established¡¯, Borin started exining the details;


    ¡°The higher-ups also did not provide me with sound information. They said that Duke Edwin wanted us to bring something back.¡±-


    ¡°Something? Did they not even exin what is it?¡±- Raven asked.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s unreasonable on their part, but they are also helpless as Duke Edwin himself didn¡¯t tell them the specifics.¡±- Borin replied with a wry smile. He continued;


    ¡°He only exined that someone had stolen this ¡®thing¡¯ from him. And he wants it back even if we have to kill the culprits.¡±


    ¡®This thing... What could it be?¡¯- Ozul thought as his interest piqued in this ¡®thing¡¯ that his ¡®uncle¡¯ so desperately wanted back.


    ¡°The task is dangerous as someone who could steal from a Duke would surely not be so weak. That¡¯s why I wanted you guys to work together...sigh.¡±- Borin.


    ¡°Where will we even begin to find this thing? Do we have any clues rted to the culprits?¡±- ze asked.


    ¡°This... The only clue is that the culprits are the same people that are behind the recent strange activities.¡±


    ¡°Recent strange activities?¡±- Ozul spoke. He wanted to know what strange activities were Borin talking about.


    ¡°Oh, you might not know. But there have been multiple odd events in these recent days around the Capital and the surrounding cities!¡±- Borin continued;


    ¡°Beasts in the forests are acting weirdly. Sometimes, people would even find Beasts working together!¡±-


    ¡°You guys are not the only ones who have epted the job. There will be many other Mercenaries around the Capital City trying toplete the mission.¡±- Borin told them.


    The area of search was huge. Hence, a single team was not enough.


    ¡®Strange events... So, I was right... The Rank-5 Beasts also behaved in this weird way.¡¯- Ozul thought when he heard that these unusual activities were getting frequent around the Capital City.


    ¡°How much time do we have?¡±- ze took the lead.


    ¡°Duke Edwin wanted the ¡®thing¡¯ back as soon as possible. So, you guys might wanna leave today.¡±- Borin said.


    Adron City also had reported these strange activities, but the Cities near the Capital suffered the most. Traveling there would be for the best if they wanted to find out what was happening.


    Master Borin exchanged a few other details before the trio left the Mercenary Guild.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    When they walked back home, ze had a troubled face. Ozul noticed this and said;


    ¡°Ask what you want.¡±-


    ze eased his facial expressions and did not hesitate anymore.


    ¡°Master, did we really have to let them go away just to ept this mission?¡±- Raven also did not stop him as she had the same question.


    ¡°ze, remember that my limbs were chopped off on the day of my birth... by my very own ¡®father¡¯?¡±- Ozul continued when he saw ze and Raven nod;


    ¡°My ¡®father¡¯ is dead, but... my limbs are safe and sound. Of course, getting my parts back is the priority... Besides, I could care any less about their pathetic lives.¡±-


    ¡°But... What does getting back your limbs have to do with this Mission?¡±- This time Raven asked.


    ¡°You forgot, Raven?¡±- Ozul looked at Raven a little weirdly. This girl had remembered even small habits of him! And now she is asking the rtion of his parts to this Mission?


    ¡°What is my name?¡±- Ozul gave a hint when he saw that she was still puzzled.


    ¡°Ozul Ashfall... OH!¡±- Raven blurted out his name, and only then did she remember that Duke Edwin¡¯s now-deceased brother had a concubine with the name of Sylvia Ashfall!


    How dumb could she be to forget it?! She was even ashamed of herself now!


    However, ze was quite puzzled as he tilted his head. Was there something that he missed?


    Noticing his confusion, Ozul cleared it away saying;


    ¡°Duke Edwin is my dear ¡®uncle¡¯... who I have reasons to believe that he has at least one of my limbs...¡±- Leaving these words, Ozul walked away.


    Raven and ze stood rooted on the ground. Raven, because she was ashamed that she forgot such an obvious point. ze, because he needed some time to digest this new information.


    Only a few secondster did they get out of their daze, and hurriedly followed after Ozul.

 Chapter 49

    Back to Azmar City.


    After purging that wisp of Mana from his body, Ozul set off to go back to Azmar City.


    The reason that Azmar City only had a Count as the City Lord while the Adron City had a Marquis ruling it was because of its location


    Azmar City was one of the surrounding cities around Silverbird Capital City. Any critical decision can quickly be passed to the higher-ups in the Capital.


    And if Borin¡¯s information was correct, then Azmar Town must be one of the cities encountering the unusual events.


    Count Oliver was also their acquaintances, which could further help them. And he was sure that Oliver would want nothing more than for Ozul to ¡®help¡¯ him in these difficult times.


    It took them a day to go back as Ozul was not in a hurry. Also, ze was not even a Rank-2 Fighter¡ªrunning all the way to another city without taking any rest in between might be too much for him.


    It didn¡¯t take a genius to notice the weird atmosphere on the streets. People were easily frightened of the unknown.


    They had heard the news of multiple viges and the outskirts of the city facing against raging monsters.


    .....


    It was nighttime when they arrived, so Ozul did not want to meet Count Oliver right away. They headed towards the house that they had left behind.


    When they arrived before the house, Ozul could see that nothing much was different. Only the weeds and the grass had overgrown since no one was there to take care of it.


    Raven opened the gate, and they entered. Ozul didn¡¯t even bother to head inside and just trimmed the grass around his spot under the tree before lying down.


    Of course, Raven was a bit more responsible and cleaned the dirt in the house before heading back outside.


    ze had also not bothered to enter the house and just started training in the garden! Soon, Raven also followed him.


    . . .


    The next morning, Ozul woke up due to the ever-annoying sunlight.


    They headed towards Count Oliver¡¯s estate. Half an hourter, they were in front of the gates of his Manor.


    They seemed new so when he saw them, he yelled;


    ¡°Hey! You! Where do you think you are going?...¡±-


    But just as he was going to continue, the other guard shut him by smacking his head. He put on a ttering smile as he bowed and said;


    ¡°Please, forgive him, Lord. He is new here.¡±- He said while opening the gates. He was the guard who had probably recognized Ozul and Raven.


    Ozul and the duo did not mind and just went inside.


    This time, Count Oliver was outside in the garden instead of his office. There were several documents in his hand as he read them with a scrunched up face.


    Behind him stood Butler Albert. He whispered about the presence of the guests to Oliver before moving inside to prepare for refreshments.


    Count Oliver looked up to see the familiar faces of Ozul and Raven. A smile bloomed on his face looking at the faces, or instead, the answers for his almost every problem.


    He was truly ashamed of himself knowing that it didn¡¯t take Ozul to leave for a week, and he already had a pile of problems! Maybe he was too reliant on Ozul for the past decade?


    Such thoughts passed through his mind, but he shook them away as he needed Ozul right now. He said;


    ¡°Haha... Just like my guardian angels, youe whenever I¡¯m in trouble!¡±- Oliver was a little giddy inside as he trusted Ozul and knew that his troubles would be solved sooner orter.


    ¡°If you consider me an angel...then your vision for angels might be a little too...nevermind.¡±- Ozul replied. He had unconsciously replied, but midway realized that he didn¡¯t care either way.


    Only Ozul could do something like that. I mean, who would even stop midway talking just because they are toozy?


    ¡°Now I¡¯m not even worthy enough for yourplete sentence?¡±- Oliver joked around with a wry smile. He was getting quite familiar with Ozul¡¯s small habits, such as this asionalziness!


    Why asional? It was because Ozul would never ck off on a mission.


    Butler Albert came back with tea and sweets for Raven and the other conspicuous guy with them.


    ze was on high alert and would not carelessly drop his guard. Only when Ozul gestured towards him did he rx a little bit, but he still did not dare to eat since Ozul didn¡¯t.


    ¡°I see you have a newpanion?¡±- Oliver spoke when he noticed that ze stood behind Ozul and did not take a seat.


    ¡°Oh... He is that demon you wanted me to eliminate.¡±- Ozul replied. He did not care if Oliver had any problem with this or not.


    ¡°Haha-ha... Wait, you¡¯re not joking?! Who am I kidding? Gods will fall before you learn to joke.¡±- Oliver said while his eyes twitched.


    However, he did not question Ozul as to why he spared the ¡®demon¡¯ and instead had him as hispanion. Would Ozul even listen? And even if he did, would he care?


    Count Oliver knew better than to embarrass himself!


    ¡°So, why did you guyse back? Did you realize my worth and...¡±- Oliver started self-praising, but he was cut off by Raven;


    ¡°Stop it. We came back for a mission.¡±-


    ¡°Oh! Can I help you in any way?¡±- Oliver asked as he knew that Ozul would never visit him personally if there weren¡¯t anything serious.


    ¡°It¡¯s about the recent unusual situations.¡±- Raven said.


    Oliver was surprised as he had not issued any request in the Mercenary Guild for help. Was it someone else?


    ¡°Our mission is only rted to these events.¡±- Raven said after noticing Oliver¡¯s confusion.


    Raven could not disclose the information as Ozul had signed the contract. Much to her horror and surprise, Ozul began to speak;


    ¡°It¡¯s just that Duke Edwin wants to find something... and that ¡®thing¡¯ has been stolen by the same people... that are behind these strange events.¡±- Ozul said before thinking that not speaking would have been much morefortable.


    Even ze was looking at Ozul with wide eyes. Raven had exined to him about the Magical Contract, so his worries were understandable.


    However, even after a while, nothing happened to Ozul! They both wanted to question him about it but refrained themselves as this was not the ce nor the time to do so.


    Count Oliver also did not question them any further as this was their mission, but he was surprised to find out that there were people behind these events!


    ¡°Who are these people, and what is their goal? There can only be one exnation...Evil Mages!¡±- Oliver could onlye to this conclusion.


    Evil cults have always existed in this world. Only they could do something like kidnapping children and doing something to the Beasts.


    Now, it is not necessary to use Darkness Element to be called an Evil Mage. However, most Evil Mages used this Element.


    That¡¯s why people started to frown upon the Darkness Element itself.


    ¡°We just need you to provide us with information.¡±- Raven said to Count Oliver.


    ¡°Of course! If you want, I can even send people to help you.¡±- Count Oliver offered as this was well within his duty.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need your men. Use them to gather information instead.¡±- Raven said. ze did discuss anything as he was not familiar with Count Oliver.


    Count Oliver just presented Raven with the files that he was holding earlier. The file contained everything from his City to the official reports from the Capital City.


    ¡°This is all I have on them for now.¡±-

 Chapter 50

    Search.


    The file only contained the necessary information that they already received from Borin.


    But since it also detailed the location of each reported incident inside the Azmar City, this would be a great help for them. At least now they knew where to start.


    Ozul stood up and left as Raven and ze followed right after him when they had obtained everything they needed.


    When they came back home, Raven could not hold back her curiosity any longer. She said;


    ¡°Why did you tell him the detail? What if... something had happened to you?¡±- Worry was evident in her tone. ze was also worried and was eager to hear Ozul¡¯s answer.


    ¡°Do you think that when Duke Edwin invested so much just to search for an item... other nobles wouldn¡¯t notice?¡±-


    ¡°Oliver would hear this news sooner orter... So, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±- Ozul exined.


    ¡°Besides, the contract cannot harm me in any way.¡±-Ozul said as confusion appeared on the duo¡¯s face.


    .....


    ¡°Why can¡¯t it harm you?¡±- Raven asked. If this was some sort of unique technique, she also wanted to learn.


    ¡°Why?... it¡¯s because the contract binds itself to the person¡¯s heart.¡±- Ozul said while he kept walking, but Raven and ze just stood there trying to ¡®decipher¡¯ his words.


    ¡®If it binds to the person¡¯s heart, why can¡¯t it harm him?!¡¯- Raven and ze had the same thought.


    They recovered from their stupor only when they word Ozul¡¯s soft words in the distance;


    ¡°... and I don¡¯t have one...¡±- It seemed as if Ozul was self-contemting rather than clearing Raven and ze¡¯s doubts.


    But these words only confused them further! What does Ozul mean by, ¡®He doesn¡¯t have one¡¯? Does he really not have a physical heart?!


    It was hard for ze to ept that a human can live without a heart. But Raven was not as shocked as him, because she knew that Ozul also didn¡¯t have any blood!


    ¡°What? Afraid of following a ¡®real¡¯ Devil¡¯s Spawn?¡±- Ozul said when he saw that both stood still at their spots.


    He obviously perceived their emotions and knew that there was only confusion in their minds.


    But when they heard his words, the hurriedlyposed themselves and replied;


    ¡°Hmph! You doubt that I would leave for such a petty reason?¡±- Raven said.


    ¡°I¡¯m a demon. If I won¡¯t follow the Devil, what will I live for?¡±- ze replied.


    ¡°Hm...¡±- Ozul clearly did not care one bit for their speech as he already knew what their answer would be.


    . . .


    When they arrived back home, In the living room stood Raven and ze before Ozul. ze asked;


    ¡°With just this much data, how can we locate the culprits?¡±- There was not much information, to begin with.


    They only had the locations marked where the incidents happened the most. And that too, only of Azmar City.


    ¡°The culprits cannot be too far away from the incident sites... They would have to give asionalmands to the Beasts.¡±- Ozul said.


    ¡°And we will just have to follow these Beasts back to them!¡±- Raven finished the exnation.


    ¡°The attacks of the Beasts are only to cause unrest in public, which will cause quite amotion. But kidnapping the children seems like some sort of their short term objective.¡±- Raven began to exin everything to ze.


    ¡°We will most likely only reach back to the culprits if we follow the kidnapped children.¡±- She added further.


    Raven had learned to restrain herself a little after the scolding from Ozul. So she did not mind exining the n to ze.


    ¡°We will spread around these areas... remember, we are dealing with the unknown... be cautious.¡±- Ozul said while pointing towards some locations marked on the map of Azmar City.


    However, the Sun was still up in the sky. And there would rarely be any kidnappings or incidents when people could quickly notice.


    They all trained for the whole day. This time even Ozul put some effort into improving. He had a hunch that this entire situation isn¡¯t as simple as it seems.


    The Silverbird Kingdom is one of the powerhouses in the whole continent! Any ordinary cult wouldn¡¯t dare to mess around near the Capital City!


    And not only that, but they also managed to steal from the Duke! And why was Duke Edwin so anxious to retrieve this item? It was also a mystery.


    This time, Ozul decided to train under the sunlight! He had many advantages while he was in dark surroundings, but this did not mean that he should not do something about his weakness under the light!


    Light not only slowdowns his reaction speed, but the Ball of Purity also needs more of his focus to maintain under the intense sunlight!


    Running away from the light was not an option. Either Ozul perfects his control over his powers, or run away every time he sees any form of light!


    He had always wanted to thin out Ball of Purity to such an extent that he could cover his whole figure with ck mist that would not let sunlight enter.


    But controlling even a finger worth of Ball of Purity in that state tires him out! Also, it would not be suitable during battles.


    Hence, Ozul started working on perfecting his control over the Ball of Purity. It may take some time, so he had another idea that could work during this period when the light still affected his abilities.


    What may that be? Raven. Ozul himself cannot create new Spells or something as he never used Mana. But what if he can have Raven use a Spell to help him out?


    He wanted Raven to create the Spell only because she was probably more suitable for this kind of Spell.


    ¡°Raven, tell me... Can you create a kind of Spell that... can spread ck mist all around you?¡±- Ozul asked.


    Raven and ze had it better than Ozul in this matter. Ozul had to individually control all the Ball of Purity, while ze and Raven just had to put enough intent during the casting, and then they could divert their attention.


    ze could also use his Ice a little bit like Ozul, but he had also started learning to cast the Spell properly.


    ¡°Of course, I can. But it may take a few days.¡±- Raven said happily. There were not many times when Ozul would ask for her help!


    Ozul nodded and went back to his training. His training, though, only consisted of focusing, only tediously keeping his focus!


    The more familiar he gets with it, the easier it will be the next time he used Ball of Purity. The intense sunlight did break his focus a few times, but he kept at it.


    It also motivated Raven and ze to train even harder as Ozul waszy by nature, and yet he was also putting so much effort!


    . . .


    Night fell as the silence reigned everywhere. The recent events had frightened themon popce. People were unwilling to leave their houses in the dark.


    At this time, Ozul and the duo spread out around the City. Unfortunately, they spent the whole night and couldn¡¯t find any trace of the culprits.


    They could not be med as their area of search was the whole City while they were only three!


    On the second night, Ozul saw a group of Rank-4 Beasts! He followed them back, but as he expected, the Beasts were only repeating their tasks.


    Ozul killed them all, but he did not fail to notice the weird glow in their eyes! He had not seen such a light in any other Beasts¡¯ eyes. Maybe it was rted to how the culprits were controlling these Beasts?


    This failure though did not discourage them. The trio knew that it would be a miracle if they could find the culprits so quickly on the first day.


    They spent a few days searching until...

 Chapter 51

    Progress.


    These days, Ozul was getting quite frustrated. It had been 7 whole days since they¡¯ve been searching, and except for a few Beasts, they found nothing.


    He had also noticed the increased sightings of Mercenaries in the City.


    It was the 8th night when Ozul was finally relieved of his boredom. That was when Ozul received the call from ze.


    Every night, they would split up to search around. This time, ze had found something!


    ze had it really hard to see in the night. But this time around, He had noticed a small shadow in one of the alleyways near his area!


    This shadow only caught his attention because of the muffled sounds near it. He did not wait for another moment before jumping right into the alleyway.


    When he approached, he could see the back of a man wearing a dark hood trying to restrain a child around five years old!


    The child had his hands strapped together, and his mouth had been covered using a piece of cloth.


    .....


    It was apparent that the man in the hood was kidnapping that child! He did not give it a second thought and contacted both Raven and Ozul.


    The man in the hood heard the noise and turned out to find a man in cyan hair staring at him. He was stunned as to how that person got so close to him.


    ¡°W-who are you!? It doesn¡¯t matter, you¡¯ve seen me. I can¡¯t let you go!¡±- The man was afraid, but he did not back down.


    In a panic, he took out his dagger and moved forward to stab ze. But just as he was about to close in on him, he saw his feet freezing!


    Only now did he realize that the opponent in front of him was a Mage! His hands started to shake, and the dagger dropped on the ground. He knew that he stood no chance.


    . . .


    Sometimeter, Ozul and Raven arrived at the scene.


    Ozul saw an unconscious child tied at the side, and in front of ze was a crying man!


    The man also had his hands tied while he was on his knees. Snot came running from his nose as he sniffled asionally.


    ¡°Did he speak?¡±- Ozul asked.


    ¡°He is a wimp. I didn¡¯t even have to do anything before he told me everything.¡±- ze said while his eyes showed disgust towards the man.


    ¡°So? What do we have here?¡±- Raven asked. It seemed as though she was also irritated when they could not find any lead in the previous days.


    ¡°He is just a normal thug. They paid him to kidnap any kid between the age of six years to 13 years. There are others like him as well.¡±- ze began to exin.


    The man himself was nothing special. He was only a Rank-1 Fighter. He said that he was approached by a man who offered him a massive sum of money just for bringing him some children!


    The man could not think straight when he saw the pouch of gold coins in front of him! Since then, he had been kidnapping children for that man.


    But this time, the kid who should¡¯ve been unconscious woke up, and ze heard his muffled voice.


    The thug himself knew nothing about what they did to these children. And honestly, he did not care either.


    Raven was disappointed that after all this while, they merely caught a hired thug. But Ozul was relieved that they had a lead now.


    ¡°So, where did they ask you to deliver the children?¡±- Ozul asked towards the tearful man.


    ¡°I-in the woods...*Hic*... H-he would only appear w-when he sees me... P-please don¡¯t k-kill me.¡±- The thug did not dare to lie in front of these intimidating people.


    ¡°Okay, then you just need to tag along.¡±- Ozul said as the thug hurriedly nodded. He would do anything to save his life.


    . . .


    Sometimeter, in the woods stood the thug with the kid still unconscious beside him. The man was not crying anymore, and his body was stiff on the spot.


    It had been a while, and the hooded man had not appeared, which made him quite anxious. What if these people thought that he had lied to them? They will kill him on the spot!


    Fortunately for him, he heard the familiar footsteps! Only a momentter, he saw the man in the ck hood.


    The man in the hood came before him and said;


    ¡°This is thest kid. We won¡¯t need your services after this...¡±- Just as he was about to kill the thug in front of him to erase all the evidence, he noticed how the thug darted his eyes left and right.


    Just when he had realized that something is wrong, he was surrounded by the trio.


    The man in the hood would always check out the surroundings before appearing. But this time around, he could not understand how he had missed three people!


    It could only mean that they are stronger than him! He was a Rank-4 Mage, but it seemed as though he was not only outnumbered, they were also better than him individually.


    The man knew that he had no chance of escaping. Just as he was nning his next move, his eyes rolled as his vision turned dark. Raven just had to give a chop on his neck, and he was unconscious.


    They could ask him questionster; the Sun was about to rise, so Ozul had decided to return first. He was in a good mood since they finally had something on the cult.


    ze just picked up both the unconscious man and the kid. The thug was hoping that they would let him go, but his eyes went wide when a big spear of ice pierced his heart before he died.


    When they were on their way back, the kid woke up again and began to scream in a panic. ze just untied him and let him go. They could not bother to find a kid¡¯s home at this moment.


    . . .


    When they arrived back home, Ozul instructed ze to tie down the man and ce him somewhere.


    ¡°Oh, bring him here first.¡±- Ozul said just as ze was about to move.


    Ozul sent a wisp of Ball of Purity inside that man. That wisp quickly found the Mana Core inside the man and crushed it!


    From a Rank-4 Mage, the unconscious man had turned into an ordinarymoner! Ozul did it so they would not have to worry about him trying to escape.


    Raven and ze did not have much rest these past few days. Even Ozul trained in the day and did not sleep!


    All of them were pretty tired, and since they had caught one of the guys, Ozul wanted to have a good sleep.


    He would deal with that guy tomorrow. Anyways, it¡¯s not like he could escape from them now.

 Chapter 52

    Religious Fanatic.


    Ozul woke up to find Raven and ze training at one side while a big ¡®worm¡¯ squirming on the other.


    ze was not an expert in tying up a man, so he had just wrapped all the rope around him, which made the man look like a wiggling worm whenever he tried to move.


    They had not bothered with the man as they were waiting for Ozul to wake up.


    Ozul yawned before clearing his eyes and stood up. He arrived before the ¡®squirming worm¡¯ as he gestured towards ze to untie him.


    The guy even had his mouth and ears covered, how could he understand anything in that state?


    When the man could finally say something, he started yelling;


    ¡°You Vile Evil Creatures! You Destroyed My Cultivation!!!¡±- The man screamed furiously. Only now, when Ozul looked at his face, did he notice the crescent tattoo on the man¡¯s neck.


    ¡°Evil Creatures, you say? Funny when it ising from you.¡±- Ozul said with his emotionless face. He continued;


    .....


    ¡°So, tell me...¡±- Just as he was talking, the already enraged man started yelling;


    ¡°I will not tell you Anything!!! I will never betray my God! I will never reveal myrades¡¯ location to you; I don¡¯t care if you kill me now!...¡±- The man had lost all his cultivation, living would only be a torment for him.


    ¡°Done? Now tell me, what did you steal from the Duke?¡±- Ozul said with a deadpan face when the man was finished with his gibberish.


    The man only red at Ozul with his bloodshot eyes and did not say anything. When ze noticed that he wouldn¡¯t speak as quickly as the thug, he arrived before him. Just as he was about to hit him though, Ozul stopped him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother... He is a fanatic from an Evil Cult. And you don¡¯t know how to torture... He will die before he speaks.¡±- Ozul knew that it would be hard to crack him if the torturer was not a professional.


    ¡®Oliver must have professionals...¡¯- Ozul thought as he was nning to take this guy to him. He did not care if Count Oliver would also get his hands on the information.


    The situation did not seem any threatening to him, but he was getting a bit anxious for some reason. Surely the lost item couldn¡¯t be one of his limbs, right?


    ze again wrapped the man¡¯s mouth with rope and put it on his shoulder. It wasn¡¯t a challenge for him since he had advanced to a Rank-2 Fighter.


    . . .


    Sometimeter, Ozul and the team arrived at Count Oliver¡¯s Manor. No one dared to stop them when they entered through the gate.


    It appeared as the garden had be Count Oliver¡¯s favorite spot since whenever Ozul came, he saw Oliver there these days.


    He did not appear in a good mood since his face was all scrunched up as he read the files in his hands.


    When he saw Ozuling, his expression eased a little. But when he saw the tied up man on the shoulder of ze, his face lit up.


    He expectantly looked towards Ozul to confirm his guess, and he was overjoyed when Ozul nodded in response.


    ¡°He won¡¯t say anything... you have experts here, right?¡±- Ozul asked Count Oliver as the man on ze¡¯s shoulder began to thrash his body around.


    However, this only caused ze to throw the man on the ground¡ªwhich hurt quite a lot.


    ¡°Haha! Of course, I have experts.¡±- Count Oliver was in a good mood as he gestured towards Butler Albert.


    There had been no report of results from any other city surrounding the Capital! However, the capture of this man changed things.


    And he would be the first person to report any result of his investigations! His higher-ups would surely reward him for this.


    Butler Albert picked up the man and went inside the building, and soon the screams of despair could be heard even outside.


    Ozul and the rest did not have to wait much longer as it took only an hour, and Butler Albert was back with the man.


    However, the man seemedpletely different than before. He was not tied by the ropes anymore, but he did not dare to run.


    Some of his fingers were missing while the ones that were left had their nails removed! His left arm was twisted backward as he hissed in pain with each step he took.


    There were burns on his other arm as fresh blood kept oozing out of it. It seemed that the torturer had first cut the skin open and then burned the flesh from inside!


    His gory appearance would have caused anyone to puke, but all of the people here had seen worst. They had no sympathy for him since he was the one who refused to talk.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re ready to talk?¡±- Ozul asked towards the now half-dead man.


    The man hurriedly nodded his head when he heard the question. He even wanted to die during the torture session, but no matter how much he tried, he could not kill himself.


    ¡°Now tell me, what do you know about the thing... that you guys stole from Duke Edwin?¡±- Ozul did not care about all the kidnapped children or other strange events.


    ¡°I... I don¡¯t k-know m-much about t-that thing.¡±- The man asionally stuttered as he replied. He was afraid that these people would not believe him and torture him again.


    ¡°Tell me everything that you know.¡±- Ozul was getting impatient now as he had already wasted an hour here, which irritated him, and now the man was stuttering every other word!


    ¡°I only know t-that there are r-rumors that the item i-is something that a G-God left here. The leader needed t-that item for his master n.¡±- The man exined everything he knew.


    Even though there was no hint of the item being one of his ¡®parts¡¯, Ozul¡¯s suspicious only grew stronger. He did not care about the God part as they were nothing but rumors.


    When the man finished his exnation, Ozul kept staring at him as if asking for more.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything else...¡±- The man was scared shitless of his stares. What if that guy decided to torture him again?!


    Ozul sighed as he knew that the guy was not lying. He stepped aside for the Count to do the rest of the questions.


    ¡°Who are you guys?¡±- Oliver asked. He wanted to know which famous cult was behind these events.


    ¡°W-we call ourselves the ¡®Eclipse¡¯s Order¡¯. You wouldn¡¯t know because we were lying low before this.¡±- The man began to exin.

 Chapter 53

    The Order of Eclipse.


    The man did not hold anything back and told them everything.


    ¡°We mostly did things under the shadows. We had enough power, but we were not foolish enough to unt our strength.¡±- The man continued in a downcast voice. His stuttering had also disappeared.


    ¡°Until... the Leader began to behave weirdly. He suddenly received some information which caused him to think of some master n of his.¡±- The man continued;


    ¡°We did not question his orders since he was the Leader. We all believe in Lord Zeph, who had ascended as a diety some eons ago.¡±


    This Lord Zeph caught Ozul¡¯s attention as he did not understand what did he mean by ¡®ascended¡¯. However, he did not bother to ask anything as it was not important at this moment.


    ¡°Mhm... How powerful is your Leader?¡±- Count Oliver asked when the man was finished with his exnation.


    ¡°He... is a Rank-8 Mage.¡±- The man was hesitating at first, but the re from Butler Albert was enough for him to speak.


    Count Oliver was astonished to find out that such a person had escaped the kingdom¡¯s eyes for so long! The 4 Dukes in the Silverbird Kingdom are also Rank-8 Mages.


    .....


    If such a person goes around some small kingdoms, they would be treated even better than the kings!


    Oliver sucked a deep breath because this matter was out of his hands if the person leading the Eclipse¡¯s Order was a Rank-8 Mage.


    ¡°Why do you kidnap children?¡±- Count Oliver asked.


    ¡°No one knows... The Leader only said that they would be used for some sacrifice.¡±- The man replied fearfully.


    Count Oliver also received the location of one of the hideouts of these men. But Ozul did not care about it as they would have already noticed the man¡¯s disappearance by now.


    They would probably not find anything there. Moreover, Count Oliver would send his men to investigate, and he can just receive the report.


    Even though they received quite a lot of information, they were not so happy. They could not do anything with such knowledge!


    The only significant piece of information was the Rank of their Leader. And this too could only help them prepare for the worst.


    Ozul also had to change his mindset as his careless way of handling this situation might be fatal.


    After some questioning, they had learned everything that the man knew. Oliver expectantly looked towards Ozul as if asking for some favor.


    ¡°You can take him... I don¡¯t care.¡±- Ozul said as Oliver gestured towards Butler Albert to bring the man away.


    Ozul was the one who brought this man, but Oliver wanted the man in his custody so he could gain some merits.


    Since they did not have any lead now, Ozul asked Oliver to bring the big map, which showed all the Cities around the Silverbird Capital.


    All he could do was look at all the concerned locations. But looking at the map, Ozul¡¯s already expressionless face turned even more wooden.


    ¡°Hey... Oliver, why are these two Cities not marked?¡±- Ozul pointed towards the two cities which were surrounding the Capital but were not marked as the inflicted spot.


    ¡°Oh, that! Well, nothing happened in those two Cities...¡±- Oliver said as a matter of fact.


    However, Ozul looked towards Oliver with a deadpan expression and asked;


    ¡°And why was I not informed?¡±- He was curious as to why no one mentioned anything about this to him. Even Borin only said that all the Cities surrounding the Capital were inflicted!


    Oliver could not understand where this conversation was heading, but he replied;


    ¡°Oh, everyone just thought that the culprits did not have so much the resources to affect all the Cities. So, it doesn¡¯t matter...¡±- Just as Oliver was speaking, he was cut off by;


    ¡°You know Oliver, I thought of you as a smart man...¡±- Ozul sighed while shaking his head a little.


    ¡°W-what? Did I do something wrong?¡±- Count Oliver knew that Ozul was a smart man, so he wondered what happened, for him to say that.


    ¡°Oliver, the Eclipse¡¯s Order dared to move against the Silverbird Kingdom... Do you think someone who does not have such resources... would dare to target this big of a kingdom?¡±- Annoyance was apparent on Ozul¡¯s face as he said this.


    ¡°How can you people be so arrogant... to even think that your enemies aren¡¯t prepared? You didn¡¯t even bother checking those Cities?¡±- Oliver was speechless as he realized the situation, but Ozul continued;


    ¡°And besides, now that you know... their Leader is a Rank-8 Mage... Do you still think that they can¡¯t afford the resources?¡±-


    Each time Ozul stated a fact, Oliver¡¯s face dropped in shame. He considered himself a clever man, but such an undeniable fact escaped his eyes; it was a big hit to his pride.


    ¡°Anyways, tell me about the City Lords in those Cities.¡±- Ozul said as he knew that he should not continue berating Oliver. Even his higher-ups did not think about such an obvious point, so he could not only me him.


    Oliver came out of his self-deprecation and started telling about those two Cities.


    One of them was Sester City, while the other was called Prinas City. The names were weird as most of these Cities were named in ancient times, and no one bothered to change the names.


    Count Oliver exined that both Cities were under the jurisdiction of a Count. However, one of them was a greedy bastard, while the other was an old man that had his head filled only with women!


    This meant that they were indeed the best options if the Eclipse¡¯s Order wanted to do something shady!


    ¡°Request for your higher-ups to check on those Cities... Inform me if they don¡¯t...¡±- It would be better if these people would just do all the work, but if they don¡¯t, Ozul would just have to work extra.


    But for now, Ozul wanted to have rest as he had done more than enough already.


    . . .


    On the way back home, ze had some questions;


    ¡°Why would they neglect such an obvious point?¡±- ze did not understand how the kingdom could be so careless. Not that it mattered to him, but he was just curious.


    Ozul looked towards Raven and saw that she was also just as curious, so he sighed before exining;


    ¡°The Silverbird Kingdom is one of the top powers on the continent... After decades of not struggling... they¡¯ve started to think that they are invincible..¡±-


    ¡°So, what are we gonna do now?¡±- Raven asked because she could not think of anything except going for those two Cities.


    ¡°I will think about itter... At this moment, I only want to sleep.¡±- Ozulzily replied.

 Chapter 54

    Sense of Urgency.


    The next day, Ozul and the team again visited Count Oliver¡¯s Manor. Oliver had a stern expression on his face.


    The trio knew that something must¡¯ve happened for Oliver to appear so worried.


    Count Oliver sighed when the trio sat down near him. Ozul did not need to ask as Oliver exined;


    ¡°I sent the report yesterday...*Sigh* You were right, those two Cities have be the most suspicious now.¡±-


    ¡°What happened?¡±- Ozul asked, ignoring Oliver¡¯s dejected tone.


    ¡°The kidnappings all over the Cities have stopped. Also, There were several sightings of unfamiliar faces appearing near or in those two Cities...¡±- Oliver¡¯s voice trailed off at the end.


    It seemed as if Oliver was still embarrassed over his poor judgment.


    Ozul did not pay any attention to the gloomy vibes released from Oliver as he was busy thinking things through.


    .....


    ¡®The Leader of this Eclipse¡¯s Order seems like a crafty guy. He could somehow predict that the Kingdom would underestimate him, and he used it for his advantage...¡¯- Ozul internally praised the man.


    ¡°We cannot waste any more time...¡±- Ozul said before he sighed. It seemed as if no one wanted him to sit back and enjoy the show.


    ¡°Our opponent is a sly fox... he went against the whole Silverbird kingdom... it means that he is either stupid or confident... and it seems thetter in this case.¡±- Ozul exined as all the people present looked at him weirdly.


    Ozul would usually not take the initiative to give his opinion before other people. But it showed how grave the matter was for even him to cast away hisziness.


    Count Oliver was eager to solve this matter because he could gain a massive amount of merits.


    On the other hand, Ozul was concerned about his limbs.


    He can instinctually feel that his severed ¡®parts¡¯ still have vitality in them and are in one piece. However, he cannot know what will happen soon.


    They may be fine now, but the next moment, they could be gone! How would he know if they are even protected enough?


    It seemed that after 20 years, Ozul was finally feeling a sense of urgency to obtain his limbs back.


    He considered himself a smart man, but how stupid he was to actually think that his ¡®parts¡¯ would always remain intact.


    Ozul shook his head as it was not the time to drown in worries.


    ¡°The Leader of the Eclipse¡¯s Order diverted all the attention toward the locations.. while he must¡¯ve prepared things in one of the remaining two Cities... Even now, there are two Cities, one of them would be the real hideout.¡±-


    Ozul began to exin the situation in small details.


    ¡°Our opponent was smart enough to leave two Cities unharmed... which would take even more time to find their real location.¡±-


    If the Leader had only left one City unscathed, not only would it garner more attention, but it would also be easier to locate him.


    It seemed as if the guy had thought everything through.


    Fortunately, both of the Cities were next to each other, which would ease their burden even if a little.


    ¡°But even if there are only two Cities, how could you locate them?¡±- Oliver asked. They had no lead whatsoever that could help them. Searching two whole Cities with only three of them sounded absurd!


    ¡°Hey, Oliver... Tell me, if you were hiding in a City... Where would you hide?¡±- Ozul asked.


    ¡°Huh?... I will probably hide in the woods?¡±- Oliver did not know where this was going, but he replied nevertheless.


    ¡°Mhm.¡±- Ozul nodded as he asked the next question.


    ¡°Now tell me... If you were a smart man... and knew that people would start their search in the forest, where would you hide?¡± It seemed as if Ozul was leading Oliver to an answer by asking such questions.


    Ozul always did this when he felt that exining was too dull and boring.


    ¡°Eh?! ... In the slums?¡± Oliver again answered confusingly.


    ¡°Yes... everyone would. But you also have a group to hide with you¡ªa group big enough to invade Cities...¡±- Ozul added the condition of people hiding with you.


    ¡°Then... find some big estate? Where no one would bother to search?¡±- Even though Oliver answered as such, he was unsure of his answer.


    ¡°Indeed... You are correct. If the Leader of this Eclipse¡¯s Order truly is a smart man... he would choose this approach...¡±- Ozul exined.


    Ozul guessed that hiding in in sight was his opponent¡¯s best choice. Even though it was only a guess, he could not think of any other way to whittle down their area of search.


    It wasn¡¯t that no one else would have thought about it, but the politics needed to issue and issue a singlemand took a lot of time.


    Everyone had their own point of view and unless someone with absolute authority had a headstrong opinion as well, it would take days toe to a final agreement. And Ozul guessed that such people might have not even cared enough to put a little thought into it.


    He left the Manor with Raven and ze following him like some bodyguards while the Count was still thinking about where the Leader of Eclipse¡¯s Order would choose to hide.


    . . .


    ¡°We have two City Lords¡¯ estate¡¯s to check... hurry up.¡± Ozul said while Raven and ze were surprised.


    They did not think that their opponent would actually hide in the City Lords¡¯ estates!


    ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised... One of the City Lord is a greedy bastard...while the other is a pervert old man... Anyone can easily take advantage of them...¡±- Ozul exined when he saw their confused expressions.


    It was his best bet. Because if they could not find the Eclipse¡¯s Order in this way, they would have to search everywhere around the Cities.


    ¡°Will we split up?¡±- ze asked after a while.


    ¡°No... it will be too risky... I have chances of winning against a Rank-8 Mage, but both of you won¡¯t be able to do anything.¡±- Ozul shook his head.


    Even if both ze and Raven work together against a Rank-7 Mage, they will not survive. Much less their opponent¡ªwho was a Rank-8 Mage!


    However, in the past few days, Raven had managed to create the Spell that Ozul required. She named it ¡®Night¡¯s Shade¡¯.


    Ozul was satisfied with the Spell because it generated ck smoke all around the target. The ck smoke would spread about 10 meters.


    Not only that, if their opponent is not skilled enough, their other senses would also be disrupted!


    With the creation of this Spell, Ozul was confident that he could fight against a Rank-8 Mage! This would be the first step to obtain his parts back.


    ¡°Prepare everything... we will leave today.¡±- Ozul said. Since he had enough power to get at least one of his ¡®parts¡¯ back, he was anxious to hurry up the process.


    Raven and ze thoughtfully nodded their heads as they could feel that Ozul was serious about this situation.

 Chapter 55

    What are they for?


    After arriving back home, Raven and ze did no wait and started to prepare everything.


    As nned, they set off in the direction of the Cities of Prinas and Sester a few hourster. Since ze had advanced to Rank-2 as a Fighter, they could lessen the dys between the travel.


    It took them a day to reach the outskirts of Prinas City!


    The distance between Azmar City to here was quite long, but they only rested twice during the entire journey.


    Just as they stepped on the streets, all three of them noticed the unusual atmosphere. People were lively as usual, but something was amiss.


    They felt Mana signatures all around them. Many of the usual looking citizens were not so ordinary.


    ¡°This is what Oliver meant by unfamiliar faces...¡±- Raven muttered.


    Ozul nodded his head, but he did not bother to stop each one of these people to interrogate them. Most of them would only be the hired people to cause this confusion!


    .....


    ¡°Hurry up... These people are none of our concern.¡±- Ozul urged Raven and ze, who were probing all these people.


    They asked a random shop keeper the direction for the City Lord¡¯s Manor. It was around midday when they arrived at the estate.


    Of course, they could not casually enter from the front gates as they did with Count Oliver.


    The Count here was an old man who was known to be a lustful pervert. Evenmoners disdained him.


    The Count was also a Rank-6 Mage, but he did not even have a single Rank-5 Mage under him! No one wanted to work under human trash such as him.


    The Counts¡¯ estates are usually stretched widely to a couple of thousand meters. And if they did not have the ability, they couldn¡¯t secure their property. Such was a case with this estate.


    The guards were scarcely scattered inside the estate as the Count never bothered to secure his parameters.


    The higher-ups had not changed his position only because there was nothing of importance in this City. So they did not trouble themselves to pay any attention to this matter.


    After nearing the estate, Ozul was disappointed as he could not perceive any type of unusual activity within.


    However, he did not give up and decided to enter the estate to search thoroughly.


    Even though it was midday, due to the negligence of guards and theirx attitude, it was not so difficult for the trio to infiltrate the property.


    They ran into a couple of guards when they entered the building, but they were all quickly dealt with by ze. He did not kill them because it could cause problemster on.


    They even came across the room from where the muffled sounds of panting were heard. But the trio ignored it and continued their search.


    It took them half an hour only to end up with nothing. Ozul was also unhappy with the situation as it meant that they would have to travel again to the next City!


    He did not like running continuously while the sunlight irritated him to no end!


    However, finding the location of Eclipse¡¯s Order as soon as possible was Ozul¡¯s priority, so he could not dy any longer.


    Without further ado, they set off in the direction of Sester City. Fortunately for them, it wasn¡¯t far from this City.


    Running in that direction, ze curiously asked;


    ¡°What if we couldn¡¯t find them in the next location as well?¡±-


    ¡°Then you guys will have to search two whole Cities...¡±- Ozul said while shrugging.


    Raven showed a wry smile as she understood that Ozul would not run around both the Cities to search. It would only be ze and herself.


    Ozul had enough of running all around the Kingdom! What are Raven and ze for if he still has to do thebor all the time?


    Both Raven and ze started praying that Ozul¡¯s guess is correct, so they wouldn¡¯t have to search around hundreds of kilometers!


    . . .


    Half a dayter, the Sun was setting as Ozul saw the outline of the City.


    Ozul did not need to, but Raven and ze were exhausted, so they decided to take a rest before exploring the City Lord¡¯s estate.


    The situation in this City wasn¡¯t any different from Prinas City. It looked like the Eclipse¡¯s Order did an excellent job in hiding.


    The City Lord, this time, was a greedy bastard. He would even sell his family if he received a good profit!


    This guy, even though a Rank-6 Mage, was also not loved by themoners.


    The night fell as the trio moved towards the City Lord¡¯s manor. Ozul had decided to dy a little more, so if any situation arose, he would have an advantage in the dark.


    When they arrived near the manor, Ozul tried to sense anything unusual, but he couldn¡¯t as there were enchantments on the walls.


    Most nobles had such enchantments done around their properties, and even Count Oliver had that. The previous City Lord was an exception as he only cared about women!


    This type of enchantment would not allow other people to probe inside that area using Mana. They could only enter the estate to sense the area inside.


    However, this type of enchantment would make it hard for anyone to infiltrate as they wouldn¡¯t know where the guards are not present beyond the wall.


    However, Ozul had another way to sense his surroundings. And that was by the use of emptiness!


    How could he know about his surroundings based on emptiness? Well, Ozul considers everything aside from the pure void to be impure.


    So, he just has to spread his consciousness, and he will automatically feel where he is the most disgusted from. And that area would probably have a life form.


    Although unique, this method would always work as he had an innate hatred towards everything except for the absolute void.


    If it weren¡¯tfortable when his parts were intact, he would have also been disgusted by himself!


    He just needed to get near the wall and close his eyes to sense anything which may be moving and feels disgusting.


    The estate only had one entrance¡ªthe front gate. So Ozul and the duo went behind the property to infiltrate through the back wall.


    Since they could not sense anything using their Mana, Ozul approached the wall and closed his eyes.


    He was expecting a couple of guards moving about, doing their duty. However, what he noticed on the other side of the wall surprised him a little!

 Chapter 56

    Art is an explosion?


    There was no one! Even the Count of the Prinas City had some guards roaming around in the estate, but Ozul felt no human being on the other side of the wall!


    This could mean two things. One, the barrier was so advanced that it could even block Ozul¡¯s. Two, there was something unusual happening on the other side.


    Ozul thought that it would likely be thetter. Could there be a barrier that could block Ozul¡¯s senses? There is no way.


    There was only one way to confirm his thoughts¡ªjumping to the other side.


    Ozul did not waste any more time, and with just a little push, he was high in the air. Raven and ze followed after him.


    However, what they saw on the other side was not something they expected.


    There was nothing on the other side. An eerie silence prevailed when they had entered the property.


    Something was wrong about this whole situation. But this further confirmed Ozul¡¯s guess that it could be rted to Eclipse¡¯s Order.


    .....


    If they didn¡¯t know it better, the trio would have assumed that this was some abandoned property!


    Ozul could see the building in the middle, but there was no human in their field of vision.


    Till now, Eclipse¡¯s Order had nned everything perfectly. It felt like everyone was ying in the palms of their hands.


    They did not leak any information to the low-ranking members in case they were caught. While they were hiding so well that even after targeting the Capital City, no one had been able to find them as of yet.


    Since it felt like no one was here, the trio looked in all directions only toe across the stars in the sky and the grass on the ground.


    Ozul shifted his attention to the building that was in the middle of the estate. Only that structure was left unexamined.


    The trio walked forward cautiously towards the building.


    Since it was nighttime, Ozul¡¯s senses were enhanced to the point where it could evenpare to some of the animals¡¯!


    When they had stepped forward towards the structure, Ozul could not rest easy for some reason.


    ¡®Something is wrong...¡¯- Ozul was just thinking things through while advancing steadily when,


    *Hmzzzzm*


    Ozul picked up the slight rumblings as they were getting near the building. He realized the implications behind these sounds as his eyes went wide.


    ¡°Take cover!¡±-


    Ozul said in a loud voice as he rolled backwards. Raven and ze did not hesitate to follow his lead.


    Just as they did though, the building in front of them, which was only a little more than about 20 meters away from them exploded!


    The fire engulfed everything within the area as the loud voice explosion voice followed afterwards!


    *Booossh*


    The debris flew all around as the explosion destroyed the whole property!


    Ozul, Raven, and ze were only 20 meters away from the building and could not get away in time. So, they were caught in the explosion.


    Everything with the property was caught in the explosion and destroyed.


    When the fire died down, we could see the three figures closest to the building standing up.


    Only a minuteter could Raven and ze stabilized themselves and started noticing the after-effects.


    The explosion had taken them by surprise. If it was not for Ozul¡¯s quick senses, someone could have died!


    Just before the explosion, Ozul had spread the Ball of Purity Shield in front. But its amount was too low to cover all three of them.


    Hence, Raven had used one of her Original Spell to block while ze had generated Ice all around them.


    It may be the case, but the explosion was not something to be so easily protected against, especially when the trio was only a few meters away from the building!


    Ozul was okay even though he stood at the front because the Ball of Purity protected him from the front.


    However, it was not the same for Raven and ze. They both had around the same amount of injuries, but nothing serious¡ªjust some small cuts and scrapes.


    Raven¡¯s Spell wasn¡¯t so useful, but she was also Rank-5 Fighter which helped a lot.


    ze, on the other hand, was only a Rank-2 Fighter, but his natural affinity with Ice element came into use as the Ice around him negated most of the heat and damage.


    Both of them were furious that they got yed right into the enemies¡¯ trap. But Ozul had other thoughts.


    ¡®How sly... they even predicted that some people would check on the Count.¡¯- Ozul was more than amused, but also annoyed and irritated because this was nothing something he was used to.


    It felt like he was not in control of the situation¡ªhe did not like this feeling at all.


    Ozul would have most likely put such thoughts away, but he had a bad feeling that this matter could be rted to his ¡®parts¡¯.


    So he could not rest easy when all this time, the enemy was in control of the situation.


    It made sense when Ozul thought about it now. If the Eclipse Order¡¯s Leader was really a cunning man, then he could have also easily predicted that someone would check here!


    But this explosion also confirmed that they were hiding in this Sester City and not in the previous one because there were no trapsid down in that Count¡¯s estate.


    Even after all that thinking, his enemy was still one step ahead. That was why Ozul did not like to overthink.


    He had burned all those brain cells only to get straight into the trap. Heck, he was not even sure if he had brain cells.


    What if his body¡¯sposition was different from humans? It was probably so because there should be something unusual that kept him alive even without the blood and the heart.


    But he did not get discouraged. At the very least, their area of search was narrowed down to only one City.


    It was nighttime, and everyone in the vicinity had heard the ear-splitting boom. The two guards stationed at the gates had also died, so many people came rushing in.


    The trio hurriedly left in the cover of the night and the fire¡¯s shadows. They would onlybel them as the culprits for blowing up the Count¡¯s estate!


    They quickly left the scene, but just as they were going to find a ce to rest, something else major happened...

 Chapter 57

    How naive...


    Raven and ze ran after Ozul while drinking the purple potion to heal themselves quickly.


    Of course, they were as discreet as possible since Raven had exined to ze that Ozul did not like it when someone used that potion in front of him.


    They passed quite a few houses and arrived in a dark alleyway. They rested to catch their breath since surviving a st such as that with only a distance of 20 meters took a heavy toll on their body.


    Even the potions used to heal Raven and ze worked by utilizing the stamina of the consumer to treat their injuries faster. Hence, Ozul was rtively in a better state than both of them.


    Not to mention that he was also a Rank-7 Fighter!


    After ze had caught his breath, he asked;


    ¡°Where do we start the search now?¡±- Even he knew that searching in two big cities was not an option now. The time was ticking.


    Just as Ozul was about to reply though, a high pitch scream reverberated in the air!


    .....


    *Screech*


    The shriek was so ear-piercing that many of themoners had their ears bleeding! Even ze had to cover his ears to reduce the pain since he was only a Rank-2 Fighter!


    No sane being could produce such sound. It took a few seconds for the inhumane screech to stop as everything came to a standstill.


    ¡°This is where we start the search...¡±- Ozul replied to ze¡¯s earlier question without looking back at him.


    Just as his voice died down, a bigmotion took ce as people began to panic. It seemed as though the things were starting to get heated.


    Eclipse¡¯s Order must be behind this. There was no other exnation behind this monstrous scream that could spread out to the whole city!


    Many Mercenaries were wandering around various cities in hopes ofpleting the task. Some of the sensible gave up on the mission when they weighed the pros and cons.


    But other hot-headed Mercenaries wanted to court death. But there were hundreds of such people.


    Hence, on the one hand, many people were screaming and running away from the direction of the shriek. And on the other, many of the Mercenaries ran for the so-called ¡®opportunity¡¯.


    Ozul and the duo also advanced towards the direction. However,pared to all those other Mercenaries, Ozul¡¯s team was rtively in a better condition even though the trio had just survived a massive explosion on a point-nk range.


    The other Mercenaries couldn¡¯t be med. None of them could afford the expenses nor the time to advance both as a Fighter and a Mage!


    Due to the city structures and the woods ahead, no one could see what the cause of the earlier scream was, but they were sure that it wasn¡¯t something that they could take lightly.


    Since Ozul¡¯s team was on the other end of the city, it took them a while to reach the woods.


    They could still notice some teams of the Mercenaries advancing vigntly.


    However, just as they had entered the forest, many wild Magical Beasts started attacking them! It was not only their team, but everyone who entered the woods was facing a simr situation.


    All the Beasts also had the same red glow that Ozul had noticed on the previously controlled Beasts.


    It only confirmed his earlier thoughts about Eclipse¡¯s Order being behind the previous savage howl.


    However, just as they were going to ughter their way forward, something happened!


    Suddenly, Ozul¡¯s head began to throb! The head-splitting pain caused Ozul to stop as he fell on his knees, holding his head.


    Ozul did not scream or yell for help, but it was apparent for Raven and ze to see that he was in pain.


    They did not know what had abruptly happened to him. From childhood, Ozul had never suffered from any disease, much less a headache.


    The pain did not stop, but Ozul had realized that something must be wrong with his ¡®parts¡¯! And the earlier scream could not be a coincidence!


    At this point, he did not need some solid proof to know that at least one of his ¡®parts¡¯ is involved in this situation!


    It felt as if Ozul did not hurry, he would lose a part of himself. He hurriedly gathered himself and stood up from the ground.


    It was not the time for dealing with some headaches. If Ozul did not hurry, he might never be plete¡¯ again!


    Raven and ze were both worried about him, but Ozul did not let them question anything and began to advance again.


    Ozul¡¯s attitude, his expression, and his speed demonstrated that he was not going to take it easy this time!


    His ¡®self¡¯ was on the line. Ozul had never felt so much annoyed after the first time that his ¡®father¡¯ had severed his limbs.


    Several Rank-4 to Rank-5 Beasts came in their way, but all of them were ughtered without given any chance.


    So many high ranking Beasts had caused all the Mercenaries to take a step back. Only a few could advance by slipping from the sides.


    ¡®tch... hurry...hurry...¡¯- Ozul could not think of anything else other than to hurry to the ce and save his ¡®self¡¯.


    How naive had he been to think that no matter how much time passed, his ¡®parts¡¯ would be safe and sound?


    Raven and ze could not help but get worried when they saw Ozul like this. His expression did not show much, but his behaviour gave them many hints.


    However, they could only assist him to the best of their ability.


    Most of the Mercenaries, who were fighting with the Beasts, were stunned to see the three teens advancing so casually into this ¡®battlefield¡¯.


    The forest seemed to be a battlefield between Mercenaries and the Beasts if someone watched from the sidelines.


    The chaos that ensued in the City had long spread to the woods.


    Ozul followed by Raven and ze did not stop their movement. Each step Ozul took sent a jolting pain to his brain, but he did not even flinch anymore.


    They ran forward for a couple of minutes before they finally began to see some change in the scenery.


    However, what they faced first was not the change in the scenery but the horrible stench that invaded their senses!

 Chapter 58

    Transcending the Mortal World?


    The nauseating smell invaded the trio¡¯s senses, but they did not halt their steps.


    The reason for the smell became apparent when they arrived on the horrifying scene.


    In front of the trioid a ground with no trees whatsoever so they could see everything without any obstruction.


    Hundreds of childrenid their lifeless on the ground! Each one of them had their throats slit open, blood dripping down to form arge puddle of blood.


    They could not understand the purpose of ughtering all those children. But the reason became apparent when they moved their eyes towards the horrendous sight in front of them.


    The ground had various rows of runes created on it. All of the runes glowed with purple light while it absorbed the blood of those children.


    The runes were ced in such a manner that they created a star on the outer ring, and rows of runes stretched from each corner to join together in the middle.


    The middle part again had a circle of those carved runes as it glowed in a ck hue whenever the star-shaped runes provided it with the energy.


    .....


    It did not take a genius to understand that this was a ritual site! The rituals weremon knowledge among the Mages.


    The idea was for the Mages to receive something they wanted by sacrificing something of equal value.


    The scene in front of Ozul showed that while this was indeed a ritual, but it was a kind that was considered immoral. Evil Mages often did such rituals.


    The difference in these rituals was that while other Mages used a non-living thing or an animal as a sacrifice, Evil Mages sacrificed alive humans!


    Those living humans also had specific conditions such as they could be virgins, women, or orphan children!


    The reason for such rituals could be anything from obtaining some insight to gaining instant power.


    But even in those rituals, only one sacrifice was enough to perform the ceremony if the Mage was proficient enough.


    Sacrificing hundreds of children for only a single ritual was unheard of!


    What type of ritual would need such a sacrifice? This answer could only be obtained from the man standing in front of them and the abomination slowly forming in the middle.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    -Sometime Earlier.-


    -Unknown POV.-


    Everything was in the right ce. All that time and the nobles couldn¡¯t do anything to find our location.


    Even now, my subordinates reported the explosion of Count¡¯s estate. This just proved how predictable those arrogant pieces of shit those nobles could be.


    My n until now has been perfect! Only a little more time and I will transcend to a higher ne! Hahaha...!!!


    The only risk in the n was to kidnap these children, but even that went without a hitch!


    Even a kid would know that those Beast attacks were just mere distractions, but those fools could care any less about these children when they found such an ¡®interesting¡¯ wonder.


    Those hungry nobles just wanted to be able to control the Beasts such as I did, but Lord Zeph knows how much I had to pay to be able to control the Beasts... sigh.


    I look towards the terrifying Beast... No, it can¡¯t even be considered as a Beast! It seemed as though it was a different entity!


    After all this, my efforts are finally showing some fruit! This ¡®thing¡¯ required the sacrifice of about four hundred children!


    But I can already feel the bone-chilling power from it! Just a bit more... just a little bit more, and all this power will belong to me!!!


    The power that could even rival Gods! This is the fruit of mybor, hahaha!!!


    However, all of this could only be possible because of that ¡®thing¡¯. I even had to spread rumors that it was some gift bestowed by God Zeph so the people under me won¡¯t revolt!


    I don¡¯t understand how such a miraculous thing was in the hands of that filthy Duke!


    How much of an idiot could he be that even with all the resources in his hand, he could not find me?! Or maybe I¡¯m just that clever?


    Even if he had found me, what could he do? I¡¯m also a Rank-8 Mage and the people under me would not lose to any small kingdom¡¯s army!


    However, what was that thing? Just a leg? But whose leg could it be to contain such extraordinary powers?


    From the shape and the tone, it only looked as if it was of some human¡¯s, but those snake-like moving ck symbols prove otherwise.


    Anyways, I don¡¯t care since it is now in my hands!


    I was just a child when I had read the scripture for this ritual. The purpose of this ritual was to sacrifice those hundreds of children to create this horrifying monster.


    However, creating this abomination was not the end goal. Thest part was for the person to absorb its power and transcend the limit of mortals!


    Just imagining the strength that I could obtain from it gives me goosebumps.


    The only problem in this ritual was that despite the colossal sacrifice, the monster still needed a catalyst to stabilize its power.


    I had long ago given up on this ritual when I found out how strong of a catalyst. It was only recently when I listened to the report of one of my spies in the Capital City.


    Who would¡¯ve thought that behind the recent rise of Duke was just a leg?! It was funny, no matter how you look at it.


    Just a little more... and the whole world wille to know of me, Podas! Yes, I may have an unusual name, but the world will tremble upon hearing this name in the future!


    My dreams were in front of me, waiting for me to grab hold of them.


    There were only a few minutes left before thepletion of the monster when I felt someone with a huge Mana pool rushing towards my location!


    This amount of Mana would not lose to mine, a Rank-8 Mage¡¯s. Wait... it could not be the Duke, right?


    Even if it¡¯s not the Duke, the person rushing here would not be my friend.


    This would make things a little tricky if he arrives at this time! I had created all those distractions for this moment not to be disrupted.


    There were many Beasts of high ranks to stop small-timers froming near this location. At the same time, most of the upper echelons of the Eclipse¡¯s Order were also surrounding me.


    Just as I was thinking ways to deal with the person rushing here, one of my men told me that someone had managed to get past all those Beasts.


    I looked towards the direction he was pointing at and noticed three teens. How could people so young manage to get past all those Beasts?!


    Did I miss something and created some trail for them to follow here?


    However, I could not bother to deal with some pipsqueaks. I ordered my men to deal with those while I prepare to deal with the Rank-8 Mage that is rushing here.


    Anyways, I¡¯m confident in myself to at least keep the guy at bay for some time before that monster emerges.


    And once it does, I¡¯ll crush all my enemies, hahaha...!!!

 Chapter 59

    The new arrival.


    Ozul had just arrived at the sight followed by Raven and ze when he saw those men in the robes. It was apparent that the men in front of him were Eclipse¡¯s Order.


    However, his focus was not on these people or the weird creature that grew in the center of runes.


    His entire mind was on the leg that was sealed inside a fancy looking ss box. His non-existent heart began to pump when his eyesid on it.


    The excitement Ozul felt just from looking at it was enough for him to know that this was one of his parts!


    Would he not even recognize his missing ¡®self¡¯? How could he not when even ze and Raven had an inkling that this was Ozul¡¯s leg!


    Raven felt happy when she saw the expression of eagerness appearing on Ozul¡¯s face. Only at times like these did she think that he wasn¡¯t so emotionless.


    But she knew the significance of the moment and readied herself for the uing battle. ze, too, did not dare to let his guard down. He was aware that he was the weakest among the trio, so ze wanted to prove that he wasn¡¯t so ipetent.


    Ozul¡¯s headache increased with each passing moment. Only now he noticed the reason!


    .....


    His severed leg was also ced in the formation! asionally some energy would be absorbed from it by the runes!


    Even when those people experimented on his leg, he did not feel any pain much less this excruciating!


    It proved how much the ritual was sucking out his power! Ozul felt that he might never be able to beplete again if he did not hurry.


    But just as he was about to rush towards his leg, he felt someone with a massive amount of Mana running towards this location.


    A couple of other considerably powerful people also followed that person. Ozul could sense much more than any other Mage because he had the advantage of the night.


    Ozul was desperate to get his parts back, but he was not a fool to rush blindly in the middle of an unknown situation.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    -Sometime Earlier.-


    -Unknown POV.-


    It was not so long since I had received the report that they had spotted the Eclipse¡¯s Order in the forest near Sester City.


    Just as I was on my way there, I heard the ear-splitting shriek that caused even me, a Rank-8 Mage, to flinch!


    My speed rose unconsciously as my subordinates struggled to keep up as I was not only a Rank-8 Mage but also a Rank-7 Fighter.


    It had been a few weeks since those filthy scum had stolen my treasure from me.


    After weeks of spending money as if breathing air, I had finally found its location! Hence, I did not wait for even a second longer and sprinted towards the site with my best men.


    I could not lose it even if I had to put my life on the line. I had already traded my life for it. If I could not present this leg to his Majesty, I would be dead anyway...sigh.


    It had been years when I had plotted against my elder brother Duke Edward. Everything went ording to the n, and I dered myself as the new Duke and the head of Abilon Family!


    However, I found unexpected gains. How could I ever know that my brother¡¯s Spatial Ring hid such treasures?!


    I was quite puzzled as to whose limbs those could be, but suddenly it clicked in his mind. It was his son. The son that he dered to have died!


    I tried various means to locate him, but I could never find the remains of that boy. He was probably buried under some graveyard after all this time.


    At least I had those three limbs which radiated such dense energy. But my misfortune only befell after that.


    I should have never taken those Royal¡¯s help! When they found out that I had three limbs preserved that held such energy, His Majesty immediately summoned me to rob me of these treasures!


    I had to beg him just to keep thisst piece for a while, so I could also profit off of it. But never would I have ever imagined that someone would dare to steal it from me!


    My wealth and influence rose like a phoenix until that moment, but now I have to bring it back so his Majesty would spare my life.


    Well, even if he does not kill me for this, that tyrant would make my life worse than hell. And worst of all, I know it!


    There is only one way for me to avoid tragedy, and that is to retrieve the leg back. If only I had not been so arrogant to think that no one would steal from me...


    Those filthy bastards must be doing something evil with it judging from that inhuman scream!


    I did not know if I could make it there in time so I released my Mana pressure so as to let them know and hopefully cause a distraction to dy them.


    Just as I reached the sight, I saw the abomination that had probably been the reason behind that scream in the middle of the runes formation.


    While tens of people in robes stood outside the formation protecting the leg I was looking for weeks!


    I knew it that these damned thieves were up to no good!


    From the corner of my eyes, I could also see those three teens but for whatever reasons, that ck-haired teen was ring at me?


    But I could not pay attention to small stuff when I noticed that the Leader was also a Rank-8 Mage! So the information was correct, huh...


    -POV. End.-


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Ozul saw the emergence of the newly arrived team. His eyes turned frosty when he saw the appearance of the middle-aged man that released the intense Mana pressure.


    The blonde middle-aged man looked just like his ¡®father¡¯ as long as he could remember!


    He might not remember clearly, but he hated any face that had some resemnce to it.


    ¡®So, he is here huh...¡¯- Ozul thought while ring at his ¡®uncle¡¯.

 Chapter 60

    ?Chapter 60: Just a distance away.


    Ozul red at the blonde middle-aged man that appeared with his subordinates.


    He got out of his stupor only when he saw the small part of men in robes also rushing in towards his group.


    They were nothing special, only a Rank-7 Fighter leading many weak Rank-4 and some Rank-5 Mages.


    Ozul wanted nothing more than to head straight in the formation to retrieve his leg back, but those people wearing robes were annoying.


    No one hesitated and charged right at each other.


    In the first ce, there were tens of them charging at Ozul¡¯s team, and while they may be weak individually, those people were somehow able tobine their spells to increase its strength!


    It made them realize that this battle had no cannon fodder, as even those weakest here couldbine their Spells to amplify the output!


    This situation caused Ozul not to be able to advance steadily. Raven and ze were also only Rank-5 Mages. Although stronger than every Rank-5 Mage here, they were barely powerful enough for this fight.


    .....


    Just as they collided with the enemies on this side, Duke Edwin also led his men to attack Leader Podas on the other.


    Duke Edwin went straight towards the limb, but Podas confronted him, blocking his path.


    Most of Eclipse¡¯s Order members were fighting with the forces that Duke Edwin had brought with him.


    There was only a single Rank-7 Mage with Duke Edwin, while Eclipse¡¯s Order had two of them!


    Edwin gritted his teeth when he realized that the situation was not in his favour. He should have brought some help!


    But there is no medicine for regret, so he braced himself and began to think of a way for him to retrieve the leg.


    However, no matter how much he tried to think of a way, he could not find any way for him to get to the limb without endangering his life.


    Since that was the case, he could only fight with his life on the line! Going back without the leg would make his life miserable anyway.


    Time was of the essence as the leg was continuously depleted of its energy.


    Back on Ozul¡¯s side, He had noticed how Edwin also wanted to retrieve the leg before it became useless to him.


    So, for now, Ozul did not bother to attack any of Edwin¡¯s men and focused on the Eclipse¡¯s Order. Preventing the leg to dry out of its energy was the priority right now.


    Even though he was there were men in front of him, Ozul did not stop his approach. The Rank-7 Fighter snickered when he looked at Ozul;


    ¡°Ho? Kids these days don¡¯t realize their limits. tsk tsk.¡±- Rank-7 Fighter said as he gestured one of his men to attack.


    Ozul had enough of these annoying flies as he split the Ball of Purity into tens of ck des. The des started rotating around him with rising momentum.


    A few secondster, Rank-5 Mages couldn¡¯t evene near 1 meter of Ozul!


    The des rotated at such a speed that it looked as if there was a storm around Ozul. Some Rank-6 Fighters tried to test their luck, but they were pushed out just as they stepped near him with lethal injuries!


    After looking at theirrade¡¯s injuries, several Eclipse¡¯s Order members were infuriated. Nevertheless, they did not dare to step up and try to stop Ozul.


    They might have strong camaraderie, but their lives were the priority. They were not stupid enough to y with a fire they could not afford to mess up with.


    The Rank-7 Fighter scoffed at his men¡¯s cowardice, but he could not me them. Foolishly giving away their lives was not something anyone could do.


    Much less them, who were part of an evil cult!


    It seemed as if it was time for him to make a move. He was curious about the boy with des¡¯ storm around him. Though, at the same time, he was also confident in his own abilities.


    He did not think that those tiny des could even leave a scratch on his skin.


    As he stepped near Ozul with his head held high and a confident sneer stered on his face, he realized just how wrong he was!


    His left arm looked maimed! His whole left side was left with deep cuts as he was thrown back because of the force.


    How could he have known that a ¡®simple¡¯ Spell from just a kid could do so much damage to him!?


    But more than anything else, he was shuddering in fear! Just as he was getting closer to Ozul, he had seen the look on his face.


    The cold eyes seemed to prate any material existence! Even when he was in the presence of Leader Podas, he did not feel such a sense of helplessness.


    It felt like no matter what he did; there was no way for him to stand a chance against that kid.


    He gained a nk look on his face when Ozul just passed by and did not spare a look at him. It seemed that he was not even worth a nce!


    Ozul sped towards the ss box which held his leg. Just at this moment, one of the Rank-7 Mages of the Eclipse¡¯s Order noticed him.


    He was teaming up with his partner to overpower the Rank-7 Mage brought by Edwin, but it seemed as though he was needed to stop this kid.


    Ozul¡¯s advance was again disrupted by the giant fireball directed towards him.


    The des¡¯ storm around Ozul would be able to defend against the fireball, but blocking in this way would cause harm to him. So, he stopped the des and formed a thinyer of shield against it.


    It also irked Ozul to no end. His leg was just a few distances apart from him and yet he could not get a hold of it! How infuriating!


    Since these guys were so set on him not being able to approach his own ¡®part¡¯, then he would just erase them and move on.


    With such a thought, Ozul removed the shield and red towards the Rank-7 Mage that had cast the Fireball Spell earlier.

 Chapter 61

    Chapter 61: The Struggle.


    It was in the middle of the night when Sester City was overwhelmed with panic and confusion among themoners.


    Clouds had covered the Moon, so the only significant source of light was the burning estate of the Count. Due to the size of the explosion, the fire still burned and illuminated the surroundings.


    On one side of the city, there was themotion of the civilians, while on the other hand, a different battle took ce.


    If anyone with good eyesight looked in the forest, they would notice the raging battles between tens of Rank-5 and above Mercenaries with Magical Beasts!


    The situation here favored the Mercenaries as even though the Beasts fought together, they could not coordinate their attacks.


    Many of the Beasts died, but the Mercenaries did not have time to collect the materials. Instead, they hoped over the dead bodies to advance further.


    If anyone looked at this scene, they would be surprised because each one of those Rank-5 Beast was worth hundreds of Silver Coins!


    .....


    The Mercenary teams did not collect the corpses because everyone wanted toplete the mission, which was worth a hundred times more than those dead Magical Beasts!


    The scene looked as if there was some war between the Beasts and the Humans. There were also several casualties on the Humans¡¯ side, but it amounted to nothing whenpared to the dead Beasts.


    While these people still struggled to move forward, the sight where the ritual took ce also looked as if the two sides were at war!


    The man in the robes protected the runes of the ritual while Edwin and his men attack them.


    Anyone could point out that the situation was in the Eclipse¡¯s Order¡¯s favor. Not only were these men coordinating with each other, but they also had the numbers!


    *Swoosh*


    *Zmhhhmm*


    Each side chanted their Magical Spells against the enemy side. The smell of the blood slowly thickened. No one had any time to tend to the wounded, you either live, or you die. There were only these two options.


    Raven and ze also fought against the Eclipse¡¯s Order to thin out their numbers. They fared quite well since both of them also coordinated with each other.


    Duke Edwin had brought many people, but the Eclipse¡¯s Order still had the numerical advantage.


    Back to Ozul, he was annoyed that these people got in the way of his and his own ¡®self¡¯.


    But more than anything, he was irritated when he looked at these people fighting over his ¡®part¡¯ as if they fought over some tool! How dare they?!


    Ozul looked towards the Rank-7 Fire Mage as he stood wide-eyed when he saw that his Spell had close to no effect on him!


    But he was a Rank-7 Mage for a reason. His mindset waspletely different from any other person.


    He quickly readied himself for the battle as he knew that it wouldn¡¯t be an easy one because he had seen how Ozul did not even put an ounce of effort into protecting himself.


    Duke Edwin was worried that all of his men would be killed before his fight finished because there were two Rank-7 Mages against his single Rank-7 Mage.


    During the fight with the Leader Podas, both parties would asionally sweep their eyes over the ¡®battlefield¡¯.


    Both of them had also noticed when the Rank-7 Fire Mage had attacked that unusual kid. They did not put much thought into it at that time. But when Ozul had appeared unscathed, their interest piqued.


    Leader Podas thought that he was one of the Duke¡¯s men. However, Edwin knew better. He was delighted since this kid had helped his men.


    Edwin had already thought of giving Ozul a generous reward when this was all over. Yes, he believed that it was only a matter of time now before they won, and he gets his treasure back.


    ¡®Is he also a Rank-7 Mage? But why does he not radiate even a fraction of Mana?!¡¯- The Mage was baffled by this scene as the only conclusion he coulde into was that the kid was actually not a kid!


    The Fire Mage thought the kid in front of him was some old hidden expert that had excellent control over his Mana!


    His guess had been wrong, but this made him take this fight seriously. Just a small mistake and his life would be put on the line!


    However, the longer the Fire Mage paused to think of a strategy, the furious Ozul got.


    His opponent might be a strong Rank-7 Mage, but Ozul was not here to win a single battle here. Moreover, his headache increased with each passing second.


    Ozul wanted nothing more than to take a big leap and get a hold of his leg, but he knew that this Rank-7 Mage would not stay still.


    He had also noticed that this was one of the Evil Mages who did not use the Darkness Element.


    It would have been better if this Mage had Darkness Element as Ozul knew that there would not be anyone in this world with a better understanding of the Darkness than himself.


    Since the Fire Mage was not making a move, Ozul decided to strike first.


    This time, Ozul decided a different approach as anyone could easily block the des.


    The Ball of Purity turned liquidy and then started to take the shape of a snake! Ozul had chosen this shape for many reasons.


    The most significant reasons were that its movement was erratic, and it was easier for Ozul to control it.


    The Fire Mage was stunned when the long pitch ck snake slithered towards him.


    Not only because he did not feel any Mana when Ozul created the snake, but also because the snake gave him weird vibes.


    The snake looked extremely life-like. If the Fire Mage had not seen it with his eyes, he would have thought that this was some Magical Beast.


    The snake was not so huge, but rather a small one since Ozul could only create so much with the little amount of Ball of Purity that he had.


    Despite its size, the Fire Mage still felt as if some Rank-7 Beast stared at its prey!


    Only the stray Magical Spell from a random guy in the battle woke him up out of his trance. With his hands trembling, the Mage was ready to fight till the death!


    He would not underestimate this kid, no matter how young he looked.

 Chapter 62

    Chapter 62: The Distress!


    The battles in the surroundings continued as only the Leader Podas, and Duke Edwin paid attention to the fight between Ozul and the Fire Mage.


    The few meters snake long crept towards the Fire Mage in a blinding speed. The Mage could not believe his eyes that something can move so fast when slithering.


    He fired a couple of Fire Balls at the snake, but they all missed. At the critical point, the snake would just change its direction dodging the attack.


    Ozul did not let the Fire Mage think of a counter as the snake appeared before him in just a matter of seconds.


    Now that the snake was in close range, the Fire Mage was confident that a considerably massive Fire Ball would st it away.


    However, he did not think that just when the pitch-ck snake was a few meters away from him, it split into hundreds of smaller snakes.


    Ozul was just looking for an opening in his defenses. And the time when the Mage fired Fire Ball was the perfect opening.


    .....


    Because most Mages required a few moments before they could cast another Spell, and that small dy in the battle was fatal!


    Hence, Mages were quite weak in closebat. Once you are in the range, it¡¯s your win!


    This opportunity was exactly what Ozul needed to end the battle quickly. He could not afford to waste his time fighting while his leg gets sucked dry!


    The snakes scattered and sped towards the Mage; even if he had the time to chant another Spell, he could not think of any to stop so many of them in a short time!


    The Fire Mage took a few steps back unconsciously, but the small snakes moved like bullets and struck the Mage.


    Before long, like some lethal poison, the snakes cut through the Mage¡¯s skin like butter and entered inside his bloodstream disregarding all the strengthening Spells that he had put on himself.


    However, when the Fire Mage saw that all hope was lost, he immediately chanted a suddenly a Fire Pir emerged where Ozul stood!


    But the ¡®poison¡¯ seemed to be made from some grandmaster alchemist. In the blink of an eye, the Mage dropped dead on the ground!


    All he could do in thest moment of his life was to also take down his enemy with him by attacking with thatst Fire Pir.


    The Fire Pir died out the second after the Fire Mage was killed. It all happened in just mere seconds, so the Spell did notst for a long time.


    When the fire died out, Ozul¡¯s figure emerged. His clothes were tattered as there were burns everywhere on his body.


    It was Ozul¡¯s mistake that he let down his guard when he thought that his enemy could not fight back! But this blunder urred mostly because of the increasing headache.


    He could not think straight with the head-splitting pain and the anxiety of losing his ¡®self¡¯.


    Even a minute had not passed before the fight between a Rank-7 Mage and Ozul ended with theter¡¯s victory.


    Even though this was the case, Ozul knew that the fight concluded in such a short time only because the Rank-7 Mage was not a Fighter.


    Moreover, the battle also left him in bad condition. The headache was already a distraction, but now he had to bear the pain of the burns as well.


    At this time, Duke Edwin and Leader Podas were both in the flying in the sky, having an intense battle.


    It wasmon for Rank-8 Mages to be able to fly. They could also do so in smaller ranks using some Magical Spell, but Rank-8 Mages did not need to cast a Spell to fly.


    Their consciousness had strengthened to the point where they could walk on empty air!


    Also, with each advancement in ranks after Rank-6, a Mage¡¯s body starts to incorporate with the Mana.


    Mana starts to be a part of the Human body. It¡¯s also the reason that Mages in Rank-6 and above are said to have started breaking the mortal shackles.


    A Human¡¯s body has too many limitations. And unless they fuse with something with more potential such as Mana itself, they would just perish with the passage of time.


    The process seemed like that of Fighters, but it was different, and this was not the time for such exnations.


    Back to the scene, both Duke Edwin and Leader Podas suddenly had their attention diverted in the middle of the battle.


    Duke Edwin was stunned because he had noticed that the kid had so easily defeated a Rank-7 Mage! He had just diverted his attention, and the fight was over! But how!?


    ¡®Is the kid also a Rank-8 Mage!? But if that¡¯s the case, why does he have no Mana!?...¡¯- Such thoughts sprang Duke Edwin¡¯s mind.


    Leader Podas, on the other hand, was distracted due to a whole different reason. He could care less about his subordinates when his path to Godhood was on the line!


    His attention at this moment was on the pulsating runes. The ¡®abomination¡¯ in the middle had grown up to about 10 meters.


    And the power it radiated was already matching that of a Rank-8 Mage. But it still did not seem to be enough as the runes started to shine with a blinding light as to pump more energy into it.


    But Podas knew what it meant, and he was delighted at this sight! This process indicated that the ritual was near itspletion.


    Just a few more moments and he would have everything he wanted in his life!


    However, this was not everything that changed. Everyone fighting, be it the Duke¡¯s men, Mercenaries, the cult members, or even the Beasts. All of them stopped to look in the direction of the growing monster.


    It had a huge humanoid body, but the weird dark matter wriggling around its body would make just about anyone disgusted.


    No, the matter was not convulsing around its body. If you looked closer, it seemed as if the monster was entirely made up of that repulsive thing.


    However, everyone was looking at it, not because of its horrible appearance, but because of the tremendous increase in its power! At this moment, it resembled a starving Beast sucking all the Mana around it.


    Its power grew with leaps as the surrounding people started to feel the pressure.


    It already radiated a power that was equivalent to the power of a Rank-8 Mage. And now it started to suck out the energy provided by runes eagerly.


    Since the process had elerated, Ozuls headache increased as well. When before he felt that someone was pricking his brain him with needles, now it felt as if someone was smashing his head with a giant hammer.


    Just when Ozul was about to move and grab his leg, the ¡®monster¡¯ made the first move.


    At this moment, there was no one to stop Ozul, but that starving monster was closer to the leg. And the worst of all, it seemed to know that this leg was providing him with the energy!


    Ozul watched with wide-eyes as that abomination picked up the ss container which held his leg and brought closer to its mouth...

 Chapter 63

    Chapter 63: The Huge Spike In Power.


    Ozul had his eyes wide open as he looked powerlessly at the monster, putting the ss container in his mouth!


    And not only him but everyone else on the battlefield was also stunned. Raven and ze looked worriedly towards Ozul¡¯s standing figure.


    They had never seen him show even a hint of emotion on his face, but this time around, everyone could see that Ozul was stunned!


    He stood rooted on the ground the same as on the day when he saw Grandma Coral¡¯s peaceful sleeping figure. He felt the same as he felt on the day when his mother took herst breath while holding him.


    For others, that leg might only be one of Ozul¡¯s body parts. But how could they know that those life-like moving ck symbols on the leg meant much more than they could ever imagine?


    How could they even begin to imagine the possibilities, the endless energy, and the potential those engravings held?!


    And most of all, how could they know that it had a particr connection with Ozul-That losing it wouldn¡¯t just make him sorrowful, but it will be akin to cutting his existence!


    .....


    Merely staying alive does not mean that you exist! The whole meaning of existence is finding happiness! Otherwise, you are just that-an empty vassal made up of organicpounds.


    Some find happiness in pursuing a purpose in life, while some find pleasure looking at the joyous smiles on their family¡¯s faces.


    Some even exist so they could search for the meaning and reason for why they live! Ozul was one such being. However, it did not matter to him if he could not find out about himself. He felt content with just being ¡®whole¡¯.


    He felt satisfied by just being plete¡¯. Ozul found happiness when a warm hug from the void enveloped him when he is not so empty anymore.


    The day when his limb was cut off, he felt empty inside. But there was always hope that he will get them back because of his extraordinary intuition.


    However, at this moment, Ozul stood rooted as he saw his leg entering that abomination¡¯s mouth.


    It had not even been a few seconds when the Fire Pir hit him, so he did not have any strength to rush towards the monster.


    The others could not clearly see in the middle of the night, but Ozul saw how the ss container began to melt when it came in contact with that abomination¡¯s insides.


    The monster closed his mouth as Ozul lost all hope. But this was not all! Just as he thought if he would ever be able to be plete¡¯, the pain hit him.


    And it hit him hard! It had not even been a second that the leg went inside the monster, and an extreme pain assaulted his mind.


    This time he could not even take a moment to think how painful it was before he dropped down on his knees as his face contorted.


    It was the same as the day his limbs were cut off. He did not cry out that day, and he did not cry out today as well. But it did not mean that the anguish he felt was tolerable.


    No! If it were an average human experiencing the same agony, they would have chosen to end their lives instead of suffering so much.


    In this split second, everyone present on the scene was worried for one reason or another!


    Raven and ze were worried when they saw Ozul in distress. Duke Edwin¡¯s face contorted in anger as he thought that he would never be able to retrieve the leg back.


    And the Leader of Eclipse¡¯s Order, Podas, was worried because this was not how the ritual was supposed to proceed!


    The ritual was like aputer system. The runes were not only the wires but also the processor. They instructed the energy to flow from the leg to the monster and let it absorb.


    However, now that the monster had eaten the leg whole, they did not know if it could absorb any more energy from it, or would it just be digested? At this moment, the monster radiated the energy equivalent of a peak Rank-8 Mage.


    This power was not enough for Podas to be a God. The most he could do was advance to Rank-9, and that¡¯s it! Hence, he still held the hope that the monster would be able to absorb the energy in the leg and grow stronger. Otherwise, all his efforts will go to waste.


    But his mood took a 180 degree turn when in the next moment, he felt the massive spike in the power of the monster!


    *Swhoooshh*


    A Mana wave was released from the monster, which even threatened to pull off the trees from the soil. The wind pressure could alone kill some ordinary humans!


    Most of the people did not know why the monster released such a destructive Mana wave from its body, but those few at higher ranks knew! They knew that this indicated that the Beast had advanced to Rank-9!


    The Mana wave had expanded all the way to the other end of the City. A phenomenon of such magnitude only urs when the individual advances to Rank-9!


    However, the Mana pressure did not stop increasing as the monster kept getting stronger.


    Each passing second, the strength of the monster grew leaps and bounds. Its size increased, and it was now about 15 meters tall when it reached the peak of Rank-9.


    The monster was already strong enough that it could devastate entire kingdoms!


    Even with all the control from his conscious of a Rank-8 Mage, Podas could not wipe off the silly smile on his face.


    Ozul, on the other hand, had his face scrunched up as he tried his best to stand up and ignore the head-splitting pain.


    The monster¡¯s increase in its power did not stop, and before long, everything came to a standstill.


    The battles had already stopped between the Beasts and the people, but there was still somemotion before.


    However, this time, it just felt as if everyone had seen a ghost. Even the rustling of the leaves stopped! The air pressure around the area dropped, and...


    *BOOOM*


    A deafening sound spread out, followed by the pressure wave, which instantly killed the weaker bunch of people on the battlefield!


    Raven and ze did not have it easy as well. ze was even worse since he was only a Rank-2 Fighter!


    People at these ranks could not even stand up! Despite the addition of the headache and this pressure, Ozul did not allow himself to fall again!


    He had it enough being on the losing end. He gritted his teeth while ring at the massive 15 meters tall abomination.


    The pressure radiated by the abomination even began to suffocate the two Rank-8 existences on the battlefield!


    And naturally, all the Rank-8 and above existences all over the kingdom had also felt this massive event. The tremors of the earth tes reached the far ends of the continent!


    Even the old monsters in seclusion opened their eyes to look in that direction.


    Back on the scene, except for Ozul and the two Rank-8 existences, everyone else was either dead or bleeding from their orifices!


    Duke Edwin had terror written on his face as he did not even dare to move. While the Leader Podas was ecstatic looking at the growth of this monster!


    He had set up the ritual in a way that he just needed to will it, and he would absorb all the monster¡¯s power. But the anomaly in front of him was still growing, so he could not help but think of all the future possibilities.


    All of this power that he felt from this monster; it will all belong to him! The weakness he felt just from being in the presence of it, everyone else will feel the same gap in his presence!


    Just at this moment, the monster¡¯s size started to shrink again! In just a few moments, the Rank-10 anomaly shrunk back to only 8 meters from the previous 15 meters!


    Under the bewildered and confused gazes of the people, the monster again started to increase its energy!


    Even after breaking through to Rank-10, the monster was still growing! Existences at this monster¡¯s level could be counted on one hand in the entire continent, and yet this power was not enough to satiate this Beast!


    But this news only further delighted Leader Podas. He did not even think of the consequences of creating such an abomination.


    The only thing on his mind right now was that he would somehow be a God using this abomination!


    Ozul did not have it easy, but he was still standing upright. He had thought things through now;


    ¡®I will just give it my all... I can still feel the leg is safe. If I do not put my life on the line, I won¡¯t ever be able to get it back! And what will I do with this life if I cannot even be plete¡¯ again?¡¯- Ozul had decided that he would either get his leg back or die trying!

 Chapter 64

    Chapter 64: Groan...


    Ozul had seen enough of the Monster to grow stronger! The more he waited, the worst his headache would get.


    Since this was the case, he would have to take the initiative. Instead of blindly rushing in, he swept his eyes in the surroundings only to see the mayhem created during themotion.


    Most of the people were dead, while the others were struggling. All because of this ¡®Anomaly¡¯ in front of him.


    All the while, Ozul did not even give it a passing thought that this destruction may be due to the life-like ck symbols on his leg.


    Even if he knew this, he wouldn¡¯t care. What matters the most to him is himself, not the lives of those filthy ¡®creatures¡¯.


    Then Ozul¡¯s sightnded on the two Rank-8 existences, both showing contrasting expressions.


    He hated both of them, one because he sold his limbs away. The other, because he was harming him even at this moment.


    .....


    Ozul had noticed the smug smile on that guy¡¯s face. He still did not know why he was creating such a monstrosity, but it did not matter to him since he only cared about his leg.


    The Monster had a power level around a Rank-10 Mage, and it was still increasing!


    But he did not think about who would win or who would lose in this situation. He wanted his leg back, and that was final!


    Taking this moment as an opportunity, Ozul rushed towards the 8 meters tall monstrosity.


    When everything was still and silent except for the Monster, the running figure of Ozul was quickly noticed by everyone who was still alive.


    Everyone was confused as to why that guy would run towards the Monster instead of running away from it.


    Has he gone insane due to all the pressure because of the battles and this Monster¡¯s power?


    Raven and ze both wanted to stop him, but they could not even stand up straight. The most Raven could do was stretch out her hand, which Ozul wholly ignored.


    This was not the time to exin why he was rushing in or why he should not stay behind.


    Unfortunately, since everyone else had noticed, Leader Podas had also seen him. His amused smile quickly turned into a frown.


    ¡®Hmph! Does he think he can even get close to...¡¯- Podas did not want to believe that a kid who did not even exude a hint of Mana could get even near the Rank-10 and still growing existence in front of him.


    Even a Fighter had Mana because he strengthened his whole body with it, but this kid clearly did not!


    However, Podas put those thoughts to a stop as he remembered that he was the same kid who was fighting against his subordinate.


    Moreover, where even Rank-7 individuals were having a hard time breathing, this kid still had the strength to run towards the Monster!


    It could only mean that this kid was somehow hiding his strength.


    ¡®What is he going to do?!..¡¯- Podas put these thoughts in the back of his mind as this was not the time to contemte but take action.


    He couldn¡¯t be careless now that his n was close to fruition. Podas noticed that Edwin had no intention to take action now that he had seen the Monster¡¯s strength.


    So, he could make a move without any interruption. He had to stop Ozul himself since his subordinates were in no condition even to walk much less stop him.


    He flew straight towards Ozul, nearing the Monster. He did not understand what the kid intended to achieve, but he would not let some kid ruin his ns.


    Ozul only noticed Podas rushing towards him when a ck ball made up of corrosive gas attacked him.


    It delighted Ozul, not because he was attacked. But because he now knew that his enemy was a Darkness Element Mage!


    His eyes narrowed in disdain as the corrosive smoke, which was about to hit him, just fell onto the ground.


    *Ssssssss...*


    When the Spell collided with the ground, it even started dissolving the soil! It demonstrated the power behind a Rank-8 Mage¡¯s just casual Spell!


    Podas was confused as to why his Spell just stopped working in midway?! That didn¡¯t make any sense at all!


    It felt like his Spell did not even want to collide with the kid!


    ¡®What did this kid do!?...¡¯- Podas could not help but form a sprout of wariness in his heart.


    But then he saw... He saw when Ozul turned his head a little to look up in his direction. The cold eyes looked straight into him, peering through all his secrets. Podas felt naked under the gaze of those two vacant stone-like eyes.


    Podas¡¯s body did not seem to listen to him when the chilling eyes looked at him. He felt the looming catastrophe above his head.


    He was just a kid; how could he give him such a feeling of helplessness!?! Podas could not help but curse as he bit his lips so that the pain may break him out of the stupor.


    The lingering taste of iron on his tongue because of the blood helped him regain control over his body. He noticed how his back was drenched in a cold sweat.


    Even fighting Duke Edwin, a Rank-8 Mage, did not make him feel this vulnerable.


    However, he knew that this was not the time to be afraid. Just a little longer, and he would have the strength to crush every mortal beneath his feet.


    But for that to happen, he needed to give the Monster some more time.


    Just as he was again about to attack Ozul, he saw that the kid had utterly ignored him after giving him the eye. He was back to running toward the Monster!


    Podas¡¯ eyes twitched in anger as he yelled and started chasing behind Ozul.


    ¡°Ahh!! Kide back here!¡±-


    Despite his cries and yelling, Ozul did not bother to turn around and confront Podas. He could feel that even with all his efforts, Podas could not close in the distance between them.


    Ozul was running with all his strength, and before long, he was only about 20 meters away from the Monster. However, just at this moment, the ¡®Anomaly¡¯ also noticed that someone was nearing him.


    The Monster gave out a loud cry and hit Ozul with his giant hand.


    Ozul could not dodge the sudden attack from the Monster at such proximity. The force behind the punch was also not something to underestimate because Ozul was flung tens of meters back!


    He did not know what his insides were made up of, but they still hurt like hell. It felt like he was crushed under a giant mountain.


    When he fell on the ground, A small groan escaped from his mouth for the first time even in his life!


    The burns from the Rank-7 Mage¡¯s Spell, the head-splitting pain, the earlier outburst of energy from the ¡®Anomaly¡¯, and now this punch-injuries were piling on Ozul¡¯s body.


    All of this had not made Ozul bleed to death only because he never had any in the first ce.


    Even Ozul¡¯s near-perfect control over his facial expressions, he could not stop the groan from escaping his mouth.


    Even Podas was shocked by this oue. First of all, when the Monster had eaten the leg whole, he had only thought that it could be some instinct to devour energy.


    But now the Beast had even attacked Ozul. It meant that the Monster had the ability to think! And podas knew that this was not supposed to happen.


    The ritual clearly stated that it would not have any capacity to think. It will just be an empty vassal to store the energy temporarily.


    Fortunately, he held the rune tomand the Monster to be absorbed by him. Otherwise, it would be a worrying matter that it could think independently.


    Not wanting to waste any more time, Ozul arched his back to ease the pain before standing up again.


    He red towards the Monster who had eaten not only his leg but also hit him. Ozul felt his headache increase when he could not even think of a n.


    The Monster¡¯s strength kept increasing while he had not been able to think of a single way to get his leg back!


    He looked around, but all he could see was utter destruction that urred just with a Mana wave! There was nothing that he found useful.


    For the first time, Ozul felt at a loss.


    ¡®Is there nothing I can do?....¡¯


    But no matter how much he thought, all the ns felt meaningless in front of the power of this Monster.


    He hardened his gaze as he deeply exhaled to put away all these useless thoughts. This way of thinking would not get him anywhere!


    Ozul may not be some protagonist of a story, but he had to give it all this time. For no one else, but himself.

 Chapter 65

    Chapter 65: Fight Against a Rank-8 Mage.


    Seeing no other way, Ozul decided to just close in on the monster to see if he could find any weakness.


    His force of gravity tilted forward as he began to run towards the monster, but this time with more alertness.


    Due to the earlier attacks, Ozul¡¯s t-shirt was battered and had many cuts and holes in it. One such cut extended from the base of the shirt to the chest, almost ripping in half.


    The torn apart shirt showed his muscles with burnt skin patches. Ozul kept feeling a tinge of sensation spreading in his body, but he ignored it as only due to the extreme headache.


    As he ran towards the monster, Ozul realized that it would not be as simple as he thought it to be. Because this time, Podas was in between him and his target.


    Although he did not pose a threat to Ozul because of the attribute of his Element, he was still a Rank-8 Mage. Going around him wouldn¡¯t be an easy task.


    Looking at Ozul¡¯s figure running towards him, Podas was again stunned as he did not expect this kid to attack again after that punch.


    .....


    He had felt the winds hit his face just from the force of the impact, even surviving that punch head-on was already a miracle.


    It also confirmed Podas¡¯s earlier suspicion that this kid was not normal. Just the force from the monster¡¯s punch was enough to kill some weak bunch of people, and he survived all that without using Mana?-Impossible.


    He must be hiding his Mana with the help of some artifacts. Otherwise, there was no way that a teenager could win against a Rank-7 Mage without using Mana!


    Podas thought of many conclusions as to the mysteries behind Ozul¡¯s power, but he kept his focus on the approaching figure of Ozul.


    Not wanting to make a fool out of himself this time, Podas readied his best attacks to stop Ozul.


    All this while, the abomination kept growing in power. The speed at which it increased its energy was mind-boggling.


    Only a few minutes had passed since it advanced to Rank-10, and it was already in the middle stages!


    There were three stages in every rank above Rank-3. The individual is said to be in the Initial Stage when he just had the breakthrough. Then came the Middle Stage when the person in question had fully grasped all the gains from the advancement.


    It helped the individual to increase the quality of Mana inside his body. And atst, came the End Stage, the person is said to be in End-Stage when he has enough Mana, or he has enough understanding of his path to breakthrough to the next rank.


    But the monster just kept increasing in ranks as if there was no limit to his growth! Even Podas was surprised to see how much it grew in just a short matter of time.


    Back in the fight, Ozul was quickly approaching Podas when both of them got ready to attack. Podas decided to strike first as he chanted, and suddenly, the surroundings became a little colder.


    It was a Spell that made everyone weaker in the vicinity except for himself! The Spell used darkness as a catalyst to dull the senses of his enemies.


    Podas did not even think that this Spell would be countered just as Ozul did with the earlier corrosive ball.


    Already confident that the kid in front of him had experienced the debuffs from the Spell, Podas started to chant the next Spell.


    It did not take Ozul even a second to understand what the Spell was supposed to do, but he did not care as it had zero effect on him... Well, not actually zero effect.


    He had received some buffs from the Spell instead! It was in the middle of the night, so it was barely noticeable, but the Spell used the Mana to stir up the darkness that was present everywhere, which disrupted the enemy¡¯s senses.


    In contrast, the same Mana also protected the senses of who used the Spell. But agitating the darkness in the surroundings only helped Ozul to have a more sound connection with it!


    This not only not reduced his power, but instead, improved his capabilities! It was indeed a blessing in disguise.


    Raven had also developed the auxiliary Spell made only for Ozul, but it wouldn¡¯t have much effect because it was already night time. And not to mention that Raven was in no condition to stand up much less help him in the fight.


    Ozul produced the Ball of Purity out of him and started forming a thin shield around him.


    Podas thought that the kid was finally afraid of him and felt gleeful of himself. Ozul did not slow his pace when he ran towards Podas; this caused him to be a little suspicious.


    He immediately became wary of his opponent as he had already underestimated him, which left a bitter taste in his mouth. Podas would not repeat the same mistake twice.


    Just as Ozul closed in on Podas, instead of taking him head-on, Podas chanted a Spell, which created a force to burst out towards him. This Spell did not include darkness directly to attack Ozul, so it only had adverse effects, unlike the previous ones.


    Ozul was pushed a few meters back due to the force. But there was no injury since Ball of Purity shielded around him.


    Both Ozul and Podas were stunned by the oue. Ozul did not expect for Podas to be vignt towards him, while Podas was surprised to see that Ozul survived his attack unscathed!


    ¡®Tch... this will be a problem.¡¯- Ozul felt his headache increase as he wanted to get over this battle as quickly as possible, but his opponent wouldn¡¯t let him.


    Looking at the way things were going, the battle would continue to drag on until his leg would be sucked dry by that anomaly.


    In the heat of the moment, Ozul could not devise a solid n and just opted to rush forward, while hoping that he could find any opening.


    But could it be that easy to find an opening while fighting against a Rank-8 Mage? Moreover, Ozul had wounds all over his body, which affected his fighting abilities by a significant margin.


    It was also a weird sight to see when there were just small injuries on his skin, but no blood came out of it. It was a frightful sight in its own sense.


    Only now, Ozul realized that approaching that monster wouldn¡¯t be so easy. Moreover, even if he somehow managed to get past Podas, it was not guaranteed that he would be able to find any weakness of that anomaly.


    He could only give it his all against Podas and hope to kill him before his leg runs out of any energy and perishes.


    Both of them started their sh. Ozul kept charging straight at Podas while thetter chose to be on the defensive. Podas did not dare to underestimate Ozul after all the previous attacks.


    Though Ozul was always on the offensive while Podas chose only to defend, the battle clearly indicated that the former had the upper hand in the fight.


    Mostly, Podas pushed Ozul back with his attacks, but in some instances, Ozul was able to strike past his defenses.


    Injuries kept piling on Podas¡¯s body while Ozul also started losing his stamina. His breathing was rough while cold sweat poured all over his body.


    The white shirt which barely held itself also fell on the ground. It could not survive all the impacts and collisions with the attacks of a Rank-8 Mage.


    Ozul had also noticed that Podas had trained as a fighter too. Because whenever he struck him, it felt like he was hitting against a Rank-7 Beast¡¯s skin.


    Their fight continued as the monster also kept getting stronger. Duke Edwin had noticed the battle between Ozul and Podas, but he chose not to intervene.


    There was already so much going on in his mind that he could not focus on anything else. In front of him stood an entity that could devastate countries; how could he remain calm!?


    It was at this moment when Ozul finally found an opening in his opponent¡¯s stance! He had a single wisp of Ball of Purity in liquid form to sneak behind Podas, and fortunately, this was not noticed by thetter.


    Ozul had been waiting for this moment. The only downside in this attack was that he would also have to take a non-lethal hit before he could strike!


    Podas did not notice anything unusual as he was praying for the moment that the monster couldplete hisst phase.


    He attacked Ozul, who was approaching him, expecting thetter to dodge or block the attack, which would again create a distance between them.


    Much to his surprise, Ozul did not dodge or block his attack; instead, he even increased his momentum!


    ¡°ARE YOU CRAZY!?...W-wha...¡±- He could not help but get mad at Ozul. For the first time in his life, Podas was reminded that not everything would go his way just because he nned everything!


    Podas was using a saber to fight in close range when he noticed that his darkness based Spells had close to no effect on Ozul. The saber was a Magical Weapon, which also amplified the power and added extra damage affects.


    The saber pierced Ozul¡¯s shoulder, who only let out a small smile when he noticed the dumbfounded look on Podas¡¯s face...

 Chapter 66

    Chapter 66: The Actual n.


    Ozul enjoyed the look on his opponent¡¯s face. He was the same guy who was troubling him for so long. How could he not enjoy his bewildered expressions?


    But this was only the start, just when Podas was wondering why Ozul let himself get hit, his entire body felt a sense of fear.


    It was as if his body was telling him that something terrible would happen if he did not do something about it.


    However, Ozul did not give him a chance to think as the wisp of Ball of Purity hardened to form a thick needle that struck towards Podas.


    The needle tore through his hardened skin as the pained scream followed right after.


    The needle did not stop just after piercing the skin, but it ripped apart the skin and internal organs till it came out of the other side!


    Blood spurted out of Leader Podas¡¯s mouth as he looked at the gaping hole in the chest!


    .....


    His blood-shot eyes were threatening toe out of their socket as Podas furiously stared at Ozul while holding a hand over the wound.


    He could not believe that he was outsmarted by a kid who did not even look a little over 20! How could he ept defeat against an opponent who also did not use Mana in the battle!?


    Was he so weak as to easily be defeated by a random kid who did not even have Mana?


    ¡®No!... I¡¯m not weak!...¡¯- Podas did not want to ept such an oue after all his efforts for decades!


    ¡°Y-you!...M-monster!...¡±


    Podas could not hold on any longer and fell on his knees. The needle had missed his heart, which gave him some hope to survive this ordeal. He just needed to stay alive till the ¡®Anomaly¡¯ behind had reached the state that he wanted it to be!


    ¡°*Hah!*... You are a disgrace to the... *hah...* absolute Darkness.¡±


    Ozul also kept panting to catch his breath and wrap the Ball of Purity around the wound on his shoulder. There was no blood to stop, but he could not leave such a nasty injury around his shoulder unattended.


    Moreover, he still felt pain, which was reduced when the smallyer of Ball of Purity covered the wound and pressed it together.


    However, Ozul also knew that it was not the time to tend to his injuries. Podas had not died, but he was also in no condition to stop him. And this was also what Ozul wanted right now.


    It would only waste his time if he stayed to finish him because he felt as if the Monster would reach the End Stage any minute now.


    Unfortunately, Ozul was toote. As if answering to his worries, the 8 meters tall ¡®Abomination¡¯ again gave out an ear-splitting cry, announcing its presence to the world!


    But this was not all! Even in the dark of the night, people could see the dark clouds which started forming all around the sky.


    The dark clouds also announced their presence by sounding out the thunderbolts that roamed in them. Crackling noises could be heard all around, and in the blink of an eye, things came to a standstill.


    This time, even the Monster did not cry or yell. Only the wind generated by the clouds sounded out in the air.


    Ozul looked in the sky as the clouds started to rotate above the 8 meters tall Monster, generating some kind of vortex!


    He did not understand what was happening, but the amused chuckled near him indicated that someone knew.


    ¡°HAHAHA!!! The time hase! You will all bow down to me. Hahaha...!¡±


    Podas still held a hand over his injury, but no matter the pain, he onlyughed in delight. His weird behavior caused Ozul to be wary of the odd phenomena that urred around the Monster.


    ¡®What does he mean by the time hase?...¡¯


    Ozul did not have a good feeling about this. He looked on abruptly as the spiral of clouds started to thicken, and electric sparks began to form around it.


    It was at this moment when he noticed that Podas seemingly forgot about the gaping hole on his chest and held an unusual stone that had runes etched on it.


    He did not have the time to stop him when Podas injected Mana into the stone before the runes began to shine with a bright light.


    Ozul was struck with a difficult choice. On the one hand, he had to deal with the phenomenon happening around the Monster, and on the other hand, he had to do something about Podas, who was obviously up to no good.


    But he did not have time to think when both the Monster and the rune held by Podas began to shine with a blinding light.


    Ozul had a bad premonition that this event would only worsen the situation for him. He moved to finish off Leader Podas before he could be a threat again.


    However, before he could reach him, Leader Podas¡¯s body started to float in the air! The Monster, on the other hand, gave out a loud cry when it felt something inside it.


    The ¡®Abomination¡¯ wanted to move its body or get rid of the eerie feeling inside it, but no matter how much it resisted, nothing worked.


    Ozul also could not do anything when in front of his eyes, Podas¡¯s body started to rush towards the Monster!


    Meanwhile, Podas started tough out loud, not caring about the stinging pain. Ozul steadied his breath and hurriedly ran after him, but he could not catch up with the speed that Podas flew with.


    ¡°HAHAHAHA!!!... Try, try all you want!... I will be a GOD!¡±


    Ozul did not mind Podas¡¯s taunts, but he was concerned at this moment. He could not understand what was going to happen when Podas reached the Monster, but it certainly wasn¡¯t something that he would like!


    In a matter of seconds, Podas flew right into the Monster. Thetter tried its best to swat away this ¡®fly¡¯, but for some reason, it could not move its own body.


    Ozul only watched with an expressionless face when Podas actually went inside the Monster! The Anomaly¡¯s body just split apart and allowed the former to enter like it was his own home!


    He could not see anything happening inside the Monster¡¯s body, but Ozul noticed how the cloud¡¯s vortex forming above the Monster started to disappear into thin air.


    The Monster¡¯s body suddenly stopped glowing, and it started to scream! The loud cry filled with extreme anguish filled the skies.


    ¡°What now...¡±- Ozul muttered, looking at the Monsters body, which started to shrink at a visible rate. Whatever changes happened to the Monster, it alerted Ozul it could be rted to his leg, which was somehow still inside that Monster!


    ¡°SO MUCH POWER. I FEEL IT! YES... THIS IS IT. HAHAHA...!¡±


    Ozul heard Leader Podas¡¯s voice, which seemed to be filled with pure euphoria. It was at this moment when it all clicked in Ozul¡¯s mind. His eyes widened with surprise;


    ¡®Don¡¯t tell me... he created this Monster just to absorb its power?!¡¯-


    But thinking up to this point, it all made sense. Why would Podas even create a Monster this powerful if they could not control it? However, this n of his exceeded Ozul¡¯s assumptions because merging with a power such as this was insanity. Absolute madness.


    At this moment, only two loud voices were heard. One was the pain-filled screams of Monster, while the other was the delightedughter of Podas. The Monster was being absorbed while it could not even resist. Hence, the reason for its shrieks filled with agony.


    Still, Ozul could not even interfere in this process as he somehow knew that going near the Monster at this moment would only harm him.


    However, just as Ozul had predicted, the process of one absorbing the other came to a stop only a few momentster.


    The Monster¡¯s size, which had slowly reduced to about 4 meters, again started to increase. It also stopped screaming. And the situation turned on Podas, who had long ago stoppedughing like a fool.


    ¡°URGHH... WHAT IS HAPPENING!? WHA-....¡±-


    Ozul knew that something must¡¯ve gone wrong with the whole process when he heard Podas¡¯s screams.


    He still did not understand why would Podas even try to absorb a being that had reached the peak of Rank-10? At this stage, the purity and the amount of Mana inside an individual was not something a Rank-8 or even a Rank-9 Mage could fathom.


    ¡®Why is everyone, who I think to have some brains all turn out as idiots?...¡¯


    Ozul could not help but shake his head in disappointment. After that, he shook his head to wake himself up from these useless thoughts. His leg was on the line, and here he was thinking about how stupid someone was.


    Unknown to Ozul, Podas was not so much of an idiot as he thought him to be. How could he know that Podas had perfectly nned everything?


    However, Podas underestimated the power contained within those life-like symbols on Ozul¡¯s leg! Even Ozul himself was unaware of it despite his profound ¡®connection¡¯ with darkness, how could Podas even begin toprehend it?

 Chapter 67

    Chapter 67: The Last Opportunity.


    -A little while ago-


    Podas had nned everything to the point that he had to invest about half of the Eclipse¡¯s Order¡¯s savings just toplete the ultimate piece!


    Naturally, Podas knew that the hardest part in his n was to assimte all that End Stage of Rank-10 with himself. He had set-up one of the most expensive materials in their treasury just to create a mechanism that would not destroy his body while absorbing the Monster.


    Everything was working fine until the point when Podas identally touched the pitch-ck eerie symbols on Ozul¡¯s leg inside the Monster.


    The process was working perfectly fine up to that point. Podas had calcted everything in his n-The n that he had created decades ago! And with trial and error, he had been improving bits and pieces of it.


    Most of his time had been spent on collecting all the resources. Podas had joined this cult as just a simple member. He not only climbed his way up thedder of supremacy but also wholly took control of the Eclipse¡¯s Order!


    All that decades of search and he had finally found something that could be put together as thest piece, the strange leg. Podas had received the information of not only this leg, but also about two arms. Unfortunately, those arms were out of his reach.


    .....


    However, he knew that this leg contained enough energy to power the ritual as the other two arms were able to mass-produce those health potions. He did not understand how the Church of Light could produce such elixirs, but he knew that the limbs must have enough energy to do so.


    Hence, the only one that Podas could target was Duke Edwin, who, for some reason, was sure that people wouldn¡¯t dare to sneak into his estate!


    Obtaining thisst piece, he had been ecstatic that he overlooked the fact that the life-like symbols on Ozul¡¯s leg could contain more mysteries than he could ever imagine. How could he understand them, when even Immortals would be left puzzled when investigating those eerie patterns.


    Just because of this ¡®insignificant¡¯ mistake of his, Podas suffered the worst bacsh ever in his entire lifetime.


    He had beenughing a while ago while enjoying the best time in his life. But the moment his body came into contact with the leg, something that he had never imagined urred.


    Suddenly, the runes which were protecting his body from self-destruction after absorbing such a vast amount of Mana had cracks forming on them!


    Podas stoppedughing at this point when he realized that something had gone wrong. But what was it? He had nned everything. He did not miss a single detail, what could have gone wrong!? No matter how much he racked his brain, Podas could not find an exnation for it.


    Cracks started spreading to all the runes, which restrained the rampage of the dense energy of a Rank-10 Monster inside Podas.


    In just a few seconds, like an explosive chain, all the runes shattered under the sheer pressure from the leg¡¯s life-like symbols.


    Since the mechanisms protecting his body had been destroyed, Podas did not know what to do now. Before he could think of a way out, the dense force that umted inside the Monster¡¯s body began its assault on Podas.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª-


    -Back to the present-


    Ozul heard the screams of Podas whose body was being crushed into bits and pieces. Unknown to him, this event did not ur because Podas was an idiot or something, but because of his leg.


    Even if he did know, Ozul wouldn¡¯t care about it. As long as he could get his leg back, he was satisfied no matter what price others had to pay for it. Call him selfish, but why would he think about other¡¯s feelings?


    The exceptions to this would only have been a few people such as histe mother, grandma Coral, and maybe, just maybe Raven. But even their opinions wouldn¡¯t stop him from getting his ¡®parts¡¯ back.


    Anyways, little by little, the Monster grew back to its original 8 meters size. Podas who had been inside the ¡®Anomaly¡¯ were not screaming anymore. It seemed as though the cat got his tongue because Ozul did not hear any sound that resembled his.


    ¡®Is he dead?...¡¯


    Ozul could not help but wonder if Podas had just died inside the Monster¡¯s body. A momentter, he received his answer when a grisly half-intact and half-withered body was expelled out of that abomination!


    The withered parts of his body looked as it had aged to the point where just blowing air from the mouth would scatter it away. Ozul did not need to think twice to figure out whose body was it.


    When Podas was dealt with, the Monster did not even consider Ozul¡¯s presence and again began to increase its energy. The ¡®Anomaly¡¯ was weakened to the point where it only radiated the power of a Mage around an End-Stage Rank-9!


    The ¡®Anomaly¡¯ was increasing its power without stabilizing its foundation, so degrading of its Rank was not something unexpected.


    Ozul¡¯s eyes shone when he noticed the sharp decrease in the Monster¡¯s power. Earlier, when Leader Podas was screaming inside the Monster¡¯s body, he was not just sitting around while enjoying his misery.


    His screams amused Ozul for sure, but he had more important things to do before him. He had been searching for any weakness that he could find in the Monster. Moreover, the ¡®Anomaly¡¯ did not even have sensitive organs such as eyes that Ozul could exploit.


    The material all around its body was too thick and gooey for Ozul¡¯s Ball of Purity to cut apart and retrieve his leg back. He realized one Ball of Purity¡¯s shorings.


    It was sharp enough to cut away many, but what about facing something that was not supposed to be cut, but destroyed entirely in one go to kill?


    The only weakness left in the Monster for Ozul to exploit was its mouth! But even that needed him to get close to the Monster. And he had witnessed the might of a Rank-10 at first hand.


    He knew that no matter how much he tried, getting so close to the Monster was an impossible task considering thetter¡¯s strength.


    But now, Ozul had a chance! The Monster¡¯s power had degraded to Rank-9. If he could exploit this opportunity, he would surely obtain his leg back!


    He did not waste any time before advancing straight towards the Monster in fear that it would again grow to a Rank-10.


    The Monster did not mind Ozul¡¯s presence until thetter was only a few meters away from it. Ozul took this chance to send des made up of Ball of Purity towards it.


    Those des were not even close to harming the Monster, but it did distract it a little bit. Though this attack only gave him only a bit more time, this was enough for Ozul.


    He closed in on the ¡®Anomaly¡¯ when he noticed its hand moving towards him to swat him away again. But this time, Ozul was prepared; however, he still did not change his direction!


    Raven and ze had recovered enough of their energy to be able to sit up again. So, they were also watching this confrontation between Ozul and the Monster.


    They were stunned to notice that when Ozul could have backed away to dodge the iing attack, he did the opposite and even increased his pace!


    Both Raven and ze had the same thought in their minds, ¡®Is he again nning to sacrifice a part of his body just to achieve the task!?¡¯


    However, contrary to their thoughts, Ozul did not n to keep using his body as a meat shield. Just as the hand was about to hit him, he seemingly stepped on thin air and pushed himself in the air.


    ¡®How did he do it! How was he able to step on thin-air!?¡¯ Raven and ze both looked gawking at this sight.


    At the moment when Ozul jumped in the air, without him noticing, another hand struck towards him! Only when he was about to hit did Ozul realize the danger that he was in, so he quickly covered himself with Ball of Purity.


    Despite his quick reaction, he was not fast enough, and his legs were left uncovered. Ozul quickly realized the danger. If he did not do something then his legs would be crushed due to the force behind the attack.


    He opted to sacrifice his prosthetic leg, as this was always an option! Just when the hand was about to collide with him, he kicked his prosthetic leg towards the iing attack.


    Out of nowhere, the leg detached from Ozul and flew right in the direction of the Monster. Surprisingly, when both the Monster¡¯s hand and the leg collided, the prosthetic leg exploded!


    The explosion created a smokescreen around the Monster so Raven and ze could not see anything that happened inside...

 Chapter 68

    Chapter 68: What happened now!?


    The prosthetic leg had the explosion function just as Ozul had wanted it to be. With enough money on hand, there was nothing that Mr Smith wasn¡¯t able to add in the prosthetics. Not only the leg, but even both arms also had simr functions!


    Of course, the explosion was not so small that Ozul could just ignore it. It took all his efforts only to keep his conscious when it sted!


    Smoke rose everywhere due to the scale of the explosion. Anyone from outside might not be able to see inside, but the Monster and Ozul were near each other, so Ozul did not have any trouble locating his target.


    Although the explosion also affected him, Ozul had it better than the Monster as he was prepared for it while thetter was caught off guard.


    He took advantage of this moment when the ¡®Anomaly¡¯ was still stunned due to the explosion. Ozul quickly called back the Ball of Purity and formed a leg for himself. Now, on both his feet, he sprang towards its mouth.


    At this moment, Ozul did not think of any consequences, or how disgusting it was to jump into a creature¡¯s mouth. All he knew was that his leg was still intact, and he wanted it back!


    The Monster did not even have teeth. If it did not have a human frame, many would just consider it some kind of Slime Magical Beast.


    .....


    It felt something going inside it from its mouth, but due to the earlier explosion, it wasn¡¯t able to properly move his arm. Its mouth was big enough that even two of Ozul¡¯s could easily fit in, so he encountered no problem in it.


    However, he took a huge risk in going inside it because he did not know how he would be able to get out!


    He had already tried to cut open the Monster¡¯s skin, but the des would always just get stuck in its gooey surface. Ozul knew that once inside, he may never be able to get out.


    Not to mention, there was also a risk that the Monster even starts to absorb Ozul! Despite all the risks, he was determined to get his leg back.


    ¡®Would it even be worth living, if I¡¯m neverplete again?¡¯


    It was the question that made Ozul jump into the action without caring about the consequences. Ozul did not even know what he was, and permanently losing himself would be way too much for him.


    When the smoke cleared away, ze and Raven were both stunned because they could not find Ozul anywhere!


    Just then, they noticed that the Monster¡¯s mouth was unusually swollen. They put the pieces together, and both were shocked out of their minds that the Monster had swallowed Ozul!


    Raven, who did not even have the power to stand up straight, suddenly mustered up her strength and ran towards the Monster! She had tears running down her cheeks when she thought what could have happened to Ozul.


    The moment when Ozul had jumped into the Monster¡¯s mouth, there was smokescreen around them. So, Raven had no idea that Ozul himself had gone inside it.


    She did not know what she could even do to help Ozul, but she still ran towards the Monster to ¡®save¡¯ him.


    ze also mustered up his strength and ran right behind her. Like anyone would think that being the guy, he should try to stop Raven from approaching the Monster when they could not even do anything, ze had the opposite thought process!


    Ozul had given ze his life; he had given him a purpose to live. He was not going to stop Raven, but join her!


    In such a vast field, where even the individual at Rank-8 stood petrified looking at the ¡®Oddity¡¯, where corpses of Rank-6 and below were scattered around like some dirt-Raven, and ze, two Rank-5 existences advanced to face off against that giant ¡®Abomination¡¯!


    The fire burning on the ground illuminated their figures, revealing their cold gazes that were fixed on the giant 8 meters tall Monster.


    They did not care if they could change anything by fighting; all the duo had in mind was that they were supposed to assist Ozul!


    The survivors of the earlier shes looked weirdly at the duo. They had the same looks on their faces when they had seen Ozul dash towards the Monster.


    It was at this moment when Duke Edwin also decided to get out of his stupor and moved tens of meters back. He was afraid to the point that his hand was still shaking, but he chose not to leave the scene just yet.


    He had a feeling that he might miss something if he left right now. Also, he was confident that he could escape if pushes to shove because of his Magical Tools.


    At this moment, he sneered while looking at the figures running towards that giant ¡®Anomaly¡¯. Edwin had also seen Ozul ¡®being swallowed¡¯ by the Monster, and he did not understand how these kids wanted to save their friend.


    What would they do with a friend when they wouldn¡¯t even keep their lives? Anyways, Edwin did not care about their lives; he would only save his own life in this situation.


    Back to the duo, both of them were just tens of meters away from the Monster. Though just as they were advancing, something unusual happened.


    The Monster, who was just increasing its energy reserves, suddenly stopped, and its body began to move weirdly.


    Raven and ze were both alerted at its weird behavior. They did not know what to expect from an anomaly such as this.


    *Schreeeeech!!!*


    Again, an ear-splitting scream sounded out from that Monster, which nearly made Raven and ze¡¯s ears bleed! Both of them had to put their hands on the ears to protect them from further damage.


    All the surviving Mages and Fighters on the scene clenched their fists to prepare themselves for the uing disaster.


    Nothing good happened when this ¡®thing¡¯ screamed, so everyone was expecting a disaster.


    When everyone was just waiting for it to release some kind of energy wave and st them away again, something unexpected happened. The giant 8 meters tall ¡®Abomination¡¯ suddenly started to melt?- But how, or instead just what happened!?


    In a matter of seconds, all that viscous skin began to dissolve and melt down as if some chocte ice-cream on a hot day!


    *Pssssssss...*


    The skin which hit the ground started to erode even the dirt! No one knew why the Monster¡¯s surface suddenly became so toxic, but they did not care about it at this moment.


    Because at this instance, they could not see anything clearly due to the night time and the smoke all around, but they heard some sound where the Monster previously stood!


    What was it now?...

 Chapter 69

    Chapter 69: Everyone¡¯s attention.


    -Sometime Earlier-


    -In Count Oliver¡¯s estate-


    Count Oliver had a troubled expression on his face because he had been up to date with everything that was happening around those two Cities.


    Albert was informing him of the situation when Ozul and the duo had just arrived in those Cities. Since he was a Count, owning long-distancemunication devices was not a problem for him.


    He was looking at all the reports about the investigation when Albert came running in, this time while sweating.


    Oliver would rarely see Albert as someone who would lose his cool. He had been taking care of him since Oliver was just a kid, so he knew how professional Albert was.


    If even Albert were sweating, the news surely wouldn¡¯t be something that he would like. Oliver may not admit it, but he hade to care for Ozul and Raven.


    .....


    He wouldn¡¯t go out of his way just to help them, but he also didn¡¯t want them to die. They had been a big help to him in these past years.


    Losing them would deal a massive blow to his authority as even his superiors hade to know of Ozul through him.


    ¡°I H-have a piece of bad news!¡±


    ¡°What is it? Don¡¯t leave me hanging!¡±


    Oliver was impatient and demanded Albert to hurry up. The more he dyed, the anxious Oliver got, so he could not take it anymore.


    ¡°Thest report said that Ozul and the duo had reached Sester City. But this one said that sometimeter, there was an explosion in the middle of the Count¡¯s estate!¡±


    Oliver felt his headache increase. Were Ozul and the duo caught in the explosion!? But more than ever, he had cold sweat drenching his back.


    ¡®If the Eclipse¡¯s Order could explode that estate, they could do it to mine too...¡¯


    The feeling of being at the mercy of someone else wasn¡¯t something that Count Oliver like even one bit.


    ¡°Contact the person again. Tell him that I want him to give live reports right now!¡±


    Oliver quickly made a decision as Albert brought themunication artifact. The call connected and the person on the other end began to describe the details.


    *Cruchhh...*


    But just as he was talking, both Oliver and Albert heard the inhumane scream before the connection was cut.


    It alerted both of them because they could not figure out what it was. From the call, Oliver and Albert could not tell if the scream was close to the other person, or it had reached him from kilometers away.


    It left Oliver with even more worry. Just then, he remembered his conversation with Ozul when he was drunk. Ozul wouldn¡¯t usually reply to him, but that was a rare moment.


    ¡°Hey, Kiddo, tell me~ What do you do in your free time?¡±


    ¡°... I watch the night sky.¡±


    ¡°Oh~ So poetic. *Hic*... Never thought you to be such a type.¡±


    Oliver usually doesn¡¯t even remember anything when he was drunk, but he couldn¡¯t forget this conversation for some reason.


    ¡°You are so smart, huh. Tell me, what should one do... when one can¡¯t do anything?¡±


    ¡°Easy, You watch the night sky.¡±- Ozul gave a slight pause while looking at the sky, and then continued;


    ¡°You look at the void between those lights... and ask yourself... Does it all even matter?¡±


    Oliver still remembered those words as he repeated them while also looking at the void-Just as Ozul had said.


    ¡°You never told me what to do if I think that it matters...¡±- Oliver muttered to himself, not paying any attention to the confused Albert looking weirdly at him.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    -Somewhere Else-


    A Pce, even better than that of the Duke Edwin¡¯s, stood in the middle of the Capital City of Silverbird Kingdom.


    This Pce, of course, belonged to the Royal Family, which ruled over the Silverbird Kingdom.


    At this moment, the atmosphere in the throne room was solemn. Unlike any usual throne hall, it had a silver rug running down from the throne to the middle of the room.


    The rug was silver in color with golden linings stitched all on it, unlike the usual red carpets. Both sides of the hall had small quarters made for the official to stand. No one was allowed to sit in the presence of the Emperor!


    Even though the Silverbird Kingdom was big enough to be called an Empire, for some reason, Emperor Luthien just named himself an Emperor but did not change the name of the Kingdom to an Empire.


    At this moment, everyone was quiet while waiting for Emperor Luthien to make a decision. He was almost an End Stage Rank-9 Mage and a Rank-10 Fighter, so no one in the whole Kingdom dared to disrespect him.


    Empress Sarana, an End Stage Rank-8 Mage, sat on the seat ced beside the throne. She and Luthien were discussing some things when a man came seemingly from the shadows and whispered something to the Emperor.


    Emperor Luthien narrowed his eyes when he heard the news. After a few moments, he raised his head and said;


    ¡°Sir Rufus,e forward.¡±


    Rufus was an old man with light red hair. If not for the wrinkles on his face, one would think that he was just 30 years old! This man was a Rank-8 Mage and directly reported to Luthien.


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty?¡± Rufus replied respectfully.


    ¡°Go and assist Duke Edwin in the Sester City. There have been someplications there.¡±


    ¡°As youmand, Your Majesty.¡±


    Rufus did not even raise his head and just left the throne room.


    When he had left the throne room, Luthien just looked at the far distance while thinking, ¡®Interesting...¡¯


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    -In another corner of the Continent-


    The weird phenomenon caused by an entity at End-Stage of Rank-10 did not reach here. However, an Old man with a long white beard sitting crossed leg in a cave opened his eyes.


    His eyes shone with a brilliant light before suddenly vanishing into thin air. He looked in the direction of the Silverbird Kingdom,


    ¡°Some poor soul is trying to ascend?... How many decades has it been?¡±


    ¡°I think the time is near...¡±


    The Old man muttered to himself beforeing out of the cave. He enjoyed the view of frozen mountains for some time before moving in the direction of some human settlements.


    If anyone ever saw this Old man walking so casually in between these frozen mountains where even the air seemed to freeze, they¡¯d be shocked to the core because this ce was what humans considered as the forbidden zone.


    Why? Because thousands of years ago, a Rank-9 Mage followed by a team of Rank-8 Mages had ventured into here but no one heard of them ever since!


    This ce was not something that mortals like them could ever explore. The Continent had many secrets, and this area was one of them. No one knew anything about this ce, so they had justbeled it as forbidden.


    Like this, people started to call it ¡°Forbidden Air¡± since even the air here seemed to freeze around here.


    Unknowingly, the weird phenomenon generated by the Monster in the Sester City of Silverbird Kingdom had attracted the attention of many powerful individuals...

 Chapter 70

    Chapter 70: The Fulfillment.


    Everyone was stunned when they heard the sound of something moving at the ce where the Monster once stood.


    Due to the dense smoke all around, they could not see anything, and thus, everyone was apprehensive of the situation.


    Only a few seconds passed, and the Monster had dissolvedpletely. The purple smoke also seemed as if made from some toxic acids.


    Just when Raven and ze were getting ready to check inside the smoke, a slight chuckle resounded out in the surroundings;


    ¡°Haha... You really liked to scream a lot, don¡¯t you?¡±


    The voice that sounded they heard seemed to be that of a young man. However, because even the insects were quiet, his words resounded out like a melody to everyone on the field.


    Where everyone else was confused as to whom this voice belonged to, Raven and ze instantly recognized it.


    .....


    Just then, the bloody figure of Ozul came out of the smoke. The blood, of course, was not his own.


    The Sun slowly rose while illuminating his figure. The sweat trickled down his ripped muscles as he was shirtless. The ck pant¡¯s left leg was half ripped while the rest of it was also tattered.


    However, the Sun or his appearance did not matter to Ozul as he had a smile stered on his face. Everyone who looked at his delicate smile was mesmerized.


    All of them just thought that this kid was smiling because the Monster was now dead. But Raven and ze knew better.


    They were enchanted by his smile as well, but their focus did not linger on his smile for long before moving onto his legs-More urately, his left leg!


    Because at that ce, there was no prosthetic leg. Nor did Ozul have the leg made from Ball of Purity. Instead, there was an authentic human leg!


    Only now did they both understand why Ozul was smiling. Moreover, he even chuckled before! That was the first time Raven had ever seen Ozulugh; usually, the most he would do was only a small smile.


    Why would he notugh out loud when due to some reasons, there was a standard human leg attached to him! Though for some reason, there were no ck markings on it like they had seen before.


    No one had seen how the life-like symbols had slowly dissolved into the skin as Ozul was walking out of the smoke. No one, but a certain Rank-8 Mage who was observing the whole scene.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    -A little while ago-


    When Ozul had jumped inside the Monster¡¯s belly, it was all squishy in it. The insides were not even a bit human-like.


    Instead, it was just all gooey material grinding together from time to time. The worst part was that the blood and other remains of Podas were also stuck here, which rubbed all on Ozul¡¯s body.


    If there were a regr human inside, he would have already suffocated to death.


    When Ozul had jumped inside this ¡®Anomaly¡¯, he had no idea how he was going to get out. But he knew that obtaining his leg was his priority now.


    The Monster may have been 8 meters tall, but his insides were all just squishy goo, so Ozul did not have to search for long before he saw it.


    Even after the Monster had sucked so much energy out of the leg, it still seemed fine. Only the life-like symbols were moving a bit slowly.


    However, just when Ozul hadid its eyes on the symbols, the markings suddenly became restless. It was as though all along, they were waiting for him, and now that he was here, they could not wait to be ¡®attached¡¯ to him.


    Ozul, for some reason, had the same feelings. He hurriedly moved and took the leg in his hand. He could not understand why, but he just knew that once he had the leg, he could reattach it.


    When he put the leg in its ce, it seemed as though it was a ma attaching to a metal! And then, he felt it-the euphoria!


    There was no pain or any kind of difort when the leg was attached. There was just endless fulfillment! Ozul¡¯s eyes were closed due to the pure excitement that his whole being felt when it found one of its missing ¡®pieces¡¯.


    The feeling of satisfaction was also not the end. What followed after was something that Ozul had never expected.


    Many types of jumbled information were somehow in his head. Just like he knew what existence was even before he was born, he just knew all the information.


    It was not like some new data just entered his mind or something; it was as if all along, it was just there.


    However, Ozul did not linger on those thoughts for now. His mind was on a different perception. He had been feeling this for a long time now.


    This sense had multiplied by many folds after he had ¡®attached¡¯ the leg. It was actually the connection between him and this Monster!


    The connection did not feel as if he could control the Monster or anything. It just felt like the Monster had something that belonged to him, and he couldmand it to take that thing back.


    Since this something belonged to him anyway, Ozul did not think for a second before hemanded it toe back.


    This action of his proved detrimental to the Monster as it was made out of two things. First was the sacrifice of hundreds of children, and second was the energy obtained from Ozul¡¯s leg!


    Since Ozul called it all back, the Monster began to dissolve into gas. No matter how much they sacrificed, if there were not enough energy to keep it in ce, all of that would only crumble down.


    The life-like symbols on Ozul¡¯s leg absorbed all that energy. Just as he had finished the process, the markings slowly started to fade into his skin!


    Ozul had not expected that, but he would not care either way. He was already feeling a hundred times better than what he felt at night time without any disturbing light.


    Unlike any other cripple who could not walk before, Ozul did not run or jump in joy. He wanted his limbs back, not to be able to walk regrly but because he wanted to beplete again.


    He had also experienced that scream of the Monster before dying, and since he was inside it, Ozul had it the worse on his ears. However, he did not care about that and walked out of the smoke;


    ¡°Haha... You really like to scream a lot, don¡¯t you...¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª

 Chapter 71

    Chapter 71: Kill them all.


    Just when everyone else was thinking who this voice belonged to, Duke Edwin had already noticed the ck symbols slowly fading away on Ozul¡¯s leg.


    This scene shook him to the core! Why would the leg which his brother had left behind more than 20 years ago attach to a random child?!


    ¡®Is he... No! How could he be Edward¡¯ste child!?¡¯


    Edwin could not believe his own eyes. But it wasn¡¯t hard to figure out that the limb belonged to the kid in front of him because his arms were also prosthetic.


    Ozul was shirtless, even someone with weak eyesight could notice those mechanical arms much less a Rank-8 Mage like Edwin.


    However, he thought that his earlier assumption of the limbs being histe brother¡¯ste son was wrong.


    How could that baby without three of his limbs even survive? It was not possible in his eyes. But that raised the question of this kid¡¯s origins.


    .....


    Who was he that even his limbs could mass-produce such heaven-defying elixirs? And if even the parts were so precious, what about him as a whole?


    Greed shed through Duke Edwin¡¯s eyes as he assessed the situation. In the face of riches, he forgot that this was the same kid who had almost killed Podas and also was the cause of Monster¡¯s death.


    Many grandmasters in runes had checked the ck symbols, but they couldn¡¯t find anything except for the constant energy that it radiated.


    However, what if they could research this kid alive? They would undoubtedly uncover the mysteries behind it. And if he presented this kid to his Majesty, he would be swimming in the riches for several decades!


    With such thoughts in his mind, he hurriedly moved towards Ozul.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    Ozul was in a good mood today. This feeling was the closest to when he was conscious for the first time. At that time, he was not onlyplete but also surrounded by darkness.


    After that, he was not only stolen from hisfort, but they also took away his limbs. Only now had he regained one of his parts back.


    One would think that there was nothing at this moment that could remove that smile on his face. However, when Ozul noticed Duke Edwin, his ¡®uncle¡¯,ing over with a smile on his face, he recovered his stoic face.


    Raven and ze had caught up to him, and both stood only a few steps away from him gaping at the leg.


    Ozul did not bother exining anything to them and stared coldly at the approaching Duke Edwin.


    ¡°Hahaha... Young man, you survived!¡±


    Duke Edwin tried to approach him in a friendly way, but then he noticed that the kid in front of him was still staring at him stoically.


    ¡°Oh, you may not know. But I¡¯m Duke Edwin Abilon. Young man, I saw that you bravely fought together with my men. I really appreciate it. Why don¡¯t youe together with me?¡±


    Edwin thought that introducing himself would make the kid change his attitude because no one would disrespect a Duke of the Silverbird Kingdom.


    However, he was bound to be disappointed since he was dealing with the ever stoic Ozul. Not to mention that Ozul did not like this guy one bit.


    Because he was the one who had sold off his limbs to different parties, making his life difficult. When Edwin sensed not even an ounce of change in his attitude, he started to boil inside.


    ¡°Where are my arms?¡±


    Ozul¡¯s voice sounded out confusing many of the onlookers, but these words stunned Edwin. He stood rooted on the ground looking at Ozul with wide eyes.


    ¡°H-how do you know that?!¡±


    Edwin shouted while pointing his shaking finger at Ozul. He could not believe that someone would know of this secret. Moreover, he had nevere into contact with this kid, so how did he know that!?


    ¡°Tell me now... I¡¯ll spare you the pain.¡±


    The Monster had created a ruckus, and Ozul knew that soon, all the concerned parties woulde to check the area. So, he did not have much time before he left from here.


    ¡°W-what do you mean, kid! And don¡¯t you know...¡±


    Edwin¡¯s voice was cut off in the middle when suddenly, out of nowhere, his hands fell off!


    He looked at the hands on the ground before moving his gaze back to his shoulder; his foolish expression revealed how he did not even believe that this was reality!


    How could his, a Rank-8 Mage¡¯s hands just fall off on the ground? It doesn¡¯t even make any sense! However, the two small blood fountains that spurted out of his shoulders were the reality check that woke him up.


    ¡°Ahhhhhh...¡±


    His cry of scream reverberated in the surroundings, which took everyone by surprise again, since this cry did not lose to the Monster¡¯s shrieks.


    ¡°You wanna tell me now?¡±


    Only now did Edwin look at Ozul¡¯s face, which still did not show any emotions. However, this did exin the reason for his hands suddenly falling off.


    ¡°What d-did you do!!!?¡±


    *Thud*


    Though just as Edwin shouted, he fell to the ground! Moving his gaze to his lower body, he saw that now his leg was cut off!


    Edwin quickly chanted the Spells to stop the bleeding, but when he looked up at Ozul again, the fear mixed with rage was apparent on his face.


    This time he did not dare to say anything as he knew that his other leg would probably be cut off next. Not everyone was like Ozul; they could not just detach their limbs now and attach it backter!


    ¡°Tell me. Where are my arms.¡±


    ¡°I g-gave them to... his Majesty, Emperor Luthien.¡±


    Edwin said with a twisted expression. His words paused in the middle while enduring the pain. He came clean, hoping that the kid would let him off.


    However, for some reason, the next second, he could somehow see his own headless body kneeling on the ground before it all cked out!


    Not only the onlookers, but even Raven and ze were also stunned to see Ozul kill a Rank-8 Mage without lifting a finger.


    They couldn¡¯t even see how it was happening, but everyone was sure that this was Ozul¡¯s doing.


    After that, Ozul bent down and cut open Edwin¡¯s chest. He put his prosthetic arm inside the chest and pulled out the Mana Core.


    Tossing the Core to Raven for storing it, Ozul moved his gaze to everyone present on the scene.


    No one had even said after witnessing Duke Edwin¡¯s death. Raven and ze had many questions, but it seemed that this was not the time to ask. So they only awaited Ozul¡¯s orders.


    When Ozul had swept his gaze over the survivors, all of them had a chill run down their spine. And their fears came true when they heard;


    ¡°Kill everyone.¡±

 Chapter 72

    Chapter 72: Rufus and Irene.


    ¡°Kill everyone.¡±


    Everyone on the battlefield at this moment was either dead or exhausted, and they could not even stand straight without stumbling.


    So when they heard Ozul¡¯s ruthless cold orders, everyone began to panic. This kid had killed a Rank-8 Mage without even batting an eye, how would they be able to escape?


    Before they could even look around themselves for an escape route, Raven and ze rushed towards the weaker bunch.


    They did not question his orders, but they were also affected by the Monster¡¯s earlier ¡®attacks¡¯. So they could only go against the weaker bunch.


    Ozul had wanted to kill all the witnesses because if the word of himing out alive out of a Rank-10 existence leaks out, many unwanted parties will start to annoy him.


    Moreover, the survivorsprised of two parties. The 1st group belonged to Eclipse¡¯s Order¡¯s remnants, while the other was the loyal men of Duke Edwin.


    .....


    Everyone present on the scene had done one atrocity or another. But even if they were innocents, Ozul wouldn¡¯t think twice about his decision.


    Raven and ze just needed to take care of the people most in a half-dead state. While Ozul seemingly only walked through the masses.


    However, just like Duke Edwin, all the people that were near him had their heads sliced off!


    No one was able to see the ck des due to the attack speed! How could they, when even Edwin, a Rank-8 Mage, was not able to see it?!


    In a matter of minutes, all the people on the scene were dead.


    Though just as Ozul and the duo were about to leave, Ozul sensed the presence rushing towards them from the other side.


    He did not want to bother with this new individual since he was already exhausted after the previous series of events. It would only be a bother to deal with another nuisance.


    However, just as he was about to leave;


    ¡°Halt your steps!¡±


    Raven and ze had recovered a bit more after drinking those ¡®health potions¡¯. So when they heard the loud voice, both quickly turned around thinking that they might have missed someone.


    Ozul sighed but still chose to turn around. The new individual had already noticed them, and it would only get annoyingter on if he just left like that.


    Raven and ze stood before Ozul when they faced the new individual.


    They saw from the trees came out an old man with shiny red hair followed by a girl who also had long red hair. Both the individuals wore a silver-ted armor even though they seemed to be Mages.


    The trio did not make a move and just kept staring at the new arrivals. When the old man swept his gaze to the battlefield, he was shocked out of his mind.


    How could he not when he saw all the dead bodies? Hundreds of children¡¯s bodiesy lifeless on one side while there were tens of adult¡¯s corpses on the other.


    What had happened at this ce!? He could not figure out, but just then, the girl following behind him puked.


    She could not take in the scene in front of her eyes. She had seen many battles, had killed people too, but it was her first time to see such a grim disy.


    The old man did not turn around to help the girl since it was her experience. She would have to get used to it.


    But then the old man saw something that shocked him. The head thaty near the body was none other than Duke Edwin¡¯s!


    Edwin Abilon, one of the 4 Dukes in the entire Silverbird Kingdom, had died?! How would he even begin to exin this to his Majesty?!


    The old man with red hair had a conflicted expression on his face. He was the man who Emperor Luthien had sent to assist Duke Edwin.


    However, he now stood before the Duke¡¯s dead body. The mission had not even started yet, but he had already failed.


    No matter where he looked, the only life he saw was the three teenagers in front of him. All of them looked haggard, but their eyes glowed with a cold glint that the old man did not miss.


    He made his way towards them when the girl behind him had recovered a bit. Though her face still looked a bit pale.


    Her icy expression did not lose one bit to Raven when she was approaching the trio.


    Both groups just kept staring at each other when Ozul decided to speak up as he just wanted to leave this ce.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have all the time in this world...What do you want?¡±


    The armor-wearing Mage was again surprised to see the kid talk to him with such a cold tone. He was about to reply when;


    ¡°Watch your tone! You...¡±


    The girl with red hair did not like Ozul¡¯s way of talking, but just as she was yelling, the old man gave her the eye to shut her up. The girl just snorted and looked away.


    ¡°Please excuse her manners. I¡¯m the Chief Leader of the Silver Knights squad, Rufus.¡±


    The old man kindly introduced himself as Rufus. He expected some kind of reaction from the teenagers in front of him, but he was left disappointed. There was no reaction whatsoever to his words.


    This attitude made the girl grit her teeth, but just then, Rufus again started talking;


    ¡°This girl behind me is my apprentice and also my granddaughter, Irene. She just respects and loves me too much, so I hope you can forgive her.¡±


    Ozul just kept coldly looking at Rufus and Irene. He knew that this Rufus was an observer. He had already noticed that they were not some random teenagers.


    Well, it wasn¡¯t hard for Rufus to make out the situation. In the massive battle that had urred here, only three teenagers survived-anyone would be suspicious of the group.


    Moreover, Rufus had all of his attention on Ozul, unlike Irene, who darted her eyes between Raven and ze.


    Rufus had noticed the kid in the back had the most injuries, but he did not even exude a bit of Mana! Him, a Rank-8 Mage, cannot sense the Mana waves from a teenage boy-it was truly embarrassing.


    Also, Rufus was sure that this kid was not an average human because surviving in a battle where even a Rank-8 Mage had died was close to impossible for a regr peasant.


    ¡°May I ask your names?¡±


    Rufus asked, trying to break the ice. He was in a tough position since the teenagers around him all had icy cold expressions.

 Chapter 73

    Chapter 73: Laziness over Pride.


    Raven looked at Ozul as if asking for his permission and only when thetter nodded did she respond;


    ¡°I¡¯m Raven. This guy beside me is ze, and he is Ozul.¡±- She exined thest part by pointing towards Ozul.


    ¡°We are Mercenaries.¡±- Raven then proceeded to take out the three mercenary badges.


    When Rufus looked at the badges, he was surprised to find out that these teenagers who survived whatever disaster happened here were just Mercenaries.


    ¡°I see. Can I ask you what events transpired here? I¡¯m here on the orders of his Majesty, so I cannot leave empty-handed. I hope you can understand.¡±


    Even though Rufus was cautious of Ozul, it did not mean that he was afraid of him. Maybe if he knew Ozul¡¯s real strength, but for now, he was just a bit wary of him.


    Raven did not reply and just kept staring at him coldly since she did not know what Ozul wanted to do about the situation. While it irritated Irene, who stood behind Rufus, she did not say a word and only limited her show of anger by ring.


    .....


    Ozul was already annoyed by the situation, so he just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.


    ¡°We were just passing by...We don¡¯t know what happened here.¡±


    Rufus¡¯s eyes visibly twitched at this tant lie. All those scars and injuries on the group in front of him certainly disagreed with Ozul¡¯s statement of, ¡®Just passing by.¡¯


    ¡°So, why do you have those injuries?¡±- Just for the sake of not making it more awkward, Rufus asked the obvious question.


    ¡°Oh, these... They were from the fight with the Beasts.¡±


    ¡°And why were you fighting with the Beasts?¡±- Rufus again hinted at the apparent error in Ozul¡¯s lie.


    ¡°Because everyone else was.¡±- Ozul did not even bat an eye before replying with his impassive face.


    At this point, Rufus was at his wit¡¯s end. He felt like this kid in front of him was doing this on purpose.


    ¡°Listen here, kid! This is not a joke! Tell me...¡±


    Rufus was yelling at this point, but his angry cry stopped in the middle when more and more people started toe out of the woods.


    All of them had about the same condition or even worse than the trio in front of him. Looking at the situation, ¡®Maybe this kid is actually telling the truth?¡¯


    ¡°Can we go now? My injuries are serious.¡±- said Ozul, when he saw that Rufus somewhat believed his words. Rufus came back from his stupor after hearing his words and words just left his mouth unconsciously;


    ¡°Ah! Yes yes. You can go. I would question other Mercenaries.¡±


    Ozul and the duo did not say a word after that and started walking away. Just then, Ozul asked in a voice that Rufus could hear;


    ¡°Where is my shirt, Raven?¡±


    ¡°Oh. It is probably too battered to be worn now.¡±


    Raven said before finding the shirt dropped only a few meters away from the dead body of Duke Edwin. When Ozul ¡®noticed¡¯ that the shirt was really in no condition to wear, he just nodded his head and walked away with the duo following him.


    Rufus only watched this small event from afar. Only when Ozul¡¯s group had disappeared into the woods did he realize that he had made a mistake!


    First of all, why was this group of teenagers walking back all the way to the City instead of just resting at this ce? Why were they in so much of a hurry!?


    And then there was the fact that Ozul¡¯s shirt was near that jelly type material on the ground and Duke Edwin! Why would it be there if the trio had juste out of the woods after the battle ended?!


    ¡°Dammit!¡±


    Irene, who stood behind Rufus, was confused as to why he was angry all of a sudden. She, too, had fully believed the story of Ozul when she saw the state of other Mercenaries.


    Only when Rufus exinedter did she figure it out. Her face turned an even darker shade of red due to the anger.


    ¡®How dare those savage Mercenaries disrespect grandfather!!!¡¯


    Irene seethed in anger but did not mindlessly run after the trio who had already disappeared from their sight.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    Walking back from the forest, Raven weirdly looked at Ozul. Why was he behaving so differently? She could not figure it out.


    ¡®Is it because of gaining his leg back?¡¯


    Numerous thoughts ran past Raven¡¯s mind, but she could note to an answer. They were running back at this point since Ozul had obviously pointed out that he had lied when he asked about the shirt.


    Raven always had Ozul¡¯s spare shirts and pants in Spatial Ring-which for everyone¡¯s knowledge were all ck and white. After ze joined their little group, even he stored Ozul¡¯s clothes just in case!


    Ozul asking for his shirt at that time, meant that he wanted Rufus to notice. At this moment, he wanted to take a break, but he still had to consider his ns.


    He knew that at least one of his arms was in the custody of Church of Light, but he could not be sure about the other one. And Emperor Luthien was his only lead to find where the other arm could be.


    He wanted to use Rufus to approach the Emperor. Ozul had also lied through straight face even though it was beneath him to deceit. It was just because Ozul valued hisziness more than the so-called pride.


    If lying could let him have a good sleep earlier, he¡¯d happily lie every day!


    Moreover, it was not the time to think about his pride. Ozul was exhausted after the events, so it made sense that he wanted to get away as soon as possible.


    However, his priorities were obtaining his parts back, so he acted like that just before leaving, so Rufus woulde after himter.


    They had given him their names and also shown the Mercenary badges. Rufus was the Chief Leader of the knights directly ced under the Emperor of Silverbird Kingdom; it was only a matter of time for him to find their locationter.


    The trio ran back to the City which had suffered from the catastrophest night. The situation seemed dire since everyone on streets looked exhausted.


    The City had suffered quite a lot due to the screams of a Rank-10 existence. But Ozul did not care about any of that and just found a still working inn to rest the day.

 Chapter 74

    Chapter 74: Just a small world.


    With the use of Health Potions, Raven and ze had quickly healed up all their injuries. While Ozul did not need to use any external drug as his body itself was faster in healing than any other potion.


    Ozul did not try to examine his body for the new changes that he felt and decided to sleep first. Raven and ze also had many questions, but looking at the exhausted figure of Ozul, they stopped themselves.


    No one disturbed them for the day, and it was only in the midday when Ozul woke up. At this moment, Raven and ze were eating since they had been starving since yesterday night.


    Of course, Ozul did not need to eat, so he started checking his body for any injuries that had not healed yet. Fortunately, just the 8 hours of sleep had closed all his wounds already.


    Then it was the time for sorting out all the jumbled up information that had suddenly ¡®unlocked¡¯ after attaching his leg back.


    Raven and ze came back at this point to see that Ozul was sitting cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed. They did not dare to disturb whatever he was doing and also took a corner each in the room to meditate.


    All the chaos that happened in the previous night was a wake-up call for them that they may be genius talents, but their genius was only valuable if they could survive until they reached their potential.


    .....


    So what if both of them were Rank-5 Mages at such a young age when they would still be helpless against Rank-7, or some strong Rank-6 Mage?!


    Raven was particrly vexed at her situation. No matter how much she tried to improve herself, she always ended up being useless whenever Ozul needed help.


    Always needing Ozul when the situation was dire, and never being able to be of help whenever he needed it, annoyed her the most.


    She still remembered the feeling when Ozul was inside the Monster, and all she could do was watch with tearful eyes. Raven did not ever want to feel that way ever again.


    On the other hand, ze was also worried that if he were not strong enough to be of any use, then Ozul would abandon him.


    Sometimeter, Ozul had finally finished sorting through all the disordered information inside his mind. He opened his eyes to gaze outside the window but quickly averted his sight again when he saw the burning Sun.


    No matter how good he felt, the bright lights still irritated him to no end! He noticed the troubled expressions on both Raven and ze¡¯s faces, but his mind was on something else.


    He was thinking about all the changes in his ns due to the new information that he just organized.


    The information that actually made sense was scarce, but even that bit of information changed his entire view of everything.


    All the other information was in bits and pieces, so no matter how much Ozul tried, he could not understand anything of it.


    The only thing that made sense to him at this moment was that those life-like eerie symbols were the reason for all this information.


    However, it also created many questions such as,


    ¡®Why did those symbols not absorb inside his body right after his birth?...¡¯


    Ozul did not dwell on these questions for too long since if he were to start thinking about all the questions, he would only waste his time.


    Then he thought about the most peculiar piece of information which wasplete, but the ¡®data¡¯ was vague.


    This piece of knowledge just vaguely described that this world was not the only one that existed. And it might be one of the weakest among the thousands of scattered worlds in the infinite cosmos.


    Now in most cases, Ozul wouldn¡¯t care even if he was the weakest of all the ants in the universe, but this information meant many things for him.


    It meant that his end goal ofprehending everything about his existence would not be so easy that he had thought.


    If he had the information about outer space and other worlds, it meant that the clues about his own existence were not only limited to this small! His answers could be anywhere in the far ends of the limitless cosmos!


    This may not even contain anything rted to him at all!


    ¡®Just how much time would it take me to grasp my own essence?... Sigh.¡¯


    With a sigh, Ozul stood up from the bed without creating any noise, taking caution that he may not disturb Raven and ze.


    He did not want to answer Raven¡¯s endless barrage of questions while he himself felt conflicted inside. He had not even been able to search around this small world thoroughly, and now he found out that there existed many higher worlds out there.


    However, like his other twopanions, Ozul did not feel down or helpless. Instead, this situation only caused him to reform his ns into more busy ones.


    This step would surely disturb his peace andfy times, but it was necessary if Ozul wanted to achieve his goals.


    Breaking the n in steps, the first step would be to obtain his parts back. And the mini-n to achieve this goal had already been set in motion by him. He just needed to wait before the fish took his bait.


    In the meantime, Ozul decided to check the changes in his body brought by the reunion of his leg.


    When he did so, it brought a small smirk on his face. Unfortunately, no one was there to see the rare sight.


    When Ozul had merged with his leg, it not only improved his overall power but it also loosened the previous restraint that he was facing whenever he tried to absorb the Cores. Hence, he had taken Edwin¡¯s Rank-8 Core.


    He figured that a fight against some Rank-9 Mage would not be so one-sided. But he was already more than enough to kill a Rank-8 Mage even if he was Rank-9 Fighter as well.


    An example would be Duke Edwin, who could not even see his strikes, much less counter it.


    Moreover, he still needed to test where his limitsid before he was required to beplete to advance further.


    The most significant change, however, would be Ozul¡¯s signature and only attack ¡®Ball of Purity¡¯.


    Its amount had more than doubled from before. When before Ozul could only make his leg and some few needles, now he could even use it as both of his arms and still have enough to fight with!


    The color had no change whatsoever. How could the already wless thing get even purer?


    Ozul¡¯s control over it had also improved leaps and bounds. Controlling it even as far as 9 meters radius from him would not be a problem.


    Just at this moment, someone knocked on their room¡¯s door. Raven and ze both opened their eyes to look at the door as Ozul thought;


    ¡®So the fish took the bait...¡¯

 Chapter 75

    Chapter 75: Never Faced Rejection.


    Outside the trio¡¯s room stood Irene with some guards behind her. She had an impassive expression on her face, but the tightly closed fists of her revealed her anger.


    It was past midday when they had finished questioning most of the Mercenaries, and her grandfather ordered her to find the location of this group.


    Rufus had instructed her just to locate the group ande back to report him. However, she still remembered the disrespect these lowly Mercenaries had shown towards her grandfather and the one she idolized the most.


    Irene looked up to Rufus since he was not only her role model but also her grandfather. She saw everything she wanted to be in Rufus.


    Hence, when she graduated from the academy, she applied to be directly ced in the Silver Knights squad. She did all that so she could learn directly from her idol.


    Hence, she could not contain herself and came directly to order these ¡®lowlifes¡¯ or so she liked to call them toe back with her for questioning.


    It did not even take here an hour before she had located them since everyone feared the Silver Knights in the Silverbird Kingdom. No one dared to defy them because everyone knew that they only operated under themand of the Emperor himself.


    .....


    Notplying with their request meant that they were going against Emperor Luthien! Hence, just showing their Insignia, which had the silver wing etched on it, they obtained all the information from passersby.


    Finding them was a piece of cake, so here Irene stood before the door after knocking, trying to contain her anger. As exined by her grandfather, she was rather hot-headed. However, that much was only thepetetiveness


    Inside the room, the trio stared at the door. It wasn¡¯t hard for Raven or ze to sense the Mages on the other side of the door. However, they, unlike Ozul, did not know who stood behind it.


    ze was about to walk forward to open the door, but Ozul motioned him to stop. He was puzzled as to why he shouldn¡¯t open the door since the best individual he sensed was only a Rank-5 Mage, whom they could deal with effortlessly.


    Unlike what ze thought, Ozul did not have a serious reason behind it. He just wanted to anger the girl outside a bit. He had observed her and knew that she was quick-tempered and would easily make mistakes when angered.


    And just as he had expected, with each passing second that they did not open the door, Irene¡¯s face turned redder with anger.


    Though just as she was about to destroy the door, ze opened the door matching the angry face with his cold and impassive one.


    Both kept staring at each other, and time started to pass. Only the guards behind Irene had started to get nervous from the tension growing in the air.


    What felt like a few minutes passed, Irene was the first one to move her gaze away from the staringpetition. Even she, whose gaze burned as hot as fire, could not keep her eye contact for so long.


    ¡°How could someone be so unfazed...¡±, she muttered as she walked inside.


    She didn¡¯t even know that if they wereparing the cold faces, Ozul would also beat the Ice sculptures. The sculptures would melt, but his face would remain apathetic!


    Irene did not care about the formality and barged into the room with a long stride. It was against the rules of the inn, but what could the inn owner do when the offender was the Silver Knights?


    ¡°For what reason, may I ask, have youe here for, Miss...?¡±


    ¡°My name is Irene Staroak. And I¡¯m not here to introduce myself. I¡¯m here to bring you guys back with me. Now pack up and...¡±


    Her exnation was cut off by Ozul, who had raised his hand. Irene was irritated that she was interrupted by a not-even-a-Mage-kid! Just like many before her, she also thought that Ozul was simply an average human.


    ¡°What makes you think that we would follow you?¡± asked Ozul with his usual impassive expression, ignoring the angry face that looked as red as an apple.


    ¡°Huh!?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not addressing this to you!¡±- Irene thought that this pretty face boy did not understand the gravity of the situation and had responded without asking permission from his ¡®superiors¡¯.


    She looked around, thinking that the other two would either correct this kid or be angry at him. But all Irene saw was the cold res of Raven and ze intensified when she yelled at Ozul.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t have any solid reason for us to follow you, you can leave. Please,¡± ze said thest part while pressing his voice. Some small ice crystals were already forming near him as he ¡®requested¡¯ Irene to leave.


    ¡°You-!!¡± Irene wanted to retort, but she suddenly felt the temperature dropping by the second. When she looked at his eyes, Irene saw them glowing with a blue light, which made her take a step back.


    Only when her feet collided with the side of a table did shee back to reality. It also made her realize her mistake ofing here alone with only a few weak city guards.


    She gritted her teeth and walked out of the room with heavy steps. Irene had just assumed that no one would dare to resist Silver Knights since they operated directly under Emperor Luthien.


    Irene felt that she was humiliated because she could not even retort!


    Since she had been aware of her surroundings, Irene was pampered and fed with a golden spoon. She achieved her strength through her own hard work, but real hardship was something that she had never faced-rejection was also a part of the difficulties that she had never encountered before.


    She swore to get back at these savages as she walked away from the inn, followed by the guards who were still shaking with fear.


    The scene of her backing away with panic when she had gazed into those wild glowing eyes still yed in her mind, making her feel sour.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    Back in the room, Ozul sat quietly on the bed while ying with small drops of Ball of Purity on his fingers.


    ¡°What now?¡± asked Raven when the room had regained its usual serene atmosphere.


    ¡°Wait... Wait till she gets some permit or something to force us.¡±


    Ozul replied without looking up from her fingers. When Raven saw that it was the right moment, she came near him.


    ¡°Congrattions!¡±


    Though just as she had said this, another voice soon followed after with the same tone.


    ¡°Congrattions!¡±


    ze did not want to lose out to Raven as he mustered up his sweetest tone to say the same words.


    ¡°Mhm... Thanks.¡±- To the surprise of both of them, Ozul acknowledged it and even said thanks. It seemed that he was in a happy mood since he had obtained his leg back.

 Chapter 76

    Chapter 76: No Life Near It.


    Though the duo was surprised, they quickly got over it since they could never understand Ozul¡¯s mood.


    Since Irene had just left the inn, it would take her some time before she came back with a reason to force them.


    In the meantime, Ozul decided to consume the Rank-8 Core he got from Duke Edwin. Ignoring the eager looks on ze and Raven¡¯s faces, he asked thetter for the Core.


    Raven was confused as to why Ozul suddenly needed the Core because he had long ago stopped consuming them. When she asked about it, Ozul replied that he could not improve anymore by utilizing the Magical Cores.


    She swiftly took out the Core from her Spatial Ring and gave it to him. Ozul took the Core out of her hand and inspected it a bit. There was nothing special except for the size.


    He wasted no more time and wrapped the Core with his Ball of Purity. It was another thing he had learned from the ¡®unlocked memories¡¯.


    Ozul didn¡¯t have to eat the Cores; he could also just crush them and only devour the refined Mana inside it.


    .....


    The Ball of Purity¡¯s liquid form covered the Core and with just a little bit of force from Ozul, it shattered into pieces like a ss ball.


    Ozul made it so the shattered pieces just dropped on the ground, while the refined Mana stayed inside his Ball of Purity.


    He was using Ball of Purity as a spoon to feed himself with the refined Mana. Just as it brought the Mana inside of him, he felt his body absorbing all of it.


    At the same time, it sted a sudden burst of Mana out of his body. Ozul med himself for his forgetfulness. Because this burst of Mana hadpletely messed up the room.


    No matter how much these Mages refined their Mana, his body would always reject more than half of it. It appeared as though it was beneath his sentience to devour such ¡®unhealthy food¡¯.


    ze looked bewildered at Ozul, while Raven had stars in her eyes. It was the same as when Ozul ate the Cores years ago. This meant that he could again improve by eating the Cores!


    Ozul ignored the blinding light that he could feel from Raven and focused on his body to check the changes.


    Much to his disappointment, it barely made a difference! Ozul devoured a Rank-8 Core, and he didn¡¯t even feel it!


    ¡®Sigh. Why did I think that it would be so easy.¡¯- Ozul internally sighed and got up from the bed under the curious gaze of ze.


    He did not bother to exin so much to ze again, so he just told Raven to do it instead of him while he went out of the room.


    He was not a fan of the sunlight, but he wanted to get out of that suffocating room. Hence, he created the pointed ck hat on his head and went out.


    The inn owner looked fearfully at Ozul¡¯s direction because he had seen the earlier incident with the Silver Knights.


    Ozul ignored the looks that were thrown in his way and walked out of the inn. Everyone on the streets had a sleepless face. How could anyone sleep when the screams of the Monster created so much destruction?


    He walked straight towards the forest since it would provide some shade. After about 20 minutes, he stood beside a tree, surrounded by the woods from all sides.


    He had checked his Ball of Purity but physically testing it was a different feeling. And he had another thing in his mind too.


    Ozul had seen Edwin and Podas flying in the air without using any Spell. He wanted to try and see if he could do the same with his Ball of Purity.


    His way of advancement was entirely different from any usual Mage, so he could not fly the same way. However, Ball of Purity seemed like a universal tool, so he wanted to give it a try.


    First of all, he created a ck surfboard-like structure to stand on. Ozul stepped on it and willed it to levitate. Just like he predicted, he could fly!


    Moreover, he didn¡¯t even have to waste any extra effort. Just a little bit of bnce, and he was all set.


    But Ozul wanted something discreet to fly on, instead of this heavy ¡®surfboard¡¯.


    He cut the Ball of Purity on two small pieces and absorbed the rest of it. Those pieces then changed into the shape of the sole of his shoe and attached under his feet.


    It only felt like an extension of his body as the only centimeters thinyer covered the sole of Ozul¡¯s feet. However, it would all be for naught if Ozul could not fly using this.


    Fortunately for him, he only required a bit more effort, and he was levitating in the air!


    Despite that, Ozul still required to bnce himself on those two small soles, so he did not try to fly higher for now. Hecked the practice to remain steady for long.


    Also, he couldn¡¯t fly in the battles if he was not proficient enough to fight while also keeping his focus on bncing.


    So, he decided that he would practice for a few hours before going back to the inn. Laziness was not an option now. If he wanted to get things done, he would have to work for it-Ozul had learned his lesson.


    Therefore, for the next few hours, Ozul experimented with flying. When he felt that he was capable enough to fly high in the air without falling, he started to practice flying using only one of his feet.


    When he saw that the Sun was slowly setting, he finished the training and started walking back towards the inn.


    Ozul had not even left the woods when he heard the rustling of leaves from a bush nearby. For some reason, he could not feel any life around it. There were no winds in the forest either, so why did it suddenly shake?


    With curiosity in his mind, Ozul decided to check the bush.

 Chapter 77

    Chapter 77: Special Connection.


    Now, Ozul wouldn¡¯t usually waste his time satisfying his every curiosity, but for some reason, he had the urge to check.


    When he was walking towards the bush, Ozul felt weird because something kept clicking in his mind. It was the same as when his entire being starts to shout that something that belongs to him is near.


    ¡°Hmm...¡±


    Just as he was approaching the bush, a small shadow lept out of it. Ozul was caught off guard, but he did not feel any threat from it, so it was fine.


    When he focused on the ground, Ozul saw something that he didn¡¯t think would ever be possible in his life.


    A small pure ck cat stood in front of him, a pair of deep red and blue heterochromatic eyes staring at him. Though Ozul could see it before him, there was no sign of life whatsoever. It felt like his senses were tricking him into believing that nothing was there.


    But another feeling told him that this cat... somehow belonged to him?


    .....


    Moreover, there was a special connection between him and the cat. Why?-Because for the next 10 or so minutes, the cat and Ozul just kept staring at each other¡¯s eyes.


    After a few minutes, Ozul bent down and put his hand on the ck cat¡¯s head.


    ¡°Your name will be Jinx.¡±


    It was as if both of them hade to a mutual agreement. Ozul did not even need to pick the cat up, and it just started following behind him.


    Ozul usually liked to walk at a normal pace, so the cat easily kept up with him. It was a strange scene on the streets when people looked at a man with a pointed hat on top followed by an eerie ck cat.


    Jinx did not even make any sound whatsoever all this time because of which Ozul was quite pleased with it.


    When he reached the inn, it was already evening, so most people had already gone home, or were drinking their sorrows away at some bar.


    The inn that Ozul stayed in also had a bar. Due to this, there was a crowd on the ground floor.


    Just as he entered, his figure attracted the attention of everyone present. The drunkards started murmuring without any care in the world.


    ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t that the kid who the Silver Knights were after?...¡±


    ¡°Yeah. He and his party are staying here...¡±


    ¡°Why is that creepy cat following him...¡±


    ¡°Looking at it gives me the chills.¡±


    ...


    Naturally, Ozul did not even spare them the eye and went towards the second floor.


    When he entered the room, both Raven and ze were rmed because he never makes a sound whenever he walks.


    And they didn¡¯t even sense any Mana, so both of them thought that some assants had attacked.


    They only calmed down after seeing his figure. However, the next moment, they again put up their guard because they saw the ck cat between the feet of Ozul.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry... she is with me,¡±- Ozul said while walking towards the bed. Though just as he had sat on it, Jinx jumped on hisp!


    Raven and ze were just waiting for the cat to be thrown out by him, but what they saw next shocked them!


    They could only watch with bewildered eyes when Ozul started petting the ck cat. Raven was particrly jealous since she would always have to achieve something great for just a single pat from him, while this cat just needed to sit on hisp.


    ¡°It¡¯s not fair!¡±- Raven could not help but shout out loud.


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    Ozul looked at Raven with a tilted head and arched eyebrows. He was wondering what had gotten into her suddenly.


    ¡°What¡¯s not fair?¡±


    Raven was embarrassed due to her blunder and could not find any words to answer.


    ¡°Nothing?¡±- He again urged her to answer.


    Though just as she was about to open her mouth, the trio heard themon in the building. Some incident had probably urred on the ground floor.


    Before ze could go and check what had happened, the door to their room burst open, and there stood Irene with a confident smile on her face.


    Two lean men also wearing the same armor as Irene stood behind her, both with the same cold expressions.


    Despite the two men having around the same strength as Irene, both of them respectfully stood behind her because of her status as the grandkid of their Chief Leader.


    ¡°So, you have some parchment stating that we have to follow you?¡±


    Ozul did not look at her and kept stroking Jinx¡¯s hair as she would purr from time to time.


    ¡°Here is the Mercenary Guild¡¯s golden letter stating that you will have to follo-...¡±


    Ozul did not let herplete the sentence and began to walk out of the door. Raven and ze quickly followed after as Jinx was also in between his legs.


    ¡°Wha-. Where are you going!?¡±


    Irene yelled as the two lean men blocked the corridor by standing in front of Ozul.


    ¡°Hm? Didn¡¯t you want us to follow you back to your grandfather?¡±- Ozul looked at the red-haired girl as if she was an idiot.


    ¡°But! But...¡±- Irene did not have any words to retort since what he said was true. However, she could not tolerate his casual attitude.


    When Irene had gone back to report to her grandfather, she was scolded for defying his orders. After that, she had to run all day to obtain this letter.


    Any Mercenary under Gold rank would be forced to follow the contents of the letter since it was signed by the branch Guild Master.


    However, all her efforts felt pointless when Ozul readily started to walk! Irene wanted to see the furious expressions on their faces, but now it appeared as if they were just ying with her.


    If they were really so fine with going back with her, why did they even disagree in the first ce! Irene felt like she was pped in the face when she saw the snickering on Raven and ze¡¯s faces.


    ¡°You¡¯reing, or not?¡±


    The voice seemed to be taunting her because it stung in her chest. She gritted her teeth and started leading the trio back to where her grandfather stayed.


    ¡®Urgh! They did not even look at the letter...¡¯

 Chapter 78

    Chapter 78: Surprised, are we?


    On the street, Irene led the trio towards the ce where her grandfather stayed.


    When they reached the ce, Ozul noticed that they had arrived at the ce where once the Count¡¯s estate stood.


    He internally praised the efficiency of these Silver Knights since they were able to create small structures in just a day.


    Using Mages as a part of the construction team was not something anyone could afford. This performance of theirs showcased how much power they held.


    Looking in the vicinity, Ozul saw that there were still many Mercenary squads with varying expressions on their faces. Some were annoyed at their situation while others didn¡¯t care much.


    Irene had regained herposure as she approached therge structure in the centermost area, followed by the trio. The two lean men had already left to do their work when they had arrived at the location.


    When they entered the room, Ozul saw that Rufus sat behind a pile of files holding onto his head with one hand while the other held a pen. The data and reports on the table almost towered to hide his figure.


    .....


    It appeared that Rufus was in quite a predicament. However, Ozul was quite indifferent to this and went forward to take the only other seat in the room.


    Only now, Rufus looked up from his documents and frowned while observing Ozul¡¯s behavior. He had already confirmed that the trio were only some Silver Rank Mercenaries, but the powers of the other two didn¡¯t match their Rank.


    Even those two were eptable since they had only recently joined the Mercenary Guild. But no matter how much he probed, the man in front of him remained a mystery.


    Rufus had been questioning every Mercenary personally since only they were the people that had survived the Incidentst night.


    However, all that he obtained from those Mercenaries was that they were on a mission from Duke Edwin. Everyone had heard the ear-splitting screams from the forest and began to rush towards it to find out the cause.


    But no one was even able to reach the location due to the interference from all those Beasts.


    It was the extent of information that Rufus could collect from the Mercenaries. The only remaining clue was the man that nonchntly sat in front of him.


    This time Rufus carefully examined Ozul from head to toe. The more he looked, the more astonished he was.


    Rufus was the Chief Leader of Silver Knights. They not only trained as Mages but also cultivated their bodies as a Fighter. So, he was experienced in examining others¡¯ bodies.


    ¡®How could something be so... so perfect!?¡¯- Rufus thought as he could not make head or tail of the situation.


    He was a Rank-8 Mage, and yet he could not even feel a speck of Mana on him.


    ¡®But if he does not even have Mana, how is his body so perfect!?¡¯-


    Rufus himself was a Rank-9 Fighter, and when hepared his body to the kid before him, he did not evene close!


    ¡°What? Surprised, are we?¡±


    This voice woke him up from his thoughts and made him realize that he had been staring at the kid all this time.


    Ozul¡¯s tone made him think as if he was naked under his gaze. It seemed as though the kid before him could easily read his thoughts.


    *Cough.*


    ¡°Tell me, young man, what are your secrets!?...¡±


    The whole room turned silent as even Irene looked dumbfounded at her grandfather. Feeling all the gazes directed at him, Rufus realized his blunder as he corrected himself;


    ¡°*Cough.* I mean, tell me what happened yesterday night at the scene!¡±


    Rufus maintained his calmposure on the outside, but he was burning from the inside.


    ¡®I surely sounded like some creepy old man, sigh...¡¯- Rufus thought while looking at the amused expression on Ozul¡¯s face as he petted the ck cat on hisp.


    ¡°Ah, we are here for that? Well, many things happened yesterday... I don¡¯t like to talk so much, though.¡±


    Rufus was finally gaining some light in his eyes when he heard Ozul¡¯s first line, but thest part made him grit his teeth in anger. This kid was still ying with him!


    In his entire life of being the Chief Leader, no one had dared to say anything funny to his face except for his Royal Majesty and the Empress.


    But this kid did not even give him any face! And ignoring the grave event that had happened, he was here on the orders of Emperor Luthien himself! How could he be so impudent!?


    Though just as Rufus was about to erupt with anger, Ozul motioned towards Raven as she came forward.


    Both Rufus and Irene were confused, but due to different reasons. Thetter was perplexed at the situation. She couldn¡¯t find even one reason as to why both the ck-haired girl and the stony-faced cyan haired guy would follow his orders.


    Unlike Rufus, her grandfather, she did not have any observation skills, or else figuring out that Ozul was not an average human wouldn¡¯t have been a problem.


    Moreover, she was a muscle brain. Even a little taunting and she would lose her cool. So she also did not have the time to observe Ozul. Shaking her head to dismiss these thoughts, Irene focused on Raven.


    ¡°As you know, we are Mercenaries. What else do you want to know?¡±


    Raven asked in a deadpanned voice, seemingly quite bored with the situation. It irked Rufus since even a standard Rank-5 Mage talked to him with such tone. However, he held it in since she was ready to speak.


    ¡°I want to know what happened at that sightst night.¡±


    Raven looked at Ozul for confirmation, and they did not even say a word before she faced Rufus and began to exin everything.


    ¡°You should already be aware of the Eclipse¡¯s Order. Well, they were creating a Monster by sacrificing about 500 or so children.¡±


    Rufus was listening with keen eyes, and when Raven said thest part, many things started to make sense in his mind.


    The inhumane shriek that shook the City to the core, and the Mana waves that reached even the Capital City from here-it was all because of the Monster created by sacrificing hundreds of children!


    ¡°So what happened after that? How did it die? And more importantly, what happened to Duke Edwin?¡±


    Rufus started bombarding Raven with questions once he had digested the previous information.


    ¡°The Monster just died on its own, while Duke Edwin and the leader of Eclipse¡¯s Order were killed by the former before it died.¡±


    ¡°Well, strictly said, the leader of Eclipse¡¯s Order perished because he could not contain all the energy in his body after trying to absorb the Monster.¡±


    ¡°While Duke Edwin, well, he was a great hero. When he noticed that there was no one else to stop the Monster, he sacrificed all his being to stop it. Regrettably, his efforts were in vain since all his men still died due to thest attack from that Evil Creature.¡±


    Raven said thest part while shaking her head and releasing a fake sigh. For a moment, Rufus had believed everything that she said.


    But then he remembered his encounters with Duke Edwin. Rufus knew that there was no way in hell that someone like Edwin could ever be so ¡®heroic¡¯.


    That man had massacred his brother¡¯s whole family for god sake, how could he sacrifice his own life for others?!

 Chapter 79

    Chapter 79: The New Destination.


    ¡°Are you sure it all transpired like this?¡±


    Rufus asked while his eyes twitched. It was apparent that the other party was lying to him, but he did not have any proof or any other way to confirm, so all he could do was ask again.


    However, his efforts were in vain since no one even budged at his question.


    ¡°Yeah. It happened exactly like that... Some minor details were missed, but they are not important, are they now?¡±


    Rufus turned to look at Ozul, who was still patting Jinx on hisp.


    ¡°Of course, why would details ever be important.¡±- Rufus gave an obviously fake smile to Ozul.


    He was already at his wit¡¯s end, but for some reason, whenever he thought about making a move against the kid, Rufus felt some impending doom. He trusted his instincts and did not ask anything further.


    .....


    ¡®This kid survived a battle which killed even a Rank-8 Mage such as Edwin-Who even had many life-saving relics. I can¡¯t make any rash move before informing his Majesty.¡¯


    With such thoughts in his mind, Rufus restrained himself from doing anything that he would regretter.


    Even that pet of his gave him the uncanny feeling. No matter how he looked, the kid seemed to be shrouded by some mysterious fog that he could not see through.


    ¡°It was quite tragic, really. I even shed some tears when Duke Edwin gave his life for others.¡±


    Listening to his words, anyone would think that Ozul actually cared about all of that. But one look at his impassive face, and you would know that he did not mean anything that he said.


    ¡°...Yes, of course. His act of self-sacrifice would be announced to the public as well.¡±- Rufus replied with a smile that did not really look like a smile.


    Irene, on the sidelines, could not understand why her grandfather was behaving so weirdly. He would never lose hisposure even in front of the Emperor; why did it happen so often with this pretty faced boy around? She could not think of any reason aside from his pretty looks.


    ¡®But grandfather is not into that... is he?!¡¯- Irene had her mind filled with all sorts of scenarios.


    ¡°So, you have nothing else to say?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m finished with my part. But let me advise you, kid. The game you¡¯re ying, it could easily ruin you.¡±


    Rufus had a serious face as he warned Ozul about the consequences of these games. However, Ozul did not care about any consequences since only a Rank-9 Mage was somewhat of a threat to him.


    And he was pretty sure that the Emperor wouldn¡¯t make a move himself due to some ruler dignity or something.


    ¡®What would they do with this pride of their when they wouldn¡¯t be able to do anythingter?¡¯- Ozul looked down on anyone that would not change their ways when the situation required it.


    ¡°Oh~ I may not know the pieces, but I know myself. The game is already mine; I¡¯m just bidding the time.¡±


    Ozul offhandedly replied, but no one in the room could understand him except for Rufus, who had some inklings on what he was trying to say.


    However, Rufus did not think that his hunch was correct because one would be insane to y against such big pieces! But then he recalled Ozul¡¯s behavior, and he felt the chill down his spine, looking at the calm face that had its gaze fixed on the cat¡¯s onyx eyes.


    After saying his part, Ozul stood up and left the room, followed by Jinx and the duo.


    Raven looked strangely at Ozul¡¯s back since after he had obtained his leg back, he seemed to be a different person!


    Don¡¯t get her wrong, He was still as indifferent as ever, but a bit more... engaging?


    ¡®He¡¯s changed...¡¯- Raven thought while looking at the broad shoulders that seemed lonely even when someone walked beside him.


    Before, Ozul would find it a bother just to speak, but now, he had the time for ying with others! It spoke volumes of how much Ozul had changed.


    ¡°I did not change, Raven. I just freed a part of me that was never really there.¡±


    As if sensing all her emotions, Ozul suddenly said, which startled and confused Raven at the same time.


    She was startled since he always seemed to sense the changes in her emotions. In contrast, she was confused at his exnation.


    ¡®Well, most of his exnations never make sense anyway.¡¯- Thinking as such, Raven did not mind his confusing words and focused on other things. Though before she could say anything, ze beat her to it.


    ¡°What are the ns for the future? Back to being Mercenaries again?¡±


    ¡°Well, the future is running behind us right now. Let ite to us; no need to chase it.¡±


    ze was about to ask what he meant by running behind them, but before he could say anything, a voice sounded out;


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    When Raven and ze looked back, Irene was running towards them with a letter in her hands. When they looked closely at the letter, there was a stamp of Mercenary Guild¡¯s emblem on it!


    Irene quickly caught up to them, and after giving the letter in ze¡¯s hands, she ran off again.


    But before running off, she shouted;


    ¡°I will get my revenge! Just you wait, you scumbags!¡±


    The trio, of course, did not care about that childish threat and kept their focus on the letter.


    ¡°Read it.¡±


    ze opened the letter to look at the contents and replied;


    ¡°It says that the Headquarters in the Capital has summoned us there. There is no reason exined either. It also says that our license as the Mercenaries would be revoked if we did not report there.¡±


    ¡°Hm? Well, our new destination is the Capital then...¡±


    Ozul said while gazing at the night sky that had clouds slowly forming. Others may not notice it, but he saw better at night than in the day.


    Even though the clouds concealed those annoying twinkles, he couldn¡¯t peer at the void either! So Ozul had conflicted thoughts about a cloudy night.

 Chapter 80

    Chapter 80: The Rainy Day.


    Talking about the conflicted thoughts, Ozul again had a change of heart the next day when there was no annoying sunlight due to the clouds.


    At this moment, Ozul, together with Raven and ze, was traveling towards the Capital City. They had just left the Sester City and were still in the outskirts when the winds started.


    Some kids were running while enjoying the fresh winds that brought the smell of water vapors mixed with the dirt.


    Raindrops started hitting the ground, slowly getting absorbed by the earth. But in just a few seconds, the rain started pouring with all its might.


    ze created an invisible dome around the trio, so when the raindrops fell, they would instantly freeze and change their course.


    However, Ozul suddenly created his pointed ck hat on his head and slowed his pace.


    ¡°Let it fall on me...¡±


    .....


    ze did not waste even a moment and removed the invisible dome above Ozul. Thetter then continued to exin;


    ¡°It feels calming-the melody produced from the rhythmic, gentle taps by these raindrops.¡±


    Raven and ze could not help but stare at the lonesome back that had sheltered them. Somehow, this solitary individual would know their every emotion, while to this day, they couldn¡¯t understand what went through his mind.


    They both knew that Ozul might have just told them about his birth, but there were some things that he never discussed.


    ¡®Just how much of a burden do those broad shoulders carry?¡¯


    Raven and ze both had the same thought running through their minds. But all they could do was make guesses, so ze decided to start a conversation.


    Even though all of his conversations with Ozul ends up confusing him even more, he decided to ask;


    ¡°You like rain, Master?¡±


    ¡°Like? I don¡¯t know... But I do enjoy it. It isn¡¯t so perfect, so I am not sure. Then again, nothing is really perfect.¡±


    Ozul said thest part as whispers to himself. He had many conflicted thoughts inside that if he began to describe, only more questions would arise.


    ¡°Hm?... Nothing is perfect?¡±- No matter how low Ozul¡¯s voice was, ze still heard it as he mumbled to himself.


    ¡°Well, there is something perfect. However, we all see it differently.¡±- Ozul just gave this much of a hint and did not say anything else.


    ze too stopped asking questions and focused onprehending the previous answers. He always felt lost whenever he talked with Ozul.


    Raven, who was also listening to the conversation, did not bother to find any meanings from the words. She had been trying for years already, but with no fruit.


    To others, Ozul¡¯s words may only seem that of a fool¡¯s ramblings, but she knew better. Raven believed that there was still something that she did not understand. And until then, she wouldn¡¯t be able to understand what his words mean.


    So she focused her attention on something else. The ck cat had left a deep impression on her, so Raven tried to look for her. However, for some reason, that cat named Jinx was nowhere to be seen.


    Again, without her saying anything, Ozul¡¯s voice rang out;


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother; she¡¯s safe.¡±


    Ozul said so because he had a special connection with Jinx. However, he did not bother to exin why she was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡®What the hell do I care if that creepy cat is safe or not! Hmph!¡¯- Raven thought so in her mind, but it felt more like she was trying to convince herself rather than stating a fact.


    Ozul had sensed her emotions and knew that Raven was slightly turning anxious when she did not see the cat around.


    No matter what others say or think, Raven truly valued all the people in her circle. And that circle revolved around Ozul himself. She may not admit it, but she already considered ze as her teammate.


    Walking down the path, Ozul suddenly remembered that he had learned to fly just yesterday, but then he looked back at Raven and ze.


    Raven did not have any specific Spell that could let her fly, so Ozul focused on ze.


    ¡°You can use Ice mostly using your thoughts, right?¡±


    ze was caught off guard when Ozul suddenly turned around and started talking to him. Nheless, he was swift in his reply;


    ¡°It mostly requires my focus, but Mana is also required, Master.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Let¡¯s try flying anyways.¡±


    ze had a confused expression on his face as Raven also watched with interest. Noticing their curiosity Ozul decided to exin;


    ¡°Try to stand on your ice and make it float in the air, see if you can do it?¡±


    For a better understanding, Ozul created a surface using Ball of Purity and floated on top of it. When ze looked at it, he was eager to check if he could do the same or not.


    He was about to ask Ozul if they were really going to do all this while the heavy shower was pouring down on them, but he was quite enthusiastic himself.


    However, reality proved to be different again since no matter how much he tried, the most ze could lift himself to was half a feet above the ground.


    It happened because, for some reason, ze needed external support for his body to be able to move the ice, so whenever he stood on his self-created ice, it took all his efforts to levitate it.


    Ozul himself did not like this situation because it meant that he would also have to walk all the distance just because of these two.


    *Sigh...*


    Raven and ze again felt terrible for dragging Ozul down. But no matter how much they tried, advancing in Ranks was not such an easy task unless they had some rare treasures. Even Ozul understood this fact, so he wasn¡¯t so strict with them.


    Since they were traveling at a walking pace, it took them a while to leave the outskirts.


    At that moment, Ozul suddenly saw a cart pulled by a bull pass by them in a hurry. When he looked at it, there was nothing unusual, but this made him realize how stupid he was.


    ¡°Hey, ze.¡±


    Ozul suddenly said while still gazing at the disappearing cart in the distance.


    ¡°Hm? Any orders, Master?¡±


    ¡°First of all, stop calling me, Master. Just say Ozul.¡±- It wasn¡¯t so enjoyable for Ozul to hear him say Master after ending all of his sentences; instead, it was getting annoying.


    ¡°As you wish, Mas- *cough* O-ozul¡±- ze corrected himself at the end, but still could not muster up his voice to say Ozul loudly. Only now Ozul asked his main question;


    ¡°More importantly, why did you not remind me that... we could just take a cart or some other transport when we were leaving?¡±


    Ozul looked at ze with narrowed eyes which caused thetter to break out in cold sweat.


    Even though it wasn¡¯t really ze¡¯s fault that they did not take any transport vehicle, he could not deny it when Ozul himself was putting all the me on him.


    Hence, ze had to run all the way back to the City just toe back with a transport vehicle while Ozulzed around on tree branch. Fortunately, He had found a big tree near the road on which he could rest.


    Raven too stayed with Ozul while watching the poor ze¡¯s exhausted figure, bringing with him a cart and an ordinary merchant driving it.

 Chapter 81

    Chapter 81: Capital City.


    It was the usual merchant¡¯s cart. He was not going directly to the Capital City, but around it.


    So ze had asked him to give them a ride, and in return, they would not only provide him protection but also give him the travel fees.


    The merchant had been suspicious of ze, but the Mercenary badge made him let go of all his doubts.


    It was only his luck that a Silver Rank Mercenary would not only give him protection but also pay for the travel.


    His cart was of decent size. The merchant had some goods to sell, but the cart still had enough space for three to four people in it.


    Ozul and Raven hoped in the back with ze, and they started on their journey.


    If ze had not looked for the merchant, that man would have had to buy Mercenary services for his safety since there were all kinds of dangers on the path.


    .....


    Bandits and forest Beasts were just one of the examples of the dangers when people traveled to other cities.


    As expected, some bandits attacked them during the journey. However, ze and Raven took care of them while Ozul decided to take his long-awaited naps.


    The recent events had affected the living ways of the Magical Beasts around these areas, so there weren¡¯t any high-rank Beasts that bothered them.


    Rank-4 to Rank-6 Beast had their peace disturbed by the Eclipse¡¯s Order, and the even higher ranking Beasts only lived in specific ces.


    The forests around the cities weren¡¯t so deep, so the probability of them housing a Rank-7 or higher Beast was close to null.


    It was unlucky for the merchant that it had suddenly started raining because he would have to stop at small settlements on the way and check the cart for any possible leakage that could lead to ruining the goods.


    Half a dayter, the trio was standing in front of a road that split into two ways. Behind them was the vige where the merchant had found some bronze rank Mercenaries for help.


    They had to split up from here, while ze could not find any Merchant cart or any caravan passing by that he could try to negotiate with. So the trio would have to travel on feet from here on out.


    This situation made Ozul pissed since he would have to say goodbye to his precious nap.


    ze had to take all the responsibility again, amusing Raven, who giggled silently on the sidelines.


    Only when Ozul turned around after ring at ze did she again put on the serious face as if nothing happened. Unknown to her, Ozul could sense all emotions-how could her amusement be hidden from him?


    ¡°It is also your fault Raven. Since you are in charge of all the money, it was your duty to buy a cart for us.¡±-


    Now it was ze¡¯s turn to show his teeth while taunting Raven.


    ¡°What are you, children?¡±- Ozul said while his eyes almost twitched at their immature behavior. Hepletely ignored the fact that he never told anyone to buy some carriage either.


    So for the next half of the journey, the trio had to walk on feet. An average human would find it odd for the trio to walk all the way to the City, but Ozul had mostly done that for all his missions before, so he didn¡¯t think much about it.


    Raven was the same while ze followed everything that Ozul did.


    At some point, the rain had stopped, but the dark clouds remained. Ozul did not run because he was starting to enjoy the rain, so when it ended, he also began to increase the pace.


    Around noon, they could already notice the growing number of people on the road. And a little whileter, Ozul saw the buildings in the distance.


    Some small Kingdoms might have required them to build massive walls around their Kingdoms or the Capital cities; however, a significant power such as the Silverbird Kingdom did not need this useless measure of defense.


    When the monarch of the Kingdom was a Rank-9 Mage, no one under Rank-9 would even dare to cause trouble in that territory.


    And if some Rank-9 Mages were making a move themselves, then no matter how big of a wall there was, it wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the might from the sheer power.


    The Capital City of Silverbird Kingdom was, of course, one of the most flourishing cities around the maind.


    You would find all kinds of delicacy, clothing, entertainment, and other shops that would blow people¡¯s minds.


    The Royal Pce stood out the most in the Capital City. No other restaurant or any different entertainment structure even came near the brilliance of the Pce.


    Ozul started slowing his pace until he was just walking again while Raven and ze finally had the time to breathe.


    Anyone could hear their panting to catch the breath, but Ozul chose to ignore it and kept walking.


    For the first time ever, Ozul showed some interest in his surroundings and took his time to nce at the tall structures.


    Raven and ze, though, could only see the lights since it was already pretty dark, and not everyone had Ozul¡¯s vision.


    After walking for about an hour, the trio was walking between those same buildings, which did not seem so magnificent anymore.


    If anyone else were to know about the trio¡¯s thoughts, they would be fuming in anger because people from all around the continent woulde to see these building¡¯s grandeur, and they were already bored of it!?


    However, Ozul and the duo did not care about some stupid brilliance of human-made structures.


    Ozul also noticed a slight increase in the density of Mana just when they had entered the City. And the even more surprising part was that it increased the more close they went towards the Pce!


    Of course, they were still kilometers away from the Pce, but Ozul had sharp senses-Especially now since it was night time.


    Probably, for this reason, the closer they got to the Pce, the more expensive shops or restaurants they passed by. Even the houses and other structures were better, the closer they were to the middle of the City.


    Since it was already about night time, Raven quickly found a decent hotel near the area. It also had suitable prices, but the trio had more than enough money to rent the whole hotel, so Raven didn¡¯t care about the rates.


    An olddy sat behind the counter and gave them a sweet smile before asking;


    ¡°Wee, youngds.¡±


    ¡°We want to rest for the day, how much?¡±


    Raven skipped all the pleasantries and asked about the price.


    ¡°For 1 night, you will have to give 1 Silver Coin if you all are going to share a room.¡±- The olddy exined.


    Raven took out a Silver Coin and gave it to the olddy while thetter gave her a key and said;


    ¡°Your room is no.39 on the second floor. Have a good stay~.¡±


    Raven took the key and nodded before the trio went upstairs to their room. Since Ozul already wanted to sleep, he dropped on one of the three beds and instantly fell asleep.


    The duo followed right after because they were even more exhausted than Ozul.

 Chapter 82

    Chapter 82: Strolling through the City.


    The next day when Ozul woke up was when Raven had no choice but to disturb his peace.


    Ozul was displeased at first, but then he remembered that if he kept sleeping and missed the day, he would¡¯ve med it on Raven as well.


    Raven, who was waiting for the harsh words from him, was surprised that he did not mind it and just stood up from the bed.


    When the trio walked down the second floor, they noticed that behind the counter, there stood an old man instead of the old womanst night. Both were around the same age, which made the trio guess that they might be husband and wife.


    ¡°Good morning~. I hope you had a good stay.¡±


    The old man said with a jolly smile on his face. It seemed that the couple truly cared about their customers, but Ozul, who could sense emotions, knew that the wrinkled man behind the counter only had a fake smile on.


    This kind of smile would even fool the old foxes that had yed this game for centuries.


    .....


    But even if Ozul could not sense emotions, he had already noticed the hidden artifacts in that man¡¯s clothes, which indicated that he was not so simple.


    ¡°Good morning. The stay was not so good, though.¡±


    Ozul had felt the slight displeasure from the old man, but he hid it quite well and did not let it show on his face.


    ¡°Oh, please overlook our rough lodgings. Can you describe the things that you did not have to your likings?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t have time.¡±


    This sentence finally caused some cracks to form on the old man¡¯s face as his eyebrows struggled not to twitch.


    Even the duo behind Ozul wondered what had gotten into thetter to start ¡®conversing¡¯ with a random hotel owner.


    ¡°Just tell me where the Mercenary Guild is.¡±


    ¡°...You just have to take the left turn from here, and keep walking until you see the big sign at your right.¡±- Though the old man did not want to answer, for the sake of formalities, he answered anyway with a weird smile on his face.


    After taking the directions, Ozul walked out of the hotel, but before he went out;


    ¡°Your acting...I like it.¡±- Ozul seemingly muttered to himself, but the old man who had heard him instantly knew that these words were directed towards him.


    The old man¡¯s heart shook since even the old foxes would not be able to figure out his mask, while this kid had so casually seen through him.


    Though before he could say anything, Ozul was already out of the building with Raven and ze.


    ¡®Interesting... some kind of hidden organization?...¡¯- Ozul only had this thought in his mind.


    The concept of some people working under the shadows disguised as regr civilians intrigued Ozul. He would surely look into it in the future.


    The duo following him already had no idea what went through his mind, so they opted not to ask anything.


    When they walked on the streets, Raven and ze could finally see the city in all its glory. The magnitude of the liveliness could not even bepared with other cities.


    One more thing that the trio noticed was the increase in the numbers of Mages or mostly Fighters that they had seen.


    No one cared about their odd group of three, as it appeared to be a regr sight for unusual people roaming around.


    It was an unusual atmosphere all around. For regr people, they could only feel the jovial mood. But for the people who could sense Mana, they knew how dangerous it was roaming in these streets.


    Many had smiles on their faces, but only someone like Ozul could perceive the hypocrisy in the air.


    Just then, he noticed a man in rugs sitting in the corner with a bottle in hand that reeked of alcohol¡¯s smell.


    He had noticed many people that were Mages since walking down the street. But this particr guy caught his attention.


    Because Ozul may have dealt with many high-rank Mages, but a Mage of Rank-7 was not something that you would find on streets pretending to be drunk.


    The man in the rugs had quite a few Magical Items that concealed his Mana from anyone below Rank-8. Unless the other person also had some Magical Items that countered those artifacts, they would never be able to tell apart between the seemingly drunk man and a regr civilian.


    However, that man was still far off in the distance. Ozul naturally did not care about the Rank-7 Mage, so he swept his eyes at the surroundings instead.


    Just some distance away from the man, Ozul again noticed something unusual. Well, not really odd, but something different.


    He saw a girl around his age, at least she appeared to be. She had silver hair and a beautiful smile as sheughed while patting the head of a kid that was crying because he had slipped earlier.


    The unusual part was that the girl was also a Mage and around the same level as Raven! Ozul knew how hard Raven had to train to achieve where she was today, so finding a girl around the same age and the same feat was somewhat surprising.


    However, for some reason... no, for obvious reasons, Ozul did not like to look at her. If anyone were to know of his thoughts right now, they¡¯d be cursing him since he was a guy, and he did not like to look at such an angelic girl?!


    But then again, his own body and face would not lose to any alluring devil that wanted nothing more than to cloud your judgment just by gazing on his figure.


    And Ozul never cared about appearances anyway.


    Though what reasons could cause Ozul to have an instant low opinion of someone? It was because that silver-haired girl reeked of the smell that he detested the most-Light. Specifically, Light Element.


    ¡°That filthy light...¡±- Ozul muttered under his breath in such a low voice that even Raven and ze were not able to hear his mumblings.


    Behind the long, silver-haired girl also followed another woman. When Ozul looked at her, he instantly knew that she was an End-Stage Rank-6 Mage.


    It seemed that the girl with Light Element was someone important since a Rank-6 Mage followed her all the time. Moreover, Ozul had also sensed another Rank-7 Mage that hid in the shadows and also protected that girl!


    An End-Stage Rank-6 protected her in the light, and a Rank-7 protected her in the dark. It couldn¡¯t be more evident that she was someone important.


    However, all of this had nothing to do with Ozul, so he just kept walking forward with Raven and ze following right behind as he checked on other things.


    Unfortunately, no matter how much he tries not to get involved in some other¡¯s business, his luck always runs out.

 Chapter 83

    Chapter 83: The Brave Man.


    Just as Ozul was advancing at a walking pace, he suddenly felt the malicious intent focused on himself.


    He did not even understand how he was suddenly involved in all this matter, but he still did not give away any hints by looking at the man in rags.


    ¡®Well, if you¡¯re so set on going after me, I won¡¯t stop you.¡¯- thought Ozul while walking forward after signaling Raven, who in turn informed ze.


    After a decade ofpleting missions together, only some hand signs were enough for Raven to understand what he meant. And this time, she was only informed that there was danger nearby.


    As expected, Just when Ozul was about to pass by the silver-haired girl, a long electric bolt was thrown right at his head!


    Ozul did not even nce in the direction of the supposedly drunk man in rags and defended against the bolt by creating a small shield at his side.


    ¡°Whatever you do, don¡¯t ever involve me in your mess.¡±- Ozul¡¯s deep voice resounded in the now silent street.


    .....


    He changed the shape of that shield, and it separated into a long de that bolted towards the man.


    ¡°...You wouldn¡¯t have another chance to change your ways, though.¡±


    Ozul left these words and just casually walked away, not even sparing a nce at the headless body of the man that had thrown the electric bolt at him.


    He did not even turn around to look on his left side as the girl stood there, dumbfounded.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    -A little while ago.-


    Just when Ozul was walking down the street, the ¡®drunkard¡¯ man was surveying his surroundings.


    His figure instantly piqued the man¡¯s interest as he was examining the surroundings using a Magical Item which calcted other¡¯s ranks based on their Mana.


    The Magical Item would not work on any Rank-8 or higher Mage, but the man wearing the rags had precise information that there would not be any Rank-8 Mage involved.


    When the man had seen the trio, he had set Ozul as his target. He had noticed their route and knew that he would pass right before the silver-haired girl who was his real target.


    The man had measured the trio¡¯s strength and knew that the two following behind were Rank-5 Mages at best while the boy in the middle was not even a Fighter.


    The assassin hade here to kill the girl, but he needed a distraction, and unfortunately for him, he chose Ozul as that distraction.


    The man had just assumed that this kid was some second generation of a Noble Family since he had two ¡®bodyguards¡¯ following behind him while he was as ¡®weak¡¯ as theye. Unknown to him, this was his worst mistake, and well, hisst one too.


    First of all, he needed someone to block his sight when he attacks, and Ozul would be perfect for that since the man thought that his attack would just pass through his head as he was not even a Fighter.


    Second, because the boy also seemed some second-generation young master, the aftermath of the assassination would get even moreplicated, giving the assassin more time to leave.


    The assassin had thought that he hid quite well, but his intention of harming Ozul gave him away.


    At the same time, the girl with silver hair and dazzling blue eyes had managed to stop the kid from crying. She stood up and walked in the opposite direction of Ozul, followed by the woman in a maid dress.


    Both were unaware of the dangers that lurked around them. The girl was so engaged in her activities that she did not care about her surroundings while the maid/bodyguard was not able to sense the assant either.


    The cheerful girl was whistling as she skipped along the pavement, and the maid chased right after her.


    *Whistles*


    ¡°Young miss! Be careful with how you walk...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Venessa. Let me enjoy for a bi-¡°- Just as the girl was talking, she suddenly saw something that made her stop in her tracks-The face of someone that she¡¯ll never forget from this day onwards.


    She saw the beautiful short onyx hair,plementing the grace of a face that even gods would envy!


    It¡¯s not like she had not seen attractive men before, but the pure confidence radiated from the eyes of the boy before of her made her heart skip a beat.


    Vanessa, the girl¡¯s maid, was also curious as to why her young miss had suddenly stopped.


    The girl was still gazing at that godly face when Ozul passed by. The moment that they were the closest to each other, she saw something that forced out all the other thoughts in her mind as her mind could not even process what was happening.


    As she stared at Ozul¡¯s face, out of the corner of her eyes, the girl saw that a man in wearing rags had shot an electric bolt towards that boy!


    The girl was slow in response, and before she could even do anything to help the boy, she realized that the target was actually her!


    Anger and guilt started to form in her heart as she stared powerlessly at the impending doom.


    ¡®If only I had listened to what Vanessa had said...¡¯- The girl¡¯s heart was filled with endless guilt when she thought of how an innocent man would die due to her.


    But all these thoughts shed by her mind in just a few milliseconds.


    Even her maid and the hidden bodyguard had realized the danger, but they did not have enough time to make a move.


    They all thought that the Lightning Bolt would instantly kill the kid and hit the silver-haired girl since they did not sense any Mana from him.


    However, just the next second, they were dumbfounded when the kid had some ck liquide out of his skin and form a shield at his side!


    The Lightning Bolt just hit the weird ¡®shield¡¯ and dispersed as if it was nothing! The Rank-7 Mage hidden in the shadows stood there surprised, noticing that the kid had stopped a Rank-7 Spell without even batting an eye!


    ¡°Whatever you do, don¡¯t ever involve me in your mess.¡±-


    Hearing his voice, which seemed ethereal, the silver-haired girl again had butterflies in her stomach.


    She just stood there looking at the unbothered face of his that did not seem to express even a bit of anger, but his words still brought about the pressure to whoever heard him.


    Everyone now had their attention on this incident when the boy before her said;


    ¡°...You wouldn¡¯t have another chance to change your ways, though.¡±-


    The silver-haired girl did not even care what his words meant and just gaped at the still cold face. She totally ignored how Ozul changed the Ball of Purity into a long de and sliced that assassin¡¯s head.


    When she had heard the dialogue, for some reason, she felt as if it was the coolest thing that she had heard in her life.


    Her pure heart did not even register the fountain of blood that spurted out of the now headless assassin.


    The silver-haired girl only got out of her fantasies when Ozul had walked away in the distance. Only then she realized that she even forgot to give thanks to her savior.


    ¡°Wai-¡±


    The silver-haired girl was just about to run after Ozul when she was interrupted by her maid and the Rank-7 Mage, who hid in shadows.


    Both of them were worried sick since they knew that they wouldn¡¯t be able to help her at all, and it may lead to her death!


    How would they even begin to answer their Masters that someone just killed their Young Miss in front of them!?


    ¡°Young Miss! Are you fine?! Does it hurt anywhere?!...¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not afraid, are you?...¡±


    The maid, Vanessa, started to bombard her with questions as the girl only helplessly stared at the back of Ozul.


    The Rank-7 Mage, though, stayed on his guard to see if there were any other assassins nearby. Only when he had confirmed that no one was there did he approached the headless body to examine him.


    He was again shocked out of his mind when he noticed the clean-cut on the assassin¡¯s neck. Just how strong was that boy to be able to kill a Rank-7 Mage with only one move?!


    ¡°I will have to search his background.¡±- The Rank-7 bodyguard muttered under his breath. However, he could not leave right now since his Young Miss had just suffered from an assassination.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine Vanessa, calm down!¡±- The silver-haired girl was still trying to calm her maid so she could go after the boy.


    ¡°It¡¯s all my fault, Miss ra. You can punish me in any way you want.¡±- The Rank-7 Mage said with his head bowed in shame. He was there to protect her, but all he could do in the face of danger was stare! There was nothing more embarrassing than that for him!


    ¡°Raise your head, Sir Henry. It¡¯s not your fault. I should have been more careful.¡±- The silver-haired girl, now named ra, anxiously said when she saw Henry bowing his head.


    Only a few minutester, when ra had the time to breathe, did she realize that the boy who had made her heart skip a beat was long gone!


    ¡°I will surely find you!¡±- ra muttered under her breath, but Vanessa and Henry were confused as to what she had meant by this.


    ra then turned towards the duo and started reprimanding them;


    ¡°It¡¯s all because of you! See, now that hands- *cough* the brave man who saved my life has left, and I couldn¡¯t even thank him...¡±

 Chapter 84

    Chapter 84: Mercenary Headquarters Branch.


    When Ozul had been attacked, ze wanted to make a move. But Raven held him back since Ozul had told her that there is danger, it was not something they should be careless about.


    While when Ozul was just walking towards ra, he had noticed the overwhelming emotions that she directed towards him, but no one knew that he could sense emotions, so he just had to act like he saw nothing.


    He had seen the same emotions from other women too, and he just dismissed them as her admiring him. However, he could not guess how much of an annoyance this would cause him in the future.


    He had also noticed how the girl was about to run after him, so he increased his pace, making Raven and ze wonder what had happened. But they dismissed this as Ozul trying to avoid the trouble of going through the questioning.


    After walking for about a minute, they had already left themotion behind them. The trio also noticed city guards rushing towards that site.


    It seemed that security was tight around the city since only a minute had passed, and the guards were already on the location.


    This efficiency just disyed the disparity between any other cities and the Capital city of Silverbird Kingdom.


    .....


    Walking a little further, Ozul saw the big three-story tall building with a sign on the front that announced that this was one of the Headquarters of the Mercenary Guild.


    The Mercenary Guild was not limited to the Silverbird Kingdom; they had their main Headquarters somewhere else while branch headquarters were settled across different nations.


    This branch¡¯s head was only a Rank-8 Mage. But it was rumored that the most powerful person in the Mercenary Guild was not a Rank-9, but a Rank-10 entity!


    Hence even when they had set their branch Headquarters across the continent, the leading person that was stationed was never better than the Monarch of that said nation.


    This move of the Mercenary Guild had made everyone in the continent know that they would remain neutral.


    The trio did not waste any more time and just entered through the front door. They had already seen many Mercenaries roaming around the area.


    Silver Rank Mercenaries were amon sight while they could also asionally see the Gold Rank ones.


    Once they entered the Guild building, everyone was busy with their tasks, and no one had the time to care about the new faces. It seemed that people here were even more efficient than in other cities.


    This sight made Ozul feel a little better as he observed everyone on the 1st floor.


    As usual, there was a big board that had many documents pinned on them while a bartender stood behind the bar. However, this time, the bartender was just serving the drinks while a female worker acted as the guide.


    Then he saw the round tables set up for the Mercenaries to sit and rx a bit. Most of them drank together with their teammates while others nned the next task that they would take.


    The atmosphere also wasn¡¯t as loud as it was in the branch of Sester city. Maybe it was because a Rank-8 Mage looked over everyone? Ozul did not dwell on these questions for long and went straight towards the female staff that had short blonde hair while she also wore sses.


    The trio noticed that she was probably around a Rank-5 Mage too. No matter what your Rank as a Fighter is, if you¡¯re not a Mage, you will probably be put in the bottom of the hierarchy.


    So people with essential positions are always Mages.


    When the trio came before the counter, the woman with the sses looked up from her documents, and her cold face instantly melted when she looked at ze.


    ¡°H-how can I help YOU?!¡±- It seemed that the woman lost her cool and shouted out loud.


    Only when everyone on the first floor had their attention towards them did the woman realize her blunder and put her hands on her mouth while looking down embarrassedly.


    Most men who looked at the woman¡¯s blushing face started ring daggers at ze, who was unperturbed by the events.


    ¡®This woman has not even looked at Master, hmph!¡¯


    ze only had contempt for this woman while everyone else was thinking of how smug this cyan haired man would be feeling right now since he was able to make even the stone-faced Lucy blush!


    Ozul¡¯s face was indeed covered with the pointed hat which he had created after the earlier incident of assassination.


    After a few seconds, everything calmed down while people only talked in whispers about this incident.


    ¡°Pst... did you see that? Lucy blushed!¡±


    ¡°Of course, I saw that you idiot! How could I miss it when everyone else did not?!¡±


    ¡°Hmph! We can¡¯t be sure that Lucy blushed because of that guy!...¡±


    . . .


    The trio, of course, remained indifferent to all the whispers while the woman who everyone called Lucy also managed to calm herself down and regained her previously calm demeanor.


    But if anyone were to look deeply, they would notice the slight redness that was still present on her cheeks.


    At this moment, ze took out the letter and ced it on the counter. When Lucy noticed the Mercenary Guild¡¯s seal on it, she quickly picked up the letter and began to read all the content in it.


    Her expressions kept changing and after she had read everything, Lucy again lost her control as she shouted;


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who helped Duke Edwin in defending against that vicious evil monster!?¡±


    These words again quietened down the room, and everyone stared intensely at the trio. Ozul sensed myriads of emotions detected towards them, which mostly contained jealousy since they were still only Silver Rank Mercenaries and had gotten such fame.


    Ozul narrowed his eyes at these words.


    ¡®That Rufus guy was not so dull after all.¡¯- Ozul quickly assessed that this situation must be Rufus¡¯s ¡®revenge¡¯ against him.


    He had annoyed Rufus so much that in turn, Rufus announced that his group of three had helped Duke Edwin defend against the Monster!


    Since no one was present at the scene to refute this im, everyone just believed the words from the Chief Leader of Silver Knights.


    Rufus wanted nothing more than to annoy Ozul since thetter had done the same to him. People might not know, but he was quite a petty person.


    However, Rufus had made a big mistake to think that Ozul did not want attention towards himself. On the contrary, Ozul wanted to have some fame for the start of his n!


    If Rufus had not done this, Ozul would¡¯ve had to find another method to increase their group¡¯s reputation.


    ¡°Follow me upstairs. We will talk further in the office.¡±- Again, only when everyone had their attention on them did Lucy realize that she had lost her cool.


    But she did not get embarrassed this time and coolly led the trio upstairs.


    Everyone in the room kept staring at the trio and Lucy, which would have made just about anyone ufortable, but the trio all had indifferent faces.


    When they reached the office on the 2nd floor, Lucy opened the door for the trio to walk in as she followed behind them.


    In the room stood a man with short brownbed hair. Ozul did not need to examine him to know that the man was a Rank-7 Mage and probably a Rank-7 Fighter as well.


    ¡°Vice Guild Master Emory, they are the trio who had helped Duke Edwin with defending against the Monster.¡±


    Lucy bowed towards the person, and after getting the nod from the man, she went in the back and stood there silently.


    As usual, without waiting for anyone to ask them to sit, Ozul took a seat, followed by Raven and ze.


    Both Lucy and Emory narrowed their eyes at Ozul since, in their eyes, he only appeared to be a regr human.


    ¡°We know that you guys may have found this sudden notice of summoning a little forceful, but the Guild Master had given direct orders, I couldn¡¯t disobey,¡±- Emory said with an amiable smile on his face.


    While he would appear friendly to anyone else, Ozul knew better than to trust that fake smile of his.


    ¡°Why are we here?¡±- ze asked after receiving the signal from Ozul.


    ¡°Oh, nothing to be worried about~. Since you guys had obtained so many merits fighting together with Duke Edwin, Guild Master had ordered me to promote you guys to Gold Rank.¡±


    ¡°Oh, just that?¡±- ze asked in an uninterested tone like the promotion to Gold Rank was not even rted to him.


    ¡°Of course not! You will also obtain many benefits...¡±- Emory was about to exin all the perks of bing a Gold Rank Mercenary, but ze intervened in the middle;


    ¡°We don¡¯t want to hear all that nonsense. Just tell me what do we have to do for the promotion?¡±- ze asked with a bored face.


    This irked Emory, but much to his displeasure, he couldn¡¯t do anything about it.


    ¡°...You just have toe here tomorrow, and some trainers will test your capabilities. If you qualify, you will receive your Gold Rank badge.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Okay. We will take our leave then...¡±

 Chapter 85

    Chapter 85: The Suspicious Couple.


    ¡°Is that so? Okay. We will take our leave then...¡±- ze said before the trio stood up to leave. The trio walked out of the office while leaving Emory seething with anger.


    Emory had many scenarios thought in his mind, and he had nned to counter every one of them. But he had not even imagined that the trio would be so uninterested in their talks! He was a Vice Guild Master for god¡¯s sake!


    He felt insulted since he was also a Rank-7 Mage with exceptional talent as he was also advancing as a Fighter. However, just a meager Rank-6 Mage dared to talk to him this way! Emory calmed himself down as Lucy followed behind the trio.


    ¡°W-wait!¡±- Lucy suddenly shouted at ze as the trio was going to the stairs. ze turned around, while Ozul and Raven just kept walking and did not stop.


    Ozul had sensed some simr emotions that he had felt earlier from this girl, but those were actually directed towards ze and not him. He did not want that to change, and so he chose not to stay.


    It was now ze¡¯s problem to solve, and he was happy to keep things like that. Back to ze, Lucy could not find any words to say after they were left alone in the corridor.


    ¡°Um... W-what is your name?¡±- Since ze just kept ring at her coldly, Lucy got nervous and started stuttering.


    .....


    ¡°ze.¡±- Lucy was already wasting his time, and now she was dodging the topic, so he did not care about pleasantries.


    ¡°Oh! My name is Lucy. I work here as a secretary! Do yo-¡±


    Just as she was introducing herself, ze cut in the middle since he was quite annoyed already.


    ¡°No, Miss Lucy. If you have something important to say, tell me already.¡±


    Although ze knew what Lucy thought about him since she lost her cool only after looking at him, he did not have time for such things.


    ¡°...If you are busy, then that¡¯s fine.¡±- Lucy gave him the eye smile, which anyone could tell was fake. Her eyes even started twitching at some point.


    ¡°Hmm.¡±- ze did not know why she suddenly changed her tone, but one thing was clear-he wanted to stay far away from this girl.


    Only after ze had walked away did Lucy erased the smile on her face as she clenched her fists, mumbling;


    ¡°...Who does he think he is!?¡±


    In all her life, Lucy was courted by others while she did not even nce at those people. But today, when she saw ze¡¯s face, she was instantly captivated.


    However, never did Lucy imagine that she would be ignored the same way that she had ignored others. Even after karma hit her, she did not realize that not everything goes your way.


    When ze came down from the second floor, Ozul and Raven were waiting for him.


    ¡°Oh~ Aren¡¯t you a heartbreaker~?¡±- Along the way, Raven teased ze to get some reaction out of him, but he was also someone that Ozul had selected-he wouldn¡¯t break so easily.


    The trio exited the Guild building and started walking on the streets. The test for the promotion would start the next day, so they decided to rest for the day since it had been quite a while since Ozul justzed around.


    The only good thing today would be that there had been some clouds here and there which blocked the annoying sunlight for the most part.


    There was a good hotel just near the Mercenary Guild where most of the Mercenaries would stay, but Ozul decided to head back to the ce that they had visited before.


    Raven did not understand why Ozul was suddenly taking an interest in that ce, but she would never object to whatever he says. However, out of curiosity, she asked;


    ¡°Is there something about that ce that I don¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just interested in what that couple wants to achieve... And if my hunch is right, it will only be beneficial for me.¡±- Ozul calmly exined. Even though he still gave pauses in his sentences, it had declined to the point where those intervals were negligent.


    He would also answer anything that ze or Raven asked these days. He would try his best not to eat his sentences.


    About 20 more minutester, the trio was back to the hotel that they had slept yesterday in. At this moment, they noticed that both the old woman and the old man were present behind the counter.


    From a single nce, everyone would just think that they were a happy old couple. Even Ozul may have been fooled to believe as such if he could not sense the emotions to such an extent where nothing hides from him.


    When the old man saw the trio entering from the front door, he was going to wee them with his trademark kind smile, but his expressions immediately crumbled when he recognized the faces.


    Before he said anything to them, the old man gestured towards the old woman who also hardened her gaze. It seemed that both of them had discussed how Ozul had simply seen through their facade.


    Unlike any other arrogant person would do, the old man and woman seemed wiser and did not dare to act casual again.


    They had seen the world and knew that there were some things that no matter what you do, you would not be able toprehend. Underestimating a boy just because he did not exude Mana would only make them stupid.


    Even those old foxes which had been living for centuries could not see through their actions, but a kid had just randomly figured everything out. How many more reasons did they need to put up their guard?


    Though they may be cautious, the old couple was not scared of a boy.


    ¡°What are you here for, and who sent you?!¡±- The old man did not believe that a random boy would juste to their hotel twice so that he could mock their ¡®acting¡¯.


    And the boy could also have the support of some big shot in the City. So he wanted to know everything before he acted.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. No one sent me... I just want to know why do you think that someone would send people after you?¡±


    The old man stayed quiet and did not answer his question after he had realized his slip up. He had just assumed that someone had sent this kid, so his question also hinted at that.


    But only now, he realized how revealing this question was if the kid really was not sent by someone else.


    ¡°What are you here for?¡±- The old man did not break his eye contact from Ozul when he coldly asked this question.


    Ozul also noticed how the old man was nervously ncing at his wife behind him. To the surprise of everyone, Ozul had a small smirk on his face!


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry; we are here only for a ce to stay.¡±- He gestured towards Raven, who took out the Silver badges that disyed their identities as Mercenaries.


    ¡°How much was for... a day?¡±- Ozul innocently asked as if the tension in the air was not even rted to him in the first ce.


    Though the couple had seen the badges, they did not believe that the trio was here just to stay for the day. If they were here for that, why did they not choose any hotel near the Guild building?


    Although unwilling, the old man had no choice but to let them stay since the trio had done nothing wrong for now, and he did not want a fight to break out.


    The couple may have some Magical Items to keep them safe, but in the moment of danger, anything could happen. Taking meaningless risks was stupid.


    ¡°If you want to stay for the day, 5 Silver Coins in total, which would cover your meals as well. You will have the room all to yourself until the next day.¡±- He exined everything professionally and went behind the counter.


    Although Raven thought that 5 Silver Coins was too much, she did not say anything since Ozul was handling the situation himself and just tossed the Silver Coins on the counter.


    ¡°Smart. Aren¡¯t you?¡±- Ozulplimented the old man after he saw through what he was trying to do.


    The old man had intentionally increased the price so that he could see if the trio would ept or not. And just as he had expected, Raven had not hesitated before paying.


    This little stunt just confirmed that money was not a problem for them, and they could have just stayed in the hotels near the Mercenary Guild.


    It meant that the trio must have some other intentions, which caused the old man to put up his guard again.


    ¡°Oh, for thest time, don¡¯t worry. If I wanted to harm you, do you think you would have survived till now?¡±-


    Although Ozul had casually remarked, when the old couple heard him, they gulped as they felt the pressure that suffocated them.


    Just from this pressure alone, they did not dare to doubt his words.


    ¡°...R-room No. 23, on the second floor.¡±-


    The old man took out the keys and gave them to Raven before the trio walked away.

 Chapter 86

    Chapter 86: The Promotion Test.


    Only when the trio had gone upstairs did the old woman rx a little, but she was still anxious about their situation.


    ¡°Will it be alright, Irvin?¡±


    Listening to the worried tone of his wife, Irvin had ripples of emotions pass through him before he took her hands in his.


    ¡°Haley, I don¡¯t think there is any danger. If they wanted to harm us, you could also feel that pressure. Do you think we would even have a chance to escape?¡±


    ¡°...I understand.¡±- Irvin¡¯s reassuring words calmed Haley down as the former continued;


    ¡°Even if they do have bad intentions, at least we will die together...¡±- Irvin tightened his grip on her hands. He embraced Haley in a warm hug; they stayed like this for a little while before some customers came, and they returned to their things.


    All this while, without even them knowing, Ozul had all his attention focused here. Although he wasn¡¯t able to hear everything that they said, no walls could stop him from sensing those emotions.


    .....


    Earlier, Ozul had thought that they could be a part of some organization, and this couple hid here to gather information. A hotel is one of the best ces where you could keep tabs on random people.


    However, now he realized that this might not have been the case all along. This situation disappointed him as well since he had many uses of a secret organization used to gather information.


    Nheless, this couple could also be useful to him in some ways or another. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t just start to torment them, since a rtion set up based on fear is fragile.


    If he were to force them to do something, he would have to constantly keep an eye on them since they would not need a reason but a mere chance to betray him.


    However, all this nning was forter. For now, Ozul wanted to have a good nap that would probablyst him the whole day, and maybe even the night.


    Some sane human would probably question how he could sleep so much, but they would have to keep this in the mind that for the first 5 years of his life, Ozul had passed his days while only sleeping in that dark warehouse.


    Raven and ze had already gotten used to his overly sleeping habits, and they did their own things for the whole day while Ozul chose to sleep.


    Surprisingly, just when Ozul had gone to sleep, Jinx appeared out of nowhere! She jumped on his bed andid there with her back resting against his chest.


    Even though she was only a cat, Raven still felt jealous of her since Jinx could do everything that she had wanted to do with Ozul.


    But she masked this jealousy by convincing herself that she was only worried for Ozul since Jinx was a weird cat. Where did she even appear from!?


    Both Raven and ze would always have their guard up whenever Ozul was sleeping, so it was kind of impossible for anyone to sneak in on them. However, this cat was like a ghost and had appeared without any sound at all.


    Out of curiosity, Raven tiptoed before the sleeping figure of Ozul and tried to touch Jinx with her hands.


    To the horror of both Raven and ze, who was also watching this scene, Raven¡¯s hand passed through Jinx as if she was just some kind of illusion!


    She quickly retracted her hand in fear since anyone would be spooked out when their hand just passed through a seemingly solid surface.


    At this moment, Jinx opened her eyes and raised her head to look right into Raven¡¯s eyes.


    For a second, Raven felt as if she saw Jinx smirking, and her eyes shed amusement before she went back to sleep. This action of the cat further freaked her out as she moved away from it.


    There were many things that she did not understand about Ozul, and now this cat had increased the tally.


    For the rest of the day, both Raven and ze kept thinking about the weird cat. Why couldn¡¯t Raven touch it even though Ozul could pet her before?


    ¡°*Sigh*... we will just ask the Masterter. No need to worry about it now.¡±- ze tried to calm Raven down since she was freaking out.


    From what they had remembered, only a few rare beasts had some innate skills, but even then, they had never heard of a ck cat with such abilities before.


    Later that day, Ozul did not wake up while Raven and ze did some shopping.


    Raven needed to buy clothes for Ozul with better quality, and since this was the Capital city, she could buy almost everything from here.


    And since they were already in the market, Raven decided to buy some spare clothes for herself as well.


    There were many useful Magical Items that they could afford as well. However, they did not buy it since Ozul had told them not to rely on artifacts. Even the ¡®health potions¡¯ made from Ozul¡¯s essence were also only used in case of emergency.


    When they came back from shopping, Ozul was still fast asleep as the cat had gotten even bolder and was now sleeping on his chest!


    This scene of Ozul soundlessly sleeping while Jinx on top of him irked Raven to no end, but she couldn¡¯t even do anything.


    ze did not waste any time and directly went to bed. Though the trio could go without sleep for days, they still slept every night because of Ozul.


    Though he did not talk much about himself, he would asionally preach about how good sleeping is. And even when both of them knew that this was just his personal opinion, it did not stop them from imitating him.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The next morning when Raven and ze woke up, they saw Ozul sitting on the bed, passing his hands through the silky ck hair of Jinx.


    Raven was again jealous since she could not even sleep on the same bed with Ozul because of the bed sizes.


    Before she could question him anything about Jinx, Ozul stood up from the bed;


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. You guys have a test to take, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Raven grumpily listened to him and pushed her questions to ater date. After a few minutes, the trio was ready, and they left the hotel without having another encounter with the old couple.


    Twenty minutester, the trio was before the Mercenary Guild¡¯s building. When they entered, they saw that Lucy was behind the counter, discussing something with a Mercenary group.


    When they came before the bar, Lucy shifted her attention towards them, and when she saw ze, even with all her control, her cheeks still reddened a little.


    This scene confused ze since he was sure that just yesterday, this girl already half hated him!


    ¡°Follow me...¡±- Afterposing herself, Lucy led the trio to the back of the building.


    When they got to the ce, the door opened to show the trio a vast training ground that was connected with the building.


    Looking around, Ozul saw that Emory, the Vice Guild Master, was also standing on the side while there was some equipment set in the middle of the ground.


    Ozul did not know how they would test them, but he did not need to ask since Emory came before them and started exining things.


    ¡°You guys are here after all...¡±- Emory mocked them, trying to get a reaction out of the trio.


    ¡°Oh, you are not so blind after all.¡±- ze retorted back. Even Raven was surprised since he was a mute like Ozul, but his retort made Emory tongue-tied.


    ¡°To pass the test, you will just have to fight against a Rank-6 Mage. He will evaluate if you are qualified for being a Gold Rank Mercenary.¡±- Emory exined after the little sh with words.


    After Emory had exined all the conditions, a middle-aged man entered the ground. He had small strands of white hair mixed between the ck.


    ¡°This will be your opponent. The moment he deres that you¡¯re qualified, the match will end.¡±


    ¡°Will they be fighting alone in 1v1 or will they fight together against him?¡±- Ozul asked.


    For some reason, he did not include himself in the test! Raven and ze both noticed this and remembered how he also just said, ¡®Your promotion test...¡¯ and did not involve himself in it.


    Emory though, did not find anything wrong with that since, in his eyes, Ozul was just a regr human. And for some odd reasons, he was just leeching off of the duo.


    ¡°It¡¯s up to you. But if someone is not so confident in your strength, we rmend you to team up against the judge. The judge would also dere the group as Gold Rank even if theirbined strength is up to par.¡±


    This time, Lucy answered Ozul¡¯s question.


    This meant that even if the individual strengths of the party members were not strong enough, they could just work together to pass the test.


    After they had discussed all the details, Raven entered the training ground...

 Chapter 87

    Chapter 87: You passed.


    Though there was indeed an option to fight individually against the Rank-6 Mage, it was still rare for people to attempt this.


    We have to know that the difference between each rank is not something that numbers could ever ovee!


    Even if a Rank-6 was against more than 50 of the Rank-5, it might not be necessary that Rank-6 Mage would lose. And this difference only kept increasing with the Ranks.


    To the point where a Rank-9 Mage was generally impossible to be defeated by anyone under Rank-9! How could Rank-8 Mage¡¯s evenpare to the sheer destruction brought down by a casual Spell from the former?


    Hence the onlookers were surprised that Raven had decided to fight against the judge on a 1v1 battle.


    The chances of her getting promoted to Gold Rank sharply reduced since it was almost impossible for a Rank-5 to survive even a single attack from Rank-6 Mage.


    Emory and Lucy on the sidelines sneered as they did not think that Raven would even leave a scratch on her opponent.


    .....


    Lucy was particrly hoping for Raven to miserably lose since she thought that this ck-haired girl was the reason that ze rejected her so coldly.


    She had not even bothered to see Ozul¡¯s face as he barely had any presence. If she did, her thought process would have been totally different.


    So Raven entered the training ground unperturbed by the sneers of a couple of spectating people.


    ¡°Girl, you should havee at me together. But I guess you won¡¯t understand until you try it yourself.¡±


    The middle-aged man also did not think that Raven alone would be able to make him give her Gold Rank promotion.


    ¡°No one knows unless they try, do they?¡±- From another point of view, she seemed to humble herself, but the middle-aged man saw otherwise when Raven stared at him coldly.


    Without the need for any signal, the middle-aged man and Raven quickly put some strengthening Spells without the chanting before theter rushed towards the former.


    The middle-aged man stood his ground, allowing Raven the first strike. He watched in interest when ck smoke suddenly surrounded her arms, and when it vanished, two long daggers appeared in her hands.


    ¡®Darkness Element?! I will have to report this...¡¯- Emory, who was spectating the fight was stupefied that someone would actually use Darkness Element!


    Though Emory had easily identified Raven¡¯s Element after seeing just one Spell, it did not cross anyone else¡¯s mind that this might be the case.


    People did not usually judge others¡¯ Element based on the color radiated during Spellcasting since there were many exceptions to this.


    Even some of the Fire-based Magical Spells could sometimes produce a dark color, which sometimes appeared to be ck.


    The middle-aged man did not have the time to think which Element Raven was using since he had made a big mistake.


    He had allowed Raven to take the first strike, thinking that he would easily be able to block it. However, he did not even have the time to set up his defenses when Raven was right in front of him.


    The middle-aged man did not even know that she was not only a Rank-5 Mage but also a Rank-5 Fighter, which gave her the overall advantage of physical attacks.


    Both of them had strengthened their physical body with Spells, but Raven had the upper hand since she was already a Rank-5 Fighter.


    The spectators were also surprised since they had imagined the fight to be more of Spells, but Raven closed in on her opponent, which indicated that she was going for the physical battle.


    The middle-aged man took a few steps back and chanted the Spell that sent a storm of rocks towards Raven.


    *Swhooshh*


    Raven barely dodged the attack as some of the rocks were about to hit her, but she deflected them using the daggers.


    Both of them were only a meter apart when Raven suddenly jumped in the air, retracting her hands, which indicated that she was about to throw them at her opponent.


    ¡®Hmph! Silly move...¡¯- The middle-aged man thought before creating a big rock in the trajectory of the daggers.


    Jumping in the air was a naive mistake that any newbie could make since it would leave them in a vulnerable state if their opponent could dodge or block the attack.


    As expected, Raven threw the daggers straight at the middle-aged man who sneered at her foolish move.


    Just when the daggers were about to get in contact with his rock shield, he readied another attack that would finish the battle.


    However, he was dumbfounded when the daggers which were about to hit his shield suddenly disappeared in ck smoke!


    He looked at Raven, who hadnded on the ground and noticed that she had another pair of daggers in her hands!


    This move was the improvement that Raven had done with the Spell. She could just wish the daggers to teleport to her hands whenever she wanted.


    The Rank-6 Mage sent the attack that he had prepared towards her, but to his surprise, Raven just sidestepped and dodged the attack like it was nothing.


    At this moment, Raven threw one of her daggers at him from the front while she herself moved to attack from the side.


    *nk...*


    The Rank-6 Mage blocked the dagger that she had thrown using the shield, but he was a bit toote for dodging her other attack.


    From the spectator¡¯s point of view, it seemed as if Raven just passed by her opponent, and the secondter, everything came to a standstill.


    ¡°... *Sigh*... You passed.¡±


    After a few seconds, the Rank-6 Mage¡¯s voice rang out in the now silent training ground. Lucy did not even know what had suddenly happened, so she looked towards Emory for answers.


    ¡°Look closely on her opponent¡¯s face.¡±- Emory did not exin but gave her a hint.


    When Lucy focused on the Rank-6 Mage¡¯s face, she saw a small line of blood on his face!


    Even though such a small cut meant nothing in an actual fight, drawing the blood of a Rank-6 Mage while only being a Rank-5 was a great feat!


    The battle may have been intense for both Raven and the middle-aged man, but even a minute had not passed and the fight had ended!


    ¡°I underestimated you. It was a great fight.¡±- The Rank-6 Mage, instead of being petty, appreciated the battle.


    Raven nodded her head and went back to the stand where Ozul and ze waited for her.


    The earlier cold face of her vanished as she tiptoed in front of Ozul and started fidgeting with her hands.


    No one understood what was happening until Ozul put his hands on her head and started patting her!


    ¡°There there.¡±


    Only such simple pats were enough for Raven to gloat in delight. When Lucy and Emory saw this scene, they had to reevaluate their opinion of this kid who did not have even a bit of Mana.


    ¡°Congrattions, I can officially register this group of three as Gold Rank, which would let you guys ept even more tasks with better rewards and, of course, risks.¡±


    ¡°But if you guys are working individually, only you would have the privileges of epting such tasks...¡±- Emory exined everything to the trio.


    He also exined some of the perks that the group would receive, which included discounts and priority when buying things from the Guild.


    ¡°However, I would suggest that you also take the test.¡±- Emory told ze.


    Naturally, ze thought that it would only be a waste of time and was about to refuse it, but Ozul had different ns.


    ¡°Of course, he will take the test.¡±


    ze smiled wryly at Ozul and also nodded his head.


    ¡°...Yes, of course...¡±


    Emory noted the weird interactions between ze and the kid in front of him. Together with Raven¡¯s earlier shy attitude, he concluded that Ozul might not be so simple after all.


    After everything had settled, everyone went back to their seats as ze walked into the training ground.


    Raven stood right next to Ozul, still in high heavens since it had been a while since he had shown her some affection.


    ¡°Raven, that wasn¡¯t a smart move.¡±- Ozul shattered all her fantasies with these words. He did not wait for her to reply and exined,


    ¡°You took the risk after you thought that your opponent underestimated you... Your opponent was not only stronger than you but also had more experience.¡±


    ¡°It is true that he indeed underestimated you, and you took the risk. But remember this; even when you have everything under control, and you have two options, one with risk and the other without any risk, choose thetter.¡±


    After hearing his advice, Raven contemted her actions since it was true that she indeed had the option to win without taking the risk.


    But she also wanted to finish the match earlier so she could impress Ozul, hence her hasty gamble.


    Just as they finished talking, ze had entered the training ground where the Rank-6 Mage was standing with a serious look on his face.


    Though he was not a petty person who would hold grudges against a kid, it was still humiliating for him to have his blood drawn by a mere Rank-5.

 Chapter 88

    Chapter 88: Finding Opportunities In Predicaments.


    This time the middle-aged man did not dare to underestimate these kids. He had already learned from his earlier mistake.


    Hence, ze did not have the advantage which Raven had in the fight. Fooling him wouldn¡¯t be an easy task.


    Just like before, they did not need a signal to start the fight as both of them began to chat their respective Spells.


    The strengthening Spells were not really necessary, but they were somon among Mages that they did not even count them as real Spells since most of the Mages did not need to chant to cast those Spells.


    And for the sake of fairness, the judge again gave the first strike to his opponent, letting ze do whatever he wanted.


    The spectating people all had their attention on ze, expecting an even better performance than Raven from him.


    Unlike Raven, who had rushed straight towards her opponent, ze instead opted to maintain his distance and steady his stance. Everyone was wondering what he would do next, and his next move shocked the onlookers except for Raven and Ozul.


    .....


    Small crystals of Ice started to form out of thin air without him even chanting a Spell. To the spectators¡¯ surprise, it did not stop until two huge chunks around the size of an elephant were floating in the air!


    Though ze required all of his focus to keep the Ice steady, the size of this Spell could already bepared to a Magical Spell from a Rank-6 Mage!


    And unlike what the onlookers had thought, there was not any action involved in this battle as the middle-aged man¡¯s voice rang out in the training ground;


    ¡°You passed...¡±- The judge did not need to trade blows with ze to know if he was qualified to be a Gold Rank Mercenary or not.


    Seeing the results of the promotion test, the couple of people who hade to spectate left the training ground. They were here just out of curiosity, but they had seen what they could probably never forget.


    They hurriedly left the training ground so they could gossip about it with their friends.


    Emory also noted everything that ze did in the few seconds of their ¡®fight¡¯. On his left side, Lucy had stars in her eyes as she held her cheeks with her hands.


    She looked with hazy eyes as ze went towards Ozul, who was sitting on a chair and somehow had a cat on hisp.


    ¡°Tsk, that guy did not even exchange any blows with me.¡±- ze said as Raven sneered in response.


    Raven¡¯s battle seemed desperate, but her specialtyy in dragging the fight and not in finishing it with one attack.


    The longer the fight continued, the more advantage she would have due to the dagger¡¯s Mana and Stamina steal.


    Whereas ze would have been exhausted right after the Spell that he had used, which would have been a foolish move in an actual battle. Even now, in a fight between ze and Raven, thetter would win 9 out of 10 times.


    At this moment, Emory and Lucy approached the trio before thetter took out two gold insignia that represented Gold Rank Mercenaries.


    ¡°Congrattions. Both of you are now Gold Rank Mercenaries!¡±- Emory congratted them before they went back to the Guild building.


    ¡°So, what is it that you want from us now?¡±- ze asked the question after they were sitting in the office of Emory.


    The trio knew that the Mercenary Guild was up to some schemes. However, under the influence of Ozul, ze had also started learning to be straight forward.


    It made Ozul nod his head in approval since he was going to ask the same question had ze not taken the initiative.


    ¡®Nice, Saves me the trouble.¡¯- Ozul thought while moving his prosthetic hands through the silky ck hair of Jinx.


    Raven kept darting her eyes towards Ozul, imagining herself in ce of Jinx, being patted by him as she would scratch him with her paws...


    She shook her head to throw these stupid thoughts away.


    ¡®I really need to control my thoughts sometimes.¡¯


    Back to the ze, after he had asked the question, Emory¡¯s expression turned solemn before he gestured towards Lucy to leave the room. Lucyplied, albeit reluctantly, and gave a sidelong nce at ze before moving out.


    ¡°Since your team is now Gold Rank, there is a mission for you guys.¡±- Emory said with a smirk on his face.


    ¡°And what does the Emperor want from us?¡±- Unlike what he had expected, Ozul spoke instead of ze. The question too shocked him out of his wits!


    Though Emory was only the Vice Guild Master, he was aware of many details that others were not.


    He knew that it was probably Emperor Luthien himself that had ordered this task since it was issued by the Chief Leader of Silver Knights, Sir Rufus.


    He was also aware that the talks of this trio helping Duke Edwin in defeating the Monster was false since the Mercenary Guild themselves had spread this rumor on the request of Sir Rufus.


    ¡®How do they know?! More importantly, why does he seem so calm about it!?...¡¯- Emory could not understand the situation. He was supposed to be intimidating the trio, but instead, it was he who was being overwhelmed.


    *Ahem!*


    It took a few seconds for Emory topose himself as he straightened his back and put his hands on the table. He would have looked quite intimidating if it was someone else before him.


    Unfortunately, Ozul wouldn¡¯t bat an eye even if some Gods stood before him while Raven and ze had experienced far more intimidating things than him. The Monster, a few days ago, would be the perfect example.


    ¡°As you have... guessed, the mission was assigned by ¡®his Majesty¡¯ personally.¡±- Emory said, trying to put pressure on the trio by emphasizing the Majesty.


    Clearly, another failed attempt since all he received in return was the cold stares.


    ¡°So, what is this ¡®Royal task¡¯ supposed to be?¡±- ze asked while rolling his eyes.


    ¡°The mission details would be discussed tomorrow with other Mercenaries who would also be participating. I would suggest you ept this task since you guys were specifically mentioned.¡±- Emory exined after sighing for the umpteenth time.


    ¡°And you should know that defying the orders from the Royal Pce has consequences...¡±- For some reason or another, Emory still hoped that his words would scare the ¡®kids¡¯ before him.


    ¡°Who else would be joining?¡±- Ozul asked, finally giving Emory some of his attention.


    ¡°A couple of other Gold Rank Mercenaries and there would be a tinum Rank group as well.¡±


    Emory¡¯s words piqued Ozul¡¯s interest. While he understood that there would be a couple of Gold Rank Mercenaries, a tinum Rank would mean that the mission had considerable danger.


    Of course, when he said considerable danger, he meant it for others and not for himself.


    ¡°No other information except for this?¡±- ze asked with an annoyed expression. He did not like it when someone would try to just dump things on him.


    ¡°The most I can tell you is that it would be an escort mission.¡±- Emory sighed and gave out a small piece of information.


    ¡®An escort mission? Who could be so important that they require a tinum Mercenary group to protect? Is it some prince or princess? No... if that was the case, the Emperor could have just sent his own men.¡¯


    Ozul began to analyze the situation since this task did not seem so simple to him.


    The Emperor Luthien, of course, had many men under hismand, and he could order them anytime he wanted, but he still chose to hire Mercenaries!


    And the person that they would be escorting also seems to be an important person, looking at the number of Mercenaries that were hired toplete a single task.


    Most importantly, Ozul wanted to understand what schemes were at y! There must be some reason for Rufus to mention them specifically.


    After obtaining all the details from Emory, the trio walked out of the Guild¡¯s building, under the intense gaze of Lucy.


    Walking out, Raven, who had kept an eye on Jinx the whole time, was stunned to find out that she had missed her again!


    While Raven was thinking of ways to keep Jinx under her tabs, ze had different questions;


    ¡°Are we going to ept the task?¡±-


    ¡°Of course, we are.¡±- Ozul looked curiously at ze as if asking him why that was even a question.


    ¡°But isn¡¯t he using us? Are you going to allow him?¡±- ze exined his doubt when he noticed Ozul looking at him weirdly.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re worried about that? Naive mindset.¡±- Ozul said while shaking his head. When he noticed that ze did not understand, he exined;


    ¡°Does it matter if he is using us when in the end, he dies and I live?¡±- This was the most straightforward way that Ozul could exin the situation to him.


    Little small fights did not mean a thing if they did not win in the end. A person should always learn to find opportunities in their predicaments.


    They walked back to the hotel, as all of them had different thoughts running through their minds.

 Chapter 89

    Chapter 89: Bing Gold Rank is Far-Fetched?


    The trio left the Guild building, and under the lead of Ozul, they headed back to the hotel of the suspicious old couple.


    On the way to back, many people recognized them as they whispered in low voices while pointing behind their backs.


    However, no matter how low their voices may have been, Raven and ze were both Rank-5 Mages and Ozul... well, he had his own unusual ways. So they could easily hear their whispers.


    ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t they the group who helped Duke Edwin...¡±


    ¡°Yes, I heard that the group was promoted to Gold Rank just today!¡±


    ¡°What is the name of their group, though?...¡±


    . . .


    .....


    Ozul¡¯s ears perked up when he heard a person talking about the name of their group. He only realized now that they had not set up a title or the name for their party of three.


    It wasn¡¯t necessary, but all the Mercenary groups above Gold Rank had at least one title.


    ¡®Again with the names?¡¯- Ozul did not like the idea of having another one of those cheesy titles. He already had enough of them.


    ¡®The Feral¡¯ and ¡®The Raven¡¯s Shadow¡¯ still bothered him whenever he heard them. Thankfully, not many knew about his identity as the famous assassin.


    Even Rufus had heard about ¡®The Feral¡¯, but he did not know that Ozul and that ruthless assassin whom he had only heard tales of were the same people.


    Just when they were walking back home, Raven asked;


    ¡°Why did you not take the test?¡±- She had been really curious as to why Ozul had suddenly decided not to be a Gold Rank Mercenary.


    ¡°Hm? Oh, it was nothing. I¡¯m not even a Fighter, wouldn¡¯t me being a Gold Rank Mercenary be too far fetched?¡±


    ¡°Yeah...¡±- Both Raven and ze had wry smiles on their faces. Though his reason did make sense, they could not understand if him being Gold Rank was his promotion or still belittling of his abilities.


    Of course, the duo knew that Ozul¡¯s power could not even be measured using the usual standards.


    Unknown to the duo, Ozul had apletely different reason for not getting himself the promotion. When he had first noticed that Lucy had directed all those annoying shiny emotions towards ze, he had an idea.


    Since he wanted other people to do everything for him, couldn¡¯t he also use them to have one less annoyance?


    Ozul had noticed that ze also had a near-perfect face. And together with his demeanor, ze would make the best leader figure, which would make things easier for Ozul.


    Just imagining how much easier things would be when everyone would just annoy ze instead of him, Ozul felt happier.


    With such thoughts in his mind, Ozul gave a side nce towards ze, who suddenly had chills behind his back.


    And to be honest, Ozul liked the idea of being the controller while sitting in the shadows. There were many benefits to making ze the leader.


    He always felt that a man should always keep his strength hidden, which gave him the advantage of the surprise element in almost every situation.


    Even if people were famous, they still wouldn¡¯t reveal their trump card to anyone. And the trio¡¯s trump card was Ozul himself.


    No one knew how powerful Ozul was right now except for Ozul himself. And he did not n to reveal his powers either. People can make guesses; it¡¯s up to them. However, he would not deliberately go around announcing how powerful he is.


    That was an idiotic move, to be honest. He understood that some people of high statuses announced their Rank for their enemy to think twice before making a move against them, but Ozul still found it absurd.


    Your enemy would always think twice before attacking you when they don¡¯t know how powerful you are. But when you go ahead and announce your ¡®might¡¯ to the world, the enemy just makes a n which would put you in a sticky situation.


    Hence, Ozul did not like to announce how powerful he was in front of every other person he met. It is just like how the wolf wouldn¡¯t care about the sheep¡¯s opinion.


    Ozul did not care if some nobodies had any opinion of him.


    Hence Ozul decided to set ze as the ¡®true leader¡¯ of the group, which he nned to expand in the future.


    It would also be easier to gather more people under him due to the fame that they had right now or would gain in the future.


    Suddenly, ze appeared more likable in Ozul¡¯s eyes.


    Along the way, Ozul only had thoughts rted to making his life morefortable by pushing all thebor to ze.


    When they reached the hotel, the couple were again both together behind the counter. And Irvin did not even seem surprised anymore when he noticed the trio.


    ¡°You guys still have rooms, right?¡±- Ozul asked with an uninterested tone as if taunting him.


    ¡°...Of course, we do. But the prices have changed, you would have to give a Gold Coin to stay for a day.¡±- Irvin said with a smile that did not really look like a smile.


    ¡°Well, we can¡¯t do anything about it, can we now?¡±- Ozul said as if he would not stay here today, however after saying his part, he began to walk up the stairs again, leaving Raven toplete the transaction.


    Irvin finally could not control himself as he clenched his teeth, and his hands shook in anger.


    Raven tossed the Gold Coin to Haley, the olddy, and took the keys of their room from her before following Ozul together with ze.


    When she entered the room, the first thing she noticed was that Jinx had already climbed Ozul¡¯s bed and was sleeping on the side.


    It was still morning, so Raven and ze both chose a corner each in the room and started their meditating.


    The advancement to Rank-6 Mages required more than one process, which was usually increasing the quality and the quantity of their Mana and the Mana Core.


    It was a tedious process that required the Mages to keep the bnce between the quality of the Mana and the Mana Core.


    Since Mana Core stored the Mana, Mages had to make sure that the quality of Mana did not exceed a specific limit, proportional to that of Mana Core.


    You could take the example of a ss. A usual ss made up of a steel alloy would easily hold water in it. However, if the water suddenly turns into the burning hotva, it would instantly start to melt.


    Just like that, if the quality of Mana Core improves too much while the Mage has not refined the Mana enough, then the time it would require to further the advancement of Mana Core would multiply.


    It was because Mana Core required the Mage also to use Mana, and if the Mana was of low quality, it took more time.


    Hence, this process required the Mage to put all his focus on it.


    However, to advance towards Rank-6, Mages had yet another tiresome and a little itchy process to go through. This process required the Mages to rece their body cells with Mana itself.


    Now some people thought that this was a simple process. However, reality hit them hard again.


    Recing the body cells with Mana was like trying to pass the thread from the needle while being pricked on your fingers by the same needle!


    Even a small mistake, and a body cell may get corrupted due to the Mana. It would then cause a kind of chain mass genocide, which would not stop until that tissue or the entire muscle would turn into ashes!


    And the pain only added to the torture!


    Some people also confuse this stage as the same method to be a Fighter. However, both were totally different.


    When advancing as a Fighter, the person used Mana to grind the cells of his body into perfection. In contrast, this process required Mages to actually infuse Mana in the cells till they be Rank-10, where all the cells of their body consist almost 99% of Mana!


    Being a Fighter at the same time helped Mages speed up this process. Not only would they feel less pain, but recing the Mana with body cells also became more natural.


    After the whole day of training, when Raven and ze ended their practice, both of them reeked of smell.


    It happened to every Mage above Rank-4. It was because the reced parts of the body cells would form impurities and leave through their skin.


    Raven had created some useful Darkness based Spells. One of them was a ck gas that would destroy the impurities on her skin after every long session of training.


    After exterminating the impurities on her body, Raven did the same for ze who was looking at her with pleading eyes.


    ze did not want to get up and take a bath when Raven could just solve the problem with a casual everyday Spell.


    After that, both of them went to bed since it was night time, but not before Raven angrily red at Jinx who had again climbed up Ozul¡¯s chest.

 Chapter 90

    Chapter 90: In the Middle of the Night.


    Later that night, when everyone else was asleep, there were noises on the first floor of the hotel in which Ozul and the duo lodged in.


    The trio instantly woke up since, even though they were sleeping, all of them had their guard up even in their periods of sleep! An average human may find it impossible, but it was nothing for a Rank-5 Mage.


    Ozul didn¡¯t even need to be a Mage to be focused since it was in the middle of the night, and his senses were back to their peak due to light¡¯s absence.


    Jinx got up from Ozul¡¯s chest and jumped down the bed while stretching itself before Ozul stood up as well.


    He had been sleeping the whole day as well, so for him, his ¡®nap¡¯ was almost done anyway. Checking out what was going on in the hotel at this hour wouldn¡¯t really be a problem for him.


    ze had already stood up to follow Ozul while Raven was rubbing her eyes to clear her vision as well. However, just as they were ready, Ozul motioned them to go back to sleep.


    Though reluctant, they could not disobey his orders. At least not when they both knew that they wouldn¡¯t be able to be of much help anyway.


    .....


    ¡°I¡¯m just going out for a stroll.¡±- With this excuse, Ozul left the room, followed by Jinx, who gave Raven a smug look before walking away.


    Ozul had stopped Raven and ze from following him because he felt stuffy when he was followed by people all the time. Jinx was an exception since she ¡®belonged¡¯ to him.


    He could still not decide what belonging to him signified, but was it necessary? With this question, he would stop thinking about useless stuff and focus on what was in front of him.


    One thing that Ozul had learned after spending the 6 years in the warehouse alone was that making baseless assumptions wouldn¡¯t get you anywhere.


    Maybe you could pass your time this way, but Ozul already has his hands full all the time.


    Walking down the corridor, he could already hear the voices that no ordinary human would be able to, from this distance.


    ¡°I told you... there wouldn¡¯t be any second chance!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t threaten me, Drom!¡±


    ¡°What?! You have a problem with that?... Just you wait till I tell everything to the boss!¡±


    ¡°You!...¡±


    . . .


    Ozul heard the conversation between the old man, Irvin, and someone whose voice he did not recognize. Despite noticing that Irvin was somehow in a problematic situation, he did not rush to the site and just leisurely strolled through the corridor.


    Not only did he not have any deep rtion with the old man, even if he had any, Ozul wouldn¡¯t get so agitated just because of some small argument. Not to mention, he had nothing to do with it.


    When he walked down the stairs, he saw that before Irvin stood a middle-aged man with unkempt brown hair.


    Haley stood beside Irvin as the unknown man barked at the old couple.


    Though Ozul did not create any sound while walking, the old couple were facing directly at the stairs, so they did not miss his figure, which gave them the chills every time they looked at him.


    They had seen this world and honed their senses without the use of Mana. Their five human senses would betray them, but their instincts were seldom wrong!


    And the old couple¡¯s instincts would scream at them even when they looked at the kid with dangerous eyes. The cat elegantly walking beside him did not help reduce their uneasiness.


    When the unknown man noticed that Irvin and Haley had their attention diverted by something else, he curiously looked back only to see a teenager walking down the stairs.


    Only when Ozul was right in front of him was he able to utter something;


    ¡°You kid! Go back to your room and sleep. This isn¡¯t something you can interfere in.¡±- The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes and waved his hands in an attempt to scare him away.


    Ozul, however, was unperturbed as he walked right in between the unknown man and the old couple. However, instead of stopping in the middle as they had anticipated, Ozul just kept walking until he reached the chair before the counter.


    He sat on the chair before Jinx also jumped on hisp.


    ¡°Hm? What are you staring at? Continue your...thing.¡±- Ozul said when he noticed that the old couple looked at him wryly while the man with brown hair had an annoyed expression on his face.


    ¡°Kid! Do you think this is some sort of a joke?!¡±- The man barked at him, but he received no response in return.


    ¡°Tch! I will deal with youter.¡±


    Ozul¡¯s behavior further annoyed the brown-haired man. Still, since he had done nothing wrong and was not even interfering in his business, the man focused his attention on Irvin.


    ¡°This is myst time asking you, you old bastards! Give me all the artifacts!¡±


    ¡°I had never agreed to any of such requests before joining.¡±- Irvin fiercely argued.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a choice, Irvin. You guys either die or hand over the artifacts.¡±- The man threatened as he took out a small dagger from his clothes, motioning towards Haley.


    When Irvin noticed the danger, he brought his hands in his clothes in an attempt to use whatever he had at his disposal to get out of the situation.


    Irvin was not a Mage or a Fighter, but he did have some Magical Items hidden in his clothes.


    The middle-aged man, on the other hand, was a Rank-5 Fighter, as Ozul had perceived. Before that man could move forward, he heard the voice;


    ¡°Stop it. I¡¯m interested in these people. Don¡¯t go ruining everything.¡±- Ozul said with a calm voice and did not even try hiding that he was curious about the old couple.


    ¡°Huh!?¡±


    ¡°Who are you to stop me, kid!?¡±- Though the man was not a Mage, he could still perceive that the kid was only an ¡®ordinary kid¡¯ without any Mana.


    ¡°Oh, me? I¡¯m a Silver Rank Mercenary.¡±- Ozul ¡®introduced¡¯ himself and showed the silver badge on the right side of his t-shirt.


    He had put the badge on after ze and Raven had been promoted to Gold Rank. Not only him, he even forced the duo to wear the Gold Rank badges!


    He did it all, just so ze and Raven would receive all the attention, while he would be ignored. It would indeed be a blessing when people don¡¯t have their attention on him.


    ¡°Hmph! Everyone knows that you can get that badge even if you party with someone who is a Silver Rank Mercenary! You think that I¡¯m a fool!?¡±- The man barked at Ozul.


    ¡°Eh? I never said that you¡¯re a fool... Just told you that I¡¯m a Silver Rank.¡±- Ozul tilted his head and looked at the man as if he was some kind of an idiot.


    ¡°Drom, Stop i-¡± Irvin called out to the man to stop, but the man named Drom did not listen to him.


    ¡°YOU!!! You dumb shit!¡±- Drom, the brown-haired man, was about to charge at Ozul in anger, but before he could even take a step, he fell on the floor...


    *Gurgle...*


    His body convulsed in pain, but the man could not even yell as all that came out of his mouth was some gurgling voices. After a few seconds, he stopped moving, as the lounge regained its silence.


    Irvin was shocked out of his mind as he could not make heads or tails of the situation. Why had Drom, a Rank-5 Fighter just suddenly dropped dead on the ground.


    However, when he looked at the calm face of Ozul, moving his hands through the silky smooth hair of Jinx, Irvin and Haley realized who was behind this event.


    ¡°You! You don¡¯t know what you have done!¡±- Irvin looked at Ozul with annoyance clear on his face.


    ¡°You made a mess out of the situation! Their people would now keeping after us!¡±- In a fit of anger, Irvin even forgot that it was Ozul that had protected them. If not for him, things might have turned out worse for them.


    Irvin didn¡¯t realize this. However, Haley, who had been beside him all this time, knew what to do.


    ¡°Calm down, Irvin! Do you think we would have been all fine if he had not interfered?¡±- Haley fiercely spat at him.


    ¡°This...¡±- Irvin wanted to retort. However, no matter how much he thought, he couldn¡¯t find anything wrong with her statement.


    He had his head bowed down in shame when suddenly the sound of footsteps could be heard just outside the hotel. It was in the middle of the night, and there were hardly any people outside, so the noise attracted their attention instantly.


    ¡°Hurry up, you fool! why is it taking so long just to deal with those old farts!?¡±


    The high pitched voice rang out in the now silent lounge as the figure of a woman wearing some revealing clothes appeared in their view.

 Chapter 91

    Chapter 91: Just a Rank-6?


    ¡°Hurry up, you fool! why is it taking so long just to deal with those old farts!?¡±


    Following these words, a woman entered the lounge while wearing the tight revealing clothes that would have left most men on the street ogling at her.


    However, the three people did not care about her appearance. All of their attention was focused on the way she addressed the man.


    As the woman casually walked in, her eyes narrowed when she recognized the body on the ground. The blood puddle near the man was proof that he was dead.


    She swept her eyes at the three people on sight. She quickly dismissed Ozul¡¯s figure as he only appeared to be an ordinary teenager.


    ¡°You old farts! You do realize the consequences of your actions, right~?¡±- The woman figured that it must be the old couple who had killed the man.


    She walked near the couple with a sadistic smile on her face. The woman did not care about the man, but she still had to act her part.


    .....


    ¡°It was not them. I killed that guy.¡±- Just as the woman had been approaching the couple, Ozul raised his head and stopped her.


    The woman with revealing clothes turned around to look at Ozul. Before he had his head down and she couldn¡¯t take a good look at his face, but now when she saw those serene eyes, the woman was instantly entranced by his looks.


    ¡°Oh~ Want my attention, do you? Well, you¡¯ve seeded. I always like breaking your type, handsome~.¡±- The woman replied teasingly. However, her words were anything but romantic.


    ¡°You disgust me.¡±


    Ozul had no other words for the woman who already had her face twisted in rage.


    The woman was only a Rank-4 Mage. Butpared to the man earlier, she was leagues ahead in terms of raw power.


    ¡®Sigh... this kid does not know restraints, does he?¡¯- Irvin thought as he also kept thinking about a n to get out of this situation.


    ¡°Pretty Boy! don¡¯t try-¡±


    The woman, angered by Ozul¡¯s words, was about tosh out on him when suddenly she stopped on her feet.


    ¡°What? Cat got your tongue?¡±- Ozul calmly asked as the woman gulped, feeling the cold feeling against the back of her neck.


    Even until now, the old couple had not realized how Ozul was controlling things. They had seen many things, experienced many difficulties, but this was something out of their expectations.


    ¡®He has not even let go of his rxed posture, and even this woman is standing still before him! What is he...¡¯- Both Haley and Irvin had the same questions in their minds.


    Even earlier, when Ozul had just killed the man named Drom with a needle, the couple could not see the attacking. Though both of them were old and powerless now, things were different before.


    Anyways, back to the woman. Her hands were trembling as the needle had just touched her skin enough to draw a small trail of blood that dripped down her back, giving her the goosebumps.


    The woman wanted to do something, but the slight pricking feeling on the back of her neck acted as a reminder that she was powerless. Even a little bit of movement, and she would be dead.


    ¡°Y-you... don¡¯t know who you are m-messing with... kid.¡±- The woman stuttered while trying to act calm.


    ¡°Oh, I know. Just a measly Rank-4.¡±- Ozul replied with a calm voice since Rank-4 was not even worth his attention.


    ¡°You-¡±


    ¡°Yeah, me. Get to the point already.¡±- He did not let the woman talk since he knew that she would only be spouting nonsense in anger.


    ¡°I-if you do something to me, the boss would find out. He is a Rank-6 Mage!¡±-


    As the woman spoke, she started regaining her confidence as the might of a Rank-6 was not something that any person would ignore in her mind.


    ¡°Just a Rank-6?¡±- Ozul had thought that there would be someone quite powerful behind this ruckus, but the truth disappointed him.


    ¡°Kid, you do not need to get involved in all of this mess.¡±- Irvin tried to stop him from getting into the danger.


    He thought that Ozul was strong, but also somewhat ignorant as there was no way that a teenager could go against a Rank-6 Mage.


    Thought the old couple knew that now a Rank-6 Mage would be after them, unlike anyone else, they were not panicking or anything.


    It was only this attitude of theirs that had piqued Ozul¡¯s interest. Many of the elderly had experienced hardships, but even the aged Mages were not so quick-witted as the old couple.


    Hence, Ozul had guessed that they would surely have some backstory.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t need to. But I will.¡±- Ozul raised an eyebrow at Irvin¡¯s attempt to stop him from interfering in their problem.


    His reply caused Irvin¡¯s eyes to twitch as it was true that he could not stop him.


    ¡°So, just take me to this... boss of yours.¡±- Ozul told the woman who had her eye lit up after hearing him.


    She thought that maybe this was her only chance to get out of the situation.


    Ozul stood up from the chair and started walking out of the hotel following right behind the woman who still walked stiffly due to her earlier fright.


    However, just before exiting the door, Ozul seemingly said to no one.


    ¡°Go back to sleep. Otherwise, wait for the punishment.¡±


    Just after he had muttered those words, two shadows standing near the stairs tiptoed back to their room.


    Those shadows were precisely Raven and ze. They could not hold back their curiosity, so they had silently left their room under the cover of Raven¡¯s Spell.


    The Magical Spell hid them in shadows, and even some experienced Mages wouldn¡¯t be able to notice them. But how could just a veil of darkness protect them from Ozul¡¯s senses?


    Not to mention that Ozul had sensed them even earlier due to the darkness.


    Irvin was hesitating if he should follow him or not. Only when Haley nodded her head at him did his expression turned determined. Both of them also walked out of the hotel. It was their mess, to begin with.


    In their view, Ozul was helping them, so if they backed down now, it would be a d*ck move on their part.


    They were inseparable even in the face of danger as Irvin did not stop Haley from following him.


    Ozul still did not have aplete understanding of the group that he was dealing with. Heck, he did not even know their purpose!


    So on the way, he started asking questions about the organization while the old couple was walking side by side with him.


    ¡°What do you guys do?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±- The woman was confused that he did not even know what they did. She had thought that he was someone with the old couple, but it seemed as though she was wrong.


    ¡°Just answer me already.¡±- He said before the woman felt the needle pricking just another millimeter in her skin.


    ¡°Yes!... Our group just gathers information around the city.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What about them, are they also in your organization?¡±- Ozul asked while pointing towards the old couple who had wry expressions on their faces since he did not even directly ask them.


    ¡°Yes, they joined just some months ago. They ran the hotel and just kept tabs on the people since they did not have any extraordinary strength.¡±-


    The woman did not hold back any information in an attempt to gain time. In her mind, the kid would die in the hands of her boss anyway, so it didn¡¯t matter how much she told him.


    ¡°They hade seeking a ce to hide, and in return, they just kept an eye on the civilians to find anything unusual. However, we just recently found that he had been hiding artifacts!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why the boss had sent Drom and me to take them from these old farts.¡±


    ¡°What do you do with the information?¡±-


    ¡°That... I don¡¯t know. Boss Bafon deals with everything personally.¡±- The woman nervously replied since her answer did not seem so convincing.


    Ozul knew that she was not lying since he could read her emotions like a book.


    He was also curious as to how Irvin got hold of the Magical Items while only being an ¡®ordinary human¡¯.


    Though he already knew that the old couple was not so ordinary as they seemed to be, Ozul did not understand anything more than that.


    He gave a side nce towards the couple who avoided his gaze and whistled innocently.


    The rest of the way, no one said anything since Ozul did not need any more information.


    There were still people on the streets, but the direction they walked in had fewer people. Sometimeter, they were in the darkest alleys of the city where you could even hear the sound of bugs in the surroundings.


    ¡°Hey! Samora is back!¡±- As they were walking, Ozul heard the shout of a man...

 Chapter 92

    Chapter 92: You Suck at Acting.


    ¡°Hey! Samora is back!¡±


    The shout of a man sounded out in the alleys, but there was no one in sight.


    Though others weren¡¯t able to see anyone, Ozul had already perceived the tens of eyes focused on him.


    However, he did not stop, and the group of them walked for a while before they arrived near a seemingly old house.


    If the house werepared to any other in the vicinity, there wouldn¡¯t be any difference at all. Only an old grumpy man with a cigarette in his mouth and holding a candle over a newspaper sat near the door.


    When they arrived before the guy, he looked up from the newspaper and grumbled a little when he saw the woman.


    ¡°Lass! You¡¯rete. Boss has been getting impatient! And where is that Drom idiot!? More importantly, who are they?¡±- The grumpy guy began to ask questions on questions.


    .....


    The woman who someone had called Samora before wanted to reply, but the cold feeling on her neck forced her to keep quiet.


    ¡°... Just open the door, Dem.¡±-


    The grumpy old guy referred to as Dem pressed something near him, which gave a click sound before unlocking the door of the house.


    As the group walked passed him, Dem started mumbling to himself before he started reading the newspaper under the light of a candle again.


    ¡°...Hmph! Youngsters these days... don¡¯t even show respect to elders...¡±


    The old guy Dem¡¯s mumblings were entirely ignored as the group entered the house.


    The view inside the house waspletely different. Men and women of various ages walked here and there doing their stuff.


    Everyone was too busy with their tasks to care about the new arrivals-everyone, except for a particr group that had all of their eyes fixed on them.


    Even when the woman named Samora had arrived at her turf, she did not dare to make any rash move on impulse since the needle was still right behind her neck.


    ¡°Just take me to the guy already.¡±- Ozul said, already bored with the situation. This Samora woman was just taking too long.


    ¡°O-okay, okay!¡±- Samora hurriedly replied, fearing that he might kill her any time since he had already arrived at the ce.


    However, just as they were about to walk forward, a group consisting of mostly Fighters stood before them.


    ¡°You were not supposed to bring them here, Samora.¡±- One of the men from the group spoke up.


    ¡°Huh!? Do I need your permission? And tell me where the boss is. It¡¯s urgent.¡±- Samora replied with disdain apparent in her tone.


    The man who had spoken up instantly shut up as he was aware of Samora¡¯s sadistic nature.


    After the short ¡®conversation¡¯, Ozul and the old couple walked into theplex building, followed by the earlier group of Fighters.


    The people walking around them minded their own business. Most of them were just ordinary humans, and they seemed to only work in collecting information.


    Looking at all the documents containing even the small events all around the Capital City delighted Ozul.


    It seemed that even without that Bafon guy being only a Rank-6 Mage, he had built a sold organization.


    ¡®Makes my work much easier, nice...¡¯


    After a few turns around the web-like structure, the group arrived before two big doors.


    Samora did not hesitate to open the door and enter, followed by Ozul and the old couple. Meanwhile, the group of Fighters stopped at the entrance.


    Not everyone could just enter the office of their boss. In fact, their boss disliked when people disturbed his peace even for essential reasons.


    The room was the office of Bafon, the leader of this organization which collected information around the Capital City.


    In the office, a man well over 6 feet tall stood by the window which opened on the other side of the ¡®house¡¯. The view showed him of an area that would be lively only at night time-the red light district.


    He had a cup of tea in his hands as he sipped from time to time. Bafon looked towards the door when he heard the creaking noise.


    Just as the door had closed after the couple entered, Samora did not hold back and began to shout for help.


    She thought that since Ozul was now in the presence of a Rank-6 Mage, he would not be so arrogant and wouldn¡¯t dare to do anything to her.


    ¡°Boss! This pretty boy forced me to take-¡±


    *Thud*


    Before she could finish, though, she just fell straight on the floor.


    Ozul had no further need for that woman. Moreover, he hated people who had such a high pitched voice.


    ¡°Annoying.¡±


    Even Irvin and Haley were a little shocked to see Ozul acting so boldly before the Rank-6 Mage, Bafon.


    Before Irvin could even say anything, Bafon, after seeing Samora die right before his eyes, was seething in anger.


    Though he did not care about her pathetic life, it would ruin her reputation if the word spread out that his subordinate was killed in front of him while he just stood there doing nothing.


    ¡°Who are you!?¡±-


    Though Bafon was angry, he knew that not just anyone would dare to mess with him.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just a Silver Rank Mercenary... Tell me about you.¡±- Ozul said while showing his Silver badge on the shirt.


    ¡°Huh!? You, only a Silver Rank Mercenary dares to be so impudent?!¡±


    Hearing that the kid was just a Silver Rank Mercenary caused Bafon to lose all his previous hesitations.


    ¡°Uh, yeah?¡±- Ozul said after looking for afortable seat to sit on.


    When Bafon saw how casual the kid talked to him, he clenched his fists and was about to attack him when;


    ¡°You sure wanna do that without telling me what I want to know?¡±- Ozul casually said.


    However, Bafon barely stood still on his feet as he could not even begin toprehend how it had happened.


    A ck needle was right in front of his eye! The needle was almost even touching his eye! Just a step ahead, and he would instantly lose his left eye!


    ¡®But how?! I did not even see iting!¡¯- Bafon silently cursed himself in his heart.


    Even the old couple were surprised as they now understood how Ozul had killed the man earlier.


    Just as Bafon was about to step backward, he felt another needle touching the back of his head! In fear, he could not even move the rest of his body!


    ¡°So, tell me. Who funds you?¡±- Ozul only had thisst question since he was sure that Bafon alone without any funding, wouldn¡¯t be able to build such an organization after seeing his behavior.


    ¡°You are messing with wrong people, kid!¡±- Bafon was not imitated so easily.


    ¡°Tell me who are these ¡®wrong people¡¯... I don¡¯t have the time for your nonsense.¡±- Ozul said with annoyance clear in his tone.


    ¡°... It¡¯s Marquis Freeling! It¡¯s still not toote to give up, and I will not kill-¡±


    *Thud!*


    Before he could finish his sentence, like others, Bafon also dropped dead on the ground.


    The room regained its silence after his death. Irvin and Haley just kept looking at each other, unsure of what to do next.


    Irvin had previously thought that the kid did not know his limits. However, it seems now that he had still underestimated his capabilities.


    He had killed a Rank-6 Mage without even blinking an eye! Just what kind of monster was this kid!?


    ¡°Hey, kid-*Ahem* I mean Sir, I want to thank you for your help¡±- Irvin earnestly bowed towards Ozul. This time, his actions did not have any deceit.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I did it for myself.¡±- Ozul did not care about the pleasantries and just spoke the truth.


    ¡°Even so! You still saved me and my wife¡¯s life. If you have anything to ask, I¡¯ll do it to the best of my abilities.¡±


    Though the couple may not be so kind-hearted, they knew how to repay the gratitude.


    ¡°You misunderstand.¡±- Ozul replied, confusing both Irvin and Haley.


    ¡°I did it for myself. Because I want people like you to work under me.¡±- Ozul exin which left the couple wide-eyed.


    Why wouldn¡¯t they?! This kid had just killed a Rank-6 Mage without batting an eye, and now he says that he did all that just to hire some ¡®ordinary¡¯ humans like them!?


    ¡°Hm? Still acting? You know it won¡¯t work on me.¡±


    Both Irvin and Haley sighed, and their facial expressions turned cold before Irvin asked;


    ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°How did I know what?¡±- For some reason, Ozul forgot that he wanted to hurry things up.


    This attitude of Ozul irked Irvin to no end.


    ¡°How do you know that we are not ¡®ordinary humans¡¯?¡±- Haley patiently asked since Irvin was gritting his teeth at the moment.


    ¡°Oh, that? You guys just suck at acting.¡±


    .....


    Hearing Ozul¡¯s reply, both Irvin and Haley had wry smiles on their faces as even they knew how much mastery they had over their ¡®performance¡¯.

 Chapter 93

    Chapter 93: Their Past.


    ¡°You guys suck at acting.¡±


    Both Irvin and Haley¡¯s eyes twitched since they were aware of the mastery that they had on their skills.


    ¡°Well, that and... many other factors.¡±- Ozul further added.


    ¡°Other factors?¡±- Irvin did not understand how his decades of experience had let a kid pick up on some mistakes that he wasn¡¯t even aware of!


    Ozul noticed that the old couple was still confused, and since he had enough free time, a little exining wouldn¡¯t be a bother.


    ¡°First of all, I can always feel the Magic imbued weapons hidden in your clothes.¡±- Ozul said while pointing towards the parts where Irvin had hidden his weapons.


    Irvin and Haley were shocked to see that Ozul had so effortlessly pointed out each and every weapon that he had hidden!


    .....


    ¡°Though these weapons are justifiable, how will you exin your expertise in this art of hiding them?¡±


    Thisment of Ozul was something that no matter how much Irvin tried, he could not find any words to deny it.


    Hiding so many weapons inside their clothes without anyone being able to notice was not something an average guy was able to do. Instead, this is a skill of professional killers!


    ¡°However, all that aside. The most crucial point was...your eyes.¡±- Ozul added, not letting Irvin and Haley recover from the previous shocks.


    ¡°Eyes?¡±


    Now, this really confused Irvin. How did his eyes give away that he was not your average old man?


    ¡°Eyes... They say a lot about you.¡±- Ozul¡¯s gentle voice rang out in the quiet room.


    He looked at Irvin with vacant eyes while caressing Jinx¡¯s hair, who had been purring for a while now. Both partiespletely ignored the dead body of Bafon in the middle and stared right at each other.


    ¡°Even when in the face of danger, your eyes never wavered...¡±- Ozul said before he again went back to focusing on the silky ck hair of Jinx.


    ¡°Your gaze has that certain sharpness which only the elite does.¡±- He added to the exnation.


    It was true since even when the old couple was afraid of him back then, Irvin¡¯s eyes held a determination as if he was ready to die any time!


    The only fearful emotions that he had radiated at that time was the fear of losing his wife Haley and the natural fear of pain.


    No matter how much a human trained himself not to be afraid of death, no one wanted to suffer!


    Anyhow, Ozul knew from these points that even though Irvin was not a Mage or a Fighter now, it was probably different before.


    ¡°Anyways, now that I know... Care to exin in detail?¡±- Ozul asked since even if he was able to figure out these things, he was not some seer who could see the future and past.


    Hearing his words, Irvin looked at Haley. As both their eyes met, they conveyed many feelings without even the need for any words.


    As if they had reached a silent agreement, Irvin looked at Ozul with a determined expression.


    ¡°I was a killer before.¡±


    Ozul already knew so much and had also saved them from a life-threatening mess. Thus, the old couple decided not to hold anything back.


    ¡°More precisely, I worked under a famous House as an assassin and a manager. At that time, I was a Rank-8 Mage and also a Fighter.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    ¡®Rank-8 Mage and a Fighter and still worked under some famous House? Hm... That¡¯s interesting.¡¯


    Rank-8 Mages wouldn¡¯tin if they worked under an organization as massive as the Silverbird Kingdom, but only a House was enough to convince Irvin to work under them? That House must be remarkable.


    When Ozul looked up to see why he had stopped exining, he saw Irvin looking at him weirdly.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You believe me?¡±- Irvin had thought that Ozul wouldn¡¯t buy any of his exnations.


    Irvin knew how absurd it sounded when he said that he was a Rank-8 Mage before! Why would anyone even begin to believe that?


    ¡°Yes, I believe you... I know from your eyes.¡±-


    It was a lie. However, Ozul did not know how he would even begin to exin that he can sense emotions. Moreover, it is kind of his trump card.


    Though he doesn¡¯t trust anyone so quickly, being able to sense their emotions was a great tool. It could not only help him get out of the situation but also help him in danger.


    Knowing what your enemy is feeling at that moment can be used as a weapon against them if appropriately handled.


    Back to the scene, Irvin easily believed his words since there was no other answer.


    ¡°So, what happened for you to end up in this state?¡±- Ozul asked. He did not understand how a man who was once a Rank-8 Mage became the ordinary human in front of him.


    ¡°They had given me a mission once... and I failed.¡±- Before Ozul could say anything, Irvin continued;


    ¡°The problem was not the failure, but what happened next. I was heavily wounded after returning from the mission. I would have died, but a miracle happened.¡±-


    Irvin said thest part with a sweet smile that really suited an old man as he looked affectionately at Haley.


    In response, Haley was blushing furiously! The scene looked really weird from a spectator¡¯s point of view since both of them look quite old, and yet they were flirting.


    Ozul being Ozul, also did not interrupt them as any other person would after being put into the awkward situation. He just kept stroking Jinx¡¯s smooth hair.


    Only a momentter, when the old couple came back to reality, did Ozul start the conversation.


    ¡°You were saying?¡±


    ¡°*Ahem* So I was saying, when I was at the death door, Haley came into my life. She was also the daughter of a noble house...¡±


    In thest part, Irvin looked down the ground as if it was all his fault that they hade to this point.


    Haley held his hands and looked at him reassuringly, only then did he continue;


    ¡°She was also a genius of Rank-7, but due to the goodness of heart, she saved me. I had never imagined that in my whole life, I could love someone. But she proved it wrong.¡±


    ¡°However, that was the problem. I worked under the House, which would tolerate failures but not weaknesses...¡±


    ¡°They wanted me to leave Haley after she had run away from her family for me. But I could not leave her...¡±


    Irvin began to narrate everything that had happened while Ozul patiently listened.


    He described that the House did not allow any weakness, and Irvin having a lover was a weakness.


    And making Irvin leave the House was also not an option since he was aware of many things, and this would also turn into their weakness.


    Hence, the chain of disasters started, which befell on them from time to time.


    The people that Irvin had worked for secretly gave him a particr poison. He waste to realize it.


    The poison generated a blockade around the Core of a Mage. When Irvin had realized as such, it was already toote.


    The only good thing was that the poison took some time for full effects. And in the meantime, since Irvin was already prepared for the consequences, he had managed to escape.


    However, when he reached the ce where Haley stayed, he realized that she was also poisoned!


    They were chased for miles as Irvin did his best to take on everyone, even in the injured and poisoned state. Fortunately for him, the higher-ups above him had not made the moves personally. If they did, Irvin wouldn¡¯t have been standing before Ozul.


    All in all, Irvin and Haley managed to leave, but the poison left all their years of hard work useless.


    Their cultivation slowly receded into nonexistent, and all they had left was theirpanionship and some other useful skills that did not require Mana.


    They could also not live peacefully since those people were still searching for them. However, only small-timers woulde after the old couple since it had been decades now.


    They would change their location from time to time. The Magical weapons that Irvin had managed to run away with were their only lifeline.


    Hence, he did not want to hand over those weapons to Bafon¡¯s men. But the situation had escted to this.


    After narrating the whole story, Irvin and Haley stood facing Ozul, who was feeling sleepy already.


    *Yawn*


    ¡°Finished already?¡±- Ozul asked with a tired tone.


    Irvin was again holding himself back fromshing out on this kid. He had exined all his past tragedies, and this kid was sleepy!?


    ¡°So, you said that you still have Core, yeah?¡±-


    ¡°Yes, But the blockage over the Core is not something that anyone would be able to remove. I even read it in a book that this type of poison was almost impossible to cure.¡±- Irvin dejectedly replied.


    ¡°We will talk about thatter.¡±- Ozul stood up from his chair and came before Irvin.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see...¡±

 Chapter 94

    Chapter 94: Back to the Peak.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see.¡±


    Ozul muttered as he released Ball of Purity out of his body in the gaseous form.


    Irvin and Haley were both creeped out of the ck gas exuding out of Ozul¡¯s body. They were sure that it was not a Mage¡¯s Spell since Ozul didn¡¯t even blink all this while.


    Everyone was aware of casting the Spells without chanting, but even that required a Mage¡¯splete focus on the Mana to guide it as such.


    Moreover, the old couple felt no Mana fluctuations at all! Though they had lost their cultivation, they still retained their senses.


    Sensing the fluctuations of Mana wasn¡¯t any difficulty for them. However, no matter how Irvin thought, he still did not back away. He felt that even if Ozul wanted to harm them, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything.


    Though Ozul could sense most of the things, he did not have a particr skill for this. That¡¯s why he wasn¡¯t even able to detect if they had any Core at all.


    .....


    For such reasons, Ozul would have to use his Ball of Purity. It acted as an extra organ that others did not have. It served as his weapon, support, eyes, ears, and anything that he wanted it to be.


    The only limitations that it had was Ozul¡¯s imagination and his control over it.


    So he had to first send the Ball of Purity inside Irvin to assess the situation. It would greatly benefit Ozul if he could somehow help the old couple return back to their peak.


    Unlike most people, Ozul knew that the old couple might be crafty, but they weren¡¯t someone who would forget others ¡®kindness¡¯.


    When the Ball of Purity entered Irvin¡¯s body, Ozul somehow had a clear vision of everything that the ck gas passed by.


    It didn¡¯t take long for it to reach where a Mage¡¯s Core is supposed to be. However, instead of finding the crystal-like ball, all Ozul saw was a ball of filth! At least that is what he sensed from afar.


    Only when the Ball of Purity closed in on it did Ozul feel the familiar feeling of disgust. It wasn¡¯t that Mana itself was something that he loathed since it was at least better than most of the other things.


    The only annoyance he had with Mana was the glistening, which was not any less annoying than the sunlight.


    Now he only needed to check if the Ball of Purity could remove thatyer of blockage.


    The only reason this poison was considered almost incurable was due to the risks that it brought to cure.


    The Mage¡¯s Core, on the one hand, was a sturdy container for the Mana while, on the other hand, it was also a delicate ¡®organ¡¯ of Mages.


    Even just a little mistake and this delicate crystal ball would shatter like ss. And that would cause all the condensed Mana inside to rampage inside that Mage¡¯s body!


    In the best-case scenario, the Mage¡¯s body would not burst like a water balloon.


    That¡¯s why in fear of making even a slight mistake, people would not try to temper with a Core inside living people.


    It was a different situation with cksmiths using the Cores to make magical items, though.


    There were various tools used to handle delicate objects like Magical Cores, but not even one of them was usable inside living creatures.


    Hence, Irvin and Haley did not have any hope for Ozul to be of any help. They were just letting him check since they were indebted to him and a small request such as this was not a problem.


    *Swooosh...*


    Only when the blinding light shone for a moment, and Irvin felt the sudden Mana waves from inside his body did both he and Haley had their hopes reignited.


    ¡°Y-you! You dispelled the effects of the poison!?¡±- Irvin could not help but shout out loud.


    He could not believe that it was even possible after all those decades of hiding and searching for a cure!


    Only after checking inside his body did Irvin confirm that he could use Mana again! With a swift movement of his hand, he focused all of his attention on it and suddenly;


    *Bzzzzzz*


    *Crackle*


    Electric sparks began to form around his hands! This scene in front of Ozul indicated that Irvin used the Lightning Element, and he was also very proficient in it.


    All the talented Mages would already start to build their affinity with their respective Elements around Rank-8.


    *Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*


    Just then, Irvin started coughing as the filth that had previously covered his Core came out of his mouth.


    After looking at the filth that Irvin had coughed up, even Haley understood that the kid before them had performed the miracle.


    After processing everything that had happened in thest few minutes, Irvin had tears started to form in his eyes.


    Though he did not care about losing all of his power, he still felt guilty of getting Haley implicated in all the mess.


    Decades had passed, but the thought of him being responsible for Haley losing her powers still haunted him to this day.


    Though Haley always reassured him that she was okay with that as long as he remained with her, Irvin¡¯s guilt did not lessen one bit.


    Now that he had finally seen the hope, Irvin did not want to lose it. He hurriedly collected himself and cleared away his tears.


    ¡°You... Can you do the same with Haley?¡±- Irvin asked with pleading eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. You don¡¯t need to, and I¡¯m fine, anyways.¡±- Haley hurriedly waved her hands.


    It was not that Haley did not want her powers back. She just thought that it must have required Ozul to go through extreme pain just to help Irvin and so she did not want to be a burden.


    Ozul had already helped them so much, and now this. The couple did not know how they would ever be able to pay him back.


    Unknown to them, Ozul already had many ns for them to pay him back.


    ¡°...Kid, I will never forget your kindness if you help my wife!¡±- Irvin did not want to let this chance go and was almost begging Ozul.


    ¡± *Sigh*... Stop your drama and get up.¡±- Ozul said to Irvin, who was already kneeling on the floor.


    He acted as if it was a bother for him to help them since this would leave an even better impression on them.


    ¡°Thank you! Thank you!...¡±


    Irvin started chanting thank you¡¯s as Ozul approached the olddy Haley.


    Just like before, Ozul only required a few seconds before a Mana wave was released from Haley¡¯s body, albeit on a smaller scale.


    *Swoof~*


    *Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*


    ¡°Hahahaha...¡±- Irvin¡¯s madughter sounded out in the room when he saw the same process happening with Haley.


    Though they were already past their prime, being Mages at Rank-7 and Rank-8 gave them decades of more time to live. In which if they want to, they could still advance in Ranks!


    ¡°We will never forget your mercy, uh... young man.¡±


    Irvin said before he bowed towards Ozul as Haley followed his example and performed a small bow.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know if I will ever be able to repay your kindness.¡±- The old couple had a look of awe as they gazed at Ozul¡¯s handsome face.


    Irvin forgot all the previous times that he wanted to plummet this kid on the ground and beat the shit out of him too. All he had in his mind right now was that this kid had given him and his wife a new life.


    He wouldn¡¯t need to worry about any of their pursuers since he was almost back to the peak of his power.


    Though both Haley and Irvin were again Rank-7 and Rank-8, respectively, their Ranks had degraded. Haley was a Middle-Stage and ended up as Initial-Stage while Irvin was an End-Stage and had ended up as Middle Stage.


    This downgrade happened because it had already been decades since their Cores had not replenished or refined Mana.


    ¡°Oh? You wanna repay me, right?¡±- Ozul asked with an amused tone, but his face remained impassive as if he didn¡¯t care about anything.


    Irvin suddenly had chills on his back when he saw the cold eyes examining him as if he was just a toy.


    *Smack!*


    ¡°Ouch! What was that for!?¡±- Irvin rubbed the back of his head and looked at Haley with annoyance.


    *Smack!*


    Another smack followed right after when Irvin had just asked the reason for the previous one.


    ¡°Okay, Okay! Sheesh. I won¡¯t ask!¡±- He again rubbed the back of his head, but the earlier annoyance had disappeared into thin air.


    ¡°He has already helped us so much! What are you still hesitating over!?¡±- Haley, being the alpha wife she was, had realized that it was her duty to make Irvin understand.


    She looked towards Ozul as if he was her own child and gave a motherly smile.


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to this old man! we will repay you however you wish us to.¡±


    ¡®But I didn¡¯t even say anything...¡¯- Irvin thought as he was also forced to smile, but due to the earlier smacks, it came out weird.


    ¡°Well, I won¡¯t make things too difficult for you.¡±


    Irvin sighed in relief but hearing Ozul¡¯s next words caused him to smile wryly.


    ¡°You will just have to manage a whole organization for me...¡±

 Chapter 95

    Chapter 95: The New Leader.


    Irvin was stupefied since managing a whole organization was not something small at all!


    He was going to ask questions about this organization of his, but before he could voice out his thoughts, he noticed Haley ring at him again.


    Her res tranted as, ¡°If you so much as denied even a single request, you¡¯re dead!¡±


    ¡°What is this organization about?¡±- He quickly changed the previous questions that he had in his mind into more of a fitting one.


    ¡°It is about collecting information and doing every odd task for me.¡±- Ozul exined while looking out of the window, on the scene which depicted one of the man¡¯s original sin, lust.


    ¡°And how big is this organization, where is it located? Moreover, what is the name?¡±- Irvin started bombarding the questions.


    ¡°Oh, that? Well, it¡¯s up to you.¡±


    .....


    ¡°Up to me? What do you mean?¡±- The old man could not understand what Ozul was trying to say.


    ¡°The organization hasn¡¯t been built yet... You have to build it.¡±- Ozul gave a pause in the middle so Irvin could understand each of his words.


    ¡°WHAT!?¡±


    *Smack!*


    ¡°Lower your volume! What are you shouting for!?¡±- Haley again gave a smack to Irvin.


    ¡°But!... but...¡±- Irvin wanted to say something in his defense but stopped midway remembering the earlier smacks.


    *Sigh...*


    ¡°...You mean to say that I not only have to manage but also have to build this organization of yours from scratch. Did I get it right, brat *cough...* I mean, young man?¡±


    Irvin corrected himself at the end of his sentence, noticing the hand of Haley that was ready toe his way anytime.


    ¡°Hm... You got it right, old man.¡±- Ozul replied without caring about the annoyance that was almost written on Irvin¡¯s face when he replied so straightforwardly.


    Ozul was basically asking Irvin to do everything for him! Only the word ¡®ve¡¯ was not spoken openly. Otherwise, it wasn¡¯t anything different from that.


    Hence, it resulted in Irvin being annoyed to no end with the way Ozul was ¡®asking¡¯ him to do it.


    With the way Ozul was not even looking at him, it made him think that the kid didn¡¯t even care for his answer.


    ¡°It was all for this, wasn¡¯t it?¡±- Though Irvin may have aged, he still remembered the ins and outs of such matters.


    ¡°Yes. It was...¡±- Ozul did not lie or try to make some excuse since he did not care if Irvin knew or not.


    Irvin finally understood what Ozul had meant by, ¡®I am interested in these people.¡¯ when killing Drom.


    From the start, Ozul had an eye on him. This thought gave him shivers as such foresight was not something that he had imagined from a teenager!


    ¡°So, will you do it... or not?¡±


    Though it sounded like a question, these words brought pressure to Irvin, who had already recovered his Rank-8 Mage powers.


    This event bewildered Irvin since he had thought that Ozul, at most, was only as powerful as a Rank-8 Mage only.


    However, using only his words to cause his knees to go weak was not something a Rank-8 Mage could do to another one on the same level!


    Then as if he had just remembered something, Irvin looked probingly at Ozul. He silently used a Spell that he had created specifically for analyzing his opponents.


    The results again caused him to have a setback since no matter how much he tried, the kid before him showed signs of being neither a Fighter nor a Mage.


    ¡®Just what is he... He can¡¯t be a Rank-9 Mage at such a young age! It¡¯s just impossible! Wait... why am I only judging his age by his appearance!¡¯-


    Irvin contemted for a while in his mind and concluded that Ozul was actually a Senior that was above Rank-8 and only looked like a teenager.


    And now, when he thought about Ozul being a Senior, all of his behavior made sense to him. No teenager could be so decisive and calm while dealing with matters.


    It also made sense as to why he could not find any traces of him being a Mage or a Fighter.


    After ¡®realizing the truth¡¯, Irvin ¡®understood¡¯ that this ¡®Senior¡¯ before him just wanted ackey to do small stuff for him.


    Though he was ready to ept Ozul¡¯s ¡®request¡¯ even before his ¡®realization¡¯, Irvin was more than happy to be working under someone of a higher rank than him.


    The thought of working under someone more powerful than him would help Irvin maintain his self-esteem.


    ¡°I will do it, Senior!¡±- Irvin said in a respectful tone. His attitude took a 360-degree turn after ¡®realizing the truth¡¯.


    Both Ozul and Haley looked at Irvin weirdly. However, they did not bother to ask what brought the change.


    ¡®Well, it¡¯s better this way.¡¯- Ozul had realized the reason for such sudden change in attitude by the way Irvin addressed him.


    Many before him had alsoe to the same conclusion. Ozul did not try to correct the misunderstanding since it was beneficial for him.


    ¡°Do not call me a Senior.¡±


    Though it didn¡¯t matter what others called him, Ozul would receive unwanted attention if an old man such as Irvin was noticed calling him a Senior.


    ¡®Ah! Of course Senior wouldn¡¯t want me to call him that in public!¡¯- Irvin thought.


    ¡°Then... I will just call you, Young Master?¡±


    Even Master would sound as if Ozul was older than him, so the closest thing that he could think of was calling him Young Master.


    ¡°Whatever...¡±


    After everything was said and done, they noticed that it had been getting quite smelly already in the room. So, they decided to do the remaining talks back at the hotel.


    Just as Irvin opened the door, the group of Fighters still stood outside, unaware of the events that had urred.


    ¡°Oi! You! Where is Samora?!¡±-


    One of them who had still not realized that something was off due to the repugnant smell of blood shouted while pointing at Ozul.


    *Thud*


    Though before he could say anything else, he dropped dead on the floor! It was also not Ozul who did it this time, but Irvin, since he would not ept any disrespect now that he had his powers back again.


    ¡°Ahhhh!¡± X4


    Some of the men present were so shocked that they screamed unconsciously. Only the re from Irvin made them put hands on their mouths to stop themselves from shouting.


    ¡°Listen well. Bafon, the leader of this organization, is dead. From today onwards, I will be taking over!¡±


    Irvin said in a loud voice that rang out all around the building.


    Hearing the voice amplified by Mana, everyone working stopped their work and began to look around for answers.


    The remaining group of Fighters just stood there dumbfounded. None of them dared to move in fear of dying.


    ¡°You! I will be back here tomorrow. Spread my words to whoever isn¡¯t present here at this moment.¡±


    ¡°And if they have any problem, they can directlyin to me. Understood?¡±- Irvin said with an arrogant attitude while pointing towards the leader of the group.


    The guy was only a Rank-4 Fighter; he almost pissed in his pants when Irvin¡¯s Mana pressure had engulfed his entire body. He hurriedly nodded his head like a chicken to show that he understood.


    After that, Ozul started walking to the exit, followed by Irvin and Haley.


    Everyone that they passed by hurriedly moved aside in fear of angering Irvin, who had a nasty look on his face. Even Haley did not stop Irvin this time since she knew that this was necessary.


    No one dared to stop them or block their way as they reached the exit.


    Leaving through the door, the grumpy old guy was still sitting on his stool, reading the newspaper with the light from a candle.


    The grumpy old guy had also heard the previous shout, but he did not care either way. His duty was just to open the doors anyway.


    He looked at the faces of the trio and did not utter a word. After a few seconds of staring, he went back to reading the newspaper on hand.


    ¡°...That rascal finally died, hmph!¡±-


    The grumpy old guy muttered to himself as Ozul, and the couple walked away, disappearing in the shadows of the buildings.


    As they walked back, the trio did not care about themotion that their actions had caused in the building. Many of the people wanted to leave, while others were too afraid even to sleep that night!


    Only when the Fighter who was threatened by Irvin to spread the word of him being the new leader had managed topose himself and do his work did people calm down.


    They calmed down since Irvin dering himself the new leader meant that he would not be destroying the whole organization.


    Just as they had sighed in relief, though, the anxiety of being kicked out of the organization hit everyone.


    Many of the people working were ordinary men. They earned their food by working here.


    However, not everyone was worried. Some of the members, who thought that they were some big shots, even wanted to try and challenge Irvin for the position!

 Chapter 96

    Chapter 96: All We Ever Did Was Useless?


    Sometimeter, Ozul and the old couple arrived back at the hotel. The dead body of Drom had already ¡®mysteriously¡¯ disappeared from the lounge.


    Since it was midnight and there weren¡¯t many people around this area, no one hade here when they were gone.


    *Yawn...*


    ¡°Well, you already know what to do. I¡¯m sleepy now.¡±- After saying his part, Ozul walked away, leaving the old couple staring at his back.


    Sleep was something that Ozul would never get bored with. He just woke up a couple of hours ago and now he was going to sleep again.


    Irvin and Haley did not stop him, as they also wanted to test all of their previous abilities. Their gazes only held endless gratitude when looking at his back.


    As Ozul got back to the room, he instantly noticed the rough breathing from both Raven and ze.


    .....


    Though they had cleaned up the scene after Ozul had left, both of them were still awake. It wasn¡¯t because they were worried or anything.


    It was just that ze looked up to Ozul as his role model and wanted to follow him everywhere. And Raven did not need any reason to be together with him all the time.


    While Ozul did notice that the duo was wide awake, he gave priority to his sleep and slumped down on the bed.


    . . .


    The next morning when Ozul woke up, it was already time to leave for the Mercenary Guild.


    However, before he could even sit straight, the door to the room opened, and Haley came in with food.


    At the moment, Raven was training in the corner while ze was testing the functions of his Spatial Ring. Only now did he have some time to arrange everything in it.


    Raven instantly opened her eyes, and ze also stood up from the bed. Both of them were not expecting anyone toe into their room, so they were on high alert.


    They only calmed down after Ozul waved his hand to assure them that it was nothing.


    Both of them kept looking around dumbfoundedly when Haley put the food on the table for everyone. Well, she set most of it in front of Ozul.


    ¡°I don¡¯t eat...¡±- Ozul said after standing up from the bed.


    Haley was confused as to why he did not eat, but she wouldn¡¯t waste any food, so she put his portion in front of ze and Raven.


    Raven did not want to eat the food since she wasn¡¯t sure why Haley had prepared food for them. But ze did not care and began to eat right away since Ozul had not stopped them, it meant that nothing was wrong with it.


    ¡°Why did you prepare the food?¡±- Raven asked while ring hatefully at ze for not being ¡®extra careful¡¯.


    ¡°Oh, Since Young Master has done so much for us, it is only natural that we do our best to repay.¡±- Haley replied while giving a motherly smile.


    The motherly smile that would warm the hearts of many with the addition of the food¡¯s aroma that had spread in the room caused Raven to rethink her decision.


    In the end, though she didn¡¯t realize why Haley¡¯s attitude had changed so much in just one night, she gave in at the end and also started eating.


    ¡°Eat well. I made it all myself. Young people need energy for their growing bodies.¡±- Haley added before leaving the room.


    As they ate, both ze and Raven instantly realized the difference between this food and the ones that they had eaten before.


    ¡°Why did she personally make the food?¡±- Raven muttered to herself after they had finished everything.


    ¡°Maybe Master Ozul helped the old couple yesterday night?¡±- ze replied when he heard her mutterings.


    ¡°... You think I didn¡¯t realize that?¡±


    ze instantly shut up and looked the other way when Raven asked this while ring at him. She knew this much since Haley herself had rified it.


    ¡°What I want to know is, what did they do?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Young Master said that it¡¯s ok, so it¡¯s ok...¡±- Again, he immediately paused his sentence when Raven looked at his way.


    ze did not want to get on her bad side since she would take her revenge whenever he trained with her.


    After finishing the food, both of them left the room after Raven had arranged everything that they would be needing.


    When they came down the stairs, Ozul sat on the chair while Irvin respectfully stood behind him with a straight posture. Haley was attending to the customers.


    ¡°You know what to do... And take care of that Marquis who was supporting Bafon.¡±


    As Raven and ze came down the stairs, they heard Ozul instructing to seemingly no one. But they could tell from the way that Irvin was listening that he was talking to him.


    As Raven came closer, Ozul gestured towards Irvin and said to him;


    ¡°If you need funds, take this card to Marquis... something.¡±-


    Raven got the hint and took out the card that Count Oliver had given Ozul before he departed. Ozul also forgot the name since he wouldn¡¯t usually bother remembering people¡¯s names.


    Fortunately for Irvin, the card contained the name of Marquis Orbthorn on it.


    The organization would need better support than that of a Marquis since the head of the organization, Irvin himself, was stronger than that Marquis.


    There was no way that the movements of a Rank-8 Mage would be left unnoticed by the higher-ups of the Kingdom.


    So Irvin would need the support of the whole faction that Count Oliver belonged to. But to obtain their support, talking to them wasn¡¯t enough, so Ozul said;


    ¡°Just tell them that you work under *Sigh*... that you work under ¡®The Feral¡¯.¡±


    Ozul sighed in the middle of the sentence since he himself did not like being called The Feral, but it was necessary for this situation.


    Irvin did not understand why telling them about working under ¡®The Feral¡¯ would be more effective than showcasing his powers, but he did not ask any questions.


    ¡°How long will you be gone for?¡±- Irvin asked when he saw Ozul sitting up from the chair.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, and it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±- Ozul replied.


    The meaning was clear that it shouldn¡¯t matter for long Ozul will be gone; the only thing Irvin had to focus on was the organization.


    Even if it takes years, Irvin should be focusing on building the organization to hunt for information and make connections.


    After saying that, Ozul left the hotel, followed by Raven and ze, who were both confused.


    They walked towards the Mercenary Guild¡¯s building. At that time, Raven mustered up her voice and asked;


    ¡°What happenedst night? And why were you helping him?¡±


    ¡°Nothing much happened. I just ¡®helped¡¯ them a little, and now he works under me.¡±


    ¡°Oh...¡±- Raven had to take some time to process it when suddenly;


    ¡°Wait! He is a Mage or a Fighter too?¡±


    Raven and even ze didn¡¯t imagine that the old man was actually not an ordinary human.


    ¡°Hm? Oh yeah, he is both Mage and a Fighter. His wife, Haley too.¡±- Ozul said when he noticed the surprised look on ze and Raven¡¯s faces.


    ¡°That olddy too!?¡±- Again, it was a massive hit to both Raven and ze since they had really trained hard in sensing the Mana.


    Only when Ozul saw that both of them were again fighting with their ¡®All we ever did was useless¡¯ moment, he decided to tell them;


    ¡°Well, you didn¡¯t notice since not only are they of a higher rank than you, but they were also professionals.¡±


    Ozul¡¯s encouragement had an effect, and they didn¡¯t seem as down as they did before. But they were still curious as to how powerful the old couple was.


    ¡°So, how powerful is that old man and that olddy?¡±- ze asked.


    ¡°Oh, not so much. The old man is Rank-8 Mage while the olddy is Rank-7.¡±- Ozul said like it was nothing.


    However, the shock that ze and Raven received was not so casual. How could they not be shocked when the old man that they looked down on was a Rank-8 Mage!


    ¡°It¡¯s your fault if you look down on ordinary people...¡±- Ozul said when he noticed their shock.


    Though he also wouldn¡¯t care about anyone weaker than him unless he or she has a unique talent, Ozul wanted Raven and ze to understand that being toocent was not a good thing.


    This time Raven and ze did not ask anything else and kept their quiet for the rest of the way.


    However, many thoughts ran through their minds. Only now did ze realize why he had been feeling a little odd when looking at Haley and Irving.


    When he thought back to it, both of them had a better posture than before! Their backs were straight, and they even had fewer wrinkles on the faces.


    He just didn¡¯t understand why the improvement urred overnight since he didn¡¯t know that the old couple had their powers sealed before due to the poison.

 Chapter 97

    Chapter 97: To the Royal Pce.


    They reached the Mercenary Guild as Raven and ze were both immersed in their own thoughts.


    Ozul noticed how even the Mercenaries were gossiping about some special events happening today. As he heard their whispers, he realized what they were talking about;


    ¡°Dude! Tell me, what¡¯s the asion? I just came and saw this!¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s cool, ain¡¯t it-So many big shots appearing at the same time in the Guild.¡±


    ¡°You know I even saw the Wind Eagles! The tinum Rank group!¡±


    ¡°Forget about them, did you see the beauties in the Blue Petals~?¡±


    ¡°Ya ya! All you think about is beauties!¡±


    .....


    . . .


    As Ozul passed by these people, he heard how many of the popr Mercenary groups had been sighted around here today.


    Ozul was walking behind ze and Raven, so all the attention was focused on them when they entered the guild building.


    Moreover, he also wore the Silver Badge and forced the duo to wear Gold Badges on their shoulders, which also shifted all the attention to them.


    The recent news about their group helping Duke Edwin protect the innocent from a ferocious Monster had already spread to the streets.


    ¡°Pst... Look, aren¡¯t they...¡±


    Instantly, the topic of their gossip changed to the trio. However, everyone only had ze and Raven in their mind. Their minds automatically discarded Ozul¡¯s figure.


    Walking inside, no one obstructed their path even though there were many ring at them from afar.


    Lucy had been working behind the counter with a pile of documents in front of her. She instantly noticed the trio when they entered.


    ¡°You are here!¡±- She arrived before the trio. Specifically, before ze and her face turned red with embarrassment when he looked straight at her.


    ¡°...Okay, Follow me.¡±- Lucy said when ze had not responded to her even after staring for a minute.


    As she led the way, the trio followed right behind her until they reached the office of Emory on the second floor.


    Around tens of men stood outside the door, all wearing Silver Badges. Just as they were going to enter, the door opened, and a man wearing a Gold Badge walked out with big strides.


    As the Gold Rank Mercenary walked out, he just gave a side nce at the trio and walked away with his group while snickering.


    The trio did not mind that and just walked inside. In the room, Emory sat behind the chair with a teacup in his hands. From time to time, he would take a sip from it.


    ¡°So you guys are here. To be honest, I had thought that you guys had run away already.¡±- Emory said with a sneer.


    He thought that since the group had shown up for the mission, it meant that his ¡®intimidation¡¯ yesterday had worked pretty well.


    ¡°Eh? When did people start running away from flies?¡±- ze asked with a confused expression acting as if he was genuinely puzzled.


    Emory was angry over his behavior, but the orders from the Guild Master had forbidden him to take any actions against this group. So he could only ignore his remark and get down to business.


    ¡°At first, I wanted to inform everyone Mercenary participating together in the training ground personally. But due to the urgency, you will have to go to the Royal Pce yourselves.¡±


    Emory tossed a scroll that had the stamp of Mercenary Guild to ze, who stored it in his Spatial Ring.


    ¡°All other Mercenaries are gathered there. You will receive the task details from the person in charge there.¡±


    The trio left the room with any pleasantries after receiving the scroll. Lucy wanted to stop and have a talk with ze.


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    However, she could only stomp her feet in anger when ze did not even look at her.


    The trio walked in the direction of the Royal Pce, which was about 30 minutes away from here if they kept their walking pace.


    Though Mages could use their Spells to boost their speed, Emperor Luthien had forbidden the unauthorized use of Magical Spells on the streets.


    Hence, even the Mages were required to take carriages to travel a long distance around the Capital.


    If they used Magic Spells, it would alert the city guards, and under a few minutes, they¡¯d be dered as one of the most wanted in the Capital City.


    Raven also found a carriage since Ozul did not want to walk for 30 minutes straight when he could take a nap in the carriage.


    As they sat in the carriage, Ozul took the whole seat for himself andid on it. ze and Raven shared the other ce.


    Though Raven wanted to give ap pillow to Ozul, she didn¡¯t get the chance before Ozul had alreadyid on the entire seat.


    Moreover, she was even more irritated when Jinx suddenly appeared out of nowhere andid on top of Ozul!


    Hence, for the next 10 minutes of the journey to the Royal Pce, Raven had to control herself not to strangle the ck cat to death.


    ze, on the other hand, didn¡¯t know why he was feeling the chills all over even though he shouldn¡¯t have due to his affinity with Ice Element.


    Only when he noticed Raven ring hatefully at Jinx sleeping on top of Ozul did he understand what was happening. He silently prayed for Jinx in his heart and moved as far as possible from Raven.


    After about 10 minutes, they arrived at the Royal Pce. Of course, the carriage wasn¡¯t even allowed toe near the actual Pce.


    It stopped right at the area where many of the other Mercenaries were standing in groups all around.


    As the carriage stopped after nearing the crowd, Ozul instantly woke up while Jinx suddenly disappeared again.


    The trio came out of the carriage and examined the surroundings. As Ozul surveyed, he noticed the massive Pce behind the crowd.


    There were many Mercenaries scattered around while all of them had at least one Gold Rank Mercenary leading the group.


    The crowd, though, stopped at the walls, which seemed fragile from the outside. However, Ozul could sense the dense energy at the base of those small walls.


    He wasn¡¯t sure, but it seemed that there was some kind of invisible force field surrounding the whole ce around the Pce.


    And those small walls were the base of that force field. There was only one entrance, but none of the Mercenary dared to enter through it presumptuously. They all chose to wait outside instead.


    As the trio was observing the other Mercenaries, most of them did the same in return. It was all because their group of three had been getting famous due to ¡®helping¡¯ Duke Edwin.


    When Ozul was observing everyone around the sight, he noticed that the strongest one among them was Rank-7 Mage.


    The man looked to be around 25 years old. He was surrounded by the men in his group who were mostly around Rank-4. Only one other member in his group was a Rank-6 Mage.


    As Ozul was observing that group, he remembered that he had heard about the tinum Rank Mercenary group, which had a Rank-7 Mage leading it named Wind birds... or something.


    He also noticed the group consisting of only women. The strongest in that group was a woman who looked around 20 years old. She was probably the End-Stage of Rank-6.


    This was probably the group of ¡®beauties¡¯ that one of the passersby was talking about.


    Though these people looked young, Ozul knew that they were mostly above 40 years old and only looked more youthful due to being Mages.


    While observing the surroundings, the trio kept advancing towards the gates. The tinum Rank Mercenary group had been staying near the entrance.


    Though as they passed by the other groups, everyone sneered in their way. Most of them were jealous of the trio¡¯s recent fame though they hadn¡¯t even known them yesterday.


    Others were angry since it was only a group of three, and they still dared to advance near the entrance, where only the best Mercenary groups stood.

 Chapter 98

    Chapter 98: The Chief Leader of Silver Knights.


    The trio didn¡¯t care about the res thrown in their way as Ozul just kept walking in the direction of the entrance.


    All the major Mercenary groups had noticed the trio at this point because most of the way to the entrance was quiet, and only they marched in the middle.


    Most of the men turned to the trio andughed. Nheless, while watching ze, some of the women were blushing.


    Several men did the same with Raven, but one death re from her was enough to make them avert their eyes.


    As usual, Ozul had his ck pointed hat on top of his head, so none of them could see his face. Otherwise, the situation would have been a different case.


    Most Mercenaries sneered when they noticed that Ozul, the person in the trio¡¯s lead, had only a Silver badge on his shoulder.


    Moreover, they couldn¡¯t even sense any Mana from him, so all of them assumed that he was just some rich guy who had hired the other two.


    .....


    Also, the only tinum Rank party, Wind Eagles, was standing just outside the door, so the onlookers figured the trio would be standing next to them.


    Yet Ozul ¡®s mind was focused solely on the increasing Mana that he felt with every step he took towards the Pce.


    ¡°Oi! Look at those wimps! They have got some nerve to want to stand next to Wing Eagles!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to show me that, idiot! I can see them just as fine!¡±


    . . .


    The surrounding Mercenaries were all sneering over the trio. Even the members of the popr groups that stood near the entrance whispered about them.


    As Ozul had just approached the entrance, he saw a familiar face behind the big gates. The big gate consisted of metal bars with some space in the middle of each one, so it was not that hard to look past the entrance.


    The entrance wasn¡¯t sovish since it only served as security purposes. Only after walking another 5 minutes or so after the gates would a person be able to gaze at the opulent gates of the Royal Pce.


    The gates of the Royal Pce were different from these, as they were decorated with one of the most expensive and luxurious materials from all over the continent.


    However, the Mercenaries at the entrance were afraid of even crossing the first entrance. No matter how powerful a person is, getting inside the Pce was not something that anyone would be allowed to do.


    Unless a person were Rank-8 Mage or above, it would be a pipe dream for him to ever enter inside the Royal Pce.


    Each of these Mercenary groups had at least a Rank-5 Mage to lead them, and they would be considered very influential in small nations.


    Here in the Silverbird Kingdom, however, even Rank-7 experts were not allowed any special treatment in ces like the Royal Pce.


    Therefore, all of the groups present wondered if the trio had lost their minds. They thought that the trio was just trying their luck even with only their little strength.


    Just when everyone had thought that the trio would stop near the entrance, they were confused after seeing what happened next.


    Ozul did not stop near the entrance and kept walking even after passing by the Wind Eagles party. As a result, the members of that group took this action of the trio as an insult to them.


    ¡°You better head back, kid! Understand your limits, you twerp. Hahaha...¡±


    The man standing next to the leader of the Wind Eagles group sneered after he shouted. While Ozul did not even look at his direction, he knew that this individual had only the power of the Rank-6 Mage. It appeared he was the group¡¯s vice leader.


    ¡°Shut up, Brud! Let them do whatever they want. Why do you care?¡±


    Before anyone could even say anything, the leader of the Wind Eagles himself berated his right-hand man.


    Everybody knew that this Rank-7 Mage was a man of a few words, and he didn¡¯t like to get into pointless fights, so they weren¡¯t shocked to hear him yelling at one of his own guys.


    The guy who had previously shouted at the trio named Brud instantly backed down. Brud did not only respect their leader, but he also feared him due to his temperament, so he didn¡¯t dare to defy his orders.


    Meanwhile, Ozul hadn¡¯t stopped even when he had heard Brud¡¯s earlier shout, which caused thetter to be embarrassed again.


    Others now looked with interest when the trio had already passed the closest group to the entrance with no intention of stopping any time soon.


    ¡®Are they going to get inside?!¡¯- This thought shed through most of their minds, but no one seemed to believe it.


    Although the wall seemed small, it was a dividing line to distinguish between people who had some real authority, and who did not, in the Silverbird Kingdom.


    Even the leader of the Wind Eagles expected that the trio would only embarrass themselves after getting kicked out.


    Two Rank-5 Mages stood guard at the gates. They were not so strong because no one dared to even get in the vicinity of the Royal Pce without permission.


    The guards didn¡¯t allow the Rank-7 Mage to enter inside even after he had shown the scroll given by the Mercenary Guild.


    With emotionless faces, the two guards d in silver armor stood unmoving when the trio approached. They had no reason to allow some nobodies when they didn¡¯t let the Wind Eagles pass.


    Just then, when everyone thought that the trio would be turned away like all the others, they were surprised to see what happened next.


    ¡°Let them pass!¡±- A loud voice came in from the other side of the wall.


    Hearing the familiar voice, the guards did not dare to wait any longer and hurriedly stepped aside to open the gates.


    This turn of events surprised all the Mercenaries present on the scene.


    The leaders of the popr Mercenary groups such as Wind Eagles and Blue Petals watched with interest. They could not hold back their curiosity and looked behind the gates to see if they could recognize the man who had given the order.


    They wanted to know who had such authority to make the guards instantly move about with a singlemand.


    Just then, all of them were shocked when they noticed the man behind the gates. It was none other than the famous Chief Leader of the Silver Knights!


    Most of the slow-minded onlookers had yet to figure out why Rufus Staroak was helping the trio. It wasn¡¯t hard for others, however, to realize the connection between them.


    They remembered that it wasn¡¯t too long that the rumors about this trio helping Duke Edwin in the fight against the Monster had spread in the Capital.


    And they had also received the news that the Silver Knights themselves had dealt with the matter. So it wasn¡¯t surprising that the Chief Leader of the Silver Knights personally knew the trio.


    ¡°Hmph! Just some dumb luck. How long are they going to gloat on that!¡±-Brud, the vice leader of the Wind Eagles, muttered under his breath.


    It wasn¡¯t just him. All the Mercenaries had the same thoughts. They were mostly jealous that they weren¡¯t the ones who had won such fame.


    These Mercenaries had never seen the Monster. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have wanted to be there that day.


    ¡°We meet again, Ozul.¡±- Rufus spread his hands as he said this with a big smile on his face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say it like this was some coincidence. You think I can¡¯t understand your schemes?¡±- Ozul replied with an unamused tone.


    ¡°Hahaha... Kid, I told you that this is a dangerous fire that you are ying with. Moreover, I had no choice in the decision.¡±- Rufus said with augh.


    Ozul didn¡¯t doubt his words since he could still feel no malice from Rufus. There was curiosity and some irritation, but no hatred against him.


    ¡°So, was it the Emperor himself?¡±- Ozul asked curiously.


    The men outside the walls couldn¡¯t hear their conversation since there was an invisible barrier all around it.


    ¡°Though I shouldn¡¯t say this, his Majesty doesn¡¯t care, so yes. He personally ordered it.¡±- Rufus replied without giving it a thought.


    It wasn¡¯t a secret in the Royal Pce that Emperor Luthien was interested in this trio or, more specifically, Ozul. So he didn¡¯t mind revealing this information to him.


    ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t say anything more than this.¡±- Rufus added, not letting Ozul inquire any further.


    ¡°So, what are we here for?¡±


    ¡°Be patient, little boy. I¡¯ll announce the details of the mission in a minute. ¡°-Rufus again rejected Ozul¡¯s request.


    Although Ozul didn¡¯t like to be called a little boy, he wasn¡¯t going to make a scene just because of that small matter.


    Ozul took this time to analyze the protection barrier that stems from the walls surrounding the entire area around the Royal Pce.


    He also focused on the dense source of Mana, which he had felt from the direction of the Royal Pce. But he didn¡¯t have the ability to see through things.

 Chapter 99

    Chapter 99: In the Royal Pce.


    -A few minutes earlier.-


    In a room adorned with one of the finest gems and rare pieces, a silver-haired girl stood at the window, gazing at the view outside with hazy eyes.


    The room was located high up in the Royal Pce. So, the girl had a clear view of the beautiful scenery outside.


    Far out in the distance, she could see the dark clouds forming above in the sky. But those clouds were still quite far away from the Capital¡¯s outskirts.


    Moving her vision just outside the walls in the vicinity of the Royal Pce, the girl noticed the crowd resting just outside the entrance.


    From the corner of her eyes, she saw another carriage heading towards the entrance, just like the others, it stopped at a fair distance from the gates.


    Because of how far the walls were from the Pce, she could not clearly see anyone¡¯s face, even with her enhanced vision after bing a Rank-5 Mage.


    .....


    Just as she looked at the carriage that had recently stopped near the entrance, the girl was brought out of her mind when she heard the sound of footsteps outside her room.


    Without any formalities such as knocking at the door, the newly arrived person just rudely opened the door to enter without asking for permission.


    ¡°As impatient as ever, Sarah! How many times have I told you to at least knock first? It¡¯s bad manners!¡±- The silver-haired girl reprimanded while feigning anger on her face.


    Her words, however, had little effect on the girl named Sarah, who had just entered the room.


    The girl that had just entered had blonde hair and big round eyes. Around the age of 16, the girl wore fancy clothes embroidered with silver and gold linings.


    Her face also resembled that of Emperor Luthien-clearly a proof of her identity as the princess. Through light feet, she tiptoed in front of ra without caring about thetter¡¯s expressions.


    ¡°Oh, Come on, Sister ra! Isn¡¯t it just that you don¡¯t want someone to interrupt your blissful time while thinking of him~?¡± Sarah said with a teasing tone.


    Hearing Sarah¡¯s words, ra¡¯s angry expression came down immediately. Her cheeks instantly became red, and she began to fidget with her hands.


    ¡°Y-you... you, h-how do you kno-...¡± Stuttering, ra was almost about to admit to the ¡®usations¡¯.


    ¡°Oh~? How do I know?¡±- Although ra had forced herself to shut up, it wasn¡¯t hard for Sarah to understand what she was going to say next.


    Keeping one hand on her waist and the other on the side of her face, Sarah tapped her cheek with her finger and made a thinking pose.


    ¡°Hm... How would I know that when you¡¯ve only just started daydreamingtely? Then you began staring out the windows as if waiting for your prince charming toe to you or something?¡±- Sarah teased her with a little sarcastic question.


    *Sigh.*


    ra sighed in defeat after realizing that she couldn¡¯t refute the girl before her. However, Sarah could still notice the increasing redness from her cheeks to her ears.


    It couldn¡¯t be helped since no matter how much ra tried, she couldn¡¯t stop herself from thinking of the moment when the man had passed by her.


    Within only a few seconds, without even stopping to look at her, the onyx-haired man not only saved her from the assassination but also killed the assassin! She would never be able to forget that day in her life.


    That incident had left a deep impression on her. She had survived many assassination attempts on her life before that she had already lost count. However, she would never be able to forget this one.


    ¡°Ouch!!! What was that for!?¡±- ra was brought out of her thoughts when she felt something sting on her waist.


    ¡°What do you mean by what was that for? I¡¯m still standing here, and you have already started daydreaming!¡±- Sarah huffed, angry since no one liked being ignored while in the middle of the conversation.


    ¡°Oh! Hehe... There there.¡±- ra realized her mistake and patted Sarah¡¯s head to make it up to her.


    ¡°Hmph! I already don¡¯t like that guy! Even before marrying you, he has stolen all of your attention!¡±- Sarah said after she had calmed down from the pats.


    ¡°W-what WHAT?! M-m-m-marriage?! But that¡¯s so soon! And I don¡¯t even know him, why would he even... m-marry me?!¡±- ra lost her calm the moment she heard the word marriage.


    She imagined the onyx-haired man holding her hands as she was wearing a white wedding dress, the sky turning pink, and the birds chirping in the distance.


    ¡°Ara ara~? It hasn¡¯t been a minute, and you have already dozed off twice!¡±- ra woke up from her fantasies to look at the threatening smile on Sarah¡¯s face.


    ¡°Hehehe... I¡¯m sorry?¡±- ra cheekily smiled as she rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed by her own actions.


    ¡°Would there even be a man out there who would reject you, Big Sister? Heh, I wouldn¡¯t even let that guye close to you until he does not show enough respect to me.¡±- Sarah said as she raised her head, trying her best to imitate her father.


    *Tuk.*


    ra gave a head chop to Sarah¡¯s head while shaking her head.


    ¡°What was that for!?¡±- Sarah asked while ring hatefully at the silver-haired girl who had a smile on her face.


    ¡°Silly! Don¡¯t just go assuming things. I don¡¯t even know if I will be able to meet him or not.¡±


    ¡°Oooh, and what will you do, if you do meet him?¡±- Sarah teased with a smug face, already knowing what ra¡¯s next reaction is going to be.


    And just as she had expected, lost in her fantasies again, ra was blushing to the ears!


    ¡°See! Again! Even though I somewhat expected it, it still doesn¡¯t fit right with me that you suddenly start to ignore me and start to daydream about this guy, hmph!¡±


    *Tak! Tak!*


    Just as they were going to continue their bickering, there was a knock at the door.


    ¡°It¡¯s me, Young Miss.¡±


    A voice resembling that of a middle-aged woman sounded out behind the door.


    ¡°Oh, Venessa, you cane inside.¡±- ra said after recognizing her maid¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Young Miss, Sir Hanry told me to inform you that everything is arranged. We will leave now.¡±- Venessa did a small bow before exining.


    ¡°It¡¯s time already, huh?¡±- ra sighed before she went out of the room with Sarah following behind her.


    Meanwhile, Venessa waited a little while in the room and suddenly turned towards one of the walls.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t hear their private conversations, Sir Hanry.¡±- Venessa said while facing the wall.


    ¡°It¡¯s my duty, Venessa. If you have a problem with that, you can discuss it with the Master.¡±


    While Venessa could still see no one in front of her, the direction the voice came from was the same position she was looking at.


    *Whoosh...*


    Once the voice disappeared, some wind developed within the room until it came to a standstill, and Venessa was left with no one to get out her frustration on.

 Chapter 100

    Chapter 100: The Departure.


    Ozul and Rufus chatted near the entrance when suddenly the gates of the Royal Pce opened, and 3 carriages rallied out.


    All the carriages appeared far more fanciful than any ordinary person could ever expect to ride just once in their lifetime. The crest of the Royal Family hung on each of them.


    The carriage in the middle stood out the most, as unlike the other two, this one had runes on its sides.


    It was apparent to the trio that the person they were going to escort was probably in that carriage.


    In a few seconds, the carriages came before the group. Those elegant yet sturdy horses stopped right in front of them. One of the men that looked like the person in charge got off the 1st carriage and came before Rufus.


    ¡°Chief Leader Rufus! Everything is prepared, we are ready for departure.¡±- the man said in a loud voice, kneeling with his head bowed in front of Rufus.


    ¡°On your feet, Clive!¡±- Rufusmanded with a heavy voice, unlike how he conversed with Ozul.


    .....


    The man named Clive stood up with a jolt. With his hands behind his back, he stood respectfully to the side, waiting for further instructions.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to exin the mission details to the Mercenaries.¡±- Rufus said as the group moved outside the gates where all the other Mercenaries awaited.


    Every one of them straightened their back in hopes of wanting to catch the eye of the Silver Knights¡¯ Chief Leader. Since Rufus was famously known as one of the most trusted men of the Emperor, everyone wanted to impress him.


    There were more than 80 or so Mercenaries gathered for the mission-all a part of at least a Gold Rank Mercenary group. However, in front of the Rank-8 Mage, they couldn¡¯t keep control of their anxiety.


    Looking at the confident faces of the leaders of those Mercenary groups, Rufus nodded in satisfaction before starting to exin the details.


    ¡°As you all may or may not have known, the mission that you have epted is about escorting.¡±- Rufus said with his head held high, looking down at others.


    ¡°You all will have to escort a guest of the Royal Family back to their home. Your destination will be the Neutral Lands.¡±


    The surrounding Mercenaries started to murmur as they heard the name of their mission¡¯s destination.


    ¡°Silence!¡±- The man named Clive suddenly shouted when he saw that those murmurs were never going to stop.


    ¡°As you all already know, the Neutral Lands isn¡¯t a ce where just anyone would be able to survive. And there will be even more dangers on the way there. So if any group wants to leave, it¡¯s yourst chance to do it.¡±


    ¡°If you try to leave during the mission, we will have no choice but to execute you.¡±


    Rufus exined everything with a clear voice. He wanted everyone present to understand the risks that they were going to take and be responsible for it.


    It wasn¡¯t a smart choice for them to just let go of a bunch of people that knew the details of their mission.


    Rufus waited for the Mercenary groups to fully understand what he was trying to convey.


    Some strong groups who believed in their strength did not even consider leaving at this point. However, not everyone was the same.


    Those weak groups had joined in hopes of rich rewards, but hearing about their destination had removed those greedy thoughts and instead filled their hearts with the fear of death.


    Atst, only about 10 or so people wanted to leave the mission. These people were not able to get their whole group to join them since their leaders were determined on the rewards. It wasn¡¯t every day that they would get to ept missions directly from someone like the ruling family of Silverbird Kingdom!


    Rufus sighed, looking at the number of people who had given up after already epting the mission from the Mercenary Guild.


    The people who had wanted to leave just left quietly, and while Rufus did not seem to pay any attention to that group, Ozul knew better.


    He had sensed the Mages hidden everywhere around them the moment that he had gotten out of the carriage.


    It wasn¡¯t hard for him to pinpoint the location of the numerous Rank-7 experts. But Ozul had dismissed this situation, thinking that it might just be the security around the Royal Pce.


    However, only now did he realize the truth after noticing some of them following the group of men who left earlier.


    ¡®It seems that he never intended to leave any weaknesses, huh.¡¯- Ozul thought while looking at Rufus with a side nce.


    The only reason that the Chief Leader of Silver Knights, Rufus, wanted to achieve by his earlier speech was to remove the ones who would have been just nuisance on the journey.


    They should have already known that there would be no way back after epting the mission. Sure, they took the oath to never disclose the details and all, but Rufus had seen many individuals who would reveal the information even after knowing that they would die the next moment.


    Rufus trusted the Mercenary contracts to work fine and kill the individual instantly, but what if that person was actually able to slip up some minor but crucial detail before dying?


    Though it was very unlikely for that to happen with the group of men that had left, being the Silver Knights¡¯ Chief Leader, Rufus was quite ruthless.


    Unknown to those men, they were written off as dead the moment they had decided to walk out of here.


    ¡°Since those present here have not chosen to leave, I assure everyone that his Majesty has offered plentiful rewards.¡±- Ozul was brought out of his thinking, hearing Rufus¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Moreover, each one of you will receive greater rewards with the previously agreed payment if you contribute enough.¡±


    Rufus offered even more rewards to motivate the Mercenaries further. Everyone was aware that the Mercenaries are only loyal to their profits.


    After that, Rufus turned to his side and gestured towards Clive.


    ¡°Clive, as one of the squad leaders in Silver Knights, is one of my most trusted men. He will be in charge of the journey ahead. He will exin all the further details. I shall now take my leave.¡±- Rufus said before walking back, leaving everything under Clive.


    However, before leaving, Rufus suddenly turned towards Ozul and smiled brightly.


    ¡°Good luck, young man.¡±


    His tone waspletely different from how he used to address Ozul. The voice was also loud enough to be heard by everyone else. And with a smug smile which only Ozul could see, Rufus walked away.


    It seemed that Rufus really wanted to create things difficult for Ozul. Just at this moment, Clive¡¯s voice sounded out.


    ¡°Our journey may very well take a few months. We can¡¯t afford to waste any more time here. Let¡¯s move on.¡±- His demeanor hadpletely changed from when he was before Rufus.


    It looked as if some seasoned battlefieldmander who had survived many wars stood before the Mercenaries. His momentum, coupled with the Rank-7 Mage¡¯s aura was enough to intimidate most of them.


    Just as his voice had died down, the carriages which stood behind the entrance started moving.


    Taking that as a cue, the Mercenaries also started to get on their transport and begin to move about. Though everyone¡¯s eyes were on the middle one, trying to guess who could be inside.


    However, just as they were about to move too, Ozul felt the familiar presence that he had thought to be gone only a few moments ago.


    ¡®Oh? You really wanted to annoy me, huh. It will be my turn next.¡¯- Ozul thought in his mind after sensing that Rufus had suddenly joined those few hidden Rank-7 Mages and the tens of other Rank-6 ones.

 Chapter 101

    Chapter 101: Pretend you didn¡¯t see anything.


    The carriages started to move about. Just at this moment, Ozul sensed something peculiar.


    It was the same feeling of unrest that he gets froming into contact with bright light. However, it was more than just a bright light.


    To find the source of this emotion, Ozul looked around only to see the carriage engraved with magical runes passing right by him.


    Though it was faint, Ozul remembered that he had the same feeling when looking at the girl that he had seen just the other day.


    He wasn¡¯t able to probe inside the carriage, but Ozul was sure that the one sitting inside was somehow rted to that girl. She could be very well sitting inside herself.


    No matter how interesting it was to guess who sat inside the carriage, Ozul got past that curiosity only after a few moments.


    Although he forgot about that matter under a few seconds, someone else couldn¡¯t.


    .....


    Inside the carriage, there was a whole different scene.


    ¡°Oh my god! Oh my god! It¡¯s him, Venessa!¡±


    A person from the outside could not see through the window, but ra could easily see through from inside.


    Though she couldn¡¯t see Ozul¡¯s face because of the samurai hat on his head, it wasn¡¯t hard for her to recognize him. Not when she had dreamt of him so many times already.


    ¡°It may not necessarily be him, Young Miss.¡±- Venessa tried to calm her down.


    There was enough space in the carriage for a couple of more people, but only ra and Venessa sat in this middle one.


    ¡°But I know it is him! See, he has those two people behind him too!¡±


    ¡°Young Miss, even if it is him, you have to calm down. How can you lose your cool just because of a man?¡±- Venessa tried to reason with ra.


    Their voice couldn¡¯t be heard outside as there were a lot of runes not only protecting the carriage but also helping them to keep their privacy.


    ¡°But Venessa! He is here! What should I do? I still have to thank him for saving me!¡±- ra said, trying to convince her caretaker to let her off the carriage.


    ¡°Young Miss! We are just about to leave. It will be troublesome when others see you get off the carriage only to talk with that man.¡±


    Venessa exined to ra. But when she saw ra¡¯s downcast face, she added;


    ¡°Moreover, from the looks of it, that man is one of the hired mercenaries. You will have many chances to thank him during the journey.¡±


    ra¡¯s face brightened up when she realized that the man would be around her during the whole journey, which may even take some months.


    Thinking of how there would be many chances that she would be able to talk with him, ra started to daydream again.


    When Venessa noticed this, she shook her head and sighed in defeat. She did not understand what that guy had done to their young miss.


    From the corner of her eyes, she looked outside the window, ring at the man. However, just as she had done that, Ozul looked straight back at her!


    ¡®Did he just look at me?! But how?! That shouldn¡¯t be possible because not only the ss is made that way, even the runes are set up!¡¯- Venessa thought and hurriedly pulled the curtains.


    ¡®No, it must be a coincidence. It must be...¡¯


    Back to Ozul, though he wasn¡¯t able to probe inside the carriage, feeling the emotions was a whole different matter.


    He was going to ignore those bright emotions directed towards them, which had already informed him about who was really inside. However, just at this moment, the negative feelings came rushing in from inside the carriage too!


    He turned toward the carriage, but again, couldn¡¯t see anything through that single window.


    Ozul didn¡¯t mind that because there could be hundreds of people who don¡¯t like him or even want him to die. Why should he care about one more of such an individual? As such, he quickly forgot about it.


    There was a pressing matter at hand. Though most of the mercenaries would be traveling on feet since they couldn¡¯t afford to be careless during the journey, some still had small carriages with them.


    If they could, they would always bring some sorts of transport with them in case there is an emergency, and someone is not able to travel anymore.


    The pressing matter was that Ozul did not want to walk during the whole journey!


    Looking at all the carriages and the mercenaries advanced, Ozul waited for a couple of minutes until everyone was either on their feet or in the carriages.


    Unlike the Royal ones, the transport vehicles that the mercenaries had brought weren¡¯t so fancy looking. They just had horses attached to the carts. It was enough for them.


    After noticing that most of the men were on their feet, Ozul decided to sneak in one of their carriages and doze off until it is at least night time.


    Raven and ze curiously followed Ozul as he walked to the end of the group. The mercenaries mostly marched around those three carriages since the person they had to protect supposedly sat in one of them.


    So there was almost no one around the carriages at the end of the row. As such, after checking that there was no one looking, Ozul hopped in a cart under the curious eyes of the duo.


    ¡°What are we supposed to do?¡±- ze curiously asked as he thought that they might have been here to do something meaningful.


    ¡°Hm. Just pretend that you didn¡¯t see me entering someone else¡¯s carriage?¡±- Ozul replied, without thinking much.


    ¡°So... you just came here to... sleep?¡±- ze asked with a wry smile standing together with the dumbfounded Raven, who forgot to take into ount that they would be traveling by feet.


    ¡°Yes. Because if someone had done their job, I would not have to hop in another¡¯s carriage.¡±- Ozul replied with a sarcastic tone.


    Both ze and Raven looked away in shame.


    ¡®He is saying it like there isn¡¯t anything wrong with sleeping inside someone else¡¯s cart¡¯- Both Raven and ze thought.


    ¡°Okay. Go away now, don¡¯t disturb me if it isn¡¯t anything important.¡±- Ozul said before creating a small cushion for his head with the Ball of Purity.


    Raven and ze left the scene without making any noise with their feet as not to alert the driver of the cart.


    Meanwhile, Ozul began to think of many things instead of sleeping.


    ¡®The death of Duke Edwin would have inevitably caused the Kingdom¡¯s officials to be in chaos. However, nothing rted to such news was leaked.¡¯- Ozul thought.


    He was impressed by the management of the Emperor Luthien. Though there were many Rank-8 Mages under the Royal Family, the death of one such individual was nothing to be ignored.


    Nurturing just one such individual would sometimes take decades even after spending the rarest of the resources on him!


    For a Rank-9 Mage, a Rank-8 individual was nothing more than an ant-just as the others below that rank.


    However, the monarch seldom makes a move himself. And the severe matters would be handled by the people under him. And a Rank-8 Mage was a person directly under the Emperor.


    Surely he wouldn¡¯t just overlook his death as if nothing had happened.


    The only conclusion that Ozul came to was that the Emperor was busy with other matters, or he was already under the Emperor¡¯s radar. And thetter was probably true since they were ¡®almost forced¡¯ to ept this mission by him.


    ¡°A Duke dies, and the next day the whole Kingdom acts as if nothing had happened? Heh, Funny.¡±- Ozul muttered to himself sarcastically.


    ¡°So, what are you waiting for Emperor?¡±- Ozul muttered with a soft voice, looking out at the Royal Pce, slowly fading in the distance.

 Chapter 102

    Chapter 102: I¡¯m Ozul. You?


    Raven and ze both acted as if nothing had happened and marched together with other Mercenaries like usual.


    The other Mercenaries generally tried to avoid being close to the duo. They did not want to associate with them.


    The situation did not bother the duo since they didn¡¯t care anyway. The only reason ze and Raven were even Mercenaries in the first ce was because of Ozul.


    After just walking for half an hour, the convoy was already near the outskirts of Capital City.


    The Mercenaries did not know what route they would be taking or when they would be taking rests during the journey, but no oneined. Their job was to protect from any danger, and so they only had one thing in their mind-be vignt of the surroundings.


    Some newbies were rxed since they didn¡¯t think much of a danger in the face of so many Mercenaries and not to mention that the group had at least two known Rank-7 Mages.


    However, the veterans were all on edge. They understood that if so many of them were together on the same mission, it must also be that dangerous.


    .....


    It could also be that the Royal Family just had so much money that they hired extra security, but being careful doesn¡¯t hurt.


    The group was led by Clive, who was a Mid-Stage Rank-7 Mage of Fire Element and Barry, who was at Initial-Stage of Rank-7 with Wind Element.


    Unknown to the Mercenaries, the 3rd Royal Carriage also had a Rank-7 Mage, Sir Hanry. He was the personal bodyguard of ra.


    Overall, the formation of the convoy seemed to be imprable by normal means. Unless a Rank-8 Mage was involved, it didn¡¯t seem that anyone else would pose a threat to them.


    Ozul knew better, however. He wanted to sleep in the cart as soon as he could, but he couldn¡¯t do it because of the thoughts in his mind.


    ¡®I knew it from the start that something was up for them to hire Mercenaries.¡¯- Ozul thought.


    Though the Mercenaries were a neutral organization, many of the other influential organizations wouldn¡¯t hire them. It was to maintain their superiority among the masses.


    Not to mention that such influential organizations had enough means to take care of their business themselves. They wouldn¡¯t need some Mercenaries to jobs for them.


    So the Royal Family hiring many groups of Mercenaries to escort some important guests of theirs, was undoubtedly suspicious. The only other reason might have been that the guest wasn¡¯t so important so that they could entrust the task to outsiders.


    However, from the looks of it, the guest was a significant individual.


    ¡®They are still following us, huh. I was right.¡¯- Ozul thought when he felt that Rufus was still following their convoy, followed by some other Rank-7 individuals.


    Others in the convoy could not feel their presence since all of them were at least Rank-7 Mages. The only other person who even had the chance of sensing them was the lone Rank-7 Mercenary from the Wind Eagles.


    As for the other two Rank-7 Mages? Ozul was sure that they knew about the presence of those hidden in the shadows.


    ¡°So... we are just a bait for the fish, huh?¡±- Ozul muttered to himself with an amused expression on his face.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just see how it ys out...¡±


    He nudged the pointed hat to slide onto his face, blocking as much sunlight as he could since the cart was open from the backside.


    Just as he closed his eyes, however, someone else came to disturb his peace. He could hear the footsteps reaching the back of the cart.


    ¡®Ah! They just had toe at this time?!¡¯- Ozul thought with annoyance since he did not want to get off the cart now that he was already in afortable position.


    ¡°Huh!?¡±


    ¡°Who are you and why are you here!?¡±- A sharp voice came from outside the cart.


    He removed the hat from his face only to see two women looking at him. One of them had fair skin with brown hair, and she looked at Ozul with an angry expression on her face.


    The other woman, however, looked calmly at him without any annoyance. She had tanned skin, the shiny luster on it was the only proof that it was not pure chocte. Her maroon hair color onlyplimented her beauty further.


    Ozul sensed no other emotions from her except for curiosity, unlike the brown-haired girl who kept ring daggers at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m Ozul. You?¡±- he innocently asked as if nothing was wrong.


    ¡°Huh! You have the guts to introduce yourself?! Tell me what are you doing here?¡±- the brown-haired girl yelled at him.


    Ozul did not mind the rude behavior and just turned towards the other woman. He kept staring at her and said nothing,pletely ignoring the fuming brown-haired girl beside her.


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t you dare ignore me-¡±


    *Sigh*


    ¡°I am Orse, the leader of the Blue Petals, and she is Tephi, the vice-leader. If that helps.¡±- The maroon-haired woman introduced herself and the woman next to her after being stared at Ozul for so long.


    Orse could somehow guess that they wouldn¡¯t get anywhere if Tephi kept yelling at the guy in front of her.


    ¡°Can you tell us why you are here in our cart?¡±- Orse asked calmly. She wasn¡¯t angry or anything, but she knew that this person was part of the famous trio.


    So she was curious as to why he had hopped on their cart.


    ¡°Oh-¡± Just as he was about to answer, Ozul noticed Raven and ze arriving on the scene.


    The convoy was still moving, so only Ozulid in the cart while the others had to keep walking at a fast pace to talk with him.


    The duo was marching together with the rest of the group, but all of their attention was only on the cart in which Ozul had hopped in.


    And when they saw the women going towards that cart, they hurriedly followed behind them.


    Ozul looked at the duo, giving them the stare which tranted to, ¡®Exin, because I¡¯m not going to do it.¡¯.


    ¡°Hello! He is with us. Is the cart yours?¡±- Raven took the initiative to ask since ze didn¡¯t know how to deal with such a mess.


    ¡°Yes it is, I was to rest since nothing interesting is happening anyway. But when wee here, we see yourpanion here in our cart. What is this supposed to mean?¡±- Orse asked while squinting her eyes at Raven.


    Though Raven knew that the woman before her was more powerful than her, she didn¡¯t back down from the stare.


    ¡°Ah, forgive us. It¡¯s just that Ozul wanted to sleep and we forgot to bring our own cart. This one looked empty, so...¡±- Raven exined patiently.


    She wasn¡¯t embarrassed since she had dealt with many such situations when living with Ozul all this time.


    ¡°Oh? This man just wanted to sleep? Well, it¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°But big sister-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Tephi. The man just wanted to sleep. They meant no harm.¡±


    Tephi did not want to let them go so easily, but Orse was a calm woman. She did not wish to start meaningless fights while they were on an important mission.


    ¡°...Uhm, You see... we still don¡¯t have a cart. Can he sleep in your cart? We can pay you too if you would like?¡±- Raven had no choice to ask after being stared at by Ozul.


    He was already in afortable position, leaving now was not an option!


    ¡°Eehh?¡±- Orse did not think that they would still want to keep using their cart, so she was surprised a bit.


    She turned to look at Tephi beside her and saw that she was about to explode with anger. Orse then turned towards Ozul. When she looked at him, he stared right back at her.


    Though his expression remained stoic, when Orse looked at his eyes, she felt as if he was pleading her to let him stay!


    It was as if a small kid was looking longingly at a candy that did not belong to him.


    *Sigh.*


    Another long sigh of defeat escaped from her mouth as Orse turned towards Raven.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to pay; he can just rest inside.¡±


    ¡°But sister! Why do you have to share with this unknown guy!?¡±- Tephi finally couldn¡¯t take it anymore.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Tephi. It¡¯s not like I actually need sleep. And the cart doesn¡¯t even have seats, so there is enough space for many people.¡±- Orse calmly tried to reason with her vice-leader.


    *Ughh!*


    Tephi fumed in anger but did not try to argue back. She just left the scene after seeing Orse hopping in the cart.


    ze also left the scene, but Raven on the other hand was reluctant. She did not want to leave Ozul with another woman.


    In the end, however, she dejectedly left when Ozul went back to sleep after waving a hand at her.

 Chapter 103

    Chapter 103: It¡¯s rude, you know.


    In the carriage, only two people remained. There was enough space for a couple of more people to sitfortably, so Orse took one of the corners and rested her back against it.


    Since there was no one here, Orse looked at Ozul¡¯s figure with curiosity visible on her face.


    Orse was a curious woman and never jumped to conclusions based on some rumors alone. So unlike others, she didn¡¯t particrly dislike the trio which had supposedly just gotten lucky.


    Through observation, she was sure that there was something unusual about the trio.


    ¡®It just doesn¡¯t make sense for them to survive unscathed while even people stronger than them died.¡¯- Orse thought while look at the Ozul, who had the hat covering his face while he slept without any care in the world.


    The only conclusion she coulde to was that the man in front of her was probably the key person.


    Raven and ze were only Rank-5 Mages. And it wasn¡¯t possible with the little strength they had to survive what even Rank-7 Mages couldn¡¯t.


    .....


    Another reason that Orse had allowed the man to use the cart was that she wanted to see if she could get something out of him.


    However, instead of talking to her like she had expected, Ozul just went to sleep!


    Orse may not have been the most beautiful woman out there, but her woman¡¯s charm would entice hundreds of men. Together with her natural beauty, she was also physically fit, which added another appeal to her.


    So she had expected him to be the same as other men and try to start a conversation with her. However, Orse didn¡¯t know that even if she was the number one beauty in the entire world, Ozul wouldn¡¯t bat an eye.


    Not to mention, Ozul himself had an appearance that would probably shame the gods.


    Only Orse could not see his face entirely because he was back in the cart, and now when she also hopped in, he was wearing a hat.


    ¡®This man. No matter how I look at him, he seems so harmless! Yet... yet, there is this feeling that if I were to attack him, I would be utterly helpless.¡¯- Orse thought to herself.


    She couldn¡¯t even sense any Mana from him, so the situation confused her to no end.


    Her instincts honed through hundreds of battles, and the logical conclusions all pointed towards Ozul being unusual, but she just couldn¡¯t find any real evidence.


    ¡®Should I do it? He is sleeping already, so he won¡¯t find out...right?¡¯- Orse contemted inside her mind.


    In fact, she had a Spell to test the prowess of others. The Spell, however, demanded the target to be near Orse. Moreover, the person she is trying to examine would not need any extra effort to find out that someone is using the Magical Spell on them.


    This Spell allowed Orse to examine people, but she rarely used it since no one liked to be probed by others, and this was especially true for Mages.


    After thinking for a while, she couldn¡¯t contain herself any longer and decided to give it a go. Her curiosity got the better of her rational thinking as she conjured the Spell.


    ¡°O¡¯ Spirit Lord of....¡±


    Since she did not want him to wake up, Orse whispered the chant to conjure the Spell.


    Slowly, the Mana in the atmosphere gathered around her before a wisp of glittering blue light went towards Ozul.


    Orse was confident in her abilities and herself that she didn¡¯t even take into ount that Ozul could wake up due to the disturbance in the Mana.


    The glittering blue light came into contact with Ozul. Orse was about to make it go inside his body, but something unexpected happened.


    Suddenly, a part of the ck pointed hat on Ozul¡¯s face turned into a wisp of smoke!


    The ck smoke instantly arrived before the glittering blue light that was speeding towards the Ozul. It didn¡¯t even let Orse react before her Spell was dispelled only by a touch of the ck wisp of smoke!


    Right after that, the ck smoke went back to the hat and turned into the part that was chipped away earlier.


    ¡°Little girl, you shouldn¡¯t use such tricks. It¡¯s rude, you know.¡±


    Just when Orse was looking for an excuse, she heard thezy voice behind the hat.


    Ozul did not even bother to move his hat to say these words. Which pretty much exined Orse of how less he cared about the situation.


    ¡°I... I just-¡±


    ¡°You just wanted to check me out... because things don¡¯t make sense, do they?¡±- Ozul interrupted her stuttering in the middle, finishing what she may have wanted to say.


    ¡°How do you know?!¡±- Orse asked, surprised that the man could read her thoughts.


    ¡°Just a guess.¡±- After saying that, Ozul went silent as if nothing had happened.


    Orse stared at him for a couple of minutes, waiting for him to continue since she thought that he was in deep thoughts or something.


    Only she didn¡¯t know that behind the hat, Ozul had already gone back to sleep!


    After a few minutes, Orse finally couldn¡¯t take it and nudged him with the feet to check whether he was asleep or not.


    ¡°Huh?! What is it now?¡±- Ozul¡¯s voice, filled with annoyance, came in from behind the hat.


    ¡°What... You were done just like that? Weren¡¯t you gonna say something else? Like... I don¡¯t know, maybe yell at me or something?¡±- Orse asked nervously.


    First of all, she couldn¡¯t even see his expressions to know what he may be thinking, and now when she was caught in the act, she didn¡¯t know what to do.


    ¡°Oh, Should I have said more?...¡±- Ozul muttered to himself, but his low voice was heard clearly by the woman before him.


    After a few moments, as if he hade to a decision, Ozul lifted a little bit of his hat while still lying down.


    Though Orse couldn¡¯t see Ozul¡¯s face due to how dark it was, her whole body tensed up since she knew that he was looking at her.


    ¡°Be careful from now on; I don¡¯t like people annoying me. I also don¡¯t like that dirty and twinkly Mana entering inside me.¡±- Ozul said, confusing her even more.


    ¡°And it¡¯s not like you would have found anything anyways.¡±- After the whispers followed his earlier words, Ozul dropped the hat, no longer caring for what she thought about it.


    Orse was dumbstruck. She didn¡¯t know what to do anymore. Though she was an End-Stage Rank-6 Mage, she didn¡¯t dare to say anything in front of that man.


    She would have already started fighting with him if she was not in the wrong. It was her fault to probe into other¡¯s privacy in the first ce, how could she have the face to rebuke him?¡¯


    *Sigh...*


    ¡®How could I be so dumb to do that?¡¯- Orse sighed while leaning back against the corner.


    After a while, she crossed her legs and started meditating to avoid feeling awkward in the silence.


    However, her mind couldn¡¯t concentrate on anything. Ozul¡¯s words still rang in her mind, reminding her that there was a mystery in front of her. And as all the humans, she wanted to solve that mystery.


    Though it all went south, Orse still found many answers. She could at least confirm that Ozul was indeed not as harmless as he appeared to be from outside.


    Even if she did not feel any Mana from that wisp of ck smoke, it was still not something an average human could do!


    Not to mention that it only needed that wisp of smoke a single touch to disperse her Spell! And she was a Rank-6 Mage for crying out loud!


    ¡®And also, did he say that Mana was dirty?! Who in the world hates Mana?!¡¯- Orse had raging thoughts inside her.


    She wanted to yell them out at the man who was the reason behind her irritation, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn¡¯t muster up the courage to disturb his sleep again.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C


    Outside the cart, Raven and ze were walking side by side.


    Even being surrounded by so many people who were just as powerful or even better than them, the duo did not feel overwhelmed.


    Instead, both of them had their fighting spirit reignited. They wanted to fight them even after knowing that they stood no chance against some of them.


    ¡°Do you think Ozul would be fine with that woman inside?¡±- Raven asked without looking at him.


    ¡°Of course, he will be. Do you think anyone here could even hurt his hair?¡±- ze replied while puffing his chest as if it was his achievement and not Ozul¡¯s.


    ¡°I know. I do. It¡¯s just that...¡±- Frowning, Raven did not finish her sentence.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that you don¡¯t like him being with other women.¡±- ze said,pleting her sentence for her.


    ¡°How do you kno-¡±


    Just as Raven was about to continue her chat with ze, both of them noticed something in the distance that caught their eye.

 Chapter 104

    Chapter 104: What a Monster!


    The convoy was still on the outskirts of the Capital City. They were on the road that most people took off from the City.


    Their real journey had not yet begun, so the group was not overly tense.


    So when they saw that an old man with his face brimming with energy, stood in the distance with a carriage and a horse strapped in the front, the group did not mind it.


    However, Raven and ze, who were chatting with each other earlier, recognized the face instantly.


    ¡°What is that old man doing here? His name was... Uhm, Irvin?¡±- ze muttered.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and inform Ozul.¡±- Raven said to him, thinking that if it was something important, it was best to inform Ozul first.


    They again went to the back of the convoy to wake up Ozul.


    .....


    *Zzzzzzzz*


    When they looked inside the carriage, all they could see was that Ozul was sleeping in one corner while Orse, the maroon-haired woman was staring at him like he was some animal in a zoo.


    ¡°Uhm...¡±


    *Woosh*


    Raven was contemting how to wake him up without angering him, but when Ozul suddenly stood up, her words were stuck in her mouth.


    Orse was also surprised by the sudden movement since she had been staring at him unmoving for a while.


    ¡°What happened?¡±-Orse asked, noticing that Raven and ze had also returned.


    *Sigh*


    ¡°It better be worth it, Irvin.¡±- Ozul muttered to himself and got off the carriage, and no one bothered to reply to the woman with maroon hair.


    Raven and ze did not have to say anything further since it seemed that Ozul had already learned of Irvin¡¯s appearance without them doing anything.


    Raven internally heaved a sigh of relief. She was sure that the consequences would have been harsh if she was personally the one to disturb his sleep.


    ¡°Ughh. Who does he think he is?!¡±- Orse was a calm woman and seldom lost her calm, but it seemed that Ozul had a knack for infuriating others.


    However, she did not follow out behind them. Orse thought that it would only anger her the more she stayed near that guy.


    Outside, with the hat on top, Ozul marched with the rest of the group, slowly increasing his pace.


    As the convoy approached the old man, they ignored him and started to pass right by him. Some did have their guard up against him, but it was just that and nothing more.


    They couldn¡¯t sense anything from the man, so no one paid attention to him-no one, except the men hidden in the surroundings.


    Since Irvin had no magical items to hide his aura, Rufus had easily identified him as a fellow Rank-8 Mage.


    On the other hand, the hidden men all had one of the best equipment to camouge their auras, so Rufus was sure that no one knew about their presence.


    Just at this moment, Ozul approached Irvin. Fortunately, the other Mercenaries didn¡¯t care about it. Even Clive ignored it since he was aware that if it were something suspicious, it would be dealt with.


    ¡°Young Master!¡±- Irvin did a small bow and said with a firm voice.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, what did youe here for? We are already on the mission.¡±- Ozul said, staring at Irvin¡¯s face with a deadpan look.


    ¡°I had already taken control of the organization when I got to know that you did not have any carriage, so I took a carriage with me and came to see you off.¡±- Irvin exined himself.


    ¡°Oh? At least someone ispetent enough.¡±- Ozul sarcastically said to himself.


    Behind him, Raven and ze both smiled weirdly. They knew that the words were directed at them, but could they even do anything at this point?


    ¡®Damn it! I should have bought the carriage when we were shopping!¡¯- Raven regretted that she had forgotten such a thing.


    Actually, it was no one¡¯s fault. Since almost everyone at their rank and above did not need some carriages to move from cities to cities.


    If they were to move alone, it would have been faster. However, they had to escort an important individual, so they could not be careless.


    Even now, there was almost no one in the group who couldn¡¯t keep up with their pace. However, it was a rash move that could put everyone at risk, especially since they were probably going through a lot of harsh environments during the journey.


    ¡°Good work. I shall go back to sleep now.¡±- Ozul motioned towards Raven to take the driver seat of the carriage and moved to the back of it.


    This structure of the carriage was the same as the previous one. It had a roof. However, the backside waspletely open.


    Ozul went inside from the back andid inside it, instantly falling to sleep again.


    ze hadn¡¯t learned to drive the carriage, but Raven had some experience. So she had to take the driver¡¯s seat.


    As the escort group was still moving, she started driving and joined at the end of the row.


    Seeing them leave, Irvin made a 90-degree bow towards Ozul and stayed in the same position until the convoy had moved far out of his sight.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C


    Rufus and his men had seen all the interaction between the trio and that old man, but he couldn¡¯t find anything suspicious.


    However, since it was a required course of action, Rufus signaled two of his men to follow Irvin back and investigate him.


    Just as the men were about to move out, Rufus was suddenly brought out of his thinking and hurriedly stopped the men from following him.


    ¡°Stop. That man is too dangerous. We will just follow the original n.¡±- Rufusmanded the rest of the team and moved on.


    Though the Rank-7 Mages were all confused by the sudden reaction of their leader, they didn¡¯t voice out their thoughts. Everyone was a professional, and they knew when not to ask any questions.


    As their team caught up with the convoy, Rufus only had one thing in his mind;


    ¡®What a monster!¡¯


    The images of the scene shed through his mind, distracting him from the task at hand.


    He remembered when the old man had bowed towards the disappearing carriage, and eased his bow after the convoy was no longer visible due to the distance and the trees.


    ¡®We were hundreds of meters apart. And yet... Yet, that old man turned to look straight at me!¡¯


    Rufus was so surprised since he was sure that if ced in the position of that man, he would have never been able to notice them.


    They were using the special items provided by Emperor Luthien himself. The small beads were called Aura Erasure Beads.


    The Emperor had assured them that unless it was some old monster who was at least an End-Stage of Rank-8 or higher, no one would ever be able to sense them.


    Rufus hadplete trust in his Majesty, so the only conclusion that he coulde to was that the man was an End-Stage Rank-8 Mage!


    ¡°And that wild smirk...¡±- Rufus shuddered, remembering the smirk on that man¡¯s face when he looked straight at him.


    It couldn¡¯t be helped. Even when Irvin was only at the Middle-Stage of the Rank-8, he had an experience of the End Stage already. He had dealt with many such tricky items that would conceal other¡¯s powers in the past.


    It disyed a wide disparity of power between the stages of higher ranks.


    ¡°And that monster was bowing towards that kid like a servant. *Sigh* That kid is bing more and more of a mystery.¡±- Rufus muttered to himself.


    ¡°Could it be that he really is a young master of a prominent House around the continent? But which House could hire such a monster as a kid¡¯s servant?¡±


    The more Rufus tried to find the answers, the more questions he ended up having.


    Realizing that it was going nowhere without any concrete proof, Rufus pushed these thoughts away from his mind and decided to focus on the task at hand.


    ¡®I will still have to inform his Majesty about this matter...¡¯- Rufus thought before calling one of his men.


    He gave him all the instructions and sent him back to the Royal Pce to inform his Majesty. It wouldn¡¯t take long for him to catch up to them since they hadn¡¯t gotten far from the Capital yet.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C ¨C


    Back to Irvin, he was leisurely strolling back to his ce.


    ¡°I think this will be enough to inform those official rats about my existence, wouldn¡¯t it~?¡± Irvin muttered to himself before whistling on the way.


    ¡°Oh, Sh*t! Haley must be waiting for me! Damn... she is going to turn me into a punching bag if I amte again...¡±

 Chapter 105

    Chapter 105: Impatient Barbarians.


    Raven sat at the driver seat. Though there was enough space for two more to sit next to her, she forced ze to walk along the carriage instead.


    Some of the Mercenaries noticed that the trio now had a carriage.


    ¡°Oi! look at those guys. Pfft! They are already tired of walking.¡±


    ¡°Tch! What would you even expect from those weaklings?¡±


    . . .


    A few of them passedments, but no one dared lift their voices high, fearing that it might anger the Silver Knights.


    The duopletely turned a blind eye to their taunts. Though ze would sometimes re at the ones passingments, he wouldn¡¯t go any further.


    .....


    The ones who whispered behind their back were only the weaker bunch, so they would easily get scared.


    Meanwhile, their convoy had already left the outskirts of the Capital. They were now entering the forest.


    This forest totally surrounded the north of the Capital. Although it was arge forest, there weren¡¯t a lot of hazards in it. The unique point it had was that this forest was connected to another one.


    And this was also the reason that some of the Mercenaries had been afraid and wanted to leave earlier.


    There were just too many obstacles between their destination, The Neutral Lands. Not to mention that even if they were to reach there,ing back in one piece was not guaranteed.


    Anyways, the forest connected to this was one that only a few would dare to venture in. It was called the Old Whispering Woods.


    Many had just heard the rumors since most of the ones to venture in would never return to tell the tale.


    However, that forest was still far away from the current location of the convoy.


    A hodgepodge1 of noises, most of which were birds and insects, resonated through the air as they continued through the woods.


    Though there were many Magical Beasts in this forest, it was rtively safer than some other jungles.


    The convoy continued until the Sun began to set in. No one expected to make a stop at this moment, but it seemed that their Leader, Clive, had different ns.


    Everywhere had turned dark, so the Fire Mages created some Fire Balls to illuminate the surroundings.


    As they arrived at an area with rtively fewer trees, Clive turned towards the whole group.


    ¡°We will be making a stop here. Stop the carriages and start to set up the camps!¡±


    The Mercenaries were surprised by the suddenmand. One of them even questioned;


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be moving as fast as we can? Why take a stop when no one is tired?¡±


    Clive moved his eyes through the crowd and noticed that most of them anticipated an answer from him, so he gave a brief exnation.


    ¡°It is dark all around, and if there were to be an assassination attempt while we are on the move, it would give us a huge disadvantage. Anyways, since we are already in the forest, I will exin all the details. But before that, hurry up and set up the camps!¡±


    Some of the influential groups did not like orders being yelled at them, but since the orders came from the Silver Knights, they could only hold their thoughts to themselves.


    All of the Mercenaries started to set up the camps. Most of them had Spatial Rings, so they had their necessary equipment all stored in them.


    They created a giant circle by setting up the camps in that way. They left a vast area in the middle for the person that they were supposed to protect.


    The carriages stopped one by one. Everyone started to get off from the carriages. First of all, the guards in silver shining armors came out of the two Royal carriages.


    And then came out the Rank-7 Mage from the third carriage, Sir Hanry. Right after he had made an appearance, he stood guard at the middlemost carriage.


    One of them went towards the other carriages, and with a wave of his hands, he made them disappear into thin air. As for the horses, he leashed them all with the tress.


    After that, all the Silver Knights stood guard at the only Royal carriage left on sight. All of them were mostly Rank-5 individuals.


    After everything was set, Sir Hanry came near the carriage and knocked on the door.


    *k*


    After waiting for a few seconds, the door¡¯s lock clicked before Sir Hanry opened the door.


    Though most of the Mercenaries had started to set up the camps, they all stopped to take a look at the individual that they were going to protect for the whole journey.


    As the door slowly opened, first a slender hand came out of the door. Soon after the hand, the figure of a woman wearing the maid dress came out.


    The Mercenaries were so interested in knowing who their employer was that they were almost disappointed when the maid came out.


    It wasn¡¯t that the maid was not beautiful, but she was just not the person that they were anticipating.


    ¡°Damn it that woman!¡±


    ¡°Tsk! Idiot, She can hear ya!¡±


    . . .


    There were even a few people letting out their annoyance at the sight of the maiding out first.


    ¡®Che! It hasn¡¯t even been a few seconds! Impatient barbarians! Hmph!¡¯- Venessa thought with annoyance building up inside her. She didn¡¯t like that they were traveling with Mercenaries one bit.


    But she put those thoughts in the back of her mind, stretching out her hand to the door.


    As she stretched out her hand, they all again focused on who the next person toe out would be.


    Again, a thin hand reached out, cing itself elegantly on the maid¡¯s hand. Shortly after, a mature girl appeared in front of everyone.


    Though it was dark everywhere, everyone here was a Mage, so it wasn¡¯t hard for them to see the beautiful silver hair fluttering under the dim light.


    *Cough Cough...*


    The men were all staring at the girl for a long time before the coughs from Clive brought them back to reality.


    As they looked around, the Mercenaries found that Clive and the other Rank-7 Mage, who hade out of the Royal Carriage, had given them menacing res.


    It was obvious that they weren¡¯t supposed to look around too much while on this trip. Even if that was the case, most of them couldn¡¯t resist staring at ra once in a while.


    While everyone was stealing nces at ra, she was busy searching through the crowd. But in the end, she was disappointed to find that the man that she was looking for was nowhere to be seen.


    How could she find Ozul when he was still sleeping behind his carriage? While Raven and ze were busy setting a camp for themselves too.


    While the camp would most likely only be used by Ozul, they didn¡¯t care because this is what they were meant to do.


    Some men lit up torches and hung them around the trees that surrounded the area so they would have a clear view without needing to create fireballs all the time.


    One of the Silver Knights went to the middle of the area that especially left for them, and with a wave of his hand, he summoned an entire wooden cabin!


    It seemed that they were prepared for everything since the man had even stored a wooden cabin in his Spatial Ring!


    ra together with her maid Venessa went inside the cabin. No one liked to be stared by all those burly men. Though there were some female Mercenaries, it didn¡¯t help that more than half of them were the same as men while they stared at ra!


    Although the Mercenaries had also set up their tents, only a few of them would be put to use because most of them were not going to sleep.


    Even the weakest of the bunch was Rank-4 Mercenaries. And even they could afford to stay up a few days before needing the sleep.


    After what seemed like a few minutes, the Mercenaries together from the instructions from the Silver Knights had set up everything that they needed.


    Some of the men already stood guard around the perimeter.


    Clive looked around, nodding his head with satisfaction. Before he was pessimistic about the Mercenaries being a good choice, but now it seemed like they weren¡¯t so useless after all.


    After he noticed that everything was set, he looked around and noticed that the leaders of the Mercenary groups were looking at him, waiting for further instructions.


    ¡°Everyone, we are having a meeting! Only the leaders gather around while others keep watch!¡±- Clive shouted his orders.

 Chapter 106

    Chapter 106: What a bother.


    Hearing Clive¡¯s announcement, the group of Mercenaries all started to discuss among themselves.


    The Silver Knights under Clive immediately set up a big round wooden table in the middle, near the wooden cabin.


    A few minutester, the leaders and their vice leaders all started to gather around the round table.


    When Raven had heard Clive, she decided to wake up Ozul since it would be an important meeting.


    While she went to wake up Ozul, some other Mercenary groups had their own conversations.


    ¡°Boss! What have you been staring for so long? Let¡¯s go, hurry up!¡±- A man shouted at another man who was dazedly looking at the wooden cabin.


    ¡°Hm? Oh! Let¡¯s go.¡±- The man who was immersed in his thoughts woke up hearing the shouts. After that, he just walked towards the table where others were gathering.


    .....


    ¡°Hey you dimwit! What happened to Boss?¡±- the man who had shouted at his boss asked his fellow. However, before the person could reply, another man cut in.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? Boss Barry has been like this since he saw that silver-haired girl!¡±- This man looked better than his peers. After he had spoked, the others had a look of realization on their faces.


    ¡°Oh! No wonder. But Brud, you know that¡¯s never gonna happen, right?¡±- the man questioned again.


    *Smack*


    ¡°Hey! What was that for?!¡±- the man who had questioned cried out when Brud smacked his head.


    ¡°It¡¯s vice leader Brud for you bastard! Show me some respect, will ya?!¡±- Brud said with annoyance visible on his face.


    This person named Brud was the vice leader of the Mercenary group Wind Eagles.


    ¡°Hehe... It hasn¡¯t been long since you became the vice leader. It¡¯s just that my tongue slips sometimes.¡±- the man who was smacked, smiled cheekily.


    ¡°Yeah, whatever. I know it¡¯s kind of impossible for Boss Barry to get that silver-haired girl. But we can¡¯t say anything. Just let it be, you know how he is when someone goes against him.¡±- Brud advised the rest of his peers.


    ¡°Now get back to watch, I have to go to this meeting or whatever.¡±- Brud hurriedly followed behind his Boss Barry while the others went to do their duties.


    In another group, a short brown-haired woman was ring at another woman with maroon hair and chocte-colored skin.


    ¡°Big sister! Why are you looking for that guy now? Is he more important than the meeting?!¡±


    ¡°Okay okay, I aming, Tephi. You don¡¯t need to shout! ¡°- Orse shook her head before following Tephi. Not before she gave a long,plete look around to see if she could spot him in the crowd.


    Back to Raven, she approached the carriage where Ozul was sleeping, and ze stood near there, acting as a guard.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure he¡¯s not going to be angry at you disturbing his sleep?¡±- ze asked when she was going to wake him up.


    ¡°Of course, he said to wake him up when it was necessary, wasn¡¯t it? I mean, Ozul isn¡¯t unreasonable... ¡°-Raven replied, but she sounded like she didn¡¯t believe her own words.


    ¡°Okay, maybe sometimes...¡± she added after a little while.


    ¡°What is it now?¡±- Ozul woke up after Raven nudged him a little.


    ¡°That Clive guy is going to exin the details. We have already set up the camps, and he said to meet up in the middle.¡± Raven hurriedly exined.


    ¡°Ah, what a bother... Let¡¯s go.¡± Although Ozul did not want to, he knew that the details were crucial, so he forced himself toe out of the carriage.


    Ozul removed the samurai hat and stretched his prosthetic arms before making his way over to the meeting ce. Raven and ze silently followed behind him.


    As he made his way towards the meeting table where other leaders were gathering, his figure caught the attention of others.


    Because of the dim light, it was not very clear, but this was the first time when the Mercenaries had seen his face.


    ¡®Definitely a young master from some noble house.¡¯- everyone who looked at him had the same thought.


    Instead of being fearful after their revtion, the Mercenaries were even more disdainful towards the trio.


    On the other side, the women were literally drooling over him! When Raven saw the scene, she hurried her steps and walked with him instead of following behind Ozul.


    Her hands were almost touching those of Ozul. While thetter¡¯s hands were prosthetic, it nevertheless gave the onlookers a feeling that they were together.


    The women started ring at Raven, but thetter didn¡¯t back down. Instead, she replied to all of those stares with her own.


    Obviously, Ozul noticed all the emotions of jealousy and hate directed towards Raven. Still, he didn¡¯t worry when he felt those emotions multiplied many times over from Raven directed towards those women.


    Ignoring all the stares, Ozul and the duo came at therge wooden table. At this time, all the other leaders had also arrived. They all sat in groups of 2 and 3 around the table.


    Among them, the most prominent were just two groups. The first was of Barry and Brud, both being the leader and the vice leader of the Wing Eagles. While the second was Orse and Tephi, they were leading the Blue Petals.


    As Ozul took his seat with Raven and ze behind him, Orse had all her attention focused solely on him. The other Mercenary groups were just talking among themselves when they noticed the new arrival.


    Clive and three others behind him appeared on the scene. The other three were ra, her maid Venessa, and Sir Hanry.


    All the men had their eyes drawn towards ra again until the sudden burst of aura from Hanry and Venessa forced them to shift their gazes.


    ¡°You all better watch where you look. It won¡¯t end with a warning next time.¡±- Hanry gave the men a menacing look.


    His words shook all the men to their cores. There were only a few exceptions to this. Those like Ozul and ze, who didn¡¯t even care about it, and the other was Barry, who was also a Rank-7 Mage, so he remained unfazed by it.


    Though he wasn¡¯t afraid of the threat, Barry still averted his eyes for the time being.


    ¡°Since everyone is here. Let¡¯s proceed.¡±- Clive put his hands on the table. Just as he did so, arge map appeared on the table.


    The men who sat on their seats stood up, and only Ozul was the exception. He had a clear view of the map, and standing up just for the dramatic effects wasn¡¯t his style.


    Though he again became the eyesore among the Mercenaries for being the only one not to stand, Ozul didn¡¯t care one bit.


    ¡°First of all, I would introduce these figures first.¡±- Clive started.


    ¡°This here is Sir Hanry, a Rank-7 Mage. He would be in charge together with me.¡±- He exined, pointing towards Hanry.


    ¡°Next to him is thedy that we are here to escort. Her security will be your top priority in any scenario. Together with thedy is her caretaker. I advise you not to have any weird thoughts, otherwise...¡±- Clive gave a brief introduction while also threatening the men.


    He couldn¡¯t be med. This world, which had thews of the jungle, where strong ruled over the weak with brute force, cases such as r*pe and other atrocities against women were quitemon.


    However, this time none of the men gave any heed to his intimidation. When Clive turned to look at the reason, he was perplexed over the situation.


    All the men were throwing looks of jealousy towards Ozul! Clive didn¡¯t understand why these menpletely ignored his words.


    Clive did not know the reason because he wasn¡¯t looking at ra when he had introduced her.


    At that point, when everyone looked at her, she was staring intensely at someone else. When the men followed her line of sight, they were stunned to notice that her gaze was fixed on Ozul!


    ¡®Damn that pretty boy!¡¯- everyone cursed inside their mind.


    Almost immediately, all of them sat down on their seats. They thought that since Ozul was the only one sitting, he stood out too much from the rest of the group. Hence the reason for her to only look at him.


    However, even after their desperate tries, ra did not turn her eyes to anything else. From another¡¯s point of view, her gaze almost had hearts in them!


    *Sigh...*


    ¡®Can¡¯t they just exin the details already? I still have a sleep to attend to!¡¯


    ¡°What an annoyance.¡±- Ozul muttered under his breath, not even looking at the silver-haired girl. He didn¡¯t like such a waste of time just because a girl was staring at him.


    Though his voice was low, everyone around the table heard his words.


    ¡°What a bastard!...¡±


    ¡°Tch! Pretty face!...¡±


    ¡°F*cker!...¡±


    . . .


    Soon after his words, the men started cursing him in a low voice. On the other hand, ra did not even pay any heed to his words.


    Clive looked at the situation helplessly. He didn¡¯t know what he could to make everyone focus on the meeting again.


    Fortunately for him, Venessa also did not like the situation about ra staring at Ozul for so long.


    ¡°Young Miss! You are ady, control yourself.¡±- she reprimanded with a low voice in which only ra could hear her.


    On the other side, Raven squinted her eyes at ra...

 Chapter 107

    Chapter 107: The so-called meeting.


    Though Raven didn¡¯t like any women that tried to get near Ozul, she particrly hated the types like ra.


    However, she didn¡¯t feel threatened since she knew that Ozul never showed any interest in love life. He was just too busy with other important stuff such as... sleeping.


    Even if that was the case and Raven didn¡¯t feel threatened, it didn¡¯t mean that she was okay with the situation. Unconsciously, she stepped closer to Ozul, intending to reassure herself that everything was fine.


    *Cough*


    Only when Venessa had managed to bring ra out of her fantasies did Clive faked a cough to get everyone¡¯s attention.


    ¡°We are here to discuss the details of the mission! From this point onwards, if someone doesn¡¯t want to take part in it, you are free to leave.¡± Clive spread his hands, gesturing for them to leave if they aren¡¯t obedient.


    ¡°Since the introductions are done. I will now exin the route that we will be taking. We are right here now.¡± Clive said while putting up a marker on the map that wasid on the table.


    .....


    ¡°Following the shorter path, we will enter the Old Whispering Woods after a couple of days traveling north.¡± Clive traced his finger from their location to the dark green area connected to the forest that they were in right now.


    Some of the mercenaries couldn¡¯t help but tense up when they heard the words ¡®Old Whispering Woods.¡¯ They couldn¡¯t be med for that because since they were young, all of them had heard stories about the forest.


    Unlike their childhood memories, those stories were all but pleasant.


    ¡°I know what all of you may be thinking. However, I assure you. The rumors about that forest are just that-baseless rumors. The Royal Family has had many people venture in ande out unscathed; it would be child¡¯s y considering our forces.¡±- Clive dered confidently.


    Though his words sounded convincing, some men still had questions. A man wearing a sleeveless jacket stood up and voiced out his thoughts;


    ¡°Since we need to escort thedy to the Neutral Lands safely, why are we even taking this path? Why go through this death road when there are other safer routes?¡±


    Other men around the table also wanted the answer to this question.


    ¡°The reason is simple. Thedy here needs to reach her home in 6 months. And even the shortest safe route would take us at least a year before we arrive there.¡± Clive answered while shaking his head as if he didn¡¯t like the situation either.


    The man sat back down, and after there were no more queries, Clive continued;


    ¡°ording to the information that we have collected, it will take us around 4 to 5 weeks before we have sessfully crossed through the Old Whispering Woods.


    And before any of you ask any questions, you will need to follow the instructions given to you, and I guarantee you that no harm will fall on any of you. Keep in mind; the premise is that you must follow all instructions given to you.¡±


    These confident words from Clive brought a sense of relief to the men present in the meeting.


    ¡°I will exin the route after the Old Whispering Woods only when we reach that point. For now, all you men need to know is thatpleting this task would bring you rich rewards. After all, the Royal Family does notck any resources.¡±


    As Clive finished his sentences, the mercenaries all had their anticipation in their eyes. Theypletely forgot how many dangers awaited them ahead.


    All of the mercenaries present here were talented individuals, and the only reason that they were stuck at their level was because of theck of resources. So they couldn¡¯t help but drool over the rewards.


    ¡°So, the so-called meeting for discussing the details was just this?¡± Ozul spat, ring at Clive. He was annoyed with the situation. Though he didn¡¯t like to start meaningless fights, he didn¡¯t care about that anymore.


    ¡®Idiots! Isn¡¯t it obvious that he has been manipting them?!¡¯- Ozul gave a mocking look to the people who had gathered here.


    He was annoyed because they had disturbed his sleep just for this show. The details that they had discussed just now was something that everyone knew at this point.


    If they were passing through this forest, it was apparent that they would go through the Old Whispering Woods. After that, Clive left the real details and instead just ¡®reassured¡¯ the mercenaries.


    Ozul was okay with not knowing the details since it wasn¡¯t hard for him to predict the route they would take after knowing the whole situation. His anger was because they had disturbed his sleep just for this trivial brainwashing.


    Hearing his words, other mercenaries were astounded. Even in their wildest dreams, they didn¡¯t think that someone like Ozul, who had no mana, would dare to disrespect the leader of the Silver Knights.


    ¡°Watch your words, brat!¡±- One of the mercenaries instantly stood up from his seat and pointed at Ozul.


    ¡°Che! Look at this kid acting all high and mighty only because of your family background.¡±


    . . .


    One by one, others also followed the example of the 1st man and started pointing at Ozul. Their reason for acting up was not just to bootlick Clive; they also had the anger from jealousy built up inside them.


    So when they found a chance, they couldn¡¯t help but release their pent up resentment.


    Orse looked at the situation, worried at how the events would y out. Despite her worries, she didn¡¯t try to step up for Ozul since she didn¡¯t have a reason to do so.


    ra also didn¡¯t worry too much. She had witnessed Ozul¡¯s power first hand. Without even looking at his enemy, he had killed a Rank-7 Mage like a fly. In her view, these men were just fools ying with fire.


    On the other hand, there were only a handful of people like Barry, who had not said anything yet.


    Despite not joining the others, Barry was enjoying the show. He also wanted Ozul to suffer after seeing how ra was looking at him.


    In just a few moments, the whole meeting had turned into a lot of men pointing their fingers at Ozul, who didn¡¯t even bat an eye.


    When ze looked at the situation, he couldn¡¯t help but take a few steps forward. However, before he could even say anything, Ozul waved his hand.


    ¡°Let them bark. They¡¯re not the ones who bite anyway.¡±- Ozul¡¯s words caused another wave of curses to be thrown at him.


    ¡°Kid, you better watch your tone! Even if you are a little rich, show off at your home. Being mercenaries isn¡¯t a joke.¡± It was at this time when Brud, who was the vice leader of the Wind Eagles, spoke up.


    Brud then turned towards Clive, ¡°What is this kid even doing here? Wasn¡¯t the lowest requirement to join was being at least Rank-4 Mage or Rank-6 Fighter? I say we don¡¯t need a pretty face with no use whatsoever.¡±


    When the others heard him, they all expressed their agreement. It seemed that nobody liked the idea of working with someone who got here only because of the money of his parents.


    ¡°Hahaha. What a bunch of halfwits!¡±- ze couldn¡¯t help butugh at this point. He was genuinelyughing!


    ¡°Though I may not be the smartest of the bunch, I can certainly bet on my head that there ain¡¯t anyone here who has the balls to force Young Master to do something against his wishes.¡± ze spat, eyebrows raised as he provokingly looked straight in their eyes.


    After staring at them for a couple of seconds, ze went back to standing behind Ozul.


    Ozul turned his head and looked at ze, ¡°Well, at least you had a goodugh.¡±


    ¡°Hehehe.¡± ze scratched the back of his head. He was embarrassed because, in the spur of the moment, he had said too much. He was supposed to remain calm and deal with everything quietly.


    Raven was also surprised to see this side of ze. It appeared that he particrly didn¡¯t like it when the crowd tried to gang up on Ozul.


    The men stood rooted on the ground, not knowing what they were supposed to do now. It wasn¡¯t in their hand to kick someone out of here, so they all looked towards the only one who could.

 Chapter 108

    Chapter 108: Competing with the cat.


    ¡°Uhh...¡± Being put on the spot, Clive didn¡¯t know what to do either.


    On the one hand, he should obviously deal with this teenager, but on the other, he remembered that Rufus had especially informed him not to cause any troubles for him.


    ¡°Ahem! Sir Rufus personally ordered the presence of this young man here. So if anyone has any issues with that, I would personally report to him.¡± Clive said after straightening his back.


    His words left all those men speechless. Surprised, they looked at each other, expecting someone to take the lead. As if they all had suddenlye to a tacit understanding, they focused on Brud, who had started this topic.


    Being the target of their expected stares, Brud didn¡¯t know what he was supposed to do. And as expected, he just sat back on his seat. The other men looking at him followed his example and just sat back, acting as if nothing had happened.


    Although all of them looked perfectly fine from the outside, they were boiling with anger from the inside, especially after looking at ze¡¯s smug smile.


    ¡°Moreover, I can assure you that this young man here isn¡¯t as weak as you may be thinking,¡± Clive added after a while.


    .....


    ¡®Oh, that Rufus guy has told him more than I expected.¡¯ Ozul squinted his eyes at Clive.


    ¡°The meeting is over. You guys can leave now. However, keep this in your mind; I don¡¯t want any fights in this group.¡±- Clive announced with a threatening voice.


    His words hadn¡¯t faded in the background before he turned around and walked away towards his own tent. His subordinates followed after him.


    Ozul also stood up from his seat, turned around, and headed back to the camp that Raven had set up for him.


    When ra saw that he was going away, she hurriedly shouted;


    ¡°Wait-¡±


    However, Venessa didn¡¯t let her finish her words and pulled her back.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t the time for that. Can¡¯t you see Young Miss? You are going to disturb that man¡¯s sleep. Do you want to do that?¡±- Venessa persuaded while dragging her back to the wooden cabin.


    Though Hanry just stopped outside the door. He sat down on the ground, closing his eyes as he started meditating.


    The other mercenary group leaders also scattered away, most of them joining their men in the night watch.


    Raven and ze had also followed Ozul back to the tent. ze didn¡¯t enter inside and instead jumped on the roof of their carriage parked near the camp.


    Though he also sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, ze still had all of his attention on his surroundings as he couldn¡¯t rx in the middle of the forest.


    Unlike ze, Raven entered the tent with Ozul. The camp was practically empty, with only a fewfortable clothesid on the ground so that someone could sleep on the rough surface.


    However, Ozul did not mind that. He had slept on a table for six years straight before; what was some rough surfacepared to that?


    ¡°Oh, you want to sleep too?¡± Ozul asked when he noticed Raven behind him.


    ¡°No. I forgot to buy a cushion, so I am here to give you ap pillow.¡± Raven said with a straight face, not letting any emotions to show.


    ¡°Okay...¡±- Ozul shrugged, he wasn¡¯tining either way.


    After all this time of receiving thep pillows, even though he wasn¡¯t as infatuated with them as he was before, Ozul still liked thep pillows.


    ¡°Hurry up. Come here!¡± Raven sat down, bending both of her legs as she patted herp with enthusiasm.


    Ozulid down and put his head on herp before closing his eyes. Raven began to move her hands through his ck hair, asionally ying with them.


    Afortable silence followed after that as Raven yed with his hair while Ozul slept peacefully.


    ¡°Can I ask something?¡±- After what felt like an hour or two, Raven asked with a soft voice. Her tone waspletely different from what she had before.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Ozul replied without opening his eyes. He enjoyed it when Raven passed her hands through his hair.


    Raven had no problem asking the question while he was supposedly asleep because she had learned some things after being together with him for more than ten years now.


    She knew that Ozul¡¯s sleeping was not normal either. What he considered sleeping would actually be known as just closing the eyes.


    It meant that whenever Ozul slept, he wouldn¡¯t be unconscious. He would be fully aware of his surroundings, but he chose to ignore everything else and focus solely on the darkness all around him.


    Hence, whenever you would call him while he is supposedly sleeping, Ozul would be able to answer instantly.


    Despite not actually being able to rest, Ozul slept because he wantedfort. And he feels the mostfortable in the darker surroundings.


    Raven was sure that Ozul wouldn¡¯t mind talking now that he was lyingfortably in silence and saw only the darkness after closing his eyes.


    ¡°Why are we even here? Shouldn¡¯t we be looking for your arms now that you had your leg back?¡±


    Silence followed after she had finished her words, but it wasn¡¯t anything ufortable. Raven understood that Ozul was just taking his sweet time.


    ¡°What I mean is, don¡¯t we already know that the Emperor has one of your arms? Then why are we on this random mission?¡± Raven added a little whileter when she thought that Ozul might have forgotten to reply at all.


    ¡°See Raven; I want to beplete again, too. But that¡¯s not my final goal... I want to know more about myself than anything else.¡± His soft voice brought a sense of warmth in Raven¡¯s heart.


    ¡°This is a big world. And because of that, I alone can¡¯t search for clues. I need men... So many of them that I will have eyes all over the continent. Only then will I have a chance of finding any clues about myself.¡±


    Ozul exined what he was trying to aplish. Raven understood what he was trying to say. If Ozul were to start a full out war with Emperor for his arm, it would be difficult for him to gather men willing to work for him.


    Since he couldn¡¯t get his arms back right away, he could only bid his time. No matter much power he had individually, it didn¡¯t matter when it came to searching the entire continent.


    ¡°But even if that was the case, we didn¡¯t have to ept this mission, right?¡±- Raven didn¡¯t like it that they had to work together with others.


    Most likely, those mercenaries would again start pointing at them when they realize that Raven used Darkness Element.


    Although it wasn¡¯t a problem in itself, she knew they were going to start looking for trouble with her. And that would be annoying to deal with.


    ¡°I know what you are thinking, but bear with it. The Emperor has ns for me, and I am curious as to what they are. After all, he still underestimates me...¡±- Ozul exined with an amused tone.


    For some reason, Ozul had started to enjoy everything a little bit more than he did before obtaining his leg. It felt like he had a little bit of more emotions than he had before.


    In any case, Raven was notining about this new Ozul-not when heughed more.


    ¡°Also, you guys need to improve faster. Training in a peaceful atmosphere is slowing down your progress. Maybe some time without me would also help...¡±- Ozul added after a little while.


    It was true since there were almost no dangers for Raven and ze, their minds did not experience the pressure that was required to boost their talents.


    The Silverbird Kingdom was rtively safer than other ces on the continent. But real opportunities lie in dangers. So Ozul wanted to put some necessary pressure on them for their growth.


    ¡°I am going to work harder and be strong enough in the future to stand beside you proudly.¡±- Raven muttered with the fire of determination burning in her eyes.


    After her deration, Ozul didn¡¯t reply and just enjoyed the head pats. The camp regained its silence, which the duo both enjoyed.


    However, the delight of Raven was short lived when Jinx appeared in the tent out of nowhere! With graceful steps, she approached Ozul and curled herself into a furball, snuggling closer to him.


    Though Raven had his head on herp, she couldn¡¯t help but be jealous of Jinx.


    ¡®Just you wait! In the future, it would only be me cuddling with him!¡¯- Raven red at Jinx, her sharp gaze conveyed her feelings to Jinx, who just looked at her with an apathetic face before closing her eyes.


    When Raven saw this, she felt angry and stupid at the same time. Angry that Jinx had ignored her, and stupid because she waspeting with a cat that she had just guessed to be female.


    ¡®No! I am sure of it, this cat must be a female!¡¯ Raven convinced herself.


    However, a few minutester, she forgot about Jinx and just focused on the sleeping beauty in front of her.

 Chapter 109

    Chapter 109: I just know it.


    The next day when Ozul woke up, there was no one in the tent except for him and Jinx.


    Feeling the light from the gaps of the camp, Ozul put on the samurai hat and stood up. Walking out of the tent, he noticed that the mercenaries were packing up their stuff.


    It looked like all of them were almost ready to start the journey again. As Ozul looked on the right side, he saw that Raven was checking on their carriage.


    On the other hand, ze was practicing with Ice shards. His control over the Ice that he produced had been considerably better than when he had first joined the team.


    Ozul approached him, and after observing for a little while, he advised, ¡°Keep it up. Your improvements are visible but focus on your body more. As of now, your physique is not up to par with your other skills.¡±


    Only when ze heard his voice did he realize that Ozul had been standing so near him, looking at him with approving gaze.


    Ozul asked before he could say anything, ¡°So, You couldn¡¯t sleep?¡±


    .....


    ¡°Uhh... Young Master, how did you know?¡± ze scratched the back of his head. Though he also didn¡¯t need to sleep, after following the routine of sleeping every night, it had almost be a habit of sorts. However, he couldn¡¯t sleep at allst night.


    ¡°First of all, call me Ozul. Although I was fine with anything before, it causes many to misunderstand the situation. So there won¡¯t be a Young Master anymore.¡±- Ozul addressed the troublesome issue.


    ¡°Oh, as you say... O-Ozul.¡±- Despite ze readily epting it, he had difficulties calling him only as Ozul.


    ¡°Good. Now, as for how do I know? It¡¯s simple... I just know it.¡± Ozul inly exined. It wasn¡¯t that he was trying to be mysterious or anything. But after a little thought, he concluded that exining would take too many words.


    After hearing the reason for how Ozul knew, ze was left speechless as he smiled bitterly. To begin with, it was his fault to ask any of his ways. Even after so much time together, he would sometimes forget that Ozul was always like this.


    ¡°Anyways, it¡¯s a good thing.¡±- Ozul muttered to himself, leaving ze puzzled as to why it was a good thing.


    He didn¡¯t understand the reason since before it was always Ozul that encouraged them to sleep, and now he was also the one to say that not sleeping was good?


    ¡®I¡¯ve been toox before. Sigh... why have I started to regret my previous decisions so much recently?¡¯- Ozul internally sighed.


    As ofte, there had been many things that Ozul realized that he should have done differently.


    The feeling of helplessness when fighting that monster had reminded him of the day when he was born.


    First, he felt helpless when he was forcefully dragged out of hisfort and brought into the world of lights. He had felt even more powerless when his mother died while holding him. Then the feeling hit again when those wolves in sheep¡¯s clothing cut away his limbs.


    Grandma Carol¡¯s death had also affected him even when he showed nothing on the surface.


    But living for 6 years in that warehouse had dulled his motivation. Only a few days ago when he fought against the monster did Ozul remembered it all-how it felt to be helpless again.


    How, without enough power, people took things away from him and he could only watch weakly. Not even capable enough to protect the things which he loved.


    ¡®I have wasted enough time, I can¡¯t afford to bezy all the time now.¡¯ Ozul thought after internally sighing again.


    Just as Ozul was in his own thoughts, he heard Clive¡¯s shout, ¡°We are leaving!¡±


    ¡°We should get going, Young Ma- cough... Ozul.¡± ze instinctively used that term, only to realize when he noticed Ozul squinting his eyes at him.


    Raven again sat on the driver¡¯s seat. However, unlike before, Ozul didn¡¯t go back to sleep in the carriage. This time he jumped straight up to the roof of the carriage.


    With the pointed hat on top, he sat cross-legged on the roof.


    ze looked at Raven for answers, but he smiled wryly when he noticed that she was looking at him for answers as well. Both of them shrugged it off easily; Ozul always liked to do things out of order.


    Even some of the mercenaries looked at him, surprised that he was willing to be out in the open. Their thoughts were as such because, since yesterday, they had noticed that they would hardly ever see him.


    On the roof, Ozul calmly observed his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that the team of Rank-7 mages led by Rufus was still there, hiding in the trees. None of the other mercenaries had managed to sense them.


    Even Raven and ze were unaware of their existence, but Ozul didn¡¯t bother to tell them.


    Just at this moment, Jinx suddenly came out on the roof as well.


    ¡°What? I thought you didn¡¯t like it so bright?¡±- Ozul asked while looking towards her.


    In reply, Jinx only sat in front of him and limited herself to only stare at him.


    ¡°Me? I still don¡¯t like it. It¡¯s just that I have greater priorities...¡±- Even when Jinx had only stared at him, it seemed as though Ozul understood what she was trying to say and replied ordingly.


    Jinx again just stared at him for a little while before Ozul seemingly understood what she was conveying.


    ¡°Well, fair enough. ¡°- He said before Jinxy on the ground, curling itself to sleep. She looked truly just a ck furball.


    After this little event, Ozul shifted his focus on his surroundings. As he saw ze, he noticed that his posture was still stiff.


    It wasn¡¯t hard for Ozul to know the reason. Though ze wasn¡¯t a coward, his past behavior would instinctively show up when he was put in a simr situation.


    Before joining the team, ze was constantly under mental pressure, this subconsciously caused him to turn a little anxious whenever he was in danger.


    The only situation to this problem was that ze eventually gets the hang of it.


    On the other hand, Raven was perfectly fine even knowing that dangers lurked everywhere around her. It was not only because of her blind faith in Ozul but also because she hadpleted many missions together with Ozul in the past years.


    After observing everything and analyzing the current situation of the convoy, Ozul leaped off the roof and went inside the carriage.


    Jinx followed him in as well as both of them wanted to sleep. Although he had decided to put more effort, there was nothing that Ozul could do right now, and sleeping was never a bad idea!


    As Ozul closed his eyes, he couldn¡¯t help but think of Raven and ze¡¯s growth.


    ¡®They would never be able to learn to fly if I keep them under my wings.¡¯ Ozul tried to think of some scenarios where he could let them train by themselves.


    ¡°It will be a long journey. I hope something exciting happens...¡± He muttered to himself with his hands behind his head, using them as a cushion.

 Chapter 110

    Chapter 110: Thanks after disturbing his sleep?


    The convoy, in the meantime continued through the forest unhindered. There were some magical beasts here and there, but the mercenaries easily took care of them.


    Ozul would asionally wake up and check on the situation before going back to sleep.


    Raven didn¡¯t really need to drive the carriage; the horses just followed behind the ones in front of it. So she had enough free time to train.


    But the progress was slow since she needed to concentrate on controlling her mana. She was an End Stage rank-5 mage, and she just needed a little push before advancing to rank-6.


    However, that little push was something that she would have to strive for herself. Despite being just a little push, it required a lot of hard work, talent, and a bit of luck.


    Her mana core had already been stabilized, and it would increase in size once she pushed through thisst step, dering her as a rank-6 mage.


    Being a mage required great focus. Though there were many mages in the world, it was only because the early stages of mages were manageable and did not require many resources.


    .....


    Once in theter stages, unless one was born with immense talent, advancing required the use of expensive resources.


    The mages first had to incorporate the mana with their mana core walls while controlling the mana inside the core to push outwards to increase its size.


    It was a tedious process, and with a single mistake, the core walls could form cracks because of a sudden forceful push.


    On the other hand, if there were not enough force pushing the outwards, the walls would be rigid, and it would require more than double the efforts to increase the size.


    And if they couldn¡¯t do it under a certain amount of time, the walls would turn so rigid that after a certain period of time, it would be almost impossible to advance without any pills.


    Not only did it requireplete control over the mana but also peace of mind.


    ze at this moment was at the Mid Stage of rank-5. He was also on the brink of a breakthrough. But unlike Raven, he couldn¡¯t concentrate enough in this environment. So he was focusing more on his body like Ozul had advised.


    They traveled nonstop until it got dark.


    ¡°We will set the camps again!¡± Clive shouted when the convoy approached another area with rtively fewer trees around.


    Ozul also heard the shout and woke up from yet another nap. Following others, Raven parked the carriage near a tree and gave the horses some hay that Irvin had brought together with the carriage.


    When Ozul got off the carriage, she wasn¡¯t as surprised because she had noticed that he was acting this way earlier this morning as well.


    This time it didn¡¯t take long for them to set up camps as they had stored them in their Spatial Rings in a prepared form.


    Unlike before, Ozul didn¡¯t directly go into the camp to doze off again. Instead, he was about to head out to train in the open air.


    But just as he was about to, he saw something troublesome from the corner of his eyes.


    ¡°Heyy!¡±- A silver-haired girl seemingly ran towards him while shouting.


    When Ozul saw the situation, he put his prosthetic hand on his face and faked a yawn before he turned around and went inside the tent. Just as he had got in, he suddenly peeked his head outside and ordered ze, ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone in.¡±


    After that, he went back in, leaving ze to deal with the predicament.


    ra had been waiting for this moment for the entire day. And when she saw that Ozul was free and not resting either, she hurried towards him, turning a blind eye to the huffing Venessa behind her.


    But just as she had shouted at him, she noticed that he yawned and went back inside his tent.


    ¡®Is he going to rest? But I wanted to talk with him!¡¯- ra thought before running faster.


    The sight of her running shocked the other mercenaries, but when they noticed the direction that she ran in, it contorted all of their faces in jealousy.


    Unfortunately for ra, since Ozul did not want to have a chat with her, she had no chance at all.


    ze stood guard in front of the tent with his head held high. He wanted to appear as stubborn as he could after realizing why Ozul had suddenly ordered him not to let anyone enter.


    When ra approached him, he just held his hand in front of him and said with a heavy voice, ¡°You cannot enter, Miss. Youn- Ahem! Ozul has informed me not to let anyone enter. He is having a rest.¡±


    ze kept his icy demeanor even when he was identally going to call Ozul as Young Master again.


    ¡°But I wanted to talk with him! I have to thank him for saving me that day.¡± ra desperately tried to reason with ze.


    Only when ze heard her words did he put the pieces together and remembered that there was an event in which Ozul had killed the assassin, preventing the assassination.


    However, ze couldn¡¯t let her enter even after realizing why this girl wanted to meet with Ozul so much.


    ¡°Forgive me, but I have my orders.¡±- ze coldly spat. He had no reason to be kind to this girl.


    *Fuuu...*


    It was at this time when Venessa caught up to ra, panting because she was out of breath.


    ¡°Young Miss! You shouldn¡¯t be here. Let¡¯s go!¡± Venessa was supposed to follow ra¡¯s orders, but it was also her duty to tell her what is right and what is wrong. And she felt that her current behavior was anything but right.


    ¡°But Venessa! I just wanted to say thank you to him. I will leave afterward, promise!¡± ra tried to reason with her.


    After hearing her, Venessa thought it might actually not be so bad. If ra could only express her thanks to that weird guy, she wouldn¡¯t have to chase her all day.


    ¡°... Okay. But remember, you promised!¡± Venessa agreed before reminding her that she promised. To this, ra hurriedly nodded her head like a chicken pecking on the ground.


    ¡°Hey, you! Step aside! Don¡¯t you see that we want to go inside?¡± Venessa scolded when she noticed that ze stood unmoving like a mountain, not letting them pass.


    ¡°I can¡¯t let you do that. I have my orders.¡± ze didn¡¯t move an inch from his ce.


    ¡°Who do you think you are?!¡± His behavior enraged Venessa. She didn¡¯t expect that a random mercenary would dare to be so bold as to refuse them.


    Since she was a rank-6 mage, she could easily deduce that ze was a rank-5 mage. In anger, she released her aura, trying to scare him with the pressure.


    However, she was surprised to see that even when ze didn¡¯t back down. Instead, he had immediately formed many ice shards around him and was ready to attack her!


    It astonished her because even after knowing that he couldn¡¯t win, this man still chose to fight!


    ¡°You lowlife! If this is how you want it, then let me show you-¡± Venessa didn¡¯t like the attitude of this mercenary. So she had decided to show him his ce by fighting. However, she couldn¡¯t finish her sentence when suddenly she felt chills all around her.


    These chills weren¡¯t because she was fighting with an Ice mage. It was somethingpletely different.


    She wanted to look around her, but the fear took over her body as she started sweating. It felt like some beast was preying on her and would pound at her any moment now. The bloodlust was so strong that even her knees started shaking.


    Despite not being able to move her body, she tried to sense where it wasing from only to realize that all of this bloodlust was directed at her from the tent before her!


    Only then did it dawn upon her that this was a warning from the man inside the tent-a warning not to touch his men, or he would rip her to pieces even without her knowing!


    Only after that did she remember that it was also this man inside the tent who had killed the rank-7 mage without even looking at him!


    It meant there was supposedly no one here in the entire convoy who could match his power, not even Sir Hanry!


    Understanding her position, she was ready toply with whatever he asked of her. However, there was a big problem in that-she couldn¡¯t even move to express her obedience!


    ¡®... but what is this feeling inside my chest? Why am I enjoying this!?¡¯ Venessa didn¡¯t understand why, but in this situation where she should be worried about her life, she was getting excited!


    Fortunately, Raven appeared on the scene before anything happened. Others couldn¡¯t sense the bloodlust that was directed at Venessa, but it was not that difficult for Raven because she was familiar with it already.


    With one look at the face of Venessa, Raven understood who the unfortunate person was. If only she knew that despite being in a tight situation, the maid was actually enjoying it!


    ¡°You want to thank him, right?¡± Raven ignored the situation of Venessa, who was going to drop on the floor any minute now.


    ¡°... Yes.¡± ra didn¡¯t understand why this girl was asking her this question, but she answered nheless.


    ¡°And you will express your thanks after disturbing his rest?¡± Raven questioned with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

 Chapter 111

    Chapter 111: Inside information.


    When ra heard Raven, she pondered on her actions. Atst, she concluded that her words made sense, and it would be odd for her to express thanks to someone after disturbing them.


    ¡°No, I will meet himter.¡± saying that, ra turned around and started walking back to her cabin, but not before giving a long and deep look towards Raven.


    ¡®Who is she? And what is her rtion with him?¡¯ ra thought in her mind. She couldn¡¯t help butpare herself to Raven.


    The most fortunate or unfortunate, Venessa was finally relieved of the pressure that was pressing onto her a moment ago.


    Venessa took that as a cue for her to leave. She hurried behind ra with her legs still shaking. However, no one could ever know if her legs were shaking because she was terrified or due to something else.


    Ozul had retracted his bloodlust only after ra had gone away. But even he was stunned to feel the mix of emotions from Venessa.


    ¡®What a weird woman. She was enjoying that!?¡¯ Ozul had sensed fear from her alright, but there was also the emotion of ecstasy in Venessa when he targeted her!


    .....


    ¡°Whatever...¡± A couple of momentster, he just shrugged it off. It had nothing to do with him anyway, so he closed his eyes.


    He had aimed his bloodlust at Venessa the moment he felt that she was going to attack ze. He couldn¡¯t let that happen since ze was only a Rank-5 mage, it could have seriously injured him.


    For him, who could feel the emotions of others, it wasn¡¯t hard to project his bloodlust on others. At least not when he had killed hundreds of people while working with Count Oliver.


    Some of the mercenaries had noticed this little scene. But even among them, none of them felt when Ozul had directed his bloodlust at Venessa.


    As always, Sir Hanry was hiding near ra to protect her from any dangers. However, as trained as he was in the art of protecting, even he couldn¡¯t notice anything.


    Only when Venessa had suddenly stopped in the middle of her sentence did he feel a little odd about the situation, but he had no reason to intervene just based on this.


    Even if he did intervene, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to stop anything despite the fact that the bloodlust would have had less of a paralyzing effect on Hanry.


    Other men, such as Clive and his team of hidden mages were even more clueless. However, they didn¡¯t care since nothing noteworthy had happened anyways.


    Ozul spent the rest of his night in the tent. If he wanted to, he coulde out anytime without being found out by ra, but there was no reason for him to do so. All he could do was look at people, and sleeping was much better than looking at people.


    There was no meeting that night. Since the mercenaries already knew what they were going to do, Clive would just asionally talk with the famous mercenary leaders such as Barry or Orse.


    The night passed, and morning came.


    Instinctively, no weak beast dared to evene near the convoy while there were no stronger ones in this forest.


    It was the third day of their journey, and Ozul repeated his routine. He would check up on the situation once in a while before going back to sleep.


    Unlike before, on this day, a group of rank-5 Beasts led by a rank-6 Earth Golem attacked the convoy!


    Most of the mercenaries had never seen an Earth Golem. Despite being only at the initial stage, the Earth Golem¡¯s skin was as hard as any other monster at the peak stage of rank-6.


    Known mostly because of his tough defense, the Earth Golem was a pretty rare monster. And unlike what others would expect from a golem, this rank-6 monster was almost as intelligent as a human.


    However smart it may have been, the Earth Golem was not intelligent enough not to attack the convoy.


    The group of rank-5 beasts under the Earth Golem¡¯smand were some random beasts such as the Fire Snakes or the Razor Wolves.


    It seemed that this horde of beasts was desperate for something nutritious and when the monsters felt the convoy¡¯s presence, they came rushing in without thinking too much.


    The Rank-6 mages immediately stepped up when they saw that the Earth Golem was a rank-6 as well. No matter how many rank-5 mages attacked, the winner would always be the rank-6.


    So, the rank-6 mercenaries did not waste any time and directly attacked the Earth Golem.


    Of course, even a single rank-6 mage would have been enough to deal with the monster. However, Clive gave them the order to finish it quickly.


    The monster horde which could have destroyed whole towns by itself was killed in less than a few minutes by the joint attack from the mercenaries.


    The mercenaries wanted to pick up the loot, but Clive was impatient as he shouted, ¡°Hurry up! We don¡¯t have the time to pick up this rubbish!¡±


    ¡®Rubbish!? You call these rank-5 beasts¡¯ corpses trash!?¡¯ All the mercenaries had the same thoughts as they cursed Clive in their hearts.


    However, no one had the courage to go against his orders. Some who had Spatial Rings with enough space immediately stored some of the loot before scurrying off.


    Barry was a rank-7 mage, he found it beneath him to act against the rank-6 beast when others could easily perform the task too.


    So after him, Orse was the strongest among the mercenaries. She was also the one to store the Earth Golem¡¯s corpse.


    The members of Blue Petals looked smug after obtaining the corpse while Brud, who was the vice leader of Wind Eagles, could only watch in anger and envy.


    For these mercenaries, doing odd jobs was the only source of their ie. And it wasn¡¯t always that they would encounter a rank-6 monster. To find them, they would have to venture into ces that would endanger their lives.


    And many were not willing to take the risk. So this rank-6 corpse was like a piece of a pie that they would rarely ever get their hands on.


    While this was happening, the trio didn¡¯t take part in the battle at all. Some of the mercenaries noticed this andined, but Clive turned a blind eye to it since he didn¡¯t want to mess with Ozul.


    ¡°Hmph! Fools. They are just digging their own graves at this rate,¡± Clive muttered as he looked at the mercenariesining about the action of the trio.


    Unlike them, Clive had inside information. Moreover, he had heard the details from Rufus. So he was aware that Ozul was not there due to some rich background.


    Furthermore, Rufus had also exined to him what could have actually happened in the event where Duke Edwin supposedly died protecting his men against some monster. And he wasn¡¯t taking chances with a guy of that caliber.


    Even on the 3rd day of their travel, the convoy did not reach the Old Whispering Woods. The sun began to set after they had found a ce to set up the camps again.

 Chapter 112

    Chapter 112: The third day.


    As the night fell, the mercenaries again ced their tents and began to stand guard around the perimeter.


    Ozul again went into the tent, but this time he was practicing with his Ball of Purity. First, he created a small amount of it around the size of a fist.


    Then he would just separate even smaller drops of it one at a time while also keeping his control over the previous ones. Unlike when he was attacking others, keeping them afloat and controlling each smaller drop at will was more challenging than expected.


    This exercise was simr to the one that he was making ze practice. The only difference was that he did it in a more demanding way.


    The drops that he would separate were around the size of the nail, and he would try to control each one independently from the others. For example, in a typical battle when he just turned the Ball of Purity into fine needles, Ozul onlymanded them all to shoot towards one direction.


    That level of control was already impressive, but Ozul wanted more. He wanted to have such precision that moving each needle in another direction at the same time wouldn¡¯t be a problem to him.


    However, that was easier said than done. Because even after trying for the whole day, the best he could achieve was being able to move three of the smaller balls in different directions.


    .....


    Adding the fourth one required him to slow down the speed and put more focus into it. Furthermore, the fifth ball would just mess up everything.


    ¡°Sigh. And I considered my control over it to be almost perfect.¡± Ozul muttered to himself in disappointment.


    He could very well kill a rank-8 mage on a whim, but he can¡¯t even move more than four such balls at the same time in different directions.


    However, this was all reasonable. Ozul¡¯s Ball of Purity is like an extension of himself-as a body part. And usually, a person wouldn¡¯t be able to multitask and move each of his limbs in different directions to perform various tasks.


    That was precisely why controlling every small drop of it was a challenge for him to move separately. Ozul was, fortunately, able to feel the improvement in his proficiency while he practiced. Only the rate at which he improved was negligible.


    Despite the slow rate at which he improved, Ozul continued to practice until he concluded that it was enough and went back to sleep.


    On the other hand, Raven checked up on the group to see if Clive was going to do the meeting again.


    She came back to the tent when she noticed that everyone was busy with their own stuff. Clive was also in his own tent, which meant that there was no meeting for tonight as well.


    Raven decided to meditate in hopes of a breakthrough to the next rank. Although she knew that it wouldn¡¯t be so easy, she still had to keep trying.


    The trio didn¡¯t have to be on the guard duty since Clive never bothered to check on them. It gave them the time to train to their heart¡¯s content.


    Some of the people were really annoyed as the trio¡¯s routine felt like they were only tagging along with the convoy and weren¡¯t a part of the hired mercenaries. They could notin to anyone, however, as they had noticed the behavior towards Ozul by Clive.


    This had led to the mercenaries avoiding the trio even more. Nevertheless, the trio didn¡¯t care about interacting with others anyway.


    As Raven entered the tent to meditate, ze remained outside. After so much time in the jungle, he wasn¡¯t as on edge as he was on the first day. It seemed that he was slowly adapting to his situation.


    ze could still not focus on meditating, but his situation was improving. Since training the body as a Fighter did not require as much focus, he was able to practice in that.


    While the trio were using this time of journey to train themselves, others were not as peaceful as them.


    ra sat on a chair in the wooden cabin with her hands crossed to her chest, looking sideways as she pouted.


    Venessa stood in front of her with a troubled look on her face. It was just that ra was throwing a tantrum that she wasn¡¯t able to find an opportunity to meet with Ozul today either.


    ¡°It is your fault. I even saw him today, but you didn¡¯t let me out of the carriage!¡± ra took her anger out on Venessa.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand, Young miss. Sigh... Fine then. If Sir Hanry agrees, then you would be free to do whatever you want to.¡± Venessa gave up trying to persuade ra when she noticed that thetter was not willing to listen.


    Venessa had her orders, but she had alsoe to care about ra genuinely, so she couldn¡¯t force herself to deny her requests. Nevertheless, she was also sure that Hanry wouldn¡¯t allow it either.


    ¡°Sir Hanry! Can youe in for a second?!¡± Without a care in the world, ra hurriedly shouted right after Venessa had finished her words.


    From outside, Hanry came in with his same old stoic face.


    ¡°You called, Young miss?¡± Hanry asked with a little bow.


    ¡°Yes, Venessa here said that if you agree, she will give me a bit of freedom. So...¡± ra left her words unfinished as there was no need to before she looked expectantly at Hanry.


    When Hanry heard her words, he looked at Venessa for confirmation to which thetter nodded her head with a sigh.


    ¡°I see. Then answer me this, Young miss. Is this about that ck-haired young man?¡± Hanry asked with his face, not showing any emotions.


    ¡°Yes. I want to thank him properly for saving me.¡± ra didn¡¯t try to hide anything. She didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong with thanking someone who saved your life.


    ¡°Then... unfortunately, I cannot agree with this,¡± Hanry said while shaking his head a little.


    Venessa was relieved when Hanry did not agree with it. She was relieved because now it would be him that would have to take their young miss¡¯s tantrum if she did not understand.


    ¡°But why?! It¡¯s just meeting one person. What is the problem with that?!¡± ra asked with frustration as she didn¡¯t think that Hanry would so easily deny her request too.


    Since she was a child, Hanry and Venessa had been with her. And there were only a few times when they would deny her requests, so she wanted to know what wrong was there in meeting her savior.


    ¡°Young miss, you don¡¯t understand many things. That young man is not normal. He may very well be a dangerous person. Even now, we are not sure how strong he actually is.¡± Hanry calmly exined.


    ¡°But-¡± ra wanted to rebuke, but Hanry didn¡¯t let her and continued further;


    ¡°This man¡¯s team was the only one to survive an attack from a monster which killed Duke Edwin and all the men under him. Now tell me, how is he normal? It was Emperor Luthien¡¯s direct orders not to anger him since he could very well be also the person to kill Duke Edwin instead of the monster.¡±


    When ra heard that these were the direct orders from Emperor Luthien, she was stunned.


    ¡°But, how could Uncle- I mean his Majesty think about him like that? Didn¡¯t he save me?¡± ra questioned.


    ¡°Young miss, his intentions were not to save you. He just killed the assassin because he was implicated in that event. Moreover, don¡¯t you remember how he did not even nce at you or how he was so nonchnt after killing someone in the Capital?¡± Hanry tried to make her understand some things.


    *Sigh.*


    ¡°...I understand. However, if I get an opportunity, I will still meet him to give my gratitude. Even if he didn¡¯t mean to, he was still the one who saved my life.¡± ra, in the end, sighed and gave in after Hanry¡¯s exnation.


    Venessa smiled brightly as she thought, ¡®Young miss has finally started to grow up.¡¯ After that, she wiped an imaginary tear from her eyes.


    ra wasn¡¯t so delusional to think that Ozul had protected her just for the sake of her despite when she didn¡¯t want to believe it.


    Moreover, these were the direct orders from his Majesty. So she couldn¡¯t just go against them however she liked it.


    ¡®But his orders are just not to get on his bad side. He never said that I could not meet him when I find an opportunity...¡¯ ra thought while smiling with a silly face.


    Hanry and Venessa both shook their heads when they looked at ra, dreaming with open eyes again.

 Chapter 113

    Chapter 113: The actual mission starts from here.


    The night passed while nothing unusual happened. As per routine, some beasts had stumbled upon the area, and the mercenaries quickly killed them.


    Ozul opened his eyes the next morning when he felt the light enter in his tent. He was a little excited since, ording to the map, they are close to the other forest.


    He anticipated what dangersy inside that old forest to make it so dangerous. And if it was really so unexplored that they couldn¡¯t even mark any critical points of it on the map, what secrets could it be hiding?


    In the previous years, he had done many things, but exploring wasn¡¯t one of them. The thought of learning new things and exploring unknown ces was somewhat exciting to Ozul.


    Only because he knew many things from birth; every piece of new information would delight him because learning it by himself had a unique feel to it.


    As he went out of the tent, he rotated three small ck balls in front of him. He floated them in mid-air while continually changing their shapes and direction.


    They were rtively bigger than the ones he practiced withst night. Only because he was not fully concentrating on them, but just doing it to get the hang of it.


    .....


    The other mercenaries were mostly done with their stuff, and the duo had also readied the cart. He just hoped on the roof and sat there with his legs crossed.


    This time ze sat in the carriage instead of walking alongside it while Raven was back on the driver¡¯s seat.


    ¡°Everyone is ready! Let¡¯s move!¡± The shout of Clive sounded out as the carriages began to move.


    The convoy started moving at the same pace, but everyone was apprehensive about what was toe next. Most of the mercenaries could figure out that it wouldn¡¯t be long for them to reach the other forest.


    As they were moving closer to the other forest, stronger monsters began to show up. When there would hardly be any rank 5 before, now beasts at that level were showing up like cabbages.


    Though none of them could do any harm because of the number of mercenaries that were surrounding the convoy.


    Except for the tense atmosphere, all was the same as the days before. One thing the convoy noticed, though, was that the forest became quieter.


    The more in that direction they traveled, the quieter the forest turned around them.


    ¡°Hm. Weird.¡± Ozul muttered after trying to sense any life around him. It turned out that as far as he could discern, there were no beasts around them. Magical creatures aside, he couldn¡¯t even sense the ordinary animals around!


    ¡®It seems that normal beasts and animals don¡¯t even dare to go near this area.¡¯ Ozul concluded that this must be due to the dangers ahead of them. The beasts and the animals live here, so they are probably aware of which ces to avoid for survival.


    However, that thought did not bring any dread in him, and instead, he anticipated what awaited him there that caused people to be so apprehensive about it.


    The convoy continued for another hour before it stopped all of a sudden. Since Ozul was sitting on the roof, he had a clear view of why the people in front had stopped.


    Even he had to stare for a couple of seconds since it looked almost unreal.


    The forest they were in at the moment was enormous, but the trees were tall and not mushed together. They could see their surroundings quite clearly since the trees did not block the sunlight.


    However, the scene in front of them was totally different. When they had seen that this forest was connected with the other on the map, everyone had thought that there wouldn¡¯t be much of a difference.


    Only now did they understand why the other side was considered as a different forest. The sight looked quite artistic from the convoy¡¯s distance.


    A horizontal line of trees stretched from each side to the far ends. It looked as if the real forest started from here and their earlier journey was not at all in a jungle.


    All of a sudden, from the tall trees, it turned into those thick bushy woods with wines entangling the branches. From outside, they couldn¡¯t see anything in there.


    It was like a wall was built in front of them, and they would have to cross over to find out what awaited them.


    ¡°Everyone! From this point on, we will have to travel on foot. So get off the carriages and prepare what you want.¡± Clive shouted again, and his voice reached the whole group.


    Most of the mercenaries were already on their feet. The ones on the carriages also got off as they stored them. However, anything alive could not be stored in the Spatial Rings. So they just set the horses free.


    After being set free, the horses ran back in the direction where they came from. It seemed that even when they were never really here, their instincts warned them of the dangers ahead.


    Raven also set the horses free and stored the carriage. Ozul hade down from the roof at that point.


    There was no other choice; the forest in front of them did not seem like it would allow the big carriages to move through it.


    ra and Venessa also got out of the carriage before Hanry came by their side.


    When Clive saw that everyone was prepared, he shouted, ¡°Gather around! I will again repeat the basics before we venture inside.¡±


    The mercenary leaders quickly gathered around Clive when they heard his shout. Raven and ze, on the other hand, looked to Ozul for confirmation.


    Ozul nodded his head as the trio also made their way towards Clive.


    Clive swept his eyes through the crowd around him. Most of the mercenaries were already panicking over their journey ahead.


    ¡°As you can see ahead, there is a whole different world on that other side. It will be dangerous, but there is nothing to worry about that as long as you follow my orders. Your duty is to protectdy ra from any dangers, don¡¯t forget that.¡± Clive said.


    ¡°And keep in mind that no onegs behind. If you can¡¯t even keep up, then how will you even protectdy ra?¡±


    The mercenaries who were sweating from anxiety, turned red to their ears after hearing Clive¡¯s words. They were supposed to protect someone else, and they were worried about their own lives.


    ¡°Hey, Uhm... so do we really have to go through this route? I mean, look at it! It speaks nothing less than danger! It will only get more difficult to protect her there.¡± One of the mercenaries who was still afraid to venture in spoke up.


    ¡°We will be going through this route. If you want to leave, you are free to go anytime.¡± Clive turned to look at the man and replied with a cold tone.


    He had already exined why they would be taking this route, and repeatedly asking the same question was an insult to him and only a waste of time.


    When Clive saw that everyone understood his words, he looked towards the thick woods in front of him and said in a loud voice, ¡°The actual mission starts from here-from these Old Whispering Woods.¡±

 Chapter 114

    Chapter 114: Old Whispering Woods


    The group marched towards the forest. They had again formed a formation where ra, together with Venessa, were ced in the middlemost position.


    Surrounding them were a bunch of Silver Knight guards, all rank-5 with the exception of two who were rank-6 mages. Sir Hanry always stayed at such a distance from ra, where he would be able to act instantly if something were to happen.


    Then mercenaries were ced at the front of the group. Leading them was Clive together with Barry, who was also a rank-7 mage.


    While most mercenaries were ced at the front, roughly a quarter took the convoy¡¯s back.


    An eerie silence ensued in the surroundings as they approached the other forest in front of them, and only the sound of twigs and dry leaves cracking under their feet was heard.


    The silence was getting on their nerves, but no one dared to make any sound.


    Clive was in the lead. Despite when he himself had also not entered this forest before, he was rtively a lot calmer than the mercenaries only because he knew that they had hidden support.


    .....


    He swept his gaze in the surroundings. Not being able to sense the hidden group either, he lifted the giant tree vine to create a path inside the Old Whispering Woods.


    As he got inside, the entire convoy followed behind him. The people who followed behind were creeping out again when others seemed to disappear in the darkness.


    However, they were mercenaries and not some pampered kids. They had dealt with many life-threatening situations, so they just readied themselves and took the steps forward.


    Raven and ze were thest in the group, together with Ozul. Clive had no problem with this since he knew Ozul was capable enough, and they needed somebody strong at the back of the group too.


    After entering the woods, everybody started to disappear. ra looked back when it was her turn to see if Ozul was following behind or not. She then entered inside while holding Venessa¡¯s hands.


    When everyone had disappeared, it was the trio¡¯s turn. Raven and ze both turned to look at Ozul, who nodded his head in confirmation.


    ¡°There is nothing to worry about... for now,¡± Ozul assured them before the trio also stepped inside the jungle.


    The thick branches that covered the trees and the ground were a hindrance. They pushed aside the bushes and moved forward.


    As they moved further in the darkness, they had to deal with a lot of bushes and vines, all tangled together, creating a confusing mess. Raven even had to summon her des to create a path even when the others had gone through here just a moment ago.


    Despite that, making their path wasn¡¯t difficult for them, as no matter how thick they were, in the end they were just nts. The further they proceeded, the darker it turned.


    A few more steps and suddenly, they could see again as if their eyes had adapted to the darkness, or there was a whole different source of light.


    The sudden light subconsciously caused the trio to close their eyes. When they opened their eyes, a whole new scene awaited them.


    The group of men that had entered before them were also there, looking at the surroundings in awe.


    When they looked around them, all they saw were lush dark green nts covering the forest floor. As if decorated, thick vines entangled with the branches drooped from every tree with a variety of flowers blooming everywhere.


    The forest was modest, dark, and looked archaic. It was as if no human had ever reached these parts of nature, and it preserved its beauty for ages.


    The towering trees eclipsed its canopy with their crown decorated with leaves and only allowed enough sunlight for the nts to grow under them.


    A variety of beastly noises, predominantly those of bird songs, added life to the forest but were out of sync with the sounds of fights over dominance between other beasts.


    ¡°Beautiful,¡± muttered Raven as she took a deep breath to feel the surrounding nature.


    ze looked stupefied at his surroundings. In his entire life, he had never traveled, and now on his first long journey, he got to see this amazing sight.


    ¡°Is it supposed to be this majestic?¡± ze seemingly asked himself.


    It was not only them, but the beauty of this scenery amazed everyone in the group. It felt as if they had suddenly entered a new world.


    Now it appeared as if the jumbled mess made by bushes, nts, and trees behind them was a wall created by this forest to protect this sight.


    That wall, as if to protect it from prying eyes, did not allow any of this beauty to be seen from the opposite side.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t even hear or feel any of this life from the other side,¡± Ozul muttered under his breath as he swept his eyes past the trees.


    He found it strange that some tangled branches of vines and trees, mixed with thick bushes, could block his senses. There had to be another reason for him not to feel anything on this side.


    However, there were no answers in front of him, just a lush green forest.


    ¡®If not now, I wille back for answers.¡¯ Ozul thought in his mind.


    He wanted answers since after he had got his leg back, his ability to sense emotions and other things had also evolved. So it was surprising to find out that there were things that could still stop his sensing ability.


    ¡°I was right. This journey could prove somewhat exciting,¡± Ozul said to himself in an almost inaudible voice.


    One thing that everyone noticed was the quality of mana. It had improved at least two-fold! Even Clive was a little surprised at this discovery.


    He had been inside the Royal Pce so many times he was used to the improved quality and quantity of mana. The mana in the Royal Pce was nhelesscklusterpared to here.


    ¡°Everyone! Be on your guard. This ce is dangerous for a reason!¡± Clive¡¯s sudden shout caused everyone to wake up from their thoughts.


    Despite being enamored in the magnificence of this forest, they quickly pulled themselves together since they were all veteran mercenaries.


    As everyone remembered that they were in the forest famous for not letting anyone out alive, they rearranged themselves into the earlier formation. The mercenaries readied themselves for any kind of danger that might being their way.


    ¡®Higher mana quality means that the creatures who have lived here since birth would be a lot stronger than the average ones.¡¯ Ozul concluded in his mind.


    ¡°And that would also exin why this ce is so dangerous. However, the cause of the rumors should be something else. Also, why would this ce have such an old name such as Old Whispering Woods?¡± Ozul contemted.


    As far as he had spread his consciousness, there was norge beast that could be any threat to them. But if that were the case, then why was this ce considered to be so dangerous?!


    Moreover, from the looks of it, there was nothing so spooky about this forest that it could be named as Old Whispering Woods. The name sounded as if the trees in this forest would be able to talk and the atmosphere would be all gloomy as well.


    However, there was nothing of this sort in here.


    ¡°Sigh... Only time would tell.¡± Ozul sighed as he said to himself. There were no clues that could even lead to this forest being rumored to be dangerous as of now.


    Just as he said this, he noticed something that changed his mind.


    ¡°Nevermind...¡± Ozul muttered, a little excited about what they would be encountering next.

 Chapter 115

    Chapter 115: Drakes.


    From the corner of his eyes, Ozul noticed something that others could not do. The vines and bushes that they had cut to form the path here were moving again!


    Not only that, but the parts that were cut off started regenerating. Under a few moments, the path they had created was filled with the bushes, vines, and nts again.


    When all the other mercenaries were still engrossed in the surrounding greenery, Ozul felt something rushing towards them.


    ¡°A rank 6 beast? No... two rank 6 beasts.¡± Ozul focused and noticed that there were two rank 6 running in their direction.


    Just as he was thinking as such, Clive suddenly shouted, ¡°Get ready! Something ising our way!¡±


    It was apparent that he had also sensed somethinging their way. It was just that he didn¡¯t know what.


    The mercenaries braced themselves for whatever wasing their way. A few secondster, two rank 6 beasts stood before the convoy.


    .....


    The beasts looked like some wolf, but it had enormous jaws with all their teeth sticking out as saliva dripped from them. Instead of fur like wolves, some sorts of scales that looked like rocks covered their entire body, even their lizard-like tails.


    Amidst all their unique physical traits, the two which stood out the most were their horns and their eyes. Their eyes glowed yellow with vertical slits in them.


    ¡°Drakes...¡± Raven unconsciously muttered when she realized what stood before them. Count Oliver had given her many books, and most of them were studies on magical beasts. So Raven instantly recognized the creatures before her.


    ¡°What are drakes?¡± ze asked on her side when he heard her words.


    ¡°A drake is-¡± Raven was about to exin ze about drakes, but she was cut off because of the noise caused by themotion.


    Despite their low voice, the mercenaries had heard them because of the silence that had been caused by the sudden arrival of these two creatures.


    ¡°No way! These are drakes?¡±


    ¡°But weren¡¯t they like, extinct or something?¡±


    ¡°They are? What is so special about them?¡± A muscr man asked with his head tilted to the side. He was just a rank 7 Fighter.


    ¡°Huh?! You idiot! Haven¡¯t you read that the drakes are rumored to have the bloodline of dragons!?¡± His leader shouted at him, annoyed that he had to describe even thismon knowledge to the muscle head.


    ¡°But, boss! Dragons are just a myth! My parents used to tell me that!¡± The burly man replied in his defense.


    ¡°And your parents are dead now! Aren¡¯t they?!¡± His leader spat cruelly.


    The burly man instantly shut up and did not utter a word after that.


    ¡°Shut up, you fools and focus!¡± Clive¡¯s shout instantly stopped all the murmurs from the mercenaries. He continued, ¡°Although they are only at the middle stage of rank 6, you cannot underestimate their powers. Did you forget that their single attack will kill most of you!?¡±


    Hearing his shout caused the mercenaries to remember the situation they were in. The number of people who could deal with monsters at this level could be counted on one hand in this group!


    Even a stray spell or attack from the beast could cause them to lose their lives!


    ¡°Good. Now step back and get into the formation.¡± Clive shouted the orders when he noticed that the mercenaries understood their situation-seemingly satisfied with their behavior.


    All the men and women took their positions ording to the formation that they had discussed before. They set this formation in a way that it would be almost impossible for anyone under rank 6 to be able to attack ra.


    Though only under rank 6 because the rank-6 mages were not included in the formation. Since their magical spells caused great destruction, and it would be dangerous for them to fight anywhere near ra.


    All it took was a few seconds before everyone was ready to deal with the two drakes.


    The only thing that the rank-6 mages and above found strange was that it had been a couple of minutes, and the drakes were only looking at them eagerly. They did not attack at all!


    Clive and the other two rank-7 mages immediately noticed that the drakes seemed to have doubts now.


    Despite when they had themselves run all the way here to hunt, the drakes appeared to be hesitating on whether or not to attack!


    It was strange to see some beasts contemting their actions. But then again, not only were these drakes rank 6, but they were also rumored to have the bloodline of dragons.


    The only thing that they could not understand was as to why the drakes were not attacking.


    ¡°Is it because they realized that they couldn¡¯t win?¡± Barry, the leader of Wind Eagles, muttered.


    ¡°No. If the drakes had realized it, they wouldn¡¯t hesitate and just run away. It seems like... they are unsure of what to do.¡± said Clive.


    When the rank 6 and above mages were discussing among themselves, Ozul had different thoughts in his mind. Unlike others, he could sense emotions. And the emotions he felt from the drakes were that of uncertainty.


    Only when he followed where those emotions were directed did he realize that the drakes were looking right in his direction! Yet, he was not the cause of the uncertainty among the duo of drakes.


    It was another creature right by his legs instead. When Ozul looked down, he noticed that Jinx was there, sitting on a big mushroom-like nt, licking her paws. She seemed uncaring as ever.


    ¡°So they are confused because of you, huh? It¡¯s probably their instincts telling them not to go against you.¡± Ozul said in a low voice, looking curiously at Jinx.


    Although he could almostmunicate with her just by eye contact, he did not know much about her, only that she was somehow rted to him.


    ¡°So what are we waiting for? The one who gets the kill will get to keep the cores, yeah?¡± Barry asked impatiently.


    ¡°Of course!¡± Clive said before he himself rushed towards the drakes. If it were any other beast, Clive would have cared much about it. However, it was a known fact that the magical core of a drake was a treasure in itself.


    And there were two such treasures before them, just waiting to be retrieved by someone!


    Some ces on the continent even considered the drakes to have gone extinct. Clive still remembered that Sir Rufus had told me that once Emperor Luthien bought a drake¡¯s core for millions of purple coins!


    A drake¡¯s core was quite unique because of its certain peculiarity. So no one would miss a chance to get their hands on it.


    Ozul watched as Clive created some distance between himself and the group so his attacks wouldn¡¯t be any danger for them.


    ¡°Stay here. They are not something that you can handle.¡± Ozul said to Raven, who was slowly creeping towards the drakes.


    ¡°Aw. But aren¡¯t they only rank 6? Even if I can¡¯t win, can¡¯t I spar with them a little?¡± Raven sighed dejectedly. She really wanted to face off against them.


    ¡°No. They are only rank 6, but I can tell just from a look that they are much more dangerous than any other rank 6 beasts.¡± Ozul replied in a stern tone, indicating that there was no room for negotiations.


    Raven realized that she would not be able to do anything to change his mind, so she quietly went back to her position. Though she still watched intently at the battle that was going to take ce between the drakes and the rank 6 and above mages.


    On the side, ze was also disappointed since even Raven was not allowed to take part in the fight, then there were no chances for him either.


    Inside the formation of mercenaries, ra could only watch helplessly. She did not like being protected by so many people as it suffocated her.


    ¡°Sir Hanry. You have to acquire at least one drake¡¯s core. There is so much that I would be able to do with it!¡± ra had never seen a drake¡¯s core, but she was aware of its value.


    Hanry had not taken part in the battle because his duty was only to protect the young miss. But when he heard her words, he contemted for a while before looking at Venessa beside her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Sir Hanry. I am with Young Miss, and there is a whole bunch of mercenaries surrounding us as well.¡± Venessa nodded her head and reassured him.


    When Hanry looked around and confirmed the tight security, he nodded his head towards ra and said, ¡°Very well. I will bring you the drake¡¯s core.¡±


    After saying that, he also too started rushing towards the drakes. It was firste, first serve. The early bird would get the worm, so they were all in a hurry to be the first one to kill the drakes.

 Chapter 116

    Chapter 116: Fight over the cores.


    When all the rank 6 and above mages rushed at them, the drakes stopped hesitating. They did not care about their instincts screaming at them not to go near the ck cat.


    The only thing in their mind now was that these humans were attacking them, and they had to show them their ce.


    *Hrrwrr*


    The drakes growled, intimidating the lower rank mercenaries before both of them jumped in the opposite direction, running towards the mages who also rushed towards them.


    The first one to ready their spell was Clive. Since he had wasted no time contemting on what to do, he was already at a safe distance from the group.


    ¡°The spirits of fire grant me thy blessings...¡± Clive chanted while running. He had raised his hand, channelling all the mana from his hand to create fire.


    As he finished chanting, a giant fireball floated above his head. When Clive noticed that he was in the perfect range, he sent the massive fireball around the size of an elephant towards one of the drakes.


    .....


    Barry was right behind him, so he wanted to finish it as quickly as possible as not to let others get to the cores.


    Despite his spell being just a simple fireball, it was much more than that. Not only was it colossal, but it was a hundred times hotter than an average fireball.


    After throwing his spell at the drake, Clive expected that it would be enough to finish it. He had already started nning in his mind to see if he could also get the other drake¡¯s core.


    The spell had not even hit the drake, and Clive had thought the core to be his already.


    However, reality pulled him down from his high horses. The drake, which was supposed to be dead, was still running because it had only stepped to its side, effortlessly dodging the fireball.


    This turn of events left Clive bbergasted. It was a shame for a rank 7 mage not to be able to instantly kill a rank 6 beast at only the middle stage with a spell!


    His face turned red with fury. But before he could conjure another spell, Barry had caught up to him as he also used his spell.


    Winds started blowing around Barry as he finished his chanting. Then suddenly, as if they were alive, the winds began shing together. Sharp wind des were created because of their sh.


    The wind des also rushed at the drake that had previously dodged the giant fireball. This time, Clive was sure that the drake wouldn¡¯t survive this attack.


    He thought that since there were a lot of wind des, one of them was bound to hit the drake. And only one hit on the drake was enough to kill it because of the power behind those wind des.


    Despite the number of des that were aiming at the drake, out of all their expectations, the drake just side-stepped as if it was a child¡¯s y!


    Just when a de would be about to hit him, the drake would jump to the other side. Its movements were so fluid that it almost seemed as if it had made a secret deal with the mages, and they were just acting this part out.


    At this time, the drake was already close enough to them that he only needed to make a long jump to attack either Barry or Clive.


    It suddenly leaped towards them, but the power of mages at rank 7 was not a joke. They had already begun to rece their body cells with that of mana. So they were physically stronger than an average man and even some low ranked Fighters.


    Barry and Clive both jumped to the side while conjuring spells for the next attack at the same time.


    On the other side, Hanry had arrived near the other drake. He was also a wind mage, so his spell was quite simr to Barry¡¯s. However, the wind des in his spell were so thick that they almost looked like real des, if not for their transparency.


    But just like with the other drake, this one also dodged the spell effortlessly. The two drakes looked simr to each other. The only difference was that the drake attacking Hanry had one of his horns slightly broken from above.


    As this drake was about to attack Hanry, the rank 6 mages had also arrived in the safe range. So they all attacked the drake with their respective spells.


    The drake wasn¡¯t given a chance to attack before spells rained down on it. Much to the mages¡¯ surprise, it dodged almost all of them!


    The only ones that hit him were those who did almost no damage to him.


    Ozul looked bored at the battle, which quickly turned into a stalemate. The mages kept attacking the drakes in hopes of their spells being the one to kill them, but the drakes were quick on their feet.


    However, they couldn¡¯t attack the mages either since they outnumbered them. Whenever the drakes tried to attack the mages, a new spell woulde their way.


    Only a couple of mages were capable enough to kill the drakes. However, they could not conjure their stronger spells because it took time. And all of them only thought if they wasted time on stronger attacks, someone else would get the kill.


    And they were not willing to let anyone else have the drakes¡¯ cores.


    Regardless of what the mages did, nothing seemed to work. It was either that they risked conjuring a more potent spell or keep this stalemate and expect a lucky blow to hit their target.


    A few minutes passed with the battle going nowhere.


    Not only Ozul, Raven and ze also looked at the scene with bored faces. Ozul was even nning to look for a ce to lie down and have some rest in the meantime.


    ¡°Why are those rank 7 mages even taking part in the battle? I mean, don¡¯t they usually not fight with someone under their rank to maintain their dignity and stuff?¡± By Ozul¡¯s side, ze curiously asked.


    ¡°Because the rewards are just too good for them to not take part in it,¡± Raven replied to his question.


    ze did not have the luxury of any of the knowledge, but she had read many books courtesy to Count Oliver. So she was aware of the importance of a drake¡¯s core.


    ¡°What is so special about it? Just because it is a core from a rare species of beasts?¡± ze did not understand what could be so unique in a beast¡¯s core to make these mages fight like madmen.


    ¡°It is said that a drake¡¯s core-¡± Just as Raven was going to exin to ze about the peculiarity of a drake¡¯s magical core, she was forced to cut off in the middle of speaking when she saw Ozul suddenly taking a few steps forward.


    Raven noticed that unlike the earlier bored look on his face, he suddenly watched with interest as to what was going on in the battle.


    When she followed his line of sight, she could not understand what was so interesting about it that had caused the change in his expressions.


    ¡°Idiot,¡± Raven heard Ozul mutter as she again intently looked at the battle to figure out what was wrong.

 Chapter 117

    Chapter 117: Clouded judgment.


    ¡°Idiot,¡± muttered Ozul when he saw what was about to happen.


    In the battle, when everyone expected that at least one of the mages would take a step back and prepare a stronger spell, the opposite happened.


    Clive¡¯s back was towards the group of mercenaries surrounding ra, and the drake was in front of him. A little to his left stood Barry, also ready to attack at any opportunity.


    As usual, Clive threw a quick but a spell of average power towards the drake. Barry should have also thrown his bit at the same time, so there were more chances for it to hit the drake.


    However, Barry instead ran towards the back of the drake, right behind the ce where it was going tond after dodging.


    ¡°What is he doing? There is no time. Before he can conjure another spell, the drake would have already jumped away!¡± A mercenarymented from the side.


    It was a logical conclusion. Everyone had already noticed how quick these drakes were on their feet. Moreover, it was probably their territory, and they were just outsiders.


    .....


    Unknown to these men, there was only the drake¡¯s core in Barry¡¯s mind. He knew that the average spell would take too much time to conjure, and he had thought everything through. That¡¯s why he was nning to attack with his quickest spell that required almost no chanting.


    However, greed had clouded his mind, and he made a fatal error in his judgment. Barry forgot to consider if an attack of such magnitude could even scratch the drake or not.


    Because of the sudden urge to obtain the core, he had forgotten to take in many things into ount.


    Ozul had noticed his movements and realized what he was about to do, and that¡¯s why he called him an idiot. Everyone was so immersed in watching the fight that they did not realize what the consequence of this attack would be.


    But Ozul was standing on the sidelines, and he also felt the battle to be boring. He was calmly analyzing everything. That¡¯s why it wasn¡¯t hard for him to make a few guesses on what could happen.


    And just as he had predicted, Barry suddenly shouted, ¡°Wind ws!¡±


    While shouting the name of his spell, Barry also waved his hands as if they were ws. As the name suggested, two ws made of wind were created from his hands.


    He directed the spell exactly where the drake wouldnd after dodging the previous attack from Clive.


    It all urred in a matter of a few seconds, so no one except Ozul could draw a few conclusions. Maybe the people hiding in the shadows had also assessed the situation, but they could not expose themselves right now.


    Just when the drake hadnded, the ws shaped like a cross hit it right in the stomach. Many were stunned by this event because it had been the first hit to the drakes.


    The spell created quite a show after colliding. Dirt rose from the ground because of the sudden impact of the drakending and being hit by the ws.


    With a booming sound, the ws sent the drake flying backwards. Because of the force of the collision, everyone thought that it would finally kill the drake.


    The drake was flung back, closer to the group that was surrounding ra.


    Despite when the drake was only a few meters away from the group, the mercenaries did not care about it. Everyone just thought the drake was dead, and if not, then at least heavily injured.


    Barry was on cloud nine that his spell had finally hit the target. Even Clive looked at this with a gloomy face.


    However, everyone¡¯s facial expressions changed in the next moment when the drake stood up,pletely fine as if nothing had happened!


    The only apparent injury on its body was the minor wound on its back. Barry stood there, not knowing how this could happen.


    It was one thing that they, as rank 7 mages, could not hit a rank 6 beast, but not killing it in one attack after the hit was even more embarrassing.


    Just when he had thought that things couldn¡¯t go any worse, reality mmed him into the ground. The drake, which should have already started running towards them to attack, just stood there looking towards the other group.


    It was at this moment when both Barry and Clive realized that they had messed up. On their side, there were only these two rank 7 mages. At the same time, the rank 6 mages were together with Sir Hanry fighting against the other drake.


    In short, there was no one between this drake and the group that was protecting ra!


    The drake suddenly turned his head to look at Barry and Clive, before it growled and started running towards the mercenary group!


    The mercenaries who stood the nearest to the beast started shaking with fear. They were simply rank 4 mages or rank 7 fighters, so they stood no chance against a rank 6 beast, which even the rank 7 mages could not take down after all this while.


    This turn of the events had astonished everyone. Barry and Clive wanted to fire some spells right at the drake to stop it, but they suddenly remembered that the beast would easily dodge their attack.


    And if it really did, then the spell would hit right at the formation of mercenaries who were protecting ra. They had no choice but to run towards the drake that rushed at the formation.


    At the moment, Sir Hanry was also not near the group. Moreover, the drake with one of its horns cut off had suddenly jumped at him.


    It was also at this point when Hanry had realized the danger rushing towards the group. However, just like Barry and Clive, he couldn¡¯t fire any spell at that drake in fear of hitting ra and Venessa.


    Under a few seconds, the drake would already be in the formation, so no one could think of a n on the spot to prevent the beast from reaching the group.


    Everything that they thought of turned out to be futile. Sweat trickled down the mercenaries¡¯ necks as they could do nothing but watch as the death slowly approached them.


    Some of the rank 6 mages, who were on the sidelines, started bombarding the drake with spells. But none of them seemed to hit anything because the beast would always jump when an attack would be about to hit him.


    Venessa was also a rank 6 mage, but because of the tight formation, she could not fire any spell at the beast. There were just too many people in front of her. If she fired an attack, it would kill most of the mercenaries in its path.


    At this moment, she only had two options. The first option was just to watch the drakee over to their location and endanger ra¡¯s life, whom she was supposed to protect.


    And the second option was to fire the spell, which would at least ensure that the beast changes its direction, but at the cost of the lives of all the mercenaries trying to protect them.


    Just as she was about to make a decision, she heard the yell from beside her...

 Chapter 118

    Chapter 118: I will do the countdown.


    ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t do it, Venessa!¡± ra suddenly shouted at Venessa when she realized what thetter was about to do.


    Venessa, who had doubts about her actions from the start, hesitated after hearing her shout and decided not to cast her spell from the middle of the encirclement.


    If Hanry were in her ce, he would not have hesitated even for a second and just fired his spells at the drake. The only reason that he was not attacking it right now was that he was afraid that his spell might hit ra because of all the confusion.


    Instead, Venessa chose the second best thing that she could do to protect ra. And that was to run away from there.


    However, there was clearly not enough time to run away as the drake had already reached the front lines of the formation.


    It was only a matter of seconds before the drake would kill its way through all the mercenaries.


    Moreover, the mercenaries were surrounding them from all sides. It was ironic that this formation that would have protected them had now be a trap for them.


    .....


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    A few moments earlier, Rufus had stood watching these events y out, with the rank 7 mages rigidly standing behind him.


    ¡°Leader! Shouldn¡¯t we help them? At this rate, the drake could be a huge threat tody ra,¡± suggested one of the rank 7 mages behind Rufus.


    For a moment, Rufus did not reply and just kept staring at the scene from afar. It seemed as if he was waiting for something, but his subordinates did not understand what.


    ¡°No, just a bit more... Ok, I will do a countdown. Rush to help on my go.¡± Rufus instructed. It seemed that even in thest seconds, he did not want to reveal their presence to the group.


    Rufus wanted to avoid showing themselves as much as possible. The mission they were sent on was crucial to the ns made by his Majesty. He tried to avoid failure as much as possible.


    The rank 7 mages behind him did not understand what he meant by waiting even more than they already had. For them, the situation already looked dire enough that waiting even longer would only increase the odds of ra dying.


    Moreover, they did not see anyone that could help the group out of their predicament at this point.


    ¡°3,¡± muttered Rufus in a low voice as everyone behind him got ready to take action.


    ¡°2,¡± the mages¡¯ bodies tensed as they started circting their mana to increase their physical strengths.


    ¡°...1,¡± said Rufus in a downcast voice. Revealing themselves at this point meant that it ruined all their future ns.


    Just as the mages had jumped from their positions, Rufus saw something in the battle and shouted, ¡°Halt! Back to your position. We will not interfere.¡±


    A few of the mages tripped and were falling down, but they managed to bnce themselves because of their decades of experience.


    ¡°But leader-¡± one of the mages was about to question Rufus, but he was interrupted in the middle of his sentence when his colleagues pointed towards the battle.


    Rufus smirked as he saw a man in a white shirt, slowly walking towards the drake from the sidelines.


    ¡®You¡¯ve finally decided to step in, eh?¡¯ Rufus thought in his mind, amused and d that they did not have to step in and reveal their presence, failing the mission given by his Majesty.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    A few moments earlier, Ozul looked at the scene when the drake was sent flying by the spell of Barry.


    He had already predicted that this would happen when he had looked at Barry, who was ready to cast his spell. However, the unknown factor in this situation was the decision made by the beast.


    Even when Ozul could sense emotions, he could not read others¡¯ thought processes. He was unsure what the drake would do when it was sted in the middle of the ground-between the mercenary formation and his attackers, Barry and Clive.


    The worst oue was obvious: that Drake would choose to go after the mercenary formationprising only the weakest of the bunch.


    As the beast rushed to the mercenary formation, Ozul contemted whether he should help or let it be.


    ¡®I don¡¯t really want to help though...¡¯ Ozul thought before he looked towards a particr direction in the forest.


    From that direction, he felt many emotions that were directed towards him from a man that he was very much familiar with. The only feelings which really stood out among them were the worry and the expectations?


    ¡®Hm, that old man probably expects me to take action because he does not want to reveal himself,¡¯ Ozul concluded.


    ¡°Though I also lose nothing by helping. Wait-¡± Ozul stopped in the middle of his thinking as he realized something.


    *Sigh.*


    ¡°How could I forget that Raven and ze would also need the drake¡¯s cores?!¡± He sighed while thinking out loud.


    ¡°Well, what better way to get them than the opportunity in front of me?¡± Ozul muttered, looking at the drake that was about to collide with the mercenaries¡¯ formation with a glint in his eyes.


    Behind him, Raven and ze were almost moved to tears when they heard his murmuring. It really wasn¡¯t like Ozul to care about others in most case scenarios.


    If he wanted to do something, he would just do it. And if he felt that something was really not worth the effort, then unless something really did happen that he considered to be worth the effort, no one would be able to persuade him otherwise.


    In this situation, they did not care if Ozul saved the mercenaries from their impending doom or not. The only thing in their mind right now was that he was making some efforts in a task which he did not want to bother with only for their sake!


    It wasn¡¯t like Ozul did not do things for their sake before, or he did not care about them. It¡¯s just that once Ozul decided that a task was not worth it, he rarely changed his mind. And this time, he had changed his mind just for their benefit!


    Unlike ze, who did not know the worth of a drake¡¯s core, Raven was especially delighted hearing that Ozul was going to obtain them the cores.


    ¡°You don¡¯t really have to go that far for our sake-¡± As a formality, both Raven and ze were just saying that, but they got interrupted in the middle.


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t want the cores? Well, it¡¯s ok. I will not go then,¡± Ozul shrugged as he said thest part.


    ¡°No! We mean that you should go! If you would like, we can also join!¡± Raven and ze both hurriedly spoke up in unison.


    Although ze was unaware of the value of a drake¡¯s magical core, he had at least realized that it was something precious from the expression of Raven.


    ¡°Are you sure you want them?¡± Ozul again asked, this time looking at them with a scrutinized gaze. It seemed as if he was going to ask them for thest time.


    ¡°Yes, yes. We need them!¡± Both of them hurriedly replied. They were aware of how serious Ozul could sometimes be. If they still held back, he would really just give up on the cores.

 Chapter 119

    Chapter 119: Partners.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Ozul muttered before he turned towards the drake, which was about to start its onught.


    *Fuuu...*


    Raven and ze released a sigh of relief when they confirmed that Ozul was really going to intervene.


    ¡°It was all your fault! It would be best if you hadn¡¯t said that in the first ce,¡± Raven put all the me on ze.


    ¡°What? But didn¡¯t you say the exact same-¡± ze was cut off in the middle when he looked at Raven cracking her fist joints.


    ¡°I meant that it is all my fault, and I should¡¯ve known better.¡± ze suddenly changed his tone and smiled towards Raven, who nodded her head and just focused her attention back on Ozul.


    Because of constantly training with Raven without using any spells, ze was aware of how scary Raven could sometimes be.


    .....


    ¡°Tch! What devil¡¯s spawn or the demon!? This woman is the real devil,¡± ze muttered under his breath.


    ¡°Hm? Did you say anything?¡± Raven asked with a smile on her face.


    ¡°Oh, it must be my stomach. I haven¡¯t eaten for quite a while.¡± ze replied with an equally not-a-smile-smile.


    ¡°Oh, you better eat before our next spar okay?¡± said Raven, not caring about ze¡¯s expression when she mentioned their spar.


    ¡°Y-yeah...¡± ze said with his smile faltering already as his eyes twitched.


    Back to Ozul, he just calmly took long steps forward while the drake had already started bashing around whatever came in its way.


    It hit many mercenaries, who were hurled to the sides like some baseball. All the while, the drake did not slow down since it knew that the mages were following him.


    Although it had gained intelligence, the drake only wanted to kill as many people as it possibly could, derived by the primal instincts of survival.


    *Grhrrrrchh*


    Just then, the drake screeched again as it opened its mouth. Mana gathered around the drake¡¯s mouth when everyone realized what this action meant.


    The drake was going to shoot fire out of its mouth from this point-nk range at the group of mercenaries who could only watch in fear as the drake massacred them.


    Some of them had even wet their pants! They wanted to run away, but there was nothing where they could run off to. They were in an unfamiliar jungle, and they also remembered that the consequences of leaving wouldn¡¯t be any better than death.


    However, in the face of death, some of the mercenaries in the back still tried to sneak off from the wall of jumbled bushes, trees, and tree vines only to realize that they would have to cut all the nts again on the way back.


    And there was no time to cut their way through since the drake was just getting ready to throw his attack at them.


    The rank 6 and above mages looked on in horror as the drake was about to shoot his spell. They were all aware that if they really let it proceed with the attack, the casualties would be numerous.


    Moreover, there were critical chances that the attack might hit ra as well!


    The three rank 7 mages were still not in a considerable range to attack the drake without missing. Just when all of them had thought it was the end and there was no saving it, they saw someone casually walk in front of the beast.


    Venessa also hurriedly conjured a water shield in front of them to brace for the impact of the attack.


    ¡°Hmm... You¡¯re a piece of work, huh?¡± Ozul arrived in front of the drake, looking up at the visible mana gathering in its mouth.


    Everyone was bbergasted, looking at this scene. They did not understand what had gotten into this rich kid to dare and stand in front of the drake.


    ¡®Did he have a deathwish or something?!¡¯ Everyone thought in that split second.


    ¡°I hate shiny lights, you know.¡±


    Again his voice resounded in the area since everyone had gotten quiet. Some mercenaries even started to think that the kid had lost his mind, and that was the reason for his yapping before the beast.


    Even the drake looked down at Ozul, with its head held high as more mana gathered in his mouth.


    Just when everyone had thought that the kid would be the first to die from the attack, they all looked mouth gaped at the scene before them.


    Ozul did not even raise his hands before his hat suddenly turned into liquid before turning itself into a sharp but wide de.


    The people were not even given a chance to think about what was going on before the de just blinked in its ce.


    *Swish*


    After the de blinked, a sudden wave of wind passed by. However, no one at the moment seemed to care about how such a wind could form in a forest as thick as this.


    The only thing they cared about was seeing the head of the drake abruptly falling off from its body as if the beast was just a toy, and that piece of the head just fell off!


    *Thud*


    The head hit the ground with no grass before it rolled over and got stuck in a bush.


    ¡®How can it... What the-¡® no one was able to make any heads or tails of the situation. But the one thing that they truly understood was that it definitely had something to do with the supposedly rich kid who got here only by relying on family background.


    ¡°Huh? Is that it? Didn¡¯t it dodge their spells before? Why didn¡¯t it dodge mine?¡± Ozul muttered, looking at the headless corpse in front of him.


    However, the people who heard his mutterings looked at him with their faces contorted in anger.


    ¡°Shameless! He just wants to make us feel bad!¡±


    ¡°So what if he could kill it?! I could do the same!¡±


    ¡°Oh, you can? There is still one alive, why don¡¯t you try?¡±


    ¡°Uh, that. Oh, it¡¯s just that my neck is hurting right now, so I don¡¯t feel like doing it.¡±


    . . .


    Several people began to murmur, though most of them still did not want to believe that Ozul was better than them.


    Ozul did not mind their conversations and was about to crouch down to examine the drake¡¯s dead body, but suddenly he heard the shout.


    ¡°The other one is still alive!!!¡±


    He did not have to turn around to notice that this voice belonged to Raven.


    Actually, Raven could already guess what was in his mind, so she knew that he had most probably forgotten about the other drake already. And it was just as she had assumed.


    But Ozul did not have to approach the other drake after decapitating this one. Instead, it was that drake who witnessed the scene and stopped whatever it was doing.


    It looked between the headless body of its partner and Ozul before it angrily growled.


    ¡°So you are her partner,¡± Ozul mumbled to himself when he felt the emotions of the drake with one of its horns broken.


    Though he was unsure, Ozul concluded that both of these drakes were partners. And the one who he had just killed was probably the female.

 Chapter 120

    Chapter 120: Affection?


    The female drake was just gathering Mana to attack when the ck de suddenly shed in its direction.


    Although others could not see it, the drake was able to notice the de, but it couldn¡¯t do anything in midair. She realized that it meant her death, so without anyone noticing it, she shot a worried nce at a particr direction before her head was cut off.


    In the surrounding people¡¯s eyes, all they could see was the drake seeming falling on the ground with her head rolling on the ground.


    The male drake looked at Ozul with eyes filled with hatred before pouncing in his direction.


    The mages stood rooted on the ground, in shock of what had transpired in a couple of seconds. Still on the adrenaline rush, they did not have time to calm down before they were forced out of their thoughts by the loud growl of the other drake.


    They turned their heads to see that it rushed towards Ozul, intending to hack him into pieces.


    In contrast, Ozul stood nonchntly in his ce. His face looked as if he did not see the male drake rushing towards him.


    .....


    Some of the slow-minded mercenaries still could not ept that it was him that had decapitated the beast in the blink of an eye. They thought even now he was not moving from his ce just because he was too afraid to move.


    However, the next scene almost caused all of their eyes to fall out of their socket.


    The male drake was only a few meters away from Ozul when he took a long leap, determined to kill him. Nevertheless, just when the male drake had jumped towards him, another sh of ck blinked by.


    The beast, which was supposed to be pouncing on him, only passed by Ozul as itnded on the ground.


    The male drake did not look at Ozul, but at his partner, the female drake¡¯s corpse, before a ssh of blood sprang from his neck and he fell to the ground.


    Ozul looked at this scene with a stoic face, but he was confused in his mind. His ability to sense emotions allowed him to know what most felt during death.


    In the case of the beasts, there was always fear and resentment when they were about to die. However, the emotions that he felt from the male drake just now were that of sadness!


    When Ozul turned around to look at the male drake, he saw that even in his final moments, the beast looked at his partner¡¯s corpse with his gaze filled with affection.


    Now, this would not have been a big deal to him, but the scene suddenly reminded him of the time when he first came into this world of light.


    The day he was born, his mother took herst breaths. But even in death, she looked at him with affection rather than the fear of dying or any sort of resentment.


    This thought made Ozul sympathize with the now-dead beasts. However, sympathy did not mean that he felt bad for killing them.


    He had not learned to feel bad for harming others. It was just that he felt something stir inside him when he was reminded of his mother because of the male drake¡¯s love for his partner.


    But that also brought a sense of foreboding-telling him if he were to ept those feelings, he would only regret itter.


    Ozul shook his head out of his thoughts and keenly looked at the beasts on the ground before shifting his attention to Raven and ze, who stood in the distance.


    ¡°What are you waiting for? Come here,¡± said Ozul before the duo started running towards him.


    Far off in the distance, Rufus had been intensely analyzing everything since Ozul had stepped in the battle.


    When Ozul had killed the female drake, he also only saw the de blink in its ce before the head of the beast fell to the ground. And that was precisely why he had prepared an augmentation spell to improve his sight beforehand.


    So when the male dragon pounced on Ozul, though blurred, Rufus saw the pitch-ck de sh at the beast¡¯s neck before going back to its ce.


    ¡°What type of spell is it? No... What type of magic arts is it?! There were no mana fluctuations at all!¡± Rufus knew that Ozul was strong enough so that he could defend against the drakes, but he was still unaware of what type of magic he used.


    ¡®Sigh... This kid is bing even more of a mystery now. What will I even report to his Majesty? That I could only see the kid use some ck matter as his attack? And...? Nothing! I don¡¯t know anything about him!¡¯ Rufus raged inside his mind.


    Rufus was usually a calm and collective person. He considered himself to be a smart man, and not being able to understand a kid of the new generation was making him frustrated.


    ¡®The only thing I can report to his Majesty is that he likes to sleep. But that¡¯s it! I have no useful information about him. If only he had expressed his emotions a bit more, then it wouldn¡¯t have been difficult to know what type of person he was from inside.¡¯ Rufus contemted inside his mind.


    He didn¡¯t really want to face the emperor¡¯s wrath when the only peculiar information Rufus had about the kid was that he used some ck stuff and liked to sleep.


    ¡°Urgh.. I can¡¯t do anything about it either. His actions are always unpredictable. Tch! Why are kids these days so cold!¡± Rufus clicked his tongue at his helpless situation.


    His subordinates behind him all had confused expressions on their faces. They had never seen their leader behave like this, so they were all surprised a little.


    Back at the scene, the mercenaries had finally started toe out of their surprise.


    Hanry hurriedly rushed to the back to check on ra. Meanwhile, Clive and Barry came up near the beasts¡¯ corpses to confirm if they were really dead.


    All of the mercenaries were in shock. They could not believe their eyes when they witnessed the scene of Ozul killing the drakes.


    In their eyes, Ozul was just a pretty-faced young master who had gotten here using his parent¡¯s money. They were also not at fault for thinking as such since Ozul exuded no mana at all.


    So the events that had just urred caused them to question if their eyes were ying a joke on them.


    ¡°F*ck! How can that bastard be so strong!?¡±


    ¡°Freaking idiot! Lower your voice, will ya? Or do you wanna die?!¡±


    . . .


    Some of the mercenaries passedments. Even Barry looked at this scene with astonishment visible in his eyes.


    Because he had first thought Ozul only to be an insectpared to him, but now that insect had proved to be more useful than him! Hate slowly started forming inside him as he red at Ozul.


    Orse and Tephi were also there. Since both were rank 6 mages, they had been attacking the male drake, so they knew how difficult it was to hit them.


    ¡°I told you that we should stay as far away as we can from that guy. He always gives me the creeps,¡± Tephi said to Orse, a little wary of Ozul after realizing his strength.


    By her side, Orse nodded her head. Before she was curious about this man, but this new development had forced her toe to her mind. She did not want to endanger the people under her just because of her curiosity.


    Just like them, all the other mercenaries were surprised as well. But unlike them, Clive did not take so long to digest the events.


    He had already expected Ozul to be strong, so the impact wasn¡¯t that big on himpared to the rest.

 Chapter 121

    Chapter 121: The Drake¡¯s Cores.


    ¡°Don¡¯t damage their bodies. Take the cores as efficiently as you can.¡± Ozul ordered the duo while the mercenaries were all in a heated debate about what had urred on the sides.


    Although he felt nothing about their death, Ozul decided not to disrespect the dead bodies of the drakes. This was only because of how the male drake showedpletely different emotions than any other beast would have had.


    Raven and zeplied. They just thought that Ozul did not want the body parts to be damaged because they were valuable.


    Raven materialized her daggers to make a small incision at the chest of the drake. Just then, when she turned to look at her side, she saw ze standing there with arge ice de floating by his side.


    ¡°What?¡± ze asked when he saw her looking at him like he was some sort of an idiot.


    ¡°Uh... ze, I think Raven is best suited for this task,¡± said Ozul to ze before Raven could even start her lecture on how dumb he was again.


    ¡°Eh? But I can do that too! I have learned how to take the core out without making a mess! Really!¡± ze desperately defended himself.


    .....


    When Ozul heard his words, he swept his eyes at the giant ice de, which looked like a drill used to mine before he again looked at ze and said, ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Aw. But can I just-¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Not even-¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Okay...¡±


    Ozul did not even let him speak before rejecting him with a straight face. Atst, ze sighed, and therge de or the drill made of ice disappeared.


    Raven smirked at the misery of ze, who had already gone into the corner, drawing circles on the ground.


    Ignoring ze, Ozul gave a look towards Raven, and thetter was forced to focus on her job.


    In just a few seconds, Raven efficiently took out the two cores from the corpses of the drakes. Ozul noticed the state of the dead bodies and nodded his head.


    ¡°Good job,¡± praised Ozul before shifting his eyes at the two fist-sized mana cores in Raven¡¯s hands. Meanwhile, Raven beamed with happiness after being praised and shot a smug look towards ze again.


    Usually, the mana cores arerger in the Beastspared to the Mages. However, even rank 8 Beasts would not have mana cores this big!


    But the people who saw the cores were not surprised. They had already read about them, and they knew that they were abnormally big in size. Nevertheless, they were still mesmerized when they looked at those crystal balls.


    The mercenaries all stood with greed visible in their eyes. Even Clive had to control himself from staring at those mana cores for too long.


    Brud stood beside Barry with his fists clenched in jealousy. In his mind, one of the mana cores should have been theirs, but now the kid who he had thought to be a nobody.


    ¡°Hey! Shouldn¡¯t that one core belong to us!? Boss Barry was the one who hit the drake first! If it wasn¡¯t for him, this pretty face wouldn¡¯t have been able to kill it in the first ce!¡± Not being able to hold himself anymore, Brud suddenly eximed while looking at Clive.


    It seemed that he wanted Clive to do justice for them and give one of the cores to their party as he pointed his finger at the cores.


    Brud was expecting the mercenaries to support him, but as he looked around, all he got was people whispering in their ears while someughed at him.


    When Brud turned to Clive, he noticed that thetter was not only ring at him, but his face also darkened by the minute.


    It seemed that Brud didn¡¯t even think that all this was their leader, Barry¡¯s, fault that ra had just been in danger. And if something had happened to her, the consequences would not have been light.


    Moreover, he totally did not take this point into ount that Ozul had effortlessly killed both the drakes while they were struggling even to hit them once.


    Just as Clive was about to burst in anger, Sir Hanry came in from the back together with ra and Venessa.


    ¡°Brat! You do know that it was your leader who caused all of this mess, right!?¡± Hanry pointed his finger at the group of mercenaries who were barely alive after the attack from the female drake.


    Only at this point did Brud turn to look around him and noticed the chaos that had ensued due to one single mistake of his leader.


    ¡°Fortunately, Young Miss is fine. Otherwise...¡± Hanry left his words hanging, but the meaning was clear.


    The only reason that they wouldn¡¯t take any serious action was that only the mercenaries had received the damage because of their mistake.


    But it also did not mean that everything was fine after ra was confirmed to be unharmed. Instead, they were furious at Barry that he had caused her to be so close to danger.


    Even when they still had some defensive mechanisms like Venessa had created the water shield, it was best to be on the safe side. What if the drake¡¯s spell was also abnormally powerful?


    ¡°We will talk about thister,¡± Clive said to Barry who stood there silently, looking at the ground with a gloomy face. However, he still nodded his head to show that he was listening after he heard Clive.


    Barry realized what he had done wrong, but there was no solution for him to get out of this predicament. Everyone was aware of how dangerous the situation had turned because of his stupid decision.


    Brud also shut up and did not say anything further when he noticed the angry look on Barry¡¯s face. It seemed that he would also not be able to escape from the hellish punishment that awaited him.


    ¡°Uhm...¡± Suddenly when everyone had quietened down, they heard the soft voiceing from behind Hanry.


    Everyone turned to look in the direction while Hanry also made way.


    After Hanry got out of the way, they noticed that it was the silver-haireddy they were escorting, who had spoken.


    Ignoring everyone¡¯s stares, she made her way to the middle and arrived before Ozul.


    ¡°Uh, hello! I am ra!¡± Even she herself did not understand how she gained sudden confidence as she introduced herself.


    Before she would start daydreaming whenever even his name was mentioned, however, after so many tteringments from others, she began to think that there must not be any man who wouldn¡¯t want to talk with her.


    ¡°I am Ozul.¡± Ozul did not reply to her greeting but just said his name.


    ¡°Ah! Such a good name-¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know. Now I have work to do if you excuse me...¡± Without waiting for her reply, Ozul turned around and went near the corpses.


    His attitude left everyone stunned on the scene. Their eyes twitched as they cursed him in their minds, ¡®Tch! Bastard! How dare he!?¡¯


    ra was also stupefied that Ozul had so hurriedly walked off, avoiding her as if she was some sort of gue.


    Unknown to her, Ozul did not like one bit when she was close to him since she just reeked of the Light Element.


    Though it wasn¡¯t so bad that Ozul would have to run away whenever she came near him. It was still bearable, but why would he endure when he had the choice not to?


    ¡°Ah! Young miss,e here. I need to thoroughly check if there are any injuries or not.¡± Venessa noticed the atmosphere and to break the ice, she randomly made up an excuse and took ra out of there.


    ¡®Who does that man think he is!? I don¡¯t know why Young miss even tries to thank him anymore. Sigh... He clearly does not want to talk with her,¡¯ Venessa cursed Ozul in her mind before she internally sighed.

 Chapter 122

    Chapter 122: Bury them?!


    Raven stored the Mana Cores in her Spatial Ring before following Ozul as he turned towards the corpses of the drakes.


    Despite one body being headless, the corpses were clean, and there were no other visible wounds on them except for the cut on the other body¡¯s neck.


    When Ozul stood near the corpses, Raven went ahead to store them in her Spatial Ring since she thought that he wanted to sell themter or use it in some other way.


    However, just as she was about to do so, Ozul stopped her, ¡°There is no need to store them.¡±


    Since the men were still gathered around, they also heard his words, and some of them got curious as to why Ozul was not going to store the corpses. Was there something that they did not know?


    Ozul had already be a mysterious person in their eyes, so almost all of them neared him to see what he would do with the corpses.


    Although not as valuable as the Mana Cores, the bodies of the drake¡¯s were also precious. Each part of their body, be it their skin or their meat, everything was valuable.


    .....


    Even Raven was confused as to why Ozul did not want her to store the corpses, but sheplied anyway and moved back. Instead of questioning him, Raven calmly watched as to what Ozul was going to with the bodies right now.


    There were many uses of a drake¡¯s body like melting a part of their skin with the addition of some other medicinal herbs would result in an elixir that could instantly increase the tier of any Fighter under rank 8!


    And it was not only the skin, but almost all body parts of a drake¡¯s body were valuable. And that was the sole reason that everyone was so excited to hunt them down.


    For these people, the drakes were like walking treasure troves. Even one of them was enough for the mercenaries to fight like madmen, as they had done earlier.


    Even when the corpses had hundreds of uses, Raven could not understand what Ozul wanted to do at this moment since all of the things required the use of other herbs and precious pills, which they did not have at the moment.


    And she was not the only one who had such questions in their minds. Hanry, Clive, and Barry also stood among those people who were curious about what Ozul was about to do now.


    ze, on the other hand, was still sulking in the corner for not being able to be of any use.


    Under everyone¡¯s curious eyes, Ozul suddenly said, ¡°ze! Come here. It is your turn to be useful for once.¡±


    These words caused ze¡¯s eyes to lit up as he ran back as fast as he could and stood before Ozul, like a seasoned soldier who was ready to give his life before going to the battlefield.


    ¡°What do I have to do?¡± ze asked, excited that it was him who was called and not Raven.


    Ozul did not answer him right away and instead looked around the forest. The people who were surrounding him stepped aside when they realized that he was looking for something, and they blocked his vision.


    ¡°Hm... Dig the ground at that ce.¡± Ozul said while pointing towards a specific spot where there was less vegetation. That area looked to be the only ce which big enough near the group. Only a single giant tree stood in that ce.


    ¡°Uh... Just that?¡± ze asked.


    ¡°Yes, just that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have to kill people or defeat some beasts?¡± ze asked as his tone got gloomier by the second.


    ¡°No. You only have to dig some dirt.¡± Ozul replied, not minding whatever state ze was in right now.


    ¡°...¡± ze seemingly muttered something to himself, but no one was able to hear him.


    ¡°Did you say something?¡± Ozul asked. He could also not make any sense of what ze was trying to say.


    ¡°Oh! Nothing nothing... I just asked, how much do I need to dig?¡± ze rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly.


    ¡°Just enough for these two to fit in.¡± Ozul pointed towards the drakes¡¯ bodies.


    ¡°Oh? Okay.¡± ze looked at the bodies before making his way over to the area. He created a giant ice shovel and started digging.


    However, not everyone was as calm as him. Because he was not aware of the value of a drake¡¯s body, ze did not care much.


    But unlike him, the others all had one question in their minds.


    ¡°Are we going to... bury them?¡± Fortunately for others, Raven asked the question that they all wanted the answer to.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ozul calmly replied as if it was not a big deal.


    However, his answer left everyone stupefied on the scene! Why was he going to bury such valuable material!?


    ¡°But why?¡± Again, Raven asked the question that was in everyone¡¯s mind. But the others weren¡¯t so friendly with Ozul that they could ask their queries themselves.


    ¡°Hm? Because I said so.¡± Ozul shrugged. He did not want to exin all of his reasons. It was just too much effort.


    However, he made up a random excuse when he saw Raven¡¯s eyes twitching, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t want other beasts gathering here because of their smell.¡±


    ¡°But Why leave these bodies here in the first ce? Each part of theirs are worth a fortune!¡± Raven did not understand why Ozul did not want them to take the bodies and sell them somewhere to make a profit.


    She tried to exin their worth when she thought that he might be unaware of the value.


    However, Ozul did not budge from his decision. He wasn¡¯t even listening to whatever she said next!


    ¡°No means no. We are burying him, and that¡¯s final.¡± Ozul finally said in a tone that indicated that there was no room for negotiation at all.


    Raven knew that further persuasion was useless, so she sighed and didn¡¯t say anything else.


    It was rare for beasts to show the behavior such as the male drake had done. Unless the beast were rank 7 or above, they wouldn¡¯t jump towards death just because of the revenge for their partner¡¯s death.


    If it were any ordinary rank 6 beast instead of the male drake, he would have already run away after realizing the danger.


    ¡®Maybe they really do have some bloodline from the dragons?¡¯ Ozul contemted in his mind.


    Some stories suggested that dragons were prideful creatures. They wouldn¡¯t bow to anyone, and their loyalty to their loved ones also surpassed that of humans.


    Ozul thought that if the drakes really did have the bloodline of dragons, then the behavior of the male drake after his partner¡¯s death was reasonable.


    It wasn¡¯t that the male drake¡¯s love towards its lover had moved Ozul. He had just noticed something from the corner of his eyes that others hadn¡¯t.


    Moreover, it was also true that Ozul did not want beasts to gather in here to feast on the drake¡¯s dead bodies.


    As ze was digging up the dirt, some of the people surrounding Ozul had anxious expressions. They couldn¡¯t bear to watch such valuable materials being buried under the earth without any care.

 Chapter 123

    Chapter 123: His reasons.


    At this time, Hanry finally could not take it. He approached Ozul and said, ¡°Young man, if you don¡¯t want the bodies, we are willing to buy them at any price that you ask!¡±


    Although Hanry did not have any funds at hand, he was sure that ra¡¯s family would not miss the chance to buy drakes¡¯ corpses.


    Moreover, the bodies were in an almost perfect condition. There were no unnecessary wounds or injuries that would decrease the value of them. So, Hanry was anxious to seal the deal before Ozul really buried the bodies.


    However, Hanry had forgotten to consider one point. If Ozul really wanted money, it would still be profitable to sell the corpses anywhere. Burying them only meant that he did not care about money in this situation at all.


    ¡°I am not selling them,¡± Ozul replied with a cold tone. Just because he did not say, it did not mean that he enjoyed repeating his words so much.


    ¡°But are you sure? We can-¡±


    He squinted his eyes at the men surrounding them, his head lifted a little, looking down at those surrounding him. Suddenly, a huge pressure descended on all the people who were there to see if they had any chance to obtain the drakes¡¯ corpses.


    .....


    It seemed that one wrong move would put their lives at risk.


    ¡°If any of you want them, you can try to take them from me. However, I will not be selling anything.¡± Ozul gestured towards the corpses with his hand.


    The people stood there, most of them already sweating buckets even when it was only Ozul¡¯s intent. Unlike what he had done with Venessa, Ozul had only threatened them, and there was no bloodlust. So it was bearable for some of them.


    But even this much was enough to scare the hell out of those mercenaries. Even Hanry, Clive, and Barry were not spared from the pressure.


    They were also ten times better than the other mercenaries, but they still felt the danger. Their instincts honed by hundreds of battles warned them that they wouldn¡¯t live to see another day if they took even one step further.


    Ozul swept his eyes at all the people. Almost all of them were already regrettinging here.


    Noticing that his little trick worked, he retracted the pressure on them and turned around to look at ze.


    ze had already dug up a vast area of ground, so he was almost done. He appeared to be very diligent since Ozul would rarely ask him to do things instead of Raven even if it was just digging up a grave.


    Since the pressure was gone, the group of people hurriedly scattered away. They did not want to stay here any longer in fear that someone pisses him off again.


    Clive began to instruct the uninjured mercenaries to look out for any danger nearby. After that, everyone tended to the injured men.


    Fortunately, there were no casualties. The worst case was that a man had his arm almost torn apart. The Silver Knights gave that rank-5 mage a small vial of potion that immediately took effect and healed him.


    This kindness from their employer did not escape the other mercenaries¡¯ eyes. Their fighting spirits were ignited since it was rare for the mercenaries to be employed by someone this generous.


    That vial of a potion was the recently introduced elixir that had been distributed by the Church of Light. Although affordable, it was still expensive for average men to use without any care.


    They¡¯d only use those things when their lives were on the line. But their employer had just given the man the potion, even though the injury would have healed on its own if enough time.


    Clive nodded his head when he saw this scene. It was as he had expected. It was one of the lowest quality elixirs that they had. Even ordinary soldiers would be able to afford them, but their trash was someone else¡¯s treasure.


    He used this simple trick to win the hearts of the mercenaries. After this battle, their morale would have been down otherwise.


    Although they did not need the mercenaries anyway, Clive knew that they still had to fight with any other danger that they would encounter on the way.


    All the while, Hanry stayed near ra just in case some other beast decided to attack them.


    When ze had finally dug up the ground big enough for the two dead bodies to fit in, Ozul only had to use the Ball of Purity to pick up the bodies and put them in the ground.


    ¡°Bury them,¡± Ozul ordered before ze used the same shovel made up of ice that he had used to dig up the area to put the dirt back in.


    It took him a few more minutes before the drakes were properly buried.


    During this time, the mercenaries had already prepared everything. All the injured had recovered enough to start the journey again.


    All of them were resilient enough that small injuries such as these wouldn¡¯t bother them too much.


    All the men gathered around Clive since he wanted to discuss their formation again.


    ¡°Since we have three rank-7 mages, one would be at each corner of the front. Barry and Sir Hanry would take each side while I would be leading the group...¡± Clive instructed, and no one had any objections since this seemed to be the best strategy.


    ¡°As for the rear, you should...*Cough* You can do whatever you want.¡± Clive suddenly turned towards Ozul¡¯s group of three.


    However, he changed his sentence in the middle when he remembered the event that urred only a few minutes ago.


    Even then, Ozulpletely ignored his existence. It made Clive a little embarrassed, but he could not muster up his courage in front of him.


    After Ozul saw that everything was fine, he turned around and walked towards the convoy, who was only waiting for his group.


    Clive took that as a hint, and he ordered the convoy to start moving. Unlike before, they did not have the carriages since there was no room to do so.


    Clive led the group at the front, Barry covered the left side, while Sir Hanry took care of the right side. And atst, Ozul marched at the end of the group.


    As the convoy began to make their way ahead, some of the mercenaries still could not rest easy to leave the treasures wasted and buried underground. However, they could not do anything about it either.


    It was at this moment when no one noticed, two small shadows leaped from the bushes and made their way towards the area where ze had buried the drakes¡¯ bodies.


    No one except the trio noticed this since they were at the end of the group. Ozul pretended not to care about it, but ze and Raven quickly realized what this meant.


    The two shadows were actually the babies of the drakes! Only now did Raven and ze share a knowing smile as they hurriedly followed behind Ozul.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    *A few moments earlier.*


    Ozul suddenly looked towards a particr bush in the distance. As he moved his gaze towards the dead drakes in front of him, he realized what this meant.


    The baby drakes, though weak and fragile, were still drakes at heart. They were ready to show themselves even while being afraid of the men who had killed their parents.


    It was only then that Ozul looked towards Jinx, who sat there leisurely. He gave her a keen look, which thetter seemed to understand immediately.


    Jinx stood up and made her way to that particr bush. Almost no one noticed this scene where Jinx just stood in front of the bush, staring at it dumbly.


    However, even the matured drakes were afraid of Jinx, not to mention their children. Even when the baby drakes wanted to, they could not move their bodies even near Jinx.


    Ozul did not want them toe out because he knew if they did, the most likely scenario would be that the mercenaries would again start to fight over them. And since they were immature, they would capture them alive instead of killing them.


    Now Ozul wouldn¡¯t have cared about them, but the scene of the drake¡¯s emotions while dying had reminded him of himself and his mother.


    And these baby drakes were also just like him. They couldn¡¯t do anything to protect themselves.


    Rting his situation when his father took away his limbs from him to that of the baby drakes, Ozul decided to protect them just this one time. Also giving the baby drakes enough time to mourn their parents¡¯ death.

 Chapter 124

    Chapter 124: Improve talent?!


    The convoy moved on unaware that they were not only leaving the dead drakes, but they had also missed the alive baby drakes.


    The only ones who had seen this were Raven and ze, but they knew better than to speak about it.


    Even the men hidden together with Rufus overlooked this scene since they always moved a little ahead of the convoy, scouting the path first.


    The rank-7 mages included, everyone in the group was a little tense. They already had to fight against two rank-6 Beasts. Though they knew that encountering rare creatures like drakes was highly unlikely, they did not want to rx just because of the low chances.


    The group continued advancing, and Clive constantly had to deal with bushes and the tree vines. There was just not an end to them.


    ¡°Keep up your focus, and always stick together!¡± Clive would asionally shout out an order.


    No one talked in the group, and except for the noises of Beasts and animals in the distance, all they could hear was their feet stepping on some twigs and tree roots now and then.


    .....


    Clive had it the most difficult since the forest seemed like a maze the further they progressed. Just when he would think that this is the path, some giant tree or jumbled mess of vines and bushes like the earlier wall would block the way.


    He would then have to take a big turn, wasting their time even more.


    Although all of them were powerful, their minds would also start to get weary after the fight earlier and the constant vignce.


    The group of more than 70 mercenaries and the Silver Knights continued to progress further until it was night time.


    Unfortunately for them, they could not find an area suitable enough to set up the camps. There was just not enough space anywhere. Even when there were some areas with fewer trees, it would be filled with nts or bushes instead.


    The night had fallen, so the roars of triumph and pain from the Beasts echoing through the forest had stopped long ago.


    It caused the group to suffer from the awkward silence that got on their nerves.


    Unlike what some thought, the forest was always more dangerous when it was night time. It was the time for the silent killers as they called them toe out and start hunting.


    The Beasts which hunted at night were referred to as the silent killers. Compared to the ordinary Beasts, they would usually be weaker in terms of strength or mana.


    However, they were always more threatening than regr Beasts. All because of their skills.


    Since they were usually weaker than the ordinary beasts, they had started to develop the skills to hunt silently without making a ruckus. The hunted would not even realize after their death who killed them.


    Hence, everyone in the group was on edge except for Ozul. He had already experimented; as long as something was alive, he would be able to sense it under a few meters radius from him.


    Even after all this while, only Jinx was the exception from his innate sensing ability.


    Since the group could not find any suitable ce to rest for the night, Clive decided that they would have to make do with what they had.


    It would be difficult for them because of all the trees, vines, and nts. But it was still better than traveling all night.


    Being a rank-7 mage, anyone could instantly level the area around them in a few seconds, but themotion would attract all the beasts. And that would only make their task harder.


    So the group started to secure the perimeters of the area. They did not light up any fire since Clive instructed them that it was too troublesome to do so in this forest.


    Clive had received detailed instructions on how to cross through this forest known as the Old Whispering Woods. All they had to do was not attract attention and stay on a particr route.


    He was informed that this forest was actually way bigger than they imagined, unlike what others thought. The route which he was instructed to take only passed through the outer boundaries of the forest!


    It was both good and bad news. Good because it meant that they would probably not encounter the real dangers of this forest. Bad because it also meant that there were still chances for them to stumble upon something they couldn¡¯t handle.


    But Clive did not exin this to any of the mercenaries since it would only pressure them.


    That was also why Clive took extra caution and did not allow the group to light up any fire since it could attract unwanted attention from the beasts.


    Taking ra as the center, the mercenaries took their positions. Some climbed the trees and rested their backs against the trees¡¯ trunk while also keeping an eye on the surroundings.


    Even if they did not have enough space for the whole wooden cabin, Sir Hanry made enough space by cutting away some vines and wild nts to make the area suitable for a tent.


    ra and Venessa rested in the tent guarded by the Silver Knights and Sir Hanry, who all stayed at an appropriate distance from the camp.


    Ozul also climbed up a tree with Jinx following him up. The tree branches did not have enough space, so Raven had to climb up a different tree while ze chose to stay on the ground.


    Suddenly when Raven was about to jump up the tree, ze stopped her, ¡°Hey, I wanted to ask you. I still don¡¯t know why is a drake¡¯s core so valuable?¡±


    Almost all of the mercenaries in the group knew about it, but since ze had lived in the vige for all his life, there was no one to educate him.


    ¡°Ah, yes. You still don¡¯t know, tsk tsk.¡± Raven taunted while ze could only smile at this while his eyes twitched.


    ¡°There is only one reason why they are so valuable. And that is... the Mana Core from a drake can improve one¡¯s talent!¡± Raven exined to him.


    ¡°Wait, talent?! But how?¡± ze was not able to digest this piece of information so easily.


    Talent in this world was something that was thought to be decided on birth. ze knew the importance of talent afterparing himself to Raven, who, unlike him, had been provided by all the resources, yet he was near the same tier as her.


    ¡°Why do you think drakes are rumored to have the bloodline from dragons? It is because they say that dragons also have a special affinity to mana. So the drake¡¯s cores being able to improve one¡¯s talent became the main reason people linked the two together.¡± Raven even exined the reason for the rumors.


    ¡°Hmm. So dragons do exist!¡± ze muttered after listening to Raven.


    ¡°They may or may not. Who knows. Unless we see it with our own eyes, we cannot confirm,¡± Raven shrugged. Why care about something that they would probably never encounter?


    ¡°How does it improve our talent, though? Do we make some pills with them?¡± ze had finally gotten his chance to clear his doubts, so he wasn¡¯t letting Raven go without asking everything.


    ¡°No. We just devour it,¡± said Raven nonchntly. However, ze¡¯s expressions changed hearing that they would have to devour a Mana Core!


    ¡°... What will we do with a little more talent if the cost is death?¡± ze squinted his eyes at Raven.


    As far as he knew, eating a Mana Core was akin to suicide since the dense andpressed mana would suddenly start to rampage inside the body, resulting in the mage¡¯s death in a few seconds.


    ¡°There is actually a way to absorb the Mana Core of a drake,¡± said Raven as the expressions on ze¡¯s face began to change.


    ¡°What?! Since when could we absorb Mana Cores?¡± ze asked while trying his best to keep his voice under control.


    ¡°We can¡¯t just absorb any beast¡¯s Core. It is the specialty of the drake¡¯s Mana Core. But there are still some things that we need to help in the process, and we don¡¯t have them right now,¡± Raven poured the cold water on him.


    ze knew that even if they could absorb the Mana Core of the drake to improve their talent, the items used in the process surely wouldn¡¯t be cheap.


    ¡°Heh, don¡¯t worry. If Ozul wanted us to consume the cores, then he surely has a way to get the other items,¡± Raven assured him.


    However, right after saying that, she muttered under her breath, ¡°...I think.¡±


    Due to no one making any sound near them, ze heard her murmur and smiled wryly, ¡°Yeah, probably...¡±


    It couldn¡¯t be helped. They already had the Cores, so it was just a matter of time before they get the other resources.


    Raven went up the tree after that, leaving ze to his own thinking.

 Chapter 125

    Chapter 125: I will take care of it.


    ¡°No matter how much talent, if I don¡¯t give my all, it would still go to waste,¡± ze muttered to himself.


    Ozul had told him that he was born a genius due to his abnormal affinity with Ice Element. But what good is a talent if he does not do anything with it?


    Granted a new life from Ozul, ze wanted to be his demon that would burn everyone in his path. However, as he was now, he was just relying on Ozul instead of being any help.


    Instead of resting like others, ze sat down on the bare ground and started to meditate.


    ¡°Since I have the talent, I have to put it to good use,¡± determined, ze started to focus on his Mana Core, trying to break through the next stage.


    He forced himself to try and push through the next stage all night.


    From above the tree near him, Ozul saw this scene before moving his eyes to the tree Raven had climbed. He saw that she, like ze, was also cultivating.


    .....


    Ozul nodded his head in approval before closing his eyes again.


    . . .


    At the same time, on the other side of the group, some men were having a conversation while standing on the tree.


    ¡°Boss! I tell ya, we can easily get our hands on the Cores!¡± Brud said, trying to convince Barry. He continued, ¡°Those brats are just Rank-5 mages. They wouldn¡¯t even know what happened before we will have the Cores in our hands!¡±


    ¡°And what about that guy, huh?! You wouldn¡¯t even be able to get near him before losing your life,¡± Barry did not seem convinced. The pressure that he had felt from Ozul still made his back tingle.


    ¡°Boss! Even if you know it, that kid has no Mana at all. Even if he was someone so strong that we couldn¡¯t sense his power, we should have still felt the mana when he used that weird ck thing. But we didn¡¯t!¡± Brudid out his ¡®insight¡¯ before Barry.


    ¡°It means that the brat is just an average kid!¡± Brud added.


    ¡°And how do you exin the ck de that even I couldn¡¯t see when it killed the drake?! And the pressure that we all felt back then!?¡± Barry asked, irritated that Brud kept on insisting that they steal the Cores from a monster like that.


    ¡°Boss, trust me! That must be because of that weird conical hat that he had on! It was also that hat that turned into the de. It must be a treasure since he looks rich too! If we get our hands on it-¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it. Treasure or not. I am not taking any chances against that monster. I am pretty sure that he wasn¡¯t even serious when he released that pressure,¡± said Barry before walking away.


    No matter how much Brud persuaded, Barry did not want to do it since he was aware of the disparity between his strength and Ozul¡¯s just from that pressure alone.


    He had already messed up before, and it would be stupid to do so again.


    However, Brud was still not convinced, ¡°But Boss! Imagine how much we can make from the Cores and that treasure!¡±


    ¡°Enough is enough, Brud! If you really want to proceed with this... idiocy, go ahead. But remember this, you won¡¯t be a part of Wind Eagles.¡± Barry said coldly, without turning to look at him.


    Brud clenched his fists when he heard that Barry would even go as far as to abandon him if he did it alone.


    Although he had also felt the pressure from Ozul, he credited that to some hidden treasures as well.


    Brud was dead set on obtaining those treasures for himself that he did not realize how he would most likely lose his life if he were proven wrong.


    ¡°Ugh... We will see,¡± he muttered while looking towards the trio¡¯s direction before also climbing up a suitable tree.


    . . .


    Just like that, the night passed, and the sun started to rise.


    Although the night was notfortable, they didn¡¯t have many problems. Most people just kept an eye on the surroundings while resting.


    Unlike others, ze trained for the whole night, and the result was exciting since he broke through the End-Stage of Rank-5!


    He felt refreshed, better than anyone in the group. When Raven saw this new change, she was also surprised.


    It seemed that ze had managed to get the little push he needed, but she was still stuck at the peak of End-Stage.


    Nevertheless, she was happy that ze was improving. It just meant that he would be more of a help to Ozul.


    When Ozul woke up, he looked at ze and nodded his head.


    ¡°Good work,¡± Ozul praised him before taking a good look at the surroundings.


    ze was also happy with his progress. He had already reached the End-Stage of Rank-5, and now it was only a matter of time before he hit the boundaries of Rank-6.


    The birds had already started chirping while the noise of beasts¡¯ fighting in the distance had also resumed this early in the morning. It appeared to be the usual thing in this forest.


    Everyone was almost ready when they heard Clive¡¯s shout again, ¡°Get ready! We are going to resume our journey!¡±


    The mercenaries all gathered around in the same positions as they were yesterday and resumed the march.


    In this dangerous environment, the few Rank-4 mages felt pretty useless since they would only be able to help with minor tasks.


    The vegetation in this forest was already several times more than a typical jungle, but it kept getting thicker and thicker as they ventured into it.


    In the back of the group, Ozul looked at Raven and said, ¡°You still have to cores, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Why wouldn¡¯t I?¡± Raven answered.


    ¡°Hm, Good. We will use them tonight then,¡± said Ozul before looking at a particr man on the group¡¯s left side ahead of them.


    Brud was sneakingly looking towards the trio when he noticed Ozul¡¯s look and hurriedly averted his eyes.


    Raven did not notice this, but she did hear his words together with ze, who walked by their side.


    And it shocked both of them that they would be using the Cores already. Raven was also sure that they did not have the herbs required to absorb the Cores.


    ¡°Are we using them for some other purposes?¡± Raven asked. She thought that there might be some other use of the Cores as well.


    ¡°Hm? If other purposes mean that you will be absorbing the essence of the Cores, then yes.¡± Ozul responded, giving them another shock.


    ¡°What? But she said that we don¡¯t have the required herbs to absorb the Cores yet.¡± ze said with confusion written all over his face.


    Raven also turned towards Ozul, curious if he already had the other herbs.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. I will take care of it.¡± Ozul said before focusing on the surroundings again.


    Raven and ze were confused about how Ozul would take care of it in the middle of this forest, but since he had said so, they had no other choice but to trust him.

 Chapter 126

    Chapter 126: I think it will work.


    The rest of the day went without a hitch.


    Ozul kept his eyes at the surroundings, noting down each peculiarity that he would notice.


    Surprisingly, they did not encounter any creature the whole day before it was already night time.


    Since the vegetation only got thicker as the further they traveled, they had to deal with an even narrower space to rest this time.


    Again, more than half the mercenaries climbed up the trees while others stayed on the ground.


    They were all nning to spend the night as they did yesterday. But unlike them, Ozul had other ns for his team.


    After the mercenaries had all taken their positions, the trio also chose a spot that was a little far from the group.


    .....


    As the trio gathered around, Ozul said to Raven, ¡°Take out the Cores.¡±


    Ravenplied and took out the two Cores that she had stored in her Spatial Ring. Although she did look at Ozul, confused since he did not have the other resources on him right now.


    ¡°Don¡¯t we need a Spiritual Ginseng and a lot of Light Deprived Sea Stones?¡± Raven asked since those two were the essential pieces that they required toplete the process.


    The Spiritual Ginseng helped the body absorb the Mana Core, while the Light Deprived Sea Stones yed the most significant role.


    They were used to absorb the excessive amount of Mana in the Cores. No matter which method they used, their bodies were fragile and would break down if they tried to absorb so much Mana suddenly.


    The Light Deprived Sea Stones were unique since they could actually absorb Mana. It was because these Sea Stones did note into contact with any energy in the hidden caves near the seabed for decades.


    However, when Raven looked at Ozul, she could not see any of these items. Moreover, she was aware that he couldn¡¯t use a Spatial Ring either.


    ze had not heard of the two names, but he could figure out that they were probably the required resources they needed not to die when trying to absorb a Mana Core.


    ¡°Normally, yes. But I think we can do this without them,¡± Ozul nonchntly replied to Raven. However, his answer made both Raven and ze gulp in fear.


    ¡°You think...?¡± Raven asked with a little hesitation. She wouldn¡¯t have doubted him, but it seemed like Ozul himself was not really sure this time.


    ¡°Yeah, I think it will work.¡± Ozul again replied as if it was nothing.


    He took the Cores from Raven¡¯s hands and began to look at them intently while Raven and ze looked at each other in dismay.


    He looked up at them after a while and said, ¡°What are you waiting for, sit down and start concentrating.¡±


    Although Raven and ze instantly sat down on the ground, they were still worried about how they would absorb the Mana Cores without exploding into pieces.


    ¡°Are you certain that we will be fine with this...?¡± ze asked just for his confirmation.


    ¡°No. I said it already. I think it will work, but I am not certain.¡± Ozul dismissed it again while both Raven and ze tried their best not to show their crying expressions.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we die if it does not work!?¡± Raven asked.


    ¡°Oh! Hm... Yeah, I think you would die. Well, good luck then,¡± said Ozul as he had just realized the consequences of it failing.


    The traditional method was aplicated process where the person who was trying to absorb the Mana Core would have to eat the Spiritual Ginseng first. It would rejuvenate the body into peak condition where the person would be able to focus all of his attention into absorbing the Mana.


    The next part was to hold the Light Deprived Sea Stones in both hands and channel all the excess energy into it.


    So whenever the person would feel that they could not handle the Mana, they would channel it all into the stones.


    The only downside in this method was that more than 80% of the Mana would be wasted on the stones. And it also couldn¡¯t be absorbedter.


    Once the Mana entered the Light Deprived Sea Stones, they would turn into natural Luminous Sea Stones but brighter. Overall, they had no value either.


    Even when this method wasted so much Mana and the rumored essence of Dragon¡¯s bloodline, people could only use it since they had no other way.


    However, Ozul thought of another way that he may be able to help Raven and ze absorb the Mana Core.


    He remembered how he did not need to swallow the Cores physically and could just wrap them in Ball of Purity before absorbing the energy.


    What if he did just that, but instead of himself, he would help the duo to absorb Mana. Since he could control Ball of Purity however he wanted, he would only let small fractions of it to leak so they could incorporate with it before allowing more.


    The only problem here was that Ozul did not know if the Ball of Purity could retain Mana for too long and if he could allow only tiny fractions that would not immediately kill the duo.


    As Raven and ze both sat cross-legged on the ground, Ozul wrapped the two Cores in Ball of Purity and crushed them. As expected, the ss-like crystal ball shattered into pieces while the Mana was encased in the ck matter.


    One floated near Raven while the other near ze. They were both nervous since they did not understand anything that Ozul was trying to do now.


    ¡°Uhm. I remember you also improved while absorbing the Cores, no? Shouldn¡¯t these two be even more beneficial to you?¡± Raven asked as she was sure that Ozul wouldn¡¯t be harmed anyway since he also absorbed Mana Cores before.


    ¡°No. These are useless to me,¡± Ozul replied, crushing the only hopes for Raven and ze¡¯s survival.


    When Ozul had observed the Mana Cores from up close, he could faintly sense a purer form of energy, unlike any usual Mana Cores.


    However, he was pretty sure that when he absorbed them, his body would automatically convert it all into the usual power boost for him. Although it might be more than a standard Rank-6 Core, it would only be a waste to use them on himself.


    ¡°Stop panicking already and focus. Don¡¯t worry. I will try my best,¡± Ozul tried to reassure them. He did not even think that the result would be their death if his best was not enough.


    Since it was not his own body, he couldn¡¯t make the Ball of Purity enter Raven and ze without risking that the Mana inside would burst out.


    Although Ozul never liked the Ball of Purity entering someone¡¯s body, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to do so when necessary.


    Both Raven and ze swallowed the two pitch-ck spheres, albeit hesitatingly.


    ¡°Okay. Now focus all of your attention on assimting with whatever thing is allowed together with the Mana.¡± Ozul instructed as the duo closed their eyes.


    Ozul stood behind them, focusing on the two small spheres inside their body.


    When he felt that their bodies were rxed enough, he let a fraction of Mana out of the sphere around their own Mana Core.


    ¡°Feel that? Now absorb all of it. And if you can feel the ¡®essence¡¯ or something, try to assimte that with your body instead of the Mana Core.¡±


    Raven and ze did precisely how he had instructed and started to absorb all the Mana in their Mana Core.


    However, they could not feel the essence that Ozul was talking about. Maybe it was because it was their first time, but they did not worry much about it when their lives were at the line.


    When they started to absorb the foreign Mana, it proved to be rather difficult since it was not in raw form.


    If they had used the Spiritual Ginseng, then the process would have been a lot easier. If they could not absorb all of it under a certain period, the Mana could get out of control and rage inside their body.


    That¡¯s why the Spiritual Ginseng was one of the required items in this process.


    However, ze and Raven could only rely on themselves to absorb the ticking time bomb before it explodes.


    After a while, Ozul jumped back on the tree since he was not needed before they finished absorbing that little fraction of Mana.


    The spheres of Ball of Purity, which contained the Mana, were still inside Raven and ze. Ozul did not need to take them out or constantly monitor them as long as he was in a suitable range.


    Hours began to pass while the duo absorbed the small fraction of Mana. Sweat started forming on their forehead because of the constant struggle between the foreign Mana and their control.


    Morning came without the duo realizing it. They were just assimting thest bits and pieces of the foreign Mana when the mercenaries began to pack their stuff.


    ¡°You guys are still absorbing that small fraction of Mana?!¡± Ozul asked after jumping down the tree.


    Right after he said this, Raven opened her eyes and breathed a big sigh of relief.


    *Fuuu...*


    ¡°Of course! Just a single mistake would have caused our deaths. What did you expect?! Not everyone can just gulp down Mana Cores like they are some candy...¡± Raven defended herself.


    She was aware that no matter what she did,peting with Ozul was impossible.


    Only a few minutester did ze also open his eyes, and he slumped down on the ground, breathing heavily. Unlike Raven, ze struggled more since his body was not as strong as her.


    ¡°Stand up, we are about to leave already.¡± urged Ozul before walking away.

 Chapter 127

    Chapter 127: Improvements.


    ze hurriedly stood up and followed behind Ozul together with Raven. The mercenaries had started to move already, so the trio took their position as well.


    As they followed behind the group, Ozul did not worry about the Mana spheres inside ze and Raven since he had already confirmed that it was under control.


    Raven and ze, on the other hand, had mixed expressions. They were exhausted since they had to absorb the foreign Mana inside their body under a time limit.


    The chances of the Mana suddenly going crazy were increased the longer they took to absorb it.


    But besides the apparent exhaustion, they also had a smile on their faces. Not only did they not die after absorbing the foreign Mana in such a rush, but they also gained so much from it.


    Both of them felt an apparent increase in their control over Mana itself.


    ¡®Is this the increase in talent?¡¯ The duo questioned themselves as they were not sure if talent really referred to their control and affinity with Mana itself.


    .....


    Anyway, only absorbing that small fraction of Mana had caused such improvements, so they were excited and anticipated their gains after assimting with all of it.


    The group continued as usual. This time, they encountered a couple of Rank-6 Beasts. But they weren¡¯t as tricky as the drakes, so they were quickly killed before they could cause any potential danger.


    Although the others did not find it weird how the forest was getting thicker, the further they proceeded, Ozul had a feeling that it might not be so simple.


    As of now, there was practically nothing that Ozul was supposed to do except for following the group. The other Rank-7 mages would quickly take care of the beasts.


    And for the spheres containing the Mana from the drakes¡¯ cores, Ozul did not need to do anything. He had already made theyer solid to prevent any Mana from leaking out. As long as he was near the duo, there wouldn¡¯t be a problem.


    That¡¯s why all he could do was observe the surroundings. After a while, even that got boring, so he again made the small spheres from the Ball of Purity and started practicing with it, not caring if he was in a forest filled with dangers.


    ¡°I still can¡¯t do four at a time without slowing the speed,¡± Ozul muttered in frustration. Since even when his proficiency improved at a visible rate doing this exercise, he had not yet reached a point where he could control more than three spheres without disturbing the rhythm.


    Just like that, the day passed without anything notable happening except for Raven and ze, who were actually excited since they were improving rapidly.


    At night, the space was so cramped that they couldn¡¯t even find a ce to set a single camp for ra. Even she and Venessa had to climb up a tree to rest.


    This night again, Ozul ordered the duo not to rest, and they sat cross-legged on the ground.


    ¡°Remember, don¡¯t just start absorbing the Mana as it is. Try to sense the essence mixed with it and move it to be absorbed by your body instead.¡± Ozul reminded the duo.


    Although he himself did not use Mana, he knew more than some grandmasters because of his sensing ability.


    Others, while absorbing the Core of a drake, would not be able to do anything with the essence mixed in since more than 80% of that Mana was wasted on the Light Deprived Sea Stones.


    However, Ozul already told the duo about it, so they had high chances to sense it and use it to their advantage because their method was not as taxing as the traditional one. All because they had help from Ozul.


    It was also this essence in the Core that made it different from the Mana Cores of ordinary beasts and allowed mages to absorb it without harming themselves.


    Only the other mages were not aware of it, so they could not take advantage of it. Not to mention that a drake was one of the rarest beasts, so people couldn¡¯t so casually get their hands on their Mana Core.


    As Ozul felt that both Raven and ze were ready, he again allowed just a tiny fraction of the Mana from inside the sphere.


    The heated and violent Mana, though refined, caused Raven and ze to suffer the agony since they couldn¡¯t control it in one go. However, it was still better than yesterday.


    At least they had gotten the hang of it, so they didn¡¯t suffer as much as the previous day.


    *Ughh*


    A small groan escaped from ze¡¯s mouth as he tried his best to sense the essence that Ozul was talking about in the Mana while also trying not to let it rampage inside of him.


    But regardless of his efforts, he could only give up after a few minutes since it was getting harder and harder to keep the Mana in check.


    Just like him, Raven also had no luck in being able to sense the essence. So, they both decided to give up on it for now and started to absorb the Mana.


    When Ozul noticed this, he again turned the spheres into solid and went back up on the tree.


    Since he had nothing to do, he started practicing as well.


    ¡°Hm... It is too slow.¡± Ozul muttered as controlling just the three spheres in different directions wasn¡¯t that difficult at all.


    He created two more small spheres, and suddenly the direction in which they were moving was disturbed.


    Instead of removing one sphere, Ozul kept at it. Only when he overcame such a mess would he be able to improve at a quicker pace.


    Only Jinx slept at a distance from him as he focused on moving all of the five spheres in different directions simultaneously and at a steady pace.


    The night passed, and the sun rose again.


    The group started following the usual routine every day. Only their pace was lowered with each step further into the forest due to the increasing vegetation.


    Just like that, days started passing and a week passed with only the difficulty of traveling increasing.


    In the meantime, Ozul practiced with the spheres made by Ball of Purity, and his control was improving at an astonishing rate.


    He could already move four spheres in different directions without slowing the pace. Although others may think that doing this was useless, this simple exercise would provide many advantages to him in the future.


    The focus of this was not just four spheres, but four directions instead. The result of this exercise will be shown during battle when he would be able to move many thin needles all in four directions at the same time.


    This setting would leave almost no opening for the enemy to take advantage of.


    As for Raven and ze, they would absorb the small fraction of Mana


    Just on the fourth day, Raven had broken through to the next stage of Fighters. She became a rank-6 Fighter even when she was not trying to.


    However, she was still stuck at the peak of rank-5 as a Mage. Despite that, she was not downcast since absorbing the Mana of drake¡¯s Core would show the results immediately.


    ze had also broken through to rank-4 as a Fighter.


    Despite their gains, the duo still could not sense the essence that Ozul had told them to absorb while they had already absorbed around 40% of the Mana.


    These days, ra did not try to go out of her way and talk with Ozul for some reason. She would only throw a few looks at him from a distance before moving on.


    Ozul did not mind it since it was at least better than before.


    Although the previous days were unamusing for Ozul, It was only on this day when things had started to change.


    Clive and other Mages had already noticed the growing vegetation as they were moving further, but they weren¡¯t worried. The group believed that it was only natural that the forest got thicker the further they moved in.


    However, this new change worried every mercenary because the fog had suddenly started to form around them!


    They did not know the reason for this phenomenon, but everyone was aware that fog in the forest was never a good thing.


    The only reason they were not panicking was that the fog wasn¡¯t so dense to obstruct their vision yet.

 Chapter 128

    Chapter 128: Fog?!


    However, the worries of the mercenaries increased as they proceeded further in because the fog started to get thicker.


    Before, they only had a little amount of it that didn¡¯t even obstruct their vision, but after a day of travel, the fog had be so thick that the rank-4 Mages could not even see more than 2-3 meters away from them.


    Although Ozul had noticed that something was wrong, even he couldn¡¯t just know everything.


    Everyone tensed up as they took each step with caution. One thing that others did not notice was that the fog itself was also unusual.


    Ozul also only realized it when he was almost about to bump into a tree. His focus was on training with the small spheres, so he would usually rely on his senses to walk, but this time he couldn¡¯t sense the tree even when it was in front of him.


    After that, Ozul put down the spheres and put all his attention on the surroundings.


    Although it was only because he wasn¡¯t fully attentive before, it had proved to him that not paying attention could be fatal.


    .....


    Ozul quickly checked if the group was still together or not since people suddenly disappearing was one of themon scenarios in such dense fog.


    When he noticed that Raven and ze were still walking behind him, Ozul urged them to stay together, ¡°Stay close.¡±


    The duo hurried their pace and came closer to Ozul.


    ¡°Why is everyone so quiet now? Isn¡¯t it just some fog?¡± ze whispered to Raven.


    ¡°Are you braindead or something? Don¡¯t you realize how dangerous it could be when we can¡¯t even see an object some few distances away from us?¡± Raven berated him.


    ¡°But isn¡¯t it-¡±


    ¡°Shut up, and be alert,¡± said Ozul, not letting them continue.


    ze did not say anything after that and quietly followed behind.


    Ozul found it weird that some of the trees actually had a different sense than the rest. These trees looked like the rest, but they did not feel like them at the same time.


    However, he could not understand what was so different about them. Eventually, he could only give up and focus on the surroundings to find more about the situation.


    ¡°Should we wait it out? Maybe the fog will go away after a day?¡± Asked a rank-6 mercenary to Clive.


    ¡°...No. We can¡¯t be sure if it will really disperse after a day. What if it stays like this forever? We will only be wasting time here then.¡± Clive contemted.


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep moving. It wouldn¡¯t be long before we get out of here. Everyone, just stick together!¡± Clive ordered after thinking that the hidden group of men was still watching over them.


    Unknown to him, this fog was even able to affect Ozul¡¯s senses, how could anyone from that hidden group not be affected by it?


    They traveled for the whole day, and surprisingly, nothing happened. There were no traps, none of the people were missing, and there were no beast attacks either.


    Instead, it had gotten all quiet now. Before they could at least hear the birds or the roars of beasts fighting in the distance, but everything had gotten still now.


    Clive would asionally order the groups to check their numbers and see if everyone was still there with them.


    Although he wouldn¡¯t care if others had gone missing, he wanted to know if something was wrong or not.


    During night, it was even harder for the group to see anything, so Clive had no choice but give the order to light up the fire this time around.


    They had heard no sound of beasts near them anyway, so it should be safe to create light.


    Understanding the dangers due to this situation, the mercenaries did not spread out this night and some even hopped on the trees in pairs.


    In contrast, the trio did not change their routine at all. There was still more than 60% of the Mana that Raven and ze had yet to absorb.


    They both sat cross legged before Ozul released another fraction of Mana for them to absorb. Like always, he again reminded them to try and sense the essence.


    ¡°Listen here. This is thest time, you will have to absorb all this Mana together the next time if you can¡¯t sense Mana this turn.¡±


    However, his reminder this time was more of a death threat than reminder. It made both Raven and ze jump on their feet.


    ¡°But-¡± x2


    ¡°There will be no buts. You will sense the Mana this turn otherwise there won¡¯t be a next turn,¡± Ozul said, not letting them even plead for their lives.


    After saying that, Ozul created the Ball of Purity spheres and started practicing with them.


    ze and Raven on the other hand had already started sweating even when the night was as cold as it could get.


    Keeping the Mana at bay while also searching the essence mixed within was as hard as finding a needle in a haystack with a bomb ticking behind, threatening to explode at any minute.


    Ozul let them do their thing while ying with six different spheres. After a while, he got bored of it and decided to try it out.


    Although he had improved to a point where he could control four spheres in different directions simultaneously, he had yet to try it out like an actual attack.


    He released all of the Ball of Purity and the matter suddenly turned into numerous thin needles.


    Due to the fog surrounding him and the thin size of the needles, the mercenaries did not even notice anything out of usual. Everyone was minding their own business.


    As Ozul willed it, the sea of needles hovering above him all divided into four groups. The four groups then separated as he willed them shoot in the four different directions.


    Each group of needles seemingly disappeared in the fog, but Ozul could feel each single piece of it. And he was happy knowing that his practice had bore fruit.


    The practice that he did with just those small spheres were so that he could get the feel of moving them in a different direction simultaneously.


    Once he could do that to a single body, he could perform the same process on a group of bodies.


    Satisfied with his progress, Ozul sat back on the ground and started practicing again with an improved mood.


    Just as he was going back to it though, Ozul noticed the sudden steaming out of Raven and ze¡¯s bodies. Both of them were sweating as their skin had a tint of redness all over.


    He approached them and noticed that both had difficult expressions on their faces as if they were holding themselves from losing control.


    Ozul quickly tried to assess their situation and sent a stream of Ball of Purity inside them.


    As the stream of Ball of Purity entered inside their bodies, Ozul directed it towards their Mana Cores.


    As it got inside, Ozul was able to analyze their body from inside. At that time, he was surprised to notice that a thin stream of reddish energy was getting separated from the foreign Mana that he had released inside of them.


    Ozul knew what this was. It was the essence that he had sensed earlier inside the Mana of the drakes!

 Chapter 129

    Chapter 129: Explosive Mana!


    Ozul noticed that it was actually the essence that he had felt inside the Mana.


    And if the stream of it was getting separated from the mass of foreign Mana, it meant that they were finally able to sense it too!


    Moreover, it was not only one, but both Raven and ze had been able to detect the essence. He then noticed how the stream of Mana was actually moving away from their own Mana Core.


    It was as if that reddish energy had its own mind, but it wanted to get into their Mana Core. As though it was restless after getting separated from the Mana.


    However, Raven and ze were trying their best not to let it slip into their Mana Core because of Ozul¡¯s advice.


    Although Ozul did not know much about that reddish energy, which he called the essence, he was aware of what would happen if they absorbed that thing in their Mana Core. Just like before, after entering their Mana Core, the reddish energy would just be a part of their Mana or the Core itself.


    It was also probably the reason for the increase in talent as people talked about.


    .....


    Raven and ze had already absorbed that energy in their Mana Core more than when any other person would absorb the drake¡¯s Core, only because of this unconventional method from Ozul.


    So, even when he did not know what would happen after they absorbed it into their blood instead of the Mana Core, he at least knew that it would be something different.


    There was only one way to find out what would happen, and that was for the duo to absorb it first.


    As for what if something went wrong with this process? Ozul would handle it at that time.


    Raven and ze, unaware that they were literally just experimenting after listening to Ozul, followed his orders, and the stream of reddish energy started to move towards their arteries and veins.


    When the reddish energy got into contact with their bloodstream, both Raven and ze hissed out in stinging pain.


    Ozul did not worry about it after only hearing their hissing since he believed that if the reddish energy was really rted to the dragons¡¯ bloodline, then it was best suited to be absorbed in the blood!


    He sat back while observing them go through the process.


    Although unclear due to the fog, Ozul could notice that their skin color started to turn even redder after they had forced the essence to enter their veins and arteries.


    Both of them gritted their teeth because the pain was getting unbearable as they directed all of the reddish energy into their bloodstream.


    They were expecting it to require even more effort into making the essence or the reddish energy absorb into their blood. Still, out of their expectations, it suddenlytched onto their blood!


    With force even stronger than when the energy had applied to enter their Mana Core, it quickly dissolved into their blood!


    As they did that, Ozul noticed that the foreign Mana inside of the duo was now starting to get violent.


    ¡®Is it because they have absorbed the essence?¡¯ Ozul contemted but also hurriedly moved closer to them without wasting a moment.


    He directed another chunk of Ball of Purity in the gaseous state inside of them and instantly warped that foreign Mana before it got out of control.


    Raven and ze were already exhausted, and he knew that if he didn¡¯t help them here, they would probably die.


    He forced that Mana toe out of their body and after taking it out, Ozul released it.


    *Boom*


    Ozul did not expect that the Mana was already in a violent state, so it suddenly exploded right after he had released it since it waspressed in the Ball of Purity before!


    Although the explosion was small, everyone in the group promptly rushed towards their ce.


    Due to the fog, others could not see what had happened. They expected the worst-case scenario and rushed to the trio¡¯s spot.


    ¡°What happened?!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t see anything either, idiot!¡±


    . . .


    Ozul sighed after realizing that it had caused themotion.


    Raven was quick to recover, so she stood up from her meditative position, albeit with difficulty. Her skin still had a reddish hue on it.


    ze, on the other hand, couldn¡¯t do so since his body was still aching. He was only a Rank-4 Fighter while Raven was a Rank-6, so the difference was apparent between them.


    The mercenaries all surrounded their spot in a few moments. As they looked between Raven¡¯s appearance and ze meditating with the same exhausted expressions, everyone got confused.


    Looking around, they couldn¡¯t see anything other than the trio either. There was no beast in sight, but that could also be because of the fog and the night.


    Fearing Ozul, no one stepped in to ask what had happened until Clive arrived there as well.


    ¡°Did some wild beast attack?¡± He asked, looking at Raven since he was not any less afraid of Ozul.


    ¡°Yes... It is dead now. You guys can go back,¡± Raven briefly replied.


    She had yet to catch her breath due to the earlier exhausting experience, so she didn¡¯t say much.


    ¡°Oh... okay. Yes. We should get back to our positions now,¡± Clive said before nodding toward other mercenaries. Despite wanting to ask more, he just couldn¡¯t bring himself to do so in front of Ozul.


    As everyone dispersed, ze finally stood up after being able to endure the pain. Of course, he had also felt the explosion, but since he was alive after that, ze knew that it was under control.


    *Fuuu....*


    ze exhaled deeply, his skin color already getting better since he was able to cool himself down because of the Ice Element.


    ¡°Do it to me too!¡± Raven said to ze after noticing his work of Ice Element.


    Absorbing even that small part of the essence had caused their whole body to heat up to the point where their sweat had started to turn into steam!


    It was pretty brutal. Raven and ze were only able to endure it since they had enhanced their bodies as a Fighter. If it were any other Mage, he or she would have been already dead!


    ¡°So, you guys were able to sense it, huh,¡± Ozul muttered after ze had helped Raven cool down as well.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Raven replied with excitement while ze only nodded his head with a satisfied smile on his face.


    ¡°Hm... So absorbing that ¡®essence¡¯ in the bloodstream doesn¡¯t kill you,¡± Ozul muttered to himself in low a voice.


    But Raven and ze were both able to hear his words perfectly. They looked at him with wide eyes, their backs already starting to tingle with sweat again.


    ¡°Uhm... Hey, does that mean we could have died doing what we just did before?¡± ze whispered to Raven while Ozul was contemting on the side.


    ¡°...Y-yeah. It seems so,¡± Raven replied.


    ¡°...We should probably be more careful from now on,¡± ze muttered as Raven nodded her head.


    ¡°So, what happened with the essence?¡± Ozul asked after a while. He was curious if they knew something more since it was their body that the red energy had dissolved into.

 Chapter 130

    Chapter 130: Leaving alone.


    Ozul moved his eyes between Raven and ze. He noticed that there was not any major downside because of the essence.


    But he also couldn¡¯t be sure since the duo knew their bodies the best. So he asked them instead of making all the conclusions.


    ¡°Hm. We are fine... or at least I am,¡± Raven corrected herself since she, of course, couldn¡¯t say everything the same about ze without actually confirming it.


    ¡°Hey! I am fine too!¡± ze hurriedly chipped in.


    ¡°As for the essence, I don¡¯t know what happened. I thought I would need to force it to mix into the blood. Surprisingly, it seemed that the essence was even more in a hurry than me...¡± Raven exined briefly.


    Despite the fact that it was her own body and the essence was entirely under her control until she had forced it to enter her bloodstream, Raven was not able to understand anything.


    ¡°So... what changed? Did something happen after absorbing it?¡± Ozul asked curiously since he could not sense any visible improvement from either ze or Raven.


    .....


    ¡°Um... Nothing happened. It just dissolved in my blood, and I can¡¯t seem to sense it again.¡± Raven replied in dismay. She thought she might have made a mistake to let that red energy get absorbed into her blood.


    Ozul turned towards ze to see if something different had happened to him. However, ze also shook his head.


    ¡°Hm. We will talk about itter, rest for now. And please, clean yourselves. Both of you smell horrible right now,¡± said Ozul before jumping on the tree.


    ¡°Huh? We really do stink a lot.¡± ze said after inhaling deeply.


    Only then did Raven also notice how bad she smelled. She instantly cast a Spell and cleaned herself before running away in embarrassment since Ozul hadmented on her smell.


    ¡°Wait! Help me here too!¡± ze asked, but Raven did not turn around at all. In the end, he had to do it himself the hard way. Not like anyone saw him taking his clothes off because of the night and the thick fog.


    On the other hand, Ozul looked at the starry sky that he could barely see due to the fog lost in his thoughts.


    ¡®Strange. Is it really the dragons¡¯ essence? It would only make sense if it really is,¡¯ he contemted in his mind.


    ¡°It was also this energy that let the Mages actually have the chance to absorb the Mana Core of the drakes,¡± Ozul concluded.


    He had noticed that right after Raven and ze had separated that energy from the Mana, it had started to get out of control as any usual Mana would. It entirely lost the properties which let the Mages absorb it in the first ce.


    Everything pointed towards the red energy actually being the essence of dragons or at least something that was unknown to most of the Mages as of yet.


    Though Ozul did not dwell too much on it for now since he was just curious, finding the reason for the fog was his priority.


    ¡°I can¡¯t even venture off on my own...¡± Ozul muttered since he thought that the forest was too dangerous for him to leave others on their own.


    They would most likely be dead if they encountered a beast that they could not handle. And Ozul was sure that there were indeed such beasts in this forest that could absolutely decimate even a Rank-8 Mage!


    ¡°Hm... whatever. Better just leave and check it out myself,¡± muttered Ozul before jumping down the tree. He had made a decision. In the end, he couldn¡¯t help but to check the ce out by himself.


    He looked around to find the duo. ze was meditating, trying to check if he could find anything different in his body while Raven stood on the side, shaking her head once in a while as her hands hid her facial expressions.


    It seemed that she was in her own fantasies. When the duo noticed Ozul¡¯s presence, they hurriedly left whatever they were doing and stood before him like seasoned soldiers.


    ¡°I am leaving alone for a while, and it might or might not take me a few days toe back,¡± Ozul said before turning around to leave.


    However, just as he was about to do so, both Raven and ze said, ¡°Can¡¯t we go with you?¡±


    ¡°Too much trouble,¡± replied Ozul without turning his back.


    ¡°Also, stick with the group. Otherwise, it will be hard for you to find me at all. As for the sphere of Mana inside of you, it won¡¯t be affected in any way,¡± he exined before disappearing in the fog.


    ze just sighed while Raven kept looking in Ozul¡¯s direction. There weren¡¯t many instances where she was separated from him. However, she knew that she wouldn¡¯t be able to change his mind.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± ze¡¯s voice brought Raven out of her trance.


    As for Ozul, he had entirely focused his attention on the surroundings. He even had the advantage of the night, so the fog¡¯s deterrence was almost negligible to him.


    He was quickly able to locate the group of Mages under Rufus in the distance. At this time, the Rank-7 mercenaries were spread all around the group of mercenaries. It seemed that Rufus had tightened the security measures due to the fog.


    At this time, Rufus was having a discussion with one of his subordinates when suddenly he felt the wind hit him from behind. He turned around and noticed that there was nowhere behind him at all.


    ¡°Ah,e on! For a Rank-8 Mage, your senses are too dull.¡±


    Rufus heard the voice from above. He instantly got into stance to cast spells and looked above him to see who had sneaked up to him suddenly in the middle of the forest.


    Only when he recognized that it was Ozul standing in the middle of the air on some ck matter did he rx his stance.


    Although he wasn¡¯t exactlyfortable in his presence, he rxed because at least it was not an enemy¡¯s sneak attack.


    ¡°Quite rude of you to not even say hello after so many days of following us,¡± Ozul said whilending near Rufus.


    Just as he hadnded, the few subordinates of Rufus instantly had their guards up. They were tense since Rufus had told them many times how to be always wary of this kid in front of them.


    ¡°Not like you said hello either, kid. Weren¡¯t you able to sense us when we got in the forest?¡± Rufus replied with a scoff. He really hated the fact that no matter how secretive they were, even the servant of this kid before him was able to sense them!


    ¡°Oh, stop joking. I knew that you were following me from the start,¡± Ozul said as Rufus smiled wryly, the only thing he could do when having a one-sided conversation with him.


    *Cough*


    Rufus faked a cough before motioning his subordinates to get back to their positions and stop listening in to them.


    Only when he was alone with Ozul did he ask, ¡°So, what are you here for? Did something serious happen that you wanted to report to me?¡±


    ¡°Nothing like that. I just wanted to tell you that I am leaving alone. So you better step up your game and protect the group better. Just a friendly reminder,¡± said Ozul with a tone that was borderline taunting.

 Chapter 131

    Chapter 131: Peaceful Silence.


    Whenever Ozul talked with Rufus, he knew that even when the old man did not have any negative thoughts towards him, he was nevertheless, not his friend either.


    ¡°What do you mean by that you¡¯re leaving?!¡± Rufus almost shouted his lungs out.


    Ozul raised his brows at this, amused, he said, ¡°Oh? Quite desperate to keep an eye on me, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Wai- Uh. No! What are you talking about? I just wanted to know where and why are you going to leave alone?¡± Rufus exined himself while nervously shifting himself in his ce.


    Fortunately for him, he had learned from his past interactions with Ozul and had already sent his subordinates away. Otherwise, they would have seen this embarrassing sight of him.


    ¡°So, it was just that?¡± Ozul did not press on the matter and continued when Rufus nodded his head furiously, ¡°You see, I am bored. So I would be venturing off on my own now. It might take me a few days toe back.¡±


    Ozul generally wouldn¡¯t have bothered to tell Rufus before leaving, but he thought that it might help Raven and ze avoid getting into dangerous situations.


    .....


    Rufus wouldn¡¯t be able to stop him anyway, so why not say hello, at least?


    ¡°Wait! But you can¡¯t do that!¡± Rufus said, trying his best not to shout like he previously did. He was given the mission from his Majesty, so Ozul leaving his sight would mess up all his ns!


    ¡°And why can¡¯t I do that?¡± Ozul asked calmly.


    ¡°Uh... I mean, you shouldn¡¯t do that! Yes. What if something goes wrong? It would be the same as abandoning the mission at that point. And remember, his Majesty-¡± Rufus wasn¡¯t able to finish his words.


    *Sigh*


    ¡°That talk again? Let¡¯s be honest here, ok? Tell me, do you think that I care about your Emperor?¡± Ozul asked, staring in the eyes of Rufus, which made thetter quite ufortable.


    Despite being afraid, Rufus could not take the insult towards Emperor Luthien since he was a loyal follower of his.


    ¡°Young man! You better watch your words! How dare you talk like that?!¡± Rufus finally couldn¡¯t it anymore and shouted while pointing his finger at Ozul. Now only the fog prevented his face from resembling that of a tomato.


    ¡°Yeah, whatever. Oh, and if something happens to my two friends while I am gone...¡± Ozul said before turning his back to Rufus.


    This time, Rufus did not stop him from walking away. Although he was mad due to his behavior, he also knew that getting into a fight with Ozul was not a suitable option since he was sure to return after leaving his friends with them.


    ¡°Che! Don¡¯t need to follow him! You won¡¯t be able to keep up,¡± Rufus ordered when he saw that a couple of his subordinates were going to follow behind him.


    As for Ozul, since he was alone right now, he just used Ball of Purity to fly above the forest. It didn¡¯t take long for him to be high enough to escape the fog.


    When he looked around, all he saw was the warm night sky filled with twinkly stars above while the ground littered with dark green color till the horizon.


    And one particr thing he found was that the fog only covered a small part of it underneath him while the rest was still as usual!


    ¡°There must be something strange here,¡± muttered Ozul before looking around him to see if he could find the anomaly from above.


    However, even after looking for a while, he could only see the thick mattress of treesid below him.


    ¡°Then, I can only do it the hard way...¡± Ozul said before diving right back down.


    He could try to sense all around the foggy area and see if he finds the source of this fog, but the scope of the search was just too big. Moreover, he didn¡¯t even know what he was looking for.


    Hended a little far away from the group so as not to attract any attention. Since Ozul did not know what he was looking for, he decided to walk in a random direction.


    He kept his focus and had already spread his senses all around him.


    ¡°Come on! Just take the opportunity of me being alone!¡± Ozul encouraged the unknown. It wasn¡¯t that he had some death wish, but because he was confident in defeating whatever it was.


    Since Ozul didn¡¯t know what he was looking for, the only way to hurry this process was for the enemy to attack first!


    However, to his disappointment, he couldn¡¯t find anything, no matter how much he searched.


    Ozul was getting quite annoyed at the situation after some hours since it was night and the perfect time for him to enjoy sleep, but here he was, running here and there in the middle of the jungle just because of his curiosity.


    Unknown to him, this anonymous enemy had already made numerous attempts on him, but he was unconsciously avoiding it!


    Since it had been a few hours without any clue, Ozul decided to contemte some more in solitude and climbed up a tree.


    The Ball of Purity formed above his head and shaped itself into the conical hat before he closed his eyes and lost himself in thefortable darkness.


    There he slept, alone in the middle of the forest, shrouded in dense fog with afortable yet eerie silence.


    . . .


    *A few hours earlier*


    Back to the group of mercenaries, no one was aware that Ozul had left the group since there was almost no one that interacted with the trio.


    At this time, Raven sat cross-legged on a tree near ze¡¯s. Although both of them were exhausted due to absorbing the red energy a few minutes ago, they were dead set on cultivating at this moment.


    Raven had frowning expressions on her face as she sat there with closed eyes. It seemed that she was struggling with whatever she was doing right now.


    After a while, suddenly as if something had suddenly exploded inside of her, a wave of energy swept outwards from her!


    *Woooz*


    Though not loud, the energy wave was strong enough to push the fog away from Raven for a while before it came back.


    Other mercenaries could only feel a little wind hit them while some of them felt a little cold behind their backs. However, they couldn¡¯t find any cause for this.


    If only it wasn¡¯t night and there wasn¡¯t dense fog present everywhere, they would have realized what had happened just now.


    It was because Raven had broken through to Rank-6 as a Mage!


    The only people who actually realized this were the group of Rank-7 Mages which included even the group watching from afar, Rufus, and ze!


    ze wouldn¡¯t have realized it either if he not meditating right on the next tree. And Raven had also previously shared that she was close to breakthrough to the next rank. So he could put the pieces together easily.


    As for the Rank-7 and above Mages, they were just on a whole another level. It wasn¡¯t hard for them to pinpoint another Rank-6 Mage in the group.


    ¡°You broke through!¡± ze said as he jumped on her tree as well. Unlike before, he wasn¡¯t jealous of Raven getting ahead of him but excited instead.

 Chapter 132

    Chapter 132: Rusty des.


    ¡°You broke through!¡±


    When Raven heard his loud voice, she slowly opened her eyes. However, unlike what ze had thought, she looked uncaring, almost as if she was disappointed!


    ¡°What happened? Didn¡¯t you just break through Rank-6?!¡± ze asked. But then he had an understanding expression on his face before he sighed.


    ¡°You know he¡¯s not gone forever...¡± ze tried to calm her down, but it clearly did not work as Raven seemingly didn¡¯t even look at him. All he could do was to stand on the side silently.


    ¡°You might think that we are geniuses, but we aren¡¯t good enough,¡± Raven replied after a while. Her face showed no expressions.


    ¡°But-¡± ze was about to say something, but Raven cut in to continue her previous words.


    ¡°Not good enough to stand by his side.¡±


    .....


    ze looked down on the ground as he heard her words. He was also aware that although both of them could be considered geniuses, they were just mediocrepared to Ozul!


    And it wouldn¡¯t have troubled them, but they were supposed to help him. However, because of their level, they hadn¡¯t been of any use to Ozul at all.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s an opportunity? It wouldn¡¯t be long before hees back. We now have the chance to prove that we arepetent enough!¡± ze encouraged.


    Although ze wasn¡¯t one of the overly optimistic ones, he would still try to look a way out of the situation. Giving up meant nothing. In contrast, even a useless attempt might have some chances to work out!


    ¡°Yes. And our first task would be to take care of him.¡± Raven muttered while giving a side nce to the tree where a shadow hid behind the branches.


    ze did not hurriedly try to look in that direction. He whispered, ¡°You noticed it too, huh.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I did. I am a Rank-6 mage now. If you as a Rank-5 could do it, why couldn¡¯t I?¡± Raven scowled. She continued, ¡°You stay here. I will deal with him.¡±


    ¡°Wait! You just advanced, and you haven¡¯t even restored your Mana yet! That guy had been a Rank-6 for who knows how long. I think you will need my help.¡± ze stopped Raven before she was about to jump down.


    ¡°Just wait and watch, kiddo~,¡± Raven said with a smirk on her face as she jumped down.


    Even when she thought that her speed of growth wasn¡¯t up to par, Raven still had the confidence to take care of the guy after everything that Ozul had taught her up till this point.


    She had a clue from the day when Ozul had asked her if she had the drake cores still with her. And the next day, she had already noticed Brud eyeing them from afar.


    Raven knew that he was up to no good, and sooner orter, he would try to do something funny. And it seemed that today was the day.


    Although she had just advanced to Rank-6 now, Raven had many other advantages over Brud. First of all, thetter was unaware that she had found him out. At the same time, the most crucial one was the naturally dark surroundings because of the night and the fog doing its work as well.


    Moreover, Raven also had the experience of killing people stronger than her before. Only she had Ozul watching over her back then, and now she was alone.


    Brud stood behind the tree, still clueless about everything when Raven focused on her Mana. She closed her eyes for a little while, and when she opened it, dark gas started to release out of her and covered the entire 10-meter radius area around her.


    It was the Spell that Ozul had asked her to create so he could take advantage of it. However, there hadn¡¯t yet been a time when she had actually put it in use. She had named it as the Night¡¯s Shade.


    There was naturally no light source around them except for fire torches, but those had now be useless because of the fog.


    And now Night¡¯s Shade mixed in with the fog had set up the stage for Raven to do as she pleased.


    The trickiest part in creating this Spell was for Raven to be able to see in the dark smoke, so Raven had a type of thermal vision where she was able to see anything that moved in that 10-meter radius.


    Brud did not even notice the Spell since everything surrounding him at the moment was ck, and the ck smoke was like an invisible gas. In contrast, Raven had a more urate understanding of the area.


    The next second, two long daggers took shape in her hands as she moved towards Brud.


    At this moment, Brud was looking around, trying to find if something was wrong. Although he had not noticed the Spell, he could still tell that something was happening because he had suddenly lost his vision, and everything appeared dark for him.


    ¡°Ah, what is happening now?! This was the perfect chance for me to kill them since Boss Barry is discussing something with the Silver Knights!¡± Brud was frustrated that he might have lost this golden opportunity.


    Just as he had said this, the wind blew behind him as he turned around in fright.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it will end in a blink,¡± he heard a cold voice that sent chills behind his back.


    Before he could wield his Mana to shoot a simple wind de, a dagger pierced his back and came out from the chest!


    Brud stared wide-eyed at the ck dagger covered in blood as it got absorbed by it. He wanted to cast a spell, but when he tried to move his Mana, he felt it starting to disappear from within him!


    ¡°Ugh... W-wha are yo-¡± He tried to speak, but all that came out from his mouth was a bunch of unfinished words.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know that,¡± Raven replied as she plunged the other dagger right in Brud¡¯s Mana Core!


    Some light shed within Brud since she had just broken his Mana Core, but no one other than her could see it. The Night¡¯s Shade was working perfectly fine.


    It took Raven just a few seconds, and Brud died without even being able to see the face of his killer!


    ¡°Thanks for letting me test the daggers. They were getting quite rusty...¡± Raven said before she dispersed the Spell, and ze could finally see what was happening.


    Her daggers disappeared as well when ze suddenly appeared at the spot.


    ¡°At least inform me beforehand that you were going to cast that ck smoke Spell! I was-¡±


    ¡°Tsk Tsk. You are afraid in the dark?¡± Raven sneered.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that-¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, whatever. Pick up the body now.¡± Raven didn¡¯t let him say anything and pointed towards Brud¡¯s body.


    ¡°Uh, Okay? But what for?¡± ze asked while grabbing the Brud¡¯s corpse by his cor.


    ¡°To give them back, obviously,¡± replied Raven with a smirk. She wanted to see the faces of those people when she hands them the corpse, and the most they would be able to do would be to stare at her with hatred.


    ¡°Sadist...¡± ze whispered under his breath before following behind her with the corpse.


    ¡°So, how were you able to kill him so easily?¡± ze asked. It hadn¡¯t even been a minute before Brud had died, so he was naturally curious.


    ¡°I just needed the breakthrough to rank-6, and evolving my daggers was easy. I added another ability which disrupted the enemies Mana cycle when the daggers are in contact with their blood,¡± Raven calmly exined.


    ze looked at Raven weirdly. He wondered how she got such dangerous ideas for her Spell!


    He was a genius himself that did not require any kind of focus to cast Ice-based Spells, but it was only because he was able to move the Mana in a much smoother way.


    No matter who it was, once the Mana flow was disturbed, they wouldn¡¯t be able to cast any Spell in this world!


    The method to casting the Spell required the Mages to move the Mana from their Mana Core first, which many did by either chanting or using hand signs to help them.


    After that, they would force their will on the Mana to perform the particr Spells.


    But if the Mages couldn¡¯t even move the Mana out of their Mana Core, how would they cast anything at all?


    It basically left them useless!

 Chapter 133

    Chapter 133: Deadly Flora.


    Unaware that Raven had killed Brud back with the group, Ozul woke up next when he felt something tugging along his prosthetic arms.


    *Yawn*


    He opened his eyes and looked at his arms in wonder. He noticed that the vines of the tree were actually bound to his arms!


    Not only that, but the vines were still pulling his arms, trying to get him down the tree as if they were alive! When Ozul tried to sense what was wrong, he noticed that this was one of the trees that felt different from others!


    When he moved his arms, the vines tightened their grip and stayed still as a snake does to their prey after coiling around them.


    Having no other choice, he made a de with Ball of Purity and cut away those vines. After freeing his hands, he jumped down the tree to look at his surroundings.


    From its outer appearance, the tree looked just like a usual tree with a thick canopy in the jungle. However, when Ozul tried to sense it from his ability, the tree felt different from the ones in the surroundings. It felt more alive?


    .....


    Ozul then looked at the vines that he had just cut off earlier and saw that theyid their lifeless, not moving anymore.


    He neared the tree and touched it to see if there was any reaction. He waited for a couple of seconds, but there was nothing.


    ¡°Hm. It obviously wanted to take me away, so why is it not moving now?¡± Ozul wondered out loud.


    He also noticed that Jinx was sleeping on the same branch that he had been on. For a more precise understanding, Ozul tried to sense anything else that also gave the same feeling as that of these strange trees.


    Although seeing was difficult due to the fog, feeling things wasn¡¯t. So as he felt everything around him, Ozul couldn¡¯t find anything until he started observing even the small nts.


    In this jungle, the trees mostly had thick trunks, and their roots were all entangled above the ground, so it camouged the nts.


    It was only when he observed those almost hidden nts did Ozul noticed something out of the ordinary. Some of the nts, just like the strange tree with alive vines, felt more alive than others!


    He went near one such nt and observed it from up close. There were only some t leaves with a bunch of flower buds here and there.


    Only around the leaves, he saw that there were thorns. And not just any thorns, but they were oozing out a white liquid as well!


    ¡°No wonder...¡± Ozul said in an understanding tone. It all suddenly clicked in his mind now.


    And it all made even more sense when he realized that these strange nts surrounded all the strange trees!


    ¡°These nts are hidden to the point where even professionals wouldn¡¯t notice anything after a casual look at them.¡± Ozul tried to look at his surroundings like someone obvious to all of it would.


    Ozul thought the most likely scenario was that people walked in this foggy part of the forest, unaware of these nts, and brushed past them like nothing. In the process, the thorns would prick them to poison them.


    The white liquid was probably a lethal poison that rendered people useless. The victim would most likely fall unconscious or dead around the tree in the middle. The tree¡¯s vines would then wrap him after confirming that it was not moving.


    That was Ozul¡¯s conclusion after taking note of everything. It made sense if he took into ount that the vines stopped after he had started to move.


    But the question still remained that why were the vines wrapping around him just now? He had been sleeping here for some hours already.


    At this moment, Jinx woke up, stretching her legs for a long while before she sat there looking at Ozul.


    ¡°Hmm? Did you move here in the middle of the night?¡± Ozul asked while looking straight into her eyes.


    ¡°. . .¡±


    ¡°That could probably be the reason then...¡± Ozul muttered after seemingly getting his answer from Jinx¡¯s silent stare.


    He figured that the tree probably sensed that something was moving around it, so the vines did not start to do their work. Only when it was morning, and it had been a while for Jinx to stop moving, did the vines begin to wrap themselves around him, thinking that everyone was unconscious or dead.


    ¡°And then there is this fog to cover it all up,¡± Ozul said after taking another look around him.


    The reason that he had not been a victim already was probably that he had been unconsciously avoiding these nts. But he wasn¡¯t sure if he would be affected if stung because he had learned that poison travels through the blood, and well... he has none of that.


    Would his body even allow such chemicals to enter his body? Ozul wasn¡¯t sure and he wouldn¡¯t try anything like this on himself either.


    Although there was now light due to it being daytime, Ozul felt that it was better at night since he could actually see more in darkness than in light.


    ¡°Well, depending on the situation, this could be interesting...¡± he muttered with the prosthetic hand on his chin.


    ¡°Whatever,¡± Ozul said before jumping back on the tree¡¯s branch.


    Although Ozul had figured out most of what was happening in this foggy area of this jungle, he had yet to find out what those vines did next after wrapping the victim.


    He had already tried to look around and see if he could find any ce where the bodies went, but there was nothing!


    And unless the trees ate everything they captured, there had to be somece where the tree vines took the bodies to. Ozul suspected it to be thetter since although the strange trees were all a few distances apart, their vines were interconnected!


    In this big jumbled mess of vines, Ozul could not guess where the vines actually brought the dead or unconscious bodies to. He would have tested it by killing some animal, but there was nothing around him that was alive apart from the flora!


    It was apparent that whichever animal stumbled upon this area of the jungle, would not leave alive from here. The animals were either all dead or they avoided this area beforehand.


    Either way, it was a sign that this ce had been set up like this for a long time. So it was difficult for him to understand if it happened naturally or someone had a hand in this. Though thetter was most unlikely.


    As much of a thinker he was, there weren¡¯t many clues that would lead him further, so Ozul decided the only approach that came into his mind-using himself as bait!


    Heid down on the branch like he had been a few minutes ago and closed his eyes to sleep. He didn¡¯t have to act like he was unconscious when he could sleep at the same time. It was like killing two birds with one stone!


    Ozul only hoped that Jinx would not move much in the meantime since that could possibly prevent the strange trees from doing their thing.


    He wasn¡¯t aware if his hypothesis was even true, but this was all he had now. He created the hat on his head again and crossed his prosthetic arms before losing himself in the sleep.


    After he closed his eyes, Jinx stood up and came near him before snuggling on hisp and curling herself to sleep as well. It didn¡¯t even take seconds for both of them to sleep. It felt as if there was no one that could beat these two in thepetition of sleeping!


    Time passed and a few hours flew away without any notice.


    Ozul opened his eyes when he felt himself getting dragged. He did not try to make any extra movements since that could potentially cause the vines to stop again. This situation was exactly as he wanted!


    He just needed to sit still now and the vines would take him to the ce where he could actually find some real clues about all of this. Ozul was aware that curiosity was a bad habit, but he had been putting off his for a long time already!


    When he looked around him, he couldn¡¯t see much since the vines were also wrapped around his face. Through some space, he understood that he was still in the forest and was being dragged on the ground since he could hear the sound of dry leaves getting crushed under him.


    ¡®Oh? Where is Jinx?¡¯ Ozul wondered after he sensed that she was not together with him.


    ¡®She probably didn¡¯t want to get dragged like this...¡¯ In the end, Ozul just shrugged and closed his eyes again!


    Just sitting there awake and conscious of getting dragged for such a long distance wasn¡¯t exactly much adventurous for Ozul. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t hard for him to sleep in this condition either.


    If anyone else were to see him right now, they would think that he had probably lost his mind! But they weren¡¯t aware that Ozul was confident enough of his strength to face off against a Rank-9 Mage, how could he be wary of some nts?


    ¡®hmm. If only Raven or ze were with me, I could¡¯ve asked them to wake me up when we are there...¡¯ Ozul thought in his mind while clicking his tongue.


    Just as he was about to lose himself in thend of dreams though, Ozul suddenly sensed something near him...

 Chapter 134

    Chapter 134: Strange nts.


    He realized that the rattle of him getting dragged through the dirt or whatever wasn¡¯t the only sound around him.


    It seemed that something else was also getting dragged in the same direction as him! This also assured him that there indeed really was one central area where the vines bring the victims.


    What happened to them at that ce was still unknown. Ozul could only wait and see for himself what was going on there.


    He just closed his eyes since it was getting boring, only getting dragged without doing anything.


    . . .


    The next moment he opened his eyes was the time when the vines suddenly tightened their grip on Ozul, and something started to force its way into them as well.


    He did not know how many hours he¡¯d spent here. But there was one thing that he understood very well ¨C the things that started to force their way into the vines were actually sharp des!


    .....


    From all his sides, the sharp white des were going to stab him. Ozul sighed because he didn¡¯t know if he had reached the primary location where he would be able to get the answers. But now he would have to stop acting dead.


    Although the vines were as thick as an adult man¡¯s arm, they were all cut away like butter with the des Ozul had made from Ball of Purity.


    *Swish*


    The vines fell on the ground before Ozul alsonded. He wasn¡¯t aware of it, but now that he looked around him, he realized that he was hanging in the air before!


    Not only that, but there was also the giant red mouth-like thing with the inside filled with those white des which now appeared to be its teeth. That thing looked like some kind of nt monster that Ozul had nevere across before. It consisted only of a green tree trunk with that big mouth on top instead of the leaves.


    ¡°Is it also a part of all these strange nts and fog?¡± Ozul muttered before taking a look around as to know where he was.


    What he saw surprised him because there wasn¡¯t any fog around him anymore!


    Moreover, since there was no fog around him, he could see almost everything in his view. He spun 360 degrees and noticed that he was in the middle of an area littered with those nt monsters. Some of them had cocoons made up of the vines above them, just like his.


    He sensed that all of them contained some kind living creatures in it.


    ¡®All of these creatures are weak. Did these vines put me in the same category as these Rank-3 bugs?¡¯ Ozul thought. It amused him that there were even categories of the victims here. The vines had probably brought him here because they could not sense any Mana from him.


    There were only some bugs type beasts here since they were probably considered the weakest in here.


    But looking at this scene, Ozul had confirmed that he was right in his guess. It all really was a set-up, and now he just needed to figure out what the purpose was and who is behind all of this.


    Fortunately for him, he could easily find his way out by following the direction where he sensed the stronger creatures.


    Just as he was about to walk forward, the red monster nt that was about to eat him previously turned its head towards him after it could only munch on empty air.


    *Kaurkk*


    It could obviously not see since Ozul noticed that it had no eyes, but he was proven wrong when the nt suddenly screeched!


    It wouldn¡¯t have been a problem to him since Ozul could¡¯ve just cut it off. However, the nt monster¡¯s screech attracted all the other nts¡¯ attention to him as well.


    Under a few seconds, Ozul found himself the target of hundreds of nt monsters that could only hiss at him with their gigantic mouth filled with teeth.


    ¡°In the end, they are still nts...¡± Ozul muttered before his eyes twitched when he looked at the next scene.


    The thick vines that previously decorated the sky, blocking the sun, all of a sudden began to twist and turn as if they had gained the spirits of snakes!


    *Sigh...*


    Ozul sighed realizing that he would not be able to afford to be leisure while exploring this ce anymore.


    ¡°Whatever,¡± muttered Ozul under his breath before he summoned all of the Ball of Purity out of him and divided all of it into t des that started rotating around him.


    And just as he thought, the vines started shooting at him like flying snakes from the sky!


    However, the des that rotated around him started to increase their speed until the point where only the passing ck images could be seen. Ozul had made it like a shield that would cut everything down that came near him.


    The vines shot at him from every side, but all of them were reduced to mere pieces aftering into contact with the shield made of those des.


    Although Ozul seemed to be doing nothing as he leisurely stood there, he actually had to put a part of his focus onto the des.


    Unlike a Mage¡¯s Spell, he had to continually keep his focus on the Ball of Purity to direct its movement. It had both its advantages and disadvantages.


    The disadvantage was that Ozul had to keep his focus if he wanted to keep the Ball of Purity moving. In contrast, if it was a Spell from a Mage, he was required only to cast it once.


    With a part of his attention on the des to keep them spinning around him, Ozul walked forward in the direction where he sensed more creatures.


    As he walked further, more and more nt monsters started to hiss at him while the clutter of vines also increased. However, Ozul still stepped forward unbothered by all of this.


    As he advanced, Ozul noticed that the number of creatures started to decrease, but their ranks were higher than the ones behind him now.


    For a few minutes, he kept walking straight since there was nothing that could stop him on his path as of yet. He only stopped when he noticed something different.


    Focusing on one of the vine cocoons in the air, Ozul realized that it contained a human! Moreover, that human was already dead!


    Since he was dead, Ozul could not really sense what his rank was before death, but judging from the creatures around him, he was most likely a Rank-5 Mage.


    ¡°They managed to lose one of their men even with such a big group?¡± Ozul was indifferent, as hemented. He was sure that this man belonged to one of the groups of mercenaries.


    Many things pointed this to be the case, such as why else would there be another Rank-5 Mage in the middle of this dangerous forest?


    He passed by that cocoon without any care. Why would he care about a random man that he could probably not even remember the face of?


    Anyway, this area seemed to be ratherrge since he had probably walked for 30 minutes withouting across anything different.


    A few minutester, he noticed that there were almost no cocoons hung up in the air anymore. Because of the number of vines that attacked him, his figure was almost hidden in the storm of green.


    Ozul realized that he hade across a different section, but the vines surrounding him did not let him see anything. He sighed before standing still on his spot. His focus was directed towards the des to increase the radius of the circle in which they spun around him.


    The des started to get farther and farther away from Ozul, cutting all the vines, which let him have a broad view around him.


    It was almost unbelievable for any other Mage to see this scene. Those vines could probably overwhelm even Rank-8 Mages if caught unprepared, but Ozul was dealing with it like some kind of child¡¯s y.


    As he had a better view now, Ozul realized that he was in another strange ce now. Although there weren¡¯t any of those nt monsters here, it still contained the vines above him.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Ozul muttered when he looked at the ground, littered with the giant roots protruding out of the dirt.


    The giant roots came from the direction of the nt monsters just as he did and seemed to be heading towards the inner area. The strange thing, however, was not that they were giant. Instead, it was because asionally, a bright pulse seemed to pass through them!


    Like some kind of energy beam, the pulses headed toward the same direction as well. When Ozul was focusing on the next pulse, he sensed that these were energy beams, but they were made out of Mana!


    The Mana was also inpressed form. Such type of Mana was unusable by any Mage because only touching it could cause their skin to melt!


    This also showcased the sturdiness of these roots. They could contain such dangerouslypressed Mana, which even high-rank Fighters would keep their hands away from.


    Although Ozul wanted to cut open one of the roots and check the Mana for himself, he refrained from doing so since it would most likely cause anothermotion here. If he really wanted to, he could juste back here after checking what was ahead.


    ¡°This is only getting more interesting...¡± Ozul whispered under his breath, excited to be able to find something new. However, his face showed no emotions at all, as usual.

 Chapter 135

    Chapter 135: Endless trouble.


    In the meantime, the vines did not stop their attack. Ozul had yet to see their endpoint as well. He wondered just how long were they, or were they growing? He was clueless, but he didn¡¯t care about that at this time.


    He was more curious about what the Mana was used for. He had already figured out that those monster nts absorbed the Mana from the victims while the vines brought them here. However, what about thepressed Mana?


    To find the answer, he had to walk even more. At this time, Ozul was honestly getting quite bored of this. So he sped his pace to get over with it and return to the group quickly.


    Without wasting any more time, he cut away all the vines that approached him and ran forward. It didn¡¯t take him long to arrive at a dead end.


    He stood before a wall made up of trees and bushes, and it did not seem natural because of how straight it was. The giant roots also passed through it.


    But the most significant change was of the vines. They did not attack Ozul anymore! All of a sudden, they just retracted and stopped attacking him, seemingly losing interest in him.


    He could finally give rest to his divided attention to keep the des spinning around him. He stood still and tried to sense everything on the other side before rashly rushing in.


    .....


    Although there were many strange things on the other side, he sensed something very familiar. The mercenary group, including Raven and ze, were all on the other side!


    And the situation did not look any favorable either since it seemed that Magical Beasts surrounded them on the other side.


    *Sigh*


    ¡°How long has it even been?! And here we are again...¡± Ozul sighed. Although he was not sure how much time had passed because before he started forcing his way here, he had been sleeping.


    Unknown to him, it had already been two days before he had separated from the group. Just that most of this time was spent while he slept. If it weren¡¯t for the teeth of the nt monster trying to stab him, he wouldn¡¯t have noticed anything!


    As mentioned before, Ozul did not really sleep when he closed his eyes. He was just too lost in the nothingness that he did not bother to wake up until something different happened around him.


    He did not notice anything that could potentially harm him if he cut straight through the wall. And there weren¡¯t any specific areas where he could go from either, so Ozul advanced by butchering his way through.


    The wall made out of vines turned out to be a meter thick! However, Ozul had no difficulty in creating his path to the other side.


    *whish*


    Some twigs and branches fell down from the wall as the metallic hand pushed them away.


    On the other side, the group of mercenaries and the Silver Knights looked at this scene with wonder and surprise. The past few hours had been a rollercoaster for them. They didn¡¯t understand what was going to happen now.


    As Ozul appeared from behind the bushes, everyone looked gaping at the scene. They had yet to make aplete understanding of their own situation, and things kept piling up.


    ¡ª¡ª


    A few hours earlier, they were on their daily routine, advancing without anything to worry about other than the fog.


    Some of the mercenaries were also not as tense as before because it had been a while since anything dangerous happened to them. But most of all, Ozul had suddenly left the group, which also made some of them sigh in relief.


    All of them weren¡¯t exactlyfortable traveling with him after they had seen his strangeness.


    While this was the thoughts of the majority in the group, some of them had different opinions.


    Those who had other opinions included Clive and ra. In contrast, Raven and ze need to be mentioned. Both of them already looked like some wooden dolls that only had a little life in them. Their interaction almost looked robotic by the others.


    However, it was just that they did not have anything to talk with anybody. Their only purpose was to keep doing what they were, so it couldn¡¯t be helped that they seemed like some robotic golems who were assigned a specific task.


    After Raven had killed Brud, their rtion with the other mercenaries had only worsened. Barry tried his best to avoid the duo. Although he had said those things to Brud, he was still like a brother to him, so he was raging inside. Barry tried to keep this to himself since he knew it was not the right ce or time to get revenge.


    He was afraid that he would lose control if he had any confrontation with the duo. It wasn¡¯t that Raven and ze hadn¡¯t noticed this. They just ignored it since this was the attitude they had learned from Ozul.


    Anyway, they were going about their usual routine together with the other mercenaries in the fog. It was then when suddenly a man shouted, ¡°Everyone stop!¡±


    Since the fog was everywhere, the mercenaries didn¡¯t see who shouted, but they all still stopped in their tracks like Clive had told them to do so.


    Everyone gathered in a close circle since it was difficult to talk in the formation that they had. A man with a missing tooth in the front looked worried as he raised his hand.


    ¡°My friend Tibby is not here!¡± He said while looking around. He was still trying to find his friend in the group.


    Clive waited for a little while to see if the person named Tibby was really missing or not since he would reply if he were here.


    After a few seconds, no one seemed to be confirming. The mercenaries only looked at each other. Just as Clive was about to say something, another voice sounded out, ¡°My friend is not here either!¡±


    It was a woman this time. She searched everywhere with her eyes, but she couldn¡¯t find her friend either.


    ¡°Calm down!¡± Clive shouted when he noticed that the unrest was rising among the group. He was vice-leader for a reason. He knew his way around to manage a group.


    ¡°Everyone checks if your partners are with you or not! Don¡¯t cause anymotion. Just look around and see if you can find everyone in your circle. If you can¡¯t find someone, don¡¯t panic and tell me one by one!¡± Clive understood that if two people were missing, there could very well be others too.


    Although he had given clear instructions, when people couldn¡¯t find some, they all started shouting out that their friend was among the lost too.


    ¡°Stop panicking! We can do this all day, and we wouldn¡¯t get anywhere with it!¡± Clive shouted while releasing a bit of his pressure on everyone. It seemed to work wonders as everyone immediately quietened down.


    ¡°Now, raise your hands if you think your friend is missing!¡±


    One by one, many raised their hands. Clive ordered one of his men who began to write down the names as he asked the people on whoever they thought was missing.


    Naturally, many names were repeated. However, Clive still shouted each name in the group to see if the person who was missing was actually there or not.


    ¡°Tibby!... Yanari!... Adam!... Aqil!... Ayat!...¡± One by one, he shouted each name. Only two people were still present in the group while the other fifteen had gone missing!


    Fifteen people had suddenly disappeared from their group, and no one had realized anything until now!


    It naturally caused many of the mercenaries to tense up. Clive was still thinking about what to do with this situation when a man standing right next to him suddenly fell down on the ground!


    When they checked the person who had suddenly fallen unconscious on the ground, they noticed that the only thing that seemed to be the reason was the sting on his leg.


    Following that, the group noticed that there was a strange nt near the guy who had fallen unconscious earlier.


    ¡°What type of nt is this?¡± Clive turned towards one of his men who everyone thought was some expert in this field. However, the person in question could only shrug, saying that he had never seen anything like this before.


    Clive had no choice but to bend down and check the nt himself. He thought that it was only one of a poisonous nt when a mercenary found a nt that looked the same as that.


    When they couldn¡¯t find anything else, a guy plucked the whole nt with his hand in anger. However, he did avoid grasping the poisonous thorns on the leaves.


    That seemed to be a big mistake because just as he plucked the whole nt out of the dirt, random vines started to attack the group!


    Following some vines, many followed right after, and in the end, they were forced to run all the way to that strange ce while continually struggling with the vines.


    The vines were too strong for most of the mages in the group. At the same time, the stronger ones couldn¡¯t use their spells since they were all crowded in one ce. They could only run to a safer ce, hoping that the vines would stop after some time.


    Only when they had arrived at that ce did the vines leave their tail. However, it wasn¡¯t the end of their trouble.


    When all of the Mages were sighing in relief, they were surrounded by those random beasts in the forest!


    It wouldn¡¯t have been much of a problem if those beasts weren¡¯t at least Rank-6!

 Chapter 136

    Chapter 136: Blinded by the darkness.


    It only took them an hour, and the group of mercenaries found themselves surrounded by beasts. And not just any beasts, but even the weakest of them were at least Rank-6!


    Their group of around sixty people was surrounded by only around fifteen or so beasts. However, everyone was on edge since they couldn¡¯t get into formation before they were stuck in this situation.


    Moreover, there were two Rank-7 Beasts behind the ones which surrounded them!


    Clive was banging his head around the situation, but nothing came into his mind. If he did not deal with the situation quickly and efficiently enough, it would turn into a deadly battlefield and he wouldn¡¯t be able to assure ra¡¯s safety in the chaos.


    Only fighting two Rank-6 Drakes had caused the situation earlier, and now they were surrounded by over tens of Rank-6 Beasts, so everyone was quite tensed in this situation. Not to mention, the Rank-7 Beasts!


    The only fortunate thing in all of this mess was that the two Rank-7 Beasts, the pair of ck and white snakes stood far behind the rest of the group. It seemed like they wouldn¡¯t step in the game unless they were forced to do so.


    However, it still wasn¡¯t easy on Clive to quickly think of a way to divert the Rank-6 Beasts away from the group so they could finish them off at a safe distance.


    .....


    Clive didn¡¯t see much space to move around in this area when he looked around him. There were no trees in the middle of this area, but vines dropped over from above. The ceiling though looked like a canopy of a tree. Altogether, it was a weird ce to be in.


    He was contemting whether to deal with it themselves or call the group hidden in the shadows. Although he was confident in being able to deal with the beasts, it would cause casualties on his side as well. Moreover, the safety of ra would bepromised if he ordered to go all out.


    Just as he was thinking about his options, one of the weird walls made of vines and trees started to create noise. A few secondster, everyone saw a metallic hande out of the wall before a giant hole was created in it.


    As the rubble and the dirt settled down, the group was eventually able to recognize who the new arrival was. Raven and ze both beamed with smiles which immediately put all the focus onto them.


    ra also had a bright smile on her face, but people had often seen her smiling. On the other hand, Raven and ze were the wooden dolls.


    Raven had a figure and beauty that didn¡¯t lose out to ra in any way while also having that dangerous charm. While ze was a man that would easilye out as one of the most handsome men across the continent!


    The only reason that the men and women were not already flocking around them was due to their cold response in whatever others had to say. So their smiles naturally attracted everyone¡¯s attention, making them momentarily forget about their situation until they heard the cough.


    *Cough*


    Ozul coughed to bring them back out of their dreands. All of them seemed to forget how dangerous their situation was right now.


    The Rank-6 Beasts outnumbered the Rank-6 Mages in the group. It meant that the Rank-7 Mages would have to quickly deal with them before the Beasts caused some heavy casualties.


    Some of the mercenaries weren¡¯t happy with Ozul appearing here such as Barry. All others, however, were more than happy to wee him since they knew that he was just as strong or even stronger than the three Rank-7 Mages!


    Be as that may, they were still unaware of how strong he was. So they were still afraid of the battle toe.


    All the Mages at Rank-5 or below knew that they would only be cannon fodder in this. Even a stray Spell from a Rank-7 could kill them! So, they couldn¡¯t rest easy while being surrounded by such strong existences. And no matter how strong Ozul was, would he be able to stop all the beasts himself?


    The Rank-6 Beasts surrounding the group varied in races. There were giant Spes, Golems, Snakes, and even a Bear with antlers like a dear! None of them diverted their attention to Ozul¡¯s arrival. Only because they did not sense anything threatening from him.


    *Hissss*


    As if already bored, the giant ck snake suddenly hissed loudly at the crowd. Following the hissing, all the Beasts gave out a growl before leaping towards the Mages.


    A little far from the group, Rufus was ready to give up the mission and had already ordered his subordinates. He had also seen that Ozul had arrived at the scene, but he did not stop this time.


    Rufus knew that Ozul was more than enough to handle all of these beasts by himself, but he wasn¡¯t sure if he could take them all on at the same time. There were just too many Beasts and too little of a space.


    The chaos caused by fighting so many of them at once would confuse everyone and ra¡¯s life would be put into danger. Although he had a separate mission, protecting ra was still the priority. Without hesitating, he had given themand to go all out and protect her first.


    When Ozul sensed that Rufus was about to reveal himself and his men, he narrowed his eyes. He wanted to see what these guys had nned, and showing themselves now meant ruining his fun.


    ¡°Raven!¡± Ozul shouted. He continued when he noticed that she did not understand his intent, ¡°Night¡¯s Shade!¡±


    Only then did Raven register that he wanted her to cast her Magic Spell. From the tone of urgency, she did not ask any questions as to why he wanted to do this.


    The Beasts had already started their assault, and this Spell would put everyone in danger since no one would be able to see anything except for these two. Then again, she did not care much about their lives.


    Dodging a Snake Beast, she quickly cast the Spell and the ck smoke started to release out of her.


    It didn¡¯t even take a second before the ck smoke covered the whole ten meters of the area around the group.


    The Rank-7 Mages and Rufus who wereing to provide their aid all stopped in their tracks. Due to themotion because of the Beasts, they did not see what had caused this smoke.


    The only ones who even knew about this Spell were the trio. While the only ones who could actually see something were Raven and Ozul.


    ze had once asked Raven as to why Ozul could see in the ck smoke created by her Spell. He was curious since it wasn¡¯t just any ck smoke, it also dulled others¡¯ senses!


    However, as usual, her answer confused him further when she replied, ¡°Why can he see in the darkness? They are old friends, he said.¡±


    Although Raven could also just understand bits and pieces of what Ozul meant, she quoted what he had said to her when she had asked the same question.


    Anyway, the mercenaries did not understand what was happening either. Hanry and Clive both sprang forward and arrived before ra to protect her while the other mercenaries could only stand still and pray for the best.


    ze understood that he, as a Rank-5 Mage, could only be considered a cannon fodder as well. He generated Ice pirs around him to avoid any sudden attack. Raven could see everything, so she did not worry much.


    Although not as much as humans, the Beasts did not escape from the effects of the Spell either. Most of them were relying on other senses which also seemed to be a little difficult because the Spell affected almost all of their senses.


    ¡°Don¡¯t approach!¡± Rufusmanded. In this urgent situation, he could only put his trust in Ozul.


    When they couldn¡¯t see anything from the outside, it meant that it was the same case in the middle of it. Madly rushing inside would only cause more confusion with extra men.


    Moreover, he had yet to know what had caused the smoke. It could very well be a poison!


    Taking everything into ount, he once again decided to leave everything to Ozul since he was probably the strongest among them.


    The Night¡¯s Shade covered the area of 10 meters while this closed space had a little more than 30 meters of space in total. It meant that close to half of the whole area had be a mystery zone.


    The leaders of the beasts, Rank-7 Snakes, still did not take any action. It was apparent that they found it beneath them to involve themselves in the battle. But the ck smoke caused them to be curious as well.


    Overall, everyone was either confused or afraid as to whatever was going to follow in the darkness.


    However, they did not have to wait any longer when suddenly, everyone heard a Beast growl in anger.


    *GARR-*


    Having said that, the thing which made everyone curious was not the growl, but how the growl had stopped mid-way!


    Just one second the Beast had growled, and in the next second, it was as if someone interrupted it in the middle of his roar.


    Unlike others, Raven wasn¡¯t as clueless. Only she could see in this darkness. Her eyes shined with a twinkle as she stood there watching her favorite dance moves...

 Chapter 137

    Chapter 137: Rank-7 Beasts.


    Raven watched in amazement at how Ozul dealt with the Beasts. It wasn¡¯t that she had not seen him fight before, but she just couldn¡¯t get enough of it.


    Although the Beasts could not see anything in the ck smoke either, they could rush at Ozul together because of their instincts. Sensing the blood lust directed towards them was amon thing for them every day.


    Moreover, Ozul did not really hide his intent. More like he wanted the Beasts to sense him so that they would instead attack him.


    The tactic seemed to work as the Beasts had all gathered around him. They totally ignored how threatening this presence felt to them. It was almost like they had abandoned their instinct of danger.


    ¡°Working under Beasts stronger than you have made you all a little too dull...¡± Ozulmented before spreading his Ball of Purity, which blended in with the ck color of smoke. Listening tomands all day and not making their own decisions had slowed down their growth.


    After saying that, Ozul paused for a moment as if he had realized something before he shook his head and focused on the current situation.


    Although Raven could see when she was inside the ck smoke, the seeing wasn¡¯t like how people saw things in daylight with a clear view.


    .....


    Her vision only showed the things which moved. For some reason, she couldn¡¯t see Ozul¡¯s Ball of Purity inside her Spell either!


    It did not even cross her mind that he had generated the Ball of Purity until she saw the first sh on the Beast, causing a ssh of blood to spill out.


    The Ball of Purity perfectly blended in with the ck smoke as if they were one. And no one was enjoying it more than Ozul himself. To him, it felt like he could create and vanish the Ball of Purity from whatever distance he desired while he was inside the Night¡¯s Shade.


    His own distance to be able to control the Ball of Purity was 9 meters while the Night¡¯s Shade was spread over 10 meters of area. To him, it felt like he owned this domain, and no one could even touch him in here.


    Not to mention, the Beasts were only Rank-6. They were just more in numbers, so he had to deal with each one before the situation forced Rufus to reveal himself. Which, in turn, would cause him not to be able to enjoy the show.


    Even when Ozul was still unaware of the Emperor¡¯s real intentions, he was not afraid of it one bit. Instead, he looked forward to whatever he was going to face next.


    Dealing with these insects wasn¡¯t any big of a deal if it meant that he would be able to enjoy the showter.


    He side-stepped to avoid the venom of the Snake Beast before both the Snake and the giant Ape rushing at him were beheaded. No one, even Raven, couldn¡¯t see the de made of Ball of Purity.


    Just as he had killed those two, Ozul strolled towards the other Beasts who were already cowering in fear. First of all, they couldn¡¯t see anything around them. And even their senses were dulled, but the thick killing intent seemed to weigh down on them with each passing second.


    After a moment, all of them seemed toe to a decision and decided to attack whichever direction they thought their target to be since it felt like leaving was impossible.


    As the Beasts grew in Ranks, their emotional intelligence resembled more and more to that of a human. The state of mind, at this stage, was more harmful than beneficial to them.


    Giving up your life to show your loyalty to your superior was fine and all. Ozul even appreciated such people. But this thing in front of him, blind loyalty towards the two Rank-7 Snakes which only watched them die, was straight up stupidity!


    More than half of the Beasts leaped at him while others chose to attack from a distance. Ozul took one step behind and another towards his right to dodge before the Ball of Purity moved and cut away the Beasts in mid-air.


    Raven could visibly notice how the blood had dropped right in the ce where Ozul had stood before. It became apparent that he did not even dodge the Beasts, but instead the blood which would ssh on him instead!


    In her eyes, Ozul seemed to be bullying little insects in his turf! But for her, it had its own charm.


    Nothing that Ozul did would ever make Raven not like it except for the times when she couldn¡¯t be together with him.


    Anyways, it hadn¡¯t been a few seconds, and the Beasts fell one by one without even understanding why or how they were killed.


    For the mercenaries, these few seconds seemed like hours. They spent each second vexed that the Beasts would attack them.


    The only reassuring thing was that as the time had passed, the sound of Beast roars had also started to diminish. It gave them hope that someone was dealing with them.


    After a little like ten to twenty seconds, Ozul was finished with everything as he motioned towards Raven. Thetter immediately understood and removed the Spell.


    Visible to the eyes, the ck smoke started to disappear into thin air as if it wasn¡¯t there to begin with. For the onlookers, it all seemed like an illusion.


    However, if one looked at Raven right now, they would notice that her breathing was rough. She looked exhausted from the way she took deep breaths.


    It couldn¡¯t be helped since casting the Night¡¯s Shade devoured Mana. Each second to maintain the ck smoke all over the 10 meters would cost Raven to use a big chunk of Mana from her reserves.


    The other people, however, did not look at her at this moment because they were all busy focusing on the scene in front of them.


    They saw Ozul slowly walking towards Raven. But the astonishing thing was not him, but the corpses of the headless Beasts behind him!


    Of course, there was no bloodstain on him whatsoever. However, the ground was dyed in red color. Beheading made the Beasts drain all of their blood on the floor, which had started to form a puddle!


    Rufus was the only person who did not seem to be too shocked. Although he was surprised a little since even for him, it would be challenging to deal with the Beasts without letting anyone get in the way in such a small space.


    With a smile on his face, he ordered others to retreat to a safe distance again.


    ¡°But Sir! There are still two Rank-7 Beasts. Fighting with them would not cause any less chaos.¡± One of his men reported with a grave tone.


    ¡°He will deal with it. You don¡¯t need to worry about that. And now that he has indicated not to do so, we shouldn¡¯t show ourselves...¡± Rufus had connected all the dots and understood that it must have been Ozul who had created the ck smoke.


    And there was no other reason for him to create the smokescreen other than to inform him and his men not to interfere.


    The group of men retreated back to a safe distance while following behind Rufus.


    Back on the scene, Ozul patted Raven¡¯s head, who hid her delighted smile and tried to appear as exhausted as possible. On the other hand, ze had already retracted the ice pirs around him when he realized that it was clear now.


    In contrast, everyone in the group was stunned. It was apparent that Ozul had dealt with all the Rank-6 Beasts in that short amount of time when lights went out.


    They did not have time to say anything when they were forced to shift their attention towards the two Rank-7 Snake Beasts on top of the rock.


    *Hisssssssss*


    Both of the Snake Beasts hissed at Ozul while threatening him with their fangs.


    ¡°How dare you human!¡±


    Everyone heard the high pitched voice. Some of the mercenaries were confused and shocked to the core as to why the Snake beast could actually speak in humannguage!


    However, members of the Silver Knights and some other well-informed ones weren¡¯t as surprised as others. However, the low-Rank ones were still fascinated by the concept of a Beast being able to speak humannguage.


    Raven had read about it, but ze also did not know that Magical Beasts can start to learn the humannguage once they have reached Rank-7!


    Ozul looked uninterested at the Beasts. They both appeared to be a pair as well. However, Ozul did not sense even a bit of simrity between these two and the pair of Drakes,


    Although he did not have any interest in the Rank-7 Snakes, Ozul did want to ask some questions about this ce since they would probably know it better than anyone here.


    ¡°How dare you ignore us, Human!?¡± The ck Snake shouted in anger. It did not like when Ozul was just staring at them for a while without replying.


    The Snake thought that Ozul was disrespecting or taunting him.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know how to ignore others?¡± Ozul looked at the ck Snake as if he looked at some forest monkeys, who were not able to peel off their banana.


    Obviously, he did not care about the ever so slightly hurt self-esteem of the Snakes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make fun of us!¡± The ck Snake finally had enough of it as it sprang forward towards Ozul.


    The force with which it had jumped from the boulder created a crack on the rock. Only the Rank-7 and above Mages were able to notice his movements.

 Chapter 138

    Chapter 138: The moving garden.


    The Rank-7 Snakes were both giants. They appeared to be around the length of 15 meters!


    So the onlookers were quite terrified when the ck Snake had suddenly jumped at Ozul from such a long distance.


    Everyone expected another great battle to break out between the Snakes and Ozul, but they were proven wrong in the next moment.


    Many of the low-Rank mercenaries were not even able to follow the movements of the Snake. However, it wasn¡¯t hard for them not to see itsnding since it was cut in two pieces!


    For them, all they saw was the Snake Beast disappearing from its ce and then reappearing on the ground near Ozul, but not as a whole!


    Only Rufus was able to catch a glimpse of the Ball of Purity shing past the Snake in mid-air before it fell on the ground as if a broken toy.


    For a while, the people looking at the scene did not know how to react to this. Although they were happy that one of the Rank-7 Beasts was killed just like that, it also caused them fear.


    .....


    Watching with their own eyes at how pathetic the Rank-7 Beast looked in death while even one of its hiss was enough to shake their bodies previously made them realize how weak they were.


    They shivered in fear when they thought of how worthless they were in front of a powerful person when even the Rank-7 Beast was killed off like a worm!


    Only some people like Raven, ze, and ra had different thoughts. Although they had also realized how weak they were, it did not deter them from pursuing the path to power. Instead, they were only more motivated to work harder and be just as strong or even stronger than this.


    On the other hand, the White Snake had an incredulous face when it looked at the corpse of its partner on the ground.


    ¡°Youss! What d-did you do!¡± The White Snake spoke in a trembling voice. The tone of her voice was even higher-pitched than the ck Snake. And it looked like she wasn¡¯t as fluent in speaking the humannguage as the ck Snake.


    Ozul ignored the burning feeling of the Beast and slowly strode towards it. He could easily tell that the White Snake was both scared and burning with anger right now. Killing off her partner had obviously caused the rage while the fearful emotions were because she knew that one wrong move from her could cause her death in the very next second!


    ¡°W-what are you! Ssstop right there! Don¡¯t take a sssstep further!¡± The White Snake hysterically shouted while backing away.


    No matter how arrogant she acted in front of the others, her life was on the line at the moment. What would she do with her dignity after death?!


    Though before she could back away, several fine des pointed just below her head in a way that it looked like a magical ne!


    When the White Snake felt the prickle on the back of her head, which caused a trail of blood to follow down her body, she immediately stopped in her track. Her eyes widened in fear as she realized how sharp the des were. Her scales, which would not be scratched even when she destroyed giant boulders, were pierced through as if they were butter!


    ¡°D-don¡¯te close to me!¡± the White Snake shouted while squirming ufortably at her spot.


    ¡°And if I don¡¯t stop?¡± Ozul asked with a cold voice while slowly making his way towards her.


    ¡°W-what do you want!? Let me go, I won¡¯t cause you any trouble!¡± the White Snake asked with fear evident in her tone of voice.


    ¡°Do you think you are strong enough to cause me any trouble?¡± Ozul asked while raising his brows a little, which made the Snake panic. She did not know what to say as one wrong word from her could lead to her death.


    ¡°W-what do you want m-me to do?¡± She asked while stuttering. Although she was terrified, she was still able to realize that Ozul wanted something from her, or else, he would have killed her already.


    ¡°Simple. Just tell me what were you doing here? And what is this ce?¡± Ozul did not beat around the bush. He could have searched this ce himself, but why waste his time when he can just ask?


    Moreover, he did not have to worry about the White Snake lying to him since it was a piece of cake for him to know if someone lied.


    ¡°That...¡± the White Snake seemed to be hesitating on whether to answer or not.


    *Pukk*


    Just when she was hesitating, one of the des lunged into her tail. Blood spurted out from the wound after the de came out.


    ¡°Ahhh!¡± she cried out loud in pain. Her tail stomped around the boulder on which she stood.


    Because of the force behind the tail, the boulder, which was already cracked after the ck Snakes jump, broke down into smaller rocks.


    Ozul went near her after the debris and rubble had settled down. He said in an emotionless voice, ¡°I am asking you for thest time. Either you tell me now, or never.¡±


    His tone sent shivers down the Snake¡¯s spine as she forgot about the pain from the wound.


    ¡°D-don¡¯te near me! I... will tell you everything,¡± said the White Snake as she got out of the rubbles.


    ¡°Hurry up. I don¡¯t have time,¡± Ozul urged. The group of mercenaries also had their attention on them since they had nothing better to do.


    ¡°We... were here... to get the Ele... Se...¡± the White Snake whispered in such a quiet voice that it seemed like she didn¡¯t even sayplete words.


    ¡°It seems that you don¡¯t want to live...¡± Ozul muttered while raising his brows. He wondered what was so secret about them being here that the White Snake wanted to hide so much.


    As the de hovering behind her head slowly pierced her scales, the White Snake shouted, ¡°Ahh! Stop! Stop! We were here for the Elemental Ssseeds!¡±


    ¡°Elemental Seeds?¡± Ozul repeated. He hadn¡¯t heard this name before.


    This world had many wonders and mysteries yet to be solved and secret ces that were yet to be discovered to this day! Ozul did not know what these Elemental Seeds were, but from the name and how the Rank-7 Beast was so protective of it made him understand that they were some kind of treasure.


    ¡°What are these Elemental Seeds?¡± Ozul turned around to ask Clive. As Ozul looked towards him, everyone else turned their attention to him as well.


    Clive, on the other hand, rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly. Although he was well-versed in the knowledge of almost everything necessary, he hadn¡¯t heard the name of Elemental Seeds before.


    It was either that information on this thing was too important to be revealed to people at his rank, or there was no data on this topic at all! And Clive was inclined to believe thetter to be true.


    ¡°I... don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t heard about anything like this either.¡± Clive replied. He had no clue whatsoever.


    Ozul turned his head back towards the White Snake after not getting any answer that satisfied him. He did not try to find out why there was something in these Old Whispering Woods that Clive was not aware of as the Vice-Leader of the Silver Knights.


    There could be tens of reasons. One of them might be that the Beast had their own naming sense!


    ¡°What are these Elemental Seeds?¡± Ozul repeated his question, but this time it was directed at the White Snake.


    ¡°... You don¡¯t know what Elemental Ssseeds are? Hisssh! Stop! I will tell you!¡± She cried out in pain when Ozul made the de go a little deeper into her skin.


    ¡°Elemental Ssseeds are the ssseeds from the Elemental Lotusss.¡± She began to exin.


    Ozul was surprised that she did not try to lie. But he thought it was probably because she was too afraid to lie now that her life was on the line.


    ¡°What is this Elemental Lotus now?¡± Ozul asked with the same apathetic look on his face.


    ¡°It is a Lotus that blooms once only a hundred years. Even after the long span of time after it blooms, this flower is more difficult to find instead! However, the flower actually has no importance. Only the ssseeds are what every one of us craves for.¡± The Snake did not hold anything back this time.


    She had realized that the person asking her questions was already impatient, and if she dyed him any further, she would probably die.


    ¡°So, what is this ce? I don¡¯t see any lotus here.¡± Ozul asked. Although he did sense many strange things around this area, he did not see any type of flower that looked to something that would be named as Elemental Lotus.


    ¡°It has yet to bloom. This ce is the garden that helps it bloom. The moving and alive garden. It is also the reason why it is so difficult to find the Elemental Lotus,¡± the Snake exined.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ozul asked curiously. Although he did understand that she called this ce a garden as it was littered with strange nts, how was it moving and alive?


    ¡°You see. It is not moving right now, but after the Lotus Blooms, this thing starts moving on its own and finds some other ce to settle in.¡± She continued, ¡°It was already lucky that we were able to find this after a wild guess about the fog...¡±


    ¡°How is it rted to the fog?¡± Ozul asked when he heard the word.

 Chapter 139

    Chapter 139: Lying her way out.


    ¡°I will need to exin in detail...¡± the Snake muttered in a low voice. Ozul had earlier said that he did not have enough time, so she worried that if she began to exin everything in detail, he would get angry at her.


    ¡°Go on,¡± said Ozul. He did not mind a long exnation as long as she did not spout nonsense.


    ¡°The fog that is spread in kilometers radiusss of this ce is actually generated by this garden. It is all actually done naturally. Every hundred years, this process ssstarts all over again just in preparation for the Lotusss to bloom,¡± the Snake exined. However, she would sometimes extend the words with ¡®S¡¯ sound.


    ¡°First of all, the garden chooses a suitable ce to settle down. In those hundred years, all it does is to find a proper ce to ssstart the process. After it has found a ce, it would start to ssslowly corrupt the trees and nts in the surroundings.¡±


    ¡°Corrupted? Like those poisonous nts and the surrounding strange trees?¡± Ozul questioned in the middle.


    ¡°Yesss~ The garden ssstarts out as this area, only filled with vines. Its aura corruptsss the flora all around it, and turns it all into a kind of factory that works to ssserve only one purpose ¨C to help the Elemental Lotus bloom,¡±


    At this point, the White Snake did not hold back anything and talked like she was conversing with a dear friend and not with someone who could kill her anytime.


    .....


    ¡°Firssst of all, the fog surrounds a vast area around the garden, and getting into it is the first ssstep of this giant trap. As you may already know, once the creaturesss are trapped in the fog, they either get fortunate or they disappear! Those vines are like the limbsss of this garden.¡±


    ¡°And those nt Beasts in there?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°That right there is the most crucial step. Those creaturesss are used to suck out the Mana of all the living things which fall into the trap. Those nts are the greatest mysteriesss of all. No one understands how they are able to extract all essence of Mana from the living creatures.¡± The Snake said thest part with aining tone.


    ¡°All in all, the Mana is then used to water the Elemental Lotusss so that it can grow. You know, they call the garden as ¡®The Tarants¡¯ since you know-¡±


    ¡°Yes. Because of how itys out the cobweb and then slowly eats the prey...¡± Ozulpleted her words since it did not really need much exnation.


    ¡°Okay, now that this part is done, what are the Elemental Seeds used for?¡± Ozul asked. This was the real question. He wanted to know how useful they were for him.


    Yes, he already considered the Seeds to be his. Now that he had been too deeply involved in this mess, why wouldn¡¯t he take advantage of it? Moreover, as far as he could see, there was no one else here to im the Seeds anyway.


    He did not count the White Snake as someone who held the rights over the Seeds only because she came in here first. Not to mention, she was living only at his mercy right now.


    ¡°That... I don¡¯t know,¡± she replied before backing away in fear. Closing her eyes as she wrapped her tail around herself, expecting a harsh reply.


    Such a thing would obviously seem like a lie to anyone who heard it. So she expected another de to be lunged at her tail, but contrary to her expectations, there was nothing.


    She slowly opened her eyes to look at Ozul, who stared back at her apathetically.


    ¡°Okay...¡± Ozul said as the Snake had mind gears working in different directions.


    ¡®Did he believe me just like that?! Although it is really true that I don¡¯t know those Seeds¡¯ use, shouldn¡¯t he doubt me!?¡¯ The Snake thought. Even she herself would have started torturing the person in question when they replied as such after revealing so much.


    The Snake had thoughts that if it would have been better if she had just lied from the start or not.


    Unknown to her, Ozul easily believed her because he did not need to judge her words. He just knew it! How could he not when the feelings project things that people sometimes don¡¯t even know about themselves?


    ¡°If that¡¯s so, why are you here? If you don¡¯t know what is the use for the Seeds, why did you guyse here to get them?¡± Raven questioned. She had already recovered her breath and was now standing together with Ozul with ze just behind them.


    Although Raven trusted Ozul¡¯s judgment, she was still skeptical of the giant White Snake before her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. But he knew everything, he didn¡¯t tell me,¡± the Snake replied while giving a look at the ck Snake cut in two pieces in the distance.


    ¡°How did you learn about the Elemental Seeds?¡± Ozul asked. This was an important question for him. He wanted to know how some Beasts knew of knowledge that even a Mage at Clive¡¯s level and his position wasn¡¯t to get a hold of?


    Since when did Magical Beasts start sharing information between themselves? Because the knowledge about something that blooms only once a hundred years was not something that they could learn just about anywhere.


    ¡°He... he had learned humannguage way before me. I think it was about some tens of yearsss ago when I first advanced and was able to speak your tongue as well. Around that time, he had found some old bag of travelers that had most likely been dead by sssome ident in the forest.¡± The Snake started to tell the story with mncholy.


    Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried, she could not fake the emotions of sadness in front of Ozul. Although what she had said was true, she wasn¡¯t sad at all over her partner¡¯s death. Instead, there was only the fear of her life in her mind.


    ¡°That bag contained detailed notes about the Elemental Lotus. That¡¯s also how we got to know of all of this. But at that time, we just thought it to be another one of the humans¡¯ fantasies. Only when we saw everything happening here just like the detailsss in the notes did we realized that they had stumbled upon sssome treasure.¡± She continued exining.


    Ozul looked down on the ground in contemtion. If he did not know for sure that she wasn¡¯t lying, he would have thought that this whole story wasn¡¯t true.


    He wondered what kind of person would be so knowledgable, yet so weak as to get killed in this part of the forest, which contained Rank-7 Beasts as the strongest. But he did not ponder much about it since he did not have enough information.


    There could be many reasons behind this, and assuming things would only limit his thinking about this matter as a whole.


    ¡°After realizing that we could have a treasure for ourselves, we came here to wait for the Lotusss to bloom and then get it to advance to the next Rank. Oh! Before you ask, we thought that simply devouring would work...¡± the Snake exined herself before Raven could even question about it.


    It seemed that the Snake had said everything because she stood in there silently, looking at Ozul with pleading eyes.


    ¡°Where is the Lotus?¡± Ozul asked one final question.


    ¡°Oh! That! Right there in the middle of those engravings on the ground. Once it is time, the Lotus would bloom right at that ce.¡± She replied hurriedly while pointing her tail at the ground right in the middle of this room.


    ¡°I¡¯ve told you everything that I know now. Please let me go!¡± The Snake added. It looked like she was in a hurry to get out of here.


    Ozul looked at her with cold eyes before the des suddenly moved. In others¡¯ eyes, the des which hovered near the Snake¡¯s head just shed in their ce. But in the next second, the Snake¡¯s head fell on the ground. Her eyes remained open as if she was still in a hurry to leave from here and hadn¡¯t realized her death!


    ¡°The only way out is death... Maybe if you hadn¡¯t lied, I would¡¯ve spared you?¡± Ozul muttered thest part to himself.


    In the Snake¡¯s long story, she had told everything truthfully without any deceit. However, thest question, she lied! Ozul did not understand why she had suddenly changed her mind, but he did not care either way.


    For him, it did not matter if she was dead or alive anyway.


    Just that he wasn¡¯t aware that only because he had so casually believed in her previous statement, the Snake thought that she could get away with it and still be able to reap the Elemental Seeds for herselfter!


    Even though Ozul was unaware of where the Lotus would bloom, he knew that it wasn¡¯t in the ce where the Snake had told him because he sensed nothing unusual there. Below that ground, there was just dirt.


    On the other hand, he did not even need to focus to know that there was a secret room in the back of the boulder that had been destroyed by the Snakes pair earlier.


    Ozul turned to walk in that direction before he suddenly stopped and looked behind him.


    ¡°You guys can stay here, or follow me,¡± Ozul said this to Raven and ze, but the whole convoy standing behind the duo thought that this was addressed to everyone present here.

 Chapter 140

    Chapter 140: Elemental Lotus.


    As Ozul approached the wall, everyone followed behind him, but they all kept their distance. Only Raven and ze stuck closer to him.


    When he stood before the wall made out of the mud with vines all over it, Ozul closed his eyes to see if he could sense anything on the other side. Unfortunately, he only felt these strange vines there as well.


    He searched for some switch or a lever that would open this hidden wall somehow, but there was nothing as of this sort around here. Ozul sighed as he did not like to make a mess of things.


    The conical hat on top of his head suddenly turned into liquid before changing its shape to a sharp de and turning solid again. The de shed at the wall, cutting out a square in an instant!


    With a push from ze, the square part of the wall fell on the other side. Some dirt flew in the air, but everyone had a clear vision inside after the debris had settled down.


    Raven and ze had to squint their eyes at the tunnel before them. They tried, but couldn¡¯t see the end of it from here.


    ¡°This does not look like some secret treasure room...¡± ze muttered. Raven did not say anything since she agreed with him as well.


    .....


    Shouldn¡¯t a room with such a rare treasure be more majestic or something? But all they sensed was some tunnel that was made in the dirt!


    Ozul was about to exin to them that there was an exit to the tunnel, but just then, a sudden light shed. They could clearly see a beam of red light under the ground, moving towards the other side of the tunnel!


    Although the beam of light was under the ground, they could see it moving from above!


    Because of the intensity of light when it reached the other end of the tunnel, the duo also saw the exit. As for the beam of light, they could only wonder what it was.


    Only Ozul was aware that the beam of light was actually Mana inpressed form since he had seen it in the giant root before. And because it was red, he guessed that it was because the Element of that individual was the Fire.


    The trio knew that standing still here wouldn¡¯t get them anywhere, so Ozul took the lead and walked down the tunnel.


    The group behind the trio, though, were too afraid to step into the dark tunnel. The group had already been surrounded by the Beasts before; they did not want to face such danger again.


    However, to their surprise, it was ra who stepped up first and followed behind the trio!


    ¡°Hais... Young Miss!¡± Venessa sighed before following behind her as well. And since ra had gone ahead, Henry followed as well.


    Not long after, Clive also started to advance since his real mission was always to protect ra. Behind him followed the Silver Knights, who were all his subordinates.


    After these people left, the group only contained the mercenaries. The weaker teams shifted their gazes between Barry and the people who had gone into the tunnel before quickly making their decisions.


    On one side, they had the person who had protected them from such a dangerous situation and the other two Rank-7 Mages. While on the other hand, there was only Barry! So it wasn¡¯t difficult for them to decide on what to do.


    Barry was not following behind everyone else since he did not like the idea of following someone who had killed someone who he considered to be a brother.


    However, when almost everyone had left, and only the mercenaries of Wind Eagles were left, he realized how dangerous it would be to be alone here.


    If there were two Rank-7 Beasts here before, then there might as well be more!


    If he stayed back here, it would be the stupidest decision of his life! So, he put aside his grudge forter and also followed others into the tunnel.


    In the lead, Ozul reached the exit as he had to push aside the vines blocking his way out.


    ¡°Just what is up with so many vines!¡± Ozul muttered in annoyance. Although it was true that such a jungle was sure to have so many vines, he hade to dislike them after seeing so many in just one day.


    It hade to the point where Ozul was internallyining to the forest for not having anything other than the vines as decorations!


    *Sigh.*


    ¡®Will there ever be a day when I will find something equally perfect as the emptiness?¡¯ Ozul thought inside his mind before a chuckle escaped his mouth.


    ¡°Hah, who am I kidding!?¡± he spoke out loud to himself in a sarcastic tone.


    Behind him, Raven and ze stopped at their spots with their eyes going wide.


    ¡®Did he justugh?!¡¯ both of them only had one thought inside their minds before Ozul walked out of the tunnel before the vines blocked their way now.


    Instead of pushing them aside, Raven stood still on her spot, wondering if she was just hallucinating or did Ozul really just chuckled.


    Behind her, ze had simr thoughts. However, they did not ask to confirm and just followed Ozul out of the tunnel as well.


    It wasn¡¯t like they hadn¡¯t ever heard himugh or chuckle. It was just rare. Moreover, they did not understand what was funny in this dark tunnel that could make Ozul smile.


    As everyone else also got out of the tunnel while following behind the trio, another big room came into their view. However, it was much smaller than the previous one in size.


    Ozul did not need anyone else to tell him that this was the actual room where the Elemental Lotus would bloom. Why? Because there was a small Lotus right in the middle of the room!


    As he looked around, the walls were made up of dark brown dirt with asional vines embedded in them while the ceiling was purely made out of the vines on some wood branches that they had yet to figure out where they came from!


    Anyways, the room was closed off from all the other sides, and the ground was also just pure dirt with no grass at all. All in all, the rest of the room was pretty dull since there was nothing out of the ordinary.


    However, when the people in the room looked in the middle of the floor, they forgot everything about the ce. First of all, some thick roots wereing out of the ground to meet right in the center of the room. The roots all joined together at one single point.


    A delicate and small green stem grew out of that spot. It was around 15 centimeters in length and had a single flower on the top, which hadn¡¯t yet bloomed.


    Everyone understood that this must be the Elemental Lotus that the White Snake was talking about.


    Just from the outer appearance, it looked just a delicate flower that had spurted out in the middle of the room, but the dense Mana surrounding the nt was proof of its uniqueness.


    Ozul did not go to check it out yet as he was trying to sense if there were any traps in the room or not. Since the garden was such a giant natural trap that had killed thousands of creatures, he did not believe that this room had nothing dangerous in it.


    Clive and others had the same thoughts as him, so they did not try to approach the Lotus.


    However, not everyone had a brain in the right ce. When everyone else stood at a distance, one blonde man walked towards the Lotus with sparkly eyes.


    Only his mouth was not drooling. Otherwise, he would have looked exactly like someone who had lost their minds in a literal sense.


    Since Ozul and the duo stood the closest to the middle, that man had to pass by them to reach the Lotus.


    ¡°What are you doing!? Stop!¡± Clive shouted, but his words fell on deaf ears as the man did not even turn around his head to look at him.


    Others couldn¡¯t stop him since he had already been ahead of them, and they just thought that the trio would stop the madman.


    When Raven and ze noticed the man, they were about to step in the way and stop the man from approaching the Lotus, but they stopped when Ozul gestured with his hands.


    ¡°Let him,¡± he whispered before Raven and ze quickly halted in their steps. Although they did not understand why he wanted to let the man approach the flower, the duo restrained themselves from questioning before shifting their focus to observe the man.


    ¡°If he wants to, let him,¡± Ozul repeated himself but with a little more exnation that caused an understanding look to appear on the duo¡¯s faces.


    Since that man was so willingly advancing to test if there were any traps around the Lotus or not, then why not let him?


    In any case, if there were really no traps whatsoever, they were confident of getting the Lotus back from that guy since he was just a Rank-6 Mage.


    The people behind them had not heard Ozul, so they were quite confused as to why Raven and ze had suddenly stopped in their steps just when they were about to stop that person.


    Everyone anticipated some sort of traps to beid around the flower, but except for Ozul, they were all stunned to see that the man reached the Lotus unharmed!

 Chapter 141

    Chapter 141: Brown Petal?!


    At this point, everyone but Ozul thought that the man would be able to take the Lotus.


    However, they did not take into ount the density of Mana surrounding the nt. Although Ozul wasn¡¯t sure, he figured that even an average Rank-7 Mage would find it challenging to touch the Lotus!


    As Ozul had imagined, the man suddenly flew back and hit the wall just when he was about to get closer to the Lotus.


    For a moment, the mercenaries thought that the man had finally triggered some trap that had sent him flying back. Only a few secondster, when they felt the Mana pressure increasing with each step taking near the Lotus did they realize what the cause was.


    ¡°Now what?¡± Clive asked. He had instinctively addressed his question towards Ozul as he knew nothing about what all of this was.


    The people had given him a proper routine to cross the whole forest beforehand, and encountering such a dangerous treasure was not in the n!


    Only when his words got out of his mouth did he realize that he had made a mistake, but he couldn¡¯t just take his words back now. The others also turned towards Ozul to see what he had to say about the situation.


    .....


    In response, Ozul only looked at the crowd with his bored expressions and went to the corner of the room. All eyes followed his figure as he sat cross-legged with his back against the wall.


    No one uttered a word for a while, and an awkward silence took over the room. Ozul had his eyes closed while everyone had theirs¡¯ on him.


    Everyone¡¯s stares made him open his eyes. Even the usual gawking of people would be disturbing for people, but Ozul also felt their emotions! So it was hard to ignore, even for him.


    He understood that the group wouldn¡¯t leave him alone unless he exined everything to them. It was really getting on his nerves.


    ¡°The Lotus has yet to bloom. I will be waiting for it here. Do whatever you want. Leave or not, you decide.¡± Ozul said in such a cold tone that it sent shivers down the spines of others.


    When the group heard him, they turned their heads back towards Clive since he was the leader, and his orders were absolute.


    Being put on the spot where he was totally clueless about the situation made Clive¡¯s head gears turn at full speed.


    ¡°Uh... Of course, we would be staying in here as well.¡± Clive announced after a few seconds of thinking.


    He knew that Ozul was strong enough to protect them from most of the dangers here. And if they were to leave alone now, what if there other Rank-7 Beasts outside?


    Anyways, he wasn¡¯t even sure if getting out from here without the help of Ozul was possible because of the wild vines.


    The best course of action was to stay together with Ozul, which guaranteed them the best protection. Since he couldn¡¯t force thetter toe together with them, at least he could get the group to stay here for a while.


    Clive did not know how much time it could take for the flower to bloom.


    ¡°Everyone! The space in this room is limited, so everyone will have to manage. We will be resting here for as long as the Lotus doesn¡¯t bloom,¡± Clive exined as the mercenaries sighed in relief.


    Just like him, they did not want to leave Ozul¡¯spany either. If Clive had ordered, they would be forced to go and fight the vines with their lives on the line. And no matter how seasoned of a warrior they were, no one enjoyed dying!


    At this point, almost all of them had understood that Ozul was the strongest in their group. However, they were still unsure of how strong he actually was.


    There were only three other corners in the room, and the mercenaries spread out towards them. Some sat down on the ground while others chose to keep standing and observe the room.


    ¡°Remember, no one will go near the nt. And try not to touch anything suspicious. If you find anything unusual, report first!¡± Clive shouted when he noticed another Rank-6 Mage trying his luck and nearing the middle of the room.


    ¡°Also-¡±


    ¡°Will you stop shouting already?!¡± Ozul interrupted Clive with an annoyed face when he was about to shout other orders.


    ¡°Ah, my bad,¡± Clive smiled embarrassedly. Instead of getting angry that Ozul had interrupted, he bowed a few times.


    He knew better than to show his arrogance as the Vice-Leader of the Silver Knights before someone stronger than him. It was the world that was ruled by the strong. The strong were respected, and the strongest was worshiped. Some mighty titles did not mean a thing when you were weaker than your opponent.


    Since he had expressed his annoyance at his loud tone, Clive gave everymand in a voice that barely reached Ozul¡¯s corner.


    Everyone generally avoided Ozul¡¯s corner, while the other three corners were crowded. Raven and ze were the only two who went near him and sat down at a distance as well.


    ra could only look at them with jealousy from afar. She also wanted to sit near Ozul, but she was afraid that it might annoy him.


    A few secondster, silence took over the room again when everyone had taken their spot. Slowly, everyone had started to stop talking since they were afraid that Ozul would be disturbed again, which might not end well for them.


    At this point, the room had gotten so quiet that it was actually causing some people anxiety since they could hear themselves breathe as well!


    The atmosphere had turned quite awkward for them. To top it off, a ck cat suddenly appeared in the room through the tunnel after a while!


    It was Jinx! She did not make any sound, as usual. She just looked around the room before spotting Ozul¡¯s figure in the corner. With graceful steps, she approached him and took her position by his side.


    Ozul sensed her presence by his side but did not open his eyes since it was her usual routine. On the other hand, Raven could only stare daggers at Jinx since she had gotten a closer spot to him.


    ¡°How long will it take for it to bloom?¡± ze asked. Only he was brave enough to ask this question since no one else in the room had the guts to converse with Ozul. Raven was an exception since she did not care anyways.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. But I can feel that it is close.¡± Ozul replied without opening his eyes.


    He did not know the exact time that the Lotus would bloom, but he was sure that it wouldn¡¯t take long. In his eyes, the Lotus was already almost packed to the brink with Mana. He figured that it wouldn¡¯t be long for the process to end.


    ze did not disturb him anymore and also closed his eyes like Raven. He started to absorb the dense Mana in the surroundings since it was a rare opportunity to find an environment like his.


    Raven and ze nned to take full advantage of this ce while they waited. After a while, even ra began to imitate them since she had nothing better to do. Following her example, the others in the group started to cultivate as well.


    A few minutester, everyone in the room was either resting or cultivating!


    It was at this point when suddenly the room shook a little, enough to make everyone open their eyes in surprise. They were all alerted, thinking that someone might have triggered some trap mechanism.


    Ozul also opened his eyes as he looked curiously towards the Lotus.


    A few moments passed by, and suddenly, the point where all the giant roots had joined together shed a bright light. That point on which the Lotus rested almost looked like a tree trunk but with an uneven top.


    When the light shed, it was so bright that the people in the room had to close their eyes. Even Ozul did so since he hated light the most.


    Because of the light¡¯s intensity, they did not see anything, but everyone was sure of one thing. It was that the light was unusually brown!


    Some of them were even confused as to how a dark-colored light could be so bright. But if they focused enough, they would realize that it was not just any light. It was Mana!


    A few seconds passed, and the blinding light subsided. When everyone opened their eyes, they quickly looked at the Lotus, expecting it to be bloomed.


    Unfortunately, they were disappointed to notice that the Lotus was still close. However, there were many changes in its appearance instead!


    The most significant change was actually the color of its petals! Before, the nt just looked like a usual lotus with pink petals.


    However, one of the petals on the outside had suddenly turned brown!


    Another idiot was just about to head towards the Lotus to check it out from up close before his friend smacked him from behind.


    ¡°Come back here!¡±


    Just because there were no dangers inside the room, everyone seemed to forget how approaching the Lotus was almost impossible for them. The man who was flung earlier and hit the wall had yet to wake up!


    Everyone expected at least Ozul to take a look at the Lotus, but he did not even stand up from his position and just closed his eyes back since the Lotus had not yet bloomed.

 Chapter 142

    Chapter 142: Elemental Lotus.


    Everyone else was curious, but they did not dare to approach the Lotus since they did not want to end up like the previous man.


    Unlike the rest, Ozul did not care much about whatever was happening to the Lotus as long as it was natural.


    He would have only been troubled if someone had forcibly done something to the Lotus. He had also noticed that one of the petals outside the flower had turned brown, but he was okay with it since it seemed to be a necessary part of its life cycle.


    The curiosity in the group onlysted for a couple of minutes, and everyone went back to whatever they were doing before.


    Although the Lotus looked weird with the fourth part of it painted brown while the other three petals were pink, the group did not hold any thoughts of checking it out.


    A few more minutes passed, and the room gained its previous stillness.


    Just then, Ozul again opened his eyes and put his hand on his face, looking through the small gap of his metallic fingers. Some of the people noticed his gesture and suddenly closed their eyes instinctively.


    .....


    And as expected, another sh of light brightened the whole room. The people weren¡¯t as surprised as before, but it still got them to stand up and take their fighting stance.


    Although the whole process was simr to what had happened before, the light¡¯s color had suddenly changed into the blue! So, they were not sure what was about to happen next.


    But their worries were unfounded since the room returned to normal when the light vanished. The only difference this time was that one of the petals on the Lotus had now turned dark blue!


    Since Ozul had prepared beforehand, he even saw the process where the petal had changed in color from starting from the roots. An even morepressed beam of blue color had transmitted into the thin and delicate stem of the flower, slowly changing the color of the petal as well.


    By now, everyone had noticed the new change in the Lotus. One of its petals was brown, the other blue, and the rest two on the outside were still pink in color.


    The appearance of another color had made most of the people in the room realize what was happening. They were witnessing thest process of the Lotus before it truly matured!


    And the name Elemental Lotus finally made sense to them since there were already two colors on the petals representing two of the Elements.


    The color, however, wasn¡¯t the most significant change that they had noticed. It was slight, but the people noticed that the petals were opening a little! By now, they could already see the tips of the petals covered by the four outside.


    The petals did not grow continually. It only happened when the bright beams of light shed.


    It made them realize that it wouldn¡¯t be long before the Lotus bloomed. Clive also sighed in relief since he was worried that it might take them weeks to be in this room before the Lotus matured.


    It was fortunate for everyone that they hade across the Lotus just when it was about to mature.


    Since the people understood the process, they went back to their meditating positions. They anticipated when the next beam of light would sh.


    As everyone had expected, another light brightened the room. This time, it was an off-white color. When the light disappeared, and they could see again, there was another petal painted in off-white color right next to the dark blue one.


    ¡°What Element is that now?¡± ze curiously asked, poking at Raven.


    Raven swatted his finger annoyedly and replied, ¡°It¡¯s Wind. Stop bothering me, and let me concentrate!¡±


    ze hurriedly moved away from her after realizing that she was getting annoyed. Others were too engrossed in the new color of the petal to notice how much the density of Mana inside the room had grown to.


    The denser the Mana in the atmosphere was, the easier it was for the Mages to control and direct it inside of themselves.


    It seemed that each time another petal gained a color, the Lotus had its Mana increased to a whole new level.


    Ozul¡¯s lips almost moved to form a small smile since he was satisfied with the Lotus. He wasn¡¯t sure before if the nt was really worth the wait. But each time, the increase in density of the Mana in the Lotus was proof of how much it would be worth after it fully matured.


    People went back to their ces, waiting for the next sh of light. They already guessed the light to be red in color representing the Fire Element.


    It met their expectations, and a bright red light shed after around twenty minutes of wait, and thest petal on the outside was painted red. At this point, they could clearly see the top halves of the three closed leaves inside the outer four.


    Everyone now had all of their attention towards the Lotus except for the trio and people such as ra, Barry, and Clive. These were the only people who kept cultivating while others had been so engrossed in the Lotus that they did not take advantage of high-density Mana.


    The people waited for the next light. Some made their bets on what the next color would be and so on. However, they were all disappointed when nothing happened for the next two hours!


    It took the next light for two hours to appear!


    A silver-colored light shed by before disappearing altogether. One of the three petals inside was painted with a metallic silver color. The tip of the three was not joined together anymore either.


    People guessed this to be the Metal Element, which was a rare Element for mages to use since its fighting capabilities weren¡¯t really muchpared to others.


    The next sh of light took another two hours as well. It was yellow in color, painting the second petal yellow. It was the Lightning Element!


    At this point, the Lotus as a whole looked really colorful with all the different colored petals.


    The next sh of light was a light blue colored one. This one caused thest of the three petals to turn light blue.


    The three petals inside had already opened enough for the people to see another two petals inside of them.


    Since so much time had passed already, people were not as enthusiastic as they were before. They would only be a little excited each time another petal was colored.


    Moreover, no matter how engrossed they were in the Lotus, everyone had realized how much the Mana density had increased in the room.


    It was already causing the low ranked Mages to feel a bit overwhelmed! Even when everyone wanted to cultivate as much as could in such an environment, the fear of the unknown in this jungle was more than their excitement.


    Each time they thought that it wouldn¡¯t be long that they left this ursed ce, it brought a smile to appear on their faces.


    Unfortunately for the people inside the room, the next sh of light did not appear until the next day!


    Ozul was the only one not surprised by such a big dy. He figured that thest two petals represented the Light and Darkness Element. And they were the mostplicated out of all others as well. So of course it would take longer for their process to be done.


    Another half a day went by without anything happening until the room suddenly shook a little. People had already been feeling the vibrations whenever the light shed, but it was like a mini earthquake this time!


    A bright sparkly light, unlike that they had experienced before shed in the room. Even with their eyes closed, the people could feel its intensity.


    The light kept on shing for a whole minute before diminishing!


    Everyone slowly opened their eyes, rubbing quickly, and moved their face towards the Lotus to check on its change.


    One of the two petals had changed to pure white!


    It represented the Light Element which only the people of churches usually practiced in. It was the Element that Ozul hated the most.


    Now only thest petal was left and everyone was aware that it would turn ck next.


    Another day and a half passed by quickly since everyone was focusing on their cultivation. Ozul did not make Raven and ze absorb the essence of the drake¡¯s cores since it might make amotion with everyone present here.


    The most anticipated moment arrived when the room shook again before everyone closed their eyes, expecting another blinding light. Only Ozul was an exception to this since he was sure that a light which was ck in color wouldn¡¯t really hurt his eyes.


    Would it still be called light?! Ozul didn¡¯t know. But he didn¡¯t care either way.


    As others closed their eyes, dark smoke took over the room instead of the light. The density in the room caused the low ranked Mages to almost suffocate as they ran back towards the tunnel.


    They wanted to get as far away from the Lotus as possible. The Rank-6 Mages were not spared from the pressure either even when they stood in the corners of the room!


    As the dark smoke slowly receded into thin air, others could finally gaze onto the Elemental Lotus with all its nine petals of different colors, each representing a different Element!


    ¡°So pretty!¡± ra suddenly spoke out aloud.


    No one took their eyes off of the Lotus until they saw that Ozul stood up from his position...

 Chapter 143

    Chapter 143: Elemental Seeds.


    When the crowd noticed Ozul standing up from his position, they stepped back to make way.


    When others got out of the way, Ozul noticed that thest petal was really turned ck. It was only now that the nt looked like something that would be called Elemental Lotus.


    He did not approach the Lotus since he felt that it was still going through the process. And just as he expected, the innermost petals hadn¡¯t fully opened yet.


    In front of their eyes, the two petals started to slowly separate.


    Meanwhile, waves of Mana visible to the naked eye began toe out from the Elemental Lotus. Rank-6 Mages all created a coat of their own Mana outside of their bodies to withstand the pressure.


    All Rank-5 Mages had already left the room and were there in the tunnel. Only ze was still trying his best to stay in the room.


    However, he still got pushed to the farthest corner. How could he withstand the pressure when even the Rank-7 were having some difficulties?


    .....


    ¡°Young Miss! We shoul-... We should get out of here!¡± Venessa shouted with difficulty. She and Hanry were trying their best to help ra stay in the room as well.


    But the intensity and the pressure of Mana kept increasing to the point where they had difficulties protecting themselves, much less ra!


    ra looked around the room and saw that Ozul expressionlessly stared at the Lotus. While everyone else was suffering, he stood there in his own thoughts as if he didn¡¯t feel anything.


    She gave a bitter look towards Raven, who stood behind Ozul and left the room while biting her lips.


    Ozul did not notice anything since all his attention was on the Lotus. He watched how the ck and white petals slowly distanced themselves from each other.


    It seemed like the process would take a few minutes. Ozul did not mind it, but it was bing hell for the others in the room.


    1 minute... 2 minutes... 3 minutes...


    As the minutes passed, it was bing unbearable for even Rank-6 Mages! The first one to leave the room was a blonde man. Following his example, others began to go as well.


    Five minutes into the process and the only Rank-6 Mage in the room was Raven!


    However, her feat of being able to withstand the pressure was overshadowed by none other than ze!


    After noticing his efforts, Ozul had decided to help him a little by creating a thin wall in front of him using Ball of Purity.


    Although the wall helped ze to protect against the waves, he still had to bear the density and pressure of the Mana in the room. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. It looked like he would start bleeding any minute now!


    The three Rank-7 Mages looked at him with eyes filled with jealousy. They knew that they wouldn¡¯t have been able to withstand the pressure even when they were just Rank-6 Mages.


    It was at that point when Ozul noticed something and suddenly created a thin wall in front of Raven as well.


    When others noticed his behavior, they knew something huge wasing, and all of them chanted their respective protective spells.


    But they did not have enough time before the room shook again and;


    *Woooommm*


    The Elemental Lotus released a giant wave. It was so fast and dense that the Rank-7 Mages were all flung at the walls. The three of them spat out blood as they fell to the ground.


    It took them a few seconds to recover from the shock since even their body strengthening Spells didn¡¯t help them much.


    On the other hand, ze dropped to the ground sweating buckets while Raven tried her best to stop her hands from shaking.


    Ozul was pushed back several steps as well since he did not have anything protecting him. He looked at the people present in the room, wondering why they were so dead set on remaining in the ce anyway.


    After thest wave, the pressure and density of Mana had suddenly disappeared as if the earlier force that shook the whole room was a mere illusion.


    Everything came to a standstill, but Ozul felt the heat released from the Elemental Lotus since he was the closest to it.


    He saw the Lotus fully matured in front of him. The nine petals looked to be glowing with their respective colors.


    However, The most interesting thing was not the Lotus itself, but the seeds. He noticed nine small beads of the same nine colors resting right in the middle of all the petals!


    The heat was actually not released from the Lotus, but from the seeds instead. Ozul then remembered how it was not the Elemental Lotus that the Snakes had been here for, but the Elemental Seeds.


    Ozul started to approach the flower when it looked like it had finally fully matured, and there was nothing else left to add to it anymore.


    The others could only look from afar since they couldn¡¯t bear the heat. They were already exhausted after giving their best not to die because of the pressure. They weren¡¯t so stubborn to torture themselves again.


    When Ozul was right next to the Lotus, he expected something that would try to stop him from getting the Elemental Seeds. But unlike how he thought, the Seedsy there waiting for him just to take them.


    As he extended his prosthetic arm to pick the seeds, he noticed that it was so hot that his sleeve literally disappeared in ashes in seconds!


    Next, the materials that the hand was made up of was getting redder by the seconds. Ozul concluded that he wouldn¡¯t be able to pick up the Seeds before the arm actually melted!


    Since he couldn¡¯t do it himself, he produced the Ball of Purity and made it into the shape of a hand like the old times. Just like when he did not have prosthetics, he used to use the Ball of Purity as his limbs.


    As the ck hand picked up a dark blue seed, the dark blue petal suddenly withered away!


    At that instant, Ozul realized that the Lotus itself had no other use. Rather than the Lotus as a whole, everything was actually stored in the Seeds.


    After that, he did not try to be gentle with it and started picking up all the Elemental Seeds. There were only nine of them as well. One by one, the Petals began to wither away while the intense heat also began to diminish.


    The Seeds did not lose their heat after Ozul had picked them up, but he covered them with the Ball of Purity, so nothing leaked out.


    In a few seconds, there were no petals like previously. When Ozul came near it, the previous Lotus only felt like a typical nt that had wilted already.


    Just as he was about to pluck it to confirm, it suddenly turned into ashes! Following that, the giant tree roots started to shake a little before withdrawing back in the ground.


    The walls of the room shook, and the vines that were protruding out of everywhere started to retreat slowly.


    The people who had retreated back to the tunnel returned to the room when they noticed the unusual behavior of the vines.


    All of them were shocked to see that in ce of the Elemental Lotus, there were only some ashes on the ground. At the same time, the giant roots were nowhere to be seen as well.


    The vines that hung high on the roof also started to recede back to wherever they came from.


    Slowly, the whole ce was changing. It looked like what the white Snake had said was true. This garden really did change locations after the Lotus had bloomed.


    Since it was a natural process, no one minded it. They were just amazed to witness this scene with their own eyes.


    Meanwhile, Ozul held a ck cube made of Ball of Purity in his hand. The cube contained all nine Elemental Seeds.


    Ozul did not know what they were really used for, but he was sure of one thing; they contained energy in such aplicated form that he was sure could actually kill a Rank-9 Mage if they all suddenly burst together!


    It meant that if he was not careful with them, it could probably be harmful to him as well.


    It was at this point that when the dirt walls were getting absorbed into the ground that he noticed the tip of something protruding out of the ground.


    Normally, he would have ignored something so random like this. However, that thing was really eye-catching with all the smudged drawings etched onto the dull golden surface.


    Ignoring everyone¡¯s curious eyes, he made his way towards it.


    The ck cube just floated beside him while he quickly held the thing in his hand before the mud wall disappeared with it.


    Ozul had to put some force behind his hand before being able to pull the thing out. When all of it came out of the mud, he realized that it was something like a book. Although he wasn¡¯t sure because of all the mud on it.


    He gave it a jerk, but the cover was still unreadable. He turned around and went towards Raven when he remembered that she had a Spell especially for cleaning purposes.


    Raven was more than happy to be of help and immediately waver her hand before the mud stuck onto the book started to wither away.


    After a few seconds, all the mud was cleaned and it became apparent that it really was a book. Although it looked really old from its appearance.

 Chapter 144

    Chapter 144: Strange Book.


    Ozul held the book up close, but he couldn¡¯t understand what was written on the cover due to it being all too smudged.


    For now, he put the book away since the surroundings had yet to stop changing. Things were continually shifting, and the whole terrain seemed to be going under a makeover.


    If everything was returning to whatever it was like before the garden had decided to set up in this ce, then it just showed how much things were changed because of it.


    Slowly things changed to the point where it was almost unrecognizable! If it weren¡¯t for the ground not changing, they would¡¯ve thought that they were in some illusion before.


    However, that also changed in a while after the ground began to shake and devour some of the trees. Ozul noticed that those were only the strange trees with those unusual vines only.


    It made him think that the whole ¡®garden¡¯ was just a bunch of different trees put together doing their tasks. However, he couldn¡¯t think of how the garden had the consciousness to move.


    Ozul would¡¯ve suspected someone to be controlling the garden, but he couldn¡¯t sense anyone around who could do something like this in the surroundings. Then again, he did not need to understand everything, so he waited for everything to settle down by analyzing the book that he had just found.


    .....


    In a matter of seconds, the whole ce was turned upside down. After the walls disappeared, people could see the fog outside disappearing with visible speed.


    After the fog had cleared up, the group saw the jungle slowly turning into how it was before the fog had started.


    At this point, their surroundings did not look anything like before.


    Although there were trees everywhere, it was all normal, unlike how they were before, littered with vines.


    After things had settled down, Ozul sensed how Rufus and his men were all anxious before, and only now had they calmed down.


    Rufus and his meant couldn¡¯t have entered the room since there was only one way to do so. And that was the tunnel. However, entering through that small tunnel would let even a child notice them.


    So Rufus had again decided to trust Ozul on this and didn¡¯t enter the room. However, waiting for days had caused them to get anxious as they searched ways to get in.


    Just now, they were still trying to find some way to enter the room without getting noticed when things started to rumble, and the whole terrain changed.


    It was only then that they saw the people were all fine. Except, there were almost no weak men in the group now since they had been turned into food by the strange nts.


    On the other hand, everyone in the group stood still on the ground. Although it looked like things had gone back to how they were before, they were hesitant to move about since they were in an unknown ce.


    Everyone¡¯s sight followed Ozul¡¯s figure, who was looking intently at the worn-out book in his hand.


    Clive wanted to ask if he would follow them again from now on, but he did not know how to start the conversation since he was afraid that it would disturb Ozul.


    Ignoring everyone¡¯s stares, Ozul went to a tree and sat down while resting his back against the trunk. His eyes never left the cover of the book that he had yet to understand.


    ¡®Maybe the text inside would actually have something readable?¡¯ Ozul thought before trying to open the book.


    It took a while before he realized that there was a lock on the outside. It was one of those old books that required a key to open.


    Ozul found it weird that someone still used these books. They were mostly made for kids these days since such locks were only children¡¯s y for Mages and Fighters to break open.


    However, the lock wasn¡¯t as simple as he thought it out to be.


    Just then, Raven and ze came near him and also sat down cross-legged on the ground.


    ¡°Should I set up a camp?¡± Raven asked since there was a significant space for setting up tents. The ground in the room was all t, so it was a suitable ce.


    Unlike others, she didn¡¯t think that Ozul would want to start moving this instant.


    As expected, Ozul nodded his head and looked at Clive before saying, ¡°I would be resting first. Do whatever you want to.¡±


    Ozul understood that if he didn¡¯t specify, they would only bother himter. So he took the opportunity to clear things now.


    After Clive heard his words, he looked around and noticed that his men and the mercenaries all looked to be exhausted as well.


    ¡®Hm... I also should have a talk with the Leader.¡¯ Clive thought before taking a look around him. It was a perfect ce for them to rest. They would probably not find another location such as this during their journey again.


    ¡°Set up the camps. And take up the formation that we had discussed before. Meanwhile, I will personally take a look around the surroundings.¡± Clive shouted the orders before nodding his head at Hanry.


    Hanry immediately understood where he was going to go and also nodded his head to assure Clive that he would handle things.


    Clive went to meet up with Rufus and discuss the next part of the journey and what they would change if necessary.


    Meanwhile, Ozul entered the camp, which Raven had set up for him on the far end of the t ground.


    He put both the ck cube containing the Elemental Seeds and the old book on the ground in front of him. Although he had thought the lock on the book to be nothing different from a kid¡¯s toy, he quickly realized that it was much more than that.


    No matter how much force he put on the lock, it did not even budge. Even though his physical prowess wasn¡¯t as strong as the Ball of Purity and his sharp mind, he could still rival at least a Rank-8 Fighter using only his body!


    And a Rank-8 Fighter was strong enough to pick up boulders using only their fingers!


    It looked like using the key was his only option. But he did not have the key either. After contemting for a while, Ozul suddenly had an idea that he thought would probably not work. However, he still gave it a try since it was all he could think of in this situation.


    He produced some Ball of Purity and turned it into liquid form before making it go into the lock. Since it was liquid, the Ball of Purity could go anywhere inside it.


    After Ozul felt that the lock was filled with Ball of Purity, he turned it solid, creating a key that fits perfectly in. He did not think that it would work since his Ball of Purity wasn¡¯t the only way to open locks such as this, and the person would surely have some countermeasure against it.


    *Click*


    However, to his surprise, when he turned the key, the lock actually opened!


    ¡°What type of idiot would create locks such as these!?¡± Ozul said with his eyes almost twitching.


    But he was okay with it since at least he was able to open the book without ruining it just because of someone¡¯s stupidity.


    When he opened the book, Ozul realized that it was actually a sort of diary that contained information on various strange things.


    Fortunately, it was all readable. At once, Ozul understood that the man was probably some sort of mad scientist or person of great interest in finding new things just for the sake of discovering.


    The diary contained information mostly on some rare nts that he had never heard of and some beasts that he had never encountered before either.


    However, the information on them was detailed to the point of making Ozul realize that the owner of the book had probably seen everything written here personally and only then wrote this.


    This realization made him skip all the way to thest pages of the book since that would most likely contain the information on Elemental Lotus.


    He guessed that the Elemental Lotus was one of the rare things that the person must¡¯ve been here for. But he did not understand what could cause him to leave his book here when he just read many of his encounters that were much more dangerous than this one.


    ¡®Something must¡¯ve happened.¡¯ Ozul thought before shrugging it off. At this moment, he only needed to know more about Elemental Seeds.


    At the end of the book, Ozul was not surprised to find that there was indeed information on the Elemental Lotus there!


    After reading for a while, Ozul closed the book. He understood everything that he wanted to do about the Seeds for now.


    He let out a satisfied smile before locking the book again.


    ¡°Hm... This would make Raven and ze easily cross Rank-8.¡± Ozul muttered while holding the cube, which contained the Elemental Seeds.


    The book said that each Elemental Seed could get a single Mage with the respective Element to Rank-8 withoutplications! It meant that each Seed was equal to a Rank-8 Mage if used correctly!


    Such treasure was enough to make Empires such as even the Silverbird Kingdom drool with greed!


    However, Ozul was actually more happy to find the book than these Seeds. He had let out a smile not because he had such rare Seeds before him, but because of how much knowledge the book contained on strange things all around the continent.


    The book was also thick to the point that he wouldn¡¯t be able to read it all in one go. So he could only put it aside for now and read in his free time.


    For now, he had many things to do before him...

 Chapter 145

    Chapter 145: All of it in one day?!


    Ozul left his tent to look for Raven. He did not have to look for long since she was just outside, meditating on the ground.


    He looked around him, and everyone else seemed to be setting up their tents as well. The wooden cabin for ra had already been set up by the Silver Knights, who stood on guard around it.


    ¡°Come inside, both of you,¡± Ozul said with a fairly low voice. But Raven and ze weren¡¯t very far, so they hurriedly stood up and rushed to enter the tent after hearing him.


    The two of them stood side by side in front of Ozul, nervous about whatever he would be saying to them. If he had called them, it must be something important.


    ¡°Sit down,¡± Ozul ordered, and the duo immediately sat down without asking any questions.


    ¡°You still have more than 50 percent of that essence to absorb, right?¡± Ozul asked, but it was more like reminding them. The duo immediately nodded their heads as they felt the sphere of Ball of Purity containing the essence inside their body.


    ¡°Well, you will be absorbing all of it today,¡± Ozul dropped the bomb on the duo who looked at him with the nk faces. It seemed that they had yet to process the meaning behind his words.


    .....


    ¡°What!?¡± Both of them shouted at the same time after they were sure about what they had heard just now.


    ¡°Just doing even a fraction of that had previouslypletely exhausted us! All at once now meant certain suicide!¡± Ravenined.


    The duo still remembered how thest time they would¡¯ve exploded if Ozul hadn¡¯t acted fast enough.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You will have these to help you,¡± Ozul said while taking out two of the Elemental Seeds from the ck cube.


    One of them had a ck color while the other was light blue. The ck Seed gave released a visible ck smoke out of it while the light blue one had a frosty aura around it.


    The intense heat that they gave out earlier was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°They can help with that?¡± ze asked while curiously looking at the frosty bead in Ozul¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Well, they should be able to. As far as I¡¯ve read, these Seeds can be used in many ways. And using it for absorbing the essence is the best way that I can think of right now,¡± Ozul exined everything that he understood.


    Although Raven and ze weren¡¯t entirely convinced, his exnation did reassure them a little.


    ¡°Hold them in your hands. You don¡¯t need to do anything, the Seeds will work on their own,¡± Ozul said while handing out the Seeds to Raven and ze.


    ¡°That¡¯s it? We... don¡¯t need to swallow it or absorb it while risking that our bodies might explode at any time?¡± Raven asked curiously. After the previous attempts of Ozul, she did not expect that this new one would be so... harmless?


    ¡°Yes. weird, right?¡± Ozul agreed with her, clueless that Raven was actually referring to his methods.


    ¡°Mhm... pretty weird,¡± both of them nodded with their lips twitching to form a smile.


    ¡°Okay. I don¡¯t have much time. I have to sleep after that,¡± Ozul urged them as the duo closed their eyes and started to concentrate.


    When Ozul confirmed that the duo had all their attention on the ck sphere within them, he slowly produced a small opening from its outside.


    Just as he did so, the Mana inside the sphere began to rush out.


    At first, it was alright. Both Raven and ze were easily able to redirect the Mana to their Cores before they started to separate the essence.


    However, as the seconds passed, troubled expressions began to appear on the duo¡¯s faces since the amount of Mana kept increasing. Not only did they have to continually separate the essence from the Mana but also keep directing both of them to different areas.


    It was slowly getting hectic for them. A few more seconds passed, and they were already at their wits¡¯ end. Beads of sweat started to form on their foreheads as they gritted their teeth.


    They even thought that the Seeds did not work for a second, and they would probably die.


    However, their worries were unfounded as the Seeds suddenly started to glow with their respective color, and their expressions returned back to normal. Ozul noticed that they looked evenfortable now!


    It was all because of the Seeds. Ozul had read that the Elemental Seeds were actually something like a booster. They mostly helped the person effortlessly move the Mana inside their bodies.


    While trying to breakthrough, the only problem in the Mages¡¯ path was to haveplete control over the Mana. Too quickly, they would be exhausted while directing the Mana to do so many tasks at once.


    However, the Seeds were like an extra brain. Just a single thought and the Seed would control the Mana of the respective Element to do whatever the person who held it wanted.


    It meant that as long as one held the Elemental Seed of his respective Element, it was only a matter of time before he advanced to Rank-8. The person then only required enough Mana, and the Seed would automatically do all the work!


    ck energy from Raven¡¯s Seed and light blue energy from ze¡¯s Seed began to direct the Mana around their Core while the duo themselves focused on separating the essence from it.


    After a few moments, there was no Mana left in the spheres of Ball of Purity. However, it did not cause any problem since the Seeds were taking care of that by themselves.


    Ozul retracted the Ball of Purity from inside of them and sat down at a distance, keenly observing the duo. Although he had noticed that the Seeds were doing their work, anything might go out of control since they were also dealing with the essence at the same time.


    After a while, Ozul could finally rest easy since it seemed that the Seed had it so under control that the Mana wasn¡¯t even showing any signs of exploding!


    It meant that he could leave the duo on their own and finally get some sleep.


    Meanwhile, Raven and ze directed the essence to their bloodstream, ensuring that nothing went wrong in the process. The process was rapid since they did not have to divide their focus on the Mana.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    Outside their tent, the people had already set up their own camps. Most of them were resting while some stood on guard that some Beasts might stumble upon here.


    The mercenaries also had to clean up the mess created of the Rank-6 Beasts since it would have attracted other Beasts because of the smell of blood. They were more than happy to clean them since they get to keep the Cores.


    At this time, Clive had gone to meet with Rufus to discuss their n. He quickly activated his own Magical tool, which hid his aura while he stood on a random tree.


    Before long, a couple of Rank-7 Magesnded near him, followed by Rufus.


    ¡°Leader!¡± Clive said in a firm voice before saluting, but Rufus waved it off.


    ¡°What did youe here for? Didn¡¯t I tell you only to meet when absolutely necessary?¡± Rufus asked with a stern tone.


    ¡°Yes, Leader. You¡¯ve seen the situation. I wanted to confirm if we would be continuing with the original route and if there are any changes.¡± Clive answered.


    ¡°No. Follow the original route that we had nned. There will be no changes. Was it just that? Didn¡¯t I tell you that you would be informed if there really were changes?¡± Rufus asked again. He did not sound particrly amused by Clive meeting up just for this.


    ¡°Well, that and... about that man, Ozul. What should I do about him?¡± Clive asked hesitantly, a little afraid since he was aware of his Leader¡¯s temper.


    ¡°...Leave that man be,¡± Rufus said with a low voice.


    ¡°But Leader-¡±


    ¡°No buts. You won¡¯t be able to force him to do your bidding when even I can¡¯t make him do anything against what he wishes to.¡± Rufus did not let Clive finish and exined.


    ¡°Is there no other way?¡± Clive asked while looking at the ground.


    ¡°You are only allowed to persuade him with words. Don¡¯t use any other methods, and don¡¯t annoy him. If he doesn¡¯t agree on anything, don¡¯t start a fight with him. If he kills you, I am not sure if I would even be able to take your revenge,¡± Rufus calmly exined everything to Clive.


    After hearing thest part, a shiver ran through Clive¡¯s spine. Rufus¡¯s words indicated that even if Ozul were to kill Clive, nothing would happen to him!


    It caused Clive to be even more cautious of Ozul since it seemed that even his Leader would abandon him if he went against that monster.


    ¡°Just let him do whatever he wants. He isn¡¯t the type to cause trouble anyway,¡± Rufus assured Clive after noticing his terrified expressions.


    Just as Clive was about to leave, Rufus stopped him and said, ¡°Also, make sure that no one looked for trouble with his friends either.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Leader!¡± Clive bowed before disappearing from their view.


    ¡°Get back to your positions!¡± Rufus shouted as the Rank-7 Mages suddenly disappeared in thin air as well.


    ¡°Elemental Seeds, huh...¡± Rufus muttered with a weird smile on his face.


    ¡°I wonder what his Majesty would have to say when I tell him this...¡± he muttered before disappearing from that area as well.

 Chapter 146

    Chapter 146: Breakthroughs.


    Ozul next opened his eyes when he felt the unusual increase of Mana.


    In front of his eyes, a small wave of light blue Mana was released from ze¡¯s body as the crystal on his forehead shined bright enough to be seen from the headband.


    After a while, the wavesing out of ze stopped, and the crystal also stopped glowing.


    During this whole process, ze did not even shift in his position. With his eyes still closed, he again started to focus on separating the essence from the moving Mana outside his Core.


    Ozul was well aware that this phenomenon that had just urred was the indication of ze advancing through to the next Rank!


    He was already an End stage Rank-5 Mage. So the waves of chilling Mana signaled the breakthrough to Rank-6!


    Although ze could not jump in happiness, he was nheless ecstatic due to the breakthrough. But he could not express it since he still had a ton of Mana revolving around his Core that could probably explode if his connection to the Elemental Seed was cut off.


    .....


    Because of the chilling Mana waves, a few Mages outside the tent were curious, but the experienced ones immediately realized that someone had broken through to the next Rank.


    These people could only nce at the tent with envy as they realized that it must have been because of the Elemental Seeds.


    Back inside the tent, Ozul deeply gazed at Raven to look for any changes. But it seemed that even the smaller stages in the Rank-6 took time to ovee.


    However, he did not have to wait for long before winds began to blow again, and this time, it was because of Raven. Only an hour had passed, and both ze and Raven had broken through!


    Just a few days ago, she had advanced to the Initial stage of Rank-6, and today she broke through to the Middle stage!


    It spoke volumes of how useful the essence and Mana provided from the Drakes were while using them together with the Elemental Seeds.


    Their Cores would immediately absorb all the Mana from which the duo had separated the essence from. And this was precisely the reason for their monstrous speed in cultivation.


    Moreover, they would keep this pace at least until they had the Mana.


    Hours began to pass while the duo did not take any breaks in the middle. Even after such a long time, they looked in perfect condition from their appearance.


    It was all because even when they had been cultivating for hours, they did not have to put much effort into it. The duo separated the essence at their own pace since it seemed that the Seeds almost had unlimited energy.


    Ozul had read that the Elemental Seeds were supposed tost at least until a Rank-2 Mage became a Rank-8 Mage!


    That¡¯s why they were considered so precious. As long as one kept on and did not give up, bing a Rank-8 Mage was only a matter of time when they had the Seeds. That is also the reason that Rufus had been so worried about it.


    Although Clive wasn¡¯t aware of the details, Rufus knew everything about the Elemental Seeds.


    His position was only under the Emperor of the Silverbird Kingdom, so there wasn¡¯t much information that was hidden from him.


    In usual case, he would¡¯ve instantly abandoned the mission and forced the person to give up the Seeds. However, he wasn¡¯t sure if he could win in a fight with Ozul in the first ce. So doing fighting Ozul here in the middle of this forest was nothing short of stupid.


    He could only wait to find a ce tomunicate with his Majesty and tell him about the Seeds. Until then, he decided to only keep a watch around Ozul.


    When he felt the breakthroughs inside Ozul¡¯s tent, he instantly realized that they must be using the Seeds already. However, he could only observe from afar.


    He wanted to stop the trio from using them since he was sure that his Majesty would like him to get the Seeds for himself.


    Since a few hours had passed already, the outside had gotten dark. Clive had also checked the surroundings after the talk with Rufus.


    As he returned, he gave some instructions here and there and went into his own tent as he was mentally exhausted.


    Inside the trio¡¯s tent, Ozul sat cross-legged before a pitch-ck cube. This cube contained the rest of the 7 Elemental Seeds.


    The expressions on his face were rather difficult to read. At this time, he was contemting what to do with the rest of these Seeds.


    He had already given Raven and ze their respective Seeds, and the others wouldn¡¯t be of any use to them either. So the question remained on what to do with the remaining Seeds.


    ¡°Should I find other people?¡± Ozul muttered to himself. He thought if he should find more people to work under him.


    Just then, he nced at the duo who were meditating at a distance from him, ¡°...Maybe not.¡±


    Even just the two of them required so much of his attention that Ozul did not think that he could groom another seven people like this. Not to mention, finding such men to work under him would prove to be even more difficult.


    So he quickly abandoned the idea of recruiting more men directly under him.


    Although that way, Ozul could have more trustworthy people under him in the future, the trouble just wasn¡¯t worth the result to him.


    ¡°Oh! How could I forget about Irvin and Haley!?¡± Ozul suddenly remembered that Irvin and Haley worked under him as well.


    ¡°Hm... Irvin was a Lightning Mage while Haley had Water Element,¡± Ozul remembered the day when he had cured the old couple.


    ¡°Okay, another two down. Now, what about the rest 5?¡± Ozul separated the two Seeds of Lightning and Water Element from the rest.


    *Zzzzzzz*


    Ozul stared at the cube containing the for a couple of minutes, but he just couldn¡¯t think of any other use except for selling them or using them for himself.


    ¡°Ah, whatever!¡± he suddenly stood up and went near the duo.


    Since there was nothing else he could do, Ozul decided that instead of letting them go to waste, he would use them himself.


    He ced his hands over the duo¡¯s backs and closed his eyes. Ozul wanted to know how much Mana was left around their Core.


    Although the duo felt the cold metallic hands touch their backs, they did not react and kept their focus on cultivating.


    ¡°Hm. Not yet,¡± Ozul muttered before he stood up and went back to his position.


    He did not want to use the Seeds on himself for a simple reason. It was because they would be totally wasted on him!


    And it was not because he was trying to be humble or anything. It was just that his body filtered every type of energy that he had ever absorbed.


    More than 90 percent of the energy would automatically be released from his body.


    While the Seeds were only used to control the Mana, they contained a significant amount of energy themselves. But Ozul did not have any Mana inside his body to handle anyway. So the only way that he could use the Elemental Seeds was to eat them ¨C as he did with almost everything that had a considerable amount of energy.


    However, the problem in all of this was about the actual use of the Elemental Seeds. Turning such precious treasures into just energy reserves was a total waste. Moreover, he was at a stage where almost nothing seemed to give his prowess a decent boost.


    But since there was nothing else, he could only use it on himself. Anyways, he would still be getting stronger by using them, so it was not really aplete waste.


    And as for that 90 percent of the extra Mana released from his body after filtering? He had just thought of a new way to make good use of that.


    He nned to let Raven and ze absorb that excess amount of Mana!


    Usually, a Mage was not able to absorb Mana that was not from the atmosphere. However, Ozul noticed that the Seeds let even the foreign Mana from the Drakes get absorbed by the duo, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for his excess Mana too.


    The only downside of the Elemental Seeds was that the Mages did not have enough Mana to keep the process. The naturally absorbed Mana was too low in quantity.


    However, with this method, not only would Ozul get a boost in his powers, but the duo would be able to use the excess Mana as well.


    Ozul estimated that the Raven and ze would at least be able to reach the End stage of Rank-6 with this!


    The only tricky part in this whole n was for Ozul to efficiently transfer all the excess Mana to Raven and ze without letting any of it disperse in the air.


    He nned to surround himself with a thinyer of Ball of Purity and then quickly wrap the excess Mana just as it is released from him. After that, it was easy to transfer it into the duo¡¯s body.


    He had just checked, but there was still some Mana left for the duo to absorb.


    So Ozul came back to his spot and decided to rest until they finished absorbing everything. He thought about reading the book in the meantime, but sleep won in the end.

 Chapter 147

    Chapter 147: Absorbing the Seeds.


    Ozul slept until it was almost midnight. It took so much time for the duo to finish absorbing all the Mana because they also had to separate the essence from it.


    Sadly, the duo did not have any more of the breakthroughs since the amount of Mana wasn¡¯t actually sufficient, to begin with.


    Although there were no more breakthroughs, Raven and ze felt even better than that after absorbing all the essence!


    They hadn¡¯t felt any changes after absorbing the essence for the first time because the improvements weren¡¯t visible. Only with time did they realize the changes inside their body.


    Not only did they have more stamina, but it seemed way morefortable to control each part of their body. The duo had yet to notice, but their control over the Mana had also improved! It was just that the Elemental Seed controlled all the Mana, so they hadn¡¯t tested it for themselves.


    When Raven and ze opened their eyes, another thing they noticed was how they could see things more clearly, even when it was dark all around them.


    They stood up from their spots and stretched their bodies while testing all the other improvements in their bodies.


    .....


    Ozul limited himself to watch from his spot as the duo closed their eyes to feel the changes. After a while, they opened their eyes, and both of them had bright smiles stretched on their faces.


    ¡°The essence is surprisingly supposed to be absorbed in the bloodstream!¡± Raven eximed. She was sure that everyone before them who had used a drake¡¯s Mana Core had been using it the wrong way.


    Because they had absorbed more than 40 percent of the Mana in their Cores, but nothing had happened. However, separating the essence before absorbing it into their blood instead had shown the results far out of their expectations.


    Not only their eyesight, but all of their senses had gotten sharper and precise! Even after a breakthrough to the next Rank as a Fighter did not feel as good as this.


    Moreover, the duo had a hunch that the benefits of absorbing the essence did not end here. And they were correct since they would realize the real advantagester in the future.


    ¡°Tell me everything,¡± Ozul suddenly asked when the duo was still lost in their own thoughts.


    It was clear that he was asking about their improvements that he couldn¡¯t sense. One by one, Raven began to exin everything to him together with their own hypothesis that they might have yet to explore the real benefits.


    ¡°Hmm... You didn¡¯t have to start recing the cells with Mana, yeah?¡± Ozul pointed out something that left the duo wondering as well.


    It was surprising for them because after Rank-5, the Mages were required to start recing most of the matter with Mana.


    Recing the matter with Mana was a necessary process because the body wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the density and purity of the Mana at those stages!


    However, the duo hadn¡¯t yet started this process while they had already been cultivating the Mana. For normal Mages, it would¡¯ve started to suffocate inside their body. Gathering the Mana inside their body would have already started to get difficult.


    But nothing as such happened with the duo. Instead, they hadn¡¯t felt better than today since forever!


    ¡°It just shows how effective the essence has been. I am now starting to think that there really may be some credibility in the legends of a drake being rted to dragons.¡± Ozul concluded and spoke out his thoughts.


    ¡°Anyways, sit back down. You guys still have a lot of Mana to cultivate,¡± he ordered, confusing both Raven and ze.


    ¡°But we used it all. There is nothing left,¡± ze said since he thought that Ozul might have been misunderstanding something here.


    ¡°Yes, you did. But shut up and sit down.¡± Ozul did not want to exin the entire process again. It would be the same to practically show them anyway.


    ¡°Okay...¡± the duo replied in a low voice. They hurriedly sat back on the ground even when they had gotten quite sick of sitting all day.


    Ozul gave them a few basic instructions before coating himself with a fragileyer of Ball of Purity. Because of how light theyer was, Ozul had to concentrate for quite a while before he was able to maintain it this way.


    He took out the five remaining Elemental Seeds that had previously been stored in the Ball of Purity¡¯s cube.


    Raven and ze looked at him curiously as he quickly threw them in his mouth. It surprised the duo that Ozul had even swallowed the Elemental Seeds.


    And not to mention that he swallowed the five Seeds at the same time!


    Although the duo could not see it since Ozul had coated himself with the Ball of Purity, he closed his eyes to concentrate on controlling theyer around him.


    The excess Mana would be released any moment now, and he did not want to let any of it escape since he nned to make full use of it.


    A blinding light shed before the Mana was released from his body. However, none of the light escaped they made up of Ball of Purity around him. Ozul hurriedlypressed theyer to wrap all the excess Mana at a single point.


    The Ball of Purity left his body, letting a tiny trail of Mana to escape. Still, it was negligible in the face of such an amount that he had gotten from the Seeds.


    Before ze and Raven¡¯s eyes, all of the excess Mana was rounded off in a square shape by the Ball of Purity.


    Ozul did not have any trouble controlling the Ball of Purity so efficiently as it seemed that the Seeds weren¡¯t so useless to him after all.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Ozul asked as the duo nodded their heads.


    He controlled the cube to split into two equal parts and sent each piece inside the duo¡¯s body. When he figured that the Raven and ze had already put all of their concentration in the Elemental Seeds, Ozul released the Mana inside of their bodies.


    The cubes had looked small from the outside. However, each cube contained so much energy that it could probably kill a Rank-7 Mage!


    When Ozul let the Mana out of the cube, only then did they realize much excess Mana he had released this time around.


    ¡°Don¡¯t lose your concentration. Although the Seeds are helping, think of them only as useful tools. Never trust your lives in the hand of some useful tools. So keep all of your attention to the Mana or be prepared to face the consequences.¡± Ozul advised as the expressions on the duo¡¯s face turned severe.


    Raven and ze began to cultivate the Mana that moved around their Core. The Elemental Seeds yed a massive role in all of this since it was also these Seeds which prevented the Mana to enter a violent state before exploding.


    After he checked that everything was okay, Ozul came back to his spot and started to test his improvements. He did not expect much after almost getting nothing by absorbing the Rank-8 Core from Duke Edwin.


    But what he saw surprised even him because he was already on par with a Rank-9 Mage now!


    Before, he could only hold his ground against a Rank-9 Mage and have no chances to win. However, now Ozul was confident enough to face a Rank-9 Mage without being at a disadvantage. Though winning or losing would depend on the situation.


    Ozul trusted his judgment, but each Rank-9 Mage was a mystery on his own, so he couldn¡¯t underestimate a Rank-9 individual either.


    The Ball of Purity had gotten a little denser, and the most significant improvement was his control of it. It seemed that the Elemental Seeds really helped everything in controlling the Mana.


    Sadly, he couldn¡¯t fight a Rank-9 Mage right now to test his own capabilities.


    Maybe, the forest had something that would let him go all out at once? Since the monster that had swallowed one of his feet, he hadn¡¯t found anyone to go all out at once.


    It was already midnight, so most of the people outside the tent were sleeping. Meanwhile, Ozul waited for the duo to absorb all the Mana. The process was rtively easy for Raven and ze since the Elemental Seed helped them absorb the Mana.


    The only real problem they had right now was to preserve all night as well after cultivating for the whole day.


    Ozul himself had nothing better to do, and he did not feel like watching Raven and ze cultivate all night as well.


    Meanwhile, he took out the book strapped to his back, which contained information about many of the rare Beasts and herbs. He wasn¡¯t really interested in some nts¡¯ names. It was just that all this information on the rare things all around the continent was fascinating to him.


    At the same time, the duo did not stop even once...

 Chapter 148

    Chapter 148: Avoiding the chaos.


    While Raven and ze kept on cultivating the whole night, Ozul only bothered to read a few pages before going back to sleep.


    Although he felt the Mana waves a couple of times, he did not bother to check every time and enjoyed his peace while he could.


    The people outside also felt the waves of Mana. It wasn¡¯t challenging to notice since they were all alert to look out for Mana signatures near them in the first ce. If they couldn¡¯t even feel such intense waves, then being on a lookout for the Beasts was useless as well.


    But they did not dare to check inside the tent in fear of incurring Ozul¡¯s wrath.


    The night quickly passed away, and people were reminded of the morning as they could finally hear the Beasts roars in the distance again.


    After they had been caught up in the fog, they did not hear the Beasts and other animals because all of them had gotten out of the area, but they came back after the fog dispersed.


    Ozul did not n to get up early in the morning, but he had to when he felt the movement near him.


    .....


    When he opened his eyes, he realized that it was from Raven and ze. They had just opened their eyes as well, and the aura released out of their body was as wild as it could get.


    Since they were not cultivating anymore, the Mana leaked out of their body. It wouldn¡¯t need someone to be a professional to know the duo¡¯s Rank at this moment.


    Just the raw amount of pressure that they exerted on the surroundings would make anyone realize that they were both at the End Stage of Rank-6!


    Though Raven had a slightly sharper aura, which indicated that she was at the peak of Rank-6! Just a small push, and she would be a Rank-7 Mage!


    Although ze wasn¡¯t that far from Raven either, it seemed that his talent was finally showing the advantages he had over his peers.


    After cultivating for so long without any break and the continuous breakthroughs had caused the duo not to be familiarized with their own powers. That¡¯s why the Mana started to exude out of their bodies without them realizing it.


    Their sudden pressure on the surroundings caught the attention of people that had their eyes on the tent all the time. It made them all curious, but they did not have the guts to check inside the tent.


    At this time, Ozul looked at the duo with a slight smile on his face. Both of them felt like different people just overnight.


    The duo beamed with excited smiles as well after noticing how Ozul had a slight smile on his face. They stored their Elemental Seed inside their Spatial storage before slowly approaching Ozul.


    ¡°So, what do you think?¡± Raven asked excitedly, both of them expecting some praise from him.


    ¡°Could¡¯ve been better,¡± Ozul replied with his usual emotionless voice. The smile on his face was only short-lived. He wasn¡¯t the type to keep smiling even on happy asions.


    ¡°Tch!¡±-X2


    Both of them clicked their tongues. Although Ozul was only around their age, single praise from him was always enough to make them happy.


    However, they could also notice that Ozul was genuinely satisfied with their progress this time, even when it was all because of the Elemental Seeds and the essence. All of which were obtained by Ozul.


    ¡°Did you absorb all of it?¡± Ozul asked since it seemed rather too fast that they had absorbed so much of that Mana.


    ¡°Yes. The more time we spent, the easier it became. Though it is all because of the Elemental Seeds,¡± ze replied.


    ¡°Okay, then we will start moving again today. Get as much rest as you can.¡± Ozul advised before moving out of the tent.


    He wanted to talk with Clive right now since it seemed that staying here for any further would only cause trouble for them.


    As he walked towards Clive¡¯s tent, all curious and vignt eyes fell on him. He arrived before the tent as the two Silverknights who stood guard outside hurriedly ran inside to call for Clive.


    The remaining would¡¯ve started questioning whoever it was that wanted to meet their Vice Leader, but standing before Ozul made him realize how no matter how strict his training was, he couldn¡¯t do the impossible.


    It just suffocated him while he tried his best to avoid eye contact. Fortunately for him, Clive quickly came out of his tent.


    ¡°Uhm... did something happen? Do you need anything?¡± Clive didn¡¯t know what to ask. He was just as nervous as the guards.


    ¡°Give the order to start the preparation to start moving again,¡± Ozul said with a nk face. Clive did not even mind his tone, which suggested his sentence as more of an order than asking.


    ¡°Okay! I will do that. But... is there any particr reason?¡± Clive quickly agreed with it before he hesitated to ask for the reason.


    ¡°This whole area was home to thousands of living creatures before the fog forced them to move away. Now that the fog is gone, what do you think will happen?¡± Ozul did not need to exin everything since Clive was a smart man himself. A hint was enough for now.


    ¡°They wille back to their homes. And in this case of mass migration... there will be total chaos all around this area!¡± Clive almost shouted thest part as he came to the realization.


    When the Beasts came back to form their territories again, it would cause the other Beasts to fight them over the area. And this scene would ur everywhere around the parts which were covered with the fog before.


    ¡°Moreover, you might not have realized it yet, but we are not exactly on the boundaries anymore. So Rank-7 Beasts might actually be involved-¡± Ozul had just finished his sentence before Clive ran off to order the mercenaries to start preparing.


    The closer they were to the middle of the forest, the stronger and stranger Beasts the convoy would encounter. And in the chaos, they would have no chances of survival if even the Rank-7 Beasts are involved!


    He did not even wait for Ozul to say anything else since starting the preparations to start moving was the priority right now.


    Ozul returned to the tent when he saw that Clive was just as enthusiastic as he wanted him to be. Of course, he had told Clive about the situation because he wanted them to hurry the journey now. It had already been weeks since they had entered the Old Whispering Woods. He was getting bored of it now.


    But he was also happy for the opportunities that it had provided for Raven and ze to grow so much in such a short amount of time.


    When he entered the tent again, he noticed that instead of taking a nap, the duo had started to meditate!


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to rest?¡± Ozul asked with a dangerous tone, which caused Raven and ze¡¯s hair to stand.


    They had already retracted their Mana pressure as it was quite easy for them with their talent. However, they were still meditating to get familiar with all their improvements.


    ¡°We were just-¡±


    ¡°Rest.¡± Ozul did not let ze say anything as his cold voice reverberated inside the tent.


    Hearing his voice, they hurriedlyid back on the ground and closed their eyes, though they thought that Ozul would go out of the room and not stay here to see them pretending for over an hour!


    It took Clive an hour to get the mercenaries toplete the preparations. He wanted to set out as early as possible after hearing about the possible chaos in the near future.


    Ozul woke up the duo before Raven hurriedly stored the tent as well.


    As the trio looked around, everyone was ready and set in their formation that Clive had told them to be in. It seemed that they were only waiting for the trio.


    It was just like usual, but there was no disgust and disdain when they looked at the trio. Instead, there was only fear present in their eyes.


    As the trio joined in from behind, Clive started to lead the convoy moving. Unlike before, there was no fog whatsoever, so their pace increased as well.


    There were only about a little more than fifty or so people in the Convoy during this time. All of them were at least Rank-5 Mages.


    Such a strong party and almost all the mercenaries would still get on their toes after hearing the howling Beasts. Clive had exined to them about the situation that they were in, so they weren¡¯t as rxed as they had been a few days ago.


    A few Rank-5 Beasts came across them, but Clive quickly dealt with them personally to not cause anymotion, which might attract some stronger Beasts.


    Time started to pass, but the people kept moving without any pause.


    The weakest of the bunch were some Rank-4 Mages before, courtesy to the nt monsters, and the deadly vines. But now it was the Rank-5 Mages who were not only in the majority but also the weakest.


    Since even the weakest were Rank-5 now, the convoy¡¯s pace had increased as well.


    In a short while, they had already crossed a huge section of the area that was previously covered with the fog.


    Half a day passed before some of the mercenaries wanted to rest, but Clive did not listen to anyone¡¯s request. Upon further insistence, he just red at the mercenaries to make them shut up...

 Chapter 149

    Chapter 149: It really is unusual.


    Only when it was night again did Clive allow the group to rest. By now, the convoy was already at the area¡¯s boundaries, which was previously covered with fog.


    There were many encounters with wild Beasts during the journey, but fortunately, they weren¡¯t a threat to the group.


    Although Clive wanted the group to keep moving until they were finally out of danger, he also knew that it wouldn¡¯t be worth the risk to move at night. The stealth abilities of the nocturnal Beasts made even the Rank-7 Mages to remain on their toes!


    This time, they had found a small stream flowing through the jungle. The space around it was mostly devoid of the thick trees, so the group decided to camp here. It was a perfect ce to rest after continuously walking all day.


    Clive also did not want the group to make camps here since the stream was a dangerous ce to rest. The Beasts in a jungle always knew where the freshwater source was. And this meant that they would have to deal with more Beasts than usual if they stayed here for the night.


    But he couldn¡¯t say no when ra insisted on setting up the tents in this ce.


    The mercenaries all had varied reactions. Some did not care about where they rested and just wanted to drop on the ground, while some were anxious to stay the night near a running body of water.


    .....


    Meanwhile, the trio was as uncaring as ever. Raven and ze were all smiles all day because of their recent improvements. They were finally strong enough to be of some help to Ozul. Nothing better could happen at this time.


    On the other hand, Ozul was fine with whatever. He could feel more presence than usual in the surroundings, but it was only because of the stream flowing through here.


    With five pitch-ck small spheres moving right before his eyes, he found a spot against a tree nearby and sat with his back against the trunk.


    ¡°Should I set up the tent?¡± Raven asked while ze looked around the spot to find anything unusual.


    ¡°Let it be,¡± Ozul said with a low voice while looking at the sky. After so many days, he could finally see the sky clearly. He wanted to enjoy it for a while.


    Raven also looked at the sky, but she just couldn¡¯t enjoy what Ozul did. The Moon reflected off of the almost-still stream, creating a captivating scene that would seduce just about any grandmaster painter on the continent.


    However, she also knew that Ozul did not care about any of this scene. All he wanted to look at was the empty void behind the Moon and all those stars.


    Though sometimes, even Raven had to admit that when she gazed at the vast nothingness for too long, something inside her pushed her towards it. What was it exactly? She wasn¡¯t sure. She could only hold Ozul responsible for this to influence her subconscious.


    When ze came back after checking the surroundings, he saw Ozul looking deeply at the sky while Raven at Ozul.


    The four spheres of Ball of Purity kept going back and forth in different directions while Ozul wasn¡¯t even focusing much on it. Slowly, he was making it a habit to move it subconsciously.


    The more subconscious control he had on the Ball of Purity, the better it was for him. It would take too much time to protect himself against any hidden attacks if he first thought to create a shield. But if it were all instinctive, it would take even a hundredth part of the second before he would be wrapped in the ck cocoon.


    Slowly, the mercenaries set up the camps and secured the area around them. However, they had to kill some Beasts who were lurking around in the process.


    ra had opened the window of her wooden cabin as she sat on the chair, gazing at the big Moon in the sky while asionally looking towards Ozul¡¯s direction. After a while, she could only sigh in defeat and closed the window to rest for the day.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    Just like that, the night passed, and the day arrived.


    As usual, the Beasts were always the first to wake up as the group could already hear the war cries.


    ¡°Pack up!¡± Clive¡¯s shout made everyone jump to their feet. A few minutester, the convoy was again ready to move out.


    Their routine repeated every day, and time started to pass like the wind.


    In the blink of an eye, two whole weeks passed!


    During this time, the group did not have any exciting encounters that could be mentioned.


    Raven and ze tried to familiarize themselves with their newfound abilities, while Ozul did his usual thing of not caring about anything.


    There were many times where he wanted to take off on his own again, but he stopped only because he realized that it wasn¡¯t certain that he would find something interesting.


    These days, the group was quick on their feet since their whole month had passed continuously looking at the trees. They just wanted to get out of this jungle now and look at different scenery.


    Fortunately for them, it would be theirst day in these Old Whispering Woods. Clive had told the group that it wouldn¡¯t be long that they would be out of this forest.


    The group was overjoyed hearing this news. It was also their good luck that they did not encounter anything whispering in their time in this jungle.


    There weren¡¯t as many trees as there were before since, at some point in their journey, they had again started to move towards the boundary line of the forest instead. At this point, they walked unhindered and carefree since there was almost no Beast that even dared to step in their path.


    The ones who crossed their path by mistake were in without any mercy.


    Ozul enjoyed the birds¡¯ songs with his eyes closed. However, it was a wonder to Raven and ze as to how he could walk so freely without seeing anything.


    Even the way he avoided the twigs or the bushes. They were also certain that he really did have his eyes closed.


    ¡°Finally!¡±


    ¡°Huuu... Are we really out?!¡±


    . . .


    Suddenly, Ozul opened his eyes when he heard the shouts from the group ahead.


    He looked ahead and noticed that he could really see the number of trees starting to decline. Together with Raven and ze, he made his way forward and noticed how at one point, the trees just stopped!


    It was as if the forest had stretched a border, and none of the trees were allowed to grow on the other side of it!


    In front of them was a small rocky cliff that showed them the view all around them. Getting on top of the cliff, Ozul turned around and saw that the line of trees stretched far into the distance.


    ¡°It really is unusual...¡± Ozul muttered. He did not doubt anything about the Old Whispering Woods, but he kind of expected something more from it.


    But he did not understand that he was just way too strong for this portion of the jungle! The strongest here were just Rank-7 Beasts! Only venturing even deeper might have gotten him to face some real dangers.


    As he came down, the mercenaries gathered around Clive since he hadn¡¯t told them anything about how they would proceed after this jungle.


    ¡°Everyone calm down, and as you can all see that we have already crossed through our most difficult route. It wouldn¡¯t be long until we will be in the Neutral Lands!¡± Clive swept his eyes at the surrounding mercenaries and continued:


    ¡°Though I know that you people have lost your dear brothers, I promise that the rewards will be all worth it!¡± The mercenaries all had their eyes lit up at this sentence.


    If it were anyone else, Clive wouldn¡¯t have tried to use this card in fear that he would be insulted forpensating the lives with riches. However, he was also aware that he was dealing with mercenaries. Usually, they wouldn¡¯t even care if their whole team died if they received some money aspensation.


    And it was true for most mercenaries since even Barry had a smile on his face,pletely forgetting about the grudge in his heart.


    ¡°So, what now?¡± Ozul asked. He knew that Clive would just spout some bullsh*t about the rewards and end it here if he let it be again.


    Clive visibly cringed at this and turned around to face towards Ozul, ¡°... what?¡±


    ¡°I asked, which route will we take from here on out?¡± Ozul exined his question when he noticed that Clive really wanted to avoid this.


    ¡°... O-oh that. Well... we will, of course, go through the Dividing Mountains,¡± Clive said with a little difficulty.


    And just as he expected, all eyes fell on him the moment he mentioned the Diving Mountains.


    ¡°Oh? Thest time I checked, I saw a city just to the left of here which also had the route linked to the Neutral Lands,¡± Raven added.


    ¡°Ah, that! Haha... Well, yes. We had originally nned to go along that route as well. However, I was informed at thest minute that there were some problems in Fer City. That is the name of that city,¡± Clive replied.


    ¡®Huh. Who is he trying to fool?¡¯ Ozul thought since he did not need to rely on his emotion-sensing ability to realize that Clive was lying.


    ¡°Yes, yes! I know what you may all be thinking. But we have already passed through the Old Whispering Woods. The Dividing Mountains are nothingpared to it!¡± Clive said, trying to pacify the situation...

 Chapter 150

    Chapter 150: Expected it?


    ¡°But what type of problems are there in the Fer City that we have to change the route to the Dividing Mountains?¡± ze asked, not letting Clive get out of it so easily.


    ¡°That... There are some political struggles, and we want to be as anonymous as possible. And there are some other things that I cannot exin.¡± Clive lied without batting an eye.


    Whatever excuse he made, there was no way for the mercenaries to confirm his statement.


    Clive was helpless himself. He had gotten his orders, and he couldn¡¯t go against them. All he could do was to makeme excuses and somehow convince everyone that they really did not have any choice.


    Ozul looked suspiciously at Clive and moved his eyes to the trees far in the distance from here he felt the anxious emotions from. He could only shake his head, ¡®So they are expecting things to happen at the Dividing Mountains...¡¯


    Only when he put some thoughts into the matter did it start to make sense to him.


    If they entered a famous City now, there would be almost no suitable ce for an ambush. And even if it did, there would be too many eyes on the situation, and these people probably wanted to avoid anyone else getting a word about all of this.


    .....


    ¡°And why do you ca-¡± ze was about to add something else, but he stopped in the middle of his sentence when Ozul motioned him from the side.


    *Cough.*


    Clive faked a cough before saying, ¡°So, since everyone agrees, we shouldn¡¯t waste any more time here.¡±


    He urged the group to hurry up since debating anymore would only make things difficult for him. The mercenaries did not have much to say since they were told beforehand that Clive was their leader. They couldn¡¯t disobey his direct orders.


    The Dividing Mountains were at the Northwest from the convoy¡¯s location, while they would be walking towards Fer City if they advanced straight towards North.


    The mercenaries all had their guards up again since although the Dividing Mountains were not as dangerous as the Old Whispering Woods, it was a mostly unexplored area.


    These Dividing Mountains were named as such because there was a huge desert on the other side of this mountain range!


    On this side, there was all lush green, while the creatures on the other side longed to see greenery in the burning desert. That is why it was named The Dividing Mountains since they divided such contrasting locations.


    People passed by these mountains when they wanted to enter the desert on the other side. There weren¡¯t many people who had tried to explore this area. That is why it was dangerous to travel in. There could be very well tens of unknown ces that could endanger their lives.


    That is why the mercenaries did not like the idea of traveling through the Dividing Mountains when they had a safer route instead.


    Ozul figured that they wanted to use this mountain range to lure the rats out since it was a perfect ce for such things. Because of the tall cliffs, it got easier for people to ambush.


    People might not even realize before tens of men suddenly drop from the sky, surrounding the whole group. And it seemed that this was exactly the reason for them to choose this location.


    As the group walked towards the Dividing Mountains, they had the same formation as they did in the jungle with the trio again in thest of the group.


    There weren¡¯t any trees around them, but they had to climb off quite many cliffs to get down and follow the path to the mountain range.


    Half a day passed before they actually got to the mountains. They could only see them at a little distance, but it seemed that unless they sped their pace, reaching the mountains before the day ended was impossible.


    Fortunately, Clive was dealing with men with even the weakest ones as Rank-5 Mages! They could handle themselves by walking a little faster than before.


    A few hourster, they could already feel their altitude increasing as their surroundings got more rocky and less green. But it did not mean that there were no trees at all. It was just thatpared to before in the Old Whispering Woods, the number of trees seemed to be nonexistent.


    One main route was not even mentioned, but people understood it since the track was visible to the naked eye. If anyone really passed by here, they would walk on this specific track.


    So the group followed the track as well since Clive led them in that direction.


    Before it got dark, the group found themselves in a ce surrounded by high hills. It was like a canyon between two different hills. This was exactly the type of dangerous ce to travel in since anyone could appear any minute without them expecting anything.


    That is also why the mercenaries were all on their toes. They were alerted even when someone created a different sound while walking suddenly!


    Luckily for the group, they had yet to encounter the Beasts. Heck, they hadn¡¯t met any other living creature except for them in this location!


    Although Ozul had a different opinion on this topic since he was the only one to have sensed all the eyes on their group.


    And just as about anyone expected, they were all from above the group. But everyone else in the convoy was unaware since they were not strong enough to detect those presences.


    Ozul shifted his focus to the cliff far back in the distance since that is the ce where he felt Rufus and his men hide when they noticed the presence that he had felt.


    ¡®With their numbers, do they still need nning?¡¯ Ozul thought with a scoff, but he had to change his mind the next second when he felt someone just as strong as Rufus in the distance!


    Their track slowly rose in altitude since the two hills on both of their sides seemed to be reduced in height as they proceeded further.


    For now, both the teams hidden around did not make any move, and Ozul wasn¡¯t sure of how much they were aware of each other.


    From this distance, he noticed that they were about to reach a point where there wouldn¡¯t be any hills on either side of them. Without informing others, Ozul casually followed the group.


    He only motioned towards Raven and ze to stay alert when he sensed the tension in the air.


    It looked like the new group wasn¡¯t sure about showing themselves, but Ozul knew better with all the bloodthirsty intents thrown at the convoy.


    Slowly, Raven and ze felt the tension as well. Following them, everyone started to up their guard, expecting some wild Beast to appear in their path. Although they were all alert, no one was ready to face an ambush against professional assassins!


    Just as the group had reached the spot where the hills did not surround them from either side, a gentle wind blew and hit people¡¯s faces, sending chills behind their backs.


    A few of them shivered as they noticed how just a single step to their right would make them fall hundred of meters down! There were only trees down below them!


    The mercenaries hurriedly stepped to their left and avoided that area.


    This part of the mountain range was the most dangerous since they needed to be careful at almost all the time. Although there was enough space for tens of people to stand on the left, you never know what could cause you to run to the right in this unexplored mountain range.


    *Swish*


    Unfortunately for the convoy, they did not have any time to catch their breath before the wind blew again. But this time, it was sharper and brought along many unexpected people. The convoy found themselves surrounded by men, wearing ck clothes from head to toes, leaving only the space for eyes.


    However, if one looked at Ozul, Clive, ra, Hanry, and Venessa, they would realize that all of this wasn¡¯t unexpected either. Most of the people here seemed to be expecting this!


    Only the mercenaries and the duo were shocked, getting surrounded by people in all ck. The first thought in their minds was that they were some sort of bandits. But the notion of them being simple bandits quickly disappeared as they gauged their prowess.


    All of them were Rank-7 Mages!


    It had to be noted that the convoy only had three Rank-7 Mages in total. And all these men surrounding them were also rank-7 Mages! They could not imagine how this even made any sense!


    They had yet to figure out their situation when another sharp wind blew, and as people blinked, there was another set of people appearing behind the people in all ck. This new set of men also wore ck, but they all had their heads exposed and not covered like the other ones.


    The biggest difference between these men was that they targeted the men in ck instead of them!


    Each of them had their hands behind the people in all ck, threatening not to make any move if they did not want to die.


    *Swish*


    The next second, everyone saw Rufus appearing near the group. He did not even look at the convoy and had his eyes set at the distant cliff.


    ¡°Have you enjoyed it enough from there?¡± Rufus spat with venom practically oozing out of his tone. Although Ozul had thought that there weren¡¯t many things that could surprise him anymore, this change in Rufus¡¯ way of speech was new to him.


    ¡°Of course not~ Watching from up here is not exactly fun you see~...¡±

 Chapter 151

    Chapter 151: Ambush on the hill!


    ¡°Of course not~ Watching from up here is not exactly fun, you see~¡± a voice echoed throughout the steep slope.


    In the next second, an old man in white robes appeared in front of Rufus, who did not even bat an eye.


    His speed was so fast that most of the Mages could not even catch a glimpse of where he came from. However, Rufus was also a Rank-8 Mage. It wasn¡¯t a big deal in his eyes.


    The old man had silky andpletely white hair with a small beard. His hands were crossed behind his back as he appeared so calm in this situation that the mercenaries almost thought that they were going to have some tea party.


    He would¡¯ve looked like an old man that was about to die of old age, but his posture alone was enough to prove otherwise.


    Although he had a small smile stered on his face, Rufus stared back with a cold expression. He looked as if he wouldn¡¯t be happy until he tore apart that old man in front of him.


    ¡°Well, Look around. We do have a party here! You¡¯ve brought quite some people, didn¡¯t you, my old friend?¡± The old man spoke with mirth.


    .....


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me as your friend. Not to mention, speak for yourself! Heh, I am still not as old as you are.¡± Rufus snapped. Without letting the old man reply, he added, ¡°You don¡¯t have any fewer people.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho~ Easy, my friend. It¡¯s not like we are enemies here-... Oh, nevermind. We actually are!¡± The old man suddenly stopped in the middle and thought for a moment before replying.


    Just as he said this, a few more Rank-7 Mages appeared behind Rufus and the man in white robes.


    ¡°I must say, I didn¡¯t expect to see you here,¡± the man in white robes said.


    ¡°Neither did I,¡± Rufus said in response. At this point, a weird pressure and tension had started to generate in the air because of the heated debate of these two.


    Even though their tone and words almost made it seem like they really were some old friends, the tension in the atmosphere shattered that image in others¡¯ minds.


    ¡°Well, it was a good thing that I had some business, so I tagged along with this team. Because if I wasn¡¯t here... it seems like you had set up a pretty good trap~¡± The old man said in a teasing tone.


    He was pleased with his decision to follow the team in this mission. If he weren¡¯t here today, the whole team would have been annihted by Rufus!


    ¡°Tch! It would help if you had stayed where you were. Your old bones might start to wear out too soon,¡± Rufus spat with annoyance.


    ¡°To be honest, you really did have a good n, and I admit that I did not think that anything was off. Pity that your luck is still as bad as before, hahaha!¡± The old man started tough crazily.


    The mercenaries were all confused while hearing their conversation. But the smart ones could make out the gist of the situation from the bits and pieces of information that they could gather.


    And the conclusion made them really furious when they realized that all of them were hired just to be used as bait!


    They were hired as a front so that the enemy let their guard down. And when they attacked, Rufus would show up to annihte enemy forces that would deal a huge blow to them.


    Although he was not sure of the details, Ozul could figure out this much already when he thought of why the Royal Family needed some mercenaries to escort their important guests. Sometimes, he thought that people were foolish. How could someone even fall for a trap like this!?


    ¡®I guess the opponents aren¡¯t as smart either...¡¯ Ozul thought while shaking his head slightly.


    Even with both sides¡¯ stupidity, it turned out that they now confronted each other with almost the same forces.


    Both sides had a Rank-8 Mage while the Rank-7 Mages seemed almost equal in numbers as well. Of course, that was not counting Ozul in it since he would really like to stay out of it.


    He had thought that it would be something huge, but as it turned out, it was the usual struggle between life and death from both sides.


    At this point, Ozul only stayed here because he knew that Rufus was informed of some other ns for him. He wanted to see what the Emperor was up to, and sticking together with this was his only way to find out.


    Everyone was nervous since a fight was about to break out, and the chances of dying were all-time high in this type of battle.


    The fight had not even started yet before Ozul uncaringly walked to the side with a slope still going upwards. It was cold up here, but the other side of the mountain contained a huge desert. At this time, they were at the side, which showed the jungle instead.


    Of course, Raven and ze followed right behind him. Just as some other Mages were about to do so as well, the mage covered in all ck from head to toe got into his posture to cast Spells. This made others keep from trying to run out as well.


    ¡°I just have one thing to say; have some consideration of the terrain,¡± Rufus cautioned. He wanted his opponent to refrain from using Spells that could destroy about half of the entire hill!


    ¡°Of course! But you see... a little chaos won¡¯t be trouble, right?!¡± the old manughed again while straight-up denying his request to take anything into consideration.


    But unlike his words, the old man did not really go all out since he valued his subordinates. These subordinates were the future of their organization. How could he let them all get annihted?


    Humidity increased before the clouds suddenly turned dark. When one looked at the old man in white robes, they would notice how his eyes glowed with blue color.


    Rufus acted as well and hurriedly created some giant rocks to throw them at the old man.


    ¡°Let me chant my spell first, will ya?!¡± The old man snapped with his eyes burning in a fit of fury. It seems like he truly did not like being interrupted.


    Following them, the Rank-7 Mages started throwing their respective spells. The situation got chaotic really quickly. Just a second before, the room was calm, and everyone was anxious to realize that their lives were in danger now.


    Some Rank-7 Mages surrounded ra together with Venessa and Hanry since she was the main target of this ambush. Emperor Luthien wanted those people to have a taste of their own medicine by ambushing the people who were here to assassinate ra, but the whole n was ruined just because that old man wanted to take a stroll out.


    Rufus and the old man in white robes started out with weak spells, but even those much were enough to destroy giant boulders. Each spell struck the other and canceled each other but generatedpressed shockwaves that even shook the very ground on which they stood.


    The people d in ck from head to toe tried to kill ra, while the Mages brought by Rufus all tried to defend her from their spells. The Rank-7 Mages from Rufus¡¯ side were all on the defensive, which created a difficult situation for them.


    Meanwhile, the only two Rank-8 Mages, Rufus and the old man, did not care about any of that. Somehow, their old rivalry had woken up during the fight, and now this had changed to a battle between them instead of protecting or harming ra.


    ¡°Are we really not going to participate?¡± Raven asked after a while. Her hands were really itching to take part in the battle of Rank-7 Mages even when she had yet to cross thatst step to this rank.


    ze turned his head towards Ozul, staring at him with a face full of expectations and sparkly eyes like that of a baby who wanted some toy.


    ¡®I think it¡¯s my fault for being too nonchnt of almost everything...¡¯ Ozul thought when he noticed how these two seldom took their situation seriously. He thought that it might have been because of him.


    His nonchnt attitude towards everything might have influenced Raven and ze to form this trait.


    ¡°If you want to take part in it, go ahead. Do whatever you want. However, don¡¯t expect me toe to rescue you if you are in a difficult situation,¡± Ozul reminded before allowing them to go.


    Ozul thought that his presence might have some part in this as well. Maybe, they unconsciously thought that they wouldn¡¯t need to worry about things since he was with them.


    Unfortunately for him, his attempt to scare them off did not work as the duo excitedly stood up with smiles on their faces.


    *Sigh.*


    ¡°You do realize that they are a whole different stronger than you lot, yeah?¡± Ozul asked with a calm voice. His tone almost sounded too unwavering as Raven immediately it as well.


    ¡°Yes...¡± X2 ¨C Both of them replied while nodding their heads.


    ¡°And you do realize that going there to fight would seventy out of hundred percent result in your death?¡± Ozul again asked. This time, the duo realized that they were going to get scolded.


    ¡°Yeah...?¡± X2 ¨C They nodded their heads again, but this time with a little uncertainty.


    ¡°Then why did you both lost your minds and started to test your skills in such battles where the odds are so against you? I taught you to be unyielding, not stupid!¡±

 Chapter 152

    Chapter 152: Commotion on the cliff.


    Raven and ze both shook when they heard his words. They looked down on the ground in shame. It was unexpected to them, so they did not know what to do.


    ¡°...¡± Ozul stared at the duo for a while,pletely ignoring the sound of battles behind them. Spells flew, and people died, but the trio was unconcerned by all of this.


    After a few seconds of staring at the duo who did not know what to say, Ozul sigh and muttered, ¡°Maybe you both need a little time without me.¡±


    He had just uttered those words when Raven and ze both looked up at him as if they were children and Ozul as the father was abandoning them on the streets.


    ¡°But-¡±


    ¡°No buts. That is final,¡± Ozul did not let them speak and ended the conversation. He had already wanted to travel alone for some time, and now he was convinced that he should leave them for some period since that would be better for them.


    Raven and ze almost looked like some lost children who did not know what they would eatter at night since there was no money. However, Ozulpletely ignored their pleadings and focused back on the situation.


    .....


    The battle continued to rage on as Rufus and the old man in white robes had moved far away from here. Their confrontations were getting stronger than before. Each strike produced a shockwave greater than the previous one. That is why Rufus was forced to shift their battle away from the other Mages.


    ¡®It can¡¯t go on like this!¡¯ Rufus thought when he noticed that the cliff that everyone stood on started to have small little cracks under it. If the cracks deepened, it could make the entire cliff fall off the slope!


    The only people who would be safe would be him, and the man in white since both of them were literally floating in the air. They did not need a ground to stand on at this point.


    If the whole cliff fell, there wouldn¡¯t be many who would be able to survive the fall at all.


    ¡®Oh, right! Where is he?!¡¯ Rufus thought, trying to find where Ozul was in all of that chaos. He was the only person who could overturn the stalemate in this situation.


    However, he had yet to locate Ozul before a long thin thread of water shot from behind him. More of such strings shot from the front as well. In a battle with someone who wasn¡¯t any weaker than him, Rufus could not afford to divert his attention for too long.


    Meanwhile, Ozul was thinking of giving a hand to Rufus since if something did happen to ra, things might change. For all he knew, Emperor Luthien could even hold his n for him and focus on other matters at hand!


    If that happened, he would have to find trouble with the Emperor by himself. If he had to do it anyway in the future, then why not give a helping hand right now keep the way things are?


    When Ozul was contemting on what to do, Rufus was still struggling to find a way to stop all of this as early as possible.


    ¡°So your old bones still have some energy left in them after all!¡± Rufus said while getting out the way of a water bullet so fast that it created a small explosion after hitting the ground.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about my bones. They won¡¯t decay until my hands crush yours!¡± The old man replied while trying to slow down the giant boulder using a water bubble.


    The boulder turned into sharp-pointed rocks right after getting into contact with the water and continued shooting towards the old man. The old man disintegrated those rocks by the thin thread of water. Those strings attached with his fingers were really dangerous because of the speed the water moved with.


    ¡°Maybe there is no other way...¡± the old man muttered. Rufus suddenly got a bad feeling as he heard those words.


    It was proved true in the next second when the old man in white robes suddenly turned around and fired hundreds of water bullets towards the cliff where the Rank-7 Mages were fighting!


    Rufus had his eyes wide open as he wanted to stop that spell from hitting, but the long string of water attacked him just as he was about to help.


    ¡°You old bastard!¡± Rufus cursed. If that spell really hit the cliff, everyone would fall hundreds of meters down the hill! And he was sure that anyone who was not at least Rank-7 would be either dead or have life threatening injuries!


    He hurriedly created a small rock shield to protect himself from theser-like water string and then immediately cast a spell to summon a giant pir around the cliff to protect against the water bullets.


    Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and even with all of Rufus¡¯s efforts, the giant pir was a little toote. Most of the water bullets were blocked by it, but a few shots went and hit the cracks of the cliff.


    Rufus sighed in relief because he had blocked almost all of the water bullets and the portion which hit the cliff was not enough to make it all explode.


    He smiled before saying, ¡°Heh, since when did you start relying on these cheap methods? And don¡¯t you treasure your own subordinates?!¡±


    ¡°Well, you should know that there is no room for failure in my job. And please~ don¡¯t be so smug this early~¡± The man in white robes replied as Rufus immediately looked towards the cliff to see if he had missed something.


    Rufus had his heart thumping loudly when he saw the crack on the cliff slowly growing!


    If not stopped that crack would make more than half of the cliff fall! He wouldn¡¯t have worried so much about this if he didn¡¯t see that ra was standing on that side of the hill as well!


    The people on the cliff did not know that the ground under them was about to fall as they continued with their fighting.


    Before Rufus could inform them or do something about the situation, he was blocked by the man in white robes.


    ¡°Now now. Why are you so anxious? You know, some of my men would probably die as well,¡± the man said in a tone that genuinely sounded sad. It appeared that unlike his ruthless actions, he did care for his subordinates.


    ¡°Then why did you even do it, you twisted old bastard!¡± Rufus said before rushing at him. He hoped that he still had the time to save the situation.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t act all righteous Rufus. We both know that you wouldn¡¯t hesitate to sacrifice all of your subordinates either if the situation called for it,¡± the old man replied while not letting Rufus pass through.


    Rufus gritted his teeth but did not reply since he did not have any words against that statement since it was true. This was a world ruled by the strong. If those men were really capable, then they would survive. And if they died, they would be considered as notpetent enough to have been groomedter. It was just that simple.


    On the cliff, only Ozul realized the growing crack under them. He looked at ra standing at the distance being protected by Venessa and other Mages and then turned to look at the duo standing beside him.


    ¡°I guess we will meet in the Neutral Lands. Until then, stick together with Rufus,¡± Ozul said with a low voice.


    When Raven and ze heard his words, they were confused as to what he meant. However, their eyes widened in realization when they remembered his earlier remarks. And to top it off, Ozul started to run towards the edge of the cliff in the next second!


    They had yet to make sense of the situation when they saw a huge crack starting to form on the ground. It started from the right of the cliff and moved towards the left, separating the front half of the peak.


    Only then everything clicked in their minds as they looked at Ozul¡¯s back with shocked faces.


    Meanwhile, Ozul was making his way towards ra since the cliff was falling, and there was no one to protect her. He had already decided everything the moment he realized that there was no saving ra from falling down because of the distance that she stood in.


    When the Mages realized that half of the cliff that was closer to the edge was falling off, all of them instantly tried to jump to the other side.


    However, there were more than a hundred people fighting on the cliff. In between the chaos, many of the Mages failed to reach the other side while others were pushed down by the people who were fighting with them.


    Even while trying to protect ra, Venessa and Hanry were not close enough to reach her because of the suddenmotion.


    Everything happened in a matter of seconds, so most of the Mages had yet to find a stable foothold before that side of the cliff broke down and slid down!


    Ozul was also on that part of the cliff since he was running towards ra. He saw her trying her best to jump on the rocks and somehow get to the safe area, but it was toote.


    Just as the boulder on which they stood broke down in pieces, he jumped towards her and covered her in the Ball of Purity before falling.


    During the fall, he looked above to see Raven trying to free herself from ze¡¯s hands and jump off. But ze had a firm grip on her as he shielded against a Mage by creating a pir of ice...

 Chapter 153

    Chapter 153: In the forest.


    On the cliff, the Rank-7 Mages started to fight again after confirming the ground¡¯s stability this time.


    Raven did not even have the time to think about something else when a Mage attacked her. She and ze fought together against that Rank-7 Mage.


    Only a couple of Rank-7 Mages could not make it, while most of the people who fell were the mercenaries. Raven and ze were not the only two grieved at the situation. Almost everyone was because ra had fallen down the slope as well!


    Though Rufus was anxious to go down the steep to look for ra, he could not do so because the old man in white robes did not let him do anything. Moreover, he had seen Ozul jumped down willingly at thest second when the cliff was about to fall, and that made his heart have a little peace.


    He knew that Ozul was at least as strong as himself, if not even stronger, although he would not admit it.


    Since he couldn¡¯t look for ra, he decided to leave that for Ozul to handle while setting his heart to get things over with the old man quickly.


    ¡°Let¡¯s settle this, you bag of bones!¡± Rufus shouted before rushing towards the old man in white robes.


    .....


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    At the same time, Ozul had wrapped ra in the Ball of Purity by her waist.


    Even before the cliff fell, he knew that it couldn¡¯t be saved, so at that moment, he had thought to use this moment as an excuse to get some time away from Raven and ze. Both of them needed to learn some things that couldn¡¯t just be taught by words.


    The only downside in this n of his was that he would be stuck with this girl for a while. Not only was the girl annoying, she even had the Light Element. How worse could it even get?


    Even while falling down, he could easily fly back up using the Ball of Purity. Even bringing ra together with him up wouldn¡¯t be a problem for him. However, it would cause him to be stuck with the group for some other months before something interesting happened again.


    ra had lost her consciousness because some rocks hit her while she was about to fall, so she did not know what was happening.


    If she were awake, she would be shocked to see that instead of falling normally, she and Ozul glided far away from the Dividing Mountains towards the forest in the direction of the Fer City.


    He was sure that it wouldn¡¯t be long before Rufus dealt with the assants. Although both the old man in white robes and Rufus were Rank-8 Mages, thetter was visibly stronger than the former.


    Even if Rufus couldn¡¯t kill the old man, he would at least be able to force them to flee. And once he was done with that, the remaining party would spread out to search for them.


    That¡¯s why Ozul was trying to get as far away as possible from them. If Rufus were a smart man, he would understand that he had already left with ra when he wouldn¡¯t be able to find their traces anywhere on the ground.


    After getting hundreds of meters away, he finallynded on the ground, surrounded by trees from all directions. He was sure that even if Rufus searched day and night, he wouldn¡¯t be able to locate them till here.


    As hended, he hurriedly dropped ra on the ground before closing his eyes to sense the area around him. A few moments, he opened his eyes without finding anything unusual.


    The sun was almost about to set, so he climbed up the tree to rest his back against the tree before going to sleep. He didn¡¯t even do anything about ra, who was unconscious on the ground.


    A few hours, and it was the middle of the night.


    At this time, Ozul was still on the tree, sleeping to his heart¡¯s content. ra¡¯s eyes twitched as a small groan escaped from her mouth.


    A few seconds of squirmingter, she suddenly opened her eyes and stood up in shock. Few scenes of her fall yed in her mind right before she had lost consciousness.


    ¡°What?! Where am I!?¡± She shouted after realizing that she must¡¯ve fallen from the cliff. However, she could not understand how she was in a ce with no hills or mountains near?


    ¡°Would you shut up and let me have some peace!?¡±


    ra suddenly heard a familiar voice. She turned around and looked at the branch of a tree. Ozuly there with his eyes closed, not even bothering to open his eyes to talk.


    ¡°O-Ozul!¡± ra said, while stuttering. She had never called him that, and it felt weird saying it for the first time.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Ozul replied with a little annoyance noticeable in his tone.


    ra visibly flinched before replying, ¡°Uh... Where are we?¡±


    ¡°In the middle of the forest,¡± Ozul replied with a sarcastic tone. He couldn¡¯t help but treat her this way because of the Light Element.


    ¡®Sigh... I should tone it down.¡¯ Ozul thought after realizing how ra was bing a little too ufortable with his cold replies.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. But I think I know the Neutral Lands¡¯ direction, and you will be with me until we reach there. If you don¡¯t mind, that is,¡± Ozul said as ra hurriedly looked up from the ground.


    ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t mind!¡± She shouted while waving both her hands.


    ¡°For now, I would be resting. Find some spot for yourself as well,¡± Ozul advised before the Ball of Purity formed into the conical hat over his head.


    ¡°Alright!¡± ra agreed quickly. However, before going away, she asked, ¡°But shouldn¡¯t we be searching for the others or stay here for them to search for us?¡±


    ¡°How can you be so sure that they would be winning in the first ce?¡± Ozul asked. ra was left speechless since she really did not know who was winning even in thest seconds.


    But she had just spoken like that because of her optimistic nature.


    ¡°Do you think... they wouldn¡¯t win?¡± ra asked with a little hesitation.


    ¡°What I think does not matter... I am going towards the Neutral Lands tomorrow. It is up to you if you wanna join me or not,¡± Ozul said before shifting his face towards the other side to indicate that he did not want to talk anymore.


    When ra heard him, she could only harrumph before walking away to a tree. It did not have many roots protruding out of the ground near it, so she sat down there and used the trunk as her support.


    ¡°Hmph! Such a Rude guy...¡± She muttered under her breath before moving her gaze away from him on the tree.


    Right now, she thought if Venessa and Hanry were alright or not. And if they had already won or not. And if they were defeated, did they... die?!


    Such thoughts kept her awake all night as she couldn¡¯t sleep while thinking that Venessa could very well have died!


    ra still remembered that thest time she saw Venessa was her back facing her as she protected her from the Rank-7 Mages together with Hanry.


    The Sun started rising as she thought of her memories with Venessa and Hanry. She thought that they really might have been dead!


    Ozul had sensed the negative feelings from her, but he didn¡¯t bother to do anything about it all night. However, he had enough around the time when the Sun was rising.


    ¡°Okay, stop all those waves.¡±- ra heard the voice as she looked up from the ground at Ozul standing in front of her. He had the pitch-ck conical hat on top of his head as he looked down at her.


    ¡°Waves?¡± She asked confusedly.


    ¡°I said that it was not confirmed. There are more chances of them surviving than dying, no get up... We gotta leave early,¡± Ozul said as a bright smile bloomed on ra¡¯s face before she stood up and patted her clothes to get rid of all the dirt.


    ¡°Alright!¡± ra said with a little more enthusiasm. Ozul shook his head sideways as he noticed how naive she acted sometimes.


    ¡°So, are we going to the Fer City that Clive talked about?¡± ra asked while following behind Ozul. She had also heard Clive talking about the City being right opposite to the Dividing Mountains.


    ¡°No, we aren¡¯t.¡± Ozul quickly denied while walking past a tree without even caring about the snake hanging down the branch.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t? But why aren¡¯t we!?¡± ra asked curiously.


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t know the way to Fer City. I just know the general direction directly towards the Neutral Lands,¡± Ozul lied with a straight face.


    It was a lie because he precisely knew where the city was. He could even sense it from here. However, there was a reason that he did not want to go to Fer City.


    Since Rufus and others knew about this Fer City, Ozul was sure that they would check the City after looking around the forest as well.


    Even if they did not check them here, this was a route that was most suitable for them to travel towards the Neutral Lands. Ozul worried that he might encounter them, so he did not even want to go near Fer City.


    Ozul remembered the map clearly, so he was sure that it would directly lead him to the Neutral Lands if he followed a certain direction.

 Chapter 154

    Chapter 154: Thewless city.


    Since there was no one with Ozul right now except for ra, he could decide his path and his pace all by himself.


    But even when he was almost alone, it was only almost. ra still held him down to an extent. He had already nned to drop her off as early as possible. For now, he was just stuck with her.


    As he leisurely walked his way through the forest, ra meekly followed behind him. She did not say anything along the way since she was aware that Ozul did not like meaningless talk.


    Not to mention, he always seemed to avoid her whenever she tried to talk with him previously.


    Ozul was able to feel the awkwardness, but he did not care either way since it was all the better as long as ra stayed away from him.


    ¡°It might take a few days to reach the nearest city. Do you have enough supplies for yourself?¡± Ozul asked after a little while as he remembered that the girl with him was a youngdy of some prominent house. He was at least aware that those people would want her back in one piece.


    ¡°Oh, yes! Venessa always made sure that I had everything of need in my Spatial Ring,¡± ra replied after getting out of the trance when she heard his voice.


    .....


    Ozul suddenly turned around and looked from the direction that they hade from with his eyes squinted. After staying like that for a while, he turned back and started walking as if nothing had happened, making ra curious about it.


    ¡®Good. They will never catch up this way,¡¯ Ozul thought as he had sensed people rushing in the direction of Fer City. Rufus was with the rest of the people hurrying towards the City while thinking that they might be there.


    Only after searching around the city would Rufus realize that Ozul and ra were nowhere to be found. The most likely scenario at that point would be Rufus ordering everyone to stay in the city for a day or two to wait for them as Ozul would be far out of their reach till then.


    The next time they meet, it would only be in Neutral Lands!


    At this time, Ozul was walking towards the next city that he had noticed on the map that Clive had shown.


    It was supposed to be awless city not under any major jurisdiction named Homond City. There was a city lord, but the city lords of such cities limit themselves to eat and get fat while staying in their mansions all day.


    Such cities were mostly used by the travelers to rest up a bit or for criminals to take refuge in. So all around the city, there were many new faces daily. At a certain point, the residents stopped minding it since the refugees rarely caused any ruckus because they did not want to expose themselves.


    Certainly, when there were criminals taking refuge in such cities, there were people hidden among the masses who looked for such refugees as well.


    Ozul nned to stay a night in that city before moving again. However, it would take half a day to reach there.


    Meanwhile, he was also satisfied with ra¡¯s attitude since she rarely bothered him, unlike he thought that she would, considering her feelings.


    After a while, Ozul got bored of simply walking since it was what he had been doing together with the group as well. He took out the book that he had strapped to his side and started to read it.


    Although he did not care much about all these nts and animals, it was always interesting to read unique information that was mostly ssified and not avable to the general public.


    That is also one reason he had recruited Irvin to establish the organization to gather information. If those people would not leak out any information regarding almost anything interesting, then he just needed to have his own informationwork.


    Talking about Irvin, Ozul also remembered that he needed to check on him after this. He had probably set the ground for things and should be expanding thework as of now.


    After dropping off ra, he would make sure to visit Irvin since expanding the informationwork was the priority for now.


    ¡®As for Raven and ze in the meantime... I would think about itter.¡¯


    Although the duo was strong enough to apany him now, they needed to learn things without him. So he was trying to think of something to do with them when he would be away.


    Ozul walked all the way to Homond City while contemting his options. ra remained silent in her own thoughts along the way.


    ¡®What should I say!? Should I ask him about himself?! No! It would make me look like I am trying too hard... Should tell him about me then?! No! Urgh... What should I do!?¡¯


    Unknown to Ozul, ra was fighting a battle with her thoughts inside her own mind. Moreover, she was on the losing side since she couldn¡¯t reach any conclusion even after thinking about it for hours.


    The sun had yet to start setting when the trees visibly lessened, allowing Ozul to see a path with cart tracks on it. He concluded that the path probably led to the city since it was also in the same direction as far as he remembered.


    ¡°Are we finally near a city? Is it Fer City that Sir Clive talked about?¡± ra hadn¡¯t seen the map when Clive had exined the general direction of the city. She had just heard the name and knew that it was somewhere close.


    ¡°No. We left the Fer City behind,¡± Ozul replied as ra did not even think why he was so confident that this was not the Fer City when he had admitted to not knowing its direction before.


    As they walked to the side of the path, it didn¡¯t take long before a group of horses to run past them with people who all wore a different kind of hood to hide their faces.


    ra was suspicious of the group, but Ozul immediately realized that this city might be like the ones he had seen before withoutw and order when he worked with Count Oliver.


    It was either that, or the group of people who had run past them were just idiots and did not know any better than to dress in such a high profile way.


    Though Ozul was sure that this was not the case since most of them were Mages of around Rank-4.


    After a few hours of walking, they finally saw the buildings and people. And as expected, Ozul saw that most of the people on the streets either had their faces covered up or looked like some local thugs.


    Before entering the city, ra covered her face with a veil since she would stand out the most with her appearance. Ozul, on the other hand, blended right in since he also had the conical hat on his head.


    Although her blue dress had gotten dirty because she hadn¡¯t changed for a couple of days, her figure still stood out. It seemed that a swan remained a swan no matter if she swam in a spiritualke or muddy waters.


    There were no city guards around. Only suspicious people everywhere and the fearless citizens who were mostly the ones that ran the shops. They had gotten so used to such an environment that they didn¡¯t care how scary the other party looked.


    Although it was awless city, people were all the more nervous about causing any trouble since no one knew who would turn out to be some big shot. It was only calledwless since there were practically no authorities to stop any crime.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go too far away... Better yet, stay near me. You might get lost,¡± Ozul said as if a parent advised their children before walking in public ces.


    ¡°Of course. I am not a kid!¡± ra said embarrassedly.


    On the streets, ra stood out among the crowd due to her figure. However, no one dared to eye her for more than a few seconds. No normal person dared to enter such cities. Even when some people thought themselves to be the strongest around, they dared not make amotion unless necessary.


    If there were amotion, there would be tens of people to watch, which would absolutely destroy the purpose they came here to achieve. And that was to hide or look for people discreetly.


    Ozul looked around to see if he could find somece to stay. But they had unknowingly entered the market area since he could only see shops all around him.


    ¡°Tell me a ce to stay,¡± Ozul said to a shopkeeper selling fruits as he tossed a Silver Coin to him.


    When the shopkeeper saw the Silver Coin before him, he shed a bright smile which showed his gross teeth as he said, ¡°Give me one more, and I might tell you~¡±


    He had just finished his sentence when a small needle floated in front of his throat, threatening to kill him if he dared to fool around any longer.


    ¡°Hehe... okay! Okay! We are all good people here. Just keep moving and turn left. You will reach the entertainment district. Though I gotta tell ya, the hotels there are expensive, alright.¡± It seemed like his attitude turned 180 degrees when he noticed that Ozul was not afraid of causing trouble.


    As Ozul turned around to walk towards the entertainment district, a few people looked at them for a few seconds before averting their eyes in fear of offending someone that they would regretter.

 Chapter 155

    Chapter 155: The Feral...


    Ozul walked into the supposed entertainment district after turning left. It appeared to be slightly more developed than the rest of the city from the looks of it.


    In one view, Ozul could see hotels, restaurants, bars, and other rted buildings. Of course, it couldn¡¯t bepared to other developed countries under proper jurisdiction, but this ce was developed enough for people to rx.


    Ozul walked into the first suitable hotel that he came across and entered inside. ra followed right behind him withoutining about the poor conditions that she thought that the ce had.


    As they got inside, Ozul asked about the receptionist¡¯s room, who turned out to be a small boy with his front two teeth missing. The hotel was three stories tall, so Ozul figured that the boy must be the substitute for the real receptionist or the owner.


    The boy passed Ozul the keys as he walked to search for the room number.


    ra was about to follow after him, but she was stopped by the boy who took out his palm in front of her.


    ¡°What?¡± ra inquired cluelessly.


    .....


    ¡°Pay twoo Blonze Coinss,¡± the boy said in a childish voice. ra figured that the kid might be even younger than he appeared to be.


    ¡°Oh, that! Here you go,¡± ra said as he hurriedly took a Gold Coin out of her Spatial Ring. She did not have any spare change since she herself had never needed to use the money.


    Venessa was always with her from her childhood, so she seldom had a chance to buy things herself.


    The boy did not immediately take the Gold Coin and kept staring at ra before looking towards the direction that Ozul had gone into as he suddenly got a knowing smile on his face.


    ¡°Sowwy, we don¡¯t plowide those exshtra shervices,¡± the boy said as his ears visibly turned redder.


    ra did not immediately understand what he meant. But as she looked towards Ozul¡¯s direction and remembering that she was in a hotel, she put the pieces together before she blushed. Waving her hands anxiously, she burst out, ¡°What?! No! I... There is nothing like that! I just don¡¯t have spare change. I am not asking for anything else!¡±


    ra couldn¡¯t help but start to exin herself, but the boy still looked at her with the same knowing smile.


    A little whileter, when she realized that the boy wouldn¡¯t change his opinion, she stopped exining and ran off to catch up with Ozul.


    At this point, Ozul was just entering the room that he had the keys for. As he entered, ra followed behind.


    Ozul did not need to turn on the lights to make out the inside of the room. There were two single beds ced on each side of the room. Fortunately for ra and unfortunately for Ozul, there was a window directly facing the sun at the back end.


    Sadly, there were no curtains on this run down three stories tall hotel either. Before even taking a step into the room, Ozul turned his conical hat into liquid before it went to the window andpletely covered it.


    Although there was not much sunlight before either since the sun was about to set, the room visibly got darker after the window was covered.


    ra had to give her eyes some time before they got used to the dark. Before her eyes could see again, Ozul was already slumped on the bed, enjoying the dark room.


    It would have been many times better if he was alone, but he had to enjoy what he had for now.


    He closed his eyes to enjoy the peace that he hadn¡¯t felt for days now. When ra noticed this, she didn¡¯t ask about why the window was covered. She quietly made her way to her bed and sat down on it.


    Before she could even think of what she was going to do, she noticed something that creeped her out from the corner of her eyes. A pair of red and blue eyes walked toward Ozul¡¯s bed before jumping on it.


    ra was about to yell out in terror before realizing that it was the same cat that she had seen following Ozul previously.


    Though how did the cat suddenly get inside the closed room? She could not understand.


    She watched as Jinx made a spot for herself on Ozul¡¯s side by curling itself to sleep.


    Before going to sleep, ra could only think about the unique things that she had noticed with Ozul, such as sleeping so much. There was also the thing about him liking dark, but things only kept piling up when she started to think about the abnormalities with him.


    Curious as she was, she did not directly ask anything since she was aware that they were not yet at a point where she could ask such personal questions.


    ¡ª¨C


    The next morning, Ozul woke up and noticed that ra was still fast asleep. Only when she sensed his movements did she quickly open her eyes.


    Even when ra was from a rich family, she was not so pampered that she did not even know the basics. Although her family had spent resources on her, she couldn¡¯t have gotten to where she was by only relying on external factors.


    Ozul did not need to ask her before she hurriedly stood up and followed him out of the room. Ozul had a good rest yesterday. He was pleased since ra hadn¡¯t disturbed him all night either.


    After walking out of the room, Ozul put the keys on the counter before walking out of the hotel. There was nothing much in the city, so he nned to continue his journey.


    He had his conical hat back on while ra had also put on her veil. She hadn¡¯t changed her clothes because she couldn¡¯t find a private room to do so.


    As they walked on the streets, the passersby would asionally eye them up and down.


    ra was already used to others¡¯ stares since she was just a child, while Ozul didn¡¯t care as long as something did not get in his way or disturb his peace of mind.


    Just at that time, he suddenly sensed a malicious intent towards him from afar. He turned around but did not see anyone suspicious looking at him.


    Closing his eyes, he tried to sense where he had felt the intent from, and the most likely conclusion was that whoever it was, they were experts in their profession and had gotten away already.


    The person had quickly hidden their intent the moment they realized that he had found them out.


    Normally, if Ozul had been alert enough, he could have instantly locked on that person. But he did not think that there could be someone who could diminish their intent to such an extent. Naturally, a person could neverpletely erase their intent since it was impossible to do so unless someone could brainwash themselves instantly for a short period of time.


    Even now, Ozul could feel the intent of everyone around him one by one, but it would be of no use since that person might have already fled this area.


    Although he couldn¡¯t find that person now, he did not worry about it since those emotions¡¯ intensity was enough to assure him that this person woulde for him sooner orter.


    He only had to wait for him to take action.


    Under ra¡¯s curious eyes, he turned back and started walking as if nothing had happened.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    A few moments earlier, a man with a long white beard and bald head was smoking near the dark alley while asionally looking around the crowd.


    His movements were fluid, and they did not seem awkward at all. After he took a long puff of smoke in, he would blow it in the air and wave his hand to scatter it away.


    Unlike most of the people on the streets, he did not seem like a refugee and instead appeared to be a citizen.


    There was a newspaper in his one hand while the cigarette in the other. When he was not smoking or secretly looking among the crowd, he was reading the newspaper.


    At this time, he suddenly noticed something among the crowd that caused him to immediately release the puff of smoke that he had just taken in.


    *Cough.*


    The man coughed while slowly taking steps back inside the dark alleyway. Just when the shadows had covered him all, he immediately disappeared from that ce only to appear a few blocks away from that ce in another inconspicuous alley.


    However, the person who appeared there did not have any long white beard. The man had suddenly grown brown hair as well!


    This man had disguised himself as an old man as he observed everyone passing by the earlier area.


    At this time, he appeared to be in a hurry as he made his way out and looked around only to approach an olddy drinking wine on the bench ced at the side of the street.


    As he made his way towards her, she did not react in any noticeable way until he sat by her side.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Surprisingly, the olddy spoke in a manly voice!


    However, it was not so much of a surprise to the brown-haired man since he showed no reaction whatsoever.


    The brown-haired man smiled while showcasing his shining canine as he said, ¡°You won¡¯t believe who I found.¡±


    ¡°Who? Just say it already if it is important! Otherwise, don¡¯t waste my time!¡± the olddy said in an annoyed tone with her manly voice.


    ¡°The Feral...¡±

 Chapter 156

    Chapter 156: A wild guess.


    ¡°The Feral is here in this city,¡± the brown-haired man said with a smug smile as he watched the olddy beside him stand up immediately.


    However, just as the olddy had stood up, she sat back on the bench before chugging down half the bottle of wine.


    ¡°Tch! For a second, you had got me!¡± the olddy spat in her manly voice.


    ¡°What? No! I am not joking! I am sure that this guy is The Feral!¡± The brown-haired man insisted. He believed his conclusion to be true, and he stood firm on his decision.


    ¡°Yeah yeah yeah. Mark, No one has ever seen his face. How do you expect me to believe you that you saw him?!¡± the olddy said with scrunched up expressions. She was annoyed that the brown-haired man named Mark kept on his jokes.


    ¡°Cyril, I didn¡¯t believe that it was him at first either. But listen to me first!¡± Mark insisted.


    ¡°Okay, shoot,¡± the olddy addressed to as Cyril said with a grumpy voice.


    .....


    ¡°You know that even when no one has seen his face, one thing everyone is sure of is that he has that ck hat on top of his head all the time, yeah?¡± Mark said as Cyril nodded her head, listening to him patiently.


    ¡°Well, as I was reading the newspaper, I suddenly noticed a guy in the market with the exact same hat as in the rumors!¡± Mark exined excitedly.


    ¡°But-¡± Cyril was about to say something, but Mark didn¡¯t let her finish.


    ¡°No buts. Listen to me first. I know you can¡¯t just assume him to be The Feral. But what if I tell you that he picked up my intent right when it leaked?!¡± Mark asked with a smug smile as if losing control over his intent was something he took pride in.


    Cyril shut up at this. She stopped to look at the ground in contemtion as Mark continued. He was not done with the things that pointed out this person to be The Feral.


    ¡°Just in that instant, I had gotten a big scare when that guy turned around and looked in the exact direction of me from tens of meters away! If I weren¡¯t quick enough to leave even earlier, he would¡¯ve seen me!¡±


    Before Cyril could say anything else, Mark added, ¡°And if even all this couldn¡¯t change your mind, then let me tell you, there was a girl following behind him as well!¡±


    ¡°Just how many people in this continent are so strong that they are able to sense my location in a matter of seconds with the exact physical traits as him?!¡±


    Thisst sentence of Mark made Cyril go into deep contemtion. Even in his mind, the idea of this person being The Feral was formed for many reasons.


    First of all, these two were one of the elites and had an experience of decades in this field. Both being Rank-8 Mages, their names were known throughout the continent. As his partner for years, Cyril knew how precise and sharp Mark had honed his intent to.


    It was hard to believe that there would be someone else on the continent with the same characteristics as The Feral, who was also so strong to beat Mark in the battle of intuition.


    All of these physical character traits were written in a book in Mark¡¯s hand under the name of The Feral. This was the Bingo Book that was provided by their organization.


    This book contained information on hundreds of famous and strong people all around the continent who had a bounty on their heads. And the name of The Feral was somewhat popr among the people in their profession since he was known as an assassin that never left any clues behind.


    Even for an organization as powerful as theirs, they could not get the face of him and justpiled his profile based on the most popr rumors, which seemed to hold some ground as feasible.


    Because of the nature of their organization, they wanted to recruit this person in their ranks. However, thest guy that they had sent to force him toe to their headquarters had his body found in the sewers of an unknown city!


    After that incident, the organization did not hold back anymore and ced the bounty on his head when some people with grudges asked to do so.


    It was said that this person wasn¡¯t much powerful since the strongest that he had killed was only a Rank-7. But what made him more dangerous was his ability to go around unseen and unnoticed. Also, it was estimated that he might be around Rank-8 as well because of his skills.


    ¡°Hmm... Now this person really seems to be him. Let¡¯s check him out. If he really is the man, then we hit the jackpot!¡± Cyril said excitedly after giving it some thought.


    They were both Rank-8 Mages who worked as the bounty hunters for the organization. Their work was to hunt down the people in the Bingo Book to get the reward. The Feral had a huge bounty on his head due to him being there on the book for a few years now.


    Cyril was excited since if he really was the person, then it was nothing more than their lucky day since they were not even actively looking for him. Not to mention, Mark only had a wild guess on this being the case! So if it turned out to be true, he believed that the bounty would be theirs without any doubt.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get too happy now. It would not be so easy, I tell you. I couldn¡¯t even sense his presence, just like in the rumors. It means that this person is at least as strong as a Rank-8.¡± Mark said when he saw Cyril getting all excited.


    ¡°Heh. He might be a Rank-8 Mage, but would he be able to take us both at once?¡± Cyril replied with a snort.


    ¡°And what if this guy is actually a Rank-9?¡± Mark muttered, as a chuckle escaped Cyril¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Yeah, right! And why would a Rank-9 Mage even bother to work as an assassin to kill small fries at Rank-7?¡± Cyril remarked as Mark also nodded his head.


    Both of them shook their heads and stood up from the bench. As they got inside the dark alley, they were about to disappear when Mark suddenly said, ¡°Dude, you are still an olddy.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Cyril eximed before instantly dropping off the disguise. The wrinkled olddy¡¯s skin, the wig, and the clothes all fell on the ground, revealing a blonde man around the same height as Mark. The olddy turned out to be a man, after all.


    After that, the duo disappeared from the dark alley leaving the disguise of the olddy behind. Both of them had left their disguise clothes behind since they almost never used the same thing again to avoid creating a pattern that could lead someone to them.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    On the other side, it had been a few minutes as Ozul strolled through the city with ra following behind him.


    Unknown to him, the person who had mistakenly revealed his intent had already guessed his identity with just a wild guess. Since they had not really seen Raven as well, those people mistook ra as the girl who was always seen following behind The Feral as well. It was all really a big coincidence, but Mark and Cyril had already decided to check him out.


    As he made his way towards the city¡¯s outskirts, Ozul did not expect that the person with the malicious intent would so quicklye back.


    Only around ten to fifteen minutes had passed since then, and the person hade back with another presence following right behind him.


    This time, he was as alert as he could get, so the small thread of the malicious intent suddenly appearing a few buildings away was instantly noticed by him. Only now did he have the chance to examine this person properly.


    Ozul instantly concluded that the two people who had started to follow him were both Rank-8 Mages. His face remained apathetic as he casually turned a little left towards a more deserted area.


    After they had arrived in an area without anyone around, Ozul stopped and turned around to look in a certain direction.


    ¡°Well, well! You do have the capabilities. So it seems that Mark was right after all,¡± a voice came from that direction as ra backed a little behind Ozul.


    ¡°What?! You still thought that I was joking with you?!¡± Markined as both of them came out from the shade of an abandoned building. They only had their suspicion about Ozul being the person in rumors reaffirmed when he could sense them in the shadows.


    Ozul just looked at them with bored expressions. He only wanted to know what business these two had from him and who they were.


    After their small bickering, Cyril turned towards Ozul and said, ¡°I feel honored to meet The Feral~.¡±


    When Ozul heard the nickname, he kept staring coldly at the duo as his eyes almost twitched. He never liked the nicknames.


    Behind him, ra did not understand what was happening and who this mentioned person was, but she had no courage to ask anything when she sensed the tremendous pressure from these two new faces.


    As Ozul did not say anything, an awkward silence took over.


    ¡°So... are you denying to be The Feral?¡± Cyril asked, a little unsure. Even with everything that pointed at this person before him to be the man of the rumors, there were no real facts to back them up.

 Chapter 157

    Chapter 157: On the knees.


    Ozul did not immediately answer and kept staring at Cyril¡¯s face.


    ¡°Who sent you?¡± he asked after a while.


    Before, Ozul thought that these people might be sent by the Emperor to keep an eye on him. However, he had to think otherwise after he heard his title from their mouth.


    ¡°Who sent us?! Stop wasting my time and answer! It doesn¡¯t matter who sent who. Are you The Feral or not?!¡± Cyril said impatiently. He did not like to wait for so long only to hear such dumb questions.


    ¡°Does that matter?¡± Ozul asked apathetically, not really caring about Cyril¡¯s behaviour.


    When Cyril noticed that Ozul again ignored his question, his face started to burn with anger as he shouted, ¡°You bastard!¡±


    With a shout, he ran towards Ozul with an unbelievable speed. He had disappeared from his spot from a normal point of view, causing dirt to rise from the ground.


    .....


    The next moment he appeared was in front of Ozul. Cyril had his fist covered in the fire before him, blocked by a thinyer of a ck substance. It was actually the Ball of Purity shielding Ozul from the attack.


    *Boom!*


    A moment had yet to pass before the shockwave of the punch was felt by everything in the surrounding. Strong winds were generated, which caused ra to take a few steps backwards.


    This simple attack was enough to demonstrate how, after a certain point, Fighters lost their value. Even from Rank-6, the Mages started to incorporate Mana in their very own cells. And this was way more effective than just enhancing the body cells using Mana.


    Cyril was not a Fighter, and only a Mage at Rank-8, but the force behind this simple punch was enough to bring down an entire three-floor building made up of solid concrete! It was almost equal to the force of a Rank-10 Fighter!


    However, both Mark and Cyril were surprised at this time because Ozul stood firm like a mountain even after bearing such a tremendous force.


    Cyril noticed that no matter how much force he applied, the ck substance did not seem to budge from its ce.


    ¡°Aaahhh!¡± He shouted before gesturing with his other hand as a giant arm made up of pure fire formed around his fist. He had decided not to hold anything back in this attempt as he continually fueled the fire with Mana.


    The air around them started to heat up as the breeze followed in. Winds started to form around the area due to the heat, causing dirt to rise from the ground.


    Just the intensity of Cyril¡¯s fire was strong enough to turn the whole weather of that area upside down!


    ¡°Stop shouting so much,¡± Ozul said coldly. The same shield which Cyril was trying so hard to pass through suddenly turned into a fist as well before hitting him right in the gut!


    ¡°Eeekk!¡±


    Cyril spat a mouthful of blood as the giant arm made up of fire disappeared into thin air. He held his stomach with both his hands and could not help but drop down on his knees.


    As the fire had disappeared, the winds slowly started to die down, and before a moment, everything returned to normal. Everything in the surroundings was affected by the miniature storm, so it did not exactly look like it did before.


    ¡°Ughh!¡± Cyril whimpered in pain as Mark hurriedly approached him to check the injuries.


    However, Ozul had not used a pin or a de this time, so there were actually no cuts. He just wanted this annoying blonde to stop shouting, and he did so by getting a fist to his gut!


    ¡°So-¡± Ozul was about to say something. But Mark interrupted him this time, ¡°You Bastard!¡±


    Just like how Cyril had done before, Mark disappeared from his spot and appeared before Ozul. The Ball of Purity again changed into the thin shield as Mark struck with his leg instead of the fist. He was more inclined to kick rather than punching.


    However, Mark¡¯s kick was followed by water instead of kick. A ssh of water followed his first kick, and the second one was backed by a giant foot made up of water surrounding Mark¡¯s leg.


    The spell was almost the same as Cyril¡¯s, with the only difference being their Elements.


    Just like before, it did not make Ozul move even a step back as the shield remained firm in its position as well.


    The only difference between Mark and Cyril¡¯s attack except for their Element was that thetter was shouting all the time while the former remained silent.


    They were killers who assassinated people for their own profit. So it wasn¡¯t unusual for them to be so aggressive with everything they did not find to their liking. Although they could not sense Ozul¡¯s power, they just thought that he was at most a Rank-8 Mage with some artifact to hide his cultivation base.


    Cyril realized that Mark wouldn¡¯t be able to make Ozul budge by himself either, so he forcibly stood up as a groan escaped his mouth.


    With another shout, he chanted to create giant fire fists around both his arms. Before Mark also had a fist up his gut, Cyril immediately joined him.


    At this point, both Mark and Cyril were trying to make the ck shield at least shake a little, but all of their efforts were in vain when two fists hit them right on the stomach again.


    ¡°Ughhh!¡± x2


    Groans escaped their mouth before they both spat a mouthful of blood on the ground. Clutching their stomachs with both their arms, the duo could not help but internally curse Ozul.


    These punches actually made their whole body shake from inside! Even wounds created by des did not hurt them as much as these fists did to their guts!


    Ozul did not immediately say anything. He just turned around and went under a tree nearby. For him, standing there out in the sun was actually more ufortable than dealing with these two.


    He gave them some time to catch their breaths before he asked, ¡°As I was saying, who sent you?¡±


    This time, Cyril did not immediately start to shout like before. Cyril was impulsive by nature, but as an assassin, he was not stupid enough to not realize how strong Ozul was.


    Although not really their strongest attacks overall, they hadbined their strongest physical spells, and the result was both of them dropped on their knees while clutching their stomachs.


    Even this was not enough to convince them, but they were in no shape to stand up and try their actual strongest moves.


    ¡°I asked you something,¡± Ozul repeated when he noticed Cyril lost in his own thoughts.


    When Cyril heard his voice, he got out of his stupor and looked towards Mark, who slowly nodded his head.


    ¡°We weremissioned by... some Count of... a city to hunt down a person named The Feral,¡± Cyril started to lie while anxiously moving his eyes all around the ce. He acted like he was afraid of Ozul while buying as much time as he could.


    ¡°Last time, I will ask you to tell me the truth. The next turn, one of you will die,¡± Ozul said in a cold voice before Cyril could continue his story.


    It was now Ozul¡¯s turn to get impatient as he approached the duo, making them sweat buckets.


    When Ozul got closer, he noticed a simr tattoo on the neck of both Mark and Cyril. The tattoo looked like a sun setting on the horizon, a scene simr to dusk.


    Mark and Cyril looked at each other, unsure if they should reveal themselves or not. They had yet to make a decision when Ozul ran out of patience and made the Ball of Purity turn into a sharp de right before their eyes.


    ¡°Okay, okay! Stop! We will tell you everything!¡±


    Behind Ozul, ra could only look at this scene with astonishment since these two were actually Rank-8 Mages who were considered the real assets of a powerful country! Some rtively weaker countries even had their monarchs at Rank-8!


    But here there were two such Rank-8 Mages, who looked like some children before Ozul!


    Ozul nodded his head to show his understanding as the duo sighed in relief. They had not expected him to catch their lie so easily. They were professionals in their field. Lying was fundamental to them, so being so easily exposed caused them to doubt their own skills.


    Cyril had decided toe out clean at once since they could lose their life if he tried to do something stupid again. It wasn¡¯t that they were on some top-secret mission that they could not reveal the real reason anyway.


    ¡°We... were actually not sent by anyone else. Mark just saw you on the street among the crowd and guessed that you were actually a famous assassin that goes by the title of The Feral,¡± Cyril did the talking again.


    Ozul did not say anything since he could feel that they were actually telling the truth. However, it did not exin what two Rank-8 Mages wanted with him.


    ¡°So, what did you want from The Feral?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°We...¡± Cyril looked towards Mark again with sweat forming on both of their foreheads. It seemed that they were reluctant to say some things.


    However, Ozul only needed to take another step close before Cyril immediately answered, ¡°We hadn¡¯t thought of it yet!¡±


    ¡°We hadn¡¯t thought about what to do exactly. There is an entry of The Feral on the bingo book which wants either for anyone to bring his dead body, or bring him to the base in one piece,¡± Cyril exined.


    ¡°And of course, bringing him alive would give us a greater reward,¡± Mark added as Ozul had his interest piqued.

 Chapter 158

    Chapter 158: Order of the Dusk.


    ¡°...Bringing him alive would give us greater benefits,¡± Mark said as Ozul¡¯s interest piqued.


    He would not have thought much about it if it was only about killing as many could have a grudge on him for all the killings he had done for Count Oliver.


    But the duo¡¯s words suggested that it might not be someone with a grudge, and if it really was, then this someone was out to torture him to death. Though it was probably not the case as Cyril had mentioned taking him to the base instead.


    ¡°What are your orders exactly?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°There are not really any orders for us... As I said before, it was only by coincidence that Mark recognized you as The Feral...you are him, right?¡± Cyril exined before nervously asking at the end.


    As far as he knew, if this person really was The Feral, then they might be able to get out of their situation because assassins were the most reasonable people when they were not on their job.


    On the other hand, if this person in front of him was actually someone else, then they were in deep trouble, depending on the situation. Because in such a case, he wouldn¡¯t be so sure that this person was not a Rank-9 Mage!


    .....


    Then again, being The Feral did not mean that he was not a Rank-9 Mage either. It was just that such a situation was too absurd in their mind.


    But they would be even more unwilling to believe if they knew that Ozul could only defeat people at Rank-7 around that time. Rank-7 to Rank-9 was too big of a jump to be done only in a decade, much less in months.


    Ozul did not care about it, so he just casually nodded his head at Cyril¡¯s question, who sighed in relief. The duo already started to think of a n to buy some more time to recover and give their best this time.


    They had been too impulsive just a few moments ago, but there was no medicine for regret. Being assassins and Rank-8 Mages, they already started to formte ns to survive in their mind.


    ¡°Oh wait, see this. It is your bingo book entry,¡± Mark said while taking out a small book the size of a diary. He pointed at the page which had The Feral written on the top.


    Under the title, anything rted to him was described in as much detail as they could have gotten their hands on. However, it wasn¡¯t anything serious. It only described how many people he had assassinated in the record and what the rumors were about him.


    At the end of the page, there was a tab that said ¡®Bounty¡¯. It contained every reward that would be given to the person who confirmed to have killed him. Most of it was just currency in tinum Coins.


    Ozul skipped this part and moved his eyes at the section with ¡®Special Conditions¡¯ written on the top. On the left side, it stated that The Feral was to be brought back alive and in good condition at the headquarters. The rewards this time could not even bepared to the previous bounty on his head.


    This not only contained money, but there were tens of cultivation resources that even some Rank-8 Mages would not deny the opportunity to obtain.


    ¡°Who put forward these conditions and the reason?¡± Ozul asked after reading the page and not finding any such information.


    ¡°We... are not sure,¡± Cyril replied hesitatingly.


    ¡°We really don¡¯t know anything. Our organization is strict in its rules, so it doesn¡¯t matter that we are Rank-8 or not. There are departments for certain things. So, we only know things that we are supposed to know. Boss is the only person who is aware of everyone¡¯s mission details.¡± Mark hurriedly added.


    Ozul would have said something, but everything that duo said till now was not actually a lie. Although he could sense that their intentions were not so good, he knew that they were telling the truth.


    ¡°What is your organization¡¯s name?¡± Ozul asked. He found it interesting that an organization had such discipline that even the Rank-8 Mages, who were considered the core members of any force on the entire continent, were not permitted to know certain stuff unrted to their job.


    When Ozul asked their organization¡¯s name, the duo remembered that they had yet to use their background to try to threaten this person.


    They puffed out their chests and raised their heads to try and appear as dignified and intimidating as they could before showing the side of their necks to Ozul.


    Ozul had already seen that tattoo on their necks, so his expressions remained unchanged as he stared emotionlessly at the duo.


    Cyril and Mark waited for some stutteringments of apology, but all they received in return was his cold stares.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Ozul asked, dumbfounding both Cyril and Mark. To him, it just looked like they had matching tattoos of a setting sun.


    ¡°You... don¡¯t know about Order of the Dusk?¡± Cyril and Mark asked at the same time. They found it hard to believe that an assassin as famous as The Feral had not heard of their organization!


    ¡°No?¡± Ozul replied, not understanding what the big deal was.


    ¡°Oh...¡± Cyril and Mark said, disappointed since Ozul did not know about their organization, so intimidating him with their background was almost impossible.


    ¡°Well, we are an organization where we kill people on others¡¯ requests,¡± Mark gave a brief exnation.


    ¡°Hmm...¡± Ozul contemted for a while before asking, ¡°Where is the headquarters of your organization located?¡±


    ¡°Our main base is in the Neutral Lands,¡± Cyril replied.


    ¡°Oh... perfect,¡± Ozul said in a low voice before turning to the duo, who immediately shrank back.


    ¡°I was already heading to the Neutral Lands. You lot will lead me to your base now.¡± Ozul said in amanding tone.


    The duo wanted to reject immediately, but they were in no condition to deny his request at the moment.


    Ozul also needed a guide until the Neutral Lands since he had not memorized all the maps and only knew the ce¡¯s general direction. Moreover, he had decided to check out why he had a special bounty ced on him to be brought alive there.


    If they wanted him alive, then he was going to do just that.


    Ozul did not let the duo have any rest before ordering them to stand up and follow him together with ra, who had been watching everything from afar only.


    Cyril and Mark had no choice but to follow behind Ozul while trying their best to hold back the groans because their insides all ached with each step they took forward.


    ra maintained her distance from these two since they did not pretend to be friendly at all. They were practically ring daggers behind Ozul after walking together for only half an hour.


    In the blink of an eye, they had left the city far behind and now traveled in the forest.


    Ozul did not mind the hatred-filled eyes behind his back and leisurely walked at a normal pace. At this point, Cyril and Mark had already recovered enough to take the recovery pills without crying in pain.


    They took the pills while trying to be secretive about it. However, Ozul just had to look behind once when he sensed them using the Mana to ess their Spatial Ring to catch them red-handed.


    Though contrary to what the duo had expected, Ozul did not care about it and continued walking after that. They still had the hope that once they had recovered enough, they could take revenge for their humiliation. And this time, they would not try to show off and get plummeted to the ground with one punch.


    Hours passed before the sun started to set. Ozul also did not want to keep traveling, so he immediately got on top of the first tree that he saw suitable.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Cyril asked when he saw him climbing up the tree.


    ¡°We are stopping here for rest,¡± Ozul replied before closing his eyes.


    ¡°Hasn¡¯t it only been half a day of walking?!¡± Cyril said. Resting only after walking for a few hours was something he could not even think of as a Rank-8 Mage.


    Months without sleep was actually normal for Mages at his rank, so stopping for rest after such a short interval of time got on his nerves. He had already been boiling inside because of the beating that he had received from Ozul in the morning.


    Just as he was about to shout again, Ozul opened his eyes and calmly looked at him from above. With his eyes staring right in Cyril¡¯s, he said, ¡°Shout one more time, and you won¡¯t have a tongue to do so ever after that.¡±


    Although he had said those words calmly, Cyril was scared shitless since they had yet to reach their peak of power, and Ozul sounded genuinely serious when saying that.


    He did not want to lose his tongue just because of his anger, so Cyril quietly went near another tree and sat down on the ground while muttering grumpily. However, his voice was too low for anyone to understand what he was saying.


    Learning from Cyril, Mark did not say anything either and picked a spot for himself near him.


    Meanwhile, ra found a tree near Ozul¡¯s since she would rather not be alone with those two around. She had not said anything, but she wasn¡¯t exactlyfortable with traveling with two ruthless assassins.

 Chapter 159

    Chapter 159: Taking revenge?


    The next day Ozul woke up to the sight of both Cyril and Mark murmuring at a distance with their backs facing him.


    He jumped down the tree as the duo turned towards him after hearing the noise. They looked like they had recovered from the internal injuries. Both their faces contained hostility towards Ozul as they red at him.


    Their intense hatred was also the reason that Ozul had woken up early. He couldn¡¯t ignore such hard feelings thrown directly at him.


    ra couldn¡¯t sleep all night. She did not need to sleep in the first ce, so she just meditated on the tree branch. Her eyes opened when she felt the disturbed Mana in the air.


    Cyril and Mark had discussed what they wanted to do already. Even if Ozul did not wake up now, they would have gone directly for the kill.


    In their previous confrontation, they did not have the opportunity to use their strongest attacks against him. They felt that beating him together using their strongest attacks would be as easy as pie. They just had to maintain their distance this time.


    Both of them red their Mana at the same time as the air seemed to freeze around them. Winds stopped because of the sudden pressure before the birds on the trees flew away.


    .....


    Without exining or shouting madly as Cyril did before, the duo started to chant simultaneously. Blue and red Mana started to form around the air, creating two beasts in the air.


    Once again, both of them had a simr spell, with only their Elements being different. A strange-looking fish with cuts all around its body appeared above Mark, while a hyena appeared above Cyril.


    It was as if they had summoned those Beasts. But the applications with Mana were as vast as Mages could think, so this was also a way to shape their Original Spells.


    Although they were only ethereal in shape, the Beasts moved around like they had a consciousness of their own.


    Unlike how Ozul looked at this scene with indifference, ra was almost suffocating due to the Spells¡¯ sheer pressure from two Rank-8 Mages.


    She jumped back a few more meters while worryingly ncing at Ozul. She did not know how strong he was. Just like others, him being a Rank-9 Mage did not make any sense, and if he were any lower, then facing against two Rank-8 Mages at the same time would be disastrous!


    ¡°So... you don¡¯t want to lead me to your base?¡± Ozul while slightly tilting his head to the side. Although he could feel the pure anger towards him, he could not know the reason for every feeling.


    Knowing others¡¯ emotions made Ozul almost understand their thought process, but it was only to a general extent.


    ¡°What? Afraid now?!¡± Cyril asked with a dangerous smile on his face. Thinking that Ozul was afraid, he felt his lost self-esteeming back. He could not rest easy the previous day, knowing that a person who looked like a kid not even 25 years old had reduced him to such a pathetic state.


    ¡°Hmm... whatever,¡± Ozul shrugged. He did not understand what had gotten into their minds, and he did not want to waste his time trying to find out either. So, all he wanted was to get this over with as quickly as he could.


    No matter what they did, Ozul had decided to take them with him. So they had no choice but to be his guide now.


    The two Beasts which floated a few meters above the duo suddenly looked on the ground. Precisely at Ozul before diving down with an astonishing speed.


    The Beasts were gigantic enough to envelop around a whole building, but they were much more dangerous than they appeared to be. And ra could feel her legs shake from the aura of these Beasts.


    She wanted to help Ozul, but her body just wouldn¡¯t move, no matter how much she tried.


    Instead of separately attacking Ozul one by one, the two Beasts looked at each other before one sped towards the left while the other to the right.


    While the Beasts appeared to be conscious of their own actions, Ozul knew that such was not the case by looking at Cyril and Mark.


    They had their attention devoted to the Beasts. Their eyes followed the Beasts¡¯ every movement.


    Ozul concluded that this Spell did not just summon Beasts to fight for them but created something like Elemental Golems, which they could control from a distance.


    As the fish and the hyena attacked Ozul from each side, he generated a giant de with the Ball of Purity and cut them before they could evene near him.


    He expected it to end right there, but contrary to his expectations, the Beasts did not dissipate when cut in half. Instead, their lost part of Mana just regenerated before they jumped right at Ozul.


    Without any other choice, Ozul had to create a shield around him with the Ball of Purity.


    *Booom*


    The two Beasts hit the shield, which created an ear-splitting st, razing the ground around Ozul. One side had the ground cracked with the fire burning on the ground, while the other side had everything damped.


    The only simrity on both sides was the pure destruction that the Beasts had caused.


    Ozul remained there unperturbed at this. The Ball of Purity had absorbed all the shock. Only the winds had reached him.


    Although Cyril and Mark were both shocked to see him unharmed even while facing their strongest attacks, they did not waver. Both of them closed their eyes as the Beasts that had dissipated retook shape with the scattered Mana.


    They did not have to cast the Spell again, which meant that they could keep it going as long as they did not run out of Mana.


    ¡®Such a Spell is truly frightening if the range is long enough for the casters to keep their control,¡¯ Ozul concluded.


    He hadn¡¯t thought much about these two before, but it turned out they were Rank-8 Mages for a reason.


    No matter how many times Ozul destroyed the Beasts, they would regenerate before attacking him. This continued until he realized that Cyril and Mark¡¯s load to provide the Mana was also low since the Beasts were reformed by the scattered Mana from the previous attack each time.


    He had nned to let them attack a couple of times before they exhausted their Mana. But now it seemed that they would be at this for days if he did not do something about it.


    At this point, ra had noticed that Ozul wasn¡¯t getting affected by the constant barrage of the Beasts. So she calmed down before moving back even further.


    The area around Ozul had be a barrennd. The trees were reduced to ashes while the grass simply disappeared in thin air.


    Even when this Spell seemed impossible to stop, Ozul knew that this Spell also had a weakness, just like everything. And in this case, this weakness was Cyril and Mark themselves.


    To others, it might have been difficult to attack the duo who had also distanced themselves, expecting Ozul to realize this eventually.


    However, it was their bad luck that they were up against Ozul.


    Blocking another attack, he ran towards the duo without even letting the dust settle. When they saw Ozul running towards them, the duo immediately reformed the Beasts and tried to obstruct his path.


    The Beasts hit him from the front together, creating a stream to rise out since both fire and water had collided this time.


    At the same time, the duo ran back to maintain their distance.


    However, they did not expect that Ozul did not stop for even a moment. The shield just protected him while he sped towards them. However, their distance was shortened because of that small interval.


    They had thought that the attack would buy them some time, but their hearts dropped to see Ozul closing in.


    Unlike Ozul, they had to stop and focus on another attack, so they did not have any other choice but to run for their lives.


    They regretted again putting their lives at Ozul¡¯s mercy when they could have probably run away with a better chance of seeding.


    At this point, they wondered if Ozul would forgive them if they behaved. But they did not stop running since the fear of dying would not let them.


    When Ozul saw that they had no intentions to stop and fight him head-on, he sighed before generating the Ball of Purity.


    It turned into 8 thin but long needles. From afar, some might not even notice it because of their slimness.


    Mark and Cyril could not afford to look behind them once, much less notice the thin needles.


    With a single thought, they shot at the duo, desperately running for their lives.


    *Urgggh!* *Eueekk!*


    They let out a cry of pain before falling on their face. The needles had pierced the muscles of their limbs. A small trail of blood came out of the small holes from their legs and arms as they squirmed in pain.


    The needles had pierced through, creating small holes in their limbs.


    They stopped the bleeding using Mana before Ozul caught up to them. He stood near while looking down at them.


    Mark and Cyril were Rank-8 Mages who could topple down cities, but their pathetic state at this moment was only because Ozul was stronger than them.


    It proved true that power was everything in this world.


    Even when in this state, Cyril was bitter about this whole situation. He bit his lips while looking at the ground as he said, ¡°What are you waiting for? Just kill already.¡±

 Chapter 160

    Chapter 160: Better to forget about it.


    Cyril thought that only more humiliation awaited them now, so he urged Ozul to kill them.


    Surprisingly, Mark did not have any obvious reaction to his statement. Although his eyes did not contain the same shame that Cyril¡¯s had, it did have the same resolution.


    Ozul realized how long friends they had been for just by this confident gesture.


    ¡°You ask for death so as not to face disgrace?¡± Ozul asked curiously.


    Like a dead man standing, Cyril sluggishly nodded his head as if he had given up already. For him, there was no chance of escaping alive after incurring the wrath of a Rank-9 Mage.


    From thest sh, he had concluded that Ozul was indeed a Rank-9 for some ridiculous reasons. And he had seen the brutalities of the monarchs at Rank-9 with his own eyes, so it was safe to say that dying a quick death was much better.


    Not to mention that dying by the hands of a Rank-9 Mage who was also an assassin did not seem to be so disgraceful. The more Cyril thought about it, the more resolute he became.


    .....


    Though Ozul did not know what he was thinking, he was aware of the continually growing emotions. It was a wonder to him for how such a person who gave up this easily could ever reach Rank-8.


    Contrary to what Ozul thought, he did not understand the difference between a Rank-8 and Rank-9 Mage was not so trivial that could be ovee with schemes. So the moment that Cyril and Mark had realized his real rank, they had given up on all of that.


    ¡°Why do you think you have the right to ask me to kill you?¡± Ozul asked with his brows a little raised.


    When Cyril heard his question, he widened his eyes for a moment before they returned to being listless.


    ¡°What do you want to do with us then?¡± Mark asked with concern. He understood that the consequences of provoking someone of such caliber wouldn¡¯t be so light.


    ¡°Stand up, lead me to your base... I don¡¯t care about anything else,¡± Ozul said with azy tone. He truly meant what he said.


    When the duo heard his words, they stared at him for a while to confirm that he was not some psychopath who liked to mess with the minds of his targets before ruthlessly crushing them. Fortunately for them, Ozul did not seem to be joking.


    Their worries were not baseless since they themselves had seen too much of this world. Being Rank-8 assassins, there was almost no gore that they hadn¡¯t been familiar with. But experiencing it for themselves was not the same as just being familiar with it.


    They also couldn¡¯t help but worry since Rank-9 Mages were generally known to be much more entric than others. Their existence being only under Rank-10 did not help their willful attitude.


    Just a single mood swing and the whole structure of everything under them would be changed just to satisfy their whim. And there was no one to question them about their actions since Rank-10 Mages were just as, or even more willful. However, the people who had the guts to evene near such individuals were only Rank-9 Mages.


    So there was practically nothing stopping Rank-9 Mages from doing as they pleased.


    The duo also assumed that such was the reason for Ozul not instantly killing them. He was a Rank-9 Mage, and maybe he really did not care about their pathetic lives even when the difference between them was of just one rank.


    But they did not get discouraged or take this as an insult. Rather, they were happy that they did not have to die today. Cyril¡¯s bitterness had vanished the moment he had realized that Ozul was a Rank-9.


    Without even letting them a chance to say anything, Ozul turned around and started walking away. It was a wonder to him how their hostility had vanished in an instant.


    ¡®Is something wrong with my sensing?¡¯ Ozul thought to himself.


    Though he did not put much thought into it and just shrugged it off. If they had any animosity left even after what had just happened, then he could always kill them.


    ¡°Stand up. I don¡¯t have time,¡± Ozul urged as he sensed some people rushing towards this area.


    They had gotten quite far from the city, but the magnitude of the battle had caused Mana waves to spread kilometers away. There was bound to be someone who noticed this.


    He did not want to deal with even more humans, so he hastened his pace.


    The duo hurriedly stood up. They did not want to anger him any further since that could cause him to change his mind. Their lives depended on whether this person had a sudden change or mind, so they wanted to please him as much as they could.


    They took some pills to heal the four small holes on their hands and feet before quickly following behind Ozul.


    ra followed up as well. She had spectated everything from afar. Although she hadn¡¯t heard their conversation, she had seen the whole fight, which looked like a one-sided tantrum at best after the conclusion.


    She might not know everything about the higher ranks, but she was aware of what bullying Rank-8 Mages like this indicated.


    As much as she did not want to believe that someone who looked around her age could be a Rank-9 Mage, the truth was before her eyes.


    ¡®Maybe this was also the reason that no one has yet to feel any Mana from him?¡¯ ra thought to herself.


    Ozul was aware that ra had seen everything and would inform her family about this without any doubt.


    ¡®They would have found out sooner orter,¡¯


    He had never purposely hidden his strength. He did not use the Ball of Purity as much because he found it a bother to deal with others¡¯ curiosity. But if he also had to go out of his way to hide his strength, it was better known by everyone.


    A few secondster, the group left the pitiful site behind before anyone got here.


    On the way, no one said anything. Not to mention ra, even Cyril and Mark were too nervous to say anything. It felt like walking onndmines. One wrong step and they would blow up.


    Ozul did not mind the silence. However, it would be more urate to say that he actually preferred it that way. There was no one disturbing him. He couldn¡¯t ask for anything more.


    This time, Cyril did notin about their pace or anything else for that matter.


    Along the way, Ozul thought about Raven and ze. Unlike him, they were probably running all around with the rest of the group.


    ¡°How long will it take?¡± Ozul asked without looking back.


    The duo immediately understood that the question was directed towards them. A little nervous, Mark replied, ¡°With our current pace, it might take some months...¡±


    ¡°In the same direction?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Though if we go straight in this direction, there would be no cities to stop by. All of them are located with a little detour,¡± Mark answered.


    Ozul hummed in response. But contrary to what others had expected, he did not change their route.


    If he chose the regr route which passed through the cities along the way, he was bound to encounter the other group. Ozul did not want to do that since he was content by traveling with as few people as possible.


    ¡°Uhm...? Shouldn¡¯t we choose the usual path? This way, the others could catch up when theye to find us,¡± ra mustered up her courage to ask. She wasn¡¯t as nervous as anyone else would have since she came from a family also run by a Rank-9 Mage.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ra was speechless with his reply, but she was in no position to question his actions either. Like the duo, she understood that there weren¡¯t many who could make a Rank-9 Mage change his mind.


    She did not say anything after that as the group continued.


    Silence descended on the group again as Ozul slowly increased their pace. As Mark had said, casually walking all the way would take months, and he did not want to waste so much time in the jungle.


    They traveled without any pause for the whole day. Ozul only stopped once the sun hadpletely set.


    Along the way, they had encountered many wild Beasts. But Ozul did not even need to lift his finger as Mark and Cyril handled them all on their own.


    The Beasts were strong, but nowhere near the level that could threaten Rank-8 Mages.


    Ozul was satisfied with their efficiency as he saw them taking care of a Rank-6 tiger-like beast meters away from him.


    The duo did not n to rest tonight. Trying to sleep probably took them more effort than to keep going.


    ¡°Are you really fine with this?¡± Mark whispered to Cyril. They were at a considerable distance from Ozul, who had already closed his eyes.


    Cyril understood what he meant by this as he sighed.


    ¡°What can we even do? He is a Rank-9 Mage. Would I ever be able to take my revenge on him? It¡¯s better to forget about it,¡± Cyril said. Letting go of such a thing was best in his interest as Mark nodded with a happy smile.


    ¡°He probably wants to talk with the Boss. Our task will be done once they have met, so we shouldply with whatever he asks,¡± Mark added before they walked toward another Beast sleeping under a tree near them.

 Chapter 161

    Chapter 161: Ever made sense to me?!


    Cyril agreed with what Mark had said. It was already fortunate that this person had let them off even after what they had done, so it was in their best interest toply with whatever he had asked and get it over with as soon as possible.


    The duo secured the area around to pass the time. Mark lit up his cigarette while Cyril took out the wine jar. With their backs resting against a tree, they stood silently contemting while asionally switching the cigarette and the wine.


    Meanwhile, Ozul slept peacefully on the branch. He did not worry about the duo trying to escape. Even if they did try, he would immediately notice since he kept his attention on them even in his sleep.


    On the other hand, ra grumpily climbed up another tree. It had been a few days since she took a proper shower, so she could not help butin. However, there was no one to listen to her griefs.


    All her life, she had been pampered. There was nothing that she wasn¡¯t provided that she had asked for. There would be servants looking over her day and night.


    Though she had worked hard to cultivate as well, her life was undoubtedly a hundred times better than the rest.


    It was bound to cause her trouble once there was no one to watch over her every need.


    .....


    But in this situation, she did not dare disturb Ozul from his sleep just to tell him that she was itchy all over. Aggrieved, she could only try to sleep it off.


    ¡ª¡ª


    At this moment, a group of people ran through the forest in the midst of darkness. They all seemed to be in a hurry as frowns were present on all their faces.


    Some of them looked as if they were sleep deprived. However, it was a wonder how people as powerful as they could becking sleep.


    This was the group led by Rufus searching for ra everywhere. All the survivors from the battle with the assants were in it. Raven and ze also ran along with the group.


    Most of the mercenaries were dead since the majority of the people fighting were Rank-7. A couple of surviving mercenaries allsted till the end because of pure luck except Raven, ze, and Barry.


    Barry was a Rank-7 Mage himself, so he just needed to y it safe not to die. Meanwhile, Raven and ze had managed to stay alive by working together. Hanry and Venessa were also among the survivors.


    Rufus had won his fight against the man in white robes. Since that old man was the leader of the assants, their group started to waver after noticing that their leader was forced to flee from the scene.


    When choosing between the fleeing old man in white robes and his subordinates, Rufus did not hesitate to choose thetter. He just cursed the old man under his breath before moving to the cliff to help his men.


    Since he was a Rank-9 and the assassins¡¯ morale had already dropped to zero, it took them a few minutes before taking care of all the assants.


    After they took care of the assants¡¯ matter, everyone started to search for ra. Only Raven and ze were more focused on finding Ozul, but they did not point out their purpose since they also knew that the other one would be found out too if even one of them was found.


    Rufus led the team to the Fer City, thinking that ra and Ozul might have been there. But they were bound to be disappointed when there was no one there.


    Rufus ordered the group to wait in the City before sending his men searching around the area. After the whole day, they concluded that Ozul and ra had probably left directly to the next city.


    The group was led by Rufus, and he did not even once think that Ozul might be trying to avoid them. He saw no reason for him to do so.


    He believed that if they were to continue traveling, they might actually catch up to ra and Ozul.


    Rufus had strict orders for him to protect ra at all costs. He could not afford to mess it up. That is why all his men were worked to death by him.


    Even with them being Rank-7, fatigue had caught up to them. First, they had to fight against the assassins, and now they had yet to heal from their earlier injuries before they were running all well and fine on the ground.


    Even now, they were running from Fer city to the next one.


    When they arrived in the city, Rufus was not surprised to find himself in awless city. There were many such cities around this area.


    Unfortunately, he was bound to be aggrieved after realizing that there were almost no traces of ra and Ozul either. He had sent his men to ask as many guards as possible.


    However, they all returned empty-handed. In such awless city, it was impossible to find about almost anyone. Luckily, a man selling fruits had recognized the description of ra and Ozul and told them that he had seen them here two days ago.


    Everyone in the group finally sighed in relief. Even aftering all the way over to this ce, they only confirmed it now that ra and Ozul had actuallye this way.


    Now Rufus just needed to find them in this big city. Again, he ordered people to spread out and collect information on their location.


    It again made him sigh in frustration when he couldn¡¯t find them in the city either. Moreover, a woman said that she had seen a pair just like ra and Ozul walk out of the city as well.


    Rufus was about to order the group to start traveling again when he noticed the exhausted expressions on everyone¡¯s face. He had almost forgotten that he did not need as much rest as others did after a life-threatening battle.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just rest for today...¡± He ordered as the whole group suddenly felt their bodies lighten.


    Most people in the group wanted to sleep, so they hurried off to a hotel. Raven and ze were exhausted as well, though they were ready to set out after Ozul right away.


    When Rufus saw their stubbornness, he approached the duo and said, ¡°I understand you want to set out after him as soon as possible, but look at yourselves. That brat definitely would not want to look at your current appearances.¡±


    Instantly, the duo looked around them and noticed their haggard clothes. ze sighed before dragging Raven into a hotel as well.


    Although he wanted to set out after Ozul as soon as possible too, he knew better than to just set out by themselves in their current state.


    Watching ze drag Raven away, Rufus smiled a little before looking towards the direction of the city¡¯s existing.


    ¡®What are you scheming at now?¡¯ Rufus thought inside. He did not understand why Ozul had instantly left the cities just as they had gotten at that point.


    He thought that there must have been some reason for him to do as such since it was obviously better that they stayed in a single house and they coulde to visit them.


    ¡°When have you ever done something that made sense to me!?¡± Rufus muttered to himself in annoyance.


    Even with his decades of experience, Ozul¡¯s actions and behavior sometimes did not make any sense to him. And not understanding anything about the target that his Majesty had asked him to keep an eye on frustrated him to no end.


    He nned to let the group rest for the day. After that, he would force everyone to sprint to all the cities that came before their current location to the Neutral Lands.


    Since Ozul did not seem to stop, the only way to catch up to them was to run fast than them.


    At the very least, it reassured him that the duo really had been on this route.


    Once the group had rested, they would immediately leave to search for them. As much as he wanted, Rufus could not force the group to keep on going even when most of them suffered from internal injuries.


    Getting inside their room, Raven and ze immediately plopped down on their respective beds. They were one of the most exhausted in the group. In the intense battle of Rank-7 Mages, they were only Rank-6.


    They only survived the battle by working together. They had gone all out since the others were miles ahead of them in terms of strength.


    If there were anyone else other than Raven and ze, they would have instantly died under the constant barrage of a Rank-7 Mage. Both of them had extreme talent in their respective Elements.


    The only downside of their battle was that everyone now knew that Raven was a Darkness Element Mage. So, excluding Rufus, everyone in the group stayed away from her.


    Rufus knew better than to judge people based on their Elements. As the man only under Emperor Luthien, he was also aware that Darkness Element did not necessarily mean that the Mage was evil.


    Although he did not discriminate against her in the same way as others, Rufus asionally looked at her the same way others did. Eyes filled with contempt.


    Rufus had also seen Raven using the Night¡¯s Shade to release the dark smoke during the battle. It made him realize who was actually the reason behind that smoke during the previous events.

 Chapter 162

    Chapter 162: Near theke.


    Although they did not like Raven traveling with them, no one dared to say anything on her face or tried anything funny either.


    No matter what they thought about her, she was still thepanion of Ozul. Including Rufus, no one wanted to provoke his ire.


    After the previous events, everyone who remained in the group had understood that Ozul was at least as strong as a Rank-8 Mage. So they limited themselves only to give her the stink eye.


    As ifpletely oblivious to their contempt filled eyes, Raven remainedpletely unfazed by this situation.


    Ozul had long before drilled it in her mind that she would be ostracized after choosing the Darkness Element. He worried that she might not be able to ept the rejections. However, he ignored one simple point; Raven had long ago stopped caring about other¡¯s opinions.


    Spending all her time with someone as insensitive as Ozul was bound to have some effect on her psyche.


    Unlike her, ze was not soposed. If Raven had not stopped him, he would have even picked a fight with the Rank-7 subordinate under Rufus because he was pointing fingers at her!


    .....


    Only under the intense re from Raven had he repressed his urge to kill that guy or die trying.


    Anyways, Raven did not care about the hate as long as they did not cause any trouble for either her or ze. In the first ce, she only chose to stick together with the group because Ozul had told them to do so before jumping off the cliff.


    Even though ze was almost just as strong as her, Raven had undoubtedly be the leader in Ozul¡¯s absence.


    The next day, Rufus ordered everyone to hurry up as they were about to move to the next city.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    Around this time, Ozul jumped from tree to tree with ra, Cyril, and Mark following right behind him. He ran with a decent pace that even ra could easily follow him.


    They were not just walking anymore since it would take them months to reach the Neutral Lands with that speed. Ozul had confirmed with Mark, who informed him that their current pace would take them exactly around one month.


    Cyril let out some of his aura to spread around to avoid the nuisance of a Beast blocking their path. There were no Beasts so strong in this forest who would want toe near them even after sensing his aura as a Rank-8 Mage.


    The group ran until the sun was about to set. Ozul wouldn¡¯t have stopped just here if he had not spotted ake in their path.


    With Raven, he had gotten used to cleaning the dirt off of his body by her Spell. It was not only convenient but also saved him effort and time.


    ¡®Maybe a little soak will be rxing?¡¯ Ozul thought while stopping a few meters before theke.


    Although he could use the Ball of Purity to clean himself as well, he would rather use the water.


    As he stopped, the three behind him stopped as well. They did not question why they had stopped since Ozul wouldn¡¯t answer them anyway.


    As usual, Cyril and Mark took a look around the area to get rid of any nuisances. Ozul did not immediately go to theke as he had noticed something around theke.


    Theke was about a hundred square meters. And there was Pyretic grass growing all around its edges!


    Ozul recognized this grass at first nce. This grass grew only near a body of water. It was not anything rare, but a convenient nt that used the Mana in the air to heat the body of water near it.


    However, the grass only did its thing at night time. So, Ozul waited for the grass to warm up the water first. In the meantime, he sat on a branch before taking out the strange book.


    . . .


    A few hours passed before it waspletely dark in the surroundings. Ozul rubbed his eyes open as he got down the tree.


    As usual, Cyril and Mark were near him with their backs resting against the tree trunk and cigarettes and wine in their hand.


    They watched himzily walk towards theke before they returned to their conversation.


    Ozul created a hand-like shape with Ball of Purity and helped himself take off the prosthetic arms. Although they did not bother him too much, it still felt off to keep on those chunks of metal. He did not mind taking them off once in a while.


    Theke had steam fog all around it because of the water¡¯s warm temperature. Because of theke¡¯s size, the Pyretic grass was not enough to make it burn, but the water had gotten warm enough to befortable.


    After the prosthetic arms, he created another hand with the Ball of Purity to help himself take off the clothes. The steam fog covered his body, which would make just about anyone awestruck at its sight.


    As Grandma Carol had taught him long ago, he neatly folded the shirt and the pants before cing them on the grass near his prosthetics.


    After that, he entered theke. After a few steps in, the water was deep enough to reach his neck if he sat down.


    Ozul stopped at that point and sat down before closing his eyes. The warm water wasforting as there was no one to disturb him. However, he could not really say that nothing was annoying here since there were no trees to block the moonlight above him.


    Though he did notin and enjoyed the silence for as long as he could.


    . . .


    An hour or two passed before ra opened her eyes. She had also noticed theke before and was dying to soak in it, especially since the presence of Pyretic grass had almost made theke like a hot spring.


    However, she had to wait for the guys to do their own things before she wasfortable going there.


    When she noticed that Cyril and Mark had been drinking for a while, ra took this chance to tiptoe her way towards theke.


    She did not even nce in Ozul¡¯s direction as she thought that he would be sleeping at this moment. He never seemed to show any interest in other things.


    As ra sneaked off towards theke, Cyril nonchntly nced at Mark and asked, ¡°Did you notice it?¡±


    Mark did not need to think before he nodded his head. ra forgot that both of them were Rank-8 Mages, so her movement could not escape their attention even while they had been drinking for a while. Not to mention, the alcohol was not strong enough to make Rank-8 Mages drunk.


    ¡°Meh, it¡¯s not our business,¡± Cyril said as they got back to what they were doing before.


    Although ra was a stunning beauty that could topple down countries, the duo did not care. They were assassins experienced in all kinds of arts. Controlling their sexual urges was a piece of cake for them.


    Any vulgar thoughts about ra did not even cross their minds, but they did start to think up scenarios of what Ozul and ra might do near the steamyke.


    ra walked in the steam fog, unaware that Ozul was already in. The excitement to take a bath after so long and the fog prevented her from noticing the ck cat sleeping near two prosthetic arms and a neatly folded shirt and pants.


    She also took off her clothes as the fog covered her body before hurriedly walking in the water.


    *Haaa~*


    She let out a deep breath as she sat down, and the warm water covered her whole body till the neck.


    Just as she had sat down, closing her eyes, she immediately opened them wide open before turning her head towards her right.


    ¡°Ahhhh!!!¡±


    ...


    ¡°Nothing less expected from a Rank-9 Mage,¡± Cyrilmented as they heard the scream which resonated around the area.


    ¡°Hm... What if it is her first time?¡± Mark replied innocently.


    ¡°... That actually makes more sense,¡± Cyril said as the duo stood up from their ce.


    The scream had caused a stir around the area. They would again have to clean up some Beasts who would flock around here.


    ...


    ¡°Mhhmm!¡±


    ra¡¯s muffled voice came out as she had a ck thing strapped around her mouth.


    Ozul had immediately wrapped the Ball of Purity around her mouth to stop her shouting.


    ¡°I won¡¯t remove it unless you stop shouting,¡± Ozul said with his brows scrunched a little.


    ra had no choice but to nod her head immediately. His annoyed expression caused her to get nervous as she momentarily forgot about the situation she was in.


    ¡°If you want to scream, go somewhere else,¡± Ozul said before closing his eyes again.


    His actions caused ra to be speechless.


    She wanted to shout at him and ask why he was here, but her words got stuck in her throat. She could not get herself to disturb him again. It was just too nerve-racking for her when he was annoyed.


    Thinking about it for a while, ra remembered that she had not checked if Ozul was at his ce sleeping or not, which meant that Ozul was here even before her. And in the end, it was her own fault!


    After realizing that Ozul was innocent in this, other thoughts upied her mind.


    They were both naked and so close to each other, but the other person did not even nce at her! She did not understand if she should be happy about this situation or depressed.

 Chapter 163

    Chapter 163: Trap on the road.


    ra stayed there in her own thoughts. She wondered if Ozul would try to peek at her somehow or if he was thinking about her.


    Then again, it seemed unlikely with the way he had closed his eyes again.


    Unknown to her, Ozul was thinking about her at this moment just that his line of thoughts did not match what she fantasized about.


    The Light Element¡¯s particles flocking around her bothered him to no end. He tried to endure it and go back to enjoy his peacetime, but he could not stop thinking about it. Like an annoying fly, it did not let him focus on anything else.


    Since he could not focus, there was no point in being here either. He stood up, startling ra, who did not have the chance to properly look at his body before he had gotten out of the water and fog covered him.


    A little regretful and relieved, ra wondered if she had disturbed him or he got irritated because of her.


    But since she had this ce to herself now, she began to wash off the dirt with various thoughts running through her mind.


    .....


    After another hour or so, she was finished and could not rx in the warm water either.


    As she went near her clothes, she frowned, looking at its dirty appearance and the worn-out condition. She had almost forgotten that she had spare clothes in her Spatial Ring.


    After changing into those clothes, she was about to walk back to the woods when she noticed something from the corner of her eyes.


    She turned to look to her side and noticed Ozul lying on the ground with a barely noticeable ck cat near him. Jinx was really hard to notice once she closed her eyes in the dark.


    ra nervously looked around before she took a deep breath and approached Ozul. He had his prosthetic arms under his head as he gazed at the sky.


    As if she had made up her mind, she nodded to herself before sitting a few meters from him. Ozul had, of course, noticed her presence, but he ignored it for now.


    At least she was not so clingy as before. She maintained her distance, which was enough for Ozul to be able to endure without losing his interest.


    ¡°...¡±


    She stayed like this for a long time. Just then, she noticed that Ozul had put back his prosthetic arms.


    ¡°So... what happened?¡± ra said while pointing towards his hands.


    Hearing this sudden voice, Ozul turned around to face her before noticing that her finger was pointing at his prosthetic arms.


    ¡°They got cut,¡± Ozul stated the obvious.


    ra stared back at his eyes for a couple of seconds to see if he was intentionally doing it. But she could not see through him no matter how much she tried.


    Although she could not properly see his body, just the hands part was something that she could not ignore so easily.


    ¡°... I can see that. I meant, what happened?¡± ra emphasized her question.


    Ozul turned to look at her for a moment before turning back. He understood what she wanted to ask, but he simply was not in the mood to exin anything.


    ra waited for a while before she sighed, realizing that he was now ignoring her. It meant that she had indeed been disturbing him for him to ignore her so coldly.


    Although she understood the situation, it did not help improve her mood. With the princess¡¯s temperament from childhood, getting ignored by someone was probably the first for her.


    She stood up with a huff, disgruntled, but she could not even express her anger before Ozul.


    Ozul finally felt some peace again as she walked off.


    ra walked all the way back to her spot. Cyril and Mark had already killed off the Beasts lurking around, so they were also back to their drinking and smoking.


    When ra walked past them, she did not even bother to spare them an extra nce.


    ¡°She was not satisfied even after so long?!¡± Cyrilmented after ra had gone off in the distance.


    ¡°Hmhm. They probably fought,¡± Mark suggested.


    ¡°Yeah. Whatever...¡± Cyril said as both of them shrugged before changing the topic.


    ¡ª¡ª


    The next day, they quietly ran through the forest.


    It hadn¡¯t even been a few hours before Ozul felt some presences ahead. He focused and noticed that there was a road right next to them.


    A road meant that there would usually be people passing by. He credited the presence up ahead to that and continued their advance.


    As they passed by the road, the group noticed a disabled man from the corner of their eyes.


    At first nce, the man was undoubtedly bleeding with one of his legs cut. He was hopelessly dragging himself to the side of the path, waiting for someone to help.


    Ozul, Cyril, and Mark ignored it and continued running, but it was different for ra. Though she had seen gore worse than that, she could not bring herself to ignore a man desperately asking for help.


    Since ra had suddenly stopped, the other three turned around and looked at her with questioning eyes.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we help that person?¡± ra started, ¡°It would not make any difference to us in the first ce-¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ozul interjected in the middle of ra¡¯s speech.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°We are not helping. Let¡¯s go now,¡± Ozul repeated when ra stood there dumbfoundedly.


    ¡°B-but, why can¡¯t we help?!¡± ra asked.


    ¡°And why should we?¡± Ozul asked as he apathetically looked straight into her eyes, making her even more nervous.


    ¡°Because that¡¯s what we should do! As a believer of The Lord, I can¡¯t ignore something like this!¡± Even when ra was apprehensive, she did not back down.


    Ozul stared at her for a few moments before he replied, ¡°Okay. Do as you wish.¡±


    Cyril and Mark looked at Ozul, a little surprised that he had allowed her to help that person.


    Looking at the man crawling in the middle of the path with no other tracks of his body being dragged anywhere else, anyone with a little brain could instantly figure out that this was a newbie trap.


    Although confused, the duo did not ask any questions and stood behind Ozul quietly. With their line of business, they would not spare this scene another nce even if it weren¡¯t a trap.


    ra, who had grown up being protected, was not aware of such things. She just saw someone critically injured and went ahead to help him.


    She took out a purple vial of potion from her Spatial ring and approached that man who had supposedly not noticed her. He had his back facing towards ra, so she could not see his expressions either.


    From afar, Ozul¡¯s eyes almost twitched as he noticed the purple vial.


    ra advanced, unaware of Ozul¡¯s annoyance at the sight of the healing potion in her hands.


    ¡°Mister?¡± ra said, but the man did not react in the slightest. She was still at a few feet distance from him.


    When she received no response from the man, she extended her arm to touch his shoulder. But just as she was about to do so, the man suddenly turned around.


    Unlike how he looked, the man was very much vigorous as he did not give ra a chance to think before thrusting a dagger at her stomach.


    ra did not even have the time to blink before a small line of red appeared on that man¡¯s neck. Before she could make sense of her situation, the man¡¯s head suddenly fell off the ground, and blood spurted out of the neck.


    A few drops sshed on her face as she instinctively closed her eyes.


    Her brain only started to process everything after she opened her eyes again. Everything had happened too fast for her toprehend, but she did realize that the person was actually not injured at all.


    *Thud*


    The man¡¯s headless body fell on the ground, waking her up from her stupor.


    The scene of the cut appearing on that man¡¯s neck shed in her mind as she realized who might have helped her. She turned around to face Ozul, who emotionlessly stood there on the tree.


    Her dted pupils then moved to the headless corpse in her feet. Before she could recover from the shock, she heard the voice, ¡°Helped enough? Let¡¯s go now.¡±


    Ozul urged before jumping to the next tree. Behind him, Cyril and Mark exchanged nces before following right after.


    ¡®How cruel...¡¯ Both of them had the same thoughts in their mind while looking at Ozul¡¯s back.


    For them, something like beheading a person was not a big deal. But even they could tell that ra was some pampereddy, who probably had not seen it done so close to her.


    Not to mention, this man was also the person she was going to help. So it had a considerable impact on her mind. However, Ozul did not even let here to her senses.


    As professional assassins, they were aware that even the slightest psychological changes on a Mage¡¯s mind could change their whole future.


    However, they did not voice out their thoughts since it had nothing to do with them anyway. Moreover, they just thought that Ozul was trying to do something and they were just Rank-8 Mages who could notprehend the actions of a Rank-9 existence.


    Ozul had intentionally slowed down a little for ra to catch up. Although he had urged her to hurry up, he knew that she would take a few moments to recover.

 Chapter 164

    Chapter 164: What would you choose?


    As he expected, ra joined them a momentter. She did not say anything and quietly followed behind them.


    The image of her trying to help that man who, in turn, was about to stab her before getting himself killed kept shing past her mind.


    She was not contemting because of the decapitation in front of her. She had already recovered from that since she had seen her fair share of bloodshed even as a pampereddy.


    Instead, she was reflecting on her actions because of how close she had been to death. Although she did have a couple of artifacts that would have saved her life, it reminded her how just a single mistake from her could have such consequences.


    This was also the reason that Mages under Rank-6 took caution not to get close to their enemy. Their physical bodies were at most only slightly sturdier than ordinary people. It would have undoubtedly resulted in her death if she ignored the fact that she had the artifacts to protect her, and Ozul did not help either.


    Being so close to death made her think some things through. Not to mention, she was quiet because it was her own fault. Ozul had stopped her, but she had insisted on helping.


    Cyril and Mark remained quiet. They assumed that ra probably had inner conflicts, but Ozul did not care.


    .....


    As far as he was concerned, her emotions were not erratic and all over the ce. This meant that she was just reflecting on her actions.


    Others might have called it cruel of him, but he had tried to stop her once. She insisted on helping, and he knew that he could not win an argument with a believer, so he let her do as she wished. And at the critical time, he also saved her life.


    Ozul did not have any reason to go out of his way to teach her stuff. He did what he could, and that was the extent of it. Besides, ra was someone he had no rtion to, unlike Raven and ze. He had already done enough.


    Only the rustling of leaves could be heard as they passed by a few other roads. It seemed that there was probably a city or a town nearby judging by the increase in routes.


    Since there was a city nearby, Ozul decided that it might be a good idea to rest in a room, alone, once in a while.


    ¡®Thinking about it, I can always have a separate room for myself!¡¯ Ozul realized that Raven wasn¡¯t with him now. It was only her that always forced him to share his room. And now that she wasn¡¯t here, he could always have the room booked solely for himself.


    He asked the duo if they knew about the city, and Mark told him it was just a small town.


    Mark exined the exact direction before the group advanced towards the town.


    Half a dayter, they were already in the town. Both Cyril and Mark changed into their disguise out of nowhere. They changed their clothes and put on wigs even while running.


    The moment theynded on the ground, Ozul could not recognize them just from the outer appearance.


    Both of them had turned into slightly obese men and wore expensive-looking clothes. Ozul did not ask why they had disguised themselves since it seemed to be their habit.


    Before they entered the town, Ozul had created the pointed hat on his head, and ra also wore the veil again. They would attract all the attention with their appearance. Even if they could not disguise themselves as the duo did, at least they could hide their faces.


    It seemed that Mark knew almost every ce as he brought them directly to a remote area that had a small hotel.


    Fortunately, the hotel was in a remote ce, so it had many rooms left. Ozul directly asked for a room with a single bed for himself and took the keys before striding off.


    After he left, ra had no choice but to book a room for herself as well. Meanwhile, Cyril and Mark picked up a room with two beds.


    It hadn¡¯t gotten dark yet, but it did not matter to them. Being high ranked Mages, the concept of night and day only matter when they were in a serious situation.


    Ozul got inside his room, noticing the rundown condition. There were small cracks on the ceiling, but he was satisfied as the room was clean overall.


    He did not n to go to sleep directly and was going to read the book.


    *Tak..Tak*


    However, he had just sat on the bed when he heard the knock.


    He stared at it for a while before he got up and opened the door. As he did so, ra¡¯s figure came into his view.


    She was standing there while looking down at the floor. Fidgeting with her fingers, she suddenly looked up at him when she realized that the door was already open.


    ¡°... I wanted to say thank you...¡± ra said with such a low voice that it seemed that she was only muttering to herself.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Ozul only stared at her since it seemed that she still had things to say.


    ¡°Thank you for saving me back there... and in the Silverbird Capital city... and back when drake was rushing at me,¡± ra was going to finish with just expressing her gratitude. But then suddenly remembered that she still had to thank him for saving her all those times properly.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Ozul said as he was about to close the door, but ra put a hand on it.


    ¡°Also, just because that man was pretending does not mean that every helpless person is like that,¡± She could not help but tell this to him.


    ¡°There are people who need help, and we have the responsibility to help since we have the ability!¡± ra dered resolutely.


    Ozul intensely stared at her with his brows just a little furrowed. He opened the door and got out of the way. ra took that as her cue to move in, although she did not understand the reason.


    ¡°You are probably the daughter of someone at a high position in the Church of Light, right?¡± Ozul asked calmly.


    Frankly, it wasn¡¯t hard for anyone to guess such a thing since not only did ra have Light Element, she even had a good rtionship with the Royals of Silverbird Kingdom. They were also going to the Neutral Lands, which also had the Church of Light¡¯s headquarters.


    ra was not surprised that he hade to this conclusion either. She would have been shocked if someone actually did not think as such.


    ¡°Correct me if I am wrong, but you people are righteous, hmm?¡± Ozul said as ra nodded but with a little frown since she did not like how he mentioned them as ¡®you people¡¯.


    Ozul then pointed at his prosthetics and said, ¡°You asked what happened to them before.¡±


    ra again nodded her head.


    ¡°Someone cut them when I was just born,¡± Ozul said nonchntly before adding, ¡°I can still reattach them, but you wanna know where they are right now?¡±


    ra held her breath while seriously thinking where this was getting at. She was surprised to hear that his hands were cut when he was only a newborn, but her mind would not stop thinking about the reason for his questions.


    Though she still nodded since she was curious as well.


    ¡°Your Church of Light has one of them,¡± Ozul said, making ra¡¯s eyes widened.


    Before she could say anything, Ozul continued, ¡°And they would not give my own hand back to me.¡±


    When ra heard it, she immediately replied, ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t they? You just need to ask. There is no way we will ever do something so cruel! What will we do about your limbs anyway?¡±


    ¡°Those purple healing potions are made because of my limbs. They would not hand it over under the pretense of helping everyone while in truth... they are just earning money and doing experiments on my arms,¡± Ozul exined expressionlessly.


    ra was just going to question him why they would even take his arms. However, his exnation stopped her thought process.


    ¡°Now, you tell me. If you had the power to decide, would you give me my limbs back or keep the facade of the kind people to the whole world?¡± Ozul asked hisst question.


    ra could only stand there dumbfoundedly as she processed everything.


    Although she could not fully trust his every word, it was indeed aplicated situation if what he said was true.


    First of all, she was not even aware of how the healing potions were made. Her parents never informed her of the inside information of the Church since she was not strong enough.


    Then there was the question of why a human being¡¯s limbs could be used to create healing potions.


    But putting all that aside, Ozul had also asked her the question of what she would choose.


    Although she was unhappy about how he said those nderous things about the Church, she could only put that aside for now.


    ¡®Just for once, assuming that everything he said is true...¡¯ ra clearly had two options. But she could not decide which she would pick.


    On one side, they were Ozul¡¯s limbs. So he has every right over them. By default, his arms should be returned to him without any questions asked.


    But on the other hand, giving back the limbs meant that they would not be able to produce those miraculous recovery potions anymore. Those potions healed thousands of people!

 Chapter 165

    Chapter 165: Ducklings behind the mother.


    ra stood there with a conflicted heart. Ozul did not interrupt her thoughts as she took a few minutes before tensely looking up.


    ¡°How... how can you be so sure that we have your arms?¡± She asked.


    ¡°That question is meaningless... If the Church does not have my arm, then you can forget about what I said. But if they do have it, shouldn¡¯t it be returned to me?¡± Ozul exined calmly. Of course, he did not expect ra to help him get his limbs back. He only wanted her to face the truth.


    ¡°But! But the recovery potions help thousands of people all over the continent! How can you take it back without considering those poor lives?!¡± ra replied, a little flustered.


    In the end, she was more inclined to persuade Ozul not to take his arms back.


    ¡°And who are you to tell me what I should do with what belongs to me?¡± Ozul squinted his eyes a little. She was naive as he expected.


    ra was taken aback by his question. It was true! She had no right over anyone to tell them what to do. As a member of the Church of Light, she could spread the teachings, but forcing someone to do something under the Church¡¯s influence was nothing more than tyranny.


    .....


    ¡°How can you... The Church is-¡±


    Ozul did not let her finish as she was nervously trying to find words to say something.


    ¡°The Church is doing it for the well being of the masses? Using something that belongs to me, hoarding treasures with the potions, and still experimenting on them. So noble,¡± Ozul said with a toneced with sarcasm.


    ¡°Hey! You keep saying that the Church is doing it for their own good, but what proof do you have for such ims?!¡± ra finally could not take it. She had grown up in it and had been taught everything there as well, so she did not like it whenever he insulted the Church.


    ¡°Oh? I do not have the proof, but are you that ignorant? The potions that reach the masses are of the worst quality. Have youpared the potion you had, and the mercenaries had?¡± Ozul asked.


    ra was silent since she had really not noticed anything.


    ¡°The recovery potion that you have is a hundred times better than any peasant can purchase. Of course, you wouldn¡¯t know that since you never bought it... But being able to get their hands on the quality such as yours requires the aristocrats to pay with priceless treasures.¡± He scoffed.


    ¡°Those poor, helpless, thousands of dying people... how many lives would they have to work for them to pay to catch even a glimpse of something so expensive?¡± Ozul added as ra¡¯s face drew a nk.


    After speaking his mind, Ozul sighed. He had really gone out of his way to speak so much.


    Staring nkly in the air in front of her, ra did not resist as Ozul led her out of the room before closing the door.


    She was troubled and disoriented. Although what Ozul said perfectly made sense, she could not just suddenly change her feelings about a ce and the people with whom she had grown up with.


    That was all he could say to her. He knew that she was just a naive princess who had yet to see what people hid behind their amiable smiles.


    It was up to her now if she wanted to keep believing in the hypocrisy or raise questions. Either way, he did not care. At least she would stop preaching about helping everyone to him from now on.


    Unlike the previous hotel, the room in this one had curtains, but they were in poor condition.


    Ozuly down on the bed and only closed his eyes when he felt that ra had walked away. Previously she was just standing there in a daze.


    It was getting dark, so Ozul decided to sleep. He was not in the mood to read the book anymore now.


    Before going to sleep, he spread his senses to observe the room next to his that was upied by Cyril and Mark.


    As usual, those two were drinking, smoking, and chit-chatting. From their merry attitude, no one would ever believe that they were assassins.


    . . .


    The next day, the group left the hotel early in the morning.


    Leaving the town, Ozul led the others again at the same pace as before. He ignored the weird behavior of ra during the travel.


    She was quiet all the way and did not say anything to him after what happened yesterday.


    ra could not face him since what he said did really make sense. However, she could not make her decision solely on his talk.


    She wanted to go back and ask herself if what he said was true or not. Until then, she could only awkwardly avoid talking about it.


    ra liked Ozul, and that is exactly the reason for the conflict inside her heart. If it were not someone who had saved her life multiple times, she would have instantly dismissed any of the ims against the Church.


    Naturally, Ozul had taken into ount that ra would tell everyone that the arm belonged to him. He had still told her about that because it wouldn¡¯t be much of a surprise for the people of Church.


    Emperor Luthien had a good enough rtionship with the Church for him to give at least one of the arms to them, so he did not doubt that he had probably informed them about him as well.


    At most, they would try some schemes, but he was confident to deal with anything they threw at him.


    Cyril and Mark felt the tension in the atmosphere, but they chose to remain silent as usual.


    The group traveled for days with the same routine. Ozul switched between sometimes reading the book and sometimes just sleeping during the rests.


    Three weeks passed just like that.


    The group did not stop in any other city or town on the way this time. Nothing noteworthy happened during these three weeks.


    Ozul had asked Mark, who told him that it would probably take another week at max for them to enter the Neutral Lands.


    They had to change the direction they had started in after Mark told him that they would enter a city if they did not change their route. This would not have made him change his mind, but Mark informed him that it was also a famous city that people stopped by, following the Neutral Lands¡¯ regr route.


    So the group made a little detour around it and just increased their speed to make up for the longer distance.


    Along the way, Ozul was happy. No one disturbed him during this time, so he enjoyed himself as much as he could.


    Cyril and Mark practically listened to everything that he said. On the other hand, he did not have any confrontation with ra after that day.


    Although ra felt awkward whenever she looked at him, Ozul was uncaring. He was satisfied with her not trying to talk with him.


    They had already left the forest, so there weren¡¯t as many trees as before. They had to run on the ground due to this reason as well.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ozul suddenly slowed down as he looked in his right direction.


    ¡°Something happened?¡± Cyril asked with a whisper, but Mark shook his head as he did not sense anything either.


    ¡°What is in that direction?¡± Ozul pointed towards the spot where he was looking.


    The question was obviously directed towards Mark since he was the one good with directions and the geography of most ces.


    There hadn¡¯t been a single city or town that he wasn¡¯t able to name until now. Although a Mage had abnormally better IQ and brain capacity than an ordinary person, it was still a wonder how Mark had taken the time to memorize almost every settlement¡¯s name and location.


    And this was not all. He knew the discrete but useful areas of most of those towns or cities as well!


    Even someone like Cyril, who was with him almost all day and every day, had to take help from the map to figure out where he was.


    ¡°That way? Hm... Oh! There should be Shawell city there at around twenty minutes distance from here,¡± Mark replied after looking around himself.


    Yet again, he knew exactly the name of the city and how long it would take from there and everything. He was like a living and breathing map of this area.


    ¡°Anything interesting there?¡± Ozul inquired. At the end of the day, it all depended on his mood.


    ¡°Oh well, there couldn¡¯t be anything interesting that you might find interesting in that city,¡± Mark replied, hinting at Ozul¡¯s cultivation base.


    As the duo thought that Ozul was a Rank-9 Mage, they also assumed that he was way older than he looked. He could probably be hundreds of years old, and they would never know since it could be just a simple technique of such old monsters.


    So he concluded that nothing could interest an old monster like him in a small city that wasn¡¯t even mentioned in bold letters on the map.


    ¡°Although, it is a city with a decent size,¡± Mark added before he backed away with Cyril following him.


    ¡®Hmm... whatever,¡¯ Ozul thought as he shrugged. Three weeks just looking at the trees had also bored him a little.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just stop at onest city before we arrive then...¡± Ozul said before changing his direction towards this Shawell city as the others following him like some ducklings followed their mother.

 Chapter 166

    Chapter 166: In the alley.


    Twenty minutester, the group arrived in the city with the duo again changing into their respective disguise and ra putting on the veil.


    Ozul already had the conical hat on top as they walked through the streets.


    This Shawell city was prospering as they could see from the bustling of the crowd everywhere.


    Unlike before, Ozul¡¯s conical hat and ra¡¯s veil attracted a couple of eyes towards them. The previous towns or cities had many people who did not want their identities revealed, so the locals did not pay much attention to them.


    However, ra¡¯s veil and expensive-looking clothes made some assume that she could be a richdy of a noble house. Cyril and Mark disguising themselves into two burly men certainly did not help the situation either.


    The duo immediately understood the misunderstanding they caused by their appearance. Since others had already assumed so, they acted their part by ring at anyone who looked their way.


    Everyone was quickly too scared to look stare anymore at the young miss after that.


    .....


    There were a couple of city guards passing by, but luckily, they did not stop them for asking any questions. After giving them a simple but curious nce, they walked by them without any inquiries.


    ¡°Do you know of any hotel here?¡± Ozul asked as Mark nodded his head after giving it some thought.


    Naturally, there were just too many ces in his mind. So even he had to think for a while before he remembered a ce.


    ¡°Lead the way,¡± Ozul said as Mark began to lead the group through the city.


    Along the way, they saw how the city was flourishing. Ozul credited it to the geographical location of the city being so close to the Neutral Lands.


    However, such a ce would have normally been awless city if the City Lord was notpetent enough.


    ¡°Who has the jurisdiction over here?¡± Ozul inquired.


    ¡°The cities all around the Neutral Lands have different powers governing them. As far as I remember, this city should be directly under an official of the Leonhard Dynasty,¡± Mark exined.


    ¡®Leonhard Dynasty...¡¯ Ozul had naturally heard of it.


    The Leonhard Dynasty had a history of almost a thousand years, ruling a significant part of the continent. However, it was almost on the other corner from the Silverbird Kingdom.


    It was said that the Dynasty had the backing of a Rank-10 Mage who was actually the person who had set the foundation of it a thousand years ago.


    With such a powerful individual supporting it, there weren¡¯t many who went against the Leonhard Dynasty.


    At once, Ozul realized why this city was so thriving. Under the iron fist of the Dynasty, who would dare to care trouble here?


    Under Mark¡¯s lead, they passed by many famous ces such as first-rate restaurants and gambling houses.


    Since they could only walk among the crowd, it took them another twenty or so minutes before they arrived before a dark alleyway.


    ¡°Uhm... If I remember correctly, it should be in this alley,¡± Mark said, a little unsure of his memory.


    He was uncertain only because he remembered many of such alleyways in different cities. He was doubtful if what he remembered was in some other city.


    ¡°What¡¯s that? Do I hear uncertainty?¡± Cyril teased from the side.


    ¡°Shut up. These dark alleys all look the same,¡± Mark rebuked.


    Ignoring their banter, Ozul stepped in the dark as ra followed right behind him.


    There weren¡¯t many people around this part of the city, and Ozul almost thought that Mark had indeed made a mistake this time. But he changed his mind after he focused on his surroundings.


    There was indeed a small hotel in this dark alleyway devoid of any life.


    They did not have to find it since only a single building in this alley had torches lit up at its entrance.


    Though the light was dim, it was enough for people to notice the building. Ozul and ra walked towards it as the duo hurriedly followed behind after noticing their absence.


    An old man sat behind the counter with a newspaper in his hand. Looking at his appearance, ra even wondered how he was still living.


    Ozul was about to ask for a room when Mark said, ¡°We can just take the keys from there. This old man is useless.¡±


    Mark pointed towards the row of keys hung on the wall with hooks that each had a room number written above it.


    Ozul did not question the reasons and just took a random key before walking away to find the room with that number.


    ra also did the same before walking away. When it came to the duo, Mark left the appropriate price on the counter before taking a key for himself and Cyril.


    When they walked away, the old man looked away from his newspapers towards them and grunted something iprehensible before shifting his focus back to the task at hand.


    The room that Ozul entered had a big window that opened to the other side of the alley. He looked outside only to see almost an identical alleyway to this one.


    The tall buildings¡¯ shadow did not let any light into the area, so everything was mostly dark.


    Such a ce was quite to his liking since there was no direct sunlight in the room through the window.


    Satisfied, he was about to go to bed when his ears perched up as he sensed something outside the room.


    He walked to the window and opened it only to notice a man running in the alley while holding a small wooden box to his chest.


    The man wore a hat, so Ozul could not see the expressions on his face. However, he did not need to see his expressions to notice how flustered this man was.


    His whole body was sweating as he took deep breaths when he stopped behind the edge of a building. It looked like he was trying to hide from someone who was following him.


    And from the looks of it, the person pursuing this man was probably after that wooden box in the man¡¯s hands.


    Ozul was about to close the window and go back to his bed when he felt someone else entering the scene.


    From the direction that the man hade from, three men fully dressed in ck clothes appeared. Although Ozul was quite far away from them, he could easily hear them talking because of how quiet the area was.


    ¡°Are you sure he came this way?¡± One of the men asked. Ozul sensed that all three of them were Rank-5 Mages, but the man in the middle was at End Stage while the other two were in the Middle Stage.


    ¡°Yes, Boss! This alley should be a dead end ording to the map,¡± another man replied.


    ¡°You! Keep watch behind our backs,¡± the man in the middle ordered as one of them turned around. The other two slowly advanced with their attention focused on the surroundings.


    Ozul observed as the man holding onto the wooden box was anxiously looking for a ce to hide, but he could not find anything. If this kept on, it wouldn¡¯t be long before he was found out.


    Although he could not find anything, the man knew that he had to do something about his situation before it was toote. Just as the men were getting close to his location, he tried to jump on the balcony of a building.


    He made a stupid mistake in a hurry as a ss bottle on the ground was knocked over by his feet.


    With the pin-drop silence in the alleyway, the sound of the ss hitting the floor sounded like drums beating.


    The two men immediately lept towards the man who had no choice but to meet their attack head-on; otherwise, he would suffer a direct blow.


    The man was also an End stage Rank-5 Mage. But it was one against two, so the oue was easily predictable.


    The man was sent rolling down on the ground, but his grip only tightened around the wooden box.


    ¡°Handover the box now, and I might show some mercy,¡± said one of the men.


    ¡°You won¡¯t have it!¡± the man spat while slowly raising his body from the ground. It seemed that he was really determined not to give up the box.


    ¡°This was yourst chance, you maggot!¡± the man in ck said before gesturing towards the other two.


    The guy with the wooden box had yet to catch his breath when the three ganged up on him. The man was no genius who could win against three people around the same strength as him, so he stood no chance whatsoever.


    Under Ozul¡¯s curious eyes, the man was beaten until he had no strength left even to hold himself up anymore. He fell to the ground as the box rolled to the side.


    Although the three had defeated him, it wasn¡¯t easy for them. They were now breathing heavily as one of them picked up the box.


    It was at this moment when one man suddenly noticed Ozul looking down at them through the window.


    ¡°Boss! Look there!¡± the man shouted as the Mage, who now held the wooden box, looked up where the man was pointing at.


    As he realized that someone had witnessed everything, the leader ordered, ¡°Finish him off. I don¡¯t sense anything from him.¡±


    Hearing the orders, the man did not hesitate before rushing towards Ozul.


    ¡®Hmm? Oh well, they spare me the effort to get to them first,¡¯ Ozul thought before he jumped out of the big window.

 Chapter 167

    Chapter 167: Four parts.


    The two men rushing towards Ozul had no idea of his strength. In their eyes, he was just an unlucky bystander who they had to dispose of now that he had seen what they were doing.


    Their leader was inspecting the wooden box without paying any attention. There was no need to since it was just an ordinary task for them.


    *Thud...*


    However, he could not help but look behind when he heard two bodies fall to the ground instead of one.


    ¡°Wha-¡± Before he could even say something, Ozul swept the ck de, and the man was silenced forever.


    *Thud*


    His body fell to the ground as Ozul made his way towards him to pick up the box.


    .....


    They were just three Rank-5 Mages. He did not even waste his words on them before instantly finishing them off.


    As he picked up the wooden box, Ozul realized that there might be other people together with these three as well, so he went back to his room through the window.


    Leaving the dead bodies in the alleyway, probably no one will find them since many stray dogs and cats are ready to pounce on some extra food. Even if someone did stumble on the rotting corpses, he would be long gone from here by then.


    Closing the window, he sat down on the bed and examined the box in his hands. It was made up of ebony wood and only a palm long.


    He opened it and found a small branch that suddenly released a dense whiff of Mana. The small and weak looking branch had only five leaves-two on each side and one in the middle.


    Ozul could sense an even denser Mana oozing out from those leaves as he observed them. After a while, he closed off the box again to stop the Mana from being released.


    He had realized what this branch was at first nce. These were called the Harmony Leaves used to cure one of the most lethal poisons on the continent. Almost anyone who knew about these would pay a fortune just for a single leaf.


    Ozul knew about this since it was only recently when he had started reading the book, and this herb was properly discussed in it. If it wasn¡¯t for him reading that book, he might have had to consult a professional.


    ¡®This was rather unexpected,¡¯ Ozul thought since there was almost no information about where these Harmony Leaves grew at. He nned to exchange it at some auction house.


    He did not have any use for it, so he ced the wooden box on the table beside his bed. The box was probably enchanted since it did not let even a tiny bit of Mana out of it.


    He went back to the bed and closed his eyes, not even bothering to do anything about the bodies outside.


    ¡ª¡ª


    This was their final stop before the Neutral Lands. So, the group left early in the morning.


    Before they left the hotel, Ozul scanned the area and noticed that there was no one around. As he had expected, thepanions of the three hade following them as well. However, they only took the bodies and left to search for the culprit all around the city.


    They did not think that the person who killed them would be so fearless to keep around.


    However, he did not care about them finding him since they wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything anyway.


    Together with the group, he left the city not too long after.


    Ozul nced at ra, who lookedpletely different from when she was with her maid and her bodyguard. Also, she had used up all her spare clothes, and her current dress was thest she had.


    It seemed that it was her first time taking care of herself. ra did not look so cheerful either. She wanted to get back to her home as soon as possible.


    On the other hand, Cyril and Mark were exactly the same when they had joined. It was usual for them to travel long distances. If it were not for ra, they wouldn¡¯t have needed to slow down their speed so much either. At most, it would have taken them a couple of days to reach the Lands.


    They did not mind spending a month here since the Mage had more tolerance the higher they advanced.


    ¡®Another week to get to the Neutral Lands,¡¯ Ozul¡¯s thoughts wandered to everything he knew about their destination.


    As the name implied, thesends did not have any definite ruler. Although called neutral, there was everything but peace in it.


    He remembered what Count Oliver had exined to them about this ce.


    . . .


    *shback start.*


    ¡°You wanted to learn about the continent? Perfect! I have the general map from my father as well!¡± Oliver eximed with excitement. He would not lose this opportunity to teach something to Ozul and Raven, leaving a good impression.


    He ordered Albert, who went to his office and brought an old map and a little tattered map.


    Albert spread the map on the square table. With a little wave of his hand, the dust disappeared as Oliver, Ozul, and Raven stood around the table.


    ¡°So, this is our continent?¡± Raven muttered curiously. Oliver nodded while looking at the map as well.


    It was not very detailed and only had a general outline around the whole drynd.


    Even when not detailed, the map had a few very distinctive ces marked with darker colors. First of all, their Silverbird Kingdom was marked on the upper right portion of the map.


    Four irregr lines spread through thend, dividing it into four giant chunks. These chunks were still connected, but those lines indicated something that Raven and ze did not understand.


    In the middle, those lines did not meet directly. Instead, another chunk of a circrnd was marked in the middle. Those lines met together with that circr piece ofnd.


    ¡°Will you start exining already?¡± Raven urged when she noticed that Oliver was looking at the map in a daze.


    *Cough.*


    ¡°Forgive my rudeness. As you can see, this is our continent, Egon.¡± Oliver started by introducing the name of their Maind.


    Ozul and Raven nodded, looking at him in a bored manner.


    ¡°Okay, okay. I will hurry up. Look, here is our kingdom. And you might be thinking what these lines indicate...¡± Oliver said, pointing at the lines which divided the continent into four almost equal parts.


    Again, the duo nodded.


    ¡°There are many things not mentioned on this old map. However, these lines are not just something on the map. These are actually the continent¡¯s four such areas where almost no one dares to pass through,¡± Oliver exined, probably thinking about the time when he was taught these things from the distant look in his eyes.


    ¡°Why?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s mostly because these ces are too dangerous. Some are even impossible to travel through unless one is a Rank-8 Mage. These four areas, for some odd reason, stretch from this circrnd till the other ends of our continent,¡± Oliver trailed his finger over one of the lines.


    The reason for the Rank-8 Mages to be able to move across these areas was because of their ability to fly.


    ¡°Of course, there are other ces even more dangerous than these four areas. However, these are marked because only four of them stretch so long that they divide the whole continent into four parts,¡± Oliver said, emphasizing the division caused by those areas.


    ¡°What about this circr area?¡± Raven asked.


    ¡°I was getting to that. This ce has a lot of importance all over the Maind. Because of the separation caused by those four areas, this middle area is the only ce that connects all four parts of the continent.¡± Oliver exined.


    ¡°Just from this little information, I think you understand the importance of this piece ofnd,¡± Oliver said as the duo nodded.


    ¡°There have been a lot of wars for supremacy over thisnd, but no one has ever managed to seed. After hundreds of years of continuous wars and schemes, this area was named the Neutral Lands.¡± Oliver said, a little apprehensive of the stories he had heard about this ce.


    ¡°What about the political situation then?¡± Raven inquired.


    ¡°As I said before, there is no one who could absolutely gain control of the area. However, many big powers from all over the Maind always have their eyes on this ce. After so many wars, people started to realize that it would not get them anywhere, so all who had the ability, chose smaller territories to rule instead,¡±


    ¡°Of course, they have not stopped wanting to take control over it, but there is no more open bloodshed. Since wars only caused every side to lose their resources, they have now limited themselves to schemes only,¡± Oliver described.


    ¡°And... which are the most prominent groups there?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°As I said before, powers from all over the world have set up their base in the Neutral Lands. There is the Church, Leonhard Dynasty, Ashins Family, and even the Sects! In short, a group is not even considered to be powerful enough if they haven¡¯t ever tried to acquire a piece of this sweet pie,¡± Oliver named a few of the most powerful groups all around the Maind.


    ¡°What about the Silverbird Kingdom? Isn¡¯t Emperor Luthien also a Rank-9 Mage?¡± Raven asked. She was curious if everyone coveted the Neutral Lands, then why someone like the Emperor would remain in this kingdom.


    ¡°Well, those are national secrets. Even I am not aware of them, haha...¡± Oliver gave an awkward chuckle.


    *shback end.*

 Chapter 168

    Chapter 168: The Neutral Lands.


    A week passed just like that, and the group neared a barren area.


    The terrain suddenly changed, and there were no trees or any sort of greenery for that matter anywhere in sight.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Ozul asked. One second they were surrounded by vegetation, and the next second, there was just rocky ground.


    Although Cyril and Mark were surprised that he was not aware of it, Mark was quick in his reply, ¡°These are the deste borders of the Neutral Lands.¡±


    ¡®Deste borders? Is it the outline of the Neutral Lands on the map?¡¯ Ozul thought. From the name and the map he had seen, it seemed to be the case.


    ¡°It would take at most a few hours with our current speed,¡± Mark added before Ozul nodded his head in understanding.


    From what he understood, this barrennd acted as the natural border that separated the Neutral Lands from the rest. In the map, Ozul figured that this was the line stretched around to form a circrnd.


    .....


    Mark and Cyril were curious about how Ozul did not know his way around the Neutral Lands even after being a Rank-9 Mage. However, they did not voice out their thoughts since that coulde out as rude, and they were unwilling to lose their lives over such a matter.


    Ozul let Mark lead the way. He curiously looked around to find something other than the rocky bed, but there was nothing except the asional wind blowing.


    ¡°So, there is absolutely nothing in these... Deste borders?¡± Ozul inquired. It looked quite unnatural. You could see one or two cactuses even in a desert, but there was only an unevennd here.


    ¡°People have dispatched many groups to venture out here in search of something that could exin this oddity, but there has yet to be any certain proof of this being unnatural,¡± Cyril replied. Surprisingly, he sounded passionate about exining this to him.


    ¡°But we still think that thisnd was not like this before. We have even tried to grow vegetation on thisnd, but this ground seems to bepletely dead. It just would not aid the nts to grow at all!...¡± Cyril seemingly forgot that no one had asked so many details from him.


    However, the others did not have anything else to do either, so no one stopped him, and he kept on.


    A few hours passed, and the terrain returned to normal. Just like before, there was a clear line between the rocky ground and the vegetation that stretched as far as their line of sight reached.


    Stepping on the other side, Ozul realized that they were now in the Neutral Lands, the middlemost domain of the entire Maind.


    The only thing that made him feel something different was the Mana in the air. It felt like a totally different environment.


    ¡°Is this it?¡± Ozul softly asked.


    ¡°Yes. We are now in the Neutral Lands,¡± Mark replied without stopping. The group continued to advance.


    ¡°Although we are in the Neutral Lands, this area is the most dangerous,¡± Mark added in a serious tone.


    ¡°Why?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°All the giant organizations keep watch on the Deste borders. Unless we reach the Neutral City, expect some rats toe after us,¡± Cyril answered with a scowl on his face.


    However, he noticed Ozul tilting his head when he had mentioned the Neutral City and figured that he might not know about it either.


    Without waiting for him to ask, he exined, ¡°If you consider the Neutral Lands as a kingdom, then the Neutral City would be something like its Capital. Once in the city, a person would not have to worry about his life. Most enter the Lands, but never reach the city...¡±


    Ozul raised his brows as he understood the implications.


    Inside the city, every organization had set up their headquarters. However, they could not do anything openly that might implicate them.


    Just a single mistake, and the other organizations would not lose the opportunity to eliminate one of theirpetitors.


    Many organizations were strong enough to shake the whole continent. But they all had to behave when they were in the Neutral City.


    ¡°Since they can¡¯t act in the City, this ce is the perfect time for them to strike their enemies,¡± Mark exined before he momentarily paused.


    ¡°Where... do you wish to go?¡± Mark asked hesitatingly. He only realized it now that he hadn¡¯t asked about his opinion and was going to lead them to their headquarters directly.


    Ozul did not directly answer his question and asked, ¡°Where is your headquarters?¡±


    ¡°In the Neutral City,¡± Mark hurriedly replied.


    Ozul turned to look at ra, who immediately understood his question. She replied, ¡°The Church is there in the Neutral City as well.¡±


    Getting his answer, Mark did not need any confirmation and nodded his head before taking the lead.


    They hadn¡¯t run a few meters before Mark and Cyril suddenly paused. They sensed a group of men approaching them from the front. To their side, Ozul¡¯s expression remained unchanged. He had sensed them long ago, but they were not strong enough to make him pay any heed.


    ¡°I guess you have some wellwishers?¡± Cyril looked towards ra.


    Both he and Mark were assassins, and almost no one knew their faces, and it was Ozul¡¯s first time in the Lands. So, those individuals could only being after her.


    Ozul noticed that ra was not flustered. It seemed like she was rather familiar with simr situations.


    A few momentster, the group was surrounded by some men with roguish appearances.


    ¡°Khahah! It really is the princess of the Albens Family, ra Albens!¡± One of the menughed as he stepped forward.


    Ozul, at one nce, knew that this man was the leader since he was the only Rank-7 Mage in the entire group. Everyone ranged from Rank-4 to Rank-6.


    ¡°Haha! Bringing her head back at the base would surely bring every Elder¡¯s attention to me!¡± The man with a sickly appearance againughed. The veil on ra¡¯s face did not stop his men from figuring her identity because of their enchanted equipment.


    But just then, he stopped gloating and suspiciously looked at the three men surrounding ra. Although he could not sense anything from them, it was obvious that they were using some treasure to hide their strength.


    ¡°You! Who are you!?¡± the man asked loudly.


    He was confident in his strength, but the unknown made him hesitate. Albeit, just a little.


    ¡°Nevermind that. I am feeling generous today. Just withdraw quietly, and I will pretend that I did not see you,¡± He was not sure how strong the three were. So he proposed this idea to avoid any serious damage on his side if there turned out to be even one Rank-7 among them.


    In any case, he was not losing anything even if they turned out to be weak. Only ra was valuable in his eyes.


    Ozul, Cyril, and Mark did not move even an inch from their positions and only looked at the arrogant man with cold eyes.


    ¡°...This is yourst chance!¡± The man shouted once again. He realized that if the men did not move, it meant that they were strong enough to hold their ground against him.


    In the excitement of this chance to kill ra and earn hefty rewards, the thought of these three men being stronger than him did not once cross his mind. His overconfidence in his strength did not help this situation either.


    The man was about to order his men to get into formation for a battle when a giant pir of scorching fire rose from the ground.


    The fire engulfed their whole group, but suddenly ayer of water arose from the sides of the fire pir. The water contained the fire before it spread anywhere else or created amotion.


    ¡°We are assassins. Stop going over the board all the time!¡± Mark rebuked Cyril, who shrugged in response.


    ¡°Come on! I knew you would contain the fire.¡±


    ¡°Whatever...¡±


    As the water and fire disappeared, it did not leave any remains of the group. In just a few seconds, everything had turned to ashes.


    This was the disparity between a Rank-8 Mage and those below it. There was only a difference of one rank between Rank-7 and that, but there was noparison in power. If one was an adult using lethal attacks, the other seemed like a kid who could only perform small tricks.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Ozul had to remind the duo to stop their bickering. Both of them coughed embarrassedly before Mark started leading again.


    For them, this small event held no importance. They quickly discarded it from their mind. However, this one interruption wasn¡¯t the only annoyance they had to face.


    They had just taken a few more steps before another such group blocked their path. The strongest in such groups only consisted of Rank-7 since it wasn¡¯t easy to cultivate men above that power level.


    Cyril even started to doubt that his earlier spell might really have attracted all of these bugs.


    After destroying the fourth such group, the duo had just epted that it would be like this until they reached the City. But just at this moment, ra realized something.


    ¡°...uhh... I should¡¯ve activated this earlier,¡± She muttered to herself as she looked at the silver bracelet on her wrist.


    The men turned around to look at her as she awkwardly scratched the back of her head.


    She activated the bracelet as ayer of Mana covered her. Ozul did not feel any different from before, but it worked wonders since there weren¡¯t more of those groups blocking their way after that.

 Chapter 169

    Chapter 169: The Neutral City.


    The rest of the journey went without a hitch. No group tried to stop them on their way anymore after ra had activated her artifact.


    Half a day hadn¡¯t passed when Ozul began to feel the Mana spike in the air.


    As usual, Cyril and Mark changed their disguise again. It meant that they were reaching the city. And as expected, the outline of the city started to appear in their sight.


    Unlike before, there weren¡¯t any ordinary buildings in sight. No matter which direction Ozul looked towards, he could only see everything far more expensive and fancier than usual.


    From afar, he could not see the end of the city. The city was huge, considerably bigger than he expected. However, it made sense since many of the powerhouses had their headquarters in a single city.


    As the group got closer to the city, Ozul began to sense strong people all around. Though not anyone who could threaten him.


    They were only strongpared to the usual people.


    .....


    At first nce, it only felt like entering a prospering city with a bustling atmosphere. However, anyone would be struck with fear when they realize how many Mages roamed the streets like ordinary people.


    The peace in the city was maintained on a really fragile concept of fear and politics. No one wanted to make the first move since that person would be eliminated without any second chances.


    Such a system had maintained peace for so long that people had already epted not to cause any trouble while being in the city.


    All the top ns and the organizations had realized this, but there was just no one to tip the scale of power in their favor and get everyone else to ept them as the general ruler.


    No one was willing to back down, which resulted in this current situation.


    However, unlike what Ozul had expected, there was no tension in the atmosphere as they walked around the city. It was just like any other settlement, but one with strong people everywhere mixed within the crowd.


    Many were enjoying themselves in entertainment, while others were busy doing their personal work. No one had any constant fear of getting themselves killed at any moment.


    ¡®People really have gottenfortable after all that time...¡¯ Ozul thought in interest. Such a delicate order could crumble any moment, but no one seemed to be caring about that in here.


    As time passed, people had subconsciously started to believe that there will never be anyone willing to be the first one.


    Even an ordinary person could tell how ridiculous this arrangement sounded.


    Unlike before, the people on the streets did not even look in their way out of curiosity. This was the Neutral City. Everyone was naturally aware that people from all around the Maind could be here.


    There were no city guards or any such authorities keeping watch around the city, but no one dared to break thew anyway.


    ¡°How long will it take to arrive at the Church?¡± Ozul asked, a little bored. It was almost about to get dark, so he only had one thing in his mind right now, and that was to find a ce to sleep tonight.


    Understanding his impatience, ra wanted to say that they would arrive soon, but she knew that it might take an hour or two, and he would not like that.


    ¡°It would take a little more time,¡± Mark replied before she could say anything.


    ¡°Hmm? Then let¡¯s just do that tomorrow. Find a hotel,¡± There was no one stopping him from changing his decision otherwise anyway.


    Mark led them to the first hotel that he saw near them. It had a lion¡¯s emblem drawn on the top to symbolize that this property belonged to the Leonhard Dynasty.


    Such was the case everywhere in this Neutral City. The powerful organizations owned almost everything that was top notch.


    This hotel looked quite fancy from the outside as well. However, Ozul would not have entered if there weren¡¯t a suitable environment. A proper receptionist and a manager stood behind the counter, who both wore fancy and expensive uniforms.


    They warmly weed the group and began to ask for their requirements for the room.


    ¡°It would be a total for 1 Gold Coin for one night stay for the four of you,¡± the manager said. Although Ozul had almost never cared about paying, he did realize how high the price was for just one night¡¯s stay.


    One Gold Coin consisted of a hundred Silver Coins, and he remembered easily spending the entire day in a hotel using only a single Silver Coin.


    However, Mark did not ask any questions about the price and just tossed a Gold Coin at the counter before they each picked up the respective keys for their rooms.


    The receptionist and the manager gave them a slight bow and went back to their business.


    It seemed that such high prices weremon in the Neutral City from Mark¡¯s casual gesture.


    Ozul arrived at his room on the second floor. When he opened the door, the spacious room came into his view.


    Unlike the hotel rooms before where dust was stuck on almost everything except for the bed, the room looked to be cleaned just recently. The floor was made out of tiles, so the lights were particrly shining all over the room.


    There was only a single bed ced in the middle with a table ced on the room¡¯s left side. There was a window that showed the outside scenery. People were busy walking down the streets.


    All in all, this room was worth its price. However, all of that fancy setting was exactly the thing that he did not want in his room.


    He only wanted a clean room and had a quiet atmosphere that would let him get some good sleep.


    He turned off the shining lights and put curtains over the window. Fortunately, the room did not allow any light to enter when the person inside did not want it to. The curtains were surprisingly enough to block any shes as well.


    Ozul quickly put everything in the back of his mind and went to sleep.


    In another room, ra was a little downcast. She wanted to reunite with her family as soon as possible and tell them all about Venessa and Hanry as soon as possible. There were also her questions about everything that Ozul had said to her, but it seemed that she would have to wait another day.


    On the other hand, Mark and Cyril sat in a room together again. They did not get out of their disguises just because they were in a room either.


    Cyril took a big gulp from his never-ending jar of wine before saying, ¡°Why did you lie? You know, these people are unpredictable. What if he gets angry and decides to take it out on us?!¡±


    ¡°Hm? What are you talking about?¡± Mark asked, a little absentminded.


    ¡°I am talking about earlier today. You told him that the headquarters are in the City!¡± Cyril said with a little irritation.


    ¡°Oh! You are talking about that. I did not have any choice... Even you can see that the girl is not together with him, so I could not tell the location in front of her. Showing him the way to our base is already going to give us quite a bit of headache. Imagine it leaking to the Church of Light as well,¡± Mark exined with a sigh.


    ¡°... The boss would kill us,¡± Cyril said as Mark nervously nodded. Both of them shivered a little while thinking of what their punishment would be when they went back.


    *Sigh.*


    ¡°Why is every Rank-9 Mage so difficult to deal with!?¡± Cyril spat with annoyance. It was always nerve-wracking to talk with such a strong individual. It felt like you were walking on a tightrope with thousands of sharp des ced on the ground below you.


    One wrong step and you might end up losing your life.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, though. That person definitely realized that I was lying and did not make things difficult for me on the spot,¡± Mark reassured him.


    ¡°Oh? How can you be so sure? We are talking about a Rank-9 individual, remember? How can someone like that be a little understanding?!¡± Cyril sarcastically remarked.


    ¡°... I don¡¯t know. Although I can never understand anything from his vacant eyes staring at me, I felt like it had wavered just a slight bit when I said that the headquarters were in the City. It just gave me the feeling as if... he knew that I was lying?¡± Mark said, unsure of his own guess.


    ¡°Hmm... Now that I think about it, this person is really strange. Unlike the other Rank-9 Mages, I have yet to see him put on some airs. Not to mention, just how much rest does he want!?¡± Cyrilmented.


    No matter how much he thought about it, it did not sit well with him that a Rank-9 individual wanted to rest so much. In case of him, he had to put extra efforts to sleep after such a short interval of time instead!


    There were many odd things about Ozul, which he wanted to ask but could not do so, fearing that it might be hisst day to ask such a personal question.


    There was also the question about why they could not sense any Mana fluctuations from him even when he used the Magical Spells. However, they assumed that it was just something they would understand only when they reached the Rank-9 threshold.

 Chapter 170

    Chapter 170: Church of Light.


    The next day, the group got out of their rooms early.


    Since it was early in the morning, Ozul was alone sitting in the lounge, looking outside the window.


    When ra came down from her room, she had to control herself not to stand there in a daze after seeing him with a thoughtful look on his face. Even with the tension between them, she could not stop herself from looking at him in that way.


    ¡®If only sunlight shined on his face at this moment, it would be perfect!¡¯ ra thought to herself.


    However, she quickly shook those thoughts away. For some odd reason, Ozul would always put on his hat whenever there was sunlight.


    Ozul suddenly turned his head to look in her way as she jumped in fright. Though it soon proved to be embarrassing since he wasn¡¯t specifically looking at her. Instead, he turned around because of Cyril and Mark behind her.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Mark asked, but did not expect any answers, so immediately left the hotel as the others followed right after.


    .....


    Ozul was nning to drop off ra at the Church before heading to the duo¡¯s organization.


    However, they had just gotten out of the hotel when Ozul sensed the familiar Mana around him. Turning his head around, he noticed that it was actually Raven and ze together with the rest of the people.


    Just as he had noticed them, the other group did the same.


    ¡°Ozul!¡±


    Raven ran and almost jumped at Ozul, but she stopped herself at thest moment. She could not hold herself back from smiling ear to ear. Ozul had no choice but to pat her head, making Raven think that the previous month was worth it.


    ¡°Young miss!¡±


    ¡°Venessa!¡±


    Venessa hurriedly ran to ra¡¯s side and checked her from head to toe. She was even crying as she kept ming herself.


    On the other hand, ra was trying to console her while grinning happily. She could not hold back her smile, knowing that Venessa was indeed alright, as Ozul had said. She was with her for as long as ra could remember, so Venessa was nothing less than a family to her.


    Ignoring theirmotion, ze calmly walked towards Ozul, and under Raven¡¯s dumbfounded eyes, he gave him a light hug before both of them nodded their heads. ze then calmly stood to the side.


    Raven could not help but regret hesitating to jump on Ozul after witnessing this. Meanwhile, ze tried his best to hold back hisugh since he had done it on purpose.


    Before Raven and ze could ask any questions, Rufus approached Ozul.


    ¡°As expected, you had already brought her here safely,¡± hemented before moving his gaze onto the two lean men standing behind Ozul.


    He could not help but feel something odd about them, but he could not put his finger on it.


    ¡°You had any doubts?¡± Raven asked with a smug smile on her face. She had been mostly quiet the whole month, but now she spoke as if she had a newfound strength.


    ¡°Haha... Of course not. But young man, we had to stop at almost every city beforeing here just to make sure!¡± Rufus said with augh. However, he wasn¡¯t at all happy about it.


    The previous month, they had kept on traveling without any rest at all. The group would stop at every city to make sure that Ozul and ra were not there, and only after making sure this not to be the case did they move on to the next city.


    Although these cities were not so different from regr towns, it was still a lot of hassle to search around every one of them. Not to mention, they had found no evidence of the duo ever visiting any of the cities, which put more pressure on Rufus.


    Not only did he have to search every city and town but also fast enough so they could quickly confirm if the duo really were ahead of them and not somewhere behind.


    And he would have to bear full responsibility if they really had left the duo far behind, stuck in some other mess.


    After all that, their group had just arrived at the Neutral City. Fortunately for Rufus, they were just going to take a little rest at a restaurant when they encountered Ozul and ra.


    It was one of the only things that improved his mood after his failed mission. One of his foremost tasks here was to deal a massive blow to whoever came to assassinate the convoy, but the situation turned out to beplicated, and both sides had almost equal losses instead.


    Thinking about his tasks, Rufus suddenly remembered what he was asked to do about Ozul.


    ¡°Cough... Since we are already here, let us visit the Church. Everyone will receive their rewards by them personally,¡± Rufus said in a way that seemed very casual.


    The few mercenaries remaining in the group immediately jumped in excitement. It had been months since they took this mission, and after all those sacrifices of theirrades, they were finally going to receive their payment.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ozul finally remembered why he had tagged along in this long trip in the first ce. It was to see what Emperor Luthien had nned for him personally.


    ¡®But I also have this thing on my hand,¡¯ Ozul knew that the leader of the organization could only be a Rank-9 Mage. It was just as important to deal with him as well.


    ¡°Alright,¡± In the end, Ozul agreed since there was no hurry to meet with that person either.


    Rufus was overjoyed. Even if he failed one of his tasks, the other one was easy and quiteplicated at the same time. He just had to keep watch on Ozul until they arrived at the Church.


    It was easy since he did not have to do anything. But it wasplicated because it would be more urate to say that he did not have any power to do anything. It all depended on Ozul¡¯s mood.


    And he was delighted since they were almost there, and Ozul had agreed to follow as well.


    And of course, Cyril and Mark behind Ozul had no problem with it either as they quietly followed behind the group.


    Raven was curious about the two lean men following behind Ozul, but she chose to keep quiet about it for now. She had many questions, but they could wait for now since it was neither the time nor the ce for it.


    Their group was quiterge, so a couple of gazesnded. However, these people were forced to avert their eyes when they felt the suffocating pressure from almost everyone in the group.


    They passed by almost every type of property. There were restaurants, houses, hotels, and almost everything that one could ever think of in the entire continent.


    Each property was owned by organizations renowned all over the Maind. Raven and ze looked at everything with interest.


    Half an hour passed before the group arrived in front of a spacious area.


    In the back, they could see the massive white building. Tens of people were walking in and out from the entrance. The ones who were entering had crestfallen expressions, while those who came out mostly had slightly better conditions.


    It was indeed the Church of Light that they had traveled for months to reach!


    Before the Church, there was also a giant water fountain that caused a cheerful atmosphere. Ozul felt the weird waves of Mana in the atmosphere.


    ¡®Probably some formations set up by the people...¡¯ Ozul thought before the group stopped at a little distance from the fountain.


    *Fuuu...*


    A lot of people released a sigh of relief. These past months were nothing less than torture for them.


    Just at this moment, a couple of middle-aged men with faces full of amiable smiles slowly walked out of the Church.


    It was almost as if they were specifically waiting for their group as they approached them.


    ¡°ra! Rufus! You guys finally arrived, haha,¡± the man in the middleughed heartily.


    ra smiled beautifully as Venessa and Hanry bowed their heads behind her. Meanwhile, Rufus nodded his head as well.


    ¡°How was your journey?¡± the man ignored everyone else as he asked ra.


    ¡°It was only so-so, Uncle Garth,¡± ra only gave a short and polite answer.


    ¡°Hmm, We will discuss itter. Your father has been expecting you for a few days now. Go and inform him about your arrival,¡± the man named Garth said as ra nodded and hurriedly walked away, followed by Venessa and Hanry.


    After that, Garth looked at Rufus with a smile on his face. Rufus also smiled in return as he gave him a bear hug, ¡°It¡¯s been years, Rufus!¡±


    ¡°Well, yes. But I am here, aren¡¯t I?¡± Rufusughed, dumbfounding his subordinates who had never seen this side of their leader before.


    ¡°That can be discussedter. Here, these are the mercenaries who expect their rewards,¡± Rufus said while pointing at the few remaining mercenaries in the group.


    ¡°Hmm? Only these pitiful numbers? Did something happen?¡± Garth asked. ording to his guess, there should have been nearing hundreds of mercenaries, so it was a wonder why there were only these few.


    ¡°Cough, We will talk about it, but this is Ozul,¡± Rufus introduced Ozul as Garth¡¯s eyes had a hidden gleam.


    ¡°So, this is the young man, huh...¡± Garth said out aloud before making his way towards Ozul.


    ¡°Haha! You can call me Garth. I am one of the High Priests in the Church,¡± Garth introduced himself while extending his hand towards Ozul.

 Chapter 171

    Chapter 171: Orita Town.


    Ozul did not immediately shake Garth¡¯s hand. He quietly observed this middle-aged man in front of him.


    He had sensed that the man was a Rank-8 Mage. And he remembered that the High Priest was actually a post only below the Bishop. It spoke volumes of how strong the Church was since there were quite a few High Priests in total. This meant that all of them could be Rank-8 Mages!


    However, Ozul¡¯s focus was not on that. Instead, he was thinking about what this man wanted with him.


    ¡®He knows? Hm...¡¯ Ozul could only reach such a conclusion since Garth showed extra enthusiasm towards him.


    But this single fact made him sure of a lot more possibilities. If the Emperor had really told the Church about him, then it could only mean that he had left everything for the Church to deal with!


    ¡®... Of course, they are allies. Indeed, the Silverbird Kingdom really hasn¡¯t been sitting back all this time.¡¯ Ozul concluded in his mind.


    Many of the big powers in the continent seemed to have not been taking any part in the struggle over the Neutral Lands, but the reality was actually quite the opposite. All those powerful organizations had instead allied themselves with the ones actively taking part in it.


    .....


    Anyways, after realizing what the Emperor was thinking, Ozul knew what these guys would want from him. And from the friendly smile on Garth¡¯s face hiding those ill intents, he understood that they would never ask for his cooperation first.


    ¡®Fine by me...¡¯ Ozul shrugged inside his mind. He did not mind teaching a few brain dead people their ce.


    It had been a few seconds while Ozul hadn¡¯t moved from his ce. It was quite awkward for Garth to pull his hand back after getting ignored.


    ¡°Ozul,¡± he simply said his name.


    The few men standing behind Garth showed displeasure on their faces.


    Noticing the atmosphere turning a little awkward, Garth heartilyughed again and spoke, ¡°So, it must have been a tiring journey-¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Ozul interrupted him in the middle of his sentence.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Garth looked at him, dumbfounded. Even the men standing behind him were stupefied.


    ¡®At least follow the basic courtesy!¡¯ they were cursing him in their mind.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t tiring. I took proper rest,¡± Ozul replied while keeping his face expressionless.


    ¡°Cough... It¡¯s fine. Follow him; he will take you to the treasury. You have all done a great service to the Church. On behalf of the whole Church, I would once again like to thank all of you. Of course, the payment will be separate, haha!¡± Garth quickly changed the topic.


    Even as a Rank-8 Mage, Garth kept up his image as the High priest and showed his kind side.


    Though Ozul knew that it wasn¡¯t the case as he felt those corrupting emotions bubbling inside Garth.


    ¡°She will take them,¡± Ozul gestured towards Raven, who followed behind the man that led the other mercenaries to the treasury. He also motioned towards ze, who hurriedly ran after Raven.


    At the same time, Rufus whispered something to his subordinates, who left the ce as well.


    After all the others left, silence descended around the area. Both disguised, Cyril and Mark stood quietly behind Ozul while Rufus and Garth stood opposite to them.


    Cyril and Mark were observing the two men standing opposite to them, while Garth only had his eyes fixed on Ozul.


    He and Rufus knew that there was something wrong about the two lean men standing behind Ozul, but they were not so important right now.


    Even when all four of them were Rank-8 Mages, Rufus and Garth could not gauge the duo¡¯s cultivation, which spoke volumes of their expertise in stealth.


    ¡°So... how long will you be staying here?¡± Garth asked, seemingly trying to dispel the awkwardness but with hidden motives.


    ¡°Depends,¡± Ozul replied.


    ¡°Depends? On what?¡± Garth asked confusedly.


    ¡°On you people,¡± Ozul again gave a brief reply, but this rmed Garth.


    ¡®Does he know? Hm... He probably does. But it wouldn¡¯t change anything now, heh.¡¯ Garth thought inside his mind while keeping a small smile on the outside.


    He was just about to continue their talk when Raven and ze came back. They had already received the payment and stored in their Spatial Rings.


    Ozul looked at Raven, who nodded her head.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go then,¡± he said before the group turned around, without minding Rufus and Garth.


    Garth kept up his smile even while watching them walk away. To his side, Rufus spoke, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you n to do with him, but I can only advise you to be careful.¡±


    ¡°No matter how I look at him, he feels dangerous.¡±


    Listening to his words, Garth¡¯s smile disappeared for the first time that he had made his appearance.


    ¡°I know, Rufus. He indeed is an oddball. But we wouldn¡¯t have gone to all those troubles if he was normal in the first ce,¡± Garth said with a serious face.


    To his side, Rufus could only shake his head with a sigh.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    Back to the group, they walked on the street with Raven asionally turning her head towards Cyril and Mark.


    She had been meaning to ask who they were for a while now, but only now she found the time. Just as she was about to say something, Ozul stopped walking, which caused others to pause as well.


    ¡°What happened?¡± ze asked. He turned his head to look at where Ozul was looking.


    There was a tall building with an extravagant entrance. Tens of people kept pouring in and out of it.


    A crescent shape carved on ck obsidian-like stone hung on the outside. However, they could not recognize any organization with that symbol.


    ¡°Both of you will stay here,¡± Ozul said as both Raven and ze immediately sprang from their spot.


    ¡°But we have learned our lesson! There won¡¯t be a second time, promise!¡± both of them shouted at the same time. They had just reunited after a whole month.


    ¡°I know, but I have something to do. Don¡¯t worry. I will be back. Both of you need some rest as well,¡± Ozul said, making Raven and ze look down at their appearance.


    They would have looked nothing less than some street beggars if it wasn¡¯t for their appearance!


    Under his persuasion, the duo had no other choice but to nod their heads reluctantly.


    ¡°Is it about these two?¡± Raven asked while pointing at Cyril and Mark.


    Ozul nodded his head before saying, ¡°Make sure you don¡¯t go anywhere far from here. It might take some time for me to return.¡±


    After saying that, Ozul quickly turned around and walked away, followed by Mark and Cyril.


    ¡®I won¡¯t be able to guarantee their safety while in front of a Rank-9 Mage,¡¯ Ozul knew that they were nowhere near the level to take care of themselves in this kind of ce.


    ¡°Lead the way,¡± Ozul said as Mark nodded his head before they increased their pace.


    Their speed slowly increased to the point where they started to run, and after a few minutes, average humans couldn¡¯t even see a shadow of them pass by.


    With no one to hold them back anymore, the three increased their speed to an inhumane level.


    A few momentster, they appeared at the far ends of the city, stopping on top of a thick tree.


    ¡°So, where is the headquarters?¡± Ozul asked as Mark released a sigh of relief. He could finally rest easy that Ozul really did know that he lied before.


    ¡°It would take us around half an hour to the northwest,¡± Mark replied.


    Ozul nodded his head, and the group again disappeared from the tree, moving towards that direction.


    Half an hourter, they arrived near a settlement. It looked like a town. Ozul wasn¡¯t surprised to find another settlement in the Neutral Lands other than the Neutral City since it was a vast ce.


    ¡°This is one of the nearest towns to the Neutral City. People call it Orita town,¡± Mark introduced the settlement.


    ¡°Here is your organization?¡± Ozul did not care about the town. He was here to talk with the person running this assassination agency.


    ¡°Yes... and well, almost every organization knows about this ce. I lied before that girl about this location since it would probably reveal our identity,¡± Mark confirmed as he finally exined himself, not being able to hold back anymore.


    As expected, Ozul did not care about that. For all he knew, these people hadn¡¯t once shown their true appearance at all.


    Even the one which they showed the very first time was their disguise!


    However, he hadn¡¯t pointed it out or forced them to take off the disguise because he did not have much enthusiasm for seeing their real appearance.


    They entered the town with the duo putting on a hat just to blend in with the surrounding people. Almost everyone in the town had their faces covered up. It seemed that this ce was quite famous for shady dealings.


    ¡°I assume that all of this is because of your... Order of Dusk?¡± Ozul had to think for a while before he remembered the name of their organization.


    ¡°Ah, yes. As I said, many are familiar with this ce. Though we may be assassins, we can¡¯t take on the missions if we are not famous enough to receive the requests in the first ce.¡± Mark exined.


    ¡°And not to boast, but the Order of Dusk is the most powerful assassination agency on the continent!¡± Cyril added before he lifted his head in pride.

 Chapter 172

    Chapter 172: Alpha ck!


    Ozul ignored Cyril¡¯s rambling on how and why there is no assassin¡¯s agency better than the Order of Dusk.


    ¡°Show the way,¡± Ozul said to Mark, who began to lead the way again.


    As they passed by the streets, Ozul sensed people of various power levels. This town had be a ce specifically regted for all the shady business. No one minded each other¡¯s presence and hurriedly moved about for their work.


    Mark brought them to the other end of the town. There was a tall building on a busy street, but there was only a shabby counter at the front entrance.


    Ozul saw no one entering the building, but some people asionally passed by the counter. Those few only did a little chit chat with the man standing behind the bar in shadow before walking away in a hurry.


    ¡°Is this it?¡± Ozul pointed towards it, but Mark made a difficult expression on his face.


    ¡°Y-yeah... kind of,¡±


    .....


    Ozul nodded his head in understanding. Mark was probably not allowed to tell so much, but he wasn¡¯t keen on knowing this either, so he let it go.


    The trio walked towards the counter before Mark and Cyril approached the counter.


    The man behind the counter had his face hidden because of the shadow, but it wasn¡¯t hard for the trio to see his expressionless face, smoking.


    Cyril and Mark showed the tattoo hidden on their neck to the man, who stopped smoking, and hurriedly stood up straight.


    ¡°Cough, Any orders, sir?¡± the man asked after clearing his voice.


    ¡°Signal for protocol 1, and inform about arrival with a guest,¡± Cyril said in a deep voice. His demeanor waspletely different from before.


    This was the change in his attitude before a Rank-9 Mage and someone else.


    ¡°... I ced the signal, anything else?¡± the man gulped before he gave an affirmation.


    The duo walked away without answering. The man behind the counter, however, did not feel insulted about it. He was just happy that he had survived talking with these two monsters just now.


    After doing the talk in codes, Mark led Ozul to the center of the town.


    Even when almost every street of the town was crowded, this area was surprisingly a little empty. Only a few would randomly stumble upon this ce before quickly walking away.


    Mark stopped in front of a shabby property. Ozul stopped behind him, letting him do whatever he wanted to. They waited for a couple of seconds, staring at the empty air.


    Though he did sense something unusual, he could not quite put his finger on it.


    But in the next second, he got his answer as suddenly something shook in the air. He could see a glimpse of something like a tall building in the air, but it was only for a moment before it turned back to the clear sky.


    After it ended, Ozul did not have to test if what he saw was true or not since they walked forward. It was at this point when he could finally see the abnormality.


    A tall building came into his view in the ce of the previous shabby single-story one. Ozul realized that it was probably the work of some advanced formations since even he had been deceived with this.


    ¡®I should study more about these formations...¡¯ Ozul decided to search for the formations in the future as well.


    There weren¡¯t many people who could cause him trouble, but these simple formations that he ignored before now seemed to be quite crafty.


    There was this huge tower built in the dead center of the town, and no one was aware of it! This formation was indeed useful.


    Ozul looked at the stylish interior, which was made with abination of ck and red polished stone.


    Mark and Cyril walked inside as Ozul followed right after.


    As they walked inside, Ozul saw men and women alike in a whole different atmosphere. This ground floor seemed to be the lounge of sorts as many of them were chilling around as well.


    Ozul noticed that all of them had varying clothing. Some were dressed in fancy clothes while others wore something as casual as it could get. Overall, it was almost like the mercenary guild but more secretive.


    Most of them minded their own business at their arrival, but a few women ended up ncing at them. Just then, gasps started to resound in the area as people began to whisper while looking at the trio.


    ¡°No way! They really are the Alpha ck tattoos!¡±


    ¡°What is that?¡±


    ¡°Heh, I forgot you are new. Alpha ck tattoos represent the highest rank here!¡±


    ¡°Both of them are together. Does that mean...¡±


    ¡°Do you think they are the fire and water duo?!¡±


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t say it so casually...¡±


    . . .


    Ozul easily heard all the whispers as he looked at the ck tattoo of the setting sun on the duo¡¯s necks.


    Although both of them were still in disguise, it seemed that they were not allowed to hide the tattoos, which gave them away.


    Ignoring their whispers, Cyril and Mark walked forward towards the stairs as Ozul followed behind them.


    The crowd naturally made way for them, but the constant pointing got annoying after a while. So Cyril released a bit of his pressure, making most of them drop on the ground.


    The receptionist was an old man dressed in a butler¡¯s uniform. He only smiled a little with sweat forming on his forehead as Cyril and Mark went up the stairs, followed by Ozul.


    Arriving on the 2nd floor, the group did not stop and continued to the 3rd floor and then to the 4th. The people on these floors were all dressed in uniforms, sorting all kinds of paperwork.


    It was only on the 5th floor that the trio stopped where it felt like they had arrived at a graveyard. The whole floor only had a few couches at the side while only one person was in sight.


    That person was a woman who came to greet them as they arrived.


    The woman also had a uniform with a ck waistcoat. She greeted them with a smile before asking, ¡°Would you like the usual?¡±


    Cyril was just about to nod his head when he suddenly remembered that they were here for a different reason.


    ¡°Not today. Inform the boss that there is someone who would like to meet him...¡± Cyril said with a nervous tone.


    The women in the ck waistcoat looked at Ozul weirdly. She then turned to look at Mark, who nodded his head in confirmation. Only then did she take a deep breath and get back to her counter. She picked up some things before walking up to the 6th and thest floor of the building.


    Meanwhile, Cyril and Mark urged Ozul to sit down on the couch before making their way behind the counter and took our cigarettes and wine bottles.


    ¡°This one should be strong enough to do something, yeah?¡± Cyril asked while looking at the bottle of wine.


    ¡°I guess so... But, nevermind...¡± Mark muttered while looking at the cigarette in his hands in a daze.


    *Sigh...* x2


    Both of them sighed loudly before indulging themselves in the alcohol and the smoke.


    At the same time, Ozul tried to sense anything on the top floor. Sadly, except for a strong presence, he could not pinpoint anything solid. And that too was only vague.


    ¡®Is it because of the formations? Or is it because of the Rank-9 Mage?¡¯ Ozul wondered. However, he could only have a definite answer once he met that person face to face.


    Then again, he was not fully aware of the fighting capabilities or all the other skills as a whole of a Rank-9 Mage. And it was most certainly not written in any public book either.


    He could only find out the difference after reaching that threshold.


    ¡®But I estimate that I should at least be able to hold my own against a Rank-9...¡¯ It was only a guess, but Ozul was confident in his abilities.


    A few minutes passed before the woman returned while cleaning the sweat on her forehead with a towel. It wasn¡¯t easy on a Rank-7 to be the secretary of an individual of that power.


    ¡°What did he say?¡± Mark hurriedly stood up and asked. Thezy look on his face as he smoked disappeared in an instant.


    ¡°Boss told you toe up,¡± the woman said while shooting a pitying look towards the duo.


    Cyril and Mark were quick to notice that little gesture as they turned even more anxious.


    ¡°A-all of us?¡± Cyril asked with a stuttering voice.


    ¡°Yes... the three of you,¡± the woman affirmed and walked up to a table to pour herself a ss of water.


    Ozul immediately stood up and walked towards the stairs as Mark asked the woman onest question, ¡°Was he pissed?¡±


    That was the sole reason that both he and Cyril were so worried. They were not allowed to show people the location of their base unless the boss asked them to do so.


    And now they had brought with them a random person just to save their own lives! They were sure that Boss would not let them go so easily this time.


    ¡°...Maybe?¡± the woman replied, a little unsure herself. Before the duo could say anything else, she immediately added, ¡°You know how hard it is to read Boss¡¯ expressions. Stop asking questions now and go find yourself.¡±


    It was quite ironic to see a Rank-7 Mage scolding a Rank-8 fearlessly as if it wasn¡¯t anything.


    *Sigh...* x2


    The duo again sighed before following after Ozul.

 Chapter 173

    Chapter 173: The Rank-9 Boss.


    As Ozul made his way to the 6th floor, he could not sense the power of this individual no matter how hard he tried.


    ¡®Is it because of some formations, or because he is a Rank-9?¡¯ Ozul contemted. He did not have any way to confirm either.


    ¡®If it is thetter, then that means I really can¡¯t take on a Rank-9 Mage... Either way, I will have to be a little careful,¡¯


    When he arrived on the floor, the atmosphere was more oppressive than the previous story. There was one couch ced on the side, while a wall separated half of that ce.


    Cyril and Mark went near the door to know, but before they could do so, they heard a heavy voice,


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    The duo visibly flinched as they suddenly heard the voice. However, they obeyed nheless and entered with Ozul behind them.


    .....


    Inside the room, the atmosphere was bleak. The only light source was the transparent wall behind the big chair that was ced behind the table.


    On the chair sat an intimidating man who would give out chills to anyone who looked at him right now. He did not release any Mana, but it was obvious that he was the Boss around here.


    His eyes followed the three as if a tiger was looking at his prey. However, Ozul was not intimidated by such a show. Rather than sweating nervously as the duo did, he calmly took a seat right in front of the table.


    Meanwhile, the duo did not move in fear.


    ¡°Exin,¡± the person spoke in his heavy voice that reverberated throughout the giant room.


    Although the person did not move his head away from Ozul, Cyril and Mark were aware that it was directed towards them.


    Mark hurriedly made his way over to that man¡¯s side and whispered something in his ears.


    Hearing whatever Mark told him, the man sharpened his eyes at Ozul before saying, ¡°Both of you wait outside.¡±


    Mark and Cyril sped out of the room as fast as they could. Just standing in the presence of that man was making them nervous.


    *Creak... Tak.*


    The door closed, leaving the man staring at Ozul like a vicious predator.


    Suddenly, as if to test him, the man released his Mana pressure and weighted it all down on Ozul. The pressure was so intense that the entire building started to shake.


    However, the man was surprised to see that Ozul had no obvious changes in his expressions.


    ¡®Hm... From this pressure alone, I think I would be able to keep my ground against him,¡¯ Ozul assessed the strength of this man.


    He could only take guesses before but he now had a better general idea about a Rank-9 Mage¡¯s strength.


    ¡°So... it really is true, what Mark said.¡± The man spoke with his usual tone. He had released every bit of his pressure that he could without making a physical movement. It would have been enough to bring anyone below Rank-9 to their knees.


    Even realizing that Ozul was also a Rank-9 did not make him drop his arrogant way of speech.


    Ozul did not reply and also stared coldly straight in that man¡¯s eyes.


    Their staring contest continued for a few minutes before the man decided to take a step back.


    ¡°The Feral... I never knew that you would turn out to be a Rank-9 Mage. No wonder none of your targets lived to see another day,¡± although the words sounded like apliment, there was no sense of praise in his tone.


    From what he had read from the reports, he was aware that the Feral¡¯s targets were at best only Rank-7 Mages. So, him being able to defeat some ants wasn¡¯t something to be praised for. On the contrary, the man thought that it was beneath someone so powerful to interfere in the matters of those weak individuals.


    ¡°So, what are you here for?¡± the man asked while leaning back against his chair.


    ¡°To ask why your organization wanted to bring me alive for-more urately, to ask who ordered it,¡± Ozul replied.


    ¡°Oh?¡± the man uttered as he scrolled his finger on the table in front of him. There seemed to be a magical screen that contained a list of information.


    After scrolling through for a while, the man put his hands on the table in a dramatic manner.


    ¡°And why should I tell you the secret information of my guild?¡± the man spoke in a provoking tone.


    Instantly, the atmosphere in the room turned heavy. Even Cyril and Mark standing outside the room felt their backs getting drenched in sweat.


    ¡°You should tell me since that would be best for both of us,¡± Ozul replied calmly.


    The man realized what he meant. They were in Neutral Lands. Even when they were far from the Neutral City, the fight between two Rank-9 Mages wouldn¡¯t go unnoticed. So if it was not anything of importance then it was better for him to give out this information.


    ¡°Okay. It was actually the orders of my guild personally. No onemissioned to bring you alive.¡± the man finally gave in.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ozul tilted his head in surprise.


    The man realized what he wanted to ask and said, ¡°I don¡¯t give such orders personally. But the logistics department had decided to bring you in as one of us after analyzing your feats, unaware of your cultivation base.¡±


    ¡®Of course... They had decided to approach me in the normal way, but after I rejected, they probably found no other way to bring me to talk other than putting on amission.¡¯ Ozul understood that it was just a misunderstanding.


    ¡®But that makes my task a little easier,¡¯ Ozul thought. He was not here only to ask whomissioned to bring him alive. But there was something else he wanted to do as well.


    ¡°Haha!¡±


    Just as he was about to say something, the man in front of him chuckled.


    ¡°Those men were not aware. But I am aware! So how about it? Wanna join?¡± the man suddenly eximed. His words still sounded haughty and arrogant to the extreme. But there was a small smile on his face as he offered Ozul to join his guild.


    ¡®Oh well. I didn¡¯t even need to ask.¡¯ Ozul was here to offer the same thing, ¡®However...¡¯


    ¡°You are the strongest here, right?¡± Ozul asked as the man nodded his head.


    ¡°Then how do you expect me to work for you?¡±


    The man¡¯s face drew a nk at his words. It was indeed true. He was also a Rank-9 Mage, so there was no way that someone at the same power level as him would be willing to work under him just like that.


    But just the next second, the man recovered and said, ¡°Well, I won¡¯t ask you to work for me. How about we work together?¡±


    Ozul did not say anything and looked at him nkly as if contemting his offer. Although he was here to ask for the same thing, the man had taken the initiative. So he had the edge over that man.


    ¡°What will I gain to work with you? And what do you expect to get from me?¡± Ozul asked, trying to make full use of his advantage.


    ¡°Hmm... I can¡¯t think of much. However, I would really like an extra hand as powerful as you. So how about you suggest something?¡± the man replied after thinking for a while.


    ¡°This assassin guild. It works all around the Maind, yes?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°Of course. Order of the Dusk operates everywhere we can reach. As long as there is a sufficient price, my men would willingly attack the whole kingdoms and even empires, heh.¡± the man stated proudly.


    ¡°For all of that business, you surely require extra manpower for gathering information,¡± Ozul stated as rested his back on the chair.


    ¡°Well, yes. Information is most definitely the most crucial part of my guild. That is why sometimes it is dyed for so long,¡± the man said with a sigh.


    At this point, he did not seem like an entric Rank-9 Mage, but a normal businessman having a conversation with a colleague.


    ¡°I can help you with that. Though it would take sometime before everything is set up.¡± Ozul stated as the man leaned forward.


    ¡°And how will you do that? As far as I am aware, you are alone,¡± said the man. Information gathering did not depend on how strong an individual was.


    It was the work of an entire organization working together. And that too in a well-organized way with their operations all around Egon, the Maind.


    ¡°You should be aware of some workings in the Silverbird Kingdom?¡± Ozul asked. He continued when the man nodded, ¡°There should be a new organization growing in the capital.¡±


    The man¡¯s curiosity piqued as he started to search through the magical screen on his table again.


    ¡°Hmm? I don¡¯t have any news about anything like that.¡± the man replied.


    ¡°That just goes to exin how much you need information and how discrete the organization is,¡± Ozul replied smugly.


    The man did not seem to be too amused by it, but he did not refute him. His organization indeed needed a better system for handling the information.


    ¡°Well, you get the point. I have already set up the organization, and it would have its eyes all over the Maind in a few years... At that point, you can make use of my organization however you like,¡± Ozul exined.


    The man¡¯s eyes lit up in the darkness. The idea was quite attractive to him. As for the amount of time that it would take for initiating, that was not a problem for him. He was a Rank-9 Mage. A few years were nothing in his eyes.

 Chapter 174

    Chapter 174: Partnership.


    ¡°And of course, you will have my cooperation with future matters that might be difficult for you to deal alone...¡± Ozul hit the nail while it was hot.


    That was the most important reason for proposing this deal. The other matters only concerned the organization as a whole. Getting help from an individual at Rank-9 was better than having a whole Empire backing you.


    A whole army consisting of their leaders at Rank-8 could not change the oue of a battle between two Rank-9 Mages. That¡¯s why only the individuals at this level mattered in battles to them.


    The Rank-10 Mages were too aloof to ever interfere in their matters, while the help from anyone weak did not matter.


    ¡°Of course, that is only when I find it reasonable,¡± Ozul added.


    ¡°Yes, of course! But what do you want in return?¡± the man asked.


    It was a wonder to Ozul how this person even thought of proposing a partnership with him with a little to no idea of what benefits he could give him.


    .....


    ¡°In return, I would like financial support.¡±


    Before the Rank-9 Mage could say anything, he added, ¡°Not money. I need resources which only an organization of this caliber can provide. For example, those formations.¡±


    Although Ozul had just told Irvin to create the organization, he knew that it required unbelievable funds to set it up on such arge scale.


    They could probably get the money, but getting those resources was a matter of how many connections one had.


    Irvin could probably gather such things over time, but it would greatly speed up the process if Ozul brought them directly from a reliable source.


    That was the first condition of his partnership with the Order of the Dusk. It was like an investment from their group to Ozul¡¯s organization.


    ¡°Very well, that can be done...¡± the man replied positively. If his assassin agency could not even provide something like this, it would be really embarrassing.


    ¡°The next would be... anything you know about the Church of Light. And I mean anything you can dig about them.¡± Ozul said this part with a serious tone.


    Without a doubt, a Rank-9 individual in the Neutral Lands should know more about the Church¡¯s inner workings. That was his main reason foring to talk with him.


    He could not sit back and watch them do whatever they wanted to with his arms anymore. He never showed it, but one could never befortable knowing that their limbs were being experimented on day and night.


    For him to retrieve his arm back, he would at least need to find their strength first. Blindly rushing in and attacking everything in sight was what mindless Beasts do, not someone conscious.


    ¡°Oh? As Mark told me, you are new to the Neutral Lands, surprisingly. And you might not know, but many organizations here have secret allies. Though they all like to keep a separate front, most of them have formed partnerships,¡± the Rank-9 Mage exined.


    ¡°So, it is quite bold of you to assume that I don¡¯t have a partnership with the Church...¡±


    Instantly, the temperature dropped again. Ozul¡¯s gaze sharpened. He was indeed not aware of the secret allying part, but it was a mistake on his part if this person in front of him had really been associated with the Church.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my friend. As you ask for specifically their inner workings, I assume that you don¡¯t like them. Well, you can say that my Order of the Dusk does not get along with them either.¡± The man instantly dispelled the heavy atmosphere with his words.


    Ozul also noticed how he called him a friend.


    ¡®It seems that his dislike might not be limited to only dislike,¡¯ Ozul thought. In any case, it was only good for him that his ally also had simr enemies.


    ¡°Very well, I can exin to you about them in detail. Anything else?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°Thest would be for me to be able to use your and your guild¡¯s services if I ever require. Of course, only if you find it reasonable,¡± Ozul stated thest condition.


    ¡°That¡¯s it? Well then; it¡¯s a deal!¡± the man stood up with a smirk. No matter how much he thought, he was on the receiving end. So, he was more than happy to seal the deal.


    He would be able to use his information-gathering agency for any information. At the same time, he only needed to provide some start-up materials, and the rest of his request also brought no inconvenience to him.


    The offer could not be more favorable for him. He just did not understand why this young-looking fellow would offer something like this.


    ¡°If you agree, then start telling me about whatever you know about the Church.¡± Ozul got straight to the point.


    Unlike what anyone thought, Ozul had offered this person to be allowed to get information from his organization in the future only because he did not care.


    He had created it in the first ce only to search for clues about himself once it grows to a level where it had its eyes all over the Maind. Other than that, he did not care who else received the benefits.


    It was all meaningless to him if he could not learn anything about himself. So it was an excellent way to use it in exchange for reliable information on the Church, which was beneficial to him.


    The Rank-9 Mage went towards the transparent wall and looked outside. He could only see trees as far as his sight allowed him to see.


    ¡°The Church¡¯s inner workings are not reallyplex. There are thousands of Priests. They are usually Rank-5 to Initial Staged Rank-7 Mages. Above them are the almost hundred High Priests. For the ones farthest from the Neutral City, they are only in the upper stages of Rank-7. But a few outside the City and every High Priest in the City is a Rank-8 Mage.¡±


    This piece of information left Ozul pondering. These numbers were not by any means low. With only High Priests and below, the Church was stronger than every Kingdom on the Maind!


    ¡°Above High Priests are Bishops. Well, there are only around 5 known Bishops. As for their strength, they are all at the peak of Rank-8,¡± the man specifically emphasized the word ¡®known¡¯.


    Ozul knew what it meant; the Church purposely only showed 5 individuals of peak Rank-8, but there were definitely more ording to this person.


    The man was still looking outside as he continued, ¡°As for above the Bishops, there is only one Archbishop, a Rank-9 Mage.¡±


    ¡°So, he is in charge?¡± Ozul asked. He would be the only obstacle in front of him.


    ¡°Yes. A very shrewd man, I tell you. Although he would preach everywhere about how he is a devotee to the God of Light, there is not a person I know more maniptive than that bastard. He has the masses dance on his palm like it is a child¡¯s y!¡± The man started to curse this Archbishop.


    ¡°Enough about him. You might also know that every member of the Church of Light only uses the Light Element. That also makes them a force to be reckoned with. But that is not all...¡± the man paused.


    ¡°What?¡± Ozul urged.


    ¡°There is a Rank-10 Mage backing them,¡± the man said in a heavy tone.


    Ozul squinted his eyes at the mention of a Rank-10 Mage. It meant that the person stood at the very peak of this world!


    Changing entire terrains using their Spells was not a problem for individuals at that level.


    Although Ozul could likely hold his ground against a Rank-9, a Rank-10 would instantly crush him. He was very much aware of that.


    ¡®This certainly changes many things...¡¯ Ozul thought with a sigh.


    ¡°Although everyone knows that a Rank-10 individual almost never interferes in our mortal affairs, no one can ignore their threat. What if they suddenly have a mood swing and decides to step up for their respective faction?¡± the man startedining.


    ¡°If only a Rank-10 wasn¡¯t involved, I would have burned the whole Church down to ashes already!¡±


    Ozul looked at his clenched fist and realized that there must be a history of bad blood between them.


    *Sigh...*


    Ozul sighed before asking, ¡°What about their allies? You said that almost every organization had allies in the Neutral City?¡±


    ¡°Hm? Yes. For the Church, the obvious one is the Silverbird Kingdom.¡± the man said while ncing at Ozul.


    Ozul nodded his head. He could already figure out that much from the interactions between the two sides.


    ¡°As for the rest, I am only aware of two; both of them are renowned sects. The first is the Harmonious Whirlwind Sect, and the other is the Twilight Lotus Sect.¡± the man exined.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ozul tilted his head. He was new to the sects.


    ¡°Well, all you need to know is that both of these sects are also each led by a Rank-9. Overall, the Church has 4 Rank-9 Mages on their side.¡± the man concluded.


    ¡°Hey, tell me, why are you against the Church?¡± the Rank-9 Mage suddenly turned around to ask.


    ¡°... They have something that belongs to me. I simply want it back. I simply don¡¯t care about what happens to them in the process,¡± Ozul replied in a cold voice.


    It made the Rank-9 Mage curious about what this thing was, but he did not question further.


    ¡°But we only have two Rank-9...¡± Ozul muttered with disappointment. He wouldn¡¯t have to care about such a thing if only he was stronger.


    ¡°Haha, who said we are the only two? Well, as you are also that bastard¡¯s enemy and my partner now, it doesn¡¯t hurt to tell you...¡± the man suddenlyughed mysteriously.

 Chapter 175

    Chapter 175: Rted to her?!


    ¡°...it doesn¡¯t hurt to tell you.¡± the man suddenlyughed mysteriously.


    Ozul looked at him confusedly as small sparks were suddenly produced in thin air illuminating the Rank 9 man¡¯s figure.


    This small show made Ozul aware of his Element, but his focus was on his face instead. This man only looked to be around in his early thirties, unlike what anyone might have thought of a Rank-9 Mage. For some reason, when he looked at him, it seemed a little familiar.


    He had a little messy ck hair with bangs reaching his silver-colored eyes. There was a small smile on his face.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t introduced myself, have I?¡± the man said before adding, ¡°Well, I am Raymond Ashin.¡±


    Raymond stood there with a small smile, waiting for Ozul¡¯s reaction. But contrary to what he expected, Ozul just stared at him before nodding his head uninterestedly.


    *Sigh...*


    .....


    ¡°You don¡¯t know about the Ashin family either... Of course, you don¡¯t know!¡± Raymond said, a little annoyed.


    Ozul stood there motionlessly waiting for his exnation. He just wanted to know how his being from the Ashin family made a difference to his earlier statement.


    ¡°As my partner, you should now know that even with so many powerspeting for the Neutral Lands, there are only 3 main factions that are the most involved. There is the Church of Light, the Leonhard Dynasty, andst but not least the Ashin Family,¡± Raymond exined as his eyes drew a crescent.


    ¡°The Ashin Family, you can think is not a kingdom or any organization. It¡¯s just a family that has preserved their history for a very long time now,¡± Raymond briefly described.


    ¡°So how many Rank-9 individuals do you have on your side?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°My younger brother is also a Rank-9 Mage. He runs the family as the head, while there aren¡¯t many who are aware of me. There is him, me, and two Sects; each with a Rank-9 Sect master with us. So, a total of 4 as well.¡± Raymond replied.


    Ozul was a little surprised now. Even this person¡¯s little brother was a Rank-9 Mage!


    It was a wonder how only a single family could afford to cultivate individuals of such caliber. Though he did not doubt Raymond¡¯s words, it was just unexpected.


    Raymond was also satisfied, finally being able to see a change in expressions on Ozul¡¯s face.


    ¡°Impressive,¡± Ozul praised.


    ¡°Heh, In front of others, the Ashin family only has three Rank-9 individuals on their side. As I said, there are not many who know about me, so only a few are aware that the Order of the Dusk is under the Ashin family.¡± Raymond stated with a cruel smile.


    ¡°But just like you, can¡¯t the Church hide their strength as well?¡± Ozul asked. If the Ashin family could do it, it was reasonable to assume that the Church of Light might be doing the same thing.


    ¡°Well, they could be, I won¡¯t deny that. But, remember I told you we are a family with a very long history. It is not everything that we can offer...¡± Raymond stated without a worry. He did not exin himself, but Ozul understood that they must have other measures as well.


    However, he did not question Raymond about it. He had be the ¡®5th Rank-9 Mage¡¯ allied with the Ashin family, but it did not mean that he would actively partake in their power struggle.


    He stood to gain nothing among their battles, so Ozul was uninterested in knowing what else the Ashin family had up their sleeves.


    They only approximately measured both sides¡¯ strength; a battle between Rank-9 individuals would never break out as casually as they were talking about it.


    ¡°Anyways, I will send you the list of things that my organization would require in the future,¡± Ozul said, standing up from the chair and making his way towards the door.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Raymond uttered.


    Ozul had just opened the door and was about to walk out when Raymond suddenly remembered something.


    ¡°I almost forgot to ask you about your name,¡± Raymond said.


    Ozul did not halt his steps and said, ¡°Ozul Ashfall...¡±


    He walked out of the room, unaware that Raymond had widened his eyes at the mention of his name.


    Raymond¡¯s previously serious face was gone, and there were only stunned expressions. Just when he got out of the daze, it was toote to stop Ozul as he was long gone.


    ¡®Could it be that he is...? No... That can¡¯t be; he should be dead...¡¯


    ¡°Cyril! Mark! Come in here!¡± Raymond got out of his thoughts and immediately shouted.


    The duo both came running in as Mark immediately defended himself, ¡°Boss! We justplicated the mission. It is not our fault that he was a Rank-9 Mage! There was a mission to bring him alive, and we did so-¡±


    ¡°Shut up, and listen.¡± Raymond did not let him continue and said, ¡°Go and find out if there is anyone with any family even remotely rted to the surname Ashfall.¡±


    Although the duo was confused, they did not question his orders and sped out of the room with speed even greater than when they hade in.


    They had previously thought that their Boss would severely punish them for bringing a person to their headquarters without permission, so they thought up many excuses, and the one where they would me the mission was the most feasible.


    However, their Boss waspletely different, and they were now assigned this odd task. If anyone else asked them to look at this information, the duo would have asked any person lower than them, but it was the Boss himself. So they had no choice but to perform this mission personally.


    Not like it hurt them. On the contrary, it was something that helped them escape their fate of punishment; the duo was more than happy to bolt out of the room for whatever reason.


    Meanwhile, Raymond was seriously contemting on something.


    ¡ª¡ª


    -Raymond¡¯s POV.-


    A few moments ago, these two idiots had brought in a Rank-9 fellow from somewhere.


    Mark told me about his dealings with the Church and the Silverbird Kingdom¡¯s group and exined his judgment on how his rtionship with them did not seem very good.


    Quite the contrary, there seemed to be a bad spark between them.


    I was satisfied and willing to listen to whatever he wanted to say only because of this simple reason, but as I talked with him, I realized the bad spark wasn¡¯t as simple as I thought it to be.


    That maniptive bastard was up to no good this time either.


    At first, the misunderstanding was cleared, and he should have left. However, I suddenly had a random idea of asking him to join me.


    I had only asked it casually since both of us seemed to havemon enemies.


    However, I did not expect that he would actually agree!


    Hmm? Am I too paranoid, or does it seem like this person was aiming for this from the start? Anyways, it was only beneficial for me if another Rank-9 was my ally.


    His character was good enough. Even when he was a Rank-9 Mage, he was dedicated enough to do these things himself and not leave it to the subordinates.


    I have seen many with strength losing themselves in pleasure and stop improving. They get toofortable with their power and start to stagnate, and therees a time when they be useless. I wasn¡¯t very fond of such people.


    If a person is not improving, he is certainly declining.


    This person¡¯s dedication was impressive for a Rank-9 Mage. And it wouldn¡¯t really be a bad idea to be partners with him.


    Not to mention, his deal was really enticing. If he could really set up a sessful information-gathering agency that operated all over the continent, I would save an astronomical sum every time by making use of it.


    As he finished listing out everything that they would cooperate on, my views of him were many times different than before.


    I did not like it when he sounded disappointed in our strength. So I could not help but exin to him about the family.


    As far as I could discern about this person, he seemed to be trustworthy.


    I wanted to see his surprised face when I told him about my other identity, but I forgot that this person was surprisingly not aware of such simple matters in the Neutral Lands.


    Though I had to do some exining, his surprised expression was worth the effort.


    He stood up with a little talk here and there and started to walk out of the room. It was only at this point when I remembered that I had yet to ask his name after giving a whole introduction speech on myself.


    ¡°Ozul Ashfall...¡±


    Hearing those words suddenly made me pause my thoughts. There wasn¡¯t anything wrong with the name itself.


    However, I remember a dear person that once used the surname of Ashfall.


    It was none other than myte sister Sylvia! Before her death, I was informed that she was using the surname of Ashfall instead of the Ashin.


    No! It must be a coincidence for this person to have the same surnames!


    I know that there was news for her son, but he died alongside her that day! There was no way that he could ever be him!


    But... what if there is even a fraction of chance that he is indeed rted to her?


    Yes, I should get to the root of this!


    When I got out of my daze, I noticed that Ozul had already left.


    Well, it is not something I should ask him directly without any proof just yet. I am sure that it is just a coincidence anyway...


    ¡°Cyril! Mark!¡± I shouted to call them in.


    ¡ª¡ª

 Chapter 176

    Chapter 176: Why are you so strong!?


    Ozul came down to the 5th floor when he heard Raymond¡¯s shout for Cyril and Mark.


    He did not pay any attention to it and was about to walk towards the stairs to the floor below when he suddenly remembered something.


    ¡®I have yet to do something about these Harmony leaves,¡¯ Ozul thought as he touched the wooden box strapped to his side with the book.


    ¡°May I help you?¡±


    Ozul looked up to see the woman behind the counter looking at him with a smile out of courtesy.


    ¡°Do you know any ce where I can sell stuff?¡± Ozul did not hold back. He was new to the Neutral Lands, so he could only ask for help in this matter.


    ¡°Sell stuff?¡± The woman in the uniform looked at him confusedly.


    .....


    ¡®What type of stuff? Surely someone who met Boss and was leaving without any worries isn¡¯t nning to sell some clothes,¡¯ the woman thought before she replied,


    ¡°If it is something precious, I would rmend going to an auction house.¡±


    ¡°Auction house? Which and where?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°Uhum... It is your choice, but the generally considered best auction house is in the Neutral City. Once you are there, you can ask just about anyone of the directions for the Littlewood Auction House.¡±


    Ozul nodded his head and walked away. He was going to the Neutral City anyways.


    Watching him walk away without saying anything, the woman took out a filer and started to file her nails while muttering, ¡°Quite rude that guy... not even a thank you.¡±


    . . .


    Ozul walked out of the giant building. He had just taken a few steps away from it when the building disappeared from behind him.


    He turned around and realized that he wasn¡¯t able to sense it again. Only when he put all of his focus in that ce could he feel something different.


    ¡®Formations... they are a threat to me even at my current level. I would have to be careful of them.¡¯ Ozul thought before he turned around and walked away.


    He walked normally on the streets but increased his speed after he was out of the town.


    Only around twenty minutes had passed, and he had yet to arrive near the Neutral City when his instincts started to work up.


    ¡°!!!¡±


    He did not see anything wrong and did not have enough time to put all his focus in front of him. So he immediately dodged to the side.


    Under his squinted eyes, the ground from where he had dodged was suddenly covered in some runes before a giant pir of fire rose from that circle. It torched everything in that area to ashes.


    Such an intensity of the fire was enough to kill a group of Rank-8 Mages instantly if they were caught in it!


    Ozul had yet to figure out the assants when the ground below him started to glow with runes, and he was forced to dodge again.


    Again, a giant pir of fire rose from those runes, ravaging the area.


    This time, Ozul immediately spread his senses to search for the person responsible for the attacks while also keeping an eye out for another one of those fire pirs.


    It did not take long for him to notice the three people hiding a few meters away from this ce.


    Ozul expanded his hat into several needles and sent them towards their direction. Simultaneously, he dodged to the side because of another fire pir.


    The three people hiding came out from behind the trees after blocking the needles with shields of their respective elements.


    Out of the three, one of them was a woman. Ozul did not know the woman and the middle-aged man behind, but he was very much aware of the person in the middle.


    He was the same person Rufus had introduced him to at the Church; Garth.


    ¡°So impatient?¡± Ozul raised his brows, amused that the Church could not wait for even a day to pass.


    ¡°Hoho~ From your not so surprised reaction, it seems that I was correct; you do seem to be aware of your situation,¡± Garth said with his usual smile.


    ¡°Well, your stinking smile just gave you away,¡± Ozul said while shrugging.


    Garth¡¯s smile finally dropped as his face distorted in anger.


    ¡°If you know what is good for you, give up boy!¡± Garth threatened.


    Ozul did not say anything. Looking at his poker face, Garth grounded his teeth.


    ¡°There are three of us here. Even if you somehow could take the three of us together, we have already covered this whole area with the formation. There is no getting out of it for you.¡±


    Ozul tried to feel the formation, and he could indeed feel that he was already inside the formation.


    ¡®Three of them together? Does he not know?¡¯ Ozul thought.


    But this was not the time to think about such things. His gaze hardened as he stared coldly at Garth, still not saying anything.


    ¡°... If that¡¯s what you want, you can only me your stupidityter.¡± Garth realized that talking anymore would be only wasting his time as he sped towards Ozul with his twopanions.


    Suddenly, Ozul looked down to see the ground heating below him. Having no other choice, he backed away.


    The fire pir blocked his vision of the threeing his way. But the next moment, a bright light shined from both of his sides, and he was forced to jump another meter back.


    The two lights collided and created a small explosion that would have definitely stung a little if it had hit him.


    Ozul hadn¡¯t seen any attack like this before. It was his first time fighting someone with Light Element. Not to mention, all three of these were Rank-8 Mages.


    The Light Element was excellent in healing, but even the Darkness Element could be used for healing, so it was not surprising to see the Light Element being used for attacks.


    The explosion did not lose muchpared to the one caused by Fire Elements either. Not to mention, the attack was almost a little faster than the Spells of Lightning Element!


    In the end, it stood true that it mostly depended on the user and not the Element itself, which decided its use.


    He did not have time to contemte when another bright light shined, causing him to dodge to the side. Ozul had yet to catch his breath when the ground under him started to heat up again.


    ¡®So serious from the start... sigh...¡¯ Ozul could not help but sigh as he kept dodging.


    The three continued their assault together with the formation that periodically hindered Ozul¡¯s movements. He had yet to understand why it only attacked him as well.


    A minute passed with the three continuously bombarding Ozul with Light Spears and other spells that leveled the ground all around them.


    ¡®How is this bastard still keeping up!?¡¯ Garth thought while gritting his teeth.


    The formation had already locked onto Ozul and would frequently attack him with the fire pirs. Together with that, the three were not joking with their efforts either.


    Garth had thought that this kind of set up for only a single person was already an overkill beforeing here. However, now he could not help but regret not adding more to it.


    Due to their battle, the forest was quickly turning into a wastnd; it was as if some wave of savage beasts had been rampaging on the ground.


    Noticing that Ozul still had his apathetic face as he dodged their attacks, Garth still hoped to tire him out sooner orter.


    Fortunately for him, he had closed the area with a formation just in case so their Mana waves would not reach anyone who would want to pry in their matter.


    The three were keeping Ozul in the formation, or at least that is what they thought.


    Ozul was analyzing everything as he dodged their joint assault. Although he could easily evade their attacks, he had to admit that this was very quickly getting annoying.


    He noticed that although the formation was only attacking him, it did not mean that the three knew when it would do so.


    A couple of times, even they had to evade at particr instances.


    He also noticed that none of the wandering eyes stumbled upon this area even after all thismotion. It was either the work of the formation as well, or others kept watch not to let such people in this way.


    But he already had enough of this y. He thought that there might be something more to it. But except for the three¡¯s struggle getting more desperate, nothing changed.


    The woman and the man rushed in his direction just at this moment-both from each of his sides.


    However, their eyes opened wide when they noticed that Ozul did not move from his position. Instead, he calmly stood there in the air looking at Garth in the distance.


    ording to the battle flow, those two had thought that Ozul would again avoid their attack, and then the formation would erect another fire pir.


    However, not only did it happen differently this time, they could not even stop in time!


    The ground started to heat under Ozul, who did not move away even at this moment. If he had moved away before, the fire pir would have been erected at a different ce.


    This caused the two attacking Ozul to run into the fire themselves. It was toote to turn around at that point.


    Under their terrified eyes, the duo was surrounded by the fire; meanwhile, Garth could only look at this with his eyeballs threatening to fall out, and his mouth hung open.


    Even at thest second, he noticed that Ozul did not try to run away.


    ¡®That suicidal bastard!¡¯ Garth thought that Ozul might have given up and decided to take them with him if he were dying anyway.


    Unlike what he thought, Ozul had concluded that he could easily endure the fire only using his Ball of Purity.


    In the veryst moment, before the fire pir was erected, the Ball of Purity covered him from head to toe.


    The fire was only enough to kill a Rank-8 Mage. Meanwhile, Ozul was strong enough to even contend against the Rank-9 Mages. So it was no wonder that he could easily deal with such an attack.


    Garth stood petrified when the fire pir disappeared. He saw the two charred corpses of hispanion while Ozul stood therepletely unscathed!


    ¡°Ho-... How is that possible!? You were only a Rank-8! Why are you so strong?!¡± The sudden change in their situation caused Garth to act out of character.


    .....


    Ozul slowly walked towards him as Garth took steps back; he realized that the person they were here to capture was far stronger than anything that he could handle.


    ¡®Yes.. yes... I should retreat for now...¡¯

 Chapter 177

    Chapter 177: Spy?


    ¡®... I should retreat for now...¡¯ Garth could not help but take a few steps back in fear.


    However, before he could turn around and run away, he saw a glimpse of something ck moving towards him with a speed that he could not follow.


    *Eeuk!*


    Air escaped Garth¡¯s lungs when a pitch-ck rod pierced his stomach, pinning him to the ground in the process.


    ¡°Urghh! Wh- haa... What are you!?¡± Garth asked as he groaned in pain. A trail of blood escaped from his mouth. The rod was as wide as a person¡¯s fist, so all of his internal organs were totally messed up.


    ¡°Certainly not someone you could handle...¡± Ozul muttered as he slowly made his way over to him.


    ¡°So, how did you know where I was?¡± Ozul asked, looking down at him.


    .....


    . . .


    [A.N.: Lil torture ahead, skip if you are not in the mood to read something like that.]


    Garth stared daggers at him but did not say a word. Ozul at once understood that he wouldn¡¯t talk so easily.


    He separated the Ball of Purity and created thin needles with it. Under Garth¡¯s terror-stricken expressions, the needles pierced each of his limbs.


    A few momentster, his whole body was drenched in his own blood. However, he had no intention to open his mouth. Something like this was not enough.


    ¡°Ughh! Kill me, you bastard! Either way, remember this; you would not be able to get out of this!¡± Garth endured the pain.


    Ozul never liked to deal with fanatics because of their irrational ideals that they would rather die than renounce their beliefs.


    ¡®It will get bloody... whatever...¡¯ Ozul did not like to make a mess out of things. However, if this person would rather die than to give in, he could only make it worse than death for him.


    ¡°Very well...¡± Ozul muttered before he made it so tens of hooks suddenly came out from the needles.


    This again caused Garth to groan in pain, but it was only the start when he mercilessly pulled out the needles, brutally smashing the flesh into pieces!


    Although Garth was a Rank-8 Mage, he could not endure something like this. He almost went unconscious, but Ozul hadn¡¯t stopped yet.


    The needles again turned smooth and pierced Garth¡¯s stomach this time. Ozul avoided damaging the major organs since.


    This time, Garth did not even have the energy to move because of the pain. Again, Ozul created hooks and slowly took out each needle to increase his suffering.


    ¡®If he does not relent after this... I will have to take him back to those people...¡¯ Ozul decided to perform onest thing Oliver had taught him before he took Garth to Raymond.


    Since they were already in a partnership, he would naturally use their services to the best of his ability.


    Garthid there, breathing heavily. If he weren¡¯t a Rank-8 Mage, he would have already been dead because of the pain. His own abilities had be the cause of his sufferings now.


    ¡°If... if I ever get... get out of it... would kill you...¡± Ozul could still hear his incoherent mutterings.


    With hismand, the Ball of Purity held Garth on the ground from his limbs with cuffs. Ozul made a single needle press against the front of the forefinger¡¯s nail.


    ¡°Will you say it or not?¡± Ozul asked coldly.


    Garth did not reply to him and only looked at the needle threatening to pierce his nail with almost dead eyes.


    ¡°AHh!!!¡± His scream rang out in the forest, but there was no one to hear except for Ozul.


    The needle had pierced his nail, all the way to the first joint of his finger! It sent a jolt of pain to his whole body, making tears fall out of his eyes unconsciously.


    Without giving Garth a chance to recover, Ozul pressed a needle against his other finger. At once, Garth¡¯s body jolted.


    [ A/N: ;-; I await some(most) of you people¡¯s curses.]


    . . .


    ¡°STOP! Stop! Stop it! I will tell you everything! Jus- Stop it!¡± Garth began to shout his lungs out.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ozul hadn¡¯t expected that Oliver¡¯sst trick would actually work. Anyway, he wasn¡¯tining. Getting Garth back to the Order of Dusk would only be a bother now that he hade all the way here.


    ¡°Yes! Ask... me anything! I will... tell you!¡± Garth said while gasping for breath. Even after covering his wounds with the little Mana he had left, it only lessened the pain.


    ¡°How did you know my location?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°That...¡± Garth hesitated, but Ozul only had to push the needle a little further as he began to tell everything.


    Meanwhile, Ozul remembered that the formation had not attacked him all this while. It turned out that Garth had the controller for its deactivation and activation. Before, he couldn¡¯t turn it off in time, causing hispanion¡¯s death.


    Ozul found it more convenient to use the fire pir, so he told Garth to activate the formation again.


    ¡°I have told you everything, haven¡¯t I? Can¡¯t... you let me go...? I swear I won¡¯t tell anyone about this!¡± Garth asked with a silly hope.


    However, under Ozul¡¯s cold gaze, he took out a crystal from his Spatial Rind and inserted Mana inside it. Tears dropped from his eyes as he closed them with a heavy heart.


    Even till the end, he did not understand how Ozul was so strong. From all the information they had received on him, he was only a special case of a Rank-8; they should have been enough to deal with someone like him!


    Ozul walked away as the runes formed on the ground at that ce.


    As he walked out of the circle, the giant fire pir emerged from the runes. Instantly, as if something had broken, Ozul sensed that the formations hade undone.


    It was probably because the fire pir destroyed the crystal responsible for keeping them in check.


    The fire disappeared, leaving the charred corpse of Garth simr to the two earlier.


    Looking around, Ozul noticed that the area around him had be a total wastnd.


    He did not waste another minute and left the scene. Since the formation had been broken, people would find out about this as soon as someone with good senses passed by.


    . . .


    As Ozul hopped from one tree to another, he thought about what Garth had told him.


    ¡®I would tell Raymondter... He was probably unaware for a long time; a little more won¡¯t hurt,¡¯ Ozul shrugged.


    It had surprised Ozul that the Church actually had a spy in the Order of the Dusk. Considering they had one of such in their ranks, he had to assume that there were more as well.


    Now he just had to ask Raymond how much any normal member of his agency knew about the matters. Because if he had only told his trustworthy people, then the little spies did not matter much.


    But if it weren¡¯t the case, it would be quite an annoyance to deal with for Raymond.


    This time, it was Garth¡¯s fault that he had rushed to deal with him before asking around.


    If he had waited for ra to exin her side of the story to them, then the Church definitely wouldn¡¯t have allowed him to do what he did today.


    Although he had brought that giant formation with him, it was all useless against someone who was at the level of Rank-9 Mages.


    ¡®As for the formation, it was again annoying to deal with. I should at least learn how they work...¡¯ Ozul decided to ask someone to exin to him how they work.


    If he knew how they worked, maybe he wouldn¡¯t need to take so much time to understand his own situation next time someone used them against him.


    . . .


    Another fifteen minutester, Ozul was back to Neutral City.


    He momentarily put the other matter aside and looked for the auction house that the woman had told him about.


    The sun had started to set, so it would start to get dark in a few minutes. He went to the first shop he saw to ask for the directions.


    ¡°Where is the...¡± Ozul wanted to ask, but he realized that he actually forgot the name!


    ¡°What is it? If you want to buy something, do it. Otherwise, go away!¡± The shopkeeper did not seem like a friendly guy; especially since he could not sense any Mana from Ozul.


    ¡°Where is the best auction house?¡± Since he could not remember the name, Ozul changed his question. As for the attitude of the shopkeeper, he did not care.


    ¡°Bah! If you are looking for the Littlewood Auction House, keep going straight. You will see it,¡± the shopkeeper showed him a stink eye and hurriedly shooed him away.


    Hearing the name, Ozul remembered that it was the same ce so he went in that direction, ignoring the hateful gaze of the shopkeeper.


    Ozul did not want to dash in the middle of the city so he slowly made his way towards the center of the city.


    By the time he was there, it had already gotten dark. Though he did not run, he had taken a carriage in the middle of his way as it would have taken him hours by feet.


    It was not a randomwless town, but one of the most important cities on the entire Maind of Egon. So simply walking wasn¡¯t enough here.


    The middle of the city was filled with everything best that the city had to offer. It was the most thriving part of Neutral City.


    Even in dark, the lights and the crowd made it seem like it wasn¡¯t any different from the day.


    In the middle of the tall buildings, Ozul did not have any trouble in finding the auction house as it stood out the most because of the crowd near it.

 Chapter 178

    Chapter 178: Littlewood Auction House.


    It was unusually crowded at the entrance of the auction house. Ozul noticed Rank-5 Mages stationed at the gate, who only let certain people with some entry tickets inside.


    However, Ozul ignored it and still made his way to the entrance. As he was about to enter, the guards blocked the way as expected.


    ¡°I am here to sell this here,¡± Ozul said while showing the wooden box.


    The guards exchanged nces but did not let him inside. Instead, one of them pointed to the side of the building.


    ¡°Go that way. Show your item to the person there.¡±


    Though it wasn¡¯t a big deal, Ozul was satisfied with the guards¡¯ behavior. Unlike others, they could also not sense any Mana from him, but they did not show any scorn.


    It showed that the auction house had capable enough people.


    .....


    ¡®Well, it certainly has qualities for bing the best auction house,¡¯ Ozul thought. He would naturally not just believe in things only because many agreed on it.


    Unless he witnessed things with his own eyes, there would always remain a doubt in his heart.


    He slowly made his way to the side of the building. It was quiet here, unlike themotion in the front. There he saw a door being guarded by another Rank-5 Mage.


    There were usually only one or two Rank-5 Mages in the entire cities in almost everywhere around the Maind. But in Neutral City, people at their level were hired only for guarding the doors.


    As he approached the door, the guard in ck stared coldly at him.


    ¡°I am here to sell something,¡± Ozul said to the man who was just about to ask whatever he was doing back here.


    ¡°Wait here,¡± said the man in his heavy voice before he went inside.


    Ozul wasn¡¯t in a hurry, so he waited a couple of seconds before the man came back and allowed him to enter.


    Inside the room, men and women alike walked here and there in a hurry. It seemed like today was a busy day from all the bustle.


    There he saw a man with blonde hair; he seemed to be the one in charge as he was seen ordering some people.


    He noticed Ozul and came towards him, ¡°I heard you wanted to sell something? You do realize that this is an auction house; we auction items, not buy them.¡±


    ¡®... oh well, I won¡¯t lose anything by auction. Instead, it might get me more than I had assumed,¡¯ Ozul thought before nodding towards the blonde-haired man.


    ¡°Ok, what do you want to auction? And a reminder; we will keep 5% of whatever your item is sold for in the end. If no one is willing to buy it, you will be returned the item,¡± the man exined.


    He did not think that Ozul had anything valuable to put for auction anyway.


    It was an important day. There were many valuables from all over the Maind going to be auctioned today. So the man was also in a hurry to get it over with.


    Ozul noticed his impatience but slowly took the wooden box in his hand and showed it to the man.


    ¡°Huh?¡± The man took the box. He almost had the urge to throw it on the ground because of the weight he felt. It seemed like there was nothing in it. And the person before him was only here to joke around.


    As he opened the box, he was relieved as he felt the trail of Mana fly out from inside.


    ¡°What herb is this, sir?¡± the man asked as he stared at the frail nt with only five leaves.


    He held a slightly respectful tone this time since he confirmed that Ozul was not here to waste his time but indeed had something good to put on the auction.


    ¡°Harmony Leaves,¡± Ozul answered.


    The man did not react for a few seconds, and suddenly his eyes opened wide with surprise.


    ¡°You... Sir, you mean to say that these are Harmony Leaves!?¡± the man asked with disbelief apparent on his face.


    Ozul nodded his head. He wasn¡¯t surprised that the person was aware of what Harmony Leaves were. He was apparently in the best auction house around the entire Maind, so the staff here should naturally be aware of rare herbs.


    ¡°Are you... Hehe, why are you standing there? Follow me; I will show you to a private room.¡±


    The blonde-haired man was going to ask something. But in the middle of his sentence, it was as if he realized something, and his behavior took a 180-degree turn. He smiled with ttery before respectfully motioning Ozul to follow him.


    A few minutester, Ozul arrived before a fancy room. Two girls stood before it with clothes that showed much of their skin and only covered the most sensitive parts. It appeared to be a room reserved only for VIPs.


    As Ozul entered, he saw a simple yet elegant room with two red couches ced near the ss wall. There was a table between the couches, which had some delicacies ced on it.


    Ozul sat down on the couch and looked through the ss window. It was a VIP room to ce bids for the auctioned items.


    He noticed that the auction had yet to start. The hall had yet to fill out to the brim. It meant that there was still some time before it started.


    ¡°Rest assured; we can only see through the ss wall from this side. Your identity will never be exposed,¡± the manmented when he noticed Ozul still wearing the conical hat which hid his face.


    Ozul nodded his head and put the hat away. He already knew that others couldn¡¯t see him from outside from the way the other VIP rooms were blocked from sight for him. It was just that he forgot to put it away before.


    It had be his habit not to absorb the Ball of Purity back in his body for the hat. So he put it on the table and looked towards the man.


    ¡°Cough... you see, I would have to tell my superior about this item to take a look. I am not knowledgeable enough about it,¡± the man said in a little panic.


    ¡°Take your time,¡± Ozul replied calmly before he started to stare outside the ss wall. He was not in a hurry.


    The blonde-haired man carefully ced the wooden box on the table before dashing out of the room.


    As he left the room, the twodies standing outside the room came in and stood by the door, seemingly awaiting an order.


    However, Ozulpletely ignored their presence as was busy staring at other VIP rooms. s, he wasn¡¯t able to see through those opaque ss walls either.


    . . .


    A few minutester, the door to his room was suddenly barged open.


    *Tak!*


    Ozul turned his head to see ady walking in with a sense of urgency. Ozul also noticed her unusually anxious emotions.


    She wore a long purple robe that showed the side of her milky smooth legs till the thighs from the sides. Her chest was just as well-endowed as her face was beautiful. She looked to be around her early 20¡¯s.


    Though what Ozul noticed foremost was her cultivation base, which was at Peak Rank-7.


    ¡°Where are the Harmony Leaves?¡± the woman asked as her eyes fell on Ozul. Unlike any other healthy woman, shepletely ignored his otherworldly face.


    Ozul wasn¡¯tining. In fact, he was happy to know that he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with something annoying at this point.


    He pointed towards the wooden box on the table. The woman hurriedly picked it up and opened the box.


    The woman carefully examined the Harmony Leaves before a glint shed past her eyes, and a bright smile appeared on her face.


    She closed the wooden box and sat down on the other couch, to the opposite of Ozul.


    ¡°Forgive my manners. I haven¡¯t introduced myself. I am Hana~¡± the woman introduced herself with a coquettish voice.


    ¡°Ozul,¡± he replied briefly.


    Ozul noticed that the woman named Hana was a little surprised for some reason.


    Hana was stunned because she did not expect that a person would be able to remain so indifferent before her charms.


    ¡°Since you probably know who I am-¡±


    ¡°No?¡± Ozul said, a little confusedly; why should he know about her?


    Hana stared at Ozul for a while to see if he was ying a joke. Though It was a pity that she could not read anything from his nk face no matter how much she tried.


    ¡°Cough... I am the one who manages the Littlewood Auction House, under the Ashin Family,¡± Hana said while raising her head a little.


    Ozul raised his brows a little, which made Hana assume that it was because of her identity as the one who runs the best auction house on the entire Maind.


    However, it was actually because Ozul only now heard that this ce was under the Ashin Family.


    ¡®No wonder that woman rmended this ce...¡¯ Ozul thought, he now doubted if this ce really was the best or the woman had only said it so because of it being under the Ashin Family.


    With a little more confidence now, Hana spoke, ¡°So, I was wondering if you would like to listen to my proposal?¡±


    She still held the wooden box in her hand, making Ozul wonder why she behaved that way.


    It wouldn¡¯t have been unusual if she was only excited when she saw the Harmony Leaves, as any auctioneer would be when they found an item that would rile up the whole auction house into bidding like madmen.


    Ozul sensed that she was more relieved than excited after confirming that they were indeed Harmony Leaves.


    ¡°I am listening...¡±

 Chapter 179

    Chapter 179: Desperate Hana.


    ¡°I am listening,¡± Ozul said curiously.


    Hana shifted ufortably in her seat as she noticed Ozul¡¯s calm behavior. However, she put her thoughts to the back of her mind since she desperately needed the Harmony Leaves.


    ¡°I was wondering if you could sell this to me directly instead of auctioning...¡± Hana proposed. She paused to see Ozul¡¯s reaction.


    However, she was bound to be disappointed because of the ever nk face.


    ¡°Go on,¡± Ozul said when he noticed that she stopped.


    Hana smiled wryly as she replied, ¡°As the manager of this auction house, I assure you that I can even pay you with twice the original value of the Harmony Leaves.¡±


    ¡°If you are so capable, why can¡¯t you win the bidding when I auction?¡± Ozul asked.


    .....


    He was here to sell them directly at first, but auctioning sounded like a better idea. He would need more convincing than just double the value of it.


    ¡°It¡¯s because even as the manager, I am still bound by the rules. I don¡¯t work with Ashin Family; I work for them... They have set up the rules that no matter whatever item it is, once it is put on the auction list, anyone from the staff cannot bid on it,¡± Hana exined with a sigh.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ozul found it interesting that the Ashin Family was so strict with their rules, but it was indeed a great method to keep everything in order.


    ¡°Please, I promise that you can see the whole catalog for the auctioned items, and I can find you any one of those..., but please give these leaves to me. I have a loved one who is in desperate need of them,¡± Hana stood up and bowed to show her sincerity.


    Ozul felt her emotions and found out that she was telling the truth. However, he still needed to confirm one thing.


    ¡°Show me the catalog...¡± Ozul said.


    Hope lit up in Hana¡¯s eyes as she nodded her head and immediately ran out of the room to bring the list of items that were going to be auctioned today.


    A few secondster, she stood before Ozul with a thick book in her hand.


    Hana gave the catalog to Ozul and stood patiently to his side. Unlike how she wanted to appear in front of him, her high and mighty persona had quickly vanished when she had to ask him to sell the leaves to her.


    Ozul started to skim through the catalog carefully. There was a lot of time before the auction started, and the one who was going to host it was here in this room, so he wasn¡¯t in a hurry.


    ¡°These are all the items provided by Ashin Family to be put on the auction. Like before, I won¡¯t be able to get them directly. But, I can use my connections and can get you anything in the catalog from somewhere else. Though depending on the rarity, it might take some time to find the exact thing...¡± Hana dered resolutely.


    ¡°I just couldn¡¯t find these leaves in time...¡± She added with a low tone after a while.


    There were all kinds of rare and valuable things in the catalog. It started with useless stuff like the calming pendants and other enchanted items.


    However, with each turn of the page, he saw better and better things. Each item had an image, name, and brief description written under it.


    Communication Crystals... Camouge Orbs... Protective Amulets... At one point, Ozul even saw something simr to the crystal that Garth had used for the giant formations.


    Though they required Mana¡¯s use, and the ones auctioned here were not as good as the one Garth had used.


    ¡®I should¡¯ve gotten their Cores first...¡¯ Ozul remembered that he used the fire pirs to kill them, leaving almost no flesh on their body. It also shattered their Mana Cores.


    Although thest Rank-8 Core he had absorbed did little to no good to him, they were still valuable all around the Maind.


    But now that the deed was done, there was no use inmenting over it. Ozul shook his head and focused back on the catalog.


    Whole 20 minutes passed before Ozul had finally read everything down to thest detail.


    Some amazing items and herbs that could make people fight to the death over them were listed on it. Though most of them required Mana¡¯s use somehow, and the rest were not much use to him either.


    However, there was one thing that did attract his attention, even if it wasn¡¯t as valuable as the Harmony Leaves.


    ¡°Did you like anything?¡± Hana asked, hoping that he had his eyes on something.


    Although she could get almost everything in the catalog using her connections, she could not get the Harmony Leaves before it was toote. So she could absolutely not let them go.


    ¡°In fact, I did... Though I doubt you would be able to provide so many of these,¡± Ozul said while pointing his finger at the image of a bluish crystal in the catalog.


    ¡®Even if I do put these Leaves on the auction, I am not really guaranteed the double of its original value. Not to mention, the money is useless to me. It¡¯s better to get these instead...¡¯ Ozul contemted in his mind.


    ¡°Frozen Mana Crystal?¡± Hana muttered curiously.


    This Frozen Mana Crystal did not actually have frozen Mana. There was only apressed form of Mana trapped inside the bluish crystals.


    They were mostly used as the source of Mana for the instantaneous activation of powerful formations. Although they were rare, it wasn¡¯t to the point where they could evene close toparing with the Harmony Leaves, which could cure some of the most deadly poisons on the Maind.


    ¡°That¡¯s easy! It would be a piece of cake for me! What else?¡± Hana dered happily.


    ¡°Easy? Yeah, but I need as many as you can get. I meant as many as it would equal the value for the Leaves.¡± Ozul calmly stated as Hana¡¯s face drew a nk.


    ¡°Equal to the value of Harmony Leaves? That would be hundreds of them...¡± Hana muttered in distress.


    ¡®Why does he even need so many of those crystals!?¡¯ Hana thought inside her head.


    However, she quickly shook those thoughts away since she was running out of time. Without even saying anything to Ozul, she stormed out of the room.


    The two girls who had gone outside were puzzled about what happened to their boss, but they respectfully closed the door as they came inside again.


    Ozul had assumed that the woman would at least try to convince him to choose something else, but he was a little surprised with her sincerity.


    He knew that this would take a lot more time than simply finding the catalog, so he proceeded to close his eyes as nothing was interesting down in the hall anyway.


    People were still finding their seats, not to mention he would rather sleep than watching the auction happening now that he was already aware of the items.


    . . .


    He did not know how much time passed, but when he opened his eyes again, the auction had started down in the hall. On the stage, there was another woman who showed each item instead of Hana only because she was standing beside Ozul at this moment.


    ¡°Did you get them?¡± Ozul asked as he looked at people cing bids over other bids,peting for every item.


    ¡°I did,¡± Hana answered. She sounded a little exhausted.


    cing her hand before her, a pile of bluish crystals appeared on the table with a wave of her hand.


    Ozul could easily tell that they nearly reached three digits! Hana had indeed brought almost a hundred of those crystals under a few hours!


    ¡®Just how many connections did she have...¡¯ Ozul thought in his mind as he looked towards her.


    ¡°... I know that they are still not enough... But I can only apologize since this was the best I could do. To even out the value, you can ask anything else!¡± Hana said with a pitiful face.


    Her current appearance could have made just about anyone want to embrace her andfort her, but Ozul was indifferent.


    There was another thing he remembered. It was about the Spatial Ring. Even taking this big pile of the Frozen Mana Crystals required him to use a Spatial tool.


    However, he neither had blood nor Mana, so he could only choose the Spatial tool that did not require both of these.


    ¡°What about a Spatial Pouch?¡± Ozul suddenly asked.


    ¡°Spatial Pouch?¡± Hana was again surprised by his demand.


    These pouches were used hundreds of years ago. Nowadays, no one used these pouches as storage. People only had them as a piece of decoration or antiques.


    The most notable difference between the Spatial rings nowadays and the Spatial pouches in the past was that thetter was slowly outdated.


    Not only was the Spatial ring smaller in size, making it more discrete. It also had functions like setting up an owner using the blood or the Mana of that person as their signature.


    Even when the function of setting an owner of the Spatial Ring was better for the people, Ozul could only choose to use the Spatial pouches in the absence of both the necessary keys.


    He wasn¡¯t able to find any of those when he worked as an assassin with Count Oliver, but he was sure that this Hana would be able to easily get her hands on one such pouch.


    ¡°Yes. The bigger the space inside, the better,¡± Ozul said before Hana nodded her head and again ran out of the room.

 Chapter 180

    Chapter 180: Her anxiety.


    Such types of Spatial tools were old and, thus, should have been cheaper. However, Ozul knew that it wasn¡¯t the case in this.


    Since they did not require to build a connection using blood or Mana, people had to put their hands inside the Spatial pocket physically.


    Creating those Spatial openings required more effort than stabilizing the space inside after hundreds of years of trial and error.


    For such reasons, a Spatial pouch with the same amount of space inside it as thetest Spatial tools cost significantly more. Not to mention, she would have to find an antique one, which would probably be sold for many times more than its original price.


    However, Hana did not let Ozul wait for much longer as she came in, bringing a small fist-sized pouch with a red string used to close it off from the top.


    From the expressions on her face, anyone could tell that she was exhausted. She presented the pouch to Ozul before she sat down on the couch.


    ¡°This one is the best I could find in this short time with thirty square meters of space inside it,¡± Hana said with a tired face.


    .....


    Ozul opened the red string and put his hand in it. Not surprisingly, half of his hand went inside, but the pouch looked untouched from outside.


    He nodded his head with satisfaction before the first thing he put in was the book that was strapped to his side using Ball of Purity.


    Next, he put the pile of Frozen Mana Crystals inside. After that, he tied the pouch to the side of his pants using the red string.


    He felt much better now that he had this Spatial pouch. He wouldn¡¯t have to worry about dropping stuff whenever there was some difficult situation.


    There was no weight because of the pouch either. Although it mattered little to him considering his power, it was still better to carry around a small fist-sized pouch than everything separately.


    ¡°What else?¡± Hana asked in a low voice. She had already used up most of her favors from the notable people around the city for the sake of whatever she had already brought here. Now she was unsure if she would really be able to keep her words.


    ¡°That¡¯s it... for now,¡± Ozul almost forgot that even all of this was not enough for the Harmony Leaves. However, he did not have anything in his mind right now.


    ¡°Really? Still... if there is anything I can do right now, do tell me,¡± Hana was a little excited at first, but then took control of herself and offered politely. Finding items so valuable was tedious at such an hour, even with all of her connections and resources.


    Ozul could read her emotions, so he knew that she was as sincere as one could get. He was sure that she would not go back on her wordster. Even if she did, he had many ways to deal with something like that.


    Not to mention, she worked for the Ashin Family.


    ¡°... As a matter of fact, do you have any book on formations?¡± Ozul was about to decline her offer and just ask to getpensatedter, but he recalled that there was indeed one thing hecked right now.


    ¡°Book on formations? Like a guide?¡± Hana asked to confirm.


    Ozul nodded his head, so she replied, ¡°That can be easily done!¡±


    ¡°So... Can I take these Leaves now?¡± Hana asked before she was about to leave the room to get the book.


    Ozul nodded his head as Hana smiled brightly and bowed almost 90 degrees.


    ¡°Thanks a lot! I really needed these Leaves!¡± Hana said softly before rushing out of the room like before.


    Unlike before, it took her only a few minutes to get back with a book that had ¡®Learn Formations in 1 Day!¡¯ written on the cover.


    Before she could say anything, the blonde man who had previously received Ozul came inside the room and whispered something in her ears.


    ¡°Uhm... Will you please give me a moment? I really apologize, but I will be back in a minute!¡± Hana said awkwardly.


    Ozul took the book in her hands and nodded his head. Since he did not have any need to stay here any longer, it was better for him that she went away.


    Hana walked away with the blonde-haired man in quicksteps. She seemed to be in a hurry. Ozul ignored that and waited for a couple of moments before also leaving the room.


    The girls outside the room bowed respectfully and were about to ask if he needed anything, but they stopped noticing him walk away.


    Ozul knew that if he stayed any longer, that woman might start talking after she came back, and it was best for him to leave before it got annoying.


    He took the same path as he got in from. Walking in the hallway, he heard a couple of people dressed in uniform gossiping with each other.


    ¡°Did you hear about the Manager?¡±


    ¡°What? Did she fire someone again? Wow! It¡¯s the 7th person in this week!¡±


    ¡°Eh? No!... I mean that too, but did you hear about the other thing?¡±


    ¡°What thing?¡±


    ¡°Manager Hana finally found the Harmony Leaves to cure her sister. That means she wouldn¡¯t be in the pissed off mood like before now! Hehe...¡±


    ¡°Finally, the good days!... Wait, hadn¡¯t she already found them?¡±


    ¡°She did, but they couldn¡¯t even arrive in the city before they were stolen!¡±


    ...


    Almost everyone who was chit-chatting had the same topic for their conversation.


    It turned out that Hana needed the Harmony Leaves to cure her younger sister, who was almost on her death bed.


    Some said that she wouldn¡¯t be able to live past this week if her poison was not cured. But the physicians were helpless as one of the mainponents for treatment was the Harmony Leaves.


    Listening to the two women talking about how Hana had found the Leaves before as well, but they were stolen, Ozul could not help but think that the ones he had acquired might actually be the same.


    However, he wouldn¡¯t admit it even if they indeed were the same.


    ¡®That exins her anxiety...¡¯ Ozul thought before he put this matter to the back of his mind.


    Hana was desperate since her sister could die any minute, and the Harmony Leaves she had arranged before was stolen before she could even catch a glimpse of it.


    He quickly got out of the auction house. Fortunately, he did not encounter anyone who wanted to stop him.


    It was almost the middle of the night. Hours had passed after he got in this auction house.


    However, unlike one might have expected at this time, the Neutral City was still as bustling as ever. Almost everyone was at least a fighter here, so most of them required little sleep.


    ¡®Hmm... I totally forgot about Raven and ze,¡¯ Ozul realized as he was thinking about what he wanted to do next.


    Although he had told them that it might take some time for him toe back, hours had already passed.


    He stopped a carriage that was parked at a little distance from the auction house. Telling the driver about the ce, Ozul started to think through his ns.


    ¡®I have to check on Irvin first. The organization is the priority,¡¯ Ozul concluded.


    If he wanted to have any chance of finding any clues about himself, the organization was absolutely necessary.


    ¡®Then I will have to do something about Raven and ze.¡¯


    Bringing those two together with him would only slow him down right now. Ozul had already wasted so much time; he wouldn¡¯t be able to rest easy if this was dyed even more.


    Anyways, he wanted them to make things easier for him, not difficult. Since they were not ready yet, he had to think about what they would be doing in the meantime.


    The driver brought him in front of the hotel as he thought of what the duo would do in his absence.


    Thinking of how he would have to convince the two not to follow him for some time, Ozul entered the hotel.


    The receptionist was a woman in a ck and white uniform. Ozul approached her and took off his hat before saying, ¡°A cyan-haired man with a ck-haired girl; where are they?¡±


    ¡°...I am sorry, but-... They just left. I believe you should be able to find them in the restaurant opposite to this hotel,¡± the woman replied hurriedly.


    Before, she was doing some paperwork and was about to decline Ozul¡¯s request since it was against the rules to indulge customer¡¯s privacy. However, her words got stuck in her throat when she looked up to see his face. She couldn¡¯t seem to say no to this face.


    Ozul did not say another word and immediately turned around and left the hotel.


    As the woman had said, there was indeed a restaurant on the other side of the road. And it was from here that he noticed that Raven and ze were indeed there because he saw them sitting on the 3rd floor.


    The restaurant¡¯s whole front side was made of ss, and each story above the ground floor had it transparent.


    He could see someone else there too, but they were on the other side, so he was not able to recognize them from here.


    Ozul slowly made his way to the restaurant.


    Without stopping, he quickly reached the 3rd floor where he could finally see who was together with Raven and ze here.

 Chapter 181

    Chapter 181: It is necessary.


    As Ozul approached the duo, neither noticed him as they stared solemnly at the two people sitting in front of them.


    ¡°As I have already said, it is not a question about what we want in return. Listen heredy; we are not going to join your whatever sect! Find someone else.¡± ze spat with annoyance towards the middle-ageddy sitting across him.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand what is good for you yet. Once you-¡±


    Before thedy could finish her words, Raven and ze stood up when they noticed Ozul.


    ¡°You both made friends?¡± Ozul asked, looking towards the middle-aged man and the woman sitting at the table. ze smiled wryly at his obvious sarcasm.


    Raven was just happy that Ozul had returned as she softly smiled. Her serious face disappeared along with her aura that rejected almost everything that wanted to approach her.


    Looking at this sudden change in her attitude, the woman at the table had a knowing smile on her face.


    .....


    ¡°We are from the Nine Petals Sect, kid.¡± The woman said as she stood up with the man from their seats.


    ¡®Nine Petals Sect? I think I have heard... Oh, it is the sect that Raymond told me that his Ashin Family is allied with.¡¯ Ozul remembered Raymond giving a brief introduction of the two sects that were their allies.


    Ozul realized that both the man and the woman were Initial Stage and End-Stage of Rank-8, respectively.


    An End-Stage Rank-8 Mage was rare even in the Neutral Lands.


    He shot a curious look towards Raven, who exined, ¡°They are apparently the Elders from that sect. That woman wants to take both of us as her disciples.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± This actually amused Ozul.


    The woman noticed how both Raven and ze seemed to be tame around this new person. However, she could not find any reason for them to do so as she sensed no Mana from this man.


    ¡°You can call me Elder Michiko, and he is Elder Sawada,¡± the woman introduced them before the two approached him.


    ¡°You see, as we just met coincidentally here when I noticed that man had an exceptional talent in Ice Element. At first, I just wanted to recruit him. However, when we got to talking, I realized that this girl does not actually lose out to him. Both of them are peak Rank-6 and have not even turned 25!¡± Elder Michiko said.


    ¡°It is in their own interest that they join the Nine Petals Sect. Although it is a ruthless ce, people with talent are given privileges above even some elders,¡± Michiko continued to persuade.


    This time, she counted the benefits of the duo joining them to Ozul as she believed that he might actually hear her.


    Raven and ze looked back at them with a smirk at this point. They were aware that Ozul was always tant with his words, so they awaited the harsh rejection that the woman would hear from him.


    ¡°That¡¯s a nice idea,¡± Ozul said with a clear enough voice.


    The woman smiled, but Raven and ze¡¯s faces froze upon hearing his words.


    Did they hear it wrong!? The duo turned their head mechanically towards Ozul, who ignored their obvious changingplexion.


    ¡°Yes. It will be a great idea if you both cultivate there in the meantime.¡± Ozul said.


    He was already having trouble thinking of what they should do when he is away. The best he could think of was making them join the Order of Dusk under Raymond¡¯s care.


    However, joining a sect would be much better since there would probably be many more activities than just going around to kill people for money.


    For now, Raven and ze needed interaction with more people. Although they had promised not to be arrogant because of his presence, a lesson was best learned with experience.


    He was confident that they would not have any problem in taking care of themselves, but they severelycked human interaction.


    Ozul himself was just like that, but he could feel other people¡¯s emotions. So it was different for him. He did not have to know how people behaved in different situations and how he could just know what they truly felt.


    On the other hand, the duo not only did not have the emotion-sensing ability; they were as dense as one could be about this.


    Raven was aware of his ability. She was capable and knew the basics because of Count Oliver teaching her.


    Anyway, even if that wasn¡¯t the case. Ozul was having too much of an impression on them. Relying so much on someone was just as bad as slowly crippling oneself.


    ¡°In the meantime?¡± ze asked.


    ¡°Yes. I will be away for some time. And face it, both of you are not strong enough to be of any use. I don¡¯t have any use for the weak.¡± Ozul said the harsh truth.


    He had to since if he said anything else, both of them would probably want to argue over it.


    Listening to his words, the duo bowed their heads in shame. This was a sore point for them. For being even a little help to him, they needed to be at least Rank-8 and they were nowhere near it.


    Unlike ze, Raven was even aware that Ozul wanted people to do stuff for him. However, she was already doing the best one could do.


    Actually, it wasn¡¯t even their fault. Compared to every other human, their growth was monstrous, to say the least. One could not really just be a Rank-8 Mage in one month.


    Even Ozul knew this fact, but he was sure that saying anything else would not work.


    From the side, both the Elders were stunned. No use for the weak?! How does this person, as an ordinary human, have no use of two peak Rank-6 Mages with talent that showed only once in a thousand years?!


    Before Elder Michiko could say anything, Ozul took the Spatial pouch in his hand and began to take out the Frozen Mana Crystals.


    Since it took so much time, he turned the pouch upside down and started to shake it violently. Under a few seconds, all the crystals were on the ground.


    Everyone, be it Raven, ze, the Elders, or the people on that floor; all of them stared at the pile of bluish crystals with astonishment.


    Those who knew about the crystals were even more amazed than the others.


    Ozul had bought these crystals for Raven and ze actually. Even though these crystals were used for formations, there was still a huge amount of Mana stored in it.


    The Mages could not directly absorb the Mana, but it was a different case for Raven and ze since they had the Elemental Seeds.


    This would probably be enough for them to breakthrough the next rank as far as Ozul knew.


    Raven was the first to get out of her stupor as she waved her hand and the crystals disappeared in her Spatial Ring.


    ¡°What are those?¡± ze asked.


    ¡°Divide it among yourselvester. They would help you.¡± Ozul did not exin and only instructed them briefly.


    ¡®This person is really not as simple as he appears to be,¡¯ Elder Michiko thought as she stared intently at the man with the pitch-ck conical hat covering his face.


    ¡°You have a Spatial tool as well!¡± Raven eximed excitedly. She cannot contain her childishness when ites to Ozul.


    Although she was happy that she was a help to him for storing things, Raven never stopped thinking about how it was unfair to Ozul that he could not use a Spatial Ring.


    It was also her who had searched through Count Oliver¡¯s library nights in and out and learned about the Spatial Pouches used before the other tools.


    ¡°Yes, so don¡¯t worry about that anymore,¡± Although Ozul never liked people interfering with his business, he had gotten used to Raven¡¯s constant worries over him like Grandma Carol.


    ¡°Oh, and take good care of them. Okay? When Ie back and don¡¯t like what I see, then you wouldn¡¯t like what happens next,¡± Ozul said as he turned towards Elder Michiko.


    The target for his question, Elder Michiko, suddenly started to shake. Sweat quickly formed on her forehead as she immediately nodded her head.


    ¡®Just what is happening to me?!¡¯


    Elder Michiko could not understand how the words from a person who had no Mana exerted so much pressure on her.


    Seeing her nod her head repeatedly, Ozul turned his head towards Raven and ze. Elder Michiko sighed in relief as she realized that this person was way above her level.


    ¡°What happened, Elder Michiko?¡± The man behind asked in a concerned voice. He had a feeling that something was wrong with her.


    ¡°...We... will talkter about it,¡± Elder Michiko replied with a little pause. Her lips were still trembling a little.


    Ozul patted Raven¡¯s head before he was going to leave.


    Turning his head over to ze, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t die training. I have no use for dead people either.¡±


    He reminded them as these two sometimes took his words in a much more serious way. If they started to cultivate like madmen, it would render their base useless and also cause trouble.


    The worst-case scenario meant certain death.


    After this bit of time together, he certainly did not want toe back to see their dead bodies.


    ze smiled as he ¡®realized¡¯ that it was probably Ozul¡¯s way of showing his concern. Meanwhile, Raven was enjoying the head pat as much as she could. She just hadn¡¯t started purring at this point.


    After that, Ozul turned around and walked away with quick steps. If he stayed together with them any longer, he was sure that something else woulde up.


    Seeing his back, the duo had to control the tears from leaving their eyes. The Elders on the side looked at these two with their eyes twitching.


    ¡®What are you?! Some children seeing their father leave?!¡¯ The two Elders thought, making them wonder if they were too hasty in their decision to recruit this duo.

 Chapter 182

    Chapter 182: Alver.


    Ozul got out of the restaurant in hurried steps.


    He wouldn¡¯t take any chances with Raven and ze by staying any longer.


    ¡®Now I just have to inform Raymond,¡¯ Ozul thought before he started running on top of the buildings.


    ¡®I should only pick them up once I think they are ready...¡¯ Ozul could not help but think about the two.


    Although he had said those words to their face, he only had those two that he could call something other than a stranger.


    At that moment, he noticed that there were clouds in the sky that blocked the stars and the moonlight.


    He immediately lost his motivation to go all the way to Orita town to tell about his departure. Looking down, he noticed a decent looking hotel before he decided to sleep hisziness off.


    .....


    . . .


    The next day, he opened his eyes and was about to leave for that town when he remembered that the Ashin Family was supposed to be in the Neutral City, so he did not have to waste his time.


    He was then about to head to ask the directions for their manor but realized that Raymond would probably be at the Order of Dusk base.


    ¡®Whatever... he said his little brother is the current head, so there shouldn¡¯t be a problem,¡¯ he shrugged before asking a random person the directions for their manor.


    In any case, he was only going to tell that he would be leaving before he started his journey back to the Silverbird Kingdom. And since he was alone this time, he could most likely reach there in a matter of days instead of months.


    It turned out that the Ashin family¡¯s territory was in a whole other part of the city. He had to run to the other corner of the city. As he moved along, he noticed how the asional prominent buildings also had theirbels on them.


    Arriving near the manor, the whole area had no other buildings around. It literally just stopped at one point. It was exactly like the Church, but they had a big garden set around the building, so it was not so obvious.


    On the other hand, there was just empty space around the big manor surrounded by two meters tall walls.


    Unlike any other manors or any other private property with tall walls surrounding it, this one did not have any gates.


    There was only a simple entrance that allowed just about anyone to leave and enter as they pleased. Of course, there weren¡¯t many who dared to step closer to that ce.


    Only a few men, neatly dressed in uniform, would sometimes be seen going in and out.


    It seemed that the walls were only for the sake of being there. They did not have any other purpose. However, Ozul did not think that since he was pretty sure that there was some powerful formation behind the walls.


    The purpose of that formation? Ozul was not aware. He could only sense a few wisps of Mana floating near the walls.


    Ignoring everything, he casually moved towards the entrance.


    The people dressed in uniforms passed by, giving him the stares. However, no one approached to stop him as if they were only on guard for the sake of appearances.


    Ozul entered the Manor, and only then he noticed a garden even more decorated and well organized than the one at the Church.


    He could have left his message to the guard, but he was sure that they wouldn¡¯t take him seriously.


    Unlike the few rare people not in uniform who respectfully walked in and out of the giant mansion, Ozul turned towards the garden to the left.


    Looking at the number of people, he knew that it would take more time there than going directly to the Orita town. Not to mention, he had sensed something in that direction which he could not in the building...


    Taking another turn on the stone path, he noticed a man with short ck hair. He was sitting at the table with a teacup in his hand. He was looking at the Gardener doing his work.


    Before he could take a step towards that man, someone blocked his way. It was ady also dressed in a uniform. However, she had modifications done to her clothes and seemed to be someone with authority.


    ¡°Leave,¡± The woman did not even bother to ask his purpose here and told him to leave.


    Ozul ignored the woman and stared at the man sitting a couple of meters away from him. He was sure that this person was the younger brother of Raymond as not only their features matched, but he could also sense his cultivation.


    That man did not turn to look at his way, but Ozul was certain that he had his eyes and ears all on him.


    Instead of exining his purpose, Ozul kept staring at the man and spoke in a soft voice, ¡°Tell Raymond that Ozul left. I would be setting things up starting from the Silverbird Kingdom.¡±


    Before the woman could even process what he was saying, he turned around and left the ce.


    Although he had to inform Raymond of the spy, it wasn¡¯t urgent. He would probably being back and forth. It could be der. He wasn¡¯t even sure if this younger brother of his even knew about their deal, so it was best not telling him.


    An ordinary human wouldn¡¯t have been able to hear such a low voice, but the man instantly turned his head in Ozul¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Is he an acquaintance of elder brother? But I couldn¡¯t sense any Mana from him...¡± The man did not stop him from leaving, but he did find it weird how this man not only did not fear him but also seemed to know his elder brother¡¯s name.


    The woman also seemed to be familiar with Raymond¡¯s name as she looked at Ozul¡¯s back with scorn. She wanted to show this peasant his ce since he dared to speak that name so impolitely. But she could not move from her spot without any orders.


    ¡°Alver! I have to tell you about something!¡± Just at that moment, they heard a voiceing from the opposite side.


    The man who was addressed to as Alver respectfully stood up, ¡°Elder brother.¡±


    ¡°As a matter of fact, I was just thinking about you. Someone came by...¡± Alver said.


    It was Raymond that had coincidentally juste back here after Ozul had left. Ozul had walked out of the manor, unaware he would meet Raymond if he waited a few seconds.


    He was not able to sense him approaching. When he had entered the manor, he could only sense one Rank-9 Mage who was in that direction of the garden. And who could it be other than either Raymond or his brother?


    Though he had said his message to Raymond¡¯s brother, it was enough. If these two brothers had anymunication with them at all, Raymond would get the message. If not, then it did not matter so much anyway.


    This was thest thing he needed to do in the Neutral City this time. Without any further ado, he turned straight in the direction of the Silverbird Kingdom and bolted at fast as he could.


    A few minutester, he left the Neutral City. At one point, he stopped running and used the Ball of Purity to fly instead. He had almost forgotten that he could also do this. It took significantly less effort, and the speed could not even bepared.


    An hour had yet to pass before he was already in the Destends.


    It had been a couple of days, but two of the three most influential organizations all over the Maind were changing their ns because of him.


    One of them owed him his limbs while the other had be his ally.


    He was not aware, but the people in the Church were in an uproar at this moment.


    ¡ª¡ª


    *A few hours earlier.*


    A man ran down the hallway of the Church in a rush. He was out of breath, but he did not stop until he reached two giant doors.


    He stopped there to catch his breath before he knocked on the doors.


    *Tak. Tak.*


    ¡°Enter.¡± A voice rang out from inside the room as he opened the doors and stepped in.


    The spacious room was less of a room and looked more like a sanctuary for priests. And it was true since a man who appeared to be around his early 50s sat in the middle in a priest¡¯s attire.


    The man immediately bowed and did not approach the man. ¡°Archbishop...¡± The man muttered without looking up at him.


    ¡°Exin,¡± The old man who turned out to be the Archbishop spoke.


    ¡°We confirmed that the charred corpses were indeed Garth and the other two High Priests. I have dispatched people, but there has been no news or any kind of information about what happened yet. We found no eye witness either...¡± The man gave a brief overview of the situation.


    Sweat was slowly forming on his forehead because of the tension in the air.


    Most people were not aware, but he knew that the man in front of him would not hesitate to destroy entire countries if he was in a bad mood.


    ¡°What had he gone out to do?¡± Archbishop asked, with his eyes still closed. There was not a ripple of emotions on his face.


    ¡°He... he had gone after that ¡®unusual kid¡¯,¡± The man replied nervously.


    ¡°Hadn¡¯t I told you that no one was to go after him? Didn¡¯t you hear what ra had exined about him?¡± Archbishop asked as he knit his brows.


    ¡°Your Grace, I had given out the orders immediately, but he had gone out even before that.¡± The man replied with a back drenched in sweat.


    ¡°That person is a Devil. None of you are strong enough to defeat someone at his level. Spread the news that those three High Priests died fighting a Devil to protect a small town.¡±


    ¡°As youmand your grace,¡± the man was about to stand up and leave.


    ¡°Also, show their corpses to every High Priest and the above. Tell them it is what happens to those who don¡¯t obey the Lord¡¯s will,¡± Archbishop added, making the man shudder in fear.


    Just as he knew, the Archbishop was as ruthless as ever. Before he decided to punish him for his negligence, the man quickly left the room.


    ¡®It seems that I will have to deal with you personally...¡¯ The Archbishop thought before closing his eyes.

 Chapter 183

    Chapter 183: Return to Silverbird Kingdom.


    ¡°... Someone came by,¡± Alver said as he offered his seat to Raymond.


    ¡°Oh? That isn¡¯t important. Listen to me first,¡± Raymond said while sitting on the only chair present on the table.


    Alver was left standing as he respectfully listened.


    ¡°I met someone yesterday. You know about The Feral; it was him. Consider him and his newly established information-gathering organization as our allies now,¡± Raymond informed.


    ¡°Alright. But what is so important here?¡± Alver did not understand how this was so important that his elder brother, who always maintained his indifferent face, acted impatient today.


    ¡°His actual name is Ozul Ashfall,¡± Raymond spoke slowly.


    The woman on guard who listened to their conversation did not understand why his name was so important. But she had never seen her master, Alver, so surprised.


    .....


    Alver did not react for a few moments as he heard the name before he quietly muttered, ¡°She always said that she liked the name Ozul...¡±


    The two brothers stayed silent for a little while before they collectively sighed.


    ¡°But how is it possible?¡± Alver asked. He wanted to believe that it was indeed their nephew, but it just did not make any sense.


    ¡°I know-however, his face, the Ashin family¡¯s ck hair, and his age match. I only have doubts because he is a Rank-9 Mage,¡± Raymond said with an unsure face.


    ¡°I have already sent two of my men, don¡¯t bother,¡± Raymond said when he saw that Alver was about to order his subordinate to investigate.


    Alver gestured with his hand, and the woman returned to her position.


    The two brothers stayed quiet before Alver spoke, ¡°It was all my fault; I should have been more careful.¡±


    ¡°No, Alver; it was not your fault. The ones really at fault would pay dearly for it,¡± Raymond said with his voice burning with deep rage.


    At his words, a cold glint shed past Alver¡¯s eyes as well. The woman standing at a distance shuddered as she saw this scene.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    Unaware of themotion that he had caused in the Church and the talk between the two brothers, Ozul at this moment was flying towards the Silverbird Kingdom.


    Since he did not have to put much effort other than keeping a part of his consciousness with the Ball of Purity, he looked as calm as ever. But he was traveling so fast that life on the ground could not even catch a glimpse of him.


    To them, there were only a few extra winds today. Only someone at least at the Middle Stage of Rank-9 could match his current speed.


    It took him just a few hours topletely leave the Neutral Lands. He was now back to the wild area where there were tens of towns and cities.


    Ozul did not stop to rest at any ce. First of all, it had only been a little more than half a day, and second, he wanted to return as fast as he could.


    However, at the end of the day, he did stop at the Fer city, which was the nearest to the dividing mountains and the Old Whispering Woods.


    ¡®One or two days won¡¯t matter...¡¯ Ozul did want to return as fast as possible, but sleeping every day had almost be a habit by now.


    The next day, he flew straight towards the direction of the Old Whispering Woods. He could not avoid that area since it was in the middle of the direct route back to the Kingdom.


    He did not have any reason to avoid this area in the first ce.


    As he flew above the old jungle, he could not help but look towards the direction in which the trees spread thicker and even more tangled.


    The more one traveled in that direction, the more dangerous it was since it brought people to the forest¡¯s middle areas.


    ¡®Though dangerous, I am sure there must be some fascinating things there,¡¯ Ozul thought as he looked in that direction.


    His power had stagnated to whatever he had right now. Though absorbing Rank-8 Core did improve, the growth was so little that he was better off not starting a massacre.


    The only two other options that he had left were Rank-9 Core or found something new.


    A Rank-9 Mage was not some cabbage sold in the market. Even if he were to encounter one, he was not sure if he could kill them so easily.


    ¡®Even if there is nothing, there should at least be one Rank-9 Beast,¡¯ Ozul thought.


    As their ranks increased, Beasts became even rarer than the Mages. It was fine just protecting themselves from humans, but they also had to protect against the other Beasts.


    However, one thing that did give a Beast at a simr rank was their prowess. They were significantly more powerful physically, and their affinity with Mana could not even bepared.


    One of the actual weaknesses of the Beasts was their intelligence, but a Beast at Rank-7 had already learned to speak. So it was without a question that Rank-9 Beasts were just as smart as any other human Mages!


    ¡®Not now...¡¯


    However, Ozul did not turn towards that direction. Although he did want to improve his strength after realizing that he was still weak, setting up the organization was his priority.


    Without wasting any more time, he resumed his dash towards the Silverbird Kingdom.


    A couple of days passed before he was actually out of the forest. In between, he did not take any rest this time.


    Although he was only flying from above the Old Whispering Woods, he did feel better leaving the sight of the same trees everywhere.


    This day, he was above the forest that connected with the Silverbird Capital city. He slowed down a bit and saw the city buildings after half a day. They were exactly as he had left them.


    It only took him almost a week to return to the Silverbird Kingdom alone!


    Months had passed when they traveled in the convoy because they had to take things slow to keep the security maximan. However, since he was alone, he did not have to hold back and sped as fast as he could.


    ¡®Maybe I should have done this before...¡¯ Ozul realized that if he was that fast, maybe he did not have to stick together with the convoy from the start.


    After all, he had only followed along because he wanted to visit the Neutral Lands and want to see what the Emperor was up to. But now, he had certain ns that could only bepleted with the help of Raymond.


    With such thoughts in his mind, Ozul went towards the city. To not attract all the attention to himself, he came down on the ground and started walking normally.


    As he entered the city, he did not notice anything unusual. Everything was just as he had left them. However, one thing he did notice was that the Silverbird Capital city did not feel so prosperous now that he had seen the Neutral city.


    The difference was too huge to evenpare.


    Walking down the streets, he did notice a few men looking at his way before hurriedly evading their eyes. They did look suspicious, but it wasn¡¯t to the point that one would think much about it.


    Ozul had also only noticed them because he could sense that they were not really curious because he had the conical hat on his head that covered his face.


    These few men and women were actually more impatient than curious. It was like a dog impatiently wagging his tail before he picked up the ball to give it to his master.


    Ozul noticed that the men disappeared from the crowd after giving him a few nces.


    ¡®Not enough...¡¯ Ozul thought before he quickly made his way to the alleyway where the organization¡¯s building was located.


    Reaching the alleyway, Ozul noticed that those few men who had been acting unusually were also in the crowd close to it. This confirmed his assumption that they were indeed men from the organization.


    He ignored them and immediately entered the alleyway. As he arrived before the building, the same old man sat before the entrance with the newspaper in his hand.


    The old man did not even look up from his newspaper as he let him in. Ozul had taken off his hat at this time.


    Before him, there was a small lobby that had not even a speck of dust.


    ¡®At least he did something right,¡¯ Ozul noticed that there were no hundreds of men running around with piles and piles of documents.


    Such an organization with little to no administration could only work at a small scale. If he wanted to expand, those messy structural systems would never work.


    He needed everything arranged and it seemed that he was right in his choice to pick Irvin to build the organization because he was already doing a good job.


    ¡°What do you want, sir?¡± A woman wearing a somewhat simr uniform as he had seen with people of the Ashin Family asked.


    Ozul turned around and noticed a woman behind the counter.


    ¡°Call Irvin,¡± Ozul simply said before making his way to the couch that was ced in the middle of the lobby.


    ¡°I... Irvin as in Master Irvin?¡± The woman asked hesitatingly. She did not know if this person in front of her was even aware of what he was saying.


    ¡°Yes, the one who runs this ce,¡± Ozul repeated his words before taking a seat.


    ¡°... I am sorry sir, but Master Irvin was not expecting a visit...¡±

 Chapter 184

    Chapter 184: Irvin in distress.


    ¡°... I am sorry sir, but Master Irvin was not expecting a visit,¡± Thedy said, thinking that this person must be crazy.


    Ozul squinted his eyes a little. He knew a little bit of what this woman might be thinking. Just as he was about to say something, a voice rang out,


    ¡°Young Master!¡±


    It was the old Haley. However, Ozul did notice that she did not look so old as she did before. At most, she appeared to be a middle-ageddy.


    After he had removed the poison from the old couple¡¯s Mana Core, the Mana had started to circte through their bodies again.


    And the purity of their Mana was high enough to rejuvenate their physical condition back to what it was before.


    Haley was surprised to see Ozul back since there wasn¡¯t any other way for him to inform them beforehand.


    .....


    She immediately approached him and bowed her head. These few months were not enough to make her forget their absolute debt to this person.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to bow every time,¡± Ozul replied as Haley smiled with sweetness.


    ¡°Madam-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. You can return to your work,¡± Haley said to the woman before she led Ozul towards the next room.


    The woman did not say anything afterward and bowed her head before leaving. She had seen her madam bowing to this person. It certainly meant that he was someone strong or influential.


    Ozul saw half the people arranging files on different tables and the other half sorting those documents. They did not stop there as Haley led him to the stairs.


    While on the second floor, they had yet to enter the office when ¡°Irvin! Come here right now!¡± Haley shouted angrily.


    ¡°What is it now?!¡± Irvin¡¯s voice sounded annoyed, but he hurriedly came out of his room in fear that he had done something wrong.


    Just as Irvin hade out of the room, he looked a little dumbfounded when he saw Ozul. Immediately afterwards, he got on one of his knees as he bowed respectfully.


    ¡°Young Master.¡±


    ¡°Stand up,¡± Ozul said as Irvin stood up with a nervous face.


    Although he thought he had done a great job establishing the organization in Ozul¡¯s absence, he was unsure if Ozul would be satisfied with it.


    ¡°When did you return?¡± Irvin asked tensely. To his side, Haley looked at him with amusement.


    ¡°I just did. It¡¯s not important. Let¡¯s go inside,¡± Ozul said while making his way inside the office.


    Irvin stood there awkwardly as it should have been his first gesture to invite him to the room instead. After a while, the three were in the room with Ozul sitting on the couch.


    There was a table with thick piles of documents ced on top. Ozul assumed it to be Irvin¡¯s table.


    The couple did not dare to sit down in the presence of their Master.


    ¡°Although I was going to leave everything to you before. I now want to hurry things up a little,¡± Ozul stated after a while.


    ¡°If I may ask, how much earlier to be exact?¡± Irvin asked.


    ¡°I am not sure, but I think we should have our branches to almost every popted area under 10 years,¡± Ozul replied, making Irvin shoot open his eyes.


    ¡®His surprise is valid since 10 years probably seem impossible,¡¯ Ozul thought without minding much.


    ¡°That brings me to the point; we have allies in the Neutral City,¡± Ozul said, which instantly piqued both Irvin and Haley¡¯s interest.


    ¡°Who are they?¡± Irvin asked. He and Haley were from the Neutral Lands, so Ozul thought that they must know of them.


    ¡°The Order of Dusk and the Ashin Family,¡± Ozul answered simply.


    However, the two hearing his words, instinctively took a few steps back. They were both high ranked Mages, so this extent of reaction made Ozul think that something was wrong.


    ¡°Hmm? What happened?¡± he asked as he noticed their worried emotions.


    ¡°I... We have something to tell you...¡± Irvin said with a meek tone.


    ¡°Speak,¡±


    ¡°Remember how we told you that I worked for a powerful family?¡± Irvin reminded Ozul of the time when he had removed their poison.


    Ozul instantly realized what Irvin was trying to say as he asked, ¡°You mean to say that you worked for the Ashin Family?¡±


    ¡°Yes... I did,¡± Irvin replied with a distressed face.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see what¡¯s the problem here?¡± Ozul knew that the people Irvin worked for had asionally sent men after him, but it shouldn¡¯t be a problem after all this time now.


    He had made a deal with a Rank-9 Mage of that organization. They probably would not break their word for such an old matter now.


    Though Irvin did not think this way; he had worked directly under the head of the Ashin family, he was aware that rules mattered a lot in the family.


    Failures in missions were eptable, but breaking the rules was a crime punishable with the most severe punishments in there.


    ¡°You might not be aware of it, Master... but the Ashin family gives great importance to rules. Especially after that incident...¡± Irvin spoke thest words quietly.


    Ozul heard him, but he did not ask anything since he thought it was not rted to him.


    He also remembered that those people did indeed give more importance to the rules. Even someone at Hana¡¯s rank could not break the rules and buy the auctioned items without informing them about it and getting her authority revoked.


    Only these simple gestures were enough to make him realize that it was indeed true.


    ¡°I have been witness to many walking out of their deals only because they had broken some rules. These people even ignored the Rank-9 Mages and instantly rejected tens of partners. Consider how many people they have already sent after me; I am sure that they would not let it go so easily.¡±


    Irvin exined his experience in detail. This situation caused him to feel that it would be his fault if their partnership broke only because of him.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Even if they do want to change things, it doesn¡¯t really matter.¡±


    Ozul dismissed it nonchntly. Unlike what one would expect, it did not relieve Irvin of his distress. Instead, he was even more worried now.


    ¡°But-¡±


    ¡°As I said, if they don¡¯t want to cooperateter, it is up to them. They are only required to speed up the process... Not getting support would at most only increase the time or my efforts.¡± Ozul stated.


    Irvin could only sigh because of his so casual approach to this situation. Then again, he felt a little better knowing that Ozul was willing to break the cooperation with the giant organization such as Ashin Family only for the sake of them.


    ¡°Alright...¡±


    ¡°As for what they will be cooperating with us, it¡¯s simple. The Order of Dusk will help us with financial issues, which would give us a head start.¡±


    ¡°And what do they want for the organization?¡± Irvin asked curiously.


    ¡°Heh... What else, but information from an information-gathering organization?¡± It was not Ozul but Haley who replied to Irvin¡¯s question.


    Both Haley and Ozul stared at Irvin like they were watching some idiot, making thetter look away in embarrassment.


    ¡°They will indefinitely use the information that we have, free of cost,¡± Ozul said, making both Haley and Irvin wonder why they had to give so much.


    However, the two did not ask him anything as they did not have much say in it. Irvin also knew the importance of formations as he had experienced them firsthand.


    ¡°As for the organization right now, it is only so so,¡± Ozulmented as Irvin felt even worse.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Finding capable men is hard,¡± Ozul said, which made Irvin confused since he could get two meanings from his words.


    Ozul had either said it to console him orment that he could not find the right person for the job.


    ¡°What should I do...¡± He muttered to himself in distress.


    ¡°First and foremost, start picking up talented orphans,¡± Ozul answered Irvin¡¯s question, who hurriedly nodded his head.


    An information-gathering organization needed loyal people, and giving an orphan shelter at his worst time was one of the easiest ways to have one¡¯s undying loyalty.


    ¡°For now, consider that the Ashin Family will cooperate. In this case, you won¡¯t need to worry about money. So start hiring people worth their salt,¡±


    ¡°...And what if they don¡¯t cooperate?¡± Irvin hesitated before asking.


    ¡°I will take care of it somehow. Your work is to find people who are actually good at this,¡± Irvin realized that Ozul was not happy with the current people from his words.


    ¡°Alright, It is a long time process, but I think I should be able to find people,¡± Irvin replied confidently, which made Haley smile as well.


    ¡°... I remembered something...¡± Haley suddenly spoke, drawing Ozul¡¯s attention.


    Noticing his stare, Haley realized that he had indicated for her to speak, so she said, ¡°What about the name? There should at least be a proper name for the organization.¡±

 Chapter 185

    Chapter 185: Report.


    ¡°It does not matter what the name is. If you are running it well, it will spread whatever the name is,¡± Ozul replied nonchntly.


    Haley understood what he was trying to say. Since it did not matter, it was up to them to choose, and he would not object whatever it was.


    ¡°Oh! What about ¡®The Three-Eyed Strangers¡¯? We will know everything but will never interfere since we are just strangers.¡± Irvin hurriedly replied, making Haley look at him with a deadpan face and Ozul simply looking at him.


    If it were anyone else, he would have insisted on his decision, but the two staring at him were both people that he dared not oppose, so he replied, ¡°Haha... I was just-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Ozul replied, cutting him off.


    Haley red daggers at Irvin, making thetter sweat buckets. Now that Ozul had said that the name was okay, she did not dare change it now.


    Actually, she found the name to be decent but nheless wanted to decide it with more optionster.


    .....


    ¡°First and foremost, what is the situation right now?¡± Ozul asked as he watched the sun going down. There must have been at least something from the Royal Family or at least the nobles.


    Hearing him ask for a report, Irvin instinctively went to pick up his file. He was about to give it to Ozul before Haley snatched it from his hands.


    She opened the file and began to read out the brief version of it to Ozul. Only then did Irvin realize that he was too disrespectful by giving the file directly to him.


    Cursing his stupidity, he stood to the side, listening to his wife exin the report.


    ¡°After you left, Irvin first dealt with the Marquis supporting the previous leader. He tried to create trouble, but we have yet to hear from him after Irvin showed him his power.¡±


    ¡°What about the other nobles? Anything from the Royals?¡± Ozul asked while still staring outside the window.


    ¡°A messenger had only oncee here to ask what business we did, and we needed to answer considering that we owned a whole building and tens of people worked here.¡±


    ¡°And what business do we do?¡±


    ¡°We are merchants...¡± Haley answered.


    ¡°Hm... Continue.¡± Ozul did not care what their public identity was.


    ¡°Other than that, there has been no contact with either the Nobles or the Royals.¡±


    ¡®Weird... Why was there no approach from them? Did the Emperor decide to take a safe approach and not do something in case I returned? It is likely...¡¯ Ozul could not help but think.


    ¡°However, Irvin did get in contact with Marquis Orbthorn as you had suggested. He said that he could only help financially at the moment. He gave us a massive sum in Gold Coins,¡± Haley continued,


    ¡°Since there were no actions from Nobles or the Royal family, we gave the organization a new look and set up a basic system ofmand. Although it is not much, it is a start. Irvin was thinking of setting up bases in other cities as well...¡±


    Haley finished giving her report. The rest of the things were of minor importance and did not require Ozul¡¯s attention.


    ¡°No. Don¡¯t set up a base in other cities yet. You don¡¯t have capable men yet. Expand here till the Royal family has no choice but to show a reaction,¡± Ozul replied as Haley nodded her heads.


    Irvin was an assassin before. He did not understand much about these things, but he was at least aware of what Ozul meant.


    As they were now, the Royal family or any of the Nobles did not take any action because they either did not have the means to or did not think it was worth the trouble.


    He did not know about the Nobles since at least a Duke would require to take action personally for them to deal with him, but the Royal family was without a doubt sufficient to respond.


    And no action against them at all meant that they were nothing in their eyes yet. However, they still sent a messenger to show that they were aware of their activities.


    Ozul wanted them to expand in the capital city for as long as the Royal family intervened and responded. Once they did, it would mean that they could not tolerate an organization any bigger than that in their capital city.


    That would be the cue for them to expand outside and build bases in other cities.


    ¡°Picking up talented orphans is a long term process. It would help if you had more capable men now. The current ones are worse than amateurs.¡± Ozulmented while looking at Irvin, who shuddered.


    ¡°I... I will take care of that.¡± He stuttered. In his mind, Ozul was an old monster who only appeared to be young because of his cultivation. That¡¯s why he was afraid of displeasing him.


    ¡°You are good at management; take care of that... Take over that.¡± Ozul said, making Haley¡¯s eyes shine with excitement.


    She hurriedly bowed towards him, ¡°Thank you, young master! I will not disappoint you.¡±


    Even if not for their life debt towards him, Haley liked managing and ounting. One could say that she only enjoyed it since it was what she was taught to do in her family. But she was good at it and happy that she could be of help.


    Ozul had changed his words as Irvin was really bad at this, and Haley seemed to be capable of handling these things. Not to mention that she was the boss in their rtionship, so she could easily tell Irvin what to do without worrying about consequences like someone else would have done.


    The room quietened down after that, and Haley dragged Irvin out of the room when she noticed that Ozul did not have any other orders.


    A few momentster, she came back inside and asked, ¡°The servants have prepared a room; would you like to rest?¡±


    Haley was quite observant. She knew that although Ozul was strong, he unusually slept even more than ordinary people.


    Ozul did not reply but stood up and followed her out of the room. The building had somehow three floors now as Haley led him to a room on that floor.


    Haley respectfully asked if he needed anything before leaving the room.


    Meanwhile, Ozul was still thinking about the Emperor.


    Since he had gotten ahold of his limbs even before the Church, Ozul suspected that there might or might not be one of his arms with him as well.


    However, there was no other way to find out but directly ask him.


    For such a thing, Ozul needed to have confidence that he could defeat the Emperor. Not only that, but he also needed to do something about the formations. If a formation with a Rank-8 Mage could be so annoying, he could only imagine what else they could do in the hands of a Rank-9.


    The Emperor had a whole bunch of resources and tens of Rank-8 Mages at his disposal. And Ozul was sure that he would not be able to even get near the royal pce against such a setup.


    An even greater threat was the hidden strength of the groups. If the Church and the Ashin Family could hide their real troops, others could too.


    Although it was unlikely, what if there were any chances of another Rank-9 Mage or even a Rank-10 Mage in the Royal family that they have hidden from the world?


    That is why Ozul had first decided to set up this organization so he would know about things that he didn¡¯t before.


    Right now, he could only make a general guess of what the Emperor could do.


    ¡®I am not his match right now. I need to get stronger...¡¯ Ozul was aware of his own strength.


    Judging other Rank-9 Mage¡¯s strength from Raymond¡¯s, although he did not see himself losing, Ozul was sure that he would not be able to win either.


    ¡®I will also have to study the formations...¡¯ Ozul reminded himself before going to sleep.


    . . .


    The next day, Haley hade to deliver food, but Ozul rejected it as usual. He was never really hungry, but as she was about to walk out, he stopped her and took the teacup from her hands.


    The tea smelled nice, so he could not help but give it a try. Haley¡¯s face formed a motherly smile as she was about to turn around, but Ozul stopped her again,


    ¡°I forgot to give you these...¡± He put his hand in the Spatial pouch and took out the two small seeds of different colors wrapped in the Ball of Purity.


    ¡°What are these?¡± Haley asked curiously. She could not rte the two seeds to anything in her mind.


    ¡°They are Elemental Seeds,¡± Ozul said, thinking that Haley did not know about them. But just as he said Elemental Seeds, Haley¡¯s eyes widened as she asked,


    ¡°Are they really...?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡±


    ¡°But we cannot ept this. We are already in your debt-¡±


    ¡°You work for me now. I don¡¯t need weak people. Take these or leave,¡± Ozul used the same strategy as with ze and Raven. Not surprisingly, Haley immediately took the seeds out of his hands and bowed many times before leaving the room.


    After she left, Ozul enjoyed the tea, ¡°It¡¯s okay...¡±


    The only time he ate food was when Grandma Carol was alive. That too only so she would not worry about his health.


    Thinking about it now, Ozul thought that he should keep trying out new stuff. If this simple tea tasted good, maybe other things would too?

 Chapter 186

    Chapter 186: Bitterness along with sweetness.


    With Ozul¡¯s new orders, Irvin and Haley began to work things out.


    First, she gathered the few people who were actually capable and had some important position to inform their organization¡¯s name.


    An organization¡¯s name might not seem too much of a deal, but just a simple name could affect many things.


    Without a name, the people working here were just grinding to get paid. However, with a name, they would feel a belonging to this ce. These feelings are the foundation of their loyalty and the hard work that they would put here in the future.


    Without a name, they were a group of people working together for their own interests. Now, they were truly an organization.


    Days began to pass as Ozul told Haley to make some method ofmunication at longer distances.


    Although Irvin was trying his best to find capable men, it would definitely not be easy in the initial stages. That is why they would need help to speed up the process. If themunication was established, they would be able to make good use of the Order of Dusk.


    .....


    A week or soter, Irvin had already hired quite a few people. Although their loyalty was yet to be tested, they could only do with what they had right now.


    Meanwhile, the little bit of money they had was quickly getting used up. Not only had Haley started ordering to add new things to the base, but the new people also required advanced pay.


    It was just too much right now. But Ozul knew that it was only because they had just started the organization. Once it was properly established and grows, people would want to join even without Irvin looking for them.


    Irvin had just thought to stop recruiting people when Haley kicked out every ipetent person. She also reassigned their previous duties if she saw that the person had the ability.


    Irvin thought that it might upset Ozul, but thetter was perfectly fine with it. If Haley had not done it, he would have ordered it sooner orter.


    They needed more people, but not at the cost of quality.


    After a week, there were no suspicious people on the streets staring at others from a distance.


    Although the Mages and Fighters could still feel the eyes on them, their system was slowly improving. It couldn¡¯t be helped since some of the new recruits were only Fighters of the lowest rank.


    Meanwhile, Ozul spent the days eitherzing around or roaming the city at night.


    Today, Haley looked for people who would be kind enough to sell an artifact used for long-distancemunication, but she was disappointed since she had no luck.


    Fortunately, she did not have to worry about that when two men knocked on the door. These two were Rank-7 Mages sent by people from the Order of Dusk to provide the initial funds.


    As they entered their office and pulled out the things that were sent to them in advance, Haley could not help but stare agape at the pile of shining items.


    In her younger days, she had seen things like these. But it had been more than decades, so the memory was not so fresh in her mind now.


    The two Rank-7 Mages did not say a word more and left the building hurriedly. Irvin was out, and only Haley and Ozul remained in the office.


    Ozul was nonchnt even in front of the pile of rare items, but it could not be said to be the same for Haley.


    After eloping with Irvin, she had endured many hardships and had almost forgotten what it¡¯s like to have such expensive things lying around all day.


    However, Haley quickly controlled herself as her eyes went directly to a book in the pile of material. Haley instantly ran and approached that book.


    As Haley held it in her hands, she turned towards Ozul and said, ¡°The first part of the long-distancemunication is already done. We just need two of these. We have one, and the other should be with them.¡±


    Ozul gave another nce to the pile of things on the ground before walking away. She understood it better than himself, so it was better all left to her.


    There were all sorts of things there. Most of them were tinum Coins, and the rest were resources used for formations and stuff.


    Haley stored it all in her Spatial Ring as it was all a great help. Although she also doubted that the Ashin Family would keep their cooperation once they learn about Irvin.


    After Irvin came back, Haley had other things for him to do. Now with funds in her hand, Haley decided to secure this base more and hire more capable men.


    Irvin particrly looked for Mercenaries as they could be of great help. Not everyone needed to be an exclusive member. They could only be the informants who would get rewards for each piece of information valid and worth something.


    As for Mercenaries, they already wandered around everywhere. They surely wouldn¡¯t lose the opportunity to get free stuff.


    . . .


    Over the days, the number of people working directly for the organization kept increasing. Only a month had passed, and there were already over a hundred members of the Three-Eyed Strangers.


    And it was all without counting the people who only sold valuable information on a daily basis for rewards.


    Haley did not forget to weed out the bad apples among the bunch. If these people seemed sincere in their work but were not talented enough, she only changed their duties.


    During this time, Ozul would asionally go out in the nights to roam around the Royal Pce. Since he did not have Mana, people were not able to sense him around the pce.


    He wanted to see if he could observe and find out what formations were used behind the walls in the meantime.


    Talking about formations, he had already started reading that book. Although he hadn¡¯t yet be an expert, it let him get some ideas that were not there in his mind before.


    The book was too thick and long for him to finish it in one day.


    ¡®Well, these aren¡¯t really hard to understand...¡¯ Ozul thought inside his mind as he stared at the book.


    Even after reading a few pages, Ozul had slowly started to learn about the formations. It let him understand the usual workings of formations, which would be really useful once in battle.


    . . .


    Meanwhile, at a faraway distance.


    In the mansion, Alver was having the tea again in the garden. Ever since then, it had been like this for him. He could not concentrate on other matters at all.


    Just at that moment, Raymond seemingly appeared out of thin air with excitement visible on his face.


    Alver stood there in a daze since he had never seen his elder brother smile so brightly after the death of their sister.


    ¡°My men came back! They spent almost an entire month searching for anything rting to the Ashfall family, but there was nothing. Nothing at all!¡±


    Alver also smiled at his words. It meant that Ozul could really be the child of their sister. He could not contain his curiosity but patiently listened to everything.


    ¡°You see, although there is no definite proof. My men confirmed that the name of Ozul Ashfall had indeed been there. Some people testified to know a young Ozul in cities far away from the capital. The ages match as well. It could only mean that he really did grow up in the Silverbird Kingdom.¡±


    Raymond exined with unusual enthusiasm. This was his own nephew! How could he not be excited at this news?!


    ¡°What about his cultivation...¡± Alver muttered. He was not the only one with this question. Even Raymond had questioned the same thing.


    ¡°What else could it be? Our nephew is just a genius!¡± Raymond said while puffing up his chest with pride. At the same time, he reminisced about the time with their sister. It turned his mood around, but the happiness from finding his nephew to be alive was greater than anything else right now.


    ¡°A monstrous genius. Now we only need to tell him...¡± Alver said, making Raymond quiet down as well. Even with both of them being monsters in their own league who almost no one dared to offend, they did not think that it would be easy telling everything to Ozul.


    ¡°Who will tell him about this, how he survived, and what happened to him in these past years... These questions will have to wait once we meet face to face again. For now, just don¡¯t let the information about this get out.¡± Raymond said, making Alver nod his head.


    It might cause trouble for Ozul if they publicly announced something like this.


    Alver turned around and looked towards the woman in uniform and said, ¡°This won¡¯t leak out. Whatever happened here will remain here.¡±


    The woman hurriedly nodded her head to indicate that she understood and he did not have to put so much Mana pressure on her.


    ¡®If it is so sensitive, why do you even do something like this in an open garden where just about anyone can eavesdrop!?¡¯ The woman thought in her mind, but her expressions did not change even a little bit.


    The two brothers remained silent for a few moments before a few smiles broke out on their face as they thought about being uncles again.


    At the same time, along with the sweetness, there was also a bitterness that their sister was not with them today.


    ¡®If you were alive, you would have been proud of him...¡¯ Raymond thought while looking at the sky.

 Chapter 187

    Chapter 187: Spreading Rumors.


    Days started to pass.


    To set up themunication, a group of men hade all the way from the Neutral City. Ozul left it all to Haley and Irvin, who worked diligently.


    He did not know, but Alver and Raymond really could not wait to meet him, but at the same time, really nervous as well.


    They wanted toe themselves, but the movement of a Rank-9 Mage wouldn¡¯t go unnoticed by anyone around the whole Maind. Just a single mistake could cause the entire structure of bnce to fall apart.


    If it was not for this simple fact that they, as Rank-9 Mages, could not even move long distances without making it seem that they had ulterior motives, the two brothers would¡¯ve already been here long ago.


    It also confused him when Haley hade to him once and asked a weird thing like, ¡°Young Master, are you sure you did not sell those two to the Ashin family?¡±


    When Ozul asked why she had asked such a thing, Haley replied, ¡°They... they are giving so much for just a simple cooperation!¡±


    .....


    ¡°From protective talismans to formations and even basic resources for people who had just started cultivating! They are not only doing their part of the deal but more,¡± Haley continued in excitement.


    Previously, she too had thought that 10 years was too little of a time to not only establish an organization from scratch but also spread to every inhibited area of the Maind.


    Before she was nning to buy these things over the course of time. For things such as cultivation resources, only money was not the condition to buy them.


    People needed connections and power to obtain these resources. They would have had to steadily build their organization till it got to the point where it would be able to obtain them, but now the Ashin family had directly sent these to them.


    If they would keep the supply steady, then it might not sound so impossible as it did before.


    For the most part, obtaining the cultivation resources required the exploration of unknown and dangerous ces to find valuables that are high in demand. They would then trade these valuables and obtain the resources.


    However, the exploration of such parts demanded people strong enough to protect themselves. But since they were a new organization, only a couple of people were at this stage. They were not even close to being enough for exploring any dangerous area.


    That¡¯s why it was a tedious process where they would have had to slowly raise the strength of the individuals first.


    That is why Haley was so happy. The Ashin family saved them months and months of time only by providing the resources that they probably did not even need much.


    Though Ozul ignored this part as he hadn¡¯t been familiar with them so much. Even the enthusiasm shown by Haley and Irvin, Ozul thought was natural as things were going smoothly till now.


    Even when Haley had told him that the Ashin family was going out of their way to help more, he did not put much thought into it.


    Days turned into weeks and weeks into months.


    Irvin had gathered enough men that they could start tens of branches at the same time in different cities, but they were still waiting for any reaction from the Royal family.


    Only a few weeks after Ozul¡¯s orders had Haley realized that Irvin was only hiring strong men and not the ones actually capable of stealth. What use would their organization be if they did not even have information that others would want?


    So, she had to take an hour or so from her schedule just so she could reassess people who Irvin had chosen as strong people.


    Slowly but surely, their strength rose along with information that was useless at this time, but it helped the recruits hone their skills.


    Most of the people did not know, but there were at least five people having an eye on everything around almost every other block of the city.


    It was at this point when Ozul decided that it was time that they announce their presence to everyone. Unlike what others would¡¯ve thought, Ozul did not care about how many people knew about their organization.


    He wanted the people working as the Three-Eyed Strangers to be so skilled that most ordinary people wouldn¡¯t believe even if they confessed themselves that they were spies from an organization.


    Also, there was almost no one who hade to ask for their services. Unless he spread the rumors that there was an information-gathering organization in here, no one would walk their way.


    Ozul wouldn¡¯t have cared about this since he wanted to build this ce solely for himself, but the problemy in the members. What if the Ashin family stopped providing the funds at one point and the members are not ready?


    For relying too much on external forces, the people under him would be useless. They would not be able to work once that load falls on them.


    That¡¯s why he wanted whoever joined the organization to start gaining experience.


    Haley had wanted to mark a tattoo of an eye on the people who had joined, but Ozul immediately rejected the idea.


    Anything that gave away the identity of the members was not needed. At least not when they had just started.


    With hismand, Irvin slowly started to spread the rumors of their presence. As they had expected, no one came their way for a few days.


    Irvin and Haley knew that it would be like this since people would not just simply believe ande running in for some information from an unreliable organization heard only in some petty rumors.


    A couple of days after Irvin had spread the rumors, some drunken men entered the alley seemingly too drunk to understand where they had stumbled upon.


    However, their loud talks were enough for people to understand that they were here just for fun after hearing a random passerby talk about some hidden organization that sold information here.


    However, Ozul had already informed Irvin on what to do to deal with certain types of people. The men keeping watch outside the building quickly dealt with the drunkards.


    Just like that, there were also some people who actually came their way to ask for help. It was at this point when Ozul had called Irvin to stop spreading the rumor.


    ¡®This should be enough for almost every Noble to hear about it... It depends on them now,¡¯ Ozul thought as he walked around the city to look at the situation.


    Irvin hadn¡¯t told everyone that Ozul was the actual boss on thetter¡¯s order. That is why almost no one in his organization knew about him being the actual person they worked for.


    These people had only joined them under a month, they could never be trusted with inside information.


    As he walked around the streets, he could easily notice the elderly or some children passing their time while looking around once in a while.


    These old people only had to live their lives like they did before and would be paid if they provided some interesting information. The children, on the other hand, were some of the orphans that Irvin had picked up.


    He was not even a little bit easy on them as he told them the basics for a week before making them start working.


    It was a world where people had to prove their worth to get important positions. It was the case in this as well. If these kids got in trouble even without doing anything, then it only meant that they had not epted their harsh reality yet.


    However, Irvin was surprised to find that some kids had already started to work. They were the ones who had been orphans from the start and knew that they could only fend for themselves.


    Ozul was also impressed with these kids. He was always able to figure out people¡¯s true faces instantly because of their emotions, but kids at their age were sometimes even able to mask their own emotions and lie to themselves.


    ¡®Hmm, I should just focus on this,¡¯ Ozul looked at the book in his hand. Although he hadpletely read it a couple of times, there were things that he could not understand.


    And it was probably because he had no Mana in his body that he was not able to perform the basics either. These formations were created by people who did have Mana and knew their core functions.


    But Ozul had not given up trying to understand it even after realizing this fact. Though he was starting to understand the basics after consulting with Haley and Irvin who seemed to be quite knowledgeable in this.


    Keeping the situation around the organization was too bothersome. That is why he had helped Irvin and Haley that day in the first ce.


    He left these matters to them and decided to wait until the Royal family finally decided to dere that it was enough.


    Ozul hadn¡¯t gone away to do other things he had nned precisely because he first wanted to see what stand the Emperor decided to take.


    ¡®He should have already heard about me killing the three Rank-8 Mages...¡¯


    If the Emperor was aggressive in dealing with them, then it was necessary that he stay here until things calmed down. However, if he was passive, then he would be able to leave without any worries.


    But there was no way for him to understand Emperor Luthien¡¯s thought process when he could not even enter the Royal Pce.


    There was just a feeling that if he were to fly over the walls and enter the Pce, then it would immediately alert everyone.


    ¡®Hmm... I should just wait it out,¡¯ Ozul thought as he went back to the base.


    In the blink of an eye, half a year had flown past...

 Chapter 188

    Chapter 188: Unofficial notice.


    Half a year flew past in the blink of an eye.


    These months, Ozul had learned all the basics of the formations and how they worked.


    The organization had grown to the point where the people working under it could already rival the small organizations on their own without the help from either Ozul, Irvin, or even Haley.


    The members had already started to learn. Their task wasn¡¯t soplicated anyway. They just had to keep an eye on stuff and not be found out, meanwhile, having enough strength to protect themselves.


    With more members that knew what they were doing, it was easier for Irvin to add more as the older recruits helped the new as well.


    Ozul knew that they were going in the right direction when even some young master of a Marquis household came to ask for help.


    Because of his arrogant and rude conduct, Haley had denied him even when he offered a lot of money. Ozul had ordered them that they would not tolerate any disrespectful behavior even if it meant losing business.


    .....


    The fact that some random young master from a noble house was aware of their ce was enough for them. The Ashin family had been constantly supplying the resources, so they did notck anything.


    Instead, Haley did not like the fact that they could not even start to use some of these things.


    Irvin did not oncee to ask for any help from Ozul which proved that he did not face anything that couldn¡¯t be dealt with yet.


    However, it was this day when the Three-Eyed Strangers received the unofficial notice that they had to stop their growth in the Capital city.


    . . .


    Ozul was doing his usual, enjoying the peace and the calm as he contemted the weird circle diagram on the book of formations. Some ck spheres of fist-size revolved around him, asionally changing their direction.


    It was his usual routine as he familiarized himself with the Ball of Purity and at the same time, tried to understand more about these formations.


    His slow speed had sometimes caused him to think if it was even worth it, but his doubts were all washed away when he learned that there were weird engraving and symbols used in the formations as well.


    Maybe if he learned everything about these formations and runes, he would be able to understand the life-like engravings on his body before?


    Anyways, he was reading like his routine when Irvin knocked on his door.


    ¡°Come in,¡± he replied, without looking up from the book.


    ¡°Young Master,¡± Irvin bowed his head a little. After saying young master so many times, he did not think it was so awkward anymore.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Ozul asked as he looked up from the book. Irvin wouldn¡¯t disturb him if it wasn¡¯t anything important.


    ¡°Someone from the Pce came...¡± Irvin said, getting Ozul¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Oh?¡± he indicated him to continue.


    ¡°He said that our merchants were causing trouble around the city, and we should keep them in check. Saying his part, he left without waiting for another moment,¡± Irvin exined the situation.


    ¡°Hmm... It was expected. The Emperor can¡¯t tolerate it anymore,¡± Ozul muttered as Irvin nodded his head.


    ¡°I am just surprised that he did not take action any sooner,¡± Irvin added.


    ¡°Well, it is time then. Do you have any trusted men among these people?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°There are a few that I think are good enough, but their loyalty has yet to be tested,¡± Irvin replied. Currently, he could only say that none of these people had any ulterior motives or cked off.


    ¡°It is good enough. Then you should start expanding to other cities. Set the first base in Azmar city; the Count there would be cooperative. Tell him my name,¡± Ozul ordered as Irvin listened to him solemnly.


    ¡®That Oliver shouldn¡¯t have forgotten about me...¡¯ he thought inside his mind.


    ¡°Take it slow, and only tell important things to people who you absolutely trust,¡± Ozul said, and motioned him that he could leave.


    Irvin nodded and bowed his head before taking his leave. He wasn¡¯t irritated that they could not grow in the capital city anymore. Instead, he always wanted to expand their organization, so he was happy.


    Unlike him, Ozul was d because of Emperor Luthien¡¯s approach on this matter.


    ¡®I should¡¯ve expected it; he wouldn¡¯t cause any trouble if he took a safe stand from the start,¡¯ Ozul hadn¡¯t left only because of this simple reason.


    If the Emperor had been rash about it because of his arrogance, then it would have been troublesome.


    Not only would he have to waste more of his time here in dealing with it, but it could also probably cause some serious damage to the organization.


    Now he could finally leave from here after it settled down without worrying that the Emperor flips out at any minute.


    Another month passed when Irvin had finally set up another base in Azmar City.


    It was a surprise for him when the Count had so openly decided to help them. He wasn¡¯t much strong, but he knew people all around the city, so his help was very much appreciated.


    Irvin came back to the Capital after giving one of the first few recruits the job to maintain everything. He was good at handling a big group, as was suggested by Haley.


    Ozul waited a few more days before he decided that it was finally time for him to leave. He had waited a few more days only to see if the Emperor really was not nning anything.


    He had even roamed the nights a few times to see if he found anything suspicious. Fortunately, whatever the Emperor was thinking right now, it was in favor of what Ozul wanted.


    . . .


    Irvin at this moment was in his office, taking care of the reports from Azmar city when Ozul entered.


    ¡°Young Master,¡± Irvin bowed his head and asked, ¡°Is there something?¡±


    ¡°Yes, where is Haley?¡± Ozul asked as Irvin ran out of the room to look for her,


    A momentter, Irvin and Haley came back into the room with thetter being confused about what was going on.


    ¡°I will be leaving today,¡± he said causing confusion to appear in the old couple¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Did something happen, Young Master? If it is not so important, you can send one of us wherever you are going?¡± Haley asked.


    ¡°No, I will be in the Old Whispering Woods. Don¡¯t bother about it,¡± Ozul denied.


    Although both Irvin and Haley had questions about why he wanted to go to the ursed jungle, they kept it to themselves.


    ¡°Meanwhile, here is what you will be doing while I am absent,¡± Ozul said before sitting on the couch.


    Haley and Irvin focused their attention on him since it would be another task where they would have to prove themselves worthy of his trust.


    ¡°First of all, grow the organization. Keep recruiting more people, but set the hierarchy. Anyone should be able to join, but their task will depend on their abilities... The ordinary people will have almost no connection to the organization, but will be able to work for us only by roaming the streets.¡±


    Ozul exined. This made Haley¡¯s eyes lit up in excitement. She had some simr ideas, but his order gave her the ticket to implement them.


    ¡°Before Ie back, I want this to be big enough that I would be able to know whose child was murdered in what city of the whole kingdom,¡± Ozul said in a firm tone.


    The old couple shifted ufortably in their positions. Although they thought that they might be able to do it, the chance of failure made them fear the consequences.


    ¡°If you run into any trouble, I assume that themunication with the Order of Dusk has already been set up?¡± Ozul asked in a questioning tone. He had first thought that it would only be a matter of days, but it took an entire month because of the distance from here to the Neutral City.


    Haley nodded her head in affirmation, so Ozul continued, ¡°Very well, ask their help if there is anything you can¡¯t deal with. Requesting the assistance of a Rank-8 duo would be possible as well.¡±


    Ozul did not think that the duo would not help after getting the beating from him two times before.


    Although Irvin was d that they had a backup in case of emergency, he did not want to ask help from others. He was about to voice out his thoughts when Haley pinched his side, reminding him who they were in front of.


    ¡°Should the Emperor take any action himself, don¡¯t resist. Just run away. Miserable people are still more useful than dead people,¡± Ozul said, making the couple nod their head in agreement.


    They were not so hot-headed to resist a Rank-9 Mage either.


    Saying that Ozul stood up and started walking out of the room.


    ¡°Young Master, do you want me to prepare anything?¡± Haley asked as the old couple followed behind him.


    ¡°No, I will be fine,¡± Ozul said before he jumped in the air and disappeared under the reverent eyes of Irvin.


    . . .


    Ozul had decided to go back to the Old Whispering Woods from the first time that he had got there.


    He estimated that there should be at least some Rank-9 Beasts in the middle areas of the jungle that he could hunt down. Although a Rank-9 Beast would be stronger than a Rank-9 Mage, at least they could not use the formations.


    Ozul wanted to go there since it was his only way to improve his strength fast.

 Chapter 189

    Chapter 189: The Dark _____?!


    The next day, Ozul was already above the Old Whispering Woods.


    He decided not to fly all the way as flying from above would not help to find any Beasts nor would he be able to figure out why it was considered so dangerous.


    He came down from above andnded right in the messy jungle. It was around the same ce that he had passed through previously with the convoy.


    Although he was on his feet, his speed could not bepared to when he was here with the group. He jumped from one tree to another.


    Just then, he remembered the two baby drakes whose parents he had killed. Though they were in the opposite direction, and he did not have any reason to go there. There wasn¡¯t much about the baby drakes that he was curious about.


    Keeping his thoughts straight, he kept his pace and would rest whenever he thought like it.


    It was the same old forest as he had left it, but just like he knew, the number of trees kept increasing the more he advanced towards the middle.


    .....


    A few days were spent like this.


    There wasn¡¯t anything that he could do really. It was the same old forest with an excessive amount of vines hanging from the trees.


    Although he moved fast, there was almost no noise whatsoever. Still, a random Beast would sometimes pop out of nowhere to block his way.


    Sometimes, Ozul did not even care about and kept advancing when he noticed that the Beast could not follow behind, but if it was able to, then he immediately killed it off.


    These Beasts could not sense any Mana from him and came to have a meal, thinking that he was an easy target.


    Ozul did not mind it, everyone was desperate for survival in this world.


    ¡®Though some survive by not dying, while the others by finding a meaning...¡¯


    . . .


    A few days and Ozul had to slow down since it was apletely different area.


    He had read that the Beasts at Rank-9 were not so wild. They create their own habitats and ces to live. He was most likely to miss these ces if he kept going at his pace.


    Right now, he looked around and found himself in a ce with taller trees. He was not aware of the reason, but the tall trees created more space, which let him have a better view.


    At the same time, Ozul kept his senses to a minimum safe level that he thought would be sufficient enough.


    He had made the mistake of not being careful before and the incident of Elemental Lotus had taken him off guard. If he could, avoiding another situation like that would be for the best and less time-consuming.


    Today, he hadn¡¯t encountered any Beast under Rank-6. There weren¡¯t so many higher-ranked Beasts either, but such an area would have directly been banned by any and all authorities if it was essible to everyone.


    Roaming here was nothing more than suicide.


    asionally, he had seen a few Rank-8 Beasts which included a weird kind of Lion with a fire mane.


    It was fighting with a group of peak Rank-7 Beasts who were all on the losing end of the battle while the Lion only seemed to be toying around with them.


    When Ozul passed by the group fighting, the Lion ignored his presence as he felt no Mana from him. Those Rank-7 Beasts were too much fun for him to direct his attention to anything else.


    Ozul also did not have any attention to disturb his little y. There was no time to pity those Rank-7 Beasts when he himself was here to kill Beasts in order to increase his strength.


    It was getting dark, so he found a big tree branch to lie down. The canopy of the trees around this area was really thick so it was hard to see the sky, but Ozul was still at peace with no sunlight.


    Overall, these days were peaceful but also boring.


    . . .


    It was this day when something unusual really happened. Ozul woke up when he sensed a dense body of Mana nearing him.


    ¡®...A Rank-9 Beast? Why would there be one here...¡¯ Ozul thought before getting off the tree.


    He stood there waiting for whoever or whatever wasing his way.


    A few momentster, he saw the surroundings getting a little darker and greener?


    As his view was gettingpromised, Ozul immediately put his senses to their maximum. Sensing around, he could only feel dense Mana surrounding him.


    ¡®This is strange...¡¯ Ozul could see the Mana increasing, but there was nothing in sight that he could rte to this.


    However, he did not have to think for much longer when the Mana surrounding him suddenly started to distort. Ozul readied his Ball of Purity since he waspletely clueless about what was happening.


    ¡°Who... are... you...¡±


    Ozul immediately turned around as he heard these words.


    However, there was nothing behind. Only some more distorted Mana that he could not figure out the reason for.


    ¡®The voice just now... Is it someone above Rank-9?¡¯ Ozul could not help but think of this possibility.


    Just as he was contemting his options, he again heard the voice, ¡°Who... are... you?¡±


    This time, the voice wasn¡¯t from behind but from his side. Again, there was nothing but empty air.


    ¡°What are you?¡± Ozul asked without replying to the voice¡¯s question.


    ¡°I... asked... first...child...¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Ozul was firm in his decision. What was he even supposed to reply to that question? Introduce his name? He was pretty sure that the voice did not want his name.


    The voice stayed quiet after his reply. Ozul also closed his eyes since they were only distracting him. He rxed his body and concentrated all around him.


    ¡°It... is... futile... child...¡±


    Ozul did not know why this strange voice kept calling him child, but he refrained from answering this time at all.


    ¡°Fine...¡±


    *Fuu...zmhh...*


    Ozul heard as he opened his eyes to see a weird creature in front of him. It looked like a humanoid woman, but something different.


    Suddenly, Ozul raised his brows when he realized something.


    ¡®The Dark Druid?!¡¯ Ozul remembered that he had read something about this thing in the journal book that he had with him.


    This Dark Druid, as Ozul had read was something that even the author of that book had no idea about.


    The only thing even mentioned in the book was only the rumors of how a greenish-ck substance was seen around the forests. People had started to call it the Dark Druid since this thing was only seen around the forests.


    There were Druids in this world which were considered no less than legendary creatures on the Maind. These creatures were said to have some special connection with nature.


    Even while being nearly at Rank-10, these creatures never sought to kill or harm other lifeforms. Though they seemed to be pretty aggressive whenever it came to harming the nature around wherever they stayed.


    With the appearance of humanoid females, they were known to be the protectors of the forests.


    Mages also avoided these creatures since they were pretty hard to deal with. Not to mention, each one required to involve a Rank-9 Mage to subdue.


    Unlike the Druids known to regr people, this Dark Druid was said to be the only of its kind. Although said to be Druid, people had no real evidence to say that it really was.


    It was difficult to confirm because this particr one¡¯s existence wasn¡¯t known to everyone. Only those who had encountered it did try to find any records and would sometimes stumble upon the words of thought to be a crazy person.


    At least this was how the author of the book mentioned that he confirmed this creature¡¯s existence.


    Ozul noticed that whoever first named it as Dark Druid did not do it any justice. There was actually nothing Druid-like with this thing in front of him.


    Although it did have a womanly and humanoid appearance, it did not have any leaves or half of its body made up of nts, unlike what a Druid was supposed to look like.


    Though the Dark part, Ozul understood very well was probably because of thepletely ck eyes of it.


    ¡°Will... you... reply... now... child...?¡±


    The Dark Druid spoke with a ghastly tone. Even with such a tone, Ozul felt as if there was only softness in her voice.


    Along with her calling him as a child, and not having any malicious thoughts against him, Ozul eased his stance.


    ¡®Whatever it is, it is strong...¡¯ Ozul could still not determine the extent of its power.


    ¡°child...?¡±


    The Dark Druid spoke again, making Ozule out of his thoughts.


    ¡°What are you?¡± he asked, again ignoring the creature¡¯s earlier question.


    The Dark Druid did not seem to mind his behavior but was keen on not answering first this time either.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The two continued to stare at each other for a couple of minutes when Ozul sighed first.


    He didn¡¯t think that she would also be stubborn this time. It was also his turn to answer actually, so he gave up first. He couldn¡¯t estimate her strength; it was better to y safe.


    ¡°I am Ozul Ashfall, now what are you?¡± he said.


    ¡°I did not ask your name... child,¡± This time, the Dark Druid did not pause after every word.


    .....


    ¡°Why did you stop pausing?¡± Ozul suddenly asked. It was the first question that came to his mind.


    Even the Dark Druid seemed to be caught a little off guard with the question.

 Chapter 190

    Chapter 190: Spirit?


    ¡°I remembered that they found it weird... but you... are unlike them?...¡± The Dark Druid replied to his question.


    Ozul figured ¡®them¡¯ was probably indicating towards the humans. However, what surprised him was that this Druid could figure out that he was different.


    There had been no one as of yet who could figure out that he was not a human, except for his father who had straight-upbeled him a Devil¡¯s spawn.


    ¡®... Does it know something?!¡¯ Ozul could not help but think that this Druid might have some of the answers that he has been finding till now.


    In the excitement, he forgot that the Druid did not sound so certain about it either.


    ¡°Do you know what is different in me?¡± he asked the Druid after calming himself down a little. Just because the Druid wasn¡¯t showing any hostility did not mean that it would keep it that way forever.


    ¡°That was my question... child...¡± The Druid replied, crushing Ozul¡¯s built-up hopes that he might have finally found something.


    .....


    ¡°Listen here, it is getting nowhere like this. Will you just tell me what you are? And why are you curious about me?¡± Ozul asked in an annoyed tone.


    There were very few times that something managed to really annoy him. Maybe it was because of his annoyance or the fact that the Druid seemed so friendly, but Ozul forgot the fact that it was probably many times stronger than him.


    The Druid kept staring at him for a few seconds before its image flickered a little.


    ¡°It seems that you don¡¯t know it yourself...child¡± The Druid seemed to understand his situation.


    ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t. Now can you tell me what are you?¡± Ozul did not try to hide the fact that he wasn¡¯t aware of the situation himself.


    ¡°...It doesn¡¯t hurt to tell you...¡± The Dark Druid replied in its usual way.


    ¡°They... call me a Druid,¡± It answered slowly.


    ¡°But, you are something else?¡± Ozul figured that if she hinted that ¡®them¡¯ called it a Druid, then the truth might be something else.


    ¡°Yes... I am not a Druid...¡± It replied with another flicker and continued, ¡°I don¡¯t belong in this ce... I am just a Spirit in a wrong world...¡± With her sweet whispers, it sounded really pitiful in the tone she said these words.


    ¡®Spirit? What is a Spirit? What does it mean by in the wrong world?¡¯ Ozul did not understand anything from her words. But if he could guess, then it might be something rted to the other worlds out there!


    ¡°What do you-¡± he was about to ask her to borate, but the Druid did not let him ask, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter... child...¡±


    Although he wanted to ask more. Especially, if it was rted to the other worlds out there, but it couldn¡¯t be helped if the ¡®Spirit¡¯ did not want to answer.


    He had secrets himself and knew how he wouldn¡¯t be able to reveal them to anyone either.


    ¡°What do you find so different in me then?¡± Ozul asked. It seemed that the ¡®Spirit¡¯ wasn¡¯t sure herself, but maybe he could get some clues from her reasons to be curious?


    ¡°You really don¡¯t know...?¡± The ¡®Spirit¡¯ asked, unsure if he was lying or really meant his words.


    ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t know,¡±


    ¡°...It¡¯s because there is something... something inside me. Something deep inside... is affecting my thoughts towards you...¡± her words sounded uncertain.


    It was as if the Spirit knew what she was saying and at the same time, had no clue what was going on at all.


    Ozul couldn¡¯t sense her presence even when he put his concentration to the max before. However, herpletely disoriented emotions helped him determine her original location.


    He was really surprised to find out that the distorted image in front of him was really it. There was nothing more!


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ozul did not understand anything from her words. Just that the Spirit was uncertain of her own situation.


    ¡°If I were to put it in words... I would say... this thing inside me wants to... respect you?... for what though?... Why?¡± The Spirit started to question herself at the end of her sentence.


    ¡®Her emotions are a mess.¡¯ Ozul could not help but think. Her way of speech and sweet voice made her appear to have a friendly personality, but her current state would make just about anyone think that it was some mad woman.


    ¡°Calm down. If you don¡¯t understand it, don¡¯t keep at it. It¡¯s better you look for something else that might help you,¡± Ozul knew that if she did not calm down, then he would not get anything out of her anytime soon.


    ¡°... you are correct... I... shall not lose myself,¡± The Spirit seemed to be really understanding as it immediately stopped thinking madly.


    ¡°Basically, you just have this innate respect for me?¡± Ozul asked to confirm what he had heard before.


    ¡°Yes...¡± The Spirit answered, trying to keep herself together.


    ¡®Would I really have to search in all those worlds?!¡¯ Ozul could not help but think about another headacheing his way.


    If this Spirit was really from some other world as he had assumed, and there was something inside of her that made her want to respect him, then it could only mean that his own existence was rted to things outside of this world.


    From his fragmented memories, he knew the best how many worlds were out there. If it was really true, then he did not even know where he would begin looking for his answers.


    It was like there was a pitch-ck abyss in front of him and he was looking for a ck dot.


    Even if he was somehow able to reach those worlds one day, there were just so many that he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep count of them all.


    He would have to find some clue that could narrow down his options.


    ¡®No. I shouldn¡¯t think like that. It isn¡¯t necessary that I would only find out about myself in some other worlds. I was born here. There should be something in this world,¡¯ Ozul shook those negative thoughts away.


    This was not the time to start despairing about something in the future. Even if there were a pitifully low chance of him finding anything, giving up would mean that there were no chances at all. And something was better than nothing. At least, in this case.


    Coming back to himself, Ozul looked up to notice that the Spirit was in her own thoughts as well, probably still thinking about the matter with her subconscious.


    ¡°There is nothing else that you can tell me?¡± Ozul knew that she was hiding things from him, but he was also aware of his limits to ask personal questions.


    If he had been strong enough, then even beating out the answers from the Spirit wouldn¡¯t have been a problem. It would have been a lot better than madly searching in thousands of worlds.


    ¡°... I think I know what you might be thinking... child... but I don¡¯t know anything that would give you your answers either...¡± The Spirit replied, seemingly aware of what Ozul was thinking.


    ¡°... So we both only have questions?¡±


    ¡°I am afraid so.¡±


    ¡°... Since I might have disturbed you, I can help you in some other way?¡± The Spirit offered. Ozul sometimes suspected that she was only being nice to him because of that something inside her.


    He had never seen someone strong be friendly to a stranger that is weaker.


    ¡®Since that¡¯s the case, it doesn¡¯t hurt to ask her,¡¯ Ozul decided that since she was offering herself, then it would be alright to ask the general directions around here. He waspletely unfamiliar with this forest, a little help would make it a lot easier for him.


    ¡°How well do you know about this forest?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I have been here for a long time, but have not really explored every area... though I know enough to be of help...¡± The Spirit replied.


    ¡°Do you know where I can find Rank-9 Beasts?¡± It might take a lot of time to find a Rank-9 Beast the way he was searching.


    ¡°Rank-9 Beasts?... Can I ask, why do you want to know about their location... child?¡± The Spirit did not immediately tell him the ce but asked questions instead.


    ¡°Does it matter?¡± Ozul asked. From her personality, if she was really how she appeared to be, then she wouldn¡¯t tell him their location if he revealed the real reason.


    ¡°... In truth, it does not matter...¡± The Spirit answered after a little while. Her image again flickered a little before she continued, ¡°There is one... a few miles to the south... you will know when you get there.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Very well then.¡±


    ¡®She isn¡¯t so kind-hearted after all...¡¯ Ozul thought that the reason she was so kind to him was probably because of the thing inside of her, telling her to respect him.


    He was going to say something when the Spirit spoke first, ¡°I think I should leave now... I hope you will find me if you find your answers?¡± The Spirit requested. She seemed really desperate to find the reason for her strange situation. Ozul did not me her since anyone would be anxious when something was happening inside them without their knowledge.


    Ozul was actually relieved that she had not decided to stick together with him. If she really nned to, then he wouldn¡¯t have any choice as she was stronger.


    So he nodded his head, and before he could do anything else, the Spirit disappeared. One moment, she was there, the other moment, there were only the lingering dark green particles that slowly dissipated.

 Chapter 191

    Chapter 191: Rank-9 Beast.


    ¡®Where would I ever find her though... Even in thest second, I wasn¡¯t able to sense her power,¡¯ Ozul thought before he tried to shift his thoughts to something else.


    ¡°I should hurry up,¡± he muttered and turned to the direction told by the Spirit.


    Running for a mile or two, Ozul noticed that there hadn¡¯t been any Beast disturbing him. It could only mean that he was on the right path. Usually, there wouldn¡¯t be any weaker Beasts just roaming in the territory of a powerful Beast. Otherwise, they would either get instantly killed or be toyed with before getting killed.


    He searched around, but there was nothing different about the terrain either. In the end, he gave up on finding the Beast today and found a tree to rest.


    ¡®It wouldn¡¯t be anyte if I find it tomorrow...¡¯ Ozul thought before he went to close his eyes.


    Just as he had closed his eyes, he opened it again.


    *Fwoosshh*


    .....


    The whole tree was cut in half right after he had jumped from there.


    Ozul rolled on the ground before he used Ball of Purity to push himself above the ground. However, he wasn¡¯t given the time to look around when something came shing at him from above.


    *krsssss*


    He dodged the attack but at the cost of his right hand¡¯s sleeve torn apart. He looked at the torn cloth hanging by a thin thread and realized how close it had been. Just a secondter, and that could have sliced him in half instead.


    ¡®This is not giving me any chance at all...¡¯ Ozul looked all around him. There was nothing in sight except for the endless trees surrounding him. Then he suddenly remembered that thest attack hadn¡¯t reallye from around him...


    ¡°!!!¡±


    He looked up only to notice another sh of white directly above his head. It was so close that he did not have any chance to dodge. He could only hope that the Ball of Purity would be able to take it head-on as he put all of it in front of him.


    *Khrreeee...*


    At the same time, Ozul heard a loud screeching that seemed to wake up the entire forest, causing a chain reaction that made birds fly away and Beasts in the distance roar in fear.


    Ozul did not have time to focus on this scene as the white sh of energy hit the shield made up of Ball of Purity. He was pushed several feet away because of the impact, but fortunately, the ck matter handled the attack without any scratch.


    The screeching from above also stopped as Ozul immediately bnced himself. There was no time to waste, so he looked above while also getting ready to face another attack.


    This time though, he was able to notice a giant creature above him. More precisely, it was an avian creature that Ozul immediately recognized as the Golden Beak Vulture.


    ¡®When I stopped finding you, you came to find me?¡¯ Ozul did not need to check as he could estimate that the Vulture was a Rank-9 Beast because of the power between those earlier shes.


    Ozul also noticed that the Vulture wasn¡¯t attacking him and was examining him at the moment, ¡°You are strong, human,¡± It spoke. Talking like humans was not a problem for Beasts at this Rank. Instead, what surprised Ozul was the fact that it tried to converse with him.


    The more a Beast grew in intelligence and power, the more it would start to take pride in it. So, it could be said that a Rank-9 Beast was also just as arrogant. Even if not every Beast was like that, most of them did.


    ¡°And you are sneaky,¡± Ozul replied. He knew that it would be easy to trigger someone with such high self-esteem.


    ¡°What are you trying to say, Human!?¡± The Vulture spoke with a deep voice and started to pressure Mana on him. It was as Ozul had expected, the Beast was already starting to get angry.


    ¡°Even with all this strength, you are quite a coward. Attacking someone who was going to rest, if it isn¡¯t being a coward, then what is it?¡± Ozul spoke in a calm voice which further triggered the Vulture. He himself didn¡¯t care if one sneak attacked his enemy or announced it to the world but knew that it would make the Vulture angry.


    From the previous attacks, he knew that the Vulture was more or less stronger than him. Even if by a small margin. So, he had to take all the advantages that he could before they started to fight. Hurting the Vulture¡¯s pride to make him angry was one it.


    If people knew Ozul¡¯s way of handling a stronger enemy, they wouldn¡¯t stop cursing at him, ¡°Why are you making him angrier than it already is?!¡±


    Though Ozul wouldn¡¯t care about what others thought. When one is angry, they are more likely to make mistakes and a single mistake in a fight could decide the oue.


    ¡°Know your limits, insect!¡± The Vulture shouted before he pped his wings and generated winds so strong that they seemed to cut the thick trees in half.


    Since Ozul knew that the Ball of Purity could really take on the attack, he generated a shield in front of him that blocked all the sharp winds. ¡°What? Does the truth hurt?¡± he again taunted. Maybe the Vulture wouldn¡¯t make any mistake, but even the small chance was worth the effort.


    ¡°You...! Ha!¡± The Vulture stopped in the middle of his sentence. Under Ozul¡¯s unsure eyes, it stopped flying and slowly dropped to the ground.


    *Zmmm*


    The ground shook a little as the Vulture¡¯s massive bodynded on the ground. Its sharp eyes stared sharply at Ozul with a hint of anger in it.


    Ozul did not know what it was about to do since he never thought that the Vulture would suddenly stop his attacks and be able to control his anger.


    ¡®What is it trying to do?¡¯ Ozul could not help but observe his surroundings. There were only unending trees around him.


    ¡°Human. I know what you are trying to do. Since you are so smart, answer me some questions or you will not have a good end,¡± the Vulture started speaking like some businessman which caused Ozul to squint his eyes at it.


    ¡®Is it really a Beast?¡¯ Ozul could not help but think. Although he knew that the Beasts gained intelligence the more they advanced in Ranks, but he didn¡¯t know it would be this much. He also hadn¡¯t met a Rank-9 Beast before, so it was new to him.


    ¡°Are you going to speak or not?!¡± The Vulture raised his voice. It wasn¡¯t at all as patient as the Spirit either.


    ¡°What do you want to know?¡± Ozul asked. Although he wanted to get the Core and be done with it as soon as possible, he was also curious about what this Rank-9 Beast wanted.


    ¡°First of all, do you know that you were in my territory?!¡± The Vulture asked like some grumpy guy scolding kids who came to take their toy from hiswn.


    ¡°Yes, I knew,¡± Ozul replied truthfully. There was no point in lying anyway.


    ¡°What were you searching here for so long?¡± The Vulture continued.


    ¡°I was searching for you,¡± Ozul again replied truthfully.


    ¡°So, what-... You came here specifically to search for me?¡± The Vulture registered his words a littlete.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± The Vulture did not know why a human would specifically look for him, a Rank-9 Beast.


    ¡°I want your Core.¡±


    ¡°... You want my Magical Core?!¡± The Vulture again raised his voice, but Ozul nodded his head nonchntly.


    ¡°You dare!?¡± It seemed that the Vulture was finally angry because of the behavior of this ¡®human¡¯ in front of it. Winds were again generated around him before they died down.


    ¡°... Agh! Human, now that you have seen my power, you should know that you are no match for me. But I am giving you another chance.¡± Again, to the surprise of Ozul, the Vulture stopped midway and did not attack. Instead, it again offered a chance to him that he really did not want to take.


    ¡°Chance for what?¡± Ozul asked curiously, he did not know why this Vulture so badly wanted to let him go. There was nothing stopping it to attack him right now, nor was he so handsome that even Beasts would not want to hurt him.


    ¡°I will let you go. But you will have to give me your artifact!¡± the Vulture spoke with pride. Ozul, though, was even more confused now.


    ¡°What artifact?¡± This was getting annoying for him now. But he calmed himself down after realizing that getting angry even before the battle started would be idiotic of him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to act so ignorant Human! I want the artifact that you are using to conceal your strength right now!¡± the Vulture said angrily.


    ¡®Oh...¡¯ Only now realization dawned upon Ozul. Since he did not have any Mana, the Vulture had assumed that he was using an artifact to conceal his strength which was quite normal since no ordinary human would be able to block those attacks without any cultivation.


    ¡®So it is trying to get the artifact from me directly since it isn¡¯t sure if it¡¯s in my Spatial tool. Because it would be troublesome to take it out from that,¡± Ozul concluded. He thought that the Beast might be aware of the Spatial tools, but did not know the proper functions of it.


    ¡®Why does it want the artifact to conceal its strength?¡¯ Ozul only had this one question. In this forest, he did not think that there was any Rank-10 Beast that this Vulture wanted to hide from, so what else could it be?


    ¡°Oh? This artifact is cheap, I can give it to you. But tell me why do you need it first?¡±

 Chapter 192

    Chapter 192: Vs the Vulture.


    ¡°...But first, tell me; why do you need it?¡± Ozul lied with a straight face. If he had asked normally, then the Vulture would have never told him the reason considering his nature.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t your business, human!¡± it spat with anger, trying to intimidate him.


    ¡°It¡¯s either you tell me and I will willingly give the artifact to you, or you can try to take it from me forcefully,¡± Ozul felt the pressure weight down on him but in a fight, he was confident in winning if it really came down to it.


    ¡°Human!¡±


    The Vulture red at him for a few seconds before it gave up and began to state his reasons, ¡°I have to take my revenge on that lizard!¡±


    ¡°Every time I go there, that slippery thing would always sneak attack me! If I get the artifact to conceal my aura, then it wouldn¡¯t be so hard to kill that lizard!¡±


    Ozul did not know what the Vulture was talking about, but this lizard seemed to be another Rank-9 Beast. Only another Beast at this level can give the Vulture so much trouble. So this matter made him even more curious about the situation.


    .....


    ¡°What lizard are you talking about? And where is it?¡± Ozul asked, looking around to appear confused. Finding that Beastter might prove to be difficult. It was best if the Vulture could reveal its location now.


    ¡°That old Snake has a cave around the river. Every time I have to pass through it, it gives me trouble. Urgh! I can¡¯t wait to show that worm its ce!¡± The Vulture said while eyeing to its right which was the direction deeper into the forest.


    ¡®Oh well, at least I have the general direction now...¡¯ Ozul thought that it was enough waste of time with this bird.


    ¡°Now that you know it, hand over the artifact!¡± The Vulture realized that he had said enough as well.


    The Vulture hadn¡¯t even thought that the human in front of it would back out on his words. If only he knew that the artifacts don¡¯t even work for Beasts. Ozul had learned from the book of formations that those kinds of artifacts are specifically made considering the Mana and the body structure of that person who wants it.


    It might or might not work with other people, but it certainly wouldn¡¯t work for a Beast, especially in that giant form.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have it,¡± Ozul replied, standing still on his spot. His words made the Vulture sharpen his eyes as he spoke, ¡°It is not the time for jokes, human!¡±


    ¡°It is not the joke; I just don¡¯t have it,¡± Ozul could have stayed silent like he always did, but he said these words in a nonchnt way to make the Beast more riled up.


    ¡°It seems that you would not understand it any other way...¡± The Vulture said as it spread its wings, ready to take flight or attack him.


    But Ozul did not let him attack first as a spear made up of ck material suddenly rose from the ground just below the Vulture.


    *Khu!*


    *Khreee*


    The spear pierced one of the spread wings making the Vulture cry out in pain. It couldn¡¯t even sense anything until the final moment. But because of its big size, there wasn¡¯t enough time to block the attack.


    ¡°You.Dirty.Human!¡± The Vulture spat with venom oozing out of his every word. It wanted to fly at that instant, but the spear was still stuck in his wing.


    Ozul noticed that the Beast couldn¡¯t free out of the spear, so he did not waste this opportunity and immediately created another spear that went for the Vulture¡¯s other wing.


    However, he did not expect that the giant Vulture in front of him would be able to move its body so fast. Even if it was giant, it was a Rank-9 Beast that could cause countries to be ruins if not dealt with.


    Immediately the Beast was also able to free its wing pierced by the spear by hitting its feet on the ground with such force that the whole ground shook as if there was an earthquake. As it flew in the air, there was a several feet deep mark on the ground because of the sheer force behind that strike.


    There was a wound on the Beast¡¯s wing, but it did not seem to cause any difference to the Vulture who red daggers at Ozul from above.


    However, Ozul knew that the wound on its wing would definitely affect the battle. He did not wait for another second and jumped in the air following with several ck spikes that came from behind the Beast.


    This time, the Beast seemed ready for any kind of attack as it pped its wings and seemingly generated hundreds of sharp winds that moved to intercept the ck spikes.


    Just the collision between the two attacks created loud booming sounds which shook the area all around.


    ¡®It would take forever this way...¡¯


    Although the forest was massive, their battle would attract many other Beasts if it continued for long. And as he knew it, the battle between them could evenst for a whole day and it might note to an end.


    To avoid this situation, he nned to end it as quickly as possible.


    Since the Beast thought that it was superior in strength and could easily win, Ozul aimed to me its ego a little further and then strike when it expected the least


    The Vulture seemed to have regained its momentum and began to attack Ozul with everything it had. On the other hand, Ozul stayed on the defensive which made the Vulture think that he indeed had the upper hand.


    Ozul used half of the Ball of Purity to create a shield that he moved at will around him. No matter from where the sharp wind came, he would easily block it while taking a few steps back each time.


    It continued for a little while as the terrain around them started to turn upside down. The thick trees which appeared to be unmovable with their thick trunks were uprooted in an instant the moment they got into a certain range of the two.


    Only a whileter when Ozul noticed that the Beast had be full of itself did he decide that he would attack. The Vulture had also been bleeding out, albeit a little. If the constant attacks did not exhaust it, the continuous bleeding did weaken it.


    Before he could make a move, the Vulture stopped its attacks and when Ozul removed the shield, he noticed that the Beast not at all had given up, but it was readying a bigger attack instead!


    The Vulture stopped pping its wings, but it was still floating in the air using Mana. Waves and waves of Mana gathered around its wings before it looked at Ozul and waved them in his direction with all the force that it could muster.


    Ozul knew that this attack would be lethal so he retracted all the Ball of Purity that he could and formed a shield in front of him, ready to take it head-on.


    *Whhoooo!*


    Immediately, winds started to rotate and a huge hurricane was sent in Ozul¡¯s way!


    ¡°This will hurt a little...¡± Ozul ground his teeth to ready himself for the attack. He realized that he should¡¯ve made a move earlier and not wait for this attack.


    The winds were so strong that some of the weaker trees could not hold onto the ground and were torn apart from the base!


    *Grmzz!*


    In a moment, Ozul¡¯s figure disappeared in the hurricane. The Vulture had to take a breath after this attack as he had done it in full force expecting it to end the human.


    Even now, the Beast thought that the human was being swept away with the storm, but his glee did notst for long as he felt a burning sensation from its side.


    *Pikkuh!*


    Something seemed to tear apart his left wing starting from the earlier wound caused by the spear!


    *Khreeee!*


    It again let out a painful screech because of the intense pain.


    ¡°DAMN HUMAN!¡± The Vulture cried out in hatred. Looking around to find where the human had been hiding, it could not find anything in sight.


    But it did not have the time to find him when the spear that had ripped apart half of its wing continued with full force. It was only when the giant ck needle was about to pierce the Beast¡¯s body did the Vulture manage to shake it off.


    It was at that time when Ozul¡¯s figure was revealed after the giant hurricane got past him. The Vulture seemed to be shocked that the human was standing upright at his position as if its attack hadn¡¯t done a thing to him!


    ¡®Ha... That took out a lot from me...¡¯ Ozul thought while he maintained his outside nonchnt appearance. Although he did not really look exactly the same because most of his clothes were reduced to tatters after that attack.


    The hurricane seemed to want to shred his skin into pieces! If it wasn¡¯t for the Ball of Purity, he would have most likely ended up dead.


    He concluded that even a Rank-9 Mage wouldn¡¯t have been able to survive thatst attack if he or she was caught off-guard.


    Meanwhile, the hurricane that had gone past him razed the ground as well as everything above it from wherever it passed. More than half a mile behind Ozul turned into a wastnd just from that one attack!


    ¡°Ho-How did you survive that!? Human! What tricks are you ying- Aghh!¡±

 Chapter 193

    Chapter 193: Advantage over others.


    ¡°...What tricks are you ying- Aghh!¡± The Vulture could notplete his sentence when a spear was thrust on its back.


    This time, the Beast wasn¡¯t prepared and the spear plunged deep into his body, damaging many organs even when it had protected them with ayer of Mana.


    Blood dripped from the deep wound as Ozul did not push it further. He didn¡¯t know where the Core was located, it was best that he did not push his luck and identally damage it. He hade here in this forest for that thing in the first ce.


    ¡°You! How are you... so strong?!¡± The Vulture¡¯s insides were messed up right now. Even speaking normally had started to be difficult now.


    It could not believe that the human that he was thrashing previously was just as strong. Because he let his guard down, the result was his miserable defeat.


    Ozul did not answer the dying Beast¡¯s question and slowly made his way towards it. The Vulture tried to back away when it realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to win in his current condition. However, another spear pierced its other wing, pinning it down to the ground.


    ¡°...Stay away Human! Stay away!¡± The Vulture hysterically tried to dy his doom.


    .....


    ¡®Isn¡¯t any different from humans...¡¯ Ozul thought while looking at the Beast act exactly the same as those humans in desperate situations.


    The Beast mustered up its strength and sent several wind des towards Ozul in a hopeless attempt to stop him, but thetter easily dodged each one of them.


    ¡°The snake is in that direction, yes?¡± Ozul came near its head and pointed in the direction.


    ¡°... Hu? Y-yes. It is there-¡±


    *Pikhu!*


    Just as Ozul confirmed the snake¡¯s direction, he chose to immediately kill it off. It was pointless to chit chat with someone who he was about to kill.


    The Ball of Purity pierced from the back of its head and came out from the front, instantly killing the Rank-9 Beast. After that, he slowly sat down on the ground to have a little rest.


    ¡°This was tiring...¡± Ozul muttered as he looked at his almost naked body, wondering if there were some kind of clothes that wouldn¡¯t be destroyed each time there was an intense fight.


    He did not rest for long since themotion from earlier would make many Beastse running in here once they realized that the fight here was over. These weaker Beasts always run to such scenes because it is one of the easiest ways to get their hands on quality meat.


    One or two of these weaker Beasts wasn¡¯t a problem, but since he did not have any Mana, all of them would swarm him, which would annoy him to no end.


    Standing up slowly, he directly made his way to the feathery chest of the Vulture. As he cut those feathers away, Ozul felt how strong each one of them was, ¡®No wonder the corpses of the higher ranked Beasts are in so much demand.¡¯


    Only the feather of the Beast had so much durability that below Rank-7, one could not even put a scratch on them! How could those nobles not throw in piles of gold to obtain something like that? It was just irresistible for them.


    Ignoring all that, he cut right in the middle of the Beast¡¯s chest as this ce was usually where the Core was located.


    He did not take much time to find the Core as the Mana continuously oozing out of it would make him cringe from a mile away.


    Ozul carefully cut away some big veins and arteries to reach the Core. It was noticeably bigger and more clearer than the Rank-8 Magical Core that he had absorbed before. He did not care about the differences as he immediately wrapped it up in the Ball of Purity.


    He wouldn¡¯t be able to swallow this big of a Core, and using Ball of Purity was a much more efficient way.


    The outeryer of the Core broke into pieces as Ozul applied pressure on it, and then took the Ball of Purity inside his body.


    Immediately, a burst of energy came out from him with a booming sound that seemed to again wake up the forest which had gotten silent after the Vulture¡¯s death.


    He could just feel the excessive Mana in the air, but all his focus was on his own improvement after absorbing a Rank-9 Beast¡¯s Magical Core.


    Ozul could already feel the fatigue fade away like an illusion after the fight. Not to mention, his body felt as if it had improved another rank. Trying to control the Ball of Purity, he immediately felt the improvements there as well.


    ¡®Just one single Magical Core from a Rank-9 Beast, and I think I can already defeat Raymond if he does not use any external means...¡¯ Ozul was satisfied with the gains as he turned around and was about to walk away when he stopped.


    ¡®I should take this with me,¡¯ Ozul stored the giant corpse of the Vulture inside his Spatial Pouch which did not require any effort at all as the pouch automatically sucked it all in.


    He wouldn¡¯t have decided to take the corpse with him if it was before, but now he was creating an organization that required powerful and capable armed men to run.


    He himself did not need this chunk of precious materials, but every bit of it was useful for the organization. He had read that even the formations require materials from the Magical Beasts. Since the Beasts have all of their body brimming with Mana, they are an easier medium to use in the formation.


    Not only that, but the skin and the stuff like feathers would help out the organization¡¯s members a lot. It might also attract talented people to join for the fruitful rewards.


    Anyway, since it was useful to the organization, he took it with him before moving out of that location. It wouldn¡¯t be long before the Beasts swarm that ce like bees around the honey.


    After getting some distance away from the location of the fight, Ozul decided to head directly in the direction of the Snake Beast that the Vulture had mentioned before.


    Though he did not know how far it was, he decided to take a slow approach. If he hurried too much, he might miss it or get discovered first just like the Vulture had done so.


    . . .


    On the way, he noticed many Beasts running in the opposite direction towards the sight where he and the Vulture had fought. He wasn¡¯t surprised to see that the wave of Beastspletely disregarded his presence, and rushed blindly. Every weak Magical Beast thought it to be their chance to grow stronger whenever two strong ones fought.


    Ignoring this scene, he continued his own search, though he sped up as he noticed that the other Beasts came from that direction as well.


    If there were a Rank-9 Beast anywhere near there, the Beasts would¡¯ve taken a longer route around that area rather than running right through it. It could only mean that there was no Rank-9 Beast anywhere near yet.


    Although he did increase his speed, he felt that it was enough for today after the fight and decided to take a rest instead. Even before the Vulture came looking for him, he was about to rest, so in his mind, he was onlypleting that unfinished task.


    In the thick forest, it was easy to find suitable trees to take a rest on. Just as he was about to jump on the tree, he noticed that he was still naked, ¡®No wonder I was feeling the wind...¡¯


    Fortunately, he didn¡¯t need to worry about it after he had gotten the Spatial Pouch. Ozul had stored many spare clothes in it since that was one thing that annoyed him the most.


    After wearing another set of a white shirt and ck pants, he climbed up the tree and slept peacefully. Only, it was hard to concentrate because of the asional Beasts running past him.


    . . .


    The next day, he did not waste more time searching for the Rank-9 Snake that the Vulture had been talking about and went straight in that direction.


    Because of his speed, it took him around two days before he reached somece where there was again stillness present in the atmosphere. This was an indication that something was unusual here. And Ozul knew that it was the Rank-9 Snake.


    He looked around for a bit only to find an entrance to a giant cave. Ozul spread his senses and found the lingering particles of dense Mana that could only belong to a Rank-9 Beast.


    ¡®Hmm... What should I do...¡¯ Ozul contemted his options.


    From the desperate actions of the Vulture to ask for the artifact for concealing his strength, it was obvious that the Snake Beast was stronger than him by a notch.


    But after absorbing the Vulture¡¯s Core, he was capable of dealing with the snake as well. Only, he thought that there was a better way to handle it instead of going straight in and creating such a bigmotion. He had yet to explore this area, causing so much disturbance could prove to be fatal, especially in this unknown jungle.


    That is why Ozul decided to use his one big advantage that he always had over any other Mage or a Magical Beast out there-the fact that he did not possess any Mana.


    Just like with the Vulture, if he used his stealth properly, then he wouldn¡¯t need to drag out the fight and battle with an uncertain result.

 Chapter 194

    Chapter 194: Fiery Snake.


    Even now, the Snake Beast inside the cave wasn¡¯t aware of his presence outside because he did not possess any Mana. The Vulture had been able to detect him because of the speed he was moving around the jungle. But this time, he had purposefully decided to keep his steps discrete.


    Since the Snake Beast had no idea if he was even a Mage or not, then Ozul would use this to his advantage and end this as quickly as he could.


    He did not venture inside since even the sound of air could be easily heard by the Beast, to keep his advantage, he stayed outside and waited for the Snake toe out.


    Ozul found a ce near the cave that had taller and thicker trees with a fine view all around. He decided to keep watch from there since he wasn¡¯t sure when it would decide toe out of the ce.


    Unfortunately for him, it seemed that the Snake wasn¡¯t nning toe out of its hole anytime soon. As a Rank-9 Beast, it could survive months inside without needing toe out, so a few days was nothing.


    . . .


    A couple of dayster, Ozul was experimenting with the spheres made up of the Ball of Purity floating before him when he suddenly noticed a disturbance.


    .....


    ¡®Took it long enough,¡¯ he thought before the ck spheres vanished and he intently focused on the entrance of the cave.


    A giant snake crawled out of the dark cave after a few moments. Just aftering out, it looked at the sky and hissed loudly as if announcing its presence to every Beast in the forest. This behavior wasmon in almost all the Beasts no matter how weak they were. Some do this for dering their territory while some do so only to show off their might.


    Ignoring the taunting disy of its strength, Ozul realized that he was not close enough to the cave. If he moved now, then it would be easy to notice him. He chose to observe it for now.


    Fortunately, the Snake did not go back inside instead went past it, somewhere that Ozul did not care about right now.


    ¡®This is the chance,¡¯ Ozul went down the trees and hurriedly shifted to the entrance of the cave.


    He did not know when the Snake would being back, but to take it off-guard, this was the only way. He had a limited radius for him to be able to use the Ball of Purity, and attacking from the maximum range wouldn¡¯t help with the stealth element. With the sharp senses, it would easily be able to dodge at thest second.


    As he approached the entrance, Ozul did not try to hide himself anywhere near. Unless hepletely wrapped himself in the Ball of Purity, the Snake would be able to instantly know his location because of the heat sensing.


    The Snake being able to see him wouldn¡¯t matter if it did not know that Ozul was not some ordinary human. He stood at a little distance from the entrance, waiting for it toe back.


    . . .


    Half a day passed before he noticed the dense body of Mana moving towards him from the back of the cave entrance. A momentter, the giant slithering snake came into his view.


    Looking from up close, Ozul noticed that it had visible scars on its body and a smal stone like smudge of ck on its head which was very prominent on the bright red skin.


    Ozul knew that it was the famous Fiery Snake, which had a very rare chance to grow to even reach the Rank-8, but this one before him was definitely around the middle stage of Rank-9!


    The Snake immediately noticed the little human¡¯s presence in front of its cave. However, there was no Mana, neither did he have any prominent weapon on him. So, it felt a little confused at first, but shortly after, it hissed all the same before shooting a giant ball of fire at him.


    The Beast did not stay to look at the oue of its casual attack since it did not doubt for a second that any ordinary human would ever be able to avoid death after being hit by that fire.


    Just as the Snake had entered the cave, a giant but rtively smaller pitch-ck spear was thrusted at its back.


    Because of the distance, the Snake was able to react to the attack as it shot fire at the approaching projectile. Only, he did not expect that the spear wouldn¡¯t be affected by the burning fire at all!


    Even then, it tried its best to keep shooting the fire directly out of its mouth together with directing its Mana at the spear in an attempt to stop it. Unfortunately for the Snake, the spear was plunged straight into its body!


    Still, the Beast was able to protect its vital organs, so the wound was deep, but not fatal.


    ¡°Human!¡± The Snake shouted as it was about to gather its Mana to shoot in the humans direction.


    However, it was at that point when several spears of almost equal size to the earlier one shot at it from the above simultaneously!


    The Snake did not even realize it until all of them pierced its body from all sides, and its body was pinned to the ground brutally.


    Because of the fact that the Ozul did not require any Mana or other form of energy to control the Ball of Purity, the Snake wasn¡¯t able to sense the lumps of it hidden at the entrance.


    Not to mention that it was in the middle of its attack, the Snake was agitated because of the bleeding wound. Together with the fact that it was all so sudden, the Beast even with its superior intelligence, couldn¡¯t help but sumb to death.


    Just like that, Ozul took the Rank-9 Beast down under a few minutes!


    Although the Snake asionally writhed in anguish even after Ozul had cleanly sliced off its head, he ignored it and instead went inside the cave to see if the Beast had been keeping something inside or not.


    Ozul did not find anything interesting inside except for the Snake¡¯s shed skin. He stored all of that before going back outside and making his way towards the corpse.


    He hadn¡¯t read everything about every Beast and their anatomy, but the Magical Cores are usually at the centre of their chest area. But the Snake was too long and its center would be too down below.


    So he had to cut it open a little and sense where the dense waves of Mana were leaking from. Fortunately, he did not have to make a mess out of the corpse because the Core was just below the head area which he had already cut open because of the decapitation.


    After taking out the Core, Ozul did not notice any obvious difference in its appearance from the previous one that he had obtained from the Vulture.


    Only, its color had more of a red hue than the white of Wind Element. Others wouldn¡¯t have been able to notice, but its quality was indeed better than the Vulture¡¯s which indicated that the Snake was really stronger than it.


    Ozul put away his thoughts and wrapped the Core with the Ball of Purity before taking it inside of himself. Again, just as the Mana was absorbed, a burst of Mana was released from every pore of his skin.


    He did not care to check his improvements this time and stored the corpse of the Snake Beast and moved away from the ce.


    Even if there was nomotion this time, alot of blood was spilled because of him poking holes at the Snake. The smell of that blood would definitely attract stray Beasts. And if one came here, the others would follow.


    After he got to a safe distance from that area, Ozul decided to rest a little.


    . . .


    The next day, Ozul familiarized himself with the gains. Absorbing two Rank-9 Cores had greatly improved his body and his strength overall.


    Even the peak-Middle stage Rank-9 Mages would be astounded at Ozul¡¯s feat of being able to kill two Rank-9 Beasts in such a short amount of time.


    Even with all their formations and ns, they have trouble to kill at least one of them.


    Ozul had yet to realize the true worth of the two Rank-9 Corpses that he had with him. These were rare even in the treasury of the Rank-9 Mages!


    And the only reason that he could kill them so easily was because of the fact that he did not have any Mana and the Beasts were ignorant of the general information among the humans.


    Although he hadn¡¯t given any chance to the Snake, the Vulture wouldn¡¯t have died if it knew that the artifact to hide the Mana of such a high ranked Mage was just as rare because masking higher quality of Mana required more effort.


    Meanwhile, if it had been any other Rank-9 Mage, they would have remained alert because a human had many tricks up their sleeves and their methods of attacking weren¡¯t as simple and crude as the Beasts who had yet to learn battle strategies.


    Even then, the Beasts were able to defend against most of the attacks from the Mages because they were more sensitive to the Mana which thetter used in their every attack. And that¡¯s where the Beasts lost their advantage when put against Ozul who had no Mana at all.

 Chapter 195

    Chapter 195: Organization gone?!


    Ozul spent his days in the forest searching for more Rank-9 Beasts as the time flew. He barely felt the passage of time because of his uncaring nature, but it wasn¡¯t the same for others.


    Another whole year passed, there were changes back in the Kingdom and other human societies, but the forest seemed exactly the same from the outside. Only the Beasts inside the forest knew that things had changed.


    At first, the creatures in the forest would blindly rush towards him whenever they spotted him, but now it was different. It was like Beasts had spread the word of an unusual human in the forest who was so strong that three Rank-9 Beasts in the woods disappeared after his first appearance!


    After the Fiery Snake, Ozul had found another Rank-9 Beast and also took it down as easily as with the snake. However, that was the extent of it. After the third Beast, there were just not enough traces or signs of other Rank-9 Beasts.


    Not being able to find anything even after months of search, Ozul had even subdued a couple of Rank-8 Beasts only to ask them if they were aware of any Rank-9. However, even that approach proved to be fruitless.


    The Old Whispering Woods was massive, but a year was enough for him to travel around it all. During his search, he had spared many Beasts because he was toozy to deal with them, and these spared Beasts were exactly the reason that the creatures in the forest were now afraid to approach him.


    ¡®When did they startmunicating?¡¯ Ozul could not help but think.


    .....


    As the Mages had spread, the Beasts were mindless and only knew to hunt whatever came their way. That remained true for even the ones who had gained intelligence.


    Even if Ozul hadn¡¯t seen each and every part of the forest, he had indeed seen many things that were not recorded anywhere in the records. That included the reason for the name of this jungle.


    On the opposite part of the jungle, he had stumbled upon a swamp area which he concluded was the real reason for it being known as such.


    That swamp area actually covered almost 1/5th of the entire forest, so it was no doubt something that adventurers could randomly stumble upon.


    Anyway, this swamp area had different kinds of Beasts, and there were eerie trees that seemed to be whispering whenever something passed by them. Ozul would¡¯ve also thought that it was unusual but he knew the truth.


    The book that he had found contained information on many things and these trees were one of them. Apparently, these trees were some sort of magical nts that had mutated as such. The whispers that people heard were actually the sounds they generated whenever they absorbed Mana.


    When he had learned that these magical nts were the reason for the name, Ozul lost all his interest in exploring even more. Moreover, he couldn¡¯t find more Rank-9 Beasts either, so it was at this point when he decided that his stay here was enough.


    . . .


    On the way back, Ozul could not help but take out the Ball of Purity and test it out,paring his control over it to when he had firste to this forest.


    After absorbing three Rank-9 Magical Cores, his strength had increased considerably. He could efficiently control the Ball of Purity around 12 meters radius from him now, and that was only when he could not put all his focus into it.


    Each time his strength increased, it was more like his connection to the Ball of Purity was strengthened. There was also an increase in the amount of this ck substance. Though Ozul wasn¡¯t so happy with his improvements.


    He wanted more. This was not enough to win against peak Rank-9 Mage with his formations and other tools, much less a Rank-10.


    ¡®I will eventually get there...¡¯ Ozul shook his head to put these thoughts in the back of his mind. He hadplete confidence in himself to be that strong.


    Right now, he was strong enough to face a peak Rank-9 Mage, but he did not think that it was enough to actually win against one.


    Since he had given up on searching for more Rank-9 Beasts, Ozul could fly again. It didn¡¯t take him much time before he was out of the forest.


    . . .


    When he reached the Capital City, Ozul noticed that it looked exactly the same as he had left it, but something in the air did not feel the same.


    It would also attract attention if he flew in the City, so he opted to walk instead. On the way back to the building, he noticed something that made him squint his eyes.


    There wasn¡¯t any man on the street that felt even remotely suspicious!


    If there wasn¡¯t anyone like that on the streets, it could only mean two things;


    1: The organization had some trouble.


    2: The men had already mastered the field and knew how to hide.


    Ozul thought the 2nd option to be unlikely since it had only been a year and that wasn¡¯t enough for each and every member to have mastered the trade of information gathering.


    ¡®One way to find out...¡¯ Ozul thought as he focused on the emotionsing from the crowd instead.


    Doing it was increasingly hard and sometimes stuffing because there was just too much to take in because of the number of people.


    However, he did pick up one or two intents that seemed to have been sending a curious look at him.


    ¡®There are indeed people keeping an eye, but how? Are they from some other organization?¡¯ Ozul did notice those people but he did not think that they were the members of his organization. There was just no way for every member to have be so good.


    So he instead thought that it might be the people from some other organization while increasing his pace towards the alley.


    As he got to the ce, he noticed something that made his face turn even colder. Because he couldn¡¯t sense anyone inside the building!


    ¡®What happened!?¡¯ Ozul hurriedly entered the building. He could not believe that there was really no one inside!


    Inside, there was nothing. No person, no documents, and not even a sign of anyone being here for months!


    ¡®Did the Emperor change his heart after I left!?¡¯ Ozul could not help but think of the possibility that Emperor Luthien was behind all of this.


    It was the only exnation that he could think of because he had informed Irvin that the Capital would be their main base and if he wasn¡¯t here, then that could only be because of the Emperor.


    He stood there thinking for a moment beforeing back outside.


    ¡®There is nothing inside that can help me,¡¯ Ozul started to contemte. He had no one to ask where Irvin was, and there was no clue whatsoever inside the building of what had happened either.


    A whileter, it finally clicked to him that the men keeping watch on the streets were his only lead.


    ¡®Even if they are men from some other organization, it might still help that they know what happened to the Three-Eyed Strangers.¡¯


    Ozul made his way outside the alleyway and looked around to find someone in a discrete location. There were always a group of people keeping watch, so taking one of them out for questioning would alert everyone else and under a few seconds, it might create a hugemotion.


    He quickly spotted a woman around the corner. She appeared to be of middle age and had been sitting on a bench near the corner of the street that turned to a dark alley as well.


    Ozul noticed that the other twopanions of the woman had their attention focused on a luxurious carriage that passed by the opposite corner.


    The woman also had her attention focused on that, but that only eased Ozul¡¯s work as he did not need to hide.


    Just as the woman blinked her eyes, she felt her world spin and the next moment, she was inside the dark alley with Ozul coldly staring at her.


    ¡°W-who are you?!¡± The woman asked hysterically. She was about to continue but Ozul closed her mouth using the Ball of Purity.


    The woman was a Rank-6 Fighter, but she could not sense an ounce of Mana from Ozul, so it freaked her out. Ozul did not have his conical hat, which would¡¯ve made the woman stare at him in a daze, but her situation allowed her to retain her sanity.


    The sudden turn of her surroundings together with an unimaginably handsome man coldly staring at her did not let the woman have any time to think through when Ozul began speaking;


    ¡°Which organization do you belong to?¡± It was a simple question but this alerted the woman even more.


    She looked at him with fearful eyes and squirmed with difficulty in her spot. Ozul had tied her limbs using Ball of Purity, so it was the extent of her allowed movements.


    He noticed that she wouldn¡¯t be able to answer her question with the mouth strap. ¡°Make any noise, and that will be yourst one,¡± he warned in an even colder tone. The woman hurriedly nodded her head as her eyes almost teared up because of the fear.


    Ozul took off her mouth strap and again repeated his words, ¡°Which organization do you work for?¡±


    The woman seemed hesitant in replying. After a while, she stuttered, ¡°I... I don¡¯t know what you are talking about...¡±

 Chapter 196

    Chapter 196: Merchants?!


    ¡°I... I don¡¯t know what you are talking about...¡± the woman stuttered.


    Even without Ozul trying to sense her emotions, it was obvious that the woman was lying and did not intend to reveal anything so easily.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time for these things, are you going to tell me or not?¡± Ozul said as a small ck needle appeared right in front of the middle-aged woman¡¯s eye.


    Her eyes widened with horror at the thought of what would happen to her if she did notply with whatever he asked of her.


    However, the woman did not give in. Tears began to flow out from her eyes as she saw the needle slowly closing in. She wanted to scream, but she also knew that doing so would anger the person as well.


    Ozul watched the scene without any shred of pity. If the woman really did not say anything, then he would mercilessly end her as well. The most he would do was to appreciate the woman¡¯s determination.


    Just when the needle was an inch away from piercing her eye, Ozul smelled a foul stench and realized that the woman had lost control of her bowl from the fright.


    .....


    It worsened his mood, but the woman finally gave in when the needle was just half an inch distance from the cornea of her eye. He had purposely slowed down the needle because the slower it was, the more terror she felt.


    And it worked as the woman stuttered with much difficulty, ¡°S-Stop it! I-I will t-talk! Stop this!¡±


    He made the needle disappear. The woman stopped crying, but her arms and legs did not stop shaking. She knew that there was no other way to save her life except for answering whatever he asked.


    ¡°I... I work for t-the Three-Eyed Merchants,¡± the woman spoke.


    Her words, instead of clearing Ozul¡¯s doubts, confused him even more. Hearing the word Three-Eyed did indeed make him realize that the worse hadn¡¯t happened, but he did not know why this woman said Merchants instead of Strangers.


    ¡°If you work for some merchants, why were you so insistent on hiding it?¡± he asked, knowing full well that this woman was not informed of everything. As far as he knew, she was telling the truth. So it could only mean that she herself believed that she worked for merchants.


    ¡°I... had orders from above that n-no matter what happened, I... were to never reveal a-any information regarding t-them,¡± the woman answered as she stammered asionally.


    There was only so much a random member could tell him about, so he asked, ¡°Where have the merchants made their base at?¡±


    The woman looked quite surprised at his question, ¡°It seems you are new here... e-everyone nowadays know about the Three-Eyed Mercha-¡±


    ¡°Just answer my question.¡± Ozul looked unamused, making the woman break down in cold sweat. She hurriedly spoke, ¡°Y-y-yes! T-the main b-base of operation would be in the Azmar c-city.¡±


    ¡®Azmar City, hmm...¡¯ If it was really in that city, then Ozul was assured that nothing bad had happened to the organization.


    And from the woman¡¯s surprised face, the Three-Eyed Merchants should be popr among people nowadays. It made him relieved a little as he freed the woman. She immediately fell to the ground because her body was weak due to the continuous trembling of the muscles.


    Ozul ignored her state and left the dark alley. The woman did not know much anyway, so he did not care if she lived or not.


    ¡®Only they will be able to answer,¡¯ Ozul knew that unless he met Irvin or Haley, he wouldn¡¯t be able to understand the situation. Without wasting any more time, he left for the Azmar city.


    Since he had already confirmed that things weren¡¯t so dire as he had assumed, he travelled at a normal pace.


    . . .


    Half a dayter, he was in Azmar city. He looked around to notice all the new buildings and the increased crowd on the streets. He had spent years in this city, so even the small changes were quickly spotted by him.


    ¡®Oliver has been doing a good job,¡¯ Ozul praised Count Oliver in his mind. It had been a couple of years since theyst met him.


    ¡®I should meet him as well. But before that, I have to learn about the situation first. Sigh... I left for only 1 year, and things changed this much... ¡® Ozul could not help but sigh internally.


    He stopped a random person on the street and asked if he knew where the Three-Eyed Merchants had their base set up.


    To his surprise, the old man that he had stopped to ask this question immediately pointed towards a certain direction. Ozul got the meaning and walked in that direction.


    Only when he had reached the other end of the city did Ozul noticed the tall building with people constantly going in and out in a hurry.


    ¡°There you are...¡± he muttered when he felt the two familiar auras in the building.


    When he entered the building, the busy men and women gave him a side nce, but no one stopped him. However, he did notice that all the people here only looked at him weirdly and no one else.


    It was as if even in the big crowd, everyone knew which face belonged here and which did not. Adding that to the fact that he had the ck conical hat on his head, he stood out like a sore thumb.


    He quietly made his way into the lounge where people were doing their work. Without even looking at the receptionist¡¯s bar, he took the stairs to the 2nd floor.


    Even the 2nd floor was filled with people, and they each had stacks of documents in their hands. Some people looked his way, but when they noticed that he was going to the 3rd floor, they went back to their work.


    Their boss had the office on the 3rd floor, if this new face was directly going there, then they need not worry about him creating any disturbance.


    On the 3rd floor, he easily spotted Irvin¡¯s office on the far end of the corridor. He sensed that there were more than a few people in the room currently.


    There was a man who stood guard at the door, he was a Rank-5 Mage and seemed to be almost bored standing still for so long.


    Just when he was about to enter, the guard stopped him and said, ¡°Whoever you are, there is currently a meeting going on inside. Better wait for it to end, pal.¡±


    Ozul lifted up his hat a little to meet the guard¡¯s eyes and red with an emotionless face. The single look from him caused the guard to stumble back in fear. For some reason, he felt that stopping this person once more would have heavy consequences.


    ¡°... Whatever! Go ahead, don¡¯t me me that I didn¡¯t warn you. Madam is really strict with whoever gets on her nerves,¡± the guard spoke when he saw Ozul entering the room. He did not have enough courage to stop him, so he could only threaten with words.


    . . .


    When Ozul entered the room, he noticed the several people in the room all had their eyes fixed on him. Half of them were ring at him while the other half seemed to be looking at him in pity.


    However, all of their looks changed when suddenly they heard the two people sitting on the chairs loudly yell,


    ¡°Young Master!¡± x2


    It was Irvin and Haley who shouted simultaneously standing up from theirfortable chairs.


    Ozul noticed that the other people in the room all had surprised expressions. He coughed and motioned towards Haley who, as expected, immediately understood what he was referring to.


    ¡°The rest of the report can waitter. All of you are dismissed,¡± she said while indicating them to leave the room. Even when those men and women were confused, they did not dare disobey Haley¡¯s orders and one by one left the room, but not before giving onest curious look to Ozul.


    After everyone had left the room, Haley closed the door and immediately got on her knee, followed by Irvin, who was always slow on the uptake.


    Ozul nodded his head and indicated them to stand up before he approached the couch ced on the corner of the room and took a seat.


    ¡°You are back, Young Master!¡± Irvin spoke, but just as he had finished his words, Haley stared at him with a deadpan look and moved her lips which Irvin easily tranted to, ¡°How many times have I told you to stop stating the obvious?!¡±


    *Cough*


    ¡°Yes, I am back. And I can see a lot of improvements in you two,¡± Ozul said while staring at the two. He was referring to their cultivation base. Given that both of them had an Elemental Seed aiding them, it wasn¡¯t a surprise that Haley had jumped a smaller realm and reached the Middle stage of Rank-7. Irvin too seemed to be close to breaking through to the End-Stage of Rank-8.


    ¡°It¡¯s only because of Young Master¡¯s kindness; if you hadn¡¯t gifted us the Seeds, then it might have a few more years,¡± Haley politely replied, bowing to him in respect, which Irvin followed quickly after.


    ¡°That aside, I have many questions,¡± Ozul said, making the old couple have myriads of facial expressions sh past their face in a single moment.


    Haley and Irvin knew what he was going to ask about. Since Irvin wasn¡¯t good at words, Haley had to start the exnation, ¡°About that...¡±

 Chapter 197

    Chapter 197: Reason for moving.


    ¡°About that...¡± Haley hesitated to exin.


    ¡°It was because of me,¡± Irvin stepped in when he noticed that his wife was troubled. Although he was afraid of her anger and more than ever of Ozul at this moment, he was still a Rank-8 Mage who had faced much worse.


    Ozul shifted his face to Irvin who seemed to be eager to describe the events. He hadn¡¯t meant to put any pressure onto them, he was simply going to ask about the general situation after he had left.


    ¡°I am listening,¡± he said calmly. Irvin¡¯s confidence returned as he heard Ozul¡¯s not so cold tone unlike what he had expected from him.


    ¡°A few weeks after you had left, we received another message from the Royal family. The messenger asked the same questions this time as well, but before leaving, he threatened to uproot our merchant¡¯s organization if we either did not answer their questions or left the city,¡± Irvin briefed.


    ¡°It was clear that the Emperor was telling us to leave the city because even they knew that we wouldn¡¯t be able to answer the questions as we are not merchants in the first ce... Although the Young Master had ordered to set the main base in the capital, I had no other choice but to abandon it.¡±


    ¡°Hm...¡± Ozul only hummed in response which caused Irvin to start sweating buckets.


    .....


    He hurriedly tried to exin himself, ¡°There was no other choice. If the Emperor really wanted to take action, then no help from the Ashin Family could ever stop him. Even then, I stationed the experts in the field there to act independently in groups.¡±


    ¡®Hm... that exins why I had to search them using emotions,¡¯ Ozul concluded as he did not think that every member of the organization had gotten so expert under a year.


    Saying all he could, Irvin stood there with his head looking at the floor, awaiting his punishment. Ozul had never been particrly harsh for him to have this fear, but he could not help it after having previously experienced the anger of a Rank-9 Mage.


    When Haley looked at her husband, she could not help but speak up, ¡°It¡¯s not Irvin¡¯s fault, Young Master. It was actually me who decided that we should move the base.¡±


    Looking at the scene unfolding before him as if he was some viin and the old couple acting like the heroes of some story, each ready to give up their lives for one another, Ozul sighed and said, ¡°That is enough.¡±


    Irvin, who was about to say something, shut his mouth and again looked at the floor, looking like a pitiful child who had epted his fate and readied himself for the punishment.


    ¡°I understand, you did what you had to. It would have been stupid not to shift bases. You would have had to worry about punishments if you really stayed there after that message,¡± Ozul said with a deadpan face, making Irvin smile as he hurriedly wiped it off from his face.


    Silence descended in the room as Ozul contemted on this matter.


    He had left thinking that the one message from the Emperor was the extent of what he would do. However, now that he thought about it, it was his own fault to assume so much. That person was an Emperor and a Rank-9 Mage, he shouldn¡¯t have underestimated his intelligence.


    ¡°There is no use in worrying about it; it doesn¡¯t matter much anyway,¡± he said, making the old couple sigh in relief.


    In the first ce, Ozul had only wanted the main base to remain in the Capital since it would make it easier for them to expand because of the direct routes connected to the city.


    ¡°Leaving that aside, what is the current situation of the organization?¡± Ozul asked as Haley hurriedly went to her desk to pick up the file that probably contained the detailed report on this.


    ¡°Ahem! Aside from the ces that did not allow the weak members of our organization to enter, we can proudly say that we have our third eye ced on every corner of the Silverbird Kingdom! Just a few days ago, Irvin and I were nning to start expanding in the neighboring countries as well!¡± Haley reported with a proud smile on her face.


    Both the old couple had worked their assess off day and night as expanding to cover the whole country was not something that could happen in just one year. They wasted resources and used connections as if drinking water!


    However, the end result was worth all their efforts and expenditure.


    Smiles blossomed on their middle-aged faces as Ozul praised, ¡°Well done.¡± with a nod of approval.


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have been possible if Young Master hadn¡¯t hypnotized the Ashin family to spend so much on us,¡± Haley replied politely.


    It was true. The financial funds and the resources sent from the Ashin family yed a huge role in their sess of covering the whole Kingdom under one year.


    At one point, Haley still remembered that they had even offered to send trained men! Of course, they had immediately epted the offer, but not for the field work. Haley asked for professionals so they could teach their new recruits.


    All in all, Haley concluded that they would have needed another few years to reach this stage if they did not have the Ashin family¡¯s support.


    ¡°What about business?¡± Ozul asked casually. He could care less about it, but the long term growth of the organization depended on how many people used their services.


    They could not keep asking the Ashin family for resources and funds.


    ¡°Well, that hasn¡¯t been so good as we wanted it to be, but there aren¡¯t any big issues. However, that is only because people mostly want to know details and pieces of information of ces outside the Kingdom,¡± Haley answered.


    ¡°Still, there have been plenty of times when even the Nobles have sent men to ask help in some trivial matters. Although they were minor, I believe that they are only hesitating because we haven¡¯t had any reputation set yet. And people¡¯s trust in our organization would only be built as the time passed,¡± she added.


    Ozul nodded his head since he also agreed with her words. No matter how fast they grew, reputation could only be built with long enough time. There was no shortcut in that.


    ¡°Even all of this was because of Count Oliver that the Young Master had ordered toe in contact with,¡± Irvin added from behind.


    Ozul was not surprised by this since he was aware that Oliver had his hands deep in the unground business.


    He would have had many connections and ces where he could introduce their organization to. From what he knew at least, that man was trustworthy but had many shady connections.


    ¡°Though he has yet to fully trust that it was really you who sent us,¡± Irvin added a little awkwardly.


    Although Oliver had helped them out on many asions as well, he was still skeptical if they really worked for Ozul. His doubts had only strengthened after they couldn¡¯t tell him Ozul¡¯s location even after months.


    ¡°Hm. He is always doubtful of everyone, I will give him a visitter,¡± Ozul replied before standing up from his seat.


    He walked out of the room followed by the old couple. The guard standing outside could only fearfully bow his head in their presence. But even he had questions about the identity of this person who their boss and madam was so respectful to.


    Ozul was about to ask for a room for himself when he remembered the souvenir that he had brought with him.


    ¡°Does this ce have anyrge space?¡± he asked, without turning. Behind him, Haley repeated, ¡°Large space?¡±


    ¡°Oh, an empty space! Yes, the training ground in the back of the building has a huge space,¡± she answered.


    Though she did not know why he was asking for it or howrge the space he wanted, Haley told him about the training ground that they had built which was rarely used.


    ¡°Show the way,¡± Ozul said, letting Haley take the lead.


    . . .


    As they reached the training ground behind the main building, Haley told the people inside to empty the hall. There were only a couple of new recruits inside who immediately sprinted off.


    The training ground only consisted of a big hall closed off with walls from all sides. There were some seats ced on the corners, but they were there just for the sake of filling the ce.


    ¡°Is there something that you wish to show us, Young Master?¡± Irvin asked curiously.


    Ozul did not reply to his question and instead untied the golden pouch that hung on his waist.


    With just a single motion, three gigantic bodies appeared in the middle of the hall that left the old couple¡¯s mouth hanging in the air.


    ¡°Wh-what are these, Young Master!?¡± The old couple asked simultaneously after getting out of their stupor.


    ¡°Corpses of Beasts,¡± Ozul replied with a tone that suggested that the two were stupid to ask such an obvious question.


    ¡°... N-no. What type of Beasts were they for them to be so gigantic?!¡± Irvin asked. His eyes still glued to the three massive corpses.


    ¡°They were Rank-9 Beasts,¡± Ozul had just uttered these words when both Irvin and Haley¡¯s world drew a nk. They hadn¡¯t even seen a Rank-9 individual showcase their abilities, and he was telling them that these three were all Rank-9 Beasts?!


    Only a whileter did the two get a hold of themselves when Irvin asked, ¡°... Young Master, are they really...¡±

 Chapter 198

    Chapter 198: Unexpected Encounter.


    ¡°... Young Master, are these really the corpses of Rank-9 Beasts?¡± Irvin asked, he had trouble believing that the three helpless corpses in front of him were once Rank-9 existences.


    Ozul looked unamused by his question. He never liked repeating things only because it was hard for them to believe it the first time. Being the target of his stare, Irvin realized it and immediately shut up.


    ¡®As expected of the Young Master. Others have a hard time even hunting one such Beast after preparing so extremely but Young Master casually went on a trip for just a year and killed three Rank-9 Beasts!¡¯ Irvin could not help but praise him in his heart.


    Being a Rank-8 Mage, he did not know how strong his Young Master waspared to the rest of the Rank-9 Mages.


    However, the three gigantic corpses before him was proof that he most likely ranked in the upper stages of Rank-9.


    Unlike him, Haley was also a little overwhelmed, but she had already started thinking of everything that they would be able to do with these three corpses. A Rank-9 Beast¡¯s remains were something that only the richest of the rich would be able to afford a part of, and she had three whole corpses before her! She could not help but think of all the possibilities and the time this would save their organization.


    ¡°Except for their Cores, there should be everything,¡± Ozul said, which made Haley¡¯s eyes shine even brighter.


    .....


    ¡°Even without the Cores, Young Master, these corpses will be a huge help!¡± she could not help butment.


    She actually did not have any use for the Magical Core as she had no way to put them to use except for selling them. However, she was more interested in using these corpses in part of formations and to also have better equipment and other essories for the members.


    In short, rather than selling them, Haley nned to add these to the organization¡¯s treasury.


    ¡°Whatever you do with them, it¡¯s up to you,¡± Ozul knew that this middle-aged woman was more experienced at this than she appeared to be.


    ¡°Thank you, Young Master! I would not disappoint you,¡± she bowed her head repeatedly and then stored the three corpses in her Spatial Ring.


    Ozul turned his focus to Irvin and exined what he wanted to do in the next three years.


    Irvin hadpleted the task of spreading the Three-Eyed Strangers to every corner of the Silverbird Kingdom in just a single year, so he thought that he would have some days off.


    However, Ozul told him that he wanted the organization to spread over approximately 1/4th part of the whole continent! He wanted all that area separated by those forbidden zones from two sides.


    There were 4 such areas in total and one of them was a total wastnd with no human settlements. That area did not have the geographical conditions or the resources that would make anyone want to live there. So only the 3 parts of the Maind were popted.


    Ozul wanted to spread the Three-Eyed Strangers to one of these 3 parts in the span of just 3 years. If anyone from outside had heard him, they would undoubtedlyugh at this n.


    ¡°After that is done, we will move the main base to the Neutral Lands. From there, you will have 2 and a half years to cover the other two parts each,¡± Ozul stated so casually that others would have thought that he was joking or something.


    However, Haley and Irvin both knew that he was not the person who wasted his time on jokes.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be a little...¡± Irvin hesitated to continue.


    ¡°Farfetched? Maybe. But also take this into ount that I don¡¯t care if the men are strong or weak. I don¡¯t want you to waste your time on cultivating their loyalties either... I just want information from every corner of the Maind whenever I want,¡± Ozul stated.


    Irvin gulped noticing his firm tone but nodded his head nheless. This was going to be a hard task. Growing an organization that would span over the whole Maind without having people¡¯s loyalties?!


    Even a child could tell that this system was as delicate as the seeds of dandelion; just a single strong wind would scatter it all away.


    ¡®But if that is what the Young Master wants... then I will just have to do it!¡¯ Irvin hardened his gaze. He did not have to think about the consequences, these were the orders and he would just have to follow them!


    ¡°I will give it my all, Young Master!¡± he dered in a firm voice. Even Haley was there to help him do all the stuff that he had no idea about. He just had to recruit as many people as he could while maintaining that thin bnce.


    Ozul nodded his head in satisfaction. This is exactly what he wanted. Actually, even if they could notplete the task in exactly 8 years, it wouldn¡¯t be such a big problem. It was him who had set the time target in the first ce.


    It was only because he wanted things set up as soon as possible. Ozul was also aware of how troublesome it could get, so he intended to help as much as he could.


    Despite the fact that he had said that he could make do without the people¡¯s loyalty, a few loyal people were necessary. Otherwise, it was an impossible task.


    ¡®I guess you wouldn¡¯t mind helping out...¡¯ Ozul thought before looking in the direction of Count Oliver¡¯s manor in the middle of the city.


    Count Oliver had a limited talent in cultivation, but his wits and quick analyzing would left just about anyone doubt that he was only a Count. Unfortunately for him, the nobility titles were given based on the individual¡¯s strength.


    ¡®A little resources spent on him might even get him to at least Rank-7...¡¯ Ozul thought of the possibilities. Since he had the support of the Ashin family, resources weren¡¯t a problem at this moment.


    In his mind, roping in Oliver and spending resources on him was definitely worth it. After spending the previous few years working together with him, Ozul knew that this Count was a man of many talents.


    The only thing hecked was strength which they would bnce out using the resources.


    ¡°First have the detailed report of everything in the Kingdom, only then start to expand,¡± Ozul suggested.


    While talking, the three hade out of the training ground and Ozul was just about to leave to meet with Count Oliver when he noticed something from the corner of his eyes that made him halt his steps.


    ¡°Is he...?¡±


    When Haley and Irvin followed his gaze, they saw a shirtless man struggling with a pack of Rank-3 wolves that hadpletely surrounded him.


    They were at the farthest corner of the city connected with the forest, so seeing some Beasts here wasn¡¯t a surprise. What did make the old couple curious was the interest shown by their Young Master in this small matter.


    They looked with surprised eyes when Ozul went ahead and killed that pack of Rank-3 wolves to save that shirtless man who seemed to be only a Rank-3 Fighter.


    Ozul could not help but intervene to save that person when he recognized the person who was struggling.


    ¡®Dibly... was that guy¡¯s name?¡¯ Ozul generally did not bother to remember everyone¡¯s name, but there were a few that he would never be able to forget.


    Dibly was the 2nd person who had shown kindness to him since the day he had gained sentience. Although it had nevere to the point when he was required to use those Silver Coins, it was still goodwill from Dibly who, at that time, probably was short on money.


    The least Ozul could do was to help him out in this situation.


    When the entire pack of the wolves was suddenly decapitated, Dibly looked around in confusion. He was already slow in the head and together with his poor condition after fighting the pack made it unable for him to understand the situation momentarily.


    Only after a few moments did heprehended that the wolves who were probably going to feast on his body just a while ago were lying headless on the ground now.


    He looked left and right before looking up, ¡°God! I knew it! You were always there, and I always believed in ya! From now on, I will spend my whole life-¡±


    ¡°It was me,¡± Ozul cut in Dibly¡¯s rambling


    Dibly immediately turned around and the tears of gratitude towards the ¡®God¡¯ in his eyes disappeared as he muttered, ¡°Nevermind then~¡±


    ¡°Hehe~ What a good person you are. Thanks for saving me! You were awesome how you immediately killed ¡¯em all!¡± Dibly smiled like an idiot while praising Ozul.


    ¡°Where are the rest of your friends?¡± Ozul asked, surprising Irvin and Haley that he would take initiative to ask about someone else.


    ¡°Friends? Wait, do you know me?¡± It seemed that Dibly did not remember him.


    ¡°Yes. You helped me in the past.¡± Ozul answered. He did not bother to exin everything. All he wanted to know was where Dibly¡¯s fellow bandits were since he was alone here.


    ¡°... O-... Oh! Oh! I remember ya! You are that kid!¡± Dibly almost jumped in the air because of the excitement.


    ¡°Yes... now, are you alone here?¡± Ozul got straight to the point.


    ¡°Haha... yes. Boss kicked me out, so I do odd jobs now. Pst! Don¡¯t tell anyone that I was a bandit before,¡± Dibly said thest part while whispering.


    ¡°Hm... Want to work under me?¡± Ozul offered.


    ¡°Oh?! I will! Of course, I will! Unless you want me to be a bandit again. You see it is much better when I don¡¯t have to always hide,¡± Dibly again put a hand on his mouth to secretly whisper thest part.


    He did not even realize that his voice was audible even if there were some ordinary people around, not to mention Haley and Irvin who were both high ranked Mages.


    Ozul looked at Haley and said, ¡°Take him in. Just give him whatever he can do, but don¡¯t trust him with anything important.¡±


    Haley understood why Ozul had mentioned not to trust him with important stuff in front of his face since the guy seemed a little slow and... childish.


    The only thing she could not understand was how a Rank-3 Fighter could help their Young Master who was a Rank-9 Mage. Not only her, but Irvin was also surprised at how such a random guy could gain favor from someone so important.


    ¡°Alright, I better go then,¡± saying that, he flew away leaving Haley and Irvin with the excited Dibly who¡¯s eyes shone brighter than stars when Ozul seemingly disappeared into thin air.

 Chapter 199

    Chapter 199: Meeting Oliver.


    That was the least he could do for Dibly. So he immediately left from there after ordering Haley to give him work.


    It was time to give his old friend Count Oliver a visit.


    When he reached the Count¡¯s estate, it looked exactly the same as before. If he were to point out any difference, it would be that the garden looked a little more abundant. It seemed that Count Oliver was taking extra care of the garden nowadays.


    This time he did not bother to go through the main gate and directlynded in the garden. As expected, he found Oliver in his most favorite spot, with the old butler standing behind him as usual.


    Count Oliver was startled when something suddenlynded in front of him. He and the butler immediately assumed a battle position, ready to deal with whoever it was.


    ¡°... It¡¯s been a while,¡± Ozul said as he noticed the small beard Oliver had now. It was only a few years, but the slight change in his appearance made it seem as if a lot of time had passed.


    ¡°Ozul! Haha, Yes! Yes! It has indeed been a while,¡± Oliverughed merrily. Albert behind him also visibly rxed.


    .....


    As Oliverughed, he did not fail to notice the fact that Ozul had an actual foot instead of that prosthetic one. Seeing that, his smile could not help but widen.


    ¡°Look at that, you could indeed get your limbs back!¡± After spending so much time working together Oliver had managed to learn a few vague things about him. And one of them was that he had to find his limbs and he wouldn¡¯t have any problem in reattaching them.


    Oliver had a hard time believing it previously, but now the truth was in front of his eyes and he could not deny it.


    ¡°It drained me, but I have one of them back... Only two more to go,¡± Ozul muttered while ncing at his two prosthetic arms.


    ¡°You will eventually get those back too! Anyway,e and take a seat! There are so many things I want to ask you about!¡± Oliver enthusiastically pushed him on the chair. Albert went inside to take some snacks and tea as he knew that Oliver would not stop for a long time no.


    After some one-sided chit chat from Oliver, Ozul spoke, ¡°For the thing that I hade here for...¡±


    ¡°Hoh~ Even after all this time, you hade here only for business~ Can¡¯t say it doesn¡¯t hurt~¡± Ozul looked at his antics with a deadpan face. It was just this behavior of his that made Ozul avoid meeting him as much as possible.


    *Cough!*


    ¡°Master, you are supposed to be a Count. Please act like one.¡± Albert coughed to remind Oliver that he had to maintain his dignity.


    ¡°So, what did you want to talk about?¡± Oliver asked, acting as if it wasn¡¯t him whom Albert had scolded just now.


    ¡°About the organization-¡±


    ¡°Oh! That reminds me! Is it really your organization? The Three-Eyed Strangers?¡± Oliver suddenly cut in when he remembered the intimidating middle-aged man telling him that he worked for Ozul and required his cooperation.


    He waited for Ozul¡¯s reply, but then noticed the cold look on his face. ¡°Haha... I apologize. Continue...¡± Oliverughed shamelessly.


    No one liked being interrupted and Ozul certainly hated repeating stuff. He was toozy to repeat his own words.


    ¡°I am creating the organization. It will be big... Big enough to cover the whole continent.¡± Ozul said making both Oliver and Albert stare at him with a nk face.


    ¡°... Haha! It has indeed been a while. You have even learned to joke!¡± Oliverughed loudly but stopped noticing Ozul¡¯s emotionless face, ¡°You... are not joking?!¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°...¡± Oliver could not think of any words. Just a few years ago, he had started working with this little kid, and now he hade here to tell him that he was going to create an organization that worked at every corner of the Maind!


    ¡°Are you sure about it?¡± he could not help but ask and again went into contemtion when Ozul nodded his head.


    ¡°... You know, there is essentially nothing I would be able to help with if it even goes out of the Silverbird Kingdom, not to mention you are talking about the entire continent of Egon,¡± Oliver replied while shaking his head a little.


    Although he had built up many connections in the underground business, he was, in the end, only a Count of the Silverbird Kingdom. What kind of help did Ozul even seek from him?


    ¡°I don¡¯t want your help. Oliver, I am here to ask you; isn¡¯t the Count¡¯s title getting a little rusty?¡± Ozul asked in a straightforward manner. Not only Oliver, but even Albert looked at him with wide eyes.


    If they couldn¡¯t even understand his words, then they had wasted all those decades of their life. It was an invitation that degraded the Count¡¯s title, but Oliver could care less about that. For now, he was thinking of all the possibilities.


    Ozul¡¯s question had rung differently inside Oliver since it wasn¡¯t always that he said out aloud his name.


    Albert was waiting for him to refuse the offer any minute now, but he was surprised to find that Oliver was actually considering it!


    ¡°Master! Don¡¯t tell me...¡±


    ¡°Why not, Albert?¡± Oliver knew what he was going to ask.


    ¡°What about your father¡¯s legacy?! Being the Nobility of the Silverbird Kingdom is both your right and your duty...¡± Albert could not help but speak in such a bold manner. Though he immediately realized his mistake, ¡°Cough! Forgive my manners.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Albert. I know what you must be feeling since you also served my father... But you are wrong.¡± Oliver paused and looked back at Albert before continuing, ¡°Being a Count is not my birthright and certainly not a duty that only I must fulfill.¡±


    Ozul silently looked at them and did not bother to intervene. Albert looked on the ground,prehending what Oliver was trying to say.


    ¡°If I had given it up, someone else would have taken it. If I didn¡¯t follow your training when I was a kid, then I would have also been some merchant. They gave me this title because I had the power to back my heritage. This... however, is different.¡±


    Oliver looked back at Ozul and continued, ¡°Ozul here is offering me something that probably exceeds my strength...¡±


    ¡°Yes. What I need right now are brains, not muscles. All the better when I can trust those brains,¡± Ozul added while referring to Oliver as the brain that he could put his trust onto.


    ¡°Are you in or not? Hurry up and decide,¡± Ozul had yet to take his self-promised sleep after returning back. So he was a little impatient right now.


    ¡°Well someone is eager to make me work for him~¡± Oliver joked, but Ozul had enough of his antics and was about to stand up and walk away when he hurriedly stopped him.


    ¡°... You never learn tough at jokes, do you. Of course, I am in! Haiz... If I don¡¯t help you, your organization might not even start before crumbling-¡±


    ¡°It is already spread all over the Silverbird Kingdom.¡± Ozul did not let him finish his words. This cut off Oliver¡¯s newfound wings and smashed him back on the ground.


    ¡°A-already?!¡± Oliver could not help but stutter. ¡°Huu...¡± He took in a deep breath before smiling excitedly. He could not help but think of all the future prospects.


    ¡°Hey, can I ask you something?¡± Oliver suddenly asked Ozul who slightly nodded his head in reply.


    ¡°Why are you creating something this big? I mean... you certainly don¡¯t look like the ¡® I want to stand above all¡¯ type. So, why?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because I have questions... and there is no one to give me the answers, so I have to find them on my own,¡± Ozul answered while looking at the sky which had lost its color of endlessness because it was day time.


    Oliver and Albert could not stop themselves from feeling bad for Ozul. It was something that even Ozul wasn¡¯t aware of, but whenever he said something in this tone, whoever heard him would unconsciously feel pity for him, even if only in their heart.


    ¡°Hey, where is thatss? Hadn¡¯t she sworn to never leave your side or something? And that new kid you had picked up as well.¡± Oliver asked, trying to shift his own mood.


    ¡°Raven and ze are in the Neutral Lands. They needed to grow up,¡± Ozul answered while standing up to leave. The longer he stayed here, the more questions Oliver would keep asking. It was better to leave as early as he could.


    ¡°Says the brat who has much to learn himself,¡± Oliver mused. Unlike what he thought, Ozul did not stop to entertain his taunts.


    ¡°Hey! Hey! At least tell me what do I have to do before you leave? And when do I start?¡± he shouted, stopping Ozul before he sprinted off.


    ¡°You will be doing whatever you have the ability to. Get to the base and talk with Haley, she will give you your roles or you can suggest yourself, whatever.¡± Ozul immediately disappeared the moment he finished his words.


    He could already guess that Oliver would next make a joke about how he didn¡¯t know the ins and outs of his own organization. And Ozul did not care, but he was toozy to stay here any longer.


    ¡°Haa... and there he goes again. Damn brat doesn¡¯t even know what he wants me to do in this organization of his...¡± Oliver muttered under his breath, with an amusing smile hanging on his face as he stared at the spot where Ozul had been standing just a moment ago.

 Chapter 200

    Chapter 200: 1/4th of Maind.


    Ozul left the Count¡¯s estate and went back to the main base. There, Haley quickly noticed his arrival and showed him his room, separated from others.


    The following days passed with ease for him. He only had to rx and watch Haley, Irvin, and Oliver do all the work. The task wasn¡¯t so difficult right now since the neighboring countries all had a Rank-8 Mage governing them at best.


    So Ozul was not required to deal with anything right now.


    ¡°It finally paid off...¡± he could not help but mutter in satisfaction. He had been pretty activetely, but now he could just make the men under him do all the work while hezed around.


    He had done all that work to gatherpetent people under him. And those days hade where he did not need to do all the work.


    There were a few times when Irvin wanted to ask for his help, but Haley¡¯s motherly instincts while watching the sleeping face of Ozul wouldn¡¯t let her husband disturb him.


    Days started to pass and their organization grew to new heights every day.


    .....


    But with expansion arose new problems. It was getting hard for even Haley to sigh out loud in defeat because of all the work.


    This time, Oliver was a big help as he knew many people who would love to work for something so big. Only, Irvin had to give them the invitation personally.


    The few kingdoms or the big cities were not a problem at all. But the group had to take things easy with another kingdom that had a Rank-9 Monarch leading them.


    It was those days that Ozul finally decided to give a helping hand once in a while. Even then, he wasn¡¯t required to do much. They were just expanding an information-gathering organization, not starting a war with the whole world. So he did not have to fight with the Rank-9 Mage. He only helped in giving a small scare to the group of Rank-8 men.


    Sending people to every ce wasn¡¯t so much of a big problem.


    The real predicament was to build a safe and fast connection between everyone. And that required a number of funds that Haley did not dare to ask from the Ashin family. These funds were necessary to buy the enchanted items that made long-rangemunication possible.


    That was the only thing slowing their progress. So Oliver had no choice but to speed up his work and start working on his side of the work.


    It hadn¡¯t taken him long to figure out that he was best in the dealings. So Oliver managed the trading part of their organization. Selling information was all up to him.


    He did not disappoint Ozul either. 1 year was all it required for him to get the hang of it as Gold Coins came rushing into the organization¡¯s treasury. It made work easier for Haley and Irvin.


    Meanwhile, Dibly was given just the simple duty of being Haley¡¯s assistant. He wasn¡¯t good at anything, so she would asionally give him insignificant tasks like bringing the documents from one ce to another, or informing someone of her orders.


    Although others would have thought that Dibly wouldn¡¯t be happy with his work, but that simple-minded fellow was happy as long as he did not have to risk his life and still earn enough to eat to his fill.


    Besides, Haley never mistreated him, not to mention that he was someone who Ozul had personally told her to take care of. On the whole, he was living a good life.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ¨C 3 years and 7 monthster ¨C


    Ozul was there in the office together with Irvin, Haley, and Oliver in the room. There were a couple of other people as well that Irvin hade to put his trust in.


    Many things had changed over these years, or rather, improved.


    Not only had Oliver managed to break through, but even Irvin had leaped past one small stage, bing an End-Stage Rank-8 Mage.


    They had gathered here today to discuss the next step of their n which was the most crucial one.


    Ozul sat on the couch while hearing the detailed reports from each individual present in the room. As he looked out of the window, he appeared to be disinterested in whatever they were describing, but he was actually listening to everything.


    ¡°... Everything is done on my part.¡±


    ¡°... So, the business part is firm as well.¡±


    ¡°... In short, every loose end is tightened.¡±


    ...


    In these more than 3 and a half years, the organization had finally covered their whole area of the Maind!


    So these men present inside the room each were assigned to their own roles. One by one, they exined everything and then summarized it by dering that they hadpleted everything on their part of the job.


    After thest man had finished, Ozul finally moved his gaze back from the window to the people in the room.


    ¡°So it¡¯s finally done?¡± he asked and everyone present there answered by nodding their heads.


    That day, Ozul had told Irvin that he wanted things done in 3 years, and Irvin and the rest of the group had really managed to pull through.


    However, everyone persuaded him not to immediately start the next part of the n. Irvin and Haley would have never even dared to question his decisions, but Oliver always had a way with his words.


    Not only was he not afraid of Ozul as much as others were because of their past interactions, Oliver was also in the strong opinion of not rushing toplete everything in 10 years.


    Although they were not able to convince Ozul to stop rushing, he did relent and gave them a few more months that extended till today.


    Even when the Three-Eyed Strangers had covered all of their part of the Maind, things were not so stable because of the rapid development.


    Haley and Oliver had quickly noticed many problems arising from people chickening out to some bases not providing any actual intel at all. And this all happened only because they hadn¡¯t clearly told everyone what they were really signing up for.


    So they used these 7 months to tie up every loose end.


    Even if it wasn¡¯t perfect, they had solidified it to the point where it wouldn¡¯t start crumbling after only a second of not overseeing everything.


    So now after a total of 3 and 7 monthster the Three-Eyed Strangers had grown to the point where even the high Nobles would asionally require their services.


    ¡°Only two other parts remain. But before that, we will be shifting the main base or headquarters as you would call it, to the Neutral Lands,¡± Ozul said as everyone nodded their heads.


    However, there were always some people slow in the head, ¡°Why do we have to move there? Wouldn¡¯t it be safer if it was somece else?¡±


    ¡°The Neutral Lands are considered so precious because of the single fact that it connects all 4 parts on the Maind of Egon. That is also the reason that we will have to move there if we need to have our hold everywhere.¡± It was Oliver that exined it to the person.


    ¡°Where exactly in the Neutral Lands though? Do we make it in Neutral City?¡± Irvin asked. The Neutral Lands as a whole was a very wide area.


    ¡°No. Not there, if we create it there then the other powers would take it as we are also vying for the control of the Lands.¡± Oliver refuted that idea.


    ¡°Why? We will only be setting up our headquarters, it is not like we actually n to do anything like that,¡± another person spoke.


    ¡°That is the truth, but this is how politics work. Each action taken by an organization as big as ours would be thought of as an action considering the identity and the reputation of that organization. Everyone would rather think of us as our enemies than someone who had only randomly decided to create their headquarters in the Neutral City,¡± Oliver again had to give a long exnation.


    ¡°Just do it anywhere near the Neutral City, at a safe distance from it,¡± Ozul ended their debate with a single sentence. He did not care wherever it was built as long as they would remain in the Neutral Lands.


    ¡°After building the main base in the Neutral Lands, it will be time to expand in the rest of the areas. As for how to go on about that? Decide it among yourselves. I give you 3 years each for them,¡± Ozul stated making everyone nervous.


    Since the organization had already grown to the point where there were a number of Rank-7 Mages, it would be much easier to expand in newer areas, so Ozul had given them only 3 years time to spread to each part.


    Even when Ozul had said it, he himself knew that these people would need more than that. First of all, each part of the Maind had a slight difference in their culture because of the separation of the areas.


    The second was that one of those areas had the Leonhard Dynasty as the rulers while the area had those sects secluded everywhere. It would be a great pain in the a$$ for these guys to get their informants even in those ces.


    ¡°So when do we start?¡± Haley asked.


    ¡°Start,¡± Ozul said before walking out of the room. It was time that they hurry things up a little. These people were bing a littlex these past months. He wanted things slowly getting faster, not slowly getting slower.

 Chapter 201

    Chapter 201: Back to the Neutral Lands.


    ording to Ozul¡¯s orders, the group decided to create the headquarters in a town just near the Neutral City.


    Since it was the Neutral Lands, Irvin and Ozul themselves needed to be present. Meanwhile, it became Oliver and Haley¡¯s duty to manage everything in their absence.


    There were many more Rank-7 Mages under Haley¡¯smand, so they need not be so worried if anything unforeseen happened.


    Irvin took some men and they headed towards the Neutral Lands together with Ozul. In these more than 5 years, he hadn¡¯t once returned there since he did not have any solid reason to.


    Unbeknownst to him, Raymond and Alver were waiting for him to visit. As much arrogance as they had for being Rank-9 Mages, they were hesitant in being the first one to approach since their only nephew had grown up to be someone who could match them without them ever being there for him.


    And they were afraid that he would think negatively of them as if they were telling him only now they got to know of his power. Even if it were not true, they were afraid that Ozul would think as such.


    ¡°Where are they going?¡± Ozul asked right after meeting up with Irvin and the tens of men behind him. He was pointing towards those men.


    .....


    ¡°Uhm... with us?¡± Irvin answered while hesitating.


    ¡°No. They are staying. Only take Rank-7¡¯s.¡± Ozul did not want those below Rank-7 to join because it would again take months to travel all the way to the Neutral Lands.


    If there were only Rank-7 Mages, then they would require only about a month or so.


    ¡°But I will need men there...¡± Irvin muttered meekly.


    ¡°Hire your men there. If you can¡¯t, then the Ashin family will help... If they don¡¯t help, then you will create the base by yourself,¡± Ozul replied resolutely. Listening to his tone, Irvin knew that he had no hopes in persuading him out of this.


    He ordered those below Rank-7 to return and only kept the few men who met the requirement. He sighed in defeat and hoped that he would be able to find more men to build the base.


    They could just empty some big building and call it their headquarters, but proper measurements were required. Not only did he have to work on the defensive formations, but also initiate the proper steps to set upmunication artifacts.


    There were supposed to be two giant artifacts each having identical runes etched on them. Once both were powered, anyone would be able to convey their message from one artifact to the other in written form. These artifacts were usually giant glowing crystals. At least that was what Irvin had in his Spatial Ring.


    They started their journey towards the Neutral Lands immediately.


    . . .


    A few more days than a month was all it required for the group to pass the barren ring of area and step in the Neutral Lands.


    The few Rank-7 Mages were a little nervous. It was their first time here in the famous Lands that acted as the backbone of the entire continent.


    Irvin was familiar with this ce, so he led everyone directly to the town where they nned to create their headquarters. Comparing this town with any city outside the Neutral Lands would result in this town winning, but here in this ce, they were only known as towns.


    Ozul scanned the whole town and found something that he could not ignore even if he wanted to.


    ¡®Why is there a Rank-9 Mage here?¡¯ he was confused exactly because he sensed a Rank-9 Mage right in the center of the town!


    ¡°Stop right here,¡± he ordered Irvin at the entrance of the town before flying his way over to the tall building in the middle.


    Only when he reached there did he realize the reason for that Rank-9 Mage to be staying here in this town. He squinted his eyes at the extravagant sign that spelled out ¡®The Mercenary Guild¡¯ at the top of the building.


    He had almost forgotten that even the Mercenary Guild¡¯s main headquarters was in the Neutral Lands. But since this organization was really neutral, they hadn¡¯t built it in the Neutral City for the exact same reasons as the Three-Eyed Stranger¡¯s.


    ¡®From what I know, there shouldn¡¯t be only a single Rank-9 Mage in the Mercenary Guild,¡¯ Ozul remembered that they were supposed to be a force that individual Rank-9 Mages did not dare to offend.


    For all he knew, there might even be a Rank-10 Mage supporting the Mercenary Guild. So, he wanted to avoid getting into a conflict with them as much as possible.


    ¡°That Irvin...¡± Ozul muttered before making his way back to the group.


    Irvin approached him as hended and was about to ask a question, but Ozul beat him to it, ¡°Irvin.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Young Master?¡± Irvin asked respectfully. He did not know why they were ordered to stay at the entrance in the first ce, so he was clueless at the moment.


    ¡°You knew the Neutral Lands from when you used to work for the Ashin family, yes?¡± Ozul started with a question.


    ¡°Y-yes...¡± Irvin understood that wherever it was going, it would not be something good for him because of Ozul¡¯s tone.


    ¡°So, did you know that the Mercenary¡¯s headquarters was also located in this town?¡± he followed up with another question.


    ¡°Y-yes, Young Master. Is... there any problem?¡± Irvin asked while stuttering.


    ¡°Yes, there is a problem! The problem is that you were going to create a base which would end up blown away before it is even created,¡± Ozul could not help but reprimand him.


    There was only confusion on Irvin¡¯s face, so he had to exin further, ¡°The Mercenary Guild did make their base all the way over in this town instead of the Neutral City to avoid any conflict. But it does not mean that they would allow just about anyone to undermine their business.¡±


    ¡°...¡± Irvin still stood there with a nk face.


    ¡°You were smarter when older,¡± Ozul could not help but shake his head.


    The day when Ozul first met the couple, they were old, or at least they looked older than their current appearance. He was implying that Irvin seemed brighter when he hadn¡¯t removed that Coretching poison.


    Irvin could only smile wryly at his remarks.


    He wasn¡¯t that dumb actually. If he had been, Ozul wouldn¡¯t have trusted so many things to him. It is just thatpared to Haley or Oliver, Irvin¡¯s brain worked better in life-threatening battles with which he had grown up with.


    ¡°The Mercenary Guild earns their ie through the missions, and a quarter of these missions are actually rted to some sort of information gathering. And what do the Three-Eyed Strangers do?¡± Ozul asked.


    Only now did realization dawn upon Irvin as he made a thoughtful face.


    ¡°So they would not take it kindly that some people who are affecting their business have their headquarters in the same town as theirs instead of all those other towns or cities that they could have gone for,¡± Irvin finally understood what he was trying to say.


    ¡°Yes. Now let¡¯s go find some other town,¡± Ozul said with annoyance seeping out of his words.


    Irvin almost stumbled hearing his colder than usual tone and quickly followed after him nervously. It was never a good thing to get on the bad side of a Rank-9 Mage.


    Ozul led the group inside the town and found a ce to discuss where they would be building the base. Irvin drew the general map and some towns that he knew on the ground since they did not have a full map of the Neutral Lands.


    In the end, Ozul decided on the 2nd closest town to the Neutral City after eliminating this one from the choices. He again confirmed if there was some other force residing in that town, and fortunately, it was not upied.


    ¡°Why not this one?¡± Irvin questioned while pointing at the closest town.


    ¡°Because there is one organization already there,¡± Ozul replied while raising a brow at him. If no one else, at least he should know about the Order of Dusk since he worked for the Ashin family directly.


    ¡°Oh! I almost forgot about that...¡± Irvin could not help but rub the back of his head embarrassedly after he recalled that.


    After deciding on the town, the group quickly made their way over. Irvin was sweating all the way since it was the first time that he had managed to piss off Ozul so many times at once.


    As they reached the town, the sun was starting to set, so Ozul took a random inn and told Irvin to start examining the ce and look for a suitable area in the meantime that he slept.


    He was a Rank-8 Mage, sleeping wasn¡¯t a problem for him.


    . . .


    The next day, Irvin had already started the work on their headquarters. He could not find any suitable area since this town seemed to be a little packed, but he wanted the base somewhere near the center.


    In the end, he had to force a shop owner to move his shop somewhere else. That shop was surrounded by some other buildings but they were old and no one lived there so a big area was cleared up for their base.


    ¡°It is time that I give Raymond a visit,¡± Ozul muttered while watching Irvin desperately trying to recruit talented people for a couple of days. He was ignored by almost everyone and whoever answered only did so because they sensed that he was a Rank-8 Mage.


    Even if he did manage to recruit some people, it was a waste of time since they were not sure to have the knowledge about building the structure nor setting up formations.


    Only Raymond could help him now, so Ozul left the town to have a meeting with the man directly.

 Chapter 202

    Chapter 202: Ashin family¡¯s estate.


    In all honesty, Ozul wasn¡¯t sure if they would be willing to do so since the Ashin family¡¯s men would be recognized in the Neutral Lands.


    The word would quickly spread, and everyone would think that the Three-Eyed Strangers are affiliated with them. That is why he would ask for their men who were not so popr and still had the expertise. He naturally did not think that Raymond would be willing to send those hidden men of his.


    Ozul wanted the Three-Eyed Strangers to be widely known as a neutral organization that sold information of any and all kinds, so getting any form of help that could link them to any other party was out of the question.


    ¡®Should I go to the Ashin family¡¯s estate?¡¯ Ozul contemted but then decided against it since he did not know if Raymond would be there.


    He flew straight to the Orita town where the Order of Dusk¡¯s headquarters was located.


    He was right outside the town after a couple of hours. Just when he was about to head towards the invisible tower, he sensed a familiar aura moving towards him.


    A few secondster, there were a few sparks around him when suddenly Raymond appeared before him. If Ozul hadn¡¯t been paying attention, even he wouldn¡¯t have been able to follow his movements because of that speed.


    .....


    Certainly, the nature of a Mage¡¯s Element affected their overallbat prowess. Like Raymond, he was naturally faster than a Mage at the same cultivation realm but with a different Element because the Lightning Element had a clear advantage of the speed and destructive capabilities.


    ¡°How did you know I wasing over?¡± Ozul knew that he did not have any Mana so it should have been impossible for him to know unless there were some unknown formations at work.


    ¡°... I was just heading back to the family¡¯s estate and noticed you from afar,¡± Raymond replied, but only after staring at him for half a minute.


    Ozul noticed his weird behavior, but he did not know any cause or reason for it. Only a moment after, he put this thought in the back of his mind.


    ¡°Uh... It¡¯s been so long. *Cough.* Do you... mind if we continue in the family¡¯s estate?¡± Raymond asked when he realized that he would not be able to do it alone. It wasn¡¯t a suitable ce either.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Ozul nodded his head before Raymond led the way to the Ashin Family¡¯s estate.


    On the way there, Raymond felt the silence awkward, but Ozul, on the other hand, was only disturbed because of the emotions directed at him.


    He could not help but think as if something was wrong or something might have happened. However, he did not ask any questions. It was none of his business.


    With their speed, they were in the Neutral city only an hourter. To his surprise, Raymond did not stop flying even when they were in the city.


    He noticed Ozul¡¯s confusion and surprisingly realized what he must be thinking, ¡°Haha, those unspoken rules don¡¯t apply to us. Rank-8 or below won¡¯t even notice if we are serious.¡±


    Ozul nodded his head in understanding. He had only heard about the Neutral City from people below Rank-9, so he did not know such things. But it did make sense since it was Rank-9 Mages that ruled the city.


    A few momentster, they were atop the Ashin family¡¯s estate. Ozul was about to head towards the entrance but stopped when he noticed that Raymond was directly entering from above.


    He hadn¡¯t done that because he knew that there was an invisible shield covering the whole estate, so it wasn¡¯t possible to enter without attacking it.


    ¡®Surely he knows about the defensive formations of his own Manor, right?¡¯ Ozul had his doubts.


    He squinted his eyes just when Raymond was about toe in touch with the invisible shield, it disappeared! There was a subtle glow of a blue hue on his hand, which Ozul noticed was because of a ring.


    ¡®Is it some kind of key?¡¯ Ozul had read about the formations, but the book contained only a part of its knowledge. It was not detailed about everything, so he wasn¡¯t sure about it.


    Raymond entered inside and motioned Ozul to follow behind him.


    Right after Ozul had gone to the other side, the invisible shield came back. He could not see it, but it was easy to feel the dense Mana from it.


    Following Raymond, Ozulnded right in the garden. More than a few people noticed their presence and entry from above, but none dared to even nce at their way.


    Everyone knew about the older brother of the Head of the house. Even when Raymond wasn¡¯t the head, his authority wasn¡¯t in the least lower than Alver. The only reason he hadn¡¯t be the head of the house was that he had chosen to give up the position himself.


    Because of their sudden entry, Alver quickly came out from inside the manor. People simultaneously bowed as he passed by them.


    ¡®Hmm... This guy sure respects Raymond a lot,¡¯ Ozul thought inside his mind.


    ¡°Elder brother,¡± Alver respectfully nodded his head at Raymond, who returned the greeting with a nod while subtly hinting him towards Ozul with his eyes.


    It seemed that Alver was quick on the uptake and realized what his brother was trying to say. He turned towards Ozul with a visibly stiffened smile.


    *Cough!*


    Raymond coughed and hit on Alver¡¯s shoulder to wake him up from his stupor.


    ¡°Ha-Haha... I am Alver Ashin. What is your name?¡± Alver awkwardly introduced himself as he felt the burning pain from that simple blow of Raymond.


    ¡°Ozul Ashfall,¡± Ozul briefly answered, making Alver again stiffen on his spot. It was like he could not believe that the son of his sister, long thought to be dead, was standing in front of him.


    ¡°This... is not a suitable ce to talk. Should we move inside?¡± Alver offered.


    Raymond nodded his head and did not let Ozul speak and started to move inside, forcing him to follow behind as well.


    The female guard of Alver was standing in the distance. She bowed her head when the three passed by her and then followed behind as well. She maintained her distance all the time.


    Raymond quickly led them to an area with no almost no one around in the corridors. He then quickly turned and entered a big room that Ozul noticed was dense in Mana.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone in,¡± Alver ordered before the three entered the room, and the woman stood outside.


    Ozul did not fail to notice that just when Alver had closed the door, another invisible bubble of Mana seemed to cover the whole room. However, it was not strong enough to be acting as a shield.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind it. It¡¯s only so our voices aren¡¯t heard outside this room,¡± Raymond noticed him looking around curiously, so he exined.


    ¡°Hm...¡± Ozul could not help but think that he had to read more books about the formations. Just the basics weren¡¯t enough.


    After the three sat down on the couches, an ufortable silence ensued in the room. Raymond and Alver moved their eyes to every object in the room but avoided Ozul.


    Meanwhile, Ozul himself had no idea of the awkwardness caused solely because of his presence.


    ¡°About why I hade here for...¡± Ozul started.


    ¡°Oh! Yes yes! Please,¡± Raymond blurted out in rm.


    ¡°The organization has covered that part of the continent. It is time to build the headquarters in the Neutral Lands, but I need men who obviously can¡¯t be linked to you people,¡± Ozul stated, surprising both Raymond and Alver.


    Although they were keeping themselves up to date with whatever was happening with Ozul and anything rted to him, they didn¡¯t know that the organization was ready to step into the Neutral Lands.


    It was just that they could never think that Ozul was building this whole organization for the sake of his own convenience.


    ¡°How many men do you have here?¡± Raymond asked. It was his nephew personally asking him a favor, so he was more than happy to help. Heck, even if Ozul had not asked for help, he would¡¯ve sent his most trusted men to watch over the process so that nothing unfortunate happened.


    ¡°Only Irvin as of now. There are a few Rank-7 with him, but they are useless,¡± Ozul answered with an annoyed tone.


    Right after saying that, Ozul noticed the slight hint of curiosity on the two brother¡¯s faces. So he confirmed their doubts, ¡°Yes-the same Irvin who worked for you. I know there has been a conflict between you, but he is now under me. So I hope there is not a problem.¡±


    ¡°Haha... Of course, there is no problem. If you say he is under you, the matter is finished here. Right, Alver?¡± Raymond threateningly smiled at his younger brother.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say it, elder brother. It¡¯s already been years since I sent anyone after him,¡± Alver answered with a smile while he was cursing Raymond from the inside, ¡®Not only are you bing the good guy, but you are also making me a viin in front of him! Dammit!¡¯


    Meanwhile, the two brothers could not help but think of the possibility that it might have been Irvin who protected and took care of Ozul after their sister passed away.


    ¡®We will have to ask him ourselves,¡¯ both brothers silently nodded at each other.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Ozul nodded his head, but he was getting a little doubtful at how easily they epted it. Not to mention, their weird behavior was getting hard to ignore now.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± Alver took the initiative this time. There was no way that he would let Raymond steal all the goodwill from their nephew.


    Ozul was about to shake his head when he remembered something, ¡°Ah yes. Of course. I almost forgot.¡±


    ¡®How could I actually forget it for so many years...¡¯ he could not help but virtually facepalm inside his mind.


    ¡°There seems to be a spy of the Church in your organization...¡±

 Chapter 203

    Chapter 203: Reminiscing 1.


    ¡°Spy? Haha, don¡¯t worry about that. Everyone has their spies on the enemy¡¯s side. They are rarely of any use since we never promote anyone withoutpletely being sure of their loyalty,¡± Raymond assured him that it did not really matter.


    ¡°He or she knew when I entered and left your tower and was also able tomunicate from that distance back to the Church¡¯s people,¡± Ozul added, which made the two brothers frown.


    ¡°Did those bastards send their men after you!?¡± Raymond could not control himself as he shouted in anger.


    ¡°As a matter of fact, they did. But there were only a few Rank-8. They hadn¡¯t known my rank,¡± Ozul answered calmly. He assumed that Raymond¡¯s outburst was only because of his anger towards the Church.


    ¡°Damn them!¡± Although Raymond notably calmed down after his exnation, he still cursed the Church under his breath.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We will take care of whoever it was,¡± Alver assured Ozul with darkened eyes. The two had lost their sister before. Now they wouldn¡¯t tolerate it if someone went after the only son of theirte sister.


    ¡°Alright. That was it,¡± Ozul noticed that the two kept their silence for some odd reason. Since he had said what he wanted to, it was time to leave.


    .....


    He was just about to stand up when Raymond mustered up his voice and said, ¡°Ha-ha... we have something to... say.¡± His voice started to thin out in the end till even Ozul had difficulty to understand.


    Ozul nodded his head and sat back down. It had been a while since he noticed their mixed emotions as well. He figured that something must have happened. Though after he sat down, the two brothers could not muster up their courage.


    What would their nephew think about them? Would he hate them for never searching for him? Would he ask them why they let their only sister die? Would he hate them for only telling the truth now? All kinds of thoughts tortured the two brothers from inside.


    Meanwhile, Ozul did not disturb their thoughts as he calmly stared at their faces filled with worry. If there were anyone else in the room, they would be surprised since they were two Rank-9 Mages, and their current state was never seen before. Even in battles did they never worry so much as they did right now.


    ¡°I...¡± x2


    A few minutester, both of them spoke simultaneously and looked at each other.


    ¡°... Forgive us!¡± x


    Raymond and Alver bowed their head before Ozul, who was more than surprised at their actions. He guessed that it could be anything from asking him some difficult favor or adding some unfavorable conditions in their partnership. But he never expected that the two brothers would suddenly bow their heads before him and apologize together.


    ¡°...For what exactly?¡± Ozul asked, unsure if they had done something wrong, and he hadn¡¯t yet received the report from Irvin.


    ¡°I... we are your u...¡± Alver mustered up his courage to tell him, but his voice got lower with each word until no one could even understand what he said.


    ¡°You are my what?¡± Ozul was patient with the two because not only were they Rank-9 Mages, but also feeling their emotions made him not say anything harsh either.


    Raymond, not being able to hold it any longer, decided that it wasn¡¯t going anywhere. He took a deep breath and said whatever came first in his mind, ¡°We are your uncle!¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Raymond and Alver kept looking at Ozul with nervousness growing with each passing second.


    ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± Ozul asked after staring at the two with a nk face for a while. How could that ¡®father¡¯ of his have two brothers all the way over here in the Ash-... Unless...


    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± it finally registered in his mind when he thought about how his ownst name started with ¡®Ash¡¯ as well. At his sudden rise in tone, the two brothers, uncaring of their arrogance as Rank-9 Mages, straightened their backs in fear of what was about toe.


    ¡°You two are the brothers... of my...¡± Ozul did not need to finish his sentence as Raymond and Alver both nodded their heads slowly while looking down at the floor.


    Getting his confirmation, Ozul leaned back on the couch, remembering the only memory he had of his mother.


    ¡°... my boy..... I won¡¯t be there for you..... please take care of yourself. Be yourself... my ozul... Ozul Ashfall...¡± These were thest and only words his mother had said to him the moment he came into this world. He paid no heed to anyone¡¯s thoughts about him and did whatever made him happy in all these years only because of those words that his mother had said to him. He was simply himself.


    He thought that he wasn¡¯t really attached to Sylvia, but the truth was, her only words to him on her deathbed had made the person who he was today.


    Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, Ozul stared back at the two middle-aged men looking distraught at the floor.


    To the surprise of both of them, Ozul did not get angry, nor did hesh out at them. Instead, he calmly asked, ¡°What was she doing there in the Silverbird Kingdom?¡±


    Raymond and Alver did not know what to say to his question at first. They were expecting many reactions, but not a calm and logical question about the situation.


    ¡°I-it is a long story...¡± Raymond muttered, not really sure where to start.


    ¡°I am listening,¡± Ozul had more than enough time.


    Raymond noticed his young brother¡¯s face. He knew that he was in no state to exin anything. So he started, ¡°It¡¯s been more than fifty years...¡±


    ¡°Sylvia was the youngest among the three of us. However, the fact that she even existed was known only to a few trusted guards and us two. Father and mother had died in a fight long ago when she was young. To protect her from any harm, we kept her hidden from the rest of the world. People only knew that there were two sons of the Ashin family.¡±


    As Raymond narrated, Ozul noticed the softness and the gentle emotions from both the brothers as if they were reminiscing the past.


    ¡°Everything was going fine. Sylvia grew up to be a beautiful and kinddy. We were happy... at least that is what the two of us thought,¡± Raymond¡¯s tone changed into more of a regretful one as he continued, ¡°No matter what, we couldn¡¯t rece the ce of a parent in Sylvia¡¯s heart. And even as brothers... we failed. We never noticed that she wasn¡¯t happy inside these confined walls-¡±


    ¡°No, brother. We did realize it...¡± Alver spoke, cutting Raymond in the middle, which surprised the two of them since he respected him so much.


    Alver remembered when they would find Sylvia looking outside her room¡¯s window with anticipation and a bitter smile.


    ¡°We just ignored it...¡± They would ignore their sister¡¯s wishes because it was what they thought was best for her. They had experienced the outside world, and they never wanted their innocent sister to face the same cruel world.


    But it did not lessen their guilt since they were doing it forcefully.


    ¡°That little girl neverined...¡± Raymond muttered. He had seen many of those brats who would start crying at small things like no jewelry or expensive dresses. However, Sylvia never onceined about anything.


    Her eptance of everything as the way it was, made the two brothers feel even worse in their hearts.


    ¡°Everything was still fine until that day!¡± Raymond¡¯s tone took a turn as he clenched his fists. A few sparks started to form around the room when he finally calmed down.


    Ozul calmly listened to the story of the two. He could easily tell that both really meant what they were saying. Even if he assumed that the two were acting, their emotions could not lie.


    Raymond took a deep breath and exined, ¡°I was away on that day, and Sylvia insisted on going out of the manor. Since Alver was there with her, he did not deny her. After all, who could harm her when there was a Rank-9 Mage protecting her...¡±


    ¡°Another Rank-9,¡± Ozul added, already guessing what could¡¯ve happened.


    ¡°Yes... It was one of the Church¡¯s allies. Those conceited shameless cockroaches!¡± This time, the side of the couch was crushed under Raymond¡¯s force. Only the sound of it crushing made him realize that he was in the middle of something.


    ¡°Alver had advanced not so long ago, so he wasn¡¯t that person¡¯s match. Before I got there, his men had taken Sylvia as a hostage and had run away. That bastard did not let Alver chase them, so only our men could give chase,¡± Raymond said with a sigh.


    ¡°It was all my fault...¡± Alver muttered. If only he hadn¡¯t agreed to her request that day, things might have been much different.


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t have known that someone had nned an ambush, Alver. No one could have ever guessed that,¡± Raymond tried to lessen the weight on his heart, but nothing seemed to work.


    Looking back at Ozul, who showed almost no emotions on his face, Raymond could not even imagine what must he had to go through all that time.


    Ozul was actually listening to everything carefully. He only had a hard time ignoring the emotional states of these two brothers. He also would¡¯ve never thought that there was such a story rted to his mother.

 Chapter 204

    Chapter 204: Reminiscing 2.


    ¡°Anyway, when I came back, Alver and that bastard were still fighting. With my help, we heavily injured that cockroach, but he got away. I did not have the time to chase after him since Alver was heavily injured as well. Not to mention, I had to go after those people who took Sylvia.¡±


    ¡°It turned out that I was toote to stop those men. I could not find any traces of them. So all I could do was to put my hopes in our men,¡± Raymond sighed again.


    ¡°Two weekster, I got the report that there were some traces of battle towards the Silverbird Kingdom. None of those men who had gone chasing after Sylvia ever came back. So we wasted no time and sped towards the Silverbird Kingdom. When we got there... things were different.¡±


    Ozul noticed theplicated emotions of the two brothers.


    ¡°We found out that our men were sessful. They had killed off those assants... but also died in the same battle. Meanwhile, Syliva... she was missing. There were no traces of her.¡±


    ¡°Later, we found her. However, it was toote,¡± the two brothers sighed simultaneously.


    ¡°Sylvia had lost her memories andpletely forgotten about everything. She only remembered her name-that too a little distorted as she would introduce herself as Sylvia Ashfall instead of Ashin,¡±


    .....


    Ozul had thought that their feelings couldn¡¯t get any more depressing, but it turned out that he had underestimated the love for their youngest sibling.


    ¡°Sylvia forgot about us. She had even married that yellow-haired dumb f*ck!¡± Alver cursed Edward. But he shut up when he remembered that the son of that ¡®yellow-haired dumb f*ck¡¯ was sitting in front of him.


    ¡°Continue,¡± Ozul himself had a grudge with that person, so he did not care whatever names he was called.


    Raymond and Alver were not aware of everything that had happened on the day of his birth. They just assumed that he was most probably abandoned by that sick person and had to live by himself. They had yet to figure out what had happened with his limbs. One could not simply miss those metallic hands.


    Shifting his eyes from those prosthetic hands, Raymond continued, ¡°We met up with her, but she refused to listen to any reason. She said that she was in love and had a family.¡±


    ¡°The memory loss was most probably because of some head injury. Couldn¡¯t you forcefully take her back and heal her? Surely the Ashin family could afford some expensive herbs.¡± Ozul asked. This was the first time that he had asked any question because it was an obvious choice of action. But from his tone and what had happened till now, Ozul figured that it wasn¡¯t the case.


    The two had troubled faces because of his question.


    After a while, Alver replied, ¡°We could not do it. We could not take away her happiness.¡±


    Raymond and Alver remembered the day when they had turned away from thest step. Their sister wasughing while ying with some kids. The sound ofughter rang out in the air.


    ¡°She also smiled when we were together... but thatughter was totally different. She was free. Our little sister had grown up, and she was happy... we couldn¡¯t take it away from her.¡±


    Ozul noticed that Alver¡¯s eyes were dampening.


    No one would ever believe that these two depressed brothers in this room were Rank-9 Mages that could tten hundred of thousands just on a whim.


    Although Ozul disagreed with what they had done, he understood their reasons. If it was up to him, he would have still healed her. Then leaving it up to her to decide what she wanted.


    ¡°Our long-term stay in the Silverbird Kingdom would have alerted everyone and caused another huge battle to break out, so we came back and stationed a couple of men to always watch over Sylvia. They regrly sent us reports, whether anything happened or not.¡±


    ¡°Alver here had also decided to visit the day after we received the news that it was time for her delivery. However, when he reached there... it was toote,¡± Raymond felt as if something was stuck in his throat as he narrated everything.


    A few moments of silence reigned in the room before Raymond looked up, straight in Ozul¡¯s eyes with conviction, ¡°We would have never thought that you were alive! It¡¯s our fault that we did not investigate anything... you can punish us however you like!¡± Even Alver joined in with a nod full of determination to make it up to their nephew.


    ¡°...¡±


    Ozul was suddenly taken off guard. One moment these overpowered uncles of his were depressed, and the next moment they were ready to go through any punishment as an apology.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t care about it,¡± Ozul was truthful with his words. He frankly did not believe that it was any of their faults.


    Except for the person who hadbeled him as the Devil¡¯s spawn the moment he was born, there was no one that he would me for his missing hands.


    ¡®We live in a world where strength is everything. I did not have any strength to protect myself, and so I had to go through everything,¡¯ Ozul knew in his heart, ¡°If I start to me each of my misfortunes on others, nothing wille out of it.¡±


    His words caused Raymond and Alver to look at him in surprise. They knew that he was also a Rank-9 Mage for some extraordinary reasons; his mentality was even more refined.


    But they could not deny his words since that was the true hard fact of reality. Things would happen to you, and you can¡¯t just start cursing at everyone who was involved and ask forpensation. You would have to take everything yourself; with your own strength.


    Even when Ozul did not give them any punishment, he had some other ns in his mind, ¡®Now it will be much easier for me to get any help from them.¡¯


    ¡°So... you forgave us?¡± Raymond asked with anticipation, his tone getting a little brighter. Alver¡¯s previously grief-filled was also improved a little.


    Ozul expressionlessly stared at the two as he thought, ¡®I was never angry in the first ce. Sigh... whatever.¡¯


    ¡°Yes... I do,¡± Ozul said. This was the best way to get it over with as quickly as possible.


    A gentle smile appeared on Raymond¡¯s face as he looked at Alver. Thetter seemed to understand whatever Raymond was trying to convey, while Ozul could only look confusedly between the two.


    Even Ozul¡¯s ability to sense emotions could not tell him what a person was thinking.


    He looked as Alver nodded his head, and both turned towards him, ¡°Will youe back to the family?¡±


    Ozul could not help but raise his brows a little. He had almost forgotten that all of this meant that he was a part of the Ashin family.


    He started to contemte if he wanted to join them or not. It was up to him, and they could never really force him to do it.


    Raymond and Alver also knew that it was his decision, so they let him decide.


    After a while, Ozul had decided, ¡°I won¡¯t.¡±


    Hearing his answer, both Raymond and Alver¡¯s expressions fell. Alver blurted out, ¡°But why?¡±


    ¡°Alver!¡± Raymond raised his voice when he saw that his brother asked their nephew such a question after all that had happened.


    Alver realized his mistake and looked down on the floor. It was true; they had no right to ask him any question when they had never done anything family-like to him.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I won¡¯t join because I have my own things to do. It¡¯s just that simple,¡± Ozul said in a calm voice, ignoring the fact that Raymond was about tosh out at Alver. His interference seemed to pacify the heavy atmosphere in the room.


    Although Ozul knew that he would get a lot more benefits if he decided to enter the family, he still declined because he had various reasons.


    He had questions whose answers were probably in the worlds far away from here. He would probably make many enemies, and most of all, he would never stay in one ce.


    If he entered the family, he would be bound to one ce, and then there were the responsibilities that he would not be able to escape from.


    So, it was better if he remained the way he was right now. There was no one to order him to do anything. He never liked any factors that forced him to change his course of action-whatever it was.


    ¡°We understand. We have no right to ask you this in the first ce...¡± Raymond shed a smile.


    ¡°I shall take my leave then. It¡¯s been a long time. Irvin must be waiting for me,¡± Ozul said as he stood up. He was about to leave the room when Raymond called from behind, ¡°Wait!¡±


    Ozul turned around to see Raymond approaching him while taking off one of his rings from his hand. He had many rings for some reason.


    ¡°Here, take this. With this, you can enter and leave the estate whenever you want. If anyone dares to stop you, just show them this,¡± Raymond handed him a silver ring. Ozul remembered that it was the same ring that glowed when Raymond was about to pass the shield bubble outside the estate.


    Even Alver stood up and approached him before saying, ¡°The family¡¯s doors will remain open for you. If you need any help, whatever it is, just tell us.¡±


    Ozul did not deny the offer and nodded his head before walking out of the door.


    As he walked out, thedy guard standing outside quickly bower her head in his direction.


    ¡°He grew up to be a fine young man,¡± Alver muttered, watching Ozul¡¯s back in the corridor.


    ¡°Indeed, he did,¡± to his side, Raymond agreed with a pleased smile on his face.


    Even if they hadn¡¯t been there for him, he was still the son of theirte sister. They could not help but feel proud of him.

 Chapter 205

    Chapter 205: Clueless Irvin.


    Ozul went straight back to the town where Irvin and his men were staying.


    ¡°That was unexpected...¡± he muttered on his way back. He hadn¡¯t expected that his mother would turn out to be a member of the Ashin family.


    However, the biggest shock was not his heritage. It was instead the behavior of Raymond and Alver. The two surprisingly had apletely different side of them in front of a family member. Being on that topic, Ozul couldn¡¯t just casually call them uncles.


    A conversation between them would be much smoother if he were to address them by names instead.


    Putting these thoughts behind for now, Ozul reached the town where Irvin was anxiously waiting for his return.


    Known as the Farnfoss town, this ce did not lose to any normal city outside the Neutral Lands. However, the ce did not have any tall buildings and such. But it wouldn¡¯t be long before it happened since they were going to set up the headquarters here.


    ¡°Did you scout the area?¡± Ozul asked.


    .....


    Irvin nodded his head in response. He had already cleared the area. The area where they would be building the structure was upied, so he had to threaten some people to move ces, butpleted the task nheless.


    ¡°The people from the Ashin family wille to help. Use them to the best of their abilities, don¡¯t hesitate,¡± Ozul knew that his ¡®uncles¡¯ wouldn¡¯t mind it. After all, he was even granted free entry inside the estate whenever he wanted.


    Just then, Irvin¡¯s eyes widened as he noticed the silver-colored ring on that dull metallic finger.


    ¡°Young Master! That-¡± It seemed that Irvin knew what the ring represented as he was about to blurt out whatever came to his mind. He stopped when he realized that they were out in the open.


    But even that did not stop him from pointing at the ring with astonishment written on his face.


    ¡°Hurry up. Get back to work. I won¡¯t be helping you unless anything life-threatening happens,¡± Ozul shooed him away before he started asking questions. He was toozy to exin everything to him.


    Even listening to the story that long had annoyed him. Narrating it to someone else was out of question.


    Irvin noticed that Ozul wasn¡¯t in the mood to exin, so he dropped the topic and took his men to start working on the town. Simply building arge building didn¡¯t mean that it was their headquarters.


    They had to secure the surroundings as well. Unless it had all the measures to protect itself from arge organization, they wouldn¡¯t call it their headquarters.


    Meanwhile, Ozul looked for a ce toze around since he had done enough for now. He had some things to think through.


    ...


    A couple of dayster, Irvin had tens of men working under him. They had already removed every building that came in the way.


    Most of these men were Rank-7 Mages, but there were even a couple of Rank-8 ones. However, none of themined since Irvin was a peak Rank-8.


    Seeing that everything was going as nned, Ozul decided to take a stroll through the Neutral City again. He needed more books on the formations; the previous one was not enough.


    ¡®That girl of the Auction House still needed to pay me back...¡¯ Ozul remembered that the girl still owed him, so he decided to give her another visit.


    Unknown to him, the day he left to venture into the city again was when Alver and Raymond finally decided to have a heartful talk with Irvin.


    They suspected that it might be him who had taken care of Ozul when no one was there for him since Irvin was a trusted person before he made the mistake of loving the woman from the enemy¡¯s side.


    ¡ª¨C


    -In the Ashin¡¯s estate-


    ¡°Are you sure about it, brother?¡± Alver asked while walking out of the room with Raymond.


    ¡°A thanks is the least we can do for Irvin if he took care of our nephew all those years, Alver. Remember, it was you who had sent those men after him in rage,¡± Raymond reminded his younger brother.


    Hearing his exnation, Alver suddenly gulped as he realized what this entailed. If their guess was really correct and Irvin had indeed been taking care of their nephew all those years he sent men after him, then the consequences of those people seeding in the assassination attempt were something that he would not be able to bear.


    ¡°Indeed. It would mean that you were basically sending men to kill our nephew as well,¡± Raymond said in a cold voice. He had tried to persuade his younger brother not to issue the order of Irvin¡¯s death from the start.


    However, Alver was enraged in those years since it was the same enemy that had caused them to lose their one and only sister. He did not tolerate one of their most trusted men marrying a woman from their side.


    ¡°Not to mention... I don¡¯t have the face to ask my nephew how he had lived all those years. Do you?¡± Raymond asked as he prepared to fly towards the town.


    Alver did not reply to his question since everything that Raymond said made sense. The Rank-9 who never left the estate or whatever they were doing even when their men were in danger were doing so now only to give their thanks to the person who they assumed had taken care of their nephew.


    It didn¡¯t take long for them to arrive in the town. They quickly noticed everyone busy at work.


    The fact that the Three-Eyed Strangers were building something in the middle of the town wasn¡¯t a secret to anyone. Those who knew about them were surprised, while those who hadn¡¯t heard of them before sent their men to inquire about any information they could get on them.


    They were both Rank-9 Mages who rarely appeared before ordinary people. Even when they did, people wouldn¡¯t recognize them. However, all the men working around the town were sent by them. It would be worrying if they didn¡¯t recognize their own leaders.


    Even when those working recognized who they were, no one dared to approach the two. Only when Irvin noticed everyone ncing in a certain direction did he realize their presence.


    Immediately, he began to look for Ozul. He was especially terrified of Alver as he was the same person who wanted him dead for so long because of his simple mistake of falling in love.


    ¡®I need to find the Young Master fast! These two are too scary for me to handle...¡¯ Irvin thought as he frantically looked everywhere.


    In his hurry, he forgot that Alver and Raymond had noticed him from afar as well.


    ¡®Why did the Young Master had to disappear today?!¡¯ Ozul hadn¡¯t told Irvin that he was going to the Neutral City, so he wasn¡¯t aware of his absence.


    Just then, he finally noticed that the two brothers were walking towards him.


    ¡®Damn it! What do I do!?¡¯ In a panic, Irvin was going to shout his lungs out in hopes that wherever Ozul was sleeping would wake up.


    But before he could do anything, Alver and Raymond disappeared from their ce and appeared right in front of Irvin, at a distance of only a few feet.


    In fright, Irvin took a few steps back and almost fell to the ground after stumbling from a small pebble.


    ¡°...Y-young Master isn¡¯t here...¡± these were the only words that coulde out of Irvin¡¯s mouth as he tried to act as if he was perfectly fine.


    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s better then...¡± Raymond sighed in relief since he would be embarrassed if he was here.


    However, his words had a whole different meaning in Irvin¡¯s mind.


    ¡®Dammit! They still haven¡¯t forgotten anything! Young Master... forgive me for your servant would not be of any help in his death...¡¯ Irvin knew that if a Rank-9 Mage decided to kill him, he would have no means to protect him at all. Not to mention, there were two Rank-9 Mages in front of him!


    However, before he could say anyst words to them, he heard the words that almost made him jump in the air,


    ¡°We havee to express our gratitude for taking care of our nephew all these years, Irvin.¡±


    Raymond had a kind smile on his face. And although Alver did not have the same smile, his expressions weren¡¯t of anger either like Irvin had expected.


    ¡°What?¡± Irvin stared back at them dumbly.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Nephew? Who?¡± Irvin did not understand what they were trying to say, but he did realize that they weren¡¯t here to finally finish him off.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t even know?¡± Raymond asked as it finally hit him that they had assumed too much with too little information. In the end, it was just a coincidence that Irvin was working for their nephew now.


    ¡°Know what?¡± Irvin was still confused about the whole situation. Just a moment ago, he had epted his death. However, not only was he alive, but he was also bewildered about why the people who were supposed to kill him just now were thanking him.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless, brother. He is clueless,¡± Alvermented while shaking his head.


    Raymond nodded his head in agreement and said, ¡°Let¡¯s take this to somewhere better.¡±


    They were almost in the middle of the town. Even if they didn¡¯t sense anyone strong listening to their conversation, they were exactly these weaker people they had to watch out for.


    Although Irvin was afraid to follow them anywhere, he still nodded his head. ¡®If they wanted to kill me, they wouldn¡¯t need to ask me,¡¯ he thought before following the two in a more secluded ce.

 Chapter 206

    Chapter 206: Revisit to the Auction House.


    After the three had moved to a secluded ce, Irvin was the first one to speak, ¡°If I may ask... what is the situation?¡±


    These two scary guys had asked him a random and confusing question, and now they had brought him to a ce with no life in sight. Even when he knew that they weren¡¯t here to harm him, his heart could not rest easy with all the pressure.


    *Sigh.*


    ¡°It¡¯s just that we thought...¡± Raymond briefly exined to him how they had assumed too much.


    . . .


    ¡°Wait a minute. So Young Master is the son of Miss Sylvia?!¡± To say that Irvin was surprised would be an understatement. He had to take a moment to digest their words.


    ¡°Young Master is truly extraordinary...¡± Irvin could not help but mutter, which made Raymond and Alver raise their head a little.


    .....


    ¡°Well, he is my nephew, after all. How can he be mediocre?¡± Raymond boasted.


    ¡°Before we go, do you know anything about what had happened to him?¡± Alver asked. One of the reasons they hade here was to inquire why that despicable man had announced that both his sister and nephew had died on that fateful day.


    Irvin shook his head regretfully. He was fully aware of how much these two brothers adored their sister, so it could be imagined that their love for that sister¡¯s only son wouldn¡¯t be any less.


    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been long since I came under Young Master, actually. The poison would have most likely caused mine and Haley¡¯s death if he hadn¡¯t helped us. But by then, he was already grown up. To be honest, I had thought him to be an old sage who had changed his appearance,¡± Irvin recounted his encounter with Ozul.


    ¡°Haha... It must have been fate if nephew coincidentally had the cure to that poison,¡± Raymondughed, ignoring the fact that it was his own brother¡¯s order that Irvin and Haley were poisoned in the first ce.


    Raymond thought that Ozul might have one of the cures to the poison, but Irvin shook his head and said, ¡°No. Young Master did not use any medicinal herb. He used his own powers to remove our poison.¡±


    Hearing his words, Raymond and Irvin also remembered that they hadn¡¯t sensed even an ounce of Mana from him. Their own nephew was starting to be a mystery to them.


    ¡°But I have talked to someone who supposedly knew Young Master from long ago...¡± Irvin said, instantly getting their attention.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get your hopes up, even he knew only a few things,¡± Irvin was getting used to their presence.


    He had been afraid of them before but seeing their childlike behavior had eased the pressure weighing down on him.


    ¡°The first time he had met Young Master was when he had only been a teenager, he says...¡± Irvin narrated the few parts that he had heard.


    This person who Irvin was talking about was, needless to say, Oliver. He hadn¡¯t been able to shut his mouth about his time with Ozul to Irvin and Haley.


    Alver and Raymond carefully listened to whatever Irvin said.


    ¡°One thing I do know is that Young Master is looking for his arms...¡± Irvin remembered. That was the only useful thing that Oliver had told them about him.


    ¡°Arms?¡± Alver muttered curiously while Raymond¡¯s mind gears started turning.


    ¡°Yes... It¡¯s hard to believe, but Young Master did not have his left leg before either. But he was able to get it back somehow. From who or where? I don¡¯t know,¡± Irvin exined after noticing their confused expressions.


    Although Alver really did find it hard to believe, Raymond suddenly remembered when he had first met Ozul. That time when he asked him why he was up against the Church, he had also said something along the lines of, ¡®They have something that belongs to me. I simply want it back...¡¯


    ¡®Does that mean those Church bastards are the ones troubling my nephew as well?!¡¯ Raymond connected the dots and concluded that it must be his arms that Ozul wanted back from them.


    Alver noticed Raymond¡¯s clenched fist and realized that he must have figured something out, but he did not ask anything here.


    That was all Irvin could tell them, so the two brothers took their leave, immediately disappearing from the ce. Even what they had learned only caused them to be more saddened by the facts.


    They wouldn¡¯t have asked anything themselves, but they could not find even this much when they had sent their own men for investigation. Asking Irvin was theirst choice. s, that was the most he could tell them as well.


    After they had left, Irvin sighed with heavy shoulders. Although he had always med Alver for sending men after them all those years, he himself knew that his course of actions had hurt him a great deal.


    Irvin wouldn¡¯t have told the two brothers even these small things, but the truth was, he wanted them to know. So Alver and Raymond would know what they had done wrong and what its consequences were.


    ¡°Are you seeing this, Miss Sylvia? I wasn¡¯t there that day... but here, destiny brought me to your son instead. Maybe it really is fate,¡± Irvin looked at the sky as he spoke with a smile on his face.


    ¡°How could I forget that little girl always liked the name Ozul... where had she even learned that name...¡± Irvin muttered under his breath before heading back to the town.


    . . .


    ¡°What do you think of him, brother?¡± Alver asked Raymond as the two flew back to the estate.


    ¡°What I think of him shouldn¡¯t matter, Alver. He is working under our nephew now, and our nephew has his own ns,¡± Raymond answered. After a little while, he added, ¡°Now that he knows he is Sylvia¡¯s son, Irvin would not ck off... he was Sylvia¡¯s butler after all...¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    While all of that happened, Ozul was in the Neutral City, slowly walking down the streets to check out each prominent building.


    He had nothing better to do anyway, so he decided to walk to the Littlewood Auction house leisurely. Unfortunately, nothing interested him in those giant structures full of either food or clothes.


    After a while, he was in front of the Littlewood Auction house, which he remembered was owned by the Ashin family. He noticed that there wasn¡¯t a crowd at the entrance this time as there was when he hade here previously.


    There weren¡¯t any guards around either. If he didn¡¯t know any better, he would have thought that he might havee to the wrong ce.


    He did not have anything to sell, and he didn¡¯t think that anyone from the backdoor would still remember him and let him in so easily. So, he walked inside from the front entrance to the hall full of seats. He noticed that tens of people were decorating the hall.


    ¡®Does the auction start only at night or something?¡¯ Ozul thought before he began to look for someone in charge.


    As he was about to approach a man that was seemingly giving orders to the people, he stopped to look at someone peering at him from a distance.


    ¡°...!¡±


    The eyes that looked at him from the far left corner of the hall above the balustrades immediately hid away when he looked at them.


    ¡®Hmm?¡¯ Ozul looked back down and realized that the workers were ignoring his presence. And just to the side, he could see the stairs going to the 2nd floor.


    ¡°Whatever, I have this ring anyway...¡± Ozul muttered as he looked at the silver ring. The Ashin family owned this auction house, and this ring was supposed to permit him to be almost anywhere that belonged to the family.


    He made his way to the stairs and climbed up to the 2nd floor. Once there, he followed the minuscule trail of Mana that he had observed from below.


    As he walked in the corridor, he could see everything in the hall below. Bidding also happened from this floor, but those who stood here had a little higher social standing than the ones seated below.


    Ozul arrived before a closed room. He sensed the person who was looking at him was behind the doors.


    Just as he was about to open the door, he heard a cold voice from behind, ¡°Where do you think you are going?¡± The icy voice seemed to belong to a woman.


    When he turned around, he was surprised to find that it was the woman that he hade looking for. The stony voice belonged to Hana.


    Hana herself was surprised when she saw his face.


    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± Hana blurted out with a loud voice. How could she forget the person who had asked for many odd things in exchange for the Harmony Leaves?


    Ozul didn¡¯t reply and instead only nodded his head, making Hana realize her act of manners was undylike. She promptly gave a small bow to him, still feeling a great deal of gratitude as those Harmony Leaves had saved her sister¡¯s life.


    Immediately after that, she looked down the hall with an unamused face and scolded, ¡°Get back to work!¡±


    The staff that had previously been staring at her after her loud voice started acted as if nothing had happened and quickly got back to their work.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t youe inside,¡± Hana motioned towards the door which Ozul previously was about to enter.


    She maintained a soft smile on her face when talking with him, but inside her mind, ¡®Is he mad at me for shouting at him earlier? What is he even thinking?!¡¯

 Chapter 207

    Chapter 207: Debt settled?


    To Hana¡¯s relief, Ozul simply nodded his head again. She quickly opened the door and entered, followed by him.


    When Ozul entered the room, he ignored everything else and first looked at the person who he had noticed peeking at him from a distance.


    To his surprise, it was only a kid. More precisely, it was a girl around the age of 17 or 18. She appeared to be just a kid in Ozul¡¯s eyes as he was already past 25, but only looked younger.


    ¡°Oh, you haven¡¯t met her. She is Rina, my sister,¡± Hana introduced the girl that almost resembled her. Because Hana¡¯s sister, Rina, did not have any icy cold expressions like her. She only had this innocent curiosity on her face.


    ¡°She is the one who I wanted the Harmony Leaves for,¡± Hana added, reminding Ozul of the reason she was so desperate to obtain them.


    Ozul nodded his head, but he lost his interest immediately. Unlike him, the girl looking like the younger and better version of Hana kept staring at him with burning curiosity.


    ¡°...¡±


    .....


    Hana noticed her younger sister¡¯s staring andughed it off. ¡°He is the mister who brought in the herb that was used to cure you. Come on, thank him. He is the reason you are all fine now,¡± Hana instructed Rina like a mother.


    Rina also nodded her head like a child and repeatedly bowed her head toward Ozul in a flustered manner. Ozul guessed that she probably had low self-esteem.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t give anything for free. She bought it from me,¡± Ozul said, making his way to the couch. Why would a person talk while standing when they can do the same after taking a seat?


    ¡°Still, if it wasn¡¯t for you, I don¡¯t know where I would have found another herb. I forgot to mention it before, but I am really grateful,¡± Hana said with deep gratitude. Even after all this time, she couldn¡¯t find the culprits who had stolen her Harmony nt. Their traces had just gone missing at one point.


    Seeing that Ozul had taken a seat, Hana did so as well. Only Rina stayed standing behind her sister. She moved her eyes to every corner of the room, avoiding looking at Ozul. She was caught peeking at him from above, so it was quite awkward for her right now.


    ¡°Do you have something else to auction?¡± In the end, Hana had to ask the question. She did not know what was wrong with this man before her. It was always other people who were eager to start the conversation with her, but here she had to take the initiative.


    ¡°No. You still had to pay me, remember?¡± Ozul answered ever so casually.


    Hearing his response, Hana¡¯s eyes twitched. ¡®Tch! I gave you so much in return, can¡¯t you just forget thest amount for a beauty like me?! Stingy...¡¯ she thought inside her mind while trying her best to keep a smile on her face.


    Her attitude was a lot different than the previous time. She was desperate to obtain the Leaves and she could only do so by being as nice as she could to the person who had them.


    ¡°Your emotions show on your face,¡± Ozulmented. He did not have to read her emotions to know what Hana was thinking. Although she maintained her smile, it had be quite restrained and obvious.


    ¡°Hehe... Of course, I remember. So, what can I do for you? Just say the word,¡± Hana answered his previous question,pletely ignoring hisment. She acted as if she did not even hear his words. That was the only way she could maintain her dignity.


    ¡°I need more books on formations. One is not enough. That will be all, I won¡¯t ask for more,¡± Ozul stated his demand. In his mind, he was being generous to the woman before him.


    However, Hana had different thoughts in her mind, ¡®Why don¡¯t you ask me a book on how gods ascend as well?! Do you think knowledge about formations is that easy to find!?¡¯


    Just as she thought that she realized something and noticed Ozul staring at her with his usual stony face. She asked, ¡°Did that... show on my face as well?¡±


    Ozul nodded his head causing a small blush to appear on her cheeks, ¡®Am I that easy to read?!¡¯


    ¡°Yes, you are.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    This time, even she had to turn away her head in embarrassment. One wouldn¡¯t find Hana, the manager of Littlewood Auction house ever being flustered like this.


    After she had recovered, Hana spoke truthfully, ¡°It¡¯s just that knowledge on topics as rare as the formations is difficult to find. I might be able to find you a couple of more books, but they wouldn¡¯t be much different from the one I gave you previously...¡±


    Unlike what Ozul had thought, the knowledge of runes and formation was not so widespread and easy to obtain. Even when one had the price to buy books rted to it, they would still have to be an apprentice under a master that is already versed in this field to obtain books or direct lessons of advanced knowledge.


    Even if some lucky ones or people with connections across the globe could buy such books, but Hana certainly could not. With her connections, basic knowledge was the best she could obtain. She was only a Rank-7 Mage after all.


    Hearing her words, Ozul did not me her. Instead, he looked down to contemte his other options to obtain the knowledge.


    In Hana¡¯s eyes, it looked like Ozul was quite disappointed. She felt a little bad since, in the end, he did bring the Harmony Leaves which saved her little sister¡¯s life. Looking to her side, she smiled at Rina who got confused as to what her big sister was thinking.


    ¡°I might not be able to provide you with advanced books on formations, but one thing can be done,¡± Hana said, making Ozul look up in interest. He had a couple of things he could do to obtain the advanced books on the matter, but it would only be a bother.


    When Hana noticed that she had his attention, she said, ¡°You see, my sister here is also a genius at formations. She might not be the best you can get, but she was an apprentice under the master of formations in the Ashin family. She might be able to help you, even if only a little.¡±


    Rina looked surprised at her big sister¡¯s proposal, ¡°N-no! Big sister, I am a beginner myself-¡±


    ¡°You always say that Rina. Even your master told me that your concepts were already solidified. You just have to share them with him. I am not asking you to discuss anything you don¡¯t understand yourself,¡± Hana persuaded her shy sister.


    Under Hana and Ozul¡¯s stare, Rina could not hold onto her opinion for much longer as she gave in, ¡°A-alright.¡±


    ¡°So, what do you say?¡± Hana turned her face back to Ozul who had yet to agree.


    Ozul contemted his option again. He looked down at the silver ring on his prosthetic finger, ¡®I can easily get as many books I want or even someone to teach me directly, but...¡¯


    The more he asked from the Ashin family using his identity as their Head¡¯s nephew, the more he would be involved in their matters. He wanted to avoid that as much as possible. He wouldn¡¯t think twice if he had no other options left, but that wasn¡¯t the case right now.


    ¡®I have enough time. I can just learn from her and if I feel like I need more, then the Ashin family it is,¡¯ Ozul decided that it was the best course of action for now.


    But when he looked at Hana¡¯s sister, all he could think was, ¡®But she is just a kid... How much will she even know?¡¯


    He pondered on it for a few moments but then realized that he shouldn¡¯t judge people by their looks. After all, people died who judged him by his age. How couldn¡¯t he know the consequences of underestimating someone?


    ¡°Alright,¡± Ozul responded.


    Hearing his answer brought a smile to Hana¡¯s face while Rina only got more fidgety. She still didn¡¯t think she was qualified enough to start teaching others, but still agreed because she only had to exin what shepletely understood... at least that is what she would like to think. However, the real reason was that she did not have the courage to say no.


    ¡°It¡¯s settled then. That would also settle the debt, right?¡± Hana shamelessly asked. Even she knew that this was far from enough since Rina herself was learning, but she wanted that debt off of her back.


    Unlike what she thought, Ozul stoically answered, ¡°No. That would be up to me to decide.¡±


    *Tch!*


    ¡°You have any problem with that?¡± Ozul asked when he heard her ¡®tch¡¯.


    Hana again acted as if she hadn¡¯t done anything as she answered, ¡°With what? Oh, no no. Of course not! It¡¯s your right after all.¡±


    ¡°Sister... you might be shameless, but please stop embarrassing me,¡± Rina whispered in her ear with a reddened face.


    Hana coughed with no change in her expressions. If even her little sister had the courage to tell her that, then she might really be overdoing it.


    Ozul did not wait for them to say anything else. It was enough for today as the day was ending. He stood up and walked to the door.


    Before Hana could even stand up to show him the way out for the basic courtesy, something shimmered on Ozul¡¯s hand which immediately caught her attention.


    ¡°That...!¡±

 Chapter 208

    Chapter 208: The Tutoring.


    ¡°That... wait what is that?¡± Hana looked at the object that sparkled on Ozul¡¯s hand and could not help but think that it looked quite familiar to her.


    Ozul didn¡¯t stop to borate since it would only be a bother. He ignored Hana and her mumblings as he walked out of the room.


    ¡°I have seen that ring somewhere before... wait...¡±


    Only now did Hana remember the one thing that everyone under the Ashin family knew about. It was the silver ring in Ozul¡¯s hand! It meant absolute authority over whoever or whatever belonged to the Ashin family!


    Hana kept looking at the door through which Ozul had walked out with wide eyes as she gulped before muttering, ¡°Is he the heir or something...¡± She could only rte to someone young looking with that ring to be the heir of the Ashin family. Who else would have that ring?!


    Previously she couldn¡¯t recognize the ring because her mind didn¡¯t register that someone she had never seen before would have it.


    ¡°Wait a minute! Couldn¡¯t he get the books himself then?! Damn him-¡± Hana was about to curse Ozul but remembered that he was the ¡®Ashin family¡¯s heir¡¯. She could only do it in her head.


    .....


    Meanwhile, Rina was looking at her sister with wary eyes, ¡®Sister is acting crazy again...¡¯


    ¡ª¡ª


    Uncaring of whatever was going on inside Hana¡¯s head, Ozul went back to the town.


    The ce was a whole lot different than what he had left it to be. The people working on it weren¡¯t someborers. They were high ranked Mages. Creating tens of meters tall wall could be done by them in a matter of minutes.


    They hadn¡¯t yet started to build any structures, but Ozul did notice that many of the already built structures at that ce were erased from their base. If he hadn¡¯t seen the spot before, he would never think that there were some buildings there before.


    For now, he knew that the men were still at work. But they were most likely setting up things that he didn¡¯t bother to ask Irvin.


    It had almost gotten dark, but Irvin noticed his arrival as if he had been particrly waiting for him. He arrived before Ozul and bowed his head a little before looking at him with an almost questioning face.


    ¡°Young Master...¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Ozul didn¡¯t understand why Irvin was hesitating.


    ¡°Are you... miss Sylvia¡¯s son?¡± Irvin gathered his confidence before asking.


    Ozul was surprised what this brought on, but he remembered that Irvin was also a part of the Ashin family before. He simply nodded his head, before asking, ¡°You knew my mom?¡±


    Saying that Ozul realized that it was not at all difficult to call her mom as he thought it might be, ¡®Well she did give me birth...¡¯


    ¡°Yes! I did indeed knew Miss Sylvia, Young Master. I was her one and only butler...¡± Irvin answered in a regret-filled tone.


    Ozul only replied with an, ¡°Oh.¡± Irvin, on the other hand, continued, ¡°That is why I was going to ask you, will you make me your butler?¡±


    Irvin got on his one knee as he asked this question. Ozul raised a brow as he looked at him, thinking if it meant anything special or something.


    However, he was toozy to ask and only nodded his head and said, ¡°Alright.¡±


    Irvin stood up with newfound energy,pletely different from his previous self. It felt like he was working previously for the sake of working. But now he wanted to work as if it would bring him joy.


    ¡°What do I have to do now?¡± Irvin asked, expecting many personal things to be handed to him.


    ¡°Just do whatever you were doing before,¡± Ozul answered before he dismissed him. He didn¡¯t care what Irvin wanted to be called; his work would be the same.


    Irvin had a wry smile on his face as he walked away. It was as if he just received a title with no special privileges. Although he understood that nothing basically changed for Ozul, he was still content being known as his butler from now on. He wasn¡¯t able to finish his duty for Sylvia, so he had decided that it will be her son who he will serve as a butler now.


    After this little interaction, Ozul decided to rest for the day.


    . . .


    He spent the next few days actually watching the people do their stuff from a distance. It hadn¡¯t been long since they arrived here. He would be fine, but the same could not be said for the people. That¡¯s why he had decided to stay here in case something happened.


    His ¡®tutoring¡¯ with Rina could wait.


    He didn¡¯t know it before, but Irvin had casually exined to him that the men were firstly adding hidden traps and even devices that could detect Mana signatures at a very long distance from the town.


    The traps wouldn¡¯t be automatically triggered by the intruders. They would have to manually activate them in case of any emergency. There would be other people as well, so the traps would harm everyone if they hadn¡¯t set it up like this.


    After these traps were set up, Ozul concluded that he had already taken enough caution. There weren¡¯t many under Rank-9 who could match Irvin either. He was a peak Rank-8 Mage after all.


    . . .


    Ozul arrived in the Littlewood Auction House. He had previously forgotten to ask where they would begin, so he could onlye back here.


    This time, a few people recognized him. One of them went to inform Hana, but it turned out that she had recently left to deal with some things rted to the shipping of their goods.


    Ozul did not mind her absence, instead, he was happy that she wasn¡¯t here. He thought that if she had given it some thought, the girl most probably would have realized what the ring was. Meeting her now could mean a lot of annoying questions being thrown at him.


    He also didn¡¯t have the ring in his hand right now. He had to put it in the Spatial Pouch so that not everyone who recognizes it starts to bombard him with questions that he was toozy to answer.


    Ozul was delighted not just because Hana wasn¡¯t here, but also because he felt the same curious but bashful eyes looking at him from the terrace above like previously. It meant that Rina was still here. Now he could consult her without having to deal with any of Hana¡¯s nonsense.


    He made his way to the 2nd floor again and went to the same room. Rina hadn¡¯t expected his visit, so she was yet again flustered when he entered the room.


    ¡°Y-you are here... mister...¡± Rina stuttered.


    ¡°Ozul,¡± he didn¡¯t mind stating his name as he continued, ¡°Let¡¯s do it then.¡±


    Rina remembered his name before asking, ¡°H-here?¡± She hadn¡¯t taught anyone before, but this room didn¡¯t seem like a suitable ce to learn.


    ¡°Wherever is fine,¡± Ozul dismissed the idea of moving to a different ce.


    ¡°Okay...¡± Rina quickly epted the idea and they began their session.


    Rina at first was stuttering in each sentence, but she quickly got over it in the heat of discussion. She first asked Ozul what he knew about formations, and then added more exnation to whatever he already knew, solidifying his base.


    ¡°The formations aren¡¯t just someplex artifacts, consider them more like magical spells. Basically, they help us do anything that one can do with their Spell, but more.¡± After all that talk about her being a beginner herself, Rina was pretty good at teaching. She seemed like apletely different person only after a few minutes.


    ¡°My question is how?¡± Ozul asked. He didn¡¯t want to know each and every application of it. What mattered to him right now was the method.


    ¡°Hmm... Okay. Think of your own body as a formation. We can create spells when we have the intent and use our Mana. Formations work the same way, they are instructions that tell the Mana what to do. So when we finally channel Mana through it, there is no need for us to build an intent in our mind each time because it is already predefined. And that is the hardest part because...¡±


    Rina kept exining in detail, but Ozul¡¯s mind was stuck on her first sentence; ¡®Think of your own body as a formation.¡¯


    ¡°Were those symbols also some sort of formation?¡± Ozul could not help but mutter in confusion. If only he could read those symbols. In the end, all of his guesses would meet a dead end at those symbols. Most of his questions would probably be answered if only he knew what they meant.


    ¡°Eh? Did you say something?¡± Rina asked since she thought that she might have heard something.


    ¡°No. Continue,¡± Ozul responded before focusing his attention on her again.


    ¡°Okay. So where was I? Oh yes, you might know that we need to weave the Mana in our body in some way or another to cast the spells, the same principles apply to formations. The only...¡±


    Ozul attentively listened to everything she said andpared it to what he had already learned from the book. Even with his impressive memory, he learned that Rina¡¯s exnations were more thorough and in-detail since she was also adding her own examples to make it more understandable.


    A few hours passed with Ozul only listening to her lecture. He did not interrupt her again. Fortunately for him, Hana hadn¡¯te back all this while.


    He knew that she woulde back any minute now, so as to avoid her, Ozul was asionally checking if her Mana signature was anywhere nearby.


    It was only when he really did sense the simr Mana signature entering the Auction House did he suddenly stand up, interrupting Rina¡¯s ongoing exnation.


    ¡°Before I go, tell me, is it possible to use formations without the use of Mana?¡±

 Chapter 209

    Chapter 209: Headquarters.


    ¡°Before I go, tell me, is it possible to use formations without the use of Mana?¡± Ozul inquired. He didn¡¯t have Mana, so it was only fair for him to find the formations¡¯ use without it.


    Though Rina was confused because of his question. In her mind, why would someone want to use formations without any Mana when it is present everywhere? Wouldn¡¯t it be the easiest way to use them?


    However, she still answered his question, no matter how weird it was, ¡°I haven¡¯t heard about any formations being used without the use of Mana. But theoretically, it should be possible with any different energy that acts like Mana...¡±


    Ozul realized that this was all Rina¡¯s expertise could tell him. She sounded unsure if the formations would really work without Mana or not. He could only sigh as he thanked her with polite words and went out of the room, nning to avoid Hana as much as possible. It wasn¡¯t hard to avoid her since he had locked onto her Mana signature.


    Before long, he was out of the Auction House.


    . . .


    What Ozul understood from Rina¡¯s hours-long lecture was that formations could basically be used for anything and almost everything as long as we have sufficient materials and Mana to back it up.


    .....


    At least his understanding of formations had slightly improved, but Ozul wanted to know if there was some way that he could use them. Since he did not wield Mana, he wanted a method that could work without it. Well, there was another way, but Ozul didn¡¯t even think about it. For that, he needed to start cultivating like normal people did and create a Mana core inside of himself.


    ¡®I will just have to ask someone resourceful if there is a method, if not, then I will just have to drop the idea,¡¯ Ozul could only give up if there was no other way.


    ¡°Another form of energy, huh...¡± Ozul muttered while gazing at the unfeeling Ball of Purity. But it was not some energy or force, as far as he could tell. It always felt like a part of himself; not something foreign.


    Just when he was thinking about this, another thing hit him. From the time he had born, everyone had assumed that he used Mana as well but used some rare technique or spell to hide its traces.


    Maybe he had been doing it all wrong from the start. Maybe he should have inquired about other energies or matters that are magical but not because of Mana. There had to be some records about something like that previously. He couldn¡¯t just believe that he was the only one who was born different from the start of history till now.


    However, he stopped his line of thoughts there. It was a big world, and before the organization had beenpletely set up, the chances of him to stumble upon something rted were unlikely.


    He arrived back in the town, deciding to ask Raymond or Alver if he ever got a chanceter.


    This time, he noticed that the people were setting up one of the most important defensive measures, the energy field. Once activated, it would take spells that could erase mountains to even start forming a crack at them.


    When Irvin noticed his arrival, he hurriedly came to his side to ask if he needed anything like a diligent butler, but Ozul dismissed him just as quickly.


    Ozul spent the next few days working on improving his control over Ball of Purity andzing around. It felt like filling an endless abyss with water that you knew must have an end, so he felt himself improving but he couldn¡¯t feel any end to it. This was actually a good thing since that meant he could improve to an rmingly skillful degree that he couldn¡¯t even imagine right now.


    Would he really be able to master it to such an extent that he could turn all of it into a gaseous state and spread it to hundreds of meters around him? Turning any small part into solid and back to gas instantly, with just a thought?


    Although Ozul did not know its limits yet, he perceived that at least that much should be possible.


    Fortunately, there hadn¡¯t been anyone from other organizations directlying here to inquire which gave Ozul all the free time to do whatever he wanted.


    He had given Irvin all the permissions to instruct people however he wanted.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    A month and a few days passed after they had started to work on the headquarters.


    Opposite to Irvin¡¯s nature of depending on Haley to decide all theplicated matters, he did an excellent job in assigning everyone their task and then overseeing it all.


    Today they had finallypleted everything that needed to be done.


    At one nce, the unimpressive tower seemed to be around 20 meters tall, but Ozul didn¡¯t care about the appearances. What he wanted the most in it was the mechanism of ¡®disappearing¡¯ with the formations that he had seen in the headquarters of the Order of Dusk.


    They were an information-gathering organization, and such organizations operated discreetly.


    They had already been improving at such a rate that almost everyone knew about them, but Ozul wanted to correct this in the future. They could either choose speed or efficiency, and he had chosen speed first.


    Since almost everything was set up, Ozul told Irvin to contact Oliver and Haley. Alver did not order his men toe because Irvin had told him that their men had yet to arrive. Needless to say, Alver didn¡¯t want to trouble his nephew.


    There were a total of 8 floors with thest one reserved solely for Ozul. There was more than enough space on the rest of the 7 floors.


    Ozul hadn¡¯t asked for it, but Irvin insisted on it. He could guess how much Ozul liked his personal space and how much it annoyed him when someone disturbed him.


    In the days that followed, many of the people informed in the organization started to travel straight towards the Neutral Lands. Haley, Irvin, and Oliver had handpicked these people. Not all of them were loyal, and not all the rest of the people were unfaithful.


    Haley wanted loyal people in the headquarters, but not at the cost of crippling the branches everywhere else. These branches also needed somepetent men or women to run.


    Oliver had proposed that he would stay in that part of the continent, but Haley strongly opposed the idea and Irvin had no choice but to follow his wife¡¯s decision. Meanwhile, Ozul didn¡¯t care wherever he did his work, so it was decided that he would have to move there as well.


    A month or soter, the first team of Three-Eyed Strangers was in the Neutral Lands.


    It consisted of Haley, Oliver, and a few of the most trusted people. Haley didn¡¯t leave Dibly behind either. He couldn¡¯t travel with his strength alone, so a person had to help him along the way.


    Everyone showed different reactions to the rich-in-Mana atmosphere and how even the average men on the streets were at least a Fighter.


    When they arrived in the town, Oliver was about to merrily greet Ozul as he always did before, but he couldn¡¯t even start when he heard,


    ¡°We are already running a year behind from what I had nned. Adapt to the new environment quickly, and start the work as soon as possible,¡± Ozul said, making everyone solemnly nod their heads.


    One entire story of the building was reserved solely formunication which had already been set up with the major branches in that part of the continent. Putting together thisplicated thing proved to be the hardest task.


    Had it not been for Alver and Raymond sending them the men who were experienced in this, Irvin would have taken many more months figuring out everything.


    Oliver¡¯s face was a sight to see when he had first seen the ¡®giant crystal room¡¯. First, there was confusion, it changed into surprise and wonder when Irvin told him that it was themunication crystal. Shortly after, everyone in the building except for Ozul resting on the top floor could hear his madughter resounding everywhere.


    ¡°Just a second required to talk with a person on the far ends of the continent! Haha!¡± Oliver was already starting to think of all the shady deals he could do in a matter of seconds across the continent.


    Only Ozul hadn¡¯t heard his shouting because his whole floor was made soundproof with his room having an extrayer of it. Irvin had professionally performed his duties as the butler, even taking care of his difort because of noise.


    The trickiest part for Irvin to perform was still the matter of erecting a giant tower in the middle of the town without letting everyone know about it. The prominent organizations wouldn¡¯t be fooled by the camouge formation, but this would save them from standing out too much in this town.


    . . .


    It took half a week for everyone to get ustomed to the environment and get the work going.


    ¡°Who is mainly in-charge back there?¡± Ozul asked, being in the meeting room with every trustable member of the organization. The people he trusted were only Oliver, Irvin, and Haley. So he was curious who they decided to leave in that part of the continent.


    ¡°We all decided on Sir Bernard-¡± Haley was about to exin but stopped in the middle as she noticed that Ozul didn¡¯t seem to remember who this person named Bernard was.


    She stopped to change her words, ¡°It was that Rank-8 old man who you had said was trustable.¡±


    Only then did Ozul remember the old man who had heard about the organization and wanted to be a part of it. Ozul had asked him some simple questions and felt his emotions.


    The old man was Rank-8 Mage; he said that he wasn¡¯t a part of any other organization and like others, wanted to be a part of something big, but with as little bloodshed as possible. Since the Three-Eyed Strangers had dered themselves to be neutral, he had decided to join them, provided that he wasn¡¯t sent on killing missions. Though he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill if he was only protecting.


    Ozul read that the old man wasn¡¯t lying, so he had left the decision to Haley after informing her that he was telling the truth.


    Haley, of course, wouldn¡¯t let go of a peak Rank-8 Mage. She would have hesitated if not for Ozul telling them that he had no hidden motives.


    ¡°Alright. This will be the hardest part,¡± Ozul muttered making a few people in the room curious. He continued, ¡°Getting our men to every corner of the Neutral Lands...¡±

 Chapter 210

    Chapter 210: Developing in Neutral Lands.


    ¡°Getting our men to every corner of the Neutral Lands,¡± Ozul muttered. His words caused others to tense up.


    It wasn¡¯t a secret to these people how dangerous these Lands were. They were strong, but the general cultivation level here in the Neutral Lands was especially high.


    ¡°Do not worry. You can take your time,¡± Ozul said, surprising Oliver, Irvin, and Haley. They had been trying to tell him that it would take a lot more than 10 years, but he hadn¡¯t listened before. Now, however, he was giving them as much time as they wanted!?


    What they didn¡¯t know was that Ozul hadn¡¯t taken into ount establishing the organization in the Neutral Lands. Since they were only a weak organization as of now, they could only slowly integrate themselves in here.


    ¡®Oh well, a little extra time wouldn¡¯t hurt,¡¯ Ozul thought while ignoring the trio¡¯s surprised looks. It was his own mistake for not calcting everything.


    ¡°Even then, you are not going to do something dangerous. Don¡¯t even try to get into the organizations. Only have our men observe what an everyday person would on the streets,¡± Ozul could feel a few of them sigh in relief while others were still tense.


    It couldn¡¯t be helped. They had been living in that part of the continent, only hearing stories about the Neutral Lands. Their fear wouldn¡¯t go away with just words. It would take time.


    .....


    Others left the room, leaving only Oliver, Irvin, and Haley in the room. It was Oliver who voiced out his thoughts, ¡°Would it be fine? If we do it at a safe pace, that might take another couple of years.¡±


    Since Ozul wasn¡¯t agreeing to give them more time, they had thought that it must be urgent and dying it any further wouldn¡¯t be epted. So they were concerned now that he had given his permission so easily.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Ozul casually answered.


    He wanted things to be done as quickly as possible, but not so fast that it cost them heavy losses at the start. It wouldn¡¯t be a good idea to start a fight with some of the big shots already.


    His answer made the three of them sigh in relief. This had made their task even easier.


    In the first ce, the Three-Eyed Strangers hadn¡¯t even started sneaking their members in the important councils of the influential organizations. Haley had decided to put that part on hold until everything is set up without any loose ends.


    It was risky for them to start incorporating their members into the prominent groups of their respective areas. Though they wanted to be called a neutral organization, the real pieces of information couldn¡¯t be obtained without sending their spies to almost every organization.


    For that, Oliver had suggested that they use the oaths system simr to the one mercenary guild used so that even if anyone would get caught, they wouldn¡¯t be able to say anything.


    Since it was soplicated, Haley had suggested that they only do it once they are done with the expanding factor of the organization. Needless to say, others had strongly agreed with her.


    Everyone started to get busy again. Their main focus was to recruit more men discreetly. People wanted money or resources, and they had both of them.


    Half of the people started working on expansion while the other half was busy regting all the important information that they would receive from the side branches.


    It surprised many of the members when only a few dayster, a team of men and women, all of them Rank-6, came to ask for what they offered. It was surprising because their tower was hidden and ording to Irvin, only the leading organizations would know about it.


    The team of Rank-6 men and women silently left after a member told them that they sold information and that was it.


    ¡°Do not worry about it. Those bigshots wouldn¡¯t send their strongest ones only to inquire about us. Even if these people were acting independently, that¡¯s just good news,¡± Oliver assured the members that nothing was to worry about.


    . . .


    A couple of months passed while they were expanding smoothly.


    Everyone had gotten another boost of energy when a constant stream of people started visiting the organization. The new ones still inquired about their services, while some came to test the authenticity of the information.


    Ozul could tell that most of them were sent by the organizations to test them. After all, who wouldn¡¯t want someone to regrly supply them with news all over the continent in a matter of minutes? Moreover, they had dered themselves to be neutral. Some were skeptical by their im, but till now, their behavior had proved them to be true to their words.


    More than half of the peopleing to ask for information were rejected with the reason being that the Three-Eyed Strangers were still in the developing phase and their information sources weren¡¯t 100% guaranteed yet.


    It was because the things that these people came to ask about were either too sensitive, only known to the members of prominent factions, or it was from the other two parts of the continent.


    Fortunately for them, things only improved in the uing months.


    Their recruited men started to spread into the neighboring towns, slowly taking over the Neutral Lands.


    However, things aren¡¯t always so smooth.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    ¨C 1 Year Later ¨C


    More than 11 months after they had started expanding in the Neutral Lands, a Rank-8 Mage visited them.


    Now it wouldn¡¯t have been a big deal if the person wasn¡¯t from the mercenary guild,ing to ask questions about something else instead.


    The person was only an early stage Rank-8, so Ozul only watched from a distance. If it was also a peak Rank-8 Mage, then he would have had no other choice but to intervene. Although Irvin could take care of it, if a fight broke out, then it would destroy the headquarters.


    Irvin confronted the guy since he didn¡¯t look like he hade for a casual talk, ¡°How can I help you?¡± Although his words were polite, his tone had a certain strictness backing it up.


    The man from the mercenary guild had a high masculine build with a long mustache. He didn¡¯t cower in front of Irvin, knowing all well that he was way stronger than him.


    He was from the mercenary guild, what did he have to fear from a newly formed organization such as theirs?


    ¡°I heard your organization collects and sells information?¡± the mustache man spoke. Irvin calmly nodded his head.


    ¡°I am just here to advise you to stop it,¡± he said in a haughty tone. The mustache man thought that Irvin was the person leading the whole organization. In his mind, this was only a weak organization, so he didn¡¯t think that there would be someone above him. Meanwhile, the mercenary guild had many more peak Rank-8 Mages.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Irvin didn¡¯t like the way he was speaking to him. Ozul had given them full permission to retaliate however they wanted if someone was here to cause trouble. He had made it clear that it wouldn¡¯t matter if they suffered losses either.


    ¡°I am telling you to either stop running this organization or change whatever you are doing. If you don¡¯t...¡± the man didn¡¯t put anyone here in his eyes. He left his words hanging, knowing that he had made his point clear.


    ¡°Then what?¡± Irvin asked, narrowing his eyes. The man with the long mustache was stunned, he didn¡¯t expect anyone to retaliate all while knowing that he was from the mercenary guild.


    ¡°It seems that you don¡¯t realize the gravity of the situation,¡± the mustache man threatened. Irvin had been slowly putting pressure on it, so he was feeling a little apprehensive. But the thought of being from the mercenary guild gave him courage.


    Irvin¡¯s face turned grave, he was about to say something when they heard a voice, ¡°We won¡¯t change anything nor are we closing. You can do whatever you want.


    Everyone turned towards the source of the voice. Everyone bowed their head in Ozul¡¯s direction excluding the mustache man.


    He looked astonished that even Irvin had bowed his head to him. It meant that Irvin wasn¡¯t the one running this organization.


    The mustache man tried to sense his cultivation base, but he couldn¡¯t sense even a speck of Mana from him. With Irvin, at least he could tell that he was in the same Rank as him, but a higher stage. However, he couldn¡¯t read anything from Ozul at all.


    ¡®Don¡¯t tell me...¡¯ The mustache man couldn¡¯t help but widen his eyes. Sweat was already starting to trickle down his back. He hadn¡¯t thought of this possibility, ¡®A Rank-9 Mage! Damn it!¡¯


    The mustache man unconsciously took a few steps back. Even a peak Rank-8 Mage was making him nervous. A Rank-9 was not something he could talk so brazenly with.


    ¡°Did your leader send you here?¡± Ozul asked, knowing full well that the leaders of the mercenary guild were famous for not causing trouble for others without any rhyme or reason.


    ¡°Y-yes...¡± The mustache man stuttered as he answered. However, his eyes couldn¡¯t meet Ozul¡¯s. Even Irvin could tell that the man was lying. It seemed that being in the presence of a Rank-9 had gotten the better of him.


    ¡°Alright. If they have a problem, they can talk directly with me,¡± Ozul said, motioning the mustache man to the exit.


    The man didn¡¯t have the courage to say another word before a supposedly Rank-9 Mage, so he scurried off as fast as he could.

 Chapter 211

    Chapter 211: Three Rank-9?!


    Every member, under the stern eyes of Haley, got back to their work after the man had run off.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± Oliver was the one asking questions this time. He hadn¡¯t been in the Neutral Lands for long, so he wasn¡¯t aware of many things, including the widely known nature of the top brass of the Mercenary Guild.


    ¡°He was lying, and didn¡¯t have any courage to force it on us in front of Young Master,¡± Irvin replied, watching Ozul walk back to the stairs.


    ¡°How did you know he was lying?¡± Oliver questioned. From what he had seen, it only looked like the mustache man was scared because of Ozul¡¯s presence.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t been here for long, Oliver. You might not know, but the leaders of the mercenary guild are people who would never go out of their way to trouble others without any reason. The Church¡¯s ideals can be doubted, but not theirs,¡± Irvin exined thoroughly.


    It was also the reason for them to be able to set up their branches everywhere. None of the local authorities doubted their intentions.


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Oliver knew that the mercenary guild was a neutral party, but it was surprising that they were famous to this extent for being neutral.


    .....


    ¡°It¡¯s because they had numerous chances to sweep in and seize more than half of the Neutral Lands many times in history. However, they never acted once and clearly stated that they wouldn¡¯t ever do so in the future either. Although some remain skeptical, the truth is before everyone¡¯s eyes,¡± Irvin answered.


    Oliver was again stupefied, ¡°They are so powerful!?¡± His surprise wasn¡¯t unfounded. To seize more than half of the Neutral Lands would require them to be able to hold off against multiple Rank-9 Mages at the same time!


    ¡°Of course. They have 3 Rank-9 Mages, you know,¡± Irvin said, not at all worried since he believed that they were truly neutral as well.


    ¡®...3 Rank-9 Mages...¡¯ these words rang out in Oliver¡¯s mind. Sure enough, 3 Rank-9 Mages were more than enough to hold against multiple factions at the same time.


    He stayed silent for a few moments, digesting this information. After a while, he asked, ¡°Then why would this guye here to cause trouble?¡± If those three Rank-9 Mages were truly known to be neutral, wouldn¡¯t something like this tarnish their reputation?


    ¡°Well, I am not sure either. All I can guess is that he must be some new blood. Bing too full of himself, he thought that doing something like this would make him reputed or something since he would be erasing thepetition?¡± Irvin voiced out his guess. Oliver could only nod his head as that sounded like a possible reason.


    The mercenary guild earned through missions and more than 20% of those missions were about collecting information. If some other organization appeared that solely sold information, it would definitely be a huge hit to the mercenary guild¡¯s ie.


    People would rather buy information from a reliable organization rather than posting a mission for it and trusting random mercenaries with it.


    Haley came back after checking up on everyone if they were back to their work. Now she was ring at both Oliver and Irvin. Being the target of her re, both of them didn¡¯t waste a moment and went back to their own work. Haley was scary when angered.


    . . .


    Things seemed to go by smoothly after that little event. The only people present there were the organization members, so no one outside had gotten the wind of it either.


    It confirmed Irvin¡¯s guess that the mustache man had indeed done that on his own. With just his own authority, he couldn¡¯t have made any move to deter their growth. Not to mention, he was scared shitless because of Ozul.


    Ozul himself wasn¡¯t worried about it either. He knew that the person was lying when he said that he hade here on orders. Although he did expect that person to try and make things difficult for them, which he luckily didn¡¯t.


    He wasn¡¯t afraid of the mercenary guild, but as he was right now, it was better not to make an enemy out of them.


    The mercenary guild was no doubt exceptional. What he was trying to do with the Three-Eyed Strangers secretly was done by the guild publically already!


    Although he would announce their neutral stand as well, they wouldn¡¯t be so open with the world about their branches.


    . . .


    With the steady growth for another half a year, they had gotten their people in almost every town in the Neutral Lands.


    However, it didn¡¯t mean that they would have all the information just because people were keeping watch on the streets.


    The information of real value was that within the giant organizations. Ozul wouldn¡¯t sell that information, at least to normal people. But they first had to acquire it, and they hadn¡¯t made any of their men infiltrate those organizations. Haley had clearly stated that they would do it only after everything else was settled, else the results of failure would bring heavy consequences.


    In this period, Ozul didn¡¯t have any interaction with Alver or Raymond. Those two knew that it could negatively impact the organization if it leaked out that Ozul was their nephew.


    The statement of the Three-Eyed Strangers being neutral wouldn¡¯t hold any worth once his rtion with them got out.


    Raymond¡¯s men from the Order of Dusk hade to ask for the general situation around a few areas that they had their branches in, but these men were professionals and made sure to keep their tracks hidden.


    The people Haley had started recruiting were all experts even with their minimal strength. She also had hired quite a few people who weren¡¯t asked to roam around the streets all day. Their potential would be wasted on that.


    The thing that delighted every member of the organization was that none of the big shots in the Neutral City had any problem with them expanding. Many of them were probably aware of the people on the streets, but they didn¡¯t care much about that.


    It was as if they had all tacitly agreed for such an organization, all taking into ount their own benefits.


    Even knowing the general condition of every part of the continent, known to the ordinary people on the streets of those regions, was enough for these powerful groups.


    These groups usually had to waste many resources to be kept up to date with the rest of the continent. Everyone wanted to ease their own expenditure.


    The only thing that made Oliver, Irvin, and Haley sigh in relief was that Ozul seemed to be satisfied with the progress.


    With their growing poprity, many people came to join their ranks. They would first vet out anyone with the suspicion of being a spy from another organization, but it was also true that they wouldn¡¯t be able to stop every spy; many of them would surely get in.


    For that reason, they had already started using oath artifacts. Anyone who was epted or promoted to a position privy to the private details was required to take an oath first. If the person refused, they would kill him that very second.


    On the topic of spies, Raymond had figured out the Church¡¯s spy in his organization. It turned out to be the person behind the counter on the very first floor.


    He had gone missing only a day after Ozul had first visited them. They hadter found his dead body. At that time, Raymond hadn¡¯t thought much of it, considering it an attack from one of the enemy organizations.


    After Ozul informed him of his incident, Raymond had searched everything and the only person that remained unquestioned was the dead old guy.


    The Church had been way ahead of them. They didn¡¯t hesitate to kill their own spy to cover their traces.


    Raymond had been enraged by this move of theirs, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about it, which frustrated him even more. It caused him to take excessive measures to prevent something like this from ever happening in the future.


    The only thing that made his anger subside a little was the ever-increasing growth of his nephew¡¯s organization. Together with that, Ozul himself was getting quite popr among the prominent organizations.


    These influential factions had realized that there was another Rank-9 Mage behind this newly created organization named Three-Eyed Strangers. However, to their surprise, they couldn¡¯t find anything about this person.


    Almost every prominent organization in the continent would keep track of the Rank-9 Mages, but no one knew about him. In the end, they could only assume that he was someone who had recently advanced to Rank-9.


    After the rumors of him being young, many of the bigshots had tried to send him invitations in hopes of getting a Rank-9 ally. They thought that if he was really young and naive, it would be easy to bring him to their side.


    However, Ozul declined all of them. He didn¡¯t even bother to ept their invitation, much less an audience with him.


    Ozul decided to enjoy this free time as much as possible. It had been a while since he just stopped everything only toze around all day, and at night, stare at the sky with a nk look on his face.


    Even at this time, heid on top of the tower, feeling the winds brush past his face, he stared at the stars filled sky.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s time for the rest of the continent...¡± Ozul muttered. ording to Haley, they had tied up everything in the Neutral Lands as well.

 Chapter 212

    Chapter 212: Celebrations.


    Since they had tied everything in the Neutral Lands as well, only two parts of the continent were left. Once those were done, they would have their eyes in almost every corner of the world.


    ¡°Haley and Oliver will be in charge here. I will go with Irvin,¡± Ozul said as everyone listened to him. In the room, there were only the most trusted andpetent people present.


    With the recent progress of the Three-Eyed Strangers, it was time that they covered the rest of the continent.


    ¡°But what about here? What if someonees to cause trouble?¡± Oliver asked. He wasn¡¯t sure about the idea of having Ozul and Irvin so far away from the organization at the same time.


    They had recruited a Rank-8 Mage, but he was only at the early stage. That would be barely enough for ordinary circumstances. But what if some unfortunate incident urs? Will a single early-stage Rank-8 Mage be enough to deal with it?


    ¡°I will take care of that. There wouldn¡¯t be any problem,¡± Ozul assured Oliver. It had been a while he took advantage of being the nephew of Raymond and Alver. Why would he waste his energy in finding another solution?


    Oliver nodded his head, reassured since Ozul had given his word.


    .....


    There were people stronger than Haley, but she would be in charge of everything after they left. Ozul only had this concern if she would be able to make everyone obey even if they are stronger than her.


    ¡°Nevermind...¡± he muttered, noticing the fearful looks the members would asionally throw at Haley. She looked to have everything under her control.


    . . .


    After Irvin had said his goodbyes to Haley, the two left together with another team of Rank-7 Mages.


    They had yet to start when Ozul said, ¡°Keep going, I will meet you on the way.¡±


    They had already nned the route they would take. Ozul had to inform either Raymond or Alver about the organization.


    Irvin nodded his head and continued on with an average speed of a Rank-7 Mage, towards the opposite side of the Neutral Lands.


    Ozul changed his direction towards the headquarters of Order of Dusk. It was the closest to him, so he chose it instead. Also, Raymond was easy to talk things with. Alver still had a guilty conscience, so he would get quite awkward whenever talking with him.


    After he arrived in the town, he directly went in the direction of the invisible tower. He recalled where the entrance was, and just as he stepped close enough, the tower came into his view.


    No one minded his presence when he entered, so he directly went to the highest floor where Raymond was. He didn¡¯t even pause at the floor with thedy behind the counter.


    When he entered the room, it was dark as usual. Raymond seemed surprised that someone had entered his room without the secretary first informing him. The person didn¡¯t even knock on the door!


    Just as he was about tosh out in rage, he saw the face of the person taking off the conical hat.


    ¡°Nephew!¡± Raymond was pleasantly surprised that Ozul had given him the visit as he asked, ¡°Howe?¡± It was easy to guess how often Ozul had interacted with them based on how Raymond was surprised that his own nephew had visited him.


    ¡°The organization has already spread to the Neutral Lands, only those two giant pieces of the continent remain. I would be away for a few years, so I came to ask if you can help protect the organization during my absence,¡± Ozul asked, knowing full too well that Raymond wouldn¡¯t decline his request.


    ¡°Of course, I will take care of that. But...¡± Raymond confidently epted his request but hesitated in saying something.


    ¡°But?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°...Don¡¯t you think that it is going a little too fast?¡± Raymond didn¡¯t want to discourage his nephew, but it was also true that he wanted to see him seed. He would be constantly updated on the situation of the Three-Eyed Strangers, so he was worried things might crumble at this speed.


    Ozul also understood his worries, but he had things in control for now. So he reassured him, ¡°I know that. I wouldn¡¯t let it all fail.¡±


    He was not overconfident, it was just that the organization had only spread to a vast area; they hadn¡¯t done anything risky yet. The chances of something happening were zero to none. After all, who would mind people keeping watch only on the streets?


    ¡°Alright. If you say so, I will believe you,¡± Raymond said with a sigh. He wanted to talk more about this with Ozul, but he didn¡¯t think that it would be appropriate. Especially when his nephew was also a Rank-9 Mage.


    Ozul nodded his head and took his leave shortly after. There was no other topic for them to talk about, and he still had to catch up with Irvin with his team. Raymond didn¡¯t stop him either.


    ¡°There he goes again... Stay safe,¡± Raymond muttered with a sigh while staring at the door.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    Time started to flow like a gentle breeze.


    Ozul and thepany first went to the part of the continent where the Leonhard Dynasty was known to have the most influence.


    Since that was the case, they set up bases in a random city of the Dynasty and slowly started to recruit people.


    With time, they had started to build more branches. At each branch, Irvin would set up a smallmunication crystal that linked directly to the giant one installed in the headquarters.


    Their growing poprity had caused many strong people to join the organization. It didn¡¯t take long for the system to start working on its own.


    Some yearster, the team was ready to move onto thest part of the continent. From what everyone had heard, this part had many sects ruling each prominent area.


    These sects were not at all friendly to each other except for the few who had allied themselves to each other.


    This time, they had just randomly chosen a city near a prominent sect and began the development.


    With the same process repeating again, they started to build branches and then connect each one to the headquarters.


    Ozul didn¡¯t feel much different, but in the blink of an eye, more than 6 years had already passed!


    It took them more than 6 years to develop the organization in these 2 parts of the Maind.


    . . .


    These days, all the elite members in the headquarters of Three-Eyed Strangers would expect the return of Ozul and Irvin. They had received their message from a branch, and it was about time that they returned.


    Some of these people joined after Ozul had left with Irvin, while the ones who had joined before were only normal members back then. They had never even seen Ozul from up close.


    Only a handful of people knew him. And they were the most excited since they felt proud of being able to work under a Rank-9 Mage; everyone thought of him as such.


    Because of their sess, there would be a regr stream of people walking in and out of the tower, so the staff was used to strange-looking people appearing asionally.


    However, it made a lot of the people working near the entrance back away because of the appearance of an odd group of people entering. Leading the group was a person with his face hidden because of the pitch-ck conical hat on his head.


    Some of them wanted to approach the group and ask what they were here for, but the intimidating aura they felt from the middle-aged man walking closely behind the person in the white shirt made them stop in their tracks.


    Before anyone dared to step up and finally ask any question, a loud voice rang out from the stairs, ¡°Young Master!¡±


    When these members moved their eyes towards the stairs, they could not help but be shocked at the person who hade down. Most of them instantly forgot everything and wanted to hurriedly get back to their work, not wanting to get scolded.


    However, they couldn¡¯t ignore the scene that happened next.


    Haley, followed by Oliver quickly approached the group of men and the two gave a respectful bow to the man with the conical hat on his head.


    The few who were still able to think after the shock quickly realized that he must be the leader! Some of them had been working for a couple of years and hadn¡¯t even heard about the leader.


    Ozul absorbed the hat back into his body, making others think that he had put it in his Spatial Ring. As people saw his face, gasps could be heard from every direction.


    The number of women joining the organization wasn¡¯t much lower than that of the men, and all of them right now were dumbly staring at Ozul.


    Oliver couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly at this scene as he muttered, ¡°Still ady killer, I see...¡±


    Ozul didn¡¯t mind Oliver¡¯s teasing. He ignored him and walked towards the stairs, only leaving these words behind, ¡°You can celebrate. And don¡¯t disturb me.¡±


    Haley was about to go with him to ask if he required anything, but she stopped hearing thest part of his sentence. It seemed to her that their Young Master needed a little rest.


    After Ozul was out of sight, Haley turned towards Irvin who was smiling brightly at her.


    He proudly spoke, ¡°Three-Eyed Strangers are officially known throughout the whole Maind!¡±


    Following his words, cheers erupted everywhere. Some of them were hesitant at first, but they all joined in when they noticed that even Haley didn¡¯t seem to mind it.


    Such an achievement definitely called for a celebration!

 Chapter 213

    Chapter 213: Tired Sigh.


    All of the elite members of the organization were celebrating. So they didn¡¯t ept any requests for their services that day.


    Meanwhile, Ozul was yet againying on the very top of the tower. He ignored all themotion down below and focused on the sky instead.


    Just then, a ck cat gracefully walked around him before approaching him.


    ¡°Hmm? Where had you been all this time?¡± Ozul muttered while looking at Jinx whozily stretched before rolling herself into a ball.


    Ozul hadn¡¯t expected a reply anyway, so he shifted his focus back to the sky. An exhausted and bored sigh escaped from his mouth.


    What he didn¡¯t expect was that just as he sighed, Jinx looked up at his face,


    *Meow*


    .....


    It definitely surprised Ozul since he had never heard Jinx make any sound before. It was normal for cats to meow, but she had never done that before! He could not help but feel that it was a little weird.


    After that soft meow, Jinx rubbed her face to the side of Ozul¡¯s chest and snuggled closer before again closing her eyes.


    ¡°...¡±


    Ozul kept staring at her for a few seconds before he moved his metallic hand towards her. However, he stopped before the cold metal touched her. Instead, he formed a hand with the Ball of Purity and pet her head.


    If anyone else was here, they would have simply just heard a meow and ignored it. But Ozul felt as if Jinx was trying to cheer him up.


    It had been more than 30 years and he was one step closer to being able to search this entire continent if it had any clues about his existence.


    Even while being nearly 35 years old, Ozul looked like he was still 20.


    He had read that being a Fighter or Mage extended people¡¯s life span, but that was only because of Mana nourishing their body. Ozul didn¡¯t have any Mana, so it could only mean that it was something else that kept him young. Yet, he hadn¡¯t heard of anyone else with such a case.


    ¡®Now that there are people in almost all the corners of the continent, it would be easier,¡¯ Ozul thought.


    All of thisborious work was only to ease his searchter on. He had created this organization for one sole purpose, and that was to find clues about anything rted to either those symbols or the use of things simr to Mana.


    Even with this big aplishment, Ozul wasn¡¯t at all happy about it. He knew that the chances to find anything were quite low. If he really didn¡¯t find anything, then he didn¡¯t even know where he would start in the other worlds.


    For now, he was just giving himself some free time.


    ¡®Am I forgetting something...? Weird...¡¯


    . . .


    The next few days, Ozul didn¡¯t bother himself with any of the matters. He either stayed in his room or on top of the tower at night.


    Haley didn¡¯t let anyone disturb him either. Oliver tried to get past her a few times, but heter had to suffer her beatings. He couldn¡¯t put up a fight since he was way weaker than her, even after bing a Rank-6 Mage.


    Anyway, things had been going much smoother than they had thought. The only problems that urred were in the branch organizations. However, they were easily resolved with either force or even more force.


    The fact that none of the Rank-9 Mages tried to stir up any trouble was a huge blessing for them.


    The reason for that was simple. Those at Rank-9 were all aware that a direct confrontation between them and another at the same Rank would destroy more than whatever they would gain by winning. Moreover, this organization only benefited them, why would they go out of their way to make an enemy out of another Rank-9 Mage?


    After a few days, Ozul decided that it was enough cking off. As he came down from his floor, he noticed that they were having a meeting with Oliver, Haley, and Irvin acting as the leaders.


    They were going through the usual daily reports when they noticed Ozul. All of them immediately stood up and respectfully bowed.


    Ozul nodded his head before making his way to the couch at the corner of the room.


    ¡°Continue,¡± he said when he noticed that they had stopped their briefing because of his presence.


    The members finished their reports before each of them once again gave a bow to Ozul before leaving. It took another hour before the briefing was done. Since the Three-Eyed Strangers was still a rtively new organization, they had to be careful at every step. So they did thorough reports of almost every new event.


    Now only Oliver, Irvin, Haley, and a couple of other elite members remained in the room, so Ozul stood up and made his way to the chair.


    *Sigh*


    ¡°Alright. Brief only the things which are important,¡± Ozul said after a tired sigh. It had been a long time since he got briefed about the whole organization.


    Oliver didn¡¯t waste any time and started to exin their situation all around the continent.


    ¡°Stop it. Don¡¯t tell me all those things,¡± Ozul stopped him in the middle as he continued, ¡°I don¡¯t need to know all of them. And if there are any problems, solve them. I don¡¯t need to know every one of them either.¡±


    Oliver could only smile wryly at his words. He nodded his head and sat back while a few of those elite members tried their best not tough at his face.


    Ozul didn¡¯t want to bother with every small matter now. He had already done enough.


    ¡°How many Rank-8 Mages do we have?¡± he asked, realizing that they wouldn¡¯t really understand what he wanted to know and what to not if he just stared at them.


    Haley quickly scrolled through the bundle of documents before them and took out a sheet. It seemed that she already had a list of their elite members, listed ording to their strengths.


    ¡°Including Irvin, we have a total of 3 peak Rank-8 Mages. Those 2 both are stationed in two separate parts of the continent,¡± Haley informed with a pause. She continued, ¡°As for the total number of Rank-8 Mages, we have a total of 32 right now.¡±


    ¡®Hm. It¡¯s quite a lot. More than enough for now,¡¯ Ozul thought inside his mind as he nodded his head. Those two peak Rank-8 Mages were quite surprising for some, but he knew that they didn¡¯t join with any bad intentions.


    All the members with important positions were required to take oaths. These oaths weren¡¯t so restrictive and only asked them to never leak any information rted to the organization. All of them were also required to take an oath that they weren¡¯t spies from other groups and they wouldn¡¯t betray the Three-Eyed Strangers. If anyone went back on their word, they would be instantly killed on the spot.


    If it was not expensive to use those oath artifacts, Haley would have made every member of the organization take an oath.


    ¡°What about our treasure vaults?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°We are actually making quite a lot of profits already. As of now, the main vault has the magical Core of a Rank-8 Mountain Tiger, Rank-8 Fiery Snake, Rank-8 White Bat...¡± Haley started to list every rare material that they had in the treasury.


    ¡°... and a total of 1.2 million tinum Coins,¡± she ended only after counting everything except for the three Rank-9 Beast¡¯s corpses. They were safe with her, though a few of their parts were already used in strengthening some of the formations.


    Ozul¡¯s mood visibly improved a little after hearing everything that Haley had listed. There were quite a few things that contained dense Mana for him to absorb.


    ¡®But not right now...¡¯ Ozul decided that these materials and artifacts were better used by the organization for now. Although there were quite a lot, his improvement after absorbing them would be way less than the benefits obtained by the organization. Although if he did need them for any emergency in the future, they were always his to take.


    This was the best part of creating the organization. Even when their organization only sold trivial information, they had started amassing a fortune because they operated all over the continent!


    ¡°Alright, anything else?¡± Ozul asked. He knew that these people always asked for his opinions on important matters even when he had told them that it was up to them.


    It was Oliver that spoke again, ¡°Ah, yes. We were talking about building semi headquarters in each part of the continent...¡±


    ¡°Semi headquarters?¡± Ozul repeated,


    ¡°Yes. Like all three parts would have their own headquarters. The branch divisions would send their information to them instead. And then those semi headquarters will send them to us,¡± Oliver briefly exined.


    He further added, ¡°It would really help decrease the burden on us. Handling each branch division would also be much easier.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Make those peak Rank-8 Mages the head of each semi headquarters. Since we only have 2 of them excluding Irvin, send a couple more middle-stage Rank-8 to thest part,¡± Ozul ordered as everyone nodded his head.


    They had alsoe to a simr conclusion but still needed to discuss it with Ozul before implementing the idea.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± Ozul again asked. No one brought up the topic to start sending their spies to other organizations since they hadn¡¯t dealt with everything yet.


    They didn¡¯t have anything else to discuss right now, so no one said a thing. Ozul was about to stand up and leave when Irvin spoke up, ¡°Ah! Yes. Young Master, the invitation came...¡±

 Chapter 214

    Chapter 214: The Invitation.


    ¡°Ah! Yes. Young Master, the invitation came,¡± Irvin mentioned as he took out a scroll from his Spatial Ring.


    The scroll had a red stamp over it with the mercenary guild¡¯s stamp. Others didn¡¯t seem surprised because they were already aware of it.


    ¡°I told you that I will not ept any invitations, Irvin.¡± Ozul found it bothersome since he knew that he wouldn¡¯t ally with any of them anyway.


    Instead of putting the invitation away like he usually did, Irvin insisted, ¡°No no, Young Master. This is different.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ozul looked at the scroll. The point that it was sent by the mercenary guild was the only special thing about it. He asked, ¡°What is it about?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the invitation for the Tournament,¡± Irvin answered.


    However, Ozul looked just as confused as he did before. He hadn¡¯t heard of any tournament before.


    .....


    ¡°I guess you haven¡¯t heard of it before, Young Master. The Tournament of Egon happens every 50 years,¡± Irvin exined after he remembered that Ozul was rtively decades younger than any other Rank-9 Mage.


    ¡°Every 50 years?¡± Ozul muttered. Every 50 years meant that a new generation would be able to participate each time.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master. As you might have already guessed, the tournament is only a show for the strong to disy the strength of their young blood, while it is an opportunity for the humble ones.¡± Irvin briefly exined.


    Ozul raised his brow at his exnation. He hadn¡¯t heard of this before, but such a thing wasn¡¯t so unexpected either.


    ¡°How does it work?¡± Ozul asked. The other members one by one started to leave the room under Haley¡¯s instructions.


    ¡°It is a long tournament actually. It takes months till things reach their conclusion. First of all, there are small tournaments in towns and viges. The winners of those areas go directly to the tournament at the kingdom¡¯s level. And atst, there is a final round that pits the strongest from all around the continent...,¡± Irvin exined. It was as if he had memorized all the rules.


    ¡°All of that aside, who organizes it?¡± Ozul could not help but ask.


    It was a wonder if some separate faction could actually make all the other factions ept their judgment or rules. There weren¡¯t many such organizations capable enough that he could think of right now.


    ¡°For that, Young Master, we can say that the mercenary guild ys a huge role in it. Although, they are not alone. The Ashin Family, Leonhard Dynasty, and the Church are also representatives.¡± Irvin couldn¡¯t help but feel gleeful. Others might not know, but he was well aware of their circumstances with the Ashin family.


    The only other person who knew of his rtionship with the Ashin family was Haley. The fewer people knew about it, the better.


    ¡°So, what is this invitation for?¡± Ozul didn¡¯t understand. They were only an illegal organization that collected information from all over the world, were they invited to send their men to participate as well?


    ¡°Uh...?¡± Irvin motioned towards the scroll to ask for permission to read it since he hadn¡¯t opened it yet either. He was also curious about the contents of the letter.


    Ozul nodded his head as Irvin opened the scroll and started reading the letter. A few momentster, Irvin finished reading everything as he closed the scroll and said, ¡°The letter just says that it would be ideal if we participated, but even if we didn¡¯t, they would like it that we came to observe the event.¡±


    Hearing his words, Ozul started to contemte. He couldn¡¯t think of any reason for the mercenary guild to invite them specifically. This invitation meant that they would have a special spot in the tournament like all other prominent factions.


    ¡®Unless...¡¯ In the end, he concluded that it might not be the mercenary guild. Sure, they were organizing the event, but it didn¡¯t mean that they would decide on all the matters. Many of those Rank-9 Mages had been trying to have a meeting with him, but he had declined all of them.


    With a couple of them supporting the decision of inviting a new-formed organization such as theirs, it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise that they would have to give in to their demands.


    And Ozul¡¯s guess was perfectly on spot, these people had been hoping that this tournament would give them a chance to meet with him. Even when some of them weren¡¯t so set at making him an ally, they couldn¡¯t let others poach him either.


    ¡°Hmm...¡± Ozul¡¯s mind gears again started to work. He couldn¡¯t decide if it was worth joining or not.


    ¡°I suggest we don¡¯t turn down this opportunity, Young Master. Those who still think low of us would be forced to change their opinion once we make our appearance there,¡± Haley advised when she noticed that Ozul was unsure about epting the invitation.


    Ozul didn¡¯t pay her words any heed since he didn¡¯t need other¡¯s recognition to achieve what he wanted. However, he still nodded his head and said, ¡°I will think about it.¡±


    ¡°If that is all...¡± Ozul stood up, about to go back to his room. But before leaving, he had to ask, ¡°When does the tournament start?¡±


    ¡°In two months, Young Master,¡± Irvin quickly replied.


    Ozul nodded his head and went upstairs.


    After he had left, Oliver could not help but sigh as he muttered, ¡°Sigh... Why is he hesitating to ept? I might not be so knowledgeable about them, but I at least know that those other Rank-9 Mages don¡¯t evenpare to him.¡±


    Even he could tell that Ozul was strong evenpared to other Rank-9 Mages. Oliver knew how he was able to hunt three Rank-9 Beasts on his own!


    ¡°Our Young Master isn¡¯t afraid of them. He just finds it a bother to go there,¡± Irvin defended Ozul.


    ¡°I know, but it wouldn¡¯t be that bothersome to talk with Rank-9 Mages, right?¡± Oliver saidzily. He also knew that Ozul tended to avoid annoying matters as much as possible.


    ¡°Say that after you have had a chat with one,¡± Irvin said before taking his leave. Following his lead, Haley also left the room leaving Oliver to pout as he muttered, ¡°Why so serious all the time...¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    Ozul went back to his room which had enough space for more than 20 people to be able to sleepfortably.


    As heid on the bed, Ozul began to think his future ns through. Just then, Jinx also jumped on the bed andid near him.


    Earlier, he had nned to start developing the organization to the point where they would have their spies in other organizations. However, he knew that it was a long term process again. No one knew how much time it would take and if it would even yield any results or not.


    ¡®I have been thinking too much of finding clues about those weird runes that I haven¡¯t done anything to get closer to obtaining my arms at all...¡¯ Ozul again started to feel a little disappointed at his progress.


    ¡®Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have put so much focus on the organization?¡¯ he considered allowing the three to decide almost all the decisions. However, it wasn¡¯t practical to hand over all the authority to only three people, two of whom had yet to advance to Rank-8.


    ¡°But how can I even get close to my arms...¡± there were not only tens of deadly formations set up at the Church and the Royal Pce, but there were also Rank-9 Mages at both of these areas that he knew had his arms.


    If either the formations or the Rank-9 Mages were not present, he could give it a go and take the risk. But it was also not so easy as it sounded since the Emperor and the leader of the Church rarely left their ce.


    ¡°I will have to create an opportunity...¡± Ozul muttered. There was no other way. He couldn¡¯t just sit tight and wait for a chance to get his arms back. He had to take the risks, or who knows? He might have to wait for decades.


    ¡®Wait. Opportunity...¡¯ suddenly his own words repeated inside his mind. He remembered Irvin using the word just a little while ago.


    ¡°How could I miss that? I guess I am getting rusty with age...¡± Ozul realized that he already had the opportunity!


    Without waiting for another moment, he went out of his room and found Irvin on the floors below.


    Irvin was also surprised when he suddenly popped up beside his work desk. Though he hurriedly stood up and bowed before asking, ¡°What can I do for you, Young Master?¡±


    ¡°Will the other Rank-9 Magese to watch the event?¡± Ozul inquired.


    Though Irvin was surprised at his sudden interest, he quickly collected himself and answered, ¡°Y-yes, Young Master. If not all, most of the Rank-9 Mages from all over the continent tend to join at least the finals.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. Alright, inform the mercenary guild that I epted the invitation,¡± Ozul said with an eagerness that couldn¡¯t be felt from him before.


    Irvin didn¡¯t know what had suddenly made Ozul so excited, but he quickly nodded his head and refrained from asking any questions.


    Satisfied, Ozul went back to his room. Though his face still retained its stony look, Jinx immediately felt the improvement in his mood as she stared at him for a couple of seconds as if wondering the reason for it.


    Ozulid beside it again.


    ¡®Nowter, I will just confirm Raymond if the Emperor would be reallying...¡¯ he had been so eager because this was a perfect opportunity for him to get his arms back! Though it was only his guess that the Royal Pce should have at least one of his arms.


    He closed his eyes to sleep. Tomorrow he would leave to meet Raymond or Alver.


    ¡®... Weird... I again feel as if I am forgetting something...¡¯

 Chapter 215

    Chapter 215: You can¡¯t refuse.


    ¡®... Why do I again feel as if I am forgetting something... whatever...¡¯ Ozul went back to sleep, ignoring the strange feeling.


    He had a lot to n tomorrow, and if everything went smoothly, he would have a chance at getting his arm back!


    The next day, Ozul decided to meet with either Alver or Raymond first. Since the Ashin family had a part in organizing the tournament, they would most likely be aware of all the details.


    Looking around, Jinx was again missing. He went downstairs and noticed that they were again having a meeting.


    Everyone expected Ozul to join them again, but he waved his hand to deny them and spoke to Irvin, ¡°Have the tournaments on a smaller scale already started?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Young Master. Most of them have probably finished as well,¡± Irvin answered. He wasn¡¯t aware of the minute details, but at least he could make some general guesses.


    Ozul nodded his head and walked away, letting them continue on with their meeting.


    .....


    He had be quite famous among the normal members since the day he had returned. Although he wanted to leave as quietly as possible, his figure still attracted all the eyes to him. Fortunately, all of them were too afraid and tense in his presence to annoy him any further.


    After leaving the tower, he instantly disappeared from other¡¯s eyes, flying straight towards the Ashin family¡¯s estate.


    . . .


    He had to take out the silver ring from the Spatial Pouch since the Mana sphere didn¡¯t seem to open the way for him otherwise.


    Because the Mana sphere had been disturbed, Alver and Raymond excitedly came out of the manor since they knew the only person other than them who had the ess was their nephew.


    ¡®Good, both of them are here,¡¯ Ozul thought as hended near them.


    ¡°Nephew!¡± Raymond said while beaming with joy. In contrast, Alver only gave a soft smile.


    Ozul nodded his head and looked towards the manor. Alver realized what he meant, ¡°Let¡¯s talk inside.¡±


    The three of them went to a room and only then Raymond started with a heartyugh, ¡°I heard from Irvin, Ozul! Haha, you can¡¯t believe how proud we feel.¡± At his side, Alver also nodded his head, agreeing with his brother.


    ¡°To be honest, I didn¡¯t really expect that you would be able to do it all in such a short amount of time... Then again, you have already done so many unexpected things,¡± Raymond confessed.


    Their own nephew was already capable enough to rival them, and not just in strength. What took them nearly a hundred years was done by him at such a young age!


    After a couple of more rounds of praises from both Raymond and Alver, Ozul got to the topic, ¡°I came here because of the tournament.¡±


    ¡°Hm? Last time we got the report that the mercenary guild had sent you the invitation as well. Do you not want to attend? If you say so, we can take care of that,¡± Alver offered. They were two Rank-9 Mages, so their words undoubtedly would not be taken lightly.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I am here to ask for information. Surely, you would know who else is invited, right?¡± Ozul asked. Raymond noticed the slight difference in his way of talking.


    ¡°Haha, naturally we have the list of every big faction invited to the final event,¡± Raymond answered with anotherugh. His mood these days was getting better because of his nephew¡¯s achievements. Though he showed it in front of only Ozul and his brother Alver.


    ¡°Can you check if the Emperor of Silverbird Kingdom is invited or not?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°Let me confirm,¡± Alver was curious why he wanted to know specifically about him, but heplied anyway. Ozul rarely asked them any favors. He waved his hand and a scrolled parchment appeared in his hand.


    After skimming through it for a moment, he said, ¡°His name isn¡¯t mentioned here...¡±


    Hearing his words, Ozul¡¯s mood immediately worsened. Raymond noticed the mood drop and spoke, ¡°If he isn¡¯t listed, it could only mean that he has already declined the offer this time around. Luthien, that snake, might have other things on his hands.¡±


    ¡®Other things...¡¯ In Ozul¡¯s mind, he could only think that it could be because of his arm.


    ¡®Do I really have to wait for another 50 years?¡¯ Ozul didn¡¯t want to wait for so long.


    Who knows what might happen to his arms after all that time? Though the passage of time before didn¡¯t seem to affect them, what if things changed? He could never be sure.


    ¡®No! I will have to do it this time. If he isn¡¯ting, then I will make him...¡¯ Ozul wouldn¡¯t let this opportunity go to waste just because he didn¡¯t take any initiative.


    He began to think of all the possible ways where he could make Luthien attend the tournament. Raymond and Alver didn¡¯t disturb him as they noticed his solemn expressions. They didn¡¯t know what was going on, but it was better to askter.


    ¡°Are you certain that the Church is allied with the Silverbird Kingdom? Also, what are the chances of the Church housing a Rank-10?¡± Ozul suddenly asked. It took the two brothers off guard since they hadn¡¯t expected such questions.


    ¡°...Yes, there is no doubt that the Church and the Silverbird Kingdom are allied. As for the chances of the Church having a Rank-10 Mage backing them, we can safely assume them to be over 90 percent.¡± Raymond quickly recovered and answered with a serious tone.


    He realized that whatever his nephew was nning might involve the Church, and no one who was backed by a Rank-10 Mage was to be taken lightly.


    Ozul nodded his head when Raymond spoke again, ¡°Tell us what you are nning, nephew, we will help.¡±


    Not only was Ozul their nephew and they would always help him no matter against whom, but they also hated the Church to the core. Raymond wouldn¡¯t back down from a fight if it came down to that.


    ¡°No... I don¡¯t know how things will turn out. And it might actually start a war if it got out that you had helped, so don¡¯t involve yourselves.¡± Ozul denied any help. Even if he fails, it would only change a few things, but if the Ashin family got involved, he would automatically be put in a faction.


    Raymond wanted to convince him but he stopped when he noticed the sternness in Ozul¡¯s eyes.


    *Sigh.*


    ¡°Very well, we will not involve ourselves. But if you still need any type of help, don¡¯t hesitate,¡± Raymond said. He wasn¡¯t a fool either and knew that their participation in whatever happened against the Church would immediately invoke the war.


    ¡°Can you at least tell us what you are going to do?¡± Raymond asked, hoping for any information.


    Ozul noticed the worried tone, but he still wouldn¡¯t reveal what he would do. However, he did answer, ¡°I am about to take back my arm.¡±


    Raymond and Alver remembered the time when Irvin had told them about Ozul¡¯s limbs. Thinking about that, both of them couldn¡¯t help but clench their fists in anger-at themselves and the ones who had taken their nephew¡¯s arms.


    ¡°It was not your fault, and certainly not your responsibility,¡± Ozul said when he noticed the depressed emotions from both of them.


    Hearing him say that didn¡¯t make them think otherwise but it did divert their attention when they realized that he was caring for them.


    ¡°Alright. I will take my leave then,¡± Ozul said and left the room without letting them say anything.


    He flew straight back to the headquarters.


    . . .


    The first thing Ozul did aftering was to find Irvin. He was working in his office when Ozul barged in.


    ¡°Young Master,¡± Irvin stood up and bowed respectfully.


    ¡°Did you ept the invitation already?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°Not yet, Young Master. But I was about to...¡± Irvin thought that he might have made a mistake not sending it out earlier. Though he sighed in relief when Ozul said, ¡°Good.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ept them. Give them my message that I will only attend personally if Emperor Luthien from the Silverbird Kingdom attends.¡± Ozul ordered, making Irvin sweat at his words.


    ¡°Y-young Master-¡± He was about to persuade Ozul since he didn¡¯t think that the mercenary guild would go out of their way to make Emperor Luthien join only so they could have Ozul attend the finals.


    ¡°I know what I am doing,¡± Ozul said as he walked out of the room, leaving Irvin no other choice but to nod his head.


    Others might think that the mercenary guild wouldn¡¯t ept his demands just to make him attend, and he also thought the same!


    However, there were others involved in organizing the tournament as well. He couldn¡¯t involve the Ashin family, and he didn¡¯t have any connection with the Leonhard Dynasty, but the Church was a different matter.


    Although he previously had a confrontation with them before, it was quite brief. And the Church also wanted his whole body. The only thing stopping them to take any action was his strength.


    His condition to get Emperor Luthien to attend would make almost everyone think that he wanted an alliance with him and the Archbishop wouldn¡¯t let this opportunity go.


    The mercenary guild might not go to great lengths to ept his request, but the Archbishop would most definitely make Emperor Luthien attend the finals. And since they were in an alliance, Emperor Luthien wouldn¡¯t have any reason to reject either.


    ¡®You can¡¯t refuse to attend this tournament,¡¯ Ozul thought as he went to his room. That was the only way he could think of right now to make Luthien leave the Pce.

 Chapter 216

    Chapter 216: Meeting.


    Just as Ozul had thought, his demands were strongly opposed by the mercenary guild. Although they were a neutral faction, they also had their pride and didn¡¯t want to ept a request from some newbie just to be able to invite him.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    ¨C In a room with a long round table ¨C


    A couple of middle and old looking men sat around the table, each having a solemn expression on their face, not letting the others get any read on them.


    ¡°He is only an arrogant brat! No need to ept anything,¡± an old-looking manmented, breaking the stillness.


    ¡°Exactly. After advancing to Rank-9, he thinks too highly of himself already,¡± the middle-aged man with shiny red hair expressed his agreement.


    Another old looking man also chimed in, ¡°I also have the same thoughts. There is no need to invite such a presumptuous person. It will only ruin the good atmosphere.¡±


    .....


    All of them had previously forced the mercenary guild to invite the Leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers to get a chance at making an alliance with them. However, if he had put his demand to have Emperor Luthien attend as well, it could only mean that he was nning to ally with the Silverbird Kingdom.


    Only four people there remained quiet. One of them was the Main Leader of the mercenary guild, one of them represented the Leonhard Dynasty, one was the Archbishop of the Church, and thest was Alver.


    Even among other Rank-9 Mages, these four stood out the most because of their aura and temperament. In 1 on 1 fight, they could beat any one of those present here.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it is necessary to fulfill some childish demands either,¡± after a while, the Leader of the mercenary guild spoke. His words satisfied most of them but the Archbishop and Alver.


    Archbishop naturally wouldn¡¯t want to lose the opportunity to get into contact with Ozul, while Alver wished for things to turn out the way his nephew wanted.


    ¡°Since everyone agrees, I hope to-¡± the Guild¡¯s Leader had thought that everyone was of the same opinion. However, his words were cut off by the Archbishop who said, ¡°I don¡¯t agree.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± the Guild¡¯s Leader naturally didn¡¯t like anyone interrupting him. He turned towards the Archbishop and said, ¡°And why so, Archbishop Lammert?¡±


    ¡°In my opinion, inviting Emperor Luthien isn¡¯t such a big deal,¡± Archbishop Lammertpletely ignored the Guild Leader¡¯s question.


    The Guild Leader stared at Archbishop Lammert as he thought, ¡®Why is he taking such a sudden interest in that new kid? Previously, everyone had proposed that we invite him, but he hadn¡¯t said a thing... If it was anyone else, I could have ignored it, but the Church is also the part of organizers.¡¯


    Although the final decision would still be up to him, the Guild Leader couldn¡¯t just ignore Lammert¡¯s words either.


    Before he could think things through, Lammert pressed them, ¡°If you decide not to ept it, I am telling you; I will do so personally. And I am pretty certain that Emperor Luthien would agree as well. However, it would then be unfavorable for everyone, and the God of Light has certainly taught mepassion.¡±


    Unlike others, the people present here all knew the true face of this kind middle-aged man. They couldn¡¯t ignore the hypocrisy in Lammert¡¯sst sentence. Instead ofpassion, it was rather a threat. He was simply telling them to listen to him, or he will do it himself.


    However, if he did what he had said, the situation would really be unfavorable to them. If it was the Church that had personally epted that new Rank-9 Mage¡¯s request, then thetter¡¯s judgment would most definitely be in the favor of the Church.


    On the other hand, if it was the mercenary guild epting his demand, everyone would have a fair chance at it.


    With such thoughts in their mind, the people who had opposed the idea of epting didn¡¯t speak up. They didn¡¯t know what had gotten into the Archbishop, but if they let him ept the request personally, they would lose the chances of allying with that new Rank-9 Mage. Even when they called Ozul a brat just a moment ago, a Rank-9 Mage¡¯s strength was not something to be joked about.


    The Mercenary Guild Leader, being the only neutral party, still didn¡¯t want to ept Ozul¡¯s demands.


    ¡®Only that could work now...¡¯ the Guild Leader thought as he nced at Alver sitting on the opposite side of the Archbishop. Everyone knew the animosity between the two was such that the Ashin family would go as far as to bear some losses if it meant pushing down the Church another notch.


    Trying not to make it so obvious, the Guild Leader first turned towards the middle-aged with unruly long orange hair. He was the man representing the Leonhard Dynasty. He asked, ¡°What are your opinions, Emperor Elsug?¡±


    ¡°Whatever,¡± Emperor Elsug shrugged his shoulders. He didn¡¯t really care about this small matter that everyone seemed to be making such a big deal out of.


    The Guild Leader nodded his head, it was as he expected; Elsug would have a neutral opinion on this. With a small smile, he then turned towards Alver.


    Everyone understood what the Guild Leader was trying to do. Even Alver knew that the Guild Leader was hoping for him to stand against Archbishop Lammert. That way, the Guild Leader wouldn¡¯t have to take the responsibility of declining the demands.


    Archbishop had also prepared himself to have a harsh battle of words with Alver, however, it was unexpected when thetter spoke, ¡°I don¡¯t have any opinions on this matter.¡±


    Immediately, the Guild Leader¡¯s eyes narrowed at Alver. ¡®No way the Ashin family would miss a chance to go against the Church... Is there something about that new Rank-9 Mage?... I will have to discuss this with others...¡¯ he thought inside his mind.


    ¡®I don¡¯t know what you are thinking by inviting him here, nephew. I am trusting you on this...¡¯ Alver had put his faith in Ozul. He was clueless about his reasons, but at least he was aware that they had amon enemy.


    *Sigh*


    ¡®But for now, I will have to ept it...¡¯ the Guild Leader internally sighed, not having any other choice but to send another invite to Emperor Luthien.


    ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, we will send another invitation to Emperor Luthien, together with a brief context of our reasons. However, that is all we would do. If Emperor Luthien rejects it again, that will be the end of the matter,¡± the Guild Leader finally relented.


    All other Rank-9 Mages nodded their heads simultaneously.


    ¡°I hope to see everyone in 50 days,¡± the Guild Leader said before standing up and walking out of the room.


    One by one, others left as well. Before Archbishop Lammert stood up, he stared at Alver for a couple of seconds, keeping his thoughts to himself.


    . . .


    As Lammert arrived back in the Church, he seemingly spoke to the air, ¡°Inform Emperor Luthien to ept the invitation. Tell him it is important.¡±


    ¡°As youmand, Master,¡± a man appeared beside Lammert and bowed before disappearing again.


    ¡®What are you thinking, Alver...¡¯ Lammert didn¡¯t understand nor could he think of any reason for him to take a neutral stand.


    From the moment Alver had said those words, Lammert had his mind fixated on it. With an enemy like the Ashin family, he could always predict their actions to a certain extent. That is why he always had an upper hand. So it was rming for him that Alver had suddenly changed his way of approaching the matter.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    Meanwhile, Ozul wasying in his room without any worries. He also had another way to make Emperor Luthien leave the castle as well, only it was a little more risky.


    Fortunately, he didn¡¯t have to use those means because when he went out of his room that day, Irvin excitedly came running towards him.


    ¡°Young Master!¡± Irvin was not only excited but also a little relieved. In his mind, their demand could have very well offended the mercenary guild.


    Even when their own influence had reached to the far corners of the Maind, the mercenary guild was not an organization to be trifled with.


    ¡°Calm down. What is it?¡± Ozul asked even though he could already guess from Irvin¡¯s expressions.


    ¡°The mercenary guild has epted your demand. However, they say that they will only invite Emperor Luthien once, if he rejects the invitation, they wouldn¡¯t take any responsibility,¡± Irvin exined the contents of the scroll in his hand.


    ¡°Alright...¡± If Archbishop could make the mercenary guild send the invitation again, then it wouldn¡¯t be stupid to think that he would also make sure that Emperor Luthien epted it this time around. Their alliance yed an important role in this, hence why he had confirmed from Raymond previously.


    ¡®Although he will be suspicious, but if I don¡¯t take any risks, I might never get my arms back...¡¯ Ozul thought inside his mind.


    ¡°Make the preparations, whatever they are. We will attend the tournament,¡± Ozul ordered before walking away to his room. After working continuously for years, he had again remembered the joys of not doing anything, all day and every day.


    Irvin was overjoyed, he immediately bowed his head towards Ozul who was walking away. However, just then, he remembered something. He hurriedly caught up to him and asked,


    ¡°Ah yes, Young Master. I almost forgot; are we going to participate or just watch the event?¡±


    They did have a couple of free slots that would let them have any of their people under a certain age to directly join the finals.

 Chapter 217

    Chapter 217: Participating?


    ¡°Ah yes, Young Master. I almost forgot; are we going to participate or just watch the event?¡± Irvin asked since being invited there meant that they would have free slots for participants.


    It meant that whoever they brought with them wouldn¡¯t need to fight all the previous battles and would straight get into the finals. This was the privilege given only to strong groups.


    ¡°Hm... we will participate,¡± Ozul casually chose to participate, and Irvin realized it immediately because of a slight problem.


    ¡°But, Young Master...¡± Irvin hesitated to say. However, Ozul was in a hurry to go and ck off, ¡°What is it now?¡±


    ¡°The age limit is actually just 50 years. And below that, we don¡¯t have any member capable enough to even hold their ground against others in the finals...¡± Irvin uttered in low spirits.


    ¡°But maybe you can...¡± Suddenly, his gloominess disappeared as he remembered that their Young Master had yet to reach 50 years of age as well.


    However, Ozul shook his head and denied, ¡°No. I will have things to do. And even if I wanted to participate, do you think they will agree to let a Rank-9 Mage step in the arena?¡± Irvin realized that he had a valid point and didn¡¯t say anything.


    .....


    In the first ce, why would Ozul even reveal to the world that he was still under 35 years? It would cause amotion everywhere since a Rank-9 Mage under even 80 years was never heard of, much less just 35.


    ¡°Don¡¯t we have Ra-¡± Ozul was about to say something but stopped in the middle of his sentence with raised eyebrows.


    ¡®I knew I was forgetting something! How could I forget those two...¡¯ Ozul had only left them so they could train on their own and improve their mindset. However, with all the work here in the organization, he hadpletely forgotten about them!


    ¡®Oh well... maybe they have grown up a bit,¡¯ Ozul shrugged off his mistake. The more time they spent away from his influence, the better their personality would be. At least that was what he believed.


    First, it was Raven who had gotten too attached to him. Sure, he wanted people to do almost everything for him, but for that, he would need capable enough people. And he couldn¡¯t foresee any sessful future for someone devoting their life to another person.


    ¡®Sigh... that is my fault as well.¡¯ Ozul couldn¡¯t help but sigh internally. He might have been able to prevent it, but at that time, he didn¡¯t care enough or had his mind focused on other things.


    ze also needed to think about the situations on his own. After meeting Ozul, he had started to rely too much on him or Raven to understand whatever was going on. It wasn¡¯t ze¡¯s fault that he was born in a small vige, but it was his responsibility to learn these things now.


    ¡®It¡¯s only been a decade, I hope they have changed,¡¯ Ozul hoped that leaving them alone for so long was really worth it. Because even with the Three-Eyed Strangers under him, he knew that those two had special talents and would help him in long term.


    ze had the innate affinity with the Ice Element and Raven, he had discovered, had amazingprehension.


    ¡°Young Master?¡± Irvin spoke as he noticed that Ozul had suddenly started daydreaming.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh yes, Irvin. Do you know where that sect is?¡± Ozul woke up from his thoughts and suddenly asked.


    ¡°Which sect, Young Master?¡± Irvin was confused. How would he know which sect Ozul was talking about?


    Ozul tried to remember the name, but it just wouldn¡¯te to his mind,¡±... You don¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°... Young Master, I can get the information about all the sects, but how would I know which one you are thinking about?¡± Irvin smiled wryly while internally shaking his head. His young master sometimes asked for impossible things.


    ¡°Nevermind. I am going out,¡± Ozul realized that his questions were indeed not something Irvin would be able to answer since he hadn¡¯t told him previously about which sect he had left Raven and ze to.


    Irvin gave a respectful bow as Ozul walked away.


    . . .


    ¡®Raymond might know,¡¯ Ozul thought as he flew directly towards the headquarters of the Order of Dusk.


    He didn¡¯t go towards the Ashin family¡¯s estate since the Archbishop might or might not be suspicious to the point of spying on them. The chances of anyone under Rank-9 recognizing him with his speed were low, but he could not take the risk.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Ozul to reach their headquarters. He directly made his way to Raymond¡¯s office and opened the door without asking, like he did previously.


    *Tak*


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    As he entered, he noticed both Raymond and his secretary who always stayed on the floor below seemed to be looking at him on high alert. The woman had a small blush on her cheeks and her breathing was a little out of ce.


    Ozul didn¡¯t need to read their emotions to know whatever was happening before he opened the door.


    However, all three of them collectively chose to ignore it as Ozul took a seat. The woman immediately left the room as well.


    *Cough*


    ¡°Nephew, you are here,¡± Raymond coughed to dispel his awkwardness after being caught by his own nephew.


    ¡°I am. I have some questions,¡± Ozul replied. Except for finding the sect, he also had other questions that he wanted to ask him before the tournament started.


    However, his words caused Raymond to gulp as he thought that he was going to ask him questions about what happened earlier, ¡®Did he realize?!¡¯


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ozul noticed that he remained quiet.


    ¡°A-ah! Yes... you can ask anything...¡± Raymond muttered. If his nephew really inquired about that, he would just have to tell the truth.


    ¡°The Ashin family was allied with other sects, right?¡± Ozul asked. He did remember that the sect he had sent Raven and ze with were allies.


    ¡°Oh! So it¡¯s about that! H-haha... *cough* Yes, we are indeed allied with some of the sects,¡± Raymond coughed again to cover his previous remarks.


    Naturally, Ozul wasn¡¯t so dull as to not realize it, but he decisively chose to ignore everything. He didn¡¯t care, nor did he have any interest in such talk.


    ¡°What about that sect with a nine in its name?¡± That was all Ozul could remember from the name.


    ¡°Hm? We are allied with the Nine Petals Sect if you are talking about that...¡± Raymond replied confusedly. He couldn¡¯t understand what business his nephew had with that sect now.


    ¡°Yes! Nine Petals Sect it is... Where is it located?¡± Ozul didn¡¯t think that finding the name would be so easy.


    Raymond didn¡¯t start exining the route and instead took out a big map, covering the whole continent. He pointed his finger at a small flower-shaped pin and said, ¡°That¡¯s the location.¡±


    ¡°Hm. It will take half a day...¡± Ozul spoke while Raymond nodded his head.


    ¡°I heard they got really good seeds a few years ago. And if they are really as good as they say, they would win the tournament this time,¡± Raymondmented as Ozul studied the map to memorize the location.


    After a while, Raymond couldn¡¯t hold it in for any longer and asked, ¡°If I may ask, what business do you have with them?¡±


    ¡°I am going to take back those good seeds. They are my people,¡± Ozul could easily guess that it was about Raven and ze.


    They were well under the age limit andbined with their talents and the Elemental Seeds he had given them, one could only imagine how strong they had gotten.


    ¡°Ehh? Are you sure they are the same people?¡± Raymond didn¡¯t want any conflict to happen between that sect and his nephew.


    ¡°I am going there to pick up my people, it doesn¡¯t matter if they are the same or not,¡± Ozul answered before he leaned back on the chair.


    Raymond nodded his head so Ozul continued, ¡°Before I go, can you tell me if there are any artifacts or formations that can be activated without the use of Mana?¡±


    Artifacts were only tools that had formations inscribed on them but on a much smaller scale.


    ¡°Using artifacts or formations without Mana?¡± Raymond hadn¡¯t been more confused before. His nephew rarely asked things, but when he does, they are all so... unique.


    ¡°I have never heard of such a thing before...¡± his answer disappointed Ozul since it would be difficult to search somewhere else.


    Raymond noticed his nephew¡¯s expressions, but he continued, ¡°Mana is essentially the base on which these formations and artifacts were built... I doubt there is any possible method to make use of them without Mana.¡±


    Ozul knew that such was the case even before asking him. However, he still asked because this world was unpredictable; his existence was proof of that.


    Raymond could only console his nephew, ¡°Even while that may be the case, I can still ask some others who might know a thing or two about it. If you are lucky, we might get the answer from him. Though he rarelyes out of seclusion...¡±


    ¡°He?¡± Ozul asked. He noticed Raymond spoke about that ¡®he¡¯ with a little respect.


    Raymond didn¡¯t directly answer him butughed it off, ¡°Haha, When the time is right, you will know...¡±


    Ozul squinted his eyes a little at him before he muttered ¡°Alright, I will take my leave...¡± and stood up to leave the room. He didn¡¯t want to waste more of his time in talks.

 Chapter 218

    Chapter 218: Nine Petals Sect.


    As Ozul made his way out of the tower, he thought about who Raymond was referring to, but that thought didn¡¯t linger for too long.


    He hade here to ask him about any possible way to use the artifacts and formations without Mana because he didn¡¯t know what type of formations would be set up in the royal pce of Silverbird Kingdom.


    If he had a way to use the artifacts without Mana, then it would give him a little more confidence while searching for his arm. Now, he could only hope that the defensive formations in the pce were weak enough.


    After a while, Ozul forgot about it and hurriedly made his way straight towards the Nine Petals Sect instead.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    Nine Petals Sect, it was one of the few Sects on the continent that didn¡¯t discriminate against their disciples on the basis of their Elements.


    Not just the Sects, but most of the factions in this world held prejudice against certain Elements and the Darkness Element was the onlymonly-hated one among all of them. Some of them even looked down on the Water Element.


    .....


    However, there were only a few numbers of factions that epted people on the basis of their merits and strength; the Nine Petals Sect was one of them. And because of this, such factions have always been an eye sour among the rest of the prominent groups.


    Nine Petals Sect had allied with the Ashin family due to these reasons as well. The Ashin family didn¡¯t care if one had a weak Elemental affinity or if they even chose the Darkness Element.


    The Sect¡¯s reputation wasn¡¯t the greatest among others, but they were a force to be reckoned with. And despite their reputation of housing and nurturing Dark Mages, many talented individuals joined under them every year.


    Though that was only the case before the Church had created and started selling the miraculous potion to heal injuries, no matter how fatal or life-threatening.


    The Sect¡¯s stand to ept the Mages even with Darkness Element had naturally made them an enemy of the Church, not to mention that they had also allied with the Ashin family.


    Because of the Church of Light¡¯s newly created healing potion, many Mages who were nning to join the Sect decided otherwise. The people with Darkness Elements couldn¡¯t change sides, but others were drawn towards the Church like bees are to the nectar.


    All who could think a little knew that the Church only released a little number of high-quality potions while the rest are stored only for their members.


    These people, though didn¡¯t want to join the Church and start spouting nonsense about the God of Light everywhere, couldn¡¯t resist the temptation of the healing potions. They were like extra lives, and none of them wanted to die early.


    For such reasons, the stream of new capable Mages joining the Sect had lowered significantly; to the point where even a couple of Elders were assigned to seek out talented individuals around the continent!


    Many of the Elders didn¡¯t agree to such a tactic, but the Sect Leader¡¯s orders were absolute. And their dissatisfaction all vanished when Elder Michiko had brought in two individuals that even the Sect Leader praised andmented that they had high chances to be a Rank-9 Mage.


    And the fact that both of them had chosen suchplex Elements only made them more formidable.


    One of them, a ck-haired woman who looked around in her early 20¡¯s, with a stony face, stood near the cliff as she watched a group of teenagers surrounding another girl...


    . . .


    The short-haired girl, who was surrounded by the teenagers, suddenly spun around and shed between them, leaving a ck trail behind her that disappeared immediately after.


    There were a total of 11 teenagers including 3 girls and all of them began to fall down on the ground, holding their stomachs as they squirmed in pain.


    After just a few seconds, only the short-haired girl remained standing. Even as she was out of breath, the girl smiled brightly while looking in the direction of the cold beauty observing her from a distance.


    ¡°Big Sister Raven!¡± the girl shouted before she ran towards Raven. Her short brown hair were drenched in sweat, but it didn¡¯t seem to trouble her.


    ¡°You know what you did wrong?¡± Raven asked while shaking her head as the girl was looking at her with expectant eyes, seemingly asking for praise. The girl¡¯s smile immediately disappeared and she lowered her head before answering, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to use the Shadow Way, but I had no choice...¡±


    ¡°You are exhausted after thatst attack. If it was a real fight in some wild area, many unknown factors would be included and there was a high chance that you¡¯d end up dead as well, Alda.¡± Raven reprimanded her.


    ¡°I know...¡± Alda muttered in a quiet voice.


    Looking at her sorry figure, Raven couldn¡¯t keep her cold face for much longer and sighed before petting her head.


    ¡°If it was him, I am sure you would be crying by now...¡± Raven stated while shaking her head again. Although this girl was already a peak Rank-4 Mage at her age, Raven thought that she was quitecking in teaching.


    ¡®Haa... I can never get myself to be strict with her,¡¯ Raven sighed internally.


    Over the years, she hade to look at this girl named Alda as her younger sister. No one, even she herself never expected that she would open up to someone else.


    But she had saved Alda when a couple of kids were bullying her in the past. It seemed like just simple bullying, but the girl was almost on her deathbed! After that incident, Alda always stuck close to her. Raven couldn¡¯t refuse her since she reminded her of when Ozul had saved her from that dark alley.


    So, over time, Raven started to teach Alda as a mentor. Alda was so attached to her that she also chose to develop the Darkness Element.


    ¡°He? Oh, is it that person?¡± Alda clearly heard Raven as she asked. She knew many things about this person as her big sister often talked about him.


    ¡®What kind of a person he is that even big sister talks about him so much...¡¯ Alda looked at Raven and thought.


    It had been more than 10 years since Raven joined the Nine Petals Sect and there were naturally many people who tried to approach her; some because of her talent and others because of her beauty.


    Raven now had a mature look on her face with shoulder-length hair that were tied to make a ponytail. Over the years, she had only grown more beautiful. She didn¡¯t know if it was because of the Elemental Seed or each breakthrough cleansing her body, but she had almost be a different person.


    Only Alda had heard a few words of a certain man from her mouth once in a while.


    ¡®Whoever he is, I don¡¯t like him...¡¯ Alda didn¡¯t think that there could be any man suitable for her big sister. In her mind, absolutely no one was good enough!


    Meanwhile, Raven looked at Alda¡¯s angry face and realized what she must be thinking right now. She could not help but pondered, ¡®Am I like that too?¡¯


    With a little time away from Ozul, Raven had realized that he was not at all interested in her. She had reflected on her obsessive thoughts previously, but even now, she couldn¡¯t just stop liking Ozul. Now, she was only aware that it was hopeless.


    Raven couldn¡¯t help but sigh when suddenly her eyes narrowed. It remained like that for a little while before she rxed them and spoke, ¡°I told you, it will never work.¡±


    ¡°What?! Again!?¡± a voice erupted from below the cliff as Alda hurriedly took a fighting stance. She hadn¡¯t sensed anyone, so the loud voice had made her unconsciously ready her fists.


    Under Raven¡¯s bored eyes, a cyan-haired man suddenly appeared before Alda. The man had a ck cloth tied on his forehead like a headband.


    Alda could only take a few steps back because of the chilling aura she felt from that man.


    ¡°Control yourself, ze. She can¡¯t resist,¡± Raven said in a colder tone.


    ze immediately retracted the chilling aura and turned towards Alda before apologizing, ¡°Oh? I didn¡¯t realize it. I apologize.¡±


    Alda suddenly forgot about all the bone-chilling cold aura released from ze and a pink hue took ce on her soft cheeks. She couldn¡¯t help. In fact, people would doubt her gender if she didn¡¯t blush in ze¡¯s presence.


    It couldn¡¯t be helped. ze was handsome previously as well, but now he also had the mature vibes which only added to his charms.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s fine...¡± Alda could only manage to mutter these words before Raven red at ze, indicating him to back away.


    ze smiled wryly and took a few steps back and asked, ¡°Okay now?¡±


    Raven nodded her head in response. She was probably the only person in the entire Nine Petals Sect that ze listened to.


    ¡°Tell me how you sensed me,¡± ze asked. He could beat Raven in 1v1 fights, but there were many aspects where she would always beat him, no matter how hard he tried.


    ¡°If you are so capable, find out yourself,¡± Raven didn¡¯t answer his question and retorted. She didn¡¯t like the fact that even with her trying so hard, ze had gotten ahead of her just because of his talent.


    *Sigh*


    ¡°If he was here, I wouldn¡¯t have asked you,¡± ze sighed exaggeratedly.


    Raven squinted her eyes at him and was about to ready her daggers when ze took another couple of steps back and waved his hands, ¡°Oi oi! Don¡¯t get serious. I wasn¡¯t making fun of you!¡±

 Chapter 219

    Chapter 219: Is it so hard to understand?


    At his words, Raven stopped and stared at him unamused.


    ¡°Can¡¯t I remember him as well?¡± ze exined. He knew that Raven had misunderstood his words as him making fun of her.


    Hearing his words, she finally settled down.


    ¡°It¡¯s been so long... do you think he forgot?¡± ze muttered while looking down the cliff.


    ¡°...¡± For a moment, Raven didn¡¯t speak as if she wasn¡¯t sure. After a few moments, she softly answered, ¡°... It is possible.¡±


    ze had only guessed but Raven knew that it was quite possible that Ozul had actually just forgotten to pick them up.


    Hearing her answer, ze could only give a dry smile as he mentioned, ¡°Should we just return?¡±


    .....


    Even most of the Elders in the Nine Petals Sect feared ze, but he was aware that Raven knew Ozul the most, so he would only listen to her before taking any decision that might or might not anger him.


    Raven didn¡¯t answer him. She also wasn¡¯t sure about it. On one hand, she wanted to return but on the other hand, she didn¡¯t know if it would trouble Ozul.


    Meanwhile, on their side, Alda looked confused by their discussion. She knew that ze and Raven were already powerful enough to be the Elders of the Sect, but they chose not to for some reason.


    ¡®They are not talking about leaving the Sect right? Why would they...¡¯ Alda thought. She was just about to ask Raven when they heard an uproar down the hill.


    Raven and ze could hear some people shout all the way up here and could even feel the Mana signatures of a couple of Elders. They looked at each other and nodded before making their way towards themotion.


    ¡°Wait! Big sister Raven! I aming too!¡± Alda shouted before following behind them.


    . . .


    *A few minutes earlier*


    Ozul arrived in the Nine Petals Sect after half a day of flying.


    Before him right now was a tall mountain and on its baseid all structures. He knew that it was the Nine Petals Sect because of the 5 meters tall wooden entrance that had nine petals etched on it. All the disciples also wore grey robes of simr design with the Sect¡¯s symbol drawn on their back.


    He was nearly surprised when he stepped inside since there was no Mana sphere covering the Sect. Were they confident enough or did the Sect not find all the disciples worth protecting under such arge formation? Either way, Ozul didn¡¯t care.


    He slowly made his way inside. There were many buildings; it looked almost like a city. But he noticed that all the structures were just housings for the disciples.


    His figure easily stood out amongst others because he did not wear the disciple robes. Though none of them approached him.


    Just as he was about to ask one of them, two people came out of the crowd and stared at him coldly. One of them was a male with slightly tan skin and the other was a woman, both with noticeable heights.


    These two wore different kinds of robes with the color being yellow instead of grey. They were also considerably stronger than those Ozul had seen here as of yet.


    ¡®Middle stage Rank-6; they could be guards,¡¯ Ozul concluded inside his mind as he felt their Mana.


    ¡°What purpose do you have here?¡± The man asked, seemingly looking down at Ozul.


    ¡°I am looking for Raven and ze,¡± Ozul didn¡¯t hide anything and answered.


    Though he didn¡¯t expect that he would have such a big reaction from everyone the moment he uttered their names. Even those who weren¡¯t paying attention before suddenly looked at him.


    ¡°Boy, do you know who you are even asking for?¡± The woman spoke this time. Their expressions had turned from unamused to unfriendly now.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. Are you going to bring me to them or should I do it myself?¡± Ozul knew where this was going. The more he debated with them, the more time he would waste. It was better to get it over with as quickly as possible.


    His words caused the two guards to re at him while some of the disciples also began to take a few steps closer. No one liked someone else appearing in their territory and acting all arrogant and haughty ¨C at least that is what everyone thought of Ozul.


    ¡°F*ck off!¡± The man cursed before he chanted and shot a human-sized boulder at him.


    The disciples watching the show showed a smug smile, imagining that he was already ttened to the ground with that single attack.


    However, contrary to their expectations, the boulder didn¡¯t evene close to his figure before it was cut down in the middle.


    ¡°It seems that I have my answer...¡± Ozul muttered. He was about to kill the two in front of him but then stopped as he remembered that this Sect was ultimately the Ashin family¡¯s ally.


    ¡®Going on a killing spree here might shake the alliance,¡¯ Ozul thought before making his decision.


    The conical hat still hid his face as he released a little Ball of Purity and shaped it like a thick stick.


    No one was able to even react when the stick hit the two guards on their diaphragms.


    *Hu...!* x2


    Air escaped their lungs before their eyes rolled into white and they fell unconscious on the ground.


    Only when their bodies hit the ground did the onlooking disciples woke up from their stupor and began to shout for help. There were a few Rank-4 Mages at best. If even the Rank-6 Mages were defeated in the blink of an eye, they didn¡¯t have the courage to step closer to the man wearing the hat.


    ¡°Call the Elders!¡±


    ¡°Hurry up!¡±


    ...


    Some of the disciples hid away while others ran to find any Elder. Under a few seconds, there only remained Ozul standing in the vast ground surrounded by only empty houses.


    *Sigh...*


    ¡°Is it so hard to understand?¡± Ozul muttered with a sigh. He simply wanted them to bring him to Raven and ze.


    ¡®Oh well, this will work too...¡¯ Ozul said in his mind as he sensed a couple of Rank-8 Mages making their way towards him.


    He stood there waiting for them and a whileter, three Rank-8 Mages, all at initial stage appeared before him. All of them wore light brown robes as they stayed flying in the air, looking down at Ozul and their two unconscious guards beside him.


    The three simultaneouslynded before him. One of the Elders took the two unconscious guards and put them near a house. Meanwhile, the other two kept their eyes on Ozul.


    ¡°Why are you causing trouble here?¡± the bald man asked with his face contorted in annoyance.


    ¡°I am not causing trouble. I am just here to-¡± Ozul was about to exin when the other Elder with mustache interrupted him and shouted, ¡°What do you mean by not causing trouble?! Have you or have you not attacked the guards?!¡±


    Ozul never liked being interrupted either, so he stayed silent for a while before shaking his head, ¡°Yes. I did attack them, bu-¡±


    The Elder with the mustache only needed the confirmation and threw a giant Fireball at him, not very eager to hear his exnation.


    Seeing that talking wouldn¡¯t help here either, Ozul thrust the stick at the Elder. The stick made out of the Ball of Purity passed through the Fireball, immediately canceling it out and hitting the Elder in the stomach.


    The same thing happened as it did previously with the guards and the Elder fell down unconscious.


    The other two Elders didn¡¯t have the time to react, but they did take a few steps back unconsciously.


    Their fellow Elder wasn¡¯t at all any weaker than them and they didn¡¯t even notice what had caused him to suddenly fall on the ground.


    ¡°...This...is the Nine Petals Sect, think through your actions,¡± the bald Elder threatened while pointing his finger at Ozul.


    ¡°I am looking for Raven and ze,¡± Ozul didn¡¯t beat around the bush and stated his purpose.


    The Elders still had enough courage to squint at him as the other replied, ¡°What business do you have with them? We can¡¯t let you meet anyone unless you identify yourself and answer our questions...¡±


    Ozul realized that they were just trying to stall for the time because he felt even more Rank-8 presences rushing towards him.


    ¡®Sigh... I don¡¯t like this,¡¯ Ozul didn¡¯t want to create such a bigmotion. It would have been a lot easier if the guards had just brought him to Raven and ze.


    Since people even stronger than these two were alreadying, Ozul didn¡¯t answer them and waited for everyone first.


    One by one, Elders started to approach. Most of them were at the Initial Stage of Rank-8 while some were in the Middle Stage. Ozul didn¡¯t even need to distinguish them since those in the Middle Stage had a slightly darker robe.


    Ozul didn¡¯t say anything and let the other two Elders whisper everything to the newly arrived people.


    After a while, a Middle Stage Rank-8 Elder stepped ahead and asked, ¡°Why are you looking for Raven and ze? What rtion do you have with them? And what reasons did you have to attack an Elder and the guards of the Nine Petals Sect? Depending on your answers, we will decide your oue.¡±


    This Elder looked rtively younger than others, but they seemed to be fully supporting him as they nodded their heads.


    Ozul looked at their faces and realized that all of them were convinced of being able to kill him together.


    ¡®If this keeps on, I might lose it...¡¯ Ozul¡¯s hands were itching to simply kill a few of them so that they would understand their own situation.

 Chapter 220

    Chapter 220: Grown up?


    ¡®Maybe I should have directly flown towards the center?¡¯ Ozul thought that he had probably made a mistake of being polite and asking for directions.


    ¡°Whatever,¡± he muttered and suddenly the Ball of Purity transformed into a t surface, floating in the air. Under everyone¡¯s scrutinizing eyes, he casually sat on it.


    The Elders narrowed their eyes at his behavior and one of them moved to attack him, but the Elder who had spoken previously stopped him. It wasn¡¯t just him, some others had also realized that the man before them wasn¡¯t so simple.


    He didn¡¯t want to take any risk since ording to the bald Elder, they couldn¡¯t even see what happened before his colleague was brought down.


    He was still contemting on what to do when from behind them, two other Rank-8 Mages approached.


    The Elders were surprised a little since these two were none other than Raven and ze themselves!


    Because of the crowd, the duo didn¡¯t notice Ozul and Raven directly asked one of the Elders, ¡°What is going on here?¡±


    .....


    The duo didn¡¯t see anything in the surrounding that they could assume to be the reason for themotion and neither were there any signs of a fight. The Elder swiftly replied, ¡°There is some guy looking for you. He has knocked Elder Chan unconscious!¡±


    Raven squinted her eyes. She didn¡¯t even have the time to think who it could be when ze bolted through the Elders and arrived in the open.


    ¡°Disciple ze! Don¡¯t approach!¡± The Elders tried to stop him from going near the man, but he only had to re at them before all of them promptly made way.


    Getting past thest Elder, ze saw the figure of the man sitting mid-air with a conical hat on top.


    ¡°Master!¡± Only a single word escaped his mouth which confused everyone but Raven who widened her eyes before rushing towards the center as well.


    The two didn¡¯t show any courtesy this time and threw themselves at Ozul who casually moved to the side, making both of them fall face down on the ground.


    *Thud*


    ze fell first and following him, Raven head-butted his back.


    ¡°Ach! That hurts!¡± Everyone heard ze shout in pain.


    ¡°It seems that both of you have yet to grow up...¡± following their dramatic enthusiasm, Ozul took off his hat and muttered quietly. Though it was heard by everyone because of the still surrounding.


    . . .


    Unknown to him, the Elders and other disciples watching from afar all had their mouths hung open. They doubted their eyes and ears.


    They couldn¡¯t believe that the sight in front of them was of the same Raven and ze who were already strong enough to fight against the Elders!


    ¡°Hey. Did you hear, disciple ze called him Master!¡±


    ¡°But he never called anyone Master before...¡±


    ¡°Even disciple Raven! She appeared just as enthusiastic as disciple ze.¡±


    ...


    Most of the disciples in the distance and some Elders also started to whisper about the current turn of events. However, a few of the Elders became apprehensive of the situation.


    It was famous in the Nine Petals Sect that disciple Raven and ze, although geniuses, never epted any other Elder as their teacher. It hade to the point when even the Sect Leader had offered them to be their direct disciples, but they both refused the offer.


    And if what their eyes showed them was true, it could only mean that the newly arrived person was the reason for that. The problem was; they had probably offended this person who could be a peak Rank-8 or even Rank-9 Mage!


    The Elder who had previously asked Ozul questions motioned his colleague and whispered something in his ears. That man nodded his head before slipping from the crowd.


    Meanwhile, Raven and ze both had a bright smile on their face as they greeted Ozul.


    ¡®They didn¡¯t start fighting after Raven dropped on ze... Well, they might have grown up a little bit after all,¡¯ Ozul thought as he watched the two bber about things that he didn¡¯t care enough to listen to.


    Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind the stunned crowd, ¡°Big sister Raven! Haa! I finally caught up... Hm?¡±


    Alda looked at the man standing before her big sister. It wouldn¡¯t have been weird if it was the man trying to talk to her big sister, but before her eyes, it was the exact opposite.


    She approached the three and went to Raven¡¯s side before pulling her sleeve. ¡°Big sister, who is he?¡± Alda whispered.


    Ozul naturally heard her words and moved his eyes between Raven and Alda, ¡®Big sister huh...¡¯


    ¡°He is the one I told you about,¡± Raven didn¡¯t hide anything and told her. Looking up at Ozul, she awkwardly introduced Alda as well, ¡°She is Alda...¡±


    Ozul casually nodded his head which didn¡¯t sit right with little Alda. In her mind, only her Big sister had the right to act important before others. Even if he looked more handsome than ze, Alda felt threatened by him.


    Before she could say anything, Ozul spoke, ¡°Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s time.¡±


    Hearing his words, both ze and Raven had their eyes lit up in excitement. This was the day they were waiting for years! On the other hand, Alda had a bad feeling forming inside of her.


    ¡°Where? Where are we going, big sister?¡± she tugged on Raven¡¯s sleeve anxiously.


    Only then did Raven realize that after she left, Alda would be alone here in the Sect. Her face formed difficult expressions as she contemted what to do. She didn¡¯t want to leave her there on her own, but it was also true that she was too weak to tag along.


    After a while, as if she had steeled her heart, Raven spoke, ¡°Only I will be leaving, Alda. You will stay here.¡±


    She hadn¡¯t evenpleted her words when tears started to form around Alda¡¯s eyes as she started sniffling. Before she started crying, Raven put her hand on her head and gently patted her before saying, ¡°You are still weak Alda. When you grow up and be strong,e find me, okay?¡±


    Even after her consoling, Alda didn¡¯t give up. She looked down on the floor and tears couldn¡¯t help but drop on the dry ground.


    At the same time, Ozul was looking at this scene, amazed that it was Raven who was consoling another person. He looked at ze for questions who could only shrug his shoulders.


    ¡®She really grew up...¡¯ Ozul mused while looking at Raven getting anxious to stop Alda from crying.


    Just this much was enough for him to conclude that it was worth sending Raven and ze away for so long. Not to mention, he was also satisfied with their progress as Mages.


    ¡®Both are Rank-8 and at the middle stage. And it seems that ze is also close to another breakthrough. But it wouldn¡¯t be so easy now since the Elemental Seeds are probably all used up,¡¯ Ozul examined the duo¡¯s bodies.


    ¡°Alright. It¡¯s gettingte,¡± Ozul spoke, getting Raven¡¯s attention who looked at Alda before helplessly nodding.


    Just as they were about to fly off, a crispy yet feminine voice rang out from above.


    ¡°Halt your steps!¡±


    Ozul paused in his steps as he thought, ¡®She is fast...¡¯ He had scanned the area before and knew that she wasn¡¯t here before. So it could only mean that she had just arrived.


    Unlike the disciples hiding in the distance, the Elders quickly realized who the voice belonged to and widened their eyes in astonishment.


    ¡°Sect Leader!¡±


    Before they could even blink, a woman appeareed just a few meters away from Ozul. The onlookers only felt as if she was invisible before and had been standing there all along!


    All the members of the Nine Petals Sect bowed their heads to her one by one with an exception of Raven and ze.


    ¡°Where do you think you are taking the disciples of my Sect?¡± the Sect Leader ignored everyone else and questioned Ozul.


    The Sect Leader was a Rank-9 Mage with Ice as her Element. In all of her life, she hadn¡¯t seen sopatible with any other Element as ze was with Ice. And even though Raven didn¡¯t have a natural talent, she made up for it with hard work and smart work. Both of them were geniuses in their own way. If it was someone else, maybe she wouldn¡¯t have intervened personally. However, she couldn¡¯t just sit back and watch in the matter of these two.


    ¡°I had allowed your Elders to take them for only for a period of time. And now I am here to take them back,¡± Ozul didn¡¯t mind exining to a Rank-9 Mage. He continued after her eyes narrowed, ¡°It¡¯s up to them to decide anyway.¡±


    Following his words, the Sect Leader squinted her eyes at Raven and ze, questioning if they agreed to leave with him or not.


    The duo didn¡¯t feel anything from the intense stare and casually nodded their heads. Having Ozul at their side gave them enough courage even if they weren¡¯t sure if he was strong enough to defeat her.


    The Sect Leader¡¯s eyes darkened after their answer. She asked, ¡°Why?... Did the Nine Petals Sect ever mistreat you?¡± Though her words weren¡¯t harsh, her icy tone was enough to send chills down everyone¡¯s spine.


    Ozul realized that she must have misunderstood and thought that they were disrespecting the Sect. He motioned towards the duo. Raven stepped forward and answered, ¡°It¡¯s not that you ever mistreated us. It¡¯s just that we had only joined temporarily¡±


    ¡°... I see, so you never nned to stay,¡± although the Sect Leader¡¯s expressions remained the same, her tone noticeably improved. Raven¡¯s answer might have not satisfied her, but now she didn¡¯t think that they were tantly ridiculing the Sect either.


    ¡°Since that¡¯s your decision, we have no right to stop you,¡± the Sect Leader said before turning towards the Elders, she ordered, ¡°Return back to whatever you were doing.¡±


    Some Elders wanted her to stop the duo, but her icy re caused them to close their mouths before any words could get out.

 Chapter 221

    Chapter 221: Confirmed?


    Following her orders, the Elders went away leaving only the ones that had arrived with the Sect Leader.


    The Sect Leader turned her focus back to Ozul and asked, ¡°Can you at least tell me who you are?¡±


    Since she could not feel his Mana, that could only mean that he was also a Rank-9 Mage. However, the astonishing thing was that he looked too young for a Rank-9 Mage.


    It was either a Magical Spell or this person had reached Rank-9 at such a young age. The Sect Leader was more inclined to believe the former to be true, but a Magical Spell would have left Mana traces that she could not feel around him no matter how hard she tried.


    ¡°I am the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers,¡± Ozul answered truthfully. He saw no reason to hide this fact anyway.


    Hearing his answer not only made the Sect Leader raise her brows but even Raven and ze looked surprised. Naturally, they had heard the name of Three-Eyed Strangers as well. But they didn¡¯t know that it was Ozul who operated that organization.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that the Three-Eyed Strangers¡¯ leader really looked so young,¡± the Sect Leadermented. Before she turned around, she took another look at Ozul and spoke, ¡°I wish we had met in better circumstances.¡±


    .....


    If Ozul hadn¡¯t been taking their Sect¡¯s never before seen geniuses, the Sect Leader might have decided to have some talk with him. Now, she couldn¡¯t just ignore the fact that he was robbing them of their glorious future.


    The Sect Leader was pretty confident that both of them would reach Rank-9 in the future, and once the word got out that they were both from the Nine Petals Sect, there would be a line of people trying to join them every year.


    Though she didn¡¯t show it on her face, she was burning from inside. She didn¡¯t do anything only because of the fact that they indeed had no right to stop them. It was their choice.


    If not for all of this, she might have thought of having a talk with Ozul to see if he wanted an alliance.


    ¡®It seems she doesn¡¯t know. Hm... It¡¯s better this way,¡¯ Ozul realized that Raymond had probably not told their allies about the deal between the Three-Eyed Strangers and the Order of Dusk.


    The Sect Leader disappeared together with the Elders who had followed her here, leaving only the trio.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Ozul said as he noticed the disciples keeping their distance behind the houses. Raven and ze nodded their heads and they disappeared from the ground of Nine Petals Sect, leaving Alda to look at the sky with tear-filled eyes.


    ¡®Just you wait! Alda will get stronger ande looking for you Big sister!¡¯ Alda clenched her fists with all her strength.


    . . .


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to take her with you?¡± Ozul asked as they flew back to the Neutral Lands. The question was naturally directed towards Raven.


    Raven stayed quiet for a couple of seconds before replying, ¡°If she stayed with me, it will only affect her negatively...¡±


    Ozul was satisfied with her answer since that at least meant that she had started to realize the consequences of depending so much on others.


    It was dark, but they didn¡¯t stop and continued their journey till they returned to the Neutral Lands.


    Only after the sun had risen again did they arrive back in the barrennds. From there, it didn¡¯t take long for them to get to the headquarters.


    Raven and ze both being Rank-8 Mages didn¡¯t need any rest from the continuous expenditure of Mana.


    As they arrived in the town, ze wasn¡¯t able to sense the tower because of the invisible formation. However, Raven¡¯s senses twitched as she looked around in rm.


    ¡®As always, Raven is sharper,¡¯ Ozul mused as he noticed both of them. Although Raven hadn¡¯t spotted the tower either, she was at least able to feel that something was wrong here. Whether it be her instincts or because she had her guard up, ze had lost to her the moment he didn¡¯t sense anything.


    Ozulnded right at the entrance of the door and just as he did, the tower showed itself to Raven and ze who were just a couple of feet behind.


    Being in the Nine Petals Sect for more than 10 years, they had seen many things, but hiding the whole tower in in sight was something they had yet to experience.


    Ozul ignored their surprised expressions and walked inside. Following his entrance, the usual scene yed out and all the members almost became mechanical.


    For some reason, a rumor had spread among the normal members that their leader was even more strict than Miss Haley. Not to mention, the fact that he was a ¡®Rank-9 Mage¡¯ was already enough to make them panic.


    Behind him, Raven and ze walked in while observing everything. Those who had the courage to sneak a nce at Ozul were curious about who the two walking behind their leader were since they had never seen them before.


    Looking at everything around, Raven could not help but think of what Ozul had to do to build all of this. Being the one who had lived with him from childhood, she knew how much he hated doing tedious work.


    On the other hand, ze¡¯s face was full of smiles. There was not a day he regretted taking Ozul¡¯s hand that day.


    Following behind Ozul, the duo reached the 7th floor where Irvin, Haley, and Oliver were having a chat on the couches. Noticing him, the three hurriedly stood up. They were never able to feel his presence until he was too close, so it always made them jump in surprise.


    ¡°Oh~ The Raven and the Demon of the Feral? What a surprise!¡± Oliver was the first one to speak up as he noticed the duo. Even though he respected Ozul as his leader now, there was no way that he would stop teasing him.


    Listening to his words, Irvin was curious at first and then remembered that they were the people following his Young Master during the time when he met him.


    ¡®They must be Young Master¡¯s friends!¡¯ Haley and Irvin thought at the same time.


    ¡°There you have them, Irvin. Only these two will participate in the tournament from the Three-Eyed Strangers,¡± Ozul ordered without bothering to introduce them. After a pause, he continued, ¡°Arrange their rooms on the floor above as well.¡±


    There was only a single room on the entire 8th floor and Ozul trusted ze and Raven not to disturb him while being there.


    ¡°As youmand, Young Master.¡± Irvin bowed.


    ¡°Also, I need to talk to you tomorrow,¡± Ozul remembered something but he was toozy to ask right now. He turned towards the duo and said, ¡°Ask Haley whatever you need. Tomorrow, I will check on your progress, so be prepared.¡±


    After saying everything he needed, Ozul went to the 8th floor to sleep. Long travels always made him sleepy because of the boredom.


    No one spoke a word until Ozul was finally out of their sight. The first one to speak was Oliver, ¡°Hoho~ You remember this old man, little girl? How about you spar with me before him? I want to see how much you have grown up.¡±


    Oliver had only spoken casually, he didn¡¯t even try to sense her cultivation base. But his words caused Irvin to look at him like he was an idiot.


    ¡°What?¡± Oliver noticed Irvin¡¯s look and asked.


    ¡°She will crush you. Why do you always look for trouble Oliver?¡± Irvin¡¯s look almost seemed like he was pitying Oliver that for all his brilliance, he could not learn to control his tongue.


    ¡°Eh? What? She can crush me?¡± Oliver didn¡¯t believe his words and immediately checked to see Raven¡¯s cultivation base but he wasn¡¯t able to determine anything. Realizing what it meant, he turned towards Irvin and asked, ¡°What... is her Rank?¡±


    ¡°Both of them are Rank-8 at the middle stage,¡± Irvin answered with a smirk. Oliver always pulled his leg about being the ve of Haley, so he could not help but smile looking at the changing colors on his face.


    Oliver didn¡¯t speak for a while and had to digest this new information. It was hard to believe that the little girl had surpassed him by such arge margin. After a while, a toothy smile bloomed on his face as he muttered, ¡°... Our victory is confirmed!¡±


    Two Mages of Rank-8 middle stage! Even a single was enough to win the tournament, and they had two of them! Oliver might have not been so strong himself, but it was widely known to everyone how rare Rank-8 Mages were at such a young age.


    Irvin and Haley agreed with Oliver¡¯s sentiment and also nodded their heads.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to spar anymore, Oliver?¡± Raven asked and Oliver shrunk down like a balloon that had all of its gas leaked.


    ¡°Hehe, I won¡¯t stand a chance against the Raven,¡± Oliver would rather be shameless than to show some stupid bravery and throw himself before an angry lioness.


    ¡°Your rooms will be arranged in an hour, if you need anything specific, just tell me. Till then, you can take the couches,¡± Haley warmly informed Raven and ze before taking leave to prepare everything.


    ¡°So you are the reason Young Master was called the Raven¡¯s Shadow...¡± Irvin could not help but mutter. Though he still couldn¡¯t understand why Raven¡¯s name at that time became famous while his Young Master¡¯s didn¡¯t.


    If only he looked beside him at this instant, he would instantly receive his answer from the way Oliver rolled his eyes.


    ze didn¡¯t act reserved and casually took the couch and muttered, ¡°That reminds me, why was Master called the Feral? I mean, I haven¡¯t met anyone more elegant than Master...¡±


    Irvin and Raven quickly nodded their heads with a serious face, wholly agreeing with ze¡¯sst sentence.


    Meanwhile, Oliver¡¯s tone again changed to a teasing one as he spoke, ¡°Ho~? The Demon doesn¡¯t know why the Feral got his nickname as such?¡±


    However, before ze could even re at him, Oliver disyed a toothy grin ¡°It¡¯s because whenever he was annoyed, his enemies¡¯ bodies were found cut in hundreds of little pieces...¡± he answered while motioning with his forefinger and thumb to show their size.

 Chapter 222

    Chapter 222: No chance.


    The next day Ozul woke up and rubbed the belly of Jinx before leaving the room.


    As he closed the door, he noticed the two new rooms built on the side. Though there was no one inside as he felt Raven and ze on the floor below.


    He had almost forgotten that since they were both Rank-8 Mages now, sleeping every day was useless to them.


    The Mana Core of Mages had the property to automatically regte a small quantity of Mana throughout the body all the time. With a higher Rank, the quantity of Mana regtion increased which in turn caused the Mages to be reinvigorated for days.


    Ozul shrugged his shoulders and made his way down the stairs. He would never understand why anyone would stop sleeping just because they can.


    For him, sleeping put him in a state where he didn¡¯t think of any other worrying matters. That alone was enough to make him want to have hours-long sleep every once in a while.


    As he arrived on the 7th floor, all the top brass of the organization were having a meeting. The only difference being that Raven also had a seat on the table.


    .....


    ze, on the other hand, was meditating on the couch ced at the corners of the hall room. Such technical stuff bored him to no end, so he would rather meditate than listen to someplicated reports.


    When everyone noticed his presence, they were about to stand up but Ozul motioned them to keep doing whatever they already were.


    ¡°Leave it. Follow me to the training grounds. You too, Irvin,¡± Ozul stated while indicating Raven, ze, and Irvin.


    Raven and ze instantly became anxious and excited at the same time.


    Excited because they wanted to show off their hard work after more than a decade of time. But also anxious since they weren¡¯t sure if Ozul would be satisfied or not. What if they disappoint him again? It was a question that worried them the most.


    Despite their internal anxiety, the two maintained their facial expressions and quickly followed behind Ozul together with Irvin.


    . . .


    In the training grounds, Ozul stood in the middle with Raven and ze standing on his opposite sides.


    Meanwhile, Irvin spectated from a distance only. Ozul had told him to wait here until he was finished with those two.


    ¡°After all that time, you both should be familiar with each other¡¯s attacks, yes?¡± Ozul asked and the duo nodded their heads in response.


    ¡°Alright, attack together...¡± the words had just left Ozul¡¯s mouth when the ground below him started to turn into ice.


    Ozul didn¡¯t have a moment to look at this because just then, a dagger appeared behind him. But that was not all, Raven suddenly appeared closer to him together with a couple of floating daggers almost touching his skin.


    It didn¡¯t end there either because Ozul moved his eyes to notice the two giant ice pirspletely surrounding him with ze flying directly above him, ready to bombard him with hundreds of ice shards.


    ¡°...¡± In the distance, Irvin stared at them with his mouth hanging open in surprise. ¡®Monsters! I only blinked once! How did they go from standing so casually to this in the blink of an eye?!¡¯


    Irvin was a peak Rank-8 Mage, but even he was surprised at their speed and abilities.


    ¡°However, a Rank-9 is not something they can ever hope to match...¡± Irvin muttered as he watched the battle with keen interest.


    Raven and ze smirked at their victory since Ozul waspletely surrounded by daggers and the sharp ice, but their smiles disappeared the moment they felt something cold against their necks.


    Not only that but when they looked at where Ozul stood just a second ago, the spot was empty!


    ¡°Wh-¡± ze was about to ask but he stopped when his eyes swept to the corner of the training ground, near where Irvin was spectating from.


    Raven sighed because she realized that they didn¡¯t evene near their victory.


    Following that, the daggers disappeared in ck smoke and the ice pirs emerging from the ground also crumbled down together with the shards floating with ze.


    The cold feeling Raven and ze felt was from needles as thin as hair ced right on their necks, threatening to kill them at any instance.


    ¡°You did well. Even if there was a peak Rank-8 Mage at my ce, he would have been done for,¡± Ozulmented in a normal voice. But since the training ground was empty, his words were heard till the opposite corner.


    ¡®They will never be able to show their real strength against someone that willpletely overwhelm them...¡¯ Ozul realized only after they had started attacking him.


    He turned around and took the nearest seat with Irvin following behind him like a loyal bodyguard.


    ¡°Duel between yourselves. Against me, Raven had a disadvantage, so it will only be fair if you two fight instead,¡± Ozul said as both of them got pumped again.


    Raven was also aware that many of her Magical Spells didn¡¯t work on Ozul, so she wouldn¡¯t be able to use them on him. She still remembered when her daggers didn¡¯t hurt him in his hands, unlike what she had willed them to be.


    Before the two started, they didn¡¯t miss a ck cat slowly walking from Ozul¡¯s side, and at the end, it jumped onto hisp.


    Ozul casually started to pat her head with an expressionless face. Irvin curiously looked at him, guessing what his young master was really thinking. Because his actions were soft, but his face did not match his actions at all.


    ¡°Start,¡± Ozul said without waiting for them to get ready.


    Raven was the first to react as she cast some spell and smoke started to gather around her. After just a few seconds, ck smoke had covered all the training ground except for the seatings.


    Ozul remembered that it was the Night¡¯s Shade; the spell he had asked Raven to make for him. Thoughter, he didn¡¯t need it so much. ¡®She upgraded it, huh,¡¯ he pondered because this smoke was not only thicker but also covered a lot more area.


    Irvin couldn¡¯t see through the smoke, but for him, the smoke was as good as air. The only thing that tried to block his vision was the Mana, but he wasn¡¯t much troubled by it.


    He noticed that ze, even after not being able to see anything, wasn¡¯t panicked. Instead, he had closed his eyes and tried to focus on his other senses.


    ¡®They have probably fought for tens of times before, so he might have gotten used to this,¡¯ Ozul carefully analyzed all of their actions. On his side, Irvin didn¡¯t dare to disturb him.


    A few daggers closed in on ze, but he immediately intercepted them by creating small ice chunks.


    Unknown to him, there were several more daggers, all of them floating around him without creating a sound. Raven sent just one of them at first and when ze intercepted that one, she made all the others attack simultaneously, hoping to catch him off guard.


    However, ze simply generated ice walls all around him. The ck daggers couldn¡¯t pierce through due to the thickness of the ice.


    Raven was about to cast another spell to break the ice walls when the small ice shards were thrown in her direction. ¡®Dammit! He is getting used to this...¡¯ she thought before deciding to confront him head-on.


    ze also removed the ice walls and headed for directbat because just defending wouldn¡¯t make him win.


    ¡°This will take a while...¡± Ozul muttered before shifting his attention to Irvin and asked, ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°...¡± Irvin smiled wryly and answered, ¡°Young master... you had asked me to follow you.¡±


    Only then did Ozul remember that he had things to ask from him and muttered, ¡°I almost forgot about it.¡±


    ¡®Not almost, Young Master... you really did forget,¡¯ Irvin thought inside his mind but didn¡¯t dare to say it at Ozul¡¯s face.


    ¡°Even if you are not a master of formations, you should know about some useful ones, yes?¡± Ozul asked because of the line of work that Irvin had before, it demanded him to learn almost everything that he could at a basic level.


    ¡°I might not be a big help, but yes, I am certainly knowledgeable about the useful ones,¡± Irvin replied proudly. He really felt like a butler now since the young masters usually asked their butlers about every small thing.


    ¡°What about the formations that sense everything under a certain radius?¡± Ozul asked. He was referring to the one ced around the Royal Pce of the Silverbird Kingdom.


    If he wanted to infiltrate the Royal Pce and have any chance of getting his arm back, then studying its defenses was a must.


    ¡°Like the one we have set up around our headquarters?¡± Irvin asked to confirm. They had also built a formation around the tower that detected all people entering their premises.


    If the person was unusually strong, even if he used some artifacts, it would instantly rm them. It was quite a convenient tool.


    ¡°Something like that, but not exactly the same,¡± Ozul answered and added, ¡°I am talking about the one created around the Royal Pce of the Silverbird Kingdom.¡±


    Irvin wouldn¡¯t understand if he didn¡¯t specify which formation he was talking about.


    ¡°Young master...¡± Irvin didn¡¯t know what to say. From where he was looking, his young master was up to no good if he was specifically asking for that formation after inviting Emperor Luthien here previously.


    ¡°Just tell me, Irvin. I know what I am doing,¡± Ozul didn¡¯t exin his reasons but assured him because Irvin was genuinely worried.


    Irvin worriedly looked at him for a few moments before sighing deeply, ¡°Alright...¡±

 Chapter 223

    Chapter 223: Changing situations.


    ¡°Young Master, the defensive formations of the Royal Pce of Silverbird Kingdom are a little trickier than what everyone might think...¡± Irvin said with a pause and his face gained a troubled expression.


    ¡°That is what you are here for, Irvin. Exin everything you know,¡± Ozul calmly replied. He was not in a hurry since there was still more than a month and a half worth of time left till the tournament started.


    Irvin nodded his head and began to exin all the details that he was aware of, ¡°... Like all other organizations, many have tried to sneak into that Royal Pce, but not one could seed. That is only because of the formation that the Silverbird family wouldn¡¯t reveal to the world.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know how to create that formation, but what we do know is its functions...¡± Irvin described the history of that formation.


    ¡°The most reliable rumor is that the formation rms the Royal family anytime a body of Mana more powerful than a certain range they have set gets past their walls. And it doesn¡¯t even matter if the person has used some artifacts to hide their Mana intensity or not,¡± Irvin said while slowly shaking his head.


    ¡°That is not all... it is said that even if a person who is weaker than the Mana level that they have set tries to sneak in, it would also rm the family. There has been such an incident before, guards immediately searched everywhere and found that man in a few minutes.¡±


    By now, Irvin could guess what he nned to do, and he hoped that Ozul drops the idea, ¡°The point is, there is no way a person can get inside without getting noticed by that formation and the moment it detects you, all the other formations are automatically activated.¡±


    .....


    The more Ozul heard about the formation, the more his mood dropped. Even if the formation only detected bodies with Mana, it would have been fine since he had none of it.


    However, if every big movement across the walls also rms them, then there was truly no other way than to force his way in whilst dealing with every defense that they have set up.


    ¡°What about the people who go through the main entrance?¡± Ozul remembered that he had entered through the main gate previously at the start of their escort mission.


    Irvin shook his head with a sigh as he wasn¡¯t aware of every little detail. Even all of this was just conclusions based on what had happened in the past. The Royal family wouldn¡¯t just release all the information about their treasured formation.


    *Sigh...*


    Ozul could not help but release a tired sigh. Hisst option was always to brute his way through, but he knew that things could go wrong at any time if he did that.


    Irvin stayed silent by his side when he noticed that his young master was contemting his actions. He could only hope that he would drop this suicidal n.


    Meanwhile, the battle between ze and Raven continued on. They were engaged in fierce closebat.


    Raven kept trying to get closer to him with both the daggers in her hands, but ze didn¡¯t give her any chance at all. Whenever she used spells, he would block them with ice walls, try to attack her, and back away.


    Very quickly, both of them were getting exhausted because of them using the spells.


    ¡®Just one hit! Only one hit!¡¯ Raven shouted in her mind. Her daggers had the ability to steal people¡¯s Mana and stamina.


    Since the battle hade to a stalemate, a winner would probably be decided on who had more Mana reserves and endurance. Naturally, both of them knew that ze was superior in terms of that, so Raven was desperate to get even a single hit on him.


    If she did, then the victory would most likely be hers. Just a single cut would reverse the oue by stealing ze¡¯s Mana and giving it to Raven. If she got 1 hit in, the rest would get easier.


    ¡®She lost...¡¯ Ozul muttered as he had been watching their duel as well.


    ze had many devastating Magical Spells that if he used, would be fatal to Raven. However, he had not used any because that would also give Raven an opening that she was desperately looking for, which he was not willing to after losing a duel once due to this in the past.


    Ozul understood that Raven wouldn¡¯t be able to even scratch ze¡¯s hair like this.


    ¡®Is it because she is nervous?¡¯ Ozul thought since there were many other ways Raven could go on about this fight instead of what she was doing right now.


    Putting these thoughts in the back of his head, he looked back at Irvin who was patiently waiting for his orders.


    ¡®This is a headache...¡¯ Ozul thought with an unamused expression.


    ¡°Irvin, use our resources and try to find if you can learn anything more about the formation, but be discreet about all of this. I will hear from you tomorrow,¡± Ozul said before dismissing him.


    Irvin wanted to say something but stopped himself when he remembered his young master saying that he knew what he was doing. Whatever he said would fall on deaf ears, so it was better to justply with his orders.


    He gave a short and respectful bow before taking his leave.


    Now only Ozul and Jinx on hisp remained as the spectators of the fight. Though Ozul¡¯s mind was upied with thinking better ways to infiltrate the Royal Pce than charging in without any nning.


    If he entered normally, the formation would most likely detect him even if he did not have Mana and then activate all the other defensive formations that could very well be so many that he might not be able to get past them.


    ¡®The problem is that I have no information whatsoever about what awaits me once I enter...¡¯ Ozul knew that hecked information, but there was no way that he would be able to obtain anything rted to that in such a short time.


    ¡®Heh... the irony. One moment I have too much time and the other, I am out of any...¡¯ Ozul said in his mind, dispirited because he couldn¡¯t think of any better way right now.


    ¡®Sigh... I should think about it after another nap,¡¯ he thought as he ran the fingers made from the Ball of Purity through Jinx¡¯s soft fur. Her soft purring sound seemed to ease the loud noise because of the battle before them.


    Just then, Jinx¡¯s ears twitched and Ozul also raised his head to focus back on the duel between Raven and ze.


    More than two hours had passed and both of them seemed to be exhausted after the continuous sh.


    Sweat drenched both of their clothes but ze appeared to be noticeably in a better condition. Things were looking good for him and if he could maintain his current strategy, he woulde out as the winner.


    Even Ozul concluded that it was ze¡¯s win. Though he still waited and didn¡¯t end their match just based on his conclusion.


    However, Ozul noticed something now that ze didn¡¯t.


    A small shadow had erected just a few steps behind him! He was so busy dodging Raven¡¯s daggers that he forgot to secure his back.


    *Pichu!*


    The shadow plunged in ze¡¯s thigh at a lightning speed when he was only a foot¡¯s distance away from it.


    ze felt a burning pain when it pierced his thigh, but he tried his best not to ruin his stance. However, the next step he took back made him hiss in pain and he almost stumbled.


    In the end, he did manage to steady himself, but a dagger still got through the opening. It cut the side of the chest, deep enough that the blood dyed the pitch-ck dagger in red.


    In that instant, the blood visibly started to get absorbed by the dagger and a momentter, Raven¡¯s expression improved by arge margin!


    On the other hand, ze¡¯s wounds weren¡¯t enough but the stab had also depleted a small portion of his Mana and stamina!


    ¡®She turned the tables...¡¯ Ozul mused. All of that took so much effort but if anyone else was able to spectate their fight, they would be surprised since it all happened in just a few seconds.


    ze didn¡¯t even put up a fight after that and dropped on the ground while panting heavily.


    ¡°Haa... What... was that?¡± he asked as the dark smoke started to disappear.


    With the smoke gone, the aftermath of their duel became visible. Before it was only in ground, but now there were small craters everywhere!


    ¡°You can guess that on your own,¡± Raven replied with a smirk. The only times she had won against him after he caught up in the Rank was when she did something unconventional.


    ze gave up on asking and dropped on the ground. He had two deep wounds and no strength to stand up while Raven at least had the energy to walk back to where Ozul was sitting.


    She stood just at a little distance away from him and waited for his response. It didn¡¯t matter how many times she had previously lost against ze because, in front of Ozul, she was the one who won.


    Though ze didn¡¯t have enough strength to stand up, he did keep his ears to listen to what Ozul had to say about the fight as well.


    Contrary to both of their expectations, Ozul didn¡¯t praise them, neither was he disappointed. He only said, ¡°From tomorrow onwards, be here early in the morning.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±

 Chapter 224

    Chapter 224: Almost?


    ¡°...From tomorrow onwards, be here early in the morning,¡± Ozul said before he stood up and walked out of the training ground under ze and Raven¡¯s confused expressions.


    Raven turned around and looked at ze who had looked just as confused as she did.


    ¡°What does it mean...?¡± ze muttered while feeling a little concerned. Since he was the one who lost, whatever they would be doing from tomorrow onwards, it would definitely be harder on him.


    ¡°He would most likely make us train every day,¡± Raven spoke her mind.


    Both of them felt a shiver run through their spine at the thought of training with Ozul every day.


    . . .


    Ozul arrived at the 7th floor where only the core members of the organization were allowed and looked for Haley or Oliver for their current situation.


    .....


    Before he did anything dangerous, he wanted to make sure that there weren¡¯t other problems that he needed to deal with beforehand. It was better to solve every situation as they ur because if he let them all pile up, it would be a headache.


    Haley was busy in her office after the meeting, looking at several files in her hands. Dibly stood beside her arranging whatever document she handed him in a certain order.


    There were so many documents and papers in her office that the room filled with a sweet and musky smell.


    With Ozul¡¯s entry, Haley was about to stand up but he waved his hands, telling her not to bother.


    ¡°Do you need anything, Young Master?¡± Haley asked, neatly putting aside all the documents before her. She had to handle the daily reports from almost a hundred branches, so these many documents were understandable.


    ¡°Give me the brief report of our present situation,¡± Ozul said before taking a seat before her.


    Haley nodded her head and flipped through a couple of files before taking out a document.


    ¡°Young Master, things aren¡¯t much different these days. I have been focusing on checking every branch to see if there is any problem. After that, we n to...¡± Haley began to exin what they had decided over the daily meetings.


    A couple of the branch organizations were having trouble. Most of the ones in trouble were because of the local authorities, so she only had to send a couple of people for protection. They were only sent there to defend if anyone caused more problems.


    This was only a small matter, but they had decided that it was better to tidy everything first before starting to grow more.


    Haley exined that they had already started to n the implementation of creating the sub headquarters. They were only waiting to confirm that everything else was working fine.


    ¡°When do you n to start?¡± Ozul asked, staring outside the window.


    ¡°I presume in a couple of days?¡± Haley replied, unsure since they had yet to receive reports from every branch.


    Ozul waited for a good couple of minutes before he said, ¡°Start training people without letting anyone know.¡±


    ¡°Training people? For what?¡± Haley asked confusedly.


    ¡°We will be creating a personal division in the organization. Name them whatever, but only the core members who have taken oaths should know about their existence. Also, whoever you train, they would take oaths to instantly die the moment they tried to betray the organization,¡± Ozul calmly exined.


    The more Haley heard the wider her eyes went. They were nning to create a simr division of elite people, but not at the scale and at the level of secrecy that Ozul was describing them


    ¡°What would their purpose be?¡± Haley asked. She didn¡¯t mean to ask him questions, but it was necessary that the people who trained them and the ones joining those ranks should know what their main task was.


    Ozul understood why Haley asked, but he replied, ¡°When the timees, I will tell them personally.¡±


    Before Haley asked again, he continued, ¡°Teach them everything. Focus more on teamwork and their stealth. Also, you are free to spend how much resources you want from the vaults of the Three-Eyed Strangers on them.¡±


    Haley almost gulped because allowing the usage of their treasury however she liked on this new division meant another responsibility for her. If she gave them too much, then it would start to affect the organization but if she didn¡¯t give them enough, their growth wouldn¡¯t meet Ozul¡¯s expectations.


    There was just too much to think about. Ozul noticed her dilemma and offered, ¡°If you have too much on your hands, get Oliver on the job as well. It doesn¡¯t matter if he misses some nights of sleep.¡±


    With thisment, Haley¡¯s face blossomed with a sweet smile. If she could give whatever order to Oliver in this task, then things all of sudden looked too easy in her eyes.


    In the office at a little distance from them, Oliver felt a shiver run through his spine as he hurriedly looked around to find the cause, ¡®who did I offend now?!¡¯


    . . .


    After telling Haley what he wanted, Ozul made his way back to his room.


    This separate division that he was nning to create was his main goal when he had started to n on creating the Three-Eyed Strangers.


    The organization would keep its work as a normal group of people collecting your everyday information from all over the continent. But what he wanted wasn¡¯t just ordinary information.


    He wanted to find clues about the life-like symbols on his limbs at the time of his birth! And he was pretty certain that he wouldn¡¯t find any information about them on just the streets.


    If he wanted to be absolutely sure, then he needed people to infiltrate other factions and even search the old ruins and the dangerous ces where ordinary people wouldn¡¯t dare to enter. All of that because who knew where he would find his answers?


    He went to his room and dropped on the bed. His eyes naturally closed as he forgot about everything and focused on thefortable feeling.


    . . .


    The next day, Ozul woke upte, andzily made his way down the floor.


    ¡°Where are Raven and ze?¡± he asked after approaching the first person he saw on the 7th floor.


    The man almost jumped out in surprise when he noticed who was asking him the question, but he tried his best to stop shaking and answered, ¡°I... think they are at the training ground?¡±


    ¡®... Oh. I almost forgot...¡¯ Ozul thought as he remembered telling the duo to be there early in the morning. Looking out of the window, it was already around midday.


    Thinking about that, he ordered the man who was sweating in his presence, ¡°Find Irvin, tell him to meet me at the training ground.¡±


    After saying that, Ozul walked away leaving the man running around everywhere desperately searching for Irvin.


    Ozul arrived at the training ground and when he entered, his eyes quickly fell on the two people fighting in the middle.


    ¡®Oh? They must have gotten bored...¡¯ he thought while making his way to the closest seat.


    The two weren¡¯t using any magical spells, it was only physicalbat so the two easily noticed his presence since the whole training ground was empty.


    ¡°Don¡¯t stop. Continue,¡± Ozul said as he sensed Irvin making his way there as well.


    Raven and ze nodded their head and went back to their punches and kicks; they weren¡¯t using any other weapons.


    ¡°Young Master,¡± Irvin muttered while giving him a short and respectful bow.


    ¡°I had given you a task yesterday,¡± Ozul reminded with his eyes still on Raven and ze.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master. Since the time was so short, I had gotten help from the Ashin Family...¡± Irvin truthfully admitted.


    Ozul didn¡¯t mind it since only 1 day was indeed too short for everything. So he said, ¡°It¡¯s fine. Tell me everything.¡±


    Irvin released an imaginary sigh of relief before he started exining, ¡°The good news is; they confirmed that whatever I had told you yesterday was indeed true.¡±


    Ozul nodded his head, ¡°Continue.¡± If he said good news, it meant there was a piece of bad news as well.


    ¡°The bad news is that it¡¯s the extent of their knowledge as well... They said that things other than that are all baseless rumors. None of them can be believed...¡± Irvin said with a few pauses.


    *Sigh...*


    Ozul released another sigh when Jinx appeared out of nowhere and jumped on hisp. That at least distracted him a little as he ordered, ¡°Alright. You can go...¡±


    Irvin didn¡¯t wait any longer and went back to the tower leaving only him as the spectator. Others didn¡¯t dare to even enter the training ground after they found out who was inside.


    ¡®There is no other way. I will just have to take the risk...¡¯ Ozul decided that he would just have to do with whatever information he had right now and make a gamble.


    For Ozul, there was only one silver lining in all of this mess. And that was also the formation that detected anyone who tried to trespass the Royal estate.


    The defensive formations that attacked or prevented anyone from entering certain areas could not be kept activated all the time because all of them demanded heaps and piles of resources to keep them running.


    That meant if he somehow managed to avoid the first formation that activated all the others, then he would have no problem at all.


    ¡®If the case of that weak man trespassing their estate is as exactly as Irvin described, then it might work. If not... then I will just have to improvise,¡¯ Ozul decided while looking at Jinx in hisp.


    ¡°Alright, stop you two...¡±

 Chapter 225

    Chapter 225: Training.


    ¡°Alright, Stop you two,¡± Ozul said, before standing up leaving Jinx on the seat.


    The two immediately stopped at his words, waiting for his orders. They were still unsure what he had called them here for. After they had returned, they didn¡¯t have any chance to talk with him.


    ¡°Both of you have improved over the years,¡± Ozul started with a pause. The duo understood by his tone that he wasn¡¯t praising them and his next words confirmed their guess, ¡°However, you stillck in many ces.¡±


    Ozul hadn¡¯t trained anyone before, nor had he himself done any excessive training to hone his skills or anything like that. However, whenever he watched anyone fight or he fought himself, these things all came naturally to him.


    ¡°I get that both of you couldn¡¯t go all out since it was only a duel and that would destroy the area, but there were many other ways you both could have chosen to win,¡± Ozul started exining what he had observed from their fight yesterday.


    Raven and ze patiently listened to his words without anyints.


    ¡°Raven, you won yesterday, but how many times do you think you can win against him using surprise tactics?¡± Ozul said before moving towards ze, ¡°And you, when will you learn to deal with unknown situations?¡±


    .....


    The duo dropped their heads, not daring to look in Ozul¡¯s eyes.


    In truth, both of them could take on multiple Mages at the same Rank simultaneously. ze had the raw power to deal with many at once, while Raven¡¯s specialty was in her daggers that allowed her to steal other¡¯s Mana and stamina.


    Ozul was still being strict with them because there was still room for improvement. If they became arrogant because of their abilities today, it would stunt their growth.


    ¡°Raven, you are a little too reserved, while ze, you are a little too wild,¡± Ozulmented before making his way back to the spectators¡¯ seats.


    ¡°Alright, start fighting again. Use all kinds of Spells but keep your Mana output to a minimum so they don¡¯t destroy the whole ground again,¡± Ozul said, his voice echoing throughout the ce.


    The ground had many small craters yesterday, but all of them were gone now because a couple of Mages were assigned to maintain this ce. The Mage with Earth Element only had to use a couple of Spells and the ground all turned to normal.


    Ozul picked up Jinx from the seat and sat down before cing her back on hisp. It had almost be a habit now.


    He noticed that they hadn¡¯t started fighting and were looking at him confusedly, ¡°Just do whatever I say.¡±


    The duo nodded their heads and went back to their duel. This time, they were using the Spells as Ozul had instructed.


    ¡®Raven focuses on her surroundings so much that she hesitates to go all out, on the other hand, ze is the exact opposite of her...¡¯ Ozul had an idea of how he wanted to train the two.


    He watched them battle it out for a few minutes, and then suddenly;


    *Arkh!*


    *nk!*


    The duo stopped fighting each other as a small ck de stabbed ze¡¯s right leg while Raven held one of her daggers behind her back, barely stopping a thin needle from reaching her back.


    The two confusedly looked at Ozul for his reason.


    ¡°Learn to be aware of your surroundings. Or do you prefer to leave from here full of holes?¡± Ozul looked expressionless as he said this to ze who was smiling bitterly. He then turned towards Raven and said, ¡°Is going all out really so hard for you, Raven?¡±


    Immediately after his question, Raven wanted to exin but Ozul didn¡¯t let her, ¡°If you had all your focus on attacking ze, there was not a chance that you would have ever felt that needle behind you.¡±


    He had carefully controlled the speed of that needle so she, as a Rank-8 Mage, had the ability to notice it if she had her focus on it.


    Hearing his words, even someone who wasn¡¯t a Mage or a Fighter would have told Ozul that he was only spouting bullsh*t.


    Although his analysis of ze was on spot, there should have been no problem with Raven always being aware of her surroundings. Ozul himself didn¡¯t like the sound of his words, but the problem was the amount of attention she should give to her opponent in sight.


    Truly, a person shouldn¡¯t drop their guard and always be aware of their surroundings, but Raven wasn¡¯t even able to use all of her spells in fear that there would always be something hidden around her that would attack her.


    He only wanted her to drop that fear.


    There was a clear line between being too reserved in a fight and not dropping their guard; Raven couldn¡¯t recognize that line.


    Ozul wanted her to learn that bnce. It wasn¡¯t so hard for others, but Raven had it opposite because of her excessively conserved personality that made it so difficult for her.


    Right now, Ozul felt that she was not even using sixty percent of her strength in fighting ze.


    ¡®She will only learn this the hard way. After all, pain is the best teacher,¡¯ Ozul thought as the needle which was blocked by Raven¡¯s de suddenly changed its direction and pierced her leg. It was deep enough to hurt, but not so that it could be considered fatal.


    ¡°This is the way we will be doing things from now on. If you think it is too much for you, you are free to leave,¡± Ozul wouldn¡¯t be soft on them, especially after the possibility of there existing other worlds that most probably surpassed this one by arge margin.


    Raven and ze looked at each other; it was clear that they wouldn¡¯t back down from something like this.


    ¡®This much is nothing...¡¯ both of them thought as they nodded their heads with a solemn face.


    Although they thought that, the session that started next almost seemed like torture.


    They started their duel, and Ozul would asionally throw thin needles at Raven from all sides and des at ze.


    Though it sounded like both of them would have equal amounts of trouble, it wasn¡¯t the case. Because it was easy for Raven to stop herself from instinctively blocking whatever came at her from behind, but it was different for ze.


    Whenever he managed to dodge or block the de sent by Ozul, he would be hit by the daggers that Raven was using. This continued on for a couple of hours before ze had bled a little too much and couldn¡¯t resume.


    During this time, Raven was hit a couple of times, but she started to get the hang of it. However, Ozul wasn¡¯t satisfied because she was only stopping herself in thest second which meant that she did have her attention on those needles.


    The needles just being there distracted her too much in the fight even when Ozul had clearly stated that he wouldn¡¯t attack her. Ozul didn¡¯t even put them too close to her. They remained a few feet away, but Raven couldn¡¯t concentrate on her fight because of that.


    ¡°Alright, you can rest,¡± Ozul said when he noticed that ze wouldn¡¯t be able to move for a few minutes. It had exhausted both of them, but he had gotten the shorter end of the stick.


    The duo finally released a sigh of relief, but Raven had another thinging for her when she heard Ozul call her.


    ¡®It¡¯s better to do it now. I will get busyter, and I might never find any timeter,¡¯ Ozul decided to tell Raven about her situation.


    Raven nervously made her way towards him. She didn¡¯t know why, but it felt as if she wouldn¡¯t like whatever she would hear next.


    Her fear proved true when Ozul said, ¡°Sit down, it¡¯s about your feelings towards me.¡± Not only was this a sensitive topic to her that had her troubled for so long, but the expressionless face and the unfeeling tone Ozul said it with caused her to almost tear up.


    *Sigh...*


    Ozul sighed and motioned at the seat in front of me before saying, ¡°I am not going to reprimand you for what you feel, Raven. Sit down, listen to me first.¡±


    Raven obediently nodded her head like a little child and took the seat.


    ¡°It¡¯s not hidden that you like me. But you are going about it the wrong way. You are smart, Raven. Try to understand what I am saying,¡± Ozul wasn¡¯t very good with words, but he knew that he had to do this or it would be a headacheter in the future.


    After confirming that she was listening, he continued, ¡°The only reason you like me was that I saved you that day. It would have been fine if it was only that, but you closed yourself.¡±


    Ozul¡¯s tone was as serious as he could get it to be. Meanwhile, Raven¡¯s face remained glued to the ground.


    ¡°If I say that your feelings are not true, you would fervently deny it. However, that is the truth-¡±


    Raven looked up and was about to say something, but Ozul said, ¡°No. Listen to me first. That is the truth because those feelings were only you seeing me in a positive light since I saved you.¡±


    Raven¡¯s face again dropped.


    Ozul continued, ¡°Don¡¯t deny it; you never tried to express your feelings to others. Even if you don¡¯t like someone or something, you would rather not say anything... And because of that, your likeness towards me has developed as if an obsession because I am one of the only few that you express your feelings in front of.¡±


    Saying all of that, Ozul took a deep sigh internally. It was annoying for him to do this, but he would be ruining Raven¡¯s future if he didn¡¯t take any action.


    Raven, on the other hand, was deep in her thoughts...

 Chapter 226

    Chapter 226: shback.


    Hearing everything that Ozul had said, Raven¡¯s mind automatically went to the time when her parents were alive.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    ¨C shback ¨C


    She was just a naive kid, and her parents used to tell her many bedtime stories.


    Even as a kid, she wanted to roam ces. Whenever she heard adventure stories, it would excite her so much that instead of sleeping, she would ask her mother toplete the story no matter howte it was.


    Being in a small vige, those stories were her only source of entertainment.


    Since she listened to all those stories, the little Raven had decided that she would also go adventuring when she grew up and became strong.


    .....


    However, even when she wanted to be strong herself, the stories of the princesses getting saved by their knights in the shining armor were still her favorite. Despite her dreams being different from other girls around her age, she was still a little girl, and such stories left a deep impression on her.


    Maybe not every girl would dream of some knight saving them from a life-threatening situation, but Raven certainly had dreamt of it many times before.


    Even that night, before going to sleep, the little Raven had asked her mother, ¡°Mom, where do these knights live?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha~... Raven, they don¡¯t live anywhere specifically. When you are in need, a knight would just magically appear there,¡± the mother sweetlyughed at her daughter¡¯s innocence.


    Reassuring her daughter that she would find her own knight when it is the right time, the mother tucked her in the bed and went out of the room, unaware of the tragedy that would follow soon after.


    ...


    The next day, the Beast Wave happened and many of the vigers died in a few minutes.


    Little Raven had just woken up when she saw her parents enter her room, and her mother anxiously got her out of the bed.


    In a matter of seconds, she found herself being dragged towards the small cliff. She tried to question what was happening, but her parents were too busy focusing on other things.


    On the way, there were ferocious wolves that tried to attack them but her father managed to kill them. Raven swept her eyes to the surroundings and noticed that there were many Beasts in the distance attacking other people.


    ¡°H-hey hey. Look here. Nothing is wrong, Raven. Aren¡¯t you a brave girl? Just stay here, Mom and I wille back, okay?¡± These were thest words she had heard from her father who went back to the vige with her mom to save others.


    With tears in her eyes, Raven waited and waited for a long time. She was obedient and almost never disobeyed her parents. Slowly, even night fell but there was no sign of her parents returning.


    Although she was little, Raven was able to understand the situation, and that only caused her to cry more. She couldn¡¯t take it anymore and decided to run back to the vige.


    However, the sight she saw when she got there horrified her!


    There were mutted corpses littered all around the vige. Their blood flowed from their corpses and joined to form many dark red puddles of blood.


    Raven was brave, but not so much that the horrendous sight of her friends and neighbors¡¯ corpses wouldn¡¯t jolt her back. For a couple of seconds, she couldn¡¯t even believe that all of this was true.


    Tears couldn¡¯t stop running from her eyes and she was about to shout for her parents.


    However, just then she heard a couple of footsteps and the voices that followed,


    ¡°Gather all the survivors! Boss said that whatever we make by selling them as ves will be ours.¡±


    ¡°The few who survived and remained are only children though. The adults ran away...¡±


    ¡°Does it matter?! huh?! And don¡¯t you know? Children these days are in high demand, hehe...¡±


    ...


    When Raven first heard the footsteps, she wanted to run towards them but hearing their conversation caused her to stumble on the ground.


    *Thuddk*


    ¡°Who is there!?¡±


    There were dry tree leaves scattered all over the ground so when she dropped, it created a lot of noise.


    ¡®Mom... Dad...¡¯ Raven hoped to find her parents who would protect her, but she also stood up to run away. She might be a little girl but even she knew that those were the bad guys and she had to run away from them.


    As she ran away, she thought of finding her parents, but the fear that the bad guy was behind her and would catch up took over her body and she couldn¡¯t stop.


    In the moment of her peril, there was no knight in the shining armor to save her or find her parents.


    She kept running and didn¡¯t dare to stop and look behind. Only when she was surrounded by concrete buildings did she stop around the corner where people passing by looked at her with scorn in their eyes.


    She was too exhausted to think about anything at that point. Slowly her eyes closed and she fell unconscious in the alleyway.


    When Raven woke up, she desperately wished everything to be a dream, but the reality was cruel.


    Little Raven started to cry and only stopped when she had run out of tears. Her belly ached since she hadn¡¯t eaten anything yesterday.


    *Grr...*


    She couldn¡¯t take it any longer when her stomach started to growl loudly. Little Raven stood up and viewed her surroundings. She had fallen asleep in an alleyway, so when she got out, the sunlight caused intense pain in her eyes.


    Raven looked around and noticed many people with ragged clothing. She recognized some of them since they were from her vige.


    Immediately, hope lit up in her eyes as she ran around to look for her parents.


    In the end, she found an olddy that used to be her neighbor who called her out,


    ¡°...Raven?¡±


    Little Raven¡¯s body jolted and she found herself in front of the olddy in a matter of seconds.


    ¡°G-grandma! Did you see dad and mom? Where are they?¡± Raven asked with difficulty. Even running around like this took her a great deal of effort because of hunger.


    The olddy who had called her look dismayed at the ground and for a moment, she didn¡¯t know what to tell her.


    ¡°Little Raven... your parents... beasts surrounded them and...¡± the olddy breathed roughly. She didn¡¯t want to give such news to the little girl, but she had no other choice.


    Raven¡¯s eyes immediately widened with shock and disbelief. She didn¡¯t look up to face the olddy and neither did she had the strength to utter any words.


    The olddy also walked away after informing Raven. Although she felt guilty, it wasn¡¯t her responsibility to feed this little girl.


    Raven, in the end, was only 9 years old and it was already fortunate that she was able to think for herself.


    In only a single day, her whole world had been flipped all over. One day she was discussing stories about knights saving the princesses in trouble and the other day, she became an orphan, was starving, and there was no one to look after her.


    Half of that day passed and Raven didn¡¯t know what she would do, but her grumbling stomach got her on the feet and she roamed all around the city searching for food.


    However, her clothes were ragged and dirt covered her face. The disgust in others¡¯ eyes was so visible to Raven that she didn¡¯t even try to approach anyone.


    Since there was no other way, she had to search for food in the alleys where people threw their half-eaten and half-rotten food. Raven was a quick learner and she even learned to steal bread.


    ¡®There are no knights in the shining armor,¡¯ Raven had concluded when no one came to her aid after she almost starved to death. She had learned that if she didn¡¯t do anything for herself, nothing good will ever happen to her.


    However, a young girl living on the streets and sleeping in the alleyways could never escape the ve traders¡¯ eyes.


    These sick people knew that the Beast wave that had attacked the vige would make them huge profits. The survivors of such attacks mostly take refuge in the slums or in the alleys where people throw their garbage in.


    Though Raven, fortunately, managed to slip from these ve traders¡¯ eyes, one day, a drunk man who worked for these ve traders found her.


    No matter how sharp, Raven hadn¡¯t faced anything like that and it caught her off-guard when that drunk man started forcing her to follow him to the ve trader. She had learned to scavenge for food in just a day, but this was the first time she experienced the real filth of this world.


    She struggled with the man, but her small stature didn¡¯t help her. The thing that depressed her the most in this situation was how a couple of people did pass by on the street, but no one had the heart to help her.


    Slowly, Raven was losing hope, but she didn¡¯t stop struggling.


    And when she was also losing the strength to continue to resist, it happened...


    Little Raven had long ago stopped expecting this, however, this time, her knight dide!


    He didn¡¯t look so shiny like the knights in the story, but he was still her knight who had saved her. Even if he didn¡¯t have the shiny armor, his image in the pitch-ck hat was even cooler than the stories she had imagined.


    When Ozul had saved her that day, his presence acted like a hot drop of water that suddenly fell in the calm and coldke that was about to turn into ice, creating ripples that magically warmed this whole body of water.


    That moment Raven knew that she couldn¡¯t lose this person who had saved her. Her 9 years old heart didn¡¯t want to lose that feeling of safety that she felt around him.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    ¨C shback End. ¨C


    ¡°That is not love, Raven... You are only afraid...¡±

 Chapter 227

    Chapter 227: Prove wrong?


    ¡°That is not love, Raven... You are only afraid. Afraid of being abandoned, and you think that rejecting everyone else would prevent me from doing that to you.¡±


    Ozul¡¯s voice jolted awake Raven from her stupor. She desperately wanted to deny his words, but nothing came out of her mouth.


    Because deep inside, she knew that some of what Ozul said was true even if she did not agree with everything.


    She might have stopped herself from expressing her emotions to anyone other than him, but it was still undeniable that she loved him.


    As if he understood what she would say, Ozul spoke first, ¡°You cannot call it love. You only had positive feelings towards me which have bottled up to a point where you think that it is your goal.¡±


    ¡°If you try to argue that what I am saying is only what I think, then that little girl in the Sect that you left behind is an example for you. If you can open up to that little girl, you can do it with others too,¡± Ozul paused; words always drained him.


    A momentter, he continued, ¡°I am not telling you to go love everyone or something. You don¡¯t need to be so friendly with everyone. Just express your emotions, whatever they are a little more, and you might one day realize that what you have for me is not love. Find some real purpose in your life.¡±


    .....


    Whenever Raven would try to argue about something, Ozul would beat her to the punch and say something that would cause her to think again. She couldn¡¯t think of anything to say at all.


    Seeing that it was having some effect on her, Ozul took a harsher tone, ¡°I need people to work for me. I need someone strong and capable of working for me. I don¡¯t need a lover, Raven.¡±


    Being together with her for so long, Ozul wouldn¡¯t leave Raven just anywhere, but that also didn¡¯t mean that he loved her.


    ¡®I have too many things to do to even think about something so unusual like love,¡¯ Ozul honestly considered the conceptplicated enough that he wouldn¡¯t waste his time on it.


    Once the unconscious strings are attached to others, ites to a point where the opinions of those others start to hold more importance than your own satisfaction.


    Though some would argue that in that case, the person in question would find their satisfaction in fulfilling the wishes of those ¡®others¡¯, Ozul felt that this was not the time nor was he free enough to contemte such things.


    His words were harsh enough that Raven felt a pang of pain jolt through her chest, but she remained quiet. She knew that what she felt towards him was love, but not only did he not believe it, he also didn¡¯t care about it.


    ¡°What do you aim to achieve? What is your goal?¡± Ozul asked a question that Raven couldn¡¯t find the answer to.


    If she said that she wanted to do everything for him, it would further prove his point. Raven wanted to prove him wrong. She wanted him to know that she wasn¡¯t afraid of abandonment.


    ¡°I... my goal... is to be so strong that one day I will be able to protect those who are dear to me,¡± Raven dered with a firm voice. Though at the start, it felt like she was convincing herself.


    ¡®Well, at least that is a start...¡¯ Ozul thought, but he knew that her definition of those dear to her probably includes only three people.


    Ozul understood that just words alone wouldn¡¯t change her in a matter of minutes, but now that he had told her these things, she would be more open-minded of her own situation.


    ¡°Just know that I have spent efforts cultivating you... do not disappoint me,¡± Ozul wanted capable followers, and Raven had the potential to be one. He didn¡¯t have the option to be indifferent now.


    He stood up with a sigh and muttered, ¡°I am sure you would get out of it, Raven.¡±


    ¡®Never!¡¯ Raven shouted inside her mind. If he didn¡¯t acknowledge her affection, then she¡¯d stop herself from expressing those emotions. Nheless, she could never just forget those feelings.


    As he was about to walk out of the ground, he turned around and ordered Raven, ¡°Don¡¯t leave him alone. Get him inside first.¡±


    She was following him out of the training ground while ze was still lying there in the middle of the ground, looking as if he was dead because of his bloody figure.


    ¡°Tch!¡±


    Ozul heard the sound, but he decisively ignored and walked out, leaving Raven to tend to poor ze who didn¡¯t know if leaving her to help him was a blessing or curse from Ozul.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    ¡®Hu... I have done enough. It is up to her now,¡¯ Ozul released a deep breath as he directly went to his room to sleep.


    ¡®I didn¡¯t know I could talk so much in such a short amount of time...¡¯ he slept that day with such monologues running in his mind.


    Raven¡¯s situation was moreplicated than how he described it, but now it was her problem. He had warned her, and it would be her responsibility now.


    In the first ce, Ozul had never imagined that the girl he saved that day would persist for so long with him. Although he had scolded Raven today, it was also true that she had never bothered him about her feelings in any way before.


    The only reason he wanted to point it out was so that she would have her own life as well. He wanted capable people, not puppets.


    . . .


    The next day, Raven seemed extra serious, and ze was all patched up. There was not a sign of injuries on his body.


    Ozul had controlled the de so that it didn¡¯t cause any fatal injury to ze, and the healing potion worked its wonders.


    Talking about them, Ozul knew about the healing potions that his organization used, but he didn¡¯t stop them since now that they were already made, they were better used on his people than on others.


    Shaking these thoughts out of his mind, he focused on the duo fighting before him.


    Although Raven and ze were extra prepared these days, things didn¡¯t change much from the previous day.


    Maybe because Ozul went a little easy on them, ze stood standing for more than half a day, and Raven started to show improvements in herbat as well.


    ¡®Now I only have to wait...¡¯


    While training the duo, Ozul didn¡¯t forget about the tournament.


    He would asionally call Irvin to ask if he had any news or any useful information, however, that proved to be fruitless.


    Ozul didn¡¯t get discouraged by this. He had already prepared himself for what he was about to do. And for passing the time, he started to train the duo every day.


    Days started to pass, and each passing day, the duo felt their so-called ¡®training¡¯ transforming into torture.


    As the days passed, Ozul didn¡¯t slow his pace. Since he was bored, he started to give them more of his ¡®focus¡¯.


    But with the increasing intensity of their training, the results became obvious as well.


    ze started to be able to dodge the des asionally without getting hit by Raven.


    On the other hand, Raven¡¯s improvement became more prominent as the days passed. Ozul would have multiple needles floating around her at a time, but she got used to ignoring them.


    After that, it was easier for her to fight more openly. She started using other spells than just those simple daggers. She also used the Darkness Element for Spells that sted upon contact. It was hard considering the Element¡¯s nature, but she had managed to create such Spells during her time in the Nine Petals Sect.


    . . .


    In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed and the date of the tournament¡¯s finals was decided.


    The report Irvin had brought Ozul informed him that the participants of the finals were already decided by then and they had even moved to the Neutral Lands. The Mercenary Guild, Leonhard Dynasty, the Church of Light, and the Ashin family had already taken a liking to many young talents.


    This tournament also acted as the recruitment session for big factions to gain talented individuals who previously did not have big enough backing to support them.


    Just like them, Ozul had also instructed Haley to keep their eyes on every participant in the finals.


    ¡°They managed to reach here; every one of them has the talent to be famous throughout the continent in the future, so it¡¯s better if we have information on them from early on,¡± Haleymented and Ozul agreed for a different reason.


    ¡°Many of the factions would try to recruit the cream of the crop, but more than a couple of these kids would still be ignored. We will recruit them,¡± Ozul stated his n as he was sitting on the couch while others held their meeting.


    He had given a day off to Raven and ze.


    Although the Three-Eyed Strangers had grown so much in only a few years, the participants would still be hesitant in choosing a rtively new organization.


    Haley nodded her head in understanding. If these participants were first left disappointed that none of the giant factions had tried to recruit them, the Three-Eyed Strangers¡¯ offer would look like their only hope.


    Ozul turned towards Raven and ze, ¡°Remember, don¡¯t try to show off so much.¡±


    Although Haley and the rest didn¡¯t think that it was the right decision to stop the two from showing off, they didn¡¯t voice out their thoughts.


    In their minds, if Raven and ze showed off in the finals, more people would realize their organization¡¯s strength.

 Chapter 228

    Chapter 228: Too many unknowns.


    ¡°It is better if we don¡¯t stand out,¡± Ozul cleared their doubts but didn¡¯t bother to exin.


    These people were thinking of making the organization more famous, but Ozul felt that their current poprity was enough.


    To gather information, they were required to operate in secrecy, and the more attention they gained, the harder their task would get.


    ¡°How many days till the tournament starts?¡± Ozul asked. Irvin had earlier gotten the news that Emperor Luthien had epted the invitation as well, so everything was going smoothly for now.


    ¡°Just three days, Young Master,¡± Irvin answered. He then added, ¡°In three days, they will only announce the start of the finals, but the battles would start on the 4th day.¡±


    Ozul nodded his head in understanding.


    ¡°Alright, listen here,¡± Ozul said as he leaned forward. The people in the meeting were already fully focused on him, but when he specifically told them to listen, they felt that it might be serious.


    .....


    And it proved true just the next moment when Ozul said, ¡°Inform the sub-headquarters in the south-east part of the continent to call back their elite members back to the base.¡±


    Immediately, their expressions changed. The south-east part of the continent was the one where the Silverbird Kingdom was located, and they had already managed to create the sub-headquarters in that part. It had released arge part of the burden weighing on Haley.


    However, the people present here had their minds all stuck on why the sub-headquarters had to call back all of their elite members from any ongoing missions. Whatever it was, they didn¡¯t like the sound of it.


    ¡°Why? What is going to happen there?¡± Haley was the first to question.


    Meanwhile, Irvin stayed silent at the side. Being the professional butler, he hadn¡¯t even told his wife about what Ozul most probably was nning to do.


    ¡°Well I am going to do something. And that might or might not end up with a war with the Silverbird Kingdom...¡± He hadn¡¯t finished his words when a couple of people stood up in shock.


    Though when they noticed that most like Haley, Oliver, Raven and ze were still calmly listening, they faked a cough and sat back down.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know what I am about to do. But if the war will break out or not will depend on two things; first is if I fail whatever I am about to do, and second is the decision of the Silverbird Kingdom if I fail,¡± Ozul didn¡¯t go into details even when all of them present here had sworn oaths.


    It was better that others didn¡¯t know of what he was nning to do. He only needed them prepared if something did go wrong in the end.


    Those who didn¡¯t like the idea of going to war with the Silverbird Kingdom kept their thoughts to themselves, not daring to say anything in Ozul¡¯s presence.


    Even though the Three-Eyed Strangers had grown their influence to everywhere on the continent, it wasn¡¯t hard to notice that they were not even remotely close to having enough strength to go on a war with such an old kingdom.


    Although Ozul might be able to match or even defeat Emperor Luthien, their organization not only did not have strong enough members, the Silverbird Kingdom probably had ancient artifacts to help them as well.


    No matter how they looked at it, a war with them would destroy the Three-Eyed Strangers.


    ¡°Anyways, I will take care of it. You just do as I say,¡± saying that, Ozul stood up and left the meeting room. Raven and ze soon followed after.


    When they left, the mood in the room turned solemn and for a few seconds no one uttered a word.


    To break the awkward silence, Oliver was the first to speak, ¡°Haha. Why are you worrying so much? Didn¡¯t he just say that he will take care of it?¡±


    ¡°But it is the war with the Silverbird Kingdom we are talking about! Do you not understand what the consequences would be?¡± a Rank-8 Mage spoke.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡±


    In the face of his question, all he received wasughter from Oliver. The others who agreed with the Rank-8 Mage didn¡¯t like his attitude.


    Oliver realized that and said, ¡°I very well do understand what the consequence could be. However, I trust him. For all I know, since he said that he would take care of it, he would hold true to his words.¡±


    Saying that, Oliver also left the room with a smile on his face. On his way out, he patted the Mage¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°He is the leader of this organization, not a fool.¡±


    Oliver¡¯sughter drastically improved the atmosphere. Also, his words caused these people to rethink their doubts.


    Seeing that Oliver had already done half of her work, Haley said, ¡°He is our leader. If you are not going to put your trust in him, then why are you in this organization?¡±


    Hearing her words, those who still held doubts in their heart bowed their heads in shame.


    Haley¡¯s tone was colder than usual since voicing out their opinions was one thing, but she could clearly see the dissatisfaction on some of their faces.


    ¡®Fortunately, I had already had all of them take oaths before even epting them as the core members,¡¯ Haley thought inside her mind. If she hadn¡¯t done that before, she would have to doubt their loyalties now.


    ¡®I just hope Young Master really has a n...¡¯


    . . .


    Ozul noticed the two following behind him and remembered that he hadn¡¯t told them anything either.


    ¡°I will be doing it alone. Also, both of you need to be in the tournament,¡± Ozul said, expecting them to obediently nod their head and walked away.


    However, it was ze who spoke, ¡°Are we still not strong enough?¡±


    ze felt that it might really be the case. And if that was it, then all of their hard work in the previous years felt really useless. So what if they had be Rank-8 Mages if they were still not strong enough to be of his help?


    ¡°No. You are strong enough that I can take you with me,¡± Ozul answered truthfully.


    ¡°Then why?¡± Raven followed up with her question. Both her and ze were in sync.


    ¡°It¡¯s because I don¡¯t know what I will face there myself. However, whatever it is, I have the confidence to protect myself. Even if you had more than double of your current strength, I wouldn¡¯t have taken you with me,¡± Ozul briefed.


    He realized that these two might get depressed at this point if he didn¡¯t tell them his reasons clear enough.


    The duo¡¯s brains automatically ignored the first sentence, and focused on the second one, bringing their mood even lower.


    *Sigh...*


    Ozul sighed noticing that it was his cue to counsel them again, ¡°Listen here, you two. In this month that I taught you, you have improved significantly.¡±


    He didn¡¯t know what would happen in a real situation, but ze could asionally block or dodge his des. What Ozul hadn¡¯t told him was that not only had he increased their speed, but he had also decreased their size which made it harder for him to sense.


    Even then, ze had improved quickly. Raven, after his talk, had shown visible improvements as well.


    Ozul could tell that she was still aware of his hidden needles pointed at her head, but it was not a bad thing.


    Being aware of them was actually beneficial, but at the condition that Raven was actually able to defeat the enemy in front of her. What use was her focus on surroundings if she died because of the opponent in sight? But Raven hade a long way in just a little more than 40 days.


    ¡°I want you to continue improving and... not get depressed. Both of you are doing good as of now,¡± He hadn¡¯t evenpleted hisst sentence when smiles bloomed on the duo¡¯s face.


    Unfortunately, there was no one else on the stairs to witness this rare scene which would have made the hearts of both men and women race to the point of making them nosebleed.


    Those depressing emotions were getting darker by the second. If he hadn¡¯t done anything, he would have been constantly annoyed.


    Fortunately, he realized that he hadn¡¯t praised them for a long time.


    ¡®They like being praised that much?¡¯ Ozul mused as he said, ¡°Alright. Focus on your training. I wouldn¡¯t be around.¡±


    He walked away after saying that, leaving Raven and ze fervently nodding their head like chickens.


    Unknown to Ozul, whenever he didn¡¯t praise them, they felt as if they weren¡¯t doing good or working hard enough.


    . . .


    Ozul went back to his room where Jinx was somehow already on the bed, sleeping peacefully.


    Heid near her and muttered, ¡°Ha... we have work to do...¡±


    As if understanding his words, Jinx opened her eyes and looked at his face for a couple of moments before going back to sleep. Ozul followed her and also went to sleep.


    The next day, Ozul decided to give the Ashin family a visit.


    Before he started, he decided to confirm every information from Alver. Although he trusted Irvin, there were things that he wasn¡¯t able to discover on his own.


    ¡®Alver would know if that Luthien guy had arrived here or not,¡¯ Ozul thought as he made his way towards the Ashin family¡¯s estate. The Ashin family being one of the organizers would have the record of all Rank-9 Mages.


    Ozul already had too many unknowns about the Royal pce, it was better that he cleared some of his doubts beforehand as well.

 Chapter 229

    Chapter 229: A-about what?


    Ozul made his way to the Ashin family¡¯s estate and found out that by chance, Raymond was also there.


    With his arrival, the two walked out of the manor, already expecting that it was him.


    Without doing the pleasantries, Ozul walked inside the manor, making his way directly to a private room.


    Alver and Raymond smiled wryly at each other but nodded their heads and followed after him. Their nephew was entric; they should start getting used to his behavior by now.


    Alver closed the door when they entered the room and both brothers stared at Ozul with confused faces.


    ¡°I have some questions,¡± Ozul said.


    Alver just took a seat as well, but Raymond, after hearing his words, started to sweat.


    .....


    ¡°A-about what?¡± Raymond asked while stuttering. His guilty conscience made him unable to realize that his nephew could be there to ask questions about something else and not about him and his secretary.


    ¡°About Emperor Luthien,¡± Ozul raised his brow and replied. He hadpletely forgotten about that incident, so he was just as confused as Alver because of Raymond¡¯s stuttering.


    ¡°H-haha. Yes, of course. Ask anything...¡± Raymond tried tough it off, though Alver still gave him a suspicious side nce.


    Ozul ignored his behavior and spoke, ¡°About Emperor Luthien. Has he arrived here?¡±


    ¡°No. Like other Rank-9 Mages, he would take his sweet time and only arrive on the day of the battles,¡± Alver said while shaking his head.


    He and Raymond were worried about what had gotten into their nephew¡¯s mind that he had been asking so many questions about Emperor Luthien.


    ¡°Also, I wanted to ask about the formations. Are there strong enough formations that can hold Mages at even Rank-9?¡± Ozul was curious about this one.


    Although he had heard from Irvin that all who have tried to infiltrate the Royal Pce of Silverbird Kingdom have failed, it didn¡¯t include any Mage of Rank-9.


    Since the Ashin family was centuries older than the Silverbird Kingdom, they would surely have better formations and more knowledge.


    ¡°Yes, nephew. In fact, if we do so, not a single Rank-9 Mage can ever enter this estate without our permission,¡± Alver stated while puffing up his chest in pride.


    There weren¡¯t many times he could boast around his nephew about their family¡¯s greatness. Having found his chance, he continued, ¡°Heck, even if all of them attacked together, they wouldn¡¯t get through.¡±


    Alver and Raymond both showed a haughty smirk while Ozul was truly surprised.


    He felt dense Mana all around this estate, but he didn¡¯t know that the Ashin family would have formations so powerful.


    ¡°Okay... what is the downside?¡± Ozul couldn¡¯t believe that defenses so strong woulde without a price.


    Alver and Raymond¡¯s smiles froze at his words. Why did their nephew have to be so technical all the time?


    With a strained smile, Alver answered, ¡°Nothing much... just hundreds of artifacts that gather Mana and thousands of those Mana stones...¡±


    Thousands of those stones which contained Mana ¨C that alone was enough for them to only use them in desperate times.


    Though Alver said ¡®nothing much¡¯, his strained smile was proof that those hundreds of artifacts that he talked about were probably something that even the Ashin family had only a limited amount of.


    ¡°What about the Royal Pce of the Silverbird Kingdom? Do you think there are formations that are a threat to even Rank-9 Mages?¡± Ozul hadn¡¯t told anyone that he was not a Mage, but still used the ranks of Mages as a scale to roughly exin his strength.


    When Raymond and Alver heard his question, like Irvin, they could already guess that Ozul might be trying to infiltrate the Royal Pce.


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate the Silverbird Kingdom, nephew. We can say for a fact that they would also have defenses that can prove to be fatal to Rank-9 Mages,¡± Raymond answered him this time.


    However, before Ozul said something else, he added, ¡°Nephew, I know that you wouldn¡¯t involve us in this, but know that the Ashin family is capable enough to start a war whenever.¡±


    To his side, Alver solemnly nodded his head. In their opinion, it would surely consume tons of resources, but if they wouldn¡¯t use their wealth to protect the family, then what use was it all?


    Ozul noticed their determined expressions and for a moment, he even considered getting their help.


    In the end, however, he shook his head and said, ¡°I think I can deal with it for now... Maybe if war really broke out, I would need your help.¡±


    Just these words were enough to make Raymond and Alver smile in delight.


    ¡°If I am stuck somewhere, and it bes necessary, take over the Three-Eyed Strangers as a separate branch of the Order of Dusk,¡± Ozul added that only further improved Raymond and Alver¡¯s mood.


    Their nephew allowing Raymond to take over his whole organization in case of emergency meant that he trusted them enough. Previously, they would always think that he didn¡¯t trust them enough, so they were more than thrilled.


    How would they know that Ozul only needed a single nce to know who he could trust and who not based on their emotions?


    Moreover, the organization had only gotten to this point because of the resources and manpower provided by the Order of Dusk and the Ashin family. So it didn¡¯t hurt even if Raymond took control of it in case of emergency.


    Ozul didn¡¯t think that such an emergency would happen anytime soon, but he informed them anyway. Not to mention, it didn¡¯t hurt to show them a gesture of his trust in return for their blind support even if war broke out.


    ¡°There are only three days left, I will be leaving today,¡± Ozul said and stood up.


    Before going out of the room, he remembered something and said, ¡°Oh, and two of my people will be participating in the tournament. Raven and ze; take care of them.¡±


    Alver nodded his head, assuring him that he would take care of it.


    Ozul left the Ashin family¡¯s estate and went back to the headquarters. On his way, he thought about his talk with Alver and Raymond.


    His only advantage now remained that he did not have any Mana and relied on his own power, whatever its real origin was.


    It might be true that the Royal Pce would have formations that could harm him, but the people who would operate them wouldn¡¯t even imagine that there existed a person so powerful that didn¡¯t use Mana.


    ¡®The main concern would remain if I will be able to find my arm or not...¡¯


    That was the worst part of his n. The Royal Pce was big and it might take him a while before he could even find his arm there. And there was also the chance that Emperor Luthien took the arm with him.


    In that case, he would have to fight him head-on and if need be, kill Luthien to get his arm back.


    Ozul remembered that when he had gotten his leg back previously, his strength had skyrocketed. Once he got his arm back, he would most probably have another boost of power.


    In that case, it would be much easier to deal with whoever or whatever faction thates after him.


    ¡°Sigh... So many ifs...¡± Ozul muttered with a sigh as he arrived back in the headquarters. From the moment he was born, he didn¡¯t like uncertainties, and now he was surrounded by them.


    He directly went to the 7th floor where the office of Irvin, Haley, and Oliver was located. If they were not having a meeting in the hall, then they would be in their offices.


    When he reached Irvin¡¯s office, it seemed that others were also there. He was discussing things about the tournament finals with Oliver and Haley. Only Raven and ze were missing who he guessed were both in the training grounds.


    With his entrance, the three left whatever topic they were discussing and respectfully bowed their heads.


    ¡°I am about to leave. You three know what you have to do in my absence,¡± Ozul didn¡¯t wait for pleasantries and went straight to the topic.


    ¡°Already?¡± Irvin asked. When the tournament starts, giant factions from all over the continent would be there in the Neutral City, so the atmosphere would be heavy for everyone.


    If something troublesome happened, the only thing saving them was the support of their Rank-9 leader. But if Ozul left, then all of that pressure would fall on Irvin, so his worries were not unfounded.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If anything happens in my absence, try to deal with it in the best way possible. If you cannot, just inform Raymond and listen to his orders from then on. Alright?¡± Ozul didn¡¯t answer his question, but his words made Irvin sigh in relief.


    On the other hand, Haley and Oliver looked confused about who this Raymond was. They decided to ask Irvinter since he seemed to know him.


    Ozul was about to leave when he remembered about Raven and ze.


    ¡°Remind the two not to show off in the tournament,¡± he ordered and Haley nodded her head.


    Seeing that he had said everything he needed to, Ozul made his way to the 8th floor where he felt that Jinx was sleeping in his room.


    He entered the room and as expected, Jinx was having her usual nap.


    Ozul went near her and muttered, ¡°Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s time to get my arm back...¡±


    Jinx immediately opened her eyes and the deep red and blue eyes stared at Ozul for a few seconds before gracefully following him out of the room.

 Chapter 230

    Chapter 230: Strange old man.


    Since Alver had told him that Emperor Luthien would arrive on the day when the battles start, Ozul decided to get to the Silverbird Kingdom first.


    It wasn¡¯t a surprise that when he showed his intent for Jinx to stay around him, she did not disappear like usual. Even previously, Ozul had guessed that she could understand him perfectly.


    Ozul left the Neutral Lands and flew towards the Silverbird Kingdom at his top speed without making a stop anywhere in the middle.


    The day passed, and even in the night, he continued as he sat leisurely on the Ball of Purity with Jinx at his side. That ck feline never seemed to be amused by anything.


    All she ever did was sleep, but Ozul was notining. Having found her was unexpected in the first ce. He had yet to find out what she could do.


    The only thing he did know was that she could make it so one cannot touch her. Only he was the exception, or she only let him touch her. Ozul remembered the time when Raven¡¯s hand had passed through Jinx.


    Not only that, Jinx had the odd ability to appear just about anywhere without making any sound. She was skilled in this to the point where many fail to notice her even if she is right around their feet.


    .....


    When the sun rose again, Ozul was already bored and wanted to sleep, but there wasn¡¯t a town in sight. Only when it was midday did he found a town and decided that a short nap wouldn¡¯t hurt.


    He picked the first hotel that came into his sight and entered with Jinx quietly following behind him.


    If Ozul¡¯s appearance with the pitch-ck conical hat wasn¡¯t eye catching enough, the pure ck cat with a pair of deep red and blue eyes gracefully walking behind him attracted all the eyes to him.


    But by now, he had learned to ignore those stares to a tolerable extent.


    However, this time, he felt an unusually curiosity-filled pair of eyes peek at them from afar. Ozul stopped and turned his head in the direction from which he felt the stare.


    ¡°!!!¡±


    Ozul hurriedly took a step back because the stare that he felt from meters away was from a man that was somehow already only a couple of feet away from him!


    ¡®Who is this guy...¡¯ he could not help but think because the person appeared to be an old man with a long white beard.


    He looked skinny and was even barefoot. He wore simple dark grey robes that hung loosely on his body.


    While Ozul observed him with caution, the old man had all of his attention fixed on Jinx instead as he ignored the man with the conical hat. There was a small hint of curiosity on his face as he observed Jinx from up close.


    Ozul was alerted because he was certain that earlier, he had sensed the gazeing from meters away. He didn¡¯t doubt his senses because the old man felt a little different from others.


    What worried him the most was; he couldn¡¯t sense this old man¡¯s cultivation base!


    One thing was certain, the old man was unusual, and if he couldn¡¯t sense his cultivation base, that meant the old man could be so strong that he did not have the ability to measure his strength.


    And if that was really the case, Ozul needed to be extra careful with him.


    Still ignoring Ozul, the old man smiled like a child and muttered, ¡°Woo~ Look at this little kitty~ She is beautiful~¡±


    ¡°...¡± Ozul became speechless at his overly child-like attitude. He had expected many things, but this.


    ¡®Who is this guy...¡¯ Ozul didn¡¯t like unpredictable characters like Oliver. Not to mention, this strange old man was most probably many times stronger than him.


    ¡°Hehe~ Can I touch her, young man?¡± The old man asked, but without even receiving an answer from Ozul, he bent down to pick up Jinx.


    Ozul¡¯s eyes widened as he remembered that Raven couldn¡¯t pick up Jinx when she wanted to.


    Ozul didn¡¯t know how much the old man had already perceived, but he could still sense his emotions and knew that he wasn¡¯t suspicious or held any ill-intent towards him for now.


    However, once the old tried to pick Jinx and his hands passed through her as they did with Raven, then he wasn¡¯t sure what thoughts that old man might assume about Jinx.


    He wasn¡¯t even sure how strong this old man was, if he set his eyes on Jinx, he wasn¡¯t sure how he would react.


    ¡®... oh wait... if he won¡¯t be able to touch her, then he will never be able to...¡¯ Ozul was contemting when he realized that he needn¡¯t worry about her.


    ¡®Still...¡¯ Ozul didn¡¯t take any chances and moved between Jinx and the old man.


    ¡°She will scratch,¡± Ozul said, not letting the old man get near the carefree ck cat.


    ¡°Oh, haha~ Of course. Of course. Cats scratch, how could I forget that?¡± The old man didn¡¯t seem to mind that he came in between him and the cat andughed while nodding his head as if he had just remembered that cats do scratch.


    Again, Ozul expected the old man to get angry that someone got in his way because that is how one with an absurd amount of strength would usually act.


    ¡®Maybe I thought wrong...?¡¯ Ozul started to doubt his own senses at this point. In the end, he started to think that there could be someone else staring at them from afar as well, and this old man might have been a different person.


    Still, he couldn¡¯t deny that this old man felt weird to him. There was definitely something wrong with him, but he couldn¡¯t pinpoint what.


    ¡°So~ I can¡¯t even touch her once?¡± The old man asked, hoping that a little patting wouldn¡¯t hurt.


    Ozul stared at him for a couple of seconds to confirm if he was acting or not. In the end, he believed the old man¡¯s emotions and decided that he was genuinely like that and hid no ill will for now.


    ¡°She will scratch,¡± saying that Ozul walked away inside the hotel. If he couldn¡¯t be sure about the old man, it was better not to linger around him.


    ¡°Pity...¡± The old man muttered from behind.


    He decided that when he returns, he will ask Raymond or Alver about this.


    However, just as he walked to the receptionist, he noticed that the old man was following behind!


    Ozul immediately turned around and said, ¡°Jinx doesn¡¯t like others touching her. I will ask you again to drop such thoughts.¡± He tried to be as polite as he could, but he was getting annoyed by now.


    He just wanted a little nap, why did this child-like old man appear out of nowhere?


    ¡°Oh? Haha! I understand, young man. But I have booked a room here~¡± The old man replied with anotherugh.


    Ozul looked at him suspiciously but he didn¡¯t seem to be lying, so he nodded his head and went to the middle-aged receptionist. He rented the room for one night, though he only wanted to take a little nap.


    When he walked to his room, the old man was still following behind him. It was starting to get annoying and even when he didn¡¯t turn around to see it, the constant smile on the old man¡¯s face wasn¡¯t helping the situation.


    Ozul ignored him and entered his room. Jinx followed right after.


    The old man, on the other hand, entered the room next to Ozul¡¯s without speaking another word.


    . . .


    Inside the room, Ozul released a sigh and got on the bed. Jinx did the same and they both went to sleep.


    A few hourster, Ozul woke up with a yawn. He decided not to spend the whole night since Luthien would leave the Royal Pce in 2 days.


    As he got out of the room, he remembered the old man had entered the door just next to his. He tried to sense if he was inside but found that the room waspletely empty.


    When Ozul was about to leave the hotel, he stopped at the counter and noticed that the same receptionist was still there.


    ¡°Do you know about the old man who had entered behind me?¡± Ozul asked, throwing a silver coin from his Spatial Pouch. He understood that the man wouldn¡¯t be so eager to answer his questions otherwise.


    Seeing the silver coin roll on the counter, the middle-aged man quickly pocketed the coin before he started speaking, ¡°If you are talking about that weird old man, then he left only an hour ago.¡±


    ¡°When did he rent the room?¡± Ozul was only curious.


    The receptionist made a thinking pose, and replied after a while, ¡°Just in the morning. He said he was going to look around the town or somethin¡¯.¡±


    Ozul nodded his head and walked out of the hotel. It was still night, but he started his journey back to the Silverbird Kingdom.


    ¡®Strange old man...¡¯ As he flew towards the Kingdom, Ozul thought of how weird the old man felt to him, though he soon shook those thoughts out of his mind. It was a big world and strange things happened around every corner.


    Moreover, he had other things to think about right now.


    . . .


    Although Ozul quickly forgot about the old man, it was different for thetter as he currently roamed around the streets, thinking about his encounter just a few hours ago.


    ¡°Haha~ that young man sure was interesting...¡±

 Chapter 231

    Chapter 231: Anticipation.


    Unaware that the strange old man had marked him as someone ¡®interesting¡¯, Ozul continued on with his journey to the Silverbird Kingdom.


    The next day arrived and passed in the blink of an eye while Ozul didn¡¯t make a stop anywhere this time.


    Only when it was around midnight did he notice the tall city structures from afar.


    Ozul slowed down and before entering the city, he came down from the sky. Tomorrow would be the starting day of the battles, and if Emperor Luthien had to be there, he would have already left a couple of days ago.


    Since it was night, though, he decided to have one good sleep before following along with his n which he wasn¡¯t even sure could be called one.


    He had the choice of staying at the branch of his organization here in the Capital city, but he decided not to since it would be a little troublesome to exin that he was their actual leader.


    ¡®Now that I think about it, there should be something that can prove the identity of the core members of the organization at the very least,¡¯ Ozul thought as he entered a hotel and rented a room for the night.


    .....


    . . .


    ¨C In the Neutral Lands ¨C


    Some time ago, people in the Three-Eyed Strangers¡¯ headquarters were either preparing or helping others in the preparation for the event tomorrow.


    Raven and ze spent these two days training as well and they could safely say that they had improved to a new level with just the previous two months of training.


    Anyway, they were not concerned about the tournament either. At least not until now.


    The two entered the meeting hall where the core members of their organization, together with Haley, Irvin, and Oliver had taken a seat already.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Raven asked confusedly. Haley wouldn¡¯t call them here only to discuss some random things.


    ¡°Although it isn¡¯t official yet to others, here we got the list of all the participants in the finals...¡± Irvin took out a document and handed it over to Raven.


    ze looked around and noticed that everyone had serious expressions.


    He peeked from Raven¡¯s shoulder to read the document. On the very top, it read the list¡¯s name, and directly below were listed the name of every participant with a brief introduction.


    Just at a nce, ze could tell that there would be more than 50 people in the finals. However, amongst them, only around 20 of them had made it here by fighting battles after battles.


    The rest more than 30 participants had entered the way Raven and ze were going to. These people belonged to factions strong enough that the Mercenary Guild had given them some slots for the direct entry in the finals as well.


    ¡°There is nothing to worry about,¡± Raven handed the document back to Irvin without any change in her facial expressions.


    ze hadn¡¯t read the listpletely, so he remained clueless as to whatever Raven was talking about. ¡°What is it?¡± Finally, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from asking.


    ¡°There is another Rank-8 Mage at the middle-stage. And there are three additional Rank-8 Mages at the initial stage as well,¡± Haley replied to ze¡¯s query before Raven could answer.


    ze narrowed his eyes at Haley¡¯s answer. Although they had been training, Raven and ze didn¡¯t think that they would havepetition in the finals of the tournament.


    Haley and Oliver even guessed that the strongest participant excluding them might not even get to Rank-8. So these four people werepletely out of their expectations.


    However, just like Raven, ze did not worry about anything. He was confident in his own strength. Not only him, even Raven could take on multiple Rank-8 Mages in the middle stages.


    He had huge amounts of raw Mana, while Raven¡¯s Magical Spells wouldn¡¯t let her get exhausted as long as she managed to get a couple of cuts on her enemies.


    The duo¡¯s confidence caused the other members to rx a little as well. But it was a different case for Oliver, Haley, and Irvin.


    ¡°You both will have to be careful. First of all, we never expected anyone to be able to match the strength of you two. Also, that Rank-8 of the middle stage is from the Church of Light... it could never be a good sign,¡± Haley advised with a worried tone.


    She was worried because they practically knew nothing about this new ck horse that had appeared out of nowhere. The only thing they could safely assume since that person was from the Church of Light was that he most probably had Light Element.


    Raven, seeing that Haley was genuinely worried, reassured her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We are two Mages at Rank-8, even if one fails for some stupid reasons, the other would surely get the victory.¡±


    Many core members nodded their heads with their faces full of smiles.


    However, their cheery atmosphere again crumbled with a solemn, ¡°No...¡±


    Everyone turned their eyes towards Irvin who had a solemn expression on his face. Seeing that everyone had their attention on him, he continued, ¡°The tournament is different every time. Sometimes they eliminate the participants with individual battles and other times, there is a battle royale.¡±


    ¡°Battle royale?¡± ze muttered with a tilted head. This was the first time he heard this term.


    ¡°A battle royale is when everyone has to enter the ring at the same time and thest surviving person is the winner. It is a quick way to determine the winner that tests not only an individual¡¯s ability to fight in a crowd but also if they are strong enough tost till the end,¡± Oliver exined from the side.


    ¡°The problem is not which type of battle you are going to fight, but the fact that the participants sent by the Church of Light and factions that are just as prominent have artifacts boosting their strength. Which, ifbined with the fact that they would join hands if a battle royale happened, would be the main obstacle,¡± Irvin exined in detail.


    Since the Three-Eyed Strangers were rtively new, theycked any artifacts that could help their people get a boost of strength somehow during an active battle.


    Everyone thought that this might make the duo think twice and take the tournament seriously, but zeughed and said, ¡°If it is a battle royale, then it will be an even easier victory for us.¡±


    He smirked while giving a side nce to Raven. He had the Spells destructive enough to destroy tens of people even at his own rank at the same time.


    However, the one who would shine the most if a battle royale happened would be Raven.


    Her only downside to the Spell that stole Mana from other people was that her opponent might get on the defensive and never let her have any hit on them.


    If a battle royale happened, however, she would have tens of targets to cut and steal Mana from. This would literally make her an unstoppable monster in the ring.


    Raven didn¡¯t show the same smirk as ze, but she was just as much or even more confident than him.


    Irvin didn¡¯t know their reasons, but he decided to put his trust in them. They were his young master¡¯s friends after all.


    ¡®As a backup n, I will still tell this to the Ashin family... they might help,¡¯ Irvin thought inside his mind as he remembered that Ozul had told them they could ask for the Ashin family¡¯s help anytime they thought that they could not fix the problem themselves.


    . . .


    Meanwhile, everyone, be it a prominent faction or some small organization with a participant talented enough, prepared for the Tournament of Egon.


    While this tournament was a ce for the strong factions to showcase the strength of their new generation and a ce for the talented to find a powerful backing, there was also a reward for the winner of this tournament.


    The four most prominent factions all around the world which included the Mercenary Guild, the Church of Light, the Leonhard Dynasty, and the Ashin family had put together a giant prize pool of hundreds of rare resources.


    Of course, all of them hoped that their own participant would win the tournament, but they wouldn¡¯t feel bad only because someone else won the prize that they had paid for.


    For them, it was just a small amount. But for the winner, it would be enough for him to cultivate for years without worrying about anything.


    This night, everyone except for Ozul anticipated the finals and who would turn out to be the most talented individual in these 50 years.


    On the other hand, Ozul slept the night without a care in the world. He wasn¡¯t so enthusiastic about the results of a tournament. To him, tomorrow would be the day when he would have the chance to get his arm back.


    The night passed just as quickly as it had started, and the next day came. The sun rose, signaling the start of the Tournament of Egon...

 Chapter 232

    Chapter 232: Suspicious.


    Just as the morning came, the rest of the continent awaited the reports of the finals, while everyone in the Neutral Lands rushed to the Neutral City.


    The Mercenary Guild had asked the Leonhard Dynasty this time to lend their battle arena to conduct the fights.


    The people from the Leonhard Dynasty loved fighting, and so they had built a giant arena in their area just for the sake of battles.


    The Leonhard Dynasty didn¡¯t mind lending their arena since they were also a part of the organizers.


    The battle arena was named ¡®The Leo Colosseum¡¯ with two stone statues of lions ced at the entrance. The arena was giant, enough to amodate as many people that could make it there.


    What overjoyed the general public was the fact that they didn¡¯t need to purchase tickets at all; that was how giant the arena built by the Leonhard Dynasty was.


    However, not everyone joined. Not because they could not make it, but because they were aware that they wouldn¡¯t be able to bear the pressure released by all the big shots there.


    .....


    However, all the organizations were still present. Those, invited personally by the Mercenary Guild, had seats built especially for them. However, only those of Rank-9 would sit there.


    The rest, no matter how important, had to stand beside them or take a seat with the rest of the crowd.


    The cheery atmosphere at one side and thepetitive air at the other foreshadowed the intensepetition that was soon to follow.


    Starting from the sunrise, people began to make their way to the arena. After some time, the factions began to join as well.


    The special seats weren¡¯t all ced together. They were grouped into five and ced in the four opposite corners of the arena. A total of 20 seats indicated that 20 Rank-9 Mages woulde to watch the finals!


    The first Rank-9 Mage to enter caused the entire colosseum to turn silent. The raw aura people felt caused a few to stand up and leave the stadium. They were the ones who weren¡¯t smart enough to realize their human limits and joined without considering the fact that they weren¡¯t even Rank-3 Mages or Fighters.


    Although the seats for the Rank-9 were ced at a notable distance from the rest, the Rank-9 Mage who had entered did not hold down his aura, so all Mages or Fighters under Rank-3 were bound to feel suffocated.


    Following that Rank-9¡¯s entry, others started to join as well. Some of them were from the prominent kingdoms while the others were the Sect leaders.


    The 20 seats had the name of each Rank-9 Mage written on its back. Just an hourter, 15 of those seats were upied.


    All of these 15 Rank-9 Mages eyed each other like vicious enemies. Though some of them were allies, no one would openly admit any alliance.


    Their contest of stares caused the atmosphere to get heavier. To the point where most of the audience started to pray for the matches to start soon.


    As if Gods had listened to their prayers and took pity on them, the representative from the Mercenary Guild entered the colosseum. Following his entry, Elsug the Emperor of the Leonhard Dynasty, Lammert the Archbishop of the Church of Light, and Alver the head of the Ashin family entered one by one.


    Except for the other Rank-9 Mages, everyone in the arena had to hold their breath since these four didn¡¯t bother to hold back their aura either.


    These four were the organizers of the event and also the strongest factions in the whole continent.


    One thing that could be taken into ount was also that the Mercenary Guild wasn¡¯t participating in the tournaments like previously.


    Meanwhile, the other three big factions each had at least one Rank-8 Mage participating. But the Church had somehow gotten the lead with two Rank-8 Mages. One of them was also in the middle stage!


    This fact caused Emperor Elsug and the Alver to direct their suspicious res towards Archbishop Lammert, who purposely ignored their stares.


    Previously, a single Rank-8 Mage participating was a big deal. Even this time around, the Leonhard Dynasty, the Ashin family, and the Church had thought such to be the case and thought that they would be the winners.


    However, not only did the Church manage to get a Rank-8 Mage in the middle stage under the age limit, but the real cause of everyone¡¯s shock wasn¡¯t them.


    Instead, the real dark horse of the tournament turned out to be the newly famous organization Three-Eyed Strangers with two of their participants in the middle stage of Rank-8!


    Everyone moved their eyes towards the only seat remaining that hadn¡¯t been upied yet. The tournament was about to begin, but the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers had yet to arrive.


    It displeased many of the Rank-9 Mages, including Emperor Luthien and Archbishop Lammert who were enraged that Ozul hadn¡¯t arrived yet.


    However, the rest had all of their attention focused on the two people standing behind the seat together with Irvin,monly known as the butler of the man leading the Three-Eyed Strangers.


    Raven and ze weren¡¯t pressured with all the stares. Instead, they stood proud that they were here representing Ozul. This allowed them to gain unusual confidence even when the Rank-9 Mages were constantly staring at them.


    Everyone had previously been wondering how the Church was able to cultivate one of their members to the middle stage of Rank-8, but now they were baffled at the fact that the Three-Eyed Strangers had two of such people!


    Emperor Elsug squinted his eyes at the seat which was reserved for the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers while Alver was about tough out aloud seeing everyone¡¯s reaction but promptly stopped himself from making a blunder.


    Meanwhile, Archbishop Lammert clenched his fist. His thoughts differed from others, ¡®I am sure it is because of that Devil Child! If I could do so much with just a hand, cultivating two of them shouldn¡¯t have been a big deal... I should have made a move sooner...¡¯


    Lammert moved his eyes from Raven and ze to the middle staged Rank-8 Mage who represented the Church of Light.


    When he looked towards Emperor Luthien, he was met with the questioning gaze of thetter, asking him why he was forced to attend when Ozul hadn¡¯t bothered to.


    He could only shake his head since he didn¡¯t know anything either.


    Fortunately for them, the representative from the Mercenary Guild also noticed the absence of the Three-Eyed Strangers¡¯ leader and sent his man to question Irvin.


    At this point, the representative of the Mercenary Guild wanted to announce the start of the tournament, but he thought of asking about Ozul first. No matter how much he didn¡¯t like his guts, thetter was still a Rank-9 Mage.


    When Irvin noticed an old man at the peak of Rank-8 approaching him, he wasn¡¯t confused. He knew that in such a big arena and only 20 seats for the Rank-9 Mages, the absence of Ozul would be questioned.


    ¡®Thank god, I discussed it with the family head earlier...¡¯ Irvin thought inside his mind as he motioned Raven and ze not to speak.


    Irvin had only realized that this situation would ur after Ozul had left for the Silverbird Kingdom. So the only person whom he could ask questions to was the Ashin family.


    He also needed to discuss the matter of the Church being able to use Artifacts to boost its participants¡¯ strength. So, he immediately made his way to their estate and informed Alver of everything.


    Alver had told him to not worry about Ozul¡¯s absence because they wouldn¡¯t say anything to him. At most, the Mercenary Guild would only question the reason.


    What had delighted him the most was that Alver had also given two artifacts for Raven and ze!


    Both of them helped the two to keep up their stamina. Also, he informed that the Church would have only a simr artifact for its participants. They looked only like simple pendants.


    The artifact allowed their Spells to be cast without needing as much Mana as they originally required by providing its own Mana. It helped Mages a great deal because they could use the additional Mana to protect themselves or create more Spells.


    The only drawback of this artifact was that they couldn¡¯t use too much Mana from it. If the Mages didn¡¯t keep their own Mana output to at least 90% in their Spells, the Spells would break down.


    But even this 10% made the Mages using this artifact get an edge in the fight. Especially if their Spells consumed a great deal of Mana.


    The only thing that had caused Irvin¡¯s mood to drop was the fact that Raven and ze refused to use the artifact. Both of them wanted to prove themselves to Ozul with their own strength.


    ¡®They can prove themselvester... can¡¯t they just use it once for the tournament?!¡¯ Irvin thought. Since the use of such artifacts were allowed, not using them was foolish in his opinion.


    Shaking these thoughts from his mind, Irvin focused on the old man who came to ask him about Ozul.


    ¡°May I ask you why the Three-Eyed Strangers¡¯ leader is absent?¡± the old man asked with a polite tone and no expressions on his face whatsoever.


    ¡°Haha... you see, he got busy with an important matter. He might bete,¡± Irvin said while scratching the back of his head.


    The old man nodded his head and without saying another word, went back to the representative of the Mercenary Guild, whispering to him Irvin¡¯s answer.


    Irvin released a sigh of relief that they didn¡¯t press him for an answer. Following which, the representative of the Mercenary Guild stood up and began to announce the start of the Tournament of Egon.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    ¨C Silverbird Kingdom ¨C


    Sometime earlier, in an unremarkable hotel, a man wearing a white shirt and a ck cat got out of the bed. The cat stretched its body and the man yawned before muttering,


    ¡°It¡¯s time to get my arm back...¡±

 Chapter 233

    Chapter 233: Finally it¡¯s time.


    While the tournament started in the Neutral City, Ozulzily walked out of the hotel with Jinx quietly following behind him.


    He knew that the tournament would have started which meant that Emperor Luthien was already out of the Royal Pce. He only needed to infiltrate it and get his arm back now.


    As he walked down the streets, he noticed that his appearance together with Jinx following him attracted a lot of eyes to him no matter where he went. So he increased his pace so as to not draw any more attention.


    When he reached the Pce, he noticed there were more guards than usual. Before, there were only two guards at the main gate. But now, there were some roaming outside the wall as well.


    ¡®It¡¯s probably because of the absence of the Emperor...¡¯ Ozul decided that it was better to act when it was dark. Not only was the sun annoying, but the dark veil of the night would also help him to conceal himself.


    Anyway, Alver had told him that the tournament this time would be held for two days instead of only one. So he had plenty of time before Emperor Luthien returned since it would at least take a couple of days to make it back here in the Silverbird Kingdom as well.


    ¡°I will only need a few hours,¡± Ozul muttered as he gazed at the tall Pce in the distance while he sat on the roof of a building with Jinx.


    .....


    Just like that, he didn¡¯t make a move and waited for the sun to go down.


    ¡ª¨C


    Meanwhile, the representative of the Mercenary Guild announced how they would hold the tournament this time around.


    It turned out that they would indeed do a Battle Royale, but not just one. They would organize two Battle Royales and thest 3 people standing in both rings would have individual fights.


    The individual matches would have to wait for the next day while they would finish the two Battle Royales on the same day.


    ¡°Since many factions have sent more than a single participant, we will try to put them in separate rings for the Battle Royale and also try to bnce the power level in both rings,¡± the representative of the Mercenary Guild announced. His voice spread all around the arena as he used Mana to amplify the sound.


    Since Raven and ze were both in the middle stage of Rank-8, it was obvious that if there was just one giant ring, they would join hands and defeat the rest of them. Even the other middle stage Rank-8 Mage who was sent by the Church wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against them if they were to join hands.


    To prevent this situation, they had to organize two separate Battle Royales.


    Raven and ze had no problem with it. Instead, they were praying that the middle stage Rank-8 Mage from the Church of Light was put in their ring.


    Meanwhile, near one of the seats reserved for the Rank-9 Mage, a couple of Rank-8 Mages wearing simr robes with nine petals drawn on their back bickered with each other.


    ¡°See! We shouldn¡¯t have let them go so easily.¡±


    ¡°I agree. Everyone would have been looking at our Sect if those two were participating from our side.¡±


    ...


    Having enough of their argument, the woman just red at them to shut them up.


    She turned her focus back on all the participants who entered the rings one by one and said, ¡°Tell me this; did those two ever use any of our resources?¡±


    ¡°... B-but-¡±


    ¡°No buts. They only lived in our Sect and also inspired others to work harder. In return, they didn¡¯t even use all those points to buy things from our Sect. They used their own resources, or they cultivated without any,¡± the Sect leader exined, causing the few who previously argued, to look down in shame.


    Since Raven and ze never used any of the facilities provided by the Sect, they didn¡¯t have the right to ask them to stay either.


    With her exnation, the Elders didn¡¯t speak anymore.


    The Sect leader released a sigh because even if she had said all that, she couldn¡¯t help but regret that the Nine Petals Sect wasn¡¯t able to hold back those two.


    Alver¡¯s excitement could not be measured right now. Although the person who the Ashin family had sent this time was only at the initial stage of Rank-8, he didn¡¯t care about that now.


    If the participants from his nephew¡¯s organization won, he would feel better than if one of his people did.


    When Raven and ze got in the ring, both of them stared at the two people standing behind Archbishop Lammert.


    Both wanted the man with short brown hair to be chosen in their ring. Just then, Raven noticed that the girl with silver hair beside the man looked a little familiar.


    As it turned out, she was ra, the daughter of Archbishop Lammert. Even she had managed to be a Rank-8 Mage!


    ze also realized it, but both of them ignored her and kept their focus on the man who was the middle stage Rank-8 Mage.


    When the old man from the Mercenary Guild went to the Church¡¯s side, he gave them their scrolls and as it turned out, the brown-haired man entered Raven¡¯s ring.


    ze clicked his tongue while Raven smirked in anticipation.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start the Battle Royales!¡± the representative announced with a loud voice and cheering resounded in the arena.


    Just like that, the Battle Royales began with Raven nning to eliminate the middle stage Rank-8 Mage even before the individual battles began.


    ¡ª¡ª


    While people in the arena were full of excitement, Ozul was bored out of his mind after waiting for so long.


    However, a quick nap solved everything because when he opened his eyes again, the sun was already about to set.


    When he looked towards the entrance, he noticed that new guards had reced the old ones.


    ¡®They are not cking off at all,¡¯ Ozul thought inside his mind because usually, such guards would often just sleep around. They cked off thinking that no one would dare to attack their organization.


    However, it was different this time and Ozul knew that the reason was most probably the orders from Emperor Luthien before he left.


    The Royal estate spanned over arge area, and the guards were actively pacing around the walls.


    He had a very simple n which had high chances of failing, in his hurry, he wasn¡¯t able to think of anything better.


    After the sun had fully set, the shadows of tall buildings dropped on the ground. Ozul was in one such shade, waiting for the right moment.


    There were two guards stationed at the entrance, while a couple of teams circled around the walls. One of the teams had stopped at the entrance and the guards were chatting with each other.


    ¡®It¡¯s finally the time,¡¯ he thought when he saw that the team had ended their chat with the entrance guards and were about to start their patrol.


    He looked towards Jinx who seemed to disappear in the shade because of herpletely ck body.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get caught and quietly disappear afterward,¡± he whispered as Jinx stood up and stretched her body before slowly walking towards the entrance.


    He hadn¡¯t told Jinx what to do or what he wanted her to achieve, but it was as if she just instinctively knew what he was thinking and obeyed his wishes. Ozul never understood what this connection between them was, but he didn¡¯t have the time to contemte this right now.


    The gates were never closed, and right now, there were only two guards staying there. Although both of them kept their eyes open, they did not seem so serious about their duties as they asionallyughed and chatted with other guards.


    Ozul patiently watched as Jinx walked out of the shadows and with small and graceful steps, approached the open gates.


    Her small feet made no sound as usual and with her color blending in the surroundings, the guards did not notice her. They were too busy telling each other random stories to notice the pair of heterochromatic eyes approaching them.


    The cold wind invaded the guards¡¯ nostrils when one of them suddenly jumped in fright.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    The other guard immediately stood up to look around, but he found nothing out of the usual. There were only tall buildings in the front and the Pce in the back. Confused, he turned around to his friend who had suddenly shouted and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±


    His friend, on the other hand, smiled awkwardly. ¡°H-haha... that ck cat suddenly scared me...¡± he said while pointing towards Jinx.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± the other guard muttered as he looked in the direction of his friend¡¯s finger and there was indeed a strange ck cat.


    ¡°Haha! You got scared of that!? You are getting old, my friend~¡± heughed it off and sat back down.


    ¡°Tche! I was just caught off guard,¡± the guy who had shouted earlier said as he sat back down.


    Both of them ignored the ck cat that was approaching them. Although the cat seemed strange, it had no Mana, so they didn¡¯t feel the need to shoo it away.


    They resumed their discussion and ignored Jinx who was about to cross into the Royal estate.


    They didn¡¯t bother to stop the ck cat because she wouldn¡¯t set off the rm with her size. Not only did she have no Mana, but she was also too small for the formation to consider her a threat.


    At least that was what everyone thought...

 Chapter 234

    Chapter 234: False rm?


    Ozul was honestly not sure if the formation would go off when Jinx passed through the gate, but from the guards¡¯ disregard of her presence, he realized that it would probably ignore someone of her size.


    ¡®I don¡¯t care either way...¡¯ Ozul thought inside his mind as he slowly made his way to another side of the wall from where he kept an eye on Jinx as she slowly approached the gate.


    The guards didn¡¯t notice Ozul in the dark and minded their own business.


    From Irvin, he had heard that even a man with almost no Mana at all was detected by the formation. It could only mean that anyone above a certain size trespassing the estate would automatically set off the defenses.


    Ozul figured that they had probably manually disabled the formation when he had briefly entered the estate to talk with Rufus previously. It also meant that the control of the formation was basically in someone¡¯s hand and they could turn it off and on anytime they wanted.


    The part which he focused on was the fact that the guards had to find that man for sometime all around the estate. The people with Mana, on the other hand, were spotted in an instant as if the guards just knew where the infiltrators were.


    Taking all of these points into ount, he could form a basic conclusion that there were two formations or the formations had two separate functions. Considering thetter to be true, one function would set off in case anyone above the designated size regardless if they had Mana or not, entered the estate without whatever the proper method was.


    .....


    In contrast, the second function located anyone under a certain range or inside the walls, but the condition was that the person should have Mana.


    These were his basic conclusions that probably many others had reached as well. However, for them, it was all the same even if the second function couldn¡¯t detect the location of a person without Mana.


    They could possibly never get an average man to infiltrate the Royal Pce and seed.


    That was the sole reason that people hadn¡¯t managed to infiltrate the Royal Pce of Silverbird Kingdom even after all this time.


    And that was also the reason that Ozul had the chance to get in the Pce without setting off the tens of lethal formations that would even give Rank-9 Mages a hard time.


    Unlike what was supposed to be the absolutew in this world, Ozul hadn¡¯t used Mana to grow stronger at all!


    With no Mana inside his body, the formation that detected where the infiltrator was, would never be able to find him.


    In the end, it would be up to the guards to find the culprit, but Ozul was confident in his strength. After Emperor Luthien had left the Pce, there was not a single person who could stop him there.


    The only reason that Ozul wanted to get more information was that all of these were just his assumptions.


    He could very well bepletely wrong, and the person in control of the formation might really find out that someone strong had managed to get in the estate. In that case, he would have to just improvise.


    Though it would get chaotic if that happened, and he didn¡¯t like creating such a mess.


    ¡®Let¡¯s see...¡¯ Ozul muttered as he noticed Jinx was just about to cross the gate when one of the guards again shifted his attention to her.


    ¡°Go away!¡± the guard waved his hand in azy effort to drive off the ck cat. In any case, the two did not pay much attention to the cat.


    Though Jinx remained unfazed and ignored them.


    ¡®Do it...¡¯ Ozul muttered inside his mind as he noticed Jinx stopping just a single step away from the entrance.


    As if Jinx was able to understand hismand, she stepped inside, and at the same time, Ozul also jumped to the other side of the high wall.


    *Ti¡¯n!*


    ¡°!!!¡±


    Immediately a sharp noise resounded throughout the Royal Pce, alerting all the guards on duty!


    Every team that had previously been circling around the Royal Pce began to run back to the entrance.


    Most of them had never heard this sound before, but they knew that it was some kind of rm. Immediately, the whole Pce woke up and guards were seen running almost everywhere.


    Meanwhile, the two guards stationed at the entrance looked at each other in astonishment. To them, it looked as if the strange ck cat was the reason that the formation had set off.


    But the formation was supposed to ignore a creature of that size! What happened? Did the formation somehow break down or was the cat a Magical Beast with Mana?


    The two weren¡¯t able toe to any answer. Just as they were thinking about what to do, a strict voice entered their ears with a refreshing scent invading their nostrils.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    Just as they heard the voice, a slightly old looking man suddenly appeared in front of the guards, making them stumble back in fright.


    Only when they noticed his appearance did the two hurriedly stood up andposed themselves. With a shout, they saluted, ¡°Sir Rufus!¡±


    ¡°Hm,¡± Rufus expressionlessly nodded his head.


    He was in charge of the security in the absence of Emperor Luthien, so he was the first one to appear after the rm alerted the whole Pce.


    ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡± he asked again, reminding the two guards that they had a situation at hand.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t see anyone, Sir!¡± the guard hurriedly replied with another shout.


    Rufus was about to nod his head and take control of the situation when he noticed that thepanion of the guard who had shouted seemed to be evading his eyes.


    ¡°Do you have anything to say? If so, hurry up,¡± Rufus guessed that the guard might be nervous, but he didn¡¯t have the time right now.


    ¡°I... it¡¯s just that I think it was that ck cat, Sir¡± the guard was nervous at first, but under Rufus¡¯ re, he hurriedly spat out what he wanted to say while pointing at the ground.


    ¡°A ck cat?¡±Rufus squinted his eyes and followed the direction where the guard was pointing his finger.


    ¡°Where?¡± He didn¡¯t see any cat on the ground.


    Following this, the guards who knew that there was a ck cat here hurriedly looked around but there was not a single trace of her.


    ¡°S-sir! We clearly saw a ck cat crossing through the entrance and didn¡¯t stop it since it seemed harmless...¡± the guards exined themselves with sweat dripping down their forehead.


    If something went wrong, they wouldn¡¯t be able to face the consequences. Hence, they quickly exined their thoughts.


    ¡®A ck cat? Why does it ring a bell in my mind...?¡¯ Rufus thought. He felt as if he was on to something, but couldn¡¯t put a finger on it.


    ¡°If what you say is true, then the cat might be a Magical Beast and you merely failed to recognize it. For now, instruct all teams that you see to find the cat,¡± Rufus ordered before making his way back inside.


    The Royal estate was huge, and he would need to instruct all the guards to search for the infiltrator.


    The two entrance guards nervously nodded their heads and started to instruct all the teams who came rushing there. The ck cat, after setting off the formation, had instantly disappeared as if it was just an illusion.


    Just when Rufus was going to head towards the Pce, a man wearing ck clothes suddenly appeared in front of him.


    ¡°Sir Rufus, her Majesty sent a message,¡± the man fully covered in ck clothes spoke in a robotic tone.


    ¡°I am listening,¡± Rufus answered. In the absence of Emperor Luthien, it was the Empress who had to make all the decisions.


    ¡°I will repeat her words... No foreign Mana signature was detected. Find the infiltrator as soon as possible,¡± the man gave Rufus the message and disappeared without waiting for him to reply.


    What made Rufus confused was the fact that the formation didn¡¯t sense any Mana signature at all.


    ¡®So that cat was normal...¡¯ Rufus realized that if the rm had gone off with no Mana signature detected, a random drunk guy who managed to get up the wall would most probably be the reason behind it.


    It was either that, or the formation really did start to act up and sounded the rm only because of a stray cat stepping inside the estate.


    This had never happened before, and Rufus also assumed the former to be the case this time.


    Immediately, almost all the guards were mobilized to search for the drunk guy who had signed off his death warrant with this idiotic act.


    After not finding anyone after an hour, half of the guards were ordered to even search near the Pce. However, they found not a single soul that didn¡¯t belong there in the estate.


    ¡®Did the formation really triggered a false rm?¡¯ Rufus could not help but sigh after not finding a single clue whatsoever.


    The only thing he did know was that a strange ck cat had stepped inside just at the same time when the formation had gone off.


    All the guards were in a dilemma since each passing minute caused Rufus¡¯ aura to re up.


    Unknown to all of them, Ozul watched thismotion y out from above a tree.


    ¡®It worked!¡¯ Ozul felt d as the scene yed out just as he hoped it would. The formation wasn¡¯t able to detect him, and if he wanted to, no one else here had the ability to find him either!

 Chapter 235

    Chapter 235: Heated battle.


    Though things went better than he had expected, Ozul had one small problem.


    ¡®How long will those things be up for...¡¯ he thought as he looked at the Pce just a short distance away from him.


    Jinx had disappeared and made it look as if she was the reason for the false rm, and no one knew that he was inside the estate.


    However, what kept him hiding in a tree was the fact that Mana had formed a thickyer of shield all around the Pce, and he also guessed that all of the defensive formations were active at the moment.


    Though they didn¡¯t know his presence, he would still have to wait here until the formations are put back to sleep again.


    ¡®Hurry up!¡¯ he muttered in his mind as he saw the guards run around all over the estate in search of the intruder.


    The fact that they hadn¡¯t found him already proved the fact that the formation could indeed only locate people with Mana.


    .....


    ¡®Heh... Everyone relies on Mana too much...¡¯ Ozul muttered. Though he wasn¡¯tining because the situation had also be favorable to him because of that.


    After all, no one expected someone to get so strong and infiltrate their territory without a speck of Mana.


    In the end, he decided to just wait and hope that whoever had the ¡®controller¡¯ of the formations quickly shut them down.


    . . .


    Another hour passed by, and Rufus had enough of it. He had all of the guards mobilized, and they had searched the whole estate more than twice!


    And because of the formations near the Pce, the intruder had no chances to pass through. Even if they were somehow able to, it would create noises that would be hard to ignore for even normal people.


    By now, he firmly believed that it was really just because of the ck cat, and some sort of problem must have urred in the formation this time for it to give a false rm because of that small cat.


    Since they didn¡¯t find anyone, he entered the Pce to report this to the Empress.


    ¡®The formations are up for a couple of hours now, they must have used quite a lot of resources already,¡¯ Rufus thought as he walked inside the Pce. For some reason, none of the active formations attacked him.


    ¡°Only she can stop them...¡± he muttered as he made his way to the throne room.


    In the absence of the Emperor, the man himself had dered that everyone, be it the Ministers or the Military Commanders, all of them had to listen to the orders of the Empress, who herself was a peak Rank-8 Mage.


    Unlike other kings, Emperor Luthien had only married once and there were no concubines in the Royal Pce whatsoever.


    When Rufus entered the throne room, the Empress sat at the very end of the room, on a seat just next to the Emperor¡¯s throne.


    It was a giant hall and Rufus walked halfway through before he knelt on one leg and uttered, ¡°Your Majesty,¡±


    ¡°Raise,¡± the Empress calmly replied before Rufus stood up straight again. She then began to ask, ¡°Where is the intruder, Sir Rufus?¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty...¡± Rufus began to exin the situation in detail and briefed the Empress with his spection as well.


    The Empress calmly listened to his every word and did not speak until he had finished.


    ¡°Continue your search, Sir Rufus. I don¡¯t doubt your assumption, but the formations have never given a false rm in decades. Protecting the Pce is our priority, and we have enough resources to burn a little without worrying.¡±


    Emperor Luthien had strictly told them to not let any outsider get in the Royal Pce at all costs. And being the Royal family, they had enough resources to have the formations active for much longer than this.


    ¡®Still, they need to quickly find the culprit. Even when I can allow wasting all these resources for now, it cannot go on for long or we might really run out when there is a real emergency,¡¯ the Empress did not show all of these thoughts on her face.


    Being the Empress of such arge kingdom, she not only had the authoritative aura but also the ability to keep up a poker face in desperate situations.


    Rufus did not question her decision and only solemnly nodded his head before taking his leave. Being the Chief Leader of the Silver Knights, he was aware of many things and could guess that the Empress was worried as well.


    *Sigh...*


    ¡®Why now?!¡¯ Rufus had been nning to spend this time training his granddaughter, and now he had to run all over the estate to find someone who might not even exist. The situation had truly managed to annoy him.


    In the end, Ozul was again left hanging with the Royal Pce not deciding to take down the formations even after so much time.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    While all of that had happened in the Silverbird Kingdom, the people in the Neutral City all talked about the ongoing tournament.


    Two separate tforms were set for the battles and since the other middle-stage Rank-8 was assigned to Raven¡¯s ring, there were two initial stage Rank-8 in ze¡¯s ring.


    One of them was ra from the Church of Light, while the other person was from the Ashin family. Leaving the rest of the people on the tform, ze didn¡¯t even pay attention to these two.


    Instead, he only looked on the other ring to observe the fight between Raven and the other middle-stage Rank-8 Mage.


    ra and the man from the Ashin family found his attitude irritating, but they knew that the difference between them could not be ovee by only anger.


    Though they were of the same Rank, the difference in the small stages of high ranks was so overwhelming that they didn¡¯t dare toe near ze at all.


    Instead, both of them tacitly decided not to bother him. Not only that, they also avoided to fight each other as well and focused on finishing off the rest of the Mages on the tform.


    Thest three people standing in both rings would continue to the individual battles, so even if they did not defeat the other, they would still have a chanceter.


    Meanwhile, on the other tform, Raven solemnly stared at the brown-haired man in front of her.


    Thest initial stage man from the Leonhard Dynasty had been assigned to her stage, but just like ze, she also ignored him.


    The man from the Leonhard Dynasty was sweating buckets before, but he bitterly smiled when he noticed both ¡®monsters¡¯ in his ringpletely ignoring him.


    Although the tform was massive, it was certainly not enough for two middle-stage Rank-8 Mages to let loose. Still, the brown-haired man and Raven nned to do just that.


    Raven nned to defeat him as quickly as she could, and the man felt as if he wasn¡¯t serious, it wouldn¡¯t end well for him.


    ¡°Start!¡± They were still in a staringpetition when the representative from the Mercenary Guild shouted.


    His voice had yet to fade away when people started to fight each other on both tforms.


    Raven immediately disappeared from her spot and slowly, particles of ck smoke started appearing on the tform.


    On one side, no one came near ze and on the other side, Raven¡¯s fight with the brown-haired man even caused the participant from the Leonhard Dynasty to keep his distance.


    No matter how much he tried to look into it, there seemed no way for him to take part in their battle. And he didn¡¯t want to fight with all those Rank-7 Mages. So just like ze, he also became a spectator of their fight.


    ze noticed how Raven immediately closed the distance between her and the brown-haired man. Meanwhile, the area all around her was gradually covered in ck smoke.


    ¡°Light¡¯s Blessing!¡±


    A sudden shout came in from the area covered by the smoke, and a bright light started to shine from the middle of it.


    ze looked surprised, but his surprise quickly turned into an excited smile. No matter how much time passed, his nature was still that of a battle maniac.


    Though he could not see it, Raven had started to realize that it wouldn¡¯t be so easy in the giant cloud of ck smoke.


    ¡®I underestimated the Light Element...¡¯ she thought as she saw a small area around the brown-haired man was illuminated, making it hard for her to stealthily close in.


    ¡®It seems I have no other choice,¡¯ Raven thought before quickly closing in on the brown-haired man.


    The dagger in her hand aimed for the man¡¯s head, but some kind of invisible shield appeared and it created visible sparks when her dagger shed with it.


    *ng!*


    Although Raven was surprised, it did not stop her shing the other dagger at the shield.


    The first sh had already created small cracks on the shield, so the other dagger instantly shattered it.


    Before Raven could again sh at the brown-haired man, thetter had readied his own spell and a bright beam of light was shot at Raven from that close distance.


    With no other choice, Raven side-stepped, surprising the brown-haired man with her agility.


    Just like that, both of them engaged in a heated battle with the brown-haired man not giving a single opportunity to Raven.


    Currently, everyone in the arena had their focus on their cloud of ck smoke except for only one individual.


    Unlike others, Emperor Luthien only had that single individual on his mind who had forced him to attend the tournament.


    ¡®ording to Rufus, he had also obtained the Elemental Seeds. It is not a surprise that two of his men are middle stage Rank-8...¡¯ Luthien thought. He hadn¡¯t told Lammert about the seeds since he wanted them for himself.


    He was still in contemtion when it started to get dark and suddenly, a ring on his hand shone, making him stand up in rm.

 Chapter 236

    Chapter 236: The search.


    Unknown to Ozul, the moment he had set off the formation, it had also rmed Emperor Luthien that an intruder had infiltrated the Royal estate.


    Though Rufus or the Empress might have started to believe that a simple cat was the reason, Emperor Luthien wasn¡¯t aware of such details and directly rushed back to the Silverbird Kingdom.


    Unaware that he had already started making his way back, Ozul leisurely waited for the Empress to disable the formations.


    Only when it was midnight did Ozul notice that the guards who had earlier been rushing everywhere started to make their way towards the Pce.


    He got up and decided to follow where everyone was heading. The screen created by the Ball of Puritypletely blended him in the dark surroundings.


    ¡®Rufus...¡¯ Ozul noticed that the ce where the guards had gathered was around the old man. He hid in a tree again, but close enough so that he could hear what Rufus was saying.


    ¡°...Go back to your positions, but be extra alert. It was a false rm, but don¡¯t ck off now,¡± Rufus ordered.


    .....


    He didn¡¯t say much, but Ozul knew it meant that now they were really thinking that the formation was at fault.


    Following Rufus¡¯ orders, the guards dispersed and he also went inside the Pce. And this time, Ozul was there to notice that the formations ignored the old man.


    Now that he knew what they were thinking, he excitedly waited for them to put down the defenses surrounding the Pce.


    And just as he had expected, just a few minutester, he felt theyer of Mana disappearing around the Pce.


    Gradually, the dense surge of Mana that he was previously feeling disappeared, indicating that all of those defensive formations were deactivated.


    ¡®Finally!¡¯ Ozul cheered inside his mind, but still waited there for a couple of minutes.


    The guards uniformly went back to their duties, but no one dared to ck off this time. All of them were as vignt as they could get.


    When he noticed that things had calmed down, he began to discreetly make his way towards the Pce.


    With his speed and the camouge because of the Ball of Purity, no one noticed him rushing towards the huge gates.


    Even when he didn¡¯t sense any formations, Ozul was careful about his surroundings. There have been a number of times before when he missed them, and he didn¡¯t want to make the same mistake here.


    As he got inside, he didn¡¯t have the same advantage of the dark surroundings as he had outside. So he relied on his speed to stop only at a ce where no one was around to see him.


    Only when he stopped around the corner of a corridor did he have the time to look at the interior of the Pce. The inside of the Pce was as if it was still day. The ceiling was high and decorated with expensive-looking ornaments.


    There were too many sparkly things for him to move leisurely without worrying about getting caught.


    ¡®Well, now that I am inside, it doesn¡¯t matter whoever sees me as long as they aren¡¯t conscious after that...¡¯ Ozul thought inside his mind with a smirk almost taking ce on his face.


    He was fairly confident to be able to deal with just about anyone since Emperor Luthien wasn¡¯t here.


    It would have been a real problem if the formations were active and Emperor Luthien was here at the same time. It was fortunate that he didn¡¯t have to deal with even one of them.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to search,¡± Ozul muttered under his breath and began to look around the Pce. He didn¡¯t know the internalyout, so all he could rely on was the trails of Mana.


    The Pce was too big for him to blindly run everywhere and hope to run into the ce where they had left his arm.


    He searched a couple of rooms, but none of them had anything.


    Just as he was standing there, contemting what to do next, a voice woke him up.


    ¡°Hey! Who are you?¡± The voice belonged to a tall man wearing a neat uniform. He seemed like one of the royal guards because his aura and cultivation base was on a different level than the ones patrolling outside.


    ¡°Already? Sigh... ¡± Although Ozul could easily deal with him, he would have to hide his body somewhere as well, or someone might find him and report it to the Empress. Even if he somehow managed to hide his body, his friends could also notice his disappearance.


    ¡®Can¡¯t do anything about it now,¡¯ he thought inside his mind as a single thin needle passed through the guards¡¯ head, creating just a tiny hole before the man fell down.


    *Thud.*


    When Ozul was going to pick up the body and look somewhere to hide it, he noticed the golden pouch hanging on his waist.


    ¡®Nothing alive can be stored there... but he is dead now, isn¡¯t he...¡¯ Ozul didn¡¯t know if he could do it. But when he picked up the man¡¯s corpse and opened the Spatial Pouch, it interestingly worked!


    It made it a lot easier for him to just store all the dead bodies inside the pouch if need be. Just when he was about to continue, he stopped and realized that it would take a lot of unnecessary time if he kept on going like this.


    Half an hour had already passed after he had entered the Pce, and all he had found was the throne room.


    Though he didn¡¯t enter it, he knew that it was the throne room because of the presence of a couple of Rank-8 Mages there.


    ¡®Hmm?¡¯ Just then, Ozul felt something rubbing the side of his leg and when he looked down, there she was.


    ¡°Took you long enough,¡± Ozul bent down and patted Jinx. Though he had just asked her to walk inside and disappear afterward, she did obey him and deserved a few pats.


    Just when Ozul stood up after patting her, Jinx started walking in the corridor.


    ¡°Hm? Where are you going?¡± Ozul asked. She would usually just follow behind him where he went. He had never seen her visibly go anywhere. Whenever she did, she would just disappear, and never physically walk away.


    Jinx stopped and looked back at him in the eyes. They stared at each other for a few seconds as ifmunicating with their eyes.


    If anyone else had seen them looking at each other like that, they would have thought that both of them were in love.


    After a moment, as if Ozul just understood what she was trying to convey, he started following behind her.


    Ozul actually didn¡¯t know what Jinx exactly wanted him to know, but he could at least understand that she wanted him to follow her.


    The only problem was that Jinx walked as if she owned the castle. It was as if each of her steps was carefully nned because the grace of that walk would have put even the noblest ofdies to shame.


    Jinx walked in the middle of the corridor, and Ozul could only helplessly follow behind her slowly.


    And not surprisingly, they ran into a couple of royal guards. Ozul quickly dealt with them, and put their corpses inside the Spatial Pouch.


    Just like that, Jinx made him walk through a couple more hallways and the number of royal guards¡¯ corpses inside the Spatial Pouch kept increasing.


    At this point, Ozul realized that they would need to hurry up because the disappearance of so many guards at the same time would definitely cause a bigmotion. He didn¡¯t know where the defensive formations were ced, but it would be better if they weren¡¯t activated again.


    ¡°Hurry up, Jinx.¡±


    Although Ozul told her to hurry up, Jinx still walked at her own pace.


    Fortunately for him, he didn¡¯t need to deal with another group of royal guards because Jinx took a turn and went towards a dark corner.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Ozul hadn¡¯t seen a single part of the Pce that wasn¡¯t lit up with illuminating stones, but this dark corner wasn¡¯t noticeable because of the sudden turning hallways.


    At once, he realized that this might be the room. There was no way that those who built the Royal Pce just mistakenly left this room without any lights.


    Even Jinx just stopped in front of the door and continued to stare at him.


    Though when he was about to enter, she didn¡¯t move away and almost seemed to be blocking his way.


    Ozul squinted his eyes at her, but still stopped and closed his eyes to try to feel what was behind the doors.


    ¡°!!¡±


    He was forced to open his eyes and took a few steps back because the room was a trap!


    ¡®Fuu... I would have walked right into it if it wasn¡¯t for her...¡¯ Ozul deeply exhaled. There was a formation set up behind the room and he didn¡¯t know how strong it.


    Though one thing was clear, it would certainly alert the whole Pce and whoever had the control of the rest of the defensive formations would immediately activate them again.


    ¡®If it was a trap, why did she bring me here?¡¯ Ozul questioned inside his mind. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t get any more answers from her.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see...¡± he muttered before he closed his eyes again to see if there was something else about this corner.


    . . .


    While Ozul was searching for his arm, some royal guards were anxiously reporting to the Empress in the throne room.


    ¡°What do you mean people are missing?¡± The Empress asked with a chilly tone.


    ¡°Y-your Ma-majesty, we searched everywhere...¡± the royal guard stuttered in a shaky voice.

 Chapter 237

    Chapter 237: Traps.


    Hearing the royal guard stutter his report, the frown on the Empress¡¯ face continued to deepen.


    ¡°Go and notify Sir Rufus,¡± the Empress ordered as she motioned with her hands for them to leave. The royal guards didn¡¯t waste a moment and quickly stood up to leave the throne room.


    Only after the guards had left did the Empress wave her hand and a fist-sized crystal appeared before her.


    The crystal shone with bright blue light and dense Mana surrounded it. It was the crystal used to control the defensive formations.


    Just when she was about to pour Mana into it, a sudden voice came from behind the throne.


    ¡°His Majesty should already be returning, your grace. Are you sure we should waste so many resources on formations?¡± The person who spoke still did not show his figure and hid in the shadows.


    The Empress paused at his words. She didn¡¯t look behind and seemingly knew who the voice belonged to.


    .....


    ¡°Earlier it was the formation which activated all the defenses, but we found nothing. Now there is such a thing going on in the Pce after I disabled them. It is too much for it to be a coincidence...¡± She shook her head sideways and continued,


    ¡°We couldn¡¯t find the intruder for hours, do you think we will be able to now? Activating the defenses would cost us, but it is better to be safe than sorry.¡±


    After exining, the Empress turned her head and stared in the shadows and sarcastically asked, ¡°Or do you have a suggestion, Mr shadow? Didn¡¯t you also check everywhere in the estate before and found no one?¡±


    In face of her question, no answer came from the shadow and the Empress nodded her head before turning her focus back to the crystal.


    . . .


    Meanwhile, Ozul had found something in that hidden corridor. One corner of the wall felt hollow from the other, but when he pushed it, nothing much happened.


    ¡®A hidden door... The way to open this should be somewhere here,¡¯ Ozul began to push all over the wall.


    *Clunk!*


    With some mechanical sound, the spot of the wall where he had felt hollow on the other side started to slowly slide down. It turned out that he had to push a particr spot near that spot.


    ¡°There it is...¡± Ozul muttered. If there was a secret passage here, there were high chances that his arm could be there, given that Emperor Luthien hadn¡¯t taken it with him.


    Before Ozul were stairs leading downwards. From where he stood, he couldn¡¯t see the end of them. He was just about to go down when Jinx beat him to it.


    Having no other choice, Ozul again had to follow her down.


    There was already barely any light in the corridor, so with each step that he took, it became darker. Though it wasn¡¯t a problem for him since darkness never hindered Ozul. Instead, he felt way better.


    He continued to follow Jinx down the narrow stairs. But even after a few minutes, they didn¡¯t reach the end. It felt as if the stairs were endless.


    Just as he was starting to wonder if it was also some kind of trap, Jinx stopped.


    Ozul also stopped and since he didn¡¯t see anything in sight, he tried to sense if there was anything out of the ordinary. This time again, he sensed nothing on the side of the wall, so he began to push everywhere until a small part slid back.


    Just like before, another narrow passage opened, but the exit was right there in front of him this time.


    ¡®Hmm? So bright...¡¯


    The end of the passage shone with blinding light.


    Ozul narrowed his eyes and moved forward. Though just as he did, he had to forcibly open his eyes wide because of the sudden pressure of Mana that suddenly swept everywhere around him.


    *Gzz...*


    He didn¡¯t know if it was because he was too deep underground, but the sound was a little muffled. Still, he knew what had happened.


    ¡°So they finally find out,¡± he muttered as he looked behind him. Even though there was nothing when he had just passed through that narrow tunnel, now he felt a threadlike beam of Mana connecting both sides.


    Ozul figured that this thin line of Mana probably acted as the ¡®thread¡¯ to activate the ¡®trap¡¯ which in this case, might have been some deadly attack from the formation.


    He was already anticipating it but didn¡¯t know that the defensive formations would be spread throughout the Pce like this.


    Ignoring the fact that he should have tried to be a little more discreet because now he might have to take care of tens of such traps, Ozul turned around to look at the ce he had entered.


    It was a spacious room, again decorated with luxurious ornaments, but the room wasn¡¯t as sparkly as the halls of the Pce. Though the reason might be because of all the wooden bookshelves that were neatly arranged everywhere.


    In them, Ozul saw hundreds of books, each probably containing some information that Emperor Luthien didn¡¯t want others to know.


    What Ozul was more interested in was the fact that he sensed tremendous Mana from the opposite side of the room!


    He ignored the giant bookshelves and directly made his way towards the source. This time, Jinx only followed behind him.


    When he reached the end of the giant room, in front of him was a massive wooden table.


    The table didn¡¯t have anything out of the ordinary, but the box of crystal ced on top of it certainly looked something special.


    It was a transparent box of ss. Inside, Ozul could see a big red crystal, shining with a bright red light.


    ¡®What is it...?¡¯ He questioned in his mind. That thing exuded a very strange kind of Mana that felt a little different to him.


    Before trying to get closer, Ozul checked to see if there was any type of trap set up or not. Only when he was a hundred percent sure that there was nothing that could act as some sort of a trigger around the ss did he step forward.


    He held the ss box and carefully lifted it up from the shining red crystal.


    However, just as he had lifted the ss box halfway up, he noticed something that made his eyebrows shot up in shock.


    ¡®Damn it!¡¯ Ozul cursed in his mind because he noticed that it was actually the ss box itself that was exuding that strange dense Mana. And the red crystal under it was rapidly turning darker.


    Without waiting for another second, he hit his feet on the floor, and Ball of Purity quickly covered him.


    *Boom!*


    The red crystal exploded, engulfing the whole room in mes!


    The explosion destroyed almost everything in sight, while Ozul was thrown back and hit the wall, almost creating a hole in it.


    Fortunately, Ozul had covered himself in the Ball of Purity at thest second. He didn¡¯t think taking the st at point-nk range would¡¯ve ended well for him.


    As he removed the shield to look around the room, the whole room was still burning. The tall bookshelves were already reduced to mere ashes. The books certainly couldn¡¯t avoid that fate either.


    ¡°Fu... That was close...¡± Ozul muttered as he slowly stood up from the ground.


    He had checked everything around the table and the ss box and found nothing before. He didn¡¯t think that the crystal itself would be explosive.


    He had only realized in thest moment that the strange Mana he felt was actually from the ss box.


    It was to lure the intruders into activating the red crystal that exploded and destroyed everything in the room.


    An explosion of that size and power would have certainly even harmed a Rank-9 Mage at such a close distance.


    When he looked around, the walls had big cracks. Parts of it already seemed to be ready to fall any minute now.


    ¡®They still held on...¡¯ Ozul was surprised that the walls could still stand after that explosion.


    He sighed and looked for the other door that he had previously noticed when he had arrived.


    Even after being so careful, he still fell for the trap. Although it didn¡¯t even scratch him, Ozul didn¡¯t like the fact that he was caught off guard.


    Just when he was about to reach the door that had also somehow survived, Ozul noticed Jinx still on her spot, licking her paws.


    ¡°...¡±


    Ozul had no words for the ck cat that somehow didn¡¯t even find the need to move from its ce in the face of that explosion that just reduced everything to cinders in the room!


    ¡®Oh right, I should let her lead...¡¯ Ozul remembered that Jinx somehow knew everything and had also previously stopped him from opening that trap room.


    Ozul didn¡¯t know how Jinx knew everything or how she even survived the explosion, but he had realized that she was his safest option right now.


    ¡®Can she make it so things can just pass through her...?¡¯


    With such thoughts in his mind, Ozul made his way to the next room.


    . . .


    Meanwhile, in the throne room, the Empress was getting a report from Rufus when they suddenly heard the loud explosion that shook the whole Pce.


    Rufus didn¡¯t know, but the Empress¡¯ was well aware of everything within the Pce. She instantly figured out what could have been the reason for the explosion.


    ¡°Sir Rufus, take charge of the royal guards and control the situation if any arises,¡± saying that the Empress stood up from her seat and waited for Rufus to leave the throne room before she turned towards the shadows and said,


    ¡°As of now, all of you are permitted to leave my side...¡±


    Following her words, a couple of blurry figures moved and disappeared from the throne room. They were the hidden guards of the Royal family that only they knew about. All one of them had the strength of a peak Rank-8 Mage.


    Though she had sent all of them to stop the intruder, the Empress wasn¡¯t sure if they would be enough because the infiltrator could very well be a Rank-9 Mage.


    ¡°I just hope he doesn¡¯t get involved...¡±

 Chapter 238

    Chapter 238: Concern.


    Emperor Luthien made his way back to the Silverbird Kingdom even when Lammert was motioning him not to leave.


    And unaware of many things, Ozul was down in the secret room somewhere under the Pce. The Empress had activated all the defenses again and also sent the royal family¡¯s personal guards to stop him.


    While all of that was happening in the Silverbird Kingdom, there was a different kind of excitement growing in the Neutral Lands.


    . . .


    In the headquarters of the Three-Eyed Strangers, Raven sat on the couch ced at the far corner of the room on the 7th floor. She was staring nkly on the floor, thinking about her battle with that middle stage Rank-8 Mage from the Church.


    The result of that match, much to her dissatisfaction, didn¡¯t happen as she wanted it to be. Raven wanted to defeat that brown-haired man, and she was finally making some progress at the end.


    However, before she even came close to defeating him, the Mercenary Guild¡¯s representative stopped the battle.


    .....


    She was furious as to why the match had to be stopped, but she found out the reason when she looked around herself.


    It was because the other Rank-8 Mage from the Leonhard Dynasty had already cleared all the other participants. Since only three people remained standing on her tform including her, the battle royale was concluded with the three as winners.


    At that time, she regretted not taking care of that guy from the Leonhard Dynasty who became the reason for not being able to defeat the brown-haired man from the Church.


    It wasn¡¯t even that man¡¯s fault. While Raven was fighting the brown-haired man, the two didn¡¯t look around them. They were destroying the whole stage with their spells!


    And the participant from the Leonhard Dynasty had no other choice but to defeat everyone else to stop them from getting more violent. He was also standing on the same tform, and if they had decided to unleash their destructive Spells, he would have also been caught in them sooner orter.


    Raven clenched her fist in frustration as she remembered how she couldn¡¯t get a single hit on her opponent.


    ¡°Still thinking about that?¡± Suddenly came the amusing voice of ze as Raven looked up at him with a deadpan face.


    ¡°... I told you already, tomorrow are the individual matches. You didn¡¯t have the time today, but the individual battles wouldst as long as one isn¡¯t defeated,¡± ze tried to cheer her up. He couldn¡¯t take the ever-growing gloomy aura from her.


    Raven loosened her fist as what ze said did make sense. She wouldn¡¯t rest easy until she defeated that man.


    ¡®It will be hard for her...¡¯ ze thought as he looked at her determined eyes. He had observed their whole fight and noticed that just like him, that man didn¡¯t give her a single opportunity.


    Even when Raven had improved a lot than before, that man somehow managed to evade or block in thest second. And unlike ze, that brown-haired man would half the time also go on the offensive.


    Raven almost got hit twice as well. Maybe she had gotten used to only being on the offensive, but ze could see that the brown-haired man was more skilled than her.


    It didn¡¯t help the fact that he was almost 55 years old as ze learned from Irvin who had such information on all the participants. Being more than a decade older than them, he would certainly have more battle experience.


    ¡®He was right, we haven¡¯t had any experience in real life-threatening situations...¡¯ ze admitted as he remembered Ozul¡¯s words.


    Ozul wanted to bring them to a fairly dangerous ce and pit them against Rank-8 Beasts, but he didn¡¯t find the time to do so.


    . . .


    In a hall with dim lighting and many seats neatly arranged, facing the front of the room, a man sat at a chair ced in front of all the other seats.


    It was the prayer hall for the Church of Light and the man sitting on the chair was Archbishop Lammert.


    Besides a couple of his most trusted Bishops, there wasn¡¯t anyone in the hall right now.


    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t he defeat her?¡± Lammert asked in a calm voice but the Bishops knew that the calmer his voice sounded, the more furious he was.


    They quivered at his questions. No one had the courage to answer him.


    ¡°You gave him all of it, yes?¡± Lammert pointed towards a particr Bishop wearing sses.


    The man in question again shuddered, being put on the spot, and stuttered, ¡°... I-it was decided t-that giving all of it to him might have side effects...¡± The more he spoke, the lower his voice got.


    ¡°And who decided that?¡± Lammert asked. This time, his eyes had gotten darker and the other Bishops took a few steps back.


    ¡°I-it was Bishop Sebun...¡± replied the man wearing sses.


    Bishop Sebun behind him instantly fell on the ground as he hit his face on the floor and asked for mercy while trembling, ¡°A-archbishop, f-forgive me! I-¡±


    Before he could even utter another sentence, a beam of light passed through both of his hands, creating two gaping holes!


    ¡°Arhckk!¡±


    Bishop Sebun shouted in pain, while the other bishops had their backs drenched in sweat witnessing this scene.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make decisions on your own from now on. Make preparations for tomorrow, give him all of it! I want to see how those runts can stand against him tomorrow!¡± Lammert said in a loud voice that shook the Bishops.


    Instantly, the one wearing sses helped Bishop Sebun walk out of the prayer hall while the others also followed.


    ¡®The whole world should see that it was the Church¡¯s overwhelming victory!¡¯


    Archbishop Lammert thought as he leaned back on his seat. He wouldn¡¯t miss the opportunity to show the whole world that the most promising new talents were in the Church.


    ¡®No one can stop the Church of Light from returning to its past glory,¡¯ Archbishop Lammert squinted his eyes and suddenly remembered how Emperor Luthien had suddenly left his seat.


    ¡°Che! That damn bastard!¡± Lammert clicked his tongue as he cursed Emperor Luthien. He had even motioned him not to go anywhere, but thetter didn¡¯t pay any attention to his words at all!


    ¡°People have forgotten the Church of Light¡¯s true might. It¡¯s time they experience it again,¡± he muttered with a smirk on his face.


    . . .


    _In the Ashin family¡¯s estate_


    Raymond sat in the room, with a cup of tea in his hand as Alver entered.


    ¡°So, did you inform the nephew¡¯s organization?¡± Raymond asked without taking his attention off of the reports in his other hand.


    ¡°About the matches tomorrow? The Mercenary Guild would be doing that on their own,¡± Alver answered as he also took a seat.


    Since the Ashin family was part of the tournament¡¯s organizers, Alver would know of every important detail beforehand.


    The information Raymond asked about was the details of how they would conduct the matches tomorrow for the remaining six individuals. This time, they were nning to change things a little because of the unusual number of Rank-8 participants with half of them even at the middle stage!


    The Mercenary Guild had decided that the three Initial Stage Rank-8 Mages could avoid fighting the middle stage ones as long as all three of them agreed.


    The Initial Stage Rank-8 Mages would then just fight among themselves for the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth position. Meanwhile, the Middle Stage Rank-8 would fight for the first, the second, and the third position respectively.


    Of course, the reward would only be for the ultimate winner, but the matches would decide the rankings of every final participant.


    Although they had said that it would only happen this way if all the Initial Stage Rank-8 Mages agree to this. Sometimes, a few hot-headed youths would still want to try their luck.


    ¡°Alright. What about nephew? Any news?¡± Raymond asked, setting aside the documents in his hand. Though he sometimes felt as if his nephew could even match him in terms of power, he could still not help but be worried.


    ¡°I asked Irvin, there was no news. Though considering his personality, he wouldn¡¯t try to send any news anyway,¡± Alver replied with a soft chuckle at the end. Raymond also smiled while shaking his head.


    If there was anyone else here to witness the two brothers smile so warmly like that, they wouldn¡¯t believe that they were the same people. After all, the two would onlyugh in the matters of family.


    After a moment, Alver spoke again, ¡°But I can tell that nephew has already started doing whatever he nned to...¡±


    ¡°Oh? How?¡± Raymond asked while squinting his eyes.


    ¡°During the matches, I had my attention on all the Luthien,¡± Alver answered.


    ¡°Luthien? Emperor Luthien?¡± Raymond asked in the middle.


    Alver nodded his head and continued his exnation, ¡°It had already started getting dark when something shone on his hand and he stood up to leave in a hurry. I sent my men to investigate, and it seems like he went back to the Silverbird Kingdom.¡±


    Raymond nodded his head as he also understood what that could imply. They also had defensive formations set up and knew that there were mechanisms that would inform the people from long distances. They had such devices themselves after all.


    He then slowly muttered, ¡°Hm... I hope nephew didn¡¯t get himself in trouble.¡±


    Alver also nodded his head. Concern for their nephew was visible on both brother¡¯s faces as they went back to their work, not aware of what was happening in the Royal Pce of the Silverbird Kingdom.

 Chapter 239

    Chapter 239: It¡¯s mine!


    Back in the Silverbird Kingdom, Ozul entered the next room, followed by the uncaring Jinx.


    Even when the previous room had suffered that st, this new one seemedpletely unscathed.


    What intrigued Ozul was the lines of methodically arranged desks. On top of those desks wereb equipment.


    There were chemicals, different artifacts, and even the materials from the Magical Beasts lying around the room. From the looks of it, there had been people working here before.


    Ozul tried to sense everything around him, but he didn¡¯t feel anyone¡¯s presence.


    ¡®Have they also been experimenting on my arm?!¡¯


    No matter what, he could never stand the thought of his arms being pierced by needles and experimented with all kinds of substances.


    .....


    The fact that the Church of Light had already started using his arm for creating the healing potions had already angered him enough.


    Ozul didn¡¯t know if he would ever be able to find out about his existence or not, but he was sure of one thing; he would never forgive the bastards who did all those experiments on his arms!


    Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he focused back on the task at hand. He would only be able to take his revenge if he was strong enough. After all, the Church of Light supposedly had a Rank-10 protecting them.


    He didn¡¯t notice anything of importance in the room and at once started to look around to find the entrance to the next door.


    When he found the seeminglymon wooden door, he was about to open it, but he felt something off about it. Not taking any risk, he retreated at a safe distance before extending the Ball of Purity to open the door.


    It was unusual because he felt a coat of Mana covering the entire door. Even when he put more force, the door didn¡¯t budge from its position. That could only mean that whatever was behind the door, it was precious enough that they even had to inscribe a formation on the door.


    He knew that by now, people would already being for him, but he didn¡¯t care as long as it was not anyone at Rank-9. And only Emperor Luthien was a Rank-9 Mage in the Silverbird Kingdom, so he didn¡¯t need to worry about anyone interfering.


    Still, Ozul made haste and the floating liquid Ball of Purity all of a sudden shrank to a solid sharp de and shed at the door.


    He expected the door to have turned into half by now but to his surprise, there was only a small cut that appeared on the wooden door!


    ¡®This might be it!¡¯ Ozul thought eagerly. Although he wasn¡¯t serious with that sh before, it was strong enough to cut any Rank-8 Mage!


    And the door had received that attack like there was just a child ying with a kitchen knife! Such a sturdy door would definitely only be guarding the most precious thing the Royal Pce had.


    He had already gone to the supposed treasury of the Pce, and that ce did not have a safety measure that could evene close to this.


    The excitement of atst getting one of his arms back took over and he released all of the Ball of Purity to create multiple sharp des.


    This time, he put all of his force in it, and all the floating des simultaneously shed at the wooden door.


    When the dust settled, Ozul was again surprised to see that the door was still standing!


    Although, the wooden door now had a deep hole in it as if a magical cannon was fired at it.


    The door didn¡¯t look like it from one side, but it was a little too thick for a normal wooden door.


    This did not stop him from continuing to attack it though.


    Just like that, he had to attack it two more times before the seemingly ¡®normal¡¯ door fell.


    ¡®Hm?¡¯


    When Ozul peeked inside the next room, he noticed it wasn¡¯t a room. It was more urate to call it a giant hall instead.


    Even the word hall didn¡¯t do it any justice because it looked too big for a hall as well.


    Since that was the case, giant white pirs had to support the ceiling. Otherwise, it would all fall down.


    But except for the white pirs, all Ozul saw was the uneven walls around him and the raised tform made of white marble in the middle of the hall. He couldn¡¯t see what was on the tform because of its height.


    ¡®What is this ce...?¡¯ he wondered as he stepped inside and looked around.


    Seeing that the raised tform was the only thing that stood out in the giant hall, Ozul approached it with steady steps.


    As he got closer to the raised tform, a sudden heavy feeling took over his heart. Maybe it was just anticipation or excitement? Ozul didn¡¯t care about that right now.


    His pace increased as he neared the tform.


    ¡®Finally...¡¯


    His nonexistent heart throbbed as various thoughts ran through his mind.


    In his excitement, Ozul forgot to examine the tform.


    Because just when he was a few meters away from it, an invisible weight descended on him all of a sudden.


    ¡®What is this?!¡¯ he instantly stopped at the spot and cautiously looked around him.


    Ozul was still confused when a voice followed the pressure,


    ¡°Who are you boy?¡±


    Ozul widened his eyes in rm and jumped back to take a defensive stance. He didn¡¯t expect another person to be in this giant hall because it was so empty and quiet. Moreover, the voice came from above the tform.


    He didn¡¯t have the time to think that the voice sounded croaky and almost ancient. Since the giant hall was empty, the voice echoed throughout.


    ¡°Ho? Didn¡¯t you hear me? Hah, forget about it. It doesn¡¯t matter who you are. Tell me what you are doing here, boy!¡±


    The old voice changed his question, but Ozul remained on guard. Until the enemy was in sight, he didn¡¯t dare to rx.


    When he spread his senses above the tform, he only felt a single presence there. What made him take another few steps back was how strong that individual felt!


    Because that person wasn¡¯t using his Mana, he could not urately determine that person¡¯s rank, but one thing Ozul could confirm was the fact that the individual was above Rank-8.


    Countless questions popped in his head like why there was another Rank-9 Mage inside the Royal Pce of the Silverbird Kingdom, but he put them aside for now.


    Ozul didn¡¯t know who the person was, but he slowly started to siphon away small parts of the Ball of Purity and spread them as far as he could from himself to prepare for the inevitable fight.


    ¡°... It seems like he won¡¯t answer. Hmm... I wouldn¡¯t have let him get away anyway,¡± the individual on the tform muttered to himself. But his murmurs were clear enough for Ozul to hear in the silent hall.


    ¡°I am looking for the arm,¡± Ozul eventually decided to speak up.


    But he was surprised at the reaction of the other person at his words because that individual suddenly released an even greater pressure!


    Following that, the figure of an old man with a long white beard appeared at the edge of the tform. The beard was so long that it almost reached his feet.


    The old man wore white robes without any fancy symbols or embroidery.


    What Ozul found odd in the old man was his reddened eyes. He could clearly see the blood-red veins popping on the eyeballs.


    The otherwise gentle appearance of the old man was instantly destroyed because of those unusually red eyes and his overly wrinkled face.


    Like a madman addicted to alcohol, the old man began to shout, ¡°That arm is mine! Who are you to take it from me?!¡±


    Ozul¡¯s mind omitted the part of the old man acting insane, and instead focused on the fact that he did know about the arm!


    ¡°Where is my arm!?¡± Ozul asked, raising his own voice.


    ¡°... Your arm?¡± the half-insane old man paused at his words and looked at him with a tilted head. His eyes examined Ozul¡¯s figure and noticed the two metallic prosthetics in ce of real arms.


    ¡°They are yours? Hahaha! So you are that Devil¡¯s Spawn!¡± Suddenly, the old man started tough and continued,


    ¡°That damn brat could not bring you to me earlier, and now you decided toe here yourself? Hahaha! Good! No one can stop me from bing a real Rank-10 now!¡±


    His words caused an uneasy feeling to wash over Ozul. He didn¡¯tpletely understand what the old man was saying, but the bits he understood made him a little apprehensive.


    What cleared his doubts was the thing that happened next.


    The old man released all of his Mana and the whole hall began to tremble. Pieces of small rocks started to float from the ground and concentrated at a single point.


    ¡®This...¡¯ Ozul was speechless at the sheer pressure from that Mana. But he had felt something simr like this before!


    ¡®It is almost like that time...¡¯ the time when the monster he had fought before was rapidly increasing its strength and advancing to Rank-10!


    Ozul started to examine the old man¡¯s strength, ¡®...Rank-10? No... but he is above Rank-9. Did he... somehow get stuck in between?¡¯


    It turned out that the old man was half-step in Rank-10!


    But what made Ozul hold his breath was the transparent box of ss that floated behind the old man...

 Chapter 240

    Chapter 240: Insane.


    Unknown symbols of golden color were etched onto the box of ss. But what shook Ozul was not the ss box itself, but what was inside it.


    It was his arm inside that box!


    He could still see all the weird ck runes moving around the skin as if they were alive. Even when separated from him, the arm had still grown proportional to his body as if they were still connected in some way.


    Though Ozul only had a single thought inside his mind as he noticed the floating box of ss,


    ¡®My arm...¡¯


    It had been decades and the sense ofpleteness he had once felt was almost forgotten by now. But seeing his arm again with those ck runes made him remember why he was putting so much effort into all of this.


    It was all because he wanted to feelplete again. He wanted to feel that sense of contentment when he was surrounded by nothingness.


    .....


    And since he was deprived of hisfort, he had to burn whatever came in his way to feel the warmth again.


    The old man in front of him might be stronger than Rank-9, but he wanted his arm back right now!


    ¡°Give me my arm back...¡± he again spoke, but this time, his voice sounded so deep that it almost felt as if it was an entirely different person speaking.


    However, the old man utterly ignored him and the hall continued to shake now with even bigger pieces of the earth starting to float.


    By now, all those rubbles and rocks had formed a giant nket in the air.


    ¡°Luthien had reported to me that you were strong... let me see how strong!¡± the old man muttered and motioned his hand towards Ozul.


    All the rocks and rubbles that were previously floating still in the air suddenly shot towards Ozul with an unimaginable speed.


    Ozul was ready for that attack, so when the endless barrage of hundreds of rocks came at him, he simply created a shield with the Ball of Purity before him.


    The rubbles and pebbles all hit the shield as if they were a meteor!


    However, the shield bore the attack like it was nothing.


    The attack did not stop at that, because the giant rocks hit the shield next.


    *Bam!*


    Each rock shot at the shield with an even greater speed. After the collision, they broke down into smaller parts and scattered everywhere. Even these were not able to create a dent in the shield.


    Just as Ozul had thought that the attack had ended, even the smaller pieces of the rocks that had scattered behind him suddenly shot towards him!


    He immediately covered his back with the shield, but a couple of small rocks managed to get past it before the shield was deployed.


    *Tink!*


    Fortunately, these small stones only hit his metallic prosthetics.


    ¡®He is tricky,¡¯ Ozul thought out inside his mind as he contemted his next course of action.


    Previously, he was confident to deal with any Rank-9 Mage. However, he could have never thought that the Silverbird Kingdom would have someone above Rank-9 as well.


    He wondered why no one knew about this old man. But it wasn¡¯t the time to think about his identity or how the old man seemed to be referring to Emperor Luthien as if he was just a kid.


    But no matter how hard Ozul tried to think, there was just nothing that came to his mind.


    ¡®I will just have to fight and see then,¡¯ he decided before removing the shield around him.


    The old man was also now floating in the air with the box containing his arm behind him. He looked amused at the fact that Ozul was unscathed by his attack.


    ¡°Kahaha! You want your arm back?! I want the rest of your body parts!¡± the old man stated with an arrogantugh.


    Ozul decided to take the initiative, so he shot at the old man from the ground with just two chips of the Ball of Purity under his feet while the rest joined to form a giant spear that also shot at the old man.


    The old man seemed surprised by his attack for some reason and immediately created a rock shield in front of him.


    To his astonishment, the spear broke the shield and continued to shoot towards him.


    ¡°You brat!¡± the old man shouted and the crumbling rocks from the previous shield somehow got back together. This time, there was ayer of a glowing brown Mana covering the shield.


    This time, when the spear collided, it only pushed the old man and the rocky shield back. The shield had a dent this time, but that was pointless.


    Ozul noticed that the shield didn¡¯t break, but he wasn¡¯t disappointed. He already expected it because the old man was a half-step Rank-10 Mage.


    A Rank-10 Mage was someone who stood at the summit of this world!


    He knew that the old man hadn¡¯t even started yet.


    Just as he expected, the old man still had an arrogant smile on his face as he clicked his tongue at him.


    ¡°You think just that much can do anything to me? Think again brat!¡± the old man continued to taunt Ozul as if he was just ying with him.


    *Hzhzhzz*


    This time, the underground walls again shook as a spear simr to the one created by Ozul appeared from the ground. The only difference being that the spear was made up of rocks and way bigger than Ozul¡¯s!


    The old man didn¡¯t give him a chance and the giant spear went towards him at a lightning speed.


    Though Ozul had created the shield in front of him again, the force behind the spear was just too much to handle for him.


    Just when the spear collided with the Ball of Purity, Ozul was sent flying backward and hit the wall.


    ¡®Urgh!¡¯ he shouted inside his mind from the searing pain.


    ¡°Kahaha! Here I thought you would be a little stronger,¡± the old man againughed as he looked down on Ozul from above.


    Ozul tried to stand up, but he stumbled at his first step and felt a little dizzy.


    ¡®Damn it! He is strong...¡¯ he shouted in his mind but kept his facial expressions as vacant as he could.


    The old man againughed at his appearance and continued, ¡°You know, from the time Luthien had brought me this arm, I was wondering why it contained so much power. Maybe you would know?¡±


    The old man raised his eyebrows at Ozul.


    Ozul, however, didn¡¯t answer his question. Instead, he was thinking about what the old man had just said, ¡®Contained so much power? What have they been experimenting with?!¡¯


    Of course, he himself didn¡¯t know why or how his body parts could contain so much power. He remembered that the potions that the Church was creating in bulk also had a tiny bit of his essence while the monster that he had fought with for his leg also became so strong after trying to absorb his leg.


    Why was it like this when he himself was just a little stronger than Rank-9? In the face of all these questions, Ozul had no answers. In fact, he was searching for these answers himself.


    Aside from that, he was even more furious at the old man now.


    ¡°Hm. Looks like you won¡¯t be answering. Well, I expected that. It wouldn¡¯t be toote when I have you chopped into piecester. Kehaha!¡± the old manughed again as he created another spear like the previous one.


    However, this time, he didn¡¯t stop at that and created a couple more!


    The enormous rock spears floated in the air, all pointing at Ozul¡¯s weak-looking figure.


    ¡°After this, you might be willing to speak brat!¡± the old man shouted as the spears shot at him from all the sides.


    On the other hand, Ozul hadn¡¯t given up yet. Noticing all the giant spears shooting at him, he made it so the Ball of Purity rotated around him while he jumped and flew towards the old man instead.


    ¡®You will pay!¡¯ he shouted in his mind as the giant spear passed right by him.


    He nimbly dodged the spear and continued to fly towards the old man instead.


    ¡®Is that brat insane?!¡¯ the old man thought inside his mind as he noticed Ozul flying towards him even when all the spears were almost on his head.


    However, he didn¡¯t dare to joke around after noticing how fast Ozul flew towards him.


    He executed another Spell so the spears increased in speed and parts of the rocks from the previous spear that Ozul had passed from also shot at him from behind. Being a half-step Rank-10 allowed him to do many things that others couldn¡¯t.


    At this point, the Ball of Purity was rotating around Ozul with a blinding speed. When the parts of rocks attacked him, they were instantly reduced to dust.


    Meanwhile, Ozul jumped in mid-air using the chip from Ball of Purity under his feet to narrowly dodge another spear.


    However, two more spears came at him from the sides and one from the front. Seeing he had no other choice, he made the Ball of Purity divide into two and slowed the spears approaching from the sides.


    While for the one that came from the front, he again raised his body and this timended on the spear!


    Although the spear was giant, its speed was something else. Yet, Ozul started to run towards the old man on top of the spear!


    ¡°Insane brat!¡±

 Chapter 241

    Chapter 241: Unusually normal.


    ¡°Insane brat!¡±


    The old man shouted while rapidly conjuring rocks and throwing them in Ozul¡¯s direction. He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes that this kid kept on advancing towards him even in such a dire situation.


    However, he didn¡¯t know that his taunting of Ozul to cut his body into even more pieces had made thetter a little angry.


    But it was also a fact that Ozul rarely lost control of his emotions.


    Although the old man¡¯s Mana was suffocating, and that single previous hit had even made him dizzy, Ozul wanted his arm back and he would get it back just as he had gotten his leg back!


    And for that, he was ready to jump into a monster¡¯s stomach all over again if he had to.


    But even when he rushed at the old man in anger, he was being as cautious as he could. He had thought things through, it wasn¡¯t just his impulse that he had started to rush towards the old man. He knew that if he didn¡¯t take the old man by surprise, he had no chance of winning.


    .....


    The old man was stronger than him and if he didn¡¯t close in the distance, only death awaited him.


    Ozul noticed the next barrage of giant rocks thrown at him. There were too many for him to simply just dodge them all without slowing down. He destroyed as many as he could with Ball of Purity before him and tried to dodge the rest.


    However, it was easier said than done. Not only did he have to bnce on the small pieces of Ball of Purity, but also dodge the iing rocks that were controlled by a half-step Rank-10 Mage. Something was bound to go wrong.


    And as if Ozul¡¯s luck had run out, a rtivelyrger chunk of a rock that he had missed earlier suddenly came from his side.


    Ozul only felt iting towards him when it was toote for him to dodge. If he didn¡¯t do anything about it, that single hit would throw off his built up momentum.


    ¡®Not now!¡¯ he shouted in his mind. He wouldn¡¯t let anything stop him after he hade so close to getting his arm back.


    He remembered that although he hadn¡¯t paid much attention to his prosthetic arms, they were still detachable with just a single shake from him. Moreover, they could also explode.


    Although the rock was close, and if it exploded, he would also be affected, Ozul felt that it was his chance.


    Under the old man¡¯s scrutinizing eyes, Ozul threw his hand at the iing rock. At the same time, he covered his body with the Ball of Purity to protect himself from the explosion.


    BOOM!


    The prosthetic arm exploded just at the contact with the rock, engulfing a considerable radius in the fire.


    All the nearby rocks were destroyed and debris was thrown everywhere.


    The old man looked at the explosion from a distance with cold eyes. He didn¡¯t sense any movement from under him and thought that Ozul might have suffered quite a bit this time.


    But he still waited for a couple of seconds before going down there to deal thest blow.


    ¡°Tsk. The brat has guts alright...¡±


    The old man was muttering to himself, but just then, he sensed something charge towards him from the cloud of dust which had risen after the explosion.


    He turned around to face whatever came from his side.


    ¡°Hm? What is that-¡± The old man muttered as he couldn¡¯t make out the confusing image of whatever approached him since the dust hadn¡¯t settled in yet.


    However, when he had his attention diverted by the blurry figure in the smokescreen, he missed another shadow that came at him from down below.


    Just when he was about to cast a Spell towards the blurry figureing from his side, Ozul came out of the smoke from under him, and before the old man could even react to it, a sharp de had already reached his stomach.


    ¡°Bra- Arkh!...¡± the de pierced the old man¡¯s stomach as he cried out in pain.


    Meanwhile, Ozul didn¡¯t stop there and the blurry figure that the old man had seen was just the Ball of Purity!


    Ozul kept on pushing with his de and also made the rest of the Ball of Purity into several des that shot at the old man.


    On the other hand, the old man immediately started casting Spells to stop the des and somehow stop Ozul.


    ¡°Aghhh!¡±


    Ozul kept pushing the old man until he reached the ceiling. But he didn¡¯t intend to stop there either!


    He started to put even more force and when they hit the ceiling, they broke through it!


    ¡°Damn you brat!¡± the old man kept shouting and in a desperate struggle, began to cast smaller spells that just threw whatever piece of rock he could see in sight towards Ozul.


    However, Ozul had also created a small shield with the Ball of Purity as he kept on pushing him through the ceiling.


    Just a while back, the explosion had worsened his condition but after there was just dust and fire, Ozul thought about how the old man also wouldn¡¯t be able to sense his presence anywhere because he didn¡¯t have any Mana.


    That had been his advantage since forever. So this time again, he nned to use it.


    The only other way the old man would sense him in while the dust and smoke had risen was through movement. However, if he just sent half of the Ball of Purity from the side, the old man wouldn¡¯t be able to differentiate between them.


    Just like that, before the old man could even get serious, he was now pinned down by him and being shot through the ceiling like a doll.


    ¡°Aarkh!¡±


    The old man kept shouting and throwing spells upon spells at Ozul as he took care that the box containing the arm was still with him.


    Bam!


    After just a few moments, they broke through thest ceiling!


    But Ozul didn¡¯t care about that, he had the old man pinned with his de, and he wouldn¡¯t let go of this chance that might be hisst.


    He continuously controlled as many des as he could to attack the old man while dealing with the fact that his whole body was in extreme pain after the explosion.


    If Ozul¡¯s body contained blood, he was sure that he would have be a bloody mess by now.


    He kept on pushing the old man, who by now had regained enough rity from the pain to cast a spell to stop the bleeding.


    Meanwhile, Ozul still kept pushing him upwards.


    They were already in the halls of the Pce, and after a few seconds, Ozul had the old man shot through the second floor.


    Bam!... Bam!... Bam!...


    From the second floor, they broke through to the third, and from the third, they broke through to the fourth floor. It continued on like this until they reached thest floor!


    Things happened only in seconds, but the old man had recovered from the surprise earlier and although it hurt each time he was smashed against the ceiling, it wasn¡¯t as bad for him as he was a half-step Rank-10 Mage.


    Although Ozul tried his best that he couldnd another hit on the old man, things just didn¡¯t go as he had thought they would.


    Just as he had forced the old man through the roof, thetter cast a spell, and the debris from the roof shot at Ozul instead of falling to the ground.


    And even though he had created a shield with the Ball of Purity in front of him, a few of the rocks got through from the side and hit him like cannonballs!


    The force behind those small rocks was enough to throw Ozul to the side while the old man tried to bnce himself in the air.


    But that proved to be a mistake because he forgot that a de was still plunged into his stomach!


    Ozul realized that and in hisst-ditch effort, willed for the de to grow tiny spikes all over it.


    Khichu!


    ¡°Arrckk! Y-you bastard!¡± the old man spat blood from his mouth as the small spikes on the de created tens of more holes inside his body!


    Not being able to control himself because of the excruciating pain, the old man also fell to the ground.


    Thud!


    Both Ozul and the old man dropped on the ground of the Royal estate.


    Meanwhile, although the Royal Pce was still standing still in its ce, its majestic appearance was now nowhere to be seen because of all the mess that the two had created.


    ¡°Urgh...¡± Ozul tried to stand up as a pained groan escaped his lips. However, this time, he could barely stand up before he staggered and fell again.


    Just as he dropped to the ground, his eyes fell on the box of ss just a few meters away to his left, ¡®My arm!¡¯


    However, it was hopeless because to his right, the old man had already stood back up. There was not only blood on his stomach, but there was also a trail of it escaping his mouth. Together with his bloodshot eyes, he looked like a savage fiend.


    Just a few moments earlier, the old man was arrogantly taunting Ozul, and now both of them were a mess outside the Pce.


    There wasn¡¯t a smile on the old man¡¯s face right now as he slowly gathered Mana around his palm to cast one final Spell to finish Ozul off.


    Meanwhile, Ozul didn¡¯t even have the strength to stand up straight. He was in no condition to protect himself.


    ¡®I did whatever I could...¡¯ he spoke in his head as his eyes fell on a ck cat near the ss box that contained his arm.


    Jinx only stared at him without showing any intentions to help him even though Ozul felt that she somehow had the ability to. He still felt a connection to her, but she only looked at him with a face that wouldn¡¯t reveal her intentions.


    But even then, he didn¡¯t feel any hate towards her. For some reason, Jinx not stepping in to help felt unusually normal.


    He had made a mess out of a half-step Rank-10 Mage, it was already a great feat considering that he was only as strong as a peak Rank-9 Mage. He didn¡¯t have any strength left in him now.


    As the Mana gathered around the old man¡¯s palm, Ozul didn¡¯t feel anything about that. Only the fact that his arm was just a few meters away and he still couldn¡¯t get it frustrated him.


    Just when he expected the old man to cast his Spell, another voice rang out,


    ¡°Hoho~...¡±


    .....

 Chapter 242

    Chapter 242: Rank-10?!


    Ozul did not have any hopes of turning the situation to his favor.


    He had been able to get his leg back previously from the monster who had gotten even stronger than the old man, but it was just a mindless monster.


    The person in front of him though was the ancestor of the Silverbird family that ruled the Silverbird Kingdom for decades!


    Unlike the unintelligent monster, this ancestor of the Silverbird family was very much able to think for himself and didn¡¯t attack whatever was in his sight.


    Even when he was able to outsmart the half-step Rank-10 ancestor, it wasn¡¯t enough topletely overwhelm him.


    ¡®Ha...¡¯ he sighed inside his mind, ¡®Who would have thought that their ancestor lived as well...¡¯


    Although the old man hadn¡¯t told him that he was the Silverbird family¡¯s ancestor, Ozul didn¡¯t need a confirmation to conclude such to be the case.


    .....


    He merely found it surprising that even the Ashin family wasn¡¯t aware of this. Because if they were, Alver and Raymond would have undoubtedly warned him before he had set off towards the Silverbird Kingdom.


    However, thinking about all of this was useless. He was down on the ground without the strength to even stand up. Maybe he could have tried to use the Ball of Purity to again sneak attack the crazy ancestor of the Silverbird family, but he doubted it would work again on him.


    But just when he had thought the crazy ancestor was about to cast his Spell, a familiar voice rang out near them,


    ¡°Hoho~ a senior bullying a junior? Can¡¯t say it¡¯s the first time I see this.¡±


    Following the voice, a barefoot old man, wearing loosely hanging grey robes approached the two.


    Although the ancestor of the Silverbird family was confused, Ozul instantly recognized this old man. He was the same person who he had encountered in that town where he stopped to take a nap.


    He found the old man pretty unusual because of the fact that he couldn¡¯t even make a guess of his cultivation level.


    ¡®What is he doing here?¡¯ Ozul asked inside his mind. He didn¡¯t know anything about this strange old man.


    However, Ozul could make a guess from his earlier words that the old man wasn¡¯t together with the old ancestor who was about to cast his spell.


    ¡°Get out of the way, you bag of bones!¡± the ancestor was about to throw his Spell towards the old man instead.


    Even in the face of a spell aimed at him by a half-step Rank-10 Mage, the old man didn¡¯t show a change in his facial expressions.


    Quite the opposite, hepletely ignored the enraged ancestor¡¯s existence and squinted his eyes at Ozul instead.


    ¡°Hoho~ What a coincidence, young man. Where is that little kitty? Oh there she is!¡± the old man said like he had just recognized Ozul.


    ¡®Why do I feel as if it wasn¡¯t so much of a coincidence?¡¯ Ozul contemted inside his mind. With the emotions he felt from the old man, he couldn¡¯t make out his thoughts at all.


    But one thing was confirmed now, the old man wasn¡¯t an ordinary person. Even a crazy old drunkard would sober up when someone so strong pointed their Spell at them.


    ¡°Oh? You see, I don¡¯t like bullying juniors unlike you. It would be pleasant for both of us that you drop the idea of attacking-¡± the old man had just turned towards the ancestor and talked in a totally different way, but his words were interrupted when thetter casted his spell at him.


    Two giant mud walls rose around the old man and rapidly closed in, threatening to crush the old man in the middle.


    ¡°Hais... Don¡¯tin that this old man didn¡¯t warn you earlier,¡± the old man muttered with an exaggerated sigh and before the suspicious gaze of Ozul, the giant walls instantly stopped at their ce!


    Unlike the Mages, the old man didn¡¯t chant or circted the Mana inside his body at all! There was not a speck of Mana used in the process either!


    Instead, it was just as if the old man had willed it, and the walls simply obeyed his wishes to stop at their ce.


    Not to mention the ancestor who had his eyes bulging out, even Ozul was surprised. However, his reason for astonishment was different from the ancestor¡¯s.


    ¡®He didn¡¯t use Mana either!¡¯ Only this thought remained in his mind as he began to wonder if the old man was someone like him!


    And if he really was someone like him, he might be able to get his answers without searching all over the world!


    Immediately, a new hope lit up inside his mind.


    The curiosity to find out about his own existence had be a force that drove Ozul to change his mind.


    Regardless of his previous sentiments of just epting his death, he wanted to live now! The old man might have his answers. This single thought reverberated inside him.


    He didn¡¯t even try before because he had run out of tricks and there was nothing he could do to take that furious ancestor by surprise.


    However, the appearance of the old man changed everything.


    Looking at the mud walls frozen at their ce, the ancestor almost stumbled back with his eyes widened to the extreme.


    ¡°Y-you... are you a Rank-10?!¡± the ancestor stuttered out his question.


    There was just no way that someone under Rank-10 would be able to stop his Spell without even blinking an eye.


    The Spell he had cast was rtively weaker because those giant walls could even crush a small mountain between them, provided that he supplied enough Mana to increase their size!


    And that crushing force was stopped by the old man without even batting an eye, so the ancestor could onlye to the conclusion that he was a Rank-10 Mage.


    Before the old man could even say a word, the ancestor immediately bowed his head a little and shouted, ¡°S-senior. I request of you that you do not interfere in this matter...¡±


    Although the ancestor instantly switched to a respectful tone, his thoughts werepletely different, ¡®Just let me get this brat. The next time we meet, I would also be a Rank-10 Mage, you geezer!¡¯


    He had relied on such tactics all his life to reach where he was right now.


    Ozul wasn¡¯t sure if the old man had realized the ancestor¡¯s intentions or not, but casually answered thetter,


    ¡°Oh~? But I have already gotten involved.¡±


    The ancestor gritted his teeth in frustration, but maintained a fawning smile on his face which worsened his appearance because of the bloodshot eyes and all the blood on his figure.


    It would have been best if this Rank-10 Mage who had popped out of nowhere all of a sudden let go of this matter, because now he didn¡¯t know what to do anymore.


    ¡°You see, I don¡¯t want you to kill this talented young man~¡± the old man stated, with his same old frisky tone.


    But hearing his words caused even more questions to rise inside Ozul¡¯s brain. He didn¡¯t know why this old man would ever try to protect him.


    ¡®Surely it wasn¡¯t because he wanted to pet Jinx, right?¡¯ though he doubted that would be the case, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if that was the case either.


    Considering the old man¡¯s nature by far, he seemed entric enough that it was quite possible for him to have such reasons.


    ¡°But senior... this kid infiltrated my family¡¯s estate! The Silverbird family would lose face if we let the culprit go just like that!¡± the ancestor tried to persuade the old man.


    However, all his words fell on deaf ears as the old man wouldn¡¯t take no for an answer, ¡°You are not killing him. And that is final. Look at the poor kid, he cannot even stand properly.¡±


    The old man shook his head like a disappointed parent while pointing towards Ozul on the ground.


    The ancestor ground his teeth with an even greater force as the expressions on his face were twisted into a scowl. From appearance alone, he looked to be the person who was bullied instead!


    Ozul was only lying there on the ground, but it was still him who had blood all over his body with tens of holes inside of him because of Ozul¡¯sst attempt to defeat him.


    But he didn¡¯t dare to voice out these thoughts either.


    As he began to think of ways to convince the old man, he didn¡¯t notice the ck snake-like liquid slithering towards him from the back!


    Although the old man noticed that slight movement, he pretended not to see anything either,


    ¡®Haha, I knew it. He is really interesting!¡¯


    ¡°The half-dead kid over there is a candidate, you see. I can¡¯t let you kill h-¡± the old man stated and before the ancestor could even ask what he meant by candidate,


    ¡°Arrckkhh...¡±


    A single sharp but thick needle pierced the ancestor¡¯s throat in an instant!


    The ancestor moved his eyes towards Ozul on the ground and red at him hatefully while gurgling on his own blood before life left his body.


    That concluded the death of a half-step Rank-10 Mage!


    ¡°Still not a Rank-10...¡± Ozul muttered as he watched the ancestor¡¯s lifeless body fall to the ground. Even when the ancestor had crossed the boundaries of Rank-9, he was still nowhere near to an actual Rank-10 Mage.


    Because of the sudden thrust, all the blood was sshed on the old man who was standing in front of the ancestor. However, he just waved his hand before the blood stains simply disappeared.


    ¡°Mm? I was still talking with him, you know~¡±

 Chapter 243

    Chapter 243: Dangerous.


    The old man almost pouted as he watched Ozul struggle to stand up.


    Taking advantage of the fact that the ancestor had been on edge because of the presence of a supposedly Rank-10 Mage, Ozul dealt his lethal attack.


    ¡°Phew~ That took me by surprise as well,¡± the old man againmented.


    Ozul gave him a side nce. He was sure that the old man had seen iting from a mile ago, but he still let him proceed with it.


    From his nature, the old man looked as if he just didn¡¯t want anyone to die from this conflict, but his previous words confirmed that he only protected him. For whatever reasons, he didn¡¯t know.


    For now, the only thing inside his mind remained his severed arm in the ss box.


    After decades of struggle, one of his arms was right in front of him!


    .....


    With no one to stop him, he just had to go there and pick it up!


    Although he could freely move the Ball of Purity, his body was a different matter altogether. Moving even a muscle felt like needles stinging him all over.


    Ozul bore the pain and stood up with the help of the Ball of Purity supporting him. He had a habit of keeping his emotions to himself, so even when it pained him extensively, not a hiss escaped his lips.


    With slow and staggering steps, he neared the box of ss on the ground. Just as he was about to bend down to pick up the box,


    Foosh!


    ¡°Hm? Is this yours, boy?¡± the old man who had been standing meters apart before suddenly appeared before him and picked up the box containing his arm before him.


    Immediately, rms started to ring inside Ozul¡¯s brain as he watched the old man examining the arm. If the old man found anything unusual about it, and also took interest in it, he knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to get it back from this old man in the state he was right now.


    ¡°It is... Give it back...¡± Ozul muttered as his eyes began to darken.


    Following his words, the atmosphere started to get heavier with Ozul giving the old man a death stare that seemed to be warning thetter not to have second thoughts.


    His icy re might have caused anyone who looked at him to shake to the core, but the old man only looked more amused.


    His smile stretched, showing all of his teeth. After a while, he spoke up, ¡°Hoho~ The cat scratches huh~? There, what would I even do with a severed arm?¡±


    The old man then threw the ss box back to Ozul which instantly dispelled the heaviness in the atmosphere.


    But Ozul still kept an eye on the old man. Although he looked very friendly and didn¡¯t give off any negative emotions, Ozul was careful around him since he was aplete mystery.


    Still, he caught the ss box using the Ball of Purity and proceeded to open it.


    Meanwhile, the old man was looking at him strangely.


    . . .


    ¡®This kid sure is interesting,¡¯ the old man thought as he stared at Ozul to try to figure out the mess of mystery he couldn¡¯t figure out.


    Earlier, he had noticed the strange whiff of energy lingering around the arm, and couldn¡¯t help but be curious about it.


    He also knew how this kid didn¡¯t use Mana either. It was his first time seeing anyone like that.


    When he had first encountered Ozul, he only had a hunch that this kid with the strange ck cat was somehow different. However, now seeing it with his own eyes, there was nothing about this kid that he could find normal!


    As far as he knew, there wasn¡¯t a method that could reattach one¡¯s limbs back together, so he was interested to see what this kid was going to do with his severed arm.


    After that, he also wanted to have a talk with him...


    . . .


    Ozul looked at his hand in the ss box and with a single thought of his, the Ball of Purity crushed the box, scattering the ss everywhere.


    Now that his arm was right before him with no one to take it away from him, Ozul couldn¡¯t help but think how it had grown even after it was severed from his body.


    He was just a few days old when his limbs were brutally cut off, but his arm in front of him was as big as it should have been if it had never been separated.


    For now, he pushed these thoughts in the back of his mind since it was the same with his leg previously.


    Before he began to take off his prosthetics, he noticed that one end of his arm didn¡¯t have any skin, it was all ck with just a few strands of ck smoke asionallying out instead.


    Ozul ignored it for now since he didn¡¯t know many things, he just needed to add one more to the list, while it was important to reattach his arm first.


    Without waiting for another second, he removed his left prosthetic arm and ced his real arm in its ce.


    He didn¡¯t know how or why it would even reattach like it was never even severed, but his leg had previously reattached just like that as well.


    The moment his arm touched his skin, he noticed the life-like symbols on his arm suddenly move in a strange pattern before crawling towards his body. And as if they were just some illusion, they disappeared right after sewing the arm back together.


    The moment his arm was reattached, it felt like a sudden weight pressed on him which made him stumble back on the ground.


    However, all his pain slowly started to fade away right after! And just a secondter,


    Boom!


    A wave of pressure was released from his body, ttening everything around him in a small radius!


    ¡°!!!¡±


    The old man suddenly took a step back, his usual carefree smile was instantly wiped from his face. He didn¡¯t know what was happening, but there was a certain rm going off in his head to stay as far away as possible!


    He was just observing the kid in front of him attaching his arm back again, this sudden feeling of dread was something he never expected.


    ¡®This kid is dangerous...¡¯ the old man thought as he stared at Ozul staring nkly at the ground.


    While the old man was surprised and the people who rushed here from afar were forced to halt their steps because of the pressure atmosphere, Ozul had his mind upied by a torrent of different thoughts.


    After that wave of pressure was released from his body, Ozul suddenly felt his world go nk and found himself being enveloped by nothingness.


    He had felt the same when he had reattached his leg, but the condition of his leg was a lot different than his arm.


    His leg was continuously being absorbed by the monster just before he had gotten it back, but the arm was perfectly preserved with only one end of it having those strands of smoke asionally releasing out.


    Just like with his leg, Ozul expected images to sh by his mind, giving him a little more information like before he hade to know the existence of others.


    However, nothing as such happened and he was left disappointed that he couldn¡¯t get any more hints this time.


    Though his disappointment was quickly washed away by what happened next.


    It was as if something had happened inside his body, but a warm feeling took over his entire body, and before he knew it, he felt the entire world in an entirely different way!


    It was as if all of his sensory organs were reced or renewed, but it was as though everything just suddenly became easier!


    Ozul certainly wasn¡¯tining about all the advantages he received because, in the end, his main goal was always to just get his body parts back and bask in that distant fading feeling once again.


    And he knew more than anyone else that he already feltpletely different from before.


    A few secondster, he came back to his senses and noticed everything around him.


    He was on the ground, surrounded by rubbles and debris while he noticed Rufus together with the rest of his guards cautiously standing at a safe distance.


    The old man didn¡¯t have his annoying smirk anymore, but just as Ozul looked towards him, a toothy grin was formed on his face.


    ¡®Hahaha! I knew it! You will be the perfect candidate!¡¯ the old man thought as he abruptly began tough loudly.


    Still basking in thefortable feeling of finally getting one of his arms back, a smile was about to bloom onto his face, but the old man¡¯sughter interrupted it in the middle.


    Confused as to why the old man wasughing now, Ozul looked at him with a slightly tilted head.


    Just then, he remembered to again examine the old man since he couldn¡¯t measure his cultivation level before.


    Now that he even felt as if he could go toe to toe with a Rank-10 Mage, getting a read on the old man¡¯s cultivation base wouldn¡¯t be a problem.


    However, he was left surprised that the old man still didn¡¯t exude even a bit of Mana just like him.


    Ozul couldn¡¯t help but think that the old man might be someone really like him!


    ¡°Let us go, young man. I have to discuss something with you,¡± the old man said after he stoppedughing.


    ¡®Dangerous indeed... haha! I wonder how much of a headache you will give them!¡¯

 Chapter 244

    Chapter 244: Hopeless.


    Ozul hadn¡¯t encountered anyone who he couldn¡¯t measure the cultivation base of.


    He was unaware of the extent of his own abilities, so he didn¡¯t know if he was justcking or the old man might actually be different from other Mages.


    When the old man said that he had something to discuss with him, Ozul wasn¡¯t so keen on following him.


    After thinking for a while, he nodded his head and decided to follow along since he was the only lead to his questions as of now.


    He also wanted to get out of this ce as soon as possible because he had created quite amotion earlier while fighting with the ancestor of the Silverbird family.


    Rufus, along with all of his subordinates maintained a distance from Ozul and the old man.


    ¡°D-don¡¯t approach them at any cost!¡± Rufus even shouted to his soldiers. He, as a peak Rank-8 Mage still had his legs shaking as he had witnessed the previous events.


    .....


    ¡®I... thought he was strong, but...¡¯ Rufus pursed his lips as he thought about his earlier evaluation of Ozul.


    Times and times again, this strange kid had exceeded his expectations but the events in front of him had just blown his mind.


    He didn¡¯t know who that crazy-looking old person was who fought with Ozul, but from the corner of his eyes, he had noticed the Empress¡¯ expressions who also witnessed these events from above the Pce.


    Her terrified expressions showed that whoever that old man was, his death brought negative consequences to the Silverbird family.


    Even then, his shaking legs wouldn¡¯t take a step forward to approach those ¡®monsters¡¯.


    Meanwhile, Ozul ignored whoever observed them from afar. Finally, he was strong enough that he need not care about the consequences of his action.


    Those who had witnessed this event could spread it everywhere they wanted to because now he had enough strength to even contend against Rank-10 Mages!


    Ozul had also noticed the woman and a group of people hidden in the shadows behind her, all of peak Rank-8 radiating negative emotions directed at him. But he also ignored them as he could understand that their ancestor was killed right before them, so they would inevitably be furious at him.


    He still had to test all of his improvements, but it wasn¡¯t a ce for that so began to follow behind the old man who had already started to leisurely walk away, asionally chuckling to himself.


    Ozul had only taken a few steps when both he and the old man stopped to look in a certain direction.


    The old man chuckled again and looked back at Ozul, ¡°I have a feeling you have business with him?¡±


    Ozul calmly nodded his head and said, ¡°I do.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh,¡± the old man tittered and decided to calmly watch the show, ¡°Don¡¯t take too much time though.¡±


    ¡°... I won¡¯t,¡± Ozul replied after thinking for a moment. This old man hadn¡¯t shown even a speck of negative feelings, but he was still on guard against him.


    If he couldn¡¯t sense his cultivation base, there could very well be methods that the old man might have been able to use to hide his emotions as well.


    Shaking those thoughts outside his mind, Ozul stared at the small dot far in the sky gradually bing clearer and increasing in size.


    He noticed that Emperor Luthien was actually a lot faster than any Rank-9 Mage could have gotten on their own. Even he wasn¡¯t as fast as him before obtaining his left arm back.


    ¡®These are the advantages of using artifacts?¡¯ Ozul contemted without any change in his facial expression.


    If the ancestor had gotten serious from the start or also used such artifacts, he guessed that he wouldn¡¯t have had any chance against him at all.


    A few momentster, Emperor Luthien appeared on the site and red at Ozul from above.


    His eyes constantly moved between Ozul, the half-destroyed Royal Pce in the background, and his wife¡¯s worried expressions.


    Luthien could already make out what had happened here as he unconsciously clenched his fists.


    ¡°You! How dare you!¡± Emperor Luthien shouted while pointing his finger at Ozul.


    As of yet, he hadn¡¯t noticed the corpse of an old man between all the debris. So he didn¡¯t know exactly what had happened here.


    Hearing his words, Ozul remained silent but squinted his eyes at the blonde-haired man wearing lofty clothes and looking down at him.


    On one hand, the old man again chuckled but the Empress witnessing this scene from afar got even more worried.


    Unlike Emperor Luthien, she was well aware of what had happened just now!


    Before she could warn her husband, Ozul spoke first, ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I dare?¡±


    Normally, he wouldn¡¯t go out of his way and talk shit with his enemies, but getting his arm back hadn¡¯t made him forget the reason for all those years of suffering was precisely this arrogant Emperor in front of him.


    ¡°You! Good! Good! You think bing a Rank-9 would allow you to act so presumptuously before my Silverbird family?! Heh! Do you even-¡± Emperor Luthien had yet to finish his words when he noticed something that caused him to pause.


    Ozul repeatedly closed and opened his fist to get the hang of his new arm, and when Luthien realized that it was the same arm that was in their custody, his anger couldn¡¯t help but rise to another level.


    But there was an even greater question inside his mind, ¡®Wasn¡¯t father protecting that ominous arm!? How could he let it get snatched by that brat?!¡¯


    ¡°Haha! I love his expressions!¡± the old man suddenlyughed as he pointed at the face of Emperor Luthien which repeatedly changed colors.


    Not being able to take it anymore, he pointed towards the corpse of the old ancestor, ¡°If you are looking for a crazy old disrespectful fellow, there he is.¡±


    When Emperor Luthien moved his eyes towards the direction in which the old man was pointing his finger, he couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes.


    ¡®No! How!? Father was almost a Rank-10 Mage! How is it possible?!¡¯


    For a few seconds, it was as if Emperor Luthien had almost forgotten to breathe as he stared motionlessly at his father¡¯s corpse from afar.


    Getting out of his stupor, he dashed towards the corpse to check and he almost stumbled back as he confirmed that it was indeed his father.


    He could not understand what was going on, but it was not hard to make a general guess.


    Although Emperor Luthien had a sky-high pride and wouldn¡¯t bow his head in front of anyone, he realized that if Ozul could even kill his father and still look perfectly fine, he stood no chance at all.


    Just like his father, Emperor Luthien was about to make some fawningments, but he didn¡¯t get a chance to speak when Ozul slowly approached him.


    ¡°I will give you a chance,¡± he spoke with a light voice. However, because of the still surroundings, even Rufus who stood almost a hundred meters away was able to hear him.


    An invisible aura was released from Ozul¡¯s body that enveloped the Emperor, making him tremble in fear.


    Emperor Luthien could still not believe whatever was happening, but he now understood that his only chance to survive was to do whatever was demanded of him.


    ¡°I-¡±


    Before he could even express his agreement, Ozul started speaking again, ¡°I will give you a chance to keep your dignity in death.¡±


    His words caused Emperor Luthien to widen his eyes and his words were stuck in his mouth, ¡°You!!¡±


    From Ozul¡¯s earlier words, he had thought that he would be able to escape alive this time and have a chance of revengeter. However, this demon was nning to kill him!


    Even the chance he had offered was only for him to keep his dignity in death.


    ¡°B-but! I... I wouldn¡¯t pursue whatever happened here at all! I personally never wanted to go against you either. It was all because my father had forced me. I had no choice...¡± Emperor Luthien stated while feigning sadness as if he was helpless against his father¡¯s wishes.


    But Ozul wasn¡¯t taking any of his nonsense. Not only was he aware that Luthien was lying, but it wouldn¡¯t have mattered either way.


    ¡°Listen here, I will not repeat,¡± Ozul grabbed Luthien¡¯s head and stared at him directly in the eyes before continuing,


    ¡°I will ask you questions. If you do not answer or lie, I will give you death while cutting you into a hundred pieces. In case you cooperate, it will be a clean death. It is your choice.¡±


    Luthien listened to his words and could not help but gulp a mouthful of saliva with his breathing getting heavier.


    Ozul¡¯s cold voice made him understand that his death was certainly inevitable!


    When the realization finally hit him, Luthien¡¯s body could not help but shake involuntarily. A moment passed and he started shouting with a choking voice,


    ¡°N-no! I don¡¯t wanna die! Pl-please! I-... no... I would be your subordinate! I really will!¡±


    Whatever he said didn¡¯t have any effect on Ozul. Not a ripple formed in his eyes as he continued to coldly stare down at the Emperor who had nothing Emperor-like left on him now.


    Being the target of that stare, it took Luthien a few minutes before he lost any hope in living past today. His body kept shaking because of the fear of death, but he had realized that any struggle or pleading was hopeless.


    The thought of trying to run away didn¡¯t even cross his mind because of Ozul¡¯s pressure.

 Chapter 245

    Chapter 245: Cruel.


    ¡°So? How do you wish to die?¡± Ozul asked with a calm voice as if he didn¡¯t care either way.


    Luthien¡¯s head hung loosely as he stared at the blood-stained ground.


    Even as a Rank-9 Mage, epting death wasn¡¯t an easy matter. After all, no one wanted to die.


    ¡°...¡±


    After a few moments, he seemed to have muttered something, but it was too low for Ozul to understand.


    ¡°Stop mumbling to yourself,¡± he said, running out of patience.


    Luthien slowly looked up with a despaired look on his face and said in a low voice, ¡°I... will answer any question. So end it quickly and painlessly...¡±


    .....


    What some people feared more than death was the pain before they finally left this world. Some might agree to death, but only someone sick in the head would ask for pain.


    Also, since he was the Emperor of Silverbird Kingdom, he would very much prefer death that would let him keep his dignity.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Ozul nodded his head and continued, ¡°Do you know where the Church of Light has kept my arm?¡±


    Luthien did not look shocked nor was he emotionally stable to care how he already knew that his arm was with the Church of Light. He slowly shook his head and spoke ever so softly, ¡°...I am not aware of it. I had just given the arm to Lammert.¡±


    Ozul nodded his head in understanding and followed up with another question, ¡°Why did you give it to the Church? Exin in detail. After all, you live as long as your exnationsts.¡±


    Behind him, the old man chuckled to himself hearing his words, ¡®This kid is truly heartless! Gahaha!¡¯


    Luthien stared at him for a while. His eyes showed that he was struggling from inside. After he had already epted that he was about to die, doing such a thing was cruel!


    Just as he was about to exin, Ozul stopped him, ¡°Actually, no. Let us find a quieter ce.¡±


    Although their spot was already calm and quiet, Rufus with his subordinates and the Empress with a few more people in the shadows were all watching them. After a few moments, there might even be amotion of people all running in here to check on what was happening.


    So it was better that he exined everything somewhere else.


    Luthien nodded his head in understanding. He didn¡¯t wish to die in front of all the people who looked up to him either.


    He calmly nodded his head before looking in the direction of his wife above the Pce with nk eyes.


    Ozul took him to a remote area and the old man followed right behind them, but to a pleasant surprise of Ozul, he kept a considerable distance from them.


    Meanwhile, the Empress began to shout Luthien¡¯s name, but a few people emerged from the shadows and held her in ce. They didn¡¯t let her run to her death.


    On the other hand, Rufus had felt the pressure from a much closer distance and he was a little too shaken to do anything about the situation.


    . . .


    Surrounded by nothing but the trees, Ozul stared at Luthien, motioning him to start his exnation.


    He always wanted to know what they had done with his limbs. Previously, he had killed Edwin without getting any real information at all.


    Luthien took a deep breath and started exining from the very start,


    ¡°I first got to know about the three ¡®limbs of the devil¡¯ from Edwin. He had recently killed his brother Edward back then, and I was naturally not happy. He was aware that I would probably not like his little scheme, so he one day appeared out of nowhere with the ¡®limbs of the devil¡¯ and exined to me that he had found them with his brother and didn¡¯t know how his brother came into possession of them.¡±


    Ozul nodded his head. He knew this much that it was either Edward, his ¡®father¡¯ or Edwin, his ¡®uncle¡¯ who had given his limbs to the Emperor.


    ¡°I and my wife immediately took an interest in those limbs after noticing those weird symbols crawl on the skin like a snake... But even after I told the best physicians in the pce to look at those symbols, they couldn¡¯t find anything. And they couldn¡¯t even touch the arm to examine it closely because whoever did so, instantly crumbled to death.¡±


    Luthien¡¯s voice expressed no emotions as he narrated everything in detail.


    ¡°Not knowing what to do, I secretly sent one of the arms to the Church of Light. They were allies, and I knew that Lammert had better physicians and since they all had Light Element, they were more likely to find out what was wrong with those limbs.¡±


    He took a small pause and continued, ¡°Only a few years passed, and the result came in... in the form of that healing liquid. They weren¡¯t able to understand the origins or anything about the arm, but we now knew one thing; these limbs were invaluable.¡±


    Ozul¡¯s gaze got colder at his words, but he did not notice that slight change. He continued to speak with his words gaining life with each sentence,


    ¡°It turned out that despite the fact that the physicians could not do anything to the arm, they noticed that one end of it continued to emit a whiff of ck smoke. The physicians started by storing that smoke and experiment on that instead. Only after continuous trial and error of mixing up tens of herbs had they identally created that healing liquid.¡±


    Hearing his words eased a little weight off of Ozul¡¯s mind. At least they didn¡¯t do anything directly to his arm.


    However, his ease was short-lived as Luthien spoke his next words,


    ¡°Now that we knew that even the continuous smoke emitting from the limbs contained such magical properties, the limbs themselves should have much more than that. Lammert demanded that I hand over the other hand and the leg as well, but I did not n to do that. In fact, I wanted him to return the hand I had given him. It caused a little friction between us, but he started doing even more extensive experiments.¡±


    Taking another pause, he spoke,


    ¡°I was not able to hold onto the leg any longer, but I had learned the value of the limbs by then. Since the physicians under me were not as capable, I had no choice but to interrupt my father¡¯s seclusion to ask for his help in this matter.¡±


    ¡°What did he find out?¡± Ozul asked. He had felt something odd with Luthien¡¯s father.


    Not only his unusual reddened eyes but also how he had mentioned that he would be a Rank-10 Mage after killing him.


    ¡°Even when the smoke would disappear just a moment after it was emitted, my father was able to absorb just a tiny bit of it before it dissipated. The first time he did it, he fell unconscious and writhed in pain for hours. However, after he came to his senses, the result was truly astonishing. He felt himself getting closer to breaking through Rank-9.¡±


    ¡®Hm? So he was only a Rank-9 before... That means it was my arm that got him to cross that bottleneck,¡¯ Ozul thought inside his mind as he noticed the old man in the distance with no change in his facial expressions.


    The old man pretended not to be surprised, but Ozul could easily read his emotions and knew that he was shocked. But he also couldn¡¯t feel any malicious thoughts from the old man.


    Luthien resumed his story, ¡°He recently even broke through but sadly could not reach Rank-10. Though he did realize that as long as he continued to absorb those particles, reaching Rank-10 was not a problem. But then-¡±


    ¡°Alright. I know what happened then,¡± Ozul interrupted him as he had learned enough.


    Luthien¡¯s heart started to beat faster as he realized that he would not be able to dy his death any longer. He did not even understand his own reasons for why he was trying to buy more time.


    He couldn¡¯t be med for this because of his situation.


    ¡°A-are you going to kill me now?¡± Luthien¡¯s body again started to shake involuntarily. Talking for so long had given him false hope that Ozul might change his mind, but the fear of death had again taken over his body.


    Listening to his words, Ozul didn¡¯t respond for a while as he was lost in his own thoughts. Only a few momentster, he focused his attention back on him and replied, ¡°I will.¡±


    Luthien¡¯s eyes instantly dulled as his eyes remained stuck on the ground. He tried to think of ways to get out of this mess, Ozul¡¯s invisible aura was still locked onto him.


    ¡®At least it would be painless...¡¯ Luthien thought as it was the only silver lining in this. He could have tried to lie to Ozul, but he didn¡¯t take a chance in fear that thetter might find out and torture him before death.


    For an Emperor who led such a giant kingdom, Luthien was quite afraid of pain.


    Ozul slowly took a few steps back and the Ball of Purity came out of his body.


    Luthien waited for Ozul to swiftly cut off his head, but thetter actually turned the Ball of Purity into several floating des!


    It rmed Luthien as he realized what could several des mean, but before he could even run for his life,


    ¡°Urgh!!¡±


    His feet and hands were sliced off and he couldn¡¯t even see the des move towards him!


    Following that, Ozul started to cut his body into small parts with a dy of a few seconds each time!


    Terrifying screams of Luthien pealed out in the forest before Ozul finally decided to end his suffering by splitting his remaining body in half.

 Chapter 246

    Chapter 246: Old Gu.


    Ozul looked vacantly at the unequal and the now indistinguishable body parts of Luthien on the ground mixed in with the mud and a puddle of blood.


    What was once the Emperor ruling the Silverbird Kingdom was now only some bloody mess that even some Beasts might frown upon.


    It was more than 30 years that he had been tormented because of this person, he had to get his anger out in some way.


    He wasn¡¯t even able to kill the main culprit, his ¡®father¡¯ who had severed his limbs in the first ce. After that, he had already taken his revenge on his ¡®uncle¡¯ but it hadn¡¯t given him any satisfaction that he thought it would either.


    Even now, as he gazed at the mess in front of him, he didn¡¯t feel any happier or light as he thought he would.


    The hollow feeling inside of him did not seem to have filled even a drop. After a moment, a sigh escaped from his cold lips, and out of nowhere,


    Meow!


    .....


    Jinx appeared rubbing the side of her body against Ozul¡¯s feet affectionately. He did not understand the reason behind it but his mood improved to a considerable level.


    As he bent down to pat Jinx, he remembered how she had been staring at him without any intentions of helping when he hadid there on the ground without any strength to do anything against that old ancestor.


    ¡®Still... For some reason, I cannot get myself to dislike or be suspicious of you...¡¯ he thought while warmly stroking her head.


    ¡°Haha! Young man, didn¡¯t you promise him to give him a painless and quick death if he answered your questions? You even promised to let him keep his dignity in death, heh. This pool of blood sure doesn¡¯t say dignity.¡±


    Suddenly Ozul heard the old man¡¯s voice from beside him. He wasn¡¯t even able to sense his presence until he spoke!


    By now, Ozul was already starting to get used to his sarcasticments.


    The old man shook his head while clicking his tongue, ¡°Tche Tche... I thought you would keep your words. It¡¯s a pity, Young man. I thought you were an honest man...¡±


    Ozul didn¡¯t wait for him to finish his nonsense and neared the puddle of blood to look for Luthien¡¯s hands.


    Once he found them, he used Ball of Purity to get them out of the mess and took off all the rings that were on the fingers.


    At least a few of these should be Spatial Rings, and since Luthien was the Emperor of the Silverbird Kingdom, he would surely have heaps of valuables inside his Spatial Rings.


    He only found five rings and two of them were useless for him. Only three of them were Spatial Rings. He didn¡¯t check their content and just put them in his Spatial Pouch.


    After that, Ozul turned around and walked away with Jinx gracefully following behind him. The old man didn¡¯t mind that he was being ignored for so long and also walked behind them.


    ¡°Except you, only he heard what I had offered him. But He is now dead... and dead men tell no tales,¡± Ozul muttered as they got out of the forest.


    Behind him, the old man¡¯s face again lit up in a toothy smile. Ozul¡¯s words perfectly described how this world worked.


    The strong ruled the weak. Whoever lost was not only the loser but also the viin. In history, everyone would learn how evil would always lose and justice always prevailed, but the reality remained that whoever lost became the viin, and whoever won would be the winner.


    After all, the one who lost wouldn¡¯t be alive to deny any false ims.


    Although Ozul had given Luthien a torturous death, he was not alive toin to anyone.


    . . .


    After the two had flown to a rtively barrennd with almost no vegetation in sight, much less other humans, Ozul stopped and turned around to face the old man.


    ¡°Tell me, who are you?¡± he said while keeping his eyes on every movement made by the old man.


    The old man scratched the back of his hand to ease away the itching before he answered, ¡°Haha. Don¡¯t get impatient, young man. You can just call me Old Gu for now.¡±


    Ozul squinted his eyes at Old Gu but did not press him for any answers. He had a feeling that he stood no chance whatsoever against this old man.


    A few momentster, Old Gu continued, ¡°You are a candidate, and you only have to know that much for now. Haha! I have already found other candidates, however, it would take me a little time to gather all of them in the Neutral Lands. Weird name if I say so myself.¡±


    ¡°Why have you been following me then?¡± Ozul asked as the old man had been following behind him for quite a while now.


    He had just thought that this old man had something to tell him important or talk with him about something, but he refused to tell anything other than informing him that he was some kind of a candidate.


    Ozul wasn¡¯t even given the exnation or any choice about this candidate thing, but he could make out from his words that there were other candidates as well.


    Even with no information at all, Ozul realized that asking this old man would be useless.


    He also had his own personal questions that he wanted to ask, but he decided that he would wait till Old Gu tells him about his identity.


    ¡°Oh~? Haha! I forgot where I was going before, so I decided to follow behind you instead. And I realized I still have to search around those Neutral Lands for any possible candidates,¡± Old Gu answered him with that toothy grin stered on his face.


    Ozul didn¡¯t doubt his words and turned around, ignoring him after that.


    He flew at a lightning speed towards Neutral Lands. He had to start nning his next move and before that, learn about his own abilities all over again.


    Old Gu followed behind him without saying a word for the next journey. While Ozul required a small part of the Ball of Purity to fly, the old man followed didn¡¯t seem to be relying on anything!


    Ozul didn¡¯t even feel a speck of Mana from him as they flew towards the Neutral Lands. During the journey, he tried to probe him in various ways, but all of them failed.


    It hadn¡¯t been long since the Sun had risen. Normally, it would have taken Ozul at least two to three days to cover the distance from the Silverbird Kingdom all the way to the Neutral City.


    However, he had surpassed his previous limits multiple times over after gaining his arm back!


    His current speed couldn¡¯t even bepared to back then.


    Just a few hourster, he was already in the barren boundaries of the Neutral Lands!


    What took him days before only took him a few hours this time, he was satisfied with his own improvement.


    . . .


    Ozul didn¡¯t need much time to get back to the Three-Eyed Strangers¡¯ headquarters. However, he realized that not only were Raven and ze not there, but even Irvin and Haley weren¡¯t present.


    He only sensed the presence of Oliver and a couple of high ranking members inside the tower.


    ¡®Is the tournament still going on?¡¯ Ozul remembered that yesterday should have been the start of the tournament and there were high chances that it extended to today.


    ¡°If you are looking for your friends, they may be there in the Neutral City along with hundreds of other people~¡± Old Gu interrupted his thoughts while pointing towards the Neutral City.


    ¡®... just how powerful is he?¡¯ Ozul could not help but be surprised at the fact that Old Gu could even sense people miles away from him!


    Ozul was nowhere near that level and didn¡¯t think for a second that Rank-10 Mages should be so strong. He still had doubts that Old Gu was really just a peak Rank-10 Mage with ancient techniques that let him hide his Mana even from him, but he hoped that his own doubts were false as well.


    Still, he didn¡¯t say anything and quietly made his way towards the Neutral City. Old Gu, with his face full of smiles as usual, also followed behind.


    . . .


    In the Neutral City, the excitement about the result of the tournament could be felt everywhere.


    Unlike the first day of the tournament, the Mercenary Guild had decided not to use the Battle Colosseum of the Leonhard Dynasty.


    Since the battles were between Rank-8 Mages today, it would be far more destructive than even when it was the Battle Royale.


    On the first day, the six Rank-8 Mages hadn¡¯t even gotten serious before the result was announced.


    Although the Battle Colosseum was spacious enough, the Leonhard Dynasty wasn¡¯t keen on watching things get destroyed left and right by the participants.


    And since they did not have any other suitable ce, the Mercenary Guild had decided to choose an isted area without any human settlement at the edge of the Neutral City to hold the battles.


    With their resources, it took their men only half a day to set everything up in the designated area.


    They cleared an area of hundreds of meters and also erected giant pirs where the spectators would enjoy the show from.


    And just like before, there were special seats designated only for the Rank-9 Mages.


    The second day of the tournament had already started and things were getting heated because of the battle taking ce right now...

 Chapter 247

    Chapter 247: Return.


    As the Mercenary Guild had proposed, the three initial stage Rank-8 Mages had also agreed to have their battle separated from the middle stage ones.


    The result for their battles was also already announced with the Ashin family winning the first position, Leonhard Dynasty ced at second, and ra from the Church was ced atst among the initial stage Rank-8 Mages.


    Needless to say, they were in the fourth, fifth, and sixth position respectively in the overall tournament.


    For ranking the participants, the Mercenary Guild had set up a rather crude method.


    Since there were only three left, the three of them were required to draw lots and whoever got a matching one would have to fight first. The winner of that battle would then fight the remaining participant.


    And if the remaining participant won that battle, he would automatically be ranked as first even when he or she hadn¡¯t fought with the loser of the previous battle.


    As such, this method didn¡¯t really guarantee whoever was first to be the strongest of all of the participants, but the Mercenary Guild had no choice because they had to end the tournament today.


    .....


    Many of the high ranked officials from the biggest factions were present here, and none of them wanted to waste so much time here in the tournament. All of them had many more important matters to deal with.


    Since everyone had the same opinion, the Mercenary Guild could only set up this method to end the tournament in two battles between the three middle stage Rank-8 Mages.


    It had been a while since the day started, so Raven, ze, and the brown-haired man from the Church of light named Mikol had already drawn the lots.


    Much to Raven and ze¡¯s dismay, the first match was between them!


    Both of them instead wanted to fight with Mikol, and now their only chance to fight with him depended on who won among them.


    A fire burned in both of their eyes as they stared at each other. Previously, they would aim to win for their own satisfaction, but now they wanted to win because both of them wanted to be the person who would battle Mikol.


    It was precisely their battle that had gotten the atmosphere so heated even when there was Ice sttered everywhere.


    Raven hade a long way from before and knew better than to hold herself back against ze now.


    ¡°You already fought with him before, give me a chance now!¡± ze shouted while surrounding Raven with giant ice walls.


    Crack!


    As if those huge ice walls were just some thin and fragile ss, Raven came out of them, scattering the pieces of ice everywhere.


    There were visible signs of exhaustion on Raven¡¯s body. She breathed roughly and there was even a few shallow cuts on her left arm, but she continued to attack ze.


    ¡°Ha... I didn¡¯t have enough time!¡± she shouted and casted a Spell that caused dark smoke to start surrounding ze¡¯s body.


    When ze noticed the smoke covering him, he also felt a tiny bit of depletion in his Mana pool without him even moving a muscle!


    ¡°Why do you create such troublesome spells, Raven!¡± ze couldn¡¯t help but express his annoyance.


    Although he jumped away, the smoke dispelled from its original ce and appeared from under his feet again!


    ze couldn¡¯t help but curse under his breath, but he didn¡¯t loseposure and instead focused on Raven. Such an annoying spell was causing a huge drain in her Mana pool as well, and it became apparent when he noticed that she continued to chant silently.


    He had just thought that he might be able to win if only he continued to stall for time and evade this Mana sucking ck smoke, but his ns were short-lived because Raven started to rush towards him as well!


    ¡°Monster! How can you chant two spells at the same time!?¡± ze noticed that even when the ck smoke continued to follow him, Raven also casted her spell that created des and to make the matter worse, she herself decided to join in.


    Raven smirked and looking at that smirk, ze couldn¡¯t help but grind his teeth.


    She had learned to cast two spells at the same time long ago, but hadn¡¯t ever used it in battle because it took her all of her focus.


    Now, she wasn¡¯t going to hold back anymore.


    Even when she fought with Mikol yesterday, she had made the mistake of not giving it her all from the very start that hadter frustrated her to no end.


    Learning from her mistake yesterday, Raven didn¡¯t seem to be holding back now.


    Floating des attacked ze in the air, the ck smoke would start to form whenever ze stopped at a ce, and Raven herself closed in the distance. ze was pretty much screaming inside his mind.


    However, he still had more Mana. And unlike Raven, he wasn¡¯t exhausted.


    As he was being surrounded, he erected a pir of ice under him that sent him flying in the air, and from there, he cast a spell that created strong chilly winds that kept the smoke from developing again.


    The blizzard that would make people¡¯s blood run cold only interrupted Raven¡¯s attack.


    But she quickly got used to the cold and continued to chase ze.


    What she didn¡¯t expect was that ze didn¡¯t stay on the defensive like before. He created two ice walls and both of them closed in on Raven at a speed that threatened to crush her in between.


    Raven realized that she had to move away, but her path was blocked by ze who attacked her with ice shards from all sides.


    Thud!


    The ice walls mmed together and it looked as if Raven was ttened between them!


    Only when ze moved the walls away did everyone see Raven¡¯s unconscious figure fall on the ground with the ice walls having a visible print of her.


    ¡®ha... she will kill meter,¡¯ ze took a deep breath, but also remembered that he would pay dearly for what he had done today, probably for the rest of his life.


    He knew best that the walls wouldn¡¯t really kill Raven because her physical strength even surpassed his.


    ¡°Urgh...¡± Raven¡¯s body squirmed as she groaned in pain just a few meters away from ze.


    When ze noticed this, he didn¡¯t know where to hide himself. The battle would not end unless one was unconscious for more than just a few seconds or one admitted defeat.


    He knew more than anyone how stubborn Raven¡¯s personality was. She would probably continue to attack him and stretch this battle even longer.


    Just then, the representative of the Mercenary Guild appeared in the air above them and asked, ¡°Do you wish to continue?¡±


    His question was only directed towards Raven since she was the one on losing end.


    Not only ze, but many others also guessed that Raven wouldn¡¯t give up.


    Raven didn¡¯t answer him right away and first stood up. Just when she was about to say something, another voice sounded from afar,


    ¡°She gives up. ze is the winner.¡±


    A couple of people wanted to refute whoever spoke so brazenly, but Raven¡¯s head immediately followed the direction from which the voice came from and noticed Ozul in the air, with an unknown old man floating behind him.


    Not only her, but everyone¡¯s eyes fell at his figure. All of them except for a few wondered his identity.


    Only when Irvin came rushing towards him and bowing to him did they put the pieces together and made out his identity as the mysterious leader of the new organization named Three-Eyed Strangers!


    Suddenly, all the Rank-9 Mages started probing him since it was their first time seeing the ¡®new Rank-9 Mage¡¯ with their own eyes.


    Those who previously knew Ozul were even more astonished than others. Especially those who were close to him.


    Raven seemed to instantly forget her defeat as a smile blossomed on her face when she noticed that he now had a real arm instead of that prosthetic one on his left.


    Those who still hadn¡¯t realized Ozul¡¯s identity in the audience or just weren¡¯t interested enough were now all looking at Raven instead.


    Unknown to her, though she didn¡¯t look like it, her smiling face would charm even the coldest of men.


    ze also smiled proudly, charming the woman just as Raven had charmed the men. Though there were some who had opposite preferences, they were captivated nheless.


    In other¡¯s eyes, it was as if they smiled because it had been a long time since they met him, but only a few knew the reason.


    In one of the special seats, Alver couldn¡¯t help but show a small smile as well. He tried not to, but he couldn¡¯t stop himself. Ozul was his nephew after all.


    Everyone only got out of their stupor when Ozul, under Irvin¡¯s lead, went back to his designated seat.


    While everyone¡¯s eyes followed his figure, they couldn¡¯t help but wonder about the identity of the weird old man flying behind him because the old man hadn¡¯t once stopped smiling.


    Raven was also about to follow behind him, but before that, she turned around and looked at the representative of the Mercenary Guild and said, ¡°I give up.¡±


    She didn¡¯t care about that right now. Losing another match from ze wasn¡¯t as big of a deal as Ozul finally getting his arm back.


    As she made her way towards Ozul, the representative of the Mercenary Guild announced, ¡°The winner is ze, also from the Three-Eyed Strangers! The next match between Mikol and him will start after 2 hours!¡±


    With his announcement, ze also made his way towards Ozul. These two hours were for him to recover his stamina and Mana.


    While everyone was either delighted or curious with Ozul¡¯s appearance, one Rank-9 Mage was boiling from inside...

 Chapter 248

    Chapter 248: Odd about him.


    Lammert clenched his hands with so much strength that a trail of blood left his fist.


    Although everyone else who had seen Ozul for the first time was only curious and probing him to the best of their abilities, Lammert was only raging inside.


    He was a fairly smart man and could easily connect the dots with Luthien leaving yesterday and in front of him, the man who was supposed to be missing two arms had his left arm without a scratch!


    ¡®That idiot! After all his reassurance that the hand was in safe hands, this brat just goes and fetches his arm back like it was nothing!¡¯ Lammert cursed Luthien in his heart.


    Although he considered Luthien as also someone with high enough ambitions and smart thinking, they now had lost another one of those ¡®devil¡¯s limbs¡¯ which made him feel like his heart was bleeding.


    ¡®Urgh! Everything was going as nned, and now everything is messed because he couldn¡¯t even take care of an arm!¡¯ Lammert med Luthien, unaware of the fact that thetter had already died a gruesome death.


    The Church of Light¡¯s alliance with the Silverbird Kingdom was unlike that of the other organizations. Luthien was good with words, and he had somehow made Lammert actually have a good impression of him.


    .....


    Lammert who would only look for bad in people saw Luthien as a valuable tool and thetter was fully aware of it. However, Luthien also saw Lammert as an important means toplete his ns.


    In short, both were just trying to use each other.


    After Luthien had learned these limbs¡¯ true value, he had started forcing Lammert to hand over the arm that he had sent him. Even when Lammert refused t out, Luthien still did not break their alliance because he found it a huge loss to lose an ally just as or even more shrewd than him.


    Although he hadn¡¯t been able to get the arm back from Lammert, Luthien still managed to convince him that the Silverbird Kingdom would be getting half the profits the Church made of the Healing liquid.


    Enough talking about that, Lammert at the moment couldn¡¯t help but ground his teeth while ring towards Ozul sitting far away from him. In his mind, he continued to curse Luthien nonstop.


    Just at that moment, as if sensing his gaze, Ozul turned his head in his direction and made eye contact.


    The moment their eyes met caused chills to run down Lammert¡¯s spine.


    From that single moment of eye contact, Lammert could tell that unlike he thought, he was far from being a match to this devil, ¡®H-he is strong!¡¯


    Only then did he remember that this kid in front of him had obtained another one of his limbs back, ¡®Did he get stronger because of that?!¡¯


    A slight fear rose from his heart as he thought about how this ¡®kid¡¯ would try to seek revenge and look for the arm that was with the Church now.


    Lammert hatefully gnashed his teeth but still evaded Ozul¡¯s eyes. After a while, his furious expressions morphed into a contemptuous smile as he muttered, ¡°No matter what, he would never be able to get that arm back.¡±


    Even when he felt that Ozul had somehow gotten beyond his league, Lammert didn¡¯t worry that he would be able to snatch the arm because of her presence.


    ¡®Anyway, who is that old man... he gives me a strange feeling,¡¯ Lammert squinted his eyes at the old man who looked just like an average old man who didn¡¯t even have enough money to buy proper clothes.


    . . .


    At this time, Raven, ze, Irvin, and even Haley were surrounding Ozul¡¯s seat. All of them looked at his left arm which looked more than human now.


    None of them said out aloud anything since they were out here in public.


    Ozul looked at Raven¡¯s staggering appearance and said, ¡°Go and fix yourself.¡±


    Then he turned to ze. ¡°Rest. Recover your Mana, you are up against that man over there?¡± he asked while pointing at Mikol standing near Lammert¡¯s seat.


    ze nodded his head and before he could confidently assure Ozul that he would secure the victory, he heard thetter say,


    ¡°You would most probably lose. Don¡¯t let your guard down.¡±


    ze couldn¡¯t even refute the words because it was Ozul who said it. Nheless, he was more than determined to prove him wrong.


    On his side, Haley brought him somewhere so he would recover quickly. He only had two hours after all.


    Meanwhile, Ozul continued to stare at Mikol for a few moments, making thetter ufortable under his scrutinizing gaze.


    ¡®He is unusually strong for a middle stage Rank-8...¡¯ Ozul thought inside his mind as he probed Mikol.


    Even without his improved abilities, he could have easily noticed the odd air surrounding Mikol. Even with ze¡¯s abnormal talent, this Mikol seemed to match the raw Mana both of them had, and Ozul found it strange.


    ¡®Hm. I will just watch the match then. I can test my limitster,¡¯ he decided to wait till the end of the tournament since it concerned ze.


    When all the other Rank-9 Mages probed him except for Alver, Ozul also gave all of them a brief look. His eyes paused at Lammert for a couple of seconds and felt those raging emotions inside him.


    ¡®Just you wait... you will be the next,¡¯ he thought inside his head before sweeping his gaze towards the woman with an icy cold look.


    She was the sect leader of the Nine Petals Sect and still held the grudge that he had taken her best disciples in her sect¡¯s entire history.


    Ozul¡¯s gaze didn¡¯t linger on her for another moment. He didn¡¯t look at Alver who was actually staring at him with such an intense gaze that he had a hard time ignoring it now.


    Just then, Ozul remembered something and turned his face to his right.


    There he saw the old man standing on one foot and scratching his leg with the other one. He was still barefoot, but when he focused on his feet, they didn¡¯t have a single speck of dirt.


    Taking a moment to arrange his words, Ozul spoke, ¡°You said you wanted to find those candidates here in the Neutral City? What are you doing here then?¡±


    ¡°Hoho~? Are you that ashamed that such an uncultured old man like me is standing beside you?¡± Old Gu answered with one of his hands scratching his back like he was a monkey.


    Ozul could at least tell that this old man was deliberately doing that to test his patience.


    ¡°You can stay with me all day, I wouldn¡¯t care as long as you keep your mouth shut. I am just reminding you to hurry up your task. You still have to give me an exnation,¡± he answered without a change in his expressions.


    ¡°Haha! Young man, you sure are impatient. Alright, I can at least tell you that it will take around five years before things start,¡± Old Gu revealed how much time he would actually take to tell him his identity.


    ¡°What are you doing here then? Don¡¯t you have work to do?¡± Ozul asked this question after carefully thinking about it for a while.


    He wanted to probe if this old man was acting independently or doing things on others¡¯ orders. Though he leaned towards the former possibility, and it might not help him in any way. He thought that it wouldn¡¯t hurt to try it anyway.


    ¡°I have as much time as I want, young man,¡± Old Gu also answered in a way that didn¡¯t reveal anything.


    ¡°But I am here because now I don¡¯t need to find all the candidates again. A couple of them are already here, haha! I am lucky!¡± Old Guughed in delight, attracting quite a few eyes because of his loud voice.


    ¡°Who is this old man?¡±


    ¡°He is just an ordinary man, I can¡¯t feel any Mana from him.¡±


    ¡°But he was also flying with the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers earlier!¡±


    ¡°If I can¡¯t sense his Mana... does that mean he is actually stronger than me?!¡±


    ...


    Even the high ranking officials from the other factions started muttering while some even tantly pointed their fingers at him.


    ¡°Hehe... It seems I attracted quite a lot of attention, huh? Alright, as an apology, I will give you a piece of advice. Start training those two under you with all they have got, things might get difficultter on~¡± Old Gu apologized, but Ozul felt that he would have given him this ¡®advice¡¯ even if he hadn¡¯t done anything.


    ¡°Can you at least tell me if... you have anythingmon with me?¡± Ozul asked even though he wasn¡¯t able to word it correctly.


    ¡°Haha? What? Do you think I am your grandfather, young man? Hoho~? If you crave grandparents¡¯ love so much, I might actually just adopt you. However, I am very strict, I tell ya!¡± Old Gu continued to tease Ozul who by now was ring at him with cold eyes.


    ¡°Ooh. Don¡¯t get so serious young man. I thought you finally had learned to appreciate the humor. Geez, the young generation so cold these days,¡± Old Gu hurriedly waved his hands and shook his head in a disappointed manner.


    By now, Ozul had realized that he wouldn¡¯t get any answers from this old man no matter how much he tried to probe.


    Not willing to put up with the old man¡¯s nonsense any longer, Ozul shifted his focus to Irvin who looked dumbfoundedly at the old man¡¯s interaction with his young master.

 Chapter 249

    Chapter 249: You really don¡¯t know?


    While Irvin sized up the old man, he had the same questions as everyone else about him. When he moved his eyes to Ozul for answers, he only received a shrug instead of an answer.


    How would Ozul exin about this old man when he himself didn¡¯t know anything about him?


    He didn¡¯t say anything and remained in his thoughts until ze¡¯s match started.


    . . .


    Two hourster, Raven was still recovering as she stood by Ozul¡¯s side while ze stood in the middle of the ground, far from the audience.


    In front of him stood Mikol with sweat dripping from his face in an unnatural way.


    Many from the audience thought that he feared going up against ze after seeing the previous battle.


    .....


    But a couple of others like Raven and the Rank-9 Mages felt that it was strange.


    ze didn¡¯t getcent either. He remembered Ozul telling him that there were high chances for his defeat. Even if he didn¡¯t think so himself, he believed that Ozul would have his reasons for warning him.


    Also, Mikol¡¯s face didn¡¯t look worried or anxious. It looked more like he was in pain instead!


    Before ze could say anything, the representative of the Mercenary Guild flew in the air and with a clear voice, announced the start of their fight,


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    ze didn¡¯t waste any time before rushing towards Mikol with his Magical Spells ready to shoot at any time.


    The audience cheered, most of them shouted for ze only because of his good looks. The people belonging to the prominent factions didn¡¯t utter a word since none of the two participants¡¯ victory or defeat concerned them.


    Responding to the cheers, ze increased his speed with each step taken towards Mikol, who he just realized was standing still in his ce all this time!


    ¡®Hm? What is he nning...¡¯ ze didn¡¯t assume for a second that Mikol was only scared to move because of how well he had fought with Raven previously.


    While he contemted what Mikol was hoping to achieve by just standing still, he continued to rush towards him with confidence in his own strength.


    Though just at that particr time, Ozul¡¯s warning shed past his brain which made him stop at a safe distance from Mikol. He decided to y it safe first.


    Standing a few meters away from Mikol, ze shot two giant ice spikes at him. The ice spikes rotated at a blinding speed as they threatened to kill Mikol with just a single hit.


    Just when the ice spikes were 3 meters away from Mikol, he finally moved!


    He swung his arm in the air, hysterically chanting spells upon spells that created a bright light that forced almost all of them to close their eyes.


    When they opened them back again, Mikol and ze were already engaged in fiercebat.


    ze kept on creating sharp ice objects and direct them in Mikol¡¯s direction while thetter rushed at him.


    If it was Raven doing that, he might have even understood her reasons since she was good in closebat, but ze didn¡¯t understand Mikol¡¯s reasons.


    ¡®Is he also confident in his physical strength?¡¯ ze pondered before blocking Mikol¡¯s path.


    Even with ze¡¯s intense efforts, Mikol gradually began to close in the distance between them. No matter what ze sent at him, Mikol dodged almost everything while taking care of the rest with his spells.


    He didn¡¯t only dodge either, just like ze¡¯s Icicles, Mikol cast a spell that sent sharp beams of bright light at ze.


    When ze realized that these beams of light would do much more than just giving him a burn, he instantly conjured an ice wall in front of him which blocked all of the beams.


    He didn¡¯t miss how it was just a thinyer remaining at the spots on which the beams had hit the ice wall.


    ¡®Even that simple spell did this much?... I will have to end it quickly,¡¯ ze decided not to waste his time anymore and finish it as quickly as he could.


    One lesson he had learned while being there in the Nine Petals Sect was that the Mages all were physically many times weaker than one would actually think.


    Unlike him and Raven, their bodies had only now started to incorporate with Mana, so such a disparity between their physical ranks was a given. Right now, he was thinking of exploiting this weakness of Mikol.


    ¡®When else would I use it if not now...¡¯ ze thought as he cast another spell which didn¡¯t create any ice spears or sharp Icicles. Instead, something started to appear on his hands!


    Slowly, tiny ice chunks appeared out of thin air and all of them started to join together until they covered all of ze¡¯s fists.


    In the audience, Ozul didn¡¯t have any change in his facial expression, but Raven peered curiously at those ice gauntlets.


    She hadn¡¯t seen him cast such a spell before, so it was also as much of a surprise for her as for others.


    Without giving Mikol a chance to think, ze ran towards him at full speed.


    For distraction, he created a rain of Icicles around Mikol and sent them all towards him at once.


    Meanwhile, he closed in on his retreating figure as quickly as possible. He was confident that if he could just get one solid hit on Mikol, his victory would be assured.


    Mikol was barely able to defend against those Icicles by creating a dome of light around him that seemingly erased even the tiniest particles of ice that came near him.


    ze was surprised how effortlessly Mikol defended against his attack, but he was determined to end this quickly.


    Just when the dome of light over Mikol was dispelled, he turned to his side to protect against ze, but before he knew it,


    Bam!


    ze hit Mikol straight in the gut with a force that would shake even the toughest of structures in the Neutral City!


    As expected, Mikol¡¯s body went flying in the opposite direction with the cheers increasing for ze.


    ze took deep breaths to steady his breathing. Although the gauntlets on his hands did not seem so special, only he knew how much Mana it took him to keep up this spell.


    The force that he had hit with Mikol was unnatural even considering that he had the advantage in physical strength! And it was only because of the spell.


    Him sprinting here and shooting other spells at Mikol and atst getting thatst hit rose dust particles that if one didn¡¯t know what was happening here, they might have thought that there had been an explosion here!


    While ze thought that Mikol had lost since there was no chance that any Mage under Rank-9 would be alright after such an attack, much less a Rank-8 in the middle stage.


    Everyone in the audience also thought as such. Only the Rank-9 Mages continued to stare at them with serious faces.


    Ozul also squinted his eyes, but he failed to notice that the smile on Old Gu standing beside him was getting wider by the second.


    ze was still smiling believing that he had already won. However, he was left astonished when the dust started to settle and a standing silhouette appeared a few meters away from him!


    ¡°No way...¡± he unconsciously muttered as his thoughts were jumbled in a mess, ¡®But that hit would have smashedrge boulders! How is his body not broken into pieces already!?¡¯


    Unlike him, the Rank-9 Mages had realized the match didn¡¯t end long before that. It was only because of the peculiar aura that Mikol started radiating the moment he was hit.


    When the dust fully settled, Mikol¡¯s bloody figure appeared before everyone¡¯s eyes. There was a trail of blood leaving his mouth while the clothes on his upper body were all tattered to the point that just a single wind blew even those stripes of clothes away.


    What attracted everyone¡¯s attention was not his injuries, but his appearance instead.


    Because his body was unusually reddened and his eyes were now bloodshot. Some could even notice a few trails of steam leaving Mikol¡¯s body which gave them an idea of his body¡¯s temperature. It wasn¡¯t normal that even the sweat on his body was getting vaporized!


    Everyone was quiet as they stared intensely between ze and Mikol. Everyone except for an old man with the beggars¡¯ appearance and the ceaseless grinning face.


    At this time, Old Gu didn¡¯t continue to look at Mikol¡¯s oddness. Instead, he turned his face towards Ozul.


    Feeling his intense stare, Ozul also turned his head to meet his gaze, ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Ho~ You really don¡¯t know?¡± Old Guughed as he asked Ozul.


    When he noticed Ozul¡¯s confused gaze, Old Gu againughed, ¡°Gahaha! You really don¡¯t know! You are really strange... young man. Really strange.¡±


    Old Gu repeated the words ¡®really strange¡¯ twice before shifting his attention back to Mikol, making it apparent that he wouldn¡¯t exin anything.


    Although Old Gu was now looking at Mikol and ze, his thoughts were a little different, ¡®This kid is really special. Just a little whiff of his essence was able to corrupt that guy. Huhu~ I never thought things would get so interesting after just a few decades.¡¯


    Unaware of Old Gu¡¯s thoughts, Ozul focused on the match.


    At this moment, ze didn¡¯t feel discouraged. It was only a single hit and he was able to reduce Mikol to this state.


    As he was contemting whether to just go in again or y it safe which would drag the fight, ze suddenly felt something that caused all the hair on his body to stand.


    Not only him, but everyone felt the aura released by Mikol as steam rushed out of his body as if he was a volcano!


    ¡°What is this...¡±

 Chapter 250

    Chapter 250: Results...


    ¡°What is this...¡± ze muttered feeling the oppressive aura being omitted from Mikol¡¯s body.


    Not only ze but even the audience spectating from thatrge distance felt the waves of Mana radiating out of him.


    Meanwhile, the Rank-9 Mages were all surprised.


    Even Ozul didn¡¯t understand what was happening, ¡°This has already exceeded the power of a middle stage Rank-8...¡±


    Hearing his conclusion, Raven was astounded, ¡®Did he... somehow broke through the middle stage?!¡¯


    Many others also reached a conclusion simr to Raven, but the experienced ones could tell that such was not the case. Mikol hadn¡¯t advanced, but they couldn¡¯t understand what was happening with him either.


    Ozul turned his head towards Old Gu with a questioning face, ¡°What is happening with him?¡±


    .....


    Old Gu didn¡¯t reply to his question directly and instead made an exaggerated mysterious face. After a moment passed, he said in a deep voice, ¡°You should know it better than me, young man. After all, whatever is happening is probably because of you. Gahaha!¡±


    ¡®Probably? Does that mean he isn¡¯t sure either?¡¯ Ozul pondered about it for a while before focusing back on the battle.


    He knew that the situation was dangerous for ze, and he was ready to intervene at any given time to stop the battle if he deemed it necessary.


    At that moment, ze didn¡¯t know what was happening either, but he understood that the situation had suddenly taken a bad turn for him.


    He looked at Mikol¡¯s bloodshot eyes and felt as if he was in pain. However, he didn¡¯t care about that right now, his thoughts raced to n his next course of action.


    ¡®No... I don¡¯t have the luxury of time to think right now!¡¯ ze shouted inside his mind.


    He realized that if Mikol was in pain for whatever reason, it was better to attack since he might be distracted.


    He instantly cast giant icicles at Mikol and rushed at him at the same time.


    Although he realized that the energy Mikol released was way above his, thetter¡¯s grisly appearance gave him a little confidence.


    The giant icicles seemed to have directly hit Mikol, but it was the ice that shattered and Mikol barely took a few steps back. He had cast a light shield in front of him the moment those icicles threatened to hit him.


    ze wasn¡¯t fazed since those icicles were solely for distraction in the first ce. The ice hadn¡¯t fallen to the ground yet when he closed in and was just about to hit Mikol.


    What he didn¡¯t expect was a crazed look on Mikol¡¯s face as he had already prepared a spell for him!


    ¡°!!!¡±


    Boom!


    Dirt rose all around the ground blurring everyone¡¯s vision. All of them had seen what had just happened and almost everyone thought that ze was done for.


    Although killing wasn¡¯t allowed in the Tournament of Egon, the one who died wouldn¡¯t be able toin about the rules, would they?


    The representative of the Mercenary Guild squinted his eyes. If Mikol really killed ze, then he would have topensate the Three-Eyed Strangers by punishing Mikol. And that would prove to be really difficult since he was from the Church of Light.


    Only when the dust started to settle did everyone notice that there were more than two silhouettes there. It meant that not only had ze survived, but someone had interrupted the battle! No one had seen anyone flying towards them, so it was a little surprising.


    When things became clear enough, they noticed that it was actually the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers, Ozul. The moment he had noticed that it was dangerous for ze, he hadn¡¯t waited for a second before he intervened.


    At this time, ze leaned on the hand made with the Ball of Purity since Ozul had pushed him to the side at the crucial time so the spell hit the ground instead.


    And when ze looked at the giant crater at the ce where the Spell had hit, his body involuntarily sucked in a cold breath, ¡®There was no chance I could have survived that attack! Damn this crazy psychopath!¡¯


    He could help but feel angry that Mikol had used such a lethal attack. At the same time, he was thankful that Ozul had arrived at the crucial time to save him otherwise he would have been dead by now.


    Although everyone in the audience was surprised by this sudden turn of events, the Rank-9 Mages were the most shocked.


    They, as Rank-9 Mages, had thought that Ozul was also around their level, and maybe even a little weaker since he had recently advanced. However, just now, they weren¡¯t even able to feel that he had moved from his seat and appeared a hundred meters away in just the blink of an eye!


    Previously they had med the artifacts for them not being able to sense any Mana from him, but they now had some worrying thoughts running through their minds.


    Could he actually be stronger than Rank-9?


    All of them couldn¡¯t help but reevaluate opinion on Ozul and the Three-Eyed Strangers.


    When Ozul had suddenly disappeared, except for Old Gu who was continuously grinning from ear to ear, no one present here was able to see him because of his speed!


    ¡°ze forfeits the match,¡± Ozul spoke with a calm voice, but his words were heard clearly because of the deathly still surroundings.


    Only hearing his soothing voice did everyone wake up from their stupor and the audience started to cheer loudly again. Though Ozul didn¡¯t know who they were cheering for this time.


    Right after that, the representative of the Mercenary Guild flew in the sky and acknowledged ze¡¯s forfeit even when it was only Ozul who had said it.


    ¡°I, as one of the main organizers of this event, announce that the winner of this Tournament of Egon is Mikol from the Church of Light!¡±


    He shouted in a loud voice that was amplified using some sort of artifact so everyone heard it even amidst those cheers.


    Lammert¡¯s chest rose as he threw a contemptuous smile towards every other Rank-9 Mage present there.


    It wasn¡¯t Mikol who had won, it was the Church of Light and he wouldn¡¯t miss this chance to tell everyone who the strongest faction on this continent was!


    However, his smile didn¡¯tst long when Mikol who had been standing still just a while ago suddenly spurted a mouth full of blood!


    Many of them had even yet to notice him when he also fell on the ground. Since Ozul was the closest to him, he realized that Mikol had suddenly fallen unconscious!


    Following him falling, the cheers stopped and people started to murmur instead.


    The representative of the Mercenary Guild alsonded on the ground to check him from up close. However, he immediately stood up in shock when he noticed the state Mikol was in.


    ¡°Call for the physicians! Hurry up, he is half-dead already,¡± he shouted, and his subordinates immediately began to get to work.


    The rest of the audience also heard his words and everyone realized how serious Mikol¡¯s condition was.


    Since Ozul was there as well, he inspected Mikol¡¯s body without going near him and realized that he had tens of fatal internal injuries!


    What surprised him was how almost every organ inside Mikol was bleeding!


    His skin was so red that it almost felt like he was on fire as the sweat on his body continued to evaporate and generate steam.


    ¡®Red skin-¡®


    Just then, Ozul remembered that Mikol also had bloodshot eyes. And those types of eyes with a crazed look in them were a little familiar.


    ¡®No wonder... The Church probably gave him something created from the essence they obtained from my arm, just like how Luthien¡¯s father directly absorbed it,¡¯ Ozul put the pieces together and only realized it now why Old Gu had previously been saying that it was his fault and how he was special.


    Ozul simply needed to look in Lammert¡¯s direction to confirm his suspicions. The panicking expressions on thetter¡¯s face and his emotions were all the proof that Ozul needed.


    ¡®He already managed to create something that even someone at their level was able to handle...¡¯ Ozul realized that he had to get his other arm as quickly as possible from the Church.


    Although looking at Mikol¡¯s condition, he wasn¡¯t actually able to handle it perfectly, but that could also just be because of the previous hit ze hadnded on him.


    Anyway, the results of forcefully improving one¡¯s prowess were in front of everyone. The audience didn¡¯t know about it, but many now held suspicions since Mikol¡¯s condition was a little peculiar.


    Even when Mikol had fallen unconscious in a half-dead state, he was still the victor of the tournament that was held every fifty years only!


    The representative of the Mercenary Guild again rose to the air and did a littleplimentary speech for all the participants and then made a formal speech thanking all the prominent factions taking part in this event.


    The audience began to leave one by one and Ozul was also about to do that. But before he could even take a single step, many of the Rank-9 Mages flew out from their seats and surrounded him.


    It looked as if they were all ganging up on him, but all of them just had smiles on their faces as if they were professional merchants.


    Ignoring all of them, Ozul picked up ze with the help of the Ball of Purity and flew away without saying a single word.


    ¡°Tch!¡±

 Chapter 251

    Chapter 251: Sudden turn of events.


    ¡°Tch!¡±


    A couple of Rank-9 Mages clicked their tongue andmented how the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers was so arrogant.


    Although Ozul flew away, he could hear what they were talking about because of his improvement after obtaining his arm back.


    He didn¡¯t care what they thought about him, but one thing that interested him was how the topic took a sudden turn and shifted to Mikol¡¯s condition.


    ¡°The Church surprisingly is cruel with its members. Even that kid earlier must have been given some really harmful medicine...¡±


    ¡°...Lammert sure is ruthless¡±


    ...


    .....


    Although none of these Rank-9 Mages were allies, they didn¡¯t hesitate to express their opinions.


    ¡®Heh. Even the Rank-9 Mages are humans in the end,¡¯ Ozul thought as he noticed how they gossiped just like any ordinary man would do among others like him.


    But hearing what they were talking about, Ozul smiled in his mind as he knew that this would trouble Lammert now.


    If even the Rank-9 Mages gossiped about it, he could already predict how all those other Mages and Fighters that had been spectating would spread the rumors. He suddenly had an impulse to fan the mes as he made his way back to his seat where Irvin, Haley, Raven, and Old Gu were standing.


    He noticed how the Old Gu was staring nkly at the ground in his own thoughts.


    All the spectators had yet to leave the area when Old Gu coughed and a pressing aura spread everywhere, weighing down on even the Rank-9 Mages!


    The area that was previously filled with murmurs and chatter of hundreds of people suddenly became quiet with the oppressive aura making most of them even fall to the ground.


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    ¡°W-what is this!?¡±


    ...


    Those who were weaker could only groan in pain, while the rtively stronger ones were only able to utter a few words of their astonishment before even that became a torturous task for them.


    While it wasn¡¯t hard for the Rank-9 Mages, they didn¡¯t say anything and only braced themselves for whatever was about toe.


    If an aura that could suppress even the Rank-9 Mages had spread everywhere, only someone above Rank-9 would have been able to do that, and if that was the case, they didn¡¯t have any chances of surviving even if everyone fought together.


    Ozul was better off than everyone else, but he still felt the oppression from Old Gu¡¯s aura. He squinted his eyes at him, warning the old man to stop whatever he was ying at, but Old Gu ignored his stare and instead rose to the air.


    All the Rank-9 Mages and those who could still move despite the pressure moved their gazes to his figure.


    At that point, all of them realized that it might be this old man¡¯s doing. Many of them had previously just assumed the old man to be some peak Rank-8 Mage who was using some rare artifact to hide his Mana, but this stunt of his had shaken everyone¡¯s opinion of him.


    Irvin and Raven struggled to ask Ozul what was happening, but he shook his head before they could say anything, saving them the effort.


    He also waited for whatever Old Gu had to say as he held everyone hostage here.


    ¡°That was a rather crude method to hold a tournament, don¡¯t you people think so too?¡± Old Gu started with a question. His voice somehow was amplified to a degree that everyone in the Neutral City was able to hear him!


    Since most of them weren¡¯t in a state to answer him and the Rank-9 Mages were on-guard, no one answered him. Ozul wasn¡¯t in the mood to y with whatever he was doing either.


    Old Gu waited for a moment before shaking his head in disappointment, ¡°Oh well, it doesn¡¯t matter what everyone thinks either.¡±


    As he muttered to himself, the representative of the Mercenary Guild built up his courage and asked with a nervous face, ¡°May... I ask who are you, senior?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Old Gu focused his eyes on the representative of the Mercenary Guild and with a wide grin on his face, he replied, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t know who I am, brat. Gahaha!¡±


    Hearing his reply, although the representative of the Mercenary Guild wasn¡¯t happy, he didn¡¯t dare to say anything to the old man¡¯s face either.


    Although all of the Rank-9 Mages usually looked to be around middle-aged people, all of them were way over a hundred years! So being called a brat even when he was so old made him feel a little embarrassed as well.


    Old Gu didn¡¯t mind his question, so he continued, ¡°Hoho~ now that I think about it, those brats must have grown up as well, huh? They might have forgotten about me as well. Gahaha! Let¡¯s see!¡±


    Everyone was confused because of his words, even Ozul wondered who the old man was talking about but before anyone could question Old Gu, he rose even higher in the air and...


    Boom!


    A deafening sound urred and with it followed an aura that caused more than half of the people who were present there on the site to drop unconscious on the ground with white foam dripping from their mouth!


    Even the peak Rank-8 Mages stumbled and a few fell to the ground not to mention those who were many times weaker.


    Only now did Ozul understand why Old Gu had risen even higher in the air previously. Because if he had released this much pressure previously, all of them present here would certainly be crushed with no mercy.


    When he swept his gaze to everyone there, he felt how everyone only had negative emotions directed at Old Gu.


    ¡®Ha... he really has a talent for attracting everyone¡¯s hatred,¡¯ Ozul mused while he waited to see what the old man was about to unfold.


    The old man didn¡¯t stop at that, he flew even higher up in the air till his figure almost became blurry. Following that, the pressure that he released increased in intensity!


    At that point, anyone who didn¡¯t have enough strength to withstand the pressure in the entire Neutral Lands was forced to drop on the ground with their bodies shaking uncontrobly.


    Tremors spread across the continent while the old man had yet to even lift up one of his fingers.


    ¡®No... this is way above what a Rank-10 should be able to do...¡¯ Ozul concluded as he also began to feel how easily the old man could have killed him if he had decided to attack him earlier.


    ¡°Ha. Come out you brats. I know at least you four are alive. Get your asses here this instant.¡±


    Old Gu spoke in a normal voice but those words seemed to have spread even across the Neutral Lands!


    Whoever heard his words didn¡¯t find them loud nor too soft, but no matter how close or far away they were from the old man, all of them clearly heard him. It was weird, but everyone¡¯s attention at that time was upied in figuring out what his words meant and who they were spoken to.


    ¡®Four are still alive...? What is he talking about?¡¯ Ozul wondered as he slowly made his way towards Raven and the others.


    He was presently stronger than everyone else there, so he also had it easier than the rest and unlike them, he wasn¡¯t worried that Old Gu would suddenly flip out and kill everyone.


    From the old man¡¯s nature and his talk, he was up to something and they would only learn what it was after listening to him.


    Ozul casually took the seat again under the stupefied gazes of others and waited for the four people Old Gu just called here.


    A few minutes passed and nothing happened.


    With time, Old Gu showed an embarrassing expression as he began to mutter to himself, ¡°Damn those brats... If they don¡¯t show up within the next five minutes, they are going to regret it!¡±


    However, just the next moment, a huge pressure again descended on everyone present in the Neutral City even after Old Gu had removed his!


    And everyone instantly knew that it wasn¡¯t Old Gu this time, but someone else because the aura that pressed on them was Mana this time.


    It didn¡¯t end with that and the pressure suddenly increased as if another person had also joined in the previous one!


    Just like that, the pressure increased two more times until people were almost getting suffocated!


    ¡°Hoho~ You brats have certainly grown. But all of you really have grown the balls to be so bold now, eh?¡± Old Gu words were sarcastic, but his voice still held an imposing tone.


    Although nothing changed for a few seconds, the four auras started to disappear after a moment as if they had just been an illusion.


    However, the pathetic state of everyone in the Neutral City was the proof that it wasn¡¯t just some mass hallucination.


    Meanwhile, at the area where the tournament was being held just a moment ago, everyone looked at the sky to look at who had arrived now. Not to mention ordinary Mages or Fighters, even the Rank-9 Mages were all anxious since the situation was so unexpected.


    Just a little while ago everyone was spectating the fight between two promising young talents, and the next moment, they were all on the ground with the fear of losing their lives any minute lingering in their hearts.


    The shock of the representative of the Mercenary Guild, Archbishop Lammert, Emperor Elsug, and Alver skyrocketed when they noticed the four figures who had appeared in the air...

 Chapter 252

    Chapter 252: Appearance of the...?


    ¨C Just a few moments ago ¨C


    While Old Gu called for these unknown four people, Alver, followed by Lammert and Elsug slowly gathered around the representative of the Mercenary Guild.


    Alver was the first to talk, ¡°Winston, spill it whatever you know about this guy.¡±


    Behind him, Lammert and Elsug didn¡¯t say anything but their stern gaze asked the representative of the Mercenary Guild the same question.


    Alver was also worried like other leaders, but he was also curious about how this old man was rted to his nephew as they had arrived here together. And looking in Ozul¡¯s direction, he noticed that he was perfectly calm and collected as if whatever was happening had nothing to do with him.


    However, even in this situation, he couldn¡¯t just go and ask Ozul in front of everyone. So instead he asked this man named Winston. Although they were all Rank-9 Mages, Winston, as the representative of the organization that had ess to all the continent, usually knew more than others.


    However, Winston could only shake his head in dismay. Whatever was happening was out of his mind and reasoning.


    .....


    He had never heard about this old man who could so casually overpower the entire Neutral Lands with his aura alone!


    One thing that everyone agreed on was that this old man was not something they could handle and only other Rank-10 Mages could contain him.


    Just as all of them had sighed in relief because the old man had retracted his aura, a fiery aura enveloped the whole area again. Though it wasn¡¯t as bad as the old man¡¯s, this aura was enough to start suffocating everyone again.


    And if it wasn¡¯t enough, three more auras appeared right after another!


    When all of the four auras collided, everyone felt their internal organs being squeezed as if a mountain was put on them!


    Electric sparks, fiery embers, and light particles would asionally be seen with the entire ground shaking as if there was an earthquake.


    Looking at this phenomenon urring over such arge area, Alver, Lammert, Winston, and Elsug suddenly had an inkling of what might be happening.


    However, before they could finish their thoughts,


    ¡°Hoho~ You brats have certainly grown. But all of you really have grown the balls to be so bold now, eh?¡±


    . . .


    They heard Old Gu say it casually to the empty air, but the result was before everyone. The four auras suddenly disappeared as if they were never really there in the first ce!


    ¡°H-haha... they are someone else-¡± Winston, the Mercenary Guild representative muttered, and Lammert, along with Alver and Elsug, nodded in agreement.


    The people they had in mind would never listen to anyone who talked to them in that tone.


    However, what they would have never expected to happen did. Because the four figures that appeared around the old man in the air were exactly the people that they had in their mind!


    ¡°Grandmother Ciro...¡±


    ¡°Ancestor Darcia...¡±


    ¡°Ancestor dis...¡±


    ¡°Grandfather Kure...¡±


    Emperor Elsug, Archbishop Lammert, Winston, and Alver respectively muttered in shock as they recognized their ancestors!


    Their astonishment was to such an extreme degree that they even forgot to pay their respects by immediately bowing their heads.


    They were the first and only ones to recognize the four old figures that appeared in the sky surrounding the old man whose smiling face was by now getting on everyone¡¯s nerves.


    Ozul also wondered about the identities of the two old women and two old men in the air. All four of them had a mysterious air around them and their faces showed no emotions.


    Even with such a distance between them, he noticed how all four of them had nced at the ground once before returning their gaze back to Old Gu. When he followed the direction they had looked in, he was surprised to see Alver, Lammert, Elsug, and that representative of the Mercenary Guild dropped on one knee, showing respect to the four figures in the air!


    A few others who also noticed the four of them were surprised, but the rest of the Rank-9 Mages realized what might be happening. If even these four leaders of the most prominent factions in the entire continent of Egon were paying their respect, then the identities of the four people in the air weren¡¯t hard to guess.


    While everyone was either shocked or passed out because of the earlier pressure, Ozul had a slightly different question,


    ¡®... Old Gu called these four as brats?¡¯


    He was also surprised by their appearance as he had heard that the number of Rank-10 Mages on the entire continent of Egon could be counted on one hand. That meant that these four old ancestors might be the only Rank-10 Mages alive on the continent as of now!


    However, what intrigued him more was the way Old Gu called them. And not only that, when the old man had pointed out their rude behavior, they had even retracted their auras!


    If anything, it spoke volumes of how Old Gu was even more mysterious than he had thought previously.


    ¡®Can people even breakthrough above Rank-10...?¡¯ Ozul contemted while keeping his eyes and ears fixed on the five old fellows in the air. He would have joined them as well, but he was toozy now that he already had afortable seat to sit on.


    His doubts were not unfounded. He knew that he himself was stronger than Rank-9 Mages, but how he would contend against a Rank-10 had yet to be seen.


    Previously meeting with Old Gu, he only had his suspicion that this old man might not simply be a Rank-10 because he couldn¡¯t sense anything from him. He was doubtful because he didn¡¯t know if he would be able to sense a Rank-10¡¯s power or not.


    But now that four Rank-10 Mages were surrounding Old Gu, it became evident that this old man was different because the power of these four ancestors was as clear as water in front of Ozul!


    ¡®All of them are strong...¡¯ Ozul realized that he would have a hard time fighting any one of the four ancestors. He might not even be able to win.


    As much as this would have frustrated him before, he felt unusually calm about it.


    Instead, he was more focused on finding the identity of Old Gu. Previously Ozul might have doubted that he was a Rank-10 and only used some special artifact that hid his Mana even from him.


    However, that thought was out of the way now.


    ¡°So... who are you...¡± Ozul muttered as he gave up mulling over the thought and focused on listening instead.


    Up in the air, the four Rank-10 ancestors continued to stare coldly at Old Gu without saying a word.


    ¡°Hu~? Don¡¯t tell me all of you are irritated that I called you brats? Kuhu!¡± Old Gu snickered as he noticed the four of them ring at him.


    There were no noticeable changes in their expressions, but the old man with a straight back and short ck hair spoke, ¡°Why are you here again...¡±


    ¡°Oh~? You didn¡¯t miss me?¡± Old Gu shook his head sideways, showing his disappointment, and then continued, ¡°Well, the time is near again. If I didn¡¯t do my job, would you instead? Gahaha! How long has it been that yourzy old asses came out in the sun again?¡±


    Hearing his words brought different reactions to everyone on the site.


    People who could listen to their conversation on the ground were astounded by how casual and ill-mannered this old man¡¯s words were.


    On the other hand, the four ancestors were surprised and a glint shed through their eyes as they scanned the ground to look at their sessors.


    Tsk Tsk!


    ¡°Do you all even know how long you were in seclusion? Those four that you see down there are way past the age limit,¡± Old Gu tsked with a grinning face.


    It was almost as if he wanted someone to get angry at him and then create a scene so he could get some fun out of it.


    ¡°Anyway, I just called all of you out because I know how scary you all are to the youngins down below. They probably wouldn¡¯t have disturbed you,¡± Old Gu talked as if he cared more about their descendants than them.


    His words caused their eyes to twitch in annoyance, but before they could say anything, Old Gu continued, ¡°Since all of you are here, I will start the announcement. Do you all have anything to say before that?¡±


    The four ancestors shook their heads simultaneously and got out of the way.


    Kahum!


    Old Gu cleared his throat before crossing his hands behind his now straightened back.


    ¡°This is an announcement to everyone in the Neutral Lands. In the span of five years, all of you move your houses, business, or whatever property you have here in these Lands and migrate past the Deste Borders. I think five years are enough of a time to do that, no?¡±


    Old Gu¡¯s tone didn¡¯t seem like he was joking. He spoke very casually, but it was as if the winds were helping him, his words entered the ears of every living being in the Neutral Lands.


    With a little pause, he continued, ¡°If in the span of these five years, you failed to move out or tried to hide here in hopes of never being found out, you will be responsible for the consequences. That is all everyone should know for now. Have a good day, everyone~¡±


    From the cold and merciless tone previously, his attitude took a 360-degree turn at thest sentence, bringing confusing feelings to the heart of every listener.

 Chapter 253

    Chapter 253: Why would anyone want that?!


    ¡°... Have a good day, everyone~¡± having finished his announcement which was more of a warning, Old Gu made his way down to the ground under the fearful eyes of everyone.


    Except for the people present here, everyone in the Neutral Lands was either hysterically running around to understand more about the situation or already sighing that they would have to move their homes now.


    None of them doubted that things weren¡¯t serious because someone weak wouldn¡¯t be able to get their voice to spread all over the continent like that.


    In short, people in the Neutral Lands were panicking. After all, no one wanted to move out from the Neutral Lands.


    While the people in the Neutral Lands were in an uproar, they still waited for the most prominent factions to do something about it. These ordinary people couldn¡¯t even in their wildest dreams think that the leaders of those prominent factions that they worked under were at moment also fearful of the person who had made the announcement.


    . . .


    Old Gunded near Ozul¡¯s seat and looked at him with the same smiling face again.


    .....


    Ozul stood up and approached him, ¡°What will happen after five years?¡±


    Since people were quiet for the fear of provoking the old man¡¯s anger, his voice spread everywhere, allowing everyone to hear his question.


    Most of them wanted to know what the old man would reply while the others were wondering how the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers could talk with this old man so casually.


    The four ancestors in the air also had the same thoughts. They noted it in their mind to ask about him from their descendantster.


    For now, everyone focused on the old man, anticipating what he would answer.


    ¡°Well, things will change for a selected few. You people would be given a chance to turn your life upside down in exchange for losing everything. Gahaha!¡± Old Guughed after making the statement which gave goosebumps to everyone as they prayed not to be chosen in those selected few.


    Even Ozul was confused by what Old Gu meant by getting their lives to turn upside down in exchange for losing everything. Who would want to do that?!


    ¡°Hoho~? Everyone is curious, huh? Well, I am gettingte, I won¡¯t be exining things~ There are other people you can learn your situation from~¡± Old Gu pointed at the four ancestors in the air before he slowly walked away.


    People made way for him from where he passed by, while he would only give them an amiable smile and asionally stopped to scratch one of his legs with the other to ease his itch.


    Just like Ozul, the four ancestors also didn¡¯t understand what Old Gu¡¯s words meant, but they did know what would happen after the span of five years.


    Ozul didn¡¯t need to worry about not being able to find out whatever was happening because he remembered that Alver had also bowed to that old man with ck hair and called him Grandfather Kure.


    So this Kure was probably the ancestor of the Ashin family.


    ¡®Is that why Raymond was so confident to start a fight with them despite not having as many Rank-9 allies as the Church before?¡¯ Ozul concluded as he felt the raw power exuded by this old man.


    He knew that if this Kure ancestor did exin the situation to Alver and Raymond, then he wouldn¡¯t remain oblivious for long either.


    But that aside, it would still be better if Old Gu could give him some hints.


    Unfortunately, just when he was about to say something to the old man, he suddenly just faded away in the air!


    Not only him, but even the four Rank-10 Mages in the air tried to sense his presence everywhere, but there was not even a trace of him anywhere.


    Ozul sighed and was about to return to the Three-Eyed Strangers¡¯ headquarters together with the rest of his people. But he suddenly halted his steps when he heard a voice in his head!


    ¡®He he~ Young Man, although you are also a candidate... Things would be quite different for you. Just focus on getting stronger, will ya?¡¯


    He suddenly looked around but noticed how no one else seemed to have heard those words.


    ¡®Did Old Gu just send this message directly in my head?¡¯ Ozul was surprised by it. But he quickly got over it and began to think about what the old man¡¯s words meant.


    His sudden pause caused Raven and ze to look at him with questioning faces, but before they could say anything, he began to walk ahead.


    ¡°To the headquarters. We have a lot to do,¡± Ozul said before flying straight to the town. The group followed behind him as well.


    He was the first to fly away and seeing him leave, the others in the area began to leave one by one as well.


    After a few moments, the only ones left there were the four Rank-10 Mages and the four Rank-9 Mages down on the ground. The four of them didn¡¯t know how to start asking the questions.


    ¡°Tch! I hate to admit it... but that old bag of bones was right,¡± the ancestor of the Ashin family, Kure, spoke after clicking his tongue in annoyance when he noticed how his grandson was so fearful of him.


    Hearing his words caused a thoughtful expression to appear on their faces.


    Hmph!


    ¡°So what? It doesn¡¯t matter anyway,¡± the old woman surrounded by the holy light dismissed his words with irritated expressions.


    ¡°You are even more irritable than before, Darcia,¡±mented the other old man who was called dis.


    ¡°Do you have any problem with that?¡± Darcia stared at dis with a nk face, threatening him to say another word in her matter.


    Meanwhile, the only person who hadn¡¯t spoken all this time was Ciro, the ancestor of the Leonhard Dynasty.


    Although the four sounded as if they were old acquaintances, they kept a few meters of distance between them and were vignt if anyone made a move.


    In the end, they were all Rank-10 Mages and not at all friends.


    However, it was peculiar to see the staringpetition quickly turning between Ciro(From the Leonhard Dynasty), Kure(From the Ashin family), and Darcia(From the Church of Light) instead.


    dis, the ancestor from the Mercenary Guild only watched them from the sides without taking any part in it.


    It continued on for a few minutes before even the four Rank-9 Mages on the ground were starting to sweat because of the anxiety of a battle breaking out between their ancestors.


    No one wanted that to happen as of now because they knew that the ancestors were more or less at the same cultivation level and if a battle broke out between all of them, it would continue on for days and maybe even weeks!


    And considering their strength, the continent would be half in ruins if that happened!


    Fortunately for them, their ancestors slowly began to create more distance between them, and at one point, they just flew off in different directions.


    Taking that as their cue, the Rank-9 Mages sighed in relief and followed behind their own ancestor respectively.


    . . .


    Alver followed behind Kure silently. He didn¡¯t dare to say a word since it had been his first time seeing his grandpaing out of seclusion after so many decades!


    Kure wouldn¡¯t have minded it earlier, but now that he remembered Old Gu telling him how their own descendants were afraid of him, he couldn¡¯t shake off this irritation building up inside of him.


    ¡°Say whatever is on your mind!¡± Kure spoke with a high voice as they both flew towards the Ashin family¡¯s estate.


    ¡°N-nothing grandfather...¡± Alver replied with a stutter. He realized that his grandfather was angry, but not the reason why.


    ¡°...¡±


    Sigh.


    Kure didn¡¯t say anything for a few minutes before he sighed and realized his mistake.


    ¡°I am not angry, Alver. Speak your mind...¡± Kure was going to apologize, but the words somehow didn¡¯t escape his mouth. After all, he was not only a Rank-10 Mage with a high ego but also someone who had lived for many centuries!


    His words caused Alver to almost stop in mid-air. Although he hadn¡¯t interacted with this grandfather of his so much, he at least knew that he wasn¡¯t so kind usually.


    But his hesitation faded away when he noticed that Kure was sincere.


    ¡°I wanted to ask... who was that old man? What did he mean...¡±


    . . .


    While Alver asked Kure questions about Old Gu, Lammert and Darcia flew towards the Church. Darcia had a cackling smile on her face while Lammert couldn¡¯t help but be nervous around her.


    ¡°Was it that boy who the old man talked with before disappearing?¡± Darcia asked before wiping that evil smile off of her face.


    Lammert noticed her seriousness and immediately answered, ¡°Y-yes. It was him...¡±


    Tch!


    Darcia clicked her tongue in annoyance. It would have been fine if it was anyone else. She could have gotten her hands on them, but if that person had some connection with the old man, she couldn¡¯t hope to go near him for now.


    Lammert didn¡¯t know who the old man was, but from his ancestor¡¯s reaction, he was sure that he was somehow even stronger than her. Uneasiness flowed in his heart when he remembered that it was that boy who had brought the old man with him.


    On the other hand, Darcia was thinking differently inside her head, ¡®Since that is the case, I will just have to get stronger than that old man...¡¯


    Just like that, Old Gu shook the whole Neutral Lands. Be it the Rank-9 leaders of the prominent factions or even the four Rank-10 Mages; all of them had to change their ns for the future.

 Chapter 254

    Chapter 254: Worries for the future.


    While the whole Neutral Lands went into an uproar, the headquarters of the Three-Eyed Strangers¡¯ had it worse than the most.


    Not because they would have to move their base, but because of the flood of requests that asked about the events that recently took ce. Including the identity of the old man who had told everyone to relocate and if the Tournament of Egon somehow had any connection with it.


    Due to their recent poprity, manyrge organizations and groups had alsoe to put their trust in them.


    Only a few hours after Ozul and the team hade back to the headquarters, all the members started to get busy because of the huge number of requests they received. Irvin, Haley, and Oliver had it the worst because they didn¡¯t know what information to reveal and what to not.


    Fortunately for them, Ozul didn¡¯t n to leave all of this on their heads.


    While ze and Raven needed a little rest, Ozul arrived on the 7th floor where all the high-ranking officials of the Three-Eyed Strangers were gathered together and arranging everything.


    When they noticed him entering, everyone left whatever they were doing and gave their respects simultaneously. Irvin and Haley followed suit before Haley asked him if he needed anything.


    .....


    ¡°No. Give me the detailed report. What is everyone asking for?¡± Hearing his question didn¡¯t surprise the elite members as much as it delighted them.


    Things would be much easier if the leader had personally decided to handle them.


    Without wasting a second, everyone began to summarize their recent data as Haley began to exin things to Ozul.


    In short, everyone wanted to know as much as possible about this event. And since the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers was seen together with the old man who had made that announcement, they wondered what more he knew about the situation.


    Ozul nodded his head in understanding. It was to be expected that people would think that he had more information on the matter since he had appeared together with that old man in the tournament.


    After the news got out that even the Rank-10 Mages were forced to appear by the old man, this event spread like a wildfire, and even ces thousands of miles away from the Neutral City caught the wind of it in a matter of hardly an hour!


    Ozul calmly heard everything and once Haley had finished the most crucial points, he stood up, gaining everyone¡¯s attention in the room.


    ¡°For a single Silver Coin, sell everything that I will state now,¡± Ozul said with a pause, making sure that Haley would carefully listen to his next words.


    All the elite members, together with Irvin, and Oliver were surprised as to why Ozul wanted them to sell a piece of reliable information for just a single Silver Coin, but Haley didn¡¯t question his orders. By now she had learned not to question his words before hearing all he had to say.


    After he had her attention, Ozul started, ¡°It is true. Evacuating the Neutral Lands was not a joke, and whoever remains here will also face the consequences. After those five years, there will be apetition that will probably be held in the Neutral Lands between some chosen people.¡±


    Hearing his words caused variants of surprise and shocked expressions to appear on everyone¡¯s faces. But then again, it was to be expected that their leader knew more inside information than any other.


    Although the old man hadn¡¯t said that there would be apetition directly, his words made it evident that it would be the case. He had said that a selected few would have the chance. Which meant that they would probablypete in something.


    Then again, Old Gu¡¯s wordster had been really ambiguous. But Ozul dismissed them as him messing around with people to have his fun.


    Old Gu had told everyone to evacuate the Neutral Lands, and even mentioned that they needed to go even past the Deste Borders. Combining with the fact of how unnatural that barren field surrounding the Neutral Lands was and how there would be apetition, Ozul guessed that it could be held in the Neutral Lands.


    Of course, there were chances that he was wrong and that is why he made sure to be vague about that part.


    ¡°Whoever would be chosen, and whoever isn¡¯t, depends on that old man. As for if all these things had anything to do with the Tournament of Egon? The answer is no.¡±


    These few sentences were all Ozul had to say. And just as he ended, Haley was the first one to ask why they were only going to sell it for a single Silver Coin.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. If you sell it for Gold Coins, ordinary people in the Neutral Lands would never buy it, and they will instead just choose to believe what all the big factions would be telling them. If it is affordable by almost everyone in the Neutral Lands, the loss of lowering the price would be filled easily,¡± Ozul tried to exin in simple terms.


    This method was only applicable because of how important it was to everyone at this time. But even then, he had another motive for doing this.


    ¡°Since we are already being so generous with this, add another note to whoever buys this information,¡± Ozul spoke as he smiled inside his mind.


    Hm?


    The people in the room tilted their heads in confusion. For some reason, it felt to them as if their leader was amused, but his face was as vacant as ever, so it was rather difficult for them to determine if it was true.


    ¡°What type of note?¡± Haley asked with confusion written on her face. This was the first time that they would be adding a note with their information.


    ¡°Don¡¯t just announce it forcefully to everyone. But first, inform them that you also have a piece of free information with the previous one about what had transpired in the tournament. They can hear it if they want to,¡± Ozul specified how he wanted them to spread this.


    Of course, whoever bought the information about the old man¡¯s incident wouldn¡¯t just refuse and leave without getting something that waspletely free.


    Haley nodded her head, so he continued, ¡°Thatst participant from the Church of Light; he is in an almost-dead state right now because of the continuous use of the medicines provided by the Church. Although it gave him a great boost in strength, the negative side effects are now in front of everyone¡¯s eyes.¡±


    The moment he ended his sentence, a few members¡¯ faces turned ashen.


    Adding this note was simply yelling that they were making enemies with the Church of Light!


    Even if before they could have thought about this, now that they knew they had a Rank-10 ancestor, it would only be suicidal of them if they followed along!


    And they didn¡¯t even know what they would get out of spreading these words either.


    Even Haley stuttered, ¡°B-but... young master, why-¡±


    Before she could ask her question, Ozul interrupted her, ¡°The Church will not take any actions against the organization, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    His words caused most of them to sigh a relief. They would previously hold doubts, but after so many unexpected events, they had no choice but to put their trust in him.


    Just when they had thought that they would be dismissed now, Ozul spoke, ¡°Also, the Emperor of the Silverbird Kingdom, Luthien is dead. If people ask why I killed him even after proiming that we are a neutral faction, tell them that Silverbird Kingdom¡¯s Emperor ambushed me when I was only passing. He wouldn¡¯t listen to any reason, so I had no other choice.¡±


    These words, although half untrue, caused everyone¡¯s face to turn nk which was followed by visible astonishment.


    ¡®What?! You killed the Emperor of Silverbird Kingdom after only disappearing for a single day!?¡¯


    Such were the thoughts running through all of their heads as they gulped a mouthful of saliva. Even Haley and Oliver only now understood why Ozul wanted to know more about the formations of the Silverbird Kingdom¡¯s Royal Pce.


    While everyone was worrying over how this would negatively affect the organization in the future, Oliver was tittering to himself in the corner of the room.


    ¡®Heh... Who would have thought the kid I met that day would one day be so strong,¡¯ Oliver mused to himself.


    Others ignored his weird behavior and before Haley could point out her worries, Ozul left the room without going deep into exnations.


    After he went out, Haley sighed heavily and felt a whole different kind of headacheing not so far in the future.


    Irvin noticed how everyone was worrying over Ozul¡¯s words.


    ¡°What are all of you doing? Get back to work. Do you think young master, who so casually killed Emperor Luthien, would have no reason to do so?¡± Irvin used a strict tone which caused all of them to straighten their slumped backs and start working.


    After that, Irvin neared his wife and held her hand, ¡°Why are you worrying so much when even young master isn¡¯t? He has his reasons for doing things that he does. Even then, has he ever made a stupid decision?¡±


    Haley shook his head, but she wasn¡¯t worried about that. It was just that she didn¡¯t know how things would turn out from here on out, and not having aplete grasp over their situation bothered her to no end.


    ¡°Everything will be fine. And didn¡¯t you notice that young master has gotten one of his arms back?¡±


    Irvin hugged Haley and diverted her attention from the worries of the chaotic future.


    ¡®Hm... young master¡¯s other arm is probably in the hands of the Church of Light,¡¯ Irvin contemted with Haley still in his embrace as both of them enjoyed this short moment of peace, momentarily forgetting that they were not alone in the room.

 Chapter 255

    Chapter 255: Improvements.


    Ozul made his way towards his bedroom. Too many things had happened over the course of only a few days. He needed some time alone for his thoughts.


    Not to mention, he had yet to test out his improvements after he had obtained his left arm.


    ¡°Only one remains...¡± he muttered as he looked at his lifeless prosthetic arm.


    He was somewhere around 35 years old, as far as he could recall, but after he had turned 20, there were no visible signs of him aging whatsoever.


    Although it was something simr to the Mages who had their aging slowed down the higher their rank was, Ozul understood that his condition was different.


    He didn¡¯t have Mana, and he knew for a fact that the darkness his body absorbed didn¡¯t do anything except for keeping him alive without the need of consuming food. But he wasn¡¯t sure about the Ball of Purity.


    As far as he had tried to sense, the Ball of Purity only moved when he wanted to. So now his body had be yet another mystery because he couldn¡¯t find any reason for it to have stopped aging.


    .....


    ¡®I am probably made from something different than humans,¡¯ that was the only logical conclusion Ozul could draw before he sighed and went toy on the bed.


    For some reason though, he couldn¡¯t muster up any feeling of joy after he had found out about his prolonged life.


    Jinx also appeared in the room and jumped on the bed toy beside him.


    Ozul didn¡¯t sleep, he was instead thinking about his decision to openly go against the Church of Light now.


    All this time, he had only been going with the flow and tried to get his limbs back only when he found the chance to. However, it had already been so much time, so he had decided to take a bolder step now.


    Spreading rumors of how consuming the medicine from the Church was the reason for their participant to end up in that fatal state would definitely have a huge hit on their reputation.


    Along with that, people would start to hesitate when buying and using those healing potions made from his essence.


    All of this only so he could somehow get back at the Church. This move of his wouldn¡¯t make it any easier for him to get his arm back, but at least it would put more pressure on Archbishop Lammert.


    As of now, he couldn¡¯t try to get it back since the Church¡¯s ancestor was also out of seclusion.


    She wouldn¡¯t just hand him his arm if he asked nicely either.


    And about how he knew that the Church wouldn¡¯t take any action against him openly? It was because he had sensed how all the ancestors were cautious of the old man and then how that olddy from the Church seemed to have been frustrated that Old Gu talked with him as if they were friends.


    Looking at the situation, he was certain that although those ancestors knew the old man¡¯s identity, they weren¡¯t friends. Instead, the four ancestors seemingly feared him.


    At least for now, he was sure that the Church wouldn¡¯t make any move against him.


    As for how he would obtain his arm from them, he would have to first test his new limits and learn about theplete situation from Alver or Raymond.


    Ozul shook his head to clear away such thoughts and closed his eyes to sleep. At this time, he only focused on savoring this serene sense of fulfillment.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Ozul slept until it was already the next morning.


    Before he woke up, the Three-Eyed Strangers had already started spreading the information that he had told them to.


    Just a day had passed and the people on the streets only talked about the information released by the Three-Eyed Strangers. Most of them gossiped about the voice they had heard, but a small bunch was still more interested in the fact that using the medicine provided by the Church had reduced their own member into an almost dead state.


    Many had doubted all these rumors going around on the streets, so they went to the organization to buy the information directly for them to confirm if it was really all true.


    Word started to spread, and it was toote until Lammert got the wind of it. By then, the perfect reputation and the blind trust of the masses had already wavered.


    Ozul was satisfied with the report that Irvin had given him, so he nodded in appreciation.


    ¡°Young master, should we make preparations to relocate the headquarters as well?¡± Irvin asked when Ozul was about to leave the room.


    ¡°It¡¯s best to gather all the basic things, but you don¡¯t have to hurry the preparations. We have five years, and let me have a talk with Alver and Raymond first,¡± Ozul answered and before leaving the room, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone bother me. It doesn¡¯t matter what it is.¡±


    Irvin respectfully bowed his head, indicating that he understood.


    He didn¡¯t directly go to meet Alver and Raymond since they would be busy with their own things, and he wanted to list down all of his improvements without anyone disturbing him.


    As he entered his room, he noticed that Jinx was already in the room. He sat beside her and closed his eyes.


    This time not for sleeping, but he was trying to sense if there were any changes inside of him.


    He noticed no noticeable changes except for the improvement in his physical strength. At this point, he felt like he could very well pick up giant boulders without breaking a sweat.


    Getting his arm back had also enhanced his senses for some reason. The most apparent change was in his sense of feeling the emotions of others.


    It had gotten harder to ignore other¡¯s emotions now because the radius in which he felt others¡¯ emotions had increased considerably.


    Although it would be useful in critical situations, it was annoying all the other times. More so when he was in a public ce or surrounded by a crowd. An example was when he had attended the tournament yesterday.


    He knew that if he had stayed there for a few minutes, he would probably get a headache.


    ¡®I will have to learn to control this...¡¯ Ozul started to make a list in his head for the things that he had to practiceter.


    Ozul could not help but think about how his eyesight had improved in an unusual way. And he had realized it when he had returned to the headquarters yesterday.


    Though he knew where the building was erected, he previously would have a hard time sensing it if the invisible formation was activated.


    But what had surprised him yesterday was how he was able to notice a thin outline of the entire structure together with the space in the middle being strangely distorted!


    It was unexpected that his eyes would be capable of seeing things that he wasn¡¯t even able to sense previously.


    Next, he wanted to test the Ball of Purity. It was his only way of attacking and defending, so whether he could defeat a Rank-10 Mage or not solely depended on its improvement.


    The headquarters was not a ce where he could test anything of such sorts, so he went out and arrived in a barren ce. He made sure that there was no one around before he started to release the Ball of Purity.


    After he had released all of the Ball of Purity, Ozul nodded to himself in satisfaction with a half-smiling face.


    The reason being the quantity of the Ball of Purity had significantly increased. Before when he created those giant spinning spikes for attacking, the insides of it would be empty every time, so the actual force behind those spikes was not as deadly as it looked.


    However, with the amount he had right now, he could very well create tens of those giant spikes without having to leave them hollow!


    Ozul couldn¡¯t imagine just how destructive they would be considering that the previous ones were enough to deal with even the best spells of the Rank-9 Mages!


    After that, Ozul began to test his control over thatrge chunk of the Ball of Purity. Sadly, it wasn¡¯t as good as he had thought it would be.


    Althoughpared to before, his control over it was tens of times better, it was nowhere near enough to effectively make use of the increased quantity of the Ball of Purity.


    ¡®This also requires training... sigh...¡¯ Ozul sighed as it was one of the most boring tasks on his list.


    ¡®Overall, dealing with tens of those half-step Rank-10 Mages wouldn¡¯t be a problem now. However, I am not at the level to defeat those proper Rank-10 ancestors...¡¯ Ozul concluded with a sigh.


    Those four ancestors were probably in the Middle or the End stage of the Rank-10, and he was only strong enough to hold his ground against any one of them for a few hours.


    After practicing and getting used to his improved body, he would be able to extend those few hours to maybe even a day.


    Ozul then separated a small part from the Ball of Purity and shot it in a random direction.


    5 meters...10 meters... 12 meters... 15 meters... 20 meters... 25 meters!


    He only started to lose control over that part of the Ball of Purity when it crossed 25 meters from him!


    Again in a ce with no one to witness, a mirthful smile appeared on Ozul¡¯s face as he anticipated the day he would beplete again...

 Chapter 256

    Chapter 256: Outsider?


    Ozul went back to the headquarters while various thoughts ran through his mind.


    ¡®With enough practice, I wouldn¡¯t need to worry about a Rank-10 Mage...¡¯ Ozul was confident in that aspect. However, defeating one such Mage would be a different matter altogether.


    ¡°Oh! I almost forgot about that...¡± he suddenly paused when he remembered something. Stopping on the seventh floor, he looked for Irvin, who he found was running here and there doing things that Haley asked him to do.


    ¡°Follow me to a room,¡± Ozul said, making Irvin almost jump in surprise as he hadn¡¯t noticed him standing him all this time.


    He quickly nodded his head and followed behind Ozul, who led them to Haley¡¯s office.


    Haley quickly got up, noticing Irvin and Ozul entering her office. She was about to ask if there was any problem when Ozul put his hand inside his Spatial pouch and brought out three fancy-looking rings.


    Dropping the rings on the table, Ozul took a seat. Haley curiously asked, ¡°What are these, young master?¡±


    .....


    ¡°They are the Spatial Rings of Luthien,¡± Ozul answered ever so casually, but the shock on expressions on Haley and Irvin¡¯s faces weren¡¯t so rxed.


    Haley picked up one of the rings and put it on. She sent a wisp of her Mana inside the ring and closed her eyes.


    A moment when she opened her eyes again, shock and excitement were visible on her, ¡°Young master! This...¡±


    ¡°Whatever there is inside these three rings, count them and make a list. After you have done that, inform me,¡± Ozul already expected many valuable things inside the Spatial Rings, so he could understand Haley¡¯s shock.


    However, he couldn¡¯t use the Spatial Ring, so he could only entrust Irvin and Haley to make a list of its contents. He would keep anything of interest, and the rest would be used for the organization.


    ¡°Absolutely, young master!¡± Haley said in a little loud voice. The more the organization had in their treasury, the less burden would drop on her, so she was more than happy to get those piles of treasures she had seen inside the ring.


    Not to mention, it was only a single ring, and there were still two more on the table!


    By now, she could already guess that her young master wouldn¡¯t use these treasures as well and just give them to the organization.


    Unknown to her, Ozul didn¡¯t have any other choice. Besides using these things for his organization¡¯s growth, he could only sell them to earn money.


    All of these ¡®treasures¡¯ were useless for him because they were all connected to Mana in one way or another.


    ¡®I really have to ask Raymond to find me a method for me to use artifacts without Mana...¡¯ Ozul thought to himself before leaving the room.


    With nothing else to do now, he decided that it was time to meet Raymond or Alver to learn more about Old Gu.


    Since Alver had called their ancestor ¡®grandfather¡¯, it meant that he was also Ozul¡¯s great grandfather. But even then, he did not want to associate himself with them.


    It was better if he could just hear things from Alver or Raymond.


    The chances of stumbling upon that ancestor with the weird name ¡®Kure¡¯ were higher in the Ashin family¡¯s estate, so Ozul decided to visit the Order of Dusk¡¯s headquarters, hoping that Raymond was there.


    . . .


    Sometimeter, he reached the headquarters but was left disappointed because the secretary told him that Raymond was in the estates and was busy there. And she was also unsure when he would return here.


    Ozul sighed since now he didn¡¯t have any other choice. He was sure that if Kure was anywhere near that estate, he would surely sense his presence.


    ¡®Well, whatever. It doesn¡¯t matter anyway...¡¯ Ozul steeled his heart before moving in the direction of the Ashin¡¯s estate.


    He wasn¡¯t afraid of Kure, but he guessed that his encounter with that old ancestor might create unnecessary tension between them. That old man being a Rank-10, would definitely have a high ego and wouldn¡¯t like anyone not agreeing to everything they said.


    And Ozul almost never agreed with others¡¯ thoughts, much less of a Rank-10 Mage.


    Before he could evenplete his thoughts, he was already flying above the estate. It wasn¡¯t surprising that he was also able to sense the presence of people inside that shield made up of Mana now.


    And unfortunately for him, his worries proved to be true. Along with Raymond and Alver, Kure, the ancestor of the Ashin family, was also there.


    He entered the dome of Mana that made an opening for him andnded on the ground.


    What confused him was how he didn¡¯t sense the presence of those three inside some secluded area of the manor. Instead, all three of them were in the garden on the side of the manor!


    It wouldn¡¯t have been surprising if it was only Alver and Raymond there, but Ozul didn¡¯t understand why that ancestor would also be there.


    Were they doing something that couldn¡¯t be done indoors? Ozul made his way towards the garden to find out.


    Unexpectedly, Kure was also having tea together with Alver and Raymond at the same table!


    Ozul stopped at his spot and thought about what was going on. When he had entered the estate, it had certainly alerted them as well. So now, all of them turned towards him, with Alver and Raymond suddenly standing up to approach him.


    ¡°Nephew! You are finally here!¡± Raymond spoke with a joyous tone.


    Ozul noticed something strange in his tone and emotions. When he looked up, he noticed that both Alver and Raymond had stiff expressions on their faces.


    Raymond motioned towards Kure with his eyes discreetly. He was trying to tell Ozul something, but it was obviously not going so well.


    Ozul tilted his head to the side and was just about to voice his question when Kure also stood up from his chair.


    ¡°These two dolts told me that you are my great-grandson? Hm! Good! Good! Not bad at all!¡± Kureughed proudly as he examined Ozul¡¯s body.


    ¡°Haha!... That old witch would be dying of envy if she knew that I have such a genius descendant!...¡± Kureughed loudly before muttering to himself.


    While Kure indulged in his fantasies, Ozul stared at Alver and Raymond, his eyes asking them about what was going on. However, those two only smiled helplessly before offering Ozul a seat around the table.


    After Kure returned to the real world, he also took a seat right next to Ozul and kept looking at him with his eyes sparkling as if he was looking at some treasure right now. Ozul particrly didn¡¯t like the feeling of being looked at like some useful tool.


    Noticing his annoyed face, Raymond knew that he had to do something about it before something went wrong.


    ¡°H-haha! Nephew, howe you are here?¡± Raymond asked with a forced smile, his eyes pleading to him not to say anything that could worsen the situation.


    Ozul didn¡¯t answer instantly. He first looked at the two brothers and noticed that they weren¡¯t afraid of Kure. Instead, they also seemed to be worrying about his interaction with the ancestor.


    He took a deep breath before replying calmly, ¡°I wanted to know about that old man. Who is he?¡±


    Although he asked while facing Alver and Raymond, the question was mostly directed at Kure who he didn¡¯t even bother to say hello to.


    ¡°Oh! You still haven¡¯t been informed about that person yet,¡± it was Kure who replied even before Alver or Raymond could.


    ¡°So, who is he? And how do you know him?¡± Ozul spoke. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. This ¡®great-grandfather¡¯ of his was another one of those strange annoying ones.


    ¡°Hmmm? Do you want to know?¡± Suddenly, Kure¡¯s attitude changed, and a serious expression took ce on his face.


    The air around the whole estate got heavier, and sparks began to form and dissipate asionally in the garden!


    Ozul squinted his eyes, but he didn¡¯t ready his Ball of Purity. Judging from Kure¡¯s emotions, he didn¡¯t show any negative emotions towards him, so there was no need for him to get ready for a battle.


    Although Kure was surprised by how calm Ozul was in this situation, he kept the intimidating atmosphere going and spoke in a heavier tone, ¡°Show me some respect, and I might just tell you, brat.¡±


    There was no reaction from Ozul as he continued to stare at Kure with a deadpan face.


    On their side, Alver and Raymond started to sweat as they thought that if Ozul didn¡¯t show any respect to the ancestor, he might have to face his wrath.


    Both of them were about to intervene and try to persuade Kure on Ozul¡¯s behalf when the dark atmosphere disappeared under the blink of an eye!


    ¡°Haha! As expected of my descendant! Good!¡± Kure againughed with delight. If Ozul had actually been intimidated by his aura and started kowtowing, he would have been quite disappointed.


    ¡°These two ipetent grandsons of mine told me about everything that happened with you,¡± Kure said with a serious face after a while.


    When he noticed that Ozul didn¡¯t have any intentions to say anything, he continued, ¡°Although I can respect your decision of not joining the family, I will still ask you to. After all, I wouldn¡¯t disclose any important information to an outsider.¡±


    His tone was solemn as he emphasized the word ¡®outsider¡¯. Tension again rose in the air as Kure seemed to be serious about forcing him to join.


    ¡®Hm? That was unexpected...¡¯ Ozul thought as he stood up, about to leave the estate...

 Chapter 257

    Chapter 257: Death and cruelty.


    There were other methods that he could learn about this as well. Ozul would rather not join the family just because of this.


    As he was about to stand up, the old man Kure suddenly held him down with a smiling face.


    ¡°Haha! I was messing with you, kid. Even if you don¡¯t join under the family name, you still have the blood of the Ashins running through your veins. But I am curious about your reason for refusing to join?¡± Kure asked with a half-smiling face.


    For anyone else, his attitude would have proved to be quite entric and not readable at all. At one instant, he was smiling joyously, while he would suddenly be serious the other moment.


    Ozul would have had a hard time as well if not for his ability to sense emotions. Because right now, Kure didn¡¯t seem to be angry or frustrated.


    There was only a slight disappointment, and the delight after testing him still hadn¡¯t vanished in Kure. It seemed like he himself wasn¡¯t sure about how to deal with Ozul, so he was mixing everything up.


    ¡®His behavior ispletely out of context for a Rank-10 Mage,¡¯ Ozul deduced from Kure¡¯s attitude and his way of handling things. In the end, he could only think that it was because of what Old Gu had said to the four ancestors yesterday.


    .....


    But still, to get affected by Old Gu¡¯s words meant that not only was Kure thoughtful, but Old Gu also held some reputation in his heart.


    ¡°I have my own things to do. The family isn¡¯t my responsibility... Also, Ashfall sounds much better for a surname,¡± Ozul replied without a change in his facial expressions. He didn¡¯t mention how he actually had no blood in his veins at all, much less that of the Ashins.


    Though hisst sentence caused the three Ashins to twitch their eyes in annoyance, it sounded as if he wasn¡¯t joining just because he didn¡¯t find the surname to his liking. It would have infuriated them if it was anyone else but him.


    ¡°Can you start telling me now?¡± Ozul asked while staring at Kure, who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.


    Alver and Raymond were still on edge because of how casual their nephew was with their grandfather. Ozul hadn¡¯t told them about the boost in his power after getting his arm back, and they couldn¡¯t have sensed ¡®the increase in his Mana¡¯ either.


    ¡°Alright, I have yet to tell these two as well,¡± Kure took a deep breath, and suddenly the garden was enveloped by electric sparks, creating a defensive dome all around it. Kure only cast this spell to prevent their conversation from getting out.


    Alver and Raymond also readied themselves to hear about who that old man was. Much less them, even Rank-8 Mages had started to guess that the old man was stronger than the four ancestors.


    However, they hadn¡¯t read of any realm past Rank-10 except for some legends about people transcending to be gods. Were those legends true, and that old man was some deity? They had such questions, but they patiently listened to the exnation first.


    ¡°I am already more than nine hundred and thirty years old, huh...¡± Kure muttered to himself before he looked straight into Ozul¡¯s eyes and spoke seriously, ¡°It has almost been 900 years since thest time I saw that old man... he looked exactly like he did back then.¡±


    Those words rang in Alver and Raymond¡¯s heads, making them understand why they didn¡¯t have any information on that old man. How could they have recognized the old man when they weren¡¯t even born nine hundred years ago!?


    Old Kure began to recall the past as he narrated, ¡°I was a peak Rank-8 Mage back then, I remember very vividly...¡±


    While Kure exined everything in minute detail, Ozul wasn¡¯t so interested in that historypared to the two brothers who looked at Kure as if they were worshipping a god.


    ¡°Me being a peak Rank-8 at that age wasn¡¯t anything special considering the uproar because of the ascension of Adens family¡¯s ancestor.¡±


    ¡°Ascension? Adens family?¡± Raymond asked in confusion. He felt as if he had heard this name before but couldn¡¯t recall where.


    ¡°It is that old witch¡¯s family...¡± Kure answered with darkened eyes.


    ¡°... The Church of Light!?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Before, it was just the Adens family, like how we are the Ashin family. Their talented ancestor had supposedly broken past Rank-10 and had be a deity. That supposed god was also the person who that scheming witch based the church on to increase her influence,¡± Kure exined, shocking the two brothers who had no idea that the Church held such a history.


    ¡°Anyway, after that event, everyone was pumped to reach that stage as well. Thepetition got fiercer, and everyone began training as their lives depended on it, and I was no different. However, I was rather talented than my peers, so it could be said that I was included in the geniuses of that era,¡± Kure stated with a proud smirk on his face.


    Just when Ozul had thought that it couldn¡¯t get any worse, the two brothers eximed their surprise like some kids who had met their idol.


    ¡°Can we get back to the topic?¡± Ozul couldn¡¯t take it. If he let them continue like this, old Kure would probably keep on boasting his past achievements, wasting his time.


    ¡°Oh! Kahum! Haha... I got carried away,¡± Old Kure coughed before he continued,


    ¡°Anyway, Hm... I think I was training in the forest when Old Gu had approached me, introducing himself with that annoying smile of his...¡±


    Kure told them about his first encounter with Old Gu.


    It wasn¡¯t anything special because Old Gu had just told him that he was some sort of a candidate and disappeared afterward.


    ¡°The next time I saw him was when I had suddenly found myself in a giant tournament of... death and cruelty,¡± Kure¡¯s voice turned solemn as he recalled the past.


    Many like him were summoned inside that forest where Old Gu exined to them about their situation.


    Out of more than a hundred ¡®candidates¡¯ like him, twenty was the limit of people who would get out of that forest alive.


    Not only that, but Old Gu also informed them that unless anyone of those twenty survivors brought the hearts of at least ten more candidates that they defeated by themselves, they wouldn¡¯t proceed to the ¡®next stage¡¯, and it would all be for nothing!


    From the tone of his voice and how Kure had clenched his fists in anger, Ozul could guess that he probably couldn¡¯t proceed to this next stage and only managed to survive in those twenty.


    ¡°Only two monsters were able to proceed to the next stage while as the old man had said, only a total of twenty were left alive out of those more than a hundred candidates after a month of grueling experience,¡± Kure took another deep breath as he could never forget that one month of his life.


    For a moment, no one said a thing as they thought about how unnerving that experience might have been.


    Kure then lifted his head back up and said, ¡°The current only four Rank-10 Mages of the continent were all the previous candidates. The rest either died fighting each otherter when we had be Rank-9 or perished in the hands of time.¡±


    ¡®No wonder all of the four ancestors were so reserved in the old man¡¯s presence,¡¯ Ozul thought silently.


    ¡°What about those two who had passed the test?¡± Ozul asked after another round of silence.


    Kure turned towards him and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know. In fact, no one knows except for that old man. We never got to see those two ever again after that.¡±


    Ozul began to think of a few possibilities, but he couldn¡¯t draw any cogent conclusion based on just this much information alone.


    ¡°What about that old man? Is he really some sort of a deity?¡± Raymond asked doubtfully. He couldn¡¯t believe that a person with that sort of character was some god.


    ¡°Only that old man can answer this question. Except for the fact that he had done this previously as well, we don¡¯t know anything about that old man. What I can tell you is that even after being a Rank-10 Mage, the thought of attacking that old man still gave me goosebumps,¡± Kure answered with creased eyebrows.


    Ozul didn¡¯t add anything because he also agreed with Kure. Whenever he thought of attacking Old Gu, a gut feeling told him that he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance.


    ¡°Is he even from this world?¡± Ozul muttered unconsciously, which caused Raymond and Alver to look at him weirdly.


    ¡°Haha... how could that be, ne-¡± Raymond was cut off by Kure,


    ¡°No... it is quite possible actually. I have almost roamed this whole continent many times already, and I can confidently say that there isn¡¯t some cult of extremely skilled experts hidden anywhere.¡±


    A thoughtful expression appeared on Ozul while the two brothers were shocked to hear about such an absurd possibility.


    ¡°Whatever it is, the old man is strong beyond imagination, that I am sure of. And only those who passed his test can tell us more about him... if we can ever meet them, that is,¡± Kure stated while shaking his head.


    Even while standing at the peak of this world in terms of strength, he was still helpless about this situation involving that old man.


    Kure then suddenly turned towards Ozul, and with a glint in his eyes, he spoke, ¡°You... are you a candidate this time?...¡±

 Chapter 258

    Chapter 258: Independent.


    Kure then suddenly turned towards Ozul, and with a glint in his eyes, he spoke, ¡°You... are you also a candidate this time?¡±


    Ozul didn¡¯t try to hide it and simply nodded his head.


    There was no point in hiding something like that anyway. Quite the opposite, he also wanted the Church to know that he was a candidate.


    ¡°Haha! Indeed, how could you not?! Good! Good,¡± Kureughed in delight and asked, ¡°You will surely be the only Rank-9 there! Ah, I really want to look at that old witch¡¯s face when I tell her that you are my descendant.¡±


    Though when he said those words, he noticed Ozul¡¯s stare and only then remembered that he wasn¡¯t in the family. So he couldn¡¯t boast in front of anyone that he was the descendant of the Ashin family.


    His body drooped like a deted balloon as he tried asking him once more, ¡°You sure don¡¯t want to-¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t,¡± Ozul didn¡¯t need to think twice about it.


    .....


    ¡°Alright... at least I know it in my heart that you have the Ashen family¡¯s blood running through your veins,¡± Kure relented with a sigh.


    Ozul didn¡¯t bother to correct Kure that he didn¡¯t have their blood either. He could guess that this old ancestor would start to bother him to join again.


    ¡°I wonder who the other candidates would be this time. And will theypete in the same thing?¡± Alver muttered to himself while feeling apprehensive of Old Gu¡¯s methods.


    Ozul also had the same thought, but he could be sure of one thing; Raven and ze were also chosen.


    He remembered that Old Gu had given him the ¡®advice¡¯ of training these two under him to the fullest of their ability, or things would get difficultter on. After listening to what had happened previously, Ozul was sure that Old Gu had chosen those two as the candidates as well.


    ¡°It all depends on that old man¡¯s mood, to be honest,¡± Kure replied after a little while.


    Ozul, Alver, and Raymond turned to him with questioning faces.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. That old man is really an oddball. He had answered some of our questions after the tournament. But he only answered the most trivial questions,¡± Kure said, making Ozul nod his head in agreement.


    Alver and Raymond realized the severity of Old Gu¡¯s entric behavior, looking at how even their nephew and grandfather, a Rank-10 Mage, agreed on it.


    Kure then went on to exin, ¡°He had told us that he could even select someone random on the road and let them proceed to the next stage without having them go through any test. He only does it for his own enjoyment, that sick bastard...¡±


    Being a Rank-10 Mage, Kure had seen his fair share of blood and killed hundreds if not thousands. However, he never made anyone fight to the death for survival, only for some entertainment.


    Unlike him, Ozul didn¡¯t care about it. Old Gu had the strength to make people do what he wanted, and that is all it mattered.


    Cursing Old Gu wouldn¡¯t get them anywhere. If these people had such strength, he was sure that they would probablymit more atrocities than that.


    ¡°What about you, nephew? Didn¡¯t that old mane with you? How did you meet him?¡± Raymond asked as Alver had told him about how both of them had appeared together in the tournament.


    Ozul didn¡¯t hide anything and told them about Luthien, his father, and the fight between them. He then told them how Old Gu had saved his life at the crucial moment.


    Hearing his words made even Kure appear surprised and suspicious at the same time. He couldn¡¯t believe that this great-grandson of his was even able to kill a half-step Rank-10 Mage.


    Even with help, it shouldn¡¯t be possible for a Rank-9 Mage!


    If only he knew that Ozul was already close to reaching on par with him, Kure would have been coughing up blood.


    ¡°That old man saved his life? Heh...¡± Kure muttered to himself with a mocking smile. He would never believe that ¡®demon¡¯ would ever pity someone enough to save their life.


    After all, he had seen it with his own eyes when tens of the previous candidates had begged him to get them out of there, and his only response was a cold re that spoke volumes of how he didn¡¯t give a shit whether they died or lived.


    After they discussed a couple of other things and Kure again trying to hint at Ozul that he should join the family, a silence reigned in the garden.


    ¡°Ha... there is onest thing I have yet to mention,¡± Kure said in a low volume just when Ozul was about to stand up and take his leave.


    Raymond and Alver also perked up their ears when they noticed their grandfather¡¯s soft tone.


    ¡°Even a Rank-10 Mage, like myself, has a limited life span. At most, I can only live around 70 more years,¡± Kure dropped the bomb on the two brothers, who stood up in shock.


    They didn¡¯t know that their grandfather only had this much time left in this world.


    ¡°Haha... Don¡¯t be so worried, brats. The other three are of the same generation as me,¡± Kure referred to the other three Rank-10 Mages and continued, ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be long that this generation of the Rank-10 Mages wouldpletely disappear. The next generation will have to take our ce, but it will take decades if not centuries.¡±


    Ozul didn¡¯t know if he should leave now or wait for Kure to finish his speech. After a few moments of contemtion, he decided to stay since he remembered to ask another thing that had been bothering him for years.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you can break through to the next Rank?¡± Alver asked worriedly.


    The absence of all the Rank-10 Mages would create a power vacuum!


    Not to mention how the tension will rise if the other factions knew that no Rank-10 Mages were protecting them, the biggest threat would be the Magical Beasts.


    The ordinary people had always wondered why the stronger Magical Beasts never attacked any human settlement. They didn¡¯t know the reason behind it was the presence of the Rank-10 Mages.


    If these ancestors suddenly disappeared, they might be able to hide this fact from the humans, but those Rank-9 Magical Beasts had keen senses. They wouldn¡¯t miss such a significant change.


    ¡°It is easier said than done. Sigh... Even when I have been in seclusion for so many decades, the next realm is nowhere in sight,¡± Kure sighed while shaking his head.


    ¡°But don¡¯t worry about it now. With how mysterious the next realm appears to be, I am confident those other old bones won¡¯t get anywhere either. Also, I still have around 70 years,¡± Kure hit the back of Alver, who was looking down at the ground, contemting about their future.


    Raymond didn¡¯tment, and nor did Ozul say anything for a while.


    Only when he felt the atmosphere had turned back to normal did Ozul speak, ¡°You should be fairly knowledgeable, yes?¡±


    Kure raised his eyebrows and answered confidently, ¡°Of course. I haven¡¯t lived for so many centuries for nothing, kid.¡±


    Ozul then began to ask him if he had heard of anyone using some other energy instead of Mana. Kure onlyughed at this question as he didn¡¯t think there was any energy other than Mana in this world.


    Ozul already expected it as such and then asked if there was any method to use artifacts without Mana.


    ¡°Using artifacts without Mana?¡± Kure made a thoughtful face and spoke after a few moments, ¡°I do remember a renowned physician searching for a method to be able to use artifacts without using our own Mana.¡±


    A little bud of hope rose in Ozul, but his excitement was short-lived when Kure said, ¡°There were no positive results during his research though. He wanted his wife to be able to protect herself in his absence using artifacts, but she was only an ordinary person and didn¡¯t have Mana.¡±


    It turned out that even a few centuries back, someone had tried finding a method to use artifacts without Mana.


    The idea was to store Mana in an object and use a way to supply that Mana to the artifact, which should have logically solved the problem.


    However, it didn¡¯t happen for some reason, and that renowned physician couldn¡¯t achieve any results at all.


    ¡°Why do you wish to use artifacts without Mana, though?¡± Kure asked curiously. He didn¡¯t think for a second that the reason for him not being able to sense any Mana from Ozul was because thetter didn¡¯t have any in the first ce.


    ¡°I have my reasons,¡± Ozul guessed that it wouldn¡¯t matter even if Kure knew about his peculiar condition given that thetter hadn¡¯t encountered anything like that in 900 years of his life.


    Kure didn¡¯t probe any further either and looked on as Ozul stood up to leave.


    He had learned everything he could here. Further chit chat would only be a waste of his time now that he had so many things to do.


    After he left the estate, Alver turned to Kure, ¡°Grandfather, are you sure you don¡¯t want him to join...?¡±


    Raymond was surprised by Alver¡¯s words and was about to say something when Kure spoke first, ¡°What can I do? Force him to be a member of the family? Even if I did, would he truly be a part of the family? . . . At least he has the guts to be independent.¡±

 Chapter 259

    Chapter 259: Old Parchment.


    A little disappointed, Ozul made his way back to the headquarters of the Three-Eyed Strangers.


    Kure was more than 900 years old and should know more than he would ever be able to read in the books. Artifacts were useful even considering his strength that was on par with Rank-10 Mages.


    However, he could only give up on that idea now.


    He could try to learn about the workings of the artifacts more in-depth, but he didn¡¯t have time for that now.


    Ozul knew that Kure hadn¡¯t lied about anything during that whole conversation, and that was a little concerning considering the methods used by Old Gu.


    Now he felt that his advice on training those two under him was probably because of this. Although they were strong as they were now, Ozul wanted them to be more than ready for any kind of situation.


    ¡°Though that was unexpected,¡± Ozul muttered on his way back as he thought how Kure¡¯s attitude was overly friendly for an ancestor who had lived more than nine hundred years and was among the strongest on the entire continent.


    .....


    Nheless, it could be exined because Kure was reaching almost the end of his lifespan. He had felt how sincere that old man had been in persuading him to join the family. Ozul didn¡¯t have to guess that Kure wanted the family to be safe after he died, hence his positive behavior.


    Ozul then shrugged mentally and went inside the headquarters, making his way directly to the seventh floor as he ignored the usual fearful looks he received from those on the lower floors.


    He didn¡¯t find Irvin and Haley anywhere and then remembered the task he had given them before leaving.


    It was already night, but those two were holed up in Haley¡¯s office since the time he had left!


    There were only those two in the room when he entered, and the inside of the office waspletely different from when he had left.


    The whole ce was littered with random books, weird-looking stones or crystals, and all other kinds of strange objects. It wasn¡¯t surprising when he noticed a long list in Haley¡¯s hands and Irvin standing there motionlessly with his eyes closed and a Spatial ring in his hand.


    For a moment, the husband and wife didn¡¯t even notice his presence. Only when Haley looked up to call Irvin did she saw Ozul standing there at a distance.


    ¡°Young master!¡± she stood up while eximing in surprise. Irvin also pulled his consciousness out of the Spatial Ring, and they simultaneously bowed their heads.


    ¡°The list isn¡¯t done yet?¡± Ozul asked the obvious.


    ¡°There were a lot more things than we expected, young master,¡± Haley apologized, but the smile never left her face. Although it was a headache to sort out everything from the Spatial Rings, all of these herbs and books would be used for the organization, so she was more than happy to spend her whole day on it.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I will be in my room, give me the list as soon as you finish,¡± Ozul waved his hand and was about to leave the room but stopped in the middle of the doorway.


    He remembered the task he had given Haley before going to the Silverbird Kingdom.


    Turning towards her, he asked, ¡°How is that elite grouping along?¡±


    Haley didn¡¯t understand what he meant for a few seconds before she remembered that he had told her to start training an exclusive and elite group of people and also given her free use of whatever resources the organization had.


    ¡°That... uh,¡± Haley didn¡¯t know what to say since she hadn¡¯t done anything about that yet.


    Ozul could guess what she was thinking, but he didn¡¯t n to lecture her about this. It hadn¡¯t been many days since he told her anyway.


    ¡°Don¡¯t dy it any further than this. I need aplete report on this under a week,¡± Ozul ordered before leaving the room. Haley sighed in relief that it didn¡¯t anger him, but she quickly went back to finish that list.


    When Ozul got to the 8th floor, he noticed both Raven and ze were in their respective rooms, cultivating without any rest.


    He would also have to start their training, but it was already night, so he decided to take a nap before Haley and Irvin finishedpiling the list.


    Although he had guessed that there would be many riches in Luthien¡¯s Spatial Ring, he hadn¡¯t expected there would be so much that it required hours for Haley and Irvin to write them downpletely.


    Until then, a long nap was just what he needed.


    . . .


    In the middle of the night, he heard the knock on his door and immediately woke up. He knew who was there.


    Irvin and Haley were done listing out everything in the Spatial Rings.


    It turned out that one of the Spatial Rings only contained Luthien¡¯s spare clothes and simr things.


    When Ozul learned about this, he wasn¡¯t disappointed like Irvin and Haley. Instead, he was surprised that it took them so much time even when there were only two Spatial Rings!


    ¡®Just how much did that guy stored in his Spatial Rings?¡¯ Ozul could not help but notice that Haley and Irvin were in a hurry to show him the listpiled for all the contents.


    He let them inside his room and sat beside Jinx, who was curled into sleep. Haley and Irvin didn¡¯t dare to take a seat as they watched him read the list.


    More than a million Purple Coins... some bottles filled with Blood of unknown Magical Beasts... The Emperor¡¯s sword... fifty patches of the sun grass... tens of Rank-8 Magical Cores...etc.


    Ozul kept reading the long list, but nothing written on it was of any use to him. There were some rare resources that weren¡¯t sold in any market as well. However, all of it was useless to him.


    Although he didn¡¯t like the fact that such a long list didn¡¯t have a single thing of use to him, he had already expected it, so it didn¡¯t bother him as much.


    Just when he had skimmed through the list and was about to give it back to Irvin, Ozul noticed something odd.


    ...old parchment...


    ¡°Old parchment? For what?¡± Ozul muttered to himself, but Haley quickly looked inside the now organized Spatial Ring and took out the old parchment covered in dirt before handing it over to him.


    The scrolled parchment was tattered and looked decades old. There were a few drawings etched on the outside, but they weren¡¯t clear enough now. Most of the pictures had already faded, and the rest only had a vague outline visible from up close.


    As Ozul examined the old sheepskin, Haley spoke, ¡°We haven¡¯t confirmed its contents, but I didn¡¯t want to open it myself since I think it could be quite important. Not only does it look decades old, but it was also ced at a corner, away from the other mess inside the Spatial Ring.¡±


    Ozul nodded his head and proceeded on to open the parchment. There was a ribbon tied around it. Although the ribbon had a light brown color, it seemed that it was once red, but the passage of time had made it lose the bright red glow that it once held.


    When he tried to remove the ribbon, he was surprised to find that the ribbon didn¡¯t budge!


    ¡®Oh?¡¯ Ozul was amused as he used a drop of the Ball of Purity and cut the ribbon in two halves. As he expected, there was little resistance before the ribbon was ripped apart and the parchment rolled open.


    Although Haley wanted to stop him from opening it with such a crude method, she sighed in relief when she noticed that the sheepskin was undamaged.


    She didn¡¯t know what the parchment contained, but a Rank-9 Mage had it in his Spatial ring, so it was definitely something important.


    ¡®Ruins...?¡¯ Ozul read the only word readable on the parchment. There were some letters before it, but they were too blurred and smudged for him to read.


    Fortunately, the drawing below the text wasn¡¯t as damaged as the rest of the parchment. He realized that it was a map that would lead to some old ruins he couldn¡¯t read the name of.


    The instructions were vague. Although the map wasn¡¯t detailed, Ozul realized that these ruins were located in that 1/4th part of the continent that didn¡¯t have any human settlements because of its unsuitable living conditions.


    ¡®Now this is interesting...¡¯ Ozul thought since he was also nning to explore that part of the continent for a while now.


    In fact, one of the tasks he wanted to give to that elite team of the Three-Eyed Strangers was to explore that part!


    However, if there were some old ruins there, it also meant that people used to live there before.


    For some reason, he felt that he should personally visit these ruins. It had piqued his interest for various reasons.


    He looked at Haley and Irvin staring at him in curiosity, but he didn¡¯t entertain them and just put the parchment inside his Spatial Pouch before he stood up and handed over the list back to Haley.


    ¡°Half of these resources would go in training the future elite team. You can use the rest however you want,¡± Ozul said to Haley, who epted the order with a calm face, but she was actually dazed.


    She didn¡¯t think that Ozul would put so much importance into this elite team.


    Half of these resources were more than what a small kingdom would have in its treasury. And Ozul had so casually granted all of it to a team that wasn¡¯t even created yet!

 Chapter 260

    Chapter 260: Above Rank-10?


    Although Haley didn¡¯t ask this time, Irvin spoke up, ¡°But young master... what will this elite team even do to require so many resources?¡±


    His question was purely out of curiosity as he wasn¡¯t able to hold himself back any longer.


    ¡°They will be exploring everything on this continent, so I want them to be as strong as they could get,¡± Ozul answered which surprised the husband and wife who never in their wildest dreams thought that an elite team was created for exploration even when they were an organization based on information collection.


    ¡°But what will they be exploring the continent for?¡± Irvin asked again.


    There was only a vague answer from Ozul, ¡°Whatever I ask them to explore for.¡±


    He would rather just directly inform that future elite team. He didn¡¯t have the time nor the mood to exin anything to Irvin and Haley.


    ¡°You can go now,¡± Ozul waved off Haley who bowed her head before swiftly leaving the room.


    .....


    Irvin stayed back as he noticed that Ozul had only given Haley the permission to leave and not him.


    ¡°Start the preparations for moving this headquarters now, Irvin,¡± Ozul spoke after a moment of a dreadful silence for Irvin.


    After hearing everything from Kure, anything could happen in the Neutral Lands, so he wanted to move as fast as possible now. Just that he didn¡¯t know how long it would take.


    ¡°How long will it take, Irvin?¡± Ozul asked because he remembered that it had previously taken a couple of months before finishing this headquarters.


    Irvin bowed his head a little in respect and answered, ¡°We already have all the basic resources required to move locations, young master. Now I only need to visit the Ashin family to get the artifact.¡±


    ¡°Artifact to move locations?¡± Ozul muttered with a questioning face.


    Irvin realized that he hadn¡¯t told his young master about this artifact before so he was quick to give a brief exnation, ¡°Young master, it will take us a couple of months to create this same structure with all the formations set up inside and outside in apletely new location.¡±


    He continued after a pause, ¡°That¡¯s why the most prominent factions use these artifacts to transport the already set up formations to a new location without disturbing it!¡±


    ¡®Hm? That is useful...¡¯ Ozul thought inside his mind.


    If that was the case, then it would only require them a few days before they could move the whole headquarters to apletely new location.


    And if there was really such an artifact, then he didn¡¯t need to bother about moving the headquarters.


    Instead, now he wanted the headquarters to remain in the Neutral Lands for as long as there were people here.


    Not everyone could simply migrate to some other location on a whim. Most people didn¡¯t have the resources to move ces so suddenly, so he expected that people would take a couple of years topletely move out of these Lands.


    Until then, it was best to keep the headquarters running here.


    ¡°Is the artifact costly?¡± Ozul asked as he wanted the Three-Eyed Strangers to have one for themselves for emergency situations.


    Irvin helplessly nodded his head and answered, ¡°We will need to have it made specifically for us, and that would require time since we now have enough connections and more than enough funds.¡±


    Ozul told him not to proceed with moving the headquarters and instead told him to contact the Ashin family to have their experts build one such artifact for them.


    This artifact couldn¡¯t just teleport things from one ce to another. Things were much moreplicated than that.


    In fact, they would have to physically carry the formations as a whole from this ce to where they wanted to move the headquarters. What made this artifact useful was that it preserved those formations which would have instantly broken apart otherwise.


    Creating a tower like this wouldn¡¯t take so much time as they would need to organize all the formations from the scratch.


    After giving Irvin a few more instructions, Ozul also gestured him to leave. Although he had nned just a nap previously, he wanted to sleep more now.


    Even after closing his eyes, he couldn¡¯t help but think about the ruins marked on the old parchment inside his Spatial pouch.


    He mentally told himself that he would visit it before the five years of time given by Old Gu. He had a feeling that he might find something interesting there.


    ¡®I also have to start their training,¡¯ Ozul sighed before he shook these thoughts of his mind.


    About his practice, ze and Raven¡¯s training, these ruins, and the matters of the organization; he would think about them after he had rested enough.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    While Ozul focused on having his long-awaited naps again, two people in a conspicuous white structure were having a discussion about him.


    At this time, Lammert was summarizing the reports of the Church¡¯s losses after the Three-Eyed Strangers started selling that extra piece of information on their regr offer.


    ¡°Not only does that brat have the guts to go against the Church, he even had the gall to dere that he killed Luthien in self-defense!¡± Lammert ground his teeth as a ferocious expression took ce on his face.


    Meanwhile, an old woman sat in front of Lammert with her legs crossed and closed eyes.


    While Lammert kept on shouting and kicking the air in a rage, the old woman with visible wrinkles on her face didn¡¯t move a muscle.


    However, Lammert¡¯s voice got louder the more she stayed silent. Her eyes twitched before she opened them and red at him.


    ¡°Stop yapping!¡± Darcia raised her voice, instantly causing Lammer to shut his mouth as his legs began to shake from the sheer terror that tone brought to him.


    ¡°These small tricks don¡¯t matter considering the bigger picture. He is doing things so openly because he knows that we wouldn¡¯t dare to do anything to him because of that old man... and he is right,¡± Darcia spoke without moving a muscle from her spot.


    Her deadpan face made Lammert feel as if she didn¡¯t even care about how they were helpless and couldn¡¯t make a move against that brat.


    ¡°If that old demon realizes that I went after his ¡®candidate¡¯, he wouldn¡¯t leave the matter as it is even if I am a Rank-10 Mage. I will probably suffer severe consequences. Though considering his nature, ¡®severe consequences¡¯ is an understatement. He would probably just kill me,¡± Darcia spoke as her tone darkened after each sentence.


    Though her casual eptance of the fact that Old Gu could kill her anytime he wanted, made Lammert look at her with wide eyes.


    Darcia was the only person in this world that he would be so respectful of, and now, this person was saying that she would be killed if she made a move against some newborn puppy caused Lammert to feel embarrassed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that brat. You are centuries too young to understand the disparity of power between me and that old man,¡± Darcia certainly looked annoyed.


    Though before Lammert could exin himself, she let the matter go for now and said, ¡°How is iting along?¡± She emphasized ¡®it¡¯, indicating something that only she and Lammert knew about.


    ¡°It ising along great, ancestor,¡± Lammert hurriedly answered before proceeding on, ¡°Though those ipetent fools might need a couple of years before they finish making it.¡±


    ¡°Few years? I don¡¯t have enough time. I want it under four years and that is final,¡± Darcia waved her hand and made the demand with her half-closed eyes.


    Although she couldn¡¯t hope to go near Ozul right now, it would be a different matter if no one ever found out how he had disappeared. And she nned to do just that.


    ¡°Together with that, keep an eye on that brat. If you see him leaving the Neutral Lands, inform me immediately,¡± Darcia ordered to which Lammert nodded his head like a chicken.


    If one were to observe Darcia from up close right now, they would notice how her eyes were a little redder than usual.


    ¡°Until then, I will continue to absorb that wisp of smoke,¡± Darcia stated with a ferocious smile and continued while grinning, ¡°I might not be that old man¡¯s match right now, but it will be a different matter altogether once I break past Rank-10.¡±


    To her side, Lammert also nodded his head in agreement. He knew the gist of what was happening and had seen how the ancestor¡¯s aura became oppressive the more she absorbed that ck smoke released from the severed right hand of Ozul.


    ¡°But ancestor... are you sure you will reach that old man¡¯s power after the breakthrough?¡± Lammer asked worriedly.


    He worried because like others, he also feared that the old man could be a deity that they would never hope to match.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. That old man is definitely not some god. If he were, why would he bother to stay in the mortalnds?¡± Darcia reassured him as she thought that Old Gu might just be someone above Rank-10, a realm that only a few ever reach in the entire continent, so they might be unaware of it.


    But it would probably not bepared to being a deity like how her grandfather had ascended.


    She nned to breakthrough Rank-10 and reach this secret realm with the help of Ozul¡¯s arm.


    Once that was done, she would have no problem in dealing with Old Gu and she would then have Ozul all to herself!


    This was her only chance to ascend to godhood!

 Chapter 261

    Chapter 261: Test something.


    While Darcia and Lammert nned their next moves ording to how they had interpreted the situation, others were doing the same.


    Leonhard Dynasty was the first to start withdrawing from the Neutral Lands. They slowly started to shift their business and important structures back to their part of the continent.


    It was a wake-up call for all those who weren¡¯t affiliated with the four giant factions that the situation was serious and they also had to start moving.


    If even the Leonhard Dynasty was serious in moving out from the Neutral Lands, they couldn¡¯t hope to stick around here either.


    What surprised many was how the Ashin family, the Church, and Leonhard Dynasty didn¡¯t try to stir up any trouble with each other at all. They would previously be always at each other¡¯s throats, but their docile nature now made everyone apprehensive.


    A solemn atmosphere took over the Neutral City.


    Mercenary Guild already had hundreds of requests for either helping people to relocate or protecting them while people moved out of the Neutral City.


    .....


    For an average person, moving out of the Neutral City and then crossing hundreds of miles wasn¡¯t something that they could do on a whim like Ozul. They required strong escorts that would protect them not only from the Magical Beasts but from the bandits as well.


    The solemn atmosphere of the Neutral Lands also quickly spread to the rest of the continent.


    Many just dismissed it as rumors while others began to exaggerate the rumors.


    . . .


    Uncaring about the situation all over the continent, Ozulzily woke up and went out of his room together with Jinx.


    He had told her to follow him specifically this time.


    Coming down from the 8th floor, Ozul looked for Raven and ze.


    Although they had 5 years before things started, Ozul wanted to make full use of this time and not justze around. Not to mention, Old Gu had particrly told him to train those two to the best of their abilities.


    He didn¡¯t know what would happen after passing this test of Old Gu, but he would certainly like Raven and ze to pass with him.


    If he had to leave them behind like this, what was the point of nurturing them for all this time anyway?


    As he had heard from Kure, those who had managed to pass the test previously disappeared in the history of time, never to be seen again.


    He didn¡¯t know if it was because they were killed or sent somewhere people were unaware of, but Ozul wanted at least those two to pass with him.


    If Old Gu was really not from this world, then there were chances that after they passed the test, they might very well be brought in some other realm! He simply didn¡¯t want to look for people to work for him again.


    Thinking about how he knew that there were other worlds out there as well, Ozul realized that he didn¡¯t gain any fragmented memory like that this time when he got his arm back.


    ¡®What was different back then?¡¯ Ozul contemted inside his mind.


    There was only the boost in his powers and a churning feeling inside of him that he didn¡¯t know anything about. However, it was minuscule and not easily noticeable.


    Even when he had meditated to focus inside his body, he didn¡¯t find anything out of the ordinary.


    He couldn¡¯t even confirm if this subtle feeling was something that he should be concerned about or if it was just his imagination.


    Sadly, he could only wait to see what would be of it. Like all the previous times, he was again helpless in the matters concerning his own body.


    When Ozul arrived on the 7th floor, he stopped a female member and asked about Raven and ze.


    That female member could only stutter out that she didn¡¯t know anything in fright. Even if she did know, Ozul realized that it was best not to interact with any female members of the organization from now on.


    Not only was every member intimidated by him, but the female portion of them were also mostly conflicted because of his otherworldly appearance and the mysterious air around him. His seemingly unbreakable icy cold face only added more to it.


    He made sure to always wear the conical hat, but it didn¡¯t do much to hide his face from up close.


    Since that woman didn¡¯t know, Ozul made his way towards Haley¡¯s office. Irvin and Haley were both there together with Oliver and a couple of other elite members.


    All of them immediately saluted when they saw him entering.


    Ozul waved his hand before asking Irvin, ¡°Where are ze and Raven?¡±


    Originally, they were supposed to be resting at that time.


    ¡°Both of them are in the training grounds, young master. I told them that they weren¡¯t fully recovered yet, but they didn¡¯t listen,¡± Irvin answered.


    This time, they didn¡¯t take the healing potions and insisted on recovering naturally. Because of that, they still needed a full day more topletely recover.


    ¡®Hm. Seems like they wouldn¡¯t whine much...¡¯ Ozul thought inside his mind. He was also going to make them train today despite the fact that they needed more time to recover.


    Of course, he would continuously monitor their health and make sure they don¡¯t get any terminal internal injury.


    He nned to not hold back in their training, and they would start toin sooner orter. But if they already had a determined attitude like this, it would only make things easier for him.


    He was about to turn around and head to the training grounds, but then he remembered something after realizing that most of the core members of the organization were already here.


    ¡°I almost forgot... start expanding again. Slowly start to nt spies in the small groups. From the unremarkable groups, get to the bigger groups. Don¡¯t stop until we have at least a single source of information in all the organizations on the entire continent!¡±


    Ozul walked out of the room, leaving these words in such a casual manner that it almost seemed as if he was asking them to fetch him some water and notplete the first part of his world domination!


    After he walked out of the room, everyone looked at Haley, Irvin, and Oliver with concerned faces, but the three could only respond with a helpless smile of their own.


    How would they know what was going on inside Ozul¡¯s mind now?


    Even they had only nned to nt random spies in any organization that they could afford to do. They never thought that one day he would order them to get their eyes even in the most dangerous corners of this world.


    How they were going to aplish this now, time would tell. At least he hadn¡¯t given them a time limit.


    It meant they just had to slowly expand, which actually made his words sound not so impossible anymore.


    . . .


    Ozul entered the training grounds and saw Raven and ze were both sparring each other without any restraints.


    Half the training grounds were covered in ice structures while the rest had deep craters scattered everywhere.


    Ozul didn¡¯t disturb the two and waited for them to finish their spar.


    Anyone could easily notice how different this battle was from the first time he had told them to spar in here. Not only did Raven use a variety of attacks, ze even learned to keep a little of his attention on his surroundings.


    Ozul was satisfied with their improvement, but it wasn¡¯t enough if they would participate in a simr tournament like the previous one.


    Maybe Raven wouldn¡¯t have a hard time because her Spells allowed her to absorb Mana and stamina from her enemies, but ze was bound to run out of his Mana at one point.


    ording to Kure, all the people who were chosen were around simr strength. ze might be able to deal with a couple of people at the same rank, but what about ten of them?


    They had five years before the test started, and he nned to make full use of it.


    Ozul didn¡¯t understand why Old Gu had given them 5 years in the first ce since a few months were enough for people to move out. Not to mention, ording to Kure, he was never this kind to others.


    ¡®Is it because he hasn¡¯t chosen all of his candidates yet?¡¯ Ozul thought such to be the most likely reason.


    He couldn¡¯t think of any other answer for it. The old man was supposedly someone who would watch cities containing millions of innocent people burn down in ashes and would only watch from the side if it didn¡¯t interest him enough.


    Because of how Ozul walked or due to the fact that he didn¡¯t have any Mana, people usually missed his presence until he said something. Such was the case with Raven and ze as they didn¡¯t notice him watching their battle.


    So when they heard a voice telling them to stop the match, both of them were startled,


    ¡°Finish it.¡±


    Coming out of their shock, the twoplied with his order and didn¡¯t continue fighting.


    ¡°Endless spars won¡¯t do a thing. Unless it is a life-threatening situation, both of you will never grow at the speed I want you to,¡± Ozulmented as Raven and ze listened attentively.


    As he noticed that the two already somewhat agreed on the fact that theycked experience, he spoke,


    ¡°We will leave for the wild. But before that, both of youe here. I want to test something...¡±

 Chapter 262

    Chapter 262: Teleport?


    ¡°...both of youe here. I want to test something,¡± Ozul motioned the two toe closer.


    Raven and ze didn¡¯t hesitate and moved forward, their eyes stared at the ck cat resting on hisp.


    Raven showed no signs of jealousy this time. Instead, her mind wandered back to her fight as she contemted ways to improve herself. If she wanted to protect Ozul and repay him for all he has done for her, she needed strength.


    Ozul actually wanted to test Jinx and not them. He spoke, ¡°Try to touch her,¡± as he pointed towards Jinx.


    It was about time that he learned more about thiszy cat who he found to be just as mysterious as his own body.


    At the same time, Ozul looked straight into Jinx¡¯s eyes, telling her to let them touch her.


    Though surprisingly, it didn¡¯t work. Both Raven and ze¡¯s hands passed right through Jinx as if she was just some mirage!


    .....


    Raven and ze were both surprised as well. Although it had happened to Raven before, it was a feeling that one wouldn¡¯t ever get used to.


    Raven remembered that the first time it happened, he had told her that only something pure could touch Jinx. Ozul was thinking about the exact same thing in the past.


    At that time, he had only instinctively spoken the first feeling that came into his mind. He didn¡¯t know why he felt that, but he was at least aware that it wasn¡¯t just a passing thought.


    ¡®But why can I touch her then? I don¡¯t exactly feel pure either...¡¯ Ozul contemted as he stared into Jinx¡¯s eyes which seemed like an unsolved puzzle now. The only reason he could think of right now was how she was somehow rted to him.


    Just then, Ozul noticed ze using Mana.


    He again extended his arm to reach Jinx, hoping that coating his hand with Mana would negate the effects of whatever Magical Spell was at y.


    Unfortunately, his hope didn¡¯t be reality as no matter how much Mana he used or how dense he made it, his hand would always pass through Jinx as if she was empty air. However, she was sitting on Ozul¡¯sp, so it didn¡¯t make any sense at all!


    Ozul was about to stop him as he didn¡¯t want them to have a headache over this, but he stopped when he noticed ze creating a tiny shard of Ice and slowly extended it towards Jinx.


    Though he stopped and looked at Ozul for confirmation, ¡°Should I?¡±


    He wouldn¡¯t hurt Jinx, but he was going to test if the ice created with his Magical Spell would be able toe in contact with her body or not.


    Only when Ozul nodded his head did ze continue to slowly move the tiny shard of Ice towards Jinx.


    Sadly, even that effort turned out to be futile. Jinx seemed to be an illusion that was very much real, but still an illusion!


    Seeing that it didn¡¯t work. Ozul realized the reason why Jinx would appear unscathed even in the most dangerous situations. But that didn¡¯t seem to be the only reason.


    Although he had told her to let them touch her, he wasn¡¯t certain if she listened to him or just ignored it.


    Without wasting a second, he picked her up with his hands and turned to walk to the middle of the ground before cing her down on the ground. He was going to ask ze to attack her with a more Mana consuming Spell to test it onest time.


    However, just as he had ced Jinx on the ground, his eyes went to his right arm which was only a prosthetic. A realization hit him as he paused on his spot.


    ¡®... So you didn¡¯t listen to me,¡¯ Ozul said inside his head as he stared at Jinx with a deadpan face.


    Even if he could somehow rte the fact that he could touch Jinx to the matter that his body was unique, he couldn¡¯t exin why he was able to touch her with that prosthetic arm as well.


    It could only mean that Jinx didn¡¯t want anything else to touch her at all. He was the only exception! It wasn¡¯t about what was pure and what was impure.


    With this realization, he was sure that whatever ze and Raven used, it wouldn¡¯t do anything to Jinx. The cat seemed to know what was going on, but she let things happen andzily sat at the spot where Ozul had put her on.


    The moment Ozul got out of the way, ze bombarded that spot with Ice pirs and Raven also gave in a hand. s, when the dust settled, their jaws dropped in surprise when they saw Jinx licking her paws, uncaring of what was going on around her.


    Ozul sighed and picked up Jinx before going back to his seat. He held her in his arms and continued to stare at her for a couple of seconds.


    ¡®What more secrets do you hold?¡¯ Ozul mused to himself.


    ¡°You are a cat, right? What about your speed?¡± Ozul seemingly muttered to himself in the eyes of others, but he was actually talking to Jinx.


    Usually, the cat type Magical Beasts were agile in their movements. However, he had never seen this feline run like that. She would always just calmly walk everywhere as if she was bored of this world.


    Surprisingly, Jinx stood up as if answering his question and went back to that previous spot. She sat on all four and her face was held high, looking down on whatever stood before her.


    Just like how Jinx would understand what Ozul was trying to say most of the time without even putting it into words, Ozul seemingly understood what she was trying to say this time as well.


    Since ze¡¯s ice would create a mess, he spoke to Raven, ¡°Attack her.¡±


    He could have also done that, but he didn¡¯t want to risk hurting Jinx. As far as he knew, the Ball of Purity could alsoe in contact with her. If she didn¡¯t manage to evade, she might lose her life.


    Raven nodded her head. She was reluctant to attack Jinx previously because of how small and defenseless she looked. However, it was an undeniable fact now that this cat was anything but defenseless.


    Without wasting her energy, Raven cast a simple spell that shot a couple of des at Jinx.


    Ozul¡¯s question was quickly answered when Jinx, who was standing a couple of meters away from him suddenly appeared in his feet!


    ¡°!!!¡±


    Both Raven and ze were rmed as they didn¡¯t even feel anything!


    ¡®Heh... and here I thought you were only a little unique,¡¯ Ozul thought as he yed the scene again in his mind.


    At one moment, he saw Raven cast a spell at Jinx and the other moment, she appeared here. Just like Raven and ze, he didn¡¯t see anything either!


    Those two were only Rank-8 Mages, but he was someone who could even go against Rank-10 Mages of this continent. Despite this, he wasn¡¯t even able to catch her afterimage.


    At this point, he was more likely to believe that she might have just teleported. That also might exin how she could appear at unexpected ces without being seen by anyone.


    When he looked down at her, he saw Jinx rubbing the side of her belly against his leg. He noticed the expectant gaze pierce him, so he didn¡¯t have any other choice but to squat down and pat her a couple of times.


    ze looked at Raven and shook his head while smiling wryly. She looked at Ozul patting Jinx with an envious expression on her face, wanting nothing more than to rece the cat.


    However, she held herself back and quickly calmed down.


    Ozul stood up and looked at the two, ¡°Both of you don¡¯t need to tell anyone about her.¡±


    The duo immediately nodded their heads. If he didn¡¯t want this to get out, they would just forget anything like this ever happened.


    Although he doubted if anyone would ever be able to do any harm to Jinx, it was better safe than sorry. After all, he still didn¡¯t know how powerful Old Gu was.


    Maybe he wasn¡¯t able to see Jinx move, but what about him?


    Moreover, he still didn¡¯t trust that old man. ording to Kure, he did most of the things the way he did to entertain himself.


    A person with such a personality could take a liking to anything rare. He didn¡¯t have the confidence of being able to stop him if he went after Jinx.


    Unknown to him, Old Gu had more interest in him than Jinx.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. We are done here. It is time you guys experience wilderness,¡± Ozul spoke while heading out of the training grounds.


    He first searched for Irvin, followed by the three creatures of unique characteristics.


    After he found him, he went straight to the topic and informed him that they would be out of the Neutral City and would take some time to get back.


    ¡°Can I ask how long it might take, young master?¡± Irvin asked with a polite but concerned tone.


    ¡°Just take the Ashin family¡¯s help if anythinges up. Don¡¯t hesitate to demand anything. I might be out for a few months with these two,¡± Ozul answered.


    He knew that Irvin didn¡¯t think that it was proper for him to be absent from the organization during this time.


    ¡°Take care of things. Like usual, you are in charge,¡± Ozul said before tossing a single pendant at him out of his Spatial Pouch.


    This specially designed token gave anyone who held it the authority to be able to order around anyone in the organization. Haley and Oliver hade up with this idea a while ago.


    ¡°Take care during the journey, young master,¡± Irvin said no more and bowed his head towards the departing figure of Ozul.

 Chapter 263

    Chapter 263: Blood Panther?


    Ozul already had a ce he wanted to bring Raven and ze to train to.


    While things were rapidly changing in the Neutral Lands, he wanted to focus on training them and himself during these five years.


    Both being talented, would only feel threatened if they faced anyone above their Rank.


    He could very well train them himself, but he thought that they might not feel threatened enough. They would instinctively know that he wouldn¡¯t kill them, so they wouldn¡¯t put as much effort.


    How would he know that those two were the most afraid while training with him? From their past experiences, they knew best how ruthless his methods could be sometimes.


    Raven and ze didn¡¯t question their destination as Ozul led them outside the Neutral City.


    . . .


    .....


    Sometimeter, they had already crossed the Deste borders and moved towards that part of the continent where the Leonhard Dynasty had the most influence.


    But Ozul didn¡¯t care about that as he only was going to a certain mountain range that might have what he was looking for.


    If it didn¡¯t, then he would have no choice but to train these two himself. He doesn¡¯t have enough time to care about which method will be more effective.


    As Ozul was thinking that, Raven and ze felt a certain chill pass over their body as both locked their eyes at him. They were fully aware that there weren¡¯t many times they felt this way, and when they did, it somehow ended in them praying for their lives.


    A day passed, but they didn¡¯t make a stop anywhere in between and continued to fly under Ozul¡¯s lead.


    It was still morning when Ozulnded near a vige followed by Raven, ze, and Jinx.


    Though Raven and ze were confused why they stopped only here when there had been a few better-off towns and cities on their way here. It would have been better if they took rest there instead of this shabby vige which might not even have an inn for them to stay.


    Only when theynded did both of them notice the bleak atmosphere around the vige and the sullen expressions on everyone¡¯s face.


    The air was permeated by a strange odor, but nobody in the vige seemed to mind that.


    The odd part was how none of the vigers cared about how someone was flying a few moments ago.


    Some of the vigers had certainly noticed their presence, but it looked as if they had too much to care for and didn¡¯t have time for some cultivators.


    Since they hade far away from the Neutral Lands by now, the people in the vige were mostly ordinary people without Mana. A few were Fighters while there might not be a Mage here at all.


    However, Raven and ze could feel Mana signatures of quite a few people who were at least above Rank-5!


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it just an ordinary vige?¡± Raven muttered while looking around.


    The fact that there were strong Mages present in this vige and considering the depressing atmosphere around, she concluded that there might be some emergency.


    Otherwise, Ozul wouldn¡¯t stop at a random vige either.


    ¡®This is the vige,¡¯ Ozul thought as he took a good look around.


    He had heard Haley receiving a report about this vige. As he was bored, he asked for more details and found out that there might be a Rank-9 Magical Beast running rampant around these parts.


    The gloomy air around the vige was the proof that he hade to the right ce.


    Those near Rank-5 Mages were probably the mercenaries sent to investigate. The Three-Eyed Strangers were already ahead in this aspect of gathering information, so he knew that whatever was happening here was caused by something above Rank-8.


    There was apparently a Rank-9 Blood Panther that lived in the mountain range near the vige.


    The problem was that the Blood Panther demanded regr sacrifices from the vigers or threatened to destroy itpletely if they didn¡¯tply with its orders.


    Or at least that is what the vigers exined.


    If it was true or not, Ozul would have to see it for himself to believe.


    If there really was a Rank-9 Beast here, then he would pit it against Raven and ze.


    The duo again felt a cold wind brush past their neck as they gulped a mouthful of saliva. They were clueless about what was going on inside Ozul¡¯s head.


    Instead of stopping a random passerby, Ozul went towards the tallest building in the vige. Usually, the biggest structure in a small settlement like this would belong to the vige head.


    Judging from the appearance of the ordinary vigers, Ozul could guess that most of them weren¡¯t in their right state of mind either. They would probably exaggerate things depending on their fears.


    It was best that he asked from the vige head, who should at least be in a better state than these passersby.


    As he made his way towards the tallest structure, there were quite a few mercenaries who looked their way. It wasn¡¯t hard to distinguish between the locals and the outsiders because of how gloomy all the vigers were.


    ¡°Heh. Check these out. A new batch of newbies sent by some second-hand faction to investigate.¡±


    ¡°Should we tell them how dangerous it is?¡±


    ¡°Why bother? They will be dead anyway.¡±


    A few mercenaries snickered from the side. These people didn¡¯t even bother to check their cultivation base.


    Of course, even if they tried to, they wouldn¡¯t be able to since both Raven and ze were Rank-8.


    Unlike before when Ozul would ignore suchments from random people, he lifted his conical hat a little, enough for them to see his sharp eyes which made them immediately shut up.


    They didn¡¯t feel any Mana, but being the target of that cold re caused their bodies to immediately tense up unconsciously.


    Although Raven and ze found it odd for Ozul to act like this, they didn¡¯t make anyment and quietly followed his lead.


    As they reached the tallest structure of the vige which would have been a normal building in a city or a town, Ozul saw more than a few mercenary teams waiting outside.


    He then noticed how all of them looked annoyed and impatient as if they had been standing outside for quite a while now.


    One such mercenary had it enough and furiously knocked on the shabby door.


    ¡°Get out you bag of old bones! You just have to answer a simple question and we will be done!¡± the mercenary shouted. He seemed ready to destroy the door if the vige head didn¡¯te out in a few minutes.


    Silence ensued for a few moments as the other mercenary teams watched the show.


    Just when the furious mercenary was about to kick the door, an old voice came from behind the door,


    ¡°S-stop it, young man... Don¡¯t break the door.¡±


    A few secondster, the door opened and an old man slowly walked out. This man didn¡¯t look as old as his voice sounded, but Ozul noticed how the old man looked worn out.


    ¡°What took you so long, huh? Don¡¯t you see how many people have been waiting for you here?! You just have to answer a few goddamn questions! It¡¯s been more than a day now!¡± the mercenary bellowed.


    The vige head was an old man who was once just a Rank-2 Fighter, so he could only helplessly look at the ground while the mercenary kept shouting to his face.


    Ozul didn¡¯t have enough time to watch the whole drama, so he made his way towards the old man under everyone¡¯s squinting eyes.


    The man who was shouting at the old man was the strongest mercenary here with the strength of a peak Rank-5 Mage. That is why none dared to interrupt him, but now they saw three unknown people approaching the scene as well.


    Just when the peak Rank-5 mercenary was about to continue shouting, Ozul entered the scene and faced the old man,pletely ignoring the mercenary¡¯s existence.


    ¡°I want to have a conversation with you,¡± Ozul spoke, interrupting the mercenary who red at his back with burning eyes.


    ¡°Young man-¡± before the vige head could say anything, the mercenary who was previously yelling at him shouted, ¡°Who are you, bastard! Don¡¯t you see I am talking with him?!¡±


    ze remembered that they still had those mercenary gold rank emblems. So he took them out of his Spatial Ring and threw it at that mercenary¡¯s face.


    ¡°Huh?! What is thi-¡± the mercenary took a few seconds to remember what that emblem represented.


    Tch!


    He clicked his tongue but didn¡¯t pursue the matter any further.


    Even if he couldn¡¯t sense any Mana from these three people, if they had the gold rank emblem, then it wasn¡¯t worth picking a fight with them. He decisively retreated under the surprised gaze of the onlookers.


    Even the vige head was stunned for a few moments before ze coughed to wake him up from his stupor.


    ¡°W-what do all of you want?¡± the vige head stuttered. His eyes looked everywhere but the people who stood before him.


    It was obvious that this old vige head was nervous as well.


    ¡°Are the rumors true about the Blood Panther?¡± Ozul got straight to the point. He wanted to ask its location from the vige head because the mountain range was long and they would have to waste a lot of time searching for it.


    ¡°I... I don¡¯t know what you are talking about,¡± the old man refused to answer Ozul¡¯s question while averting his eyes.

 Chapter 264

    Chapter 264: For training.


    ¡°...I don¡¯t know what you are talking about,¡± the old vige head averted his eyes.


    Even if Ozul couldn¡¯t sense his emotions, it was obvious that he was lying. Even the surrounding herd of mercenaries clicked their tongue at his tant lie.


    Still, they had confirmed that there might really be some truth to the rumors about there being a strong Magical Beast near this vige. Unlike Ozul, most of the mercenaries here hade here to investigate the situation only.


    They had already confirmed the gloomy atmosphere around the vige and questioned quite a few other people. Even if the vige head didn¡¯t say anything, they had enough evidence to prove the rumors.


    Ozul felt the extreme anxiety and fear building up inside the old man. It was apparent that he wouldn¡¯t get anything out of him even if he pressed him for answers.


    Choosing not to waste his time on useless threats, Ozul left the old vige head and walked away with Raven and ze following behind in confusion.


    They didn¡¯t know what was going on and what these rumors about ¡®Blood Panther¡¯ were.


    .....


    After Ozul left the scene, some of the remaining mercenaries tried to threaten the vige head and again questioned him, but the old man was adamant.


    Sometimeter, the mercenaries gave up and went back to report their findings. They weren¡¯t some viins who would start torturing the old man for answers.


    Meanwhile, Ozul waited for it to get dark together with the clueless duo who didn¡¯t receive any answer from him even when they asked him.


    The three spent this time while idling away around the vige head¡¯s house. When it had finally gotten dark, Ozul decided to give another visit to the old man.


    Since it was a vige, there weren¡¯t many lights around the house. It was mostly dark.


    Ozul didn¡¯t bother to knock on the door. He used the Ball of Purity to unlock it from inside.


    The wooden door was old and shabby. Unlocking it didn¡¯t cause any disturbance, but a loud creak followed when he pushed it open.


    ¡°W-who is there?!¡± a shout came from inside the house.


    However, Ozul casually closed the door after entering together with the duo. Inside, there was a small lounge and the vige head looking at them with horror written on his face.


    ¡°W-w-what are you doing here!? I... told you! I don¡¯t know anything about this B-blood Panther you speak of!¡± old vige head shouted while pointing his shaking finger at Ozul.


    ¡°Listen to me first,¡± Ozul calmly spoke as if he hadn¡¯t heard what the old man was shouting earlier.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have to listen to anything! Get out of my house!¡± the vige head¡¯s face reddened as he pointed towards the door.


    But behaving like that proved to be a mistake when he felt the atmosphere around him starting to get cold and he noticed four eyes behind Ozul ring at him like he was already a dead man.


    The vige head gulped in fright, but fortunately for him, Ozul didn¡¯t mind his hysterical attitude.


    ¡°Listen here, even those mercenaries can guess that there is indeed a strong Magical Beast somewhere around this vige-¡± Ozul was exining patiently when the vige head immediately cut in.


    ¡°Y-You! You don¡¯t know anything! That monster will probably eat everyone if we tell others!¡± he cried before immediately putting his hands on his mouth.


    Although he stopped himself, Ozul at least learned that the Beast might have threatened the vigers not to tell about his location.


    The information that he had received told him that the Blood Panther regrly demanded a sacrifice from the vigers, so they had to be aware of its location if they had to give it a sacrifice every week.


    However, it had turned out that only the vige head and a couple of his trustworthy people knew the exact location of the Blood Panther.


    What Ozul didn¡¯t understand was why this Blood Panther was doing all of this. If it was really a Rank-9 Magical Beast, then there was no need for it to torment a vige of ordinary people like this.


    ¡°We are going to find it anyway. If you tell me its location now, it will only save me time. Otherwise, I don¡¯t mind spending another day searching for it,¡± Ozul replied with an indifferent face.


    If the vige head really wouldn¡¯t help, then he could only search the Beast himself. With his senses, it wouldn¡¯t take more than a day to find it amidst the surrounding mountain ranges.


    The vige head remained quiet for a few moments before he hesitated and spoke, ¡°B-but... are you sure you can defeat that monster?¡±


    This single question took a lot of courage from the vige head to ask.


    He was forced to choose one of his fellow brothers and sisters to sacrifice every week for that monster. There were many who tried to defeat the monster but no one seeded. Instead, with each person trying to end the monster¡¯s tyranny, it provoked the Beast even more.


    It hade to the point where most of the vigers were too afraid to even talk about it before others for the fear that their family might be the next victim of the monster¡¯s wrath if it found out.


    Such was also the case with the vige head.


    ¡°I want to train these two behind me. A Rank-9 Beast would be perfect,¡± Ozul answered truthfully.


    For a few seconds, the vige head and even the duo felt as if Ozul was only joking with them.


    But who was Ozul? Had he ever joked like this before? With this realization, the sense of impending doom took over them as they couldn¡¯t help but take a step back unconsciously.


    ¡°Huh?¡± the old vige head doubted his ears for a few moments before anger took over again. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to entertain sick jokes while their lives were on the line.


    ¡°Anyway. After we are done with it, I will finish it off. Don¡¯t worry,¡± Ozul reassured the vige head who was still uncertain whether to believe a random person popping up at their door in the middle of the night like this or not.


    ¡°I... can tell you its location,¡± the vige head muttered after contemting for a while.


    Ozul stood up and was about to ask him to immediately show them the way when the old man continued, ¡°But I have a condition.¡±


    ¡°Condition? What condition?¡± Ozul squinted his eyes at the old man.


    In his mind, this old man wasn¡¯t in a position to make any demands. But he still decided to at least listen to him.


    ¡°If you fail... don¡¯t ever tell that monster who informed you of its location,¡± the old man looked in Ozul¡¯s eyes with resolution.


    The vige head himself was old and didn¡¯t have many years to live anyway. However, he, as the head of the vige, had the responsibility to protect as many vigers as he could.


    Thest thing he wanted was to see the vige get reduced to ashes in front of his own eyes.


    ¡°Alright. You have my word. If anything goes wrong, your name will not appear anywhere. We only mistakenly stumbled upon its dwelling ce,¡± though Ozul knew that the chances of anything going wrong in a fight against a Rank-9 Beast were close to none, he still assured the old vige head who was not aware of his strength.


    ¡°Thank you... It is the middle of the night, I will tell you its location tomorrow,¡± the vige head finally sighed in relief. Although he didn¡¯t fully trust these three people in his house right now, he couldn¡¯t help but feel that relying on them was the only chance he had to save the vige.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you stay here for the night? I have enough room for all of you?¡± the old man offered politely, expecting the three to refuse his offer since his house actually wasn¡¯t big enough for three more people to spend their nightfortably.


    ¡°Alright then. Where is my bed?¡± Ozul readily epted the offer, stunning the old man in his spot. He didn¡¯t know that they would be so swift to reply.


    But after thinking for a while, he could at least arrange for them to sleep in his house.


    There was only a single extra bed, and Ozul didn¡¯t hesitate to choose it immediately as he told Raven and ze to sleep on the floor if they wanted to.


    The duo didn¡¯t really need to sleep anyway. So they instead stayed up while listening to the old man describe things in detail to them.


    ording to him, it had only been a month when the Blood Panther suddenly showed up in the vige and destroyed more than half of it in a single swing of its paw.


    Unlike what everyone thought, the Beast didn¡¯t continue to destroy everything. Instead, he only threatened the whole vige to offer him a human sacrifice every week, otherwise, it would also destroy the remaining half of the vige.


    From then on, they had already given the Blood Panther 4 people as sacrifices. Three of whom were elderly who volunteered fearing that their young generation might be chosen if they didn¡¯t go.


    Many of the vigers just ran away to another settlement, but most of them couldn¡¯t afford to migrate like others. They had no other choice but to live in this cursed vige under the constant fear of the Blood Panther.


    ¡®Well that exins the gloomy atmosphere around the vige...¡¯

 Chapter 265

    Chapter 265: Weakened?


    The night passed while Raven and ze were properly exined the situation around the vige by the vige head.


    They were naturally curious about this Blood Panther, but they remembered how Ozul had mentioned that it was a Rank-9 Beast.


    The thought of fighting this Blood Panther would have been thrilling if not for the fact that they hadn¡¯t already experienced how oppressive the aura of the Rank-9 individuals felt.


    Although they were on edge, the two were determined to give their best since Ozul had also stated that it was for their training.


    Unlike what Ozul expected, the duo gradually overcame their fear and were ready to fight against the Blood Panther even when they understood how dangerous it would turn out to be.


    Both being battle maniacs were also lowkey excited to fight someone so strong.


    While they were awake all night, Ozul slept as if it was his own home together with Jinx.


    .....


    Early next morning, the sun had yet to fully rise when the vige head was ready to show them the way to the monster that has been haunting this vige for a month now.


    Ozul woke up immediately and together with the duo he followed the vige head out of his house and into the forest.


    They went towards the mountain range not far into the woods. But they still took a few hours before they reached the nearest cliff.


    Ozul had naturally first tried to scan the area around to see if he could find the Blood Panther, but he didn¡¯t feel its presence anywhere before. That is why he had decided to ask for the vige head¡¯s help.


    He might be able to find the beast himself if he searched for a while, but flying all over without a clear sense of direction didn¡¯t sit right with him.


    After crossing over the cliff, the vige head led them to a narrow path surrounded by giant boulders and rocks.


    As Ozul had expected, there weren¡¯t any beasts around the area, and the reason for it was quite evident.


    After another few hours, the vige head seemed exhausted, but they had reached a steep mountain slope. From there, he pointed at a distance and spoke,


    ¡°You see that cave mouth near the other mountain?¡±


    They spotted the cave from miles away surrounded by thick trees around it.


    ¡°We are required to bring the sacrifice there...¡± the vige head said with a downtrodden voice.


    A fresh breeze brushed past their face which Ozul found quite annoying. The cave was hundreds of meters away, but Ozul could easily feel the oppressive aura around it. He waved his hand in a casual manner and said,


    ¡°You can go back now. We will take care of it from here.¡±


    At the same time, he motioned towards Raven who didn¡¯t need much effort to understand his intentions. She took out a couple of Gold Coins from her Spatial Ring and handed it to the vige head before sending him off. At this point, this little amount of money was nothing in their eyes.


    The old vige head kept praying on his way back that these kind people don¡¯t die in the hands of that monster after seeing how generous they were.


    Without wasting another moment, Ozul flew directly towards the cave. Raven and ze followed right behind.


    The distance of a hundred meters was covered in just a few seconds as they arrived at the cave mouth.


    Raven and ze couldn¡¯t help but tense up under the oppressive aura of the Blood Panther inside the cave. Before Ozul could even take a step in, a shout echoed from deep inside the cave,


    ¡°Who are you filth!?¡±


    The voice was hoarse and croaky. Following the voice, a foul smell also invaded the trio¡¯s nose. It made Ozul remember the strange odor in the vige.


    He didn¡¯t reply and waited for the beast toe out itself.


    ¡°Hu? You three are a sacrifice? Keh...¡± the voice snickered as it got nearer.


    A few momentster, the gigantic ck panther stood in front of the trio while ring down at them. There was a blood-red bead on its forehead, the same color as its eyes.


    While the duo were in awe of its beautiful appearance, Ozul instead focused on the fact that the Blood Panther seemed weak.


    It was Rank-9, sure. However, the aura around it was not as strong as a full-fledged Rank-9 Beast would have.


    And he only understood the reason when he examined its body and noticed the slight cracks on the corner of the blood-red bead on its forehead. Adding on to the bloodstains on its back, Ozul could guess that the Blood Panther was probably injured.


    If that was the case, it would also exin why it was going out of its way to bully a helpless vige.


    Some of the Magical Beast were twisted like humans. They would kill and torment others just for pleasure¡¯s sake or for passing time.


    The Beasts never had any moral values to begin with, so after gaining intelligence they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill people when they felt bored.


    Such was the case with most of the Beasts in this world, and Ozul spected that this Blood Panther was probably recovering from its injury while passing its time by tormenting that vige.


    ¡°Well, saves me the effort,¡± Ozul muttered before moving to the side.


    He was nning to weaken the Rank-9 Beast before letting it fight Raven and ze even beforeing here. A full-fledged Rank-9 Beast was not something those two would have any chance of surviving against.


    However, this Blood Panther was already injured and in a weakened state. So he was spared the effort.


    Now, there was no one between the Blood Panther and the duo.


    ¡°How dare you ignore me, you worm!¡± the Blood Panther gnashed his teeth with his spit flying everywhere.


    ¡°Fight with them,¡± Ozul pointed at Raven and ze as he looked for a dark ce to spectate from.


    ¡°Huh?!¡± the Blood Panther felt furious while looking at Ozul¡¯s nonchnt behavior in front of him. He might have understood if it was a strong Mage, but how dare an ordinary man behave this way before him!?


    The Blood Panther felt no Mana from him and unconditionally thought that he was some viger who had brought those two Rank-8 Mages to deal with him.


    ¡°Kehekehe! You think these pups can even scratch a hair on me?¡± the Blood Panther clicked his tongue, feeling offended that an ¡®ordinary viger¡¯ was looking on him.


    ¡°Both of you, what are you waiting for?¡± Ozul squinted his eyes at Raven and ze,pletely ignoring the Blood Panther which only got more furious by the tant disregard of his presence.


    However, Raven and ze didn¡¯t wait for it to say anymore and immediately went in for the action.


    ze raised giant Ice pirs from the ground while Raven dropped the ck smoke that slowly covered the whole area.


    ¡°Urgh!! You worms will pay with your life!¡± the Blood Panther shouted furiously before stomping his feet on the ground that immediately shattered the Ice pirs created by ze.


    Ozul kept a close eye on their fight as ze created summoned Ice spikes to shoot at the Panther before Raven threw a few daggers that hid behind the giant spikes of ice.


    Even they could perceive that this Rank-9 Beast was weakened since they didn¡¯t feel as weak as they did before those Rank-9 Mages.


    The ck smoke didn¡¯t seem to affect the panther too much since it had keen eyesight and its other senses were just as sharp. Although weakened, it was still a Rank-9 Beast.


    grraau!


    This time, it suddenly roared towards the ice spikes which, to the horror of the duo, immediately shattered as if they were just ordinary ss!


    Not only that, but Raven¡¯s dagger that hid behind those spikes also got blown away from the shockwaves generated by that terrifying roar.


    Not giving the duo a chance to recover, the Blood Panther ran towards Raven since she was the closest to him with an intention to finish her off in one hit.


    Raven was also affected by the roar previously, so she wasn¡¯t able to act in time. Her eyes unconsciously moved towards Ozul¡¯s direction when she noticed that she wouldn¡¯t be able to protect herself from this.


    However, Ozul showed no intentions of helping, so she could only grit her teeth and cast as many Spells as she could.


    Following that, she tried to move out of the Panther¡¯s way. However, it proved to be a little too fast because just in the blink of an eye, it was already near her!


    Fortunately, ze had recovered a little, so he instantly raised a giant spike from the ground, right under the Panther.


    Being a Rank-9 Beast, the Panther was quick to react and easily dodged the Ice spike.


    But it still gave Raven a little time to evade the Panther¡¯s attack.


    ¡°Assist me!¡± Raven shouted before she summoned her two daggers and made a determined face.


    ze was about to also shout that he was already doing that. However, what happened next made him send as many Ice spikes towards the Panther as he could.


    It was because Raven, instead of retreating, rushed towards the Blood Panther!


    ¡®What has gotten into her!?¡¯ ze cursed under his breath before also closing in a little, trying to divert the Panther¡¯s attention from her as much as he could.


    The Blood Panther sneered while Ozul watched in interest to see what Raven was going to do now.

 Chapter 266

    Chapter 266: Helpless.


    Although ze sent Ice spikes towards the Blood Panther as fast as he could, it was not enough to really cause it any hindrance.


    Even when the Panther was confident, it still missed when Raven cast another spell while taking cover with a giant Ice spike.


    When Raven was just a short distance away from the Panther, it opened its mouth and Mana gathered on top of its face. Just the density and the power that Mana held was enough to kill even a peak Rank-8 Mage multiple times over if it hit them directly!


    Naturally, Raven experienced first hand how terrifying it was to fight a Rank-9 Beast from up close. Just the sheer amount of pressure would have made just about anyone have seconds thoughts.


    However, Raven and ze had a different mentalitypared to any other Rank-8 Mage. After living with Ozul for so long, both of them were influenced by his mindset, even if only a little.


    Since Ozul would remain nonchnt in almost all kinds of situations, both of them had at least learned to keep their calm when facing danger.


    So even when Raven felt powerless against the Blood Panther, she still followed her original n and closed in the distance between them.


    .....


    Unlike what the Panther had thought, Raven didn¡¯t dodge or run away. Instead, she rapidly closed their distance!


    It made the Panther stop umting more Mana and just when it was about to shoot the giant ball of violent energy towards Raven,


    Eeek!


    An involuntary shriek escaped its mouth as it felt a stinging pain behind its back!


    ¡°Urgh! You Filthy Humans!!¡± the Panther bellowed in rage as it realized that the tiny girl before him had managed to trick him.


    When all debris and ice was flying around, Raven had cast a spell that created a small lump of dark shadow-like smoke that discreetly went behind the Panther¡¯s back.


    Just like Ozul, she had also noticed the small patch of fur behind its back that had bloodstains all over it. Realizing that the Panther had an injury, she decided to make good use of it.


    The shadow that she had cast sneakily could turn into a sharp dagger any time she wanted. During the time when she rushed towards the Panther, it had all of its focus on her. So it naturally missed the shadow that crept behind its back.


    Her dagger might have never even managed to pierce the Panther¡¯s skin under normal circumstances. However, there was already a wound on its back, she just had to poke it again.


    The Panther¡¯s attack also missed its target since he was disturbed at the crucial moment. Meanwhile, Raven and ze rejoiced at the fact that they were able to harm the Panther even when they were only middle stage Rank-8 Mages.


    Quite conveniently, they opted not to think much about the fact that not only was the Panther injured, but Raven had also used that same wound to harm it otherwise it would have been impossible.


    Just when their fear had disappeared and the excitement washed over, the Panther which was previously groaning in pain growled viciously.


    Their smiles froze as they readied themselves for another round of struggle.


    However, they were foolish to think that they had a chance against the Panther. Just the next moment, the Beast released all of its aura which started to suffocate Raven who was only a few feet away from it.


    Grrrr!


    ze didn¡¯t fare any better as the Panther growled loudly.


    At that instant, Raven realized that their small victory just now was only them poking the Beast¡¯s wound!


    She immediately began to cast several Spells to run away from there, but the Panther didn¡¯t give her any chance.


    The Panther jumped at her and with a single sweep of its paw, it hit Raven who was sent flying across the trees!


    ¡°Raven!¡± ze shouted with widened eyes. Even though he was a few meters away from them, he could feel that attack just now would have inflicted some serious injuries.


    However, he did not have time to care about Raven as the Panther moved its eyes towards him next.


    A feeling of dread washed over him as he hurriedly created as many pirs of ice as he could surrounding him.


    Unfortunately for him, all of his efforts were futile because what happened next left him in a daze.


    The Blood Panther which was tens of meters away from him closed in all of that distance in the blink of an eye!


    All those ice pirs and the ice spikes that he had sent towards the Beast all shattered like ss.


    Following that, the Panther hit ze the same way it did to Raven, sending him flying in the other direction.


    Urghh!


    A painful groan escaped his mouth as he hit the tree before falling to the ground.


    The Panther looked coldly as Raven and ze both squirmed on the ground before struggling to stand up on their feet again. ze even felt as if he had broken a bone as he stumbled and fell to the ground again!


    ¡°Kehe! Worms like you dared to defy me?!¡± the Blood Panther sneered again before it turned its face towards Ozul who hadn¡¯t intervened at all.


    In the Beast¡¯s eyes, he was only an ordinary viger who had hired those two Rank-8 Mages to deal with him hoping that they would be enough. What didn¡¯t sit right with the Beast was the fact that he couldn¡¯t see any signs of fear or despair on Ozul¡¯s face as he had been expecting.


    Instead, his face remained as calm as it was from the start.


    The Panther thought that he might still have hope in those two weaklings that couldn¡¯t even stand on their two feet now.


    ¡°It is futile! kehehe...¡± the Pantherughed like a human before it appeared near Raven and hit her, sending her flying in the air as if she was a lifeless doll!


    Khuu!


    Air escaped Raven¡¯s mouth followed by a mouthful of blood as she dropped near ze. This time, she too felt as if she had broken some bones as she felt piercing pain all over her body!


    The Panther slowly made his way towards them while enjoying their sullen expressions. Even being a beast, the sinister smile together with those pointed canines dripping with saliva looked more vicious than any humans¡¯ expressions could ever get.


    In the face of the gigantic panther slowlying towards them, Raven and ze were helpless. The so-called training against the Rank-9 Beast didn¡¯t evenst five minutes before they were incapacitated.


    The fact that they were still conscious was already a miracle!


    Meanwhile, Ozul watched from the side without any change in his expressions. He knew from the start that they had no chance of winning against the Rank-9 Beast.


    Even though injured, it wasn¡¯t something two middle stage Rank-8 Mages could ever hope to defeat.


    Although injured and in a weakened state, the Panther was still a Rank-9 Beast. The fact that they could annoy it to such an extent was the extent of their capabilities.


    Even knowing the result of this ¡®battle¡¯ beforehand, Ozul had still pitted the duo against the Beast because of one particr reason.


    Raven and ze, both were geniuses, and that was undeniable. However, genius didn¡¯t mean that they were invincible or wless.


    ze had an immense talent for the Ice Element while Raven¡¯sprehensive ability together with her hard work had also gotten her into the ranks of those heaven-defying geniuses, but both of them had their own ws.


    One particr wmon in Raven and ze was how it had been a while since they felt the threat of death along with the despair because of the immense difference in strength!


    Although both of them had a rough experience in the past which made them work so hard to gain strength for such a thing not to happen again to them, they recently had forgotten the taste of defeat.


    One might call him cruel and ruthless with his method to make his own people suffer just so they would have more motivation, but Ozul knew that they were bound to be arrogant if they didn¡¯t taste defeat once in a while.


    It was better to lose a couple of times than to gain arrogance that would ultimately be the cause of their deaths.


    Ozul wasn¡¯t some nobleman who would preach the negative aspects of arrogance, but in the world that he knew, Raven and ze¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t anywhere near enough for them to be arrogant over.


    A random old man he one day meets on the street turned out to be someone that he couldn¡¯t even gauge the power of, how could he let Raven and ze blind themselves?


    It was better that they suffered now and understand that there would always be someone above them.


    Seeing that both of them were previously so excited to fight the Rank-9 Beast was proof that they weren¡¯t aware of their limits.


    Noticing the crestfallen expressions on their faces, Ozul realized that it was enough. They would probably not forget this experience for a while.


    Even if they did, he could always repeat the same process but with something even more terrifying.


    When the Panther was only a few feet away from the duo, looking down at them with disgust, Ozul silently released the Ball of Purity from his hand.


    Just when the Panther raised its paw again to deal the finishing blow,


    Swish!


    A gentle breeze passed by, and before the duo¡¯s gaping mouths, the head of the giant Blood Panther suddenly fell to the ground without any resistance!

 Chapter 267

    Chapter 267: Tired.


    Thud!


    The giant head rolled over to the ground and stopped right next to the duo¡¯s faces, staring stupefied at the gigantic eyes that had not yet realized it was dead.


    The Panther¡¯s body twitched on the spot for a few moments before it also fell down lifelessly.


    Both Raven and ze had their mouths agape as they stared unbelievingly at the sight before them. Last time they checked, wasn¡¯t Ozul just as powerful as a Rank-9? How could he then kill a Rank-9 Beast so easily!?


    Behind the now dead Beast, Ozul calmly walked towards them without even sparing a nce at it.


    He noticed their stunned expressions, but that was also good. If they saw hope and what they might be able to achieve in the future after the helplessness, then all of this would only bring about more benefits to them.


    Ozul noticed how both of them had broken a few bones and could barely squirm in their position much less stand up and follow him back. Raven had blood dripping from the corner of her lips while it looked like ze was barely even conscious.


    .....


    He sighed and told them that they could use the healing potions while he sat a little distance away from them, gazing at the still open eyes of the beheaded Blood Panther.


    The duo didn¡¯t waste any time and brought out their healing potions and immediately gulped them down in an instant. Even keeping their eyes open was bing difficult now.


    The healing potion took effect immediately. Theirplexion immediately started to improve at a visible rate. ze stopped groaning and Raven stopped bleeding. Although just taking a single potion helped them a lot, they still needed time forplete recovery.


    While they waited there on the ground, Ozul suddenly asked without looking at the duo, ¡°Look at this dead body. Why did it die?¡±


    ze and Raven realized what was going on and started to think out an answer. After a while, Raven replied a little unsure, ¡°Weakness...?¡±


    However, Ozul shook his head sideways and spoke, ¡°It isn¡¯t necessarily dead just because it was weaker than me.¡±


    The duo kept thinking for a correct answer, but they couldn¡¯t think of anything in their current state.


    After a while when Ozul noticed that they had given up, he sighed and answered it himself, ¡°It is dead because not only was it weaker than me, but also arrogant.¡±


    The duo fell into deep thoughts when Ozul continued, ¡°Weakness doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that you will die when your enemy is stronger than you. If this Beast had just decided to stay at its ce without causing a ruckus, I am sure he would have been alive for days toe.¡±


    That was it. If only the Panther knew its limits, it wouldn¡¯t have dared to be so arrogant and run rampant everywhere, attracting the attention of those it couldn¡¯t handle.


    The pungent smell of blood permeated the air, but Raven and ze were lost in their thoughts.


    Obviously, Ozul was trying to teach them a lesson from this. So they couldn¡¯t just wave off his words.


    ¡°Being afraid, hiding, and running away is better than overestimating your achievements and dying. If you are afraid, you can improve yourself and still make aeback. But when you are dead, there are probably no second chances.¡±


    Ozul¡¯s words rang in their heads, making them understand what he was trying to tell them all this time.


    They weren¡¯t any better off than the Panther, maybe even worse. Because although the Beast didn¡¯t know about Ozul¡¯s strength, they did know the Beast¡¯s even before they started fighting.


    Still, they proceeded on with it without anyint and dived into the battle as if they really had any chance of winning.


    It was more of a wake-up call for them than training. A wake-up call that not everything could be solved by being fearless.


    Raven realized that they had taken a beating just because Ozul wanted them to understand their limits and could not help but smile wryly in pain. He could have very well just told them so, and it might have been enough.


    However, Ozul always took extreme measures, and she couldn¡¯t really call out on him since his methods did indeed work in the end.


    Moving her sight to the right, she noticed that ze was still in deep thoughts, not yet understanding his intentions.


    ¡®Yeah... any normal method wouldn¡¯t have worked,¡¯ Raven shook her head with a sigh. If even this much wasn¡¯t able to make ze understand, she knew that a normal pep talk would have just flown above his head.


    After that, her gaze darted towards Ozul¡¯s figure who had now closed his eyes and had Jinx sleeping on hisp. Her eyes couldn¡¯t help but show a tint of worry as she quickly concealed it before Ozul realized.


    Whenever she looked at Ozul resting with closed eyes, she would remember the time when he used to look at the night sky with mncholic eyes that very silently would scream to tell that he was tired.


    In her eyes, Ozul had so much to think about from a very young age. Although those shoulders still looked as if they could hold the world on them, Raven didn¡¯t think that anyone realized how much of a burden it is for him.


    One of the reasons she had stopped feeling jealous of Jinx was because whenever she was around him, Raven felt as if Ozul¡¯s mood had improved slightly. And if that was the case, then the cat very well deserved his care.


    Meanwhile, she could only try to get stronger and help lessen Ozul¡¯s burden in the future.


    Raven sighed before she tried to get up, but a hiss of pain escaped her mouth as she wavered.


    ¡°Sit back down. Recover first,¡± Ozul spoke when he noticed that she was trying to stand up in such a condition.


    It hadn¡¯t even been a minute after taking the potion, their bodies still pained as if they had been ground between tworge boulders.


    Ravenplied and didn¡¯t try to stand up anymore before taking out another potion from her Spatial Ring. She was about to gulp it down as well, but Ozul stopped her,


    ¡°Wait.¡±


    Raven stopped and ze also looked curiously when Ozul stood up and approached her.


    He stretched his hand towards the potion indicating for Raven to hand it to him which she immediatelyplied with.


    Ozul took the purple potion in his hand and observed it from up close. Although he had previously examined them as well when he had first found out about them, he thought about giving it another try.


    He remembered the old father of Luthien had reddened eyes and a few more disturbances in his body all because he had been absorbing the whiff of smokes released by his arm.


    Then there was that Mikol who even fell unconscious in a near-death state after over exerting himself. He also had reddened eyes. Ozul had a feeling that it was also rted to his limbs.


    Since this potion was also made by a tiny portion of that smoke, Ozul wanted to see if he could find the reason why or what changes did his essence make in humans after absorbing it.


    He opened the lid of the ss bottle and dropped just a tiny bit of it on his finger and closed his eyes to see if he could feel anything.


    However, before he could even examine that drop, it suddenly lost its purple color and turned white instead!


    Ozul realized that it was because whatever tiny part of his essence was used in making the potion had simply been absorbed back into his body. Of course, that little essence didn¡¯t make any difference since it was only a small part of the never-ending smoke released by his severed arm.


    On the other hand, Raven and ze were just confused and stunned seeing the purple healing potion suddenly losing its color.


    Since the potion would just lose its properties aftering into contact with his body, Ozul decided to see if he could get anything just from examining the ss bottle.


    s, he didn¡¯t find anything that could give him deeper insights into his body.


    However, there was still one thing that he could try before giving up. He handed the purple potion back to Raven and said, ¡°Use it.¡±


    That would have been fine if he hadn¡¯t also taken another step closer and pressed his hand on Raven¡¯s chest!


    ze hurriedly looked away acting as if he hadn¡¯t seen anything while Raven¡¯s face began to heat up. She felt her whole world spinning before Ozul said in a seemingly uncaring voice,


    ¡°Drink the potion.¡±


    When Raven looked at his face, she noticed how he had his eyes closed and was concentrating on her body instead. Realizing that she had just misunderstood, she hurriedly gulped down the potion to hide her embarrassment.


    Meanwhile, Ozul was too lost in his thoughts to realize the situation around him. Things would have been much different if he was instead focusing on the whirlwind of emotionsing from his front.


    ze even started whistling as he looked at the sky as if it had suddenly be the most interesting thing in the entire world.


    Raven mustered up all of her courage to stay standing and not move a muscle while Ozul did whatever he was doing.


    As for Ozul, he observed the path that the healing potion took after entering Raven¡¯s body, and he was genuinely surprised by what he found!

 Chapter 268

    Chapter 268: Test on others first.


    Ozul unconsciously opened his eyes and stared at Raven¡¯s stomach which caused her to feel even more embarrassed.


    He just noticed how that minuscule part of the ck smoke in the potion immediately scattered inside her body before it somehow helped in regenerating the lost cells of the injured part of the body.


    That process wasplicated and he didn¡¯t know how it could help in creating cells of another body, but what he found next was the main cause of his surprise.


    After the potion did its work, it should have disappeared or something. However, he felt the small traces of his essence still lingering inside Raven¡¯s body!


    He hurriedly closed his eyes again and focused on that small trace of the essence and noticed how it slowly moved towards Raven¡¯s heart.


    He was in for another shock because when he deeply felt the area around her heart, there was even more of his essence surrounding it!


    Ozul again opened his eyes and for a few seconds, he didn¡¯t understand why it was so. The essence around her heart was many times more so than he would find in a single healing potion. And he had noticed it himself how the minuscule amount of essence would be mostly used up and an even smaller part would be left inside the body after the healing was done.


    .....


    It was concerning because there were almost multiple whiffs of that ck smoke present inside of Raven¡¯s body.


    Seeing no other option, Ozul could only use ze as aparison.


    He found him still sitting next to them but for some reason, was looking at the sky.


    Ozul moved towards him and said, ¡°Straighten your body.¡±


    ze was startled seeing him suddenly appear in his line of sight, but he instantly did what he was told.


    After he had sat straight, Ozul ced a hand on his chest as well. Closing his eyes, he directly focused on ze¡¯s heart.


    A few secondster, he opened his eyes and stood up. However, confusion was written all over his face.


    Raven and ze were curious what had happened for Ozul to be so focused on it, but they didn¡¯t disturb his line of thoughts.


    Ozul was confused because he found that ze wasn¡¯t very different from Raven. The only difference he could point out was the quantity of his essence.


    ze had it slightly lesser than Raven. However, it didn¡¯t seem to be doing anything at all.


    He even observed it for a few minutes to see if anything would change, but the ck essence stayed at its ce without moving an inch. It was basically useless then.


    As far as his abilities allowed him to examine, he only found his essence doing nothing.


    But he couldn¡¯t rule out the possibilities of his abilities still being too low for him to notice anything. In the past, there had been many times when he would examine their bodies, but he wasn¡¯t able to find even these small traces of his essence before.


    Ultimately, it could be that he was still weak for him to notice any difference being made by the tiny strands of ck smoke circling around their hearts.


    If someone else other than him saw it, they would certainly start calling him a Devil¡¯s spawn again.


    He was in a dilemma because he didn¡¯t know what he should do with this residual essence inside their bodies.


    What if this was exactly the cause for the abnormalities of Luthien¡¯s father and that Mikol guy?


    Though there were no signs of anything like that on Raven and ze. They didn¡¯t have reddened eyes or would suddenly get an outburst of power out of nowhere.


    How so much of this essence had entered their bodies in the first ce was also a question that he didn¡¯t have an answer to.


    ¡°How many times have you consumed these healing potions?¡± Ozul looked at them with a thoughtful face.


    However, the duo thought that he was displeased, so they were suddenly on edge.


    ¡°Not many times...¡± ze managed to utter after a few seconds of consideration.


    He remembered the time Ozul had told them not to take these healing potions at all. Maybe he had changed his mind again?


    ¡°Tell me the exact amount,¡± Ozul spoke with a clear voice that seemed harsher to the duo.


    A little panicked, Raven quickly started counting in her head. ze tried the same, but his brain started hurting under the pressure.


    A few secondster, Raven hesitated a little before replying, ¡°I am not exactly sure... but I have used around 10 bottles...¡±


    Ozul didn¡¯t wait for ze to answer. If Raven¡¯s answer was somewhere near 10. ze¡¯s would probably be somewhere close as well.


    Even if he hadn¡¯t gotten an urate answer, it was at least enough to prove that the amount of essence inside their bodies was indeed more than there should have been using only the potions.


    The amount inside their bodies might only be umted if they used it more than a hundred times. And that too when they didn¡¯t have any injuries in the first ce so the essence was not used for healing them.


    There was not a doubt that such a thing was impossible, so there must be some other reason for this.


    Sigh...


    No matter how much he thought about it, Ozul couldn¡¯t find any proper reason that could exin it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go...¡± he told the duo before slowly taking off in a certain direction while his thoughts still lingered on this topic.


    By now, Raven and ze had recovered enough to follow behind him as they coated a few parts of their bodies that still hurt with Mana to ease the pain.


    Instead of taking them back to the headquarters, Ozul led the duo to the closest city to them.


    As for the question about if he should leave his essence be inside their body or take it out, Ozul chose the former.


    There weren¡¯t any side effects till now and he didn¡¯t know how long it had been that the essence was inside their bodies.


    If he had found anything wrong with it, then he would have immediately done something about it. However, he wouldn¡¯t do so now since taking it out of their body might also cause some unexpected reaction.


    It was better to take a safer approach and not touch the residual essence. Although he doubted anything would happen, he would rather test it on others first.


    The one person he really wanted to examine right now was that Mikol, but he knew that it wasn¡¯t possible for now as he would probably remain in the Church.


    ¡®I will do it when the timees...¡¯ Ozul said to himself before slowly clearing his mind.


    He wouldn¡¯t gain anything by thinking too deeply about it. Once he examined Mikol and tested taking out the essence from someone else, he would naturally have a few of his answers if not all.


    For now, they had a limited amount of time before the test of Old Gu started. He couldn¡¯t waste it on testing things. It was better to take care of it when the timees.


    Sigh...


    Another sigh escaped Ozul¡¯s mouth as Raven made a worried face before quickly concealing it. She knew something was bothering him, but she couldn¡¯t even ask.


    Thinking so much was a rather tiring job for Ozul. He would rather just take a nap than think so much.


    A little less than 20 minutester, they arrived in a rtively richer city. He didn¡¯t waste any time and found a hotel to stay in first.


    Although it was not night, a day was even better for him to sleep because the sun was more annoying than the stars.


    Meanwhile, even ze read the atmosphere and didn¡¯t say anything lest he annoyed Ozul even more.


    They quietly took a room each with Jinx sharing the room with Ozul.


    As he fell onto the bed, he couldn¡¯t help but think how good it would have been if he already had his other arm back and could just sleep forever in a room alone with no lights.


    Unfortunately, he knew things would never be so simple.


    Even if he gained his arm back, his curiosity over his own body would keep him running all around.


    . . .


    Ozul only got out of his room the next day and he didn¡¯t need to knock on the duo¡¯s doors since they also came out at the same time as if they were waiting for him all this time.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t we go back to the headquarters?¡± ze asked only after confirming that Ozul¡¯s mood had returned to normal.


    Although Ozul¡¯s face would always remain unchanged, being with him for so long had taught them to read the atmosphere around him instead.


    They didn¡¯t know how, but if they focused enough, they could instinctually tell if he was displeased or not in the mood to tolerate nonsense.


    ¡°What do you want to do in the headquarters?¡± Instead of answering, Ozul responded with a question of his own.


    Raven snickered at ze¡¯s dumb expressions before following Ozul out of the hotel.


    As they walked on the street, Ozul said, ¡°That old man has given everyone five years. After these five years, you probably won¡¯t be the strongest there, but I at least want you two to hold your own ground when the timees.¡±


    Raven and ze immediately nodded their heads. They were at least confident to take care of themselves in the test.


    As for ze¡¯s question, Ozul finally eased his confusion, ¡°Till then, you will be training with Magical Beasts...¡±

 Chapter 269

    Chapter 269: Unfairness.


    ¡°Until then, you will be training with Magical Beasts.¡±


    After hearing those words, Raven and ze only hoped that they wouldn¡¯t be put against even more Rank-9 Beasts.


    Fortunately for them, Ozul didn¡¯t want them half-dead every day. He led them to ces that were abundant in Beasts around Rank-8.


    Though he only made them fight those Beasts in the upper levels of Rank-8. Anything less than that would be too easy for them.


    They moved from ces to ces fighting peak Rank-8 Beasts. Their progress was slow, but they were improving at a steady rate.


    What both of them needed now was power but experience, and they could only gain it slowly. There was no shortcut to gaining experience.


    The more they fought, the more their bodies got used to fighting. Slowly, they had started to make instinctual movements during the battles as well.


    .....


    Ozul would only lead them to a city when he wanted to have a proper sleep. Otherwise, they spent their days in the wilderness fighting beasts and killing beasts.


    Though Rank-8 Beasts weren¡¯t somon either. So the duo wasn¡¯t able to fight the Beasts all day long every day. On the days when Ozul didn¡¯t find any Beast, he would oversee continuous duels between them.


    While ze had the natural talent for Ice Element, so he wouldn¡¯t have any difficulties regarding that most of the time. As for Raven, she wouldn¡¯t find any better person to answer her questions about Darkness Element than Ozul himself.


    Although Ozul tried to stay near the Neutral Lands, it didn¡¯t go as nned since they couldn¡¯t find any Rank-8 Beasts in groups. Although the duels between them were also fruitful, Ozul wasn¡¯t satisfied with them.


    Even when he would tell both of them to go at each other with the intent to kill, they would probably stop at thest minute. And deep down, they also knew that.


    So they wouldn¡¯t feel as much pressure as when they were fighting the Beasts who wouldn¡¯t miss a single opportunity to take their life.


    Just like that, the only time when Raven and ze were allowed to rest was the time when Ozul wanted to sleep as well.


    Time started to pass with Ozul spending most of his time watching over the duo.


    ¡ª¨C


    Four years passed in the blink of an eye.


    In the start, Ozul only made them fight Magical Beasts. But cultivation couldn¡¯t be left alone either, so he also made them cultivate after the fight.


    Although it was difficult to cultivate after they were exhausted from the battle, it had shown results as well.


    ze¡¯s advancement to the End Stage of Rank-8 was the proof of that!


    It didn¡¯te as a surprise to Ozul when ze achieved a breakthrough. Since he would constantly examine their bodies, he knew that he was quickly reaching the bottleneck.


    What surprised him was the fact that the usual bottleneck which took most of the Mages years to ovee didn¡¯t even hinder ze.


    His natural talent was finally starting to fully show its might when Raven only reached the bottleneck a yearter!


    As of now, it had almost been a month after she had reached the bottleneck. Ozul spected that it wouldn¡¯t take long for her before she also bes an End Stage Rank-8 Mage, but it was difficult to measure just how long.


    Raven finally had to face the reality that hard work alone couldn¡¯t beat natural talent.


    A hardworking person can certainly beat a genius, but it was a different matter if that genius also begins to work hard.


    ¡°Only the weak who gave upin about fairness,¡± Ozul had told Raven when she once said how the heavens were unfair.


    After that, although she still felt bad that her talent wasn¡¯t as good as ze¡¯s, Raven didn¡¯t give up. So what if ze had left her behind? She would ultimately stand at the same Rank sooner orter.


    What mattered was that she could help Ozul, even if a little.


    Moreover, there was still one thing that ze didn¡¯t have and that was her brain. No matter how much talent that ice demon had, he would never be as smart as her.


    Only when Ozul had mentioned this did Raven¡¯s mood finally improve.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s time to return,¡± Ozul said, making Raven and ze perk up their ears.


    They had also been keeping a count, so ze asked, ¡°Hasn¡¯t... it only been four years? Haa... There is still one year left... before the test starts... no?¡±


    He had just finished killing two peak Rank-8 Beasts at the same time so he was almost panting while Raven sat crossed leg a few meters away. Both of them stillcked inbat, but Raven was way ahead of ze in that aspect, so she was allowed to cultivate while ze fought the Beasts.


    ¡°I have other things to do before that test as well,¡± Ozul didn¡¯t borate. Raven nodded her head and stood up to follow behind while ze was left there panting on the ground,


    ¡°Hey! Wait for me,¡±


    . . .


    The three arrived back in the Neutral Lands on the same day. ze was breathing heavily as he still needed to catch his breath.


    He could have used the healing potion for this as well, but Ozul had forbidden them from using the potion after finding out that a trace of his essence was always left inside their body.


    Unless Ozul learned more about it, he decided that it was better to be on the safe side.


    The trio could see the visible changes to the Neutral Lands in their absence. In the span of four years, thousands of people had already shifted their business to somewhere else, so very rarely would they see any crowd.


    Those who had moved out earlier didn¡¯t want to take any chances, but there was still arge part of people who held hope that they might not need to leave after all as they noticed how the big organizations hadn¡¯t yet moved their headquarters either.


    This included the headquarters of the Three-Eyed Strangers. Irvin, Haley, and Oliver had the most say in the matter of the organization, but they still needed Ozul¡¯s permission for them to move the headquarters.


    However, all this time that Ozul had taken Raven and ze to train outside, he had only contacted them twice. That too only to confirm their general situation and if there was any major problem.


    Fortunately for them, everyone was too busy preparing for whatever was to happen after the 5 years of time ended for them to look for trouble with the Three-Eyed Strangers.


    As Ozul arrived in the town, he noticed that rarely anyone entered the headquarters at this point. Many people were left in the Neutral Lands in the first ce, so the fewer number of customers was understandable.


    There were bases of the Three-Eyed Strangers all over the world now, so these people wouldn¡¯t bother toe all the way over to this town of the Neutral Lands for some unimportant information.


    As Ozul entered, most of the people on the first floor hadn¡¯t changed, so they instantly recognized him and the duo.


    And just like how he usually did, he nonchntly ignored their whispers and murmurs before making his way directly to the seventh floor. That is where Irvin and Haley used to spend most of their time.


    ¡°But we can¡¯t keep recruiting people like that!¡±


    ¡°Why do we give this bunch of people so many resources in the first ce?!¡±


    ¡°I agree. They don¡¯t help us in any way.¡±


    Ozul heard people argue as he slowly made his way towards the meeting room.


    ¡°It is as Young Master hadmanded me to do so,¡± Haley replied with a cold tone of her own. She didn¡¯t like the fact that these bunch of Rank-8 Mages never seemed to learn.


    Just when another person was about to argue, Ozul stepped in the room, surprising everyone as he said, ¡°I told Haley to do so. If anyone has any problem, they can consult with me.¡±


    In shock and surprise, the people who had previously beenining suddenly shuddered as they felt Ozul¡¯s cold gaze swept past them. Since their lives were tied with the organization, they naturally wouldn¡¯t think anything bad for it.


    However, they also had to understand that Ozul was the leader of this organization and they only worked for him. They could put their opinion on the table, but never force anyone to use them.


    ¡°Young Master!¡± x2


    Irvin and Haley immediately stood up followed by the rest of the elite members as they simultaneously bowed towards Ozul.


    ¡°Hah! You are finally back!¡± Oliver spoke with a smile of his own. However casual he talked, he still bowed his head a little to show him some respect.


    Ozul nodded his head, indicating for all of them to raise their heads before he immediately went to the topic, ¡°I assume the people who you were talking about are the ones you recruited for the special unit?¡±


    Although Haley was surprised that the first thing Ozul had said aftering back wasn¡¯t about him going to rest, she still nodded her head and answered, ¡°Yes young master. However, they were debating that I should lessen their funds as this special unit hasn¡¯t done anything for the organization.¡±


    ¡°Hm? I have given her full authority on this. She can use as many resources of the organization she can to train this special unit,¡± Ozul exined as he noticed everyone¡¯s confused gaze.


    He then turned towards Haley and asked, ¡°So, how many people have you recruited already...?¡±

 Chapter 270

    Chapter 270: Secret Division.


    ¡°So, how many people have you recruited already?¡± Ozul asked while looking straight at Haley.


    Haley evaded her eyes, but managed to answer nheless, ¡°There are 35 people, young master...¡±


    Looking at her, it was obvious that she didn¡¯t think that she had gathered enough people, but Ozul simply nodded his head and asked, ¡°Give me the details.¡±


    While Haley took out the documents, the others in the room began to take their leave under Irvin¡¯s order. A few minutester, only Irvin, Oliver, and Haley were left in the room together with Ozul and the duo.


    ¡°Young master, all of these people are Rank-8 Mages at the very least,¡± Haley said after she had gathered the documents. She offered them to Ozul for him to take a look at it, but he was toozy to read.


    Her words caused a great shock to Raven and ze who were also in the same rank, albeit in the upper level. Since when did finding Rank-8 Mages had be so easy?! They couldn¡¯t help but doubt her words.


    Unknown to them, the resources that Ozul had allowed Haley to use far exceeded what any other organization might offer their members. If she could find these Mages, roping them in was not a problem.


    .....


    The fact that the Three-Eyed Strangers was an information gathering organization also helped when she had to find these people.


    Oliver at the side couldn¡¯t help but sigh as well. With the organization¡¯s resources and the pressure from all around him, he had managed to break through to Rank-7, but it now seemed that he was nowhere near strong enough.


    Haley herself had also be a Rank-8 Mage, so she had an easier time dealing with all of this mess.


    ¡°Majority of these people are at the Initial Stage with just a couple of them at Middle Stage. Sadly, I wasn¡¯t able to find any End Stage Rank-8,¡± Haley sighed since having a peak Rank-8 Mage as the leader of this division would have ensured its sess.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Just inform that if any of them managed to reach the End Stage before others, they will automatically be made the division leader. Only if you can¡¯t find anyone either,¡± Ozul calmly exined to which Haley listened with care.


    She nned to do the same before but had stopped since she would obviously need Ozul¡¯s permission before choosing the division leader.


    ¡°Since you had told me to hurry up, I could only look for people from the outside,¡± Haley continued while skimming through the documents once again.


    Surprisingly, ze spoke up, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be hard to ensure their loyalties?¡±


    His question was valid since rapidly recruiting Rank-8 Mages from outside would obviously mean that all of them only joined for their own benefits. But loyalty had to be built with time; it was not something they could buy with resources.


    However, Haley shook her head and replied, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. First of all, most of them are runaway Mages from other popr factions. They are being hunted down by their respective organizations and had nowhere to go.¡±


    There were all kinds of reasons that an organization would hunt their own member, but one thing was assured, no small faction would ever take in such runaways as it meant dering open war.


    Many of the other core members had shown their disagreement when they had learned that Haley was recruiting these runaways. After all, it might have been fine if it was only one or two people, but Haley epted any Rank-8 Mage that she stumbled upon!


    There were 35 people currently, and it meant that they would have offended tens of factions if they learned about any of this.


    Of course, Haley didn¡¯t listen to any of their protests. It was a direct order from Ozul after all. Even these core members shut up when she told them who had given this order.


    Earlier, they were voicing out theirints, but that was because they had found out how many resources were allocated to this new division formed by Haley. Most of them found it unfair that this division would be receiving so many benefits when many of them were Middle Stage Rank-8 Mages.


    What they didn¡¯t know was how stricter the conditions ced on the members of this division werepared to theirs.


    ¡°Not just that, all of them have taken oaths. So they wouldn¡¯t even think about betraying the organization,¡± Haley added with a confident smile.


    Since all the members of this division were getting so many resources, they also had to take much more restrictive oaths than the normal core members.


    The core members, at most, had to swear that they wouldn¡¯t betray the organization and would never spill out its secret. Other than that, they had free will and could make their own decisions and point out their dissatisfactions anytime they wanted.


    They could even leave the organization. Of course, they had to take another oath to never spill any secrets of the organization even after leaving.


    Unlike them, the members of this new division didn¡¯t have any of that privilege. One such oath they had to swear was that they would follow any order given directly by Ozul!


    ¡°Even if you tell them to give up their life, they will have to do it,¡± Haley added, startling everyone in the room except for Ozul.


    Even Irvin and Oliver didn¡¯t know that Haley had made those members take such an oath!


    However, considering that all of them were hunted down and lived in fear of dying every day, it wasn¡¯t surprising that they would ept such an oath. It also helped the fact that Ozul was a Rank-9 Mage in their eyes and people naturally wanted to follow a strong figure.


    It was better to give their life to a powerhouse than to get hunted down like a street dog.


    Before ze raised another question, Haley exined, ¡°Though that is only limited to Young Master. Otherwise, they are free to do whatever they want except harm the organization or leak any information.¡±


    ze stopped in the middle as it seemed that he had his question already answered.


    ¡°Good. Don¡¯t stop looking. If you can find any Rank-8 Mage and they agree to take the same oaths, recruit them. I believe we have enough resources to amodate even more members,¡± Ozul nodded his head in satisfaction.


    Thirty five Rank-8 Mages were more than what he had expected. But it was exactly what he needed.


    ¡°Yes, young master,¡± Haley respectfully bowed. She could see that Ozul was more or less satisfied with her work, so she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.


    The only reason he hade back to the headquarters instead of directly going towards the ruins was because of this division.


    Although for him, a Rank-8 Mage was nothing. But it was an undeniable fact that Rank-8 Mages were the main force of any big faction. Just this fact alone that the Three-Eyed Strangers now had a secret division that consisted of thirty five Rank-8 Mages was enough to put them in the ranks of those older factions.


    Of course, now that Ozul was stronger than Rank-9 Mages, there were only four factions in the entire continent that couldpete with the Three-Eyed Strangers.


    Now that he had confirmed that this secret division was already more or less established, it would be useful for his exploration.


    Following that, he had some other things to test as well, so he looked at Oliver and Irvin, ¡°Come here you two.¡±


    The two men were confused why Ozul had called them closer but theyplied nheless.


    Ozul first ced his hand on Oliver¡¯s chest, confusing him even more.


    ¡®Hm? He has it way less than Raven and ze...¡¯ Ozul found thatpared to the duo, the traces of his essence inside Oliver was marginally low.


    After that, Ozul ced his hand on Irvin¡¯s chest. They didn¡¯t question what he was doing as they didn¡¯t want to break his focus.


    The amount of traces around Irvin¡¯s heart were even lower than Oliver¡¯s.


    ¡®Does it have to do anything with me staying around them?¡¯ Ozul could only think that such was the case. Since he had lived with Raven for the longest, she had it the most while Irvin had the least traces of essence which also matched with his hypothesis.


    He would have to examine the body of people who he hasn¡¯t been around for him to confirm his suspicions.


    ¡°Bring me two people. One of them must have taken that healing potion at least once, and the other shouldn¡¯t,¡± Ozul ordered to which Irvin nodded his head before moving out of the room.


    It was truly a bliss when he didn¡¯t have to do his own things and could order people under him instead.


    After a while, Irvin came back with two such members who were sweating like crazy. They didn¡¯t know why they were directly called to the seventh floor where only the core members were allowed, so they were both on edge.


    Ozul neared them and ced his hand on them one by one before thoroughly examining their bodies as well.


    ¡®As I thought...¡¯


    Ozul could more or less make a solid conclusion that the longer one stayed with him, the more traces of essence they would have.


    ¡°You can go,¡± he waved his hand and the two members hurriedly left the room, d that they hadn¡¯t done anything wrong.


    Since he was done here, he was about to move to his room on the 8th floor when Haley suddenly stopped him, ¡°Young master, what should I name this division...?¡±

 Chapter 271

    Chapter 271: The Rogue Crew.


    ¡°Young master, what should I name the division?¡± Haley stopped Ozul to ask.


    While Ozul had previously told her to name it whatever, she couldn¡¯t just casually name such an important division of the organization ced directly under him. Not to mention, she didn¡¯t think herself to be qualified enough to name a division consisting solely of Rank-8 Mages when she herself had just advanced to be one recently.


    Although Ozul didn¡¯t really care about naming it himself, he noticed the pleading look in Haley¡¯s eyes and decided that it didn¡¯t matter anyway, ¡°How about... the Rogue Crew?¡±


    He hadn¡¯t bothered asking what crimes all of those members hadmitted to be hunted down by their own organizations, but since they had taken the oaths, it didn¡¯t matter to him either way.


    Whatever crimes they hadmitted previously didn¡¯t have anything to do with him.


    Anyone in his ce would have been reluctant to use this method to recruit a whole division under him, consisting of criminals and runaways of other factions, but he had thoroughly checked that oath artifact.


    After these Mages took oaths, the pulse of Mana that bound the oath takers was even more restrictive than one might expect. Since Mana is filled throughout the Mages¡¯ bodies, they had no way to get rid of this parasite-like oath binder.


    .....


    Unless one had absolute mastery over the Mana and its workings, meaning they had broken past Rank-9, they wouldn¡¯t be able to break free from their oaths. He was also certain that no Rank-10 Mage would bother about some group of Rank-8¡¯s.


    ¡°The Rogue Crew? Hm. As simple as ever. But it is perfect~¡± Irvinmented with a thoughtful face. He didn¡¯t expect Ozul to name the division anything fancy anyway.


    All of them were criminals in one way or another, running all over the continent to save their lives, so the ¡®Rogue Crew¡¯ fit them perfectly.


    With that, the new division Rogue Crew known only to the core members of the Three-Eyed Strangers was formed under the directmand of Ozul.


    Satisfied, Ozul asked Haley to lead them to this newly formed group of runaways.


    Until now, Haley had been dealing with everything rted to this division, so even Oliver and Irvin knew very little about them.


    As she led Ozul outside the tower, others also curiously followed after them.


    At this point, except for the asional customers, there were only the members of their organization in the entire town. All the others had already moved out from the Neutral Lands.


    Unlike the giant organizations, ordinary people couldn¡¯t afford to stay for long. Unless they moved earlier, they wouldn¡¯t be able to establish their business outside the Neutral Lands.


    Since the Three-Eyed Strangers had the whole town to themselves, Haley had created a lodging for them using the abandoned structures.


    As Haley stopped before a particr structure, Ozul sensed all the Rank-8 Mages cultivating inside thepound. It was surprising to see that none of them were cking off.


    When they entered thepound, the Rank-8 Mages all opened their eyes and the people behind Ozul noticed the dead look in their eyes. Having death looming on their heads even while they slept previously had obviously changed their psyche a lotpared to an ordinary person¡¯s.


    They all wore different types of clothes. Some had simple white robes while others were even worse. Although they were Rank-8 Mages, they didn¡¯t have enough time to enjoy living a luxurious life.


    As the group of people entered, these people stood up and eyed everyone one by one. Atst, their gazes stopped at Ozul and it was a surprise for them that they couldn¡¯t feel any Mana from him.


    ¡°Young master-¡± Haley was about to introduce them to Ozul before she was interrupted.


    ¡°We greet the leader!¡± Suddenly, all of them got on one knee and bowed towards Ozul!


    Their voice was really loud since all the thirty five people had shouted in unison. At this time, they didn¡¯t look like some rogue runaways who were hunted like street dogs. Instead, they had the air of trained warriors who were ready to give up their life for their leader anytime.


    Surprised, Ozul squinted his eyes at Haley. Most of these people shouldn¡¯t have known about each other beforehand, so it was unlikely that all of them would be so cooperative like this.


    Haley revealed a proud smile and replied, ¡°I had enough time to teach them the basics...¡±


    ¡®Just basics?¡¯ Ozul shook his head. It was obvious that she had spent most of her time in the past four years on this bunch. Otherwise, he would never believe that such people would be so cooperative in such a little time.


    What really satisfied him was the fact that none of them held any bad thoughts about him. They all had neutral thoughts for him, even with their heads bowed towards him.


    ¡°Rise,¡± Ozul said as all of them stood up one by one.


    These people all looked down on the ground without making any unnecessary movement. Although they weren¡¯t hunted down like street dogs now, they had still forfeited their lives in someone else¡¯s hands.


    No one would be happy with such circumstances.


    The group of people behind Ozul all felt an eerie feeling looking at the dead stares of these men who willingly handed their own leashes in some other¡¯s hands.


    However, Ozul wanted exactly something like this. He raised his eyebrows at Haley and said, ¡°You did a good job.¡±


    Being praised made Haley smile ear to ear, but she tried her best not to lose herposure.


    ¡®With them, things will be a lot easier,¡¯ Ozul mused in his mind. The day had finallye when he could have people do most of his work!


    As he turned back around to face these people, he noticed that they were still not properly dressed.


    ¡°Get them proper clothester,¡± he ordered to which Haley nodded her head. They were all waiting to see what Ozul would say to this group of people as he hadn¡¯t previously exined to them the reason he wanted to create such a division in the organization.


    Much to their disappointment, Ozul turned around again and said, ¡°All of you can leave.¡±


    However, it was obvious that this ¡®all of you¡¯ didn¡¯t include Raven and ze as both of them stood unmoving on their spots. Meanwhile, Haley and Irvin quietly left.


    ¡°Aw! Can¡¯t I just stay for a while?¡± Unlike them, Oliver wanted to give it a shot. He was really curious as to why Ozul had created this division and allocated them so many resources.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Alright...¡±


    Being the target of Ozul¡¯s vacant gazing, Oliver couldn¡¯t win the staringpetition and decisively chose to take his leave as well.


    Thepound turned silent after a few moments as Ozul confirmed that no one was spying over them.


    He suddenly shifted towards the group of men and a couple of women mixed within turned tense noticing his strange behavior. They had willingly handed over their lives to this person, so they were extremely nervous as to what kind of person he was.


    ¡°I am Ozul... and as you already know, you will be following my orders from now on,¡± Ozul first introduced his name with a casual tone.


    The people before him didn¡¯t express any emotions listening to his words. They only wanted to know what their real job was.


    From what they understood by the organization¡¯s work, they expected to do infiltration, or maybe even assassination in secret? He could have very well created their division as the main force of the organization as well.


    ¡°You will do any and all kinds of things under me. If you have any questions, keep them brief. I have a nap waiting for me,¡± Ozul spoke impatiently.


    For a while, no one dared to ask anything. No one knew what was included in this ¡®any and all kinds of things¡¯, so some of them had a bad premonition.


    Many of this group consisted of old-looking people and only a small group looked to be around middle-aged.


    After a few moments, a rtively younger looking man with small brown hair and saggy eyes stepped ahead.


    Just a single stare was enough for Ozul to know that he was one of those Middle Stage ones in the group. He faced this brown-haired man and asked, ¡°What is your name?¡±


    ¡°Huh?... I am Tatsuo.¡± Though surprised, Tatsuo immediately answered the question.


    ¡°What is your question?¡± Ozul asked with bored expressions on his face. He really wanted to go and take a nap right now.


    Even though Tatsuo realized Ozul¡¯s impatience, he still questioned with an unwavering tone, ¡°What does ¡®any and all kinds of things¡¯ mean?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Ozul looked at him as if it was the stupidest question he had ever heard. But he still answered Tatsuo, ¡°You will be following me all the time. If I tell you to call over anyone, you will do so. If I ask you to take things from one ce or another, you will obey. It depends on the situation really.¡±


    He said all of that so casually that one might have even thought that he was only joking with the group.


    However, Raven and ze couldn¡¯t conceal their astonishment as well. And just as they had expected, the Rogue Crew also showed various degrees of facial expressions as all of them had a single thought in their mind, ¡®You created a group of 35 Rank-8 Mages to do such misceneous tasks for you!?¡¯

 Chapter 272

    Chapter 272: Tatsuo.


    In the end, they just thought that Ozul wanted to rest, so he didn¡¯t seriously exin their roles to them.


    ¡°What was your name again?¡± Ozul asked the person who had built up his courage to question before.


    ¡°My name is Tatsuo...¡± Tatsuo again answered, though a bit awkwardly since it hadn¡¯t even been more than a minute since he had told his name before.


    ¡°Well Tatsuo, you are the temporary leader of these 34 people behind you,¡± Ozul told the brown-haired man which was truly a surprise for him.


    Did his question cause him to catch Ozul¡¯s eyes? Not only Tatsuo, but even the others also had the same question in their minds as they clicked their tongue in regret.


    ¡°All of you are to obey his orders just as if you would obey me,¡± Ozul turned towards the other members of the Rogue Crew and ordered while sweeping his gaze over all of them.


    While most of them in the Rogue Crew didn¡¯t want to listen to Tatsuo, they had no other choice now that Ozul had already given his order. Death awaited them if they didn¡¯t obey it.


    .....


    Unlike what they thought, Ozul¡¯s reason for selecting Tatsuo as the leader was not because he stood out. Rather than that, it was because Tatsuo was not only rtively youngerpared to the rest, but he was also closer to breaking through to the End Stage of Rank-8 than the others.


    It was more likely for him to achieve a breakthrough than those old geezers in the Rogue Crew.


    Anyway, he had only made him a temporary leader. If someone else managed to reach the End Stage earlier than Tatsuo or if Haley somehow found an End Stage Rank-8 Mage to join, then he could always just remove him from the position.


    Tatsuo was naturally surprised and happy that he had gotten a promotion this early. Even though it didn¡¯t change anything except for his title as the leader of the Rogue Crew, he was still happy with it.


    All the members were given the same amount of resources, so a promotion only meant that his task will be a little different from others and he would probably have a lot on his hands considering howzy Ozul was.


    ¡°You will be following me wherever I go, but not in in sight,¡± Ozul exined further, which cleared a few doubts of the Rogue Crew.


    They got the idea that they were like the personal guards of him who would stay hidden and only appear when needed.


    Not that Ozul needed any protection that required the help of Rank-8 Mages, but it was still convenient to have such a hidden unit of personal guards around.


    It wasn¡¯t difficult to learn the techniques to hide their presence either. They had been running from their previous organizations as well, so they were bound to learn a few tricks to keep themselves safe.


    Moreover, Haley had not only taught them some proper techniques but also gave them artifacts that would make them so no one under Rank-9 would be able to sense their presence near Ozul!


    With such expertise, it was quite surprising that they hadn¡¯t thought of this before.


    Their mood improved a little as they thought that this was an easy job for them. What they didn¡¯t know was how much Ozul would make them run around in the near future.


    ¡°Starting from now on, get to the work,¡± Ozul waved his hand before turning away.


    ¡°Yes, Leader!¡± the Rogue Crew shouted before they disappeared in the blink of an eye. If there was anyone weaker than Rank-8 present there, they wouldn¡¯t have even caught their shadows!


    Even Raven could barely pinpoint the location of a few members of the Rogue Crew as most of them hid pretty well.


    Ozul walked out of thepound followed by the dumbfounded Raven and ze. They didn¡¯t expect to find out the reason for him allocating almost half of the total resources to only this group of 35 people was for him to act evenzier!


    As they went back to the tower, only Ozul was able to sense the location of all the Rogue Crew that spread out in a 50 meters radius around him.


    ¡°Also, get yourselves proper clothing from Haley,¡± Ozul seemingly said to the empty air, but it was obvious that he was talking with the Rogue Crew. Even with such a long distance between them, these Rank-8 Mages didn¡¯t have any problem hearing his words.


    They didn¡¯t appear on sight just to confirm if they had heard his orders or not since that was Ozul¡¯smand. Unless he asked them to appear, none of them were to ever show themselves even if someone notices them.


    As they went back to the tower, the Rogue Crew stayed in the vicinity as they were supposed to stay hidden.


    In the tower, Ozul made his way directly to the 8th floor and then to his room before going straight for the bed.


    Nothing was more satisfying than a dark room and him sleeping with only Jinx around. Other than him beingplete and fully knowing the reason for his own existence that is.


    . . .


    The next day, Ozul woke up and headed to the 7th floor. He still had a few things to ask Haley.


    It turned out that she, for once, wasn¡¯t in her office due to some work outside. Although he did find Oliver who also knew about all the details.


    ¡°Oh~? For once you came to find me,¡± Oliver shook his head, exaggerating a sigh.


    ¡°Haley wasn¡¯t in her office,¡± Ozul gave out a monotonous reply.


    Oliver smiled bitterly, knowing full well that it wasn¡¯t as easy to tease this guy anymore. After thinking about it for a moment, he asked, ¡°So? What can I help with?¡±


    ¡°Does the organization hold any information about that uninhabited part of the continent?¡± Ozul knew only a little about it.


    His next destination was to explore the ruins in that fourth piece of the maind. There was no reason for Luthien to keep that parchment leading to those ruins in his Spatial Ring if it wasn¡¯t anything important.


    Maybe Luthien didn¡¯t know it himself about what was there, but him holding onto the map meant that he certainly had his reasons.


    There was only a single year left before that test of Old Gu began and he was feeling rather bored.


    ¡°I am not sure, but I can check it out for you?¡± Oliver asked with a confused face. He didn¡¯t know why Ozul wanted to know about that forsaken area, but he could guess that it was serious judging from his tone.


    But then again, he always had a serious tone and expressions. ¡®Urgh! Whatever...¡¯ Oliver thought before throwing these thoughts out of his mind.


    ¡°Do it. While you are at it, I also want a detailed report about the organization¡¯s expansion these past 4 years,¡± Ozul nodded his head before he went to the couch ced at the farthest corner of the 7th floor.


    Haley would have already ordered to move that couch somewhere else if not because she knew that Ozul always took that seat since it was ced at the most inconspicuous corner. The fewer people who bothered him, the better.


    Oliver nodded his head and went into Haley¡¯s office to look for all the files. All the important things were always in her office and only he and Irvin were allowed to enter there without her permission. That too only if the reason was of any importance.


    Meanwhile, Ozul waited silently on the couch. In the dark corner, the fact that he didn¡¯t have any Mana made him almost invisible to the people running about on the seventh floor.


    He could smell the fragrance in the air and started thinking about how well-maintained the organization had been even when most of the things were handed to Haley who had only recently be a Rank-8 Mage.


    ¡®I thought I was lucky to find Irvin. It turned out that Haley was the real gem...¡¯ Ozul was truly satisfied with how she had been running everything.


    Although he had ced Irvin over all the others, it was known to everyone that most of the important decisions were made by Haley instead. She was the real brain behind everything.


    Irvin alone wouldn¡¯t have been able to build even half of what was created by Haley in such a short period of time.


    If Haley had been at the End Stage of the Rank-8, he would have long ago given her the official title of the Vice Leader. For now, that seat was empty with Irvin being the closest to it.


    It was true that brains would win over brawn, but what would a person with a genius brain do when they are overwhelmed by just the sheer amount of strength that their opponent possesses?


    ¡®Whatever... things are fine as they are right now,¡¯ Ozul mused inside his head.


    Currently, If he took himself out of the picture, Irvin appeared to be the Leader of the organization in front of whom no one dared to question the orders given to them. Meanwhile, Haley was actually the one who was giving all those orders.


    Oliver then seemed to be directly under Haley. He was just as intelligent and crafty, but his strength lost out a lotpared to others.


    All the other core members ced right under Oliver.


    With this strange hierarchy, the organization had already grown to whatever it was right now.


    Only because everyone knew that Ozul, the real leader, was the one who allowed everything, they didn¡¯t dare to object in fear of offending him.


    Ozul was broken out of his thoughts when he heard Oliver¡¯s voice, ¡°Here they are...¡±

 Chapter 273

    Chapter 273: Proper Control.


    ¡°Here they are. This is all of it,¡± Oliver ced a thin bundle of pages on the table in front of Ozul.


    He then added, ¡°I skimmed through it; mostly the basic details are recorded here.¡±


    Ozul picked up the file and also gave it a read. As Oliver had said, there weren¡¯t many details on it other than what he already knew about it.


    One thing that he wasn¡¯t told before but could already guess was the fact that the number of Magical Beasts in that area was a lot more than in any other part of the continent.


    That was also one of the reasons that it was unbearable for humans to create settlements there. The harsh environment made it so only the strong could live there, and the Beasts thrived in that part of the continent since there were almost no humans to destroy nature.


    It naturally went on to show that this uninhabited part of the maind had many natural resources and Magical Beasts lurking around. It was also suspected that there might be more than just a few of Rank-9 Beasts there!


    ¡°There is nothing else?¡± Ozul asked with disappointment. He had thought that he might be able to learn something, but it turned out to be just a waste of his time since he already had such a general idea about how things worked in that ce.


    .....


    Although he couldn¡¯t figure out what these ruins held in store for him, it would have been better if he knew about the environment in depth.


    What he had in his hands only exined how there were asional teams of Mages sent there to explore and find anything of value to bring back. Whenever the exploration went as nned, those organizations reaped heavy benefits.


    But seven out of ten exploration ns ended up failing miserably. Not only would the entire teams be annihted, but they wouldn¡¯t even be able to find their fallenrades¡¯ bodies afterwards!


    They could only specte that the collective strength of the herd of Beasts in those areas required teams consisting of at least Rank-8 Mages.


    But even the most prominent factions couldn¡¯t bother themselves to send teams of Rank-8 Mages for exploration. They had too much on their hands in their respective territories already, why would they reduce their main force on something so trivial in their eyes?


    Still, other organizations might have some more information about it in their records, but Ozul didn¡¯t have so much time. There was only a single year left before the test after all.


    ¡°I will just find it out myself then...¡± Ozul muttered to himself. He then looked at Oliver and inquired,


    ¡°What about the details on the organization¡¯s expansion over the past four years?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I have them here as well,¡± Oliver said while carefully opening the diary-like book with a dark-brown leather cover in his hands.


    ¡°Haley didn¡¯t want to mess anything up, and we all agreed to take this slowly but with high efficiency,¡± Oliver spoke, getting a nod of approval from Ozul.


    Following that, Olive started giving him a summary of everything they had been doing till now.


    Although four years were barely enough, the Three-Eyed Strangers had already infiltrated the low-level factions to at least one of their important positions.


    And just like Ozul had instructed, Haley had stopped there for the low-level factions. He only wanted for them to be able to get their hands on the crucial pieces of information that these factions wouldn¡¯t leak outside otherwise.


    It was the same for the rtively stronger factions, though Haley was still working on them. She had picked a number of people based on their merits to oversee all of this as well.


    Those members sent as a spy to the other organizations were also required to take oaths of secrecy, but they were given a lot ofpensation for taking the risk as well.


    It turned out that infiltrating those low-level factions brought them a lot more benefits than they had calcted.


    They would have never known these unknown groups of people spread all around the continent sometimes would asionally get their hands on a lot of precious stuff if not for Haley and Oliver skimming through all the reports for the whole week.


    Only because of this, a few of the core members had once even proposed a very bold idea of absorbing these small groupspletely!


    However, Haley, Oliver, and those who were a little familiar with the politics had immediately rejected the proposition. If the giant factions ever got the wind of them taking over all those weak groups, they would surely think that their information-gathering organization was amassing strength for their ¡®future ns¡¯.


    There was a clear and delicate bnce formed between all the factions on the continent. They would all readily join hands against those who showed even a hint of ambition.


    Haley and Oliver certainly didn¡¯t want all the factions on the continent to suddenly turn against them with a united front.


    They might not be able to do anything with Ozul¡¯s presence, but their business would take a fatal hit and might even crash.


    There was no mercy for those who suddenly grew a lot morepared to the others.


    ¡®However, there is a solution to this,¡¯ Ozul had a thoughtful look on his face.


    He didn¡¯t have any interest in making the Three-Eyed Strangers fight for supremacy against all the other organizations, but it would certainly be helpful the more eyes they had around the maind.


    ¡°Although taking over those small groups would turn all the attention to us, Haley didn¡¯tpletely reject the idea. I think she wants to proceed with it as well, but discreetly,¡± Oliver added, making Ozul give another nod of approval to Haley in his mind.


    He was thinking about the exact same thing.


    If getting ahead of others would make everyone turn against them, all they had to do was hide their tracks and not be found out!


    So what if they wouldn¡¯t let anyone grow above others¡¯ pace? There was a simple solution for this, just do it silently.


    Once they had enough strength, they could very well unt all of this in front of the masses, and they wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything about it.


    An example would be Ozul himself; if those factions back then all knew that he would one day be so monstrous and also build an organization rivaling the four strongest organizations, they would undoubtedly have him killed to avoid their future¡¯s main cause of headaches.


    However, now that he had already grown into a known powerhouse, no one dared to mess with him.


    ¡°As for the factions that were rtively stronger, we have already infiltrated their ranks as well. Some of our people have even seeded to get themselves important positions, but there hasn¡¯t been such sess everywhere,¡± Oliver narrated everything like a story.


    It turned out that infiltrating the top organizations who had Rank-9 Mages leading them was not only risky but also the real focus of their expansion.


    Unlike those factions led only by some Rank-8 Mages, these groups had plenty of resources and could very well use them to have all of their important members swear oaths just like the Three-Eyed Strangers.


    Hence, Haley had ordered everyone to be as efficient as they could be and not to reveal a single w.


    The spies had to slowly build their trust and reputation, that is everything they could do for now.


    Oliver briefed Ozul a few more minor details, but thetter was already bored out of his mind.


    He would asionally think about these matters, but it required him to use his brain. And sleeping was always better than running his brain like a ve all day.


    If he hadn¡¯t just woken up, he would have already gone to the bed again.


    A cold chill invaded Ozul¡¯s nostrils as he looked towards the staircases on the opposite corner.


    Just then, ze and Raven were seen making their way up. The chill that Ozul just felt was not only limited to himself. Rather, it was a lot harsher for everyone else on the floor.


    ¡®He needs a better control over his own Element...¡¯ Ozul contemted as noticed Oliver¡¯s creased brows.


    ze was subconsciously releasing his aura right now. It wasn¡¯t anything rming, but others still felt ufortable because of it.


    Unlike Raven, they wouldn¡¯t so easily get used to the chilling aura.


    Not surprisingly, the duo immediately noticed Ozul¡¯s presence from all the way over there. It had almost be a habit to not solely put all of their trust in Mana to observe the surroundings after living with him for so long.


    They quickly made their way towards him, but ze stopped just a meter away when he noticed Ozul¡¯s squinting his eyes at him.


    ¡®Uh... did I do something wrong?!¡¯ ze immediately looked over everything and only a momentter did it hit him, ¡®Shit!¡¯


    He quickly retracted his bone-chilling aura that soon turned the atmosphere on the floor back to normal.


    ¡°H-hehe...¡± zeughed nervously while scratching the back of his head.


    ¡°You see, we just came back from sparring, and I... didn¡¯t notice it,¡± he exined himself but Ozul¡¯s face remained unchanged.


    Only after a few seconds did Ozul speak, ¡°You need proper control over your Element.¡±


    Although he said it casually, ze knew that it meant trouble for him. But he still seriously nodded his head.


    Seeing that he was finished here, Oliver took his leave. Ozul didn¡¯t move back to his room since he was waiting for Haley toe back.


    As bored as he was, Ozul turned towards Raven, ¡°Stop sparring with him from now on. It wouldn¡¯t do any good if you harmed yourself.¡±


    Raven nodded her head while feeling a little warm in her heart as she noticed his concern.

 Chapter 274

    Chapter 274: Top Priority.


    Since ze had reached the End Stage of Rank-8, his prowess had increased significantly.


    However, he didn¡¯t have the necessary control over his own strength now. Ozul told him that he wouldn¡¯t cultivate until he has familiarized himself with his own powers.


    He knew that if he spars with Raven like this, she was bound to get hurt as ze wouldn¡¯t be able to hold back, and that was the reason why he stopped her from sparring with him unless he oversaw the battle himself.


    As they waited for Haley, Raven suddenly looked at Ozul and asked with a soft voice that had a little concern mixed in, ¡°Is it all for your questions?¡±


    ze instinctively paused, but he noticed Raven¡¯s tone and the slight change in Ozul¡¯s expressions before he started acting oblivious to his surroundings.


    Ozul sighed and took a while to answer, ¡°It is...¡±


    There was an odd look on his face when he said it, but all Raven could see was a tired man, struggling even aftering so far. Unlike her, ze wasn¡¯t as good at reading the mood, so he chose not to interrupt whatever was going on.


    .....


    Being with Ozul for so long, Raven might have been the only person that would understand his worries and thoughts to a certain extent. Although Ozul never said anything clearly, she knew that he had questions and he would have left the continuous struggle and chosen to simply sleep all day long ago if not because he wanted answers.


    Any normal person would have undoubtedly given up to search for some truth that they might never find, but Ozul wasn¡¯t a normal person and Raven understood it very clearly.


    After mustering up her courage, she spoke, ¡°I... will do my best to help you...¡±


    Raven forgot how she was supposed to show that she held no feelings for him now. In the spur of the moment, she subconsciously tried to cheer him on.


    What came as a surprise to ze was how Ozul didn¡¯t seem to care about it as he replied, ¡°Hm. I am sure you will...¡±


    But then he felt even more astonished because he definitely noticed how Ozul¡¯s tone had gotten unusually softer. Meanwhile, Raven smiled brightly in response, ignoring ze¡¯s confusion.


    Ozul had never exined things to Raven, but she was bound to learn a thing or two about him from just his habits as they had lived together for so long.


    For once, there was someone who understood him without him saying anything at all, so he actually felt a little better listening to her. He would have even stood up to pat her head if not for the fact that he always subconsciously felt the need to not get intimate with anyone.


    ¡®She was able to understand so much even without me saying anything... am I that easy to read?¡¯ Ozul questioned, but he quickly shook this ridiculous thought out of his mind.


    Many of the times, even he himself questioned his feelings, so how would others find it easy to read him?


    He concluded that Raven was just observant, and spending so much time with him naturally made her pick on a few of his thoughts.


    Ozul had only mentioned a few things when they had first found ze.


    However, even ze didn¡¯t know that everything Ozul had done until now was only for those purposes.


    The organization that could now rival even the strongest factions on the continent was created for the sole purpose of making it easier for Ozul to find things.


    Now that the Three-Eyed Strangers was finally entering its final stage and infiltrating all the major factions, he would have a much easier time when he looked for any clues.


    All those core members would throw up a mouthful of blood if they knew the reason for the creation of their organization.


    Saving ze from the awkward situation, Haley finally arrived after a few minutes. Irvin and Oliver were right behind her as well.


    It seemed like Oliver had specially gone to call her when he realized that Ozul was waiting for her return.


    ¡°Young master,¡± both Haley and Irvin showed their respects to Ozul before Haley asked,


    ¡°Did you need me, young master?¡±


    Ozul didn¡¯t answer her question directly and stood up from the couch first. The group of five people quietly followed after him as he began to walk down the stairs and then to the floor down below.


    They only stopped once Ozul was outside the tower near the entrance.


    Just when he was about to say something to Haley, he suddenly paused because he felt a slight movement of Mana from his right.


    ¡°Ignore them,¡± he seemingly spoke to the empty air. Immediately afterwards, the small disturbance of Mana calmed down while those around him looked at him with confusion.


    Irvin and ze were the only two exceptions to this as they could guess a little of what had just transpired.


    Not bothering to clear their confusion, Ozul resumed, ¡°I will be leaving again.¡±


    ¡°Ehh? But you just came back yesterday, young master...¡± Irvin expressed his concern while Oliver and Haley nodded their heads as they agreed with Irvin¡¯s sentiments.


    ¡°There is only a single year left before the test starts, and I want to explore those ruins. I will take the Rogue Crew with me; they will prove to be useful,¡± Ozul continued to speak, not bothering to reply to Irvin who could only chuckle wryly.


    What could he, an old butler, even do when his young master decided topletely ignore him.


    ¡°But young master... we will need you here when we move the headquarters...¡± Haley spoke nervously, inwardly praying that Ozul wouldn¡¯t decide to ignore her words just like Irvin¡¯s as well.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There won¡¯t be any problems that can¡¯t be solved by Irvin when you move the tower. Even if you do, get help from the Ashin family,¡± Ozul replied with a clear voice.


    Meanwhile, Oliver teasingly chuckled at Irvin who started ring daggers at him.


    He didn¡¯t even know whether tough or cry noticing the difference of treatment between him and his wife.


    Even though Haley had expressed her worries when they would move the headquarters, she wasn¡¯t so worried either.


    All the factions were too busy securing their own new territories for them to bother with the Three-Eyed Strangers who had repeatedly imed themselves to be a Neutral Faction.


    ¡°As for the location, move the headquarters right on the outer edge of the Barren Lands,¡± Ozul added before he remembered about the expansion as well.


    ¡°Don¡¯tpletely take over all those small groups. Only have enough of our members infiltrate that they unknowingly be our vessels while still thinking that they work independently,¡± Ozul advised.


    Haley readily nodded her head.


    ¡°One more thing...¡± Ozul paused to put emphasis on his next words, ¡°Start collecting all and every information about ¡®squirming ck runes¡¯ etched on a living body. It doesn¡¯t matter where you find it from. Infiltrate even more factions, but I want results when Ie back.¡±


    ¡°If you can¡¯t find anything, I would still need to see a detailed report about wherever you searched. Be it old ruin sites, or the libraries containing all kinds of books. This task will also be the priority,¡± Ozul finished with a tone that didn¡¯t seem to hold any room for negotiations.


    Time had finallye. He previously wanted to wait until they hadpletely infiltrated all the prominent factions, but the progress speed was too slow. It might even take another decade, and he didn¡¯t want to wait for so long.


    Ozul felt really proud at this moment. He vividly remembered when he had first thought about making people do things for him as he was toozy, and that dream was ying right in front of his eyes now.


    Meanwhile, Haley, Irvin, and Oliver all had a single thought running inside their heads, ¡®Top priority?!¡¯


    Ozul had already once told them that whatever he dered as the top priority would, as it suggests, would be ced on top of the priority list.


    They would have to slow down all of their ongoing stuff and shift their focus on this instead.


    It wouldn¡¯t have been surprising for him to say that infiltrating all the organizations was put on top priority, but searching for any information on ¡®squirming ck runes¡¯ being given such importance made them curious and confused at the same time.


    ¡°I will be off then,¡± Ozul suddenly turned around before Haley could even ask any questions about these squirming ck ruins.


    He had purposely left without giving out more details as he might not be able to exin it clearly since he couldn¡¯t reveal everything, which might draw a wrong picture in Haley¡¯s head.


    It was better if they just collected clues about anything even remotely rted to this. He would then look through it all once hees back.


    ¡°Keep up with me,¡± Ozul abruptly started to fly as he left those words behind.


    Although surprised at the sudden speed, ze and Raven followed immediately after him as well. The Rogue Crew hiding around them did the same.


    Fortunately for them, Ozul flew at the speed bearable for even the Initial Stage Rank-8 Mages.


    Only a few minutester did Ozul stop in the middle of the air before carefully moving his eyes all around him.


    When the duo caught up with the Rogue Crew in the shadows, they all looked at him with questioning faces.


    ¡°We had to lose a few eyes on us,¡± Ozul said without bothering to go into details.


    Only after he had confirmed that no one was listening in to them now did he tell them, ¡°Stay here. I have to give the Ashin family a visit again.¡±

 Chapter 275

    Chapter 275: ¡®That¡¯ ?


    ¡°Stay here. I have to give the Ashins a visit again before moving out,¡± Ozul said before he left the Rogue Crew and the duo in the middle of the forest.


    The duo started to discuss the details that Ozul hadn¡¯t bothered to exin about just now.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    ¨C A few minutes earlier ¨C


    Two slim figures d in light brown robes from head to toes jolted up when they noticed the six peopleing out of the tower.


    They immediately tried to calm themselves down since panicking would make it harder for them to stay hidden.


    Turbulent emotions make it harder for Mages to keep control of their Mana, and Ozul was a Rank-9 Mage in their eyes who would easily notice their presence if they made any mistake.


    .....


    Unfortunately for them, not to mention Ozul, even the Rogue Crew hiding around Ozul had also noticed their presence!


    For a second, they even felt as if someone was about to ambush them, but all of a sudden, that feeling disappeared, allowing them to focus on Ozul¡¯s conversation in the distance.


    However, even when they turned their focus to the fullest, they weren¡¯t able to hear what the six people were talking about.


    ¡°They are using a barrier,¡± one of the two masked guys spoke in a rough tone, getting a slight nod from his partner who had his eyes fixated on the group of six people.


    ¡°Should I move closer?¡± the masked guy asked his partner who shook his head in response, ¡°Any closer, and we will be found out. Moreover, he is a Rank-9 Mage...¡±


    The two masked men waited for a couple of moments to see if they could hear anything, but it was all for naught.


    ¡°You go and inform the Archbishop, and I will follow them,¡± the masked man with a cracky voice said to his partner when he noticed that Ozul and his team were about to leave.


    His partner nodded his head and instantly disappeared from the site.


    Seeing his partner leave, the masked man who was left behind also followed after the trio. Noticing their speed, he couldn¡¯t help but curse under his breath, ¡°Damn it! Why are they in so much of a hurry?!¡±


    However, before his own eyes, the distance between them continued to decrease as he also had to focus on hiding his presence which wasn¡¯t a simple task considering that flying also required excessive Mana maniption.


    Unfortunately for him, he was only a Middle Stage Rank-8 Mage, and couldn¡¯t keep up with the trio¡¯s speed if he wanted to stay hidden. After all, it required a lot more effort to hide his presence than keeping up with the group.


    . . .


    Meanwhile, the other masked man arrived back in the Church as he hurriedly made his way inside to report to the Archbishop.


    A few momentster, he was kneeling down before Lammert on one of his knees.


    ¡°Speak, what happened?¡± Lammert asked impatiently as he noticed the masked man taking his sweet time to catch his breath.


    ¡°Archbishop, the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers has again left the tower along with that Darkness girl and the Ice boy,¡± the masked man informed, making Lammert frown hard.


    He had stationed a Middle Stage Rank-8 Mage near the headquarters of the Three-Eyed Strangers and had only yesterday found that the annoying brat had returned after disappearing for four whole years!


    No matter how much he searched for them these past years, they were nowhere to be found. He would asionally find some tracks that he could rte to them, but the next clue he would find about their whereabouts would be in a totally different direction.


    Ancestor Darcia had already ordered him to always keep track of their location, so he had sent another Rank-8 Mage in case that one wasn¡¯t enough.


    Learning that he had returned yesterday came as a surprise to him, but he didn¡¯t expect him to leave so soon again.


    He also knew that a single Rank-8 Mage wouldn¡¯t be able to follow the trio endlessly. Sooner orter, he would be found out and probably killed.


    ¡°Did you learn where they were heading to?¡± Lammert questioned with a stern tone.


    He now had to report everything to the Ancestor, so he didn¡¯t bother to keep his usual ¡®kind¡¯ smile on his face.


    ¡°We tried, Archbishop... However, they set up a barrier when they were discussing outside the tower. We were too far away for us to read their lips either...¡± the masked man answered fearfully.


    Angering the Archbishop was known to never end well in the Church, so the masked man was being extra careful in whatever he said.


    ¡°Take two other Bishops with you and go after them. Only report back when you find their destination. Get moving!¡± Lammert ordered before he left the hall to report everything to Ancestor Darcia.


    She had told him to immediately inform her of anything they found rted to Ozul.


    Lammert wasn¡¯t surprised by the fact that the previously arrogant and uninterested Ancestor would let him disturb her cultivation whenever it was about matters rted to that uncanny brat.


    The masked man also nodded his head before also leaving the room. Following a Rank-9 Mage meant ying with fire, but disobeying Archbishop Lammert¡¯s orders would probably hurt more in his mind.


    Lammert arrived before the closed room and stood at the entrance without daring to knock.


    ¡°Come in,¡± a deep voice came from behind the closed doors.


    Lammert didn¡¯t dare to keep her waiting and entered the room that had no source of light except for the rays of sunlight dropping from the colored ss windows.


    In the middle of the room sat Darcia with her legs crossed.


    The room was mostly empty but there was a box of ss on the floor before Darcia. If Ozul was here, he would have instantly recognized it because inside the box was the only remaining limb that he had yet to take back!


    Lammert bowed his head for a solid few seconds before he quietly stood on the side.


    Only a few momentster did Darcia open her eyes which were noticeably more reddened.


    Even Lammert didn¡¯t know the reason for the redness in her eyes, but it sure made his hair stand whenever he went near Darcia now.


    It was different before. She was Rank-10 Mage previously as well, but her Mana was always restrained and refined like a stillke. However, it felt like a torrent of water now that she had started to absorb the ck smoke released from that severed hand.


    ¡°What is it now?¡± Darcia asked in a calm voice, but her reddened eyes and the wild aura around her was enough to put Lammert on edge.


    ¡°That brat left their headquarters again. I have sent more men to keep tracking their location and learn about their destination,¡± Lammert briefed her about the situation.


    What came as a surprise to him was how Darcia actually stood up and left the room!


    He followed right after and asked with a stuttering voice, ¡°W-what happened, Ancestor?¡±


    The box of ss containing Ozul¡¯s severed arm was already stored in Darcia¡¯s Spatial Ring as she inquired, ¡°You had said that it wouldn¡¯t take long for that to finish, yes?¡±


    ¡°Ah. Yes... the physicians told me that it would at most take only a few more weeks. But where are we going?¡± Lammert answered when he realized what she was talking about.


    ¡°I have to see it for myself,¡± Darcia replied with a cold voice. She didn¡¯t like being asked questions.


    Lammert realized that he would be in trouble if he continued asking questions, so he stopped opening his mouth and followed behind her quietly.


    ¡°Once that finishes, even that Old man wouldn¡¯t dare toe in between me and godhood! No one will be able to stop me!¡± Darcia spoke with an unrestrained smile that brought chills down even Lammerts back.


    Although Lammert was on edge being near Darcia, even he couldn¡¯t help but grin from ear to ear.


    If their Ancestor really achieved a breakthrough to the next Rank, he knew that there was no one stopping the Church from taking control over the whole continent!


    However, it all depended on ¡®that¡¯ and if they could really use ¡®that¡¯.


    ¡®The old man is still nowhere to be found and he will probably not appear before this year passes. Now that the demon brat is here, it is the perfect opportunity,¡¯ Darcia thought with a sinister smile taking over her face.


    She still thought Ozul was only as powerful as a Rank-9 Mage and spected that she would be able to take him out immediately if she ever encountered him. The only problem was that she had to be careful of Old Gu finding out about it.


    However, with the creation of that, she wouldn¡¯t have to worry about Old Gu either!


    ¡°How many people are working on it?¡± Darcia asked as they slowly made their way deeper into the Church.


    ¡°Excluding the physicians who are busy in the healing potions¡¯ mass production, all others were sent to help in its making,¡± Lammert answered without a pause.


    ¡°No wonder it is so slow. Don¡¯t care about those potions. Stop their production if need be, I want it to be done under seven days!¡± Darcia didn¡¯t hesitate to halt the progress of the Church¡¯s main source of ie nowadays.


    They were currently walking in the dark hallway. This part of the Church had no one roaming around. Even the sounds of footsteps could be heard by any ordinary person without much effort here.


    While Darcia kept on giving instructions to Lammert, they didn¡¯t notice the presence of a ck cat leisurely strolling behind with her heterochromatic eyes glued to Darcia¡¯s Spatial Ring!

 Chapter 276

    Chapter 276: Prisoner?


    Unaware of whatever Darcia and Lammert were plotting, Ozul arrived in the Ashin family¡¯s estate.


    On his way here, he had noticed how previously the most crowded city on the continent now looked like it was some ghost town.


    All those people had already moved outside the Neutral Lands, including manyrge factions as well.


    The only people who still remained here till now belonged to factions that could afford to move anytime they wanted.


    And without any doubt, the Ashin family was one of them.


    Although the Neutral City lookedpletely different after more than 95% of the popce had already migrated, Ozul still managed to find the estate.


    He flew directly down, ignoring the shocked look on one of the guards outside the estate who had nothing better to do than looking at the sky. They would barely see anyone even passing by from a long distance away these days.


    .....


    When Ozul entered, the barrier naturally made an opening for him.


    Since there was no one else who was allowed such an entry except for him, the two brothers didn¡¯t need to make a guess to know who had arrived. They came out of the building with huge smiles on their faces.


    ¡°Nephew!¡± x2


    Ozulnded right before them and nodded his head. He looked around and noticed that their ancestor wasn¡¯t present and couldn¡¯t help but look at the two brothers with confusion.


    ¡°Ah. The ancestor had something to deal with. He said that he would take a couple of days beforeing back,¡± Alver caught onto his confusion and cleared his doubt.


    Though Ozul was confused about what that old Rank-10 Mage would have to deal with, he didn¡¯t question them any further.


    ¡°Anyway, nephew! It has been nearly four years. Where did you disappear to? Irvin wouldn¡¯t tell us anything at all,¡± Raymond questioned as they walked towards the garden.


    Though Ozul didn¡¯t want to sit under the sun again, so he instead walked inside the building.


    Raymond and Alver turned around and could only chuckle awkwardly before following behind their nephew.


    ¡°I was training Raven and ze,¡± Ozul replied to his question only after he had taken a seat on the first empty room that he found.


    ¡°Oh? No wonder your tracks were so random-¡± Alver replied unconsciously before he widened his eyes as he realized that he had blurted out something he shouldn¡¯t have.


    Even Raymond looked at him with a deadpan face that seemed to say something along the lines of, ¡®Where is your calm now? Couldn¡¯t you just stay silent like you do most of the time!?¡¯


    Both of them looked nervously at Ozul, but they were relieved when they saw no obvious reaction from him.


    Unknown to them, Ozul already knew that these two uncles of his would asionally send their men to keep track of his whereabouts. However, he didn¡¯t care about it since those people never came in his way and they didn¡¯t have any bad intentions for doing this.


    ¡°I had a couple of things to ask,¡± Ozul didn¡¯t waste any time and went straight to the topic.


    Alver finally sighed in relief before hurriedly replied, ¡°Haha, of course. Ask anything!¡±


    ¡°First of all,¡± Ozul spoke as he took out the old parchment he had gotten from Luthien¡¯s Spatial Ring which had the destination of the old ruins marked on it from his Spatial Pouch. He continued, ¡°Can you recognize this, in any way?¡±


    Raymond took the parchment from Ozul¡¯s hand and observed the parchment carefully.


    ¡°Where did you find this from? It is quite old, and probably authentic as far as I can guess,¡± Raymond spoke while his scrutinizing eyes stayed on the parchment.


    ¡°From Luthien¡¯s Spatial Rings. I am nning to explore it before the test of Old Gu,¡± Ozul answered surprising Raymond and Alver.


    ¡°But you just returned no? Moreover, this part of the continent is really a dangerous ce,¡± Alver had heard how there were many Rank-9 Beasts roaming in there as well.


    Ozul didn¡¯t answer immediately and waited for Raymond to finish looking at the parchment before taking it back. He put the tattered sheepskin back in his Spatial Pouch and replied, ¡°I am nning to train Raven and ze there. I also have to start training myself.¡±


    Both the brothers had a sense of realization on their faces as they thought to themselves how hard working their nephew was. When they had be a Rank-9 Mage, they had truly stopped training like they used to, so there was some admiration for not bing arrogant as they did.


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say that I know about these ruins. Maybe grandfather would have been able to tell you something about this, but he isn¡¯t here...¡± Raymond answered with an unsure face.


    Ozul wasn¡¯t disappointed either. Although he didn¡¯t get his answer from them, he didn¡¯t hold any high hopes beforeing here either. It was just that since he was already here, he thought it wouldn¡¯t hurt to try.


    ¡°I want something done as well...¡± Ozul stood up this time, making Raymond and Alver stand up as well.


    If one didn¡¯t know any better, they would have thought that Ozul was the uncle and those two the nephews instead.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± Raymond replied feeling that it would again be some trivial detail.


    ¡°I want you to look for any information about the strange ck squirming runes,¡± Ozul demanded. This would be the first time where he decided to openly talk about it.


    ¡°Strange ck squirming runes? What is that?¡± Raymond asked in a confused state.


    When Ozul looked at Alver, he had the same questioning face as his brother.


    Only then did he realize that not everyone was Haley whom he could give any absurd order and expect her to understand without any hints.


    Seeing no other choice, Ozul cut a part of the Ball of Purity and tried to replicate the shape of those runes using that in the air.


    Those strange runes were still quite vivid in his mind, so it wasn¡¯t difficult before he had a rough replica of those ruins floating in the air.


    ¡°Something like this?¡± Ozul said while making those floating letters squirm as if they were all alive.


    ¡°Oh? I haven¡¯t seen any runes like these. And you say that they move as if they possess life?¡± Raymond questioned with a skeptical look on his face.


    He held no doubts though since it was Ozul who had said this and not just some random person on the street.


    Ozul nodded his head in response before he continued, ¡°Can you collect anything even remotely rted to this and report it to Irvin in my absence?¡±


    ¡°Sure Sure. I will do it,¡± Raymond answered. Although they didn¡¯t understand what goes inside Ozul¡¯s head most of the time, he still agreed with the request.


    For the Ashin family, it wouldn¡¯t be as hard as one would think before they could get the lead. Above all, they might even find any information rted to this in the Ashin family as well.


    ¡°Now the main reason I hade here for...¡± Ozul leaned forward, causing a change in the atmosphere around them.


    ¡°Do you guys have any prisoner who is physically healthy and it doesn¡¯t matter if they die?¡± Ozul asked, again astonishing his two uncles who both looked at each other, notprehending why their nephew not only knew about their secret prison facility but also seemed to have some business with death deserving prisoners.


    Ozul hadn¡¯t forgotten the fact that he had yet to test out what would happen if he forcefully took out his essence from someone else¡¯s bodies.


    He wanted to take his essence out of Raven¡¯s and ze¡¯s bodies. However, he first wanted to confirm what type of results could be expected from doing so.


    He could have chosen these test subjects with the help of the Three-Eyed Stranges, however, it was a rtively new organization. There weren¡¯t many people who were openly dering war on his organization.


    Ozul would rather not harm a member of his own organization since he waspletely oblivious as to what the oue would be.


    The Three-Eyed Strangers didn¡¯t have anything like an underground prison either. That is why he decided to ask for help from the Ashin family instead.


    He was certain that Raymond and Alver would have a secret prison inside the estate where they kept all those people who had once tried to infiltrate their estate.


    ¡°Uh... Sure. Anything else?¡± Alver asked with an unsure tone of voice.


    Why did their nephew suddenly ask for a random prisoner now?


    Did he get himself a weird fetish?! The two brothers couldn¡¯t help but think fearfully before shaking these thoughts out of their minds.


    Whatever Ozul did with people, they would never be able toprehend it.


    ¡°I want the prisoner right now...¡± Ozul cleared a misunderstanding when he noticed how Alver was only nodding his head carelessly.


    ¡°Right this instant?¡± Alver confirmed.


    ¡°Yes, right now, right here.¡±


    Alver looked at Raymond for confirmation first before he stood up and left the room after thetter gave him a nod of approval.


    It was their nephew making such a weird request, could they even reject it? Raymond didn¡¯t think so.


    As for what Ozul wanted to do with the prisoner, they could only ask and hope for a proper answer.


    ¡°What are you going to do with a healthy prisoner?¡± Raymond asked with a casual tone.


    Ozul slowly made his way towards Raymond before he replied, ¡°I want to test something.¡±


    Raymond didn¡¯t have enough time to understand his words before Ozul already held his hand on his chest.


    Although Raymond didn¡¯t understand any of what their nephew was doing, he let him be.


    ¡®Hm...¡¯

 Chapter 277

    Chapter 277: Scent.


    ¡®Hm. He has the least amount that I have ever seen,¡¯ Ozul noticed that Raymond almost had no traces at all.


    It was such a tiny amount that he was even about to miss it.


    ¡°Did you ever drink that healing potion that the Church created?¡± Ozul could guess the answer, but he still asked for confirmation.


    ¡°No. I would never drink something produced by those slippery bastards!¡± Raymond spoke with disgust visible on his face when he mentioned the Church of Light.


    Ozul simply nodded his head. He could already figure out this much.


    Since there was still a tiny trace of the essence in Raymond¡¯s body despite the fact that he had never drunk the potion, it again proved his conclusion that the longer one stayed with him, the more traces of essence they would umte inside their bodies.


    ¡®No... it can¡¯t be called essence. It is more like a Scent that people get while staying close to me or ¡®drinking¡¯ it directly,¡¯ Ozul concluded with a thoughtful face.


    .....


    Alver had already returned with a prisoner by that time and there were more or less just a few signs of beatings on his body, nothing too serious.


    The prisoner was a Rank-4 Mage as well, but his eyes were cold and ruthless as if he hadn¡¯t realized that the three men surrounding him were at least at Rank-9.


    Sure enough, the man bellowed in a cranky tone, ¡°What now?! I told you that I know nothing, why can¡¯t you believe me!?¡±


    It seemed that he still believed that the person who brought him out was actually a guard like the previous guy who had been interrogating him and not the head of the Ashin family himself.


    The three people didn¡¯t care about his shouting, but Alver exerted a little pressure on him so he would behave as Ozul wanted to perform the test on him.


    He exerted just enough pressure to make the man shut his mouth. It took quite an effort for him to even open his mouth much less shout like before.


    Ozul approached the man and ced a hand on his chest as he had done with Raymond.


    Meanwhile, Raymond watched the process with interest unlike Alver, who could only look at him with a confused face.


    A few momentster, Ozul frowned a little before he looked towards Alver and asked, ¡°Do you people have a bottle of that healing potion that the Church creates?¡±


    Hearing his words made Alver and the prisoner think that he was going to give it to thetter to heal his injuries, but Raymond had a thoughtful face.


    Although he didn¡¯t like the Church one bit, they still kept themselves up to date with everything they did. It included the miraculous potions created by them as well.


    So even when Raymond never used one himself, the Ashin family still had a few bottles for them to try and figure out its origins.


    He nodded towards Alver who understood his intentions and went out of the room to get the potion.


    Ozul had noticed that there wasn¡¯t even a minuscule amount of his ¡®Scent¡¯ inside that man¡¯s body, so he could only let him use the potion and then carry out his test.


    Alver came back with a bottle of purple potion in his hand and gave it directly to the man who was confused out of his wits.


    But since these people were being so generous and giving him the healing potion, he didn¡¯t reject it and proceeded to gulp it down in one go.


    A moment passed and the bruises and small injuries on his body visibly started to heal and a few secondster, no one could tell that he had received a beating just yesterday.


    Behind Ozul, Raymond couldn¡¯t help but sigh. No matter how much he detested the Church of Light, even he had to admit that this healing potion was truly an unusual and life-changing invention.


    Ozul waited for a few moments so that the ¡®Scent¡¯ inside that man¡¯s body settled down first before he again ced his hand on his chest and this time closed his eyes to concentrate.


    Just as expected, Ozul saw the tiny strand of his ¡®Scent¡¯ revolving around that man¡¯s heart, but there were no visible changes to his body.


    ¡®Hm. Does it change nothing at all?¡¯ Ozul doubted that his ¡®Scent¡¯ did nothing except for lingering inside other people¡¯s bodies.


    He extracted a small part of the Ball of Purity and changed it to gaseous form before shooting it inside that man¡¯s body. He could only use the Ball of Purity to try and remove his Scent.


    ¡°Hm? What is he doing, brother?¡± Alver also noticed the small strand of a ck thing entering that man¡¯s body, and he couldn¡¯t stop himself any longer from asking the question.


    ¡°How would I know?¡± Raymond replied before focusing back on whatever his nephew was doing. They were naturally curious about all of this since their usually so indifferent nephew was showing so much interest in whatever he was doing.


    While the two brothers had no clue whatever was going on, Ozul had already spread the Ball of Purity around the heart and slowly wrapped it around his ¡®Scent¡¯.


    It proved to be a little difficult since his Scent required him to increase the density of the Ball of Purity if he wanted to contain it inside and not let it go.


    The man creased his eyebrows when he felt particrly heavy in his chest and in fear, he couldn¡¯t help but stutter out in fright, ¡°W-what is happening with me!?¡±


    Seeing that the man was starting to panic, Ozul restrained his hands and feet with the Ball of Purity before putting a strap around his mouth so he won¡¯t start shouting his lungs out.


    MMmM!


    The man could only let out some muffled sounds and squirm his body to the best of his abilities, but as a Rank-4 Mage, he couldn¡¯t even budge the Ball of Purity from its ce.


    He desperately looked at the only other two men inside the room, but he was certainly not getting any help from them either.


    When Ozul had finally managed to wrap only his Scent inside the Ball of Purity, he carefully started to take it out.


    However, just as he did, the man started to shake his body with an even greater force. It was evident that he was in pain. How much could have only been known if there wasn¡¯t a strap on the man¡¯s mouth.


    In any case, Ozul didn¡¯t stop just because the man was feeling a little pain.


    It at least confirmed to him that his Scent did more than just entering inside people¡¯s bodies and revolving around their hearts.


    Only he wasn¡¯t strong enough to be able to see what exactly it did yet, so such an experiment was the only thing he could do.


    Since the Ball of Purity was in a little more condensed form, Ozul had to make a small cut on the man¡¯s chest for it to leave from. Otherwise, his ¡®Scent¡¯ wouldn¡¯t have passed through the skin.


    Raymond and Alver curiously eyed the small ck bead that came out of the man¡¯s chest, but Ozul had his focus on that man instead.


    He was looking for any obvious changes that urred inside his body after he had taken out his Scent.


    Since he was in pain, there should have been some reason for it.


    s, no matter how thoroughly he looked, he couldn¡¯t find any apparent changes except for how the man looked a little worn out now.


    He had also stopped shouting and thrashing his body, so Ozul slowly took off the strap from his face to ask the questions.


    ¡°Except for the cut on your chest, what did you feel before?¡± Ozul asked with a calm voice, but he forgot that the person who was being experimented on wouldn¡¯t be so calm as well.


    ¡°What do you people want from me?! Urgh!¡± the man shouted before he felt another jolt of pain on his chest and noticed a small pitch-ck de poking the previous cut.


    ¡°I asked you a question, answer me,¡± Ozul didn¡¯t have so much time to slowly coerce him into answering his questions.


    ¡°Why you!!! Bastards! I won¡¯t say anything!¡± the man didn¡¯t think that they would seriously start torturing him right then and there.


    Unfortunately for him, Ozul only had to give it a single thought before the small de pierced a few centimeters further into his skin.


    ¡°Arkh!! Stop it! I will answer! I will answer! Stop THIS!¡±


    Only then did Ozul bring back the de and gave the man a few seconds to catch his breath.


    ¡°Tell me now. I don¡¯t have time,¡± Ozul again questioned impatiently. Raven and ze along with the Rogue Crew were still waiting in the middle of the forest, he had to return soon.


    ¡°I... felt as if needles were used to tear a part of my flesh,¡± the man took a moment to arrange his words since he couldn¡¯t describe the exact feeling.


    ¡°Do you feel any different...?¡± Ozul asked, but when he noticed him moving his eyes towards the blood trailing out from the cut on his chest, he added, ¡°... ignoring the pain.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t...?¡± the man answered with an unsure face.


    It seemed that he didn¡¯t feel any visible change either, but Ozul couldn¡¯t conclude that to be the case only because the changes were not easily noticeable.


    ¡®Hm... I will need someone who has had it for far longer and a lot more than this guy,¡¯ Ozul realized that he might have to find someone else for more obvious results.

 Chapter 278

    Chapter 278: Up to something?


    He didn¡¯t know why there were no obvious changes inside his body when he extracted his Scent.


    There were quite a few things that could have been the reason. It could be that he was too weak to notice anything, but also because the amount of the Scent inside that man was too small to make any difference.


    It could also be that the Scent needed time to make actual changes to the body, and it had only been a few seconds for that man since he had it inside his body.


    ¡®I will have to find someone else,¡¯ Ozul doubted that he would be able to find a captive that had a substantial amount of his Scent.


    There were quite a few things that he had to take note of before he could actuallye to a solid conclusion.


    Examining Mikol¡¯s body would have been the most useful, but he would probably not see him until Old Gu¡¯s test started.


    ¡°He can go away,¡± Ozul waved his hand to which Alver nodded his head and personally took the man out of the room again.


    .....


    It seemed that the man would probably not see the daylight for a long time now.


    Ozul focused his attention back on the small bead of the Ball of Purity floating before him. It contained his Scent that he had extracted from that man¡¯s body.


    He slowly expanded the bead, lowering its density until Raymond could pretty much see bits and pieces through the ck gas.


    The strand of his ¡®Scent¡¯ just stayed there floating as if it had no purpose whatsoever.


    Ozul created a small opening to let that trace of Scent out in the open air so he could have a closer look.


    However, it proved to be a mistake because just when he had taken it out from the sphere of the Ball of Purity the small strand of his Scent immediately disappeared into thin air!


    It was just like how he had seen ite out of his arm and then seemingly just vanish a few momentster.


    Sigh...


    If his Scent could affect the Mages as he had seen it did with Mikol and Luthien¡¯s father, then why can it just fade out of existence so easily?


    ¡®Could it be that my Scent actually does nothing on its own, but some reaction urs inside the Mages because of its presence?¡¯ Ozul could only think that to be the reason.


    In the end, they were all assumptions and possibilities, he couldn¡¯t be sure until he had done a few more experiments.


    ¡°So, what happened?¡± Raymond¡¯s voice broke Ozul out of his thoughts. He was naturally curious about what was going on but hadn¡¯t asked anything before so as to not disturb him.


    But now that he was done with his ¡®test¡¯, Raymond couldn¡¯t hold himself back any longer.


    ¡°I was trying to figure out the negative effects of the potions. I can¡¯t be sure with just him alone,¡± Ozul only said what needed to be said. He didn¡¯t go into details as that would only bring up more questions.


    Raymond made a thoughtful face as if he understood a little.


    When Alver came back, Ozul was ready to leave as he spoke, ¡°If the Church causes any trouble for my organization, give them a helping hand... It doesn¡¯t matter if they think that we are allies or not.¡±


    ¡°Also, do you guys know any solid reason why humans never made any settlements in that deserted part of the continent?¡± Ozul thought that maybe these two brothers would know the actual reason behind it.


    He was pretty sure that harsh climate and the terrain couldn¡¯t be the only reasons since those two things were easy to adapt to.


    s, Raymond and Alver simultaneously shook their heads sideways before Alver spoke, ¡°If grandfather Kure was here, maybe he could have given you a proper answer.¡±


    Ozul nodded his head before he stood up to leave again. He could have waited a few more minutes or maybe even an hour for Kure to return, but that would have obviously not been enough.


    It had already been more than an hour since he hade here, Raven and ze were still waiting for him in the forest.


    Not to mention those spies sent by the Church of Light. He had no solid proof if they were really from the Church, but there was no one else who would dare to keep watch over the Three-Eyed Strangers¡¯ headquarters except for the Church.


    He didn¡¯t know what their reaction would be, so he decided to leave as soon as possible.


    ¡°Take care, nephew. If you need anything else, just tell us,¡± like always, Raymond assured him that they were always there to help him when needed.


    Ozul naturally wasn¡¯t going to reject their goodwill. He was a little grateful to them as well since they had given him a helping hand on so many asions.


    Maybe if he could help them in the future, he might repay them. For now, he nodded at them and flew straight back to the team.


    Only after he had disappeared from their sight did Raymond regain his cold face and asked, ¡°What did you do with him?¡±


    ¡°He is in a separate room with five guards to watch over him,¡± Alver replied with an equally emotionless voice.


    ¡°Get rid of him,¡± Raymond didn¡¯t think they had any use for that man and he knew that if he kept on living, he would start to spread exaggerated rumors.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Alver didn¡¯t reject the idea. He had only isted that man since he wasn¡¯t sure that if they still needed him for anything.


    He whispered something under his breath and a shadow flickered outside the room before Alver shifted his focus back to Raymond.


    ¡°Nephew sure does have a few tricks up his sleeve, huh.¡±


    Raymond raised his brows and replied, ¡°Tricks? I am not even sure if they are tricks or something else.¡±


    He had a wry smile on his face. Them not being able to sense any Mana even from that ck bead of smoke that expanded and contracted on Ozul¡¯s whims proved to him that they weren¡¯t just some tricks.


    It was actually quite embarrassing for the both of them since they thought of themselves as someone who had to teach Ozul, but they couldn¡¯t even understand him to begin with.


    How were they supposed to guide him, who they knew not more than a stranger would? He was a total mystery to them.


    Sigh... x2


    Both of them simultaneously sighed before going back to their business. There was nothing they could do about it. Forcing Ozul to open up with them would only bring about negative results, so that was out of the question.


    . . .


    Ozul hurriedly made his way back to the forest where he had left the duo together with the Rogue Crew.


    He didn¡¯t know what the Church was up to, but he wasn¡¯t afraid that anything dangerous might happen, at least for now.


    With his speed, it didn¡¯t take long before he found the group. They were all vigntly examining their surroundings, no one let their guard down, fearing that there might be enemies in hiding.


    When Raven and ze noticed him flying towards them, their eyes immediately shone as they could finally rx a little.


    With him around, they didn¡¯t have anything to worry about at all.


    However, they noticed how Ozul swept his eyes all around them before finally approaching them.


    ¡®They really are up to something,¡¯ Ozul spected that Lammert was probably nning something as he would never send a team of Rank-8 Mages to observe them from afar.


    Being almost as strong as a Rank-10 Mage, Ozul naturally didn¡¯t have any trouble in figuring out the location of all the Rank-8 Mages in hiding.


    However, Lammert should have known that even for a Rank-9 Mage, as he thought Ozul to be, a couple of Rank-8 Mages were nothing. They would all be easily dealt with.


    Noticing how all of them were trying their best to hide their presence, he realized that the team was only sent to keep an eye on them.


    ¡®It is probably not just because he wanted to stay updated wherever I went,¡¯ Ozul thought inside his head.


    There was no way that Lammert would send a small team of Rank-8 Mages just for this trivial reason. He probably had ulterior motives, but one thing he could be sure of was that they were probably going to follow him.


    ¡°Alright. This part of the continent is mostly uninhabited, which means we won¡¯t find any human settlements there. So, did you get all the necessary supplies?¡± Ozul asked in a seemingly casual tone.


    He was addressing this to Raven who was the only person who felt that his tone was a little off. She thought about it for a moment before nodding her head as she replied, ¡°Yes I did. I also got the necessary equipment for the exploration of the ruins.¡±


    Ozul wasn¡¯t surprised that she had caught on. He actually felt a little better knowing that there was at least one person who could use their brain.


    Meanwhile, ze also felt something was amiss, but he couldn¡¯t put a finger on it.


    The Rogue Crew hiding in the vicinity also heard their conversation clearly and they had noments on it.


    If there was anyone under Rank-9 revealing their destination so openly, they would have thought that person to be an idiot. But Ozul, a Rank-9 Mage in their eyes, had nothing to worry about.


    ¡®So it begins...¡¯

 Chapter 279

    Chapter 279: Contemtion.


    ¡®And so it begins,¡¯ Ozul thought inside his head as he felt one of the Rank-8 Mages hiding at a distance leave the area, leaving only three to watch over them.


    He couldn¡¯t help but shake his head as he thought, ¡®Do they really think they are well hidden?¡¯


    Ozul could guess that these people probably had things to worry about since they didn¡¯t even realize that they were doing a lousy job at hiding. Not to mention him, a Rank-9 Mage wouldn¡¯t have needed to spare a few seconds to locate them either.


    Since one of the four people sent to watch over them immediately left after knowing their destination, it was most likely that they would send people after them.


    They were going to the uninhabited part of the continent, thousands of miles away from any human settlement. The Church would most likely think that Old Gu wouldn¡¯t be able to get the wind of this if anything happened to him there.


    They wouldn¡¯t find any better opportunity than this, and he doubted that they would sit still this time since there was only a single year left before the old man¡¯s test.


    If Kure knew that the ones who had passed the test seemingly disappeared, never to be seen again, then the ancestor of the Church would be aware of that too.


    .....


    Him being a ¡®Rank-9 Mage¡¯, he would most probably be the strongest there, and the Church should know that they might never see him again after that.


    It was pretty evident that they would never miss what could be their only chance to get to him.


    And since all of them thought Ozul to be a Rank-9 Mage, he could already guess who mighte after him.


    ¡®I will have to be careful. It might go downhill any moment if I am careless,¡¯ Ozul contemted before he began to n what he would do.


    He would first have to inform this group of unconcerned people about the situation they would face in the near future.


    When the battle broke out, he didn¡¯t want any distractions. However, these people would probably try to ¡®help¡¯ him. It was better if he told them beforehand.


    Just that, ¡®Should I kill them or not...?¡¯


    Ozul wasn¡¯t sure if it was alright to kill the three Rank-8 Mages keeping a watch over them from a distance.


    ¡®Would the Church think that I was misleading them?¡¯ Ozul thought. He knew that even if these Rank-8 Mages didn¡¯t notice it, Lammert and that ancestor of theirs would realize that they wouldn¡¯t have been able to eavesdrop on him if he didn¡¯t want them to.


    When they found that the Mages who were sent to keep watch over them had all died, they might think that it was some sort of trap and not follow along with it.


    Ozul himself wanted to face the Church in some open space where he could go all out without worrying about anything. The uninhabited part of the continent was just the ce for it.


    Moreover, he really did want to get hisst limb back from the Church as soon as possible. A single victory could decide if he would get it back or not.


    In the end, Ozul decided not to worry too much about it.


    A part of the Ball of Purity escaped his body and turned into a straight line before hardening and splitting into three arm-length des.


    Before anyone could evenprehend what was happening, the three des flew in three different directions, and just half a secondter, three people hiding behind the trees died without even knowing the cause of their death.


    Ozul didn¡¯t want to bother himself with the constant monitoring of the three people during their entire journey.


    And even if the Church thought that it was some sort of trap, they would still follow after the lead since that would be their only option. He might nevere back at all until the test, so they would have to search for him on their own.


    Either way, he was going to explore the ruins.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. I will exin on the way,¡± Ozul said as he began to move in the direction of their destination.


    Raven and ze nodded their heads before following behind him. The Rogue Crew was also behind them.


    They could easily keep up with the speed even without showing themselves, but it was only because all of them had learned at least this much after running for their life for years.


    . . .


    After Ozul had exined the general situation, Raven couldn¡¯t help but show worried expressions,


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that...¡±


    She didn¡¯t know how to continue her words since she did not want to reveal her feelings, but she was only worried because she didn¡¯t know that Ozul¡¯s strength had already surpassed Rank-9.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I can deal with it,¡± Ozul replied without letting her finish her sentence. He understood her worries.


    Hearing those words reassured Raven. However, there was still a lingering feeling of concern that ate her from inside, but she couldn¡¯t do anything about it.


    ¡°But we can still help-¡± ze went on to say, but he was interrupted in the middle.


    ¡°You will only get in the way. If you want me to die, then feel free to intervene,¡± Ozul didn¡¯t sugar coat his words which deted ze like a balloon.


    None of the Rogue Crew voiced anyints which made Ozul a little surprised, but he remembered that they were all bound to the oath in which they wouldn¡¯t question any of the orders given to them except for when Ozul himself asked for their opinion.


    The group continued their journey towards the mysteriousnd with Ozul thinking about all the scenarios he could think of about the oue of their battle.


    He knew that it would most likely be the ancestor of the Church of Light who wille after his life.


    In a battle between two individuals at Rank-10 battle strength, there was no need for Rank-8 Mages who could even die during the battle if they were careless.


    The only reason he was bringing the Rogue Crew was so that he would have more people to explore the area which would lessen his burden by arge margin.


    He could create small teams, each consisting of at least one Middle Stage Rank-8 leading the Initial Stage ones to explore in a different direction. Even if none of them found anything, it would at least confirm Ozul that there was nothing of use in that direction.


    Meanwhile, if he was alone, then he would have to search in each direction on his own which would have been quite troublesome.


    It didn¡¯t take long for them to leave the Neutral Lands and arrive at the Barren Lands.


    After crossing the Barren Lands, Ozul led the group to travel straight in the direction of the ruins marked on the parchment.


    As they followed along the path, it wasn¡¯t surprising to find that they didn¡¯te across any town, much less a city right after crossing the Barren Lands.


    After crossing through the Barren Lands, almost everyone expected to find a city or at least a town, but there wasn¡¯t such a thing on this side of the continent.


    People never ventured into this part of the forest anyway, so what was the use of building a town or a city? It would have been basically useless since no one would have used it anyway.


    It was already nighttime, so Raven couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to make a stop?¡±


    The members of the Rogue Crew looked at her weirdly. They didn¡¯t understand why a Middle Stage Rank-8 Mage like her needed to rest after only a day worth of continuous movement.


    Raven was already familiar with Ozul¡¯s habits and it was the same for ze to a certain extent.


    Because Raven could sometimes even understand what Ozul wanted to do without him even voicing it out, but ze was certainly not at that level yet. And as far as Raven knew, they might not see ze achieving that level in his entire lifetime.


    ¡°No, it is fine,¡± Ozul answered, not wasting his time on useless exnations.


    Although he could have very well stopped at almost any ce or time to take a nap, he didn¡¯t want to stop around here this time since he had already provoked the Church of Light.


    If it was really Darcia, the ancestor of the Church of Light, then he wouldn¡¯t dare to dilly dally in a random part of the forest like this.


    Since he didn¡¯t know what the actual ns of the Church were, he had to be extra careful.


    After he had learned more about the formations, he wouldn¡¯t dare to underestimate even a Rank-9 Mage, much less someone who he might not even be strong enough to defeat.


    It would be quite troublesome if she wanted to chase after them right after hearing the news of their departure.


    In that case, he would have a hard time going against the Church as they were still nowhere near the ruins.


    It would be in their best interest if the Church took its sweet time before following their group.


    Even if they gave them a head start of just a few days, Ozul¡¯s group would already be too deep inside that part of the continent. Being a Rank-10 Mage wouldn¡¯t help much either.


    Though he was sure that a month was enough for a Rank-10 Mage to easily find them.


    While Ozul was thinking everything through, the Rank-8 Bishop arrived back in the Church...

 Chapter 280

    Chapter 280: Deja Vu.


    The Bishop arrived back in the Church and looked for Lammert in a hurry.


    Since their task was to learn about their destination, he had decided to leave immediately after learning that they were going for the exploration of the ruins. He didn¡¯t even bother to discuss it with others beforehand.


    The reason he left in so much of a hurry was that he didn¡¯t want to be one of those who were tasked to follow behind that Rank-9 Mage. What if they were found out? Their whole group would be annihted instantly!


    So, he chose the easy way out and became the first one to leave. Unknown to him, he had truly made the right choice as all of hispanions were killed without mercy after he left.


    He directly made his way to the hall room where the Archbishop would usually meditate. And carefully knocked on the door.


    Tak! tak!


    ¡°Enter,¡± the voice came from behind the door, but the Bishop was surprised to notice that it sounded different than Archbishop Lammert¡¯s.


    .....


    He slowly opened the door and noticed how there was more than just a single person inside the room. Other than Archbishop Lammert, there was another old woman present there.


    He hadn¡¯t seen this woman before, but he could guess her identity because of the talks around the Church these days.


    ¡®Ancestor!¡¯


    The Bishop was put under even more pressure as he struggled to take even a few steps forward.


    Lammert noticed this, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about it either. He himself was afraid of Darcia, how could he help his subordinates? Moreover, he was getting impatient, ¡°Speak. What is it?¡±


    ¡°A-archbishop. We found out their destination,¡± the Bishop stuttered out a reply unconsciously when he heard the cold voice of Lammert directed at him.


    Immediately, both Lammert and Darcia¡¯s eyes brightened. What made the Bishop sweat even harder was the fact that it was Darcia who asked the next question.


    ¡°Where are they going? Continue your report,¡± Darcia asked, her slightly reddened eyes held an excited gleam.


    Absorbing Ozul¡¯s Scent released from his arm after a long time had started to show the changes inside her body, and she wouldn¡¯t admit how heaven-defying this severed arm proved to be. Her decades of closed door cultivation didn¡¯t help her as much as just a few days with this arm had.


    If only she could get her hands on that boy, no one would be able to stop her then!


    ¡°... We heard them talk about how they were moving towards that unexplored part of the continent. They are also going to... explore some ruins once there,¡± the Bishop tried topose himself as he answered to the best of his abilities.


    The wild aura around Darcia was making all the hair stand on his body.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Darcia didn¡¯t know what had interested Ozul so much to go there, but a ferocious smile took over her face since it had made the situation even more favorable to her.


    Although they were preparing that in case that the Old man decided to interfere, it was still in their best interest that they didn¡¯t confront him.


    Just then, Darcia stopped as she realized something, ¡°How did you learn all of this?¡±


    She felt a little off that a group of only Middle Stage Rank-8 Mages were able to learn all of this in such a short amount of time from a Rank-9 Mage.


    ¡°Uh... we heard them talking and I immediately came to report...¡± the Bishop was confused a little and he answered with an unsure face.


    From his reply, even Lammert realized the problem. He was a Rank-9 Mage as well, so he knew what was the problem in the Bishop¡¯s statement. He initially thought that the Bishop was lying and was about to question him again, but he stopped in his tracks when he noticed the smirk on Darcia¡¯s face.


    ¡°You can leave,¡± Darcia told the Bishop who nodded like a chicken before hurrying out the room.


    After the Bishop had left, Darcia turned towards Lammert and said, ¡°Hurry up with that.¡±


    Darcia understood that Ozul had most certainly revealed his destination on purpose. There was no way that a group of Rank-8 Mages coulde so close to a Rank-9 Mage without being noticed by thetter.


    If this Bishop had made his way back to the Church alive after listening in to their conversation, it was no doubt that Ozul had deliberately let him leave.


    Although anyone else would have avoided this since it clearly looked like a trap, Darcia had nothing to fear about. She was a Rank-10 Mage, what could a few tricks of a new Rank-9 Mage do to her?


    In her eyes, it was almostughable that a brat like her could even think of setting up traps for her.


    ¡°Kehehe, does he think I won¡¯t be able to find him there?¡± Darcia cackled as she thought about another fact that most of the people alive didn¡¯t know about.


    ¡®Just pray that you don¡¯t encounter it there, boy. I still have many uses for you after all,¡¯ Darcia thought inside her mind as she smirked again.


    Things had really been going her way for a while now, so she was in a good mood.


    ¡°Don¡¯t dy it any further. This will be our only chance,¡± she reminded Lammert again before moving out from the hall.


    After Darcia had left the hall, Lammert couldn¡¯t help but snicker as well, ¡®Tch! He truly thinks no one can hurt him.¡¯


    Following that, he also left to personally make sure that everything was alright.


    . . .


    Uncaring of whatever the Church was plotting behind his back, Ozul led the group deeper into the unexplorednds.


    All this while, they hadn¡¯te across a single town nor another human being for that matter. Though the sight of random Rank-4 Beasts fighting with other Beasts was gettingmon.


    The group noticed how thend was mostly uneven. The ground was eitherposed of rocks or thick trees. They would rarelye across a piece ofnd that was habitable.


    After traveling for hours, they hadn¡¯te across anything special except for the unusual amount of Beasts.


    There were Beasts almost everywhere. It was either pure vegetation or herds of Beasts fighting for their own survival. But it was all not out of their expectations since there were no human settlements here after all.


    Although the group was not tired, a few of the Rogue Crew were on edge as it had almost been drilled into their instincts to be on guard at the slightest hint of danger.


    Meanwhile, this whole area spelled danger. All of them had heard the stories about hundreds of Magesing here to explore but never returning back alive.


    At this moment, all of them would sneak nces at Ozul asionally. Even though they were supposed to be his guards, they were expecting him to take care if anything monstrous appeared that not even a group of Rank-8 Mages like them could handle.


    They were not loyal enough to give up their lives on their own ord. Wouldn¡¯t they have died sooner orter anyway? Why would they join the organization instead?


    Ozul knew how loyal they were, and he honestly didn¡¯t care. As long as they would heed his everymand, they were good enough. But it was just that, ¡®good enough¡¯.


    As they moved along the forest, Ozul couldn¡¯t help but think how they hadn¡¯t encountered anything that would make these unexplorednds so dangerous.


    ¡®Hm? It feels like I have had this feeling before as well,¡¯ Ozul suddenly stopped to realize how familiar his own thoughts felt to him. It was like a deja vu.


    The duo paused as well when they noticed him suddenly stopping in the middle of the air. They quickly readied themselves and looked around them for any signs of danger as well.


    Usually, Ozul stopping abruptly would mean that he had sensed some danger that they were able to yet.


    Meanwhile, Ozul suddenly widened his eyes as he realized where he had these familiar thoughts before.


    It was when he had first entered the Old Whispering Woods!


    After initially going through the forest, he was confused as to why it was considered so dangerous. And only when he explored the deeper parts did he realize that it was because of the Rank-9 Beasts littered around there.


    Rting the two situations together, Ozul had a feeling that it might be a simr situation here as well.


    But only Rank-9 Beasts couldn¡¯t make the Mages stay out of this territory for thousands of years, and there was only a single thing more menacing than Rank-9 Beasts,


    ¡°... A Rank-10 Magical Beast...¡± Ozul muttered unconsciously.


    Even to Rank-8 Mages, a Rank-10 Beast was only a legend. At Rank-9, the Magical Beasts had already far surpassed the Mages at the same rank.


    If there did exist a Beast like this, there was no doubt that even if many Rank-10 Mages worked together to stop a Rank-10 Magical Beast, they might not be able to!


    There was probably not an artifact strong enough to help the Mages against the Beast either.


    ¡®Hm... This is troublesome,¡¯ Ozul couldn¡¯t help but start worrying now.


    A Rank-10 Magical Beast was certainly not something that he could handle as he was right now. If it suddenly popped out of nowhere, there was no guarantee if he could even run away from it.


    The more he thought about it, the more the presence of a Rank-10 Magical Beast in thesends made sense to him.


    ¡®This changes things...¡¯

 Chapter 281

    Chapter 281: Realization.


    ¡®This changes everything,¡¯ Ozul had a thoughtful face.


    Now that it was very likely for a Rank-10 Magical Beast to have been residing in these unexplorednds, he would have to be extra careful not to encounter it.


    Earlier he was nning to explore as much as he could in the little time they were going to stay here, but now he would have to keep his curiosity under check and limit himself to check out those ruins marked on the parchment only.


    There were only general directions specified on the map since people hadn¡¯t mapped out thesends yet.


    Just then, he noticed the worry growing on the duo¡¯s face and even the Rogue Crew had taken defensive positions. They were ready to face some giant Beasting directly at them.


    ¡°Ease up. There is nothing to worry about... as of yet. You guyse out as well, there is no one to hide from here anyway,¡± Ozul said thest part to the Rogue Crew since they were putting in extra efforts to only stay in the vicinity and note out in open sight.


    Immediately as he said those words, the Rogue Crew appeared, all floating behind him.


    .....


    Raven and ze also calmed down, but they kept up their guard.


    ¡°When I tell you to run, all of you are to immediately head back to the headquarters. These are my orders,¡± Ozul said, making all of them nod their heads except for Raven and ze.


    Although he had just told them the same, it felt as if this time things were more serious than before. Something had changed, but they didn¡¯t know what.


    Looking at Ozul¡¯s stern face, they knew that they weren¡¯t even allowed to ask anything.


    The duo only sighed with apparent worry on their faces. They would have already suggested to give up on exploring those ruins if not because they already knew Ozul wouldn¡¯t agree.


    In the end, Raven could only leave her mouth hanging open as she stopped herself from asking any questions.


    Although she worried about Ozul, she also knew that he had his reasons.


    ¡°Let¡¯s move. Keep alert all the time,¡± Ozul reminded them to stay vignt since even he might not have enough time in case that Rank-10 Beast really appeared before them.


    What he didn¡¯t think was whether these Rank-8 Mages would even be able to move if a Rank-10 Mage exerted its aura on them.


    The group seriously nodded their heads before following after him.


    A few more hours and they had left the woods far behind and were now in a desert.


    As they had expected, the Beasts that appeared next were mostly of Earth Element. What they didn¡¯t expect was the sudden rise in their strengths.


    From Rank-4 asional Beast sightings to suddenly encountering even Rank-6 Beasts!


    ¡®With sudden changes like these, no wonder people won¡¯t try to create settlements in thesends,¡¯ Ozul thought before he noticed others¡¯ exhausted faces.


    After continuing on for a few hours, he decided to make a stop after they had crossed the desert and again arrived at a grasnd.


    Rank-6 Beasts were appearing more frequently now and some even dared to attack their group. These were mostly only the Beasts who hadn¡¯t eaten anything for weeks. Hunger had made them suppress the sense of fear and the little bit of rationality that they possessed.


    ¡°Deal with them,¡± Ozul naturally didn¡¯t bother to care about such Beasts. He had brought Raven and ze to train here, so he made them deal with all of the Beasts.


    He even stopped the Rogue Crew from interfering who were more than happy to oblige.


    While ze and Raven were tasked to kill all the Beasts which came near them, Ozul chose to simplyze around on a tree in his own thoughts.


    Suddenly, he felt a little off and looked around before he realized what he was missing right now, ¡®Where did Jinx go off to...¡¯


    It had been quite a while since Jinx went away. That cat only listened to him when she wanted to.


    He thought about Jinx for a while before his thoughts moved to his ¡®Scent¡¯.


    Ozul hadn¡¯t been able to find any usible reason for his Scent to increase Mikol¡¯s strength like that.


    He had to test extracting his Scent from someone stronger than that prisoner, but he didn¡¯t have time to find someone like that now.


    Just then, he again paused his line of thinking as he realized something, ¡®Tch... I could have used them.¡¯


    The three Rank-8 Mages sent by the Church had probably consumed the healing potions more than once. They should have been more than enough for him to at least draw a usible conclusion.


    Now they had alreadye a long way, and those three were dead for a long time in the middle of a forest. Magical Beasts would have already ripped their corpses apart by now.


    It was toote to go back now, he could only sigh at his carelessness.


    Ozul eyed Raven and ze for a few minutes as he contemted if he should just try extracting his Scent from them or not.


    In the end, he shook his head, ¡®It is too risky.¡¯


    Even that man who had it just for a few seconds felt so much pain just from taking out that little trace of Scent. Raven and ze might experience it many times worse as they had more than ten times of the amount inside of them as well.


    In the end, Ozul decided to focus on exploring these ruins and training the duo first. After they returned, he could task the Three-Eyed Strangers and the Ashin family to find him some people to experiment on.


    The night passed with Ozul ending up taking a big ¡®nap¡¯ and only waking up the next morning.


    The Rogue Crew had it much easier than the duo since they were only tasked to ease any and all inconvenience to Ozul, but he didn¡¯t have any as of yet. So they were only following him around for now.


    Although it looked to the Rogue Crew that Ozul had been sleeping so leisurely, he was always alert enough to keep any eye out for anything dangerous approaching them.


    As the sun rose to the sky, Ozul continued to lead the group deeper into these dangerousnds.


    . . .


    After another four days, the group was already in one of the deepest parts of thesends.


    They had just passed through a swamp and everyone except for Ozul was exhausted. It wasn¡¯t because they hadn¡¯t rested in these four days.


    In fact, he would stop at any suitable location to take a nap and let them recover their Mana as well.


    The problem appeared when even Rank-8 Beasts would sometimes pop out of nowhere.


    Even Middle Stage Rank-8 Beasts would have been fine, but dealing with one peak Rank-8 Beast required everyone to work together.


    Even though ze had be an End Stage Rank-8 as well, it was still not easy to deal with a Beast at the same rank.


    It was funny for ze to see the varying expressions of misery on the members of the Rogue Crew when they realized that Ozul wouldn¡¯t be helping them in anything that he didn¡¯t need to help in.


    Only then did they realize that unless there was a Rank-9 Beast, Ozul would never step in to help them.


    Fighting two peak Rank-8 Beasts consecutivelyst day had tired all of them. The rtively weaker ones even had injuries, but nothing too serious as ze took it upon himself to keep the Beasts upied.


    ¡°ording to this map, the ruins should be just behind those mountains,¡± Ozul muttered as he looked at the distant mountain range with dark clouds lingering above them.


    The parchment in his hand had only marked a few specific terrains and the directions that they had to travel in from there. Ozul was quite careful in not taking the wrong direction since half of the map was filled with scratches and blurred images.


    Fortunately, he hadn¡¯t taken a wrong turn as of yet since he could already see the mountain range mentioned on the map.


    Looking at the worn out state of everyone, Ozul decided to make a stop here. They were in a forest with sky tall trees, but it wasn¡¯t a problem for them.


    The training of the duo had already started the moment Rank-8 Beasts started to appear, so he didn¡¯t have to worry much about dying their exploration.


    He wanted them to gain battle experience which had no shortcut. But he was satisfied with their progress as their battles were more refined and they made less and less unnecessary movements while fighting.


    Everyone¡¯s mood visibly improved hearing, ¡°Let¡¯s stop for a rest.¡±


    All of them rxed a little but kept up their guard as they still had to deal with the Beasts wandering about.


    As Ozul noticed how even ze didn¡¯tpletely drop his guard, he realized that their training up until now wasn¡¯t in vain.


    Raven already had many things instilled in her instincts when she had stuck with Ozul all those years during his assassination missions given by Oliver, but ze was like a dull depared to a newly forged high quality saber in front of Raven.


    ¡®He is learning fast,¡¯ Ozul understood that despite him not using his brain enough, ze was talented in almost everything.


    ¡®Even if left on his own, he could single handedly dominate the whole continent one day,¡¯ Ozul had quite a high evaluation for ze...

 Chapter 282

    Chapter 282: Fancy much?


    If anyone else heard Ozul saying that, they would probably think that he was overestimating ze¡¯s talent.


    However, Ozul just had a feeling that ze had a talent unlike any other. The blue crystal crown on his forehead still felt lifeless to him no matter how hard he looked into it.


    What had surprised him was the fact that he couldn¡¯t find any simr cases in the history of this continent!


    Just like his own condition, ze¡¯s was one of a kind as well.


    What had brought Ozul to have his current evaluation of ze was the fact that he hadn¡¯t seen him stuck at a rank, not even once throughout all these years!


    He was continuously progressing. The speed at which he improved might have varied, but never once did itpletely halt. It let Ozul believe that he was nowhere near his limits.


    If ze didn¡¯t face any difficulties even in Rank-8, one could only imagine what his upper limit would be. Although Ozul was just guessing right now, he could confirm his thoughts when ze broke through to Rank-9. Only at that time would he be sure of it.


    .....


    Unlike others, Ozul had no doubt that ze would be able to breakthrough to Rank-9 as long as he didn¡¯t die.


    Taking his eyes off of him, Ozul looked at Raven and also noticed how her Mana had started to be restless. It was a little more jumpy than usual.


    He was sure that Raven could feel it too as she looked eager to sit down in a peaceful ce to cultivate. She was close to her breakthrough to the End Stage of Rank-8 as well!


    However, it looked like she was struggling to find any time for her to cultivate.


    ¡°ze... deal with everything,¡± Ozul called ze and told him that it was now up to him to deal with everything and then turned towards Raven before he said, ¡°You can cultivate.¡±


    Raven didn¡¯t need as muchbat experience as ze did, so it wasn¡¯t a problem for her to focus on the cultivation instead.


    ze grumbled under his breath, but he didn¡¯t voice out hisint. He wanted to sit down and cultivate as well. Fighting these Magical Beasts was already starting to bore him to death.


    Raven happily tiptoed over to Ozul¡¯s side and sat down just a couple of feet beside him before she closed her eyes and immediately started to cultivate. There wasn¡¯t a single ce in the world where she felt safer than when she was around him, so it wasn¡¯t a problem for her to focus on cultivating.


    Ozul also kept an eye around so nothing disturbed her. She was at a critical point and interrupting her in the middle might have severe consequences, so he made sure nothing approached her.


    The members of the Rogue crew eyed Raven with a strange look in their eyes, they knew how hard it was to concentrate on cultivating out in the open, much less when they were at such a dangerous ce.


    ¡®This is what they call a heaven-defying genius huh...¡¯ the old members sighed as they noticed Mana started to slowly circte around Raven which meant that she had really started cultivating in the middle of these unpredictablends.


    They could have never achieved the same feat if it was them in the same situation.


    Little by little, Raven¡¯s aura started to be even more restless, but she was still not there yet.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    ¨C In the Church of Light ¨C


    While Ozul had been leading the group deeper into thosends ording to the map, Lammert was working all those physicians to the bones.


    They weren¡¯t allowed to rest more than 3 hours per day, and when they were tired and couldn¡¯t even lift up a finger, he would give them the healing potions just so they could recover their stamina!


    Such extravagant spending would have made just about anyone cry tears of blood as most of them couldn¡¯t even afford those high quality potions for their loved ones who were on their deathbed.


    But Lammert didn¡¯t care about any of that now that they needed to hurry up.


    Physicians weren¡¯t the only people he had brought in to help. cksmiths were actually the ones who were forced to do the mostbor.


    They were working day and night. Even the Bishops weren¡¯t allowed inside their workce, so hardly anyone knew what they had been creating there for the past few months.


    At this moment, Lammert entered the hall which was upied by Darcia without even knocking first.


    Though he didn¡¯t realize it in his hurry, Darcia didn¡¯t seem to mind his manner much either.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Darcia asked, noticing the visible excitement on Lammert¡¯s face.


    ¡°It is done! They finished it!¡± Lammert eximed, making a toothy smirk appear on Darcia¡¯s face as well.


    She stood up, her robes fluttering as she made her way out of the hall, ¡°Bring me there.¡±


    Lammert nodded his head before hurriedly leading her to the room where they had sessfully finished that.


    . . .


    As Darcia entered the room, she felt a whiff of pungent smell invading her nose to which she just waved her hand and ayer of Mana washed away any smell that came near here.


    Just like Lammert, she was too excited due to thepletion of the ¡®that¡¯ to care about the smell.


    The cksmiths together with the physicians bowed their heads towards Darcia as they noticed that even Lammert was respectfully walking behind her. It wasn¡¯t hard to guess her identity.


    Ignoring everything, Darcia made her way towards the table that had arge white canvas ced on some object.


    ¡°Is this it?¡± Darcia muttered to herself before simply waving her hand which caused the giant piece of cloth to fly off.


    What revealed itself under the white canvas made Darcia take a few steps forward, ¡°Is this it?¡±


    She again repeated her words but this time they were directed towards Lammert.


    What was before them was what one might think to be a cannon, or even a Mana powered cannon from how fancy it looked. However, there was of course something extraordinary about it for even the Rank-10 Mage to take so much interest in it.


    The fancy looking cannon only had its barrel where they would usually put the cannon ball in. Instead of the usual dull grey color, this cannon was half white and half golden which made it really stand out.


    There was also a small transparent chamber fit on top of the cannon.


    If one didn¡¯t know any better, they would have thought that anyone with a little bit of money could have such a cannon built for decoration purposes.


    However, the hundreds of asionally gleaming runes etched on the gold ting was the proof that this cannon was not just made for decorations.


    No one would dare to underestimate this cannon if they knew that even the best cksmiths brought in by the Church of Light needed months to create this single cannon!


    ¡°It is. ording to them, this should work...¡± Lammert motioned towards the row of physicians who now started to sweat under Darcia¡¯s scrutinizing gaze.


    ¡°I will take their word for it then. Have you tested it yet?¡± Darcia spoke, impatient to test the cannon personally.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t,¡± Lammert replied before he added, ¡°But there is hardly anyone in the forest. We can test it there-¡±


    ¡°I... if I may... your grace?¡± an old man interrupted Lammert with his head constantly bowed down as if he was afraid to look directly in Lammert¡¯s eyes.


    Lammert frowned since he was interrupted. Though he was still aware that Darcia was beside him, so he spoke in a cold voice, ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I... we... ording to our estimation... testing the ¡®Devil¡¯s arm¡¯ anywhere around here would cause a hugemotion...¡± the old physician finished his sentence as he continuously stole nces at Lammert, fearing that he might have angered him.


    But he sighed a breath of relief when he noticed that Lammert didn¡¯t say anything. Instead, he just looked at the olddy standing behind him for a reply.


    ¡°Very well, so be it then. Still, let me see if it works or not,¡± Darcia showed her understanding.


    ¡®It is better that those annoying dogs don¡¯t find out about this before I have achieved a breakthrough,¡¯ she thought in her head without a change in her facial expressions.


    If it would really cause a greatmotion if they tested it, then the remaining Rank-10 Mages would surely look into it. And if they find out what she had been doing here, Darcia knew that they would all want to snatch the arm and that cannon from her.


    She wanted to keep this a secret for as long she didn¡¯t achieve a breakthrough to the next rank.


    ¡°O-o-of course! We can do that. Yes! We can!¡± the old physician enthusiastically looked at others who were also relieved that they wouldn¡¯t be losing this oldrade of theirs.


    ¡°What will we test it with, if not the ¡®Devil¡¯s arm¡¯ then?¡± Lammert asked, staring at the old man. This cannon was supposed to use Ozul¡¯s severed arm. How would they even know if it would work or not if they hadn¡¯t yet tried it out?


    ¡°I... understand your... worries my lord. Ho-however, have faith in us. We have really thought everything through tens of times already... It... should work,¡± the old man replied while stuttering.


    One couldn¡¯t tell if he was too tired or too afraid to speak properly.


    He then continued, ¡°We... can simply test it with the normal crystals that contain Mana... just like a normal cannon powered by Mana...¡±

 Chapter 283

    Chapter 283: Might of the cannon.


    ¡°...just like a normal cannon powered by Mana,¡± the old physician stuttered, getting a few nods from the experienced cksmiths on the side.


    They hadn¡¯t created something like this before, but from what they had gathered, the cannon should work perfectly.


    If only they had more time, they could have tested it many times over. However, they could only look for any errors and correct them on the spot under their given circumstances.


    Lammert not only wanted them to finish the cannon under six days, but he had also told them to be discreet about it, so they couldn¡¯t openly experiment either.


    One thing they all agreed on was that this was one of their masterpieces, even if it was made with the joint effort of everyone present in the room.


    Lammert looked towards Darcia for confirmation and only when he saw her nodding at him did he respond, ¡°Do we do it here then?¡±


    ¡°Ah here? No no no! We can¡¯t do it here! If nothing goes wrong, then we will destroy this ce!¡± the old man immediately rejected the idea.


    .....


    Although they had yet to test it out, all the cksmiths and physicians agreed that it should work just fine. And ording to their estimates, even testing it like a normal cannon would have the power multiplied many times over!


    ¡°We will do as you say then. Follow me,¡± Darcia interrupted in the middle. She was getting impatient now and decided to end their conversation right there.


    It was better if they tried it out themselves.


    She stored the cannon inside her Spatial Ring with a wave of her hand and led the whole group into the near forest. Testing the ¡®Devil¡¯s arm¡¯ in the open might cause amotion, but no one would notice anything if they only used it as a normal Mana-powered cannon.


    ¡°B-b-but...¡± the old physician seemed to be wanting to say something, but a re from Lammert forced him to immediately shut his mouth.


    ¡°Follow along quietly,¡± Lammert ordered in a cold voice before following behind Darcia.


    Around thirty or so people including all the cksmiths also followed their lead. No oneforted the old man as they knew better than to stand out as well. Their lives were more important than theirpanionship.


    Dejected that Lammert didn¡¯t even let him finish his words, the old man could only heave a long tired sigh before he moved along as well.


    A few minutester, all of them stood in the jungle surrounded by tall trees as Darcia took the fancy-looking cannon out of her Spatial Ring before cing it on the ground.


    She moved its barrel in the opposite direction of the Neutral City and looked specifically at the old physician who shrunk his body in response.


    ¡°Youe here and do it,¡± Darcia ordered the old man before asking, ¡°What do you even need to use it?¡±


    ¡°Ah... We only need those crystals which contain Mana... it doesn¡¯t even require the cannonballs,¡± the old physician answered as he approached the cannon.


    He was only a physician who was required to share his views on how the Devil¡¯s arm would work with the cannon. He wasn¡¯t a cksmith, so he was unable to describe how everything worked.


    But he did have the Mana Crystal with him in his Spatial Ring. So he took it out and proceeded to remove the ss on top of the invisible container attached to the barrel.


    After removing the ss lid, the old physician ced that Mana Crystal in the invisible container before cing his hands on the runes etched on the gold ting beside it.


    At this time, all the surrounding people except for Darcia held their breaths as it would be the first time since they tested the cannon.


    Although they had checked everything many times over, something could have still gone wrong.


    Lammert was also a little nervous since he would have to face Darcia¡¯s wrath if things didn¡¯t work out as they were supposed to.


    The old physician took a deep breath before he induced a bit of his Mana in the runes which started to light up, shining in dim red light.


    Kfuuu...!


    The moment all the runes had lit up, a condensed beam of energy shot out from the muzzle of the cannon with lightning speed!


    The ground near the group shook a little because of the force, and when they looked at where the beam of energy had shot at, they couldn¡¯t see the end to the series of giant holes through rows and rows of trees!


    Lammert sighed in relief that it was working perfectly fine, while all others present there cheered in joy. All except for the old physician who had a thoughtful look on his face which slowly morphed into worry.


    No one paid any attention to the old man; they were all busy inspecting the cannon.


    The Mana Crystal ced inside that invisible container was no more. In its ce were just a pile of ashes which also dusted away with the next wind.


    The cannon had really used every bit of Mana in the Crystal for the st earlier.


    Looking at many trees the beam had broken through, one could easily tell that the st just now was enough to take down tens of Rank-6 Mages at once! Tens of Rank-6 Mages taken down using only a cannon was unheard of!


    A single Mana-powered cannon could at most affect the battle when the strongest Mage was only a Rank-5 Mage. The cannons would be useless when the Rank-6 Mages joined in.


    However, after months of trial and error, they had finally created a cannon so strong that they could even give Rank-7 Mages a bit of trouble using only Mana Crystals.


    And it wasn¡¯t even made to use the Mana Crystals as its primary source of power, it was the Devil¡¯s arm instead!


    If even a single Mana Crystal created such a st, what would Ozul¡¯s Scent1 do? Some of them couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine.


    The most experienced of all, that old physician was most likely the only one who was more worried than excited.


    Darcia again waved her hand as she stored the cannon back in her Spatial Ring.


    One could tell that she was satisfied with the results as well.


    ¡°This will work. Once the Devil¡¯s arm is used instead of the Mana Crystals, the force behind the st would be unimaginable!¡± Darcia now felt increasingly reassured of her victory.


    With this cannon, she didn¡¯t even fear the old man from stopping her.


    All she needed to do now was to find that boy and kill him. She guessed that since only his arm could help her achieve a breakthrough, what would his whole body do? She might even find something more useful, so she was eager to get to him as soon as possible.


    Just as she was about to leave with Lammert, the old physician managed to utter a few words, ¡°Uhm... Can I...¡±


    Darcia stopped and looked at the old man with a questioning face. Opposite to her, Lammert was getting pissed as this old man had interrupted them so many times now.


    ¡°What is it? Speak quickly. We don¡¯t have time for your squeaks,¡± Lammert spoke in a cold voice, making the old man even more nervous.


    ¡°I... think the cannon might not be ready yet...¡± he mustered up all his courage to utter out these words, making not only Lammert and Darcia narrow their eyes, but even his fellow Physicians and cksmiths to look at him oddly.


    They had all worked together in this and it was odd to see that one of them suddenly just stands up and says that it might not work. But all of them wanted him to stay quiet since they would again have to work nonstop for months if they really found a fault in the cannon.


    Luthien just didn¡¯t want to upset Darcia, while thetter was doubtful of the old man as well.


    ¡°Why do you say as such?¡± Darcia inquired with a sharper tone of her own.


    ¡°I... I... The Devil¡¯s arm contains just too much energy... It might not even work... or it might even just blow up...¡± the old physician was adamant in his ims.


    ¡°What proof do you have? And is he correct?¡± Darcia asked the first question to the old physician while turned around towards hispanions for the second one.


    All of them shook their heads, ¡°ording to our estimation... it should work.¡±


    ¡°I have no... proof. But really... I think-¡± the old physician still defended his ims, but Darcia only wanted to know if he had any proof or not.


    ¡°Speak only if you have any certain evidence that it would not work, I don¡¯t care what your thoughts are,¡± Darcia spoke while narrowing her eyes.


    A suffocating aura descended on the old physician as he dropped on the ground with widened eyes. He felt as if death itself was looming on his head as he found it difficult to breathe.


    ¡°M-m-mercy...¡± he could only stutter out that word before Darcia turned around and left, making Lammert sigh in relief that he wasn¡¯t reprimanded for not teaching his subordinated enough.


    ¡°Take him away,¡± he ordered the other physicians before also disappearing from his spot.


    Darcia didn¡¯t even bother to tell Lammert that she was directly making her way towards those unexplorednds to find Ozul.


    She was in too much of a rush to care about the old man¡¯s ramblings about how the cannon might or might not work. Everyone except for the old man had no problem with it.

 Chapter 284

    Chapter 284: Still not back?


    The old physician on the ground could only shake his head while his body was still trembling from fear after experiencing that menacing aura. In the end, he was only an Initial Stage Rank-8 Mage; a Rank-10 existence was too much for him to handle.


    And it didn¡¯t help the fact that even his ownpanions didn¡¯t help him in that situation.


    While the old physicianmented the fact that he couldn¡¯t convince Darcia to let them do a few experiments first, the Rank-10 Mage was flying straight towards the uninhabited part of the continent. She didn¡¯t even bother to inform Lammert beforehand.


    On the way, Darcia looked for any trail that the Church¡¯s people had left behind in order to let them know their route, but she couldn¡¯t find anything as such no matter how hard she looked.


    In the end, she came to the conclusion that Ozul might have already taken care of those people following them.


    ¡®Hm? No matter... It still won¡¯t take me long before I find you,¡¯ Darcia thought before cackling as she flew in a straight line with a blinding speed.


    ¡ª¡ª


    .....


    Back to Ozul and the group, they were blissfully unaware of the fact that a Rank-10 Mage was out to hunt them down and she was even bringing a weapon that might even kill beings above Rank-10!


    At this moment, ze was fighting another peak Rank-8 Magical Beast with the help of the Rogue Crew.


    It was a Golden Roc with Wind Element, so it was quite difficult for them to deal with it in the air as it had better maneuverability in the air.


    But despite its advantage in the air, it could only helplessly watch as ze led the Rogue Crew to slowly tire it out before killing it. There were over thirty Rank-8 Mages after all.


    While they fought with the Golden Roc that had descended from the mountain range in the far distance, Ozul watched over Raven so no stray Spell disturbed her cultivation.


    It had been a few hours since she had started meditating and the aura around her was getting increasingly denser.


    Kreeeee!!


    Just then, the Golden Roc died with a deafening shriek that echoed back because of the mountain range near them.


    ze had sessfully taken down the peak Rank-8 Magical Beast without letting any member of the Rogue Crew get into harm this time. He stored the corpse of the Beast inside his Spatial Ring and descended on the ground followed by others.


    Just as he was about to boast around how easily he had gotten rid of the Beast this time, ze noticed the sudden spike in Raven¡¯s Mana and stopped at his spot.


    ¡°She is about to achieve a breakthrough!¡± ze instantly realized as he had gone through the same process some months back as well.


    ¡°Keep your voice down,¡± Ozul looked at ze and said with an unamused face.


    One would think that he was being considerate of Raven. However, only ze knew how much Ozul hated people shouting near him.


    His next words got stuck in his mouth as he excitedly cheered for Raven in his mind.


    For all his rivalry with her, at this time, it looked as if he wanted her to surpass him instead.


    Ozul also examined Raven¡¯s body, but his focus was his Scent rotating around her heart instead of her Mana Core.


    He had noticed it before too when ze was about to achieve the breakthrough to the End Stage, and it truly intrigued him how his Scent would start to spin increasingly faster at the time of theirst step towards the next Stage.


    He hadn¡¯t been able to figure out the reason or what changes it made back then, and no matter how hard he tried, he wasn¡¯t able to feel anything this time either.


    His Scent was spinning at a fast rate around Raven¡¯s heart, but everything was exactly the same as it would be with someone who didn¡¯t have the Scent. He could spot no obvious differences.


    When it came down to things that Ozul didn¡¯t know but he wanted to, they kept piling on with the years instead of decreasing.


    He sighed before shifting his focus back on Raven¡¯s aura. Her Mana had a very dark hue because of her Darkness Element and it made many members of the Rogue Crew frown subconsciously.


    They were all aged Mages who had seen many Dark Mages throughout history using Darkness Element to kill the innocents. Although it had been a few days together with her, they still couldn¡¯t help but be wary of her.


    Fwoosh!


    Just then, pitch-ck particles began to seep out into the air from the torrent of dark Mana circling around Raven.


    The members of the Rogue Crew were actually surprised by the intensity of the phenomenon since she was only going to break through a small Stage and not the entire Rank.


    Only Ozul and ze were unaffected by this since it was many times greater when ze had advanced.


    They realized that the intensity of this phenomenon was directly linked with the affinity one had with their respective Element. Raven¡¯s understanding of Darkness Element had certainly increased her affinity with it as well.


    Slowly the Mana began to calm down and Ozul noticed Raven taking a deep breath before opening her eyes. Her eyes instantly fell on Ozul¡¯s figure and a sweet smile blossomed on her face. It was only because she could notice that acknowledgment in his eyes.


    Though her smile instantly died down as she noticed everyone else staring at her as well. It wouldn¡¯t have been so annoying if it wasn¡¯t for that familiar look in their eyes.


    Except for ze and Ozul, all of them held a little wariness towards her.


    Though she didn¡¯t mention it as she had already gotten used to it. Not to mention, Ozul had warned her about this even before she had chosen to cultivate with this Element.


    Raven stood up before she started to feel the changes that happened to her body. She not only felt lighter but the Mana she could wield had also gotten denser. She even felt her other senses improve as she looked around in the distance and heard the birds chirping in the forest behind them.


    She then shifted her gaze towards ze and said, ¡°I am not going to be left behind!¡±


    Raven meant her words as her eyes held a determination that ze was all too familiar with. He knew that she was trying too hard, but he could understand her worries.


    Even he didn¡¯t want to be left behind by Ozul who had clearly stated that he didn¡¯t want weak people. He only needed those who were useful to him, and being strong was the only way for them to be useful to him.


    Amidst their resolve to reach new heights every day, they never questioned themselves why they so desperately wanted to stick with Ozul.


    ¡°Recover your stamina and stabilize your Mana Core, we will leave as soon as you are done,¡± Ozul gave an approving nod towards Raven and started giving out the new orders.


    ¡®They might be here anytime now...¡¯ Ozul believed that Darcia might already be here in the unexplorednds searching for him.


    The fact that they hadn¡¯t found him yet had already been a surprise, but he wasn¡¯tining because it was for the best that they explored the ruins first. They were supposed to be just on the other side of the mountain range.


    Though he still wondered why it was taking Darcia so long since she was a Rank-10 Mage.


    Raven sat back down and started to stabilize her Mana Core.


    It didn¡¯t take long for her to be done as she stood back up and informed Ozul.


    ¡°Let them finish first,¡± Ozul told Raven who only now noticed that another peak Rank-8 Magical Beast had appeared out of nowhere and ze was busy dealing with it.


    Raven¡¯s eyes lit up as she couldn¡¯t ask for anything better to test her new strength.


    ¡°Leave it!¡± she shouted at ze before rushing straight towards the giant gori-like Beast.


    Ozul didn¡¯t stop her. He was busy in his own thoughts. Even for thesends, it was unusual to see so many peak Rank-8 Beasts in a single location.


    He subconsciously shifted his eyes towards the mountain range, ¡®Could whatever is behind those mountains be the reason?¡¯


    Although the old parchment indicated that there were ancient ruins behind that mountain range, it was still a wonder to him why there were ruins in the middle of thesends.


    ¡°Only one way to find out,¡± Ozul muttered before he noticed Raven and ze killing the Beast without breaking a sweat this time as they were both End Stage Rank-8 Mages now.


    ¡°Hurry up, don¡¯t waste any more time,¡± he told them he also stood up, ¡®Still no sign of Jinx...¡¯


    Usually, when he would think about her, she woulde back in a day before disappearing again.


    He sighed before trying not to think about it. There was nothing he could do about it after all.


    The group started to pack up as ze again stored the corpse of the Beast inside his Spatial Ring. The raw materials obtained from their corpses were really valuable.


    ¡°We already have so many now, do I really have to collect them all?¡± ze asked Raven. She was the one who had instructed him to do this. If not because of her, he wouldn¡¯t have bothered doing something like this.


    After all, Storing Magical Beasts inside his personal space wasn¡¯t exactlyforting.

 Chapter 285

    Chapter 285: This is Interesting...


    ¡°We don¡¯t need it, but the organization does,¡± Raven answered ze.


    She would keep a check on the resources that the Three-Eyed Strangers had in their vaults, and it was obvious that they were going to run out sooner orter because of the vast scope of their expenditure.


    These peak Rank-8 corpses might be useless for them, but they weren¡¯t for the organization.


    ¡°We are done,¡± Raven spoke to Ozul who was waiting for them to finish.


    They didn¡¯t have anything to pack anyway, so Ozul began to lead them towards those sky high snow peaks.


    ¡°Keep your guard up, something feels off,¡± Ozul warned as they slowed down a little. He felt off because of the numerous Mana signatures he felting from those mountains.


    As far as his senses could reach, there were no doubt tens of peak Rank-8 Magical Beasts present there. What proved to be even more peculiar was how the number of Beasts he felt in the mountain range increased the closer they got to it.


    .....


    From up high in the air, Ozul could see how the mountain range extended on both sides, even curving at the far ends.


    ¡®It is as if they are encircling something,¡¯ Ozul thought. This odd terrain made him sure that there really was something strange beyond those snow peaks.


    As they slowly approached the snow peaks, the feeling that there was something peculiar on the other side only got stronger.


    The group of Rank-8 Mages behind him were all on edge. After a few minutes, even they were able to sense a few of those Beasts¡¯ Mana signatures. They were ready to start shooting their Spells at any sign of danger.


    Though strangely, none of the Magical Beasts had any intentions of attacking them.


    ¡°Huh? How can so many peak Rank-8 Beasts remain at the same location in peace?¡± ze muttered to himself. The others had the same question as Raven had a thoughtful face.


    Under Ozul¡¯s lead, they didn¡¯tnd on the snow peaks and instead continued to fly straight to the other side. Clouds blurred their vision, so they had to lower their altitude a little.


    Questions started to pile up among the group as they continued to observe the sight in front of them.


    A few momentster, Ozul suddenly stopped in the middle of the air as realization dawned upon Raven at the same time.


    ¡°There is only a single reason why Beasts of the same rank would not tear eachother apart for territory and food...¡± Raven muttered, but her words were finished by Ozul instead, ¡°... if an even stronger Beast is near.¡±


    In fact, it became clear now why all of these peak Rank-8 Beasts and even a few weaker were all staying on the mountains without starting an all out carnage.


    ¡°There are at least 3 Rank-9 Beasts, stay close to me,¡± Ozul looked at the wide view in front of him and informed the group behind him.


    Raven and ze slowly both approached to his sides and only then were they able to gaze at the view which made them pause in shock.


    Before them was a vast grasnd surrounded by the mountain peaks from all sides!


    The snow peaks didn¡¯t just end with a small curve that they had seen from the distance. Just as Ozul had expected, it was indeed encircling that wide in.


    And Ozul even pointed out the locations he felt the three Rank-9 Beasts in. All three of them stood hundreds of meters away from each other, but all this distance was nothing in the eyes of a Rank-9 Beast.


    ¡°What... what even is this...¡± ze muttered as he stared at the most abnormal view in his entire life.


    The fact that there were three Rank-9 Beasts far in the distance had already made all the members of the Rogue Crew suck in a cold breath.


    Even for Rank-8 Mages, it was rare to ever encounter Beasts at the same rank much less Beasts at Rank-9.


    Only now did they start to realize that their job wasn¡¯t as simple as it seemed at the start.


    Looking at the three figures floating before them, all of them had the same question inside their hearts; had they made the right decision to ept that middle ageddy¡¯s offer to join the organization that day?


    They hade here believing that Rank-8 Mages were valued wherever they went and they would most likely only have to work a little more than others. How would they know that they would be following Ozul and in the face of real dangers around him, they were only a bunch of cannon fodder.


    ¡°All of them are behaving because of the presence of those Rank-9 Beasts,¡± Ozul uttered but his eyes were not in the direction of those Rank-9 Beasts now.


    Instead, he was looking at a single mountain-like structure right in the middle of the vast grasnd.


    At this time, the duo also moved their eyes towards that structure. It looked like an old temple carved out of a mountain as there were many thick tree vines entangled with the trees around it.


    ¡°Are those the ruins mentioned on the map?¡± Raven asked curiously. She had seen the parchment multiple times and was aware that this was the location where the ruins were supposed to be. And that was the only thing that felt remotely simr to ruins in sight.


    Ozul didn¡¯t answer her question. He was just as clueless as them, but there was something that had caught his eyes.


    He felt a familiar feelinging from the mountain and the old ruin like thing in front of them.


    Just then, his eyes suddenly darted in the direction of the three Rank-9 Beasts and noticed how none of them made an effort to approach their group.


    He was sure that they would have surely felt their presence up in the air. Rank-9 Beasts had a very clear conscience and were even fluent in human speech if they had encountered humans before. Point being, they were intelligent enough and should have attacked them already.


    ¡®Thinking about that, why didn¡¯t they fight among themselves?¡¯ Ozul noticed how the three Rank-9 Beasts were all staying at their location as well.


    While thinking of all that, he was slowly descending towards the temple-like mountain when the realization dawned upon him. After all, they had just said, ¡®There is only a single reason why Beasts of the same rank would not tear eachother apart for territory and food is if an even stronger Beast is near...¡¯


    ¡°A...Rank-10 Beast?!...¡± Raven muttered in shock.


    Hiss...


    With it being quiet all around, her words caused everyone except for Ozul to suck in cold breath again.


    Ozul turned around and noticed everyone had their mouths hung loosely as they looked at him with anxious faces full of questions.


    In face of all their worries, he took a deep breath before saying, ¡°Stay calm and listen to me carefully.¡±


    Only when he noticed the duoing to their senses did he continue again, ¡°Forget about the existence of a Rank-10 Beast. Even with that out of the picture, we are in the middle of a monster den surrounded by more than a hundred Rank-8 Beasts and at least three Rank-9 Beasts.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t lose control over your emotions. Even the slightest mistake can rile up all of these Beasts and I might not be able to protect you then,¡± Ozul said with an apathetic tone, making all of them realize that they would be left on their own if they really did mess up here.


    From how calm he was being, some of them even wondered if there really was a Rank-10 Beast somewhere around here or not.


    Ozul pointed towards the farthest spot from the Rank-9 Beasts on the mountain range and said, ¡°Take your positions there. Be ready to rush back to the headquarters at moment¡¯s notice.¡±


    He particrly fixated his eyes on ze and Raven while saying this.


    ¡®I didn¡¯t expect such a development...¡¯ Ozul thought as he even had to win a staring contest against Raven to convince her.


    ¡°Where will you be?¡± Raven still had to ask. She had plenty of more questions about the situation but she decided to hold on to them for now.


    She knew something was up from how it had already been the third time that he had reminded them to run for their lives in the face of any danger. He had yet to tell them about the incident with those spies as well.


    ¡°I will be exploring those ruins alone,¡± Ozul motioned towards the temple-like mountain.


    Although Raven wanted to ask much more, she only nodded her head and went off in the direction of the spot where Ozul had ordered them to stay in.


    No one could understand it better than Raven that once Ozul made his decision, there was no way that anyone could change his mind without a solid argument. But she couldn¡¯t think of any argument considering that she had no idea what a Rank-10 Beast was even capable of.


    ze also wanted to say something but when he noticed how even Raven was helpless, he knew that he stood no chance either. He nodded his head at Ozul before following after Raven.


    ¡°All of you are to stay with them,¡± Ozul ordered the Rogue Crew who had no other choice but to follow his orders because of their oaths.


    Many of them had thoughts about running away, but they would die now if they did because of their oaths to always obey his orders.


    Only after all of them had gone far away did Ozul look back towards the ruins below him, ¡°This is interesting...¡±

 Chapter 286

    Chapter 286: The Wolf¡¯s Cage.


    ¡°This is interesting,¡± Ozul muttered as he started to formte his next n.


    ¡®I didn¡¯t expect to find something like this...¡¯ he thought inside his mind before slowly descending to the ground.


    One could tell that he was being careful in his movements.


    As hended on the ground, he simply closed his eyes to scan the temple in front of him from inside out. There were no obvious entrances to the mountain which looked like a temple.


    A few secondster, he opened his eyes while staring at the ground with an unreadable face.


    ¡°This is troublesome, but I can use this to my advantage...¡± Ozul muttered before he suddenly sat down on the grass in a meditative position.


    The duo was too far away by then to question him why he sat down on the ground instead of exploring the ruins.


    .....


    As Ozul sat down with crossed legs, he contemted how long it would take for Darcia to find him. He was confident that she wasing after him, but he didn¡¯t know when.


    ¡®I guess I will just wait a few days,¡¯ Ozul decided to give Darcia a few days of time to find him.


    If she didn¡¯t find him till then, he would just have to assume that she wasn¡¯t nning to deal with him any time sooner.


    After all, she was a Rank-10 Mage who had lived for hundreds of years. She should have no problem in finding his location if she was really trying to.


    ¡®But it would be for the best if she did find me here,¡¯ Ozul thought before he unstrapped the Spatial Pouch from his waist and took out a small crystal-like ball that had an extremely concentrated form of Mana contained inside.


    ¡°I almost forgot about this,¡± Ozul muttered as he proudly remembered the time he hadn¡¯t forgotten to take out the Mana Core of someone that could actually help him a little.


    It was the time when he had killed Luthien¡¯s father as Old Gu was keeping him busy by having a ¡®friendly¡¯ conversation with him.


    Before he struggled to stand up at that time, he had efficiently extracted that half-step Rank-10 Mage¡¯s Mana Core since that could definitely improve his strength, even if only by a small margin.


    After that, he hadpletely forgotten about its existence as he got busy in training Raven and ze.


    Even now, he might have not remembered about it if he hadn¡¯t mentally started to go through everything that could assist him in this situation.


    But instead of consuming the Mana Core to absorb it immediately, Ozul put it back inside his Spatial Ring, ¡°... I can only hope that it works.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª-


    Meanwhile, above an unknown part of these unexplored Lands, a blurry shadow flew at a lightning speed towards a certain direction high in the air.


    If it was any Mage below Rank-9, they wouldn¡¯t have even noticed the blurry shadow because of how fast it was.


    This was undoubtedly Darcia who could only search in random directions as she didn¡¯t find any trail that Ozul might have left behind.


    Although one might have simply given up when they didn¡¯t even have the general directions of their location in these vastnds, it didn¡¯t bother Darcia who could easily cross the whole continent in a matter of just a couple of days.


    ¡°Just you wait, you brat...¡± Darcia spoke with sharp eyes that examined the terrain below her in search of Ozul or any signs that could lead her to him.


    She also kept her other senses to the maximum so she might catch their Mana signature even if she mistakenly missed them.


    A whole day had passed and she hadn¡¯t found anything as of yet.


    Just then, she noticed something from the corner of her eyes that brought out a cacklingugh from her, ¡°Kehehe... you sure are amateur.¡±


    She noticed the concentration of the Beasts at a certain spot and it particrly caught her eyes because of the straight line formed by numerous more spots where the Beasts were unusually concentrated.


    If one was careful enough, they would notice that all those spots were forming a line beyond that point.


    Anyone with even a little bit of experience about the Beasts would know that when their corpses were left in the middle of the forest, it would attract all the other Beasts in the surrounding areas.


    And if that happened anywhere near an area with a concentrated amount of Beasts, they would all swarm the location and begin to tear each other apart to gain the rights over the food which was highly concentrated in Mana.


    In a few cases when the Beasts mostly had simr strength to each other, the fights or the battle royales of carnage might evenst for weeks if not months!


    The numerous spots of Beasts fighting each other in high concentration were exactly because of that.


    And it wasn¡¯t hard for Darcia to understand what was happening since she was one of the oldest people alive on the continent together with the other Rank-10 Mages.


    Such a thing would rarely happen naturally since the Beasts who had killed their prey would never leave their corpse behind for others to feast on. Not to mention, there were tens of such spots that Darcia could see from high up in the air.


    It wasn¡¯t hard to notice that someone had passed by this ce, killing whichever Beast attacked them.


    Darcia was just amused at the fact that Ozul would make such an amateur mistake of leaving the corpses there for other Beasts to fight for, causing such a huge ruckus in his wake.


    Unknown to her, Ozul was naturally not so naive. Even if he was, the group of Rank-8 Mages following him certainly knew about the consequences of leaving the Beasts¡¯ corpses as Tatsuo, the temporary leader of the Rogue Crew had even mentioned it to him once.


    He was the only one who could sometimes put his opinion before Ozul in the whole Rogue Crew. Others didn¡¯t dare to speak up in his presence.


    However, it was Ozul himself who had refrained them to clean up the corpses, for reasons that the Rogue Crew weren¡¯t allowed to know.


    If only Darcia knew that it was precisely because of her that Ozul had left the trail behind him, she would have been furious at his arrogance.


    Without wasting another minute, she started to follow the spots where the Beasts were in high concentration, mindlessly killing each other even when they had enough intelligence to rival humans at their current strength.


    Sometimes, she would have to stop at certain spots to confirm that she was on the right track since these spots varied in distance from each other. There were even times when she wouldn¡¯t see another spot concentrated with swarming Beasts for a couple of miles since there were no Beasts nearby to begin with.


    But for a Rank-10 Mage, all of this was a child¡¯s y.


    . . .


    Three days passed before Darcia reached the ins before which she had stopped finding any more of those spots concentrated with Beasts.


    Though she could already make out the general direction in which Ozul would have went in if she followed the straight line pattern of those spots.


    But she stopped at these ins when she looked around, feeling that this ce was a little familiar.


    ¡°When have I been here before?¡± She muttered as a certain feeling grew inside of her.


    After a while, she shook her head and flew in the straight line. But the familiar feeling inside of jer grew ever so slightly as she traveled further in.


    Some hourster, Darcia reached a forest where she found a couple of ces where the ground was littered with battle scars.


    Following these scenes, she approached the end of the forest where a certain mountain range appeared in her vision.


    Darcia immediately halted in the middle of the air as her eyes widened with shock and realization.


    ¡°T-that!¡± her fingers subconsciously pointed towards the mountain range.


    No one would have believed that there could be something that could cause even a Rank-10 Mage to stutter with fear.


    Just in the next few seconds, Darcia quicklyposed herself and took a deep breath as she eyed the distant snow peaks that seemingly touched the sky.


    ¡°The Wolf¡¯s Cage...¡± Darcia muttered, scoffing at how shameless they had been to name this ce a cage, ¡°Tch... How could some mountains even hold ¡®that¡¯ down.¡±


    ¡°Why out of all ces did that brat have toe here!?¡± She clenched her fist in annoyance.


    This was thest ce she wanted Ozul to be in because of the presence of a certain being residing here.


    ¡°Urgh! What if that boy just went ahead and got himself killed already!?¡± Darcia realized that the possibility of something like that happening was quite high.


    And if he was really dead, all of her efforts up until now would be in vain!


    She would then have to make do with whatever she could with the severed arm she had in her possession right now.


    Right when she was contemting whether she should continue to advance straight into The Wolf¡¯s Cage or just leave while believing that Ozul was probably already dead, she remembered something which made her pause.


    ¡°Kehehe! How could I forget?¡± Her demeanor suddenly took apletely different turn as she cackled like an old witch.


    ¡®Now that I have the ultimate weapon with me, I don¡¯t have to worry about ¡®that¡¯!¡¯ Darcia reminded herself while caressing the Spatial Ring which she had stored the cannon in.

 Chapter 287

    Chapter 287: The Sovereign?


    Darcia had the cannon built for individuals that she couldn¡¯t deal with herself.


    It was unlikely that Old Gu would know what was happening in these far-offnds, so she thought that there won¡¯t be any use for the cannon anytime soon.


    However, it now seemed that using the cannon would be inevitable.


    ¡°Don¡¯t me me if you cross my way,¡± Darcia uttered before flying straight towards the mountain range.


    Her Mana was unrestrained as if she didn¡¯t fear provoking the entity which resided between this cage of mountains.


    Darcia ignored the rows of Rank-8 Beasts all staying on the snow peaks, not daring to take a step further.


    Just as she crossed the sky-high snow peaks, the temple appeared in front of her isted in the middle of the ins.


    .....


    Looking around, she saw nothing except for the small figure at the base of the temple, sitting in a meditative position. Just as her eyes fell on that small figure, thetter also noticed her presence from hundreds of meters away.


    She instantly sharpened her eyes, recognizing that small figure to be of Ozul¡¯s.


    Darcia smirked, ¡°Khehe! There you are brat! How long were you nning to hide for!?¡±


    Impatient, she was about to cast a spell at him but stopped at thest moment as she realized that she was missing something.


    Her gaze shifted to the mountain-like temple behind Ozul and her eyes immediately widened.


    ¡°That... It is in a slumber?¡± she uttered in a questioning tone as her stare stayed glued to the huge mountain.


    Realizing that the ¡®it¡¯ was actually in slumber while Ozul was all fine below her, she instantly restrained her Mana. Although she didn¡¯t fear ¡®it¡¯ now that she had the cannon, she could also face unpredictable situations if a fight did break out between them.


    Avoiding the fight was always a better option, so she controlled her Mana as to not appear hostile for now.


    . . .


    Sensing the sudden presence of Darcia, Ozul lifted his head to look straight into her eyes, ¡®Finally...¡¯


    He wasn¡¯t surprised to find that Darcia had alonee after him.


    ¡°I almost thought you were never going toe,¡± Ozul uttered with a low voice, but Darcia didn¡¯t have any trouble understanding his words.


    A frown appeared on her face as she realized that he was waiting for her all this time.


    But in Darcia¡¯s eyes, he was only a brat who hadn¡¯t suffered enough to know how high the heavens were, ¡°You sure have some confidence, boy.¡±


    ¡°Confidence? I don¡¯t have that... but do I really need it?¡± Ozul replied with a straight face, not revealing any emotions to Darcia no matter how hard she squinted.


    Darcia scoffed, ¡°Talk big, brat. But this is the day you-¡±


    ¡°Oh Jinx!¡± Ozul suddenly eximed, cutting in the Rank-10 Mage¡¯s words who was stunned at how fearless this boy was.


    She could not help but think, ¡®Where did he get his confidence from?¡¯ She was sure that the boy knew that she was here to kill him, so why wasn¡¯t he afraid? Had he set up some trap around the temple that she hadn¡¯t noticed?


    Her eyes scanned her surroundings, but she couldn¡¯t spot any hidden traps or anything alike.


    What did catch her eyes was the ck cat which had appeared out of nowhere and was walking towards Ozul at this moment.


    Although Darcia ignored the cat, if she had given it a little more attention, she would have realized that the cat was not normal.


    ¡°Where had you been to?¡± Ozul questioned as Jinx rubbed her head against him affectionately.


    As he expected, he did not receive any answer from her, but it was already enough that she had returned.


    Returning his attention back to the Rank-10 Mage, he noticed the ever-increasing crease in her brows.


    ¡°You were saying?¡± Ozul asked, acting like he didn¡¯t know that thetter was seething in rage at his behavior. Even when she was here to kill him, his attitude was getting on her nerves.


    However, Darcia controlled her anger and took a deep breath, ¡°Follow me out of here, boy.¡±


    ¡°Why should I?¡± Ozul returned with a question, ¡°Aren¡¯t you just going to try and kill me if we get out of here?¡±


    He purposefully eyed the mountain behind him which made Darcia understand that he was also aware of its existence.


    ¡°You also know about the self-proimed ¡®Sovereign¡¯, huh...¡± Darcia indifferently muttered before she replied, ¡°Since you know about it, you should also know that it is better that you follow me away from here. I can at least guarantee you won¡¯t die a painful death.¡±


    ¡°Sovereign? Anyway, I would rather not follow you,¡± Ozul replied with a nonchnt voice as if someone hadn¡¯t just given him two options of death.


    ¡°You dare, brat!?¡± Darcia had enough of his nonsense. As a Rank-10 Mage, she had her own pride.


    ¡°Come with me right now, or they will suffer the same horrendous fate as you!¡± She pointed towards her left where Raven and ze were spectating from.


    At this point, she was already just a few meters away from Ozul and couldn¡¯t help but get even more furious when she noticed no change in his expressions.


    ¡°YOU!!!¡± she did not dare to re her aura in fear that the one in slumber would wake up, but it was a different case with the group stationed far away. She wondered if he would give in once he witnessed their deaths with his own eyes.


    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± Ozul suddenly spoke, making Darcia stop in her tracks. She was just about to fly towards the group.


    Before her confused eyes, Ozul unstrapped a golden pouch from his waist and untied the redce in an unhurried manner.


    Darcia became vignt, expecting him to bring an artifact out of the gold bag which she at once had realized was the Spatial Pouch.


    ¡°Don¡¯t try anything funny if you don¡¯t want to die a grueso-...¡± she stopped in the middle of her words when she caught the sight of a crystal-like ball in Ozul¡¯s prosthetic hand.


    ¡°Huh? How did you get that?¡± She asked as she could easily discern that the Mana Core in his hand belonged to someone past Rank-9.


    Having as much time as he wanted, Ozul stopped to answer her question, ¡°Luthien¡¯s father was half step in Rank-10.¡±


    ¡°Oh... wait what!?¡± Darcia thought she had heard wrong. As far as she could remember, there was nothing like half step in Rank-10, so how could Luthien¡¯s father achieve that!?


    But the Mana Core in Ozul¡¯s hand indeed radiated Mana that was purer than any Rank-9 Mage¡¯s but still not at the level of a Rank-10 Mage. She wondered if she had been in seclusion for too long and the path of cultivation had deviated a little since then.


    She was broken out of her thoughts when she noticed a ck liquid or gas seeping out of his body.


    Under her curious gaze, she observed how the ck liquid or gas covered the Mana Core which was supposedly obtained from a half step Rank-10 Mage.


    Ozul had obviously ignored her surprise as he crushed the Mana Core with the Ball of Purity.


    Crack!


    The sound of a ss getting crushed could be heard in the still surroundings as Darcia put up her guard again. She realized that just now, she had dropped her guard in her shock.


    After the crystal-ss outeryer of the Mana Core dropped on the ground in pieces, Ozul moved the ck sphere containing all that Mana towards his body, until it was absorbed back under Darcia¡¯s intrigued eyes.


    She had only realized it now how she couldn¡¯t feel any Mana from him while he was performing this strange Spell of his. Since she was too upied in observing that ck matter, she had missed this point.


    ¡®Once I get my hands on his body, I will uncover all of his secrets!¡¯ Darcia spoke in her mind. She had already dropped the thought that he was going to try something funny because of how casual he was being.


    ¡®What else can he even do?¡¯ she mused to herself. What she didn¡¯t expect was what would happen next.


    Zhh! boom!


    It was as if there had been an explosion, Mana sted out of Ozul¡¯s body in all directions with a loud sound!


    Even with all of Darcia¡¯s caution, she didn¡¯t expect something like this to happen. After all, the Mana that was released in the air was leagues above a Rank-9 Mage!


    She had yet to make head and tails of the situation when suddenly the ground started shaking. It was like an earthquake so intense that Ozul almost stumbled.


    ¡°What did you do brat!?¡± Darcia shouted feeling the sudden surge of Mana that rose from the ground.


    Meanwhile, Ozulpletely ignored Darcia¡¯s shouts, instead, he focused on the little boost in power that he gained from absorbing that Mana Core.


    As he had no Mana, it would have been a difficult task to wake the ¡®Sovereign¡¯ that had been slumbering deep under the temple behind him.


    However, he remembered that absorbing a Mana Core would always st the excessive impure energy out in the air.


    Other than to start wreaking havoc everywhere which would have most likely attracted that entity¡¯s attention to him, he knew that it was his only way to wake it up.


    He himself had no Mana to make his presence known and Darcia had already restrained hers.


    ¡°You won¡¯t get out of this unscathed, brat! I will make sure of it!¡± Darcia suddenly shouted while Mana started to gather around her.

 Chapter 288

    Chapter 288: The Sovereign!


    Darcia was unable to understand what had happened suddenly, but the intense earthquake had at least made her realize that she was tricked by Ozul.


    Though she didn¡¯t fear the Beast that had been slumbering underground, it enraged her that she was tricked by him. Not to mention, she would still have to use her cannon which she was reluctant to.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter! I was nning to test it on something anyway!¡± Darcia muttered while she continued to gather Mana around her.


    Ozul realized that he didn¡¯t have time to examine his improvements as a massive giant beam of light was shoved at his face.


    Covering himself with the Ball of Purity at the same time, he jumped to the side with enough force tounch him high up in the air before the beam of light even hit him.


    Boom!


    The beam of light hit the ground as debris flew everywhere.


    .....


    With the small explosion, the earthquake suddenly stopped as well and in ce of where Ozul was standing before, a huge blurry figure could be seen behind the smokescreen.


    Ignoring the ruckus below him, Ozul momentarily looked at the group that was spectating from far away in the distance. Right now, his eyes fell on the figure of Raven who was being persuaded by ze to leave with him.


    Although they were hundreds of meters away, his eyesight was improved to the point where it wasn¡¯t difficult for him to observe even small details like Raven¡¯s face full of worries.


    Noticing her reluctant expressions, he realized that she was also looking at him. His serious expressions turned a little softer before he nodded at her and shifted his focus back to the mess at hand.


    He didn¡¯t worry much that Raven wouldn¡¯t leave the scene with ze because he knew her the most. She might be a little emotional because of her love, but he was confident that she would be able to decide what was best for them in the end.


    He had made it clear to her that their presence would only hinder him before, and Raven was smart enough to realize that despite her emotions.


    What he failed to notice was the tears in her eyes as she turned around to leave with ze and the Rogue Crew. After all, together with everything else, she could also discern that the situation was anything but under hisplete control.


    Back to the battle, Ozul noticed that Darcia had stopped attacking him and was instead staring at the blurry shadow behind the smokescreen.


    He tried to take advantage of the moment and sneak attacked her from behind with hair-thin needles, but it seemed that she hadn¡¯tpletely dropped her guard.


    The needles he had sent at her stopped just before piercing her skin as the light shield became visible to the eyes.


    Darcia turned to re at Ozul with a deadpan face, but her main focus of attention was still the towering figure which hadn¡¯t made its move yet.


    Although his attack failed, Ozul was again about to attack her but he was also forced to stop when intense heat waves suddenly washed over everything in the vicinity of that entity.


    ¡®What is this!?¡¯ he shouted in his mind as he felt difficulty in even breathing!


    Looking at Darcia, he noticed that even she had to cover herself with ayer of Mana to be able to breathe and protect against the torrid heat waves.


    The debris and the smokescreen slowly died down revealing the massive figure of what appeared to be a wolf(?).


    However, it was too enormous to be called a wolf. Not to mention, its tail and both of its ears were actually made of fire!


    Covered in red, the massive beast had strands of its fur flowing in the air as if they were all mes instead. One could also observe asional strands of mes appearing around its paws before disappearing just the next moment.


    ¡°RRRROOOAAAARRRR!!!!!¡±


    The massive beast suddenly roared while looking at the sky. Its roar alone was enough to shake the ground!


    Following his cry of rage as if it was furious at being woken up from its sleep, all the Rank-8 and Rank-9 Beasts on the snow peaks in the vicinity also joined in!


    ROAR!!... KREE!!!... HOWL!!!


    Zzzz...!


    The ground started shaking with even more intensity as all kinds of screeches from all those Beasts on the mountains!


    It was as if the giant wolf which was covered with mes like fur was the general and the rest of the beasts its army, from the way they roared together.


    Although the rest of the Beasts were only following the example of the giant wolf, Ozul could tell that thetter was actually furious about something.


    His question was answered just the next minute when the wolf stopped howling at the sky and looked around to observe its surroundings.


    Even when the wolf stopped, the rest of the Beasts didn¡¯t and the three Rank-9 Beasts even flew to the sky as if awaiting the wolf¡¯s orders to start wreaking havoc everywhere.


    The wolf on the other hand moved its eyes from the surroundings to Ozul. His gaze didn¡¯t linger on him for too long before moving on to Darcia.


    Noticing that the wolf had conveniently ignored him, Ozul smirked in his mind, ¡®It worked...¡¯


    Since he had no Mana, the wolf would obviously pay him no heed for now even when he was floating in the air. Not to mention, the previous attack Darcia had thrown at Ozul had actually hit the wolf instead, so it would unmistakably think that Darcia was the one who disturbed its slumber.


    The Beast again opened its mouth, but it wasn¡¯t for another round of roaring. Instead of the beast howl, a very humane voice came from its mouth, ¡°Y-... You...¡±


    Ozul could tell that the Beast was female from its tone even when it had only spoken a single word.


    The wolf had stuttered a little as if it hadn¡¯t said a word for decades and had almost forgotten the human speech.


    After adjusting her voice, the wolf again sharpened her eyes, ¡°Human scum! You dared to interrupt mine, the Sovereign of all the Beasts¡¯, sleep?!¡±


    Hearing her words, Ozul remembered Darcia had also mentioned the ¡®self-proimed Sovereign¡¯. However, he thought it was well deserved because a Rank-10 Beast having that title wouldn¡¯t be a lie even if it was self-given.


    And if anyone would want to refute that, they would certainly change their mind after experiencing those intense heat waves which the wolf had discharged without even trying!


    In face of her question, Darcia didn¡¯t say a word and instead readied herself for the battle.


    The Sovereign bore her teeth at her attitude before she finally remembered where she had seen this human before.


    ¡°You! You are one of those human insects that fought me all those years ago! It seems that humans only live for so long,¡± she made a face that one could easily discern was a mocking smirk.


    ¡®Hmm? So they did have a history previously... The other Rank-10 Mages were probably also involved. Maybe I should have waited for Kure first beforeing here...¡¯ Ozul guessed that the ancestor of the Ashin family should have known about this.


    He would have probably been able to tell him the reason thesends remained uncharted for all this time was because of this Beast.


    Even the book he had gained from the Whispering Woods containing knowledge on numerous Beasts and herbs had no mention about a wolf that ruled an entire fourth part of the continent.


    But Ozul had to admit that this was the most humane Magical Beast he had ever encountered after that mysterious dark druid.


    ¡®Thinking about her, she gave off strange feelings... It is different with this Sovereign,¡¯ Ozul had previously assumed that the dark druid was also a Rank-10 Beast, but now thinking about it again, she gave off feelings more simr to Old Gu than this Sovereign.


    ¡°You vermins must have all gotten old by now... Maybe the new generation needs to know who the real ruler of this world is again? Hahah!¡± the Sovereign mused to herself with a burst of wickedughter at the end.


    The more Ozul observed her, the more he felt as if it was actually a human trapped inside an enormous Beast¡¯s body instead.


    This was the only Magical Beast he had encountered that had a motive different from the rest to destroy the human civilizations.


    If it was any other Rank-10 Mage who had heard the Beasts¡¯ words, they would have been enraged. However, Darcia was different. She didn¡¯t care if this Beast had the ns to start its rampage on the continent again like centuries ago.


    She didn¡¯t care what happened to the continent as long as she could break through her shackles before that!


    The Sovereign¡¯s words just now also pricked her ego, reminding her that she had gotten old and there was not much time left for her to live unless she achieved another breakthrough.


    ¡°Look at you! Hahaha! It seems that you don¡¯t care about stopping me this time... Bah! I am still going to crush you insect for forcing me to remain here for all this time!!¡± the Sovereign shouted before the mes around it suddenly soared in height.


    Just from a single look, Ozul could tell the difference between a Rank-10 Beast and a Rank-10 Mage. The Sovereign was on a whole another level!


    He only had a single question, ¡®... Why is she so calm then?¡¯

 Chapter 289

    Chapter 289: Contemptuous smile.


    ¡®... Why is she so calm then?¡¯ Ozul could not help but think in his heart.


    Facing a Rank-10 Magical Beast, even a Rank-10 Mage would be discouraged if not at least a little worried, but Darcia faced the Sovereign as if she was confident to deal with her.


    Just like how the Sovereign did, others would have thought that her calm expressions were only a facade to cover her panic-stricken inner turmoil, but Ozul knew better. He had no problem in reading her emotions which revealed how casual she was actually feeling about facing the Sovereign.


    ¡®Does she have something up her sleeve?¡¯ Ozul wondered while slowly increasing the distance between him and the Sovereign.


    The Sovereign had all of its focus on Darcia and thetter¡¯s attitude was only making it easier for Ozul to avoid catching the Sovereign¡¯s eyes.


    He had purposely made it so the Sovereign would have all of her attention on Darcia and he could find the opportunity to kill her during that time.


    In the confusion, he could take her Spatial rings and hope that his hand was stored inside. But even if Darcia didn¡¯t have it with her, he would have an easy time getting it from Lammert who would have no one to rely on after Darcia.


    .....


    At least that was the n he had in mind.


    He actually hoped that Darcia didn¡¯t have the arm with her since he could easily lose those Spatial Rings in the chaos, but it was highly unlikely since his arm would be the safest beside a Rank-10 Mage.


    While Ozul was still in his thoughts, he felt the sudden surge in the Mana from the surroundings.


    The Sovereign was gathering Mana around it in a very casual manner, not caring to even hide it. She was confident to deal with a single Rank-10 Mage with no backup.


    Everything was going ording to what Ozul had thought it would, except for Darcia¡¯s behavior which was almost the opposite of what he had predicted.


    He readied himself for anything unexpected when she waved her hand and a fancy-looking cannon decorated with gold appeared floating in mid-air before her.


    ¡®Cannon? Against a Rank-10 Magical Beast?... No...¡¯ Ozul understood that if she had taken out a cannon while the Sovereign was gathering Mana, it could only mean that the cannon had some use.


    Moreover, he noticed those engravings on the gold ting around the cannon which looked more or less like the ones etched on the artifacts.


    ¡®Don¡¯t tell me...¡¯ Ozul had a bad feeling as he noticed the invisible container on its top connected to the gold ting.


    Even though he didn¡¯t understand what Darcia nned to do, he continued to slowly sneak behind her while her focus was still on the Sovereign.


    While he was being extra cautious, the Sovereign on the other hand startedughing at the sight of that small cannon, ¡°Gahaha! And I was thinking that you might have something up your sleeve after all. But if this is all you have, then old age has really been affecting you, bahaha!¡±


    The Sovereign mocked,ughing like a real human which made Darcia quite pissed off as Ozul instantly caught on to her change of emotions. By now, he was sure that this old woman was quite sensitive about her age.


    In her rage, she didn¡¯t wait to charge the cannon and instead instantly cast a huge spinning disk which shone with a bright white light at the Sovereign who only sneered in response.


    boom!


    The disk hit the giant wolf covered in mes-like fur without any resistance.


    Dust rose and quickly settled down, but the Sovereign was standing still in her position with no obvious injury from Darcia¡¯s spell. Some might have even questioned the power behind that spell if not for the giant craters formed beside the Sovereign.


    ¡°Tsk! You don¡¯t want to y, I presume,¡± the Sovereign growled as she bore her teeth at Darcia before a concentrated beam of fire was shot at Darcia without even giving them a chance to blink!


    Although it wasn¡¯t directed at Ozul, he was still a little closer to Darcia so getting affected by the beam of fire was unavoidable.


    He had the leisure to create a thinyer of the Ball of Purity in front of him to protect against the burn of the heat, but Darcia wasn¡¯t so lucky as him.


    She barely dodged at thest second while protecting the cannon with her. The beam of fire would have melted the cannon if it was made from any weaker materials.


    ¡®No! I cannot let this continue like this. I must finish this!¡¯ she shouted in her mind as she realized how close the cannon was to being destroyed just now.


    She immediately created a distance between her and the Sovereign as she noticed Ozul¡¯s figure in the middle as well.


    ¡°Just you wait, you little cockroach!¡± she gnashed her teeth in annoyance at the sight of him still living. She was supposed to kill him in one move and then head back to study his body, but he had made it into this mess! She vowed in her heart to give him a torturous death after all of this was over.


    After creating a safe distance between her and the Sovereign, Darcia decided not to waste any more time as she willed it and a box of ss suddenly appeared in mid-air floating just before her.


    Although the Sovereign was clueless as she curiously stared at the box of ss containing a human¡¯s arm, Ozul was all too familiar with it.


    Eyes wide open, Ozul stared at his arm with a wavering gleam in his eyes.


    This was it! Thest piece he needed to be whole again! The end to his suffering was right before his eyes...


    Despite Ozul¡¯s inner turmoil at the sight of his arm, he tried his best not to show any of that on his face.


    His mind immediately started racing as he realized that it was the worst situation possible right now. Everything was going ording to his n just a few moments ago, but Darcia taking out his arm before they even started fighting was out of his expectations.


    He was hoping for Darcia to die or at least get heavily injured while fighting the Rank-10 Beast, but now he didn¡¯t want her to get hit because she had his arm with her.


    ¡®What is she trying to do with it?¡¯ Ozul¡¯s thoughts ran wild as his eyes, in the end, fell on the cannon.


    He also couldn¡¯t help but notice how the invisible container on top of the cannon was just big enough for his arm to fit in.


    While he was in his thoughts, he failed to notice how the Sovereign had shifted her focus of attention to him, ¡°Oh? This little guy isn¡¯t as simple either~ Gahaha! It will be fun crushing you both one by one!¡±


    Ozul didn¡¯t have time to care about the Beast¡¯s threats as he knew that he had to stop Darcia from doing whatever she was about to do.


    He hurriedly sped towards her, but unfortunately for him, the Sovereign had already prepared her spell to test him out.


    Woosh!


    Another beam of fire was shot but it was at Ozul this time instead of Darcia.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± he couldn¡¯t help but curse under his breath as he was forced to cover himself with a shield.


    The pir of fire hit the ck shield sending Ozul several meters back in the air!


    ¡®Urgh!¡¯ Even when covered with the Ball of Purity, the force behind that pir of fire was enough to make him hold his stomach in pain for a few moments.


    The power of a Rank-10 Beast could not be any more obvious to Ozul at this moment as he tried to think of a way to snatch his arm from Darcia¡¯s hands.


    However, he had lost the opportunity as Darcia had already ced his arm in the cannon¡¯s container as she aimed it towards the Sovereign with a toothy grin on her face.


    ¡°Kehehe. How dare a beast like you try to be so smug in front of me!¡± Darcia shouted, making not only Ozul but even the Sovereign a little surprised by her exmation.


    Had she lost her mind? The Rank-10 Beast didn¡¯t believe that she had something that could make her, the Sovereign of all the Beasts, bow her head before anyone.


    Unlike the Sovereign though, Ozul was surprised because he could guess what Darcia was about to do if she spoke so confidently.


    There was no way he couldn¡¯t figure it out as these people had been experimenting with his arm for decades now! They were bound to find some way to use it for some offensive means as well.


    And looking at the cannon and his arm in the invisible container on top of it, he could pretty much make out the whole picture of what that fancy-looking cannon was used for.


    ¡®A cannon powered solely by my arm? Is it really so powerful that it can deal with a Rank-10 Beast, possibly the strongest any being could get on this continent?¡¯ Ozul contemted as his eyes looked around to search for anything that could provide him an opportunity.


    s, there was nothing in sight that proved to be even slightly helpful.


    ¡°Gahaha! Let me see what this little toy can do for you to be so arrogant, old witch!¡± the Sovereign againughed as Darcia looked down at her with a contemptuous smile.


    She suddenly started to imbue the cannon with her Mana under the worried gaze of Ozul.

 Chapter 290

    Chapter 290: Confusion.


    Ozul looked on with worry as Darcia imbued her Mana in the cannon and the runes etched on the gold ting began to shine in blinding white light.


    Even from meters away, he noticed a small strand of his Scent leaving through the end of his severed arm. At this point, he felt as if there was nothing he could do except wait for the result.


    ¡®Tsk! No! I have to do something...¡¯ Ozul clicked his tongue. It was no time to give up. No matter the result, he will have to do something to get his arm back. It won¡¯t just fly to him without doing anything.


    A few drops of the Ball of Purity separated themselves from the shield and without anyone noticing, Ozul snuck them behind Darcia.


    Under the skeptical gaze of the Sovereign, the strand of Ozul¡¯s Scent was immediately sucked in the cannon.


    Bzzz!


    The cannon suddenly started to vibrate!


    .....


    ¡°Gahaha! Looks like this is all your toy-¡± The Sovereign stopped speaking when it noticed the huge spike in energy that began to gather at the head of the cannon.


    Even feeling the huge spike in energy, the Sovereign didn¡¯t back down. Instead, she snorted and readied herself to take on the attack without any defensive measure. She was just that confident in being able to deal with some fancy artifact.


    One could easily tell that the giant fiery wolf had smug facial expressions right now. However, her conceit soon started to crumble as the density of the energy continued to increase without any signs of stopping anytime soon!


    As the moments passed, the Sovereign began to worry about the power behind the cannon. On the other hand, Darcia¡¯s face turned to that of extreme delight.


    ¡°This is it! Yes! This power! I hold all of this power in my hand! Mine!¡± Darcia shouted as a white formless sphere of energy began to take shape at the very end of the cannon.


    A second almost passed and the energy radiated such a pressure that any being under Rank-9 anywhere near them would have already been suffocating to their deaths.


    Although surprised by the sheer power the cannon was gathering from just that small wisp of his Scent, Ozul wasn¡¯t as infatuated with the cannon as the wolf covered in burning fur and the old Darcia.


    Instead, he focused on sneaking the Ball of Purity behind Darcia. Unlike the other two, he had realized in this split second that he might not be able to protect himself if he stayed here any longer.


    The formless sphere of energy wasn¡¯t massive in size, but its density was on a whole another level.


    Sadly for Darcia, she only started to realize how dangerous of a weapon she was holding when the cannon began to shake violently.


    The excitement and thecency disappeared from her face as she began to panic, unaware of the small particles of the Ball of Purity sneaking closer from behind.


    The cksmiths had built the cannon with one of the rarest and the most durable metal on the continent. Of course, they could only get enough to make the cannon from the Church¡¯s treasury. ording to Lammert, even the Church only possessed that small chunk of it.


    He didn¡¯t want to use it on the cannon, but he had no choice under Darcia¡¯s bone-chilling res.


    Not only the metal but even the runes added on the gold ting were of the top category.


    But despite all that, it became evident to Darcia how fragile this cannon was in the face of pure power.


    The scene of the old physician pleading anxiously, expressing his worries that the cannon might not be ready yed inside her mind. She pursed her rough lips, regretting that she hadn¡¯t given it a little more thought back then.


    Although she understood only little of how they had made the cannon, she knew that the runes etched on the gold ting were all focused on creating pure destructive energy from any source provided.


    From the earlier experiments, while creating the healing potions, the physicians had alle to the same conclusion that the smoke released by the severed arm contained an unbelievable amount of energy. From this, everyone agreed that they could create a lethal weapon using the severed arm.


    However, they needed resources so expensive that even Lammert was not willing to allocate them such expenses before. At least not until Darcia forced him to use whatever means required to create this cannon.


    Even while Darcia wanted the cannon built, she wouldn¡¯t let anyone else touch the arm, so the physicians didn¡¯t have a clear idea about how much power it held.


    Left with no choice, the physicians could only make a general guess. And looking at the situation at hand, it was obvious that the reality was far off from their guess, and even one of the toughest metals on the continent couldn¡¯t handle so much power.


    These thoughts of regret didn¡¯t even take a second to process in her mind, and the cannon was still increasingly shaking.


    ¡®Should I throw it away?... NO! This is mine!¡¯


    In her greed, Darcia didn¡¯t want to let go of the cannon even when she felt that it might explode any time.


    *Crack!*


    The sound of cracking could be heard in the midst of all the confusion.


    Darcia¡¯s eyes immediately darted in the direction of the sound and noticed a small crack had appeared in the middle of the runes etched on the gold ting!


    ¡®NO! This is bad!¡¯ Darcia realized how dangerous it had be now that the runes were damaged. She didn¡¯t fully understand runes, but everyone knew that when runes were damaged in such a way, the results were always unpredictable.


    ¡°Gaaahh!!¡± the Sovereign in the distance suddenly shouted and started to cover herself with a shield of burning red Mana.


    She had dropped the thought of withstanding the attack with only her natural defenses long ago. Although she was arrogant, her life still came before her pride.


    Only Ozul at this moment didn¡¯t care about what the cannon was about to do.


    Not only was he at a safe distance from it, but he was also focused on something else.


    ¡°A little more... Just a little more...¡± Ozul muttered while controlling the Ball of Purity to slowly get closer to Darcia.


    There was only a few meters distance from the Ball of Purity to the cannon, but Ozul didn¡¯t want to risk it from here. If he tried to snatch his arm from that point, there was a high chance that Darcia would be able to stop it.


    But at the same time, he had a sense of urgency because the cannon was like a ticking bomb.


    It might just shoot towards the Sovereign, but there were also chances that it might explode on Darcia¡¯s face. And what if Darcia decided to abandon the cannon as she takes out his hand and runs away?


    Ozul really didn¡¯t have any room to breathe in this situation.


    He had no choice but to try either. His own arm was on the line and he didn¡¯t want it to explode together with the cannon if that happened.


    ¡°There!¡± Ozul suddenly shouted as he noticed Darcia¡¯s attention shifting to the Sovereign just for a split second.


    At the center of everything, Darcia was taken aback by the sudden shout that came from her side as she remembered that there was also Ozul on the scene other than herself and the Sovereign.


    *Crack!...*


    It was only a pity that she didn¡¯t even have time to finish her thoughts before the crack in the center of the runes began to spread.


    Dread took over her mind as she realized the consequences of the cannon exploding right now.


    ¡®But the arm!¡¯ Darcia would have already thrown the cannon away if not for the arm inside it. However, she didn¡¯t have any time to take out the arm nor throw the cannon away!


    *Zckck*


    She had yet to reach a decision when sparks of pitch-ck color surrounded the cannon.


    ¡°Argh! What are these!?¡± Darcia shouted in pain as a few of the sparks got in contact with her skin.


    She as a Rank-10 Mage had a skin that even Rank-10 Fighters might not be able to injure. But she could see the burning of her skin at the spot where the sparks had hit.


    Everything was happening too rapidly and not only her, but even the Sovereign and Ozul couldn¡¯tprehend the whole situation.


    The ck sparks hadn¡¯t settled yet when the formless sphere of white energy gathered at the end of the cannon started to grow to an even bigger size!


    Darcia sucked in a deep breath. She hadn¡¯t nned anything to go this way, so why was it happening like this!?


    *...zz...ZZZ...ZZZ*


    The humming noise of the cannon increased to the point where even a normal mage would be forced to use Mana to cover their ears!


    Darcia¡¯s panic-stricken expressions eased a little as she realized that the cannon was only powering up to shoot!


    ¡°KHAHAHA! Who said it wouldn¡¯t work!? Once I¡¯ve dealt with you, he will be next!¡± Lost in the relief and her madness, Darcia started to shout while cackling like an old witch again.


    In her response to her shouts, the Sovereign stayed silent. There was no way that she could run from this fight now and although she couldn¡¯t gauge how much power the cannon held, her instincts at least told her how dangerous her situation was.


    A second was all it needed with the ck sparks still covering the whole cannon, for it to fire straight at the fiery giant wolf in the distance.


    *BOOOM!*

 Chapter 291

    Chapter 291: The Oue I


    *BOOOM!*


    A massive streak of light shot towards the Sovereign who could only let out a surprised growl before the blinding light enveloped her.


    At the same time, Darcia¡¯s face fell as she noticed the cracks which had previously stopped began to spread all over the cannon again. The cracks covered the whole cannon in the blink of an eye and rays of light shot out from the gaps.


    ¡°NO!!¡± Darcia immediately went to reach the chamber in which the arm was ced, but her hands didn¡¯t even stretch before the cannon exploded!


    Unable to decide between escaping and grabbing the severed arm, Darcia was unable to avoid the fire of the explosion which had a radius of at least fifty meters.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Hundreds of meters away from the site of the explosions, Raven and ze together with the Rogue Crew floated in the air as they witnessed in awe of the phenomenon that they might nevere across in the rest of their lifetime.


    .....


    Even from so far away, the massive pir of light descending on the ground and then the huge explosion in the air was all too clear for this group of Rank-8 Mages.


    ¡°o-...Ozul!¡±


    Unable to stop herself, Raven shouted his name, jolting awake ze out of stupor.


    After a few seconds, he spoke, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Nothing can harm him.¡± His confidence stemming from all the time spent with Ozul and watching him solve all the difficult situations with ease.


    But Raven didn¡¯t need any assurance. Anyone else might have not, but she certainly knew that Ozul could get as well. He wasn¡¯t invincible as everyone thought him to be. It was just that since he would never openly unt his strength, most of the time people couldn¡¯t guess how dangerous the situation was to him.


    That might be the case right now as well since she wasn¡¯t exactly sure how strong Ozul was, but she could be sure of one thing: that massive pir of light descending from the sky could crush a whole mountain range to smithereens!


    Raven couldn¡¯t help but clench her fists in anger, towards herself mostly since she was always so weak to look from the sidelines whenever there was any dangerous situation.


    Her dry lips pursed as she muttered in self-depreciation and an almost inaudible voice, ¡°It has always been like this...¡±


    No matter how hard she or ze tried, they were never able to make a difference whenever Ozul needed it the most.


    While ze heard her bitter murmuring, he couldn¡¯t do anything about it either. He was just as helpless as her.


    It was frustrating because of how many times the same situation had repeated. Each time, they would push themselves even harder, but all their efforts would, in the end, prove to be futile.


    If Ozul was here at this moment, he would have noticed the rage in the wavering eyes of Raven at this moment. Rage at herself and everyone who became an obstacle in Ozul¡¯s path.


    At this moment, she swore to herself that after all of this was over, she wouldn¡¯t sit still. If putting in even more effort wasn¡¯t working, she would just have to use extreme means.


    Slowly, her mentality was shifting after Ozul had confronted her and he would have varying degrees of feelings towards this change in the future.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Back at the site of the explosion, nothing could be observed with naked eyes because of all the dust and the debris which used to be rock hard earth just a few seconds ago.


    Contrary to the chaos just now, everything went still with only the winds blowing and the dust settling down.


    The thousands of Rank-8 Beasts and the three Rank-9 Beasts on top of the mountains also went quiet in anticipation. They had all witnessed the massive pir of white light descending on their Sovereign.


    The whistling of winds gave an eerie feeling because of the deathly silence that reigned over these ruins.


    It took quite a few minutes before the view finally became clear enough for everyone to see.


    The ground was all uneven and one could only imagine what had just transpired here. Any normal Mage wouldn¡¯t be able to divert their eyes


    The Beasts, however, all had their sight fixated on the massive hole that had erased more than half of the giant mountain temple!


    Judging from the size of the pit that had formed on the mountain, one could easily tell that it was caused by the pir of light that had fallen on the Sovereign.


    From their distance, the thousands of Beasts on the mountains couldn¡¯t see how deep the pit was, but they all began to show their unrest as the four Rank-9 Beasts suddenly flew out from the disordered hoard of Rank-8 Beasts and separated from the rest.


    Since The Wolf¡¯s Cage spanned over thousands of meters, Ozul wasn¡¯t able to sense thest Rank-9 Beast on the opposite end of the mountains previously.


    Although they were all miles apart from each other, one could easily distinguish their appearance from afar because of their size. There was a giant eagle, a centipede, a snake, and at the far end was what looked to have a scorpion¡¯s tail but a sheep¡¯s body.


    They rose so far up in the air that even Raven and ze stared at them in wonder.


    Just then, they started to simultaneously screech as if they were calling the Sovereign.


    Theirbined roaring noise was strong enough to shake the earth again, but just as ze was about to ask Raven¡¯s opinion, he noticed something that made his heart skip a beat.


    In front of their eyes, the heads of the four Beasts who were flying apart suddenly just started falling to the groundter followed by their bodies!


    ¡°Di-d they just get beheaded?¡± ze stuttered as his eyes continued to stare at the falling corpses of the four Rank-9 Beasts in the air.


    Raven didn¡¯t answer him but a light shone past her stone-cold eyes, her thoughts unreadable to others.


    ¡°... Hey! Wait for me!¡± ze suddenly shouted, surprising the Rogue Crew which only now noticed that Raven had already started making her way back to The Wolf¡¯s Cage despite knowing that thousands of Rank-8 Beasts were still there.


    ze didn¡¯t try to stop her this time and instead followed behind her.


    Meanwhile, the members of the Rogue Crew all contemted whether to follow them or not.


    Their precise orders were to stay with the duo and if they were to disobey the orders, it meant instant death because of the contract.


    Just that, they didn¡¯t know if Ozul was even alive now or not. After all, if Ozul was dead, then they could simply just escape now! They were already branded as criminals before, so they could afford to be on the run again.


    ¡°Urgh! What are you guys waiting for!?¡± shouted Tatsuo, the middle-aged man who Ozul chose to be the temporary leader.


    The one who answered him was an old man with a gaping scar in the middle of his face, ¡°I am leaving. That kid is obviously dead! Can any human being even survive that!?¡±


    Tatsuo frowned as he noticed the others were hesitating as well.


    ¡°And what if he isn¡¯t dead? Then what? Anyway, I have to follow them. Whoever wants to leave can leave,¡± saying his piece, Tatsuo followed after the duo. He didn¡¯t have enough time to lecture this group of people.


    ¡°Che! If you are so willing to jump into death¡¯s mouth, go ahead! But I am not willing to throw myself in front of those monstrosities!¡± the old man with a scar spat before turning around to leave.


    A couple of others joined him as well while the rest hesitated a little before flying after Tatsuo. They were mostly the older ones who understood that there were high chances that Ozul had survived. After all, they hadn¡¯t even seen who the pir of light had descended on.


    . . .


    While the loud screeching from the four Rank-9 Beasts stopped after they were mysteriously beheaded, the thousands of Rank-8 Beasts on the horizon all began to roar simultaneously as well.


    In a short second, there was chaos in the sky as all the Beasts either escaped from The Wolf¡¯s Cage or started fighting with each other.


    Even with their numbers, their noise of battles was not even close to that of the four Rank-9 Beasts previously. With intellect that could match even that of a human, most of these Rank-8 Beasts didn¡¯t dare to raise their voice.


    With intelligence came fear and the fear prevailed their pride in this situation. They were not willing to risk their lives to see if their Sovereign had survived the attack or not.


    Through all this hazardous chaos, Raven and ze somehow managed to arrive at the site without engaging in a battle with any of the Beasts.


    Tatsuo and the members who chose to follow them though weren¡¯t so skilled and had to fight with a couple of Rank-8 Beasts on the way. Fortunately for them, they didn¡¯t encounter any peak Rank-8 Beast.


    Meanwhile, the duo didn¡¯t care enough to give them a helping hand as they were busy scanning the area to find Ozul.


    Their eyes were immediately attracted towards the giant pit that almost seemed bottomless from afar.


    Moving on, they tried to look for Ozul but their eyesnded on another sight that made them stop in their tracks.


    ze pointed towards the figure of a person d in blood on the ground, ¡°That... Isn¡¯t she one of the only Rank-10 Mages?¡±

 Chapter 292

    Chapter 292: The Oue II


    ¡°... Isn¡¯t she one of the only Rank-10 Mages?¡± ze muttered in astonishment.


    Raven¡¯s surprise wasn¡¯t any less than his. Everyone knew that a Rank-10 Mage was the peak existence on the Maind and there were only four such beings alive. Seeing one of those ¡®monsters¡¯ lying on the ground and soaking in blood wasn¡¯t a sight that anyone would expect to stumble upon.


    Shaking his head from side to side, ze remembered their priority and began to look for Ozul, ignoring Darcia who they could not feel any signs of life from.


    Meanwhile, unperturbed by the fact that one of the only four Rank-10 Mages of the Maind was lying dead in her own blood, Raven had already stepped past Darcia as she searched for Ozul. The fact that Ozul didn¡¯t have any Mana from which they could find him didn¡¯t help them in the situation.


    The ground was all uneven after the explosion and the impact of that enormous light pir. The whole terrain was flipped upside down.


    The whistling of passing winds became a cause of much distraction since they were trying to feel any movement nearby.


    Having enough of searching around, Raven began to rise up in the air until a vast area of the ground became visible to her view.


    .....


    It was only then that her eyes fell on a seemingly naked figure standing beside a ck cat who continued to lick her paws, uncaring of her surroundings.


    ¡°!!!¡±


    Her heart almost skipped a beat as she immediately made her way towards him followed by ze when he realized what her expressions meant.


    As the duonded near him, both of them paused as they felt winds revolving around Ozul in a bizarre manner. Not only that, but they also found it weird that Ozul was standing still with his eyes closed.


    At any other time, Raven might have been flustered by Ozul¡¯s current naked appearance, but in this situation, her eyes were only attracted to his arms, both of which were his own!


    ¡°Ozu-...¡±


    Unconsciously, she tried to take a step forward, but ze stopped her as they both felt a weird sense of dread enveloping the area around Ozul.


    The feeling of dread only grew denser by the second until the duo couldn¡¯t even afford to breathe properly in its presence!


    They wanted to call out to him to ask what was happening, but it was toote now that even moving a single muscle proved to be almost an impossible task.


    What creeped them out was the fact that the reason they couldn¡¯t move was not that some invisible pressure had descended on them or something. No... It was pure fear!


    They understood it was Ozul standing before them and he wouldn¡¯t cause them any harm, but their bodies innately held the fear and just wouldn¡¯t budge a single muscle no matter how hard they tried!


    Raven¡¯s face contorted with worry as she feared something was wrong with Ozul.


    The duo helplessly eyed Ozul, unable to utter a single sentence, they wondered why he had his eyes closed.


    Unknown to them, Ozul was currently facing a massive shift in his thinking capability.


    It was a feeling he couldn¡¯t describe. One moment, he could think everything at once and would manage to uncover all the answers he wanted and just the next moment, he would feel as lost as someone who had lost their memory.


    Caught up in this massive shift of his own internal body structure and thinking capacity, he didn¡¯t have any time to focus on the weird phenomenon in the surrounding areas because of him.


    Just a while ago, before the cannon was about to explode, he had barely managed to sneak his arm out of the chamber. At the veryst moment, Darcia had even noticed the missing arm, but it was already toote to do anything at that time.


    The cannon exploded, and the st covered such a huge radius that it was visible from hundreds of meters away.


    Just like Darcia, he also couldn¡¯t afford to escape the range of the explosion at that instant. Fire engulfed his body, but all he cared about at that moment was his arm.


    At point nk range, an explosion that left even a Rank-10 Mage in that condition, was endured by Ozul as he prioritized attaching the arm back to his body!


    His brain had gone nk at that moment. He somehow didn¡¯t care if he would even survive that explosion from so up close.


    Fortunately for him though, attaching the arm back to his body was a moment of luck. Blinded by the mes, he was still able to notice how the moment his arm was reattached, those weird life-like symbols had again appeared on his body!


    The mes which could melt even the most durable of the materials on the Maind would disappear the moment they came in contact with his body.


    Unfortunately, his clothes bore a different fate. Not even ashes remained of them


    Moments after the explosion, he was forced into that abnormal state where he wasn¡¯t even aware of his own surroundings.


    Before the duo found him, the life-like dark symbols were one by one all absorbed back into his body. Each time they did though, his inner state would be altered to the point of no recognition.


    It was a horrifying experience, but through all of this, Ozul didn¡¯t feel any danger at all.


    Maybe if it was a normal person going through this maddening shift of changes, they would have long lost their sanity.


    Not to mention, in response to this madness, Ozul didn¡¯t even feel like interfering.


    All in all, if the duo was suffering, then his state of being wasn¡¯t so peaceful as it looked from the outside either.


    The calm and serene appearance from the outside was like a giant ss wall that held a body of water with myriads of waves behind it.


    Things gradually calmed down as the duo begin to feel at peace as well. Nothing bad had happened for a few minutes, and they began to get the idea that it might be because of Ozul¡¯s ¡®peculiarity¡¯.


    Nheless, they still had their worries.


    Fortunately for them, the feeling of dread they felt merely for being in the presence of Ozul also slowly lifted away.


    The slow winds circling around Ozul¡¯s body calmed down as well, leaving nothing but and of tranquility.


    In a moment, it felt as if the whole world hade to a standstill. Maybe even the time had stopped, but the duo couldn¡¯t tell a difference.


    What felt like an eternity ended with just a single second when Ozul¡¯s eyes moved. His shoulders rxed as if they were previously being held by some external force.


    Raven and ze were forced to hold their breaths when Ozul slowly opened his eyes with an indifferent face.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Their hearts couldn¡¯t help but beat faster when they saw thepletely ck bead-like eyes staring at them as if their bodies were just a transparent ss and even their soul wasid bare before those eyes.


    ¡®Hmm?! Did I see wrong?¡¯ ze wondered as just the next moment, Ozul blinked and the pure ck sclera that seemingly swallowed stars in it turned to white again!


    Just in that split second, maybe he had seen wrong... is what ze thought. However, he would have been shocked if he had asked Raven about it. Because at this moment, she had the same thoughts as him!


    Even she was wondering if her eyes had yed an illusion just now.


    But pushing these thoughts to the back of their mind, Raven and ze instantly rushed towards Ozul who was now surveying his surroundings with interest.


    While all of this was happening here, the rest of the Maind barely felt any changes.


    Maybe nothing had changed in this realm... but something did happen in a ce far away from here.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Deep inside an enormous structure that passersby stared at with revering eyes, a man sat at the highest throne ced in an empty and dark hall.


    Around him were two more chairs, but they were empty at this moment as well.


    Though observing from the dust that had settled on those chairs and the rest of the hall, one could only imagine how long it had been that someone had cleaned this ce.


    Despite the dark hallway, one thing that was visible even from the far most corners were the lush golden hair of the man.


    He had long golden hair which, at this moment, drooped over his face. His backzily rested against the back of the rusty old throne, one couldn¡¯t tell the age of this man.


    But, those who could have recognized this man would have surely been shocked to notice his current appearance.


    Those hair that continuously glowed with a golden light only belonged to a single person in all of the realms.


    This peculiar trait would have made this man stand out just about anywhere in the crowd and have his identity recognized, but there were only a few people who knew about the existence of this hall.


    Because of how the man with golden hair wasn¡¯t even moving, one could have guessed that he was dead.


    However, it was at this moment when the man suddenly leaned forward, his hair floated before uncovering his god-like face and the serene golden eyes brightened the hall.


    The red thin lips pursed before loosening again as a heartfelt sigh escaped the man¡¯s heavy throat.


    ¡°What am I even thinking... it was inevitable...¡±

 Chapter 293

    Chapter 293: Admiration.


    Back in The Wolf¡¯s Cage which was littered with the scars of the recent explosion and the tremors of the massive light pir, Ozul looked around with an unreadable face-nothing Raven would¡¯ve found strange, but this time she had a feeling that something had changed.


    When Ozul¡¯s eyes swept past Raven and ze, they couldn¡¯t help but hold their breaths unconsciously.


    After a few moments of silence, a small smile broke out Ozul¡¯s face, instantly brightening the atmosphere with it.


    ze wasn¡¯t so bright to notice anything amiss, but Raven pursed her lips. She felt her throat dry at the sight of that smile. It was all because she could easily notice the difference between how Ozul used to smile and how he did just now.


    ¡®Why the forced smile...¡¯ Raven thought to herself in worry. Others might have missed it, but how could she?


    ¡°What... happened?¡± She asked softly to which Ozul raised his brows a little before rxing again, his smile disappearing along with her words.


    It was almost as if he was surprised that Raven could tell the difference.


    .....


    Meanwhile, ze was clueless. He thought that Raven was inquiring about the recent events.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t worry,¡± Ozul tried to reassure Raven but it had almost little to no effect as he didn¡¯t go into any details.


    Raven wanted to speak. She wanted to ask him what was going on, but words were struck at the back of her throat.


    ¡®He will not answer what he does not want to answer...¡¯ she thought before nodding her head reluctantly.


    Ozul ignored the looks on the duo¡¯s faces and instead focused on his hand.


    Repeatedly stretching both of his hands, he wondered how reattaching his limbs felt so normal to him. He didn¡¯t even feel an ounce of strangeness while moving his limbs as if they were never severed from his body in the first ce.


    ¡°Again and again... it is not the time for this,¡± he muttered before shooting a nce at the tall mountain temple which had half disappeared now, recing it was the gaping pit that seemed to be leading to the deepest depths of the ground.


    Following his eyes, the duo also moved their eyes towards the pit in which the Rank-10 Beast was supposed to be in right now.


    A silver of worry shed past their eyes but they immediately calmed down afterwards. There was no way it could have survived the massive light pir. Even if it did, the current appearance of Ozul gave them enough confidence to stand without any concern.


    Just then, the ground started shaking furiously.


    The sky was clear by now, the Beasts had long fled and only the half dead corpses remained in this wastnd. Raven and ze didn¡¯t quite get the reason behind this earthquake now.


    Before they could act though, the earthquake grewrger and before their eyes, a shower of burning hotva shot out from the pit.


    ¡°What-¡±


    Realization dawned upon Raven and ze, but they didn¡¯t have any time to cast Spells.


    Before they could think of anything to protect themselves with, they felt a little light for an instant and their eyes unconsciously blinked.


    ¡°...What?!¡± ze couldn¡¯t help but mutter again with a dumb face. All because now he was standing with Raven to watch the same rain ofva pouring out of the pit but from hundreds of meters away this time.


    On the small hill, near the few remaining members of the Rogue Crew, the duo moved their gazes towards Ozul with surprise visible on their faces.


    They had known Ozul was strong and understood just how powerful he had to be to survive what a Rank-10 Mage and the Rank-10 Beasts couldn¡¯t, but it still shocked them since they had only blinked once!


    The surprise gasps of the members of the Rogue Crew a few feet away woke the duo up from their daze. Raven immediately stood up and took out a white shirt and ck pants from her Spatial Ring.


    Ozul took the clothes and calmly wore them, not concerned about his naked body being exposed in front of everyone.


    Everyone just kept their eyes on him, awaiting his orders when Ozul pointed his finger to his side and spoke, ¡°Bring her here.¡±


    Following the direction in which he pointed in, everyone was startled to see that they were not alone here. There was someone on the ground, soaked in blood!


    ¡°T-t-this-... She is the ancestor of the Church of light!¡± someone from the Rogue Crew suddenly shouted as they recognized Darcia¡¯s face.


    Immediately afterwards, looks of admiration and shock were thrown at Ozul. After all, he had just defeated one of the strongest people on the continent!


    Ignoring their overly respectful stares, Ozul continued to look towards the rain ofva that didn¡¯t have any intentions of stopping anytime soon.


    After a while, as if he got bored of it, he turned around and crouched near Darcia¡¯s corpse who was brought next to him by one of the Rogue Crews.


    Although he had a lot of things to figure out right now, examining Darcia¡¯s body was a priority now. He could guess that she hadrge amounts of his ¡®Scent¡¯ inside of her. He wanted to test if he took it out before it gradually dispersed, what would be the effects on her body?


    If he didn¡¯t do it right now, he might never find the chance toter.


    That was also the only other reason to save her besides that she had a few Spatial Rings on her hand which would most likely contain heaps of rare resources.


    Just as he willed it, a part of the Ball of Purity poured out of his body before entering Darcia¡¯s.


    Unlike before, Ozul didn¡¯t need to put his hand on the other person¡¯s chest to scan their insides. He could simply just will the Ball of Purity to enter their body and he could instinctively scan their everything without needing physical contact.


    Moving the Ball of Purity towards Darcia¡¯s heart, he noticed arge amount of his Scent crazily spinning around her heart.


    This was the first time he had seen it in such excessive amounts and moving with such speed.


    ¡®So she really had been trying to absorb the Scent as well,¡¯ Ozul pondered over it for a while before he noticed that the Scent was gradually disappearing into thin air.


    It seemed that since Darcia was already dead, the Scent didn¡¯t bother to stay either.


    But considering the amount of Scent in Darcia, the process was a little too slow. He had also noticed the slightly reddened eyes of hers previously.


    ¡®There should be some drastic change in her body if I take it all out at once,¡¯ Ozul contemted before slowly wrapping the Scene with the Ball of Purity.


    All the while his eyes were closed, so the members of the Rogue crew and the trio didn¡¯t understand why he was staring at Darcia¡¯s corpse with closed eyes for so long.


    ¡°Did... something happen?¡± Tatsuo, the temporary leader of the Rogue crew asked with hesitation.


    Him breaking the silence drew all the eyes to him, but Tatsuo stood his ground firmly, facing Raven and ze.


    ¡°Don¡¯t disturb him,¡± ze spoke after a while, realizing that Tatsuo was only asking out of worry.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Tatsuo could only nod his head and back away quietly.


    Meanwhile, Ozul had already wrapped all of the Scent inside a sphere of the Ball of Purity.


    He produced a small de out of some more Ball of Purity and cut open Darcia¡¯s skin to take the sphere out of her body.


    Only after he had cleanly taken out his Scent did Ozul realize that nothing happened to Darcia¡¯s body. There was no change at all. It was as if this thing being inside her body had no effect on her whatsoever.


    Having it or not having it were all the same then.


    However, there were still quite a few other possibilities and he couldn¡¯t be sure of this until he did more experiments like this, and on living people instead.


    He tried to look all over Darcia¡¯s body again, but he couldn¡¯t find anything.


    Not even a single point hinted at having involved his Scent before.


    Not discouraged at the fact that he couldn¡¯t gain anything even while testing on Darcia, Ozul stood up with an unreadable face.


    The Scent he had wrapped in the sphere of the Ball of Purity dispersed in the air after he had opened the sphere, and there was no obvious change to Darcia¡¯s body from inside out.


    Ozul only needed a few moments to understand this and move on as he looked towards Raven and spoke, ¡°Get anything from her that you can.¡±


    Hearing his orders, Raven didn¡¯t waste a moment and instantly took away all of Darcia¡¯s Spatial Rings first and then searched up the rest of her corpse to look for any other valuables. She was a Rank-10 Mage, after all, so even her trash could be a rare resource for others.


    Raven took a few minutes toplete her search. She didn¡¯t find anything else useful except for the three Spatial Rings on her fingers.


    Only until she was done did Ozul step forward again as the small amount of the Ball of Purity floating beside him suddenly took the shape of a sharp de.


    The de flew towards Darcia¡¯s corpse and created another cut in the middle of her chest.


    ¡°Uhm... What is he doing?¡± ze asked subconsciously.


    Raven heard his barely audible question and answered, ¡°Harvesting the core.¡±


    ¡°Harvesting the core? Oh yeah! The core-¡± It seemed ze had almost forgotten that Ozul didn¡¯t discriminate between Beasts and Humans when it came to harvesting the Magical Cores.

 Chapter 294

    Chapter 294: Return.


    After Ozul had taken out the Core from Darcia, he stored it in his Spatial pouch before throwing the Spatial Rings towards Raven.


    Whatever they had in them, he felt like he wouldn¡¯t need any of it.


    Raven caught the Spatial Rings before storing them away. This was not the time to list out their content.


    Reluctant to say anything in fear of disturbing him, everyone stayed quiet while Ozul stood there staring at theva erupting out of the pit hundreds of kilometers away.


    ¡°Do you want to collect its Core?¡± Raven asked after a while.


    Ozul only shook his head slightly in response and continued to stare at the rain ofva which melted whatever it came into contact with.


    When Raven followed his gaze, she was surprised to find that theva pouring out of the pit suddenly sted from the inside, scattering it all around. Following this scene, the group also felt a few tremors in the ground before they calmed down.


    .....


    ¡°It is no more. Let¡¯s go,¡± Ozul spoke before he turned around, leaving everyone else to wonder what had happened just now.


    Unknown to them, it was exactly the Sovereign¡¯s Mana Core that had sted under the pressure and heat from theva.


    The Sovereign was a Rank-10 Beast with the Fire as her Element, but her Mana Core could still not hope to survive the heat from molten rocks so deep underground.


    The group forced themselves to think about it and moved on to follow behind Ozul.


    Their eyes fixed on to his back which felt solitary than ever before.


    Hadn¡¯t he just defeated a Rank-10 Mage and a Rank-10 Beast all by himself? So why wasn¡¯t Ozul cheered up now? The members of the Rogue Crew had many questions, but they kept it to themselves.


    Raven and ze also understood from Ozul¡¯s behavior that something was wrong, but Raven had already tried and failed to get an answer from him. They didn¡¯t have the courage to press him any further than that.


    Different from Raven, ze also had other thoughts running wild in his mind, but he didn¡¯t know whether to say them or not.


    In front of their eyes, Ozul started to float in the air without any visible thing supporting him from below like before.


    Others didn¡¯t notice this difference, but Raven had keen eyes and she would usually keep track of everything rted to Ozul. This little change immediately caught her eyes.


    He would use the Ball of Purity to fly before, but she couldn¡¯t find that ck material supporting him anymore.


    Too many things had happened at once and everyone had too much on their mind. They flew behind Ozul, all in their own thoughts.


    There were undoubtedly many gains from the recent events, but Ozul also had to think some things through.


    ¡ª¨C


    It took a few days for the group to leave the abandoned part of the continent and enter the Neutral Lands again.


    The tremors of the battle earlier were huge, but they were not extreme enough to cause amotion on the rest of the continent.


    Even until now, everyone else was clueless about the death of one of the only four Rank-10 Mages.


    ¡°What happened to the rest of you?¡± Ozul asked at some point, the question was directed towards the members of the Rogue Crew.


    The sudden question caught them off guard and for a moment, no one knew how to reply. Only a whileter did Tatsuo muster up his courage and closed in a little.


    ¡°They... They thought that you would be dead, so they decided to leave,¡± Tatsuo thought that Ozul would be angry or at least a little annoyed at his statement, but he saw no change in thetter¡¯s facial expressions.


    This too came as a surprise to Tatsuo since a total of 25 Rank-8 Mages had decided not to follow the orders, walking away to their own death. Ozul had spent so many of the organization¡¯s resources and now there were only 10 of them left.


    If it was any other person in his ce, they would have naturally been at least in a little bad mood. But Ozul didn¡¯t care about them either way now.


    He had noticed that thebor he needed others to do for him could be done with these 10 as well.


    Also, he had a feeling that the time was near when he wouldn¡¯t be able to make use of this Rogue Crew.


    It had almost been a month since they had left for that abandoned part of the continent and Ozul was only able to achieve one of their two reasons for exploration.


    They weren¡¯t able to do the actual exploration of that mountain-like temple since it was destroyed in the aftermath of the battle.


    It had turned out to be the home for the Sovereign, but there were surely many valuable things inside its cave. Unfortunately, theva that came pouring out of the pit had destroyed everything.


    Ozul was flying at his leisure pace, so the group took a few hours to finally reach the town of their Headquarters.


    The building remained as it was, only there were even fewer people in sight. Many more had migrated outside the Deste Borders as well.


    The ten Rank-8 Mages remaining of the Rogue Crew including Tatsuo went back to hiding in the surroundings before Ozulnded near the tower.


    Like all other organizations, Irvin had also ordered to put off the formation from the tower since it consumed resources as well. The situation at hand had every organization so busy that none would try to interfere in the matters of others anyway.


    There were two Rank-6 Mages standing guard at the entrance of the tower who instantly grew alert at the sight of three people suddenlynding near them.


    Only when they recognized the trio¡¯s appearances did the two guards calm down before starting to panic immediately afterwards.


    Because of how little interaction Ozul had with the members of the Three-Eyed Strangers, they all had their own fearsome image of him in their minds. Some only imagined him a little strict because of his cold face while others fantasized a sinister old man in the disguise of an innocent boy.


    No matter the case, no one talked about their view of the leader since it was not only disrespectful but if it got to the higher-ups¡¯ ears, they would surely enact a severe punishment for disloyalty.


    These two guards, judging from their shaking legs, Ozul could tell leaned more towards the scarier image of him.


    Ignoring the two, Ozul walked inside followed by Raven and ze.


    As always, surprised and strange gasps could be heard as they passed by everyone. Even ze had be numb to this by now.


    Raven and ze paused when they had reached the floor of management, but Ozul didn¡¯t stop. He went directly to the top floor and entered his room without bothering to meet with Irvin or Haley first.


    Since Ozul wasn¡¯t in the mood to, Raven and ze stopped there since Haley would surely have many questions.


    Leaving the duo on the floor below, Ozul didn¡¯t feel like having a talk right now.


    Inside his room, there was only him and Jinx who had appeared out of nowhere, as always.


    . . .


    Ozul only came out of his room the next day after sleeping for hours straight.


    No one disturbed him during this time as strictly warned by Raven and Haley. No one else dared to near his room anyway.


    As Ozul came down the floor, everyone had gathered in the hall. They were having a heated meeting that he chose to ignore before taking a seat in his favorite corner.


    His entrance was naturally not missed by everyone, but everyone chose not to disturb him. Only Raven and ze stood up from their seats before making their way towards him.


    ¡°End the meeting. Tell Haley, Irvin, and Oliver toe here,¡± Ozul ordered before they could say anything.


    Although confused, Raven followed his orders nevertheless. She went to Haley¡¯s side and whispered something in her ear before making her way back to Ozul.


    Only a minute passed and Haley was seen ending the meeting as she drove away everyone to get back to work.


    ¡°Both of you, go train in the forest,¡± Ozul said to the duo.


    Raven quickly moved about but ze stood there hesitating for a while. It looked like he had something to say, but in the end, he just walked away before Ozul could question him.


    Ozul kept staring at his back, keeping his thoughts to himself before turning to Haley, Irvin, and Oliver who stood waiting at the side.


    ¡°Have Raven informed you of everything already?¡± Ozul questioned.


    ¡°Yes, young master. She briefed us of everything,¡± Haley replied with her sweet voice. Unlike others, she wouldn¡¯t get tense in his presence for no reason.


    ¡°The Church of Light would pose no threat to us from now on. But this does not mean that you go out of your way to taunt them. There still remains a Rank-9 Mage there,¡± Ozul spoke with an unhurried manner.


    Irvin nodded his head in understanding. If he had said those words, it only meant that he had no ns to get rid of the Archbishop right now.


    ¡°If you have prepared already, start moving the headquarters outside the Deste Borders. I doubt there remains anything of interest here,¡± advised Ozul.


    All those who still lingered on the Neutral Lands were the people belonging to all the giant factions. These people would rarely if evere to the Three-Eyed Strangers for information even if it was considered a Neutral faction.


    ¡°Just leave an elite group here and shift the headquarters already,¡± Ozul ordered to which Haley agreed fully.


    They were already nning to relocate outside the Deste Lands.


    ¡°Also...¡±


    ...


    Ozul discussed a few unrted things with the three before he motioned them to leave.


    ¡°Haley, stay for a second,¡± he called out as he remembered something.


    ¡°Yes, young master?¡± Haley stopped and turned around with confusion on her face. They had just discussed everything that needed to be discussed, did she forget something?


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother to recruit more into the Rogue Crew. Any more than these ten are not needed,¡± stated Ozul.


    He had noticed that the tasks that he personally needed to do required people way stronger than just Rank-8 and as for the menial tasks, those could be done with even normal people much less Rank-8 Mages.


    Using Rank-8 Mages only to pass on his orders was an overkill already. It wasn¡¯t worth wasting the organization¡¯s resources on more of these people.


    ¡°I will do as you say, young master. Is there anything else?¡± Haley asked just in case.


    Ozul rested his back on the couch and took a breath before answering, ¡°Indeed. I need you to form a team of at least Rank-6 Mages and search for a person...¡±


    .....

 Chapter 295

    Chapter 295: shback.


    Although Ozul¡¯s orders were a little unexpected, Haley didn¡¯t waste a minute as she immediately left off toplete the given task.


    After everyone had left, Ozul finally released a tired sigh before lumping back on the couch.


    He was left there staring vacantly at the air for a few minutes before he eventually mustered up his strength to raise both of his hands in front of his face.


    Luckily for him, no one dared to disturb him during this time. Ozul just had the air around him right now which almost physically spoke to people not to approach him.


    In his eyes, the time seemed to slow, his surroundings bing a blur to him as he mused.


    ¡°This satisfaction... this fulfilling sensation that seeps deep into my body... this contentment of beingplete again...¡±


    Following another pause and a worn-out sigh, he could only mutter the following words,


    .....


    ¡°... Still I feel so hollow...¡±


    He had finally achieved what he wanted to for years now. He had gotten all of his limbs back. But still, there was a certain something that felt out of ce.


    ¡®Why didn¡¯t I feel like this when I was born?¡¯ he contemted.


    The memories when had just been born were all quite vivid even now and he could tell for a fact that he didn¡¯t feel that way back then. So what changed?


    Not getting any answers yet again, he shook his head. After regaining hisst limb, he had all the time in the world to figure things out. At least now he wouldn¡¯t have to constantly worry about anything.


    Now that he had gained all of his limbs back, the power boost he received together with hisst limb was sufficient enough that he was now confident to easily deal with all of the Rank-10 Mages, even if they worked together against him.


    As for Old Gu, he would first have to figure out how strong the old man actually was to predict the oue if they were to fight.


    His own level of strength also remained vague and he was nning to first test his own limits.


    Fortunately, he had enough time to figure out everything that he needed to.


    One needed to be familiar with their own being before looking for answers outside.


    Just that he didn¡¯t feel like doing anything right now. Even thinking on a particr matter made him think twice as much about whether he should just go to sleep again.


    Again mustering up his will, Ozul stood up to leave the tower.


    His personal room wasn¡¯t as peaceful as it was before. Last night too, the formations set on each floor to block the noise either didn¡¯t seem to work or his senses had improved a little too much.


    Jinx could be seen walking down the stairs from the top floor as she joined behind.


    Many things changed, but Jinx was still the same. The stronger he got, the more connection he would feel between them, but nothing more informative than that.


    He had no way of knowing what kind of connection they had.


    Just then, he suddenly paused in his steps as he realized something, ¡®Connection? Maybe that thing could help...¡¯


    He took a nce at the unbothered Jinx before resuming his footsteps.


    Getting out of the tower, he noticed the presence of the Rogue Crew. They immediately jolted at his presence and began to follow him around from a distance as well. It was what they were told to do so.


    While walking towards Raven and ze who were cultivating in the training ground, Ozul contemted what they should be improving now.


    One of the reasons they were brought along to the exploration was also so they could get the fighting experience, which they did.


    But it was also true that you could never gain enough experience. For whateverpetition Old Gu was going to arrange though, it should be enough.


    Then again, they had only contented themselves against Beasts. Humans were far trickier than any Beast despite having lower strength.


    While Beasts would mostly use the same set of spells every time, the humans could make as many spells as they wanted and could even make use of the artifacts.


    All in all, where Beasts had the advantage of strength, the humans were far more cunning.


    It also wouldn¡¯t be as effective if he were to spar with them. Not only were real perilous situations more fruitful, but his fighting style was also different from the humans.


    For example, he didn¡¯t have to think about draining his Mana Pool or chanting the right spell because not only did he not have a Mana Pool to hold him back but he could also just change the form of the Ball of Purity whenever he wanted and however he wanted.


    He was limited only by his understanding of his own self.


    ¡®I should give them some actual missions...¡¯ Ozul came to a conclusion because no matter how much he personally trained them, experiencing it for themselves would be a whole different thing.


    While Ozul and Jinx walked towards the training ground, he didn¡¯t notice how simr both of their movements had gotten. Although he didn¡¯t walk anything like a cat, his steps were almost as graceful and leisurely as Jinx.


    ¡°Less than a year remains till Old Gu makes his appearance again, they can lead the operation...¡± Ozul muttered to himself.


    He entered the training ground and noticed both Raven and ze sparring without using offensive Spells.


    Raven looked determined and a lot more energetic, mostly because he had gotten all of his limbs back. On the other hand, ze looked somewhat perplexed, he had things going on in his head.


    Ignoring the scene, Ozul interrupted their spar, ¡°Stop.¡±


    As always, his voice almost made them jump. He and Jinx were always silent in their steps. Unless they wanted to, there was almost no one who could detect their presence.


    The two stopped sparring and immediately made their way towards him.


    Aftering back from the exploration, both of them could naturally feel their improvement. Their actions were faster and more fluid.


    One of the main reasons that fighting experience was needed rested on the time it needed to think of the movements. If a person had fought hundreds of actual life-threatening battles, their body would automatically move to counter an attack or protect themselves.


    ¡°Rest for a few days. Cultivate as you like. Later, both of you will be leading a few tasks I have for the organization,¡± Ozul informed.


    ¡°Hm? What kind of tasks?¡± Raven asked with confused expressions. All of what they did until now was so that Ozul could get his limbs back, but now that he had, what more was left for the organization to do?


    ¡°The Three-Eyed Strangers have already infiltrated most of the giant or minor organizations on the continent, but most of them are still not trusted enough to be exposed to sensitive information,¡± Ozul exined in an unhurried voice as he took a seat.


    Jinx didn¡¯t wait a second before jumping onto hisp as well.


    ¡°I want both of you to speed up the process. As for how... figure it out,¡± Ozul was toozy to devise a n for them as well. They were mature enough to make their own decisions.


    Raven and ze didn¡¯t mind doing things on their own, but they were curious about what type of information Ozul wanted now.


    ¡°Do this first, you will know what I want information onter as well,¡± Ozul naturally understood what they were thinking about.


    ¡°Unless a Rank-9 Mage is directly involved in whatever you would be doing, don¡¯t bother asking for any help. I won¡¯t help. Work together or separately, I don¡¯t care,¡± Ozul said without a change in his expression.


    On the other hand, the duo¡¯s eyebrows unconsciously twitched. Ozul always made it seem like he didn¡¯t care about their lives at all. And they were more than aware of how untrue it was.


    After all, who would do things for him if they were gone?


    ¡°Get rest for a few days and tell me before you are about to leave. I will be in the forest,¡± Ozul would rather be at peace in the middle of a forest than around any humans now.


    Even that soundproof room of his wasn¡¯t working because of his senses.


    Before walking out of the training room, Ozul nced at ze who was quiet all this while. By now, Raven had also noticed something wrong with ze but she didn¡¯t know what.


    On the other hand, Ozul was fully aware of what was going on in his head.


    How could he forget his own promise?


    ¡ª¡ª


    *shback*


    It was around the time when he had brought ze home.


    Sitting beside Ozul in the old garden, ze mustered up his courage when Raven had gone inside the house.


    ¡°Uhm...u...a...¡±


    ¡°Speak what you have to say clearly,¡± Ozul interrupted.


    His cold tone made ze instantly shut up. For a few seconds, he contemted if it was alright to even say anything.


    ¡°I... you will surely help me take revenge right?¡± ze asked with expectations visible in his eyes.


    The only reason he gave up on his n to brutally kill everyone in his road to revenge was because of Ozul. Worse things had happened to thetter, and he was so calm about it. In ze¡¯s eyes, there was no man more admirable than him.


    But following Ozul didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t want revenge on the person responsible for turning the whole vige against him back then.


    ¡°I can¡¯t promise you that,¡± Ozul shook his head, disappointing ze who couldn¡¯t help but purse his lips.


    But just the next moment, ze regained his spirit when he heard the, ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°If that person is alive by the time you are strong enough... I promise you... you will have your revenge.¡±


    The confidence with which Ozul promised ze was surprising because by now, he had also understood just how powerful the Church of Light was.


    However,ing from Ozul, ze did not doubt those words. He instinctively put his trust in him.


    ¡ª¡ª

 Chapter 296

    Chapter 296: rity.


    ¡°Speak with Haley, she will provide you with anything that you would need,¡± leaving these words, Ozul walked out of the training ground along with Jinx following behind him.


    He was now looking for a ce to be alone. But instead of just flying over to the middle of the forest, he slowly walked along with Jinx.


    Since he had time, he was back to beingzy again. Why bother putting an effort when he would eventually get there anyway?


    The duo went back to the tower as instructed while Ozul took a few hours to find a spot where he was finally alone. Jinx¡¯s presence didn¡¯t matter.


    Taking another look around him, he only sensed wild animals around. Although not entirely peaceful, this was a lot better than being around humans.


    Their emotions along with all the chatter drained him.


    Gaining all of his limbs back, he couldn¡¯t control his ability to sense emotions either. Before he could keep a check on it and block them off whenever he wanted, but now bits and parts would reach him whenever he wasn¡¯t concentrating.


    .....


    Even these bits and pieces were annoying since bearing others emotions wasn¡¯t exactly afortable feeling when he was barely able to handle his own thoughts.


    He found a small boulder and sat on it cross-legged before closing his eyes. With the absence of humans, he had it easier to handle the outside emotions thrown at him.


    Putting aside his confusing thoughts, Ozul began to list out all the changes in his body after reattaching hisst limb.


    The most obvious improvement was the boost in his senses. Not just sensing the emotions of others but all of his senses. He could see far clearer and hear tens of times better than before. Being able to hear the usualmotion in the tower despite there being multiple formations set up was more than enough to help understand just how much his senses had improved.


    ¡®I will first have to get my senses under control,¡¯ he thought, deciding to prioritize this on his next course of actions.


    A moment of distraction at a critical point could be fatal, so he had to get them under control as soon as possible.


    It was surely beneficial to him that his senses had improved so much, but it was more of a nuisance than a convenience right now.


    The next thing that came to his mind was his stronger-than-ever connection with the ck catzily stretching itself on hisp.


    Jinx had no presence and Ozul only feltfortable in herpany.


    Opening his eyes, he eyed the ck feline as he wondered whether it was her presence or the absence of her presence that made him feel at peace.


    ¡®You are a mystery on your own... but I feel like I will understand you... once I understand myself,¡¯ Ozul contemted before closing his eyes again.


    At least one thing was confirmed from his growing bond with Jinx; she did indeed have something to do with him and he would only find out more if he got stronger.


    ¡®Stronger huh... that means I will most likely not find my answers here...¡¯ he sighed as he thought about it.


    His feelings never lied to him and the urge to get stronger than he already is in this world meant that he would most probably need to travel to the other worlds. After all, he felt there were only a handful of things that could boost his strength in this realm now.


    And if the other realms were really involved then there were only slim chances for him to find his answers on this small.


    As he thought about the other realms, Ozul againmented the fact that he didn¡¯t receive any fragmented pieces of information on the realms outside.


    Was he actually not supposed to receive those fragments of memories when he had gained his leg back?


    ¡®There might have been a problem when that abomination was trying to absorb my leg... and I mistakenly received those memories upon reattaching the limb,¡¯ Ozul concluded.


    Although his guess was too far fetched, he couldn¡¯t think of any other reason besides this.


    Anyhow, it wasn¡¯t the time to mull over the problems. He took a deep breath and started to feel the power that he now held.


    ¡°This strength...¡± he mutteredparing his strength to Darcia who had ultimately died because of the explosion caused by the cannon.


    The explosion had reduced the cannon to dust and Darcia was already considered to have a sturdy body since her corpse was at least left intact.


    Butparing his strength to Darcia who was supposed to be one of the strongest four Mages on the continent, he would have believed himself to be the strongest on the if he wasn¡¯t aware of Old Gu¡¯s presence.


    ¡®Would I be able to at least sense his strength now?¡¯ he wondered, anticipating the time when he would meet Old Gu again.


    If he still wasn¡¯t able to sense Old Gu¡¯s presence, then he would be sure that the old man didn¡¯t originate from this.


    ¡°That means the tournament...¡± Ozul mused. He already had a good guess about what the tournament could be for if this was really the case after all.


    ¡°Those two aren¡¯t ready for another world right now,¡± he thought about Raven and ze.


    Although both were End-Stage Rank-8 Mages right now, he had no idea what they would face in another world or realm. But Old Gu was also aware of the strength level here. If he was going through all of this then there were probably chances for them to survive in other realms.


    Then again, that old man was unpredictable in his actions... the kind which he hated the most.


    Ozul sighed and stopped thinking about it since it was all but a good guess of his as of now.


    Following that, he opened his eyes again and started to concentrate on releasing the Ball of Purity from his body.


    The first thing he felt was his control over it. Unlike with his senses on which his control loosened after the improvements, he only felt a firmer grip on the Ball of Purity.


    Letting all of it out of his body, he himself was surprised at the amount he could produce right now.


    This was approximately more than a whole cubic meter of Ball of Purity.


    Before, he only had around half of what he had now and even with that little amount, he was able to divide it into tens of des.


    Now that he had doubled the amount of Ball of Purity than before, he could perform many more actions at the same time.This increase in the quantity was alone enough to boost his strength to new levels.


    Not to mention that with a firmer control over this ck substance, he was able to exert more strength with little amounts of it.


    As he willed it, a small chunk of the Ball of Purity turned into a razor sharp de. Ozul then swung the de in the empty air, producing a humming sound.


    ¡°Not only is it sharper, I can swing it many times faster...¡± Ozul could particrly make the de more deadly because of his fine control over it now.


    As for testing whether he could create an invisible dome of the Ball of Purity around him, he doubted he was at that level yet. Nevertheless, he would give it a tryter.


    First he wanted to check the maximum range for his usage of the Ball of Purity.


    He separated another chunk from the substance and also created an equally sharp de before shooting them both in the opposite directions.


    Sss!


    Both des pierced the air as they cut through all the trees and whatever came in their way like butter before finally slowing down tens of meters away from Ozul.


    ¡®Around 43 or 45 meters...¡¯ Ozul mentally noted the approximate distance both the des had covered from him.


    Following that, he separated another chunk of the Ball of Purity and created a de before sending it in a single direction alone.


    Swish!


    ¡¯47- no... 50 meters.¡¯ he was a little surprised himself since the 50 meters radius was admittingly a lot!


    Although he was only confident in being able to cover around 45 meters if he were to manage all of the Ball of Purity in different directions, it was still a huge boost from the previous limit.


    What mattered was that if he only concentrated in a single direction, reaching 50 meters was not a problem!


    Although 50 meters might not sound a lot but for Ozul, it was basically allowing him to do whatever he wanted in that radius around him!


    He might not have perfect control over everything, but he could kill anyone in this radius from him with just a single thought. That was enough to satisfy him for now.


    And although he wasn¡¯t able to lower the density of the Ball of Purity until it almost became invisible, this recent improvement allowed him to turn the needles even thinner to the point where they would not be noticeable to anymon eye at all.


    Furthermore, if he tried to avoid any prying eyes while moving the needles, he was confident that even those remaining three Rank-10 Mages wouldn¡¯t be able to find them.


    ¡®With this, at least I have gained rity on my own strength,¡¯ Ozul thought with a sense of relief. Only when he met Old Gu now would he be able to ascertain how well he would contend against that old man.


    ¡®... Now I need to figure out what this is about...¡¯

 Chapter 297

    Chapter 297: Just as or even morezy.


    ¡®... Now I need to figure out what this is about...¡¯


    This thing had been in his mind, but he hadn¡¯t stopped to give it another thought before.


    Now that he was alone and focused on it, he found a very strange feeling engraved in his mind.


    ¡®No... it was more like already there but... was unsealed?¡¯ he mused. It was the same when he had turned 5 years old and had suddenly learned to produce and control the Ball of Purity.


    Maybe if he had beenplete back then, he would have learned this thing together with the Ball of Purity.


    Those life-like ck engravings on his limbs probably yed some important part in it as well. But he couldn¡¯t be sure of anything until he had more knowledge.


    Putting that thought in the back of his mind, Ozul focused on the strand of knowledge that had seemingly been unsealed in his memories.


    .....


    The strand of knowledge wasn¡¯t asplicated as one would think. He just innately knew that if he willed it, he was able to do something different now.


    As he followed his instinct, everything suddenly turned a little darker as if a thinyer of cloud might have covered the Sun.


    But as he assessed his situation, he realized it wasn¡¯t that the sunlight was blocked by the clouds. Instead, it was his vision that turned a little dull. His eyesight itself was clear and so were the surroundings, but the light had just dimmed a little.


    To any other person, such a negligible change wouldn¡¯t have been noticeable at all. But Ozul had always been sensitive to light and on top of being vignt to any new development, he couldn¡¯t have missed it.


    After analyzing the situation for a couple of minutes, he began to understand what was going on.


    Approximately a foot of the radius with him as the center had suddenly just lost a little of its light.


    It was as if a curtain of shadows had enveloped him, protecting him from the ¡®filthy¡¯ light of this world, albeit just a little.


    It was also worthy to note that the thinyer of darkness surrounding him had nothing to do with the Ball of Purity. This was entirely something else.


    He felt a peculiar chilling sensation run deep within his skin, but it was by no means an ufortable feeling. He was instead feeling quite at peace in this state.


    ¡°And that is not all...¡± he muttered before standing up.


    Clenching his fist, he realized that his strength had taken a huge leap as well!


    Ozul took a deep breath as he began to feel whatever else changes this darkness had caused in him.


    It turned out that his strength wasn¡¯t the only thing that had improved. All of his senses felt little improvements as well.


    He performed a few more tests and moved about but the almost negligible shadows followed wherever he went. He also experimented with the Ball of Purity while in this state but there weren¡¯t any obvious changes except for him finding it a little easier to control it.


    ¡°Well this is a pleasant surprise...¡± Ozul muttered with a small smile on his face. Being surrounded by these barely visible shadows not only brought him a pleasant feeling but also improved his overall abilities.


    Just as he was thinking as such, his smile strained.


    Unknown to him, he didn¡¯t feel like not expressing his feelings this time.


    ¡®Strange... well whatever.¡¯


    Although him not wanting to keep his emotions to himself felt weird after all this time of doing the opposite, he had also be used to his changing mood.


    Others might call him crazy but he was just following what he wanted whenever he wanted.


    That was also his mother¡¯sst and only words to him.


    ¡®Be myself. Even if I don¡¯t know what I am as of now, it wouldn¡¯t be wrong to say that I am being myself if I follow whatever I desire,¡¯ that is what kept Ozul going even when he felt absurd following his instincts sometimes.


    Fortunately, following his desires had never failed him. It always led him to a path on which he gained the most.


    Coming back to his senses, Ozul again focused on the darkness covering him as he began to ponder what else he could do with it.


    Looking at Jinx staring at him from the side, he looked deep into her eyes before speaking, ¡°Can you bring me a Beast?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Unsurprisingly, Jinx continued to stare at him with a nk face, clearly not wanting to bother finding a Beast.


    ¡°What did I expect...¡± Ozul only sighed before moving his focus back to the darkness.


    He could have also found a Beast easily but just didn¡¯t want to bother doing it, that¡¯s why he asked Jinx, hoping that she would listen to him.


    Unfortunately for him, Jinx was just as or evenzier than him.


    Since he still didn¡¯t have the mood to find a Beast, Ozul left it forter and decided to check the most important factor of this new ability of his.


    ¡®Can I control it?¡¯ That was the ultimate question that would decide how useful this ability actually was.


    Trying to remember the familiar feeling of activating this cover of darkness, he tried moving it around him ording to his will.


    Just as he did so, this space with less light suddenly shifted towards him. However, only he was able to feel this minuscule movement. If he was not doing it himself, there were chances that even he might have missed it.


    Clenching his fists harder, Ozul tried his best topress the space, forcing it to close in on him. Sadly, no matter how hard he tried, the darkness barely moved towards him before regaining its previous position.


    ¡®I can¡¯t do it,¡¯ Ozul concluded, ¡°But... It is certainly possible.¡±


    There was no denying the fact that he had failed to move to control the space to close in on him, but if it moved even if just a little, it proved the point that it was possible.


    The only reason he didn¡¯t put force into trying to move it away from him was that he simply couldn¡¯t. It wouldn¡¯t even budge when he willed it to move away from him.


    Moreover, he just had a feeling that he should try topress in on him instead. For whatever reasons he didn¡¯t know. For now, he wasn¡¯t even able to move it an inch and was toozy to keep forcing it right now.


    ¡°Haa...¡±


    Not only was hezy, but he only realized it now that activating this new ability of his kept draining his stamina. It wasn¡¯t much but trying to force it topress was what made him exhausted.


    With that, he had also summarized all of the changes his body had gone under after regaining his arm.


    There was nothing more for him to test as of right now. And since that was the case, he turned around and went back on the stone before closing his eyes again.


    It was afternoon and the sun was about to set but he still didn¡¯t want to go back to the tower. For now, he hadn¡¯t regainedplete control over his own hearing, and being in the middle of so many people annoyed him to no end.


    As he was again back to being depressed about not even being able to control his own hearing, he forgot to take in mind that this task was almost impossible for normal people.


    Gaining control over one¡¯s own hearing so they heard less? How would a person even begin to do that?


    Ozul hadn¡¯t realized that him being able to gain control over his senses was also unique to him.


    He didn¡¯t know if it was the presence of Jinx, but no Beast or even a normal animal dared toe nowhere near them all this time.


    Just like that, he spent the next couple of hours sorting out his thoughts before finding a tree to lean on and sleep. There was no point in going back to the tower anyway.


    . . .


    The next morning, he felt better than ever and if not for the burning ray of sunlight falling directly on his eyes, he wouldn¡¯t have bothered to wake up at all.


    He had ordered Raven and ze to rest for a few days and the task he gave to Haley wouldn¡¯t have beenpleted in just a single day either.


    So until then, he had nothing to do. Sleeping was the best way to pass time.


    At this time, Jinx was also snuggled up to his body, sleeping soundly.


    Although he wanted to change to a different tree to avoid the sunlight, he also didn¡¯t want to wake her up.


    ¡®Uh...¡¯


    If it was any other being in the world, he wouldn¡¯t have hesitated to choose hisfort over the other, but it was different with Jinx. He somehow couldn¡¯t bring himself to wake her up.


    Not having any other choice, he released a bit of the Ball of Purity before ttening it out and putting it above them.


    Holding the small roof he had created over them even in his sleep was no problem for Ozul. He had never truly lost consciousness anyway.


    Just like that, he spent another day just lying around in the middle of the forest with Jinx.


    . . .


    While Ozul was gone for these two days, Raven and ze had already rested enough and wanted to move out toplete their mission right away.


    However, they couldn¡¯t do anything since they were supposed to first tell Ozul before leaving.


    And he was nowhere to be found...

 Chapter 298

    Chapter 298: ...Why?


    At this moment, the duo was in the meeting together with the other elite members of the organization.


    ze hardly understood anythingplicated in these meetings, but he participated nheless. Raven¡¯s burning res also added to his ¡®motivation¡¯.


    Since Ozul had given them a mission to speed up the process of infiltrating the other organizations, both of them had to be updated to thetest information at all times.


    Both of them were confident in their abilities. Even when ze wasn¡¯t much of a strategist, he was still strong enough to make anyone under Rank-9 give a run for their money. Hence, both had decided to work separately to speed up their progress.


    Haley also detailed them on all the branch locations of the organization together with the structure of their system in case they weren¡¯t aware. It turned out to be a good idea since ze really didn¡¯t know anything about those details.


    Sitting through the boring meeting, ze was just about to ask Haley if she knew where Ozul had gone when he noticed her bolting up from her seat.


    Following suit, he saw Raven next to him also stand up. Realizing what it meant, he also stood up while moving his eyes towards the stairs.


    .....


    ¡°Young Master,¡± x2


    Haley and Irvin both bowed, following the rest of the elite members except for Raven and ze.


    As everyone looked at Ozul, their eyes directly went to his white shirt, which didn¡¯t look so white anymore. Sleeping two days in a row in the middle of the forest and on the ground leaned against a tree wouldn¡¯t have exactly protected him from the dirt.


    Although he didn¡¯t care about his appearances, Raven very much did.


    She approached him to hand him a new pair of clothes.


    ¡®Hmm?... Oh, my clothes,¡¯ Ozul realized her intentions through the eyes directed at his clothes.


    Disregarding that everyone was currently looking at him, Ozul began to remove his simple white shirt under the gaping stares of everyone present there.


    For a moment, even Raven was stunned. Her hand holding the white shirt she had just taken out of the Spatial Ring paused in mid-air.


    Oblivious to everyone¡¯s pause, Ozul took the shirt from Raven¡¯s hand and quickly put it on.


    Just like that, he didn¡¯t wait for anyone before he proceeded to take off his pants as well...


    ¡°Young master-¡±


    ¡°Cough... ¡±


    ¡°Really now~¡±


    ¡°Young master, please mind the surroundings...¡±


    Irvin, ze, Oliver, and Haley all spoke respectively.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Ozul¡¯s hand hadn¡¯t even touched his pants when he heard them all shout at him. He looked up to notice their pleading expressions.


    A few of the members present there were now on the ground for some reason. He also didn¡¯t fail to notice that all of those on the ground were female.


    Raven and Haley were one of the few female members still on their feet.


    Except for Raven, those still standing were all married. Still, this didn¡¯t stop them from admiring the heavenly sight which had greeted them just a moment ago. After all, even the men in the room were staring at him with unbelieving eyes.


    As Ozul looked at Raven, he noticed her standing there in a daze. Her eyes weren¡¯t focused on anything. She was most likely daydreaming at this moment, considering those reddened ears.


    ¡®Oh yes... almost forgot...¡¯ Ozul muttered in his head.


    He really didn¡¯t care if anyone saw him naked. However, he still had to be careful around others as once instructed by Grandma Carol.


    He took the pants from the lightheaded Raven and went to the top floor to change his pants, leaving everyone to collect their thoughts.


    With a teasing smile on his face, Oliver muttered, ¡°huhu~ It seems he still don¡¯t understand that he possess this skill~¡±


    As Raven recovered from her fantasies, she heard his mutterings and asked absentmindedly, ¡°huh? What skill?¡±


    ¡°Hm? I didn¡¯t say anything,¡± Oliver pretended to be oblivious.


    He could have joked around, but now that Raven was a peak Rank-8 Mage, he didn¡¯t want to get on her bad side, even by mistake.


    However, the men in the room all shared the same sentiments as Oliver. Some sighed with envy, while others just shook their heads at how oblivious Ozul was to this ¡®skill¡¯ of his.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Ozul toe back, now looking as if he hadn¡¯t just spent two whole days in a forest just to sleep.


    By this time, most of the members had already left for their duties, and only Haley remained with a couple of others and the duo.


    ¡°We are ready to leave anytime,¡± ze informed him as he took a seat.


    Haley had already told them everything necessary, and they didn¡¯t ask for any extra help either. She had also given them particr emblems that were supposed to prove their identity as one of the upper echelons. Even the branch heads would listen to whoever possessed them.


    The duo now waited if Ozul had anything else to say.


    But instead of answering them, Ozul shot a look towards Haley, ¡°Is it done?¡±


    ¡°Yes young master. Fortunately, we didn¡¯t have to search outside the Neutral Lands,¡± Haley replied proudly.


    The task he had given her could have taken months if they were unlucky. She couldn¡¯t help but feel overjoyed.


    ¡°Good. But... this is not a suitable ce,¡± he said while taking a look around the floor, ¡°Let¡¯s move to the training ground. It is empty.¡±


    Although they didn¡¯t understand how Ozul could tell that no one was in the training ground while sitting here, they still held no doubt to his words.


    As he stood up to leave the tower, the duo followed right after him while Haley called for a man and gave him some instructions before also moving out.


    ...


    Now in the training ground, Ozul waited together with Haley while Raven and ze could only stare at each other in confusion.


    A minute passed before two men d in ck entered the ground with a third person.


    The third man wore white clothes, the same as those priests of the Church of Light. However, his current dishevelled appearance was quite contradictory.


    Snot and tears ruined the man¡¯s face. Together with the scrunched up expressions of the middle-aged man, he looked as if he was a well-dressed beggar instead.


    ¡°I am telling you people! Release me this instant! Do you even know who I am?!¡± the well-dressed beggar yelled while trying his best to release himself from the grip of the other two men.


    Unfortunately for him, their grip didn¡¯t even budge at his resistance. Their strength was obviously a level above the beggar.


    As he was brought closer to the group by the two men, ze finally had a clear look on the man¡¯s face, and his eyes couldn¡¯t help but widen with surprise.


    It was obvious that he had recognized the man.


    ¡°Release the man,¡± Ozul ordered.


    Following his words, the two men immediately released their grip and took a step back.


    ¡°What? Who are you?! Do you even-¡± the middle-aged men yelled while pointing his finger at Ozul. At the same time, he was taking a step back when he felt something prick the back of his neck.


    His words were stuck in his mouth. Now that he looked back at the cold and indifferent eyes staring at him, he felt as if he were to make even a single movement; he would lose his life right then and there!


    Not even daring to move a single muscle, the middle-aged man couldn¡¯t even move his eyes away from Ozul.


    ¡°You can leave,¡± Ozul said, looking at Haley.


    Haley nodded her head and gave him a respectful bow before leaving the training ground together with the other two men dressedpletely in ck.


    Although she was very much curious as to what Ozul wanted to do with this man, she did not dare to overstep her boundaries.


    Now that they were alone, Ozul looked towards ze.


    Thetter¡¯s eyes were still fixated on the middle-aged man.


    The rage that had been suppressed for years within his heart started to resurface as the surroundings started to get colder by the minute.


    Years had passed, and although ze hade a long way since then, how could he forget the face of the person responsible for his misery all those years ago? The so-called priest who hadbelled him as the Demon?


    ¡°There you have him. I had promised... you will have your revenge. Do whatever you want to.¡±


    Leaving these words, Ozul walked out of the training ground.


    He had promised ze that if this person was alive by the time he was strong enough, he would get his revenge. Now, he was more than strong enough.


    Only after hearing Ozul¡¯s words did Raven start to make sense of what was happening.


    She realized that it was ze¡¯s personal matter, so she also hurriedly followed behind Ozul. It wasn¡¯t their ce to stay and watch what he did with this priest. It would have been a different situation if he wanted their help from here on out.


    Now alone with the person he despised the most in this world, ze kept looking at the middle-aged man, holding himself back from instantly killing him.


    Yearster, the hate he felt for this man burned just as hot as it did back then.


    Revenge was truly best served cold.


    But before getting his revenge and killing this man, ze had a simple question he still needed to ask this man,


    ¡°...Why?¡±

 Chapter 299

    Chapter 299: The Demon.


    ¡°...Why?¡±


    That was the only question ze had from the man who ruined his life.


    ¡°huh?¡± The man was obviously confused.


    From the time he had been kidnapped, he didn¡¯t understand anything that was happening to him. Suddenly being asked ¡®why?¡¯ without any prior context only helped toplicate the situation.


    ze noticeably shook in anger at the fact that this man didn¡¯t even recognize him after turning his life upside down.


    With his cold eyes staring down at the middle-aged man who shivered unknowingly at this act, ze slowly took off the piece of cloth he had tied on his forehead to hide the crown of crystals embedded in his skin.


    Years had passed, but he had never taken off this cloth in the presence of an outsider. Without a doubt, he knew that he would have to silence anyone who knew about this.


    .....


    After all, even when they were now in the middle of the Maind where people from all the corners of the continent gathered, he hadn¡¯t met a single person who was born like him.


    But these worries onlysted until they weren¡¯t strong enough to protect themselves.


    Now that Ozul was even able to kill one of the only Rank-10 Mages, he felt no fear of attracting attention to himself from the whole world much less this priest in front of him.


    The crown of crystals glinted in the sunlight as if they were precious jewels.


    It was especially true for the middlemost crystal which was more than twice the size of the rest. If one concentrated enough on that crystal, they might even be able to notice the tiny strands of bluish whiffs of energy particles forming and then disappearing in an endless cycle.


    Staring at those crystals would make just about anyone lose their sense of time and make thempletely engrossed. ze¡¯s birth was a miracle in itself.


    Even now, if anyone were to look at those crystals, they would most likely feel that it was ze who had done it to himself for unknown reasons.


    But that was only if it was someone else.


    The priest in front of ze was more than familiar with those crystals.


    The moment his eyes fell on the crystal crown, multiple images shed through his mind at an instant. He might have forgotten a cyan-haired man such as ze, but he could have never forgotten those crystals.


    ¡°Y-you!¡± The priest shakingly pointed his finger towards ze.


    It had been so long since he had seen those crystals and had almost lost all hope of ever seeing them again. He didn¡¯t expect to find that kid from years ago like this now.


    But just as he remembered everything, the situation suddenly hit him. He finally began to understand why he was in this position right now, all beaten up.


    For a moment, the priest didn¡¯t understand what he could do to get himself out of here. Even so, the murderous aura surrounding ze made it seem a bit hopeless.


    Before he could think of anything to escape his doom, ze took a step closer to him. The priest didn¡¯t know if it was an illusion, but for a moment, he might have even seen ze¡¯s eyes turning just a little blue.


    ¡°S-s-stop! Stop right there! Don...te any closer-!¡±


    As if he had perceived his impending doom, the Priest hurriedly backed away. Though he couldn¡¯t run away when a giant ice spear came protruding out of the ground and aimed at his back.


    ¡°I will ask you again. Why did you dere me a demon?¡± ze questioned.


    After all, there should have been no reason for this priest to call him a demon just based on the crystals embedded on his forehead. Although those crystals were unusual, it shouldn¡¯t have been strange enough for him to be called a demon by even his own family.


    It was a magical world and anything could have happened. Not every out-of-ce characteristic should have been directly rted to being a demon.


    Unless this priest was just a half-witted lunatic, there should have been a different reason behind his actions.


    Either way, ze was going to get his revenge.


    ¡°I...¡± The priest, though, didn¡¯t dare to look straight into ze¡¯s eyes.


    For a second, he didn¡¯t know what to answer ze. It looked as if he was contemting his options.


    However, his thoughts were forced toe to a halt when he felt the area around him turning colder by second.


    ¡°D-d-don¡¯t! I... will tell you...¡± the priest finally understood that he didn¡¯t have the luxury to hide anything.


    The cold was already getting unbearable for him. Not to mention, he had also noticed the small needles of ice that had started to form out of thin air.


    ¡°Y-you... will you l-l-let me g-...o i-¡± whispers came out of his mouth.


    ¡°EeK! Arck! Stop! STOP!¡±


    The priest involuntarily let out a cry of pain and yelled for ze to stop when several needles of ice prated his feet and hands at the same time.


    It was quite evident that ze had started to lose patience. The fact that he hadn¡¯t killed this man was already testing his limits.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me! It wasn¡¯t my fault! I swear! It was all on that Bishop! He did everything! Let me go please...?¡±


    The priest began to shout frantically. He didn¡¯t want to die yet. There was no way he would give up on his life here.


    His behavior caused ze to frown in annoyance. However, he still controlled his urges and asked the man with an even colder tone, ¡°Tell me everything.¡±


    For the priest who was even below Rank-6 as a Mage, those words sounded like a royal decree that he couldn¡¯t reject no matter what.


    ¡°At... at that time, I...¡±


    The priest slowly began to exin what had happened back then.


    ¡°...I came across you when I was strolling through the cities in search of potential candidates for the church...¡±


    ¡°...Your case was strange. I didn¡¯t know why there were crystals on your forehead... but with the Ice Elements surrounding you, anyone could tell that you had a rare talent in it...¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t make a decision on my own... so I brought this case to the Bishop. It... it was he! He told me to dere you a demon to the whole vige! So when everyone leaves you...¡±


    ze listened to the whole story, stopping himself from killing this man at any moment. His aura began to get colder the more he listened.


    The priest had supposedly turned the whole vige against him so he would have no one else left in this world.


    In his moment of desperation, the priest was supposed to find him again and help him. The church would have then manipted him into thinking that the church had no part in his suffering.


    Even though everyone who joined the church of light would have to have the Light Element, they would have still been able to groom him and make use of him in the shadows.


    It was all supposed to go smoothly but the priest hadn¡¯t anticipated that instead of leaving the vige, ze would start to destroy everything in sight after he had enough of everything.


    That day when the priest had dered him a demon, ze was only a child.


    He also didn¡¯t expect him to remember him by the time he had grown up and fallen into despair because of the attitude of the vige towards him.


    Unfortunately for the priest and the church, ze was unusually aware of his surroundings even when he was just a child.


    After the priest was done with his story, he immediately went to his knees and started to plead for his life.


    ¡°...It was all because of the Bishop! I couldn¡¯t disobey his orders! I... even told him that we should have pity on you... but he didn¡¯t listen!¡±


    The middle-aged priest didn¡¯t care about his appearance right now when death was in front of him.


    He had nned to flee now that there were only two of them here, but the giant spear of ice behind his back and the needles in his hands and feet made him drop the idea immediately.


    At his ugly disy of pleading, ze only looked down at him with indifference.


    How could ze not detect the priest¡¯s lies mixed in with the truth?


    The priest¡¯s pleading thus fell on ze¡¯s deaf ears.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if the church was behind you. On that day, it was you who turned my family-... no... those people against me.¡± ze paused before he spread his hands and countless icicles began to form behind him.


    ¡°Even if you are innocent... aren¡¯t I a demon? Why would I spare an innocent man?¡±


    ¡°NO! Plea-¡±


    URGH!


    ¡°N-NO!¡±


    ARCK!


    The priest cried each time the icicles prated his body, sshing his blood everywhere.


    What pained him the most was that each icicle that pierced his body somehow missed his vital organs.


    After a while, the priest gave up on begging ze to live.


    ¡°K-khill m-ee already!¡±


    Unfortunately for him though, ze had no intentions of killing him so early.


    Years of living with Ozul and Raven might have softened his nature, but he was still the same ze who had annihted his whole vige and killed his own family after he was fed up with everything.


    He was the same ze who was found sitting around the pile of corpses of the vigers, of children and elderly alike.


    He was the demon chosen by Ozul, the Devil¡¯s Spawn.


    He was given this name to set aze everything on the path which Ozul was to walk on.


    Now that he could finally take his revenge after years of waiting, why would he let the priest die so easily?


    So instead of giving him an easy death, ze froze his wounds to stop the bleeding and continued on with the torture.


    .....


    And it continued on until the priest¡¯s mind finally couldn¡¯t take any more pain...

 Chapter 300

    Chapter 300: Revenge~


    Outside the training ground, Ozul sat on a simple chair made with the Ball of Purity, staring at the ground with bored eyes. His back leaned backward while his arm supported his face which was tilting towards the left.


    With the conical hat on his head, one couldn¡¯t make out his expressions.


    Raven stood beside him, but her eyes remained glued towards the training ground, from where they could hear squeals and screams of pain.


    asionally the cries of the priest sounded so aberrant that one wouldn¡¯t even think of them as humane. Those howls of pain sounded more like the growls of a wild beast on the verge of death.


    But no matter how inhumane and pitiful the priest sounded, neither Raven nor Ozul had any intentions to intervene.


    While Raven had her own worries about ze at this moment, Ozul was also thinking about thetter¡¯s future.


    He had no doubt that ze would continue following him even afterpleting his revenge, but Ozul wondered if he would maintain his current conviction in cultivating.


    .....


    He shot a nce at Raven and shook his head, ¡®...Maybe I am thinking too much.¡¯


    The rivalry between Raven and ze had persisted for so long that it would be difficult for ze to stop pursuing power now.


    Just as he was thinking this, the cries of the priest started to dim until not even his whimpers could be heard outside.


    There was hardly any other noise in the vicinity so the footsteps that followed right after were quite distinct.


    Ozul shifted his eyes from the ground towards the sound of the footsteps. His gaze swept over ze who now had blood smeared all over him as he slowly walked out of the training ground and towards him.


    At this moment, Ozul noticed something different on ze. Other than his forehead which showed the crown of azure crystals, he had a different air surrounding him that wasn¡¯t present before.


    Not to mention him, even Raven could feel something off about ze.


    Under Ozul¡¯s scrutinizing yet rxed gaze, ze made his way towards him before stopping just a few feet away and dropping on one of his knees.


    His gaze glued to the ground as ze spoke with an oddly soft voice, ¡°...Thank you... master.¡±


    It had been a long time since he had called him master. Not that he didn¡¯t think of him as such, but because Ozul generally didn¡¯t like being called that.


    However, at this moment, ze couldn¡¯t help but call him master. It was to show his utmost gratitude towards him.


    These days, he had begun to think that maybe Ozul had already forgotten about the promise he had made with him, and maybe he shouldn¡¯t have had such expectations to begin with. But contrary to his growing disappointment, Ozul hadn¡¯t forgotten anything!


    Not only that, but he had gotten his revenge on a silver tter. Ozul specially instructed Haley to find that man who could have been anywhere on this vast continent.


    It proved to him that his decision back then to follow that ck-haired teen with a past more sorrowful than his and eyes more deep and mncholic than any he had ever seen before, was indeed the best decision in his life.


    And although the priest kept pushing all the me onto his superior until his death, ze understood that most of that was just an attempt to save his own life.


    After killing him, he had no intentions of pursuing the whole Church of Light as well.


    Finally having his revenge on the priest almost felt surreal as though it was all just a mirage. After torturing the man to death, he felt satisfied.


    However, that satisfaction did not spring from giving that man a miserable death. Instead, he felt more content due to the fact that Ozul hadn¡¯t forgotten about his promise even after all these years.


    He would have never thought that being able to kill the cause of his miserable childhood would have given him no actual satisfaction. It was all just a temporary feeling that he had to let out on the priest.


    Once that man was dead, he felt nothing.


    But when he thought about Ozul and Raven, it gave him a sense of belonging. That he belonged somewhere.


    He wasn¡¯t lost in this world!


    Even after fulfilling his revenge, there remained a goal in his life-to be the demon who would set everything aze on Ozul¡¯s path!


    Just as Raven smiled knowingly beside Ozul, thetter¡¯s face also held a small smile that went unnoticed due to the shade of the conical hat on his head.


    He smiled since he also began to understand the change that had urred within ze.


    It was the burning resolve and determination!


    Many if not almost everyone would be lost or feel empty after taking their revenge, but Ozul¡¯s presence in that critical point in ze¡¯s life had given him another purpose.


    And since there was only a single purpose left in his life now, ze was more determined than ever before.


    On one hand, while Raven was happy for ze since he was almost like a brother to her now, she also felt a little threatened by the future improvements of his because of their years-old rivalry. He was already ahead of him in terms of raw power and she didn¡¯t want that distance to increase.


    But after a second, she calmed down. It wasn¡¯t as if both of them weren¡¯t giving their best to grow stronger already. At most, ze might just pay more attention to things other than cultivation.


    Contrary to her, Ozul thought highly of this newfound fire that burned within ze now.


    He understood better than anyone that ze¡¯s talent was more than it appeared to be. He had a very strong sense of feeling that he hadn¡¯t even shown his full potential yet.


    His instincts, along with the fact that he had found no signs of any other human being with remotelyparable physical features to ze¡¯s crystal crown, led him to believe that he wouldn¡¯t find an answer to his peculiar condition in this world either.


    And since that was the case, he suspected that ze would be able to unleash his full potential outside of this world. At that point, Ozul had no doubt that it wouldn¡¯t take him long to be a terrifying existence.


    It was also why he valued ze. He needed strong people and ze had the greatest potential of anyone that he had ever met as of yet.


    Hence he couldn¡¯t help but feel delighted at the current state of ze.


    Taking his head off of his arm, Ozul stood up from the chair he had made for himself before retracting that Ball of Purity back into his body.


    He turned around and began to walk towards the tower, ¡°Hurry up. Both of you don¡¯t have much time to finish things on your part.¡±


    Raven also closely followed behind.


    On the other hand, it took ze a few seconds before he stood up and took a deep breath. A smile bloomed on his face as he again wrapped the piece of cloth on his forehead to cover the crystals.


    Although he didn¡¯t care if anyone saw them anymore, it was already an annoyance when everyone would turn to look at his face. Showing those crystals in public would leave everyone gaping at his face.


    Moreover, he had already gotten used to having that cloth on his forehead. So it wasn¡¯t a problem for him.


    He didn¡¯t bother cleaning up the half-frozen corpse of the priest in the training ground since Haley would probably have others clean up the mess anyway.


    . . .


    Inside the tower, Ozul looked for Haley who wasn¡¯t really hard to find on the top floors.


    When Haley noticed the bloodstains on ze¡¯s clothes, she could guess what had happened with the priest in the training ground.


    She turned around and whispered something to a subordinate who immediately stopped whatever she was doing and walked away upon receiving her instructions.


    Turning back to Ozul, although Haley had questions. She, in the end, chose not to ask.


    If it was something important, Ozul wouldn¡¯t have held anything back.


    ¡°Have you prepared everything for them?¡± Ozul asked in an unhurried manner.


    ¡°Yes, young master. I have prepared everything. They have also been informed of nearly everything and all the arrangements have also been done...¡±


    Haley respectfully exined as Ozul wasn¡¯t aware of the details since he had spent his previous two days out in the wild without anymunication with them.


    ¡°Hm. Since that is the case. Both of you can leave now... Keep Haley updated every single day.¡± Ozul turned towards the duo as he said this.


    Haley had already made sure that all the branches of the Three-Eyed Strangers also had those long-distancemunication artifacts installed in them.


    The duo nodded their heads as Raven spoke, ¡°We will be on our way then.¡±


    Under Ozul¡¯s influence, she wasn¡¯t one to waste her words either.


    Without another word, Raven and ze left the tower in order toplete their mission.


    Ozul rarely gave them any task to do, so they were very eager to prove themselves with this chance.


    After getting out of the tower, both of them flew in the opposite directions so as to cover both sides of the continent.


    ¡°...How are the arrangements going to relocate the headquarters?¡± Ozul asked Haley as he felt the duo leaving his range of sensibility.


    Meanwhile, his eyes stared at Jinx who nkly stared at him from a distance.


    ¡®I guess it is time to find her...¡¯

 Chapter 301

    Chapter 301: Disbelief of the Ashins.


    ¡®I guess it is time to find her...¡¯ Ozul thought while Haley took out a few papers from her storage ring at his question.


    Holding the papers, she began to speak, ¡°Almost everything is read, young master. These are the reports. We can begin relocating whenever you order us.¡±


    Ozul waved his hand off, not bothering to take and read all those documents in Haley¡¯s hands.


    ¡°You can begin anytime. No need to rush,¡± he told Haley before walking out of the hall.


    There would hardly be anyone brave enough to mess with the Three-Eyed strangers these days. Everyone understood it wasn¡¯t worth making enemies with these people, so they didn¡¯t need to worry about anyone causing trouble.


    For now, Ozul needed to check out something that had been on his mind for a few days now.


    He walked out of the tower and just as he was about to fly towards a certain direction, he paused and turned to face the different direction instead.


    .....


    Ozul thought about giving the Ashin family a visit as he could feel that they also hadn¡¯t relocated as of yet.


    After all their help, it didn¡¯t hurt to inform them that Darcia was now dead. Instead of making assumptions like others, they would be able to amass a lot of assets that previously belonged to the Church of Light.


    The Three-Eyed Strangers couldn¡¯t take over other organization¡¯s assets since they had dered themselves as a neutral organization. It would make others wary of them in the future.


    He didn¡¯t want that to happen. At least until Raven and ze hadn¡¯tpletely infiltrated most of the minor and major organizations and he had obtained a specific piece of information.


    A few minutester, he was above the Ashin family¡¯s estate. From just a nce, he could see that everyone seemed to be busy and both the brothers and their father were present.


    It appeared to him that the garden was their favorite ce in the whole mansion for the brothers to be always seen there.


    His arrival would have been unnoticed if not for the dome of Mana that had reacted to the ring on his hand.


    Raymond showed a toothy grin while Alver also beamed a pleasant smile as they saw him gradually descend to the ground.


    Their smiles only turned wider upon noticing the missing metallic arm which had been reced with one that had skin over it.


    It meant that Ozul had seeded in getting his arm back!


    ¡°Nephew!¡± Raymond almost shouted with joy.


    It couldn¡¯t be helped that they were so overjoyed. Ozul was their only nephew and the only thing remaining of their little sister in this world now. Them not being able to protect him back then and him bing a cripple because of their negligence always weighed heavily on their mind.


    Now seeing him have all of his limbs back together relieved a huge burden off of them.


    Even if they were useless uncles, at least their nephew wouldn¡¯t have to suffer his whole life.


    ¡°Nephew! You are finally back!¡± Raymond excitedly stood up from his chair.


    ¡°Thankfully you are alright. We had already convinced father to go after you to protect you from that woman,¡± Alver sighed in relief.


    ¡°Hm? Oh yes! Wait! You are fine... so what happened to that old witch?¡± Raymond questioned as he was reminded of the Rank-10 Mage from Alver¡¯s words.


    Just a couple of days ago they had received inside information that the ancestor of the Church of Light wasn¡¯t present there anymore and from their sources, they were sure that she had gone after the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers who was, in fact, Ozul.


    She was a Rank-10 Mage and even their father never took lightly of her no matter how much he mocked that old woman.


    His arrival now eased their worries.


    ¡°She is dead.¡± Ozul answer caught the two brothers off guard.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    For a second, they even wondered if maybe their nephew was just joking. However, thetter¡¯s ever indifferent facial expressions said otherwise.


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    Raymond and Alver looked towards the entrance just to see their father entering withrge strides.


    ¡°What did you say, boy? Darcia, that old witch is dead?¡± Kure didn¡¯t seem to believe that one of her most hated enemies could die just like that.


    Sensing their disbelief, Ozul decided to exin them a little.


    ¡°She died because of that uneducated fox,¡± he said, confusing them further.


    What fox? Which beast had the power to take down a Rank-10 Mage, a peak existence on the Maind!?


    Kure felt as if he knew something but he couldn¡¯t put a finger on it.


    Ozul turned towards him and said, ¡°You should know something about the fox¡¯s cage or something?¡±


    The word cage made Kure widen his eyes as the knowledge of the past began to resurface in his mind.


    ¡°Wolf¡¯s Cage...¡± he muttered mechanically.


    ¡°It¡¯s that damn Wolf! Not a fox, boy!¡± Kure¡¯s eyes involuntarily twitched at the thought of calling that monster a fox.


    But Ozul only shrugged his shoulders in response. Fox or a wolf, it didn¡¯t matter now that she was dead.


    ¡°What fox, father?¡± Alver asked curiously.


    Even Raymond was in the dark. He looked between Ozul and Kure with questioning eyes. Did this mean that one of the Rank-10 Mages was really dead now?


    Sigh...


    Kure didn¡¯t have the energy to exin everything that had happened centuries ago,


    ¡°Just know that when a Beast reaches Rank-10, a Rank 10 Mage doesn¡¯t evene near it in terms of strength. No matter how many artifacts they used, defeating a Rank-10 Beast required thebined effort of many Rank-10 Mages.¡±


    This piece of information caused the brothers to widen their eyes in surprise.


    Although they understood that each consequent Rank put a Beast far above a Mage on the same Rank in terms of pure physical power and Mana purity, they didn¡¯t think that a Rank-10 Beast would be so strong that even artifacts wouldn¡¯t help a Rank-10 Mage to ovee the difference in their power.


    ¡°That Fire Wolf had somehow gotten so powerful that she was fit to be called the Sovereign of all Beasts. Maybe the Sovereign of the Maind as well, considering she was undoubtedly the strongest being alive,¡± Kure admitted and continued,


    ¡°The main reason why one-fourth of the continent has remained a barrennd for centuries is precisely that Beast.¡±


    It would have been a lie if this revtion hadn¡¯t shocked the two brothers. Even they weren¡¯t aware of the minor details like this.


    Ignoring their questions, Kure turned towards Ozul and inquired while squinting his eyes,


    ¡°So what is this about, boy? Are you saying that damned Beast we put to sleep after sacrificing hundreds of thousands of lives has awakened again?¡±


    Not only him, even Raymond and Alver¡¯s faces held traces of worry as they imagined such a powerful Beast rampaging on the whole continent.


    ¡°She is dead as well,¡± Ozul replied.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    It was hard to believe that a Beast with thebined effort of many Rank-10 Mages was only put to sleep before had just died like that as well.


    ¡°How could that be?! Who has the power to kill such a being?!¡± Kure had personally witnessed the Sovereign¡¯s strength back then, so he had a hard time digesting this piece of news.


    Suddenly he paused and his eyes widened as if he hade to an understanding, ¡°That old man! Yes! It must be him! Did he somehow intervene and kill that Beast after she had killed that old witch?¡±


    After saying that, Kure nodded to himself with furrowed brows, already considering that his assumptions were on point.


    ¡°No.¡±


    Ozul simply shook his head, ¡°The old woman took the Beast down with it.¡±


    ¡°What?! That¡¯s impossible! How could that old witch have such strength to bring that monster down with her?!¡± Kure refused to believe that her lifelong enemy could have ever been so strong.


    ¡°She had an artifact with her. It was enough to drill the whole mountain with the Beast. You can go check if you don¡¯t believe me,¡± Ozul shrugged his shoulders again.


    He didn¡¯t bother to exin that it was actually his arm that had made the artifact so powerful.


    Although he hadn¡¯t yet sensed any malicious intentions from the members of this family, he understood that the human heart was fragile and greed made even the finest and the richest of the warriors waver.


    With his strength, he didn¡¯t need to worry about their greed but he still chose not to say anything to save his time.


    Hearing what he said made Kure fall into deep thoughts.


    If a powerful artifact was really involved, then something like this was indeed possible.


    However, a question remained on how the Church of Light got its hands on such a powerful artifact.


    ¡°Where is that artifact, boy?¡± he asked, staring intensely into Ozul¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°The artifact blew up. That¡¯s the reason both of them died,¡± Ozul replied, also staring into Kure¡¯s eyes.


    He understood that Kure probably didn¡¯t want such a strong artifact into anyone else¡¯s hands and was probing if he might have secured it.


    Kure continued to stare at Ozul before promptly sighing and shaking his head.


    ¡®It might have been strong enough to even deal with that old man...¡¯ Kure thought about the old man who was even stronger than the Sovereign.


    .....


    ¡°No... this won¡¯t do. I have to check it out for myself,¡± muttering to himself, Kure nced at Ozul and his two sons as he said, ¡°You kids do your thing. I am going to personally visit the site.¡±


    He didn¡¯t even wait for Alver and Raymond to reply before disappearing from sight.

 Chapter 302

    Chapter 302: Towards the Woods.


    Ozul didn¡¯t tell them about his strength.


    If Kure knew that Ozul was now strong enough topletely dominate the fight even if all three of the remaining Rank-10 Mages joined hands against him, he wouldn¡¯t have been in such a hurry to visit the site of Darcia¡¯s death.


    Instead, he would have been racking his brain to think up all the ways he could make Ozul join the family.


    If Ozul backed the Ashin family, then they would undoubtedly be the number one rulers of the entire Maind!


    Unfortunately, even if Kure did know about Ozul¡¯s strength, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to tie him to the Ashin family.


    Although Raymond and Alver were a little surprised at their father¡¯s sudden burst of energy, they quickly recovered since they also understood the importance of such an artifact. If they got their hands on it, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to take over the Leonard Dynasty if it ever caused any troubles for the Ashin family in the future.


    ¡°HAHAHA!!¡±


    .....


    Suddenly, Raymond burst out in maniacalughter, sessfully catching Alver and Ozul¡¯s attention.


    ¡°What happened, brother?¡± Alver asked confusedly.


    ¡°Haha!! I just realized something, Alver. After this news brought by nephew, do you not understand why those Church rats have suddenly started to move so suspiciously?¡± Raymond replied with another fit ofughter.


    Hearing him also caused Alver¡¯s eyes to brighten up.


    The news of a Rank-10 Mage dying was so shocking that, for a moment, they had forgotten what Darcia¡¯s death meant to the whole continent.


    Now that they thought of the wave of changes her death would bring, a smile couldn¡¯t help but bloom on Alver¡¯s face as well.


    Darcia¡¯s death created a void in the bnce of power that was maintained by all the big organizations on the continent. The Church was also one of the 4 giant pirs solely because there was a Rank-10 Mage backing it like all the other organizations like them.


    Now that Darcia, the Rank-10 Mage, was dead, the Church of Light was just like any other top organization with a Rank-9 Leader. Although powerful, it wouldn¡¯t be able topare to the remaining three giant factions that consisted of the Leonard Dynasty, the Mercenary organization, and the Ashin Family.


    Although the Ashin Family didn¡¯t have good rtions with the Leonard Dynasty either, they had a special animosity with the Church for a long time. Now that they didn¡¯t have the backing of a Rank-10 Mage, Alver and Raymond could start nning how to best take advantage of the situation.


    Looking at the two brothers and their unusually stretched grins, Ozul understood that he wouldn¡¯t have to go out of his way to deal with the Church.


    Not only the Ashin Family but all those top organizations which had previously been oppressed under the Church of Light would also try to get back at them for the decades of humiliation and try to get a piece of all the resources owned by them.


    ¡°Did Old Gu choose anyone from the Ashin family for the event?¡± Ozul wanted to know just how many might be participating in the tournament.


    There were also other questions like if Old Gu was looking for Mages with strength or just their potential. If he went looking for people with the potential and strength of Raven and ze at their age, he might as well find no one.


    ¡°Ah, we haven¡¯t told you yet. Two of our younglings were chosen to be a part of the tournament!¡± Raymond answered while puffing up his chest in pride.


    Having two of their members chosen was proof of the Ashin Family¡¯s strength. But unlike Raymond, Alver showed a worried smile.


    Being the head of the family, he was more sensitive towards the well-being of all the members. Although having two of their members chosen was a moment of pride for Raymond, Alver was only worried that they might lose their lives in that inhumane tournament. He only prayed that the tournament was different this time. Otherwise, their chances of survival would be quite grim.


    ¡°How strong are they?¡± Ozul asked again.


    ¡°One of the two selected is the same young man who had participated in the recent tournament. The other is a peak Rank-7 Mage. Is something the matter?¡± Alver questioned after exining.


    ¡®Peak Rank-7 Mage... Although strong, this level is nowhere near enough to survive that type of tournament,¡¯ Ozul concluded. On the continent, a peak Rank-7 Mage could unt their strength wherever they went, but in front of a Rank-8 Mage, they would stand no chance whatsoever.


    Since a peak Rank-7 Mage was chosen, there were chances that Mages even lower than that level could be participating. He even wondered if Fighters would be picked despite their limited capabilities.


    ¡®What is going on in that old man¡¯s head...¡¯ Ozul could only make vague guesses which weren¡¯t helpful at all.


    He was only certain about the fact that the tournament might bepletely different from the one in which Kure had participated during his time.


    The main question in his mind was the criteria on which Old Gu was selecting the participants.


    ¡®...Whatever. I will know when it starts.¡¯


    After thinking for a while, he gave up and simply shrugged his shoulders. As strong as he was right now, the only person who he had to watch out for right now was Old Gu. It didn¡¯t matter even if suddenly all the organizations turned against him.


    ¡°Ah! I didn¡¯t ask you, nephew. Do you... have any ns for the Church?¡± Raymond asked, hoping for a negative answer as he was thinking about all the methods he could use to bring down the Church of Light.


    But it all depended on Ozul¡¯s answer. It was him who had suffered the most because of the Church, so Raymond first wanted to make sure if Ozul had anything special in his mind or not.


    ¡°No. You can deal with them however you want,¡± Ozul waved his hand off, much to the pleasure of Raymond who wanted nothing more but to leave the estate and start nning the Church¡¯s demise.


    ¡°Do not haste... Find out the members of the Church who were also chosen for the tournament, and avoid hurting any of them,¡± Ozul offered his advice.


    His words made Raymond pause and take a moment to think. He and Alver both understood that it was better to avoid hurting them or Old Gu might not take kindly to the fact that his chosen candidates weren¡¯t able to participate in his event due to their interference.


    ¡°What are you going to do now, nephew?¡± Alver asked as he noticed Ozul was about to turn around and leave.


    Since he had obtained all his limbs back, Alver wondered if he had any specific goal in his mind.


    ¡°Uh-... Tell us if you need any help,¡± he added awkwardly, noticing that Ozul had no intentions of answering.


    Only this time Ozul spoke, ¡°Thank you... but I don¡¯t think I will, from now on.¡±


    The Ashin family wouldn¡¯t be able to help him in anything that even he would find trouble handling from now on.


    In the matters of helping the Three-Eyed Strangers, they rarely asked help from the Ashin Family as well. The organization had already solidified its standing in this world and many talented individuals would seek to join despite the harsh conditions like all the oaths.


    Despite his words, Raymond and Alver didn¡¯t think much of it. They didn¡¯t think that their nephew had yet reached a point where he would never need their help.


    Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t know that he was even stronger than the three remaining Rank-10 Mages on the continent.


    Raymondughed with bright eyes, ¡°Haha! Indeed, Nephew doesn¡¯t need our help now. Farewe-¡±


    But before he could even finish, Ozul disappeared from the Ashin Family¡¯s estate, shaking his head internally. It wasn¡¯t hard for him to notice that they didn¡¯t believe him, but he didn¡¯t care either way.


    On his way back, he could easily feel the growing number of Mages with the Light Element in the Neutral City.


    After getting his hand back, he hadn¡¯t bothered to hide his presence while returning. So the news of his arrival had quickly reached Lammert as well. Although Lammert was confused at his return, what made him worry endlessly was the disappearance of Darcia.


    Not only could he not make any contact with her using themunication artifact, Lammert didn¡¯t receive any news of her appearance even days after Ozul¡¯s return.


    With his ever growing worries, Lammert had issued orders over orders in search of any news about Darcia. He did have fleeting thoughts about the possible oues of her disappearance and Ozul bieng unscatched, but he didn¡¯t dare ponder on those possibilities for long.


    He was afraid at even the thought of Darcia¡¯s death.


    At this moment, Lammert didn¡¯t care what all the other organizations thought of the abrupt movement of all the members of the Church.


    It was also because of this that Haley was able to quickly get the man responsible for ze¡¯s miserable childhood as he was one of the many who were called to the main church for this frantic search.


    As of now, Lammert still wasn¡¯t sure of Darcia¡¯s death.


    Remembering everything that Lammert had done to his hand all those years ago, he had the urge to deal with him right this instant. However, he shook his head and continued to fly towards the direction of the Silverbird Kingdom or specifically, the Old Whispering Woods.


    While he had ordered Raven and ze to infiltrate all the organizations on the continent just because of the small ray of hope that he might find any clues about his being, he again wanted to meet the only creature after Jinx that felt a deep connection to him.


    Maybe... now that he was strong enough, could he find any answers to both their questions?

 Chapter 303

    Chapter 303: Changing Times.


    He didn¡¯t know when it was, but Jinx had again disappeared for a while now.


    ¡®Where are you...? I want you with me this time...¡¯ he spoke in his mind.


    He remembered that Jinx had also disappeared during the time he had met her. Was it on purpose? Ozul didn¡¯t know. But because of the weird connection that they shared, he believed that if he were to just call her in his mind, she would surely appear sooner orter.


    And just as he expected, she did. But not until he had reached the forest.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    With his new speed, it didn¡¯t take long for him to arrive above the Old Whispering Woods on the same day.


    He wasn¡¯t sure if he would really find that druid again in this forest, but he had nowhere else to start.


    .....


    And just as he had expected, Jinx appeared around him sometimeter when hended on the ground and decided to travel by foot. The trees around this part of the forest were quite tall and it was inconvenient to look for her from above as the tall and dense canopies hindered his vision.


    From the journal containing the information on exotic animals, he had learned that the Dark Druid was one of a kind, and stumbling upon it waspletely up to luck.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope we find her soon...¡± Ozul muttered. He wasn¡¯t confident in finding her so easily, ¡°Well we have a little less than a year to find her...¡±


    Previously when he had encountered her, he wasn¡¯t able to sense the Druid at all until she was so close to him. Even then, she didn¡¯t give him any particr feeling except for how he didn¡¯t find her as unpleasant as he found many other beings and objects.


    For now, he expanded his area of focus to maximum and started to travel deeper inside the forest at a speed practically invisible to any Mage below Rank-9.


    . . .


    Just like that, Ozul¡¯s search for the Druid began while the world itself awaited and prepared to watch what would happen at the end of the year.


    Except for a few individuals, the rest of the world waspletely clueless about why even the strongest pirs of the continent were forced to move out from the Neutral Lands.


    While Ozul searched, Raven and ze worked endlessly to expand the influence of the Three-Eyed Strangers, albeit discreetly.


    Their first aim remained all the small organizations all around the world. They didn¡¯t try to integrate their spies into those millions of unnamed groups since that was a task that required tens of years and they didn¡¯t have so much time.


    Raven also didn¡¯t think that Ozul would find whatever information he wanted from those unnamed groups.


    Unless an organization was famous enough to at least control a fraction of resources, it wouldn¡¯t hold anything valuable.


    Their strategy was simple and ruthless: they chose a small region and began to cause chaos anonymously, creating situations in which all organizations would run out of manpower and be forced to recruit more people under them.


    For a few organizations, they didn¡¯t have any other choice but to kill a few as well.


    Neither of them had any sense of justice or the heart of buddha. They did what had to be done in order to achieve what they wanted to achieve.


    Just like that, small regions from all over the world faced sudden situations where they would be forced to hire more people under them. What no one noticed was that after they were finished with new recruitments, the troubling situations would just as suddenly disappear as well.


    From smaller regions to bigger counties and then kingdoms, it felt as if this year was just unlucky for everyone.


    A few of the organizations did notice that something was off, but Raven and ze both didn¡¯t go overboard. They were careful with every step since Ozul had warned them that he wouldn¡¯te to help.


    . . .


    While the world was plunged into unlucky times for the unfortunate organizations of rtively smaller scales, the Church of Light didn¡¯t have room to breathe either.


    All the loyal allies of the Church all felt its plight as they were called to search for the ancestor.


    After a few weeks, the Leonhard Dynasty and the Mercenary Guild were starting to have some suspicions as well.


    What caught Lammert off guard was when the Ashin Family suddenly started to usurp the Church¡¯s territories outside of the Neutral Lands!


    The Church was thrown into another fit of anxiety and desperation with this unfortunate news.


    At this moment, Lammert sat on the main seat of the chapel with scrunched-up expressions. His hands were itching to pull out his own hairs in front of all the Bishops kneeling and trembling before him.


    ¡°How! How!? They must know something! But HOW?!¡± Lammert shouted hysterically.


    It had been weeks but he didn¡¯t receive any news of Darcia. She had suddenly disappeared from the face of the continent. No matter how or where he searched, there were no traces left of her!


    At this point, even if he didn¡¯t want to believe it, the possibilities of her death became evident. Though he didn¡¯t stop the search, he did start thinking of ways to contain this information.


    He even secretly executed a few of the Bishops who knew that Darcia had left after Ozul just so no one woulde to the same conclusion as him.


    The Church had just as many enemies as it had friends. But those allies only remained since it had the backing of a Rank-10 Mage. Once the news reached their ears, no one would be loyal enough to willingly be taken down together with the Church.


    ¡®Just How Did They Know!?¡¯ Lammert didn¡¯t think that the Ashin family suddenly taking advantage of their situation was coincidental.


    Their sudden intrusion into the Church¡¯s territories at these times was such a shock for Lammert that he almost dered war against them in a fit of madness.


    He couldn¡¯t think of a single way to save the Church¡¯s downfall if things continued to go like this, hence his frustration which he took out on the Bishops.


    Meanwhile, in the confusion, Lammert also overlooked the disappearance of one of their priests during the search.


    . . .


    This year proved to be turbulent for many but most kept to themselves in anticipation of future events.


    The Leonhard Dynasty was one of such organizations.


    Although the people of the Leonhard Dynasty were famous for being hotheads and muscle brains, they didn¡¯t actuallyck in the battle of wits and intelligence either.


    During these unstable times, the Leonhard Dynasty didn¡¯t make any bold moves.


    The Mercenary Guild tried the same but their involvement was inevitable due to the structure of their business.


    Organizations and individual people posted requests, and it was up to the mercenaries to ept or reject. Hence, they were involved in most if not all major events all over the world.


    Many organizations chose to do the same or at least decreased their involvement in worldly affairs. Their reasons centered on the fact that their members were suddenly visited by that old monster who had forced even the Rank-10 Mages to bend to his will.


    In essence, no one remained unaffected by the sudden deration of Old Gu to leave the Neutral Lands and him suddenly appearing before random people to give them an invitation.


    Those people in question who were invited were mostly all excited. All of them trained harder than ever in seclusion.


    After all, this wasn¡¯t something that they had ever heard of before.


    It would be dangerous. But more than anything, they anticipated the rewards.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    While the world was thrown into an ever-increasing turmoil, Ozul continued to search for the Dark Druid simply for a few questions.


    Unfortunately, even with his speed, he wasn¡¯t able to find any traces of her.


    He hadpletely searched the Old Whispering Woods with no clues of her whatsoever after just a month.


    After he had searched the whole forest, he didn¡¯t stop searching but instead moved to a different location that was known to be equally dangerous and mysterious as the Old Whispering Woods.


    Still, he didn¡¯t have much luck in finding her.


    ¡®It wasn¡¯t wrong...¡¯ Ozul finally began to understand how true the statement about the Dark Druid in that journal was.


    The author had confidently stated in the journal that one could only catch a glimpse of that creature with luck. They wouldn¡¯t be able to find that Druid if they purposely searched for her.


    What Ozul didn¡¯t expect was that he wasn¡¯t able to find her even with his abilities.


    He sat on a tree branch in the middle of the night. Jinx was curled into hisp,fortably purring in his embrace.


    He gazed at the sky for a while before ying with that new ability of his.


    Just as he willed it, the dark aura was released from his body like the Ball of Purity. It enveloped his whole body, bringing a qualitative change to his abilities.


    But just like earlier, he could only maintain this state for a while before he started feeling tired.


    ¡®Maybe for half an hour?¡¯ Ozul guessed his limits before closing his eyes.


    If he ever needed to, this ability would be a trump card so he needed to be certain of its limits as well.


    ...


    For the next couple of days, he searched all around strange and dangerous ces but he had no luck in finding the Druid¡¯s traces.


    Standing near Jinx while looking over a steep hill, Ozul even wondered if he would be able to find her before the tournament started.


    Just as he was about to jump off, he suddenly had a thought.


    Slowly turning around, he looked down at Jinx who simply stared back at him in response.


    ¡°Can you find her?¡± Ozul asked.


    He was doubtful if she could, but he had a sudden urge to at least give it a try.


    After not getting any response from Jinx for a few seconds, he shook his head and was about to turn around when Jinx stood up and began to walk ahead of him.


    This came as a pleasant surprise to Ozul as he hurriedly followed after her.


    The fact that Jinx could lead him to her even though she wasn¡¯t there thest time meant a lot of things but he didn¡¯t want to jump to any conclusions.


    The more he thought about it, the more he felt as if there really could be a deeper connection between them and the Dark Druid.


    .....


    But unless he met the Druid again, he could not make any solid conclusion.


    Jinx had done many unthinkable tasks before as well. So even if he couldn¡¯t be sure why Jinx was able to lead him; he didn¡¯t doubt her ability to do so after she started walking ahead of him.

 Chapter 304

    Chapter 304: The Druid¡¯s Fear


    From the mountains to the forests, and from the forests he followed Jinx into the swamps.


    In the end, he was brought to a gorge that looked like a giant crack on the surface of the.


    Ozul looked from the edge but he just could not find the end to this seemingly never-ending crack. He had slowly followed behind Jinx for a couple of months already and arrived at this mysterious canyon.


    It almost came as a surprise when he arrived here since this gorge was exactly a part of the four great canyons which separated the continent into four parts. These enormous fissures were a mystery on their own.


    They were not any less or even more dangerous than the Old Whispering Woods since even the Rank-8 Mages would choose to fly above them instead of venturing through them.


    No one wanted to take the risk of stepping into these canyons.


    There was just this eerie feeling that seeped out from their depths and shook everyone¡¯s hearts.


    .....


    Only Rank-9 Mages dared to enter the depths, but there were even rumors of a few Rank-9 Mages not making it out alive from these canyons in the past.


    However, Ozul didn¡¯t have any of that in his mind. All he wanted was to see the Druid once more and be done with it.


    He had never been so bored in his life since he had to obediently walk behind Jinx for so many months continuously! The worst part was that Jinx chose to walk at her own pace! Sometimes she was slow, but other times she would run so fast that on the continent, maybe only he would have been able to match her speed. But only if he didn¡¯t count Old Gu.


    Now that he was here, Jinx stopped at the edge and didn¡¯t have any intentions to continue on leading Ozul.


    He directly jumped into the gorge without caring about what he would meet at the bottom.


    It only took a split second for his eyes to adjust to the dark as hended on the ground.


    *Ssh!*


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    It turned out the bottom of the gorge was not as dry as he had assumed. There was actually a shallow stream of water in the middle that only came as high as a human¡¯s lower thighs.


    The gorge was surprisingly open at the bottom, so thend at the edges was still rtively dried out.


    Ozul walked out of the stream and followed the gorge against the flow of the water. It was because the area visibly turned darker in that direction that he decided to move in the direction.


    Turning around, he noticed that Jinx was still following behind.


    ¡°You better not disappear,¡± Ozul spoke softly and continued to walk in that direction.


    He didn¡¯t sense any powerful Beasts but that didn¡¯tst long as he suddenly began to hear the crawlings of hundreds of them at the same time.


    It was as if they were all resting and the sound of himnding on the ground from that height had woken up, the tide of Beasts came rushing in his direction from all sides.


    Hundreds of Beasts were all screeching and madly rushing towards a single man.


    Though Ozul only shook his head since even the strongest of them were only Rank-8 Beasts. And even those were very few.


    . . .


    A few hourster, a man could be seen slowly walking by a stream with many sshes of red stains on his clothes followed by a cat.


    If one looked behind him, they would be utterly speechless at the gory scene that would meet them. Uncountable mutted corpses of different types of Beastsy there either writhing in pain or already dead because of the carnage they had to face just now.


    All of these Beasts had attacked Ozul without a single thought and were crushed within split seconds.


    They would only notice the massacre of many other Beasts like them after it was toote.


    The Rank-8 Beasts were almost as smart as humans, but in fear of getting their prey snatched by others, they didn¡¯t have the time to think twice about their actions. Now all of themy beside the stream, dyeing the water red with their blood.


    With a better grasp over the properties of the Ball of Purity, Ozul barely put an effort into performing this feat. If it was him before getting his arm back, maybe he would have at least expended a bit of his energy for shredding the Beasts into such tiny pieces.


    Just at this moment, Ozul felt a familiar feeling pass through him.


    He immediately dashed forward recognizing the chillness in the air with just the Druid¡¯s presence.


    ¡°...S-so...¡±


    He came to an abrupt halt as the stuttering, barely audible voice rang out in the depths of the gorge.


    Unlike thest time though, he could immediately locate the Dark Druid despite the dark surroundings helping her. This feeling she gave off waspletely different than thest time they had met.


    Realizing that she was still speaking with big pauses, the Druid adjusted her voice a little and then began, ¡°You... did you find the answers?¡±


    She continued on, floating around Ozul, ¡°... You... have a stronger presence...I feel more familiarity...¡±


    For a second, Ozul didn¡¯t say anything. Instead, he was trying to figure out the same thing that the Dark Druid was feeling. The previous encounter didn¡¯t make him feel like that, but this time he did feel a lot of things being in her presence.


    It was a superior feeling... as if he was above her in some way. But more than that, he didn¡¯t find a single thing.


    The Druid seemed more anxious than him to find the source of her stirred emotions around this human as she eagerly moved around him.


    Snapping out of his daze, Ozul remembered something. He missed this fact before, but now he couldpletely see the Druid! Her form still appeared foggy, but he could make out her features this time around.


    Her dark hair danced like shadows and her beady eyes didn¡¯t let the light escape from them. She had the body figure of a middle-aged woman, but her facial features betrayed that feeling. The misty shadows surrounding her only made her appear more attractive and even more mysterious.


    But only Ozul had ever been able to see her true form like this. To any other eyes, she was more like a bone-chilling dark spirit than a beautiful forest Druid.


    Getting no answers even with his current state, he could only turn towards the ck cat under his feet.


    Although things were different with his current state, he was still not able to gather anything useful and from the Dark Druid¡¯s behavior, it was apparent that she was just as much or even more confused than him.


    ¡°Stop it,¡± Ozul spoke to the Druid.


    Although not wanting to, the Druid felt as if she had no choice in the matter after listening to his voice.


    ¡°... Tell me. Do you know something?... Tell me...¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t. But-¡± He paused and pointed his hand towards the ck cat on the ground who was currently staring at the Druid with nk eyes, ¡°... she might know something.¡±


    The Druid moved her eyes in the direction of his finger and noticed a ck cat with two distinct eyes with a piercing re.


    Not being able to find anything particr in the cat, the Druid came closer to Jinx and observed her from just a few feet away.


    It was not known when, but suddenly a ck shadow shed past those heterochromatic eyes but Jinx remained still on the ground. The Dark Druid who was staring at her from upclose had a different reaction altogether!


    ¡°M-m-m-m... D-don¡¯t kill me-e!¡±


    She immediately fell onto the ground and her figure visibly shook as she again began speaking in a stuttering voice.


    The sudden turn of the situation made even Ozul raise his eyebrows in surprise.


    Although he was not able to find much from the Druid this time on his own, he was sure that he could easily defeat her now unlike before. However, he was sure that even in defeat the Dark Druid would not act in such a cowardly manner.


    Maybe the air of superiority surrounding him due to her presence influenced him, but he held a distaste of the current state of her being, anxiously begging another life form to spare its life.


    However, he shook his head out to throw off the feeling and carefully observed their interaction.


    The Druid had only looked at Jinx for a few seconds before something snapped and the next moment she was on the ground, kneeling and begging Jinx to spare her life.


    ¡°Stop it.¡±


    Unfortunately, the Druid didn¡¯t seem to have heard his voice.


    ¡°... I said stop it!¡± Ozul raised his voice a little. Only then did the Druid stop her anxious pleading in front of Jinx.


    ¡°...But... didn¡¯t you feel it?!¡± The Druid asked in hysteria.


    Noticing that the situation could get out of hand like this, Ozul called Jinx towards him who obediently followed his instructions, dumbfounding the Dark Druid.


    ¡°B-b-but! I definitely felt it! The despair! The helplessness!¡± she shouted, but Ozul noticed that his simple move of calling over Jinx made her slowly regainposure.


    ¡°Stop panicking. She will not kill you, that I can assure you... Calm down and exin to me what you felt,¡± Ozul indifferent voice made the Druid slowly start to understand that the situation wasn¡¯t as rming as she had just assumed it to be.


    ¡®...but that terrifying aura!¡¯

 Chapter 305

    Chapter 305: Reaching the city.


    ¡®...but that terrifying aura!¡¯


    The Dark Druid took a few nces at Jinx and wasn¡¯t sure if she should exin what she had just felt right now.


    Only when she noticed that Jinx didn¡¯t care about what they were talking did she gradually rx.


    ¡°I... didn¡¯t you feel it?¡± the Dark Druid asked Ozul to confirm once again, however, thetter only shook his head.


    ¡°There... was a terrifying aura... from h-her...¡± the Dark Druid spoke shakingly.


    But her answer only left Ozul more puzzled. What did she mean by a terrifying aura? If Jinx really did release some kind of threatening aura to scare the Druid off, why didn¡¯t he feel it?


    More importantly, was Jinx really so powerful to even scare off the Druid who was stronger than even that Rank-10 Beast, the Sovereign!


    .....


    He nced down at Jinx since the Druid didn¡¯t seem to be lying. He would have instantly known if she was lying since he could vividly catch her emotions as well. Only Jinx¡¯s emotions were hidden from him even at his current power level.


    ¡®Did you really do it?¡¯ Ozul stared directly into Jinx¡¯s eyes.


    However, there was no response from the ck cat as she continued to lick her paw in boredom. It was as if she was oblivious to his thoughts, but Ozul knew that was not the case.


    Helpless, he could only get back to the Dark Druid for more answers, ¡°Exin in detail. Do you feel any familiarity with her? ¡±


    ¡°I... am not s-sure,¡± the Dark Druid again replied with a stuttering voice. Because every time she thought about those eyes that had made her feel as if she would be tortured for eons for just taking a wrong step towards her, it made her whole body shiver in sheer fear of the images disyed in her mind.


    ¡°She... It felt as if an... ancient monster was staring at me...¡± the Dark Druid exined in pauses, ¡°Now, I feel nothing from her... does she even exist?¡±


    The reason Ozul wasted so much of his time looking for the Dark Druid was for him to test whether now he would be able to find any clues when he encountered her. However, not only did he not find anything, it turned out that Jinx had no direct rtion to the Druid either.


    ¡®Or maybe she does...?¡¯ Ozul contemted.


    What if Jinx was also in some way connected to the Druid and that connection unfolded in the form of extreme fear towards her instead of that unusual feeling of familiarity?


    In any way, he couldn¡¯t be sure.


    Just when he had given up and was thinking about returning, Ozul remembered that he had yet to test something.


    He arrived in front of the Dark Druid who jolted back in response. It was evident that she was now on guard against Ozul and Jinx after what she had felt just a moment ago.


    Though she didn¡¯t dare to run away any longer when she noticed Jinx suddenly turning to stare at her retreat.


    ¡°W-what are you trying to do?¡± she asked, afraid that her question might not even be answered.


    But contrary to her thoughts, Ozul calmly proceeded to reply, ¡°I won¡¯t harm you. Let me check something.¡± Following this, he took another step towards the Dark Druid, this time without thetter jolting back in fright.


    Extending his hand to touch her, he expected that his hand might just pass through her body since it almost looked intangible. But it turned out that he waspletely wrong. Not only was he able to touch her, but her body also felt as if he was just touching a human¡¯s skin.


    Putting this thought in the back of his mind, he closed his eyes and focused to probe her body.


    The Dark Druid didn¡¯t feel any malicious intent in his actions so she let him do whatever he was doing, Jinx¡¯s continuous staring also helped as the motivation not to resist.


    Meanwhile, Ozul was examining the Druid¡¯s body in hopes to find any traces of his Scent. It was just a guess, but he had to check before leaving.


    Even though he guessed that, he actually hoped not to find his Scent inside the Dark Druid¡¯s body. Because the presence of his Scent couldplicate a lot of matters instead of answering his previous questions.


    Unfortunately for him, he seemed to have already jinxed himself.


    ¡®Sigh...¡¯


    Not only did he immediately sense his Scent flowing through the Druid, but he was also surprised at the sheer amount of it!


    ¡®This... shouldn¡¯t be like this,¡¯ Ozul shook his head, feeling another headacheing his way.


    Unlike with others, his Scent didn¡¯t just revolve around the Druid¡¯s heart. It was instead circting throughout her body as if it was the blood of her body!


    What troubled Ozul the most was the reason behind this. He could understand if he found his Scent in the humans who stayed close to him or drank those healing potions, but why would the Dark Druid who he had only met once before had so much of it?


    Several possibilities ovepped in his mind, but the conclusion at the end of all made him cringe in helplessness.


    ¡®Sigh...¡¯


    With another sigh, he retracted his hand and wordlessly turned around, and began to walk away from the Druid.


    ¡°W-what...?¡± the Dark Druid could only stare at the departing figure of Ozul and Jinx in confusion.


    But besides the confusion, she was also relieved that she didn¡¯t die today. The day when she had first met the dark-haired boy, she didn¡¯t think that he would grow up to be so powerful in such a short amount of time. Just being in his presence was gradually suffocating her.


    ¡°Just... who are you...?¡±


    The Dark Druid muttered to herself before she also turned around and disappeared in the depths of the gorge, hidden from the light of the world.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    He would constantly seek out answers for his questions, but each new door led him to a dead end.


    He even had to think about Jinx and find ways to test the limit of her strength. Because no matter how unusual she behaved before, scaring an existence not any weaker than Rank-10 Beast with just a nce was not something he could ignore so easily.


    A normal person in his shoes would have already given up many times over after the number of times he has failed to find any clues to his being. Even though he wasn¡¯t even close to giving up, he did feel that he shouldn¡¯t jump at every possibility of finding the truth.


    ¡°I should take it easy...and sleep,¡± he muttered as he passed through the forest, not even realizing that for some strange reason, no Beast dared toe in his way.


    He was too lost in thoughts to notice the slight twinkle in Jinx¡¯s eyes as well.


    While following Jinx to get to the Dark Druid, he had lost his sense of direction long ago. He didn¡¯t know which part of the continent he was in right now. First of all, he had to find a settlement to understand his own location before he could get back to the Neutral Lands.


    After clearing his head, he flew above the forest and then sped towards a random direction hoping to find a vige at the very least. With his sensing range expanded to the maximum, he was quickly able to sense humans in the vicinity.


    Luckily, it was a city and not some remote vige. It would have been quite a struggle to get his location from the vigers who are always wary of the outsiders.


    As he entered the city, he couldn¡¯t help but notice the exuberant atmosphere. From just a single look, the city did not seem to lose to the capital cities of small kingdoms.


    ¡®Let¡¯s see... where is the inn... I need to sleep.¡¯


    ¡ª¡ª-


    More than 6 months had passed while Ozul was searching all over the continent in search of the Dark Druid.


    And although this trip did not end up exactly as he wanted, he was still able to get used to his improved senses after all this time.


    In the meantime, things drastically changed on the continent.


    All of the stronger factions in the Neutral Lands had already migrated and this shift in the location of their headquarters had a huge impact on their surroundings. Though the branches in the opposing factions¡¯ areas were more vulnerable now, everyone held themselves back in order to avoid any major conflict before the tournament started.


    What surprised many was the sudden downfall of the Church of Light which many still expected to stop the moment their ancestor decided to step in, unaware that the said ancestor had already left the world.


    On the maind when even the Leonhard Dynasty kept themselves modest, the Ashin family began to continuously harass the Church of Light in broad daylight!


    The actions of the Ashin family puzzled many but they didn¡¯t think much of it.


    It was only the Mercenary Guild and the Leonhard Dynasty who noticed that something was wrong. They kept close eyes on all the properties and resources of the Church and the Ashin family suddenly starting to overtake them was suspicious.


    It further confirmed their suspicion when the Church didn¡¯t fight back at all. And even if it did, it looked more like a cornered Beast growling to scare off its predator than anything!


    Even when some of the other organizations started feeling odd about this situation, they didn¡¯t make any major moves.


    Though everyone kept their eyes on the Church. After all, if something really unfortunate had happened, they wouldn¡¯t miss the chance to get their hands on the production of their healing medicine.


    Everyone coveted the healing potions of the Church of Light since it was so useful and even the strongest of factions would buy them.


    Anything that happened with one of the strongest factions on the continent overshadowed all the other events, one of which included the sudden misfortunes of many low-level organizations.


    Under ze and Raven¡¯s supervision, the members of Three-Eyed Raven had infiltrated most if not all the low-level organizations already.


    What made their task easier was that Ozul hadn¡¯t demanded any immediate information for the members to do any activities that would have brought any suspicion to them.


    Only the factions which were led by Mages above Rank-8 gave the duo some trouble. Whenever they operated in an area governed by a Rank-9 Mage, they would do it together.


    Alone, they could never think to go against someone that powerful. However, theirbined might could surprise even the Rank-9 Mages!


    For that reason, the two had recently met in a city ruled under an ally faction of the Leonhard Dynasty...

 Chapter 306

    Chapter 306: Detestable Method.


    The city was ruled by the vassal of the Leonhard Dynasty who was a top-tier Rank-9 Mage.


    Previously the duo was luckily able to avoid getting caught by any Rank-9 Mages until now but the reputation of Kenzie was far spread even among the Rank-9 Mages.


    Even previously they had almost attracted the attention of one such Mage so they had to abandon the area for quite a while before moving back to itter after the matter was forgotten. So ze and Raven were on guard all the time.


    The most difficult part would be infiltrating Kenzie¡¯s Manor. If they could somehow sneak in even a single capable man, they would immediately leave this city.


    In the middle of a city, there were tall buildings everywhere but the tall buildings cast darker shadows in which lurked the rats and those who wanted to avoid any attention. Hence why Raven and ze were currently in one such alleyway.


    The two were currently arguing to decide the method of infiltration.


    ¡°No! Directly causing any problems to his Manor would instantly bring suspicion. You are at least smarter than this,¡± the woman in the ck cloak shook her head, clearly tired of this but her expressions were not recognizable because the cloak also had a hood covering the upper half of her face.


    .....


    ¡°We will be as discreet as possible! I know it would still be risky but you can imagine how much time it would take for the man to finally catch the good eyes of that Kenzie. There is not much time left, and you know that as well.¡±


    The man opposite the woman replied. He was also covered under the cloak, but those strands of cyan hair were a striking trait; not even the shadows could disguise that distinct color.


    Hearing his reply made Raven go silent for a moment. It was true that they really didn¡¯t have much time.


    ¡°So what if we were able to do it in a short amount of time? If the spy was found out, not only would it all be in vain, getting another person to infiltrate the Manor would be impossible by ourselves!¡± Raven¡¯s voice slowly rose the more they argued.


    Meanwhile, there was another person on the scene. He was a Rank-6 Mage who was also a member of the Three-Eyed Strangers. He was supposed to be one of the best in the branch in this area.


    If one were to look closely at him, they would notice the beads of sweat dripping from his forehead at this moment.


    It had already been a few minutes since Raven and ze were going back and forth and their growing aura frightened this simple man who had no idea why he was even suddenly brought to this alley.


    But these two people had the proof that they were his superiors, so he had no choice but to obediently follow whatever they told him to.


    His misery came to an end when Raven couldn¡¯t bother to waste any more time with ze, ¡°Listen to me first! If you have any problem with my nter, we can convince each other then...¡±


    While Raven said that, two dark shadows started revolving around her hands, vaguely forming the shape of daggers.


    Tch!


    ze clicked his tongue in annoyance. If they were to fight, defeating Raven would not be an easy thing to do. Even though he was confident to be thest one standing, it would leave him in a vegetative state as well.


    By now, he had understood well not to start a fight with Raven. She just didn¡¯t know when to give up in a fight. Even when bleeding all over, she would continue to sh at her enemies without batting an eye.


    Seeing that ze had no intentions to start a fight, Raven retracted the daggers.


    ncing at the sweating man, she ordered, ¡°Follow us.¡±


    ...


    The three arrived at one end of the city near a tall building.


    It was not far from the forest but the tall tower still attracted a lot of attention despite the general public not causing anymotion near it.


    It was rather peaceful but there was also a rather opulent atmosphere surrounding it.


    Only asionally would one be able to notice someone entering or leaving the building. It was noticeable to see that all of them looked like they came from a wealthy family; some were even escorted by guards.


    ¡°What are we even here for?¡± ze asked curiously. He had almost no information of the prominent businesses around the city.


    ¡°This is supposed to be a teahouse but is also a restaurant,¡± Raven replied, keeping her eyes at the main entrance of the building.


    ¡°It¡¯s actually very popr even in other cities, but it¡¯s so expensive that people who can¡¯t afford to enter aren¡¯t even allowed to lurk around this area.¡±


    ¡°Hmm? So why are we here? I don¡¯t like tea,¡± ze replied, again not understanding the reason for bringing him here.


    ¡°Did you even read the report? It had information on almost everything important around the city!¡± Raven seemed ready to summon her daggers again, knowing that he wasn¡¯t taking this seriously.


    ¡°I...¡±


    ze¡¯s stutter was enough to prove that he hadn¡¯t read all those files at all.


    But before she could summon her daggers, the other man with them hurriedly spoke, ¡°Uhm- I... I can just e-exin it...¡±


    He really didn¡¯t want them to start shing again. He didn¡¯t have the confidence to stay alive if they really did start fighting.


    Raven stepped back, hinting at the man to exin what was so special about the tower.


    The man in question cleared his throat, ¡°Cough! Although it might look like just another teahouse or a restaurant, it¡¯s not so simple because the actual owner of this ce is the City Lord himself.¡±


    ¡°City Lord? That Kenzie guy?¡± muttered ze.


    ¡°Y-yes... precisely,¡± affirmed the man with another stutter. He looked around and only heaved a sigh of relief when he confirmed that there was no one around them to hear ze call the City Lord with such disrespect.


    After all, one had to know that even if this was just a city, it was even superior to many kingdoms!


    After all, most of the kingdoms only had some Rank-8 Mage¡¯s governing them, but the person ruling this city was a ruthless Rank-9 Mage!


    This man who had been operating in this city for so long was well aware of the temper of this City Lord who was even more fearsome than tyrants ruling the kingdoms.


    ¡°What is even more important about this ce is that the City Lord¡¯s...¡± the man paused for a second and again looked around them to confirm no one was eavesdropping before he leaned in and whispered, ¡°...City Lord¡¯s daughter frequently visits this ce.¡±


    ¡°Ah! So that Kenzie¡¯s daughter is here? But how is that going to help?¡± ze looked questioningly at Raven.


    ¡°I have yet to exin that,¡± Raven replied with a deadpan face.


    Meanwhile, the man was anxiously looking around, fearing that someone really might have heard them discussing the City Lord¡¯s daughter with how loud ze had been just now.


    Just at that moment, the entrance opened again and two guards in casual clothing stepped out followed by a girl whose face was covered by a white veil, and behind were another two guards. All four of these guards were female.


    ¡°See that girl? She¡¯s the daughter of the City Lord. Her timing is not fixed, but she visits the teahouse every day. We can make use of this,¡± Raven spoke while observing the guards around the girl.


    However, ze only shook his head with a frown, ¡°You know sending anyone after the girl and then rescuing her isn¡¯t going to work. Any man involved will be thoroughly investigated and that man would easily get to the truth.¡±


    ze understood that because they had already tried that trick before with an organization of a Rank-8 Mage. They ended up having to find other ways to infiltrate their ranks.


    ¡°We won¡¯t use any people this time,¡± Raven answered confidently.


    ¡°Hm? Are you saying we will do it ourselves?... Oh-¡± ze suddenly paused as he realized what Raven meant.


    Although the forest wasn¡¯t near the teahouse, it wasn¡¯t much farther either. If they could instigate a Beast tide to attack that side of the city, it would surely cause a considerablemotion and in some rare chances, it might even endanger the life of the princess of the City Lord.


    Beast tides were famous for being unpredictable and the City Lord wouldn¡¯t even be able to investigate the mindless Beasts. With them controlling the situation, it would almost be impossible for anyone to figure out that someone had purposely created the tide.


    And in that desperate situation, a man putting his life on the line to protect the princess would surely earn some merit with the City Lord. He loved his daughter very dearly and wouldn¡¯t hesitate to generously reward anyone who helped protect her.


    ¡°That can surely work even if it takes a long time... but are you sure you want to do it?¡± ze asked the question with a softer tone.


    He hade to know Raven¡¯s past and knew how her own vige was destroyed by an artificial Beast tide. Even though she didn¡¯t show it on her face, he knew that she despised such methods. Even harming innocents was something she would generally avoid unless they showed any malicious intent.


    It was indeed a safer method than directly just messing with the Manor, but ze also realized how hard it would be on Raven.


    Though Raven only cryptically nodded her head in response...

 Chapter 307

    Chapter 307: The Chaos around the Teahouse.


    Just like ze had thought, Raven really didn¡¯t like using this method. She hated her own n more than him, but time was short and they couldn¡¯t afford to make any mistakes either.


    Although detestable, this seemed to be their best option.


    ¡°We just have to make sure it will not wreck the whole city. I don¡¯t believe two Rank-8 Mages cannot control a simple Beast tide,¡±


    Ravenmented before turning to the man on her left, ¡°You don¡¯t have to explicitly try and save the girl, just kill any Beast thates in your way. Can you do that?¡±


    The man in question seemed to have gotten cold feet and could only nod his head, not daring to wipe the sweat dripping behind his back. He couldn¡¯t help it while being the target of Raven¡¯s stare.


    Content that the man agreed straight away, Raven looked back at ze, waiting for him to ask if he had any questions.


    ¡°What? Can you not even manipte a small Beast tide? I will be there too if you are afraid that it will get out of control,¡± spoke Raven after ze wordlessly stared at her.


    .....


    In response, he shook his head and kept his thoughts to himself. He was merely worried that Raven was forcing herself to do something that she hated so much. He also knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to persuade her now.


    ¡®If only this Kenzie held recruitments, we wouldn¡¯t have to go through so much trouble,¡¯ ze internally sighed.


    Most of the time they wouldn¡¯t have to n anything as they just ordered a few men under them to apply to the recruitments of the organization they wanted to infiltrate. The problem here was that there weren¡¯t any official timely recruitments in the Manor of City Lord.


    The City Lord, Kenzie, chose people of his own liking to bring to work in his Manor, or they were required to be rmended by his subordinates.


    They also didn¡¯t have the time to wait for an opportunity to get their spy recognized by Kenzie. They had to create the opportunity themselves and this was the best they coulde up with even though both didn¡¯t want to do things this way.


    ¡°Hey! What is your name again?¡± ze asked the man.


    ¡°Y-yes! Ah! Everyone just calls me Kone,¡± the man answered in a hurry.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. We will start tomorrow.¡±


    With that, the three left the ce to n the remaining details. Time was short and their methods were wed, but they had to make do with what they had.


    ...


    The next day, early in the morning, Raven together with ze and Kone appeared near the teahouse in an alleyway.


    ¡°Go on in, act like a traveler stopping for some rest,¡± Raven ordered. She didn¡¯t exin further since Kone was aware of his role already.


    Just before he was about to walk out of the alley, a voiceced with an icy aura made him halt, ¡°You mess this up and that will be yourst mistake.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes sir!¡± Kone hurriedly nodded before he again straightened his posture andzily began to walk towards the teahouse.


    With the way ze bickered with Raven, he had thought that both of them would be easy to talk with, but it seemed that this frankness only extended between themselves. To all others, the duo was two icy peaks unmoved by even the coldest of winds.


    ¡°How long do we have to wait for?¡± ze asked while watching Kone enter the teahouse.


    ¡°That little girl of Kenzie hasn¡¯t even arrived, at least wait till then,¡± Raven replied before she flew towards the forest. They didn¡¯t have much time topletely survey the woods yet and this was the only time they had to do so.


    ze followed behind her.


    ¡°We can still give up on this n,¡± he whispered quietly from behind.


    Raven ignored hisment and continued to look for the Beasts around the area.


    To create the Beast tide, all they needed to do was intimidate some strong Beasts from the opposite direction. Once these Beasts howled in fear, the rest of the Beasts would start to get agitated and in the end, all of them would be seen running away from those howls.


    Some might be brave enough to not run away and that would disrupt the tide while it¡¯s at the starting stages, but they would make sure that every Beast in the area ran towards the city.


    ¡°You keep an eye on Kenzie¡¯s daughter. I will keep tabs on the Beasts,¡± Raven told ze who nodded his head before leaving.


    ¡®I have a bad feeling about this...¡¯ Raven thought internally.


    The number of Beasts that they had estimated fell far shorter than she had previously estimated.


    ¡°Hmm? Ha... it seems he loves his daughter a little too much...¡± she muttered as she stumbled upon some markings on tree trunks.


    To a normal person, these markings wouldn¡¯t mean much but since Raven had already surveyed the whole area, she could see that these signs drew a line that separated the area where there were almost no Beasts at all in the area!


    And since that was the case, it was clear as day that the City Lord had been keeping the numbers of Beasts in check around this area. The markings were most likely done by the people he sent in order to clear the increasing number of Beasts.


    Coming to this conclusion, Raven knew that the best course of action would be to retreat and make a new n since Kenzie would immediately be suspicious that it was a setup.


    ¡®But there is no other choice... Ozul will be disappointed if at least not all the important organizations are infiltrated,¡¯ Raven bit her lips and continued to slowly rally the Beasts in a single direction like they were a herd of sheep instead of ferocious monsters.


    Only a whileter, she sensed the familiar cold aura approaching her from the distance.


    ze nodded at her before they assumed their positions.


    He had more raw power while Raven had finer control over her abilities. So he was supposed to rally the Beasts on the outer ring while she would be the one to actually control most of their behavior when they reach the city.


    If ze were to manipte the tide from inside, he would be instantly noticed by the onlookers. It couldn¡¯t be helped; his spells were too shy.


    ¡°I am ready,¡± Raven asked as darkness slowly surrounded her and her threatening aura receded back to her body,pletely disappearing as if she wasn¡¯t even there anymore.


    This was a new trick that she had learned a while ago. It allowed her to lower her own presence. Even Mages might just miss her standing still if they weren¡¯t alert enough. And if she deliberately tried to hide, there was no chance anyone below Rank-8 would find out.


    Mages of same or above Rank could easily feel her presence since even this technique of hers required some amount of Mana.


    With that, ze crackled his shoulders before his aura started to spike.


    A second passed and his aura got to the point where any living thing that could not rely on Mana wouldn¡¯t have been able to survive under the pressure.


    Though this aura was just ze forcing out raw Mana out of his Mana Core. The pureness of this raw Mana was enough to scare even the Rank-6 Beasts. Unfortunately, the strongest Beasts in the area were just Rank-4.


    *AKHWO!*


    *KHREE!*


    *GHRRH!*


    ...


    One by one, the Beasts howled at the sky and started retreating from the icy cold aura that chilled their spines.


    Those weaker Beasts on the edge of the forest were too far away to immediately start running away just because of the aura but the howling of the stronger Beasts made them run all the same.


    In a matter of a few seconds, one could see all types of Beasts running towards the city.


    One could feel the ground shaking. If only someone else was there, they would immediately realize that a Beast tide had already formed!


    These Beasts will mindlessly keep running and tear everything apart in their way until they are tired. Like sheep, they will continue to imitate the others around them until they run out of any strength to do so.


    ze stopped releasing his Mana and took a few deep breaths. Forcefully pouring out raw Mana was an exhausting thing for any Mage, no matter which Rank they were in.


    It seemed quite strange that none of the Beasts seemed to have noticed a human was among them.


    At the same time, the clouds were darkening over the city. It looked like it might rain today...


    ...


    Raven nodded at ze and put on a mask before following the tide. She actuallynded on the ground and started running together with the Beasts.


    If she caught sight of any Beast about to fight any other Beast, she would immediately kill it before it disrupted the whole tide.


    The teahouse was one of the most prominent buildings around that edge of the city.


    Only a few minutester, people in the city began to realize the situation. The first ones to notice were the guards of the teahouse.


    They immediately notified everyone in the building, but the distance between the woods and the city was far too short. They had only just exited the building when the Beasts collided with the teahouse.


    The daughter of the City Lord and Kone were one of the first people to leave the teahouse.


    Two of her guards were already killing the Beasts while the two stayed close to the young girl in case Beasts attacked her.


    Suddenly the tide of Beasts was no more. It was reced by a brawl of Beasts which not only attacked all humans in sight, but also killed each other.


    The whole area was in utter chaos and no one could make out the exact situation except for Raven and ze.


    ze¡¯s work was rtively easier than Raven as he only killed the stray Beasts that escaped this area. This way, the damage was minimized.


    On the other hand, Raven had to delicately handle the Beasts in such a way that many of them somehow ended up rushing towards the blonde-haired girl protected by two guards.


    To achieve this feat, she had to grasp the whole situation and keep everything in check to a great precision. Unfortunately, she still missed the glowing red stone on the wrist of that blonde-haired girl.


    And amidst all themotion, Kone yed all Beasts that came in his way.


    Like the four guards of the City Lord¡¯s daughter, Kone was also a Rank-6 Mage. Killing these Beasts wasn¡¯t a problem for him.


    The only problem was the number of Beasts present at the scene mixed with humans. They couldn¡¯t use any devastating spells.


    Another minute passed and Kone found himself naturally closing in on the youngdy with blonde hair while ying the Beasts...

 Chapter 308

    Chapter 308: Humane values.


    Just as instructed, Kone wasn¡¯t deliberately trying to get close to the City Lord¡¯s daughter.


    Those four guards of the girl would have noticed if he did so. Hence, Raven took it upon herself to make it so that even if he wasn¡¯t entirely protecting the girl, he would at least be close enough that would make Kenzie at least grateful that he was there helping his daughter.


    As he would asionally nce in her direction, even ze was surprised at her control of the situation.


    Due to the City Lord asionally sending his soldiers to clear the number of Beasts in that area, there weren¡¯t many Beasts in the tide, to begin with. While two guards always remained by the girl¡¯s side, two were also killing the Beasts along with Kone.


    The number of Beasts quickly declined under theirbined onught.


    ¡®... I think this is enough,¡¯ ze thought as he was about to signal Raven to leave the situation on its own now.


    *...thump*


    .....


    Just as he was going to retreat, his heart skipped a beat.


    Just like him, Raven also suddenly paused.


    Both of them quickly turned their head towards a single direction, from which they felt a sudden sense of threat.


    They weren¡¯t even able to retreat when a blurry figure appeared in their sight. Though the figure quickly became clear and before long, a tall man with shoulder-length brown hair was floating above them.


    *Rumble!*


    The clouds rumbled, lightning slithering around the clouds like a hungry snake.


    The man¡¯s eyes first located the innocent-looking girl in the crowd. He sighed in relief upon seeing that she was alright and being protected by the two guards and another unknown man from the Beasts.


    Next, he stared down at the two Rank-8 Mages who were found in the middle of thismotion that threatened to harm his precious daughter.


    Countless thoughts ran through his head. He quickly noticed that all the Beasts concentrated on this single location. It shortly became obvious that someone was manipting these Beasts.


    Considering that his daughter was also present on the scene, he reached the conclusion that these two masked Mages were targeting his daughter.


    Havinge to this conclusion in that split second, Kenzie roared,


    ¡°HOW DARE YOU HARM MY DAUGHTER?!¡±


    His voice was enough to pressure all those present there. If it wasn¡¯t for him controlling his Mana, even his daughter might have been harmed.


    At this moment, everyone on the ground also realized their presence since there were almost no Beasts alive by now.


    Unlike others, Kone wasn¡¯t only shocked but also apprehensive. But his years of experience didn¡¯t allow him to act stupid. He continued to pretend to be an innocent bystander and mimicked others¡¯ expressions.


    Raven and ze looked at each other and even with their masks, both could tell that the other had worried expressions.


    Just as they were about to leave, the situation turned upside down with Kenzie¡¯s presence. They didn¡¯t care about how he caught the wind of this now.


    Both gravely nodded at each other and stared back at Kenzie.


    A battle was inevitable now.


    Mana red from their bodies as they slowly began retreating towards the forest, still facing Kenzie.


    Thinking that they were trying their luck in running away, Kenzie snorted but slowly followed them nheless.


    He didn¡¯t want to battle them here since his daughter was still on the scene.


    Both parties slowly moved away from the teahouse, unaware that another set of eyes were spectating everything...


    . . .


    -A few minutes earlier-


    Ozul suddenly opened his eyes and looked outside the window only to see a horde of Beasts attacking the tall tower.


    Just yesterday, he had found this city and rented a room in the first hotel he found. Before inquiring about his location, he decided to take a nap.


    The napsted for the whole day and it might have gone on until another day if not for the surges of familiar Mana he felt outside.


    His hotel wasn¡¯t any far from the giant building; even a normal human could hear those screeches and howls of the Beasts, much less him.


    His tired face released a sigh as he tiredly walked out of the hotel and noticed that it was indeed Raven and ze in the middle of the Beasts.


    Yet another sigh escaped his lips as he internally cursed his luck, ¡®Tch! Why did I just have to encounter them in the first city that I found?¡¯


    It would have been nice if he could just get another week or two of sleep.


    But this dream would just be a dream... at least for now.


    He wanted to go back to the hotel and pretend that he never noticed them, but the presence of Rank-9 Mage speeding towards them made him think otherwise.


    Ozul had quickly realized that the duo was creating the trouble first, so he didn¡¯t directly jump in to help them.


    Instead, he waited to see how they would react to this situation where they had no chances of winning.


    ¡®They really think they might be able to get away... sigh...¡¯ Ozul internally sighed, noticing the ring Mana from the duo.


    Raven and ze had never experienced it before, but Ozul knew that the difference between a Rank-8 and Rank-9 was not to bepared with the difference between Rank-6 and Rank-7.


    Unless some peak Rank-8 Mages were overly talented and had some powerful artifacts, they had no hopes of evenpeting with a Rank-9 Mage much less defeating them.


    Ozul watched as both sides slowly retreated towards the forest.


    He silently followed behind them but remained unnoticed.


    Just when Kenzie realized that it was a safe distance from his daughter, his hand jerked, and two giant pirs of rocks were erected to block Raven and ze.


    ¡°I will ask you this only once, who sent you?!¡± Kenzie yelled. His expressions scrunched up in anger just at the thought of someone wanting to assassinate his daughter.


    He even exerted his Mana on Raven and ze but all he received in the response was two masked Mages warily staring at him.


    ¡°I expected as much. No matter, I will get my answers once I am done with you...¡± Kenzie calmed his voice, but it only sounded more ominous. A vicious smile was stered on his face.


    A look at him was enough for Ozul to understand that he wasn¡¯t going to give any chance to Raven and ze.


    ¡®It¡¯s surprising that this man can hold off on instantly killing them... Ha... If I wasn¡¯t here, this might have been their end,¡¯ Ozul shook his head at the duo¡¯s foolishness.


    He didn¡¯t know why they had to provoke someone like this.


    Ozul could tell at a nce that even among Rank-9 Mages, this man would be a top-grade expert.


    ¡®They should have just used the opportunity earlier,¡¯ thought Ozul.


    In his opinion, they had already lost the only option to escape alive the moment they lured this man here in the forest from the teahouse.


    Since he was sensitive to emotions, Ozul knew that Kenzie didn¡¯t want to start a battle there. Holding anyone hostage from there should have worked.


    What Ozul didn¡¯t know was that his thoughts were spot on. Raven and ze could have easily taken Kenzie¡¯s daughter hostage. Even if they weren¡¯t able to react in time, threatening to unleash their spells right there should have made Kenzie retreat.


    ¡°Human morals huh...¡± he muttered slowly. No one understood Raven and ze more than him since he was constantly aware of their emotions as well.


    For a moment, a smile pressed to form on his face but sadly it never happened.


    He was only pleased that his involvement hadn¡¯tpletely changed their personality.


    He wondered if he could have such humane values.


    Although he had shown kindness many times before, Ozul knew that if he were ever in a perilous situation, he would always choose to protect himself first.


    ¡®... I never understood myself,¡¯ Ozul sighed for the fourth time today.


    People of higher Ranks would usually just toy with their enemies, but the killing intent released from Kenzie¡¯s body woke Ozul up from his thoughts. It was apparent that he was nning to kill one of the masked Mages.


    ¡®I thought I wouldn¡¯t have had to intervene for at least a couple of minutes,¡¯ Ozul thought before he slowly floated above the ground with the help of the Ball of Purity.


    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t expect his presence to be so low that even when he was floating at the same level as them, none of them noticed him.


    Ice spikes slowly formed around the duo and ck smoke rose all around the area.


    On the other hand, an oppressive pressure descended because of Kenzie as he was just about to chant his Spell.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡±


    None of the participants of the battle bothered to speak anything useless so the sudden voice of Ozul jolted them awake.


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°Eh!?¡±


    ¡°Uh...¡±


    All three eximed with dumb expressions.


    It was a little shocking that they failed to notice a man wearing a pointed hat, floating just a few meters away from them!


    Kenize immediately went on high alert, but the duo couldn¡¯t help but be pleasantly surprised. Their masks helped hide their dumbfounded faces.


    .....


    ¡°Ozu-¡± Raven was about to speak but she realized that they weren¡¯t supposed to reveal their identities and barely stopped herself midway.


    ¡°Who are you brat?!¡± Kenzie shouted in anger. Though only Ozul realized that he was a little anxious through his emotions.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who I am. What matters is that you should go back, leave them alone now...¡±

 Chapter 309

    Chapter 309: A fine day~


    ¡°It makes no difference who I am. What matters is that you return now and leave them alone...¡±


    Ozul¡¯s face was also hidden beneath the conical hat.


    *Rumble!*


    A bolt of lightning shed in the backdrop, and heavy rain began to fall...


    ¡°Why you bastard-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better that you go andfort your daughter...¡± Ozul didn¡¯t let him speak.


    ¡®Today is a fine day...¡¯ he looked at the sky, enjoying the absence of that hateful sunlight.


    .....


    His words, though, caused Kenzie to flinch as a sense of trepidation took over. This man was obviously strong enough that he couldn¡¯t even feel his Mana and he had no idea how many people were after his daughter.


    Kenzie red at the duo before he swiftly flew back where he had left his daughter with her guards.


    ¡®Damn bastards! If anything happens to my daughter, I will not let you all see the light of the next day!¡¯ He cursed in his heart, but all he could do right now was to check on his daughter.


    If these three people had more men with them, it was highly likely that his daughter was in danger. It only dawned upon him now that he had made a mistake in following after the duo before.


    ...


    ¡°Ozul!¡± shouted the duo in unison.


    After Kenize had left, both of them hurriedly took off their masks and ran over to Ozul¡¯s side.


    Contrary to their expectations, Ozul didn¡¯t look as excited about their reunion. He only had this face of indifference with lingering traces of disappointment shing past his eyes.


    ¡°What... was that?¡± he asked with a heavy voice.


    Raven and ze tensed up, both keeping their heads on the ground.


    *Sigh...*


    Ozul shook his head, ¡°Whatever... you have learned your lesson.¡±


    He didn¡¯t question their methods. He left it up to them to learn the lesson from this experience.


    ¡®They are not little kids now,¡¯ Ozul thought in his mind. If by chance, he wasn¡¯t here, this might have been the end for the duo today.


    ¡°I will just remind you again. You are both useless to me if you die,¡± he remarked.


    ¡°I-It was my fault,¡± Raven hurriedly replied, ¡°... sorry.¡±


    ¡°I am at fault just the same,¡± ze added.


    Both didn¡¯t dare to look straight into Ozul¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°...¡±


    Opposite to them, Ozul didn¡¯t know whether to keep scolding, leave them alone, or console them now.


    ¡°...It¡¯s fine. Whatever happened, has happened. Just... be careful next time. A failed mission is fine. A failed mission with both of you dead is not.¡±


    In the end, he decided that he would have to put extra effort into scolding and they would keep pestering him if he didn¡¯t say anything at all.


    ¡°Un!¡± -x2


    Both quickly agreed with swift nods. Although surprised, both had an inkling that it might have been the rain that saved them today.


    ¡°Do you still have business in this city?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°Yes. We have to confirm the status of that member,¡± answered Raven.


    ¡°Do whatever you want. Find me in that hotel after you are done with things. Don¡¯t get in trouble.¡±


    Ozul turned back towards the city. He had no intentions of helping the duo with anything unless that Rank-9 Mage found them again.


    ¡®Until they are done, I¡¯ll have my sleep...¡¯


    Ozul removed his hat and let his clothes soak in the rain as he leisurely flew back to the hotel.


    Today was indeed a fine day...


    . . .


    Back at the hotel, he noticed that the Rank-9 Mage he had seen previously was still present at the scene.


    However, there were now other powerful Mages on the site as well.


    The innocent-looking girl was now beside the Rank-9 Mage as he was questioning a few people.


    From his room, he could easily hear their conversation. Right now, one of the five Rank-6 Mages present during the earlier uproar stood before Kenzie with a respectful posture.


    ¡°Don¡¯t y with me! Do you expect me to believe that you were just randomly passing by while coincidentally my daughter was attacked?!¡± Kenzie shouted at the meek guy who visibly trembled in fear.


    ¡°C-City Lord! I would never lie! I... had juste to the city yesterday, even questioned all the famous businesses if they would hire me, you can ask them!¡± Kone hurriedly exined himself.


    His swift reply made Kenzie put even more Mana pressure on him.


    He continued to stare at him for a short while and was just about to say something when the girl beside him spoke up, ¡°Father! This man wasn¡¯t even trying to protect me earlier... I think he didn¡¯t even know that I was your daughter...¡±


    Hearing her words, Kenzie looked at the two guards who always remained by his daughter¡¯s side earlier and saw them nod their head as well.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Kenzie spoke and then called one of his subordinates over, ¡°Verify his statements. If what he said has even a shred of deceit, execute him on spot.¡±


    The subordinate eyed Kone before performing a bow towards Kenzie and leaving.


    ¡°I shall personally reward you if you are telling the truth. If not... ¡± Kenzie didn¡¯t finish his sentence but the meaning behind his words were clear.


    A shiver ran down Kone¡¯s spine as he nodded solemnly, hoping that they wouldn¡¯t find out the truth.


    They only had this short conversation before Kenzie moved away and began personally escorting his daughter back home. But not before ordering all of his troops to remain and monitor the surrounding areas, as well as keep an eye out for any unusual activities in the city.


    ¡®At the end of the day, it appears that they were sessful,¡¯ Ozul paused before closing the window and returning to his bed.


    Raven and ze didn¡¯te back here since the Rank-9 Mage was still there and they wouldn¡¯t be able to escape his vignce. However, with the help of the Three-Eyed Strangers, they would immediately get the news on what had happened here.


    Since Kenzie hadn¡¯t immediately killed Kone, their mission was almostpleted. They would just have to tie up any loose ends and their spy would be out of any suspicion.


    They wouldn¡¯t have been able to fool Kenzie, but it wouldn¡¯t be hard to deceive his subordinates who were about to verify all of what Kone had said.


    Next it would depend on how Kone would win Kenzie¡¯s trust and infiltrate his manor.


    Only at moments like these can oneprehend how deadly an organisation with eyes on nearly every street can be when necessary.


    Ozul closed his eyes, satisfied, the sound of rainfall striking the ground and the familiar smell of earth calming him slightly.


    Suddenly feeling something jump on his bed, he shifted a little to the side to make some space for the ck cat who would always appear to sleep with him.


    . . .


    Ozul didn¡¯t have to stay in the same room for more than a few days.


    With theplete support from the branch of the Three-Eyed Strangers in the city, the duo was quickly able to mend their mistakes.


    Though they couldn¡¯t make a move by themselves since Kenzie was fully alert, he didn¡¯t even let his daughter out of his manor once.


    The city guards patrolled the streets in big groups, even normal citizens could tell that something was wrong.


    Unfortunately for Kenzie, he didn¡¯t think that the only organization that he had allowed in the city was behind this incident. With their help, it wasn¡¯t hard to mold the lies into truth.


    He firmly believed that the organization was indeed neutral and only passively collected information from the streets all around the continent.


    Because of this, he even sent his men to the branch to ask for help with this matter.


    Before long, Kenzie¡¯s suspicion of Kone faded as he could only find evidence supporting his ims.


    Once that happened, Kone was finally allowed to leave the manor. The guards had detained him there together with all those present at the scene during the incident.


    What happened next depended solely on Kone. Raven and ze decided that they had helped enough in this city. They found Ozul in the hotel that he had mentioned.


    ¡°...You are done already?¡± Ozulzily asked while rubbing his eyes and then whispered to himself, ¡°It hadn¡¯t even been a week.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to move already! We can stay here for as long as you want!¡± Raven hurriedly offered as she couldn¡¯t endure Ozul¡¯s almost pouting expression.


    ¡°...I can?¡± Ozul looked back at her, expectations filled his eyes.


    Just when Raven was about to agree, ze interrupted her, ¡°Uhm... weren¡¯t we short on time though?¡±


    Ozul released a sigh before he stood up from the bed with a heavy face.


    Meanwhile, Raven red at ze for making him sad.


    Ozul honestly had a very blissful time these past days. All he did was sleep! There was no one to remind him about things that they had yet to do.


    .....


    What improved his mood further was that it continued to rain every day.


    So much rain affected those with poor households, but he sincerely didn¡¯t care. Rain was one of those few times when he wouldn¡¯t have to endure that sunlight.


    Even as he became stronger and regained his limbs, the light never seemed to get any less bothersome. This one aspect has been constant throughout the years.


    ¡°You guys lead the way, I have no idea where we are,¡± Ozul stated as he walked out of the hotel.


    ¡°We are in the territory of the Leonhard Dynasty,¡± informed Raven as she took the lead.

 Chapter 310

    Chapter 310: Dispelling the negative thoughts.


    ¡°We are in the territory of the Leonhard Dynasty,¡± informed Raven as she took the lead.


    ¡°Their territory?¡± muttered Ozul, ¡®No wonder there was a Rank-9 Mage in only a city.¡¯


    ¡°What about your mission? It has been almost seven months by now,¡± he asked. There wasn¡¯t much time left before Old Gu finally announced the start of the tournament.


    ¡°I...¡±


    Raven hesitated to reply but before she could say anything, ze cut in, ¡°We are almost done! Most of the dangerous guilds or organizations have already been infiltrated, only the average and low-level ones remain mostly.¡±


    Instead of an approving nod, Ozul only hummed in response. He wasn¡¯t particrly excited about having this task done now.


    The more he found, the more he believed that his answers weren¡¯t in this small world.


    .....


    But he nevertheless had Raven and ze infiltrate all reputable groups, no matter how big or tiny, just to make sure before he started looking for answers elsewhere.


    As a result, he was irritated that the duo was willing to employ methods that could have resulted in their deaths for a task that he didn¡¯t value as highly as he formerly did.


    ¡®On second thought, I didn¡¯t tell them...¡¯ Ozul pondered.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the main headquarters then,¡± he said to Raven, who only shifted her gaze slightly.


    ¡°What about the remaining groups?¡± ze asked with evident worry. He had previously learned from Raven that Ozul had created the whole organization just for this task in the first ce.


    The worried emotions directed at him caused Ozul to be dumbfounded. For a second, he didn¡¯t know if or how he should exin the present situation.


    Feeling that he didn¡¯t have enough energy to narrate a lengthy story, he decided to make do with a simple, ¡°The task is not more important than your life.¡±


    While he only said this in order to avoid exining the whole story and saving his breath, he didn¡¯t know how much this single sentence impacted Raven and ze until he was hit with the burst of boiling emotions.


    Ozul couldn¡¯t see their crying eyes because they were ahead of him, but the maelstrom of emotions was more than enough to convince him that he had spoken something too good for them.


    ¡°Alright alright, will you stop already? It¡¯s more annoying than the sunlight. Don¡¯t ruin my mood now,¡± Ozul spat, clearly irritated.


    Unfortunately for him, he was powerless to stop their mounting emotions. He could only give up in the end, admitting that it was his fault that he said anything like that in the first ce.


    *Sigh...*


    . . .


    Sometimeter, the three arrived at the Deste Borders of the Neutral Lands.


    Raven had long ago received the report that the headquarters had already shifted just outside the borders, hidden in the misty forest.


    It took them a few days longer to cross the Neutral Lands and get to the woond on the other side of the Deste Borders.


    ¡°Uh...¡±


    Raven and ze continued to look about when they arrived in the forest, but they couldn¡¯t uncover any indications of the headquarters. They hadn¡¯t gotten the exact ce on the map.


    Seeing that they couldn¡¯t even feel the presence of such a huge tower right in front of them, Ozul was satisfied with its defenses.


    ¡°It¡¯s here, follow me,¡± he stated before he merely flew a few meters straight and the tower presented itself before their eyes.


    The new formations were even stronger than before. If they did not want to be disturbed, even a Rank-8 Mage would be helpless.


    Although they were embarrassed that they couldn¡¯t find the tower despite the fact that it was right in front of them, the two pretended nothing had urred and silently walked behind Ozul in the tower.


    Instantly, quite a few guards ran out of the tower as they were alerted of some individuals having gotten past their invisibility formation.


    In reality, even a Fighter or a regr human might get through the formation. However, it would be entirely dependent on their luck.


    The guards were first baffled to see that the intruders were all flying in the air, which could only mean one thing; they were at least Rank-8 Mages!


    One of them ran inside to inform the higher-ups and others firmly stood their ground. Just when one of them was going to shout, a female guard spoke up,


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they- It¡¯s really them!¡±


    One by one, others also recognized the familiar image of their big boss and his two closestpanions.


    The imposing man in a in white shirt, his face concealed behind the shade of the same old ck conical hat, mingled with the one in their memory, the man who even most of the organization¡¯s upper echelons had never had the opportunity to speak with.


    All of them immediately took on a respectful posture and saluted before making way for the three to walk in. None of them knew how to properly address the three, so they could only bow their heads.


    Not only Ozul, but most of them hadn¡¯t even heard the voices of ze and Raven. They were only so talkative when alone. To the rest of the world, they didn¡¯t seem any less cold and indifferent than Ozul.


    Some rumors even suggested that they were siblings!


    Ozul directly made his way to Haley and Irvin¡¯s office on top floors. Not surprisingly, they were both out of their rooms and were about to head down towards the entrance; the guard had just reported the arrival of high ranked Mages.


    As they came face to face with Ozul, surprise shed on their faces as they immediately bowed and shouted at the same time, ¡°Young Master! Wee back!¡±


    ¡°You both have certainly improved,¡± Ozulmented as he noticed that both had been progressing steadily in cultivating their Mana Core.


    The couple smiled happily and said, ¡°It¡¯s all because of you, Young Master!¡±


    ¡°Leave the formalities, and tell me there is nothing that requires my attention,¡± Ozul asked, he wasn¡¯t in the mood to deal with any troublesome task.


    Irvin begin, ¡°There isn¡¯t but-¡±


    ¡°Good. Don¡¯t disturb me then,¡± he brushed past him and went to the top floor.


    He really needed some time to adjust to the fact that he wouldn¡¯t be able to find what he was seeking for after all this time in this world.


    As hey on his bed, he clutched Jinx in his embrace as he thought about the future.


    ¡°Will I ever be able to learn the truth?¡± he muttered silently to himself.


    He was afraid to think about the future where he died without ever learning the truth of his own existence.


    *Meow...*


    Just then, Jinx¡¯s smooth and soothing voice reached his ears, causing him to redirect his attention to her.


    He nced at those bright eyes, which were looking at him contentedly, with worry seeping out of them, concern purely for his well-being.


    Those eyes, despite their distinct color, reminded him of a few others. His mother¡¯s eyes, which he had only seen once before she died, grandma Carol¡¯s eyes, who took care of him without expecting anything in return, and Raven¡¯s eyes, how she would silently stare at him from afar, fearful of hurting him further if she said anything.


    ¡°You all are such a pain...¡± Ozul whispered as he tightened his grip on Jinx, ¡°... thank you.¡±


    This time, he was certain that Jinx had simply spoken to console him. He couldn¡¯t understand what she was trying to say, but those eyes conveyed everything that he needed to know.


    ¡®Since I just have to be myself, it should be fine even if I die without achieving anything,¡¯ Ozul reminded himself of the only request his mother and grandma Carol had of him.


    The mere prospect of exploring all those vast and endless ces made him reconsider. The idea of quitting began to enter his thoughts, and it was quite appealing to him, who merely wanted to spend his life sleeping in some dark corner of this.


    But the concern of this ck cat just now made him remember everyone who was there just to support him in whatever he did. All they asked of him was to be whatever he wanted to be.


    If the question was what he wanted, then the answer was obvious; he wanted to find the reason behind his existence.


    But, with such a tremendous impediment in his path to finding the truth, it became unclear whether he would ever actually seed and not simply die for no apparent cause.


    Now that he had realized that no one was forcing him to do anything. He could just go at his own pace.


    The remarks of his mother and grandma Carol were not intended topel him to seek answers, but rather to reassure him that he should not be concerned. Only he, together with his own drive to discover the truth, misinterpreted the meaning.


    Having made peace with himself and clearing his clogged thoughts, Ozul gazed at the purring ck feline in his embrace, a trace of warmth appeared before he closed his eyes.


    And as if sensing his calmed emotions, Jinx also squirmed a little to find the perfect spot in his arms.


    ¡®All I need to do is focus on getting stronger,¡¯ with that, Ozul slipped off to sleep, leaving the future to his future self.


    He had made the decision not to be concerned about what may or might not happen. He will try anything he can from now on, and if he fails... so be it. He¡¯ll just sleep it off and try againter.


    He hadn¡¯t shown any signs of ageing after all those years, whichforted him that he¡¯d have plenty of time to sleep and repeat.


    Maybe the current him found the task almost impossible, but with enough power in the future, he could not predict what awaited him...

 Chapter 311

    Chapter 311: Final Decision.


    *A few minutes earlier*


    Back on the floor below, when Ozul walked past them, everyone quietly watched him without daring to stop him.


    ¡°Did something happen?¡± Haley asked, feeling something odd about Ozul¡¯s behavior.


    Oliver and Irvin, unsurprisingly, were unconcerned. It was his regr manner of doing things to them.


    Raven and ze were both a little apprehensive. If Haley had a feeling something wasn¡¯t quite right because of her women¡¯s intuition, they were the ones who knew Ozul the best. They could tell something was bothering him from the time he had told them to halt their mission.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong, but he isn¡¯t happy...¡± muttered Raven. She was the most concerned about what was troubling him.


    Beside her, ze and Haley nodded their heads.


    .....


    ¡°Summarize the details over the past months. He might want to make a big move again,¡± Raven informed before she moved towards the meeting hall.


    Except for ze, everyone started moving instinctively. Haley suddenly paused and grinned after she had moved out. Just now, she had received the impression that it was instead Ozul who had given the order as everyone followed them without question.


    The time granted by Old Gu wasing to an end, and it was only a matter of time until the serenity that had existed for so long would be shattered in utter turmoil.


    No doubt Ozul had his own ns about the future events. Whatever it was, Raven was ready to support him in whatever way she could.


    . . .


    The next day, every member of the Three-Eyed Strangers was running around in a hurry.


    Suddenly everyone had received days worth of work to do in a couple of hours. Still, no one uttered a word ofint since everyone thought that the matter directly concerned the leader who had returned yesterday.


    What they didn¡¯t know was that the amount of work they had right now was only a fraction of what they would have to handle in the near future.


    The sheets on therge bed on the topmost floor of the tower, in a darkened room with no light, shifted abruptly.


    The room¡¯s door opened and closed a few secondster, and two streaks of shadows walked out.


    On the floor below, everyone was too busy to notice their presence.


    Only when one of the seats on the meeting table was abruptly upied did a round of gasps followed before everyone paused.


    Just when people had started getting ustomed to Ozul¡¯s quiet demeanor, it had suddenly began to resemble the strange ck cat that had been seen around him. If his presence could be noticed with just a bit of attentiveness, it was impossible to expect the arrival of Jinx.


    For these reasons and the fact that she was only seen following behind Ozul, Jinx had be quite popr among the members of the Three-Eyed Strangers.


    Haley¡¯s eyes sharpened, following which everyone dispersed and acted as if they didn¡¯t notice his presence.


    Except for Raven and ze, everyone at the table sat back down and paused their previous activity. The two members were forced to switch seats from beside Ozul as the duo approached him.


    Everyone was now waiting for him to make a statement.


    Ozul was nning to just sit there and listen to their discussion for now, but seeing that everyone was waiting for him, he sighed and spoke, ¡°Bring me something to write.¡±


    ¡°Write-?¡± Oliver muttered in surprise. But just when he was about to ask further, several cold res were thrown his way, forcing him to shut his mouth with awkward expressions.


    He had forgotten for a moment that questioning casual orders from Ozul was practically a taboo.


    In the blink of an eye, there was a pen and papers ced in front of him.


    Even though Ozul was never taught to write, he picked up the pen as if he had been writing for decades.


    As he put the needle on the paper and moved the pen, no ink came out of it.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Ozul tried again but not a speck of mark was left on the paper. It was only then that he looked towards his right, staring at Raven with a nk face. Only she could see the hints of questioning in his eyes.


    It was always her who dispelled his doubts about trivial matters like this.


    Meanwhile, everyone patiently waited. No one dared to make any bold assumptions.


    ¡°Uhm...¡±


    She looked unsure about what to say before she stood up from her seat and moved closer to Ozul. Leaning towards him, she whispered, ¡°This pen works only with Mana.¡±


    While this act of hers made everyone present grin with ¡®knowing¡¯ stares, they were merely unaware why she had to whisper it to him.


    She didn¡¯t want anyone to get any ¡®ideas¡¯ on why Ozul wouldn¡¯t use this pen.


    She could only do so much right now because, despite having hundreds of items stored in her Spatial Ring for Ozul, she hadn¡¯t considered getting a regr pen. She also didn¡¯t think they would find a normal pen in the tower full of Mages.


    Nheless, she returned to her seat calmly, unconcerned about Ozul¡¯s predicament because he would always find a way.


    Just as she thought, Ozul put aside the pen with a sigh instead released a streak of the Ball of Purity from his hand.


    The liquid form of Ball of Purity moved onto the paper and began to form strange patterns.


    Within the blink of an eye, the patterns began to resemble those that had been etched on his skin since birth!


    He remembered all of those patterns as if they were sewn on his soul instead.


    Just when that part of the pattern waspleted, he suddenly felt uneasy. It was as if something didn¡¯t want him toplete the pattern.


    His curiosity piqued and he almost had an urge to draw all of those patterns in the air, but he stopped considering where he was right now. Putting this idea into the back of his mind, he decided to test itter. For now, the task at hand was more important.


    Following his thoughts, the paper floated in the air, the pattern now visible to everyone who up until now couldn¡¯t see what he was doing on the paper.


    To his right and left were Raven and ze, and each seat was ced at a considerable distance between them. One would need to deliberately lean to read anything ced in front of someone two chairs apart.


    ¡°Copy this pattern. I don¡¯t want to see a speck of difference between this one and the copied versions.¡±


    ¡°Versions? How many do you want?¡± Haley asked to confirm.


    ¡°As many branches we have. I want at least a single copy of this in each branch.¡±


    Everyone became a little concerned about the situation as he spoke. The fact that a specific pattern was to be distributed to each branch indicated that the matter was not simple at all.


    ¡°Inform every member of the organization with the secrecy oath. I want them to find anything, and I mean anything that could be rted to this pattern.¡±


    ¡°But Young Master-¡± Irvin¡¯s concerned voice was cut in between as Ozul again spoke, ¡°Cease all other activities of the organization if you need to. I want this done before the tournament.¡±


    All seated at the table began to murmur as the importance of the matter finally started to settle in their minds. This task which seemed so simple required the whole organization topletely shift their focus on this.


    The Three-Eyed Strangers which had grown to be one of the top organizations over the years had hundreds of thousands of members. The continent was huge and now a ton of resources were spent each day to run everything. And although at the end of the day, they would cover their expenses easily, halting these services would mean that they would only be burning resources and gaining nothing in return.


    Just when a few courageous members were also about to voice out their concerns, Ozul raised his voice a little.


    ¡°The treasury has enough resources. Use them. I don¡¯t care.¡±


    He stood up and exited the meeting room, unconcerned about their reaction. In the end, he had created an entire organization for this seemingly simple but massive task. He didn¡¯t care how much the organization would suffer as long as it served its true purpose.


    As of now, the organization had numerous peak Rank-8 Mages, but Raven and ze were still considered to be the strongest amongst them. With them, Haley, and Irvin backing Ozul¡¯s decision, no one had a say once he had made it.


    Ozul left the tower and flew in the direction of the Neutral City; he was informed that the Ashin family had yet to move out. Even when the Three-Eyed Strangers were spread all over the continent, he still wanted to ask for their help considering their centuries long history.


    It was finally time to search the whole continent to find any clues regarding his identity.


    This time, he was even ready to meet any dead ends. If his decades of work bore no fruit in the end, then so be it. He didn¡¯t seem to be dying anytime soon anyway.


    Despite the low odds of him finding anything, no one could stop him from checking every corner of this world now.


    His eyes gazed at the vast sky, a shimmer of indifference shed past in those emotionless eyes.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter... I just need to not die before I learn everything,¡± Ozul muttered to himself, oblivious to how ridiculous these words would sound to him once he actually discovered the truth.

 Chapter 312

    Chapter 312: Gratitude.


    Haley had drawn a copy of the pattern that Ozul had shown before, and as he made his way towards the Ashin family¡¯s manor, they began to generate as many copies as they could under strict supervision from Raven and ze.


    As Ozul had ordered, he didn¡¯t want any alterations in the pattern while copying, so even with hundreds of people at work, it took them a while to get enough copies.


    The main problem was that not every member of the Three-Eyed Strangers had taken strict secrecy oaths. Some of the oaths for outer members had a few loopholes, and as such these people couldn¡¯t be trusted with the task, as per Ozul¡¯s order.


    As a result, the number of people who could be assigned to this ¡®simple¡¯ task was significantly reduced.


    Nheless, the organization¡¯s normal operations werepletely turned upside down. Those who hadn¡¯t taken the secrecy oaths were all inquisitive, but getting any information was difficult because all those charged with the work risked their lives if they ventured to say anything to anyone.


    . . .


    Ozul reached the manor and except for in their estate, he didn¡¯t notice a single human in visible sight. Even the manor felt a little empty.


    .....


    Outside the manor, quite a few people had gathered. Raymond and Alver were both in the middle of the crowd.


    Unsurprisingly to him, his presence went unnoticed even as he arrived near them.


    A couple of minutester, he heard a voice, ¡°Nephew?¡±


    Alver¡¯s voice attracted the attention of others including Raymond who beamed with a smile, ¡°Nephew! Haha! You are as quiet as ever.¡±


    ¡°What is all this?¡±


    ¡°Ah, this? Well, I just thought that it might be the time to really move out. Everything else is already shifted from thesends now. It wouldn¡¯t do any good staying here any longer,¡± Alver exined, ¡°...Oh! You might have not seen this before! Everything¡¯s almost done, just wait a few moments.¡±


    Ozul didn¡¯t get why Alver had that excited and mysterious smile on his face. He could only guess that maybe he was excited to show him something new.


    Just as he had said, it only took a few more minutes before their men had finished making sure that everything was in ce.


    ¡°Do you want to do the honors, Nephew? You just have to pour enough Mana in this crystal,¡± Raymond pointed towards the white marble pedestal that had a giant red crystal fixed on top.


    ¡°I will pass.¡±


    ¡°Haha. It¡¯s fine. Let me show you. Come closer, stand in this circle.¡±


    The circle Raymond pointed towards was drawn on the ground below. He and Alver were standing within that circle along with a few other old men. Alver¡¯s female guard also stood beside him.


    He went inside the circle, not suspicious of their motives as he could feel their emotions.


    As he did so, Raymond put his hand on the colorless crystal and began pouring his Mana into it.


    ¡°Anyone below Rank-9 would never be able to activate this formation,¡± remarked a few old men who were also witnessing this for the first time.


    The crystal grew brighter by the second and Ozul noticed the never-ending row of symbols drawn on the ground around the whole manor also began to light up one by one. By this time, he already knew what they were about to do, so he observed the process very carefully.


    Despite it being the daytime with no clouds, the light emanating from the symbols and the crystal grew to a blinding intensity.


    Although he could not see it, he felt it when all the symbols around the manor had lit up.


    Right then, the ground started to shake, mimicking the effects of an earthquake. Despite that, everyone remained calm as they continued to observe the crystal on the pedestal.


    *Zzzkh!*


    The sound sted, making everyone take a step back.


    But that single moment of distraction was all it took and those standing in the circle along with the whole manor was shifted to a ce outside the Deste Border, hundreds of miles away.


    The sudden change in the scenery brought a few surprised gasps from everyone except Ozul, Raymond, and Alver. Thetter two smirked in unison as the formation had worked without any trouble.


    The crystal under Raymond¡¯s palm was cracked and it was almost a wonder how that pedestal remained standing, judging from its appearance.


    All the symbols drawn on the ground had smoke rising from them; it was apparent that the formation wasn¡¯t useful anymore.


    Ozul stepped out from the circle and noticed quite a few people outside the manor as well.


    Noticing his prying gaze at the people outside the circle, Raymond spoke, ¡°The formation had to be set up on both sites. These men were already here.¡±


    Ozul neither nodded and nor made it seem like he heard his voice as he made his way towards them as the other men scattered away to make sure everything was sessfully transported.


    ¡°Ghaha! I almost forgot, you never visit us if it¡¯s not anything important. So...? What¡¯s the matter? Do we need to head inside?¡±


    Instead of replying, Ozul made his way inside the manor. That was enough of an answer for the brothers who followed right behind him without minding his usual behavior.


    In the garden, there were already three chairs. Ozul took one of them followed by Alver and Raymond. Alver¡¯s guard remained at the entrance of the garden.


    ¡°So...?¡±


    Instantly as Alver muttered, a small amount of Ball of Purity exuded out of Ozul¡¯s body and made the same pattern he had shown the organization on the table.


    ¡°I want to find any clues about this pattern. Any clue, from anywhere... As long as it¡¯s urate. Also, I would appreciate it if there aren¡¯t any rumors about a strange pattern spreading among the masses.¡±


    Noticing the seriousness in his tone, Alver made a motion with his hand and thedy guard on the entrance immediately came inside.


    Ozul figured that she was trustworthy enough for him to call her inside.


    ¡°Make a copy of this,¡± right after his words, the guard took out a paper and a pen from her Spatial Ring and instantly drew a copy of the pattern.


    Ozul internally approved of her speed and the precision of the drawing before retracting the Ball of Purity.


    Right after that, Alver stood up from his chair and walked out of the garden with the female guard. Following this, Raymond turned towards Ozul, ¡°Of course we will not turn down this simple request, but Nephew... You should know that your organization is a lot more resourceful than you might think.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust my organization. I just wanted as much man power as I could get on this.¡±


    His reply made Raymond raise his thoughts on the importance of the matter.


    A few minutes passed before Alver came back withrge strides.


    ¡°Nephew... I just confirmed it with the people who were keeping an eye on all activity of the Church. Did you know that both of them, at one point, were searching for something simr?¡±


    Confirming that there was no one eavesdropping, Ozul replied in a low voice, ¡°Yes. It¡¯s about my limbs.¡±


    The brother¡¯s eyes sharpened at his reply. No matter how they thought about it, there was something strange about their nephew for the Church of Light to have been so interested in his limbs.


    s, they knew that asking their nephew would bear no fruit. But seeing Ozul¡¯s confidence in everything that he did put their hearts at ease. They felt that he knew what he was doing and wouldn¡¯t have any problem even without their help.


    Alver eyed Raymond before he again walked out of the garden. The seriousness of the matter was raised by another notch once they learned that it directly concerned the well-being of their nephew.


    ¡°I will immediately inform you if we find anything,¡± Raymond reassured.


    Ozul felt a little gratified by how these two ¡®uncles¡¯ of his always tried their best to provide whatever they could to him and never once asked anything in return.


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t returned yet?¡±


    ¡°He?... Oh! Father? We haven¡¯t heard from him since the time he left. Hopefully, he will be back soon.¡±


    This made Ozul raise his brows. Kure was a Rank-10 Mage and he should have long returned by now. He had left to confirm Ozul¡¯s words about Darcia and the Sovereign¡¯s death.


    It made him a little uneasy, but he didn¡¯t think much about it since he had confirmed the Sovereign¡¯s Mana dispersing when she was buried under thatva.


    ¡°Haha! Don¡¯t you worry about father. He has always been like that. Maybe he just liked the scenery and decided to stay there for a little while.¡±


    ¡°Hm.¡±


    Ozul nodded without saying anything. He wasn¡¯t worried, but as he owed so much to Alver and Raymond, he would rather not see any misfortune befall on them.


    Even though he didn¡¯t want to be tied down to this family, he now felt an obligation to return their favor in whatever way they needed.


    ¡°I will take my leave then,¡± with that, Ozul flew away.


    He disappeared from Raymond¡¯s sight in the blink of an eye, making him doubt whether their nephew had already surpassed them in strength.


    ¡°Heh... how could that be,¡± Raymond shook his head while chuckling. He didn¡¯t think it was even humanly possible to surpass Rank-9 in that little time.


    *Fwoosh!*


    ¡°Huh?-¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where we are. Give me a map.¡±


    Ozul was back in front of Raymond, staring at him with a stone face.

 Chapter 313

    Chapter 313: Time is short.


    It took a day for all members of the Three-Eyed Strangers to realize that something was going on.


    While most of the focus and pressure was on the members who had infiltrated other organizations, the rest of the members were also tasked in one way or another in this hunt for clues.


    In just a couple of days, those groups who were keeping an eye on the Three-Eyed Strangers had also caught wind of their secret operation.


    It was almost impossible to hide an operation this big in scale, but it was also true that no matter how eager these groups were to know what the Three-Eyed Strangers were nning to do, they just did not have any way to find out.


    They also didn¡¯t want to openly harass their members since the organization was supposedly neutral and no one wanted to make an enemy out of an organization that big in scale for no reason.


    At this moment, Ozul sat with his eyes closed on the couch in the inconspicuous corner.


    While waiting for any news, all he did was concentrate on manipting the new power he had gained after bing whole again.


    .....


    Unlike the Ball of Purity, controlling this new shadow-like barrier was harder than he had initially thought.


    He stayed with it active for quite a while before getting exhausted and having to retract it. After that, he would continue to meditate until he recovered his stamina before repeating the process.


    What he didn¡¯t care to notice was how each time he activated this new power of his, everyone in the tower felt an innate fear as if they were being stared at by a predator and they were the prey.


    Rtively weaker members suffered so much that they were forced to move out from the tower from time to time.


    Comining to Haley and other higher-ups also didn¡¯t solve anything as they could only smile wryly. They were ufortable themselves, but they also knew the source of this strange phenomenon and no one was willing to approach Ozul to ask him to stop.


    The only two people who had the courage to approach Ozul refused to disturb him.


    Hence, this continued until Ozul became bored and went to the top floor to take a nap whichsted for more than a few days.


    Any small pieces of information they regrly received were first passed onto Raven and ze to verify, but it never came to the point when the duo had to inform Ozul of their finding.


    Just like that, two weeks passed and each day only served to add more to the disappointment of everyone.


    Everyone was worried that Ozul might grow impatient any day and they would have to suffer the wrath of a Rank-9 Mage.


    What they didn¡¯t know was that if Ozul really took it out on them, they would have to deal with the wrath of something far more powerful than a Rank-10 Mage instead.


    Whenever anyone caught the sight of Ozul, they would try to disappear from there as much as they could in fear that he would not call them to ask for progress.


    All the higher-ups were frustrated because they had reports and summaries from all the branches. They were all proud to be one of the upper echelons of an organization that stood at the top of the continent among only a few other groups.


    Although their strength might not be as strong as the Ashins, the Empire, the Church, or the Mercenary Guild, it didn¡¯t matter to them since their main forte was collecting and distributing information.


    But right now, they were stumped at the absence of even a single clue after two whole weeks!


    Embarrassment piled up each day to the point when even someone like Oliver was ashamed to face Ozul.


    They had received information from the Ashin family regarding the strange pattern they had to search for as well.


    However, that piece of clue led them to a dead end as well.


    In short, two weeks was all it took before everyone felt a wall hit their progress. Their main source of information was the streets, but they were not allowed to show the pattern to anyone who hadn¡¯t taken the secrecy oath. But those spies in other organizations could only probe so much.


    After the headquarters had arranged all the reports from the branches, they began to realize that there wasn¡¯t much that they could do except for hoping that a miracle happened and somehow, somewhere, someone from their organization stumbled upon any clue.


    Though just as everyone had expected, Ozul came down from his floor and the first thing he did was to look for Raven.


    With his overly sharp senses, it wasn¡¯t difficult to find her in a room along with Oliver and Haley.


    ¡°Make a brief report. I will be outside,¡± he said and didn¡¯t wait for anyone to reply before moving out.


    The words he had left in the room caused all three present to take deep breaths; they knew this day wasing, but they could never be ready for it.


    ****


    After about twenty or so minutes, Raven had personally gathered all the reports these past weeks and also gathered the detailed summary of everything just in case.


    Everyone halted for a moment when they noticed Raven bringing so many files towards Ozul.


    But it didn¡¯t take long for everyone to scurry away under Haley¡¯s res who walked behind Raven.


    Raven first handed over the brief report that Ozul had asked for as she stayed there standing with Haley, both anxiously waiting for his reaction.


    Ozul quickly read through the report and with a sigh, he put it back on the table.


    Before he could even utter a word, as if afraid that he would punish them without even listening to their reasons, Haley quickly alluded, ¡°We have even sent trained teams to pick any clues from the ces where our spies hadn¡¯t infiltrated, but without disclosing this pattern to the public, there is only so much we can do...¡±


    Her voice slowly diminished as she feared irritating him.


    Looking at that emotionless gaze at the file, no one knew how angry he was.


    A pin-drop silence prevailed in the hall as even those who were pretending to do their work stopped, anxiously waiting for Ozul¡¯s reaction.


    The atmosphere had suddenly turned so tense that many prayed in their hearts that this moment permanently froze with them. Maybe at least that would prevent their future hell.


    However, the reality was more ruthless.


    Each passing second felt like hours had passed, but the time, as they wished it to be, never froze.


    The longer Ozul stayed quiet, the tenser the atmosphere turned.


    The calmest among everyone present was Raven, but even she was worried that Ozul was upset this time.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped then...¡± Ozul muttered before raising his face to meet Raven¡¯s eyes, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be secretive about it anymore.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    Not only Raven, but everyone who had paused to embrace ready themselves for Ozul¡¯s wrath blinked in confusion.


    By the seriousness of his tone when he had issued the order and how he had told for every other operation of the organization to be stopped, everyone understood that this task was very important to him.


    However, what was with his dull response after their utter failure to find anything?


    Many of them almost had tears in their eyes.


    Their leader had never acted anything like those other high and mighty Rank-9 Mages, and yet they always held such a ruthless image of him.


    But they also couldn¡¯t be med for doing so because how almost no one had ever seen him smiling in the whole organization. Even now, most of them only felt that maybe he was in a good mood and decided to spare them.


    Raven was confused by his poor response because she was the only one who knew how much it meant to him.


    Despite what everyone thought, Ozul wasn¡¯t as irritated to find that the search these past two weeks brought no fruit; he already expected such results.


    After giving it extensive thought, he hade to a decision to not hide it anymore.


    There was a lot to gain from exposing what he wanted and how desperate he was in search of it, but the downsides of revealing this were also obvious.


    In the end, he decided to just go on with it.


    At most, he will have to deal with some people.


    But maybe, somewhere in this continent, in some conspicuous corner, there would be someone who would have at least a hint to his questions.


    And if exposing those symbols to everyone increased the chances of that happening, he was willing to deal with the troubleter on.


    ¡®The worst that can happen is someone who I cannot deal with to take an interest in this-¡® Ozul thought of the possibility but shook his head to shake it off since he only knew of Old Gu on the whole continent who might pose some threat to him.


    ¡®But if there is Old Gu... there can be others as well-¡®


    Yet another sigh escaped his lips before he looked towards Raven, ¡°What are you guys standing there for? Get to work... there isn¡¯t much time.¡±


    The onlookers had yet to ept the reality when his voice woke them up from their stupor.


    Embarrassed, Raven swiftly nodded and raced back, followed by Haley, who gave him a brief bow before leaving.


    Although she was surprised to learn that he would suddenly change his mind about keeping it a secret, the fact that he changed his mind only served to show how much it mattered to him.


    They had to hurry because time was indeed short; they barely had a month left before the tournament finally started...

 Chapter 314

    Chapter 314: Invaluable Jewel.


    They had to hurry because time was indeed short; they barely had a month left before the tournament finally started.


    When everyone was informed of the new orders, they were back to their initial excitement toplete the task. This time, they had more confidence as they didn¡¯t have to hold back to hide anything from the rest of the world.


    Leaving them to deal with everything, Ozul decided to spend these days trying to familiarize himself with the new power.


    He had thought of naming it but then decided to leave it forter until he had a better understanding of it.


    Every day he felt his control over that shadow increase, albeit just a little.


    Unlike with the Ball of Purity, he would easily get tired of manipting them. As a result, his progress was far slower than he had anticipated.


    At the same time, the anticipated day drew nearer, and everyone in the organization was busy looking for clues about the symbol.


    .....


    Anything rted to the Three-Eyed Strangers was regarded as highly important by all the other organizations because of the sudden speed at which they had risen to their current position.


    Except for the Church of Light, which was too busy stabilizing itself to care about external matters, this new action from the renowned neutral organization drew the attention of many, if not everyone¡¯s.


    Within a day, everyone around the continent had their own copies of the pattern being spread everywhere.


    Including the Merchant¡¯s Guild and the Leonhard Dynasty, they asked their own experts but found nothing rted to the pattern.


    Unfortunately, that was all they decided to do for now since the uing event was more important to them right now. While they kept their eyes out for whatever the Three-Eyed Strangers were doing right now, none interfered as they were busy with their own preparations.


    Weeks quickly began to pass while thousands of files started piling on the desks of every higher up in the headquarters.


    Although Ozul made it easier for them this time, their work had undoubtedly increased many times over.


    The pyramids of reports were the proof of their best efforts and the results of the expenditure of their enormous resources every single day.


    Sadly, most of these reports contained nothing but disappointment for them.


    The rest of the reports only contained vague hope which they had to verify every time. These were mostly from the people who would do anything to get some rewards; even making up their own clues regarding the pattern.


    Overall, they had it easier to gather information now but they still weren¡¯t able to bring any good news.


    As days passed, all the organizations keeping an eye on the Three-Eyed Strangers began to have doubts. They understood more than anyone how much resources were being spent and they still continued to do it while the deadline given from Old Gu was only days away.


    They began to assume whether their decision to not pay much heed to this unusual behavior was alright in the first ce. It had be clear to them that the importance of this pattern to the Three-Eyed Strangers was invaluable, hence they should have investigated it a bit more.


    However, with the deadline in their view, they could only choose to conserve their forces. After all, most of them were clueless about what would really happen.


    ****


    In an inconspicuous corner of the continent, an old man walked through the busy streets with an obscure presence.


    He didn¡¯t seem out of ce yet there was something different about him.


    At one point, he suddenly paused as a series of words reached his ears.


    Making a slight turn, he walked towards the corner and noticed a few men discussing a strange pattern with a painting of it in their hands.


    The Sun seemed to rage on the sky but the gentle cool winds helped calm the burning heat.


    Just then, a gentle breeze hit the area and the next moment, the man holding the painting of the strange pattern found himself with nothing in his hands.


    Outside the town, the old man sat on the roof of a building with the painting of the pattern in his hands as he tilted it a little and deeply stared at it for a moment.


    ¡°So this is what that boy¡¯s been looking for? Hm...¡± Old Gu muttered, his interest in Ozul increasing even further.


    ¡°... I can¡¯t seem to make out anything from this... but I get the feeling that it is not just any casual pattern.¡±


    Old Gu continued to tilt the painting and stared at it from all possible angles. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t figure it out in the end.


    Standing up with a sigh, he looked at the horizon, colored half with the blue of the sky and half with the green of the forest with a glint in his eyes and a grin stretching across his face.


    ¡°Come to think of it, I hadn¡¯t told him where toe... Gahaha¡±


    The old man then vanished from the town. Although hisughter echoed there for a time, frightening the townspeople in broad daylight.


    ***


    Only a couple of days were left before the day arrived when Old Gu had announced to the world to leave the Neutral Lands.


    At first, everyone had thought that the forces residing there would surely retaliate, but to everyone¡¯s surprise, they witnessed no protest. Even the Rank-10 Mages stayed quiet and shifted their headquarters outside the Neutral Lands.


    With all the big shotsplying so easily, even normal people started to anticipate what Old Gu was going to do in the Neutral Lands.


    Did he want to create an organization of his own there? Was he a sage who had previously lived there and now wanted to take his home back?


    Countless rumors were spread among themon popce.


    While everyone on the continent was looking forward to the day, the members of the Three-Eyed Strangers were still desperately searching for any clues about the pattern.


    They had yet again failed to bring about any results even after a month had passed just like that.


    Again, contrary to their fears, Ozul kept calm while receiving the reports asionally. After all, unlike what they thought, he had already anticipated it.


    But that didn¡¯t stop him from feeling depressed, knowing that all his years of hard effort had been for naught, and that he would have to seek an area infinitely many times greater than this continent for answers.


    This fueled his motivation to improve his control over his new power.


    ¡®I have to be stronger since I don¡¯t know what I will have to face out there.¡¯


    He was currently in his room alone with Jinx.


    Raven and ze both oversaw the entire process.


    They were the only two people among the ones chosen by Old Gu to have no care whatsoever for the uing tournament.


    While all others were practicing all day and night, they were more worried about giving results to Ozul.


    Everyone was as busy as usual today, and no one seemed to notice the appearance of a strange old man who had not only strolled through the main entrance, which was currently closed, but was also heading up the stairs, with everyone seemingly ignoring him.


    As the old man reached the top, he stopped at the floor where he felt the presence of Raven and ze.


    He had only taken a few steps when he coincidentally came before ze.


    ¡°...Uh...¡±


    Suddenlying face to face before Old Gu made ze pause in his footsteps, making him doubt whether he was seeing things.


    But his doubt didn¡¯t remain for long when others present also started noticing the old man¡¯s presence one by one. In a few seconds, Old Gu found himself being stared at by all the higher-ups of the Three-Eyed Strangers.


    Those who recognized him were all weary while others threw annoyed nces at the old man.


    ¡°Gahaha... look at all of you staring at me like I am some monkey. Where is that heartless kid? Tch! he is the only one I cannot feel the presence of...¡± he grumbled thest sentence to himself.


    Immediately as he said so, a few shot a few nces towards the stairs but all kept their quiet. Everyone knew that no one should disturb the leader, so they were reluctant to say anything.


    Unfortunately for them, their actions did not escape Old Gu¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Gahaha! I will see him for myself,¡± saying that, he turned around and was about to walk towards the stairs when he noticed a shadowing down instead.


    ¡°There is no need.¡±


    Ozul came down the stairs and stood before Old Gu, staring suspiciously at him from head to toe.


    What the old man failed to notice was the slight quiver in Ozul¡¯s eyebrows.


    ¡®He is still stronger than me...¡¯ he internally sighed. His only constion was in the fact that he was at least able to detect the old man¡¯s arrival unlike before.


    There was no doubt that Old Gu was still stronger than him because he wasn¡¯t able to feel his strength at all.


    A sense of disappointment washed over him as he suddenly had an urge to fight with him and test his own strength against him but he stopped himself from doing so.


    He didn¡¯t know what this old man would do if he were to lose the duel which was the most likely scenario.


    While he was pondering on whether he would be able to match against Old Gu with the help of his newfound power, thetter continued to stare at him with an ever-stretching grin.


    It was as if he was staring at an invaluable jewel...

 Chapter 315

    Chapter 315: Inscriptions?


    In Old Gu¡¯s eyes, there was anotheryer of mystery surrounding this apathetic boy.


    He could tell he wasn¡¯t the same person he had been during their prior meeting. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t pinpoint the cause of this strange shift.


    ¡°Gahaha... those old fogies are going to fight like beasts for you.¡±


    While others were caught off-guard with his sudden burst ofughter, Ozul instead focused on those particr words more.


    ¡®Old fogies?¡¯ he pondered. Having already epted the possibility of there being other humans as strong as Old Gu, he could guess that these old fogies must be just like him.


    This much was enough for him to understand that his current power was really not enough for the world out there.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    .....


    ¡°Ghaha! Well, aren¡¯t we good friends already, boy? Why so many formalities? Can¡¯t an old friend like mee to visit another friend?¡±


    Despite his pleasant-sounding assertions, no one appeared to ept them. Everyone was staring at him with bated breath, and Ozul¡¯s face was devoid of expression as usual.


    ¡°So, why are you here?¡± Ozul asked again after Old Gu stopped talking.


    ¡°Tch! You are more boring than scarecrows. At least they look funny,¡± Old Gu grumbled, but in the next second, he appeared to have forgotten it as he continued, ¡°I found this on the streets boy. How could I note looking for you?¡±


    In his hand, he suddenly held a small painting of the pattern the Three-Eyed Strangers had been spreading all over the continent.


    Old Gu watched in interest as the usually stone-like face of Ozul started showing cracks and for the first time, he found the boy expressing actual emotions.


    ¡®No... It¡¯s just that I have never been able to detect his emotions... or at least whenever he doesn¡¯t want me to,¡¯ pondered Old Gu as he noticed the gaps in his emotional wall were quickly filled up.


    ¡°Gahaha! Don¡¯t be so tense boy! I don¡¯t know anything about these,¡± as he said these words, Old Gu could bet on his life that he felt a spark of annoyance burning in Ozul¡¯s eyes before, ¡°... but you might or might not find your answers soon.¡±


    Saying that he began to slowly walk towards the stairs. Only Ozul followed after him with the duo while the rest kept staring at their backs. The old man had sessfully piqued Ozul¡¯s interest and it wasn¡¯t appropriate to talk about that in front of everyone.


    Old Gu only stopped once they were outside the tower.


    ¡°Do you really not know what that means?¡± Ozul asked out of nowhere. This time he focused on the old man¡¯s emotions which he previously wasn¡¯t able to determine precisely.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you impatient~ I really don¡¯t know what it means but that is not the question here, boy,¡± Old Gu then squinted his eyes at Ozul, ¡°The question here is; why are you searching for this inscription? And how did you get your hands on this?¡±


    At this point, both parties were probing each other for answers but neither could understand the other.


    ¡°They can¡¯t even work here, so there is no way this piece was created by someone in this small world. Tell me, boy, are you sent here by someone? What do you want to do with this inscription? And why would it be here in this scrapyard?¡±


    With each word, Old Gu¡¯s aura turned fiercer as he leaned further towards Ozul as if trying to intimidate him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what ¡®inscription¡¯ is. And you don¡¯t have to know what business I have with it.¡±


    Even while receiving so much information at once, Ozul remained firm as ever. He knew the old man was testing him and there was no guarantee that he wouldn¡¯t attack him if he wasn¡¯t satisfied.


    Be that as may, he was also not willing to reveal his purposes for looking for that pattern.


    Old Gu remained silent at his answer. Taking this opportunity, he asked, ¡°How do you know it¡¯s really this inscription you are talking about? It could be the runes as well.¡±


    Old Gu¡¯s eyebrows rxed a little as he replied, ¡°I have been here far longer than you, boy. I can tell what runes look like. They are merely simple letters conveying orders ¨C trash. This here, though. It¡¯s moreplicated than that. Each line of this pattern isplicated. If it was anymon inscription, I would have easily been able to tell what it was. But inscriptions are not my specialty, so I am clueless on this one.¡±


    Then he paused a little before turning around, ¡°Gah! Anyway, it seems like you are just a brat who is still wet behind your ears. I got excited for no reason. Tch! I could have had a good fight.¡±


    As he continued to walk away, Ozul contemted the meaning of everything Old Gu had just said. There were many things that were only his spections but one thing he could be sure of was that this inscription was not something of this world.


    ¡°Was that all?¡± he called out to Old Gu.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Turning his head around, Old Gu looked annoyed a little as his eyebrows rose suddenly as if he had remembered something, ¡°Ah! Yes. Only four days remain! You three are to be inside the circle within these four days!¡±


    ¡°Circle? Which circle?¡±


    ¡°Urgh! That... uh... what was it called again, I forgot,¡± Old Gu mulled over his memory.


    He wasn¡¯t too far from the trio so Raven could hear his mutterings, ¡°The Deste Borders surrounding the Neutral Lands?¡±


    ¡°Ah! Yes! You are a brightdy! Pity you have to follow this cold as snow brick brat. Anyway, before the test starts, all of you are to cross that circle...¡±


    Old Gu wasn¡¯t shouting. His voice slowly diminished as he walked away into the woods.


    The fact that he had found their headquarters didn¡¯t even surprise them anymore.


    The duo was busy making heads and tails of his words while only Ozul could understand half of what he had told them.


    ¡®Scrapyard?...¡¯ that word kept ringing in his mind. Old Gu had called their whole world a scrapyard. Was that all this world amounted to in the face of everything that was out there?


    Thinking about it again, he really needed to get stronger.


    ***


    Just as Old Gu had said, there were only four days left before the deadline.


    As it turned out, only the trio wasn¡¯t informed that they had to arrive in the Neutral Lands on that day. Ozul assumed that the old man had just forgotten to do so.


    Even with a sense of urgency to get stronger, there wasn¡¯t much he could do.


    There wasn¡¯t much improvement he could achieve with the Ball of Purity and he would always feel some restrictions while dealing with his new power. It was as if hecked something or something was intentionally interfering with him.


    Despite that feeling, he continued to work with those shadows since there wasn¡¯t much he could do otherwise in this short time.


    The results of his efforts became apparent when he started to feel less tired every time he used that power. He could now sustain that state for much longer which meant more time to deal with any nuisance that he wouldn¡¯t be able to eliminate normally.


    The thing which he had already anticipated but still disappointed him was the failure of the mission to find any clues about the pattern.


    All members in the headquarters were extremely embarrassed and many felt guilty for not bringing in any results at all, but most of the pressure was on the upper echelon as they were in charge of everything.


    The ones who felt the worst were Raven and ze even though they knew that Ozul wasn¡¯t nning to me any of them.


    When only two days were left, Ozul called them to his room and told them to stop the search.


    If anyone really knew anything about the pattern, then they would have alreadye out for the massive rewards. And then Old Gu had also asserted that the pattern was an inscription which supposedly wouldn¡¯t work here.


    ¡®... but why was I born with these patterns etched into my skin here in this world then?¡¯ questioned Ozul but there was no one to answer. He was sitting alone atop the tower with Jinx whose absence nowadays would leave him feeling empty.


    He stood up with a sigh to find the duo.


    It was time that they arrived in the Neutral Lands as well.


    All the others who were chosen had already left their respective ces and arrived in the Neutral Lands. Only the trio hadn¡¯t made the journey.


    Finding the duo had always been easy. They always remained close to each other due to his instructions.


    He had once advised them to stay together, and they had taken it quite seriously. Now it had almost be a habit as they followed each other everywhere. Ozul¡¯s intention in making them do so was because he knew that they weren¡¯t strong enough yet.


    In terms of strength, they hadn¡¯t progressed much in the recent months as they were busy dealing with the mission Ozul had handed them.


    Both of them were at the peak of Rank-8, however, they were far from reaching Rank-9. Their Mana Cores were nowhere near big enough to promote them to the next Rank.


    Most of their recent progress was only due to improving their bodies by integrating more Mana into them.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to go,¡± informed Ozul before he made his way out of the tower without giving any orders to Haley or Irvin who were expecting him to say something before the departure.


    He didn¡¯t feel refreshed as he felt the cool breeze hit his face.


    There was a strange feeling inside him, poking his conscious as if telling him that something was going to happen... something he hadn¡¯t predicted.

 Chapter 316

    Chapter 316: The show begins!


    Ozul didn¡¯t know how urate his instincts were this time.


    Unknown to him, the aftermath of his previous actions in the middle of nowhere was rapidly escting.


    The forsaken part of the continent was currently trembling because of a certain urrence that Ozul hadpletely overlooked before. Caught right in the middle of it all was his grandfather Kure who had gone there to confirm the death of both Darcia and the Sovereign.


    Meanwhile, Ozul and the duo were crossing the Deste Borders without any worries in the world.


    Raven and ze were both confident in their strengths while Ozul was a monster in his own rights. He had no care in the world whatever Old Gu was going to throw at them.


    His concerns mostly existed about what awaited him after the tournament.


    It didn¡¯t take long for them to cross the Deste Borders. Comparing their speed with the first time they hade to the Neutral Lands was likeparing the speed of a still water body and a running river from atop the mountains.


    .....


    The Neutral Lands were vast. So vast that Ozul wasn¡¯t able to sense any other person in their vicinity. They didn¡¯t know how many people were chosen in the first ce.


    Since to their knowledge, everyone had already left the Neutral City, they wouldn¡¯t find any better ce to stay for the day in the towns or the only city in the middle.


    Beingzy as he was, Ozul didn¡¯t want to go searching for a ce either. He wasfortable wherever there wasn¡¯t much light and with the help of the Ball of Purity, he could make his ¡®habitat¡¯ just about anywhere.


    ¡°But I am sure there will be plenty of abandoned buildings we can stay at...¡± ze whispered slightly in protest.


    However, just as he had thought, no one cared.


    Ozul had already fallen asleep on top of a tree and Raven was arranging everything inside her Spatial Rings while keeping an eye out for any Beasts in the vicinity.


    Today was thest day of the time allowed by Old Gu to evacuate thisnd.


    ***


    The next day as Ozul opened his eyes, he continued to feel something in the back of his mind. But other than that, he didn¡¯t feel any different.


    Unknown to him, countless experts were there to spectate just outside the Neutral Lands.


    After all, Old Gu had only told them to evacuate the Neutral Lands; the scorched earth with no life of the Deste Borders made it easy for them to decide where they needed to halt.


    Most if not all the leaders of the organizations which had anything to do with the Neutral Lands had arrived to watch the show. Much less them, hidden experts from all over the world had arrived there!


    Some of those faces which were believed to be dead or some of the hermits from small inds outside the continent had also decided to break their seclusions.


    No matter how long their lifespans were, they weren¡¯t immortals.


    All of them understood that thispetition was something they might nevere across after this single time.


    Not to mention them, but even the Rank-10 Mages who were peak existences in this whole world had also arrived and watched from the Deste Borders humbly like everyone else.


    No one dared to take a step inside the Neutral Lands.


    Even while all the experts had gathered from different locations, they all spectated from a single point. Still, they all kept a little distance from each other.


    As everyone was flying in the air, it was quite easy to notice whoever was there and whoever wasn¡¯t.


    This caused all the present to wonder why the old patriarch of the Ashin family and the only other Rank-10 Mage Darcia was missing while everyone else was already here.


    Both Alver and Raymond maintained a proper distance as not many knew that they were brothers, and they weren¡¯t nning to reveal that anytime soon.


    Alver eyed Raymond quite a few times, expressing his concerns over Kure¡¯s absence.


    Fortunately, Kure wasn¡¯t the only person missing from the ¡®audience¡¯. Darcia was also missing which divided the attention that the Ashin family received from the rest.


    Just as the brothers had thought, Lammert was currently trying his best to maintain a calmposure.


    ¡®Fu*k! F*ck! They are definitely suspicious!¡¯ he internally screamed as he gulped a mouthful of saliva while keeping an eye on the other two Rank-10 Mages present on the scene. At the same time, he would time and time again re in Alver¡¯s direction while gritting his teeth.


    But all of the tension here was overshadowed by the anticipation of what was going to happen next.


    Old Gu had yet to make an appearance and this never-ending wait was affecting the participants the most.


    While all those chosen had specialties of their own, it looked like the old man wasn¡¯t following any criteria while choosing the participants at all. He was most likely only following his whims!


    The only exception to that was the age of the chosen. If one were to gather all of them, they would notice that none of them exceeded the age of a hundred years.


    Currently, there were more than fifty people inside the Neutral Lands, all waiting for Old Gu to appear and finally exin to them what was going to happen.


    These more than fifty people included Mages and only a couple Fighters from all over the continent and a few were even from small pieces ofnds separate from the Maind of Egon.


    ¡°Could it be that the old man forgot it was today?¡± ze muttered in annoyance since they had been waiting for half a day already with no sign of Old Gu anywhere.


    The Sun was hanging on top of the sky, dering that it was already midday which further fueled ze¡¯s annoyance.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t only ze who was annoyed but almost everyone. The wait was killing them.


    Just as they were waiting for his appearance at any moment, the ground suddenly started to shake. The earthquake covered the entire Neutral Lands! Such an intensity of the earthquake was never seen before!


    *Goudhgh!*


    It was at that point when a thinyer of ground at the edge of the Deste Borders touching the Neutral Lands suddenly started to heat up.


    This event was only noticed by those spectators outside the Neutral Lands. Everyone instantly flew back to avoid getting in the way.


    At the same time, there was a strange feeling building inside everyone¡¯s heart. It was as if something heavy was weighing on their very souls!


    Even the Rank-10 Mages weren¡¯t spared of this sudden feeling of trepidation.


    But for some reason, Ozul felt confused instead since just as everyone was feeling dread, he felt his strange shadows stir inside of him.


    It was strange because normally he would need to spend some effort to control this new power and get it out of his body but now he found himself spending his energy to keep it inside instead!


    At that point when everyone was wondering if this was Old Gu¡¯s doing, they were shocked to see a semi-transparent pale ss-like structure erecting from the point where it was burning before.


    Very quickly, they realized it was a shield that covered the whole Neutral Lands!


    ¡°T-this...¡±


    ¡°Just how!?¡±


    Everyone outside shared the same feelings as they knew best how even if they were to sell their whole organizations, they would never be able to afford to create a defensive formation this big!


    Moreover, they had seen no runes etched on the ground where the shield dome had just been erected from!


    ¡®Was the formation perhaps set up underground? But why?!¡¯


    Such questions were in everyone¡¯s mind but they couldn¡¯t ask anyone for answers. The only ones who remained calm were from the giant pirs like the Leonhard Dynasty, the Ashin family, the Church, and the leaders of the Mercenary Guild.


    Their elders had already told them their past experiences about this Deste Borders during thest time Old Gu had appeared. That was also the reason that this small group of people never bothered to search the reason why this ce was more barren than even the deserts.


    As the dome of shield waspleted, no one dared to test its strength.


    They had seen a few formations which would simultaneously return the attack of those trying to take the shield down, and they didn¡¯t want to be the one to find out if this formation had such an ability.


    ¡°Gahahaha!!...¡±


    Right as everyone expected, a peal of loudughter rang in the air followed by sharp winds that were seemingly generated out of nowhere.


    This round ofughter was so strange that even all the people outside the Neutral Lands were able to hear it!


    It wasn¡¯t overly loud but somehow almost everyone was able to hear it despite not being able to figure out where it wasing from.


    Those around the Neutral Lands even suspected that thisughter may have been heard by everyone on the Maind!


    A few secondster, the strangeugh stopped and a moment of silence ensued before everyone heard someone clear his throat.


    By now, most people had already recognized that this voice belonged to Old Gu, so no one cared much about why they weren¡¯t able to see him but still hear him.


    ¡°Well well, it seems a few of you came in person to watch the show! Gahaha! Well whatever, I will allow you to watch from above.¡±


    The experts outside the Neutral Lands collectively released a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Anyway... Since I am here, I now announce the start of this... uh...whatever... Survival Test!¡±

 Chapter 317

    Chapter 317: Survival Test.


    ¡°Anyway... Since I am here, I now announce the start of this... uh...whatever... Survival Test!¡±


    Survival Test? All the participants felt a little sense of trepidation, but they braced themselves as it was evident that they had no other choice.


    ¡°For all of those still unaware, although I doubt it, today all you have to do is to survive.¡±


    Every time Old Gu spoke, his voice brought chills to the participants.


    ¡°Depending on my mood, I can and believe me I will shrink the size of this dome! You can hide! You can form teams! You can kill others! But your main goal is only to survive!¡±


    His voice slowly turned sharper, bringing quite a few to hold their breath in fear.


    The meaning behind his words instantly settled in everyone¡¯s mind. All of them immediately readied themselves for all possibilities, proving that they were all capable enough with their quick reactions.


    .....


    Just then, Old Gu¡¯s voice turned a little sinister, ¡°As for how long you have to survive? Ghahaha! Survive until I am satisfied! Survive until enough of you are dead!¡±


    Even the most indifferent of those present inside and outside the Neutral Lands were a little surprised except for Ozul and the Rank-10 Mages.


    Ozul already had a guess that this old man was ruthless and wouldn¡¯t bat an eye even if the entire continent was put on fire and turned into ashes. Meanwhile, the Rank-10 Mages had personally experienced his vicious side centuries ago!


    ¡°I think no more words are needed. You can begin!¡±


    With that, Old Gu¡¯s voice disappeared with a dissipating echo of another round ofughter.


    The spectating experts all rose higher in the air in order to have a clear view if anyrge battle took ce; as of now, most of them only had a general idea of their participants¡¯ directions.


    Meanwhile inside the massive dome, most of the people were all miles apart so there was danger for them now. Despite that, a few of them were worried sick.


    Old Gu¡¯s announcement clearly meant that everything was allowed in here!


    People could either just hide away until enough of the people were dead or start killing others to end it quickly.


    Obviously, the smarter choice would have been to hide and preserve their strength, not everyone chose this path...


    ****


    ¡°You d*ckhead! Come back here! The test only started a few seconds ago and you already want to fight!? Do you even know how many people there are!?¡± An orange-haired girl screamed from the top of a giant boulder.


    The girl was trembling in rage as her shaky finger pointed towards the red-haired youth walking away from her.


    The man had short red hair. He wore a rough grey shirt with torn sleeves, tightened with a ck belt on his waist. The muscles on his arms were packed and just from a nce one could tell that they packed quite a punch.


    From his appearances alone, no one would think that he was a Mage. Instead, everyone¡¯s first impression was that he was a Fighter at almost Rank-10!


    But they were only half right with their guesses.


    ¡°It¡¯s kill or to be killed, Maura! You want me, the crown prince of the Leonhard Dynasty, to wait here until someone has the audacity to try to kill me?!¡± the red-haired man shouted back in reply and continued walking, ¡°Follow me or stay here, you can¡¯t stop me from leaving.¡±


    A fire burned inside the red-haired man¡¯s eyes as he continued forward, determined to eliminate any human being that he came across from now on.


    ¡°Mou! You know I don¡¯t mean it like that, Berk. I know you are strong enough to kill anyone, but in this way, we willpletely exhaust ourselves! What if someonees to target us then?¡± Maurained but she still followed behind Berk nheless.


    She was the personal retainer of the crown prince of the Leonhard Dynasty and a talented individual in her own right. Since she was just a child, she had been together with Berk Leonhard. So she didn¡¯t mind his harsh words.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whoes to target us, the result will always be the same,¡± replied Berk without batting an eye.


    ¡°Really now Berk. Don¡¯t be so overconfident. You were there when the Tournament of Egon was happening. His Majesty didn¡¯t let us participate but we were both there to watch the battle.¡±


    Maura vividly remembered the fight from that day, ¡°That Ice guy and that girl with Darkness Element were stronger than any of the opponents you have ever defeated.¡±


    ¡°Tch! Just you wait! That twat would always give his best while fighting me but it looked as if he didn¡¯t even try back then. I will show those two what a real lion from the Leonhard Dynasty is!¡±


    Berk clenched his fists as he aimlessly walked towards the center. He actually hoped to stumble upon that duo in hopes of exchanging blows.


    Although extremely talented, the Emperor of the Leonhard Dynasty deliberately didn¡¯t publicize his son¡¯s achievements. Hardly anyone outside the Leonhard Dynasty knew that the descendant of the Emperor was actually a genius.


    Even the Emperor was shocked when he was informed that Old Gu had appeared in front of Berk out of nowhere to inform him that he was chosen.


    Berk had the choice to refuse, but this was the moment he had been waiting for all his life!


    He was sheltered all these years, but he never wanted to remain caged in the Leonhard Dynasty. All Berk wanted to do was get out in the world and show his might to everyone!


    And this was the stage he had been dreaming of since his childhood.


    ¡°Anyway, this will never end if everyone keeps hiding. Didn¡¯t you hear the old man? Someone has to start killing people to decrease the numbers. And I have never backed from any fight,¡± Berk alluded with a wild smirk on his face as he tried to contain his excited Mana so others won¡¯t sense him first and run away.


    Behind him, Maura shook his head sideways, pitying the unfortunate souls they would stumble upon.


    But she wasn¡¯t going to stop him. She wasn¡¯t kind-hearted herself and knew it was kill or be killed, just as Berk had said.


    ****


    In another area of the Neutral Lands, ady with bright red hair walked together with anotherdy simr to her age but having blonde hair tied in a ponytail.


    If not for theirpletely distinct appearances, one would think that they were sisters.


    ¡°Princess, what do you think we should do? It¡¯s obviously not safe here,¡± the red-haireddy spoke with a stern face.


    The reply came from an angelic voice that would have melted any man¡¯s heart, ¡°How many times have I told you not to call me princess, Irene? I am no longer a princess. I have a name, call me by my name!¡±


    Despite being two grown up women, thesedies still looked as if they were merely 19 years old teenagers. s, the maturity in their eyes deceived their youthful appearances.


    ¡°I... Okay, I will call you Sarah then... though it feels so strange,¡± muttered Irene with creased eyebrows. She was no longer the spoiled granddaughter of Rufus Staroak, but a talented Mage who was also chosen by Old Gu.


    Together with her was the princess of the now fallen Silverbird Kingdom. She was also the innocent girl who was friends with ra, the daughter of Archbishop Lammert.


    But years had passed and she also wasn¡¯t the naive girl anymore. After her father¡¯s death, most of her family had abandoned her and it was Rufus who came to her aid when she was lost.


    Even while old, Rufus, with his strength, easily fought against all those who wanted to harm her but he was regretfully not able to protect her innocence.


    With the help of Rufus, Sarah tried her best to get strong so she wouldn¡¯t need anyone else¡¯s help and the results were shocking! Even Rufus was surprised to see that the fragile princess of the pce was also such a genius when she put her everything into it.


    Even when she was previously weaker than Irene, Sarah quickly surpassed her and proved that the blood of Emperor Luthien ran in her veins.


    Coincidentally, she was also chosen to participate in this test by Old Gu.


    Rufus hade to see Sarah as her own granddaughter as well. So, he wanted to stop both Irene and Sarah from taking part in this, but they refused to listen.


    Irene was adamant in taking part while Sarah also wanted to gain more experience.


    ¡°It¡¯s obvious what we are going to do Irene. Even though we are strong, you have to know that all others also must be talented in one way or another. That old man wouldn¡¯t have chosen just about anyone,¡± Sarah calmly exined as they walked through the forest.


    ¡°Fighting is inevitable. Even if it¡¯s peaceful right now, there will be chaoster. We can¡¯t hide forever, but we should first find a better ce than this. It will be hard to fight in this ce.¡±


    Irene kept nodding her head in agreement while listening to Sarah assess their situation.


    They were currently in the middle of a packed forest which wasn¡¯t suitable to either of their fighting styles. One could easily sneak up to them anytime if they weren¡¯t careful enough.


    ¡°We should avoid fighting as much as possible,¡± reminded Sarah as her firm eyes kept staring forward. She wasn¡¯t afraid to fight but wanted to conserve her strength as much as possible until the end.


    What she didn¡¯t expect was that the man who had killed her father was also one of the participants.


    This was the case for most people. Even most of the spectators outside the shield dome weren¡¯t aware that the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers was among the chosen ones.


    It wasn¡¯t their fault, no one knew the actual age of Ozul and they never expected that Old Gu would even choose a Rank-9 Mage.


    As Sarah and Irene advanced forward, they failed to notice the presence of another group of people only a few miles away from them...

 Chapter 318

    Chapter 318: Bad luck or Good Fortune.


    Just like others, there was only a small number of people who were chosen among the members of the Mercenary Guild.


    There were currently two men from the Mercenary Guild inside the Neutral Lands. One of them was even the son of an important figure in the upper echelon of the Guild!


    ¡°Cort! Hurry yourzy ass up here!¡± shouted a robust man with short dark brown hair which fluttered freely in the air. He was currently on top of a giant boulder, taking a look around their surroundings.


    A few meters away from him walked a man with an average build and light brown hair that dropped almost to his shoulders. An annoyed expression was stered on his face as he spat on the ground before jumping on the boulder as well.


    ¡°What is it, Aakal? Can¡¯t you keep your voice down? It¡¯s not the Guild anymore! We can be attacked anytime!¡± barked Cort. He had known Aakal for a long time, and yet he couldn¡¯t get used to his annoying behavior.


    ¡°Alright alright, calm down, will you?¡± Aakal waved his hand nonchntly and pointed in a certain direction, ¡°Look there, see that?¡±


    Cort didn¡¯t want to keep following Aakal¡¯s orders, but considering his sudden enthusiasm, he decided toply one more time.


    .....


    Following the direction in which he was pointed at, Cort noticed a tiger-like Beast with a long tail that seemed to be strangely tied to a massive rock. But looking closely, he noticed that the rock wasn¡¯t tied to its tail but the whole tail at the end had morphed into that rock!


    ¡°What is that Beast? Howe I have never seen it before?¡± Cort muttered in confusion. He wasn¡¯t afraid of the Beast as there was still a considerable distance between them.


    By his side, Aakal grinned, ¡°Ha! Now you see? This must be a rare Beast! There is no way that I wouldn¡¯t recognize a normal Beast just by looking at it.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s not the point here. Look at it! It¡¯s crouching in that direction and then there is a redberry bush right in front of it. Don¡¯t you see what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Cort continued to nkly stare at Aakal for a few seconds before his eyes suddenly lit up. Mouth agape, he immediately asked, ¡°Can you sense how many are there?¡±


    Unfortunately, Aakal shook his head. He was close to breaking through Rank-8, but he doubted that even then he would be able to have his senses enhanced so much.


    ¡°I obviously can¡¯t! Are you making fun of me?¡± Aakal clicked his tongue, ¡°But even if I can¡¯t, there shouldn¡¯t be more than one or two. From my guess, the Beast may be around the peak of Rank-7. It should be smart enough not to attack people it can¡¯t defeat.¡±


    Listening to his deductions, Cort nodded his head in agreement. He had to admit that no matter how annoying, this guy was quite sharp at times.


    Just as he was having that thought, he suddenly noticed something was amiss, ¡°H-hey! Where are you going!?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s check it out! And keep it down, will you!?¡± replied Aakal while slowly sneaking behind the tiger.


    As they both controlled their Mana, the tiger didn¡¯t notice anything and kept waiting for its prey to get closer.


    At a certain point, Aakal and Cort stopped and hid behind trees. From their location, they could finally see who was being targeted by the Beast.


    Aakal slowly tilted his head to the side to get a clear view when he noticed two absolutely beautiful girls, clearly oblivious to the danger that awaited them if they advanced further.


    His eyes especially stayed glued to the figure of thedy with blonde hair. She looked innocent, yet her firm eyes portrayed unmoving confidence.


    Beside him, Cort had also noticed that those two girls were the Beast¡¯s target. To him, it looked like the girls hadn¡¯t noticed anything amiss. Looking at this situation, a smile slowly crept up his face.


    ¡°Even if these little girls can survive the Beast¡¯s sudden attack somehow, we can easily take care of themter!¡± he excitedly whispered to which Aakal had no visible response.


    Cort found it suspicious that his usually noisy friend had gotten so quiet all of a sudden. He turned his head only toe across a face who was dumbly staring ahead with parted lips and little to no regard for his surroundings. Aakal¡¯s eyes held an intensity of fondness that he had never seen from him before!


    A sense of premonition quickly rose from Cort¡¯s heart; he could already see where this was going...


    ****


    Other than these prominent talents currently inside the Neutral Lands, there were more than fifty participants. Some of them were alone while others had teamed up.


    Unlike the calm start for some of them, fights had already started on quite a few asions, though most of them were caused by Beasts, all of whom ¡®strangely¡¯ turned out to be at least Rank-7.


    Outside the dome of shield, the experts of the Maind could only witness a few battles. Though they hadn¡¯t been able toe across anything interesting as of yet, they all stayed calm. No one had any intentions of observing from any closer, they were fine as they were right now even if they couldn¡¯t see much.


    Among the spectators, there was only a single man who actually wanted to pass through the shield so he could save a child precious to him.


    The man looked quite old with his long white beard and bald head. Though he looked full of vigor with a straightened back and an aura that didn¡¯t seem to lose from the heads of the top organizations of the continent.


    Strangely, however, this old man wasn¡¯t a famous personality. Among those present here, there wasn¡¯t a single person who knew about this old man.


    A couple of people would asionally throw curious nces at him, but hepletely ignored everything. He was too worried for the child who was trapped inside the dome to care about anything else.


    ¡®Please be okay, Little Zier. I knew it! I shouldn¡¯t have allowed you to participate!¡¯ thought the old man as his fists were clenched with an intensity that would shatter a tree trunk to paste!


    His heart was filled with regret. That fateful day when the mysterious old man had appeared on their ind out of nowhere, he had warned his grandson not to leave the house.


    But not only did his grandson not listen, but Old Gu had also, for some sickening reasons, decided to choose his grandson to participate in somepetition.


    After Old Gu disappeared, his grandson somehow managed to persuade him to allow him to participate.


    He just couldn¡¯t say no to the desperate pleas of his only family remaining in this world. After all, his grandson had never left the ind. They stayed in this little vige on the ind and Zier would always ask to show him the outside world.


    When his chance came, he didn¡¯t let go of it and did his best to persuade his grandfather.


    But right after Zier had reached the Neutral Lands, the dome separated him and his grandfather who could only helplessly look from outside.


    Even that was bearable, but when Old Gu announced that thepetition consisted of surviving and even killing was allowed, he couldn¡¯t take it anymore!


    s, even though he was a powerful Rank-9 Mage, he was no match for Old Gu.


    Not to mention destroying the dome, he couldn¡¯t even leave a scratch on it!


    His grandson wasn¡¯t some genius kid who could kill or survive in this hellishpetition! He wasn¡¯t even a mage!


    The old man kept shouting in rage but no matter what he did, Old Gu never appeared. Hepletely ignored his attempts to destroy the barrier.


    It was only now that the old man had calmed down a little. He remembered the smile his grandson had shown him from the opposite side of the barrier before turning his back to him and walking away.


    ¡®You grew up so fast, little Zier...¡¯ the old man reminisced, ¡®Your father would, that brat, would have been proud.¡¯


    A heart-wrenching bitterness remained on his tongue.


    Him, an honorable Rank-9 Mage was reduced to such a sorry state where to protect his own grandson, all he could do was pray to God!


    ¡®You may not be the strongest little Zier, but you have always been a smart kid. Please be safe!¡¯


    No matter how the old man tried to console himself, in the end, he couldn¡¯t help but worry.


    Fortunately for him, as of yet, he hadn¡¯t noticed any hugemotion near the area where his grandson had walked in.


    What he didn¡¯t realize was that the reason there wasn¡¯t any kind of disturbance near that area was due to a specific group of people who had been camping there for quite some time.


    Whether it was Zier¡¯s bad luck or good future, he would soon find out...

 Chapter 319

    Chapter 319: Zier¡¯s Dream.


    Zier, whose grandfather was worried sick outside the barrier, looked just like an average boy of 19 years.


    He had a lean build which was almost too skinny for his age. Although he appeared rather good-looking, there were hints of exhaustion and sickness on his face. It felt as if he wasn¡¯t taking good care of his physical health at all.


    Such an appearance in this world was rather rare for Fighters or Mages. It was because advancing in the ranks of either Fighter or Mage not only increased one¡¯s lifespan but also eliminatedmon health issues.


    Other notable features of Zier were short purple hair and his energetic eyes that had a peculiar gleam in them.


    Although he wore a sickly look, there was nothing peculiar about him that would betray his weakness.


    ¡®Ha... I am already getting tired. I¡¯m only a Rank-5 Fighter, it will be a miracle if I could survive in the end,¡¯ Zier quietly thought in his head while advancing forward with a slower pace than before.


    Although he had shed his best smile for his grandfather before departing, he himself knew how hard it was going to be to survive. If his mental exhaustion was anything to go by, his thoughts were already proving to be true.


    .....


    Currently, his goal was to get out of this eerie forest and find higher ground. He would have fewer chances of being ambushed if he could find himself a better hiding spot.


    Unlike many others, he had no thoughts whatsoever of facing those strong Mages and actually hoping to win.


    Being with his grandfather since he was just a child, he had learned countless survival skills. It was time that he actually put them into use.


    Since he was the one moving, his greatest fear right now was that he wouldn¡¯t stumble upon any other participant.


    As of now, he hadn¡¯t set up any traps and had no means of sensing others except for his basic instincts.


    Regretfully, as if he had cursed his own luck, Zier suddenly found himself having to face the only situation he hoped to avoid now of all moments.


    ¡°Uh... hello?¡± he barely managed to mutter while forcing himself to squeeze out a smile to ease his own nerves.


    He had abruptly found himself being stared at by two pairs of eyes. He was walking on the ground and the sudden appearance of these two people indifferently looking down at him from atop the trees managed to ring all types of rms in his brain.


    Zier forced himself to keep up the harmless smile while pondering on his situation, ¡®Heck! I didn¡¯t sense anything at all! It¡¯s just like... just like with grandfather!¡¯


    At the same time, his hand at once had stiffened for some reason. One would assume that he couldn¡¯t move his body due to the intense fear.


    Just when one of his fingers had twitched, he heard the two people converse with each other and stopped himself from doing anything reckless.


    ¡°What do you want to do with him?¡± asked the man with azure hair,pletely ignoring his harmless greeting.


    There was a peculiar chillness around him. Zier, for a moment, even felt that he could see water vapors condense into fog around that man¡¯s body as it does around ice itself.


    His question brought a chill down his spine as well since he could feel that the answer from the other person could decide his fate. Instinctively, his hands stiffened again.


    At the same time, his eyes shifted to the ck silhouette of the woman, vigntly staring at her. The sunlight was shining just behind her head, so he couldn¡¯t make out her facial features. Yet, her presence was just as or even more overbearing than the man with azure hair.


    There was a moment of silence after the man¡¯s question before it was broken by a sudden noise.


    ¡°Urh...¡±


    The sound felt exactly like when a person stretched his arms after waking up from a night¡¯s sleep.


    Curious, he shifted his head towards the sound at the same time as the two people on the trees.


    ¡°Leave him. He is harmless,¡± a voice came from the same direction.


    These words left Zier speechless for a moment. Not only because he felt hope reigniting in this almost hopeless situation, but also because of how clear that voice had been just now.


    It was like listening to a waterfall in the middle of a forest surrounded by lush green bushes, singing canaries, and sleeping animals under the shade of giant canopies of the surrounding trees ¨C it was just that refreshing.


    Shaking his head to clear out his thoughts, Zier decided to think about itter and focus on his current predicament. He again shifted his eyes to the two unusually powerful people and their eyes betrayed a feeling of hesitation.


    They were clearly unconvinced to leave him alive. Yet, they didn¡¯t take any action to harm him either.


    ¡°Do you want me to deal with the other group?¡±


    The voice came again, this time there was even a hint of displeasureced within those words.


    It seemed that Zier wasn¡¯t the only one to sense it. In front of his eyes, the man and the woman didn¡¯t wait for another moment before disappearing from the trees. They left him just like that!


    ¡®That... was it?¡¯ he thought to himself before rxing his hands instantly.


    Though his posture remained in a defensive stance for a couple of seconds before he reluctantly dropped his guard.


    The other party obviously didn¡¯t think of him as any threat!


    While this thought brought a strange sense of distaste in his mouth, it was also a relief that he wouldn¡¯t have to die here, ¡°Well, I would have taken at least one of them down with me.¡±


    Just as he muttered that out aloud, his eyes widened as he realized his trail of thoughts just now. ¡®No! What am I thinking?! I don¡¯t want to die yet! I have yet to explore the whole world!¡¯


    ¡®Tch! To think that in the heat of the moment, I even forgot my own dream...¡¯


    Zier suddenly felt displeased with himself for losing his own aim.


    Though he couldn¡¯t be med for what happened. Any sane person in his shoes wouldn¡¯t even have been able to stand their ground much less keep their head straight.


    After getting ahold of himself, Zier was left with a predicament.


    He wanted to immediately leave this ce and run in the opposite direction since his instincts told him that he was no match for the people he had encountered just now. Their presence alone screamed of danger!


    Yet, he could not bring himself to move his feet, to flee.


    No matter how much he wanted not to, he found himself stepping forward, albeit reluctantly. He had a strong urge to find out who that calm yet imposing voice belonged to.


    ¡®Just... who could it be?¡¯


    The question clouded his mind, rendering him unable to think about the consequences of his curiosity. He only had to take a couple of steps!


    What are you doing?! He is obviously a dangerous man! Don¡¯t go there!


    Something inside him kept yelling to stop at that instant and turn away. Yet, it wasn¡¯t his instincts but fear talking.


    ¡®There... there are other people around this area too. Hadn¡¯t those two people gone to deal with them? There must be others around here too. This person at least spared my life... yes... this is the safest approach...¡¯


    Zier convinced himself with these thoughts. Nheless, he himself understood that this was not, by any means, his safest option.


    He could only guess there was another group. They would currently be busy fighting the earlier two people. The chances of another group being in the same area were slim. His best bet would have been to run away.


    As he passed the tree with a giant trunk that was mainly blocking his vision to the voice, he found himself witnessing someone live the very dream he had dreamt of since he was only a child.


    There he was, a man with a loose white shirt, unkempt hair which would have ruined the aesthetics if they were styled in any other way, and a face so wless that gave Zier an urge to avert his eyes lest he ruined its grace.


    Still, he couldn¡¯t take his eyes off of him.


    The man had his eyes closed, seemingly unbothered by all the dangers that lurked in this forest. It didn¡¯t look like the man was in apetition where death was the only rule.


    He was the freest man Zier had evere across in his life!


    ¡°This...¡±


    Zier found himself unable to utter a word. This was his dream!


    That nonchnt way of living life, that attitude which exhibited that no amount of opposition would stop him from doing whatever he desired, that noble aura which surrounded him even while he was merely sleeping ¨C This was all Zier¡¯s dream!


    Since he was a child, he had remained chained to his little ind under his grandfather¡¯s care.


    He hardly ever felt the absence of his parents who had both passed away before he became aware of the world around him. While he had absolutely no trouble since his grandfather was so strong, Zier remained dissatisfied with his life.


    Growing up watching those birds fly in the air, he wanted to see the world, he wanted to be unrestricted, he wanted to be free!


    Just as he was thinking all of that, the man who was living his dream abruptly opened his eyes and nced at him with bored eyes, ¡°You are still here?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡®Come on! What are you doing!? Say something!¡¯ Zier shouted in his head. Still, he couldn¡¯t utter a single word from his mouth.


    ¡°...whatever...¡±


    ¡°...¡±

 Chapter 320

    Chapter 320: A Risky Decision.


    ¡°...whatever...¡±


    And just like that, the man closed his eyes again, back to ignoring him.


    But Zier didn¡¯t feel displeased with his actions. Instead, there were stars in his eyes!


    ¡®Just how strong would he be to have such bearings?¡¯ he questioned as he instinctivelypared the indifferent man with his grandfather.


    The two people earlier were stronger than anyone he had seen beside his grandfather, but they felt different from the man in front of him.


    ¡®In just a single nce, I could tell those two were dangerous. But him... he feels so harmless. Yet, I feel as if I shouldn¡¯t disturb him...¡¯ Zier thoroughly scrutinized the man. Suddenly all the hair on his skin stood up in rm as he came to the conclusion that this man was most likely more powerful than the earlier two people.


    His mind shbacked to the past when his grandfather had taken him to hunt some simple animals. He was only a kid, but he clearly remembered all the details from back then.


    .....


    ¡°Adorable, isn¡¯t she?¡± His grandfather had asked from behind him as he was staring at a leopardzily sleeping atop a tree.


    His past self had nodded his head without giving it much thought.


    ¡°Remember, little Zier. Don¡¯t think low of a beast merely because it looks harmless while sleeping. That just goes on to show how confident it is in shredding to pieces any living being that dared to disturb its peace in the entire area.¡±


    Back then, he hadn¡¯t thought much of it before nodding his head again, pretending that he understood everything.


    However, now that those words rang in his ears again, he couldn¡¯t help but stare at the man again. His image blended in with the memory of the leopard sleeping on the tree.


    A shiver ran up his spine before he stopped himself from dwelling on this for any longer.


    Right now, his priority was survival! He should have run away before, now he couldn¡¯t help but curse himself for sumbing to his curiosity.


    Now that he couldn¡¯t afford to waste any more time, Zier was about to turn around and run away.


    But right on cue, the two people who had disappeared came back!


    Zier felt his throat run dry as he noticed the big sshes of blood sttered all over the man¡¯s body. Thedy on the other hand was exactly as she was before.


    Was the opponent too weak or were these people too strong? He couldn¡¯t tell, but one thing was for sure; they were ruthless people who wouldn¡¯t bat an eye while killing people!


    ¡®...There goes my only chance of running away...¡¯ he thought bitterly when he noticed the woman¡¯s eyesnding on him immediately as she arrived.


    ***


    As Raven and ze came back, they immediately noticed that the man they had left here hadn¡¯t run away.


    Raven traced her eyes from the man to Ozul and immediately noticed that he had changed his posture.


    Hmm...


    She didn¡¯t know what to make out of the situation. Most likely scenario was that Ozul had allowed the man to be here, but she would have to ask him to confirm.


    ¡®If he creates troubleter, it won¡¯t be toote to kill him.¡¯


    She and ze could easily gauge his strength. To them, a Rank-5 Fighter who wasn¡¯t even a Mage was nothing more than a nuisance who they could end anytime they wanted.


    ze didn¡¯t even care about the purple-haired man anymore and left it upto her to deal with him. In the end, she decided to ignore the man until Ozul had any instructions for them.


    As she averted her eyes from the man, she could feel him visibly rxing his posture.


    And she was right on point. Since she didn¡¯t decide to immediately kill Zier, he knew that his life wasn¡¯t in immediate danger anymore.


    A part of him even felt that his decision of staying here had benefited him. Zier wasn¡¯t a strong person by any means, but in terms of intellectual prowess, he was far exceeding many.


    From the moment he had first heard Ozul¡¯s voice telling the two people that he was harmless, he noticed that they were very obedient to him. He also hadn¡¯t missed when Raven had shifted her eyes from him towards Ozul as if contemting something very deeply.


    Putting the pieces together, he was overjoyed as he realized that as long as the man sleeping on the tree didn¡¯t explicitly tell them to, they wouldn¡¯t attack him!


    And from his attitude earlier, it wasn¡¯t hard to notice that the man was indifferent to his presence. That ultimately meant that as long as he didn¡¯t mess anything up, he wouldn¡¯t be killed today!


    Just then, Zier¡¯s heart skipped a beat when the same cold andzy voice rang out again.


    ¡°They were only Rank-7. What took you so long?¡±


    He again visibly sighed in relief as he realized that it was a question directed towards the two scary people;pletely unrted to him.


    As the relief settled in, shock poured down his head as he realized the context of his words.


    ¡®There was more than one Rank-7 Mages?! And what did he just say? Took too long?! That didn¡¯t even take a couple of minutes!¡¯


    Zier shakingly looked between the three people; his initial image of them turned even scarier in his mind.


    ¡°They were not ordinary Rank-7 Mages. Both held a speciality of their own. I didn¡¯t participate but for a second, even I was surprised when the person with Earth Element was able to sneak in sharp debris behind this idiot,¡± Raven calmly exined her view, receiving a growl from ze as she refused to use her spell to clean all the blood on him.


    Her eyes clearly spoke, ¡®You wanted to fight all by yourself, no? Deal with the mess yourself as well.¡¯


    ¡°Those chosen by the old man clearly aren¡¯t all simple then,¡± Ozul muttered as the duo nodded their heads.


    Right after that, they collectively turned their faces towards the young man with purple hair.


    Old Gu clearly only selected talented people. But in front of their eyes, there was a man who was not even a Mage. Even as a Fighter, he wasn¡¯t looking particrly outstanding, as evident from his sickly appearance.


    His talent clearly looked below average.


    Could it be that this man had sneaked in the Neutral Lands somehow and wasn¡¯t one of the participants? Or had he somehow hid in this area even before Old Gu erected that barrier?


    ¡°Obviously, he isn¡¯t normal either...¡± Ozulzily answered before they had even had the chance to ask anything. Then he turned his back to the three people and went back to sleep. As of now, he didn¡¯t feel the need to actively participate in this death game of the old man.


    His words caused Zier to instantly jerk back in fear.


    *Thutd!*


    He realized there was a tree behind him as his back hit the trunk. Feeling cornered all of a sudden, his hands stiffened again as a single thought ran in his mind, ¡®Does he know?!¡¯


    His breath quickened to an abnormal rate as he looked all around him to look for a way out.


    This panic stricken state did notst for long when Zier found himself being ignored again.


    Since Ozul hadn¡¯t said anything against him, it further solidified Raven and ze¡¯s notion that it was Ozul who had allowed him to stay with them.


    As Zier realized that these people didn¡¯t care even after realizing that he could be a dangerous individual, he looked at them as if staring at some strange creatures.


    ¡®Tch! To think I lost my cool so many times!¡¯ he thought in his head, recalling how many times his grandfather had advised against the very mistake.


    There was clearly something wrong with this group of individuals, thought Zier.


    In his opinion, the best course of action would have been to kill him right away! Though he had never killed a human being, even he would have preferred to kill himself in their ce!


    He didn¡¯t know if they were just that strong or merely overconfident. Based on the recent events, he was convinced that it was the former.


    ¡®These are dangerous people...¡¯ Zier repeated this to himself for the upteenth time.


    After a few moments, he managed topletely calm his nerves.


    His fists clenched in fierce determination. He hade to a reckless decision but it was his gut feeling that it might be his best option now.


    ¡®At least my gut feeling has never been wrong... mostly...¡¯


    Zier smiled bitterly to himself but he was determined to not back away. He had decided to stay here with this entric group of people for as long as he didn¡¯t find the need to run away.


    Not only were these people extremely powerful, they were also not hostile to him.


    Although he had lived his whole life on an ind many times smaller than the Maind, after Old Gu had invited him to thepetition, his grandfather had shown him all around the continent.


    He might have not seen everything, but he was at least somewhat familiar with the cruel nature of this world.


    If he had met any other group instead of these people, he was sure that they wouldn¡¯t have batted an eye before mercilessly ughtering him.


    ¡®Though their indifference is a little humiliating... I have to bear with it,¡¯ Zier understood that survival was the most important right now. In the face of death, he didn¡¯t think much about being shameful.

 Chapter 321

    Chapter 321: Condescending look.


    Sun started to set.


    Raven and ze kept themselves busy surveying their surroundings from time to time while Ozul slept soundlessly.


    It was evident that Ozul had no ns to move out of this jungle. He wasfortable here since the trees had branches big enough for him to sleep on.


    Although Zier felt that this kind of ce was dangerous for even strong Mages, he didn¡¯t dare voice out anyints.


    After the two Rank-7 Mages, they hadn¡¯t encountered any more people until now.


    One thing Zier noticed was that both the scarydy shrouded in ck clothes and the cyan-haired cold dude didn¡¯t conceal their Mana at all. It seemed as if they were openly challenging anyone who could be around their area.


    Safe to say, he felt a bit pressured because of this. At the same time, he wondered if these monster-like people could actually crush him with their Mana pressure alone.


    .....


    He felt goosebumps run all over his body as he was once again reminded of how easily he could die in this death game.


    Seeing them do nothing buty aroundzily and meditating whenever they are not surveying the surroundings caused Zier to imitate them. He had nothing else to do anyway.


    By the time it waspletely dark, he had already checked all the trees around him and had even set up a few basic traps around him for any roaming Beasts.


    After that, he climbed up the tree and rested his back against the trunk; it looked like he was taking a nap.


    But if one were to look closely, they would notice that his eyes weren¡¯t fully closed. The eyelids stubbornly hung halfway, refusing to close because of the looming sense of danger.


    In contrast, Ozul seemed as off-guard as ever. If one didn¡¯t know any better, they would think that he was the weakest person in this group.


    Raven and ze noticed Zier¡¯s activities but they didn¡¯t disturb him or asked him unnecessary questions. In their opinion, this purple-haired man was at least sensible enough to look after himself instead of wholly relying on them.


    He appeared to be less repulsive to the eye now ¨C still unpleasant, but bearable for the time being.


    It was only in the middle of the night when their peace was disturbed.


    Zier was in a bnced state of sleeping and staying awake when he felt a pungent smell invade his nose.


    He abruptly rose to his feet and immediately looked around. Though the only light source was the fire that Raven had started with some sticks, it was enough for him to see that the spooky man on the tree had also woken up.


    Meanwhile, Raven and ze stayed on the ground meditating without moving. It seemed that they hadn¡¯t yet caught the weird smell around him.


    Yet, when he looked towards Ozul again, he found thetter to also be staring straight at him with an unfounded gleam in his eyes.


    What came next unsettled him even more.


    The other person slowly raised his forefinger upto his lips, gesturing for him to stay quiet.


    ¡®huh? Why would I make a noise...?¡¯


    Zier had just thought this thought when he felt hair on his body stand up in rm.


    The smell had abruptly increased so much that he couldn¡¯t help but scrunch up his face in disgust.


    Nevertheless, a single nce at the two people on the ground was enough for him to understand that they were peacefully unaware of everything.


    Zier¡¯s eyes widened as if he hade to a sudden realization.


    ¡®!!!¡¯


    ¡°It¡¯s pois-¡±


    He was about to rm the two but stopped himself in the middle when he remembered the mysterious man motioning him to keep quiet.


    Discreetly positioning himself on another branch of the tree, Zier looked again to see that the mysterious man was currently staring vacantly in a certain direction with unreadable thoughts.


    ¡®That man... just what is he trying to do?¡¯ Zier asked himself in his heart, but he didn¡¯t disobey him. After all, from everything that had happened as of yet, he could tell that this man must be a lot stronger than the two on the ground. If he wanted to survive, he had to rely on this guy more.


    ***


    Ozul had nned to sleep for as long as he wasn¡¯t directly disturbed even if it took days.


    However, that n came crashing down when it was almost midnight.


    He was forced to wake up when he realized that Raven and ze were unaware of a certain threat looming around them.


    ¡®Hm... So they are concealing their presence with some artifact.¡¯


    He felt the presence of exactly three people, one of them seemed to be a Rank-8 Mage while the other two were peak Rank-7.


    The only reason Raven and ze couldn¡¯t detect the presence of someone at their level would be if some powerful artifact was used. Rank-9 Mages lending their prized collections to the younger generation for an event this important wouldn¡¯t be so surprising.


    After all, Old Gu had stated no other rules than death. So it didn¡¯t matter which means the participants used to kill or survive.


    ¡®But if that¡¯s the case, why is this guy rmed?¡¯ he shifted his eyes towards the purple-haired Fighter who was worriedly looking all around him.


    It was clear that he had noticed something off as well.


    Just then, he also felt a faint smell floating all around the area.


    Ozul again nced towards the duo meditating on the ground and realized that they hadn¡¯t felt the foul smell in the air.


    ¡®So that must be the case,¡¯ he shifted his focus back to the purple-haired man and guessed that this man must have also felt the smell, unlike Raven and ze, ¡®... that¡¯s interesting. He is not normal after all...¡¯


    This new situation made Ozul think about what he wanted to do next. He could take care of these people himself in a matter of seconds or he could leave it up to the duo to handle despite the dangers.


    ¡®... The choice is obvious.¡¯


    An invisible smirk hid behind his expressionless face.


    It was at that point when he realized that Jinx was sitting next to him and she was currently looking at him with knowing eyes.


    As usual, she didn¡¯t utter a sound but her disappointed eyes clearly seemed to be saying a lot along the lines of, ¡®Torturing these poor kids has really be entertainment for you?¡¯


    In response, Ozul averted his eyes and ignored her condescending looks.


    Though in his mind, he consoled himself with the chants of, ¡®I¡¯m just training them... yes. It will be a new experience for them.¡¯


    Repeatedly nodding to himself, he forcefully shifted his focus back to the three people who were setting all of this up.


    ¡®... doesn¡¯t matter if I enjoy it or not.¡¯


    ***


    Quite a few minutes passed but nothing notable happened.


    While Ozul was getting bored with each passing moment, Zier felt increasingly worried as the silence continued to ensue as it had been from the day.


    What changed was that this silence felt like the calm before the storm now.


    He had even prepared himself to flee at a moment¡¯s notice.


    ¡°Can they even survive something this strong?¡± he muttered to himself quietly when Ozul¡¯s image shed in his mind and yet again a bitter smile appeared on his face.


    ¡°I can¡¯t see through that man at all...¡±


    ¡®Wait!¡¯ Zier widened his eyes, ¡®Could it be that he could smell it too? But even grandfather couldn¡¯t smell it! Heck, grandfather even said that he had nevere across anyone who ever could! No way this man could... could he?¡¯


    All of a sudden, he found himself getting even more intrigued by the mysterious man.


    It was at this time when both Ozul and Zier shifted their focus to the same person.


    Raven had woken up from her meditation and was now staggering to stand up straight.


    ¡°Idiot! Wake up,¡± She shouted as she weakly kicked ze.


    As her shout rang throughout the forest, ze rubbed his back with his hand while standing up with an annoyed face. No one liked being disturbed during their cultivation.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by what is it? Don¡¯t you feel it? Do you not realize that you can¡¯t even properly open your eyes?¡± Raven replied fiercely while pointing at ze who shook his head multiple times in rm.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t even notice how hard it had be to absorb Mana now,¡± Raven spat another question.


    Embarrassed that he didn¡¯t find anything odd even though he had a greater affinity with Mana than her, ze muttered, ¡°Still, as far as I can sense, I feel no presence near us.¡±


    Raven didn¡¯t reply this time but kept looking around.


    Although they couldn¡¯t sense anyone, there was clearly something wrong with their bodies.


    As she had stood up, she had felt a wave of weakness wash over her body to the point where she even struggled to find her footing at first!


    ¡®No way, nothing is going on...¡¯


    It was then when she felt a nudge from ze who in turn pointed towards a certain direction with the most helpless and bitter face he had ever made in front of Raven before.


    Raven didn¡¯t fare any better when she noticed Ozul petting an indistinguishable ck figure of something in hisp that held an almost luminescent pair of blue and red eyes.


    Ozul was staring down at them and didn¡¯t say a word.


    Yet, despite all the barriers, Raven and ze somehow knew that those dark beady eyes currently hid amusement behind them.


    .....


    They couldn¡¯t help but collectively sigh before readying themselves for whatever shit they were going to face in the middle of the night.


    Whatever it was, they were at least sure of one thing; if Ozul was interested, they could very well be facing a life-threatening situation right now...


    [Note: Read the short poem in the note below :3]

 Chapter 322

    Chapter 322: Restless Night.


    Raven and ze hadn¡¯t yet tested why they were feeling considerably weaker all of a sudden when a deep voice rang out in the woods,


    ¡°Turns out you aren¡¯t as weak as I expected. Hmph! It doesn¡¯t matter since you will all be dead soon anyway!¡±


    While Ozul already knew about the exact location of these three Mages, the others were clueless. Even Zier had only be aware of the trap and couldn¡¯t locate nor sense the enemy¡¯s presence.


    The sudden shout caught them off-guard as they immediately readied themselves.


    No sudden appearance of any Mage in thispetition was going to end without conflict. Especially given their circumstances, they instantly understood the intentions of the other party were no good.


    Only a few moments had passed when the three guests revealed their appearance from behind the tree on which Zier was standing guard.


    All three of them were men of solid build, but a rtively average height. The most noticeable feature of this group was that all three of them had a scar or a tattoo in the middle of their forehead. Though they were barely visible in the shadows of this restless night.


    .....


    Others failed to notice, but as Ozul could feel the emotions of people, he knew that these three men, although looked calm from outside, were actually not feeling so good from inside.


    He guessed it was either that this poison was affecting them as well or everything that had conspired until now wasn¡¯t going ording to their n. The former was unlikely.


    Nevertheless, their momentum right now could not be shaken since before even the fight started, Raven and ze were already at a disadvantage.


    Facing this situation, only Ozul remained calm. Zier¡¯s panic was a given since he was merely a low-ranked Fighter, but it was rare to see such a grave look on the duo¡¯s face.


    It was because precisely at this moment, they came to a realization that their physical weakness was the least of their worries right now!


    From the moment they had heard the voice just now, they had instinctively tried to surround their whole body in ayer of Mana which would have boosted their focus and control on their own strength.


    Yet, it quickly became apparent that controlling Mana outside their body had be even harder than regting it inside their body!


    ¡°Urgh! Just what did you do?¡± growled ze as his Mana fluctuated wildly.


    From his words, Ozul realized that except for him and that purple-haired kid, they really couldn¡¯t smell the foul stench in the air.


    The leader of the assants sneered in response. It came as no surprise to him that they weren¡¯t able to detect their poison.


    ¡°You¡¯re asking too many questions for a soon-to-be-dead man,¡± he uttered before he nodded towards hispanions, ¡°Leave him to me. He is a wild one.¡±


    Hispanions nodded back but not before one of them questioned, ¡°What about the other two?¡±


    For a moment, their leader seemed a bit conflicted but his grave expressions quickly subsided, reced with a solemn face. ¡°Stay vignt from that ¡®fragile beauty¡¯... just in case he is hiding his strength. As for that kid, ignore him. He looks like a frightened bunny.¡±


    The fragile beauty that this person talked about was obviously Ozul as from a stranger¡¯s point of view, he really appeared to be a weak and sheltered second-generation noble.


    His instructions were steadfast and he didn¡¯t waste another moment before speeding towards ze as he shouted, ¡°Remember! Don¡¯t let that woman escape or I¡¯ll hang your heads on a spear myself!¡±


    It seemed clear who was in charge as the two peak Rank-7 Mages followed hismands without question and rushed towards Raven at the same time.


    At any other time, facing a Rank-8 Mage with two subordinates at peak Rank-7 would have been an easy victory for either Raven or ze. However, they were poisoned right now and their enemy didn¡¯t seem to want to give them any time to think over their situation either.


    As the leader of the assants closed in on ze, a sphere of ck formed around his hands which gradually grew in size.


    Atop the tree, Ozul quietly watched the show. The so-called poison had no effects on him.


    As hefortably watched the violent Mana of the enemy¡¯s leader manifest spheres of dark around his hands, a rare smile stretched across his face, ¡®This has gotten more interesting...¡¯


    Having spent decades on the continent, Ozul¡¯s group had almost nevere into contact with ¡®Dark Mages¡¯ except for the time when that cult was raising a Monster that fed on his limb to grow in unmatched power.


    ¡®They must be from some hidden organization or cult of Dark Mages.¡¯


    Even with the Three-Eyed Strangers under him, he had very scarce knowledge about the Dark Mage cults around the world as they were all very secretive. They would never leak their information to themon people ¨C the biggest source of information for the Three-Eyed Strangers.


    He had also never seen or heard about an organization that used these kinds of methods before.


    Raven and ze had obviously read about poisons as well but they hadn¡¯t heard about one which would decrease their overall prowess many times over without even alerting them.


    From the distance, Zier noticed the calm smile on Ozul¡¯s face and felt something cold pressing against his back, ¡®He is a lunatic! What if we die here today?!... though that smile... he looks good smiling...¡¯


    Suddenlying back to his senses, Zier shook his head to throw away these distracting thoughts and focused on the fight which would determine his fate.


    Against the grown spheres of darkness in the enemy¡¯s hands, ze took his stance and willed to raise a spike of ice from the ground.


    Just as he did so, ice rose from the ground.


    But!!


    It wasn¡¯t even able to erect to a meter¡¯s height when the ice structure stopped!


    ze widened his eyes in horror as he saw the dark mage easily step around the ice and closed in on him.


    It was toote to cast another spell.


    *Fhooo!*


    He hit his feet against the same ice structure and used the force to roll backward.


    *Thugk!*


    ¡°Urgh!¡± ze clicked his tongue as his back scraped against the tree trunk due to the force.


    The real pain, however, came from his left arm.


    As he looked down at his left forearm, the bulging red veins from near the joint throbbed continuously with an excruciating sting.


    A look of disbelief took over ze as the gravity of the situation finally started to settle in his brain. With their bodies weakened and Mana bing so difficult to control, not only did he fail to cast a spell for the first time but he was also slow to react after the failure!


    This waspletely uneptable!


    ¡°It seems I underestimated you,¡± the enemy leader also seemed surprised. He didn¡¯t expect that this man would still have so much energy to resist.


    ¡°Be careful, Raven! Don¡¯t wholly depend on your Spells!¡± ze shouted to alert Raven as he ran towards his opponent with a darkened face.


    This time, ice particles started to condense in the air around him before melting immediately afterwards. Yet, the atmosphere only got colder by the second!


    The rapid change in temperature almost caught his opponent off-guard but unfortunately for him, that man seemed to be a trained fighter.


    He quickly reacted and joined his hands together to assimte both the dark spheres together before chanting an incantation. The sphere grew even bigger in size!


    ¡°Take this!¡± shouted the man before shooting it straight towards ze who was only about ten or so meters away from him.


    Again, ze willed it to erect ice structures with great force. To the point where his face was turning a little red.


    With his efforts, two thick spikes rose from the ground, shielding him from the sphere of darkness which collided with it right after.


    At the same time, ze didn¡¯t stay still. He quickly jumped aside and was ready tounch another attack at his opponent when a st went off beside him,


    *Kabhum!*


    The debris flew everywhere, putting out the small fire in the middle which caused the surroundings to turn even darker.


    Both ze and his opponent were forced to look towards the source of the explosion.


    Their faces collectively darkened in astonishment.


    ¡°It could reduce the ice spikes to such a sorry state...¡± muttered ze, wondering how this spell belonged to a Rank-8 Mage of only an initial stage.


    ¡°An end-stage Rank-8 can really persist for a long time...¡± muttered the opponent in amazement. He didn¡¯t believe someone who hadn¡¯t taken an antidote before could ever withstand the effects of this seemingly untraceable poison to this extent.


    While ze was struggling against an initial stage Rank-8 Mage, Raven fared only a little better against the two peak Rank-7 Mages.


    One of them had the Water Element while the other one had the Lightning Element.


    What troubled her the most after the poison was that these two people only attacked in unison and their personal attacksplemented each other!


    She had heard ze shout the warning just a second ago but she had already figured out the newfound difficulty in casting spells as she had secretly tried to cast her daggers before when the enemies had shifted their focus from them for a moment.


    She had also noticed the strange wound on his hand from the attack earlier but she couldn¡¯t help him. She had it easier than him but not so much that she could give him a helping hand without suffering a blow herself.


    ¡®Hah... This is a mess!¡¯ Raven thought with a quickened breath, dodging yet another barrage of electrically charged bullets of water.

 Chapter 323

    Chapter 323: Going all out!


    After the initial exchange of blows, it quickly became apparent that even while poisoned, the enemy team couldn¡¯tnd a hit on Raven and ze.


    Despite the fact that their spells kept failing, they were able to avoid the enemies¡¯ attacks. ze had been careless at first when he was struck on the hand, but after that one exchange, he made sure not to rely on a single spell.


    It wasn¡¯t that they were gradually gaining back absolute control over their Mana over time but started to get used to their weakened state.


    On the contrary, the duo clearly felt weaker the longer their battle continued.


    ¡°They won¡¯t be able to hold for long! Don¡¯t hesitate to attack with everything you¡¯ve got!¡±


    The leader of the three-man team shouted at the other two. They were feeling quite helpless against these Rank-8 Mages who should have been easy to deal with as they were poisoned.


    His encouragement reminded them that even if they weren¡¯t able to seriously harm these people, it was only for a limited time. The longer the battle continued on, the weaker they would get!


    .....


    Their attacks got fiercer and they didn¡¯t hold anything back this time.


    Even Raven and ze were made aware of this rming reality. They knew their bodies best and had already felt their movements getting sloppier and their thoughts getting cloudy with time.


    ¡®Tch! We have to end it quickly. Otherwise, we might actually lose this!¡¯


    Raven nced in ze¡¯s direction and for a moment, their eyes met. They nodded their heads at each other; both decided to give their all before it was toote.


    Only a few minutes had passed since they were fighting and making a mess all over the forest.


    Both sides fought intensely. Despite the size of the surrounding trees, they fell as if they were made from sand.


    ¡°How long do you think will youst?! Give up now and we will give you an easy death!¡± shouted the man as he muttered a spell, creating a big circle under ze¡¯s feet, emitting a purple light.


    In response, ze summoned an ice floor to push himself up in the ground, only to see his opponent in front of him, about to hit him with the same spell he used before.


    He reacted quickly, pulling the ice floor in front of him as he kicked it forward, crashing with the darkness-enhanced fist.


    Both he and the enemy flew in the opposite direction. Thetter falling to the ground and him hitting a tree trunk.


    *Urgh!*


    Though he had a much higher endurance than his enemy who was two small realms below him, each direct confrontation always caused him to suffer more. All because his control and senses were muddled.


    Right now, Raven and ze were mostly fighting with their instincts as their bodies reacted on their own after years of experience.


    Ozul had never let themg behind in that regard. He always made sure to put them in situations where their bodies would adapt to fighting.


    All of the torture and near-death experiences were finally paying off.


    Nevertheless, that didn¡¯t mean that they weren¡¯t at a significant disadvantage right now.


    ze stood up groggily. His expressions didn¡¯t reveal how much pain he was in right now.


    Opposite to him, the man also stood up with only a little difficulty. He had a smirk on his face as he noticed the thin trail of blood leaving from ze¡¯s lips.


    Looking at that annoying smirk, ze couldn¡¯t keep calm anymore. After all, until now, he had only been dodging or blocking instead of focusing on attacking.


    ¡°AHH!!¡±


    He suddenly shouted as his Mana red many times over!


    Since he already had a limited amount of time to finish this battle, he might as well stop trying to contain his Mana in order to gain finer control and just go all out with whatever he had.


    The Mana which belonged to a peak Rank-8 Mage finally showed its effects on the enemy who was merely in the Initial Stage. The taunting smirk was instantly wiped out from the face of the enemy as he realized that he couldn¡¯t afford to be careless now.


    ze didn¡¯t give him much time to think and disappeared from his spot and appeared right before the man as he kicked thetter in the abdomen with his whole leg covered in ice!


    That man didn¡¯t have much time to dodge the attack; at most, he was only able to reduce some force behind the attack using his hands.


    That too was only possible because ze¡¯s speed was significantly lowered.


    It was at that point when Raven found a few seconds to observe ze¡¯s situation. When she saw him letting his Mana run rampant, she was about to scold him for that.


    However, when she noticed the kick sending the man flying in the air after the contact, she smiled instead.


    ¡°Perhaps that¡¯s the most effective way right now,¡± she muttered as she let her Mana loose as well.


    Due to the effects of the poison, their Mana was bing uncontroble by the second. Keeping it under control took away most of their concentration. Now, they had one less thing to worry about.


    Faced with the ring ck colored Mana which was even denser and more eerie than their leader¡¯s, the two Rank-7 Mages immediately retreated to create some distance between them.


    Unfortunately, Raven was even faster than ze in agility!


    Despite the fact that they had already formed shields in front of them, the force of the impact caused them to cough up blood as they were pushed several meters back!


    As the leader of the team noticed this abrupt change in the situation, he couldn¡¯t help but ground his teeth in anger, ¡°Gah! Do you think you can survive this!?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you would push us to this extent,¡± saying that, the leader signaled the other two with his head.


    There wasn¡¯t a speck of hesitation as all three of them collectively summoned a pill in their hand before throwing them in their mouth.


    While doing so, the leader continued to speak, ¡°At most we will have to bear through some pain after this is over... but you will surely die here! Even if you were to defeat us by some miracle, you would still end up dead because of the poison! Even as I speak at this moment, it¡¯s still consuming you from inside!¡±


    The annoying smirk on his face only got worse as veins on his face and his whole body started to bulge to an unusual extent.


    It wasn¡¯t just him; the other two people who had taken the pills experienced the same side effects.


    Just then, all three of them red their Mana which surprised the duo since it almost matched theirs now!


    It was at that point when even Ozul squinted his eyes, finally wondering which hidden organization these people belonged to.


    ¡®I didn¡¯t feel any of my Scent in those pills either,¡¯ he had kept a close eye at everything just now and he didn¡¯t sense even a trace of his essence being used in those pills. Yet, they were able to increase the consumer¡¯s strength to such an extent!


    ¡®Judging from his words, pain after its effectiveness wears off must be one of the side effects. Also, as all three of them have nearly the same amount of Mana even when their initial power was different, it could mean that the pills¡¯ limit was near peak Rank-8 Mage.¡¯


    Still, Ozul wondered why an organization which had a tool which could temporarily grant the strength of a peak Rank-8 Mage would remain so hidden that even he didn¡¯t know about them.


    ¡®Even with all my efforts in establishing the Three-Eyed Strangers, it seems gathering information from themoners on the streets could only do so much...¡¯


    Despite his expectations, Ozul was not dissatisfied. The Three-Eyed Strangers were still a new organisation inparison to others; given enough time, it would have truly spread its roots all over the world.


    As he contemted these thoughts, he shifted his focus back on the ground which had long turned into a battlefield.


    Raven and ze had the upper hand for only a few moments before the battle reached a stalemate.


    Such a thing, in the end, was unfavorable to the duo since they only had a limited time before their powers were rendered useless by the poison.


    Just like that, a few minutes passed. Both sides exhaled heavily, and bruises and cuts covered their bodies on all sides!


    ¡°Haah!¡± Raven gasped for breath before she mustered all of her strength, ¡®This must end now!¡¯


    As the Water Mage had just surrounded her with water, she broke through it using her daggers.


    He was only a few feet away from her so both him and the Lightning Mage expected her to attack the Water Mage.


    Contrary to their expectations however, Raven sted through the water and rushed towards the Lightning Mage!


    Although stupefied, the Lightning Mage and the Water Mage smirked since now the Water Mage had an easy target to shoot.


    Just as the Water Mage had shot the sharp bullets of water, targeting Raven¡¯s back, he was dumbfounded when the water bullets froze midway and dropped to the ground!


    He immediately nced in ze¡¯s direction only to see him smirking dangerously while enduring another attack from their leader! ¡®Monster!¡¯ he thought as he could tell just how much pain he was going to experience because of this.


    At this moment, the Lightning Mage didn¡¯t see the Water Mage¡¯s spell failing because of ze and confidently threw a lightning bolt of his own at Raven, thinking that even if she dodged one of them, the other would hit her.


    When two identical daggers appeared in Raven¡¯s hands as she slid on the ground, narrowly dodging the lightning bolt before plunging both daggers into the Lightning Mage¡¯s stomach, the Water Mage didn¡¯t have time to warn him!


    ¡°GAHh!¡±


    As his scream rang out in the forest, the Water Mage could only stare at this scene in horror!


    Raven didn¡¯t let this opportunity go to waste as she threw one of the daggers at him from the distance.


    The Water Mage was only able to dodge the dagger at thest minute. Even then, it grazed his shoulder a little.


    Unfortunately for him though, he hadn¡¯t bnced himself yet when he found his world turning ck.


    Thest thing he saw were the tired but firm and cold eyes staring down at him.


    Both the Water Mage and the Lightning Mage died instantly.


    Raven, on the other hand, didn¡¯t have the luxury of taking a break right now. She still had to help ze, who had suffered another direct blow, in order to help her distract her opponents.


    When she turned around to find ze and the enemy¡¯s leader, her eyes widened in horror.


    ¡®No!¡¯ she internally shouted when she witnessed ze stumbling a little before falling on the ground!


    His opponent had just kneeled on the ground and was about to crush ze¡¯s head with his darkness-covered hand, but she was too far away to help him!


    .....

 Chapter 324

    Chapter 324: Promise to keep the Secret.


    Raven was already exhausted from casting so many spells at such a rapid pace.


    Under the effects of the poison, she could feel her legs losing strength already!


    Considering the distance between her and ze, even if she mustered up all of her strength right now, she wouldn¡¯t be able to save him in time.


    Yet, though she was stunned for a moment, her worries washed away when she remembered that they were not alone.


    ¡®Mm... Now I can sleep a little...¡¯


    The words faded in her mind as she slowly began to lose her focus.


    Thest thing she saw was the flying head of the person who was just about to crush ze¡¯s head.


    .....


    Before she fell unconscious, she could vaguely make out the image of the man¡¯s body gradually losing its bnce and dropping on the ground.


    *Thud*


    If anyone were to see the current expressions on the severed head of the leader, they would notice that even in death, the man didn¡¯t realize that he was killed.


    The battle which raged on for around twenty minutes abruptly came to an end.


    The forest regained its silence with both Raven and ze dropped unconscious on the ground and the enemy¡¯s team all dead.


    It was only then that the figure of a man appeared on the ground amidst the scattered remains of the battle.


    The moonlight barely illuminated the area, but from Zier¡¯s perspective, he knew that it was the strange quiet man who loved sleeping.


    While the battle went on, Zier contemted each second whether to abandon this area and run away or to stay here until thest. He now heaved a sigh of relief as he realized his current decision was the better choice.


    ¡®It must be him who severed that man¡¯s head. I was right, he is not normal by any means!¡¯


    Zier jumped down his tree and tiptoed his way towards Ozul.


    Looking all around himself, he only saw darkness and trees everywhere. He didn¡¯t want to be alone in this kind of situation.


    As Ozul bent down to examine ze and Raven¡¯s bodies, he realized that both had fallen unconscious for the same reason; the poison.


    It was true that both had sustained injuries during the fight, but the main cause for them being knocked out right now was because the poison had seeped in too deep into their bodies.


    ze had two extra wounds on him which further worsened his condition, but they were not the main concern right now.


    As Ozul stood up, Zier had alreadye beside him, looking at the corpses with a slight sense of disgust on his face.


    ¡°Are they all dead?¡± he mustered up his courage to ask Ozul.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Oh... O-ok.¡±


    That was all Zier could stutter before the monotonous reply. What made it more awkward was that Ozul kept staring at him with an unreadable face.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    Zier wouldn¡¯t have talked with such confidence if he hadn¡¯t felt that this almost doll-like man had no malicious intentions against him.


    ¡°...You tell me what it is,¡± Ozul replied without much emotion.


    In response, Zier felt that something was wrong. Even if this man seemed so indifferent to everything around him, wouldn¡¯t he at least care for the deaths of his ownpanions? However, from what he had noticed until now, Ozul behaved as if he had no qualms with their sacrifice!


    After all, a normal person should have been running around looking for something to neutralize the poison.


    Then again, he had a question to answer.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zier asked, seemingly oblivious to what Ozul was getting at.


    *sigh*


    A light sigh full of tiredness resounded in the sinister silence of the woods.


    ¡°I mean, don¡¯t you know what this poison is and how to remove it?¡±


    Although it felt unpleasant to even restate his question, Ozul had to ask since he barely had any knowledge on poisons. Maybe he would be able to find some antidote in the Spatial Rings of these men, but even for that, he would need some basic experience in dealing with this type of substance.


    From what he understood, this strangely weak fellow would be of help in this regard.


    Zier¡¯s pupil dted, but he tried his best not to act unnaturally in any way.


    ¡°Uhm, I don¡¯t understand what you are getting at. Moreover, shouldn¡¯t you hurry up? They will die at this rate!¡±


    He easily denied Ozul¡¯s question and changed the topic quickly.


    ¡°These tricks won¡¯t work on me. My question still stands...¡±


    Ozul replied calmly but noticed only a slight flinch of hands from the opposite party. It was evident that this man would continue to pretend for a long time.


    *sigh...*


    Yet another sigh, ¡°Okay. I will make it easier for you... and for me.¡±


    With these continuous sighs, even Zier had dropped his guard against Ozul as he appeared to be a helpless fellow who, at the end of the day, could only sigh his problems off and go to sleep.


    However, the next words from that same man caused his hair to stand up in unison.


    ¡°I can tell if you are lying; no doubts in that regard. So this is thest time I will ask calmly. If I sense lies or any half-truths? I will kill you. If you pretend to not know anything again? I will kill you... That simple. Do you understand?¡±


    As Ozul spoke so calmly, if someone didn¡¯t focus on what he was saying, they would almost mistake him for having a casual conversation with his colleague.


    However, Zier fully understood every word.


    Even when the tone that was used to say those words wasn¡¯t threatening, he knew full well that this man was capable of killing him any second; if that decapitation from earlier was anything to go by.


    Still, he didn¡¯t reply instantly. He wanted to carefully weigh his options first.


    ¡®Does he know everything?! Maybe he doesn¡¯t... No, he is surely up to something as he is so sure. Oh shit! I am here all fine when even hispanions who were as strong as monsters were affected by the poison! That must be why he is suspicious! But... grandfather said to never reveal...¡¯


    Zier struggled with his inner monologue for what seemed to be quite a long time. But in reality, only a few seconds had passed since Ozul had spoken.


    Meanwhile, Ozul showed some patience as he understood that it would take at least a few moments for anyone toe to terms with their powerlessness.


    After all, he was currently in control. He could guess how hopeless this purple-haired boy must be feeling right now, even without sensing those fluctuating waves of emotions.


    ¡®...Wait!! How is ¡®he¡¯ without any harm!? This type of poison... even though I am not familiar with it, it¡¯s potent enough to affect, albeit slightly, even someone at grandfather¡¯s level! Is he... a Rank-9 Mage?!¡¯


    Even though Zier wasn¡¯t sure about his conclusion, the mere possibility of such a case scared him. After all, he had lived with a Rank-9 Mage all his life; he understood the extent of their destructive capabilities.


    ¡®I... won¡¯t be able to leave here alive if I mess this up.¡¯


    Finally, Zier realized that he had no choice but to cooperate obediently. If what he had said was true, then he couldn¡¯t take any chances of lying either.


    ¡°I am really not familiar with this poison...¡± as he said so, Ozul squinted his eyes at him, ¡°D-don¡¯t kill me! I really haven¡¯t encountered this poison before, but I can still help!¡±


    Ozul¡¯s facial expressions rxed again as Zier heaved a sigh of relief. His grandfather had taught him to never test the patience of any Rank-9 Mage.


    Now that he thought about it again, Ozul not caring of all themotion around him could be because he really is a Rank-9 Mage who didn¡¯t have to worry about all those ¡®small fries¡¯.


    *Cough!*


    A few coughs diverted their attention to ze, who, upon closer inspection, still seemed to be unconscious.


    ¡°... There is not much time. Hurry up and exin,¡± Ozul kept an eye on both Raven and ze and realized their condition was worsening quickly.


    ¡°I... There is a nt that can neutralize many poisons used on Mages, but I doubt we can find it in time,¡± Zier muttered to himself in urgency before he made his way to the three corpses lying on the ground and collected their Spatial Rings.


    Since their owners had died now, Zier could easily ess them. He knew much about poisons, but right now, he didn¡¯t have the necessary materials to neutralize an unknown poison. As for the herb he knew about, it was quite rare that even he had only seen it once or twice in his lifetime.


    Therefore, he hoped that these three people had the antidote in their Spatial Rings.


    As he checked the rings one by one, Zier quickly realized that although there were many herbs and he recognized some of them, most of these medicines and nts werepletely foreign to him.


    On his small ind, he had only ess to a limited type of herbs.


    Maybe the ingredients for the antidote were really all there, but as it came to be, he didn¡¯t know how to make the medicine to cure this specific poison. As for the medicines he knew, there weren¡¯t enough herbs in these Spatial Rings.


    ¡®Ugh...¡¯


    Zier really didn¡¯t want to use hisst resort.


    ¡°Are you done already?¡±


    A voice came from behind. Ozul was now getting impatient.


    ¡°Uh, yes... uhm, can you...¡±


    ¡°Can I what?¡± Ozul urged.


    ¡°... promise to keep what I¡¯m about to reveal a secret?¡±


    .....


    In response, Ozul stared at him as if he was staring at an idiot.

 Chapter 325

    Chapter 325: Zier Grey.


    ¡°Are you in any position to make deals with me right now?¡±


    Ozul found it hard to believe this purple-haired boy could still ask for confirmation. After all, he knew how much this boy was afraid of him right now based on the waves of nervous emotions thrown at him.


    Under his scrutinizing gaze, Zier didn¡¯t know what to say.


    He would be lying if he said that he wasn¡¯t afraid. Still, he didn¡¯t want to back down from this.


    ¡°I... It doesn¡¯t matter. If you don¡¯t make a promise, I wouldn¡¯t know if I will end up deadter anyway.¡±


    He was lying. Not to Ozul, but to himself.


    Growing up only trusting his grandfather, he knew that promises didn¡¯t mean a thing to people in power.


    .....


    ¡°So, promise me to keep everything a secret and you wouldn¡¯t harm me. Otherwise, kill me right now...¡±


    He also knew that if his secret were to be out, people might use him and his fate might turn out even worse than death.


    Yet... he didn¡¯t want to die.


    He wanted to hold onto a sliver of hope. His reasoning told him that a mere promise wouldn¡¯t hold anyone back from harming himter, but right now, he was willing to fool himself just to avoid instant death.


    As Zier stood firm on the ground, Ozul was admittingly surprised at his unfounded bravery.


    ¡®These waves of emotions don¡¯t belong to a person ready to die, heh...¡¯


    ¡°Alright, what is your name?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    As Zier had even begun to brace himself for death, he didn¡¯t expect the opposite party to ask for his name.


    ¡°It¡¯s Zier! Zier Grey!¡± he shouted.


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Ozul nodded his head and spoke,


    ¡°I, Ozul Ashfall, vow not to harm you in any kind, Zier, regarding the secret you¡¯re about to reveal.¡±


    As his oath resounded in the forest, a gentle breeze appeared out of nowhere, brushing past Zier¡¯s face. That cool caress made him aware of his reddened eyes.


    Fortunately for him, he didn¡¯t think Ozul noticed anything under the veil of darkness.


    He was merely lying to himself, holding onto an illusion that this man named Ozul would¡¯ve taken his promise seriously. However, now, his wavering heart calmed down.


    That oath did not belong to a man who would back down from his wordster!


    ¡°I...¡±


    For a few moments, he didn¡¯t know what to say anymore. He never predicted this oue, and he was more than grateful for it.


    ¡°Hurry up now,¡± the same voice reached his ears again, reminding him of the little time they had.


    ¡°Uh yes!¡± Zier shouted before reaching ze and dropping on the ground near him.


    Ozul looked at all of this with an indifferent face, but his eyes closely followed whatever Zier was doing.


    He had never dealt with poison before, and the situation was serious. If this purple-hairedd wasn¡¯t here, he would have tried to deal with it using the Ball of Purity himself.


    It would have been a risky move and he wasn¡¯t even confident in seeding, but in case there were no other options, he would¡¯ve given it a try.


    ¡®Now that I think about it, I should have thought about curing the poison before I let them fight these three...¡¯


    A kind thought appeared in his heart, but he shook his head internally, trying not to think about such unnecessary thoughts.


    ¡°So... about my secret...¡± Zier turned around, facing Ozul.


    He held a small ck knife in one of his hands and an unsure look in his eyes.


    But a momentter, the uncertain look in his eyes disappeared, reced with a resolute determination as he remembered the oath Ozul had just taken.


    He closed his eyes with a force great enough to imitate his expression to that of pain even before anything had happened.


    This action was justified just a momentter when he drove the knife into his other hand, instantly cutting through the skin!


    A painful hiss left his mouth, but he tried his best not to shout out aloud in this forest now filled with asional growls from distant Beasts.


    Ozul quietly watched this scene with interest. He didn¡¯t ask any questions as he believed they would be answered if he just waited for a little longer.


    Zier threw the blood-smeared knife away as the warm blood began pouring out of the cut.


    ¡°I¡¯m special... or so my grandfather used to tell me,¡± Zier slowly muttered while moving his bleeding hand towards ze, ¡°Anyway, my blood is different.¡±


    Zier moved his hand above the darkened hand of ze as his blood dripped on the wounds.


    ¡°To a certain extent... it has immunity to poisons.¡±


    As he said so, Ozul could see his blood seeping into ze¡¯s body through the scrapes and cuts on the arm.


    He wouldn¡¯t have allowed this to happen if he hadn¡¯t confirmed that Zier held no malicious intent as of now.


    ¡°Not only is it immune to poisons, but it seems to... eat the poison itself...¡±


    Zier muttered with a rtively weaker voice.


    Following his exnation, Ozul noticed the bulging veins on ze¡¯s arm gradually calmed down and the darkened color slowly receded into nothingness.


    As he observed ze more carefully, it turned out that his breathing and heartbeat had both also be steady again.


    And all of this happened in a matter of a few seconds!


    Ozul doubted that even a proper medicine for this poison would have been this effective.


    Following that, Zier slowly stood up and dragged his feet towards Raven.


    Although she was also unconscious, she didn¡¯t have any visible bleeding wounds on her body.


    Noticing this predicament, Zier turned towards Ozul, ¡°Uhm, this won¡¯t work if I drop the blood in her mouth.¡±


    Ozul stepped forward and also noticed that although she seemed to be in a battered state right now, there were no visible wounds on her body.


    However, he did not hesitate and formed a sharp de from the Ball of Purity before making a small cut on the skin of her feet. Zier didn¡¯t waste any more time and moved his hand above the cut.


    As a few drops of his blood seeped into her body, Ozul covered the wound with ayer of the Ball of Purity. Taken aback by the sudden appearance of this ck matter, he noticed that even the wounds on ze¡¯s body were now covered with ck straps of the same thing.


    ¡°Your work is done here,¡± Ozul spoke.


    He had examined both Raven and ze¡¯s bodies and confirmed that they were already recovering.


    Although he knew that his Ball of Purity also had regenerative properties, there weren¡¯t many asions in which he was forced to use it as such, except for the duo.


    Zier, who was relieved of his work, breathed a sigh of relief. He finally smiled, taking a deep breath,


    ¡°Ah good... t-they should be fin... ow...¡±


    And just like that, Zier cked out.


    With him unconscious as well, Ozul was left standing alone amidst many unconscious bodies lying on the ground surrounded by tall trees and a thickyer of ever-present darkness.


    He didn¡¯t know why Zier would faint after losing only this much blood.


    After all, he was a Rank-5 Fighter nheless. Even a normal person could have endured losing a few drops of blood.


    Whatever the reasons may be, Ozul sighed to himself as he felt something brushing past his feet.


    Even without the need to look down, he could tell that it was Jinx.


    Only she could ever get so close without him noticing anything at all. Even the air itself remained still when she appeared, without a slight hint of disturbance.


    Noticing that the wound on Zier¡¯s arm was still bleeding, Ozul shook his head in annoyance.


    He didn¡¯t want to do it, but this man did help him save Raven and ze.


    Without minding much, a strap of the Ball of Purity was released from his body before it flew towards Zier andtched onto the bleeding wound.


    If losing just a few drops of blood caused him to faint, Ozul wondered if a few more might just make him lose his life.


    ¡®Whatever...¡¯ he thought in annoyance as he found himself being forced to perform tasks that he didn¡¯t want to.


    He didn¡¯t see the six unconscious bodies on the ground as human beings, but manualbor instead.


    If he wanted to sleep without any troubleter on, he had to clean up these dead bodies. Not only would they start to rot and leave an awful stench if left like this, but it would also attract Beasts here.


    He himself didn¡¯t care about the Beasts but then he would have to bother about killing them for the duo. They could be peak Rank-8 Mages, but even a Fighter could easily kill them right now in this vulnerable state.


    *sigh...*


    .....


    A part of him wanted to leave them all be and take a nap, thinking of dealing with any nuisancester.


    In the end, he remembered all the things the duo had gone through just for him. He couldn¡¯t leave them be like this.


    A pitch-ck hand formed with the Ball of Purity formed and quickly picked the three up before cing them all under a shady tree.


    Another hand picked up the corpses one by one before throwing them all in a random direction far far away from this ce.


    He had no tool to instantly dispose of the corpses and he didn¡¯t want to go through the trouble of digging the ground to bury them.


    In the end, it took him more time to seriously contemte and decide on what he wanted to do than to actually clean up the scene.

 Chapter 326

    Chapter 326: Next Morning.


    The night passed without much noise after that incident.


    Those sting sounds of spells could have alerted people from miles away, but it seemed that no one wanted to be the one to check out what had happened here all night.


    Until it was morning, everyone slept soundly.


    Raven was the first to open her eyes, feeling quite refreshed despite being unconscious on the ground all night after she was poisoned to near death.


    The warm wetness on top of her eyelids and the forehead caused her to jerk awake as she quickly stood up to survey her surroundings.


    Finding herself surrounded by the familiar sight of trees and craters of all kinds here and there amidst which there were two familiar men lying there as well, Raven calmed down a little.


    It was only then that it hit her.


    .....


    The head-splitting pain above the spine and around the temples almost caused her to stumble back to the ground.


    Then came the vivid memories of all that had transpiredst night. Her first reaction would have been to look for Ozul if not for the sight of an unfamiliar body on the ground, lying only a few feet away from ze.


    She didn¡¯t need to thoroughly examine the body to notice that the man was killed only recently, if that severed head and the scarlet blood gushing out from the neck was anything to go by.


    Raven instantly figured out who might have killed this man, and he was currently atop a tree to her left.


    As she located him on the tree, he jumped down himself, ¡°I waited till thest moment one of you guys woke up before killing him. This one didn¡¯t even realize my presence.¡±


    Raven smiled internally at the trace of disappointment in his voice. Though she maintained a calm exterior, Ozul could see that she was amused for some reason.


    How could Raven not find it amusing? She had already started noticing the changes in Ozul. Before, the extent of emotions he would express was mostly limited to tired sighs and even disappointment only materialized in extreme cases such as when it concerned himself, her, or even ze.


    It wasn¡¯t like that when she had first met him. Even back then, he used to express himself more.


    She didn¡¯t know when he took upon more of a colder attitude, but her guess was after Grandma Carol¡¯s death.


    After that, his behavior fluctuated quite a lot. Only now had it stabilized a little as even though he wasn¡¯tpletely open about it, she could still tell traces of emotions mixed within his scarcely spoken sentences.


    ¡®He usually doesn¡¯t even pause between mid-sentences now...¡¯ Raven thought to herself, feeling herself getting lost in the nostalgia.


    Unknown to Ozul, the amount of time Raven had spent growing up with him and noticing his every little action had made her quite an expert in reading him.


    Even a slight change in his tone that would usually be ignored would instantly be noticed by her.


    ¡°What are you smiling for?¡± Ozul squinted his eyes at her even though she wasn¡¯t smiling on the outside.


    As always, it caught her off guard, but before she could think of anything, Ozul spoke again.


    ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s time to move. Wake them up,¡± he pointed his finger at the dome of shield which had somehow moved closer to them.


    ¡°Is he going with us?¡± Raven asked while staring at the overly sickly appearance of the purple-haired man beside ze.


    ¡°He saved ze¡¯s and your life. He was the one to help with your poison.¡±


    Ozul didn¡¯t need to tell Raven again to wake Zier up as well since she knew when to be grateful more than anyone else.


    Although it was hard to ept, she didn¡¯t doubt Ozul. If he said so, that weak man must have done something to save their lives.


    And no matter how ruthless she was when given orders directly from Ozul, Raven would usually sympathize with the innocent people. And since this man had saved not only her¡¯s but even ze¡¯s life, the least she could do was to ept the fact that he was leeching off of them.


    She cast the spell to clean off the blood on her forehead before she reached to wake the two men up. However, that proved to be unnecessary.


    *Yawn!*


    ¡°Mhmm... It¡¯s been months since I slept sofortably-¡± muttered the man, who clearly looked more drained than he did yesterday. Yet, the mirth in his voice conveyed that he actually enjoyed the sleepst night.


    On the other hand, the cyan-haired man covered all over with straps from the Ball of Purity had apletely different response than Zier,


    ¡°AHHH! FU*K!¡±


    ze¡¯s head felt as if it was almost about to explode as he clutched it between his hands.


    Although his body felt refreshed, the first thing that happened to him was the mind-numbing sensations of something like actual needles slowly piercing through his brain!


    His scream even caused Ozul to be a little startled since ze wasn¡¯t the one to whine like this every time he was in pain. If he had cried out like this, it only went on to show how excruciating the pain really was.


    ¡°Ha... that w...- was hell.¡±


    After the initial scream, only a few muffled groans escaped ze¡¯s mouth before gradually his breathing stabilized and the pain vanished.


    Last night, his whole body had been littered with wounds and Ozul had covered all of them with a thin strap of the Ball of Purity.


    Among the three, he stood out the most with that ck substancetching onto him.


    ¡°This is...?¡± Zier asked under his breath.


    Only then did he notice that there was also a thinyer of a ck substance on his hand where he had made the cutst night.


    Ozul realized that he had forgotten to remove those straps of the Ball of Purity.


    Without bothering to exin what it was doingtching onto their bodies like this, he simply called it all back to him. In a few blinks, all of it seemingly disappeared into nothingness.


    Suddenly feeling the cold winds brush past his now-exposed skin, ze looked down at his arms and noticed that all of his wounds werepletely gone!


    The Darkness Element Spell had left his arms in a strange state of numbness that he felt as if another poison had entered his skin and was eating him from the inside, however that gruesome sight was nowhere to be seen now.


    Still he didn¡¯t have a big reaction to this, he had already been healed quite a lot of times with Ozul¡¯s Ball of Purity. The only reason he was still amazed was because he found it hard to believe that even wounds as gruesome asst night¡¯s could be restored like this under a single night.


    Raven had no surprised feelings about this at all.


    One could say that her reaction was almostckluster. However, only she knew how much joy it brought her everytime Ozul healed her using the Ball of Purity. She would always be reminded of the time when she had first followed behind him.


    ¡®Even at that time... he had stopped my bleeding cuts using the Ball of Purity...¡¯


    It reminded her of the day when she was saved from the miserable life that awaited her in that dark alley.


    If Ozul hadn¡¯t appeared back then, she would have just been sold as a ve and left to rot in some unknown corner of the world awaiting and most likely craving for death.


    As she was lost in her fantasies, she heard someone exim loudly.


    ¡°Woah! How did that happen!? It¡¯spletely gone! There isn¡¯t a hint of the slit here!¡±


    Zier¡¯s reaction waspletely opposite to that of ze and Raven¡¯s.


    It was reasonable though since the duo had already experienced the miraculous regenerative abilities of the Ball of Purity. Also, most of the thingsing from Ozul didn¡¯t surprise them anymore.


    However, it was the first time that Zier had seen something like this. Even his grandfather was never able to create any medicine or bring him any elixir that could make a wound likest night¡¯s entirely disappear without leaving any traces behind.


    ¡°How did you do it?! If you knew medicine, you could have healed them yourself. Awh! I wouldn¡¯t have had to cut myself again for that!¡± Zierined, ¡°You know my body¡¯s different. Once I cut myself, it bes really hard for the bleeding to stop and the wound to close again.¡±


    After blurting all of that out in amazement, Zier realized something, ¡°... yet you healed the wound in a single night...¡±


    One of the many reasons that his grandfather had forbidden him to use his blood to cure poison for anyone was because of his body condition. Even a Rank-9 Mage like him would sometimes find it difficult to heal the wound and have the blood clog there to stop the bleeding.


    Last night, Zier was convinced that the next whole month would be hard to pass because he would have to be extra careful around his wound. Even a bit of force would make the blood gush out from there like a fountain.


    Yet not only did he wake up the next morning without that wound, his body even felt more refreshed as if he had recently made a breakthrough to the ranks.


    ¡°It is not time for questions, we have to move.¡±


    Ozulpletely ignored Zier¡¯s bbering, reminding everyone of the giant dome of shield that gradually decreased in its size from all sides...

 Chapter 327

    Chapter 327: Unfounded Urgency.


    Some spent the night in constant worries while others were fortunate enough not to encounter any other participant, so they slept with little worries.


    The most unfortunate were the ones who didn¡¯t make it until the sunrise.


    Staying true to his words, Old Gu shrunk the barrier by quite a lot. It had started reducing in size when the first rays of the sun had shone on the Neutral Lands.


    Only a few hourster did it stop, but by that time, it had reduced almost 1/6th from its original size.


    Like the rest of them, Ozul¡¯s group was pushed a little closer to the center of the Neutral Lands which previously housed most of the powerhouses on the Continent of Egon.


    Still, Ozul preferred staying on the outer boundaries of the Neutral City. Just a random encounter with three unknown men had Raven and ze beaten almost to death. The Neutral City itself must be in a worse condition.


    Though he did not doubt the duo¡¯s abilities, he would also have to keep an active sight at whatever was happening. Hence, he preferred staying away from the chaos as long as it wasfortably possible.


    .....


    As he stopped right at the edge of the dome, he realized that there were no big trees around. Sleeping on trees had almost be a habit because of how many times he had spent his nights on the branches.


    ¡°Uh, are we stopping here?¡± Zier asked while scratching his head.


    He saw Ozul suddenly jumping atop a small hill and sitting there without surveying the area around them. It looked more as if he was only stopping for a small break.


    Much to his dismay, Zier found himself in an awkward position right after. Ozul and Ravenpletely ignored him, while ze nced at him for a few moments before shrugging his shoulders.


    ¡°Seems like we are...¡± he muttered before moving on to find a spot for him to rest as well.


    He would patrol the areater; first, he needs to check if there¡¯s anything wrong with his body. No matter how trustworthy these people appeared to be, he couldn¡¯t be careful.


    Even now, he couldn¡¯t believe that it only took a single night to heal a wound on his body.


    ¡®If grandfather were to know about this, he would have kidnapped this man.. haha..¡¯


    Zier couldn¡¯t help but be amused at the thought.


    But when the images of what had happened yesterday night shed in his mind, his smile paused. He shuddered at the possibility that even his grandfather might have not been able to defeat this man.


    ¡°Impossible... grandfather had said that he was one of the best among the Rank-9 Mages!¡± he consoled before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.


    One of the fastest ways people Fighter or Mages looked for any hidden injuries was to simply let Mana circte inside their bodies. If there was an itch, any obstruction, or even a bit of pain, then they would look for a physician immediately.


    ¡°huh? I¡¯m all right... ¡± He muttered out loud unintentionally.


    ¡°What? Did you think he would harm you?¡± The voice came from the side.


    ¡°Uh- what no... I didn¡¯t doubt him...¡± Alerted, the first reaction of Zier was to stiffen his arms as he blurted out randomly. In that small moment, he even nced in Ozul¡¯s direction to see if he wasn¡¯t listening just now.


    ze first nced at his hands and then stared right into Zier¡¯s eyes, ¡°You know I¡¯m really itching to find out what you are hiding in there.¡±


    Out of nowhere, there were battle-lusty expressions on his face.


    Looking at that savage grin made Zier take a step back. Together with the crown-like beads of crystals quite literally embedded on ze¡¯s forehead, he almost felt like a mad king about to sentence him to death.


    Suddenly, he took a deep breath and exhaled loudly before rxing his posture.


    He remembered that despite the situation, his opponent wasn¡¯t in a battle-ready position.


    ¡°Haha! I¡¯m not the one to prank around much, but ah that was fun. That look on your face!¡±


    ze snickered before his attitude took apletely different turn. There was a pinch of arrogance behind his stare as he put his hand on Zier¡¯s shoulder.


    When Zier felt the weight behind ze¡¯s hand, he couldn¡¯t help but flinch. Yet, his whole body seemed to have been frozen. As if he was suddenly wrapped in an invisible ice coffin.


    It was at this moment that Zier realized that he couldn¡¯t even muster up his strength to move his hands much less his body. It made him aware that even his trump card might be useless against these monsters.


    ¡°W-what do you want?¡± He made sure to calm his nerves as much as he could.


    ¡°I just want to remind you that whatever you do, don¡¯t get any ideas.¡±


    ¡°A- Ideas?¡±


    ze continued with his menacing tone, ¡°I overheard that it was you who healed me and Raven. You also seemed to be unaffected by the poison. That more than makes it obvious that you do have some capabilities.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s exactly why I have to tell you. Don¡¯t be a nuisance. Whatever you do, it¡¯s not going to work in the first ce. In the end, at most, you can only be a nuisance to him,¡± ze spoke while staring at Ozul, making it obvious who he was talking about.


    His words made Zier feel something that he had never felt before in his entire life. He had never seen someone be so sure of anything. There was a firm and confident sternness in ze¡¯s tone that he just couldn¡¯t help but be fascinated about.


    ¡°You better not try your best and reach that stage...¡± ze came closer to Zier and whispered smugly, ¡°I¡¯ve recently discovered a great interest in torturing people first before killing them; it seems to be a lot more satisfactory.¡±


    Just then, ze took his hand off of Zier.


    Zier, on the other hand, needed a few moments with himself to even respond with a nod. He had just now felt as if a mountain was lifted off of his body. His sweaty palms were a testimony of just how terrifying a Rank-8 Mage like ze could be when he wanted to.


    ¡°Also, you¡¯re really worried about him ying tricks with you? Hahaha! Are you even worthy?!¡± ze genuinelyughed before walking away. He couldn¡¯t help but imagine the reactions from all those people who knew Ozul even just a little.


    Even if no one else, at least Raven and ze had understood by now that there was rarely anything that Ozul took interest in.


    Meanwhile, Zier was left standing there, dazed and confused. He was unsure whether ze was just mocking him or merely stating the truth.


    As he looked at the back of the carefree man walking away while snickering to himself, all Zier could do was breathe a sigh of relief as he sat back down.


    He tried to focus on calming his racing heart, but ze¡¯s words kept resounding in his mind, ¡®Are you even worthy?¡¯


    A bitter smile appeared on his face. For the short amount of time he had kept an eye on Ozul, he knew for certain that the man didn¡¯t seem to care about anything that didn¡¯t disturb him directly or indirectly. In short, it felt as if his existence was equivalent to a mere dead leaf lying on the ground in that man¡¯s eyes.


    While this was a piece of good news to him since his life wouldn¡¯t be in danger if he didn¡¯t step out of line or as ze made it clear, ¡®not be a nuisance¡¯, Zier didn¡¯t know whether to feel bad or happy.


    After all, in just one day, he was reminded again and again of his insignificant existence; no one liked being belittled.


    ¡®Does he really have no interest in my abilities?¡¯ Zier thought to himself.


    It was a first for anyone who hade to know about his uniqueness to not crave it for themselves. In the past, he had always met people who would either try to coax him into working for them or even try to kidnap him!


    His grandfather had made it clear not to reveal his secret to anyone for the sake of his own safety. After all, a man¡¯s greed knew no boundaries. And he had experienced it first hand.


    For the first time, there was someone who saw him no differently than before his secrets were revealed. Despite the vexation of being ignored, now there was a different feeling churning in his heart.


    This group of ¡®monsters¡¯ didn¡¯t seem as threatening anymore.


    ¡°Huu... I was worrying for no reason,¡± he muttered before he stood up and went to look around the area with high spirits. Despite being so weakpared to these men, he still had to help out.


    At a small distance away from him, Ozulid on the green grass with the pitch-ck conical hat covering his face. His hands were folded under his head and a ck cat was curled on his stomach.


    Although he was ¡®sleeping¡¯, he had always been aware of the waves of emotions from all living beings around him, including those of Zier.


    Yet, the one who he was focused on wasn¡¯t Zier, but the presence of another entity far up in the sky, maybe even outside the barrier.


    ¡®It¡¯s getting closer... anytime now. I can feel it. Something¡¯s about to happen...¡¯


    This feeling in the back of his head had only gotten stronger as time passed.


    Now it had increased to the point that he couldn¡¯t even rest without thinking about it. Just when he was wondering what to do about this sense of unfounded urgency, right on cue, a thunderous voice resounded all over the Neutral Lands...

 Chapter 328

    Chapter 328: Puppy?


    In the wake of the new day, almost everyone was exhausted.


    Most of them assumed that it would take almost another week before Old Gu dered the end of thispetition. Hence, no one expected him to make an appearance after only one night.


    Just like at the start of thispetition, the participants couldn¡¯t see Old Gu anywhere but heard his voice nheless.


    ¡°Well well well...¡±


    It felt as if he was talking right next to everyone, but that seemed impossible at best.


    Hearing the familiar voice filled with amusement, most participants breathed a sigh of relief to have survived and a few felt irritated that their fun was ruined. Everyone thought that Old Gu was speaking to announce the end of thepetition.


    After all, no one knew exactly how many people had survived the first night.


    .....


    ...


    Among the battle-crazed ones, Berk Leonhard was the most annoyed. He wanted to finish off the two people from that information-gathering organization his father had talked about, but a day didn¡¯t seem to be enough to find them.


    ¡°Cowards! They should have been here in the middle!¡± raged Berk before he angrily stomped his feet on the ground.


    As he did so, a sound of something cracking was heard from under him.


    Right now, his whole body was covered entirely in blood while a couple of unconscious bodiesy there unmoving; all dead.


    Behind him, a woman seemingly unconcerned of the bloody mess, spoke nonchntly, ¡°I told you, not everyone¡¯s like you. Some people actually use their brain a little.¡±


    Although Maura trusted Berk¡¯s strength, it was still a stupid move to march right towards the middle of the bloody battle and taking on everyone at once. Even when Berk had defeated them all and still stood upright without any concerning injuries, he had exhausted himself quite a lot.


    Berk only clicked his tongue in annoyance before the familiar voice rang out all across the Neutral Lands.


    ¡°... Damn it! Damn it! It¡¯s already ending?! Just how weak were these people?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so quick to jump to conclusions. What do you know? It could be something else,¡± Maura reasoned. Being with Berk for so long, she had to learn to calmly analyze every situation. One of them had to use their brains instead of brawns. And she wasn¡¯t wrong.


    ¡°I was expecting this to only be thest test, but s, my calctions were wrong. There¡¯s so much an old man like me can do without messing up these days.¡±


    Old Gu couldn¡¯t hide the amusement in his tone.


    ¡°Seems like ¡®he¡¯ could only hold the ¡®puppy¡¯ back for so long~¡± He continued to ramble. No one really understood what he was trying to say.


    ¡°Anyway, things won¡¯t be changing much. Same rules and same game. Your end goal is also the same; survive until the very end. Dead will receive no constion nor any pity from me. On the other hand, the survivors will all be enlightened.¡± Old Gu spoke with a little seriousness.


    This dramatic shift in his way of speaking changed quickly and he was back to his previous self, ¡°Heh, as for what changed? Well, all of you will have yet another ¡®participant¡¯ to y with.¡±


    Those who heard him mostly heaved a breath of relief. If it was just another participant, things wouldn¡¯t change much. Though they did all wonder what was so special about thiste arrival.


    Ozul, on the other hand, didn¡¯t assume that things were so simple like others thought. Old Gu calling it a puppy coupled with his instincts telling continuously drumming his head, he thought better than to assume the new participant would be a normal human.


    ¡®Just what is going on,¡¯ he didn¡¯t like this suspense. Maybe the threat was still bearable, but now he wouldn¡¯t be able to rest until he knew exactly what was going on.


    ¡°That being said, I didn¡¯t want to do this so early in thepetition, but all of you have to move to the city in the middle now. All of you have at most half a day to do so.¡± Old Gu spoke with a little pause, ¡°Also, for those wondering who the new participant is, I will only give a little hint; it is a fiery one! Hahaha!¡±


    The echoes of hisughter hadn¡¯t died down yet when the ground shook just a little and the barrier rapidly started shrinking.


    This death tournament was far from being over.


    . . .


    The shrinking barrier forced Ozul to change his ns, which mostly included staying away from all the battles as long as possible.


    Now they were all forced to move towards the Neutral City. One of the most talented individuals in this world all gathered at one ce and fighting to kill others would wreck unimaginable havoc all around the city.


    ¡®Yet, this new ¡®participant¡¯ seems to be more troublesome than all of thembined,¡¯ Ozul again had a feeling that he had missed something.


    Only when Raven was standing before him did he wake up from his fleeting thoughts.


    ¡°Ah. Let¡¯s move.¡±


    The barrier was shrinking at a high speed. They couldn¡¯t dy reaching the city. There wasn¡¯t anything to pack, everyone just stood up and continued moving.


    On the way, Zier¡¯s physical strength became apparent as proved by the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He was only slightly faster than the speed at which the barrier was contracting.


    Meanwhile, the rest were kind enough not to leave him behind. Seeing this made Zier feel a little warm-hearted.


    ¡®They aren¡¯t so heartless after all...¡¯ he thought with a smile on his face.


    Unknown to him, Ozul¡¯s reasoning for moving so slow waspletely unrted to him. He merely didn¡¯t want to reach the city earlier and have to deal with everyone there.


    It was more rxing going only slightly faster than the shrinking barrier. As for Raven and ze, it went without saying that they would always follow behind Ozul.


    ¡°Any guess on this participant?¡± ze asked, his question directed towards Raven because he knew Ozul would ignore him merely so he wouldn¡¯t have to put an effort into speaking.


    ¡°None. But something is not right. I have a feeling it could just be a rare and strong Beast since the old man said someone couldn¡¯t hold back a puppy,¡± Raven put forth her spections.


    ¡°A Rank-9 Beast?¡± ze muttered to himself.


    ¡°... No, it can¡¯t be. He was excited when he spoke about it. He didn¡¯t even bat an eye while dealing with the Rank-10 Mages, I don¡¯t think including only a single Rank-9 Beast in thepetition would stimte him so much,¡± Raven refuted. At the same time, she shook her head, denying her own conclusion.


    ¡°But a Rank-10 Beast- ¡± ze was about to speak but he was interrupted by someone he never thought would voluntarily join the conversation.


    ¡°She is right. That old man would have never been so excited about a Rank-9 Beast,¡± Ozul could never see through him, but judging merely from his personality, he could tell that Old Gu wasn¡¯t interested in anything ordinary.


    Right after that, he also shook his head and sighed before continuing to ponder. If it wasn¡¯t a Rank-9 Beast, it must be a rank-10.


    The reason they all didn¡¯t want to believe their own spections was because the only known Rank-10 Beast was the Sovereign which had already died. They had confirmed it with their own eyes.


    Even Kure, the Rank-10 Mage from the Ashin family, had gone to confirm the Sovereign¡¯s death.


    ¡®Wait... ¡® Ozul suddenly paused when he realized something.


    ¡°Kure Ashin never returned after he went there to confirm Darcia and the Sovereign¡¯s death...¡± Raven also paused as she muttered the exact same thing that was on Ozul¡¯s mind.


    Both of them had reached the same conclusion. Raven also remembered that the Rank-10 Mage of the Ashin family had yet toe back after he had left.


    ¡± ¡®He¡¯ could only hold the ¡®puppy¡¯ back for so long; if the puppy is the Sovereign, ¡®he¡¯ could be Kure, the ancestor of the Ashin family!¡± ze wasn¡¯t the most intelligent, but listening to their conversation, he had alsoe to the same conclusion as Ozul and Raven did.


    The Sovereign was also a fox with Fire Element, so it fitted well with Old Gu¡¯s clue that the participant was a fiery one.


    His words had not yet died down when a distant screeching sound resounded all over the Neutral Lands.


    *GHREAA!!*


    Unlike how it was with Old Gu, this sound was not the same for everyone. Few heard it clearly while a few had a hard time distinguishing this war cry from the other Beasts near their vicinity.


    ¡°T-that...¡± Zier suddenly paused as he stuttered unconsciously.


    From the distance between the furious roar just now and the strange behavior of his kind yet ruthless team, he could tell that something was wrong.


    ¡°You guys know what... that is, right?¡± he asked while trying to calm his beating heart.


    Even high ranking Mages, in the past, found their legs shaking when hearing the furious roars from the Sovereign much less him who was only a weak Fighter.


    ¡°It¡¯s... the Sovereign,¡± slowly muttered Raven.


    ¡°Sovereign what?¡±


    ¡°A Rank-10 Beast...¡± replied ze this time.


    ¡°What!? What is a Rank-10 Beast doing here!?!!¡±


    ¡°...Participating in thepetition,¡± uttered Ozul.


    ¡°huh?¡± Zier was left dumbfounded at theirck of reaction.


    For a second, he even thought that he had heard wrong. He, who was merely a Rank-5 Fighter, was participating in the same deathpetition as a Rank-10 Beast who even multiple Mages of the same rank don¡¯t dare to go against?!


    Were they ying a joke on him?


    Miss Reality, on the other hand, was as cruel as she was charming...

 Chapter 329

    Chapter 329: Ten.


    ¡°Uhu, you guys are joking, right, right!? There is no way a Rank-10 Beast will be fighting us to death!? Right?!-¡±


    *KGHREE!!*


    Yet another beastly screeching interrupted Zier.


    ¡°Does this seem like a joke to you?¡± ze scoffed. His voice carried a sense of seriousness that further aroused fear in Zier¡¯s heart.


    He took a few moments to digest this unfolding situation before running towards the city at twice the speed before. Afterparing the roars, Zier immediately knew that this Rank-10 Beast was approaching at an astonishing rate.


    ¡°Huh?!¡± he turned his head around when he noticed that his newfoundpanions were quite slow in their reaction. He couldn¡¯t help but shout in worry, ¡°What are you doing!? It will be here in no time!!¡±


    As if unmoved by the threat of a Rank-10 Beast, not only Ozul, but Raven and ze also remained unperturbed.


    .....


    Zier didn¡¯t know whether they were confident to deal with this Rank-10 Beast or was it just the result of their battle-hardened heart honed with countless battles. If he had to make a guess, he would never think of choosing the former since it appeared quite impossible to fight such a monster.


    Though the actual reason they didn¡¯t seem to be in such a hurry was different; it didn¡¯t matter how fast the Sovereign. Old Gu was controlling the barrier and Ozul was confident that his barrier could hold out against the Beast.


    Even if the barrier wasn¡¯t strong enough, he knew that Old Gu was.


    If the old man kept his word, they¡¯d have enough time until the barrier closed in on the city. As a result, panicking was pointless. All they had to do was stay ahead of the barrier.


    ¡°Even if we stayed here and napped, we¡¯d be there faster than you. Worry about yourself,¡± Ozul said tly, without a hint of mockery in his tone.


    Hearing this answer made Zier curse himself internally for even thinking about their wellbeing. Though it waspletely true. They were at least Rank-8 Mages while he was merely a Rank-5 Fighter, both stood at an immeasurable distance apart in terms of speed.


    After that, he didn¡¯t stop to call for them again and continued to run as fast as he could. Though he kept taking nces behind him to see if the three were still there or not.


    Even without his concern, Raven and ze were well aware of the dangers posed by a Rank-10 Beast. After all, they¡¯d seen personally how devastating it could be. They merely stuck around Ozul and didn¡¯t say a word as they noticed that he was deep in contemtion.


    ¡®I don¡¯t understand...¡¯


    Ozul was confused because he himself had confirmed the Sovereign¡¯s death.


    Despite this, the ming aura of magma that could suffocate an entire country and melt mountains of ice in the blink of an eye felt strangely simr to the Sovereign.


    ¡®Not only that, but it feels as if it has gotten stronger!¡¯


    This was a concerning matter for Ozul since he hadplete trust in his abilities. When Darcia had fired the beam of light, it had certainly hit the Sovereign, burying it under the sea of magma. He didn¡¯t even find any traces of life floating around that area anymore.


    ¡®It must have been saved by someone-¡® Just as that thought urred to Ozul, he remembered that the only person who could avoid his sensing abilities was the same man who was not only hosting thispetition but had also set survival against this Rank-10 Beast as the ultimate challenge in this trial.


    There was no other man who had either the capabilities or any reason to help the Sovereign.


    ¡®Hah... that only means I wasn¡¯t vignt enough. I shouldn¡¯t have let my guard down so much that I didn¡¯t even notice him snatching a beast of that size,¡¯ Ozul sighed in his mind before his thoughts wandered to how Kure might have been dealing with the Beast for so long.


    . . .


    Somewhere around the shrinking barrier, Old Gu floated in the air while asionally mumbling and giggling to himself.


    He seemed to be in his best mood as he watched everyone desperately make a run for the city in the center.


    Old Gu seemed uncaring of the giant ming fox madly running towards the barrier that continued to shrink faster than her.


    Only by observing thoroughly would one realize that the Sovereign wasn¡¯t anywhere close to her maximum speed. Even as a fox, her grinding teeth and the luminescent re in her eyes were enough to suggest that she was struggling with something.


    It was as if something heavy was weighing down upon her. No matter how hard she tried, she wasn¡¯t able to reach the barrier.


    ¡°Hah! She is already close to the ¡®true stage¡¯. I would have rmended her to stay away from those mad perverts, but I guess it¡¯s toote now,¡± Old Gu muttered to himself as he closely observed the ming red fox.


    ¡®This will be myst time here anyway. There is a chance I will meet her in the future,¡¯ Old Gu paused as he remembered something that interested him even more than this Rank-10 Beast, ¡®Huhu~ I never expected to meet an ¡®anomaly¡¯ like you. I will never take my eyes off of you...¡¯


    The image of a certain ck-haired boy wearing in clothes appeared in his mind as he chuckled to himself, lost in his own ns and schemes.


    ¡®Tsk! Someone should be watching now, I can¡¯t enter the barrier to have a chat with him either.¡¯


    He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he looked up at the sky, particrly at no one.


    Tracing his sight back to the ground, he excitedly waited for the barrier to cross the outskirts of the Neutral City that he could already see in the distance. While he had full control of the barrier, he couldn¡¯t just go back on his own words.


    . . .


    Inside the barrier, Ozul steadily went towards the Neutral City.


    Although Zier had a head start, he was now back together with them and now marched with a little peace of mind.


    A few minutester, the group could tell that they had already reached the outskirts of the Neutral City.


    They came across many abandoned building structures, some torn apart to the ground while others stood still as if reinforced with Mana.


    If someone who had previously been to the Neutral City came to look at what it had be now, they would be shocked beyond measure; this was not thend for which countless experts fought for all their life.


    Just then, the ground hummed again and the barrier came to a sudden halt.


    ¡®So this is it,¡¯ Ozul looked around.


    Although there was no one in sight, he had already sensed multiple people hiding behind the city debris.


    Unlike before, no one wanted to start a fight. They had also heard the beastly roars, now they waited for Old Gu to appear and announce who this new participant was.


    The final stage for the trial was set.


    ...


    Ozul found a tower and flew above the roof to have a broader view of the city.


    Since no one came to disturb his peace, there was no reason for him to do anything either. Unlike others, he didn¡¯t even care about hiding behind some broken houses. There was no need to.


    Raven and ze joined him on the roof while Zier stayed on the ground. Not only he couldn¡¯t fly, he also didn¡¯t want to be so high profile like them. Everyone would see them on the roof, and that would mean bing a target for them all!


    They didn¡¯t have to wait for long when the long-awaited voice of Old Gu was heard all around the Neutral city.


    ¡°Many of you have been waiting here for quite a while now. But believe me, no one wanted to speed this up more than me,¡± there were no usual greetings or the annoyingugh.


    ¡°This will probably be thest day of this trial, quite short really. I couldn¡¯t even get to enjoy anything,¡± he muttered thetter half to himself, ¡°Anyway, this will all end the moment there are only 10 of you left inside this dome!¡±


    ¡°The barrierpletely surrounds the Neutral City, so this whole city is your yground now! You can either survive, or hide, or kill to win!¡±


    Even when the participants already knew this, hearing it again with that thundering voice made them take deep breaths to calm their nervous hearts.


    ¡°Currently, there are 19 participants alive! Only 9 left to die!¡±


    A few people in teams of two or three eyed each other nervously. If the people with them were dead, they would have higher chances of leaving this ce alive. No one wanted to die after all.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care whatever means you use to survive, nor does it concern me in any way. Still, watch your actions, they may cost youter...¡±


    Old Gu¡¯s voice faded away like a passing wind. His warning seemed more like a piece of general advice given by an elderly to young people which was surprising considering that this old man never behaved like one.


    Soon as his voice disappeared, the ground hummed again and to a keen eye, they could notice that the barrier had shaken a little before stabilizing.


    Ozul noticed it as well, and he didn¡¯t need to guess what had happened when the deafening roars resounded in the Neutral City.


    *Hol!*


    It seemed more like a giant wolf was howling at the full moon!


    ¡°T-tha-¡±


    ¡°F*C!¡±


    ¡°Hu-h...¡±


    .


    .


    .


    Even Ozul was a little surprised at the unusual appearance of the Sovereign he previously thought to be dead...

 Chapter 330

    Chapter 330: The Strongest Beast on the Continent of Egon.


    ¡°That aura...¡± quietly muttered Ozul as he gazed at the beast supposedly on top of this world¡¯s food chain.


    His voice trailed off into silence as he couldn¡¯t find any words to describe his confusion.


    Everyone trembled at the ferocious appearance of the beast; its whole body was set on fire as if it had just recently bathed in a burning volcano!


    Its fur, which appeared to be on fire and about to turn to ash at any moment, continued to burn and flutter in the air regardless of how much time passed. Only after a while did they realize that its fur wasn¡¯t on fire... it was all made of fire!


    *HOWWLL!*


    Another beastly howl filled the barrier enclosing the Neutral City, jolting everyone awake from their terror-filled disbelief.


    In just a few seconds, the atmosphere which was previously tense already turned even heavier. They still had the leisure to think of other humans as their only opponent; everyone was an enemy before, but now they had amon and a much bigger threat to deal with.


    .....


    The air felt increasingly more depressing as the Sovereign nced around before gradually taking steps forward.


    No one knew whether it was a fortunate coincidence or Old Gu deliberately arranged like it, but even the closest human being to the Sovereign was at a safe distance away from her, not enough for him to outrun the Rank-10 Beast, but enough for him to have a little hope.


    The man was one of the few people who hadn¡¯t formed any team yet, he was alone. The moment he realized his predicament, he felt his throat turning sour and his legs shook crazily.


    ¡°I-I-I-I m-mm gonna die...¡±


    His lips trembled as he noticed the Sovereign¡¯s eyes shifting to him. Even from a mile away, he could see its bared teeth dripping with saliva which strangely didn¡¯t seem to dissipate almost instantly considering the temperature around the beast.


    Tears formed in his eyes, his lower part of the body feeling a little wet. All of that, however, waspletely disregarded as the hazy ball of fire got closer and closer until it was toote.


    His feet hadpletely given up on him. No matter how much he tried to turn around and run away, his body just wouldn¡¯t listen. The sheer terror had overtaken his body, ultimately causing his demise.


    Thest thing he saw was the glimpse of the zing star in the sky overshadowed by another one in front of him.


    The Sovereign, with her eyes burning with blind rage, opened her mouth wide. Her sharp canine shed for a moment before her mouth closed on the tiny human in front of her,pletely crushing his body between her jaws!


    The lower half of the body fell on the ground, twitching just for a moment before the Sovereign also spat the upper half out of her mouth.


    *THuu!*


    Blood dripped from her mouth as she gave a wide look around her, uncaringly receiving the terrorized nces from every human that had witnessed this gruesome scene.


    *GRrhRr!* The Sovereign growled.


    Learning from the man¡¯s mistake, everyone disregarded all the schemes and strategies they had prepared and frantically ran away from the Rank-10 Beast.


    Another human had died.


    Only 8 more left before this dream worse than hell came to an end.


    No one wanted to be a part of these 8 uing deaths.


    . . .


    While everyone panicked to find somewhere safe to hide, Ozul on the other hand was still lost in his thoughts.


    He had noticed the Sovereign ripping apart the human, but he didn¡¯t have much of a reaction.


    He was thinking about something else.


    ¡®Something is wrong...¡¯


    No matter how he looked at it, this was a Rank-10 Beast, and also the one called The Sovereign. Yet, something felt different.


    Even her size seemed different than before. It seemed as if she had shrunk quite a lotpared to thest time.


    ¡®She isn¡¯t the same anymore. Her aura is familiar butpletely different at the same time,¡¯ Ozul noticed the Sovereign staying still on the ground instead of chasing the humans like a wild beast.


    This strange behavior aroused his curiosity since no matter how intelligent she had gotten with her Rank, she was still a beast and he could feel her raging emotions.


    ¡®No beast would stop to think about something when its emotions are so stirred...¡¯ Ozul had experience with quite a few high-ranking beasts. There was always a limit before they lost all control of their cool-headedness and followed their instincts instead.


    And with his calctions, the Sovereign should have long discarded all of her reasoning and attacked anyone on sight without any regard for the consequences.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Raven asked from behind.


    This was a Rank-10 Beast, she knew it must be something concerning for him to be so distracted.


    ¡°Contrary to her feelings, she is acting too calm,¡± answered Ozul uninterestedly.


    ¡°Could she... be looking for us?¡± Raven questioned a possibility.


    There would probably be no one else in this barrier that this Rank-10 Beast could be concerned about. Moreover, with their previous encounter, it was quite possible that the Sovereign hade for some kind of revenge.


    ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡±


    Ozul also agreed with her. That, however, didn¡¯t shed any light on why the Sovereign, as the apex predator on the continent of Egon, suddenly had enough self-control to stop herself from blindly rampaging everywhere.


    ording to the little information he had, it seemed that before when she was sealed in Wolf¡¯s Cage, she was doing the exact thing. Something had changed now, and it had only happened after they had left that ce.


    ¡°Wait! You guys are talking about that monstrosity targeting us!?¡± Zier shouted in rm. He was probably the weakest participant in this trial and it was only a miracle that he hadn¡¯t already lost his strength due to fear.


    This time, no one spared him any thought. Even ze who usually left all the thinking part to Raven and Ozul was concentrated on the Sovereign. If that beast were to attack them, he had to think of all the ways he could protect himself and help Ozul deal with it.


    The only person here who could deal with that beast was Ozul. He could only hope to assist him, but even that seemed improbable.


    They were one of the farthest from the Sovereign, so they didn¡¯t need to find somece to hide. Even if they were in range, Ozul wouldn¡¯t choose to run.


    After attaching all of his limbs, his overall strength had improved a lot. While before he wouldn¡¯t hope to be the Beast¡¯s match, now he had his own trump card ¨C the new ability he had learned but yet to name.


    ¡°Don¡¯t trust anyone and stay together,¡± Ozul spoke as he eyed both Raven and ze.


    While the Sovereign was currently everyone¡¯s focus, he didn¡¯t believe it for a second that these humans wouldn¡¯t resort to killing each other in order to end thepetition before their lives were put in peril.


    Raven instantly understood what he meant while ze simply nodded his head, he never trusted anyone anyway.


    ¡°Do you have a n?¡± Raven asked. If he was giving them orders, it meant that he might be nning something like dealing with the Sovereign himself. She knew how strong the Sovereign was but had no idea of the extent of Ozul¡¯s prowess.


    ¡°I¡¯m not nning anything. She is...¡±


    Raven and ze both looked ahead and noticed the ming beast which stood hundreds of miles away from them had suddenly started running towards them!


    The Sovereign seemed to have located them!


    ¡°Run.¡±


    Ozul ordered before he seemingly disappeared from his spot, appearing almost tens of miles ahead, rushing towards the Sovereign as she ran straight at him,pletely disregarding all other humans she could have easily killed in a matter of seconds.


    The ground shook with the thumps of the Sovereign as she ran at full speed, her eyes burning dark orange with obvious rage.


    Meanwhile, a small blurry figure surrounded by ck could be seen rushing towards her.


    Beads of a ck material whirled around this figure, bing faster with each passing second until they were reduced to a hazy disc of blur surrounding him.


    Although the weapon used to previously ¡®kill¡¯ the Sovereign used his limb as an energy source, Ozul currently was nowhere near strong enough to release that kind of energy.


    All he had was those same abilities he had been using for decades now. The only thing that changed was his mastery over them and the addition of that new skill.


    Currently, he was strong enough to deal with any Rank-10 Mage, but he couldn¡¯t say the same for a Rank-10 Beast. It didn¡¯t help that he wasn¡¯t able to properly gauge the Sovereign¡¯s current strength due to unknown reasons.


    It was toote to think about that now.


    The battle had already begun and it was Ozul against the strongest beast on the continent of Egon.


    . . .


    Leaving Zier alone with Raven and ze seemed to be a rather difficult situation for Zier as he wasn¡¯t entirely sure whether these two would harm him or not.


    So as to y it safe, he quietly followed them and didn¡¯t ask any questions.


    Instead of running in the opposite direction of the Sovereign, Raven and ze found a higher spot for them to spectate the battle. They knew better to interfere in a battle of such a grand scale.


    Even if they wanted to interfere, they didn¡¯t have the ability to do so.


    ¡®I know you can do it...¡¯ silently cheered the ck-haired girl, who, for the first time in a long whole, showed some nervousness on her previously ice-cold face.


    It wasn¡¯t much different with ze who firmly believed that there were no chances of Ozul losing.


    ¡°Are you seriously going to sit back and enjoy the show!?¡± shouted a certain sickly-looking man in the background...

 Chapter 331

    Chapter 331: The younger days...


    With the confusion clearing up a little, most of the participants had already run far off from the Sovereign.


    Many of them peeked from their hideouts, witnessing the unbelievable scene of the terrifying beast running towards another figure, who instead of running in the opposite direction, was speeding directly towards it!


    For a second, many of them questioned their eyes.


    ¡®A Madman!¡¯ this simple thought shed in everyone¡¯s mind before they watched with hidden smirks on their faces. After all, the more people died early on, the more chances they had of surviving.


    . . .


    Outside the barrier, everyone had an easier time watching the trial. The barrier had shrunk a lot and now they didn¡¯t have to blindly stare atrge terrains.


    The appearance of the Rank-10 Beast had caused everyone to panic even more than the participants.


    .....


    The two Rank-10 Mages had the worst reactions. Having fought her all those years ago, only they truly understood the extent of the Sovereign¡¯s powers.


    In their opinion, this trial wasn¡¯t that of skills anymore. It was all about luck. The first 9 unlucky people who caught her eye would have their fates sealed. Resistance seemed out of option.


    Everyone took heavy breaths, the situation waspletely hopeless!


    However, their shock had yet to wash away when they noticed something strange happening on the ground below.


    ¡°Hey, what is that?¡±


    ¡°The Beast is going for another victim, what else?¡± spat a man in anger. His nephew was nowhere to be seen; he was most likely dead.


    ¡°No, look there!¡± the man pointed at what appeared to be a ck dotpared to the giant ming fox.


    At this time, not only them, but all the big shots present at the scene had their attention focused on this new development.


    They hadn¡¯t had the time to show their contempt at this man¡¯s action when they found a rather dense body of Mana approaching them. All turned their heads only toe across a sight they never expected to see.


    Half-torn clothes, blood oozing out of multiple wounds scattered all around the body, blood-shot eyes, and badly a mutted arm which didn¡¯t look so kind as to ever heal on its own. This was currently the state of the man who had appeared on the scene, outside the barrier.


    The shocking thing wasn¡¯t his depressing appearance, but rather his identity. Because he was the ancestor of the Ashin family and one of the only Rank-10 Mages, Kure Ashin!


    ¡°Che! Looks like someone wanted to save the world alone,¡±mented Ciro, the Rank-10 Mage from the Leonhard Dynasty.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want this, old hag!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you disturbed that Beast¡¯s peace?¡± asked dis with a certain re in his eyes.


    Faced with both of their res, Kure didn¡¯t back down. He knew they wouldn¡¯t dare start a fight here.


    ¡°It¡¯s that old witch¡¯s fault. She wanted to experiment with the Beast,¡± he spoke with a straight face.


    ¡°Wait, where is she?¡± dis narrowed his eyes.


    In response, Kure didn¡¯t reply this time and only tilted his head upwards, looking at the blue sky.


    ¡°She realized death to be our next realm and ascended before us. Truly, she was always a genius, always a step ahead of us.¡±


    Kure didn¡¯t try to hide the smile creeping upon his face which lookedical considering his ragged appearance.


    Though those who listened in on their conversation had to face another shock of the century. A Rank-10 Beast was fighting mere kids in the trial and now a badly beaten Rank-10 Mage was telling them about the death of another Rank-10 Mage against the same Beast!


    ¡°NO! NO! NO!¡±


    The shouting of a certain man from the Church of Light jolted everyone¡¯s senses but that of the Rank-9 and the three Rank-10 Mages. Still, it was quite the sight to see this shrewd man lose hisposure in front of everyone.


    He couldn¡¯t be med because of all the pressure he had been in to not let this news out. Now, as he looked around him, all he saw were hungry eyes of beasts in human skin waiting to devour him whole.


    Their shock didn¡¯tst for long, though. Everyone¡¯s attention was quickly pulled by the Sovereign inside the barrier again.


    ¡°Huh? Who is that stupid child?¡± Kure asked. Even the Rank-10 Mages couldn¡¯t identify the person as they were too high up in the air.


    Whoever it was, be it the participants or the spectators outside the barrier, they didn¡¯t think for a second that someone could leave a scratch on the Sovereign.


    Except for a certain old man somewhere outside the barrier.


    ¡®Now this will be interesting. Both are closer to the ¡®True Stage¡¯ than anyone has ever been in this world. Ah, this reminds me of my younger days...¡¯


    . . .


    Unconcerned of all the onlookers, Ozul decided to strike first.


    As his image blurred, he released all of the Ball of Purity and formed a giant ck spike before sending it towards the Sovereign with all his force.


    The sudden appearance of a spike befitting the size of the beast not only surprised the spectators but even the Sovereign was taken aback.


    She didn¡¯t stop but quickly reinforced her body with an additionalyer of Mana.


    If her eyes could speak, they would surely speak with contempt and belittle the efforts of the little human who seemed to think that he could harm her.


    Clearly, she didn¡¯t think that the spike could even shake her Mana shield much less prate her skin.


    That, however, turned out to be a mistake as the spike came into contact with the spike.


    *Crkkh!*


    The Mana shield she had thrown together without much thought crumbled like ss, and the massive spike slid through it as if it had never existed!


    Her eyes widened with horror as the seriousness of the reality dawned upon her. She tried to quickly jump aside, but it was toote at that point.


    The ck spike ripped through her burning fur, resulting in a fountain of boiling hot blood that scorched the ground. Following this, a shrill whimper of pain was heard all over the Neutral City!


    She lost her momentum as she was forced to jump back.


    But before she even had the chance to nce at her wound, she realized that this human wouldn¡¯t let her have any rest.


    Ozul was already above her when he drew the massive spike, converted it into liquid, and smeared it all over. It was like dark clouds of judgment, blocking all the sunlight before transforming into thousands of sharp needles and raining down on the Sovereign mercilessly.


    The Sovereign gritted her teeth and created another shield to block the attack, this time she went for the strongest shield she could muster before trying to get away from that area.


    She could have ignored the needles and attacked the human because there was only so much small needles could do to her, but she chose not to be so careless. She had already paid for it.


    The shield held out for much longer than Ozul expected before a few needles slipped past it and grazed the Sovereign¡¯s skin, merely leaving unnoticeable scratches.


    This time, the Sovereign managed to create some distance between them. Still, she didn¡¯t make the mistake of ignoring the human this time. She set aside the pain from the earlier wound and kept her eyes straight at the human above the ground.


    Floating in the middle of thousands of pitch-ck needles all pointed at her, he looked like an envoy of deathing to y her for all she had done in this world.


    That, however, only encouraged the rage within the Sovereign. She growled at the human before she decided to speak for the first time she had appeared here, ¡°You! Human! Why do you go against me!?¡±


    The Sovereign seemed to have forgotten that she came at him first.


    Puzzled, Ozul felt something was off, ¡°When did I?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t y tricks on me, Human! That despicable human told me it was because of you I almost died!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t much of a guess as Ozul realized how Old Gu had ¡®convinced¡¯ the Sovereign to ¡®join¡¯ thispetition.


    ¡°Well, he was lying.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me, Human! All of you are the same! Despicable worms!¡± barked the Sovereign.


    Ozul shrugged his shoulders, he didn¡¯t hope to convince her anyway. Not to mention, it was indirectly his fault as well.


    With the earlier exchange, he had at least confirmed that he could fight her on equal grounds.


    Unlike the first time when he had a feeling that it would be hard to even leave a scratch on her, he now felt confident to even have the chance to defeat her!


    ¡®This won¡¯t work,¡¯ he eyed the needles surrounding him.


    Even the wound his spike had left on her wasn¡¯t deep enough to be fatal, much less the damage dealt by these needles. He had to attack her weaknesses.


    Ozul eyed the wound which kept oozing out blood. At first nce, that was her only weakness.


    Just when he was thinking about how to take advantage of that, he noticed that the wound had already begun to heal!


    ¡®I have to hurry up!¡¯


    Multiple needlesbined together with a single thought as he sent them straight at her as a distraction.


    The Sovereign, on the other hand, was prepared this time. And, despite her rage, she knew what to do. She opened her mouth, and before Ozul knew what was going to happen, magma-hot mes shot out at him!


    He was forced to switch the needles into a shield instead, barely avoiding the fate of getting scorched to death!

 Chapter 332

    Chapter 332: Monsters.


    ¡°God...¡±


    ¡°uh..a- Are you seeing that?¡±


    ¡°I sure am...¡±


    ¡°Stop bbering, I would be surprised if you could even understand what was happening,¡± spat the impatient Kure.


    Something not even in his wildest imaginations was happening right in front of him, these nobodies interrupting with their chatter ticked him off. He himself was barely able to keep track of those movements, much less these mere Rank-8 Mages.


    The Rank-8 Mages near him immediately shut their chatter, but they, just like everyone else around them, including all three Rank-10 Mages, couldn¡¯t believe their own eyes.


    Yet... it was happening.


    .....


    That small shadow they had already thought to be a dead man standing was actually fighting the Rank-10 Beast on equal grounds!


    It was only the initial exchange, but it had already proved that man¡¯s strength.


    There wasn¡¯t enough time for the initial shock to fade away when everyone noticed the two parties separating after a round of what seemed to be blurry attacks in their eyes.


    With curiosity rising, everyone focused on that man. Those who somewhat knew how powerful the Sovereign felt their hearts pounding. In their experience, there wasn¡¯t any man on the continent who could be this powerful except for the old man who was hosting thispetition in the first ce!


    Squinting their eyes as much as they could to see through the barrier, only the Rank-9 Mages and above were able to make out the features of that man now having a conversation with the giant Beast.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he...¡±


    ¡°No way...¡±


    ¡°Why was he chosen to participate!? And since when was he so powerful?!?!¡±


    The one shout which overshadowed all others among these spectators belonged to the Archbishop of the Church of Light, Lammert.


    It wasn¡¯t just him who had these concerns. Everyone was as perplexed as he was.


    The Ashin Family, on the other hand, were the ones who were most surprised.


    ¡®Che... no wonder he didn¡¯t want to join the family...¡¯ Kure considered this while clicking his tongue. He knew his grandson was mysterious, but he never expected him to hold such a big surprise.


    His expressions changed into a gleaming bright smile that didn¡¯t fit the situation as the blood smudged on his teeth gave him a terrifying look instead.


    It wasn¡¯t only him, two more men inside the crowd had simr reactions. Raymond and Alver both had their chests puffing up as if it was them everyone was staring at with awe.


    Their nephew had long surpassed their own father. It only brought them both indescribable joy.


    Fortunately, though, everyone was too immersed in the scene down below to spare them a nce.


    . . .


    Back to the fight, Ozul withstood the attack without getting any burns.


    The sting mes had thrown him quite far from the Sovereign. There was some distance between them, but this time the situation was reversed.


    Before he had the chance to gather himself up, the ground under him suddenly started burning and in the blink of an eye, the ground melted before a pir of fire rose up, engulfing him whole!


    Like a raging dragon, the fire tore through the air and only stopped after hitting the barrier!


    Gasps followed throughout the area, be it inside the barrier or outside.


    Although the onlookers weren¡¯t really on Ozul¡¯s side, they still couldn¡¯t help but be against the Sovereign.


    Almost everyone gathered at different spots on the hill as it seemed the safest ce. It was the same hill Raven and ze had chosen to watch the battle from.


    Zier, suddenly seeing the massive pir of fire engulfing the whole area around Ozul was stunned and anxiously tried to look for him on the field.


    The heat from the pir could even be felt by him from miles away, he could only imagine what must Ozul have faced just now.


    ¡°Hey, he avoided it, right? Tell me he avoided it...¡± he worriedly asked, hoping for a reply. He himself wasn¡¯t able to understand anything of what was going on since has merely a Rank-5 Fighter.


    Even the fact that he could see them was because they were on a high hill.


    The reply he got was only the clenched fists of ze and a wave of cold air that passed by the hill like an ocean breeze.


    Everyone held their breaths for the pir of fire to disperse.


    The Sovereign didn¡¯t have any intentions of making it disappear anytime sooner, though.


    ¡°Khe! Is that all you amounted to, vermin?¡±


    As she expected, there was no reply.


    She was about tough and proudly dere her victory with a victory roar when her eyes blinked.


    It was only the blink of an eye and there was something hammering down on her from the above!


    A direct hit straight into her previous wound!


    ¡°GHAA! ¡±


    She shouted to the top of her lungs which made many inside the barrier shiver in fear, they all had goosebumps just from watching these scenes.


    The fire pir dispersed and out of it appeared Ozul with tattered clothes and a disheveled appearance. Although he had protected himself with the Ball of Purity immediately, some of the mes still managed to get past it before he could cover himselfpletely.


    ¡°I¡¯m not the one bleeding here,¡± Ozul replied to her previous taunt.


    Unknown to the Sovereign, that was a bluff. He was certain that if he had any blood to begin with, he would have been bleeding by now, just as much, if not more, than she was.


    His main advantage over the Sovereign was that the Ball of Purity couldn¡¯t be detected.


    Because of their greater affinity for Mana, Magical Beasts have always had an advantage in detecting threats over humans. But that was not the case right now.


    Not only was Ozul not like the humans she had ever fought before, he even had superior senses and instincts!


    On the other hand, in terms of raw power, Ozul lost by a small margin.


    The quantity of the Ball of Purity against her size wasn¡¯t enough for him to do anything other than direct attacks.


    In anger, the Sovereign leaped in the air and brought down her ws on Ozul.


    Narrowly dodging it, Ozul quickly counter-attacked by targeting her wound again. It was easier to pierce.


    As if she had already expected it, the attack failed as it came into contact with another w with a raging fire.


    ¡°This won¡¯t work thrice, you vermin!¡± snarled the fiery Beast as she spat fire at him.


    This sparked another round of attacks which didn¡¯t seem to favor either of the two.


    While at first, everyone was surprised. The surprise quickly turned into excitement and the excitement was, sadly, very short-lived.


    No one exceeded the ranks of a Rank-8 Mage inside the barrier and even they could barely follow the blurry figures without making much sense of it. It was hard to tell just who had the upper hand.


    Ozul and the Sovereign didn¡¯t say much after the first few rounds. They kept attacking each other in the hopes ofnding a sessful hit. Because they didn¡¯t stop, even the three Rank-10 Mages outside the barrier couldn¡¯t tell who was winning.


    Overall, this caused many people to lose interest in their battle. But that didn¡¯t mean their battle wasn¡¯t important to them. It most emphatically did. No one knew who would be the Sovereign¡¯s next target if she won.


    However, if the Human prevailed, they might have a chance of survival. After all, wasn¡¯t he in thepetition from the beginning and didn¡¯t bother to find everyone right away?


    With these thoughts in mind, everyone prayed in their hearts for Ozul¡¯s victory.


    At the same time, they braced themselves for what was toe. Even if Ozul won by some miracle, they¡¯d still have to fight among themselves and kill enough people before thepetition was over.


    They all looked at each other nervously, making no visible movements. However, no one wanted to get into a fight right now.


    As the tension in the air slowly dispersed, a sudden humming sound caught them off guard.


    *Zmhm!*


    Zier turned his head quickly, his eyes widening. This sound was not only familiar to him, but to everyone else in thepetition!


    The barrier was shrinking once more!


    With that unfortunate news came an old man¡¯s heartyugh.


    ¡°Gahaha! Everyone seemed to be too bored. Please ept my heartfelt apologies. To revive the excitement, the barrier will continue to shrink, as it appears that these two will take a long time to settle their dispute, huhu...¡±


    ¡°Now let¡¯s see if enough of you die or if their fight ends first, best of luck!¡±


    Many were irritated by the cheerful tone he used to announce the possibility of their deaths, but they were powerless against Old Gu.


    ¡°... OH! And I forgot to mention that the barrier will close in on those two.¡±


    This had the exact effect he desired on the crowd.


    While the barrier was shrinking at a snail¡¯s pace, the situation they were in hadpletely changed.


    Previously, they only had to hold out until the battle between Ozul and the Sovereign was over. Meanwhile, they could strategize and assess everyone¡¯s strength around them.


    With the addition of this new factor, they would all be gradually pushed towards those ¡®monsters¡¯!


    .....


    Evening close to them meant certain death!


    It didn¡¯t matter if it was someone who had already started making ns or those who were still thinking, everyone had realized the situation they were in.


    The heavy atmosphere which seemed to be at bay just a moment ago exploded again...

 Chapter 333

    Chapter 333: 5 Left!


    Raven, ze, and Zier were currently at the most unfortunate location right now.


    While everyone eyed each other suspiciously, they were right in the middle of everyone.


    ze and Raven could take care of themselves but the same couldn¡¯t be said for the man with sickly appearances named Zier.


    One look around him and Zier immediately understood that he was the weakest one here.


    ¡°Fuck me sideways...¡±


    . . .


    Although no one could follow Ozul and the Sovereign¡¯s fight, they could see that they were on roughly the same level.


    .....


    Except for the Rank-10 Mages outside the barriers, no one had ever seen a battle of Rank-10 individuals before, butpared to battles of Rank-9 Mages, this could go on for months!


    Even if the barrier shrank at the rate of a turtle, it would still take less than two days to shrink the area to the point where they would inevitably be casualties in Ozul and the Sovereign¡¯s fight.


    Taking all of this into ount, everyone realized that the only sure way to leave this ce alive was to have 8 more people die as soon as possible.


    Without a doubt, the remaining survivors had gained enough experience to be free of even the slightest apprehension. It was either others or them.


    Finding themselves in the middle of this conflict, Raven nced at ze after which bothically stared at Zier and sighed at the same time. Ozul did say that this man had saved their lives...


    ¡°GHA! I was waiting for this!¡± came a shout from a man with a savage appearance.


    ¡°Sh*t! Does he not even care about me!?¡± murmured Maura from behind as she couldn¡¯t stop Berk from running off on his own.


    Defeating these two ¡®stars¡¯ of the previous tournament was his first step into setting up a name for himself.


    Feeling the burning Mana rapidly approaching them from the side, the duo couldn¡¯t help but sharply turn their heads towards what now looked like a ball of fire the size of a man shooting right at them.


    ze wasted no moment as he raged his Manaced with the highest quality of Ice Element this continent had ever seen against the ¡®ball of fire¡¯.


    The hot and icy cold Mana collided with each other first with the clear victory of the Ice Element.


    The chilly breeze that followed right after was the only proof that was needed.


    That breeze seemed to be a signal of some sorts as Mana fluctuations rose from all over the area. Everyone simultaneously joined the fray to save their own lives... by killing others.


    -7 Left-


    A whisper followed its way in the barrier and all over the Neutral City with the sharp winds, reaching all ears.


    The girl standing next to another suddenly had blooding from her nostrils before she threw up blood and fell on the ground. Behind her, the other girl nced at the corpse coldly and murmured, ¡°It was either you or me.¡±


    . . .


    Outside the barrier, the guardians of those still alive inside the barrier spectated this abrupt battle anxiously.


    On the other hand, those who had already confirmed that their participant had died were more interested in the battle of Ozul and the Rank-10 Beast.


    ¡°Sooner orter that boy is going to lose,¡± an old man gave his opinion as he sagely stroked his white beard.


    ¡°Want to make a bet?¡±


    The old man was quickly going to agree but just when he noticed who had spoken, he immediately forced his mouth shut.


    It was Alver Ashin, the current head of the Ashin family. Although the old man was also a Rank-9 Mage, his status couldn¡¯t bepared with that of Alver¡¯s, so he had to give him some face.


    ¡°What makes you so sure, Alver? Surely even you know that Rank-10 Mages can never hope to defeat a Beast of the same Rank alone.¡±


    The old man had noticed the confident glint shing past Alver¡¯s eyes, so he couldn¡¯t help but be curious.


    ¡°Look again, old man. Seems like age is finally catching up to you,¡± was the reply he received.


    Rather than bing enraged, the old man ignored the obvious taunt and returned his attention to the battle, only to be even more perplexed.


    The others also looked confusedly at Alver. All except for the three Rank-10 Mages and only a few other Mages.


    ¡°You¡¯re well aware of how destructive a fight between Rank-9 Mages can be. Look at them; a battle between something beyond our grasp, ¡°Alver hinted, and almost everyone¡¯s eyes widened as realization dawned on them one by one.


    ¡°He is correct. Even if it had been a fight between Rank-9 Mages, this entire area would have been engulfed in mes, but a battle between Rank-10 entities is this peaceful?¡±


    ¡°What a monster that man is! To be able to steer a Rank-10 Beast away from others while dealing with an onught of attacks...¡±


    Unlike before, now many outside the barrier started feeling a little grateful to this mysterious leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t he previously one of the youngest Rank-9 Mages? He¡¯s scarier than the Beast he¡¯s fighting, ¡°another person remarked. It reminded everyone how careless they had been because they weren¡¯t even aware that an individual far exceeding the Rank-10 Mages was always right in front of them.


    Those who weren¡¯t exactly on friendly terms with the Three-Eyed Strangers were the most worried. After all, while their efforts had been futile, they had still tried to suppress the rising organization in the past.


    All the people affiliated with the Church of Light were the most worried. The look on Lammert¡¯s face, as if he¡¯d swallowed a frog, was enough for them to realize they couldn¡¯t rely on him any longer.


    They were desperate because no one knew what that man would do if he defeated that Rank-10 Beast. It wasn¡¯t out of the question for him to consider taking over the entire continent!


    For now, though, nothing was certain...


    . . .


    Inside the barrier, while most of the people were out for each other¡¯s blood, very few were able to calm their nerves and control their emotions.


    Fear of death hadn¡¯t made everyone irrational.


    Behind a small slope stood the unsightly appearance of a man and a woman. Their battle scars were recent and one could make a guess that even though they were well and alive, that previous battle hadn¡¯t ended how they wanted.


    The woman in question was Sarah, the daughter of thete Emperor Luthien of the Silverbird Kingdom while the man beside her was Aakal from the Mercenary Guild!


    It was only them here. Irene who was with Sarah and Cort who hade with Aakal were nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°You have to focus here. What¡¯s done is done,¡± consoled Aakal as he held Sarah¡¯s hand tightly.


    His own eyes betrayed his masking emotions, making it apparent that he wasn¡¯t much better off than Sarah.


    Although Sarah had a lot to say, and she even parted her lips to say something but in the end, she wasn¡¯t able to utter a single word. It was as if something had stuck in her throat and she just couldn¡¯t get it out no matter what.


    A few momentster, she resolutely nodded her head and was ready to face the current predicament.


    ncing at that firm hand, it was only yesterday when Irene and she had stumbled upon these two men. And now Irene was no longer with her, but this total stranger was able tofort her to this extent.


    She didn¡¯t know why but she felt confident in dealing with this situation even though everything had turned upside down in a single day.


    -6 Left-


    Another whisper followed the winds as a man was pierced right through his abdomen by two men at the same time!


    He didn¡¯t even have the time to scream his lungs out in pain when an electric bolt had charred his head off right after!


    This bone-chilling scene was only noticed by the spectators outside the barrier; everyone inside had no leisure time to express their horror at the cruel sight.


    The new announcement only added to the fire. People were now more eager than ever to kill anyone they could!


    Chaos raged on both ends of the barrier.


    On this side, people fought like Beasts, and on the other side, the Beast fought with emotions and techniques more simr to humans. This created an ironic picture of reality only for a single old man to admire from high above the ground.


    Ozul and the Sovereign kept trading blows after blows but there was no clear victor. Even Old Gu couldn¡¯t tell who would win if they were given enough time.


    After the initial wound, the Sovereign was already at a slight disadvantage, but Ozul still had it hard because he had to make sure that their battle didn¡¯t move all the way over to the other corner.


    He didn¡¯t care about the rest, but Raven and ze were both there. He couldn¡¯t just let them die.


    With both of them being at a disadvantage, they were back to square one. No one seemed to have an upper hand for now.


    ¡°Gha! ¡±


    Another torrent of fire shot from the Sovereign¡¯s tail; aimed directly at Ozul.


    Ozul was forced to retreat not before he attacked from the side.


    ¡®I can keep this up for months... the only problem is that she can do the same.¡¯


    He sighed in his heart as he nced around him to look for some opportunity.


    The Sovereign didn¡¯t leave a single opening in her defense after the first initial exchanges. She was a genius in this regard to have adapted so quickly to his unusual pattern.


    Now she didn¡¯t rely on her Mana sensing abilities to predict his attack, any other Beast would have kept trying and ended up only getting enraged and losing control over the frustration.


    Just then, Ozul¡¯s eyesnded on something that made him almost pause midair which would have been fine if there wasn¡¯t a Rank-10 Beasting for his light the moment he let his guard down!


    ¡®And of course, she is watching the show...¡¯


    Ozul was sure he had just seen Jinx watching his fight with her ever-indifferent attitude.


    -5 Left-


    .....

 Chapter 334

    Chapter 334: Battle Maniacs.


    Another participant died somewhere in the midst of the fight of others.


    Ozul waspletely unconcerned about the announcement. He wouldn¡¯t have had to work so hard if he had stopped to think about it. It wasn¡¯t difficult to keep fighting until the other five people died.


    All he could think about right now was defeating the Sovereign!


    He was enjoying the fight more than he thought he would.


    Ozul never thought himself to enjoy a fight, and he never did. However, it had be one of the very few things in which he could let himself out.


    He had voluntarily run towards the Sovereign so the fight would be far away from Raven and ze. Protecting them while fighting her would have been impossible. Now, however, he was feeling something.


    ¡®I want to win...¡¯


    .....


    He had also realized it. He wanted to win the fight!


    The Sovereign was the perfect match; maybe even stronger than him. But that was all the more reason he wanted to win.


    Since his birth, there hadn¡¯t been many things he could win right away. He had to wait decades before he could be whole again. He was extremely patient with everything. But now he had a challenge in front of him that he could actually win without having to wait so long and still feel so empty.


    The desire to win was fueled by more than simple curiosity. He had to find out what was on the other end now.


    . . .


    Back to Raven and ze, their roles kept switching back and forth.


    They slowly tried to move out of the middle area, but there was no end to people attacking from left and right.


    ¡°They won¡¯t stop for a minute if I just yell at them, would they?!¡± ze shouted as he shielded an attack aimed at Zier.


    ¡°You can try.¡±


    It was faint, but amidst all the explosions left and right, he could still hear Raven¡¯s reply.


    ¡°Tch!¡± ncing at Zier who was continuously cursing, ze shook his head, ¡°If it could, it would¡¯ve already worked by now...¡±


    ¡°Figures,¡± Raven dodged an arm coated with ice before her dagger swiped towards the arm.


    The ice shattered instantly, but it gave enough time for the man to move away. Unfortunately, Raven was a little faster. Although she couldn¡¯t cut his hand, the dagger still grazed past the skin, leaving a deep wound.


    Blood gushed from the man¡¯s hand as Raven felt the stamina and Mana seeping into her from the dagger.


    At the same time, the man felt himself getting weaker. The horrified look in his eyes made it apparent that he noticed what had just urred.


    The implications of this simple fact made him take a step back, but that was his biggest mistake.


    ¡°If shouting isn¡¯t working, we just have to join them...¡± Raven muttered as another dagger stabbed right into the heart from behind. Instant death.


    -4 left-


    ¡°Oh well... My hands are tied right now. If I go all out, there is no guarantee this ¡®squirrel¡¯ stays alive,¡± ze said as he witnessed the clean kill.


    He then continued to deal with two guys at once before he jumped andnded in front of Zier. Looking straight into his eyes, he spoke with an annoyed expression, ¡°Just why did you have to save us?¡±


    Meanwhile, Zier kept thanking God for the day he decided to stick with that strange quiet man and these guys.


    There was no telling if he would still be alive if he hadn¡¯t gotten involved with them.


    Currently, he was trying his best to avoid any attack but he was failing miserably. Despite his trump card, this was the situation he would have no chance of escaping if it wasn¡¯t for ze and Raven protecting him from all four sides.


    ¡®If I live to see another day, I promise I will not forget your kindness.¡¯ Zier thought with watery eyes.


    At the same time, ze managed to find an opening and finally had the chance to attack.


    It was a direct hit!


    -3 left-


    The whisper made everyone feel hopeful.


    Those struggling in a fight felt like they only had to hold on for just a couple more minutes.


    As the weakest man here, Zier heaved a sigh of relief. There were still a couple of people fighting around him but it had gotten better than before. He had it easier to look out for sneak attacks.


    Even Raven and ze barely had to look out for anyoneing after them. The other man fighting ze ran away as fast as he could when he saw the fate of his friend.


    Just when the duo thought they could have room to breathe, a shout came from the back.


    ¡°There you are!¡± the tall man shouted with his lungs out.


    He was Berk who had been wanting to go for either ze or Raven all this while but only now had the chance to do so.


    ¡°Looks like someone you know,¡± Raven said with a straight face before she jumped back to Zier¡¯s side.


    From the looks of it, the man rushing in was probably some hot-headed idiot who wanted to prove his strength by defeating them. She would rather have ze deal with this.


    As he ran, Berk¡¯s whole body was consumed in mes, threatening to hit ze like a giant fireball.


    Responding quickly, ze first seemingly surrounded himself in a wall of ice.


    Just before Berk hit the wall, the heat was already enough to start melting it. As he made contact, a loud explosion urred, sting the whole wall down.


    Under the smokescreen of the debris, Berk didn¡¯t know whether he was sessful in hitting ze or not. Just as he was wondering, a cold feeling emerged from behind his neck.


    And even though Berk always considered himself fast in reaction, he was a tad bit toote.


    ¡°Ah! Fuck!¡± he instinctively cursed.


    Blood gushed from the side of his shoulder. He was able to save his head but in the end, wasn¡¯t fast enough.


    Even though he hadn¡¯t missed, ze still looked a little shocked.


    ¡®That Mana clearly belongs to a Middle-Stage Rank-8 Mage; he shouldn¡¯t have been able to sense it before his head went flying,¡¯ he thought in his mind before quickly creating a distance between them.


    ¡°Seems like you have a lot of experience in fighting,¡± heplimented Berk while staring at him.


    The attack which would have usually destroyed a giant boulder could only leave a cut on his shoulder. ¡®If those are not pills, he is most likely above Rank-8 as a Fighter,¡¯ he figured.


    ¡°Heh, and here I thought this would be easy. Though it¡¯s better this way. It wouldn¡¯t have been fun otherwise!¡± Berk shouted before a yellow-ish aura enveloped the fire around him.


    ze looked quite curious as waited patiently, letting Berk do whatever he was doing.


    Strands of fire tried struggling out of the aura, but the efforts were futile. Before anyone couldprehend how that aura had appeared, it started shrinking!


    Wrapping itself around Berk¡¯s body, it solidified into a golden armor!


    From his original wild appearance, he now looked like a dignified army general. The golden armor covered all the vital parts of his body. Even the air around him seemingly changed directions. Appearances aside, he felt like apletely different person.


    ¡°Ancestor! If you are watching, forgive me. But how long would we hide this?! Isn¡¯t it the perfect time to show everyone who the LEONARD DYNASTY IS!?¡±


    He spread his arm in the air, his roar overshadowing everything except for the battle between Ozul and the Sovereign.


    Ripples of Mana spread out with him at the center!


    The temperature instantly soared. A burning desert may have been a better ce than around him right now.


    Berk moved his gaze down, locking his eyes with ze, ¡°You shall be the first outsider to feel the wrath of our Armor of Heavens!¡±


    The savage smile stered on his face contrasted the exalting bearings of the armor. He currently looked just like the man any mother would warn her children about.


    ¡°That...¡± Raven stared at Berk and muttered to herself. That smile was so familiar, she had seen it before-


    ¡°haha...¡± augh came from the opposite end, attracting all eyes previously staring fearfully at Berk.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Raven sighed with realization. How could she forget?


    A smile no less ferocious Berk¡¯s.


    Complimenting that wild look was the freezing air around ze. Spikes of ice emerged all around him.


    It felt as if an Ice Spirit King had shown himself on mortalnd! Even the Element of Ice itself seemingly created a throne around him!


    ¡°Oh, how long have I been waiting for something like this?!¡±


    With ze¡¯s shout, the temperature dropped sharply and it had created a phenomenon one could never hope to find in nature! On one side, thend barely withstood the heat and held itself together from melting, while on the other side, even the air was turning into ice crystals!


    The sh of two elements was visible to even someone like Zier who was only a Fighter. All he could do at the moment was stare, mouth agape, at these two savages who craved nothing more than a bloody battle.


    There was no doubt about it. Both belonged to the same strange breed of humans who enjoyed nothing more than fighting and dominating their opponents on any battlefield!


    The two didn¡¯t wait another second before shooting towards each other like falling stars.


    *BOOM!*


    ¡°AGH! GHAHAHA!¡±


    ¡°HAA! THERE IT IS!!¡±


    .....


    ¡®I should have known better...¡¯


    Raven sighed as she listened to the two crazyughs resounding all over the hill.


    Though debris obscured her view of what was going on, she and everyone else could be certain of one thing... These two battle freaks were already having the time of their lives!

 Chapter 335

    Chapter 335: Death of...?


    -2 left-


    The whisper sighed again, but no one stopped to think about it even for a second.


    ¡°AGH! Let me wipe that smile out of your face!¡± shouted berk as he threw a punch at ze.


    It hit ze directly in the face, but the ice had abruptly protected him from any serious damage.


    Responding quickly, ze summoned ance from behind Berk, threatening to kill him on the spot.


    ¡°Tch!¡±


    He spat in disappointment; thence could barely damage the golden armor before it melted from the heat.


    .....


    ¡°Try all you want! This isn¡¯t called Armor of Heavens for nothing!¡± Berk shouted in delight as he made his next move.


    Although he was one rank above ze as a Fighter, he was still a whole stage below him in terms of a Mage!


    With ze¡¯s absolute raw power and his years of experience, it should have been an easy fight for him. Yet, he was struggling so much because of this technique which he had never seen before.


    ¡®A spell or an artifact? Whatever it is, it shouldn¡¯tst long,¡¯ ze thought as he continued dodging and simultaneously attacking Berk.


    Something so strong must be using Berk¡¯s own Mana, so he wasn¡¯t invincible. It would run out or he would get exhausted sooner orter. ¡®That must be the case, otherwise, with this technique¡¯s help, the Leonard Dynasty would have already been ruling the whole continent,¡¯ ze concluded while keeping his focus on Berk.


    The ice and the fire element raged all around the hill like wild beasts!


    The confused audience could only wonder whether they were still in the samepetition or not. They were certain that except for the man fighting the Rank-10 Beast, no one exceeded Rank-8 as a Mage inside the barrier.


    Yet, why did it look like two Rank-9 Mages were fighting!?


    ¡°AHH!¡±


    ¡°ENTERTAIN ME!!¡±


    Thetter shout was from ze. He wasn¡¯t able to even put a scratch on Berk, but the beastly smile on his face highly contradicted his current situation.


    This was what he wanted! A worthy opponent that he could ovee with his own strength!


    Each strike that he missed, each attack that he had a hard time blocking further pumped his blood.


    ¡®This is what I wanted!!! Let¡¯s see what you can do.¡¯


    Berk whipped ash of wire at ze, expecting ze to either dodge or slow down his momentum by blocking.


    ¡°F*ck!¡± Berk cursed as he saw what actually went down.


    ze had no intentions of dodging or blocking the attack!


    He rushed through the mes which could melt rock boulders in a matter of seconds and aimed straight at Berk¡¯s weakness!


    Berk was caught off-guard as he didn¡¯t expect ze to be even crazier than him.


    ze¡¯s fistnded right on Berk¡¯s face, shooting him in an abandoned building a little far away.


    With that, everything turned quiet. Even those still trying to fight each other amidst this confusion stopped to understand the oue.


    After the dust settled, people could see the shadow of the man groggily standing up from the rubbles. A few secondster, the proud appearance of Berk became visible.


    He looked just as shy as before, but blood was currently dripping down his nose, ruining the image of the invincible general who could take down the whole world with his momentum.


    Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t the only one hurt in this exchange. ze had also endured the mes tond the direct hit!


    There were burnt marks all over his skin, but he still stood tall, excitement apparent from every inch of his body. Contrasting with Berk, he currently had armor of solid ice covering all of his vital organs.


    ¡°Turns out you can take a hit,¡± zemented.


    He was seriously surprised to see Berk standing up as if he just hadn¡¯t taken a direct hit to his head.


    ¡°You know you¡¯re the first person to get me this excited. Enduring those mes, I don¡¯t think... even I could have done that,¡± Berk muttered. These were his true feelings, ¡°Even the Armor of Heavens doesn¡¯t seem so mighty now.¡±


    But just then, both ze and Berk readied themselves and shot at each other again. The fight was far from over.


    On the sidelines, a ck-haired woman boringly watched this show with a look that seemed to indicate that she wasn¡¯t enjoying any of this.


    ¡°They should be soul mates,¡± she muttered annoyedly.


    The man with sickly appearances behind her could only wryly smile at her attitude.


    ¡°Uhm,¡± Zier stuttered.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Raven turned around.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you notice?¡± he questioned with a worried face.


    ¡°Notice what?¡±


    ¡°The death! Only two people are left now, but no one except for these two freaks was fighting!¡±


    Raven¡¯s eyes widened at the thought. Because of this whirlpool of ice and fire elements, she wasn¡¯t even able to feel any other spells being used around the area.


    ¡°Toote now!¡± A shout came from behind her.


    To be more precise, it was from behind Zier!


    Raven instantly registered the situation, but the distance seemed too far to protect Zier.


    ¡°Not so fast!¡± Zier himself had prepared for such a situation. With his quick reflexes, he tried to duck.


    Sadly, he was only a Rank-5 Fighter and his opponent was a Rank-8 Mage and a Rank-3 Fighter!


    It was at this moment that Zier flicked his hands and out of nowhere, an explosion of purple gas covered him entirely!


    ¡°ARGH!¡±


    ¡°Ukh!¡±


    Raven heard two different shouts, though she had to stop her spell now since she didn¡¯t know what had urred inside the purple gas.


    From the gas, the skinny man who had jumped on Zier ran away with a limp on his feet.


    Raven shot a dagger in his direction before quickly ncing towards the ground; Zier was on the ground clutching his stomach with one hand and supporting himself with the other.


    ¡°Akh! I will be fine, get that guy!¡± Zier spat a mouthful of blood, leaving Raven wondering if she should help him or get the guy.


    ¡°Go! I can help myself!¡±


    Seeing his resolution and the confidence in his eyes, Raven nodded her head and chased the man around the abandoned buildings.


    ¡°Fuck go away!! I have to live! I have a family!¡± the man who had attacked Zier started shouting as he noticed Ravening after him.


    ¡°Should have thought about them before attacking a sick man.¡± Raven never learned to pity those who were in the wrong.


    ¡°URGH! Crow! Hurry up! Kill people before this bitch kills me!!¡±


    The man frantically started shouting, though no one answered his cries for help.


    ¡®So it¡¯s not him alone,¡¯ Raven understood the gist of it, but she didn¡¯t know if this man named Crow would be so loyal as to listen to a dying man.


    Without waiting for another second, she pinned that man down on the ground. It wasn¡¯t hard, he was already limping because of something Zier had done.


    Although surprised how Zier could pull off such a feat while only being a Rank-5 Fighter, she didn¡¯t hesitate before plunging another dagger right into that man¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Khu!¡±


    Blood spattered everywhere as the familiar whisper again resounded in everyone¡¯s mind.


    ¡®One more death, and the show ends~...¡¯


    With that announcement, Raven didn¡¯t have the time to find the man¡¯spanion as she remembered that she had left Zier on his own. If someone found him, they would surely kill him on the spot to end this tournament!


    As she returned to the location, she discovered him leaning against a stone wall, with a piece of cloth tied around his wound. He had fallen unconscious.


    Raven moved quickly and precisely. She opened his mouth and quickly summoned a bottle of liquid, which she chugged down his throat.


    *Cough! Cough!*


    Zier violently coughed before spitting some blood to his side.


    ¡°Is he... dead?¡± he asked Raven with a weak look.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    After that, no one spoke. Only the sound of Zier asionally coughing could be heard in addition to the explosive noises due to the ongoing battles.


    Raven couldn¡¯t do more for Zier. She had already given him the medicine, it was up to him to survive now, ¡®He should be fine.¡¯


    She wanted to look for that man named Crow, but leaving Zier here probably meant leaving him to die.


    .....


    . . .


    Back to ze and Berk¡¯s fight, ze kept on pushing the other.


    Even with a technique as powerful as the Armor of Heavens, it had its own weaknesses. It didn¡¯t cover his whole body.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you give up already!¡± ze shouted as he realized that Berk¡¯s movements were slowing down. It turned out that he was already running out of Mana.


    Irritated, Berk didn¡¯t reply this time. He had to admit; he was losing this battle. If he didn¡¯t do anything now, he would be helpless.


    Just then, Berk heard a voice from a few meters away, ¡°You just don¡¯t know when to give up, huh!?¡±


    ¡°Damn, Maura! Don¡¯t you interfere in this fight!¡± Berk tried stopping Maura who was about to jump in this storm of ice and fire.


    Angry, Maura stomped her feet. She wasn¡¯t about to let him die even if he scolded herter!


    ¡°Oh? Stop me the- UkkH!!¡±


    Her widened eyes nced down.


    It was a dagger.


    ¡°MAURA!!!¡± Berk shouted, forgetting ze.


    ¡®Aaand~ thest participant is dead~... ¡®


    Hearing the announcement, ze didn¡¯t give chase to Berk.


    Someone had snuck up on Maura when she was distracted by Berk¡¯s fight for a moment.


    Berk, panicked, dashed up to her. His wide eyes were staring down at hers, which had suddenly lost all light.


    ¡°H-ahah.. I d-did it!¡± the man who had plunged that dagger into Mauraughed maniacally. In his excitement of escaping death, he forgot that Berk was still here.


    ¡°YOU BASTARD!! I WILL SHOW YOU HELL!¡±


    In a fit of rage, Berk didn¡¯t care that the tournament had already ended...


    ¡°AaHHhH!!!...¡±


    The tournament ended with the anguished cries of the man who was scorched to death by Berk...

 Chapter 336

    Chapter 336: Air Cracks?


    ¡°Wow! He was a bit of a screamer, wasn¡¯t he?¡±


    Old Gu¡¯s voice had regained its tenacity.


    It no longer sounded like the lingering ghost¡¯s whispers.


    He only spoke after the man was dead, as if he didn¡¯t care whether or not his prize winners lived until they received their rewards.


    Berk kept a nk expression on his face as he stared at Maura¡¯s body.


    ¡°I had hoped for at least 15 winners this time, but 14 will do just nicely,¡± Old Gu went on.


    He was about to continue when his face scrunched up due to the loud explosions in the background. Everything hade to a standstill. They were all fatigued and didn¡¯t want to continue this murdering game any longer.


    .....


    ¡°Will the two of you stop? It¡¯s over already!¡± He yelled at them from miles away, but his voice echoed throughout the city.


    With the exception of Berk, who was still in shock, the others all looked into the distance and noticed that both of them hadpletely ignored Old Gu.


    The Sovereign was the ruler of all Beasts on the continent, and she never listened to anyone!


    Ozul, on the other hand, did not pause because he was determined to defeat her right away. He wanted to see if defeating her would elicit any emotions from him. He was aware that the tournament had ended, but he refused to give up.


    ¡°I told you to stop!¡±


    With that, a wave of pressure washed over Ozul and the Sovereign, forcing them both toe to a halt!


    Even those who were not directly affected by the pressure took a step back instinctively. Old Gu¡¯s voice was no longer an old man¡¯s mocking.


    The pressure was enough to bring both the Sovereign and Ozul to their knees!


    The Sovereign bared her teeth at Old Gu from afar while Ozul red at him with a stare that could prick a hole through his brain.


    After his disy of power, everyone looked at him in horror. They all knew he was more powerful than the top Rank-10 individuals, but this... He brought them both to their knees with just his voice!?


    ¡®I should be able to stand up... why can¡¯t I?¡¯ Ozul pondered in his mind. He thought he could stand up, but the more force he used, the more pressure he felt on his head.


    He had already estimated Old Gu¡¯s strength, and he shouldn¡¯t have been so much stronger than him!


    Then he felt something brush past his back, and the pressure was suddenly relieved! He was now as light as a feather.


    ¡®Just how much you¡¯re hiding...¡¯ he sighed as he looked to his side.


    Jinx sat down next to him and began licking her paws after giving him a long look with her enchanting eyes.


    *sigh..*


    He sighed again before standing up.


    ¡®Maybe another time,¡¯ he thought in his mind while staring at the defiant eyes of the Sovereign. If he killed her now, he wouldn¡¯t feel anything.


    ¡°What? How can you stand up?!¡± Old Gu eximed, his face etched with the word ¡®shocked¡¯.


    ¡°Don¡¯t lose your cool, old man. This isn¡¯t like you,¡± Ozul replied.


    Old Gu was reminded of his image in front of everyone, so he coughed lightly before steadying his breath.


    Ozul wanted to dig a little deeper because this was the first time he¡¯d seen him lose his cool, but he also didn¡¯t want Jinx to attract the attention of people who were stronger than him. Old Gu would most likely make a connection with it because she was suddenly beside him.


    ¡°Right, so as I was about to say... the tournament has officially ended,¡± he spoke while eyeing Ozul from the corner of his eyes. He couldn¡¯t help his curiosity.


    Old Gu pretended he hadn¡¯t just asked a question. Others only heard him ask a question before he abruptly changed the subject. Only the Sovereign was close enough to hear Ozul, and she didn¡¯t care whatsoever; all she wanted to do was get up and tear apart both Ozul and the old man who had done this to her.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to announce the names of the 14 survivors!¡±


    ¡°...uh... Never mind, I don¡¯t remember most of your names,¡± he eximed after a brief pause.


    ¡°Anyway!¡± he yelled again, and with a raise of his hands, the barrier that surrounded Neutral City abruptly became opaque.


    Those on the outside couldn¡¯t see anything that was going on inside.


    ¡°Alright, now we can begin the next part of this trial~,¡± he said with a smile creeping up his face, ¡°Anyone might wanna make some guesses?¡±


    Knowing that Ozul and the Sovereign weren¡¯t the types to amuse anyone, he looked at the humans on the hill with expectations in his eyes.


    Being stared at by the monster in human skin, many didn¡¯t dare to speak, while others didn¡¯t want to entertain him.


    Seeing that no one was interested, he locked his eyes with a man of short build... On a closer look, he looked as if he was only a 15 years old teen!


    ¡°What do you think, genius boy?¡± Old Gu remembered him. He looked young, but he was still over 50 years old. The reason he called him genius was because of his exceptional intellect and rare talent in cultivation.


    ¡°Ah! Me?¡± the ¡®boy¡¯ in question seemed startled and even spoke with a childish voice, ¡°Uhm... Is there going to be another round of this trial?¡±


    The mere prospect of another bloodbath terrified him, but it was the only ¡®next part¡¯ he could think of at the moment.


    ¡°Hmm? That was the best you coulde up with?¡± Old Gu squinted his eyes at him, making thetter shiver in fear. He didn¡¯t know what could tick off this old man and cause his demise.


    ¡°Hah! The next part is, of course, the reward! Didn¡¯t I say that already? Except for that unfortunate guy over there, you all get to have your worldview shattered!¡±


    ¡°What? Shouldn¡¯t you all be cheering right now?¡± Old Gu said, grunting with disappointment as he looked around and saw no one celebrating.


    No one was in the mood to shout their joy because they had yet to ept the fact that they had just survived a brutal bloodbath.


    ¡°Even though you guys had it easier than the previous ones... sigh... whatever,¡± hezily shrugged his shoulders.


    Ozul went to check on Raven, ze, and Zier while Old Gu was going on about his insensitive ramblings.


    He wrapped the Ball of Purity around Zier¡¯s torso when he saw him in such a sorry state. It immediately alleviated his pain.


    ¡°Enough of that now,¡± Old Gu said atst.


    He closed his eyes and his body steadily rose up in the air.


    Ozul instantly increased his vignce. He didn¡¯t want to miss out on anything.


    The winds suddenly slowed, and it felt much warmer, as if the season had abruptly changed from winter to summer.


    ¡°What is happening?¡± someone asked, but they received no answer.


    No one else knew what was happening either.


    Everyone felt strange because they sensed something oppressing in the atmosphere. A strange smell invaded their nostrils. Something foreign was in the air, but they couldn¡¯t put a finger on it.


    Even the distant sounds of rustling leaves or the pping of birds could not be heard. It was as if everything was also holding its breath in excitement and watching whatever Old Gu was doing.


    ¡°The candidates from the fragmented world have been chosen.¡±


    In an almost ethereal voice, Old Gu opened his mouth and spoke these words.


    He wasn¡¯t speaking to anyone below him, but no one else was on the scene either.


    Ozul concentrated on the phrase ¡®fragmented world,¡¯ as it further confirmed his suspicion that this world was only a small part of somethingrger.


    Among others, only he knew a fraction of what was happening right now. Old Gu was most likely speaking to someone outside this world.


    As he finished speaking, the wind, which had stopped abruptly, began to move again, as did the sound of a small stream moving down the hill and the sound of birds pping their wings anxiously.


    Everyone looked up in the sky as they felt a sucking force from above.


    *Crack!*


    They stared in horror as a small crack appeared in the clear blue sky!


    The sky, which remained unattainable to humans before, appeared more fragile than amon mirror!


    Even Ozul was a little surprised as he expected many things but to see a crack appear in the air out of nowhere.


    The crack grewrger andrger in front of everyone¡¯s stunned eyes, until it felt as if the ¡®ss¡¯ had enough cracks and was about to break.


    Some held their breaths, not knowing what to expect on the other side of the cracks.


    *Chingkk!*


    The ¡®ss¡¯ broke!


    Something dark took the ce of that part of the air. More precisely, a dark round shape with nothing visible on the other side. It was void.


    This attracted Ozul¡¯s attention. He stared straight into the void and felt as if his very soul was being sucked into it... if he had any. There was something fascinating about that void.


    A stranger might have wondered why he was so interested in it, but Raven and ze knew because they had known him for so long. Raven nudged his shoulder to jolt him out of his trance.


    This was not the time to be lost in thought, so she had to wake him up from his dreams.


    ¡°Something ising out of it!¡±

 Chapter 337

    Chapter 337: KunKun~


    Initially, no one expected cracks to appear in the space.


    But what surprised everyone even more was that something wasing out of it right now!


    Ozul squinted to get a good look at the dull white fabric that fluttered out of the void. It was difficult to concentrate on anything else when the pure void was so enticing.


    If the spatial crack were a firemp, Ozul would resemble a moth blindly drawn to its me.


    Everyone held their breaths.


    It only took a split second for everything to sink in. It wasn¡¯t some mysterious object or a monster beyond theirprehension that emerged from the spatial crack; it was simply a human being!


    The dull white robes fluttered in the air as the man stepped out of the spatial crack, and the wind began to blow again. The spatial crack immediately closed, as if reality had been yed in reverse.


    .....


    The man nced around him for a split second before his eyes coldly nced at the people below him.


    A sneer stretched across his face as his gaze fell on the old man, whom he instantly recognized ¡°Senior Gu... We haven¡¯t seen each other in a long time.¡±


    Due to the obvious contempt in his tone, it was clear that Old Gu didn¡¯t get along with this new person who addressed him with honorifics.


    ¡°Indeed, yet it doesn¡¯t feel that way. After all, your hand is still crippled.¡±


    With a grin on his face, Old Gu responded immediately. He didn¡¯t appear to be fazed by the man. His remark drew Ozul¡¯s attention to the man¡¯s unnatural arm position.


    He wore his blonde hair behind his back, tied with a ribbon. The robes were a little baggy, but they seemed to fit him perfectly. Despite their fluttering, Ozul could tell the man had the posture of a thick tree.


    Ozul pondered in his mind, ¡®I can¡¯t sense his power either.¡¯ Because the man¡¯s attention was currently upied by Old Gu, it was a good opportunity to gauge his strength.


    ¡°!!!¡±


    The man gave him a side nce and squinted his eyes a little when Old Gu coughed a little.


    ¡°Get it over with quickly... KunKun~¡±


    ¡°What did you call me?!¡±


    ¡®He saved me,¡¯ Ozul had a feeling that Old Gu intentionally diverted the man¡¯s attention.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what I call you. Are you so free or did your master forget to teach you the basics of time flow?¡± Old Gu shook his head with a face filled with almost genuine disappointment. If one didn¡¯t know any better, they would think that he was really concerned for the man.


    ¡°You sure can talk after being here for over ten thousand years, Senior. It makes a junior like me really wonder if you are still sane and haven¡¯t lost your mind with age.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I can still wipe your ass with my eyes closed.¡±


    ¡°You are forgetting everything works differently here, Senior,¡± the man who Old Gu called ¡®KunKun¡¯ sneered in disdain and decided not to indulge with the old man more than he already had.


    He swept his gaze once more across the fourteen people on the ground, and a frown formed on his already clenched brows.


    ¡°Why are there only 14 people here? They had ordered you for at least 30!¡±


    His questions were directed at Old Gu, who was cleaning his ears!


    ¡°I told them to stop fighting when there were only 30 left, but look at them! This bunch is truly an unruly one; they didn¡¯t even listen to me and have only now stopped.¡± With a mix of rage and dissatisfaction, Old Gu pointed his greasy finger at the people down on the hill.


    Even ¡®KunKun¡¯ had the impression that this was how Old Gu felt for a brief moment, but looking at the faces of those 14 survivors being pointed at, it was clear that the old man was shifting me.


    His clenched fists shook with rage, but he forced himself to calm down. ¡®Just wait until I report this back, they might overturn their decision not to end your punishment here after all,¡¯ he reasoned in his mind.


    He took deep breaths, and a wisp of cold wind blew again, chilling even Rank-8 Mages.


    It wasn¡¯t natural, everyone thought, but no one dared to ask any questions. If they knew anything, it was that even if they allbined their strength, they wouldn¡¯t be able topete with these two people floating in the air.


    ¡°I believe you already know what¡¯s going to happen now, so let¡¯s g-¡±


    ¡°Cough!¡± Old Gu coughed loudly.


    ¡°...¡±


    The muscles on ¡®KunKun¡¯s¡¯ face twitched visibly. To the point where even the most clueless could tell how enraged he was.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t tell them anything... did you?¡±


    ¡°Hm... I may have forgotten a little. Anyway, I was informed that I was called back?¡± Old Gu quickly switched the topic.


    ¡°Regrettably so,¡± ¡®KunKun¡¯ muttered quietly to himself.


    ¡°Your opinion makes absolutely dirt difference. KunKun~, it would be so kind of you to open the gate now.¡±


    If looks could kill, Old Gu would have already been a dead man a thousand times over!


    ¡®KunKun¡¯ had no choice but toply with Old Gu¡¯s request. He appeared to do nothing when the space behind him cracked again, revealing an abyss filled with unending depths.


    Before entering the gate, Old Gu cleaned his hand with his half-torn rough clothing. He halted for a short second before entering and looked at Ozul with a cunning gleam in his eyes. Fortunately or unfortunately, ¡®KunKun¡¯ was not paying attention to this brief event.


    ¡°Pray you don¡¯t meet me again in the future.¡±


    With that, Old Gu¡¯s back disappeared inside the gate.


    With the cause for their gloomy expressions no longer present, everyone turned to face the stranger, clearly anticipating answers.


    Ahem!


    ¡°My surname is Kun, and you should now address me as ¡®Senior¡¯. Quietly follow me. If at all possible, avoid opening your mouth. I¡¯m not paid enough to answer your questions,¡± Kun snorted coldly.


    Ozul deduced from Kun¡¯s authoritative tone that he was most likely someone in a high position wherever they were going.


    ¡°You...¡± Kun finally paid attention to the massive beast, which had been thrown to the ground but stood up after Old Gu left.


    ¡°Are you also chosen?¡± Kun inquired, clicking his tongue in annoyance as he did so. He¡¯d almost forgotten that it wasn¡¯t going to be so easy this time. ¡®He chose this beast on purpose! I know it! Just you wait, old bastard!¡¯ He yelled in his head, but his face remained expressionless.


    ¡°I am! So what Human? Do you also intend to stop m-¡±


    Thud!


    The pressure that had disappeared after Old Gu left suddenly descended upon her again as her massive body mmed straight into the ground! She couldn¡¯t move a muscle even when she tried to open her mouth again.


    If these ¡®invisible constraints¡¯ were just a leash when done by Old Gu, now it felt as if this man was about to crush her to death!


    ¡°I will ask you one simple question and I don¡¯t want anything other than a yes or a no. Understand?¡± Kun asked with a chilling voice.


    It would have made others take a few steps back, but the Sovereign continued to re at him with her reddened slits.


    ¡°Quite a feisty one, huh.¡± Kun raised his brow and a smirk spread across his face, ¡°Let¡¯s see how long you canst then.¡±


    GrH!!


    Strange rumbling sounds filled with pain escaped the Sovereign¡¯s mouth despite her inability to open it.


    While others were perplexed by what was going on, Ozul waspletely aware of the situation. As Kun continued to torture her, he could sense the Sovereign¡¯s anguished emotions.


    ¡°Hm. Have you changed your mind?¡± Kun retracted a bit of his pressure so the Sovereign could barely move her head.


    Her vengeful re did not dim in the least, but she was now well aware that she was no match for this human. Despite her reluctance, she agreed by moving her head up and down.


    ¡°See it wasn¡¯t so hard, was it? Alright, so a simple question; can you change your form to something around a human¡¯s size?¡±


    Despite being a gigantic fox with no human expressions, his question caused the Sovereign to frown.


    ¡°Puppy, you don¡¯t want to irritate me. I don¡¯t have much time to waste on all of you. Might I remind you that the most efficient method is to kill you and be done with it?¡±


    From above, Kun looked down on the Sovereign. Ozul could tell he was serious when he said that. They were currently of no value to him, and he could easily dispose of them without having to lift a finger!


    ¡®Was Old Gu as powerful as this?¡¯ Ozul pondered his thoughts.


    Surprisingly, he showed no sentiments when confronted with this new situation. It didn¡¯t bother him in the least that his life was at the mercy of another person.


    It seemed that the Sovereign had also realized the seriousness of the situation as she finally allowed herself to listen to a human being.


    ¡°I... can.¡±


    She had this ability for a very long time now but she chose never to do this because she liked her current form the best.


    ¡°Perfect!¡± Kun happily relieved the Sovereign¡¯s pressure, allowing her to rise to her feet once more. She didn¡¯t, however, immediately try to kill Kun out of rage, as any beast would in her ce.


    ¡°What are you waiting for?¡±


    Everyone was looking forward to seeing what the Sovereign would transform into. They¡¯d never heard of a Beast sorge changing forms and shrinking in size. Not to mention the Maind¡¯s Sovereign of All Beasts!

 Chapter 338

    Chapter 338: Human?!


    Since she had no choice, the Sovereign didn¡¯t try to resist anymore.


    If all she needed to do was change her form, it wasn¡¯t a problem at all. If, however, that man asked her to do anything disgraceful, she wouldn¡¯t take it lying down!


    With that resolve in her mind, she felt the pressure on her decreasing to the point where she could stand up. Though it didn¡¯tpletely vanish, it loomed over her like a hanging sword, ready to fall on her if she did anything amusing.


    She stood still, and her colossal body, which stood meters tall, began to shrink at an rming rate!


    ¡°Beasts can do that as well?!¡± from the crowd, someone yelled enthusiastically.


    No one paid any heed to that man who was probably obsessed with Beasts and stared at the Sovereign in surprise. They had never seen a Beast sorge be able to do that, even when there were all kinds of Beasts.


    And before everything settled down, the show ended with a sight that left everyone dumbstruck except for Senior Kun and Ozul. The justification for thetter¡¯sck of reaction wasn¡¯t required as he was simply being himself.


    .....


    ¡°Are you sure this isn¡¯t a dream?¡± Someone in the crowd grumbled loudly. If there had been arge crowd present, this would have caused quite a stir.


    After all, where the enormous Beast had once stood, a mature woman with long red hair the color of rubies now stood in front of their very eyes!


    No one present here was stupid enough to not realize that this woman was none other than The Sovereign, a Rank-10 Beast!


    Before anyone could even look at her naked body, Senior Kun flicked his fingers and a dress materialized on her. The men sighed in displeasure at being robbed of the heavenly sight they were about to witness, but Senior Kun paid them no heed.


    Looking at the wonder of nature, everyone felt a little envious. The Beasts on this continent already had a natural affinity towards the Mana. At the same Ranks, Beasts were always superior to humans.


    Many hearts bled at the unfairness of the heavens. After all, the only advantages humans had over the Beasts were their human body and their intelligence. Together with those two, they were able to create the artifacts to rival the Beasts. However, the fact that a Beast transformed into a human right in front of them made them doubt reality.


    If given an artifact or an armor to boost their strength, wouldn¡¯t the Beastpletely crush humans?!


    Humans already didn¡¯t like the fact that those Beasts could slowly gain intelligenceparable to them. This on top was sure to raise red gs.


    Unfortunately, people outside the barrier couldn¡¯t see nor hear anything inside. If all the humans on the continent of Egon knew about this, they would surely start expeditions to kill all the Beasts on the entire Maind!


    The Sovereign, now the beautiful woman, stood there in a strange posture. One could tell at a nce that she wasn¡¯t used to this body. In fact, she was barely able to keep her bnce. It wasn¡¯t easy getting used to a transformation this big.


    Ozul noticed her troubles and guessed that either she doesn¡¯t transform into this form much, or it might even be her first time.


    In fact, it indeed was her first time changing into human form!


    ¡°Thwfs-¡±


    The Sovereign opened her mouth but her very first word didn¡¯t sound humane at all. She was clearly struggling.


    After a few more tries, she was able to use her new mouth to speak clearly. She already knew how to speak humannguage, so all she needed to do was to get used to her facial muscles.


    ¡°...This better be worth it, human.¡±


    ¡°So much effort only to say this? Can¡¯t say I¡¯m not disappointed for all the time you have wasted until now. And no matter how much you hate it, this is the only way for you to get stronger,¡± Senior Kun spoke with a strict tone, but answered nheless.


    Others were perplexed by what they were saying.


    What they actually didn¡¯t know was that this transformation was irreversible!


    ...


    ¡°Alright. Since that is settled, it¡¯s time to leave,¡± Senior Kun said as he began to turn around.


    ¡°Leave where?¡± ze asked.


    Behind him, others also had the same question, but most of them were just too afraid to ask.


    ¡°Hm? Leave to the real world, ice boy.¡± Senior Kun spat behind heading inside the spatial crack, ¡°Whoever doesn¡¯t follow me is wee to die.¡±


    ¡°Ice boy... pfft!¡±


    The one whoughed was none other than Raven. She didn¡¯t really find it that funny, but she couldn¡¯t resist adding fuel to the fire after noticing ze¡¯s annoyed expressions at that nickname.


    Meanwhile, since they had no choice, everyone started following Senior Kun¡¯s lead. As he disappeared into the portal, some started to hesitate. Paying no attention to the rest, Ozul stepped inside as well. He wasn¡¯t afraid and unlike the rest, he had an inkling on what Kun meant by ¡®real world¡¯.


    After him, The Sovereign harrumphed and also stepped inside. Raven, ze, and Zier were next.


    With those five gone, others also felt a little confident and one by one, everyone entered; some with excitement, while others were still grieving at the loss of their loved ones.


    As all 14 people entered the spatial crack, it instantly closed again as if the space hadn¡¯t just been torn apart at all.


    Following which, a humming sound was produced which got louder and louder by the second.


    It didn¡¯t take long for it to change into an earthquake so intense that even the hill where everyone previously stood began to shake!


    The earthquake didn¡¯t end there. Soon, the hill crumbled like bread soaked in water. The earth began to split apart and fresh soil rose from the ground.


    All the corpses littered on the ground were consumed by the earth. Some were buried under huge rocks while others were crushed to the point of no recognition. The ground behaved as if it was a sea with endless depths and consumed everything above it!


    This continued on for about another five minutes before this unnatural phenomenon settled. Those Mages waiting outside weren¡¯t even spared a nce at what had just transpired.


    As everything calmed down inside the barrier, the terrain looked as if a thousand farmers had worked day and night for months to plow thend. All the evidence of there being a death tournament was nowhere to be seen. The traces left by the fight of The Sovereign and Ozul were also erased.


    It was only then that the barrier which blocked all the Mages suddenly started dissipating.


    As the barrier disappeared, the newnd became visible to everyone.


    ¡°Is it over?¡± muttered a Rank-8 Mage.


    The sight which greeted them after the barrier disappeared was something no one expected. Why was the wholend turned into these endless fields of fresh soil? More importantly, where did everyone disappear to?


    ¡°There are no traces of Mana either,¡± Raymond spoke as he even used an artifact but had no results.


    The earthquake which had transformed the whole terrain evidently wasn¡¯t so ordinary. It even cleaned the air of any remnant of Mana particles.


    As a result, aside from the three Rank-10 Mages present, no one could predict what happened after the tournament ended because it was thest thing they saw before Old Gu rendered the barrier opaque.


    ¡°Just... what happened here? Can Mana even perform such a feat?!¡± another old Mage asked while clutching his hands.


    There were now hundreds of Mages around the Neutral City discovering the newfoundnd which had no traces of the people inside. It was as if they had simply vanished into thin air!


    Since even the teleportation runes left markings on the ground and Mana in the atmosphere.


    ¡°We will never see them again, will we?¡± Alver looked towards Kure who sighed continuously.


    ¡°The children, yes. I¡¯m not sure about that old man though. He might not leave this Maind alone in peace.¡±


    ¡°You know something! Tell me where they took my grandson!¡± When an old guy overheard Alver and Kure¡¯s talk from a distance, he dashed towards them.


    He was Zier¡¯s grandfather. His entire face was covered with worry at the moment. He wasn¡¯t even notified when they took his grandson, and now this Rank-10 Mage was suggesting he¡¯d never see him again?!


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. And show some respect!¡± Kure spoke with an authoritative voice worthy of a Rank-10 Mage.


    To be safe, all Mages in the area drenched themselvespletely in Mana. After all, no one knew the temper of one of the three strongest people on the Maind.


    Under the pressure of Kure¡¯s gaze, the old man couldn¡¯t resist and had to avert his eyes immediately. As he did so, Kure raised his head and flew away from the Neutral City.


    Not only him, but Ciro from the Leonhard Dynasty and dis from the Mercenary Guild also went back. Staying here any longer was a waste of time, they wouldn¡¯t find anything interesting here. All the clues were most likely erased by powers way beyond theirprehension.


    The humans on the Continent of Egon had no idea where the participants had vanished to.


    Some even posted requests in the Mercenary Guilds, prompting search parties to be dispatched all across the continent in search of those individuals, though this would only be in the future.


    While on the other side of the spatial crack...

 Chapter 339

    Chapter 339: Heaven?


    With the exception of Senior Kun and Ozul, everyone who entered the Spatial Crack lost consciousness almost instantly.


    Entering the Spatial Crack took everyone to a distorted space. Purplish hue spiraled all around them which would have made just about anyone dizzy. Fortunately, only two out of the fifteen people who had entered were able to witness this bizarre scene.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Kun felt something off and he was just about to look behind.


    The surroundings, however, shifted again just then. The spiral of distorted stars vanishedpletely as if sucked by an insatiable hole! It was reced by a sky so vast and clear that one could easily lose oneself in it.


    ¡°What...¡± Kun spoke with ring eyes that seemed to be trying to learn all the secrets of his, ¡°How did you do it?¡±


    Before he could get any answer, a group of people with spears in their hands came rushing in and surrounded the lot. All of them were men except for one who looked to be their superior.


    She approached Kun and mmed her spear into the ground with such force that it shook the bodies of those who were still unconscious.


    .....


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Urgh...¡±


    ...


    They groaned and groggily stood up while rubbing their eyes as if they had just woken up from a good sleep after a long while now. This could be attributed to the fact that most of them rarely slept after reaching the level they were at now.


    Meanwhile, Kun didn¡¯t pursue his question any further. He merely gave Ozul a nce before turning around and disappearing from the spot!


    His gaze alone was enough for Ozul to understand that this Kun could be a problem in the future. Something was telling him that Kun would surely try to keep an eye on him.


    He had been so engrossed in the spiral of stars as they had gone inside the Spatial Crack that he overlooked the fact that except for him, all the others had almost instantly fallen to the ground. Though even if he did, he wouldn¡¯t have had the time nor the energy to act like the others.


    ¡®Sigh...¡¯ He mentally sighed thinking that he hadn¡¯t even arrived and already attracted trouble. Though the next second, he cleared his mind, ¡®Let¡¯s first learn about this... world.¡¯


    ...


    As everyone woke up, they looked around them with wariness.


    The guards with silver spears in their hands didn¡¯t help their uneasiness.


    ¡°Where are we?¡± asked thedy with blonde hair. She was Sarah, the princess of the fallen Silverbird Kingdom.


    ¡°Everything will be exined in a minute. Please follow me,¡± thedy who had saluted Kun addressed the group with a ¡®please¡¯ that didn¡¯t make her seem like she was asking.


    Ozul also noticed that she wasn¡¯t displeased by the fact that Kun paid her no heed and left silently.


    He then remembered something and looked around only to be disappointed.


    ¡®Did she get inside or not?¡¯ He only now realized that Jinx was missing. This time he was a little worried. Yet again, he was annoyed by the fact that he didn¡¯t know the limits of Jinx¡¯s abilities.


    Had she entered the Spatial Crack or not? He was too lost in his own thoughts that he didn¡¯t realize it back then. What if she hadn¡¯t entered... would she be able to get here anyway?


    To Ozul, Jinx was simr to Raven and ze. He couldn¡¯t bear the thought of losing them as they were right now. Jinx even more so when he realized there was still so much to learn about her. He might not know everything, but he was certain that she was linked to him in some way.


    But all his worries were for naught because just then, something brushed past his feet. The familiar touch eased his non-existent heart. He didn¡¯t even need to look down to confirm whether it was really her, he just knew that it was.


    Now that that was resolved, Ozul took a deep breath and took a wide look around him.


    The starlight tore through the vast blue sky and shone upon everything brightly.


    ¡®That isn¡¯t the Sun. It¡¯s not the same star.¡¯


    Because of the obvious difference in their sizes, not only Ozul, but anyone could tell it wasn¡¯t the star they used to have at a nce. This star was muchrger, and as a result, it emitted even more bright light, which irritated Ozul to no end!


    No one had the time to soak in their new environment yet as they started following the guards.


    Ozul, on the other hand, was lost in his thoughts as he walked behind them. He noticed that they had been standing on a raised tform earlier. From top to bottom, the gold-colored marble was etched with some unknown symbols. They took it slowly down the stairs, which were the only part free of those mysterious symbols.


    ¡®Could they only open that Spatial Crack on that tform?¡¯ Ozul had a theory, but he needed to learn more about this world, all of his questions would naturally be answered then... or at least he hoped so.


    They had yet to test the intentions of these people who brought them here, so he had to be vignt.


    Yet the new surroundings made Ozul dive into his thoughts. The raised tform wasn¡¯t the only one. There was another one right beside it.


    These tforms were also ced in the middle of arge ground with only guards(?) roaming about. The ce they seemed to be walking towards was the houses that looked to be made of wood outside this ground.


    There was this certain smell in the air that made everyone feel out of ce. Even the slowest of the lot had, by now, understood that they weren¡¯t on the Mainds.


    Weren¡¯t there stories about how humans were able to reach a Rank beyond Rank-10 and ascend as gods? And weren¡¯t there some legends saying how the space itself cracked and those sages of the past had to enter that space to reach Heavens?


    Were they in Heavens right now?


    These kinds of questions clouded everyone¡¯s mind.


    No one dared to have any thoughts about bing gods though.


    They hade a long way, but they were far from gods. As for the question of whether this was Heaven, they would soon find out.


    The air was fresh, and the asional gentle breeze made themfortable.


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel alright,¡± ze whispered to Raven.


    She didn¡¯t reply to confirm his suspicions, but she had the same feeling.


    Her eyes drifted to Ozul walking by their side, lost in his own thoughts. As always, her heart felt assured since he was by her side.


    No one asked any questions and the guards coldly brought them inside the wooden manor.


    Just on the first step, all of them stopped and lined themselves side by side, guarding the ce instead of entering with them.


    The female captain(?), however, walked them inside personally.


    It was like an ancient Japanese house. There were wooden sliding doors, and even the floor waspletely made up of dark wood.


    The doors slid on their own, revealing a room empty of any furniture.


    The room was illuminated by tiny crystals encrusted in the walls. Unlike a firemp, they illuminated the entire room evenly.


    In the middle of the room stood two men wearing loose robes. One of them was an old man with a beard so long that it almost touched the ground! The other, however, was a young man with a bright smile on his face.


    Both of their robes had the same golden lining, and a green medallion with what appeared to be a lion carved on it hung around their waists.


    The old man had his eyes closed, or that¡¯s what it looked like at least. His back was hunched and he held a thick wooden stick to support himself.


    The young man, on the other hand, stood straight and proud with his hands folded behind his back.


    ¡°It was about time!¡± the young man spoke with unusual excitement.


    Zier almost jumped back in shock. That man was being too loud for a greeting.


    ¡°You can leave,¡± the old man opened his mouth. His voice turned out to be crisp, yet refreshing for an old man. It gave others confidence just by listening to him.


    The female guard nodded her head, bowed and turned around to leave. No questions were asked and no useless actions taken.


    ¡°Why are they being so tense?¡± whispered Zier with a hand on his mouth.


    ze rolled his eyes. They were simply being straight forward. This guy was tense himself, so he perceived others as such. But he couldn¡¯t be med. Considering their current situation, just about everyone would be tense.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t be tense, young man. No one here is any threat to you... yet.¡± the old man assured with a weak smile.


    ¡®Oi! oi! What do you mean by ¡®yet¡¯?!¡¯ Zier screamed in his head, turned towards ze and again whispered, ¡°You heard him say ¡®yet¡¯ right?¡±


    This time, he waspletely ignored.


    Ozul was examining the two people before him.


    They were important people, at least for the time being. He was, however, attempting to assess their strength. And he wasn¡¯t pleased when all his efforts proved futile.


    ¡®They are just like Old Gu. But judging from everything that has happened currently and their weing attitude, they should be weaker than Old Gu and that Kun. Yet, I cannot sense any of their strength... is it because of the source of their powers?¡¯


    Ozul was having an internal dialogue with himself. And just when he came to that conclusion, his eyebrows raised as he realized something.


    ¡°There is no Mana in the air...¡± his whisper resounded in the room, attracting all eyes to him.

 Chapter 340

    Chapter 340: Realm of Abezan.


    ¡°Wait, no Mana?!¡± ze, being the most sensitive to Mana, perked up on Ozul¡¯s words.


    He was right! There was no Mana in the air!


    ze looked around confused and a little embarrassed that he didn¡¯t even realize such a drastic change around him.


    He wasn¡¯t alone in his embarrassment, those geniuses from all over the continent were also in the dark until Ozul mentioned it. It couldn¡¯t be helped, after all, they were so lost in the confusion of everything that was happening that they didn¡¯t even notice that the air did not have Mana anymore.


    They all murmured in confusion and directed their eyes towards the only two people in the room who could clear their questions.


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t be confused, everyone. We are here precisely to clear your confusion and introduce you to this new world,¡± the young man spoke with excitement.


    ¡°So hurry up! Humans, don¡¯t waste my time!¡± The Sovereign, now in human form, could no longer bear it. She erupted in rage, hurling it at practically everything in her path. If she could, she would have already started burning everything to ashes!


    .....


    s, there was a little problem. She wasn¡¯t able to use any of her powers, nor change back to her original form!


    She was not only trapped in her human form, but she was also powerless. Her years as the ruler of all Beasts made it difficult for her to take this disgrace in stride.


    ¡°Calm down, girl. This attitude may not serve you well in the future,¡± The old man, who had his eyes closed, spoke to her without turning his head. It was as if he was warning everyone in the room, not just her.


    Resentment clouded her mind, but the Sovereign still didn¡¯t let that steer her actions and decided to let it slide for now. What could she even do? The once strongest being on the Continent of Egon was reduced to this powerless woman right now.


    ¡°Haha, Elder, you know how the Beastkin are at first...¡± The young man chimed in, bringing the mood back to life.


    ¡°Beastkin or not, none shall be allowed to be disrespectful. They must first earn it,¡± His hands were still calmly resting on the wooden stick as he replied in a severe tone.


    Meanwhile, Ozul tried to make sense of everything they said. Beastkin wasn¡¯t a thing back in their previous world. ¡®By his words, it means that there are many Beastkin like her,¡¯ he concluded.


    Before returning to the main topic, the young man coughed, ¡°Now, let¡¯s get back to the matter at hand. Yes, as you have all suspected. This isn¡¯t the same world you used to live in.¡± He let those words sink in since his ¡®rification¡¯ had left them with more questions than answers.


    ¡°What do you mean, it¡¯s not our world?! Are we really in heaven?¡± Zier couldn¡¯t help but question.


    ¡°Heaven?¡± The young man smiled softly as he gazed at Zier ¡°pfft! I can¡¯t say I me you for thinking that way. That¡¯s what the majority of people believe when they firste here.¡±


    ¡°Pay attention to what I¡¯m saying. Except for the Holy Land of Providence, there is no Heaven!¡± Even the old man nodded earnestly when the young man spoke with such reverence in his voice ¡°What exactly is this world? It¡¯s and brimming with possibilities! It¡¯s called Abezan, and it¡¯s one of the numerous realms that exist in the worship of the Holy Land of Providence.¡±


    ¡°The Howling Province is the name of this particr region. It¡¯s a crucial part of the Abezan realm since it¡¯s here that we link with the ¡®broken worlds¡¯ and bring exceptional people like you out of them.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by broken worlds? Was our previous world broken?¡± Raven came forward with a question. As she asked, others also eagerly awaited the young man¡¯s answer. Were all of them living in just a broken world before?


    ¡°We don¡¯t call them broken because they aren¡¯t working correctly,¡± he paused before responding, ¡°but rather because they were once part of other worlds, such as the realm of Abezan.¡±


    ¡°They were once merely fragments ofnd that fell out of the realms and established their own Realm Ego, ording to history. These Realm Egos are powerful enough to support life on these newly constructed worlds, although being much weaker than genuine realms.¡±


    ¡°Hence we call them broken worlds. The world where you came from is also a broken world.¡±


    Everyone looked at each other, puzzled, when the young man ended. They were all wary of this new knowledge, but given what had happened, it was most likely true. As for how much of it was true, they couldn¡¯t be sure.


    Before Raven could ask about the mentioned Realm Ego, this time Ozul spoke up, ¡°Why do you need to bring people out of the broken worlds?¡±


    ¡°That... no one really knows,¡± the elderly guy, who had been standing with his eyes closed the entire time, eventually opened them a little, stared at Ozul for a second, and sighed.


    Even the young man gave a forced smile. Many people pulled out of the broken worlds would have this question at some point. Unfortunately, no one had an answer for them.


    ¡°What exactly do you mean?¡± Ozul squinted his eyes suspiciously for the first time. He couldn¡¯t see right through these individuals. He had no way of knowing if they were telling the truth or lying to him. Despite this, he didn¡¯t have any doubts regarding their earlier description of the world.


    ¡°These have always been orders from people above us. We might not know, but no one is stopping you to find the reason yourself, young man,¡± the old man shrugged.


    The young man took a step forward and said, ¡°I realize you all have valid reasons to be skeptical of us. However, we can¡¯t really do anything about it. Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant. We¡¯re simply carrying out our responsibilities.¡±


    Ozul clicked his tongue in displeasure. He despised the fact that he had suddenly lost his most valuable ability, the ability to see through all living beings.


    ¡°Anyway, there is no reason for us to lie. We, of the original realms, think of people from the broken worlds as dragon eggs,¡± the young man paused and swept his gaze at everyone as if judging their worth, ¡°Most of you die before you can even ¡®hatch¡¯. But those who do, soar through the sky and be true powerhouses of the realms.¡±


    This boosted everyone¡¯s self-esteem. They had survived until now and made it here, did they not? They considered themselves to be the chosen ones. Except for Zier, who clearly recognized that the only reason he was living right now was a sheer stroke of fate that allowed him to meet Ozul.


    Ozul, on the other hand, focused on the part where most of them died before hatching. It was then that he realized. ¡®There is no Mana... That means everyone will have to start over...¡¯ the thought made him widen his eyes.


    If that was the case, he would have to train Raven and ze from scratch! That ultimately meant doing his own ¡®chores¡¯! Not only was the Starlight here much more intense and annoying than before, now he wouldn¡¯t even have time to take ¡®small naps¡¯!


    ¡°Would you mind exining?¡± he asked, desperately hoping they wouldn¡¯t have to start over. ze could have sworn he saw him struggling to say that.


    This time again, the old man focused on Ozul and slowly stroked his beard, ¡°Just as you guessed, young man.¡±


    ¡°This is a dog-eat-dog world, not much different to your previous one-¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the big deal? I guess I¡¯ll just have to crush everyone in my path, right?¡± Berk cut off the Elder. The anguish and grief of losing Maura had not yet subsided in him.


    Despite the fact that the Elder didn¡¯t seem pleased to be interrupted, he nodded quietly in agreement.


    The young man noticed that the Elder wasn¡¯t going to exin now and sighed. He wasn¡¯t paid to teach these people basic manners. If Ozul could feel his emotions right now, he would know that this young man wanted nothing more than to get this over with as soon as possible.


    ¡°There is just a little problem in that,¡± he spoke to Berk.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°How will you trample over every opponent when you are even weaker than gatekeepers here?¡±


    Except for Ozul¡¯s, his question raised many eyebrows. It was enough for him to realize that the days ahead were not going to be as easy as he had wanted.


    ¡°Right now, all of you are pathetically weak. Mana, the energy you rely on, isn¡¯t even present in the air. How are you going to cultivate your bodies? As it stands right now, even a single guard outside can best you,¡± thest sentence was directed towards Berk.


    ¡°No way! I still have Mana in my Core!¡± Berk shouted in disbelief.


    ¡°And how long will thatst you? Though even with that, you can try fighting the guard outside. This happens every once in a while, the guards are used to it by now. Go ahead, try if you want to.¡±


    The young man stared at Berk with amusement. He knew they wouldn¡¯t believe him until they saw it with their own eyes.


    Berk snorted and strode confidently out of the room. Although there was no Mana in the air, his reserves were more than sufficient to deal with a single guard!


    While everyone hoped the young man was exaggerating, Ozul sat in his corner of the room, his fears about the future drowning him, his face as gloomy as it could get.

 Chapter 341

    Chapter 341: Realm Ego¡¯s gift.


    In a brightly lit room the size of a hall, a man stood alone by the window.


    Light particles danced around his long golden hair whichzily rested behind his back.


    The room had a strange kind of silence permeating throughout. The bookshelves by the walls didn¡¯t contain a speck of dust. Strangely, there was no smell of any kind either.


    A normal man would find it unnerving just standing there.


    The man stood unmoving as he gazed outside with his calcting golden eyes. He indifferently watched people go on about their lives.


    Some lived happily, while others starved to death. Some schemed through their whole life while others had no clue about the ruthless nature of living beings when faced with survival. He could see it all. Everything wasid bare before his godly eyes, be it inside the room or thousands of miles away from his castle.


    ¡°Is everything done?¡±


    .....


    Inside the room, his wispy voice flowed softly. Only those with sufficient skill could perceive the absolute power blended therein, along with a sensation of lightheadedness.


    Faced with the question though, the man who had arrived in the room remained calm.


    He wore luxurious clothes, knitted with jewels of the rarest quality. His golden eyes and golden hair very much resembled that of the man¡¯s by the window. Only he didn¡¯t have that calcting gaze and the light glow to his hair.


    While the man by the window stood with a posture that gave no clue of his thoughts, the man by the door conveyed nothing short of arrogance, directed at everything but the man by the window.


    ¡°Yes, father. I have already circted the rumors. It won¡¯t be long before all the Lords hear of this.¡±


    The man by the window did not reply.


    Though seeing that his son didn¡¯t leave immediately after, he calmly uttered, ¡°Speak your thoughts.¡±


    ¡°Father... I don¡¯t mean to be presumptuous, but what is the purpose of doing this? Even Mother has not been able to understand your thoughtstely...¡±


    ¡°You can leave.¡±


    The young man kept staring at his father¡¯s back with clenched fists. He had so much more to say, but seeing that his father wasn¡¯t willing to listen, he held himself back with all the strength he could muster.


    ¡®Very well... if you won¡¯t tell me, I have my own methods to find out...¡¯ thought the young man before turning around with a wicked smile.


    As the door closed behind him, the man by the window nced back with a thoughtful yet cold face. No emotions shed past his eyes as he diverted them back to the scenery outside the window.


    . . .


    Back to the farawaynds, in the Realm of Abezan, the Howling Province.


    A many gasping in the midst of the concrete ground, encircled by a crowd. On a closer look, he was the once genius of the Leonhard Dynasty, Berk Leonhard.


    ¡°They are not simple guards!¡± he shouted as he got up pointing his finger at the man who bested him in under a minute.


    ¡°Believe whatever you want. Let¡¯s get inside,¡± the young man smiled the same smile and led everyone back into the wooden house.


    Only Ozul and the Elder had not bothered to stroll outside to observe the show. Ozul was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn¡¯t notice he and the elderly guy were the only ones remaining in the room. The Elder stared at him the entire time as if he wanted to say something, but Ozul didn¡¯t even look at him!


    The Elder retracted his gaze with annoyance as everyone came back in.


    The young man assumed his original position beside the Elder and smiled at everyone, almost gloating as he could see the original traces of arrogance dissipating from their faces.


    ¡°Now now. Don¡¯t get depressed. Remember what I told you? You guys are Dragon Eggs. Anyone of you can hatch and soar the skies as if you own them!¡±


    Everyone¡¯s attention was drawn to his remarks. It sparked a glimmer of hope in their hearts. They had no idea where they were and being weak meant death no matter where they were. This was the truthmonly recognized by all.


    ¡°Yes. There is still something that can help you in this foreignnd. That is, what you all call your Mana Core.¡±


    Ozul squinted his eyes and stared at everyone. Indeed, he could still feel everyone¡¯s Mana Core. Though how it could help them was something he didn¡¯t understand.


    Even someone like Zier, who was only a Fighter and not a Mage had Mana Core. He just hadn¡¯t progressed as a Mage after forming the Mana Core.


    ¡°How will our Mana Core help us? Is there Mana somewhere in this Realm?¡± asked Sarah beside Aakal.


    They were rtively moreposed than others since they hadn¡¯t been fighting much before being brought here. They opted to find a safe ce instead of joining in the chaos. Chaos had already caused both of them a friend.


    ¡°No, there isn¡¯t. The Mana in your world was created by the Realm Ego of your world. All Realm Ego¡¯s are different. So even if there was a Realm with Mana, it wouldn¡¯t be the same as yours. Trying to manipte it only causes serious bacsh outside the influence of their Realm Ego.¡±


    The young man exined patiently. He was almost a schr in this aspect, hence why he was chosen to guide the newly brought people.


    ¡°Then what use will the Mana Core be?¡± Aakal stepped forward.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting to it... Remain patient, will you?¡± The young guy groaned huffily. The treatment of a beautiful woman like Sarah and a brutish man like Aakal waspletely contrary.


    Even the Elder beside the man shook his head. No matter which generation of men, there were only a rare few who could ovee their carnal urges.


    ¡°Using anything created by a Realm Ego outside its influence isn¡¯t entirely impossible. While Mana itself is tricky, Mana Core is not.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s extremely wonderful! Your Mana Core is created by the Realm Ego in your favor. You can even say that it¡¯s a bag of positive fortune solely tailored for you...¡± The young man¡¯s voice drifted off in envy.


    One had to know just how precious this opportunity was for anyone. Sadly, only the people from the Broken Worlds could enjoy such a privilege, hence, many people referred to them as Dragon Eggs only waiting to be hatched and be Fortune¡¯s favored.


    ¡°Because all Realm Egos encourage the growth of life, you will not only get the benefits of Realm Ego of Abezan, but you will also receive additional blessings from Lady Fortune with the Mana Core.¡±


    Even without his ability to read people¡¯s emotions, Ozul could tell that the young man was nothing less than jealous right now. The old man, on the other hand, remained stoic.


    The young man exhaled a mouthful of distaste and motioned towards the old man, ¡°This is where Elderes in.¡± ¡°He is an acupuncture master and there aren¡¯t many who can match his knowledge of the human body in all of the Howling Province!¡±


    Ozul¡¯s ears perked at the mention of acupuncture. Why was acupuncture involved in all of this?


    He suspiciously eyed the Elder and saw him taking out a box from thin air. The wooden box opened and on the red velvet was ced a single silver needle the size of a human¡¯s hand.


    It was at this time that the old man took over the exining, ¡°Although your Mana Core is useless as it is right now. It is still a gift from your Realm Ego. All you need to do is to absorb this gift.¡±


    ¡°Absorb?¡±


    The Elder didn¡¯t mind the questioning this time, ¡°Yes. It¡¯s like eating a Dao Pill. But unlike a Dao Pill, you need help to absorb your Mana Core¡¯s benefits.¡±


    ¡°Uhm... Are you sure there is no other way?¡± asked a man with a child¡¯s build.


    The Elder shrugged his shoulders, ¡°You can choose not to do so. But know this, this is the only time you are receiving help for free.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. The Elder¡¯s services aren¡¯t cheap. Even someone like me can find it hard to afford him time,¡± The young man chipped in immediately. Although he seemed sincere, there was obvious ttery in his tone.


    Seeing that not everyone was convinced yet, the young man began, ¡°Helping you absorb the Mana Core at your current stage is quite a delicate task. If handled by anyone with not enough experience, you can even explode to death!¡±


    ¡°The Mana Core has to be melted first and you, on your own, do not possess enough strength to do so. The Elder will channel his energy through acupuncture and help you absorb the Mana Core. If someone inexperienced were to do such a thing, their energy will surely destroy your insides. This requires very precise control.¡±


    Despite all that talk, everyone was still unsure whether they wanted to do this or not.


    They were new here. What if they were being forced into doing something that they would regretter on?


    Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t have any choice at this point. After refusing their offer, where will they go? They had already seen a Rank-8 Mage getting beaten by a mere guard in a matter of minutes. They were too weak to survive alone in this new world.


    ¡°Why do you go to these lengths for us?¡± Raven asked the most important question.


    Despite the fact that she knew she wasn¡¯t as powerful as she used to be, she didn¡¯t worry. If their goals were malicious, she would rather choose to take the dark road.


    She wasn¡¯t the only one. ze, Berk, and even the Sovereign thought as such.


    ¡°You will find that outter. We are only doing what we are ordered to do. Though I can assure you that now or whenever you want, you can walk out from here,¡± the young man assured.


    The old man beside him sneered, ¡°Hmph! Do you think I will take advantage of you? Even if I wanted to, your Mana Core will be of no use to me.¡±


    ¡°Now, whoever wants to absorb their Mana Core, hurry up!¡±

 Chapter 342

    Chapter 342: Absorbing Mana Core.


    ¡°Now, whoever wants to absorb their Mana Core, hurry up!¡±


    Hearing the old man shout with such a stern voice caused Zier¡¯s body to jolt in rm. The Elder finally seemed to have lost his patience.


    After hesitating a little, the man who looked a little too young came forward. He didn¡¯t feel like there was anything more left to be discussed now. He went ahead and stood before the Elder, looking at him fearlessly.


    Although that tournament seemed nothing more than a sick joke, they were still the best of the best people who Old Gu had chosen very thoroughly. They didn¡¯t survive until today without taking any risks.


    ¡°Good! Good!¡± The Elder nodded approvingly and motioned towards that young man beside him. Taking the hint, the young man nodded, ¡°Create some space.¡±


    The room wasn¡¯t small by any means, but they were all standing in the middle and the Elder needed some space.


    Everyone flocked to the corners to watch as the Elder sat down with crossed legs and instructed the young-looking genius to do the same. They were facing each other, scarcely an arm¡¯s length away.


    .....


    ¡°Close your eyes,¡± the Elder spoke and brought his palm to meet the other man¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Empty your Mana Core. Don¡¯t leave even a wisp of Mana in there.¡±


    The man did what he was told. Because he had spent himself at thepetition, the amount of Mana in his Mana Core was insufficient to endure even a few days.


    ¡°Whatever you¡¯re feeling, don¡¯t try to suppress it. Allow it to flow. Try to help it if you can instead.¡±


    The people on the side could only hear the Elder¡¯s instructions, they didn¡¯t know what was going on inside of that man right now.


    After a few minutes, the man opened his mouth to exhale the foul breath but instead coughed up blood!


    To everyone¡¯s surprise, who had assumed that something had gone wrong, the man suddenly stood up and smiled brightly. He excitedly jumped in the air a few times and even threw a few punches to feel his power.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get too excited. You have only begun on this path, there is more exnationter. You can wait outside for the time being,¡± the young man beside the Elder led him outside and beforeing back to the Elder¡¯s side, almost acting as if he was his bodyguard.


    Seeing the satisfied expressions on the face of the man washed away everyone¡¯s unease and before long another participant stepped forward, ready to absorb their Mana Core as well.


    They¡¯d only seen someone cough up blood when they were seriously injured or made such rapid progress that they had to spit out the impurities. This simply meant that whatever these men had told them was not a lie!


    One by one, people quietly approached the Elder who repeated the same instructions to everyone.


    Aakal, Sarah, Berk, and even the Sovereign made no fuss about it, apart from Ozul noticing her seriously deliberating on her decision.


    Except for the Sovereign, no one received special treatment from the Elder. Although he had previously been harsh, his tone softened significantly after examining her body using his technique. This didn¡¯t even escape ze¡¯s notice, let alone the attention of others.


    After the Sovereign was done, only Zier, ze, Raven, and Ozul were left in the room.


    Originally, Zier wanted to be the next one, but after seeing that ze and Raven didn¡¯t go, he decided that he, too, should wait.


    Raven and ze both looked towards Ozul at this point, their eyes silently asking for permission that they didn¡¯t need but decided to ask for anyway.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± he answered solemnly.


    With that, Raven went ahead and sat down before the Elder as well.


    ¡°Hmm, you have a good constitution,¡± the old manmented before injecting a stream of energy through his hand.


    The energy entered Raven¡¯s body and she kept a close eye on it. Although all others who went through the same process seemed to be satisfied, she couldn¡¯t just ce her trust on the Elder because of others. She had learned better from Ozul.


    The stream of foreign energy channeled through her bloodstream and slowly made its way towards her Mana Core.


    Just when the stream of energy touched her Mana Core, a wisp of something dark was suddenly released and it directly attacked the Elder¡¯s energy!


    *Cough! Cough!*


    Raven coughed violently as her whole body shook with extreme pain!


    As she opened her eyes, ze noticed that they were bloodshot!


    Something had definitely gone wrong!


    He sped towards the Elder when the young man suddenly disappeared from his spot and came before him, ¡°I will not let you interfere!¡±


    Just as ze was about to strike a blow at his despicable face, the Elder coughed a little with a breathless expression.


    ¡°That was not your Mana... What was it?¡±


    Raven realized the seriousness of the situation and even knew that this was rted to Ozul. However, her eyes didn¡¯t waver one bit as she replied with an indifferent face, ¡°It¡¯s my first time seeing that.¡±


    Technically, she hadn¡¯t lied. Although she was aware that it was connected to Ozul, this was the first time she had noticed this wisp of dark matter in her Mana Core.


    The old man stared at her for a solid minute as if determining whether she was lying or not before he shook his head and said, ¡°Hmm... I was caught off guard. Let me try again.¡±


    In the corner of the room, Ozul was the only one other than the Elder and Raven to realize what had happened. His ¡®Scent¡¯ inside Raven didn¡¯t let the energy sent by the Elder to do whatever he pleased.


    Such a collision inside Raven¡¯s body disrupted her entire state of being. If it was anyone with a weak base, they could have died!


    But seeing that Raven didn¡¯t even let it appear on her face, Ozul sighed. Raven never disappointed him, though this made him feel a little guilty, ¡®ze shouldn¡¯t cause too much of a fuss if I take her side a few times...¡¯


    When the Elder inserted his energy into Raven¡¯s body this time, all Ozul had to do was concentrate to instruct it not to destroy the foreign energy. He had no idea why or how, but he seemed to understand that he could do it.


    Everything went smoothly this time around, much to the surprise of the Elder who was preparing to destroy or at least probe that unknown wisp of dark matter. He had dealt with many things in his centuries-old life but he never came across a substance like this.


    His interest piqued and he reminded himself to specially report about this girl as well.


    Raven¡¯s Mana Core slowly melted to a dense liquid as if the ice was melting into water. The Elder then directed that energy to rotate around Raven¡¯s body which slowly absorbed that liquid.


    What the Elder failed to notice was how the wisp of the dark substance he couldn¡¯t find anymore was also mixed in with the Mana Core as it was absorbed into Raven¡¯s body.


    Raven stood up as the old man opened his eyes and returned to his thoughts. She, too, clenched her fists as an unexinable surge of power coursed through her body.


    Though instead of leaving the room, she went towards Ozul and stood by his side. She didn¡¯t say anything and quietly watched as ze took her ce now.


    ¡°Mhm! Good,¡± the Elder nodded as his eyes locked with the crystals embedded in ze¡¯s forehead. This was the first time he had praised anyone! Even the Sovereign had only received slightly better treatment.


    ¡°A Child of the Ice Element... Indeed, this time we have got good seedlings,¡± the Elder nodded approvingly to himself with a light smile.


    ¡°Child of the Ice Element? What do you mean?¡± ze asked. This was the first time someone had recognized the crystals embedded on his forehead!


    He would have his answers after all!


    ¡°No one told you yet?¡± the Elder assumed that the person overseeing their broken world had already told him.


    Seeing the cyan-haired young man shake his head sideways, the Elder sighed in annoyance, ¡°Just know that it¡¯s something very important. Later, you will have the chance to learn everything about it.¡±


    He quickly put his hand on ze¡¯s chest and started the process before thetter could ask any more questions.


    Seeing the impatient behavior, ze could only clench his fist, barely stopping himself from experimenting his strength on the old man¡¯s face.


    A few minutester, he also stood up with a satisfied expression on his face and went to stand next to Ozul in the corner.


    When the Elder and the young man saw this, they couldn¡¯t help but frown. Those geniuses chosen from the broken worlds were almost always alone or with apanion. They¡¯d never seen those haughty young masters submit to others before. So it was interesting to see them standing obediently next to that aloof and strange man. The Elder¡¯s eyes twinkled with schemes, but no one noticed until Zier took his ce in front of him.


    ¡®Hm? I must be seeing things,¡¯ Zier shook his head and cleared his thoughts.


    The same process repeated and a few minutester, he also stood up with the brightest smile he could muster.


    ¡°Woah! I wasn¡¯t even a Mage though!¡± He couldn¡¯t help but shout in delight. The others weren¡¯t so far ahead of him now!


    He happily strode towards Ozul who stopped leaning his back on the wall and began proceeding towards the door.


    ¡®The next part of the exnation must be outside...¡¯ he could guess that much.


    Raven, ze, and Zier followed behind when a voice rang out from behind them,


    ¡°Are you certain that you want to do this, young man?¡±

 Chapter 343

    Chapter 343: Spiritual Essence.


    ¡°Are you certain that you want to do this, young man?¡±


    Ozul stopped in his tracks and turned his face towards the Elder, ¡°Do what?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t put your luck on the line. The world outside is cruel, and if you don¡¯t have enough strength or a solid foundation to begin with, you¡¯ll be crushed mercilessly!¡± ¡°While we can guarantee not to hurt you while aiding you in absorbing the Mana Core, I cannot say the same for others,¡± the Elder strained his eyes, probing Ozul.


    Though he wasn¡¯t the only one. Ozul also found his persuasion a little suspicious despite the repeated offer of refusal.


    Turning back, he walked through the door, ¡°I will take my chances.¡±


    Not to mention the fact that hecked a Mana Core to begin with; even if he did, he would still think twice before considering their offer.


    The Elder didn¡¯t get angry, nor did he show any particr reaction towards Ozul¡¯s reply. He stood there thinking for a few moments until the young man beside him coughed, reminding him that they still had things to do.


    .....


    . . .


    Outside, on the concrete ground, everyone waited with bated breath for what was toe next.


    Even the Sovereign had lost her grumpiness. She was more than satisfied with her new improvements. Though she was nowhere close to her original strength, she felt that it wouldn¡¯t be long before she surpassed her past self.


    ¡°You should have all started to feel the odd yet warm energy in the air after absorbing the Mana Core,¡± the young guy said, looking at everyone except Ozul to confirm.


    Seeing that no one had any problem, he continued, ¡°This is what we call Spiritual Essence.¡±


    ¡°Much like the Mana in your world, Spiritual Essence is the life force that pervades all the Realms! Unfortunately for all of you, it is much moreplicated than Mana.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡± inquired the Sovereign. She felt as though she could simply suck the Spiritual Essence around her without even thinking about it.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s different for you. You are Beastkin, unlike the rest of them here,¡± the Elder answered before the young man and motioned thetter to continue with his exnation to the rest.


    ¡°Like the Mana, Spiritual Essence is now your only way to cultivate your body. Though, unlike Mana, it is not so easy to absorb,¡± The young guy spoke while attempting to ignore the Sovereign¡¯s prideful snort.


    ¡°A child is unable to absorb the Spiritual Essence in any way. They must first sense it, and even then, if they attempted to do so without a cultivation method, they would be killed on the spot.¡±


    ¡°We need a cultivation method now?¡± ze asked, masking his annoyance. He was never good with following a path set for him by others.


    ¡°Indeed. The Spiritual Essence is raw energy, your body simply cannot handle it. You need a cultivation method to refine it. Following the specific cultivation methods allow you to refine the Spiritual Energy into an Element that holds the most affinity with your soul which further eases the process.¡±


    ¡°Hence, it¡¯s important to find a cultivation manual suitable for you. And without a doubt, cultivation manuals are not easy to get by. Especially the onespatible with you.¡±


    The young man, atst, turned towards the Sovereign, ¡°While Beastkin has it easier than humans, it¡¯s only limited to basic cultivation techniques. To improve faster than humans, your instinctual cultivation won¡¯t be enough.¡±


    In doubt, the Sovereign squinted her eyes. Despite the fact that Beastly instincts were not always helpful, she refused to think that they were in any way inferior to human means.


    Noticing the worry in their eyes, the young man again smiled warmly and assured, ¡°And that brings me to thest offer from the royalty of the Realm of Abezan...¡±


    The young man specifically pressed the word ¡®royalty¡¯ to have the desired effect and he wasn¡¯t disappointed.


    Even Ozul didn¡¯t believe they were sent directly by the rulers of the entire Realm. Though he dismissed his surprise on the basis that he had no idea how vast the Realm of Abezan was in the first ce.


    Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t forget to pay extra attention to these two people now.


    ¡°All of you have the opportunity to be cared for by royalty, and in exchange for your loyalty to the Realm of Abezan, you will receive Cultivation manuals, Spiritual Arts, and even Spirit Weapons! You can also receive instructions from the best masters from across the Realm!¡±


    Despite not knowing the importance of the said Spiritual Arts and these Spirit Weapons, they could all tell that they were probably really expensive.


    The random guards patrolling the grounds were green with envy. Forget about all the cultivation resources, even bing a student of a great Master was something they would kill for their children to attain.


    What was more frustrating to see was that these people had the audacity to think before epting this generous offer! Really, the world was too unfair.


    ¡°Again, all of you can refuse and walk away right now. No one will stop you. We are not so harsh to stop you against your will,¡± the young man reminded magnanimously. He gave them a sense of kindness as if they could trust him unconditionally.


    The more Ozul listened to him, the more suspicious he got. He wouldn¡¯t believe in anything they said until he knew what their true intentions were. Even the Elder was being a little pushy towards him. Something was up, and he wasn¡¯t naive enough to think that they would receive all these benefits without doing anything.


    There must be some kind of catch.


    But since he didn¡¯t have enough information, he shrugged away his thoughts and continued to spectate from the side. He didn¡¯t n to join no matter how attractive their offer was.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have all day, hurry up! Make your decisions now. They will change your whole lives.¡±


    The Elder shouted as he hit his wooden stick on the ground. These people were really too slow.


    ¡°Uh- I will join...¡± the youngest-looking man responded hurriedly.


    ¡°Me too,¡± an unimportant woman beside him raised her hand as well.


    Berk clicked his tongue as he noticed everyone jumping to ept their ¡®generous¡¯ offer. Nothing in this world was free, they would soon find out. He couldn¡¯t ally himself with any faction without fully understanding the power structure of this new Realm.


    When it came to Sarah, she shot a re in Ozul¡¯s direction and decided that it was her best choice to surpass the man who killed her father.


    ¡®Hm?¡¯ Ozul nced towards her as he noticed a burning re directed at him, ¡®When did I provoke her...¡¯


    Nothing came to his mind as he noticed the blonde girl also epting the young man¡¯s offer following the confident man beside her.


    Sarah didn¡¯t avert her eyes when Ozul looked at her. He was the man she had already sworn to defeat.


    After seeing him battling the Sovereign on such a grand scale, she had felt hopeless. However, now that they were all starting from the beginning, she had good chances of surpassing him and ultimately getting her revenge! She smiled, feeling the presence of Aakal right beside her.


    The Sovereign couldn¡¯t ept serving under another human. She had no intention of epting their offer. Since the start, she hadn¡¯t asked for anyone¡¯s help.


    ¡°We already expected you to refuse. The Beastkin all need time to adapt to this new lifestyle. You can change your mind whenever. In addition, I can tell you that you can find other Beastkin close to forests. You might even find Beastkin¡¯s settlements in case you don¡¯t believe in our sincerity.¡±


    The young man exined patiently. His offer was obviously only limited to the Sovereign. It seemed that even among everyone here, the Sovereign was coveted.


    He didn¡¯t receive any response from the red-haireddy who looked nothing like a Beastkin, but he didn¡¯t seem to mind it.


    Zier noticed everyone epting their offer and was about to do the same as well but stopped in his tracks when he remembered that Ozul, Raven, and ze had yet to say anything. He closed his eyes unconsciously and prayed that they would ept. He didn¡¯t want to choose between the two.


    Unfortunately for him, Ozul had no intentions of saying anything. From their attitude, it was obvious what their choice was.


    ¡°You should ept.¡±


    A voice came floating from the side when Zier was looking at the ground with slumped shoulders.


    When he looked up, he was met with the most soothing yet frightening eyes he had ever seen.


    Ozul wanted people to work for him, so he had no problem epting this kid. However, he also didn¡¯t want to waste his time grooming someone from the start.


    Seeing the hesitation on the kid¡¯s face, he urged him to join the royalty. He could feel that Zier would go far in the future, and since he already owed them his life, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to make use of himter.


    ¡®Actually, now that I think about it... I can¡¯t trust these people,¡¯ Ozul remembered how all the organizations made people swear oaths that bound the people to them. There could be something simr in this Realm as well, so he couldn¡¯t risk it.


    ¡°Nevermind... Don¡¯t ept.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Hey! Hey! If you aren¡¯t epting, fine! How dare you stop others!¡± the young man suddenly shouted as he heard their conversation.


    ¡°I am not forcing him, and don¡¯t shout. It¡¯s annoying,¡± Ozul looked at him with a deadpan face and reprimanded like an old man sick of all the youngsters in his old age.


    The young man looked around, embarrassed for losing hisposure. It was then that the Elder decided to cut in.


    He looked at ze and spoke, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to understand more about your special constitution? Even I cannot contend against the Imperial Masters. You don¡¯t need to follow anyone to reach greatness. In time, no one will be your match!¡±


    The Elder then looked between Raven and Zier, ¡°I promise you that you will soon surpass this fellow that you are so keen to obey. Past rtions are past rtions. This is an opportunity for you, think carefully...¡±

 Chapter 344

    Chapter 344: Vesta.


    ¡°...This is an opportunity for you, think carefully,¡± the Elder pressed his voice.


    He had probed all of their bodies except Ozul and he most certainly knew that they shouldn¡¯t let go of ze. That kid named Zier also had some special condition that he didn¡¯t know of. Not to mention, he even felt that Raven was special.


    It was the norm to let go of the Beastkin since they need some time to understand their situation, so he didn¡¯t say anything when the Sovereign had rejected their offer, but seeing so much talent slipping away right in front of him!? He couldn¡¯t allow it!


    He threw an usatory nce in Ozul¡¯s direction.


    Ozul had even refused to get his Mana Core absorbed in his body. But since the others had done so, he thought maybe he had a chance with them.


    ¡°If you¡¯re afraid that he will do something, fear not. You will be under my protection, andter under the protection of the pce! No one will dare touch even a strand of hair on you,¡± he spoke with a confident voice, expecting them to rethink their decisions.


    Unfortunately for him, he was greatly disappointed the next moment when he saw that none of them moved a muscle.


    .....


    All of them stepped behind Ozul and stared straight into his eyes without blinking.


    The confidence alone surprised the Elder who couldn¡¯t help but widen his eyes.


    ¡®Their eyes didn¡¯t even waver for a moment! They are in apletely new world, all of them starting from scratch. Just what did this kid feed them?!¡¯


    It was only when he rationally thought about the situation did he remember that this strange kid whose face betrayed zero emotions or his thoughts hadn¡¯t allowed him to help him. Hence, he didn¡¯t know how special he could be.


    ¡®It is very likely that he is even more of a monster than these people. Their unwavering confidence in him could only be justified then...¡¯ he rubbed his chin in thoughts.


    While a tense atmosphere covered the whole area. People around them thought that the Elder must be too furious and was barely controlling himself to kill them on the spot. No one dared to think he was weak just because of his thin body. It was always these weak-looking old men who were the wolf in sheep¡¯s clothing.


    Just when everyone thought that the Elder wouldsh out at them, he sighed and turned around.


    ¡°Do as you like then. You will receive no help from us anymore.¡±


    Surprisingly, the Elder gave up after being lost in thoughts for a while. A few people sighed in relief. They were finally convinced that they had made the right decision. These people weren¡¯t unreasonable, so they could be hopeful about their future.


    Only Ozul didn¡¯t think that the Elder had simply given up.


    Although he couldn¡¯t sense his emotions, he had decades of experience in judging people.


    ¡®And if that¡¯s not the case, there must be some reason for them to not be forceful with us,¡¯ Ozul thought in his mind.


    Strong not taking advantage of the weak? It only happens in fairy tales.


    He didn¡¯t immediately leave and waited to see what they would do.


    The Elder moved towards the people who had epted to join the pce and spoke with a lighter tone, ¡°You have indeed all made a good choice. All of you should move inside. Escorts will arrive shortly and take you straight towards the pce.¡±


    Then he faced Ozul¡¯s team, Berk, and the Sovereign-the only ones who hadn¡¯t epted their offers, and spoke in a harsher tone, ¡°You can leave.¡±


    Before turning away again, he once again nced towards Ozul but didn¡¯t say anything.


    The way he looked at him, Ozul felt a sense of danger.


    ¡®sigh... It will be too troublesome if something happens because of this,¡¯ he internally shook his head at the circumstances. Even if he did have Mana Core, he couldn¡¯t have risked anything.


    Those people back in the Broken Realm might have not found anything despite decades of studying his body parts, but he couldn¡¯t expect the same from this Elder. And he couldn¡¯t trust someone who he knew nothing about.


    Now, however, he had aroused their suspicion and probably their anger as well.


    And that wasn¡¯t something he would be happy about considering their situation. They knew almost nothing about this ce!


    Just then, Berk decided to walk away. Before leaving, he also shot a look towards ze. Their fight was interrupted before, but now was not the time for a dual.


    Finally, as the Sovereign saw there was nothing left to do, she approached Ozul.


    Though just as quickly, Raven and ze stepped forward,pletely shielding Ozul from any danger. This woman-... or Beastkin was dangerous.


    Ozul didn¡¯t bother stopping them. He only stepped to the side and then took a step forward,ing shoulder to shoulder with Raven, who, together with ze, could barely control the twitch on her face.


    As the Sovereign came face to face with Ozul, she stared directly into his eyes, ¡°I was named Vesta, remember it human... for we shall meet again... if you don¡¯t end up dying a vermin¡¯s death!¡±


    ¡°I shall crush your skull with my own teeth! Just you wait!¡± Vesta, the Sovereign of all Beasts in that Broken World, dered her convictions and proceeded in the opposite way as Berk.


    She deemed the direction unworthy chosen by a human, even if there was a visible exit of these training grounds in that direction.


    Watching her walk away with unrestrained killing intent, Ozul could only sigh while shaking his head and muttering in wonder, ¡°What did I even do to her? Is it because she is a Beastkin that she is so unreasonable? Are all Beastkin like that? Wait... since when did Beasts have names? Who could have named her?¡±


    Ozul had pure curiosity towards this new term known as Beastkin, who he figured were the people who had transformed into humans but were actually Beast.


    On his side though, two angry creatures could be seen covered in dark shadows ring daggers at the back of the fiery red-haired woman. They were all too familiar with this killing intent and it wasn¡¯t even hidden.


    Meanwhile, Zier quietly watched everything from behind, thinking about what his future would be like, ¡®Hope grandpa is alright... ha... I didn¡¯t even get to say goodbye.¡¯


    Just then, Ozul broke out of his thoughts and decided it was time as well.


    ¡°Alright. It¡¯s time for a whole new world...¡±


    He marched forward with some excitement. Those memories about there being more worlds were all true!


    And now he was walking in such a world. All he needed to do now was to get stronger!


    . . .


    As they walked out of the training grounds, Ozul did not notice two pairs of eyes following behind them in the shadows.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this a little too big?¡± ze looked behind and noticed the walls of the training grounds stretching for what seemed like a hundred meters!


    There was seemingly nothing important here either. The only important thing they had seen there was maybe the tform on which they were summoned. Besides that, there was nothing of value, yet the ce was littered with guards!


    ¡°Maybe that tform was important,¡± Ozul spoke his mind, surprising both Raven and ze. He seemed to be in a good mood.


    ¡°Where are we going now? We don¡¯t even know where we are currently...¡± ze looked around only to find himself surrounded by a few abandoned houses.


    This time, he received no answer because Ozul had none. He hadn¡¯t nned so far yet.


    ¡°We don¡¯t even know what currency is used in this world and those stupid people didn¡¯t even give us any funds. Where are we going to spend the night?¡± Zier asked worriedly.


    The star was setting and he didn¡¯t like the fact that they were randomly walking on a street with seemingly no ce to head towards.


    ¡°What are these abandoned houses for?¡± Raven rebutted.


    Most of them were destroyed to the point of no recognition but many still stood tall, seemingly in usable conditions. They, who had slept on trees all their lives found it better to sleep under a roof, no matter how tattered.


    Though they didn¡¯t really feel like sleeping, she could tell that Ozul thought otherwise. He most likely wanted to sleep right this instant and think about everything after waking up.


    Once he went to sleep, she decided to go on by herself and gather as much information as she could. He would have it easier if they had a basic understanding of their location at least.


    Just as they were walking at their own pace, Ozul abruptly came to a halt.


    Noticing his usual behavior whenever he sensed danger, Raven and ze both readied themselves for any possible oue. Zier, noticing them, also put on his guard.


    Ozul looked to his left and there was an alley shrouded in the shades. The star had almost set, so there was barely anything visible around them, much less the alley.


    ¡°Stay here. Come only if I say so,¡± he ordered before walking towards that alleyway.


    Albeit reluctantly, the trio did as they were instructed.


    As Ozul walked into the alley, his backpletely disappeared under the shadows as worry gripped the trio¡¯s heart.


    Unlike them, Ozul was as calm as he was before. They had lost all their powers... did they think that he did too?


    The only thing he had lost was the sensing of other people¡¯s emotions. Other than that, he still retained all of his powers, so he could still protect himself from minor things.


    With confidence, he walked straight ahead.


    Though the scene that met hiszy eyes caused him to take a step back immediately!


    On the ground rolled the severed heads of that young man and the Elder!!

 Chapter 345

    Chapter 345: Minho.


    Ozul quickly took a step back and the Ball of Purity, in an instant surrounded him in gaseous form. Though it was hard to notice since they were already in a dark alley; the Ball of Purity quietly blended in.


    From the dark, his eyes vigntly stared at theposed man who had his hands stained with blood.


    Only a single blue piece of cloth was wrapped around that man¡¯s waist. The rest of his outfit waspletely ck, allowing him to blend in easily in dark environments. There were visible sshes of blood on his face as well.


    Behind the blood-sttered man, the headless corpses of that Elder and the young man were sprawled on the ground.


    ¡°Hmm. I mustmend your courage, odd one... How have you already-...? Ah... No wonder my liege is so interested in you.¡± While inspecting Ozul with a calcted nce, the man spoke nonchntly as if he was talking to himself.


    ¡°You¡¯re a quiet one, just as he said...¡± he muttered and carefully took off a silver ring from his hand.


    ¡°Throw away your spatial storage items, they are worthless in this Realm,¡± as he said so, the man threw that ring straight in Ozul¡¯s face.


    .....


    The ring mmed into Ozul like thunder, but it abruptly stopped directly in front of him. The Ball of Purity condensed and intercepted the ring in mid-air. Ozul didn¡¯t inspect it right away, instead holding it in mid-air without taking his gaze away from the man.


    ¡°Who sent you?¡± Ozul asked without expressing any emotions.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Ozul waited for a couple of seconds and didn¡¯t hear any response from him. Doubting his own senses, he asked, ¡°Did you not hear me?¡±


    ¡°Ah! My apologies... I was merely lost in thoughts,¡± the man arched his back only slightly with a smile on his face, ¡®This... This kid is a genius! Such precise control over his emotions! Even I can¡¯t feel whether he is angry, afraid, or just curious. What would be his next move? Is he really calm or just acting calm? Hai... if only Master hadn¡¯t ordered me not to harm him, I would have kidnapped and forced him to train and be one of the best assassins in this Realm! No, maybe even THE Best!¡¯


    Unaware of the impossible fantasy hatching in the man¡¯s head, Ozul kept staring at him as he noticed unusual expressions on the man¡¯s faceing and going before he finally took control of his thoughts.


    ¡°Ahem! Regarding your question, the man who sent me is my liege, Master Gu. I believe you were already acquainted with him?¡±


    As the familiar name reached Ozul¡¯s ears, he took a second to pause as the image of that unhinged old man appeared in his mind. He couldn¡¯t help but sigh tiredly.


    ¡®huh? Master said that they were on friendly terms, but from his actions, it doesn¡¯t seem like? Did I see wrong?¡¯ the man opposite to Ozul muttered to himself.


    ¡°Why did you kill these men?¡±


    ¡°My liege couldn¡¯t allow those pesky old mening after you this early. This Elder couldn¡¯t be allowed to report his higher-ups anything about you. As for this young man, well he was a casualty~¡± The man chuckled after saying thest part.


    Hearing his response, Ozul thought for a moment and came to a decision that he had to be extra careful regarding anything rting to Old Gu.


    Although this was good for him, Ozul had a feeling that Old Gu was a bigger headache. Killing that Elder and the young man not only for someone else¡¯s sake and merely for preventing a simple suspicion on him, ¡®Does he know something about me? Or is it purely for his enjoyment?¡¯


    Ozul had to be cautious. Even though he could never read Old Gu¡¯s emotions, he had be familiar with his personality. There was only a remote possibility that the old man had malicious motives, but that was enough for him to be on guard.


    As the man noticed that Ozul had stopped asking questions, he followed his sight and noticed that he was looking at the corpses, ¡°Ah, quite the cautious one, aren¡¯t you! Just as I would expect!¡±


    ¡®huh? Now what?¡¯ Confused, Ozul raised his head to look at the man.


    ¡°Haha! Do not worry. They won¡¯t ever suspect you for their deaths. At best, they would think it was their enemies, and at worst some would start suspecting Master,¡± the man nonchntly chuckled again.


    This time Ozul raised a brow. Why wasn¡¯t he afraid that the suspicion would fall upon them?


    ¡°And if I must add, it would be ¡®worst¡¯ for the people who start to suspect Master,¡± following this, the man showed a ruthless smile.


    Ozul suddenly had an urge to drop this matter and simply return back to find a ce to sleep. This subordinate of that old man was just as unhinged as him. Both of them simply had too much energy to talk.


    ¡°What is in the ring?¡±


    ¡°My liege asked me to at least get you the basic information. Some basic supplies are there in that Spatial Ring. You only have to pour in a trace amount of Spiritual Essence in it. Also, if I didn¡¯t say it before, all of your other Spatial Artifacts are useless outside of your Broken World,¡± he answered.


    ¡°What does that old man want-¡±


    He hadn¡¯t been able toplete his sentence when a sharp wind met his face, forcing him to stop speaking.


    Ozul wasn¡¯t even given a chance to blink before the previously easy-going man had his dagger resting at his throat!


    Meow!


    A ck cat had alsonded on top of the dagger as everything had paused, which had previously gone unnoticed by both Ozul and that man!


    With her back against Ozul¡¯s face, Jinx stared motionlessly into the man¡¯s eyes.


    After a few seconds of looking into Jinx¡¯s eyes, the man¡¯s knife began to shake, and she hopped down and rubbed her side against Ozul¡¯s foot before entirely disregarding everything and licking her paws.


    Even without the ability to read emotions, Ozul could tell that those eyes contained nothing but pure fear!


    On the other hand, that man took a few steps back and regained his bnce.


    He turned away from Ozul and gazed in terror at the cat at his feet!


    Even without the ability to read emotions, Ozul knew that those eyes were filled with nothing but absolute fear!


    ¡°J-...¡± the man was about to speak but noticed that he could barely utter a word.


    Ashamed at his loss ofposure, he took a deep breath before trying to calm his thumping heart. His eyes never left the cat who was nowpletely ignoring his existence.


    ¡®Was this the cat Master was talking about? But he... I will have to inform him as quickly as I can,¡¯ was that man¡¯s internal thoughts.


    He turned his attention back to Ozul, this time there was no yfulness that his eyes hid previously.


    ¡°I apologize, but do understand that I do not make light of my liege¡¯s disrespect.¡±


    This time, Ozul replied no more. He merely stared at him quietly as if expecting him to attack again.


    ¡°Ha... I shall take my leave. Oh, and my name is Minho. We might meet more often than you would like to,¡± Minho spoke and suddenly before Ozul¡¯s eyes, he disappeared into thin air.


    Ozul¡¯s eyes weren¡¯t able to keep up with that man¡¯s speed!


    Only after confirming that he had really left did Ozul slump his shoulder tiredly.


    First and foremost, he bent down and squatted on the floor,ing face to face with the most beautiful pair of eyes he hade across until now.


    His hand subconsciously reached and patted the ck feline on her head, making thetter purr in bliss. As he looked at the blissful Jinx, he unusually felt better as well.


    And thus yed out the weird scene of a man squatting on the ground with a tiny smile, ying with a ck cat in the midst of an alley surrounded by two headless bodies and their separated heads.


    ...


    As Ozul walked out of the alley, he absentmindedly walked towards the group of three eagerly waiting for him.


    He took sce in knowing that they were at least obedient enough to follow his orders regardless of how strongly their own sentiments encouraged them to do differently.


    ¡°What happened in there? That unbearable pressure, just who attacked you?¡± Raven asked with a concerned face.


    When Minho had attacked Ozul just now, he released his Spiritual pressure which covered arge area. Raven, ze, and Zier were just out of the alley, so they were also affected by it.


    ¡®Hm. That man was strong... too strong,¡¯ instead of answering, Ozul thoughtlessly tossed the silver ring towards Raven and began to walk.


    ¡°If you can control your Spiritual Essence, pour some in it. It should have some essential materials that we will need,¡± he told them with his mind still wandering about what had just happened in the alley.


    Considering the fact that the Ball of Purity in gaseous form was surrounding him from all sides, he should have been able to quickly block and protect himself from any danger. Yet, Minho was just too quick!


    Ozul gazed down at Jinx, who was strolling elegantly alongside him, and wondered just what that Minho guy had felt for him to be so afraid of her.


    Behind him, Raven caught the ring and quickly wore it before catching up with him. Beside her, ze was also looking at Ozul¡¯s back with some concern; being so familiar with his habits, they felt that something significant must have happened back in the alley.

 Chapter 346

    Chapter 346: Clouded Senses.


    Ozul chose the most sturdy-looking house and decided to sleep until it was daytime again because it had gotten dark and there was no sign of any other life.


    Most of the buildings were now nothing more than rubble, but the one he chose appeared to be in good condition. It wasn¡¯t big, but it wasn¡¯t in shambles either.


    The house seemed to be abandoned for decades now but there was still a noticeable rug inside. Without caring about all the dust and mess, Ozul picked a corner and wrapped himself in the Ball of Purity before dropping on the ground.


    ¡°Convenient...¡± muttered Zier as he eyed Ozul with envy.


    To Ozul it might be nothing, but they would have to clean up just to even sit on the ground or it was no better than resting atop a tree.


    Seeing Ozul finally rxing, Raven didn¡¯t wait for a second and asked about the ring he had given her aftering out of that alley.


    ¡°It should have the basic information we need for now,¡± Ozul answeredzily, ¡°Guide some of that Spiritual Essence in it. It¡¯s a Spatial Ring.¡±


    .....


    Before Raven could ask further, Ozul remembered something and added, ¡°Also, the other Spatial Rings should be useless now.¡±


    ¡°huh?¡± Raven halted and blinked her eyes before hastily checking her Spatial Rings.


    However, no matter what she tried, she couldn¡¯t muster up a speck of Mana to ess the storage. Zier and ze tried the same, but no one had any sess.


    ¡°I had so many things stored in there!¡± Zier sighed with indignation.


    What worried Raven was that she had stored so many of Ozul¡¯s spare clothes in her Spatial Rings and now all of them were out of her reach!


    Given his strength, it wasn¡¯t umon for him to have his clothes ripped apart after every fight.


    She had made it a point to be prepared to give him a new set of a white shirt and ck trouser-like pants whenever he needed them.


    Despite the fact that his messy hair gave him a bad impression, one full look at him would dispel just about anyone¡¯s doubts about him. He just had that kind of aura.


    ¡°I... Is there no way to fetch the items inside?¡± She asked with a shaky voice, looking expectantly towards Ozul.


    Zier and ze thought she must have ced something of great importance in the Spatial Rings.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Keep them, maybe there could be a way,¡± Ozul replied seriously. Even he was a little curious as to what could make Raven so shaken. If he knew it was about his clothes, he wouldn¡¯t have even found any words to scold her.


    After all, everyone knew that there were clothes reinforced with Mana back in their world, but Raven being Raven, never learned about something so trivial like that.


    Finding the opportunity, Ozul remembered to let them know about what had happened in the alleyway back then. He didn¡¯t go through every detail, only warned them about Old Gu since he was turning out more troublesome than he had previously imagined.


    ¡°That guy... his name was M... Miko? Yeah, something like that...Anyway, wake me up early.¡±


    Sessfully forgetting Minho¡¯s name, Ozul yawned and curled in his nket made with the Ball of Purity and went to sleep.


    . . .


    It was still in the middle of the night when Ozul opened his eyes, sensing something unusual in the surroundings.


    With a sweep of his gaze, he noticed both Raven and ze were meditating while Zier was tinkering with some needles he had seen for the first time now.


    Unlike him, they werepletely unaware of what was happening.


    He kept his eyes open but didn¡¯t make any movements, letting the intruders do their job.


    Both Raven and ze were meditating, but they didn¡¯t dare absorb the Spiritual Essence in the air. As informed earlier, it wasn¡¯t wise to do so without proper instructions.


    While in meditation, they were vulnerable from all sides. The same was with Ozul who looked to be asleep. The only man ¡®awake¡¯ was Zier and the people lurking in the shadows waited for the perfect moment to strike.


    Just when Zier was done tinkering with his needles, he seemingly moved to put them down and...


    *Chinngg!*


    ¡°AKh!¡± ¡°Uu-¡± ¡°KhK-h!¡± ...


    Multiple muffled voices were heard and,


    *Thud!*


    A couple of heavy objects fell down on the floor.


    Raven and ze immediately opened their eyes and jumped up in rm, looking at Zier with questioning gazes.


    ¡°That was quick,¡± a voice came from the corner. The three turned their heads to see Ozul squatting next to a dead man, his torso severed, ¡°Though you missed a couple.¡±


    He was obviously talking to Zier who was also looking at him, apparently baffled at his mistake.


    ¡°Wh-.. Where was he hiding?¡± Zier could have sworn that he had only sensed 4 people in the house beside them.


    ¡°Does it matter?¡± Ozul looked him straight in the eye.


    Zier had quickly dealt with four people at the same time using his poisonous needles. Even if he missed, he only needed the needles to at least graze their skin.


    His abilities were almost unaffected because he was more of a Fighter before absorbing his Mana Core like others. His senses had improved even beyond their previous limit by paying the price of only having his physical strength reduced as Mana, which continuously reinforced his body, had beenpletely drained out.


    So when he was suddenly able to sense those people entering the house, he noticed ze and Raven were unaware. Feeling confident of himself, he took care of all four by himself.


    ¡°I am sorry...¡±


    Zier muttered, not daring to look up at him and instead staring intently at the ground as if it were his favorite thing in the world right now.


    Not getting any reply, he felt his heart tightening as if something ominous was clutching it tightly. This need of getting others¡¯ approval and the fear of rejection; he had only felt it with his grandfather before.


    Fortunately for him, Ozul shrugged this matter off, ¡°Alright, but next time you do that, I won¡¯t help you.¡±


    Following that, Ozul shot a swift look at the duo standing at the side. The kid who wasn¡¯t even a Mage previously was able to sense 4 people while they were unaware right until the moment the situation was resolved; it was truly a shameful thing for them to think.


    Shamelessly avoiding his gaze, they scattered around the dead bodies to examine them.


    ¡°Did someone send them?¡± ze asked. After the incident of that Elder and the young man dying, it wasn¡¯t entirely impossible that someone came after them too.


    ¡°They don¡¯t look like it,¡± Ravenmented. The appearances of these guys were too rough. It looked more like they were bandits.


    ¡°Mhm. They wanted to steal our ¡®riches¡¯,¡± Ozul spoke. He had listened to their whispers before they had even stepped one foot into the house.


    After looking around a bit, Ozul went back to his corner of the room. He had already noticed that these bandits didn¡¯t have any of that Spiritual Essence concentrated in their body unlike that now dead Elder and the young man.


    Since they were some local thugs, he couldn¡¯t gain anything from them. As for collecting anything off of them, Raven and ze knew what to do.


    Him being able to rx after creating a mess... he was grateful to the day he had decided on this very important decision to let people work for him.


    ¡°A settlement should be near, right?¡±


    ¡°Since these people are here, the town should be near here too.¡±


    ¡°Hey... what if the town was actually on the other side of that ce we were brought to?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    As the three discussed among them, Ozul drifted off to his thoughts.


    Although he seemed calm and rxed, it wasn¡¯t exactly so.


    Being brought to apletely new world was confusing, but he had already expected it. He was just as strong as before, so there was no problem in that regard either.


    What worried him was the fact that he couldn¡¯t read other people¡¯s emotions anymore.


    And that was only the most noticeable downgrade of his abilities.


    The incident in the alley and now being ambushed by these thugs made him realize his other shorings as well.


    It was as if suddenly fog had appeared all around him and although he could see things clearly, it wasn¡¯t as clear as before.


    ¡®It¡¯s because of this Spiritual Essence,¡¯ he could guess that much.


    He suddenly turned to his side and patted the ck cat on her head, making her look up at him with some annoyance.


    ¡®Should I allow it to enter my body?¡¯ he quietly asked in his heart while staring intently into her colorful eyes.


    As he expected, there was no visible reaction from her, but she curled her head back into her paws and slept covering her eyes.


    ¡®Alright then, if anything goes wrong, it will be on you...¡¯


    Again, there was no reaction.


    Seeing no response from her didn¡¯t discourage him. It was only a sign that he could do as he wanted which meant that it was most likely not harmful to him.


    Any sane man would have called him crazy if they knew that he was going to absorb Spiritual Essence merely because a cat didn¡¯t stop him, but Ozul knew better.


    He didn¡¯t know why, but Jinx had always been there whenever he was in danger and they had already established that she could understand him even only if he spoke in his mind.


    Also, ording to that Elder, Beastkin didn¡¯t need a cultivation method to absorb this Spiritual Essence either. It was only the humans who needed so, but he wasn¡¯t exactly human either. If he were, he wouldn¡¯t have been here in the first ce.


    He took a deep breath and sat with his back straight. Even if there was any problem, he believed he could stop it in time.


    ¡°Huu...!¡±


    .....

 Chapter 347

    Chapter 347: Guide.


    Ozul exhaled and steadily allowed the Spiritual Essence to enter his body.


    As it was absorbed into his body, he felt a warm current flowing, inspecting every nook and cranny of his insides. His own being wanted to interact with this new ¡®entity¡¯, but Ozul was hesitant.


    The moment he had arrived in this world, he could feel the presence of the Spiritual Essence because of how desperately it wanted to seep into his body. He, however, had been cautious since he didn¡¯t know anything about it.


    Realizing that he would have to let his body absorb the Spiritual Essence, Ozul knew that he would have to be more prepared.


    There have been more than a few instances in which his body became the main reason for a bigmotion.


    Opening his eyes, he first confirmed that there wasn¡¯t anything important nearby. Just as he was about to create a small ¡®room¡¯ around him using the Ball of Purity, someone interrupted him.


    ¡°What do you call it?¡± Zier asked, looking curiously at the ck substance which moved around Ozul at his will as if it was alive, ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be a spell. Is it an artifact? Oh! oh! Is it some kind of strange creature!?¡±


    .....


    He had been meaning to ask this for a long time now but hadn¡¯t found the time amidst all that chaos.


    ¡°It¡¯s Ball of Pur-¡±


    Before Ozul could finish his answer, Zier asked again, ¡°Ball? That didn¡¯t seem like a ball at all...¡±


    At the same time, the scenes such as a storm of ck needles, des shooting through tens of meters in a blink, and him going toe to toe with Vesta, the Sovereign, with this ck substance shed past his eyes. That wasn¡¯t just a ball...


    Ozul was left staring nkly at him. The time he had named it Ball of Purity was when it was really just a small ball. It had grown a lot after that.


    Not wanting to continue engaging Zier when he had to experiment with the Spiritual Essence, he sat back on the ground, and before closing his eyes, he told him, ¡°It¡¯s called Purity now.¡±


    When the ¡®Purity¡¯ formed a solid barrier around Ozul, Zier was denied the opportunity to ask another question.


    Even sound didn¡¯t enter this space Ozul had created, so even if his body caused amotion, he could hopefully contain it.


    And with that, he stopped resisting, allowing his body to devour the Spiritual Essence however it wanted.


    *Boom!!*


    The deafening blow emanating from his own body confirmed his suspicion that whatever his body did would not be as subtle as he wanted.


    Now he could only hope that the barrier generated with the Purity was somehow able to contain the noise.


    ¡®Ha... I will worry about thatter,¡¯ he decided before moving to ¡®look¡¯ inside his body. He was able to inspect it as if it were nothing. It would seem strange to most people, but he had been able to do it for as long as he could remember.


    Inspecting his body, he realized that... nothing had changed.


    ¡°...¡±


    While there were no improvements, there wasn¡¯t anything harmful either. It almost felt like he had been holding his instincts back for naught, but Ozul knew that something must have changed.


    That familiar booming had been caused because something simr to Spiritual Essence burst out of his body.


    It was like the Spiritual Essence but seemingly drained out of life.


    ¡®Oh...¡¯


    Ozul then noticed that his body was constantly absorbing the Spiritual Essence and discreetly emitting the ¡®used one¡¯ this time around.


    Since it was happening on its own without his involvement, Ozul understood that unlike the Mana in his previous Realm, this Spiritual Essence must have at least some worth.


    ¡®It feels like absorbing Mana Cores of high-rank Beasts.¡¯


    Hepared the feeling to the time when he used to absorb the concentrated Mana in the Beasts¡¯ Mana Cores to improve his strength, but that had stopped working for him for years now.


    Just like the Mana Cores, Ozul could feel that even though the Spiritual Essence was drained out of something before leaving his body, he didn¡¯t feel any improvements anymore.


    It either meant that his strength was improved, but in such a fractional amount that he couldn¡¯t feel any improvements, or the energy was used in something else.


    Being honest to himself, Ozul didn¡¯t want it to be thetter.


    He didn¡¯t like the feeling of his own body doing something behind his back without letting him in on the n.


    Sigh...


    With a tired sigh yet again, he stood up with frustration.


    The moreplicated things got, the more he hated existing. Why couldn¡¯t things just be simpler?


    All his life, he had only wanted this one thing, but only the opposite hade to him.


    By now, he had forgotten how many times he had wanted to quit trying and live his life simplyzing around in some corner of the world.


    ¡®Ha... No matter. I¡¯m already one step closer to everything...¡¯ he consoled himself and hid his disappointment before removing the ck barrier.


    What greeted him were the concerned and curious gazes of the three people beside him.


    He motioned towards Raven; she understood the most with the least efforts from him, so it was easy to ask her about anything.


    Realizing almost instantly, Raven informed, ¡°There was some disturbance from the barrier. The Spiritual Essence had also spiked for a few minutes before returning to normal.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Few minutes?¡± Ozul realized something was not right.


    Noticing the piercing beams of light dropping on the floor through the damaged walls, he wondered, ¡°How much time has passed?¡±


    ¡°Almost 12 hours, I think...¡± Raven replied.


    They had been waiting for him for hours after the star had risen. She remembered him asking to wake him up early, but considering the circumstances, she didn¡¯t disturb him.


    Hearing her, Ozul didn¡¯t know what to make out of this situation. He had only felt a few minutes go by, and it had already been 12 hours!


    ¡®Did I lose consciousness the moment my body absorbed the Spiritual Essence?¡¯ Ozul could onlye to that conclusion. That was the most logical exnation.


    As he breathed in the fresh air, he felt more ¡®epted¡¯ than he was before.


    Maybe it was because the Spiritual Essence was continuously being absorbed and being emitted by him, but something certainly had changed, he just couldn¡¯t put a finger on it.


    He was about to move out after realizing that those three were waiting for him when he suddenly stopped again,


    ¡®They seem concerned... and excited... and-¡®


    It was at that point he realized that he could feel the emotions again!


    Not only that, but his senses, which had felt clogged since his arrival in this Realm, seemed to be freed as well. The sensation of eptance was simply the sensation of regaining control.


    Knowing everything about his surroundings gave Ozul control, which was one of the most important things to him at any given time.


    He felt a little more at ease now that he had reimed what he considered his most important tool.


    He had previously nned to learn more about this ability and make it work again in some way.


    Now he realized that his abilities were being hampered by this Spiritual Essence as well.


    ¡®It shouldn¡¯t be a problem now,¡¯ Ozul thought back to all the times he couldn¡¯t sense the presence of Old Gu and others either, ¡®If my guess is right, that must have been because of the Spiritual Essence as well.¡¯


    Noticing that he had drifted off to dreams again, Raven coughed a little harshly. Although she didn¡¯t want to disturb him, it was already midday. Ozul previously wanted to hurry up as well.


    ¡°Ah, Let¡¯s go..¡± He took the lead as the other three followed behind. Raven and ze didn¡¯t have much of a reaction, but Zier was kind of new to this.


    While Ozul is lost in his thoughts, he forgets to reply in the real world, making others doubt his sanity as he would suddenly pause, only to start staring at empty air.


    Behind him, Raven and ze eyed each other and understood that both of their thoughts were on the same track.


    Just from Ozul¡¯s casual and light stepping, they could tell that something good had happened. Although he hid his emotions well, those who lived with him for years can still get a hint or two about his mood.


    ¡°What was inside the Spatial Ring?¡± Ozul asked Raven.


    She had all night to go through the Spatial Ring that Old Gu¡¯s man had given them. He couldn¡¯t take a look inside since he couldn¡¯t control Spiritual Essence.


    ¡°There is too much inside... I don¡¯t even understand some of the things. However, I did find a book inside. It has brief exnations about everything we will need for now...¡± Raven answered and then took out a worn-out book.


    Its condition was minimal and the title was written with sloppy handwriting. The title was;


    ¡°Guide to a New Realm¡±


    ¡± by Everyone¡¯s favorite, Grandpa Gu.¡±


    Zier and ze felt blood reach their throats reading those shameless words. This man had started a carnage, and he had the audacity to im to be everyone¡¯s favorite!


    If they didn¡¯t need it, Raven would have already thrown this book away. Unfortunately, she had skimmed through and he had actually taken the time to exin the most basic things.


    ¡®Is he really someone important?¡¯ Ozul began to doubt himself. Where did he find the time to write a detailed,plete book?!


    He once again mentally gave himself a note to thoroughly search about Old Gu¡¯s identity. For all he knew, he could merely just be an old man too rich to care about anything except for his antics.

 Chapter 348

    Chapter 348: Spirit Stones.


    Raven exined some of the things she had found reading the book.


    First off, she took out a few crystals the size of a clenched fist. With itsckluster and rough surface, one would think that it was merely a raw crystal, but the truth was far from it.


    The burning white light emitting from its core and its warmth in one¡¯s hand was proof of it.


    ¡°From the illustrations in the book, this is supposed to be Medium grade Spirit Stone,¡± Raven presented the crystal for everyone to take a look at and then began to exin,


    ¡°Spirit Stones are the currency for the ¡®cultivators¡¯, it says here. There are three levels of Spirit Stones. Low grade, Medium grade, and High grade. A thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones can be exchanged for a single Medium grade Stone.¡±


    ¡°Let me guess; a thousand Medium grade Spirit Stones also equal to a single High-grade Spirit Stone?¡± Zier interjected, seemingly already havingprehended the entire currency system just from that.


    Meanwhile, Ozul was more interested in the fact that Old Gu even drew illustrations in the guide.


    .....


    ¡°No.¡±


    Raven replied with a deadpan face and went back to exin, ¡°A hundred Medium grade Spirit Stones are enough to exchange for a High-grade Spirit Stone.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®for cultivators¡¯?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°If I understand this correctly, not everyone can cultivate in this world. More than half of the people can never manage to gather the Spiritual Essence in their bodies.¡±


    Ozul nodded, mentally noting how it was much better in their Broken World.


    ¡°The ones who can cultivate this Spiritual Essence and improve their strength are called cultivators. As for the other people, most of them don¡¯t ever trade using these Spirit Stones.¡±


    Ozul extended his hand, gesturing for Raven to hand over the Spirit Stone.


    As he inspected the stone, he saw that the quantity of Spiritual Essence contained in it was far more pure and concentrated than that found in the surrounding atmosphere. Almost as if it was forcefully put in it. Though Ozul knew for sure that it was more of a natural phenomenon.


    Meanwhile, Raven continued, ¡°They use silver and gold coins to trade. A single Low grade Spirit Stone can be exchanged for 10 gold coins.¡±


    ¡°If my guess is correct, a single Low-grade Spirit Stone is enough for a normal family to live abundantly for a whole month.¡±


    Realizing the worth of the Medium grade Spirit Stone in his hand, Ozul looked up and asked, ¡°How many were in the Spatial Ring?


    ¡°There are a total of 5 Medium grade Spirit Stones and a few Low-grade ones.¡±


    Surprised by the sudden wealth that they possessed, ze threw a nce at the Spirit Stone and wondered, ¡°That old man sure is generous...¡±


    They currently had more than 5 thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones and considering that even a single was enough for a normal family to live by for a month, this much was far more than they needed, for now.


    Ozul handed the Medium grade Spirit Stone back to Raven, letting her handle their expenditure as always. She was more reliable than both him and ze in this matter.


    It was then that Zier¡¯s voice was heard from behind, ¡°Look! I see people!¡±


    They had almost already left behind the abandoned town and were on the same road when another town came into their view. The town grew in size as they got closer and closer.


    The crowds bustling through the city, busy with their own lives, cattle grazing, street vendors shouting their prices, and the sounds of everyday life resounded throughout the city.


    Be it Zier, ze, or Raven, all of them had an unknowing smile on their faces.


    This was the kind of normal life that they had left behind; the life of the weak, but a life full of bittersweet moments that would tempt all but the ones living it.


    Even Ozul¡¯s expressions eased a little. It would have been perfect if the Star above in the sky could just drop dead today.


    A sense of relief had washed over their souls. Currently, they had nothing to worry about. They had no enemies, no organization to operate, no urgency. Even if they were to abandon their ambitions and want to live a simpler life, they very well could.


    But when Ozul looked into their eyes, he felt relieved noticing that their ambitions burned even brighter now.


    Curious, he turned towards Zier and questioned, ¡°Why did you follow me? What are your ambitions?¡±


    Despite the fact that they had assisted him and shared a life-or-death situation, Ozul was confident that, based on his first impression of this young man, he would think things through, and not act on impulse.


    Facing his question abruptly, Zier didn¡¯t know what to say. He hadn¡¯t expected Ozul to stop in the middle of the crowd and ask such a question.


    ¡°I... I don¡¯t know-¡±


    His hand unconsciously reached the back of his head, rubbing awkwardly.


    He wanted to be a free man like him. But these words couldn¡¯t leave his mouth due to embarrassment.


    Squinting his eyes at him for a second, Ozul decided to let this matter go. As long as he didn¡¯t feel any malicious intent from him, it was fine.


    ¡®Ah.. it feels good to have this emotion sensitivity returned,¡¯ Ozul thought happily.


    . . .


    Back in the abandoned town where Ozul had met Minho, three shadows appeared simultaneously.


    An old thin woman, but with a straight back and her arms crossed behind her back.


    She coldly looked down at the two corpses which had already long turned cold. Their skin was already a greenish color and a pungent odor permeated the air.


    Behind the old woman, two men stood a distance apart. They also looked old, but the wrinkles on their faces couldn¡¯tpare to the likes of the woman.


    ¡°Their heads were severed instantly. Those newly brought kids could never hope to achieve this as of now. He supposedly held an important position in this Howling Province. Was it one of their enemies?¡± one of the men pondered out aloud.


    The man beside him shook his head, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether it was their enemy or ours. He was here on our behalf and wasn¡¯t even able to report anything rted to this ¡®batch¡¯. While working for us, whoever killed them, is now our enemy! Still, I don¡¯t see the need for three Elders to be dispatched for the death of someone unimportant like them.¡±


    Nodding their heads, both men agreed on thest point.


    Their faction stood at the top of the entire Realm of Abezan and even sending a single Elder would be giving the Howling Province too much face, much less three Elders, one of whom was even high in seniority.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t a coincidence that someone so powerful killed them as they were carrying out a task ordered by us,¡± the olddy finallymented as she noticed all the minor details on the scene.


    There were physically no signs of struggle. Everything was simply too clean and that disyed the strength of whoever did this.


    ¡°How many of them didn¡¯t ept the invitation this time?¡± the olddy asked as the current scene reminded her of a one in the distant past, rting to someone she knew could very well be behind this as well. ¡®He was just allowed to return from the Broken World. It can¡¯t be just a coincidence,¡¯ she thought silently.


    ¡°Total of six went on their own. One of them is a Beastkin and another was a human who both went separately while four of them were seemingly together, forming a group. We only know that much. The detailed report should have been delivered by this man but he...¡± reported the man before his voice trailed off, leaving the obvious unspoken.


    ¡°Keep an eye out for any news regarding these six. Don¡¯t provoke them unnecessarily. Remember, they are still potential assets for the Realm of Abezan,¡± the olddy ordered, ¡°I think I know who might have done this...¡±


    The image of a certain old man appeared in her mind. The mere thought of him caused her to furrow her brows. Though since there was no evidence supporting her thoughts, she couldn¡¯t do anything about it.


    ¡°Though, he would never do anything without a reason. Provoking everyone without gaining anything in return is not like him, so keep an eye on all those people brought from the Broken World.¡±


    ¡°Wait... You are not talking about ¡®him¡¯ right?¡± one of the men asked, not convinced that ¡®he¡¯ would go this far even when ¡®he¡¯ just returned.


    ¡°Who else could it be? Do you think anyone would darey a hand on anything rting to us in this whole Realm?¡± the olddy shot back.


    Under her stern tone, the man who had questioned couldn¡¯t speak. Moreover, considering who they were discussing, her guess might very well be true.


    ¡°You. Return and take back those people who had picked to join us,¡± the olddy ordered the other man, who nodded and disappeared from his spot.


    She was still curious as to why Old Gu would go to such an extent when his banishment to the Broken World had only recently ended.


    ¡®Is it just to confuse everyone like he usually does, or did this man have something important to say to us that that despicable man didn¡¯t want us to hear?¡¯ She couldn¡¯te up with a reason for Old Gu to do this, no matter how hard she tried. But she had a feeling it couldn¡¯t be anyone else.


    ¡°Ha... I still don¡¯t understand why we haven¡¯t killed him already...¡± the olddy sighed tiredly and her expressions only worsened when the bitter reply came from right behind her,


    ¡°... wasn¡¯t it because he was simply too strong...¡±

 Chapter 349

    Chapter 349: Teenager.


    While people in the alley were discussing how to handle that matter, another scene was unfolding somewhere in an unknown location in the Abezan Realm.


    An old man was sitting in an empty tavern. There was still a lingering smell of beer in the air, but strangely, no other customer than him was to be seen anywhere.


    It seemed like a shabby old ce, but it was big enough to amodate more than fifty people at the same time.


    The old man sat around a round wooden table, silently observing the grotesque scene in front of him.


    On his table was a motionless small red fox, cut open from the belly to the neck. All of its insides were revealed to the old man, who examined every nook and cranny as if looking for something.


    Strangely, it wasn¡¯t only his table that had been smudged with blood spatters.


    The whole tavern had dark spots of red sprayed over. However, there was nothing amiss except for a single flipped table, the rest were neatly arranged, with some drinks left unfinished. If an unknowing man walked inside right now, he¡¯d probably freak out and flee as soon as their feet could drag their body.


    .....


    This amount of blood didn¡¯t belong to a single small red fox.


    As the old man silently tinkered with the corpse of the red fox, the door to the tavern creaked open, and the fresh smell of air diluted with the pungent stench of the insides, making little to no difference.


    ¡°My liege.¡±


    The man who had entered the tavern was, all of a sudden, behind the old man¡¯s chair.


    The old man didn¡¯t turn around, keeping his focus on the fox which wasn¡¯t even recognizable anymore.


    If Ozul was here, he would recognize both of them as Old Gu, and his so-called subordinate whose name he couldn¡¯t remember.


    ¡°This... My liege, even if ¡®they¡¯ don¡¯t pose any threat to us, is it really alright to be so... careless?¡± Minho asked after looking around the tavern.


    ¡°Mhm. Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t have a n to go to that Broken World anymore. I¡¯m bored of it~¡± Old Gu replied without any change in expressions.


    Minho breathed a sigh of relief as he heard his response. There was no way ¡®they¡¯ could have forced his Master to be imprisoned in that Broken World against his wishes.


    ¡°What about the task I gave you?¡± Old Gu asked.


    ¡°About that...¡±


    ¡°Hm? What happened?¡± Old Gu finally turned around, noticing Minho¡¯s nervous tone.


    ¡°The cat you told me about. It¡¯s too strong... Before I touched that kid, I... I would have died a thousand times...¡± Minho, recounted everything that had happened and recalled the moment he had peered into those bottomless eyes. He hadn¡¯t felt so suffocated in his life!


    He expected Old Gu to yell at him and tell him he needed to go back and finish the job, however, Old Gu instead burst outughing, which caught him off guard.


    ¡°Hahaha! I have truly not seen everything this world has to offer!¡±


    ¡°Good! Good!¡±


    ¡°People in the Realm of Abezan who could make you sweat merely with a nce can be counted on one hand. I had a feeling that cat was interesting~¡±


    Old Gu stroked his white beard unconsciously as he dreamed about messing with Ozul again. In the process, however, he forgot that his hands were bloodier than a heart pumping blood.


    Not caring about the fact that half his bear was smeared with the blood of a dead fox, Old Gu strode out of the tavern excitedly, ¡°Come! We have some Realms to travel to!¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! It¡¯s good that I didn¡¯t kill myself all those times! Life has again gotten interesting!!¡±


    Minho could only stare at his back with a shocked expression on his face as he listened to Old Gu¡¯s nonsensical bberings. Although the origins of that boy and the cat seemed mysterious, his master had faced things far more dangerous and bloodier than anyone could imagine. He didn¡¯t understand why they interested his master so much.


    . . .


    Back in the town, Ozul had already found a ce to sleep.


    Raven took them to the most expensive-looking hotel and they naturally were able to exchange a Low-grade Spirit Stone for 10 Gold coins.


    Ozul had a whole day to himself in his room while the other three went to explore the town and familiarize themselves with this new Realm.


    He didn¡¯t know how much time had passed before he suddenly sensed strong fluctuations of Spiritual Essence from a certain direction.


    Althoughpared to Minho, these ones weren¡¯t even worth mentioning, Ozul still got up to check it. These people were stronger than all others he had sensed in this town.


    Outside the window, orange painted the sky as the Star was gradually setting.


    It was difficult to find anything unusual among the crowd. To locate the not-so-normal from the scene, one must first be familiar with what is normal.


    But Ozul could sense the Spiritual Essence fluctuations. Facing the direction he was pointed towards, he noticed a couple of men moving discreetly among the crowd.


    They all wore casual clothes, and one wouldn¡¯t normally find anything strange looking at them. But considering that they were all cultivators and were moving towards the same direction, Ozul knew that they must be together.


    Trying to locate their target, he jumped out of the window and flew towards another house.


    Those men had already turned a corner; he couldn¡¯t see them from his building anymore.


    Curiosity got the better of him and he decided to follow them. He wanted to see how these cultivators of this Realm used the Spiritual Essence.


    It was only after he jumped atop a few buildings did he find those men again. Following the sight of their direction, he found a few men in dull robes hurrying forward. Among the crowd, he couldn¡¯t precisely read their emotions, but it was clear from their movement that they were the target, and they were well aware of it.


    There was also a teenager running with them. It seemed like those four people were protecting him.


    ¡°Five. No-... Eight,¡± he muttered under his breath.


    Five of those shady people were on the ground, while three followed from above.


    ¡®They are outnumbered,¡¯ Ozul knew that those people running away wouldn¡¯t be able to run for long.


    He, however, didn¡¯t have any intentions of stepping in to save those ¡®damsels¡¯ in distress. Whatever was happening was unrted to him, he was only there to watch the show.


    And then it happened.


    In desperation, the teenager finally turned a wrong turn.


    Not only was it a dead-end, but there also weren¡¯t even any people in the alley. The fact that the Star had almost set didn¡¯t help either since it was only getting darker.


    Ozul stood atop the building and eagerly watched the scene unfold. The three people had already jumped down and hadn¡¯t seen him.


    The teenager, along with what seemed to be his four guards, was now surrounded in the alley.


    He couldn¡¯t see the teenager¡¯s face, but the amount of Spiritual Essence in his body wasn¡¯t much lower than those of the people surrounding him. Whoever he was, he was notably more talented than the rest.


    ¡°You!-... There will be consequences to this! If anything happens to me, don¡¯t think for a second that my father will let any of you go!¡± The teenager shouted in indignation.


    ¡®A noble?¡¯ Ozul guessed in his heart.


    He was also wearing a dull rob like the rest, so the teenager¡¯s expensive clothes weren¡¯t visible.


    ¡®This will be a bloodbath...¡¯ Ozul realized as he felt the strong killing intent of these people, all directed at the teenager.


    He was surprised by the fact that the teenager¡¯s heart was still steady even after being the target of this much bloodlust. He appeared to have been in simr situations several times before.


    The teenager realized that he couldn¡¯t buy any time and without waiting for them, he took the initiative andmanded his men,


    ¡°Attack!! We have to hold on for just a bit longer and reinforcements will be here!¡±


    His four guards exploded with strength and charged at the five men at the alley¡¯s entrance. The fact that reinforcements wereing lifted their morale.


    The teenager then fearlessly turned around and faced the remaining three people on the opposite end. He brandished a saber from his waist and charged at them without worrying about his back.


    Ozul now began to doubt whether he was really just a teenager. Considering that cultivation could prolong one¡¯s life, it wasn¡¯t unusual for people to retain their youthful looks just like Raven and ze.


    The teenager¡¯s tact and thoughtful decisions were the main source of the doubt.


    Not a moment passed and the sounds of sword shes filled the dark alley.


    For a moment, Ozul couldn¡¯t help but think, ¡®Why does everything happen in alleys these days...¡¯


    Although the people that teenager was fighting seemed to be slightly more powerful than him considering their Spiritual Essence, thetter was somehow able to keep up.


    ¡®Is it because of that saber?¡¯ Ozul kept a close eye on the teenager and realized that indeed some of his Spiritual Essence was flowing in that saber through his palms.


    While the teenager was barely able to parry their attacks, his four guards weren¡¯t faring so good.


    He was overnumbered by two people, but still holding on. Yet, it wasn¡¯t the same with his guards.


    A minute had gone by, and some of them were already covered in wounds!

 Chapter 350

    Chapter 350: Glowing Eyes.


    It was apparent that it wouldn¡¯t be long before that teenager¡¯s side was killed.


    He could keep three people at bay, but what about eight of them? At that time, he would have no choice but to ept his impending doom.


    Ozul had no intentions of interfering, he was solely focusing on the teenager¡¯s technique and the saber in his hands.


    Each sh of his carried sparks of fire as the saber collided with other weapons. The teenager was using shy moves, but he understood that they were probably the Spiritual Arts they had heard about.


    ¡®So doing specific movements generates those sparks? Is it not dependent on personal will and intentions?¡¯


    Ozul tried to infer as much as he could from their battle and it seemed obvious that Spiritual Essence wasn¡¯t as kind as the Mana in their Realm.


    Mana could be manipted solely with willpower alone. Chanting and movement yed a small role initially. After that, it was solely reliant on willpower.


    .....


    It appeared that there was no necessity for chanting in the case of Spiritual Essence. Body movement, calm breathing, and delicate control over the Spiritual Essence within their bodies, on the other hand, yed a significant role in their attacks.


    ¡®There is only so much I can gather...¡¯ With a sigh, Ozul reflected.


    Although he could sense the flow of Spiritual Essence in other people¡¯s bodies, he couldn¡¯t bepletely sure if it was due to personal will or physical movement.


    Just as he was about to turn around and head back, he sensed several more traces of Spiritual Essence rapidly heading in his direction.


    Forced to hide, he stepped behind a chimney atop the house and waited for the people to appear.


    It only took a few seconds before tens of men surrounded the alley.


    One of the teenager¡¯s four guards had been killed, while the other three were critically injured! The teenager, on the other hand, was doing fairly well. He only had a few cuts, and they were minor.


    Since Ozul had no Spiritual Essence, his presence was minimal. None of the people who had arrived noticed him. Instead, they quickly attacked the eight people who were fighting with the teenager and his men.


    ¡®So the boy wasn¡¯t lying...¡¯ Ozul realized these were the reinforcements that the teenager had told his guards about.


    Under his impressed gaze, the reinforcements swiftly dealt with those eight people and even helped the injured men. They were led by a man wearing a deep red gown and a tall stature.


    Even though he was clearly the strongest in that alley, Ozul believed he had a chance of winning if they went all out. The aura created by that towering man was simply insignificant inparison to Minho.


    It was at that moment that Ozul realized something and he almost cursed himself, ¡°Sigh...¡±


    ...


    While Ozul was immersed in probing all the people that hade to rescue the teenager, he forgot one simple fact; his body was still continuously absorbing the Spiritual Essence!


    While normally, that little amount of Spiritual Essence wouldn¡¯t have been noticeable at all.


    ¡®It¡¯s those eyes, huh...¡¯ Ozul reflected.


    The eyes of that man in the alley were glowing blue as his eyes tried to pierce through the very soul of Ozul, if he had any.


    Realizing that he had been found, Ozul knew it was futile to run.


    He could get away from these people if he tried, but it meant he wouldn¡¯t be allowed to stay in this town any longer. ording to what he had seen and heard, these folks were at the very least some big shots in this region. It was tiring for him to leave this town when they had only just arrived.


    Instead of running away, he tried to probe those eyes.


    ¡®Is he born special or is it because of some Spiritual Arts?¡¯ Noting this question down in his head for the future, Ozul straightened his back and yawned, ¡®Shouldn¡¯t havee here and just slept as I deserved to...¡¯


    Although he had now stopped absorbing the Spiritual Essence, it wasn¡¯t going to help his case that he had been observing them secretly.


    Before he could even utter a word, a couple of people were already surrounding him and a saber hung beside his head, caressing his tender neck, but not drawing any blood.


    ¡®Hmm... I can win...¡¯ Ozul deduced from the speed that man had approached him. Although to a normal eye it was just a blink of an eye, he could have easily counterattacked in that short time if he wanted to.


    ¡°Speak! Who are you?¡± the man asked while threatening to cut off his head.


    ¡°Ozul.¡±


    ¡°Huh? What Ozul?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my name. Ozul Ashfall.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask your name!! Tell me who sent you!¡±


    Ozul looked around, and more than fifteen people were currently ring at him with killing intent. Their leader who held his de against his neck could barely stop himself as well.


    ¡°No one sent me... I was just curious so I came to check,¡± Ozul spoke his mind, not hiding anything.


    That man, however, didn¡¯t believe a single word that he said.


    ¡°Nonsense! Don¡¯t you dare lie brat! Don¡¯t take me for an idiot! You are a cultivator and I haven¡¯t seen anyone in this town wearing those kinds of clothes!¡±


    Ozul looked down at his clothes and thenpared them to the others¡¯ and he indeed looked out of ce a little.


    Back in their Realm, any random peasant could be seen walking in such simple clothes, however, people in this town were mostly wearing robes. Their attire was simply tooplex for him, who preferred simplicity.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard what we asked?! Speak!¡±


    One of the men beside their leader kicked Ozul in the back.


    ¡°Aak!¡±


    Unfortunately for him, Ozul had covered his skin with the Purity underneath his shirt, so he didn¡¯t even feel the vibrations from the kick. On the other hand, the man yelped in pain.


    ¡°You bastard!¡±


    Embarrassment got to that man¡¯s head. He unsheathed his saber and aimed directly at Ozul¡¯s heart.


    *Pang!*


    Just then, another saber collided with his as the shockwave sent him stumbling backward!


    ¡°Cmander Lin!¡± The man questioned with a wronged face.


    ¡°Did I allow you to kill him yet!?¡± the man referred to as ¡®Commander Lin¡¯ barked back, making the man cover back in fear.


    That man, however, still hadn¡¯t resigned. He continued to re at Ozul with hateful eyes.


    Commander Lin ignored that man and moved his attention back to Ozul. His saber was again resting on his shoulders,


    ¡°I will ask you thisst time! Otherwise...¡±


    Lin¡¯s saber again pressed against his neck, threatening him to speak the ¡®truth¡¯ or meet his fate.


    This time, however, Ozul didn¡¯t reply. He had already told them his name and that he was only curious so he came to check up.


    ¡®Do I want enemies this early in this world of which I know nothing about...? I don¡¯t think so...¡¯ He wasn¡¯t retaliating since he was trying to avoid trouble as much as possible.


    ¡®Hm.. Maybeter,¡¯ he decided in his heart to let them be unreasonable until he knew more about their situation. After all, he had already sensed at least one man who didn¡¯t have pure malice against him amongst these people.


    Just as he thought, the teenager also jumped on the roofs and inspected him for a while.


    ¡°Do not kill him. If he really is with those people, we have to find out who sent him. There are better tools back in the household to get him to talk,¡± the teenager persuaded Commander Lin to spare him.


    ¡®This kid really is unusual... He doesn¡¯t have any emotions against me, and yet he can say those words with such a nd face,¡¯ Ozul was suddenly interested.


    Although he could run away right now and he actually nned to do so before as well. But he felt that there was more to this teenager that he let on.


    After much contemtion, Commander Lin agreed with him and then turned to face the teenager, ¡°Young Master Han, you shouldn¡¯t have left the n without informing anyone... What if something had happened to you today? How would I exin it to the n Leader?¡±


    Commander Lin questioned him without holding back. Even though he was their young master, his actions had cost them a life!


    But seeing the lost expression on the teenager¡¯s face, Lin realized that he had spoken out of his line.


    ¡°Sigh... These bastards who dared to attack you are the real ones at fault!¡± his teeth gritted in anger as he red at Ozul, still convinced that he was somehow rted to those people who were sent after their Young Master.


    ¡°Stand up!¡± he shouted at Ozul, who calmly stood up.


    There were no expressions on his face as heplied without any resistance. Since he had decided to go with them anyway, there was no need to make things difficult for himself.


    After seeing Commander Lin¡¯s speed, he was already confident that he could kill him. If taken by surprise, it would be even easier. Still, he didn¡¯t do it merely because he didn¡¯t feel like it.


    One may argue that Commander Lin was fortunate that there was no daylight now.


    No one knew if Ozul would have been so amiable if it was daytime.


    As he went along with these people to god-knows-where, he forgot that he hadn¡¯t yet informed some people of his departure...


    . . .


    In the hotel, Raven and the other two had just returned when they found the room empty with the window still left open.


    ¡°... he could be sleeping on the roof?¡± ze mentioned, noticing the cracking traces of worry on Raven¡¯s face.


    Instead of worrying though, Raven went to the bed and sat down to cultivate the Spiritual Essence. There was no use in worrying about Ozul who still retained his past strength, unlike them.


    .....

 Chapter 351

    Chapter 351: Cultivation Realms.


    Raven had found a few basic cultivation methods from the ring Minho gave them.


    She decided that they should learn the basic method until they had more resources. For now, they had to do with what little they had.


    ¡°Hey... is this really true?¡± Zier asked, looking up from the cultivation manual he was reading.


    ¡°True what?¡± ze replied while Raven kept her focus on cultivation.


    ¡°This right here...¡± he pointed at the text and showed the book to ze.


    Only Raven had read the cultivation manual yet and passed it to Zier next.


    Just like the other book, this was also written personally by Old Gu. Hence, everything was exined in a way that they best understood.


    .....


    Even for ze, it wasn¡¯t hard to understand.


    What Zier had shown him basically gave them insight on how theming from the Broken World had their own advantages.


    ¡°Hm... So first there is Foundation Building Realm which includes Body Nourishing and Bone Cleansing which are further divided into parts. But we don¡¯t have to go through these stages?¡±


    ze muttered in understanding. How much he understood and how much he merely repeated would remain a mystery.


    Not being able to concentrate, Raven opened her eyes to exin. What they were reading wasn¡¯t even the cultivation method but just the general information.


    ¡°People in these Realms are supposed to first nourish their bodies and then strengthen all of their bones one by one. That is called Foundation Building. However, since in our Broken World, we have already strengthened our bodies, we can skip this long and painful phase altogether.¡±


    ¡°Also, it takes them quite a few years toplete the Foundation Building Realm. Some even give up midway because it¡¯s too painful.¡±


    ¡°So we... uh... havepleted this Bone Cleansing stage?¡± Zier asked, not feeling anything special being at this stage.


    ¡°I and ze have, I don¡¯t know about you. You have to try and gather this Spiritual Essence in your body. If it doesn¡¯t feel painful, that means you should have alreadypleted the Foundation Building as well.¡±


    Raven had read all that information in the little time that they had so she knew a lot more than them. After trying to gather the Spiritual Essence, she knew that they had already passed Foundation Building a long time ago. She couldn¡¯t be sure about Zier since he wasn¡¯t even a proper Mage beforeing here.


    Zier¡¯s excitement deted like a balloon and he took back the manual to read the instructions on how to gather the Spiritual Essence in his body.


    ¡°What to do after gathering the Spiritual Essence in the body?¡± ze asked curiously to Raven.


    He would rather just have her exin everything than read that thick book of endless instructions.


    Raven sighed in dejection. She wanted to get strong as soon as possible, but it seemed that she would have to guide these monkeys as well.


    ¡°We¡¯re at the peak of the Foundation Building Realm. The next breakthrough is a milestone for everyone in this Realm. It¡¯s called Core Formation which is divided into three stages. But that is forter. First, create the Core. For us, that shouldn¡¯t be such a big problem either since we had created Mana Core before. Still, read the instructions on your own before trying anything reckless.¡±


    After saying her part, Raven didn¡¯t wait for him to ask more questions and started cultivating again.


    She had to enter the Core Formation as soon as possible. That guard who had beaten Berk Leonhard was most likely in the Core Formation¡¯s first stage, yet he hadpletely overpowered him.


    That much was enough to show her the difference between someone in the Foundation Building Realm and someone in the Core Formation Realm.


    ¡®If we had retained our original abilities, we would probably be above Core Formation, right?¡¯ Raven tried to guess but she couldn¡¯t be sure since she hadn¡¯t seen a peak Core Formation cultivator fighting yet.


    ¡®It shouldn¡¯t take too long on forming the Core right?¡¯


    ...


    Raven was wrong.


    Her expectations werepletely overturned.


    Although they had it easier on the Foundation Building, the Core Formation stage was made difficult for them.


    Every time she tried condensing the Spiritual Essence into a solid Core, she failed. And she failed miserably.


    Right now, she was lying on the floor while clutching her stomach painfully.


    She had tried multiple times but each time she failed, the concentration of Spiritual Essence would bounce off and hit her internals.


    ¡®No wonder it¡¯s important to first nourish the body and cleanse the bones. Someone who hadn¡¯tpleted the Foundation Building could never hope to form the Core,¡¯ she thought while breathing heavily.


    Trying to get up, she realized that even sitting in a straight position was painful as of now.


    In the end, she had to give up today.


    ¡®I need to gather more Spiritual Essence it seems...¡¯


    . . .


    While the trio was trying to cultivate, Ozul was being ¡®escorted¡¯ to somewhere outside the town.


    He let them do whatever they wanted, but he wasn¡¯t exactly being idle all that time.


    He was examining each one of these guards and had found some distinction between them and the normal people.


    All of them had a spot of concentrated Spiritual Essence a little below their chest.


    ¡®It¡¯s like the Mana Core...¡¯


    That being the case, that teenager called ¡®Young Master Han¡¯ had the biggest spot of concentrationpared to all others.


    ¡®... Well except for that guy,¡¯ he eyed their ¡®Commander Lin¡¯.


    That guy didn¡¯t have that concentrated spot below his chest.


    Instead, his whole body seemed to be more concentrated in Spiritual Essence than that of the teenager named Han!


    ¡®Has he expanded that Core to his whole body?¡¯


    Since he hadn¡¯t read the cultivation manuals written by Old Gu yet, he didn¡¯t know that this Commander Lin had surpassed Core Formation and reached the Nascent Soul Realm.


    Even though he didn¡¯t know what it was called and how it worked, Ozul wasn¡¯t worried since he knew that beating this Commander Lin wouldn¡¯t be a problem.


    ¡®He might have given me some trouble if he was being careful. As of now, he doesn¡¯t think much of me because of how I acted without resistance.¡¯


    Commander Lin continuously got reports from his men and was busy dealing with them, so he had handed the custody of Ozul to others seeing how docile he was.


    The Young Master Han had a horse while the rest of them were traveling by foot. They were surrounded by woods and it was almost midnight.


    Usually, Ozul would have been sleeping at this time, but right now he had to slowly walk towards who knows where. Bored out of his wits, he couldn¡¯t help but question one of the men ordered to keep watch on him,


    ¡°Hey... where are we going?¡±


    Being questioned by the man suspected to be behind the assassination attempt on their Young Master didn¡¯t sit well with the guards.


    They snorted and looked away. No one wanted to answer him.


    However, they were taken aback when they heard a familiar voice answering that man,


    ¡°We are going to the neighboring city. More specifically, to my home,¡± The teenager Han answered.


    ¡°City? Which city?¡±


    ¡°The Howling City... don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t know what the Howling City is?¡± the teenager looked stupefied upon noticing the nk expressions on Ozul¡¯s face.


    ¡®It¡¯s better not to reveal that I¡¯m from a Broken World...¡¯


    ¡°Hm...¡± he just hummed in response and acted mysterious, leaving it up to other¡¯s imagination whether he denied or agreed.


    ¡°Where did youe from?¡±


    Ozul hadn¡¯t even expected for that ¡®Young Master¡¯ to answer him, much less start questioning instead.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know...¡±


    The teenager Han squinted his eyes, not believing that he had so conveniently forgotten where he hade from.


    ¡°Your attire is... unique,¡± Hanmented, ¡°some secret assassination organization perhaps?¡±


    ¡°Hm...¡±


    The only response he got back was a humming voice. Again it wasn¡¯t clear whether he agreed or denied the spections.


    The journey went on for a few hours with the teenager constantly asking him questions and Ozul evading them all by simply humming in reply.


    It was at one point that he had enough and couldn¡¯t help but sigh tiredly, ¡°How long till we get there? I want to sleep already...¡±


    He was bing irritated with these individuals. He didn¡¯t have a horse, and he had to endure the conversation of that boy who kept probing him endlessly.


    If this kept on, he wasn¡¯t sure if he could endure it any longer. At that time, he would have to kill all these people if they forced him to.


    ¡®But that would really be troublesome. Wasn¡¯t this area also called Howling Province or something? This teenager should be from a well-known family here. Also, a simple guard leader is almost reaching my speed. There would probably be more people at that level of strength, or maybe even more stronger...¡¯


    He didn¡¯t really want to make enemies this early, but if they gave him no other choice, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate a single moment to sh all of their heads off.


    Fortunately for these guys, the woods ended and another city came to view only a few minutester.


    The city had walls stretching all across it with gates allowing entrance at some ces.


    .....


    Once they reached a gate, the guards quickly became alert.


    One of the men guarding Ozul took out some medal and threw it towards one of the guards who looked as if blood was drained from his face.


    ¡°Quickly! Let the members of the Han family in!¡±

 Chapter 352

    Chapter 352: Han Residence.


    Usually, the guards stationed at the gates wouldn¡¯t let anyone in the city without an entrance fee, but when they realized that this group of people belonged to the Han Family, they quickly let them in.


    Ozul was ¡®escorted¡¯ inside the city as the group swiftly marched forward.


    Since it was still very early in the morning, there were hardly any people on the roads, so it didn¡¯t take long for them to reach the Han residence.


    He noted that it was quite big, although notparable to the size of the manor his uncles had built back in the Broken World.


    As he was brought in, he didn¡¯t forget to note down how many cultivators were there.


    The moment they had entered, someone hurriedly ran inside and brought a wave of concerned people all rushing in to confirm that their precious ¡®Young Master Han¡¯ was alright. They were all seemingly aware of the assassination attempt by now.


    He also couldn¡¯t ignore the fiery nces thrown at him.


    .....


    Most of them didn¡¯t mean it and only did so to make known their stance on the matter.


    ¡®Seems like they suspect someone from the inside to be behind this...¡¯ Ozul concluded. It wasn¡¯t hard for him now that he was able to feel other people¡¯s emotions again.


    What reassured him was that none of the people that came to check up were stronger than the teenager, much less theirmander Lin.


    In front of him, the teenager was brought so he could ¡®recover from the emotional trauma¡¯ while Lin brought him straight towards the big hall.


    The bloodstains on his clothes were already dried, but Lin didn¡¯t care about those and entered the hall full of elders of the Han family.


    ¡°Family head...¡± he slightly nodded towards the middle-aged man sitting in the middle.


    Rows of seats were lined up to his left and right, with most of them upied by men and only a handful by women. Guards were stationed behind the chairs.


    Ozul quickly nced around and he was surprised to find that the strength of these people was only subpar.


    Only the man that stood behind the supposed ¡®Family head¡¯ like a statue of stone was somewhat stronger than this Lin person beside him. That man and this Lin had only nced at each other, seemingly acknowledging each other¡¯s existence, but not going any further than this.


    The radiance of that man¡¯s internal Spiritual Essence was noticeably different from Lin¡¯s.


    On the other hand, those present in the hall were only somewhat stronger than the teenager Han. With the strongest being the man sitting in the middle, the family head. Still, he couldn¡¯tpare to Lin and the man standing behind him.


    This Han family was supposedly one of the ruling groups of the Howling Province, yet their family head wasn¡¯t the strongest. Ozul couldn¡¯t imagine how this man managed to preserve order in such a situation.


    After all, it was rare for the strongest person to not be the one leading everyone.


    ¡®It wouldn¡¯t have mattered if others were only slightly stronger, but the disparity between these two and him is too much,¡¯ Ozul thought silently.


    If it was for riches, no one was stopping them from taking those forcefully.


    Just as he was wondering, he was brought out of his unimportant thoughts when the family head spoke, ¡°Who sent you?¡±


    ¡°Not only did Commander Lin find you at the scene, but we have also investigated on our own in this little time. You are not from that town, are you?¡±


    The family head spoke with a forceful momentum as if everything would have to go ording to his wishes.


    Just then, the hall doors were pushed open.


    A youth simr to the age of that other teenager, but slightly older strode in with big long.


    The first thing Ozul noticed wasn¡¯t their simr appearances, but the overflowing nervousness emitting from him despite the poker face that he was struggling to maintain.


    Although the youth walked directly to his father, the family head¡¯s side, he kept ncing in Ozul¡¯s direction from time to time. His gaze was filled with anxiousness as if he was almost caught stealing something.


    Others wouldn¡¯t notice, but with Ozul¡¯s ability, he could even tell in his sleep who the real culprit behind that assassination attempt was now.


    ¡®Does he not even know which people he hired?¡¯


    That could be the only reason that he was so anxious. He must also think that he was the culprit and got caught instead. And now he feared that Ozul would tell them everything.


    The head of the family was about to speak again when the door opened again, and the young master Han walked through.


    He also slowly approached his father, the family head, and stood beside him.


    ¡°Little Han, you should be resting,¡± spoke the family head, in a milder tone.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, father. Also, I have already applied necessary medicine to my body.¡±


    Han wanted to be present to know just who wanted to kill him.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± the family head nodded in understanding and turned back to Ozul before speaking, ¡°Speak!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not from this town, and you were found on the scene when my son was ambushed! Do you think this is a mere coincidence?!¡± His voice got colder and louder with each word.


    ¡°It is...¡± Ozul replied, unfazed by his shoutings.


    The only three people calm in the hall were him, Lin, and the man who stood behind the family head.


    ¡°And how do you prove it?¡± one of the elders mockingly shouted.


    ¡°It¡¯s because I was there throughout the ambush.¡±


    ¡°That only proves your involvement in all of this!¡± the family head looked at him with anger mixed in with confusion, did this kid not know what he was saying?


    The other people began to chatter to themselves as if they had finally been convinced that he was one of the culprits.


    ¡°... How?¡± Ozul stared back with his own confused face, which remained nk, but somehow everyone understood his expression. He motioned toward Han and said, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t I have helped the assassins while they were fighting him if I was one of them?¡±


    ¡°... But you could have helped or at least called for help since you were there!¡± the family head seemed taken aback.


    Ozul shook his head, saying, ¡°That only proves my cowardice, not that I¡¯m guilty.¡± It was as if an elderly man was scolding a child and instructing him in the ways of life.


    Although his words made sense to everyone, there was just something off. How could someone who was talking so fearlessly to the family head of the Han Family be a coward when even they didn¡¯t dare to disrespect him!?


    Before the family head spoke again, he was stopped by Han, ¡°Father, it¡¯s true! If he was involved with those people, he would have at least tried to help them.¡±


    ¡®Not everyone is an idiot it seems,¡¯ Ozul sighed in his heart.


    His only crime was spectating an assassination.


    That shouldn¡¯t warrant punishment as severe as this right? He was forced to try and make sense to a group of power-drunk fools desperately in search of someone they could shift all the me to.


    He then looked towards the kid on the other side of that family head and found that there was a sense of relief in his heart.


    The visible drops of sweat his forehead had umted were already dried off.


    Just from the way he behaved, anyone with a right mind would get suspicious much less him who could read other people¡¯s emotions.


    That brought even more questions to Ozul¡¯s mind.


    How could such an inexperienced kid n an ambush on his brother?


    Judging from his still fiery emotions towards him, he had already guessed that this family head didn¡¯t n to let him go as of yet.


    And now feeling interested in this whole situation that seemed somehow off, he decided to stay for a bit longer.


    ¡°Although I¡¯m not the culprit, I might know who was behind the ambush,¡± he said casually just before purposely giving that other kid a meaningful nce.


    As expected, the person in question immediately felt rms ringing in his head as the sweat drops which had already dried off started forming again.


    His statement led the hall to erupt in amotion once more.


    ¡°What did you say!? If you know who ordered the ambush, why didn¡¯t you tell us sooner!?¡± one of the people angrily asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t remember now...¡±


    ¡°What are you trying to say!?¡± the family head couldn¡¯t endure it any longer. The fact that Ozul was so nonchnt was getting on his nerves.


    ¡°I said that I¡¯m tired. I will have to rest my body and only then I might remember everything. Mhm... I shall tell you tomorrow who the mastermind is,¡± Ozul nodded to himself and then nced once again at the kid drenched in sweat.


    Anyone with some wits would have at least tried to silence him using whatever means that he could right now. ¡®He wasn¡¯t even able to utter a single word, does he have some backing? Did that person order the assassination?¡¯ Ozul guessed in his heart and then decided to strike when the iron was hot.


    He noted the kid¡¯s short ck hair and spoke, ¡°I do remember that the person is a male with short ck hair though... Any more than this, you will have to ask me tomorrow~¡±


    Ozul then proceeded to yawnzily.


    He lost the night he had nned to spend sleeping only, despite the fact that it was his own fault for putting his nose where it didn¡¯t belong.


    Although irritated by his attitude, the Family head managed to calm his burning heart as Han ced a hand on his shoulder, giving him an approving nod. He would have dealt with this matter differently, but since his son had given his opinion, he couldn¡¯t ignore it.


    Sighing in defeat, he motioned towards Lin who understood immediately.


    ¡°You will sleep in the dungeons until you tell us whatever you know.¡±


    With that, he escorted Ozul out the hall, not missing the provocative nce he threw towards the older young master of the Han Family...

 Chapter 353

    Chapter 353: Purposely Lured Out.


    Lin apanied Ozul to the dungeon built underground far back off in the estate.


    The ce was dark and cool. If not for the fire torches hung on the walls, there would be no light there.


    Before cing Ozul inside the room, Lin abruptly stopped him.


    ¡°I know you are hiding something,¡± he spoke tly, staring down at Ozul as if trying to intimidate him.


    But since he received no answer, Lin stepped forward and took the small bag hung on Ozul¡¯s waist.


    He opened it but strangely found nothing in it. He squinted his eyes and suspiciously eyed Ozul¡¯s whole body. Still not having found anything, his eyes glowed with a strange light as he examined him again.


    ¡®Did I make a mistake before?... No. It can¡¯t be. This kid is too calm. He is definitely hiding something, but there aren¡¯t any Spirit Tools on him,¡¯ Lin was having an internal monologue as he failed to understand why he had seen Spiritual Essence being sucked into his body at that time.


    .....


    Not only could he not find any Spirit Tools, but he also couldn¡¯t even feel the Spiritual Essence in him!


    Lin thought Ozul was an ordinary kid no matter how he looked at him. Even if he couldn¡¯t see through him because he was of a higher cultivation level than him, he would still be able to detect traces of Spiritual Essence on his body unless some form of treasure was used to conceal them.


    But no treasure was found either. The only thing that the kid had on his body was his in clothes.


    ...


    Ozul let the man search him; he wouldn¡¯t find anything anyway.


    He kept quiet as he saw Lin¡¯s facial expressions morph from suspicion to puzzlement and finally settled on self-doubt.


    Not being able to find anything, Lin just locked Ozul in the room and went away, leaving him alone in the cell with a single wooden bed and a fire torch on the wall. He left with the following words,


    ¡°Knock on the door loudly when your memoryes back.¡±


    As Ozul was left alone in a quiet ce with no prying eyes, and most importantly away from the starlight, he found the perfect opportunity to achieve his goal... of sleeping for hours straight.


    ¡®Hm... let¡¯s see how long it takes for them to show up...¡¯


    He hadn¡¯t learned from hisst blunder that curiosity kills the cat, and again sunk his feet where they didn¡¯t belong. He was purposely luring them out, curious as to who was behind that teenager.


    Time quietly passed by and before Ozul knew it, a ck cat had already appeared in the locked room and curled beside him on the bed.


    He barely felt it, but the whole morning passed and the sun had again set.


    Those concerned about the ¡®information he knew¡¯ grew impatient, but the n Head decided to keep this ordinary man locked up without food or water until he begged toe out and tell them everything.


    Unknown to them, Ozul was having the time of his life.


    There was no one to disturb him. No one!


    Embracing the fluffy cat against her will as he switched sides was a heavenly experience he could savor without any distractions.


    Some more time passed and it was midnight again.


    Throughout this time, the dungeon remained eerie and quiet.


    But suddenly there was a noise outside Ozul¡¯s room.


    *thud!*


    It was as if something had hit the ground.


    Only then did Ozul pen his eyes and sat up on the bed. Confirming that his suspicions were spot on, he picked Jinx to put on hisp and began patting her as she purred in delight. Then, he looked at the bleak door and voiced out his thoughts, ¡°I was waiting for you.¡±


    As he spoke, the door slowly creaked open.


    The figure that came into sight was d in ck clothes. The face was covered with a clothe till the nose, so only the bright ruby-like eyes were the distinct feature visible.


    For what appeared to be a woman, there was another person standing right behind her with their back against hers.


    Another notable thing was the long saber in the woman¡¯s hand. Its tip touched the ground, and Ozul could visibly see some energy flowing along the sword¡¯s edge.


    ¡®She¡¯s ready to kill me anytime...¡¯


    There was only one concern that Ozul hadn¡¯t anticipated.


    He hadn¡¯t expected the person he¡¯d invited to be as powerful as the most powerful person he¡¯d seen in this Han residence!


    This woman¡¯s Spiritual Essence was as dense as the man standing behind the Han family¡¯s family head. In this case, if he were to fight her, the fight would not be quick and wouldst long enough to attract the attention of other experts. All because the woman was on high alert against him.


    The vignce in her eyes proved just how cautious she was in front of him.


    ¡°You... you purposely lured me out. Who are you?¡± the woman tried her best to remain calm. They were sent to kill this man and leave quietly. But the situation wasn¡¯t as simple as it seemed before.


    She was so shaken because she knew very well that their n was just in its infancy. It would be a disaster if some unknown group of people knew about it.


    ¡°I¡¯m no one particrly,¡± Ozul spoke, ¡°I was merely curious about whoever could be supporting that kid. It looks like you aren¡¯t his cast-out mother for sure...¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The most likely scenario in his mind was that the kid, despite being older than that Han kid, was unable to secure the position of Family Heir, and the mother of the first kid decided to ¡®assist¡¯ her son.


    These kinds of situations weren¡¯t rare in families where the Family Head marries more than one woman.


    ¡°What mother of that kid?¡± the woman strangely looked at Ozul.


    ¡°Nevermind. I was mistaken. Anyway, I won¡¯t lie to you-¡±


    Ozul gently put Jinx aside on the bed and stood up, causing the woman to tighten her grip on the saber¡¯s hilt.


    She threatened in a chilly voice, ¡°Take one step and...¡± The energy enveloping her saber¡¯s edge increased in intensity, almostpletely illuminating the room as if to finish her sentence.


    She was already going against their orders by not killing him instantly. But from the moment they had arrived, this man was simply too calm. Her instincts told her not to attack him.


    He stared down at her, the action unnerved the woman. She couldn¡¯t look straight into that emotionless gaze. The energy seeping through her saber dimmed again.


    Only then did Ozul speak, ¡°As I was saying, I won¡¯t lie, but I¡¯m stronger than you. Stronger than both of youbined...¡±


    Just as the woman was about to sneer and voice out how ridiculous he sounded, a noise came from behind her,


    *Ackh!*


    Without losing herposure, she kept her face towards Ozul and quickly snuck a nce behind only to be shocked out of her wits.


    Several small ck des were resting on herpanion¡¯s neck, pressing just enough for small trails of blood to leak out!


    One had to know that herpanion was only slightly weaker than her! Both of them were in the Soul Nurturing stage of the Nascent Soul realm, only she was closer to a breakthrough than herpanion.


    They both alone were enough to wreak havoc in this small and insignificant Howling Province.


    Yet this man was able to evade both of their senses so easily!


    ¡°Do not worry, I don¡¯t n to fight you guys. That was merely to show that I indeed can kill you both right now,¡± Ozul spoke calmly and lowered those des.


    He retreated them into the shadows, making them believe he had called back the des, but they were just perfectly blending in with the dark environment now.


    The woman who was just about to make fun of him couldn¡¯t help but sweat bullets. If those ck des could evade her senses, it could have very well been her neck right now! ¡®We shouldn¡¯t havee unprepared... who would have thought there will be such a person here...¡¯ she cursed her luck in her mind.


    ¡°What... do you want?¡± The woman thought carefully before asking. Since he hadn¡¯t killed them, there must be something he wants.


    ¡°Take me to your boss... to whoever makes decisions for you.¡±


    The man behind began shouting with resentment, ¡°What? No! We will neverply with you ever! Even if you kill us-¡±


    ¡°Okay...¡±


    The woman interrupted his scene. The man looked disbelievingly at her, ¡°Sister... we can¡¯t betray them!¡±


    In response to his weak voice, the woman turned around and eyed him, ¡°I will take the responsibility.¡±


    Hearing her, the man¡¯s eyes watered as he thought that his sister was sacrificing herself since otherwise they would both be killed by this man in front of them.


    On the other hand, the woman was thinking something else, ¡®No matter how strong he is, he possibly cannot resist when facing the Elder. He he he... Just you wait...¡¯


    Of course, unlike that man, Ozul could tell what she was thinking. He would indeed be powerless if he faced anyone stronger than her, much less surrounded by a whole lot of them.


    The only reason he was willing to take this risk was asionally purring and sleeping beside him on the bed. Although he couldn¡¯t be sure if she would save him every time, he must take this risk since he could see an opportunity.


    ¡°Follow me... I will take you to the Elder,¡± the woman turned around and dragged the teary-eyed man before quietly leaving the dungeon.


    Having sessfully convinced them without having to beat them to a near-death state, Ozul was satisfied. He followed after them with his own ns in mind.


    ¡®...Am I forgetting something?¡¯


    ¡®...Oh well...¡¯

 Chapter 354

    Chapter 354: Am I allowed to kill?


    In the middle of the night, three shadows escaped the Han residence without any disturbances. Even the family head¡¯s guard and Commander Lin didn¡¯t catch the wind of it until wayter when it was toote.


    They didn¡¯t think a man without any Spiritual Essence or any Spiritual Tool to help him would be able to get out, so they merely had a couple of guards watching over the dungeon.


    Those guards were knocked unconscious before they even knew what was happening.


    ¡°How long?¡± Ozul asked as they sped through the city.


    The woman turned her head towards him and replied, ¡°The Elder I¡¯m taking you to is staying in the neighboring city. With our speed, it will take a few hours at most.¡±


    . . .


    After a few hours, it was still dark when they had crossed the Howling city and reached another.


    .....


    It seemingly looked on par with the former, but there was an obvious difference between the two.


    Even at this time of the day, the Howling city had more people active on the streets. There were considerably fewer night stalls on the streets of this new city.


    Ozul didn¡¯t have the time to look around as those two people brought him straight to the point of interest.


    It was a considerablyrge manor, but there was nothing notable about the ce except for its size. That too, however, paled inparison to the ones located further into the city.


    Ozul would have guessed that this manor might have been their destination if not for his senses which were able to locate the source of such dense Spiritual Essence that even he felt a little wary.


    ¡®Although still weaker than Old Gu¡¯s subordinate, it would be difficult to escape if things don¡¯t fall in ce,¡¯ Ozul once again considered his options, but in the end, decided to go through with his earlier decision.


    The source of this Spiritual Essence was currently in the small tavern beside the manor.


    As expected, thedy and the man headed straight towards the tavern.


    The woman stopped before the door and turned around to face Ozul, ¡°The Elder is inside.¡±


    Although Ozul could guess as much, he still nodded his head and went inside.


    ¡®Seems like on the way here, they have alreadymunicated,¡¯ he thought as he noticed that both the woman and the man chose to leave right after.


    A lot of things were on his mind, but he was at least relieved knowing that Raven, ze, and Zier aren¡¯t with him. He might have a chance of escaping, but he couldn¡¯t say the same about them.


    The familiar graze by his feet woke up him as he stepped inside with confidence.


    The little ck creature followed right beside him with her small graceful steps.


    ...


    The tavern was small, and it reeked of the smell of alcohol.


    As it was already way past midnight, the people inside were drained out of their usual energy.


    The few tables were upied with men either sleeping or knocked unconscious. There was a lingering smell of vomit as well.


    Ozul¡¯s gaze swept past everyone and finally rested on the cloaked figure sitting at the bar. That person and the tavern owner were the only two people conscious in the tavern right now.


    He went to the seat beside the cloaked figure and stared directly at them.


    ¡°Calm down boy,¡± the figure spoke with a rough voice, shifted in their position, and spoke again, ¡°Thatss has told me about everything.¡±


    ¡®An olddy...¡¯ Ozul determined.


    Ozul could sense her emotions despite her feigned indifference. He knew she was impressed and wary of him because he knew she was the person he was looking for the moment he walked into the tavern.


    After all, unless they had a special Spiritual Tool, they could only deduce her strength if they were stronger than she was or she allowed them to. And, because she had obviously hidden her Spiritual Essence, Ozul was clearly not ordinary in her eyes.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time, boy. Speak whatever you have to and give me a reason not to kill you right now.¡±


    The olddy spoke roughly before she chugged the whole jug of beer in one breath.


    The tavern owner pretended not to hear their conversation and quickly refilled her beer.


    ¡°I can work for you.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°I said I want to work for you.¡±


    Thedy shifted in her position and faced Ozul with an indescribable look on her face.


    She looked at him as if she was contemting whether to kill him or not.


    ¡°I know what you are thinking. Not only is there no point in killing me, you aren¡¯t even sure if you can,¡± Ozul spoke calmly, negotiating his own life.


    The fact that the olddy couldn¡¯t detect any Spiritual Essence in him made her even warier. She indeed couldn¡¯t bepletely sure that she could kill him as she was unaware of his abilities.


    ¡°How do you know what ¡®we¡¯ do?¡± the olddy asked the most crucial question.


    Before this, she thought that one of their rival organizations had caught the wind of their actions and was now going to ckmail them. But it didn¡¯t seem to be the case considering Ozul¡¯s actions.


    ¡°Why do you think I know what you do?¡± Ozul questioned instead of answering.


    He shook his head and continued, ¡°I am honestly unaware of anything you do except for the fact that the assassination attempt was your doing.¡±


    Ozul¡¯s eyesnded on the wooden jug of beer before him and he wondered internally, ¡®How does it taste like?¡¯


    Since he never got hungry, he only ever ate to keep up appearances. As for drinking, he had never thought of trying them.


    Only now he was a little curious since a person considerably stronger than him was currently indulging herself with this beer.


    The olddy stared at him suspiciously. She thought for a second and decided to be straightforward about it.


    ¡°What reason do I have to trust someone I don¡¯t know the origins of?¡±


    ¡°Hmm...¡± Ozul nodded his head in agreement. cing himself in her shoes, he wouldn¡¯t have so easily trusted him either.


    ¡°I will tell you about my origins truthfully. How about that?¡±


    The olddy contemted for a few moments again.


    Looking at it from an objective point of view, the only thing she stood to gain from killing him was to avoid leaking their agenda.


    But if he really wanted to work for them, he would be a great asset to their organization. She knew that because she had even used a probing Spiritual Tool on him discreetly, but found no traces of Spiritual Essence at all!


    ¡®That means he can leave and go to important ces as he pleases!... If possible, I want to recruit him...¡¯ the olddy was determined.


    Because even if she opted to kill him instead, there was no guarantee that he had no friends who knew the truth about the assassination attempt.


    ¡°Very well. But I will have to confirm your identityter. Until then, you will remain with us,¡± as she said that, the olddy looked at Ozul carefully, trying to discern if he had any reaction.


    She was satisfied when he looked unmoved. After all, if he really came harboring ill intentions, he would be wary of them investigating at the very least.


    ¡°So... who are-¡±


    The olddy was about to speak, but then she remembered something, ¡°Let¡¯s pause that thought.¡±


    Holding the jug of beer, she stood up and smiled provokingly at Ozul.


    ¡°You look smart. Let¡¯s see what you can do about our current situation.¡±


    Being tested like this, Ozul wasn¡¯t fazed a bit.


    These people were wless in their act, but since he could sense people¡¯s emotions, something like this would never work on him.


    ¡°Am I allowed to kill?¡± Ozul asked indifferently.


    ¡°Do you have the ability to?¡± the olddy while narrowing her eyes. This would at least help her understand how strong this boy was.


    But it seemed as though she had underestimated him a lot.


    Because her sentence had just finished when the whole tavern woke up with loud noises of groaning, and a few secondster, the smell of blood overcame that of the alcohol.


    The seemingly unconscious people scattered around the tavern all had holes in their heads as their blood dyed the stone floor in crimson red color.


    The only man spared from this egregious ughter was the tavern owner, who stood there with trembling feet.


    ¡°S-spare me... please!... I have a wife and a daughter...¡± tears flowed uncontrobly from his eyes. The tavern owner didn¡¯t know that all those people were not ordinary. They were all cultivators.


    Ozul ignored the tavern owner and waved his hand, motioning him to leave.


    As his eyes fell back on the olddy, he could see the twisted expressions on her face.


    Even though he couldn¡¯t hear her thoughts, he was positive that he could make the gist of it.


    ¡®I want him! I can¡¯t let anyone else snatch him!!!¡¯


    The olddy understood very well how important this boy¡¯s ability could be. Even after killing every one of her men, she wasn¡¯t able to feel any fluctuations of Spiritual Essence!


    She was so enthralled that she didn¡¯t care that the men whose blood had soiled this cold stone floor were working for her! To merely put Ozul to the test, she had them killed!


    ¡°Khahaha!¡±


    .....


    The olddy cackled like an evil witch who had found her long-lost treasure.


    ¡°Boy... Finish that beer and follow me!¡±


    She walked out of the tavern, scheming about the future and how she would use Ozul in her ns.


    Ozul looked at her back emotionlessly. He knew what she was thinking, and he would of course never y in anyone¡¯s games. He would only do what was necessary for him to gain a footing in this new Realm...

 Chapter 355

    Chapter 355: Beastkin.


    Ozul watched the olddy¡¯s back leaving through the tavern¡¯s door.


    His eyes fell back on the wooden jug of beer that the tavern owner had ced for him. Seeing that the tavern owner had already run out the backdoor, he calmly took the jug and sipped the beer.


    ¡®Disgusting...¡¯


    He spat it out, the lingering taste on his tongue quickly disappeared as his body dispelled every drop of the beer by his will. He at least had that much control over it now.


    It wasn¡¯t disgusting as his disgust at everything ¡®impure¡¯ but the beer really tasted awful. No wonder people would go unconscious when drinking it inrge amounts.


    If he didn¡¯t know any better, it would seem like self-torture.


    cing the beer back on the table, he also walked out of the tavern.


    .....


    . . .


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Ozul asked as he came out of the tavern.


    ¡°Nowhere far...¡±


    The olddy smirked and slowly walked towards the entrance of the rundown manor beside their tavern.


    Ozul followed right behind and entered the manor with the olddy.


    To his surprise, everything changed the moment he stepped foot into the manor!


    The sheer density of the Spiritual Essence inside was iparable to the outside!


    ¡®That¡¯s surprising...¡¯


    Ozul had to admit that he didn¡¯t expect something like this.


    Even the residence of the Han family, which supposedly was in charge of the whole Howling Province, had nothing so extraordinary about it.


    Ozul looked around, and it was obvious that the density of the Spiritual Essence wasn¡¯t the only thing that had changed.


    It had all changed from the worn-out obsolete manor to a luxurious structure that stood taller than any he had seen, at least in this Realm. Thend, which seemed to have been drained to the brink of death, was now brimming with life, and the few nts in the corners had grown to adorn the entire area.


    The olddy looked back at him and smirked at his reaction. She just thought that his expressionless face was a disguise for speechlessness instead.


    Ozul, on the other hand, quickly adapted to the situation.


    He was only surprised because this ce was hidden from his senses. When he had surveyed this manor earlier, he had found nothing of this sort.


    ¡®Something like those Mana inscriptions?¡¯ Ozul guessed in his heart.


    Such an illusion was only possible with those. After all, he could even gauge this olddy¡¯s strength easily. If this manor stayed hidden, it could only be because of something like inscriptions.


    Only after a few moments when he had epted this fact of reality did he take his eyes off of the scenery and notice the people running about.


    One thing, in particr, he noted of their features was...


    ¡°Beastkin...?¡±


    The more than a few people he saw all had some simrities to certain animals while the rest of their bodies were human.


    The only thing that came to his mind was the term Beastkin he had heard when those men talked to Vesta, the former Sovereign of the Beasts.


    And that was the moment when Ozul was forced to suppress the countless questions that came to his mind regarding this new race. His curiosity was piqued as he keenly observed the people.


    Their features mostly resembled those of humans, but some of them had tails while others had wings.


    After a while, he even noticed some whopletely looked human, but considering how Vesta also looked like a normal human, he couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility that everyone here was a Beastkin.


    ¡®Right now, the only difference I see is tails, wings, and rarely scales on the skin...¡¯


    Looking at him observing them with such a gaze, the olddy frowned in displeasure.


    She removed her ck hood to show two twisted and rolled horns at the rear of her head. Her knotted hair was entirely white, and her eyes were snake-like with a small slit.


    ¡°Are you also one of those people who hate our kind?¡±


    The olddy asked in a calm voice, but the threatced within those words was only perceivable by Ozul.


    ¡°It¡¯s my first time seeing your ¡®kind¡¯. I have no prejudice against you,¡± Ozul responded truthfully.


    His answer didn¡¯t convince the olddy as she didn¡¯t think it was possible for someone as strong as this boy to have never seen Beastkin before.


    ¡®Ha... I have to set aside my feelings. For the good of our cause, I can¡¯t let him go...¡¯ she contemted before sighing internally. It didn¡¯t seem like he hated the Beastkin anyway.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± she muttered and brought Ozul inside.


    ...


    Ozul kept note of the respectful gestures of everyone towards the olddy on the way.


    They arrived at a small room with only a table and a few chairs.


    After Ozul entered, the door got shut by itself.


    Not surprised at such a show, he sat down calmly.


    ¡°So, tell me, boy. Who are you?¡± The olddy spoke before taking a seat and then continued, ¡°Do not worry. No one can eavesdrop on us without my permission in this room.¡±


    ¡°I make sure never to reveal the origins of those people working for me,¡± she assured him again.


    After all, who knows if someone wouldn¡¯t kidnap their family in a desperate situation?


    ¡°I¡¯m from another Realm.¡±


    ¡°Quit joking. I need a serious answer.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Ozul remained silent but looked at the olddy with a face that seemed to be asking, ¡®Do you think I am joking?¡¯


    A few seconds passed by silently as the olddy seemed to be thinking of something. Suddenly, as if she was enlightened. ¡°Are you... one of the ¡®Dragon Hatchlings¡¯ who arrived just recently...?¡± She asked carefully.


    Noticing the emotions brimming within the olddy, Ozul hesitated once again.


    In the end, however, he still nodded, ¡®This is the only way to gain their trust.¡¯


    This was also a way for him to deduce the capabilities of these people. Since he was told that one of the highest authorities on this continent had brought them here, he could test these people based on whether they can confirm his identity or not.


    ¡®Let¡¯s hope that you can...¡¯


    The olddy intensely stared at Ozul¡¯s face, trying to find any traces of a lie, but in the end, she couldn¡¯t make anything of his expressions.


    ¡°This is an important matter. Excuse me...¡± The olddy stated and didn¡¯t wait for Ozul¡¯s reply before leaving the room.


    ¡°...¡±


    Ozul was left alone in the room without an exnation.


    Fortunately for him, Jinx suddenly appeared in the room and jumped onto hisp. She kept himpany until the olddy returned.


    It took her about half an hour when she rushed into the room and opened the door with a loud bang.


    She was just about to say something when she noticed the ck cat sleeping on Ozul¡¯sp.


    Her eyes narrowed at the scene because she had actually locked the door from the outside. One would have to destroy the door if they wanted to enter without her permission. And she was certain that the ck cat wasn¡¯t with him when he had left the tavern and entered this manor.


    ¡®Just how did it enter...?¡¯


    Before she could ask anything, she was brought out of her stupor with Ozul¡¯s words,


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    Ignoring his question, she remembered the reason she had rushed in here, ¡°What about your friends? Where are they? And will they be joining as well?¡±


    Ozul didn¡¯t waver on the surface, but he couldn¡¯t deny being surprised,


    ¡®That was... fast.¡¯


    Right after, he internally gloated. He could have even smiled right now because the first group of people he came across was just what he needed!


    They werepetent enough to contend against one of the top authorities on this continent!


    These people even knew that he was with friends. Such precise information could only be possible if they had spies nted in that other organization which in itself was a great feat.


    ¡®Gaining the power I need won¡¯t take as long as I thought...¡¯


    Delighted at his good luck, he couldn¡¯t help but gently stroke his fingers through Jinx¡¯s fur. In response, Jinx stretched her body sleepily, her paws stuck in mid-air, provoking Ozul to touch them.


    ¡°Ahem!¡±


    The olddy coughed loudly when she saw that the boy hadpletely forgotten her existence and had begun to y with that strange cat on hisp.


    .....


    ¡°Ah. Apologies.¡±


    ¡°Nevermind that. Even if your friends won¡¯t join our organization, for you to join, you will still need to tell us if they are with you. Only that way can we really confirm if you¡¯re really the person we assume you to be,¡± the olddy spoke sternly.


    ¡°I think there is some misunderstanding here...¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t be joining your whatever it is, much less my friends.¡±


    ¡°But-¡±


    ¡°I said I want to work for you. And that means you give me work, and if I do it, youpensate me. That will be the extent of our rtion.¡±


    Hearing his words, the olddy¡¯s mood instantly turned down. She exerted some pressure on him, but it barely fazed Ozul.


    ¡°And why do you think we even want you?¡± She couldn¡¯t take this insult without retorting. He spoke as if they were dying to get him and his friends.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you do. You can refuse my offer, just like I can easily walk out of here,¡± Ozul answered, straightening his back.


    The olddy remembered the ck cat on hisp, and looked at him with a stoned face; it seemed that she could do nothing. The people above her already knew about this matter. Even if she wanted to, she couldn¡¯t let him go.


    *sigh...*


    ¡°Alright. Tell us the location of your friends. If they match our description, it will be confirmed that you¡¯re from a Broken World. We will talk after that...¡±

 Chapter 356

    Chapter 356: Wild Beastkin.


    Ozul read her emotions and confirmed that she was genuine. They weren¡¯t trying to harm their friends.


    ¡°They would be in a hotel near where your people failed to kill that young master of the Han family.¡±


    ¡°It would be wise for you to know our mission didn¡¯t fail,¡± the old Beastkindy huffed in response.


    ¡°They died...¡±


    ¡°They were supposed to die.¡±


    Ozul noticed her indifferent eyes but kept quiet. These people couldn¡¯t be trusted after all. He had to be careful when working with them.


    ¡°What do you gain by a failed assassination attempt?¡± he asked curiously.


    .....


    ¡°You have too many questions, boy...¡±


    The olddy squinted her eyes at him. She wouldn¡¯t tell him anything before confirming the location of his friends.


    At the same time, she had used one of her Spiritual Tools and already ryed the information to her men. They were already searching for Ozul¡¯s friends.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The two continued to stare at each other without saying anything. From another person¡¯s point of view, this scene was quite awkward but the two people involved didn¡¯t think so.


    The olddy was too busy thinking of all the possible future oues and the prospects of getting the famous ¡®Dragon Hatchlings¡¯ on their side and Ozul felt at ease since the room waspletely silent except for Jinx¡¯s purring asionally resounding through the room. But that was, for some reason, bearable for him.


    The only thing currently not sofortable was the pandora of emotions brewing inside the olddy. They poked at him every now and then.


    This confirmed his suspicion that the people brought from Broken Worlds were a big deal in this Realm.


    After a little while, the olddy came out of her daze.


    ¡°If you and your friends were to join us, you would have received unconditional rewards after proving your loyalty. Only working for us will barely get you any low tier Earth Grade Spiritual Arts and Spirit Weapons and barely any 9 Star Mortal Grade Cultivation Techniques.¡±


    In her life, she had never expected such a god-send opportunity to fall into her hands today. The least she could do was tempt him.


    That, however, seemed to be a mistake because she forgot that Ozul wasn¡¯t familiar with the rarity of any of the resources as he was new to this Realm.


    ¡°You may not know, but generally the resources a cultivator needs consist of Cultivation Technique, Spiritual Arts, and Spirit Weapons.¡±


    Ozul became a little interested since he was learning about this directly from an expert.


    ¡°Cultivation Techniques are divided into Mortal Grade, Spiritual Grade, and Transcendent Grade. Mortal Grade Techniques are divided from 1-Star as the lowest quality and 9-Star as the best quality technique.¡±


    She paused, as to make him focus on the next part of her sentence,


    ¡°In this Howling Province, it is impossible to find a Cultivation Technique above Mortal Grade... unless you have someone backing you.¡±


    ¡°Same with the Spiritual Arts and Spirit Weapons. Both of them are divided into Earth Grade, Spiritual Grade, and then Transcendent Grade. Spiritual Arts¡¯ Earth Grade is divided from 1-Star to 9-Star while Spirit Weapons¡¯ Earth Grade is divided into tiers, such as Low Tier to Peak Tier.¡±


    ¡°In the Howling Province, you might not evene across any Spiritual Arts or Spirit Weapons. Even the Han family, the most resourceful family of this area, is only in possession of two of each.¡±


    Ozul recalled the green sword in the hand of that Young Master Han when he was fighting his assassins, ¡®That must be a Spirit Weapon then...¡¯


    ¡°If you were to join our organization, you¡¯d get far more than that. Spiritual Grade Cultivation techniques and even Spirit Weapons and Spiritual Arts at Spiritual Grade won¡¯t be out of the question...¡±


    The olddy said this and let it sink.


    She realized that she couldn¡¯t persuade him now. Not when he hadn¡¯t experienced firsthand how important these cultivation resources are. Once he faced someone with better Spiritual Arts and better Spirit Weapons and cultivated with better Cultivation Techniques, he would surely not think for a second before joining them.


    Ozul listened attentively but didn¡¯t show much interest.


    Even if they gave him unlimited resources, he would think twice before working under someone else.


    After all, no matter how many benefits, he would lose his freedom to do whatever he wanted at any time.


    ¡°Is that your cat?¡±


    The olddy asked curiously.


    ¡°...Yes...¡±


    Ozul took some time to answer that since he had to ask himself internally if she really belonged to him.


    Although the answer he came to was a no, he still said yes. She was currently sleeping on hisp; she was his.


    ¡°Is it a Contracted Beast?¡± the olddy asked.


    ¡°Contracted Beast?¡±


    ¡°Ah... Contracted Beasts are the Beasts who bind themselves to another being, thus losing the ability to acquire human form...¡± as the old Beastkindy exined, she realized why he had said that it was his first time seeing their kind. Since he was from the Broken World, he might not know much about Beasts.


    ¡°Broken Worlds are usually like that. It¡¯s very rare for people there to think of Beasts as anything more than monsters... However, that ispletely false. Beasts are much more than that.¡±


    Ozul listened attentively. He was also interested in how the Sovereign was able to transform into the human form.


    ¡°I was reported that this time, a Beastkin hade from the Broken World. We refer to her as the Wild Beastkin. They are the Beasts who have amassed enough power to transform into humans. After obtaining the human form, Wild Beastkin must strengthen themselves a little more in order to reim their Beast form, which will be even more fierce than before.¡±


    ¡°She has unimaginable talent...¡± the olddy muttered atst.


    Ozul pieced everything together from people¡¯s reaction to the Sovereign and came to a conclusion that if all of the ¡®Dragon Hatchlings¡¯, the people brought from the Broken World had the potential to be overlords in this Realm, then a Wild Beastkin could go beyond.


    ¡°Are you a Wild Beastkin?¡± Ozul asked.


    He couldn¡¯t think of a Beast who had such elegant grey horns.


    ¡°I... I am,¡± the old Beastkin Lady sighed with a downcast face, ¡°Though the rest of my people here were born a Beastkin...¡±


    Ozul realized he must have asked some sensitive question. He didn¡¯t regret it though. The more he knew about the people he was dealing with, the better.


    ¡°What about the other Beastkin?¡±


    ¡°Ah, they are born like this. Mostly human but with characteristics of Beasts. If a Beastkin were to mate with a human, the baby is always a Beastkin. But when two Beastkin mates, the baby could either bepletely in Beast form or may have human characteristics,¡±


    The olddy exined as if she was tutoring young kids. Since it was Ozul¡¯s first timeing in contact with Beastkin, she would do her best to teach him about them.


    ¡°When do Beast change into Beastkin?¡±


    ¡°In here, the Beasts who manage to reach the Transcendent Realm can choose to transform. They can proceed to be more powerful without bing a Beastkin, but bing a Beastkin has uncountable benefits. Being able to use the Spiritual Arts and Spirit Weapons is only one of them. Although are temporarily weakened, they can regain their power by simply sleeping.¡±


    ¡°Hmm...¡±


    Ozul made a thoughtful face when something hit him, ¡®If this olddy is also a Wild Beastkin, doesn¡¯t that mean she has surpassed this Transcendent Realm?¡¯


    ¡°How high is the Transcendent Realm?¡± he questioned.


    ¡°Seems like you really don¡¯t know anything...¡± the olddy mused, ¡°After Foundation Building Realms, there is Core Formation, thenes the Nascent Soul Realm followed by the Origin Realm. The Transcendent Realmes after the Origin Realm. ¡±


    ¡°Transcendent Realm experts are the real proof of the strength of any organization. Although we don¡¯tck them.¡±


    ¡°Thatdy who brought me here... she was at the Nascent Soul, right?¡± Ozul asked, questions piling over his head, though he maintained hisposure.


    ¡°Ah thatss... yes. She is at the first stage, Soul Nurturing, of the Nascent Soul Realm. Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡®That doesn¡¯t make sense...¡¯


    Ozul was confused because he could sense people¡¯s power.


    He knew that the girl who was at the initial stages of the Nascent Soul Realm was weaker than this olddy, but the gap wasn¡¯t sorge.


    And although he had never seen a Transcendent Realm expert topare, he was pretty confident that someone two whole Realms above the other person wouldn¡¯t only be that much stronger.


    ¡®Since the olddy said she was a Wild Beastkin, and the Beasts transform after reaching the Transcendent Realm, she should be a Transcendent Realm expert too. Did she recently transform?¡¯


    ¡°I know you must be thinking that I don¡¯t seem like a Transcendent Realm expert, right?¡± the olddy smiled lightly.


    She seemed to have read his thoughts.


    ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m not.¡±


    Her emotions darkened once more as if she was reminiscing about the painful past.


    She clenched her fists and couldn¡¯t help but grit her teeth, ¡°It¡¯s all because of the Humans!¡±


    Sighing, Ozul realized that he might have jumped into some ¡®Humans versus Beasts¡¯ war.


    ¡®This might be bigger than what I initially thought...¡¯


    Humans were probably everywhere in this Realm. And from the looks of it, it seemed that the Beastkin wasn¡¯t much behind in numbers, ¡®This could be a war between two species spanning across the whole Realm...¡¯


    Ozul wondered once again if he was ready to involve himself in such a thing.


    A momentter, he stopped a smile from creeping up his face,


    ¡®This is exactly what I wanted...¡¯


    .....

 Chapter 357

    Chapter 357: I¡¯m fine...


    The bigger the stage, the more chances he¡¯d have to get stronger and find people who could aid him.


    At this point, he had already epted the fact that it might take centuries to learn anything about himself. He could only cultivate his influence to the point where his decisions affected even the other Realms.


    Only at that point would he be able to do something.


    For now, he had to gain support. And that is what he was doing right now.


    As he was indulging in his thoughts, the olddy¡¯s voice woke him up, ¡°It won¡¯t be long before I regain my previous strength...¡±


    The confidence and hatred overshadowed all other emotions erupting from the olddy.


    ¡°Which Realm were you in previously?¡± he asked curiously.


    .....


    In response, however, the olddy only mysteriously smiled. Her eyes could barely contain the contempt for all those weaker than her.


    ¡°You will know soon...¡±


    . . .


    Soon, the olddy was informed that Ozul¡¯spanions were indeed back in that town.


    She had explicitly told her subordinates not to approach much less harm them, so the likes of Raven, ze, and Zier had yet to know where Ozul was.


    Hearing the news, the old Beastkindy couldn¡¯t help but smile viciously.


    ¡®If we can use these Dragon Hatchlings... hehe...¡¯


    Although Ozul couldn¡¯t hear her thoughts, he could still make out bits and parts of them because of her emotions.


    ¡°So, can we now discuss how I will work for you? Or... will we have to go to your superior?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I will be more than enough for you,¡± thedy smirked, and added as she leaned on the table,


    ¡°Although it¡¯s confirmed that you are indeed one of the Dragon Hatchlings, you still have to prove your worth.¡±


    ¡°Was ughtering your people not enough?¡± Ozul asked as he eyed her suspiciously.


    ¡°First of all, they were not my people. They were all humans, just some thugs I had hired to keep an eye around the area. I can get more of them whenever I want.¡±


    ¡°Second, you will be given a mission. If you canplete it we can finally start working together.¡±


    Before Ozul said anything, the olddy added, ¡°Of course, since you are only going to work for us, even this mission wille with rewards. Cultivation techniques up to 7-Star of Mortal Grade aren¡¯t out of question depending on how well you do...¡±


    ¡°Hm...¡±


    Ozul thought about it for a second and felt it reasonable. Although he didn¡¯t know how generous they were being with the rewards, they would make do with whatever they could get right now.


    He first had to get Raven, ze, and Zier the resources they needed to regain their past strength and surpass it.


    ¡®Then I also have to find myself something...¡¯ he thought internally with a sigh.


    He had yet to find a method to grow stronger as he did when like in the Broken World with eating Mana Cores.


    That approach had absolutely stopped working at some time. Now he had to see whether he could improve his abilities by eating Spiritual Cores. ¡®Are Spiritual Cores even solid...?¡¯ he wondered.


    There were too many things he had to test, but they all needed to wait.


    He then proceeded to ask the olddy what the ¡®mission¡¯ was about.


    ¡°Your job will be to cause amotion. Amotion big enough to cause unrest in the whole kingdom. Big enough so the neighboring kingdom might want to take advantage of it...¡±


    The olddy thoroughly exined the n.


    They were currently in the Howling Province, a small part of the Blue Lion Kingdom. The only worth this Province had was the summoning grounds.


    The olddy exined that the summoning grounds weren¡¯t so rare. It was just that the Dragon Hatchlings were best summoned at a ce with a minimum amount of Spiritual Energy so they could slowly adapt to it.


    Ozul¡¯s mission was to stir up trouble in the Blue Lion Kingdom¡¯s numerous counties and provinces.


    The issue was that he had to aplish everything inplete secrecy. It had to appear natural, or else higher authorities may start looking into it.


    ¡°What do you guys gain to have two small kingdoms go to war?¡± he asked after hearing his mission in detail.


    He understood why he was chosen for this since even this olddy couldn¡¯t sense any Spiritual Essence from his body when he had killed those people. She must have realized how useful Ozul could be then and there.


    What he wanted to know was the reason.


    ¡®What would these Beastkin gain if two insignificant kingdoms went to war or not?¡¯ he pondered silently.


    The olddy thought for a second, but chose not to reveal anything for now, ¡°In due time... you will know.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re worried, don¡¯t be. The strongest person in the Blue Lion Kingdom is only in the Origin Realm.1¡±


    ¡°And you?¡± Ozul asked.


    From the density of the Spiritual Essence that her body emitted, he could guess her strength, but after learning that she was considerably weakened for some reason, he couldn¡¯t be sure just how dangerous she was.


    ¡°Currently, I¡¯m a pseudo Origin Realm expert... What, you want to test me?¡± the olddy smirked viciously again.


    Although her Spiritual Essence might be halfway into the Origin Realm, she was clearly capable of much more.


    Ozul recalled the Spiritual Arts and the Spirit Weapons at that point. If the olddy was once a Transcendent Realm expert, she¡¯d have a lot of them. He had yet to witness their power, but it was clear that they could alter the oue of a battle. He remembered the sword that the Han family¡¯s young master used to keep up with three people in his cultivation realm.


    ¡°Anyway, your first task is to kill the guard of the Han family. He is the one who remains beside the family head at all times. He and another one named Lin were sent by the Royal Family of the Blue Lion Kingdom. Just kill the one who remains beside the family head. It should be enough...¡±


    Saying that she stood up and was about to leave before she turned around to warn him once again, ¡°Leave no traces. None.¡±


    The old Beastkindy walked out, leaving Ozul alone in the room with Jinx who woke up andzily stretched her body before jumping down hisp.


    Ozul sighed and stood up as well.


    ¡®I hope I don¡¯t have to do this for long...¡¯


    He didn¡¯t like the feeling of working for someone else. It was much better to have people do it instead.


    . . .


    Before Ozul left the ce, he was handed a detailed map of the Blue Lion Kingdom.


    What the olddy told him was indeed true. This Kingdom had a small territory, but arge part of it was surrounded by another border named the Steel Mountain Kingdom.


    It didn¡¯t end there. The other side of the border had three more Kingdoms surrounding it. In total, there were four Kingdoms and this Blue Lion Kingdom was right in the middle of them!


    ¡®If a war broke out between this and the Steel Mountain Kingdom, it wouldn¡¯t just end there...¡¯ Ozul concluded.


    Naturally, those other kingdoms would feel threatened if a war broke out. Amidst the confusion of war, greed and fear would force them to make a move as well.


    The result of all of it could get much worse than a single war.


    With these thoughts in mind, he reached the town he had left the trio in.


    Although it was daytime, there wasn¡¯t much starlight1 since the weather was cloudy. There were strong winds and it felt like it could rain at any time.


    He quickly found the hotel and entered the room he remembered to have booked for only a single night.


    Beforeing to the town, he wasn¡¯t really sure if they would be back there but it seemed like they had made a sensible decision. If they had wandered about in search of him, he would have had a hard time finding them.


    As he opened the door, he saw three people sitting against each corner of the room in a lotus position, all having their eyes closed.


    The noise immediately woke them up and the two people couldn¡¯t help but jump in delight. The third, however, felt like a shadow who leaped across the room and engulfed his figure.


    Ozul found himself in a warm embrace, and he didn¡¯t need to guess who it was.


    He had already sensed the more than disturbed emotions of a single person in that room with whom he was all too familiar.


    He didn¡¯t stop Raven since she was so worried. It took her all mental strength to not rush out in search of him. After all, it was a new Realm, she didn¡¯t know what dangers lurked in the shadows. Anything could have happened to Ozul while he was missing.


    After a brief pause, she let go of him and stoically moved away as if she hadn¡¯t just lost control over her body.


    ¡°Where did you go?¡± She asked softly.


    Ozul noticed her emotions shifting from slight anger to worry. He wanted to apologize for his sudden disappearance but since it was toote, he decided to leave it forter.


    ¡°We needed resources for cultivation, and there is a way to get them...¡± he spoke nonchntly.


    ze and Zier sighed full of emotions, and Raven¡¯s gaze dulled.


    Before they left the room, Ozul whispered to them, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine...¡±


    Unsurprisingly, that was enough to lift everyone¡¯s mood up...

 Chapter 358

    Chapter 358: Raining...


    After Ozul had brought them away from that town, he briefly exined the situation.


    They were heading straight towards the Howling City where the Han family was residing. There were hardly any people on the road since it seemed like it could rain at any moment.


    His task was to kill that quiet man standing guard behind the Family Head.


    He had a decent chance of killing that man in a single blow if he was caught off guard. He needed to not only get close to him but also find him while they were alone to do this.


    ¡°Killing him is easy... but my mission is not to kill him, but to kill him without leaving a single trace...¡± Ozul thought about the matter and felt even that old Beastkindy might have not been able to do this.


    ¡°Their ns must have changed after finding you,¡± Raven voiced her opinion. They could freely talk since they had confirmed that no one was around.


    Ozul nodded his head. He also thought the same. After all, he doubted there was any man or even a Spiritual Tool that wouldn¡¯t leave a single trace of Spiritual Essence. Only he was an exception since his abilities didn¡¯t stem from the Spiritual Essence.


    .....


    ¡°I only need to find an opportunity when that Lin person is not in the residence,¡± Ozul muttered to himself.


    Commander Lin and his target were both almost equally powerful. With his unique abilities, both wouldn¡¯t expect their death so swiftly, but he also didn¡¯t know if they had any trump card for such situations.


    If he gave them even a second to think, although the chances were minimal, the matter could get out of hand. One would say he was overly paranoid considering his abilities, but that is just how he had always been.


    As the Howling City came into view, Raven spoke, ¡°You ran away from the Han residence. People would still be looking for you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ozul paused for a second, and then muttered ¡°Oh that might work...¡±


    He looked at the three fellows following him, ¡®It¡¯s time they be a little useful...¡¯


    . . .


    *Thunder!*


    With loud noises of thunder expressing its anger, the clouds began to weep.


    The sound of water sshing through the streets gradually drowned out the voices of people.


    There were still a few spots in the city where folks refused to take shelter from the rain.


    However, the majority of those there were beggars or drunks.


    It was in one of such inconspicuous corners that two men could be seen talking amongst themselves, ¡®trying their best¡¯ so no one could hear them.


    ¡®Unfortunately¡¯ for these two ¡®unlucky¡¯ men, an old drunkard just around the corner could hear their conversation with his years of sharpened hearing.


    ¡°Yes yes! I¡¯m talking about the prisoner who escaped from the Han family¡¯s dungeons!¡± eximed the man with the weaker build.


    ¡°...¡± the man covering his head with something stayed quiet.


    Although the old drunkard felt something was off, he ultimately threw that thought to the back of his head and focused on their conversation while acting asleep.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have any words, huh! I knew it! The Han family has been publically looking for that prisoner. Once we tell them that he is hiding in the neighboring town, they will surely reward us with riches!¡± the person ¡®excitedly¡¯ eximed.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Ah! You are right... no one else knows except us, so we can just get our reward after this rain stops.¡±


    Hearing their conversation, the old drunkard¡¯s eyes lit up with greed. He had no money to buy another bottle of beer. This was his chance! All he needed to do was report that prisoner before the others!


    ¡®Coincidentally¡¯, the two men slowly walked away after having their ¡®secret¡¯ conversation in that corner.


    The old drunkard found the opportunity to wake up and he immediately sped in the direction of the Han residence. Considering that the Han family is the overlord of the entire Howling Province, he would surely swim in riches today!


    Watching the old drunkard stumbling his way through the heavy rain, the two people turned around with satisfaction.


    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s been like the 10th guy and you still can¡¯t act properly! You¡¯re too rigid!¡± Zierined tiredly.


    Ozul ordered them to do this, but the only suitable person for this job was Zier. It was a pity that for a normal conversation, at least two people were required.


    Raven was quickly eliminated since she was even worse than ze in this matter.


    Even now, it was mostly Zier steering the whole one-sided conversation.


    ¡°Whatever... This many should be enough,¡± zemented before turning around.


    They had done what was told, now it was up to Ozul to do the job.


    . . .


    Lurking near the Han residence, Ozul saw random people suddenly approach the guards and get escorted inside.


    It took only half an hour before he saw the man he wanted to see leave the residence on a horse. He was the Commander Lin of the Han family, one of the two people sent by the Blue Lion Kingdom¡¯s Royal Family.


    ¡®The Royal Family must have many people in the Soul Liberation stage of Nascent Soul Realm for them to send so many to different cities to ensure order...¡¯ he was reminded again that he was currently against a whole kingdom.


    Before departing, the old Beastkindy informed him that the Blue Lion Kingdom¡¯s Royal Family had dispatched powerful individuals to various Provinces and Counties to maintain stability.


    Only then did Ozul receive an exnation for how two individuals stronger than even the Han family¡¯s head could be working for them.


    Commander Lin had other guards following him on horses as they sped in the direction of the nearest town.


    ¡®They must have been furious after I left so easily...¡¯ he judged since it didn¡¯t take long for Lin to believe in the words of some random drunkards or beggars about his appearance in the other town.


    Having created the opportunity he needed, Ozul jumped inside the residence.


    He avoided other people and quickly made his way towards the building he sensed the strongest Spiritual Essence from.


    The rain helped hide his tracks while no one could sense him anyway.


    ¡®They are all on high alert...¡¯ he noticed as the number of guards he had barely dodged was quite unusual.


    The whole family was on edge after the assassination attempt on the young master of the mansion and the escape of a prisoner.


    Ozul, on the other hand, didn¡¯t waste any time getting to the Family Head¡¯s office. Only two guards stood outside the chamber, which was connected to the halls, save for the Family Head and the guy sent by the Royal Family.


    He didn¡¯t enter the building, instead opting to remain outside.


    Closing his eyes for a moment, he could discern the exact location of the man. He stood right behind the Family Head¡¯s chair, his back facing the window.


    All of his focus was to not catch that man¡¯s attention and with the cover of heavy rain, it seemed to be working well.


    ¡®He is constantly on guard against anything with Spiritual Essence... and that is my advantage... always has been.¡¯


    A small wisp of ck particles gently seeped into the room as Ozul guided them to remain hidden in the shadows. The ck smoke umted for a few minutes before condensing into a solid thin needle.


    As the firemp wildly flickered in the room, the Family Head didn¡¯t notice a hair-thin ck needle bolting inside his guard¡¯s ear and leaving from the other one before it dispersed into a cloud of smoke which also scattered throughout the room and seemingly vanished.


    *thud!*


    Two seconds passed when the Family Head heard the sound of something heavy falling on the floor.


    Finding it odd that his ever-so-silent guard sent by the Royal Family had maybe bumped into something or dropped something, the Family Head ced his book on the table and turned around.


    His pupils instantly constricted as the Family Head unconsciously took a step back, bumping into the table which caused themp to fall off, causing a small noise that was instantly drowned by horror-stricken yelling from the man in the room,


    ¡°GUARDS!!! WHERE...¡±


    One of the men sent by the Royal Family was now lying dead on the ground with no visible injuries. Meanwhile, he hadn¡¯t heard a single squeak!


    Confusion clouded the Family Head¡¯s mind and he continuously shouted for Commander Lin. After this guard, Commander Lin who was also sent by the Royal Family was the strongest person in his Han residence.


    Guards quickly rushed into the room and were also horrified at the scene which greeted them.


    In under a minute, the whole Han residence was in an uproar.


    The culprit in question, however, had long left the estate.


    The Purity1 needle had punctured through that man¡¯s brain. He had made sure that the needle did enough damage before leaving.


    They would take a long time to understand just how he had died much less catch him.


    Leaving unseen was his priority, him not having any Spiritual Essence already ensured that nothing could be traced back to the organization of Beastkin.


    Although they would quickly learn that someone had set up this whole situation for the assassination, there was practically no hint as to who did it and why. This is exactly the kind of confusion that the olddy wanted.


    Before the news spread and Commander Lin was called back to the residence, Ozul grouped up with the trio and left the Howling City.


    The rain seemed to have been their blessing since they didn¡¯t require much effort to hide from prying eyes while leaving...

 Chapter 359

    Chapter 359: Ice Prince.


    Ozul and the trio safely reached the town where the old Beastkindy patiently waited for the news.


    Under the veil of the rain, they arrived at the inconspicuous estate d with illusions.


    The trio was drenched entirely because of the rain while Ozul protected himself with the Purity.


    Raven looked confused as to why they were going towards that shabby-looking estate, but once they entered, everyone understood. Even the rain stopped this time; the sky inside the estate waspletely blue!


    This time again, Ozul failed to sense any fluctuations of the Spiritual Essence. Whatever was used to make this possible was beyond his abilities.


    ¡°I must praise you for your skills. If not for these people, maybe my men had no chances of tracking you,¡± The voice came from afar.


    Ozul showed no reaction to that since he was made aware of the presence of people following them midway. He let them be because he sensed their emotions contained no malice. He could guess who would have sent them.


    .....


    His unsurprised reaction further amused the old Beastkindy, who now seemed to be inspecting the others.


    With a twinkle in her eyes, she sized Ozul andmented, ¡°So even among these Dragon Hatchlings, you are a special case.¡±


    Unlike Ozul, she could tell how strong they were by the faint scent of Spiritual Essence emanating from their bodies.


    She didn¡¯t, however, look down on the others. They were still the Dragon Hatchlings. This meant they had the potential topete with Realm¡¯s powerhouses!


    The best ones may even surprise everyone.


    With that thought, she eyed Ozul again. ¡®It hasn¡¯t been a week since they arrived and he can already kill an expert in the Nascent Soul Realm without any struggle... this will surely attract those old fogeys¡¯ attention. I can¡¯t let that happen...¡¯


    For her ns, Ozul had be a crucial part of it.


    ¡°I won¡¯t ask you to exin your unique gifts, but I must warn you, boy... most people aren¡¯t as kind as I am.¡± She warned him before taking them inside the manor.


    ¡®Right...¡¯ Internally, Ozul scoffed. He was the only one who truly understood the greed that his own abnormality aroused in people.


    At the same time, he didn¡¯t forget to note that the old Beastkindy was sincere when she said that she wouldn¡¯t probe him. At the same time, though, he knew that she was more interested in using him for her purposes.


    Sitting inside an isted room, the olddy took off her hood again, revealing her majestic white horns adorning the back of her head.


    The trio had to admit that they hadn¡¯t seen anything like that before. Ozul had already told them that almost all of them were Beastkin, so there weren¡¯t many surprises there. The olddy, contrary to their expectations, showed no traces of aging on her face.


    ¡°Stop staring, kids. It¡¯s rude.¡± The elderly woman shook her head, but she was used to it. Even among the Beastkin, getting ustomed to her horns took some time. They seemed mystical.


    ¡°Since youpleted the mission, here.¡±


    The olddy dropped five dull-looking crystals on the table. Ozul and the trio quickly recognized them as the medium-grade Spirit Stones.


    Raven raised an eyebrow since she had read that a medium-grade Spirit Stone could be exchanged for a thousand low-grade Spirit Stones and that meant a whole family could be fedvishly for a thousand months.


    Ozul, however, frowned as he looked at the Spirit Stones. This wasn¡¯t what he was promised when the olddy had given him the task.


    ¡°Restrain your anger, kid. I remember my promise. You will be given the Cultivation Techniques once it is confirmed that you left no traces after the assassination. Until then, make do with this,¡± the olddy spoke with a cold voice. Her tone of voice had made it clear that she wouldn¡¯t hear anything on this matter.


    Ozul didn¡¯t have any intentions of arguing either.


    He then nodded towards Raven who took the Spirit Stones and stored them in her Spatial Ring that was given to them by Old Gu. They now had ten medium-grade Spirit Stones.


    ¡°Anyway, even if you made any blunders, killing that man and escaping unscathed is an achievement. You have proven yourself and so, I can tell you a few things... first and foremost, you can call me Ember.. or Elder Ember for you.¡±


    ¡°Would you like to introduce yourself?¡±


    ¡°Oh! I shall go first! My name is Zier, and although I look weak, you will pay the price if you underestimate me, heh! ¡±


    ze gave him a side nce which quickly shut him up as he was about to further ¡®briefly¡¯ introduce himself.


    ¡°You may refer to me as ze or a Demon... It¡¯s OK with me,¡± ze reminisced about the time when he dered himself a Demon under the Devil¡¯s Spawn.


    Ember¡¯s eyes shifted to the ck-haired girl, who replied uninterestingly, ¡°I¡¯m Raven.¡±


    Finally, Ember¡¯s eyes rested on the boy she was most interested in.


    ¡°Ozul Ashfall.¡±


    ¡°Both of you are too cold for your ages.¡± Embers shook her head.


    Zier wanted to speak but stopped once he remembered the eyes he received from ze just now. He wanted to tell the olddy that everyone here except for himself was almost half a century old!


    But, if Zier learned the olddy¡¯s age, he¡¯d realize that they were all children to her.


    Just then, Ember¡¯s eyes began glowing red. When she tilted her head, a trail of red was left behind before quickly dissipating!


    Ozul was suddenly concerned because he recalled something simr happening when Commander Lin from the Han family had caught him observing the assassination of their young master. Only his eyes were glowing green and they were dim.


    ¡®Is it some kind of Spiritual Arts?¡¯ He wondered what their purpose was.


    ¡°You have quite the talent with Ice Elements huh. Although I shouldn¡¯t have been surprised considering the Domain¡¯s mark on you.¡± The olddy Ember spoke to ze. Her scarlet eyes shone ever so brightly.


    ¡°What Domain¡¯s mark?¡± ze asked quickly.


    ¡°The crown made up of Ice Essence on your forehead.¡± Ember pointed at the crystals embedded on his forehead. It was the reason he was called a Demon. The reason why his own parents had turned their back on him.


    His blood boiled as he demanded more answers.


    ¡°What does this Domain¡¯s mark mean? What do you know about it?¡±


    Noticing his dismay, Ember was a little surprised. It was one thing being eager, but the boy in front of her seemed more desperate.


    ¡°Looks like you have also suffered from the bacsh of receiving such a gift...¡± Ember muttered under her breath.


    ¡°What bacsh?¡± Raven perked up her ears while squinting her eyes.


    Ember turned towards her, smiled, and exined, ¡°All those blessed by Heavens usually suffer one way or another. It¡¯s the Karmic bnce. Joy cannot be felt without sorrow and all those with strength must feel powerless first.¡±


    ze was lost in contemtion as he listened to her. So his talent came at the cost of his family¡¯s denial? ¡®No... If they genuinely loved me, they would have embraced me... like he did...¡¯ he swiftly shook his head.


    In his imagination, he reyed the events of ¡®that¡¯ day. It was the first time he¡¯d seen a nce that wasn¡¯t wary. Eyes that recognized him for who he was. No one had done that before him...


    He felt two hands on his shoulders at that very moment. One on each side of him. One was warm, while the other was cold, almost wooden.


    Looking up from the ground, he noticed the hands belonged to Raven and Ozul. A warm feeling gushed from inside him as he took a deep breath, stabilizing his emotions. There was no need to dwell in the past. He had people who cared for him now.


    Ember observed this scene with a glint in her eyes. ¡®They are a close bunch, huh.¡¯ She thought quietly.


    ¡°Tell me, what does this Domain¡¯s mark mean?¡± ze asked again.


    Ember smirked before she raised her voice, ¡°It means that you are a candidate to be the Ice Monarch. To have the potential to control the Ice as if the very Element was your servant!¡± ¡°It is very well known that the Ice Monarch could contend against a whole Realm on his own. It took years for even the Fire Dragon¡¯s me to melt the ice created by the Ice Monarch!¡±


    ¡°This mark brands you as one of the Ice Princes. You are an Ice Prince.¡±


    ¡°There are others?¡± Ozul interrupted. ze wanted to ask the same.


    ¡°Well, not so uninterested now, huh?¡± Ember smirked thinking that Ozul was merely pretending to be calm in front of her.


    Ozul raised his eyebrows, he looked a little annoyed with her but kept his quiet.


    On the other hand, Raven didn¡¯t miss his raised eyebrows.


    Ember kept her smirk as she answered his doubts, ¡°There are other Ice Princes, yes. And to obtain the Ice Monarch¡¯s legacy, they will all have to fight and pass some trials. At least that is what I have heard. There may not be any Ice Prince alive in this Realm though...¡±


    She then squinted her eyes at ze, ¡°You, even among the Ice Princes, are unique in the fact that I have never heard about an Ice Prince born in a Broken World...¡±


    ¡®Will this have an impact on his potential legacy?¡¯ If I can persuade him to join me, I¡¯ll be able to ensure that he reaches his full potential...¡¯


    Ember had already made ns to lure ze. She was on the verge of locking him away because his gift was too valuable to be let go of...

 Chapter 360

    Chapter 360: Rewards.


    ¡°If groomed right, you can easily surpass any of the so-called geniuses... this man you follow isn¡¯t an exception. All you need is a strong backing,¡± Ember spoke with a kinder tone.


    Ozul squinted his eyes; he knew all too well where the olddy was going with this.


    ¡°So-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine where I am currently.¡± ze cut her off before she could continue any further.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t eve-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    .....


    Ember sighed loudly as she noticed his firm stance on the matter. ¡®It seems like thisd with mysterious abilities has a firm grip on them...¡¯ she thought silently when she felt the scowl directed at her by Raven.


    ¡°Your loss.¡± Ember pretended to shrug it off.


    ¡°For your information, these Scarlet Eyes of mine are top-grade Spiritual Arts and they aren¡¯t even the best that I have... Pity you could have had far better than even this...¡± She shook her head dramatically.


    The focus of her Scarlet Eyes switched to Zier.


    She thought she saw something running through his blood, but she was too weak now to use her Spiritual Art to its full extent.


    ¡®His blood is darker than anyone...¡¯


    After him, she scanned the girl named Raven and to her surprise, she seemedpletely normal!


    It came as a surprise to her not only because the rest of the group had something special but also because she couldn¡¯t believe that someone with no special talent was able to leave the Broken World.


    ¡®There must be something there that I can¡¯t see...¡¯ She once againmented the fact that she was merely a half-step Origin Realm expert now.


    After all, a body that ordinary simply couldn¡¯t keep up with those people who had incredible talents with mere hard work.


    Deciding that whatever it was, it wouldn¡¯t be able to stay hidden for too long, Ember put the matter aside.


    The Scarlet Eyes focused on the only remaining man in the room, Ozul.


    For a second, Ember continued to stare nkly at him. Her eyelids fluttered and then she proceeded to rub her eyes unconsciously.


    ¡°You...¡±


    She was about to say something but then proceeded to remain silent.


    This piqued Ozul¡¯s interest since he was letting her ¡®read¡¯ everyone here only because he wanted to see what she could tell about him with her Spiritual Arts.


    Feeling her emotions, he found that the olddy was mostly feeling confusion and surprise.


    ¡®Had she found out something?¡¯ Ozul thought excitedly.


    ¡°I can¡¯t see through you at all...¡± Ember suddenly muttered, crushing his hopes.


    In her vision, after using the Scarlet Eyes, the world around her hadpletely dulled in colors. Only something special stood out and had colors in her vision.


    For example, ze¡¯s body burned bright blue with the crystals embedded on his forehead being the most prominent. Ember could only see the blood flowing through Zier and his heart having bright red color. Raven remainedpletely transparent in her vision.


    Ozul, on the other hand, remained exactly as he was!


    ¡®Does that mean his whole being is special? I have never seen anything like this before...¡¯ Ember could barely contain her curiosity. She had to learn more about this after dealing with her current affairs.


    *Bang!*


    It was just then that a person covering their face barged into the room.


    They whispered something in Ember¡¯s ears before swiftly taking their leave.


    Ember suddenly smiled after that and ced her hands on the table, leaning closer to Ozul and the rest.


    ¡°Congrattions. ording to our reports, they can¡¯t make heads or tails of the situation.¡±


    Ozul wasn¡¯t surprised by the news, but the trio beamed with joy. Even in apletely new world where all of them were stripped of their powers, the man they followed was still reliable.


    Realizing what they were thinking, Ozul turned to re at them and said, ¡°I¡¯m not going to do this forever.¡±


    His motto was still firm and clear, ¡®Work hard in getting people to work hard for you.¡¯


    Just then, Ember flicked her hand and four in-looking books appeared on the table. Along with the books, there was a ss bottle with four mud-colored pills.


    ¡°Two of these are better for Darkness Element, one for Ice Element, and since you had yet to choose your Element, thest one isn¡¯t inclined towards any Element,¡± Ember said thest part to Zier. ¡°All of them are Mortal Grade 7-Star Cultivation Techniques.¡±


    As the olddy exined, she couldn¡¯t help but unconsciously straighten her back. Few people could take out so many of this level¡¯s Cultivation Techniques in this backward region.


    Raven¡¯s eyes lit up immediately. She had already finished reading the book written by Old Gu. She had a vague idea that they were quite valuable.


    ¡°And that?¡± Ozul questioned, pointing at the bottle of pills. He didn¡¯t really need a Cultivation Technique, but he decided not to say anything, letting the olddy believe whatever she wanted to.


    ¡°None of you have formed your Core yet, right?¡±


    Ember inquired, her gaze falling on Ozul. She wanted to get as much information as she could from him.


    As a result, the olddy was frustrated when Ozul did not answer her question. The remainder of the group, though, nodded in agreement.


    ¡°They are called Spirit Gathering Pills. Each one of them costs more than 10 medium-grade Spirit Stones, just so you know. With just one of these, it won¡¯t take you more than a week to form your Core even if you aren¡¯t talented.¡±


    This time, not only Raven, but even ze and Zier were taken aback because they had already attempted to form the Core, and with each attempt, the distance between them and the Core Formation Realm seemed to grow wider.


    And now thisdy imed that eating only one of those pills would help them form the Core within a week!


    Only Ozul remained impassive since he hadn¡¯t felt the wall between him and creating a Core.


    He hadn¡¯t tried yet, but he somehow felt that even if he forcefully did form a Core, his body wouldn¡¯t allow it tost long.


    Satisfied at their reaction except for Ozul¡¯s, Ember threw another object on the table. It was a in emerald ring.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where you found the other one, but this one has 5 cubic meters of space inside of it. It costs more than a hundred medium-grade Spirit Stones, take it as a gift.¡±


    Raven took it up, perplexed. In their former Realm, a Spatial Ring with merely 5 cubic meters of space was far more cheap.


    ¡°I know what you might be thinking. The Spatial Laws in the Broken World are too loose, hence it is considerably easier to make Spatial Rings of higher quality but it isn¡¯t the case in this Realm.¡± Ember exined as she noticed their confusion.


    It was indeed true. Even the Spatial Ring sent to them by Old Gu could only store the most basic things he had sent them.


    Raven didn¡¯t hesitate any longer and wore it immediately. Just a trace of Spiritual Essence, and she felt connected with the space of 5 cubic meters.


    She looked at Ember with a kinder face now. This old woman with strange horns didn¡¯t seem so dislikeable anymore.


    After that, Ember told them that they could stay in the estate if they liked.


    However, she warned her that the rest of the Beastkin here won¡¯t necessarily be kind to them. She had lived for far too long and understood that they had nothing to do with their conflict against the Humans of this Realm, but the same couldn¡¯t be said about the rest of the Beastkin.


    Although she warned them, she wasn¡¯t worried too much since Ozul alone could handle everyone in the estate except for her.


    Before giving Ozul another task, she showed them their rooms so they could be familiar with the Cultivation Techniques and understand their importance. She made sure to warn them not to reveal their Cultivation Techniques before leaving.


    The prominent sects, powerful families, and hidden organizations like theirs held many kinds of Cultivation Techniques and other cultivation resources, but they strictly controlled and limited their ess to outsiders. You would rarely see the same Cultivation Technique at two different ces.


    After entering therge room with four separate beds, everyone except Ozul jumped to them and began reading their 7-Star Mortal Grade Cultivation Techniques.


    Ozul slumped on the bed, exhausted, and fell asleep before the others could even open their books.


    Seeing that he had fallen asleep, the trio felt like treading on a silver thread. They even breathed lightly fearing he might be disturbed.


    ...


    As Raven finished going through the cultivation manual, she realized that it was indeed superior to the basic Cultivation Technique that Old Gu had provided them with.


    She was getting ready to start practicing it when she remembered the look of disappointment the old Beastkindy had on her face while examining her. Even Zier piqued her interest, but not her.


    Although she didn¡¯t have the ability to read emotions like Ozul, growing up with him, she had learned a thing or two. It wasn¡¯t hard to realize that she must not have any special talent.


    But she had already realized and epted that fact long ago.


    ...


    [*shback*]


    Years ago.


    It was yet another cold night as Raven stood dismayed, gazing at the stars, thinking whether all of her efforts were worth it.


    She had started long before ze did yet not only did he catch up to her but even quickly surpassed her. She even felt him holding back sometimes during their spar.


    Raven was on the verge of giving up when Ozul had confronted her sensing her mixed emotions.


    ¡°Is it really worth it?¡± She had asked him, looking down at the ground as if she was guilty of something.


    ¡°Raven,¡± he called her and she reluctantly raised her head. Meeting her eyes, he spoke as if it was a matter-of-fact, ¡°The world is too vast. There are probably methods out there that can increase someone¡¯s talent even. For now, talent isn¡¯t the speed of growth, but survival. As long as you are alive... longer than a genius, what use really would be of thetter¡¯s talent?¡±


    .....


    His words made sense to her; she had mentally resolved, ¡®I will live longer than ze! Mhm!¡¯


    Ozul continued, ¡°As for whether it¡¯s worth it or not... I think it is. As long as you are working for your goals, no matter how futile your attempts are... they are worth it. After all... what meaning would there be in life...¡± His words were more of a reassurance to himself than to Raven as he gazed up into the night sky.


    Raven silently stared at his back, ¡®My goals are helping you achieve yours... By being strong, I can definitely do that! It¡¯s all worth it!¡¯


    ...


    A gentle smile appeared on her cold face as she remembered that night.


    No one but Ozul could change her mind so easily with just words.


    ¡®Even if I have no talent, as long as I keep trying, it¡¯s worth it!¡¯ she thought before getting into the lotus position to try the Cultivation Technique.

 Chapter 361

    Chapter 361: Core Formation Realm.


    The trio learned their respective Cultivation Techniques and all began to cultivate.


    Zier eventually opened his burning eyes and wiped the sweat from his brow. Just from the cultivation, he was half-drenched in his own sweat!


    ze eventually gave up and ceased cultivating around a half-hourter. His bulging veins continued to reveal how stressed his entire body was.


    ¡°Just this much has improved my Spiritual Essence more than when I was cultivating until now!¡± ze eximed in surprise. He had alsoe to learn of the ranks of cultivation techniques, but only now did he realize their importance.


    Despite their sweaty appearances, both had a satisfied smile on their faces since they felt the difference between the previous technique and these new Mortal Grade 7-Star Cultivation Techniques. It was likeparing a turtle to a rabbit.


    However, even with their new Cultivation Technique, the goal was to develop the Spiritual Core, which was nowhere in sight.


    If they had been crawling like a turtle with no end in sight before, they were now leaping ahead at a rate many times quicker than the turtle, yet there was still no end in sight.


    .....


    It was only then that ze noticed something beside him.


    ¡®How can she still continue?!¡¯ He felt stupefied as he saw Raven¡¯s appearance.


    After he and Zier could not continue anymore, they stopped and began to study their manuals again. Much time had already passed since then, yet Raven didn¡¯t seem like she had thoughts about giving up anytime soon!


    Seeing the faint steam from her sweat rising up in the air, ze considered stopping her for her own good. That idea, however, was pushed to the back of his head and he sat down again to cultivate as well! He couldn¡¯t lose to Raven!


    Zier looked at the two and shook his head. He could never torture himself like them.


    It felt great at the start, but continuously cultivating took a heavy toll on their bodies. Their bodies would need time to adapt to the new changes. That is why those eager to get stronger couldn¡¯t simply cultivate nonstop.


    Even after taking a break, ze couldn¡¯t keep doing it for long. He was again forced to stop before Raven did. He gritted his teeth, but his body didn¡¯t agree with it at all.


    Only once Raven stopped cultivating did he sigh a breath of relief.


    Despite cultivating for much longer, Raven, unlike how Zier and ze thought, wasn¡¯t much worse than them.


    She slowly stood up and stretched her body and calmed her breathing.


    ¡®Still not enough,¡¯ she thought feeling the power surge through her body. She also wasn¡¯t able to form her Spiritual Core.


    But, unlike the other two, she was convinced that it wouldn¡¯t be long until she did. She was still perplexed in certain areas because it was her first time cultivating with that technique.


    But Raven didn¡¯t n on forming the Spiritual Core through sheer suffering. After all, they had received such a valuable gift like Spirit Gathering Pills from the olddy Ember.


    She flicked her hand and the bottle containing the pills appeared in her hand. ze and Zier stared at the bottle as if they had just remembered that they had such a thing.


    Raven opened the ss bottle, took out a pill, and gave the bottle to ze.


    ¡°Wait! You are not going to eat it now, are you?¡± Zier looked at her strangely. He knew firsthand just how excruciating it would be to longer one cultivated. She had been on it for several more hours than him. Considering that and the fact that she hadn¡¯t even rested yet, he feared that she might hurt herself.


    Raven¡¯s gaze went to his, perplexed. She was going to eat it right now, of course. Didn¡¯t he notice her taking it from the bottle?


    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel pain all over your body?!¡± Zier made an effort to make her realize that she might be overdoing it.


    ¡°Why does that matter?¡± She questioned back.


    She was hurriedly about to put that pill in her mouth when a voice came from the other corner of the room,


    ¡°He is right. You should stop and rest first.¡± The voice belonged to Ozul who was always in a state in which he was aware of his surroundings even when he was sleeping, somehow.


    His gaze lingered on Raven¡¯s body for a few more seconds before he continued, ¡°You will likely suffer an internal injury at this rate. Rest for a few hours at least. What is the point in cultivating more if you don¡¯t live to see the next day?¡±


    He sounded frustrated because it wasn¡¯t the first time he had to tell either Raven or ze that they shouldn¡¯t kill themselves.


    Raven¡¯s lips quivered hearing his harsh tone. She clenched her fist holding the Spirit Gathering Pill and didn¡¯t say anything. Taking a deep breath again, she sat down and stared at the ground as if doing so had always been her favorite hobby.


    As Zier was about to sit close to her, she suddenly red in his direction as if the scolding from Ozul was all his fault.


    Smiling wryly, Zier stood up and sat in the other corner. If Ozul could read his mind right now, he would see him internally crying andining that he was just trying to help because he was worried.


    . . .


    The day passed with the trio excitedly cultivating to form the Spiritual Core while Ozul spent the night sleeping to his non-existent heart¡¯s content.


    It was in the next morning that there came a knocking on their door.


    Zier opened the room and found the olddy Ember. She came in person just for them.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. There is another task,¡± she spoke to particrly no one, but everyone knew it was for Ozul.


    After all, none of them were strong enough to help unless Ozul specifically needed them to run his errands.


    Stretchingzily, Ozul stood up from his bed, receiving a wry smile from Ember. Unlike the others, it was clear that he had been cking off the entire day.


    Behind Ozul, the trio also followed Ember to their meeting room which was shielded from all noise.


    As they all gathered in the room, Ember briefly examined everyone again and except for Ozul, she saw a lot of unexpected changes.


    First of all, she clearly felt the surges of Spiritual Essence seeping out of Zier and ze¡¯s bodies. It was evident that they had already eaten the Spirit Gathering Pills and ze didn¡¯t seem far from developing his Core.


    Though that wasn¡¯t the surprising part. The main source of her astonishment was the ck-haired girl who initially seemed to be the most ordinary amongst this group.


    The cause of her surprise was the fact that Raven had already reached the Core Formation Realm! She had sessfully developed her Spiritual Core and passed the Formation stage!


    ¡®And here I thought that she would be the weakest among them...¡¯ Ember sighed with emotions. ze was clearly the most talented, yet Raven had developed her Core in just a single day!


    ¡®Sure enough, the Scarlet Eyes of this level can¡¯t see through everything. Just how high would be her resolve to bear through all that pain in a single day...¡¯ She internally regretted not trying to poach Raven instead of ze.


    After all, in her centuries of life, she had never heard of anyone forming their Spiritual Core in just a single day!


    Ozul internally smirked at her reaction. Ember didn¡¯t know, but he could easily read her emotions. The fact that the olddy was so moved after seeing Raven was proof that they were really exceptional here in this Realm.


    ¡°So, what is it this time?¡± He woke Ember up from her inner monologue.


    ¡°... My, I was so easily distracted. Age may have been catching up to me,¡± Ember smiled and averted the embarrassment. She was staring at Raven for solid few minutes without saying anything.


    Zier nodded his head in understanding and voiced out, ¡°Hmm. You do seem old...¡±


    His words trailed off to silence as Ember met his gaze dangerously, daring him to finish that sentence.


    Except for the woman in question, no one could talk about their age, Zier had forgotten.


    The snickering from ze from behind him only added fuel to his misery, but Zier could only shut up andin inside his mind.


    ¡°As I was saying, the task this time will be easy. The Waterfall County¡¯s heir is about to be kidnapped by a locally renowned group of thugs.¡±


    ¡°And?¡± Ozul was forced to ask as Ember waited for him to do so for no reason whatsoever.


    Satisfied, she continued, ¡°You have to help them because otherwise, they would fail miserably.¡±


    ¡°Why are you so certain that they will fail?¡± He didn¡¯t ask how she knew about the future kidnapping when the County Lord himself could be unaware of it.


    ¡°The thugs are bold because they have two Nascent Soul Realm experts in the Soul Nurturing stage. They just don¡¯t know that the father of County Lord, who went into seclusion more than a decade ago, is already at the peak of Soul Liberation stage of Nascent Soul Realm.¡± Ember didn¡¯t exin why or how she knew all of that.


    ¡°The moment they enter the County Lord¡¯s estate, they will be discovered and eliminated without mercy. Your task is to help them.¡±


    Realizing theplications of the task, Ozul didn¡¯t outright reject it and instead asked more questions, ¡°Where is this Waterfall County?¡±


    ¡°On the opposite border of the Blue Lion Kingdom.¡±


    Feeling that they might misunderstand something, Ember exined further, ¡°If you are worried about the distance, don¡¯t be. It won¡¯t take a month just to get there.¡±


    She smirked and stood up to lead the group outside the building.


    Confused at her actions, Ozul began to follow her with rest imitating him.

 Chapter 362

    Chapter 362: Waterfall County.


    Ember brought them towards the gate of the estate.


    Outside, the winds were still cool and the weather was clear, unlike how it should have been in this Howling Province.


    Ozul still hadn¡¯t gotten used to these strange inscriptions or runes.


    ¡°Come out with me,¡± Ember said as she again smirked, anticipating their reactions. She doubted there could be such aplicated mechanism in their Broken World.


    Ozul curiously followed her out and just as he stepped outside the gates, the whole background changed again!


    This time, they weren¡¯t surprised because the scenery had changed, but because they weren¡¯t in the same town anymore!


    Ozul could detect right away that the density of Spiritual Essence in the air, let alone the building structures, waspletely different.


    .....


    Only then did he realize that the dpidated mansion wasn¡¯t really interesting.


    ¡°As you may have guessed already, it is the gate.¡± Ember¡¯s voice sounded out from his side as she gloated at their reaction.


    She didn¡¯t see much expression on Ozul¡¯s face, but she¡¯d be ustomed to it at this point.


    Her ego was satisfied by the reactions of others.


    Among Ozul¡¯s group, other than him, only Raven realized what she meant.


    It wasn¡¯t that the rundown estate was made entirely different from the inside, but the gate which teleported them to another location. Which meant that the actual estate was somece they didn¡¯t even know!


    Bringing them back inside, Ember began to exin,


    ¡°The gate is connected to many estates, some abandoned and some hidden from the public all around this kingdom. Getting from one corner of the kingdom to another isn¡¯t a problem for us. That is a privilege for only those under me.¡±


    Although she had lost her powers long ago, the artifacts, the resources, and the experience would never leave her.


    ¡°As of now, the gate is connected to the Waterfall County.¡±


    Only now did Ozul notice the man sitting beside the gate in a sleeping position. He hadn¡¯t thought much of him before, but now that he paid more attention, that man seemed to be controlling the gate teleportation.


    ¡®It¡¯s concerning that I wasn¡¯t able to notice the teleportation until now...¡¯ he thought in his mind.


    Although he felt something off about the estate, he didn¡¯t feel as if he was actually teleported to another location while walking through that gate.


    ¡®I¡¯m not invincible, I have to be more careful...¡¯ he mentally noted before bringing his focus to the task at hand.


    Bringing them back inside, Ember gave them a map which Ozul studied before giving it to Raven who stored it in her Spatial Ring.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care how you help those kidnappers. All I want is for the Count Lord¡¯s son to go missing after their attempt. Do whatever you have to do, just make sure it can never be traced back to you.¡±


    ¡°What will be thepensation?¡± Ozul asked. Depending on that, he would decide whether to do it or not.


    After all, it would be easier for him to do things if the trio had all formed their Core. By his estimations, it shouldn¡¯t take more than a week for that to happen.


    Ember squinted her eyes. She still didn¡¯t like the fact that all of them refused to officially be a part of their organization and instead opted to act like hired mercenaries. Just how many Beastkin would have dreamed of getting a chance to join them, and here these people didn¡¯t care about it.


    She thought for a moment and then said, ¡°If you can please me, I might think about taking out a high-tier Earth Grade weapon just for you. Though you will each get 8-Star Earth Grade Spiritual Arts regardless of how youplete this task. I will make sure to check that all the Spiritual Arts are suitable for you.¡±


    Ozul began to contemte whether it was worth his efforts or not.


    On one hand, he didn¡¯t know how rare an 8-Star Earth Grade Spiritual Arts would be, but on the other hand, he had seen the effects of a 7-Star Mortal Grade Cultivation Technique. In just one day, Raven had received a huge boost in her strength.


    ¡®Why don¡¯t just grade the Spiritual Arts from Mortal Grade as well instead of Earth Grade? Useless...¡¯


    When Ember saw him weighing his options, she couldn¡¯t help but feel a little indignant.


    ¡°Let me tell you that an Earth Grade Spiritual Arts is rarer than a Cultivation Technique of around the same rank. You might find peak Mortal Grade Cultivation Techniques in the Waterfall County, but you can bet there won¡¯t be a single Earth Grade Spiritual Arts higher than 5-Star here. At least not outside the County Lord¡¯s estate.¡±


    Ozul read her emotions, and she didn¡¯t seem to be lying about it.


    Sighing as he realized the importance of these resources, he suddenly felt tired even though it hadn¡¯t been more than 20 minutes since he woke up.


    ¡°Alright... I will do it... Give me a detailed map of this ce...¡± his voice trailed off into silence as he vacantly looked at the ground. Life would have been so much easier if only he wasn¡¯t restless in his pursuit of answers.


    Ember smiled at his response, but before she tossed him the map, she didn¡¯t forget to tell him, ¡°I¡¯d advise you not to bring any of them with you this time. Waterfall County isn¡¯t like the Howling Province.¡± ¡®...that, and I would very much want some time alone with them...¡¯ she spoke thest sentence in her mind.


    Ozul didn¡¯t say anything and only nodded. He also wouldn¡¯t have made them run small errands if it was that dangerous.


    He grabbed the two scrolls from Ember¡¯s hands. One depicted a detailed map of Waterfall County, while the other had vital information regarding the County Lord¡¯s estate and the thugs plotting to abduct the heir.


    As he went through the second scroll, he was taken aback by the fact that even the specifics of why that group of thugs sought to abduct the heir were noted.


    After all, stealing a merchant would have been a lot easy and risk-free if they only desired money.


    He was about to leave when he paused his step and turned around. He looked dead straight in Ember¡¯s eyes, and threatened, ¡°The gate better be still connected to here after I am done.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t trust her since she was clearly greedy for Raven. She may likely resort to severe measures to gain her desires. This might entail brainwashing or exploiting a bizarre relic topel the three to serve her.


    Nothing was out of possibility.


    As if amused by the cautious nature of Ozul, Ember¡¯s voice thundered throughout the estate,


    ¡°Heh... You are too tense, boy. I, Ember of Destruction, give you my word that no harm will befall your friends in your absence.¡±


    Hearing the words ¡®Ember of Destruction¡¯ caused many of the other Beastkin to flinch before they all resumed their activities as if they were blind and deaf.


    Ozul didn¡¯t miss this and read Ember¡¯s emotions. He nodded in satisfaction after confirming that she meant her every word. Though now he had her title to think about.


    As they nced at her pompous expression, Zier and ze thought to themselves, ¡®Seems like she was really some bigshot in the past.¡¯


    Ignoring their strange looks, Ember smiled at Raven after confirming that Ozul had finally left the estate, ¡°We have a lot to talk about. Come on, follow me.¡±


    . . .


    As Ozul stepped out of the estate, he was again teleported back to Waterfall County.


    It was midday, but there was only asional Starlight reaching the ground through the thick clouds. A gentle breeze softly touched his cheeks as he flew above using the Purity.


    He reread the map after reaching a suitable height from which he could see most of Waterfall County and memorized the important sites.


    A forest ran from north to east, behind whichy the borders of another kingdom. To the west of the county, there were a few minor towns and cities, but they were unremarkable.


    Unsurprisingly, the County Lord¡¯s estate was almost in the middlemost of the Waterfall County.


    After going through the map, he opened the other scroll which had a lot of details jotted down about the County Lord and the group of thugs who were going to kidnap the heir.


    ¡°Tiger Fangs,¡± he muttered their name under his breath.


    After reading the reason why they wanted to kidnap the heir, Ozul thought the matter was moreplicated than he previously assumed.


    They weren¡¯t kidnapping that boy for ransom. It was a grudge instead.


    The son of the County Lord was a lecherous man. After refusing to sleep with him, a woman was once kidnapped and killed by him. That woman was the innocent sister of the leader of Tiger Fangs.


    After he learned what happened to her sister, he was furious and now was nning to torture County Lord¡¯s son in the name of justice.


    ¡®Justice huh?¡¯ Ozul scoffed in his mind before slowly descending to the ground.


    The group of thugs called Tiger Fangs themselves kidnapped and tortured many innocent people for various reasons and only now do they want ¡®justice¡¯.


    Another sigh escaped his lips as he began to n what he wanted to do with his task.


    He looked back at the gate from which he had arrived here, and this time it was just a small house on a dark street with no people whatsoever.


    ¡®There are no inscriptions or runes...¡¯ he noted as he took a closer look at the gate. Shaking his head, he decided to think about itter.


    He had to make sure an abduction went smoothly...

 Chapter 363

    Chapter 363: Cultivation.


    He soared directly to the northeast, in the direction of the forest, after memorizing the location of the gate.


    The Tiger Fangs were residing in that forest, ording to the details Ember had provided him.


    He wanted to know when they were going to start the abduction before deciding what he was going to do about it.


    ¡®I don¡¯t think I can kill the County Lord¡¯s father as of now. I will have to think of something else,¡¯ Ozul was contemting his options.


    ...


    Meanwhile, back in the Beastkin¡¯s estate, Ember was currently chatting with the trio... or at least trying to.


    ¡°So... Is Ozul your boss or something?¡±


    .....


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Uhm... Are you perhaps all family members?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s threatening you guys to do his bidding?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    No matter what she asked regarding Ozul, those three kept their lips tight.


    ¡®My Scarlet Eyes would have detected a ve mark if he had used some envement technique, so it¡¯s not that...¡¯


    If she wanted to bring any of them to her side, she would have to first understand what their rtionship was like. Once she brought them to her side one by one, Ozul would also be forced to officially join her. At least that was what she nned.


    For now, she gave up and decided to change the topic, ¡°I¡¯m free. You can ask me questions regarding your cultivation.¡±


    She hadn¡¯t even finished her sentence before she saw their eyes lit up like firemps. She internally smirked, ¡®Heh... Power-hungry brats. They don¡¯t know how vast the sky is.¡¯


    ¡°The cultivation is always exined rather crudely in the books. You can ask me whatever you want regarding that until I¡¯m here,¡± she repeated before enjoying their reactions. Maybe she could get them to stop following Ozul this way?


    Zier was the first one to raise his hand, and ze couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. They were no kids, so it was ratherical that Zier first raised his hand to ask a question.


    Realizing the reason behind ze¡¯s snickering, Zier awkwardly dropped his hand and directly asked, ¡°Can you exin all the cultivation realms? I don¡¯t even know how many there are?¡±


    Ember took a deep breath and grabbed a chair to take a seat. She knew this was going to be a long session. She, the once feared Ember of Destruction, was reduced to tutoring some greenhorn kids. It was humiliating for her after previously rejecting a slew of geniuses countless times when it came to epting them as her disciples.


    Yet, she didn¡¯t let this humiliation get to her mind.


    ¡°You have all cleared the Foundation Realms, so I will skip those. After the foundation is built for cultivation, there are a total of 6 known cultivation realms.¡±


    ¡°From the lowest, they are Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Origin, Transcendent, Sage, and Empyrean Realm.¡± She paused to let the names sink into their mind before adding on, ¡°Advancing through these cultivation realms not only increases your strength but also expands your lifespan.¡±


    ¡°Some people cultivate to gain authority with power while others simply want to live longer. What is your purpose?¡± She questioned the trio.


    Ember saw their unrelenting gaze. It was evident that each of them had a certain purpose in mind.


    Despite the fact that they didn¡¯t appear to want to tell her, she nodded in appreciation since a cultivator needed to have such firm beliefs, no matter what they were.


    ¡°Since I have limited time, I shall only tell you in detail about the Core Formation Realm,¡± she spoke in a stricter tone remembering that she had so many other things to do.


    ¡°The Core Formation Realm is divided into three smaller stages. Once you have formed the Core, you have achieved the Formation stage which is followed by the Nourishing stage and Expansion Stage.¡±


    She looked specifically at Raven and continued,


    ¡°Since you have finished the Formation stage, what you will now be focusing on will be Nourishing your Core with Spiritual Essence. Gather as much as you can and solidify it from all sides equally. There will naturallye a time when you will feel all your efforts in improving the quality of your Core going to waste. At that time you could officially set yourself in the Core Expansion stage.¡±


    Seeing ze in a downcast mood, she understood that he was depressed for not being the first one to step into the Core Formation Realm.


    ¡°Cultivation is notpletely about talent,¡± she spoke, ¡°Maybe half of it is, but a solid half is certain to be persistence and an unyielding will.¡±


    Just as she said so, Ember realized the meaning of her words. ¡®Unyielding will huh... It seems like that kid will never follow anyone...¡¯


    She sighed thinking that Ozul would never submit to her. From the start, he was firm and unyielding. He knew what he wanted and wasn¡¯t willing topromise whatsoever.


    ¡°Anyway, the Expansion stage is the most difficult and painful part of the Core Formation Realm. You have to expand the core to the extreme parts of the body, slowly enveloping all the internal organs inside of it.¡± Ember exined thoroughly, ¡°The process ahead of it is after you fuse together with that expanded core and make your whole body a container for the Spiritual Essence. For now, only focus on developing your core.¡±


    ¡°What about the ranks of cultivation techniques and spiritual arts?¡± Raven asked.


    They were given a 7-star cultivation technique, but she still had no idea how those ranks worked.


    What did Earth Grade signify and were 7-star better or 8-star?


    She had a lot of questions and asked them in an orderly manner.


    Ember also didn¡¯t mind her questions since a genius was always pleasing to her eyes.


    ¡°Spiritual Arts are techniques that make use of Spiritual Essence inside a cultivator¡¯s body and perform actions that seem impossible otherwise.¡±


    Having said that, Ember¡¯s eyes again glowed in a red hue, mesmerizing Zier who felt enchanted by those eyes.


    ¡°These are known as Scarlet Eyes, they are a very high ranked Spiritual Arts to probe the strength of others. Though I can barely use a fraction of its power now that I¡¯m reduced to a pseudo-Origin Realm expert.¡±


    Again to demonstrate the power of Spiritual Arts, she held her palm to face the wall and slowly poured a fraction of her Spiritual Essence into her hand.


    Raven was astonished when she noticed a wave of Spiritual Essence leaving through her palm in its shape and shooting towards the wall.


    In the blink of an eye, the wall had a hole through it in the shape of a hand!


    Raven noted that it was very different from the Spells that they would use in their world. She just couldn¡¯t exin it in words.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised about this. It¡¯s merely a 5-star Earth Grade Spiritual Arts. That is the extent of what it can do. Spiritual Arts are ranked ording to their power and strength. From 1-star as the weakest and 9-star as the strongest in Earth Grade.¡±


    ¡°There are other grades, yes?¡± ze interrupted.


    ¡°Indeed. After 9-star Earth Grade, therees the Spiritual Grade. Those, however, require you to have reached thest stage in the Nascent Soul Realm. Unless you are at that stage, Spiritual Grade ones are useless for you.¡±


    ¡°If Ozulpletes the task, you will give us 8-star Earth Grade Spiritual Arts. How powerful are they?¡± Raven asked, she was only interested in getting stronger right now.


    Ember made a thoughtful face and just briefed them on a few of them, ¡°A 1-star is only slightly better than normal martial arts. While a 5-star can obliterate normal rocks without using physical strength. A 9-star attack-based Spiritual Arts could even leave small craters on the ground.¡±


    Ember then began to describe that not all Spiritual Arts were attack based. Some were used for support like her Scarlet Eyes.


    She also showed them a small de which was a peak Earth Grade Weapon. Unlike Spiritual Arts, the weapons were divided into low tier, medium tier, high tier, and peak tier.


    Atst, she came to tell them about the Cultivation Techniques.


    ¡°Having a cultivation technique is the most important in your journey. As your cultivation realm increases, your cultivation speed won¡¯t be able to keep up with your realm. Suppose an Origin Realm expert whose life span is at most only 3000 years, he or she won¡¯t make progress with a Mortal Grade cultivation technique even in ten thousand years.¡±


    The trio made a thoughtful face at that remark. They currently had a 7-star Mortal Grade technique each. For higher realms, they obviously needed better cultivation techniques.


    ¡®That is now the priority now though...¡¯ is what Raven thought before noting this down in the back of her mind.


    Suddenly as if realizing something, Zier jumped excitedly, ¡°So you can only live for at most 3000 years?¡±


    After all, she had admittedly told them that she was just a pseudo Origin Realm expert right now.


    Ember scoffed hearing that question and replied, ¡°I can still outlive your ten generations. Don¡¯t worry, I have my means.¡±


    Again, a snickering came from Zier¡¯s side. It was ze.


    Raven also smiled seeing ze enjoy himself. She hadn¡¯t seen him have so much fun anywhere else.


    Seeing that the atmosphere had warmed up quite a lot, Ember decided that it was the right opportunity to bring this up, so she went,


    ¡°Since we are on this topic...¡±


    It caught the trio¡¯s attention. She continued,


    ¡°I¡¯m personally willing to provide you all the resources you will ever need until the Transcendent Realm. A Transcendent Realm expert¡¯s actions are never neglected no matter where you go in the Realm of Abezan. I¡¯m willing to give you all of that if only you agree toe under my wings.¡±


    Seeing ze about to speak up, Ember quickly intercepted, ¡°Don¡¯t rush it. Think it through. You can give me your answer anytime you want. I won¡¯t mistreat you once you are my disciples.¡±


    She stood up from her chair and warned them once again, ¡°Cultivation in Higher Realms isn¡¯t so flexible like that in the Broken Worlds.¡±


    Raven¡¯s ears perked up as a distant memory resonated in her mind whenever Higher Realms such as this one and her previous Broken World were discussed.


    ¡°Admittingly, you Dragon Hatchlings have always proven to be geniuses. But make no mistake, countless geniuses have appeared in the Realm of Abezan and perished without making a ripple in its history.¡±


    ¡°Your destiny is not in your hands. For as you stand right now, I can kill you in a matter of seconds and none of you will be able to resist. Getting stronger is the only way to have a say in your own life and I can give you that.¡±


    Ember walked out of the room before ze could say anything again.


    Otherwise, she would have heard a t ¡®No!¡¯ from him again.


    Only Raven and Zier heard herst words, and even between them, only Zier bothered to think about them...

 Chapter 364

    Chapter 364: n.


    Zier was the only one contemting his options.


    The recent choices he had made were all done so without giving it another thought.


    He chose to follow that man whom he came to admire at first sight on that night simply because of a gut feeling.


    Even now, when logic ushered him to ept Ember¡¯s offer, a part of him was certain that remaining loyal to Ozul would be far a far better choice.


    He shook his head and smiled. He wanted to one day be a free man. A free man like ¡®him¡¯.


    ¡®He¡¯ didn¡¯t ask him to be his subordinate and Zier was certain that even if he were to leave so suddenly, he wouldn¡¯t be stopped.


    On the other hand, bing Ember¡¯s disciple and joining her secret organization meant he would be bound.


    .....


    He unconsciously clenched his fist.


    ¡®I don¡¯t have any power. I don¡¯t deserve to be a free man... But I¡¯m certain... I¡¯m certain that he can give me wings...¡¯


    Even Zier didn¡¯t realize that his thought process was a little strange. He had no reason to put so much faith in Ozul, yet he thought following that man blindly was his only choice.


    . . .


    While Ember was trying to entice the trio into joining her, Ozul had already reached the forest.


    Even if the forest stretched for miles in that direction, he had no trouble finding the Tiger Fangs. He only needed to look for a dense source of Spiritual Essence near the outskirts to find them.


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of them,¡± he muttered while counting their numbers.


    Right as he got there, his focus was caught by the two people right in the middle of the group of thugs.


    ¡®Those two are of Nascent Soul Realm in the first stage Soul Nurturing that the olddy talked about...¡¯


    He was only confident in killing them by surprise. Fighting them head-on would be difficult unless they were both overconfident.


    There were also five people who were at the peak of the Core Formation Realm, only a step below from Nascent Soul Realm. Other than them, there were tens of other people at the first stage of Core Formation as well.


    ¡®That isn¡¯t important.¡¯ Ozul reminded himself that he wasn¡¯t here to kill them.


    It didn¡¯t matter if he had to ability to take out all of them at once. His task was to make sure that the County Lord¡¯s heir was abducted.


    On his way here, he had already checked the County Lord¡¯s estate and roughly estimated their strength.


    If he excluded the County Lord¡¯s father who was at the peak of the Liberation Stage of Nascent Soul Realm, then with the Tiger Fangs¡¯ numbers, they definitely had a chance of winning.


    It was just that abducting the heir amidst that chaos wasn¡¯t feasible even then.


    ¡®Are they just stupid or do they have a n?¡¯ he wondered in his mind before carefullynding near them.


    At the same time, a in ck mask appeared on his face in case he won¡¯t be recognized even if someone saw him. Using the Purity for the mask was pretty convenient since it didn¡¯t seem to hinder his vision as he could shift the mask with mere alone.


    He hid behind trees and used the Purity under his feet to make sure that he didn¡¯t make any noise.


    As he closed in on the group, he saw them either eating, drinking, or sleeping in the tents.


    They didn¡¯t have anything to do at the moment.


    He wanted to go closer, but that wasn¡¯t possible without alerting them.


    The only thing he could make out from their faint voices behind the trees was that even the rest of the members didn¡¯t know when they were nning to kidnap the heir.


    With nothing else to do, many of them were drinking and discussing and insulting the County Lord.


    ¡®It seems I will have to stay with them until I know exactly when they will attack the estate.¡¯


    Ozul sighed before finding a suitable ce to hide and maybe doze off for some time. If they made any significant movement, he would immediately know.


    He didn¡¯t have anything better to do anyway because there was no solid n for the time being.


    He was debating whether to sneak into the estate when the County Lord¡¯s father confronted the Tiger Fangs¡¯ leader and assassinate him while the Tiger Fangs¡¯ leader¡¯s attention was diverted, or to somehow let the Tiger Fangs¡¯ leader know about County Lord¡¯s father.


    None of the options seemed feasible as he saw it. The first option would raise suspicions even if he killed the old County Lord without leaving any evidence, whereas the second option might cause the Tiger Fangs¡¯ leader to abandon the abduction entirely.


    Just like that, another tired sigh was carried by the winds and heard by them alone.


    . . .


    ¡°No drinks from now on! Stay sober for these two days ya drunkards!¡±


    ¡°Sharpen your weapons and prepare yourself. We are taking that bastard out in two days!¡±


    The man with red hair and sharp white teeth shouted as he held a long red sword resting on his shoulder.


    Another man with blonde hair and a scar from through his closed left eye stood behind him in an imposing manner.


    That man with red hair was the leader, and the blonde hair one was supposed to be his right-hand man who would have married the leader¡¯s sister who was killed by the County Lord¡¯s son.


    Ozul hid between the trees and noted their appearance. Both of them were in the first stage of Nascent Soul Realm, but the red-haired man seemed a lot stronger if he were topare their Spiritual Essence.


    ¡®In two days, huh... Most likely in the dark of the night,¡¯ he spected before disappearing from his ce.


    The Tinger Fangs were going to move in two days. There must be something happening in two days for them to wait that long. If they were going to madly charge in there and try to kidnap the heir, they wouldn¡¯t have waited any second.


    As far as Ozul had seen, the Tiger Fangs didn¡¯t seem to prepare for anything either.


    Hence, Ozul came to the conclusion that something must be happening in the County Lord¡¯s estate in two days.


    He could only find out if he went there in person, so he sped back to the County and headed directly towards the County Lord¡¯s estate.


    Sometimeter, he arrived near the estate.


    It spanned over a few acres, and while there were guards roaming about, it was a lot easier sneaking inside.


    He kept his ck mask on since it was convenient.


    As it was night, there weren¡¯t many outsiders on the estate; yet one would find it difficult to count the number of people going in and out of the buildings.


    He was practically a shadow as he moved about the estate without making any noise.


    Soon he reached the roof of the main quarters from where he could frequently hear the conversations inside. Ignoring the useless chatter of the night guards or the maids, he focused on the voices from the biggest room in that quarter. Such rooms usually belonged to the Lord of the estate.


    It was difficult to understand the conversation from the roof, so he released the Purity and turned it into a ck mist that surrounded him while moving near the window of that room.


    From afar, one would only see pitch ck as if their eyes were ying tricks on them in the veil of the night. If he were to run away like this, unless someone used some kind of artifact, they would find it almost impossible to keep track of him.


    It was all because he could blend in the dark of the night.


    With such a trick in his hands, Ozul confidently hid beside the window.


    ¡°... discussed before.¡±


    ¡°But father!¡±


    ¡°I SAID THE MATTER HAS ALREADY BEEN DECIDED!¡±


    The thundering voice of the man from inside the room not only rmed Ozul but even the guards stationed around. They quickly scattered about in fear.


    The man who shouted was the County Lord and the other person involved was his son. The boy he had to make sure was abducted by the Tiger Fangs.


    ¡°It was a decree from His Majesty himself. What is more important? Your fun with some women or a king¡¯s decree?¡±


    Ozul noticed the County Lord¡¯s voice suddenly getting softer after he lost control just a moment ago.


    ¡®That kid is spoiled,¡¯ Ozul noted as he read the County Lord¡¯s emotions. ¡®And he is the reason that his son turned out to be like this.¡¯


    Shaking his head, he continued to eavesdrop.


    ¡°All those towns and viges are under my jurisdiction. If I don¡¯t go there to appease the people after their crops were burned, then His Majesty might just give my position to someone else.¡± the County Lord shook his head as he exined to his only son who had only ever disappointed him in his life.


    ¡°Alright! At least give me some guards then. I can go and get that woman myself if you won¡¯t help!¡± The teenager shouted back in anger.


    ¡°It¡¯s our vassal¡¯s daughter, not just some random woman that you can forcefully take. You want all our vassals to revolt against me?¡±


    Ozul¡¯s eyebrows raised in understanding as he listened to their conversation.


    After a few minutes, he left the estate as quietly as he had entered after confirming the intentions of both parties.


    The County Lord was going out of the estate for a few days, only leaving his loyal guard who the Royal Family sent as with the Howling Province¡¯s Lord. That guard was also at the first stage of Nascent Soul Realm.


    Once the County Lord wasn¡¯t here, that left only a single Nascent Soul Realm expert guarding their estate. Hence, the Tiger Fangs believed they could easilye and go from there since they had two Nascent Soul Realm cultivators.


    Only they didn¡¯t know about the County Lord¡¯s father who mostly remained in seclusion, cultivating and enjoying his peaceful days.


    Lying on the roof of one of the tallest hotels in the County, Ozul wondered what he would do.


    ¡®Hmm... that might work...or not...¡¯


    .....

 Chapter 365

    Chapter 365: A Bloody Man.


    A man in the middle of the forest, half-soaked in a dark red liquid, slowly carried himself forward.


    The dark red liquid dripped on the dead leaves from time to time before being swayed aside by the man. At a nce, it was clear that it was blood. But it wasn¡¯t his because he showed no signs of injury.


    A ck cloth-like mask was glued to the man¡¯s face from his nose to his neck. Behind his unkempt hair, his eyes were barely visible.


    It was the middle of the day, so when the man reached a particr group of rough-looking men, they quickly surrounded him for interrogation.


    Just before they could say or do anything, a tall red-haired man shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t stop him ya shits!¡±


    ¡°He has blood on him Boss!¡± one of the men surrounding him shouted back.


    ¡°I said let him in, ya wanna die?!¡±


    .....


    Begrudgingly, the men stepped aside and the blood-covered man came face to face with the leader of the Tiger Fangs.


    ¡°Ya reek of shit, ya know that? What are ya, a butcher?¡± The leader of Tiger Fangs curiously examined the strange man in front of him.


    The reason he asked others to step aside was that he had been on full alert since the moment they had camped here in this forest. He and the vice leader both asionally took turns to keep watch as well.


    Yet, this manpletely missed his senses and managed to reach their camp without anyone noticing!


    The Tiger Fangs¡¯ leader realized he wasn¡¯t an ordinary man when he saw the ck mask covering his face and the bored eyes visible behind some rough strands of hair, as well as the fact that he couldn¡¯t seem to read how strong he was.


    ¡®With me and the vice leader, we can probably take him out together... but,¡¯


    The leader maintained a straight confident face, but he was a little nervous. He had fought and killed countless people and there were also some who used Spiritual Artifacts to hide their strength.


    He was reluctant now because if this blood-covered man turned out to be as strong as him, if not slightly stronger, they would almost totally sustain some injuries, which would be bothersome because they had a whole County Lord¡¯s estate to fight tomorrow night.


    Just then, he caught the sight of the vice leader and was internally reassured.


    As of now, he was only jumping to conclusions and the blood-soaked man might not even be as strong as he assumed. It was this cautious nature of his that the Tiger Fangs had almost never suffered all these years under his leadership.


    ¡°Give me some wine, and I will mind my own business.¡±


    The blood-soaked man spoke with a harsh butzy voice. It felt more like he was ordering the leader of Tiger Fangs than asking him.


    The leader¡¯s blood boiled at the tant disrespect, but he controlled himself and took a few steps back upon noticing the gestures of his right-hand man, the vice leader.


    ¡°Give the man his wine!¡±


    He yelled before turning around and walking back into the tent.


    If he stayed any longer, he would find it hard controlling himself from beating the shit out of this man. The only thing stopping him was that he didn¡¯t like to gamble.


    That man could have been very weak or could have been very strong. None of that mattered. He would just give him some wine and that would be the end of it.


    Although surprised, his subordinates did notin when they noticed that even the vice leader remained silent.


    They were surprised because they were the ones openly going around and piging everything they needed, but now there was this thin, frail-looking man who appeared out of nowhere to get free wine from them!


    ¡°Is Boss gonna let this go?!¡±


    ¡°Can ya stahp it? If not, then shut up!¡±


    One of the men who the leader had instructed took out a gourd and threw it towards the blood-soaked man.


    He caught it in the air and took a seat beside other goons. They kept their distance from him, but he didn¡¯t seem to mind any of their reactions.


    The vice leader kept an eye on him from afar. The blood-soaked man seemed to have been craving for a ss of wine for ages as he opened the gourd and put it up to his mouth.


    Strangely, the ck mask stuck to his face moved in an absurd manner and created an opening just enough for him to be able to drink from the gourd.


    ¡°What was that!?¡±


    One of the goons shouted as he stood up and backed away.


    Others also started whispering and the vice leader rushed inside the tent in a hurry. Most likely to tell the leader that this man was indeed not ordinary.


    As the man emptied out the wine gourd, he threw it on the ground and stared dead into the eyes of the man who had given him the gourd.


    In response, the man felt goosebumps on his hands as he hurriedly took out another gourd and threw it toward him. It was obvious from the behavior of their leader and the vice leader that this man was probably not to be messed with.


    Fortunately for him, the man didn¡¯t continue drinking and simply tied up the gourd to his waist before resting his back on the tree and closing his eyes.


    A few minutes passed just like that and no one made any noise. They all whispered in each other¡¯s ears like scared fawns around a panther.


    The men stood there watching him sleep in front of them before one of them mustered the courage to approach him and confirm that he was indeed sleeping. He didn¡¯t even dare to touch him. He only came to see if his eyes were really closed and if his breathing was steady.


    Then he vigorously nodded his head towards others who tiptoed their way towards thergest tent in the middle where both the leader and the vice leader were resting.


    ¡°Chh! Chhe!¡±


    One of the men made some weird noise to call them outside since they were not allowed to enter without permission. They didn¡¯t ask for permission loudly since it would wake


    A few secondster, the vice leader and the leader came out with a frown on their faces. They were already irritated by this ¡®wild card¡¯ in the middle of the forest.


    They had no choice but to let that strange man do what he wanted or else it would stur amotion and all their ns would go to ruin.


    Before the leader could shout to the top of his lungs, all the men immediately motioned their fingers to their lips, gesturing for him to quiet down.


    This gesture of their only further fueled his rage as no one seemed to be taking him seriously anymore, ¡°Fucki-¡±


    Just then he noticed the silhouette of the blood-soaked man sleeping under the tree¡¯s shades.


    ¡°Is it about that damn shit?!¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah...?¡±


    ¡°Did I ask ya little rats to tell me every single thing about that goddamn son ova-¡±


    The leader couldn¡¯t finish his words because he was ovee with blood lust. As if a person is drowning and, no matter how hard they try, only water fills their lungs, further immersing them in the slow torture of impending death.


    Everyone looked at him strangely as he suddenly had a look of fear towards the man when just a moment ago he was cursing him to death.


    Others didn¡¯t notice it, only the leader himself understood one thing; if he were to finish his words, those would surely be hisst on thend of the living.


    He gulped in fear and dropped his head in frustration. The cold feeling to the back of his neck was physical proof that it wasn¡¯t an illusion. Right now, he was at the mercy of that frail-looking man who was sleeping under the tree!


    Before the vice leader could question what suddenly happened for him to start acting this way, the leader turned around and walked back into the tent.


    ¡°Leave him alone.¡±


    A whisper was heard from inside the tent, shocking not only the goons but also the vice leader, who had no idea what had just happened.


    He quickly ran after the leader while the rest of the goons were left wondering what they should do now.


    Unsurprisingly, everyone tacitly decided to ignore the man¡¯s existence. He hadn¡¯t harmed anyone unreasonably up to this point, so they decided to let him be.


    And just like that, there was a new uninvited and unwanted guest in the camp of the Tiger Fangs.


    As everyone got busy, the vice leader came out of the tent and took a seat facing the man sleeping under the tree. His serious expressions told everyone that he would stay like that for as long as it was needed.


    . . .


    The day passed quickly and the night came. It was at this point that the leader started getting anxious.


    He would usually have to beat the shit out of his subordinates on little mistakes to keep them all in line but now with the presence of a stranger, he couldn¡¯t constantly drill it into their mind that they had to prepare for tomorrow night.


    ¡°Will he leave before ¡®that¡¯?¡± the vice leader muttered under his breath.


    The leader carefully held the long red sword in front of him and sighed for the umpteenth time,


    ¡°I don¡¯t know...¡±


    The vice leader was well aware of how much this man, who was not only his superior in this group but also a decade-oldrade, was restraining himself from going all out on the man who had so tantly disrespected him.


    Only his rage for vengeance for his sister outweighed his personal feelings. As a result, he didn¡¯t do anything stupid.

 Chapter 366

    Chapter 366: Preparation.


    Before the starlight could shine its rays to lighten the dark forest, the blood-soaked man had already disappeared.


    Only a few people saw him standing up and quietly leaving their camp.


    Those few individuals hurried to the leader¡¯s tent to notify him, but they didn¡¯t need to because both the leader and the vice leader had been keeping an eye on him since the beginning.


    They sighed with relief since they had nned to attack the County Lord¡¯s estate tonight.


    With his leave, the leader quickly started shouting out orders and everyone suddenly got busier.


    . . .


    ¡®I hope it works,¡¯ Ozul thought as he sped back towards the teleportation gate he remembered was in an alleyway.


    .....


    ¡®It¡¯s done whether it works or not now.¡¯


    He shook his head internally. This wasn¡¯t one of his best ns, but that was all he could think of at the moment.


    For the kidnapping to be sessful, the survival of Tiger Fangs was a must, and unless he himself dyed the County Lord¡¯s father, the leader and the vice leader of Tiger Fangs were sure to lose their lives tonight.


    He could only stop the Tiger Fangs from ever confronting the County Lord¡¯s father. However, no one in their right mind would ever let aplete stranger tell them what to do. Hence, he had to pull this stunt for them to get familiar with him. If he were to now tell them anything, at least his words would be more believable.


    ¡®Even if they don¡¯t listen, the kidnapping will still happen.¡¯


    Ozul sighed thinking of all the things he would have to do tonight.


    First and foremost, he needed to change his clothes, which were stained with the blood of a random animal he had killed in the wilderness.


    He needed to give the appearance of an entric man in order to assert that he wasn¡¯t there for some ulterior motive. As a result, he did the first thing that sprang to mind: blood and wine.


    The wine tasted better than the beer he had sipped before, but it was still not enough for him to crave it.


    The desire of humans to keep chugging down alcohol still perplexed him. Maybe he hadn¡¯t found something to his taste yet, or maybe he was just built differently from humans.


    ¡®Is it because of the intoxication? Since my body automatically removes anything harmful inside my body, maybe it doesn¡¯t affect me,¡¯ Ozul thought absentmindedly.


    Before long, he reached the ce and teleported back to the base before removing the mask on his face.


    The scenery instantly changed and the lush garden filled with busy Beastkin filled his sight.


    The man beside the gate stared at him silently. Ozul felt his emotions and they were mostly made up of curiosity at that moment.


    He ignored him and walked away.


    Before he could locate his room, the olddy, Ember arrived before him. With a small smile on her face, she asked, ¡°I thought I would only see you after the task was done.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± replied Ozul before he walked past her and entered the room.


    Ember was left there standing with a crack in her smile. She thought she had finally started grasping their personalities, but it seemed that she had yet to learn more.


    Hiding her embarrassment, she turned around and also walked inside the room. She didn¡¯t knock, but since it was her base, she could do anything she wanted.


    Quietly standing behind Ozul, she noticed he reached down to touch Raven¡¯s head.


    The trio were all cultivating in a lotus position and didn¡¯t open their eyes even when they heard the door open.


    Raven stopped cultivating when she felt a familiar touch on her head, and the first thing she saw was a blood-smeared shirt that she knew was meant to be perfectly white.


    She wasn¡¯t concerned that he was hurt because he didn¡¯t seem to have any blood.


    Sighing in concern over what he had been doing for the past two days, she flicked her wrist and a pair of ck pants and a white shirt materialized in front of her. Ozul grabbed them and turned to go.


    They hardly made eye contact throughout this interaction, as if Raven was used to it.


    She saw him walking out of the door and Ember following behind him with a confused face before she closed her eyes again and went back to cultivating.


    As the door closed behind them, Ember woke up from her confusion and asked, ¡°You came back just to change clothes?¡±


    ¡°Wait, you don¡¯t even carry a Spatial Ring with you?¡±


    Ozul turned around and gave her a stern look. He questioned, ¡°Is there a problem with that?¡±


    ¡°No...¡±


    For a moment Ember didn¡¯t know what to say.


    ¡°I just meant it would be easier if you had the Spatial Ring instead of her?¡± This genuinely confused Ember as she spoke her mind to him.


    In her line of work, clothes getting torn apart wasmon and so carrying a Spatial Ring with multiple sets of clothes had also be the norm. If they couldn¡¯t afford it, she would have understood, but Raven clearly had a Spatial Ring before and he still gave the next one to her?


    Ozul shrugged his shoulders feigning indifference, ¡°That is how it always has been. She carries my clothes.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t tell her the actual reason since it might make her suspicious of him.


    ¡®That reminds me... This is a whole separate Realm.¡¯ ¡®It should be easy to locate someone who can construct a Spatial Ring that can be used without the Spiritual Essence,¡¯ he thought, making a mental note to check with cksmiths or whoever produced Spatial Rings.


    Ember was buried in her thoughts as he went away.


    She already thought Ozul didn¡¯t utilize Spiritual Essence, so she didn¡¯t probe any further.


    Unbeknownst to Ozul, Ember was a seasoned veteran who knew more than the average cultivator.


    Her intuition had already brought her closer to the truth than he had imagined.


    He walked out the gate under the curious eyes of the gatekeeper and arrived back in Waterfall County.


    He quickly switched his clothes and donned the mask made up of the Purity again.


    The Purity under his feet felt like an extension of his body as he floated and sped towards the County Lord¡¯s estate. It wasn¡¯t night yet, so he thought it might be better to confirm the location of the heir.


    Minutester he was floating above the estate and confirmed that the County Lord had already left.


    ¡®His father came out of seclusion...¡¯ He guessed as he noticed an even more powerful auraing from a certain room in the middle of the building.


    ¡®This person can singlehandedly defeat ten of Tiger Fangs.¡¯


    Ozul gauged his opponent¡¯s strength and knew that in terms of raw power, he wasn¡¯t the old man¡¯s match.


    ¡®So it appears that my strength would be around the Soul Liberation stage of the Nascent Soul Realm...¡¯ He was also instructed about the cultivation realms. Given that the County Lord¡¯s father was at the peak of Soul Liberation, he deduced his own power level.


    ¡®However, that is only whenparing the raw power...¡¯ He shrugged. He wasn¡¯t afraid of that old man.


    After all, he didn¡¯t think anyone could manage a hair-thin needle flying at them at breakneck speed. Given that most cultivators rely on sensing the Spiritual Essence to avoid threats, it would be nearly impossible for them to sense his attacks since his needles carry no such energy.


    Knowing that still didn¡¯t bring him any satisfaction because it had been a long while since he could improve his strength.


    After gaining all his body parts back, his strength had stagnated and he hadn¡¯t been able to find any method to improve as of yet.


    ¡®Since absorbing the Spiritual Essence is like eating Mana Cores of high-ranked Beasts in the old Realm, could eating Spiritual Cores of humans or Beasts in this Realm do something?¡¯


    Staring at the spot where he felt the aura of the County Lord¡¯s father, Ozul suddenly had the urge to experiment, ¡®Should I try eating one...¡¯


    ¡®Not now...¡¯ he shook his head.


    If he were to kill the old man, there would be suspicion that someone other than the Tiger Fangs was involved.


    Though given his present approach, some people may still be suspicious, he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. The circumstances were tricky, and he just had a few days toplete the task.


    His current approach was all he could think of at the time.


    Ozul continued to entertain all kinds of thoughts after finding the heir of the County Lord.


    He was currently in a room drunk and surrounded by naked women.


    The Star had already set, it had gottenpletely dark, but he had yet to find any traces of the Tiger Fangs.


    ¡®There is no point in taking out the heir right now. They need to cause amotion first...¡¯


    He was waiting for the chaos to surround the entire estate before he made his move.


    Time was of the essence now as he not only had to kidnap the heir but also warn the leader about the father of the County Lord.


    *Boom!*


    In the opposite corner of the County, a huge explosion urred, engulfing arge area under its fire.


    *Boom!*


    Following the previous one, another explosion went down in the same area.


    *Boom!*


    A few more explosions urred in a series, following which, small groups of County guards immediately rushed to the site.


    Sighing tiredly, Ozul muttered, ¡°Finally...¡±


    .....

 Chapter 367

    Chapter 367: Agitated Tiger Fangs.


    Ozul waited until he felt the auras of the Tiger Fangs¡¯ leader and vice leader.


    They both dashed towards the estate from the side opposite the explosions.


    Their n was really simple; they wanted to divide the guards stationed inside the estate to minimize their loss. Together they would quickly deal with the royal guard who was also at the Soul Nurturing stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.


    Confirming that his mask properly covered his face, Ozul flew in their direction. The two moons1 in the sky illuminated his figure gliding through the air, but no one in their right mind had the luxury to take a look in the sky.


    . . .


    The red-haired man sped forward followed by the blond-haired man to his right. Both carried their Spiritual Weapons which had made their strength so explosive.


    These Spiritual Weapons were responsible for the deaths of numerous Nascent Souls. And they intended to add one more today.


    .....


    The leader had his shoulder-length red hair tied behind his back. His eyes reflected not the walls of the County Lord¡¯s estate, but the near future in which he would torture that bastard to death.


    Chaos ensued all around him as people scurried about.


    Before he could reach the wall, however, the vice leader caught up to him and told him something that made him slow down.


    Something unexpected had happened.


    He had just gotten word from his men that the royal house¡¯s guard, supposedly the estate¡¯s lone Nascent Soul Realm expert, had marched towards the explosions!


    This scenario rmed him since, in the absence of the County Lord, the guard¡¯s first responsibility should have been to defend the estate.


    ¡°Since when did the County Lord have a change of heart?¡± The Tiger Fangs¡¯ leader mused aloud.


    He could only specte that the County Lord had instructed his guard to protect the County rather than the estate. But that would imply that the County Lord had turned over a new leaf, which was impossible because his son had not ceased kidnapping and killing women who opposed him. And he¡¯d done nothing to put a stop to it.


    ¡°Should we stop?¡± The vice leader asked from the side. Even he felt something was off. Even he wanted revenge since he was arranged to marry the leader¡¯s sister, but the situation had somehow gone off the rails.


    The leader shook his head.


    ¡°We havee too far to stop now.¡±


    After pulling this stunt, it would be even harder to kidnap the heir of the County Lord the next time. He didn¡¯t want to abandon this opportunity just because ¡®it didn¡¯t feel right¡¯.


    The vice leader nodded and looked around at the soldiers stationed outside the gate.


    He swung his de and cut at the four of them, severing their heads in a single blow.


    Next was the leader¡¯s turn as he readied himself to bring down his giant red sword to destroy the gate. He twisted his wrists and suddenly the sharpened edges of the sword started burning!


    ¡°Haa!¡±


    Just as he brought down the sword on the gate, something unexpected happened again.


    The fire around his sword¡¯s edges was extinguished and the entire force he had put behind the strike was nullified in an instant!


    Blocking his path was nonother than the man who had appeared in their camp to ask for wine!


    Anger bubbled inside him as he prepared to pull his sword for another strike, this time at the masked bastard who didn¡¯t seem to know his ce.


    However, no matter how hard he tried, the giant sword refused to budge under the grasp of that strange ck thing that the masked man was controlling.


    The leader felt hopeless when he remembered how the masked man didn¡¯t even flinch while nullifying his attack.


    ¡®He¡¯s stronger than I imagined!¡¯ In frustration, the leader ground his teeth.


    Unknown to him, Ozul was having a hard time dealing with that physical force. It took all his mental capacity to hold the Purity in its ce without a single budge.


    To create an illusion of power, he had to be wless. Only then would his opponent hear what he had to say.


    ¡°I am not here to fight.¡±


    The leader scoffed at his words as if he had heard a joke. If what he had done until now wasn¡¯t meant to pick a fight, then what was it all for?


    ¡°I had business here, but since you gave me free wine, I have decided to pay my debt.¡±


    ¡°And how do you intend to do that?¡± The vice leader growled. Even he was shocked that the leader couldn¡¯t get his sword back from the masked man¡¯s grasp.


    ¡°By saving your lives.¡±


    Their faces further scrunched up.


    ¡°Both of you are in the Soul Nurturing Stage. Even with these Spiritual Weapons, do you think both of you can take on a man in the Soul Liberation Stage?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? There is no one like that in the estate!¡± The leader¡¯s face darkened as he shouted back.


    ¡°Did you know that the County Lord¡¯s father went into seclusion?¡±


    ¡°Yes? So what?¡±


    ¡°Well, he is back now.¡±


    Their eyes immediately widened as they connected the dots. The County Lord¡¯s father had long cut his connection to society. They never thought that he would achieve a breakthrough!


    Still, he wasn¡¯t ready to give up. He questioned, ¡°...Why should we believe you?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you believe me or not. I have paid my debt by warning you.¡± Ozul answered in a cold voice.


    Just before leaving, he spoke once again, ¡°Why would the royal guard leave the estate without any hesitation?¡±


    He flew away in the middle of the night and before long, he was indistinguishable from the darkness.


    The leader retracted his giant sword and both of them fell into contemtion.


    They gripped the hilt of their swords so tightly that it hurt their own hands.


    Yet, the reality could not be denied.


    All of what the masked man said had made sense.


    ¡°Aah!!¡±


    The leader roared before resigning to his fate. He had never felt so powerless ever before. This was his anger at the heavens for his luck. He felt like a cornered beast, unable to do anything!


    He started shouting, ¡°Order everyone to retreat!¡±


    The fire burned inside his eyes as he vowed to take his revenge one day.


    If they had a man in the Soul Liberation Stage, then all he had to do was to achieve a breakthrough as well!


    ¡°Retreat back to the camp!!¡±


    The vice leader also started shouting orders to their men.


    After attacking the County Lord¡¯s estate, even if they hadn¡¯t been able to step one foot inside, they had killed many capable soldiers. Once the County Lord returned, he would go to all lengths to search for them.


    They had to retreat and make preparations now.


    Although confused, the members of Tiger Fangs started running back. Some of them even dared to attack unsuspecting soldiers just to cause some damage while retreating.


    . . .


    As the Tiger Fangs retreated, Ozul didn¡¯t wait for them. He had already rushed towards the County Lord¡¯s heir.


    Even if the Tiger Fangs didn¡¯t heed his warning, he would still go through this n.


    Just that he would have to kill the Lord¡¯s father while also killing all eyewitnesses before pinning all the me on the Tiger Fangs. Everyone would suspect that maybe the leader of the Tiger Fangs had also broken through to the Soul Liberation Stage.


    Lord¡¯s father had been so focused on the explosions that he hadn¡¯t noticed the approaching gang of Tiger Fangs, so he hadn¡¯t acted.


    Now, Ozul had to finish his work before the guards alerted him.


    When he arrived at the window, he discovered the women had already fled and the County Lord¡¯s heir wasfortably sleeping on the enormous bed. Even in the midst of all this turmoil, he hadn¡¯t woken up.


    Ozul decided to act quickly.


    He released every bit of Purity that he could muster and sent it inside the room.


    A strap of it covered his mouth first and the rest quickly enclosed the heir¡¯s whole body!


    He had only recently be a cultivator, so Ozul felt little to no resistance as he quickly soared through the sky, dragging the giant ck cube with him.


    Having noticed that the Tiger Fangs had also retreated without the old man¡¯s knowledge, Ozul decided that his here had been done.


    The only problem that remained now was the captive he had inside the cube. He had covered himpletely so even if someone searched for him, they wouldn¡¯t be able to trace his Spiritual Essence.


    He had two options: deliver the guy to the Tiger Fangs and let them do whatever they wanted with him, or murder the heir and dispose of the body himself.


    If he dropped him to the Tiger Fangs, they would surely be suspicious of him. Warning them to pay off the wine debt worked once, but going so far as to kidnap the heir of the County for them was too much.


    ¡®They might do something unexpected when they be suspicious.¡¯


    He had already sensed the feelings of the leader and vice leader. They¡¯d both been suppressing their emotions for quite some time. If he agitated them any more, they may make some rash decisions.


    .....


    ¡®They could share my appearance and circte rumors that I was behind the kidnapping and they were only there to plunder some folks amid the ruckus.¡¯


    Ozul dabbled with the most ridiculous scenarios, but he didn¡¯t want to risk it with those two guys who could erupt in rage at any moment.


    ¡®Haa...¡¯


    He groaned, his weary eyes dropping. He could only select the option that would bring him the least amount of hassle.

 Chapter 368

    Chapter 368: Bloodthirsty Maniac?


    Having decided not to put his trust in the Tiger Fangs, Ozul arrived back at his teleportation location.


    He took off his mask and sighed again.


    There was no hint of life in this alleyway. Those Beastkin had definitely thought it through before cing the teleportation gate here.


    The dark cube that floated beside him had shrunk a lot.


    Beforeing here, he had already ground the man inside into a meat paste.


    Although unpleasant, he didn¡¯t want to risk exposing their location because of some unknown artifact that could inform the County Lord where his son is.


    ¡®I still have no idea what this world has to offer.¡¯


    .....


    Taking the man alive back to the Beastkin¡¯s base might havepromised their location. So he had killed him somewhere else beforeing here.


    The significantly smaller cube made with the Purity now held what was left of the County Lord¡¯s only son.


    ¡°They should at least have somece to dispose of this waste,¡± he muttered, not wanting to throw it somewhere it could be easily found around here.


    He entered the gate and arrived back in the estate with only Beastkin in sight.


    Again, before he could enter the building, he was greeted with the familiar sight of the olddy named Ember.


    She met his emotionless face with her smiling one.


    ¡°I see you have yet againpleted your task wlessly.¡±


    Ember beamed at the report she had heard. The entire Waterfall County was in chaos, and the gang who was nning the abduction had escaped sessfully as well. She wasn¡¯t aware of all the details, but she guessed that Ozul had already taken care of the entire matter.


    ¡°I won¡¯t call it wless.¡±


    As Ozul replied, the cube hovered in front of Ember, stretching a little upwards with his thoughts alone until the top of the box vanished.


    Ember saw a gruesome scene of crushed flesh and little pieces of bone floating over the thick blood.


    As the pungent smell invaded her nose, she receded back in utter disgust. It had been a long while since her encounter with anything so grotesque. A single nce was enough for her to know that it was the fate of some unfortunate human.


    ¡°Is this...¡±


    ¡°Mhm. It¡¯s the heir... or at least what was left of him.¡±


    Ember stared at Ozul warily. She hadn¡¯t met many humans who could do this to their fellow humans and feel nothing of it afterward.


    Even Beastkin with blood vengeance wouldn¡¯t go so far as to reduce a human to such a state.


    She once again had to change her views of this apathetic yet the most innocent-looking man.


    ¡®Just what kind of method did he use to do this...¡¯ she wondered in her heart before internally shaking her head. It didn¡¯t matter what methods he used. She was worried about something else, ¡®Is he a bloodthirsty maniac?¡¯


    If the man in front of him was a maniac who craved blood, it could bring trouble for her. She couldn¡¯t have someone whose emotions could be swayed by his instincts working for her.


    ¡®I will have to keep an eye on you.¡¯


    Ember thought of Ozul as just another Wild Beastkin. Although troublesome, she was confident that she could control him.


    Unknown to her, Ozul wasn¡¯t a bloodthirsty maniac, but he was someone whose emotions could be swayed by his instincts. Many times in danger or when he needed to make a decision, he would trust his instincts.


    What Ember didn¡¯t know was that Ozul did this to the heir to remove all the evidence which could identify him and to also reduce the size of his cube.


    For him, doing this wasn¡¯t much of a problem either as he just had to add multiple des and rotated them at high speed inside his cube. The oue of this mechanism was the blood soup of human flesh.


    ¡°Do you have a ce to get rid of it?¡± he asked, jolting Ember awake from her trance.


    ¡°Ah.. yes.¡±


    Following that, a servant Beastkin ran to their side and ran their hand over the cube. They tried their best not to puke as ¡®the heir¡¯ was stored in their Spatial Ring before they ran away.


    The server wasn¡¯t at all like Ember who only felt disgusted. It seemed to be their first time dealing with such a gruesome thing.


    ¡®So not everyone here is experienced,¡¯ Ozul concluded that this base was most like located at some peaceful ce.


    His curiosity again piqued at what he would see outside the gates of this estate if that gatekeeper wasn¡¯t there.


    He¡¯d previously checked that the gatekeeper activated the teleportation whenever he approached the gate. The teleportation was left activated from the other side, but the gatekeeper was in charge of it to change it to suitable locations for the people walking out.


    Ember coughed, bringing Ozul¡¯s attention to herself.


    ¡°You will get your rewards once I confirm the situation. It might take a day for everything to settle in Waterfall County. You may rest until then.¡±


    Ozul nodded his head in delight, though his face barely showed any emotions. He wanted nothing more than to take a nap right now. He had worked hard and he deserved some rest. Following that, he retracted the Purity back into his body.


    Such a sight amazed Ember as she once again confirmed that this unusual man in front of her didn¡¯t use the Spiritual Essence and instead used this strange ck substance that had just been absorbed into his body as if it was a part of it!


    ¡®Was he born like that or is it a Spiritual Artifact?¡¯ She thought of the former since he had no such essory on him.


    Ozul ignored her emotions poking at him from all angles and rushed towards their room.


    As he opened the door, he saw Raven and ze both in a meditative position while Zier wasid on the floor with his body covered in sweat. The other two weren¡¯t much different in that regard, but they still held on and cultivated.


    Zier noticed him walking inside the room but his body had no energy left to hold himself up to greet him. He could only trace his eyes in his direction.


    Ozul ignored his eye-acknowledgment and focused on the waves of Spiritual Essence permeating out of their body.


    Even if there wasn¡¯t much of a difference between Raven and ze, Ozul knew Raven was still half a step ahead of ze. Her tenacity was unrivaled by even the most geniuses.


    A tragic past would undoubtedly strengthen one¡¯s mental resilience, but Raven was an exception.


    Topensate for her above-average talent, she was worlds ahead of thepetition in endurance.


    Behind both of them stood Zier who seemed to have been struggling in the path of cultivation.


    Only Ozul didn¡¯t know that even Zier who seemed to have been doing only so-so in his eyes would be considered a genius in this Realm.


    After all, at that moment, except for Ozul, all the people inside that room had achieved the Core Formation Realm!


    In just a few days, all three of them had managed to achieve a breakthrough.


    After Raven, Ember hadn¡¯t been much amazed at the other two¡¯s performance. She had already expected everyone to reach the Core Formation Realm in a few days since it had always been like this.


    The ¡®Dragon Hatchlings¡¯ were all considered the cream of the crop for a reason.


    Ozul nodded in approval, satisfied with their efforts, and did not bother Raven and ze.


    He walked over to his bed and plopped down with all his weight. When his body met the bedsheets, he felt a sense of weightlessness.


    ¡®Mhm~¡¯


    Knowing that it wouldn¡¯t be long until these three started assisting him with all of his errands made him smile involuntarily as he closed his eyes.


    If someone else were to know his thought process, they¡¯d cringe at how he acts like an unhinged old man whoins about every physical task he has to do.


    The only thingcking from his life just now, as hey on his bed, was the familiar yet foreign warmth he had recently be fond of.


    *Meow!*


    And just as he wanted, Jinx appeared out of nowhere and jumped on his bed. Sheid beside him and rested her head against his arm.


    It was at this point that Ozul feltpletely satisfied.


    He drifted off to ¡®sleep¡¯, ignoring everything around him.


    . . .


    The next day went without much noise.


    After Raven and ze stopped cultivating, they made sure not to make a sound while moving about.


    It was only after the next day that a knock came on their door.


    This time Ember showed the courtesy of knocking first. Though she still entered right afterward.


    When she entered, she saw three people cultivating on the floor while the supposedly ¡®bloodthirsty maniac¡¯ was sleeping peacefully while holding a ck cat in his embrace.


    ¡®I feel like I have experienced this sight before.¡¯


    A sense of deja vu hit her before she purposely spoke in a louder voice, ¡°I have confirmed with my men!¡±


    All four of them opened their eyes. A groan came from Ozul¡¯s bed as he woke up annoyed.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you keep your voice down, you old woman?¡±


    Raven gazed at him, perplexed. She was witnessing more emotions from Ozul recently than she had seen in decades.


    While Raven was pleasantly surprised at his recent changes, ze and Zier focused more on the words ¡®olddy¡¯.


    Zier even snickered in delight as he remembered his grievances.


    .....


    ¡°You-¡±


    Ember shed Ozul a caustic nce, surprised by his reaction. Although she had imagined a variety of circumstances in which this man could lose his temper, being awakened from his sleep was not one of them.

 Chapter 369

    Chapter 369: 8-Star Earth Grade.


    Seemingly realizing her own fault, Ember swallowed down her anger.


    She had forgotten for a minute that she was no longer the once-feared and adored pinnacle Sage Realm expert in this cultivation world.


    Her eyes shifted to the ball of ck fur curled beside Ozul and she once again wondered about this strange cat.


    She couldn¡¯t see through her even after examining her with her Scarlet Eyes. Except for her captivating heterochromatic eyes, which she had fortunately gazed at, that ck cat appeared to be no different from any other cat.


    ¡®Am I overthinking?¡¯


    Ember began to doubt herself but a certain feeling inside her warned her about this seemingly ordinary cat.


    Ignoring the burning re directed in her direction, Ember coughed slightly and shifted the topic, ¡°As I was saying, I have confirmed the sess of your task.¡±


    .....


    She again beamed at the mention of the task and continued, ¡°I have to admit, I half predicted that you¡¯d make a blunder. And as I promised on my name, since you have satisfied me, you will receive a high-tier Earth Grade weapon of your choice and four 8-Star Earth Grade Spiritual Arts suitable for each of you.¡±


    Stars shone in the trio¡¯s eyes at the mention of the Spiritual Arts. As for the high-tier Earth Grade weapon, not a single thought crossed their mind about it. The weapon, without a doubt, belonged to Ozul.


    ¡°Choose what type of Spiritual Arts you need. I will bring out a suitable one.¡±


    Ember smirked as she spread her arms like a merciful leader offering her starving people free food.


    Ozul noted her confidence as it meant that she really had countless things stored in her Spatial Ring from her time as the peak Sage Realm expert.


    He was puzzled as to why she hadn¡¯t been attacked yet. After all, many people should have known she was wealthy, and she was also an easy target at the moment.


    ¡®She must have her means...¡¯ Ozul concluded internally. Greed followed all sentient beings and the fact that Ember was alive until now meant that she deserved to be a peak Sage Realm expert at one point in her life.


    Even losing all her strength, she had somehow managed to not only survive but evenmanded this entire manor for her purpose.


    ¡®I shouldn¡¯t underestimate her,¡¯ he once again mentally noted to himself.


    ¡°Can you give me some technique to create a storm of icicles?¡± ze asked impatiently.


    He and Raven had continuously tried to recreate their Spells here as Spiritual Arts, but a few steps into the process brought them intense pain to their entire body.


    Only when Ember chanced upon them trying to forcefully mimic their previous Spells did she lecture them again. They were thoroughly reminded never to try anything like that.


    Only at the Sage Realm could people begin to truly understand the nature of Spiritual Essence and how it interacts with their body. And at that time, they could experiment with the Spiritual Essence to create different Spiritual Arts.


    Many seeded with exceptional results while even some Sage Realm experts failed to discover any Spiritual Arts or Cultivation Techniques greater than Spiritual Grade.


    Hearing ze¡¯s request, Ember raised her brows in amusement.


    ¡°The Spiritual Arts that you desire, even the weakest of them all, wouldn¡¯t be any lower than the Spiritual Grade. The good ones would easily reach the Transcendent Grade.¡±


    She looked at ze in contempt and spoke again, ¡°Even if you were to write your envement contract to me, I wouldn¡¯t give you a Transcendent Grade Spiritual Arts as you are right now.¡±


    ze¡¯s nose wrinkled up in irritation. He felt it was unnecessary to put him down so much. ¡®If she didn¡¯t have anything like that in the 8-Star Earth Grade, then she should have just said so!¡¯ Such were his thoughts on the matter.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that Ember purposely worded her reply like that. She didn¡¯t mean that he was worth less than a Transcendent Grade Spiritual Arts. Only that even if she gave him one, with his current Cultivation Realm, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything with it.


    It was like a child asking for a sword. No matter how sharp the sword, the child first had to have enough strength to hold the sword properly before it was of any use to him.


    Even the Spiritual Arts and Spiritual Weapons in the Spiritual Grade required cultivators to first achieve the Nascent Soul Realm.


    ¡°I only promised 8-Star Earth Grade Spiritual Arts. Ask for something simpler. At this level, you can only hope for something temporary to boost your raw power.¡±


    ze began to contemte his choices when Zier sprang up like a grasshopper. He asked, ¡°Do you have something that enhances all my senses?¡±


    Amused, Ember smirked and replied, ¡°And here I thought you were the least intelligent in this group.¡±


    ¡°I have just the thing.¡±


    Ember closed her eyes and before long, an aged thin book appeared in her hand. The cover of the book was too worn out and the words written on it were barely readable.


    She exined, ¡°I don¡¯t remember the unfortunate human to whom this Spiritual Art belonged to. It¡¯s called Hunter¡¯s Arse...? Uh... Hunter¡¯s Arsenal, my bad.¡±


    Zier cringed at her pause and looked at her weirdly. He first looked at her straight face and then at the withering excuse of a book.


    Ember further emphasized in the book, ¡°In my honest opinion, this is truly trash. However, it¡¯s exactly what you need. This will collectively improve all your senses to a minor degree. Although it doesn¡¯t feel much, it¡¯s really handy in tricky situations.¡±


    She then threw the book toward him with no care in mind.


    Zier, however, struggled to catch it gently. He didn¡¯t think this book could handle any more of this world¡¯s harshness. It had already endured too much. The pages had almoste all lose and if he hadn¡¯t been careful, this book would have already ¡®scattered¡¯ all over the ground.


    He almost felt sorry for the book.


    ¡®Just how long this old hag has been holding on to this so-called trash book?!¡¯


    Next up was again ze¡¯s turn, he again asked in a loud voice, ¡°Give me anything ice-rted that will make me more strong!¡±


    Ember gave him a deadpan expression.


    Everyone could tell how little thinking he had put into his decision.


    She flicked her hand and another aged book appeared in her hand. This one at least had some life in it and the title of the book was also visible.


    It simply read ¡®Cold Fists¡¯.


    It merely exploited the Ice nature of one¡¯s Spiritual Essence to strengthen their fists, as befitting its name. It seemed as if a covering of hardened ice had formed on their hands, increasing their lethality.


    Although ze didn¡¯t seem to have been satisfied, Ember ignored his expressions and moved on toward Raven.


    ¡°Do you have something like your Scarlet Eyes?¡± Raven asked out of curiosity.


    She had given it a thought, but just like ze, she couldn¡¯te up with anything useful.


    When Ember heard it though, her face paused unnaturally as if she had heard something absurd.


    Right after, as if she had made up her mind, she shed Raven a cunning smile and almost rubbed her hands like a shady merchant.


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d be the smartest of this bunch.¡±


    She lied. She had the lowest opinion of Raven at first nce.


    ¡°As for your question, well, I have something exactly like Scarlet Eyes.¡±


    ¡°As a matter of fact, it is the Scarlet Eyes!¡±


    Ember noticed her confused expressions and proudly dwelled further into the matter, ¡°You see my Scarlet Eyes are a unique Spiritual Arts developed by a Sage of the past who had witnessed countless histories and had gained innumerable knoweled-¡±


    ¡°You created it?¡± Raven interwined in her rambling.


    ¡°Ahem!¡±


    ¡°You indeed have good eyes. I developed the Scarlet Eyes.¡± Ember stood arrogantly as she was still quite satisfied with this Spiritual Arts.


    ¡°So... Can you teach me?¡± Raven asked hopefully.


    She had inquired about the Scarlet Eyes earlier as well and Ember had boasted about it endlessly.


    ording to her own words, the Scarlet Eyes once let her see the ¡®truth¡¯ of this world.


    Though Raven didn¡¯t quite understand what she meant. It had quite a nice ring to it. Suddenly she also had the urge to see the truth of this world. Did Ember view this world differently? If so, she also wanted to see this world differently.


    Her mind wandered to Ozul, ¡®He also sees this world different than anyone else.¡¯


    ¡°Well, you see my Scarlet Eyes is unique. I started developing it from the base up, so if a new cultivator were to learn this Spiritual Art, they would have the most basic version of it and as they advanced through the cultivation Realms, the Scarlet Eyes would also evolve and get better. Though they would need all the manuals for it to happen.¡±


    Ember finally exined the catch regarding her Scarlet Eyes.


    So while it was possible that Raven learned the trashiest version of the Scarlet Eyes at her current level, she would need to beg Ember again and again for it in the future.


    Raven calmly processed everything she had said.


    ¡®Sigh... She will never hand over a unique evolving Spiritual Arts just like that.¡¯ Raven lost hope in the Scarlet Eyes. It seemed like Ember only wanted to boast about her personal Spiritual Arts.


    ¡°I can give you the most basic version of the Scarlet Eyes. Only if you agree to my terms.¡±

 Chapter 370

    Chapter 370: Scarlet Eyes.


    ¡°I can give you the most basic version of the Scarlet Eyes. Only if you agree to my terms.¡±


    Instantly, Raven guessed that she would have to join this organization under her officially. After all, Ember had been persisting on that for a while now.


    ¡°No thanks. I¡¯m fine without it,¡± Raven started.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about bing my apprentice,¡± Ember mentioned with gritted teeth. She didn¡¯t know what was so wrong with really joining the organization.


    Now it was Raven¡¯s turn to be confused.


    ¡°What do I have to do then?¡± She questioned.


    .....


    ¡°Well, If you can convince your group to owe me a mission in the future, I will unconditionally hand you over the Scarlet Eyes.¡± Ember nced at everyone to see their reactions, then she said, ¡°And I won¡¯t hesitate to give you the evolved versions as well, but you will have to pay for them separately. It won¡¯t be so hard for them though.¡±


    Still confused, Raven asked for rification on this ¡®mission¡¯.


    To which, Ember replied, ¡°What I mean is... You will not reject a specific mission that I will entrust you guys in the future...¡±


    Sensing that Raven would immediately reject this proposition, she further added in, ¡°Do not worry. It won¡¯t be something that¡¯s any more dangerous than the usual missions. It¡¯s just that I... That specific mission is important to me and I think no one other than him,¡± her eyes locked at Ozul, ¡°could be trusted on it. I am afraid that I can¡¯t discuss anything about it at this point in time.¡±


    Raven¡¯s eyes narrowed in distrust. Even if this ¡®specific mission¡¯ wasn¡¯t extremely dangerous, she wouldn¡¯t have everyonemit to anything for a Spiritual Art, no matter how valuable it was.


    Before she could say anything, however, Ozul cut in the conversation, ¡°I agree to do this mission of yours. Now give her these... Scarlet Eyes.¡±


    Not only Raven but even ze raised his eyes in surprise.


    They knew Ozul as a man who nevermitted to anything that he wasn¡¯t sure about. He would never take useless risks. It was surprising that he would agree to a mission that he didn¡¯t even know about at this point


    Even Ember was a bit surprised by his hasty agreement. After all, she was prepared to describe every characteristic of her scarlet eyes. Back when she was at her peak, these Scarlet Eyes were crucial in maintaining her a cut above even her fellow Sage Realm masters.


    Unknown to them, Ozul wasn¡¯t just blindly trusting Ember.


    It was because he could precisely feel other people¡¯s emotions that he had made this decision.


    Not only was Ember sincere in her words, but whenever the mission was mentioned, even her emotions would feel tense. It was apparent that she was telling the truth.


    Moreover, the Scarlet Eyes was an evolving Spiritual Art meaning Raven could make use of it for maybe even until her death. It would surely benefit her. Since shecked talent, he wondered if such a thing could make up for it.


    And as for the mission, he wasn¡¯t worried about it.


    Since it looked so important to Ember, she would never send someone who would die leaving it unfinished.


    He wondered in his heart, ¡®Maybe it is because I don¡¯t use Mana...?¡¯


    Ember quickly snapped out of her thoughts and remembered that she shouldn¡¯t let this opportunity slip out of her hands.


    Before Ozul changed his mind, she quickly took out a well-maintained book from her Spatial Ring and forcefully ended it over to Raven.


    At a loss of words, Raven looked at Ozul for help. She was about to tell him that she didn¡¯t want this Spiritual Art anymore.


    ¡°Take it and use it well.¡± As if reading her heart through her concerned eyes, Ozul assured her.


    Seeing that Ozul won¡¯t budge on this, she nodded her head with a sound, ¡°Un.¡±


    With that out of the way, Ember turned towards Ozul.


    ¡°So, what type of Spiritual Arts do you desire?¡±


    ¡°Anything simple.¡±


    Ember gave him aical look. She expected many things, but not for him to ask for anything simple.


    ¡°Uh... Are you sure? I have many good ones. For you, I may even be willing to take out something of 9-Star, which is basically the best in Earth Grade.¡±


    For her purpose, Ember wanted him to be stronger. So she would always be willing to take one more step for him.


    After all, to her, even Spirit Grade1 Spiritual Arts were basically useless


    Shaking her head, Embermented, ¡°Honestly, for you, I would have even considered giving away something of Spirit Grade. Pity, they are useless for anyone under the Soul Materialization stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.¡±


    Ozul ignored the yet-another-stage-of-a-realm and focused more on the fact that Ember was valuing him so much.


    ¡®She is desperate.¡¯


    By now, he was certain that this mission of hers most probably was her priority right now. Most probably, even causing unrest between these kingdoms somehow aided her goals for that mission.


    ¡°I am sure. Just give me something easy to learn. With apparent effects though. Maybe something to augment my physical body as well?¡± Ozul relented and finally gave more description of what he desired.


    His only need for a Spiritual Art was to experiment with it. Whether his body epted the Spiritual Art even when he doesn¡¯t have Spiritual Essence.


    As if suddenly enlightened, Ember remembered that he most likely didn¡¯t use the Spiritual Essence, ¡®Is he trying to test if the Spiritual Arts arepatible with his version of Spiritual Essence?¡¯


    If Ozul knew how close she was to the truth, even he would have been shocked out of his wits at the instincts of experts of this Realm.


    The only thing she didn¡¯t get right was that the Purity wasn¡¯t some version of Spiritual Essence but an entirely different thing. Her conclusion stemmed from her firm belief that no other energy could evade the Realm Ego¡¯s will in this Realm.


    Having realized his reasoning, she didn¡¯t question him anymore and thought for a moment before bringing out yet another simple-looking book. Although its edges were a bit rough, this one wasn¡¯t too worn out.


    ¡°Blue ws¡± The book¡¯s title read.


    ¡°It¡¯s one of the best 8-star Earth Grade Spiritual Art. If a normal cultivator were to learn this in the early stages, they would easily defeat someone of a higher stage than them.¡±


    In the back, ze opened his mouth in disappointment. Hadn¡¯t he asked something like this? Why was he handed over that lousy book that was barely held together by some ancient strings?


    His sense of betrayal, however, was misced since Ember only hadn¡¯t exined to him that his ¡®Cold Fists¡¯ Spiritual Art wouldn¡¯t lose out to this ¡®Blue ws¡¯.


    ¡°There is no special nature of this Spiritual Art, unlike the Cold Fists that I gave him,¡± Ember motioned towards ze, ¡°It simply uses Spiritual Essence to strengthen one¡¯s fingers till the point that it starts glowing blue. A cultivator then can use their fingers not only to best someone in a physical fight, but they can even instantly channel their Spiritual Essence through those fingers.¡±


    Ember didn¡¯t find the need to mention that in the hands of an expert who knew about a human¡¯s internal body, these Blue ws could be a fatal technique. That person could channel their Spiritual Essence into their opponent¡¯s body and target their Core to effectively disable them.


    Ozul took the book nonchntly. He didn¡¯t care how good the technique was.


    He was curious as to whether or not using the Purity in the exact same manner as the book¡¯s instructions, but for Spiritual Essence, would yield simr results.


    Having received the book, he was about to jump back to the bed and read itfortably, but Ember stopped him. ¡°You have yet to choose a weapon. Just tell me your preference, I have a whole smithy inside my Spatial Ring.¡±


    She was confident that she had every type of weapon inside her Spatial Ring.


    ¡°Hm? Oh... I don¡¯t need it. Give it to Zier.¡±


    ¡°Ehh?¡± x2


    Both Zier and Ember turned to look at him in question.


    Since he appeared to be the most valuable of the others, Ember wanted to give him a weapon.


    She wanted him to be as powerful as possible, and a High-Tier Earth Grade Weapon would undoubtedly increase his strength.


    Ozul waved his hand without much interest and remarked, ¡°Just give it to him.¡±


    Unwillingly, Ember turned towards Zier. At this moment, this sickly-looking kid irritated her the most.


    She would have definitely shoved a Peak-Tier Earth Grade Weapon in Ozul¡¯s hands if she didn¡¯t want to appear as someone desperate.


    It was her time to swallow a mouthful of air as she asked him about his choice of weapon instead, this time with much less enthusiasm.


    ¡°Uh...¡± Zier hesitated for a second, ¡°... do you have needles?¡±


    Ember¡¯s eyes examined his whole body. Although it was subtle, the slight budge of the side of his sleeves was quickly caught by her.


    It seemed that he usually used hidden needles for attacking. However, in her experience, she didn¡¯t think such needles would do much in a fight with more than two people.


    Still, she didn¡¯t say anything andplied with the request.


    With a singlemand in her mind, five silver needles appeared in his hands. They were around the size of an adult human¡¯s face and also fairly thin and lightweight.


    ¡°If caught off guard, these needles can injure even a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. Also, you just need to inject some Spiritual Essence into it and you can call them back whenever you want. They onlye back to you though.¡±


    Zier took the needles from her hand with stars in his eyes.


    Needles thate back whenever he wanted? Wasn¡¯t that his dream since he had started using needles?!


    Having distributed the rewards and securing the deal with her Scarlet Eyes, Ember suddenly took on a more serious posture and spoke with a heavy voice,


    ¡°Since that¡¯s out of the way... let us talk about your future.¡±

 Chapter 371

    Chapter 371: You have chosen well.


    ¡°Since that¡¯s out of the way... let us talk about your future.¡±


    Ozul felt her emotions and realized that she seemed troubled. He ced the Spiritual Arts book aside. ¡°I thought we were much clear on that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about that. Our rtionship remains the same. However, it appears you won¡¯t be able to stay in my estate anymore.¡± Ember¡¯s eyes looked for a corner she could hide her shame in.


    Ozul instantly realized what she meant. He was well aware of the difort that their presence had caused among all the Beastkin in this estate, excluding Ember.


    ¡°That is no trouble. We will take our leave immediately,¡± Ozul spoke while motioning towards Raven who didn¡¯t waste a second before their personal belongings were back in her Spatial Ring.


    Ember shook her head, sighing. ¡°I didn¡¯t seem toprehend that I¡¯d lost not just my powers but also influence inside my organization. I hope you understand.¡±


    She wouldn¡¯t have given it a second thought if it had simply been these folks on her estate.


    .....


    However, word had reached the highest levels of her organization that she was coborating with humans and sheltering them.


    Clenching her fists in suppressed anger, she vowed to herself to take revenge on those old coots who were once her colleagues.


    It was fine until she wasn¡¯t allowed to have a say in the most important matters, but undermining her authority in her own ce was overstepping the boundaries.


    She was embarrassed in front of Ozul and the rest because of those people she once considered beneath her.


    However, she wasn¡¯t one to back down. ¡®Just you wait... It wouldn¡¯t be long now.¡¯ Her eyes locked onto Ozul.


    She had found the key to regaining her powers!


    . . .


    The winds swept down from the north in the center of the bustling city, carrying with them a pure air that everyone found nice to breathe.


    One of the few backward areas deprived of this blessing housed a rundown hotel.


    Raven found the depressing atmosphere no hindrance to the peace of her mind since she was beside Ozul.


    All of them were teleported to this city after they walked out of the Beastkin¡¯s estate.


    Before leaving, Ember had given Ozul a ring that worked as a long-distancemunication artifact.


    Just like with all the rings, he gave it to Raven for safekeeping.


    He couldn¡¯t use it, and among the other three, he trusted her the most in being serious about it. ze could be trusted as well, but he asionally made rash decisions based on the instinct to kill at first sight.


    Ember had told Ozul to grow stronger until she had a task suitable for them.


    In fact, she didn¡¯t have to tell him that. He was also thinking of growing stronger first.


    Raven, ze, and Zier also had to catch up and be sufficiently strong. To the point that they could at least protect themselves while carrying out his orders.


    They had more than enough money to rent a whole house and livefortably for years, but Ozul always chose such backward areas since there wasn¡¯t too much noise here.


    ...


    Inside the room, Zier stared at the silver needles in an awestruck gaze.


    There were a total of five needles, and he concealed two of them in each of his sleeves and the fifth behind his back.


    Without minding ze¡¯s looming shadow, he experimented with this High-Tier Earth Grade Weapon. As Ember had promised, he only had to exert his Spiritual Essence and the needle immediately flew toward him.


    ¡°Pft! I doubt you can hurt a kid with that!¡±


    A sound ofughter rang behind him as Zier¡¯s face turned to stone in shame.


    This was because the speed at which it returned to him was simr to that of a leaf gently swaying in the air until it met the ground.


    And while ze didn¡¯t notice any problem with him throwing the needle, Zier himself knew that it was far from efficient!


    ¡®Seems like I will have to practice with these...¡¯ Zier thought with crushed hopes. In the end, he was nevertheless excited because he had only ever used ordinary needles in his life.


    But after a while, he put them aside. He thought it better to first master the Hunter¡¯s Arsenal. Having a better grasp of his surroundings would improve his abilities by leaps and bounds!


    Just like him, Raven and ze also took out their Spiritual Arts and began to study them.


    It didn¡¯t take long for them to realize that these Spiritual Arts were considerably many times harder than the cultivation technique!


    Seeing them fussing over their Spiritual Arts, Ozul couldn¡¯t help but wonder, ¡®Is cultivation easier for the so-called Dragon Hatchlings since they have already gone through most of the process in their previous Realm?¡¯


    Even if that was the case, learning the Spiritual Arts seemed to have slowed down their learning speed a lot.


    Shaking his head, he also opened the Spiritual Art that he had gotten from Ember.


    This was the first time he was going to try and use The Purity as a normal cultivator would use their Spiritual Essence.


    He tried to do the same with Mana in the previous Realm, but it had no results whatsoever.


    This time, he wasn¡¯t expecting much either.


    Going through the book only once, he opened the instructions page once again and began to rotate The Purity inside his body in the same manner that the diagram showed.


    Nothing.


    The Purity reached his nails, but he felt nothing new.


    ¡®Maybe it would have worked if I had blood?¡¯ he wondered before shaking his head, ¡®Who am I kidding... If only blood was the problem, I should have at least been able to use The Purity in ce for the Spiritual Essence in the Spatial Ring.¡¯


    Many thoughts slide past his mind before he decided to test a Spiritual Weapon as well.


    First, he threw the Blue ws book towards ze who almost dropped the catch. ¡°Take it, I think it willplement the other Spiritual Art,¡± he said, receiving a grateful nod from ze. Blue ws and Cold Fists both seemed like they could be used together.


    Turning towards Zier, he ordered, ¡°Expell your Spiritual Essence and pass me one of those needles.¡±


    The needles worked in this manner. If someone had already filled them with Spiritual Essence and imed ownership, another person couldn¡¯t instantly take over them. Either the owner first resigned his ownership or the Spiritual Essence trace dissipated over a long period of time before another person could use them.


    ording to Ember, many other Spiritual Weapons worked in the same manner.


    Zier didn¡¯t question his orders. He took out the needle behind his back and retrieved the Spiritual Essence inside of it. After that, he threw the needle straight at Ozul who caught it with ease using The Purity.


    Fascinated by the ck substance which seemed to have a life and thoughts of its own, Zier skipped beside ze and couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Hey, do you know what that ck thing really is? I mean, I used to think it was some kind of magic. But it¡¯s clearly not!¡±


    He¡¯d grown even more attracted by it since arriving in this new Realm. After all, even Vesta, the Sovereign of Beasts, lost her prowess, but he didn¡¯t.


    He knew there was something special about him since the moment he had decided to follow him, but he never expected it to this extent! Even the strongest being in their previous Realm lost to him!


    Raven heard his queries, but she decided to ignore their conversation and instead focused on the Scarlet Eyes.


    ze smirked and answered in a mysterious tone, ¡°Well... He is the Devil¡¯s Spawn,¡¯ and shrugged his shoulders as if it wasn¡¯t a big deal.


    This remark left a wide-eyed Zier staring into the emptiness with a nk expression on his face.


    Suddenly everything seemed to start making sense!


    ¡®ck hair, deep ck eyes, and an appearance that would make even men look twice. There is even that strange ck familiar(Jinx)! ck means evil!¡¯ Just as the thought crossed his mind and he was beginning to question his own reality, Zier remembered something and shook his head bitterly.


    ¡®What am I talking about? My own blood is poisonous and a cure to other poisons. If anything, I should be the monster here...¡¯ he gave himself a self-deprecating smile. Even regretted having such thoughts about Ozul.


    That man had only ever shown kindness to him. Even if he was some kind of Devil, it didn¡¯t matter to him!


    ze smirked again, this time menacingly, and his expression was a little surprised as if he was expecting something that didn¡¯t happen.


    ¡°Seems like you have chosen well.¡±


    Zier felt chills running down his spine as if he was unknowingly a little too close to disaster just now.


    Ozul only spared them a side nce. ze was usually hotheaded, but there were times like these that proved that he was more insightful and understanding than he let on.


    Only from Zier¡¯s expressions, he was able to roughly guess his thoughts.


    He returned his focus back to the needles.


    Turning a bit of The Purity into gaseous form, he focused on forcing it inside the needle.


    Sadly, it didn¡¯t turn out the way he expected. No matter how much he forced it in the needle, it wouldn¡¯t absorb The Purity.


    The needle only physically interacted with The Purity.


    ¡®Maybe even this much is too big for the needle to absorb?¡¯ Ozul again pondered on the matter.


    In the end, it was just more likely that these tools were only made to absorb the Spiritual Essence and The Purity was nothing like the Spiritual Essence.


    He also gave it a passing thought that maybe The Purity might have been created by another Realm Ego which imitated the Spiritual Essence like Mana.


    Though he rejected that thought as well. ¡®The Purity is definitely superior to that Spiritual Essence.¡¯ His instinctual disgust for any other energy such as the Spiritual Essence was proof of that.


    Having gone through most of what he had nned to do, Ozul resigned to his fate and dropped onto the dusty bed.


    ¡®The only thing left to do is to try and absorb a Spiritual Core now...¡¯


    .....

 Chapter 372

    Chapter 372: Existential Crisis.


    ¡®The only thing left to do is to try and absorb a Spiritual Core now.¡¯


    Ozul turned in his bed. ¡®Maybe I should have asked for a Core instead of the Spiritual Art.¡¯


    His body had strangely embraced this Spiritual Essence, giving him the most hope for this approach. His body gulped down the Essence in the air if he let it. He would undoubtedly stun Ember with the sight of his generated vortex if he did so in front of her Scarlet Eyes.


    Unfortunately, the majority of it was still being expelled from his body, but Mana was treated simrly back in the other Realm. Only the purest drop of it would be left for his body to absorb.


    The other three greedily read the Spiritual Techniques as he was lost in his contemtion.


    Suddenly, as if a ghost had possessed him, Ozul stood up, back straight to the wall. Taking a deep breath, he told them, ¡°I am going out for a few days. Do whatever you want until then. I wille back here.¡±


    Before Zier could ask him where he was going, Raven beat him to it. She looked straight into his unforgiving eyes and questioned, ¡°Do you need me?¡±


    .....


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡®Right...¡¯ Hiding her expressions, she steeled her face and nodded back at him before pretending to read the book for Scarlet Eyes again.


    Zier didn¡¯t want to ask anything now since the atmosphere felt a little chilly.


    Ozul received a nod from ze as well. He also wanted to apany him, but since Raven wasn¡¯t permitted, he doubted he would be allowed to.


    Taking another heavy breath, Ozul walked out of the room.


    Through the darkly lit hallway, each step of his made a creaking noise that rang out and echoed into the hollowness.


    ¡®Why do I feel so heavy...¡¯


    He wondered. Just now he was troubled but otherwisepletely fine. Now as he started walking out, it felt as if something ghastly was evidently about to happen.


    Walking out of the hotel, he flew andnded on the roof under the moonlight.


    He surveyed his surroundings, felt the Spiritual traces, and confirmed that no one was keeping an eye on him. ¡®Why is it so suffocating then...¡¯


    His head spun around, eyes falling to the countless stars, and then to the darkness holding them together.


    The noise drowned the night and the night drowned the noise.


    A nauseating feeling permeated his body as it seemed to pause unnaturally.


    Cold wind soaked the rustling of leaves with its loneliness.


    ¡°...my boy... won¡¯t be ... for ... my Ozul...¡±


    At the hint of this familiar voice, he forcibly took control of his body and anxiously turned around.


    His desperate eyes searched all the world around him. He flew above and hurriedly looked around thinking that someone was messing with him.


    A few minutes passed but he was not willing to give up.!


    He had already expanded his sense and kept an eye on Spiritual traces, but there were none anywhere around him!


    No!


    He wasn¡¯t willing to admit that it was only in his head!


    *Meow!*


    Soft inky hair brushed past his feet. He seemed to pause again, albeit withplete control over his body this time.


    Looking down at the dark blob of fur, he chuckled to himself bitterly. Who was he lying to? Didn¡¯t he know it?


    ¡®...It was all in my head.¡¯


    . . .


    Sitting atop one of the unknown roofs, Ozul gazed at the numerous lives busy in the meaningless struggles of life.


    In hisp was the only being alive that could soothe his mind instantly. Curled in an unimaginative way, Jinx furiously licked her paws.


    ¡°Really... who are you?¡±


    His words swayed with the winds as they carried it to a kingdom not named.


    As if he had never expected a reply anyway, he looked up and gazed at the horizon.


    Countless years had passed since the day he was born.


    His birth mother wanted him to live by being true to himself. It might have not been difficult for anyone else, but for him who didn¡¯t even understand his own being, such a thing was close to impossible.


    The voice he had heard earlier in his head belonged to that silver-haireddy. Even on her death bed, she sounded so pleasant that he could close his eyes infort.


    She who, at the time of his birth, had given him the task of ¡®be yourself¡¯.


    ¡®...Is it really necessary that I heed her wishes merely because she gave me this life?¡¯ He felt conflicted.


    Jinx paused and stared into his eyes.


    For some unexinable reasons, Ozul was certain that she somehow understood what he was contemting at this exact moment.


    It felt as if she knew all the answers to his questions. As if the only thing stopping her from spilling all the secrets was her inability to speak.


    He began questioning everything.


    There was a strange hunger of curiosity bubbling inside of him, just like it used to when lived with Grandma Carol. The olddy who cared for him, the one who taught him many things even if he was a little shy to admit it.


    ¡®There is no point in thinking about them. Both of them are both dead.¡¯ He shook his head as if reprimanding himself for wasting his time on these useless and meaningless thoughts.


    ¡®Meaningless, huh...¡¯ What if all he had done until now was all for naught?


    Jolting himself up, he forcibly put a stop to those feelings and tried to focus on the task at hand.


    He wasn¡¯t able to control his unrest any longer. He just had to try and absorb a Core from this Realm and determine if he had any means of getting stronger left. If he didn¡¯t, he could already guess the unstoppable torrent of misery swelling inside of him.


    With just this much power, he knew that he would never be able to go against Old Man Gu or his subordinate for that matter, much less the people who were at the absolute pinnacle.


    It was still dark everywhere, the only illumination was from the oilmps and decorating crystals on the streets.


    Forming The Purity from his body, he rose above and sped in a certain direction.


    Jinx had also jumped on his shoulders and was somehow able to stay perfectly bnced.


    The direction he was headed in had a vast forest spreading to the horizon.


    He had decided to get a Spiritual Core and getting one from a Beast was the easiest method. Attacking a cultivator human in any of the cities would cause quite amotion.


    Although he wondered what Ember would think if she knew that he was going to hunt a wild Beast for a Spiritual Core.


    Not long after, he arrived in the forest and put a mental strain on his body to expand his senses as far as he could.


    Anything that contained even a bit of excess Spiritual Essence than normal was marked in his mind as a target.


    He found his target; a red snake emitting enough heat to scare away all predators around it. Even as it was curled in a mound, it stayed vignt of its surroundings.


    Unfortunately for the snake, it was immediately shredded into pieces as Ozul wasn¡¯t patient at this moment. He searched the bloody mess to find the Spiritual Core but was disappointed as it turned out that the snake hadn¡¯t formed a Core yet.


    Ozul didn¡¯t give up. He quickly searched for another target and just like the red snake, the wild panther was torn to pieces and dissected in a matter of seconds.


    As if fate wasn¡¯t having any of his tantrums, he was again faced with disappointment as the panther also hadn¡¯t formed a Core yet.


    ¡®The panther was clearly skies above the red snake in terms of Spiritual Essence...¡¯ he wondered in distress. Even when he had no time limit, the reminiscence from before had arose a sense of urgency in him.


    It was a time of trepidation in this forest as a bloody massacre began and ended only before the Star rose to illuminate the abhorrent smell of blood and bones that stained almost every tree in the surroundings.


    The parts of the forest which were around the outskirts of this city were reeking of the smell and ringing with howls of wild Beasts who all felt that it was time to migrate.


    Some of the intelligent ones trembled in fear while others feasted on the remains of these Beasts. It was free food for everyone.


    ...


    Uncaring of themotion and unrest he had caused among the wild Beasts, Ozul rested against a tree with blood smeared all over his clothes.


    Even his hair weren¡¯t spared from the stains.


    Only Jinx remained unsoiled as she watched him tired and beaten, powerless to do anything.


    Though Ozul didn¡¯t seem to care that he had exhausted himself only toe to the conclusion that Beasts here had no Spiritual Core at all!


    ¡®Heh... Should have asked the olddy instead...¡¯


    After a while, he recovered his stamina and stood up with a groan.


    If the Beasts here had no Spiritual Core, then it seemed that he could only go for a human.


    Going after Beastkin was even more troublesome as the only ones he knew were under Ember and she wouldn¡¯t let him do anything to her people.


    Summoning The Purity out of his body again, he was ready to take off and find a lone cultivator even if it took a few days.


    .....


    Before he could fly, however, he heard the soft noise which made him halt instantly,


    *meow...*


    ¡®Hm?¡¯


    He stared down at her curiously.


    As he lost himself in the depth of her intelligent eyes, something clicked inside him. He instinctively knew what she wanted.


    ¡®...You want me to follow you?¡¯

 Chapter 373

    Chapter 373: Death Arena.


    ¡®...You want me to follow you?¡¯


    Ozul looked down at her, wondering what she was up to now.


    Not giving him the time to contemte whether to follow her or hunt down a human for the Spiritual Core, Jinx lept towards a tree and threatened to disappear into the woods in a matter of seconds.


    Sighing for an umpteenth time, Ozul finally decided to follow him.


    He followed her trail from the depths of the forest. He didn¡¯t even care to remember the path he was taking.


    What felt like an hour passed in a few moments and he slowly began to feel the Spiritual Traces of humans.


    After the Spiritual Traces, he also began to notice the trees gradually decreasing until he was on a in with human streets and some old houses.


    .....


    They had arrived in a town.


    Whether it was the same town or a different one, he wouldn¡¯t know.


    Currently, he was battling his existential crisis. If it wasn¡¯t for Jinx, he would have at least wasted a couple of days in istion to battle his mind before he made a move.


    Jinx turned around corners with fewer and fewer people.


    Later, Ozul arrived on a street with little light. He had alreadyposed himself while on the way when he sensed the Spiritual Essence spikesing from the direction Jinx had led him.


    At some point, Jinx turned a corner and as he followed suit, he was taken aback as she seemed to have disappeared suddenly.


    In ce of Jinx had appeared a crowd of people, which he assessed, consisted mostly of cultivators.


    Curious as to why there was such amotion in the middle of nowhere, he stepped forward catching people¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Who is he?¡±


    ¡°He has no Spiritual Essence, what is he doing here alone?¡±


    With his abnormal hearing, he listened to the murmurs of people around him. It seemed to be a ce for cultivators.


    Soon enough, he understood what this ce was as he read the sign boards and listened to the conversations of the people around him. It was a fighting arena where people fought to the death.


    It seemed like the crowd had gathered here since the gates of the arena hadn¡¯t opened yet. He also found the gates in question as they were guarded by two women who were both in the Nascent Soul Realm at the first stage Soul Nurturing.


    At first, he was confused as to why Jinx had brought him here, but as he heard the rules of this arena, he understood the reason.


    He got to know that the arena had a betting system where both participants would hand over some of their valuables as well. The winning person would win not only the other person¡¯s life but everything that they had on them before stepping up to the tform. This included even the corpse of their opponent.


    ¡®This is exactly what I wanted...¡¯ As long as he could own the corpse of a human cultivator, it meant that he also held ownership of their Spiritual Core.


    This seemed to be the most effective way possible for him to get his hands on a Spiritual Core right now.


    He thanked Jinx in his heart before leaving the area.


    He couldn¡¯t let others see his face during the fight.


    Some time passed as he kept an eye on the ce. After the gates opened, the crowd of cultivators quickly dispersed. Seeing no one else on the street, Ozul contemted whether it was easier to just kill the two women at the entrance and be done with.


    After all, considering the nature of this business, he knew there won¡¯t be amotion in the public.


    But he quickly rejected that thought. Even if it wouldn¡¯t cause a publicmotion, he didn¡¯t know whether those two women had some kind of artifact on them that could cause him trouble.


    ¡®I can¡¯t take any chances since the owner of this arena could be someone troublesome.¡¯


    He was certain that the town where Raven, ze, and Zier were residing wasn¡¯t the same as this one. He didn¡¯t even know the name of this town, much less have any idea who could be behind this fighting arena.


    Sighing once again, he stepped towards the gates and was stopped by the two female guards who each held a long spear in their hands.


    ¡°Entry requires a fee,¡± one of them spat coldly.


    ¡°I want to participate.¡±


    The women eyed each other for a second before one of them nodded and the other turned out, ¡°Follow me,¡± she said before bringing him inside.


    Right as Ozul stepped inside the gates, the mor and screaming of the crowd reached his ears. It was nothing like that in the alley. He knew they had used some sound barriers as well.


    What he didn¡¯t know, however, was that these type of deathpetitions were all frowned upon. Some countries had even banned it and severely punished those who dared to organize them.


    One of the kingdoms that prohibited such practices was the Blue Lion Kingdom, which is where he was at the time.


    They arrived in front of another woman who, for some reason, had her face covered just like Ozul. She stood behind a counter and appeared to be some sort of manager.


    ¡°He is here for participation,¡± the woman with the spear told her before turning around and heading back towards the gate.


    The other woman who had her face covered sized up Ozul and asked, ¡°Do you have anything else to bet other than your life?¡±


    Realizing that he had nothing on him right now, he shook his head in response.


    ¡°Hm... That¡¯ll be hard considering how scrawny you look. Alright, you can follow this path and rest on the benches. I will inform you if any of the participants agree to fight you,¡± thedy instructed before throwing a wooden badge at him.


    A spear was etched onto its surface. It served as proof of his identity as a participant.


    Ozul sat on the first bench he saw and waited patiently.


    Many other participants passed by but they were all wary of each other.


    Some hours passed by quickly. He saw many of the participants called together as two. Some would return immediately while others never returned.


    Only when he was called by the maskeddy did he realize what was happening.


    She was calling them to confirm if they agreed to fight each other till death. Those who never returned were the ones who agreed and one of them died, while the other left happily with their loot.


    He was called together with another man who didn¡¯t have a significantly huge build. Ozul assessed him to be at the first stage of the Core Formation Realm.


    There were many others who were at the same stage, but he seemed exceptionally weak amongst all of them.


    He was called here because that man had agreed to fight him and he only had to say yes before the fight would begin.


    ...


    The fight started as both of them were brought to the stage. It was surrounded by the cheering and booing of the crowd.


    It ended pretty quickly as Ozul acted as if he was struggling a little before he coated his hand with The Purity. It looked like he had won with his physical strength alone as all he needed was a punch to break his opponent¡¯s ribs which punctured his internal organs and he died on the spot.


    Before they even announced his victory, he took the corpse off the stage and arrived at a spot where there weren¡¯t any people around.


    He quickly tore through that man¡¯s chest and struggled through his internal organs to find the Spiritual Core.


    He took it out from that man¡¯s chest and examined it very carefully. It emitted weak albiet purer pulses of Spiritual Essence than in the environment.


    ¡®This would barely make a difference...¡¯


    Since he had nothing else to bet, his opponent also hadn¡¯t put forth any of his belongings. Hence, the only reward for him was this delicate little ball which held his lifetime¡¯s efforts of gathering Spiritual Essence.


    ¡®If it¡¯s so easy to get one... I might as well get a better one,¡¯ Ozul knew what he had to do.


    He went back to the reception and ced the Spiritual Core before the maskeddy.


    ¡°I will bet this as well this time. I will fight anyone who is at least at the second stage of the Core Formation Realm or greater.¡±


    The maskeddy gave him a strange look as she used a piece of cloth to pick up the Spiritual Core. She nodded towards him and said, ¡°I will let you know when someone epts.¡±


    Before he turned around to head towards the sitting area, she didn¡¯t fail to mention, ¡°Although, since you beat up the previous guy so easily, some are more willing to try their luck on you. It won¡¯t be long this time.¡±


    Ozul didn¡¯t respond and proceeded to ¡®rest¡¯.


    True to her words, the maskeddy came to him merely half an hourter. She called him and another woman cultivator who had scars all over her body or at least the parts which were exposed.


    As he stepped up the stage, this time the cheering drowned the booing. More people were excited this time.


    Ozul paid them no heed and got ready for the battle.


    ...


    The woman fought like a frecious beast on the verge of death.


    Though he could have killed her anytime he wanted, he pretended to have a hard time as he blocked most of her blows.


    Only after a few minutes did he decide that it was enough so he finished her off with two punches to the gut. This time too he coated his hands with The Purity instead of using it separately.


    He did all of that so he wouldn¡¯t catch anyone¡¯s eyes.


    There were no doubt quite a few strong people around this arena, though he needed to focus on them for quite a bit if he wanted to pin their exact location amidst such a big crowd. There were thousands of people here.


    Ignoring the crowd¡¯s raucous apuse, he dragged the woman¡¯s corpse to another discreet ce off the stage and mercilessly ripped her chest apart.


    He took out the Core and he was satisfied at least to see that the pulses of Spiritual Essence from this one were enough for him to at least test his theory.


    Having found what he wanted, he didn¡¯t waste any more time here and exited the arena.


    Walking out the gates, he turned around the corner and seemingly disappeared into thin air.


    .....


    If he looked at his actions right now, he wouldn¡¯t be far from imitating the mysterious cat whose talent to vanish into thin air had so captivated him.

 Chapter 374

    Chapter 374: Felt Warm.


    As Ozul disappeared from the alley, he didn¡¯t notice the unusual disturbance of Spiritual Essence in the atmosphere.


    But even if he did, he wouldn¡¯t have figured out that someone was keeping watch over the area. There was a curious eye, which despite him trying to hide his peculiarity, was able to notice something special in him.


    Unaware of this fact, Ozul sped towards the forest to find a secluded area. If it was anything like consuming a Mana Core, he would cause quite amotion if he tried to absorb the Spiritual Core inside the city.


    Using The Purity could help contain it but he didn¡¯t want to risk it now.


    ...


    Soon he found a ce with no disturbances in the Spiritual Essence. It meant that there wasn¡¯t anything living in the area except for the trees.


    On his way here, he had already washed off the blood from the Core as he had created quite a mess while taking it out from that woman¡¯s body.


    .....


    Anxious to test this onest method he had in his mind, he quickly put it in his mouth.


    As if ciers melting and flowing into rivers, the Spiritual Core also melted. Like a stream of water, it rushed down his throat.


    Before he could figure out what was happening with it, the stream of Spiritual Essence suddenly disappeared!


    He couldn¡¯t feel it anywhere in his body!


    A hollowness filled his chest as he gasped involuntarily.


    Something was churning inside of him, but he held himself up.


    Instinctively, he willed The Purity to surround him andpletely shut him off from the outside.


    And like it always happened, a torrent of energy gushed out of his body, jumping in all possible directions.


    A few momentster, The Purity receded back in his body, revealing the sweaty figure of Ozul who hadplicated expressions on his face.


    Consuming the Core had suddenly unlocked something in his body that he didn¡¯t know was there. This unusual phenomenon always urred when he allowed something in his body and it epted the ¡®offering¡¯.


    The feeling of being a resident in his own physical body was not in any way pleasant. However, he was still satisfied with the results.


    He had atst figured out how to grow stronger again.


    However, the feeling of satisfaction was short-lived because it was smothered by concerns about the future.


    Even this might notst long, he reasoned, and he was already making ns to get something else to devour. He had at least established that ingesting suitable energy sources made him stronger.


    His body, like a haughty aristocrat, preferred to receive the Spiritual Essence already filtered rather than attempt to purify it on its own.


    Even then, almost 90% of it would be ejected in a matter of seconds!


    The torrent of energy had already switched to a warm current that spread through his body.


    Although he hadn¡¯t gotten significantly stronger, he had understood that consuming the Spiritual Cores of higher-ranked cultivators would make a noticeable difference.


    Now the question remained on how he would be able to acquire so many Spiritual Cores.


    ¡®To achieve any significant growth, I would need the Core of someone at the Nascent Soul Realm... or no less than quite a few Cores of people at the peak of Core Formation Realm,¡¯ he estimated in his head.


    Considering that he barely felt the changes with someone at the second stage of Core Formation, it was clear that even a hundred of such Cores wouldn¡¯t make much of a difference.


    ¡®Killing so many people would be troublesome... Should I ask Ember?¡¯ he pondered while slowly walking in the direction he hade from.


    Having once been at the Sage Realm, she would surely collected many high quality Spiritual Cores, he assumed.


    ...


    Ozul flew at a lightning speed, rushing back to the town he had left the trio in.


    Before leaving, he expected it would at least take him a few days before he could test his theory about the Spiritual Core. With Jinx¡¯s help, though, it only took a day for him to be able to get his hands on them.


    Thinking about Jinx, a warm feeling arose inside his chest. That strange little cat always felt closer to him than anything else. Moreover, the fact that she would alwayse to help him only increased his fondness of her.


    Arriving at the hotel, he sensed the presence of only Raven inside the room.


    He stretched his sense to locate the two missing boys. Though he could tell their presence anywhere nearby.


    He made his way towards the room with quickened steps.


    The door opened before he could even put his hand on it. The familiar face greeted him with a beaming smile.


    Raven was obviously d that he had returned in just a single day.


    Ozul swept his eyes around the room and asked, ¡°Where are those two?¡± He found it interesting that she could tell it was him just from the footsteps.


    ¡°ze was itching to learn his Spiritual Arts and Zier also wanted to test his silver needles.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go then?¡± He squinted his eyes at her-something was off but he couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on it.


    Unpreturbed by the scrutiny, Raven smiled softly and shrugged, ¡°I didn¡¯t need to.¡±


    His gaze lingered on her for a little longer before he sighed and chose not to say anything. He had no right to continue asking when he knew very well that he always replied the same way.


    ¡®Did she learn that from me?¡¯ he gave it a passing thought before locating the bed and throwing himself on it.


    On his way here, he had already looked at the busy areas of this town and to his disappointment, there weren¡¯t any artifact shops muchless an auction house. He wanted to see if he could buy Spiritual Cores with money.


    If he remembered correctly, they did have about nine or ten of the Medium-grade Spirit Stones in total.


    Now that he had found a bed to sleep on, he didn¡¯t want to venture to a city where he could look for auction or a shop of cultivators.


    ¡®That would be a hassle...¡¯ he rejected the idea of going out before giving in to his desires and dozed off.


    By his side, he seemed to have ignored a curious being who, if allowed to, could drill a hole in him with her intense stares only.


    Though seeing him sleeping so peacefully, Raven let go of her curiosity and queitly inched towards the opposite corner to practice the Scarlet Eyes.


    She had already gone through the entire book multiple times but hadn¡¯t been able to menifest the Scarlet Eyes. Afterprehending the logic and the steps behind the Spiritual Art, one would think that she onlycked in practice.


    Sadly, it wasn¡¯t the case.


    The Scarlet Eyes were indeed a little special. One couldn¡¯t simply learn the technique and be able to use it the next day.


    Eyes were a sensitive organ that even the strongest of beings would have as a weakness hence a Spiritual Art pertaining to the eyes were few and rare.


    This Spiritual Art created by Ember required for the cultivator to imbue their Spiritual Essence slowly to the tissues of their eyes first. Only once they were strengthened could they then reinforce certain nerves.


    As of now, Raven was focused on strenghtening the tissues around the eyes and even that was proving to be extremely difficult.


    At the beginning of the Core Formation, her control over the Spiritual Essence was far superior than the normal cultivator¡¯s, yet it was hardly sufficient for carrying out this demanding work.


    Even in the book Ember had stressed on it many times that if one didn¡¯t have sufficient control over their Spiritual Essence, they would most probably be heading towards either blindness or even death.


    After all, even a single string of Spiritual Essence when let out of control, could create a mess of one¡¯s insides. Eyes would most probably burst the moment something like that happened.


    So Raven only took the tiniest amount of Spiritual Essence at a time.


    One would think that controlling a tiny trace of it would be easier than taking out a stream of Spiritual Essence, but they would be entirely wrong.


    The Spiritual Essence gave off the impression of being self governing. The majority of cultivators could only very minimally move it at the Core Formation Realm before it began to flow on its own. At this point, it took a great deal of effort to direct its entire course.


    She had already added the Spiritual Essence to the tissues several times by this point. A headache attacked her and her eyes were felt heavy, but she wasn¡¯t about to give up just yet.


    The viens protruding out from her temples throbbed rhythmically.


    Despite the pain, she was nning to continue when a cold hand grasped her shoulder.


    ¡°Stop it.¡±


    The indifferent voice rang out in the room with a hint of chilliness to it.


    There was no room for negotiation, Raven knew that the moment her weary eyes met with his.


    ¡°I...¡± she wanted to say something, but no word came out of her mouth. Those words were used countless times before as well.


    ¡°If you want to die, leave now. I don¡¯t want to look at your dead body,¡± Ozul spoke as his hand reached towards her face and wiped the tear of blood that trailed down to her cheeks.


    Not giving her a chance to say anything, he turned around and went back to the bed.


    Raven was left there staring at the emptiness, trying to contain her conflicting emotions.


    ¡®His hand felt warm...¡¯

 Chapter 375

    Chapter 375: Emergency.


    As Raven dealt with her bubbling feelings that she forcefully suppressed, Ozul drifted off to sleep with his own thoughts.


    This had been on his mind for a very long time now but he had always been putting it off forter.


    ¡®It would be understandable in the case of Raven since she had no one else to rely on but me...¡¯ he couldn¡¯t put his fingers on it, but something was evidently off. ¡®Maybe even ze¡¯s case can be dismissed as he had no meaning to his life after massacring his vige... but what about Zier?¡¯


    Even now, he felt that sickly kid was somewhat wary of them. Yet, he went ahead with everything that he ordered him to do.


    His case had made him wonder about Raven and ze as well. Why were they willing toy down their lives for him?


    As he rxed in the arms of the illusory nothingness he had made for himself in the name of sleep, Ozul pondered these concerns to himself.


    He felt a little too at ease when all he could see was ckness, which in this world seemed to be only attainable if he closed his eyes.


    .....


    . . .


    He thought deeply on the matter but there were no conclusive results.


    ¡®Do they have anything other than that they all are geniuses whenpared to others?¡¯


    Sometimeter, ze and Zier returned, drenched in their own sweat.


    Seeing Ozul and Raven both resting, they made sure to be extra quiet while moving across the room.


    ze removed his shirt in the corner, exposing his towering, nearly peerless body.


    Looking over his shoulder, Zier couldn¡¯t help but admire his physique, secretlyparing it to his stunted muscles.


    ¡°Pst!¡± he whispered, ¡°Why do you not have a single scar on your body?¡±


    This was the most fascinating thing that had caught Zier¡¯s eyes. Even he, who barely had any life-threatening experiences had a few visible cuts here and there. Even so, the battle maniac in front of him looked like a sheltered noble brat who had never left his home!


    ¡°Ozul frequently used The Purity to heal mine and Raven¡¯s injuries.¡±


    ze answered him offhandedly. In response, Zier made an enlightened face as he remembered the time that Ozul had also healed his injuries by strapping The Purity on the wounds.


    Having gotten his answer, he continued to poke questions at ze who gradually started getting irritated.


    Unknown to them, their conversation had sparked something new in Ozul¡¯s mind.


    ¡®The Purity!¡¯


    There was something else they all had inmon. And it was the fact that he had healed them whenever they were even slightly injured!


    He even remembered that he had once examined Raven and ze¡¯s internals and minute traces of The Purity were circting around their bloodstreams, though it didn¡¯t seem to have any effect on them physically.


    Opening his eyes, he stood up from his bed, and to confirm his suspicions, he abruptly approached Zier.


    The person in question was startled as he saw Ozul walk toward him with such a fiery gleam in his eyes.


    ¡°Sit down and meditate.¡±


    Zier gulped in apprehension butplied without asking for reasons. Ozul seemed in quite a hurry.


    He sat down and focused on his breathing. They had just returned after exhausting themselves, so he battled to rx his body.


    A minuteter, Ozul also sat down and pressed his palm against Zier¡¯s back.


    He transmitted his senses into Zier¡¯s body and to him, it felt as if he could physically travel through even his veins!


    As he passed this strange vision to his Spiritual Core, he didn¡¯t have to think twice about what those minute ck particles that revolved around the Core were.


    It was the Scent.1


    The same Scent that had also found its way inside Raven and ze.


    ¡®It was also used to make those healing potions...¡¯ he internally retched at the distant memory.


    Whenparing the two scenarios, it was evident that the Scent invaded the trio because he had consistently healed them over the years. The same couldn¡¯t be stated for Zier because he had only recently joined them, but it would still be urate because the amount of Scent swirling around his Core was significantly lesser than that of Raven and ze.


    ¡®That may be the case, but I simply can¡¯t test if the Scent really does influence their minds to be loyal to me...¡¯


    Doubtful, Ozul shook his head in irritation. It was yet another mystery that he had no way of solving.


    Unless he had the patience to slowly inject the Scent into random beings and test their behavior.


    It would take too long and they didn¡¯t have so much time on their hands.


    In reality, they had nothing to do right now except for training, so he did have enough time on his hands but he couldn¡¯t be bothered with such a tiring thing. Though he wouldn¡¯t admit it.


    . . .


    The next day, the trio was busy training their Spiritual Arts and cultivating while Ozul simply passed the time as hey there on the bed.


    He was trying to think up of other ways he could get his hands on higher quality Spiritual Core. Going to that death arena was one of the ways, but it wasn¡¯t efficient.


    There were many cultivators there but most of them were at the first or the second stage of the Core Formation Realm. He had only seen two people at the peak of the Core Formation.


    Even if there were any cultivators in the Nascent Soul Realm, killing even a single one would put him in the eyes of some unsavory people.


    ¡®That leaves me only two options; either I find some battlefield and kill random people to collect Spiritual Cores, or I ask for those from that olddy.¡¯


    For the former option, he would have to look for at least two kingdoms at war. As for thetter, the olddy had made it clear that she would take her sweet time before giving him another task.


    ¡®Is the death arena my only choice then...?¡¯ he was contemting when he felt an immediate flux in the Spiritual Essence. Though minuscule, it was enough to catch his attention.


    He got up to witness Raven looking at one of her rings. She seemed a little startled at first and then poured some of her Spiritual Essence in the ring.


    Ozul remembered that it was themunication ring that the olddy Ember had given them.


    Raven felt like in a daze for a few seconds before looking up towards Ozul.


    ¡°Ember needs you.¡±


    Raising his eyebrows in a surprise, a much pleasant one, Ozul couldn¡¯t help but mutter to himself, ¡°lt¡¯s thetter option after all.¡±


    In confusion, ze and Zier couldn¡¯t help but turn toward Raven only to be disappointed as she didn¡¯t know about these options either.


    ¡°You guys cultivate. It might take me a while, but I will be back here,¡± Ozul spoke while walking towards the door. Before leaving, he didn¡¯t forget to give Raven ¡®the eyes¡¯.


    Raven could only smile awkwardly in response.


    After Ozul left, ze smiled slyly, ¡°You messed up again huh~¡±


    The temperature in the room started dropping rapidly as Zier moved to the corner of the room. Even with a fresh start, he could obviously neverpete with these two.


    . . .


    Ozul arrived at the alley where the teleportation gate was hidden.


    He walked right through the old wooden door as if it was just an illusion.


    This time he kept his senses focused on the fluctuations of the Spiritual Essence and as the scenery changed in front of his eyes, he still found it hard that the waves of Spiritual Essence were so weak despite being teleported to apletely different location.


    Before he could even ponder on these thoughts, his sight was blocked by a tall person with a hood covering their face.


    ¡°You needed-¡±


    He hadn¡¯t even finished his sentence when Ember removed her hood and dashed towards the gate.


    She motioned to the gatekeeper, who drew a little crystal from his Spatial Ring and poured his Spiritual Essence into it.


    Only Ozul, however, could sense the passage of Spiritual Essence.


    The crystal began to shine at one point, and the gate began to produce a dim light at the same time.


    Ember turned her face just enough to meet Ozul¡¯s eyes and explicitly worded, ¡°Follow me,¡± before disappearing through the gate.


    He had no option but to follow her as they emerged in an entirely foreign area. As he had predicted, their location was yet another bleak fringes of a city where only the most miserable people lived.


    ¡°I would like it if you first exin the situation,¡± Ozul spoke firmly to hold Ember down when he noticed her trying to rush somewhere.


    ¡°I know... I know... But this ce is not safe either,¡± Ember replied in an understanding manner. She was in a hurry, but she hadn¡¯t lost her mind.


    Ozul nodded and finally decided to follow her to an even more remote ce.


    He couldn¡¯t even sense a single trace of life near them when Ember stopped, ¡°There should be no one here.¡±


    Ozul made a thoughtful face while appreciating Ember¡¯s senses.


    ¡®She really does have many tricks up her sleeve.¡¯


    ¡°You already know that it¡¯s an emergency. So, I wille straight to the point,¡± she took a deep breath and continued, ¡°Some of my people are caught and are probably going to be interrogated.¡±


    Ozul squinted his eyes. If that was the case, then the situation was really dire for the olddy.


    ¡°I want them dead before they break.¡±


    .....

 Chapter 376

    Chapter 376: Ruthless Woman.


    ¡°I want them dead before they can utter a word.¡±


    Ozul could feel the desperation in her voice; he didn¡¯t even need to probe her troubled emotions.


    Feeling the unperturbed gaze on her, Emberposed herself.


    ¡°How dangerous is it?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...At least give me a vague estimate of their strength?¡±


    Ember was at a loss for words when faced with his questions. It was a given that he wouldn¡¯t have jumped to help her without even knowing the danger.


    .....


    ¡®No. In the first ce, it was stupid for me to even suggest such a thing... but I have no choice.¡¯ She bit her lips, a bitter lump stuck in her throat.


    ¡°...There would definitely be someone at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm.¡±


    The olddy tried her best to avoid his eyes, but her wrinkled face couldn¡¯t hide her worries.


    ¡°Is that it?¡± Ozul pressed.


    Sighing a mouthful of foul air, Ember knew that she had toe clean. There was no point in hiding anything, ¡°There is a small chance that someone at the Origin Realm might be involved. Though it¡¯s highly unlikely.¡±


    Ozul shook his head, ¡°Do you think your ns and calctions going awry was likely?¡±


    The olddy was forced to suck in another mouthful of cold breath. He had a point. The current situation waspletely unexpected. It could only be possible with the involvement of an unknown party who could very well be stronger than her estimates.


    Seeing her so defeated was a first for Ozul.


    But he also understood that there could be too much at stake for her to act this way.


    Shaking his head, he didn¡¯t ept throwing himself into a pit he couldn¡¯t crawl out of, ¡°I don¡¯t ept such deals-¡±


    ¡°I know what I am asking of you is unreasonable. However, rest assured that you will bepensated just as much.¡± She looked down at the ground, resigning to fate, ¡°Besides, you should abandon the mission if you determine the situation to be unsalvageable...¡±


    Ozul squinted his eyes in suspicion. However, her emotions couldn¡¯t be deceiving. She was indeed sincere.


    ¡®Has shee to her senses?¡¯ A little surprised, Ozul wondered what the olddy was thinking before it finally hit him, ¡®She doesn¡¯t want to lose an important asset over a potentially lost situation...¡¯


    ¡®That¡¯s a first from her.¡¯


    After all, even when her subordinates were captured, her priority was to get them killed instead of rescued.


    ¡®She is a ruthless woman...¡¯


    Ember wasn¡¯t fazed when she met his critical scrutiny. If he didn¡¯t agree to her request, she could only bitterly face the consequences of this situation.


    ¡°Do you have Spiritual Cores?¡± Ozul inquired.


    ¡°??..Spiritual Cores?¡± Ember questioned, wondering what Spiritual Cores had to do with this situation.


    ¡°Do you have them or not?¡±


    ¡°... I do.¡±


    ¡°Great. However, keep in mind that even if I return without killing your people, you will have topensate me for taking the risk. Can we work with that?¡± Ozul¡¯s tone suggested no room for negotiation. He was sacrificing his precious sleep for this. He wouldn¡¯t take it if he stood to gain nothing in the end.


    ¡°Wait- you only want Spiritual Cores? Are you sure?¡±


    Ozul nodded, ¡°It would be best if they are of the Nascent Soul Realm.¡±


    ¡°Alright. You have my word that you will be rewarded generously,¡± Ember promised confidently. She was ready to ept much more ridiculous demands from him, but it seemed that she could never guess what went on in his cunning mind.


    When she looked at his face, for a moment, it felt as if his lips were curled in a feint smile.


    ¡®I must be daydreaming...¡¯


    . . .


    Ozul was rushing in a certain direction towards the outskirts of the city.


    Ember had exined all the details of the situation to him. She had hired a capable group of people to do certain things for her. Although they knew almost nothing about her, it would still cause her endless troubles if the specifics of their mission were leaked to the humans.


    As for what exactly that mission was, she didn¡¯t even tell him.


    Ember only knew the general area where those mercenaries were held captive. She hadn¡¯t had the time to confirm their exact whereabouts. So it was up to him to find them as well.


    ¡°That won¡¯t be an issue...¡±


    He muttered as he could virtually see the density of Spiritual Essence in one of the ces highly concentrated than the rest.


    He slowed down so as to not alert the enemies. Even though he was still a mile away from that area, the collective pressure of their Spiritual Essence equaled that of a powerhouse that wouldn¡¯t be ignored by anyone in this and even the surrounding kingdoms.


    ¡®This seems almost impossible... but I have yet to assess their strengths,¡¯ Ozul could tell that confronting them openly would be his sure defeat.


    ¡®Not only are there a couple of people at the second stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, but that pressure is definitely from someone at the peak of the Nascent Soul.¡¯


    Suddenly Ozul remembered that Ember, that olddy, was half a step into the Origin Realm, yet he never felt such pressure from her.


    Realizing that she was hiding her strength all along and he wasn¡¯t aware of it, he bitterly shook his head, ¡®I keep underestimating her...¡¯


    Turning his focus back on the building which seemed to be a rundown warehouse surrounded by trees and vegetation.


    He was suspended in the air and had an unhindered view of the entirendscape.


    ¡®They are no ordinary men,¡¯ he thought as he noticed the situation.


    From the surges of the Spiritual Essence, there were about twenty cultivators surrounding the warehouse, yet he could only locate half of them visually.


    All of them seemed well-versed in hiding their presence.


    Unfortunately for them, it was useless against Ozul who was so sensitive to everything around him that even wild beasts couldn¡¯tpete with him.


    ¡°This will be tricky,¡± he muttered under his breath.


    His biggest advantage in these situations had always been hisck of presence.


    Once he stopped letting his body suck in the Spiritual Essence, around him it acted as if he was any regr inanimate object.


    The same thing used to happen with Mana in his previous Realm.


    Disturbances in the flow of Spiritual Essence is usually the main indicator that there is a living being in the near vicinity.


    Unless these cultivators looked for other changes in the environment, they could never sense his presence.


    Taking advantage of a strong breeze, he rushed near the torn-out building.


    It got harder with each step as he had to be mindful of all the people scattered about.


    Fortunately, he had also honed the art ofpletely hiding his presence. Even in the normal routine, his footsteps had stopped making any noise.


    Peeking from behind a tree with a thick canopy, Ozul could see the entrance to the warehouse.


    The warehouse was big enough topete with a small manor in the city, but most of the people here were at the second stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.


    The entrance was in his view, but there was no possible way that he could enter without being attacked by ten of those people at the same time.


    ¡®Should I kill them one by one?¡¯


    He contemted that thought before pushing it to the back of his mind.


    It would be close to impossible even if he tried to assassinate everyone quietly.


    Killing even one of them would surely alert the rest as even if he didn¡¯t have any trace of Spiritual Essence, these people did. The death of someone at the Soul Liberation stage of the Nascent Soul Realm would surely turn all the heads in his direction.


    The wind rustled the leaves, but the thick crown of trees barely moved.


    ¡®Those people are certainly inside...¡¯


    He was in a dilemma now since the situation had be a little tooplicated.


    It was like a ho¡¯s nest.


    And he didn¡¯t know if it was worth it to go through a swarm of hos just for some Spiritual Cores.


    ¡®But I would be getting Spiritual Cores of the Nascent Soul Realm...¡¯


    In the end, he cursed himself before deciding to just go ahead with it.


    ¡®If I just y a little dirty, dealing with the second stage Nascent Soul Realms would be possible. I am not confident about the peak Nascent Soul Realm guy sitting inside... But I can always run away from him.¡¯


    He was confident in his ability to escape a chase if it came down to it.


    ¡®It¡¯s fortunate that there is no one at the Origin Realm.¡¯ Ozul could imagine how troublesome an Origin Realm cultivator would have been.


    Even now, he didn¡¯t n on a direct confrontation. Though it seemed impossible to avoid, he would dy it for as long as he could.


    .....


    Ember had told him that there were a total of twelve people held captive, but he could only sense the presence of eleven such people in one of the corners.


    ¡®Is one of them already dead?¡¯ he wondered, closing his eyes and concentrating his focus inside the building.


    ¡®There he is...¡¯ In his mind, he could form the picture of a dead body lying beside the group of eleven people, rotting in front of his ownrades.


    He breathed a sigh of relief since the absence of one of them could mean that they were being interrogated right this instant.


    Having found his targets¡¯ location, he took a deep breath and once again checked his surroundings.


    Hiding in the canopy of one of the trees, he slowly siphoned traces of The Purity and gradually formed a bubble of ck mist that he had a hard time controlling.


    If he had a blood pumping heart in his body, his veins would have started bulging under sheer mental stress.


    ¡®This better do the trick...¡¯

 Chapter 377

    Chapter 377: Unweed Arrival.


    ¡®This better do the trick...¡¯


    Concentrating his entire focus on this mist bubble, he started moving it towards the building.


    If someone had extremely sharp eyes and looked at the ck mist carefully, they would notice how wobbly it was.


    Even though it was The Purity, which seemed nothing more than an extension of his own body in a strange way, controlling just a tiny part while it was so thinned and spread out was difficult.


    Like a liquid filled in a container, it tried to escape in all directions.


    It continuously wobbled around, though it was only so clear in Ozul¡¯s eyes. To anyone else, they couldn¡¯t even feel as The Purity enveloped them.


    From wherever the mist passed, he felt as if he was physically there. It felt like his own hands and feet were there in that space, having the ability to do whatever he pleased.


    .....


    But this feeling of control also came with a heavy toll on his body.


    ¡®I can¡¯t maintain the mist for long.¡¯ Ozul gritted his teeth,¡¯ I have to finish this as soon as possible.¡¯


    The hidden veil of mist passed through everything and entered the building without much difficulty. The people standing guard outside didn¡¯t even bat an eye as The Purity surrounded them.


    At that point, their lives were solely in his hands. If he wanted to, he could kill them with a single thought.


    However, that was not his objective. He was here to kill the captives.


    As the mist entered the building, Ozul became cautious. He was able to receive a better perspective of the situation inside the warehouse, but he had to be careful since the peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivator was there.


    ¡®It all depends on whether he can detect the presence of The Purity,¡¯ Ozul thought to himself before carefully guiding the mist towards a bleak corner.


    The captives were held around the middle of the building, and the peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivator seemed to be conversing with the miserable group of people.


    ¡®The more the mist gets closer to the center, the more I risk being discovered.¡¯


    Ozul had to contemte here. From the distance of his mist, before he could form solid projectiles to shoot toward the group, ¡®that¡¯ person had the capability to save at least a few of them.


    Shaking his head in useless worries, ¡®I will have to get closer.¡¯


    His n was simple and precise.


    He would get the mist inch towards the captives steadily. The moment that the peak Nascent Soul cultivator figured something was wrong, he wouldunch a full-on assault.


    Ozul breathed heavily as he slowly moved the mist closer.


    The mist was nearing a 30 meters distance from him and this didn¡¯t make it any better.


    Just when the mist was a few feet away from the peak Nascent Soul cultivator, Ozul could finally exhale a mouthful of air that he didn¡¯t know he was holding.


    This was a wolf den and he was putting his hand right into the alpha¡¯s mouth.


    Until now, no one caught wind of the mist that had almost surrounded all of them. Even the peak Nascent Soul expert had his attention upied by the captives instead.


    Reading himself, he willed the mist to condense, ¡°Now¡¯s my chance-!!¡±


    The sharp needles shot toward all the captives, but there was now a pressing concern...


    Having felt his body hair stand in a jolt, Ozul jumped to his right, narrowly dodging a silver dagger that was thrust into the bulky tree.


    As if lightning had struck to its heart, the tree was split into two and a thundering noise reverberated throughout the forest.


    Ozul stared at the ce where once he stood in amazement. If he was hit by that dagger directly, his body would have exploded from the sheer destructive force put into it!


    Could even The Purity protect him from such an attack? Ozul wondered in his heart as he felt the lingering shock on his body.


    Without giving him a chance to recover, another dagger came flying at him from the opposite side.


    It was the same dagger!


    Ozul was prepared this time.


    He had already summoned The Purity which he used as a shield and hurled to the side again.


    The silver dagger and The Purity collided and a thundering boom, fiercer than before shook everything in the surroundings.


    Stupefied, Ozul¡¯s eyebrows squeezed.


    The thick wall of The Purity was pierced right through!


    This was the first time it had happened.


    The dagger, having lost the force behind it, hit the ground instead.


    ¡°Huh??¡± a voice came from above as Ozul raised his head to meet the owner of the voice.


    A tall middle-aged man, with his hands behind his back, looked down at him with contempt. His facial expressions were barely visible due to the Star which hung right behind him in the sky.


    ¡°For a coward who¡¯s hiding his Spiritual Essence, you sure have tricks,¡± the deep voice reached down to Ozul as he heard the sound of footsteps from all around him.


    Smiling bitterly, Ozul knew he was surrounded. Raising his head to meet the eyes of this newly arrived person, he spoke, ¡°For someone at the Origin Realm, you sure can¡¯t hit your target.¡±


    Feeling the rising aura from the man floating in the air, Ozul had to admit that even he didn¡¯t know he had such a talent for ticking off people.


    Internally, however, it was a different situation altogether. There was no chance that he could leave out of here unscathed. Going against someone this powerful was never in his ns.


    His luck couldn¡¯t have been worse for the timing of this man¡¯s arrival was just before he was about to leave.


    The only thingforting him right now was that he only needed to escape.


    Those people held captive inside the warehouse were already all dead.


    ¡°You sure don¡¯t have me in your eyes.¡±


    The Origin Realm cultivator grumbled as he noticed the teenager kid looking around him, surveying his surroundings.


    It was simply disrespectful to care about those small fries when he, a cultivator in the Origin Realm was right before him!


    ¡°Excuse me, I was confirming if my business was done,¡± Ozul nodded his head at him, acting like a gentleman in a situation where his life was on the line


    The middle-aged man looked towards the warehouse and his facial expression shifted from nk to surprised and then his whole face darkened.


    But then he turned his face back to Ozul, ¡°It seems that we will just have to make do with you.¡±


    Before Ozul could give a reply, another man that he recognized to be the peak Nascent Soul cultivator arrived between him and the middle-aged man. He cupped his hands towards him.


    ¡°I... am willing to take full responsibility for this, senior brother Chen.¡± His whole body was trembling before the mentioned ¡®senior Chen¡¯.


    ¡°Junior brother, whether you are willing or not willing doesn¡¯t matter. The punishment hall will judge your carelessness by itself,¡± Chen, the Origin Realm cultivator, responded apathetically.


    With slumped shoulders, the man in question turned towards Ozul with hatred in his eyes.


    ¡°Who sent you?¡± Despite his hatred, the man knew not to act out in front of his senior brother Chen.


    ¡°If I tell you, would you let me go?¡± Ozul asked while slightly tilting his head to the side, acting as if it was a genuine question.


    The moment he finished his question, however, something shed before him, it was like a mountain had collided with his stomach as he was sent flying backward!


    Rolling on the ground like a lifeless doll, his momentum only broke due to tree bark.


    *Cough!*


    He coughed out multiple times as he struggled to maintain his consciousness.


    Staggering and stumbling, he stood up to gain his bnce.


    ¡®This would have been a bloody mess if I had any blood...¡¯


    Stinging pain coursed through his entire body as he thanked his timely reaction. Right before the fist had collided with his stomach, he was able to absorb most of the force using The Purity.


    In any other case, he wouldn¡¯t have been hurt like this. s, he was facing someone in the Origin Realm.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t miss this time, did I?¡± The man mocked as he walked out from the debris and dust which had yet to settle.


    What came as a surprise to him was the fact that the kid he had sent flying with a single hit was not only standing straight on his two feet but there weren¡¯t any visible signs of injuries on his body!


    Eyes widening with surprise, Chen understood that he wasn¡¯t dealing with just a random nobody sent on a suicide mission.


    ¡°I have no regrets about those pests dying like that. It seems like you would prove more useful.¡± Arrogance seeped out from his bodynguage as he muttered those words.


    Staring at Ozul with a confident smile, he asked, ¡°Do you think such pesky tricks would work on me?¡± In his left hand, he had caught a tiny ck needle between his thumb and the middle finger.


    Raising his eyebrows in utter disbelief, for the very first time, Ozul seemed to show genuine disbelief.


    Chen chuckled with delight after seeing such emotions. He had been extremely irritated by the prior disdain for his presence.


    More so than the fact that this kid¡¯s cowardly assault had murdered the junior brother he had just chastised!


    But how could such a cunning effort seed against him?


    ¡°I... have something to say...¡±


    .....

 Chapter 378

    Chapter 378: Humiliation.


    ¡°I... have something to say...¡±


    Chen narrowed his eyes, still gripping the ck needle between his thumb and middle finger, as it pushed forward, threatening to kill him if he let go.


    Was this daring brat going to ask for forgiveness now? If so, he was bound to be disappointed.


    ¡°Thank you...¡±


    He heard Ozul say as his hair stood in rm. It felt as if something painful was about to happen, but he couldn¡¯t put his thumb on it.


    ¡°...for getting me out of the entrapment.¡±


    As soon as Ozul finished speaking, he jumped back while creating a shield of The Purity.


    .....


    Furious at the kid¡¯s tricks, Chen was about to chase him but before he could do anything,


    ¡°-AHKH!!¡±


    The needle he was holding between his thumb and middle finger suddenlypressed and stretched again, but this time the sharp heads pierced Chen¡¯s thumb and finger!


    All of this happened in a matter of seconds, he wasn¡¯t given a chance to even think about what had happened before the needle he was so confidently holding had changed shapes and the direction in which it exerted its force.


    He had underestimated Ozul thinking that the needle was merely a Spirit Weapon that could lock on to its target.


    Pain assaulted his mind, but more than anything, it was filled with anger and rage.


    ¡°You filthy brat!!¡±


    He took out the needle in one rapid move with his other hand, which he had coated with his Spiritual Essence since he didn¡¯t want to take any chances.


    Even as the needle still pushed forward, its force waspletely nullified when met with the physical strength of an Origin Realm cultivator.


    More than a hundred meters away already, Ozul rushed forward without looking back.


    Although he had made a run for it, his chances weren¡¯t high since he had even felt that his needle wasn¡¯t able topletely pierce through that man¡¯s hands. The needle couldn¡¯t go through his fingerbones!


    Bitter feelings rose inside him as he thought further about what he could do to escape.


    ¡®haa... I knew I shouldn¡¯t have taken up on that woman¡¯s offer...¡¯


    He regretted letting his greed for the Spiritual Cores cloud his judgment.


    ¡®Why didn¡¯t I just ask for advance payment?¡¯


    If only he was a little stronger now, he might have had more hope in escaping the pursuit of a man who, despite the distance of more than a hundred meters between them, was urately closing in on him.


    He continuously made detours and tried to leave as few traces as possible. However, the rage-filled mad bull was hot on his tail.


    Ozul had guessed that an Origin Realm expert would be out of his league, but he didn¡¯t think that even escaping with his life intact could be close to impossible.


    Since he had no Mana, it was evident that this Chen knew his location based on the noise he created alone.


    ¡®Or is it yet another Spiritual Art?¡¯ As he spected the potential cause of his death today, he sighed before once again taking a detour amidst the never-ending trees.


    Each time he jumped, he would leave a gust of wind that swept most of the leaves around the area.


    ¡®If it¡¯s this noise...¡¯ Using The Purity, he lifted himself up in the air and slowly rose to the air.


    Chen was barely around 90 meters away from him. It was easy to determine his location as he wasn¡¯t even trying to hide his spiking Spiritual Essence. It almost felt like he wanted Ozul to feel despair as he slowly closed in on him.


    Ozul was no longer hopping from the ground. He was off the ground with the help of The Purity as he once again slowly changed his direction while flying higher at the same time.


    He was trying to do it calmly, but the huge spike of Spiritual Essence rushing in his direction wasn¡¯t helping the situation. He needed to hurry, but at the same time, he couldn¡¯t hurry since it would definitely alert the man.


    Ozul didn¡¯t have the luxury to focus on it, but the direct hit he had taken from Chen, despite The Purity nullifying some of the force, had shaken him from inside out. A normal person, twice as strong as him, would have lost consciousness.


    He was able to stay awake, but it was hard for him to keep his reasoning intact.


    With the speed that Chen was approaching him, it was impossible even if he flew in the air now.


    The sky was wide and looking up once would give him away.


    And if he was a little too fast, it would cause enough disturbance to let Chen know of his location as well.


    Both of these options weren¡¯t viable.


    But having taken such a hit directly to his chest and being chased didn¡¯t allow him to think so far into it.


    Within a few seconds, Chen arrived at the spot from where Ozul had stopped running on the ground.


    With a crazed look stered on his face, he looked towards a certain direction and again thrust himself forward.


    In the air, all of Ozul¡¯s senses were screaming at him at the same time.


    Trusting his instincts, he ducked in the air just at the right time.


    ¡°Agh!¡±


    A painful grunt escaped his mouth as a w-shaped handnded right on his back, sending him rolling forward!


    Ozul hit the ground like a dead rock and then bounced only to hit a tree.


    By the time the dust had settled, Ozul was lying under the tree, with his clothespletely tattered.


    There was no movement. He was unconscious.


    Hey there face down, two giant w marks clearly imprinted on his back. It looked like two swords had simultaneously cut deep into his back, shredding his shirt along the way.


    From a distance, footsteps approached the unconscious Ozul in a steady manner.


    ¡°It would be a pity if you died with just this much, little rabbit,¡± Chen muttered in a cranky manner. his finger and thumb had already stopped bleeding.


    As he inched closer to Ozul, two anxious heterochromatic eyes gazed at this scene from a nearby tree.


    Jinx stood motionlessly as Chen was approaching Ozul.


    Ozul would notice the shing thoughts in those crimson and blue stars-like eyes if he could see her right now.


    Chen, on the other hand, abruptly whirled around and looked in a certain direction.


    Someone with Spiritual Essence equivalent to his was charging straight at him!


    . . .


    [Half An Hour Ago]


    After Ozul and Ember¡¯s discussion, Ozul had left to kill the captives.


    Meanwhile, Ember teleported back to her estate, anxiously walking back and forth while receiving any and all reports concerning this matter.


    She still hadn¡¯t found out who was the person who had suddenly interfered and arrested the people she had sent.


    As she was pacing all over the estate, the teleportation gate lit up once again and a person stepped forward.


    Contrasting to the appearance of Ember, the man had two slender red horns flowing to the back of his head. His golden eyes matched those of Ember¡¯s but his young appearance was contrasting with the aged face of thetter.


    Unlike Ember, who wore a dark robe that entirely covered her body, his clothes shined like a burning star. The ornate red coat decorated with unknown jewels stung people¡¯s eyes if they were to stare at it hard enough.


    Despite his fancy appearance, the man radiated a pressure that no one in the entire estate couldpare to.


    Even Ember¡¯s aura felt weak when put against his.


    Sweeping his eyes all over the ce, the man¡¯s eyesnded on Ember¡¯s figure.


    Following which, as if he had recognized her, a toothy grin appeared on his face.


    ¡°Ember!¡± He shouted from afar, his voice rang all over the estate.


    After assuring her people that it wasn¡¯t an intruder, Ember looked back at her guest and replied with a t tone,


    ¡°Cass.¡±


    ¡°As dry as ever, I see,¡± the person named Cass didn¡¯t seem to mind her rudeness as he kept shing his toothy grin.


    ¡°Cut to the chase. Why are you here?¡±


    Cass¡¯s annoying smile never faltered, ¡°I heard you were in a plight, cousin~.¡±


    Ember cringed at the mention of ¡®cousin¡¯ but didn¡¯t let it show on her face.


    Seeing her face gradually darken, Cass snorted, ¡°You seem to forget that I am your superior now, Ember. Show some respect.¡±


    ¡°I am not under your authority and thus, not required to obey your orders or respect you. Now, please state your business.¡±


    Hearing her steadfast reply annoyed Cass whose smile was now suddenly nowhere to be seen. It seemed clear that he wanted Ember to respect and fear him.


    Cass then faked a sigh, ¡°I just heard that you weren¡¯t aware of who had caught your little ¡®hoppers¡¯, so I thought I might lend my generous hand since even now, you are my cousin~¡±


    .....


    Ember wanted to refute him and kick him out of the estate as soon as possible, but she indeedcked this information. Pursing her lips, she kept her quiet.


    ¡°It¡¯s one of the officers from the Night Walkers, my dear cousin.¡±


    Ember¡¯s eyes widened as Cass mentioned the name Night Walkers.


    ¡°Who hired them?!¡±


    ¡°HAHAHA! This is what I wanted! Ah... I can never get enough of it. Your anxious look! Hahaha.¡±


    As he noticed her grinding her teeth, he further pressed the taunts, ¡°Honestly, I was here just tough at you. After losing your powers, age seems to have caught up to you, my dear cousin~ Ah, if it was back then, you would have destroyed the entire Night Walkers for interfering in your work.¡±


    After a slight pause, Cass looked down at Ember and continued,


    ¡°Now look where you are. Scared after only hearing their name, hahahaha!¡±


    Right after saying that, the ostentatious man turned around and started walking back towards the teleportation gate while he kept muttering to himself, ¡°... this was definitely worth it... keheh...¡±


    Ember was left there staring at the ground, with darkened expressions.


    Cass¡¯s words kept ringing in her mind.

 Chapter 379

    Chapter 379: Breathtaking.


    ¡°... this was definitely worth it... Hahahaha...¡±


    Cass openly mocked Ember as he entered the gate and disappeared from the estate.


    No one tried to stop him as Ember stood quietly with grave expressions on her face.


    She was irritated with herself, not with his insults or taunting. She was frustrated that it took a man like Cass to remind her of how low her dignity had sunk.


    Her first reaction when hearing the name of Night Walkers wasn¡¯t that of anger or rage but worry. She was suddenly ready to lose the key to her to regain her powers! How pathetic was that?


    She was The Ember of Destruction!


    And yet she had fallen so low.


    .....


    Cass, even though an absolute eyesore, had managed to shake her.


    Having reached a decision, Ember finally looked up from the ground with a resolute heart.


    ¡®I can¡¯t lose that child. I can¡¯t let him die before I get what I need!¡¯


    With the number of tools in her possession, even if she was only half a step into the Origin Realm, killing an expert in that Realm wouldn¡¯t be a problem for her.


    . . .


    Chen was having fun chasing the rabbit who had bitten his hand. He had finally caught him as the ¡®rabbit¡¯y beneath his feat, unmoving.


    Before he could do anything to Ozul, he felt an aura not less than his approaching him from behind him.


    Turning around in a panic, he jumped back and readied his stance.


    The speed at which the other party was approaching him wasn¡¯t giving him friendly vibes.


    Feeling the rising intensity of Spiritual Essence and the tingling sensation all over his skin, Chen¡¯s eyes widened.


    He clenched his fist and before wasting any time, he punched straight ahead.


    From amoner¡¯s eyes, it looked like he was simply punching the air, but they only needed to blink once toe across the sight of another punch about to meet that of his.


    Chen was confident in his ability to push back the attack with his fist alone, but he seemed to have been overconfident since before he could smirk in victory, the fist that was about to collide with his suddenly shifted, changing its trajectory towards his adam¡¯s apple instead.


    Not having anticipated that such a fast attack could change its trajectory so quickly, Chen wasn¡¯t able to avoid the punch.


    As his adam¡¯s apple shook, the vibrations and the force behind the attack were strong enough to shake his whole body.


    Chen¡¯s world spun as he struggled to keep his consciousness. If his effort to reinforce his brain with the Spiritual Essence had failed in thest second, he would have most likely been dead already.


    ¡°W-who are you? Do you underst-tand who you are messing w-with?¡±


    In his blurry vision was only a single person whose features were hidden behind their hood.


    ¡°Night Walkers, hm? Unlucky for you, I do understand. But do you?¡±


    Ember questioned back, but she didn¡¯t wait for the answer as she straightened her palm. Before it was just a hand, but now it released a cold chill like that of a seasoned de.


    shing her hand as if it was a sword, Ember didn¡¯t wait to finish off the man.


    However, the man was also in the Origin Realm. he jumped back again. This time, Chen knew that direct confrontation wasn¡¯t ideal. ¡®I have to run away,¡¯ he thought before quickly retreating.


    Ember shook her head. She couldn¡¯t let him go since he had not only seen Ozul but even her.


    Sadly for Chen, he had lost the moment Ember¡¯s fist had collided with his adam¡¯s apple.


    As he turned his back towards her, ready to escape at full speed, a cannon of mes surrounded him. mes filled his vision. It was red and orange. Mixed in such an arrangement that it almost looked beautiful.


    But something was melting.


    He looked down at his skin and couldn¡¯t even express the horror of absolute death as his face distorted in a grotesque sight.


    A few secondster, the fire disappeared into thin air, leaving the entire area scorched in ck.


    Even the man¡¯s bones weren¡¯t recognizable from dirt.


    ¡°Very few have seen these embers and lived to tell the tale. Rejoice in the afterlife, for you were able to witness the true beauty of mes.¡± Ember muttered before she brought a red seed to her mouth and swallowed it in one go.


    She turned around and noticed the unconscious Ozul before sighing deeply.


    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have sent you here,¡±


    . . .


    Sometimeter, Ozul opened his eyes to see a familiar roof.


    ¡°You never cease to amaze me, kiddo.¡±


    The voice came from behind him.


    Ozul recognized Ember without turning his head in her direction.


    ¡°You saved me? Isn¡¯t that more surprising?¡±


    The quick retort made Ember smile wryly. It was indeed surprising that she willingly saved someone else¡¯s life.


    ¡°You are too important to lose for now.¡±


    ¡°For now, huh. Well, at least you are honest.¡±


    Without blinking, he kept his stare on the roof.


    ¡°How much time has passed?¡±


    ¡°That is what astonishes me, kid. It¡¯s barely been two hours and I am sure you were on the brink of death before.¡±


    Ozul didn¡¯t look at her, but Ember¡¯s gaze on his face was intense enough to drill a hole in a wall.


    Before she knew that he was special, different than others. But there were too many people and so there were bound to be people who stood out from the others in strange ways.


    However, when she brought him back to the estate, she couldn¡¯t help but check the condition of his body.


    What she found had given her quite a shock.


    The tworge cuts on his back were so deep that from a perspective, his back looked like a grasnd with two unexpected ravines going deeper than light could reach.


    Yet, what did she see? No blood.


    There was not a smudge of blood on his clothes, from his wounds, or anywhere near him!


    A few moments passed in silence when Ember finally decided to be upfront about it,


    ¡°Are you a human?¡±


    Silence again.


    Ember felt as though she had posed a dumb question. He wasn¡¯t an ethereal species with no physical body, as she would have discovered the instant she examined him with her Scarlet Eyes.


    ¡°I... don¡¯t think so?¡± Ozul¡¯s lips stretched to form a smile as he chuckled to himself.


    For Ember, however, it wasn¡¯t just a simple smile.


    Looking at that smile, that innocent chuckle, seemed to have paused her world.


    That bewitching smile seemed so full of beauty, a beauty that maybe seemed iparable to any she had ever seen before.


    However, mixed in between this artistic sight was... sadness?


    Why was her heart throbbing in pain?


    She had lived for thousands of years! What hadn¡¯t she seen before? How many people¡¯s misery hadn¡¯t she seen and ignored without even sparing them another nce? Yet here she was.


    Unknowingly, her eyes felt a little heavy.


    ¡°...emptiness could be so breathtaking...¡± she muttered to herself.


    Thatugh devoid of any emotions implicitly spoke volumes of how tired his soul was.


    ¡®He shouldn¡¯t even be a hundred years old... What might have happened to this kid for it to feel like an ancient man who has been helpless for an entire eternity?¡¯


    Shaking her head out of this stupor, Ember couldn¡¯t help but think, ¡®I must be out of my mind...¡¯


    She was so easily distracted by that smile, had age really caught up to her?


    The kid obviously had his issues, but it didn¡¯t mean that he was really not a human. Maybe it was some sort of curse that she had never heard about, or maybe some strange ancient arts that he was practicing.


    ¡°Whatever it is that you are hiding, I don¡¯t care. Just don¡¯t die before returning me that favor.¡±


    She was talking about that time when she had given the Scarlet Eyes to Raven.


    Sighing, Ozul finally turned towards her.


    .....


    ¡°What happened to that guy?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that man is dead.¡±


    Ozul hummed in response, lost deep in his thoughts.


    ¡°What are you still thinking about? You should be happy. On the way, I confirmed that you were able to kill the captives sessfully as well. It was simply unlucky for you that that man appeared.¡±


    Ignoring her praise, he looked back at her. She seemed to know who that person was.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand how he was able to find me. Was it simply because he was in the Origin Realm?¡±


    ¡°That and the fact that he had gone through Soul Materialization,¡± Ember replied calmly.


    ¡°Soul Materialization?¡±


    Realizing he hadn¡¯t bothered to read up on the cultivation stages, Ember decided to exin, ¡°Thest stage of Nascent Soul Realm. It¡¯s a deciding point in every cultivator¡¯s journey.¡±


    ¡°The reason is simple; as the name suggests, cultivators learn to manifest their soul and gain special abilities which solely belong to them.¡±


    Seeing that he was interested in the name of special abilities, Ember added, ¡°There can be different types of soul manifestations; tools, concepts, or even animals.¡±


    ¡°For example, that man who was about to kill you was someone famous. His soul had manifested into an owl. The reason you couldn¡¯t escape despite not having Spiritual Essence was simply because... owls have good hearing inpensation for their bad sense of smell.1¡±


    Ozul raised his eyebrows in realization. The w marks on his back also looked simr to the ws of an owl. In a frenzy, he didn¡¯t think why instead of a punch or a de, an animal¡¯s w had shed at him.


    ¡°I observed that man who was at the Soul Materialization was also dead when passing by; Chen was known for having an erratic temper, but I didn¡¯t imagine he would kill his own subordinate.¡±


    Ozul noticed her shaking her head and decided against correcting her conclusion.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have had a chance against that man at the Soul Materialization stage, let alone Chen,¡± Ember said back.


    Ozul sighed and returned his gaze to the ceiling.


    He wasn¡¯t going to tell her he was the one who killed that man at the pinnacle of the Nascent Soul Realm...

 Chapter 380

    Chapter 380: Compensation.


    Ozul kept his gaze towards the ceiling, hoping to understand what he had done.


    Perhaps if he had been in his right mind, he would not have taken such decisions. Perhaps the initial strike he had repelled had shaken him too much to make a rational decision.


    Shaking his head with another sigh, he knew that all of those were just excuses.


    He had really just overestimated himself. He was overconfident.


    He thought that even if he couldn¡¯t win, he could at least escape unscathed since he didn¡¯t have any Spiritual Essence.


    Hasn¡¯t it always been like this?


    ¡®It seems like I had be toofortable,¡¯ having realized his shoring this time, Ozul knew better than over evaluating his abilities now.


    .....


    Although his surprise attacks had definitely worked against Chen and even killed the peak Nascent Soul guy. Yet, if he was on the receiving end of the attacks, he wouldn¡¯t havested long against the guy who he killed so easily.


    ¡®I was lucky...¡¯


    The urgency of getting stronger again started clouding his mind as he remembered the reason he went through all this trouble.


    Sharply turning his head towards the olddy who, for some reason, was reading a torn-out book.


    ¡°I was promised rewards.¡±


    Taking her eyes off the pages, Ember stared into his eyes, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to rest first? I won¡¯t go back on my words. You sessfullypleted the task even at the risk of your own life, so you will bepensated heartily.¡±


    Although she assured him that he would be rewarded, his gaze kept lingering on her face.


    It almost hurt her ego since it felt as if he was thinking that she would run away with his deserved Spiritual Cores or something. When had she, the Ember of Destruction, ever gone back on her words!?


    Snorting in displeasure, Ember put the book down on the table beside Ozul¡¯s bed.


    ¡°Alright, speak your demand.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the same. I want Spiritual Cores.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? There isn¡¯t much you can do with Spiritual Cores. I will be honest, I think you deserve more than that.¡±


    Many people masked other intentions behind such an honest facade, but Ozul knew Ember was being honest.


    ¡°If you feel like I deserve more, then just give me more Spiritual Cores.¡±


    Facing such a situation, Ember didn¡¯t know what to do. Spiritual Cores were used in many diverse inventions, and most of those things didn¡¯t require high-quality ones. However, high-quality cores were stillcking.


    There was ack of supply, but the demand was also low, so their value wasn¡¯t high.


    ¡°Alright. In any case, I am notcking. However, you must remember that the greater the quality of a Spiritual Core, which essentially means the cultivation realm of the creature from whom it was taken, the rarer it is.¡±


    Ozul looked at him as if she had mentioned something too basic.


    Shaking her head, Ember exined, ¡°It¡¯s not just because killing stronger creatures is harder. The underlying problem is that the higher a person¡¯s cultivation realm is, the more difficult it bes to harvest their Spiritual Core.¡±


    ¡°You would know if you were to kill a Nascent Soul being. Their Spiritual Core would almost always shatter the moment they die. Simrly, the difficulty in preserving the Core exponentially increases when the being is at the Origin Realm.¡±


    Hearing that such was a thing, Ozul didn¡¯t know what to think about it. Eating low-quality Cores barely made him feel a thing, so he nned to get his hands on some from someone at the Nascent Soul Realm at the very least.


    ¡®She should at least give me a few Cores of Nascent Soul Realm,¡¯ Ozul sighed in his mind as he begin to think of alternative methods.


    ¡°That being said, I think you deserve 5 Spiritual Cores of the Origin Realm.¡±


    Those words swayed with the wind that gently pressed on Ozul¡¯s face.


    His eyes slowly widened in realization; he thought maybe he had heard wrong.


    ¡°of...Origin Realm?¡±


    ¡°Originally, If you hadpleted the task and returned, I would have given you three. But since you almost died, I have thrown in two more.¡±


    Seeing his taken-aback expressions, Ember smirked and with a wave of her hand, five small crystal-like stones appeared on the bed within Ozul¡¯s reach.


    Ozul picked himself up and rested his back against the wall with a hiss before picking up one of the Spiritual Cores.


    He had no way to confirm it, but sensing Ember¡¯s emotions, he could be sure that she wasn¡¯t deceiving him. Anyway, if he would know it once he ate them all.


    By his estimations, Spiritual Core from even a peak Nascent Soul Realm expert would have contributed significantly to his strength.


    From the way Ember had started her lecture about the Spiritual of higher quality being rare, he assumed that he might only get a pitiful amount at the first stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.


    Seeing the twinkling look in his eyes, Ember knew that he was more than satisfied.


    ¡®What can he even do with these... did he find some Spiritual Artifact that uses these Cores?¡¯ Ember tried toe up with some exnation but her guesses were just that, empty guesses.


    Finally, not being able to control her curiosity, Ember blurted out, ¡°Can I ask what are you going to use them for?¡±


    Raising his brows in surprise, Ozul looked right into her eyes without saying anything.


    Ember reflected wryly on her own question as she didn¡¯t think of him as the person who entertained personal questions.


    But contrary to her expectations, Ozul didn¡¯t hesitate to reply, ¡°They will help me be stronger.¡±


    He didn¡¯t divulge any further. This much would be known to her even without him telling, so it wasn¡¯t much.


    Picking up all the Spiritual Cores, Ozul started making his way towards the door under the bulging eyes of Ember.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    Her concerns were justified since he had just survived a near-death event that would have rendered most people bedridden for months, much alone a few unfortunates who would have been disabled for life. And here he was, striding out of the room as if nothing had urred, barely two hours after almost kissingdy death and still covered in bandages covering his entire chest.


    ¡°I can¡¯t waste my time here.¡±


    Ozul left these words hanging in the air before waltzing out of the room.


    As he walked forward, he couldn¡¯t deny the stinging pain in his back and his abdomen.


    Although the deep wounds on his back were almost closed, they weren¡¯tpletely healed.


    His clothes werepletely battered, so he set out to find Raven after leaving the Beastkin¡¯s estate. She still had all of his clothing.


    He made it to where they were staying without drawing too much attention to himself. It was fortunate that the teleportation gates were ced in discrete locations. Otherwise, his half-naked body wrapped in broad white strips of cloth to conceal his back wounds would have drawn a lot of attention.


    He didn¡¯t know it at the time, but the challenging thing wasn¡¯t getting to the hotel, but rather getting out of it.


    . . .


    As he entered the room, all three people looked at him with varied emotions.


    Horror was stered on Raven¡¯s face, shock on ze¡¯s, and some emotion he couldn¡¯t describe on Zier¡¯s face.


    However, there were many times in the past when he had gone through simr situations.


    Treating this the same as he did in the past, he walked forward to ask Raven for his clothes when he came to the sight of a teary-eyed Raven with one of her hands to her mouth, barely controlling herself from crying out loud.


    Ozul didn¡¯t realize that his appearance wasn¡¯t just haggard or that of a tired man.


    His whole torso was covered in white stripes and though there was no blood, Raven knew better than anyone that he didn¡¯t have blood. Which worried her more since she didn¡¯t know how horrifying wounds were hidden under those bandages.


    The person in question, Ozul, didn¡¯t know what to do anymore. Before he would have just asked for whatever he wanted and despite their worries, someone like Raven wouldn¡¯t just start bawling her eyes out.


    But now he felt as if he asked for clothes right now, she would surely start crying buckets.


    ¡°I... am almost healed? It¡¯s nothing...¡±


    His words, however, didn¡¯t bring anyfort to Raven or the other two. Covered in wraps of bandages, he wasn¡¯t convincing anyone that he was almost healed.


    Raven¡¯s head dropped as she looked at the ground with clenched fists. Her figure was trembling slightly and Ozul couldn¡¯t see her face anymore.


    But when he felt her emotions, he instantly knew that she was both angry and sad.


    Not knowing how to ask for his clothes now, Ozul looked a little lost.


    Behind him, though ze was also seething in anger that someone had done this to his master, he quickly snapped out of it as he recognized the familiar sight of an angry Raven. He promptly grabbed Zier and walked out of the room. This was Ozul¡¯s mess to deal with.


    Ozul was left alone in the room with Raven.


    Before he could think of anything, Raven finally raised her head. Teary-eyed, she red at him, ¡°Did that withering bitch(Ember) do this?¡±


    Ozul peered at Raven oddly, taken aback; was she really Raven?


    Before long, he was answering her question, ¡°She... didn¡¯t. It was a task... and that man is already dead.¡±


    Seemingly satisfied that the man was already dead, Raven still cursed under her breath.


    ¡°Sit down,¡± she suddenlymanded with such a tone that Ozul had never heard from her before. It was as if she wasn¡¯t going to take no for an answer. A tone he used very often in the past.


    Seeing him notplying, Raven¡¯s fists further clenched as she shouted at him with reddened eyes, ¡°I am not asking you to love me! Just sit down for once, will you!?¡±


    *sigh...* Ozul realized there was no way out of it.


    .....


    Since she had never asked anything from him, he could at least do this much...

 Chapter 381

    Chapter 381: Impervious to Blemishes.


    As he sat down, Raven carefully took off the long white cloth hugging Ozul¡¯s torso.


    The front of his body seemed perfectly fine from the outside even if it hurt from the inside. His back, however, still bore the evidence of his near-death experience.


    But if someone asked him, he didn¡¯t feel worried that he was about to die in that situation. He regretted taking on the task since he was in so much pain. But if he really thought about it, he didn¡¯t feel much at the prospect of approaching death.


    Would there be endless nothingness in death? He pondered in vain, knowing full well that he would never know since he surely wouldn¡¯t be able to think or feel after death.


    ¡®How nice would that be...¡¯


    As he fantasized over this matter, Raven had finished ¡®unwrapping¡¯ him.


    She was paralyzed in shock after seeing the two ghastly incisions on his back. She was anticipating several minor wounds all over his body, so she was pleased to discover none on his chest.


    .....


    However, the two big wounds on his back were worse than she could have imagined.


    It had been decades since she hadst seen him so injured. There were no bruises since he didn¡¯t have any blood in the first ce, but the wounds on his back showed how injured he really was.


    Just like always, she didn¡¯t bother him with questions of who, how, and, what.


    Ozul never liked that and she also wasn¡¯t going to agitate him with that. She knew better.


    Raven, as understanding as she was, couldn¡¯t ignore his condition. Previously, she would rather cry to herself if anything like that happened, fearing that bothering him would make him despise her.


    Her sentiments and concerns would be overshadowed by her dread of his disliking her.


    This time, though, things were different. She was not concealing anything from him.


    He knew she loved him, and he had made it apparent that he would not return her affections.


    She hade to ept it, if reluctantly, by this point.


    And so, the root of her fear had vanished.


    The harsh words were stuck in her throat as she gently wrapped him up with the cloth again. He would heal on his own; she had never seen any medicine or healing potion better than Ozul himself.


    As she was done, Ozul was about to stand up when Raven held him down again.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± ring at him with an upset face, Raven didn¡¯t let him stand up from the bed.


    Before he could say anything, ¡°You aren¡¯t leaving until those wounds close up!¡±


    He wasn¡¯t like others; he wasn¡¯t like humans, but there was still a limit to how much he could endure. Even the most savage of beasts would need to heal after suffering such injuries much less him.


    ¡°I am fine...¡± Ozul replied back; he didn¡¯t know what else to say. Although it hurt bad, it was only a matter of a few more hours before he would be back to his original shape, so he felt that he was entirely fine. There was no need to waste time here.


    Raven¡¯s expression didn¡¯t falter as she quipped, ¡°Those injuries go a long way in exining how fine you are. Lie down on the bed; I am not letting you leave until you are healed! You like sleeping, no? What¡¯s so urgent now that you don¡¯t want to sleep?¡±


    ¡°That...¡± Ozul looked at her, speechless, ¡°...was a good retort.¡±


    He really didn¡¯t have any answer for that except for the fact that there were 5 Spiritual Cores of the Origin Realm right in his fist.


    Putting them on the table, Ozul plopped on the bed. Raven was right, he could absorb the Corester. A little nap wouldn¡¯t hurt.


    Laying on his back, he was just about to close his eyes when he again heard the irritated voice from his side, ¡°Lay on your chest! Your back is half open, what are you doing?!¡±


    Instinctively, he immediately got off his back and looked at Raven with a deadpan face, almost pouting.


    Muttering to himself grumpily, ¡°I slept like that for two hours before though...¡± Turning his body, he again plopped on the bed, this time on his chest.


    ¡®Oh... this is morefortable...¡¯


    Whileying on his back, it only stung for a little while before the sensation numbed, hence he didn¡¯t care much. But it seemed that if he didn¡¯tply with her demands, she would keep bothering him. And so he made the smart decision not to argue.


    Thefort of the bed soon embraced him as drifted off to his favorite ce,plete ckness.


    Seeing himplying with her demands with a grumpy attitude, Raven sighed in worry.


    She knew he wouldn¡¯t take long topletely heal; she was worried if she had done the right thing.


    It wasing back to her again; would he hate her for forcing him to do something that he didn¡¯t want to? Shaking her head, she told herself that it didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°Grandma Carol would have done the same...¡± muttering to herself, she sat on the other bed beside his in a lotus position, trying to calm down her beating heart.


    . . .


    Ozul woke up from the ¡®nap¡¯ thatsted for more than just a few hours.


    ze and Zier were both asleep on their beds. Aftering to this Realm, with the absence of the Mana, sleep had again be a necessity for them.


    Turning his head towards Raven¡¯s bed, he saw her maintaining her lotus position, although she wasn¡¯t cultivating. The book of Scarlet Eyes was open and ced before her as she would asionally open her eyes to check up on him and then read the book before going back to meditation.


    He guessed that she was trying toprehend the Scarlet Eyes in meditation.


    He didn¡¯t want to disturb her focus, but just then, she again opened her eyes and when she saw him sitting on the bed, she immediately got off hers.


    ¡°Are you properly healed?¡± Raven looked at him with skepticism.


    ¡°I am,¡± Ozul said, but she continued to gaze at him with distrust. ¡°You can confirm it yourself,¡± he mumbled, releasing a sigh.


    Raven nodded and came up to him to remove the piece of cloth from his body.


    Raven was relieved to find that there were no huge gushes of scars engraved deep into his back as she finished unwrapping him again.


    Throwing the cloth away, Raven took out a white shirt and a pair of pants from her Spatial Ring before handing them over to Ozul.


    Turning around, she gave him some time before he changed into those clothes.


    As soon as he was done changing, Ozul began to look for the Spiritual Cores. It was the middle of the night, and he waspletely healed of his injuries. The only thing left to do now was to absorb those Cores.


    Seeing him shoot a look towards the table where he had ced the Spiritual Cores, Raven extended her arm, and in her palm appeared the Cores. She could tell they were important so she had put them in her Spatial Ring as well.


    ¡°Were these the reason why you risked your life?¡± Raven inquired, curious as to what these crystals were. She hadn¡¯t seen Spiritual Cores before.


    Ozul nodded his head before taking the Spiritual Cores.


    Walking out of the room, he flew towards the forest to find a suitable location where he could absorb them. The Purity would always be able to contain the burst of excess Spiritual Essence after he absorbed them, but he didn¡¯t want to take any more chances.


    He had already paid for overestimating his abilities; it wasn¡¯t going to happen twice, or at least that¡¯s what he hoped.


    As he left the room, Raven sighed in relief,


    ¡°Seems like he doesn¡¯t hate me...¡± muttering to herself, she happily went back to meditating and reading the Scarlet Eyes. Others could question why she was so sure of that, but Raven was certain of it, for one reason or another.


    . . .


    As Ozul spent a few minutes flying in a certain direction, he found it harder than usual to find a quiet spot. It seemed that the forest was still a lively ce after the previous incident of him ughtering so many beasts.


    Still, the forest was vast, and night had already fallen. It didn¡¯t take long for him to find an obscure ce in the middle of the woods.


    Sensing no life other than insects around him, Ozul released all of The Purity and enveloped himself like a cocoon.


    ¡°One at a time...¡±


    He threw one of the Cores inside his mouth and swallowed it in one go.


    Just as he expected, the heat began to rise from his body and before long, a burst of dense Spiritual waves unleashed out of his body, attacking the barrier from all sides.


    He ced another Core inside his mouth and repeated the process without waiting for his body to calm down and assess the improvements.


    Waves upon waves of Spiritual Essence streamed from his body.


    These waves were powerful enough to suffocate any cultivator at the Nascent Soul Realm if they came too close. Despite this, the Purity managed to contain it all without moving an inch.


    Ozul released a mouthful of foul breath as he was done with thest Spiritual Core.


    He quickly fled the scene after gradually extracting The Purity and absorbing it all back into his body.


    In the barrier around him, there was too much extra Spiritual Essence, and as soon as the barrier was taken down, it could only spread over the area, but not as powerfully as before.


    If there was even a single expert at the apex of the Nascent Soul Realm nearby, they would rush over to this scene.


    And so a dark silhouette of a man was seen gliding through the night sky, impervious to the blemishes of light cast upon this world...

 Chapter 382

    Chapter 382: Not Normal?


    Ozul was content; he felt much alleviated now that he had absorbed all the Spiritual Cores.


    Unlike what he expected, only the effects of thest Core felt a little damped.


    Still, the overall result was out of his expectations. The initial Cores had already elevated his strength to new realms.


    His senses alone were more than doubled!


    Although he was suppressing most of it since it would take some time before he adapted to these improvements.


    Such a considerable improvement felt not much different than a blind man who was suddenly given sight.


    As he reached the hotel, Ozul hurriedly entered their room to test his new capabilities and check where his limitsy now.


    .....


    Unknown to him, right after he had left the forest, a couple of parties appeared in the vicinity. Though, all of them seemed hesitant to dere their curiosity openly.


    The outburst of Spiritual Essence that they all sensed definitely belonged to a man ranked higher than them, so they didn¡¯t want to risk their lives merely to satisfy their curiosity.


    At first, it felt as if some experts were fighting and someone was killed and their Spiritual Core shattered, creating a disturbance in the Spiritual Essence. However, upon arriving here, all of them noticed that there were no signs of a fight taking ce. Hence, it was concluded that it could be caused by a single person.


    None of them thought that someone would have simplye to the forest, shattered, in a way, five Spiritual Cores of Origin Realm, and then disappeared.


    There were too many unusual events happening around this forest these past few days.


    People started getting worried that something chaotic was brewing up in the shadows and no one knew who, why, or when.


    . . .


    Back in his room, uncaring of all themotion his ¡®little¡¯ actions caused, Ozul excitedly summoned just a fraction of the Purity. Though he didn¡¯t let much of his emotions show up on his face, Raven still asionally caught a few glints in his eyes.


    She could make a rough guess on why he was in such a great mood.


    Seeing him improving, she was only more determined with her training. In fact, for the past few days, all she had done was cultivate.


    If Ozul knew that Raven somehow had the capacity to be even more motivated than she was previously, he would surely let shock appear on his face for the first time.


    Even he was sometimes surprised by how tenacious Raven could sometimes be.


    For now, though, he was more focused on himself.


    The small te of The Purity continuously changed shapes and moved in various directions ording to his will.


    While doing that, he created a few more copies of the te and moved them in different directions, and changed their shapes ordingly.


    All of that, which required him tremendous focus before was done by him without exerting any effort now.


    Not only his control, but even the quantity of The Purity had increased. An extrayer of protection never hurts.


    Overall, everything about his abilities had multiplied.


    What took a mental strain on his entire body before wouldn¡¯t be as hard now. Such as the times when he spread The Purity so thin that it almost looked like haze. Controlling that giant bubble of gas always proved to be taxing on his body.


    ¡®If I were to fight that owl again, I¡¯m not sure who would win...¡¯ Ozul thought back on the man who hade dangerously close to killing him.


    At that time, he couldn¡¯t even put enough force behind The Purity to seriously injure him. But now things were different. He hadn¡¯t experienced the full extent of his abilities, so there was no way to be sure who would win among them now.


    ¡®What about Ember? Hmm...¡¯ As he thought about it, Ozul quickly shook his head.


    There was no way he could defeat that woman. Even while she is only half a step into the Origin Realm, she killed an expert of that Realm with such ease.


    She was an old beast, but a beast nheless.


    Still, he felt a lot better now that his strength had taken a leap again.


    ¡®But is plundering from others the only way I can get stronger?¡¯ he thought bitterly.


    He didn¡¯t feel bad about absorbing others¡¯ Spiritual Cores, but it could be very troublesome if word got out that he ¡®ate¡¯ Spiritual Cores. Just like in the previous Realm, the idea of a person eating another¡¯s Mana Core felt disgusting to humans.


    If his secrets were to be exposed, it would cause many people toe looking for him, for one reason or another.


    After getting a rough estimate of his strength, Ozul released a sigh of relief and plopped on the bed on his back.


    In the eyes of the strongest people in this Realm, he was still nothing more than an ant that they could crush anytime they wanted, but he wasn¡¯t going out of his way to mess with those people.


    At least not yet.


    ¡°Since that¡¯s out of the way now...¡±


    He shot a nce toward Raven and the other two, who were both cultivating as well.


    It was time that they also obtained the bare minimum strength to survive for now.


    There were various tools that the richest people in the Realm used to raise the strengths of their descendants. But as mentioned, only the rich had this luxury.


    Those artifacts that helped ease the cultivation process were rare. And the ones which could really make a noticeable difference were often hoarded by powerful families or sects.


    It was no wonder that the so-called young masters of these families breezed through the initial realms as if they were simply growing up with age.


    Taking a deep breath, Ozul stood up.


    He didn¡¯t need such tools to aid them.


    He was more than enough.


    . . .


    Experts in higher Realms couldn¡¯t use their Spiritual Essence to direct the Spiritual Essence of their descendants.


    The human body instinctively retaliated against every foreign entity. This was especially true for Spiritual Essence.


    Once a foreign Spiritual Essence entered one¡¯s body, the body¡¯s own Spiritual Essence, if there was any, would fight against it with all its being.


    However, cultivation required prudent focus; if the Spiritual Essence was causing chaos everywhere, the person would never be able to use it to advance. Instead, it would cause injury to them, leaving the majority of them in a crippled state.


    But that didn¡¯t apply to Ozul.


    He had already tested it several times before. Him using the Purity inside someone¡¯s body never seemed to harm them.


    Instead, the human bodies even retained small specks of it, what he liked to call the ¡®Scent¡¯.


    It took so much time to advance the Realms because the cultivators needed to multitask inside their own bodies without losing their focus even for a second.


    ¡®Not if The Purity guided the Spiritual Essence and at the same time, protected all the organs from getting damaged...¡¯


    Leaning towards Raven, he asked, ¡°You are in the 2nd stage of the Core Formation, right?¡±


    Startled, Raven opened her eyes and nodded absentmindedly.


    ¡°Very well. Let¡¯s get you to the Nascent Soul.¡±


    Open her eyes wide open, Raven looked at him, speechless. ¡°Nascent Soul Realm?¡± she muttered, knowing full well that he never joked.


    Ignoring her exaggerated, but valid reaction, Ozul sat behind her and ced his hand on her back. Small traces of the Purity entered her body as she closed her eyes, realizing that he was going to speed up the process.


    It even made her a bit excited.


    As for worrying that it might harm her? She trusted Ozul too much to even think about that.


    ¡°You are strengthening your Core?¡± Ozul asked. He only had a rough idea of what each stage of the Core Formation represented through their names.


    Raven hummed in response.


    ¡°I will protect your body. Go wild,¡± Ozul spoke confidently.


    He guided ayer of Purity to adhere to all of her internal organs in a way that didn¡¯t hinder the blood flow or any of their function.


    To Raven¡¯s surprise, there was even ayer surrounding her Spiritual Core. In case it cracked due to the speed at which she would start feeding it the Spiritual Essence, it still wouldn¡¯t harm her in the slightest!


    Raven merely created a hair-thin line of Spiritual Essence at first, which she quickly advanced toward her Core. This hair-thin line of Spiritual Essence was not only far more than what she would typically produce but it was also moved with an incredible speed.


    As the Core shined brightly with its surface getting a noticeable change in its luster, Raven beamed with happiness.


    ¡°This would have taken half a day!!¡±


    ¡°Focus.¡±


    Raven¡¯s shout disturbed ze and Zier as they opened their eyes to nce her way.


    ze, seeing Ozul behind Raven, understood that he was helping her cultivate. Zier, on the other hand, seemed confused.


    The jealousy in ze¡¯s voice dripped like honey as he muttered while ring at Zier, ¡°I will be next!¡±


    ¡°Uh... Okay? But can you tell me what¡¯s happening?¡±


    His question was left stranded in the air as ze observed Raven¡¯s Spiritual Essence spiking a little.


    The difference was only subtle, but as they were alwayspeting with each other, he remembered exactly how far she stood from him.


    .....


    Just as he was about to go back to cultivating, he felt something.


    ¡°No way... again!?¡±


    The spike in Raven¡¯s Spiritual Essence even became apparent to Zier this time who had also reached the first stage of the Core Formation Realm.


    Having realized what was happening, Zier understood what ze meant by ¡°I am next¡± just now.


    Smiling awkwardly, Zier could only question in his heart, ¡®If he could do it, why didn¡¯t he do it sooner so we could help him!? And... This is not normal!¡¯

 Chapter 383

    Chapter 383: Nascent Soul Realm.


    Under ze and Zier¡¯s astonished stares and thumping hearts, they witnessed Raven¡¯s Spiritual Essence spiking to exceptional levels.


    Seeing this ur before them, they couldn¡¯t focus on their cultivation.


    It was unprecedented to see someone in the second stage of the Core Formation Realm advancing to the next stage in mere minutes!


    Unfortunately, Ozul had to stop as he noticed the increasing unrest in Raven¡¯s body.


    He hadn¡¯t considered the fact that humans had different bodies than he did.


    While he only felt better as his strength increased, the humans struggled because their muscles began to strain. It would take some time for them to adjust to the sudden changes that had urred within them.


    Sighing silently, Ozul told Raven to stop. Thetter, albeit reluctantly, followed his orders. As she stopped feeding her Core streams of Spiritual Essence, Ozul retracted the Purity from inside her body.


    .....


    Breathing heavily, Raven questioned, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say Nascent Soul?¡±


    Ozul nodded, and replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t consider the toll on your body. Get some rest. We will continue once your body has cooled down at least.¡± Raven was forced to stand up and move away.


    Those young masters of rich families also had pills and elixirs to help their bodies adapt, but Ozul couldn¡¯t replicate that with the Purity.


    s, not everything would go ording to the ns.


    He wasn¡¯t disappointed much because there won¡¯t be a long dy, even with this.


    Also, there were two more people lined up for the same treatment.


    Before he could even call him, ze appeared before him, looking like a lost puppy asking for a treat.


    Ozul wondered if he might be seeing a Beastkin right now.


    Shaking his head, he told him to sit down.


    As Ozul repeated the process with ze, Raven felt the changes inside her, ¡®Third stage!!¡¯


    She didn¡¯tin about taking a break, because she was also beginning to feel overwhelmed. If she were to continue feeding stream after stream of Spiritual Essence to her Core, even if it didn¡¯t break, her body would have started to show cracks.


    Before long, she also felt wave after wave of Spiritual Essenceing from ze. And just like with her, it only took a few minutes before ze advanced to the third stage as well!


    If Ember were to witness this scene, she would have been shocked out of her wits.


    She also had some of those pills that immediately skyrocketed those young masters¡¯ cultivation. However, those pills artificially stimted the internal organs and Spiritual Essence.


    The side effects of these would not be obvious at first, but in theter stages, these people would experience more excruciating pain than others. Some, if not drugged again, might even sumb to the pain and die!


    Meanwhile, what Ozul was doing waspletely different. The entire process was still naturally guided by Raven or ze, he had only removed the risk which affected the cultivation speed.


    If other empires learned of this, they would almost certainly kidnap him for experimentation or reduce him to very to help their younger generations with cultivation!


    Fortunately, there was no powerhouse nearby. Even if someone was, unless they paid extra attention to it, they wouldn¡¯t realize what was going on.


    As ze was told to rest for a while, it was Zier¡¯s turn to cultivate. He was the weakest member of this small group, at only the first stage of the Core Formation.


    With Ozul¡¯s help, he cultivated until the second stage of the Core Formation Realm. He wanted to continue to catch up with others, but his physical condition was worse than Raven and ze¡¯s when they reached the third stage. Hence, he wasn¡¯t allowed to keep going either.


    After helping them all, Ozul plopped on the bed as well.


    He was going to get them all to at least the Nascent Soul Realm before he brought them to help him.


    It was going to be a hard journey for the trio as despite there being no risk of harming themselves, the process of absorbing the Spiritual Essence was still taxing on their bodies.


    The next few days passed with bubbling excitement in the trio.


    Their cultivation rose as if they were time traveling.


    As Raven and ze reached the peak of the Core Formation Realm, they were forced to stop.


    The next part of their journey wasn¡¯t the same as before.


    Their Spiritual Cores had expanded a lot and a hardened Core had also formed inside their original Spiritual Core.


    Ozul was confused by this transformation, but Raven exined to him that this was normal.


    The outeryer of their Core, which they had expanded to its limits, was supposed to now spread out to their entire body.


    ¡°Basically allowing your entire bodies to hold the Spiritual Essence?¡± Ozul deduced while Raven nodded proudly.


    This stage was known as Core Expansion for a reason.


    Raven and ze would sessfully step into the Nascent Soul Realm once they managed to expand their outer Core to envelope their entire bodies.


    At this point, Ozul was little help since he couldn¡¯t help them forcefully expand their outer Core. There was little danger during this process as well. At most, he could envelop their expanding outer Core with ayer of the Purity, giving them more freedom to force the process.


    A few more days passed as Ozul helped both of them expand their outer Core.


    ¡®I thought it would only take a few days at most...¡¯ Ozul sighed tiredly. A week had passed and yet none of them had reached the Nascent Soul Realm.


    While Raven and ze had expanded their Core to almost half of their bodies, around that time Zier had also caught up to them.


    Now, they were all at the peak of the Core Formation Realm, but Raven and ze were already half a step into the next Realm.


    While Ozul was disappointed with their speed, the trio, on the other hand, were on sky nine.


    When had they ever felt such a euphoric rush of strength?!


    . . .


    Another week passed without any trouble.


    In her room, surrounded with various reports of the ns she had set into motion, Ember tightly held a report with a determined gaze. Evidently, this was important to her.


    As if she had suddenly remembered something, she stood up and walked out of her room.


    Channeling her Spiritual Essence into one of her rings, she waited for a few seconds before speaking, ¡°Tell him that he is needed.¡±


    There was no response from the other side, but she didn¡¯t mind. She understood they were always short of words.


    Half an hourter, she felt the disturbance in their Spatial Gate and walked out of the building to greet Ozul.


    What she didn¡¯t expect was that he would be followed by theplete group.


    Raven, ze, and Zier all strode behind Ozul.


    She almost didn¡¯t recognize them as the air of confidence shrouded them the smoke of mystery.


    Except, it wasn¡¯t a mystery to her.


    Because in front of her bare eyes were not some dandy martial artists putting on airs, but three genuine Nascent Soul Realm cultivators!


    Mouth agape, Ember blinked thrice to confirm that she wasn¡¯t seeing things.


    ¡°This...¡± she wanted to say, wasn¡¯t possible. However, the truth was in front of her!


    They were definitely all in the Nascent Soul Realm!


    Shocked out of her wits, Ember barely managed to mouth her words, ¡°How??¡±


    It hadn¡¯t even been aplete month and these people were all at the Nascent Soul Realm!?


    How absurd was that?


    She had heard legends of the Dragon Hatchlings and how they so easily soured through the skies once given enough time, but this was simply unheard of!


    It would have been more convincing if they had epted the offer of those who had brought them here and been given ample resources, but she knew full well that this was not the case.


    Her mind raced to form all kinds of conclusions, but they all lead to one answer.


    The man leading their group.


    Staring daggers at Ozul, Ember smiled awkwardly and spoke, ¡°You never cease to amaze me.¡±


    There was no other answer. She was keeping tabs on some of the other Dragon Hatchlings as well. Their growth wasn¡¯t as exaggerated as theirs!


    So the only thing these three of them had inmon was Ozul-one of the only people she couldn¡¯t understand in her centuries-long life.


    As if he didn¡¯t understand her words, Ozul looked at her with a confused face.


    Taking the hint that he wouldn¡¯t be revealing his secret even if she asked, Ember let go of the topic with a heavy sigh. How she wished that she could dissect his body and rob him of all his secrets. s, she couldn¡¯t let go of her dignity.


    For now, it didn¡¯t matter how they had reached the Nascent Soul Realm in such a short period of time. They had reached an eptable level of strength, which only meant more reliable people for her.


    ¡°What did you want now?¡± Ozul asked, seemingly ready to take on another task.


    Not only did he want more Spiritual Cores, but the trio also needed some experience.


    Although Raven and ze had already honed their battle instincts, they had to get used to dealing with people in this Realm.


    Taking a deep breath, Ember spoke, ¡°This is important to me,¡± before leading them all inside the building, into her office.


    .....


    Squinting his eyes at her back, Ozul focused on her emotions. Solemn. She was dead serious.


    ¡®Finally,¡¯ he smirked internally.


    Since it was important to her, the reward would also not be anything less than desirable...

 Chapter 384

    Chapter 384: Do Something.


    Bringing them to her office, Ember closed the door and made sure no one could listen in on their conversation from henceforth.


    ¡°Let me repeat it, this mission is important,¡± Ember again asserted in a severe tone.


    Letting her know that he understood, Ozul lightly nodded his head.


    She picked the file on the table and scanned its contents again before throwing it toward Raven, who caught it mid-air.


    ¡°Don¡¯t show this file to anyone else.¡±


    Seeing the growing frown on the group¡¯s faces, Ember sighed. She knew she was being too dramatic, but this concerned everything she had worked for!


    ¡°You guys understand that you currently reside in the Blue Lion Kingdom, yes?¡±


    .....


    Yet again, she received odds looks from the group.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Thankfully, Ozul was being patient with her. Only she didn¡¯t know that was the case only because he could actually feel all the pent-up anxiety inside her.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s a kingdom, there is a king. And since there is a king, there are princes and princesses.¡±


    Squinting his eyes, even Ozul didn¡¯t understand where she was going with this.


    ¡°One of the princesses of the kingdom, Malty, is the King¡¯s beloved. She is the youngest, and adored by the Royal Family.¡±


    ¡°And...?¡± Ozul could care less if a princess was loved or not.


    ¡°... Do something to her.¡±


    Once again, everyone looked at her as if she was talking nonsense.


    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®do something to her¡¯? You want her killed? Kidnapped? Tortured maybe? Though thest part is a bit too much,¡± ze bbered as soon as he got the chance to.


    Shaking her head, Ember rified, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Just do something to her and let the me fall on the neighboring kingdoms. That is all I want.¡±


    A puzzled-faced Zier muttered, ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°A beloved princess of a kingdom should be enough for a war to break out.¡±


    It was Raven who answered that question.


    Confirming their doubts, Ember nodded her head, ¡°I have carried out numerous skirmishes in the kingdom. Even the most idiotic of the royal families of neighboring kingdoms have noticed the unstable state of Blue Lion kingdom.¡±


    Taking a deep breath, Ember hoped she would be right in her estimations, ¡°If something were to happen to the princess that the King so adored, I am hoping that it finally happens. A war involving multiple kingdoms.¡±


    Zier felt a chill on his spine as he observed the dead serious expression in her eyes and herck of hesitancy despite the fact that if such a war broke out, hundreds of thousands of people would perish. For the first time, he really felt that this olddy was evil.


    ¡°If I may ask, why do you want the war to happen?¡± Zier couldn¡¯t contain his curiosity. ¡°Is it because you are...uhm...Beastkin?¡±


    ¡°Hahah...¡± Ember suddenly chuckled, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but causing internal conflicts between some insignificant kingdoms just to get back at the humans? It¡¯sughable.¡±


    ¡°Then why is it that it¡¯s so important to you?¡±


    ¡°When and if the timees, you will eventually know,¡± refusing to answer, Ember looked back at Ozul.


    She hadn¡¯t forgotten the fact that she couldn¡¯t just order him to do it. So, she could only pray that he epted this task. At the moment, she couldn¡¯t find anyone more reliable than him.


    Beastkin stood out too much due to their physical alterations from the humans. Hence, even if she knew people stronger than Ozul, she couldn¡¯t use them in the way she wanted to.


    ¡°Is there a time limit?¡± Ozul asked.


    Making a princess disappear wasn¡¯t an easy thing. Especially when she is adored by everyone.


    ¡°You can take your time. I will leave everything to you,¡± Ember was putting all her faith in him.


    ¡°What about the people in the Pce? Do you know how strong is the strongest among them?¡±


    Ember knew this question wasing sooner orter. Despite that, she couldn¡¯t prepare for it. There was no way to sugarcoat her answer. ¡°There are three people at the peak of Origin Realm in the Royal Pce...¡± she muttered with her voice gradually losing strength until she couldn¡¯t be heard anymore.


    It had only been a few weeks since Ozul came close to death because of a single person in the initial stage of the Origin Realm.


    Royal Pce of the Blue Lion Kingdom was littered with Origin Realm experts. It was like asking a man who burned his arm to throw himself into the fire again.


    Expecting him to finally walk out of the room, cruelly rejecting her, Ember felt her heart beating out of her chest.


    ¡°How many?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Did he ask how many? How many...what?


    ¡°Spiritual Cores. If you want me to ept this task, I want half the payment in advance as well.¡±


    Ember kept staring at him with wide eyes. This kid... never once disappointed her.


    Smirking confidently, she flicked her hand, and on the table appeared glittering stones radiating dense Spiritual Essence.


    Ozul counted a total of five Spiritual Cores just as dense as the ones he had received before!


    ¡°That is not all. Once you are done, I will get you ten more of these in addition to having these people provide better Spiritual Arts and cultivation manuals. I will also provide whatever you need during this mission for free. I understand that getting inside the pce would be difficult even for you.¡±


    Nodding absentmindedly, Ozul picked up the Spiritual Cores and handed them over to Raven.


    ¡®This gives me extra security. Who knows... I might be able to take on someone at the peak of Origin Realm,¡¯ Ozul smirked internally. Though he was only musing to himself, he knew it wouldn¡¯t be so easy. At the higher Realms, each stage imposed a significant improvement in one¡¯s abilities.


    He hadn¡¯t even fully tested the power of someone at the initial stage. Maybe even now he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against someone like that owl guy.


    No longer was he going to becent.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Ozul epted the task, ¡°But I have another condition.¡±


    The rewards were too enticing to give up, but he still had to be sure of something.


    ¡°Go on,¡± Ember encouraged.


    ¡°If by the end of this, we are in a mess, you will either provide protection for a while or at the bare minimum,pensate me.¡± He looked dead straight into her eyes. This wasn¡¯t a condition she was in a position to refuse.


    Chuckling wryly, ¡°You are one greedy kid... But you have a deal.¡±


    . . .


    Soon, they were given details about the princess and the royal family of the Blue Lion kingdom.


    The fact that the princess famously had a rotten personality lifted a bit of weight off of Raven¡¯s conscience.


    Though even if that wasn¡¯t the case, she was still going to follow through.


    Except for her, the only other person who was hesitating a little was Zier. He had never killed someone before, so that was a given.


    ¡°Let me remind you, the king himself is one of the three peak Origin Realm experts.¡±


    ¡°Who are the other two?¡± Ozul asked.


    ¡°The head of the royal guards is one of them. The other is the king¡¯s little brother. Unusual for royal families, they get along well. Or at least they appear to be.¡±


    ¡°On that topic, you should be aware that the king¡¯s younger brother is either lurking around thend, seeking to settle regional skirmishes here and there ormanding their army into war.


    ording to my sources, he seldom stays in the pce.¡±


    ¡°Alright, so that means one less troublesome guy,¡± Zier sighed in relief. He had only yesterday reached the Nascent Soul Realm! How could he hope to even stand in the presence of someone at the peak of Origin Realm?!


    ¡°Make no mistake. There are other people in the Origin Realm as well. Just that they are not at the peak,¡± Ember crushed the mud wall Zier had just finished building to protect his sanity.


    Among the group, only Zier thought that they were jumping into a lion¡¯s den.


    ze and Raven, on the other hand, weren¡¯t afraid in the slightest. They were determined to deal with anything thrown their way, just like they had always been. Though both of them understood that their strength was stillcking.


    ¡°There is really no time limit, yeah?¡± Ozul asked again.


    Although all three of ¡®his people¡¯ had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, it was still far from enough. He wanted to take his sweet time before attempting anything on the royal family. At the same time, he would be able to understand the situation better.


    ¡°Hmm... It would be ideal if you could do it in ten fortnights.¡±


    Ember could work with it even if he took longer, but the chances of the Blue Lion kingdom going to war might drop a little.


    ¡°Fortnight as in fourteen days? So a total of 140 days?¡± Zier muttered out aloud.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Ozul epted without a second thought.


    These three could reach the Nascent Soul Realm in two weeks, he hoped four months would be enough for their strength to reach the Origin Realm.


    ¡®hmm... that might be a stretch... but a man can hope,¡¯ Ozul wondered in anticipation.


    If these three reached the Origin Realm, he would finally get those days back. The days when he would only have to order them for things to get done. The days when he could go to sleep whenever he wanted.


    ¡°Would you need anything else? I won¡¯t be contacting you often since I have other things to do as well.¡±


    ¡®Ohh~?¡¯ Ozul smirked internally. He was going to ask even if she hadn¡¯t offered.


    .....

 Chapter 385

    Chapter 385: Looting an olddy.


    ¡°Would you need anything else?¡±


    Since Ember was being so generous, there was nothing stopping Ozul from exploiting her.


    ¡°Hmm... Well, there would be a small problem now that I think about it.¡±


    Ember shot him a doubtful look with narrowed eyes. She felt like he was taking advantage of her, but she couldn¡¯t take chances. There shouldn¡¯t be any problems with this task.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Nothing much.¡± Ozul gestured toward the three standing behind him and spoke, ¡°I am nning to buff them up and people would start getting suspicious.¡±


    Without needing to think over it, Ember nodded in understanding. Not to mention others, even she was caught off-guard when she saw them all being in the Nascent Soul Realm.


    .....


    She didn¡¯t know what he had done to all of them, but she was sure he wasn¡¯t going to tell her. No one would reveal such a secret after all. She doubted if they could continue for long.


    Even if they couldn¡¯t, just the fact that they were Dragon Hatchlings was enough for people to take an interest. It would be best if even that was kept secret.


    Sighing for an umpteenth time, Ember knew she was being exploited, but she couldn¡¯t do anything about that.


    With a flick of her wrist, three bracelets made up of brown leather and a bead attached to their ends appeared on the table.


    ¡°I believe you won¡¯t be needing one,¡± she eyed Ozul from face to feet, annoyed she had no information on this kid.


    Ozul nodded as Raven, ze, and Zier picked one each and curiously put them on their wrists.


    ¡°These bracelets can contain the auras of all people under the Origin Realm.¡±


    Confirming her words, Ozul noticed the invisibleyer of Spiritual Essence exhuming from their bodies disappear gradually.


    Despite this, he could still peer through them and determine their general capabilities relying on the density of their Spiritual Cores. That, however, was solely pertinent to him. People with great enough cultivation or unique Spiritual Arts may be able to perform this as well, although encountering such individuals would be umon.


    ¡°That should be it then,¡± muttered Ember, expecting Ozul to turn around and confidently leave the room to prepare for the mission.


    She was already preparing to arrange the documents on the table, but she realized Ozul was still standing there and looking at her. Since he was doing so, his three ¡®children¡¯ had no choice but to do the same. The continuous staring of these four was pricking at her from all sides.


    ¡°What is it now? Do you have anything else to say?¡±


    Making a thoughtful face, Ozul slightly moved his eyebrows as if thinking about something serious, ¡°Mhm. I have realized something.¡±


    Ember was not liking this feeling welling up inside of her.


    ¡°Realized what?¡±


    ¡°Well, we might not see each other for more than four months, right? Until then, these three would have improved a lot and be done with their basic cultivation manuals and Spiritual Arts. They would pretty soon need better ones.¡±


    Looking behind him, Ember saw Raven, ze, and Zier all three keeping a straight face as if it was a matter of fact.


    Gritting her teeth, Ember forcefully closed her eyes, picturing a peaceful scene in her mind to calm her rising blood pressure.


    With that, a few books and parchments appeared on the table as Raven went ahead and stored them in her Spatial Ring.


    Nodding in satisfaction, Ozul continued to stand there motionlessly.


    ¡°We would be up against rich people who would be well equipped. To contend against them, it would be wise to be well-prepared as well. So, I think they would also need some Spiritual Weapons...¡±


    . . .


    Wails of frustration could be heard from the office as Ozul and the rest of the gang walked out of it.


    He had the same old expressionless face as if he hadn¡¯t just exploited a desperate olddy, but the others all had grins stered on their faces.


    Why wouldn¡¯t they be happy? The olddy was rich! They had robbed her in broad daylight and she willinglyplied!


    They were all thrilled to see how much they would grow in these four months. Maybe even those who were brought together with them in this Realm weren¡¯t doing so well.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think we might have gone a little too far?¡± Raven asked as they exited the teleportation gate.


    Ozul shrugged, ¡°I would have stopped if she said no.¡±


    Seeing him act as if it was normal for him, Raven hummed with a small smile gracing her face.


    Clouds thundered.


    Ozul looked at the sky contently.


    ¡°Alright, perfect weather to start our journey.¡±


    The teleportation gate had gotten them to a city right next to the Capital of the Blue Lion Kingdom.


    It seemed to him that setting up a teleportation gate inside the capital was too risky.


    If they were nning to dash toward the Capital, it wouldn¡¯t even take half an hour.


    However, Ozul never liked that. He preferred walking at his own leisure pace than sprinting at the speed of a Nascent Soul Realm expert. If he was going to limit his speed to theirs anyway, he would very well just take his sweet time.


    The Capital was located right at the heart of the Kingdom, and there were many people going in and out of the ce. Hence, it would also attract unwanted attention if they were seen dashing toward the Capital in such a hurry.


    As though the clouds couldn¡¯t take it anymore, raindrops began to fall gently.


    Mixing with the dry earth, the raindrops spread their heavenly petrichor all around the ce.


    Ozul adored such weather.


    Though he preferred it if it was night.


    The distaste for light was always with him. He could never get used to that disgusting thing.


    Walking down the streets, Raven found and bought herself a bamboo umbre while Ozul just created a conical hat for himself with the Purity.


    ze didn¡¯t care much about the rain, while Zier wanted to get drenched. It had been a long while and he was kind of excited. He was still a kid at heart after all, unlike the other three.


    As they walked forward on the road, many people and caravans passed by them.


    Ozul noticed also noticed a couple of people at the Nascent Soul Realm. While they weren¡¯t a threat to him or his group anymore, it was still unusual for cultivators of this Realm to be somon.


    ¡®Is it because it¡¯s the Capital?¡¯ he pondered while pretending not to notice their presence as many people passed by them.


    All of them seemed to be in a hurry.


    ¡®Something must be happening in the Capital.¡¯


    He couldn¡¯t have asked for anything more if that was really the case. This would provide some exnation for their small group¡¯s pottering around the Capital in case anyone became suspiciouster on.


    ¡°Did you notice?¡± ze asked as he nudged Raven.


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    Zier looked on between their short-lived conversation, confused as to what they were talking about.


    He was also at the Nascent Soul Realm, but his Core wasn¡¯t as stable as theirs. He also didn¡¯t have as much experience as them. Only after he roamed his eyes everywhere did he notice the attires of the stronger of people passing by them.


    Most of them looked like wandering sellswords.


    And since they were all either heading towards the Capital oring from there, it either meant that the Capital was just a ce for the strong or something out of ordinary might be happening for such people toe looking for opportunity.


    Ignoring the hoards upon hoards of people, they slowly reached the Capital while enjoying the cold weather.


    Some people also scrutinized them, but since they emitted no Spiritual Essence, they were quickly ignored.


    Just what Ozul needed in such a city.


    Their appearances alone stood out among the crowd. It would only annoy him more if random annoying guys picked fights with them simply to prove their superiority for some unknown reason.


    The Capital looked much more flourished than any other city they had been to.


    ¡°The other cities pretty much seem like barren viges in front of this...¡± Zier muttered as he took in the sight with much appreciation.


    They asionally noticed cultivators among the crowd as well.


    It was clear that most of the strong people in the Blue Lion Kingdom were all in the Capital for one reason or another.


    ¡°You guys go ahead and find an inn to stay at, I will find youter.¡±


    Leaving these words, Ozul disappeared into the crowd before they could say anything.


    Raven and ze were almost used to it, but Zier wondered how he would find them amidst such a big crowd. Shaking his head, he decided to forget about it as well. He needed to learn thatmon sense did not apply to that man.


    Meanwhile, Ozul rushed through the crowd to find a remote location. It was yet another dark alley where he released the Purity to fly in the air.


    The speed with which he shot toward the sky was enough to generate heavy winds, but no one paid it any heed due to the windy weather with a light shower.


    As he reached a high enough point in the sky, Ozul gazed down and took in the size of the city before pinpointing the location of the royal pce. Just like every kingdom he had ever been to, be this one or the ones in the previous Realm, the Capital was at the heart of the kingdom and the royal pce was at the heart of the Capital.


    Keeping his focus on the royal pce¡¯s territory, everything else blurred in his vision.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see those peak Origin Realm cultivators the olddy was talking about...¡± he muttered to himself, a little surprised.


    .....


    There was either a barrier around the Royal Pce or all three peak Origin Realm cultivators weren¡¯t present at the same time. Thetter was an unlikely case, so he considered the former to be the case.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see what¡¯s the fuss about then.¡±


    Gradually descending on the ground, Ozul knew he first had to get a general grasp on the situation.

 Chapter 386 - 386 Street Brawl.

    386 Street Brawl.


    Ozul descended to the ground in a discrete location near the Pce grounds.


    As he was now on the ground, he could see that while there was indeed a barrier protecting the entire area, it did not hide the power of those people inside.


    So the fact that he did not feel so much aura from inside the Pce probably meant that not even two peak Origin Realm cultivators resided inside.


    ¡®Or they might just be using Spiritual Tools to hide their aura...¡¯


    Sighing, Ozul shook his head in dismay. Even with his heightened senses and newly improved abilities, he couldn¡¯t be so arrogant as to assume that he could bypass every Spiritual Tool.


    But he soon diverted his attention to the task at hand. He couldn¡¯t be bothered with how many peak Origin Realm experts were inside the pce when he hadn¡¯t yet even fought someone at the initial stage with full power to test his strength.


    ¡®I should quickly go back and absorb the Spiritual Cores,¡¯ he made a reminder to himself after he remembered he had thrown the Cores to Raven for safekeeping.


    Having given up on the Pce, Ozul roamed the busy streets to get a gist of the situation.


    Although the streets were wide, there was still only a narrow space in the middle for carts and wagons to pass by. The rest of the space was mostly upied by the crowd and the vendors.


    .....


    What made Ozul suspicious of the situation around the Capital was the fact that he had noticed a little too many cultivators along the way and now even in the busy market.


    Ordinary folks were visibly on edge around these ruffians who were seemingly the majority on the streets.


    Gauging their emotions at once was a difficult task, but he had slowly started getting used to it.


    Based on their emotions and feelings directed towards these sell-swords, he was now sure of the fact the appearance of these people wasn¡¯tmonce in the Capital.


    A man without a trace of Spiritual Essence going around and asking questions would surely garner attention, so he decided to simply roam the Capital first.


    Though there was no rain, the weather was still as pleasant as it could be.


    As he strolled through the ce aimlessly, his focus remained on the idle talks of the people.


    Sometimes, he focused on the talk of these cultivators while other times he heard the whispers of themon folk.


    ¡°Where is the ce...¡±


    ¡°Leader lied to us!... He...¡±


    ¡°Get me...sword father!...¡±


    For a while, he didn¡¯t hear anything useful even though it was bing difficult to continue listening to so many voices and feeling so many emotions at once. Still, he continued to stroll aimlessly in hopes of learning something of value.


    ¡°It has been... week since...here...!¡±


    ¡°How much...those apples?...¡±


    Suddenly Ozul¡¯s feet halted as he registered the previous conversation in his mind.


    Looking around, he saw a group of four people. Two of them were men while the other two were women.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you see all these people here?¡± smacking the back of a man¡¯s head, one of the women pointed towards some rough-looking guys far away, ¡°The recruitment is surely not false if so many people are roaming the Capital, you idiot!¡±


    Ozul focused on the word ¡®recruitment¡¯ as he positioned himself on the side of the road. The pedestrians ignored themotion, but he was interested. Standing in the middle with so many people passing by didn¡¯t seem convenient.


    ¡°So what? They could have all been fooled.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? And who would y such a trick on hundreds of people?¡±


    ¡°It is just that the Imperial Prince hasn¡¯t returned that. I saw him personally when his men dered the enrollment in his army!¡±


    ¡®Ah...¡¯


    It seemed that one of the peak Origin Realm experts was recruiting people in his army.


    No wonder so many cultivators were present in the capital. It seemed all of them hoped to be a soldier under the Imperial Prince, the King¡¯s younger brother.


    ¡®So many people in the Nascent Soul Realm no less...¡¯


    Frankly, he had thought that getting Raven, ze, and Zier to the initial stage of the Nascent Soul Realm would allow them to be unmatched in most cases in this kingdom.


    However, he seemed to have underestimated the strength of the Blue Lion Kingdom.


    While most of these cultivators wishing to join the Imperial Prince¡¯s army were at the Core Formation, those at the Nascent Soul weren¡¯t too rare.


    Even those people arguing in the middle of the street; one of the men who kept his quiet was at the initial stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. Even the rough-looking men that the woman had previously pointed towards had a man in the same Realm.


    ¡®uhh... Well this is interesting,¡¯ thought Ozul as he watched the man who had been pointed at, grunt and cleave through the crowd toward the woman.


    Reading the emotions of that man was easy enough. He was not only drunk, but the woman was also pretty. Anyone with a bit of sense could see where it was going.


    And as anyone would expect, the burly man haggard a little as his ¡®brothers¡¯ behind himughed while whistling.


    ¡°Where do you think your finger is pointing at, lildy?¡± the man caressed the woman¡¯s hand while thetter shirked back in disgust.


    The Nascent Soul Realm guy in their group shouted as he gripped the other man¡¯s hand, ¡°Watch your filthy hand!¡±


    The hold of someone at the Nascent Soul Realm seemed to have been too much for the burly man as he cried for help, ¡°AHH! Leave my hand!!¡± Before that man could leave his hand, however, another one of the burly men lunged at him with full power.


    ¡°Akh!¡±


    He was thrown back when his back hit the shop, destroying it in the process.


    By this point, the crowd had separated and everyone was murmuring about what was going on. Some seemingly wisemon folk saw the situation and hurriedly took their leave. It wasn¡¯t safe when cultivators were caught in a brawl.


    While the crowd all scurried away, Ozul stood in the corner, spectating waves and waves of Spiritual Essence trying to overpower the other. They shouted curses at each other while making shy moves. Although he did not doubt the strength behind their Spiritual Arts, it was inlycking whenpared to the ones he had seen until now.


    One might ask why he bothered to even stay and spectate a pointless brawl between random nobodies. They would be right to raise this question, but their doubt wouldn¡¯t remain for long as the sound of horses galloping in their direction started reverberating.


    Two majestic gs as high as a roof were carried by the foremost two horses.


    The face of a Lion with an azure mane was etched on the silk cloth of the gs.


    This is what Ozul was waiting for.


    This ce was dangerously close to the Royal Pce.


    A fight between cultivators involving two Nascent Soul Realm experts surely wouldn¡¯t go unnoticed by the guards.


    He was waiting for their reaction. To see if he could learn something about them through this littlemotion.


    What he didn¡¯t expect was the burning aura when it started making its way toward them.


    ¡®Someone at the Origin Realm!¡¯ Ozul¡¯s eyes scanned the guards who started pouring in around the ce to look for the source of this suffocating pressure.


    ¡®This...¡¯


    He soon realized something. These people didn¡¯te from the direction of the Pce but from the opposite side.


    These were surely the soldiers of the Blue Lion Kingdom¡¯s Royal Pce, but the problem was also with their numbers.


    ¡®...aren¡¯t they a little too much?¡¯


    There were so many of these soldiers that they couldn¡¯t even surround the ce!


    Tens of them, all on horses, had to stay at the back as they parted way for another horse to make its way forward.


    ¡®That man...¡¯


    He was d in silver armor, leaving only his head without any protection. His hair were of a darker shade of azure than those of ze. Just from his posture, you could tell that he was someone important.


    Seeing such a grand entrance of the soldiers, the two fighting parties immediately stopped and started sweating buckets.


    Sweeping a cold gaze over them, the man who obviously held all the authority spoke, contrary to his visage, in a soft voice, ¡°Arrest these people. Charge thempensation for the destruction they caused and jail them for a week. If they so as whimper a sound ofint, bring them to me.¡±


    Although he spoke lightly, the deathly silence his arrival had brought helped transmit his voice to everyone gathered around the scene.


    One of the burly men was about to shout a word ofint, but when he heard thest sentence, he immediately shut his mouth, despair surfacing on his face.


    Seeing justice immediately brought to his footsteps, the man whose shop was destroyed shouted in joy, ¡°Hail the Imperial Prince!¡±


    As if a heard of sheep, the city folk all started cheering and praising the man.


    ¡®He is the Imperial Prince...¡¯ Ozul measured the man from his head to the feet. There was no doubt that he was special.


    The sheer pressure he brought with him was only felt by him for some reason. If thesemon folks could feel it, he was sure that they wouldn¡¯t be able to breathe.


    Smiling brightly at the praises, the Imperial Prince continued his march towards the Pce.


    Ozul watched the man pass by him in silence.


    He knew one thing for a fact. Even if he was to try and sneak an attack on him, it wouldn¡¯t work.


    There was this unusual certainty of his defeat against him in his heart.


    The Imperial Prince in question, however, suddenly turned his head to look towards him.


    Their eyes met as Ozul¡¯s non-existent heart skipped a beat.


    ¡®Why is he smirking...¡¯


    .....

 Chapter 387 - 387 Nascent Soul Realm.

    387 Nascent Soul Realm.


    Ozul turned around, shifted the Purity over his head, using it as a hood to cover his face, and blended into the crowd.


    The look on the Imperial Prince¡¯s face seemed as if he could tell something was off with him.


    The smirk of his seemed like a challenge. As if he was proiming that he was in control since he knew everything.


    Moving through the swarm of people chanting his praises, Ozul shook off these thoughts.


    He had felt his emotions which wereposed of merely a passing curiosity perhaps.


    ¡®That is an effective technique to catch anyone off-guard,¡¯ he thought about that smirk of his. If he didn¡¯t have the ability to feel people¡¯s emotions, he would have started doubting everything. It did not help that he had many secrets to hide.


    Whatever the case was, it could not be refuted that the Imperial Prince could feel something off about him. Was it maybe his attire?


    Ozul looked down, he had his never-changing ck pants and a in white shirt on top. The only thing that stood out would be the ck conical hat on top.


    Now that he looked at it, the hat made from The Purity looked a little too ck. No light was reflected from it, which further deepened its color. ¡®Maybe the Prince noticed this peculiarity?¡¯ he wondered before spreading his senses in all directions.


    .....


    Now that he roughly had an idea of what was going on in the Capital, he was returning to the trio.


    In the middle of the thousands of people bustling around, it wasn¡¯t difficult to spot them. He was able to instantly identify Raven and ze¡¯s aura from a mile away and knew roughly where he had left them.


    As directed, Raven had located a tavern and reserved a room for them.


    While the incessant chatter andmotion in taverns irritated Ozul, they were also a useful source of knowledge. By simply sitting there and listening to people¡¯s discussions, you could learn a lot about what was going on in the area.


    Reaching the room on the second floor, Ozul went straight for Raven, ¡°Hand me the Spiritual Cores.¡±


    Raven didn¡¯t waste his time by asking any questions and took out the Spiritual Cores from her Spatial Ring. ¡°Stay here, I will be back,¡± he instructed them before leaving the room and flying out of the Capital at full speed.


    Although The Purity could contain the outburst of Spiritual Essence, once the container is lifted, the lingering Spiritual Essence in the air is still dense enough to catch people¡¯s interest.


    Hence, he couldn¡¯t absorb these five in the Capital.


    From what those people were saying, the Imperial Prince had started recruiting people into his army. It also looked like he had just returned to the Captial from how those soldiers were marching towards the pce. So it was obvious that it wouldn¡¯t be long before the recruitment began.


    Enrolling in his army would be the perfect opportunity to get close to the princess.


    But first, he would have to find the reason for this recruitment. It wouldn¡¯t be as simple as enrolling in the army to be a royal guard and be paid for nothing. There must be a need for strong people for the Imperial Prince for him to go to such lengths.


    After all, it wasn¡¯t normal for cultivators of no background to appear out of nowhere and join the ranks of the royal army. There was definitely something going on.


    He had seen many cultivators of the Nascent Soul Realm roaming the streets of the capital, so it would be difficult for even Raven, ze, and Zier to get in. But it wouldn¡¯t matter much if they weren¡¯t chosen.


    As long as he alone could make it in, it would make his work easier.


    They had more than 4 months to do that ¡®something¡¯ to the princess, he believed it was enough time to gain the trust of the royal family.


    It wouldn¡¯t be easy since he can¡¯t do anything about hisck of Spiritual Essence due to which many would eye him suspiciously.


    As he found himself in the middle of the forest, miles away from the capital, Ozul enveloped himself inside The Purity and threw all five Cores inside his mouth, and crushed them with his teeth.


    The warm current flowed down his throat and quickly spread all over his body before disappearing into a vortex. Once again, a wave of Spiritual Essence burst out of his body pores in all four directions.


    Exhaling a deep breath, Ozul removed The Purity and without wasting another second, shot back towards the Capital.


    It didn¡¯t take more than a few minutes before he arrived back inside the Tavern, feeling ever more powerful.


    As he entered the room, Raven and ze looked at him curiously. He had only gone for a little more than five minutes before returning. Having been with him for so long, they could guess what he had done with those Cores.


    But as always, they couldn¡¯t feel anything changed in him.


    Only they couldn¡¯t feel his emotions, or they would have surely been surprised at how happy he was.


    It felt like he could do anything with the strength coursing through him. Only he was trying his best to suppress this feeling since he knew that those in the Origin Realm could still take him down if he wasn¡¯t smart about it.


    ¡°So?¡± Raven spoke, ¡°What are we going to do except for cultivating?¡±


    There were only 2 beds in the room, and Ozul took one of them before replying, ¡°Hmm. For now, you aren¡¯t going to do anything except for that.¡±


    Seeing her unresigned to that, he added, ¡°The Imperial Prince is recruiting people for something. We are going to apply for that. Until the noticees, you guys will focus on cultivating only.¡±


    Nodding in understanding, Raven closed her eyes and went back to cultivating.


    . . .


    Ozul spent the entire day sleeping on the bed while the trio cultivated nonstop.


    Jinx also slept while cuddling beside Ozul.


    He was still a little suspicious as to why Jinx hadn¡¯t appeared to save him when he was so close to death back then. Maybe she knew that Ember would arrive on time to save him? Anyway, that was one of the few possibilities.


    s, he could do nothing but make up scenarios and consider their usibility.


    Waking up the next day, Ozul stared at the three people who seemed to have had no rest since yesterday.


    He had to help them cultivate, but first, he wanted to test his new limits.


    Closing his eyes, he tried feeling the changes in his body. However, as always, there was no physical change whatsoever.


    Yet, the amount of The Purity he could create and his senses had indeed gone through a qualitative change.


    After he had arrived in this Realm, his sense had dulled a little. Unlike the Mana, the Spiritual Essence was potent enough to affect his senses.


    Right now, he was back at the level that he was before, in the previous Realm.


    Even the movement of an ant inside the room could disturb him, much less themotion happening in the tavern.


    Sighing, he stood up and called for Raven.


    Hearing him call her name, Raven immediately stopped her cultivation and opened her eyes,


    *Akh!* She shouted in pain as she abruptly stopped the cirction of her Spiritual Essence.


    Ozul almost looked in shock and a little guilty before narrowing his eyes at her, ¡°Do you really want to die?¡±


    It was Raven¡¯s turn to feel the guilt as she chuckled wryly. She really should have finished the cycle before doing that.


    Shaking his head in annoyance, Ozul asked, ¡°Exin the Nascent Soul Realm. Unless I know what process you go through, I won¡¯t be of much help.¡±


    Looking at the number of people in the Nascent Soul Realm, they needed to at least reach the peak of this Realm before their strength really mattered. At least in this kingdom.


    Raven was happy to tell him everything she had learned from the cultivation Manuals. Though it took a solid hour before she had covered all the details.


    The gist of it all wasn¡¯t really simple.


    Unlike in the Core Formation Realm, they didn¡¯t just focus on the Core anymore. The outer Core, as she called it, had already covered their body, essentially making their entire body a vessel to hold the Spiritual Essence.


    There were three stages of the Nascent Soul Realm: Soul Nurturing, Soul Liberation, and Soul Materialization.


    At present, they were in the Soul Nurturing stage, at the start of which, they had to keep feeding their inner and outer Core with as much Spiritual Essence as they could refine.


    ¡°So you have to be able to feel your soul to enter the next stage?¡± Ozul was curious as to what this soul was.


    Did he have a soul? He felt the answer to that question was a big no, but a man could dream.


    ¡°Mhm. You wouldn¡¯t be able to help with that. At this point, you might be able to help us feed our Core, but advancing to the next stage would depend on ourselves,¡± Raven exined.


    Learning from Raven theplexity in the further stages, Ozul realized that the difference in people at the different stages of the Origin Realm wouldn¡¯t be as small as he had imagined it to be.


    ¡°The talent of a cultivator is even measured at the Soul Materialization stage,¡± Raven added as Ozul remembered what Ember had told him about the materialization of the soul at the peak of Nascent Soul Realm.


    As it turned out, many cultivators based their worth on the type of soul they would materialize.


    And no spiritual tool could help with that. Once a soul was materialized, the cultivators were stuck with that forever.

 Chapter 388 - 388 A Wild Man.

    388 A Wild Man.


    For the next few days, there was no news of any recruitment from the Royal Army.


    While helping them stabilize their inner Core, Ozul began doubting whether the recruitment was really legit.


    But there really wasn¡¯t anything noteworthy happening in the Capital, so there seemed to be no other reason for so many cultivators to gather here.


    The four of them were holed up in their room all day and night, worrying even the tavern owner who came to check up on them quite a few times. To say that it didn¡¯t bother him, Ozul would be lying, but still, this ce was better than the rich hotels; he wouldn¡¯t have heard the things he did there.


    They also didn¡¯t have unlimited funds to spend so needlessly.


    Fortunately, they didn¡¯t have to wait for long when Ozul heard the shouting of those men from below.


    The news of the Imperial Prince recruiting strong people had spread all over the Capital and this time it was official.


    Ozul didn¡¯t go running towards the Pce as some people did. He understood it wouldn¡¯t just be firste first serve. No matter the reason, it was still bing a part of the Royal Army. The selection surely wouldn¡¯t be easy, he thought.


    ¡°I will be back,¡± he told Raven before leaving the room.


    .....


    Although very useful at times, rumors were often unreliable. He had to confirm on his own.


    Walking through the streets like any city folk, Ozul arrived near the royal pce.


    As if his life depended on it, one of the guards kept shouting, ¡°The Royal Army Is Recruiting Strong People!...¡±


    Seeing the crowd gathered near the ce, he thought about turning around, but he had to get the exact details.


    He couldn¡¯t even see the parchments hung over the wall since people were blocking the view. Flying over and reading from above wasn¡¯t a good choice either, at least not right in front of the pce¡¯s entrance.


    He struggled quite a bit before taking a clear look at the parchments. It read in clear words that all those who wished to join the banner of the Imperial Pce would just have to register their name.


    ¡®Surely... it would not be so easy?¡¯ Ozul thought skeptically. No matter the reasons, it was still the Royal Army of the Blue Lion Kingdom.


    ...


    The next day Ozul took the gang with him to enroll their names in the Royal Army.


    Zier was visibly on edge as he knew their strength wasn¡¯t anything special in this ce. Even though he too had reached the Nascent Soul Realm; however, he didn¡¯t see himself inching near the next stage no matter how hard he tried.


    ¡°We will be fine, don¡¯t worry,¡± whispered ze from his side. He and Raven were twice these people¡¯s age, so they weren¡¯t nervous.


    Just like yesterday, the crowd was overgrowing in front of the pce gates. Only today these people had formed a long line as entered through the gates one by one.


    Waiting for their turn, Ozul and the rest also entered through the gates after registering with their names.


    As they entered, they could see the well-kept pce in the distance, but they weren¡¯t allowed to wander in that direction. In front of them stood a man with a stout figure. d in white silver armor with blue linings, the man watched with a cold gaze as the crowd expanded with time.


    No one dared to wander off under his watch.


    Ozul could tell the man was at least in the initial stages of the Origin Realm. As for his exact strength, he couldn¡¯t be so sure.


    At the moment, that man was the strongest of the Royal Guards present there. The Imperial Prince hadn¡¯t shown his face yet and no one expected him to either. Ozul led his group of four and blended into the crowd. Some people threw obvious smirks in their direction, but except for Zier, none cared for them.


    As time passed, some people began to murmur words ofint, but they didn¡¯t dare to raise their voices. After all, no matter how proud, they were still all in the Nascent Soul Realm at most.


    Just when he thought no one present was above the Nascent Soul Realm that he felt yet another aura of someone at the Origin Realm making an entrance.


    Turning around, he noticed a man with long hair... No...It would be more urate to say that he was entirely covered with his hair!


    It seemed more like an animal with wild and unkempt hair than a human. Still, his gait and his stature were nothing but human. He had an imposing figure, evenparable to the man standing watch over them.


    ¡°Huh?! Got a problem, you fucks?¡± The man grunted in annoyance as he noticed everyone staring at him. With his outrage, people averted their eyes. The raw pressure exerted by that man¡¯s presence was no joke.


    In such a situation, the crowd didn¡¯t know who to fear more. That man from the Royal Army who was most probably amander under the Imperial Prince or this new guy who seemed to have been raised with the animals and never interacted with humans before.


    Humans really were weak against the strong and strong against the weak. At every opportunity, they struggled to not prevail, but look for strong to worship.


    The man swept his eyes across the crowd and noticed everyone averting their eyes. He snorted in arrogance before noticing that two of these men still had their eyes on him, gauging his strength as if they could go against him.


    One of those men was themander of the Imperial Prince while the other seemed to be a boy who seemed no older than a teenager. Smirking in thetter¡¯s direction, the man crossed the river and came to stand before Ozul.


    ¡°You,¡± he smirked, brandishing his de like canine, ¡°why are you so confident, little bug?¡±


    His face blocked the annoying starlight for Ozul as thetter rxed his facial expressions, ¡°Who said I¡¯m confident?¡±


    Squinting his eyes at the little man before him, the man seemed to contemte whether he was being genuine or simply messing with him. Feeling no fowl intentions, the man smiled a wild smile again, ¡°I feel like we will get along!¡±


    It was no secret that the group of Ozul seemed to be the weakest around here. After all, they had no presence of Spiritual Essence.


    Some of them changed their impression of them after seeing the wild man interact with them. The existence of artifacts that could erase the presence of one¡¯s Spiritual Essence wasn¡¯t a secret after all.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the man¡¯s entrance to fade from people¡¯s memories as more and more people poured in from the gates. No little amount of people wanted to join the banner of the Imperial Prince. Most yearned only for resources, however.


    Using the Purity to cover his head, Ozul lightly leaned against Raven¡¯s back and took a nap. Standing there doing nothing for so long was no less than torturous for him.


    Half a day passed before the drums started beating; whatever it was, it was about to start.


    Ozul yawned and stood up straight. It seemed the selection was finally about to start.


    Themander who had been keeping watch over the rowdy crowd coughed lightly, but his voice reverberated throughout the ce, ¡°All of you present! Starting today, all of you are under the banner of his Highness, The Imperial Prince!¡±


    The crowd cheered, thinking this was their luckiest day.


    Only a few looked at each other in confusion,


    ¡°Huh...¡±


    Even Ozul seemed dumbfounded at the promation. Earlier he had heard that people only needed to register their names, but he didn¡¯t believe it back then.


    ¡®Is the Imperial Prince so desperate?¡¯ he wondered, thinking back to the image of that confident man, ¡®There is no way...¡¯


    Before he could even finish his thoughts, the royal guards began to hand out silver badges to everyone.


    ¡°These bear the mark of the Imperial Prince. With this, you all are recognized as one of the Imperial Guards!¡± Themander shouted with no emotion in his voice.


    The wild man also grunted with displeasure.


    The few smart ones looked lost as well. They were ready to give their blood and sweat to get into the royal army, but now they were suddenly a part of it just after standing in the starlight for a few hours? It seemed no less than a dream to them.


    Ozul waited for the man to continue. He still didn¡¯t believe things were so simple.


    ¡°But since his Highness, the Imperial Prince has granted you all his grace! You also have to repay this kindness! So tonight, we will depart for an expedition to clear the Wild Beasts harassing the northern cities!¡±


    Hearing the word Wild Beasts, everyone halted as their smiles froze.


    They had just be a part of the Royal Army, so shouldn¡¯t they be allowed to celebrate for a few days?


    Seeing their disappointed faces, themander¡¯s face held an obvious sneer. Turned out, so many of these no-names thought they could join the Royal Army just because.


    Only a few nodded their heads in understanding. This wasn¡¯t just some expedition. This was the test for joining the Royal Army! These people would have been wary if there wasn¡¯t such a test involved. After all, there were no free meals in this world.


    The wild man beside Ozul smirked an obvious smile and looked down at Ozul, ¡°You better entertain me, kid!¡±


    On the other hand, Ozul looked at him confused. Why would he entertain him?

 Chapter 389 - 389 Why me?

    389 Why me?


    Ozul didn¡¯t continue to pay the man any more attention than needed as he felt a piercing gaze from somewhere.


    The emotions directed at him were filled with nothing but hostility.


    ¡®Who might that be...¡¯ Ozul wondered as his eyes fell on a woman with a slender figure and quite a lot of exposed skin.


    The woman wasn¡¯t only directing her hostility towards him, but at everyone around her.


    Ozul was genuinely confused.


    This was the first time he had seen someone so deceiving. Her face was full of smiles, eyes arched in happiness as she greeted random people while receiving lustful gestures. But how she acted and politely smiled made it seem like she was too pure and innocent to understand those gestures.


    ¡®It isn¡¯t hostility, but a vicious kind of greed it seems...¡¯ Ozul analyzed further and figured out exactly what emotions she was directing at everyone.


    The direct target of these emotions also wasn¡¯t him, but the wild man standing next to him.


    ¡®Does she want to take advantage of him?¡¯


    .....


    Ozul analyzed the woman thoroughly before finding himself a little interested in what events will unfold in this newly recruited ¡®army¡¯. He could use chaotic situations to his advantage depending on the situation.


    Those who wanted to leave after hearing the word ¡®Wild Beast¡¯ slipped out of the crowd and made an exit under the watchful gaze of themander. These people weren¡¯t hindered, but the guards at the gates took the silver medallions back.


    The crowd thinned a little, but not by a noticeable margin. There were still more than a hundred people gathered there.


    Having no more patience and seeing the woman from earlier make her way toward the wild man next to him, Ozul walked out of the busy ce. After finding a nice spot, he dropped to the ground to take a nap.


    He hoped to rest until night fell and the soldiers were ready to depart.


    Unfortunately, getting some peace amidst such an unruly crowd was but a fool¡¯s dream.


    Following him was not only his small gang of three but also the wild man who harrumphed before striding towards his location and falling to the ground with a loud thud. While that man¡¯s presence helped made people flock away from them, Ozul found it more annoying having to deal with the woman approaching them in an unsuspicious manner.


    ¡®Sigh...¡¯


    Ozul couldn¡¯t help but turn his head to the opposite side. He didn¡¯t want to be rted to whatever schemes that woman was nning.


    Even though she wasn¡¯t targeting him, the current situation seemed to indicate that he inevitably be caught up in the mess.


    The woman took her sweet time before stumbling over anding face to face with the wild man who, even while sitting on the ground, could almost look eye to eye with a short man.


    ¡°Oh, hi there!¡± the woman gasped as if surprised to have stumbled across the wild man and shined a bright smile.


    ¡°...¡±


    While Ozul had his back facing her, others didn¡¯t. Raven, ze, Zier, and the wild man all looked at her silently. It was obvious that the wild man didn¡¯t put her in his eyes, nor did he care to do so anytime soon.


    ¡°Hehe-he...¡±


    The cringe on the woman¡¯s face appeared only for an instant before it was reced with a wronged smile.


    Seeing her exposed skin not work the magic as it usually did, the woman tried to engage the only other people around, ¡°So, we are all part of the Royal Army now, hm~¡±


    ¡°Since we will be seeing each other a lot, we should introduce ourselves, no? I will start. My name is Rose and I¡¯m already at the Soul Materialization stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.¡±


    Not only Zier but even Raven and ze had to give her some attention now. After all, there weren¡¯t many peak Nascent Soul cultivators here.


    Zier was almost drooling as he ran his eyes to the exposed thighs of the woman named Rose.


    ¡°My name is Zier and I¡¯m at the Soul Nurturing stage. Nice to meet you-!¡± he spoke excitedly, a little too excitedly since he received a deathly re from Ozul who was trying to nap. Cutting his introduction short, he smiled awkwardly.


    ¡®The initial stage only, huh? Useless,¡¯ thought Rose as she moved her eyes towards the others. Except for the wild man, these four people were the only ones from whom she couldn¡¯t sense any Spiritual pressure.


    She wasn¡¯t stupid to think that they weren¡¯t cultivators. They obviously had an aura concealing Spiritual Tools, so they were either very strong or at the very least, capable people. She could always make use of capable people.


    Seeing Raven standing close to ze, Rose thought they were partners. Although Raven looked beautiful, Rose was confident in her charms.


    Smiling seductively, she looked towards ze, expecting him to introduce himself next.


    ¡°My name is ze.¡±


    That was it.


    He wasn¡¯t going to state his cultivation stage. He couldn¡¯t stop Zier, but he knew perfectly well that they were wearing the aura concealing Spiritual Tools for a reason.


    Although disappointed, Rose didn¡¯t back down. She looked expectantly towards Raven, but her introduction was even briefer, ¡°Raven.¡±


    ¡°Right...¡±


    Since Ozul wasn¡¯t even facing her, she directed her gaze toward the only man left. The only person that really mattered. She had faced multiple disappointments in a short period of 2 minutes, but she was still hopeful.


    Their eyes met as she blinked innocently, ¡°You should introduce yourself as well-¡±


    Ignoring the woman, the wild man eyed Ozul and yawned. ¡°Brat, you make me sleepy as well,¡± muttering to himself, the man straightened his back before lying down as well.


    Now there were two men lying on the ground and ignoring everyone else.


    Blood rushed to Rose¡¯s head as she seethed with embarrassment and anger. Although she understood that the man was an Origin Realm cultivator, she felt humiliated. Her anger, however, was barely shown on her face.


    ¡°You are not one for introductions, I see. No worries! I think we can still get along just fine!¡±


    Now even Zier was looking at her strangely. This woman was forcing it too much, wasn¡¯t she? She was ignored by the same man twice yet she acted as if nothing had happened and continued to talk as if they were chums since childhood.


    Having realized that such an approach was absolutely useless against the wild man, Rose decided to take a step back and observe for now.


    As she quietened down, she noticed that he was particrly interested in the boy who was sleeping with his back facing her. To her, however, he seemed just a normal man. Shabby clothes, messy hair, and no manners; all of that hinted at yet another peasant. To Ozul¡¯s luck, she hadn¡¯t seen his face yet.


    The Star slowly drowned in the horizon as Rose awkwardly sat beside the group wondering how they coped with such a numbing silence.


    Two of them were sleeping, while the other three were cultivating. Only she sat there wondering what was so special in the boy and how to get the wild man to pay her attention.


    ¡®Wait! Is he into...???¡¯


    She suddenly had a thought but didn¡¯t want to believe it. However, the more she denied the thought, the more usible it seemed.


    Meanwhile, Ozul shifted ufortably in his position.


    The intense emotions at his back were too sharp to ignore. Not only that animal-like man but also that woman who wore short clothes.


    Luckily for him, it wasn¡¯t long before the soldiers had prepared everything, and themander who had been standing watch over them like a statue all this while took a step forward,


    ¡°His Highness, The Imperial Prince, would be joining this mission!¡±


    As he said those words, those with a keen sense of hearing could already hear the thumping of the ground as a majestic horse could be seen approaching them from a distance.


    The Imperial Prince d in the traditional armor of the royal family appeared as he evaluated everyone with a cold gaze. His eyes stopped in Ozul¡¯s direction for a brief moment before he continued and his horse brought him beside themander.


    ¡®He wasn¡¯t eyeing me but this guy right?¡¯


    Ozul honestly couldn¡¯t tell from that gaze. The Imperial Prince¡¯s emotions were that of interest and a little expectation. In whom exactly, he couldn¡¯t tell.


    ¡°Ready to depart!¡±


    Unlike what everyone expected, the Imperial Prince didn¡¯t give any grand speech to raise their morale or cheer them on. He simply directed his horse to lead them out of the royal estate.


    Looking around, Ozul found a little more than twenty soldiers including the Imperial Prince and hismander who stayed watch over them since the morning.


    At the head of their team, the Imperial Prince and themander were leading with a few more soldiers while the rest of them were at the end and at the sides. The new recruits were sandwiched in the middle.


    ¡®It¡¯s like they are herding sheep...¡¯ Ozul thought, looking at the encirclement of the soldiers.


    Even the wild man grunted in dissatisfaction at such a treatment, but they didn¡¯t dare say anything. Not even he spoke out in the presence of the Imperial Prince.


    The Imperial Prince hadn¡¯t uttered a word, but he had already changed the entire atmosphere and the attitude of these people.


    Some were afraid while others were excited to ¡®show their might¡¯ and be recognized by the Prince.


    Being recognized by a peak Origin Realm cultivator was something they could only dream of, yet they wanted to hope.


    From time to time, Ozul felt three pairs of eyes stealing nces at him.


    ¡®Why me...¡¯

 Chapter 390 - 390 Bloody Town.

    390 Bloody Town.


    Feeling the torrent of jubnt emotions surrounding him, Ozul shook his head.


    These were herded towards the northern cities to hunt the Wild Beasts, but he wondered just who would be hunting who. Weren¡¯t they the ones being treated like sheep?


    At the same time, he also had a few expectations. While he had hunted in the forests to look for Cores, they weren¡¯t anything special. He wanted to see what type of Wild Beasts really roamed thesends.


    Thendscapes on the borders of the kingdom were many times more dangerous. It wasn¡¯t easy for the soldiers to clear out the Wild Beasts in those areas.


    As they traveled by foot, it took them two days to reach the northern cities. They weren¡¯t allowed any sleep or rest. Most of them didn¡¯t need it anyway, but the process was weighing on some¡¯s psyche.


    The soldiers of the Prince all kept their distance and didn¡¯t utter a single word. The atmosphere had kind of be dull, much to Ozul¡¯s liking. The wild man hadn¡¯t said much to him afterwards.


    After a while, even Rose stopped paying any attention to him.


    Only the Prince¡¯s eyes bore into him every once in a while, making him wonder if he was being monitored or something.


    By this point, there was no doubt left in him that the Prince knew something. While thetter might think that he was being discreet, he didn¡¯t know that Ozul had the uncanny ability to feel emotions.


    .....


    ...


    The Imperial Prince could hardly believe it when he came to see that the Dragon Hatchling he had seen in the market just the day before was also present at his recruitment camp.


    Their kingdom was special in this regard that the Dragon Hatchlings were brought into this Realm in theirnd. And since he was the Imperial Prince, the only brother of the King, he was privy to inside information.


    He knew the exact details of the group of Hatchlings who hadn¡¯t epted the offers of ¡®those¡¯ people and chose to roam on their own.


    However, even he had to admit that if he hadn¡¯t seen that portrait of the kid, he wouldn¡¯t have recognized him in the middle of the crowd. He exuded no aura at all!


    ¡®Did he not yet start cultivation?¡¯ he had questioned in the market but he let the matter go back then.


    ¡®Those¡¯ people had strictly advised everyone not to harm the Dragon Hatchlings if possible.


    He knew that even if he tried anything, there might be one of ¡®them¡¯ nearby to stop him.


    If Ozul was to know what the Imperial Prince thought, he would definitely be shocked because he was absolutely certain that there was no one nearby to stop anyone.


    At the start, the Imperial Prince had onlye to nce at the ¡®recruits¡¯, but seeing the familiar face, this time with his whole gang, he changed his priorities. He would judge for himself whether that kid was cultivating or not. The others in his group were using the Spiritual Tool to diminish their aura, but they couldn¡¯t rid of itpletely. It only hid their cultivation base.


    It was only Ozul who seemed entirely washed off of the Spiritual Essence. It made no sense that he hadn¡¯t started cultivating when even those with him had already started.


    ¡®How did they get those Spiritual Tools?¡¯ He had wondered again, ¡®Did they find a backing?¡¯


    He had denied that assumption since he believed that these Dragon Hatchlings were here to find the backing that was the Blue Lion Kingdom. They must have had a lucky encounter, the Imperial Prince reasoned with himself.


    There was no rule that he couldn¡¯t use the Dragon Hatchlings for his own gains. He was looking for capable people to join under his banner, and he couldn¡¯t ask for anything better!


    These were the Dragon Hatchlings! People considered having the potential to topple the power bnce of the entire Realm!


    The Imperial Prince thought that this group had finally realized that they had made a mistake rejecting the offer from ¡®those¡¯ people, and now they were desperate for resources.


    It just so happened that while not as abundant as offered by those people, he still had enough resources to make normal cultivators drool in envy.


    ¡®I may not be able to keep them forever, but I¡¯m going to milk the cow while I can at least...¡¯


    The man who was already in the Origin Realm was a bit surprised. He hadn¡¯t expected someone of that strength to apply. He would have to verify that man¡¯s background. Other than that, he didn¡¯t see anyone use in the crowd of over a hundred people.


    The Imperial Prince wasn¡¯t a man of swallowing greed. Even at this time, he could get the throne from his brother if he so wanted, but the throne wasn¡¯t in his interests. He only wanted to reach the next stage of his cultivation journey.


    Throughout the journey to the northern cities, he kept a close eye on the group.


    Now that they had already arrived, he would confirm with his own eyes the almost-notorious reputation of these Dragon Hatchlings.


    . . .


    Ozul wanted to sleep, but they were made to walk for days straight.


    If it weren¡¯t for the Imperial Prince here, he might have done something about it. He didn¡¯t want thetter to get any more suspicious than he already was.


    Those soldiers around them were barely at the initial stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, so if the people wanted to, they could have easily made a ruckus and left. But just like Ozul, the presence of that man in silver armor kept everyone at bay.


    Soon the dpidated houses appeared on the horizon.


    It was once again beginning to darken, so the eerie silence surrounding that ce manifested as an image of an abandoned town.


    The Prince and hismander slowed their pace as the rest was forced to follow.


    Themander narrowed his eyes as if scanning the houses in his view, ¡°I sense no life from the town, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you missed that one. There is life... albeit a wretched one,¡± his face morphed into a crescent as he pulled the reigns on his horse, making it run forward.


    By this point, the sharp encirclement around the new recruits had loosened a little as the soldiers put their focus on the surroundings instead. Meanwhile, most of the crowd was busy chattering amongst themselves.


    Ozul noticed very few of them were alert. In case someone attacked them now, most of them would die not knowing what happened.


    *Boom!*


    Everyone heard a loud noiseing from the deserted town as they watched arge chunk of flesh shoot in their direction in a parabolic trajectory.


    A secondter, the flying thing dropped near themander¡¯s horse as the Imperial Prince also appeared beside him. His horse was seen running back in the distance.


    ¡°Your senses have dulled,¡± the Princemented, as themander immediately got down from his horse toe to his level.


    ¡°I will do better next time, Your Highness.¡±


    The Prince nodded as he once again eyed the new recruits. His gazended on a specific person.


    He eyed themander who understood his gesture and turned around towards the recruits, shouting, ¡°This right here,¡± he pointed towards the blob of flesh, ¡°is-... was one of the Wild Beasts from our reports. It was a ck Horned Fox. As you noticed, even I failed to sense its presence in that town; so you are warned of their presence. Be prepared, you will be fighting many of these here.¡±


    By that time, the horse of the Imperial Prince hade back as he hopped on it again and they resumed their journey, straight into the heart of the deserted town.


    The soldiers dispersed and all followed themander more closely.


    All those people suddenly had a feeling of freedom. It felt as if it was finally time to prove their worth. Some had already started stretching their arm muscles.


    Entering the town, they started to notice the dark red puddles on the streets and the bloodstained walls of the houses. It hadn¡¯t been long since the massacre happened.


    ¡°Did that ck Horned Fox alone did all of this?¡± Zier muttered in disbelief. Amidst the chatter of the people, his voice was blurred into nothingness.


    However, as if answering his question, themander shouted, ¡°This is the result of a Wild Beast wave. Even a couple of them could have killed all the humans, but when there are almost a hundred, even the bones don¡¯t remain.¡±


    They didn¡¯t stop and continued marching at their original pace until they were almost out of the town.


    The terrain ahead was slowly turning rocky as a thick mist limited their sight.


    ¡®It even dulled my senses,¡¯ Ozul thought with a bit of apprehension.


    There was a thickyer of Spiritual Essenceced in that mist. He was sure that even the Imperial Prince would have been affected a little.


    At least for now, he wasn¡¯t worried. Although dulled a little, his senses were nowhere nearly as affected as the others.


    ¡°Beyond this hill should be the territory marked by the ck Horned Foxes! Keep up your guard! If you die here, no one is going to stop for burial and mourn for you!¡±


    Themander shouted onest time before heading into the mist.


    Unfortunately, his words fell on deaf ears of many as they felt a safety bubble in the presence of the Imperial Prince.


    ¡®I have a bad feeling...¡¯ Ozul muttered to himself as he also walked into the mist followed by his group, the wild man, and the woman named Rose.

 Chapter 391 - 391 A Massacre.

    391 A Massacre.


    As they cut through the mist, everyone found it harder to see.


    From their confident gait, Ozul could guess that the wild man beside him, themander, and the Imperial Prince were the only ones carefree still. Their senses were also affected, but not to the point that they couldn¡¯t defend themselves.


    The serenity of the situation had made everyone quieten down. If not for the turning and cracking of forest wood under their feet keeping them sane, they might have started doubting everything.


    Just a few minutes in the mist and the trees gradually became sparse. Their path turned rockier and they were quite obviously starting to move up.


    ¡®From afar, even I couldn¡¯t see mountains...¡¯ Ozul thought as he remained vignt.


    zed nudged Raven from the side, ¡°Do you hear that?¡± He was excited, but also on edge at the same time. After getting into the mist, it felt as if he had lost some control of his body.


    It was fine before, but now he was hearing something like distant whistling when he really focused on it.


    ¡°I do...¡± Raven replied in affirmation.


    It was one of those ck Horned Foxes, Ozul could sense one nearby. He, however, didn¡¯t bother to warn the others. For one, even the Beast hadn¡¯t attacked them yet. Also, it would be a good experience if his group were to ward off a surprise attack from one of them.


    .....


    As for the others, he didn¡¯t care much. Most of them were useless to him, and those who showed any promise could hold out on their own, like with the wild man beside him.


    Since he could sense the presence of the Fox, Ozul was sure that everyone in the Origin Realm would also be able to.


    They were walking straight toward that ck Horned Fox, yet it seemed like the Wild Beast had no intentions of attacking them.


    Ozul noticed the confusion on the face of the wild man and themander. The Imperial Prince, though, didn¡¯t let any thoughts surface on his face. Yet, he knew that the Prince was a bit surprised as well.


    The ck Horned Fox clearly knew such arge group of humans was before it, but it didn¡¯t attack.


    ¡®Is it afraid?¡¯ Ozul thought but instantly rejected the idea. He could feel its emotions and they were anything but fear.


    Themander and the Imperial Prince were suppressing their aura, but the wild man wasn¡¯t like them. Even someone who hadn¡¯t cultivated in their life would easily be able to feel his raw strength. The Fox should have been able to gauge his strength as well.


    That Wild Beast was at the Nascent Soul Realm in the upper stages. Basically, it was no match for the wild man, and so as logic would have it, the Wild Beast should have shown fear.


    It neither attacked blindly nor feel threatened, so the only conclusion Ozul coulde up with was,


    ¡®The ck Horned Fox maybe follows someone stronger and it might even be in the Origin Realm...¡¯


    Internally smiling, Ozul thought he could finally test his limits against an entity of the Origin Realm.


    Before long, he sensed many more Foxes in the forest. Just like the one before, they avoided the group of humans even from afar.


    ¡®They have already adapted to the mist?¡¯ Ozul guessed since it would have been otherwise impossible for the Nascent Soul Wild Beasts to sense their presence.


    He couldn¡¯t help but notice that a pattern had emerged after a while. Once he carefully observed all the Foxes, he noticed that they had already surrounded them from every side.


    It wasn¡¯t much different from the encirclement of the guards from before except for the fact that the Foxes were gradually growing restless. He had to admit that he was a little impressed at their coordination amidst such a thick mist.


    From the fact that the Imperial Prince or even themander hadn¡¯t said anything, it was evident that they wanted to thin out their numbers. Once again, it was thew of jungle; survival of the fittest.


    *Swoosh!*


    Something shed by from the left and everyone looked in that direction, startled that they hadn¡¯t sensed its presence.


    Before they could even question themander, something shed by from behind them, making their heads turn again.


    Raven, ze, and Zier all looked at Ozul, their eyes looking for answers.


    Much to their disappointment, thetter had his eyes in the front, looking at themander and the Imperial Prince. The Prince seemed indifferent to the situation while themander had already motioned toward his soldiers.


    Only the new ¡®recruits¡¯ were left in the dark.


    Rose inched closer to the wild man, standing just behind him, ¡°We should prepare ourselves,¡± she muttered.


    The wild man noticed her gestures and showed obvious disgust at her little tricks. His instincts were and sharp from the moment this woman had shown herself, he could feel her cunning nature. Still, he ignored her for now.


    Looking down to his left, he noticed the only other person except for themander and the Prince who hadn¡¯t lost hisposure was this little man. A smile stretched across his face, showing hisrge canine as he said, ¡°Do you want topete, little man?¡±


    Confused at his remarks, the surrounding people looked at him with confusion. They were in a dangerous situation right now. There were obviously some Wild Beasts around them, but they couldn¡¯t sense any. Why was he thinking ofpetiting in such a ce?!


    Ozul knew what he meant; He wanted topete in hunting those Foxes who were surrounding them.


    Shaking his head, he rejected the idea, ¡°It¡¯s not convenient now.¡±


    The wild man frowned at his response, thinking that he might have evaluated him too highly. Turned out, he was only aposed man.


    However, the next moment, he heard something that made him burst out inughter,


    ¡°Let them thin out the numbers... It¡¯s suffocating.¡±


    ¡°HAHAHA!¡±


    If anyone had observed the Imperial Prince at the moment, they wouldn¡¯t have missed the smile on his face.


    Since only those two were talking, they were heard by most of the people, but none cared enough to dwell on the deeper meaning.


    Narrowing her eyes at their strange conversation, Rose wondered if she had made the right decision to stick closer to this wild man. Initially, he seemed like an easy target, but her judgment waspletely wrong and that man even looked a little unstable.


    ¡°AKHG!-¡±


    A shriek rang out from the backmost side, making everyone shudder with horror.


    ¡°Brace yourselves!¡± themander finally shouted as the soldiers immediately listened and formed a protective shield around the Imperial Prince, not that he needed any.


    The recruits, however, were left puzzled. What were they supposed to do?! They couldn¡¯t even sense ¡®its¡¯ presence!


    Most of them were convinced that it was just a single Wild Beast.


    ¡°UKH!-¡±


    Just then, another scream rang out before fading into an unsettling silence.


    ¡°No!! Brother! Brother!! I will save y-AKH!!¡±


    The mist was thick and people couldn¡¯t see clearly, but they could make out what had happened from the voices.


    ¡°That¡¯s three gone,¡± Raven muttered in apprehension as she activated her Scarlet Eyes.


    Their little group was to the far left, and it seemed like Ozul didn¡¯t have any ns to move to the middle anytime soon.


    ¡°The Foxes are in the Nascent Soul as well. Those three gone were all in the Body Formation Realm. Be confident,¡± Ozul told her as she nodded in understanding.


    Again, Rose didn¡¯t miss their conversation. Unconvinced, she waited for the wild man to refute his words or at least show any reaction, but thetter kept a straight face.


    ¡®That boy is stronger than me?!¡¯ Rose didn¡¯t want to believe it, but after taking everything that had happened into ount, it would be stupid not to.


    Consciously or unconsciously, her figure moved and she ced herself right in the middle of Ozul and the wild man.


    Ozul internally sighed at her actions. Other than him, the wild man, themander, and the Prince, she was one of the strongest people here. If she just put her mind to it, she could easily deal with those Foxes, but she chose not to.


    Fear of the unknown made people stupid.


    While this was happening, more than 10 people had already disappeared from the sides!


    People started pushing each other to move to the middle where it was the safest, but that only caused chaos to ensure all around. Due to the soldiers guarding the Prince, they couldn¡¯t even inch closer to him for protection.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you helping us?!¡± one of them shouted at themander, having no guts to question the Imperial Prince.


    The only response that man received was a cold stare followed by 2 inch-long teeth burying deep in his neck as he was swept away, unable even to whimper cries of help.


    While the Foxes avoided the side left most side due to the fear of the wild man, they gradually got bolder.


    One of them, finding an opportunity, leaped towards a man with purple hair and a thin body.


    Zier was prepared with his poisonced needles, but he also wasn¡¯t able to sense the Beast until it had already leaped at him!


    Since she had her Scarlet Eyes activated, Raven was the first to notice the Wild Beast. ¡°Down!¡± she as ze stuck his fist in Zier¡¯s direction following her gesture.


    All three of them were swift to act as the ck Horned Fox was met with a cold fist that sent it rolling backward.


    ¡°That one is dead,¡± ze told while smiling. He had felt the cracking of its skull in that instant his fist had made contact with it. Looking down at his blue fists, he was finally convinced of his powers.


    ¡°Good,¡± Ozul remarked at their teamwork before turning to assess the situation.


    In that short time, almost 50 of the ¡®recruits¡¯ had sumbed to death. This wasn¡¯t a test; it was a massacre.

 Chapter 392 - 392 Disgust is Mutual.

    392 Disgust is Mutual.


    The crowd had thinned down a lot.


    After all, one-third of them had already disappeared into the mist of death, leaving behind only short-lived echos of their final moments, and asionally, bloodstains.


    Neither the Prince nor themander did anything while this massacre took ce.


    What upset people further was the fact that even the wild man who they all knew, was more than capable enough to kill those creatures. Yet, he remained indifferent to the horrific deaths of so many people. He stood there doing nothing!


    Amidst the growing confusion, some of them had started getting used to the situation.


    Those who were panicking around the edges had already sumbed to death, and now the level-headed ones were putting up a resistance. In the face of danger, those strangers who were all wary of each other before started cooperating.


    Though the mist still put them at a disadvantage, once the ¡®recruits¡¯ got a hold of themselves, the situation gradually turned around.


    ¡®One...two....three...four....¡¯ Ozul counted as the number of ck Horned Foxes started dwindling.


    With people starting to fight back, the speed at which the Foxes were killed only increased over time. And as if noticing the turn of tides, the ck Horned Foxes stopped their assault at once and retreated.


    .....


    With the Beasts stopping their sneak attacks, a stillness descended on the field.


    ¡°I-... is it over?¡± huffed a womanden with injuries.


    She was also in the Nascent Soul Realm, and if Ozul were to choose between her and that woman named Rose, he would choose her without batting an eye.


    Instead of answering her, themander who had maintained his silence until now ran into the mist at a lightning speed only to reappear a few secondster as the soldiers helped him wipe the blood on his hands.


    Everyone knew he had just taken care of the remaining ck Horned Foxes who had fled.


    A man in the crowd clenched his trembling fists as he shouted, ¡°H-hey! If you had helped before... my...my friends wouldn¡¯t have d-died!¡± He sniffed up his snot while letting tears mix into the blood sttered on his face.


    ¡°Well, I was letting you all prove your worth to His Highness, the Imperial Prince; didn¡¯t you all seem eager to?¡± themander replied indifferently. He continued, ¡°But as I recall if you held your friends so dear to you, why didn¡¯t you help them instead of cowering and pushing others to hide behind others¡¯ backs?¡±


    The man couldn¡¯t find a retort. His face flushed with guilt as the faces of his now-dead friends shed in his mind.


    People saw themander had no intentions of taking responsibility for so many deaths, and even the Imperial Prince remained uninterested. As hot-headed as they were, they had also seen a fair share of this world. Only now did everyone understand that they had yet to be part of the royal army of the Blue Lion Kingdom.


    Their shoulders slumped down as some mourned their friends while others despaired at what awaited them next. In just one encounter with the Beasts, their numbers had reduced by one-third of the original! What about the next time?


    ¡°Tch! That was no fun,¡± mumbled the wild man. He didn¡¯t get to have any action, but he had to admit those Foxes were disappointing.


    Instead of going feral, those cunning Beasts chose to retreat instead when there was still half of them left!


    ¡°Get moving again!¡± shouted themander before hopping onto his horse.


    While the soldiers were previously guarding the Imperial Prince, it was actually the other way around. Due to thetter¡¯s aura, no ck Horned Fox dared to approach them. Hence, all of them remained unscathed.


    ¡°-...What about the dead!?¡±


    Themander turned to re at the man and shouted, ¡°If you so wish to give them a burial, you can stay here. We¡¯re leaving!¡±


    That man who had asked the question was stumped as well. His staying back alone was nothing more than suicide!


    Themander had warned them earlier that they wouldn¡¯t stop for mourning, but they didn¡¯t take him seriously back then. Now that it was actually happening made people despair. Now even if they wanted to leave, would they be able to?


    After that people stopped voicing theirints and the march continued again.


    This time, everyone was vignt and had their weapons ready. Since the Imperial Prince was only here to spectate, they could only rely on themselves to survive.


    Seeing the concern in Raven¡¯s eyes, Ozul shook his head to stop her from saying anything.


    If she was one of the few people who understood his little actions, the same was true for him. He knew she was about to voice her concern over the cruelty of the Prince. But he didn¡¯t want her to.


    The Prince could most likely even hear their mumblings. Raven wasn¡¯t the type to shy from killing people, but expressing doubts about him would make it tedious to gain his trustter.


    Seeing him shake his head, Raven got the hint.


    ¡°You could have been more useful with your needles,¡± Ozul told Zier. The other two fought well, so he didn¡¯t say anything to them.


    Zier nodded seriously, ¡°I will reflect on that.¡±


    Ozul felt good dealing with him. Unlike Raven and ze, he wouldn¡¯t go down the spiral of shame and guilt each time he pointed out his shorings. He hoped the sickly boy remained that way.


    They marched for a few more hours before the mist finally began to thin out.


    A few minutester, people could finally see their immediate surroundings.


    And some instantly regretted looking as they saw the fallen trees, destroyed rocks, and craters formed in the shape of a w. That level of destruction couldn¡¯t be imagined by Nascent Soul cultivators.


    Just when they thought the situation couldn¡¯t get any worse, they saw fire erupt like a volcano in the distance. Amidst the raging pir of fire, lighting struck without mercy.


    The shockwaves reached their group, but the Prince didn¡¯t pull his horse. They continued walking in that direction.


    A man with shaky legs could no longer take it. He wasn¡¯t willing to march straight to his death! His eyes began to well up with tears as he saw the faces of his kids waiting for him at home. He cried, ¡°I can¡¯t go!¡± then stopped, slowly turned around, and ran the other way.


    Following his lead, 6 more ¡®recruits¡¯ gave up and ran away.


    They hade with great hopes, but the Imperial Prince watched mercilessly as they died. Now he wanted them to face ¡®that¡¯ thing in the distance? Whatever it was, they didn¡¯t want toy down their lives for the whims of a Prince.


    Ozul shook his head as he watched that sorry sight. What happened to these men was indeed cruel. They were given hope and then tossed in front of hungry Beasts to gnaw on. But did he care? No; he didn¡¯t. Everyone was responsible for their lives in the end.


    Neither themander nor the Prince nced back even once. Their stand on desertion was obvious; they didn¡¯t care either.


    After another hundred meters or so, the Prince stopped and so did everyone. Themander got down from his horse as one of the soldiers held its reigns.


    ¡°That thing over there,¡± themander pointed at the chaos in his back, ¡°...is the lord of ck Horned Foxes in this region! Since it is fighting someth-¡±


    He stopped shouting when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was the Imperial Prince who stood smiling behind him.


    ¡°We are heading straight towards it,¡± he grinned, ¡°...whoever survives bes a part of the Royal Army. Does anyone have any questions?¡± He didn¡¯t wait for anyone to reply before nodding, ¡°Seems not. That¡¯s the spirit!¡±


    Ozul sighed with a frown. Since he was the one with the sharpest senses, he already knew the Beast was fighting a human.


    Shaking his head, he thought, ¡®That isn¡¯t even fighting... She is toying with the lord of ck Horned Foxes.¡¯


    The power disyed by both reached the Origin Realm, but the difference was in the stages. He could tell that the ck Hornes Fox was in the initial Realm. As for the woman, he couldn¡¯t be so sure.


    From the excitement disyed by the Prince, he could only guess that she might also be at the peak of the Origin Realm.


    ¡®Why are all strong people so eager to fight?¡¯ he sighed once again at the thought of meeting more people like them in the future.


    The Prince had already taken off his shiny silver armor, revealing a loose shirt of high quality.


    The armor was only there for disy. The real treasure was the spear that he was holding. It was twice as long as him, but he handled it like it was a natural part of his body.


    Leaving the soldiers to take care of the horse that he cherished, the Prince led everyone straight towards the battle.


    As they approached, the terrain around them was more messed up. At one point even, there were no standing trees left! A small river had to change its course as its path was filled with giant trees and rocks.


    There were patches of fire which refused to die down.


    Zier gulped at the magnitude of destruction. A single battle had changed the whole terrain! Stars shone in his eyes as he imagined himself reaching that level one day.


    ¡°Catch!¡± a voice reached their ears.


    The Prince looked up into the air.


    Following his lead, others looked up as well. It was almost dawn, so they could see better.


    And with their vision returned, they could all see the Beast falling toward them!


    A secondter, they realized that the four-legged Beast was headed straight for the Prince and not them.


    As the Beast reached the Prince, he simply punched it!


    The Beast whined once again as its body bent and was thrown away once again.


    Fortunately for it, it was a rocky area. The stones broke the Beast¡¯s momentum before it fell on the ground with a thud.


    By that point, everyone could see the resemnce of the Beast with the ck Horned Foxes that they had dealt with earlier. Only this was double their size and instead of a single horn, there were two horns on his head. It also had hardened patches of skin lined up on its spine. It looked as if it was wearing armor.


    People¡¯s attention, however, was quickly diverted as they heard that voice again,


    ¡°The Imperial Prince of that blue-whatever-Kingdom, what a surprise.¡±


    The Prince brought down his spear and the earth cracked beneath him. The shock reached the boulder ced in their path as it split open, forcing the woman to jump down.


    As shended on the ground, the Prince bowed in courtesy, ¡°The disgust is mutual, whoever you are.¡±

 Chapter 393 - 393 Battle for survival.

    393 Battle for survival.


    ¡°The disgust is mutual, whoever you are.¡±


    As the contempt in the Prince¡¯s tone registered in her mind, the woman¡¯s face scrunched up in hatred.


    She stood as tall as the Prince with short hair and dark hair. Her robes loosely hung on her body, making it easier for her to move with fluidity. Anyone would have mistaken her for a hermit if they had found her in this perplexing area of the forest on this mountain.


    ¡°Surely you haven¡¯t forgotten our night together?¡± the woman almost hissed out.


    Noticing the grim side-eye that he received from hismander, the Prince coughed, ¡°You make it sound as if we were on a romantic date, you lightning bitch.¡±


    The woman ¡°So you do remember me, huh?¡± She chuckled, ¡°You got away that night, but look what fate has done to you. In the name of the Steel Mountain Kingdom, today I will behead you.¡±


    But the Prince didn¡¯t back down either. He smiled as well and spoke, ¡°You seem very confident in yourself.¡± Right after that, he raised his aura to match hers.


    The woman squinted her eyes; she was confident from their previous sh which wasn¡¯t long ago that she had the upper hand in terms of raw strength. Staring at the trash, as she considered them, behind the Prince, the woman showed contempt. ¡°Are those vermins going to help you?¡± she said as dark clouds were summoned above the recruits.


    ¡°Careful, you don¡¯t want to do that,¡± the Prince said with a severe tone. He added, ¡°You don¡¯t want ¡®them¡¯ to get involved, do you?¡±


    .....


    It only took a moment for the woman to grasp the significance of his words, as her gaze shifted toward the crowd. Upon identifying the individuals she wished to avoid, a wave of rage washed over her. With a fierce stomp of her feet and an enraged cry, she threatened, ¡°So what?! I can still take you down!¡±


    The atmosphere became tense as the Prince faced themander, ¡°Let them deal with the Fox. Do not intervene.¡±


    With these words, he and the woman charged towards each other, their eyes alight with a deadly determination. The air around them crackled with the palpable waves of their Spiritual Essence.


    Themander sighed before turning toward the anxious crowd, ¡°You heard the man.¡±


    With that said, he also disappeared, leaving them to fend for themselves.


    At this point, Ozul looked at their faces, some of them having a mental breakdown and others wishing to wake up from this ¡®nightmare¡¯ that they themselves had jumped into. At times like these, he wondered how humans, with such a fragile mentality, could achieve all that they have.


    But then he was reminded of his own group. Feeling their emotions, he knew they were afraid as well, but at least they hadn¡¯t lost the ability to think. There were others like them as well, but far too few and scarce.


    Excluding the wild man, only around 20 people could and actually had the will to fight.


    The Prince and the woman from the neighboring Kingdom shed, sending waves of Spiritual Essence in all directions.


    And before they could react to that, the screeching of the injured ck Horned Fox on the other side caught their attention.


    Once again, the wild man had a knowing smile as he eyed Ozul. ¡°Let me give it a try first,¡± he said before running toward the Beast.


    The ground shook to bear witness to the battle between peak Origin Realm cultivators.


    Having lost their will to fight, many turned around and ran to save their lives. Crying and begging for help, they only hoped to make it out of there alive.


    As if the Fox had also decided not to interfere in the battle between the Prince and that woman, it turned its focus on the remaining people. It opened its mouth and sucked in a huge amount of Spiritual Essence.


    The wild man, whose name they had yet to hear, also crackled his fists before a bluish aura enveloped his body.


    The Spiritual Essence gathered at the tip of Fox¡¯s growling jaws suddenly ignited and formed into a huge ball of fire. The wild man clearly wasn¡¯t expecting such a development as a ball of fire thrice his size was thrown straight at him.


    He might have been able to dodge it if he wasn¡¯t rushing straight at it before. Making a quick decision, he used his arms to cover his face. Since he couldn¡¯t dodge it, he was going to bear all the burn! The man sneered in the face of that heat that visibly melted the few trees which stood in its path.


    The huge ball of fire prevented the Fox from having a clear vision of him, so he was going to take it by surprise. As his body collided with the fire, he couldn¡¯t help but jolt in pain.


    ¡°Akh!¡±


    The bluish aura prevented the fire froming into direct contact with the fire, yet the heat was painfully felt.


    Ozul realized what he was trying to do, but there was a small problem that the wild man wasn¡¯t aware of. Even if he wanted to do something about it, he didn¡¯t have to luxury to as another ball of fire was headed straight in his direction.


    ¡®Let¡¯s see if it can hold out against an attack from a Beast of the Origin Realm,¡¯ thought Ozul before he pushed his little group aside and used The Purity to create a wall in front of himself.


    Unlike the wild man, the ball of fire collided with The Purity and created a huge explosion, sending everyone but Ozul flying in opposite direction!


    While the Nascent Soul cultivators were only injured slightly, the few remaining Core Formation cultivators who hadn¡¯t run away yet were almost crippled!


    At the same time, the wild man got out of the ball of fire ready to catch the Fox off-guard. What he didn¡¯t expect was that before he could even regain his bearings, the Fox had already rushed over to him!


    The beast brought down its de-like w, ready to sever that man¡¯s head in one sweep.


    His eyes widened in horror as the ws descended on his shoulder without mercy. At the critical time, he managed to duck which saved his life, but the ws still dug deep. The force also sent him shooting to the right until a tree broke his momentum.


    *Khuu!*


    The wild man coughed blood while mustering up the strength to stand up. He wasn¡¯t overconfident, but the Fox was clearly better than him.


    Dealing with it alone is impossible, he reasoned as he turned to the only person he believed could be of assistance and yelled, ¡°It¡¯s likely that the beast has already sensed all of its Origin Gates! I will need some help!¡±


    Meanwhile, Ozul stood stunned on his spot. The fireball he had defended against shook his whole body. The rocky ground was not only on fire but also dug a few feet below on both sides because of the explosion. Before absorbing those Cores, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to survive this attack.


    Hearing the wild man yell for help, he forced himself out of the trance. If that man died, he didn¡¯t know if he would be able to deal with the beast either.


    The ck wall made up of The Purity instantly separated to form tens of sharp des before he thrust them all in the Fox¡¯s direction.


    Taking notice of the desing at it, the Fox once again screamed before charging straight at Ozul.


    Before the des could graze its fur, its tail suddenly glowed with a blinding red light as it rotated its body midair and struck the des with its tail! Without fail, all the des were deflected toward the ground!


    Fortunately for Ozul, he hadn¡¯t sent all of The Purity at the Fox. Using what he had left, he sent a few needles at it for distraction while also flying out of its course. A moment of hesitation would have ended up with the beast¡¯s horn ripping apart his body. But since he wasn¡¯t given time to think, he wasn¡¯t able to take into ount one thing; his whole gang was still there!


    In the face of this threat, Zier managed to calm his nerves as he also threw his needles at the marching Fox. s, the force behind those needles didn¡¯t even make the beast flinch. They couldn¡¯t even go through its fur, much less pierce its hide.


    Rose also manifested something vague behind her as she arched her hands like she was holding a bow. Multiple arrows of Spiritual Essence struck the beast but it made no difference.


    ¡°Run!¡± Ozul shouted from behind and flew straight at the Fox, attempting to throw it off course. He was starting to get anxious since there wasn¡¯t enough time, but he didn¡¯t stop to think that.


    Just when he thought that his group was done for, a shadow blurred into the area.


    The ground shook as something was dragged along the earth, erasing whatever stood in its way!


    Coincidentally, that ¡®something¡¯ passed between the remaining group of recruits and the ck Horned Fox, disrupting thetter from killing them.


    The dust was pushed instantly as sparks crackled in the air. At the end of the line ¡®etched¡¯ on the rocky ground, the woman stood up with a bleeding lip as she ground her teeth in anger. She didn¡¯t care about the growling Fox to her left or the pathetic humans to her right.


    She looked straight ahead at the man and spoke, ¡°So the little prince has improved.¡±


    Taking advantage of this moment, the wild man had already closed in on the Fox. ¡°HAA!!!¡± He jumped and Ozul could see a gigantic bear manifest itself behind him as it pped away the beast!


    Sighing in relief, he thought of the Soul Materialization stage of the Nascent Soul.


    ¡®The bear must be the manifestation of his soul.¡¯

 Chapter 394 - 394 Kumaou.

    394 Kumaou.


    ¡®The bear must be the manifestation of his soul,¡¯ thought Ozul as he gazed at the giant manifestation sweeping down the ck Horned Fox.


    While others were staring at that woman fighting with the Imperial Prince, the wild man took the opportunity to get even with the Fox.


    It was too engrossed with the woman who had earlier given it a beating to defend itself. Despite its weight, the direct hit threw it off the ground with a gashing wound on its stomach.


    With a shrill scream once again, the Fox bared its teeth at the wild man with blood-ridden eyes. A fiery red aura flung over its dark brown fur as it bared its teeth and jumped at him.


    Meanwhile, the woman who had crashed between the charging beast and the ¡®recruits¡¯ had already flown back to face off against the Prince.


    The battle between the Prince and the woman from the Steel Mountain Kingdom was almost evenly matched. Not at one point could anyone tell who had the upper hand. The Prince, wielding his powers over water, summoned massive waves and floods to engulf her, while she, who controlled thunder, countered with bolts of lightning and thunderous ps.


    The woman taunted the Prince, ¡°You were quite confident for someone who is only running away like a coward!¡± But the Prince wasn¡¯t having any of it. Although they both seemed to have the same levels of strength, he had an edge since he didn¡¯t lose his focus.


    ¡°I think the blood loss has messed you up or were you always on the slow side?¡± the Princeughed at the end. The results were expected; the woman came charging at him like a raging bull.


    The forest and mountainside around them were left in ruins as the battle raged on. Trees were uprooted, and boulders were tossed around as the two shed, each trying to gain the upper hand. The Prince created a massive whirlpool to suck in the lightning bolts, but the woman was quick to summon a thunderstorm, unleashing a torrential downpour of rain and hail on him.


    .....


    The ground shook. Each strike of the woman and the Prince¡¯s Spiritual Arts left deep craters in the earth. Neither of them was willing to give up, uncaring of the destruction of flora.


    Fortunately for the ¡®recruits¡¯, they both took their fight far away from them, only asionally shing a glimpse of their prowess.


    Back to the other side, the Fox was charging at the wild man who stood ready with a wry smile on his face. He wasn¡¯t going to run away, but he also understood that he was no match for the beast.


    A bear-like aura again appeared behind him as he readied himself to face the burning meteor-like beast.


    ¡°Come on you bloody fox!¡± he shouted while taking a few steps back. He was going to dodge and try to attack its previous wounds. The beast wasn¡¯t in good shape after fighting that woman and his attack had only worsened its condition. If they were just lucky enough, they could actually kill it!


    Yet, he was hesitant. After all, he himself had sustained internal injuries.


    Just then, however, he noticed something unusual between his legs. A cloud of ck smoke was gathering behind him and darkening as the moments went by.


    Looking past the beast, he noticed Ozul who nodded at him and mouthed the word ¡®bait¡¯.


    Getting the gist of what was happening, the wild man gained more confidence. This was their best chance since the Fox was enraged; if its bloodshot eyes and the suffocating pressure it released were anything to go by.


    The Fox wasn¡¯t running fast, but the pressure it released with each step made it seem as if running away from it was impossible. The wound on its stomach was bleeding, but the heat around the beast was enough to evaporate all the blood.


    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of you!¡± again shouted the wild man while holding his stance firm on the ground.


    The Fox jumped, ready to tear apart the tiny human between her jaws.


    However, unlike what his stance suggested, the wild man lept to the side when the Fox was midair.


    The beast¡¯s eyes followed the man as he moved, but they missed the enormous spike that suddenly materialized out of the ck smoke!


    Before it could move, the spike mmed into its stomach, driving deeper into the bloody gashes left by the wild man.


    *kyiukh!* The Fox bellowed a shrill scream as the ck spike punctured its internal organs.


    The beast twisted and turned to get the spike out, but it was left hanging midair. Its feet floppily thrashed around but to no avail.


    Everybody held their breath as eventually, the beast¡¯s body stopped struggling. Its body went limp as enough blood was drained out. The ck Horned Fox was dead.


    The stillness was only broken by the sound of air cracking in the distance.


    Having realized that they couldn¡¯t do anything while these towering figures were taking care of the battle, the crowd gazed helplessly at the dead ck Horned Fox.


    Just now, they were a few feet away from death, but a few secondster, that very death hung loosely on a ck spike drilling a hole into its chest.


    The only two people who could do anything in this situation; Ozul and that wild man turned their attention to the two people wreaking havoc half a mile away from their location.


    Ozul came face to face with the wild man who grinned at him and offered his hand,


    ¡°Tell me your name.¡±


    Understanding his gesture, Ozul sighed internally but still shook his hand and answered him, ¡°Ozul Ashfall.¡±


    The wild man¡¯s grin only widened, but the blood dripping down his nose and smudging his teeth made up a grotesque sight.


    ¡°You alone are worthy to hear my name, Ozul Ashfall. I am Kumaou1!¡±


    ¡®... Didn¡¯t everyone just hear him now? Doesn¡¯t that defeat the purpose of only me hearing his name?¡¯ Ozul squinted his eyes and noticed that everyone had heard his name. Shrugging his shoulders, he looked back at the darkened sky above.


    The man named Kumaou wasn¡¯t disheartened at hisck of interest in his name.


    ¡°Want to give him a helping hand?¡± he asked Ozul.


    He didn¡¯t think twice before nodding his head. Earlier the Prince seemed to have the upper hand as that woman was sent flying and not him, but Ozul was keeping an eye on their battle as well; she only suffered a direct blow after underestimating him earlier.


    ¡®Just a small mistake and the Prince would be dead,¡¯ Ozul could feel both of their emotions. Their killing intent oozed out like a river cutting through mountains.


    From their conversation earlier, Ozul and his group understood that the Prince knew about them being the so-called Dragon Hatchlings. Due to that, the woman seemed hesitant in killing them.


    However, he couldn¡¯t be sure what would really happen if the Prince died in this battle.


    And so he was willing to risk it in hopes of giving the Prince a small opening that he could take advantage of.


    But just as he and Kumaou were going to fly in that direction, a familiar figure appeared before them; it was themander who had been only spectating all this while.


    He shook his head and spoke in a determined tone, ¡°You won¡¯t interfere in the Prince¡¯s battle. Not unless hemands so.¡±


    Kumaou frowned and shouted, ¡°What if he dies?¡±


    Against his question, themander stood still and quiet, but unmoving nheless. He wasn¡¯t going to let them pass.


    Kumaou clenched his fists, wanting to take on themander as well, but Ozul shook his head. If he were topare the two, themander was just as strong as that ck Horned Beast.


    They could kill the beast since it was already beaten up before, but the same could not be said about the man standing in front of them. Though Kumaou and themander were both in the Origin Realm, there was a huge gap between them.


    If anyone could really give the Prince a helping hand, it would be themander. But since he wasn¡¯t doing anything, Ozul didn¡¯t think he should either.


    Backing down, Ozul called back The Purity that hung the Fox midair. The beast dropped to the ground with a heavy thud, making its muscles twitch, which gave another scare to the people.


    Kumaou grunted in annoyance before walking back with Ozul who went straight toward his little group.


    When the Fox was running at them, everyone threw whatever they had at the beast, but nothing slowed it down. Their courage was admirable, but they were stupid in Ozul¡¯s opinion.


    Finding a good rock to sit on, he sighed in relief and watched the thundering sky in the distance.


    Behind him stood Raven, ze, Zier, and Rose with scheming eyes.


    ¡°Next time you face something stronger than you, just run.¡±


    He would have done the same thing in their ce. His abilities allow him to sometimes take down opponents stronger than him, but even he wasn¡¯t all-powerful. If faced with something he couldn¡¯t deal with, the most rational decision was always to run.


    Hearing hisment, Rose slid like a snake and appeared right beside him, and said in a coquettish tone, ¡°...They started attacking before I could tell them to retreat~¡±


    In her mind, she had already registered him to be as strong as Kumaou. She reasoned, just like everyone else, that he was using a Spiritual Tool to hide his strength.


    Turning his face to the source of the voice, Ozul asked, ¡°Can you move aside? I need room to breathe.¡±


    Zier controlled his burst ofughter as he imagined Rose turning into a stone statue that slowly disintegrated into dust.


    Raven and ze only nodded their heads, knowing full well that the charms of women never worked on Ozul.


    Beside them, Kumaou also nodded his head in satisfaction. In his mind, this was how a man should act.

 Chapter 395 - 395 Return.

    395 Return.


    Contrary to what they expected, themander actually called on the soldiers to help the remaining recruits.


    They helped the injured and nursed them back to life. These were all the people who had enough resolve not to run away in the face of death.


    ¡®So they just needed people who would absolutely follow orders?¡¯ Ozul considered, but such a trial could hardly produce such results. Many of them had only persisted for the rational fear of death upon running away.


    Could it be called absolute resolve in the face of death? He thought not.


    But he didn¡¯t really care about that; what mattered right now was the oue of the battle between that woman and the Imperial Prince.


    They watched the destruction caused by two different elements of nature and heard the air reverberate with such intensity as to shake the ground. It continued on for a few more hours when something happened.


    The dark clouds remained, but the sshing of water streams and the cracking of lightning came to a sudden halt.


    Only Ozul, Kumaou, and themander could actually witness the fight.


    They saw how suddenly both the Prince and that woman came to a sudden halt at one point and dropped back to the ground.


    .....


    They didn¡¯t stop because one of them died, and neither did anyone intervene to stop them; they simply stopped fighting at one point.


    After they dropped to the ground, Ozul couldn¡¯t see them, but he also didn¡¯t go there to see what was happening. He was only concerned with the fact that the Prince was alive.


    And just as people wondered why all that noise hade to a sudden halt, the Imperial Prince seemingly materialized in front of them as a gust of wind followed shortly after.


    Not surprised at the Prince¡¯s disheveled appearance, themander arched his back slightly and spoke, ¡°Your Highness, the ck Horned Fox was killed. Would you like a change of clothes?¡±


    Themander had already stored the ck Horned Fox¡¯s corpse in his spatial storage, so he dutifully reported the oue.


    They nodded with a half smile and nced in Ozul¡¯s direction. He also eyed Kumaou for a brief moment beforeing back to themander. ¡°Prepare the horse. The subjugation of the monsters in the north was a sess and now we are returning to the pce!¡±


    All those who survived finally released the breaths they didn¡¯t know they were holding.


    While the soldiers helped the Prince put on new armor, Ozul focused his senses on the woman who was fighting the Prince. She lingered in that ce for a while before leaving.


    When the Prince noticed him looking in that specific direction with a thoughtful face, he smiled and spoke, ¡°She won¡¯te back. Did you think we would fight to the death?¡±


    Ozul only stared back at him with a deadpanned face from afar. How could he say that with a trail of blood dripping down his nose?


    ¡®Not to mention, their killing intent was obvious to everyone, much less me,¡¯ he thought knowing full well that they wanted to kill each other.


    The Prince seemed to notice that he didn¡¯t believe him, so he exined, ¡°We don¡¯t start wars just because we find each other unpleasant.¡± He shrugged at the end.


    ¡°I see,¡± Ozul replied back. Thatdy was also someone important from the neighboring kingdom. If either of them died in this battle, the war would have been inevitable. ¡®No wonder thatmander didn¡¯t help him. They were simply enjoying their fight.¡¯


    Still, their killing intent was real. They really wanted to kill each other, but decided against it in the end.


    While their small conversation took ce, Rose clenched her fists until her nails almost tore through the skin. Not only did she, but everyone noticed how the Prince treated Ozul differently from others.


    While people died earlier, he didn¡¯t even spare them a passing nce. Yet, here he was, having a one-sided conversation with this oddball beside her. But in the end, people could only me themselves for being too weak. This realm only respected the strong and it showed.


    After the Prince tidied up and got on his horse, zing off a majestic aura, he shouted for the survivors to hear, ¡°Since you all managed to survive and didn¡¯t run away, I will keep my word. You all will be my soldiers from now! You are the soldiers of the Blue Lion Kingdom!¡±


    The people were happy, but they didn¡¯t cheer as they previously did. They only survived because death knocked on the other doors first and time ran out.


    Uncaring of theircking enthusiasm, the Prince pulled his horse¡¯s reigns and they began to move. He couldn¡¯t control his gaze going back to Ozul and his team again and again.


    ¡®As expected of the Dragon Hatchlings. They live up to their name.¡¯ The Prince smirked thinking about the future. He had been keeping an eye on their battle from the very start, and if he were honest with himself, he had to admit that he was impressed with Ozul¡¯s performance.


    ¡®Those three weren¡¯t much help...¡¯ He thought about the trio who he had to save by throwing that woman in the beast¡¯s way. Indeed, it wasn¡¯t a coincidence that the woman was thrown between them at that exact moment.


    From what they knew, they were also in the Nascent Soul Realm which was an achievement in itself. Only that quiet kid seemed to be an anomaly even among the Dragon Hatchlings.


    ¡®You will be of great help to me, kid.¡¯


    He thought while eyeing the clearing sky. This turned out to be a great day.


    . . .


    At this point, Ozul was sure that the Prince was scheming something.


    But since he didn¡¯t detect any negative emotions directed at him, he could be sure that they weren¡¯t in trouble.


    ¡®The reason he pays me attention is that he must have known from the start that we were Dragon Hatchlings,¡¯ he concluded, thinking of many possible situations that he could take advantage of.


    It took them less time to get back to the capital city since there were no more ck Horned Foxes haunting the path.


    More than a hundred had gone on the ¡®expedition¡¯, yet less than half could make it back alive. And among the losses, not a single soldier was injured much less dead.


    Soon, they reached the royal pce and were weed by the cheering crowd until they hadn¡¯t entered the gates. The Imperial Prince was apparently quite popr among the citizens.


    Only at that point did Ozul feel one burden of emotions lifting from his shoulders. These emotions were from the survivors who had lost their brothers or sisters. The cheers and jeers of the crowd helped warm their hearts.


    The loud noise only lessened after they had entered the gates.


    ¡®Fuu...¡¯ sighed Ozul. He had noticed people being excited around others soldiers as well. If this was going to be like this for the next few months, he didn¡¯t know if he could survive for long.


    ¡®Can I even die?¡¯ he had a sudden thought which jolted something inside of him. Something he didn¡¯t quite understand.


    He felt the need to ask that question since his body was abnormal, to say the least. Even his limbs which were severed in his childhood grew separately from his body and even reattached once put back together. So, it was obvious that cutting his body apart wasn¡¯t going to kill him. There was no heart or blood either, so those weren¡¯t a weakness either.


    After thinking for a while, he could only consider one thing, ¡®My head... or at least the brain?¡¯


    His thoughts sprang to the fact that he didn¡¯t have a heart so there might not be a brain either, but he could only smile at his foolish thoughts, ¡®That is impossible.¡¯


    ¡°Uncle!¡± there came a shout from the distance as the Imperial Prince got off his horse.


    The voice caused a smile to bloom on the Imperial Prince¡¯s face as he turned to face the beloved Princess of the Blue Lion Kingdom.


    ¡°Hua¡¯er,¡± smiled the Imperial Prince as he greeted the Princess.


    A girl wearing avish dress befitting of a princess cheerfully hopped toward them. She had a spotless and fair face and her hair had a simr hue to the Prince¡¯s.


    Behind her trotted another girl of her age. She seemed to be her servant.


    After inspecting the girl thoroughly, Ozul was clear that the princess had achieved the initial stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.


    ¡®Butpared to other cultivators in the same stage, her Spiritual Essence is diluted?¡¯ He raised his brow at the peculiarity before the answer came to his mind, ¡®She grew up pampered.¡¯


    It wasn¡¯t that her Spiritual Essence was just diluted. She had very little of it, to begin with. It was as if she never cultivated. And if that were the case, her cultivation base could only be exined by the fact that she was a pampered princess.


    ¡°I heard from my maid! You subjugated the disgusting beasts guing the northern cities! You are the best, uncle!¡± The princess almost jumped in excitement as she held her uncle¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Alright, alright. Brother must be waiting for me. Be my escort, will you?¡± spoke the Imperial Prince as he held the princess¡¯ hand and walked towards the pce.


    ¡®That girl is our target,¡¯ Ozul sighed, shooting a look back at Raven and ze, confirming they remembered the mission as well.


    Unlike the Imperial Prince and the Princess, their destination wasn¡¯t the tall pce, but the camps outside the royal estate.


    Ozul shot onest look at the pce before being escorted to their ce together with everyone else.

 Chapter 396 - 396 The Witch.

    396 The Witch.


    As Ozul and his friends were escorted to the quarters made for soldiers, the Imperial Prince and the beloved Princess made their way to the throne room.


    It was yet another giant room with long rows of decorated seats, all leading to the one big throne reserved for the ruler of this kingdom.


    With no one else in the room, the Imperial Prince walked straight toward his brother while the princess hopped behind him.


    On the throne sat a man with a stern expression. He wore a royal robe and a gold-made crown with rare jewels embedded into it. No one could doubt he was the king of the Blue Lion Kingdom.


    ¡°Brother!¡± greeted the Imperial Prince with a smile.


    The king nodded before smiling at the princess.


    ¡°Good morning, father!¡±


    ¡°Hua¡¯er,¡± the King muttered with a warm, unusually kind smile. Only someone like Ozul who could feel emotions would have been able to tell exactly what kind of thoughts were in his mind.


    Before long, he turned toward the Imperial Prince again and spoke in a grave voice, ¡°What happened on the borders? You said it would only be a recruitment expedition for new soldiers.¡±


    .....


    Princess Hua blinked innocently at her uncle. She didn¡¯t know what they were talking about.


    ¡°It was the Witch of the Steel Mountain Kingdom,¡± replied the Prince, watching his brother furrow his eyebrow. ¡°She was on ournd, brother. I already showed mercy by stopping myself from killing her.¡±


    Hearing him say that, the king sighed in worry before leaning back on his throne.


    ¡°Something is brewing in the shadows of my kingdom. I don¡¯t like it one bit,¡± he muttered for his younger brother to hear.


    With a thoughtful face, the Prince asked, ¡°Do you think the Steel Mountain Kingdom is behind it all?¡±


    ¡°There is a possibility. They have always been provoking us, and the presence of that ¡®witch¡¯ on ournd is also suspicious.¡± The king then looked worriedly at his daughter before sighing once again, ¡°s, the war would not be an appropriate answer to their provocation.¡±


    Seeing the icy re of his younger brother, the king then nodded in understanding, ¡°Indeed. We don¡¯t want war, but if they continue doing this, then war is what they will get.¡± He matched the re of his brother.


    ¡°Are we going to war??¡± the princess intervened, tilting her head as she asked her father.


    ¡°Haha, no we are not, Hua¡¯er.¡±


    The king then changed the topic, ¡°I remember you had something interesting to tell me?¡± He said, focusing on his younger brother.


    Just then, the Prince¡¯s face lit up in a victorious smile. ¡°You remember the Dragon Hatchlings? A total of 6 hadn¡¯t agreed to go with ¡®them¡¯, right? Well, guess what?¡± A smirk also appeared on the king¡¯s face as he understood the implications behind his words.


    ¡°Don¡¯t keep me waiting,¡± the king spoke impatiently.


    ¡°Brother... four of them are under our banner starting today.¡±


    ¡°HAHA!¡± bellowed the king in his empty hall. His council would have questioned if he had gone insane if they were present. ¡°s, they wouldn¡¯t be here for long. You know we cannot keep them forever.¡± There were too many things to consider when dealing with the Dragon Hatchlings.


    The Prince nodded in understanding. He knew his brother¡¯s concerns. Although ¡®they¡¯ had let the Dragon Hatchlings wander on their own, ¡®they¡¯ wouldn¡¯t stand still if someone intentionally targeted them. But he didn¡¯t feel the need to worry since he wasn¡¯t going to harm them. He just had some fruitful ns for them. ¡°Brother... if a war breaks out, we wouldn¡¯t be at a disadvantage if we just use the Hatchlings. They just need some grooming, that¡¯s it.¡±


    The king made a thoughtful face. How could he not know of his younger brother¡¯s thoughts? Such decisions needed careful consideration, but the reputation of Dragon Hatchlings in the past far exceeded the possible repercussions.


    With sparkles in her eyes, the princess moved her expectant gaze toward her uncle, ¡°What are Dragon Hatchlings? Are there dragons in our kingdom now?¡±


    Both the King and the Imperial Prince smiled a wry smile as they shook their head at the princess. She was their most beloved, but they had to admit that she was a little too innocent.


    . . .


    Ozul and his group along with the rest of the recruits were shifted to their rooms.


    These quarters were specially made for the soldiers and were well-maintained. The newly recruited men were given the choice to live there or go back to their homes ande back to report to their duties on time.


    This was perfect for Ozul and his group. Living inside the pce estate would limit their actions, but they would also have a reason to stay near the pce. This had been their second time inside and they had already encountered the princess once. There would be many ample opportunities in the future.


    Each room given to the recruits had about 5 beds and they could choose whichever room they wanted. There weren¡¯t any restrictions except for no infighting and woman had separate rooms. They weren¡¯t allowed to share rooms with the opposite gender.


    It was to be expected. It wasn¡¯t an inn or a mercenary camp, but the quarters for soldiers.


    As Ozul picked the room in the quietest corner of the quarters, ze and Zier trotted behind him as well. What annoyed him, however, was the fact that even Kumaou followed them inside.


    Raven was sad that she couldn¡¯t share a room with Ozul, but there wasn¡¯t much to fret about as their rooms were only separated by two more rooms.


    Having realized that the Imperial Prince probably knew about their origin, Ozul told his group to go all out in cultivation. They weren¡¯t going to hide anything. If anything, being Dragon Hatchlings would probably make them less suspicious of their motives.


    They had taken many resources from Ember. Since their cultivation had slowed down a little, the lot of them decided to hone their Spiritual Arts. It was mostly true for Raven who hadn¡¯t yet learned an offensive technique. The Scarlet Eyes were the only Spiritual Arts in her arsenal as of yet.


    Thinking that she would reap the most benefits if she hung out with Kumaou and Ozul, Rose chose the same room as Raven¡¯s. A few less than half of the recruits were either from the capital or towns close to it, so some of them chose to take the rooms while others preferred their own homes. This made it so the quarters weren¡¯t overcrowded.


    Everyone they saw was d in royal uniform, so the new recruits easily stood out among the crowd.


    What didn¡¯te as a surprise to Ozul was that they weren¡¯t given the usual uniform of the royal guards or soldiers. Neither were they given any attire that could identify them as either soldiers or guards.


    ¡®Me and my group aside...¡¯ he thought before eying Kumaou who slept soundly, ¡®maybe excluding him too, the rest are most likely just a disposable unit of soldiers.¡¯ That was the conclusion he came to.


    Otherwise, it made no sense that the Imperial Prince would put forth such a crude entry test. To him, most of them were just some workers he had hired for manualbor.


    But Ozul wasn¡¯t concerned with those things. The Prince must have a different n for the Dragon Hatchlings. And because even the woman who was on par with the Prince didn¡¯t dare kill them, it gave him a glimpse into the true worth of that title.


    ¡®Considering the potential of the Dragon Hatchlings, the true overlords of this Realm must have prohibited harming them,¡¯ unknown to him, his thoughts were exactly on point.


    Having given enough thought to the matter, he decided to also take a nap. He was given time, and he was going to make ample use of it.


    Meanwhile, ze and Zier trained in theirbat skills.


    Behind the quarters allotted to them, there was also a ground for the soldiers to train. Many soldiers and guards were seen sparring with an instructor keeping a close watch over them.


    With ze¡¯s superior battle instincts, he always had an edge over Zier. No matter how hard thetter tried, he didn¡¯te close to bridging that gap. And so he had finally decided to focus on learning a Spiritual Art.


    Raven was also studying some Spiritual Arts while ze chose to spar with an instructor, the only mid-ranked Nascent Soul cultivator in the training grounds.


    What surprised the soldiers and the guards and even the instructors was the fact that ze easily overwhelmed that senior instructor!


    They weren¡¯t using Spiritual Arts or anything rted to the Spiritual Essence, but using pure martial arts, so it was to be expected of ze who had decades of experience in battles. The only thing hecked right now was a superior cultivation base.


    Leaving everyone awestruck at his performance, ze decided to focus on his cultivation.


    He didn¡¯t notice one of the spectators taking note of their every action. It wouldn¡¯t be long before the Prince was notified that it wasn¡¯t just one of the Dragon Hatchlings who was outstanding. The others also lived up to their title.


    For the entire day that they trained, Rose was nowhere to be seen.


    Away from the soldier quarters, that seductivedy was strolling towards the pce building when her path was blocked by two long spears crossing each other.


    ¡°You are not allowed to be near the pce,¡± one of the guards shouted with amanding tone, though his cultivation base was lower than Rose¡¯s.

 Chapter 397 - 397 Soul Liberation.

    397 Soul Liberation.


    ¡°You are not allowed to be near the pce!¡±


    Being shouted at by someone weaker made her hands itch, but Rose only showed an apologetic smile before turning around. The guards didn¡¯t see her twisted face that seethed with anger after she started walking away.


    ¡®I even showed them the guard¡¯s medallion! What more do I have to do?!¡¯ Rose clutched that piece of metal as if it was useless now.


    To the guards, it only seemed like she was curiously looking around the pce, thinking she could go anywhere.


    ¡®I will have to be careful from now on,¡¯ Rose thought disappointedly.


    . . .


    For a few days, nothing really happened.


    The recruits were taught the basics of how things worked for the soldiers and were shown the basic facilities provided to them.


    Raven, ze, and Zier made full use of this opportunity to either hone their Spiritual Arts or do cultivation in hopes of reaching the next realm.


    .....


    The barriers which shackled their soul were already showing cracks in them. It wouldn¡¯t be long before they broke into the second stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, the Soul Liberation stage.


    What surprised Ozul was the fact that Zier had made to most progress in that regard!


    The three of them hadn¡¯t noticed, but he regrly checked their bodies. If they kept up this pace, Zier would be the first one to break into the next stage.


    Meanwhile, he himself had nothing else to do but sleep and pass the time. His control over Purity was as good as it could get. He only needed to find something that he could consume to strengthen himself.


    After the first day, Kumaou also started training and could be seen cultivating at all times. He also didn¡¯t hide his disappointment with Ozul as thetter had always beenying around, putting in no effort to improve himself.


    Though Ozul could feel that man distancing himself from him, he didn¡¯t feel the need to wonder about the reason. The fewer people around him, the better he felt.


    He also wasn¡¯t entirelyzing around all day. From his ¡®casual¡¯ strolls at nights, he had gotten a general understanding of how people inside the royal estate moved about. They had also learned that they couldn¡¯t approach the pce itself.


    While they had been epted as soldiers under the Imperial Prince, they weren¡¯t trusted just yet.


    After a few days, when Ozul had started getting bored, a senior soldier who was at the peak of Nascent Soul arrived and gathered some 15 of them. They were briefed on a simple mission that they had to take care of some mountain bandits harassing a small city.


    They weren¡¯t the only ones given such tasks. They formed a couple of groups consisting mostly of the new recruits and mixed in some of the old soldiers.


    Now Ozul could be sure that these new recruits were simply there to provide them some temporary manpower. After all, the Blue Lion Kingdom was vast, and they couldn¡¯t send all of their soldiers, leaving the important duties unattended.


    Ozul and his group were only sent once on a mission to subdue the mountain bandits. After that, they were again back to living in the soldier¡¯s quarters.


    It continued for a few weeks. They were given tasks at random times and rewarded with money if it was done well. These rewards were separate from the monthly sry that they were offered.


    To everyone else, these were truly blissful days.


    However, Ozul was annoyed to no end.


    There was nothing better to do, and there was always some kind ofmotion around him.


    After the second week, there had also been another recruitment test. The number of new recruits had more than doubled now. He wasn¡¯t privy to what kind of test they had gone through, but the new batch had more people in the Nascent Soul Realm. There was no one in the Origin Realm which wasn¡¯t really a surprise. Kumaou was actually the oddball trying to join as a normal soldier while he had such considerable strength.


    Whatever his reasons were, he didn¡¯t care. The Imperial family did care though. Along with Ozul and his group, Kumaou was also always being monitored.


    The only constion for both him and Ozul was the fact that each time theypleted their task, the next task assigned to them would be more difficult.


    Kumaou wanted to battle stronger people while Ozul sought denser Spiritual Cores.


    s, only the former got to have some fun. The strongest people they ever faced were in the Nascent Soul Realm and even then, their Spiritual Cores would almost always break. Not that they would have mattered anyway.


    Finding himself back in his room again, Ozul lookedzily at the three people sitting on their beds with their eyes closed and crossed legs.


    Hey there with Jinx, his hands slowly caressing her soft fur as he asionally sighed out of sheer boredom.


    But just then, he felt something. It was as if something was being broken.


    Raising his eyes, he looked at Zier while furrowing his brow.


    ¡®Nice...Finally, something interesting is happening,¡¯ he thought, a small smile surfacing on his face unknowingly.


    As he had predicted, Zier was breaking through to the next stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.


    Ozul got off the bed, leaving Jinx in an ufortable position as she stopped purring. He walked toward Zier and put his hand on his back.


    At this moment, both ze and Kumaou had opened stopped their cultivation as they had also started feeling the rise in Spiritual Essence from Zier.


    Both looked wide-eyed at the scene, but for different reasons.


    ze was shocked that Zier was ahead of him while Kumaou was focusing on Ozul¡¯s strange actions.


    He had seen that quiet guy putting his hand on the sickly guy¡¯s back and also closing his eyes.


    ¡°Hey! Do ya know what that kid¡¯s doing?¡± Kumaou questioned ze, but thetter had no intentions of giving an answer.


    He shook his head in response, but he knew that Ozul was probably easing the process for Zier.


    And he was right. Ozul had first tested if the Purity could even interact with the ¡®soul¡¯ being unshackled. Since he found that he indeed could interact with the source, he helped Zier contain the pressure.


    The first step into the Soul Liberation stage was to sense their soul. After sensing their soul, they had to break the barriers surrounding it. But they couldn¡¯t just hammer it all and be done with it. They had to nibble at it piece by piece, so their body could handle all that pressure.


    With Ozul¡¯s help in containing the pressure of the ¡®soul¡¯, Zier ripped apart thest barrier in a matter of seconds, thus finally stepping into the Soul Liberation stage.


    Opening his eyes, Zier finally smiled before dropping on his back, drenched in his sweat.


    ¡°I can feel it!!¡± he shouted before smiling foolishly.


    Ozul sighed and stood up before walking to his bed. Sure enough, it wouldn¡¯t be long before his people would be strong enough to do the work for him.


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    The shout stopped him in his track.


    Turning around to face Kumaou, he answered, ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°What was that? What did you do with him? It should have taken him half an hour at least!¡±


    To say that Kumaou was surprised was an understatement. He hadn¡¯t felt any Spiritual Essence from him this time either, but it was clear that he helped that sickly guy.


    ¡°Mhm? I just made sure everything went alright?¡±


    Kumaou squinted his eyes at Ozul¡¯s answer, but there was nothing he could do if he was suspicious.


    He grunted in frustration before going back to his cultivation.


    Ozul also sighed before jumping on the bed again. He felt like telling that man anything out of the ordinary would make him more clingy.


    Turning to face ze, he spoke, ¡°You guys have a newpetition.¡±


    In response, ze quickly got into the lotus position and resumed his cultivation. He couldn¡¯t let himself be surpassed by the kid!


    Ozul eyed Zier carefully before reconsidering his talent. He knew that the kid was special with his strange blood which had healing properties, but he didn¡¯t think he could surpass ze.


    He hadn¡¯te across anyone more talented than ze as of yet. Maybe it was the elemental favoritism or just his innate adaptability, there was no doubt that he was a genius. But after starting from the same point as Zier, he had been left behind.


    ¡®Finally, something good happened,¡¯ he thought before closing his eyes. After all, what was better than two people working for him? The answer was obvious; three people working for him.


    The next day, however, ze also made a breakthrough. That came as a surprise to Ozul since he guessed it would take another day at least.


    ¡°Tch!¡± Raven clicked her tongue when she saw them both on the training field.


    To say that she wasn¡¯t annoyed would be a lie. But she wasn¡¯t discouraged either. Two days was all it took before she also stepped into the Soul Liberation stage.

 Chapter 398 - 398 Summons.

    398 Summons.


    Except for Kumaou, who had seen it firsthand, no one realized that those three had entered the next stage.


    Even if they did, there wouldn¡¯t have been any reaction since they didn¡¯t know that it hadn¡¯t even been a month since they entered the Nascent Soul Realm.


    Kumaou too was more interested in the fact that Ozul did the same thing with ze that he had done with Zier. Something about that process felt a little odd to him.


    It also freaked out Rose one day when Ozul suddenly entered their room in the middle of the night before jumping on Raven¡¯s bed and cing his hand on her back while she was cultivating.


    And momentster when the realization dawned on her that Raven had achieved a breakthrough, her eyes flickered with thoughts kept only to herself.


    Before she could strike up a conversation with him, Ozul disappeared just as quickly.


    A few days passed while other people were recruited and they continued on with their routine when an officer knocked on their door again.


    ¡°It has been a while,¡± muttered ze as the senior soldier read from a page.


    ¡°... So, all of you are to report to themander.¡±


    .....


    Ozul was sleeping at the moment, but the other three were cultivating as usual. They immediately stood up, ready to leave right away.


    Only Ozul took his sweet time before he stood up and yawned,zily getting off the bed as he approached the door.


    Turning around, he muttered in an annoyed tone, ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear him? Stopzing about and hurry up.¡±


    ¡°But-¡±


    Before Kumaou could retort, he had already walked out followed by ze and Zier who knew better than to argue with him.


    As they arrived at themander¡¯s office, the same guy who had been with them during their recruitment, they saw Raven and Rose already waiting for them.


    They were the only ones called this time, which Ozul found a little odd. Previously, they would be paired with other weak ones as well. It was also the first time they were directly called by themander.


    Themander frowned when he noticed both Ozul and Kumaou making themselves extrafortable on the chair. No soldier ever dared to disrespect him like that. However, knowing their capabilities and the Prince¡¯s interest in them, he could only let them be for now.


    He took a slow but steady breath before exining in a deadpan tone,


    ¡°The six of you are the best among the recruited grunts. You have proven that not only with your strengths but also bypleting every task assigned to you guys. For your efforts, you have also been rewarded well.


    Now, you guys are being recognized for your capabilities. From henceforth, you are promoted to officers and will be entrusted with important duties. This will be proof of your identity.¡±


    With that, he ced six medals half the size of a fist on the table.


    ¡°Oh~? Does the title of officer give us extra benefits?¡± Rose asked in her sultry voice as she picked up the medal and caressed it lightly.


    ¡°All of you have the authority to form a group of 5 people under you and be their leader. Other than that, you will be given important tasks and with thosee both danger and better rewards,¡± themander answered before closing his eyes and leaning back, ¡°You can leave now. The man outside will guide you to your new rooms.¡±


    Ozul exited the room before they were all taken to their new rooms, better ones. The rooms were spacious and in light of their familiarity, they weren¡¯t segregated by gender anymore.


    He epted his little group all being in the same room with him, but it irritated him to no end that Rose and Kumaou both chose to board with them as well. Unfortunately, the room was big enough to amodate everyone.


    With Rose asionally trying to grab his attention, it became a difficult task to sleep peacefully, but Ozul managed nheless.


    Eventually, she slowed down in her approach after realizing that it was going nowhere.


    In the days toe, Ozul reminded Raven what she and others had forgotten about.


    Before departing, he had exploited Ember as much as he could and they were not only given better Spiritual Arts and Cultivation Manuals, but she had also thrown in some decent Spiritual Weapons. While Raven had already distributed the Cultivation Manuals and Spiritual Arts, the weapons were lying useless in her Spatial Ring.


    If he were to answer honestly, he would admit that even he had long erased it from his memory.


    During the time of their recruitment expedition to y the ck Horned Foxes haunting the northern areas, only Zier among the three could try to hinder their leader when it was charging straight at them.


    Only he had a weapon on him that allowed him some fighting flexibility.


    Raven kept the three daggers, one of which was even a Spiritual Grade weapon, allowing her to course her Spiritual Essence in it tobine and cause a destructive force.


    There were even more needles which once again, Zier liked to keep and the rest were given to ze who wasn¡¯t really fond of weapons but kept a sword anyway.


    With these weapons, their team¡¯s overall strength was raised to another level.


    They continued training while being called on missions which, as themander had informed, were of greater importance to the royal family.


    Things like being sent to a county and helping the county lord deal with an emergency or being sent to scout certain areas around their borders. This time,ing across people at the peak of Nascent Soul Realm became asional. But with Ozul and Kumao being there, there were no hups.


    Another week passed just like that.


    All this while, they weren¡¯t allowed in the Pce even once. Not that any of them tried except for Rose. To say the least, they hadn¡¯t seen the king either. Even the Imperial Prince wasn¡¯t seen after that.


    Ozul heard floating whispers that he had once again left to deal with pressing issues concerning the kingdom. As for what those issues were, he didn¡¯t care enough to know. It was probably Embers still fanning the mes.


    On this day, however, things changed. He finally felt the presence of that man.


    But he was sure that was only possible because the other person allowed himself to be felt. If he wanted to, he could close in on him and kill him before he had the chance to react.


    As he stood up from his bed, others turned their heads, wondering what caused him to snap out of his slumber.


    Their answer came in the form of a knock at the door as Kumaou also felt the familiar aura belonging to the Imperial Prince.


    He grinned in excitement as he felt something finally interesting would happen.


    The door opened on its own before they could even reply, showing the Prince in his full majestic visage.


    With his kind smile, he stepped into the room, ¡°It has barely been a month and you guys have improved so much. I am happy to see that.¡±


    He was referring to the three who had all tapped into the Soul Liberation stage and were now equipped with quality weapons.


    While Ozul was gauging the Prince again, he noticed something he hadn¡¯t before. Previously, he was a bit too apprehensive of his presence that he didn¡¯t dare be distracted, but now that he understood his reasons for keeping an eye on him, he could take his eyes off of him.


    And at this moment, he noticed not one but two people in the room with negative emotions directed toward the Prince!


    Both Rose and Kumaou held something against the Prince. However, nothing of sorts showed on their faces. They seemed as tranquil as ever on the surface.


    ¡®The prince couldn¡¯t have noticed anything with Kuma. But that woman... she is most likely on his suspect list now,¡¯ he thought while internally shaking his head. Her heartbeat was spiked the moment her eyesid on him.


    For someone at the peak of the Origin Realm, something like keeping track of a heartbeat wouldn¡¯t be much of a problem. Though he wouldn¡¯t be able to tell why she reacted that way since with her seductive nature, he could assume anything.


    ¡®Whatever... that works out for me,¡¯ he thought happily.


    After taking care of the princess, if he could bring out the reason for their hatred against the Imperial Prince to light, all of the me would fall on them. They would be even less likely suspected since they were the Dragon Hatchlings.


    ¡®But now that I think about it, all the weapons and cultivation manuals are also suspicious.¡¯ He thought with regret but there was no point in thinking about that anymore.


    They were still the Dragon Hatchlings, there was no reason for them to aim for the princess right?


    Seeing no one other than Rose reply, the Prince coughed slightly before speaking,


    ¡°My brother, his majesty has summoned you.¡±


    Again, Rose had stars in her eyes, but the others looked at him as if he had more to exin.


    ¡°Geez. I now get how hard it can be for those snotty nobles to deal with me. Well, all of you are to wash up and report to the pce gates before dusk.¡±


    With that, he turned around and left the room, leaving them wondering what was going to happen now.


    As the Prince got further from the room, his eyes turned cold as a man appeared beside him like the wind.


    ¡°What did you find?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Not much, I¡¯m afraid. That Kumaou seemed to have just appeared in a random vige one day while thedy grew up wandering the kingdom. It¡¯s hard to press into their origins.¡±


    A cold glint shed in his eyes as he ordered, ¡°Keep searching. Theirck of background only makes it more suspicious.¡±

 Chapter 399 - 399 She Knew.

    399 She Knew.


    ¡°Keep searching. Theirck of background only makes it more suspicious.¡±


    The Prince walked back with a sigh. If not for his brother pressing on this matter, he would have never allowed people with nk history to take a single step into the pce estate.


    Unlike what rumors suggested, mass recruitment into the royal army wasn¡¯t his idea but his brother¡¯s instead. He thought it smart to make use of the people of his kingdom instead of running the soldiers thin.


    And having realized that he couldn¡¯t be everywhere at once, he gave in to the king¡¯s orders. Getting the Dragon Hatchlings was a pleasant surprise that only proved that his brother was right.


    The Dragon Hatchlings aside, he was the most concerned about that man named Kumaou and the woman named Rose. More so about the former, since it was more than concerning that they didn¡¯t know about a human cultivator in the Origin Realm wandering about their kingdom.


    The existence of Rose wasn¡¯t concerning, but she was suspicious as well. Her heart wavered each time his figure came into her view. Despite that, her face showed apletely different picture. Together with herck of background, all of this blended into a picture of something dangerous.


    He also hadn¡¯t yet figured out where the Dragon Hatchlings had received their cultivation resources.


    That is why none of them were allowed inside the main pce all this while.


    Now, however, circumstances had changed. They had just received the news of the skirmishes on the southern border and all the people in the Origin Realm were busy with other tasks. They had trustworthy delegates to handle the talks with the neighboring kingdom of the south, but they needed to show their strength as well.


    .....


    He would have made the trip himself if he wasn¡¯t busy himself.


    . . .


    As per the Prince¡¯s instructions, Ozul¡¯s group along with Kumao and Rose made their way toward the pce.


    Unlike before, they weren¡¯t halted this time. To varying degrees, all of them were ted because of this.


    Ozul, who could feel their emotions, was particrly interested in Kumaou¡¯s. He wasn¡¯t a man who would be attracted to things like this.


    ¡®I should keep an eye on both of them,¡¯ he made a mental note to himself. Their reactions in front of the Prince alone were enough for him to do so.


    Shortly after they entered, guards d in silver armor adorned with stripes of expensive-looking blue linens joined them. Without uttering a word, they began to walk ahead of the group, making it known that they had to follow them.


    For reasons of their own, everyone kept a keen eye on their surroundings.


    Ozul made an effort to memorize the ce. He had surveyed almost all of the pce estate leaving the main pce. There wouldn¡¯t necessarily be more chances like this in the future.


    The escort guards brought them in front of the throne room before leaving.


    Others might have felt confused or at least a bit uncertain about what to do, but Ozul wasn¡¯t one of them. He could feel the presence of that man on par with the Prince behind those doors. There was another man from the Origin Realm inside the room, but that was it.


    There was no one else, so it became clear that the doors wouldn¡¯t open on their own. They had to do it by themselves.


    Ignoring the grandiosity of the giant room that felt a bit empty, Ozul lead everyone to walk forward until he was in the middle of the room, staring straight at the man who looked almost the same as the Prince if not for his facial hair.


    The king stayed silent for a few seconds before bursting into a fit ofughter,


    ¡°HAHA! You guys really live up to your name, Hatchlings.¡±


    Ozul had already discussed it with his group, so they weren¡¯t surprised that he knew. On the other hand, Kumaou and Rose shared a simr expression of confusion.


    Suddenly, catching something out of the ordinary, Ozul gave Rose a sidelong nce.


    ¡®Heh... Now that is interesting,¡¯ he thought, restraining a smirk to surface on his face.


    On the other hand, the king noticed hisck of attention and was now starting to feel the disrespect.


    He didn¡¯t mind them not bowing in courtesy, thinking that they might not have such customs from the Realm they came from. However, it seemed to be getting to their heads by now.


    Within a blink of an eye, his aura spread throughout the throne room, washing over the group as they were forced onto their knees to prostrate before him


    Only Ozul and Kumaou fared better as they held on, with only the upper half of their bodies arched in a bow.


    But that too onlysted for two seconds before all that pressure was lifted, giving them room to breathe again. Any more than that, and even Ozul and Kumaou would have dropped on the floor.


    The king¡¯sughter again resounded in the room as he pointed at them, ¡°You both have impressed me, I must admit.¡±


    ¡°To think there were such gems in my kingdom, towed away in the rubble of pebbles!¡±


    He was back to appreciating their strength while his eyes roamed on all of them, ¡°I see you guys have had some fortuitous encounters.¡±


    ¡°We were simply lucky, your majesty,¡± Ozul adapted to the formal talk as he guessed theck of manners displeased him.


    ¡°They don¡¯t call you Dragon Hatchlings for no reason. Not only your talents, but even your luck is unprecedented it seems. Alright, I will not pry into those matters anymore. We all have our secrets after all,¡± the king spoke mysteriously, while particrly eyeing Rose and Kumaou.


    Theirck of solid background had already reached his ears.


    Still, he wasn¡¯t much worried. Before him and the Prince, these people were nothing more than a bunch of flies. For now, he needed to milk this cow in front of him as much as he could.


    While Kumaou was important as he was in the Origin Realm and Ozul and his group were Dragon Hatchlings, Rose was nothing special in his eyes. There were many other recruits as well who were in thest stage of Nascent Soul Realm.


    The only reason she was picked is that she always hung around the former group. This had created a misunderstanding among others that they had all be good friends.


    Unaware of the rising suspicion regarding them, Kumaou and Rose seemed to be wondering what this ¡®Dragon Hatchling¡¯ was. It appeared as if they had never heard of this term before. Kumaou was itching to ask, but even he was reserved when in front of someone at the peak of Origin Realm.


    ¡°Enough of the small talk, all of you are wondering why you were summoned today. You must have even wondered, at one point, why the Blue Lion Kingdom is suddenly recruiting soldiers.¡±


    The king then released a tired sigh before leaning back on his throne, seemingly a tired old king whose shoulders bore the weight of the entire kingdom.


    ¡®Who are you trying to fool?¡¯ Ozul thought, but his thoughts were shared by all.


    This was a man who had killed his own father and other close rtives in his ascension to the throne. This was a man who was considered one of the strongest in this region. A man one step below the realm of transcendence. How could anyone think of him as pitiful?


    But they kept their thoughts to themselves. The strong had the luxury to act however they wanted.


    After taking that dramatic pause, the king continued, ¡°These are harsh times. As the empires are moving, the waves of politics which were once kept on a leash by those powers are now roaming free.


    With how much is happening all around the kingdom, it is clear that someone is behind all of this. Be it one of the neighboring kingdoms or a third party in the shadows, it doesn¡¯t matter. The point is, the soldiers stationed on the borders and inside the capital can¡¯t be sent everywhere. That is why we need you.¡±


    There was an obligatory nod from everyone as they heard his speech.


    Meanwhile, Ozul wondered just how Ember pulled off such a thing. He knew how actively she was causing trouble for the Blue Lion Kingdom, but it seemed like she wasn¡¯t giving her best back then.


    As he surveyed the pce estate every other night, he knew how the Imperial Prince was almost always out of the estate to deal with one matter or another.


    Just a day before, two of the only three Dukes of the kingdom had almost dered war against each other, potentially throwing the whole kingdom into a bubbling mess if not for the Prince intervening before anything happened.


    The increasing frown on his face every day was a testament to his growing frustrations at the state of this kingdom. All of a sudden, the whole kingdom seemed like a spoiled child that he personally needed to tend to every time it itched him in the wrong spot.


    ¡°In that regard, I have tomend all of your efforts. You have done well in serving the kingdom. But that is also why you all are here today...¡±


    The king described the situation on the southern border and that they only needed to be present while the official delegates did their work.


    The reason why he had called for them himself this time was simply that he wanted to see and judge them for himself.


    Ozul didn¡¯t care for such things. The only thing he took away from his ramblings was the fact that there were ¡¯empires¡¯ above kingdoms like these.


    ¡®I should look into that after all of this is over.¡¯


    After they were excused from the throne room, they made their way out of the pce, again escorted by the guards who appeared just as they left the room.


    As that meeting was over, Ozul happily mulled over his discovery in the throne room.


    ¡®That Rose... she knew beforehand...¡¯

 Chapter 400 - 400 Spy?

    400 Spy?


    ¡®...she knew beforehand...¡¯ Ozul mused as he returned to their room.


    The person in question was right behind him.


    When the king mentioned their title of ¡®Hatchlings¡¯, both Kumaou and Rose showed visible confusion. What remained hidden was the fact that only the former showed precisely what he felt, while thetter simply feigned that emotion.


    The king might have also noticed if he paid any attention to her, but he was fully focused on him and Kumaou. No one else caught his eyes.


    This almost insignificant detail of hers actually revealed a lot about her.


    Except for Ember, the only other party who knew about their origins was now the Steel Mountain kingdom. The Imperial Prince had made sure that thedy knew about them.


    ¡®The ones who summoned us also know, but I doubt they would need to send spies to a small kingdom such as this.¡¯


    Taking into ount the emotions that were evoked in her when in front of the Imperial Prince and the fact that she knew their origin and acted otherwise; all of that pointed to her being a spy of that neighboring kingdom.


    The knowledge of other realms wasn¡¯t as hidden as it was in their previous realm and the same with their title of Dragon Hatchlings. So, he wouldn¡¯t have suspected anything if Rose hadn¡¯t gone out of her way to feign ignorance.


    .....


    ¡®Next thing, I just need to keep an eye on her and confirm that she really is a spy. Hopefully, I am not too off. It will be easy to push all the me to a neighboring kingdom using her.¡¯


    Ozul thought about the possibilities. Rose being a spy from the Steel Mountain Kingdom just had the highest probability, but it could also be possible that he was wrong. He could only wait and see. His priority right now was to observe her.


    Unfortunately for him, only Rose feigned ignorance. Kumaou really didn¡¯t understand what the king had mentioned.


    The moment they entered their room, he started bombarding them with questions,


    ¡°Hey! hey! What is Dragon Hatchling? You all Beastkin spawned from some Dragon? Is that why you are so strange? But they are normal...¡±


    Ozul shot a helpless look toward Raven who understood the assignment. She nodded her head and came in between Kumaou and Ozul¡¯s bed.


    His towering and wild figure didn¡¯t faze her as she answered him, ¡°Let him rest. I will answer your questions.¡±


    That scene felt like a mother admonishing other children from disturbing the sleep of her newborn.


    But to Ozul¡¯s luck, Kumaou wasn¡¯t as unreasonable as he looked. He walked away following Raven as she began to exin their origins.


    There was no point in hiding that from them now.


    Behind them, Rose also walked with a curious look on her face as if it was her first time hearing about this as well.


    Meanwhile, Ozul turned on his bed to sleep happily. Indeed he was right; Raven couldn¡¯t be reced.


    They would depart to the borders tomorrow.


    . . .


    Before the Star rose, a guard came knocking on their door to wake them up. Though only Ozul was sleeping.


    The delegates had finished their preparations and were ready to move.


    As Ozul and his group walked outside, they noticed two lean men in spectacles surrounded by royal guards. All of them were in the Nascent Soul Realm, and two among them were also at the peak. The lean men were the officials who were experts in political matters, so their weak strength didn¡¯t draw any criticism.


    They greeted each other before departing right away.


    ...


    It took them two whole days before they crossed over the entire kingdom to reach the southern borders.


    ¡®This ce is barren,¡¯ Ozul saw the state of this region and found little to no life blooming around here. He wondered how people were living in a desert like this.


    Soon the presence of life came into his vision. They had reached the soldier¡¯s camp. The strongest person in the camp was also at the peak of Nascent Soul Realm.


    What others didn¡¯t notice was that half a mile away, there was another camp of soldiers facing them. That one belonged to the neighboring kingdom.


    Ozul noticed there was no clear boundary or any distinction between the twonds. There weren¡¯t even soldiers patrolling the entire borderline. It was just an arbitrary area on the map, and the kingdoms had ced camps at some crucial spots.


    On the journey, he made sure to keep an eye on Rose who didn¡¯t act out of the ordinary during all that time.


    ¡®That was boring...¡¯ he sighed knowing he would have to keep at this boring task for quite a while.


    Getting back to the task at hand, they met up with the soldiers at the camp and were briefed about the whole situation. Before long, a meeting was set up between the two sides.


    As the Star shone directly above their heads, both sides walked and met up in the middle of the two camps.


    ¡°How long will this take?¡± Ozul asked in an annoyed tone. Kumaou also shared his sentiments.


    One of the two lean menughed nervously before replying in an unsure tone, ¡°It... uh, it depends on them really.¡±


    The ck conical hat hid his expressions, but Raven and ze could guess the level of his unhappiness.


    There were also officials from the other side.


    What impressed Kumaou was the fact that their side also had a cultivator of the Origin Realm.


    The delegates shared fake pleasantries before discussing the main subject,


    ¡°...Your soldier was found wandering on our side. This calls forpensation!¡± one of the soldiers on their side suddenly couldn¡¯t hold himself back.


    ¡°Yes, but your side also killed him without confirming if it had been a simple mistake. If anything, we should bepensated for the loss on our side!¡± one of the lean men replied in an unhurried manner.


    ¡°That was only right for us to...¡±


    ¡®What is the point in all of this...¡¯ Ozul wondered as an audible sigh escaped his mellow lips.


    Noticing his attitude, the Origin Realm cultivator on the other side grew angry.


    Currently, they only felt a single Origin Realm cultivator on their side, so they felt equal in strength. But how dare someone who had no presence such as him act so haughty? That¡¯s what he thought.


    ¡°You find it funny, little guy!?¡± the man shouted, cracking his knuckles.


    The hat shifted up, revealing Ozul¡¯s unimpressed gaze. Even in such bright lighting, that man wasn¡¯t able to notice when the Purity had formed more than a couple of sharp needles all pointed at his vital organs.


    ¡®Well, this might end this early,¡¯ he thought before all those hidden needles shot straight at that man, their strongest.


    Gasps resounded in the empty desert as they all saw plenty of ck needles pressed against that Origin cultivator! If he hadn¡¯t stopped those needles, then that man was as good as dead!


    Blood trickled down that man¡¯s skin, as his eyes, now filled with fear, threatened to pop out from his expressions.


    ¡°Wh-what is the meaning of this!?¡± The officials from their side couldn¡¯t keep calm. Unlike before, they weren¡¯t so sure of their strength anymore. They didn¡¯t think there would be two Origin Realm experts sent by their side!


    ¡°The meaning is clear. You have two choices. Let the matter go, or we can fight it out,¡± Ozul answered before one of the officials from his side could reply.


    He now understood the situation perfectly. One of the soldiers acted on his own and started making his way toward the other territory for whatever reason. Even though the other side killed him, they wanted an exnation for the matter. While the Blue Lion Kingdom was at fault here, they didn¡¯t want to give in to their demands as it hurt their ego.


    ¡°Y-you!!¡± the official from their side pointed angrily at him, but he couldn¡¯t say a word considering their Origin Realm cultivator was still in shock at the fact that tens of needles were pointing at his vital organs, ready to puncture him to death if he moved even an inch.


    Meanwhile, seeing that his threat had worked wonders in shaking up their side, the two lean men agreed in silence to let it happen.


    The opposite side¡¯s officials fumed in anger as they saw them averting their eyes.


    Raven and ze readied their weapons, ready to finish off their remaining soldiers the moment Ozul killed that man. Only they knew that Ozul wasn¡¯t just threatening them, he would really go through it.


    Meanwhile, Kumaou smirked in confidence. He had sensed that dark matter oozing out of him, but that man hadn¡¯t even when it was targeting him; a clear distinction between their abilities.


    Seeing the unmoving gaze of Ozul, the officials from the opposite side could only clench their teeth in frustration.


    ¡°Fine! We will call this even! But the next time one of your men wanders to our side, it won¡¯t end in just his death!¡± the official barked loudly, shamelessly throwing an empty threat even in such a situation.


    Ozul called back his needles as they merged with his conical hat, though he kept a few hidden behind that man in case he wanted revenge on the spot.


    Fortunately, the man understood he couldn¡¯t even against two Origin Realm cultivators at the same time. All of them withdrew slowly, their expressions as dark as they could get.


    Everyone knew that the Blue Lion Kingdom had superior military strengthpared to its neighboring kingdoms.


    The delegates that came with Ozul smiled in satisfaction before they also withdrew. He had made their job a lot easier. They could have very well stood there until night fell without making any progress!


    ...


    It was another two-day journey back to the capital of the Blue Lion kingdom.


    The delegates went directly to the king to report everything, while Ozul and hispany made their way back to their rooms.


    The only job they had in this mission was to seem intimidating, and Ozul had done enough of it.


    ¡®There go four days wasted...¡¯ he thought while looking at the ceiling as heyfortably on his bed.


    But just then, he noticed something from the corner of his eyes.


    That woman named Rose quietly walked out of the room.


    ¡®Finally...¡¯

 Chapter 401 - 401 Changing.

    401 Changing.


    ¡®Finally...¡¯ Ozul sighed in relief. He was bored waiting for this moment.


    After they were finally allowed inside the pce and given an important task, Rose should have soon reported her situation to whoever had sent her.


    He, however, had underestimated her cautious nature.


    Having already noticed how she gave everyone a cautious nce before silently trotting out of the room. After feeling her emotions, he had no doubt about where she was going.


    Letting Jinx roll to the side, he stood up from the bed and slowly walked out as well.


    Raven and ze noticed him leaving, but as they were about to follow him, he motioned them to stay and mouthed ¡®I will be back¡¯.


    Although curious, they understood the assignment and quietly sat back, eyeing each other in wonder. But soon, they joined Zier in cultivating to consolidate their power in the Soul Liberation stage.


    In this stage, they could not only feel their ¡®soul¡¯ but also manipte it to their will!


    Though Ozul had learned that this ¡®soul¡¯ was just another form of energy associated with a cultivator¡¯s own body. One thing that he found interesting was its visibility. When any cultivator of the Soul Liberation stage unleashed their soul, it protruded out of their body almost like a burning fire, but of distinct and unique color for each cultivator.


    .....


    Raven¡¯s energy was ck in color, ze¡¯s had a deep blue, while indigo showed up in Zier¡¯s case.


    Ozul couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the color depended on a person¡¯s hair color. Because in their case, it most certainly looked like it did.


    While the trio experimented with their soul energy, it quickly became apparent how easy it had be now to overwhelm masses of people weaker than them. They simply had to force their soul energy onto them, and they would all be incapacitated instantly. Just like how the king had forced them onto their knees with a single thought.


    . . .


    As Ozul trailed behind Rose hidden amidst the shadows, he arrived at the training grounds.


    ¡®She really is cautious... well, good for her.¡¯


    She pretended to train her Spiritual Arts for about an hour until she confirmed that there was no one keeping watch on her.


    And it really did help as Ozul felt another person¡¯s presence leave the moment she had started training.


    ¡®So they are suspicious as well, huh... Makes it easier for me.¡¯ He smirked internally as he watched Rose finally drop her facade and naturally stroll toward the estate wall.


    It took a few more minutes before she reached the wall, behind one of the weaponry storage buildings.


    He watched solemnly as Rose took threerge bricks out of the wall, creating a narrow hole to pass a rolled-up paper, he didn¡¯t see from where she pulled out, to the other side.


    ¡®Ho...?¡¯ his senses locked onto the man who received the paper on the other side of the wall. A man barely at the initial stage of Nascent Soul Realm.


    He didn¡¯t hesitate for another moment before moving over to the other side of the wall.


    Therey a man with his back resting against the high and mighty walls of the pce estate.


    From anyone¡¯s point of view, he looked like a drunkard who didn¡¯t know any better. Even an average cultivator wouldn¡¯t find anything wrong as he was equipped with an artifact to conceal his Spiritual Essence.


    The haggard man ced his palm on the rolled-up paper and ¡®struggled¡¯ to stand up as he pushed himself up using that hand. Even though there was no one there, the man still kept up his act.


    Unfortunately for him, Ozul had already set his eyes on him.


    He followed the man until he reached a dark corner before appearing behind him like a gust of wind.


    The man stopped in his tracks as he haggard to the side, his face painfully brushing against the wall.


    ¡°Nice act. Would you mind handing over that paper and telling me who you work for?¡± Ozul asked as nicely as he could, knowing full well that the man wouldn¡¯t simplyply like that.


    It had been a while since he felt this. He had changed a lot. If it was before, he wouldn¡¯t have made such small talk. But it didn¡¯t feel like something he should worry about. He had changed, but so does everything. It did, however, make him do things he used to believe were pointless in the past.


    The man in question didn¡¯t try to act dumb and shot at him with the intent to kill.


    But of course, he was no match for Ozul. The Purity shot out of his body and instantly held that man¡¯s hands, legs, and neck in ce. He squirmed to get free, but all his efforts were futile in the face of absolute power.


    Ozul arrived before him and put his hand inside his pocket, taking out the paper before taking a few steps back.


    ¡°So... feel like telling me anything? I might spare your life. Be careful with your words though, they might be yourst.¡±


    He gave the man a death stare before unrolling the paper to read the message.


    ¡°You blue shits can go to-*Khu...!*¡±


    Before he could continue, his neck was cut open and blood sprayed out.


    None of it reached Ozul as he had already left along with the paper.


    He would have liked to torture the man and at least learn which kingdom had sent them, but he wasn¡¯t in the mood for that.


    He had already established that she was a spy, and that was sufficient enough for him. Whatever kingdom it was, it made no difference. The fact that he had discovered someone toy all the me on was all that mattered.


    On his way back to the pce estate, he read the paper and destroyed it immediately afterward.


    There wasn¡¯t anything in it that he hadn¡¯t already expected. She had just reported everything that had happened and assured the person that she was gaining the trust of the royal family.


    And there was even a whole paragraph about him alone. It seemed like he had caught their attention.


    Seeing as how she wrote about him and the general situation inside the pce estate the most, he could conclude that there wasn¡¯t anything particr that she was after.


    She was just an ordinary spy sent to keep watch if anything unusual goes around the pce. As these were turbulent times, all the surrounding kingdoms had their guards up.


    As he arrived back in the room, Rose looked at him with a little vignce before she quickly hid it behind a flirtatious smile.


    She found it a little odd that he had left the room after her and came back after she came back as well. Being a spy, she was vignt of everyone and everything.


    Ozul didn¡¯t mind her as he went back to his bed. If he was the talkative type, maybe he would have tried to manipte her into doing her bidding. Fortunately for her, he found all of it a bother.


    When one really thought about it, being able to sense the emotions of other living beings was quite a scary ability. In the hands of a man with quick wits in conversations, this ability could produce huge feats.


    Given to a skilled maniptor, they could veer people in any direction that they wanted. After all, given such power, they would know at every moment what the other person felt.


    s, Ozul didn¡¯t wasn¡¯t one to talk too much. Even now when he had felt himself change little by little, he didn¡¯t feel like making long conversations.


    And since he didn¡¯t feel like it, he simply wouldn¡¯t do it. That was the only legacy his mother had left him.


    He went back to sleeping again until the next morning came.


    It was a little before midday when one of the soldiers arrived at their door to convey the king¡¯s summoning.


    The king had heard everything from his delegates yesterday, but he didn¡¯t call them so they could have a night¡¯s rest.


    Once again, everyone made their way toward the pce together. It took a few minutes before Ozul readied himself to get up from the bed.


    As if repeating their routine, one of the guards once again escorted them to the throne room before leaving them.


    This time, however, there was another man present in the room except for the king.


    The man stood in shining armor but his slightly hunched shoulders conveyed the respect and loyalty he had toward the man sitting on the throne.


    Their group walked forward and stopped only behind that man.


    Learning from their mistake in the past, Ozul slightly bowed his head to which the king nodded in satisfaction.


    Ozul knew full well he didn¡¯t have the strength to displease that man and he saw no problem in nodding to someone with just a slight arching back.


    ¡°I heard your feats young man, and I must say you did well in bringing glory to the Blue Lion Kingdom and putting those beggars in their ce.¡±


    The king pped the arm of his throne as he praised him.


    ¡°They were overstepping their boundaries,¡± Ozul replied with a straight face contrary to his prideful words. He couldn¡¯t tell him that he did it because he was bored and wanted to go back and sleep.


    ¡°Indeed, you did well, young man.¡±


    As the king praised him once again, the man in shining armor gave him a sidelong nce before also inspecting Kumao.


    ¡°It would have taken days to settle the talks. Since it¡¯s done early, I have another task for you.¡±


    Although Ozul kept up a straight face, he was twitching in annoyance. They justpleted a four-day trip, and now they had to move again?


    *Sigh...*


    But he didn¡¯t say anything since it seemed something important. Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t have been an Origin cultivator in the throne room at the same time as them.

 Chapter 402 - 402 Seven Heavenly Virtues.

    402 Seven Heavenly Virtues.


    ¡°...I have another task for you.¡± The king mentioned solemnly.


    Ozul suppressed his sigh, letting him continue.


    ¡°The heavy winds leave the weak without a roof,¡± the king muttered as if he wasn¡¯t the sole ruler of this whole kingdom.


    In response, they could only smile wryly wondering if he was weak, what were they? What cringed them further was how that man in the shining armor nodded in an inexplicable ¡®understanding¡¯!


    ¡°You see, while this good man here in our presence is strong and capable on his own. He holds a responsibility that he previously shared with yet another man just as strong and capable as him. That man, however, must attend to another one of this kingdom¡¯s errands.¡±


    The king shook his head, stressing the inevitability of the situation.


    ¡°And now that he alone protects my frail daughter, the princess of this kingdom, I am deeply troubled by a father¡¯s woes.¡±


    Connecting the dots, it wouldn¡¯t take an idiot to figure out their next task was to bodyguard the princess herself.


    ¡®Isn¡¯t this a little too easy?¡¯ Ozul wondered, thinking for a moment that someone might be messing with him.


    .....


    But he quickly shook his head, there wasn¡¯t anyone bored enough to do that. A mysterious old man dide to his mind, but it wasn¡¯t that old man¡¯s style.


    ¡®Come to think of it, it has been a while since that Old Gu annoyed me...¡¯


    . . .


    Meanwhile, on a ne far away, a council sat in the unveiling dark and silent.


    The council consisted of merely 7 chairs ced in a round manner, with enough space in the middle.


    Although there were 7 chairs, merely 3 people were present in this council. The rest of the chairs remained cold.


    All three seemed old and frail but any one of the big shots from the Realm of Abezan would have been scared shitless in their presence.


    For a few hours, no one spoke a word and for some reason, it didn¡¯t seem to bother any of them.


    The uncanny silence was broken by none other than a young man d in bright orange robes. With his hands folded behind his back, he walked forward with unprecedented confidence.


    His robes fluttered like weightless feathers behind him as he walked forward with a cold gaze, not holding even the existence of these three elders in his eyes.


    ¡°Where are the rest?¡± his cold voice reverberated in the ¡®room¡¯.


    ¡°As you can see, they aren¡¯t here,¡± one of the old men replied as the other two shook their heads at him.


    The young man red at him, ¡°You aren¡¯t much older than me, Zihao. So don¡¯t expect me to show you elderly respect that you surely don¡¯t deserve.¡±


    ¡°Tan, Jidu, both of you aren¡¯t any better than him! How many eons has it been since any of you came to serve your masters?!¡±


    ¡°Kehehe...¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    The two old men Tan and Jidu in question burst out inughter upon hearing his words. Though the young man¡¯s frown deepened with each passing second until his aura burst out, matching theirs.


    ¡°Do not mistake us for your servants, young master.¡±


    ¡°We have only one true master and though you may be his blood, our servitude does not extend to you.¡±


    The old man named Zihao who had spoken first also snorted.


    ¡°Master has already let us go. Do you want to test if His Benevolence has also allowed us to kill his son?¡±


    As Zihao threatened, Tan and Jidu also spiked their aura. Whenbined in such unity, it eclipsed the young man¡¯s aura who snorted in annoyance before plopping on one of the seats.


    The seats, already cracking under theirbined pressure, were barely able to hold their weight.


    Seeing him step down, the three old men also retracted their aura.


    ¡°Help me and in turn, I will help you.¡±


    ¡°Ho~? What kind of help would we need?¡± Zihao spoke for the three of them.


    In response, the young man shot him a smirk, replying, ¡°What kind of help could you not get from the Emperor of Heavens?¡±


    Shocked by his remarks, the three old men straightened their backs as the air froze over.


    ¡°Do you not fear the burden of our master¡¯s name?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just say that father has let you all go?¡±


    The three old men exchanged nces, not knowing what to say to this young man.


    Seeing them not daring to speak anything on the matter, the young man soothed them, ¡°I¡¯m not nning a rebellion. I just need the support of the famous 7 Heavenly Virtues to convince Father.


    He himself has lost all interest in that position and seems to just be waiting for someone to rece him.¡±


    Again the air remained still for a few minutes before Zihao finally broke the silence,


    ¡°Even if what you say is true, couldn¡¯t one of us, the 7 Heavenly Virtues, alsoy im to that title?¡±


    ¡°Ah, Zihao, I knew the Virtue of Humility would be the one to utter such a... thing. To answer your question, you are right. The 7 Heavenly Virtues can easily contend against me, but here is the thing.


    I am not stopping you. Join me, or be my enemy. The same goes for the 4 who dared not to show their faces. Let them know, you can join me and remain in my grace or vie for that title and stand against me!¡±


    With his deration, the young man stood up and walked out of the ¡®room¡¯ at a leisurely pace.


    Before his presence disappeared in the dark, he left hisst message, ¡°I will wait for your response.¡±


    Zihao the Virtue of Humility, Tan the Virtue of Charity, and Jidu the Virtue of Kindness stayed silent, contemting the impacts this conversation would have all over the world.


    . . .


    As the conversation which would shake all the Realms took ce in a ne far away, Ozul stood in the throne room, hoping the king would just get to the point and tell them what to do.


    ¡°I want you all to protect my dear daughter.¡±


    With his incessant roundabout way of saying how much he loved his daughter and one of the Origin Cultivators had to be sent to attend to another matter, it didn¡¯te as a shock to those present here except for the man in silver armor.


    ¡°My lord-¡±


    ¡°Do not worry Sir Hemal, these are trusted people.¡±


    ¡°It is the princess we are talking about-¡±


    ¡°She is my daughter, Sir Hemal. I think I would worry more about her than anyone ever could,¡± the king red at armorden Sir Hemal for not knowing when to shut up.


    ¡°Forgive me, my lord.¡±


    The king nodded his head nonchntly before moving his gaze toward Ozul who, in his eyes, was one of the most peculiar men he had evere across.


    He had lived for long enough to have met a few Dragon Hatchlings recently brought to the Realm of Abezan but never had he seen such a calm andposed young man.


    If he didn¡¯t know that it wouldn¡¯t be possible, he might have even tried to marry his precious daughter to him. After all, who wouldn¡¯t want the best for their children?


    Ozul seized the opportunity immediately as he spoke, ¡°Can I refuse beca-¡±


    ¡°You wish to say something?¡± The king interrupted him with a smile that wasn¡¯t really a smile.


    Ozul deemed it to be the best moment to release the tired sigh that he was holding back for so long.


    If Raven, ze, and Zier didn¡¯t know any better, even they would have thought that he didn¡¯t want to take up this task.


    ¡°Do not fret, young man. It won¡¯t be for long. And my daughter, though a princess, is quite mature for her age.¡±


    ¡®Not only that Hemal¡¯s but even your emotions betray how you really feel about maturity...¡¯ Ozul thought, but as always, it didn¡¯t show on his face.


    ¡°Anyway, you will all listen to one of my most trusted people, Sir Hemal here.¡±


    Seeing as there was again no objection, the King continued, ¡°But this group also needs a leader. I think you will be appropriate for that.¡±


    He spoke while keenly staring at Ozul¡¯s face.


    But that is where Ozul really had an objection. ¡°I cannot take responsibility for these two,¡± he said while pointing toward Kumao and Rose.


    ¡°Hey! I thought we were friends,¡± Kumaoined.


    ¡°These three are my people, I can take care of them alone,¡± ignoring Kumao, Ozul spoke firmly.


    ¡®I don¡¯t even know what that man¡¯s even thinking...¡¯


    Ozul didn¡¯t was a bit confused. The king seemed to be a smart man, so he didn¡¯t understand why that man would allow a group of people with unknown backgrounds to be near the princess.


    His group, he could understand. They were the Dragon Hatchlings and had absolutely no reason to make enemies out of anyone.


    But what about Kumao and Rose? Maybe even Rose could be counted out, considering she isn¡¯t strong enough to pose any real harm to the princess. However, Kumao was an Origin Cultivator!


    ¡®Did they confirm his background and deem him harmless as well?¡¯ There were many questions in his mind, but he decided to shrug them off.


    If the king wanted to y that way, then so be it. He will y along until he finds an ample opportunity.


    ¡°I see, well that¡¯s not much of a problem,¡± the king muttered in interest. He had assumed they had gotten close, but he had assumed wrong.


    ¡°Sir Hamel here will take you to the princess. Let it stay in your minds that under no circumstances are you to disobey this good sir here.¡±


    .....


    They nodded their heads in apparent understanding.


    ¡°Good, you can leave now. The guard outside will guide you. Each of you can receive one of the Spirit Grade cultivation manuals from the ones presented to you. Later, Sir Hamel shall assign you your task,¡± the king smiled in kindness, letting them go.


    ¡®Finally...¡¯ Ozul sighed in relief. It took the king a solid half an hour to tell them all of that.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the throne was devoid of any sparkling lighting, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to bear it for so long.


    While they were led outside, the king continued his talk with that man named Hamel.


    ¡®At least we are one step closer to our goal,¡¯ he thought before they were led to a room full that looked like a military inventory outside the pce.


    While the king offered them Spirit Grade cultivation manuals, they were allowed to choose anything of equal or less value from that room. Everyone picked up something they liked as the man in charge there kept squinting his eyes at Ozul.


    He was the only one who didn¡¯t pick anything.


    Seeing that it too would attract unnecessary attention, he picked out a random sword nearest to him, ¡°Will this be okay?¡± he asked, holding out the de that seemed to be a katana.


    The man in charge nodded his head, ¡°That¡¯s a natureless Spirit Grade Weapon, you can take it.¡±

 Chapter 403 - 403 Princess where?

    403 Princess where?


    Ozul had seen people carry their swords attached to either their back or their waist.


    He used a bit of Purity to create a belt on his waist to hold the katana.


    Meanwhile, everyone looked at him strangely. Since when did he be a swordsman?


    But Ozul innately understood the subtle art of not giving a f*ck. He turned around to leave the inventory room followed by others.


    As they stepped outside, they were met with the cold gaze of a man in silver armor. He was the ¡®Sir Hamel¡¯ they were introduced to just twenty minutes ago in the throne room.


    ¡°Follow me,¡± Sir Hamel spoke coldly before turning around, and leading them back inside the pce.


    As everyone followed him quietly, Kumaou came beside Ozul and spoke lowly, ¡°I knew you were hiding something. It turns out, you were a swordsman...¡±


    In response, Ozul nced at him briefly before turning his attention back to Sir Hamel. He had just picked the first thing he saw since it might raise unnecessary suspicion if he didn¡¯t choose anything. But now the realization was dawning on him that he should¡¯ve given it more thought before picking up the katana.


    They entered the pce and after a few minutes, they entered a lush green garden. The whiff of nature invaded their senses as Sir Hamel stopped.


    .....


    Deep into the garden, surrounded by maids was the princess having a tea party with another girl her age.


    ¡°She is the princess that you all will now be responsible for protecting.¡±


    From the way he stopped at the entrance, it was clear that they weren¡¯t getting any closer to the princess than this.


    ¡°Be ready tomorrow morning, we have to escort the princess to the Duke¡¯s estate. And you better be there on time.¡±


    With a few more threats, Sir Hamel let them return to their room.


    ¡°Man, that was a waste of time... You think that Hamel would agree to spar with me? He is strong,¡± Kumaou threw his arms behind his head as he spoke loudly in Ozul¡¯s face.


    ¡°Ask him yourself.¡±


    Before Kumaou could say anything else, Ozul dropped onto the bed and immediately closed his eyes.


    Surprisingly, Kumaou understood personal space and backed out after seeing him trying to sleep.


    . . .


    The next morning, they arrived at the gates where there were three overly decorated carriages lined up.


    Two lines of soldiers with varying cultivation were lined up on both sides of the carriages.


    On the side, they could see Sir Hamel having a conversation with one of the soldiers. That man was the one of few peak Nascent Soul cultivators in the line-up.


    From a single look, one could tell that the princess sat in the middle carriage. It was not just the standard protocol, but the middle carriage even looked extravish.


    Sir Hamel noticed their arrival and came to them to say, ¡°The Duke¡¯s estate isn¡¯t far. It will take at most 30 minutes. Join those soldiers and keep an eye out for anything. If you see anything, immediately report it to me. Remember, the princess¡¯s protection is your priority!¡±


    His lecture ended just as soon as it started before he turned around and shouted, ¡°Let us depart!¡±


    ¡®huh??¡¯


    Noneined as they joined the line-up of soldiers while Ozulgged behind with confusion clouding his thoughts.


    ¡®We are departing without the princess??¡¯


    Others didn¡¯t seem to mind as they all assumed that the princess was already inside the middle carriage. However, he knew better.


    The princess wore an expensive Spirit Artifact to contain her Spiritual Essence, but it couldn¡¯t conceal anything from him. He had gauged her strength to be at the first stage of the Nascent Soul Realm the moment heid his eyes.


    Even yesterday when Sir Hamel took them to the garden, he had noticed there was almost no change to her strength.


    So it made no sense that he would suddenly fail to sense her Spiritual Essence much less any signs of a living breathing human inside the carriages.


    ¡®So he wants to test us?¡¯


    There was no other exnation for it. It turned out the king still had some lingering suspicion, so he could only use such methods for immediate results.


    ¡®Whatever... it¡¯s not like I would have done anything anyway...¡¯ Ozul shrugged as he began to trot along the ¡®parade¡¯.


    He wanted someone else to take the me for whatever he did to the princess. And after finding Rose and confirming that she was a spy, he also knew who that someone would be.


    Why would he ruin it all by attacking the princess on the very first day?


    A few minutester, they had already passed the crowded streets and arrived at a rtively quieter area.


    Just then, out of nowhere, tens of shadows left and stood atop the houses and around the street. In a matter of seconds, the carriages were surrounded by men d in rough clothes.


    What surprised Ozul and brought a grin to Kumao¡¯s face was the fact that there were three Origin cultivators among these masked men!


    ¡®He really cherishes his daughter...¡¯


    The king was using a total of 4 Origin Realm cultivators simply to test their loyalties. Such a force was used in wars to turn the tides of the battles, but maybe to a father¡¯s worries, it wasn¡¯t much.


    And they weren¡¯t given enough time to process what was happening before a fierce battle broke out between the soldiers and Ozul¡¯s group on one side and the masked men on the other.


    As if it was already decided, the three Origin Realm cultivators each confronted Ozul, Kumaou, and Sir Hemal while making feint attempts to reach the middle carriage.


    Kumaou was excited to fight as he went all out and didn¡¯t hold back.


    ¡°Finally some action!¡± he shouted while shing with his opponent.


    Meanwhile, Ozul didn¡¯t use any sneak attacks to silently kill his opponent as he used to.


    Instead, he opted to use some shy moves that he had never thought of before.


    ¡®Well, I have the perfect tool to do that,¡¯ he thought as he slowly pulled out the katana from its sheath.


    He instantly coated it with the Purity before shing it toward his opponent in an awkward manner. Though his form couldn¡¯t be helped; after all, it was his first time wielding a de.


    Fortunately, there was no one free enough to offer their criticism as the Purity made an arc of ck aura whenever he swung the katana.


    With his almost century of experience, the Purity made very fluid movements. So, it wasn¡¯t difficult to trick other people into believing that it was a sword technique.


    ¡°Woah! He really was a swordsman!¡± Kumaou had stars in his eyes, anticipating a duel with Ozul in the near future.


    Meanwhile, Ozul¡¯s threepanions¡¯ looked at this scene wryly. How could they not know what he was doing?


    The three looked at each other before also joining in the fray. If Ozul nned to do anything, he would have let them know beforehand. So, they also made sure to look the part of self-sacrificing soldiers for the king.


    Looking at the situation, Ozul had to admit that if there was really anyone with the intention of harming the princess, they had the perfect opportunity to do so.


    With such a chaotic situation where the two sides were evenly matched in strength, most people with ulterior motives would either go for the kill or maybe even flee for their lives.


    Ozul could sense the hesitation rising in Rose¡¯s body as she struggled to keep the masked assassins at bay.


    He could predict that with her turbulent emotions and her cowardly nature, she might just give in and desert them.


    ¡®And I can¡¯t let that happen. Not when I need her,¡¯ Ozul mentally sighed before shing his katana in quick session to form a cross midair that shot at his opponent just as quickly.


    The battle had also gone too long and he couldn¡¯t have Rose desert them now.


    The man he was facing was as strong as Sir Hemal, but fighting with a katana had given him a false narrative that he was a swordsman.


    As that man struggled to block the ¡®physical manifestation¡¯ of his shes, four thin needles protruded out of those arcs and shot at all his limbs at the same time!


    Caught off guard, the man could barely take a step back to dodge one of the needles before the other three pierced his limbs. To his horror, even the one he had managed to evade came biting his foot in the next instant.


    Having foreseen that he had already lost half the battle, the man eyed the decorative carriage and rushed straight at it.


    At the same time, the man fighting Kumaou did the same thing! But Kumaou wasn¡¯t a man who would let go of a man during a fight.


    And unbeknownst to these people, Ozul had seen through their staged act. So, he also yed the part of earnestly trying to save the princess as he blocked his opponent with his own body covered with Purity before he could strike the carriage.


    Just before they shed again, the man stopped in his tracks as he cringed back in pain from the four holes in his limbs.


    *pp*


    Sir Hemal could be seen pping as everything came to a standstill. He and the person he was pretending to fight instantly eliminated the rest of the masked assassins before he appeared next to Ozul; nodding approvingly at him.


    Meanwhile, Ozul looked at the dead bodies on the ground, ¡®Mercenaries?¡¯


    Turning his head back to the mean, he tried his best to show genuine confusion on his face, but his stiff face could only muster up a frown.


    ¡°Haha... You must be confused, let me exin...¡±

 Chapter 404 - 404 At What Cost?

    404 At What Cost?


    ¡°Haha... You must be confused, let me exin...¡± Sir Hamel came rubbing his hands with an unusual smile on his face.


    ¡®Hurry up, be done with it,¡¯ Ozul wanted to say but he held it in.


    Fortunately for him, Sir Hamel also didn¡¯t want to dally there any longer as he kept his exnation short and precise.


    ¡°So you see, this was merely a test to gauge your abilities...¡±


    Just as he said this, the carriage door opened, confessing that it housed no one.


    ¡®Gauging abilities, my ass. That was clearly a test of loyalty!¡¯ Even Kumaou had a frown on his face for being deceived like this.


    However, no one voiced theirint. It was royalty they were dealing with; it couldn¡¯t be helped. It also made sense that the king would go the extra mile to ensure the safety of his beloved daughter.


    The man that Ozul had been fighting removed his mask, revealing a middle-aged face with a seemingly ¡®relieved¡¯ expression.


    ¡°He is the other knight who devoted his life to protecting the princess since she was young. Now that Sir has confirmed with his own eyes that you are capable, he will rest assured.¡±


    .....


    That man nodded his head and smiled amiably at Ozul before putting his hand on his shoulder. ¡°Young man, you willingly put yourself in danger to protect the princess, that is admirable.¡±


    The stench of sweat covering that man¡¯s hand evaded Ozul¡¯s senses as he took a step back. His shirt, however, already had soaked it in.


    Without waiting for a second, he took off his shirt and threw it away on the ground. Acting as if nothing had happened, he replied ¡®earnestly¡¯, ¡°That was my job.¡±


    Everyone present looked at him weirdly but didn¡¯t say anything. The fact that he was willing to put his life in line to protect the princess mattered more than his entric actions.


    ¡®I achieved what I wanted to... but at what cost?¡¯


    Ozul sighed, standing there half-naked. Fortunately, clouds had begun covering up the sky.


    . . .


    Ozul and the group were brought back to the pce as the guards dispersed along with Sir Hamel and the other knights to report to the king.


    As they entered the room, Kumaou was the first to bombard Ozul, ¡°You knew she wasn¡¯t there, didn¡¯t you!¡±


    Ozul almost raised his eyes at his intuition before shrugging his shoulders, neither confirming nor denying anything.


    However, Kumaou took it as a sign of affirmation,ughing loudly, ¡°Haha! I know you knew! I admit, I underestimated you before, but you are definitely worthy to fight me!¡±


    Meanwhile, the trio ignored the maniac in the room and focused on their cultivation.


    They were all making rapid progress and now that Ozul had begun topare Zier with the other two, he could see him surpassing both of them.


    There was obviously something special about him, but he couldn¡¯t conclude what.


    If they kept up at this pace, then he could hope that they would at least break through to the next stage before their time in the royal pce came to an end.


    What they didn¡¯t know was that their rate of progress surpassed even those Dragon Hatchlings who had all the resources from the people who had summoned them.


    Even those who had arrived with them here and had ample resources weren¡¯t at the Soul Liberation stage yet.


    If Ozul knew that, he would have been genuinely shocked. After all, it couldn¡¯t be that the three people he picked randomly would have such talents. There was definitely something strange going on.


    As he found his favorite spot in the room; the bed, he observed Raven and ze focusing on improving their cultivation while Zier focused on sharpening the ¡®soul¡¯ that he could now project out of his body.


    Just like Ozul had once trained his control over Purity, Zier used a minute amount of soul before trying to bend it into various shapes.


    Although the process and results were vastly different from his own. After all, the Purity couldn¡¯t bepared with the ¡®soul¡¯ of a Soul Liberation stage cultivator.


    Meanwhile, it was obvious that ze and Raven were focused on surpassing Zier right now.


    ¡°Get up,¡± he suddenly spoke, rming the trio as they immediately stood up.


    ¡°I¡¯m bored, let¡¯s see how strong you three have be...¡±


    There was essentially nothing to do until the princess wanted to wander out of the royal estate for her amusements.


    That, and the fact that the previously sunny day had suddenly turned cloudy. And from his experience, the clouds were only getting darker. Even if it didn¡¯t rain, it would get quite dark.


    Raven and ze¡¯s eyes lit up while Zier stood up nervously. The former two wanted nothing more than to go all out and see what they were capable of now, while thetter still wasn¡¯t confident in his abilities.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to spar!?¡± Kumaou¡¯s ears twitched as he also sprung up from his cultivation.


    Ozul gave him a deadpan look, ¡°No. We are not.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we are!¡± 1


    ¡°No.¡±


    Despite his firm rejections, Kumaou¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t dim.


    ...


    Minutester, they arrived in a small forest outside the city. They were allowed to leave the royal estate whenever they wanted, they merely had to inform the soldiers where they were going first.


    Annoyingly enough, Kumaou followed them all the way through. In the end, even Rose joined them.


    ¡®Guess she wants to gauge my strength?¡¯


    Inspecting Rose trying not to act suspicious around them, Ozul wondered how the people behind her were dealing with the sudden disappearance of one of their messengers.


    He hadn¡¯t even bothered to clean up the body, leaving it cold in that dark alley.


    Whatever conclusion they came upon, he didn¡¯t care. Rose was still here, she could still be med; nothing else mattered.


    Coming back to the matter at hand, he stood in front of the trio who were prepared with all their weapons.


    At once, they poured out their soul, pinpointing it at Ozul. Unfortunately for them, it didn¡¯t do anything to him. Unless it was the soul pressure from someone at the peak of Origin Realm like that of the king, it was useless against him.


    It started with Zier throwing his silver needles straight at Ozul¡¯s face before ze and Raven quickly closed in the distance.


    After decades of being around Ozul, they knew that his body itself wasn¡¯t strong. He might be invincible at a distance, but in closebat, it was difficult for him to keep up.


    After all, he hadn¡¯t learned any Spiritual Arts nor ever tried physical exercises. If there was any weakness to him, it was closebat.


    ze brought down his ice-covered fist at Ozul who had just deflected the silver needle of Zier when Raven came behind him, bringing her pair of daggers from both sides, essentially locking him in ce.


    The synergy between ze and Raven wasn¡¯t anything to scoff at.


    It wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to say that they might even take out someone at the peak of Nascent Soul Realm like Rose.


    Sadly for them, Ozul wasn¡¯t as weak to closebat as they think. After all, he could always produce Purity from his body, making it impossible to find him without any tool to protect himself.


    With his hand coated with that ck material, he caught the ice-cold fist of ze while Raven¡¯s daggers were blocked with the Purity as well.


    She instantly jumped back to dodge the des that counter-attacked her, but ze didn¡¯t have such a luxury, he was hit right in the gut with Ozul¡¯s left fist which was also coated with the Purity.


    Gasping for air, ze dropped to the ground when two more needles pierced the air as they were aimed at Ozul¡¯s eyes. But he had already sensed those needles, holding them both in his hand.


    Zier could essentially control the needles on his whims as well, so Ozul didn¡¯t just stop their motion but also held them in ce.


    Unlike with Purity, those needles couldn¡¯t change form or shape either, so he couldn¡¯t get it out of his grasp.


    He then nced in Zier¡¯s direction, making thetter¡¯s heart palpitate faster in trepidation. Not giving him a chance to think, he shot the two silver needles at Raven.


    She managed to deflect one of them, but the other approached her neck. Zier, on the other hand, tried with all his will to stop the needle.


    His efforts bore fruit as the needle stopped just before touching Raven¡¯s neck, which only she noticed now was protected by a thin sheet of Purity.


    Of course, Ozul wasn¡¯t going to bet on Zier¡¯s ability to stop his silver needle in time.


    Though it was pleasant to know that he reacted quickly enough.


    Their casual spar which didn¡¯t look so casual in the eyes of the two spectators continued as ze recovered and jumped at him again.


    Rose looked at this spectacle with her mouth agape, realizing that if she wasn¡¯t allowed to ¡®materialize¡¯ her soul, she wouldn¡¯t even stand a chance against the three of them!


    And that was shocking considering that it hadn¡¯t been long since they had stepped into the Soul Liberation stage.


    It was then that a suffocating aura red right beside her.


    Kumaou was seething in anticipation and was ready to jump at Ozul anytime now.


    Just when Ozul parried the trio¡¯s attacks and counter-attacked, Kumaou couldn¡¯t hold himself in and seemingly teleported right between them.


    Displeased, Ozul narrowed his eyes at him, ¡°What are you doing.¡± He knew what he was doing.


    ¡°You and me! This fight has been pending for a long time, boy!¡±


    Ozul nodded his head at the trio who were already beaten and tired and got ready to face this bear of a guy.


    Since the weather was nice, he also wanted to test his strength against Kumaou.


    ¡°Don¡¯t hold back. I wanna go and take a nap afterward, so hurry up,¡± he spoke in a nonchnt tone as if he didn¡¯t put him in his eyes.


    Truth was, he wanted to test himself against this ¡®soul materialization¡¯ that the cultivators gained in thest stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.


    He remembered Kumaou¡¯s body morphed into being more animal-like and a projection of a wild bear seemed to reflect behind him.


    He wanted to fight that. Could his Purity cut through that state of his?


    .....


    ¡°Alright, boy. I won¡¯t bore you!¡± Kumaou shouted as his teeth and ws grew, his body hairs also grew thicker and once again, a mirage of a giant bear seemed to reflect behind him.


    It wasn¡¯t a solid projection, but other people could instinctively feel what it was.


    The surroundings drowned in a noise of blur as Ozul pulled the Purity with full force to collide with Kumao.


    The battle which could level the whole forest had begun...

 Chapter 405 - 405 Holding back?

    405 Holding back?


    Sparks flew as Ozul¡¯s Purity collided with Kumaou¡¯s fists. Each blow left a deep crater on the ground.


    The trio and Rose had already retreated out of the forest, afraid they might get caught up in their fight.


    *Boom!Boom!*


    Explosions bellowed as one tree fell after another.


    Ozul put all his strength behind attacking the unyielding bear, but all of his attacks were blocked without much damage.


    On the other hand, he couldn¡¯t allow even a single attack of Kumaou tond on him. His defensive capabilities were subpar at best when fighting someone of equal strength or stronger.


    ¡®So that is my current limit,¡¯ Ozul thought bitterly.


    It wasn¡¯t enough.


    He couldn¡¯t go toe to toe with someone at the initial stage of the Origin Realm.


    .....


    It would have been a different thing if he was trying to kill Kumaou, but fairly sparring with him proved thetter superior. He barely held on in front of the bear¡¯s onught.


    If they were topare raw power and pure defense, Kumaou was a clear-cut above him.


    ¡°Is that all you amount to?! I might be disappointed at this rate!¡± Kumaou shouted as he once again brought down his w-like fist, shing down at him.


    The Purity appeared above Ozul in the shape of a cross, blocking the ¡®w¡¯, but plummeting him deep into the ground, leaving in its wake yet another crater.


    Although he considered himself to be a very calm person, the taunts of Kuamou still irritated him since he didn¡¯t know what he could do at this point to increase his strength now.


    At least he now had a rough idea of how strong Origin cultivators are. That was the only gain from this.


    Before Kumaou pulled back his punch to attack again, he swiftly jumped back, creating arge distance between them.


    ¡°That¡¯s it, stop.¡±


    But Kumaou grunted, not wanting to end it just yet. He had only started to feel it now.


    ¡°I admit my defeat. Let go,¡± Ozul added, reading his emotions carefully.


    Kumaou narrowed his eyes at him before his aura finally began to diminish. Finally, the illusion of a bear behind him also disappeared as his body morphed back to its original shape.


    A frown marred his wild face, indicating that he wasn¡¯t pleased with the spar.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t even manifest your soul! Tch!¡± he clicked his tongue at the end before turning around and leaving.


    ¡®If I had it, I wouldn¡¯t have kept it hidden...¡¯ thought Ozul in his heart as he sighed and calmly flew toward the trio.


    Kumaou thought that Ozul was holding back since he didn¡¯t want to fight.


    With a part of the forest destroyed, they appeared to walk out of it under the eyes of one more person than necessary.


    ¡°You guys really don¡¯t care about nature, do you?¡±


    Standing beside the trio and Rose was the famous Imperial Prince whom they hadn¡¯t seen for a while now. Beside him, there was only his beloved horse.


    To themon folk, it was nothing. However, even in the initial stage Origin cultivators in the royal pce could feel their battle from all the way much less him who was at the peak of the Origin Realm.


    ¡°His fault. I didn¡¯t want to fight him,¡± with a single gesture, Ozul shifted all the me to Kumaou who gave him a betrayed look in response.


    Seeing Kuamou didn¡¯t even have any exnation in his defense, the Prince sighed while shaking his head, ¡°Ask your superior if you need a space for sparring next time. This forest was useless, so there was no harm done. ¡±


    Ozul shrugged his shoulders in response while Kumaou seriously nodded his head.


    ¡®He only gets serious in the presence of those he cannot defeat,¡¯ he made a mental note about Kumaou¡¯s behavior.


    Seeing as they were done fighting, the Prince galloped his horse, leaving them to their own devices.


    As Ozul walked back to the pce, he thought about the improvements of the trio.


    Together, they would easily take on someone with a higher cultivation base. But that wasn¡¯t enough. They were still too weak to take on any real challenges.


    ¡®Even my progress has halted now.¡¯ He couldn¡¯t me them when they were at least improving, while he was stuck in the same ce.


    Ember had made it clear how it was impossible to obtain the Spiritual Cores of cultivators above the initial stage of Origin Realm.


    ¡®I need something else to absorb now,¡¯ he knew he had only gotten stronger by absorbing other things, ¡®Something that has more concentrated energy than Spiritual Cores...¡¯


    Once he was done with this royal pce, he would have to ask Ember; if there were things like that, she would know.


    . . .


    Fueled by the need to improve, the trio worked harder than before.


    They got back to cultivating the moment they entered their room. Meanwhile, Rose could be seen asionally ncing at Ozul from her corner.


    ¡®Come to think of it, she hasn¡¯t yet shown her soul manifestation...¡¯ he thought as he remembered that Rose was a peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.


    It didn¡¯t matter though, he was just curious. The soul manifestations he had seen until now were inclined toward the personality or the nature of the cultivator.


    Turning in his bed, he held Jinx close to his chest as he affectionately ran his fingers through her fur, thinking, ¡®If I had a soul manifestation, I would like it to be... a void... or maybe a cat?¡¯


    He would have liked it to be a bottomless abyss, a void. However, a cat didn¡¯t sound so bad either. He could lie down and sleep all day if his nature was inclined toward cats. But that might have already been the case.


    Turning around, he closed his eyes; not wanting to worry about how he would increase his strength in the future.


    A short nap of more than 24 hours could get his mind out of it.


    ...


    A few days passed without much noise in the surroundings.


    Ozul also noticed that Rose was anxious for a while before she suddenly calmed down. Something was happening with her and the people who had sent her, but he wasn¡¯t going to involve himself any further.


    He risked making her panic and causing her to quit and leave if he meddled in too much.


    Finally, after waiting for a few days, the time came when they were once again informed by one of the guards to report to Sir Hamel.


    ¡®This time will be for real,¡¯ he thought before getting up from the bed, leaving Jinx sleeping.


    ¡°Man, I sure hope it¡¯s a test again,¡± Kumaou muttered in excitement. He got to fight another Origin cultivator back then; he hoped there would be another simr opportunity.


    Raven, ze, Zier, and Rose gave him a strange look. His feelings on the matter were pr oppositespared to theirs.


    They found Hamel on the same gate with yet again three carriages lined up, but there were no special decorations carved on the middle carriage.


    All three looked the same.


    The soldiers ready to march alongside the carriages were the same faces as well.


    Before Ozul could question why the princess was yet again not in the carriage, the answer to his question came in a sundress that looked morevish than any wedding dress of a noblewoman.


    The princess, with her eternal cheerfulness, came walking in a graceful manner followed by two maids.


    As soon as her eyesid on them, her eyes twinkled as she hurriedly tiptoed toward them.


    ¡°Sir Hamel! Are they the Dragons father was talking about??¡± She thoroughly inspected everyone when her eyes stopped on Ozul.


    ¡®Not again...¡¯ he mentally sighed, feeling the emotions bubbling inside the princess.


    ¡°Not Dragons, mydy. Their title is simply Dragon Hatchlings, they aren¡¯t rted to actual dragons.¡± Hamel briefly replied to the princess, not going into details.


    ¡°Mydy?¡± he spoke as he noticed her staring at the quiet kid who went as far as to risk his body toplete the missionst time.


    The princess didn¡¯t respond to him as she walked toward Ozul in a daze before doing a courtesy bow and holding her hand in front of him, expecting him to bend to his knee and kiss the back of her hand.


    Unfortunately for her, Ozul wasn¡¯t keen on doing all that she was expecting of him.


    He stood there looking at her, not knowing what to say when Zier who was standing right beside him took her hand and stered a kiss on it while bowing slightly.


    From that 5-second pause, Zier guessed that Ozul wasn¡¯t going to do what the princess wanted, and he couldn¡¯t bear that awkward situation.


    ¡°I will introduce us, mydy. My name is Zier, he is Ozul, she is...¡± Zier took it upon himself to name all members of the group one by one.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± The princess, however, was displeased nheless. She harrumphed once again before haughtily walking to her carriage.


    Meanwhile, Sir Hamel ignored the situationpletely, understanding that not everyone knew of these formalities. c


    ¡®I just hope the princess doesn¡¯t take it as an insult,¡¯ Hamel sighed imagining the worst-case scenarios.


    Having been assigned to her protection for so long, he knew just how many horrible things that innocent-looking child had gotten away with. Not that he had any qualms with it, just that there shouldn¡¯t be a sh between the Dragon Hatchlings and her.


    On the other hand, Ozul looked at Zier with a raised brow, surprised the meekest of them all would take such an initiative.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s been studying royal manners,¡± ze alsomented from the side.


    Zier grinned slyly as he responded, ¡°I used to read a lot of books.¡±


    Ozul ignored their following conversation as he thought about the future.


    ¡®How long will I have to endure her?¡¯


    Even if the princess didn¡¯t actively interact with him, her emotions directed at him would continue to pester his conscious mind.


    .....


    But guessing from her personality, he doubted she would leave him alone.

 Chapter 406 - 406 Reluctance

    406 Reluctance


    The carriages began to move, as the soldiers marched along with them.


    It was the same scene as it was a few days ago, but it was all real this time. The princess was really having a tea party at one of the duke¡¯s mansions.


    She had a friend of her age there.


    As the one with the most heightened senses, Ozulzily followed the carriages, knowing full well there wasn¡¯t a single threat near them.


    And if there was, but he couldn¡¯t sense them? He would simply give up. If someone could hide their presence from him, he had no chance against them.


    Seeing the royal guards escort the carriages, people hurriedly got out of the way, letting them march unhindered. That¡¯s why it didn¡¯t take long before they arrived in front of a manor that seemed to lose only to the royal pce in its grandeur.


    Seeing their arrival, the gates to the manor opened as they were led inside wrapped in anotheryer of guards, with uniforms of different colors but the same symbol of a blue lion made in a different pattern.


    The princess got out of the carriage and was received by another girl of her age who also wore a luxurious dress.


    Before she walked away with that girl, the princess shot Ozul another look and turned around just as quickly.


    .....


    Meanwhile, a chosen few guards were made to follow the two girls from within an adequate range.


    And that chosen few guards included the group of Ozul, all being led by Sir Hamel.


    A few minutes passed, and they witnessed that indeed, all of them were made to walk all that way from the royal pce to the duke¡¯s manor because the little princess wanted to have tea and eat cake with another little princess.


    Another unfortunate event that took ce was a maid¡¯s slight mistake as she twisted her ankle. The tea in her pot shook and a few drops left dropped on the princess¡¯s bright sundress.


    It was almost unnoticeable, but the princess wrathed in anger.


    ¡°You!¡± she shouted while pointing at Ozul and ordered him, ¡°Execute this maid immediately.¡±


    Since he was going to act obedient and loyal to the king, he was prepared to follow whatever he told him. But being ordered around like this by the weak little brat of his irked him.


    Narrowing his eyes, he didn¡¯t immediately follow the orders but looked toward Sir Hamel instead.


    Thetter sighed while closing his eyes and nodded slightly, indicating that this wasn¡¯t anything out of ordinary.


    ¡®She... will be d in death. There is nothing interesting in living a life like this...¡¯ He didn¡¯t go around killing innocent people, but he had no qualms about it.


    The maid kept shouting apologies while banging her head on the ground, but it was all for naught. The princess desired a twisted form of entertainment by having Ozul kill for her.


    And the act happened in the blink of an eye, a line of ck passed by her neck before blood squirmed out and the maid¡¯s head fell off, leaving but a fountain of blood dripping out of the neck and soiling the table¡¯s cloth.


    Raven looked at this scene with a nk face, but Ozul could feel the emotions raging inside of her.


    He shot her a look, staring her dead in the eye before moving past her and standing under a tree¡¯s shade again.


    The princess was due for the same fate even if she didn¡¯t know it yet. She and ze understood, but Zier was horrified. This was the first time he had seen Ozul kill anyonepletely innocent since he had decided to follow him.


    Despite his shock, there was surprisingly no sense of disgust.


    On the other hand, Ozul could feel a sense of distaste from Kumaou. He seemed to have lost some goodwill from the man.


    ¡®That might be a good thing,¡¯ he thought in his mind. That bearish man was a little too clingy.


    The tea party proceeded without a hitch after that. The maid¡¯s body was cleaned up and everyone pretended as if nothing had happened.


    Ozul could hear the princess talking about them, but it was a pointless conversation about them being rted to dragons.


    Soon even that conversation ended and the star began to drown into the horizon.


    Sir Hamel approached the princess before speaking politely, ¡°Night will fall soon, mydy. We should depart soon.¡±


    The princess obediently nodded her head and they departed from the Duke¡¯s estate.


    ...


    The group was allowed to disperse as soon as they entered the walls of the royal estate.


    However, Ozul didn¡¯t n to nap till the next time they were called to march along with the princess this time.


    He asked to meet the king and was immediately granted a council with him. When everyone stood up with him, he shook his head.


    ¡®They will be a hindrance,¡¯ he thought, telling them to stay in the room.


    He also didn¡¯t exin the reasons he wanted to meet the king, and having gotten used to his personality by now, none except Rose asked. But as always, he ignored her existence and walked out.


    The reason he wanted to meet the king alone was simply that he wanted to assert to him that his group wanted to leave the job of protecting the princess.


    It was simply a ruse to make the king feel as though he isn¡¯t interested in the task. It wouldn¡¯t make him drop his guard, but when something happened in the future, they would be subjected to less suspicion.


    After all, it was the king himself who would have forced them into this job. They really didn¡¯t want to do it in the first ce.


    He wanted to do it alone since he could gauge that man¡¯s emotions at all times, being able to tread that thin line without slipping.


    And it went just as he expected when he showed reluctance without exining anything, the king sighed and shook his head. It seemed he had no men to spare at all.


    ¡°I will talk to her, and she will behave better. Do this until I say so, and I promise it won¡¯t be long, and you can expect generous rewards.¡±


    From his words, it was clear that he was already briefed on the entire incident before this meeting.


    *Sigh*


    Ozul genuinely sighed, and weakly nodded his head, muttering, ¡°Alright.¡±


    The king¡¯s eyes gleamed as he believed these generous rewards were really what the Dragon Hatchlings were after.


    As Ozul was dismissed, he sighed multiple times on the way back. It wasn¡¯t because he was still trying to convince anyone but at his own state.


    He never thought a day woulde when he would use words to do his work, words that he believed were useless and exhausting in this power-dominated world.


    In the following days, they were called multiple times to escort the princess out of the estate and sometimes even when another one of her friends visited the royal estate with her guards.


    However, true to his promise, the king seemed to have really talked to the princess as she never pulled another stunt like that with him.


    Though she would continue to steal nces at him when she thought he wasn¡¯t looking.


    At that point, Ozul was relieved that he showed his ¡®reluctance¡¯ to the king. That little brat would have probably made him do quite a lot of things to satisfy her ego.


    It might have just made him kill her on the spot, ruining his ns to let the me fall on the steel-mountain kingdom.


    The whole group was surprised, having already anticipated the princess to keep throwing tantrums.


    ...


    And just like that, another month passed with little to no progress.


    They couldn¡¯t do anything if there wasn¡¯t an incident.


    From the general situation around the royal pce with the guards asionally seen running around inrge numbers, they could read the overall situation of the kingdom.


    And all of them knew that the kingdom was really in an uproar these days. Each day there seemed to be a new incident in some remote area.


    Seeing the situation turn for the worse, Ozul felt that it wasn¡¯t just Ember anymore, thinking, ¡®The neighboring kingdoms must have begun to contribute their share as well...¡¯


    Unfortunately, there was no unusual incident surrounding the princess except for this one time when their destination was at a considerable distance and a group of bandits thought it was a good idea to loot people wearing such expensive armor.


    Their group was big and everyone was at least in the Core Formation realm, but in front of an Origin cultivator, all of that was for naught.


    They couldn¡¯t use that incident to do anything.


    The situation had to look dire and there should be a desperate struggle to make it all look real.


    Despite the upheaval in the kingdom, the king allowed the princess to roam anywhere she wanted. But he couldn¡¯t be med after assigning three Origin cultivators to protect her.


    Even a single one would have been a big deal, not to mention three of them!


    ¡®At this point, there won¡¯t ever be an incident,¡¯ Ozul thought with a troubled mind.


    ¡°I will have to do it by myself then...¡± he mutteredzily before rolling on his bed.


    Raven and ze looked at each other, nodding in understanding as thetter also informed Zier when they were alone.


    Having consolidated their cultivation base in the soul liberation stage, they were ready to face new challenges.

 Chapter 407 Mayhem.

    Chapter 407 Mayhem.


    Previously, Ozul was thinking of creating a scenario where they were seen valiantly protecting the princess but failing in the end.


    However, that n required too many things to happen on their own.


    And after waiting for a month, he realized it was all wishful thinking.


    With three people who could deal with Origin cultivators, they could only lose realistically if there was someone at the middle stages of the Origin cultivator or at least more than two initial stage Origin cultivators.


    No neighboring kingdom was risking such an attack. It would be too obvious on their part and they wouldn''t be able to erase their link after hiring people of that caliber.


    Having little more than a month left before the ten fortnights given by Ember passed, he would have to give up on waiting on such an unlikely opportunity.


    ''This will be a pain...'' he sighed as he nned what he would do.


    ''If I just sneak inside the pce and kill the princess, even if I don''t be the prime suspect, I will definitely be on their list.


    Since even the King and the Imperial Prince don''t sense any Spiritual Essence from me, they will have no choice but to look at me when all their defensive mechanisms fail to detect an intruder inside the pce.''


    Having given it enough thought, he realized that he needed a substitute. A person who could be there, and get caught inside the pce.


    ''Kumaou?... He won''t willingly go inside the pce,'' shaking his head, he went through possible candidates to be the sacrifices.


    It was quite easy for him to bring someone inside the pce without them being caught either. He just had to coat their entire body with Purity and that was it!


    ''It will have to be one of the prisoners.''


    Behind the royal estate, there was a prison which was also managed by the royal soldiers.


    While surveying the estate so many times, he hade across those prisoners asionally brought to do manualbor.


    While those prisoners starved and were held in chains that blocked their Spiritual Essence, he could still sense their powers.


    He would asionallye across those whose Spiritual Cores felt that of peak Nascent Soul cultivators.


    ''Maybe... just maybe if there is anyone of the Origin realm, that would be perfect.''


    With that thought in mind, hezily stood up from the bed and walked out of the room. Kumaou and Rose had also grown ustomed to him leaving in the middle of the night, so they didn''t pay it any heed.


    Just as he stepped into the shadows, the Purity enveloped him like a ck sticky sheet, rendering it useless to make any distinction between him and the darkness.


    In the middle of the night, a shadow leapt out of their room, quietly shifting through the sky in a certain direction.


    As he arrived outside the prison, Ozul stopped in his tracks around fifty meters away.


    While he had no Spiritual Essence, the physical movement still left countless ways for him to be felt by experienced scouts.


    After all, he couldn''t stop the air from shifting when he moved.


    With a little more caution, he approached the prison and entered the cave-like entrance, unbeknownst to the two guards standing erect like statues.


    It was an underground prison, and he could already feel an Origin Realm cultivator at the lowest level.


    ''That is the guy who manages everything in the prison.''


    That was not it. He needed to find any prisoner who exuded roughly the same pressure as that prison warden.


    It wasn''t as easy as he thought it to be since there were around a thousand prisoners, and all of them had their Spiritual Essence blocked by the stone-like cor that hung around their necks.


    As he searched through the rows of cells one by one, it became apparent that the deeper the prisoners were held, the stronger they previously were.


    The cells on the ground level barely had any cultivators at all. That too in the initial stage of the Core Formation.


    ''That saves me time,'' he thought while skipping all the cells and focusing his senses on the deepest level of the prison.


    That was the level where the man he thought to be the ''prison warden'' was on.


    Spreading his senses further around him, he could feel the segregated areas surrounded by walls, and in those walls were people. People that interested him deeply.


    ''Nice... two Origin cultivators,'' if he wasn''t a certified stoic, there would have been a smirk etched on his face at this time.


    Those two were weak. So weak that even if they were freed from the chains that blocked their Spiritual Essence, they would barely be able to defeat the warden if they fought together.


    ''Even a weakened Origin cultivator is beyond the limits of Nascent Soul cultivators.''


    He wouldn''t take both of them. There could be moreplicationster on if he were to bring both inside the pce.


    ''Instead, I will use you to light a fire and attract all the moths...''


    Having confirmed the existence of two prisoners at the Origin Realm, he leapt out of the prison as swiftly as he had entered.


    It wasn''t a good time to do this.


    The Imperial Prince was in the pce; he had confirmed it earlier.


    Having two peak Origin cultivators inside the pce could mess up everything.


    There was no need to rush things. There would be some sort of emergency and the Prince would be forced out of the estate sooner orter.


    ...


    Ozul didn''t need to wait long.


    Only two dayster, the Imperial Prince headed out of the royal estate with his entourage.


    He had already hinted at Raven and ze to be ready.


    This night, as he walked out of the room, Rose was cultivating while Kumaou only spared him a passing nce.


    Covering himself from head to foot in the Purity, he willed it to have folds such that it looked like he had ck clothes on instead.


    He couldn''t have people recognizing Purity and linking that soon-to-be incident with him.


    Following the same route, he arrived at the prison and sneaked past the two guards at the cave-like entrance.


    He would have killed the two right now, but he risked letting the warden sense something was off the moment their Spiritual Essence traces disappeared.


    On the way, he could have killed several other prison guards, but they would be taken care of once he reached the bottom floor anyway.


    As he reached the bottom floor, he could see a guy with an exposed belly sitting inside a room in a daze with the smell of alcohol lingering in the air.


    ''I was worried for nothing,'' Ozul sighed, once again thanking his luck that he wouldn''t have to put too much effort into this now.


    The prison warden, although an Origin cultivator, wasn''t as vignt as he assumed him to be.


    With a single thought, a drop of Purity separated from him and sharpened into two identical shards.


    He took a deep breath, ''Huu....''


    And pushed the shards with full force, aiming at the eyes of the prison warden.


    The eyelids of the warden shot open as he heard the sound of air being pierced through, but s, it only made the attack more effective as two ck shards were embedded into his eyes, reaching the back of his head.


    Not that it would have made any difference if he hadn''t opened his eyelids.


    *Tip! Tip!*


    Now, only the sound of blood hitting the ground could be heard on the deepest floor of the prison as Ozul made his way to the two cells beside the warden''s room.


    He opened the cell of the prisoner whose aura felt more powerful and stepped inside.


    The man, sitting on the cold floor curiously looked at his visitor who was d in dark clothes, and couldn''t help but think that his time hade.


    "Do you want to be free?" Ozul asked in a deepened voice. There might be problems for himter on if this man was left alive and interrogated with unusual means.


    That is why he went to such lengths to hide his identity as much as possible.


    For the first few seconds, his question didn''t elicit any response from the man.


    Thinking that he might have already lost hope or something, Ozul was about to move to the other cell when the man hurdled from the ground with apparent madness in his eyes.


    "Yes! Get me out! Please!"


    If it weren''t for the chains keeping him held at the exact center of the cell, he would have already pounced on Ozul.


    ''This attitude is exactly what I need...''


    Once confronted while running inside the pce, this man would most probablyy his life down instead of getting caught again.


    Under the dark of the room, the Purity cut off the chains from the walls, keeping only the stone-like cor on the man''s neck that kept his Spiritual Essence in check.


    "I will remove that, but you have to follow me quietly. One squeak and I will leave you rotting by yourself."


    Since he couldn''t go against his words while wearing the cor anyway, the man obediently nodded his head when Ozul''s Purity began to slowly cover his body as well.


    The man mistaking it for some poisonous miasma, was about to jump back when Ozul motioned with his hand to stay shush.


    The man obliged and was now coveredpletely in a sheet of ck.


    And not being able to use Spiritual Essence had left his strength almost useless so Ozul could freely manipte his body however he wanted to.


    Taking control of him, he made him float out of the cell before using the leftover Purity to cut through the other cell.


    There was an old man in that cell who seemed to have given up on his life.


    He looked shocked at seeing the walls break down, and that shock only got worse when he saw the hollow-eyed warden lying dead in his room.


    Before he could mutter even a sound of shock, his chains and the cor around his neck were cut into little pieces, giving him his freedom back!


    The old man wasn''t allowed to thank his savior as Ozul disappeared, running at insane speeds out of the prison together with the wrapped-up human by his side.


    While on his way out, he cut open all the prison cells and freed as many prisoners as he could!


    In a matter of two short minutes, the prison was turned upside down as a peal of hystericalughter could be heard at the deepest part of the prison now, "HahahaHaha!!"


    However, Ozul didn''t slow down or wait for the royal guards to take note of the matter.


    Taking advantage of the night, he sneaked back inside the royal estate and headed straight toward the pce.


    ''They better start a war after all of this,'' Ozul mumbled in his mind, dodging all the corners where he would encounter patrolling guards.


    It was mentally draining to keep track of so much in his mind, but he had already prepared himself by sleeping an entire day beforehand.


    As he made his way toward the princess''s chambers, the prison mayhem finally reached its peak, alerting the guards outside who informed their superiors in the royal estate.

 Chapter 408 Stress.

    Chapter 408 Stress.


    Soldiers in dense numbers poured outside the royal estate, all rushing toward the prison behind the estates.


    With countless measures set in ce to alert of intruders and harsh disciplinary actions for the prisoners, there had never been any incidents in this prison.


    After all, it was right behind the royal estates, the soldiers made sure there were never any problems with security and management. Unfortunately for them, someone like Ozul was out of their expectations when they carefully prepared the prison security.


    The soldiers only realized the seriousness of the situation when they felt the oppressive aura of an Origin Realm cultivator.


    Though weak, they all knew they couldn''t stop that man who rushed out of the prison in an instant.


    That man Ozul freed knew himself that he couldn''t wait inside the prison or throw a tantrum there. He was weakened considerably while he starved in the deepest cell, so if any Origin cultivator confronted him, he would die without putting up a fight.


    He could only flee as fast as he could to get an advantage over his pursuers.


    At the same time, the other prisoners also fled in all directions. Only a small portion of them, who had lost their minds to the utter chaos, did start beating down the hapless guards.


    While the backyard of the royal estate plunged into utter chaos, Ozul had already entered the Pce.


    The man he had wrapped with the Purity knew better than to make a sound as around in the shadows together with Ozul.


    ''I thought he would at least mutter a voice of doubt.'' For that reason, he had tightened 08:46


    the Purity around his mouth.


    Ozul knew better than to enter any corridors in which they might other people.


    But even when such an unavoidable situation urred, he blended in within the shadows, avoiding any interaction.


    The man didn''t know that he was going to be used as bait, but he also didn''t know what to make of this situation.


    He had no friends who would do this for him, and it also didn''t make any sense that someone would break into that prison just for him.


    But what could he do? Just a small pressure on the cor around his neck and his head would be sent flying.


    ''That is surprising,'' Ozul thought while gliding from the ceiling and into the next corridor.


    ''I thought he would at least mutter a voice of doubt.'' For that reason, he had tightened the Purity around his mouth.


    Even if that man were to scream till death here, no air woulde out of his mouth.


    ''There it is,'' Ozul thought as he turned to the corridor, at the end of which stood a door that also reached the 20-meter ceiling.


    Behind that door, however, he could sense the presence of Hamel.


    Ozul frowned, ''He was never in her room before at this time... They acted quicker than I anticipated.''


    Shaking his head with a sigh, he could only improvise.


    He wanted to end it before anyone could react to the situation in the prison, but he underestimated how much the princess was treasured.


    ''I will have to act quickly...''


    All of this would have to be done in a matter of seconds because the king wouldn''t waste a minute before rushing in here.


    The corridor itself was empty, but Sir Hamel stood directly with his back against the door on the other side.


    Bringing the man wrapped in Purity in front of the door, Ozul himself stayed hidden in the shadows above.


    The man was still wrapped like a present as the Purity moved inside and removed the explosive cor, containing the explosion with ease.


    Surprised, the man couldn''t contain himself any longer as he struggled to unwrap himself and spoke, "Hey!"


    His questions weren''t met with answers, but the Purity slowly disintegrated around him, disappearing into thin air.


    The man was stunned on the spot; he didn''t know where he was and the man who had brought him here was nowhere to be seen!


    In front of him was a giant door and behind him was a long corridor with nothing but flickering shadows.


    The door suddenly opened and before he could register what was happening, a giant sword came crashing down on him.


    No words were spoken, and there was no time to think.


    The man, although an Origin cultivator as well, couldn''t dodge that strike in his weakened state.


    He instinctively closed his eyes, thinking that his small life hade to an end just when there was a small hope to start anew.


    But just at the decisive moment, a nking sound resounded in the empty corridor as the silver sword was deflected.


    *Khu!*


    Hearing the familiar sound of someone spitting blood, the man opened his eyes only to gaze upon the sight of a man in silver armor, but with a fist-sized hole right in the middle of his chest.


    No one.


    There was no one in the corridor!


    "H-hey... Show yourself! Where am I?!" the man shouted as anxiety and trepidation began crashing down on him.


    *Thud!*


    Sir Hamel''s body hit the ground, as the man thought of countless thoughts.


    Where was he? Who was that man who brought him here? Why was a knight at the Origin Realm dying in front of him? And once again, just where the heck was he?!


    But as if he was just a puppet forced to act on a written script he had never seen before, countless traces of Spiritual Essence sped toward him from behind.


    Having no other choice, the man ran into the room, hoping there would be an exit from there.


    The darkly lit room couldn''t hide the expensive ornaments around the room.


    The poor man didn''t have time to realize it was a bedroom before the image of a girl with a slit throat etched into his mind.


    "Fuck!-"


    He had seen her. She was the princess of this kingdom!


    "I am in the pce!"


    He realized everything toote. Not that he could leave even if he was told everything from


    the start.


    One by one, everything started to make sense in his mind.


    "You Bastard!!!" He was set up; used as a sacrifice!


    His curses fell on deaf ears as he felt multiple Origin Realm cultivators speeding toward his direction.


    But worst of all was the suffocating pressure that pressed down on him just as he was about to run away!


    Suddenly his throat was grabbed and he was thrown aside like a rag doll.


    "My Princess!!" the figure who had tossed the man aside shouted with a trembling voice; he had already realized the girlying on the bed was dead.


    One by one all of the Origin cultivators arrived outside the room in under a few minutes.


    All of them worry about their future. Inside the room were two dead bodies and the king who silently mourned the death of his daughter.


    Everyone was toote to respond.


    Sir Hamel was sent there the moment they relieved the news about the prison break, but even he was killed without much of being able to put up any struggle.


    The king arrived right after the princess was killed and he killed the supposed assassin in rage.


    ...


    So much happened in a matter of seconds that no one knew what to do. No one could wrap their heads around the situation.


    By that time, Ozul had already left the pce as quietly as he hade in.


    He used the chaos to his advantage again as he left in a hurry.


    Coming under the night sky, Ozul finally sighed a breath of relief, ''Finally...''


    Everything had to be done by the second for all of the events to align. If someone other than him were to be put into that situation, they wouldn''t have even been able to calm their nerves.


    But Ozul was different; whenever he thought about death, he didn''t feel anything.


    To him, what was the worst that could happen? Death? That didn''t sound so bad.


    Aftering out of the pce, he rxed as he took a casual stroll toward his room, watching toons of soldiers rush in all directions.


    The tensions around the whole estate felt as if the Kingdom was at war.


    Five minutester, he entered the room where everyone was still present, even Rose.


    He looked at her with a certain glint in his dark and unpolished eyes. It was already time for her to y her role in all of this.


    He went to his bed and slept peacefully that night.


    Raven, ze, Zier, and Kumaou kept wondering what themotion outside was all about, but none of the soldiers came to call them, so they stayed in the dark until the next morning.


    When the news about the princess'' death spread around the pce, the entire estate was put in lockdown.


    "What is happening outside?" Rose muttered curiously, but no one replied to her.


    At this point, she was almost bullied as no one in that room was willing to act friendly toward her except for sometimes Zier, who couldn''t help himself from dispelling the awkward situation.


    But right now, even he didn''t reply to her knowing what might have transpired.


    "They are making such a ruckus, do you know what happened, boy?" Kumaou questioned while squinting his eyes.


    Though Ozul shrugged his shoulders before dropping onto the bed, hugging the slumbering ball of abyss lying on the bed.


    ''That was a little stressful,'' he admitted before making himselffortable.


    He hade a long way. From not being able to understand emotions at all to feeling stress andfort in certain situations.


    ''I am being myself, aren''t I?...''

 Chapter 409 Lockdown.

    409 Lockdown.


    Before the sun rose, the entire estate was turned upside down.


    While Ozul slept soundly in his room, the others didn''t have the ability to ignore such a ruckus the entire night.


    However, when Rose stood up to leave the room, trying to discern the situation, she was sternly blocked at the door.


    Even Kumaou tried to check up on the outside, but the Origin Realm cultivator standing outside didn''t back down. Without an ounce of emotion in his voice, he told them,


    "This is His Majesty''s decree. The entire pce is in lockdown."


    Kumaou eyed Ozul suspiciously before walking back to his bed. There wasn''t anything they could do but wait.


    . . .


    Hours passed and the rays of a bright morning shone through the windows.


    It was at that point when the door to their room sted open.


    It was a striking contrast to when the soldiers gently knocked and one of them went to open the door before they started their business.


    The waltzing soldiers consisted of a single Origin cultivator and a toon of peak Nascent Soul experts.


    Scanning the room with his cold stare, the Origin cultivator shouted with a reverberating voice, "His Majesty summons you all, follow me."


    Having realized the seriousness of the situation, neither Kumaou nor Rose asked any unnecessary questions. Meanwhile, the trio had already guessed what might have happened, so they kept quiet as well.


    Ozulzily stood up from his bed as well and followed the others outside.


    They were brought to an empty ground.


    They weren''t shocked to see that all of the recently recruited people were there and even a mid-ranked Origin cultivator was seen at the helm of the crowd.


    There hung a solemn heaviness in the air as few dared to whisper under the intense gazes of the Origin realm soldiers.


    Ozul and his roommates were thest of the group that was brought. Just as they stood amongst the rest of the crowd, the air shook and the gravity seemed to have increased.


    Walking in an unhinged gait appeared the man they had only seen on the throne and in the throne room before.


    He was the king of this Blue Lion Kingdom.


    Following him were another two Origin realm cultivators, both were also at the Origin realm.


    ''Even Ember''s aura was only at the Quasi Origin Realm even if her abilities far surpass that stage, yet here he has so many Origin cultivators following him...''


    Ozul couldn''t help but wonder just how powerful and ruthless this man must be to have such subordinates.


    As the king took his spot at the forefront, the whispers quietened down, allowing the man whose face seemed to have aged a decade overnight, to address the issue.


    "The princess of this kingdom... my daughter...MY Daughter died yesterday!!" the king shouted, his voiceced with sorrow and unbridled rage.


    Only at this point did Ozul see a man who had no ambition or the cunning to deceive people. This was the same man who wouldn''t flinch even if a thousand were executed in front of him, yet here he was; so broken, so saddened, and so angry.


    As the king''s aura spread throughout the crowd, even the Nascent Soul soldiers weren''t spared of the pressure as they were forced to kneel in unison.


    Only the likes of those in the Origin realm could somewhat stand the pressure, though only the man who previously stood at the helm of the crowd could stand straight. He was the only mid-ranked Origin cultivator present.


    It stayed like that until the weakest of those present started fainting.


    Only then did the king control his aura, giving them room to breathe before he spat in a venomous tone,


    "Someone helped them get inside! Someone did!"


    The king and his aides had collectivelye to that decision. There was no other exnation for this.


    "And until I find the son of a bitch and make them wish for death, none of you are leaving this estate! You hear me!?"


    The soldiers were all taken aback. They had never seen their king so uncouth before. The princess really was his reverse scale.


    Before he turned around, he vaguely nced in Ozul and Kumaou''s direction. They were the biggest target of his suspicion.


    That was all. The king wasn''t just suspicious of the new recruits. The culprit could be anyone, and so he had many other people he needed to interrogate first.


    As the king disappeared along with his two Origin realm guards, people began to whisper again.


    Never in their wildest dreams could they imagine the princess dying overnight, much less that they would be implicated like this as well.


    "Quiet!"


    The mid-ranked Origin cultivator shouted as everyone hushed again.


    "All those at the peak of Nascent Soul return to your rooms!"


    People quickly began to disperse, not voicing out anyints. No one wanted to be mistaken for the culprit.


    Raven, ze, and Zier were about to turn around and leave when the Origin cultivator who had brought them here blocked their path.


    "You stay with your group."


    Not an ounce of emotion could be seen on the faces of Raven and ze, but Zier appeared visibly tense.


    But the fact that most of those present here were also anxious helped hide the reason for his worries.


    A few momentster, only a handful of people remained on the ground and Ozul''s group was a big chunk of that.


    The mid-ranked Origin cultivator jumped from his podium and made some gestures, following which the soldiers brought this group of people to another ce while he walked toward Ozul''s group.


    "Follow me," he worded emotionlessly before they walked toward the pce.


    Meanwhile, inside the pce, the atmosphere was heavy and depressing. The maids even found it difficult to move around, those who were released after a round of interrogation at least.


    In the 12 hours that the princess had died, the king had turned the entire estate upside down to find the culprit who helped the assassin inside the pce without triggering any rms.


    In therge throne room, everyone stood solemnly as the Imperial Prince entered in a hurry.


    "Brother! What is thi-"


    The Prince stopped in his tracks.


    Seeing the haggard appearance of his elder brother, he realized the news he received wasn''t just a sick joke.


    Clenching his fists, he couldn''t help but shout, "This is enough, brother!


    They have stepped over their lines! This is a deration of war, brother!"


    Not an ounce of emotion could be seen from the king who sat unmoving on the throne. No one could guess the thoughts behind those vacant eyes, not even the Imperial Prince.


    Leaning back on his throne, the king finally replied, "Find the culprit first. We are going to warter."


    The Imperial Prince nodded his head seriously, as he left the throne room after gesturing to the other attendants to leave as well.


    As he walked in the hall leading out of the throne room, the Prince couldn''t help but grind his teeth in frustration.


    He had warned his brother that recruiting so many people without confirming their backgrounds could be troublesome.


    ''No... It isn''t confirmed yet that it was one of them.''


    Although he followed that line of reason, he knew himself that other than those recruits, anyone who could step foot into the estate was thoroughly investigated before.


    The chances of anyone else being involved were low.


    That''s why he was personally going to question every new recruit.


    . . .


    Ozul''s group was brought into a cramped room.


    Throughout this spectacle, they remained quiet. However, the suspicious nces that Kumaou asionally threw at Ozul were bing more and more obvious.


    Fortunately, the mid-ranked Origin cultivator left them alone in the room.


    A whileter, the door to their room burst open, but it wasn''t the king or the Origin cultivator who had left them there.


    Instead, it was the Imperial Prince who walked in withrge strides.


    There was initially a stand-off between the Prince and Ozul before the Prince relented.


    "As you all know, my niece, the princess that you all were assigned to protect, was killed.


    So, who was it?"


    The Prince spoke as if he was sure that the culprit was among them.


    Butpared to the anxious heart-thumping of those behind them, he couldn''t feel anything from Kumaou and Ozul.


    "Although I wasn''t fond of the princess, there is nothing for me and my people to gain from killing the princess," Ozul finally spoke while gesturing toward the trio as his people.


    Although the Imperial Prince also spoiled his niece, he was quick to regain hisposure, unlike his brother.


    He sighed, and took a seat while rubbing his temples in frustration, "I will be honest with you, there is indeed not much evidence against you guys. In fact, you particrly even proved your sincerity in regards to protecting the princess before."


    "But, among all the recruits, only you guys are capable enough to pull off something like-"


    Seizing his chance, Ozul interrupted him, "I think you misunderstood. My people have nothing to do with it. I don''t know about them."


    He spoke thest sentence while pointing toward Kumaou and Rose.


    Thetter was already on the edge since the incident had happened. Being pointed at like this made her almost jump like a hurling cat.


    On the other hand, Kumaou wasn''t surprised.


    The Imperial Prince watched in interest as Rose stuttered her response, "A-are you suggesting that we did something?! We were all in that room yesterday, but-"


    Before she could state that Ozul had left the room and returned before the ruckus started, Ozul interjected, "I don''t know about that bear guy, but you are suspicious."


    "W-what?! What do you mean?!"


    Though she tried her best topose herself, the gradually increasing heartbeat of hers couldn''t escape the notice of the Imperial Prince who was at the peak of the Origin Realm.


    Narrowing his eyes, he applied just a small pressure on her as she was forced on her knees.


    "Continue," he told Ozul.


    "I have seen her sneaking around at midnight, always reaching for a certain wall in the back. I don''t know anything else."


    He could insinuate more things, but it would make the Prince suspicious of him as well. After all, if he knew so much, then he should have reported her.


    Revealing this much was already enough as the expression of absolute terror on Rose''s face already gave her away.


    Just then, Kumaou stepped forward, "I can confirm that. She even disappearedst night for a few hours before returning. They didn''t notice as they were resting, but I was wide awake."


    At this, Rose looked with horror before the realization dawned upon her that she was doomed, "YOU LIARS! You-" She shouted, but her protests were quickly suppressed.


    Although Ozul didn''t show it, even he was stunned at Kumaou''s response.


    The Prince had heard enough. He stood up and said, "Return to your room. All of you are still forbidden to leave the estate."


    He then grabbed Rose from her long hair and dragged her out despite her struggling and thrashing around.


    There was no saving her now.

 Chapter 410 For this kingdom!

    410 For this kingdom!


    Ozul briefly looked at Kumaou before they were all escorted back to their rooms.


    On the way back, they didn''t miss how the whole estate was panicking. Soldiers were storming the pce as if the court was under siege.


    Once inside the room, the whole group stayed deathly silent.


    Ozul and Kumaou were in a contest of staring with no one willing to back down.


    Sadly, all they could do was stare since the mid-ranked Origin cultivator was still outside their room. Although the Prince didn''t believe the Dragon Hatchlings had any motive, he wasn''t as naive as to not suspect them even a little.


    Forget about leaving the estate, they weren''t even allowed to take a step out of their room.


    ''This is bad...'' Ozul thought, quitting the staring contest with Kumaou.


    This was all a gamble. If they thoroughly interrogated Rose and believed that she wasn''t even out of her room, they would be fucked.


    It was inevitable toe under suspicion, but assigning a mid-ranked Origin cultivator was a little too much.


    Even if there were two initial stage Origin cultivators, he would have been able to deal with them with a sneak attack. Or at the very least, he would have been able to run away with their entire group.


    Now, however, the chances were slim.


    If push came to shove, he didn''t have the confidence to get them all out safely.


    At the same time, there was an unexpected reaction from Kumaou. From what he had judged from his personality, that man shouldn''t have interfered at all.


    And he was so sure of his judgment because of the fact that he could always see exactly what a person was feeling.


    All this while, he had confirmed that Kumaou was uncaring of most things. Although he expressed slight displeasure, he wasn''t concerned about most things happening around them, be they just or unjust.


    To conclude his evaluation of Kumaou, Ozul was confident that Kumaou would most probably just let everything happen silently.


    But against his expectations, that man not only didn''t refute them but even took it a step further! He lied with a straight face that Rose had gone out of the room before themotion started.


    Meanwhile, it was he who had gone out!


    While it was a good thing for them, there was a question of what reason Kumaou might have for doing this.


    He couldter very well betray them and close any chances they might have of leaving.


    There were very rare cases of someone doing anything against his expectations since he could read their emotions like a book, and Kumaou had done just that.


    For Ozul, this was the worst situation.


    Raven, reading the situation, drew closer to Ozul before motioning to him with her finger.


    Understanding her gestures, Ozul drew the Purity and covered both himself and the trio.


    The Purity acted as a sound barrier, preventing any sound from reaching the ears of the mid-ranked Origin cultivator outside their dorm.


    Kumaou was left staring at the ck dome as he huffed in anger before storming off to cultivate.


    He too was a man of few words.


    Inside the dome, ze and Zier remained silent on the side while Raven spoke freely, "There are high chances that they would suspect us."


    Staring at her quietly, Ozul knew what she was going to say, but he let her continue anyway.


    "If they doe after us, you have to leave us."


    ze remained unperturbed, but the shock was evident in Zier''s eyes.


    "I know what I am doing."


    "I''m not stupid, we will simply deny we had any involvement in this. There is no reason for them to suspect Dragon Hatchlings."


    Ozul nodded his head in understanding. Unbeknownst to Raven, he had the same n in mind.


    Even if he was found out somehow, they wouldn''t have any reason to believe that everyone was involved in this. After all, they had just stepped into the Nascent Soul Realm. No one would send people so weak for assassinating the princess.


    "Don''t worry. Even if they are suspicious, once that woman admits to being a spy, that would be enough for them to me the neighboring kingdom."


    Unlike what Raven thought, the chances of them being implicated weren''t so high.


    If he hadn''t taken everything into ount, he wouldn''t have gone through it anyway.


    But Raven was still concerned, she thought he might hesitate if things took a bad turn.


    Reluctantly, she nodded her head. ze agreed with everything, meanwhile, Zier was genuinely impressed by their dedication to Ozul. Clenching his fists, he wondered if was truly that sincere.


    Only Zier forgot to consider that he had no qualms with Raven''s n either. He might have not been able to propose the idea with such certainty, but wasn''t against it either.


    Even he hadn''t realized how much he had changed.


    Ozul took down the dome and went back to his bed. There wasn''t much they could do now except for waiting.


    ''I don''t want to confront him right now,'' he thought while ncing in Kumaou''s direction.


    Since his understanding of the man was wed, he wouldn''t take any chances and confront him now. There might once again be an unexpected reaction from him and it could cause an unwantedmotion.


    . . .


    It took them three hours before the mid-ranked Origin cultivator standing outside their dorm suddenly barged in without knocking.


    "His Majesty summons you all."


    Once again, there was little to no emotion in his voice.


    For a while Ozul contemted if it would be better to run away now since in the presence of the King and the Imperial Prince, he wouldn''t even be able to do that.


    In the end, he decided to go through with it. Considering how apprehensive everyone seems of the people who had summoned them to this Realm, the consequences might not be so severe after all.


    They all followed themander to the pce.


    The state of the pce had switched suddenly.


    There were no soldiers running amok. Strangely enough, there was an eerie quiet pervading throughout the estate.


    ''She gave up quickly...'' Ozul thought about the woman. Despite her maniptive personality, she seemed to be a person with a history; sadly, he wasn''t interested in people''s history.


    Themander brought them before the throne room as a booming voice resounded, "You may enter."


    The atmosphere inside was quite somber and each step of theirs echoed throughout the dark and long hall.


    Many men were lined up on the red carpet, all exuding a formidable aura. Thebined force of these people was enough to rival that of a kingdom''s full force.


    What didn''t surprise Ozul was the headless corpse of the woman named Rose. Her corpse full of fresh bruises and scars was still cuffed as ity there curled to her feet.


    Her severed head was nowhere to be seen, but if the small pool of blood and fleshy matter under the Prince''s feet was anything to go by, one could guess what might have happened to it.


    On the throne sat the king with his darkened eyes, resting his head on his fist.


    "Do you have any qualms with it?"


    The king asked in a voice so cold that Zier could feel his hair standing.


    Ozul shook his head in reply, "It was only suspicion on my part."


    The king waved his hand as if annoyed at the mere mention of anything that reminded him of his innocent daughter.


    "I called you here to ask a question. Will you participate in the war or not?"


    Ozul tilted his head, showing ''subtle'' hints of confusion.


    "The Blue Lion Kingdom is going to war with the Steel Mountain Kingdom. There won''t be a truce. We might suffer, but those bastards will perish!"


    The trio behind Ozul looked shocked but for a reason different than the onlookers assumed. They just hadn''t expected everything to go so smoothly.


    If they knew exactly how powerful those people were who had summoned them to this Realm, they wouldn''t have been so shocked. Thinking about them, the King and the Prince instinctively didn''t want to me the Dragon Hatchlings.


    "We can leave anytime we want?"


    The King frowned, but he still nodded his head.


    "Even during the war?"


    Getting his affirmations again, Ozul replied,


    "We will fight. Again, I am not speaking for him..."


    He pointed at Kumaou again, separating that man from his group.


    Since his intentions were unknown, he might implicate them in the future.


    Although satisfied, the king didn''t smile as he usually did. The Imperial Prince also didn''t seem as charming as before.


    Both of them instead looked as if they were already at war and standing in the middle of the battlefield.


    "Summon the army! Mark this day for the destruction of Steal Mountain Kingdom was decided today!"


    "For my beloved princess... for this kingdom! My men...We are going to war!"


    The king stood up as the throne under him shook violently due to the pressure that he exuded.


    A sense of awe and fear spread throughout the pce as they all heard the deration of war.


    The Imperial Prince led them out of the throne room as the othermanders all followed his orders to gather the army and secure the royal estate.


    "You have chosen well. The rewards you have received till now are nothingpared to what you will receive if you contribute significantly to the war. The Blue Lion Kingdom has plentiful resources."


    They might sound like empty words as no one knew what could happen in war, but Ozul could feel his sincerity.


    ''Well...that is why I''m staying. Also, they need experience.''


    People grew exceptionally well during times of war.


    Soon the talk of war spread throughout the kingdom as the spies of neighboring kingdoms made haste to bring this word to their respective kingdoms.


    It took a while before the news of the princess'' death also followed the talk of war.


    Only then did people realize what had conspired in a single day and they were suddenly going to war.


    The events of this day would alter the map of their continent.


    After all, the king had made it clear that they wouldn''t stop until they destroyed the Steel Mountain Kingdom or perished trying.

 Chapter 411 Worries.

    411 Worries.


    The news of war spread throughout the kingdom like wildfire.


    Suddenly, the bad premonition in everyone''s heart hade to be. Things had suddenly escted so much that the king had announced war.


    It wasn''t just the royal house, even themon folk had started to realize something was wrong when every other day the royal soldiers were sent to different provinces for one reason or another.


    Cities were quickly brimming with soldiers and the trade between all kingdoms instantly halted.


    The merchants and tourists escaped the kingdom in a panic, so the streets naturally made space for soldiers.


    Meanwhile, the royal family of the Steel Mountain Kingdom was also stupefied.


    They had only sent a spy to closely watch their actions considering the turbulent situations around the kingdom. Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined something like this would happen.


    Although they too were offended at someone putting all the me on them, they couldn''t convince the king of the Blue Lion Kingdom.


    After their delegation to the kingdom was all ughtered without mercy, they also prepared for the inevitable war.


    The other neighboring kingdoms stationed their troops on the borders as well.


    Since war was inevitable, some wanted to protect themselves while others saw a perfect opportunity to exploit.


    . . .


    While the air grew tense above these small kingdoms, somewhere in her estate, Ember was also informed of the news that apparently the princess of the Blue Lion Kingdom was assassinated by the Steel Mountain Kingdom.


    Learning of the news, she stood up in delight, ''He really did it...''


    Not only did the Blue Lion Kingdom dere war, but it became apparent that Ozul and his group weren''t implicated either.


    She picked up the goldden key atop her table. "Now, I only need to wait until enough blood is spilled on thatnd." She muttered while gently caressing the key.


    . . .


    Ozul and his group were out patrolling the royal estate while the preparations were being made.


    As always, the Imperial Prince was going to lead the army with all those in the Origin Realm acting as battalionmanders.


    Unfortunately, Ozul and Kumaous weren''t among thosemanders.


    Though they met the strength criteria, the Prince didn''t trust them enough to give them hundreds of soldiers.


    The king didn''t directly lead the army since they were well aware of the vultures eyeing their resourceful kingdom during these times. He would remain vignt for them and let his younger brother take care of the Steel Mountain Kingdom.


    Without even working for it, Ozul and his team along with Kumaou were provided with fine armor that wouldn''t even be scratched by people below Nascent Soul Realm.


    They were also provided with new weapons of their choice but Ozul refused the offer, keeping the katana with him. He would''ve asked for a smaller de, but he had already gotten used to faking sword techniques with the katana.


    "Do we not exploit them a bit too much?" Zier muttered to himself, wondering if it was morally right to kill someone''s daughter and still bepensated like this.


    Not that he would raise aint either way. It was but a passing thought.


    Others didn''t muse on his thoughts.


    Kumaou was also with them, and strangely enough, he hadn''t asked them any questions.


    They didn''t even know his intentions, but it felt as if he was already working with them.


    But Ozul wouldn''t let it go on any longer.


    They had finally ditched the watchful eyes of the king and the prince and were far away from any Origin cultivator.


    "Who are you working for?" Ozul asked the first question.


    Sensing the tension in the air, the trio moved aside, seemingly fixated on the surroundings instead.


    "I don''t have a need to work for anyone. So you work for someone, huh."


    The judging smile on Kumaou''s face showed how much he loathed the idea to work for someone.


    ''Aren''t you... working under the royals right now?'' Ozul questioned in his mind, but somehow Kumaou could guess what he was thinking.


    "This is different. It''s just a means to an end. Anyway, I have realized you and I are not after the same thing. I have now studied what you Dragon Hatchlings are; you probably don''t even know what I''m after."


    Kumaou didn''t want to drag it any longer, so he exined whatever was on his mind, ''They wouldn''t even know of the Blood Land much less covet it.''


    Ozul contemted his words for a while, but then he just nodded his head and turned around.


    "Hey! At least tell me what you are here for. I helped you, didn''t I?"


    "You only helped because it suited your purpose, and you didn''t speak of what you are after... why should I?"


    "That''s true... but... hey brat! Show me some respect!"


    A few words were exchanged between them, but the previous atmosphere had disappearedpletely.


    Ozul wasn''t sure if what Kumaou was after might conflict with their interests, but he didn''t need to worry for now.


    There wasn''t an ounce of dishonesty in his emotions, so he could be left to his own devices.


    They were currently stationed around the prison in which Ozul had caused the mayhem.


    Most of the criminals who had killed other soldiers after escaping were caught and executed one by one.


    Ozul and Kumaou were there to make sure the executions went smoothly.


    Raven, ze, and Zier on the other hand had to help with the executions themselves.


    Killing so many people was a new experience for Zier, and despite his nature, it didn''t take long before he got used to it.


    . . .


    Inside the throne room, the king and the prince stood face to face.


    Since the day the princess was assassinated, they hadn''t talked about anything other than war in this room.


    "Are you sure it would be a good idea, brother?" the prince asked.


    "There shouldn''t be a problem. They never stopped us from getting the Dragon Hatchlings to work for us. The only restriction is that we can''t harm them."


    "What if they die during the war? It''s chaos on the battlefield "


    The king almost chuckled, shaking his head, "That is why it''s a situation where we don''t lose anything. If they knew that the Steel Mountain Kingdom killed the Dragon Hatchlings, would they sit still anymore?"


    The prince wasn''t interested in politics, so while he understood that those of the Steel Mountain Kingdom would be wary ofying hands on the Dragon Hatchlings, he hadn''t thought his brother to have even counted that possibility in their favor.


    ''You are ying a really dangerous game, brother...'' the prince worried his brother might have crossed a line, ''Would the repercussions not fall on us as well... when they get involved?''


    Guessing what his younger brother thought, the king remained cold and indifferent.


    "That''s why I am the king and not you, brother. The war will cost us everything... And I am ready for it."


    Unlike what people assumed, the king was painfully aware that an all-out war with the Steel Mountain Kingdom wouldn''t just end at that.


    The neighboring vultures will dive down to get their ws on whatever piece of meat they could get.


    Nodding his head, the Prince spoke, "The fourmanders have each set out for our borders in all directions. It would take a day at most."


    The fourmanders were part of the five mid-ranked Origin cultivators in the Blue Lion Kingdom. After the king and the imperial prince, they were the strongest people in this kingdom.


    Now, all of them were ordered to defend a portion of their borders from other kingdoms.


    Meanwhile, the Prince would lead their main army to march toward the Steel Mountain Kingdom.


    "Hmm. Set out with the Dragon Hatchlings. Remember, give them reasonable tasks, but don''t hesitate. If they die, it would be unfortunate for us... but absolutely devastating for our enemies."


    In this scenario, Ozul and his group were treated as living explosives. If someone from the Steel Mountain Kingdomid their hands on them, it would all blow up on their face.


    The prince again nodded his head before taking his leave.


    He would also have to take caution that he didn''t assign them something too dangerous. After all, they were allowed to desert the war whenever they wished.


    Manipting them also wasn''t a choice as it woulde to light sooner orter and they would have to answer for that.


    ''Whatever... I never liked politics anyway,'' the prince shrugged in the end.


    The thinking wasn''t his job. Since his brother had already said so, he didn''t need to worry about theseplications.


    . . .


    The next morning, hundreds of soldiers were prepared outside the royal estates. All were d in silver armor and a few g bearers held long gs representing the Blue Lion Kingdom.


    The prince andst mid-ranked Origin cultivator were at the helm followed by some initial-stage Origin cultivators in the midst of which stood Ozul and his group.


    They didn''t wait for any ceremony tomence before the prince marched the army straight at the Steel Mountain Kingdom''s borders.


    For once, Ozul was thankful as they were all given horses.


    Though he never learned to ride, it came to him just as easily as he learned to read and write.


    As they marched toward the borders, Ember had her people infiltrate the capital of the Blue Lion Kingdom.


    It wasn''t as hard as before since most of the soldiers were concentrated around the royal estate.


    She had sent them to check up on Ozul and his group, but when she learned that they set off to war together with the Prince, she couldn''t help but sigh in depression.


    ''Even the most talented and genius can die on a raging battlefield...''


    She didn''t want her only hope of regaining her powers to perish just like that.

 Chapter 412 Might As Well Just Die.

    412 Might As Well Just Die.


    The border connecting the Steel Mountain Kingdom and the Blue Lion Kingdom was a vast barrennd with little sign of life.


    Even themon ground weed was scarce and devoid of life.


    On one end of this barrenndscape, there started a lush green grasnd that led to the Blue Lion Kingdom, and on the opposite side began small hills which further connected to giant rocky mountains.


    The Steel Mountain Kingdom had a natural defense: the rocky mountains surrounding the whole kingdom, hence its name.


    A dayter, the army led by the Prince was already at the edges of the barrennd everyone called the No Man''s Land.


    The prince told them to set their camps before the start of the barrennd; it would be their main base of operation for now.


    Once again, all those in the Origin realm were spared of the menial tasks.


    One of the soldiers responsible for assigning tasks came to Ozul and humbly asked him to scout a specific area around their camp.


    Everyone was tense in the army. For now, there weren''t any signs of a battle starting anytime soon, but they knew it could very well just be the calm before the storm.


    And they weren''t wrong to think that.


    The night fell along with several shadows leaping toward their camp in an attempt to halt their progress as much as they could.


    The group consisting of all peak Nascent Soul cultivators was led by a man half a step into the Origin realm. All of them were equipped with artifacts that hid or at least helped them cloak their auras.


    "Not so fast," whispered the muscr man who suddenly appeared behind the half-step Origin realm leader of the assassins.


    Before anyone could react, the man''s throat was shed, bursting into a fountain of blood that sparkled under the moonlight.


    Unfortunately for them, they were discovered earlier than they nned.


    Ozul and Kumao along with some of the peak Nascent Soul soldiers surrounded the assassins and thus began the first carnage of the war.


    . . .


    The base was huge, the whole army was concentrated there, so arge part of the people didn''t even see the oue of the battle that concluded in the dark of the night.


    The assassinsst night were proof to the Prince that the Steel Mountain Kingdom was ready for war.


    Killing them wasn''t much of a feat either since those people came prepared for death anyway.


    Today, Ozul and other Origin cultivators were all called to the Prince''s camp.


    A table was set up atop which was ced on the map of the entire region.


    Surrounding the table were the four mid-ranked Origin cultivators followed by the Imperial Prince himself. The rest stood quietly and respectfully at the side.


    Unfortunately for Raven, ze, and Zier, they weren''t invited to this meeting just like everyone who hadn''t yet reached the Origin Realm.


    Once everyone was there, the strategic meeting started with the Prince cing tiny gs on the map.


    "This is our base and this," he ced a ck g on the map, "This is the Steel Mountain capital."


    Their main target was the capital of the Steel Mountain Kingdom. Once that was captured, it would be the end of the war.


    "We cannot storm straight into it since the mountains protect them."


    Not to mention there would be toons of soldiers ready to ambush behind every rock.


    "The entire army cannot march together. Once they find the opportunity, it will be too disadvantageous for us."


    One by one the fourmanders gave their inputs to finalize their war strategy.


    In the end, it was decided for the army to be split into five Divisions and each Division would be subdivided into three to four toons.


    Four of these Divisions were each going to be led by one of the mid-ranked Origin realmmanders and the fifth would be under the Prince''s directmand.


    The toons of each Division would be supervised by the initial stage of Origin cultivators.


    Hence, even Ozul and Kumaou would be assigned a toon each.


    "Each Division will move forward from different directions and even then the Division will not move in one big group. Each toon will find their separate route while remaining in contact with the main toon."


    One of the mid-rankedmanders finalized, but his tone was more of a question than a decision. He was asking for confirmation from the rest.


    The prince shook his head, "The Divisions and toons will be as you mentioned, but all Divisions will not move at the same time."


    From his side, one of the oldermanders nodded his head, "As His Majesty stated, it''s too naive to send our entire army for battle at the same time."


    Seeing the confusion on some people''s faces, he borated, "This will not remain a war between the Steel Mountain Kingdom and us. The surrounding kingdoms are all waiting for us."


    While the king stayed in the capital with one of the mid-rankedmanders, that was theirst line of defense. They needed the main army to intercept any potential attacks on their capital as well.


    "Only three Divisions will advance, including mine. Two will stay in the base camp and remain steady to provide assistance in whichever direction necessary."


    In the end, it was decided that even among the two Divisions which would stay at the base camp, one would set up another camp further back.


    The spies of the neighboring kingdom had probably seen the entire army set up their camp here, they wouldn''t think a Division would be heading back toward the capital in hiding.


    After all, though the neighboring kingdoms on the opposite side weren''t as aggressive, there were still chances that they could take this opportunity to strike.


    Just like that, it took little more than a few hours before the meeting concluded and everyone got busy.


    They needed to divide people, rations, weapons, and armor into each Division and toon.


    The prince was sure that their main camp was the most vulnerable and that there would be quite a few attacks on the camp,ing mostly from the other neighboring kingdoms.


    To attack their capital, these kingdoms would first need to get rid of the camp as they would be pincered if they didn''t.


    And so, he specifically made sure that the Dragon Hatchlings would be within the Division that would protect the base camp.


    His toon was purposely assigned soldiers with lower aptitude.


    Only the fact that all three of his people were assigned under him was to his liking.


    ...


    The next morning, the Imperial Prince led his Division and charged straight at the mountains.


    He would be the vanguard against the Steel Mountain Kingdom.


    The other two Divisions also left one after another, but they advanced from opposite directions.


    Ozul and Kumao''s toon was in the 4th Division while the 5th Division was to secretly rush toward the Capital and set up a hidden camp near it.


    The 4th Division alone had 5 toons and the mid-ranked Originmander was the same man who was charged to keep them inside the estate when the princess was assassinated.


    Themander ordered the toons to spread in all four directions once night fell. Ozul and Kumao were assigned West and South respectively.


    And when the night fell, the 5th Division finally moved out of the forest and the 4th Division toons quickly took their positions.


    As they spread out, it created an illusion as if there were a lot more people in the base than there actually were.


    "You will handle all the shouting," Ozul spoke, on his horse, while pointing at ze.


    Then he pointed at Raven, "You will do all the thinking."


    Lastly, he looked at Zier, "You... Assist them both."


    That, for some reason, brought a smile to his face.


    There were around 15 peak Nascent Soul cultivators in his toon, but he wasn''t going to let any of them manage anything.


    Raven would think, ze would shout the orders, and Zier would do whatever he was told to do. Thus, the chain ofmand was set.


    As his toon set up the camps, a couple of older and wiser peak Nascent soldiers came to confront Ozul.


    "Sir!"


    "What is it? Didn''t they tell you I don''t like to be disturbed?" Ozul answered with an annoyed tone. He wanted to take a short nap in his camp peacefully.


    He had finally been given what he always wanted: people. People, who would do what he told them to do.


    ''A pity this isn''t permanent...''


    "Sir, is it really wise to hand over all the decisions to thatdy...?"


    The one who spoke had a white beard and white hair, he was old enough for his hair to turn white but there wasn''t a single wrinkle on his face.


    "Why do you think it''s not wise?" Ozul questioned with a dull face.


    "I-... If you can excuse my bluntness, we think they are children and probably inexperienced..."


    They were all hesitant while bringing up this ''issue'', but considering they were the experienced ones, it felt like their duty to do so.


    "How many people have you killed in your lifetime?"


    One by one, the peak Nascent cultivators gave their approximate answers which totaled up to nowhere near a thousand.


    "Those children you speak of have burned down more cities than the years you have lived. They only look young." Ozul spoke, but they all looked unconvinced anyway.


    *Sigh...*


    He sighed, thinking all of this to be a little too bothersome.


    "Look, I don''t care what you think. Follow their orders, or go back to the Divisionmander and plead that he spare your lives after disobeying me."


    He stared them dead in the eyes, making them shiver even though there was no pressure of Spiritual Essence on them.


    Regretting their decisions, the group of soldiers left with their tails tucked between their legs.


    Soldiers were simple-minded people, there were no after-schemes or revenge arcs when it came to them.


    ''So nice...'' Ozul muttered after confirming there weren''t any ''bitter'' emotions emanating from them.


    While he rested, it wasn''t as if he had dropped his guard. Within his range of senses, he would be alerted immediately if anyone even took a breath.


    ''As for those I can''t sense... they might as well just kill me...''

 Chapter 413 Stimulated Growth.

    413 Stimted Growth.


    Under Raven''s orders and ze''s excessive surveince, their toon quickly set up the camps and everyone was up on their feet to face any ambush.


    Unknown to Ozul, his toon was assigned West precisely because it was the most likely to get attacked. And so it wouldn''t be long or rare when his peace would be disturbed.


    The so-called Dragon Hatchlings were being used as the perfect meat shields.


    And so it began before the dawn of the next day when the shaking of earth could even be felt from all the way over here.


    They could only imagine if it was a natural earthquake or if the Imperial Prince had already engaged someone.


    Amidst the tense atmosphere, the camp was still and quiet which created an eerie foreboding that something soon was about to happen.


    And so it did when Ozul sensed multiple people around the camps and before he moved, two people in his toon had already died.


    The man who hade toin to Ozul, one of the 15 peak Nascent Soul experts, was surrounded by the assassins in the peak of the night when Ozul finally appeared.


    He stopped the de that was just about to slice that man''s neck before beheading the assassins instead.


    Meanwhile, the camp was alerted as the soldiers in the toon hurried to form formations.


    Raven, ze, and Zier also started counter-attacking together with Ozul.


    The man Ozul had to face was another quasi-Origin cultivator, but he wasn''t alone. There were three of them and unfortunately, he could only kill one and injure another before they retreated.


    Ozul didn''t chase after them as he considered it too much of a bother.


    An hourter, they confirmed that all the assassins were either killed or repelled and the soldiers calmed down. Though they didn''t drop their guard while returning to their duties.


    ...


    "Four people died and as many were injured. Of those who died, two were at the Nascent Soul Realm..."


    Raven frowned as Zier read out the report of casualties.


    "Send someone to report the incident to the Divisionmander," she ordered as Zier went to look for someone quick on their feet.


    Meanwhile, ze was grilling some people who he noticed panicked and didn''t listen to the orders.


    Raven frowned in contemtion as she pieced everything together.


    "They are the worst out of them..." she muttered to herself, not expecting there to be a reply,


    "Doesn''t matter. It''s not our war."


    Ozul had also noticed the uneven distribution of people, and now theirck of discipline only confirmed their suspicion.


    Raven nodded her head before rushing to her camp to cultivate.


    The trio squeezed any time they could to further their cultivation base during this period.


    Ozul, aszy as he was, had also mulled over his choices to get stronger but nothing came to his mind. And so his only choice was to embrace sleep.


    ...


    The next two days passed by quietly but on the third, there was an all-out confrontation with people from the Steel Mountain Kingdom, if their gs were anything to go by.


    There were unfortunately two people in the Origin Realm who had led only a small group of people to attack their toon.


    Ozul had a hard time dealing with them both as he suffered quite a bit under theirbined force.


    ''If only they were a little careless...'' hemented internally.


    Whenever he tried to take them by surprise, one of them would help the other and attack him simultaneously.


    His biggest advantage was the fact that his attacks couldn''t be detected but these guys seemed to havee more than prepared.


    Courtesy to Raven who had sent one of their strongest peak Nascent Soul experts to bring reinforcements despite his protest, help quickly came in the form of Kumaou.


    "Miss me yet??" shouted Kumaou as his bear-like w came crashing down between the onught of the two Origin cultivators.


    The two looked at each other with a certain understanding before they gathered their wits to take on both Ozul and Kumaou.


    Just then, they missed the thin des that each aimed for their chests.


    "Dodge!" the more sensitive of them shouted, but the other one was a little toote and the de was lodged into his shoulder.


    There wasn''t enough force behind it to cut it off, but that wasn''t a problem for Ozul.


    He just needed a thought before The Purity liquified and changed its shape into that of a wheel with spikes that spun around forcibly and with a strong thrust, robbed the man of his arm and left a gushing wound on his side.


    Despite such an injury, the man''s face contorted with pain but there wasn''t even a hint of whimper that escaped his dark lips.


    Unfortunately, before Ozul could follow up with another attack, the two Origin cultivators abandoned their people and retreated at full speed.


    Kumaou followed after them, but it was apparent that they couldn''t stop them from leaving at the very least.


    After everything settled, Kumaou couldn''t help but mock him, "I heard this is the second attack on your toon, heh... Meanwhile, only the toon stationed in the North had a small skirmish yesterday."


    Although Ozul wasn''t one to fall for such taunts, this hit right in his sore spot. Irritated, he almost huffed and returned to his tent.


    "Hahaha! Even your stony face can make expressions! Hah! Bastard, you better thank meter!"


    Leaving these words in the air, Kumaou left with the confused soldiers of his toon who had just arrived on the scene.


    The losses this time weren''t significant as none died in Ozul''s toon but it still tired the hell out of people as more than half of the tents were destroyed or uprooted during Ozul''s fight.


    The only good that came out of it was that people began to genuinely respect their toonmander who had poured all his work on his subordinates and was showing tant ''nepotism''.


    Only Ozul didn''t care either way; all that changed was that the soldiers were keener to take orders from ze.


    . . .


    In the following days, all toons stationed around the main camp faced the brunt of the ongoing war.


    Amongst them, Ozul''s toon suffered the most due to their location.


    Despite understanding the situation, the Divisionmander didn''t move their toon. All he did was send more people when there was ack of manpower.


    The effects of war begin to corrode the fragile lush forests that were just behind them.


    Only two weeks had passed when of the Original 15 peak Nascent soul experts, only 5 remained. The rest died one day or another.


    And on a fateful night, when Ozul wasn''t expecting another attack as they had recently repelled one, a presence nearing his tent alerted him.


    ''Just a peak Nascent Soul?'' Ozul thought in confusion before he sensed that the intruder didn''t even have any killing intent. ''That''s odd...''


    He allowed the man to enter his tent. Just when he was about to move The Purity to hold him, the man bent down on a knee and whispered in a raspy voice,


    "Embers of war followed you here." The man then lowered his sleeves to reveal a scroll.


    Realizing what all of this meant, Ozul couldn''t help but mutter, "Sounds stupid..."


    That man could have just given him the scroll and been done with it if he didn''t want to directly say that Ember had sent him.


    The man in question left the scroll on the ground before turning around with twitching eyebrows and leaving the tent.


    Ozul picked up the scroll; it was a handwritten message from Ember. He had been waiting for it.


    He couldn''t help but frown when he finished reading the message.


    She had asked him to return as soon as possible, warning him of the dangers of war. Though she also seemed to have known that he wouldn''t just listen to her like that.


    "You must return when the gate appears. You will know when it happens..." That was thest line in the scroll.


    ''I have until some gate appears somewhere then...''


    He didn''t want to return so soon even when he was constantly annoyed by the attacks.


    Not only was he honing his skills and also familiarizing himself with the cultivators of this world, but the trio''s speed in cultivation had also a significant boost.


    Zier was even nearing the upper limit of his smaller realm ording to him which meant that it wouldn''t be long before he broke through and reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm.


    While fighting so many battles, he also began to gain the experience that he desperately needed. Though he still wasn''t a match for Raven or ze when it came to pure skills.


    The pressure of war and the constant threat stimted everyone''s growth and that is exactly what Ozul was after.


    Hence, he wasn''t keen on returning until this gate opened which Ember mentioned in her letter.


    Apologies for thete chapter. ident resulted in a fractured left vicle bone, so i had to type with one hand onli


    Bird_0f_Hermes


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    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!