《Blood Evolution System》 Chapter 1 - 1: Tragedy One day, spatial rifts suddenly opened in space, causing Earth to get dotted with the entrance to the world''s connecting spacesexotic mini-worlds with thousands of different types of beasts, magic herbs, magic nts, and spatial tunnels that lead to others. Through the entrances of the world''s connecting space, a unique source of energy ssified as magic power surged inside Earth, leading to the expansion of the world''snd and the evolution of all races, be it human or animals, and along came a significant advancement in technology as humans learned to harness the magic power. Humans started exploring the world''s connecting spaces, venturing into other worlds by using the spatial tunnels searching for more extraordinary evolution material and higher-grade energy sources. The humans conquered territories in the world''s connecting space and then used the spatial tunnels in the very mini-worlds to appear in entirely unfamiliars. Demi-humans, subspecies, and aliens ruled theses; some were friendly, some were to humans. The human race formed alliances and established trade pacts with various races that were either friendly and neutral. However, they waged a war of conquest against the hostiles ones. They colonized numerouss with force and superior strategies. Along the way, they further explored the evolution paths for their race. The most popr evolution path increases a person''s lifespan by countless years. The prospect of living for eternity caused many to venture into the wilderness and outer space to gather evolution material and evolve. Nevertheless, the age of peace and prosperity didn''tst long as spaceships carrying humans and demi-humans came in contact with creatures of hell while exploring the boundless space. The creatures of hell invaded thes owned by the Earth Federation by using hell gates and waged war on humans and demi-humans as they were able to evolve by eating their flesh and drinking their blood. In contrast, humans and demi-humans fought back very aggressively, proving that they are not easy targets that would silently endure bullies and torture. The allied races that made up the Earth Federation also joined in on the war to fend off the creatures from hell that invaded their. "Now, it''s up to strong people like us to fight the invaders that are threatening to tear apart our worlds and consume our races to annihtion. We must not let them seed in their ambitions, even if it means temporary separation. Do you understand?" Aaron said as he looked at his ten-year-old son. "I... don''t want you to go." A young child with a lean figure d in grey nightwears spoke while sobbing. He had jet ck hair, inky ck eyes, and lips shaped like a heart. "My son, don''t cry. We will be back before you know it! I promise you will see mother pretty soon. This parting is only temporary." As she said those words, Jennifer hunched down and ced a kiss offort on her son''s forehead. She was a beautiful woman with ocean-like eyes and sun-like hair. "Haha! Be strong little champ. After the war, I will bring home a spaceship. I promise I''ll be the first to take you on an adventure in space. Isn''t this what you always wished for?" Aaron Sangue said while ruffling the hair of his only child. As soon as he said those words, Vincent''s ck eyes stricken with tears of sadness twinkled in happiness before he excitedly nodded his head at the prospect of possibly going out of Earth''s atmosphere and venturing into the stars. "Hick! Hick! Okay, mom, dad. I''ll wait for you to return and uphold your promise! I will miss you both a lot," Vincent Sangue said, controlling his sobs. "We will miss you too!" "While we are up there, you should train so that one day we will fight together for our race and end the war to live happily in peace." The both of them said at the same time while hugging him like it was thest time. "I promise to be the best soldier out there and end the war!" As the young boy murmured his goal while drowning in the pleasant warmth brought by their embrace, the two adults nearing their mid-thirtiesughed and caressed his back. "Goodbye, my son." They hugged him once again, enveloping him in a warm embrace before they left. His father and mother weremoners who possessed excellentbat skills. Thus, they were conscripted in one of the many Vanguard Battalion by the Earth Federation to fight for the human race. It wasn''t just them, as war ves,moners, and nobles also fight in the war. Even some royals voluntarily enlisted in the military because of the war. Earth Federation hierarchy is divided into war ves,moners, nobles, and royals. Each was further divided into the lower ss, middle ss, and upper ss. The Vanguard Battalion fought at the front of the war and had the highest chance of dying. Moreover, they were humanity''s most vital line of offense and defense. As the war continued, five years passed by, and Vincent grew up to be 15 years old without the care of his parents. "The war is expected to continue endlessly. Sixteen years ago, we killed a two-winged fallen seraphim, and they have been aggressively attacking us ever since. But our soldiers have been fighting back bravely. There is no winning side. The creatures of hell are physically superior to us in nearly every way. On top of that, they also possess innate abilities, but even with all that, they have no chance of winning the war." The fallen Seraphs exist as one of the most powerful demons among the creatures of hell, and they are ssified into different levels of strength ording to the number of wings on their back. A single wing signifies the most powerful Fallen Seraphs demon. The more the wings, the less powerful they are. "Mnie, you are correct. Unlike us, theyck knowledge of Esoteric technology and friends. Besides, some of us naturally evolve and produce ability cells, which then can be activated by using magic power and higher energy source to generate supernatural abilities. We can also eat a beast''s flesh to gain ability cells and use abilities. Can the same be said for the creatures of hell? No!" "There''s good news, also." "Oh, what is that?" "We were sessful in recreating crystal race battle suits!" Over the past years, Vincent has been paying attention to any mention of war shown on the TV or published on thework. He smiled. Inventions like Flying Arcs, Hover Disks, Teleportation staircase, and so on, were now a normal sight to see throughout the worlds. However, battle suits solely belonged to the Crystal race. And now, the very reason of the Crystal race pride also belonged to humans! Vincent''s smile didn''tst for long. "It''s been weeks, and there is no mention from mom and dad. Why do I have this bad feeling in my heart." Vincent muttered under his breath while watching the TV. Ring. Ring. Ring. The ringing sound of the doorbell felt ominous to Vincent''s ear. As he stood up and walked to the door, the odd, ominous feeling began to enrich his heart. Click! The door opened with an audible screeching sound, and Vincent sized the middle-aged manabout 1.85 meters tall with a refreshing crew cutwho wore military clothing and stood in front of the door in solemn silence. He had sword-like eyebrows and bright brown eyes. His face was profoundly chiseled, and there was a tag on his chest representing his name. The man held a sealed metallic box in his hands. "Hello, Sir, David!" Vincent respectfully saluted the military personnel before asking: "Sir, what brings you here? Do you have a letter from my parents?" Because he respected these brave warriorsCwho fought every day for the human raceCand wanted to be one like them to assist his parents and the human race in the war against the Darkin, his attitude towards them was humble and full of respect. "Um" For a while, David didn''t say anything. Rather, he didn''t know what to say. He fell silent for two to three seconds as though he was organizing his words. "I am sorry to announce this, but your parents have fallen in the line of duty." The middle-aged military personnel broke this solemn silence with words too shocking to hear for a young boy like Vincent. "You are joking. My parents can''t possibly die without fulfilling their promise. Mom promised that she would return home, and Dad promised to take me out on a tour of outer space." Vincent said while innocently staring into the eyes of the military personnel. The news was too hard to bear for young Vincent. He could not ept his parent''s death, and he declined David''s words. "They are confirmed to be dead." David sighed and continued to say, "Listen carefully. They were brave soldiers who protected three whole battalions of humanity by self-destructing and taking down the alien spaceships of Darkin with them!" David''s tone was severe yet contained hints of sorrow. Because he was one of the many soldiers saved by Vincent''s parents, he is also saddened by their death. As his parents saved him, this caused him to pity Vincent more than the other kids whose parents died in the war. "Mom, Dad" Young Vincent cried in despair, tears streaming down his eyes. Written on his face was the sorrow of tragedy caused by war. He had no other rtives. Now that even his parents were gone, he was utterly alone in this world. "Do not mourn them, for they were brave. Wipe your tears dry, be strong, and avenge them," David said before handing over the sealed box in his hands to Vincent. "This box contains items which they left for you in case they died. The Medal of Honor awarded to them by the Earth Federation for their heroic sacrifice is also inside the subspace of the box. This box is sealed and can only be opened by your blood." "I understand," Vincent''s voice was low as if he was talking to himself, but David heard ly. "If you need anything then don''t hesitate to call me. My name is David, but you can also call me Dave." "Okay," Vincent nodded between sobs as David walked away. Seeing David''s figure vanishing from sight, Vincent quickly closed the door and locked it before walking back to his room. He recalled thest time he was with them. The warmness of thest hug. His mother''s gentle voice. His father''s hearty hug. Their promise. Now, all that was gone. All because of war. The main reason for his dream has shattered, and now without his parents, he didn''t have a single reason to live. His eyes were devoid of life when a brief cold ze shone from Vincent''s eyes, and redness crept from behind the darkness. He clenched his fist so tight that the nails slightly pierced his skin and a few drops of blood leaked out. Rage now filled every fiber of his being. A me lit up in his heart. "Revenge!" As he said those with words with gritted teeth, the me of rage reflects in his eyes. "No one can stop the creatures of hell! The allied racesbined with Earth''s military might couldn''t subdue that one race! I will kill the creatures of hell to take my revenge as this is my dream, but I''ll also live to fulfill my parent''s dreams. Father wanted to end the war. I will be the undisputed soldier that will end their tyranny! Mother wanted to save peoples, be it humans or demi-humans. I will change the fates of millions of lives and save them from the clutches of death! I will honor these words all my life." At that moment, the tragedy of war blessed the orphaned young boy with a new reason to live his life to the fullestCnot one but three dreams. Chapter 2 - 2: Blood Evolution System Sometimeter, Vincent closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm down. A few moments went by when suddenly his eyes snapped open to reveal pearl-like ck eyes with a hint of calcting and thoughtful glitters once the emotions raging inside him were buried to the death of his core. [Cold mind] This skill decreases the effects emotions have on the mind. Thanks to this innate passive trait, Vincent could think clearly and make rational decisions even in this situation. Traits are like passive or active innate abilities, and not every human or demi-human possessed a trait; only a handful of them did, and out of the few, mostly a lot of traits were ssified as low-key useless. ''I need to focus. First and foremost, I need to increase my strength and join the military academy.'' Vincent thought as his eyes focused on the box upon which magnificent inscription could be seen. ''To take revenge for the death of my parents, I need a lot of resources to increase my strength. However, to earn evolution resources for me, I need enough strength to hold my head high against low-level beasts.'' Vincent wasn''t strong enough to kill the weakest of beastsbeled as magical or low-level beasts. Earthlings like him usuallybeled beasts into three ranks ording to their strength. From the weakest to the highest, they were low-level, mid-level, and high-level beasts. ''This sealed box might be filled with rare treasures left by my parents. It might contain items that can improve my strength. There might be evolution material, physical enchantment serums, and energy cores contained in its subspace.'' The absorption of evolution materials leads to the creation or multiplication of ability cells, giving rise to awakening. Awakening is an evolutionary process through which humanse to possess an ability. Simrly, the physical enchantment serums strengthen the bones and organs. Of course, this was also the kind of medicine that would build immunity after continued use, but it still improved physical strength by a tremendous amount. Lastly, the energy cores are used as a source of energy to fuel ability cells and activate abilities. Energy cores are further divided into different kinds. Humans and demi-humans can absorb magic power cores, elemental cores, and unique cores as a source of energy to utilize their abilities. As for the mostmon type of energy, it is indeed magic power. It''s present in abundance on Earth, also. Although Vincent hadn''t undergone any awakening, his body was nearly twice stronger than a human, even at this young age. It''s all because his father has given him a precious training manual. By training in this method, he could improve his physical strength and produce "Battle Energy." "Let''s see..." Without hesitation, Vincent wounded the tip of his forefinger by using a knife and dripped his blood into the box for it to acknowledge him as its owner. As he already knew that to be the owner of the spatial box, he must use a drop of his blood. His blood seeped inside the sealed box, and at the very next moment, a mysterious connection was established between the box and Vincent. Through that connection, he was able to open the sealed box, and he then saw the content inside the box. "What the... it doesn''t have anything I imagined!" Contrary to his expectations, Vincent saw only two things. The first was the precious Medal of Honor. This was an army medal rewarded only to those who made significant contributions in the war against the creatures of hell. It is created by the most talented Esoteric Engineer of the Earth Federation by using rare metals and many inscriptions as raw materials. ording to the Earth Federationws, those who possess the medal of honor would have a status equal to the nobles of the Earth Federation. However, it didn''t provide much benefit. At the age of 16, if he failed to pass the military academy examination, then the federation will give him ess to sufficient resources every month until he is 18 years old. After that, he will have to perform his mandatory duty. He will be enlisted in the army training regiment before he is sent to fight against the creatures of hell. Due to the war, everymoner and noble is to be conscripted into the military at 18. In contrast, ves didn''t enjoy such a privilege. They are thrown into war whether they are willing or unwilling at a moment''s notice. There was another significant difference between peoples of different statuses. At least, amoner and noble needs to perform 10 and 2 years of service respectively before they can discharge. However, most ves fight till theirst breath as only some are lucky to survive long enough to perform meritorious deeds, being granted the status of amoner that allows them to discharge from the army after ten years of service. ''I only needed to serve in the military for two years as the medal of honor grants me the privilege of a noble, but I don''t want to live a life like that. I must participate in the examination next year and join the military academy.'' To be strong as fast and as soon as he can. This was a necessary part of Vincent''s goals. To fulfill his dreams, he must join the military academy. The pros of joining the military academy outweigh the cons, also. First, he will have easier ess to resources after joining the military academy. Second, he will be allowed to teleport to bases established in various worlds with monsters that give unique evolution material. Consuming evolution material obtained from unique monsters awakens rare and special abilities. A special ability was far powerfulpared to an average ability. Lastly, he''ll be able to climb thedder of hierarchy as he performs meritorious deeds. "All in all, bing stronger would be easier and faster. For now, let''s see what this envelope contains." Vincent''s eyes blinked once as he shifted his gaze to the other item. Except for the medal of honor, the second thing stored inside the box was an envelope. The name of his father was written upon it. He quickly took it out from the box and opened it up. Vincent obtained a scarlet pendant and a letter from the envelope. He ced the letter on the wooden table and examined the pendant for a while. "What is this?" Vincent could see a holographic screen inside the crystal. Holographic devices were the norm now, but it was still shocking to see a holographic screen inside a crystal. He looked intently at the holographic screen and made out the words written on it. "Character screen." As he said those words, a ray of light shot out from the red crystal and projected a screen right before his eyes. He saw a semi-transparent light screen in front of him. Vincent tried to suppress his shock and looked at the screen with astonishment. ?Usage approved. Disying Vincent Sangue Current Status.? ?User: Vincent Sangue? ?Race: Human? ?Traits: Cold Mind? ?Technique: Magic Resonating Eyes, Body Empowering? ?Battle energy: 12 units, Magic power: 14 units? ?Specialty: Inscriptionist? ?Level: 1? ?Lv 1: 0/100 XP? ?Hp: 14/14? ?Strength: 17? ?Stamina: 15? ?Agility: 20? ?Constitution: 15? ?Evolution Cells in progress: None? ?Cold Mind Type: Passive Effect: Calms the mind. Helps to think rationally in any situation? ?Body Empowering Level: 1 Type: Active Cost: Battle energy Effect: Strengthens the body''s bones and organs. Gain the strength of a human (0.1 ton/100kg) for a minute for every ten units of battle energy? ?Magic Resonating Eyes Type: Special Level: 1 Creation Cost: 1 Magic Power per eye Usage cost: 1 MP every minute Effect: Creates precious eyes that explore the area within a 100-meter radius around the owner. The eyes can conduct individual scouting. The eyes resonate in the presence of items that can contain energy, also? "It''s like the status window of an action role-ying game!" ?New owner detected. Qualification Assessment Approved. Complete the mission to be the rightful owner of Blood Evolution System? ?Heritage Missions? ?Kill a low-level beast: 0/1? ?Reward: 1: Instant assimtion with Blood Evolution System 2: Activation of Life Spell matrix? "This is" Chapter 3 - 3: A Letter Although this was the first time he came across a crystal that assimtes its user with a system afterpleting a mission, he was able to stay rational. After all, there was a lot of artificial existence, such as robots and droids in this day and age. Vincent''s brows drew together as he thought about the item in his hand. ''I can only assume that this might be something like a Gctic Analysation System as I know nothing regarding the rest. I wonder what it is. However,pleting the heritage missions will grant me the rewards, and then I will know what it is.'' Gctic Analyzer is a portable system used to examine a beast and determine whether consuming it is beneficial to the body or harmful. It also lists a person''s basic stats. It can be integrated into humans, but there is a high risk of death and brain damage. Hence, no one tries to integrate with it. The military and royal families control its production and sale. However, with some luck and connections, a person can obtain it on the ck market. ''Hmm, killing a beast is not an easy task. To be more exact, I am not strong enough to kill one in the wilderness. I will be able to, though, after I increase my strength by madly training for the next few months. Vincent thought while gripping the crystal in one of his hands. ''This crystal might very well be a treasure. Maybe this letter will further rify what the Blood Evolution system is,'' Vincent thought while holding the letter in his right hand. His father''s name was written on the letter, indicating that it was Aaron who wrote it. The very next second, he opened the letter and began to read it with a severe look on his face. "By the time you read this, I will be in a faraway ce. I hope you are doing fine. There is something I''ve always wanted to tell you but never got the chance until the very end. I will leave you to find it out. I believe you''ve got the reddish pendant. It''s the heirloom of our Sangue family. So, treasure it well, and once youplete the heritage mission, the Blood Evolution System will assimte with you, and it will help you be stronger." After reading the first part of the letter, Vincent had many unanswered questions in his mind, but he didn''t ponder on this topic and continued to read the second part of the letter. "My son, listen carefully; you are not allowed to take revenge until you are powerful enough. The thought of revenge ispletely meaningless without strength. Do not let what happened to us consume you. If you want to be stronger, then locate the secret basement. I know you can do it. There''s a portable teleporter hidden in the secret basement of our house. It will teleport you to Old Miller''s orphanage in Cloud Tower City. Look for him; he will provide a ce for you to stay after you show him the letter. He''ll also give you personalized training that is far better than the training you''re receiving from your educators." Vincent''s eyes warmed as Aaron was thinking of his well-being even before death. Silently, he continued to read thest part of the letter. "Also, regrly practice the battle technique I passed on to you. You must continue to train in it to maximize your true potential. I''m sorry, I can never fulfill the promise I made to you. Take care of yourself!" The letter ended there, leaving a rush of emotion to fill Vincent''s heart. "Father, I promise! I won''t take revenge until I am strong enough, and I will also regrly train in the battle technique to be the greatest battle master." Vincent vowed through gritted teeth as he then breathed in and out to rx. He only had four months left to hone himself as the entrance examination of the military academy was going to start four monthster. It won''t be easy to get a high score with his current strength. He must increase his power to get an excellent result, and the best bet is to go to the orphanage and be trained by Old Miller. While thinking of locating the secret basement, Vincent wore the ne. ''The secret basement shouldn''t be too hard to find if I utilize my magic power to create Magic Resonating Eyes!'' Vincent thought as he performed several hand signs to create a pair of magic resonating eyes. Through the rhythmic and precise movement of the hands, a person can manually channel magic power in their heart into a magical technique. Although there were ways to channel magic power into magic techniques without using the somatic method, Vincent hasn''t evolved, and his bodycked an energy circuit. Energy circuit allows a person to control their magic power willfully. Therefore, he repeated a simr order of hand signs multiple times and manually channeled magic power into several pairs of bizarre blue eyes. He learned this magic technique by going through a magic book his mother sent him via the gxy delivery system! After creating over a dozen magic resonating eyes, he controlled them to squeeze their way into various corners of the house. Under his control, the eyes wandered throughout the house, searching for the entrance of the secret basement. By using a little bit of concentration, Vincent could watch whatever each of the magical eyes saw, and although it was a bit mentally straining to do so, he had trained for years, and now he was proficient in this technique. A whileter, as frown lines were vivid on Vincent''s forehead, one of the eyes entered his father''s study room, and all of a sudden, it released blinking blue lights as if ringing an rm. Chapter 4 - 4: Cloud Tower City "Something out of ce is there! It''s better to check it out. Maybe it will lead to the secret basement." Vincent thought before heading towards his father''s study room. The Magic Resonating Eyes are famously used to locate treasures containing energy as the eyes react wildly if such gems are nearby. This ability had gotten evaluated as extremely useful. After all, a person can use it to scout dangerous ces and track treasures. After entering the study room, he saw the magic resonating eye continuously blinking while floating near a ck bookshelf that wasrger than the others. He curiously nced at the bookshelf and decided to check it out, but he first performed hand signs to recall the rest of the energy resonating eyes. Then, by performing additional hand signs, Vincent converted the eyes into magic power before absorbing them inside his body. "This will take some time." He looked through the books one by one, but when he pulled out an old dusty book, the bookshelf started to tremble before it split to each side, revealing a standard grey wall. Vincent drew his brows together. ''This wall must be itthe thing which caused the blue eye to resonate. I should try to see if there is a way to open it. There must be a secret mechanism somewhere. Otherwise, I will just shatter it.'' *nk* He ced his hand on the wall, and all of a sudden, a cluster of symbols materialized upon the grey wall before they glowed in green color. Then, he noticed the wall sliding inwards. *Rumble* The wall began to turn sideways, stirring up a cloud of dust. Then it stopped with a dull thud, revealing a dark pathway to Vincent. The moment Vincent stepped inside, the "Light Orbs" affixed on each side lit up and illuminated the surroundings in bright white lights. Nowadays, Light Orb was amon household item. It could automatically activate and deactivate by absorbing sun rays, magic power, electricity, and other energy sources, and that too, all with their owner''smands. He saw a spiral staircase heading downwards. Vincent walked down the stairs and reached the secret basement. The basement didn''t contain anything, however. One could only see a small vault ced upon a raised tform. "This might contain the mobile teleporter!" He walked up to the vault and tried to open it but realized that it needs a password. He tried a series of passwords, but none of them worked. Then, Vincent thought back to what his father said years ago. His father had told him that he uses his birth date for all his passwords. Vincent was an only child and the pearl of his parent''s eyes, and also his father''s precious champion, after all. His eyes brightened! "My birth date might be the password!" Vincent eximed before typing in his birthday, and the next moment, the vault released a green light. ?Correct password? ?The vault has opened!? Inside the vaultid a normal-looking mobile-like device, but it was far from ordinary. ''Maybe this is the portable teleporter? I wonder how it works,'' Vincent thought as he suddenly received a notification from the red pendant. ?Greater Portable Teleporter Useable: 1/10 times Battery: one charge Details: Once activated, the teleporter absorbs the required unit of energy to teleport a person to the pinpoint location. Requires 10 seconds to charge up? "What''s this?" Vincent shockingly grasped the ne and stared at it. ?Blood Evolution System Spell Matrix: Appraisal? A monotone voice resounded in his mind before a semi-transparent screen opened in front of him. [ Appraisal Type: Auxiliary Effect: Allows the owner to identify the targeted item. Besides showing a target''s vital statistics, this spell matrix will even tell you about the in-depth details of an object ] "Just what are you?" He tried to probe the crystal for more information. ?You can call me the Blood Evolution System. I ammunicating with you through the heirloom. The rest can not be exined.? "Why?" ?The ownercks the authority to obtain more information. Assimte with the blood evolution system to gain authority.? A mysterious flicker appeared in Vincent''s eyes. "Interesting." He hid the ne under the twoyers of his shirt. Then, he proceeded by picking up the portable teleporter ced inside the vault. "Before I leave my home, I should get some useful items." His parents regrly deposited money into his ount. Moreover, he also had some training resources, and although they weren''t evolution materials, they''re still helpful enough to increase his strength. Vincent stored a few necessary items he needed; five core filled with magic power, some thousand federation dors, and a portrait of his parents made out of wood inside a backpack before wearing it. He then activated the teleporter by simply tapping on the red button at its center. The portable teleporter shook vividly, and then ten secondster, a spatial disturbance urred. Immediately the world around Vincent began warping when suddenly, his figure blurred out of existence. A buzzing sound rang in Vincent''s ears. His mind felt like it was spinning, and a nauseating feeling enriched him, but then after a few seconds, the buzzing sound ended. When Vincent opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark alley. Stepping out of it, he appeared right before the orphanage of Old Miller. There were rows of buildings and shops too, but the most noticeable thing was a tall unending crystal tower that stood in the middle of the city. In the distance, an enormous crystal tower rose into the sky, where it disappeared inside a massive, blue portal. The tower was the pride of Cloud Tower City, as it led to the entrance of the world''s connecting expanse, a unique ce whose spatial tunnels connect with the exotic world of Lorena. The world''s connecting expanse reflecting in Vincent''s eyes contains a world of its own, and it includes massive tracts ofnd inhabited by many beasts and distinct races. From what he knows, humans and demi-humans have set up dozens of bases and created hundreds of safe zones in the world''s connecting space, as the tracts ofnd inside this world stretch thousands of miles far and wide. Furthermore, internal war wasn''t being fought against the allied races since Xavier had enough area for everyone to apany without waging an internal war against one another. Furthermore, in some areas of this world, there are spatial tunnels that lead to the world of Lorena. Elves mainly dominate the world of Lorena, and many subspecies can also are seen in this world, as well as various unique evolution resources that can only be found in this world. For the sake of obtaining these extraordinary evolution materials for their selves, the humans carved a path with their weapons, killing tens of thousands of beasts that like to prey on humans, demi-humans, and sub-species, setting up cities in the world''s connecting space. The purpose of setting up cities in the world''s connecting space was to provide safe routes through which one can go from Earth to the world of Lorena and vice versa. Ever since childhood, Vincent wanted to explore the world dominated by Elves. However, the world''s connecting expanse could only be essed by authorized military personnel, adventurers that have reached the rank of world traveler, and members of influential noble families. He was far from all these. "I have sessfully made it to the Cloud Tower; this will be a new beginning," Vincent said before stepping towards Old Miller''s orphanage. Chapter 5 - 5: New Home "Hmm? Who are you? What are you doing here sote at night?" A young girl who happened to be sweeping the ground littered with dried leaves asked in an ice-cold tone as she looked at a ck-haired boy who was a head taller than her. Vincent inclined his head to the side to look at the source of the sweet but distant voice. He saw a young girl with silky ck hair and big ck eyes. She was slightly shorter than him and looked exceptionally cute with her baby-like face. "I am here to meet Old Mille. Can you lead me to him?" Vincent asked as he looked at the cute girl with a calm expression. "Uncle has justid down to rest. As it is alreadyte at night, you maye tomorrow," She refused in an ice-cold tone. "Please don''t refuse me. It''s urgent." Vincent needed to talk to Old Miller right away as he didn''t want to sleep in the sleep tonight. "I can''t allow a stranger to enter the orphanage. Can you tell me your name? I will ask Uncle whether or not he knows you." The young girl felt that it is urgent and decided to help him. "My name is Vincent Sangue." Immediately after, he said, "Shouldn''t you also follow basic manners and introduce yourself?" "I am Leni." Her expression didn''t change as if she was a thousand years old piece of ice. "Wait here. I will go and alert my uncle about your presence." "I understand!" Vincent said as he watched Leni''s graceful figure stepping inside the orphanage and vanishing from his sight with a disgruntled expression. "Does she think I am a criminal just because I arrivete at night?" Vincentughed it off. "Well, it''s good not blindly to trust a stranger. I would do the same, if not worse if I were in her shoes." A few momentster, the doors of the orphanage opened, and she said, "It''s cold outside. Come on in!" Vincent walked up to her and leaned closer to her face, as he then whispered into her ears, "I told you so!" As he was too close to her, the face of Leni slightly turned red, but her expression hardly changed. She said, "Do you want me to apologize?" "No need. I can understand you did what you had to protect yourself and the fellow residing here. Besides, it was all a misunderstanding that has already been solved. Let''s add sand to the word''s old and move on." As soon as Vincent said those words, Leni walked in front of him with a slightly amiable expression on her face. "Okay, follow me. I will bring you to Uncle Miller." Following after the cute little girl, Vincent reached outside of Old Miller''s room in a few moments. Knock* Knock* "Mister, someone wants to see you," Leni said after knocking on the door to Old Miller''s room. "The door is open. Come inside," said a husky voice through the door. As the owner of this ce has given his permission, Vincent and Leni didn''t hesitate to enter the room. "You are Captain Aaron''s and Lady Jennifer''s son?" A man with a height of six and a half feet and seemingly in his mid-40s calmly inquired as he looked at Vincent with eyes filled with gentleness. There were some wrinkles on his somewhat old face, while a trim white beardplemented his strong jaw. His short,pletely grey hair was in harmony with his white mustache. One could see a long sword attached to the wall just beside the bed. All of Old Miller''s military honors hung from the hilt of the long sword. "Yes, indeed," Vincent replied as he looked at the old man sitting on the bed. "Care to exin why you are here?" Old Miller asked with a pondering expression on his face. "You will know after reading this," Vincent said as he handed over Aaron''s letter to the old man. After Old Miller finished reading the letter, a few tears could be seen streaming down his weary eyes, and he said, "Leni leave us alone." "Uncle, you don''t seem alright, but I will do as you say. Call me if you need something." Leni said before she then left the room to the two of them. Although the cure little girl felt worried at him suddenly tearing up, she didn''t want to trouble her caretaker and not follow his words. ''Sigh, I have seen much death, but this one hurts the most.'' Sadness surged from Old Miller''s very core, spreading to every fiber of his beings. ''If I knew this was going to happen just years after my retirement, I would have fought by his side till the very end rather than retiring under pressure from the higher-ups. The poor child of my lord anddy is now all alone.'' After clearing the tears in his eyes, Old Miller''s sad gaze flickered with traces of pity as he looked at Vincent. "I am sorry to hear about their death." He said with an expression of empathy on his face. "Don''t be. The one who should be sorry will pay with their lives.''" As he said those words, Vincent''s eyes were calm as the sea, but Old Miller discerned an enormous amount of rage swirling behind the facade of calmness. Old Miller shook his head as if he was dissatisfied with Vincent. "It isn''t good for a young and healthy man like you to be so angry. Listen well; this emotion will just get in your way. It will cloud your judgment and be the end of yourself. If you can let it go, then I sincerely advise you to do so. Anyway, I will train you with the others. Besides that, I will also give you lessons onbat and teach you how to create inscriptions that can be used to wound magical beasts and even y them greatly. How far you go is entirely up to your willingness to learn." "Please teach me to the best of your abilities. It doesn''t matter how hard it gets or how painful it bes. I''ll endure no matter what!" Vincent said. After a moment, he continued, "Are you a good friend of my parents?" In reply, Old Miller nodded as his eyes glistened in a profound gaze and the images of the past resurfaced in his mind. "We fought together and saved each other from the brink of death a lot of time. Captain Aaron was a charismatic man and friendly with everyone. Simrly, Lady Jennifer was well-liked by everybody. They used to mention how talented you are a lot after getting drunk, haha!" Old Miller saidughter died down pretty quickly as the one who showered him with the glory of life has passed away, "For now, what do you think about staying here till the entrance exam of the military academy?" Aaron''s son was still alive, and Old Miller wanted to repay what he owes by helping the young man in all way possible. "I was nning to do that." Vincent''s eyes squinted as he suddenly realized how rude he has been to interior other sote at night. "Sorry for suddenly intruding." "No problem. Treat this ce like your own home. Go and ask Leni to prepare a room for you. She acts all cold and distant, but it''s because her parents died in the war, leaving herCan orphanCto survive in this cruel world with her little brother. She''s a kind and nice girl if you get to know her. So please don''t feel offended by her behavior. Please befriend her and a few others in the orphanage." "I understand," Vincent said. "I will leave you to rest now. Should I close the lights for you?" "Yes, please," Old Miller replied as he thought that Vincent is a sensible child. After turning off the light with the snap of a button, Vincent excused himself and stepped out of the room. "The boy didn''t ask too much nor too little. He is just like you, my lord." Old Miller internally smiled, and he continued with a sigh. "My lord, you were always mysterious, and I still don''t believe you died out there, but since you want me to take care of your son, I will take care of him to the best of my ability. It is the least I can do for you who took care of a war ve like me." Sometimeter, Leni escorted Vincent to his room. As it waste at night, and the rest of the kids were fast asleep, they didn''t encounter anyone. "Here''s the key to this room, it''s been unused for some months, but I cleaned it regrly so there won''t be any dust." Leni asked with the familiar ice-cold tone she used before, "Do you need help with anything else?" "Thanks, but I am fine," Vincent replied as he moved up to his room, indicating that he didn''t need any help at all. After he said those words, Leni turned around to leave, going back to her room in less than a minute. Meanwhile, Vincent peeked at her lithe figure with pity because she also lost her parents because of the ongoing gctic war between the races under Earth Federation and the creature from hell. A few momentster, He entered the room allocated to him. As he pped his hands, the light orb automatically turned on and somewhat illuminated the room. Under the dim light, Vincent looked about and was able to make out the room around him. The room was neitherrge nor small. A single bed was seated against the wall. By the window were a table and a chair. A bookshelf was ced nearby, and although this room was notparable to his home, it wasn''t a bad ce to spend a few months. "I will be staying here until the military academy examination!" Vincent said, somewhat exhausted and a feeling tired to his bones. He immediately copsed on the bed and entered thend of dreams. Chapter 6 - 6: Old Millers Guidance After the sudden emergence of magic power, the very world itself changed as thend expanded. Earth became ten times bigger than before, and the magic power radiating from Earth also grew the moon to an adequate size. Cloud Tower City, United States, Earth''s federation Western Region! Cloud Tower City is a famous city ruled by the lord of cloudsCLeightonCwho is a powerful evolutionary and also a high-ss noble. The reason for the city''s poprity was Silver Moon ind. The Silver Moon ind was about eight hundred kilometers south of Cloud Tower City. It is a vast ind dotted with trees, spanning more than a thousand miles. The ind has an abundance of magical beasts and herbs. The mighty beasts resided in the depths of the ind. Thus, as long as one does not venture too deeply into the woods, Silver Moon Ind was an excellent training ground for low-level evolvers. Furthermore, many mercenaries and adventures gather in this city and venture into the Silver Moon ind to hunt magical beasts and gather magical herbs. Magical beasts and herbs are sold for a good amount of price, after all, but a month''s worth of ie can be earned in mere days. Most of the residents residing in the nearby citiesrgely depended on the ind for their livelihood, also. Above all that, the cities earn a significant amount of revenue by imposing a percentage tax on the yearly ie of the adventurers and mercenaries who regrly hunt in the silver moon Ind. Old Miller''s Orphanage is located in the Northern District of Cloud Tower City. Old Miller was a retired soldier who opened an orphanage to fulfill his dream. The orphanage''s goal was to provide a haven for the poor orphans, and Old Miller would also regrly train the young boys and girls. His military-grade lessons not only increased their chances of joining the military academy but also increased their chances of staying alive in the fields in case they failed the entrance examination of the military academy. "Train your body to its limits. A strong body with a healthy heart can absorb a higher quantity of magic power. That isn''t the only benefit of physical training. The stronger and healthier your body, the better your level of sensitivity to Magic Power in the surrounding!" Old Miller said to Vincent and the other orphans. In the wide training field behind Miller''s orphanage, Vincent and few orphans continued performing push-ups. They would perform 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 squats after running 10 miles every day. This was a part of their daily training, and although their body waspletely covered in sweat, they continued with gritted teeth. "Good! Keep on working hard." Old Miller praised before reminding them. "The first test of the Military Academy entrance examination has always been the same. Whether you pass it or not will be determined by your level of sensitivity to Magic Power in the surrounding. The higher one''s sensitivity to magic power, the greater his talent. And only talented individuals are epted by the military academy! Do you understand?!" In response to his words, the teenagers shouted: "We understand!" Gratitude was vivid in their eyes. It''s because it wasn''t standard information that physical training can increase sensitivity to magic power. However, Old Miller shared their knowledge with them and trained them to the best of his abilities. Although they were tired, they didn''t give up. Because if they can be enrolled in the military academy at the age of 15, they will have proper standing, making it easier to climb the socialdder. They can improve their status by performing to the best of their ability in the academy, after all, but first, they need to pass the entrance exam. "Those of you who are out of breath, rx for five minutes before running around the track ten times." "John, you are strong, but youck bnce. Perform ten deep squats every thirty meters while running around the track. Leni, if you may, please look after him." John was an average, ck-haired boy with brown eyes and short ck hair. He was Leni''s brother, and although they were twins, he was the younger brother as he was born a moment toote. He was wearing a white shirt, dark trousers, and a pair of matching color joggers. "Yes, sir!" John and Leni said out loud simultaneously. "Vincent,e here. I need to talk to you about something." Old Miller instructed the teenagers before calling Vincent, who was dashing through the track with an incredible speed. "Sir, what is it?" Vincent asked once he reached before Old Miller. "How is your progress?" "Physically, I am already nearly three times stronger than an average human. My magic power has progressed as intended. Furthermore, I can now create magic bullets made out of magic power by using the somatic method." Vincent continued, "My progress with thebat technique hasn''t seen a problem, either. I have learned both the Blinking Step and Charged strike. I have wholly memorized the breathing patterns that can lower one''s presence. Plus, I have gained a far better understanding of the viper huntbat technique. However, I don''t know why I can no longer increase my battle energy. It''s stuck at 30 units. No matter how hard I train in my family''s training technique, it does not budge. I feel like I am facing an unbreakable wall." Vincent was dissatisfied with himself as, ording to his initial n, he should have been able to generate more than 30 units of battle energy in his body when he was sixteen. But in reality, he was stuck at 30 units of battle energy. His father''s battle technique taught the creation and maniption of the energy called Battle Energy. It''s used to increase the strength of the body. Battle energy is also used to perform transcendental-gradebat techniques. Old Miller, on the other hand, smiled widely, not the least bit disappointed by his response. On the contrary, he thought that Vincent was an absolute genius. First off, Mana Bullet was a technique he came up with within twenty years, but Vincent has learned it in only four months! If he wasn''t a genius, then what was he? "Boy, don''t be disappointed. Your progress is awe-inspiring." Old Miller praised Vincent before continuing: "Besides, battle energy is created inside the body when a person trains their body to the limit while breathing in magic power. It can be used to transcend physical limits and execute transcendental gradebat techniques. 30 units of battle energy can increase your base strength by three times as long as your body is strong enough to endure the battle pressure!" Hearing his words, Vincent expressed partial shock. "How do you know all this? Are you also a battle master?" He thought that Old Miller, who used magic techniques, might have never sought to train as a battle mastera term collectively used for everyone that does extreme exercise such as 100+km sprint or 1000 push-ups while breathing magic power in a unique rhythm to give birth to battle energy in their body. "Nope, but my friend was one. He was none other than your father. He taught me a lot about battle master as I used to be hungry for knowledge." Old Miller said with a smile as the picture of the captain of his squad popped up in his mind. "Now, let me exin why you can''t produce more than 30 units of battle energy. Listen carefully; the body is the vessel that contains battle energy. If it''s filled to the brim, then what do you think will happen?" As soon as he said those words, Vincent''s eyes brightened in thoughtful glitters. "The vessel won''t be able to contain the excess amount of battle energy, and the excess amount will seep out of the body." Old Miller nodded, signifying that he was correct. "That''s exactly what will happen! Your vessel is filled to the brim with battle energy. That''s why you can''t contain more than 30 units of battle energy in your body. Now, you need to expand this vessel. Only then will you be able to contain more than 30 units of battle energy in your body!" "But how do I do that?" Vincent asked. Chapter 7 - 7: Breakthrough! "For that purpose, I created these for you." Old Miller handed out ankle and wrist weights to Vincent, and he then said, "These are training weights used in the military. They can go anywhere between 1 and 10 times Earth''s gravity. From now on, train while wearing these weights. They will push you to the utmost limits when you''re training, which in turn will help expand your vessels, but it will be quite painful. And I mean your body will be aching all over in pain." "I am not scared of being hurt," Vincent replied before wearing the weights. "Thank you. I am sincerely grateful for the help you have provided me over the past four months." "That''s the least I could do for my friends'' only son." Old Miller replied. After a while, Vincent could be seen running with the other teenagers. However, he was seemingly out of breath, and that astonished a lot of students. Vincent was undoubtedly the strongest among them all, but he has never be seen breathing raggedly while running around the track. ''This is hard.'' Vincent thought while running with all the strength in his body. Five-time Earth gravity was acting on his body. He felt like a chained beast. He has never felt like this before, but it was a challenge he willing faced. After the studentspleted the rounds, Old Miller announced, "All right, we will stop here for today. The military academy examination test will begin on Sunday. Vincent, Leni, and John, you three are of age and can participate in the examinations. I hope you all the best in the uing examination." The three mentioned by him were already 16 years old, signifying that they can participate in the military academy entrance examination that will be held after a few days. "Good luck, guys!" "I wish you the best!" "Show them how amazing you are!" The young ones wished them well as the members of the orphanage were like one big family. Moreover, a lot of them liked Vincent, who was not only better looking than most of the people in the orphanage but also the strongest. "I won''t disappoint you guys. And thanks for everything till now," Vincent expressed his gratitude to them before busying himself with filling himself, eating one piece of slightly cold meat after another with some rice from his lunch box. After living here for four months, Vincent hase to like these kids, and although he was distant like a dream, that just added to his charms. Thus, a lot of them idolized him, and some even wanted to be like him. "Let''s go back and have lunch!" Old Miller said after he looked at the time. The tummy of the orphans grumbled at the mere mention of food. They were famished and tired to their bones, after all. "Let''s go!" "I wonder what''s for lunch today." Everyone left the training ground except for Vincent and John. "We are finished with our training. Brother, let''s go back and y a game of chess. I have learned new tactics. I am sure I will beat you this time!" John said with a smug look on his face as he expected to win a chess game for sure against Vincent. John was Leni''s twin brother. However, his personality was the total opposite of his sister''s. He was yful and lived a carefree life while she was reserved and quiet but helpful. "How about asking Uncle Miller or Leni to y with you?" Vincent said, indicating he wasn''t interested in ying a game of chess. "Why?" John asked with a slightly disappointed expression on his face. "I will train here tillte night," Vincent replied calmly. "You are always training tillte at night. Aren''t you bored?" John said with a look that asked, why do you train so much?! Vincent revealed a smile but didn''t say a word. How could John know about his problems and agenda? There were so many fun things to do, but he invested all his time in training. All so that he will pass the military academy examination with high scores and gain the status of a king as fast as he can. Only then will he be able to avenge his parents. "Take your time then. I''m going to y with my sister!" John cheekily said after a moment, and he then walked his way to the orphanage living quarters. After watching him go away, Vincent took a deep breath and exhaled it, and started to train. He has been training very severely for the past four months in preparation for the military academy entrance examination. He didn''t spend all his time on physical workouts as he gave a few hours to books pertaining to the new world''s knowledge every day. That''s how he managed to memorize everything Old Miller has taught him about inscriptions and inscriptionists within four months. Furthermore, through intensive training, he has increased his strength by a lot and mastered two new transcendental-gradebat techniques recorded in his family''s training manual. The two techniques were Charged Fist and Blinking Step. Charged Fist was a transcendental-gradebat technique that gathers battle energy within Vincent''s fist and unleashes a powerful punch that deals immense damage. Simrly, Blinking Step utilizes battle energy to hastens his speed and eliminates the sound produced by footsteps. However, both of these skills were very taxing on his body. Especially blinking step as it required a lot of stamina and battle energy for continuous use. He knew that he needs to be mindful while using them in a battle as not to overexert himself. ''ording to the battle technique manual, the blinking step can be evolved into the ghost step. While charged fist next stage is star fist. But I need to increase my physical strength and improve my bodily conditions as otherwise, my bones will shatter while using them,'' Vincent thought with narrowed eyes as he utilized Blinking Step to move around the training ground. Then, he punched the wooden dummies using his transcendental-gradebat technique [Charged Fists]. The wooden dummies were made from a rare material that absorbs arge part of the damage. But still, the dummies cracked and shattered as his punches were just that powerful. Vincent didn''t control his powers at all due to multiple reasons. First off, Old Miller wasn''t poor, and he could purchase standard training items. Secondly, these wooden puppets can automatically restore free of cost after being destroyed once the magical inscription imbued in them is activated. Lastly, he was permitted to use the training facility of the orphanage as he like by the owner, Old Miller. As he was training, goose feathers-likerge snowkes began to fall. Sometimeter, Vincent''s lips thinned into a smile once he shattered the 15th puppet as the Blood Evolution System message popped up in his vision. ?Constitution increased to 31 points? ?Battle energy increased to 31 units? "My battle energy has increased by a unit!" He was looking at the kes dancing through the sky in glee. He was feeling happy as his vessel has expanded enough to contain 31 units of battle energy. ''Training while wearing these specialized weights is indeed effective. If I continue to train like this, I would be able to store a veryrge quantity of battle energy,'' Vincent thought to himself as he continued training after a momentary pause. After training for a few hours, Vincent sat down on the bench to rest as he was feeling tired and loosen up his stiff muscles. "Only a few days are left before the entrance examination. Now is the best time toplete the heritage missions and unlock Life Spell Matrix and assimte with the Blood Evolution system." Vincent sighed, "I am now confident that I can kill beasts and monsters roaming in the Silver Moon Forest, but before that, I need to register in the adventure association." Only mercenaries and adventurers were allowed to hunt in the Silver Moon ind. He needs to be one of the two, himself, through a registration examination. Otherwise, even if he takes a ferry, he will be stopped from entering the Silver Moon ind by the guards. So, he decided to head to the adventure association after notifying Old Miller. While he was finalizing his next steps, John came running to the training ground. As he noticed Vincent sitting on the bench, he broke down in crying. "Brother, something bad happened to Leni...," John said between sobs as he shivered due to the cold weather. "First of all, calm down. I won''t understand what you''re saying while choking on tears. Second, what happened to Leni? She was just fine a moment ago. Could it be that you are pulling a prank on me?" Vincent said while suspiciously staring John in the eyes. "Why would I make a joke about my sister''s life?! We were just ying when she suddenly fell to the ground. Her temperature soared, then dropped low. After that, suddenly, she lost consciousness," John said, his words unable to make sense of the situation. "I came here because Uncle Miller to bring you back urgently you back." Vincent''s stoic expression changed to that of seriousness as he realized the severity of the situation. "You should have said that sooner. Let''s go!" Chapter 8 - 8: Old Miller Medical Examination! Some minutester, John and Vincent entered the room where Old Miller was examining the mysterious conditions of Leni, who have fallen unconscious. The moment he entered the room, Vincent spotted Leni on the bed. After walking up to the side of the bed, Vincent looked at her with a scrutinizing gaze. In the next second, he was shocked to see wrinkles on the face of Leni, and visible signs of aging were also vivid on her once youthful skin. Vincent''s eyes narrowed. "What''s wrong with her? Howe she has aged so much in mere hours?" he asked as he looked at Old Miller. "I haven''t found out the reason yet, but I think it''s rted to a sudden decrease in her life force. It will take a few minutes to examine her conditions and pinpoint what is wrong with her. So, stay silent and let me concentrate." Old Miller seriously said as his gaze swept past everyone else in the room. ''Please God, Don''t let the worst be the truth.'' John gulped as he stood by his sister''s side with an expression of worry vivid on his face. He feared that her health might deteriorate further. He felt useless as he couldn''t do anything to help her right now. Sadness also swelled in his heart as Leni was the only blood rtive he had. If she were to die, he would indeed be left alone in this world. Meanwhile, Old Miller scrutinizing gaze examined Leni from head to toe before cing his fingers on her wrist and closed his eyes to see her internal structure using a unique technique that solely uses his magic power. ''Oh, so that''s what''s going on.'' After a while, Old Miller''s expression changed. Leni was inflicted with an exceptional condition known to a few select people, even in the entire world. The change in his expression didn''t escape Vincent, who was sizing up Old Miller. "You found out?" "Indeed, I did." Old Miller proudly nodded. He was a supporter who mastered all three essentials of medic, after all. As he said those words, John''s eyes brightened in hopes. Old Miller used to serve as a supporter in the vanguard battalion. A supporter is an evolver who has learned one of the three fundamental supporting roles. There were many supporters in the streams of stars upied by various races, yet there were only a few supporters that could be called good. It wasn''t easy to earn the qualifications of a good supporter as one needs to learn all three fundamental supporting to keep hisrades away from the scythe of the grim reaper. Old Miller had learned all three. First, one needs to be able to create an inscription on the spot. In the past four months, Old Miler has taught Vincent the first fundamental of a supporter. The second fundamental is called [Medic]. A medic can evaluate ten thousand illnesses and even rare conditions that afflict evolvers. Some can do without equipment, while others need esoteric medical equipment. Medic basic qualifications are to know about one hundred illnesses or ten rare conditions. Old Miller''s eyes narrowed as he looked at Leni, who seemed to be growing old at a rate visible to the naked eye. She was suffering from one of the many rare conditions that afflict an evolver. "The main problem is exactly as I thought it to be. Leni''s life force is rapidly decreasing, and that''s why she is aging by the second." Old Miller said with a grave expression. Life force is present in all living beings throughout the universe. It''s the fundamental force that allows life to exist, grow and flourish throughout the universe. A person perishes once all of their life force is depleted. "What do you mean? Why is her Life force depleting?!" John eximed in shock. "Can you tell us in detail? Maybe there''s a way for us to help her!" Vincent asked. "She''s bing an evolved human through self-awakening. However, she''s awakening two abilities at the same time. Her body is evolving, and she is producing organs that can channel energy. At the same time, she is producing ice ability cells and telekinesis ability cells in her body. Yet, the evolution process requires a huge source of energy." Old Miller continued, "A person''s life force can support the self-awakening of a single ability but not two at the same time. Only a handful of humans were able to survive such an ordeal without evolution resources." "Leni''s life force is being consumed by the evolution process. She doesn''t have any control over the evolution process, however. It would only end after she dies or sessfully awakens to possess two abilities. Any type of intervention will just aggravate the situation, causing her life force to deplete at a faster rate. From the looks of it, if she is not provided with another suitable source of energy, she will die from life force depletion. That''s the reason why her health is rapidly deteriorating, and she is aging," Old Miller said as Vincent thought about it. ''Normally, a person would only be able to draw out theirtent ability in the face of danger or a life-threatening situation, and thus, be an evolved human. Moreover, only those with noble and royal blood are born with abilities. It''s simply because ability cells are passed from one''s parents to their child. Yet, Leni is self-awakening two abilities at the same time. She is insanely talented. She will be a strong evolutionary in the future.'' Eagerness shed through Vincent''s eyes. Meanwhile, John, who had some knowledge of self-awakening, was insanely happy for his sister and also worried. He was happy as his sister was going to gain an ability. Something that Leni had always wished to possess. However, she was in a life-threatening situation. "Is there any way to help her?" Johm asked. "I heard that energy extracted from beast cores help during self-awakening. Consumption of evolution material does the same," Vincent said before staring at Old Miller with a calm gaze. "What do you think?" Ol Miller sighed, "That''s the main problem. The evolution materials and energy cores rted to ice and telekinesis ability are the only ones suitable for her to evolve; the rest will act as a poison for her. However, such things are so sporadic here that it''s impossible to purchase them within a few weeks. Besides that, only life force can be used, but treasures with life force are the first ones to be bought from the market." "Consumption of Life Force allows a person to increase their life span, after all." Old Miller was able to diagnose Leni''s conditions because of his knowledge perfectly. Through the same knowledge, he concluded that the markets on Earth wouldn''t have the evolutionary materials that Leni needs. Items with life force aren''t easily purchasable on Earth, also. Vincent''s brows furrowed. He asked, "How much time does she have left?" "Her life force will run out in one to seven days," Old Miller uttered the brutal truth without any remorse. The news was too much to bear for Leni''s little brother. John''s happiness deted, and he was further devasted. He fell to the ground, his head buried in his hands. She was his sister, and just the thought of losing her was killing him from the inside. Vincent, on the other hand, pondered about how much they meant to him. The past four months were enough to deepen their rtion considerably. He was reminded of John''s confidentughter and Leni''s gentleness hidden behind the expression and cold face. If nothing is done, she will die from life force exhaustion. The young boy might lose his smile, also. Did he want to see that? The answer was in his mind. No! A few momentster, Vincent decided to take a stand. "Trust me. I will go to Silver Moon Ind to obtain magical herbs filled with life force. Uncle, please keep her alive until I return with a magic herb that can help Leni." As soon as he said those words, gratitude filled John''s heart. He said, "I wille with you." To save his sister, John was ready to brace danger. "You are going nowhere. Just stay here. Because having to protect you while fighting the beasts will be quite troublesome. Trust me on this one," Vincent harshly turned down John''s help with a shrug. He bit his lips and clutched his hands. He knew that although Vincent''s words were harsh, they were true nheless. The truth is, he was too weak. He will die without a doubt in Silver Moon ind. "If I can''t be of any help, then I also won''t be a burden. Brother, everything rests in your hands. Please save her." John said as Vincent nodded. Old Miller shook his head and said, "I can use my healing ability and nourish her body continuously body. I will do my best to keep her alive until your return, but you better not sacrifice yourself out there. If it is dangerous, then just return empty-handed. If something happens to you, I won''t be able to show my face to my friends in the afterlife. Don''t push yourself too hard." He wasn''t the main supporter of the 33rd vanguard battalion for no reason. He can heal both minor and life-threatening wounds by using his ability and even use major buffs on himself and his allies to increase their physical capabilities. Moreover, the aspect of nourishing a body was far different than healing wounds, and that alone made him unique among healers. However, he was poisoned in a battle that took ce a few years ago. The poison has invaded his energy circuit and energy channels. Each time he uses his ability or magic power itself, the poison suppressed using suppressant seeps out of the cage and tries to kill him. "Nothing will happen to me. You''re the one who trained me, after all. I will go and prepare," Vincent said with a smile before walking out of the room, and he then headed straight to his room to equip himself with the equipment he purchased for the military academy entrance examination. Old Miller, on the other hand, decided to decrease Leni''s difort and pain to the minimum degree. "John, hurry up and bring me the health recovery serums stored in the third cab of the addict room." Old Miller said as he looked at John. "Yes, Sir!" He dashed out of the room, heading up the stairs to go to the room where the medicines were stored. A whileter, John returned to Old Miller with heath recovery serums in his hand. "Hopefully, this serum made from troll blood will provide her with enough life force tost for a while, and then I will use my ability till Vincent return." Old Miller said before applying the reddish-green serum over her body. In the very next second, one could see the wrinkles on her body vanishing at a visible rate. This serum was made out of troll''s blood. Old Miller created this serum while serving as a supporter in the vanguard army. It could be sold for a good amount of price as it is used to heal severe and fatal wounds. However, he used it on Leni without a single moment of hesitation. His actions just showed how concerned he actually was despite his lighthearted attitude. ''The effect of this potion willst for an hour or so. I only have three such potions. After three hours, I will need to keep on healing Le using my ability until Vincent returns continuously.'' Upon mentioning his name, Old Miller''s eyes brightened as he went out of the room and down the stairs to see Vincent off. Chapter 9 - 9: Preparing! In his room, Vincent wore a ck hoodie over his white T-shirt, and it matched his light ck pants and ck running shoes with white outlines reaching the soles. Hanging a backpack on his shoulders and taking out an inquisitive weapon from a jeweled box, he walked out of his room and directly went to the orphanage entrance. He was just about to leave from the front door when from behind, Old Miller suddenly called out to him. "Wait, are you seriously going to go to the Silver Moon ind like that? I know, you think that cheap beast weapon will be able to prate the body of the beasts, but it honestly won''t," Old Miller said as he pointed at Vincent''s dagger. A beast weapon is created from the body of a dead beast. The dagger equipped around Vincent''s ck belt was created using parts of a beast. It was glittering as if made out of gems, and some blue lines stretched from the top of the handle to its edges. The blue lines entangled in the center of the dagger, giving off a mysterious vibe. The blue lines represented an inscription. Inscription integrates a particr effect into the beast''s weapons. Primary tier beast weapons and equipment don''t have any specific effect. Thus, inscriptions are inscribed on them to increase their prices. The special effect of this dagger was sucking on the wielder''s mana to strengthen itself. Although the dagger was without a doubt of low quality and could be discerned from a single look, it was better than standard weapons made out of steel. The quality of a beast weapon is determined by the beast used to create it. Beast weapons made out of material obtained from high-level beasts will be more powerful than weapons made out of material obtained from the bodies of low-level beasts. "Cheap? I bought this beast weapon from an adventurer by using all my remaining money. It can even be imbued with magic power. Then, with my strength, it will be easy to rip the beasts apart." Vincent calmly replied. A weapon imbued with magic power will be strengthened. The damage dealt will increase, also. "However, this dagger will rust under beast''s blood, and then it will lose its sharpness. Not to mention that there is a huge chance of it breaking during a battle." Old Miller replied, "That will threaten your life!" "I understand your worries, but you should be staying by Leni''s side. She needs you the most right now, not me." Vincent asked, "For what reason, are you here?" "Oh, I almost forgot. Here, take this with you before you go to the Silver Moon Forest." Old Miller hurled an inky double-edged ck dagger that was 2/4 cm thick and as narrow as the length of a finger towards Vincent''s head. His hand swung upwards as he quickly grabbed the dagger''s ck hilt. The dagger de was solid and very well bnced. Even Vincent could tell it was a well-crafted weapon forged in materials unknown to him. The de was fixed on a rich dark metal hilt. The dagger itself was fairly simple, with no inscription or any kind of decoration. It was wholly ck and barely eye-catching, however. "What is this?" Vincent asked. "It''s the weapon I used to use. All that glitters is not gold. Don''t be fooled by its appearance. It''s called Executioner as the weapon is made to break defenses and kill beasts. First, the toxic blood of the beasts won''t rough it up in thousand years. Second, it can be imbued with magic power. Third, its sharpness will increase depending on how fast it''s swung." Old Miller said. A weapon only needs to be strong and sharp enough to break all defense and kill the enemy; such was Old Miller''s thought process that led to the creation of Executioner. At first nce, Vincent thought that this inky ck dagger with no signs of any inscription must becking special effects. Still, hearing Old Miller''s words, he realized it was actually at least an intermediate or maybe even an advanced tier beast weapon as it possessed multiple special effects. Plus, one of the special effects will passively activate once he swings the dagger. Furthermore, this was an excellent quality weapon, yet it would seem ordinary to most because of its looks. As it looked ordinary, he will attract less trouble and can even deal a surprise blow to unsuspecting targets. Just what kinds of beasts were used to create it? He didn''t know. But one thing was for sure; this was a treasure. "It''s a perfect weapon for shing enemies with ferocious power." Vincent gratefully epted the weapon and shed a happy smile. "I will hand this back to you after I return." "This weapon is extremely precious to me. So, you better return home alive!" "I will!" He replied. As he walked away from the orphanage, Old Miller said in a solemn tone, "You have changed a lot. Four months ago, you treated everyone with the same indifferent attitude. But now, you''re even going to the Silver Moon Forest for Leni''s sake. But the change is for the better." Vincent halted in his footsteps and turned to nce at Old Miller as the corners of his mouth turned up little by little. "This time, you''re wrong. I haven''t changed. Besides, my intentions aren''t as noble as you think. I just want to help save as many lives as I can to fulfill the dream of my mother." Though Leni and John were a significant part of his decision to head to Silver Moon Forest, they were definitely not the only reasons. There were four reasons. First, Vincent felt sorry for the twins as they were in the same situation as himCboth orphaned due to war. Second, Vincent had promised to save as many lives as he can. Thirdly, he wanted toplete the heritage missions as he was now powerful enough, and ording to his father''s words, the Blood Evolution System will help him be stronger. Fourth, he will earn Leni''s gratitude. She possessed the potential of bing a powerhouse. And that''s what he and the human race as a whole needed the most in the fight against the creature of hell. Old Miller smiled. If that wasn''t enough reason for him to consider Vincent as a pure and innocent boy, then he didn''t know what else would be. "Whatever you say, boy. Go and register as an adventurer, first of all, or else, you''ll be barred from entering the ind." "I was going to do just that," Vincent replied. "Okay then, I wish you good luck. Take care!" Old Miller wished him well. "You too!" Vincent nodded in response as he stored his dagger in the backpack and fastened Executioner to his belt before leaving towards the adventure association. He can''t legally enter Silver Moon Ind without a permit or adventure ID. On the other hand, illegal trespassers are punished with a fine and a month of jail. The punishment is harder formoners as they receive a criminal record. Vincent didn''t want to destroy his future, but bing an adventurer and using a teleportation gateway to teleport to the fortress set in the forest will solve all the problems. As he was pressed for time, Vincent walked as fast as he can through the snow-covered track without stopping for even a moment, and he soon reached before the adventure association. Chapter 10 - 10: Adventure Association The adventure association branch located in Cloud Tower City was a magnificent dome-shaped building with more than 50 floors, from what he could tell. It was a pure white color, gleaming in gentle lights indistinguishable from moonlight. In the depths of the night, it was the most spectacr view of the entire city as it was lit up in a dazzling light easy on the eyes. Directly in front of him was arge, thirty-meter-wide entrance that could perhaps fit two dozen groups of people at the same time. After walking through the curved entrance, Vincent looked around with curiosity and nervousness, making people believe he was lost. Although it waste at night, he saw some adventures loitering in the building, and a few administrators of this adventure association''s branch were also active. There were many service Droids, but as it iste at night and the traffic was at the lowest point of the day, they were powered off. The droids eat up a lot of energy to run, after all. So, Vincent couldn''t ask them for help and search for the registration office in this ce that was more than hundreds of timesrger than himself. "Hello, you seem to be lost. Maybe I can help you with something?" A man asked Vincent with a smile. His silky white hair and eyes covered with a blindfold with tiny ice''s blue shards added a mysterious charm to his handsome otherworldly appearance, making heads turn for another nce. He was lean yet muscr, loosely wearing a ck military jacket in contrast to his silver earrings and white shirt. A look at the man''s pointy ears, and Vincent understood that it is an elf from the world of Lorena. By crossing the world bridges through the spatial staircases, the demi-humans residing in the others coulde to Earth. Some woulde for work purposes, some just want to sightsee, and some are just seeking a better opportunity. Vincent looked at the man as if he had seen his savior. "Sir, this is my first time here, and I can''t seem to find the registration office. I''ll be very grateful if you show me the direction." Except for Old Miller, he usually talked formally with others, and this habit showed its fang in this foreign environment. "I don''t like to be called that when I am off-duty, but you can call me Theodore. Would you like to follow me to the registration office instead?" "That would be even better, Mister. Theodore." "Follow me." Vincent followed along as they walked towards the registration office. "Here we are." "Thank you for helping me out." "No problem, I wasn''t busy. Besides, I like to do good deeds. Now, how about I leave you up to your devices." "Ah, yes, it was nice meeting you. Goodbye." Vincent said. "May the spirit of adventure bless you. Good Luck!" Theodore went away as Vincent reached the registration office. Suddenly, Theodore stopped and turned to stare at Vincent''s back with a gaze of deep interest. "The boy has a good body, but that''s all. There''s not a hint of supernatural cells in his body. That means he has no abilities. He isn''t even from the Great Royal Truemight family, also. Then, why did my skill activate? Why was I attracted here? Hehe, we''ll be seeing each other pretty soon. I have a feeling that that''s when I will find out." Theodore''s lips stretched back to expose a mysterious smile. Meanwhile, Vincent looked around the registration office and thought himself to be lucky. The reason being, no one was registering at this moment, and he immediately went up to the reception to get registered as an adventurer. "And who might you be? What is your purpose foring here sote at night, young man?" One of the receptionists, with a pretty face and shoulder-length smooth and wavy golden hair, spoke up in a pleasant tone while looking at Vincent with a friendly gaze. A desk separated Vincent and the receptionist with a pretty face. Upon the desk, a fewputerized holographic technologies were ced next to each other. There was also an orb with a mysterious feel to it. "Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Vincent, and I am here to register as an adventurer urgently," Vincent answered in a formal tone and with a pleasant smile on his face as he stood before the reception. Thedy was slightly surprised as to why a young boy hase to register as an adventurer. She thought, ''Maybe he is facing financial problems?'' "My name''s Lorraine. But you can call me Lori." After she said those words, she put forward one of her hands. "Then, please provide me with your ID card." "Uh, where did I put it Got it! Miss Lori, here you go." Vincent pulled out his ID card from his deted wallet and handed it over to her. This just ascertained her doubts that he was poor and wanted to be an adventurer to earn money. "This will take a second," Lorraine said as she powered on the device mainly used to register a person as an adventurer. A holographic screen got projected in mid-air once she switched on the technology. A momentter, she inserted his ID card in one of the three empty slots of one of the many ball-like machines. Immediately after, her eyes blinked in surprise as information about Vincent popped up on the holographic screen. [Data found] Name: Vincent Sangue Status: Honorary Noble (Low-ss) Specialty: Unknown Evolutionary stage: Unknown Father: Aaron Sangue (Deceased) Mother: Jennifer Sangue (Deceased) [Caution: Treat this person with respect!] She was surprised to found out that he was an honorary noble. It was a title usually granted to war orphans whose parents have performed significant deeds of glory in the war before dying. "Okay, then Vincent, please ce your hand onto this orb. It''ll determine the power level of your ability by scanning the amount of ability cell present in your body." Lorraine exined. When ability cell multiplies to a certain amount, a person awakens an ability. The more ability cells a person possess, the higher the rank of his ability. The ability cells grow by consuming evolutionary materials. The typical evolution material a person can consume is beast''s meat, magic herbs, and magic nts that suit their ability cells. A person''s ability is drastically enhanced each time there''s a growth in their ability cells. "Okay." Following Lorraine''s instructions, Vincent ced his hand on the crystal ball, and words began appearing inside the crystal ball. [Ability: None] Vincent knew that he didn''t even have a hint of ability in his body. However, he was hopeful that the information presented by the blood evolution system was wrong. Still, concrete evidence was now right in front of his eyes, and he could no longer deny the inevitable truth. Nevertheless, he hasn''t lost any determination. There was another way to gain an ability, after all, and although it was riddled with deadly dangers, Vincent''s had decided to walk this path of thorny roses. Meanwhile, Lorraine''s expression suddenly changed upon seeing the information in the crystal ball as she thought about it, ''Money must be the reason why this young boy in his teenage without an ability hase to register as an adventurer.'' "I don''t have an ability. Will that be a problem?" Vincent asked Lorraine upon seeing her silence and troubled expression. She replied: "Sadly, it will now be troublesome for you to acquire an adventure license." "Can you tell me exactly how troublesome it will be?" "First off, just like any other person, you will need to have adequate knowledge of one of the new world''s professions and prove yourself as a specialist through a pulsory" written exam. Then, since you don''t have a supernatural ability, you will need to pass the adventure association''s registration examinations the old-fashioned way. You''ll need to prove that you''re an F-rankbatant by battling an examiner. It''s a choice that many ability users also take. Both the examinations are simple, however. Do you specialize in any new world''s professions?" Loraine asked as she looked for any change in Vincent''s expression. ording to her, since Vincent was but a young boy, there is a meager chance of him having learned any new world''s professional. The time needed to understand the new world''s profession isparable to the old world''s profession, after all. Then again, she was worried that he''d leave the guild disappointed. "I am an inscriptionist." Vincent''s answer was contrary to what she expected. Yet, she was pleased. "Then we''ll first check your knowledge. Then an instructor will test yourbat prowess. Yourbat prowess will be determined by the grade you receive in the tests. If you have any questions, then now''s the time to ask," Lorraine said. "I do have some questions." Vincent and the receptionist talked as she provided answers to him. Vincent came to find out that at first, the adventure association used to use energy gaugers to determine a person''sbat prowess based on the units of magic power and battle energy. Still, it was soon discovered that anyone could fake his results by injecting a tremendous amount of magic power or battle energy in their body just a few minutes before the energy gauging registration test. Typically, a person''s heart will be able to retain a certain amount of magic power naturally. This amount can increase through awakening as new organs that can contain energy are produced. Simrly, a person will train his vessel to produce and contain battle energy. That''s what Vincent did. However, due to the bad guys, who cheated in the past, he''s the one suffering right now. He just wanted to be done with the test as fast as he can, but now he''ll have to fight for the adventure''s license. Chapter 11 - 11: Specialization Test "Is there anything else you want to ask about?" Lorraine asked. "Thanks, that was all. But I will trouble you to direct me to the examination center as this is my first time here, and I don''t know my way around this ce," Vincent said as Lorraine nodded. Lorraine looked at Vincent with a smile. "No worries. Just follow me, and I''ll bring you to the exam center." "Okay," "Hry, cover for me for a while," Lorraine said to her colleague. "Alright but don''t forget to treat me,ter," Hiry replied. Vincent followed along as they walked towards the elevator. They arrived on the 6th floor after taking the elevator. Then, as they arrived at the specialist''s examination room, Vincent saw a row of tables and chairs. Except for them, only a middle-aged man with a schrly look could be seenzily sitting in a chair in this room, and he didn''t even turn to look in their direction as if he didn''t notice them entering the room. "Hello, Old Jack!" Lorraine eximed. The middle-aged man was shaken up from his dreamy state, and hezily nced in their direction, and said, "What brings you here, sote at night?" Jack is the supervisor for the first test. He likes to work night shifts as there''s a lot of time to ck off. Night''s the time when only a low amount of individuals visit the adventure association. "This boy here wants to take the examination. I''ll leave him in your care. If he passes then take him to thebat examination center." She said before smiling towards Vincent. "I''ll be in the registration office. If you need help with anything, don''t hesitate to bother me." Vincent nodded. Then, Lorraine stepped out of the room and took the elevator to return to the first floor, and she then returned to her workspace. Meanwhile, Jack carefully sized up Vincent and after a while, he asked, "What do you specialize in?" "I wish to participate in the inscription specialization exam," Vincent replied. Jack felt that this youth in front of him must be joking. To specialize in inscriptions, one would need to memorize over 30 books. It was already hard to purchase such books and even harder to memorize those books, but a person also needs to be able to inscribe them to pass the exam. How could a person so young, be able to memorize and inscribe inscriptions? Old Jack gazes at Vincent incredulously. "Are you sure? The exam set by the adventures association isn''t easy to pass. First, I would ask you questions. The questions can only be answered by a participant who truly understands all the contents of the inscription. Then, you need to draw different kinds of inscriptions within a certain time limit. Otherwise, you will fail and won''t be able to try this registration exam for six months," he said seriously. If Vincent fails to pass the adventure association registration examination, then he won''t be able to take the same test for six months. However, he was confident in his ability and knowledge. "Yes, sir, I am sure." Vincent nodded seriously. "As long as all these questions are about inscriptions, I can easily provide an answer." "Since you are confident, it must mean that you are have prepared for this. Just take a seat anywhere, and we''ll begin the exam," Jack said. "Do I need to take off my backpack?" "Nah, there is no need. My eyes will be focused on you the entire time, so you better no cheat. Otherwise, you''ll be automatically disqualified." "I understand," Vincent said as he walked to the nearest chair and sat on it. "I will ask five questions. If you can provide three correct answers then we''ll move to the next stage." Jack said, "What is an inscription and how is it created?" "Inscription is a type of expendable weapon created by using a beast''s heart blood and its energy core," Vincent answered. He continued by providing the answer to the second question: "First, a beast''s heart blood is used to inscribe inscription patterns. Then, a suitable energy core is integrating into the inscription toplete it. For example, energy cores rted to me and heat arepatible with fire inscription." "All right! Question two. Name two types of things that can be created by using inscriptions? Also, briefly exin the method of their creation. "They are beast''s equipment and talisman. A weapon or armor gains a special effect once an inscription is sessfully inscribed on them. Simrly, if a person draws an inscription on a piece of paper made out of energy conducting wood, he can create a talisman." "What affects the quality of an inscription?" "An inscription is made up of many inscription patterns. If the patterns aren''t inscribed correctly, the quality of the inscription decreases." "Define three different grades of inscription." "No.1: Enchantment-Grade Inscription: Inscribed on armor or weapons to give them special effects. The special effectsst until the inscription is damaged. The help of an inscriptionist is necessary to repair inscription patterns. ?No.2: Magic-Grade Inscription: Created by Inscribing a magic technique in the scroll. It can be quickly activated during battle to hurl a fireball at the opponent or create a shield to defend from the opponent''s attack. ?No.3: Auxiliary-Grade Inscription: Inscription created to be used for auxiliary purposes such as instant clean,munication, voice recording, and image recording, etc are defined as Auxiliary-Grade Inscription? After hearing Vincent''s exnation, Old Jack beamed a smile. His words were clear and concise and easily understandable. That just proves his perfect knowledge of the subject of inscription. "Good! Good! Let me ask you these two hard question ''when inscriptions were first introduced, there were ssified into five grades each vastly different than the others. However,ter on, one grade was banned. Which one is it? Why did the Earth Federation ban the practice and creation of this type of inscriptions?''" Old Jack was impressed with Vincent, and he asked a difficult and a disgusting questions in excitement. Vincent considered for a moment and replied, "It was the Cursive-Grade inscription. Cursive-grade inscriptions create Cursive-grade weapons and talismans. They were considered the strongest type, also. However, the materials were only obtainable through the dead bodies of tortured humans and demi-humans. That''s why there were banned." Old Jack nodded his head in improvement. He had started to view Vincent in another light. It wasn''t a daily urrence to meet a talented and knowledgeable youth in the middle of the night. Old Jack questioned him several dozen more times, but each time Vincent provided him with an urate answer. Jack''s eyes opened wide like saucers with his jaws threatening to touch the ground and his eyes threatening to pop out of their sockets as he was shocked to know that Vincent, a young boy is more knowledgeable than a professional inscriptionist. "You have passed the first part of this test with full marks. Now, you just need to draw one correct inscription out of three to pass the second part. It has a time limit of thirty minutes." Old Jack said before he walked up to him, and passed a question sheet. Vincent took it and read the questions. He needed to draw the inscription patterns of three distinct grades to pass with full marks. Under the scrutinizing gaze of Old Jack, Vincent took the ink brush that was on top of the table and dipped it in the ck inkpot. The moment it was stained with sufficient ink, he pulled it out and started to fill the answer sheet with answers. The time limit of the test was thirty minutes, but Vincentpleted the test in around 17 minutes. He purposely draws the shortest and easiest inscriptions of different grades as he wanted to be done with this test as soon and as fast as he can. "I''m done," Vincent said as he handed over the answer sheet to Old Jack. From the movement of Vincent''s hands, Old Jack had already determined that he had passed as he was looking only at his hand movements throughout the span of 17 minutes. However, he still stared at the inscriptions drawn by Vincent, one by one, before he exposed a smile. "Boy, you could be an expert painter with a little bit of training." Old Jack congratted Vincent, "Congrattions! All the answers are right. You have passed this test with full marks." Vincent smiled. It wouldn''t be a lie to say that he was feeling a little bit prideful and happy. The years of hard work have finally paid off. He has been studying inscriptions ever since he was four years old, and then he thanked Old Miller from the bottom of his heart, as he truly taught the essence of inscription to him. Chapter 12 - 12: Combat Test "Follow me. I''ll lead you to thebat testing center, where you''ll fight with an examiner." Jack said. Normally, he would not be kind enough to bring a kid to another testing center. He was azy man, after all, but impressed by Vincent''s knowledge, Jack personally led him to the next testing center. After a while, both of them arrived at thebat testing center. A huge stage was set in the center of thebat room, and a person was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the arena. Vincent was quite familiar with the person. It was Theodore, after all. "Hey, where''s Yale, and who are you?" Old Jack asked. "He is on leave, and I am his recement just for today," Theodore said before looking at Vincent. "I suppose you''ve passed the first test. Are you here for thebat test?" "Yeah, I am," Vincent replied. "He also obtained full Marks," Jack added. Theodore was a little bit shocked to hear that but there wasn''t a single change in his expression. Meanwhile, Vincent asserted that he will be fighting against him. He wanted to know beforehand what type of ability Theodore possesses to gain an upper hand. Thus, he looked at him and thought about activating the spell matrix of the blood evolution system. The Appraisal spell matrix immediately activated just as it was instructed and a screen appeared right above Theodore''s head. [Name: Theodore Race: Demi-Human Ability: Wood, ?? Level: ??? HP: ??? ??? ??? Error detected: The information provided is iplete as a special item is interfering with the spell matrix] Vincent could only sigh as his n failed. He couldn''t discern how powerful the examiner is from the details provided to him, and this was the first time this happened. Previously, whenever he used this skill on others, urate information of their stats was provided to him, free of cost. He turned to believe that he could use this skill to always obtain information which mostly proves to be quite handy. Now, however, he realized that special items would block inspections. "Come on stage," Theodore said as he stood up and gestured to Vincent toe on stage. "Sure," Vincent said as he ced his backpack and dagger on the ground before stepping onto the stage. "Since you''ve passed the first test with full marks, you just need to pass thisbat test with an F-grade to be an adventurer. The rules of this test are simple. No weapons allowed. You can use your ability, techniques, and martial arts, however. I''ll evaluate your performance. I know that there''s a big gap between you and me, so I''ll y at your level. You can attack me first, whenever you''re ready," Theodore said as the corner of his lips lifted into a slight smile. As soon as he heard his words, Vincent''s worries faded. Theodore will be limiting his strength to his level, after all. Plus, this was also a good chance to see how he fares against a powerfulbatant whose power even the system couldn''t determine. "Will you be fighting while blindfolded?" Vincent asked. "Yes, but don''t worry about it as I can see clearly by using energy sense. Just go all out," Theodore replied. "Okay, I''ll begin!" Immediately after, Vincent covered the distance between them with a few steps before throwing a few punches towards him. Theodore smirked and countered by hitting the his wrist to deflect the punches. He threw a punch, which Theodore easily deflected. However, in the very next split of a second, Vincent legshed out like a whip to kick him on the head. Theodore, on the other hand, struck his raising leg with a palm chop to deflect the ferocious kick. ''Let''s see how he reacts to my attacks,'' Theodore thought as he kicked towards Vincent''s stomach, the impact causing the young man to be forced to slid back. "If that''s all you have then you''re going to fail this test," he said to the young man while shing a sharp, mocking smile. "I will show you what I got," Vincent replied as he gestured to Theodore to attack. He dashed forward and punched towards his face as Vincent dodged by bending forward, such that the strands of his loosely tied ck hair were touching the floor and his chest and torso were parallel to his long legs, and at the same time, with a backward leg swing, Vincent''s flexible right leg moved atop his body, and came crashing downwards towards Theodore''s head at an unthinkable angle. Just when the kick was about tond on his head, he reflexively crossed his arms above his head as he blocked. BAM! Although Theodore blocked his overhead kick, he didn''t get to rejoice for even a second or make a counterattack as a great wave of battle energy traveled from Vincent''s leg and mmed into him. Theodore''s body jerked slightly as he felt as if a heavy boulder crashed atop him. His knees bent and cracks cropped up on the arena''s surface. ''He went from 0 to full throttle in a single moment and the double impact from a single strike... this can only be done if a person learns the transcendent-gradebat technique, Viper Hunt. This boy''s talent as a Battle Master is amazing!'' Theodore thought with gritted teeth as his muscles bulged. This transcendental-gradebat technique that Vincent just utilized has caught him by surprise. Viper Hunt uses battle energy to create a second impact with every strike. This was Vincent''s first trump card. ''It didn''t m him on the ground?! This guy is a monster,'' Vincent thought as he followed along with the momentum and spun around tond a kick on his chest. "Your flexibility is extraordinary but yourbat technique to create two impacts in a single strike is even better. You''ve learned Viper Hunt... considering your age, that''s pretty impressive!" Theodore evaluated as he quickly jumped back to dodge his kick. It was a foolish decision to fight Vincent in closebat, after all. Defending was pretty much useless as each time Vincent''s strikends, battle energy would m him after a moment dy. That means being dealt with the same amount of damage even if he were to block or deflect the attacks. ''This person is dangerous,'' Vincent thought as the uracy of Theodore''s words made his eyes flinch. Normally, it would take a while for an expertbatant to understand the cause of the second impact, but Theodore discerned it instantly after being caught off guard only once. "Be careful!" An instant after his warning, woods materialized near Theodore out of nowhere, before bending and stretching, twisting into the shape of sharp spikes floating in mid-air. Then, they burst forth towards Vincent at an incredible speed. Vincent''s eyes widened as he looked at the wooden shards whisking through the air to reach him. "Blinking step!" Immediately after activating this transcendental gradebat technique, the battle energy inside of his body rushed down and infused with Vincent''s legs. With battle energy enhancing his speed, it would not be a lie to say that he easily evaded two out of the three spikes by simply sidestepping. Bam! After dodging the first two, Vincent punched the side of thest wood spike. The resulting impact caused the spike to explode into shards of wood bursting outwards. By the time Vincent retracted his punch, Theodore was preparing an even stronger attack. "Oh, no, you won''t!" Vincent said as he quickly balled his right hand into a fist. ''What is he doing?'' Theodore thought as he looked at Vincent. Vincent fueled the strength of his fist with battle energy, causing the surroundings surrounding topress tightly. Then, heunched his fist towards the ground. As soon as Vincent powered up his transcendental-gradebat technique, the eyes of Jack widened to look like saucers with his jaws threatening to drop to the ground as he looked at Vincent with a surprised expression. "Charged strike! This boy is full of surprises." Old Jack''s eyes narrowed as he witnessed Vincent executing the charged strike. He knew that although this martial art was something only battle master could learn, it required the user to have a strong body so that the bones won''t be crushed under the pressure generated by the condensation of more than ten units of battle energy in a single fist. Vincent''s strike touched the ground, and the resulting impact left arge crater, raised clouds of dust, and caused a shockwave to spread throughout the arena. Caught off guard, Theodore lost his bnce and the channeling of his ability was disturbed. ''Why would he use such an attack that consumes a lot of battle? Hmm, why can''t I sense where he is? What is he aiming for?'' Theodore thought with a slight frown as he stood before the debris of cloud. He was using energy to sense Vincent''s location, but now the dust particles Vincent intentionally raised were interfering with his sense of detection. ''Damn! There are only a few units of battle energy left in my body. I can sneak attack him by using the cloud of dust to my advantage. I must give my all in thisst strike," Vincent thought as he knew that the dust particles were interfering with Theodore''s energy sensing technique. Furthermore, Vincent also utilized a unique breathing pattern to lower his presence to the minimum level whilst using Blinking Step to nullify the sound of footsteps while rushing through the cloud of dust to reach Theodore. Although Theodore''sbat experience surpassed Vincent''sbat experience by a wide margin and also the fact that his senses could catch on to the sounds of footsteps even while suppressing his strength to Vincent''s level, he was still caught off-guard by Vincent''s strategy as he was not able to hear the sound of footsteps or locate his position by sensing his presence. Before Theodore could even realize what Vincent was up to, out of the clouds of dust, Vincent emerged as he finally twisted his body and hurled a fist with increased momentum towards Theodore''s face. ''You fell for it. I got you!'' Vincent thought as he was certain that there is no way to evade this surprise attack from such a close range. ''Fast.'' Theodore thought as he felt the wind generated by Vincent''s punch creeping closer by a fraction of a centimeter within several milliseconds. ''But not fast enough!'' Just when the punch was about to strike his face, Theodore took a step back and lifted his palms, grabbing hold of Vincent''s arm, instantly stopping him in ce. Then, with a slight twist of the body and a slight raise of the hands, Theodore raised Vincent above the ground before smashing him onto the ground. Bam! His back crashed on the ground with an impressive thud. "Ah!" Vincent moaned in pain, feeling terrible pain burning his back. Meanwhile, Theodore''s fist stopped just before his face, signifying that he lost this battle. ''I lost,'' Vincent thought as his expression was shown on his face. "Alright, you pass." "Huh?" Theodore helped Vincent stand up. Then, he exined, "Your flexibility and speed are better than most E-rank explorers, and your sense ofbat is terrifying for your age. I nearly believed that I was hallucinating when I saw you using four different transcendental gradebat techniques CBlinking Step, a unique breathing method to hide your presence, Charged Strike, and Viper Hunt. The first threebat techniques were executed perfectly. However, you messed up while executing Viper Hunt. Since you made a single mistake, I''ll give you an E grade." The result was better than he expected. However, he was confused as to why Theodore said he made a mistake when ording to him, he had executed Viper Hunt perfectly. "Eh, can you tell me what mistake I made?" Vincent asked. "Viper Hunt is a technique that''s inflicted by a person''s disposition. A change in disposition brings about an instant change in the technique even if barely discernable. When executing this technique, you must remember you''re the hunter, not the prey. A hunter never shows his desperation, only the prey is desperate to survive, yet you were desperate to win. That''s the mistake you made. Do you understand?" Theodore said with a smile. Theodore was right. He really was desperate to be an adventure. "I understand. Thank you for your teachings," Vincent nodded in gratitude. "You''re too humble," Theodore said. After Vincent wore his backpack and fastened the dagger on his belt, Old Jack said, "Haha, nice boy, you got full marks on the specialization test and an E-grade on thebat test. You head to the lobby while I will go and tell Lorraine to register you as a D-rank explorer." Adventurers are divided into two major ranks. Travelers and Explorers. Travelers can use the teleportation gateways to teleports to different worlds, while explorers can also ess the teleporters, but they are limited to traveling to different ces, such as Fortress''s established on Wilderness and other cities on the other side of the world. "Okay, but I don''t know where the lobby is so I will wait by the registration office," Vincent said as they stepped out of thebat center. "Since we''re heading the same way, let''s go together." Old Jack replied. Vincent and Old Jack left while Theodore sat down on the ground and took off his blindfold, revealing eyes glittering in emerald hue. ''It was no wonder that my eyes shown in the light of fate. This encounter was indeed fruitful. It''s good that I paid a handsome amount of money to Yale and bribed him to take a day off, and became his recement." Theodore''s lips thinned into a smile. "Vincent this boy is gifted as abatant With a little bit of guidance, he''ll climb up thedder. Then, among the new generation of the Truemight family, no one else except Nevis would be his equal as a battle master.'' Theodore possessed special eyes. If they glow green then it means it''s something fruitful. The brighter the glow, the more meaningful the encounter will be. His eyes attracted him to this ce, in search of someone who he was sure is Vincent. Chapter 13 - 13: Teleporter "You''ll have to wait for some time as it will take a while for your license to be approved." Old Jack asked, "How abouting early in the morning to get it?" "It''s okay, I''ll be waiting here," Vincent replied. "Fine then," Jack said before entering the registration office and notifying Lorraine that Vincent has passed the tests. Meanwhile, Vincent sat on the chair ced near the registration office. In his fight against Theodore, he has exhausted all of his battle energy. Magic power is present everywhere on Earth, and a person only needs to breathe or rest to restore it. In contrast, battle energy required the execution of unique breathing patterns to be restored. Thus, he breathed in a unique rhythmic method to restore his battle power. It was being restored by a few units every several minutes, and it seems like it was gonna take a while for it to restore to the limits of his body. A whileter, Vincent saw Lorraine walking towards him with a smile. She handed him a card and a guidebook. "Here''s your adventurer license. You can ess different facilities meant for adventures by using your license. While you can use this book to know your way around the adventure association and its facilities." Lorraine exined the advantages of bing an adventurer to Vincent. [Name: Vincent Sangue Age: 16 Rank: D-rank explorer Specialty: Inscriptionist] The rank of an adventurer was divided intos explorer and space traveler. Each rank was further divided into F to S. F being the weakest and S being the strongest. An adventurer could increase his rank bypleting missions issued by the adventure association. "Since I am an adventure, I can use the teleporters to travel from one ce to another, right?" Vincent asked as he stored the ID in his pocket. "Yes, however, although you''ve permission to go almost anywhere on Earth without a visa, you can''t travel to other worlds without a visa. After all, you''re only a low-ranked explorers. However, you can explore others by using our teleportation service without a visa once you be a space traveler ranked adventurer," Lorraine exined calmly. "What do I need to do to increase my adventurer''s rank?" "You will need toplete missions issued by the adventure association." "I understand," Vincent nodded. "Be careful not to lose your license. If you somehow lose it, you must inform the adventure association immediately." Lorraine warned. "Why?" Vincent asked with a curious expression. "First of all, it''s costly to apply for a new license. Second, someone can use your license tomit evil deeds under your name, and that''llnd you in a lot of trouble. But if you inform us immediately then your license will be revoked, saving you and us a lot of trouble." Lorraine exined as she looked at him with a serious expression on her face. Vincent knew that bad and evil people exist everywhere in the world. An adventure license could be used to scam someone and even be used to take advantage of someone''s immaturity. For example, amoner with no hope of bing an adventurer would be awed if an adventure favors him, and then that adventurer can take advantage of that person in various ways, and thus, it was illegal and a crime for adventurers to groom or mislead non-adventurers. "If such a situation ever urred I will do as you say." Vincent thanked Lorraine and excused himself. The guidebook contained a map of the entire adventure association and its facilities. Thus, Vincent opened the guidebook and used the mentioned route to reach the resting area. Then, he sat down on a sofa and began to earnestly read it all. "Let''s see what benefits I got from bing an adventurer. Hmm, I have free ess to most of the services provided by the adventure association. I can use the auction to purchase the items I want and sell the items I do not need. Information can be legally bought from brokers, but I don''t think anyone will be selling information about a treasure filled with life force. Lastly, I can use teleporters for free but only three times. Then I will have to pay for the teleportation bill. For now, I should hurry and teleport to the Silver Moon Ind," Vincent thought before he walked towards the teleportation section of this branch of adventure association. Soon after, he reached the teleportation section. This section was well-decorated with golden tiles and luxury paintings. Once he tried to use one of the teleportation devices, his request was denied. The reason being that he could only go to the silver moon ind if he epts a quest rted to that ce. ''If I want to teleport to the ind, I first need to ept a mission. Furthermore, I will be punished if I fail toplete the mission in seven days. Ugh, what a shitty rule." Vincent rolled his eyes in frustration. "Let''s be positive about it. Do everything calmly," he said to calm himself before he looked around to take a mission. The ce was filled with electronic disys, also called mission boards, which showed what missions have not beenpleted, the newly published missions, the expired missions, and the recentlypleted missions. ''It should be fine if I ept a mission to gather magic herbs that is easy toplete. I will be able to experience what it feels like toplete a mission and be rewarded, after all. Furthermore, it won''t be time consuming!'' Vincent was interested inpleting such a mission as it would be easy to gather magic herbs while roaming around the ind to look for the thing that''ll help Le. He began looking through most of the missions that were requested by the residence of the Cloud Tower City, but he was met with disappointment as most of the missions were rted to bringing back beasts, alive or dead, but he didn''t have anything to carry the huge corpses of beasts. He only had a small backpack that could store several average-sized magical herbs, and it also takes a lot of time to hunt down the beasts, thus, he almost lost all interest in epting a mission, when suddenly, just as he was about to look away from the mission boards, his gaze stopped at a particr mission that he could easilyplete. [Forger Uto has issued a collecting request for Purple Poison Grass which can be found in Silver Moon Ind. Conditions: Purple Poison Grass20 Rewards: 100 magic power stone (low-level) Danger level: D-] ''This mission isn''t hard as I heard that no beasts guard these grasses as they are inedible even by beasts'' standards. The reward of this mission isn''t half bad, moreover. It doesn''t sh with my main reason for going there, either. I canplete this mission while roaming around the ind,'' Vincent thought as he walked to the receptionist. Magic stones are stones that contain magic power. It''s used to restore magic power. It''s not useful on Earth. However, it''s useful in worlds and ces with no magic power. The only way to recover magic power in such ces was to use magic stones and simr products. "Miss, I would like to ept this quest," Vincent said to the beautiful receptionist. The receptionist said, "Are you sure? You might think it''s easy but there''s a huge chance of encountering deadly magical beasts while roaming around the ind." "I am sure as I have ways to evade such encounters." "Okay then, please show me your adventure license." The receptionist said, "I need to verify that you''re eligible for this mission." The mission an adventurer could ept was limited by his rank. As a D-rank explorer, Vincent can only ept a mission with a danger rating of F to D. "Here you go," Vincent said as he gave his license to the beautiful receptionist. "The mission has been assigned to you. The maximum time limit of this mission is one week, and you need to hand us the requested item within seven days. Otherwise, not only will your mission be invalid, but you will also receive a penalty." The receptionist said as she returned his adventure license. "What kind of penalty?" Vincent asked. "You won''t be able to ept any mission for a week, and the penalty will get worse if you fail three missions in a row." The receptionist said, "Remember to give the requested item to any receptionist of the mission clearance section after you finish collecting. They will hand you the reward." "Alright, I will," Vincent said before he walked towards the nearest teleporter. His eyes widened as he saw a familiar figure in his sight. "Theodore, what are you doing here?" Vincent said as he saw Theodore entering through the door and walking towards one of the many teleporters. "Oh, you''re also here," Theodore said. "My mission to supervise thebat tests ispleted, and now I am just going back home. What about you, where are you going?" "To the silver moon ind, to hunt down beasts and get some herbs, that''s about it, I guess." "Be careful not to venture too deep into the Silver Moon ind as a lot of powerful beasts resides in the central region," Theodore warned. "See you soon!" He added with a mysterious smile before he stepped inside the portal which had generated in the center of the teleporter. "Goodbye!" The teleporter was in the shape of a triangle two times bigger than an average human. It was covered with silicone rubber. A panel was attached to the teleporter. A person can choose which city''s or ce teleportation section they want to go to by inputting the information on the panel. Teleporters could open a portal to other teleporters. For example, if there were teleporter at points A, B to Z. Then you could go from point A to any points and vice versa. The teleporters of adventure association building followed the rule of self-service. He was expected to do everything by himself, but as he has read the guidebook, he knew what to do. As Vincent gained ess to the teleporter by using his adventure license, the silicone rubber sealing the teleporter immediately vanished. Then he inputted his desired location on the panel and a portal to the Fortress established in the Silver Moon Ind generated in the center. A second after entering the portal, Vincent found himself in the teleportation section of the Fortress established in Silver Moon Ind. Fortresses are ces heavily guarded by soldiers. They are usually established in Earth''s Wilderness, ces where beasts and monster resides, as safe points for adventures whether they be explorers or travelers. The teleporters are also set up in the teleportation section of the fortress. Except for keeping the beasts outside of the fortress walls, the soldiers guarding the fortress also save teleporters from being harmed or worse, destroyed by a maniac. Chapter 14 - 14: Fortress Looking around, Vincent saw that most of the soldiers and guards who were patrolling around this and the nearby sectors were Demi-Humans and only some of them were purely human, and although they belonged to different races, there wasn''t a single hint of racism present as they interacted with each other like friends and brothers. "After decades ofmunication, promotion of healthy rtions, interaction, and interracial marriages, Beast-kin, Elf''s, and other races weren''t umon on Earth. That''s why although cases of racial discrimination exist, they were rather umon and mostly tied with the terrorist organization, Sunsuhan. It''s conspired of humans, who believe that humans are greater than demi-humans and that humans should be the Masters of all other races, be it demi-humans or subspecies." Vincent thought as he walked out of the internal section of the fortress established in the southern region of Silver Moon Ind. The internal section of the fortress contains various sectors, where an adventure could trade or use teleporters, but the external section can be seen as a general residential area. One could see various buildings, each of simr shape and designs yet different sizes, and as Vincent was stepping towards the external section, he came across a series of automatic tform gates set across a line stretching from one end to another, stopping unauthorized entry. A hologram popped out of the panel attached to the tform gate once Vincent stood before it. Not at all surprised, Vincent calmly waited for it to finish what it has started to say, ?Please swipe your adventure license on the scanner attached to the automatic tform gate. That way, our system will verify that you''re residing in one of the fortresses established In Silver Moon Ind. This status must be refreshed every three months. If in case you''re out in the wilderness for more than that amount of time, then a rescue party will be dispatched in search of you, to confirm whether you''re alive or dead? Following the instructions provided by the automatic system, Vincent ced his card on the scanner and then a new automated dialogue yed out of the hologram floating above the panel. ?Authorization Confirmed! Detected that the user is a new adventure and a map of the Silver Moon Ind doesn''t exist in your adventure license. Would you like to obtain one?? Commonly, maps of wilderness are outlined, created through intense information, and sold by adventurers. Adventure association has purchased shares of such maps, and newly registered adventures possessed the one-time privilege to freely obtain a map of any Wilderness,pleted or otherwise in the beta process, as long as it''s a part of Earth. Basically, Vincent didn''t need to pay a single cent for this map. Knowing that he merrily agreed. "If it''s free of cost then yes," Vincent replied. ?The map of Silver Moon Ind has been installed in your adventure license? Vincent grabbed his license from the scanner before walking through the open gates and as he was heading inside, his eyes turned down to notice the difference in the license. [Map C Project a hologram, which disys a map of Silver Moon Ind as well as your location, and the fortresses established in this ce] As the name suggested, a hologram showing the map of the ind projected out of Vincent''s adventure license uponmand. A white arrow-shaped icon represented him, while green gs represented the fortresses. The rest was covered in red representing the danger posed by the wilderness. The map allowed Vincent to see a better picture of the ind as well as the fortresses established in different regions of the ind. "This will help me tremendously out in the wilderness, and now I also understand that I don''t necessarily need to return to this ce once I am done with my tasks. If I am too far away from this fortress, then choosing a fortress near my then location will suffice to return to the Cloud Tower City." Vincent chuckled slightly seeing six fortresses established in different regions of the ind. As Vincent walked past the residential areas, huge walls of irons, enclosing the entire fortress, created for the sole purpose of defending against beasts'' stampede could be seen. Various types of weapons were ced on top of the walls as soldiers stood near the weapons or strolled near the base. Not many adventures were stepping out of the fortress since it was the middle of the night as it is the time of the day when the powerful beasts are the most active. Although dangerous for others, this situation didn''t pose much danger to Vincent as he could use magic resonating eyes to scout for uing danger. His only problem left was the limited amount of time. In only a day, not only does he need to get a magical herb or simr treasure radiating with life force but he must also make it back in time and give it to Leni. While it may not be too hard to locate the herb for Leni and the poisonous grasses for his mission, trying to take the aforementioned one would be the hardest part. He could search for a magical herb with life force out in the wild, but there was always a very high chance that a beast or a whole lot of them, would be guarding it. Beasts were attracted to treasures with life force, after all. With all things set in ce, Vincent sprinted out of the southern entrance of the fortress before heading a little bit deeper into the wilderness dotted with trees, and he then performed hand signs at an adequate speed, circting the magic power stored in his heart through the veins, and created several pairs of magic resonating eyes which wandered off to different directions in search of treasures and to alert Vincent of danger. Chapter 15 - 15: Encounter He spent several hours, sprinting carefully through the tree-dotted greenery, jumping from one branch of a tree to another just like a ninja whilst perceiving the information provided by the several sets of magic resonating eyes roaming around the greenery, each on an individual path, and although the information wasprehensible, it was a hard task to control so many eyes for a long time and proved to be mentally taxing for Vincent. It was slowly and steadily putting a strain on his brain and he calcted that an hourter, he will be assaulted with slight dizziness C the most basic side effect resulted from the overuse of this magic technique. Nevertheless, it was pretty useful in the wilderness, as Vincent was alerted of danger beforehand multiple times, and he managed to hide behind a boulder, outcropping, and tree trunk just in time as massive beasts with thick hides and terrifying auras moved past. Apart from the massive beasts that he hid from, the magic resonating eyes also transmitted him the location of some bountiful magic herbs and magic nts. However, they were either guarded byrge flocks of mutated sheep or a small group of scaled panthers, which in the case of Vincent were not only extremely hard to kill but impossible to survive against. "Although all of them are low-level beasts, I will be the one to suffer from initiating the battle as they are in a group while I am all alone. Furthermore, my current skill set isn''t good against arge number of beasts. But it''s never toote for an adventurer to take his treasures. One day, once I am powerful enough, I will return to take these treasures," Vincent said as his eyes were masked withyers of greedy currents. Truth is, the treasures guarded by the beasts were too tempting, but realistically, Vincent calcted that he will either die or be severely injured if he were to fetch the treasure. Hence, Vincent chose not to engagerge or small groups of beasts as he''ll most likely be overwhelmed due to hisck of area of effect skills. Heforted himself by thinking that if he wanted their treasures, he could alwayse back for themter when he is powerful enough. Furthermore, the magic herbs and magic nts will naturally regrow as magic power was prevalent on this ind. The existence of magic power mutates everything, causing treasures to appear in nature, after all. Furthermore, right now, Vincent''s main focus was on finding the treasure that could help Leni. Besides that, he wanted to kill a beast toplete his heritage mission, and he also wanted to pick up Purple Poison Grass toplete his first mission as an adventurer. Luckily for him, along the way, he discovered several Purple Poison Grass. They were left unguarded as Vincent didn''t see even a single beast or monster around them. It was just like how it was written in the textbooks. These grasses are inedible and thus, even the beasts and monsters don''t share a hint of interest in this magic herb. After being informed that these grasses with crystalline purplish leaves will not poison him as long as he follows certain procedures while plucking them, Vincent walked up to them. Purple Poison Grasses were also a type of magical herb. They possessed a natural defensive system. A poisonous cloud will puff outwards from the crystalline leaves as soon as they''re threatened. ''ording to Blood Evolution System, these grasses are used in the melting of iron, creating poison, or used as an ingredient in many unusual yet effective tonics, and as long as I pull these grasses from their nodes, they won''t puff out poisonous clouds and I won''t be poisoned'' Vincent thought as he carefully plucked several Purple Poison Grass from the ground before storing them in a wooden box ced within his backpack while walking forward through the tree-dotted area. Nearly an hour passed by as Vincent collected more than the necessary amount of Purple Poison grass. ''The Adventure Association mission has finally beenpleted. Sadly, I still haven''t found a lonesome beast that I could defeat easily," Vincent thought as he heads deeper inside the ind. He didn''t encounter any beasts as the area he was currently in was mostly filled with purple poisonous grasses, and thus, it wasrgely vacant of beasts and monsters. There were a few insidious and poisonous snakes hiding under bushes, but his magic resonating eyes alerted him of this danger hidden in the serene, and Vincent took to the trees, jumping from one to another, as he headed further north. The eyes were slithering through the grasses, some were devoured by the snakes, some evaporated into magic power as Vincent lost control of them, while one of the eyes carefully passed through a small opening between a pair ofrge trees, and then all of a sudden, it began to resonate wildly. At that moment, Vincent chanced upon a magic herb brimming with life force and the contour of a somewhat magnificent beast before his magical eyes met its demise under the hooves of that very beast. Vincent''s lips thinned into a smile. He was happy because he has finally found a lonesome beast. But that was just part of the reason for his happiness. The main reason was that he only needed to kill a single beast to activate the Life Spell Matrix and assimte with his family heirloom both of which are clouded in ayer of mystery. He has been really fascinating about this moment for a very long time. After killing the beast, not only would heplete the heritage mission, but he would also procure the item necessary to help Leni. ''It''s killing two birds with one stone.'' Vincent thought as he thought of the paths covered by his magic resonating eye. The magic resonating eye traveled 99 meters to the south of his location when it was suddenly squashed to death. Vincent quickly sprinted towards that ce, and soon, he made it to his destination. He carefully hid behind one of therge trees. Then from his concealed position, Vincent''s head popped out from behind the tree trunk as he furtively stole a nce of the hulking beast through the small opening between the tworge trees. The beasts didn''t notice him, however, as trees were dotted everywhere around the clearing, greatly obscuring its vision. The beast was three and a half meter tall monster with the body of an elephant and darkish red hide. Its thick limbs and broad body posed an all-powerful and imposing aura. A pair of tusk stretched out of each corner of its mouth, while several pairs of firm horns protruded out of its head, glistening under the moonlight ever so often. When Vincent nced at it again, he used the inspect spell matrix of the blood evolution system. [Name: Red-Tusk Elephant Rank: Low-level beast Hp: 100/100 Ability: me Strength: 100 Agility: 10 Constitution: 120 Stamina: 22 Intelligence: 7] ''A powerful creature with excellent defense, powerful strength, and the ability to spew out a fiery st from its mouth. Consume the purified version of its flesh as to gain fire ability cells without harmful mutation,'' a monotone voice rang out in his head. As Vincent went through the analyzed information, he noticed that although this beast possessed excellent strength and was very strong, it was exceedingly slow and low on stamina, mostly because of its size. Plus, its intelligence was simr to that of a young boy. Chapter 16 - 16: Blood Evolution System! The elephant was 10 times stronger than an average human being. Furthermore, its defense was even better than its strength, and although Vincent was only three times stronger than a human, he decided to fight it as he was three times faster than an average human while the elephant was just as fast as an average human. That means he can easily dodge its attack, and also outrun the beast if the situation turns unfavorable. Vincent breathed twice to calm himself and steeled his heart for the very first hunt of his life, before putting the backpack beneath the bushes, and he then clutched both the daggers in his hands before stepping out of his concealed location. "It''s over for the Red Tusk Elephant. It''s too big for its own good. As long as I don''t get hit, I''ll be able to slowly chip away at its health. The battle is in my favor as long as I y my cards right." Vincent''s eyes gave off a calcting flicker while his dagger gleamed threateningly. The beast was big but it was bound to be slow. In front of someone like Vincent who utilizes speed over strength, the elephant was just a creature full of openings and riddled with weakness. "PAWOOOO!" The elephant raised its trunk to sound a battle cry as it charged ahead. Each step it took left behind a deep print on the ground and threw up dirt. Vincent also darted ahead as he slid underneath the belly of the elephant and went past it. At the same time, he shed on the ankles of its hind legs with both of his daggers. Mana Burner couldn''t pierce through its thick hide, however, but a visible gash was made on its hide by the inky, ck dagger, Executioner. "Oh, it can only charge in a single direction because of its huge body. Since that''s the case, I can easily evade by changing my position when it charge," Vincent thought as he evaded the tusks by moving to the left as the elephant smashed into a tree. Outraged, it continuously charged at Vincent, trying to squash him under its meaty limb and trunk and impaling him with its tusks like a mindless beast. However, Vincent dodged every single one of its attacks as if he was able to predict its movements. Not to mention, he also repeatedly shed at the ankles of its hind legs. The first few attacks made with the daggers dealt a little amount of damage to the beast, but as he continuously shed at the same ce, the daggers were able to pierce deeply into its tough skin causing blood to run down from it. The wounds created by the beast''s weapons grew increasinglyrger as the rampaging beast didn''t notice that its health was decreasing unit by unit as blood flowed out of the wounds. "This rampaging beast just might squash the precious herb. I better lead it away from here!" Bam! Bam! Bam! The elephant smashed through a few trees as Vincent led it away from the magic herb filled with life force and his backpack loaded with purple poisonous grasses. Vincent activated his transcendental-gradebat technique, Body Empowering as they reached several meters away from the magic herb. All 30 units of battle energy were consumed as Vincent''s base power temporarily doubled. Previously, Vincent was three times stronger and faster than a human but right now, he was six times stronger and faster. The duration of this skill was only one minute, however. After that, his strength will lower down to his base power. Worst of all, after all that running and attacking he was running low on stamina. ?Stamina: 5/30? "I must end this in one move," Vincent thought as he turned around and charged forward towards the beast, suddenly spinning around to the sides just when he was inches away from being impaled by the elephant''s tusk. Immediately after, he performed magic empowered sh using his inky, ck dagger on the elephant''s hind leg. The power of the dagger increased as it consumed 10 units of mana each. Moreover, the pration effect of Executioner doubled as it was swung with a strength far greater than before. Blood tainted the green grasses as the daggers cut through the elephant''s ankle like a hot knife passing through butter. The Red Tusk Elephant came crashing down hard on the ground as one of its thick feet waspletely chopped off. Its eyes red at Vincent with resentment as me energy quickly gathered at the center of its mouth opened widely. Even after discerning that the beast was about to use its ability, Vincent was not afraid nor worried about anything. "Finally, it''s about to use its ability. I''ve been waiting for this moment for a while." Vincent thought with a calcting smile stered on his face as he started to perform a set of hand signs to channel his magic power into the magic technique "Mana Bullet". Vincent''s eyes narrowed to slits as an enormous amount of magic power burst forth from his forefinger, twirling andpressing, condensing into the shape of a bullet. "Magic Technique: Mana Bullet!" It took a mere split-second for him to create and st the mana bullet at the wide-opened mouth of the beast. WHOOSH! The pale blue bullet, barelyrger than the size of a finger, cut through the air, moving at an incredible speed, whizzed towards the open mouth of the beast with a hissing noise. Poof! The mana bullet prated the iplete fireball, slicing it in two halves. In the very next split of a second, the iplete fireball burst up, creating a fiery explosion in the beast''s mouth. mes gushed down its throat and a powerful cascade of brilliant fiery mes burst out of its mouth. The poor beast was roasted inside and out. THUD! The elephant fell to the ground with an audible thud, roasted through and through. It was cooked, in and out by its own mes. A person has been watching all of this in admiration. "From the very start till the very end, the beast has been dancing in the palm of Vincent''s hand. I only lectured him once about the true essence of Viper Hunt, yet he executed it perfectly a few hourster, excellent!" Theodore''s wooden clone that has been spying on Vincent, said as it started to meld into the tree just a few meters away from the point where Vincent stood. "It won''t be good if I get caught andbeled as a stalker... I should better leave..." Meanwhile, Vincent frowned as he abruptly felt pain assaulting his senses. At least he knew the reason why blood was running down his nose, and why he was feeling tired and drained. The utilization of magic techniques and transcendent gradebat techniques creates a physical and mental drain on one''s body. Using too many could cause adverse effects on the body, muscle pain, headaches, and losing consciousness were the mostmon ones while the rupturing of the heart was among the most severe adverse effects. He was suffering from somewhat mild adverse effects of overusing techniques. Vincent''s vision was turning blurry, as blood was dripping out of his nose and his ck hoodie was being stained scarlet but he didn''t care, for notifications bearing great news has appeared right in front of him. ?The owner has proved himself worthy of the name Sangue by ying the low-level beast, Red Tusk Elephant. You''vepleted the heritage mission. Congrattions, the blood evolution system is assimting with the owner''s body.? The pendant illuminated Vincent in a scarlet hue as he felt like thousands of ants were crawling over his body. The glow dimmed down almost instantly and the difort filling him vanished right after. ?The Blood Evolution System has assimted with the owner? Vincent clutched the ruby pendant worn hanging from his neck as a few more notifications popped up. ? Life Spell Matrix has been activated ? ? Converting Red Tusk Elephant 100 units of Life Force into experience points ? ? You''ve obtained 100 experience points from the beast ? ? Lv 1: 100/100 ? ?You have leveled up ? ? 5 Attribute points obtained ? Chapter 17 - 17: Sangue Famiglia! Vincent calmly read through the notifications one by one, and after thinking about it for several seconds, his eyes brightened in excitement. ''These attribute points can be used to increase my strength. Am I right?'' ?That is correct, Owner. Attributes points can be disturbed into any stats to instantly improve your skeletal structure. However, I advise you to choose wisely as each stat targets a certain part of the body and it can cause an undesirable side effect.? Vincent became excited. First off, he couldmunicate with the system through thoughts as the system can read his mind and also ry a message directly to his head. More importantly, he could increase his strength by using the attribute points. ''Bnce must be necessary, huh?'' Vincent asked as he couldn''t clearly understand thest bit of the words that the Blood Evolution System had said. ?Yes. For example, too much strength can increase the overall consumption of your stamina. Your agility will also be adversely affected as the increase in strength increase your weight. Simrly, if you''re too fast, your body might not be able to endure it, and too much stamina with too little endurance, strength, and speed isn''t exactly useful inbat.? The Blood Evolution System exined as it was supposed to guide its owner on the correct path. ''Well, since you''ve now assimted with me, care to exin exactly who and what are you?'' Vincent asked the system as he sat on the grassy ground. He was exhausted. He began breathing rhythmically to restore his stamina and battle energy. ?I am an artifact created by the first head of the Sangue family. My sole purpose is to help the chosen descendant of the Sangue family to evolve. You are the chosen one. You''re qualified to inherit the legacy of the first head of the Sangue family. ording to the first''s wishes, you must prove yourself worthy. To prove your worth, you have toplete the issued heritage missions. A part of the first''s legacy will be yours once youplete a heritage mission.? ''Chosen for what exactly?'' ?The ninth have selected you for the position of the tenth head of the Sangue family.? This reply was unexpected. ''I always thought my parents were high-ssmoners. Now it seems there is more to it. My father is either rted to the Sangue family or is the ninth. He probably chose me as the tenth. But why did he kept this a secret from me?'' Vincent sighed, ''Anyway, to create something like this, the first head must be extremely powerful. I''ll do my best to prove myself worthy of his legacy. Blood I will be calling you that from now, what''s the deal with the life spell matrix?'' ?It''s a part of the first''s legacy. It''s created to help you be strong. After the owner takes someone''s life, the life spell matrix that''s now a part of your body will automatically activate to absorb the remaining life force from the being you killed. However, the life force obtained from such a method is extremely unstable and in a sense, has a life of its own. Therefore, for it to be used by the owner, the life spell matrix will purify the unstable life force by converting it into experience points.? The Blood Evolution System used simple and general terms for its owner to understand. Vincent''s eyes brightened as he raised his head to look at the first ray of sunlight radiating the cloudy white skies. ''I understand.'' He thought, ''Experience points will then be used to level up, and each time I level up, I''ll obtain attribute points to increase my overall strength. Correct?'' ?Yes, indeed!? Blood evolution system said as Vincent beamed. Although some have a lot while others less, Life Force is undoubtedly present in every living being. Humans, demi-humans, beasts, aliens, and even the Darkin have life force. And now, he possessed the first''s unique power to utilize someone''s very life force after their death for himself. ?But that''s not all. There are various benefits of leveling up. You''ll unlock a certain spell matrix at a certain level, and each one is nearly as unique as the life spell matrix. Besides, you can also use my functions. They are extremely useful.? Blood continued as Vincent restored a huge portion of his stamina and some units of battle energy. ''What? Care to exin?'' Vincent internally said as he also focused on restoring battle energy. ?There are a lot of them, and as exining one by one will take a lot of time, I will like to transmit the information about what type of spell matrices you''ll receive and about my functions directly to your brain. Will you ept?? Blood asked as he thought it would be better to send the information instead of talking about it. ''Yeah, sure,'' Vincent nodded. Then, he felt dizzy as a massive amount of information in the form of video images shed in his brain at once. Consequently, he kneeled down to the ground and ced his hands on the ground to support himself. "This hurts bad," Vincentined. ?My bad, I forgot to remind you that there is a first-time side effect of receiving information through your brain.? Blood said as Vincent recovered from the dizziness and got up. ''No worries, it''s simr to using a public teleporter for the very first time,'' Vincent said with a smile. The earlier images contained detailed information on various spell matrices. He thoroughly understood how these spell matrices will work. It''s definitely because the information had directly be a part of his memory. Thetter images contained information about the functions of the Blood Evolution System. Some of the functions were hard to believe as they werepared to machines created with highly advanced technology. However, these functions required an energy source to activate. "The energy source required to activate Blood''s functions is my experience points, but there''s a free function I can use immediately," Vincent said as he decided to invest his attribute points to increase his overall strength. Chapter 18 - 18: Goodies Vincent decided to add all five of his stat point to agility. It''s because his agility was the main reason as to why he won against the Red Tusk Elephant without getting hurt. Besides, as long as he''s faster than his opponents, he can evade their attacks. That means he won''t get hurt. Furthermore, if he couldn''t hurt or defeat his opponent, he could always run away. ? Agility 35 ? "Wow," Vincent eximed as he was shocked as the effect was instantaneous. If previously he was 3 times faster than an average person then now, he could feel that he was 3.5 times fasterpared to an average person. ?Owner, I see you''re surprised. The attribute points are the condensed form of the purified version of Life Force. Undoubtedly, it''s bound to instantaneously temper and improve your skeleton structure as it''s made from higher grade energy which is far better than magic power.? Blood exined as Vincent''s shock died down and he hurried to the magic herb that was guarded by the Red Tusk Elephant. It was sun-colored ginseng. After the appraisal, Vincent found out that it was 100 years old, but it will increase the lifespan of any human that consumes it by 80-90 years! This treasure that is filled with an impressive amount of Life Force is more than enough to save Leni''s life. He collected this magic herb before collecting his bag. Then he stored the herb inside the bag before walking up to the corpse of the Red Tusk Elephant. "If I were to eat the purified meat of this beast, then I''ll gain fire ability cells. Then by charging them with magic power, I will be able to throw out fireballs, fire arrows, and other attacks made out of the fire. As I continue to evolve, absorbing more purified flesh of fire-type beasts for the growthof my fire ability cells, I would be able to use more and more powerful fire abilities," Vincent said as he blinked hard in consideration. Nowadays, abilities were extremely valuable tools to have. Yet, he didn''t have any. But now, he killed a beast. Once he eats the beast after purification, he''ll gain a fire-based ability. Purification was necessary as otherwise, a person will mutate. After purifying the beast''s meat and eating it, he will gain an elemental ability. However, he was still hesitant. He has heard of powerful beasts with special abilities, and although they were in worlds far beyond Earth, he''ll be able to explore such worlds after joining the military, and eating their purified flesh will grant him a special ability. ?Why are you pondering so hard about it? You''ll soon gain a unique ability, anyway, so you can eat this beast''s purified flesh without hesitation.? Blood said as Vincent stopped pondering over it. ''What do you mean? What kind of unique ability?'' Vincent internally asked as his eyes squinted. ?The owner will know once you level up, I promise! Furthermore, the unique ability won''t conflict with fire ability cells.? Vincent grimaced as Blood suddenly started acting all mysterious. Anyhow, he decided on bing a fire ability user as the fire ability was among the most powerful offensive ability. Though only a magic chef could purify a beast''s meat. That means he needs to pay a certain sum to a person with the magic chef profession before he can proceed with the consumption of the evolution materials. For now, he decided to extract the valuable things from this enormous beast. The mes have burned the beast both internally and externally. However, Vincent assumed that even if all the heart''s blood had evaporated, he might get lucky and get a one or two beast core from its body as the melting point of beast cores was too high up thedder and the mes that killed the beast weren''t powerful enough to melt the core. However, he will have to get his hands dirty, and he was pretty willing to do it. Beast cores have an unlimited amount of uses, after all. There were different types of beast cores, but all of them were extremely valuable and highly sought after. The higher the ss of the beast cores, the more valuable they are. This is because the energy in a beast''s cores bes denser as its ss increases. He only had 100000 federation dors left in his ount. That was the inheritance his parents left for him, but he needed to make a ton of money if he wanted to support himself in the future. It cost a lot to hire a magic chef, after all. Additionally, the resources required to be stronger cost a lot. "Let''s dismantle the beast," Vincent said as he coated Executioner with magic power. Then, he tilted the corpse of the Red Tusk Elephant by using all his strength. Using the tip of his dagger, he easily tore open the soft and cooked breast sections of the beast. By pulling on each side with his hands, he widened the tear. This menial task that is supposed to be done by porter, he did it by himself, for the very first time. Thereafter, he chopped the beast into various parts. Then he searched through the different pieces and the sea of organs to look for beast cores. It was disgusting indeed, and he felt offended by what he was doing, but he suppressed his emotions and continued. After a while, Vincent''s lips thinned into a smile. He finally felt something solid and round in his hand, and he instantly pulled it out. It was a blue-colored stone around the same size as a baby''s fist. This was a magic power core. It is mainly used as a source of energy. But its best use is to create auxiliary-grade inscription. The price of such cores in the market wasn''t bad at all, and he''ll earn a good amount from selling it. Vincent was happy to obtain just this one core. However, a few minutester, he also obtained another one. "An elemental core!" Vincent eximed as he gazed at the fiery crystal held in his hands. He could feel the heat emitting out of it, and it was warming his hands even in this cold winter. ?Item: Red Tusk Elephant elemental core Nature: Fire Effect: It can be integrated into a beast weapon to give it a special effect. It can also be used to create a fire magic scroll? Blood exined as Vincent utilized appraisal. This elemental core will surely go for a huge price in the market. However, Vincent decided to use it to create a fire magic scroll. Magic scrolls weren''t easy to create but they were extremely useful inbat. A fire magic scroll can be a game-changer in a fierce fight. He stored both the cores in the front pockets of his bag. There were dozens of evolution materials sprawled on the ground, but he could only abandon nearly all of them, as he couldn''t carry so many things with him, and in the end, Vincent stored a few evolution materials in his bag until it was full. He wondered if he''ll be able to evolve by consuming the purified version of this bare minimum amount. Whatever! Vincent decided to walk south as a fortress was near in that direction. He only walked a few meters in that direction, when suddenly he heard the rustling of leaves and grasses. He tensed up as it felt as if a beast was creeping up to him! Chapter 19 - 19: Phantom Creeper! Hearing the rustling of the grassesing from behind him, Vincent turned around to stare in that direction with a scrutinizing gaze. Not a single trace of smile was visible on his face as he noticed a squirrel-shaped beast scurrying through the overgrown grass-litterednd, passing one tree after another, and reaching towards him at an amazing speed. Although it had puffy cheeks, the face, and the tail of a squirrel, it was anything else but that. The beast was about half his size, less than a meter tall, with buck teeth that looked sharper than a knife and wed feet. It was covered in silver furs and sprinting on all fours. Its eyes gleamed scarlet as its thick limbs were utilized to their utmost limits. All in order to reach Vincent as fast as it could. While the beast was taking its time to reach him, Vincent decided to use the appraisal spell matrix to get a better knowledge of what this creature is. [Name: Phantom Creeper? Rank: low-level beast ? Hp: 10/10 Ability: none Strength: 10 Agility: 28 Constitution: 17 Stamina: 39 Intelligence: 9] ''I have read about them in the books! Phantom creepers are ferocious beasts that form packs. They usually move in a group of at least three and at most ten. When one appears, then a few mores will most definitely be nearby! A few more might just be in the surrounding. I should hurry up and take care of this one before the restes,'' Vincent thought as he believed that it was better to fight rather than running away. Thoughparing the stats of the beast with his own, Vincent determined that it was nearly as fast as him, and its stamina was far better than him, hence it was highly probable that it''ll catch up to him, but it was weak and easy to kill. Its health point was too low aspared to the Red Tusk elephant. He just needed tond a sure-kill strike. Besides, seeing the stats of the beast, Vincent was ovee with confidence. That''s why he chose to fight. Furthermore, rather than focusing on the one he hadn''t noticed, he considered it to be better to focus on the beast that was closing on him at a rapid phase. Vincent patiently waited for the phantom creeper to enter his attack range with squinted eyes. When the phantom creeper was a few feet away it leaped into the air and opened its mouth wide, revealing yellowish ck, toxic teeth uncleaned for who knows how long that threatened to tear apart Vincent''s neck in a single snap. Vincent almost out of instinct stepped to the side as he evaded the beast''s mouths that snapped mercilessly at thin air. It wasn''t good news for the beast as it has entered his attack range. Vincent timed himself properly and struck out in a sh before the beast could go past him. There was no way for the phantom creeper to dodge as it was still in mid-air and couldn''t change its position. Puchi! Puchi! The inky, ck dagger and aqua blue jeweled dagger in his hands whisked through the air and we''re thrust into the chest and brain of the phantom creeper. His rapid thrusts erupted its heart and punctured its brain at the same time, and then blood gushed out of the wounds, warm and hot blood with a strong stench sprayed all over him and the grassy ground as he quickly pulled out the daggers. The beast howled pitifully for onest time as it copsed to the ground, lifeless. ? You''ve in the low-level beast, Phantom Creeper ? ? 30 exp points gained ? ? Lv 2: 30/200 ? He killed the beast, but at that moment, he didn''t even get the chance to rejoice in his victory as the ever-increasing rustling sounds of the grasses that reached his ears from within the trees and overgrown vines, from far and near, made his body tense up. However, his emotions barely affected his judgment-making skills. He looked towards the sources of the noises and felt a feeling of dread as he saw pair after pair of dark scarlet eyes shone from among the masses of grasses. Chapter 20 - 20: Reaching Lv:3 (1) He looked towards the sources of the noises and felt a feeling of dread as he saw pair after pair of dark scarlet eyes shone from among the masses of grasses. The sight of more than ten phantom creepers scurrying towards him reflected in his eyes. At that very moment, he looked somewhat surprised. His eyes then shone in a thoughtful and calcting glitter as he understood what might have attracted multiple hordes towards this ce. ''I wasn''t careful enough. The blood of the Red Tusk elephant definitely permeated into the surroundings and spread out, reaching far and wide. The scent of blood leaking from the corpse of the Red Tusk Elephant must have attracted multiple hordes of these mutated squirrels,'' Vincent thought as he quickly made a run for it, before the pack of phantom creepers reached near him. He can kill a few of them, and although it might be troublesome to take down more than five of them, it wasn''tpletely impossible. But it was suicidal to stand in a single ce and fight more than a dozen of phantom creepers! It was one against a whole lot of them. He knew he will have no chance against them. ''The adverse effects of overusing magic andbat techniques will be disastrous enough. But I know for a fact that my magic power and battle energy will be depleted during the battle. That will signify the end of me. Fighting them all at the same time is the same as throwing away one''s life, and I will never put myself in such an unfavorable position,'' Vincent thought with a frown. Running away wasn''t a solution to the problem at hand, as the nearest fortress was a few hours away from here. Moreover, no matter how fast he runs, he''ll never be able to reach the fortress before bing the first one to end up exhausted of his stamina. Once exhausted, he won''t be able to even properly put up a fight and will end up dead. Along the way, by using the appraisal spell matrix he found out that the phantom creepers chasing after him were just as strong if not slightly weaker than the phantom creeper he just killed. ''I need a change in my tactics, but what should I do?'' Vincent thought, ''That''s right! I can use the ind''s terrain to my advantage and split them into small groups. Rather than fighting all of them, I can take them out one group at a time!'' Although it still seemed like he was making a run for it, his speed decreased considerably. He just sped up enough for the fastest among the creepers to catch up to him. He was no longer nning to run. He was nning to kill them off one at a time. No matter how risky, his only chance to surviveid with fighting back, after all. _______ "Uncle, say, what do you think I should do if for say I am being chased by a beast and I can''t outrun it?" "If there''s no hope of running away from the enemy then your only choice is to fight. If you don''t attack with the determination to kill it, then you will certainly lose your life," "I will. But what if I happen to fight a lot of them? You know, a lot of beasts roam and hunt in groups," "If you can''t outrun or defeat them then there''s honestly no way to winning. To defeat such a horde of beasts, you need to overwhelmingly powerful." "Is there really no way to survive?" "There is always a way to win against multiple opponents, even if there isn''t any, and the key to that is knowledge. Remember, every being with intelligence, be it humans or beasts, can be intimidated by false bravado. Use bluff and momentum to your advantage! It''s simr to how a mantis unsps its tiny front legs to intimidate other predators or how a lion roars to intimidate others from entering its territory." "So I need to find a way to intimidate them." "Correct! Intimidation is a way to fight and win against multiple opponents." __________ In Vincent''s head, a conversation he once had with Old Miller suddenly popped up. ''Since there''s no way to escape, I choose to fight! I don''t believe I would not be able to intimidate them to back off after killing a few of them,'' Vincent thought with a murderous smile stered on his face as he tightened his grip on the dagger while rushing forward to hide behind the trunk of an overgrown tree. Vincent''s eyes gleamed sharply as his unbridled will to kill was fully unleashed. It''s time to farm some XP! Just a few moments after he hid behind the massive tree that hid him from the visions of over ten phantom creepers, the fastest ones among them caught up to him. There were three of them, two right in front and one growling behind him. Vincent saw two out of the three creepers with wide-opened jaws revealing knife-like teeth, and drool dripping out the sides of their mouths immediately leaping at him. They snapped mercilessly at him as Vincent dodged by bending backward, such that his back was parallel to the ground, and at the same time, the inky, ck dagger in his right hand was thrust into the stomach of the creeper who was leaping over him. A long gash was opened up, stretching from one end of the stomach and reaching the other end, while the jeweled dagger was thrust into the neck of the creeper on his left before the dagger was quickly pulled out. The first creeper met a bad ending as blood along with internal organs dropped out of its split open gut. The second one peacefully left the world in mere seconds as the light of life left its scarlet eyes. ? You''ve in two low-level beasts, Phantom Creeper 2 ? ? 60 exp points gained ? ? Lv 2: 90/200 ? After striking two of the three creepers to death, he immediately took a step back, leaving his defenseless back exposed to the third creeper. The third creeper didn''t let go of this God-sent opportunity and jumped at him immediately, but Vincent smirked devilishly and spun around tond a spinning back kick right on its face. The spinning back kick was one of the deadliest moves in taekwondo. But it became even deadlier as Vincent''s leg was empowered by more than five units of battle energy. Krunch*! The creeper skull cracked into multiple bone shards the moment his legsnded on its face. Chapter 21 - 21: Reaching Lv:3 (2) Viper Hunt was a transcendental-gradebat technique created by mixing deadly moves of various martial arts and boxing styles. That''s why Vincent was able to use taekwondo spinning back kick. Moreover, Viper Hunt''s most nefarious and famous trick was to expose a fake blind spot to bait an opponent intoing closer and then killing them off swiftly. That''s the trick he just utilized. After killing the third creeper, Vincent once again received the notification of obtaining experience points. Now, he was only 80 points away from leveling up. But he didn''t have time to notice such things as the other beasts were almost upon him from the back. Thus, he ran forward, luring the fastest ones among them to his next trap. Vincent ran from outcropping that jutted out from the ground to a tree whose canopy shaded a wide portion of the ground as he killed two more by carefully aiming for their hearts and lungs after baiting them to the back of the tree. ? You''ve in two low-level beasts, Phantom Creeper 2 ? ? 60 exp points gained ? ? Lv 2: 180/200 ? After killing the fifth one, the dagger in his right hand was brandished at the creeper leaping at him from the back. He believed that the creeper would surely die. However, contrary to his expectations, its reactions were swift, and it dodged at the same time his dagger struck out "What the" Vincent uttered as he was surprised to his core. This creeper was the first one to dodge his attack sessfully. It might have been due to its packmate''s sudden death that caused this creeper to be more alert. However, it could also be because its intelligence was better than the other creepers. Instantly, it pounced at Vincent and caught him off guard. Despite having taken it by surprise, just when the knife-like teeth were about to plunge into his head and eye sockets, he managed to thrust his dagger into the mouth of the beast. However, its two big buck teeth suddenly clomped down onto his arm, and the phantom creeper had also managed to embed its right w into his chest, which prated deeply into his flesh, almost nearing the heart, and he heard a creaking noise of bones cracking. -7 HP ?You are badly injured, and you are losing blood increasingly. The blood evolution system detects that the owner will pass out in 5 minutes due to the loss of blood, and without treatment within less than half an hour or so, you will undoubtedly die.? Blood evolution system notified. He was losing a lot of blood from the wounds rapidly. "It hurt like hell! Damn this little crap!" Vincent shouted as anger got the best of him, and he charged his dagger with magic power before stabbing it on its head. "Go to hell!" With a single deadly blow, Vincent punctured the head of the beast stuck to his arm too deeply, and crimson blood steamed out of the crack of its head. Strength left its w and teeth as its grips loosened before it copsed to the ground. "Who else wanna die? Come forward!" Vincent shouted as he forcefully gulped a mouthful of his own warm and metallic scented blood down his throat and stared at the rest of the creepers with a cold murderous stare that pierces and plunges into the heart. However, he didn''t have the strength to back up his words. The only reason why he could shout so boisterously was because of the sudden adrenaline rush. However, it wasn''t going tost more than a minute. So he remained in his spot waiting, waiting for the creepers to be intimidated by his cold gaze. He was at a huge disadvantage in numbers, but worse than that was his mangled off-hand and garish wounds on the chest. He was in terrible pain, and the pain was assaulting his senses. He could barely hold up for a few minutes, but Vincent acted as if he was okay, as if he could kill as many as they can send and still not die. He was bluffing through and through! Of course, he was the only one who knew. Every single one among the remaining creepers was intimidated by his murderous gaze. But as they gazed at the carcasses of the strongest creepers lying below his feet, their fears intensified, and they gave out low moaning sounds as they slowly retreated a step at a time. ''It''s working! This is the moment where I can''t show a single sign of weakness.'' Seeing that his bluff was working on the beasts, Vincent used willpower to suppress the soul-wrenching pain spreading throughout his body, and stepped forward to carry on with the momentum and increase the level of intimidation that has epassed the remaining beasts. The beasts C intimidated by his frightening murderous intent, an insatiable bloodthirsty devilish smile that terrified them to the core and overbearing presence C howled out in panic and quickly retreated. Seeing their silhouettes vanishing from his sight, Vincent truly realized what Old Miller meant by his words. After he could no longer see them, he bit his lips and weakly copsed to the ground. "I don''t think I can move a single muscle," Vincent thought as the adrenaline rush died down and he coughed up blood while leaning on a tree, his back and the trunk of the tree slightly pressing the backpack holding precious herbs in between. Blood profusely leaked out of his wounds. ''Even if I try to get to the nearest fortress, I''ll still fail as I am about to lose consciousness in a few minutes. Father, I think I am going to die here. Sorry, I no longer can fulfill our dreams," He thought as tears streamed down the corner of his eyes, and as his vision slowly blurred and as he felt warmth leaving his body. It seemed like he would die the moment he closes his eyes, and so he kept them open, hoping for a miracle to arrive. And he saw that miracle floating at the corner of his vision! ? 210/200 XP ? ? You can now level up? ? Do you want to level up? [ Yes ] [ No ] ?Reminder: You''ll enter the evolution period once you level up. After evolution, there''s a way for the owner to save his life.? ?Time left before the owner loses his consciousness due to blood loss: 3 minutes 30 seconds.? ?Time needed for evolution: 1 minutes? Blood notified him, as Vincent''s vision dimmed even further. "Since there is a way to save my life, why even bother asking," Vincent thought as he gazed at the notification before internally eximing, "Yes!" ? You''ve now reached level 3 ? ? Gained five attribute points ? ? Evolution process has started. The blood of the vampire progenitor, Kermis Idiouni De Sangue has been injected into the owner''s bloodstream.? Chapter 22 - 22: Evolution When the evolution process began, Vincent felt something piercing through his chest and squeezing into his body. "Ugh," he gasped in pain as he suddenly felt a sharp spiking pain rising throughout his body as the hot, sticky, and alien blood of his ancestor coursed through his veins. Then, the blood congealed on the back of his right side chest bone. The veins on the right side of his chest were bulging as the blood of his ancestor began to congeal into a heart. His chest tensed up as if it would burst at any moment. ?The Pure Blood of the ''Kermis Idiouni De Sangue'' has begun to blend in with your body. You''re experiencing an evolution from a human being to a vampire.? ?You have obtained the [Sangue Heart]? ?Current progress: 5%? Crackle~ Crackle~ Vincent''s breastbone showed signs of cracking as it was unable to endure the sheer pressure emitted by the blood of the first. He gritted his teeth in enormous pain. He felt a lot of pain due to the pressure emitting out of the first''s blood, but he did not scream out in pain. He did his best to keep in any screams as he feared he would rm beasts roaming nearby. Thankfully, adrenaline pumped across his body like wildfire, assisting him in this battle. The pain continued throughout his body until the heart few to the size of a fist. ?Current progress: 100%? ?Congrattions, the owner has gained a new organ, [Sangue Heart]. It has been sessfully integrated with the owner''s body.? ?Detected! The [Sangue Heart] has been formed but a lot of energy is left in the first''s blood. Attempting to use this energy to heal most of your wounds. Will you ept?? ''Yes, I ept.'' Vincent internally eximed. ?Redirecting the remaining energy of the first''s blood to heal the owner''s body.? As soon as this prompt appeared In front of him, he felt something flowing rapidly throughout his body. ''I am very familiar with this energy.'' ''It is Life Force!'' ''The purest one I have ever felt.'' Vincent''s eyes brightened in happiness as the blood of the first continuously pulsated and released an enormous amount of Life Force in his body. The skin underneath the shredded hoodie, patched up rapidly as life-threatening wounds closed up. The mangled flesh of his hand healed in a few seconds along with the garnish wounds on his chest, and then the life force seeped between his bones causing bodily waste to be excreted out from his pores. The leftover life force was used to reinforce all of his bones. His bodily strength increased at a rapid speed. It also recreated his skin. The skin of his body turned a shade paler due to the evolution process. ?The blood of the first has entirely blended with your body. Congrattions, the owner has sessfully evolved? ?You are now a demi-human? Vincent swiped through the notification and found out that he is rted to a vampire by blood. ''So I am from a family of vampires. I already thought that there is a massive probability of this happening. Sangue means Blood, after all, but it''s still shocking to think that I''ve be one.'' Vincent thought with a relieved expression on his face, ''Well, there''s no need to worry. There has never been a mention of humans and vampires waging war against one another in history and vampires are considered non-existent as they have never made a public appearance.'' Then even more messages started to appear. ?The Owner''s body had been reinforced by Life Force. You''ve gained a tremendous boost? ?Your Strength has increased to 39 points.? ?Your Constitution has increased to 33 points. Now you can contain 33 units of battle energy.? ?Your Health has increased by 33 points.? ?Your Magic Power capacity has increased to 83 points due to the formation of the [Sangue Heart].? As soon as the message popped up, Vincent licked his lips in glee. It''s because the maximum amount of magic power that can be stored in the heart of a human is 50 units. "But I can potentially store twice that amount as I now possess two hearts!" Vincent was very pleased with the advantages the evolution has brought him. His stats had gone through an iparably steep increase. But his happiness seemed to have no end because of something else. It was a new message that just popped up. ?You have obtained new Abilities? Chapter 23 - 23: Vampirism! (upgraded Version) ?Gained Abilities: Sangue Heart (Lv:1), Blood Purification (Lv:1), Blood Bending (Lv:1), Siphon (Lv:1)? Vincent looked at the details of the abilities he gained and he was more than just surprised as they all were extremely useful forbat and filled his mind with various wonders. [Sangue Heart Lv: 1 Proficiency: 0% Effect: The owner can store 50 units of blood in the [Sangue Heart]. You can heal by using blood. As the skill level is too low, the owner can only heal flesh wounds and scars.] [Blood Purification Lv: 1 Requirements: [Sangue Heart] Proficiency: 0% Cost: 10 units of magic power every two-liter of toxins. Effect: Purifies the blood of low-level creatures to the point that it''s useable by the owner without any adverse effects. The blood can be stored in the [Sangue Heart].] [Blood Bending Lv:1 Requirements: [Sangue Heart] Proficiency: 0% Cost: Blood Effect: Grant''s owner the special ability to manipte blood stored in the [Sangue Heart]. You can manipte the blood to create crystallized blood weapons of various shapes. It can also be used in various other ways.] [Blood Siphoning Lv: 1 Requirements: [Sangue Heart] Proficiency: 0% Effect: Once activated, the owner will be granted sharp fangs that can be used to extort a portion of the target''s attribute points. The fangs are good for rending flesh and sucking blood. The fangs can release a sucking force that increases the absorption of blood from others.] "A person without a massive background needs to work their fingers to the bone to obtain a special ability. But I have gained a special ability after evolving. Furthermore, I also obtained information on how to utilize them. I guess these are the perks rted to bing a demi-human." Vincent thought before he wondered what proficiency does. ?To answer the owner''s question, proficiency increases each time you utilize a skill. The ability will level up once it reaches 100%.? Vincent''s confusion about the proficiency system cleared up. "Thank you," Vincent said to blood before he stood up and walked up to the nearest corpse of the phantom creeper while thinking about his newfound special abilities. In particr, [Sangue Heart] gave him the benefit of storing the blood of other creatures and using that blood to heal his injuries. Previously, the grievous wounds he had sustained were vanquished almost immediately by the life force contained inside of the first''s blood. He believed that once the [Sangue Heart] reaches a greater height, he''ll be able to even heal life-threatening wounds. Nevertheless, he was extremely happy with what he got. His regenerative ability and strength as a whole have increased by arge amount. He felt like he could take on two of his previous selves and stille out a winner in a fight. Besides that, the blood purification ability granted him a huge advantage. It wasn''t possible to absorb a beast''s blood as it can poison a human or even adversely mutate their bodies. However, by using blood purification, he could absorb the blood of low-level beasts without any trouble. More importantly, blood bending granted a massive boost in hisbat ability. Vincent was itching to start training in this ability and understand the ways to utilize it. He wondered what the most powerful weapon he can create right now, though for now, the ability that caught most of his attention was the one mentioned at the very end. "If what I am thinking is true, then I can easily increase my strength by a few times by absorbing the blood from the carcasses of the beasts I have killed," Vincent thought as he squatted beside a phantom creeper. He ced his hands on top of the beast''s head and activated blood purification. A mystical force seeped out of his body and purified the toxic blood of the phantom creeper before a message popped up. ?The blood of the beast is 100% purified. It''s now safe to absorb its blood.? ?Blood Purification skill proficiency has increased to 1%.? "A normal person will think twice before drinking the blood a beast but I''ll do anything to be strong even if it means to drink blood. Blood Siphoning!" Vincent activated his special ability as he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his canine teeth. The pain subsided after they transformed into sharp fangs. Under the dazzling rays of the morning sunlight, he revealed his white glistening fangs before sinking them deep into the flesh of the phantom creepers. The fangs released a powerful suction force that sucked the blood of the beast at a frightening speed. ?Blood Siphoning skill proficiency has increased to 1%.? ''The blood of this beast is delicious. The scent is so pleasant.'' Vincent thought as the blood poured in between its teeth and filled his mouth to the brim. ''What a delicious scent!'' ''So satisfying!'' He thought as the blood went down his throat and got stored in the heart located on the right side of his chest. He became addicted to it, however, and his fang sank deeper and deeper inside the flesh of the beast. The suction force increased as if boosted by his desire to devour more blood. Along with a huge amount of blood, he also felt a different something mysterious entering into his body. ?You''ve extracted the power contained in the blood of the beast. The power of blood has been merged with the owner''s body? As soon as this message popped up, Vincent felt an increase in his strength. ?Your Magic Power capacity has increased to 90 units.? ?Your Strength has increased to 42 points.? ?Your Agility has increased to 37 points.? Multiple messages popped up as Vincent sucked the phantom creeper from all its blood. The corpse of the beast dried up as it lost all its blood. Vincent realized that this special ability can help him increase his strength extremely fast as long as he can devour blood. Yes, blood! I want to devour more blood! In the next couple of minutes, Vincent devoured the blood of all the phantom creepers he has killed. Then, rather than heading to the fortress, he headed towards the ce where he dismantled the Red Tusk Elephant. After reaching there, he purified and then sucked the little bit of blood that could be salvaged from the cooked chunks of meat and organ as most of the blood and fluids of the elephant had evaporated. ?Blood Purification skill proficiency has increased to 12%.? ?Blood Siphoning skill proficiency has increased to 12%.? ?Your Magic Power capacity has increased to 100 units. It has now maxed out.? ?Your Strength has increased to 49 points.? ?Your Constitution has increased to 42 points. Now you can contain 42 units of battle energy.? ?Your Stamina has increased to 42 points.? ?Your Agility has increased to 45 points.? After he finished sucking the blood of the elephant, his strength has increased to five times that of an average human. Furthermore, his magic power capacity has reached the maximum limit. Now, he needed to evolve, so that energy channels will be created in his body, and only then will he be able to contain more than a hundred units of magic power in his body. Vincent was d to obtain such a great fortune. Though there was another side of this fortune. A thirst for blood had sprouted in his heart and it grew increasingly. All along he kept on thinking that blood was the tastiest drink he has ever drunk. The pleasure induced by drinking blood was too much for him, and even [Cold Mind] was barely able to help him in retaining rational thoughts. ''Should I hunt more beasts, but they''re waiting for me to return to the orphanage with the magic herb that''ll heal Leni.'' Trees were dotted all around him, and he stood in the middle of a clearing littered with the meat of the beast he had killed, unable to make a decision. ''Saving a life is important. She also means a lot to me. But I want to drink more blood'' Vincent thought as he grasped his head in his hands, and then he became disgusted and horrified with himself. ''How can I even think in such a way!'' ''Wasn''t saving lives and ending the war the main reason why I needed strength?'' ''Then why I am considering sucking blood over someone''s life?'' ''Eh, I what have I be?'' Sunlight peeked through the green and thick canopies of the overgrown trees and shined upon Vincent''s bloodied face as he came to realize that he had be a monster. ''This isn''t the time to be indecisive. I need to hurry my way back to the orphanage. I will regret it for sure if something happens to Le because of my greed for blood,'' Vincent thought as he made his way to the fortress located in the southern region while performing hand signs to channel his magic power into magic resonating eyes. Then he spread them far and wide so that they''ll scout for him and alert him of any possible danger, before covering the same amount of distance in half the time, hurrying his way towards the nearest fortress. Chapter 24 - 24: Return In the middle of the night, Leni woke from her slumber and the first thing she felt was excruciating pain. "What''s wrong with me," she said in a low voice, feeling weakness and pain assaulting her senses. "You''re undergoing self-awakening but there''s ack of resources and you''ll feel a lot of pain but try your best to bear it." Old Miller said as golden waves of energy busted out from his hands and seeped inside Leni''s body through her skin and pores. Awakening can only be defined as an extremely painful evolution process since energy vessels are forcefully craved inside the body of a person experiencing an awakening, be it self-awakening or otherwise, both are extremely painful. The creation of ability cells is painful in itself, but the pain increases fourfold due to the creation of energy vessels. The energy vessels created during this process are called energy channels. Energy channels have many uses but they are mainly used to increase the maximum capacity of magic power. It''s said that a human being''s body can contain a maximum of ten energy channels, and a single channel can store up to a hundred units of magic power. However, as they say, not everyone is born equal, some people might acquire only a single energy channel after awakening and others three to nine. The number of energy channels created during awakening depends on various factors but the strength of the ability is the main one. As Leni was awakening two powerful abilities at the same time, it was self-evident that more than five energy channels will be craved in her body, and even the creation of these channels required energy, and her life force was currently being used to not multiple ability cells but also create these channels, but that wasn''t the only sad part to her story, as for most people the awakening process willst for only a few minutes, but for her, it has been more four hours! It''s because she needed a massive source of energy and her life force was sadly not enough. Although Old Miller has been trying his best to keep her alive by using his healing ability that has a special effect to substantially increase a person''s life force and also acts as a pain killer, Leni still felt an excruciating pain overwhelming her senses. "Brother am I going to die? Please save me. I don''t want to die." Leni said as she felt a thousand needles stabbing her. After being tortured by self-awakening, her appearance changed drastically overnight. Her ck hair becamepletely white, her smooth white skin paled and wrinkled. She looked like a mixture between young and old, and it''s because since her life force was depleting at a rapid speed she aged just as quickly. "Nothing will happen to you, I promise." John said, "So please don''t give up and keep holding on to your life." "It''s hard," Leni replied as her eyes slowly closed. It would be instant death if she just gives up. Then, she''ll no longer feel the pain torturing her from head to toe nor will she experience how it feels to lose all the life force and warmth inside her body. "Vincent is out there, in the wilderness, fighting god knows what type of horrifying beast, for your sake. While I am doing my best to keep you alive. Even John well, he has been apanying you. Anyway, what I want to say is that you''re not fighting this battle alone, we all are apanying you, if not for yourself, at least do your best to not give in to your pain, no matter how painful it bes, for us." Old Miller said, "Please wait for Vincent to return. I believe he''ll bring a treasure that will help you evolve and alleviate your pain." "I will try to do my best." "Good girl!" After finding out that Vincent was bracing danger for her sake, Leni gritted her teeth and tried to endure the pain stabbing throughout her body. Whereas, John suffered a few blows to his self-esteem and cursed himself as a useless bastard. Meanwhile, Vincent was walking through the snow-covered track at incredible speed. He was sprinting fast already as he was four and a half times faster than humans but he also utilized every bit of battle energy contained in his body to increase his speed. He was running so fast that it felt like a ghost blurring in and out of existence, covering dozens of meters with each step as if he using mini teleportation. Unknowingly he was instinctively utilizing an advanced version of the blinking step which resembles the step of the ghosts. A few minutester, Vincent barged through the entrance to the orphanage and quickly zoomed to Leni''s room. The members of the orphanage could only a gust of wind hitting them as he walked past them. "Uncle I''ve returned with a hundred years old magic ginseng!" Vincent shouted as he came to a halt just a step behind Old Miller. "A ghost!" John shouted as Vincent didn''t exactly get a chance to clean himself and he was covered in blood. His clothes, well they have tears here and there, and as he suddenly appeared it was bound to startle them. "Where?" Vincent asked. Chapter 25 - 25: Alchemist! "Don''t listen to his nonsense." Old Miller said, he was as rxed as ever. "You came back at just the right time. Hurry up and hand me the magic herb." "Ah, sure, will this be enough to help her out?" Vincent asked as he took the magic herb out from his backpack and handed it over to Old Miller. "This should be good enough. Though I will need to purify it first," Old Miller replied as the magic ginseng floated above his hands. Magic herb contained impurities that were harmful to the human body, one way or another, and it was amon practice of those treading on the new world''s profession of the alchemist to distill impurities contained inside the magic herbs. That way, the magic herb will only retain its medicinal essence as it would be free of impurities. Then, it wouldn''t be harmful to consume it. The process of distilling impurities out of magical herbs depends solely on how skilled a person is in manipting their mana. Mana is a purified version of magic power. Magic power contains hints of impurities, but they can be distilled by using special methods. Once magic power is cleansed of all impurities, it bes mana. If a person is bad at manipting their mana then either the magical herbs will be rendered useless or most of their medicinal essence will seep out of the herb along with the impurities. Therefore the ability to control mana with precision is very important when purifying a magic herb. "It''s been a while since Ist purified a magic herb." Old Miller said as he used his mana to distills impurities out of the magical herbs. After a while of refining the magic ginseng, he managed to separate the medicinal essence and impurities from the magical herbs. The impurities were ck and yellowish. Whereas the medicinal essence of the magic ginseng was like waves glowing in a golden hue. ''He used hand signs and energy channels to control mana and manipte it to distill the herb from impurities, and he did it all too easily. Old Miller''s fine motor skill is exceedingly high.'' Vincent thought as he gazed at "All of this is life force isn''t it?" John said as he looked at the golden waves. "Yes, a hundred years'' worth of life force exactly and this should be enough to rejuvenate your sister," Old Miller replied to John before he gazed at Leni. "Do not resist and just try to breathe, I''ll inject the life force in your body." Leni blinked her eyes in response. It was too much for her to speak her thoughts out loud, after all. Then, guided by Old Miller''s mana, the golden waves of medicinal essence of the magic ginseng entered her body through the nostrils, eyes, ears, and slightly parted lips. As the life force entered her body, she felt warmth all over her body. Her wrinkled skin smoothened and it seemed no different than that of a young girl. Not only that, but the life force also helped herplete the evolution process in a few minutes. Badum!* Badum!** Her heart started beating rapidly as if she has been granted a second life. The golden waves of life force provided enough energy for her to evolve. Though some years'' worth of life force was still left in her body, and it was utilized by the evolution process to force open her newly created sealed energy channels. "All right! It''s done." Old Miller said, "She has awakened sessfully. The evolution process isplete." "How do you feel?" John asked. "Exceptionally good," Leni replied. "Thank you all for saving my life, especially you, big brother Vincent." "No problem. I would have done the same thing if it was John or someone else." Vincent said, "If you don''t mind, can you tell me how many energy channels you''ve opened?" When a person is undergoing awakening, energy channels are created. Though they are sealed. Arge amount of energy is needed to unlock energy channels. If a certain amount of energy is provided during the awakening, then the evolution process will use it to help open these channels. "I can feel that I''ve opened 3 energy channels. But I can also feel several sealed energy channels." Leni replied as she didn''t mind telling Vincent such things. "That''s great," Vincent eximed. A person with three opened energy channels can contain 300 units of magic power in their channels and 50 units of magic power in their heart. That means Leni can contain 350 units of magic power on her body already. Yet, she was just a teenager like himself. In the future, she''ll be powerful and contribute a lot to the race. As she was praised, Leni felt proud and happy. Beauties will be beauties, praise them continuously and they''ll burst up with happiness. Considering the fact that the person who praised her also went to a dangerous ce for her sake, she felt very delighted. Vincent''s actions have warmed her heart so much that even the corners of her lips have lifted up in a smile. "Thank you!" Leni sweetly smiled at Vincent. Vincent has always thought of her as a little sister, but now, with a smile on her face, he couldn''t help but stare at her as he couldn''t deny that she looked truly lovely and alluring. "Anyway, Vincent you should go and take a bath," Old Miller said causing Vincent to finally look away from her face. "Eh?" "Brother, you smell like shit," John added. "Girls don''t like smelly boys," Leni said with a teasing smile. Vincent realized that the stinky blood of the phantom creepers that he found delicious was undoubtedly putrid for others. "Then, I''ll go take a bath," Vincent said as he dashed back to his room. He felt bad. He was different from others now, as he was a demi-human, after all. He was no longer human. Chapter 26 - 26: Old Millers Past. As he was covered in a lot of blood, Vincent decided that it''ll be better to have a scented bath rather than a shower. That way he''ll wash off the scent of blood. So he twisted the water tab causing water to run out of it and fill the tub. After taking off his torn clothes and adding scented soap to the water, Vincent rxed down on the bathtub, letting the wash away the dust and blood umted during his travel. "So rxing. Today has been a hell of a day." Vincent internally said, "Blood, I have a question to ask." ?You may ask me anything you like, Owner.? "Well, I wanted to ask if there''s a rtion between the constitution attribute and battle energy capacity," Vincent said as he felt that with a little bit of hardcore training he would be able to contain more than 31 units of battle energy. This feeling arose when his constitution improved. Furthermore, it became stronger as his constitution reached 42 points. Though it was just a feeling and he believes that it would be better to clear up any misconception by talking with the blood evolution system while enjoying this bath. ?Yes, there is. Your body can now contain 42 units of battle energy since your body constitution has been improved by a lot.? The answer was well appreciated by Vincent. "Wow. That means I can shorten weeks to months worth of physical training by simply using attribute points to increase my constitution." Vincent said as he beamed. ?Exactly!? After a while, Vincent got out of the water and clenched his two fists in excitement. If he utilizes the power of his system, he could rise in power very rapidly. Though it was troublesome to fight beasts in the wilderness. You might want to fight a single beast but a dozen or so might pop out of nowhere. As he had faced this situation and nearly died, Vincent decided to do what a majority of people do. "I will find some powerful and trustworthy people to form a hunting party with once I join the military academy. It''ll be easy to find some. A lot of talented youth with a good amount of strength will be attending that ce, after all," Vincent thought as he decided to dry his body and get dressed up. A few days ago, he believed that as long as he uses his magic resonating eyes, he''ll be able to evade all sorts of danger in Earth''s wilderness the weakest, the weakest of all wilderness, and that''s why he went solo. But a single trip was enough to help him realize that he''ll die! He would truly be a fool if he went out to hunt once again, even after nearly dying because of going solo. "Overnight, I''ve not only grown taller by an inch or two, but my physique had also be much sturdier. My skin resembles that of vampires and my muscle seemed a little too developed for my age. It''s definitely because of the rapid increase in my strength," Vincent said in wonderment as he was amazed by the reflection represented by the mirror. The man reflected in the mirror stood 6.1 feet tall, with medium-length ck hair and wet overgrown bangs messily hanging over his forehead. With sword-like eyebrows and heart-sharped lips, he looked quite handsome. His body was decorated with sets of well-defined abdominal muscles that rippled down from the top of the upper abdomen to the bottom of the lower abdomen. His white skin seemed to look a lot paler whenpared to before. His chest has also widened. "Now that''s perfect." Vincent added a finishing touch to his look by slicking his hair back. He then wore a white shirt and slightly loose ck trousers before stepping out of the bathroom. Knock Knock! Vincent just sat on his bed when someone knocked on the door of his room. The one knocking on the door shouldn''t havee without a reason. Thus, he went to open the door, and at the entrance stood Old Miller. "Can Ie in?" "Sure but why are you here? Do you need anything?" Vincent asked as Old Miller entered the room and sat down on the chair near his bed. "You''ve grown a lot since Ist saw you," Old Miller said as he was able to determine that Vincent has be a lot powerful. "Though the reason why I''vee here is to find out what''s disturbing you." "I''m fine. Trust me on this," Vincent said. "You definitely aren''t fine," Old Miller said as he looked at him. "Was I too obvious?" Vincent said as he evaded making eye contact with Old Miller. "Nah, you did well to hide it but you did too well. Besides, whenever you say trust me, it usually means you are more than ny percent sure or are trying to hide something. If something is troubling you then don''t hesitate to talk about it with me. Maybe I''ll be to help you in some ways," Old Miller said with a fatherly smile. "What if I tell you that I''ve be a monster who likes to feast on the blood of others? What will you do then?" Vincent asked as he wanted to know whether he''ll be left all alone or remain surrounded by a group of people he could trust. Old Miller patted Vincent''s face as he believed that he needed fatherly support and said, "You are not a monster. Killing a few beasts to save someone''s life doesn''t make you one. You''ve saved someone''s life. Thus, ording to the culture of the I came from, you can be considered as a person with a silver soul. You are a hero! So don''t let the death of a few beasts hold you back. Clear your minds from all trouble. I want you to focus on what''s truly important." Taking any life even the life of a beast wasn''t something pleasant. Old Miller knew what it meant the best as he was a veteran soldier with a twisted past. Old Miller seemed to have misunderstood what Vincent meant by his words, and Vincent had no thoughts of clearing this misunderstanding. "Okay, I will focus on the uing entrance examination," Vincent replied while rubbing his forehead. Immediately after, he said, "Anyway, thanks for letting me use this dagger. I should return it now." "Nah, you should keep it. It''s a pretty decent weapon and it would be a shame for its creator if it''s left to rust. If you don''t want to use then just sell it to a merchant. It''ll sell for a good price." Old Miller said as he wanted Vincent to use this weapon. "Why are you so good to me?" Vincent asked as Old Miller neared the door. "I am just repaying the favor bestowed upon me by your father." "What favor?" "I was a war ve. You know they''re treated badly just cuz they aren''t "Earthlings". I killed thousands of beasts and monsters by the means of using traps, refined Bombs, and Beast Bullets. Though the higher-ups took all the credits. Thus, my status was never once promoted. Injuries stacking up wasn''t a problem for a healer like me, but my energy channels were poisoned by a terrifying beast. I thought that I was finally gonna die under the ws of that terrifying beasts like my fellow war ves when your father chanced upon my dire situation and saved my life, and even recruited me. "It might be because he has heard the rumors about my talent as a supporter or there may be a different reason but I don''t care. He was the first person to treat a war ve like me with respect. He didn''t take credit for my achievements and let me be recognized for my hard work. Not to mention the uncountable number of times we trusted out back to each other. If it wasn''t for him, then even if I have survived, I would have turned my back on humans or rather my humanity itself. Regretfully, I had to retire to control the spread of the poison that has taken roots in my energy channels." Old Miller rified before he coughed thrice. "Are you alright?" Vincent asked in a tone containing traces of worry as he stood up to pat his back. "Nothing to worry about." Old Miller told him off before he stepped out of the room. In truth, he wasn''t fine at all. The poison of the beast was terrifying, as it grows and spreads each time mana circte through his energy channels. He was warned not to use his ability or any kind of magic techniques as that will lead to an outbreak by the military advisor. And it has happened just a while ago, when he used his ability to repeatedly heal Leni and also to purify the herb that ultimately granted her a new life. The poison was also one of the two reasons why he didn''t head out to the wilderness, as he was sure that it will spread out and consume his remaining lifespan, killing him at that very instant. The second reason was pretty simple, and that was that he didn''t have any traps, consumable military weapons like bombs, or even BBs (beast bullets). The main sources of hisbat prowess were retained by the military, as amoner can''t carry such weapons. His retirement left him with a good sum of money, the status of a mid-ssmoner, and a regr but limited supply of poison suppressants. Back in his room, Old Miller was coughing up violently. ''The damn poison is acting up again! Well, this sacrifice was worth it. On my deathbed, I can proudly im that I''ve saved a gifted person, haha." Old Miller thought with a pleasant smile as he opened a rectangr container before consuming the powdery contents inside. It was a suppressant especially created for the unique poison inhabiting his energy channels. "This should be enough to suppress this mild outbreak for a while. I wonder how long I can live with this poison in my system." Vincent, on the other hand, felt angered at the injustice done to Old Miller. "They treated him badly just cause he''s a human from an otherworld, huh? Those pricks of the army!" He then felt bad. ''I shouldn''t have asked him that, it must''ve reopened his old wounds,'' Vincent felt slightly disturbed as heid down on his bed. He didn''t know that Old Miller has such a painful past. If he knew then he wouldn''t have ever raised a topic even remotely rted to war ves. ''If I ever get the chance, I will try to cure him,'' Vincent thought before he closed his eyes. Meanwhile, John and Leni conversed about their daily lives before John returned to his room, where he took out his night suits and changed into them before hitting the bed and quickly falling asleep. Chapter 27 - 27: Training For The Exam A new day began. Afterpleting his morning training, John and a few others prepared breakfast for all the members of the orphanage. Vincent was full of energy and he felt like he didn''t even need to consume any sort of food so at first, he declined their offer. However, he joined in on the feast as Old Miller and Leni asked him to eat together with them. The kids prepared a heavy breakfast in celebration of Leni''s recovery and evolution. They prepared the chicken that they bought yesterday. There were also three different types of sausage, fried eggs, toasts, and a lot of other kinds of stuff. ''This is more like a dinner. Though why does everything taste somewhat nd? Is it because I am one part vampire and one part human?'' Vincent thought as he tasted the food. It felt kinda weird, munching on sumptuous-looking food that tastes nd. It was almost frightening. "A young man like you should eat more," Old Miller said as he looked at him. "Ah, sure," Vincent replied, feeling that he shouldn''t decline his goodwill. "Let me help you," Leni smiled sweetly at him as she said while cing some blood sausages on his ce. "You guys are like newlyweds!" John said with a teasing smile causing Leni''s and Vincent''s cheeks to blush red. "No, we aren''t!" They shouted all at the same time, before stuffing their face in the food. "This stuff is tasty!" Vincent eximed as he consumed the blood sausages. He understood that food with blood will taste far better than food without blood. He determined that it''s a side effect that came along with evolving and bing a demi-human. After eating a few sausages, he excused himself and went back to the training ground. He wanted to train and increase his battle energy capacity to 42 units. The maximum limit that his vessel can contain right now, but he''ll be able to contain more battle energy in his body as he continues to improve his constitution. "Brother, I have a favor to ask," John said as Vincent practiced his transcendental-gradebat technique on the wooden puppet. "Say it," Vincent said as he looked at him. "I want you to train me. Next time I don''t want to feel useless. It''s a terrible feeling when you know someone close to you might die because you''ve no power to save them," John said. "I want to be a powerful battle master so that I can protect my family and those I care about." Except for Old Miller, Vincent was the only strongest person John knew of. He was also the person he was the closest to. While Old Miller''s training was quite effective in increasing his strength, it wasn''t enough. If he keeps on following the regr training schedule then he will be powerful but it''ll take a lot of time. However, he didn''t want to wait that long. He wanted to be strong as fast and as soon as he possibly can and his best bet was Vincent. Vincent discerned the reason behind his newfound motivation in mere seconds. He believed that today''s event has helped John realize how shit it feels to be powerless. "Well, I don''t think I can be considered as a strong battle master, but I can teach you a thing or two about one," Vincent said. "First off, tell me how many units of battle energy your body can contain." "Hmm, I am not sure, but I guess it''s around thirteen," John replied as he rubbed his chin. Vincent said, "That''s good. Uncle might have already told you but let me say it again, the constitution of your body determines the amount of battle energy you can contain. Your body is the vessel that contains battle energy. The quickest way for you to increase the quality of your body and expand your vessel will be enduring a training schedule far harsher than the regr schedule." "I believe you''ve one in mind," John said as he looked at Vincent in anticipation. "I surely do. You''ll wear heavy equipment while sparring with me. The twist is that I won''t be pulling back my punches. If you can endure through the training then your strength will increase rapidly as your body will be able to contain arger amount of battle energy. However, if you can''t endure this harsh training then just say it and I''lle up with a new training method," Vincent said with a smile as his eyes glistened in a thoughtful and calctive light. Since he was stronger than most of the people his age, the kids in the orphanage didn''t like sparring with him, and hence, most of the time, he practiced his techniques on wooden puppets. Sometimes he would go to battle arcades to fight against Droids. But Droids weren''t really strong. Their strength could rivalbatants but their skills were worse than one. Besides, sparring with a human feels far different than hunting a beast or battling an unintelligent puppet with fixed patterns, after all. In a fight, humans sometimes do unpredictable things and that helps a lot in covering up weak points. He found that out in his battle against Theodore. That''s why he wanted to spar with another person now more than ever, and God has sent a man his way. The reason as to why he wants to train him was that he believes that he will not only help John out but also gain actualbat experience by sparring with him. "I''m alright with us sparring," John said as he wore heavy pieces of equipment. "John, let''s get started. I hope you''ll not regret your decision," Vincent said as he closed the distance with a single step and threw a few jabs towards him. John''s talent in enduring pain was far superior to that of Vincent. Although he was beaten to a bloody pulp every day, he still came to spar with Vincent the very next day. Not only did he learned charged fist in just a few days, but his body was also able to contain around 20 units of battle energy. Vincent, on the other hand,pleted the mission he epted by handing over the poisonous herbs, earning a 100 piece of low-level magic stones. He also trained a lot these days. The military entrance exam was upon them, after all, but he wanted to get the hand of his new abilities. He found out that the blood stored in the [Sangue Heart] was pretty easy to control. It was no different than his limbs. After training for a few days in the orphanage training ground, he was able to form a sword out of his blood. However, it was mentally taxing to maintain the shape of his weapon for more than ten minutes. Chapter 28 - 28: Surfing Vincent woke up early in the morning after a good night''s sleep. Calctive lights flickered in his eyes as he rubbed them to dispel his sleepiness. "Tomorrow is the military''s academy entrance exam. I am well prepared for it but it doesn''t hurt to have an ace up my sleeves," Vincent said with narrowed eyes after sshing his face with water to refresh himself. He was well-prepared but didn''t indulge in overconfidence because passing the entrance exam with a high evaluation was the most important thing in his life right now, and he wanted to prepare something extra special for it. At the moment, the trump card he decided to create was a fire magic scroll. "Fireball scroll is a magic-grade inscription. The materials needed to create this talisman are energy conducting brush, magic scroll, elemental heart blood of a fire-type beast, and a fire beast core. I already have two and onlyck the magic scroll and elemental heart blood." Vincent needed to purchase thest two things necessary to create a fire magic scroll and he also wanted to window shop for a few new world''s items he found interesting such as essories with spatial storages and quantum item thates equipped with an artificial intelligence chip. Now that he was a verified adventure, he was able to purchase these things. And so, he decided to head towards the adventurer''s marketce after breakfast. He had enough cash left behind from the inheritance he received from his parents, his monthly allowance from the military, and the 100 magic power he earned, and so he believed that he would be able to purchase beast''s blood and even a second-hand new world''s item if he liked. Vincent had never spent any allowances he received from the military. He also barely touched the inheritance he received after the death of his parents. It all cashed up to a one hundred thousand federation cash. He had a huge amount of cash left but he wasn''t sure for how much new world''s items were sold for as only certifiedbatants and those with an adventurer''s license can ess such information. "Let''s see the things I might want to purchase and their prices online. It doesn''t hurt to take a look," Vincent thought as he gained ess to the adventurer''s market page after his smartwatch scanned the QR code inscribed on the back of his adventure license. After swiping a few times, he found some interesting things that he could purchase. Though purchasing a single one of them will cost him his entire inheritance. Items with spatial storage and subspaces were expensive as they were created when a master alchemist uses his furnace to smelt a metal called Mythril and reshape it into an essory such as rings, amulets, or bracelets. The finishing touch that creates a subspace is added by an inscriptionist by integrating the core of a spatial type beast with the essory. Mythril and space-type beast cores were rare and thus they made up at least half of the price. The buyer also needs to pay for the manual and material cost and a thirteen percent sale tax imposed by the federation. Vincent wanted to purchase a spatial storage device as it will be helpful when journeying through wilderness and danger zones. He''ll be able to store a lot of items in one without feeling burdened by the weight of them, and it was far better than using a backpack. "At best, I can purchase the cheapest one among the spatial storage itemsCa low-quality ring with subspace. Otherwise, I won''t be able to get what I truly need." Vincent said as he decided to buy the ck serpent ring, and he then logged out from his newly registered online adventure ount. The spatial ring was created from the toughened scales of a mutated serpent. It could endure physical attacks from magical beasts. In other words, he wouldn''t feel troubled about cing all his eggs in a single basket as it will be hard for such a spatial ring to break. Once a spatial device breaks, all the items inside it vanishes for good, after all. ''I can purchase them online but it would take between two to three days to be delivered. I can''t wait that long,'' Vincent thought as he went downstairs to eat the blood sausages that he privately requested Leni to prepare. Because he wanted to purchase these things immediately, he decided upon heading straight to the adventurer''s association building. "Should I dye my hair ck?" Leni said as the members of the orphanage sat around the dining table and stuffed their faces with food. "Yeah, it feels a little weird to see you with snowy white hairs," John said as he took a bite out of a crunchy toast. "Hmm, I think there''s no need. You look good with white hair." Vincent''s remarks caused her to blush and her cheek turned as red as a ripe tomato. "Since you like it I won''t dye them ck," she muttered as her head lowered to hide her embarrassment. Vincent managed to hear what she said as his sense of hearing has improved by arge degree. ''I guess she likes me,'' he thought as he silently ate the blood sausagesCthe only dish on the table that didn''t taste nd. The emotion of love was foreign to him but he also liked Leni. However, he wasn''t sure whether the like he held towards her was that of a sibling or that of a lover. "Brother, are you heading somewhere?" John asked as Vincent readied himself to step. "Yup, to buy some things. You wannae along?" "Why not?" "I also wanna window shop. Can Ie with you?" Leni said as she wrapped her hands around his elbows and looked at him with her crystalline white eyes. The presence of ice cells has affected her appearance by a lot and even her eyes have turned unique but they were rather alluring matching well with her petite figure and cute face. Vincent didn''t decline her touch. Rather, he somewhat liked that Leni was opening up to him. "No problem, you cane along," he replied as he stepped out of the orphanage with Leni. John followed after them as he internally shipped his sister with Vincent. Chapter 29 - 29: Mystic Shop The adventure association building of Cloud Tower City had many stores that sell new world''s stuff such as magical herbs, beast weapons and equipment, magical devices, energy resources, alchemy materials, inscription materials, and so on. The market section for adventurers was located in the north of the building, and it was bustling with peoples as they looked at the browsed through the items by using market disy stands ced on each side of the entrances of the shops. Upon reaching the ce, they saw the area illuminated by moonlights emitting out of light orbs that were hanging down from thin and almost invisible wires. "So beautiful," Leni eximed as the view of the market section mesmerized her. If one doesn''t look closely, it''ll feel as if small moons were floating above their heads. "So this is what one of the most expensive ces in the world looks like," John said. "Must''ve cost a lot to build this." The market section was run by rich merchants. They were rich enough to utilize dozens of costly droids. A lot of droids were moving around this ce, guiding and helping a lot of people. When Vincent asked how many shops are in this ce, the cute droid responded by saying that there''re 53 stores here. It also shared the name and the location of the best ones. "There are 53 stores here, we''ll look through them, one by one, starting from the best ones, of course," Vincent said. "All right." Leni felt that it''ll not be tiring and boring to look through so many shops as long as she with her older brother. "Eh, wouldn''t it be too boring, or could it be that you have a reason?" John asked. "If there''s a reason, you''ll find out soon," Vincent said with a mysterious smile. After a while, John found out that prices varied ording to the poprity of the shop. The popr shops were selling new world''s items at a higher price aspared to the less popr ones. "We are trying to find the shop that sells new world''s items at the cheapest price, right?" John questioned Vincent. He replied with a nod of the head. After almost half an hour, the group stood in front of a small shop made out of wood. As for the reason why Vincent and his group were here, this shop was selling items at the cheapest price, and although it looked in through and through, Vincent could not decline that he felt a hint of attractive seriousness from this inly decorated shop. "It feels as if the lines of the words are trying to disy something. But it''s just a feeling." Vincent internally thought before they entered the shop through the door. "Wee to the mystic shop, young''uns," Wilson, an old man with crooked teeth and a patch on his right eye said with a pleasant smile from behind the counter. He was dressed in in robes covering most of his body, exposing only his hands. "This old man feels weird, he said the same thing when we entered the shop a few minutes ago," John whispered in their ears, as he felt that the old man in front of him was acting like an NPC, saying the same dialogue again and again. "Maybe you''re overthinking things," Leni said. "You guys look around and I''ll buy some things from him," Vincent said before he walked up to the old man. "How can I be of service, young one," "I want to buy a magic scroll, ck serpent ring, and elemental heart blood of a fire beast," Vincent told him about the items he wants to buy. "These things can only be purchased by legalizedbatants. Show me yourbatant certificate or adventure license," the old man said. Most of the items could only be legally purchased and utilized by registeredbatants and adventures only. "Here you go," Vincent said as he gave his adventure license to the old man. "Here are the items you requested." The old man exined the prices of the items and the storage size and the limitation of the ck serpent ring and so on after taking out the items Vincent requested. "If you want, I can rmend simr items of the same prices." "Thanks but these are perfect for me," Vincent replied. Magic scroll 3 C 10000 Federation Cash A vial of fire type elemental heart blood 2 C 18000 Federation Cash ck Serpent Ring 1 C 60000 Federation Cash "It''ll be 88000 Federation cash," Wilson said after calcting the price of the items. The price of these items in the other stores was far more than this. The minimum was at least a hundred thousand yet here, it was only 88k. It was a wonder why the old man was selling the items so cheap, barely making any profit. "It''s far too cheap," Vincent thought as he handed over his credit card to Wilson. "Before weplete the purchase, let me ask what do feel about the decoration of this shop?" Wilson questioned. "The decoration is simple but it felt like the carvings on the woods are trying to showcase something." Vincent''s answer put a satisfied smile on Wilson''s face. "Your answer is satisfying and the purchase can be made," Wilson said as he started packing the items Vincent just paid for. "If you feel anything else while looking at the carving on the woods, then now is the time to say it. It might even you a discount." Vincent stared at the carving on the wooden walls with a gaze of scrutiny. "I feel like the carvings somehow represent inscription patterns." He said after several seconds, "Though, it''s just a guess." As soon he said those words, Wilson gave him a discount of 10000 fed dors. "Why ten thousand less?" Surprised by his actions, Vincent asked as he looked at the old man. "It''s a rule set by my creator," Wilson replied. "Your creator?" "Yes, I am a human-like robot created by the owner of this shop. ording to the rules set by the creator of the mystic shop, only those who feel a sense of mystery from the shop''s decoration are eligible to purchase ten items in the shop. Simrly, any person that happens to understand that the carvings on the walls represent inscription patterns shall obtain a discount ten times. Lastly, if someone canprehend the patterns of the wall and perfectly inscribe them on a scroll to create a magic-grade inscription, they will be rewarded with the choice of taking away a million federation cash or pick up one of the items left behind by the owner." The owner of this shop must be a rich person, Vincent thought. "Since it''s something I''ve earned, I won''t shy away from it," Vincent said "Pleasure doing business with you," Wilson said as he handed over the adventure license, credit card, and the things he just purchased to Vincent. "Pleasee again!" He added as Vincent walked up to Leni and John. "Wow, this is so pretty," Leni said while pointing at a hairpin. "But it''s a little bit too much costly," John said. "Ah, it''s beautiful but I have no money to purchase it. No worries, I''ll buy it after earning some cash." Leni believed that she would pass the entrance examination tomorrow and attend the military academy to learn more about the usage of her ability, magic techniques, and transcendental gradebat techniques. Then, she''ll be a powerful soldier and would be able to buy stuff she likes. "No need to wait so long. It''s only a thousand fed cash. I''ll pay for you," Vincent said to Leni before he turned towards the shopkeeper. "Come here. Get me this one. I want to give it to my little sister." "Of course, of course." Wilson quickly came over and packed the hairpin. "ButC" "Big sis, don''t decline. It''s a gift from brother," John said as he winked at his sister. Leni couldn''t decide whether to ept it or not, but thinking on it a moment more, she readily epted. She felt immensely happy as it was the first gift she received from her brother. "Thank you," Leni said to Vincent before they stepped out of the shop. "It looks good on you," he said after he settled the hairpin in between her hair. At the moment, Leni''s heartbeat increased exponentially and she realized she has fallen in love. For her, the like she held towards Vincent was that of a lover and she wondered what it''ll take to help him realize her feelings. Though she couldn''t confess outright as it was embarrassing. So, she silently followed after his footsteps like a meek squirrel with chubby cheeks. "Where are we going?" John asked. "To eat," Vincent replied "Who is gonna pay?" "Don''t worry about it. It''s my treat," Vincent said before he entered the restaurant with his friends. After eating in a nearby restaurant that was famous for its food, they returned to the orphanage with a few parcels of various dishes for the members of the orphanage. Chapter 30 - 30: Creating A Trump Card "Thanks for the meal!" The members of the orphanage thanked Vincent as they enjoyed and savored the delicious food, and while they were at it, Vincent excused himself and headed to his room. He didn''t care much about spending money as in the near future, financial matters could easily be resolved through selling magic scrolls. A single magic scroll was worth a hundred thousand federation cash. Furthermore, the price increase depending on the type and quality of the magic scroll. Besides, he thought that it was worth it, spending a little cash to make the kids smile. For now, he headed to his room to create the fireball magic scroll. He had all the necessary resources to create one, after all, but now he just needed to focus on inscribing the inscription pattern of fireball on the magic scroll. ?Daily mission activated: Master of creating magic scrolls? ?Task: Create a distinct magic scroll everyday.? ?Reward 1: A inscription pattern that the owner does not know of. ?Reward 2: 50 experience points? Vincent''s lips thinned into a smile as traces of surprise shed in his eyes as he looked at the semi-transparent screen that suddenly popped up in front of him. "Interestingly, I can gain knowledge of inscription patterns and earn experience points at the same time by creating a different magic scroll every day," Vincent internally thought as happiness bubbled in his heart. It was costly to learn inscription patterns. The teachers who homeschooled him only taught him the patterns of some basic auxiliary inscriptions. While Old Miller taught him about the patterns of water shield, fireball, and so on. It''s because the knowledge of inscription patterns wasn''t widespread. All in all, knowledge about inscription could only be purchased by paying a certain price or epting a renowned inscriptionist as a master. Though now, he will be able to learn new inscription patterns without paying a single cent. Although he was happy, a question still bugged him. "Howe my life feels like a game? What is the deal about missions, Blood?" Vincent internally asked. ?It will take a few moments for me to exin.? "Go on," ?It''s a tradition for the heads of the Sangue family to infuse a part of their power in the heirloom for the next head. However, the next head needs to pass the trials of the previous heads to obtain the power infused inside the pendant. In our case, it seems like the ninth head modified the trials to fit your taste.? "Father is really good to me," Vincent internally thought. "It''s all good, but I wonder what this trial is truly about." ?In this time and age, everything rides on having power, money, political or military backing. Selling magic scrolls is an easy way to gain money and a lot of it on top of that, and you''ll be able to form connections with various parties too, that is what the ninth said? Blood remarked. Vincent knew that poweres in all forms, not just physical and magical strength. It''s widely acknowledged that knowledge is power, after all. In simpler words, by bing famous as an inscriptionist he''ll not only befriend people with status but his status and worth will grow increasingly. That''s a matter of the future, however, and first off, he needs toplete the baby steps. He walked up to his desk and pulled out all the necessary items to create the magic scroll from the shopper and the drawers, one by one. First of all, he ced the blood vial on his desk. The vial contained the elemental heart blood of a fire beast. He continued by cing the magic scroll and energy conducting brush on the table. He picked up the energy conducting brush before dipping it into the vial containing fire blood. The moment it was stained with sufficient blood, he pulled it out before pouring magic power in it and swinging it, efficiently using the beast blood as ink to inscribe the fireball inscription pattern on the nk magic scroll. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! As the tip of the brush C which was glistening with the scarlet elemental heart blood of a fire beast C lightly glided on the empty paper of the magic scroll, a fine, red line gushed out from the end of the brush and etched onto the paper. Vincent''s actions were nimble yet smooth as if he was drawing the same patterns for the four hundredth time. After inscribing the first pattern of the fireball inscription patterns, he proceeded to draw the second one. The fireball inscription was made up of thirty-three patterns and he still needed to draw thirty-two more. "There are two parts of the creation of a fireball magic scroll. First off, a person needs to inscribe theplete fireball inscription patterns in the magic scroll. This part depended on the exceptional memory of a person and the control over the movements of hands." He had been memorizing inscription patterns and practicing inscribing them on papers for more than three years. In the past, he had inscribed hundreds to thousands of identical inscriptions on a piece of paper. As for fireball inscription patterns, he had practiced drawing those patterns around three hundred times. Basically, he had memorized the fireball inscription patterns by heart. Chapter 31 - 31: Three Trump Cards! When Vincent was drawing the fifth pattern, he realized that his control over the movement of his hands has increased due to an increase in his agility. "Albeit time and mentally taxing, it wouldn''t be a lie to say that it is easy for me to create a fireball magic scroll," Vincent internally thought as he picked up the pace to finish creating a fireball magic scroll in half an hour. He was still serious and concentrated when inscribing the patterns on the magic scroll. His eyes stared fixedly at the magic scroll beneath his brush as his hand moved continuously and inscribed one pattern after the other onto the magic scroll. He was not being tardy as he aiming for a hundred percent sess rate. Otherwise, he''s bound to fail. He had purchased multiple magic scrolls as he wanted to create more than just a single fireball magic scroll. After all, even if this magic scroll proves useless for the entrance examination of the military academy, it''ll still be useful in fighting against hordes of beasts. "Just three more patterns left!" Vincent''s right hand''s wrist moved nimbly as it controlled the brush in his hand to inscribe thest three patterns of the fireball inscription on the magic scroll at a shocking speed. There was a huge chance of failure if a person uses more elemental heart blood than the required amount as it can cause the design to be unstable and the paper to burn into ashes; However, his wrist movements were skilled and smooth; so was his precision. He dipped the brush in just the perfect amount of elemental heart blood before inscribing a pattern of the fireball inscription. When theplicated and profound patterns of the fireball inscription were sessfully inscribed on the magic scroll, the scarlet patterns abruptly shone in scarlet light. It meant that there was not even a hint of error, and he had inscribed the patterns perfectly. "It''s all thanks to years of hard work. Wonderful!" Vincent''s eyes squinted low in happiness as he gazed at the dozens ofplicated scarlet patterns interlocked to create aplex and mysterious fireball inscription that gave off an archaic and ferocious vibe. However, it was still an empty husk. He still needed to integrate a source of energy, and only then will the magic scroll bepleted. "In the second part, a person needs to integrate the fiery energy present inside the beast core with the magic scroll," Vincent thought as he ced the fire beast core in the center of the magic scroll. "Integrate!" Vincent eximed as he performed hand signs which caused magic power to burst out of the tip of his fingers pressing on the core and forcefully integrated the energy inside the core into the magic scroll. A few days ago, Vincent''s magic power capacity, to say the least, was pathetic inconsiderate of his age, but now, it has increased to one hundred unitsCthe maximum limit of his unique body. The total amount of magic power a person could hold in his body was important when creating magic scrolls. After all, a huge amount of magic power or its source "Mana" was required to integrate the energy inside the beast core into the magic scroll. The integration process was easy since he had a hundred units of magic power to spare. Guided by his magic power that depleted rapidly, one-third of the fiery energy present inside the fire core of the red risk element integrated with the magic scroll in just three minutes. "It''s finally done," The wind gusts carried the fallen leaves through the window and into his room as dozens of ruby red colored patterns transformed into red streaks of fire and intertwined to slowly shape into an intimidating fiery sphere. "This magic scroll contains a devastating power and it would release a projectile fireball the moment it is activated!" Vincent thought with a happy grin as he could feel the heat emitting out of the magic scroll. ? Congrattions! You''ve created a fireball magic scroll ? ? The creation of the fireball inscription has been registered in the database. Next time, you won''t be able toplete the daily mission by creating a fireball inscription ? ? 50 XP gained ? ? Lv 3: 60/300 ? ? Detected! It''s the first time you''ve created a magic scroll. You''ve been rewarded with a hundred extra experience points ? ? Lv 3: 160/300 ? ? You''ve gained the right to obtain knowledge about the lesser healing inscription. I can transmit the information directly to your mind. Will you ept? ? "Yes, please do that," Vincent internally said, and he then obtained knowledge regarding the lesser healing inscription. The lesser healing inscription is used to create a magic scroll that is best used to relieve stress and tiredness and heal small wounds and bruises. "It is pretty good," Vincent said as he closed his eyes, trying to recover his magic power through breathing in the magic power present in his surroundings. He had the resources necessary to create two more fireball magic scrolls but he was left with only ten units of magic power after just creating the fireball magic scroll. The integration process requires 90 units of magic power. Therefore, he needed to recover at least ny units of magic power to create one more fireball magic scroll. After several minutes, Vincent opened his eyes as his magic power has recovered to a hundred units. He then started to inscribe fireball inscription patterns onto a new magic scroll. Within the familiar lit room, Vincent had a concentrated expression on his face as he focused on inscribing the inscription patterns on the magic scroll. He was entirely focused on creating two more fireball magic scrolls. The magic scrolls shifted as time passed, slowly transforming into scrolls withplicated and profound patterns, brimming with ferocious fiery powers. "In a few hours, I''ve sessfully created three fireball magic scrolls!" Vincent eximed in excitement as now he possessed three trump cards. Chapter 32 - 32: The Storage Device By the time Vincent was done with creating fireball magic scrolls, it was already midnight. Honestly, he could''ve been done with it in merely two hours but he was limited by his magic power capacity and regeneration rates. Anyway, he was happy as he had created three magic scrolls proving that his sess rate in creating fireball magic scrolls has reached a hundred percent. "It''s already midnight. I still need to pack my stuff. After all, I won''t get the chance to pack after a good night''s sleep as the entrance examination of the military academy will be held early in the morning tomorrow." Vincent said, "I need to first be the owner of this ring so that I can store my items in a more secure ce." Vincent opened the metallic ring box before he took out the user manual and the ck serpent ring. He then proceeded to read the user manual. It exined how to bind the storage device to oneself. Binding works in the same way as a smartphone screen lock. Except for him, no one else will be able to ess the storage device of the ring. He ced the user manual on the table after reading all of its content. Then he picked up the ring and brought it close to his face. The ck serpent ring like its name was ck in color and inscription patterns of the same color were inscribed all over it, and it was in the shape of a coiled snake. ? ck Serpent Ring ? ? Storage: 0/100 ? ? Status: Ownerless ? ? Usage: The owner will be the owner of this storage device once you pour magic power into it till you are bound with the storage ring and gain ownership over it. Once you gain ownership over the ring, the owner will be able to retrieve the items inside by using his magic power ? ? Pros: An esoteric ring with a subspace inside it. The owner can store items in this ring by using the storage screen. The owner can retrieve items inside of this ring with a mere thought ? ? Cons: Only a single item can be retrieved from the ring every 5 seconds. The storage space is limited. It can only carry 3 tons worth of items. Can be destroyed ? The size and weight that this storage device could contain might be limited. Nheless, Vincent considered it to be a treasure as it was capable of storing items. "Let''s follow the instructions mentioned in the user''s manual and finish the two-step verification first," Vincent thought as he breathed into the ring. The ring glowed ring before changing to green. After that, he poured twenty units of magic power into the ck serpent ring. Vincent felt that he has established a mystical connection with the ring as it absorbed his magic power. The two-step verification added an extrayer to his storage device in case it gets stolen. Now that he has set up 2-Step Verification, he can ess the storage screen only by using his breath. Simrly, the only way to take items from inside the storage device was by using his magic power. Naturally, he can update this information as he likester on. Now it was time to start packing. "Open storage screen!" Vincentmanded by breathing into the ring. As soon as he said those words, a semi-transparent screen popped up in front of his vision. The storage screen was simr to the inventory of any game. The storage screen showed a hundred boxes and an item could be stored in each one of them. He could expand the storage space, but that would require a lot of resources and cash. Though for now, a hundred slots for storing items were more than enough for him. Vincent wasn''t much of a materialistic person and he didn''t have a lot of things. He started to store his belonging in the storage device. He only needed to touch the storage screen with an item he wants to store and it was stored in the inventory. A few minutes passed by as he stored the portrait of his parents, some clothes, beast weapons, three fireball magic scrolls, a few thousand federations cash, and the hundred pieces of low-level magic stones that he earned bypleting the adventure association mission into his ck serpent ring. "Thankfully, cash and small items like magic stones can be stored in a single slot inrger quantities. To store a hundred pieces of magic stones only three slots were used," Vincent said as he looked at the first thirty slots of the storage device that were upied, but the remaining seventy slots could still be used as he hasn''t met the maximum weight limit. Everything he needed has been packed in the ring that he wore on the index finger of his right hand. Only a half-empty vial of the elemental heart blood of a fire-type beast was left on his study table. "Let''s drink it," Vincent thought as he used his special ability to purified the beast''s blood. Then, he opened the lid of the vial and poured the delicious content inside of it into his mouth. The blood sweetened his mouth but also tingled his tongue with a burst of spiciness as it went down his throat. ? Your Strength has increased to 49 points ? ? You''ve gained 3.33% percent of fire-ability cells. ? Ability Cells in progress: 3.33/100 % ? ? The owner will awaken as a fire ability user once the progression rate reached 100% ? Vincent''s eyes opened wide in surprise and his mouth gaped as he stared at the notifications with a fervent look of excitement. "Everyone needs to consume evolution material to gain ability cells. In contrast, I can gain ability cells by drinking the purified version of the elemental heart blood of beasts." Vincent''s lips thinned into a smile. "Furthermore, the cost of blood is far cheaper whenpared to evolution materials. In the future, I can sell evolution material at a good price, using what I earned to purchase beast''s blood. This way, not only will I keep my addiction and hunger in check, but I''ll also produce ability cells." In the morning, the street near the glistening Cloud Tower was bustling with people as the entrance examination of the military academy was going to begin soon. One could see many youngsters, ranging from fifteen to seventeen years of age gathering in front of booths, where the first assessment of the entrance examination is going to be held. Chapter 33 - 33: The Beginning Of The Exam! "The streets are packed with people," John said as he breathed in the chilly air. "What did you expect? Everyone wants to enroll in the academy as it is better to gain experience in fighting against beasts and monsters before conscription," Leni said. "There is a lot of people," Vincent said while looking at the thousands of people around his age standing in front of him. "I wonder how long it''ll take for our turn to arrive." "From the looks of it, it''s gonna take a while." John said, "Sigh, I even missed breakfast toe here early." On Earth, the entrance examination of the military academy is held only once every two years, on the second day of the second month of every even year. If an Earthling happens to miss it at the age of sixteen then there was no hope to ever enroll in the academy. It was no wonder why the streets were packed with people. A lot of boys and girls stood in the open streets located near the front entrance of the tower of clouds. A huge stage with three chairs could be seen in the center of it all. A lot of testing booths draped with a piece of dark cloth were established all around the stage. An examiner sat inside each of the testing booths. "Look! It''s the famous angelic medic of the military academy!" A boy said while pointing at a gorgeous woman with long and wavy golden hair and blue eyes, who walked up the stairs and sat on one of the three seats ced on a giant stage. She was wearing a white fur coat, a half sleeves T-shirt, skirt, and knee-high socks that exposed some parts of her smooth and supple skin. She looked like a cute and holy angel. "Since she''s here, Alex the Alchemist must also be around." As soon as a young boy said those words, a middle-aged man with ck hair, sharp and schrly features, and rosy lips walked up the stairs and sat on an empty chair ced beside the chair in the center. "Damn! Howe your guess is correct!!!" "It wasn''t a guess. Haven''t you heard that they are like lovebirds? It''s a confirmed rumor that you will find Alex wherever Kayle is." In the military academy, Alex was the instructor in charge of professions rted to alchemy. While Kayle was the school nurse. They were dispatched here with the instructor in charge ofbat sses in the academy to conduct the entrance exam. But, they couldn''t start the examination as that person was also their immediate superior. So they waited for him to arrive. Standing inside of the tower that reached the skies, Theodore nced in the directions of the boys and girls through the ss window. ''Hmm. The two discarded children of the great royal families are here. It''s as I expected it to be. I hope Nevis Truemight and Varth Hollow will live up to my expectations.'' In this day and age, streams of stars are inhabited by humans, demi-humans, and their creations such as sentient robots. Thes are connected through worlds connecting expanses. The royal families and their subsidiaries such as guilds rule theses. On the other hand, the noble families rule over a tract ofnd on thes ruled by the royal families. Although there are a lot of royal families in this day and age, most of thes are ruled by the Four Great Royal Families. However, being born into a great royal family isn''t considered a fortune for most of the people who are born in one of them. After all, the descendants deemed useless are discarded, removed from the main family grounds for simple reasons, and transported back to Earth. The discarded include children born out of wedlock and those who failed to live up to the expectations of the family elders and family head. There were two descendants of the great royalties among the many candidates that were here to participate in the entrance examination. They didn''t need to serve military time as they were royalties, but they were still here. Theodore could guess their reason somewhat. The academy was a wonderful opportunity for many discarded royalties to show their worth and earn the attention of the main family. 1. Truemight Royal Family C Nevis Truemight. 2. Hollow Royal Family C Varth Hollow. His gazested on them for only a few seconds and he then looked away from them. "Well, where''s the kid that recently became an adventurer?" Theodore''s gaze swept across everyone as he tried to find a boy he recently gained interest in, but it was kinda hard to find the one he was looking for in the sea of people. A few secondster, his lips stretched back to expose a smile. ''There he is,'' Theodore thought as he stared at Vincent who was standing at the very end of the line with Leni and John. ''Hmm, he has grown strongerpared to a few days ago. He must''ve had quite the fortunate encounter to raise his strength so quickly. Seems like he is quite the lucky fellow. Well, luck is also a part of a person''s strength. No doubt about it. Besides, the demi-humanss andd standing beside him aren''t shabby either. Though thed will suffer a bit until the ability affinity test.'' That was the end of his evaluation. Only a few among the lots of them garnered his interest. After all, ording to him, the rest will either fail the examination or score pretty badly. He took a step forward and seemingly teleported to the huge stage that was dozens of floors away from him. The thousands of boys and girls began to mumble as he suddenly appeared out of thin air. "Huh? How did that person suddenly appear out of nowhere?" "Who is he?" "Must be a bigshot." Theodore walked to the chair in the middle of the stage and sat down on it, legs crossed and hands intertwined. He was wearing all-ck boots, pants, and a military jacket zipped halfway to expose a pendant with snowy patterns and a ck shirt, and a pair of aqua blue sunsses that hid his eyes from the world. "Silence! The examination is about to start." Alex''s voice spread throughout the streets as it was amplified with battle energy. As soon as he said those words, silence reced the bustling streets. "After you," Theodore said to Kayle. "Okay," Kayle nodded, and her gaze then swept across the streets. "The entrance examination is divided into several assessments. We''ll keep it simple and exin the rules of the several assessments one by one if you by chance manage to pass the previous assessment." Theodore wanted to know how well the people who have garnered his attention will do. So, he didn''t waste time and immediately began to exin the rules of the first assessment of the entrance examination to the young ones. "The first round of the examination is to determine your level of sensitivity to energy in the surrounding. In your case, it''ll be magic power. The higher your sensitivity to magic power, the greater your talent. We only ept talented individuals. Naturally, it doesn''t have to be heaven-defying. You only need a grade-3 energy sensitivity to pass the first examination. After that, we will take the students who passed to the second round of the examination." Chapter 34 - 34: Energy Sensitivity Assessment! "An entire era ago, when the world connecting spaces opened up in space and magic power first seeped inside our world, the humans quickly learned to harness magic power. We learned that some peoples were able to absorb magic power from their surroundings and energy resources faster than others. At first, due to their capabilities of absorbing energy far faster than others, those people werebeled as talented individuals. However,ter on, it was found out that the rate of magic power absorption is directly rted to a person''s sensitivity to energies." "Through further research, the researchers found out that a person''s sensitivity to energy is directly rted to their bodily conditions. A person with a good constitution and healthy body is more sensitive to energy than a person with a bad constitution and an unhealthy body. The experts introduced a chart for energy sensitivity and it was quickly adapted into the three major power systems, namely, magic technique system, transcendental gradebat techniques, and superpowers." "The chart categorized the energy sensitivity of the humans and demi-humans into hundred grades, with the first grade as the worst and the hundredth grade as the best. These grades are further divided into 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and so on." "The average human and demi-human have a grade-1 sensitivity to magic power. A person with grade-2 energy sensitivity absorbs magic power two times faster than the average person. Simrly, a person with grade-3 energy sensitivity absorbs magic power three times faster than the average person." "Naturally, there are many other uses of having a better sensitivity to energy. However, for now, you guys are not worthy of such knowledge. Now you may enter the booths to get tested for your sensitivity to energy." Theodore spoke softly, but his crystal clear voice rang in the ears of everyone present. "Yes, sir!" The examinees eximed as they gazed at Theodore with a respectful expression. First off, he was powerful, and secondly, he exined the history of energy sensitivity to the students to clear their confusion about the subject. He immediately left a favorable impression in the minds of the students. The test began right after Theodore''s exnation, and as luck would have it, Nevis was among the first to enter the booth. "Hello, nice to meet you. Pleasee up to the table and ce your hand on this crystal ball. This crystal ball is called Energy Affinity Crystal. It will reveal your sensitivity to energy once you inject a little bit of your magic power into it," the examiner said with a smile the moment Nevis entered the booth. Nevis was a young boy with a slender build and silky silver hair, very pale skin, and a beauty mark under the left corner of his left aqua blue eye. His narrow jaw-line and wholesome eyes intensified his handsomeness by a whole level. He wore a short-sleeved ck jacket over his long-sleeved white shirt and ck pant that went well with boots of matching colors. A twisted horn-shaped amulet made of some type of beast bone hung from his neck. He also wore fingerless ck gloves with inscription patterns drawn on the backhand. "Right," Nevis nodded his head as he walked up to the table with a rxed and carefree expression. An inky ck crystal ball was ced on the table. It was simr in size to a football and had an arcane feel to it. He ced his palm on top of the crystal ball before slowly injecting magic power into it. After the passage of a few seconds, the crystal released a mesmerizing blue glow. He was currently staring straight at the crystal ball. The glow reflecting in his tender eyes and shining on Nevis''s handsome face intensified. Then, all of a sudden, eighty-eight blue speckles appeared inside the crystal ball. "Can you announce the result?" Nevis looked expectantly at the examiner. "Your sensitivity to energy is 8.8 times better than an average person. In simpler words, your energy sensitivity grade is 8.8. You''re eligible to know more about the energy system now that you''ve passed the first assessment. Will you to hear about it?" The examiner asked without a hint of impatience on his face. Nevis felt pretty satisfied as his sensitivity to energy was better than average. He was still a young man. A human in his prime condition. As long as he consumes enough resources to improve the quality of his body, he''ll be able to intensify his sensitivity to energy. "Yes, please tell me more about it," Nevis said as he looked at the examiner sitting in his seat. He was a bastard son of the Truemight family and it was hard for him to get his hands on any sort of information. He was royalty yet even the servants of the house bullied him. His mother died early and his father, the head of the family didn''t even spare a nce toward his direction. That''s the main reason why even the servants dared to bully him. But the masterminds who incited the servants to bully him were his half-siblings. Nevis wanted to enter the military academy as it was an escape from his life, and it was also a mean of fulfilling his dreams of finding friends and bing someone truly loved by others. Anyway, he wascking a lot of information as the people of his family didn''t let a child like him who was born out of wedlock to enter the royal library. "You might never have heard of it, but the speed of magic power purification also depends on a person''s sensitivity to energy. In the future, it will be easy for you to purify your magic power from all impurities, evolving it into mana. Mana is the evolved version of magic power. One unit of mana is equal to ten units of magic power. In a sense, you''ll be able to contain 500 units of magic power in your heart," the examiner exined before he covered his mouth and yawned. A human heart can contain 50 units of magic power. That was the limit. But once a person purifies magic power into mana, it''s the same as storing 500 units of magic power in the heart. After all, a human and demi-human heart can contain 50 units of mana. Having a greater capacity of energy means being able to use a powerful form of one''s abilities and also magic techniques. "I understand," Nevis nodded. "You may proceed to rest in the lobby of the first floor of the tower of clouds," the examiner said as he handed over a white card to Nevis. "Just show this card to the droids standing guard at the entrance of the cloud tower and they''ll take you to the lobby." "I got it," Nevis replied before stepping out of the booth, and he then headed towards the entrance of the cloud tower. With the help of a droid half his size, he reached the lobby where he sat on one of the many empty sofa chairs to rest. He wasn''t the first one toe here as more than five peoples were already here. Chapter 35 - 35: Overwhelming Talent The examinees went into the booths, one by one. Everyone was able to illuminate the crystal ball on the table. However, the people whose sensitivity to energy didn''t surpass grade 2 were instantly disqualified. They left the testing booth with a foul mood and some even cried out in the middle of the packed streets. The sadness welling up in their hearts was well worth it, as they had lost the best chance of their lives. Most of them weremoners and the military academy was the easiest way to upgrade their status. Yet, they didn''t even pass the first assessment. Their dreams were shattered in a single moment. It didn''t take long for Varth Hollow turn to arrive. His sensitivity to energy was worse than Nevis Truemight but he was still a level above the average passing grade. His sensitivity to energy was 5.9. "It isn''t a good grade but you don''t look even a bit sad," the examiner said as he looked at Varth. "I am a person that heavily relies on the usage of the new world''s technology to match up to prodigies. Why would a measly grading system dampen my mood?" Varth replied with a smile. "Whatever you say." The examiner motioned for him to leave the testing booth. His grade was more than enough to pass the test and he soon arrived at the resting lobby. The assessment continued and soon it was John''s turn toe up to the examiner. "Congrattions, young boy, your sensitivity to energy like magic power is 3 times better than an average person. You passed the first assessment by a hairbreadth." John wiped theyer of sweat on his forehead, breathing a sigh of relief as he left the testing booth with shaky steps. "Thank god. I should give a treat to big brother. If it wasn''t for him I would have failed the very first assessment." Truth is, John''s body expanded by a lot in thest few days, and now he was able to contain 20 units of battle energy. Basically, his body constitution has increased to 20 units over the past few days. It was a result of hardcore training and also because of the uniqueness of his own body that he didn''t realize. A person''s sensitivity to energy is always a grade higher than their body constitution. 20 points in the body constitution signify a grade-2 constitution. A person with a grade-2 constitution will have a grade-3 sensitivity to energy. John barely met the minimum requirement for passing the first assessment of the military academy entrance examination. He didn''t head straight to the cloud tower as he wanted to go there together with his sister. He stood near the testing booth that Leni entered and waited for her toe out of there. "Good gracious!" The examiner''s pretty eyes opened wide and his mouth gaped as he stared at Leni with a bewildered expression on her face. "Umm miss is something wrong? Did I fail the test?" Leni asked while feeling sad at the thought of failing the test. "Nope, you didn''t fail the assessment. Rather, you aced it. You see, these basic-grade energy affinity crystals can be used to sensitivity to energy between the first and tenth grades. Any higher than that and they''ll fail to work. Your energy sensitivity is better than the tenth grade since it failed to work. We''ll need to get an intermediate-grade energy affinity crystal as your sensitivity surpasses grade-10. You''re so young, this can only be considered a huge surprise." The examiner said as she felt awed by the cute little girl in front of her. A young man around the age of 16 was considered talented if his sensitivity to energy is grade-9 or grade-10. Any more than that and that person will be considered as a prodigy. The academy didn''t believe that they''ll find extraordinary individuals during the assessment held in a ce like Earth and so they only brought a few advanced grade testing equipment with them. "What should we do now?" Leni asked the examiner. "You wait here for a while. I''ll request an upgraded version of this crystal from my higher-ups." "Okay," Leni nodded. Honestly, even she was surprised by her superior sensitivity to energy. Previously, she wasn''t much better than John in terms of strength. However, not only has she gotten stronger after the evolution process but her bodily conditions have also increased greatly. "It''s all thanks to big brother Vincent. He saved my life, granting me a new one, one in which I have a far better body and strength." Leni internally thanked Vincent. She wanted to repay his grace as he has done a lot for her and her little brother. She knew that big brother Vincent has gone out of his way to training her little brother over the past few days. "There is a talented individual in my booth. I am requesting a better version of the testing equipment. Please send it to me as soon as possible," the examiner said to Kayle. "Request confirmed. A handyman carrying an intermediate-grade energy affinity crystal is dispatched to your location," Kayle replied before she told Alex to go there. "This is the second person. Looks like this year''s entrance exam is going to be fruitful," Theodore said with a pleased expression on his face as he sipped hot milk tea from the stic cup held in his hand. "Yeah, but I still don''t feel happy with this situation!" Kayle said with a frown. "Why? What makes you so unhappy?" "Why are you acting like you don''t know? Just looking at the face of that bastard Alex makes me feel nauseous, but the higher-ups still dispatched us both at the same location. Are they looking to pick a fight with me?" "I don''t think so," "Wait... you!" Kayle pointed at him. "You''re acting skeptically. You know something about this messed-up situation right?" Kayle said as she leaned closer to Theodore, their noses almost sticking to each other. "No need to get so aggressive. No one likes an aggressive female. That''s why you''re still single." "Senior would you like to get punched in the face? If so, please keep on bbering." "No thanks. My face is too precious and I would rather not get hurt for no reason. It''s not like I had any intentions to hide it from you. You just didn''t ask before." "Will you tell me now that I am asking." "Sure, I heard that Alex requested the higher-ups to dispatch you here. Though you should take it as a rumor as I haven''t confirmed the validity of this information. You know, I am too busy to do that," Theodore said calmly, urately throwing the empty cup into a dustbin dozens of meters away. "Ugh, what''s that bastard up to now," Kayle grumbled with a twisted face as she felt sick with the psychopathic ways of Alex. Chapter 36 - 36: A New Mission! "Here''s the equipment you requested," Alex said after entering booth number six. "Just ce it on the table," the examiner said as she looked at Alex. "All right!" Alex returned to the huge stadium in a few minutes after cing the ball on the table. Leni passed the first assessment with flying marks once she injected magic power into the better version of the energy affinity crystal. Her sensitivity to energy was grade 16. Her potential matched the potential of the youngest son of the great Walken family. Leni and Felix Walken were the only two amongst the thousands of candidates that needed to use an intermediate grade energy affinity crystal ball as their sensitivity to energy far surpassed others. "Hey, I am here," John said while waving his hand. "Coming." "Having you been waiting for me?" Leni said after walking up to him. "Yeah, it has only been a few minutes though," John said. "Tell me how did you do?" "Pretty good," Leni replied. "Tell me about yourself." "Pretty bad, but I managed to pass. Anyway, should we wait for him or go ahead?" "He told me to not wait for him." "Sure, let''s head towards the lobby," John said as he walked towards the cloud tower with his sister. A few minutester, Leni and John reached the lobby. They sat on the sofas ced around a round ss coffee table. The lobby was extremelyrge and it could house around a maximum of five hundred people. A lot of people who passed the first assessment were already seated in ce here, and multiple droids were serving refreshments to each one of them. Naturally, John called one to be served something fresh as he hasn''t eaten anything sincest night. Adding on the nervousness that seeped into every fiber of his being during the test, he was feelingpletely famished. Only after eating a lot of good stuff for free did he feel happiness enriching his heart and warmness filling his stomach. "How long do we have to wait here?" Felix Walken asked with a nasty frown. A droid answered his question. "Until everyone outside gets tested." "How can thosemoners dare to make a royalty like me wait?!! They are needed to be taught a lesson!" He eximed arrogantly for everyone in the lobby to hear. Nobody dared to look in his direction as he was a descendant of the Walken family. The Walken family is a part of the four great families. In the past, there were six royal families and each mastered a distinct elemental ability. They were called the elemental royal families. However, these elemental families merged into one big family and became powerful enough to earn the title of the fourth great royal family. The Great Royal Walken family wasprised of six royal families, namely, Wind, Water, Fire, Earth, Light, and Darkness. At any time, the Walken family has six elemental lords, six saintesses, and one family head. The family is ruled by Felix''s father, the family head. The six elemental lords act as juries. These six lords each cultivate a saintess who bes the wife of the Walken family head. As per the oath that was taken during the merging of the six families, Felix''s father married a saintess from all six royal families and made babies with them. After all, that was the only way to keep matters stable and the families merged. Though the current Walken family head loved the saintess of fire the most. Felix was her youngest child. He was spoiled from a young age as he was the youngest and most beloved child of the first wife of the head of the Walken family. He was kicked out of the main family and transported to Earth as the head of the family could no longer overlook his misdeeds. Walken loved his wife, but he cherished the position of the family head even more. The six elemental lords have bounded together and lodged aint against Felix. Coerced into a corner by the main powerhouses of the family, the family head decided to discard this child of his to safeguard his position. Felix was told that he is being sent here to be trained by a friend of his father, but he would''ve never thought that he''ll have to pass the time-consuming assessment first. Worst of all, he now needed to wait in this cramped ce because of somezy bumps. Most of thezy bumps were shedding tears of sadness and sorrow. After more than four hundred students failed within an hour or so, the atmosphere seemed to be tinged with a feeling of nervousness. The rate of failure signified that the passing rate for the first round of examination was too low. "My turn has finally arrived. It wasn''t easy to stand in this chilling cold for more than an hour," Vincent said, stepping inside the booth. ? A new mission has been initiated ? ? Task: Pass the assessment test ? ? Reward: +3 body constitution stat ? ? The owner will gain additional reward for an above-average assessment grade ? Just as he entered the booth, a few notifications popped up in front of him. ''So I will earn extra awards if I get a grade better than the passing marks. Nice!'' Vincent thought as he jovially walked up to the table. "Inject your magic power into the crystal ball and it''ll reveal your grade," the examiner said as she rubbed her tired eyes. She has been repeating the same dialogue for the past few hours and it has taken a toll on her. Vincent followed her instructions and injected his magic power into the crystal ball. After a momentary dy, five clouds and two twinkling speckles appeared inside the crystal ball. "Your energy sensitivity grade is 5.2, it''s pretty nice considering your young age," the examiner said. At the same time, Vincent received a mission clear notice. ? Mission has beenpleted ? ? You''ve been rewarded with +3 body constitution stats ? ? You''ve passed the assessment with an above-average score ? ? Additional stat point will be awarded ? ? Your body constitution has increased to 46 points ? The examiner sends him off to the cloud tower after exining the uses of magic power sensitivity. "I believe that sensitivity to energy is also directly rted to a person''s body constitution. Am I right?" Vincent internally said to Blood. ? It is as you concluded. The owner can increase your sensitivity to magic power by improving your body conditions ? Vincent was feeling pretty good. After all, he could increase his sensitivity to magic power by using attribute points to improve the state of his body constitutions. The same can be done by consuming the blood of beasts. Chapter 37 - 37: Contribution Points! After a few hours, all of the people outside of the cloud tower were assessed. Those who passed were directed to the lobby. Those who failed returned to their homes. The examinees waiting inside the lobby numbered around two hundred. This number was pretty chilling, especially when Vincent considered the fact that more than a thousand people came to take the entrance examination. Most of the students were chatting with each other, some were excited about the next rounds of assessment while the others talked about the best of the bunch. Leni and Felix were the centers of attention. Although their lights far outshined Nevis and the others, they were still looked highly upon by the instructor ofbat. Their chitter-chatter quickly stopped as soon as the three head examiners entered the lobby. "It looks like everyone who passed is present here. I congratte you all for passing the first assessment. Now, you guys only need to pass four more assessments to be a student at our military academy. Before we start the next assessment, register yourselves as temporary students by binding with the temporary student identification card that the droids will have over to you," Theodore said before he went ahead and sat on the sofa beside Vincent. "You don''t mind do you?" Theodore asked as he looked at Vincent and hispanion. "Ah, nope," Vincent replied. "I never imagined that you were the instructor ofbat, and it''s pretty surprising, to say the least." "Didn''t I say I''ll see you soon?" Theodore replied with a smile. "Yeah, you did say that," Vincent replied. "In the next few tests, I advise you to try your best," Theodore whispered in his ears before walking away from the lobby. It seemed like his only reason toe to the lobby was to have a small chat with Vincent. "What did he say?" John asked. "Just some words of encouragement," Vincent replied as he sipped some coldtte from a tin can. The droids handed a pristine card to all the examinees in the lobby of the first floor of the cloud tower. The droids also exined how to bind to the identification card. They just needed to ce their thumb on the thumb imprint at the back of the identification card to get registered as temporary students of the military academy. "Hmm, what is this?" John said as the number zero appeared on the front of the identification card once he registered as a temporary student. "It''s the same for us!" The number zero also appeared in the center of Leni''s and Vincent''s identification cards. "Just what meaning does this number hold?" "Whatever it is, we will find out soon," Vincent said. A few seconds after the examinees registered themselves as temporary students, the instructor in charge of medics thatined to Theodore about Alex appeared before them and said, "Hello, temps. As you might have already heard, I am Kayle Walken. Listen well! The student identification card records your status. It will identify you as a permanent student of the military base established in the world''s connecting expanse between Earth and the world of Lorena once you pass the entrance examination. Only by using this card can you gain ess to certain areas and attend certain sses in the academy. It''s costly to create one. So you better not lose it. Any questions?" A lot of students started asking a bunch of questions at the same time. "Act civil! One at a time," Kayle shouted as she was met with a barrage of questions. "Yes, ma''am!" "Excuse me, ma''am. May I ask what''s the deal with the number in the center of our cards?" A student with anky build asked what everyone wanted to know. "Good question. The number being showcased in the center of your card is your military contribution points." "What is the use of the points?" "The points can be used to purchase all sorts of things that''ll make you strong such as evolution materials, pills, and a lot of other stuff, but know that most areas of the military academy can only be essed by utilizing your CP (contribution points)." Kayle''s exnation helped the examinees understand the importance of the contribution points. These points were like virtual currency as they can purchase a lot of items by using them. "How do we earn these points?" Vincent asked as he looked at Kayle. "There are a lot of ways, but for now, you will be earning CP by performing well in the uing exams, so I advise you all to try your best." "Yes, ma''am. We''ll do our best!" "Good! Follow me. I will lead you guys to the next examination room," Kayle said as she turned around and began walking away from the open lobby. The examinees followed after her in tow. A few minutester, Vincent and the other examinees arrived at the second floor by taking the esctors. "That is the titan''s strength examination room; it''s where you''ll be tested for your strength. Now pass through these doors. Once you enter the room, the examiner in charge of this test will exin the rules to you," Kayle said after she and the examinees reached in front of the huge entrance of room no.7. Chapter 38 - 38: The Test Of Strength! The instructor in charge of medical sses pushed opened the door and the students walked inside in a straight line. After walking through a dimly lit passageway that resembled a ratherrge corridor, they stepped inside a wide and spacious room that was shaped like a volleyball court. Though the volleyball court contained a seven-meter-long and six meters wide inky ck iron te that was standing vertically in the middle of the court instead of a and there was a counter showing the number zero attached on top of it. There was a raised tform beside the court. A lot of people d in white holy clothing stood there. A table and three chairs were ced there, also. Theodore and Kayle sat there, cross-legged and drinking some kind of rxation tea with a peaceful expression on their face while Alex stood just a few meters away from the metallic te. Seems like the instructor used a different and more practical passage to reach the ce earlier. "This room isrger than I thought," Leni said while blinking once she entered the room. "Yeah, it looked far smaller from the outside than it actually is," John added as his gaze swept through the interior of the room. "It''s probably because the interior of this room is expanded by using spatial technology," Vincent said as his eyesnded on the huge iron te in the middle of the room. He was correct, most of the rooms in the cloud tower utilized space expanding items that increased their sizes by a considerable amount. "What is that metallic wall over there?" The students were chatting with each other, wondering whether the metallic te is somehow rted to the second assessment or not, as they asionally nced at the instructor sitting on the raised tform and the one standing in front of them for some clue. "Hi, my name is Alex Hollow. The bunch of you can call me just Alex. You might have guessed it already but I will say it anyway, I will be your examiner for the second assessment. The purpose of this test is to see the full extent of your strength. Your strength will be assessed with the help of this big bad boy." Alex Hollow pointed towards the huge metallic te at the center of the field and continued, "This is the Iron Wall of Strength Reflection. The force behind your attack will be revealed in the counter attached to the wall once you attack the iron wall. The counter will reveal the grade of your strength. The wall is extremely sturdy, physical and magical attacks below grade-30 have no chance of permanently damaging it. Attacks around grade-70 and above might permanently damage it, but none of you are that strong. It also has other properties. What I am trying to say is that you can go all out against the wall, use your most powerful ability, magic technique, or transcendental gradebat technique on it without any worries as you''ll be earning contribution points ording to the cumtion of your grades." As soon as he said those words, excitement took over the soul of the temporary students. "Wow, we can earn contribution points!" "I am gonna give it my all in this strength to earn a huge amount of CP! I am fired up." "Try all you want, but I will be the one to ace this test," Felix Walken internally smiled. He was a fire ability user. Fire ability is said to be among the most destructive and powerful elemental abilities. He was confident in the strength of his ability. He was sure that he will step over all the examinees and earn the title of the strongest temporary student. "Settle down! I still haven''t finished," Alex said. After the student''s voices of excitement died down, he continued, "You can only take this test once. The minimum passing mark is grade 3. If you were to fail then your status as a temporary student will be removed and you''ll have to head back home. Lastly, you can''t use external items in this test, weapons and magic scroll included." Hearing his words, some of the students showed a restless expression on their faces as if they couldn''t wait to take the test while the others became anxious and tense. If they are to fail this test, even if they are born extremely sensitive to energy, they will only have two to three years before they get conscripted into the military. The military academy entrance examination could only be taken once a lifetime. Varth Hollow frowned, taken aback by Alex''s words. "Damn! This test is literally targeting me. I was thinking that I will use my items to ace the following test and in the end, get a cumtive better result. But thest rule of this test just shattered my initial ns." Varth Hollow internally thought. Varth depended a lot on items, and the fact could be seen from the three magical watches wore on his left hand. "If you have any questions about the test then don''t hesitate to ask me about it," Alex offered in a friendly tone. "What if we''re injured?" A student who solely relied on using transcendental grade first techniques asked as he feared that he will badly damage his hand by attacking the iron wall with full force. "Don''t worry if you''re injured, as we havee prepared. The healers are on standby, and they will perform instantly on anyone who requires medical care. Your injuries will be instantly healed, no matter how bad it is!" Alex responded to him, assuring him that there is no need to fear the risk thates with injury as the healers can mend broken hands and shattered bones. "I also have a question. How is the strength grade determined?" A young man with raven green hair asked as he looked at Alex. "An average person has ten points of strength. We have categorized strength into varying grades based on the strength of an average human with grade one as the worst and the grade with the bigger number as the better. Grade one means that you''re just as powerful as an average human. Grade-2 means that you''re two times powerful than an average person and so on," Alex exined. His eyes then swept across the rows of students as if saying that if you don''t have any questions then man up ande to take the test. "Don''t mind if I do!" A few seconds after Alex said those words, the young man with raven green hair wearing a tracksuit stepped out from the crowd and walked up to the iron wall. His right hand balled into a fist as he pulled it back to his waist. One could see that he had activated his ability as his entire fist was covered in metal. Palin''s right heel lifted while his left foot pressed on the ground as his hips turned and his arm sprung out toward the lower center of the iron wall. Bam! A reverberation sound of metal hitting against metal rang out, spreading throughout the room, as Palin exhaled sharply, wincing in pain. Even though his fist was covered in a metallic sheen, it was pretty thin and he felt as if his wrist had dislocated. "90 points!" The system announced the force of strength behind Palin''s attack as the number also appeared on the counter. "You''ve passed! Your strength grade is 9, a high-ranked grade for entrance exam examinees!" Alex evaluated with a look of approval on his face. "Thanks, Sir, but I need medical attention!" Palin said as he tried his best to not let tears of weakness seep out of his eyes. "Ah, yes," Alex said to Palin as he then motioned for one of the men d in white holy clothing toe and heal Palin. The healer stepped down the raised tform and helped heal Palin''s wrist to peak condition in a few minutes. Then in walked back to the crowds of students with a smile on his face. He high-fives with his friends, as they said words of praise. Palin smiled. He has passed the test of titan''s strength test with a good grade. Suddenly, a cold and old voice resounded in the air. "Nothing special. I can do even better!" Chapter 39 - 39: The Meaning Of Hollow "Nothing special. I can do even better!" Palin widened his eyes, trying to appear ferocious as he looked towards the person that said those words, only to see Felix Walken staring at him, and Palin hurriedly looked away from him without speaking. ''Damn! I can''t afford to get in trouble with him,'' he internally thought. Palin was just a middle-ssmonerCwho was born with metal elemental ability cells as both his parents were ability usersCand he couldn''t afford to offend the fourth great royal family''s head youngest descendant Felix. It wasn''t just because he was amoner, but also because he knew that Felix was far stronger than him, and offending a vengeful and arrogant person like him will make his life difficult. Ability cells are passed on from parent to child. It can be said that abilities are inherited gically through the passage of ability cells from one''s parents to oneself. A child will either inherit the father''s ability cell, the mother''s ability cell, both of their ability cells to possess two abilities, or possess a brand new ability formed by the fusion of two different types of ability cells. Naturally, the stronger the ability, the better the ability cells passed onto the child. Felix was born between the head of the Walken family and the saintess of mes. Any person with a sane mind can instantly determine that this arrogant brat was born with a powerful fire elemental ability. "Didn''t you want to say something?" Felix taunted as he looked at Palin while walking towards the front of the crowd, unhurriedly. He was acting arrogantly, yet the girls couldn''te to dislike him as he was very charming. His skin was as white as snow and his lips as red as rose, and this was the type of guy that most of the girls like to ogle day and night. His red hair reached his waist. His reddish-gold eyes were blinding to look at. He was also wearing a luxurious silver robe with tight sleeves, decorated in reddish-gold patterns of a fiery dragon. Basically, he was both rich and handsome. "Little silk pants, shut up and take your turn. We don''t have time to spare!" Kayle shouted. Her voice sounding sweet to the ears of the student down below the raised tform. Felix internally rolled his eyes as he thought that it''s hateful and embarrassing to have an older step-sister like her. She just ruined his disy of might, after all. "Let me show you how it is done!" He eximed, raising his hands to face the huge iron wall. He used the magic power settled in his body to activate his ability cells. The temperate around him increased as fire was expelled from his hands and gathered in the center of his palm to create a swirling current of fiery energy that condensed to create a small fireball. The fireball grew increasingly as he channeled magic power into his fire cells with no intention of stopping, the destructive power of his attack increasing rapidly. "Greater Fireball!" He eximed the very moment when the fireball has reached five times its initial size. The fireball in the form of a giant orb shoot out of his hands and maintained its shape until hitting the iron wall. Bomb!!! A resounding reverberation sounded as the greater fireball exploded upon contact with the iron wall, causing fire to burst outwards. The range of the attack spread to the bystanders but they were protected by something that seemed like an energy barrier. "270 points!" The system announced the force of strength behind Felix Walken''s elemental attack as three red numbers also appeared on the counter. His single elemental attack was 27 times stronger than a normal human. Varth Hollow eyes brightened as he looked at Felix Walken. In the eyes of the young boy wearing three watches, Felix seemed no different than a treasure that will give him a free ride to the skies. "Haha, found my trump card!" "I''ve aced the test. Out of all these trash cans, none can deal a damage better than me," Felix shouted as he raised his head, smiling and muttering something along the line of how cool and invincible he is. His fire elemental attack was powerful enough to create many dents on the iron wall and one could also see crater on the ground. Though the damage done by his attack simultaneously healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. "You passed," Alex said as he motioned Felix to move back to the ground so that the next person cane and take the test. As he was walking back to the boisterous crowd, Varth came towards him, an excited expression on his face as he looked straight into his reddish-gold eye and said, "You were amazing! I almost couldn''t believe what I saw." His thin figure was dded in all ck. A ck coat was draped over his body. The coat hid most of his body, one could only make out the ck trousers and a ck necktie that he was wearing. A ck mask covered almost all of his face, and only his swan-like white and slender neck and the right side of his face could be seen. Felix nced towards him with squinted eyes, only to feel difort assaulting his senses when he saw Varth''s grey eye staring right at him, but he didn''t hurriedly looked away from him as his pride didn''t allow it. "What is the need to state the obvious. One-eye freak!" Felix said as he intentionally brushed past his shoulder. Varth grinned happily as he looked away from Felix''s eyes. A pleasant monotone voice belonging to the Gctic Analyzation System rang in his ears. ? You''ve stared into the eyes of a fire ability user for five seconds ? ? The conditions to use the Ability Cell Replication ability has been met ? ? Transforming Hollow cells into Fire cells ? ? 1% 30% 100%. You have be a fire ability user ? ? Time left before fire cells return to Hollow cells: 6 hours ? ? Daily Ability Copying Chance: 2/3. Reset after 30 hours ? Varth Hollow was a member of the second great royal family. The hollow family possessed special hollow cells that can replicate the cells of others, and this very ability was one of the three reasons why they managed to earn the title of a great royal family. Though there was a condition to use this ability. Varth needed to look in the eyes of an ability user to copy their ability. He wanted to copy Felix''s ability and that''s the only reason why he acted like a fool swayed by the coolness of an arrogant bastard. "I still want to give you my thanks for letting me borrow your ability. I will ace this test, all thanks to your innate fire cells!" Varth Hollow shouted at Felix Walken, as he then raised his finger, pointing it at the iron wall that was a few meters away from him. Felix turned to look at him, only to see that his grey eye has turned red and a red tattoo has appeared above and under it. He instantly realized what Varth did as he knew about the special ability of the Hollow family. "Don''t you dare!" Felix shouted angrily. By that time, a very bright and small ball of me was flickering above Varth''s index finger "You''re toote to ask for me to stop!" Varth said with augh as he flicked his index finger forward. "Anshun!" The small ball of fire shot forward like a beam andnded on the center of the iron. As soon as itnded, almost instantaneously, a dull thud resounded. "That''s it? Hahaha, see that? Even if you copy my ability, you won''t be able to utilize it correctly," Felix roared as waves ofughers escaped from his mouth. Kayle pped her head, thinking why her stepmother didn''t p some senses into her young, useless, and stupid stepbrother. The examiners sitting on the chairs, the ability user standing beside them, and the students who were paying close attention to the trajectory of his attack like Vincent could clearly see that Varth has condensed all the fire into a single small ball. It was so powerful that it has drilled a hole in the iron wall. One could even see the back from the hole. "377 points!" Felix felt as if he have pped himself on the face when the system announced the force of strength behind Varth attack. "What? What the hell!?" The eyes of most of the students opened wide and their gape as they looked at Varth with a bewildered expression. How could he do that? How is he able to use fire ability? Why did that tiny fire ball contain such a devastating might? "Awesome!" John and Leni beamed a smile, pping hands in the air. It felt oddly satisfying to see someone arrogant like Felix getting fooled and losing face. Chapter 40 - 40: Conflict "I feel disrespected. How dare a young dog of the Hollow family steal my ability?" Felix Walken said as his eyes murderously stared daggers at Varth Hollow. If looks could kill then he would have already died a painful death multiple times. "I have neither the time nor the time to answer a rude person like you who is arrogant but have no strength to back it up. If you feel bad about this, thene and bite me." Varth Hollow pointed the middle finger of his left hand at Felix. "Take this up your ass and shut up for all I care." "You bastard!" Felix''s eyes zed in fire as rage swelled to his head from the depth of his heart. He said in an almost grunting voice, "In my entire life, no one has ever disrespected me. Since you dared to disgrace me then don''t me me for teaching you some manners in ce of your parents." As he was saying those words, Varth''s was busyzily cleaning his exposed ear with his pinky, his eyes looking everywhere else, but not at Felix. By the time he finished saying those words, Varth looked up at him and a teasing glint could be seen reflecting in his red eye. "Nowadays, even dogs bark less than you. Let me ask, are you done barking? If so, take this up your ass, also," Varth said as he pointed the middle finger of his right hand at Felix. "I''m gonna kill you!" Felix Walken roared angrily as he channeled magic power in his fire cells. Whoosh! He was propelled forward with an incredible speed as mes burst beneath his feet. His right hand instantly balled into a fist around which fiery hot currents swirled around. The zing fist was aimed directly at him. Varth Hollow stood still seemingly having no intentions of fighting back or evading his attacks. He internally thought that it is almost time for the examiner to interfere with the situation while looking at his third watch as Felix homed on to him like a homing bomb. "How dare you act wantonly in the testing center!" Alex Hollow shouted with a belly full of anger. Before Felix could even reach near him, a horrific burst of pressure made out of mana erupted out from Alex and crashed on top of him. He was immediately suppressed, mes vanishing from his hands as he crashed on the ground. He resisted the pressure to stand up but felt like there was a mountain on top of him, one he could never hope to uplift. Using energy to pressure others like the most basic and offensive form of utilizing only energy like mana. It can only be used bybatants that have awakened to possess ability and energy channels. Then, opened all energy channels to create an energy circuit. To be able to use such an attack means that Alex has an energy circuit. "What the hell?" Felix''s handsome face grimaced as he looked at the person who suppressed him. He had been treated with respect from everyone around him because he was the youngest prince of the great royal Walken family, and it was shocking, to say the least, to be treated with disrespect and indifference. "Why are you looking at me like that? Do have a problem with my attitude? Let me tell you this, this isn''t your home where you can be disrespectful to others, this is the testing center of the Earth Federation military academy! You better follow the rules. Or else" Alex looked down at him as he said those words, seemingly having no intentions of retrieving his attack of intangible form. Felix was angered. A bitter taste filled his mouth, but he couldn''t do anything. "Isn''t it all because you''re also a Hollow? That''s why you are siding with that little bastard. It''s clearing him who instigated all of this," he said while raising his head with all his willpower and strength to look at Alex. Alex rolled his eyes, wondering why there are so many stupid peoples in the world who keeps on making assumptions without any sorts of proofs. It seems like the only reason for their existence is to be a disturbance and a pain in the ass for others. He wasn''t a member of the Hollow great family yet everyone seems to take him as one as soon as they hear his full name. So stupid! As soon as Felix said those words, Varth hunched low and raised both of his hands at the same time, stretching open the middle finger of each hand and pointing them directly at the raging face of Felix. "Take both of them up your ass," Varth said with a smug expression on his face. He simply was put of control and an expert at pping others on the face. First off, he knew that the examiners will interfere as soon as things get physical. He wanted to simply teach a hard lesson to Felix as he found him too arrogant. Naturally, the examiners knew about this and they didn''t like the fact that they were used as tools by a young boy. "You too. Stop trying to aggravate him," Kayle Walken said as her stern gazended on Varth. Boom! The ground beneath Varth feet cracked as mana pressure swept in the surrounding. The people stepped back from the center of the court unintentionally as fear overwhelmed them. Their face went pale with fright as sweat dripped from their head onto the ground. "But-" "I don''t want to hear a single word from you," Alex said, a wave of pressure made out of mana released from his body andnded on Varth causing his knees to bend. "Now, now. Don''t be so harsh. Stop pressurizing them. They are just kids." "Yes, senior!" The examiners pulled back their mana pressures only after Theodore interfered. "I apologize, sir." Felix apologized as he thought that it''s never toote for a gentleman to take his revenge. "I apologize." Varth apologized as he believed that it''ll be bad for his future if he get on their bad sides. Chapter 41 - 41: Nevis The Streamer Both of them walked away from each other, Felix treating others with a cold shoulder while Varth walking leisurely towards the boisterous crowd. "The instructors are scary when angry," John said as he gulped. Not just him, but even most of the students were terrified by the energy wave attacks executed by the instructors. It was terrifying to consider that the difference in their strength was so great that the instructors could decide their life and death in a single second. "Try your best to not attract their ire. It won''t do us any good if we get on their bad side," Leni said as she looked at John. While she and John continued to talk with one another, Vincent silently observed the students in order toplete his mission. ? Mission Activated: The most talented! ? ? Task: Scout and evaluate the students with the highest potential: 0/3 ? ? Completion Reward: +60 experience points ? He had received this mission right when the first one to take this test walked to the front of the crowd. Since then, he had been standing away from the boisterous crowd, leisurely leaning against the wall while gazing at each person that took the test of titan''s strength with scrutiny. "Varth has a mysterious feel about him, but I discern that he is talented, shrewd, yful, and especially vengeful. He is the type of person I don''t want to make an enemy out of. On the other hand, Felixes off as an idiot that is easy to aggravate. However, he is powerful. In a battle of strength, I might lose against him, but in a battle of wits, I can mop the floor with him," Vincent internally thought. All of a sudden, a notification popped up in front of him. He nced at it. ? Task Progression: 2/3 ? ''I just need to evaluate one more talented student amongst the remaining ones.'' Vincent waited in silence as he had been since the start of this test. Nevis stood up from his cross-legged seated position, swept back the length of his silver hair with his finger while walking to the front of the crowd, nning to take the test. As he was walking towards the iron wall, a metallic cube with a blue lens in the middle floated out of his pocket, hovering behind him. ? Virtual reality connecting terminal has been activated. ording to the settings set by the user, the terminal will now live stream, record, upload, and share videos on your channel, Rosenfeld ? The metallic cube hovering around him and recording his actions announced as he whisked his way near the iron wall. It was a device specially created to link to the virtual reality created and ruled by the third great royal family. A person gains ess to all public services provided on the virtual reality and tforms established on the virtual reality once his device links to the virtualwork. Nevis was a newbie live streamer on the tform called SX. The reason as to why he wanted to be a streamer was pretty simple. It was his dream to be popr and gain fame and attention. He wanted to show his family that he can be loved as much as anyone else. That''s why his channel name was Rosenfeld meaning field of roses, signifying the fact that one day he will receive so many fan letters and gifts that it will be enough to create a field out of them. "Wee to my live stream. Today marks the beginning of my new life. I''m about to take the test of titan''s strengthCa part of the military academy entrance examination. The rules are simple, I just need to prove my strength by punching this iron wall. The better I perform, the more contribution points I will earn. They can be used to purchase a lot of things. So wish me well!" Nevis said as he winked at his live stream''s viewers. [This guy is so pretty, almost like a pop model.] [Damn right! He''s totally my type.] [Little handsome, noona(big sister) wishes you the best. Kiya~] [Hey boy, show them what you got, beat the shit out of that smug-looking iron wall for my sake!] He only had a thousand subscribers. Out of them, only four were watching his live stream. However, he still put on a smile and prepared himself to perform the best for them. Everything starts from baby steps. He believed that one day he will a thousand times more subscribers. To attain that goal, he just needed to do his best every day. "Let''s fucking do this," Nevis eximed, bubbling up in excitement. He took a battle stance in front of the iron wall. He was standing extremely close to it. So close that his curled index finger almost touched the wall. He took a deep breath and started to gather up 30 units of the battle energy contained inside of his body into one ce. He could only gather 30 units of battle energy in a single point for now. He had more than eighty units of battle energy that could be utilized to increase the strength of the body by eight times that of an average human. However, that is only the case when battle energy is evenly distributed throughout the body. "Rather than evenly distributing battle energy throughout his body, he is focusing a lot of it into his index finger, the strength of this attack will improve significantly," Alex said as he excitedly looked at Nevis. At first, his eyebrows twitched in annoyance when he saw that Nevis is an annoying live streamer but then he felt impressed with him. "His control over battle energy is amazing!" Kayle praised as she looked at Nevis. It wasn''t a simple task to focus battle energy into a single point. To exin battle energy in simpler words, it exists as the fifth limb of a human being. It is automatically evenly distributed throughout the body and utilized to enhance a person''s body, allowing them to possess incredible strength, defense, and agility for a short amount of time with a single thought. However, this was most simplest way to use battle energy. Thebatants use battle energy to execute transcendental-gradebat techniques, and these techniques can only be utilized by people who have great control over battle energy. For example, Vincent had gathered battle energy in his legs to drastically improve his speed in the past, and the first examinee gathered battle energy in his steel fist to increase his damage output. "Well, nothing less expected from the seventh son of the Truemight family." As soon as Theodore said those words, Alex and Kayle nodded, agreeing with what he said as they knew that the members of the Truemight family were born with an innate trait called [Energy control]. They were born with better control over energy aspared to an average human. "I am reaching my limits. I need to find release!" Nevis said as sweat trickled down his forehead. When approximately eighty units of battle energy gathered in his curled index finger, Nevis felt thankful to his cousin, the only person that treated him with kindness and gave him a transcendental-gradebat technique before he left for Earth. The battle energy that used to be automatically spread evenly throughout his body each time he utilized it through willpower and thoughts has now gathered into a single point because of learning the technique his cousin gave him. He felt the battle energy converting into bodily strength. His index finger bone strength increased. His finger muscle density increased. The agility of his index finger increased. The amount of strength of his finger as a whole increased by a few tons. "Sky-piercing finger!" He eximed as his curled index finger stretched out with incredible speed. His index finger carried such immense strength that a resounding reverberation spread out along with shock waves. "Nevis Truemight! Strength Grade-72!" Soon, the dull mechanical voice of the system echoed to announce his result. The eyes of the students, medic, live stream viewers, and instructors opened wide in shock, and their mouths gape as they looked at Nevis with an expression of disbelief and bewilderment. The students were having a hard time believing that his finger contained such extreme powers. The medic and instructors were awestruck as his finger has exploded. They believed that the shockwave must have shattered the bones of his arm also. The viewers were split between deciding whether this person is an idiot that doesn''t fear or an outright crazy person. "Well, I did my best. Don''t forget to like and subscribe!" Nevis said as he shed his white pearly teeth to the live stream. He also gave them a thumbs up before he fell down to the ground, seemingly losing consciousness as blood dripped out from his half-blown index finger. The healers immediately went down the raised tforms and performed first-aid treatment on him. Then they ced him on a stretcher before taking him away. Vincent believed that the healer will be able to heal his finger and cracked bones entirely. ''His control over battle energy is better than mine. From what I discerned, he was able to gather thirty units of battle energy in his index finger. On the other hand, I can''t even gather more than twenty units of battle energy in my legs. But I think he is stupid, to fortify a single point with battle energy and leaving the rest of his arm far weak against the strength outputted from his finger. He must have suffered. Maybe he didn''t know?'' ? Task Progression: 3/3 ? ? Mission has beenpleted ? ? You''ve been rewarded with +60 experience points ? ? Lv 3: 240/300 XP ? Vincent smiled as he was now only 60 experience points away from leveling up and receiving free attributes points that can be used to increase his strength. Chapter 42 - 42: Blood Gear Crimson Ruler! The testing continued after Nevis Truemight was taken away from the testing room on a stretcher. "Grade-3: pass." "Grade-7: pass." "Grade-2: fail." "Grade-1: fail." "Grade-9: pass." Some of the temporary students barely managed to pass the test of titan''s strength as they didn''t have any supernatural ability. Moreover, theycked magic technique and transcendental-gradebat technique. Among these students, most of them had a very low control over battle energy and they weren''t able to utilize a single transcendental-gradebat technique. What really caused Alex''s eyebrows to raise was the fact that these brats haven''t even learned a good offensive magic technique. "It isn''t hard to learn a magic technique. You just need to memorize some hand signs," Alex said while feeling disappointed. "Why are the examinees this year so bad? Only the first few were interesting to see. Should we disqualify the rest?" Kayle rolled her eyes at Alex as she thought that maybe he doesn''t know the basics of how a magic technique works. ''He probably also doesn''t know that most of themoners can never afford one as an actually powerful magic technique cost a fortune.'' A person can cast a magic technique once magic power circtes from the heart into certain veins. Most people use hand signs to circte magic power. It''s scientifically proven that certain hand signs cause magic power to flow out of the heart and travel into the veins. For example, Old Miller created a magic technique called [Mana Bullet]. By performing the required set of hand signs, magic power had flowed out of Vincent''s hand and condensed into a magic bullet that was used to kill the Red Tusk Elephant. However, humans have countless veins, and it''s hard toe up with an offensive magic technique by oneself. Nevertheless, some books called magic books exins in detail the postures of each hand sign and the order they are to be performed in to cast a certain magic technique. However, magic books are costly. It''s because magic book contains information about magic techniques that was created by a person who sells magic books for a living. That person earns 50% of the total revenue. The remaining is split between tax authorities and the trading tform. "It''s easy for you because you find it easy to memorize hand signs. But it''s hard for others, as they can''t easily memorize hand signs and the order they are needed to be performed to cast a magic technique. Besides, this year the minimum eptance rate in every testing center is 50 students. Any less than that, and they will cut our sries," Theodore said as he looked at Alex. They needed to at least bring back 50 new students to their base. Or else, they will be punished and their sries deducted. "Well, I guess beggars can''t be choosers," Alex mumbled after a while, watching one unassuming student after another pass the test with an average grade. However, many of the temporary students had passed the test with flying marks. Though they also were considered as average in Alex''s eyes. Some of them possessed abilities extremely useful forbat while the others had great control over their battle energy and were able to execute a transcendent gradebat technique with some difficulties. So far, most of the students that had taken this test have passed. Only a few have failed. "Let''s decide who go first andst with a single round of rock paper and scissors," John said once only a few students that didn''t take the test remained. "Okay, let''s start at the count of three," Vincent said as they started counting the numbers in unison. A few secondster, Vincent and John imed victory over Leni in the first throw. They both used rocks while she threw scissors and that lost her the game. "I guess I will be the first to take the test among us," Leni said before she excused herself and started to step towards the iron wall. As she was stepping in front of the crowd to take the test, the boys yed another round of rock paper and scissors. "I won," John eximed. As luck would have it, Vincent lost to him in the third game, the first two were a draw as they picked the same hand. At the very moment he lost against him, a notification popped up in front of his face. ? New Mission Activated! ? ? Task: Pass the test of titan''s strength ? ? Completion Reward: 3 Experience Points ? ? The better your grade, the higher your reward ? "Hmm, I will earn three experience points if I pass the test with grade-3. Right?" Vincent internally said. ? Yes ? "Doesn''t that mean that I will gain one extra experience points for each grade?" Vincent asked as he wanted to confirm his suspicions. ? The owner is absolutely correct ? Vincent smiled as he thought that he needed to score grade-60 to earn enough experience points to level up. ''That will be pretty hard but I might just be able to do it,'' he thought before his gaze focused on Leni''s figure. She was d in a beautiful white dress and wearing knee-high socks. Her baby face, small nose, and rosy lips made her look exceptionally cute. Her short and slender figure only worked to enhance her cuteness. Because of her white hair and mesmerizing big eyes, she seemed like a cute snow rabbit. She was eye candy for everyone, both males and females. The best thing the people in the surrounding felt about her was that she was equally talented. She scored 340 points, gaining the third-highest result. She created a one-meter-long pole by using her ice ability and hurled it at the iron wall with incredible speed by using telekinesis. Her points summed up to strength grade-34. The strength of an average human was 10 points or 100 kilograms. In simpler words, Leni''s attack carried 3.4 tons of force! This surprised her a lot as she was now ten times strongerpared to her previous self. Her eyes filled with gratitudended on Vincent. It''s all because of him that she managed to self-awaken and be powerful. She started to walk towards him. "Give it yours all in this test. Use all your strength even if it means breaking your bones. I have a feeling that the contribution points will determine much of our future. Trust me on this one," Vincent said as he looked at John. "I will try my best to do as you say, but it''s hard to guarantee that I''ll be able to uphold my words," John replied. He feared pain like any other sane person. That''s why he wasn''t sure whether he will be able to pull off a stunt like Nevis or not. "Well, it''s your life," Vincent said as he started to walk towards the front of the crowd. Leni came up to him as he walking towards the iron wall. "I did good. Right?" She said. Vincent knew that she was expecting to be praised. "Yes, you did well," Vincent said as he gently caressed her head. Leni blushed so hard that her face turned red like a ripe tomato. "Big brother, I wish you all the best!" Leni said. Hearing her words of encouragement, Vincent walked towards the iron wall while thinking that he will do better than Leni. "Big brother''s eyes were so sharp and his touch was so warm! Now my heart is racing so fast," Leni internally eximed like a fangirl as she buried her face in her hands. "I have a few questions to ask," Vincent said once he stood a few meters away from the iron wall. Alex looked at him and said, "Shoot." "Say, if there''s a chance of my heart rupturing, bones of my entire hand shattering, and blood vessels exploding, will I make it out alive? Can the healers heal such injuries? How long will it take to heal such injuries?" Vincent asked while rubbing the back of his head as he looked at the examiners. The instructors looked at him as if he was crazy. What kind of questions were these? Are you nning tomit suicide? "Yes, but it will take a few minutes," Theodore replied. "We will bring you back to life, even if you are halfway through the river Styx. Though why do you ask?" he inquired with a look of interest. "Well, you will find out soon enough," Vincent replied mysteriously as he took off his shirt. "Oh my god, he''s so hot! This is free eye candy!" "I wish he is still single. I will get his number as soon as he finishes this test." "He is so muscr. He must have trained a lot." Vincent''s muscr body and pale skin with no e attracted the attention of a lot of girls. All of them, including Kayle, stared at his handsome face seemingly having no intention of looking away. Vincent''s eyebrows slightly twitched due to theirpliments. Anyway, he had taken off his shirt as he believed that otherwise it will be torn apart. After hunching low and mming his fist on his left chest, Vincent took a deep breath and his eyes turned scarlet. At the same time, his blood flow increased by a few times, enhancing his strength, speed, stamina, and natural recovery rate. "Blood Gear: Crimson Ruler!" His looks changed as one could see thick veins pulsating all over his body, making him look ferocious like a devil ? 30 units of Sangue Blood has been consumed to manipte your blood flow ? ?Your Strength has temporarily increased to 79 points ? ? Your Stamina has temporarily increased to 72 points ? ? Your Agility has temporarily increased to 75 points ? The Sangue Heart was connected to his blood vessels. A day before the examination, he had mixed the blood contained in the Sangue heart with his own blood. After that, he found out that he could control and manipte his blood as he wished. ''By elerating my blood flow, I almost doubled my strength. However, this ability is a little bit too straining. I need to end this fast," Vincent thought as his right hand balled into a fist. Whoosh! He concentrated ten units of battle energy into his legs, dashing towards the iron wall with an incredible speed, and at the same time, he activated the transcendental gradebat technique, charged strike, and amplified the power of his fist by focusing 20 units of battle energy into it. The 20 units of battle energy increased the power of his fist by a few tons. His base strength had reached 790 kilograms the moment he activated his blood gear. Bothbined up to around 5 tons. The speed behind his attack also increased the strength of his attack by a few times. A person''s speed also increases his attack. It''s just like throwing a tiny rock from a very high ce, it will be a very dangerous weaponparable to a bullet as it descends. Boom! The sound of his bones cracking and the surface of the iron wall shattering echoed at the same time after his fist connected with the iron wall, and he immediately gritted his teeth, forcefully stopping himself from squealing like a little girl. "777 points!" "Grade-77.7: pass." The system announced as he dropped to his knees. The pain of bones stabbing into flesh was proving to be too much to bear and Vincent couldn''t help but release a few painful whispers every now and then. Chapter 43 - 43: Level Up! The announcement of his result caused many eyes to open wide in surprise as if they couldn''t believe what they were hearing. Vincent, on the other hand, decreased the flow of his blood as blood trickled down the corner of his mouth. ? Blood Gear: Crimson Ruler has been deactivated ? ? Your strength as a whole has decreased to the base level ? Vincent''s long ck eyshes fluttered and his scarlet eyes squinted as he grimaced, piercing and searing pain filling every fiber of his being. The piercing pain that he was feeling was caused by the bones in his right hand that had shattered as he used a force greater than what he could handle while the searing pain was caused by increasing the flow of blood. Most of his vessels were strained because he increased his blood flow beyond the limit of what he could handle. In simpler words, he was feeling a lot of pain as his bones has shattered and his blood vessels were damaged. Yet, he didn''t use the blood contained in his heart to heal his injuries. It''s not because that it''ll be troublesome if he heals all his injuries by himself in front of the eyes of an entire crowd but because of entirely different reasons. First off, his lust for blood amplifies to an uncontrolled amount when the blood contained in his vampire''s heart is below 20 units. Secondly, he needed it, the uing test might be harder than this one, there was no guarantee that he will be able to obtain a high score without using his racial ability to manipte blood. Lastly, he believed that he will recover from all his injuries under the hands of the healers. Just as he was about to lose consciousness, a few notifications popped up in front of him. ? Mission Completed ? ? You''vepleted the task with an excellent result ? ? The owner will gain additional rewards forpleting the task perfectly. You''ve been rewarded with 77 experience points ? ? Lv 3: 317/300 XP ? ? You''ve leveled up ? ? Lv 4: 17/700 XP ? ? You''ve gained 5 attribute points. Attribute points can be disturbed in your stats to increase your strength ? ? You have reached the required level to unlock the next spell matrix ? ? Spell Matrix: Energy Sense has been unlocked ? Although his vision had turned blurry, he somehow managed to make out some of the context written on the semi-transparent screen. A smile blossomed on his face as he felt happy that he has passed the test of titan''s strength with the highest grade till now and also leveled up. He cked out with a smile on his face. Thest thing he saw before fainting was Leni, a healer, and few faculty members running towards him. "Ugh, the one with the highest grade turned out to be a demi-human. That''s pretty disgusting," Alex said with a dissatisfied face. He inferred that Vincent had used a racial trait rather than a special ability as he was just an Earthling. In this day and age, it was pretty normal for demi-humans to be present among humans. It could be said that interracial marriages were the norm now, as ording to the charts, more than half the poption of humans had a demi-human spouse and vice versa. It could be said that there are just as many demi-humans as humans. Not just that, a lot of examinees and military personals are also demi-humans. It was pretty rare to see someone discriminating against someone else just because of his race. However, due to some severe reasons and personal preferences, Alex didn''t like demi-humans. In fact, his dislike was on the same level as hatred. He had even supported racial terrorist groups like Sunsuhan in the past. Hearing his words, Kayle frowned and turned to look at him with an expression of dissatisfaction. She took his words personally as she was friends with a lot of demi-humans and demi-humans were also a part of her Walken family. How could she allow someone to tantly disrespect demi-humans in her presence? It wasn''t in her nature to do nothing about racism! "Be careful of what you say, or else" Kayle said as she turned to look at him with a stern re. "Or else what, huh?" Alex said that as he crossed his legs and stared right into her eyes, acting confident and calm. Seeing that he showed no remorse at all, the corner of Kayle''s eyes twitched. "Next time I won''t show any mercy. I will pull out your tongue and y it on fire," Kayle threatened ferociously like a mighty tigress. However, in Alex''s eyes, she appeared to look like a cute little kitten trying to scratch his heart with her fluffy roars. "Ah, so scary, but what''s a healer like you going to do about it? You can only be milked and taken advantage of by others," Alex said as he leaned towards the woman in her mid-twenties and sniffed her sweet scent, exposing a teasing smile much to her dislike as he thought, ''One day I will make you mine.'' "You bastard!" Kayle raised her hands to p him but was stopped by Theodore. "Both of you, cut it off, or else I am gonna issue a penalty!" "Yes, Senior!" As soon as he said those words, the two adults acting like child''s stopped bickering. "What''s your thoughts about him?" Theodore asked. "I don''t mean to praise him, but he reminds me of the old foxes, the ones acting behind the scenes," Kayle said. "Oh, so you mean someone like the director of strategy?" "Ah, yes, kinda like an immature version of the director." "And why do you say so?" "He has been acting calm and collected ever since he entered the room. At first, I thought that he is the silent type of guy who doesn''t have much interest in knowing others. Now that I know him better than before, I believe he wasing up with a n to get a high score." "Well, what''s your thoughts on this matter?" Theodore asked as he looked at Alex. "ording to my evaluation, he is expressing traits of a psychopath. Nevis Truemight actions were prettyical as everyone knows that he isn''t treated well by his family. There''s a high chance of him being uneducated. However, someone like Vincent must know that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Yet, he still went on and punched the wall as hard as he can even breaking his bones purposely to get a better result. From how I see it, he will do anything to fulfill his purpose. It''s being like him that treats everyone as a pawn and won''t mind sacrificing someone to achieve a better result," Alex said. "You both aren''t wrong, but not entirely correct either. He is a calcting daredevil that knows bound and limits. Do you believe that he would have done the same without any guarantee of recovering from severe injuries like the shattering of bones in a few minutes?" Theodore''s cheeks stretched back to expose a smile. "We need people like him in our ranks to face internal and external evil that is threatening to end our races. The academy is a ce of nurturing young blood that will be the elites of society. I hope to see no prejudice against him or other demi-humans in the academy grounds, and I believe you already know what''s going to happen once you ignore my words," he added with a calm smile appearing harmless. "Yes, senior! I will never discriminate against demi-humans on the academy grounds. You can count on me," Alex said while gulping in terror. The consequences of angering him were something he didn''t want to face again. Last time, he was hurled to EterCold for three months. It''s a where wintersts forever, with no sun in sight, and worse above all that were creatures made out of ice that don''t die no matter how many times they are blown apart. "That''s good!" Theodore replied as he turned to look at the volleyball-like court. John stretched his body, preparing himself physically for the test. "Big brother must have said that because of a reason. Ever since I met him, he has hardly been wrong, and I think that the contribution points we will earn after passing the entrance examination and bing permanent students might really decide our future. Ugh, I guess there''s no way out of it. It all depends on me. It''s not like I have a choice here. For a better future, I must give it my all. Anyway, momentary hellish pain sounds better than a shitty future!" John made up his mind, nning to utilize as much battle energy he can control and gather into a single ce to power up the strength of his fist. After he walked up to the iron wall, he concentrated seven units of his battle energy into his right fist, making it incredibly powerful, at the cost of leaving the rest of the bodypletely defenseless. Bam! ? You passed. Strength Grade-21 ? In the end, he managed to score higher than most of the temporary students, iming the thirteenth spot. Though some of the bones of his right hand shattered. In the end, he was also taken to the infirmary. Chapter 44 - 44: Infirmary After sitting there and evaluating the performance of the temporary students, Theodore and his juniors came across a lot of talented youngsters belonging to families of different status that managed to score better than John. "Congrattions on passing the second assessment! You''ve all been rewarded with contribution points equal to your result in this test. You won''t be able to use them for now, but they will be useable after you be permanent students," Theodore said once all the students were done with the test of titan''s strength. "As it is only a few hours away from midnight, the third and the fourth assessment will be held tomorrow. In the meantime, you can do anything you like. Rest if you want to or take a look around the majestical tower, it''s all up to you!" When the instructor ofbat made his announcement, a lot of the examinees exhaled a sigh of relief, some sitting down on the ground with legs crossed, some leaning against the walls with eyes closed, some standing straight seemingly having no intention of resting as they find it beneath them to rest on the ground like themoners. "I got 10 contribution points but it''s greyed out," a student said as his gaze curiously scrutinized the card held in his hands. "It''s like the instructor said, we won''t be able to use them until we be permanent students." "Yeah, you are right. It''s the same for us. We have the points but we can''t use them." "It kinda sucks." The students talked with each other, as the instructors finished the fifth cup of coffee and ced the cup on the wooden table. "Hey, instructor, can I get a room with a bed? I couldn''t sleep a winkst night," a student with a bald head spoke in a rough manner that sounded unpleasant to the ears. His name was Geom 13th or just Geom. One could see an exhausted expression on his face as his legs were sprawled on the floor and his body supported by his arms. Honestly, it wasn''t just him that wanted toy down on a bed and sleep, a lot of the students that have never once sat down on the ground in their entire life also wanted to get a room for themselves, but they didn''t have an ounce of authority in this ce and purchasing a room without the help of an authoritative figure impossible in the cloud tower. Kayle stood up and walked to the front of the raised tform. "A suite has been assigned to every one of you. The Droids holds the master cards. Get in line with the others or wait in your ce to get the master card. Tomorrow, it will be thest day of the examination. You will all be called to gather here early in the morning. So, go and rest early." Kayle stepped back once she made her announcement and instructor Theodore stepped forward. "I advise you to not stay upte. Make sure to be in your best state, as your mental and physical health concerns both your cement in the next assessment and allocation of resources provided by the academy to the examinees ording to their grades." Theodore gave hints about the uing test to the temporary students with a smile. After he said those words, the instructors took the backdoor to teleport to their respective floors "One thing is for sure, our mental strength will determine our grade in the next test. I''m looking forward to it," Varth Hollow thought with squinted eyes, as he stepped forward to get in line. The students stepped out of the room after a while, one by one, by taking the ratherrge corridor. One could see that a card with cloudy patterns was held in their hands. Once they were in their respective room, they found out that a single room was shared between two examinees. "Ah, well, whatever. Hey, I don''t know who you are and I don''t wanna know. If you want there to be peace then just don''t disturb me. I only wanna sleep peacefully right now," Geom said to his roommate as he thenid down on the small, soft bed ced on the left side of the room and quickly entered the world of dreams. He was tired and needed to sleep urgently to recuperate his energy and spirit. The students that shattered their bones were taken to the infirmary. It was located just around the right corner of the examination room. The students were examined by Jun ParkCthe student of instructor Kayle. "Hmm, you are fine. However, try not to repeat such stunts in the future. Healing has a certain limit and a day mighte when it bes ineffective on your body. You can dy the inevitable by following what I say," Jun Park said to Nevis Truemight. "I will do as you say. Thanks for everything that you have done for me," Nevis replied as he looked at Jun with eyes expressing gratitude. This was one of those times that warms his heart, as well as makes him believe in humanity and love all over again. After all, there weren''t a lot of people that showered him with kindness but there were a lot of people that showed the cruelty of the world and the monstrous side of humanity called hatred and jealousy. "No problem. I was just doing my duty," Jun replied. "The next assessment will be held early in the morning. Until then, you can rest here." "Thanks once again," Nevis said. "Call me if you need anything," Jun said as he headed for the terrace. Once he was there, he lit up a cigar, inhaling the smoke with an expression of intoxication and cooly puffing rings of clouds. A whileter, Nevis looked around the room he was in while streaming the aftermath of the test to his viewers, and he saw two others in the room. Except for him, Vincent and John were also in the room,ying on the bed, sleeping soundly. Chapter 45 - 45: Couple In The Making! Suddenly, the sound of the door of the infirmary opening could be heard in the room. Nevis curiously looked over. As soon as the door opened wide for a person to pass through, Nevis saw Leni entering the room. A few trays filled to the brim with various delicacies were floating behind her and one was held in her hand. A single tray was filled with enough food to feed five people. After she had ced all the food onto the table, she sat down on a chair spotted near Vincent''s bed. "Big brother and little brother haven''t eaten anything for a while. They will feel hungry once they wake up. Thankfully, I came prepared and brought some of their favorite dishes with me. There''s more than enough for the three of us." Leni thought as her gentle gazended upon Vincent and John. They were both unconsciousCa result of their own suicidal and masochistic actions. She ced her smooth and petite hands on Vincent''s forehead. "I hope you will wake up soon or else the food will get cold," Leni said as she rubbed his forehead. Although he was fast asleep, an expression offort could be seen taking over Vincent''s face. On the other hand, Nevis stared at Leni intensely. One look at her pretty face and slender figure caused the eyes of Nevis to turn into saucers. How could such a cute girl that looks like a cute little bunny exist? Why is she being so good to another man? "So pretty. Beautiful sister, are you also an examinee?" Nevis asked as he looked at her. He already knew that she was an examinee. He was just trying to strike a conversation with her. "Yes," Leni replied coldly without even ncing once in his direction signifying that she has no interest in talking with a stranger. Nevis took her casual attitude at face value. He felt sad as the beauty havepletely ignored him. His sadness was short-lived as hunger took over. Attracted by the smell of the food that lingered in the surroundings, he looked at the food as his belly growled with hunger. "Beautiful sister, can I have one?" He said while pointing at one of the trays ced on the table. "Hmm, okay." Leni passed a tray with the least amount of delicacies to him. "If you want more than just tell the droids or the faculty members." "Thanks but I don''t think I will need any more than this." Nevis nodded and he then proceeded to fill his stomach with delicious food. ''Oh my god! This is what real food feels like. My tongue tingles as the delicious aroma of the dishes bursts in my mouth. It''s so delicious! Ah, I am no longer in that hellhole. There are no servants to bully me, here. I will no longer see the eyes of my father that had always looked at me with disappointment. I have escaped the torture of my crazy step-siblings that would beat me, lock me up in a dark basement, and starve me for days. These are the beginning of my wonderful days,'' Nevis thought in pleasure as he stuffed his mouth with meat and salty side dishes. The mouthful of saucy meat and fried potatoes went down his throat with a single gulp. Then, he once again stuffed his face with another mouthful of food. All of this, he streamed it to his live stream''s viewers. Most of the viewers only had the following thoughts in their minds. "Damn! He is a mukbang beast!" "Who is that prettydy?" "Hey, man, stop eating and ask for her number!" Unable to hear their replies, Nevis continued to eat like a hungry beast, filling the emptiness in his tummy. A whileter, the eyes of John squeezed. "Sis, what are you doing here? What about the tests? Are the examiners holding one right now?! Did we miss one?!!" John asked once he woke up. "Shh. big brother is still sleeping." After she said those words, Leni slowly exined what happened after he lost his consciousness. Nevis already knew about all that as Jun have exined it to him. "I understand. So the next assessments will be held tomorrow, that''s great." John said as he exhaled a breath of relief, releasing tension that had bubbled up inside his body. "I can smell food. Is that for us?" "It''s for you. After all, I knew you will be feeling famished once you wake up." "You are the best sister in the world," John exposed a wide smile as he spoke before picking up a tray that had dishes that he liked the most. After a while of massaging his head like a faithful wife, Leni felt physically tired and mentally exhausted, and drowsiness could be seen slowly taking roots in her pretty eyes. Waking up from his sleep feeling dazed, tired, and confused, a familiar scent of sweet flower assaulted his senses. He was very familiar with this scent. Ever since he became a demi-human, a certain someone scent started to attract him. It was a young woman, a very pretty one. "Big brother, you are finally awake," Leni eximed cheerfully. Vincent turned to look at the source of the sweet voice tainted with hints of worries, only to see Leni''s pair ofrge, gleaming eyes looking at him, and the two looked into each other eyes seemingly having no intentions to look away. Vincent could see that her eyes were filled with worry while Leni saw his scarlet eyes brimming with unexinable desires. "Do you know how worried I was?" Leni broke the silence as she spoke in "Sorry for worrying you," Vincent said as he patted her soft fur-like white hair. "As you can see, I''m alright." "Yes, I am relieved," Leni said. At the very moment, the doors to the balcony slid open and Jun entered the room once again. "Oh, you guys are finally awake. How are you feeling?" He asked as he looked at Vincent and John. As a mouthful of food was in his mouth, John gave him a thumbs-up signifying that he was feeling perfectly fine. "I''m feeling alright, just a little tired," Vincent replied. "Well, that''s because you overworked your blood vessel." As Leni moved the chair to the corner of the bed, Jun stepped up to Vincent. After Jun checked his pulse and his temperature, he said, "Your conditions are currently stable, but it''ll worsen if you strain your blood vessel once again. It will better if you do not use your innate traits for around four days." "I understand," Vincent nodded. "Great. I will be stepping out for a while. Once you are done eating, you guys may return to your respective rooms." Jun said before he left the room in a hurry, making his way to meet Senior Theodore. "Big brother, let''s eat." Leni ced a tray on herp while facing Vincent. "Blood soup, blood sausages, blood pancake... the food in this tray is just to my taste." Vincent licked his lips as he stared at the delicacies that stirred his hunger and desires. Chapter 46 - 46: Proposing To His Love! (1) After only taking a few bites, Vincent stopped and look at Leni. "You have been looking after me all this time, but you forgot to take care of yourself. I believe you haven''t eaten anything till now. Sit here, eat with me," Vincent said, sitting cross-legged on the bed to make a spot for Leni. His words of care touched her heart, causing her cheeks to blush. The beautiful maiden shook her head, indicating that she didn''t want to wat together with him. "You eat first. I will eatter," she said to clear any misunderstanding that her actions might have caused "I insist," Vincent said as one of his hands reached out to grasp her wrist lightly, slowly guiding her to sit with him. "I will do as you say," Leni said as she sat down near him. "Open your mouth, don''t be shy." Vincent positioned a spoon full of corn soup in front of her mouth. Leni reflexively opened her mouth, taking the soup into her mouth and down her throat, as she savored the vor with closed eyes, a ruddy face, and a heart beating erratically. ''Why is he being like this? I am not a kid who needs to be fed. What''s strange is that I am feeling happy and excited about it!'' Leni internally eximed as she continued to be handfed by Vincent. After a few moments, specks of violet glistened in her ck eyes as she remembered something. Instantly, her mood soured. "Why do I feel like you are angry?" Vincent asked. "Hmph! Why did you take off your shirt and show off your body to the other girls?" She asked with a puffed face while looking at him with an ice cold re. Vincent clearly noticed that she was jealous. In the eyes of Vincent, she looked like a little hamster. Looking at her innocent face, Vincent felt that she looks really cute when she is jealous. "Is that it? I was afraid that my shirt will tear as you know that it''s made out of normal fabric. There was no other reason." As soon as he said those words, Leni''s mood brightened. He put his hands on Leni''s face, feeling the warmth of his hand her eyes widened and she looked at him as her face became suffused with redness. Vincent thought that those eyes were bewitching and that it is too easy to please her as he looked at her reddening face. Looking at the two lovebirds acting as if there is no tomorrow, Nevis almost choked. First off, he felt that it''s kinda unfair that she is showing so many expressions to him, while he only got a cold reply. Secondly, he felt awestruck by her face blushed red. To say the least, she could even more beautiful than before, so beautiful and cute that Nevis felt that he could keep on looking at her for seven days straight and still not feel tired. "Hey, where are you going?" "Wash my hands," Leni replied with a mesmerizing smile. "I will be back soon." "Ah, okay." Thus, Leni rushed to the bathroom with a ruddy face and a fervent heart. Nevis, on the other hand, licked his fingers and lips, as he finished devouring food meant for five peoples. "Hey guys, I heard that my control over battle energy is the best amongst the examinee. Though I scored second. It seems like there''s an examinee who is better than me. I wonder who it is," he said to his viewers. "He is in the same room as you!" John said. "It''s you?" Nevis asked with a shocked expression as he looked at John. John shook his head, indicating that he is not the one. "He is the top-ranked examinee," John said as he pointed at Vincent. "Eh? You''re the one who scored the most in the test of titan''s strength?!" Nevis blurted out without thinking. "Yeah," Vincent replied casually. "Wow, it must feel great to be the best amongst all the examinees of this city, right?" He asked. "Not really," Vincent replied. "Hey, is that girl your love interest?" Nevis really wanted to know whether there is going on between them or not. If not, he will try to win her heart. If so, he didn''t know what he will do. "Nope," he said while looking at him. "Then, I believe you won''t mind if I chase after her, right? She is super cute and kind and almost looks like a fairy. Also knows how to look after someone else. She is the perfect wife material. Guys, I have found the love of my life," Nevis said to his live stream''s viewers. Immediately after, a lot of messages popped up on the semi-transparent screen floating in front of him. Just as he was about to read thements, Vincent''s calm voice sounded in his ears. "Forget about her," he said. "Eh? Buddy, didn''t you just say that she isn''t your girlfriend? Why are you stillC" "I changed my mind. Keep your hands and eyes off her, otherwise be prepared to face deadly consequences." He said as his inky, ck eyes glittered sharply. Vincent nned to take it slow with Leni. He wanted to slowly develop their rtionship. Taking one step at a time, bing a couple in a few years or so. However, that was before Nevis came into the picture. His mere presence felt like a threat to Vincent and he decided to pick up the pace and admit that he like Leni and want to be more than just friends with her. "I will be honest with you, I won''t give up on a treasure she is just because I am threatened. I will show her how much I like her through my actions. I won''t stop until she tells me to. I''ll keep on pestering her with derations of love no matter what happens, even if it means going against the best examinee." The eyes of Nevis showed determination as he spoke with an unhinged tone while looking at him. Vincent teasingly smiled and stared right into his eyes. "You won''t get the chance," he muttered. Chapter 47 - 47: Proposing To His Love (2) Leni sshed her face with water to cool herself down. While looking at herself in the mirror, she thought, "Why did I feel jealous like a spoiled princess? It''s not like I own him. It''s all because of the problem with my body. Everything goes wrong once my emotions are out of control. It''s getting worse. Whenever I am in his presence, my heart starts to beats rapidly and erratically and my face turns red. Ugh, I almost lost control of my feelings and transformed into a feline beast. Would he still like me if he knows that I am demi-human?" ording to what she knows, she and John are beastkin rted to the felines. She was a humanoid cat. However, she looked totally like a human being as her human blood was dominant. Besides, she had no control over her demi-human powers and features. Lastly, If her mood is too high, she transforms into her feline form. That''s why she always act cold or at least tries her best to appear as cold as possible. "Let''s go back and finish eating." She thought while looking at herself in the mirror before stepping out of the bathroom and sitting near him once again. "Where are John and Nevis?" She asked. "They took off to their rooms," Vincent replied. "Focus on eating more than worrying and thinking about others. You are so thin and short. You should eat more to grow taller." Hearing his words, she puffed up her face as if she was angered. "You don''t have to point out my shorings." Vincent patted her head and said, "Okay, okay, I get it. Now eat a lot of meat!" "I will eat your share too!" Leni took it personally and decided to eat a lot to grow taller than him. "Are you done?" Vincent asked after a while. "Yes," Leni replied. "What about you?" "The food was delicious. Thanks to you, I was able to eat it," Vincent replied while cleaning the stains near her lips and on her cheeks as his lips thinned into a smile. Leni blushed harder since she was unused to him being like that. "I am going back to my room," she said as she felt that she will lose control and transform into a feline if she stays in his presence for a while longer. "Wait for me," Vincent said as she caught up to her. "Hmm?" "I will apany you to your room." Leni didn''t have the heart to refuse his offer. Thus, they walked to her room together. "See you tomorrow," Leni said. After reaching the room, she parted ways with him and entered the room. She didn''t even get a few minutes to calm her feelings when someone knocked on the door of her room. "Who is it at this time?" She thought to herself as she walked up to the door. She opened the door and saw Vincent standing in front of her. "Did you forget something?" She asked with a smile. "Actually, we will be sharing the room," Vincent said as he showed her the master card he just obtained from the faculty member. "Pleasee inside," Leni said to Vincent as she thought: ''It''s not like I can stop him from entering the room. Besides, it will be fine if I don''t talk or physically interact with him. My best option to hide that I am a demi-human is to just sleep.'' She walked back to her bed as Vincent followed behind her. Suddenly, Leni felt his hands wrapping around her soft and slender waist. Then, he pulled her into his embrace, hugging her from behind. "Eh? What?! Why is he hugging me?!!" Leni internally eximed as redness flooded the smooth and milky skin of her face, even her neck and ears turned red. "Big brother? What is wrong??" She blurted out without thinking. Vincent leaned forward. Leni saw his handsome face just a hair''s breadth away from her face. "Leni, I want us to be more than friends." "Big brother, what do you mean?" "I like you. This isn''t a joke, I really like you as a person, a friend, and a woman. Will you go out with me?" Vincent said as he looked at Leni in anticipation. "I ept!" Leni replied as the redness on her cute face deepened. "Great. I don''t have any jewelry to gift you. This is the only thing of value that I possess. I hope you will like it," Vincent said as he gave her one of his three fire magic scroll. A smile blossomed on her blushing face as she epted the precious fire magic scrolls. "This is more precious than anything else. Thank you, big brother!" Leni replied as she thought that he is really good to her and that she should do something in return. Chapter 48 - 48: Proposing To His Love (Finale) "I ept!" As she epted his proposal with a smile of happiness on her face, Leni thought back to the time when she first met him. The first time she met him, he wasn''t talkative. After spending a few weeks with him, she realized that he helps everyone around him in one way or another, whether he believes it or not. In her case, he used to help her carry groceries and guide her during training. A few months ago, as she looked at him from afar, slowly and steadily, the seed of attraction budded in her heart. The seed of attraction blossomed into the emotion of love once he went out to the wilderness, bracing danger and the possibility of death for her sake. At that time, although she felt attracted to him, she didn''t have enough guts to propose to him. Shecked self-confidence because of her racial disability and had chosen to hide her feelings rather than tell him that she likes him. However, as he proposed to her, the insecurities were pushed to the back of her heart, his words helping her toe face to face with her true feelings. He was her knight in shining armor. He is the one who had already fought for her sake and kept her safe from the ultimate harm. Furthermore, he has always been good to her without any conditions. What more could she ask for? She loved him. So, she agreed to be his lover. "Big brother, do you know I''ve liked you for a few months, but I couldn''t muster up the courage to confess. It''s because I didn''t know that you liked me," Leni said with a shy and happy look on her face as she looked at him. Vincent could see gentleness and happiness flooding in her eyes. Seeing him looking staring at herself, she felt so shy that she covered her face with her slender, petite hands. "I know. I noticed you peeking nce at me every day," Vincent whispered in her ears in a charming tone. He gently grabbed her hands and lowered them to look at her mesmerizing face with a gentle and love-filled stare. "You look exceedingly beautiful right now," he praised while holding her hands and looking in her star-like snowy eyes. "You too. Big brother is the most handsome person I have ever seen," Leni said with a beaming smile as redness suffused her cute face. "Now, you look even more charming. You should smile more." Vincent said while feeling the softness of her hands and the warmth emitting out of them. "Big brother, I am feeling very happy. I want to give some sort of appreciation as gratitude." "I''ll be happy with whatever you give to me." Vincent didn''t have extravagant taste. Since they were just exchanging love tokens, he was honestly fine with anything. Leni wanted to give him something like a nice present that will make him happy. She thought hard about what to give him. In the end, she realized that she didn''t have anything precious with her except for her body. After careful consideration, Leni decided to award him with her first kiss. "Big brother, please close your eyes, and no peeking," she said with an expression of mysteriousness. "Hmm, alright," Vincent replied as he closed his eyes. As he was a head taller than him, Leni stood on the tip of her toes, leaned forward, and kissed Vincent on the cheeks. His eyes jolted open once he felt her soft lips touching his cheeks. Immediately after, she smiled and said: "Big brother, did you like my present?" "It was fine, but not enough to be called a present," said Vincent. "I want to hug you once again." Hearing his words, her heart raced. While she was busy with controlling her feelings that were about to burst all the way to her head, Vincent wrapped one of his arms around her lithe waist and pulled her into his embrace once again. "Leni, let me teach you how to kiss," Vincent seductively whispered in her ears. A tingling feeling rose in her heart as his hot breath brushed against her ruddy cheeks. As he lowered his head, Leni''s eyshes fluttered and she closed her eyes. She submitted herself and nned to enjoy it. Seeing her so eager to be kissed by himself, Vincent passionately caressed her enticing lips with his mouth. The tip of his tongue pushed between her pursed pink lips, gently parting them. Immediately after that, his tongue slowly entered her mouth and entangled with her sweet and sultry tongue. Leni''s body stiffened as he traced the inside of her mouth with his tongue. Her body shivered while feeling the warmth of his embrace as she felt faint-headed. "I can''t control it anymore," Leni internally eximed as Vincent sucked on her soft sulent lips that even tasted a little sweet. Puff! The moment she lost control over her feelings, she transformed into her feline form. "Leni?" Vincent looked at the small beast near his feet, it had a white puffy tail, snowy furs, cold yet mesmerizing eyes, furry ears and it appeared to be in symbiosis with the snow. Leni hid her body behind her huge furry tail as she sensed him looking at her. However, Vincent managed to see with her eyes filled with sadness. He guessed that it might be rted to her sudden transformation into her cute bestial form. "Don''t hide," he said as he leaned closer to the cute cat near his feet. "Don''t look for me" Leni turned tail and headed towards the exit. In his eyes, she seemed like she was really sad and angry at herself for some reason. Vincent followed her and immediately caught her in his hands. "Leni, what''s wrong?" He asked as he gently looked at the cute cat held in his hands. "I''m sorry. I must disgust you. Don''t I?" Shemunicated telepathically. She could use her innate ability tomunicate with anyone telepathically once she was in her feline form. "Ah no! You look really cute right now. It''s free eye candy for someone like me," Vincent said as he patted her. As soon as he said those words, Leni''s eyes brightened in happiness and joy. "I am from the feline race. I am half a beast. I hid it from you. Don''t you dislike me?" Leni asked telepathically. She purred unintentionally and her eyes squinted in pleasure as Vincent showered her with a lot of pats on the head. "Sillyss, I like you for who you are, and what race you are doesn''t make me feel annoyed or anything like that. It doesn''t bother me, at all. Besides, I already knew that you were a demi-human. So, don''t me yourself for something silly." Vincent said as he kissed the cute snowy cat''s forehead. Leni''s eyes blinked rapidly and she said: "How did you know that I was a demi-human? I never told anyone about it." "How? Well, it''s a secret. I will exin it to you in the future," Vincent said as he ced her on the bed. "Okay, I guess I was worrying for no reason. Ugh, I am such a fool. I thought big brother wille to hate me once you know that I am not a human. Sorry for misjudging you." "It''s alright," Vincent said with a smile as he yed with her causing her to purr continuously. "Let''s rest. We need to wake up early tomorrow." There were two beds, and Leni thought that they will be resting in different beds, however, Vincentid down in the bed while hugging her. "Umm, what are you doing?" She asked while blinking her eyes. "Don''t you want to cuddle?" He asked. "Sure, why not?" After taking a few seconds to consider his offer, Leni snuggled in his embrace and hugged him with her small paws. Vincent wrapped the cute cat with snowy furs in his hands and closed his eyes. "Her scent is pleasant." "He is so warm." While smelling the sweet scent emitting out of her body, he easily entered thends of dream. Simrly, Leni wasn''t able to hold on to her consciousness for long as his bodily warmth soothed every fiber of her being. She was like a ice cute melting under the grand sun. In mere moments, she fell fast asleep. Chapter 49 - 49: Spy And Cheater! Far away from the room shared between Vincent and his lovely girlfriend, a silhouette of a young boy could be seen sitting in a hallway with exceptionally dim lights. He was sitting in a dark corner with legs crossed. A calctive flicker could be seen in his right eye with a red tattoo above and below as he stared at the view presented in the dozens of holographic screens floating in front of him. The semi-transparent screens were extremely small and the best part was that he was the only one that could see them. After all, no one could see these semi-transparent screens without wearing specially created microlenses. The young boy in his teens was able to see them as he was wearing a unique lens in his exposed eye. He was currently gathering information on fellow examinees. He believed that every game can be won by possessing enough information. Furthermore, that''s the only way he feels secure when meeting with others as it was hard for him to trust or befriend someone without possessing enough information about them. "Oh, Vincent is like a beast that will immediately take actions to protect itsir and the treasures inside of their the very moment it feels threatened by external forces. As he is like a beast, it will be hard to befriend him. From the looks of it, the only easy way to get on his good side is to befriend his girlfriend. The examines with the second-highest grade is a simpleton. It''s clear that he is an attention seeker. He would love to make friends with anyone even remotely interested in him. Hmm, my spying devices must have reached the rooms of the others. Let''s check what they are doing." A yful and calctive voice sounded in Alex Hollow''s ear. He knew it belonged to Varth Hollow as he came here to warn him, after all. He silently sneaked up to him. One couldn''t even hear the sound of his footsteps or see the shadow of his figure as he crept close to him. Just as Varth prepared himself to look through the examinee''s information presented in the semi-transparent screens, a calm voice suddenly resounded in his ears. "Are you done spying on others?" Varth instantly stopped whatever he was doing, stood up, and looked to the sides. When he saw that it was instructor Alex standing beside him since who knows when, his eyes widened. "Instructor Alex! Umm what are you doing here?" Varth asked with a gulp as he looked at Alex. "Hehe, did I caught you by surprise? On my way here, I destroyed some of your little toys and confiscated the others," Alex smiled and ced his hands on his shoulder as he spoke calmly. "Instructor, I don''t know what you are talking about. I''m feeling sleepy. If you have nothing to say, then allow me to return to my room." Varth wanted to get out of his sight as soon as possible as he was afraid that Alex has caught him spying on the others. It was a legit crime, and although he was a juvenile, he''ll still be given a punishment. As he tried to move away from him, Alex gripped his shoulders, keeping him in ce. "Scared? Don''t be. If I wanted to harm you, I would have done that already. Anyway, we already know that you''ve been using mobile recording devices to spy on the examinees." As soon as he said those words, Varth right eye opened wide in rm. "What? But how? I have been doing everything discretely. I am sure that the CCTV didn''t capture my movements. I also scattered the mobile spying devices by using the dents right below my feet. Isn''t that what you are thinking right now?" Alex said with a smile as he looked at Varth. Varth looked at him in silence, seemingly having no intentions to say even a single word. Internally, he was sweating buckets, and thinking, ''What should I do?'' "We have our method. Did you seriously think your illegal actions will escape our notice?" Alex said as he looked at him with an ice cold stare. "Am I going to be punished?" "Not really. You are among the best examinees this year, after all. This time, I only came here to warn you. Stop spying on the others. However, there will be no next time. You''ll be immediately disqualified, kicked out of the tower, and escorted by the faculty members to the jail. You have broken thew of the federation by using advanced devices to illegally records the actions of unwilling victims once already, after all." Alex exined with a threatening smile on his face. "I understand," Varth said as he wiped the sweat on his forehead. "Good!" Alex said while walking away from the dimly lit hallway. In a rather decent room that was decorated from the curtain to the bedsheets in pink, a gorgeous and beautiful woman with wavy golden hair, ample assets, an angelic face, and a slender body could be seen sitting on the bed as her feet with soft and smooth skin touched the ground. She was wearing a nightgown that exposed her smooth and slender legs. Kayle has just finished taking a bath and was drinking warm milk right now. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door to her room. As she opened the door to her room, a boy with a head full of red hair hurriedly entered without asking for her consent. "Felix? What are you doing here?" She asked as she looked at the intruder. "Elder sister, I need your help!" Felix said with a pitiful look on his face. "Say it," Kayle said as she didn''t have the heart to decline the call of plea of her little brother. Felix Walker was her younger stepbrother. However, their rtionship was much deeper than that. Kayle''s mother had died when she was just a child. It was her stepmother, Felix''s mom, the saintess of fire that took care of her since then. Thus, Kayle had a rather strong rtion with Felix as she used to spend a lot of time with him. However, in her memories, he was a little boy with a cute face and a silly smile chasing after her and his mother, but now he is all grown up and has be rather distasteful. She especially didn''t like that he has be arrogant. She wondered why her stepmother has allowed him to be so arrogant. "First promise that you will hear me out," Felix said. "Alright." "Elder sister, I know you care about me just as much as I do for you. You know that this is my chance at redemption. I need to perform well at the entrance examination and attract the attention of the family, only then will I be able to gain resources from the family and have a chance of returning to the family''s home ground. Can you exin the details of the next assessments to me? Please help me out with my request!" Felix said as he looked at Kayle with eyes threatening to drop tears. Kayle sighed. Her servants in the Walken Family''s royal pce had informed her that her stepmother was very sad and depressed. She was sad because she misses both her children. She was depressed because her only son was kicked out of the main family ground. She knows for a fact that her stepmother will feel happy and smile only after Felix returns home. Kayle decided to help him return to the Walken family''s royal pce as she cherished her stepmother a lot. "I will help you this time because I care about our mother. I don''t have any information about the next test as it will be held by senior Theodore. The information about thest test is written on this piece of paper. You better don''t mess it up and don''t tell anyone about it," Kayle said as she gave him a folded paper. "Thank you. You are a life savior, elder sister!" Felix said as he turned around to leave the room. There was no reason to stay here. He got what he came for already, after all. "Remember to burn the paper once you are done!" Kayle said. "I know." Thus, Felix walked back to his room. Once he was there, he read the information about thest test. "A race, huh? That''s the moment when I will be able to take my revenge!" Felix thought with an inauspicious smile as he set the paper on fire. Chapter 50 - 50: The Third Assessment! The next day, the temporary students woke up early in the morning, some without any help at all, some with the help of rm, some with the help of the faculty members, and some with the help of the droids. After taking a cold shower, Nevis dried his body with a towel and wore a fashionable set of clothes, before walking out of the bathroom and sitting on one of the two beds, and he then turned to look at the person meditating on the other bed. "So, she is your sister. Buddy, can you tell me more about her?" Nevis asked as he pretty curious about the angelic sister he sawst night and he wanted to know more about her. John gave him an exhausted look. It might be pure coincidence or some other reason, but he and Nevis somehow ended up being roommates. Last night, he kept on asking questions about Vincent and his sister, exhausting him to the point where he fell asleep in the middle of the chat. "I told you already to forget about her. You will only end up in pain if you chase after her. Although you are a royal, you don''t have a chance to impress my sister. After all, she is already head over heels for big brother Vincent. I know for a fact that they had both like each other for a while, but it''s just that they never expressed their feelings to each other. Once they do, they will be an inseparable couple." As soon as John said those words, the eyes of Nevis blinked in wonderment as he looked at him in bewilderment. Immediately after, his eyes widened as if he realized what''s happening. "Buddy, I think you''re misunderstanding my intentions. Last night, I only sacrificed myself for the benefit of others. I have no interest in your sister as a woman. I am genuinely interested in her as a person and would like to know her better and possibly even befriend her. That''s pretty much all. She isn''t my love interest or anything like that," Nevis said as he tidied his wavy hair. "But yesterday, didn''t you say that you will try to win her heart?" John said as he scratched his head in confusion. "Oh that. I guess it really was misleading. It''s all be of Generous Viewer. You see this?" Nevis showed him yesterday''s lifestream chat. "He told me to act like that, and he even send me 2000 rockets, as I managed to break Vincent''s stoic character and forced him to say what he felt in his heart," Nevis said with a smile as he believed that he did a good job with uniting two people in love. "Ah. Now I get it," John said. "What''s the rockets for? Is it some kind of money that online streamers get?" "I guess you can say that. It can be exchanged for virtual credits. You need 500 rockets to exchange for one virtual credit. I earned 4st night," Nevis said. "How much is that in federation cash?" John asked as he was curious about the currency exchange rate. He was never able to gain ess to virtual reality as he wasn''t rich enough to buy a device that can connect to the virtualwork. The information rted to virtual reality can only be found in the virtual world. That''s why he didn''t know the value of virtual credits. "Hmm, a single virtual credit can be traded for nearly five thousand federation cash," Nevis answered after ncing at the exchange rates. "Wow, that means you earned 20k in one day, and that too by doing nothing at all," John eximed as he looked at Nevis. "Buddy, how can you say that? I work hard alright. Ipleted my viewer''s request. That''s why I got awarded with so many rockets. Besides, didn''t you saw them leaving the infirmary together? I believe that I helped pushed their rtionship to the next level. You can hardly find a good man like me that acts as a matchmaker in this world," Nevis said as he recalled them peeking at Vincent and Lest night while hiding in the corridors. "We still don''t know about that," John replied before he stood up to wear a new set of clothes. "You will see!" Nevis eximed as John closed the bathroom door on his face. After he came out of the bathroom, it was already near the time for the next assessment to begin. "Buddy, let''s go. Only five minutes are left before the next assessment begins," Nevis said. "Eh? Were you waiting for me?" John said as he looked at him with an expression of bewilderment. "Duh, isn''t it obvious?" John scratched the back of his head as he thought that it has only been a day since they met yet he is treating him like a close friend. Is this person that thirsty for friends? "Alright, let''s go together," he said. Thus, he and Nevis headed out of the room, walking towards the exam room. It wasn''t just them as a lot of students could also be seen sprinting towards the same ce where they were heading. As they were walking through the crowd, Varth sneakily brushed past them. A tiny insect-shaped record jumped out of his sleeves and entered John''s clothes without anyone noticing. A few minutes ago, the persons who Nevis and John were talking about wereying on the bed, one sleeping soundly in the warm embrace of her lover while the other staring at her, wondering why he didn''t clearly express himself earlier and held her hand sooner. It''s because he was the type of guy that finds it hard to express his feelings clearly. "She looks so cute," Vincent thought while staring at Leni''s sleeping face. In the middle of the night, she has transformed back into a human being. Leni''s eyes fluttered open as she felt someone''s hot breath brushing against her skin. She looked up and saw Vincent staring at her. "Good morning," Vincent said as he kissed her forehead. Leni''s cheeks flushed red and she hid her face in his chest, her heart pounding rapidly. "You too. I hope you have a nice day," Leni said in a gentle and meek tone. "Thanks for wishing me well," Vincent said as he caressed her head. "Go get ready. We don''t have much time left." After he said those words, Leni turned around to look at the clock and her eyes widened as she realized that only ten minutes were left before the third assessment begins. "You should have woke me up sooner," sheined "It''s honestly your fault. You looked so cute while sleeping that I forgot everything else, and just continued to stare at you," Vincent said as he teasingly smile. "I am gonna get ready!" she eximed as she evaded his gaze. Leni pinched his cheeks, stood up, and went to the bathroom to dress up in a hurry. "Let''s hold hands," Vincent offered one they were ready to head out of the room. "Sure," Leni replied as she held on to one of his hands. Along the way, Vincent and Leni met up with Nevis and Peter. Once Nevis saw him holding Leni''s hand as she was his treasure that he couldn''t afford to lose, a smile stretched across his face. "See that?" "Yeah. From that small gesture of holding hands, I can see that they have gotten closer," Peter said as he rubbed his chin while looking at his sister and her boyfriend while standing a few steps away from them. "I told you so," Nevis said with a smile. The temporary students hurriedly made their way to the examination room. The examiners were already in the room, sitting onfortable chairs, sipping on some kind of refreshments. "Senior, what''s the test going to be about?" Kayle asked as she looked at the elven men sitting beside her. "A simple psychological game," Theodore replied with an expression of mysteriousness. "Those who fall short to live up to our standard will be immediately filtered out." "I''m guessing a lot of students will break under the pressure," Alex said. "Hmm, you''re correct. A sword that easily bends and breaks is useless to our cause. After all, it will only be burdensome to carry such swords. So I thought that this year, it''s better to disqualify such students, rather than epting them all, and as this is thest test that allows disqualification, I decided to hold it on my own. I hope you guys aren''t dissatisfied." Theodore said as he crossed his legs, looking at the temporary students with a thoughtful gaze. "Not at all," Kayle said. "I think like. Besides, it''s as you say, Senior. It''s useless to waste resources on students with fragile mentality." As Alex said those words, Theodore closed his eyes as warm and bitter liquid went down his throat, clearing his senses and warming his body. Chapter 51 - 51: Psychological Warfare! After a few minutes, Vincent and Leni entered the assessment room along with Nevis and John. They couldn''t see the training equipment used for yesterday''s test of titan''s strength. The testing court was clear without any signs of obstacles. "Wee to the third and the secondst test," Theodore said once all the temporary students reached the assessment room. "I believe some of you might already know about me, but I would like to introduce myself formally to those who don''t. My name is Theodore Roosevelt, a very special high-ranking official working as an instructor in the military academy. And I will be conducting this test, so look forward to it," he added with a dashing smile on his handsome face. One could see a lot of girls being disrespectful as they looked at him, seemingly having no intention of looking away. After all, he looked extremely attractive as he was an elf. "Good morning, sir!" Geom said in a boisterously. "What will this test be about?" "You will find out pretty soon," Theodore said to Geom as he then looked at the examinees. "Before we begin, I''ll be asking a question. Amongst all of you who acknowledges that seeing is believing? If so, raise your hands. If not, you may just stand still." A lot of students raised their hands, indicating that they believe what they see while around thirty percent of the students stood still. However, some of them wondered why he had asked such a question. It felt weird, to say the least, and Vincent believed that he might have asked this question for a mysterious purpose. Though he wasn''t even sixty percent sure. "Umm, great," Theodore said as he looked at some of the temporary students with a gaze of approval. Immediately after, he smiled and said: "In the third assessment, you must hunt magical and demonic beasts." Not just Vincent and Leni, but even the rest of the examinee including the lesser and greatly royals looked at him with an expression of bewilderment. "Are you serious?" "What made you think that teenagers like us can kill demonic beasts?" "We will die, seriously." On Earth, the beasts were categorized into four grades: Low-level, mid-level, high-level and transcendental rank beasts. In the universe, however, the low-level beasts were called magical beasts and the mid-level beasts were called demonic beasts. The difference between them was pretty simple. A magical beast is a beast that could use elemental attack but hasn''t opened its energy channels while a demonic beast has managed to open one or more energy channels. The power of the beasts increases exponentially once their energy channels are opened. A demonic beast was far stronger than a magical beast. Most of the temporary students here can''t hold a candle against demonic beasts. "Silence! First, let him finish speaking." As soon as Alex said those words, the students quietened down and silence returned to the room. "Listen well, and then decide!" As soon as Theodore said those words, a holographic screen opened in front of their visions. It showed a valley filled with ferocious-looking magical and demonic beasts, each with an aura so threatening that the students could feel their legs shaking. "This is the valley of wealth. It''s a ce filled with a lot of wonderful treasures. However, it''s also called the valley of death. For those without adequate strength usually ends up dead once they enter this area. Naturally, the beasts will try most definitely hunt you down and try to kill you. Though only the weak will be prey and die to them. In order to pass thest exam, you must hunt the beasts in the valley of wealth and death to earn contribution points. Each time you hunt a beast, the point will be recorded on your temporary student ID card. The higher the strength of the beasts, the more points you''ll earn. It''ll only require 30 contribution points to pass this exam. Furthermore, you can keep the treasures you obtain. Simple, isn''t it?" Theodore exined with a smile as he looked at the students with a yful gaze hidden beneath a serious stare. He was internallyughing his guts out as he stared at the terrified expression on the face of the temporary students but his joy was masked by a serious demeanor. "This year''s military entrance examination is far harderpared to the previous years. Therefore, you are free to choose whether you want to participate in this assessment or not. If you choose not to participate, then move to the back of the room. If you choose to participate in the assessment, then please move to the center of the court. You all have ten minutes to decide. So, take your time and think clearly about it." Theodore exined the special rule of this assessment to the temporary students. "Do you have any questions?" "What happens if we choose not to participate?" A student asked a question that was on everyone''s mind. "Is that even a question? Isn''t it obvious that you''ll fail the entrance examination." Chapter 52 - 52: Vincents Conclusions! Spy And The Cheater Decisions. "Buddy, what should we do? Are we going to participate or not," Nevis Truemight said as he looked at John with a somewhat disgruntled expression. Although he didn''t know about a lot of things, Nevis has started to gain knowledge about a lot ofmon stuff by using the virtualwork. He knew that the chance of them dying there was a freaking ny percent while the chance of them surviving till the end was only ten percent. "It''s better to leave. The chance of dying there is far higher than making it out alive," John said. "Yeah, let''s pull out of this assessment." Leni tightened her grip on his hand. "Big brother, we''ll only be able to contribute to society if we are alive." As she said those words, Vincent could see that worry clouded her eyes. She was worried that he will take the test as she knew that he has been working hard all his life to join the military academy. "Don''t worry about me," Vincent said as he caressed her soft cheeks. "Leni, John, do you both trust me?" They both nodded in response signifying that they trusted him. "Great. If you trust me, then move ahead and participate in the assessments," Vincent said. "Don''t be intimidated by the examiner''s words. There''s little to no danger in this assessment. Trust me on this," he added. As he said those words, a deep pondering expression could be seen on John''s face while Leni looked at him with a serious stare. "I will go wherever you go." Hearing her words, Vincent''s lips thinned into a smile as he thought that she loved and trusted him enough to believe his words, even though there was such a high risk of death. "How can you be so sure that there is no danger?" Nevis asked as he looked at Vincent with an expression of bafflement. John also looked at him with a look that asked the same question. As he looked at the both of them, Vincent decided that it''s better to exin rather than keep them high in anticipation. "First off, do you really think that the military has enough power to let lesser and greater royals die? There is a lot of them here, after all, but more than that, as you can see there are no legal documents that state that the parents or guardians of the examinee''s agrees to endanger their children''s. If you think about it carefully, you''ll find several reasons that will make you believe that this is a sham. Honestly, he is only trying to pressurize the examines to a corner so that they will choose the only avable option. That''s to not participate and get out of here," Vincent exined as his scarlet eyes could be seen glistening in a calcting and thoughtful glitter. Ever since he became a demi-human, his eyes turn red once he feels excited about something. He was excited as he almost lost in psychological warfare against Theodore. To say the least, the examiner has attacked the psyche of the examinee before he even started to exin the details about the third assessment. Humans are typical beings that believe in what they see, and such types of people are most susceptible to fall into a trap. For example, a lot of people believe in fake news just because it''s yed on a famous channel. Basically, it was human nature to believe the words of someone in power, even though it is easy to discern the lies from the truth. Naturally, not everyone had a mental fortitude as great as Vincent. The mere thought of death haunted their minds and they couldn''t even think clearly. "Buddy, are you sure you are a human and not a highly intelligent artificial intelligence?" Nevis asked as he looked at Vincent with an expression of disbelief and amazement. Vincent ignored him entirely. "Big brother, you are so smart," Leni said in praise. "Should we tell the others?" John asked. "It''s better not to. If we foil his n, he might really force only the four of us to fight to the death," Vincent said as he nced at Theodore. "That''s terrifying." "The most handsome face and the sweetest smile hides the most cruel sides," Nevis said with a gulp. "Okay. Follow me," Vincent said as he moved to the front of the crowd with Leni. John and Nevis followed after them. Theodore''s eyes narrowed and his cheeks stretched back to expose a smile as he saw Vincent walking to the center of the court with a few others. "Although I went extremely easy as they are all just kids in their teens, it''s still surprising to see someone readilying to the center of the court with such a calm expression. He is either a fool that doesn''t fear death, a brave soul that''s ready to face death, or highly intelligent," he evaluated. "Senior, your scheme is amazing. If I was in the shoes of the examinees, I believe even I might have refused to partake in such a deadly assessment," Alex said with a slight chuckle. "Ass kisser." Kayle rolled her pretty eyes at him. At that very moment, Varth along with a lot of other temporary examinees also moved to the center of the court. "It''s great that I nted a bug in Nevis''s clothes, otherwise I would have been taken by surprise, failing the test because of a stupid reason!" Varth internally eximed. He has managed to eavesdrop on their conversation. Thus, he realized that this was a ploy set by the examiner to weed out the trash. At the same time, he realized that the instructors couldn''t keep track of all his movements. Last night, it was probably because he targeted a lot of people resulting in him getting caught, but now, however, he only targeted a single person and so the instructors didn''t find out about his misdeeds. Felix stood behind them, deeply pondering about what the instructor said, and his eyes soon squinted. "This doesn''t make sense. Thest test is a simple race without any possibility of death. Yet, this test has a 90% rate of death. This only means that it is false," Felix thought with a smile before he moved to the center of the court. "You''ll be sent home!" Immediately after Kayle and Alex said those words, several students decided against participating in the deadly assessment. After all, that is the only way they''ll remain alive. It was better than risking their lives and dying under the ws of the terrifying beasts. "I am too young to risk my life." "I also don''t want to participate in this assessment!" "It''s too risky. Let''s pull out." A lot of temporary students stepped backward, as they didn''t have the guts to risk their lives nor the brawns to understand the deep implications behind Theodore''s words. Chapter 53 - 53: The Reason Of Failure! "To those of you who have decided to participate in the assessment, congrattions on passing the test of courage. You''ve been awarded a hundred contribution points for your bravery. As for the rest of the temporary students that chose not to participate in the test, you have failed the military academy entrance examination. You''ve lost your status as a temporary student of the military academy. You may leave through the doors after returning your temporary student ID card to the droids or the faculty members," Theodore said with a cheeky smile once the time to make a decision was up. At the same time, the student ID cards of Vincent, Leni, and around a hundred students vibrated as one could see that they received a notification about obtaining 100 contribution points. "Looks like you were right, big brother," Leni said as she Vincent teasing smile and said, "At a time like this, shouldn''t you reward me?" As soon as he said those words, she arched forward and kissed him on the cheeks. Immediately after, her face turned red like a riped tomato as this disy of love was done in public. "Good enough," Vincent said as he pulled her into his embrace and returned the favor by kissing her cheeks. Looking at their disy of love, John thought that his ship has finallye true, Nevis thought that the result of his hard work is really fruitful, the faculty members, droids, and examiners thought that it''s good to be young and that Vincent and Leni are two youngsters madly in love. The students that failed had an unsightly expression on their faces, and they just couldn''t believe that they failed for no reason, as if refusing to partake in the assessment wasn''t a choice but apulsory decision, as well as if they forgot that they failed because of cowardice and weak mental fortitude. "Eh? Why is that?! Howe you passed all of them without having them fight beasts while you failed the rest of us? Isn''t this fair?? You should have been clear about the situation and tell us that we won''t be fighting the terrifying beasts. Isn''t this just you ying with us? Do you even know how hard I worked every day and night just for this day, and now you''re failing me after ying a mental game with all of us? How could you even do such a thing?" "Yeah, how is this fair? "All that shit about facing beasts was false. From the very start of the assessment, you were trying to scare us!" "Some of us can''t put our lives in danger. I am just amoner. My father is at the age of retirement. After he stops working, it bes my duty to support my family of four. Tell me, how could I ever put myself near death doors hoping to survive when the well-being of my family will soon depend on me?" A student snapped as he felt that injustice have been done to him. His words were enough to start a rally in the room, and a lot of students that failed started toin. As soon as they started spewing words without thinking at all, a deep frown could be seen emerging on the instructor''s face. "You still have the guts to doubt his judgment when your character is worse than trash? Your actions in this test signifies whether or not you are a coward that will run away once there''s a situation that bes risky, and your failure proved that you are the type of scum who will abandon theirrades once the timees. You cowards! In a beast''s invasion, have you ever thought about what will happen to the people you leave behind? The city will get overrun by beasts and the citizens there will be eaten alive. We need soldiers that fight for the people by cing their lives on the line, not stupid cowards that turn tail at the mere sight of death and danger. We need men who are willing to put the lives of the citizens above their own. We need women who look at death directly in the eye and wink at it, not the lot of you! Not The Lot Of You!" Alex shouted as he looked at the failure with an ice-cold re. In the past, once he met these kinds of scum, he used to take satisfaction in cutting them into two perfect halves, killing them without a single word. Now, however, ever since he was released from jail under Theodore''s guarantee, he has be milder. That''s why the students still have a neck on their bodies. After hearing his words, the students couldn''te with a single sentence to refute and they reflexively lowered their heads. It felt as if an elder of their family was berating them and they couldn''t do anything but silently endure the elder''s scolding. "In practical life, time isn''t going to wait for you. A single moment of hesitation can lead to the death of yourrade. Simrly, you won''t be given a choice between staying in a city about to be overrun by terrifying invaders and running away. If you choose thetter, you''ll be branded as a coward and a traitor. The punishment for such an act is typically death. This test that I held judged your characters and some of you proved yourselves worthy while the others ended up disgracing themselves. Honestly, you don''t have a right toin," Theodore exined in a calm tone. Yet, it could be discerned from his words that he was angered. The student''splexion immediately paled after hearing his word, and they began to realize the gravity of their actions. If they were soldiers and choose to abandon a city in danger, who will save the thousands of families left behind? Will their families be able to live peacefully in society when their children are branded as the traitors of federation? The students lowered their heads even further once his starended on them. One could see redness suffusing with their face as if someone has pped them hard on the cheeks. They felt so ashamed that they wanted to hide in the bottom of the ocean, if possible, and never meet the instructors ever again. "Those who failed to pass this test, if you still have some shame left in you then return your cards and get the hell out of here." As soon as she said those words, the students felt as if salt has been sprinkled on their freshly opened mental wounds, their pride deted like an air balloon pricked with a needle. They turned around, stepping out of the cloud tower as fast as they could and then returning to their homes A few momentster, only the students with the status of the temporary students were left in the room, and it was at this moment when the instructors stood up and walked to the front of the raised tform. Alex''s lips widened into a wide smile and Kayle''s eyes squinted into a smile as they stared at the remaining students with a friendly gaze. After all, these students were truly exceptional as they proved themselves to be worthy enough to be nurtured by the military academy. Chapter 54 - 54: The Last Test! The remaining students will receive resources and teachings that will help increase their strengths to a monstrous degree ording tomon standards. After waiting for a few moments to gather everyone''s attention, Theodore Roosevelt with his hands behind his back began to speak, "You''ve all passed multiple hurdles to reach this point. Now, only thest test remains between sess and failure. I hope that you will all pass thest test as you young boys and girls deserve to be a part of the military academy. The final exam is a bit special as it only tests your speed. And what''s better to test speed than to race it out, correct? In order to pass the final test, you must reach from one end of the room to the other within half an hour. The further you reach within that time, the better the results and therger the amount of contribution points you will receive. However, you only need to cross one-third of the room to pass this test." "Are there any confusion?" Immediately after he said those words, Varth raised his hand and said, "We can use external items, right?" "You are allowed to use weapons and items in this test," Theodore replied with a mysterious and cunning smile. "What about the number of participants? Will everyone participate at the same time? Or split up into groups? Or will we be examined individually?" Vincent asked after a few seconds. "You''ll all be participating at the same time," he said. Hearing his words, Vincent''s gaze deepened. ''What a troublesome situation. It''s already bad that the examinees will be taking part in the test at the same time, but even weapons and items are allowed. Worst of all, there''s no rule against infighting during the test. The use of weapons and items is permitted. Therefore, there is a high chance that attacks between participants are also permitted. If something goes wrong, there''s a high chance everyone will be disqualified,'' he thought. "This is the final test?" John''s eyes brightened. "It seems easier than the ones before." Nevis beamed a smile as he was sure that although he might not be the strongest, he was the fastest. "It will be fun to stream thest test and showcase my exceptionally good sides." "It isn''t as simple as you think. Why do you think we can use weapons and items? It''s probably to entice infighting." Vincent''s gaze flickered with a thoughtful glitter as Felix Walken''s figure appeared in his mind: "I don''t know about the others, but someone has been itching to start a fight for a while, and I am guessing that he won''t let go of such a god-sent opportunity." John''s and Nevis''s eyebrows raised. What he is saying might really happen. After all, Varth has deeply offended the kid with a redhead. Who knows what will happen once a fight begins in the middle of the test?! They might even get embroiled in a useless battle that will only act as an obstacle that dys them from reaching their goal. "Big brother, can you promise me something?" Leni calmly looked at Vincent while holding his hands. "I''m all ears," Vincent said as he gently rubbed the back of her soft hands. "No matter what happens to us in thest test, please continue to head straight to the goal. If you get a bad result because of me, I will never be able to forgive myself," she said in a gentle and sweet tone with a serious look on her face. Leni''s words made him smile like a silly young boy in love. He had an idea of what she was feeling in her heart. From her warm words and lovely gestures, Vincent could guess that she didn''t want to be a burden to him. He caressed her head full of snow-like hair while looking in her eyes with a warm and gentle stare and said: "I will do as you say, but you must also immediately use the magic scroll once you are in danger. Do you agree?" "But it''s too precious." The magic scroll wasn''t an expensive offensive item for Leni. For her, it was a deeply cherished love token. The fire magic scroll was the proof of his love for her. "You must or else I can''t agree with your words." Vincent insisted. His words were like a threat to her, enough to ckmail her into epting his proposal. "Okay," Leni nodded, looking like a cute little animal. A few momentster, after no one asked any questions, Theodore said: "Before we begin, allow me to exin thest assessment''s fundamental mechanisms that will act as an obstacle to slow you down and conditions that will act as a reason for your disqualification." Hearing his words, the student''s ears perked up as they showed an adequate level of interest in what he has to say. "First off, there is only one obstacle in the race, and that are projectiles made out ofpressed air. Not only will the projectiles act as obstacles but they will also serve as a means of fulfilling one of the several reasons for disqualification. Following are the reasons why you might fail this test, 1. You are disqualified if you get hit ten times by projectiles before the time ends. 2. If you take a step outside the boundaries of the track, you''ll be disqualified. 3. If you fail to run up to 1/3rd of the track before the times end, you''ll be disqualified. 4. You''ll be immediately eliminated once you are knocked out. 5. In the event of a fatal injury, the examinee that is fatally injured will be disqualified and immediately expelled from the tracks'' boundaries. However, you''ll receive immediate healing free of cost. Lastly, a hidden mechanism will activate once certain conditions are met. With this, my exnations of the test of agility are finished." Immediately after saying that, Theodore Roosevelt stopped looking at the temporary students and calmly looked at instructor Alex Hollow. "It''s all you now," he said. Hearing his words, instructor Alex walked up to the front of the raised tform with a smile on his face. Chapter 55 - 55: Ability Kingdom "You must be feeling really happy," instructor Kayle said with a teasing smile and a taunting expression on her face as she looked at instructor Alex. "Honestly, I am feeling happy as senior Theodore has finally permitted me to use my ability." Instructor Alex replied with an outstretched smile. Aftermitting atrocious misdeeds that offended the top brass of the federation, Alex lost his status as a citizen and wasbeled as a criminal. A few years ago, he was hunted down by the experts of the federation, captured, and imprisoned in the second-lowestyers of the Hell''s Prison for three thousand years. Though the sentence could be lessened by hundreds of years by epting the hardest missions with the death rate so high that causes even the most powerful ability users to step back in fear. Naturally, he didn''t ept such missions. After a few years of imprisonment in darkness, rays of sunlight shone upon him, and someone granted him, a ruthless killer condemned by the society as a devil, a chance to redeem himself. However, he needed to adhere to the rules set by his guardian and follow the norms of society. Although it seems like he was allowed to live a normal life, most of his actions were controlled by his guardian. Moreover, instructor Alex also needed to follow certain rules set by his guardian, if he didn''t want to be punished. Among the many rules set by his guardian, one of them was that he isn''t allowed to use his ability in any form, be it a simple activation or one that bends the very reality of his surroundings itself, once he is out of danger. In normal situations, he could only use his ability after obtaining the permission of his guardian. For now, he could use his ability as he has gained the permission of his Guardian. With a beaming smile on his face, Alex stretched his arm out before him. "Ability Kingdom: Devil''s Words Bending Reality!" The students felt terrified as an rming amount of energy flew out of instructor Alex''s body, and it wasn''t magic power or mana that are usually used as a fuel to activate magic techniques, abilities, and a lot of new world''s technology but a unique type of ck energy. One they have never seen before in their entire life. The ck energy emitting out of his increased in quantity by severalfold and soon squirmed and stretched into tidal waves as they spread out in all directions, covering every inch of the room including the floor, roof, and walls. "Stay where you are and don''t panic. This is a stronger form of using an ability called Ability Kingdom, but it won''t harm you in any way," Kayle announced as she looked at the baffled examinees. Ability Kingdom can only be manifested by charging arge number of ability cells with a massive amount of high-grade energy. The user''s ability expands outwards in a gaseous form with the user as the center once certain conditions are met. As the ability expands, the area it covers changes into the user''s ability kingdom. The ability permeates into the surroundings and spread far and wide to create a spherical ability kingdom. The length and width of the ability kingdom can be increased by using massive amounts of high-grade energy. After manifesting his ability kingdom, not only could instructor Alex control the size of everything inside of the boundaries of his kingdom including using an extravagant amount of energy to change the size and shape of carbon bodies, but even increasing the density of gravity andpressing the air inside of the boundary of his ability kingdom was possible for him. "Space Expansion!" As soon as instructor Alex said those words with a snap of his fingers, something happened that caused the student''s eyes to open wide as saucers with their jaws dropped as they looked at their surrounding with an expression of bewilderment vivid on their face. "What the hell?!" "Isn''t this too extreme?!!" Not just the eyes of Nevis and John, but even Vincent''s and Leni''s eyes opened wide in surprise as the roof above their head and the floor below their feet stretched to be several times wider than before. After a few moments, one look at their surrounding was enough to tell them that the size and length of the room has increased a lot of times. Instructor Alex could change the size of the examination room as it was within the boundaries of his ability kingdom. ''Ability Kingdom: the supreme form of an ability that affects the climate, terrain, andndscape of the surrounding areas with the user as the center and bends them ording to one''s will. So this is it, huh?'' Vincent''s body slightly trembled. He internally eximed, ''It''s freaking cool!'' "Big brother, are you fine?" Leni asked with unconcealed traces of worry in her eyes once she saw him trembling. "Thanks for worrying about me, but I''m alright." Vincent''s face leaned down and Leni''s eyes closed as he kissed her on the forehead once again. "Are you sure?" She asked after a moment to make sure whether or not he was fine. "I am fine," Vincent reassured her with a calm smile. Due to witnessing ability kingdom for the first time in his life, he was just feeling excited. It wasn''t him as a lot of students couldn''t help but exim and marvel at the sight of instructor Alex''s ability kingdom. Sometimeter, Alex finished redesigning the room ording to his guardian''s wishes and said to the students, "The race will start in a few minutes. Hurry up and line up behind the starting line in an orderly fashion, and be prepared to make a run for the finish line on the opposite end once you hear the resounding sound of a gunshot." The students followed Alex''s instructions. A few momentster, all of them could be seen standing behind the starting line. "Before he expanded the room itself, the position of the finish line was some hundreds of meters away from the starting point. But now, it''s nearly 20 kilometers!" Vincent said as his gaze flickered with a thoughtful and calctive glitter. "The difficulty of the agility test has increased exponentially." "Buddy, it wouldn''t have been fun if the race had taken ce without any expansion in the size of the room. Forbatants like us, covering a distance of a few kilometers is a matter of minutes," Nevis said, eyes gleaming in excitement. "Let''s give it our all to reach the goal! I hope you can keep up with me," he added. "Good luck, Big Brother," Leni said to him. "Don''t stop no matter what!" "Since you''ve wished me well,dy luck is already on my side," Vincent kissed the back of her hand like a gentleman. "Leni, I will be waiting for you on the opposite end." "I won''t keep you waiting for too long," Leni said as a sweet and enticing smile blossomed on her face. Lastly, John said to him after balling one of his hands into a fist and giving a thumb-ups towards his direction, "Big brother, get the first ce, I am rooting for you!" "Try not to cause your sister too much trouble," Vincent said with a smile as he looked at John. "I won''t!" John replied with a determined expression. As the students stretched their bodies and prepared themselves for the race, a notification popped up in front of Vincent''s face. ? New Mission Activated! ? ? Task: Ace the Test of Agility ? ? As the one with the blood of one of the fastest races in the entire universe, you must topple the geniuses of the manys in speed. ? ? Completion Reward: +7 Agility, +7 Constitution ? ? The reward you receive will gradually decrease if you ce below the first position ? Vincent''s eyes squinted in pleasure once he read the notification. "So many rewards for winning a single race, I must do my best to ce first! First, I should increase my agility." Immediately after, Vincent added the five attribute points he received from leveling up yesterday into his agility stat. ? Your Agility has increase to 50 points ? As soon as the notification popped up, Vincent could feel that he was now five times faster than an average human. After a few seconds, a gunshot rang throughout the running track, indicating the start of the race. Chapter 56 - 56: The Beginning Of The Race! As soon as the sound of gunshot resounded throughout the field, the temporary students standing behind the starting line began rushing forward, some giving it their all to at least cover one-third of the distance between the starting and finishing line, some aiming to do even better, while some aimed to reach the finish line. As for the best among the temporary examinees, Nevis and Vincent, they amplified their speeds by infusing units of battle energy into their legs. Several secondster, they were at the forefront of the crowd, as a few meters behind them, Felix, Varth, and Geom could be seen, as well as Leni, John, and a few other temporary students that were proficient at controlling battle energy. "Let''s see if there''s someone that can surprise us by reaching the other end of the room." The instructors and the faculty members proceeded to spectate the race while standing near the edges of the raised tform. Their vision was stronger than an eagle and they could clearly see what was going on in the race. "I can''t wait to see who will be the first one to satisfy the conditions that will activate the hidden mechanisms of the race. Once it activates, a lot of students will be disqualified!" instructor Alex said as he rubbed his palms in anticipation. "Senior, why did you say that they will be disqualified from the entrance examination if they failed this test?" Instructor Kayle Walken asked as she looked at the handsome elves man wearing a pair of eyesses. "Eh? Did I ever say that?" Theodore''s head turned to the sides to nce at the faculty member standing behind him. "Did anyone hear me say that?" As soon as he said those words, everyone shook their heads indicating that they didn''t hear him say that. "You see, I never said that they will be disqualified from the entrance examination if they fail this test, but I did say that they will be disqualified from this test, and that''s pretty much all it would do." Theodore''s cheeks stretched back to expose his pearly white teeth and a meaningful smile. It''s just as he said, the students have proved themselves to be worthy of bing the students of the academy. They will be epted as permanent students whether or not they fail or pass the test of agility, but Theodore never rified this matter in detail. Thus, the students still believe that they will fail the entrance examination if they failed this test. "Oh, I get it," instructor Alex eximed as he pped his hands. "You didn''t rify the details so that they''ll give it their all, right?" As soon as he said those words, the eyes of instructor Kayle brightened as she came to a certain realization while Theodore nodded signifying that the purpose behind being somewhat discreet was so that the students will not rx their tense nerves, and perform to the best of their abilities. "Only that way will we truly know what theirbat level is!" Theodore said in a loud voice as he focused on the race that was about to get interesting. ''Pretty much everything is going as mentioned, but where are the obstacles that instructor Theodore mentioned?'' Vincent internally thought as he looked around the track with a scrutinizing gaze while running at an incredible speed. Immediately after, three projectiles made out ofpressed air shot towards him simultaneously, and Vincent''s eyes squinted as he maneuvered his body skillfully and his feet exceptionally, dodging all three of them while progressing forward in a short zig-zag dash. ''Hmm, if this is the most dangerous part of this test, then I am going to be the first one to conquer it!'' Vincent thought as he then performed a set of hand signs causing creepy blue eyes to manifest around him, and these eyes thenunched forward to gather details about the iing projectiles. He internally eximed, ''It''s not good to be overconfident. It''s for my own good if I remain vignt! A few secondster, Vincent managed to discern the trajectory of the projectiles thanks to the information gathered by the creepy blue eyes. ''Now I can see the trajectory of the projectiles before they enter my visions. The moment they appear on the running track, I can easily dodge them by just changing my position and stepping out of their range.'' As he was finalizing his ns, a sudden projectile crashed on someone''s shoulder. "Ugh, I got hit! Damn! The projectile hurts like hell! What ten hits? If I get hit another three times, I will drop dead!" Nevisined as blood profusely leaked out of the hole in one of his arms. The participants trembled in nervousness as they saw that the projectiles packed enough power to damage even the body of the strongest contestants. A few momentster, after getting caught off and hit by one of the three attacks, Nevis copied Vincent''s tactics wlessly, and although his zig-zag dashes were bigger and his movements awkward whenpared to Vincent''s, he dodged all of the sudden attacks and managed to keep up with him. Meanwhile, Felix, Leni, and the rest of the awakened had activated their abilities, utilizing them in distinct but appropriate ways to deal with the situation at hand. The eyes of the instructors showed praise as small yet thick blocks of ice manifested in front of Leni in different spots where the projectile crashed and she pressed on towards the finish line without slowing down even once. Simrly, each time the projectiles entered his vision, Felix instantly created small fireballs and hurled them at thepressed air balls causing them to explode before even reaching him. Looking at the iing projectiles, Geom had brought out his stainless sword from one of his spatial bracelets and held it tightly in his calloused and thick hands. "Indifferent sword sh!" His sword glistened under the bright lights of the room as he brandished his sword repeatedly and pressed on, and before the projectile could even get close to him, a vertical ck light shed, expanding from their centers and reaching each end of their spherical bodies. *Plop* *Plop* *Plop* The projectiles burst open one after another, as waves of wind fluttered Geom''s clothes and brushed past the participants nearby. Seeing all of that, Varth''s eyebrows lowered. ''This test seems easy but it''s extremely mentally taxing and consumes a lot of my stamina, as it isn''t simple toe up with ways to evade projectiles repeatedly while running at full speed. Uh, if only I knew that this test is going to be like that, I would have brought a hoverboard with me and used it in this test to lessen my burdens.'' Although he wasining with a belly full of regrets, Varth was the most carefree among all the participants as he took cover behind the others, letting them act as a shield against the projectiles. "A minute has already passed. It''s time to increase the difficulty of the test," Alex''s eyes squinted as he snapped his fingers, "Devil''s word: Increase projectile increase by 10% every three minutes!" In the first three minutes, the projectiles were easy to dodge. A few minutester, as the speed of the projectiles suddenly increased, it became harder for the participants at the forefront to dodge them, and their speed decreased slightly. "I knew it wouldn''t be simple! Who knows what else is going toe at us!" As Vincent''s speed decreased somewhat, the distance between him and the other participants decreased. Felix activated his ability, raising his palms and conjuring fireballs in front of them, shooting them straight at the ones in front of him C Vincent and Nevis. Nevis and Vincent felt the temperature behind their backs rising very fast, and they both nced back at the same time, only to see balls of fire heading their way. "What the hell!" Their eyes widened in shock as their movements stiffened slightly. Although they were shocked at the sudden insidious attack, they still managed to dodge it by rolling to the opposite sides. Chapter 57 - 57: Felix Past! Once the small balls of fire exploded upon impact with the ground, the surroundingndscape was engulfed in a zing firestorm, the heat of which was intense enough to scorch the marbled floor ck and increase the temperature of the surroundings by a few times. At the same time, Felix could be seen being propelled forward with incredible speed as me burst beneath his feet each time he took a step. While Vincent and Nevis were regaining their bnce after rolling on the solid floor, Felix overtook them andnded in the center of the zing firestorms. At that very moment, Felix stretched open his hands causing the raging firestorms to be pushed behind him and to each of his sides, creating immense walls of me that blocked one-third of the track. The sight of Felix''s me walls blocking all the projectiles amazed one of the three instructors and annoyed the others. Why isn''t he aiming toplete the race? Howe he summoned a damn me wall to deflect all the projectiles? Just what is he nning to do? A momentter, the angry voice of Nevis resounded. "Sneaky bastard! Why the hell did you attack us?!" Felix Walken turned around with a smile on his face and glimpsed at Nevis who was seething with uncontroble anger at the moment, before ncing at Vincent, only to see him ring right at him, and both Vincent and Nevis could be seen standing a few meters behind him. "Your expressions remind me of the old times, when themoners and the wealthy merchants couldn''t do anything but silently endure the injustice done to them by my hands with a pent-up expression!" Felix spoke loudly, reminiscing with a carefree smile on his rather handsome face that looked devilish at the moment as massive me walls burned on each of his sides. Vincent frowned and said, "I don''t care about the kind of psychopathic life you have lived neither am I interested in hearing about the sadistic experience you might have amassed over the years. I will let you go for sneak attacking me. So be a good boy and step aside before I get angry." "Sneaky bastard, hurry up and get out of our way! Otherwise, I don''t know how badly I will beat you once anger makes me lose my rationality!" As soon as Nevis and Vincent said those words, Felix looked at them with an apathetic stare. "So what if you get angry?! Especially you, Nevis! What can you even do to me in that state?! You look like a dog that''s about to die in a few moments. It will be for the best if you give up on the race!" Felix said in an arrogant tone as blood profusely leaked out of the wound on one of the arms of Nevis. "Who are you to tell me to discontinue taking the exam?" Nevis grimaced. Felix smiled and said with a smug expression on his face, "Like you, I am just another participant." Nevis finally had enough of his bullshit. He leaped towards Felix with a belly full of anger and hurled a battle energy-infused punch at his face. "Stupid baboon!" Felix thought as mes burst beneath the soles of his boots. He easily dodged his speedy punch by maneuvering his body to the side at a speed faster than the eyes of Nevis could follow. "Let me return the favor!" The second he dodged Nevis''s attack, one of Felix''s palms balled into a fist, punching Nevis in the guts with a fiery fist. Nevis was hurled away as he then crashed on the ground and rolled a few times beforeing to a halt. "God damn! I can''t win against him because of my injured arm. The searing pain keeps on distracting me. Due to my injuries, it has be harder to control my battle energy." Nevis mumbled in a low voice as he wiped the blood trickling down the corner of his mouth. At that very moment, a sweet voice reached Vincent''s ears. "Big brother, what''s going on?" Leni asked as she came to a halt right beside him. "He is blocking our way forward for some reason," Vincent replied as he pointed at Felix. "Why would he do that?" Leni asked with a bewildered expression. She couldn''tprehend why someone would pick a fight with someone else for no reason. "I don''t know. Anyway, I don''t want you to get involved with a nut head like him," Vincent said. "I can hear you!" Felix stomped his feet in anger. At that time, a lot of participants had caught up to them. They came to a halt as they were certain that they will be severely injured if they tried to pass through the me walls. Only a few powerful participants such as Geom and Varth had a chance to pass through the me walls, but even then only by moving extremely fast and discreetly so that they won''t attract Felix''s attention. "Why the hell are you doing this to us?" "Why are you blocking our way? We have never offended you in any way!" A lot of participantsined as they looked at Felix with ice cold and murderous res. If looks could hurt, Felix would have been wounded from head to toe. They were feeling angry as he blocked their way for no reason, but no one challenged him to a battle as they knew they didn''t stand a chance against him. "You think you didn''t offend me, huh?" Felix said as anger seeped out of his eyes. "All of you have offended me!" He was offended when his father chose to ept the words of others instead of his own son. He was offended when his family''s saints epted the false usations filed against him and ripped him apart from my royal status. Felix was offended when the peoples who went around everywhere with him and used his money and called him their best friend turned their back on him and started to ignore him once he fell from grace. Felix was offended when he lost his reputation because of his girlfriend that cheated on him with his best friend right after he fell from grace! That girlfriend belonged to the great royal hollow family. That''s why he hated everyone with the surname Hollow. Moreover, he was offended when the bastard from the Hollow family, Varth embarrassed him. Lastly, he was angered at the participants for doing nothing exceptughing at that time. A few momentster, he said, "This is the stage I selected to release the anger bottled up inside of me, and you are the ones selected to be the targets of my wrath!" Chapter 58 - 58: Stepping Forward! "I don''t have time to y mind games with you," Vincent said with a frown on his face as he looked at Felix. "Are you moving or not?" Hearing his words, Felix inclined his head to look at the mes, and acting as if he was talking to someone, he said, "That would be too boring wouldn''t it?" A momentter, he nodded acting as if the mes have responded to him, and he then turned to look at the examinees with a judgmental gaze and said, "Nope, I won''t be moving out of this ce as I don''t think that any of you are worthy to pass this test. That''s why I will y as the examiner to see whether or not you are worthy of bing a student in the military academy." "To prove yourself worthy, you must defeat me in a one-on-one fistfight. Otherwise, I won''t let you go ahead! It doesn''t matter whether you are a man or a woman, everyone must follow my rules for this test!" Hearing his boastful words, Leni rolled her pretty eyes while the students gritted their teeth as they thought that he just want to bully them. Meanwhile, instructor Alex looked at his Guardian and said, "Can I expel him out of the track?" "You can''t do that. There was no rule against infighting, to begin with," Kayle hurriedly spoke to defend her younger stepbrother. Theodore brought the cup in one of his hands near his lips and took a sip. Afterward, he said, "It''s a battle amongst the younger generation. So let theme to a decision themselves." The younger generations were itching to beat the shit out of Felix, but they didn''t step forward as they didn''t want to be the first ones to fight him. "Big brother, can I please teach him a lesson? He''s wasting our time, and it''s also causing your result to worsen! I will fight him, and you take that chance to make a run for the finish line." Leni was worried that he won''t get the actual amount of rewards he deserved if this goes on any longer. That''s why she decided to act as bait and draw over Felix''s attention. Vincent will be able to sessfully jump over the wall of mes once Felix is distracted, after all, but Vincent shook his head indicating that he recuses to put her in danger for such a selfish reason. "Stay here." Vincent declined her proposal as he was worried that she would get hurt. "I will deal with him by myself," he added as he stepped towards Felix. "I don''t care if you stop the other participants. I don''t care if you hurt them, either. However, trust me on this, if your hurt a single hair on her head, I will hunt you down my entire life, and mark my words, once I am done with you, you will be destroyed both mentally and physically!" Vincent threatened in a low voice as he looked at Felix with a cold murderous gaze while stepping forward, and Felix could feel Vincent''s threatening aura intensifying by each step he took. The eyes of Felix twitched as he felt angered by being threatened by a low-born. "Why the hell would I listen to your words? Who the hell do you think you are, huh? Why would I listen to your bullshits?" Felix said as wisps of fire burst forth from his body, twirling around his fists threateningly. "Believe me, soon you will do as I say," Vincent said as he picked up the pace and rapidly closed the distance between him and Felix with a few steps. A secondter, the two of them shed, and Vincent repeatedly maneuvered his body like an expert to dodge Felix''s barrage of zing fists. After a few moments, Vincent was able to determine that Felixcks actualbat experience. He was correct. The youngest son of the saintess of fire also knows as the most spoiled of the Great royal Walken family had never participated in actualbat where the chance of getting hurt exists. After all, the Knights that were supposed to train Felix had always held back when sparring with him as they feared hurting him. They knew that a knight had been unjustly dismissed after he identally wounded Felix in a spar. This in itself had lowered the impression the family''s knight had of Felix. They disliked him. That''s why the knights had never sparred with Felix with the intention of fixing his shorings. Thus, Felix had never experienced an actual fight in his life, and he wasn''t trained for one either. An actual fight is cruel and brutal as there is a high chance of getting severely injured. Furthermore, it has unexpected movements and attacks. A person like Felix that has never fought for real would never be a match for a person like Vincent who has been learning aboutbat tactics since a young age and had even fought beasts in the wilderness. Vincent determined that Felix''s attacking routine was simple, and the way Felix fought contained mistakes that he could use to his advantage. However, Vincent didn''t instantly make use of Felix''s mistakes to his advantage as he wasn''t sure whether or not Felix was purposely exposing his weakness to bait him into his attack range. ''Particrly, his weakness is his lower body and wide movements. However, he just has too many weaknesses. It''s almost hard to believe that he is not faking it. Whatever, I will target his weaknesses once I''m sure that he is not trying to fool me but rather he is just that bad at fighting.'' Vincent felt conflicted as it was hard for him to believe that someone from the great royal family would use an attacking routine that was not only easy to understand and follow but is also filled to the brim with mistakes. In truth, the mistakes seemed like a trap that Felix has created to bait Vincent into his attacking range even in the eyes of the spectators. After all, the instructors and the faculty members didn''t know that Felix didn''t have actualbat experience. It''s not like they researched about his past, but if they did, they would have beenughing their guts out. Felix fall from grace and the things that happened after to him were just tooical! It was like karma fucked him all over! "Is dodging all you can do? Pathetic!" Felix said in disdain after a moment. At that very moment, Vincent''s leg connected with his knee causing him to grimace in pain. Immediately after, Felix used his movement skill and hurriedly took three steps back as he evaded Vincent''s attack. "You still have the time to talk while fighting me? I guess you never really brawled with an actual person." Vincent taunted as his eyes glistened in a calctive glint. He was now sure that Felix was just that bad. Hearing his words, Felix scowled. "What do you even know! I have been fighting against my family knight ever since I was a child!" As soon as he said those words, the raging red-haired teenager released a torrent of fireball towards him. However, Vincent closed the distance between them as he dodged each of them. Then, he immediately stepped forward and began attacking Felix''s weak points. Pa* Pa* As Felix''s cheeks were being pped left and right under Vincent''s hands, the eyes of Nevis brightened as he thought that this was the perfect chance to make a run for it. After all, his buddy was keeping Felix kept. After Nevis infused arge amount of battle energy into his legs, his body moved with incredible speed, disying the epitome of basic footwork. His body arched forward as he jumped over the me walls, and although the tip of the me walls came near him, it never did any harm to him. "I will be going ahead. Buddy, thanks for holding this raging bull back for me," Nevis eximed afternding on the ground. Felix could do nothing to stop him as his hands were already full fighting Vincent. He was receiving the beating of his life as Vincent''s fists and kicks connected all over his body. "Since Vincent is keeping Felix busy for us, we should not waste his generous act of kindness. This is our chance to cross this adversary!" "Let''s fucking go!" "Shouldn''t we help him?" "Can''t you see that he is winning? Why would he need our help?! We should focus on winning the race rather than wasting our time here." Following Nevis''s footsteps, Geom and a lot of other participants jumped over the enormous me walls one after another. A few of the students saw them going away, and they turned their heads down in disappointment. "Ugh, the walls of me are too high for me to jump over it." "I think I can''t make the jump either." "Guess we will be waiting here." "Hopefully, he will win soon." John, Leni, Varth, and more than thirty percent of the participants stayed as they weren''t sure whether or not they could jump over the me walls. "God damn you!" Felix eximed in anger as he threw a punch with mes swirling around it at Vincent''s face. "You are full of weaknesses!" Vincent casually performed a downward roll and dodged the zing fist. In the split of a second, Vincent rolled behind Felix as he then instantly kicked the back of his right legs. The force behind his kick was so great that it shattered the bones of Felix''s leg. "Ugh!" Felix dropped to his knees, screaming like a pig being butchered as tears of pain streamed down the corner of his eyes. It was prettyical as Felix''s eyes were darker than the eyes of a panda. After all, Vincent had made sure to hit him repeatedly on the bullseyes. "I will leave the rest to you guys. He is already injured so taking him down should be easy enough for you," Vincent eximed as he rushed forward and jumped over the me walls. By using his energy resonating eyes that work like a drone, he had noticed that a lot of participants have crossed one-third of the tracks. He needed to hurry up and overtake them or else, he won''t get a good reward frompleting the mission as he won''t be able to ce higher than the tenth position. He was being selfish here, but he wanted to win the race, and be ced above others, as his future''s goal also depended upon passing the entrance examination of the military academy with the highest score. "Where the hell do you think you are going?!" Felix eximed like a sore loser as fireballs burst forth from his palms and shoot towards Vincent''s back. As the balls of fire came towards him, Vincent''s body flickered, disying excellent footwork. His speed that doubled once he infused several units of battle energy into his legs allowed him to move faster than what the eyes of Felix and the other participants could follow. He moved like a gust of wind, and although the fireballs struck the ground near to him, not even a single one managed to hit him. Chapter 59 - 59: Laws Of Physics "There is no fucking way you are getting away from me!" Felix shouted as he looked at Vincent''s back with a murderous stare. Although Felix was so badly beaten and bruised from head to toe that most of his bones had shattered and he looked like a panda with ck patches and a white body, he foolishly continued to channel magic power into his fire ability cells and hurled fireballs toward Vincent. Felix''s balls of fire, as thick as a human''s hand, explosively cascaded towards where Vincent could be seen running. At the moment, Vincent was like a ghost roaming one of the deadliest battlefields in the eyes of the participants and some of the spectators as he moved so fast that their eyes couldn''t keep up with him. He was in a world of his own, disying excellent and powerful footwork, exquisitely moving left and right to dodge spherical projectiles as the wind brushed against his pale cheeks. Boom* Boom* A momentter, balls of fire started to strike the ground extremely near to him and explode simultaneously causing craters to be formed on the marble floor. However, they never came into direct contact with him as he was able to outspeed the explosions. "I can''t believe it! He is my son''s age but he is capable of out speeding the explosions!" A spectator muttered in awe as he gaped while watching Vincent move through the track. "He isn''t only outspending the explosions. He is utilizing the force of the explosion to gain momentum. He is a genius... No, he is an unmatched young devil!" By the time the fireballs exploded, Vincent was already out of harm''s range. However, the force generated by the explosions elerated his speed, pushing him forward at an incredible speed. In the eyes of the onlookers, Felix''s deadly attacks were only helping Vincent gain more momentum and speed. It seemed as if everything was moving ording to Vincent''s calctions. It seemed as if this whole scenario was orchestrated by him. He was utilizing the simplest concepts of Newton''sws to their utmost for his own benefit. A simple concept! He was using the force generated by the explosion to increase his speed. A concept that most humans that could move mountains and split oceans don''t even nce at in their entire life. The eyes of the instructor opened wide as they stared at Vincent with a baffled expression stered on their face. How could he move with such grace and speed without taking a single wasteful step? Howe he is intentionally using the force generated by the Fireball to increase his speed without a single hint of worry on his face? "This is crazy! He is aplete lunatic!" Alex eximed as he looked at Vincent with an expression of bewilderment. What Vincent was doing was extremely risky as a single miscalction or a single misstep will either endanger his life or severely harm him. "Not really. That just goes to prove that he is confident in his abilities. If you look closely, you will notice that Vincent''s movements aren''t wide as there are only minimalistic shifts to his position, just enough to dodge the iing projectiles and utilize the force generated by the explosions for his own benefit." Theodore''s lips stretched back to reveal a wide smile as he stared at Vincent with deep interest. "This youngster is the most excellent one among this year''s examinees!" Kayle praised with a bright smile. Although Vincent was beating her stepbrother ck and blue, she didn''t feel bitter as she believes that Felix it''s a result of his overbearing arrogance and that he deserves to be taught a lesson. "I don''t think so, but he can be considered as one of the best on Earth. Besides, there''s also the world of Lorena! On that, talent is abundant. There is bound to be examinees far better than him. Moreover, he hasn''t learned the transcendent-gradebat technique, Jelo. Otherwise, he wouldn''t need to utilize such cheap tactics to gain high speed in a short time." Alex praised and criticized Vincent for his effort. Hearing his words, the eyes of Theodore narrowed in thoughts. The military academy established in the 7th city located near the spatial tunnel that led to the world of Lorena; of the world''s connecting spacea unique half-world where a person can arrive at by entering the rifts in the firmament of Earthalso epted examinees from the world of Lorena. In the world of Lorena, there existed a lot of royal, noble, andmoner families and their descendants were brimming with talent. He had even received news that a few examinees there has awed the examiners by utilizing the transcendent-gradebat technique, Jelo. It was not like he wasining as he was certain that Vincent would have done better if someone taught him [Jelo]. Besides, it was clear-cut from the start that most of the promising newbies wille from the world of Lorena, rather than Earth. Nevertheless, Vincent and a few others managed to prove that they were just as excellent as the others, and shouldn''t be taken lightly. Felix''s wide eyes were filled with anger and overflowing with viciousness as he stood in his ce with a vexed and bitter expression on his badly beaten face. "I don''t believe you''ll be capable of out speeding my mightiest attack explosion! This will fucking kill you!" He eximed with a twisted expression on his face as he raised his hands above his head. His action indicated that he was about to use a terrifying fire ability with a devastating might. Before he could channel a lot of magic power into his fire ability cells to create his ultimate technique, a ball made out of ice crashed on his redhead. Immediately after, a sweet voice sounded in the ears of Felix. "Hey, shameless big bully! Stop bothering my big brother!" Felix turned to look at the source of the voice, only to see Leni staring at him with a determined gaze to fight for the sake of his enemy, and at the very moment, he lost it. His eyes reddened as anger clouded his rationality. "You damned bitch! I will deal with you first!" He hurled the destructive greater fireball towards her intending to end her for good without thinking and taking light of Vincent''s murderous threat. Felix smiled in anticipation. He believed that she will be scared shitless as his massive attack homed on to her. He wanted to see the look of devastation on her face. Contrary to his expectations, Leni didn''t even flinch as her stare remained ice-cold. She lifted her hands exposing one of the most precious gifts of her life. There also exist spell tags capable of releasing destructive explosions and could automatically attach themselves to the target and through magic would remain there, unable to be pulled off. "Activate!" She eximed. At that very moment, the magic scroll shed red and disappeared from her hand as it shot forward like a shooting star. A momentter, an intense amount of fire energy burst forth from the fireball magic scroll, twirling andpressing, condensing into the shape of a Red Tusk Elephant''s most powerful elemental attacka gigantic size fireball. Chapter 60 - 60: Varths Battle Suit "Take cover!" John eximed as he was sure that the two massive fireballs crashing into one another will result in a deadly explosion that will hurt them badly, if not severely. As soon as he said those words, the participants nearby him either turned around to run away, used their ability to create a shield in a hurry, leaned down on the ground, or stood stiff unable to respond to the situation correctly. However, out of them all, only Varth stood out the most as his posture remained straight like a high royal, and not even a single trace of worry or anxiety could be seen on his face. The spectators noticed that this wasn''t a pretense. He was just that calm as if he was sure that the aftershock of the explosion won''t be able to even damage a single hair strand on his head full of hair. ''I guess it''s time for me to enter the limelight.'' In an instant, the darkness dding the body of Varth Hollow receded to reveal a marvelous skin-tight ck battle suit. The suit perfectly outlined his toned and muscr body that leans heavily on the slim side of the average scale. The battle suit represented the beacon of light in the darkest of ces and exposed the shoulders and mid-arm regions of Varth''s body. One could see two triangr-shaped holes protruding out of the forearm section of his battle suit. These holes were called magic technique slots where a magic crystal or mana crystal could be inserted to activate a magic technique. Without any hesitation, Varth inserted an average-sized magic power crystal with 1000 units of magic power into one of the slots. ''Convert all of the magic power in the magic crystal into a barrier! Protect me and my friends!'' Varth mentally passed hismand to the Gctic Analysation System linked to his mind. ?Affirmative!? ? The magic power contained inside the magic power crystal has been channeled into a Grade-1 Protective Barrier ? In the split of a second, the magic crystal inserted into the magic technique slot thinned down to nothing, and all the magic power obtained from the crystal was channeled into a blue barrier that manifested around him, Leni, and John. ? A strong Barrier has been erected around you and your friends ? At that very moment, Leni''s summoned fireball intercepted Felix''s attack. Boom! Along with a resounding reverberation that tugged on the hearts of the participants, the explosion also generated furious and hot winds. As the wind began billowing, it reddened the skins and enticed a painful moan toe out of the mouths of some of the participants when it blew against their skin. An enormous crater could be seen on the ground in the ce where the explosion took ce. The intensity of that attack caused a slight, lightning-element wind as an aftermath. However, not even a single strand of hair on the head of Varth, John, and Leni was touched by the furious st as all the damage was blocked by the barrier created by Varth in the split of a second. Meanwhile, the three instructors, faculty members, and the healers looked at Varth with an expression of bewilderment. What the hell? How did he get his hands on a battle suit? The battle suit was recently created a few months ago through reverse-engineering the technology obtained from the neutral crystal race. It was a wonderful technology that could channel the magic power of higher grade energy into a magic technique such as barrier and so on. It could even shot out elemental energy st as long as it was provided with a suitable elemental energy. "A battle suit, huh. This product still hasn''t made its way to the market, but he already owns one. This youngster from the Great Royal Hollow family is interesting!" Theodore eximed as he looked at Varth with an amiable stare. A few momentster, John looked at Varth with a grateful expression and said, "Thanks for helping us." "No problem. Actually, I am sorry as I am part of the reason why he is blocking us all. If it wasn''t for me, you guys wouldn''t be embroiled in this troublesome situation." Varth replied indicating that he was in the wrong and that his wrong. "Honestly, he would have attacked us anyway," Leni replied. "His regeneration is quite high and he will recover soon as he carries the royal blood of the Walken family. So, while he is still injured, let''s take care of him," Varth said after a moment. "Sure, I don''t mind teaming up with you," Leni said. "Me too. There''s no way I am gonna let you fight a raging monster like him without me!" John was worried about his sister. So, he decided to fight alongside her without any hesitation. "I will support you guys!" A participant that had enough of Felix''s arrogant rampage said as he stepped closer to the three of them. "I have the ability to buff others stats for a few minutes. At most I can buff the stats of three peoples for five minutes. However, I believe that five minutes will be enough to defeat him." "We will do the same!" A few other participants that possessed abilities that increased the strength of others also decided to help them in their fight against Felix. "Great!" Varth eximed as a thoughtful glitter shed in his right eye. "I will draw his attention. Leni and John attack him simultaneously from the sides. The rest of you provide us with physical body strengthening and defensive buffs. If someone possesses the ability to increase speed, use it on me. Lastly, don''t use your offensive abilities if there''s a chance that you will identally hit us." Varth instructed as he inserted a magic power crystal into one of the two triangr magic technique slots. "Nero, materialize Demonized Silva!" Nero was the name of Varth''s Gctic Analysation System ?Affirmative!? ? The magic power contained inside the magic power crystal has been channeled into a Grade-1 Energy de ? In the split of a second, a massive amount of magic power burst forth from the ck glove with a silver crystal pattern worn on his right hand and condensed to create a blue and ck multi-colored energy de made out of magic power. ? A grade-1 energy de has been manifested. It willst for around ten minutes ? The students looked at the de held in his hand, and their eyes showed deep interest and awe as they thought that it''s cool. "Let''s begin!" Varth eximed. Following his instructions, the participants used their ability to buff him, Leni, and John. ? Your Strength has been increased by 15 points ? ? Your speed has doubled ? ? A golden barrier has been used on you. You''re protected from every iing damage ? As soon as the participants buffed them in order to defeat Felix, the three of them split off in three different directions as began rushing at Felix. Varth rushed in a straight direction with demonized Silva held in his right hand as Leni and John rushed at Felix from the sides. A momentter, the three of them shed. Immediately after, Felix enjoyed a brutal shower of powerful punches, energy sword shes, and icy kicks. Chapter 61 - 61: Activation Of Secret Mechanism! Although Felix was powerful enough to beat the shit out of any of them in a one-on-one fight, he couldn''t do anything once they were all attacking him at the same time. After all one hand couldn''t win against many! "You guys are shameless for ganging up on me. I will kill the three of you!" Felix screamed in anger as his body trembled violently indicating signs of me bursting out of his body. Sensing danger, the three of them quickly jumped backward as mes exploded out from Felix. After a moment, Leni hurriedly stepped forward, using ice walls to counter his mes, and released a torrent of fist covered in ice towards him once she got close to him, and Felix maneuvered his body with exceptional speed, dodging her punches as mes burst beneath the soles of his shoes. "Hehe, I got you. It''s time to mess up your pretty face," Felix said as he grabbed Leni''s fist after a few moments. "I am the one that got you!" Leni replied with an ice cold expression on her pretty face. Felix''s eyes widened as ice burst forth from Leni''s hand and frosted his hands suppressing him from exerting fire. At the same time, ice also wrapped around his legs, stopping him from moving away. "Foolish! What made you think that your ice ability can suppress my fire ability, huh?! A low-born like you can neverpare to me. I have been fed natural treasures and evolution materials ever since I was a child. My fire ability is far stronger than your ice ability!" Felix eximed. He was born with the ability to create fire. Moreover, he was blessed with the mark of mes as he the only son of the saintess of fire. The mark of me granted fire immunity to its bearer. That''s why he could cover his flesh in mes without feeling even a tinge of pain. Furthermore, he had been fed a lot of treasures to strengthen his fire ability. As his fire ability strengthened by consuming evolution materials, he was able to manipte it. Through manipting his ability, Felix learned to create fireballs and utilize me propulsion. That''s the only two techniques he learned over the course of many years. After all, he had spent his precious time ying games, going out with girls, and troubling others, rather than training every day like Leni and John. To prove his words, Felix channeled magic into his fire ability. Immediately after, the ice sealing his right hand exploded in dozens of shards. "Let me show you hell!" Felix eximed. Just as he raised his zing hands to disfigure Leni, someone grabbed his fist and a calm yet cold voice resounded in his ears. "How could you forget about me? Dumbass!" Varth said as ice burst forth from his hand that grabbed on to Felix''s zing fist, curbing the me covering Felix''s fist in an instant. Felix instantly turned to look behind him. Immediately after, his eyes widened with shock as he saw that a snow-like tattoo and a golden tattoo has manifested above and below the right eye of Varth. "You copied her ability!" He shouted in shock. A moment ago, Varth''s eyes met the eyes of Leni. That''s when he copied her abilities. His ability allows him to copy anyone''s ability when their eyes meet. His hollow cells transform into the target''s ability cells when he copies their ability. The targeted person''s ability can be used once Varth channels energy into his ability cells. Nevertheless, he wasn''t omnipotent as the level of the ability is adjusted to the number of hollow cells in his body. At the moment, he could copy abilities below D-rank. As ice continued to suppress his fire ability cell, as well as spread all over his body, one could see traces of fear in Felix''s wide-open eyes filled with rage. "Varth Hollow, you what are you nning to do?!" He said in a shaky voice as he found it difficult to bear the feelings of unable to feel the regions of his body frosted by ice. "You''ll know if you are unable to overpower the suppression caused by my ice ability!" Varth said with a smile as an enormous amount of ice burst forth from his hands. Simr to how Leni used ice to seal his hands and legs, Varth was intending to seal his entire body. "Don''t do what you are are fucking nning to do!" Felix shouted. "Oh, and why won''t I?" Varth taunted. "Who do you think you are? A mere fallen great royal whose arrogance knows no bounds deserves to be sealed in an ice cage!" As soon as he said those words, Leni''s sweetly smiled while John started tough wildly as they thought that it''s really true that what goes aroundes around. "I will help you." Leni channeled magic power into her ice ability cells to help Varth seal Felix in an ice cage. Although Felix tried to stop the ice from spreading all over him by using his fire ability to fight back, the spread of ice intensified once Leni also used her ability to seal him in an ice cage. "You bastards!" Felix only managed to say these words, before he was sealed in an ice cage for good. After a few moments, Varth and Leni took care of the me walls in the surrounding. "Thanks guys, we won''t forget this favor!" The participants expressed their gratitude before rushing forward. Varth, Leni, and John also moved ahead with incredible speed as they used their ability and techniques to evade the iing projectiles. A momentter, Leni felt dizzy and she lost her bnce. She was about to fall to the ground when John caught her. "Sis!? What''s wrong!?" John said in concern as he looked at Leni. "I am feeling dizzy," Leni said as she felt like puking her guts out. Meanwhile, Varth raised a barrier to save them from the iing projectiles. Varth''s eyebrows raised as he reached closer to them. "It''s a typical bacsh that urs once ability cells are overused. You''ll be fine after sleeping for a few hours. Until then, you''ll feel dizzy." "I can''t rest right now. I will fail if I fall asleep," Leni said weakly as drowsiness filled her mesmerizing snowy eyes. "Don''t worry, I will carry you on my back. Just try your best to stay awake!" Varth offered to help her. "Besides, no rule states you will be eliminated if someone carries you on their back. You will only be evicted from the race once you are severely injured, get knocked out or ten projectiles manage to hit you." "Thanks but there''s no need for you to burden yourself. I will carry her," John said as he helped Leni to climb onto his back. "Sis, hold on to me tightly," John said. Leni nodded and wrapped her hands around his neck. "Thank you, John," she said. After a moment, they could be seen moving along the track with incredible speed in a straight line. After all, Varth used barriers to block the iing projectiles and reduced the burden for all three of them. Meanwhile, a lot of participants were disqualified from the race after one or two projectiles crashed on their bodies and injured them fatally. A lot of participants were finding it hard to dodge the projectiles. After all, the speed of the projectiles has increased so much that it has be exceedingly hard to dodge them and the participants that were disqualified weren''t able to dodge them in time. A few minutester, Nevis, Vincent, and a few of the participants could be seen only several hundred meters away from the finish line, while Leni, John, and Varth were a mere kilometer away from passing the test of agility with the minimal score. "The condition to activate the secret mechanism has been met!" Alex said with a devilish smile stered on his face, and he continued, "Devil''s word: Projectile Reflecting Boundary!" As soon as Alex snapped his fingers, an invisible boundary that could reflect projectiles was erected on the track. The participants stepped forward with all their might,pletely unaware that an anti-gravity boundary that could deflect the projectiles has been erected all around the track, and that the projectiles bouncing off of it were approaching them with double the speed. "What the hell?!" Most of the students were caught off guard as one or two projectiles crashed on their defenseless backs. Chapter 62 - 62: Epitome Of Last-second Sprint! "What the hell?!" When the reflected projectiles suddenly crashed into the defenseless backs of the participants who werepletely unaware of the sudden activation of the secret mechanism, they felt an indescribable searing and piercing pain assaulting their senses. Immediately after, despair and an unknown fear that they have nevere across filled their heart as darkness seeped into their vision diminishing the brightness in their youthful eyes. Thud! They copsed to the ground the very next second. Before they knew it, the space around them rippled mysteriously. They seemingly vanished from the track and were teleported to the spectator''s tform. "Hurry up and heal them!" "Yes, ma''am!" Following the instructions of instructor Kayle, the healers immediately went to work their magic on the poor souls, and as their hands glowed golden, the wounds on the disqualified participants started to heal at a speed visible to the eyes. "As expected, the secret mechanism was the real danger of this race." Redness crept over the eyes of Vincent as he immediately avoided the iing projectiles from behind and in front. "d I was always on alert and kept my guard against the sudden activation of the secret mechanism. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have fared much better than the others." The average students were notparable to Vincent and a few others. The secret mechanism installed in the race tested the participant''s response to sudden threats. Although every participant that has advanced to this stage was valiant, some possessing nice observation skills, their sense of awareness wasckingpared to Vincent and the remaining participants. Within a few minutes, most of the students were hit by the projectiles and were fatally wounded. "Geom 13: Eliminated from the race!" "Firestone: Eliminated from the race!" As a lot of them met one of the conditions to be eliminated, the fatally wounded participants were instantly evicted from the race, and they suddenly appeared on the raised tform where the healers were seemingly waiting for them to arrive. "..." The healers rushed to their aid once they saw their miserable conditions. Their hands glowed in a gentle golden and milky shite glow as mystical words that calms the soul escaped their mouth, healing the injured souls at their mercy. As the participants dropped left and right, Nevis and Vincent gritted their teeth, ignored the fact that their stamina was fatally low and that their thighs and legs were burning due to being overused, and kept on going forward, covering several feet in the split of a second. As the finish line was reflected in their eyes, they didn''t want to give up unless their bodies fail them. A few units of battle energy were still reserved in the body of Nevis, while Vincent has used up all of his battle energy. "Seems like it is only you and me now. Buddy, it''s time to decide the best among us, so I won''t hold back and use every fiber of my being to win this race," Nevis said as he increased his speed by infusing all of the remaining battle energy in his body into his legs without thinking about the possible consequences, and he then eximed, "My name is Nevis. I am this year''s fastest examinee!" As he was several meters ahead of Vincent and his speed too suddenly increased, there was no doubt that he will win the race first and score the most in the test of agility. That''s why Nevis already considered himself the fastest examinee. "That is, if I don''t use the remaining cards up my sleeves" Vincent''s gaze flickered with a mystical light as the pictures of many projectiles appeared in his mind: "The reflecting boundary will soon propel two projectiles towards the center of my back. After that, they will reach me in some seconds at the same time. The force generated by the projectiles crashing on the center of my back will increase my current speed by a lot." Vincent nned to gain a sudden and massive increase in speed by using the explosive force of the projectiles. After that, it''ll be a piece of cake to overtake Nevis at the front. However, he frowned as he wasn''t sure whether or not he will be fatally wounded. "I can use blood maniption to harden my blood and increase my defense. That will massively decrease the chances of me being fatally injured or it will at least dy it. Besides, I can take this risk as I won''t die even if I am injured to the brink of death! After all, the moment I am fatally injured, I will be evicted out of this ce, and the healers outside the track''s boundary of race will save my life." "Let''s do this," Vincent''s murmured as he utilized his special racial ability to manipte the blood residing in the heart located in the side of his chest. ? 30 units of blood has been consumed ? ? Sangue Heart: 10/50 units of blood ? ? You''ve used your vampire''s blood maniption ability to reinforce your lower limbs ? ? A solid blood te has manifested behind your back ? ? The blood in your blood vessel has temporarily hardened to a somewhat solid-state ? ? A skin made out of crystallized blood has ovepped with your skin ? ? Your defense has increased significantly! ? ? Blood Maniption skill proficiency has increased to 35% ? "Come at me!" Vincent eximed, before bracing himself for the impact with gritted teeth. Bam* The eyes of the spectators opened wide as they looked at Vincent with an expression of bewilderment. Why did he let projectiles crash on his back when he could have dodged them?! What the hell is he happening? Maybe he was too tired and couldn''t even dodge?! What they saw next, however, answered their questions. Whoosh! As soon as the projectiles crashed on his back, all of his defenses shattered simultaneously. However, he has achieved his goal. He was instantly propelled forward at a much higher speedpared to before. "Despite using abilities to reinforce my lower limbs, I feel like my legs are going to break. Still, why? Why am I smiling?" Vincent''s lips thinned into a smile as the scarlet glow in his eyes intensified. Every fiber of his being was jumping up in joy and excitement as he moved at the fastest speed of his life. The spectators stared at him with wide eyes filled with momentary bewildered before an expression of amazement and awe blossomed on their faces. "He is insane! Let me correct myself, he''s an absolute lunatic. The likes of which I have never seen in my life!" "No, he is the epitome of perfection. This is how one should perform ast-second sprint!" As Vincent''s feet mmed on the ground hard to push him forward, he moved so fast that the eyes of most of the spectators couldn''t catch up to his movement. In a few moments, Vincent overtook Nevis as his body rocketed forward towards the finish line. Left behind and gazing at his back, Nevis eyes opened wide with his mouth touching the ground, and he said, "You gotta be fucking kidding me" Meanwhile, Vincent passed the finish line as the wind kept whipping past his pale cheeks. He was moving so fast that he only came to a halt after a few moments. ? Congrattions, Vincent Sangue! You''re the first examinee toplete the race! ? ? Earned 450 points ? ? Your Agility grade is 45 ? The automatic system announced Vincent''s result for everyone to hear. At that very moment, the pleasant notifications that Vincent has been anticipating ever since the start of the race popped up in front of his vision. ? Mission has beenpleted ? ? You''ve passed the test of agility excellently! ? ? The maximum reward forpleting the mission shall now be allocated to you ? ? You''ve obtained +7 body constitution stat points and +7 agility stat points ? ? Your Constitution has increased to 53 points ? ? Your Agility has increased to 57 points ? Vincent''s eyes squinted and he dropped to his knees with his hands wrapped around his body as sultry tears streamed down the corners of his eyes and blood trickled down the corners of his mouth and also streamed out from the ugly and vicious wound on his back. His n has indeed worked just as intended. However, his n was never without massive risks. He was injured far beyond what he calcted. "Ugh" Vincent''s expression twisted as a bone-piercing pain assaulted his senses and he retched out mouthfuls of blood. As darkness slowly clouded his vision, the space around him rippled. Immediately after, he was evicted out of the track''s boundary and got teleported to the raised tform. A few momentster, once Nevis reached the finish line, the healers started to heal Vincent''s severe wounds. Chapter 63 - 63: The Purpose Of The Exam After a while, the race ended and all the students were excluded from the boundary of the track. As the healers healed the fatally wounded students, as well as while some of the participants received immediate healing, instructor Alex snapped his fingers and said some words to separate the space around the other two instructors from the rest of the room under themand of his guardian. In one of the three spectator''s seats, one could only see the middle-aged instructor, Alex rxing with his eyes closed and his right cheek ced on the back of one of his hands. The students couldn''t see or hear instructor Kayle and instructor Theodore as they were now in a space of their own, separated from the others present inside instructor Alex''s ability kingdom. Inside the separated space, the two instructors logged in to the special online tform of the military academy. After a few authentication procedures such as iris and ability cells scan, they finally essed it. Immediately after, a lot of holographic screens showing a group of people popped up in front of the two instructors. The group of people were either instructors or high-ranking members of the Military Academysome hailed from the world of Lorena and Earth while the rest hailed from the mighty Avalon Empire and the Great Royal Ambrose Family. "We''ve been waiting for you." The Dean of the military academy located in the world''s connecting space between Earth and the world of Lorena, Tirion Avalon, spoke as he looked at instructor Theodore from behind the holographic screen. "I hope you didn''t have to wait for too long," Theodore replied with an amiable smile, and he continued a momentter, "Let''s briefly summarize the oue of the entrance examination held throughout the two worlds before rmending a newly enlisted student to nurture using this year''s resource. After that, provide at least a single good reason as to why you''ve selected a student to nurture using this year''s resources." Before the beginning of the entrance examination of the military academy, the instructors of the military academy hade up with many creative ways to test the students in different cities established throughout the two worlds. This year, the purpose of the entrance examination was to filter talented and hard-working youngsters from uncluttered swine while taking six things into ount when epting students: sensitivity to energy, strength, mental fortitude, character, intelligence, and agility, after all. Obtaining a final result of Three to Twenty points allows an examinee to be an outer circle student. After all, these were considered as barely passing marks. The outer circle students weren''t given any special privileges. They couldn''t immediately participate in specialization ss. They could only participate in beta sses such as physical or ability training as theycked adequate strength. On the other hand, a person with more than twenty points can participate in alpha sses such as specialization ss as soon as they join the military academy. The students that specialize in a certain new world''s subject are among the ones most probable to be inner circle students within a year or two. Lastly, a pair of instructors could rmend examinees that scored more than 40 points in the entrance examination for the newly created nurturing n. The students rmended for this n will receive the best teachings and the highest amount of resources for half a year. Such newly enlisted students had the highest chance to be inner circle students within a year. Ethan, the director of strategy came up with this n to efficiently allocate the federation resources to the ones most worthy. After all, the academy''s main focus has shifted from nurturing dozens of elites to producing someone remotely close to the unforgettable king of time, a God worshipped by the followers of the Temple of Kronos. "I only have good news. First off, I''m d to announce that not a singlemoner and descendants of war ves performed well enough to enter the Alpha ss. Secondly, dozens of nobles and royals scored good enough to enter the Alpha ss." The instructor in charge of the subject of evolution, Nics, briefly summarised the oue of the entrance exam that took ce in the cities under his jurisdiction. A decent number of the present individuals smiled indicating that they were happy that themoners weren''t selected for the Alpha ss. In this day and age, there well a lot of people that liked to discriminate against a person based on his status. This type of ugliness was bred in a lot of noble houses and it has also found its way to the military academy. The alpha ss has limited seats. A lot of instructors felt that the Alpha ss should only have ces for the glorious descendants of the noble and royal families. The descendants ofmoners and war ves should be happy that they can receive formal education in the beta sses. Hearing the words of Nics, the eyebrows of Ethan and Tirion raised in dissatisfaction. They didn''t say anything as they didn''t want to raise a conflict of interest and ideology or start a useless debate on such a happy asion. After a moment, Nics continued, "Lastly, I want to rmend these five students for this year''s nurturing ns. You''ll understand my reasons for rmending them after you take a look at their performance." He motioned the ves that serve him day and night to y the recordings. After a few moments, the recorded performance of the five students Nics rmended began ying in the holographic screens. The members attending this meeting watched the performance of the five students with deep concentration. One could see their expression changing from respect and admiration to awe. By the time the recordings stopped ying in the holographic screens, the instructor only had words of praise for the students rmended by him. "All of them are not only talented but they also belong to the great royal family and the Avalon Empire!" Instructor Nics said after a few moments. "I sincerely hope that all five of them will be selected for the newly created nurturing n!" Chapter 64 - 64: The Final Decision! Afterward, the online meeting continued as intended. Sometimeter, once the several instructors were done with lightly briefing about the examinations held in the cities under their jurisdiction and rmending students, Theodore hummed slightly and said, "There were only two students that managed to clear the test of agility in the city under my jurisdiction. I would like to rmend both of them for the nurturing n." He rmended Vincent and Nevis and yed a recording of their performance in the entrance examination. A lot of instructors frowned as they watched the recording of their performance. "Does anyone have any objections?" Theodore asked as his gaze swept past several individual that were visibly frowning in disarmament. However, in front of the instructor ofbat, none of them had enough guts to voice out their disagreement. Well, none except for one. "A portion of the resources this year was separated to nurture only the most talented newly enlisted students and I don''t that the ones rmended by you are worthy enough. Vincent merely took advantage of the situation. Otherwise, there wasn''t a chance for him to win the test of agility. As for the other one, I don''t even want to waste my breath talking about such a disgraceful thing." Nics raised objections. His expression was especially vexed once he mentioned Nevis. "I believe we should nurture someone that belongs to the Avalon Empire or great royal families like Felix or Varth. This way, we can strengthen our friendly rtions with them. So, who is in support of my decision?" He added immediately without letting anyone interfere. "I agree with instructor Nics!" "Me too!" A lot of people raised their hands in support. The Avalon Empire and the Great Royal Ambrose Family provided support and resources to the military academy established in the world''s connecting space shared by Earth and the world of Lorena. It was pretty easy to discern why instructor Nics and a lot of other instructors showed heavy favoritism to the royal descendants of the four families especially the Great Royal Ambrose family and the Avalon Empire. "What tant discrimination! Even if you think that Vincent and Nevis aren''t worthy, what made you think that Felix and Varth are worthy? Their results are far worse than the first-mentioned students. Not just them, but also Leni and Geom." The President of the student body, Eric Avalon, a royal descended of the might Avalon Empire spoke out in favor of themoner Leni and the noble Geom. Eric looked like a pretty boy as Eric''s facial features were easy on the eyes and his skin was smooth and shiny. The moment Eric said his piece of mind, the expression of instructor Nics and the people supporting him turned gentler. "I can understand. Vincent and Geom do deserve a ce in the alpha sses. Leni is amoner barely meeting the requirements to be a part of Alpha sses. She also indeed has the qualifications to be a part of the alpha sses. I am not against it. However, thest one is a shame on nobility. It''s impossible to allow him to be a part of the nurturing n or the alpha ss in general!" Instructor Nics didn''t want to stand against Eric. However, he didn''t couldn''t let a unholy existence like Nevis enjoy privileges in the academy. He also wanted to save a nurturing spot for a royal descendant. That''s why he spoke in a way that seemed like he was favoring Vincent when in actuality, he was trying to steal the spot he deserved! A lot of instructors could sympathize with his words. Nevis was the son of the Emperor of true might and his beloved wife, GiovanniCa descendants of a "ve". The head of the most strongest great royal family marrying a damned descendant of a war ve with a manly name and even producing an heir with her was more than enough to foul the moods of nobility. As mentioned before, ability cells are inherited gically. ording to scientific analysis on this subject, there''s a 99% chance that a child will inherit the ability cells of the dominant party during the impregnation process. In simpler words, the descendants of the emperor of true might will inherit the Truemight ability cells without a doubt. However, Nevis didn''t inherit any ability cells at all. Just like his mother, he wasn''t able to awaken either. His body wasn''t able to retain ability cells even after consuming evolution materials. He was called a cursed child! A shame on the greatest great royal family. Though no one raised objection at that time or said anything bad in particr about Nevis and his mother as they didn''t want to incur the wrath of the strongest human in the universe. After the death of his mother, a wild rumor spread like wildfire that the emperor of true might has lost all interest in the cursed child of his beloved wide. The reason? Many believe that it is because the emperor''s most beloved wife died due to misfortune brought by the cursed child. The noble that couldn''t stand the sight of the one tainting their names and honor were finally able to address their dissatisfaction and redirect their anger. In particr, the main reason as to why Nevis was bullied pertained heavily to him beingbeled as a cursed child due to his inability to awaken. The words of Nics enticed a lot of others to voice their objections regarding this matter, and as the audience''s loud voices of objection began sounding in the ears of Tirion, his mood soured. "All quiet." As his stern re loomed over the others, their mouth closed automatically. A few momentster, silence returned to the meeting, and he continued, "What are your thoughts on this matter, instructor Theodore." Theodore exhaled with a somewhat bored and exhausted look on his face and said, "Taking advantage of a situation is also part of one''s ability. Besides, Vincent is better than you might be imagining. I am in support of Vincent joining the nurturing n. Moreover, why must you the lot of you discriminate against a youngster? Is it that your skin has gotten so thick that you have lost all sense of shame or just what?" As soon as he said those words, the ones in objection to his decision felt their face burning as if someone has pped them hard on the face. His words showed that he wasn''t going to give face to anyone no matter what their status. He followed the iron rule of "Respect should be earned not taken for granted!" "I also agree," Ethan spoke in his support. "Individual strength is apletely different matter from analytical skills, battle sense, and use of psychological warfare. The child proved his excellent battle sense by increasing his blood flow in the test of titan''s strength to boost his physical capabilities. Simrly, in the following tests, he scored the highest because he won a psychological battle against instructor Theodore and used his keen observations to use the projectiles to increase his speed. His battle against Felix also proved his excellentbat skills. It should be our honor to nurture a child like him!" "Furthermore, we shouldn''t discriminate against anyone because of their status or a great royal because of mere rumors!" Before anyone could say words of objection, the student president raised his hand in support of their decision and said, "Yes, indeed! We shouldn''t forget that he is the best examinee of the cloud tower for a reason. It wouldn''t be wrong to call someone a blind dog if they deny the reasoning skills and knowledge Vincent has shown so far!" As soon as he said those words, Nics and the rest couldn''te up with objections as they didn''t know what to say. "However" Nics opened his mouth to say something in disagreement over this matter, but Theodore interrupted him. "Before you all say anything against us, know this, the boy hasn''t awakened. He still hasn''t evolved like the other top examinees. I have confirmed it myself. As for the abilities he used in the tests, I am confident that those were racial traits." Theodore''s words came as a shock to all of them. It was as if thunder had rumbled in the clouded night skies and lighting had struck the group of people who were in agreement and disagreement with Theodore''s decision. The heated yet somewhat silent atmosphere was immediately reced by the exmation of the shocked audience. "What the hell? Are you sure he hasn''t awakened?!" "I believe I was clear enough!" "Doesn''t that means, he is a demi-human born with a special ability! Once he evolves, he will be special as his physical capabilities will be enhanced and he will be able to use two abilities!" "To think that there was someone could score so high without evolving and awakening an ability I don''t know what to say." Nics said in awe. "Indeed, it is wonderful for a person that hasn''t evolved to perform so well in the entrance examination. I have no objection to using resources to heavily nurture such a talented youth! I believe you all share the same thoughts on this matter," Eric said. It wasn''t only the student council present that was now in support of Vincent, but also a lot of others, some belonged to the side that has been objecting to his admission in the nurturing program. "Instructor Theodore''s judgment is great like always." The Dean couldn''t help but praise the most powerful instructor of the military academy. The ones with the highest authority were in support of Vincent being heavily nurtured by academy resources. Furthermore, now no one objected to the cursed child joining the alpha ss. What could they even do in this situation? It''s not like they could disagree and offend the highest authorities of the military academy! Who didn''t know what happens when one of the three is offended! They didn''t want to lose their jobs and face! "Then, it''s decided. Thest spot will go to Vincent, while Nevis and everyone be it amoner or not, will enroll in the alpha ss as long as their final result is above 20 points!" Tirion announced in a hurry as he looked at the peoples in the meeting onest time for today. "With that said, the meeting is adjourned!" At soon as the Dean of the military academy said those words, the online meeting channel immediately closed. Chapter 65 - 65: Result Announcement In the testing room, a lot of students could be seen sitting on the ground with their legs crossed. The nobles and royals were so exhausted that they didn''t care about anything and also had sat down on the ground. While some were lying on the raised tform, receiving immediate treatment. Most of them were anticipating the announcement of their entrance examination final result. "Your shattered bones have been mended and your severe wounds have been healed, but I am leaving your damaged skin as it is. It will heal in 3 weeks. Until then, it will work as a greater reminder for a fool like you!" Jun said after healing Vincent. "Sorry for troubling you once again," Vincent said with a shy smile. He felt pretty bad for milking the same healer twice and without any consideration. "Big brother, stop putting yourself in harm''s way," Leni said as she then sighed. "Do you know how worry I feel every time I see you injured?!" His head was ced on herp. His eyes reflected the face of a girl with gentle features and clean, lustrous hair cascading down her shoulders. Her snow-white skin turned ruddy as she felt shy under his intense stare. "You should listen to your little girlfriend''s words, healing isn''t as magical as you think," Jun added. "Okay, I willply with your words," Vincent said as he thought why not? It wasn''t like he was a masochist! "Great!" Leni lovingly ruffled his hair. Then, she looked at the healer in front of her and said, "Mr. Jun, can you please heal his wound?" Hearing her words, Vincent''s heart warmed. He felt happy to see that she was worried about him. "Well, It''s not like I can refuse a cute girl like you," Jun said before he healed the skin wounds on Vincent''s back. "You are lucky to have her by your side," Jun said after a moment. Leni blushed as she felt shy. "It''s me that''s lucky to have Big Brother for myself," Leni said as her cheeks turned redder than a ripe apple. Vincent shed a beaming smile towards Jun as he held Leni''s soft hand with ruddy tips. ''Their love is bright enough to blind me! I don''t have any interest in eating dog food. It''s better to get away from them,'' Jun internally eximed as he walked away. "Can I kiss you?" Vincent asked as his face leaned close to her, his nose touching her as his somewhat cold hand touched the back of her warm neck. Leni shook her head in declination as she took a few steps back with a face blushed red. "If you do that, I won''t be able to maintain my human form. I don''t want others to see my feline form." A sad expression took ce on her cute face. "Big brother, I also want to be intimate with you but I can''t. It''s all because I can''t control my transformation to my feline form. It urs whenever I lose control of my emotions. And when you are being to me or showering me with affections, I lose my calm and my emotions run wild. I am sorry for being a nuisance!" "Don''t be." Vincent immediately kissed Leni''s on her cheeks. "I''m sure that there is a way to help you control your transformation. I heard there''s a big library in the military academy with hundreds of thousands of books. I''m sure there will be a solution to our problem in one of those books." Hearing his words, Leni''s eyes brightened in glee, her heart warmed and a sweet smile blossomed on her face. He has worn her heart and seduced her soul by saying that her problem was his. She also looks forward to seeing if there is a solution to her problem in the library. "Leni, I don''t want others to see your super cute feline form as it''s something precious that only I should have the right to witness. So, will you promise me that you won''t show others your super cute side?" Vincent said after a moment. "I promise! Big brother, you''ll be the only one who I show my super cute side to!" Leni said while giggling like a sillyss in love. Sometimeter, after the race had ended and all the students that were evicted from the boundary of the tract, teleported to the raised tform were healed, Theodore walked out of the separated boundary and stood in front of students with a smile on his face and said, "Congrattions to all of you for passing the various tests and bing permanent students of our military academy. Some of you might be confused so I might as well say that this test wasn''t an elimination round. The test of agility''s main purpose was to assess your agility, awareness, reflexes, and observation skill through using obstacles and a simple secret mechanism. It didn''t matter whether or not you failed or passed this test, you wouldn''t have been disqualified from the entrance examination. After all, the moment you passed the test of courage, you''ve already be a permanent student of our academy. I didn''t intentionally rify the situation since I wanted you all to perform your best as your final results and rewards heavily depended on this test." Hearing his words, the eyebrows of some of the students furrowed as they felt annoyed thinking that they gave it more than their all when it wasn''t even necessary in the first ce, while a smile blossomed on the face of the others as they felt happiness bubbling inside of them when they thought that they havepleted their goals and were finally students of the military academy. "With that said and done, it''s time to announce your final results and rewards. Listen well, the grades you scored in the test of titan''s strength and the test of agility werebined and then averaged to create an urate result. Whereas the contribution points you received are equal to the sum of the grades you obtained in the strength and agility tests. Plus, the 100 contribution points you earned from simply passing the test of courage." "The result will be announced from the top to bottom, so first it is student Vincent who outperformed hundreds of examinees and topped the charts." Theodore signaled instructor Alex to announce his results. A momentter, Alex stepped forward with a sheet in his hands and said, "Your final result is 60.87. Whereas after the sum of the grade you obtained in the above-mentioned tests, you''ve obtained 121.7 contribution points. Adding on the points you earned forpleting the test of courage, you have received a total of 221.7 contribution points. Use them wisely." The students realized how their final results and rewards are calcted as instructor Alex used Vincent''s as an example. Immediately after, the instructor hurriedly announced the results of the other participants, one by one, in a ratherrge voice that sounded in everyone''s ears. "Leni, your final result is 27!" "Geom, your final result is 25!" "Varth, your final result is 23.5!" "John, your final result is 20.5!" A few moments after announcing their results, once Alex has taken a few sips of water to cool his dry throat, he continued, "Lastly, as you can see, the same number has appeared on the front and back of your student ID card. The one on the back of your card represents yourbat level. Yourbat level determines a lot of things such as the type of mission you can ept during your time in the academy. While we have already exined that the one on the front of your card represents your useable contribution points." As soon as he said those words, Vincent, Leni, and the other newly enrolled students noticed that the number disyed on the back of their card was the same as the final result they got on the entrance examination. "Now, follow my footsteps. It''s time for you guys to teleport into the world''s connecting space and reach the military academy''s ground," instructor Alex said as he started to walk towards the uppermost floor of the tower of cloud. Although every inch of the space inside his ability kingdom could be bent with a snap of his fingers and a few words spewed out of his mouth, he didn''t create a rift in space to teleport the students to the uppermost floor of the tower as it consumed a massive amount of energy to teleport a carbon body from one ce to another, especially if that ce was out of the boundary of his ability kingdom. As the students started following instructor Alex, a voice stopped Vincent from going along with them and his girlfriend. "Vincent, wait here. We have some important matters to discuss with you so you''ll be going with us," instructor Theodore said as he looked at the best among the batch of this year''s newly enlisted students with a deeply interested stare. In response, Vincent blinked his eyes and halted in his footsteps. "Looks like we will be parting here," Vincent said, feeling a tinge of sadness swelling in his heart at the mere thought of separating with Leni once again for a while. "Don''t be sad. Big brother, I will see you soon," Leni said with a sweet smile on her face while letting go of his hands. "See you soon! I will try to meet up with you as soon as possible," Vincent said with a gentle look on his face as he watched her going away. "I will be waiting for you!" Leni shouted before making her way towards the uppermost floor with the rest of the students and disappearing from the scene, leaving behind a love-stricken young man that breathed in her exceptionally sweet fragrance lingering in the air. It didn''t take long for the newly enlisted students to walk out of the testing room and reach the uppermost teleportation section of the tower of cloud. Once all the students left the room, instructor Theodore and instructor Kayle turned their attention to Vincent. "Come, let''s have a conversation." Theodore motioned Vincent to sit in the empty chair nearby them. "Umm, what do you want to say to me?" Vincent asked after he took a seat with the instructors sitting around him. "You see, there''s good news and bad news. Which one do you wanna hear first?" Theodore asked with a mysterious smile. "Mention thetter afterward," Vincent said with squinted eyes wondering what the good news is. Chapter 66 - 66: Theodores Promise! Once he confirmed that Vincent wanted to hear the good news first, Theodore exposed a pleasant smile and said, "The good news is that you are selected for the newly implemented newly enlisted student nurturing n as you scored the highest in the entrance examination held in the city under my jurisdiction." As soon as he said those words, Vincent''s ears perked up in interest, and he said, "Instructor, can you exin it in detail?" Instructor Theodore continued, "Since you wish to learn more about this matter, I will tell you about it. First off, you need to know that there are four military academies. There is one in each world''s connecting space that connects Earth with four different worlds." "I already know about it," Vincent interrupted. "My uncle is a retired soldier that has spent a fair amount of time in the world''s connecting spacespleting missions. He has exined a lot about those ces to me. I know that the military academy I am about to join is located in New Hope City established in the world''s connecting space. I also know that it''s supported and funded by the Great Royal Ambrose Family and Mighty Avalon Empire which was once ruled by the unforgiving king of time." Vincent already knew that the world''s connecting space that had opened in the Cloud Tower Citya city created around a hundred years agoconnected Earth solely to the world of Lorena. He also knew about the three others, two located in the greatest city on Earth where people from all nations dwelled and one in Vind. "Great!" Theodore wasn''t offended that Vincent interrupted him. He was rather happy as he didn''t need to exin everything now. "Since you already know, I won''t beat around the bush. A fair portion of the resources we obtained this year will be used to nurture the most talented newly enlisted students and you are one of them. You will also be granted special privileges and a lot of items and materials that will help boost your strength as long as you use them appropriately." Hearing his words, the eyes of Vincent glistened in a thoughtful glitter. "I understand." In the very next second, he asked, "Instructor, is that the reason why this year''s entrance examination was harderpared to the previous years?" "Yup, that is indeed the case. You see, we don''t have a lot of resources to waste on untalented and unmotivated peoples. That''s why the failure rate this year was purposely increased to above 70%!" Immediately after, Vincent asked once again, "Instructors, what kind of privileges and resources will I be getting?" As soon as he said those words, Kayle arched forward and said, "There''s a lot of them. We will tell you about it afterward." "I am fine with that," Vincent said. It was hard to curb his curiosity, but it''s not like he could force words out of the instructor''s mouths. Anyway, he was immensely happy that he had given his all in every turn and won such a wonderful chance. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have been selected as he wouldn''t have garnered any intention of the higher-ups. "Are you ready to hear about the bad news?" Theodore asked after a moment as he looked at Vincent with an expression of seriousness. "What''s the bad news?" Vincent asked with a calm expression. "There were a lot of people against letting you partake in the nurturing program. It can be attributed to the fact that although it says you are a nobility on the papers, you weren''t born as one of them. It is also because of the selfish and greedy desires of various instructors that wanted to steal your chance from you and give it to someone else for certain benefits. However, I and a few others managed to curb their arguments by outlining everything you are best at." At this point, Theodore Roosevelt looked deeply at Vincent with a meaningful gaze. "Nevertheless, you aren''tpletely out of the red line. The chance you''ve been given is envied by many. These people might do anything usible to undermine you and your efforts in every way possible each time they are given a chance to put you off the nurturing program." As soon as he said those words, the expression on the face of Vincent turned grim, instantly turning the atmosphere heavy. "Is there a chance that these people will try to harm or kill me?" Vincent hurriedly asked as his life depended on the reply. "I guess even someone as stoic as you can show a different side once there''s a possibility of your life being threatened," Kayle said as she looked at Vincent without any intention to hide the slight smile on her face. "Haha, it''s not like that." Theodore said, "They won''t be able to actively discriminate against you even if they wanted to. You should know that although you weren''t a high-born the day you were birthed, your current status bears more importance than one." "Your parents are heroes of the federation that sacrificed their lives for multiple races. Furthermore, they died without a corpse. What do you think will happen once the heroes'' child who couldn''t even properly bury his parents is discriminated against by others for no good reason?" While digesting what he said, Vincent''s eyes squinted and a momentter, a thoughtful expression took ce on his face. He said, "They will face a massive bacsh. The public will criticize them and the Earth Federation will be forced to take a stand against them. They will likely lose their face and job to pacify the public''s anger!" The number ofmoners that dwell in the federation far surpassed the nobles and royals. Their words mattered a lot as it carried a huge amount of one, a power in quantity that far surpassed quality. Furthermore, themon public opinion was bound to sway in Vincent''s favor if news about him getting treated unjustly ever surfaces. "You are intelligent, indeed!" Kayle praised. "It''s as you think it to be. To be more specific, it''s simr to the cancel culture trend that''s widely spread on streaming tforms. A streamer gets canceled once his misdeeds pop up. At such times, poprity or status doesn''t matter. Simrly, an instructor will lose his qualifications to teach in the military academy if he is considered unworthy by a majority of people." Kayle continued in her melodic voice, "There''s a lot of way of that happening. One of them is unjustly treating a student like you. After all, you are in a unique position." As he was in a favorable position, one in which no sane person would actively act against him for no reason, Vincent calmed down. However, he was not able to stay calm as immediately after, Theodore''s words poured cold water over his head, "It''s too soon to be rxed. They can''t do anything against you under the light of day, but the same can''t be said for the darkness of night. Though I don''t think someone will specifically make a life-threatening move against you as a majority of them are too prideful for their own good, and consider it below them to kill or assassinate a student for small benefits." His words did little to assure Vincent and he looked at the instructors with a deep pondering gaze. "Doesn''t your words mean that the lesser majority will try to harm me?" Vincent said as all trace of calmness faded from his face and his eyes and one of his cheeks twitched uncontrobly. "Well, I will personally give them a visit on your behalf and warm them to not harm a single hair on your head. If they still have the guts to make a move against you, I promise on my name and honor that I will do everything in my power to stop these people from trying to harm you. It does not matter who they might be as whoever acts against you will meet an appropriate punishment. That I also promise!" Chapter 67 - 67: Boarding The Train Instructor Theodore''s promise felt pretty assuring to Vincent as he was a powerful character covered in a fog of mystery in the eyes of Vincent. "So, there is no reason for me to worry about my life, right?" Vincent asked with a somewhat calm expression. The shift in his emotions seemed suspiciously unrealistic to the instructors as a normal human couldn''t possibly calm down in an instant after hearing that their life is threatened. However, they didn''t say anything as they believed that he adapts to different situations faster than humans as he was a demi-human. "Yes, indeed!" Kayle responded. "Senior Theodore''s words carry weight in the academy, and since he has promised you that no harm wille your way, you should be out of danger. Though we told you such stuff as it''s good to be on guard against usible threats." Hearing her words, Vincent exhaled his tension with a deep breath of fresh air. It seems like they were just exining to him about the extent of the danger posed by a certain group of people in the military academy. "However, that doesn''t mean that you should be carefree. As I mentioned before, they can''t take action against you for any good reasons. But if you provide them with one or two of them, you won''t even know what hit you before you lose your rights to be heavily nurtured by the academy right in front of your eyes, and at that time, even I won''t stand by your side." Theodore said in an unhurried tone as he looked at Vincent with a calm expression on his face. Vincent understood the meaning behind the instructor''s words. He meant to say that Vincent will be responsible for Vincent''s irresponsible actions and wrongdoings. At that time, whatever happens, will happen because Vincent deserves it, and so Theodore and the instructor supporting Vincent won''t interfere at all. Vincent''s eyes narrowed into thin slits and he said, "I am not a fool. I will never give them a chance to take action against me." "Good! That''s what I wanted to hear." Theodore ced a handbook on the table. "The rules that must be followed are recorded inside of this book. The most important one is that you mustplete at least a mission around your level once every month. If you fail to do so, I believe you already know what will happen. That''s why I advise you to not be tardy and work hard!" "I know." Vincent picked up the book and stored it in his spatial devices, and he continued "Is there anything else I should know about?" In response, Theodore said, "I still have two important matters to discuss with you. The first is about the benefits you''ll be receiving. The second is rted to the special exams that will most likely take ce after a few months." "I am all ears," Vincent said as he wanted to hear the details of both the topics mentioned by the instructor. However, before he could exin the topics in detail, Kayle suddenly mmed her small and slender palm on the table and hurriedly stood up with a flustered expression on her angelic face. "We nearly forgot! Senior! The entrance ceremony will begin soon. We''ll bete if we miss the next train to New Hope City." Kayle said after she nced at the heart-shaped watched on her petite wrist. "Well, you heard her. Let''s talk about it after riding the train!" Theodore said as he looked at Vincent. "Am fine with that," Vincent replied. "Let''s take the elevator to the uppermost floor right away," he added as he then turned around to walk towards the room''s exit. "Wait! We don''t need to follow rules andmon sense, Vincent." Kayle said, stopping Vincent from taking another useless step. Everyone inside the Tower of Cloud must follow some rules. One of the basic ones restricts the use of teleportation ability inside the tower. However, someone with a high status like Theodore didn''t need to follow such rules and he could teleport anywhere as long as his power could take him there. "Eh, what do you mean?" Vincent asked as he didn''t know that Theodore could also use the teleportation ability. "It will be a waste of time to take an elevator up to the uppermost floor. So I teleport the three of us directly to the entrance to the world''s connecting space. Before I continue, I need your consent for teleporting with me." Theodore extended his hands towards the talented young boy. "My ability is kinda special as it provides me with a lot of benefits but also restricts me. I am bound to certain rules that I can''t easily break. Two such rules are imposed on my teleportation abilities. It requires me to obtain consent. Also, I need to be in touch with others. Without fulfilling these two requirements, I can''t teleport you using my ability." Vincent kinda understood what he was saying, and although he was surprised to know that the instructor in front of him possesses more than one ability, he wasn''t too shocked, as he hadbeled Theodore as a mysterious and powerful person after the initial conversation. "Hmm, I understand." Vincent asked, "How do I give my consent?" "Just say you agree after cing your hand on his," Kayle exined. She has already consented to his request in the past, so she knew how his ability works. Furthermore, she didn''t need to give her consent once again as Theodore''s teleportation ability requires a person''s consent only one time. After a moment, Vincent said, "I agree." After gaining his consent to teleport with him, as well as holding hands with both Kayle and Vincent, Theodore said, "We''re setting off now." The very next second, the instructors and Vincent were instantaneously teleported near the closed entrance of the world''s connecting space as Theodore had activated his teleportation ability through channeling magic power into his teleportation ability cells. As he was in a familiar ce, Vincent reflexively looked around with a scrutinizing gaze. He noticed that they were at the top of a flight of stairs and standing right before the closed entrance of the world''s connecting space. "The tower of cloud harnesses energy from the spatial rift that is also the entrance to the world''s connecting space. The entrance to the world''s connecting space automatically closes when it is not being used. To open the rift in space once again, a person needs to provide high-grade energy to the portal generating device such as mana." Kayle exined as she looked at Vincent in the same way a teacher would like at one of the most talented students. "Hmm... I see." Vincent inclined his head to the side to look at the device instructor Kayle just mentioned with hints of interest flickering in his eyes. The portal generating device was nearby them, and it looked no different than a normal teleporter. However, a normal teleportation device is limited in terms of distance as it could only teleport a person from one teleporter to another located in the same world, while this portal will open the entrance to the world''s connecting space. In simpler words, they will be teleported to a different world. "So beautiful." As he coincidentally looked out the window, Vincent felt amazed at the clear and wonderful view of the Cloud Tower City. While he was marveling at the view outside of the tower, Kayle inserted a shiny blue crystal into the energy-consuming slot connected with the portal generating device. ? The entrance to the world''s connecting space will open in a few second ? ? Please stand by and wait for the entrance to open ? A few momentster, the spatial rift that can be used to travel between the world''s connecting space and Earth opened. "Let''s go." They walked in and immediately appeared out of the other side as the entrance to the world''s connecting space allows a more instantaneous transit between the two sides. ? Wee to the Avalon Half-Moon Heaven''s Central train station ? They were teleported to the central stationa train station that connects to various cities established in the world''s connecting space connecting Earth with the world of Lorena and vice versa. Vincent was immediately met by a mesmerizing sight, a sight so amazing that he could no longer forget it as it was engraved in his mind to be an eternal part of his memory. Dozens if not hundreds of trains could be seen levitating, each heading to their predestined destination. "The air here is so refreshing!" Vincent said after he deeply breathed in the air that refreshed him to his very core. "Refreshing, isn''t it? The magic power present in the environment of this entire world is 20 to 50 percent less impure than the magic power on Earth!" Theodore exined as he saw Vincent smiling and acting like a curious kid. "So that''s why I feel refresh every time I take a breath. Sadly, this feeling will onlyst for a while. It will vanish once my body adapts to this world''s environment." Vincent relish each refreshing breath as soon he won''t be able to. "I will go and purchase some tickets." Kayle walked up to the counter and purchased three tickets from the intelligent service droid. After a moment, she returned and handed a ticket to each of them. "From here, we will use a levitating train that will bring us to New Hope City. By using this method, we will arrive there in less than an hour then we will get off at the station nearest to the military academy." "Basically, we will reach there before the entrance ceremony ends!" As soon as Kayle said those words, the train they were supposed to ride arrived at the tform. "Well then, let''s get on the train!" As they were standing near the edge of the tform, Vincent and the instructors boarded the train after a few seconds. Chapter 68 - 68: Benefits "Well then, now that we have time for ourselves, It''s time to talk about the important matters I previously mentioned. First off, let me give you this." After they sat inside the privatepartment of the levitating train, Instructor Theodore handed out aputerized microchip to Vincent. "What is this?" Vincent asked as he carefully settled theputerized chip with vein-like lines that glowed blue before dimming to absolute darkness continuously in between his fingers. "It''s a specialized chip containing legalized documents that grant special privileges to the signee. Here are a few more things you should know about. The documents are ownerless right now, but you can be their owner by signing on them. The documents can be immediately signed by inserting the chip in the data connector of your student ID card." Although it was surprising to hear that there is a data connector that could automatically transform some parts of data in the student ID card stored inside of the storage of his spatial device, Vincent was not too shocked as technology of this era was so advanced that even Virtual Reality had be a reality years ago. "You should insert it right away," Kayle said as she looked at Vincent. Following her instructions, Vincent pulled out the card from his storage ring and decided to insert theputerized chip inside of its connector. As his scrutinizing gaze loomed over the card in search of the location of the connector, it didn''t take longer than several seconds for him to insert the chip inside of it and be granted special privileges. "Great!" Kayle continued, "Now you have gained the following privileges. You''ve gained the rights to ess the military academy archive for free. Simrly, if you like to read things in a book format, you can visit the library, and of course, there will be no entrance cost which is applied to unprivileged students." "You can learn two magic techniques orbat-grade transcendental techniques free of cost. As energy purifying techniques are also ssified as magic techniques, I advise you to learn a magic power purifying method to purify your magic power into a higher grade energy." After some breaths to rx herself, Kayle continued to exin more about the benefits Vincent has gained from bing one of the privileged students. "You are allowed to go to the treasury section of the military academy and obtain one low-level energy channel opening pill and 10 low-level mana stone at the end of every month." Hearing her words, Vincent''s pupils erged and his gaze burned brightly. Both the things she mentioned were treasures in his eyes, treasures that a lot of people around his power level will try their best to obtain. There is a 33.33% chance to open an energy channel after consuming a low-level energy channel opening pill. Energy channels are special pathways that can store energy and circte energy throughout the body. A person doesn''t need to use the somatic method to channel magic power and other types of magical energy into a magic technique once they open all their energy channels. However, only those who have awakened possess energy channels, and although he hasn''t awakened right now, Vincent believed that these pills will prove to be extremely useful once he does awaken. While the low-level mana stones weren''t bad either. A single mana stone contains 50 units of mana. 50 units of mana isparable to 500 units of magic power! These stones are typically used to activate the esoteric technology of this era or replenish a person''s magic energy. Furthermore, in a situation where he has little to no magical energy, this stone will prove inevitable useful. "You''ve gained permission to ess the special store of the military academy. It''s a store avable for those who have been selected to be a part of the nurturing program. A few unique items that are in limited supply are sold here. Though the price of unique items may be high. However, the benefits of obtaining one outweigh the cost. The market is founded by the student President and managed by the members of the student council. The customers must strictly adhere to the rules and this list contains the rules you must never break or you''ll be banned from essing the shop for a lifetime." Kayle said with weary eyes as she handed Vincent a list. "I understand," Vincent nodded. It was pretty beneficial to gain ess to such a market. There were a lot of items that were limited in supply. It''s mainly resulted due to the ones in power and the crazy rich families abusing their authority. For example, a lot of influential families directly purchase herbs filled to the brim with stable life force consumable by humans without any harmful side effects from the suppliers. This lead to limited supply to the markets essible by adventures and mercenaries. This has also caused Vincent to go the wilderness himself in search of a magic herb filled with life force as it was certain that the markets essible by the public won''t have any. Now, he could purchase such items from the special shops. In a sense, he was buying things directly from the suppliers. "Are you alright?" Vincent asked as he saw her sweating profusely. "I think my sickness is acting up again. I even took a pill!" Instructor Kayle said as she looked at Theodore. "You should rest. Take this knockout pill I recently invented. You won''t know what hit you before you fall asleep. It will instantly knock you out. I will wake you up once we reach our destination." Theodore knew that Kayle''s motion sickness was pretty intense, intense enough to be a huge mess. That''s why he offered her one of his newly invented pills that has passed the clinical trials and was ready to mass-produce. "Ah, thanks!" Kayle didn''t hesitate to take the pill as she didn''t want to puke the content in her guts all over the privatepartment. In the very next second, she fell asleep, and then the roars of monster resounded in the privatepartment. Vincent turned to look at the source of these monstrous outcries, only to notice that instructor Kayle with an angelic face was the source of this monster-like roar, and his mouth parted open but not a single word came out as he was unable to make sense of this unbelievable nonsense. "" Chapter 69 - 69: Johns Mystery "She snores like a monster when she sleeps," Theodore said with a slight smile on his face. "Don''t point it out at her face, however, as that is her reverse scale. Plus, when she is angry no one can help you." "I will keep my mouth shut and never mention this event in front of her," Vincent replied with a simr smile. They both were trying their best to hide theirughers. "Now let''s continue from where she left. The people in charge of these sections and the staff working under them have already been notified of your existence to avoid any problems." "Lastly, I will be acting as your direct supervisor, guardian, or any way you wanna take it as you are the student under my rmendation. Let''s swap our contact information so you canmunicate with me when things rted to your academic subjects are bothering you and vice versa." Vincent let out a noise of approval. A few momentster, he was added to a chat group made up of three instructors and only one student. He could ess the chat group by using his card. He could also call the instructors through his card. "If I am about to hold a special event or training session in my ss, I will directly inform you a few hours earlier. My sses cost a huge fee, but you can participate in my sses whenever you like for free. Normally, there is a huge line whenever I hold a ss as I am pretty popr in the academy. So, I permit you to use the private backdoor to enter my ssroom. The iron door you will see in such a case can be opened by using your card." Theodore said with a slight grin on his face. "I understand." Vincent nodded. "However, I have a question. Can I bring my friends with me?" "You mean your cute girlfriend that hangs around you all the time, right?" Theodore said with a teasing smile on his face. "In particr, yes, I indeed am asking permission to bring her with me." Vincent felt no need to hide the fact that Leni was his woman as he was proud to be her man. "However, she is not the only reason why I asked this question. I''m asking whether or not four to five people can enjoy this particr benefit?" He has already decided to form a squad toplete missions. He had a few people in his mind, but he wasn''t sure whether or not they will ept his proposal. He needed cards by his sides as he believed that it will be hard for the people he wanted to invite in his mission hunting squad; to decline his proposal If he provides them with special benefits. "Sure, it''s not much of a deal. Also, make sure to bring thed who was beside you during the entrance examination. He will be quite a big deal shortly after the entrance ceremony." Theodore gave him a free pass as it wasn''t a privilege granted by the academy but a benefit allocated to Vincent by himself. Hearing his words, Vincent''s eyes blinked in part confusion and part surprise. "You are talking about John?" Aware of the heaven-shaking potential hidden in John''s body, Theodore revealed a mysterious smile. "Yeah, I indeed am talking about the boy that followed your suicidal footstep and shattered his arm after punching the iron wall with all his strength." "You sure it''s him? I have been with him for years, but nothing stood out about him, well, nothing except for his talent to endure a good beating" As soon as he said those words, the both of them could no longer hold back theirughter. "Haha!" A pleasant wave ofugher came out of their mouths as they inclined their heads to the opposite side. "I won''t tell you anything for now. I will let it be a surprise for you rather than ruining all the fun. Anyway, it''s not like you won''t know what makes him special within a few days." Theodore said as he ced one of his legs over the other. "I am looking forward to it," Vincent replied with a look of anticipation on his face. "Let''s talk about the special exam you''ll participate in once the timees." As soon as he said those words, Vincent''s ears perked up and his brows arched. "The special exam will be held sometime after this month. It will act as a disqualification round in which every newly enlisted student selected for the nurturing program will participate. Though you can refuse to participate. However, if you don''t participate, you''ll lose your right to be heavily nurtured." Immediately after, Vincent said, "I will definitely participate!" "Great! The special exam will be held in the me Temple ruled by the Emperor of me, Liam Horus." Vincent knew about the me Emperor. He was infamous for being a spendthrift and indulging in acts of lust and gluttony. However, he was more famous for being thepanion of one of the five great heroes, The Unforgettable King of Time who disappeared after a grand battle that had shocked the world of Lorena. Some believed that the King of Time has died, the others belied that he has ascended this dimension and became the ruler of the time constetion. The believers had even created a temple in his name. The Temple of Time stood on equal ground with the Temple of Twilight. These two Temples were just as powerful if not more and even more mysterious whenpared to the four great royal families. Theodore continued, "The Emperor of me will bless a treasure to the ones that pass his test. You might already know that he is one of the richest men in existence. So, the treasure you''ll get will be extremely useful." The me Temple is built around around the ind of wisdom. Liam Horus purposely established the me Temple around the ind of wisdom to protect it from humans and monsters harboring insidious intentions. The ind of wisdom is a mysterious ce containing knowledge about ten hundred thousand techniques. It also contains the way to evolve higher grade energy like Mana into an even higher grade energy. A single technique from that ce can set a person for life. It was easy for Vincent to understand that he will gain a lot from passing the exam set by the Emperor of mes. "As long as you pass the exam set by the Emperor of mes, you''ll be able to enter into the ind eyed even by the four great royal family!" Hearing his words, Vincent''s pupils erged and his gaze burned brightly. There was only one ind that could possible entice all four of the great royal family. The ind of wisdom! "Instructor, do you mean the ind of wisdom guarded by the emperor of mes? The ind rumored to contain the legacy of the Unforgettable King Of Timesone of the five great heroes and the honorary king of the Avalon Empirethat killed the demon lord terrorizing the world of Lorena and is believed to have ascended to be the God of Time and the lord of the time constetion by the followers of the Temple of time?" Vincent eximed in shock. Chapter 70 - 70: Island Of Wisdom "Indeed, I am talking about the ind of wisdom that contains the legacy of the King of Time," Theodore said with a calm expression on his face. Vincent caught on to the subtle hints in his words and his crimson eyes brightened in glee as excitement filled every fiber of his being. "Instructor, your words imply that his legacy existing in the ind of wisdom is a truth rather than just mere rumors. Is that honestly the case?" Vincent asked to confirm his suspicion as he looked at the man sitting in front of him. "Well, to say the least, it was never a rumor to begin with. The rumors were only mere lies spread by the Four Great Royal Families to hide their shame." Theodore''s calm mood took a swift turn as sad recollections of the past popped up in his mind. A hundred and sixty years ago, the ind of wisdom was a ce where one could visit as they pleased as, at that time, the Emperor of mes was hospitable to the people belonging to his race and the races allied with the humans. His hospitality wasn''t without a reason as only those who provide a treasure of equal value could pass through the gates of the Temple of mes and enter the ind of wisdom. However, after a certain incident, the Temple of mes closed its doors for everyone except for the family and followers of Liam Horus. "In what way?" Vincent asked with a curious look on his face. "The legacy of the king of time is protected by a barrier. The descendants of the four families had never managed to walk past the barrier. Except for the few extremely powerful beings, no one has ever managed to glimpse at his legacy. The ones that did failed the trial and were kicked out of the boundary by a force they could barely resist. Outraged, the fools attacked the barrier with the strongest form of their abilities intending to destroy his legacy. "However, they were beaten ck and blue by Emperor Lima Horus. After that, some left in shame while the others were flung or kicked out of the Temple of mes, and ever since that day, no one has been granted entry into the basin of wisdom. It was only after that day, certain members of the four families spread lies to hide the embarrassment they suffered under the hand of both Liam Horus and the king of time leath. Over the years, this lie has be a reality as Liam Horus never interfered with worldly matters." Temples in general don''t interfere in political and worldly matters unless necessary. The Emperor of me didn''t interfere as he was a prideful man whose heart can''t be shaken by the barking of dogs. While digesting his words, Vincent licked his somewhat dried lips as his eyes gleamed in flickers of mixed emotion. What a shocking revtion! He could never have believed that the four families would spread lies just because they were taught a rightful lesson if he didn''t hear it from the instructor Theodore''s mouth. "I am saying this for your sake, don''t you ever expose the truth of this matter to anyone else who isn''t worthy of your trust." The underlying meaning behind his words was that Vincent will suffer a great deal if somehow the truth about this matter spread from his mouth. "You shouldn''t have told the truth to me," Vincent said with a somewhat exhausted expression as the truth he hase to know about might embroil him in useless trouble. "Well, you''re the one who asked about it. I also believe you''re sensible enough to nevermit a mistake with fatal oues. Besides, I have safeguarded this truth for more than a hundred years, and I am still alive and well!" His words expressed the respect and admiration he held for Vincent. It also tried to undermine the severity of this situation. Vincent looked at him, shrugged, and sighed. "Instructor, isn''t it because you''re powerful enough to thwart all harm thates your way." "That''s correct!" Theodore''s lips stretched back to expose his pearly white teeth. He shared great rtions with the Great Royal Truemight Family led by the Emperor of Might for various reasons, one being the fact that they were indebted to him. The other can be attributed to the fact that they were both followers of the Temple of Time. The Hollow Family led by the Emperor of Abilities solely focuses on profit. Most of the massive auction houses and markets spread across variouss were owned by them. They were the richest family in the universe as they never took actions that could harm their interest in any way, and they considered it to be a waste of manpower and resources to hunt down Theodore. The Ambrose Family that stood beside the Hollow Family had the same ideology. They had no intention of going against him as he was one of the major sources of their ie. This family''s main turf was the Virtual World where Theodore was one of the most famous merchants. Lastly, the Walken Family wasn''t stable enough to have a face-off against him. Naturally, Theodore never had any intentions of pissing off any of them. The Great Royal Families provides the military with benefits and facilities. Not to mention, the military academy was also funded by one of the four families. Why would he berate and beat the peoples funding him in certain ways and helping all the races? Thus, he never revealed the truth of this matter to the public. He only revealed it to some people who he deemed as friendly and trustworthy so that they can guard against the great royal families. After a few moments, once the frown and the defeated expression on Vincent''s face vanished, Theodore said, "After so many years, we together with the four families have finally managed to pursue the Emperor of mes to grant a lucky chance to the younger generation. We n on having you and all the newly enlisted students that have be a part of the nurturing n participate in the trial of the me Emperor in order to enter the ind of wisdom." The trial of Liam Horus was the special exam that Vincent needed to pass in order to retain the rights to be nurtured by the academy and also enter the ind. "The special test will be held during one of the uing months. The exact date isn''t set yet, but I will immediately inform you about the day of the special exam once I receive updates on this situation. Lastly, the students of this academy wouldn''t be the only ones participating in the trial of Liam Horus as all of the royal families from around the universe would send their most talented youngster to participate in his trial." The ind of wisdom was a mysterious ce that contains treasures in the form of knowledge, and be it royal or great royal families, everyone was thirsting after the treasures found in that ce. "So, you must do your best to increase your strength. Don''t waste the opportunity given to you." Theodore had high expectations for him. "I won''t!" Vincent eximed with determination vivid in his eyes. "Instructor, you haven''t wasted this chance on me. I will do my best to not disappoint you. Hopefully, I will pass the trials and return with king leath''s legacy." "That''s the determination you need. I am looking forward to seeing you prove your words in action. Though there''s a high chance the legacy of King leath might refuse you as it didn''t even consider the members of the four great royal families worthy enough. Of course, if you''re not worthy of his legacy, don''t waste even a single moment and go for another person''s legacy. The entrance of the ind of wisdom will only be opened for half a day, after all, and it''s not like the legacy of the other experts isn''t outstanding. They can be considered unique treasures. Though what you do is entirely up to you." It requires a tremendous amount of high-grade energy and effort to open the sealed entrance of the ind of wisdom. The seal was created by the temple of mes, "I understand." Vincent nodded as happiness filled every fiber of his being. Vincent''s happiness and fervent excitement weren''t without a reason. He has obtained a chance to venture into the Ind of Wisdom where the rumored legacy of the unforgettable king leaththe one who is considered the strongest among the five great heroesis said to be. The King of Time, leath! The history of his life and all his glorious tales were recorded in ?The Legend of the Five Great Heroes?. The legends of the Five Great Heroes recorded that laeth was a demi-human, born to an underprivileged mother of royal elven origin and an unknown father. The legend has it that his mysterious father is a being from beyond this dimension. However, there is no concrete evidence behind this rumored im that has long since be a legend. He and his mother were immediately banished from her family as the royals considered giving birth to a child out of marriage to be a dishonorable act. One that brought great shame on their name. laeth had lived in a tiny wooden shed with his mother, living a peaceful and humble life in the outskirts of an open forest, teeming with beasts and animals, a forest connected to the outer parts of the Avalon Empire by a road. Yet, he didn''t have anyints as his mother loved him dearly. Moreover, he was born strong and hunting deers and even weak magical beasts weren''t a problem for him. Thus, they nevercked food and also had started to rack up silver coins. Happiness used to fill every fiber of his being every time he used to see a smile on his mother''s angelic face. The two, mother and her only child, were living a poor but happy in the outskirts of the Empire. However, at the age of 9, misfortune came pouring down at him. The he lived on was invaded by grotesque creatures from another dimension. The creatures were collectively known as Demons. The Demon Race was an infamous race that likes to invade worlds, only to destroy them during their conquest. They were natural predators that like to prey on the weak without a trace of mercy. They were cruel! Destruction was a part of their capricious nature! They were bloodthirsty murderers. Totally different from the elves that ruled the Empire of Avalon, living day by day in peace, forgetting what it means to be at war with a predatory race. The Demon Race ughtered the weakened elves as easily as a butcher ughtering pigs, and a few monthster, the eleven race ruling Lorena faced the threat of annihtion. The elves were killed in cruel and torturous ways. Sometimes, the demons ate them alive, and right afterughed at the top of their lungs, remembering the pleasant screeches of the elves resounding in their ears. laeth wasn''t far from it all as he also suffered from it. He watched as the demons crushed his mother''s bones into dust, one by one, right in front of his eyes; the devilishughers of the demons relishing in pleasure from his mother painful moans jeeringughter haunting his fragile mind, and although he fought with the demons with all he had to save his mother, he couldn''t save her from the merciless hands of the demons. Although he roared at the top of his lungs, no help came! He was just a child with no hope of winning against demons with burly muscles and titanic physical appearance. However, as fate would have it, the death of his mother saddened and angered him so much more than he could ever imagine that he ended up awakening at the very moment, and it was that very day when he killed dozens of demons with one sentence. He ended up awakening the ability to control time! That''s all Vincent knew about the tales of laeth. The tales of the five great heroes was an unreligious book, containing historical deeds of all the five heroes, and Vincent hadn''t read it entirely. Furthermore, he had never read any religious book on the heroes or of any temple as he wasn''t a follower of the Temple of Temple or any other Temple. He was an ascetic that didn''t believe in the God of any Temple as he was simply too busy training to be strong enough to end the war. Bing a follower of a Temple didn''t garner his interest. Thus, he didn''t read the legend of the greatest heroes to the very end. He did skimp through the unimportant details and read the important parts. Most of the legends rted to the five great heroes were about fighting against the Demon Race, Zergs, Titans, and other races with the tendencies tomit massacres and a destructive nature. However, he admits that laeth was the most impressive out of the five great heroes. In his life, laeth had created hundreds of different magic techniques, transcendental-gradebat techniques, and a varieties of fighting styles, one with might so destructive that even the moon was said to be chopped in two halves, and then also reconnected into one under two fingers of one of his hands. Before laeth disappeared for obviously no apparent reasons, he wasbeled as the most powerful ability user as he could establish a Time Kingdom, the boundary of which stretched for tens of thousands of miles wide and a few thousands miles long in the blink of an eye. In his ability kingdom, leath was the absolute ruler of everyone''s time. He was basically the strongest! "We''re about to arrive!" Theodore called out, looking into the distance. The cloud floating in the sky clouded the vision of every passenger. Chapter 71 - 71: Xavier! Hearing Theodore''s words, Vincent inclined his head to the side to look at the view of the world''s connecting space famous for its levitating train stations and levitating trains through the wide transparent window. Outside the train, he could only see a white and blue sea made out of white clouds and blue gas stretching as far as his eyes could see. The white clouds were typical clouds found on Earth but the blue gas was an advanced state of magic power. Usually, the magic power on Earth was riddled with so many impurities that one couldn''t discern it using their eyes. As the magic power is purified from impurities, its form changed from intangible and invisible to a touchable gaseous form. The magic power in the air was pure and in a gaseous form so it could be seen from the naked eye. "After a few moments, the train will rush out of the white and blue seas. In that very moment, one can witness the most beautiful scenery this world''s connecting space has to offer," Theodore said as he looked at Vincent. He would usuallye here to unwind once he was fed up with experimenting with new pills and researching on different species. Every time the wonderful view would calm his heart, providing him with mentalfort. It was something he needed a lot more than others. "I''m looking forward to it," Vincent said as he looked at the world outside with wide eyes glistening in anticipation. As the train quickly marched forwards through the seas of cloud and gasified magic power, the clear view of the world slowly came into his sight. Lo and Behold the world of levitating trains and floating train stationsXavier! The eyes of Vincent twinkled in amazement as the unbelievable view of more than four floating train stations floating near the entrance of the cities and a few levitating trains entered his sight. He also finally saw the famous virtual tracks that were around several feet wide, but thousands of miles long. These paths connected various floating train stations with each other and were used to traverse from one train station to another. The main thing that differentiated this world from the Earth was the thousands of unique virtual train tracks crisscrossed over the world. There was awork of well-established Virtual Train Track, special pathways that connected distant train stations to each other, in Xavier. They were created by the member of the Ambrose Family and maintained by an artificial life form called Mother, the Goddess of the Virtual Reality. The trains automatically used these virtual tracks as guides to reach their destination. As he was far above the ground, once he looked down below, Vincent could only see a few ck dots representing fortress among a swarm of green, brown dots representing trees, cliffs, and mountains, and blue lines representing a well-known river. A blue line stretching from one end of the world to the other end could also be seen, splitting into several directions like spider cobwebs. This was the river of 108 legs. This world''s connecting space was denoted as Xavier. It was a world that primarily consisted of green thick forests teeming with magical herbs, nts, monsters, and beasts. After humans and other beings set foot in this world, cities, floating train stations and virtual train tracks were established in dozens of years. There were thirteen cities established in this world, four of the thirteens were called great cities, the cities that are established in order to protect the four spatial tunnels connecting to the world of Lorena. The world outside the thirteen cities was filled with severalrge forests dominated by beasts and monsters. The forests were designated danger zones as a lot of beings hostile to humans lived there, but there were safe zones established in the danger zones. There were a few fortress with connecting train stations seen in various parts of the forests. One could go there to sleep and rest freely as the fortress were usually safe zones providing benefits and a resting zone to the adventurers. His eyes flickered in a profound light as the reason why this world means of transport was dominated by levitating trains popped up in his mind. "There are a lot of mines in this world and the world of Lorena from where anti-gravity metal can be harvested. Since there was no shortage of anti-gravity materials, creating such costly stuffs was a piece of cake for the third great royal family. After all, they are filthy rich and they could purchase as much anti-gravity metal as they liked." The anti-gravity mental pushes gravity away from itself, once magical energy passes through it. Trains taking flight was easy and free of cost due to the great concentration of magic power in the surroundings. "Now, they are reaping a lot of benefits from their early investment. It is almost impossible to travel anywhere within this world with spatial technology or even teleportation ability due to spatial interference. One might want to go from point A to B but they might be teleported or point Z or get ripped apart into thousands of pieces. That''s why everyone uses trains to travel from one ce to another. This alone generates millions to billions of revenue for the Ambrose from rich tourists alone." "Not to mention the fact that this acts as a trade zone between Earth and the unique world of Lorena. The merchants traveling between these two worlds also use their service to transport their goods. This also them billions every year." Sometimeter, a too pleasant to hear voice sounded in the train. "All passengers heading to New Hope City, listen well! We are about to arrive at the New Hope City in a few moments. Please pick up your luggage and prepare to get off." "The voice seems unrealistic," Vincent said in a low voice after a moment. "It''s too pleasant" "It''s because the train driver is an artificial existence," Theodore said to disperse his confusion. "Shouldn''t such jobs be given to humans?" Vincent said. There are a lot of unemployed people who were too weak to fight in the war and too uneducated to be a part of anypany. Some don''t even have a part-time job. Such people will ept such a job with a smile on their face. "In the past, humans used to run these trains. However, after a certain ident that outraged inhabitants of multiple worlds and caused unrest to arise among the masses, humans were banned from driving the levitating trains." "What happened?" Vincent asked with a curious look on his face. Theodore sighed as sad memories of the past appeared in his mind. In the past, the trains were run by humans. Until, a train driver, tired of his life and betrayed by his cheating wife, decided to take his own life andmit suicide. However, he didn''t want to die a meaningless death. He wanted to die in a way that will cause his name to be recorded in history and engraved in the minds of others! So what did he do? Hemitted suicide with the passenger of his train. Only a few managed to survive that day and all of them were ability users. "How could he even think of doing such a thing?" Vincent shook his head, unable to understand how a human can be so cruel as to kill hundreds of people for selfish and ridiculous reasons. "You are too young to think about such stuff." Theodore calmly looked at him and said, "For now, you should focus on gaining more knowledge and power." Vincent sounded a voice in agreement. Meanwhile, the train quickly marched onward, and they neared the floating train station of New Hope City. After a few moments, the levitating train came to a halt without any undtion and the artificial train driver announced that they have reached New Hope City. "Kayle, wake up," Theodore said as he gently patted her head three times. At the third time, her eyshes fluttered followed by her eyes opening slightly then she sheepishly gazed around. "Are we there yet?" She asked with a yawn as she looked at instructor Theodore. "Yes, indeed," Theodore replied as he ruffled her wavy golden hair. "It tickles. Stop doing that," Kayle said, chuckling. After a moment, once he stood up from his seat, Theodore said, "Let''s get off the train before it starts running once again." Thereafter, the instructors and Vincent got off the train, walked down the staircase, stepped out of the floating train station, and entered the western District of the New Hope City where the military academy was located. Chapter 72 - 72: White Lotus Building! "Follow after us." After walking out of the train station, the instructors walked through the streets of New Hope City. Vincent followed in tow. He could see a lot of shops of various kinds as they took one turn after another, walking towards the tract ofnd owned by the military academy. Along the way, Vincent stared at the demi-humans and subspecies with wide eyes, there were humanoid beings from the pyrite race, metal race, humanoid beings with fluffy tails and animal ears, and so on, but all of them were interacting with each other in harmony. The demi-humans didn''t mind him looking at them intensely as they could infer from his gaze that he didn''t mean them any harm and was just curious about them. As for why he was being outright disrespectful to them, this was the first time he saw so many different types of demi-human in real life, and unable to suppress his curiosity he couldn''t help but look at them while following the instructors. "How could are you gonna keep on looking at them," Kayle said as she looked at him. "My bad," Vincent sheepishly replied while rubbing the back of his head. "Come on, such a scene isn''tmon on Earth, and this might very well be Vincent''s first time seeing so many demi-humans in a single ce. Let him enjoy it," Theodore said as he nced at Kayle. Hearing his words, Kayle realized that he is excited to see beings of different races. So, she didn''t say anything to stop him from relishing the feel of it. "I was the same when I saw dozens of races in a single ce for the first time. I thought it would take a lot of time to get used to it. Contrary to my expectations, it didn''t take a lot of time for me to get used to it. They were all friendly, after all. Besides, the military academy is a ce where children of all races attend. In a few days, you will also get used to seeing different races living together." Kayle reminisces as she saw the reflection of her past in Vincent. Vincent nodded. She was right, after all. There were a lot of demi-humans inhabiting the thirteens cities of this world. He will be seeing different races pretty often than not. "It''s the western district that is usually so popted with different races as the spatial tunnel that leads to Lorena is located in this very district of New Hope City. It is located just a few miles from one side of our military academy, the side containing the nearly 10-mile field of flowers." Theodore exined. "I understand," Vincent said. Xavier was a world''s connecting space or a Mini World. There were only thirteen cities on this, four were called great cities as they were far bigger than the others and also connected to Lorena. This was mainly used to carry goods from the world of Lorena to Earth and vice versa, and although Xavier was riddled with dangers, the transportation system was well-protected by well-paid members of society, academic students, military personnel, and sometimes even mercenaries. It was a big deal for more than one hundred trains to carry goods from New Hope City to the Central Train Station every day. The same goes for the other great cities and even the nine cities provided goods, one that sold for a reasonable price in the auctions held on Earth. The thirteen cities were ruled by City Lords, each belonged to the Earth Federation, they were royals of the Avalon Empire that was a part of the Earth Federation, royal descendants of the four great royal families that were also part of the federation, and peoples that have contributed so much to the races that they were awarded a city by the federation. The great city of New Hope, however, was ruled by Wace Pyrite, a member of the Pyrite race that has been kind to the elves for generations. They have guided and served the elves race since time ancients. Wace Pyrite was a vessel of the Empire, and although his Empire has signed a deal to be a major part of the federation once the tides of dimensional war shifted in their disfavor, Wace refused to be a part of the federation. His reasons were simple. He will die as a vassal of the empire, and live alongside them. As he was too valuable and powerful, the federationprised, signing a peace treaty with him, and letting him rule the Great City of New Hope. Naturally, a great positiones with great responsibilities. He was to protect the interest of his Empire and the Federation by saving the city each time it is under threat of annihtion. The New Hope City spanned a full forty miles. It was connected with eight legs of the river of 108 legs, so problems rted to water shortage never urred. It was teeming with more than a few million beings, be it humans or demi-humans. Most lived in amonplex, sharing personal life with their professional life. The above portion was a home where the family lives, while the lower portion was a shop where various things were sold. The rich once lived in the few castles and pces that could be seen in each district. Wace Pyrite was responsible for the lives of all these citizens that he hase to love over the years Although the pyrite race was made of stone and had no heart or blood in their bodies, they were beings birthed from the World Tree and they were naturally gentle, loving, and kind. Wace was no different. As the city lord, he has taken it upon himself to see that every gets their share. Even the poor families and less fortunate were able to make end meets due to his generosity. Vincent who already knew that didn''t find it weird to hear dozens of demi-humans and humans singing praise in the City Lord''s name. "He is a good man. It is notmon to hear about a person opening multiple orphanages and old houses to help homeless youngsters and hopeless elders," Vincent thought as he walked out of the shopping district, entered a park, and then walked up a few stairs, reaching a pathway with trees on one side and fences, benches and vending machines on the other. A few service Droid could also be seen sweeping the ground from recyble trash like stic bottles, stic bags, and so on. Sometimeter, once they stepped on a winding path with trees on each side that stretched far and wide, Kayle said, "This winding path will lead us to the main entrance of the academy." "Finally, we are almost there." "There is no need to hurry. There''s still half an hour left for the sun to fall and the entrance ceremony to begin." Theodore said as he intentionally slowed down to walk in a rxed way. Hearing his words, instructors Kayle and Vincent also decided to take their time while walking through the rxing winding path. Along the way, they chatted about misceneous things. Sometimeter, once they reached in front of a few buildings that were shaped symmetrically, Theodore pointed at the one on the left and said to Vincent, "Well, we will be splitting up here. Once you enter this building you''ll reach an open ce where the entrance ceremony will be held. Everyone that has passed the entrance examination this year will also be gathered there." Following the direction of his finger, Vincent chanced upon a building shaped like a white lotus. A lot of silver patterns were drawn on the external petals of the structure and the internal petals were used as bridges of some sort. "Instructors, I will see youter," Vincent said as he walked towards the beautiful building. "See youter!" the instructor eximed while waving their hands as they looked at his back. "Thank you for everything so far!" Vincent turned around and expressed his gratitude in a loud voice before entering the White Lotus building through the big doors. After a moment, he found himself blending in with the massive crowd of newly enlisted students who were waiting for the ceremony to begin. There were a lot of students here, enough to fill the massive floors connected to the bridges he saw outside the building. Vincent looked around the ce as he searched for Leni. "Where is she? Should I use my magic technique to locate her?" After a few moments, the sweet face of his girlfriend entered his sight. She looked like a snow rabbit lost in dark woods. He could see a lot of guys looking her out and he didn''t like it at all. Leni''s small head turning left and right as she tried to find her boyfriend. As he saw that, Vincent''s lips stretched into a teasing smile. He concluded that she was looking for none other than himself! ''Where is Big Brother? Why hasn''t hee yet? The entrance ceremony is about to begin yet he is not here? Maybe I didn''t search thoroughly. Ugh, it''s hard to look for a single person in this sea of people.'' Leni thought as she couldn''t find her boyfriend, as searching for him in these massive crows was like trying to find a tiny needle in a haystack. However, little did she know that Vincent was silently walking closer to her. Along the way, his ear caught on a few important details from the students talking to each other. "Although the tests were hard enough to disqualify more than 50% of the participants, there are still a lot of students enlisted in the academy this year," A descendant of the metal race said. More than ten million people had participated in the entrance examination to be a part of the military academies. Out of them, the ones that passed and were chosen to be a part of the military academy located in the western district of New Hope City were mostly all here. "Well, military academy is better than most of the other academies. The facilities provided to the students are so much better than what the others have to offer, it''s natural that the people will choose us over the others. That''s also why I am here!" As the students chatted with each other, some trying to make friends, others already friendly enough to talk about their interests and personal life, a girl with a bob haircut, walked up to two guys who seemed like the hottest dudes in this ce. "My hometown is here in New Hope City. What about yours?" The female student tried to strike a conversation with the guy she found the hottest in the room. "I am from Cloud Tower City. It isn''t too far from here. Only an hour''s ride away from where Ie from. Though it''s the first time we arrived here," John said as he looked at the short girl with purplish hair in front of him. "Me too, I am from the same ce as him and we took the entrance examination at the same time." Nevis chimed in from the sides. "Hey, what''s your name?" "Ah right I haven''t introduced myself yet. My name is Iris. I am a newly enlisted student just like you. Though I took the entrance examination a month ago. Big guy, what''s your name?" The girl said while looking at John implying that she was more interested in him who has a majestical and muscled physical appearance than a pretty boy like Nevis. Although Nevis understood that she wasn''t interested in him at all, he wasn''t one to step back and ept defeat without a fight. "Let me introduce myself first. I am Nevis from the Truemight family and my dream is to be the greatest streamer. What is your family name? Who knows, our families might be great friends." As Nevis bbered on about his life, Iris''s calm and mesmerizing gaze never left looking into John''s eyes. "Hi, I am John," John said with a pleasant smile as he looked at the pretty and somewhat entric girl with a head full of purplish hair and eyes more beautiful than the flower she was named after. Iris Twilight beamed towards him. "It''s a nice name." She said while extending her slender hands towards him. "Thanks, I guess," John said as he shook hands with Iris. "Do you wanna exchange contact numbers with me?" Iris asked standing near him. "Well, smartphones don''t work here, and I don''t have any othermunication devices with me. So I don''t think I can even if I want to." John scratched the side of his chin in embarrassment. After he had arrived in Xavier, John found out that the intense magic power in the surrounding interferes with the working of the smartphone. Thus, they were useless here. Not to mention, there was nowork in this world. So even if he had one of the better smartphones that could negate the statistics interference, he still won''t be able to talk with her via a call or chat with her by using a chatting app. "Hehe, we can exchange contact with each other by scanning the identity code at the back of our student identity cards," Iris exined as she raised one of her hands. Iris''s identification card was pinched within the slender and slightly ruddy fingers of her hand. "Okay," John said in a calm tone as he internally eximed let''s do this. This was his first time interacting with a girl to befriend her toter be her boyfriend. "Wanna hang out with me until the end of this ceremony?" Iris asked with a look of anticipation on her face. "Yeah, sure, I would love to." John agreed as it was better to hand out with a pretty girl than a pretty dude. Nevis could only eat dog food as he looked at the two acting like pair of lovebirds with eyes opened wide. On the other hand, as Vincent reached behind his girlfriend, Leni coincidentally stepped backward and bumped into him. "Argh! I''m sorry, I didn''t know that someone was behind me." Leni apologized immediately after turning around. As she was short and her eyes were also lowered, she didn''t notice that the one she mistakingly bumped into was her boyfriend. Vincent gazed at her with a loving look as he thought that she looks cute even when flustered. "It''s me, Leni. You can bump into me as many times as you want. I don''t mind." Vincent stepped forward and patted her head. Hearing his words, Leni''s eyes widened in happiness as she discerned that this familiar voice belonged to her beloved boyfriend. After lifting her head with one of his hands, Vincent stared into her eyes, and with one look he could discern traces of tiredness and happiness flickering in her beaming eyes. In the split of a second, he concluded that she hasn''t had enough rest and that she was happy to see him. Leni gently gazed into his eye and said, "Big brother, I have been searching for you everywhere. I almost thought that you will bete for the ceremony." "Sorry for worrying you," Vincent replied as he lightly embraced her waist with one hand and used the other to rub her under the chin. Leni''s eyes squinted in pleasure as he yed with her like she was a cat. ''It feels so good, words can neverpare.'' She thought as pleasure and happiness began to fill every fiber of her being. Vincent saw that she was liking this and he said, "Since you are loving this, I will rub the sides of your chin regrly." "I am not allowing for that to happen," Leni said in a sweet tone that sound pleasant to her along with her happy giggles as she escaped the boundary of his trap of seduction. Vincent teasingly smiled. "Oh, we will see!" Right after, one could see him chasing after the skirt of a cute girl with skin as white as snow and looks as gentle and gorgeous as a cat. After a moment, once the Dean of the academy along with a few higher-ups, as well as the student council president entered the White Lotus Building and walked up the stairs to stand on the raised tform, the sound of students talking to each other intensified. "The student council President Eric is here!" A fangirl of the student council eximed. The student council was made up of extremely handsome, rich, and well-qualified students. They were popr throughout many worlds as their videos have topped the charts of many streaming tforms a lot of times. So, it wasn''t a big deal to see girls fanning over the members of the student council especially the president. "Damn, he looks even better in real life than images and videos!" "What''s so good about him? His looks are feminine and he wouldn''t look any different than a girl with a little bit of makeup. I am far better than him. Look at my manly moves. Look at my muscles." After he said those words, the royal descendant of the Metal Family posed multiple times to outlines his thick and burly muscles. However, he was not only a creature filled with grey muscles but alsocking bodily hairs. He was bald and had no eyebrows! "Holy shit, what was that? My eyes are tainted!" "So ugly. What I just witnessed ruined my day," Gwen said as she rolled her eyes in disgust. "I wish I can rewind this day by a few minutes!" The students around her knew that there was no way her wish was gonnae true. It''s not like she is the King of Time! A few momentster, a voice resounded throughout the building and sounded in the ears of every newly enlisted student. "Quiet down! The entrance ceremony is about to begin." Chapter 73 - 73: Entrance Ceremony! "Eric, I think everyone is here. We should start the ceremony," Salvador, the first and only knight of the second royal descendant of the Ambrose family said. He was holding Eric''s gloved hand as they climbed the stairs to step on the raised tform. Salvador could also be seen holding Eric''s white military jacket adorned with silver patterns and the insignia of the Great Royal Ambrose Family on his other hand. "Well, it''s already a bit toote. We have waited long enough for everyone to arrive. We will now begin the entrance ceremony." Eric said before he headed to the podium at the center of the stage. Salvador and the student council''s members followed in tow. With long and wavy blonde hair that he inherited from his father, and pinks eyes, which he inherited from his mother, Eric could only be described as a handsome man possessing grace and mannerism worthy of a royal. A white cored shirt with buttons along the sides donned his upper body, and his right hand was covered in a white glove. The females students licked their lips as they looked at the handsome and refined gentleman who was about to give a speech. A few momentster, once Eric stood before the podium, he said, "Greetings, everyone! On behalf of the military academy, I, Eric Ambrose, and my friends give our greetings as the student council president and the representatives of all the students." While he said those words, Vincent and a few others gulped nervously and sweated profusely as they were able to discern the monstrous and overbearing auras of the members of the student council. ''So powerful!'' ''Monsters! I won''t even survive a single attack thrown by any of them!'' A few of them thought in their minds as they looked at the handsome and beautiful members of the student council. Eric continued, "First of all, we congratte you all for passing the entrance examination and bing a student of our military academy! A round of apuse for our future heroes!" As soon as he said those words, the members of the student council pped then the newly enlisted students below the raised tform smiled. The students deserved it. After all, out of hundreds of thousands of teenagers that have participated in the entrance examination to be a part of the military academies, only they have managed to be a part of this particr military academy. It was all because they worked harder than the ones who failed to pass the entrance examination. "I have high expectations for you all! You have proved your diligence by smashing through all the hurdles and passing the entrance examination, after all. I hope you all continue to strive forward and continue to be stronger." "We will!" The eyes of the students brightened in determination. Hearing their exmations, Ericughed joyfully and said, "Haha, that''s great. Youngster should be wild and have great ambitions! Listen well, for what I am about to say is not recorded in history. The king of time once said, "Helping someone is like sowing a grain of corn. After it grows andes to maturity, it will have one or two ears, and each ear will have more than a few hundred grains." Hearing his words, the eyes of Vincent and a few students brightened in the light of wisdom. They were able to interpret the meaning behind the profound words of the king of time. "To exin it in simple words, once you help someone, you are not only necessarily helping them but also the ones dependent on them. Furthermore, the ones you help might end up helping others in desperate need of help. The cycle continues endlessly!" Hearing his words, the rest of the students finally understood what leath was trying to say. In the very next second, Eric''s gaze swept past the crowd and he said, "I hope you will be like trees that give shades and protections to the others, not like monkeys that scatter in a disorganized manner when disaster strikes or the chaotic winds that bring harm everywhere it goes. I hope you guys won''t hesitate to help someone in need!" "With that said, I present to you, the Dean of the military academy, Tirion!" Under the apuse of the students and a few instructors, Tirion reached the podium. "I am exceptionally happy to see that the descendants of the races who aided the king of time during the previous dimensional war against the demons have all gathered at this ce." From the descendant of the pyrite race, the royal families of the Avalon Empire, the nobles belonging to various families of distinct worlds, as well as the great royal families of the federation, all have gathered at this very ce. The descendants of these races rubbed their noses, feeling proud of their ancestry, smiling as their families names were called out by the Dean. "Now, I would like to talk a little about the history of our academy. The military academy was built to raise people that can protect the honor,nd, and citizens of the federation from external and internal threats. For that purpose, we nurture talented and hard-working youths like all of you." "Of course, do not expect to be given free handouts. If you want resources, you must work for them! You can purchase resources that will help improve your strength as long as you have contribution points. You can earn them by contributing to society." "There are various ways to contribute to society. As a student at the academy, you can ept missions and hunt beasts and criminals that endanger the citizens of the Earth Federation. Once you are a bit more powerful, you can fight evil beings that run rampant on differents to earn an enormous amount of contribution points. That is the way of life of a military student that is most recognized by the people. I hope you all will also follow the societal norm of this academy." "Now, do you have any questions?" Tirion asked with a slight look of anticipation on his face. A lot of the students raised their hands as they were confused about a lot of things. "Great! The artificial intelligence installed on your student identification card can answer the most frequently asked questions. Even if you are asking about something specific, it should be able to provide an answer and clear your confusion. Now, you may go back to your dormitories or tour the academy. It''s all up to you. Of course, don''t tire yourself out. Don''t flirt tillte at night or you will be locked out of your dorms or you might be too tired to face the storm tomorrow. Hopefully, the students of the outer circle will be ready for the grueling training that awaits you. See youter," Tirion said with a smirk on his face before he started to swag his way out of the White Lotus Building. The students watched with wide eyes as he stepped out of the building. Internally, they cursed, "Fucking Troll!" Chapter 74 - 74: Fluff! "That seemed a little bit off," Salvador said after a moment. "A little bit? I think he was mind-controlled by someone!" Lte said as she was unable to make sense of the situation that has just urred. The Dean of the military academy was a stern old man who is always serious and doesn''t take well to sarcasm. Why would he talk like a youngster? Why would he make fun of the others? "We''ve been had." Eric coughed due to second-hand embarrassment. "Eh?" Lte''s eyes widened as she suddenly came to a realization. "You mean someone tricked us by impersonating the Dean?" "Yes, I believe someone pulled a prank on us. Well, it''s harmless, so there''s no need to make a scene out of it. You guys should introduce yourself before the students step out of the building," Eric said, motioning the members of the student council to step up to the podium and introduce themselves to the newly enlisted students. "I will introduce myself first," Lte said to the others as she then gracefully walked to the podium. After a few moments, she stood before the podium ced at the center of the stage. "Wow, who is this beautiful female student?!" The eyes of Nevis widened once he saw Lte, who was wearing a gorgeous silver dress that exposed her shoulders with milky smooth skin and the lower portion of her legs. "I give my greetings to the newly enlisted students! I am Lte Avalon." The newly enlisted students were smitten at the mere sight of Lte''s beautiful figure and enchanted by her calming voice. "As you can see, there''s a lot of students from different races here. Of course, I know some of you might not be used to socializing with members of the other races. However, I hope you can set aside your differences and get along well with your fellow students." Lte said with a calming smile on her gorgeous face as redness suffuse her pointy ears. They nodded their head vigorously, indicating that they will try to get along with the other students. It wasn''t wrong to say that Lte was by far the most beautiful woman they have seen in their lives. After all, she was an elf. The elven race is considered to be the most beautiful demi-humans in the world of Lorena. Moreover, Lte was extraordinarily beautiful, even ording to elven standards. "I am in love with you, Lte!" A student among the crowd shouted as she stepped back from the podium, and another member of the student council steps up to the podium. ''I''m d he showed no interest in her,'' Leni thought as she peeked at her boyfriend, who stood still with a stoic expression on his face. For obvious reasons, Vincent didn''t feel attracted to Lte. He admits she is beautiful, but he is already in love with Leni. He only had eyes for her, and he wanted to make her his. Vincent turned around to intensely look into her eyes. ''However, I first need to find a solution to her uncontroble transformation.'' "What? Is there something on my face?" Leni said in a flustered tone while blinking her eyes. "Yes, I can see a bundle of cuteness that I would like to kiss very much. Can I?" Vincent asked as he seductively licked his rosy lips. As she looked into his crimson eyes, Leni couldn''t help but blush. "Why is he so handsome! Ugh, whenever he looks at me like that, my heart goes out of my control.'' Leni screamed in her mind as she lowered her eyes, looking away from him. Vincent teasingly smiled. "Shall I take this silence as a sign of consent?" Immediately after, Leni shook her head like a startled bunny. "Not in public areas." "Hmm, okay." Vincent agreed with her as he didn''t want to force his love and affection on her. He wanted to respect her decision as she precious to him. He wanted to cherish Leni as she might be his wife in the future. Sometimeter, once the members of the student council and a few instructors finished introducing themselves to the students, Eric said, "Guys, we will be showing the way around the campus. You can join us if you would like to view the different facilities of the academy." "What a coincidence. John and Nevis didn''t know the way around the campus. "We will join." As they moved forward, a sweet voice came from behind them. "Do you mind if Ie with you?" Iris Twilight asked John. "Well, why not?" John replied. "Ugh, I will find a girlfriend," Nevis screamed in his mind as he looked at the lovely couple holding each other''s hand. Right after, Nevis, John, and Iris could be seen bing a part of the crowd gathered by the student council''s president. "I see my brother!" Leni said, looking at John, who was walking with another girl. "He is old enough to take care of himself. You should leave him be. Otherwise, you will spoil him," Vincent said as he held one of her hands. "Umm, okay, I will do as you say," Leni said, traces of worry vivid on her face. She felt worried for John''s sake. In Vincent''s eyes, she was like a mother hen worrying a bit too much about John. He wasn''t wrong at all. After the death of their parents, Leni has always looked after John as he was her only family. To say the least, Leni was more like a mother to John than a sister. After a moment, Leni exhaled deeply and said, "Big brother, what should we do now?" "I want to spend time together with you, just the two of us," Vincent said. "You can decide the rest." "Okay, let''s have a look around this ce," Leni said as she too wanted to tour the academy, but only with her boyfriend rather than a crowd. "However, we don''t have a guide." Leni scratched her chin like a cat using her tiny ws to scratch her fur. Staring at her, Vincent felt that she looks cute even when she is acting confused. "What should we do?" Leni asked as she looked at her boyfriend with hope. "We can take an unorganized tour of the academy grounds. Although it is pretty big, I am sure we won''t get lost." Vincent offered a solution. Leni''s eyes brightened as she nodded. "Let''s do that," she said. "Hey, what a coincidence to see you here." Varth suddenly walked up to them. "Do you still remember me?" "You are the guy that helped us fight Felix and sheltered us from the projectiles, right?" Leni said as she looked at Varth, who was wearing multipleyers of clothes, and his left eye was still covered by a ck patch. "Yeah," Varth said. "I didn''t mean to but I happened to hear that you guys were nning to take an unorganized tour around the academy ground. I just wanted to say that the student ID cards can project a map of the entire academy. So, if you ever get lost, you can find your way back to the dorms by using it." "The dorms close at 9 p.m. sharp. They won''t allow you to enter after that!" "Thanks for the heads up," Leni said. Varth turned to leave, but Vincent stopped him. "Before you go, how about we exchange contact details?" Vincent said as he shed his card towards Varth. Out of the few students he wanted to invite into his party, Varth was one of them. "Umm, sure," Varth said. He has been looking for a way to befriend Vincent for a while, and now he finally obtained it. After a moment, they scanned each other''s contact codes and befriended each other online. "I also want to do that with you," Leni said as she took out her ID card to swap contact detail with Varth. "You can only do that with me," Vincent said in a stern tone with a somewhat stern look on his face. He didn''t know why, but he didn''t want her to befriend another man. Leni puffed her cheeks as she felt like he unfairly scolded her. "I will leave you guys to enjoy your date!" Varth said in a low tone as he walked away from them, heading towards the dormitory as he wanted to rest. Meanwhile, as he saw her acting like an annoyed kid, Vincent''s lips thinned into a smile. "Don''t be angry." Vincent gently touched her face to look into her eyes. As she looked at him, Leni blushed as his beautiful face helped her calm down. "I am not angry at you anymore," Leni said after appreciating his beauty for a good whole minute. "Wanna swap contact detail with me?" Vincent asked with a pleasant smile. "You are my only boyfriend. If not you, then who?" Leni replied. A few momentster, Leni smiled as she sessfully experienced the foreign way of swapping contact details. Looking at the smile on Leni''s face, Vincent recalled one of the reasons why he fell for Leni. ''It''s because even little things make her smile. However, she usually keeps up a facade of coldness. I guess it''s because of her inability to control her racial trait.'' As he looked at her intensely, Vincent vowed, "I will see to it so that happiness never leaves your face." "What? Did you something?" Leni asked as she couldn''t quite hear what he said. Vincent smiled, and he said, "My, beautiful, flower of the night, If you don''t mind me showing you the way around the campus, then please take my hand." Looking at Vincent, who was half-kneeling with his hands extended towards her, Leni giggled. "Big brother, that''s honestly cliche." However, she still grabbed his hand. While enjoying the moment, they intertwined fingers. Following her boyfriend, Leni looked around in curiosity. Along the way, Vincent used the function of the student ID card that Varth has told him about. Immediately after, a holographic screen projecting the buildings and different locations of the military academy opened up in front of them. The exact location of the buildings inside the academic ground could be seen on one side of the holographic screen floating in front of them. The uses of the facilities provided by the military academy were listed on the other side of the holographic screen. It simply exined everything about the facilities of the military academy. "First and foremost, let''s visit this building," Vincent said as he pointed at the Alchemist section. Leni nodded as they started to go there. After a few moments, Leni said, "Big brother, I was honestly surprised to see everyone behaving friendly to the demi-humans." Vincent patted her head and said, "Leni, all the races had set apart their differences to stand under one name, The Earth Federation to face theirmon enemies, the creatures from hell. The things that happened in the past are now only a part of history. Of course, there''s no need to me yourself for what your race did. Besides, it''s not like they were entirely in the wrong." Leni''s eyes squinted in pleasure as he yed her like he was ying with a cat, and she said, "Umm, I don''t care about that anymore." In the past, before the war started with the creatures of hell, once humans invaded the world of the bestial humanoids, they offered to sign two treaties with them. A peace treaty and an agreement to trade between the two worlds. However, more than half of the bestial humanoid decided to fight off the invaders rather than agree to their demands. Naturally, they miserably lost. However, the war brought losses to both sides. Following that, the winners defamed the losers in the worse way possible. This in turn bred hatred towards feline beasts who didn''t take part in the war. That''s one of the reasons why Leni hated showing her form to others as she feared being hated by others for no reason. A whileter, they reached the alchemist section of the military academy. "The Alchemist Section: A ce that deals with everything rted to the magic scrolls, potions, elixirs, pills, and so on. To sell alchemy items, one needs to pass the test set by the instructors in charge of this ce." Then, they headed towards the cksmith section. "The cksmiths Sections: A person can buy weapons, armor, and materials needed to craft both of them from here. A person can also sell items here as long as he proves that he is not selling counterfeit." After ncing at the library from afar, they bought food from the stalls ced before the food court. Right after having a ice cream, Vincent and Leni decided that they should end their tour of the military academy as Leni was feeling too tired and sleepy. "Let''s get out uniform from the student''s clothing building before heading to the dorms," Leni said, and she then yawned. "How about you go and rest in your room, while I will get our uniforms." "It''s not like I am too tired of walking and staying awake. Besides, I want to stay with you for a while longer." Leni said. After a few moments, once they got their uniform from the staff members, they walked to the sections of the military academy where the student''s dormitory buildings could be seen. The female and male dorms were separated from each other, and so Vincent and Leni split up with each other, walking to their respective dormitory mentioned on their student ID card. Chapter 75 - 75: Tale Of Varth (1)! After following the map projected in front of him by the student ID card for a few minutes, Vincent arrived before two buildings connected to each other by a bridge in the middle region. From the outside, he could see that the interiors of the buildings, with more than ten floors, were lit up in a golden radiance. He moved to the entrance and was stopped by a seemingly harmless mini-robot that looked cute beyondpare with its short limbs and round headparable to a moon. It demanded proof that he lives here, and Vincent was allowed entry after he showed his card to the robot. After he entered the building, Vincent looked around for his assigned room. He could see a row of rooms inside the first floor of the buildinga hundred to be exact. "From the outside, it didn''t seem like this building is wide enough to have a hundred rooms on a single floor. Now that I am inside, I can see they used spatial technology to its maximum and expanded the interior of the boy''s dormitories," he thought to himself while walking towards the end of the hallway, where room no.99 assigned to him could be seen projected on the holographic mini-map. Inside the room Vincent was heading towards, a slim but fit teenager wearing soft nightwear could be seen sitting on the bed, near the glossy windows, which was moved to the walls of the upper zone of the room by the boy himself. "I thought the military and the military academy has nothing to do with me, but I am here." Varth said while holding a blue ball in his slim, white, and hairless hands, "Noah, I am feeling so happy that I can''t express my feelings in words." Noah, like its name, was afort ball granted to Varth when he was but a boy. He named this ball Noah when he was a boy, as it was able tofort him and calm his agonized self hurting due to being confined to the wills of his blood rtives. Still, over the years, he managed to endure the suffering held his way through the support of Noah and finally managed to get a chance to run away from home. "Master, I am also happy to see you enjoying yourself." Varth beamed while looking at the ceiling of the room with eyes brightened in happiness that stems from the very core of a person''s being. "Haha, I have finally broken free from the life of a puppet. Running away from home was the best choice I''ve made so far." "Master, you are still not safe. Your parents won''t let go of you so easily, and considering the fact that you have the eye of the abhorrent, even the head of the family will try to snatch you back." Noah worriedly said as it knew that its master was someone extremely precious to the Great Hollow Family; not as a person but as an asset. Varth knew that the head of the family, who also happened to be his grandfather, will not let him be free from his clutches even though he has joined the military academy that strictly refused outside interference, especially if the student didn''t want to face the ones from the outside. "I know. I have already thought about it all. That''s why I have decided to befriend the strongest and the most trustworthy students to create the fifth great royal family. A day wille when my parents won''t be able to threaten me by any means possible." The eyes of Varth brightened in determination to create a strong family to fend off the murderous ws of his blood rtives. "I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors, Master." In the very next second, Varth asked, "Noah, tell me, ording to your calctions, what are the chances of my blood rtives dispatching someone to infiltrate the military academy to keep tabs on me." After a moment, once it was done calcting, Noah responded to his question: "Master, there is a hundred percent guarantee that someone you know wille to the military academy either as a transfer student or an instructor to keep tabs on you. I don''t know who and exactly when, but I am sure it will be someone close to you, and they will arrive here within a week or two." Varth nodded his head, agreeing with Noah''s words. "Noah, you''re right. As far as I know them, they like to torture me mentally more than torturing me physically. The ones to arrive might very well be those among my wives who I pretended to love the most. Though that was all an act to fool my parents and blood rtives. Hopefully, they will fall for it and send someone I pretended to love. I will continue my show of love with the peoples my blood rtives will send to keep a tab on me during my stay in the academy while building my family, strengthening it, and spreading its fame throughout thes. In the end, they won''t be able to force me back to the abyssal hellhole they call home without fearing public bacsh and suppression." His n was good, but it was nearly impossible to achieve. Moreover, his family wasn''t easy to mislead as far as Noah knows them. "Master, your parents aren''t easy to deceive. Please, don''t let your guard down. You never know what they might end up doing. They might send someone you hold close to your heart to the military academy to mess with you." As soon as it said those words, Varth shook his head in refusal. "I made sure to treat the two people I honestly liked and loved in the cruelest way possible so that my blood rtives won''t be able to use them as puppets attached to strings to threaten me." Although he was refusing to even think about it, he knew that the chance of him having outsmarted his family that became one of the four great royal families by using their brain more than their fist was very small. "Ugh, whatever, I want to spend this week without worrying about anything. It''s been such a long time since Iid down on a bed at night. Let me sleep." The peaceful environment that surrounded Varth was almost like a dream, a dream he knew will be a nightmare in the times toe. Still, until then, he wanted to relish every moment of this dream, enjoying it to the point that he won''t feel disheartened participating in the psychological game set by his blood rtives when the timees. "Goodnight, Master. I wish you have sweet dreams." After a moment, once Noah wished him well, and as he closed his eyes to rx and enjoy the feeling of being able to sleep at night, he thought, ''Although I was looking forward to sharing a room with another person and befriended someone my age, It''s good that I don''t even have a roommate.'' It''s bothersome to have a roommate, after all, he thought as rxation took over his mind for the first time at night rather than blood-curdling screams. However, he was proven wrong in the very next second, as someone opened the room and entered inside. The sound of footsteps alerted him enough to prompt him to look at the person who entered the room. "Eh?" Varth eyes widened as he saw that it was none other than Vincent, who scored the highest in the entrance examination held in the Cloud Tower City. Vincent also noticed that it was Varth Hollow, a person who deeply interested him, not only because of his attitude and yful nature but also because of the items he used in thest test, which he viewed on the recordings. The recording of the entrance examination was uploaded not only to the database of the military academy but also a famous streaming tform to garner the attention of peoples that might or might not invest in order to nurture Vincent. The ie earned will be split between the instructors he was assigned under and himself, the instructors taking the big portion, while the small portion will be his, as mentioned in one of the many uses of the contract he had signed. "Hi, we''re roommates." Vincent waved his hand towards Varth. Chapter 76 - 76: Roommates "For us to meet again and again and even coincidentally be roommates, I guess it''s fate." Varth smiled as he looked at Vincent. "Do you need any help unpacking?" "Thanks but there is no need to trouble yourself." "Sure," Varth replied. ''I should unpack before sleeping,'' Vincent thought before he poured the content inside of his spatial storage on the bed, and he then started to fold his clothes, storing them in the closet, and the important things such as the portrait of his parents and the pendant he wore around his neck were ced in the cupboard near the side of his bed. "You know you can turn on the lights. I won''t bite," the voice of Vincent''s roommate came from upstairs, and he ended up realizing that he was able to perfectly see, even in the dark, ''is it another benefit thates along with bing a one-part vampire?, he thought in his mind, before saying to Varth, "I am fine with no light as I can see even in the dark." "Is he a bat?" Varth mumbled under his breath after he found out that he could see in the dark. Sometimeter, once Vincent was done unpacking, heid down on the bed, essed the online mission board of the military academy, swiped through a few boring missions that were about cleaning dishes in a certain restaurant or helping find the magical cat of a certain noble for a few minutes before he finally came across a certain mission that he found interesting, and he could also ept it as the mission was around his level, and he then said, "Hey, are you still awake?" "Umm, yes, why do you ask?" "Are you interested inpleting a monster subjugation mission with me?" Vincent came straight to the point. "It depends on the type of mission you are intending toplete. If it''s a waste of time, I won''t be going with you," Varth replied honestly. He wanted to befriend him, but it''s not like he will follow him like a brainless baboon and jump to his death. "What about a subjugation mission?" "Who are we killing and what is the reward forpleting the mission?" Varth didn''t ask about the dangers of this mission, as he has been fighting since he was a child. "We need to subjugate a group of monsters that goes by the name of Grim Gore. The reward is good and all, but we need to provide the head of the leader of the Grim Gores to the one who requested the mission," Vincent said. "I am up for it. Call me when you''re ready." Vincent sounded a voice in agreement before he closed his eyes, falling asleep after a few minutes. Meanwhile, in the room opposite to them, two young boys in their teens were having a standoff of the century. "How could you forget about your friend at the mere sight of a prettydy! I feel betrayed!" Nevis shouted in anger as he hit John with his most powerful earth-shattering attack. After a soft pillow hit John''s on the left shoulder, he twisted his body,nding a heavy hit on top the head of Nevis. "What do you mean betrayal? Why are you even getting angered when it should be me who should be angry at you for acting like a wall between me and Iris! You don''t know what it means for a girl to be favoring amoner like me. With your status and looks, you must enjoy your time with a lot of beauties but she''s my first. However, I haven''t even had my first time. No! I haven''t even kissed a girl in my lifetime!" John shouted as he rained a attack of pillow on Nevis. "Enough! I understand." "You sure?" "Yeah, I won''te in between you and her anymore," Nevis said with an honest look on his face. "I guess I will take your words for it," John stopped beating him with the pillows. As he turned around, Nevis jump-hugged and yfully squeezed his neck. "Like hell I understand! I am still a virgin with my looks but you''re already on your way to score with a girl!" Nevis shouted in his ears. John''s eyebrows raised. "I understand your pain, but why must I suffer with you?" John said after he mmed Nevis on the ground. "Rather than bothering us, you should look for another girl. As you have seen already, Iris is deeply interested in me. You have no chance with her. Rather than hurting yourself, go for another girl." Hearing his words, Nevis shed crystal clear tears. John ced his hands on his shoulder tofort him. "Two times in only two days! The women I fell in love with were already head over heels for someone else. Why am I so unlucky?" Nevis shrugged and sighed, and the moment the few of his viewers saw that he was sad, some tried to cheer him up by donating a few thousand virtual cash towards him, while the otherughed so hard at his miserable dating life that they ended up donating him a few virtual cash. After the live streaming ended, Nevis and Johnughed at the top of their lungs as they saw the money that has rolled into their pockets, all thanks to the realistic act they have out up to amuse the viewers. "If I knew earning cash was so easy, I would have be a live streamer years ago," John said as he saw a revenue of more than a few thousand virtual currency. Even after the cut, they will earn around two thousand virtual currency. "As promised, half of it is yours," Nevis said as he looked at John with an amiable smile. "Hmm, I don''t have a virtual ount," John said as he never registered himself in the virtual world or created a virtual avatar. He didn''t even have a bank ount as he was only 16 years old, a few weeks away from turning seventeen years old. "It''s safe with me. The day you create one, I will deposit your share to your ount." Nevis said, an honest smile on his face. "Well, thanks. If you have a simr idea, don''t forget to contact me. I won''t hesitate to participate." John has tasted the joy of earning easy money and he was greedy for more. "I will invite you for sure," Nevis said. John was a natural actor, one he could use to produce quality content. Nevis has gained a lot of new citizens after he passed the entrance examination. The viewership boomed after he was pped hard by Vincent''s recklessness on thest test. The video he just posted has earned thousands of clicks and it was still climbing. As this was a fresh idea and one extremely funny yet sad, he believed he will hit the top of the charts sooner orter, and even if doesn''t, he will keep producing top-quality content and a day wille when he gain recognization for his work. Chapter 77 - 77: Towards The Library! The rooms of the boy''s dormitory were divided into two zones, lower and upper. There was a bed, a dresser, and a cupboard in each zone of the room. However, the boys had to share a few things as there was only a single fridge and bathroom in the entire room. John and his roommate also decided that they will not turn on the lights after midnight as it will disturb the person who is sleeping. Before turning off the lights, John chooses to use the upper zone of the room as his private ce. Nevis, on the other hand, decided uponying down on the bed in the lower zone as he was toozy to climb up a few stairs every day to reach the bed. "Lights off!" With a singlemand, the lights illuminating the room dimmed down before vanishing entirely. A few hourster, Nevis woke up from his sleep in the middle of the night, feeling hungry and excited about the uing sses. After yawning and stretching his body, washing the sleepiness away from himself, his stomach grumbled in protest. Immediately after, he thought, ''I should get something to eat. I wonder what''s inside the fridge.'' Nevis stepped out of his bed and walked towards the container of his desires. His eyes twinkled in glee once he opened the door of the fridge. He picked up a few pieces of cherries and went back to his bed before he ate them one by one. "I am wide awake. You can turn on the lights." John''s voice sounded in Nevis''s ears. John thought that his roommate is eating in the darkness as he doesn''t want to disturb his sleep. "Ah, sure," Nevis said before turning on the lights with a simplemand. The room was brightened in lights easy on the eyes, and he asked, "Wanna eat some cherries?" "Nope," John declined his offer as he wasn''t hungry at all. "Well then, I will eat all of them." After a moment, once Nevis ate all of the cherries, John decided to strike a conversation as he wasn''t able to fall asleep once again, so he asked, "I can''t sleep. Let''s talk." "About what?" "Anything?" "You first." "Howe you wake up so soon? It''s still too early in the morning." John asked. "Well, I was hungry and really looking forward to the sses that we''ll attend in a few hours. I guess both of these reasons woke me up." Nevis hasn''t attended ss in his entire life, so he was feeling excited at the mere prospect of attending one for the very first time. He had heard that sses are a good ce to show off, befriend others and find a cute girlfriend. ''I wonder if that''s true. Well, I will find out soon anyway,'' Nevis thought as he unconsciously smiles. "I feel you," John said. He was equally excited to participate in the ss and meet people his age. "Mypulsory subject''s name is he cool too. My sses range from weapon training andpulsory magic techniques to magical and demonic beasts terminology." As soon as he said those words, John realized that they had the samepulsory subjects. "Hmm, we have the same schedule," John said. "We will be seeing each other a lot in the uing days." "I think it is because we are both members of the alpha sses." His conclusion was right on the mark. Every single year, the instructors of the military academy give excellent lessons on important subjects to the newly enlisted students that were a part of the alpha ss. To be a part of such a ss, a student must have a minimumbat level of 20. Moreover, for an entire, thepulsory sses were free of cost. After that, they need to earn contributions points to pay the fee to join the sses. One could say that the academy ensured they received the best attention the instructor could offer at first, butter, they needed to prove themselves worthy of the hard work poured on them. As long as they worked hard, they would inevitably be excellentbatants that could fend off the creatures of hell invading thes under the jurisdiction of the Earth Federation through the use of Hell''s dungeon. On the other hand, the students of the beta ss didn''t receive lectures. It''s because their bodies haven''t been trained to the minimum threshold, which is level 20, to garner the attention of instructors. However, they were trained intensively. The training waspulsory and overseen by multiple instructors so that the students won''t end up hurting their bodies. Once these students pass the minimum threshold of the military academy, they will be promoted to the alpha ss and receive proper lectures on important subjects that will help them throughout their lives. "I''m d I didn''t end up in beta ss," Nevis said. "I should be the one saying that; it was a close ss for me, not you. If I didn''t go all out, I wouldn''t even be here." John remarked in a tone that mocked himself. After rolling left and right on the bed for a while, Nevis said, "Since our subjects are the same, should we walk around together tomorrow?" "Alright. I will also invite my big brother and elder sister." Sometimeter, in the room opposite to them, sunlight came in from the sses of the double zed window, pouring on the floor and slightly illuminating the room. Vincent and Varth woke up simultaneously and prepared to head to their desired destination. "Hopefully they teach something meaningful in the alpha sses," Varth thought while dressing up in his school uniform wearing which waspulsory, so even Vincent has to adorn himself in the uniforms, and after wearing their uniforms, they walked out of the room. "Buddy, you were in the room opposite to ours the whole time. What a coincidence!" The room opposite to them suddenly opened, and John and Nevis walked out of the room at the same time he and Varth walked out of his room. Vincent sounded a voice in agreement. Varth, on the other hand, greeted them with a nod and started to walk away. The others followed after him as they happened to be going the same way. "Hey, guys, let''s go to the sses together!" John said as he caught up to them. "Count me out of it," Vincent said. "But why?" "The sses you are going to attend are notpulsory for me as I am not a student of the alpha ss. So, I am going to self-study in the library." Vincent didn''t want to partake in lectures as they weren''t important enough. If they were important to him, instructor Theodore would have notified him a few hours before the ss even began. Hearing his words, the three around him turned dead silent. "Huh?" "Eh? Howe you don''t need to participate in the first week''spulsory sses? Are you for real?" "" Vincent could see that not only John and Nevis expressed shock and disbelief after hearing his words, but even the right eye of Varth showed confusion. "I can attend any ss as I wish to as I am a student of the special ss," Vincent said before jumping out of the window. To be a part of the special nurturing program was both a fortune and a kind of misfortune. The fortunate part was that he is given free resources, great benefits, and easy ess to important sses. The unfortunate part was that he couldn''t spend ssy time with his friends if he wanted to keep his current benefits. "Say my hi to your sister, John!" Vincent''s voice sounded in their ears as hended on the vibrant branch of a thick tree with green leaves just outside the building. He then took a leap towards the sundered skies to head towards the lower heaven of wisdomthe library of the military academy, which contained hundreds of thousands of books on history,bat, magic, and so on. "So cool!" The ones left behind marveled at the scene while looking at Vincent''s back. "Let''s go or we will bete for the morning ss," Varth said to John and Nevis. They nodded and hurried their way through the groups of students that came out of their rooms and began to fill the entire hallway. At this moment, they realized why Vincent has chosen to jump out of the window rather than walk out of the front door like a normal person. After grouping up with Leni and following the directions mentioned in the map projected in front of them, the three entered a building with dozens of floors and arrived at the ssroom where the first lecture would be held. Meanwhile, Vincent reached his destination. The library was undeniably one of thergest of all the structures in the academy. Arge but typical gigantic building was standing up straight, and the entrance was guarded by burly robots holding sma guns in their hand. The robots stepped aside and allowed him entry when he showed them his student ID card. His eyes showed determination as he entered the library with a clear set of goals in his mind: find a way to cure the poison haunting Uncle Miller''s body, look for a way to help Leni control her uncontroble transformation, and learn two powerful techniques. Chapter 78 - 78: Library After entering the library and witnessing its interior, Vincent felt awe and amazement at the stunning inner furnishings of the library. "How can a library that looks ordinary on the outside be so extraordinary on the inside. This ce is just awesome!" An exmation of astonishment escaped Vincent''s lips. From the outside of the building, the library of the military academy seemed like a typical run of the mill building that could be seen in every city of Earth, yet from a mere nce at its interior furnishings, Vincent''s eyes widened in admiration for the person who created this ce, as this ce seemed like a cyber fantasy library that came right out of the creator''s imagination. The library didn''t contain even a single shelf, as a matter of fact, it didn''t even contain a single book visible to a person''s eyes. Vincent could only see a lot of tables and chairs ced on both the floor and the roof. As for how they were sticking upside down to the roof without falling on the floor, Vincent believed that it''s either a wonder of anti-gravity technology or a unique type of magic that has changed the center of gravity of only the roof region of the entire building, such that the things ced in the roof will be pulled towards itself, rather than falling down to the floor due to the gravitational pull of the ground. There were a lot of long spiral pathways as wide and tall as a 1000 page book, crisscrossed all over the library in a chaotic but orderly arrangement, one end of the spiral pathways seem to vanish inside the walls on each side of the building while the other ends split apart into dozens to hundreds of parts of simr shape and size and the end of each of these parts stretched to the reading tables ced all over the ce. Although this was Vincent''s first time seeing such a ce, he shrugged off the amazement and wonderment as it was eating out at his brain, and he then walked to one of the tables and sat down on the chair just like the other students who were here instead of attending sses for reasons of their own. After a few moments, once Vincent scrutinizing gaze scanned every inch for clues about how the library works, he inserted his student ID card into the card slot seem at the corner of the table. ? Identity has been confirmed ? ? It has been confirmed that you''re a student participating in the nurturing n ? ? Your privilege level is 3. You have obtained level-3 preferential treatment ? The students of the beta ss have a privilege level of 1. The students of the alpha ss have a privilege level of 2. The privilege level decided different aspects of a student''s life, such as the benefits a student can obtain from the academy and the things which they can ess by using their student ID card. ? You can legally read as many books with no restrictions as you like ? ? You are authorized to obtain two restricted books free of cost ? ? A privacy barrier has been erected around you to provide you and the others mentalfort. No one outside of the barrier can see what you do or hear what you say. You may read the book as loud or as low as you want as it won''t disturb someone else ? ? Please pick the books that you want to read by using the panel in front of you. The system will automatically transport it to your location within three to ten seconds by using the spiral pathways connected to your location ? Instantly, a holographic panel showing a catalog of different books and a small summary of each book opened in front of him. "Sweet stuff, can''t believe it''s real," Vincent said as he tapped away at the panel to search for books rted to poisons, detoxification, and uncontroble transformation that affects demi-human. Suddenly, rows of information appeared on the holographic panel. In a single nce, Vincent could see over a hundred books on the subjects he mentioned. He perused through the newly appeared catalog slowly with eyes squinted to reveal a thoughtful look. When Vincent saw that most of the books were being sold for more than 100 contributions points, his eyes widened as he felt that the sellers are either driven insane by poverty or the book contains impressive knowledge. However, he didn''t bother wasting time on reading the catalog of restricted books as they were costly. A single one costs more than a few hundred contribution points. The ones that were cheaper were deemed to be not much better than the unrestricted books by Vincent. "It''s better to skim through a few unrestricted books. If I don''t find my answers in there, I can always earn tons of points and obtain answers from the restricted books." Vincent thought. Immediately, Vincent filtered the disy to show unrestricted books that could be read free of cost. The holographic panel now showed lesser books, but all of them were free. He proceeded to pick a few books that looked like they could contain answers to his questions. In the very next moment, a lot of books were transported to his table through the spiral pathways, and along with them came a few announcements that only he could hear. ? Dear student, please deposit the book inside the container after you''re done reading ? ? The books must not be damaged in any way ? ? You must never lend the books you purchase or obtain to others, even if they are your friends ? The restricted books were sold by peoples that make their daily earnings through royalties. They earn a certain portion each time someone purchases their book containing plentiful knowledge. The revenue earned from this method was split between the virtual trading tform providers, the military academy, and the seller. ? The book must be returned in a week if you don''t have special permission to keep the book forever ? ? If any of the above-mentioned rules are broken, you''ll be punished with a mary fine ? "I understand." Vincent nodded. His eyesnded on a book that could contain the answer to fight back poison potent enough to affect an awakened like Old Miller. Ding, Dong. Vincent was about to read books on poisons and detoxification to find a way to detoxify poison that affects even an awakened when a melodic ringtone rang out of his card, forcing him to look at it. He took out the card from one of the card slots and saw that instructor Theodore is calling him. He tapped on the green icon to answer his call. Immediately after, a holographic screen disying the instructor standing on top of a mountain opened in front of him. "Hello, instructor. I hope you''re fine," Vincent said in a friendly tone. "Hi. As you can see, I am fine. Thanks for asking though," Theodore said as he waved his hands towards him. "How about you? I hope you are not homesick like most of the others, haha." "Well, I am in peak conditions," Vincent replied with a smile on his handsome face. It wouldn''t be a lie to say that he was happy to hear so soon from the instructor that has amazed him again and again. "That''s great. Anyway, what are you doing right now?" Theodore asked with a somewhat serious look on his face. "Self-studying in the library," Vincent replied as he showed his surroundings to the instructor. "I see it''s good to see you working hard already. Keep up the good work." He praised as his lips stretched back to reveal a smile of admiration. "Instructor, can you tell me the real reason as to why you called?" Vincent said with a look of anticipation on his face. Theodore voiced a sound in agreement and said, "The instructors of the weapons practicing ss will hold a specialpetition today. I don''t know about the specific details of thepetition but it will be good for you if you join the event and perform better than the others." "You mean to tell me to gain clout in the academy by using this event as a stepping stone and garner attention performing better than the others, right?" Vincent asked with a calcting smile. "You''re on the mark. Do your best to win thepetition!" Theodore showed him thumbs up before continuing, "See yater," "Bye!" Chapter 79 - 79: A Solution To Old Millers Ailment Vincent looked at the timetable of the sses that are to be held today by using his all-purpose quantum student ID card. "Hmm..." In the very next second, he happens to notice that there are still four hours left before the beginning of the promising ss of the instructor of weapon training, ''I still have a lot of time left to myself, I should skim through these books for valuable information that might end up helping Old Miller and Leni,'' he thought before inserting the quantum card back into the slot at the edge of the table and activating the barrier of privacy. Deciding on finding a solution to Old Miller''s ailment first and foremost, Vincent picked up a book on the subject of poison and began skimming through the content, as he didn''t have a lot of time, yet he did not dare to miss a single important clue that would be useful in curing his Uncle. He had happen to chance upon Old Miller taking some kind of suppressant when he lived in the orphanage. At that time, he didn''t know what kind of suppressant it was. Of course,ter on, he connected the dots and found out that they were poison suppressants after Old Miller told him that he was afflicted with a beast''s poison. "Although he said that it was nothing to worry about, how can I not worry? I am not a kid who won''t understand the pain of having his energy channel poisoned! The poison must be terrifying poison to take root in Uncle Miller''s energy channel. He must be living day by day in pain. I want to help him out no matter what. There must be a way to detoxify energy channels from poison. There must be!" Vincent sounded desperate and emotional as Old Miller was not only his spiritual support but also his emotional support. After the death of his parents, anger and resentment has taken root in his mind. Vincent''s innate racial trait decreased the effect emotion has on his mind, but it doesn''t eradicate them. In simpler words, it suppresses emotions that would affect his judgment-making skills negatively. Still, it also has a limit and couldn''t suppress emotions overflowing in every fiber of his being. He knew the two negative emotions were bound to grow and one day overtake his rationality. A person overflowing with anger and resentmentshes out at every person in every turn. He would have be a bully, the type of person he hates the most as they torture and suppress others for no reason when every life should be cherished. It was he who helped him take the right path after the death of his parents. His uncle''s teaching helped him redirect the anger and resentment suppress in his body towards a better goal. Old Miller didn''t let him suppress the negative emotions as he knew that if it continues, he will one day snap and end up doing things he would regret from the depth of his heart. Thanks to him, he was able toe to terms with himself. Vincent promised to never bottle up feelings inside of him even though his racial trait allows him to do that better than the others. He knew the pain thates with trying to endure everything by oneself and the rxation that seeps into every fiber of one''s being just by asking for someone''s help. "He told me to get help. He told me that it doesn''t make a person any less manly if he asks for help. He extended a hand towards me and helped me out of emotional pain and darkness creeping in every corner of my body. Yet, he is silently enduring pain by himself. Uncle, you are a fool. You could have just asked for help. Although you didn''t, I will see to it that you are cured of the poison in your body." If it wasn''t for Old Miller, Vincent didn''t know whether or not he would truly have ended up bing a monster. How could he let such a person die without trying? As the memories of the past surfaced, his eyes glowed in a crimson hue, and his speed of skimming through the texts intensified. Still, he was too slow. The book in front of him contained 300 pages filled with texts and no pictures! It would take quite a while to get through it even though he was just skimming. It was at this moment, the heirloom of his family came to his rescue. ? It will take a lot of time to read these books even if you skim through them, but if you just ce your hands on top of them and allow me to use my information transferring function, I can scan the book, store the information into my database and transfer all of it in your brain within a few seconds. Of course, it wille with a small cost of 1 unit of purified life energy per book as I need it to activate my information transferring function. Will you ept? ? "Wow!" An exmation of astonishment escaped Vincent''s lips. He already knew that the system could transfer memories inside his brain in a few seconds, yet it was his first time hearing that it could also scan information present in the book and store it in its database. "When did you unlock such a function?" ? When you reached level 4 ? "Is it the energy sense spell matrix?" ? Yes, indeed. By using the energy sense spell matrix, I can scan text written in the book and do a lot of other things, too. However, it requires purified life energy to activate ? The purified life energy is the experience points Vincent earns afterpleting quests and killing beasts. ? For something as minuscule as scanning textbooks, I only need a unit of purified life force ? "Alright, I want you to scan books one by one while transferring knowledge inside my mind." Vincent ced one of his hands on the book. ? As youmand! ? ? 1 unit of life force has been detected ? ? -1 XP ? ? Remaining XP: 16 ? ? The textbook has been scanned. The information has been stored in the database ? ? The information shall now be transferred to your mind ? Vincent''s eyes closed as he felt an enormous amount of information bing a part of his subconscious. ? 1 50 100%. Data transferring has beenpleted ? At the very moment, his eyes jolted open. A pleasant smile spread on his somewhat terrified yet excited face because of what he found out. "Well, now there''s no need to scan the other books. I got the information I needed. Sadly, there is no way to detoxify energy channels without killing a person." A person whose energy channels are poisoned can only use a suppressant to suppress the poison. "However, there is still a way to help Uncle Miller." ? Do you even know what you are thinking of doing? ? "Yes!" Vincent clenched his fist as both his hearts shuddered in fear and excitement. "The poison in his body can''t be detoxified, but I can make it that he is immune to poison." ? You will have to kill a Monster Lord with poisonous nds to obtain an evolution material that grants poison immunity! You are too weak to face such an existence! ? A monster lord is an existence stronger than magical and demonic beasts. They are called lord as they reign over a territory of their own. "I know a monster lord can kill me with mere pressure alone as I am weak right now, but after obtaining a legacy from the ind of wisdom and training in it, I will be able to stand on equal grounds against a Monster Lord. That''s when I will hunt my first Monster Lord!" Vincent internally promised in both honor and name to fight a Monster Lord once he is strong enough for Old Miller''s sake. Chapter 80 - 80: New Techniques! Afterward, Vincent utilized 13 units of life energy to activate the function of his system multiple times and absorbed the knowledge of more than a dozen books before he finally managed to gain a certain understanding of the somewhat adverse condition affecting his cute girlfriend. "There''s a high chance that the uncontroble transformation to her bestial form that urs whenever her emotions are out of control is rted to a bad experience in the past that traumatized her," Vincent concluded after digesting the knowledge stemmed in his subconsciousness. "Why didn''t she tell me about it?", he thought without thinking. ? There are two possibilities. First and foremost, she simply doesn''t want to tell you about it right now. It''s only been a few days since you officially became her boyfriend. It will take time for her to share such deep and personal stuff. After all, it''s hard for humans to open up about their past traumas even to their loved ones ? As soon as he heard the words uttered in a monotone voice, Vincent agreed that it is up to Leni to decide whether or not she wants to share her past. Still, he will by her side when she is ready to open up about her past so that she can lean on his shoulder for mental and physical support. "For the time being, I should act sensible and not mention the word ''past'' in front of her." ? That''s great ? "What is the second possibility?" ? Secondly, it''s not certain that she knows about it. She might have forgotten what happened to her. After all, beings with humane characteristics and tendencies tend to suppress awfully sad and hurtful events at the back of their minds, subconsciously. Yet, their bodies remember ? Vincent''s eyebrow raised. "There is a high possibility she doesn''t remember anything about her possibly traumatic past at all. However, her body hasn''t forgotten the trauma. She will remember what''s been hidden in the back of her mind if I talk about it. And I will end up hurting her rather than helping her. Right?" ? Yes ? Hearing the system''s words, Vincent''s eyes flickered in a profound light as he calcted the ways to help her. "There''s only one way I can help here over her fears, subconsciously without helping her," Vincent''s eyes red in obsession as he continued, ''Stay close to her, asionally touch her, be an important part of her life, as important as oxygen is for humans. She won''t refuse me subconsciously and consciously once I conquer her body, heart, and soul." ? That''s right. I hope you have a happy love life like the ninth ? At the mention of his father, Vincent subconsciously smiled. Although they haven''t spend a lot of time together, Vincent knew that his father was a great man that loved his mother a lot. "I should get one energy purifying magic technique and an offensive magic technique." After a few moments, once Vincent cracked his knuckles and stretched his tired body, he started to peruse through the catalog, which demonstrated dozens of magic techniques on a single page. "There are too many magic techniques." There were thousands of pages and each page contained information about dozens of books. Vincent knew that a lot of them were trashy books with good catalogs and names. He will have to waste days here to get a good book. "I can''t decide which one I should choose." Vincent sighed as he couldn''te to a decision. Noticing his agony, Blood popped up a helpful notification in front of him. ? I can search for the best meditation technique for you by using my energy sensing function ? "Oh, how does that work?" ? You see, there''s a high chance for a book written by a powerful existence to contain the aura of its creator. From what I have seen through your eyes, I have calcted that the books inside the library are original rather than copies. While using energy sense as a radar that detects energies in a certain radius around you, I can determine the quality of a book by scanning its aura. The powerful the aura feels, the better the book will be. I will tell you about the best book for purifying magic power once I obtain the results. However, it will cost 3 units of purified life force. Will you ept? ? "I ept!" ? -3 XP ? ? Remaining XP: 0 ? He was left with no experience points, but Vincent thought that it was well worth it. After all, he will be obtaining the best magic techniques out of all the books present in the library, rather than an off-the-mill book with an extraordinary name and synopsis. On the other hand, once it was provided with enough energy to run its newly unsealed function as an energy-sensing radar, the system could sense that there were hundreds of thousands of books ced inside circr orb containers. Out of roughly a million books, A few books were flickering in auras of distinct colors, and Blood scanned the ones with the brightest aura to find out their names. "Tenth, the following are the best magic techniques in the entire library" Blood listed the name of the best techniques to its owner. Vincent called out the Search Panel, immediately entering the names of the few books just mentioned by his system. Suddenly, rows of information appeared on the holographic panel. [Mana infusion]: It was a technique that infuses mana into a person''s weapon to amplify its damage. However, it consumed a lot of mana. Still, it was useful to Vincent as he could infer that this technique worked well against creatures with thick hides and good defense There was a technique that could increase a person''s speed by a few times, but it came with a miserable restriction. A single-use depletes all of the user''s stamina! The moment he saw the name of the next technique, he shook his head in disappointment. It wasn''t even worth considering. "Hmm." Vincent sounded a long and thoughtful hum before he decided upon the two techniques he wanted to obtain. The first one he choose was the energy purifying technique that purified magic power into mana by using a set of hand signs to elerate the flow of magic power so much that it will generate heat that will kill impuritiesme Energy Evolving Technique Lower Sun Scripture. He used hisst chance to obtain a magic technique for free to obtain [Mana infusion] for obvious reasons. The strength of his weapon will increase in power as mana is consumed! By the time he finished picking up the techniques he wanted to learn, it was time for the weapon training ss to begin. So, Vincent stored the two magic technique he owns in the spatial storage and deactivated the privacy barrier by taking out his quantum card, stored it in the space of his storage ring, and walked out of the library, heading towards the ce where the instructor of weapon training will hold his ss today. "Blood, was it wrong for me to do that?" Vincent asked in his mind after a moment. Blood didn''t need extra words to understand the meaning behind his words. ? I can only say that life goals and happiness are two different things. You want to help your uncle to repay your gratitude. On the other hand, Leni is your happiness, while helping others, ending the war, and bringing peace to the races, are your goals. Fulfilling the dreams of your parents isn''t much different from a goal either. I hope you don''t live a sad life like the ones way before you, and I advise you to follow the footsteps of the ninth and pursue your happiness well over everything else ? "Chasing after love, strength, and multiple desire at the same time, am I being too greedy?" He was feeling weak-hearted. He was just a teenager, after all. ? Greed stems from wants and needs. To want is the natural desire of all living beings. When a person is hungry enough to die, they will desperately look for food, a single bite will fill them with bliss. It''s not wrong for you to try to obtain what you desire. Don''t falter and chase after everything you want ? As soon as he heard those words, Vincent shrugged the weakness creeping up to his mind, and he decided to cherish the people he loves without thinking too much about it. "I wonder what Leni is doing right now. Maybe she will participate in today''s special ss." Vincent''s eyes turned gentle as the image of his cute girlfriend popped up in his mind as he walked through the winding path to reach the weapon training ss while using the map projected in front of him as a guide. Chapter 81 - 81: Is He Like Me? (a) It was mid-afternoon, the time of the day when the sun was bright and warm enough to suppress the cold and chilliness of the winter. Walking through the winding path shaded by the outcropping of trees and illuminated by the light that manages to peek through the canopies, Vincent had a silly smile on his face, unable to get Leni''s image out of his head. Like a thirsty man walking in the Sahara, about to find a pond of clear cold water. "Emerald! Hey, wait for me!" A seductive and deep sexy manly voice sounded in Emerald''s and Vincent''s ear. "Stop shouting, Damien. I can hear you just clearly even if you don''t shout at the top of your lungs,'' said a female student wearing a jacketed uniform and knee-high socks that didn''t shy away from exposing a few traces of her smooth skin. She had silky ck hairs and eyes that were green in color, acquiring her gorgeous pale features from her mother, "Why are you chasing me in board daylight?" "It''s a coincidence which urred due to us going the same way," said Damien blinking his eyes, expressing his innocence. With a chiseled jawline, slim, swan-like neck, pale skin, deeply sunken hazel eyes, and rosy lips, he looked like a precious creation of Adonis, crafted precisely throughout hundreds of years. Immediately after, he shed an amiable smile towards Emerald, "I hope we can go together." Vincent turned to look at the source of the voices, only to see a gorgeous girl being followed by a handsome man sharing a few striking simrities to himself, both walking on a road with a few up and down bumps intersecting with the winding path he was on. After a single nce, Vincent turned his attention away from them as to note off as a rude person that stares at strangers intensely. "You will follow after me even if I am to refuse." Emerald rolled her eyes, allowing Damien do to as he pleases as she didn''t want to bicker with him. Damien''s eyes glowed subtly in crimson as he looked at her back with a loving gaze showing an emotion beyondmon obsession. "I am so happy. My wife knows me the best." "Who said I am your wife? I am not your wife!" Emerald said in a loud tone emphasizing the fact that she wasn''t his wife with a stern look. "It''s your father that has already given me your hand in marriage," Damien said, looking at her with a generous smile containing hints of sincerity and dominance. Emerald''s father, the northern duke of the Avalon Empire, had officially sold her to this mysterious person that has been pestering her ever since she participated in the grand ball held in the world of three moons to pay off the deep debts of the dukedom owed. "Ugh, I can''t be bothered with a person like you," Emerald said in a disgruntled tone before hurrying her steps. Damien followed in tow. While walking through the winding path with flowers and trees on each side, Vincent happened to unintentionally eavesdrop on the conversation of the two students walking near him. "There are too few newly enlisted students this year, but most of them are nobles are royals, and even the descendants of great royalty are here," Emerald said once she was in the mood to talk with the handsome but annoying man who walked by her side. "It''s clear as day that the royals aren''t here to study as they can obtain better education in their homnds. I am sure they are here for the rumored purpose that the other students have been talking about." Damien replied, a thoughtful look glittering in his hazel eyes that were crimson a moment ago but turned hazel before Emerald could notice. "Do you mean the rumors are true?" Emerald asked in a surprised tone after she turned to look at him. "Yup, I am certain that the academy ns to produce the sixth great hero," Damien said with a smile forming on his face. "The sixth great hero?! I thought they were nning to nurture a few talented and hardworking students to be the next-generation pirs of the federation, just like the 13th grand generals fighting at the front lines. It''s shocking to know that the academy''s ambition is far greater than I thought." Emerald said, feeling flustered as she looked at his face, a handsome face that could steal the heart of any girl with ease. Only a few circles of students knew that the academy has established a nurturing n to nurture the sixth great hero. Damien was part of one such circle called the Crimsons Pce. She looks cute even when she is flustered, Damien thought. "What do you think? Will our academy be able to produce the sixth great hero?" Damien asked as he turned to look at the teenager who was wearing a uniform worn by newly enlisted students. "Are you talking to me?" Vincent asked as he turned to look at the man with a voice carrying the power to hook one soul, be it a man or a woman. "Ah right I haven''t introduced myself yet. I am Damien Crimson. As you can see, I entered the academy to chase after my wife." "Nice to meet you, I guess," Vincent said, deciding against shocking hands with this mysterious and suspicious stranger. "Would you like to answer me now?" Damien said, staring into his eyes with a look of anticipation Vincent also discerned that this person was excited to see him for some reason "There is a slim chance, but I hope that it will be a reality," Vincent said as his eyes squinted subtly. Birds nestled in their nests, feeding worms to their hungry babies who were chirping seeing their mothers. "If such a person arises in the next few years, the tides of the war will shift in our favor, and we will be able to fend off the creatures from hell and send them packing within a decade," Emerald said, anger and the detest she held for the inhumane invader reflecting in her clear emerald eyes. Chapter 82 - 82: Is He Like Me? (b) From her words, it was obvious she had personal feuds to settle with the creatures from hell. They had invaded the territory of her soon-to-be dukedom, harmed her people, damaged thend she loved, and caused debts to rake up like a shower of rain that causes flooding. Emerald''s eyes shifted towards Damien who happened to be stealing a nce at Vincent. ''Thankfully, this person appeared and helped us out of our misery, else a lot of people in the northern region of the empire would''ve died due to hunger and thirst,'' Emerald thought as she peeked a nce at her husband to be with a grateful smile forming on her face, which disappeared the moment Damian shifted his gaze towards her. "Are you feeling cold?" "Nope, but thanks for your concerns." "But your hands are cold," Damien said after holding her hands in his, "You should wear gloves. I like it when your hands are warm." Emerald''s ears reddened as she didn''t refuse him from holding her hands, and they walked hand in hand. Looking at them acting like an affectionate couple and holding each other hands, Vincent''s eyes narrowed as he missed Leni. Damien and Emerald were walking through the winding paths to reach the weapon training ssroom where Vincent was also headed by the way. Sometimeter, the three of them entered a room with white tiles covering the floor and walls. The weapon training ssroom was spacious as it spanned for around a mile and was separated into different zones. At the spacious center of the room, there were over a hundred robots modeled after humans made out of iron. These robots were standing still as if they could not currently move. The second zone was the spectators seating area, where students could be sitting on multiple story bleachers. There were more than a few hundred students in that ce. Most of them were here to participate in the ss while the rest of them were here to pure watch thepetition. In the third zone, a lot of weapon racks holding different types of weapons could be seen. "She is finally here." The burly instructor who was awaiting the arrival of the programmer smiled the moment he saw Emerald entering the room through the front door. He exhaled a relieved breath while walking up to them. "I''m d to see you here," instructor Baldwin the baldie said, "Please do your work so I can begin my ss." Baldie was the title the students gave him as he had a head full of air rather than hair. "Sure, it will just take a few moments," Emerald said as she took out quantum equipment and connected one side of the data transferring cables to her equipment, and handed the others to her soon-to-be husband. "What is this about?" Damien asked with raised eyebrows. "Since you''re already here, help me fit all these cables in the connectors at the neck just above the nape of the robots," Emerald said with an angelic smile on her face. "Of course, you can also decline to help me." Damien knew she will ignore him for a few days if he doesn''t help her right now. "As you say, my wife." He walked up to the robots and inserted the cables into them one by one while thinking that the reason he fell for Emerald was that she possessed everything that makes a perfect woman; beauty, brain, and an ample bosom. Meanwhile, Vincent looked for his girlfriend in the ssroom. After a few moments, he saw Leni standing with John and Varth, who wore a mask that covered his entire face except for his right eye. Vincent walked up to them with a smile. After talking with them for a while, he shifted his entire attention towards Leni and asked, "Did you miss me?" Leni blinked her eyes in response signifying that she missed him. Vincent proceeded to rub her chin and please his girlfriend with feline roots. After a moment, Leni purred and said, "There''s a lot of eyes watching. I don''t want others to think I am weird or get you embarrassed for associating with a feline demi-human like me, meow." "You worry needlessly, Flower." She was embarrassed, to say the least, and Vincent could feel it. "Then should I hold your hands for now?" "Holding hands is fine," Leni nodded and held his hands. A single look at them, and she felt like they were the perfect hands she has ever seen in her life. Vincent, on the other hand, smiled. Her hands are as warm as I thought, he said in his mind. After a few moments, once Emerald booted up dozens of the robots and inputted differentmands in their system, instructor Baldie shifted his attentions to the students and said, "Gather up! The ss is about to begin!" As soon as instructor Baldwin said those words, the student resting on the bleachers stood up, walked down the stairs, and gathered in front of him. "Today''s lecture is kinda special as it is more like apetition rather than a ss. As you can see, there are various training robots in this room. In today''s lecture, you will fight with them. These robots are specially made to deflect all attacks thrown their way, but they won''t attack back or harm you in any way. Also, these robots are modeled after human beings, and they carry a list of human-like weak points. You can gain an advantage by abusing their weaknesses." "In thispetition, you are not allowed to use beast''s weapons and any kind of external item except for the normal weapons held within these racks," Baldwin said while pointing to the weapon rack not far in the distance. "Lastly, the student that defeats the robot in the shortest time by the end of the ss will receive a candy with special benefits!" "Does anyone have any questions?" A student raised his hand and asked, "Can we challenge them multiple times?" "Yes, but you''ll have to wait for ten minutes after each spar," Baldwin replied. "Instructor, what kind of candy is it?" Nevis asked with a curious look on his face. Baldwin smiled and said, "It''s a magical candy that will increase your body strength upon consumption, unconditionally. Of course, your body will build up a resistance against it once you consume a lot of them. Still, it can be considered as a rare treasure that will prove to be beneficial to any one of you, but only the best one will obtain it. So, don''t hesitate and give it your all!" There were a lot of students that were confused about some things and they started to ask for answers from the instructor to clear their confusion. While the students were lost in their fervent excitement, chatting with each other, and asking questions from the instructor, Damien suddenly appeared before Vincent and said, "Good luck. I will be watching you from the spectator''s seat. I hope you won''t disappoint." Damien''s eyes had a glint that had Vincent give him a look of curiosity. At that very moment, his eyes shed crimson before retaining their hazel color. Then, he walked away without uttering another word. "Am I seeing things?" Vincent said in his mind as he looked at the back of Damien, who could be seen walking towards the spectators sitting area to sit with his soon-to-be wife. ? Not really, his eyes were glowing in a crimson hue ? "Is he a vampire?" Chapter 83 - 83: The First Competition (a) ? I am not sure as crimson eyes are the traits of ruby-eyed humanoids such as red moon rabbits and vampires. The only way to make sure of it is to scan him by using energy sense ? "Let''s not think about it as for now I need to focus on thepetition." Vincent shifted his attention to thepetition that was about to start. A few minutester, once instructor Baldwin has cleared the confusion of all the newly enlisted students by answering their questions, he said, "If you wish to participate in thepetition, step forward and battle it out with the robot made forbat practice." Immediately after he said those words, a lot of newly enlisted students went ahead and grabbed the weapons they preferred from the weapon rack before heading towards the center of the room to stand face to face with a robot. They all wanted to participate as the reward for winning thepetition was too great to be given up on without a fight. "After the countdown of three, you may start to attack the robot until it''s killed, or you''re tired of fighting and want to take a rest," Baldwin announced thest conditions of the fight as he watched the students taking a battle stance in front of thebat robots. "Yes, sir!" The loud sound of the exmation of the few students reached every corner of the room, signifying the start of thepetition, and then a group of students made up of thirty people began to fight with the robots at the same time. As the students proceed to fight against the robots, Damien, Emerald, and a few other seniors observed them from the spectator''s sitting area with their eyes glistening in keen interest. "One of them might be the future pir of the Earth Federation," Emerald said with a look of anticipation on her face as she thought that the person who will outperform everyone might will be glorious in the future. I should befriend such a person, she thought, as she has not forgotten the real reason for why she was here. She has joined the military academy toplete a clear goal set by her friend. Her father was the duke of the northern duchy of the Avalon Empire. The northern duchy ruled over the other region of the world of Lorena, a ce with mostly barrennd and a lot of demonic monsters and beasts that love to prey on humans. Her soon-to-be duchy was riddled with danger and filled with problems that made it hard formoners to live in peace. Her soon-to-be duchy was riddled with danger and filled with problems that made it hard formoners to live in peace. At the same time, the nobles and royals of the Empire were waiting for the duke to fail to keep up with his responsibilities to plunder and loot the entirend under his name. To stop that from happening, she came here to befriend and provide benefits to talented youngsters that will grow up to be powerhouses and one day repay her favor by helping her solve the crisis of the northern duchy of the Avalon Empire. Hearing the words of his wife-to-be, Damien''s lips curled into a smile, and he said, "Who knows, maybe someone in front of us might end up being hailed as the sixth great hero in the future." Saying these words, he motioned Emerald to focus on the student that has stepped ahead to fight the robot. Emerald followed the direction of his finger and shifted her attention to a boy with a pretty face that has chosen iron gauntlets with sharp and small spike jutting out of the knuckles as his choice of weapon. After Nevis stood a few steps away from the robot, he spoke loudly to his viewers, "Wish me luck!" Although he couldn''t awaken in his life as he is said to have no way of containing ability cells in his body and didn''t have an ability, he was born with the innate racial trait to control energies easier than others, and his learning abilities were by far the strongest Vincent and the live stream viewers have ever seen in their life. They felt that Nevis would surprise them today, one way or another, and they cheered him on by announcing that they will donate a few virtual coins as long as he manages to defeat a robot. [Congrattions! Generous Viewer has donated 1000 Virtual Coins to your stream] [I have donated 1000 virtual coins in hopes of you defeating the robot within a minute. I hope you won''t let me down] Generous Viewer voice sounded through the hovering metallic cube recording Nevis''s actions. After a few moments, once the three-second countdown ended, Nevis charged forward, closing the distance between them in a single moment before throwing punches at the robots while utilizing the movement technique he had learned from Vincent to move in a zig-zag manner. Bam! Bam! Bam! Out of every three punches, two of them connected with the metallic body of the robot, and the punches packed so much power that they created deep dents all over the metallic body of thebat robot. The eyes of Damien and Emerald widened as they looked at Nevis with an expression of appreciation. "What an amazing tactic! He is attacking the robots in a way that makes it hard for thebat robot that runs on calction to react to." "He is overpowering the robot made to deflect attacks by attacking irregrly. The robot can''t finish the calction required to dodge the uing attack before getting hit by a punch." Emerald and Damien said at the same time. "Looks like he is done," immediately after, Damien said. As soon as he said those words, Nevisnded a powerful punch on the robot''s gut that threw it flying backward. The robot crashed on the ground and remained unmoving as if it has died. ? Contestant name: Nevis Truemight ? ? Time taken to defeat thebat robot: 25 seconds! ? "You defeated the robot in the shortest time until now," instructor Baldwin said with a smile forming on his gruff face. "Oh yeah, baby! I won!" Nevis shouted in excitement before spewing his favorite game character line to look cool. "The iprehensible fighting style is the deadliest." Chapter 84 - 84: The First Competition (b) While Nevis walked out of the center of the room and towards the bleachers, Emerald shifted her attention towards her fiance, and she said, "Out of them, who do you think is the most talented?" "Hmm, it''s hard to decide without seeing their performances for myself," said Damien. Immediately after, he lifted his index finger and continued, "Anyone that defeats a robot within less than a minute can be considered as talented." After a moment, Emerald asked, "How about you? How long did it take for you to defeat abat robot the very first time?" Damien teasingly smiled and said, "If you wanna know, kiss me." As soon as he said those words, Emerald rolled her eyes, saying as she did that, "Don''t tell if you don''t want to. I am not that interested anyway." Amused at her loveable behavior and chuckling sue to see her embarrassed and flustered, Damien got so excited that his eyes turned crimson for a moment, "A split of a second, that''s the amount of time I took to defeat one my very first time," Damien said earning himself Emerald''s eyes opened wide filled with shock and disbelief. "Are you for real?" She asked without thinking. It''s only been half a year since they were together with each other, and she didn''t know much about him except for the fact that he was pretty popr with the girls in the military academy and extremely handsome. Damien blinked his eyes in response and said, "Have I ever lied to you?" Emerald shook her head, knowing full well that he has never lied to her. Rather he has always had, did his best to make herugh and please her. He was a perfect man with exceptionally handsome looks and strength. Yet, she didn''t like the fact that he is overly clinging to her. Not a single day goes by without him by her side, twenty-four out of seven. He would sneak in her room at night, chase her in the day, attend the same sses as her, and so on, and all of that pissed her a lot. Damien didn''t understand how important privacy is for a human as he wasn''t a human himself. A few minutester, John stood before thebat robot with a pole in his hand, and although he has never used a weapon in his life, his basic foundation was so solid that he didn''t find it hard to execute basic maneuvers with the pole. He held his breath before thrusting the pole forward continuously, blood pumping throughout his body. Within a minute, he managed tond a few powerful strikes on its body, but the robot wasn''t showing signs of falling anytime soon. Desperate to end the battle in the shortest time possible for him, John tripped it over the moment he got the chance. "Get knocked out already!" He shouted while smashing its head with the pole clutched in his hand. The force behind each of John''s attacks was well above a few hundred kilograms. It only took a few attacks to shatter the head of the robot that has fallen to the ground and couldn''t defend itself. "John: 1 minute thirty seconds." When John finished in more than a minute, instructor Baldwin remarked in his mind, "This group of students aren''t as remarkable as the ones who came yesterday. The descendants of the great royalty ended their battles with thebat robot in less than half a minute while fighting leisurely. Even Asiloman, who performed the best, took less than 5 seconds to chop the robot into 10 pieces." Yesterday, instructor Baldwin had already seen a group of excellent newly enlisted students performing far well than the ones today. He was naturally feeling slightly disappointed. Just then; however, a voice sounded in his ears, listening to which his eyes widened in utter disbelief and shock. ? Contestant name: Geom 13 ? ? Time taken to defeat thebat robot: 0.9 seconds ? "Heavens! What a powerful ability! He just swung his sword and the robot was chopped in two halves! What the hell did he just do? What kind of ability is this?" Geom has astounded everyone by finishing in 0.9 seconds. It wasn''t just the students who were shocked to hear his result, as even the instructor was shocked by this young man who killed abat robot in less than a minute. "Huh? How is this possible? What just happened?! Let''s watch the rey!!!" Immediately after, Instructor Baldwin started to watch the rey. In the rey, he saw that Geom had brought out his stainless sword from one of his spatial bracelets and held it tightly in his calloused and thick hands before the three-second countdown ended. Then he saw how he brandished his sword as soon as the battle started. At the same time, a horizontal white light shed in the center of thebat robot''s waist and expanded to each side of its body. After a single swing, he stored his sword in his spatial bracelet as if he was certain that he has killed thebat robot. And he was right! The white light dimmed down in the split of a second, and the sturdy metallic body of thebat robot was chopped into two pieces startling the contestants and the spectators. "Geom 13?! Is he the rumored thirteenth son of the Royal Sword Family? The one said to possess the same ability as the head of the family?" The instructor said, promising to look at the records of this young man after thepetition. Meanwhile, a person sitting in the spectator''s sitting area gazed at Geom with deep interest. "Although I have watched the members of the Royal Sword Family in action a lot of time," Emerald heard Damien say those words, his lips curling into a grin, "the unique ability that goes perfectly well with swords to the point it''s hard to believe still amuses me," Damienpleted his sentence while staring at him with a look that said, it''s a ptable prey. Geom hair stood on end, as every fiber of his being alerted him that he was in danger as if a beast was about to pounce on him out of nowhere. He turned around and moved his head left and right, looking for any signs of danger. After finding no signs of the danger he just felt, he breathed out deeply, thinking as he walked back to sit down on the bleachers with a back covered in sweat, "It''s weird that the feeling of danger suddenly vanished as if it never existed in the first ce, but I refuse to ept it. I am sure that my life was threatened, albeit for a moment. After all, my body has never sent a wrong signal to me. I am sure that something dangerous had set its sight on me, but no one will believe me even if I make a scene about it. They will just think I am crazy. I should stay alert from now on." Meanwhile, with his eyes closed, Damien licked his lips and slowed down his breathing to calm his heart, thinking as he did that, ''I so want to suck him dry of all his blood and obtain his ability, but that will be breaking the rules set by the lords of the Crimson Pce. I don''t want to be an outcast and get hunted by the vampire bunds. Now, do I?" Chapter 85 - 85: The First Competition (Finale) With the instructor and the students believing that Geom will be the one who is going to win thepetition as he defeated thebat robot in the shortest time until now, the newly enlisted students participated in thepetition less spirited, their excitement as dead as a cracked and barrennd; some decided against participating knowing full well of their limits and understanding that there is no way for them to win thepetition since now, the goal has risen out of their reach. ''He, ugh, not only did he defeat thebat robot, but the fun of thepetition has also died. Now no one is trying their best. It''s not like I can me anyone here,'' instructor Baldwin thought, sighing and shrugging subtly. The participants knew their limits best and understood that no matter what they do, they won''t be able to best Geom''s performance. For them, it was impossible to defeat the robot within a second. While all of this was going on, Vincent had been sitting in the corner of the spectator''s sitting area, trying to learn the basic hand signs to cast mana infusion before challenging the robot, as Leni sat beside him, staring at his face subtly while blushing and thinking, ''he is handsome than everyone else here, and he is mine, hehe.'' After half an hour, nearly all of the newly enlisted students that wanted to participate had challenged thebat robot to a fight. "Allen: 2 minutes "Jared: 3 minutes." "Amelia 4 minutes." Out of the hundreds of students, only ten of them had managed to defeat the robot in less than a minute. Two-third of them managed to ovee the excellent deflecting skills of the robot only after a minute. The remaining students were out of stamina before they could win the fight. They could only regretfully admit the reality that they weren''t strong enough to win a fight against thebat robot even when using weapons while walking back to their seats. "Big brother, I am going to participate. Wish me luck!" Leni''s sweet voice chimed in the ears of Vincent, who has buried all his focus on learning the magic technique he obtained from the library today. He raised his head, looking at her with a deep smile showing an expression of love, and said, "I am rooting for you. It doesn''t matter whether or not you can outperform him. I just want to see the best you got." "Since you have said, I will do my best." She nodded amiably, turning around with a smile blossoming on her face and then walking away from the boy who closed the book, stored it in his storage device, and kept on staring at her figure as if she was the entire world for him. A few secondster, the instructor saw a short girl with snowy hair, glistening crystal-like eyes, and cute features stepping up to the robot created with a menacing face. "I can feel him looking at me. Will he like me more if I perform well?" Leni said in her mind as the system started the countdown. Right when the battle began, Leni''s 50 units of magic power dwindled rapidly to activate her abilities. "Dual ability: Northern Pir! The spectators watched with wide eyes as an enormous pir made out of crystal clear ice glistening under the lights of the room materialized in front of Leni. Immediately after, she used her second ability to push it forward, crashing it towards the puppet. BOOM! The ice pir thrice the size of the robot in both width and height chilled the surroundings as it moved with incredible speed, giving the robot no chance to get out of its way. The resulting impact caused the robot and ice pir to explode and splinter intorge chunks of metallic and icy shrapnel bursting outward. ? Contestant name: Leni ? ? Time taken to defeat thebat robot: 2.7 seconds ? The students were blown away by the overwhelming performance of the snow-white beauty, who seems harmless and cute like a newborn cat. "Amazing!" "Oh my God! She is beautiful and powerful just like a tantalizing devil!" "So sexy and cute, I want to marry her!" "What powerful abilities!" The students realized that she had used two abilities, one to create the pir of ice and the other to control it and increase its speed. Around a minuteter, Leni returned to Vincent''s smile with a victorious smile. In a single look, he determined that she was happy because she managed to defeat the puppet, not because she performed outstandingly. "Did I do well?" She asked after sitting down on the seat beside him and wanting to rest her head on his shoulder but deciding against her heart desire. Vincent patted her on the head and praised, "You did great!" After a moment, she asked, "Big brother, when are you going to participate?" Vincent looked at her in the eyes as his lips thinned into a seductive smile, and he said, "I have been waiting for you to kiss me and wish me well. Won''t you?" Leni knew that avoiding his advances again and again wasn''t a good idea, something she shouldn''t do as his girlfriend. Of course, she wanted to be intimate with him too. Her eyes darted from his face to sweep across the room with a scrutinizing gaze in a hurry, and seeing that no one was looking their way right now led her to believe that the probability of them being caught by someone while doing something intimate was second to none. She hurriedly turned towards her boyfriend, leaned forward, and kissed him on the lips subtly. She then said, "Something far better than this kiss is waiting for you if you perform well," in hopes of encouraging him. The cat has shown its w that is seductively wing at my heart, Vincent thought, relishing the lingering warmness of her lips. Without caring for anything, Vincent held her hand and pushed her into his embrace. "Big brother!" Leni cried out as redness suffused with her snow-white skin. Feeling as if every eye in the room was staring at them, he buried her face in his chest, embarrassment filling every inch of her body. She was embarrassed to show the public this disy of affection. Isn''t something like this done in private, she thought with ruddy ears, seeing which Vincent licked his rosy lips. "I don''t want to break off this hug. So please, can we stay like this for a moment," Vincent said as he took in her sweet scent that warmed his heart and boiled his blood. Leni shyly nodded, rubbing her head full of snow-white hair in his manly and sturdy chest. After a moment, he traced his hand across her fluffy hair and held her waist. "Thanks to you, I feel like I can perform better than him," Vincent said, pointing at Geom, and he continued, "Flower, I hope you have something good prepared for me." The flower of his heart blushed as he stepped out of the bleachers to enter the limelight. "Look, there he is!" Damien said, pointing at Vincent, "The person who outperformed everyone in this year''s entrance exam held in Cloud Tower City." "How long do you think it''ll take him?" Emerald asked. Staying together, she knew her fiance has a special ability that allows him to gauge the strength of others. "It should take him a very short time as he is from that race," Damien said with a mysterious smile. "What race?" Emerald asked with a look of anticipation. Damien''s lips hooked and he teasingly said, "You must marry me first before I can tell you the name of his race." "Hmph!" Meanwhile, Vincent could be seen performingplex hand signs with one of his hands. At the same time, he walked towards one of the many robots. Clutched in his right hand was a stainless sword, which he had picked up from the weapon rack. The three-second countdown started as he stood before thebat robot. ? 1 ? Along with this announcement, he ced his index and middle finger on the de of the sword and moved it to the sharp edge causing the sword to tremble as a subtle blue glow enclosed it. While the de of the sword couldn''t prate the metallic hulk of the robot before, it could now, as he has infused fifty units of magic power with the sword to increase the sharpness and strength of its de. He also used the most powerful and basic form of transcendent-gradebat technique and infused twenty units of battle energy with his legs to increase his overall movement speed. ? 2 ? At this point, after bending his knees, Vincent took a deep breath and activated his blood gear to adorn his flesh with the looks of the crimson ruler. At the same time, he gained a massive boon in his strength, health regeneration, and speed. ? 3 ? At that very moment, Vincent shoots forward like a celestial ying arrow released from a heavenly bow. He moved so fast that the eyes of the students couldn''t keep up with him. In the split of a second, the sword in his hand was brandished with all of his might, but it was only a momentterwhen the students came to see the one who disappeared in their vision already standing behind the robotthat a blue arc of light shed in the neck region of thebat puppet. A hot breath bellowed out from Vincent''s mouth as the system announced his result. ? Contestant name: Vincent Sangue ? ? Time taken to defeat thebat robot: 0.77 seconds ? The result was so shocking that it made everyone say, "WHAT?!", without thinking. Just then, a cold voice sounded in the ears of everyone present in the room, listening to which a smile that stretches from ear to ear began to form on Damien''s face as he wondered just who in hell''s name turned him?! Cling! To everyone''s surprise, thebat robot''s neck was cleanly chopped off from its body. It dropped to the ground with a dull thud and stopped after tumbling for a while. At the same time, the normal sword in Vincent''s right hand shattered into many pieces. The students blinked their eyes, looking as if they''ve just witnessed something impossible. "What the hell just happened?" "Impossible!" "I can''t believe what I have witnessed!" How could be so fast? Did he used transcendental-gradebat technique, Jelo? He surpassed me, huh? Interesting! The newly enlisted students, instructor Baldwin, and Geom thought with eyes widened like saucers as they looked at Vincent with an expression of utter disbelief and amazement. After a moment, Vincent stood straight and looked at Leni with a seductive smile and a look that said, are you prepared to reward me? Leni lowered her eyes to avoid his intense gaze that was making her heart flutter. "You have defeated thebat robot in the shortest time," instructor Baldwin said among the shocked mumbling of the crowd, "The period is about to end, and I believe there''s no one here that can defeat thebat robot in a time shorter than yours. So, I would like to proim you as the winner of thispetition." Baldwin continued, "Does anyone have any problem with that?" The students shook their heads, signifying they were okay with the result. How could they not be when he has outperformed all of them? "That''s great!" The instructor proceeded to pull something out of the storage of his spatial ring. Just then; however, something happened that pulled a break on what he was about to do. "Wait," a voice sounded in the ssroom of weapon training after the doors of the room were flung open, and a red-haired teenager with a graceful face wearing a ck robe with silver linings came walking inside, "I hope I am not toote for thepetition and can still take part in it," he said to the instructor. Chapter 86 - 86: Body Strengthening Candy! Vincent, instructor Baldwin, and the spectators inclined their heads and shifted their eyes respectively to look at the source of the voice and saw Felix standing at the entrance of the room. "Hmm what are you doing here?", instructor Baldwin asked. He was told that Felix was a part of the beta ssa ss where everyone is required to only train day and night to surpass the minimumbat level threshold of 20 points. Felix''s sun-like eyes narrowed subtly and he said, "Instructor, what do you mean?" The instructor shook his head and said, "This ss is only for alpha and special ss students. You belong to neither of them. Care to exin who told you about this ss and why are you here?" "Oh, then this is exactly the ce where I should be," Felix raised his hand, a quantum card suddenly materializing in between his slender fingers. The instructor''s eyes showed shock for a moment before he realized that he has taken the reassessment and has be the student of the alpha ss. Anyone could be a part of the alpha ss as long as theirbat power level surpasses twenty. On the other hand, if the students are well-qualified to be a part of the alpha ss yet are still being held back, it can be said that they are being bullied and suppressed by an instructor carrying personal vendetta against them, and they can report it to the punishment hall for justice. However, most of the time, justicees after months of waiting, partially destroying the student''s future. "There are still three minutes left," said Baldwin after ncing at the watch in his hand, "Do as you wish." Hearing his words, Felix wiped the sheenyer of sweat on his face, smiling as he thought that three minutes are more than enough. "Great! May I ask who holds the best record in thispetition?" Felix asked as he looked at Baldwin. He was doing his best to not look at Vincent and the others. After all, the beatings he took from them had dwindled his overconfidence and arrogance. What followed after was even worse and crushed his pride to bits. He got enrolled in the beta ss with a bunch of country bumpkin. He shrugged, trying to forget the distasteful yesterday. Instructor Baldwin motioned him to look at the scoreboard in the distance. His eyes widened as he saw the name of the ones who defeated thebat robot in the shortest time, Vincent and Geomone of them was his biggest motivation to be strong while he didn''t give a fuck about thetter. ''If I do my best, I should be able to match up to them, even if barely,'' Felix thought as he began to walk towards the puppet. "Don''t you want to listen to the rules of thispetition?" Instructor Baldwin asked as he looked at his back. "I already know!" Felix said in a loud voice as he stood before the robot. Instructor Kayle had notified him of everything rted to thepetition. She didn''t like the current him, but she couldn''t deny that he was once her baby brother and someone dear to her mother. Thus, she helped him out multiple times, allowing him to take a reassessment without waiting for weeks and letting him be a member of the alpha ss immediately. As chilly wind breezed through the room and the countdown began, Felix''s eyes narrowed down to thin slits, and mana rapidly depleted from his body, channeling into his fire ability cells, creating mes andpressing them below his feet and in the center of his palm that balled into a fist. Looking at thebat robot as if he was staring at Vincent, Felix couldn''t control his rage and muttered without any regard for literary excellence, "I am gonna fuck you." The very moment the countdown ended, he sted himself at the robot in grey and hurled a blow to the stomach as it defended by crossing its hands from itself. However, once Felix''s punchnded on its thick hands, a thickyer of me burst out from his knuckles that dawned on the robot and splintered, showering all over the room. It was so hot that the internal circuits and external body of the robot were melted to the point of liquefication, killing it immediately. ? Felix Walken: 1.1 seconds ? Most of the mes reached towards the innocent and powerless students that stood no chance to defend themselves against the mes that even melted the metallic body of thebat robot. They panicked, pushing one and another, causing some to trip to run out of the way of the shower of mes. They were about to get burned alive; however, instructor Baldwin activated his ability and enclosed everyone in harm''s way in an invisible barrier. His ability was called barrier, and just like its name, he could erect a defensive barrier around any living or non-living thing within the range of his ability. The students that were panicking calm down once they saw that the mes weren''t able to touch them as a semi-transparent shield surrounded them. The appearance of smoke and fire activated the sprinkled. After a few minutes, the fire died down under the assault of water. "My efforts in thest day hadn''t been a waste of time!" Felixuded himself, unaware that the instructor was raging due to what he did. He was feeling smug that he outperformed everyone except for Vincent and Geom. "What is wrong with you? You could have hurt the other students if I wasn''t attentive enough," instructor Baldwin screamed at Felix after he pacified the terrified and panicked students. "My bad, instructor. I was just too excited about wanting to test the limit of my newfound powers. I didn''t think it will cause so much damage." Felix has been training under the guidance of a mysterious entity made of mes which was the real cause of his expulsion from the family''s royal grounds. Following the me Spirit''s instructions, he had managed to integrate further with the mark of mes which granted him immunity to fire. This has led to an increase in his strength. After rolling his eyes, instructor Baldwin handed Felix a rulebook before speaking: "It doesn''t change the fact that you have vited a rule of the academy by endangering the lives of other students. Our academy strictly forbids infighting and especially putting someone''s life at risk. You have broken a rule, so you must be punished. This is the Military Academy''s rule book; it contains 999 rules you must follow during your academic life. By tomorrow, copy it ten times by hand, and provide the books to me. Otherwise, you''ll be sent to the Punishment Hall for punishment." "Hmph!" Felix angrily stared at the instructor with a look that said, do you think I can be so easily bullied? "I did rather ept the Punishment." "That''s even better. The students of the punishment hall love torturing and ying with fresh and arrogant meat like you. I hope you won''t take back your decision." Hearing his words, Felix gulped and said, "On second thought, I will do as you say." "Haha," instructor Baldwinughed at him. "I thought he has grown up after what has happened to him, but he is still a brat. What a troublesome person." Vincent said, causing Leni to giggle. "Big brother, I don''t like him as a person. Let''s not interact with him." Leni said indicating that she didn''t want to have anything to do with Felix. "I feel the same way about that," Vincent replied. At that very moment, instructor Baldwin came up to them. He handed Vincent a blue box before speaking, "This box contains the Body Strengthening Pill you won by cing first in thispetition. It is created by Alex the Alchemist. He is quite aplished as an alchemist due to his deep proficiency in a lot of pill-making techniques. The body-strengthening pill is one of his new products. It is verified by the alchemist authorities. It will strengthen your body unconditionally. As for how much, I will leave it up for you to find out." ''A magical pill refined by an alchemist? So this is what he meant by candy!'' Vincent eximed in his mind as he epted the blue ring box carrying a pill with a smile on his face. "Congrattions, big brother!" Leni was feeling very happy for him. After a moment, once Vincent stored the box in his spatial ring, instructor Baldwin said, "The pill will begin to lose its medicinal essence, and its effectiveness will decrease over time once you open the box. So don''t open the lid unless you are ready to consume the pill." "I understand." Vincent nodded. Chapter 87 - 87: Work Hard In The Future! Before the bells could ring to signify the end of the period, instructor Baldwin stood before the students before speaking, "Congrattions to everyone who defeated thebat robot within three minutes here''s your reward. You guys have earned 30 contributions points each from me. Consider it a pocket change and use them as you like." In the very next second, the student''s quantum card vibrated, forcing them to look at it, only to see that the instructor has gifted them 30 points and they could use it as they like. "Wow! Instructor, you''re the best!" "Thank you for your generosity!" The students eximed in surprise as they stood up from their seats abruptly with a smile on their faces. "What?!" The students that didn''t try hard and failed to defeat the puppet within three minutes, and the students, who refused to participate thinking that it is useless since they can''t outperform him stood there with a gawking look on their faces as they stared at the students who received rewards for only defeating the robot. They regretted not trying hard! However, some felt that it was unfair to them since the instructor kept this a secret from them; otherwise, they would have tried just as hard as the others, but they knew there''s no use crying over split milk. Instructor Baldwin clearly understood the thinking of these young fools, and he said in a loud voice, "As for the rest of you, next time, don''t be discouraged in the face of an unmountable adversary, and do your best to win. If you had tried your best in today''spetition, you would have also earned something but look what you did, nothing! Reflect on your actions, and don''t be a disappointment in the future!" "Yes, instructor!" After a few moments, once the bell rang, signifying the end of the ss, instructor Baldwin pointed to the exit of the ssroom and said, "All right, thepetition has ended. Go and do whatever you like!" "Phew, the final ss of today has finally ended," Nevis said. "What should we do now?" John asked. "Maybe grab food and head to the arcade and log in to the virtual world''s arena of valor and beat some asses?" Nevis replied. "This indeed seems like a great idea!" Varth added. The students chatted with each other while walking out of the ss casually. A few of them couldn''t wait to ess the arena of valor and win some games, stacking their contributions points by betting in a fight to the death. Death in the virtual world''s arena of valor didn''t mean actual death, so it was fine and allowed by the academy. Instructor Baldwin looked at Vincent''s back and hurriedly said, "Dear pupil, I have something important to tell you." "Hm?" Hearing his words, Vincent, who was just about to leave the ssroom with Leni, halted in his footsteps. His girlfriend also stopped. The instructor approached them and once he stood before them, he said, "Senior Theodore asked me to let you know that the magic teacher will hold a special ss next Monday. If you can, do attend it." His words came as a happy surprise to Vincent as he has been looking forward to learning more about magic and magic techniques ever since he became a student of the military academy but had met with utter disappointment. The military academy wasn''t holding lectures on magic for the newly enlisted students for an indefinite period as the magic teacher has retired for personal reasons. "Surprised, aren''t you? We have found a recement for the magic ss. She hasn''t arrived at the academy yet, but she''ll in a day or two. After taking some time to get used to the academy, she will start teaching magic to you guys. So, are you joining or not?" "I''ll surely participate." Vincent nodded. The special sses werepetitions, and winning them will him great rewards. Why would he miss one for no reason? Right after, Vincent asked, "Is instructor Theodore busy?" "Well, he went out of the academy to attend to some business. He is out of reach at the moment." Instructor Baldwin replied before he received a call and went away in a hurry. "Let''s go, hand in hand," Vincent said as he moved his hand to hold her hand. "Okay," Leni said as she firmly grasped his hand. A few momentster, once they left the ssroom, Vincent noticed Damien approaching them out of the blue with Emerald. A few conversations back and forth, and it turned out that they wanted to know them better. While walking through the winding paths with trees and flowers, Leni and Emerald chatter with each other like they are long-lost sisters who have finally reunited with each other, and Vincent and Damien had an awkward time. "Girls, they get along with each other faster than us boys," Damien said as he looked at Vincent. "I hope we don''t get along," Vincent said, signifying he didn''t want to meet him anymore in any way. "Your words are hurtful," Damien said, leaning forward towards him, "I have a feeling that we will be seeing each other pretty a lot from now on." Vincent stared him dead in the eye, "I hope we don''t." "That''s up to time and fate to decide." Damien walked away with his fiance after saying that. Afterward, once they were walking together hand in hand, Leni asked, "Big brother, who was he? Are you guys good friends?" "Just an odd stranger. I only met him an hour ago." Vincent said before he teasingly smiled as if he remembered something exciting. He then leaned closer to her face to whisper in her ears, "So what are you gonna reward me now that I have won thepetition." "Umm..." Leni hasn''t decided on what to gift him. She just said those words, hoping to encourage him just like any girl would do for her boyfriend, but she didn''t know that it was going to bite her back. "Don''t tell me you haven''t decided yet," Vincent said with a subtle shocked expression on his face. It was as if he was lied to, making Leni feel bad. "Sorry," she said. Immediately after, Vincent decided to strike when the iron is hot. "How about you give me something I will like?" Leni blinked her snow-like eyes and asked, "Big brother, what would that be?" "I''m famished and feeling rather hungry. So, I would like to eat something." As soon he said those words, Vincent''s eyes narrowed down to seductive thin slits looking at Leni as if she was the most delicious dish he has ever seen in his life. Oblivious to his intentions, Leni cheered in happiness and said, "Great! I was also feeling rather hungry. Let''s go to the food court and grab some lunch." Smiling at her innocence, Vincent grabbed her by the hand and pushed her into his embrace before encircling one of his hands around her lithe waist. ''Huh?!'' Leni blushed as his face leaned closer to her face. She couldn''t help but think that something isn''t right with the way he is behaving. Vincent leaned over her face, his sultry breath tingling her snow-white skin and fluttering her heart, and he said, "I don''t want to eat food, Flower." "Huh? Then what do you wanna eat?" Leni said without thinking. However, the very next moment, her cheeks turned as red as a ripe tomato as she realized where this was going. "Flower, I want to eat you, tasting you from head to toe." Hearing his words and seeing him lick his rosy lips, Leni felt as if her heart was about to explode. Without saying anything, she pushed him away and made a run for it, her back disappearing from his sight as she took a turn. Vincent''s chuckled while relishing the image of the startled Leni in his mind, "I will let you run for as long as you want. Slowly and steadily, you won''t refuse my touch, and a day wille when I make you mine." His narrowed eyes burned with traces of love and lust. Leni was his whether she liked it in the future or not, so he didn''t find it hard to take things slow with her. It''s not like he could be her breath within a day. He knew it will take time to be someone as important as oxygen to her. He shook his head and chased after her. In a few moments, he caught up to her, "Where are you going?" Leni didn''t reply as if she mad at him for something. "I promise I won''t tease you anymore," Vincent added, causing Leni to look at him with a look that said, I hope you keep your words. "The food court!" She eximed while running towards a beautifully designed building with multiple floors in the distance. Vincent followed her as he wanted to eat together with her and also find out the price of hiring a magic chef to cook the evolution material for him. He wanted to evolve as a fire ability user since he had the evolution material obtained from the Red Tusk Elephant. Yet, he didn''t know the amount of money a magic chef will ask to cook one for him. ''Though I will find out soon as the food court is rumored to be filled with magic chefs!'' Vincent eximed in his mind as they neared towards the big building. Chapter 88 - 88: Dear Childhood Friend A few momentster, Leni and Vincent reached the food court. There were a lot of restaurants in this ce, each run by a magic chef. The restaurants were selling arge variety of food. "I told you, we''ll meet again pretty soon." A hearty voice sounded in the ears of Vincent and Leni as a handsome young man approached them. "Eh, What are you doing here?" Vincent said as he looked at Damien with a look that said, are you a stalker? "Isn''t it obvious enough?" Damien pointed at the badge on his shoulder as he said that, "I work as a chef in this ce." He hurriedly added, dispelling the misunderstanding aroused in Vincent''s eyes. Their eyes widened in shock as they stared at him. ''Such a young magic chef!'' Magic chef is a profession. A magic chef purifies evolution materials obtained from beasts of different ranks and creates dishes out of them. The dishes they cook are typically brimming with Ability cells. A persones to contain Ability Cells in their bloodstream after eating such a dish. Once they possess a certain amount of Ability Cells in their bloodstream, they enter the awakening evolution process. They obtain an ability after sessfully crossing the awakening process. Magic chefs who create evolution dishes were extremely important to the Earth Federation. As without them, a person can only obtain an ability through the self-awakening evolution process, which can only ur if two conditions are met. First of all, Ability Cells are hibernating in the body already. Secondly, the person is experiencing extreme emotions such as stress, grief, and anger, or life-threatening danger. "I-I was sorry for using you. My bad," Vincent said in an apologetic voice. He hadbeled Damien as a stalker without knowing that he was a magic chef working in the food court. "No problem," Damien shed them a smile. "I believe you are here to eat food. My small and popr restaurant sells both normal and magical food. Which one would you like?" He took out the menu of his restaurant from his spatial earring before handing it out to Vincent. "You can select for us," Vincent said after he handed out the menu to Leni. "Okay, big brother." Leni began to look through the menu. Immediately after, her eyes widened to the size of saucers as she looked at the unbelievable costs of the dishes. "If you need anything, you can call one of the waiters working for me," Damien said as he began to walk away. "Wait, I have a question to ask," Vincent hurriedly called out to stop him from going away. Damien halted in his footsteps, turned around to look at him, and said, "Hmm, what is it?" "What''s the cost of preparing a dish from evolution material?" Vincent asked with a look of anticipation on his face. "It will cost 10000 contribution points to purify the meat of a demonic beast and another 5000 to create a dish out of it," Damien said. "What about low-level beasts?" Vincent asked as he looked at Damien. "A low-level beast, eh?" Damien couldn''t believe that this person was thinking of eating a dish prepared from the evolution material of a mere magical beast. "I am talking about magical beasts," Vincent said, believing that Damien probably doesn''t know about the terms used for beasts on Earth. "Oh, it will be around 1500 contribution points, but I will cut you some cks and create a dish out of it for like 500 points." Damien said, "Which beast''s meat is it?" "Red Tusk Elephant," Vincent replied. "ording to the Gourmet Association, the safe consumption level of Red Tusk Elephant''s meat is 100 grams. Any more than that, and it will lead to an ugly physical mutation." "What?" Vincent didn''t have much knowledge about this subject. He was surprised to hear that the evolution material obtained from the elephant can only be consumed to a certain limit. "Yes, you might grow a horn out of your head if you eat more than 100 grams of Red Tusk Elephant''s meat. So, just provide me with 100 grams of its meat. Of course, a dish created from 100 grams of its evolution material won''t help you awaken. It will just increase the Ability cell counts in your bloodstream if it can contain fire ability cells. You will need to eat a few more fire-rted evolution materials to awaken." Damien exined with his arms crossed before his chest. "I understand." Vincent nodded. Vincent believes that Damien had said the truth yet, he decided to confirm it through other sources just to be sure. "Do you want me to prepare it now?" He asked. "Not now, I don''t have enough contributions points to afford your service," Vincent said honestly. Damien smiled charmingly and said, "If you are in a hurry to awaken and want to eat evolution material, I can prepare them for you after you write me an IOU agreement." Vincent shook his head, "No thanks." They were honestly strangers to each other, but Damien was treating him extra well and good for some reason. He didn''t believe that a stranger he just met was acting nice to him without any underlying intentions. Damien sighed and left them alone after telling them to call a waiter if they had decided to eat something. Meanwhile, the students sitting in the same area were surprised to see the prince of cooking personally attending to two newly enlisted students, which they found out by looking at their uniforms. Just how are they? What is their rtion with our Prince? "I am feeling so jealous of them. Howe they get his attention while I never had." A female simping for Damien''s love said, biting her lips as jealousy flooded out of her eyes. Vincent and Leni were oblivious to the things happening in their surroundings. "Big Brother, this ce is a little bit too costly," Leni said, feeling embarrassed because she wasn''t rich enough to afford such luxurious food. Chapter 89 - 89: A Vampire For Sure! Vincent rubbed the back of his head, knowing full well that they couldn''t afford to eat even the cheapest magic dish, and he said, "Just order a few luxurious dishes instead of magic dishes." Showing a regretful expression on her face, Leni said, "Even that is worth several contribution points. Should we go somewhere else? If you don''t mind, I will cook for us." Vincent motioned her to stay where she was, and he said, "Don''t think about it too much. Consider it my treat!" Feeling that it will be regretful if they left without tasting anything from Damien''s restaurant, Vincent decided to stay and eat something before going away. Furthermore, it is not like he will remain tight on money for too long. He has already epted a mission,pleting which will him hundreds of contribution points. Toplete the mission, he has already decided to invite Leni and her brother to help him out. "I will pay for half of it," Leni said as she didn''t want to burden him with all the cost of the food. "Not today," Vincent said, knowing that she had fewer contribution points them him. "You can treat me next time." "Okay," Leni replied with a subtle nod. Soon they called a service droid and ced their order. Most of the restaurants didn''t hire actual humans and demi-humans as waiters. Rather, they used service droids for such services. Vincent could see that magic chefs were rich. He wondered if he could be one also. At the same time, he was oblivious to the two pairs of eyes staring at him intensely and lovingly. ''He treats me so well. How will I be able to repay him in the future?'' Leni thought as she looked at her boyfriend. "Is he acting, or have he forgotten about me? Maybe he is just a look-alike and nothing more than that. Whatever! There''s a lot of time for us to y in the future, dear friend," Damien said in his mind as he looked at Vincent with eyes redder than red wine, reminiscing about his childhood days. Held within his hands was a picture of a young boy sharing striking simrities with Vincent, only that his hairs were redder than the darkest shades of blood and his eyes radiating with mercilessness. A whileter, once the service droids served delicious food with enticing aromas on their table, Vincent and Leni proceeded to fill their stomach. "Wow! This food taste so good." Vincent''s eyes brightened as the freshness of umami vor bursts on his tongue each time his teeth sunk into the half-done steak and warm rice glittering in some kind of crystalline substance. ? You''ve absorbed chicken blood ? ? +1 units of blood ? ? Blood Capacity: 9/50 units ? As he stuffed the steak and rich into his mouth and savored the food, Vincent''s eyes glistening in calctive glitters narrowed down to thin slits as he thought, ''Damien wouldn''t serve me such a dish unless he knows that I am a vampire that can''t savor humane stuff, so he purposely added blood in my steak. Moreover, this crystalline stuff on the rice is something like blood. He is either a vampire or someone who knows about them.'' ''Should I try to know him better or evade him?'' On the one hand, he wished to know more about the race of his father, but on the other hand, he felt like he will get embroiled in trouble which will be inevitable once he tries to know about them. Vincent found himself conflicted between two sides and couldn''te to a decision. He eased his nerves by eating the food to increase his blood count and eyeing Leni asionally. As long as his blood count doesn''t fall to zero, he won''t be going berserk for blood which was something he found out in the past few days. Meanwhile, Leni peeked nces at him as well while eating the food on her te with elegance. ''He is enjoying eating to his heart''s content. He is a food lover, I see. I think I have found a way to impress him! I will create delicious food for him every day. I am still prettycking, but there are cooking lectures in the academy. Although they cost hundreds of contribution points, I will participate in them and sharpen my cooking skills to cook excellent dishes for him.'' Leni dreamily stared at Vincent. Being stared at for a whole minute caused him to raise his head and look at his girlfriend. "What are you thinking about?" Vincent asked, pulling Leni out of her thoughts. "Ah, nothing!" Leni hurriedly replied. "Why aren''t you eating then? Are you full, or is the food not up to your taste?" "It''s nothing like that. I was just thinking about something." "Oh, and what were you thinking about?" Leni realized shended herself back to square one. He''s good with his words, she thought. "So?" "It''s a secret. I will tell you when I am ready," Leni said with an amiable smile on her face. Vincent didn''t bother her anymore since he didn''t want to force words out of her mouth. After filling their tummies to the brim with warm and tasty food, Vincent and Leni left the food court. They walked towards their dormitories together by taking the winding path with flowers and trees. There was not a sign of life in this pathway. After all, most of the students had gone to the arcade to ess the virtual simtion game called the arena of valor while the rest were either self-studying in the library, participating in costly sses, resting in their living quarters, enjoying the scenery while sitting in the park and so on. Sometimeter, once they reached in front of the dormitories, Leni tiptoed to kiss him on the cheeks before speaking, "See youter, big brother." After a few moments, once Leni''s figure disappeared from his sight, Vincent returned to his living quarters and took off his uniform to wear somethingfy. "Let''s see what the effect of the body strengthening pill." Sitting inside the bed on the lower zone, he took out the blue box from his spatial ring and opened its lid. A waft of aroma assaulted his senses causing his eyes to widen. Chapter 90 - 90: The Power Of The Heirloom Spell Matrix Vincent looked at the Golden-coloured pill inside the box with a scrutinizing gaze as he utilized one of the system''s functions to know more about it. ? Spell Matrix: Appraisal activated! ? ? Item name: Body Strengthening Pill ? ? Effect: Increase all of the consumer''s physical stats by 10 points ? ? Limitations: 1: The effectiveness of the pill decreases by a steep margin ording to the strength of a person. For example, the benefits provided by the pill will be half for every stats that have surpassed 100 points. 2: The pill starts losing its medicinal essence 12 hours after it is exposed to air ? ? Ingredients required to make Body Strengthening Pill: "A Silver Vein, Extreme Sun Herb, Dragon Scale, Moon Essence, Queen''s Cabbage, Marsh Tushes, Aurelius Flower ? "Woah!" Vincent''s voice was filled with excitement as his eyes ran over the information shown on the semi-transparent screen. He wasn''t excited because of the effects of the pill but for an entirely different reason. "I can''t believe you can even list the ingredients of such a unique pill!!!" Vincent eximed. The body-strengthening pill had been invented by Alex the Alchemist only a few weeks ago. It had been legalized by the alchemist association this very week. The recipe of this pill wasn''t known to many, but now he has be one of those people. ? The spell matrix is just that powerful. However, I want to rify that the names of the listed ingredients might be different in the markets as I am using names stored in my database for hundreds of years ago. Of course, you can still identify them as their shapes and sizes will be somewhat simr ? "I understand." Vincent nodded, unable to control himself from smiling. Vincent''s happiness and excitement weren''t without reasons. He has obtained the most important knowledge to create a pill without spending a dime a pill recipe. It''smon knowledge that without knowing the ingredients necessary to form a pill, there is no way to create one. The pill recipe contains the names of ingredients necessary to create a pill. They are worth a lot in the marketce and online trading tforms. It wasn''t wrong to say that purchasing a single good pill recipe would cost amoner their entire life''s saving. Of course, most people who invent pills don''t share their recipes with the public as it isn''t worth the effort they put in to invent a pill. They either keep their pill recipe a secret and sell their pills with limited production to reap maximum benefit, or strike a deal with a beneficial deal with a bigpany or family to mass-produce pills and sell them to a wider audience. "Although I got the pill recipe of the Body Strengthening Pill and will be able to create it after taking a few specialization sses on creating pills, I can''t sell it." Vincent''s eyes glistened in a calcting light as possible adverse oues popped into his mind There were a lot of reasons why he couldn''t sell it. Out of them all, there were two main problems due to which he could never sell the body strengthening pill. "First of all, I would need to purchase the pill creation and pill distribution rights before I can use instructor Alex''s pills for sale purposes." "Secondly, if I try to pass his creation as mine, I will be caught red-handed by the alchemist association and get condemned for giarizing my instructor''s creation, and that will do me more harm than good." "Of course, I can still use it for myself! It''s not like I will sell myself out to the instructors, haha!" ? Tenth, there is a way for you to sell the Body Strengthening Pill ? Blood''s word came as a surprise to Vincent, who had given up on earning benefit from selling Body Strengthening Pill. "Huh? Care to exin?" ? You can modify the pill. You won''t be tagged with alchemical creation theft once you change its shape, color, amplify or decrease its effects by a marginal amount. It will then be a brand new pill. You just need to rename it and sell it on the markets after gaining legal sale and distribution permission from the alchemist authority ? "Modification, huh? It''s not like I haven''t thought about it. Although your n sounds good, it is impossible to modify a pill without wasting years working hard. Not only would I need to find a different set of ingredients, but I will also need to find the golden ratio to mix the medicinal essence of the ingredients into a pill." Vincent said in his mind. The golden ratio was the quantity of medicine essence required from each ingredient to be mixed into one to create a pill. A person can''t mix the medicinal essence of different ingredients into one to procure a pill without achieving the golden ratio, which leads to the failure of pill creation. ? That''s where you are wrong ? Blood voice sounded in Vincent''s ears. "What do you mean?" Vincent''s eyebrows raised. ? My database contains knowledge gathered by nine generations of powerful existence. While most of it is useless in this time and age, the rest of it can be beneficial to you. It depends on how you use it. Although the ninth hadn''t contributed a lot to my database, there''s still enough knowledge in my database for me to exin a few of the workings of alchemical pill professions to you. ording to my calctions, I can find a different set of ingredients and calcte the golden ratio of mixing their medicinal essence to create the Body Strengthening Pill. ? However, you''ll need to do two things to make it possible ? Vincent''s eyes narrowed in thoughts and he asked, "Hmm, what will it take to modify a pill?" ? Firstly, you''ll need to obtain extensive knowledge about the magic herbs, nts, and other ingredients used in pill creation for my database. That''s the only way for me, the blood evolution system, to find better ingredients to create a modified recipe for the body strengthening pill ? Chapter 91 - 91: Purifying Magic Power! "That''s great to hear. I guess I will be spending a lot of time in the library," Vincent said, mocking himself. Immediately after, he thought about this situation seriously, "Tomorrow, I willplete a mission, hunt some monsters, gain hundreds of purified life force and use a portion of it to easily learns dozens of books every day." ? Good! Afterparing the characteristics of various magic herbs, nts, and other ingredients with the ones used to make this pill, there''s a high chance I will be able to modify the recipe. However, the cost to create the modified body strengthening pill will be more than the unmodified one, as you will need to use ingredients with stronger medicinal effects ? "There''s no need to worry about the cost. I will do my best to earn enough contribution points to purchase the ingredients necessary to create a modified pill. The modified pill will sell for a greater price as it has never seen the markets before. I might gain three to ten times my amount of investment from selling a single such pill," Vincent said. He was feeling excited at the prospect of being able to earn a ton of contribution points in the future. "What other thing do I need to do?" ? I canpute the golden ratio of the mixing the medicinal essence of the ingredients, but I will need high-level energy such as mana to run myputing function ? "I understand," Vincent nodded. "I will get a few mana stones near the end of this month. We can use that to run yourputing function." ? Alright. Lastly, you will need to learn a technique to refine alchemical pills as the ninth didn''t store an alchemy technique that human uses in my database. I only have alchemy technique used by the previous heads, and you will need to pass a trial to learn one ? Vincent''s eyes blinked as he checked up the prices of pill refining techniques and cooking techniques online by using his quantum card. He thought that both professions would be helpful to him. He will be able to create his pills after bing an alchemist. Simrly, he will be able to create magic dishes after bing a magic chef. Sometimeter, once he scrolled through a lot of pages, Vincent''s expression distorted. "Ugh, what a greedy world! Everything costs a lot of money. I can''t afford techniques on alchemy and cooking for now. I need to make several hundred contribution points before I can purchase either of them. There are two perfect ways for me to earn money. Complete missions every week and earn contributions points. Use my capabilities as an inscriptionist and sell magic scrolls to stack contribution points. There might be more ways than these two, but I will need to look around." Turns out, it will require around a thousand contribution points to purchase a single pill refining or a single cooking technique. He didn''t have that many. However, he could earn them in a few days or so. Vincent''s current goals could be summarized into three points. 1: Complete missions and sell magic scrolls to earn money. 2: Learn alchemy to make money. 3: Learn cooking to create an evolution dish for himself. "For now, I should increase my strength!" As soon as he finalized everything he needed to do in the near future, he directly tossed the pill into his mouth. The pill went down his throat, bursting into a stream of powerful energy that spread far and wide, seeping into every inch and corner of his body. Vincent could feel a sense of mysticism erupting from his depth as the powerful energy integrated with bones, organs, veins, and every fiber of his being except for the skin. ? Your Strength has increased to 59 points ? ? Your Agility has increased to 67 points ? ? Your Stamina has increased to 52 points ? ? Your Constitution has increased to 63 points ? ? Your Battle Energy Capacity has increased to 63 points ? "Wonderful!" Vincent said as his eyes brightened in glee. The effect of the pill was simply too strong. It only took a single pill for him to be a lot stronger than before while sitting around and doing nothing. "With all that done, I should learn the magic power purifying technique." Vincent took out the lower sun scripture heat purifying method from his spatial ring and started to read each page with a gaze of scrutiny. The book only had ten pages, each page containing 13 hand signs. He needed to learn all the hand signs mentioned in the book to utilize the heat purifying method to purify his magic power from impurities. Sometimeter, Vincent''s eyes brightened up, and he said, "I have finally memorized the necessary 130 hand signs. Let''s purify my magic power!" While sitting down on the bed, Vincent crossed his legs and started to performplex hand signs he just learned. The magic power in his heart began to course through the different veins of his body each time he performed theplex and profound hand signs. After performing the first 55th hand signs, Vincent could feel that the rate at which the magic power was flowing in his veins has started to increase. At the 99th hand signs, the magic power flowing in his veins was so fast that he could feel his veins heating up. At the same time, the heat produced in his veins was being used to eliminate the impurities present in the magic power coursing through his veins. At thest hand signs, Vincent could feel a new type of energy forming in his veins. At that very moment, a notification bearing great news popped up in front of him. ? Congrattions! You''ve refined 10 units of magic power into 1 unit of mana ? ? Mana is a higher form of magic power. One unit of mana is equal to ten units of magic power. You can store 50 units of mana in your heart ? That means that he will be able to store up to 500 units of magic power. ? Mana: 1 unit ? ? Magic power: 49 units ? Chapter 92 - 92: Hearts Brimming With Mana After a few moments, once he took a few deeps breaths to cool his warm veins, Vincent''s narrowed eyes glistened in a calctive light. "I will need to perform the hand signs mentioned in the heat purifying method a total of forty-nine times to purify impurities from the magic power stored in my heart and convert it into mana. It''s going to be exhausting," he muttered under his breath as he decided to purify the remaining 49 units of magic power from impurities before sleeping. Although it was mentally and physically taxing to perform one hundred and thirty hand signs in a simple order, he was happy to have obtained and learned this magic technique. The heat purifying method was by far the fastest magic power technique he has evere across in his life. He couldn''t believe how fast he was able to purify magic power by using this technique. It was simply unbelievable! Typically, it will take dozens of minutes to hours to purify 10 units of magic power from impurities and convert it into one unit of mana. However, Vincent only needed a few minutes to do the same due to using the heat purifying method. ''Whoever created the lower sun Scripture heat purifying method is a genius,'' he thought. ''This magic technique was undoubtedly one of the best in the lower heaven of wisdom, the military academy library now it belongs to me. Thankfully, I got my hands on it before others.'' This technique was great, but it still has a problem. The veins in a person''s body heat up a lot after a single round of purification. A person needs to rest after a single round of purification as the veins heat up so much that it bes painful. Vincent had chosen to rest for a few minutes as he knew that using the method simultaneously would result in an internal injury. Of course, he wasn''t the least bit disappointed in the heat purifying method. It was an impressive technique! It wasn''t just the magic power purifying Magic Technique that was impressive as the other enchantment type Magic Technique was equally strong. The mana infusion magic technique wasn''t shabby at all. Vincent had inferred the prowess of this Magic Technique from his fight against thebat robot. Although he had used magic power in ce of mana to activate that magic technique, it has still improved the damage and sharpness of the normal sword by so much that he was able to use it to cut the metallic body of thebat robot in two as easily as a hot knife passing through butter. "Obtaining these two powerful techniques was made possible because of the spell matrix created by one of my nine family''s heads," Vincent said in his mind as he grasped the pendant hanging on his neck. He took onest necessary deep breath, closed his eyes to concentrate on the movement of his hands, and started to perform hand signs to purify magic power as his veins had cool down enough to bear theplex energy purification process. A lot of hours flew away in the blink of an eye when purifying magic power. The sun was no longer high up in the sky, which had turned ck and white due to an uncountable number of small white dots and two big buns, representing the stars, and the two moons of Xavier, respectively, enchanting the night sky. Not a single cloud was in the sky, allowing one to see a crystal river of stars and moons shining abovekes made out of emerald lights that illuminated the crisscross virtual tracks of the levitating trains, most of which were moving towards different floating train stations as even the arrival of midnight didn''t stop the traders and merchants from moving their goods from one world to another. John, Varth, and Nevis stepped out of the arcade where they have been betting on fights and also participating in fights, earning and losing contribution points, before taking the winding path which led to their living quarters. A lot of hovering lights orbs were set in equal intervals, illuminating the winding path threaded upon by the three of them. Meanwhile, once all the magic power had been converted to mana, Vincent opened his eyes and looked at the notification screen in front of him. ? You had gained 99 units of mana by purifying a total of 990 units of magic power from impurities ? ? Mana: 100/100 units ? ? You''ve reached the maximum mana capacity of both your hearts ? Vincent''s lips thinned into a smile as he said, "Most of the newly enlisted students all use magic power. However, I''ll be using mana from now on. I already have the upper hand. After all, the efficiency and effectiveness of abilities and magic techniques increase when they are activated using mana. Simrly, when using mana to activate the Magic Bullet and throw a bullet, it will be ten times stronger than activating it using magic power." The uses of mana were limitless. However, Vincent didn''t know about a lot them. He was just beginning to walk up the stairs of the energy evolution path that goes hand in hand with the awaken evolution path. "Eh? Guess I sat down for too long," Vincent''s legs felt numb as he had been sitting cross-legged for a long time. He used blood maniption and caused the blood to flow through the veins of his legs, hurriedly easing the numbness. Sometimeter, the doors to Vincent''s living quarters opened, causing him to incline his head to the side to look at the intruder, only to see Varth and John entering the room with a smile. "Good to see you are awake. I brought some snacks for you," John said, lifting the shopper in his hand. "Thanks, bro." Vincent felt overjoyed when he saw his favorite snacks after opening the shopper. His happinesssted only for a while as his favorite snake tasted nd. He put them aside and looked at them before speaking, "You guys seem happy. What happened?" "Just won multiple solo battles and bet in the arena of valor and earned a lot of contribution points," Varth said. "Me too! I earned 50 contribution points by betting on Varth and Nevis." John said with a smile. As soon as he heard their words, Vincent''s ear perked up, and he asked, "Can you tell me more about the arena of valor?" Chapter 93 - 93: Arena Of Valor! Hearing Vincent''s words, one of John''s eyebrows raised in concentration, and after a moment, he said, "The arena of valor is a virtual reality game where two peoples can challenge each other to a virtually simted non-lethal battle to the death. During the simtion, the participants can feel pain, but their bodies won''t actually get hurt, and there''s a time limit of five-minute every battle. But that''s not all. There are two betting polls, one for thepetitors where the ones fighting each other can put their bets, and the winner takes it all. The other betting pool is for the spectators in which the people spectating the fight can ce their bets on any one of thepetitors before the match begins." "If the ones they ced their bets on win, they will earn more than what they bet even if the betting pool is in their favor." "Arena of valor!" Vincent''s eyes brightened. "It seems like a good ce to harvest contribution points." "It''s good and all for the strong but brutal to the weak and poor." Varth said, "It''s extremely costly. You can only ess it after paying the registration fee of ten contribution points and creating an avatar. You need to bet at the very least ten contribution points when participating in a battle, be it as abatant or a spectator. If you happen to lose the bet, you will lose everything. After dying three times, the game will apply a penalty on your avatar. You won''t be able to rejoin the arena of valor without paying fifty contribution points first." "The rules do seem harsh, but it''s understandable since the creators of the game also want to make a profit, so they utilized such a tactic," Vincent said to them with squinted eyes. Although he said that, it didn''t change the fact that it was still a harvest ground for him as he could easily differentiate who is stronger among the participants. After all, he had the supernatural and unbelievable ability to perceive the strength of any being as soon as he looks at them and activate the spell matrix [Appraisal]. "Next time, let''s go together," John said as he looked at them. "Sure," Vincent said in a light tone. Varth, on the other hand, nodded, signifying that he does not mind joining them. "Are there any limitations on betting?" He asked after a moment. "I don''t think so," Varth shook his head, "You can bet as much as you like. That''s the kind of ce it is. Gambling, fighting for victory over the others, killing, and beating the shit out of others without incurring any penalty or jail time is the nature of the game. All of that is extremely attractive to everyone who likes to fight to the death or watch death battles. There are no limitations imposed on these matters. That''s why it is getting more popr by the day," Varth expressed his opinion on the game created by none other than his family. Vincent''s eyes brightened in glee as he was happy to hear that there were no restrictions on betting As betting on a participant didn''t have any limitations, he could gamble for hours, earning hundreds of contribution points every day. That means he will be scoring himself rich in weeks. He was itching to head to the arcade and earn some easy gain, but he will have to wait for a few days, as he had already epted a mission to do outside of the academy. "It''s already midnight," John said after checking the time by using his quantum student ID card. "See youter," he stood up to leave the room while saying that, but before he could reach near the door, Vincent''s voice sounded in his ears. "Onest thing before you go." Vincent said, and he took a deep breath before continuing, "We will be heading out toplete a somewhat difficult mission which requires us to hunt arge number of monsters tomorrow. It will be rewarding to us toplete the mission as it is expected to be one of the hardest below level fifty. Do you wanna join?" As soon as he heard his words, John nodded, and he said, "I will! Who wouldn''t want to skip sses to go out hunting in the wilderness?" The students of the alpha ss could skip sses if they were out of the academy toplete a mission. That''s the only way to skip ss that John knew. Vincent''s eyes blinked as he thought that John seems a little bit too excited about skipping sses. "Good! Let''s head together to the reception office early in the morning," Vincent said as he looked at John. The newly enlisted students weren''t allowed to leave the academy without permission from the academy receptionists. If a student needed to go somewhere, they needed to give a valid reason to the receptionist of the military academy. If their reasons to head out are deemed reasonable, they will be allowed to leave for a certain amount of time. If it''s not, then they won''t be allowed to leave. Though it was easy for a group of students to gain approval from the receptionist to go out of the academy for three to seven days after one of them ept a monster subjugation mission. Lastly, the students needed toplete the mission within the mentioned time limit. If they failed to do so, they would be fined a few points for taking more time than necessary toplete the mission. There was even a chance to get stripped out of their rewards. Though in such cases, it is usually someone else whopletes the mission instead of the students. After talking about the necessary stuff, John reached near the door before speaking, "Good night, guys. See you soon!" He said to them before leaving the room. After he left the room, Vincent and Varth talked about a few things and went to sleep shortly after. Chapter 94 - 94: The VIP Store! The early morning of the next day, once Vincent woke up,yawned, and stretchedfortably in the bed to release the tiresome feeling in his bones, he blinked a few times before something sparked in his mind, helping him recall about something far more important than the adventure that awaits him today. He immediately cast his gaze at the small, floating blue screen showing his blood count. ? Blood count: 5/50 ? The blood stored in his vampiric heart was nearing a threatening level where he would supposedly lose control of his suppressed greed for blood and go back to the monster that sucked the blood out of more than several monsters to satisfy his thirst. "I don''t want that to happen." Vincent said in his mind, "It would be putting myself and the others at risk in the midst ofpleting the mission objectives. It will be better if I purchase a few packs of blood belonging to beasts from the market, purify and savor it to increase my blood count." He seemed intent on avoiding future troubles through drinking a few packs of blood as if drinking a few sses of water to increase his blood count. His hand reached for his spatial ring ced on top of the cupboard nearby the bed where he was sitting. He took out his quantum card from the spatial storage space of the ring and proceeded to search for a store in the military academy that sells the beast''s blood by using it. All of the shops were selling elemental heart blood of different beasts at heart-wrenching prices, but not a single one sold the toxic blood of beasts as it didn''t have any particr use, and barely anyone bought it. A whileter, however, his eyes widened in glee as out of all the shops, only one was selling the toxic blood of beasts. It was the unique shop run by the student council, which he had gained ess to as one of the benefits from passing the entrance examination with the highest marks in his city. "Found my target!" He jumped up out of bed, humming in happiness. He went over to the bathroom, brushing his teeth, sshing water on his face, changing to clothes befitting of his incredibly built and muscr figure with lean and outlined abs, biceps, pecs, and pale skin, getting ready to head towards the unique shop. A few minutester, once Vincent walked out of the bathroom, wearing his uniform, he navigated his way to the unique store and entered it without hesitation after gaining ess by verifying his identity at the door. The unique store interior contained nothing worthy of note as it followed a simple design, white walls, and tiled floor. It was separated in two by a thin line represented by a counter and dimly lit in a mixture of blue and white. "Wee to the special store of the military academy, valued customer!"A mechanical-eyed, bald humanoid robot said to him from behind the counter. "Here''s the list of items avable in the shop." The items in the unique shop vary from time to time. One day, it might have the item a person wants, but the very next day, it might not be up for sale since most of the items in the unique store are limited in quantity. That''s why the item list changes regrly. Vincent blinked his eyes in response, and he said, "Thanks, but I am only here to buy packs of blood." "Oh, okay," the sales robot wearing a cowboy hat said. "You came to the perfect ce to buy such stuff. We have a lot of them. So, what kind of elemental heart blood do you wanna purchase?" Hearing the sales robot words, Vincent''s eyebrows jumped, and he hurriedly said, "Ah, I think you misunderstood me. As I said, I wish to purchase unpurified packs of blood belonging to beasts, not elemental heart blood." As soon as he said those words, cowboy James weirdly looked at him. The toxic blood, like its name, was harmful to humans and demi-humans as it acted like a deadly poison that was lethal enough to mutate or kill either of the two. The toxic blood of beasts could only be used as poison! It didn''t have any other uses! However, this poison could be traced back to its purchaser. So, it was pretty foolish to poison someone by using this blood. "Are you selling?" "Ah, yes, but we don''t have a lot of it as the toxic blood of beasts isn''t the kind ofmodity that most would be interested in buying." "How many do you have in stock?" "Around 15." "What''s the price per pack?" "It''s 30 contribution points a pack. Though are you sure you wanna purchase the toxic blood of beasts?" The toxic blood of beasts wasn''t cheap as it could be used to create a variety of poison. However, it wasn''t costly whenpared to elemental heart blood. A single vial of elemental heart blood was far costlierpared to a packet of blood. "Yes, indeed." Vincent nodded, and he took a deep breath before continuing, "I would like to purchase 5 packs." A few minutester, once Vincent had purchased the blood packs of beasts and stored them in his ring, the cowboy robot said, "I have onest thing to say before you leave. The toxic blood in each pack contains a serial number of its own, which can be traced back to the purchaser with the help of a special method. If someone happens to die due to poisoning and it gets traced back to the serial number of the blood in the packs you purchased, you''ll get in a lot of trouble. However, it won''t be a problem if you use it to kill criminal scums who are better dead than alive." "Ah, sure," Vincent nodded. Honestly, what it said didn''t concern him as he was nning to purify the blood and consume it to increase his strength and blood count. Though it was a nice heads up. After leaving the store and walking around the campus, Vincent reached the safest ce where he could drink blood without anyone noticing! It was undoubtedly the lower heaven of wisdom, the library! After the privacy barrier was erected around him, hiding him from the eyes of others, he proceeded to purify each pack of blood before consuming them by using his innate racial traits. One by one, he drank the purified blood directly from the five packets, and in the end, a few notifications popped up in front of him. ? Your Strength has increased to 61 points ? ? Your Agility has increased to 69 points ? ? Your blood count has been refilled to 50 units of blood ? ? Maximum capacity of blood storable in the Sangue Heart has been reached ? Confusion arose in his heart as he looked at the semi-transparent screens. "Why did my stats increase by so little?" Vincent said in his mind. ? It''s because you''ve be far stronger than you were once before. The stronger you be, the more powerful blood you will need to consume to increase your strength. The blood of weak magical beasts isn''t powerful enough to strengthen your body by a wide margin. The blood of demonic beasts will be truly helpful to you right now ? Hearing its words, Vincent''s confusion cleared up. At that very moment, he received a message from his friends, asking where he was and when will hee to the reception office. He replied, [I am heading there right now. I will be there in a moment] Chapter 95 - 95: Leslie The reception office happened to be near the library, so it only took a short time for Vincent to reach the reception office. Varth was already waiting there for him, as well as the twin siblings, his girlfriend, and John. "Big Brother''s finally here," Leni said as she looked at Vincent approaching the three of them from afar. "Yo, I hope I haven''t kept you guys waiting for long!" Vincent said, hurrying up to them. "Not really, you are just on time," John replied. After shaking hands and giving their morning greetings to each other, Varth said, "Let''s head inside." Grouped up into one party, they walked inside the office to talk with the receptionist. "So, the four of you want to head out of the academy toplete a monster subjugation and bandit ying mission, is that right?" said an old guy with a weary face and a white beard, using a pair of eyesses to look at the mission validity letter in his hand, provided by the students standing before the table. Vincent''s eyebrows raised. He hadn''t heard anything about the bandit ying mission! ''Did someone among the three ept it? It can''t be Leni and John as they are still wet behind the ears and would be unable to kill or harm other humans.'' Vincent looked at Varth and thought, ''So that only leaves him in the equation.'' The eyes of John and Leni blinked rapidly, clearly bothered by hearing that they will have to kill another humanoid. "Yes, that''s right," Varth replied in ce of the team of four. "Permission granted. You mustplete the missions and return to the academy before the weekend ends. Otherwise, an overtime penalty will be issued to you. So, don''t wander too much while on your missions." "Yes, sir. We understand!" After obtaining permission to leave the academy, the group left the campus and headed towards the nearest floating train station, each of them buying train tickets from the receptionist at the counter before the train stopped at the station, and they along with a lot of people entered the train and sat inside their respective cabins. "Hey, why did you ept the bandit ying mission without consulting with us first? Don''t you know they are the worst kind of criminals and will do anything to kill their prey? Without us attacking to kill them, we won''t be winning the fight." Vincent''s voice rang out. There are a lot of bandits and thieves who kill other adventurers wandering in the wilderness to loot their items, money, and so on, to make a living or simply for fun. After all, wilderness doesn''t have any rules, and as long as they don''t get identified, they will be able to enter and leave any city without much of a problem. Once they get identified, however, the cities issue mission to suppress the bandits or just outright take their lives. When facing bandits who murder and loot others for a living, how many could remain calm? He could! However, he wasn''t sure about Varth and the twins. Varth took a deep breath and said, "If you are worried that you''ll dirty your hands by killing a few scums that deserve death, you can leave the bandits ying mission to me." He was talking about killing someone too lightly as if he has been doing it for his whole life. They were sitting on thefortable sofas ced inside of the passenger cabin suitable for a group of four passengers on board the levitating train. A few windows were on their left, showing a wonderful scenery of various forests and a few blue lines, representing several legs of the river of 108 legs. "You mean to say I should chicken out and let you face a group of bandits alone? Are you serious?!" Vincent''s eyes narrowed subtly. "This isn''t like that," Varth said, shrugging his shoulders. He didn''t say anything more than necessary as he wasn''t ready to reveal his murderous identity to a few teenagers. "I think it is." "Ahem! Let''s not forget that we are a team and shouldn''t intensely argue with each other. Besides guys, I am fine with dealing with psychopathic killers." John said, "I don''t know about my sister though." "I don''t mind either. Bandits are scum who deserve to die." Leni said with an ice-cold expression on her face. It seems like she detests bandits. Hearing their words, Vincent''s worries eased. "It''s decided then! We will participate in killing the bandits once we encounter them." Vincent said. He didn''t share even a trace of goodwill towards scums that like to kill others for mary benefits. Varth exhaled and said with a smile behind his mask, "I''m fine with that." John inclined his head to the side, looking out the window. The levitating train, powered by the magic power present in nature, smoothly cut through the air with ease, shooting towards the next city''s station at a very fast speed. Several minutester, Leni asked, "When are we going to reach there?" "Hmm, the levitating train we are on would make several stops, eventually dropping us off in the lower city of Leslie, which is furthest away from the river of 108 legs, and established near the ends of its several legs. It would take us half a day to reach Leslie. We would arrive after dusk today, near the outskirts of the city." Vincent ced her head on hisps while saying that, and continued, "Rest for now. I will wake you up once we are there." The touch of his hands brought warmth to her body, making her feelfortable and sleepy. "I am not sleepy," she said, looking at him without any intention of closing her eyes. "You won''t know if you are sleepy if you don''t close your eyes," Vincent said after letting her stare at him for a few minutes. "Aren''t you sleepy?" "Nope," Vincent said. "I am feeling refreshed since you are with me." His words made Leni blush but also giggle happily before closing her eyes, sinking into the embrace of darkness. Sometimeter, they got off the train and arrived at Leslie, the city said to be ruled by a low-rank adventurer. Chapter 96 - 96: In The Woods It took the group a few minutes to step out of the train station build just above the ground before jogging to the north city gate that led to the outskirts of Leslie, one of the four lower cities of Xavier, ruled by Joyce, a female noble and an adventurer. She inherited this position from her father, who had passed away a few years ago. Leslie wasn''t a well-established city. Only a few important construction works have been done here, such as the normalized train station. However, it was still a good ce for the poor, as the housing prices were ten times cheaperpared to the Great City of New Hope. Nevertheless, the guards stationed at this city weren''t strong either. Furthermore, the adventurers had no interest in this ce as the level of monsters in the wilderness around Leslie ranged from rank-1 to rank-10 magical beasts. There was barely any demonic beast in the beast''s forest. Beast''s forest is the collective name of the wilderness around Leslie. It was a ce without any lucky and fruitful encounters. Such a ce isn''t one where adventurers chasing after treasures go to. So, there were barely any adventurers in this ce, and they the weakest of the bunch. The arrival of monsters in the woods had troubled the city lord and vexed the people who make a living by collecting and selling herbs from the outskirts and the woods. So, the city lord ended up requesting help from the military academy after promising to pay a hefty award. "What kind of missions are we doing first, brother?" John asked Vincent as they walked towards the end of the outskirts. "We will be looking for the bandits and the monster at the same time. They are bound to be somewhere in the woods, near the outskirts. Whoever we find first will be the first to pass on to the other side. You guys should go over the details of the monster subjugation quest just in case," said Vincent to the twins, as Varth didn''t need to know. After all, he had already exined the depth of the monster subjugation mission he epted to Varth. As soon he said those words, Leni and John decided to brief themselves about the mission as it seemed like a good idea, and they gained ess to the details of the monster''s subjugation missions using their quantum card. [Mission Detail: The members of three different families mysteriously disappeared while wandering in the peaceful woods near the outskirts of Leslie. A person who luckily escaped somehow said that they were captured by fearsome monsters and taken away after interrogation. From the details, it is most likely to be a pack of Grim Gores who has entered the woods from the beast''s forest. Mission goals: Find and kill all of the Grim Gores roaming somewhere in the woods. Reward: 15000 contribution points. Note: A video or pictures can serve as proof. Time limit: 3 days Mission level: 59] After reading the information presented on the blue screen floating in front of them, they found out that it was abat level fifty-nine mission. "Isn''t this mission a little bit too hard," John said. "Not really," Varth said. "Grim Gore is generally a weak monster, usually around the universal ranking of rank-1 to rank-5 of the magical realm. They aren''t powerful, but they are fast. Although they aren''t easy to kill as their speed and defenses are their strongest point, as long as you are not careless, you will not die and be able to beat them." Any beast or monster that possessed an ability or strength far above a normal animal was considered to be in the magical realm. Magical beasts and monsters are sub-categorized into ten different ranks based on their strength, with the weakest being rank-1 and rank-10 of the magical realm being the strongest. Most of John''s worries faded as he was powerful enough to kill rank-1 to rank-3 magical realm monsters. "I understand," he nodded his head seriously. The woods were located just near the outskirts of the city. A few guards were stationed at the northern city gate, stopping kids and adults alike from going to the outskirts. They wereining about how they will die either way, as the source of their ie relied solely on gathering herbs, they were herb gatherers after all, but the city guards promptly refused them from heading straight towards deadly danger. A few momentster, the group passed by multiple peoples and arrived before the guards who stepped aside, letting them through, once he saw the awe-inspiring emblem of the military academy on their uniform. An old man pointed at their backs and grumbled: "Why are they allowed to go through when we are not?!" "Old man, stop acting out. That group of four is here to subjugate the monsters." A guard yelled back at him. "You!" The old man fumed. "He is an elder, please show some respect," said a gentle-looking young guard to the guard that yelled, before he looked at the group of desperate people before the gates and said with a pleasant smile, "Your prayers have been answered. Come by after a few days, and we won''t be stopping you from going outside, hopefully." He continued, "For now, please go back home. I will notify you the moment the woods are clear of the danger, and it bes safe to head inside the woods." "We understand. We won''t trouble you anymore." All of the poor people then left towards their houses with anticipation and excitement. They all hoped that the group of four youngsters would be sessful in their endeavor as their livelihood depended on it. Several minutester, Vincent and the others found themselves walking on a path with trees, shrubs, and bushes irregrly strewn all over the ce. "Big brother, how are we going to find them?" Leni asked as she looked at Vincent. "With this," Vincent said, performing a few hand signs to summon four pairs of magic resonating eyeballs. The effects of these eyes were ten times strongerpared to the ones created using magic power as he has used mana to create them. If previously, the eyes could move individually within a 100-meter radius of him, then now, they could cover up to a 1000-meter radius of distance with him as the center. "Interesting," Varth said under his breath as he looked at the dark blue eyes that manifested out of thin air. "What do these eyes do?" Leni said as she got a clear look of the creepy eyes for the first time in her life. She had seen them once before but didn''t know about their effects. "I can see whatever these eyes can see," Vincent said. "I will go North and search for the monsters with these pairs of eyes. The three of you stick together and search for traces of monsters in the East and West sides of the woods, carrying one of my eyeballs. If you find any trace of the monsters or the monsters themselves, send me a signal by using this hand sign in front of the eye. If I happen to find them first, I will recall my eyeball. Let it float ande towards my location. Follow after it, and you will reach me. We will regroup and fight the monsters." "Wonderful!" John eximed, impressed by Vincent''s n, causing Varth to look at him as if he was looking at a dumbass. Who the hell shouts in the wilderness? ''Is this the first time this kid went out in the wilderness,'' Varth thought. He was right, and this was John''s first time in the wilderness. "John," Vincent said calmly. "Yes?" "Don''t ever shout in the wilderness if you want to live long." After saying those words, Vincent went straight ahead and the other three went towards the west side of the woods in search of the group of Grim Gores. Chapter 97 - 97: Wasnt The Wait Worth It? Vincent rushed forward, treading on the grassy ground with a lot of uneven surfaces, moving along the trees, as his magical eyes spread far and wide in search of any kind of traces of grim gore. "Found my preys." Several minutester, Vincent''s eyes glistened in a profound light as the images of a small group of monsters made up of three Grim Gore popped up in his mind. He could see three magical beasts. They were roaming aimlessly in the northwest area of the woods, merely a few dozen meters away from him. Immediately after, Vincent put strength in one of his feet, leaping up to a borough of the nearby tree with branches dried of any sign of life. After that, he rushed from one bough to another, crossing trees after trees, closing up on the monsters. At the same time, his presence lowered as much as possible and his speed multiplied by a few times while he used his magic resonating eyes to scan nearby areas for dangers. His capability to move with incredible speed while utilizing multiple techniques to lower his presence, increase his speed, and scan the area for danger by controlling the magic resonating eyes was something he had earned due to the hard work he had put in in the past few years. After a few more careful strides, Vincent was now standing on one of the many branches of a thick tree, surrounded by a lot of vibrant green trees andrge bushes that absorb magic power from nature to grow, the thickness of greenery proving sufficient enough to hide him from the in sight of three monsters. "There they are." He said as he spotted a group of three blue-skinned monsters with ck membrane all over their hideous bodies acting as a powerful form of defenseparable to double life patrolling the northwest woods together. The three monsters were short and hairy, seemingly not much different than monkeys, yet their fangs and ws were sharp enough to act as weapons, and their long, powerful arms held enough strength to crush the bones of any human. They had three eye sockets on their skull, and each socket had a scarlet eye embedded in it. Vincent looked at them with a scrutinizing gaze, appraising their strength and weaknesses, and after a moment, his eyes brightened with the intent to battle. "While they are not very intelligent, these monsterspensate for their weaknesses with their burly muscles and excellent defense. A thinyer of negative energy barrier coats their bodies, acting as a protective barrier that can absorb all damage from an attack to a certain limit and giving them extra defense, which makes it hard to kill them with weak attacks. However, as long as I put an adequate amount of strength in my attack, I will be able to break through their negative defensive barrier and kill them in a single attack." After he pinpointed the weaknesses of the monster and the fastest way to kill them, which he had summarized in his mind while hiding within the greenery, Vincent took out the dagger gifted to him by Old Miller from his ck serpent ring and clutched it tightly in his hand. This dagger possesses the highest damage output out of all his offensive items as its sharpness increases the faster it gets swung. After performing a set of hand signs to utilize a magic technique and infusing mana into it, he became confident that a single swing will break the thinyer of defense around their bodies and chop them in two. "Now, I just need to wait for the perfect moment." He muttered under his breath. A few tense moments passed as Vincent looked down, staring unblinkingly at the monsters, waiting for one of them toe below the trees and under the range of his attack. The monster patrolling the area approached the road covered with trees and thick bushes. It didn''t take for one of the three unsuspecting preys with low intelligence to reach right below the trees. Then, abruptly, he leaped directly downward without hesitation, dropping towards the head of the grim gore like a harbinger of death. Whoosh Vincent leaped down from the tree and immediately swung his ck dagger glowing in blue towards its head with incredible strength and speed. He was too fast, stealthy, and strong. The small group of monsters couldn''t even respond before his dagger reached one of theirpanions. The dagger prated through the thin barrier like a hot knife cutting soft tofu. SPLASH! A secondter, the head of the Grim Gore split into two, acidic ck blood sprinkling all over the grasses. ? You''ve in an adult Grim Gore at the seventh rank of the magical realm ? ? 70 experience points gained ? ? Lv 4: 70/700 ? A notification sounded in his ears as he stepped on its back and threw himself towards the next two prey. The two monsters had a ferocious and murderous look on their face as they lunged upwards towards him, baring their teeth and swiping their ws at his body, intending to kill him while he is still in mid-air. [Blood Bending: Crimson Moon Walk] In the split of a second, once the attacks were about to reach him, Vincent did something impossible in the eyes of the monsters, as a thin but solid tform made of blood manifested below his feet. His right foot stomped hard on the crimson tform, shattering it, but also allowing him to jump again while in mid-air. He flipped over the two monsters, causing their attacks tond on each other and breaking each other''s negative energy barrier. "Die!" In a smooth motion, hended on the ground. Immediately after, he smashed his foot on the ground, twisted his waist to the side while facing the monsters, and threw the dagger in his right arm forward. Puchi! A split secondter, the dagger prated through the brain of one of the two monsters and quickly passed it to stab towards the one behind it. It dodged to the side, but the dagger still took one of its forelimbs with it, nailing it iling and hairy arm into the trunk of a tree. "UGH!!!" Angered and aggravated by the sudden loss of itspanion and limb, the monster charged at the weaponless Vincent without thinking. It concluded that since the human male was without a weapon, it will kill him without much of a problem. Today, it has decided to feast on the blood and flesh of the human to revenge its deadrade. "What a fool." Vincent''s crimson eyes narrowed down to thin slits as he performed hand signs to utilize his signature magic technique. A momentter, the monster leaped at him. At that very moment, fate has been sealed for it as if the reaper has aimed its scythe at its neck. BANG! A gunshot sounded as the magic bullet send it flying back several meters with incredible speed. It smashed through a few trees, causing a lot of its bones to break and blood to rush out of the massive hole in the center of its stomach. A few momentster, it came to a halt after mming into a thick trunk of a tree. In the very next second, it slid down and dropped to the ground with a dull thud. That very moment, a notification sounded in Vincent''s ears, telling him that he had killed a rank-5 magical realm monster and a rank-8 magical realm monster and earned a total of 130 experience points. ? Lv 4: 200/700 ? "Sweet!" Vincent eximed without a care as he was sure that there wasn''t a single monster nearby. "Fortunately, my n had worked. Otherwise, it would have been hard to defeat them." After picking up his dagger from the ground and jerking it to clean it from the toxic blood of the monsters, Vincent stored it in his spatial ring, thinking as he did that, "Why are the monsters far stronger than mentioned in the books. A Grim Gore strength should be around first to the fifth rank of the magical realm, but two out of three I fought were fat strength than that. What is going on?" Chapter 98 - 98: Hunt For The Unique Evolution Material His eyes narrowed as he went over the details of the mission and the monsters in his mind. "It''s extremely suspicious!" A few momentster, he found some suspicious parts to the event till now. Firstly, the monsters were too powerful for their race, almost as if they found a treasure trove of evolution materials, as consuming them was the only way for multiple monsters patrolling the woods to break through the limits of their potential. Secondly, why had the monsters appeared in the woods from the beast''s forest? Was it simply because they were attracted to the scent of flesh and blood belonging to humanoid beings or because there was something in the woods that attracted them to this ce. "Hmm," Vincent''s eyes glistened in a calctive light as he finally concluded, "There''s a high chance that there''s something in the woods that is extremely attractive to the Grim Gore, and it helps them be more powerful than what their limits ordained. Furthermore, it is present in abundance for sure, or else mere patrolmen wouldn''t be so strong. I''m certain they had consumed a part of the evolution material to be strong. An evolution material that can help Grim Gore evolve, it must be something precious rted to darkness and negativity! What do you think, Blood?" ''''There''s a high chance for there to be a rare evolution material near the ce upied by the monsters. It has to be a unique evolution material as the grim gore can only be powerful from absorbing negative and dark energy." Blood''s voice sounded in his ears, confirming his own words. Vincent''s eyes brightened in glee. Extraordinary evolution materials weren''t easy toe by. Otherwise, humanoid beings wouldn''t be using spatial tunnels to go to mystical worlds in search of unique evolution material. Yet, there existed a chance for him to obtain an extraordinary evolution material. "I should try to find the rest of the monster. The evolution material might very well be in that ce upied by them." Vincent thought before he looked at the ground with a scrutinizing gaze, and immediately he noticed footsteps reaching deeper inside the woods. "Footsteps? These traces might lead to theirir." Vincent sends a pair of his eyes to follow the path taken by the footsteps and report what they find on the other end. A whileter, the image of more than a dozen monsters sitting below a cliff and near a stream popped into his mind. "I should notify the rest of the group about my findings." He wasn''t greedy and stupid enough to think that he will be able to take down more than ten monsters all alone and obtain the extraordinary evolution material all alone. Vincent snapped his fingers, causing the magic resonating eye taken away by the party of three to brighten up in blue, flickering continuously. Somewhere far away from him, Leni, John, and Varth were walking on the grassy ground when suddenly, the eyeball in her leather pouch released a blue light and vibrated furiously. At the same time, the pouch hanging from her shoulder glows in blue and trembles subtly. "I''ve received a signal from Vincent informing us that he has found the monster we are looking for and that we should group up," Leni said as she unbuttoned her pouch. The blue eyeball hovered out of her pouch and started to drift with the wind, heading towards the northwest side of the forest with incredible speed. "Let''s go then," John said as he saw the eyeball leading the way to their destination. Leni ran into the forest, following after the eyeball with her twin brother trailing closely behind her, while Varth silently followed after them, a distance of several feet between them. "Go and look for the bandits," Varth muttered amand under his breath as several ck spiders made out of metal crawled from under the ck cloak draped over his body and jumped out to the trees and the grounds, scattering in different directions in search of the bandits terrifying the wilderness around Leslie. While they were approaching Vincent, he stored the body of the monsters in his spatial ring as he wanted to purify their blood and drink it to squeeze out as much benefit from them as he could, and their eyes, fangs, and ws could be sold for a good price, and there might be a beast core in their body which sells for a hefty price too. However, he will only know that after dismembering them. Several minutester, once they regrouped, Vincent exined everything that happened till now and the conclusion he came upon to the three of them. "So, you are saying there''s a high possibility of there being an extraordinary evolution material in their of the monsters?" Varth asked as he looked at him, a smile forming behind his face. "Yes," Vincent replied. "Why didn''t you wait for us before fighting the three monsters?" Leni questioned as she looked at Vincent with worry in her eyes. "You could have gotten hurt." He patted her head, and said, "Well, I was sure that the three monsters were merely out patrolling the woods and that the rest of the monsters somewhere else. Furthermore, they were weak and easy to kill. I decided to kill them by myself rather than alert you guys toe here and take care of them with me as I had thought that it did be a waste of time." "Next time, let''s fight together," Leni said, epting his pats with eyes squinted in pleasure. "We are in this together, alright," John said as he extended his fist towards Vincent. "No doubt about it," Vincent said as he balled his hand into a fist and touched his fist. Immediately after, he said, "I have found the location of the rest of the monsters." "Where is it?" Vincent pointed at the footsteps and continued, "It''s right down this path. We just need to follow in the footsteps of the monsters I killed, and we will reach the rest of them." "What are we waiting for?" Varth said as he looked at them, his right eye showing eagerness. "Let''s go right away." As soon as Vincent said those words, they ran into the forest following the direction of the footsteps closely. After several minutes of delving deeper into the forest and taking a lot of twists and turns, they reached near the cliff where more than a dozen blue-bodied monsters with ck barriers could be seen sitting in the dark. Chapter 99 - 99: Crimson Sword And Gunshots While standing behind the trees and overgrown bushes, Vincent''s scrutinizing gaze swept across the field of monsters that were sitting below the cliff, near the stream of water and a few feet away from what seems like an entrance to a cave. After a few moments, once he had found the strength of each of the monsters by using the appraisal spell matrix, he inclined his face towards his group and said, "I have assessed their strength. There are six rank-7 magical realms and three rank-8 magical realms Grim Gores among them. The rest of them are between the second and fifth ranks of the magical realm." Vincent''s power to correctly discern the strength of more than a dozen beasts in several seconds came as a surprise to the twins, but it amused Varth. Varth pointed at the group of monsters and said, "This might just be an appetizer. The real deal might be hiding inside the cave with water streaming out of its entrance. We''ll need to kill this horde of monsters before the stronger onese outside if we want to end this safely." "Got it! We just need to kill them fast." John said, "Am I right?" Varth blinked his eyes, indicating that he was correct. "But aren''t these creatures feared for their impressive defense?" Leni said. "How will we kill them in a short time?" A negative energy barrier protected their body from all type of physical harm all the time, every day The barrier was thin but solid, able to absorb all damage from the attacks thrown their way. They were proimed as the monsters with the best defense in the magical realm due to their negative energy barrier. However, their defense was far from being perfect as the negative energy barrier could shatter into bits under an attack with strength surpassing what it could endure. "Although their defense is too strong, as long as we hit them hard in a single ce, the negative energy barrier covering that region of their body will shatter, and we will be able to harm them," Varth pointed out the main weakness in the impressive defense of the monster. "Alright, I got it," Leni said, understanding that the fastest way to kill them is to hit their vital points again and again until the negative energy barrier shatters, allowing her to end their lives. "I will take the front with Varth. Leni, use your abilities and attack them from a range. John, try to deal with every monster that ignores us and charges toward Leni. Lastly, try to hit where it hurts the most," Vincent said. "With that said, let''s begin!" Vincent and Varth charged out from behind the trees, approaching the group of monsters with strength ranging from rank-1 to rank-9 of the magical realm. When the monsters resting on the ground listened to the suspicious rustling of the grassesing from dozens of meters away from camp, they inclined their head to the sides and saw two tall figures in the distance approaching them quickly. Gah! Goh! Gah! While screeching like a banshee at the top of their lungs, twelve monsters rushed at Vincent and Varth, who ran towards the monsters without slowing down, a calm expression on their face as they were not dismayed in the face of grotesque monsters. A few momentster, both of the sides closed upon each other, and at that time, the strongest among the twelve monsters jumped at the two of them with their sharp ws spread wide open, threatening to take their life. Seeing this, Vincent immediately activated his special ability to manipte blood and created a weapon made out of the crystallization of his blood. A scarlet sword appeared in his hand as he infused battle energy with the bones of his arms, increasing the strength behind his swing. Just as the monsters were about to reach his body, with a jerk of his right hand, the crimson sword shed forward to take the lives of the monsters in mid-air as he stepped backward. The crimson sword that was glowing in a red light pierced through the negative energy barrier of the monsters and chopped off the heads of three monsters in a single swing. Fresh blood was drawn under the moonlight, sshing on the grasses and sliding down from them like morning dew. ? You''ve in three monsters at the second, third, and fourth rank of the magical realm ? ? Gained 90 experience points ? ? Level 4: 290/700 ? "A group of ignorant and unintelligent fools. Courting death!" Meanwhile, a few of the monsters surrounded Varth, whose long ck cloak opened as he took out a battle gun from the holster equipped on his belt before aiming it at the monsters approaching him. BANG BANG Gunshots sounded in the area as he shot at the monsters, knocking two of them backward and severely injuring one after shattering the negative energy barrier around its throat region with two bullets. He moved in a zig-zag manner while taking shots at the monsters. The first two bullets only managed to shatter their negative energy barrier; however, the third bullet inflicted severe harm to the monster. He was using a battle gun with special enhanced bullets that could take down regr magical realm monsters and beasts with ease. The bullets were made out of the bones of demonic beasts, so they were able to injure them. However, each bullet was expensive enough to make a normal person cry tears of blood, but he happily pulled the trigger and shoot as many bullets as he required at the monsters. "Ice Spears!" Leni raised her hands and activated her abilities, manifesting eight icy spears that floated around her. A storm of eight spears swept out and directly crashed on the vital spots of the monsters surrounding Varth and Vincent. The sound of mirrors being shattered rang out through the grassy battlefield as the negative energy barrier protecting the monsters was torn off. "Thanks!" Varth and Vincent didn''t let go of this chance. The crimson sword mercilessly chopped the defenseless bodies of the monsters and the demonic beast''s bullets hit the monsters whose negative energy barrier has shattered and killed them immediately. Chapter 100 - 100: Monster From The Darkness Monsters came pouring out of the cave entrance as a stream of water sttered on the spring below. Leni continued to attack from a distance, ice spears shattering the negative energy barriers of the blue-bodied ape-like monsters. John stood guard near his sister, ready to smash the head of any monsters that would choose to target his sister. Vincent and Varth maneuvered their bodies like experts on movement techniques, dancing around the overgrown grassy fields with little to no wasted movements, dodging monsters'' attacks before counter-attacking with their crimson sword and battle gun, respectively. Their attacks were aimed at the vital points of the beasts, intending to kill them in an instant. Pitter! Patter! Cold droplets of water crashed against the ground as it rained down heavily. Crack! A bolt of lightning brightened up the cloudy night sky as it cut across the darkness of the night like a harbinger of light and hope, then in an instant, it was gone; however, a lot was happening down below the sky, on the woods near the city of Leslie with vast expanses of overgrown green bushes and trees with vibrant leaves that stood tall and straight, resisting the winds and the cold rain, as the crimson sword pierced the brains and the necks of the defenseless monsters and a volley of bullets sted a hole in the vital parts of the blue and hairy bodies of the monsters. The two teenagers didn''t show even a hint of remorse as, under their attacks, the hairy bodies of the monsters fell on the ground one after another without any signs of life from their eyes or bodies. "Monsters and beasts exist to inflict harm on people. They are the cause of many sufferings, from a child weeping at the corpse of his father in under the ws of a beast to a soldier losing hisrade under the jaws of the beasts. It''s better to kill a monster when you see one as you will save the weak and the innocent from harm." These monsters had abducted the poor citizens of the city of Leslie and ate them to satisfy their hunger. Those poor people were only out in the outskirts and the woods to gather herbs, shrubs, and other seble stuff to make money to feed their families, yet these monsters mercilessly devoured them, leaving their families full of grief and sorrow. Vincent could never feel empathy for monsters, and he didn''t need to, for he knew that what he was going wasn''t wrong. The monsters at the weakest rank of the magical realm began backing up to the entrance of the cave after witnessing their most vital members ughtered by the humans without any effort. One of the harbingers of death grinned beneath his mask. Where the hell do they think they are going? Varth aimed at the back of the monsters that ran away from them due to fear and pulled the demon trigger. "Ugh!!!" The monsters shrieked as they fell one after another, calling for the most powerful toe out of the cave and help them. "Roar!!!" Hearing the screeching of the monsters, their lord responded with a call of his own, a roar which reverberated throughout the woods, spreading far and wide, reaching even the outskirt of the city and sounding in the ears of the guards standing guard near the entrance. The guards inclined their heads to look at the woods, wondering what the hell is going on in the woods. "Did they provoke a devil?" The friendly young guard with a pleasant personality said, looking towards the woods, wondering what kind of monster the group made up of four students have aggravated. "I don''t think that that roar belongs to a monster in the magical realm. It''s probably a demonic realm monster. The group of four are merely students. I think they won''t be able to hold their ground against a demonic beast." Said the burly guard standing beside the young guard. "Should we send help their way?" "No! If they can''t deal with it, do you think we will be able to do anything better? We will just be heading to our death even if we went to the woods to help them. "I understand, sir," the burly guard said. He exhaled a deep breath, thanking his lucky stars that the guard captain didn''t tell them to head out to fight the monsters. "Don''t just stand there. Go and notify the city lord." The friendly young guard who happened to be the captain of the guards said, motioning the burly guard to hurry up and head to the city lord castle. "Yes, sir!" A few momentster, once the reverberation dimmed down, eighteen monsters came pouring out of the cave. Each monster was the size of a human adult. The thickness of their negative energy barrier was two times that of the monsters before. Furthermore, their negative energy barrier was in the shape of solidified dark purple metallic te on their vital parts. The monster didn''t attack them as if they were waiting for something. "All of these monsters are at the ninth rank of the magical realm. Be careful!" Vincent said to them as he stood his ground while looking at the glowing three ruby eyes emerging from the cave''s darkness. Suddenly, gigantic hands came out of the cave and clutched its walls as the most powerful Grim Gore hunched down and stepped out of the cave. It was a long, obese, and hairless monster with a body adorned in dark purple armor from head to toe except for the limbs and three ruby eyes glowing ominously with killing intent. This monster was a few meters taller than Vincent. Its arms and thighs were thick like barrels, a mix of fat and musclebined with its blue body and face protruding with sharpened bones looked repulsive to the eyes. "It''s a demonic monster!" Varth yelled out loud, his voice tinged with excitement. The evolution material inside the cave must be freaking extraordinary as it has managed to strengthen a grim gore to the demonic realm! John and Leni gulped as their eyes widened in horror. "Are we going to fight it?" "Don''t panic. It isn''t a monster in the demonic realm." Vincent instantly called out, his voice booming in the thundering winter rain. "But it''s at the limit between a magical realm and a demonic realm Grim Gore." Vincent had never seen a demonic realm Grim Gore before, but he''d gotten information that this wasn''t it from his system. It was a monster at the brink of rank-10 of the magical realm. A single push was all it needed to advance into the ranks of the demonic realm. The monster standing below the cloudy night sky didn''t get drenched by the rain due to the thick negative energy armor adorned all over its body, blocking everything froming closer to its body as it saw corpses of its minions on the ground, the cause of which was standing right in front with a crimson sword held in his hands. Vincent and the leader of the Grim Gore looked at each other, the young demi-human with crimson eyes fearlessly staring straight into the ruby eyes of the monster. Them staring into each other eyes was the calm before the storm. "UGHHH!!!" The calmness in the thundering rain shattered as a monstrous roar sounded in the woods below the cloudy night sky that has set apart enough to reveal one of the two moons of Xavier. Chapter 101 - 101: Level Up! The leader of the monsters roared at the top of its lungs, ringing everyone''s eardrums. The roar also acted as amand telling the rest of the monsters to attack the humans. No one dared to disobey itsmand knowing full well that it was a cannibal who won''t hesitate to devour their flesh if they so dare to express even a single sign of disobedience. The leader of the Grim Gore was nameless and a monster through and through as it would eat the members of its herds whenever it feels like it, for absolutely no reason like hunger and simple to fulfill its desires. The taste of the flesh of its minions was a pretty satisfying appetizer. Of course, the main course was humans, especially the young ones with tender flesh and soft bones, which easily shatter under the monster''s teeth. BOOM! The cloudy night sky thundered as lightning shed by. Following the instructions in its monstrous roar, the group of monsters split into three different groups, as the leader and two of its strongest minions spearheaded the attack on the most powerful one among the humans, Vincent, as well as sixteen monsters at the eighth to the ninth rank of the magical realm galloped on all four like a horse to encircle a personcking all sense of threat, almost as if he was a harmless little rabbit; However, they knew that giving enough time to the seemingly innocuous rabbit will be the end of them, so they surrounded him before he could make a move, using the most basic strategy of every herd, intending to overtake him by numbers. The rest of them circled around the humans in the grassy fields, heading towards John and Leni, who were standing nearby the overgrown bushes and under the shadow of the trees. Two of the three monsters reached near Vincent and jumped at him with their jaws stretched opened to snap at his head. "This is it, guys! I will engage in a battle with the boss and hold it back while you deal with the rests! Help me after you kill them!" Vincent''s voice sounded in the ears of hisrades, and at the same time, he jumped to his left to evade the attack of the monsters that leaped towards him before brandishing his long, sharp, and slim scarlet sword to chop their heads from their bodies. The two rank-9 monsters of the magical realm died on the spot. ? Congrattions to the owner for ying two high-level monsters of the magical realm. You''ve obtained 180 experience points ? ? Level 4: 720/700 experience points ? ? Do you wanna level up? ? The notifications of the system sounded in his mind. The life force obtained from the two rank-9 monsters and purified by the life spell matrix has given him enough experience points to level up. However, he didn''t want to, at least not now. The uses of purified life force were plenty, from learning the content of a book in a few moments to scanning arge area in a single instant, after all. Furthermore, it wasn''t easy to earn it. There was a fatal restriction to the life spell matrix. Lifeforce could only be collected and purified into experience points by the spell matrix from the monster killed by Vincent''s hand. This restriction waspulsory and imposed by the creator of the spell matrix. If this restriction hasn''t existed, Vincent would be able to gain experience points from everyone''s kills. That would have been wonderful! Of course, he didn''t have the time to think about such things. In the very next second, once the two headless bodies of the monsters copsed and Vincent''s feet touched the ground, the leader of the monsters stomped on the ground, cutting through the air, as the fat on its stomach, thighs, and upper arm region undted, closing the distance between them in a few moments before the monster''s leader punched out with his right hand towards Vincent''s chest. Vincent''s eyes widened, turning a dark shade of red as he reacted instantaneously. ? Blood count: 40/50 ? A wave of blood surged forth from Vincent''s hand, twirling and condensing into a crystallized blood shield in two-third of a second. Bang! The fist the size of a small barrel mmed into the crimson barrier, shattering it instantly. However, before the punch couldnd on him, Vincent slid towards its back by sliding from in between the gap of his legs while changing gears. It wasn''t just the weapon in his hand that changed but also the working of his body. He got faster than before, stronger than before, and he felt that somehow his focus got stronger, and his perception of time improved, albeit only subtly. At the same time, as his body underwent unbelievable changes, the crimson sword made out of blood dissolved to blood as a ck and blue dagger appeared in his hands as he went past it. He shed on the ankles of its legs with both of his daggers a few times within a second, chipping away at the thickyer of the negative energy barrier surrounding its legs before the monster leaped at him. My bones will get crushed! The monster was about to fall on top of him, when in that instant, Vincent put strength into his arm and pushed his body across the grassy field to get out of the range of the monster''s body m. BAM! The monster''s body mmed on the ground, and shockwaves ensured along with a booming sound. Looking at the monster as it stood up, Vincent''s eyes glistened in a calctive glitter as a profound n to defeat the monster adorned in thick negative energy formed in his mind, "The armor made out of negative energy is covering all of the vital parts of its body. It''s too hard to prate through. Its limbs and eyes, however, are only surrounded by a thickyer of negative energy barrier instead of armor. Of course, the barrier won''t be easy to shatter as it is too thick, but as long as I continue to attack at the same ce, again and again, I will be able to chip away at its barrier. It won''t take long before there would be no walls between its flesh and my daggers." Chapter 102 - 102: Monster Slayer! After a moment, once the Grim Gore stood up, it charged towards him before throwing a punch towards his figure. Vincent watched the punching towards his head, but he stepped forward and slightly to the right when the punch was extremely close as he just barely dodged the attack by a few centimeters. At the same time, he shed outwards with his daggers,nding a few hits on its body before stepping backward. Each time it attacked, Vincent would dodge by maneuvering his body at the opportune moment. Also, he would counterattack each time. He was only targeting certain regions of the monster''s leader body, the eyes and upper and lower limbs of its body. The daggers went through the wound that Vincent already made before, again and again, deepening thecerations on the negative energy barriers. The negative energy barrier surrounding its body was exceptionally thin aspared to the other sides of its body, and Vincent took advantage of this situation pretty severely. PUCHI After a few moments, the dagger prated through theceration in the negative energy barrier and deeply stabbed it into the right eyes. UGH! The obese monster''s leader cried out from the pain assaulting its senses as it attacked its tormentor. Right after stabbing its eyes, Vincent created a dome of blood to block the giant fistsing down towards him. ? Blood count: 20/50 ? While the dome of blood was shattering, Vincent''s lips thinned into a smile as he stepped back, wisps of red mist coiling around his jeweled dagger and inky, ck dagger, both pulsating with magical energy. At the same time, as the moan of pain sounded in the grassy fields near the cliff, gunfire sounded off continuously. The sound of amplified bullets made out of beast''s bones shattering ss and piercing flesh echoed as Varth took down half of the group of sixteen monsters all on his own Varth had managed to kill eight out of the sixteen monsters already, yet he found himself in an encase. He was surrounded from all sides by monsters whose three ruby eyes overflowed with murderous intent. Yet, there was not a hint of worry on his face. One could see a solid ck purple crystal embed into a triangr-shaped slot, on his battle gear dissolving into a vast amount of energy of the same color. The battle gear used that energy to generate a special ability. At the same time, the monsters surrounding him leaped at him. A small smile appearing on his face as his battle gear charged up an ability within an instant of a second. ''Showtime.'' The monster''s ws were about to tear him apart into pieces, when in that very instant, his figure dissolved into particles of blue and ck light as he disappeared under the cloudy night sky. The ws flew right through the buzzing particles of energy, scattering them apart. The person that suddenly disappeared appeared a few dozen meters away. ? Battle Gear''s energy conversion and ability channeling operations are entering a cooldown of five minutes ? ? For five minutes, the two functions of the battle gear aren''t useable ? "Now that I can''t use it for five minutes, this is gonna take a while," Varth said, aiming his battle gun at the monsters, pulling the trigger, andnding multiple headshots. Once or thrice could be considered lucky, yet each of the bullets hit the vitals of the monsters, proving that he isn''t relying on blind luck rather actual skills honed over the course of many years and countless life and death battles After another more monster copsed, Vincent''s voice sounded in the area. "John, the attack patterns of these monsters are simple. They will lunge at you to bite or swipe their ws. Evade isn''t the best option for this situation as there are two of them. The best defense right now is attacking them with all you got!" He was aware that John was hesitant to take the risks of getting hurt when actually there was little to no chance of getting hurt, so he gave him a push. "I got it," John nodded as the monsters leaper at him. Following his instructions, rather than stepping back when the monsters leaped at him, John stepped forward and smashed his punch on the ribs of one of the two, causing it to crash on the other one. John was having a hard time against two monsters, but after Vincent''s guidance, he was able to fight back, beating them ck and blue with punches and kicks empowered by battle energy. Unlike Vincent, who was a jack of all trades but a master of none, John had only been physically trainingbat techniques since forever, and the only thing he was good at while fighting was using his fists and kicks, and although his sense of battle was duller than Vincent''s, with a lot of guidance, he could be a powerfulbat expert. "There are only a few monsters left," Leni said as she looked at the battlefield, "I should hurry and take care of them." After taking a deep breath, she activated her abilities. "Lotus Blizzard!" Leni said as ice energy burst forth from her body, separating into dozens of tiny pieces, each condensing into the shape of a petal. With a flick of her hand, the tiny petals with sharp ends flew away from the side, heading towards the monsters, and before the monsters could even react, the icy petals rained down on them. Controlled by Leni''s telekinesis ability, the petals shattered their defenses and pierced their flesh. In a few moments, under the brutal assault of a volley of bullets and a rain of ice shards, the monsters fell one after another until only was left prevailing. A momentter, once the minions of the most powerful monster has copsed without any sign of life and death in their eyes and bodies, Vincent dodged the punch thrown at him, took a deep breath, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Focus your attacks on its legs and eyes. It will be worse than a sitting duck unable to do anything once we take away its eyes and legs!" Vincent''s words weren''t without reasons, as the monster will be useless if it losses its legs and eyes. After all, the monster did not have any ranged magic. It could only use physical attacks to deal damage. "Once it bes immobile and blind after losing its legs and eyes, we would have plenty of time to deal with it." "Break the barrier around its legs!" After a moment, the monster''s legs were shattered and it copsed to the ground with a dull thud. "Kill it!" Dragons made out of ice, sharp knives, and powerful energy bolts shoot towards the figure, full of chaotic might. BOOM BOOM BOOM Thecerations in most parts of the thick negative energy barrier and armor grew so deep that they shattered, revealing the thick and defenseless skin of the enormous monster. At that moment, Vincent''s voice brimming with might sounded in the ears of his teammates. "Don''t interfere! I want to y it by my own two hands!" "As you wish!" John and Varth backed off as they didn''t have any interest in taking thest hit. "Alright," Leni said as she looked at his back with admiration. He was so powerful that he has almost soloed the most powerful monster. Girls like powerful men that could protect them from harm, and it was true for Leni too. "My boyfriend is powerful, kind, caring, and handsome. It''s wonderful to just stare at him while knowing that he belongs to me. My stomach is going crazy just thinking about him." Leni said in her mind as she patted her cheeks with her palms, "Let''s calm down!" Vincent went over to the blind and freshly crippled monster and began his assault. The blind monster was immobile as itcked legs and couldn''t see anything. So how could it dodge Vincent''s merciless attacks or even catch up to him? It attacked, however, out of panic, iling its bloodied arms like its life depended on it, yet Vincent easily evaded them as they were not only slow but also predictable. Several momentster, Vincent''s daggers shed it in the same ce dozens of times before chopping its head off its body. ? You''ve in the monster with strength just below the entrance to the demonic realm. You''ve gained 500 experience points ? ? Level 4: 1220/700 experience points ? ? Sangue Heart skill proficiency has increased to 35% ? ? Blood Maniption skill proficiency has increased to 45% ? Chapter 103 - 103: Sneaky Sneaky After beheading the blue-bodied behemoth, Vincent calmed his breath and raging hearts, slowing down his blood flow. A smile forming on his face as pleasant notifications of his system rang in his ears. His happiness wasn''t without a reason as he had obtained enough experience points from this venture to level up using experience points without worrying aboutcking them to activate Blood''s functions and spell matrices to memorize the contents of hundreds of books. "Furthermore, I will unlock another spell matrix when I level up to level 5. What was it called, again?" Vincent''s eyes brightened after he recalled the information Blood shared with him weeks ago, "Yeah, it was the spell matrix invented by the second head of the family called subspace!" The spell matrix that he will unlock once he levels up would allow him to store stuff, or that''s what he thought. Moreover, he believes that he will be able to store a lot of things in the subspace. After all, the second head of the family created the subspace spell matrix. While thinking about the uses of subspace, he looked at the ground, only to see several dozen corpses of monsters littering the ground. Every single one of them was useful for him, as he could absorb their blood for his benefit. However, each weighed a few hundred pounds, if not several hundred. Yet, his ck serpent ring could only contain 3 tons worth of stuff and not a single point more. That''s why he was looking forward to unlocking the subspace. A subspace was just what he needed in this situation to store several dozens of lifeless bodies of monsters. "Did killing it made him go silly?" Varth said in his mind as he looked at Vincent, who was beaming while looking at the behemoth corpse weighing more than two tons. Vincent couldn''t help but expose a smile on his face, a smile of happiness and anticipation for obtaining more than he wished for beforeing here. "Huh?" However, the very next moment, the smile on his face vanished, his eyes narrowing down to thin slits as the magic resonating eyes floating in thin air transmitted an image of overgrown grasses and bushes parting to each side as if something was moving within them directly to his mind. With a little bit of concentration, Vincent could see that it was none other than a Grim Gore, and it was approaching Leni from the shadows. Leni stood behind them, taking cover from the cold winter rain by standing under a tree, watching Vincent''s back with a smile on her face but feeling weary and exhausted from using a lot of her powers in the battle that had just taken ce, yawning as she covered her slightly parted mouth exposing her pearly white teeth and ruby tongue with her petite hands, oblivious to the danger creeping up to her back. Vincent knew that only he could save her. In an instant, a spear made out of blood materialized in his hand as his eyes turned a darker shade of crimson. "Hup!" The muscles in his arms flexed as he twisted his waist and hurled his crimson spear at Leni using all his strength. The crimson spear moved so fast that it cut through the air, emitting a crimson glow of death. "What?!" Leni''s eyes widened, unable to make sense of the situation as she saw the spear closing up on her. Meanwhile, thest grim gore sprinted across the field of green, reaching Leni in a few moments. The monster''s jaw opened wide to reveal its fangs as it charged forth alone at her, taking a leap, aiming to tear her head apart from her body in one powerful snap. "Leni! Duck!" Vincent shouted at the top of his lungs right after throwing the spear, startling Leni from her shock. As soon as he said those words, Leni flinched and threw herself to the grassy ground. The crimson spear with blood mist coiling around it flew right above Leni''s body, and then a painful shriek resounded. "Ugh!" The spear mmed into one side of the monster''s negative energy barrier, shattered it, and pierced its chest simultaneously. The powerful impact rocked the monster, sending it flying backward, far away from his beloved. They turned to look at the cause of that sound and stood there, dumbfounded and relieved to see that Vincent''s crimson spear had prated the heart of a monster which then branched out of its back, nailing it to the thick tree just behind Leni and saving her from certain death. ? You''ve obtained 40 experience points ? The moment the system notification resounded in his mind, a dark shadow escaped out of the body of the behemoth Grim Gore behind him and leaped towards the back of his head. The parasitic alien was about to reach the back of his head, just below the nape, when in that instant, a gunshot sounded in the surroundings. "What the hell?!" Vincent turned to look at Varth, unable to understand why he took a shot just behind his back. "Take a look behind you," Varth said, pointing behind his back. A momentter, Vincent saw a weird parasite wriggling on the ground near his feet after he turned around. Varth''s bullet prated its squishy body, and then negative energy began seeping out of its wound. In a few moments, the parasite dissolved into wisps of darkness and disappeared under the moonlight. "Thanks for saving my life," Vincent said to him, understanding that something worse than death would have happened to him if that parasite managed to invade his body. "No problem," Varth said. "Anyway, she looks terrified out of her wits. Shouldn''t you do something about it?" Leni needed his support right now. John was checking up on her. Immediately after, Vincent ran up to her, his gaze scrutinizing her from head to toe. "Leni, are you okay? Did I scare you?" Vincent asked as he touched her face, looking into her eyes with a gentle gaze. "I''m fine, big brother." Although she said those words, her back and forehead were drenched in sweat. Her head was buried in her knee. She huffed, trying to catch her breath and calm her restless heart. Vincent wiped a sheen of traumatic sweat away from her forehead as he lifted her chin to stare into her eyes, feeling her body shivering subtly. "You don''t look fine," Vincent said as he grabbed her hand in his pushed her into his embrace. Leni crashed into his sturdy chest as he wrapped his hands around her body. "There''s no danger here." He said in a low tone, reaching his hand up and down her back and kissing her forehead. What she the most right now wasfort. "It''s warm." Leni snuggled in his embrace, tears leaking from the corner of her eyes. Chapter 104 - 104: Two Lovers Terrified And Obsessed, Yet Not Knowing Why. She was traumatized for some reason, especially when she saw Vincent''s crimson eyes when he threw his spear at her, and although it was to save her life, it still affected her in a weird way she didn''t know why. Furthermore, she was even more terrified to see that she nearly died. That''s not all, as the cold winter rain that drenched her clothes was making her feel cold, but Vincent''s bodily warmth came at the perfect time. Vincent wiped the tears on her cheeks andforted her with pleasant words and lovely pats. "Wow! You look cute even when you''re crying." Leni giggled and rolled her eyes at him, pushing her head full of snowy hair deeper into his chest. After a few moments, once she calmed down due to the warmness of his embrace and his pleasant words, she said, "You scared me more than the monster that ambushed me." "My bad," Vincent said as he patted her head. "I was furious and brimming with killing intent at that moment. I didn''t think twice before acting to save your life. I didn''t mean to scare you by suddenly throwing a weapon your way." "It''s okay. I understand," Leni said. "Thanks for saving my life." John looked away from them, letting the lovebirds do as they like. Varth examined the parasitic alien and tried to find out its origin. "It looks awfully familiar." In the very next second, his eyes widened as he seems to recall something. "It looks like the parasitic seed of the Tree of Evil!!!" Varth eyes dted as he recalled the past in which he and a group of twelve strong fought an army of deadly creatures infested with the seed of evil and came out victorious at the cost of only him surviving. "How the hell is it here?" He couldn''t believe what he was seeing, but the evidence was right in front of his eyes, and he couldn''t deny it. After a few minutes, Leni raised her head from his chest, looked into his eyes, and said, "Thank you, big brother. I''m feeling fine now." After they stood up but Vincent held on to her without any intention of lifting his hands off her waist. A weird emotion has ovee his rationality. He felt as if he would lose her if he let go right now. So, he wanted to keep her by his side, not an inch away. As for why he was feeling so obsessed with her, even he didn''t know. Anyhow, he was sure that he wouldn''t have bothered tofort another woman in a simr situation. This side of his existed only for Leni for some reason, but he didn''t know why and how it happened, but he knew that it was an obsession, one so dormant that it overtakes his rationality. "Are we going to stay like this forever?" Leni broke the silence. Vincent pushed her back to a tree and said, "Don''t you like it?" Leni''s cheeks and ears turned ruddy, and her toes curled as his hot breath caressed her smooth, snow-white skin. "I do, but we need to do a lot of things right now," Leni said. "Oh, and what are they?" Vincent said, not backing off even a single inch. "First off, we need to dismantle the corpse of the monsters to obtain the cores of the monsters and other necessary stuff such as their eyes, ws, and fangs. Secondly, we need to search the cave for extraordinary evolution material. Lastly, we still need to hunt bandits in the wild." Leni hurriedly answered, her petite hands on his chest exerting force to push him away from herself. "I understand." Vincent took a step away from her, but not before kissing her palm. "You are cold," he said as his tongue moved, tracing up the softness of her palm to her slender index finger. "Your clothes are also drenched in cold water. You''ll get sick if you stay like this. It would be best if you change clothes. Did you bring extras?" "Nope," Leni shook her head as she took her hand away from him while blushing and her heart fluttering. She felt like an ice cube that would melt under the warmth provided by her beloved sun. She didn''t want to melt as this creepy ce full of trees and darkness wasn''t a ce for that! However, she couldn''t deny that the man before her has pacified her heart from all the horror that dawned on her and was romanticizing with her in such a way that she liked as well. If this continued, she was sure that there wille a time not too far away from now where she wouldn''t be able to deny any of his words. "I guess you will need to wear my clothes." Vincent took out a hoodie and shorts from his spatial ring and handed them over to her. "Is that alright?" Leni''s eyes blinked as she looked at the clothes in her hand. "Yes, it is. You''re my girlfriend, so it''s alright to wear my clothes in such a sticky situation, Vincent said. "By the way, should I help you take off your clothes and wear mine?" As soon as he said those words, Leni erected an ice dome around her and said, "A big fat no! And no peeking!" Vincent chuckled as he thought that, a day not far from now, he would have a good look at her body anyway. Leni wore his clothes, and then the first thing that came into her mind was the fact that the clothes carried his scent and warmth. After a few moments, once she smelled his clothes to her heart desires, she stepped out of the ice dome and said, "How do I look? Is it weird?" She was wearing Vincent''s clothes that were too big for her. She was not only a head shorter than him, but her body width was too smallpared to his. She looked like a kid wearing her father''s clothes. Vincent patted her hair and said without blinking, "You look exceptionally cute." Those remarks caused a smile to blossom on her face. At that very moment, an urgent voice sounded in their ears, "Guys, gather around. You need to hear me out." Chapter 105 - 105: Spell Matrix “Subspace”! Hearing his words, Vincent took out an umbre from his spatial ring and opened it up to cover Leni and himself from the rain as they stepped out of the cover provided by the trees and walked under the thundering rainy clouds. At the same time, John stopped dismantling a monster and walked up to Varth. After a few moments, once they gathered around him, he set up a spherical barrier around them. A blue globe of condensed magic power formed around them to shelter them from the rain, and even the thundering in the cloudy night sky couldn''t reach their ears as the barrier nulled all such sounds. Vincent closed the umbre and stored it in his ck serpent ring before his eyes lowered to look at him, and he asked, "What do you wanna tell?" "Everything that happened till now was a ploy set up by the Tree of Evil. It''s the actual cause of the disappearance of the citizens of the city of Leslie. The Tree of Evil feeds on negative emotions generated by humanoids. It used the monsters to kidnap humans and demi-humans so that it would be able to entrap them in its roots of nightmare and eat on the negative emotions generated by them in their horrifying dreams until their death." Varth spected that the real reason behind the disappearance was the tree of evil, and he wasn''t wrong in the eyes of the group members. "Grim Gore be powerful by absorbing negative energy as it functions like an evolution material for them. I believe it had fed arge amount of negative energy to strengthen its minions so that they would be able to carry out its task in a better way." At this moment, Leni, Vincent, and John mood soured as they found out that there was no extraordinary material whatsoever in these woods. It was just the Tree of Evil strengthening its minions by using a unique method. ''This sucks,'' they thought. Varth continued, "The monsters were just its minions, which It controlled by using the parasitic evil that ambushed you. The parasitic evil is called the seeds of evil. It takes roots inside of a person''s brain and controls the body of its host. After we killed its minions, the Tree of Evil decided to enve the strongest among us, and that''s you. However, I foiled its n." As soon as he said those words, Vincent''s eyebrows raised in realization, Leni''s eyes narrowed in anger, and John''s mouth parted. "Everything makes sense now!" He eximed as he fisted his palm. The Tree of Evil had controlled a monster to ambush his sister as It knew that his brother-inw would save her life and leave himself exposed to unsusceptible danger. A chance it meant to exploit to enve him. However, Varth had killed its seed of evil before it could even prate Vincent''s body. "I want to take revenge for us," Leni said as her slender hand balled into a tiny fist. She was feeling angry at being yed like a fool by a monster that not only threatened to hurt and possibly enve her beloved to death but had also killed dozens of people and caused many to grief out of sadness. Vincent pinched her nose, and he said, "Calm down. We don''t even know where the Tree of Evil is right now." He wanted to kill the Tree of Evil before it causes any more harm, so he started to perform hand signs to create magic resonating eyes to search for it. At that very moment, a calm voice sounded in their ears, stopping Vincent from performing the magic technique and telling Leni what she wanted to hear the most. "The Tree of Evil can only control its seeds of evil from a certain distance that can''t be more than several kilometers. Moreover, it has tried everything to stop us from advancing to the cave, from sending all of its minions to attacks us to ambushing both you and Leni. It''s highly susceptible that the Tree of Evil is inside of this cave." The entrance of the cave, as dark as night, was right in front of them, waiting to be explored by someone. "Wouldn''t it be too dangerous to fight it?" John felt that monsters with such dangerous names and abilities should be left for the instructors to handle. "Not really," Varth said. "The Tree of Evil is typically not a strong monster. The main strength of this monster is to enve other creatures and use them to do its bidding. Without that, it is weaker than most monsters in its realm. I''m certain that we have killed all of its minions, as otherwise, it wouldn''t have been so desperate to enve Vincent." John still scratched his chin and said, "We are just students. It would be better to return to the academy and notify the instructors about this." "If we do that, we won''t be able to keep the extraordinary evolution materials obtainable from the Tree of Evil!" Not just Vincent, but even John and Leni look at him with an expression of bewilderment and surprise. "The monster gives an extraordinary evolution material?!" They said without thinking. "Yes, indeed," Varth said. "The name of the evolution material is the Fruit of Evil. It''s what the Inquisitor of Night ate to awaken his ability Invasion of Darkness!" Inquisitor of Night, better known as the Emperor of Darkness, was one of the strongest humanoids in history. After all, he has an army of hundreds of thousands of beasts of the demonic and magical realm working under him. He enved so many beasts by using his ability. The Invasion of Darkness produces a parasitic seed of evil that can take root in someone''s body and control them as ordered. "So, it''s an evolution material that awakens an envement type of ability," John said. He was amazed to finally understand that the famous Emperor of Darkness controlled these beasts by enving them using the seed of darkness. "It depends. The fruit of evil might awaken a different ability depending on the person that consumes it." "But it will still be an extraordinary ability. Am I right?" Vincent said as he looked at him. "Correct." Varth nodded. "Shall we?" Leni asked as she pointed at the cave. "Wait, I need to do something first." After he said those words, Varth pulled out a camera the size and the shape of a pen. He then squatted in the center of the grassy fields covered with corpses of monsters and started taking pictures as if there is no tomorrow. John''s eyebrows raised as he wondered for what reason he''s doing that. "Why are you taking pictures of corpses?" He asked as he lowered his head, looking at him with a bewildered expression. "It''s to photograph the evidence," Varth replied calmly as the stick the size and shape of a pen in his hand shed simultaneously. Vincent heard what he said from a few feet away, and once he walked up to him with Leni in tow, he asked, "Evidence for what?" "Evidence to earnpensation," Varth replied to them while taking pictures left and right. As soon as he said those words, Vincent''s eyes brightened in realization. On the other hand, Leni and John were slow to catch up on his words, but they realized the purpose behind his actions after a few moments. "Ah, it''s understandable!" The details and difficultly level of the monster''s subjugation mission issued by the city of Leslie acting under the jurisdiction of the city lord appointed by the Earth Federation were wrong. The mission was far harder than mentioned. Thus, they are allowed to getpensation in the form of a far greater reward. Of course, they need evidence to back up their words. The overly muscr and tall corpses of the hairy monsters were evidence. "It will take a while, so you guys should dismantle the corpses and gather materials." "I was thinking of doing just that," Vincent said. "Let''s go together," John said. He had tried to dismantle a monster just a few moments ago, but he was terrible at it, as he only relies on brute force rather than techniques. He believed, however, that he will be able to learn a trick or two from watching Vincent dismantling the monsters. Leni wanted to help them with dismantling the corpse, but Vincent advised her against it due to multiple reasons. She was tired and exhausted, and it will be better if she takes this time to rest. She will get drenched again, and he also didn''t have an extra pair of clothing in his ring. "You can sit here," Varth said as a wooden chair materialized out of nowhere and got ced on the ground near her. "Ah, thanks," Leni said as she sat down on the chair and closed her eyes, trying to breathe magic power in the surroundings to refill her heart and energy channel with it. After ncing at her face, Vincent turned around and walked to the highest price of the battle to dismantle its body from precious material. Along the way, he invested necessary experience points into his experience bar to level up. ? You''ve now reached level 5 ? ? Gained five attribute points ? ? Level 5: 560/1400 experience points ? ? You''ve unlocked the spell matrix Subspace ? "Hmm?" Vincent nced at the details of the newly unlocked spell matrix with a look of anticipation on his face. [ Spell Matrix Name: Subspace Description: The subspace is a barren ind without life. However, it''s pretty big and can store a lot of stuff. The subspace can be upgraded by using life force. The subspace can grow up to be a mini world as long as it is regrly fed with life force. You can cultivate trees, magic herbs, and magic nts in the subspace by using life force. You can go inside of the subspace. Level of the subspace: 0 Required life force to level up: 10000 experience points.] "I can go inside this ce myself?" His eyes glistened in surprise and amazement. ? You can store even living things in there. However, they will die as there is no oxygen in the subspace ? ''The second must have been nearing the boundary of ultimate powers as he or she managed to create something unbelievable like this,'' he thought as he beamed in excitement. The subspace has exceeded his imagination! "Let''s distribute attribute points in my stats and then focus on the task at hand," Vincent said in his mind after a few moments. He licked his lips, calmed down his mind, and invested all of his unallocated attributes points into agility right after. ? Your Agility has increased to 74 points ? He managed to defeat the Behemoth Grim Gore due to his speed. In a battle against beasts without ranged abilities, movement speed works wonders. That''s why he decided to be faster. After distributing attribute points, Vincent''s eyes lowered to look at the ground littered with monsters. "I should start." He took out his daggers and started drawing red lines on the bodies of the blue-bodied ape-like monsters, one at a time. Chapter 106 - 106: Profit! Vincent used the daggers to cut open the flesh, bones, and several other parts of the body of the monsters, as well as chop off their ws and fangs in a way that seemingly looked no different than a painter drawing on a canvas in the eyes of John. "Do you get it?" Vincent asked after he finished dismantling a few monsters. John shook his head, and he said, "Nope, it is too hard to follow and difficult to understand." Vincent''s way of dismantling monsters seemed tooplex in the eyes of John, so he was unable toprehend and learn from it. "I am just controlling the movement of my hands precisely with utmost concentration. Nothing too difficult to do as long as you try. If you don''t get the hang of it in a single try, then keep on going at it until you do. There are a lot of monsters waiting to get dismantled, so you have a lot of chances. You can damage them as you wish as their hides, flesh, and bones aren''t necessary. Just take out the heart with your hands as it''s necessary." Vincent gave a dagger to John and motioned to John to dismantle the monsters as he will learn more about dismantling by performing it a few times than watching it. "I will give it a try," John said as he gripped the dagger in his hand, smashing it into the flesh of the monster to open up its body so that he will be able to acquire the monster core if there''s any inside and heart with elemental blood. "Except for the monster''s core, the ws, fangs, and crystalline ruby eyes of these monsters are also precious treasures. Don''t forget to pick them up," Vincent said, doing his work faster than John. "I understand." John nodded. Following his instructions, he began to dismantle one monster after another. As this was his first time dismantling a beast, he was very clumsy and damaged the useless furs and flesh of the monsters in many ways. However, after several attempts at dismantling a monster without damaging its hide, he began to get the hang of it and began to perform much better than before. Grim Gore is a monster whose body contains five precious treasures, and they are its ws, eyes, fangs, dark monster core, and dark elemental blood extractable from its heart. The cksmith can smelt the ws and fangs of these monsters to create weapons of different types. Simrly, a cksmith can purify and smelt their eyes into a liquid form and pour the content into a mold to give birth to magical essories with body strengthening effects. Furthermore, an inscriptionist can use its dark elemental blood to create darkness or curse-type magic scrolls. Lastly, the monster core of this monster is either thepressed form of negative magic power that acts as a poison to humans and demi-human or dark energy. The dark energy was a true treasure that is necessary for creating Dark-type magic scrolls. Most importantly, a person can absorb dark energy from the core and dissolve it into the mana in their heart to give birth to dark elemental mana. A person can increase the effectiveness and damage of dark type abilities two to three times by channeled dark elemental mana into their ability cells to use their ability! The rank of both types of monster''s core depends on the quantity and purity of dark energy and magical energy. "Hmm, interesting." Vincent''s eyes widened in surprise after reading the information about the dark monster core shown on the holographic screen in front of him. He was surprised to found out that even mana can evolve into a higher form of energy called elemental mana. Several momentster, his surprise increased as he found a Dark-type monster core from every Grim Gore at or above the third rank of the magical realm. It was unthinkable to find cores in beasts below rank three on Earth. Yet, in Xavier, every monster at or above rank three of the magical realm condense their internal energies into a magic power core and dark energy core. Vincent just found out about that; he believed that it is rted to the fact that Xavier is a world''s connecting space where magic power was in abundance, unlike Earth, where magic power seeps into the world from the cracks in space. Sometimeter, once Varth finished photographing each piece of evidence, he began to help them out with dismantling the corpses of the monsters. He came equipped with equipment created for the sole purpose of dismantling monsters, so while he dismantled three monsters, Vincent dismantled two, and Peter dismantled one. It didn''t take long for them to dismantled over 50 corpses of monsters. The best thing they got from all these monsters was the ruby eyes of the behemoth. [Item Name: Damaged Ruby Eyes of the Behemoth Grim Gore! Description: A set of unique material that a cksmith can smelt into a unique essory with the effect of gathering negative energy present in nature and making a negative energy barrier around the user''s body out of it onmand. Note: As the eyes of the behemoth had been severely damaged by daggers thrust and supernatural attacks, you''ll need to use all three of them when creating a unique essory.] Vincent licked his lips as he looked at the detail of the craftable materials in front of him. He said in his mind, "It''s a rare freakish material! If I make an essory out of them, I will obtain the terrifying defense of the Grim Gore." It will be hard to injure and kill him once he gets surrounded by a negative energy barrier. Attacks that can''t break the negative energy barrier wouldn''t be able to injure him. This effect alone was terrific! "How are we going to split the profit obtained from selling the materials?" Varth asked after everyone stood under the protective tent-like barrier. He was low on cash as he didn''t take many things before running away from home. Furthermore, his stock of amplified bullets and mana crystals has decreased significantly in the battle that has just taken ce. He now urgently needed money to restock on his trump cards. The materials that the four of them obtained from the monsters are exchangeable for contribution points in the markets of the military academy. A student can not only purchase items for contribution points in the military academy''s markets, but they can also sell items in exchange for the contribution points. "We get what we earned." Vincent exined that they would earn all of the profit obtained from selling the monsters they killed all alone. In contrast, he will have the profits obtained from selling the materials obtained from the monsters they hunted together will be split among the four of them ording to their contributions. "Am good with that," Varth said. He had a lot of solo kills, so he epted his proposal amiably. "I am fine with taking what I earned," John said. He didn''t feel the need to fight for more profit as he felt embarrassed as he barely did anything in the battle against the monsters. "Me too," Leni said. She felt that that''s probably for the best. There will be no infighting among them as Vincent will justly split the profit between them ording to their contribution. "With that out of the way, let''s head inside and take care of the Tree of Evil," Vincent said as he turned to look at the dark entrance of the cave with a severe expression. It''s time for the demonic monster that has killed a lot of people to face judgment! Chapter 107 - 107: The Lair Of Evil (a) The teenager with the eye patch had spected that the Tree of Evil was hiding inside the cave. The cave was itsir, where it has been incubating since birth. He didn''t know how such an existence managed to invade Xavier, but one thing was sure to him, he needed to kill the malignant tree right away. He was shocked out of his wits to find out that the Tree of Evil and its seed of evil has found their way to Xavier. It was too hard to believe, after all. The Earth Federation had set fortresses in front of every spatial tunnel in the world of Xavier. Soldiers heavily guarded these fortresses, and thetest scanning equipment that could detect even a tiny parasitic alien were installed all around the fortresses! Yet, a Tree of Evil which was a creature belonging to a world far, far away, has managed to find its way here. It was simply inconceivable. However, he concluded that someone carried roots of the Tree of Evil in Xavier and nted it in this ce. Whoever it was, one thing was for sure it wasn''t a person with good intentions. That person knew that the Tree of Evil thrives in ces where living beings regrly perform cardinal sins, and Leslie happened to be a city abundance in such evil practices. In Leslie, arrogant and wealthy nobles don''t see to eye with poor herb gatherers and farmers. They also indulge in the joy of a highly sensual and sexual life in the luxurious corner of this city. Their lifestyle itself is enough to represent multiple cardinal sins such as Pride, Lust, etc. The performance of Cardinal sins, no matter how little, produces intangible and invisible negative energy, which humans cannot harness. Still, unique creatures such as Tree of Evil and monsters such as Grim Gore absolutely can. Poor farmers and herb gatherers trying their best to make a living and live in Leslie because the housing prices are low and taxes are near to none still faces problem every day, such as the injustice done to them in every turn. Even something worse if they do something unintentionally to offend the nobles. Of course, as the situation stands, the nobles end up envied by the poor. Thus, another Cardinal sin produces negative energy, which pollutes the surroundings of Leslie. The negative emotion which results from the production of the two is far than enough to speed up the growth of a Tree of Evil. Unlike other trees that need sunlight and water, the Tree of Evil was a horrifying being that buds and blossoms in the darkest and vilest ces. It didn''t require anything except for living beings that could produce many units of negative energy, such as humans and subspecies. Therefore, it preyed on humanoid the most as humane creatures produce massive pulses of negative energy after it traps them in its nightmare roots and shows them their worse nightmares. Naturally, the mastermind behind the Tree of Evil managed to see all that. If it''s left alone, it won''t take more than three months for it to advance to the demonic realm! It couldn''t be left alone as it willmit even more evil acts once it grows up to be a demonic rea Tree of Evil. Besides, it has saved so many sins since it was born that one would find it hard to count on his hands. It has already warranted its death. ''''Good, then let''s go!" As the group inched closer, the darkir in front of them seemed like something right out of a horror movie. It wasn''t only because the cave has no light or shadow inside of it, but also because they felt like they were staring straight at the deep and dark depth of the abyss. "This seems like a prelude to a horror movie where everyone drops dead one after another. Are we honestly going inside?" John, who wasn''t a fan of horror fiction, said while gulping in terror. His hair stood on end, and his intuition was telling him not to step near the cave. "Don''t jinx us." Thedy and the cool boys with stoic expressions weren''t bothered by the oddness of the cave as it resulted from massive amounts of negative energy gathering at a single ce. At the same time, as they said those words, they reached near the cave entrance. It was at this moment, however, where John''s instinct proved superior to all of them. A few ck shadows silently moved in the pitch-ck darkness of the cave, cutting across the air to head straight towards Leni. The cute little girl, utterly oblivious to the dangerous situation, took a step forward to enter the cave. The parasitic seed of evil stretched out of the darkness to swallow up the white and ck clothes girl wearing full-length pants, when in that instant, to the disappointment of the seeds and Tree of Evil, Vincent whose eyes glowed crimson, allowing him to see even in the dark, grabbed the arm of his naive girlfriend and pulled her out of the trajectory of the shadowy monsters. Leni crashed on his chest while the shadowy figure missed their targets and flew out of the cave. Bang! A gunshot sounded in the air as a single bullet caused three seeds of evil to drop to the ground, wriggling as they tried to inch closer to the person nearest to them, but with dull thuds, John stomped the little bastards to death. "Fucking hell! The Tree of Evil, that bastard keep on targeting my sister!" He stomped on the seed of evil to vent his anger until they dissolved into wisps of negative energy and disappeared. "Thanks," Leni said as she took a step away from her boyfriend. "Stay behind me." Vincent motions her to stay near him while saying that. "I will protect you." "Okay," Leni said as a smile blossomed on her face. She internally felt a butterfly fluttering in her stomach. "Let''s go! We will use torchlight to illuminate as much area as we can. Leave the rest to me. I can see in the dark. If there''s danger heading our way, I will notify you beforehand." The cave was wide enough for six people to walk inside it side by side. After all, the Tree of Evil created the cave by using its minions to house itself and them. The inside of the cave was dark. It was so dark that it ate up whatever light the torchlight held in the hands of the twins could produce. They used torchlight to illuminate the cave, but the cave''s darkness seemed to be swallowing it. The darkness in the surrounding was chilling to the bone. The expert that had faced the Tree of Evil once before in his life knew that the darkness was a scare tactic the Tree of Evil uses to scare away the invaders it fears from the depth of its heart. Its scare tactic wasn''t working against him and Vincent. Varth, who has trodden on the path of darkness ever since he was of age, didn''t feel an ounce of fear in such a ce as the veil of night was his home ground. Vincent could see even in the dark, as in front of his crimson eyes, the darkness of the night seemed no different than a ce illuminated by the light of day. Darkness was like a paradise from him. However, the scare tactic was working on the twins as they weren''t familiar with darkness. Leni and John couldn''t help but wince at the echo of their own footsteps. Feeling that, Varth shrugged, took out a magical stick, and broke it. "I never thought I''d be using the memento he left for me in such a ce." In the very next second, the cave got illuminated by the golden light releasing out of the magical glow stick. "I can see it!" Under the Illumination of the golden light, their eyes focused ahead, deeper inside the cave, as they could faintly make out the silhouette of a rather odd, ominous tree. "The Tree of Evil is at the end of the cave!" The Tree of Evil seemed to be only several dozen steps away from them, standing tall at the end of the cave. However, invisible danger littered the path towards it. A danger that didn''t escape the range of the energy sense emitted by Blood from Vincent as the center. "Wait for a second!" Vincent hurriedly said to stop them from charging ahead to their death. "What''s wrong?" They halted in their footsteps and looked at him. Vincent said, "Although the path ahead seems peaceful at a nce, it is filled with vicious seeds of evils waiting to invade our bodies and enve us." Chapter 108 - 108: The Lair Of Evil (b) The urgency behind his words caused them to immediately turn their heads left and right, searching for the seeds of evil. As their scrutinizing gaze swept across their surroundings, they realized that an uncountable number of shadowy creatures were wriggling inside of the small holes made in the walls of the passageway leading to the chambers of the silhouette of the tree they just saw. The holes were so small that if one doesn''t look carefully enough, they won''t even realize it. Moreover, each hole was cramped with several if not dozens of seeds of evil, each waiting for a living being to enter the range of their attack. The presence of the danger in front of them caused them toe to a halt as they didn''t know what to do. "Ugh, this is creepy!" Leni couldn''t stand to bear the scene of shadowy creatures squirming and faced away from it in disgust. She then took a few steps to the side and stood an inch away from her boyfriend. "Brother, how did you find out about them? Do you have a sixth sense?" John poked questions at him. Vincent smiled and said, "Yes, you''re right. I have a sixth sense, and I have been using it for a while." John said it as a joke, but he and Leni were surprised to hear that he really possesses a sixth sense that allows him to perceive danger. The name of his sixth sense was Energy Sense. In the wilderness and ces inhabited by creatures such as monsters and beasts, a person can''t lower their guard for even a moment, or in the next second, they will end up with their head separated from their body. Vincent knew this well as he and Leni had stood face to face with death many times, so he had been guarding against unknown danger ever since he stepped inside their of the Tree of Evil. Furthermore, because things could get dangerous and even life-threatening, he hadmanded Blood to use the energy sense spell matrix, although it costs experience points to utilize. The activation of energy sense had generated an invisible energy field that expanded from his body, sweeping across the passageway and reaching into the chambers whereid the Tree of Evil instantly. At the same time, the three-dimensional map of the entire Lair of Evil was projected into his mind, letting him even see the tiniest of movement made by the danger hidden in the unnoticeable holes in the walls. The seeds of evil were projected as tiny ck dots, and the Tree of Evil was projected as a massive globe of squirming darkness in the holographic screen floating in front of his eyes. At the same time, as he heard his words, Varth looked at Vincent with a gaze of deep interest. Unlike others, he was able to tell that Vincent hasn''t exactly undergone awakening, and the abilities he has shown so far were rted to his traits. He has different abilities, and most of them could be categorized as magic techniques andbat techniques. Still, the way he materialized ruby out of thin air and sixth sense could only be ssified as traits of his race. Varth wondered what Vincent''s race is. After all, it wasn''tmon to meet a person with so many traits. "It''s as you expected." Feeling his gaze on his back, Vincent turned to look at him and said, "This cave is indeed their of the Tree of Evil. The silhouette of the tree we see at the end of the cave is undoubtedly the Tree of Evil." He knew! Varth was aware of the demonic presence of the Tree of Evil since a while ago, as his eye covered by a ck patch was able to perceive the negative energy present in the cave and feel matching simrities with the Tree of Evil he slew in the past. He also urately determined the strength of the seeds of evil as his throbbing left eye perceived the amount of their negative energy without his consent. ''The damn thing is acting up again,'' he thought as the throbbing got faster. At the same time, as he said those words, the twin''s eyes burned with the determination to do their best. The Tree of Evil was right in front of them. It couldn''t escape either as it has taken root in this ce. They could easily engage it in a battle to the death. The result will be determined by the hard work they put in the battle. Varth shook his head before he turned to look at them, and he said, "The seeds of evil nesting in the passageway are still in their early phase but strong enough to prove harmful to us if they invade our body. Everyone keep your guards up and be prepared to release your sure-kill attacks if the seeds of evilunch towards you. With that said, let''s move." They couldn''t attack the walls as the shattering of the wall might cause the cave to copse! "Wait! I will go ahead, and you three support me." While saying those words, Vincent stepped forward to bait the seeds of evil out of their nest. He was aware of his ability and believed that out of all of them, he had the highest chance to evade attacks thrown his ways as his body impressively flexible. The seeds of evil were waiting for an ignorant person to enter the range of their attack. A momentter, once Vincent entered the range of their attacks, several shadowy creatures suddenly shot out from within the walls, aiming for his head, hearts, and nape. The three points of a humans'' body from where the seeds of evil could instantly take root inside a person''s body and control them to do their biddings. The moment they saw the seeds of evil taking the bait, they unleashed their attacks on them. Vincent swung his daggers while twisting his body back and forth, evading the piercing attacks of the seeds of evil and chopping them in half. Right away, an automatic notification rang in his ears. ? You''ve in, seeds of evil 5 ? ? You''ve gained 50 experience points ? Vincent''s eyes widened. From this notification, he found out that although the seeds of evil were beings formed from negative energy, they still have life force within them, and killing them will activate the life spell matrix and gain his experience points. His daggers swung again, killing five at the same time. At the same time, a system notification once again rang in his ears, notifying him that he has earned fifty experience points once again. "This ce is the best farming area!" The seeds of evil were small and weak. So weak that Vincent was able to kill five of them in a single swing. Yet, each of them was worth ten experience points. There were a few hundreds of them here, and killing them will earn him a thousand if not a few thousand experiences point the very thought got him so excited that he increased the speed of his attack to take down as many as he can. They felt the vibration in the ground beneath their feet rumbled as more seeds of evil started to roll out from their burrow. "Let''s clean them out in a hurry." Leni swung her hands, releasing a crescent ray of ice at them. It was so sharp that dozens of seeds of evil dropped to the ground, their bodies chopped in two. A lot of them jumped at Vincent at the same time, and he found himself attacked from all sides. "I got your back." John hurled his dagger as if he was ying darts. The de didn''t stop before piecing several seeds of evil approaching Vincent to death. At the same time, as he saw that Vincent was in a sticky situation, Varth pulled his demon trigger without worrying about the cost of money as the treasure obtained from the tree of evil will earn him enough to up for the loss. Besides, Vincent was far more important to him than mere glorified scraps of paper. Sometimeter, another group of seeds of evil dropped to the ground with their bodies vanishing without a trace in a few moments, and it just so happened to be thest one. "The passageway is clear of the seeds of evil! We have done it!" Vincent eximed in happiness. He was happy for two different reasons. First off, they have cleared the entire cave from the seeds of evil. Secondly, he had earned a lot of experience points. ? You''ve in, seeds of evil 83 ? ? You''ve gained 830 experience points ? ? XP: 1380 /1400 ? He was only twenty experience points away from reaching the next level, but as luck would have it, not a single free source of experience points was left alive in this ce. Nevertheless, he wasn''t far away from acquiring thest bit of experience points as the defenseless Tree of Evil was right in front of them. "Let''s go." The group of four stepped forward and walked through the passageway for a few moments before they entered the chambers of the Tree of Evil! It was a spacious area ten times bigger than the passageway they took toe here. In the middle of this immense area, there was a massive dark tree glowing in a golden color. They immediately looked at it, and a single nce was enough to tell them that this was the Tree of Evil. Its dozens of tendrils were wrapped around hundreds of humans, now skeleton sucking negative energy off of them even after their death. "This creature''s atrocities are beyond heinous." Vincent''s grip on his daggers tightened as he red at the Tree of Evil with eyes brimming with murderous intent. Chapter 109 - 109: End Boss Fight (a) The Tree of Evil appearance wasn''t much different than a monster out of someone''s worse nightmare as it has arge teeth-filled mouth in the middle of its trunk, whose lower half ends in dozens of nightmare roots caging skeletons and the upper half ends in a crown of leaves with sharp pointed ends. A crimson crystallized orb the size of a boulder was in the center of the crown. Its bark was the same color as human blood, covered in ck scales with thorns growing out of them, and the group could see eight rectangr-shaped inky, ck eyes rippling down the sides of its body. Mesmerizing pinkish leaves whose beauty didn''t lose in the face of cherry blossoms grew out of the branches of the Tree of Evil. However, the blood of countless of its victims was what caused it to blossom to such a soul enchanting state. For some reason, the tree of Evil has chosen to decorate itself beautifully as if it was a human smearing makeup on their face. Furthermore, it was tall enough to nearly reach the cave''s ceiling, which was over fifty meters in height. "It''s as I imagined. Just like the fools who came here before, you''ve too ignored all my warnings and came for me because of your greed. That very greed will be the end of all of you. You will not get what you desired, but you will indeed get caged in my roots of nightmare and suffer from endless torture before meeting your end! It''s the price you must pay for killing my babies!" The mouth of the Tree of Evil moved oddly, and a hoarse voice sounded in their ears as its eight abyssal ck eyes moved to stare at them. Although John and Leni were surprised as beasts and monsters in the magical and demonic realm can not speak humannguage, they were not too shocked as they had learned all about its ability before they entered itsir. Howe it can speak the humannguage?! The Tree of Evil learned to speak the humannguage from killing and assimting with the memories of the humans and demi-humans that fell victim to an endless nightmare. From its words, Vincent inferred that it has not only consumed the memories of its innocent victims but has also integrated with the memories of hypocrites. "What a hypocrite! You''ve been killing innocent people for who knows when. You''ve tried to kill us all time and time again. When you sacrificed your minions and came to realize that we are too strong for you to fight fairly, you repeatedly targeted the love of my brother to enve him. You tried to kill my sister again and again. Yet, you failed every time. You''re the one who sacrificed all of your creation to stop us froming here. It was to save yourself. You''re nothing but a monster that will stoop to the lowest height and pay whatever price to keep on living. Correct me if I am wrong," John stood his ground although he was being stared down by four of its eyes and uttered the truth at the top of his lungs so that the demonic tree could listen to each of his words. None of his words were false, and each of them highlights the selfish nature of the tree of evil. "Your words sound interesting, but theyck depth. So what if I sacrifice a few filthy beings and my creation to keep on living? There''s nothing wrong with that. This world is the survival of the fittest. It has been since the very start of the universe''s creation. If such wasn''t the case, why do the strong and the rich of your races keep on getting stronger and prosperous while the weak and the poor suffer? Among the sacrifices I made in order to live, there''s not a single noble or royal. The ones who died are the lowest of the so-called peaceful society you humans created, and the greediest adventurers that tried to take my material for themselves, rather than going back and reporting my existence to their higher-ups!" "You fools did the same thing as them!" As soon as the words of the Tree of Evil sounded in their ears, the floor of the vastir of evil trembled as dozens of ck roots with sharp ends burst out of the soil and fired straight towards them, cutting through the air as their pointed triangr ends threatened to pierce through their body. In that very instant, a calm and taunting voice of a youth sounded in the area. "Your race loves to talk a lot. Let me shut you up for good!" Varth stood straight, unconcerned by the perilous danger heading his way. His hand was raised in front of his body, aiming towards the iing rain of roots. At the same time, many blue dots concentrated at the center of his glove before they instantly condensed into several small blue balls, each packing a hell of a lot of power. Before the roots could even reach halfway towards them, the small blue bombsunched forward at the speed of lightning simultaneously, and if one looked carefully enough, one would make out thin blue lines being drawn on the air as if someone decided to create a painting on air; one with only blue lines. ? Magic Technique: Magic Bomb ? A momentter, several magic bombs crashed on different parts of dozens of roots in mid-air. BOOM In the split of a second, a terrific sound rang throughout their of evil as the magic bombs erupted, sting the roots into pieces. The cave trembled violently due to the shockwaves resulting from the explosion but didn''t copse. "Seems like you can''t even back up your words," said the Tree of Evil, as it watched its roots falling to the ground with an evil smile on its hideous face. However, before one of the four could even retort, a dozen more roots stretched out of the walls in the very next second, whipping towards them like the tentacles of the Kraken, demonstrating invincible might as it generated waves of winds. "I got this covered!" Leni''s voice sounded in their ears, and at the same time, a sharp icy dagger made out of ice materialized all around them, spreading a chilling sensation in the dark, dismal surroundings as they cut through the air under her mental control and stormed their of evil, chopping a dozen roots in an instant. "What else do you have up your sleeves! I mean, your trunk!" John said, pointing towards the Tree of Evil. "Self-centered fools, look behind you. I have sealed the exit of myir. There''s no escape. You''ll meet your ends in this very ce!" John turned to look behind him, only to see thick vines covering the passageway. The Tree of Evil felt smug as it believes that from the very start, they have been walking towards the center of the trap it prepared for them. "You''re the cornered rat left with nowhere to run!" Vincent took a deep breath as he amplified the strength of his arm with battle energy andunched a crimson spear towards its mouth. ? Blood Count: 10/50 ? His blood count was threateningly low. Chapter 110 - 110: End Boss Fight (b) He has used a lot of his blood while fighting against the monsters and a bit of it to shield himself while butchering seeds of evil, and now his previous actions left him with a measly amount of ten units of blood; so low that he could only use three of his special moves before he runs out of blood. ''I need to be careful from now on. I don''t know what will happen once my blood count drops to zero, but I am confident it won''t be good. As long as everything goes ording to his n, we will y it in a single strike. Then I can go to the subspace to refill my blood count.'' Vincent thought in his mind as the crimson spear cut through the air with a sharp sound. "Hmph! Petty tricks," the tree voice sounded as numerous vines with budding pink flowers grow rose from the floor of their of evil, suddenly creating three walls of defense. The spear prated through the first two walls of vines without slowing down. However, as it was branching out of the third wall of vines, many wooden branches stretched forth from the body of the Tree of Evil and wrapped around the crimson spear of death, forcefully stopping it in its track. With a little bit of force, the crimson spear shattered into several dozens of pieces, falling to the ground. "It is a lot more powerful than you expected," John said as he looked at Varth. "Well, I thought that since it had only managed to enve a monster below the demonic realm, it should also be below the demonic realm. I guess I was wrong. It''s at least a step into the demonic realm. Nothing to worry about because we will win as long as we y our cards right." He replied in a low voice so that only his teammate will hear his words. At that very moment, a coarse and agitated voice sounded in their ears. "Myir is not a ce for the living. The very fact that you four are still alive has enraged me enough to sacrifice a portion of my powers to y all of you." At the same time, as they heard those words, the crown on top of the head of the Tree of Evil began to glow golden. As the golden glow reached out to the surrounding areas, the leaves started to detach from the crown one at a time. This attack was the ultimate offensive demonic ability of the Tree of Evil. The power of this demonic ability was another story from what a being at the magical rea could ever wield. More than 600 leaves with sharp pointed ends floated below the ceiling of their of evil, ready to strike them down at a moment''s notice. "Now, give up your life!" Out of the six hundred leaves floating above them, a few hundred cut through the air,unch towards them as the most potent arrows. Vincent immediately raised his hands from where blood burst forth and ended up in a dome of blood protecting the group from the approaching dagger. ? Blood Count: 5/50 ? Clink! Clink! Clink! The very next second, ttering sounds sounded in their ears, as leaves fell like raindrops and crashed on his dome of blood several at a time, showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. "I got your back!" La thought as she raised her hand to touch the ceiling of the crimson dome before using her ice powers to the limit to conjure an ice wall just behind it when in that very moment, Vincent crimson dome shattered into pieces, and the very next instant, the leaves started to crash on top of her ice shield. "I can''t hold on much longer," Leni said through gritted teeth as she fortified her shattering shield with anotheryer of ice. "Am on it," While saying that, thest bit of the crystal with a golden radiance he had inserted into the triangr slot of his battle gear sessfully dissolve into golden energy. "Varth, how long will it take?" John asked in a hurried tone after a moment as the massive cracks appearing on the ice shield created by his sister. The ice shield, although being fortified with Leni powers continuously, wasn''t going to hold for long as the speed of fortifications couldn''t keep up with the rate at which the leaves damaged it. The very next second, Varth smiled behind his mask, and he said, "Good job, guys. Move back." As soon as he said those words, Vincent wrapped his hands around his girlfriend''s petite waist and stepped back to stand beside John. At that very moment, a confident voice sounded in everyone''s ears. "It''s my turn now!" ? The battle gear has generated the Barrier of the Celestial ? A vast amount of golden radiance burst forth from the shield of ice, and if one looks carefully enough, one will see numerous golden lines representing a figure of a cross-legged man with a crown on top of his head manifesting around them in an instant. These lines intertwined into a semi-transparent spherical shield with invincible defense! After Leni''s ice shield shattered under its frontal assault, a few hundred leaves as sharp as metallic daggers crashed on the golden protection in a few moments. However, it didn''t show any signs of even cracking. The golden shield happened to be so powerful that it caused the eyes of the tree of evil to open wide as sauces and its teeth-filled mouth to open wide enough for its horrific jaw to drop to the ground. "I don''t believe it," said the tree of evil as itunched a wave of attack by picking up the leaves that have fallen to the ground with its outstretched wooden branches andshing them out at them. Yet, all of its attacks proved futile! The golden shield radiance dimmed slightly, but not a single crack appeared on its surface. On the other hand, the group of four has been preparing an ultimate move of their own. "Are you done?" Vincent asked as he looked at Leni. "Yes, I am ready!" Leni said as sweat slip from her forehead down to her cheeks and onto the floor of their of evil. Chapter 111 - 111: Targeting The Heart Of Evil The very next second, Leni''s snow-white cheeks turned as red as a ripe tomato, as all the magic power in her vigorous heart and a week-old energy channel channeled into her telekinesis supernatural cells, causing a lot of mental energy to burst forth from her slender hands. "Go!" Her snowy hair fluttered as mental energy crashed into the back of the Barrier of the Celestial, pushing it forward. "I don''t know what you''re nning, humans. However, I won''t let you seed." The Tree of Evil coarse voice sounded in their ears as it redirected all its leaves to crash on the golden barrier to stop it from moving ahead. As soon as the boy wearing the eye patch saw that, he uttered the keyword to activate the second form of the ability he generated. "Expand!" The Barrier of the Celestial suddenly began to grow in length and width without showing any signs of stopping as it pushed through the varieties of attacks thrown towards it. It didn''t stop growing until it became asrge as a huge boulder! "I do not believe that I cannot shatter it!" An instant after the Tree of Evil said those words, an enormous amount of vines burst forth from the floor, winding around one upon another, shaping into a green fist asrge as a boulder. BAM The four teenagers watched with wide eyes and anxious expressions on their faces as the barrier and the fist shed with each other, generating a bombing sound along with waves of winds and clouds of dust. "Come to a halt!" The tree of evil shrieked at the top of his voice as it used all of its strength to stop the Barrier of the Celestial from advancing. "Carry us to victory!" John and Leni eximed at the top of their lungs as they looked at the showdown between the two attacks with wide-open eyes glistening in traces of concern and a hopeful expression. Bam! In the split of a second, the Barrier of the Celestial thwarted the Punch of the Evil Demon and rushed forward at the top of its speed, smashing into the Tree of Evil in the time it takes to blink an eye. The resulting impact caused the barrier to explode into several dozens of shards of golden radiance, bursting outward and impaling into the body of the demonic realm monster. UGH! The Tree of Evil shrieked as pain assaulted all of its senses, and blood poured out from everywhere it was wounded. At the same time, Vincent turned to look at his side, only to see Varth looking at him with a calctive gaze; both looked away from each other with a sly smile on their face. "This is the moment we have been waiting for," Varth said. From the very start of this battle until now, everything they did was for the sake of crippling the Tree of Evil so much that it won''t be able to defend the orb the size of the boulder on top of its body After all, the only way to kill the Tree of Evil was to destroy its life orb, which is infamously known as the Crimson Heart of Evil! As long as it remains intact, the tree of evil only needs a few minutes to heal back to its peak conditions. "It''s time to kill it." The two rushed forward to deal the finishing blow to the severely injured Tree of Evil. However, it wasn''t willing to be butchered as a sitting duck It didn''t want to go down without giving it all in his fight. Its aggravated, coarse voice sounded in their ears. "Ugh! You Damned Humans! Die For Me!" nks made out of wood burst forth from its body, stretching and twirling, condensing into the shape of a pir the size of a boulder with its end shaped like several dozen spikes. Vincent jumped high to the right side to evade the wooden pir as it brushed past him, and at the same time, he manipted his blood to create a small tform in the air the size of his foot. The very next second, he stepped on it and leaped upward,nding on top of the wooden pir. He raised his head, looking at the heart of the nightmare with an intense gaze. "This is it. Everything depends on whether I reach that point or not. Our win depends on this!" Vincent integrated a dozen units of battle energy in his legs simultaneously, and at the same time, he stomped his foot on the surface of the wooden pir to rush forward towards the heart of the nightmare at full speed. Whoosh At the same time, dozens of vines with sharpened ends suddenly came out of the floor of their of evil, cutting through the air, raining down on Varth. The vines were about to mince him into a skewer, when in that instant, his figure suddenly blurred, disappearing into thin air. The vines branched right through what seems to be an afterimage of his body, stabbing into the floor. He had utilized sh step. It was an A-grade ability that allows one to move fast enough to leave behind an afterimage and cover a huge distance in a single second. In the very next second, the usage of this ability allowed him to appear next to the defenseless heart of the Tree of Evil. Furthermore, at the same time, Vincent could be seen openly charging forward towards the crimson heart of evil with the concealed intent to shatter it into pieces. "It''s the end!" The dagger held in Vincent''s hands and the golden pole manifesting in the center of Varth''s palm were threatening to destroy the heart of the Tree of Evil. In that very moment, however, as if time has stilled, both he and Vincent suddenly came to a halt. No matter what they did, they couldn''t move their body. "What the hell?" Vincent said, looking at the Tree of Evil with a baffled expression. "Well, this was out of my expectation." Varth couldn''t believe that the Tree of Evil was also able to use a technique simr to energy pressurizing. Energy pressurization was a technique created by humans to immobilize others by using magic power or purified magic power. The instructors had used this very technique to immobilize both him and Felix back in the entrance examination of the military academy. How could have ever thought that the Tree of Evil was able to use this technique? The Tree of Evil instantaneous decision to utilize a huge amount of negative energy to halt them in ce was outside of their expectations. They''d assumed that they would be able to deal the finishing blow since it has utilized all of its offensive technique and didn''t have any means left to defend itself. Yet, they now found themselves in a sticky situation. "I have been holding back for this very moment," said the Tree of Evil with an evil grin on its hideous face as red and ck winds converged next to the heart of evil. Immediately after, the ck and red winds condensed into a ball that burst outwards. In the split of a second, a crimson shockwave crashed on their bodies, causing blood to spurt out of their mouths and knocking them away from the weakness of the Tree of Evil, sending them flying into the air. A momentter, once Varth regained control of his body, he spun around in mid-air and grabbed Vincent''s ankle, pushing him in front of himself, and he said, "Don''t hesitate and use me as a tform!" "Sorry in advance!" Vincent''s voice reached his ear. At the same time, his foot viciously stomped into his guts. This single action changed the entire game! The Tree of Evil eight pupils dted in terror as Vincent shoots towards its heart of evil with incredible speed. It tried to utilize its remaining branches to stop him from advancing further, but it was already toote. Vincent has crashed on top of its heart of evil! In the time it takes for an eye to blink, Vincent brandished the daggers in his hands a few times, creating intense striking sounds as they shed and shattered the heart of evil in a mere second. Cold light reflected off the daggers as the heart of evil shattered, and at the same time, the branches approaching to immobilize him came to a halt. The Tree of Evil itself came to a sudden halt as if it has died. However, Vincent didn''t receive any notification from his system. That means that it was still very much alive. Of course, Vincent didn''t have the time to think about such things as he was perplexed by the scene in front of him. In front of him, there was a sudden throne, on which a girl with fluffy pink hair reaching down to her waist was sitting. The Tree of Evil had linked the girl to itself by embedding several of its branches into the back of her body. The wooden branches gave off an oddly familiar vibe. Vincent''s eyes widened as he realized that the branches were brimming with the purest form of the essence of life. Furthermore, the Tree of Life wasn''t extracting the essence of life from her body. Instead of doing that, it was pouring it into her body. "What is the meaning of this, Tree of Evil," Vincent said, unable to believe what he was seeing. The scene in front of his eye was utterly ridiculous! However, it was true nheless. Chapter 112 - 112: Unsettled Heart! The Tree of Evil was surely helping the Elven girl. Howe a tree so evil seems to help a humanoid girl survive? He didn''t know as this was the first time he hase across such a scene in his life! "Since you wish to know, see for yourself." A coarse voice sounded in his ears, and at the same time, his crimson eyes expanded as images of the girl''s past popped up in his mind. Her name was Lisa. She was a war orphan, just like him. She was a part of a happy and big orphanage that still thrives in Leslie. She was living happily with her new family until she woke up, caged between bars and surrounded by bandits. Pretending to be asleep, she eavesdropped on the words of the bandits. Listening to their words, she found out that these mean-looking uncles were ve traders and that the caretakers of the orphanage had sold her to them. The orphanage was a ring of ve traders! The orphanage took care of children until they were 12 years old. Then, the highest bidder purchases them as ves. The cycle had continued for ages, and she was just one of the uncountable victims. In the middle of the road, the bandits came across magical beasts. They fought with each other, giving her a chance to escape. She ran far away from her captors, as far as her weak body could take her. She didn''t stop, even though her feet hurt and her lungs burned. She kept on running as her life depended on it. Finally, Lisa came across a cave in the middle of the woods, and she hid and rest in there. As fate would have it, that ce was the very ce where the Tree of Evil lived. It was in the shape of a tiny nt when they first met. After finding out that it was sentiment and could respond to her words by moving its tiny tendrils, Lisa bawled her heart out at it,ining endlessly about the suffering she suffered under the hands of the people she trusted and cherished. The cruelty and greed of humans crushed her childish heart, and she was brimming with negative emotions. Lisa''s negative emotions were the best type of food it has ever tasted in its life. It grew and became a tree in a single night. The next day when she woke up, it surprised her to see that the tiny nt has grown up to be a tree. The Tree of Evil handed her a few fruits to show her gratitude. The Elven girl gulped down the fruits in a hurry as she hasn''t eaten in days. After finishing the food, she stayed with it as she didn''t have any ce to go. The Tree of Evil threatened her to go away or else it will eat her. Lisa firmly stood her ground and said that she barely has meat in her tiny body, but she will have a lot of meat once she grows up in a few years. So, it should wait for her to grow up before eating her. The Tree of Evil found her words usible as the passage of a few years meant nothing to him. Besides, it didn''t feel like killing her for an odd reason. In the blink of an eye, three months passed peacefully. They lived together. The tree of evil provided her with food and other necessity. Lisa, on the other hand, fulfilled the tree of evil curiosity about humans and demi-humans. Unknowingly, the hatred in the girl''s heart dissipated. The Tree of Evil that has be addicted to her negative emotions felt curious, so it asked her why. Her answer surprised it. It was all because of itself. The young Elven child loves her time with it. The Tree of evil taunted her, saying that he will eat her once she turns eighteen. The girl happily giggled as sheid down on it. Soon, she fell asleep. "What does it feel like to sleep?" It wondered as it looked at her. The Tree of Evil closed its eyes and tried to sleep. It couldn''t fall asleep, however. So, it satisfied its curiosity by asking about it from the girl. She filled the shoring in its life while it provided her with safety and food. However, their peaceful life didn''tst long as the bandits that have been looking for Lisa for months came for her. A great battle ensued as the bad it''s tried to kill Lisa to keep their secret hidden from the world. The young Tree of Evil fought the bandits as she was a prey it has set its eyes upon. It killed all the bandits. However, the Tree of Evil and Lisa were injured. The Tree of Evil doesn''t know what came upon it, but it devoured the bandits and used their life force to keep Lisa a step away from dying. Over the years, he has provided her with the essence of life to revive her. It kept her alive so that she could fulfill her promise. Her eighteenth birthday was only a month away. The memories of her past ended here. Vincent''s crimson eyes burned bright as he balled into a fist in anger. "Bastard!" He cursed in anger. "I will fucking kill the bastard running the orphanage in Leslie!" "Why are you angered for the sake of others? They are only a bunch of greedy pigs. It''s not just them but the entire human and Demi-human race." A ck ball of negative energy appeared next to him out of nowhere and continued. "The herb gatherers wouldn''t have died if they listened to the guards and didn''te here. Yet, because of their insatiable greed to make a living, they came and look at what their actions cost theman even earlier death. The nobles could have saved their lives by just providing them with enough money or food to live until the danger in the woods died down, but they kept their money for themselves because of their greed. Do you understand why I kill the members of your race?" "That still doesn''t give you the right to treat every living being as your prey! You''ve been killing humans since who knows when by kidnapping them or using the fruit of evil as bait. It must''ve been pretty enjoyable. However, did you ever think that you''ll die in the hands of the very being you hunted?" Vincent said as he looked at the representation of the Tree of Evil. "Is it because humanity has corrupted you with their deceitful words and lies that you say such words, my child? You can be much more than you''re now if you let go of your make-believe humanity. Be yourself, which is the real you, not this facade that you''ve be." "Tree of Evil, your words are full of crap!" Vincent didn''t hesitate to sh at the ball ck next to him with both of his daggers. "Think about my words, child. Realize the importance behind them before it is toote. Eventually, your race will turn their backs on you, and they wille for you once they realize what you truly are. They will hunt you down primarily because of greed and secondly because you shouldn''t exist." As soon as it said those words, the representation of the Tree of Evil disappeared. "Onest thing before I go. Do me a favor and look after the elven child. She isn''t dead, as I have finally revived her. If you think you can''t help a monster, then know that it''s your duty and responsibility to help her. After all, she is an unlucky victim of the greed of your kind." "Hmph! I don''t need a monster to tell me what to do!" Vincent said. He would not abandon a citizen of the federation that needed help! He pitied her. She was too young to go through betrayal and everything she has faced. The very next moment, the Tree of Evil died for good. ? Congrattions! You''ve killed a monster in the second rank of the demonic realm, Tree of Evil ? ? You''ve obtained 2000 Experience points ? ? Level 5: 2560/1400 experience points ? Vincent wasn''t too surprised to earn a lot of experience points as monsters and beasts in the demonic realm are brimming with life force. He went to Lisa and used his jacket to cover her body. He picked her up and turned around to walk towards his friends with an unsettled expression on his face. The words of the Tree of Evil have left an unsettling feeling in Vincent''s heart. "It knew of me being a vampire? Did it read my memories? And why should I not exist? Who wille for me? Is it humans and Demi-humans or someone else? Will my friends turn their back on me once they find out what I am? Maybe it spewed out lies to confuse me?" He shook his head, saying in his mind as he did that, "I don''t think they will start hating me just because I drank the blood of beasts and monsters. Let''s just forget about it." Chapter 113 - 113: Words Of Varth! Inside their of evil, John, Leni, and Varth stood side by side, looking at the tree of evil with a satisfied smile forming on their face. They were certain that Vincent has sessfully shattered the heart of the Tree of Evil, killing it in the process. After all, the vines blocking their way to the exit and the branches attacking them have dissolved into ck smoke made out of negative energy the moment the monster died. "What is taking him so long?" John said as he raised his head to look above the head of the tree of evil, wondering why Vincent hasn''te out of the heart of evil. "Hmm, maybe something wrong has happened?" "Let''s go check it out," Leni said in a worried tone before she sprang forward, heading towards the Tree of Evil. John and Varth nodded, following her as they were also worried about Vincent. After a few moments, once they reached next to the Tree of Evil, Vincent stepped down from its body with Lisa held in his hands, approaching the members of his group in silence. The eyes of the three members of his party opened wide in surprise as they stared at Vincent and Lisa with an expression of bewilderment. Who is she? Howe a girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere? Howe she seems alive? Maybe the Tree of Evil didn''t kill her and has been housing her? What the hell is going on here? A lot of questions popped up in their mind. The only person who could provide them with answers was Vincent. He looked at them with a solemn expression. His eyes were still glowing crimson, showing that he was experiencing intense emotions. The intense emotions that even his innate racial trait couldn''t suppress were the purest forms of anger and murderous desires. His eyes were overflowing with killing intent as he wanted to kill the bastards that betrayed their race for profit. Simrly, he was angered beyond belief because of the negligence of the officials serving the Empire and the Federation. If they had done their jobs properly, the ve traders wouldn''t have been able to use an orphanage as a disguise to sell children. "What''s wrong? And who is she?" Leni asked as she felt that something was bothering him. "It''s a long story," Vincent said as he looked at them. From the expression on their faces, he could tell that they wanted an exnation about this situation. He began telling them about what happened after he shattered the heart of evil. He told them about Lisa and the things he has seen in her memories, as well as the orphanage involved in human trafficking. After a few moments, once they heard his words and came across the ugly side of the mini-world Xavier, they felt sorry for Lisa and the other victims of the human traffickers of Leslie. The orphanage which took advantage of war and the orphans to make a profit also disgusted them. "What a poor girl." Leni gently patted her head. "How can such bastards even exist in this world?!" Leni and John found it hard to swallow that someone could treat children in such an inhumane way. It was so inhumane that even hearing about it has caused them to feel shocked to the point where they felt disturbed and disgusted. "What should we do about them?" Leni said as her hands balled into a fist. She wanted to beat the crap out of everyone involved in human trafficking. "Isn''t it time for them to vanish from the face of Xavier?" John said as he looked at Vincent. Even though he was a happy-go-lucky guy who wouldn''t trouble others or participate in fights if there''s no need to, he couldn''t sit back and rx in this situation. He wanted to do justice to the ones that have suffered up to this date by destroying the orphanage in Leslie and killing the masterminds running it. He didn''t mind getting blood on his hands as long as he can stop them from harming and taking advantage of innocent orphans. Vincent looked at John with a gaze of approval, as he shared the same desire. "That sounds just about right in every way. Let''s eradicate them today," he said with a murderous smile. Vincent''s anger showed no sign of decreasing. Instead, it continued to increase as he thought about the scums living in luxury in Leslie. "Alright." Leni and John nodded. At that very moment, a calm voice sounded in their ears. "We won''t be doing anything. Before you shoot me down with questions and angry stares, listen to what I have to say." He stopped them from directing their anger at him before speaking with a calctive shine in his right eye. "First off, we are too weak to fight against an organization. If a level ny or abovebatant is running the organization behind the scenes, we''ll die a miserable and useless death. Don''t decline this fact. Secondly, I am certain that the officials of Leslie are involved in human trafficking. There is no way such crimes can go unnoticed if high-ranking officials aren''t involved. If we go without a n, we will bebeled as criminals and thrown inside of a jail or worse, killed in action." Hearing his words, they realized how wrong they were to think of charging head straight to the city of Leslie and take down the orphanage. Doing such a thing wouldn''t end well for them as there was a high chance that the officials and the guards of the city of Leslie working for the human traffickers will try to silence them. There was also a high chance that the human traffickers have powerfulbatants among their ranks, ones who could kill them in minutes. "I am also angry at the corruption of the city of Leslie, its people that didn''t do their jobs properly, allowing scums to treat children like seble meat. However, we can''t do anything about it." Chapter 114 - 114: The Fruit Of Darkness! Varth closed his eyes and took a deep breath after saying those words. In the face of such a disturbing situation, he seemed awfully calm for someone his age. Of course, it''s because, in the past eight years, he hase across a lot of disturbing things, and a situation like this one wasn''t new to him. "What a joke," John said. Thinking about the situation from his point of view, the young boy felt that life is a miserable joke. He also felt the need to be strong, as justice can only be enforced by the strong. "Is there nothing we can do about it?" Leni''s eyes lowered down in helplessness. Vincent looked at her and then at Lisa, and said, "There''s no need to feel down. We can''t enforce justice with our hands, but what about the military academy and thew enforcement of the other eleven cities? As long as we tell them about it, there is no reason for them to ignore this situation. And we also have proof of their insidious crimes by our side. Lisa''s words will be enough to act as evidence. Am I right?" As soon as he said those words, a grin stretched across Varth''s face behind the mask. "Yeah. She is the most important piece of the puzzle. Our main priority is to take her safely back to the academy and inform the instructor about this matter. Eventually, everything will be resolved. They will take care of everyone involved in the crime in the best way possible. The instructors of the military academy are the true overlord of Xavier, after all." "It''s bad that we can''tmunicate with them right now," John said after a moment. In the wilderness, long-distancemunication devices don''t work for some reason. They couldn''tmunicate with the people outside of the woods even if they use their quantum identity cards. "Nothing we can do about it," Vincent said. "Let''s return to the academy after getting the evolution material from the evil of tree and ying the bandits," Varth said. "We are still going to kill bandits?" John asked as he looked at Varth. "Coming across this situation doesn''t give us a free pass to fail or dy a mission," Varth said as he calmly looked into John''s eyes. "It''s alright. We will kill the bandits before heading back to the academy," Vincent said. He agreed with him. After all, it was their responsibility to kill the bandits as they have selected the bandit subjugation mission. After a few minutes, once they finished with talking about some important stuff, John asked, "Where''s the evolution materials of this monster?" They had scanned the monster from head to toe but they didn''t find any fruit of darkness hanging on its branches. "The fruit of darkness are usually found inside the mouth of the Tree of Evil," Varth said. "Are we going to enter that dark and creepy ce?" John asked as he pointed at the horrific mouth of the Tree of Evil. "Let''s go!" Vincent said with a look of anticipation on his face. He was looking forward to obtaining and consuming the evolution material of this monster. BAM A few momentster, they sted open an entrance to its mouth and went inside the dark mouth of the Tree of Evil. However, once they stepped further inside of its mouth, they came across a ce well lit with silver crystal releasing silky, moonlight radiance. Varth''s eyes opened wide as he looked at the silver crystals embedded in the wooden walls of its mouth. "These are materials necessary to create mystical glow sticks. Every single one of them is worth a good amount of money. Don''t forget to store them in your storage devices," he said to them before heading towards the sides of its mouth to collect the material releasing moonlight radiance. Leni and John also helped him in collecting the materials. Vincent didn''t as his hands were already full carrying Lisa. "Are you going to keep on holding her in your arms?" Leni asked her boyfriend as she pointed at Lisa. "Are you feeling jealous?" Vincent said with a teasing smile on his face. "In your dreams," Leni said as she rolled her eyes and looked away from him. Vincent smiled as he started at the back of her figure. Immediately after, his voice sounded out, "John,e here." As soon as he said those words, John stepped up to him, and he said, "What do you need?" "Hold her for me," Vincent said with an amiable smile as he handed the elven girl dded in a long jacket to John. "Huh?" John looked at his back with eyes open wide as Vincent walked towards Leni. He leaned down to put his face near her ears, and said in a seductive voice, "There''s nothing in my hands. Do you want to fill the gaps?" Leni''s eyes turned ruddy but she has gained resistance to his teasing and didn''t blush like crazy. "You can fill the gaps between your hands by helping us collect the silver crystals," Leni said without looking at him. "You sure?" Vincent asked as he collected crystal from the wooden walls. Leni looked at him in silence before looking away and doing what she has been doing. After a while, once they cleaned the walls from the glowing crystals and reached the end of its mouth, they came across a spacious area that resembled an average-sized apartment. There was a small pond made out of dark water in the center of this spacious area. There was a golden tree in the center of this pool. This tree had three thick branches and three inky, ck fruits were hanging from them. After taking a minute to analyze the properties of the fruit of darkness and the mysterious pond of darkness, Vincent found out that the fruit of darkness could be used to awaken a special ability with a 100% chance while the pond of darkness was the condensed form of negative energy. [Resource Name: Pond of Darkness. Description: A pond that is made out of condensed negative energy. Effect: Can be used to evolve mana into dark elemental mana. You can also strengthen Dark-type beasts by using this source of energy. However, they will be more aggressive. There is a high chance for beasts to gain the ability to go berserk by consuming a lot of water from this pond.] [Evolution Material Name: Fruit of Darkness Description: A fruit that starts budding inside the mouth of the Tree of Evil the moment it bes conscious. The fruit has absorbed an adequate amount of magic power and negative energy to reach maturity. Effect: You will gain a special ability once you absorb the fruit of darkness. The fruit of darkness can also strengthen all types of Ice, Frost, Darkness, and so on abilities. Note: The fruit of darkness can not be consumed without first being purified of negative energy otherwise, you''ll end up losing your minds to sinful and murderous desires] The fruit of darkness couldn''t be directly consumed as it contained the negative emotions of a lot of people. The negativity inside this fruit was enough to make a saint go crazy andmit heinous crimes without thinking much about it! That''s why it was necessary to purify it before consuming it. Chapter 115 - 115: Splitting Up The Material! The Fruit of Darkness needed to be purified before it bes safe to consume by humans and Demi-humans. Only a magic chef could purify evolution materials, and the cost of hiring one to purify a high-level material like this was going to be pricey. At the very thought of hiring a chef, Vincent''s eyes squinted in dissatisfaction. The minimum price a chef was going to take to prepare a dish out of the Fruit of Darkness was ten thousand contribution points. It was a huge price, and he didn''t want to pay it. That only leaves him with the choice of bing a magic chef himself. "I will purchase a cooking technique from the online market of the military academy and use my experience points to learn It in an instant. That will allow me to be a magic chef in a short time." Vincent decided to be a magic chef in his mind. He will be able to purify evolution materials once he bes a magic chef, and that didn''t seem like a bad deal. Rather, it was pretty profitable. A chef can earn 1000+ contribution points for purifying the evolution materials obtained from beasts and monsters at the magical realm and used that to make a dish. Simrly, it was ten thousand contribution points for preparing a dish out of the evolution materials obtained from beasts at the demonic realm. When he finished going through the information of these materials, John''s voice sounded in the area lit in golden radiance emitting out of the few crystals hanging from the ceiling of this ce. "The tree only has three fruits of darkness, but there are four of us here. What should we do?" The Tree of Evil had given birth to fruits ready for the taking, but there were four of them. They all wanted to obtain a Fruit of Darkness as it was hard to turn away from such a precious evolution material "Everyone has contributed to the battles till now, but big brother Vincent and Varth are the biggest contributors. It''s okay if you guys take one fruit each and leave one for us twins." Leni said with an amiable smile as she wasn''t greedy for the Fruit of Darkness. She wanted to obtain one for her brother, so that he would gain an ability and be an awakened instead of remaining as a normalbatant. "I have a better proposal. The three of you can have the Fruit of Darkness as don''t need it, but I would like it if I can have the entire pond for myself," Varth said to them in a calm tone. As soon a he said those words, the eyes of the twins and Vincent opened wide in shock as they looked at him with an expression of bewilderment. "Did we hear it right? Does he want to give up on the Fruit of Darkness? Is he selfless?" Such thoughts popped up in the minds of the three people. "Are you sure you want to give up on the fruit of darkness for a mere pond?" Vincent asked after a moment. "Yes, I meant what I said. Don''t feel about it. It''s not a bad deal for me, after all. As guys might have already guessed, the pond is made out of condensed negative energy. It''s the liquified state of negative energy, and it''s pretty important to create ability crystals that I have been injecting in my battle suit to teleport. Varth exined to the three of them that he wasn''t getting a bad deal. Although the Fruits of Darkness were the most precious material of the Tree of Evil, his priority was taking the pool for himself as it will allow him to spam teleportation ability in future battle, and that will save his life a lot of time. The others could understand that he was in desperate need of this supply as he was short on teleportation crystal and needed to create new ones to keep up with the usage of this ability, so they didn''t hesitate to agree with his demand. After all, they were the ones gaining a huge profit out of this deal. "If you don''t, may I?" Varth said in a gentleman tone as he revealed his levitating box-type storage device to them. "Yeah, sure," Vincent said, motioning him to do as he like. Varth mouthed the keywords to activate the special effect of his spatial storage device. The little ck box released a powerful suction and sucked in everyst drop of the pool of darkness in a few moments. "Let''s go get the fruits." Leni and Vincent casually approached the tiny glowing tree as John decided to wait beside Varth. He wanted to fetch one himself just for the feel of it, but he couldn''t do so as he was holding the sleeping beauty in his hands. "You can keep both fruits for yourself and John. Don''t eat it, however, not until it''s purified from negative energy. Otherwise, there''s a high chance you''ll end up losing your self of control andmit heinous crimes." Vincent told Leni about the information he obtained from his system as he handed out two fruit of darkness to her. "I understand, but please do keep the fruits with yourself." Leni refused to take the fruits from him. "Huh?" Vincent looked at her with wide eyes containing traces of subtle confusion. "I don''t have a spatial storage device with me, and carrying the Fruit of Darkness would attract unwanted trouble. Something I would like to avoid. So I would rather you keep it in the safety of your storage device for us to useter." Vincent nodded and said, "Sure, I will hold it for you." "Let''s get back to them," Leni said. "Alright," Vincent said. Once they walked back to the group, the group decided to collect thest bit of crystals in this ce before making their way out of their of evil. Several minutester, once they stepped out of their of evil and entered a clearing with trees and bushes on all sides, Varth pulled out a cubic box with various blue lines drawn on it from his spatial storage device and uttered a keyword in a low voice. Immediately after, the cubic box glow increased in intensity as it expanded to the size of a small room. "Wow! What is this?" John''s mouth gaped in surprise as he looked at the Star Travelling Space Ship in front of him. "It''s an Arc and ismonly used to travel between stars and so on. Of course, we are going to use it for auxiliary purposes. Come inside." The entrance to the ship opened as the defense system installed in it scanned the retina of his right eye. A momentter, the four teenagers stepped inside the Star Travelling Shuttle, and three of them looked around thepletely unfamiliar ce in awe and admiration. The Star Travelling Cubic Ship interior surprised them to their core. The entrance of this spaceship was divided into multiple floors with all sorts of basic and advanced necessaries. The interior of this ship happened to have its space expanded by using spatial technology. In the middle of the ce, there were small ships meant for two people with a narrow front and back and a seat in the middle. The sides of the middle area of this ce had four eviction ports used for emergency escape. The front region of the spaceship was themand center. The entrance was blocked by the way as the owner of this ce didn''t want anyone stepping inside that ce. Chapter 116 - 116: Into The Beast Forest! "Alright, guys! Find a ce in this apartment and rx. We will wait here until my spies find the location of the bandits, and then we will head out to y them. And yeah, you can look around as you wish but don''t press any buttons without my permission. I''m sure you don''t wanna damage this thing in any way. Cuz, it will cost a lot to repair even its basic functions. A price you can''t afford to pay." Without waiting for their response, Varth walked up to a refrigerator, took out a sweetened drink, opened it up, and gulped the refreshing lemon vor sprite in a few moments. "Yes, we understand!" John shouted in excitement. He hurriedly went up to a bed and ced Lisa on it before moving around the Arc in excitement and looking at the ce with a gaze of scrutiny. "What a wonderful ce. There should be a bathroom here, right?" Leni decided to take a bath as she didn''t like being sweaty and smelly like the rest of the boys. "It''s here," Vincent said, leaning against the wall of the apartment and pointing at a blue door right next to him. "Ah, thanks." Leni moved to enter the bathroom, but Vincent grabbed her by the shoulders and leaned down to snack a kiss on her lips without hesitation. "What?!" Leni''s eyes widened as his warm lips crashed on her lovely ones. Lost in his seductive eyes, she didn''t even know when he wrapped his hands around her waist and pushed his tongue inside the mouth. "She is delicious," he thought in his mind as he sucked on the sweetness of her little tongue. Leni moaned in his mouth as she tried to push him away from herself, knowing full well that her emotions have spiraled out of control and that she was going to transform into her kitty self. "Hmm..." Vincent understood that she would be a kitty if he doesn''t pull back right away, so he regretfully pushed his tongue out from her mouth and set her free. "You pervert," Leni said with ruddy cheeks as she gasped for breath. As soon as she said those words, Vincent seductively licked his lips and said with a teasing smile on his face, "Are you saying you didn''t enjoy it as much as I did?" Leni shook her head and said in reflex, "It isn''t like that. I enjoyed it." It was only after she said those words that she realized what she has said sounded like wordsing out of a cat in heat, and her face turned as red as a ripe tomato. "Wanna go for another round?" Vincent offered a proposal he very much wanted to do every day of his life. "No thank you!" Leni opened the door to the bathroom, slipping inside in the very next second. However, before she managed to close the door, Vincent''s voice sounded in her ears. "Wanna take a bath together?" She closed the door on his face in silence, leaving him hanging on the pipe dream of being more intimate with her. "I guess I overdid it." Vincent rubbed the back of his head before walking towards the kitchen where Varth was eating corn kes, his mask still covering his face except for one of his eyes and mouth. "Can I take a bowl and a drink?" He asked as he looked at him. "Yes, you can drink and eat anything you like in this ce. But don''t make a mess." He said. "Thanks, man," Vincent said before he picked up a bowl and a can of soda before going to an isted corner of the Arc. Once he was there all alone and made sure that there were no security cameras in his surroundings, he jumped into the subspace created by the second head of his family. The inside of the subspace could only be described by two words. "Barren and lifeless," Vincent said as he looked around this ce for a while. There was a small dry pond in the middle of the ind and the track ofnd stretched for a few hundred miles before connecting with an endless expanse of darkness. The darkness stretched for as far as his eyes could see without any sign of end. Vincent felt that this was a creepy ce almost as if the darkness was part of someone''s else will. "Let''s get out of here right after refilling my blood count." Vincent took out a few packs of purified blood, poured one on the bowl along with a can of soda, drank it in a few seconds, and continued to do that until his blood count was refilled to the brim. ? Blood Count: 50/50 units ? "Good enough!" He reappeared in the ship in the same way he disappeared without anyone noticing. The spies sent out by Varth were doing their best to locate the bandits but it seemed it will take a while to get to them. They decided to rest and take a nap as they were tired to their bones. It wasn''t until the next day that the spider-like spy devices that Varth has sent out to locate the bandits transmitted good news to him. "Oh, so they are in that ce. Nothing less excepted from a group of bandits." He said in his mind after he looked at the information provided by his creepy babies. A few momentster, once he had gathered the entire group into a single ce and stood before them, he broke the news to them, "Guys! My spies have found the bandits! There are a total of six of them, and each one of them is armed." John and Leni exhaled a sigh of relief. The bandits have been finally found. Now, they just needed to kill them, and they would be able to go back home! "Where are they?" Vincent asked as he looked at Varth. "In the Outskirts of the forest of the beasts." Varth went ahead to the control room and piloted the ship to the beast''s forest. After flying for several minutes, they descended behind a cliff with an opening in the center. A few momentster, two boys stepped out of the spaceship with murderous intent in their eyes. The bandit hunt has started! Chapter 117 - 117: Fighting The Bandits (a) The clouds in the sky hid the blinding Sun of Xavier behind them, and the fluttering of the leaves sounded in the forest of the beasts as swift wind bellowed. The beast''s forest, just like its name, was a ce inhabited by beasts between the magical and demonic realm, but that''s not all as in the central region of this ce, there live beasts more powerful than the demonic realm. They were known as the lord of the beast terrifying beasts in the realm of lords that could destroy half a city in a single attack. The beast''s forest connected four different cities to each other, and a person could reach any of the four cities by entering the forest from one point anding out of the other. The humans have divided the beast''s forest into three different zones ording to the information they have gathered over the hundred years spend in Xavier. Namely, they are the outskirts, inner regions, and central regions. The outskirts of the beast''s forest are the least dangerous as there happens to be only beasts of the magical realm in this ce, and a lot of weakbatants woulde to this ce to hunt magical beasts in order to earn profit and make a living, unaware of the dangers imposed by the bandits sick in their heads. The bandit''s most famous hunting ground was the outskirts of the beast''s forest, and they hunted down the adventurers with low strength for the little bit of money they could earn from selling their items. Beneath a mountain that seemed like a pin sticking out of the wall from way above ground, the bandits terrorizing the outskirts of the beast''s forest near Leslie have set up their tents. "Boss, when will it be possible for us to enter the city and sell our captives?" The voice of a bandit from the Red Skull crew sounded in the area. Sitting on the round wooden stubs, stones, and simr substances outside the tents were several men and a beautiful weapon with curves at the right ce. The bandits with burly figures had thick weapons strapped to their clothes, and their leader had an ugly scar on his face which stretched from his left eye to the right cheek. The fierce bandit with fiery-red hair ripped out a chunk of meat from the raw leg of the beast in his hand and said while chewing it, "Won''t be longer than a week. Soon we will be able to enter and exit the city as we like. The broker has already told me that the minister ofw enforcement of Leslie will sack and kill a few guards that have been acting up and rece them with his men. So that we will be able to do business in peace in the depth of the night." ording to the information of the mission, the Red Skull bandits appeared in the northern outskirt of the beast''s forest a month ago. Over the past few weeks, the Red Skull bandits have be the worst nightmare for adventurers. The bandits have caused a lot of casualties, looting and killing several adventurers and citizens of Leslie. "We still have to stay in this God-forsaken ce for several days?" The busty female bandit said in a disgruntled voice. "What''s so bad about this ce? We got meat, women, and numerous prey here. It''s far better than living in a city." "Yeah, David said the words of my heart. We got a lot of fresh virgins in our cave and they are just waiting to be loved." "They smell nice too. Should we y with them?" As soon as he said those words, Javier looked at him in annoyance and began speaking with killing intent brimming in his eyes, "Don''t touch them, or I will chop off your hands." The bandits gulped and nodded their heads, indicating that they won''t dare to go against his order. "No food for the both of you tonight!" Javier punished them as the bandits needed to follow the rules set by the strong. He had warned them not to have any dirty thoughts about their merchandise, but they didn''t listen to his warning and were nning on acting on their nefarious intent. Their actions would have resulted in the price of the merchandise decreasing substantially. A stupid loss he didn''t want to suffer! The bandits revealed a devastated look on their faces, feeling downcast due to the punishment they received from Javier. "Serve you right for being the smallest and the most foul-smelling bastards." The redhead female bandit taunted them with augh. "You!" While the two bandits were bickering with each other, Javier, the second strongest member of the Red Skull Bandits, looked at Janis and said, "Boss, where are we going to hit next?" Although they had a lot of items stored in their spatial devices and also kidnapped citizens locked up inside the caves, Javier still wanted to loot others and make a bit more money, for his greed was endless. "Let''s go to the entrance of the outskirts of this forest. We might find some sheep there." Janis replied as he gobbled down the meat in his hand before licking his fingers. "Prepare yourself, boys! We''re about to head out!" What they didn''t notice was that three boys in their teens were listening to their words, hiding behind the trunk of the thick, towering tree with vibrant green leaves. Vincent and Varth didn''t like what they heard, and killing intent stormed out of their eyes. Before they could pick up their weapons and made their way out of their camp, a calm voice filled with murderous desires sounded in their ears, "You won''t be going anywhere except for the afterlife," Varth said as he suddenly stepped out of the hiding spot. This was totally out of n and took Vincent and John by surprise. Wasn''t the n to sneak attack them? Why are you revealing yourself?? Chapter 118 - 118: Fighting The Bandits (b) "John, you go and rescue the citizens inside the cave. Leave the rest to us. If a bandites your way and he is too strong for you to handles, then run away from there." Vincent said. "I understand." John nodded. Vincent walked out of the hiding to face the bandits while John slipped under the notice of the bandits and began to sneak his way to the cave at the bottom of the mountain. The voice of a young man suddenly sounded in their ears has shocked a lot as they feared that bandit hunters were hot on their trail, but as they looked towards the source of the voice, and saw Vincent along with a young boy d in ck, their worries lessened. A momentter, once their shock subsided, the bandits pulled out their weapons as they faced the person in front of them. ''''Boss, two preys havee knocking our way. What a lucky day!" ''''Ah, you''re right, Javier. We''re lucky toe across such stupid preys that have offered themselves to us." Janis didn''t doubt that they''ll be able to butcher the youngsters as there were several of thempared to the two of them. "Haha!" "I haven''t moved my muscles in a while, so let me deal with the eye patch guy myself." The leader of the bandits looked at Vincent before he began speaking to his crew members, "You guys take care of the other one." After saying those words, the ferocious bandit with a head full of red hair began walking towards his opponent with a big sword in his hands. "As you say, Boss!" The rest of the bandits immediately responded as they approached Vincent with devilish smiles on their faces. ? A new Mission has been issued ? ? Mission Description: y the Bandits that kidnaps and loot the citizens of the Earth Federation ? ? Rewards: +5 attribute points, 500 units of purified life force ? As Javier rushed towards Vincent, heughed. "I''m lucky to have run into the students of the military academy. You don''t know how much I have wanted to kill you bastards after one of your own killed my only little brother. Get ready to face your death!" At that very moment, a terrifying sound rang out in the ears of the bandits. Bang! Arge fireball suddenly surged forth from the magic scroll in Vincent''s hands, charging straight towards the group of bandits. Javier raised his eyebrows when he saw this, but he wasn''t caught off guard like the others. He had good instincts and was able to use his ability to manifest a defensive barrier in time. BAM A momentter, the Fireball mmed into the barrier, shattering it instantly, and continued forth on to the bandits. ? You''ve in five bandits between thebatant level of twenty and forty ? ? You''ve received 500 experience points ? The fireball mmed into a few bandits that weren''t fast enough to move out of the way, killing them instantly, and the resulting shockwaves mmed into the figures of the rest of them, causing their eyes to roll into the back of their head as they copsed to the ground on the spot. "Goddamn!" Javier cursed at the top of his lungs. "Attack that bastard! There''s no way he has another magic scroll in his hand. Guys, attack!" After passing out his orders to the remaining bandits, Javier moved to kill Vincent. Vincent''s indifferent voice sounded in his ears, "Say goodbye to your life, trash." "Ugh!" Javier breath was cut short as a crimson spear pierced through his chest, shattering his bones, rib cage, and heart. "The same goes for the rest of you!" "Please don''t kill us! We are willing to pay for our crime by serving jail time!" "You bandits aren''t much better than beasts and monsters. Kindness and mercy are wasted on the likes of you. There''s no way I will show you mercy and leave you alive." Right after saying those words, Vincent used thest remaining offensive magic scroll in his possession to deal with the rest of the bandits. Abatant fighting for the sake of justice should always be merciless towards them. Otherwise, they are just acting stupid and cruel to themselves and the innocents. At the same time, several meters away from Vincent, Varth dodged the attacks of Janis with ease, hopping around the area leisurely as he evaded his quick sword shes. "You damn brat! Is running around all you can do?" Janis said, feeling frustrated as none of his attacks managed to connect with his opponent. Varth looked at Janis mockingly as he said, "It''s been a while since Ist cleaned up the filth of society. So, I didn''t know that bandits arrogant have started to blind themselves. It only took a moment for my teammate to clean up your trashy crew. And It won''t long for you to meet your end too." "I dare you to say these words once I chop your head off your body!" When the bandit realized that he was the only one left alive, he decided to kill Varth as soon as possible, as he feared that he will meet his end without a doubt if they grouped upon him. Thus, he suddenly took arge step towards him, closing their distance, before brandishing his sword with all his strength. "Sword Strike!" A crescent silver arc shoots out towards Varth as Janis swung his heavy sword downwards. The attack was more strong and faster than the ones before, and Janis was sure that he won''t be able to evade his attacks. The attack was about to chop Varth into two, when in that instant the ck-clothed person''s figure suddenly disappeared. The attack of the bandit leader charged straight ahead and chopped off a few trees. "What?! Where did he disappear to?" Janis was stunned by this turn of events. He felt scared to see that his opponent has suddenly disappeared in front of his eyes. "Could it be an ability like teleportation or something? Damn, I messed with the wrong person!" At that very moment, a threatening voice sounded in his ears. "It''s toote to regret!" Vincent saw Varth standing right behind the bandit leader! By the time Janis noticed that he was behind his back, it was already toote as Varth pulled the demonic trigger and a gunshot sounded in the area. BAM Vincent saw with wide-open eyes as Varth easily killed the dangerous bandit leader by sting his head before he could even make a move. Chapter 119 - 119: Will & Evidence! As soon as the head of the Bandit Leader came to a halt after rolling on the hard ground with a mixture of dead patches and patches of grass, Blood''s notifications rang in Vincent''s mind. ? You and your teammate have ughtered all of the bandits belonging to the Red Skull crew ? ? Mission Completed ? ? You''ve been rewarded with 500 units of Purified life force ? ? Congrattions! You''ve received the Good Judgment Bonus. Having killed a group of insidious bandits for the first time, you have impressed the slumbering eternal will of the second head of the family, the Northern Duke of Dark Starlight ? ? You''ve obtained 5000 additional experience points. ? Level 5: 8560/1400 experience points ? As he heard the monotone voice of the heirloom of his family ringing in his head, Vincent felt surprised out of his wits and also happy beyondpare as he found out that there was a slumbering will of the second head of the family somewhere near him and received arge bundle of experience points. "Blood, what''s the deal about the slumbering will of the second head? Is there more of them? And where are they?" Vincent asked in his mind as he stepped up towards Varth. ? The life force you obtain frompleting missions belongs to seven distinct heads of the Sangue family. The life force isn''t only present inside the heirloom around your neck, but it also contains the separated wills of the seven previous generation heads ? "Oh, I understand." ? You''ll give an additional reward once you do something to their liking ? Vincent''s eyes widened in surprise as he had never expected to obtain more than what he had earned by killing the bandits in the name of justice; for the sake of saving the citizens of the Federation, but it seems like his actions have aroused the slumbering will of the second head of the family. "How long are you gonna stand there for?" Varth said as he looked at Vincent, who had a dazed expression on his face along with a silly beaming smile. "My bad. I got lost in thoughts." Vincent said, ruffling the hair on the back of his head. "Let''s go check on John," Varth said with his back facing the entrance of the cave at the bottom of the mountain. "It''s no longer necessary. Look behind you." Vincent said as the sound of footsteps sounded in their ears. A lot of citizens dressed in messy clothes and mud on their faces walked barefoot on the grassy ground with dry patches on many spots, following after John and approaching them from several meters away. A few minutester, once the captives briefed them about their situations, the group couldn''t help but feel the disgust rising in their hearts. The bandits, human traffickers, and the officials of the city had banded together to target the poorest and the most suppressed members of society, people whose voice couldn''t reach the officials and people outside the city as they didn''t havemunication devices that could work in a world like Xavier where all smartphones and rted devices stop working. "Are you sure?" Varth questioned as he looked at the captive. "Yes!" "We heard these words from the mouth of the bandits." "The members of thew enforcement were involved with the bandits. And they were selling our kids and targeted us once we tried to investigate the disappearance of our children." Out of the dozens of captives, only the elderly and the burly men were sane enough to reply to Varth''s question without breaking down and crying their hearts out. "You guys should rest for a while." "But where? Here?! If we stay here, they woulde and capture us again," said an elderly man with beady eyes, a disheveled appearance, and a white mustache. There was a high chance that the dirty officials of the city will send someone to check this ce since the bandits could no longer send a signal out to them at the daily promised time. The bandits and the officials used a special method ofmunication tomunicate with each other, one which brands party A and party B with a magic symbol in the shape of a bracelet that breaks if either of the parties dies. "We can''t waste our time here," John said in a tone of urgency as he looked at the two of them. Varth gaze swept past the captives with messy appearances andnded on John, "John, take them to the Arc and let them rest in one of the apartments. Don''t be shy to keep an eye on them. Don''t let them do anything funny." He said those harsh words because he wasn''t sure whether someone among the captives was a beggar that has changed appearance or not. Thus he ordered John to keep an eye on them and if they try to act funny, then teach them a good lesson. "I understand!" John told the captives to follow after him and that he''ll take them to a safe ce where they''ll be able to take a bath, eat tasty food and change into better clothes. A lot of them were young children around the age of 10 to 15, and his words excited them the most as they were looking forward to eating good food. "Help me out." "With what? "Search the body of the bandits for evidence and collect their spatial devices. A few momentster, once John has taken the bandit''s captives away from this ce of death, Varth and Vincent searched the body of the bandits. They found a specialw enforcement badge under the shirt of Janis and Javier, a badge that can only be issued by the head of Law enforcement in Leslie. "I believe the man calling himself Minister and dealing with the bandits is the mastermind behind it all." Varth came to this conclusion after connecting the dots. "It won''t end well for that bastard," Vincent said with clenched fists. "Let''s hurry up and collect the items from the other bandits." A few momentster, they both collected pieces of evidence and various items from the corpses of the bandits. "Aren''t these bandits a little too rich? Howe every single one of them has a spatial device and their leaders a beast''s weapon?!" Vincent said as he grabbed the heavy sword embed on the ground beside the fallen body of Janis. "This is not all. This scum has a lot of money inside the storage of his spatial device. If he had only used a portion of it to buy a defensive magic scroll then he wouldn''t have died so easily." Varth clicked his tongue and mocked the Bandit Leader after he grabbed his spatial ring and sent some mana inside it, checking its content. There was stuff worth 2000 contribution points inside it. Aside from that, he also found around a few dozen of magic and elemental cores and a few offensive magic scrolls. "Time to head back home and report the crimes of the dirty officials of this city to the administrator." After storing the items salvaged from the corpses of the bandits into their storage devices, Vincent and Varth ran back to the Arc. "Are you honestly going to drive your spaceship to the city of New Hope? Wouldn''t it cost you a lot?" Vincent asked as he looked at Varth. "It''s frustrating for me to suffer such a huge loss, but we can''t do anything about it. Going to the train station in the city is the same as giving ourselves away to the corrupt officials of Leslie. I would rather waste my money to survive and deliver justice to the people than get surrounded by a bunch of devils and die fighting them." Varth replied. He didn''t want to get embroiled in a huge battle with the corrupt officials of Leslie as he had huge evidence in his hands that could get them executed and deliver justice to thousands of lives. Of course, he was pained as he''ll have to spend hundreds of high-level mana crystal to run his spaceship and head directly to the military academy of the city of New Hope. He didn''t want tond in the train station of other cities either, as he wasn''t sure whether the corrupt officials of Leslie nted their spies there or not. By the time they got back to the Arc, Lisa has already woken up and was treating everyone except for Leni with coldness and cautiousness. Chapter 120 - 120: Aerial Battle She stuck around Leni as if she was her mother and would hide behind her back when someone looked her way. "It''s good that she''s awake," Vincent said as he showed her an amiable smile and raised his hand to pat her on the bed. Lisa flinched at first when she saw his handing towards her and closed her eyes out of fear, but then when she felt nothing except warmness and kindness from the hand ruffling her hair, she opened her eyes and looked at Vincent curiously. "Everything''s fine now. You no longer need to live your life in fear of being caught by the bad guys. They are as good as dead already." As soon as she said those words, Lisa blinked her eyes at him, indicating that she doesn''t understand a single word he said. She opened her mouth to ask for the sweet candy that the angel had fed her a while ago, but the only voice that came out of her mouth was the cries of a baby. "Huh? Is there something wrong with her?" Vincent asked as he looked at Leni. "She''s as nk as a paper. Lisa woke up with her memories erased. She doesn''t remember anything and doesn''t even know how to speak a word in ournguage." Leni replied as she unwrapped a candy. Then she put it inside Lisa''s mouth. Vincent knew that it was the Tree of Evil that has messed with Lisa''s memories. However, he was feeling rather happy as a monster was much more humane than the ridiculous and corrupted official of Leslie. The Tree of Evil erased Lisa''s memories so she would forget about the painful and distasteful past and start anew. And Vincent promised that he would not let her innocent get destroyed another time. "That''s probably for the best," he said as he walked away to themand center. John and Varth were already there. Varth controlled the Arc, causing it to cut throw air and moved swiftly towards their determined destination, while John pestered him with endless questions about the working of the Arc. "Will I ever be able to pilot this sweet baby?" John asked with eyes shining brightly in anticipation and excitement. He has always dreamed of piloting an aircraft but has never been able to in his lifefor he was too poor to afford one and hasn''t learned how to pilot one either. "There''s no way you would be able to without wasting an entire year on learning how to drive it," Varth replied in an honest voice. "It''s too soon for you to focus your attention on such things, John." Vincent''s voice sounded in their ears as he approached them. "You should focus on earning enough to purify the Fruit of Darkness and consume it to awaken." Awakening! As soon as he said those words, John felt happiness filling every fiber of his being. He has always been without an ability. However, he now had a chance to get an ability. He possessed an evolution material that would help him gain an ability and only needed enough contribution points to hire a magic chef. "I wonder what kind of ability I will awaken," John said. "You''ll know soon as thepletion of these missions will give you enough points to hire a magic chef to prepare an evolutionary dish out of the fruit of darkness," Varth said. Vincent hasn''t awakened either. He was also looking forward to awakening. However, he wanted to learn cooking techniques himself, rather than rely on a magic chef. So, he decided to spend thest weekend learning cooking technique himself. "Oh, well. It won''t be too hard to learn an entirely different profession on my own. I''ve a powerful heirloom by my side. I can easily memorize the content of a book in a few seconds." Vincent said as he looked outside the window of the Arc. A few momentster, his eyes widened as he saw big ck balls closing upon them. "Iing!" Vincent shouted as he turned towards Varth. "I can see that." At that very moment, a loud voice rang in their surroundings. "The spaceship up ahead, pleasee to a halt. We suspect fugitives are hiding in your craft." The corrupted officials of Leslie have arrived! How did they know that these aircraft belonged to the corrupted officials of Leslie? Well, it''s because of two reasons. A: Leslie wasn''t a rich city. It was ridiculous to think that they''ll use multiple aircraft that utilize a lot of mana to run to chase after someone. B: The corrupted officials were stupid and arrogant enough to illegally use design their aircraft with the logo of Leslie. "Fugitive, my ass!" John took the speaker and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Please stop, or we''ll open fire!" The corrupted officials kept up the pretense,pletely unaware that they already knew that they were scums. "Not if I do that first!" Varth pressed a few buttons while saying those words, causing three rockets to shoot out of the sides of his Arc, making their way towards the three aircraft of the corrupted officials while leaving a hot trail of ze behind them. "Hurry up!" "Activate the barrier!" BOMB The rockets took out of the aircraft as their pilot wasn''t fast enough to press the necessary buttons to generate a barrier but the other two shoot out of the cloud of smoke and fire and chased after them. "Don''t let them escape no matter what you do!" "Open Fire and shoot them down!" "As youmand!" Following themand of the captain, the pilot activates all offensive systems of their aircraft to shoot Varth''s Arc down. But who was Varth? He was the royal son of the second great royal family. And also an expert that has driven his Arc across stars and a chaotic bundle of space debris. "Everyone on the Arc, hang on to your belts or whatever is near you. The ride''s about to get rowdy!" Chapter 121 - Bad Things Happen To Bad Peoples A moment after saying those words, Varth pressed some buttons on the panel in front of him and maneuvered the Arc like an expert, swiveling around the clouds to dodge all the attacks thrown at him. The eyes of the corrupted officials witnessing this scene popped out as some of them smashed their hands on the panel out of frustration and jealousy. Look at the moves! Inconceivable! "Is the damn aircraft being piloted by a human? Howe it is dodging all of our attacks by a hairbreadth?" Not just the pilots, but even the Captain of the corruptedw enforcement official of Leslie looked at the Arc piloted by him with an expression of bewilderment. Looking at the skills of the pilot demonstrated in front of their eyes left them awestruck. The corrupted pilot''s eyes widened enough to look like saucers with their jaws dropped to touch the ground as only one thought popped up in their minds. Simply unbelievable! "Are there godly experts maneuvering the Arc?" One of them blurted out to break the silence as all of them watched how the Arc dodged all of their attacks while increasing the distance between them, going hundreds of meters away from them every second. At the very next moment, an elderly pilot with a lot of experience in driving aircraft shoots him down by saying, "There''s no way for the teamwork of multiple individuals to be so strong. A single individual is piloting it. I''m sure of it!" At the same time, as the captain of the corruptedw enforcement officials of Leslie heard his words, he cried out, "Goddamn! Stop praising the enemy and chase after them. If they get away, things won''t end well for all of us." "But captain, they are already thousands of meters away from us. And they are just getting further away." The pilots replied as they pointed at the Arc that seems to be disappearing from their sights and the range of their aircraft''s radar, vanishing in the faraway horizon. "elerate! Move at the fastest speed even if that means endangering overloading the exhaust and the engine!" The Captain didn''t care about the aircraft engines giving up and the exhaust exploding as he could always use the ejection port to get out before the aircraft he was in explodes because of technical problems that only arise in worlds like Xavier, ces whose environments contain arge amount of magic power. He didn''t give two damn about the cost of the aircraft, either, as long as they capture the people in the Arc. After all, they''ll face something far worse than materialistic loss if they get away. They might be hanged or thrown in the worse prison of the universe! Suddenly, a pilot said something that caused a headache to assault the Captain of the corrupted officials. "But captain, we are already chasing them at full speed! They''re just too fast for our aircraft to catch up to them." As soon as he heard those words, the Captain smashed his hands on the arm of the seat he was sitting on and said through gritted teeth, "Goddamn!" A few momentster, the Arc sped up, move at an extremely high speed, leaving the corrupted officials to eat dust! "This is gonna get troublesome." The Captain said as he gulped his saliva, feeling a dry taste rising in his mouth and a dreadful feeling epassing his heart and soul. The corrupted officials felt their heads throbbing as they watched the Arc carrying the captives of the bandits vanishing into the sunny horizon. "What''s going to happen to us?" "Are we gonna die?" At that very moment, a loud booming voice sounded in the surrounding area just to add salt to their wounded pride. "Judgment is waiting for you!" The veins on the head of the Captain of the corrupted official throbbed as redness crept up his eyes. What could he do? Nothing except wait for death! At that very moment, a holographic screen suddenly popped up in themand center of the two aircraft, and a middle-aged man dressed in luxurious robes and a lot of jewelry presented himself. "Jackal, return to the city! We still have a way to make it out alive." He said. "Minister, don''t lie to me. There isn''t anyway." There''s no way they were going to win a fight against the monsters of the military academy. "Jackal, do you not trust me?" "I do, but I don''t wanna die at such a young age. My life is only starting. I rather make a run for it and get far away as possible from Leslie to hide in a hole than return to the city and have a standoff against thebatant of the academy." Jackal said. "Do you think you''ll be able to get away from them? No matter where you go, they''ll find you. The scouts of the military are no joke!" Jackel knew that the scouts of the military will find him no matter where he hides. "If that happens, I''ll take my own life then await torture and a life of imprisonment," Jackal said to the mastermind behind the crimesmitted in Leslie. "You fool! We have a better chance to survive if we stick together." "I don''t believe you!" "Atst, hear me out first!" "Say it, but if it doesn''t sound usible then we''re gonna make a run for it," Jackal replied. "We can exploit the weakness of the military against them!" "Huh? What do you mean?" A few momentster, Jackal''s eye brightening with the hope of survival as the head of thew enforcement exined his insidious n to the Captain of the corrupted officials. "This will indeed work." "I told you so." "I''ming back right away." "That''s good." The call ended after Jackal decided to return to the city. "Turn around and make way towards Leslie." "As youmand, Captain!" The aircraft changed course and charged towards Leslie at a very high speed when after those moments, a booming sound of something exploding rang out. "What the hell was that?!" "The exhaust has exploded!" The Captain''s lips pursed as if someone has taken a dump on his meal. The pilots and the captain felt like someone has poured salt into their freshly opened wounds, and they couldn''t help but reveal a disgruntled expression on their face while cursing fate and bad luck. Chapter 122 - Hells Paradise "Man, they''ve been fooled by your trick," John said after the two aircraft piloted by the corrupted officials of Leslie went away. "Just a cheap trick," Varth said as he pressed a red button, causing the Arc to suddenly materialize in the ce where it had been before the beginning of the chase. The Arc had a special system that camouged it from all sorts of detection methods. Varth had activated this auxiliary system right after the rockets exploded and clouded their vision. They were hiding right behind the enemy all this time, while they chased after a fake holographic image shooting out a disk manually controlled by Varth. "Still, it was wholesome and awesome to watch those monkeys chasing after a holographic image," Vincent said as he ced his hand on Varth''s shoulder, a smile stretching across his face. "Haha!" Johnughed out loud as he recalled what happened several minutes ago. "Though, why did you say those words?" Vincent asked as he looked at Varth with a questioning gaze. "I told everyone in the Arc to buckle up and that the ride was about to get rowdy because I suspect there''s a spy among the captives. I''m not sure whether I''m right, but it doesn''t hurt to be careful." Varth had a cautious nature, and it has been embed in his soul after years of roaming in deadly fields where betrayal, death, and worse things are only a daily urrence. Thankfully, he managed to escape his family, and now he was able to live a more peaceful and enjoyable life. "Of course, it does not," Vincent said, agreeing with the words of Varth. A few momentster, once they got on track, heading towards the City of New Hope, John asked, "Should I go and keep an eye on them?" "No need. That will only make the captive suspicious." Varth replied. "Alright," John nodded. "How long till we reach the academy?" Vincent asked. "At the speed at which we are going, it will take only a few hours," Varth replied as he set the Arc on autopilot mode. Vincent sat down on thefortable chair behind the pilot''s seat with an impatient look on his face. He couldn''t wait to report the crimes of the corrupted officials of Leslie to the members of the academy and get them punished. "Wait here and don''t let anyone inside," Varth said as he stood up from his seat. "Okay," John said. "Where are you going?" Vincent asked as he looked at him. "To take a piss," Varth replied without looking at him as he rushed out of themand center. He then locked himself in the bathroom. "Sorry, grandpa, but to find the scum in my holy Arc, I''ll have to break the promise I made to you," Varth muttered under his breath as he looked at the mirror reflecting himself, and at the same time, he took off the mask covering his Demonic Eye of Abhorrent. After a full two years, the Eye of Abhorrent was unsealed! His hair changed color from dark brown to silver, and his eyes changed color too. His right eye socket turned whiter than snow, while his left eye socket turned darker than the depth of the abyss. ck energy seeped out from his inky, ck eye socket, spreading and permeating into the surrounding area, turning the very fabric of reality dark. "Eye of Abhorrent Demonic skill: A memoir of the past." His entire existence vanished from the face of Xavier after Varth chanted an entire demonic verse in an archaguage. He found himself in the center of a dark expanse brightened by hundreds of thousands of tiny glows of different colors, feeling insignificant in the face of the world of darkness and little stars that stretched far and wide with no end in sight. "I choose you!" Varth, or to be more exact, Wrath said in an imperialism manner as he raised his hand to point at a yellow glow far, far away from him. In the very next second, the red glow that was thousands of miles away from him suddenly materialized above his palm. "I allow you to be a part of my strength!" As soon as he said those words, the red glow merged with his white eye socket, modifying it with a few abstruse crimson symbols. "Time to head back and pull the rat out of the hole." Wrath snapped his fingers, immediately appearing in the toilet of the Arc. "Eye of Divination! Imand you to show me where the scums are hiding in this Arc!" As soon as those words left his mouth, the abstruse symbol expanded out of his right eye socket and changed the view reflected in the mirror from his figure and the interior of the bathroom to three different ces, showing Wrath the figures of the three rats of Leslie that has snuck inside his holy Arc. "I''ll make sure to give them a pleasant ending, Leader." Wrath muttered as anger burst out of his white and ck eye sockets. "Hell''s Paradise: Judgmental Layer of the Abhorred!" He said while looking at the three figures shown in the mirror. In the very next instant, dark energy burst forth with him as the center, submerging the Arc and the area outside of it in a sea of darkness. "Huh?" "What is going on?" "What the hell is this ck stuff? Gah, help it''s swallowing me!" At the same time, four ck vortex opened up in different areas of the interior of the Arc, swallowing Wrath and three other figures, teleporting them to a world of darkness. "Where the hell am I?" One of three rats that have snuck in Wrath''s Arc along with the fugitive said as he looked at the ck ce brightened by crimson arcs stretching across the horizon. "Chen, you''re here too?!" Sare said in a confused voice as she looked at Chen. Chen looked at her in confusion, but his confusion deepened as a voice came from beneath Sara. Chapter 123 - Spies Trapped In A World Of Darkness "Sara, get the hell off me!" Su said, trying to get out from beneath Sara''s fat butt. However, Sara''s fat and squishy butt pressed him deeper into the slimy ground of darkness. "Su?" Sara''s eyebrows widened in confusion. "Can you get off me first!" Su eximed, feeling as if he will die if he gets sucked into the sliminess of the darkness. "Oh, sorry. I didn''t realize you were there." Sara said in an apologetic tone as she moved away from him in a hurry. Su gasped for air with his tongue hanging out of his mouth like a dog before he looked at Sara. "I almost suffocated under your big fat butt!" Sara''s eyes twitched as her face turned red like hell due to embarrassment. "Don''t lie. You were enjoying the feel of it. Weren''t you?" She said after a moment. Su''s eyes widened with his lips parted, unable to say anything as he honestly did enjoy being pressed beneath her. "You pervert!" Sara eximed as she took a few steps away from him. "Cough! Hello, guys! Can we worry more about the damned situation we are in?" Chen said as he looked at the two stupid spies of the corrupted officials of Leslie with a baffled expression. "Ah, yes!" Sare eximed, feeling horrified as she looked at the endless expanse she found herself in. "Where in the hell are we?" Su said after taking a look at the god-forsaken ce. "Maybe we are in a bad dream," Sara added. "Stupid women! Which dream would connect the three of us in a single hellish ce?" Chen berated Sara. "How are you so sure this isn''t a bad dream?" She asked. "Just pinch yourself!" Chen shouted at the top of his lings, rolling his eyes at the stupid big butt female spy. As soon as he said those words, Su and Sara pinched themselves, feeling a stinging pain assaulting their senses. "Yeah, this ce is clearly something more terrifying than a dream," Sara said as she had confirmed that this wasn''t a dream. "There''s nothing around us. Just where are we?" Su said, feeling creeped out of his mind. "We should focus on finding a way to get out of here," Chen said, taking out a torch to brighten the darkness around them. "Let''s try running towards that end. Maybe we will be able to get out of this ce after reaching the crimson arc." Su said, pointing at the crimson arc at the north of the endless expanse of darkness. "Alright!" Just as they were about to run in that direction, a rather terrifying but calm voice sounded in their ears. "Don''t bother. I have forever trapped you three in the center of my paradise. You can''t move far from me no matter how strong you are unless I die. The same rule applies even if you''re an Ability Emperor." The rats of Leslie turned to look at the source of the terrifying voice that raised chills down their spines and saw a young man d in ck sorcerer''s robes, sitting in the center of a wide throne made out of bones and howling faces of tortured souls that stretched across 20 meters and connected with a mountain of bones on each side. Su''s and Sara''s eyes opened wide in terror as they looked at the hair and eyes of Wrath. "White hair, ck and white eyes." "The representation of night and day. There''s no way he is who I think he is!" They felt his legs shaking as he lowered his gaze to look at Wrath''s feet, dreading that he''ll be swallowed by death if he continued looking into his eyes. "You''re the King of ck and White?" Sara said in a shaky voice, respectfully bowing deeply before Wrath. Her forehead was touching the ground as she felt terror rising from the depth of her heart, forcing her to not look into his eyes and bow before him. "How could he be here? We''re hallucinating or probably under an illusion!" Su said in his mind, inwardly shaking his head to dismiss any possibilities of the man sitting on the throne being the King he fears the most. "Who the hell is the king of ck and White?!" Chen said out loud before disrespectfully pointing at Wrath and continuing, "I don''t give a damn about who you are. Send me back before I make you cry like a damn baby!" Wrath looked at him with an indifferent expression, ck and white energies seeping out of his eyes as he sat on his throne of death with his face resting on his hand. "You damned retard. Get on your knees." Su said through gritted teeth, unable to lift his head, fearing for his life. He was in the same position as Sara. "Are you on my side or his? I say we gang up on him and beat him to a pulp!" Chen said, unable toprehend the severity of this situation as he didn''t know about the King of ck and White. "Hmph!" A voice sounded in his ears, causing Chen''s knees to bend and forced him to kneel and his face to press on the floor of darkness. "Why can''t I move. What the hell did you do to me?" A mysterious force suppressed Chen to the point where he couldn''t even activate his ability or move his pinky. "My apologies, your highness. My friend has a few screws loose in his head." Su said, bowing before Wrath. "Control your tongue or else, you''re going to get us all killed," Sara said to Chen. "Enough bickering!" Wrath''s voice thundered in the skies of the dark expanse as if he was the God of this Paradise of Darkness, and at the same time, the mouth of the three closed shut. "Why can''t I speak?!" Their eyebrows raised in confusion and terror began to seep into every fiber of their beings. The three looked at each other in the eyes, only to notice the desperation in each other''s eyes none of them could utter even a single word. "You will be able to speak after if I ask a question. I hope you provide me with adequate answers. Nod if you understand. Shake your head if you don''t and I''ll kill you at the spot." Warth said those words in a calm and soothing voice, but the contents of the words chilled them to the bones. The three of them nodded their head, rubbing their temples against the floor of darkness, feeling terrified of getting killed if they dared to take this situation as a joke. "That''s good." Wrath was pleased by the reaction of the stupid mongrels. "A mere minister of a lesser city doesn''t have enough brain nor brawns to run such a huge thing. Who is the mastermind behind all of you? Whose dogs are the three of you?" After he said those words, the three of them realized that they regained the freedom over their tongue and mouth, so Chen said, "We can''t tell you that! Please ask something else" "Wrong answer. And for that, you''ll be punished." Wrath snapped his finger, and at the same time, the horrifying noise of bones shattering sounded in their ears. "Ugh! What the hell is going on?!" Chapter 124 - What You Do On To Others Chen, who said those disrespectful words, found his body expanding without showing signs of stopping anytime soon, and a minuteter, his body exploded, a mess of blood and organ covering the bodies of the remaining scums. Shards of bones also impaled their flesh. They moaned out in pain, still unable to part open their lips. "Hee, hee, hee! Ah, how I missed this sensation." A momentter, once Wrath, the King of ck and White, finishedughing out loud hysterically at the death of the first human scum, he turned to look at the other two terrified souls and said, "It''s your turn. And I''m expecting to hear something of value. Don''t disappoint me. It won''t end well for you." "I-I don''t know anything about that." The terrified man with an overgrown mustache and beady eyes said in a hurried and terrified tone. "Not the answer I was expecting to hear," Wrath said as he raised one of his hands, ready to snap his fingers. "Please listen to me," Su begged for a chance. "Say it," Wrath said, giving him a chance to speak his mind. "Our master has bounded us to a curse. We can''t mention anything about him. Otherwise, threads made out of cursive words will seal our mouths, and our bodies will melt under the effect of the curse while being kept alive, dying most painfully." Su said. No wonder! His words cleared up the reason why the terrified Chen didn''t tell him anything about their master. "So what?" Wrath said, "This isn''t my problem." Su''s words fell on deaf ears. It was as if he was ying the flute before a cow. Utterly useless! "Die for me," Wrath said, snapping his fingers for the second time. "Ahh!" The very next moment, an excruciating pain assaulted Su''s senses before his body fell apart into a thousand pieces. "You''re thest one left. Do you wanna live or die?" Wrath said, looking at the big-breasted and big butted female spy. "I''ll die in a worse way even if I tell you about my master. Of course, I have no intention of betraying him. So, go ahead and kill me." "Does your words imply you know of the man directing the corrupted officials of Leslie from behind the scenes?" "Yeah, so what! King of ck and White, you ain''t getting anything out of my mouth." "Your loyalty to your master do run deep, but we''ll see whether or not it is breakable." Wrath said, snapping his fingers. At the same time, Sara lost control over her body, and the only thing she could now do was feel her surrounding. "Unlike the others, I won''t let you pass on to the afterlife easily. You''ll suffer tremendously. First off, your bones will break one after another. After the 206 bones of your body shatter into pieces and your energy channels get sted into smithereens, a mysterious force will skin you alive before adding salt to your wounded and bloodied body. And it won''t end there. You''ll be stabbed by a thousand needles an uncountable number of times. All the while being kept conscious and alive." Wrath''s terrifying words sounded in her ears, causing her pupils to contract in horror, and a momentter, the worst nightmare of her life began. The feeling of pain seeped into every fiber of her being as the 206 bones in her body began to shatter one by one. She couldn''t even scream as her mouth was tied shut by a mysterious force, neither bite her tongue tomit suicide. Several momentster, looking at the wretched and deformed body of the once beautifuldy, he said, "Any words?" "Just kill me," Sara said, tears of blood streaking out of her eyes, ears, nose, and every other part of her body that was being kept alive by a mysterious force. "It''s too soon for you to die. My paradise will force you to repent for all the sins you''vemitted." Sara lifted her eyes to gaze at him with a look that said, what did I do to deserve this punishment? Aren''t you a man who is known for torturing only evildoers? She was just a spy. Not the actual mastermind! "Do you think my paradise is punishing you unjustly? No, it isn''t! Everything that''s happening to you is a seed you sowed with your hands bymitting the most heinous crimes towards the innocent member of your race. Or could it be that you''ve deluded yourself to the point of forgetting your own sins?" Sara remembered that the tortures mentioned by him before her bones began breaking were what she has performed on a lot of beings to get answers out of their mouth. But she was just doing her job! "Me too!" Wrath replied, signifying that he could read her mind. A whileter, once the three spies of the corrupted officials of Leslie died, Wrath stood up from his throne, steeping down the mountain of bones before walking up to the remains of their bodies. "Who said the dead can''t talk?" He chanted some words in the demonguage, and at the same time, blue particles rushed out of the remains of their bodies, rushing towards him before seeping into his body through the pores. The energy seeping out of Wrath''s ck and white eye sockets flickered continuously as images containing their memories popped up in his mind. "So, it''s Sunsuhan!" Wrath found the answer behind his question from the memories of the three spies, and he realized that it was the terrorist organization that was behind the human trafficking organization in Leslie. "I''ll make sure to send the dogs of the military after their assess." Wrath said with a murderous smile on his face covered in silver and ck tattoos. He decided to step out of Hell''s paradise as he has obtained what he wanted. However, just as he was about to take a step out of this ce, the whisper of the ancient demon sounded out of his now distorted face with mouths on each side. "Why don''t you just let me take over? I will kill them for you." Chapter 125 - Blood Child When he heard those wordsing out of mouths that has suddenly appeared on his very face, Varth''s eyes constricted. When he heard those wordsing out of mouths that has suddenly appeared on his very face, Varth''s eyes constricted. The power of creating the Hell Paradise didn''t belong to him. It belonged to the actual owner of his left eye. The Eye of Abhorrent belonged to an ancient demon from hell once feared as the Harbinger of Devastation. And now it has woken from its slumber! But this wasn''t the first time Varth faced it. "Shut up, Abhorrent. I don''t want to hear a single word from you." He said with a disgruntled expression on his face. There wasn''t a single sign of respect on his face as he didn''t fear the Harbinger of Devastation. What was so great about him? For Varth, there was Nothing great about the demon. After all, it had died under the de of the greatest hero! The mouth on his face moved as words uttered in the demonguage sounded out, thundering in the Heaven and Earth of this paradise. "What''s so bad about my deal? Your kind is as worse as theye! I can wipe them off the face of this universe if you just hand over your body to me." The demon''s words didn''t sound the least bit enticing. True, the universe would be a better ce if someone gets rid of all the filth. But the demon wanted to get rid of all the good along with all the evil. It simply wanted to end all life! "I said, shut the hell up!" Varth shouted, anger and frustration seeping out of his right and left eyes, respectively. "And why should I listen to my vessel?" Harbinger of Devastationughed out loud, each sounding painful to his soul. "Because I decide both our fates." He said through gritted teeth, resting his gun against his face, threatening to kill himself. Varth annihting his body meant the end of both of them. Thus, the demon stoppedughing, fearing that the foolishd will end doing something regretful, otherwise. Varth wiped the sheenyer of sweat on his forehead, teleporting half a mile away from the crimson arc stretching across the horizon of this paradise. Just as he was about to teleport once again, Harbinger of Devastation''s voice sounded out from the mouths on his face. "Don''t tell me you can''t feel it?" "Feel what?" "The aura of the Blood Child of Cruelty and Mercilessness! It''s definitely somewhere in this dimension." Varth knew about the tales of the cursed child. Varth knew about the tales of the Blood Child. It was a boy born with two specialties. First off, the boy is born with the destiny to create rivers of blood, reaping lives everywhere it goes. Second, the creatures of hell can devour it to reach the next evolutionary stage. It''s mentioned in the tale that in ancient times, the One-Winged King of the Fallen Seraphim reached an entirely different level from all other demons of the lower hell by consuming the blood child whole. However, these were only a part of a tale. He didn''t believe what''s not a part of history. "So what?" Varth said without any emotions, teleporting next to the crimson arcs. "The blood child presence will aggravate the entire lower half of Hell. They will do anything to obtain it once they know about its existence. The creature of hell from the lower eighthyers will gather under the fallen seraphim of the ninthyer and start an all-out war with the races of this dimension to obtain it. The living beings won''t stand a chance against thebined might of the lower floor of Hell!" The first nineyers of Hell were a part of the lower floor. "We''ll see." Varth didn''t fall for the demon''s words as he had heard simr words four years ago. Still, the invasion of the creature from hell hasn''t increased in the slightest. Of course, it''s because the creature from hell still didn''t know about the existence of the blood child. "Dumbd. Sooner orter, you''ll have to make a choice. Stand by the side of your race and die a bitter death or fight alongside the creatures of hell and rise to glory." "Don''t mistake my action of treating the scum of my race without mercy with my intentions, Harbinger of Devastation. There''s no doubt. I am the enemy of the Creatures of Hell. I will end all of them with my own hands and you''ll help me whether you like it or not." It had a lot more to say, but Varth had more pressing matters to attend to. He leaped upwards, jumping into the crimson arc, and the very next moment, his body vanished from Hell''s Paradise. A few secondster, he found himself sitting on top of the toilet of his Arc. "The scent of the real world is pleasant. It''s only missing the smell of blood and sulfur." The Harbinger said as its mouth hungrily sucked in the fresh air of Xavier. Varth picked up the ck mask and pulled it closer to his face. The back of the ck mask stretched out, something like cursive tentacles made out of thread wriggling forward, creeping their way towards his face. "It''s time for you to shut up for good," Varth said as he covered every part of his face except for the right eye with the ck mask, letting the tentacles seep inside his left eyes. The ck mask was a special item created by forger Leal who is an expert in dealing with demons and creatures of hell. The Demon Sealing Mask only had one purpose, to seal a demon for eternity. That''s what Varth has been using to fight off the corruption bought by bing the owner of the Eye of Abhorrent. A voice sounded, however, before the mask sealed the Demon for good. "Hee, hee, hee. Until next time!" Varth shook his head, throwing this matter to the back of his mind, focusing more on the information he obtained from the memories of Su, Sara, and Chen while walking towards the Command Center of the Arc. Chapter 126 - The Strongest Dispatched! "Just what in the hell was that darkness?" John said in a shaky voice, confused and partly scared. "I don''t know," Vincent said as even he couldn''t understand what has happened. For a whole minute, darkness has surrounded their vision. And then it disappeared as suddenly as it came. While John was pondering on the mysteriousness of this situation and Vincent was checking through the security footage to see if Leni and Lisa were fine, the door to themand center of the Arc opened, and Varth entered the room. Vincent and John turned to look at him before they began speaking. "You''re finally here." "Something unexinable happened while you were in the bathroom." Vincent and John exined what happened to Varth in a hurry. "You guys are just thinking too much about it. It wasn''t something serious. Just the security system of my Arc acting up and protecting us from being detected by the scouting devices of the enemies, I believe." Varth twisted the truth with a straight face while innocently looking at the youngsters. "That does make sense," Vincent said. "We just think too much, haha," John added. "Go and take a rest." Varth began piloting the Arc, feeling relieved that his words have sessfully fooled Vincent and John. Sometimeter, once they reached the military academy along with the captives, they went straight towards the receptionist and told him about every single detail of what they encountered in the mission. "Do you have any proof?" The receptionist of the military mission board asked. "Aren''t these people behind us enough to prove our words!" John shouted, pointing at the captives standing behind them. "Even we have to follow protocols and some rules before we can send someone to make a move." The young receptionist said. "Do you know how much trouble we faced to get out of Leslie alive ande here?" Leni said, looking at the receptionist with an ice-cold stare. "I can''t do anything about it." The receptionist said with a nonchnt expression. BANG John couldn''t control it anymore and mmed his fist on the desk made out of crystal, causing cracks to form on it. "Lives are at risk, and each second counts. The blood of every person who dies from now on in Leslie is in your hand." John said, looking at the young and chill receptionist with crimson eyes overflowing with anger. "You''re making it sound really ugly for me when all I am doing is following protocols and rules set by the military." The receptionist said, expressing dissatisfaction and anger at his words. Before the situation could escte to an outright brawl, the voice of the old receptionist of the mission board sounded in their ears. "Calm down, boy. We need to take the testimonies of the captives you rescued and verify the severity of the situation. It will take a while for us to verify their words and confirm that many officials of Leslie have betrayed us. But if you want us to take action immediately, then it''s impossible unless you provide us with irrefutable proof." Varth and Vincent stepped up to him with an amiable smile on his face. "Finally, someone sensible is here. Here is the irrefutable proof!" Vincent said to the old receptionist at the reception building, giving him the spatial devices of all the bandits and the special identification token they retired from the corpse of the Bandit Leader. "This will be more than enough for us to take action immediately." The old receptionist did his work, riling up the entire military and instructors of the military academy within a minute! The instructors and the members of the military were shocked out of their wits as a few bandits even had thetestmunication devices smuggled from the military storage house. Themunication device contained logs of a lot of misdeedsmitted by many officials of Leslie, members of the orphanage, some business owners, and the bandits. The logs served as irrefutable evidence of their involvement in human and demi-human trafficking. Furthermore, the special item the minister has personally given to the Bandit Leader so that the members of the Red Skull crew would be able to enter and exit the city freely in the depth of night served as the most irrefutable evidence of their crimes. A few minutester, the higher-ups of the military decided to dispatch two of the ten strongest existence in Xavier to take care of the corrupted officials in Leslie and serve justice to the innocents in the name of the Earth Federation. The two people were undoubtedly Alex the Alchemist and Theodore the Unmatched. Vincent, his party, and the rescued captives were about to rest in the lobby when at that very moment, Alex and Theodore suddenly appeared next to them. "You guys did good!" Alex said, praising them. "Instructor, you must hurry. I heard the bandit saying that the minister is nning to kill the guards that didn''t submit to him before the end of this week." Vincent said in a hurry as he looked at them There was only a day left before the end of this week. "Don''t worry about that. You''ve done your part perfectly. Leave the rest to us and believe in us. We will make sure no one else gets harms." Theodore patted his shoulder, looking at him with a pleased expression. After saying those words and expressing that they feel grateful to them in their own way, Alex and Theodore went to the receptionist to get a special badge that will allow them to freely teleport to any ce in Xavier in a minute and also allow them to turn the entire city of Leslie upside down without facing any repercussion from the Earth Federation or the Empire. A momentter, once they received the special badge that allows people to perform long-distance teleportation even in Xavier and activated the teleportation function, a magical symbol manifested below their feet, charging up and counting down the time it''ll take for the teleportation to happen. "Good luck, instructors!" They wished them well just as they were about to teleport to Leslie. "We''ll be back soon." Theodore waved his hands at them before he and Alex disappeared from the reception building. Chapter 127 - Overpowered! Instructor Alex and Instructor Theodore moved on an extremely dark and purple pathway, stretching across endlessly, brightened up by dots of white light. They were heading towards the round portal at the end of this passage as it will take them to the Lesser City of Leslie in an instant. "It has been a long time since Ist came to this ce," Alex mumbled to himself, looking at the Heaven and Earth of the spatial tunnel created by mankind''s wisdom and powerful technology with a dazed look on his handsome face. It was impossible to use teleportation portals and simr devices to instantly teleport from one ce to another in Xavier as there was a high chance that a person will encounter a spatial disturbance and die before reaching their destination. Of course, humanity never gave up on establishing long-distance teleportation pathways in this world. And, so it happened. Several dozens of years ago, a few powerful existences had used their powers to dig open a tunnel in space itself, connecting one spot to another by opening spatial tunnels. However, only a few people could use these tunnels. And the special token obtainable from the reception building of the military academy was the key to essing these spatial tunnels. After reaching the end of the tunnel with a pissed-off and cold expression on their naturally handsome faces, Instructor Alex and Theodore took one final step to step out of the spatial tunnel. "We are finally here." They appeared over the skies of the hundred of Leslie, looking down at the city of sin in disdain and anger. "Senior, can I do as I please?" Instructor Alex asked, looking at Theodore with a gaze of expectations. "You can do whatever you want to capture them alive. There''s no need to hold back against the filth of society." Theodore said, allowing him to go all out against the corrupted officials of Leslie. He didn''t have even a single sympathy for the filth of society as they have not only stabbed their race on the back but also used the innocents and the poor in the most wretched ways possible. "That''s kinda annoying." Instructor Alex wanted to torture them most painfully before sending them to the lowestyer of the deadliest prison of the Earth Federation. Yes! He didn''t want to kill them! Killing them was letting them off too easily. It was better to let them suffer for years in the deadliest prison of the Federation. A ce with endless suffering that causes the will of the powerful and valiant men to break, crippling their minds and soul. "But I will work my way around it." Instructor Alex said, signifying that he will never go against Theodore''s words. Just as Alex was about to capture the corrupted officials, thugs, human traffickers, and all other criminals in Leslie in a single move, a voice sounded in his ears. "We have been waiting for your arrival, Dogs of the Military!" A dozen of aircraft suddenly blurred into existence above Leslie, surrounding Alex and Theodore from all sides. "You are surrounded from all sides. Surrender yourself or die!" As soon as they heard those words, the two instructors from the military academy found deadly weapons stretching out of the multiple aircraft, aimed directly at them. "Is this supposed to scare us?" Instructor Theodore said in a loud booming voice, thundering across the entire city and ringing in the ears of the criminals. His voice prated in the eardrums of a few people in Leslie, causing them to bleed from their seven orifices and dying a painful death. Instructor Alex turned to look at him with an expression of bewilderment on his face. You didn''t allow me to kill them even though you know I hate human traffickers more than I hate the world! But you killed seven of them without any hesitation. My guardian, are you ying with me? Or am I your cat that you can suppress ever so easily?! "Open fire!" "Kill those fuckers at any cost!" The minister of the officials and the head of thew enforcement of Leslie shouted at the top of their lungs,manding their armies to attack and kill the two instructors from the military academy at all cost. "st open a hole in their bodies. "Take them down if you want to live to see another day." Following theirmands, the pilots sitting in themand center of their aircraft pressed some buttons on the holographic panels, releasing thousands of bullets and dozens of rockets towards them. "So boring." Instructor Alex yawned, bored out of his wits as hezily gazed at the attacksing towards him. "Hmm, you aren''t wrong. Their weapon is indeed a little bit too outdated." Instructor Theodore said, a smirk stretching across his face. The two instructors of the military academy lived in a different time frame from the rest of the existence in Xavier. The thing that seems too fast in the eyes of humans and demi-humans was seemingly too slow in their eyes. "End this in a hurry," instructor Theodore said as he dodged hundreds of bullets and calmly stepped out of the explosive range of the rockets with a few turns and twist of his body. "I can kill them. Am I right?" Instructor Alex said after he teleported right behind him. "Yes. The rules of the contract we signed haven''t changed at all. You can kill anyone that attacks you with the intention to kill." Theodore said, verifying the fact that he can kill all the people piloting the aircraft carrying military-grade weapons. "Don''t mind if I do!" Alex said, snapping his finger. BOMB BOMB BOMB In the split of a second, the multiple aircraft of the enemy were destroyed by rockets and bullets, crashing towards the ground with incredible speed. After taking care of more than dozens of aircraft with a single snap of his finger, instructor Alex turned to look at the corrupted officials standing on top of the walls of Leslie. "Now, it''s your turn." His devilish voice sounded in their ears, causing their heart to tremble out of extreme fear. "Activate the Barrier! Don''t let him enter the city at all cost!" Jackal shouted at the top of his lungsmanding the people under him to erect a barrier around the city of Leslie. "As youmand, leader!" It didn''t take more than a few seconds for a blue barrier to be generated around the entire city, stopping everyone from entering it. "Listen well! You can''t do anything about this barrier. The barrier can nullify all abilities and elemental attacks. You''ve no hope of ever destroying it. Moreover, we will kill one citizen fo Leslie for every minute you waste in this ce. So, it would be for the best if you scram back to where you came from." Jackal said in a booming voice, a smile of victory stretching across his face. Jackal was sure that the dogs of the military weren''t powerful enough to break the barrier especially created to counter the use of ability. "Are they looking down on us?" Alex said, rolling his eyes at the Grand Blue barrier protecting the filth of the lesser city of Leslie. "Maybe they don''t know who we are." Instructor Theodore said, feeling sad that he wasn''t well-known. It''s probably because he hasn''t stepped out of the military academy more than a few dozen times in thest three hundred years. "I guess that''s the most probable answer next to them being inconceivably stupid." Alex said as an enormous amount of energy burst forth from his body, spreading and permeating into the fabric of this very world, condensing into the feet and hands of a gigantic figure madepletely out of ck energy stretching across from one end of the barrier to the other. Not just Jackal, but even the ministers, human traffickers, corrupted officials, criminals, and all the citizens of Leslie raised their heads to look at the manifestation of the giant with an expression of bewilderment on their faces. Has a celestial descended on the sky above our head? What the hell is this? "What kind of joke is this? Am I seeing things or is this happening?" Everybody believed that this possible happening. "Shatter!" Instructor Alex said, stomping his feet on mid-air, and at the same time, the feet of the giant came crashing down at the Grand Blue barrier. BAM "Who the hell are we up against?!" The eyes of the corrupted officials opened wide like saucers with their mouths touching the ground as they watched the most powerful barrier in existence shattering under a single attack! Simple inconceivable! They didn''t even have time to register their emotions into words when at that very moment, the devilish voice of the middle-aged man sounded in their ears. "Ability Kingdom: Devil''s words bending reality!" A ck energy burst out of Alex''s body, spreading and permeating into the air of Leslie, forcing everything it passed by to be a part of his kingdom. "Every sinner, murdered, human traffickers, child abuser, and the ones who kept silence knowing all these crimes, I summon you in front of me to be judged!" His voice boomed across the city, sounded in the ears of every single person present in Leslie. And at the very next moment, thousands of people suddenly disappeared and appeared thousands of meters away from where they stood. "This can''t be true." The eyes of the criminals widened in shock and their bodies trembled in fear as they found themselves in front of the judgemental gaze of the two instructors from the military academy. "Let go of me or else I''ll kill this child in my hand." The minister of the officials in Leslie said, resting a gun against the head of a young child. Chapter 128 - Little And Elder Devil The minister of the corrupted officials of Leslie has taken a young girl hostage. He will able to do it somehow because of his ability. And not just, he also wasn''t immobilized by Alex''s kingdom, surprising him a bit more. The young girl had a head full of golden hair, green eyes, and a freckled face. One look at her and the two instructors from the military academy could determine that she was the youngest sibling of the current lord of Leslie. "Have you been using this child to threaten her?" Theodore asked, his facial muscles twitching due to anger. "Haha, so what? What truly matters right now is whether or not you want to see this young girl barely twelve years old die under my hands. The decision is yours to make. Leave now or live knowing you let a young and innocent girl die." Minister Diascia said,ughing without a care in the world. He was a grown-ass man but didn''t find it hard to use a young child to save his life. Just as the minister startedughing again because of seeing them standing still and thinking that that was a sign of hesitation, the sweet voice of the young girl sounded in the surrounding. "Mister, please don''t care about my life and punish these bad people. I just hope you''ll leave my sister alone. They had first used me to threaten her, making her fall into their traps, and then one of them used an ability to control her. Please save her." Pa! Just as she was about to say a few more words, a hard handnded on her tiny face, injuring it badly. "Shut up, you damned child!" Diascia said, raising his hand to threaten her once again. Tears rolled out of her eyes as she looked at the two instructors pitifully, an indication that she no longer cared about her life. She just wanted her sister to be free from the life of a puppet. Her sister, the city lord of Leslie, has always protected her, but these demon scums have shattered her will to think and resist and took control of the moments of her life. She no longer wanted to bring trouble to her sister. Better yet, she has even gone as far as to think that if she hadn''t existed, her sister wouldn''t have fallen to the corrupted hands of the demons. Instructor Alex''s eyes bulged as he could see the thoughts in her mind reflected through her eyes, a special ability granted to him by bing the vessel of the heart of Abhorrent, the harbinger of Devastation. "You have gone too far, pig-faced bastard," Alex said in a calm voice containing traces of suppressed anger as he looked at Diascia. "Hee, hee, hee, what are you going to do about it? I am right in front of you. Still, you haven''t harmed a single hair on your hand. Your weakness is in my hand, instructors. Scram before I end up killing her, something you will regret your entire life, instructors." Diascia said, looking at them with a victory smug on his face. "Looks like you have misunderstood the situation, piggy. Take a look at my hands." Instructor Theodore''s voice sounded in his ears, making him look at him. "How?" Diascia''s eyes widened as he saw Janna floating next to Theodore. Janna was his hostage but she was no longer in his hands. Janna was his hostage, but she was no longer in his hands. She has mysteriously appeared next to Theodore! "This can''t be." The bunch of filth couldn''t help but feel shocked arising in their hearts as they looked at the two instructors with fear in their eyes. "Pay for your sins!" Instructor Alex said as dark energy burst forth from his body, making its way towards the minister of the officials of Leslie. Once it reached near him, the dark energy seeped inside his body, causing him to scream in pain, a delight in Alex''s ears. The minister felt as if thousands of ants were biting into his flesh. So much pain filled his body that blood began to leak out of all his holes. Theodore teleported Janna a safe distance away from this ce, saying in his mind, "Isn''t something a child should see." A few momentster, the instructor''s demonic attack has changed the physical features of Diascia. He no longer looked like a human but more like a paste of meat with a mouth and consciousness. "Gah! What have you done to me? Kill me, you bastard. Let me die!" Even in such a state, he could clearly feel thousands of shattered pieces of bone stabbing into his flesh from the inside. And also the pain caused by his organs and brain turning to mush assaulting his soul again and again. "This is the representation of your sins. Something you have earned bymitting evil endlessly." Alex had the demonic power that Varth possesses. His Heart of Abhorrent allowed him to inflict sinner with pain equal to their sins. The sinner will suffer alive, no matter how badly his body gets damaged, even if that means the body getting shaped into a paste of meat. Death wasn''t possible. Not till he pays off the debts he had earned bymitting crimes. "Disgusting to the very end!" Alex sad, increasing the bastard''s sense of pain tenfold. "Gah!" A painful moan sounded in everyone''s ears, making them fear for their lives. If they knew somethings horrifying was going to happen to them formitting unforgivable crimes, they would have never dared to do anything bad. "Ha, ha, ha." The mouth forming on instructor Alex''s hands, neck, and another visible area of his bodyughed out loud, sounding eerie to everyone. "Who should I break next?" Many pissed their pants as they got looked at by Alex''s eye sockets as ck as the abyss. Some sharted their pants, a horrendous smell permeating the surrounding. "Stop using your demonic power, Alex." Instructor Theodore said, cing his hand on his shoulder. "I can''t help but want to kill all of these scums. Nothing has changed since then. I was a victim of their crimes. And they are still here even after I killed them all with my own hand. Filth like them keeps on popping in every world, everywhere I go. I can''t escape this darkness, Theo. This world, this world is wrong." Instructor Alex said, darkness bursting out of his eyes, slowly but steadily changing the fabric of reality. The hatred he had for Demi-humans was because of a reason. He was a victim of their crimes, treated as ab rat, locked in a dark and cold ce, and experimented on for years. He was but a child when he got kidnapped by human traffickers. All of them happened to be Demi-Humans. They sold him to crazy bastards that messed with his body daily. His captors treated him to the worst of experiments in the name of trying to create the strongest weapon for the Demi-Humans. The mad Demi-Humans scientist did seed in the end. They had created an ultimate weapon by merging the Heart of Abhorrent with the body of a human, Alex. The ultimate weapon power increased from nothing to the King Realm Evolutionary Stage overnight. Alex got the strength of the King Realm, bing able to create a Kingdom out of his ability. And the moment he did so, he killed all his captors before heading out to take his revenge, killing senselessly as the Heart of Abhorrent took control of his body. He didn''t stop until he got his hand over to him by the Emperor of Night, Elliot. He had always thought that the Demi-Humans were the cause of misery he suffered. But now, his very race, the humans were trafficking humans to make a profit. That too in a time of war! So, he snapped and began thinking that a world will be a better ce if he cleans it from all beings. "Did you already forget what happened thest time you gave in to your desires and epted the power of Abhorrent?" Instructor Theodore said, looking at him with a severe expression, and at the same time, suppressing the aura bursting out of his body with a greater pressure of his own. Just as Alex was about to lose control of himself, he felt ice-cold water being poured on his body, helping him cool down and think rationally. "I haven''t." He said, looking at his guardian with a look that said, I am sorry! He didn''t want to go back to the hell of a and freeze to death. Definitely. "I don''t want to beat you back to your senses. So, keep it controlled while you still can." Theodore warned again before looking away from him. "What should we do with the rest of them?" Alex asked as he pointed at the captives immobilized by the power of his Ability Kingdom. "Isn''t it obvious?" Theodore said, a murderous smile forming on his face. "Huh? Don''t tell me you are nning to do that?" Alex said, knowing full well that he was going to punish them in his old-fashioned way. "Yes!" Theodore nodded. "You are!" "The victims of their crimes and the people that suffered under their hand will decide how their life ends. We will only look at it from afar." Theodore said. "You''ve always done things this way," Alexined, feeling tired of his way of administering justice. Alex liked to beat and kill the criminals and the bad guys with his very hands. Theodore, on the other hand, liked it the other way around. "Well, this is the way I chose to deal justice hundreds of years ago. And it will never change." Instructor Theodore said, taking off his pair of eyesses. "It isn''t too bad, but I still think it would be better if you leave their fates up to my hand." Instructor Alex said, licking his lips. Theodore didn''t reply and merely activated his ability, one he hasn''t used in years. The name of his ability was Give and Take, something that forced him to the top of the powerdder, to the point where even the Emperor of Truemight fears battling him. "You''re stripped of your rights to contain even an ounce of power for the pain you''ve inflicted on the others," instructor Theodore said as he looked at the criminals with eyes covered in abstruse symbols. As the criminals heard his words, they felt their strength leaving their bodies. "The ones whomitted the seven cardinal sins, giving nothing but filth to the society, I give you a hundred thousand times amplification to pain. A touch of a single needle will feel like a mountain crushing your body." The sounds of bones breaking sounded out in the very next moment as the gentle winds became powerful enough topress their flesh and bones. "To all of you, I bestow you with eternity. For seven days, you have lost your right to die." Theodore said, snapping his fingers. An instant after he said those words, woods shaped like crosses protruded from under the ground of Leslie. "Gah!" The criminals shouted, exploding their lungs as they got nailed to the stakes. "The ones nailed to the stakes are the bastards that kidnapped your beloved, selling them for gold and jewelry. They are no powerful, unable to move even a single pinkie. You may do as you like to them for seven days. There''s no need to hold back. They won''t die even if you dismember them into a thousand pieces." Theodore''s voice boomed out, reaching into the ears of the ones living in misery. They came out of their homes like rats and cockroaches crawling out of their holes, holding weapons in their eyes, murderous desires brimming in their eyes God has finally heard their prayers, the thought. After gratefully bowing to him and worshipping him in their hearts, the poor people who lost their children and beloved to the hands of kidnappers turned to the bastard nailed on the stakes. Then, painful howls reached the clouded night skies. "I want to join in on the fun, too!" Alex eximed, gazing at the festival of cleansing evil showcased in the streets of Leslie with a desire to participate brimming in his eyes. "Quiet down and let the people do their work," Theodore said, teleporting before the rooftop of the city lord, sitting next to Janna. "Mister?" Janna said, looking at him with eyes widened in happiness. Theodore patted her head, and said, "Everything''s fine now. Sleep. The moment you wake up, the city will return back to being normal." His eyes contained hypnotizing power and forced Janna into a peaceful sleep. "What else do we need to do?" "Save the children from the orphanage. Heal the mind and soul of the city lord. Call for reinforcement. And send a report of what we encounter here to the Federation. They will deal with the rest." Theodore saidzily yawning as he covered his bleeding eyes with a crimson piece of cloth. "You should have let me do all the work. You''ll go blind at this rate." Alex said, worrying about him. "I would already be blond fighting you to death if I had allowed you to take care of everything in Leslie," Theodore replied in a calm voice. They decided to return to the academy before the Sunrise. Chapter 129 - Compensation Inside the reception building of the Military Academy of Xavier, the group of four teenagers waited for the receptionist to calcte their missionpletion rewards and the total amount ofpensation they should receive for facing extra trouble. Varth handed over pieces of evidence to the receptionist, hoping to bepensated well for their effort. The monster subjugation mission mentioned that they only needed to y a small group of monsters around 12 to twenty, but they took on a total of sixty. Thus, they were eligible to demand a hefty sum in the form ofpensation from the first mission only. "We''llpensate you with three times the mission reward as you''ve killed sixty monsters instead of thirty. You have obtained a total of 60000 contribution points. We have also rewarded you with 40000 contribution points for taking down the Tree of Evil and revealing the corruption of Leslie, saving us from a lot of future trouble. Is that alright with you?" "Yes, miss," Varth said in a calm voice. "We would like to purchase the corpses of the monsters, evolution materials, and their cores at market price. Do you wish to sell it to us?" The receptionist, with a nice smile and a bright personality, asked. Varth shook his head and said, "Nope." "Are you sure?" "I''m dead serious," Varth said, showing a bit of hostility for some reason. "I understand." Rose nodded. "Now, let''s talk about the second part of thepensation," Varth said as he looked at her. "We''llpensate you with 40000 contribution points for taking down more bandits than you were supposed to," Rose said after a few moments. "That''s good enough," Varth replied, feeling satisfied with thepensation offered by the military academy. "Would you like to sell us their illegally obtained items?" Rose asked as she looked at him. "Without a doubt," Varth answered, passing several spatial devices to her in a hurry. It was best to sell illegally obtained items to the military academy for two reasons. First off, they wouldn''t need to hire a Broker to sell illegal stuff. Broker is a new world''s profession. The people in this profession are experts when ites to virtual realitywork hacking. They could also break the security system of spatial devices without much difficulty. And they mostly deal with selling information and illegal items. Second, they will obtain the money in minutes and at most an hour rather than waiting for days or even weeks. "Then good sit please wait in the lobby. It will take a while for our Broker to pass through the security system of all the spatial devices of the bandits, find out the content inside it and collect their total value." "How long will it take?" He asked. "At most, Several minutes," Rose answered before walking away to a particr room of the reception building. Varth also walked back to the lobby. John asked him about how long they have to wait. Varth first provided him with an answer and then broke down the good news to all the members. "We''ll be receiving a total of 140000 contribution points from mission alone. And the amount we''re going to obtain from selling the items obtained from the bandits is still being calcted." As soon as he said those words, their eyes brightened in excitement and happiness. More than a hundred thousand contribution point was a big deal. They could not only get a chef to prepare an evolution dish out of the Fruit of Darkness, but they could also get decent equipment to boost their strength. Of course, this was undoubtedly the best news they got to hear this week. ''I''m feeling tired." Vincent said, sticking close to his girlfriend. "Should I give you a message?" Leni said, blinking her pretty eyes at him. "Nah, I''ll be fine after resting my head on your shoulder for a while," Vincent said, kissing her on the right side of her snow-white cheeks. "Okay," Leni replied, allowing him "Umm," Lisa hummed, giving a curious look to her mother-like figure getting teased by a handsome man. She didn''t know why but she decided to interfere in their moment and proceeded to use Leni as her possession like a spoiled princess. Vincent and Lisa stuck close to Leni. She found herself stuck between two grown adults with childish nature, but as she liked Vincent more than she loved herself and pitied the other for everything she had gone through, she put up with their selfish desires. She let Vincent lean on her shoulder and didn''t refuse the smooches he keptnding on the cheeks while Lisa rested on herps. ************** The officials of New Hope City took the rescued captives with them. Not only will the officials treat them gently and interrogate them without any aggression, but they will alsopensate them money, a citizenship of the city, and a few other necessities such as a ce to live and monthly rations. "For how long?" One of the rescued captives asked the officials assigned to them under themand of the city lord. "We will provide for you until you familiarize yourself with this city, get used to your surrounding, and find a stable job to be able to stand on your own two feet." Charles, the steward of the city lord''s mansion, replied with an amiable smile. The captive''s eyes widened in surprise and happiness, and some of them even cried with tears streaming out the corner of their eyes. This cruel world still has a phnthropist willing to forgo any profit for the welfare of broken peoples like them. It was hard to believe. Is the city lord a saint? A lot of them had the same thought popping up in their mind. "That''s just how he is," Charles said, knowing what they are feeling from their facial expressions. "Now, pleasee up to me one by one, and I will sort things out for you guys. If you have a family in another city and want to live with them, I will send you there withpensation. If you want to be a citizen of Leslie, I will help apply you get citizenship for this city." Chapter 130 - Learning A Cooking Technique Sometimeter, once the receptionist called for them and allocated a total of 160000 contribution points to them, they left the ce with smiles on their face. Vincent and Varth got the lion shares as they did most of the work. They took 50000 contribution points each. However, they didn''t let Leni off with side change. She got what she deserved. The share of a queen. She got 50000 contribution points, too. John got 10000 contribution points as he didn''t do a lot in the battles that took ce in the woods and the beast''s forest. He was happy with what he got, as even that was a huge amount for the contributions he made in the battle. "I think 10000 points should be enough to hire a chef to cook an evolution dish for me. Guys, am I right?" John asked in anticipation. He no longer wanted to remain unawakened. He wanted to awaken and gain hold of an ability. "It should be enough. Even if it isn''t, I will pay for it." Leni said, willing to pay for John''s expenses as he was her little brother. "Thanks," John said jovially as he looked at Leni. "Good. You both should take this time to get a chef with a good reputation to create an evolution dish for you. Don''t hire one with a suspicious reputation. And remember to sign a contract before handing over the Fruit of Darkness to the Chef. It''s easy to get scammed nowadays, and a lot of chefs wouldn''t hesitate to do that in case of an extraordinary evolution material like the one in your hands." Vincent said after giving them two out of the three Fruit of Darkness. "We understand!" The twins went to the food court, intending to hire a chef with a good reputation and get a dish made out of their evolution material. Theirbined wealth exceeded 50000 contribution points. And Leni knew that it requires only 10000 contribution points to hire a chef to purify a demonic realm evolution material and get a dish made out of it as she had heard about it from Damien''s mouth. Damien seemed like a friend of her boyfriend and also a trustable guy, so she wanted to hire him. However, he wasn''t here. She had no choice but to put her trust in another chef. She looked through several Magic Chef, each with a different skillset and cooking style, and ended up selecting the one with a cheap service price and very high ratings. "It will cost a total of 20000 contribution points to purify and make a dish out of it. And it will take me three days to do so. This fruit is brimming with negative energy. And it isn''t easy to purify negative energy from extraordinary evolution material. I would need to utilize one unit of purified magic energy to purify one unit of negative energy in this fruit. This fruit contains around a thousand. So, it will take three days of hard work to clean one out of harmful effects and make a dish out of it. Two of them will take me a week." Magic Chef Asclepias, a sophomore of the military academy, said as he looked at the two freshmen. John turned to look at Leni with a look of expectation in his eyes. The price was astronomical. And he only had half of that. He couldn''t afford it. But he wished that his sister will loan ten thousand contribution points to him. "Don''t worry. I will pay for it." Leni said in a calm voice. She has earned tens of thousands of contribution points in only a few days. Wouldn''t she earn a lot more in the future? What was this little amount of money? Why wouldn''t she use it to help herself and her brother be stronger? "I will pay you back in the future," John said after he hugged her out of happiness. "Um, have you guys decided?" Asclepias asked after a moment. "Yes, but before we proceed, we would like to sign a legal contract," John said. "Sure. I have no problem with that." Asclepias replied in a carefree tone. Soon, they drafted a contract that said that Asclepias cannot scam them from their evolution materials and that they will pay before he begins working. Varth, at this time of the day, was busy purchasing beast''s bullets from the markets. Although he had earned a lot, most of it got wasted on restocking on bullets. Beast''s bullets weren''t cheap. A round of the weakest Beast''s bullet that could prate the defense of monsters and beasts in the first to the third rank of the magical realm cost him a hundred points. The higher the power of the Beast''s Bullet, the more costlier they get. Purchasing twenty-five bullets that can prate the defense of Monster in the early ranks of the demonic realm cost him 5000 contribution points. "This marks the end of my shopping time. What else should I do today? I should just rest and mentally prepare myself for creating Ability Crystal using alchemy tomorrow. I need to make dozens of them out of the pool of darkness. They will act as my life-saving charms, after all." Varth said in his mind, walking back to him in a hurry. He wanted to sleep with Noah in his hand. He was sure he will feel better after a good night''s sleep. He was still feeling irritated at little things right now. It''s because he had used the powers of the left eye of the Ancient Demon Abhorrent. It has mentally corrupted him, making it easy for him to be aggravated. Meanwhile, Nevis happened to be ying in the Arena of Valor, getting his ass handed to him by ability users, while Vincent was sitting in a silent corner of the library, reading a book on cooking techniques. Vincent had bought three different cooking techniques a few moments ago. And right now, he had memorized the content of two of them by using the instant knowledge transferring function of his family''s heirloom He picked up thest book on a famous cooking technique with the intent to memorize it. A notification popped up in front of him in the next moment. ? Would you like to learn the Thousand Purifying Cooking Technique in an instant? ? Chapter 131 - Awakening (a) "Yes," Vincent said in his mind, allowing Blood to utilize a few experience points to memorize the contents of the book, store the information of the technique into its database and then transfer all of it in his mind. ? The information of the Thousand Purifying Cooking Technique is stored in Blood Evolution System''s Database ? ? The information rted to the Cooking Technique is being transferred to your mind ? An instant after blood''s announcement, Vincent''s eyes dted as a lot of images and texts rted to purifying evolution material by using aplex and profound method popped up in his mind, bing a permanent part of his memory. He couldn''t forget it now, even if wanted to. ? You have learned Thousand Purifying Cooking Technique ? ? Thousand Purifying Cooking Technique ? ? Type: Cooking Technique > ? Description: Consumes Purified Magic Power to purify evolution materials from all sorts of impurities, be it filth, poison, harmful cells, toxic blood, or negative energy. Must have Mana to activate. The Magic Chef must symmetrically perform hand signs when purifying an evolution material to not only not harm the ability cells in the evolution materials but also to purify it without limits ? This Cooking Magic Technique will allow him to purify the Fruit of Darkness without much trouble. He didn''t worry about performing hand signs in an incorrect order as he haspleted memorized the order in which the hand signs have to be performed to channel a hundred units of mana into this magic technique. Except for this sooking technique, he has learned two other. He has learned two more techniques rting to cooking! One of them was called the Energy Intensification Magic Technique, a skill that allows him to control the input and output of the energies in his body, increasing and decreasing them as he wishes. While the other one was called Energy Control, a Magic Technique that he can use to control Mana or Magic Power outside of his body. These two techniques didn''t require any sort of energy, be it mana or magic power, to activate. The three books cost him a bit over 25000 contribution points. They were the best ones he could afford right now. "I have learned a handful of cooking techniques in just three minutes." Vincent couldn''t help but smile as not only Bloodpleted all of its tasks in a matter of several seconds, but he has also gained a lot of knowledge that only a professional Magic Chef has. Knowledge; that will allow him to purify the evolution material in his spatial ring and help him make a dish out of it. "This much should be enough for me to purify my fruit of darkness." Vincent thought as he took out an inky, ck fruit from his inventory. He ced it in front of him, right on top of the table, and used the appraisal spell matrix on it. ? Item Name: Fruit of Darkness ? ? Type: Evolution Material ? ? Description: The consumer gains extraordinary darkness ability cells by consuming it ? ? Warning: It''s not safe to consume the Fruit of Darkness before purifying it from negative energy ? ? Negative Energy: 1000 units ? Vincent knew he needed to purify the fruit of darkness from its 1000 units of Negative Energy before consuming it to awaken. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to consume it without fearing for harmful effects that would corrupt him mentally. He didn''t want to have his mentality affected in any way harmful. It was already bad that he would lose his self-control in the face of blood. He didn''t want to lose his control in front of other things, too. Thus, he decided to purify it from all of the negative energy no matter how much time it takes. The Fruit of Darkness was on top of the table in a vacant area of the library. He was sitting in the chair right next to it. He looked around and came to the conclusion that this was the perfect ce for purifying an evolution material. They were separated from everyone else by a thin barrier which not only blocked outsiders from viewing what''s happening inside but also blocked all voice or energy from going outside. Vincent decided to purify the Fruit of Darkness right here, instead of wasting his time in order to look for a nice and vacant spot where he could purify it without any worries of harming those sensitive to negative energy. "Let''s begin." Vincent crackled his fingers, looking at the Fruit of Darkness in the same way a hunter looks at its prey. He started to perform hand signs, controlling a hundred specks of mana to flow out of his body and inject themselves into the fruit of darkness from various locations. Each speck of mana was the condensed form of one unit of mana, and it eliminated one unit of negative energy from the Fruit of Darkness. The purified version of magic power and negative energy were pr opposites. They were equally powerful but belonged to two different sides. It was like a sh between light and darkness. White can''t mix with ck. Darkness gets purged under daylight. These two types of energies simply couldn''t exist under the same sky. The sh between these two energies caused both of them to dissipate, vanishing from the face of the world. Vincent kept on performing hand signs, and it didn''t take him more than a few minutes to forcefully eliminate a hundred units of negative energy from the fruit of darkness by using 100 units of mana. ? Mana: 0/100 ? Now, however, he was left with not even a single unit of mana. Vincent knew he needed to create another hundred units of mana if he wanted to purify the fruit of darkness. For that purpose, he stored the fruit of darkness in his spatial storage device, stepped out of the library, walked to a nice ce in the garden, and breathed in the magic power present in nature to acquire a hundred units of magic power. Magic power couldn''t be used to purify the negative energy present inside the fruit of darkness. It''s because magic power was filled with impurities and was far too weak to harm negative energy. Only mana that was ten times stronger and better than magic power was a threat to negative energy and could eliminate it for good. Chapter 132 - Awakening (b) Several minutester, once Vincent breathed in the magic power in his surrounding to store a total of hundred units of it in both his heart, he began performing the hand signs mentioned in the Lower Sun Scripture me Purifying Technique to purify his Magic power into Mana. He did that some more times and finally stopped when he had gained 100 units of mana. He went back to a secure ce in the library and channeled his 100 units of mana to activate the Thousand Purifying Magic Technique. ? Fruit of Darkness is now left with 800 units of negative energy ? A few minutes after he activated his Magic Technique meant to purify evolution materials, a notification highlighting that he only needed to eliminate 800 units of negative energy from the Fruit of Darkness so that it will finally be consumable popped up in front of his eyes. "I only need to follow the same process 8 more times." Vincent internallyughed and cried at the same time. The job of a magic chef wasn''t easy, nor too hard. Well, it wasn''t too hard for him. He has memorized the magic techniques meant for purifying evolution materials, cooking and preparing evolution dishes in just a few minutes, after all. "I am the biggest cheat in the universe!" Vincent internally eximed as another round of evolution material purification began. ? Fruit of Darkness is now left with 700 units of negative energy ? ? Fruit of Darkness is now left with 600 units of negative energy ? . Vincent was better than most of the Magic Chef in one prospect and that was the fact that he could purify his magic power into mana in a matter of minutes. That was just how powerful the me purifying energy magic technique was. Unlike others, he didn''t need to waste hours and days trying to purify 100 units of magic power into mana. He could do that pretty fastly and in a very short time. A few hours passed by as Vincent continued to purify the Fruit of Darkness from negative energy. He was tired, exhausted, and bored from repeating the same time eight times now. However, he didn''t stop as one thing kept him going. Awakening! He will awaken once he consumes the purified Fruit of Darkness. This very thought pushed him forward. Although it was alreadyte at night, he didn''t return to the boy''s dormitory to rest. He will do that tomorrow. He will use this every night to purify the fruit of darkness and consume it to awaken. He has already decided to awaken before the sun rises. ? You''ve sessfully purified the Fruit of Darkness ? ? It is now safe to consume it ? It didn''t take too long for the Fruit of Darkness to finally lose all of its negative energy and be unharmful for consumption. "Finally, I can awaken!" Vincent eximed jovially as he brightened in happiness. He opted not to cook it into a fish and eat it raw as the only thing he could taste was blood. Without wasting any time, he picked up the Fruit of Darkness without any hesitation and bit into its soft, squishy flesh. A mouthful of golden juice, alongside the pulpy flesh of the fruit, filled his mouth. "It''s tasteless. Just as I expected." Vincentined in his mind. The Fruit of Darkness tasted nd as it wasn''t a good match for his vampiric taste buds. He gulped the contents of the Fruit of Darkness in a single second, and at that very moment, a notification bearing great news popped up in front of his eyes. ? The Tenth Head of the Family has consumed a part of the Fruit of Darkness ? ? You''ve gained ten percent of Power of Evil ability cells ? "Power of evil? This is the name of the ability I will awaken once I consume the entire Fruit of Darkness!" Vincent eximed, hurriedly biting into the Fruit of Darkness and consuming it one portion at a time. ? You''ve consumed the entire Fruit of Darkness ? ? You''ve entered the awakening process! ? ? The Power of Evil Ability Cell in your bloodstream will now help you awaken, allowing you to gain the ability "Power of Evil" and helping you create energy channels in your body ? A whileter, once he finished consuming the entire Fruit of Darkness, Vincent felt thousands of ants biting him all over his body and thousands of needles poking every corner of his body, and he couldn''t help but grunt in pain. "Ugh!" Vincent eximed as he felt a huge portion of his own Life Force leaving his body to help him sessfully undergo the evolution process. ? The awakening evolution process has consumed your life force to create six energy channels of the highest quality and the greatest potential in your body. Three more to go! ? His ck hair turned white, a sign of rapid aging as energy channels that could contain not only mana but also dark and evil energy formed within his body. At the same time, his eyes turned a bit dark. No! It wasn''t just his eyes that were being clouded by darkness. Rather it was his entire eye sockets. They were clouded by a fog of darkness that seeped out of the corners of his eyes, spreading outwards and permeating into his very surrounding. Vincent thinned a little before a notification popped up in his mind, notifying him that nine sealed energy channels have formed in his body and that he could unblock them through a special method and nurture them to store more than a hundred units of mana.t Then even greater news followed! ? You''ve sessfully undergone the Awakening evolution process ? ? Congrattions on Awakening the Power of Evil! ? Vincent breathed out a fog of darkness as he stared at the notification screen in front of him with deep interest shown in his normal eyes. "Power of Evil. What does it do?!" Vincent asked in his mind, a look of anticipation reflected on his face. ? Ability Name: Power of Evil ? ? Type: Parasitic ? ? Grade: Extraordinary ? "What are its effect?" Chapter 133 - POE And Ability Crystals! An instant after he said those words, a golden carpet-like notification containing words written in darkness popped up in front of him, adding a mysterious feel to it all, increasing Vincent''s excitement and killing him with anticipation. ? Power of evil: The Champion can channel Mana into his supernatural cells to activate Power of Evil which allows you to create parasitic seeds of fusion. It can infest energies and liquids. The things your seed of fusion infests obtain the ability tobine with any type and kind of matter, be it solid, liquid or gas, allowing for the creation of something greater. ? Vincent read the description of his newfound ability in silence before he closed his eyes, breathing calmly and trying to make sense of it. Three things stood out. "First, I can channel purified magic power into the supernatural cells present in my bloodstream to create a parasitic seed of fusion. Second, they can merge with liquid and energy, giving them the ability to fuse with any form of matter. Third, I can fuse purified blood of beasts infested with the parasitic seed of fusion with an alchemical pill such as a body strengthening pill to increase its effectiveness. Am I right?" If it is as he said, then he would be able to improve countless things such as magical pills, beast''s weapons, magic scrolls, and so on. ? Indeed. The Power of Evil is one of its kind. It has few limitations, and although not as good as offensive and defensive abilities, it transcends the worldly limits of auxiliary supernatural ability. It will allow you to create offensive and defensive items far surpassing the offense and defense of abilities. That''s what it allows you to achieve. ? Vincent rubbed his cheeks, closed eyes, thinking hard and long about it, taking his time as it was not the end of the world, not just yet. "So, it''s not like the generic ability that everyone else uses. Hmm, nothing less expected from the evolution material that gave rise to the Emperor of Darkness. His ability to control monsters is one of a kind, and so is mine. It''s adaptable, too. I just need to prepare before battles, but that''s something I can afford to do." The potential of this ability won''t go to waste, not in Vincent''s hands! It could be used tobine two different types of offensive magic scrolls into one. Vincent can first infest fire energy with his seed of fusion. And imbue it into offensive fire inscription patterns inscribed a magic scroll to grant it the ability to fuse with another matter, followed by fusing that magic scroll with another magic scroll to give birth to an unbelievable item. The possibilities were endless, and he didn''t know where to begin. In the end, he decided to go back to his living quarters and sleep and think about it after waking up. "It''s hard to believe that the Tree of Evil was the main source of the birth of this ability with many creative purposes," Vincent said in his mind. The Tree of Evil wasn''t too different than the harbinger of death. Although it saved one life from dying, it took several hundred lives in exchange for that and to help itself grow. However, that very monster created a Fruit of Darkness that awakened an ability with the sole purpose of improving and creating new things. it was hard for Vincent to believe that, although it was right in front of his eyes, and he couldn''t help but marvel at the duality of creation. ? The Tree of Evil isn''t exactly evil. Its nature is like two sides of the same coin. It can grow up to be both good or evil depending on the type of society it grows up in. The Tree of Evil you encounter sprouted in a ce filled to the brim with negative energy, naturally it grew up to be evil. However, if the same tree grew up in a happy ce, it would have be the Tree of Good. It''s a mythical Tree that has the potential to grow up to be the Tree of Creation. A monster at the epitome of existence ? Blood''s announcement rang in Vincent''s ears, telling him about the long-forgotten truth of the Tree of Evil. "So, one of my ancestors came across such a tree?" Vincent asked in his mind, believing that the heirloom of his family possess such information because of one of his ancestor. ? Indeed ? "Who was it?" Vincent asked in anticipation after a moment. ? The second head of the family. He didn''t onlye across it but also helped it to grow closer to its peak ? "Really?" Vincent asked, shock brimming in his heart. ? If you don''t believe me then just go Lorena, the world of the elves. And you''ll know what I mean. ? "Entering Lorena, huh. It''s not too distant of a dream." It truly wouldn''t take too long before Vincent finally gets a chance to enter Lorena. He couldn''t enter it right now as students needed special permission to enter that world. Of course, he wasn''t betting on obtaining it. He could enter that world within months, after all. The ind of wisdom was located somece in Lorena! "He isn''t here?" Vincent didn''t see Varth in the room, although it was early morning and still a weekend, meaning there were no sses to attend. Yet, he wasn''t here for some reason. Vincent wondered why. Still, it was just passing curiosity. Varth was his roommate and getting curious about his life sometimes wasn''t too abnormal for Vincent. Of course, he didn''t obsess over it nor think too about it. He didn''t have any rights to know what''s happening in his roommate''s life and he didn''t have much of an interest either. What mattered more was his own life. He hasn''t slept for more than a day. What''s worse is the fact that he has been working hard for the past several hours. It wasn''t painless to use magic techniques continuously. The use of magic techniques was mentally exhausting but the overuse of magic techniques gives a person painful headaches and muscle spasms. He was tired, exhausted, and mentally drained The headaches causing aching pain in his head didn''t help either. The overuse of the me Purifying Technique has also damaged his veins. The damage wasn''t something serious but it was still diforting. It felt as if he was sitting in front of mes. "Ugh, I was too excited and didn''t think too much about the consequences of overusing magic techniques when purifying the fruit of darkness." Vincent hit the bed and tried to fall asleep. The pain wasn''t great in the face of his exhaustion and that''s why he was able to fall asleep almost instantaneously. While he was sleeping without a care in the world, Varth sat before a golden cauldron, trying to create Small Distance Teleportation Ability Crystal. The process of creating an ability crystal was neither tooplex nor too simple. It basically follows the same steps an alchemist performs to create a pill or a magic chef follows to create an evolution dish. First off, he purified impurities from the pool of darkness. The pool of darkness contained not only the blood of the victims of the Tree of Evil but it also contained negative energy, water, weed, sand, dist, and a few other things that could only be ssified as impurities. "I Need to clean the pool of darkness from all impurities first. Only then I will be able to use it to create my life-saving items." Varth said under his breath, using his mana and the me of the magical cauldron to eliminate and push impurities out of a pool of darkness. It didn''t take long for him to purify the pool of darkness as he was using both his mana and the me of the cauldron to purify it. Of course, it required multi-tasking to control fire and mana at the same time and wasn''t something anyone could do. He separated the pool of darkness into a thousand tiny portions. And proceeded by storing all of it except for one in his spatial treasure. That one portion was left inside of his cauldron. "Let''s get it started!" Varth opened the lid of the cauldron before pouring in a few materials. He heated the cauldron to a high degree after closing its lid. The heat melted the materials inside the cauldron including the small portion of the pool of darkness into their medicinal essence form. Once all the material achieved this gaseous state where only their purest essence was left in a raw form, Varth lowered the heat. A few momentster, once the cauldron has cooled down a bit, Varth performed some hand signs in a hurry, causing a huge amount of mana to burst forth from his body, pouring straight into the cauldron through the small holes at the top of the lid. The energy went inside the cauldron and pressurized the medicinal essence of different materials to gather around each other, twirling and mixing, condensing into the shape of a triangr crystal with ck luminesce. [Congrattions for creating a Teleportation Ability Crystal, Master] An instant after he retrieved the triangr-shaped crystal from the cauldron, Noah, the mechanical box that Varth uses to calm his emotion and soothe his soul announced in a happy voice. "It''s too soon to be happy," Varth said, narrowed eyes brimming with determination to create more Ability crystals. "Master, how many more are you gonna prepare?" "I am nning to use half of the pool of darkness to create short distance teleportation ability crystal only," Varth answered as he mentally himself for another round of ability crystal creation. [What about the other half?] "Hehe, I''ll use it all to create my ultimate trump card!" Chapter 134 - Hiring Vincent has nned to check out the effects and effectiveness of his newly awakened ability bybining the purified blood of monsters with a beast''s equipment. For that, he needed purified blood with a strengthening effect and a piece of equipment. "I can obtain the first of the two things by extracting blood from the dozens of corpses of monsters present in the inventory and purifying it. I also have the materials necessary to create equipment. That leaves me with only finding a way to make a piece of equipment out of the materials." Vincent said in his mind, wondering what option should he choose to make equipment out of his materials. He had two options. The first option was for him to use a few of his experience points and a lot out of his around 30000 contribution points to learn equipment creation. He would be able to craft items such as beast''s weapons, bullets, essories, armor, and so on once he memorizes the knowledge necessary to create equipment. The second option for him was to head to a weapon creator and ask them to create equipment out of the three ruby eyes of the behemoth Grim Gore. Vincent started to think about it long and hard, a deep pondering look settling in his eyes as he calcted the cost thates with choosing either one of the two options. "The first option is a no-go as I don''t have enough contribution points to purchase knowledge and items necessary to craft equipment," Vincent said after a moment. He couldn''t select the first option as he wasn''t rich enough. The knowledge needed to create equipment will cost as much as 20000 contribution points, but it was something he could afford; however, the items necessary to craft equipment such as a cauldron, fire stones, and fire controlling magic technique will cost about 50000 contribution points, a price he wasn''t willing to afford right now. "I can always learn all of the professionster, but I can''t keep myself from witnessing the effect of my ability, Power of Evil!" Vincent didn''t know what kind of thing he will create, but one thing was for sure, he didn''t want to keep waiting in anticipation for days. He decided on the second option as it wasn''t going to cost a lot to hire an equipment creator and demand them to create equipment out of the three ruby eyes. He was still feeling tired and mentally exhausted, side effects that came with absorbing a ton worth of information and overusing magic techniques in a single night. He decided to hit the bed, once again as today was a weekday, and head out of his room the moment the sun hits the dust and night takes over the day. Several hourster, once Vincent woke up again and turned around to notice that Varth hasn''t returned to his living quarters for nearly a day left the room, he shook his head, shrugging off thoughts about his mysterious roommate, and walked out of the room, heading towards the marketce of the military academy in order to get equipment. "Hey, are you equipment creator, Jamie?" Vincent asked as he looked at a bald man with a burly physique two time times bigger than himself. Jamie nodded and said, "Indeed, it is I. Freshman, have youe for my service?" "Yes," Vincent said. "I would like you to make a bracelet out of these three materials." While saying those words, he handed over three big crimson eyes to the burly equipment creator. Jamie epted them with a somewhat surprised look on his face as he has never seen such materials in his life, and a momentter, his body trembled as if he got zapped, and his eyes widened toplete rounds "Huh?! These seem like the treasured eyes of the Grim Gores. But there''s something different about them. Almost as if they belong to a Grim Gore far powerful than the fifth level of the magical realm. But how could that be possible when the natural evolution limit of that monster peaks at the fifth level of the magical realm." He said, mouth agape in shock. Hearing Jamie''s words of bewilderment, Vincent felt impressed not by himself for possessing a never before seen material but by the knowledge and precision of the weapon creator. He determined that the eyes look simr to that of grim gore with a single look and also list everything about that monster. Only a person who has invested his entire life in his profession could do something like so, and equipment creator, Jamie, was one such person. "These materials belong to a behemoth Grim Gore that managed to surpass its natural evolution limits," Vincent said in a calm voice, telling Jamie the truth. Jamie stood still as if struck by a lightning bolt, unable to believe that the boy in front of him was lucky enough to meet, y, and obtain materials from such a monster. "You sure did get lucky to encounter such a mystical being," Jamie said after a moment. "Um, can you make equipment out of it?" Vincent asked,ing straight to the reason why he came here. "Although it is damaged and in a pretty rough state, I can still work my magic on this and create a Bracelet of Strength. It''s an item that will boost your overall physical capabilities by a certain amount. However, I will need to use extra materials as these three eyes are badly damaged. And that will cost you a bit more." Jamie said, exining the type and effects of the equipment he can create by using the material provided to him by Vincent. "Don''t worry about the cost, and just create it," Vincent said in a hurry. "Then, let''s finalize the deal." "Alright," Blue Stones 3 C 1300 contribution points Material Fusion Magic scroll 3 C 1200 contribution points Equipment Creator Jamie''s service cost C 2500 contribution points "That''ll be a total cost of 5000 contribution points," Jamie said after calcting the cost of the creation of the equipment. Chapter 135 - Next Special Class Vincent handed over his quantum card to Jamie, motioning him to subtract 5000 contribution points out of it, and Jamie did just that, subtracting the cost of creating the equipment before handing the card back to Vincent. "How long will it take?" Vincent asked after storing his quantum card in his inventory. "I will start working on it right away. Under the love of my hammers, I will make sure to create the Bracelet of Strength out of them in several hours." Jamie replied with a smile, feeling happy to work on materials that no crafter has ever seen in their life, much less taste what it feels like to create an item out of them. "Then should I drop by early tomorrow?" Vincent asked, wondering what a good time would be toe to this ce and get his equipment. "Just add me as your friend. I''ll notify you once I create it." Jamie said, motioning the ck-haired boy to give him his quantum card. "Okay. Here you go." A few momentster, once Jamie scans the code on the back of Vincent''s quantum card and returns it to him, Vincent leaves the marketce, calls for Le, and goes out on a date with her. Meanwhile, in a dark room of the alchemy building of the military academy, a crazedugher rang out from the mouth of a disheveled young boy covered in ash and smoke. "I have finally done it!" Varth eximed at the top of his lungs, eyes shining brightly in glee. "I''ve finally created the trump card that will help me flip any adverse situation in my favor," Varth said, looking at a globe of darkness made out of half the pool of darkness next to him. This thing didn''t look a single bit unamusing as Varth had etched hundreds of inscription patterns on it, giving it a mysterious feel that wasn''t without a reason as this item packed power great enough to shookbatants above level 100. At the same time, in the boy''s dormitory room opposite Varth''s and Vincent''s room, John talked about where he has been for the past few days and what he has experienced along the way, answering Nevis''s questions. "How could you guys go on and have all the fun by yourself?! Why didn''t you invite me? We were supposed to be friends..." Nevis cried out, gazing at John with a look that said that someone had done a great injustice to him. "Everything happened too suddenly, and I didn''t get the chance to tell you, nor did I think you''ll be interested in killing monsters and get drenched in their blood," John replied in a calm voice. "Next time, I want toe with you guys," Nevis said, a demanding look on his face. "Sure, I will ask big brother whether or not you can join us," John replied, indicating that he wasn''t the decision-maker and Vincent called the shot. "Don''t," Nevis said. "I will ask about it myself." "As you wish," John replied,ying down on the bed to rx his sore muscles. Ding, dong. Just at the same time when John''s head hit the pillow, Vincent, who happened to be in the opposite room, received a call from someone friendly. "Since you called, I believe there''s going to be a special ss tomorrow. Am I right, instructor Theodore?" Vincent said after greeting him. "You guessed it right." Instructor Theodore said with a smile. "I''ll join it. No hesitation from my side." Vincent asked, "When and where is it going to be held?" Theodore''s eyes hidden by a crimson scarf blinked twice before he responded, "Early tomorrow by the newly transfer magic teacher in her ssroom." "I am looking forward to it," Vincent said, knowing full well that he will earn something great by acing thepetition held in the special ss. However, what he didn''t know at this moment was that he has already given up his chance of participating in the contest by awakening and obtaining an ability. "Wait, there''s a special condition. Only unawakenedbatants can join this special ss. Have you undergone the awakening evolution process or not?" Instructor Theodore said, trying to rify the situation for both himself and Vincent. He possessed special eyes and could see that the glow of glory around Vincent has changed significantly, signifying he''ll achieve something great in the future, and so has his hair, almost as if he lost arge amount of life force in a single night. "I did a night ago," Vincent uttered in shock, feeling as if someone has dumped dog poop in his food! Of course, he was devastated as he had lost the right to participate in a special ss just because he tried too hard to awaken. What damn luck! Simply inconceivable! "Then you can''t participate as a contestant but still spectate it," Theodore said. "Ah, shit." Vincent cursed out of anger. "No cursing. That''s bad manners." Instructor Theodore said, telling him to never curse. "Sorry, instructor." Without wasting any time, Vincent apologized, admitting his fault. "I will send you some fruits and consumable materials with life force. Eat them to recover your vitality. White hair doesn''t suit you, really." Instructor Theodore said. "Ah, okay. Thanks!" Vincent replied, feeling happy that he would receive costly fruit for free. "Well, that''s all," Theodore said after a moment, nning to end the call. "Wait. Before you go, can you tell me about what happened in Leslie?" Vincent asked in a hurry, wondering what happened in Leslie. "Oh, you sure are curious," Theodore said. "The Federation resolved the tricky situation just perfectly. The people of Leslie are happy, the soldiers have rescued the orphans and raided every criminal base in Leslie, gathering dirt on everyone involved and punishing even those outside Leslie, and the city lords of Xavier are providing for the victims." "What about the main preparations behind the kidnappings and the trafficking? What happened to them?" "They are paying for their crimes in a pretty nice spot." Doesn''t that mean they are in jail? "In the jail? Just that? Shouldn''t they be punished far worse for their crimes, better yet executed publicly?" "Don''t worry about it too much. The federation nor its soldiers will let them off easily. They will die for sure after seven days." "That''s good to hear." "Goodbye." "Take care." After talking with instructor Theodore, Vincent felt good that everything has worked out but something has changed within him for both good and bad. He trusted the Federation and wanted to achieve its goal but couldn''te to trust its people, especially those unknown to him such as officials andw enforcers of any city under the federation''s name. Chapter 136 - Wraths Wife... Vincent told everyone of his friends that hasn''t awakened and gained an ability to attend the magic ss tomorrow since the new magic teacher will hold a special event in her ss. It didn''t take a lot of time as in his list of friends, only John and Nevis hasn''t awakened. However, he realized that what he did was simply useless as the staff of the academy had already notified everyone to attend the magic ss tomorrow no matter what, even if they''re sick. They have also notified every newly enlisted awakenedbatant to intentionally miss the magic ss as otherwise, they will only waste their time for no good reason. The next day, John, Nevis, and arge group left their living quarters early in the morning in order to attend the magic ss. "What do you think is going to happen in the special ss?" Nevis asked while looking at John, wondering if he knew something. "I don''t know," John replied. "Maybe we will fight puppets or something simr." "Who knows?" By the time John and Nevis came to the ssroom and sat down on the seats ced near the windows and at the back of the room, a lot of students unfamiliar to them had already taken a seat in this ssroom. There were two aspects simr about the students in this ssroom. The first one being that all of them were unawakened, and the second simrity being that they were all newly enlisted students. Most of the students in this ssroom were waiting for the instructor of the subject on magic. She still wasn''t here, and it''s been a while, so the students were running out of patience. Just as they were thinking about it and wondering how long it will take for her toe, the door of the ssroom entered as a pretty girl enters the room. "Huh?" The teenage boys opened wide as they admired her beauty, wondering who this young beauty is. At the same time, the girls felt awed by her cute facial features. Who is she? How can someone be so cute? She looks like a lost puppy! Does she a boyfriend?! Just as these thoughts popped up in their mind, a voice sounded from the back of the ss. "Sis, what are you doing here?" John asked as he looked at Leni. "I''m here to spectate," Leni replied, walking to the back of the ss and taking a seat next to him. A momentter, Iris also entered the ss and sat beside John, who had officially be her boyfriend a day ago. The students were surprised once again as they saw another beautiful girl sitting next to John. Who is this boy? Why does he know so many beauties? Several minutester, once literally every single newly enlisted student has gathered in various ssrooms, each stretching across for a few hundred meters and of an equal length, a beautiful teacher wearing pointy high heels, ck stockings, a dark blue skirt, and a half-sleeve white T-shirt entered the room, where Nevis, John, and Leni happened to be. "We sure are lucky." The students turned to look at her with an expression of bewilderment, unable to believe that a beauty that looks like a princess and gives off a majestic aura is their magic instructor. "She appears young like an 18-19-year-old. Is she our magic instructor? "It will be good for my eyes and my heart if it is her. I feel pleased just by looking at her. "You fool, take a look at her left hand. She is wearing a ring on her fourth finger, indicating that she''s already married to some lucky guy." "Ah, darn it all!" The students chatter back and forth, talking about the magic instructor. "Ahem!" The magic instructor cleared her throat in a loud voice, signaling the crowd to stop chattering. Feeling that she had something important to say, the ss turned silent. "Hello, boys and girls! My name is Veronica Wrath, the wife ofbatant king Wrath, and I''ll be teaching magic to you guys for a year." She said, looking at the students with an amiable smile. Hearing Veronica''s words uttered in a sweet wide, the students remained sitting still and silent in their seat as if struck by a lightning bolt, feeling shocked out of their wits, unable to believe what they had just heard. What the hell? How can such a wonderful and fragile-looking beauty be the wife of King Wrath, known to be monstrous-looking, cruel and merciless, and also one of the top powerhouse of the Earth Federation?! Unbelievable! How did she tame a beast like King Wrath? Maybe it was with her beauty. But how could she even get close to a person who is rumored to have the looks of a monster without feeling disgusted? They didn''t know the answer to this question! "With the introduction out of the way, let''s talk about what''s going to happen today. I''m not going to be teaching you guys anything about magic as we will spend this day testing the supernatural cells slumbering in your bloodstream and passing on evolution materials for each of you to awaken." Instructor Veronica said, telling the students in this ssroom about the actual purpose of today''s ss. "What?" A lot of the students felt confused after hearing Veronica''s words, unable to understand why the Earth Federation would hand over evolution materials to them for free. "But why?" They were sure that something had forced the federation''s hand or else, there''s zero to no chance of the federation giving evolution materials for free to students. The federation followed a simple motto of work hard to obtain what you want. So, it doesn''t make sense that they''ll give something for free! "Well, I believe you all have the right to know as it''s going to be a part of your future," Veronica said as her expression turned grave. The students felt that something was wrong with her words, and the ones with a pretty high intelligence feared for the worse. "I hate to break it for you, but the war has intensified. The vanguards are finding it hard to stop the creatures of hell from invading our dimension. It has be so intense that the creatures of hell have managed to escape the grasp of the Vanguard army and sessfully opened Hell''s Paradise in some of our worlds." Her words poured cold water on top of everyone''s head as they knew that Hell''s Paradise is a scientific term meaning the dimension of hell had ovepped with the dimension of the humanoid beings, allowing creatures of hell to seep inside worlds conquered and owned by the Earth Federation. The tension of the students increased by tenfold, and their hair stood on end, worried that the military and the federation would force them to fight the creature of hell against their will when they haven''t even prepared themselves for such a thing. "There''s no need to feel worried at all for the strongest instructors of the military academies established in the four world''s connecting space, thebatants of the four families, and the experts of the Four Empires have already charged to those worlds to stop the Hell''s Paradises from spreading and also to close the dimension ovepping portal. The military itself didn''t participate in closing the hell''s dimensional portal that has opened in our worlds as they are busy fighting at the front line." An instant after sweat started to form on their forehead and started drenching their backs, Veronica veronica said those words, easing their worries. "Thanks, God!" The student felt relieved that the federation won''t force them to fight their worst nightmares as the situation was already being taken care of by some peoples. "However, the Goddess of the Virtual World has predicted this adverse situation to turn more severe in the uing years, so we are giving you all a chance to immediately awaken an ability and train in it to prepare yourselves for the inevitable." Instructor Veronica said to them. The military and its affiliates, the military academies, weren''t stupid! The four Empires, each located on differents connecting to Earth through the world''s connecting space, weren''t stupid. The Four Great Royal Families ruling several worlds weren''t stupid. They knew full well that their wealth would have no use once the creatures from hell win the war. After all, this war isn''t one where the winning party gives the losing party a chance to live or be enved, but one in which the losing party will meet with annihtion, to put it in better words,plete extinction. So they decided to utilize arge part of their resources to boost the strength of every unawakened student by helping them awaken. The emergence of more than a hundred thousand awakenbatants didn''t only sound a lot, but they would be enough to deal with hell dimension portals opening in different worlds once trained for two years. The students felt d at being given this chance. At least they will have the ability to fight back and not be sitting ducks once the timees. After saying those words, the wife of King Wrath, Veronica Wrath, took out a gate the size of two adults with two mystical orbs of the same size but different designs on top of it from her spatial device and ced it next to her table, no hand used. She then pointed at it before she began speaking, "This gate that looks like a metal detector is a special device used to detect the amounts of supernatural cells dormant in abatant''s bloodstream. This device is also used to identify abatant''s affinity to abilities. I will use it to assess your Ability Affinity and Awakening Potential." The students understood what she meant by her words. A lot of people like Leni, who awakens suddenly or due to facing extreme emotions, have supernatural cellsying dormant in their bloodstream. These cells are aroused once a person faces extreme emotions, thus leading to awakening. Simrly, not everyone can awaken any type of abilities, only one out of every five people had the chance of doing that. Why? It''s pretty simple. The bloodstream of some people can only contain one type of supernatural cell. Thus, they can only awaken that type of ability. For example, Nevis can''t contain any type of supernatural cells in his bloodstream, and thus he can never awaken in his life. "Alright, I''m going to start. So,e up to me to get yourself assessed when I call out your name." Instructor Veronica said to them. "Yes, ma''am." The students nodded their heads, agreeing with her words. Chapter 137 - Johns Mystery Resolved! The unawakened students went up to the front of the ss after instructor Veronica announced their name, them ready to find out whether or not they have supernatural cells inhabiting their bloodstream and also to know what type of abilities they can use. The cell detector device measured the amount of the supernatural cells of each student and also the type of ability they can wield after they passed through it. The blue crystal ball on top of the device showcased the amount of the supernatural cells in the student''s bloodstream as dots appeared in it. Simr in shape and size but of distinct colors, the dots dotting the blue crystal ball represented many supernatural cells. Most of the students didn''t have it in their blood. Some of the students contained one to three types of supernatural cells in their bodies, all slumbering, never once aroused. Simrly, the dark crystal ball next to the blue one represented the ability the students can wield. Most of them heavily leaned on the elemental side, some happened to fall between healing and simr type of abilities, and only a few out of the many students had a chance to awaken an extraordinary power. Iris''s turn soon came up, and once she passed through the gate, the eyes of the students widened like saucers with their jaws threatening to drop low to touch the ground as they witnessed her results showcased on the crystal ball. [Name: Iris Twilight. Supernatural Cells Level: High-level Ability Affinities: Life Nurturing.] Veronica Wrath has wandered across many worlds as she was not only a young queen of a small world but also married into one of the four great royal families, so she has seen many talented youngsters and even more so of the truly powerfulbatants standing at the very peak of the Earth Federation, yet she felt surprised seeing Iris''s results, so surprised that she didn''t utter a single word for a while. "Um, miss, are you going to announce my results and tell me what to do to arouse the cells inhabiting my bloodstream?" Iris said in a sweet voice, looking at the instructor. "Ah, yes! You have a ny percent chance to awaken the nurturing ability. It''s an ability not many have. Only seven, not counting you. This power allows a person to nurture life in any condition. Its main purpose is to makes habitable for life by growing trees and stuff necessary to sustain life. Its secondary purpose is to hasten the growth of magic herbs, magic nts, and so on. That''s all." Instructor Veronica said after snapping out of her daze. "And what do I need to do to arouse these supernatural cells in me?" Iris asked, wondering why the instructor had still not told her what she told the others who came and got checked before her. "I didn''t tell you that?" Instructor Veronica asked without thinking, blinking her pretty eyes. "You didn''t," Iris said in a calm voice. "To arouse one''s supernatural cells, a person needs to do something opposite to the intention of their power. In your case, your power shall allow you to nurture life, so to awaken it, you''ll need to destroy life." Veronica exined, not too slowly nor fastly, telling her what she needs to do to awaken. "Huh? Instructor, does that mean I have to kill others?" Iris asked in a shocked and shaky voice, not wanting to believe that she needs to do cruel things to arouse her supernatural cells to awaken her posers. "Yes. You can even awaken it by killing beasts, setting trees on fire, or even grass ame." Veronica replied, not noticing the change in Iris''s expressions. "But I don''t want to hurt anyone or anything," Iris said as she expressed the fact that she feels disgusted with the mere idea of harming a living or non-living being with a pitiful look on her face. "Then, it''ll be hard for you to arouse your supernatural cells and awaken. I advise you to do as I say as you''ll be able to support and help more life after awakening your extraordinary powers." Instructor Veronica said, telling her that it would be for the best if she harms a few unnecessary life and awaken. "I''ll think about it. Can I go back to my seat?" Iris said, not at all interested in thinking about it. "Yes, please," Veronica said, allowing her to return to her seat. Nevis''s name was what Veronica announced just after Iris left, forcing him to pass through the gate. A few momentster, once the balls showed no signs of changing, instructor Veronica and the students understood that Nevis, this cool and handsome boy, is the cursed child! "The rumors were true. The cursed child has no affinity with supernatural powers and is never going to awaken." "Didn''t the rumors also said it''s a contagious disease?" "Is it even safe to be near him? What happens if we catch his disease and lose our powers?" The students chatted with each other, bad-mouthing Nevis in a voice loud enough for him and the instructor to hear. Nevis''s hands tightened into a fist as he felt angry and displeased at the words thrown at him, knowing full well that he was not contagious or even a cursed child. It was a god damn medical condition, prior knowledge of which not many have. "Silence!" Instructor Veronica said in a stern and majestical voice, silencing the entire ss in a moment. She then turned to look at Nevis and said, "Nevis, you don''t have any supernatural cells inhabiting your bloodstream, nor can you wield any type of abilities as your body cannot contain supernatural cells, so even eating monster''s evolution materials wouldn''t help you enter the awakening evolution process. It''s regretful, but that''s the truth." "I already know. Not the first time am hearing this." Nevis Truemight said, head lowered in disappointment with cheeks and ears reddened in shame. "I hope you don''t give up on yourself as you can always aim to be better as a magic technique or a transcendental-gradebat technique user," Veronica said, hoping the best for him. It was surprising for Nevis to know that his instructor wasn''t like the other instructor, who discriminate against him for bullshit rumors. "I won''t," Nevis said, his eyes burning with the determination to strive ahead always, even if the world is against him. "Great," Veronica said with an amiable smile, motioning Nevis to go back to his seat. [Name: Nevis. Supernatural cells: null Ability Affinity: null.] An instant after Nevis turned around and started to head towards John and the others, instructor Veronica tapped away at the holographic keyboard on her table, upgrading details about Nevis in the database of the Earth Federation. "Will the student John pleasee up and pass through the gate?" Dozens of minutester, once nearly all of the students had gotten the tests revealed by the instructor Veronica and were now sitting on their seats, talking with their friends, John''s name got called out. "Good luck!" Leni wished him well as John stepped out of his chair, walked to the front of the ss, and passed through the device. [Name: John. Supernatural Cells Level: Extreme. Ability Affinity: Life Force Recovery, Wound Healing, Shadow Travel.] "What?! Extreme level?! And also affinities to some of the most extraordinary powers!! "How how can this be?!" An instant after he passed through the gate, the crystal balls showcased his results, seeing which the student''s eyes threatening to pop out of their sockets with their mouth agape. They gazed back and forth over John and his result lingering on the crystal balls with an expression of disbelief on their face. Instructor Veronica also trembled as her eyes widened intoplete circles. "Instructor, is there something wrong?" John asked as he felt weirded out by this situation. Shouldn''t everyone be happy with his result? He has a 100% chance of awakening without using evolution material. He can awaken abilities he hasn''t heard the name of in his life. That was something to be happy about. Yet many, except for his girlfriend, sister, and Nevis, were acting shocked out of their wits. What''s wrong with them? Are they jealous of me? "Ahem!" Instructor Veronica cleared her throat out loud to regain her bearing before she began speaking, "There''s a sure chance for you to awaken one out of two different extraordinary powers. Shadow Walker allows you to enter and travel through shadow, covering huge distances in a short time. Life Recovery allows you to heal the life force of others, healing and rejuvenating them. Wound Recovery is a nerfed version of Life Recovery." Hearing her words of astonishment, a smile stretched across John''s face as frenzied joy raced through his heart. "Which one should I awaken?" John asked after he listened to her exining about the special effects of the abilities he can potential obtain. "Out of the three, Life Recovery is the best. I advise you to awaken it." Instructor Veronica replied, telling that healing a person''s life force is far better than it seems. "How do I arouse the Life Recovery Supernatural Cells in me and Awaken it?" John asked with a serious look on his face. "As it''s an ability that provides great relief to a person''s body and soul, you''ll need to undergo a great amount of pain to awaken it," Veronica said, looking at the young youth with smooth skin in front of her. "Will the pain of awakening be enough?" John asked, wondering whether or not he can arouse Life Recovery Supernatural cells in his bloodstream after consuming the fruit of darkness. "Theoretically, yes," Veronica replied with a smile. Chapter 138 - John Mystery "Is it possible for me to awaken both Life Recovery and Shadow Travel?" John asked, looking at Veronica in anticipation. "You can do it through consuming a darkness-type extraordinary evolution material to awaken thetter, followed by the awakening of Life Recovery due to the intense pain that''lle while awakening Shadow Travel." Instructor Veronica exined, highlighting her wisdom on the subject of evolution and awakening. She knew many ways to arouse supernatural cells and awaken abilities, be it ordinary or extraordinary, as she has not only memorized the information rted to such topics in the database of the federation but also the ones in the database of the Hollow Great Royal Family, which only a selected few can ess. "So there''s a way!" John''s eyes brightened in glee after he found out that there''s a way for him to awaken two extraordinary powers. Instructor Veronica''s eyebrows raised after she heard John''s word of excitement, and she began speaking, "Don''t tell me you''re thinking of doing that." "I am," John replied in a confident voice, a serious expression on his face. "It''s not easy to get an extraordinary evolution material," Veronica said, knowing full well that there was little to no chance of a teenager like him toe across an extraordinary evolution material as such things are only obtaining from the bodies of certain monsters not found in Xavier. Even ins rumored to have such monsters, there was little to no chance of encountering them. A person could look for them but never find even one in their entire life. "I already have it," John said, causing Veronica''s lips to remain parted as if a lightning bolt has not only hit her but also paralyzed her in time. "Oh, okay." Instructor Veronica said, blinking her eyes a few times. "However, there''s another catch." "What is it?" John asked in a calm voice. "Your life will be at risk if you try to do something like that." She said, telling the harsh truth thates with double ability awakening. "Huh?" John felt a bit surprised, not too shocked, as his sister has undergone the same thing, making him find it a bit rtable. "You see, you don''t have enough life force to support the awakening of two extraordinary powers simultaneously," Instructor Veronica said with a grave expression on her pretty face, "The awakening evolution process will consume your life force whole mid-way, ending your life." "Couldn''t I just use magical herbs with life force?" John asked, feeling that it should work him as it worked for his sister, too. Instructor Veronica shook her head in declination and said, "Even ten of them won''t be enough. You''ll need several dozen magic herbs that increase a person''s life force by 100 years to sessfully undergo the awakening evolution process and awaken a mutated version of Shadow Travel and Life Recovery, or a mutated version of these two abilities. There''s also a chance of your extraordinary supernatural cells mixing into one to give rise to an unordinary ability! If that happens, however, you''ll need ten thousand year''s worth of life force." Supernatural abilities and cells are of three types, ordinary, extraordinary, and unordinary. Ordinary < Extraordinary < Unordinary. Unordinary supernatural cells are a mixture of Extraordinary cells. Simrly, extraordinary cells are a mixture of ordinary supernatural cells. A person who awakens using ordinary cells can only use the most basic type of abilities such as fireball, water st, and so on. Thebination of two ordinary abilities creates extraordinary abilities. For example, Leni''s ice ability is abination of water and coldness. "I see" John uttered two words after a moment. "If you don''t have any more questions, then please go back to your seat." Instructor Veronica said in a gentle voice. "I understand." John nodded before turning around and returning to his seat. "Don''t worry. If there''s a way, then big sis will do her best to get ten thousand year''s worth of life force for you." Leni said with the look of a responsible elder sister on her face. "Don''t bother. There''s no way to get so much of a precious resource." John refused her with augh, knowing full well that that''s easy to say but more than just troublesome to do. Furthermore, he didn''t want to burden others once again. Leni didn''t know what to say as John was right. It was hard to get life force as it was a monopolized resource. The best way to get it was to roam the wilderness in search of it. The second was to join big auctions and purchase them using arge amount of money, one they couldn''t afford. 100 year''s worth of life force will cost them half their life force, but they needed 10000 year''s worth of it, after all. "At least, you''re better than me. I can''t even contain supernatural cells, yet you have three different kinds of them in your blood." Nevis said in a self-nocking tone, trying to cheer up John. "Better yet, we found out that it''s not safe for you to consume the fruit of darkness as there''s a 100% chance that it will arouse both your extraordinary cells." Yes, that was just one of the good things that happened today. He would have surely died or at least enter the same state as Leni if he had consumed the fruit of darkness without prior knowledge of the cells inhabitation his bloodstream, leading to the funniest and joked after death C an idental, suicidal death! "Well, I''m not too sad. I''ll just focus on arousing my Life Recovery cells. For that, I need someone to hurt me." John said, feeling disgusted with the idea of self-harm and wondering just who would like to beat the shit out of him. "Haha, you can leave that to me," Nevis said with augh, cracking his knuckles. "There is a way," Iris suddenly said in a low voice as she grabbed John''s hand gently. "You don''t need to lie to make him feel better. Am I right, buddy?" Nevis said after he heard her words. "Yeah. Am fine." John said, smiling at Iris, telling her that there''s no need for her to trouble herself by thinking too much about it. "At least, hear her out first." Leni butted in, rolling her eyes at the two boys. "Honest to my family name, what I said is the truth!" Iris added, swearing in the name of Twilight. "Really?" John asked, blinking at Iris in surprise. He thought she was just trying to make him feel better, but it seems like there''s more to it. "Yes," Iris said, smilingly. "What is it?" Nevis asked, wondering how is it possible to obtain 10000 year''s worth of life force. "I will tell you about it once we are in a less crowded ce," Iris said, only looking at John as if Nevis and others didn''t exist. "Ah, okay," John said as he couldn''t help but feel suspense eating him up from the inside. The ss was still going on as Veronica checked the affinities and supernatural cells level of thest few students, inputting the newfound information in the database of the federation. Today, most of the Beta and outer circle students learned a new thing, while even Alpha ss students rified themselves about a few important matters. The most important of them all was how a change in emotion, life, and personality arouses supernatural cells, eventually leading to a person entering the awakening evolution process. Abatant arouses Air & Water supernatural cells to awaken an ability once they lose their shit and be angry or start raging, destroying things, or right on killing others. A person with supernatural cells of fire inhabiting their bloodstream can awaken by remaining calm for a day, week, month, years, or several years depending on the strength of the ability they will end up awakening. Felix, for example, awakened at a young age, the time when he used to be nice, happy, patient, and kind. The stronger the ability, the more time it will take to arouse the supernatural cells in the bloodstream. John, for example, has a lot of supernatural cells in his bloodstream, and 67% of them are of the highest quality, an extremely big deal. However, to arouse the Life Recovery cells, he needs to undergo tremendous pain. And to arouse the Shadow Travel cells, he needs to feel what it means to be without gravity for several years. From the same knowledge, Leni also realized that she must have awakened her ice ability because she was feeling too tense and stressed out as the military entrance exam was upon her. Ice was cold, calm, emotionless, and rigid, yet she was overflowing with opposite emotions. Naturally, it aroused her ice cells. She wondered what might have aroused the telekinesis cells. "Might be because I was crushing on Vincent," Leni thought in her mind, blushing a bit as she recalled the times when she used to sneak a peek at him training shirtless in the training ground of the orphanage and a lot of other times. A few minutester, once all the students have passed through the gates, undergoing the necessary andpulsory assessment, instructor Veronica looked at them and said, "Alright, that''s it for today. You guys can go to the reception building, and the receptionists will give you an eatable ordinary evolution material. Consume it in a safe and isted ce and awaken. The faster, the better. I''m sure you won''t regret it." Her words contained double meaning, which only a few were able toprehend. Chapter 139 - Varths Grand Play (a) The students felt that instructor Veronica was trying to tell them that it would do them good to awaken a superpower as it will help them stand their ground in something big that is going to happen in the uing days. "Yes, ma''am." Many students said, agreeing with her words, ready to head out, grab an evolution material and consume them to enter the awakening evolution process. Some of them, however, decided not to use the ordinary evolution material provided by the academy as they wanted to arouse the supernatural cells in their blood to awaken a better superpower. "See you all next time." Instructor Veronica said, waving them goodbye and stepping out of the ssroom. Just as she stepped out of the ss and entered the hallway, someone grabbed her slender arms and started to drag her out to a vacant corner of the building. No onees to this area, nor do they walk past it. Also, there are no security devices in this particr part of the academy. "I don''t like it when you treat me like that, Wrath," Veronicained in a low voice, letting him take her along with him. She didn''t mind being treated roughly by the man in all-ck as he was not only her husband and the love of her life but also her knight in shining armor, her savior. Varth didn''t say anything and only dragged her to the vacant corner of the main building before cornering her to the wall. His actions were not rough, though they weren''t gentle, either. "Why are you here? Why you?" Varth said as he ced his arms on both sides of her head, blocking her from getting away from him. "Of course, to teach magic to the students of this academy. Why? Is something wrong with that?" Veronica said, innocently looking straight into his eye. "Don''t joke with me," Varth said in an angry voice, grabbing her chin. "Who send you? Was it my mother? Brother? Or my father? And why you?" "Why ask so many questions? Isn''t it obvious, I''m here for you and no other reasons." Veronica leaned closer to his face, feeling it with one hand and touching the mask with the other, as her lips stretched back into a lovely smile, and she began speaking, "You look better without this hideous mask. Shall I take it off from you, my dear?" Varth grabbed her yful hands, pushing them to the back of her head as he looked back at her, angrily saying, "There''s a limit to everything. Don''t test my patience, or it won''t end well for you." Instructor Veronica tried to free herself but found out that he still overpowers her for some reason, even with the mask sealing most of his powers. "Is this something a student does to their teacher nowadays? How about you set me free before I broke down crying and shout for help." Veronica said, a teasing look on her face. Varth leaned closer to her ears, bit it, and whispered in a deep voice, "I am not doing this as your student. I am doing this as your husband." "Oh, really? You say you''re my husband, right? Do the others know that you''re King Wrath? Want me to announce that to them?" Veronica said, feeling a bit pained from having her wrist grabbed harshly by him. "Are you threatening me?" Varth''s eyebrows raised. "Uh, no. Why would a teacher threaten her student?" Instructor Veronica said with a smirk on her face. "It''s just a warning. And I hope you listen to it. The academy won''t let the most murderous existence in the starry skies reside in their campus ground once they know about his presence, after all." Varth smiled behind his mask, his grip tightening on her wrists as he said, "I don''t think you would dare do that. You can''t risk the chance of exposing me while I am in this ce. After all, there''s a high chance the military will surround me, and I won''t be able to make it out from this ce safe and sound. And who knows. Maybe the Eye of Abhorrent would fall in their hands? You can''t risk that, can you? The family won''t allow you to live peaceful days if your foolish actions result in them losing the eye. Aren''t I right?" The Eye of Abhorrent belonged to the strongest of all the demonic creatures that invaded the dimension of the living a long time ago to conquer it but lost miserably under the hands of the Greatest Hero. Although the hero defeated and chopped it into pieces, it still didn''t die, and so the hero sealed parts of its immortal body in different ces of the universe. Over the countless years, many havee across its body part and even managed to free them in order to gain unimaginable power by consuming or merging with them. They did be powerful, shooting across the first few evolutionary stages and reaching the King stage, an evolutionary stage where a person can manifest a kingdom out of their ability. The name of their ability kingdom was Hell''s paradise as, unlike Ability Kingdom that expands outwards to change the reality of the world, Hell''s paradise creates a world inside of one''s body, pulling others into it as long as they are in the range of Hell''s paradise. They did gain power equal to that of abatant at the king stage by just merging with a part of Abhorrent''s immortal body. However, they also end up getting taken over by the Abhorrent''s corruption, losing their sanity andmitting the most heinous crimes the world has ever known. The corrupted ones became known as Basilisks. After all, they destroyed everything in their sight. In response to the appearance of the Basilisks, Earth Federation created a group made to hunt them. The group only hadbatants at the king stage and emperor stage. The battle was one-sided, and the Basilisks lost pretty fast. Anyway, the Federation gained the ownership of seven body parts of Abhorrent after they defeated the seven Basilisks one at a time. All of them are said to be sealed but who truly knows what they have done with it. Varth didn''t know much about what happened to six of the pieces. However, he was certain that his family took the seventh one and used uncountable numbers of living beings asb rats, trying to merge the Eye of Abhorrent with them in such a way that they won''t end up losing their sanity. They wanted to create an ultimate weapon by finding a way to sessfully merge Abhorrent body parts with a human or a Demi-human. They failed a lot of times. However, after using him, their own flesh and blood, as ab rat, they managed to merge the eye of Abhorrent with him in such a way that he retained most of his sanity. And thus, they created humanity''s ultimate weapon, King Wrath. King Wrath was hunted down by the Federation a few times before they gave up as they lost miserably against him and not only was the Hollow Family against hunting King Wrath, but they were also againstbeling him as a felon since he hasmitted no evil or done anything insane except for killing an uncountable number of the filth of society, which helped the Federation. Of course, although the Earth Federation stopped treating King Wrath as a felon, their fear and hostility towards a Basilisk like him had never lessened. If given a chance, they would try to get rid of him, or at least take the Eye of Abhorrent away from him. That''s something the Hollow family that has sacrificed a lot and killed a lot to keep their insidious deeds a secret couldn''t allow to happen. So, Veronica, Varth''s most beloved wife, wouldn''t expose that he is Wrath unless she wants to turn against the Great Royal Hollow Family. "Are you sure? What if I am just here to take my husband back to the family? What if the Hollows no longer care about losing their ultimate weapon. What if they just want you back? What then?" Veronica said, feeling his grip losing strength and taking this chance to break free and make a run for it. What then? He will be forced out of the academy, and it might happen after they take away his eye. He would lose the life he sacrificed a lot to get. He would be forced back to the family! Just as Veronica thought that her words have shocked him out of his wits and that she would be able to take this moment to escape out to the bright hallway, King Wrath''s hands wrapped around her waist, stopping her in ce. "Do you hold no respect for me?" Varth said with augh, acting as if he was suppressing his anger and lust as he licked her neck and nibbled her earlobes while staring into her eyes with his threatening right eye. "You are the one trying to use me of being a spy for the family, here to betray and hurt you. Do you know how much your words hurt my heart? I am your damn wife, not a goddamn stranger. Don''t you know how much I love you? The sacrifices I have made for you over the past two years? But you still think I am here under the orders of the family to bring you back! You are the one who does not respect me. Otherwise, how could you still think of me in that way?" Veronica said in a sad and shaky voice, tears threatening to stream out the corners of her eyes. Chapter 140 - Varths Grand Play (b) Varth eyes showed pity and love as he saw tears brimming up in her eyes, acting as if he cared about her and that he was feeling sorry for hurting her. Inwardly, however, he was surprised by her level of acting that could even match an acting diva. Well, it''s not like he was falling for it, so she still missed by a few steps. "You know those tears won''t help you in this case. So, stop beating around the bush, and let''se straight to the point." Varth said, pushing her back and into his sturdy chest, tightening his grasp around her waist, making her feel like she will break if he applies a bit more force. At the same time, his sultry breath tickled her slender and swan-like neck, indicating how much he wanted her and how madly he was in love with her, even though she was here to destroy his life and send him back to his cruel family. "Stop it," Veronica said, cing her soft palms on his arms, trying to open them up and set herself free. "Just say the truth and I will set you free," Varth said, continuing his act and telling her toe clear. "What truth do you even want to hear?" Veronica asked, shaking her head and staying still in his embrace. "I know for a fact that you''vee here under their orders. Why else would a spoiled princess of a huge world evene to this ce to teach a bunch of snobs?" "You believe what you want to, but don''t you care about my feelings? You left me all alone in that ce. You know I have no one to turn to but you. Otherwise, my father wouldn''t have married me to you, knowing full well that you''re king Wrath, the fear of many men, women, and living themselves. I couldn''t return home nor keep living in that ce. So what could I do? Just stay there, grow old and wait for your return? Let you also abandon me like my family? No! I am not nning on letting you run away from me. You need to take responsibility for me." Veronica said as she looked at him straight in the eyes. Honestly, Varth felt actual pity for her albeit too little to count. They were both tools for their family, after all. He was their son but they didn''t think twice before abusing his younger self into solitary confinement, endless torture to increase his negativity level and prepare him for years of experiment before finally seeding in merging the Eye of Abhorrent with his body. Veronica, on the other hand, was being sold by her father to anyone rich enough to purchase her ethereal and remarkable beauty. So he felt pity for her and angered at the others, killing many purchasers trying to buy her before purchasing her himself, setting her free from the cage called home, giving her a chance to live a better life. But who would have known she would force him to take responsibility for her, marrying him and intentionally walking into another cage like a stupid retard. Varth had felt like she was stupid, and so did his family, but he didn''t expect them to send her, the least favorite of his wives, to this ce to bait him back to the family. Did they think she''s someone special just because he pitied her once? What a Joke! The damned Hollow Family didn''t know what they were getting into. Anyway, he didn''t believe pity to be the only reason why his family chose her out of all his fake lovers. She must have done something to prove herself worthy to the Hollow Family. Otherwise, she wouldn''t be here! Since she was here to get him, she must have brains and brawns and what it takes to bring him back to the family. "Enough," Varth said, giving her a threatening look. "You''ve spoken enough." He was acting, trying to fool her with his emotions and facial expression. She was a spy sent by his family and he was sure of it. Someone who could use their own son as an experimentalb rat wouldn''t hesitate to use everyone else as a chess piece, especially if that person happens to be the least beloved wife of the experimentalb rat. "Haha," Veronicaughed out like a mad man before looking at him with a sharp and taunting re. "Are you going to unt your masculinity and force me from not speaking out my mind?" The look in Varth right eye showcased that''s what he''s going to do, and that''s what he did. He pushed her to the walls once again, this time a bit more gently, carrying sensual intent in his mind, and he then slid his knee in the middle of her legs, sliding it up the wall, making her sit on it, leaving her with no chance of stepping away. And then it happened! Veronica Wrath''s eyes widened in surprise and shock as Wrath took his mask before his lips crashed on her rosy lips, sealing it for good, not letting a single worde out of her mouth. She retaliated, biting his lips, making him wince in pain but also angering him for good. Hy bit her lower lip harshly, tearing it apart, letting blood flow out of it before roaming his tongue all over it, licking it clean and tasting her sweet-scented blood. "Just tell me are you with me or with them?" King Wrath said in his majestical voice as his aura suppressed Veronica from using her superpowers. "Do I need to specifically tell you about whose side I am on?" Veronica said, rolling her eyes at him. King Wrath nodded his head and said, "Yes, indeed you need to." "It''s you. You asshole!" Veronica cursed with a flustered face, feeling embarrassed about sitting on his thigh and getting kissed by him. "Hmm," Wrath hummed, looking at her with red mist in his ck and white eyes. Chapter 141 - Tomb Of Roselia "Let go of me," Veronica said, seeing him lick his lips while looking at her as if she was prey. "No." King Wrath felt something clouding his judgment, making him want to taste the flesh and bone of this girl for good. "Please, let me go. You''re making me die from embarrassment." Veronica said, mustering all her physical strength and pushing him away. "As you wish." King Wrath took a few steps back, setting her free with a teasing smile on his otherworldly face. This came as a surprise to instructor Veronica as she wasn''t expecting this to happen. Honestly, as his wife and a woman in her early twenties, she wanted him to feel her far more than this, and she knew he wasn''t one to shy away from such feelings. In contrast to her thoughts, he not only managed to control his emotions but also allowed her to leave. King Wrath smirked as he looked at her standing still, seemingly as if she got struck by a lightning bolt, paralyzing her to the core, and said, "Aren''t you going to leave?" "Hmph!" Instructor Veronica stomped one of her feet on the ground, pouting in annoyance before turning around and storming away from the arrogant and narcissistic King Wrath. An instant after she left the dark hallway, King Wrath''s face got covered by the demon sealing mask, giving rise to Varth. "Oh, this naughty woman. What am I going to do with her?" Varth said, feeling as if he has missed something great, something he could have easily gotten by princess carrying Veronica to the bridal chambers. He shook his head, kicking such a disgusting thought out of his mind, seemingly not interested in falling for talk of love after having being betrayed by a bit too many humans. "Her crocodile tears were as disgusting to see as ever," Varth said in his mind, telepathicallymunicating with Noah, his most precious device and friend. [Indeed, it must be for master.] Noah replied, acting like a know it all. "How was my acting?" Varth asked, a smug look on his face. [It was perfect, my master. Full of emotions! Spectacr! Even I was nearly fooled.] Noah replied suddenly appearing right next to him. "Was she too?" Varth asked, wondering whether or not Veronica fell for his act. [From the read I took on her emotions, I calcte she too was fooled. But maybe she is just too good at controlling her emotions and fooled me in turn.] Noah replied, bewildered at theplexity of human beings. "Doesn''t matter, truly. After all, the y has just begun." Varthughed in his mind, a devilish smile forming behind the mask covering his face. He felt like he was a man conducting an orchestra. However, a single mistake might end in him losing his freedom as well as his sanity. The Hollow Family wouldn''t let him die, not let him get away. They will, however, do anything to get him back as he was the ultimate weapon they''ve created to fight against not only the creature of hell but also the throne of the Earth Federation. Nevertheless, he will keep on fighting back, foiling all ill ns aimed towards him just as he had managed to foil their n by making a grand escape a few months ago and sneaking his way into the military academy after fooling everyone. And this was just the beginning. He will y with the spy sent by them and also the people hiding in the shadows until he reach the Emperor stage. "It''s only a matter of time before I advance to that stage. And once that timees, it''s the end for the Hollows." Varth said, stepping towards the nearby window, jumping out of it, and dropping straight towards the ground below. Just as his feet touched the ground, a sound echoed throughout the building. Ding, dong. After the bell rang throughout the main building of the academy, signifying the end of the ss, many also stepped out of the ss to go to the reception building and get evolution materials. Some had decided against it as they wanted to arouse the supernatural cells present in their bodies by following the instruction provided by instructor Veronica. Why? It''s because awakening by arousing the cells in their bodies was far better than awakening by using ordinary evolution materials provided by the military academy. "Let''s go." An instant after Iris said those words, she grabbed John''s arm and left the ssroom with him. Nevis and Leni followed in tow, wondering what Iris has in mind to acquire 10 thousand units of life force for John. "So, what''s the way for us to get so much life force for him?" Leni asked after they entered the dorm room opposite her boyfriend''s living quarters. "There is only one way for us to get so much life force in a few days," Iris said, attracting everyone''s total attention before pulling out a map sealed by emerald threads that receded into the corner of the map after her breath brushnded on them. "And that''s to explore the ce mentioned in this map!" Leni, John, and Nevis turned to look at the map and noticed arge circle in the middle of it, highlighting the Tomb of Roselia, the firstborn daughter of the first Emperor of the Avalon Empire and thepanion of leath, the Greatest Hero. "This coffin marker indicates the tomb of the Iron d Lady," Iris said, pointing at the center of the map and telling them that this is the tomb of Roselia. "As you might have already guessed, she used to be thepanion of the greatest hero before she eventually passed away after the ancient war between most of our races and the demon. And this is her resting spot." "You want us to act like grave robbers and loot the treasures in her tomb?" Nevis''s eyebrows raised. "No! Before her death, the iron-ddy, Roselia, announced that anyone below the age of seventeen is wee to enter her tomb and challenge the tomb''s trials to get the treasures she left behind. One such treasure is called the Fruit of Life, rumored to have the power to increase a person''s lifespan by ten thousand years." Iris said, widening their eyes in surprise and shock. Chapter 142 - Bracelet Of Strength While Iris, John, Nevis, and Leni were talking about the Tomb of Roselia, Vincent was going through the markets in and outside the military academy to purchase blood of beasts, storing them in his inventory and purifying all of them in the safest and most private ce in all of Xavier. He was purifying them so that he would be able to drink themter on. He also needed them to amplify the targeted stats of his soon-to-be-created Bracelet of Strength. ?You can no longer increase the proficiency of this skill by purifying the blood of beasts and monsters in the magical realm> Just as he finished purifying the neenth pack of blood inside the library of the military academy, a notification popped up in his mind, telling him about a few important things. "Hmm, I guess it''s going to take a bit longer for me to level up my skills than I initially thought," Vincent said in a slightly disappointed voice after finding out that he now needed to purify the blood of creatures in the demonic realm to increase the proficiency of his skill. Whatever! He focused on doing the most important thing for now. Bleed the monster''s corpses dry of their blood! While still inside the privacy barrier of the library, he wore an oxygen mask connected to an oxygen tank, turned it on and entered the lifeless inventory with no sign of air or oxygen, ced a few tubs as big as a pool in the barrennd before looking at the corpses of Grim Gores sprawled on the ground all around him. "Time to get to work," Vincent said, cracking his knuckles, kicking the exhaustion in his body out the window. He picked up the carcasses of the monsters, which didn''t smell as the subspace prevented them from rotting for obvious scientific reasons. He ced the carcasses of the monsters in the huge tubs beforending a few shes on each of them, producing ratherrge and deep wounds on their bodies from which blood seeped out and started to fill the tubs. It will take a long time before the monsters are entirely drained of their blood, but it will happen in the end without any need for Vincent to supervise it, so he stepped out of the subspace, reappearing inside the privacy barrier. He took off the oxygen mask from his face and the oxygen tank off his back before storing them inside the inventory of his ck serpent ring. He then sat down on a chair with one leg over the other, waiting for the equipment creator to call and notify him about the creation of the Bracelet of Strength. A few momentster, once the equipment creator called Vincent, telling him that he has created the Bracelet of Strength and that it is waiting for him to pick it up, Vincent left the library and made his way to the equipment shop in a hurry. He exchanged a few words of greetings with the equipment creator before picking up the box containing the bracelet of strength and going back to the most secured and easily essible ce on Xavier. He opened the lid of the ck box and saw a bracelet with three streaks of crimsons stretching all over its side, intertwining into the shape of a ck shield in the center. Vincent used his appraisal spell matrix on it to get a better look at its stats and properties. [Item Name: Bracelet of Strength and Protection Strength: +6 Agility: + 3 Stamina: +8 Level: 10 Amplification stage: 0/10 Special effect: Protects every inch and corner of the wearer''s body with a shield made out of negative energy. The shield absorbs the damage of physical and Magical attacks, protecting the wearer from harm until it breaks. Innate Effect: Passively gathers negative emotions in the surrounding and convert it into negative energy. Max Limit: 999/999 units. Skill Charges: 1/1] Vincent''s eyes brightened in happiness and amazement as he looked at the properties of the bracelet. The increase in stats was already impressive enough, but the huge deal of defense it provided to its wielder left him shocked. He knew about the special effects of the bracelet already but seeing it with his own eyes still came as a shock to him. "I have obtained the impressive defense of the Behemoth Grim Gore!" Vincent eximed in joy, feeling as if he will have a ss change to a tank after just wearing the Bracelet of Strength. He shook his head, controlling his joy, and directed his attention to making it even better by using his mystical ability. He could significantly improve the stats of the Bracelet of Strength by fusing it with the blood of the beast. He needed to take a few steps for that to happen. First step: Create a parasitic seed of fusion! Vincent thought of creating a parasitic seed of fusion and the extraordinary supernatural cells inhabiting his bloodstream released a suction force so strong that a few units of Mana present in his heart got forcefully pulled towards them, getting ferociously devoured by the supernatural cells in order to give birth to a seed of fusion. ? You''ve used 4 units of Mana to activate your supernatural power, Power of Evil ? ? The activation of your ability has created a parasitic seed of fusion that can infest any liquid and energy, giving them the ability to fuse with any matter ? Just as these notifications sounded in his mind, a ck dot-like substance suddenly manifested in front of him, wriggling about in thin air. Vincent could feel a deep connection with this thing as it was something he has created by himself. He could tell that he was able to control it with a single thought. This will help him immensely inpleting the second step! Chapter 143 - Power Of Evil! Step Two: Let the parasitic seed of fusion infest the few liters of blood contained inside of the blood pack to bestow the entire pack of blood the ability to fuse with the Bracelet of Strength. Following the instruction Vincent came up with on the spot to make things easier for himself, he transmitted his thought to the seed of fusion through the spiritual channel shared between them,manding it to fuse with the blood inside the blood pack. When the seed of fusion received the words of its creator, it acted immediately, charging straight towards the blood pack,nding on top of it before seeping inside of it andbining with the monster''s blood. ? The parasitic seed of fusion has infested all of the blood inside the blood pack ? ? The blood has gained the ability to fuse with any other matter ? ? You can fuse the blood inside of the pack with your Bracelet of Strength or your own body by uttering the keyword, Fuse ? A few notifications popped up in his mind, telling him the easiest way toplete step 3. Step 3: Fuse the blood infested with the seed of fusion with his Bracelet of Strength. Vincent ced the Bracelet of Strength and the blood pack with the ability to fuse with any other matter next to each other. "Fuse," he said out loud, looking intensely at the two things ced on top of the table. As if his words were themand of a celestial descended from heaven, all of the blood gushed out from the blood pack, charging straight towards the Bracelet of Strength. Vincent''s eyes widened at the simplicity of the process as he watched the blood seeping inside of the Bracelet of Strength, fusing with it in a matter of seconds. ? The blood of the monster has sessfully fused with the Bracelet of Strength ? ? It has sessfully amplified the stats of the Bracelet of Strength ? ? The Agility stat of the Bracelet of Strength has increased to 9 points ? ? The Bracelet of Strength has advanced to the first amplification stage ? ? You can safely amplify it using your ability nine more times ? "What will happen if I keep on amplifying it even after amplifying it nine more times?" Vincent asked after he read through the several notifications that have popped up in his mind. ? The equipment might get damaged, break, shatter, or explode, resulting in a huge explosion that would injure everyone nearby ? Blood replied, telling him about all the possible adverse oues of over-amplifying his precious piece of equipment. Vincent decided to use his ability to amplify it nine more times and stop as he didn''t want to risk losing the Bracelet of Strength. He has gone through a lot in order to own such an item. He didn''t want to lose it right after he got it. Thus, he was against taking the gamble of amplifying it more than a total of ten times. However, he wondered why the Bracelet of Strength can only be amplified a total of ten times. However, he wondered why he could only amplify the Bracelet of Strength ten times. "Why is there such a limitation?" Vincent asked in his mind, wondering what''s the reason that limits him from amplifying an item more than ten times. ? It''s because the material used to make it can not undergo more than ten rounds of amplification ? Blood''s voice sounded in his ears, telling him as to why he can''t amplify it more than ten times. "Does that mean equipment made from materials obtained from demonic realm monster can undergo more than ten rounds of amplification?" Vincent asked, a look of curiosity on his face. ? Indeed, you can amplify them for a total of 20 times without facing any risk of them exploding ? Blood replied, telling him that he was right on the mark. Anyway, he could still amplify it nine more times, improving its stats. "Let''s get started for real." Vincent stretched a bit, ready to get busy for real this time. There were still nine more amplifications the Bracelet of Strength needed to undergo, after all. ? Amplification Sessful ? ? Bracelet of Strength Amplification stage: +2 ? ? A new stats Endurance has been added to the Bracelet of Strength ? ... ... ... ? Amplification Sessful ? ? Bracelet of Strength Amplification stage: +6 ? ... ... ... ? Amplification Sessful ? ? Bracelet of Strength Amplification stage: +10 ? As Vincent expected, the stats of the equipment rose up quite quickly simply because he was the only one in the entire universe to have an ability that allows two things to merge into one. ? The Strength stat of the Bracelet of Strength has increased to 49 points ? ? The Speed stat of the Bracelet of Strength has increased to 36 points ? ? The Stamina stat of the Bracelet of Strength has increased to 43 points ? ? The Endurance stat of the Bracelet of Strength has increased to 33 points ? ? The Bracelet of Strength has been sessfully amplified ten times. Any more and you might end up losing it ? Vincent equipped himself with the +10 Bracelet of Strength, and a few notifications popped up in his mind, notifying him that three out of four of his stats were shooting across the chart. Simply by wearing the Bracelet of Strength on his wrist, his strength, speed, and stamina had gone up by more than one-third of his stats, pushing them above 100 points. The changes weren''t numerical as he could feel the capabilities of his body increasing a lot of times. He decided to check out the limit of his improvement. He punched out, a thick wave of wind sting forward, generating a booming sound that echoed inside the privacy barrier. He clutched his fist, feeling the gravity in the surroundings growing denser. These two simple acts proved that his physical capabilities have surpassed monsters in the magical realm! "Haha!" Vincentughed, feeling happy at the fact that he has taken a huge step towards his goal of bing extremely powerful. If in the past, there was no way he''d be able to take on an all-out attack of a monster in the magical realm, then now he was sure that he could not only endure the attack but alsoe out of it unscathed. Furthermore, he was faster and had more stamina than any beast in the magical realm. So to say it in simple words, his powers now rivaled beasts in the demonic realm! Chapter 144 - Bracelet Of Death! An instant after Vincent stoppedughing and his mind calmed down, he felt himself mysteriously connected to the Bracelet of Strength, almost as if it was a part of itself or a part of himself was a part of the Bracelet of Strength. "Huh?!" Vincent''s eyes widened in bewilderment as he looked at the bracelet on his wrist with a gaze of incredulity, finding it hard to believe that there''s a mysterious connection established between them. Just what is this? He wondered in his mind, arousing a reply from the intelligent heirloom of his father''s side family. ? There are ten parasitic seeds of fusion inside of the Bracelet of Strength, still alive and wriggling about, just waiting for yourmand to get in action. You canmand them to do various things and for various purposes. For example, if in case someone stoles this item from you, then you canmand the parasitic seeds of fusion to seal all of the properties of the Bracelet of Strength, making it impossible for the thief to benefit from stealing it from you ? Blood voice sounded in his mind, telling him about the mystical properties of the seeds of fusion, making his eyes jump in joy. "I feel like I can even cause it to self-destruct simply by issuing amand in my mind," Vincent said, feeling as if could not only seal the stats and special effects of the Bracelet of Strength but also force it to self-destruct. ? That, you surely can ? As soon as those monotone words sounded in his mind once again, Vincent''s suspicion got confirmed and he realized that there''s no way for others to benefit from stealing his things, even if he outright told them about the effects of his items. ? However, I advise you to not do that unless you want to kill someone ? Caught off guard by the sudden eerie announcement in his mind, Vincent couldn''t help but ask, "What do you mean?" ? The Bracelet of Strength is like apressed ball of air. It has been fed a bit too much, after all. Once it self-destructs, it''ll create an explosion huge enough to st a tall building into smithereens ? As he heard those words, his lips parted open in surprise as he tried topare the extent of the damage that the explosion created from the self-destruction of the Bracelet of Strength can inflict on a person. "So to say, self-destructing this item can severely harm and kill a level 100batant?" ? Indeed, those two scenarios are pretty usible ? "Can it even damage monsters in the demonic realm?" Vincent asked, feeling his heart rate speed up a bit. ? If the item explodes from a very close range, even a level ten demonic realm monster will get injured ? "I guess I have underestimated my ability a bit too much," Vincent said as he turned to deeply stare at the bracelet on his wrist. This thing wasn''t a mere essory type level 10 equipment that just increased his overall physical capabilities by several dozen times but a goddamn bomb, waiting for hismand to explode! "If I can create such a masterpiece by using my newfound superpower, then I should also create a few others!" Vincent stepped out of the privacy barrier, making his way out of the library just as silently as he came inside of it, letting not even a single out of the hundreds of the students here know what has just transpired in the time he has taken to amplify his item. He was performing heaven-defying deeds in the middle of a public spot. Yet, not even a single soul knew what he was capable of doing. Was it because of the privacy barrier? A bit, but not entirely! It was all because Vincent was brave enough to hide in in sight that others didn''t find him suspicious. While leaving the library and heading towards thebatant''s shop, he believed that he could not only use the library as his base to amplify weapons and pieces of magical essories and equipment but also purify and drink blood until he uses ten thousand units of life force to make his barren subspacee alive. ? Subspace (Lv:1): 10000 units of purified life force required to upgrade to Level 2 ? ? Experience points= 8560 ? He has been saving up his experience points to upgrade the subspace to level 2 as only then will it be able to sustain life and be inhabitable by a Dhampir like him. "I have decided to identify myself as a Dhampir as I am half-human and half-vampire." Vincent thought in his mind as he entered a shop selling materials needed to create magic scrolls. He purchased all the necessary items needed to create the lesser-healing magic scroll and stored them in his storage ring as he wanted to merge two of them to create something better and know how better it is. Also, he wanted toplete his daily task, which he hasn''t had the time toplete for the past few days. ? Daily mission: Create a new type of magic scroll everyday.? ? Rewards: Inscription patterns of a magic scroll, 50 experience points ? Vincent returned to his base as silently as he left before activating the privacy barrier to hide himself from the eyes of the gossipers and the ears of the eavesdropper. Then, he got to work. He inscribed the inscription patterns of the lesser-healing inscription onto the magic scrolls within minutes by using the blood of a light-type monster. Afterpleting this process, he injected his parasitic seed of fusion into the holy core of a light-type monster. He ced that holy core on top of the iplete lesser-healing magic scroll and injected the energy inside of it into the magic scroll topete it. ? You''ve created a Lesser-Healing Magic scroll ? ? Type: Support-type magic scroll ? ? Effect: Heals all types of small wounds and rejuvenate the body ? ? Special Effect: Can sessfully merge with other magic scrolls, weapons, pieces of equipment except for curse-type items ? Chapter 145 - End Game Items! "Why can''t it merge with curse-type items?" Vincent asked in his mind, wondering why the lesser-healing magic scroll can''t marge with a curse-type item. ? As you might already know it, curse and healing are on opposing term. There''s no way for them to exist below the same heaven. It''s impossible to join a healing magic scroll with a curse-type material. The item will copse, self-destruct, shatter into smithereens, the moment you do something like that ? Blood cleared his confusion by telling him that two things made up of conflicting elements can not merge into one even if he uses the Power of Evil to merge them into one. "I understand." Vincent nodded, indicating that he understood what Blood conveyed. An instant after he said those words, a few notifications popped up in his mind, telling him that he haspleted the daily task and received 50 experience points and the Shadow Jump inscription patterns as a reward. ? Experience points: 8610 ? He asked his family heirloom to transfer the knowledge of the Shadow Jump inscription patterns directly to his mind as he wanted to learn them immediately. Ten units of his life force got subtracted, leaving him with 8600 units as arge amount of knowledge rushed into his mind. There were a total of 998 inscription patterns that a person needed to draw on a magic scroll by using the blood and the dark core of a Dark-type beast in order to create a Shadow Jump Scroll. Drawing so many patterns in a single magic scroll isn''t just hard but also mentally taxing and time-consuming. Shadow Jump, however, was worth it. It was a magic scroll that allows a person to teleport, after all. ? Inscription Name: Shadow Jump ? ? Effect: Let''s the user teleport from one shadow to another. ? Limit: Can teleport to any shadow within a 50-meter radius of where the user stands ? Once Vincent was done with that, he used a clean, holy crystal, not infested with the parasitic seed of fusion, toplete the second lesser-healing magic scroll. Now he had two lesser-healing magic scrolls, one infested with the parasitic seed of fusion while the other as clean as the one''s in the market. "Fuse," Vincent said the activation keyword in his mind,manding the infested lesser-healing magic scroll to fuse with the other. And a moment after he said those words, dark tendrils stretched out from the magic scroll, stretching towards the other, seeping inside of it before stitching the two magic scrolls into one, making them ovep without any gap in between and look like one entity. ? Congrattions! You''ve fused two Lesser-Healing Magic Scroll to create Intermediate Healing Magic Scroll ? ? A person can use it to heal sh wounds, flesh wounds, crack in bones, burnt skin ? The creation of this magic scroll was honestly just the beginning. Vincent proceeded to create and merge one Lesser-Healer Magic Scroll after another until he ran out of Holy Core. However, by that time, he had created four intermediate Healing Magic Scrolls. He merged them to create two Advanced Healing Magic Scrolls. He Merged the two of them to create a Major Healing Magic Scroll. ? Major Healing Magic Scroll ? ? Type: Special ? ? Effect: Heals all wounds, remove all curses and debuffs, free a person from all types of crowd control, shatter all illusions, restore limbs and internal organs ? "And so, I ended up getting an end-game item at the very start of my journey," Vincent smirked as he felt cocky from every fiber of his being. Who wouldn''t be? If someone could do something like him, they would have felt like they own the world. Vincent shook his head and started to prepare another trump card. He had a lot of Dark-type monster''s heart and core in his hands. He got them from killing the monsters in the woods. He nned to use all of them to create Shadow Jump Magic Scrolls. He will sell some of them to make quick bucks, keep some for himself and give the others to his girlfriend and friends. Vincent cracked his knuckles as his lips thinned into a smile before he wore a mask and entered the subspace, taking away the items necessary to create the Shadow Jump Magic Scroll away from the monsters and the barrennd. Once he began creating Shadow Jump Magic Scrolls, he failed a few times as he messed up the inscription patterns. However, he didn''t let failure be a study wall in his way to sess. He kept on practicing drawing the inscription patterns of the Shadow Jump Magic Scroll until he got the hang of it. Then, he managed to create one Shadow Jump Magic Scroll after another, albeit he failed many times in the middle. ? You''ve created a Shadow Jump Magic Scroll ? ... ? You''ve created a Shadow Jump Magic Scroll ? ? You''ve created a Shadow Jump Magic Scroll ? Nevertheless, in the end, he managed to create a lot of them. He had around thirty of them, enough to make thousands of contribution points out of them and still be left with more than enough to give a few to each of the people close to him. He decided to put the extras to use right away. He merged them one after another. The Shadow Jump magic scroll happened to be an intermediate-grade item. He only needed tobine four of them to create two advance-grade. And he thenbined them to create a Major Shadow Jump Magic Scroll. This magic scroll had the same effect as the ones before, but its limit has increased by a wide margin. ? Limit: Can teleport to any shadow that the user''s eyes can lock on to ? So, if he stands above the peak of a skyscraper and looks at the shadow on the far-off horizon, he will be able to reach that ce in an instant by using the Major Shadow Jump Magic Scroll. "Another end game item in the bag," Vincent said in joy,paring this situation to the likes of action RPG games, where the hero usually gets such items at the end, but he got them at the very start. Ding, Dong! Just as he finished creating it, he received a message from his girlfriend and instructor Theodore at the same time. Chapter 146 - A Step Closer Vincent decided to read the message of instructor Theodore before Leni as the other party wasn''t only a mere instructor but his caretaker, someone that directs him to the right path and contact him mostly because of something important. "Hey, I have already mailed a few life-increasing magic herbs your way. They should arrive in a few hours or by tonight. I know you would want to thank me, but there''s no way for you to contact me. After all, I am out of reach. No, seriously! I am busy cleaning up the creatures of hell that had invaded different worlds and closing hell dimension portals, so to say, Hell''s Paradise. You won''t be able to contact me until I return to the academy. So don''t sweat if you''re unable to reach me. Anyway, take care and enjoy your campus life!" After reading instructor Theodore''s message, Vincent realized that he was out of Xavier and in another world, fighting against the invasion of the creatures of hell. Although the situation was like that, the instructor didn''t forget to draw a doodle of himself at the end of the message. Seeing this, Vincentughed out loud, thinking to himself, he sucks at drawing. He read his girlfriend''s message right after. It was in and simple; however, she filled it with a lot of love talk and ended it with a few important notes, telling him that she is going to the Tomb of Roselia with her brother and a few other people and asking if he wants to be on this adventure. Vincent didn''t know much about Roselia as the tales of the greatest hero, a book he didn''t read, mentioned a lot about her and the story of her life. However, he still knew who she was as he had read books on the history of not only Earth but also Lorena. So, he knew that she was the firstborn daughter of the first Emperor of the Avalon Empire and also the strongestdy, hence her title as the Iron d Lady. "I''m in on this." He replied without hesitation, knowing full-well that exploring the tomb will him things necessary to boost his strength above the monster of the Demonic Realm. He might even be as powerful as a Sky realm monster, which is a monster one realm below Monster Lord. "Come to John''s living quarter." she said, urging him toe to this ce where they have all gathered. "Okay," Vincent replied before he headed towards the boy''s dormitory, and a few minutester, he knocked on the door. Varth, who has been missing for a day, answered by opening the door. Just after Vincent entered the room, John''s voice sounded in his ears. "What about the academy, Iris?" asked John. "Will they let us go to such a ce where there is a high chance of getting lost or getting in trouble with monsters and beasts, worst yet, dying to them? Also bringing troubles to the Federation?" They needed to pass through a restricted zone to reach near the Tomb of Roselia. A restricted zone is a wilderness inhabited by monsters and ruled by a monster lord. A ce that the military doesn''t allow for others to enter. After all, there was a tiny chance of the Monster Lord getting annoyed that a human has entered their territory and start a beast stampede, something the military wanted to avoid. "I won''t let you die to them, so don''t worry about it. As for legal matters, leave them to me. I will solve them all by tonight and also gain the Academy permission to go out for two weeks." Iris said in a calm voice, looking at John with a lovely smile. John felt warm as he heard her words, but also a bit confused as he didn''t know why she was willing to go to such great length for him even though they met only a few weeks ago. Maybe I am so handsome that she is lovestruck? John thought with a narcissistic look on his face. "How are you so certain? Are you the daughter of a rich man who can sway the judgment of the military academy with a single word?" Nevis asked after a moment. "Nope," Iris shook her head, refusing his im. "I''m Iris Twilight, a member of the Twilight Temple." Her im widened their eyes as they found it hard to believe that her surname wasn''t only Twilight, but she was also rted to the temple of the same name. They had thought that she wasn''t rted to the temple, although her surname was Twilight. Because the temple doesn''t interfere with worldly matters, much less send someone to the military academy. Since she was a member of the Twilight Temple, a mysterious existence on the same level as a Great Royal Family, it wasn''t hard for her to gain the academy''s permission to head out for a week. After all, unlike Nevis and Varth, she was supported by her backers and family. "So are we going to go and tackle Tomb of Roselia together?" Iris stood up as she was tired of sitting and asked them. They heard this and agreed. Only Vincent said that he would like to wait for some life-increasing magic herbs and eat them first. After all, he wasn''t in his peak conditions. His vitality has decreased considerably because of evolving, forcing the change in the color of his hair. It didn''t affect his physical capabilities by a lot, but his stats did drop by a few points. He wanted to be in peak condition before heading out to conquer the Tomb of Roselia. The other five agreed to Vincent''s demand as they needed to buy necessary things, too. Stuff that would help them pass through the restricted zone and safely enter the Mysterious Violet Forest. The Mysterious Violet Forest is a massive forest located near the southern border of the Monster Lord Tarant''s restricted zone, no more than a few days worth of travel from the military academy, and is home to the Tomb of Roselia. "Okay, then let''s go get prepared to head out at night!" Iris said, pping her hands in joy, happy to see that Vincent, Leni, Varth, herself, and Nevis were willing to help John get the Fruit of Life. They have decided to earn the Fruit of Life for John. Of course, it didn''t mean that they won''t get anything in return. The Tomb of Roselia is a ce filled with ancient treasures, some at the level of Fruit of Life itself. And a person can obtain them bypleting the trials of Roselia. And they''ve already decided to keep what they earn from passing said trials. Everything except for the Fruit of Life. "Alright!" Thus, each of them went their own way, looking for items that they wanted to purchase. Vincent, on the other hand, waited for the magic herb to get delivered to his doorstep. He got it after a few hours, a box with a few life-increasing magic herbs, each called a thirst-quenching mango. This mango, however, contained a small part of the vigor of the sun, one that was enough to increase a person''s life force by a few dozen years. ? You''ve gained a Life-Quenching Mango ? ? It can be converted into 130 experience points. Would you like to convert it into that? ? ? Yes ? ? No ? An instant after he picked up one of them to eat, a few notifications popped up in his mind, telling him that he could convert the fruits into purified units of life force. He blinked his eyes without much change in his expression as he already knew about it, and he then proceeded to eat one mango after another in silence, unable to even savor its taste, until his hair regained its normal inky, ck color. By that time, he had used five out of ten of them. "Blood, convert the rest of them into experience points," Vincent said in his mind, telling Blood to suck the life out of these tasteless mangoes. ? A total of five life-increasing mangoes has been converted into experience points ? ? You''ve gained 650 experience points ? ? Total XP: 9250 ? Now he was one step away from his dream of owning a portable ind! Something he hasn''t heard anyone else having. After all, subspace items and spatial devices had their limit. At most, they could be as big as a Castle. Yet again, living beings couldn''t enter it. In his subspace, however, it will be soon be possible for living to enter and exit it as he like. Vincent felt excited and couldn''t wait to head out to the restricted zone, kill some monsters, and get enough life force to upgrade his inventory. Though he needed to wait for night to arrive. In the meantime, he went through the status screen the heirloom around his neck projected In his mind. He saw free five status points, ones he hadn''t used immediately after receiving them. So, he used them now to increase his speed. His speed increase to 115 points, pushing him above the speed of a few monsters in the demonic realm. Sometimeter, he grouped up with the others near the exit of the military academy. The time to head to Monster Lord Tarant''s restricted zone hase! Chapter 147 - Outskirts Of The Spider Kingdom Iris had gained permission from the academy, not only for herself but also for all the people who agreed to help John get a fruit a life, to go out of the academic ground for nearly two weeks. The receptionist did ask her why and where she was going with the others, but she gave the receptionist a false reply. She wasn''t willing to break the truth of the Tomb Of Roselia to the staff of the military academy as they would most likely tail them. Not a lot of people knew about the tomb of Rosalia and its location, especially not the ordinary members of the military and its affiliates. And as a member of the Twilight Temple, Iris has no intention of letting this information be made public. Since otherwise, it will aggravate the greed of many people. Some people with no chance of surviving an encounter with monsters in the demonic. And some that would do anything to get the treasures of Roselia. And it was the type of greed that blinds a person, leading them to make irresponsible decisions and take actions that lead to their death. Iris didn''t want any unnecessary blood on her hand and neither do the temple or the higher-ups of the society, so they didn''t make this knowledge public. "Keep these documents safe with you," Iris Twilight said as she passed a few pieces of paper to all of them. The documents verify that the military permits them to enter the restricted zone as they like and also that they gained two weeks of vacation from the military academy. They epted the papers and stored them in their spatial devices. And yes, they all have one now as they purchased it with the contribution points they earned over the past few weeks. "Halt! Where are you going sote at night?" The guard at the gate stopped them when he saw them approaching. They told the guard that have gained permission from the academy to go out. The guard asked for proof, and each of them gave him one of the documents. The guard looked at it, and seeing the legal green seal at the end of it, he opened the gates for them, allowing them to head out of the academy. Just as they were going out of the gates, a shadow came out of nowhere and suddenly hugged Leni. "Huh?" Leni felt someone hugging her from behind and she turned to look at the said person with a somewhat confused look on her face. However, the confusion left her pretty face when she saw who it was. "What are you doing here?" Leni said as she patted Lisa on the head. "I want to go with you too," Lisa said, blinking her eyes at her, pleading with her mama to take her away from this ce. She was taken in by the Nursing Department of the military academy, a ce run by instructor Kayle. She and the other staff members were taking care of Lisa in a lot of ways, but they were also forcing her to study several hours a day, for Lisa talent at memorizing andprehending various kinds of knowledge was one of a kind. Instructor Kayle believed that it will only take Lisa a few years to master all the professions of a supporter and be the best there is in the Federation. "We are going to somece dangerous, so you can''te with us," Vincent said in a calm voice, telling Lisa that it was impossible for them to take her to a restricted zone. "Can I, please?" Lisa asked as she looked at them with her bright eyes. "Nope, you can''t." Varth said, "My spaceship doesn''t have any seat for a kid that is still learning English." Lisa''s pointy ears trembled as she felt that he was mocking her, and she pointed her finger at him before she spoke, "You meanie!" Leni pacified her in a few minutes by telling her that she will take her out of the academy to enjoy life in the city if she listens to her. "Pinky Promise?" Lisa said as she extended her pinky finger towards her. "Alright," Leni said before their pinky fingers intertwined. After the pinky promise, Lisa hugged her and said in her ears, "I wish you good luck mama." A smile blossomed on Leni''s face as she hugged her back, and a few momentster, she stood up and headed out of the academy with the others. "Goodbye! Come back home safely!" Lisa said out loud in her pleasant voice as she waved them goodbye. Vincent, Leni, Peter, Iris, Nevis, and Varth made their way to a vacant spot outside of the city, and after reaching there, Varth summoned his spaceship from his storage device. The door to the triangr spaceship opened and a stairway slid out of its entrance, extending till its base hit the ground, which they took to enter it. Piloted by King Wrath, who was hiding under the fake name of Varth, the spaceship hovered above the ground It reached the clouds in the night sky, and then it elerated forward, cutting through the air as It charged towards the restricted zone of Monster Lord Tarant. Once they reached a few meters away from the restricted zone, the spaceship descended from the skies,nding just a few steps away from the outer part of thend ruled by Monster Lord Tarant. The Federation has divided this restricted zone into three parts. First off, the spider kingdom, a ce where the monster lord lives with his monstrous wives, descendants, and his people. It was also the ce most abundant in natural treasures such as magic herbs, nts, and other precious edible things. The soldiers referred to the area outside the kingdom as the inner circle of the restricted zone. Monsters not belonging to the spider family inhabited this ce. That didn''t mean they were weak in any sense. They were strong but not at the monster lord realm. However, they were all above the fifth realm of the demonic realm! Thest area was the outskirts, a ce inhabited by a lot of beasts in between the first level of the magical realm to the fifth level of the demonic realm. These beasts didn''t live inside the inner circle as they were easy prey to the other beasts. So, they lived in the safe and homely outer circle. "And we need to pass through the outskirts of Tarant''s kingdom to reach the waterfall valley which connects to the Mysterious Violet Forest," Iris exined while looking at the others, who were treading the rocky ground with uneven spots on foot. "Then, let''s go!" Nevis said, feeling excited about the adventure that awaits. "Wait! Before entering the outskirts, we must use this magic scroll on ourselves." Iris said as she handed over a magic scroll to everyone. "What is this?" Nevis asked, wondering what type of magic scroll he is holding in his hand. "It''s a presence-concealing magic scroll. It will suppress our bodily scent and lower our presence which will help us go unnoticed by a lot of beasts." Iris exined, motioning them once again to use it before entering the outskirts. When they were just a few steps away from the outskirts of the Spider Kingdom, they activated the magic scroll on themselves. The scrolls glowed in brilliant lights as golden words burst out of them, binding around their bodies, sealing their scents, and lowering their presence. The glow around the words dimmed in a while, making them look almost transparent. Vincent patted himself here and there, unable to grasp the chains around his body. So, he realized that they are intangible. That''s when they entered the outskirts in a hurry, worried that they might attract beasts and get into a useless conflict before even entering it. The terrain of the outskirts seemed too different from the rocky and barren outside. It was a ce with a lot of overgrown weeds and grasses. There were only a few pathways in between the mess of greenery, stretching all the way to as far as their eyes could see. Several minutester, Varth suddenly heard a rapid rustling sound from within the overgrown grasses. This type of sound wasn''t from wind rustling against the overgrown green life. It was of a body brushing past the thick grasses in their surroundings. It felt almost as if something was making its way towards them. "Something''sing our way!" Vincent said, motioning the others to stand on guard. As they heard his words, they summoned their weapons from their spatial devices, holding them in their hands. Just at that very moment, a ck shadow flew out from within the greenery behind them, along with a mighty lion roar. The target of its sudden pounce was none other than Leni. Chapter 148 - An Army Of Beast! The beast that suddenly pounced on Leni was three meters wide and two meters long. It had a body full of purple furs and a long tail with a sharp pointy end. It has four limbs and looked almost like an overgrown cat. Just as the w of the cat-like beast was about tond on the back of the horrified Leni, a shield made out of blood suddenly manifested behind her. BAM The beast crashed on it,ing to an untimely halt just a few inches away from Leni. John, Iris, Nevis still stood still, shocked at the sudden sneak. Their hearts have almost jumped out of their chest when they saw the beast just inches away from Leni. However, they calmed down as they noticed Vincent had saved her from the big cat. "Roar!" The beast, however, didn''t let that stop it from reaching its goal. It smashed its tail and pounded its limbs on the crimson shield in a hurry, trying to break it so that it can sink its fang into the flesh of the delicious woman behind the shield. "Move out of the way," Vincent said as he pushed the somewhat horrified Leni behind him, looking at the beast with narrowed eyes, waiting for it to break the shield to send it to hell. He nned to wait for it to break the crimson shield before stabbing his spear into its mouth. Yet, someone acted in contrast to his thoughts, ruining his ns. "What a crazy cat!" Varth said out loud, raising his arm in a hurry and aiming his precious gun at it. He pulled the demon trigger multiple times in a second, firing a few rounds at it. Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh The bullets pierced through the air and charged straight at the limbs of the beast. However, they didn''t meet their marks as the overgrown cat jumped out of their way just as they were about to reach it. An instant after the big cat jumped away from the shield, the muscles on one of Vincent''s arms bulged as he released a crimson spear towards the beasts with all his strength. WHOOSH The spear sted its way forward, reaching the beast before it could evennd on the ground. The spear mmed into its flesh, prating deeper and deeper into it. The eyes of the Phantom Tracer opened up wide in horror as it got sted a few meters backwards with the spear still embed into its flesh. "Gah!" The Phantom Tracer moaned out in pain as it crashed on the grassy ground with a heavy bam and slid for a good ten meters beforeing to a halt. It stood up with shaky legs, finding it hard to regain its bnce. Red blood spurted from the hole in its body, blood sttering onto the grasses, painting them red as it managed to turn tail and make a run for it with all its strength. "Never have I seen such a vicious and cowardly beast. This sure is full of wonder." Nevis said in a somewhat awed voice as he looked at the shameless beast with an expression of disdain. The others also felt the same way. The beast had first sneaked attacked Leni just because she was standing near the grasses, and then made a run for it after finding itself in danger. Humans and their Bullshits! The Phantom Tracer didn''t feel that it was shameful for it to do that. After all, whether it lives or dies depended on it getting away from them! However, as it was running away from them, sneaking its way into the overgrown grassed under everyone''s eyes, someone looked at it with intense murderous desires. The moment the crimson eyes, overflowing with murderous intent,nded on the beast, its hair stood on end. The Phantom Tracer felt as if the scythe of the grim reaper was hovering over its head, just about to be brandished! It increased its speed while roaring out in desperation, almost as if it was crying for help. Where was its pride as a beast? To hell with its pride! Let it go to the stove to get roasted for all it cares! "Since you''vee, don''t be in a hurry to leave," Vincent said in a calm voice. Hidden behind the facade of calmness was overflowing anger. The Phantom Tracer dared to target his woman! This act has angered him beyond belief! He wasn''t going to rest unless it breathes itsst! Vincent raised his hands as blood burst forth from the center of his palms, stretching and circling his arms before taking the shape of crimsonnces with extremely sharp des. "Die!" Thences left his hands along with those words, charging straight towards the beast from both sides, leaving it with no way of dodging. Thences left his hands with such speed that not just the eyes of Leni and John, but also the eyes of Iris and Nevis weren''t able to keep up with it. John thought: What the hell?! Leni thought: How did big brother grow so strong in just a few days? Nevis thought: Wasn''t he just a bit strong than me? Thences moved so fast that they appeared next to the beast in the blink of an eye. The only one who was able to keep up with them except for Vincent was Varth. He watched with eyes threatening to pop out of their sockets with his jaw threatening to drop to touch the ground as thences sted the beast apart, a mess of blood and flesh raining down on the surrounding. The poor beast didn''t even know that it had died before meeting its end. "What a powerful throw! Only a human possessing the physical capabilities of a monster in the demonic realm can throw such arge weapon with such speed and uracy. However, only humans who have opened their energy channels and nourished each part of their bodies with energies can have such strength. Yet, Vincent doesn''t have even a single energy channel opened. So, how in God''s name is it possible for him to possess such might?!" Varth eximed in his mind, finding it hard to believe the reality presented right before his eyes. After all, it was unbelievable. How can a human even be so physically powerful without opening their energy channels?! He was King Wrath and hase across many geniuses, but never had he met a demi-human in the first evolutionary stage with strength rivaling Vincent. The humans who haven''t opened their energy channels, no matter how strong, were considered to be in the first evolutionary stage, also knows as initial awakening. The humans, who have started to open up their energy channels, were said to be in the second evolutionary stage and were also known as intermediate awakenedbatants. Abatant reaches the advanced state after opening all his energy channels, stepping into the stage where possibilities are endless, only restricted by a person''s imagination. An advanced stagebatant possesses strength rivaling beasts in the demonic realm. Yet, Vincent, who was in the peak of the early awakening stage, already possessed such strength! This person was simply inconceivable! Meanwhile, the said person, who has surprised everyone by revealing the increase in his strength, read the notification that has popped up in his mind. ? The owner has killed a beast in the first stage of the demonic realm ? ? You''ve gained five hundred units of life force ? Vincent total units of life force took arge step towards 10000 units. He only needed a few hundred more to upgrade his subspace. ? As you''ve killed the beast under the protection of the spider kingdom itself, the kingdom has imbued the curse of tracing inside your very soul ? ? The curse has revealed your location to every beast in the vicinity ? ? ording to the rules of the spider kingdom, only its kind can hunt you down and avenge its death ? ? You''ll be chased by every Phantom Tracer in the outskirts of the Spider Kingdom until you get out of this ce ? ? I advise my dear owner to make a run for it! ? Vincent''s expression turned ashen as he read through the notification. He killed one to avenge himself, and now its entire group is going to hunt him down. What kind of a bad joke was this? Simply inconceivable! "Big brother, is something wrong?" Leni tugged at the back of his clothes and asked with a worried look as she saw a severe expression on his face. Vincent nodded his head with a somewhat shocked expression and said, "We need to make a run for it now!" "Why? What do we need to run from?" Nevis asked, wondering why Vincent is being overdramatic. John and Iris also wondered the same. However, Varth''s eyes widened, and his mouth gape as he realized what''s wrong. "Don''t tell me that beast was under the kingdom''s protection, and you got inflicted by the curse of tracing for killing it?!" Vincent didn''t need to provide him with an answer from his own mouth as loud roars sounded in their ears, confirming Varth''s suspicions. Grauuuu Grauuuu Grauuuu Everyone turned to look at the sources of the voices, only to see arge group of beasts made up of at least eighty Phantom Tracers moving across the overgrown grasses and charging towards them. Each of them was brimming with killing intent. The worst was that some of them were bigger and faster than the one Vincent had just killed! Chapter 149 - One Man Against A Pack! (a) A few members of the group felt tense, worried that they won''t be able to make it out alive from this situation. "You guys can get out of here unharmed. Just go away," Vincent said out loud, telling all of them to leave him and head towards the waterfall. "What do you mean?" John asked, a bewildered expression on his face. "They are only after me," Vincent said, hurriedly exining to them that he was the only one tagged with the tracing curse. So to say, he is the only one on the beast''s hunting list. "No way," Leni said, standing close to him, expressing her choice clearly. "I don''t know about the others, but I won''t leave you behind to face them on your own." Vincent shook his head, telling her that he isn''t foolish enough to sacrifice himself and that he got a n to make it out of this situation alive. "Since she is staying behind, I too am going to stay here," John said, expressing his desires to face this dangerous its toon along with them. Iris and Nevis also held the same opinion for some reason. "I have a sure n to get out of this situation unharmed! So, please listen to me and go away!" Vincent shouted out loud, rolling his eyes at this incredulous situation. "No! We will fight the beasts together!" Vincent''s teammate said, making him go nuts. Can''t they understand what he is trying to say? Are they slow in the head? Just what the hell is wrong with them! Simply inconceivable! Vincent felt defeated once he found out that his words were just falling on deaf ears. It was at this moment that a powerful voice boomed out from the side, assisting him in the best way possible. "Don''t just stand there and leave! Several of these beasts are in the early stages of the demonic realm! You all will just end up being a burden from him! So stop throwing a tantrum and make a goddamn run for your life!" Varth shouted at the top of his lungs, forcing them to think about this situation rationally. He didn''t give them time to think twice about it before stepping towards the waterfall valley, wishing Vincent the best of luck in his heart. His words lingered in their hearts, making them think things through in a matter of moments, and eventually, rationality curbed their emotions. They turned around after saying a few words to Vincent, stepping away from him as fast as they can. Vincent thanked Varth in his heart, giving him an imaginary thumbs up. But his attention quickly shifted to Leni, who was adamant about staying by his side. "I promise I will get out of this situation unharmed and meet up with you behind the waterfall. Trust me on this! Now, please go!" Vincent said to her while dashing towards the beasts. Leni shook her head, thinking that there is no way she is going to leave him alone here, nning to fight the beasts alongside him. Suddenly, she felt someone tugging her arm, pulling her further away from Vincent. "Let''s go! These beasts are way out of our league." John said, dragging his sister out of harm''s reach. Iris and Nevis followed in tow, unable to hide the regretful look on their faces. They knew of their own weakness, knowing full well that they would only be burdens if they stayed to help. After all, they have no chance of winning a fight against even a single beast in the demonic realm. "I will search the entire Spider Kingdom if you don''t meet up with us behind the waterfall by tonight!" Leni eximed while looking at his back. "I promise I will," Vincent muttered under his breath as he hurled spears made out of the solidification of his blood towards the beasts. Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh The spear sted towards the beasts, smashing into a lot of them, killing a few on the spot and injuring the rest. Yet, several dozens of them still ran towards Vincent, branding their jaws towards him. The very next instant, Vincent and a lot of beasts shed a few dozen times before he jumped backwards, running into the thick grasses to hide himself from their scrutinizing gaze. He nned to use that time to catch his breath and regenerate his stamina. The Phantom Tracers, however, weren''t friendly enough to give him what he wants. They used their sense of smell to smell him out and chased after him at full speed, crossing several meters in the blink of an eye. WHOOSH Suddenly, out of nowhere, several glowing yellow magic scrolls shot towards them,tching upon their faces. Waves of mes burst out of the Fire Magic Scroll, exploding their faces and setting the beasts nearby them on fire! ? You''ve killed seventeen beasts in the early to the peak levels of the magical realm ? ? 700 experience points obtained ? ? You''ve gained the ire of the Spider Kingdom ? ? Now, the Phantom Tracers will do everything to kill you ? "Bring it on!" Vincent said at the top of his lungs, feeling refreshed and ready to hunt them down to earn more experience points. Then, he continuously activated the magic scroll, and a sea of fireballs rained down on the damned beasts. BOOM BOOM BOOM Painful howls resounded out without a break from here and there. Almost immediately, notifications popped up in Vincent''s mind, bringing with them happy news, telling him that he had killed a lot and earned a lot. His experience points surpassed ten thousand. However, he didn''t have time to be happy about it. Although he killed a lot while running towards them, there were still numerous beasts in the early levels to the peak levels of the magical realm, and several in the first to the third level of the demonic realm. Out of all the beasts, the ones at the demonic realm opened their mouths and howled out loud. Then, a ball of buzzing energy formed in the center of their opened jaws, instantly condensing into a lightning bot. Oh, damn it! Chapter 150 - One Man Against A Pack! (b) Zap! Zap! Zap! Vincent''s eyes widened as lightning bolts boomed out of their mouths, charging towards him. He summoned a crimson shield just in time, but it was unable to endure the frontal assault of the bolts and shattered into smithereens, pieces of crimson shards falling onto the ground. Vincent knew that the crimson shield won''t be able to hold on for more than a second. However, that second was all he needed to move out of the way. BOOM An ear-splitting explosion urred next to him, ringing his ears and blurring his vision for a few moments. When rity returned to his eyes, allowing him to take in his surroundings, he found himself surrounded from all sides by many Phantom Tracers. The beasts roared out as they pounced towards him, ready to send him off to the other side. It was at this moment that Vincent entered his subspace, dodging all of their attacks. The eyes of the beasts threatened to pop out of the sockets, finding it hard to believe that their prey has escaped their sure-killbo. What happened next, however, shocked them to the core, and their jaws threatened to touch the ground! Vincent appeared out of nowhere, brandishing his crimson swords at them. The beasts only saw a red line shing by their eyes, and then the light of life left their eyes! Their head got chopped off their bodies and blood spurted onto the grasses. Their bodies drop to the ground with a dull thud, and at the same time, their heads alsonded on the sides His actions angered and aggravated the beasts in the early stages of the demonic realms! They joined the fray, charging towards Vincent, ready to fight him in closebat. Vincent activated his blood mode, instantly increasing his speed and strength to around 150 points. As the blood rushed across his body, amplifying his strength to the next degree, Vincent felt all sounds disappearing and time slowing down. The massive increase in his Strength and Speed began disying their worth. He easily blocked and stepped out of the range of all the attacks thrown at him from a very short distance! He also took advantage of the closeness of the distance between them, calmly attacking the beasts where it hurts the most. The beasts howled painfully as Vincent skillfullynded his attack on their vital spots, one at the time. A few momentster, the beasts stepped away from him with a defeated look on their furry faces. They looked at him with eyes opened wide in disbelief, an expression of bewilderment on their bestial face. How is the faster than us?! We are at the demonic realm! This human is only at the peak of the goddamn early evolutionary stage! What the hell is wrong with this world! Simply unbelievable! They were unable to believe their eyes! Vincent had shocked even beasts in the early stages of the demonic realm. The beasts roared,manding the others to seep away from Vincent. Vincent''s lips thinned into a smug smile as he watched the beasts going away from him, gathering around the biggest tracers. They aren''t as strong as the Tree of Evil, I wonder why is that the case, Vincent thought, feeling that these phantom tracers were far too weakpared to the Tree of Evil. The phantom tracers didn''t know what he was thinking about or else they would have puked out a mouthful of blood. They weren''t weak! He was just far too strong! The beasts raised their face to the skies, howling out loud, calling for the strongest one in the vicinity. Vincent''s eyebrows raised as he saw phantom traces in the middle stages of the demonic realm step towards him. The beast opened its mouth, activating its strongest demonic magic technique. Vincent only saw a few magical symbols appearing next to him, and in the blink of an eye, lightning bolts charged towards him! If it was any other person, they would have surely suffered greatly under this attack. However, Vincent easily evaded its most powerful attack by vanishing from the face of Xavier, appearing in his subspace. The entire army of beasts felt the shock of their lifetime. Are we in our nightmare?! They waved their tails and blinked their eyes in confusion, looking very cute at the moment. Their eyes snapped shut and snapped open for only one reason. Let this be just a dream. Yet, there was no one here to hear their howls. Vincent had escaped the most deadliest attack of their entire pack, and there was no way to deny it! This hurt their pride so barely that they howled out in defeat once again. The strongest of their pack moved towards the location where Vincent had vanished from, sniffing here and there, trying to scent him out. However, it didn''t know that this very action will be the end of it. Just as it turned around to return to its pack with a regretful expression on its face, a voice boomed out from above its head, scaring the shit out of it. "Have a taste of my attacks, too!" A split secondter, a huge shockwave mmed into the beast''s head. The beast had no time to react at all as Vincent''s fistnded down hard on its head, smashing it hard into the ground. BAM The resulting impact created a huge, thirty meter wide crater on the ground. Dust and debris rose from the crater. A cloud of dust covered the previously clean air, painting it a dim brown. Before any of the beasts could even blink their eyes, another powerful punchnded on their leader''s head. This time, a web of cracks spread out from therge crater, creeping towards the rest of them. Bam! Bam! Bam! Vincentnded a lot of punches on the poor beast''s head, smashing it hard till it died. The beasts couldn''t see what was happening as the clouds made put off dust and debris blocked their vision. However, the voiceing from the crater alone was enough to tell them the horror going down there. AWOOOOO (We''ve messed with the wrong person!) AWOOOOO (It isn''t a person!) AWOOOOO (It is a damn demon disguised as a human) AWOOOOO (Turn tail and make a run for your life!) Chapter 151 - Waterfall! Vincent didn''t stop bashing the head of the beast, who was in the middle stages of the demonic realm, until a notification rang in his ears, telling him that the beast was dead and that he had obtained 4000 experience points for killing it. "Well, that was fun," Vincent said, feeling amazed at how easily he killed the leader of the beasts. While sitting on its back, Vincent leaned down and took a deep breath, taking in the scent of its blood to his heart''s content. Unlike the Tree of Evil, which was a monster without a single ounce of blood in its body, the Phantom Tracer contained arge amount of it in its body. Furthermore, this was the blood of a demonic monster, not the blood of a magical monster that has be useless to him, barely able to increase his physical capabilities even if he drinks ten liters of it. Vincent has gotten so strong that now he needed to feast on the blood of monsters in the demonic realm to increase his physical capabilities. The blood reflecting in his crimson eyes held enough power in it to increase his strength. Also, the scent was so strong that he was losing control over himself. "Blood Purification," Vincent said under his breath, cing his hands on its body and activating one of his racial superpowers. ? You''ve purified the blood of the beast, Phantom Tracer, from all sorts of impurities ? "Bon appetite," Vincent said, his eyes curling into a smile and his lips stretching back to reveal his fangs. He lowered his head, sinking the vampiric fangs into the beast''s neck. Then, he greedily sucked on its blood, drinking it all in a hurry, showing his greed and expressing his insatiable thirst for blood. It thinned down to flesh and bones, a sight too horrifying for any human and demihuman, making one wonder whether the reason why Vincent had put on an act to send his entire team away from him was so that they wouldn''t confront such a scene. "Ah," Vincent moaned in satisfaction, lifting his bloodied face away from the dried corpse and licking his lips, relishing the after-taste of the meal. ? Your permanent Strength has increased to 82 points ? ? Your permanent Agility has increased to 98 points ? ? Your permanent Vitality (Health Points) has increased to 62 points ? A notification rang in his head, telling him about the massive permanent increase in his stats. "This is the first time my health point increased," Vincent said in a somewhat surprised voice. However, he was not too shocked to find out that he can increase his health points by drinking the purified blood of demonic beasts. It was now time to get loot from its body. He appraised the beast, obtaining all information about it. He understood that the beast was a treasure from head to toe. The beast''s hide was a crafting material, something necessary to create Phantom Deadly Armor. It was an item that granted a 20% damage reduction to its wearer. The ws on its four limbs were equally precious. It also had a lightning core, an item extremely useful for lightning users. My dream to create a set of equipment made from the body parts of monsters of the demonic realm isn''t too far off, Vincent thought collecting the beast into his inventory. He wonders if the others of its kind are still here. If they are still here, he will be getting a lot of materials! He stood up from its body in a hurry and then leaps outside the crater. He steps out of the clouds of dust,nding on the grassy ground. His head turns to the left and then to the right as he looked at the surrounding with a scrutinizing gaze. "Hmm?" Vincent''s eyebrows raised as he found out that the coast was clear of any signs of beasts. "I guess all of them must have run away, fearing for their life." He scoffed at them in his mind, thinking that they were cowards and ungrateful for leaving the alpha of their packs to live another day. He wasn''t wrong either. It was the beasts that called for their alpha in order to deal with him. However, they turned tail and ran away the moment they saw their alpha unable to do anything against him. What a sad tale. He shrugged his shoulders, thinking that be it humans or monsters, some among them will betray others for greed and some other reason. He shook his head, kicking such thoughts out of his head, and focused on his priorities. The silly girl had told him that she will search the entire spider kingdom for him if he doesn''t meet up with her by the waterfall at night, something he didn''t want to happen. Vincent didn''t know how serious she was about her words, but he couldn''t risk it. He didn''t want to lose her or search for her in the Spider Kingdom, at least he knew that. Thus, he turned around and charged towards the waterfall, a ce where the rest of his teammates were waiting for him. He ran across the clear path, passing by fields of overgrown grasses and bushes. Along the way, the effect of the presence hiding scroll worked its wonder, hiding him from a lot of beasts. Vincent also used his own transcendental-gradebat technique to lower his presence, slipping unnoticed from right under the nose of beasts far more dangerous than the phantom tracers. Sometimeter, he slid his hand across his forehead, wiping clean the sweat off his face, while standing next to a clean waterfall. Ssh* Ssh* It hadn''t taken long for him to finally reach the waterfall. Seeing that no one was in this ce, he stomped his foot on the ground, leaping into the waterfall. A sshing voice sounded out as he went through the waterfall andnded on solid ground. It was a cave of some sort, brightened by luminous stones embed into the walls. He looked around and saw that the rest of his teammates were resting in the other end of the small cave, just as he had expected. Chapter 152 - Ancient Portal Generator "See! I told you guys he wille to us without a single scratch on his body," Varth said after noticing that Vincent had entered the small cave behind the waterfall. As the rest heard his words, they looked away in shame, feeling a bit disappointed in themselves. Vincent wondered what happened as he looked at them, finding them acting a bit distant. Leni ran towards him in a hurry, embracing him tightly. She whispered words of love in his ears before warning him to never face a group of beasts all by himself. "I can''t promise you that," Vincent said with a smile, knowing full well that he won''t ever let go of such a rare chance in the future. "Hmph," Leni pouted in anger, stomping her pretty foot on the ground. Vincent found her looks a bit too seductive, enough to make him feel the heat rising in his heart. He grabbed her hand, pulling her into his embrace. Then, before Leni or the ones looking at them could even make sense of the sudden sexy situation, he kissed her, savoring every bit of the sweetnesscing her lips and her tongue. Leni''s cheeks turned red as he pushed her deeper into his embrace and traced the inside of her mouth with his tongue, pounding on every inch and corner in search of the sweetness that only she possesses. She felt flustered, not wanting to pull away from this kiss but also not wanting to let such personal matters continue under the stares of her teammates. The others coughed and looked away from them, continuing on with their work. Vincent, on the other hand, enjoyed kissing her. He knew she won''t turn into a feline as she has gained some resistance to his touch. Once he kissed her to his heart''s content, he set her free. "Hmph!" Leni stomped on his foot in anger before running away from him. She joined the others, helping them in moving magic crystals. John and the others were working on some kind of a circr object in the center of the cave. Varth, on the other hand, was sitting on a rocky stone in silence. Vincent walked towards the rest of them, sitting next to Varth. "Where is the path leading towards the Mysterious Violet Forest? And what''s this stuff?" Vincent asked him. "It''s right there," Varth said those words while pointing at the circr object in the center of the cave, indicating that it is the path leading to the Mysterious Violet Forest. "Huh?" Vincent felt confused, unable to understand how a dusty, rusty and somewhat broken machine is going to lead them to their destination. "It''s a Portal Generator." Varth said, clearing Vincent''s confusion. "By injecting a considerable amount of purified energy into it, the generator will be active and open a stable spatial tunnel towards the Mysterious Violet Forest." Vincent asked how much is a considerable amount. Varth showed him ten fingers before saying the word magic crystal. "Only ten thousand magic crystals?" Vincent''s eyebrows raised in confusion. "Ten million magic crystal," Varth said, correcting him. "Oh," Vincent''s lips parted ways in shock. Magic crystals were precious energy resources, and people could mine them from magic crystal mines. (Magic crystal mines aren''t any less precious than diamond mines) Ten million magic crystals weren''t a measly amount. To earn that much in a short time, a person''s best bet is to hunt down a Monster Lord and loot its entire kingdom. "So, who is footing the bill?" Vincent asked him, wondering who is paying the ridiculous amount to activate the portal generator. "It''s Iris," Varth replied in a calm voice. "Just her?" Vincent found it hard to believe that a young girl has ten million magic crystals, even though she is a member of the twilight temple. "Yes, it''s only her." Varth''s word fell heavily on his mind, making him sigh in happiness and sadness. Many people work day and night to earn money to feed their families, while others are born with a golden spoon in their mouth. They are so lucky that they never need to worry about how to pay their bills, pay for food, and such stuff. He was d though to have such a rich person in his party, a work of fate. "How many more magic crystals do we need to feed it?" Nevis asked, summoning magic crystals out of the spatial device Iris had given him and pouring them into the energy tank. "It just needs seven more crystals worth of energy," Iris replied as she emptied another spatial ring from all the magic crystals. "Just have to charge it a little bit more, huh," John said, throwing those seven crystals into its fuel tank. "It''s done," Le said in a relieved voice after they finished feeding 10 million magic crystals to the Portal Generator. "Guys, standby." Iris took a few steps away from the generator, waiting for a portal to open in the middle of the small cave. The cave trembled for a bit, and a distortion of space urred next to the portal generator. A dark blue portal made up of swirling energy appeared in the center of the cave, thinning down at a rate visible to the naked eye. "Hurry up and jump into it," Iris said before she headed into it. The rest followed in tow, jumping into the closing portal, one after another. Their visions darkened, and they felt like something was stretching them as if they weren''t born with bodies made out of bones but chewing gum. Also, darkness epassed their senses before they got teleported to a brightly lit ce. A momentter, rays of purple lights filled their visions, forcefully dragging their focus from the weird sensations filling every fiber of their beings back to reality. "Hmm?" They turned to take a look at this ce, taking in their surroundings with a scrutinizing gaze. Trees dotted the Mysterious Violet Forest, and they could see a lot of vines coiled around the trunks of the trees. There were a few mushrooms here and there, each made out of some kind of purple matter and releasing a gentle purplish glow which was easy on the eyes of the ones looking at them. Except for that, they also saw a huge castle whose peak reached the sky a few miles away from them. "That''s the tomb of Roselia, right?" Chapter 153 - Trial Of Mystery (a) After Vincent said those words, Iris told them to wait here for a moment. She took out a sketchbook from her spatial ring and opened a page with the drawing of a castle on it. She turned to look at the castle in the distance andpared it to the one in her drawings. "It exactly looks like it," Iris said, confirming that the castle in their visions is undoubtedly the resting ce of Roselia. "Then, let''s go there," Vincent spoke in an excited voice. Before they could even take a few steps towards the castle, a voice boomed from above their heads. "Wee to the Tomb of Roselia, Challengers from the outside!" Shocked and surprised by the melodic voice sounding in their ears, they turned to look at the source of the voice and saw a lot of purple rays of lightsbining into one, taking the shape of a little fairy with four transparent wings, fluttering gently in the wind. "Who are you?" John asked in a surprised tone of voice when he saw the purple fairy hovering above their head. "I''m the fairy that will host your trials," she replied, her voice very soothing to hear. "What is your name?" Vincent asked, wondering what should they called her. "Please call me Melody!" Purple Fairy Melody replied smilingly, excitedly twirling to the side. "Okay, then Melody, why are you here?" Peter asked. "How about all of you first announce your name?" Melody said, telling them to reveal their names to her. "Alright." Vincent, John, Iris, Varth, Leni, and Nevis revealed their names to the fairy, one after another, taking only several seconds to do so. "Great! With the introductions out of the way, let''s start the first trial. The first trial is pretty simple. Every single one of you needs to reach the castle in the distance within six hours. If a single one of you fails to do so, all of you will fail the trial and get kicked out of the Mysterious Violet Forest. Does anyone have any questions?" "Nope." They shook their heads altogether, indicating that they don''t have any questions, and would like to immediately challenge the first trial. "That''s good! Onest thing before I start the trial." Melody said in a hurry, stopping them in their steps. "What is it?" Vincent asked while looking at her. "I want all of you to know that each time youplete a trial, not only will you get to advance deeper into the Tomb of Roselia where lies great treasures such as the fruit of life, which many lust after, but you will also get something good forpleting the trial. So, give it yours all and do your best to smash through every hurdle thates your way in the trials!" Melody said before suddenly snapping her finger and vanishing from their sights. A voice sounded in the air, telling them that the Trial has begun and that they only have six hours toplete it. An intangible ticking clock also appeared above them, hovering over the trees. "Let''s get going," Vincent said as he started to move ahead, heading towards the castle. The rest followed in tow. The castle wasn''t too far away. It was only at a distance of a few miles from their present location. With their speed that was as fast as an arrow shot out from a bow, reaching the castle shouldn''t take them too long. They couldn''t help but smile, thinking thatpleting this trial will be a piece of cake. After moving deeper into the mysterious violet forest for several minutes, passing by several purple mushrooms and charging through dense purple luminous, Vincent''s eyes opened wide for some reason and he suddenly came to a halt. "Wait, guys!" Vincent said out loud, motioning them to stop. "Something weird is going on here," "Hmm?" Varth and the others immediately stopped after they heard Vincent''s words. They turned to look at the surrounding with a prating gaze. Vincent was also looking at this ce with narrowed eyes, finding this ce eerily simr to the one he passed by a few minutes ago, searching for a few clues to confirm his suspicions. Seeing that there was no sign of danger or anything significant around them, Nevis turned towards Vincent and asked, "Buddy, what''s wrong?" As Vincent heard his words, he said, "I think we passed by this ce just a few minutes ago." "Maybe it''s just your imagination," Iris said, feeling no simrities from this ce whatsoever. Seeing that no one was believing him, Vincent shook his head before walking up to a tree with a crimson sword in his hand. He brandishes his sword a few times,nding three shes on three of the many trees. If hees across these trees with three shes on their trunks again, it will confirm that they are going in circles. "Let''s go." After leaving a few marks on the trees, Vincent grouped with the others, running towards the castle in the distance. What he didn''t know was that the moment he and the others left this area, the shes on the trees vanished in the blink of an eye. Several momentster, once they had dashed across hundreds of trees and thought they were only a mile away from the castle, John''s bewildered voice sounded in their ears, "Guys, why does it seems like we haven''t taken a single step closer to the castle?" John motioned them to look at the castle, which seemed to be as far away as it was the moment they appeared in this ce. Vincent and Varth took to the top of the trees in order to get a better look at the picture, and they found out that the castle did seemed to be three miles away from them, as it had been before they began venturing into the Mysterious Violet Forest. They looked at each other, nodded, and then leaped down the trees,nding near the others. They told them about their findings and that what John said is true without a doubt. "This confirms my suspicions," Vincent said while looking at his teammates. "We are going around in circles!" Chapter 154 - Trial Of Mystery (b) "Sorry for not be believing in you earlier," Leni said with a guilty look on her face. The others share the same feeling as her. If they had believed in his words, they wouldn''t have wasted time going around in circles. "No problem. I am not going to me you guys for what happened. It''s not like anyone could''ve known that this forest is like a maze. Let''s forget about it and move on." Vincent said, pacifying the situation with his words. "All right." Nevis said, "Buddies, what should we do now?" "Hmm, how about splitting up in three pairs and going out in different directions? Let''s see what happens then?" "Sounds okay to me," Vincent said, agreeing with John. The others didn''t have a better n, so they decided to follow along with him for now instead of wasting time trying toe up with something to solve the mystery of the forest. They split up, creating three groups. Leni and Vincent went west. Varth and Nevis dashed towards the north side of the forest. John and Iris headed south. After a while of wandering around the beautiful forest and admiring its beauty, Vincent and Leni saw the silhouette of a few people who happens to be only several meters away from them. They ran towards them in a hurry, calling out their names and got a shout in return. Turns out that they were their teammates and not some strangers, and this led them to believe that no matter which direction they head towards, they would alwayse back to this ce. "I think this is some kind of a starting point in the Mysterious Violet Forest, and we are going to get send back to this ce by whatever''s in the forest," John said, feeling a bit cleared about this ce. "Indeed, it''s as he says. Take a look behind you," Varth said, telling them to take a look behind their back and they saw a few spider-like devices crawling out from behind the trees, happily climbing up Varth''s shoulder. "These are?" Nevis asked in a somewhat surprised voice as this was his first time seeing such a thing. "My tracking and scouting devices," Varth replied before his eye narrowed down to reveal a glint of seriousness. "Even they didn''t manage to find out what''s going on here and instead got fooled by the forest toe back to this starting point. I think there''s some kind of magic being used here to not only fool our sense of direction but also mess with the functions of my devices." They continued to try different methods. They used threads, attaching one end on their bodies and another on the trees, but somehow still ended up at the starting point. They took to the top of the trees, jumping from one to another. However, they still somehow ended up returning to the starting point. They even chopped off a few trees in the starting point and along the way, but they only returned back to the same ce to see that the tree has somehow mysteriously grown back to its original size. Even using abilities to destroy the forest and force their way to the castle proved to be useless, further devastating them. Is this the end of our journey? They didn''t want to think that but only a few hours were left before the end of the trial. Yet, they didn''t know what to do, and couldn''te up with a single n to solve the mysteries of the forest. "Guys, wait for here for a while," Vincent suddenly said, and they stopped at the starting point. "Do you have a n?" Leni asked as her eyes brightened in the light of hope, thinking that he might have a way to help them out of this ce. Vincent nodded with a calm expression on his face and told them that he needed to confirm something before he can say a word. "Blood, use energy sense to project a map of this entire forest," Vincent said in his mind, ready to sacrifice his hard-earned units of life force toplete the trial. ? Are you sure? It will cost more than a few hundred units of life force to project a map of this entire ce in your head ? Blood words hurt his heart, but he agreed nheless, and that too with a smile. After all, he could earn life force bypleting tasks and killing others, but he wouldn''t be able to find a treasure trove like this once again. After he consented to the use of the energy sense spell matrix, the heirloom of his family activated it. Vincent trembled a bit as a lot of intangible and invisible burst forth from his body, permeating Into the surroundings and stretching outwards towards all four directions, touching and passing through thousands of trees, purple mushrooms, and very mysterious things. ? 1000 experience points consumed to project a map of this ce in owner''s mind ? Vincent''s eyes suddenly glistened in a mystical light before the glow vanished in the blink of an eye, and an image of this entire ce popped up in his mind. The map showed a lot of trees, a lot of mushrooms, and a lot of vines, and everything they have seen so far, but it also highlighted several hundreds of walls scattered all over this ce, ced in different turns and near thousands of trees. "I will be going ahead for a bit! Don''t move from this ce and wait for my return!" Vincent said out loud, charging ahead with an incredible speed, passing by several trees in the blink of an eye. He followed the map in his mind, purposely avoiding all of the invisible walls in his way, and saw that he was indeed making progress and reaching closer to the castle in the distance. "Turns out these walls that are invisible to our eyes and nearly everywhere in the Mysterious Violet Forest has been ying with us all along," Vincent scoffed, mocking himself. He jumped into one of the walls and returned to the starting point. "Alright, I have solved the mysteries of the forest!" He eximed smilingly, walking up to the others who were resting on the ground. "What did you find?" "Ny percent of the paths ahead of the starting point areced with some kind of magical invisible walls and passing through one sends us back to this ce. Simply put, we''ll never be able to reach the castle unless we evade all of them." The young boys and girls turned to look at him with an expression of awe on their faces. How did he manage to find that out? Even they weren''t able to understand what''s actually wrong with this ce! Thank God we have him with us, otherwise reaching the castle would have been a pipe dream. However, it is still a pipe dream! "Doesn''t that mean there''s a very little chance of us taking the right turn till we reach the castle," Varth said, thinking that it is next to impossible to not pass through walls they can not see, feel, or even sense. As soon as he said those words, the expression of the others fell once again. After all, they realized that it is still pretty impossible toplete the trial. "I know where the walls are though, so just follow after me and we will reach the Castle in no time!" Vincent eximed, and they cheered up in an instant before moving closely behind him. Chapter 155 - Divine Fruit! Following Vincent''s footsteps as closely as possible, they took a lot of turns around the trees, sometimes moving to the left to take a left turn and sometimes moving to the right, inching closer to the castle that is located at the center of the forest. Sometimeter, the light in their eyes brightened in happiness as they found out that the distance between them and the castle has decreased considerably. Now it looks like it is only a mile away from us, they thought. It was also at this moment that Vincent told them that they only need to move for an hour or so time to reach the castle, motivating them even more. Then, it only took around one and a half hours for them to reach next to the ck gate of the castle. An instant after they reached their goal, the fairy suddenly appeared out of nowhere, floating in front of them "Congrattions to all of you for passing the Trial of Mystery! It''s surprising to see youngsterspleting the trials that many warriors of ancient and modern times have failed. I apud you all for your wits and determination." Purple Fairy Melody said with a genuine happy smile, impressed to see such talented youngsters. Vincent raised his hand and asked, "Umm, what about the rewards?" "Oh, yes!" Melody pulled out several fruits from her tiny pockets, each the size of her body, and somehow she was making them float beside her. She then said, "Here you go." The fruits hovered towards them, and they raised one of their hands to grab one each, sharing it equally among themselves without any qualms. "What are these fruits?" John asked while looking at the fairy. "These are the Continental Divine Fruits! They are only found on certains and one of them happens to be Lorena. The world of Lorena only gives birth to one such fruit every ten years. They are nourished by the vitality of the, and contains enough medicinal essence to forcefully open a person''s energy channel! You only need to eat a single fruit to do so. Advancing to the next stage isn''t a pipe dream for you lot anymore, isn''t that great?!" The more the little fairy said, the more excited she got. It was almost as if she was feeling happy to give away the treasures of her masters to outsiders so that they can increase their strength. What a weird fairy. Her thought process was simply inconceivable! "What a great deal. Sacrificing a thousand units of life force for this fruit was worth it, honestly." Vincent licked his lips, nning to consume it. At that very moment, the fairy''s lips parted ways and she uttered several words, "Would you like to take the next trial immediately or after tonight?" "Wait, let use to a decision first." They talked with each other and ended up deciding on making a camp here to take a rest and sleep the night away. "Later," Vincent said while looking at Melody, telling her that they would like to take the next trial tomorrow. "Okay, then I will drop by early in the morning. I hope you will be ready by then. Goodbye!" Purple Fairy Melody said, waving her tiny hands at them before vanishing in a puff of purple smoke. "Let''s set up tents and rest!" They pulled out a few essories from their spatial storage, cing chairs and a tent here and there, nning to take a rest. Varth already had all of his energy channels opened, but no one knew about it, and so he acted like he obtained something absolutely marvelous to keep up with his act of being a weak youngster with not a lot of power whatsoever. John and Iris haven''t awakened. They didn''t have any energy channels in their bodies, so the fruit was useless to them right now. They stored it in their spatial storage treasures. Vincent and Leni, on the other hand, were itching to eat the divine fruit to open up their energy channel. Everyone who awakens naturallyes to possess one to ten energy channels in their body. However, all of them are sealed and need to be nourished even after being opened. A person can contain more energy in their bodies once they open energy channels. After all the energy channels in their bodies are opened, they are able to control their energy without the need to perform hand signs. This leads to a person performing Magic techniques silently, but not instantly. It''s hard to control magic energy without any hand signs, after all. Furthermore, they can also use a unique technique to nourish and strengthen their bodies, advancing their physical capabilities beyond mortalprehension. Suddenly, Nevis came up to Vincent, telling him that he has something to say. "Buddy, I have no use of this divine fruit. It''s not like I can ever awaken. So, I can never hope to possess energy channels. I would like to give this fruit to you. In return, I would love it if I get handed something useful to me forpleting the uing trials." Nevis couldn''t contain supernatural cells in his body, so there was no way for him to awaken. Without awakening, a person can''t gain energy channels. Thus, the divine fruit which can open energy channels pretty easily was like a pile of trash to him C absolutely useless! "All right. Give it to me," Vincent said, epting his offer. "Take it, but don''t forget to" Nevis handed the divine fruit to Vincent before exining the deal to him in detail. Vincent nodded, signifying he was fine with it. Later on, if something catches his eyes, then Vincent will not only give it for him, but if necessary, also get it for him, so that he can repay his favor. Nevis went away, entered his tent, andid down on his bed, closing his eyes to fall asleep. Not just him, but also John, Iris, and Varth. Only Vincent and Leni stayed awake, sitting inside the tent the two of them shared. The two of them picked up the Divine Continental Fruit, ready to take a bite out of it! Chapter 156 - Behind The Covers Vincent was alone with Leni in a cramped space for the second time in his life, but he didn''t have any sinful thoughts ying in his mind. He wasn''t too sure about her though. He could see redness painting her ears from the corner of his eyes. However, he didn''t say a word, acting as if he couldn''t feel her sexual tension. He took a big bite out of the fruit, eating it without making any noise. In contrast, Leni felt her heart fluttering wildly, almost as if it was a bird yearning for freedom, who got set free from its cage. She couldn''t help it. Vincent has always made her feel that way. And now that they were alone in a small tent with barely any space in between, her thoughts ran wild, making her believe that he will pounce on her and eat her from head to toe like a big bad wolf. Surprisingly, nothing like that happened, making her wonder what''s wrong with her man. Wasn''t this the best time and the perfect ce for him to make her his in both heart and body? Why isn''t he taking any actions? She felt disappointment rising in her heart as she turned to look at him, only to see that his eyes were closed and he was sitting on the futon with legs crossed. Of course, Vincent didn''t know what she was thinking as he was busy breathing rhythmically and trying to absorb the medicinal essence of the Divine Continental Fruit! ? You''ve consumed the Divine Continental Fruit ? ? You''ve entered the energy channel opening process ? A few notifications rang in his mind, but he didn''t have the time or any intention to take note of it. His attention was focused on the changes he was undergoing. The medicinal essence of the fruit flowed through his veins, charging towards the first of his many energy channels. The feeling borough by the things happening in his body clouded his thoughts and dulled his senses. He could only feel something hot and heavy moving towards the energy channel located near his humane heart. Bam! He heard a loud sound echoing in his mind as the massive wave of medicinal essence crashed on the sealed entrance of his energy channel. It only took a single for the entrance to get forced open, and the remaining essence rushed inside of his channel, nourishing it. The moment the energy channel got forced open, rity returned to his being. ? Your first energy channel has opened ? ? Congrattions for reaching the intermediate evolutionary stage ? ? You can now store 150 units of energy in your body ? ? The medicinal essence of the Divine Continental Fruits is nourishing your energy channel. It is bing thicker and wider than before ? His energy channels expanded as the medicinal essence nourished it. The nourishing process continued for a few more minutes and finally came to an end when Vincent''s first energy channel reachedplete maturity. ? Congrattions! Your first energy channel has expanded to its limit. You can now store a total of 200 units of any type of energy in your body ? Vincent felt satisfied with the effects of the fruit that helped him to not only open an energy channel but alsopletely nourish it. His eyes snapped open and he saw Leni looking at him with a somewhat lecherous look, water dripping down the corner of her mouth. She wiped away the suspicious water in a hurry before blinking her eyes at him innocently. She asked if he just opened a channel in his body, and Vincent replied with a nod, signifying he did do that. "Aren''t you going to eat the fruit?" Vincent asked while looking at Leni. "Oh, I was just about to do that," she replied in a hurry, moving her face away from him to hide the truth from him. However, Vincent did clearly saw the lecherous look on her face and that she was blushing for some reason. He wasn''t a fool and could determine she was probably ogling at his face. Well, there''s nothing wrong with that. ''She is my girlfriend and can look at me for as long as she likes,'' he thought. He saw her consuming the fruit and closing her eyes to focus on consuming the medicinal essence. He silently leaned forward to take a better look at her face. She looked too cute up close and he kept on looking at her with a gentle gaze, brimming with something fiery. He kept on staring at her, and soon a thudding voice sounded from her body, signifying that she had opened another one of her energy channels, and she opened her eyes. She had three opened energy channels already, which she got when awakening, but now she had 4 opened energy channels. "Congrattion, my love!" Vincent eximed as he hugged her in excitement, unintentionally pushing her backward till her back hit the futon. "Thanks," Leni said as a loving smile blossomed on her face. Vincent felt enchanted by her smile and he looked into her eyes, feeling that this position they were in was honestly too perfect for his n toe to light. "Tell me, what do you want to do tonight?" Vincent said, hovering over her lithe body. Leni''s eyes opened wide as he intertwined his hands with hers. It was at this moment that she realized that they were in a very inappropriate position. It was a position most couples actively choose to make love! "Nothing!" She yelled, closing her eyes and moving her head to the sides, feeling too shy and embarrassed to say anything. Vincent felt that he was a big bad wolf that has trapped an innocent little cute deer in between its ws, ready to devour her whole. He leaned down, letting his sultry breath brush her ears, and whispered, "But I don''t want to sleep just like this. I want to do something exciting with you, something only lovers do to each other." Nope! Leni ced her hands on his face, pushing it away, unwilling to listen to his words. "Don''t you have another fruit to eat? How about you eat it and be more powerful? You know, you''ll be able to protect me better the stronger you are." "True, but I don''t want to protect your right now. I want to do something else, something with a deeper meaning." Vincent licked her soft palms, sliding his tongue across the gaps in her fingers, and licked them clean. Leni jerked pressed underneath him and took her hands away from him while yelling out the words, my hands are dirty, you pervert! "They aren''t dirty, not even a single bit. They tasted extremely delicious. I believe the rest of your body will taste the same." Vincent said, licking her neck, moving up to her ears, and nibbling them. "I want tomit to you, and perform an act that will bound us two to each other. I''d like to hold you intimately. Kiss you in ces no other man has" Vincent said huskily, whispering dirty words in her ears, making her emotions swirl out of control. He took things a bit too far and Leni ended up being unable to withstand his teasing. She transformed to her furry cat form with a puff. Vincent giggled, picked her up, and turned around,ying on the futon with the cat on top of him. Leni purred in anger before mentallymunicating her thoughts to him, each oneced with anger and frustration. Vincent didn''t feel offended, instead he lovingly patted her and rubbed her chin, doing everything to please her. After all, he felt that her feline form voice was the most soothing melody in the universe and that she deserves a reward for having such a voice. Leni couldn''t resist the temptation of his hands, and she gave in after throwing a tantrum for a few minutes, enjoying his attention to her heart''s content. Chapter 157 - Next To The Gates Vincent woke up in the middle of the night and found Leni in his embrace. He gently put her aside and covered her with a nket in silence, making sure that he doesn''t wake her up. He then took out the remaining Divine Continent Fruit from his inventory and consumed it. It didn''t take long for the fruit to start working its wonders. The medicinal essence not only opened his second energy channel but also nourished it to maturity. ? You can now store 300 units of any type of energy in your body ? Vincent looked at the state of his body, and seeing that he still needed to unlock eight more energy channels, he took a deep breath and wondered how long it would take to open all of them. "As long as I perform well in the uing trials, I mighte across treasures such as this one, or I might get something that helps a person open their energy channels at a faster rate. The thing is I will reach the advanced evolutionary stage once I open all my energy channels. In that stage, a person can circte energy throughout their bodies, feeding their cells, bones, and organs with purified magic power! And the more energy one feeds their body, the stronger their body bes." Vincent thought in his mind, revising the benefits of opening all energy channels. His physical capabilities will increase by leaps and bounds after he starts feeding purified energy to his body. He was already freaking strong, and he found it hard toprehend how strong he will be once he nourishes his body. Wouldn''t he be able to defeat a monster lord with physical strength alone? Or fight toe to toe with a monster beyond the Lord Realm. He stopped thinking about it, however, as he was too far away from such a goal. A few hourster, once sunlight peeked through the canopies of the trees of the forest enveloped in dense and cloudy mist and everyone woke up and had breakfast, the Purple Moon Fairy suddenly appeared above them, calling out their names for their attention. "Good morning, Challengers from Outside! It''s time for the next trial to start. This one''s far simple than thest one. You only need to prove your strength by defeating the pride and might of the Avalon Empire. Is that understood?" John raised his hands and said, "Umm, may I ask a question?" "Yes, what is it?" Melody asked while looking at him. "Where is it?" he said, wondering where the thing they need to defeat is. "Oh, I still haven''t summoned it, have I? Just give me a moment!" An instant after saying those words, Melody took out a scroll from her hand and released it, letting it drop to the ground. The moment the magic scroll touched the ground, it turned into specks of green light. These specks seeped inside the ground, vanishing from their sights. They then felt the ground below their feet trembling violently before they saw wooden branches bursting out of the ground with a loud bam. The wooden branches were as thick as a tree, and they stretched upwards, reaching five meters in length. The branches then intertwined into one being, taking the shape of a humongous creature that was three times the size of an average person. It looked like a golem, one made out of woods, and once could see a lot of magical symbols on its body. Melody extended her hands towards it and eximed, "I present to you, the Mighty Magic Golem! You need to fight and defeat it. Otherwise, you won''t gain the right to enter my master''s castle." Vincent licked his lips as he used the appraisal spell matrix to appraise the golem, trying to know his enemy before the battle. ?Mighty Magic Golem? [Type: Special Grade Magic Scroll State: Suppressed Strength: 180 (280) Speed: 90 (210) Stamina: 300 (800) Mana: 1800 (3000) HP: 1800/1800 Weakness: It dies once all of its Mana depletes. Magic Matrix: Wood Bending] Vincent felt his heart trembling in excitement and horror. He was horrified to know that the golem strength is actually above his although it is suppressed. Simrly, he was feeling excited at the mere thought of fighting it. "We need to fight that?" John said, mouth agape and eyes threatening to pop out of their sockets. The thing didn''t only look huge and strong, but merely looking at it overwhelmed and overpowered his entire being. Seeing that, Iris ced her hand on his shoulder, and John turned to look at her, only to see her giving him a look that said that everything will work out someway. "This thing looks damn strong! My blood''s boiling for battle!" Nevis felt goosebumps rising all over his body, but he felt equally excited. He was itching to fight the "Any rewards?" Varth asked. "Oh, yes! There are plenty of rewards forpleting this trial. What they are though you will only know after defeating it. Am I forgetting something? Ah yes, onest thing before the trial starts! The one who deals the most damage to it will get to be the biggest contributor. The one with the most contribution gets to take a reward before the others. That means you can choose the best reward out of all, leaving lesser ones to the other." "We understand. Fairy, please start the trial." Vincent said, urging the fairy to keep her words little. "Good Luck! The trial starts after three seconds." The moment the countdown ended, the golem raised its hands and pointed it towards them. Simultaneously, one of the magic symbols on its body glowed dimly. Then, they only saw dozens of sharp spikes manifesting around it before shooting towards them at an incredible speed. WHOOSH The spikes sted towards them, moving so fast that they reached next to them in the blink of an eye. Varth was fast enough to pull the demon trigger and destroy the spike heading towards him midway, but not the others. Not just Leni and John, but even Iris and Nevis weren''t able to react in time, unable to dodge it. Their eyes opened wide in horror as they felt this is going to be the end of them. It was at this moment that waves of blood burst forth from Vincent''s back, stretching outwards and solidifying into the shape of animal tails that grabbed the end of the gigantic spikes. The four horrified souls saw that somehow Vincent managed to stop the spikes just an inch away from their bodies and Iris dropped to her knees, shocked out of her senses. "Snap out of it up and fight back! Don''t give it a chance to use its magic matrix or else it won''t end well for us!" Vincent shouted at the top of his lungs, immediately focusing more on the battle. Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh His tails yanked the spikes towards the humongous golems as he moved towards it. Varth also pulled the demon triggers twelve times in a second, shooting a round of demonic bullet towards it. Leni, on the other hand, got pulled back to her senses after hearing Vincent''s shout, and she activated her ability. Her eyes brightened up in a silvery moonlight as weapons made out of ice manifested around her. Then, as if a humongous force smashed into them, all of the weapons burst forth towards the golem, reaching it before the bullets. The golem wasn''t able to react to it. It was too slow to do anything against Leni''s ferocious attack. Ice weapons crashed on its body, making it lose its bnce. The bullet then crashed on its body, tilting it backwards. And then the spikes crashed on its body, tilting it even further. John''s eyes and Iris''s eyes brightened in joy as they believed that taking down the golem will be easier once it falls on its back. BAM However, it stomped its foot heavily on the ground, regaining its bnce. Vincent moved towards it and the crimson swords in his hands gleamed with a strong thirst for blood. He was aiming for the Golem''s weakness, the magic core within its body. The golem could feel his killing intent and knew it wouldn''t end well for it if he allows this person to get close to it. The magic symbols on its body glowed once again, this time it activated two magic techniques. One created a shield that blocked the second wave of ranged attacks thrown by Leni and Varth. The other created weapons and hurled them at Vincent. Vincent moved to the left and jumped to the right as he dodged the sharp weapons descending from above him. The weapons missed him by a hair''s breadth, prating the ground a step behind him. It only took a few seconds for him to dodge all the weapons thrown his way and reach a few steps away from it. At the very moment, one of its hands balled into a fist and sted towards Vincent. His vision darkened as the shadow of the gigantic fist epassed his entire being. However, he fearlessly charged forward with his body lowered, moving at full speed towards his death. Just when the fist was a few inches above his head, he stomped his foot on the ground, jumping to his right. BAM Chapter 158 - Too Much! The ones attacking from a range only saw the golem fist crashing down on Vincent and striking the ground, resulting in a loud booming sound. The ground shook and trembled as its humongous fistnded on it. Cracks spread to their feet, the earth splitting open, and they jumped to the side to avoid falling in it. After saving themselves, the expression on most of their faces was priceless. It seemed like Leni and the others close to Vincent almost has their heart leaping out of their mouth, worried that he got crushed by the attack. However, their worries vanished from their heart as they only saw a rough dirt crater marred with grass and nts when the golem lifted its fist. There was no sign of blood, meaning Vincent had somehow escaped at the veryst second. He dodged the great?! That''s great! At least that''s what the humans and demi-humans thought. "That''s not good!" The Mighty Magic Golem, who had sentience and was actually sentient, thought in its mind, bewildered at the sudden disappearance of the challenger it must crush. Where had Vincent gone? The others also didn''t know where he had suddenly disappeared to. One moment he was in their sight and now he was nowhere to be found. Although bewildered at the mysteriousness of the current situation, Leni and Varth kept on attacking the magic golem. They couldn''t help it. Letting it scot-free meant their death, after all. The golem was awfully powerful to their dismay. There was no use denying it. Their attacks weren''t even touching it. Their attacks crashed on its emerald shield, but the defense of its magical shield was too strong. The attacks barely made a dent on it. "Attack its shield in the same part as me!" Varth said out loud, telling Leni to concentrate on the dented area of its magical shield. "Alright," she said as ice spears rotated around her, visibly chilling the surrounding. Then, they shoot towards the shield, crashing on the dented area. After attacking dozens of times, they barely managed to make a hole in its shield. "Fire in the hole," Varthmanded, and at the same time, pulled his demon trigger. The bullets passed into the shield through the hole and shoot towards the golem. The golem scratched its head, still confused at the sudden disappearance of Vincent. The most confusing part of the situation was that it couldn''t sense him. It had special sensory features and could sense the vitality of any living being within a hundred-kilometer radius. However, it couldn''t find Vincent. It was almost as if he had died, resulting in his vitality vanishing. Yet, it clearly didn''t saw Vincent''s body in the crater, meaning he escaped its attack. The purple fairy Melody, who was watching this trial from her room and eating popcorn, was equally confused at the bizarreness of this situation. How can every trace of a person disappear from the Mysterious Violet Forest in the blink of an eye? She didn''t know and honestly, she was shocked to her very core. The situation was simply inconceivable. It wasn''t just for her, but also the magic golem. It shook its head, however, kicking the confusion out of its mind, and turned off its sensory magic technique to reserve its mana after bullets crashed on its wooden body, bursting apart half its arm. Gah! It roared at the top of its lungs as it turned to look at the remaining challenges, showing them the murderous intent glinting in its emerald eyes. Then it charged towards them, causing booming sounds and making thend tremble. "Split up and use the trees as your cover!" A voice sounded in their ears, telling them to start moving their butts. The other ran towards safety, running away from the giant golem. Leni and Varth, the only ones who could attack it from afar, hurled numerous attacks at it. However, as they were running away from it and their backs were turned towards it, only a few of their attacksnded on it. The golem clearly enraged didn''t notice a person suddenly appearing behind it. The said person stomped his right foot on the ground and jumped towards it back in silence. No words were said out loud as hended on its body, and not even the sound of a person''s feet stomping on the ground andnding on a wooden surface came out. Everything happened too silently, too suddenly, and too stealthily. "Blood Gear: Asura''s Six Devilish Arms." An instant after Vincent activated his second blood gear, blood burst out of his back and took the shape ofrge crimson tentacles with sharp triangr ends. He flexed his body, immediately yanking the tentacles towards its back. The magic golem didn''t even notice his existence, so how could it dodge his attack? Swish, Swish! The tentacle stabbed through its wooden surface, prating deep into its body, searching for its core. Gah! The golem felt undeniable pain flowing into its consciousness, overriding all other emotions and feelings it possess. However, an instantter, it tasted the emotion of fear and a sense of dread. It could feel its impending doom as the tentacles inched closer to its magic core. It immediately fought for its life, going absolutely berserk. After all, even rabbits fight their predators once they are cornered and death is upon them. It activated its magical sensing magic technique and identified a person on its back. It smashed its fist on its back, hoping to hit the person on its back. However, how could Vincent allow him to fall prey to its back? He moved to the left and then hopped to the right, easily evading all of its punches. At the same time, his tentacles drilled further into its body. The golem, who was fearing for its life, used every bit of its brain cells toe with a grand n to save its lives. It used its magic technique to transform parts of the wooden flesh on its back into wooden tentacles. These wooden tentacles shoot towards Vincent''s blood tentacle, viciously clutching them in a tight hold and yanking them out of its body. Taken by surprise, he too was yanked away from its back. However, he immediately spun around and shoot out a dozen more tentacles towards its back. ? Blood Count: 20 units ? Vincent rejoiced as he saw the tentacle stabbing into its back. But the smile that was creeping its way to his face left in the blink of an eye. After all, the moment the tentacle stabbed into its back, the magic golem grabbed them and yanked him towards itself. At the same time, it shot a power-packing punch at him. Whoosh Vincent''s eyes opened wide as he got pushed towards its gigantic fist. He would die without a doubt, that''s what the golem and the fairy thought. Vincent scoffed at death itself, vanishing from the surface of the which housed the Mysterious Violet Forest. Bam The Golems punch hit empty air and created shock waves, resulting in waves of wind bursting outwards, smashing trees in two halves, and uprooting a lot of them. Not just the magic golem, but even the expression on the face of the beautiful fairy residing in a small room of the castle immediately changed. The smugness on their faces disappeared. Eyes threatening to pop out of their sockets with their jaws dropping to the ground reced their overconfident expression. How did he suddenly disappeared from this ce once again? How the hell is this possible? Who the hell is he? Where the hell did he disappear to? Simply inconceivable! "Could it be that he has some kind of mysterious teleportation powers? No! That can''t be! There is no way he can escape my senses in this ce. I am the guardian of my master''s tomb. And I can everything going here. So there''s no way he can escape my senses. What a mysterious guy! If I was a thousand years younger, I would have kidnapped him and forced him to give me a child! Ha, ha, ha, what am I even thinking about." The Fairy blushed hard and harder. She couldn''t help it. She had always taken a liking to mysterious and pale guys. Not the ghostly and sickly pale guys, but ones with shiny pale skin like Vincent. ? Blood Count: 50/50 Vincent, on the other hand, hurriedly chugged a few mouthfuls of purified monster''s blood, restoring his blood count to fifty units. Then, he performed a few hand signs, activating the mana bullet magic technique before popping out of the subspace. The fairy and the giant golem got shocked out of their wits when they saw Vincent suddenly appearing in the same ce from where he mysteriously disappeared. BAM Vincent immediately sted a mana bullet towards the center of its center, taking the magic golem by surprise. It couldn''t even put up a singleyer of defense before the bullet crashed on its chest and sted it open. A big hole was made in the center of its chest. That''s just how powerful a bullet made out of mana was inparison to a bullet made out of magic power. The magic golem, however, still remained standing even after its chest got sted into smithereens. "Damn! Guess I was wrong. Its magic core isn''t located in its chest but somewhere else. Just where could it be? And where are the others? Did they run away?" Vincent gritted his teeth, taking a jump backward as he evaded the wooden spikesing towards him. Just at that very moment, a voice sounded in his ears. Chapter 159 - Defeating The Golem! "Guys! Rain down attacks on its body while Vincent is keeping it busy. This is the best time for us to take it out. Don''t hold back, and give it yours all. You guys, too! If you have any offensive magic scrolls or other ranged offensive items, then now is the time to use them!" "Attack!" Following Varth''s instructions, Leni conjured a hurricane of ice shards using her ice and telekinesis ability, letting them sweep across the grassy field and attack the Magic Golem from every single direction. While Iris activated dozens of fire magic scrolls, choosing the wooden golem as her target. Vincent saw a flurry of attacksing towards him and the magic golem, making him feel dread. He immediately disappeared from the face of the world, entering his haven. The magic golem, however, had no way of escaping Leni''s and Iris''s assault. ARG! Many ice shards prated deep into its body, but some of them chopped off the surface of its body, revealing the condensation of a blue type of energy thatid beneath its surface. Don''t want to die here! Don''t want to fail! Mustplete the task Master Melody gave me! The magic golem wasn''t ready to die. It was far from such thoughts. It needed toplete the task its master and created have given it, no matter how painful it is or how painful it bes. The emerald fire in its wide eye sockets burned ferociously as it activated its magic matrix to convert its mana into woods. In an instant, the magic matrix sucked five hundred units of mana from its body, converting it into five thousand wooden branches, each 5-meters wide and ten meters tall. It opened its mouth, releasing a suction force, and hurried to consume those wooden nks and heal itself. It was at this point, BAM BAM BAM A lot of fire attacksnded on its body and the wooden nks it just conjured using its magic matrix. UGH The fire arrows shattered through the wooden nks and stabbed into its body, setting it on fire. The spears made out of fire swept across the air, creating a zing inferno, setting the wooden nks on fire, ending all of its chances of regenerating itself back to the peak. The chains of fire wrapped themselves around its limbs, setting them on fire, intent on consuming them to immobilize it. The poor magic golem felt itself crumbling apart and opened its mouth wider than before, desperately trying to consume the wooden nks falling from above its head. However, at that very moment, Varth''s battle suit finished processing the dark energy crystal, channeling dark energy into the Seven Swords of Night magic technique. A sword as dark as the veil of the night manifested next to him, and he grabbed it tightly, clutching it into his hand. "Bring an end to this battle! Seven deadly swords!" Varth said as he brandished the dark sword, releasing it from his hand. Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh As soon as the ck sword left his hand, it split into seven swords, and each sword cut through the air, making whistling sounds as they shoot towards the magic golem. The swords seemed like shooting stars to the golem''s eyes as they moved so fast that it could only see a trial of ck in the white mist, and before it knew it, they prated deep into its core, destabilizing its mana flow. The golem howled in pain, feeling the worst pain in its life. Mana wasn''t only its source of power but also its life. It was the very thing that made it up. It was the essence of life and also its soul. It getting damaged felt horrendously painful, making it cry out for dear life. Nevertheless, the magic golem didn''t die. It wasn''t willing to be defeated by a bunch of people who were still wet behind the ears. Although its power was sealed, it was still a special-grade magic scroll. It had its pride and also wanted to fulfill its responsibilities. Fairy Melody has sternly instructed it to not let the Challenger from outside seed in this trial. Otherwise, these outsiders will get their hand on the treasures of Roselia, something that neither it or the fairy wanted to see. If possible, they wanted outsiders to never visit Roselia''s resting ce or disturb her rest. However, they were loyal to their master, so loyal that they followed herst will word to word. And let peoplee to challenge her trials as they wish. But a lot of them used their master items tomit evil deeds, instead of doing good. The actions of the challengers in the past have indeed made them disappointed and deep down they know that they were resentful to the Challengers, who were nothing before they passed a few of Roselia''s trials and got some of her powerful items. They wanted to stop others froming here, however, they didn''t want to disobey their master. Thus, they came to an agreement that they will follow Roselia''s will word to word but make the trials more challenging than before, so that only a few would be able to pass them and get life and destiny-changing items. ''They still aren''t worthy. ''No! ''I won''t consider them worthy until I fight them to the bitter end. ''Until myst breath. ''Let''s see if they can take on my most powerful move and still make it out alive. ''If they can, then they are undoubtedly worthy enough to enter the castle and challenge the next trial.'' The Mighty Magic Golem thought as it poured seven hundred units of mana into its magic matrix, leaving itself with only a single unit in order to activate the most powerful magic it could use in its deeply wounded and exhausted state. The light of might began to spread out from its body. Then, the several challengers saw an awe-inspiring, majestic, and incorporeal brown hue manifesting around its body, splitting into several dozens of parts, each taking the shape of a profound inscription made up of seven dozen inscription patterns. These inscriptions cascaded to the grassy ground before spreading a few meters long and a few meters wide, taking circr shapes. It was at that moment that the flow of wind in the mysterious violet frozepletely. The trees and the ground began to tremble as the circles lit up in bright green glows. Spirit Summoning Magic: Rise of the grass golem! Out of these circles, several dozen golems made out of grass came out and every one of them was the size of an average human. The golemmanded them to take defeat the challengers. They followed itsmand and charged towards the challenger. Midway towards them, grass swirled around their hands, taking the shape of ance with a sharp pointy edge. "Guys, it''s on itsst leg. It''s probably using them to bide for time. Maybe it''s nning to regenerate or it''s just pulling our legs. No matter what, just keep on attacking. Defeat the golems and them aim for it!" Varth said at the top of his lungs, shooting a few of the grass golem down to the ground. His demonic bullets were no joke, a single one didn''t only st half a grass golem to smithereens but also killed the ones behind it. A single shot was all it took to take down seven out of the sixty grass golems. "It''s our turn to shine." Nevis and John joined the fray, fighting the grass golem in closebat. Nevis used his hands as his weapons, sometimes using them as swords to chop the enemies in half, and sometimes using them as a shield to block the enemynce. John, on the other hand, has taken a liking to daggers and they proved to be extremely useful in this situation. He just needed to evade thence stabs and close into the enemies to deal the finishing blow. Leni was too tired and she didn''t have a lot of magic power in her heart, but she still tried to assist the others to the best of her ability. Iris seemed to havee prepared The grass golems seemed like paper tigers as they fell under the beautiful power of friendly Not! It was the power of teamwork. However, many more grass golems popped out of the circle. They once again brawled it out with them. It seemed like a loop! "It should be about time for the curse of the seven swords to activate." Varth thought in his mind while looking at the Mighty Magic Golem trying to shake Vincent off of him. While all of this was going on one side of the battlefield, the Mighty Magic Golem had its hand full dealing with Vincent on the other side, "Please just ept your defeat," Vincent spoke in a polite voice. He was able to feel the determination and will of the Magic Golem. Its determination to stop them. Its will to know if they are worthy to enter the castle and the resting ce of its master or not. He respected the golem for that. However, he needed to enter her resting ce for various reasons of his own. His reasons weren''t righteous, but they weren''t evil either. ''Defeat me by shattering my magic core and I will!'' The Mighty Magic Golem Conveyed its thoughts through its action. It mmed its body into the castle gates and then onto the ground, trying to shake Vincent off of him. However, Vincent stuck to it like a leech sucking human blood. Nevertheless, he was having a hard time bncing himself, let alonend the finishing blow on its body. Suddenly, the curse of the seven swords of night came to fruition, and chains of darkness bust forth from their hilts, seeping into the depth of the golem''s mana flow, sealing all of its movement. "Now''s the time!" Vincent used his crimson swords to chop his way towards the golem''s weakness; its magic core. The magic core of the golem only had a single unit of mana left on it, but this single unit was keeping it alive. But it will lose it the moment its magic core is destroyed, signifying the end of its life. After slicing at its body for a good three minutes, Vincent came face to face with its emerald magic core. Without any hesitation, he brandishes his words,nding two shes on its magic core, slicing them into three parts, butchering it like a pig. The magic golem dropped to the ground with a dull thud, the emerald mes burning in its eye socket and inside of its emerald eyes vanished, disappearing into a puff of green smoke. The moment it died, the circles on the ground also lost their shines and the grass golem also fell to the ground. Chapter 160 - A Step Inside Defeating the golem came with many benefits. Ones that were immediate. Its body had turned into a special magic scroll, a magic matrix, a sheet containingplex inscription patterns, and a brown magic core. These items were hovering above the ground and a barrier enclosed them inside of itself. "I hate to say this, but congrattions for defeating the might and pride of the Avalon Empire. You''vepleted the Second Entrance Trial. The items in front of you are the rewards of this trial. "By her will, I will let you divide them amongst yourself ording to the contribution you made in the battle against the golem. The highest contributor gets to pick whatever he wants from the several rewards first. And only after him, can the second-highest contributor pick an item as their reward. And so on. "I hope you follow this rule word to word, or else don''t me me for being ruthless." The Purple Fairy Melody suddenly appeared in front of them and spoke a few words of congrattions in a bitter voice. "Well then, who is the highest contributor?" One of them asked while looking at her. "I will start announcing your name, starting from the highest contributor to the lowest. So, listen well!" "First ce: Vincent Sangue!" "Second ce: Varth." "Third ce: Leni." "Fourth ce: Iris." "Fifth ce: Nevis." "Sixth ce: John." Vincent, who happened to have made the most contributions in the battle against the golem, got to pick up a reward from himself before the others. Nevis stepped close to him in a hurry, and said, "Do you remember our deal?" "Yeah," Vincent said in a calm voice, looking at him in silence. "It''s time to uphold your words," Nevis said, telling Vincent that the time to repay him for the Divine Continent Fruit hase. Vincent took a deep breath and said, "Which one do you need?" Nevis pointed at the circr seal in the center of the items and said, "Please get the magic matrix for me." "Alright," Vincent said without even a single sign of reluctance on his face. He turned to the little fairy, pointed at the Magic Matrix, and said, "I would like to take that as my reward." "As you wish." As soon as she finished saying those words, the energy bubble around the seal broke. Then, the seal floated towards Vincent andnded on the palm of one of his hands. Vincent looked at it and saw its details. [Item Name: Wood Magic Seal Type: Magic Matrix Description: A unique item crafted by the soul and the flesh of an ancient human of the year 2XXX. This item can integrate with the flesh of any person, allowing them to use wood magic. A person only needs to pour energy into it in order to conjure and manipte woods. The more energy a person channels into it, the more powerful attack they can conjure.] This was undoubtedly the most mysterious and powerful item Vincent has evere across in his life. He would like to have it. However, he knew that Nevis needed it more than himself. "As promised, it''s yours," Vincent said as he handed over the seal to Nevis. "Thank you, Buddy!" Nevis hugged him in excitement. Vincent pushed him away from himself and said, "With this, our deales to an end." After his turn, the other also picked up their rewards Varth chose the magic core made out of condensed wood energy. Leni picked up the sheet withplicated inscription patterns and gave it to Vincent. Iris took the weary magic scroll and gave it to John. "Alright, now you may enter the castle," Melody said as she snapped her fingers and the gate of the castle creaked open. "Let''s go." A moment after all of them entered the dimly lit castle, the gate closed shut with a loud bam. Then, a familiar voice sounded in their ears. "Roam around this ce as you like, but beware of the dangers that lie within. Each cees with a problem of its own. Solve them using intellect or brutal force, and you will inch closer to the next trial ground. Good luck!" They talked a bit with each other, trying toe up with the best way to reach the next trial ground. Iris raised her hand and said, "I know of one. The legend in a book I once read said that the inheritance trial in the castle of roses is in its center and the fastest way to reach it is to walk in a straight path. However-" "Let''s charge straight ahead." "Wait! Let her first finish her words." "Ah, my bad. I was too fired up!" "Ahem. Just like how a rose has a lot of roses, charging straight ahead means stepping on the path of thorns. It''s the most difficult path in the castle of roses, one filled with the most danger." Iris finished saying her piece, waiting for them toe to a decision. Although taking the straight path meanting across the most dangerous situations, it was still better than going around in circles, facing a lot of enemies, and exhausting themselves. They stepped on the red carpet which led straight into a big hall filled to the brim with monstrous slimes of a red color. Vincent acted as the vanguard of the group, while Varth guarded their rear. They hunted the slimes pretty easily. The slimes were known to be the nemesis of women and men alike. After all, they were parasitic creatures that could invade the body of anyone through their pores and take control of their bodies. Also, they couldn''t be harmed by physical attacks. However, with Vincent and Varth sting them away from the party and Le and Iris using ice and fire respectively to deal the finishing blow, the red slimes died one after another. Leni first frosted their bodies. Then, Iris used fire scrolls to st them to smithereens. Meanwhile, Nevis and John dealt with the ones that escaped through the gaps and tried to attack Leni and Iris. ? You''ve added others in killing several dozen monsters of the first to the tenth level of the magical realm ? ? You''ve gained several hundred experience points ? An instant after they dealt with all the slimes in the first half of the castle of roses, Vincent received a few notifications from his family heirloom. He was surprised to know that he got 700 experience points for helping others kill monsters. ''Previously, I never got any experience points for helping other kill monsters. Have the rules changed?'' Vincent wondered in his mind, standing at the helm of the group. "Phew. It took an hour but we managed to kill all of them." John said as Iris used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his face. ''These monsters were easy to kill as thebined attacks of the two women countered the entire slime race,'' Vincent thought in his mind, looking at the several dozen magic cores sprawled on the floor. "Pick up the cores they dropped! They will sell for a lot," he said. Killing these slimes was plentiful, as they got a lot of monster cores, ones filled with fire energy and magic power. These cores could be traded for a good amount of contribution points, and they decided to split the reward equally. Of course, they collected all of them in their spatial rings. [Ding! It''s detected that you have seeded in defeating the slimes of the first hall of the castle. You have earned the right to head to the second hall of the castle. Please take the portal to do so as early as you can.] A voice sounded in their ears, and at the same time, a distribution of space urred in the hall and a big portal opened in the center of the room. They didn''t step inside the portal immediately because they wanted to restore their magic energy. Furthermore, many of them were exhausted and their stamina was running low. They needed to rest or else it was hard to say how long they would be able to keep on moving. At the end of the day, they were merely humans in the early evolutionary stages and couldn''t fight long battles and move on for hours without resting. "Let''s move on after resting for a while." John decided to rest and the rest of them agreed. "Guys, I think that''s no longer a good idea," Vincent said as he motioned them to look at their surroundings. They looked around them and saw slimes respawning and filling the hall once again. "Damn! Isn''t this just forcing us to continue without resting for even a moment!" The slimes came hopping towards them in order to harm them. "What do we do? Fight or flight?" "I would love to farm the hell out of them, but we don''t have stamina, resources, or time to do such a thing. Am I right?" "Yes, I only have around twenty fire magic scrolls left with me. I don''t think we can face another wave of these monsters." "Guess we have no choice but to make a run for it." "Let''s go!" They didn''t want to enter another brawl with the slimes, so they decided to jump into the portal. Their vision blurred after they entered the portal made out of swirling dark energy; however, rity returned to their eyes after a moment, and they found themselves in a ce brightened by a thousand of bright lighting out of round orbs. Vincent''s eyes opened wide as he realized that these were mere sources of light. "No. These aren''t orbs. They are monsters." They were surrounded by thousands of monsters! Chapter 161 - Wheel Of Mystery!!! The second hall of rose was eerily quiet and lit up with thousands of round light blobs. Each of these lights represented a monster. They were horrified to know that so many monsters surrounded them. "Be on your guard." Without thinking what these creatures might be, they summoned their weapons and grasped them in their hands vigntly, ready tosh out at any creature thates near them. Some of them were about to brandish their weapons; however, Vincent held them back instantly. "Why are you stopping us?" John said in a bewildered voice, unable to understand why Vincent had stopped them from attacking the monsters in their surroundings. "We need to lessen their numbers before they start to attack us," Varth said, ready to pull the demon trigger at any time. "Offense is the best defense. Let''s attack!" Nevis said a bit too loud, signifying that habits were hard to kill. Vincent shook his head and said, "Guys, stop panicking and look at them carefully. They are ignis fatuus. A type of creature that doesn''t harm others unless first threatened. Moreover, if even a single one of them feels threatened, then they all group up to end the threat. And yeah, we will be fighting all of them if you guys don''t lower your killing intent soon. So, hurry up and pull back your weapons." The glowing blobs were the creatures mentioned only in elven myth and in the tales of the Avalon Empire. They were Will-O''-The-Wisp, creatures that are said to be the mindless manifestation of fallen souls. They aren''t evil, but they are not good either. They don''t help or harm others and are neutral to all kinds. However, once someone hurts their own, they do everything in their power to hunt down that person. They can use their energy to attack others with attacks made out of energy. Nevertheless, as they are the manifestation of energy itself, they die once they end up using all their energy. Except for that, they have no weak points and a person can''t kill them by magical or physical attacks. Of course, Vincent came to find out about all this information by using his appraisal spell matrix, otherwise there''s no way that he would have ever known that these monsters are basically harmless and also the clue to solve the second hall of rose. "You sure?" Leni grabbed the back of his shirt and asked in a low and almost scared voice. For some reason, she felt scared to be in this ce. The feeling of dread amplified when she looked at the blobs of lights. She didn''t know what''s wrong with her, but shes of an unknown ce with a simr surrounding popped up in her mind the moment she looked at the ignis fatuus. Vincent, on the other hand, could see the sweat on her forehead, the fear in her eyes, and hear the thumping sound of her rapidly beating heart. She is horrified to be here. But what has scared her? Vincent didn''t know what has scared her to such a state, but he cared less about that and cared more about calming her down. "Trust me on this." He pulled her closer to himself, providing her with the warmth and the self of security she needed the most right now to calm down. The people around them looked at the two lovey-dovey couples with eyes twitching in annoyance. For god sake, this is not the time nor the ce for public disy of love! And why is this making us like they are feeding us vinegar and dog food?! "Ahem! What should we do now?" Varth asked. "We only need to move ahead without directing any ill will or killing intent towards them. They will naturally move out of the way and create a path for us. The way out of this ce might very well be at the end of the path opened by these creatures." Vincent said before he moved ahead of the others with Leni. As they went ahead of the others and inched closer to the wisps of lights, they moved out of their way to make a path to the center of this ce. The eyes of his teammates opened wide in surprise as they saw that the wisps really did move out of their way, just as he said that would. "It''s just as you said. Wonderful!" Iris eximed in happiness. "Guess we were panicking for no reason." Nevis rubbed the back of his head and felt anxiousness leaving his body. "Be quiet and move ahead with vignce. Don''t step on them, otherwise we would need to fight all of them." Vincent said, telling them to move stealthily and silently. Iris felt rxed to see that the monster has moved out of their way without a fight. She didn''t want to kill anyone, not even these creatures, and so it felt great to know that she didn''t need to kill them. The only reason she attacked, hurt, and killed the monsters on the way here was John. She was willing to stain her hands with the blood of the living to help him get the fruit of life. ''After all, he means a lot to me, even though he had forgotten everything about me. It''s all because of him! Well, no. I can''t me him for what happened. He sealed our memories for our own good. Our childhood would''ve been destroyed if we lived it with the memories of that event in our mind. Even the few glimpses I''ve seen scared me down to the bones and broke me mentally. It was good that grandma healed me back to my feet. Otherwise, I would have lived my life like a mentally ill person.'' Iris Twilight thought in her mind, recalling the shes of the sealed memories she had seen with the help of her seniors. The tidbits of the memories that a powerful existence had sealed in the deepest corner of her mind showed a few unimaginable and horrifying things, and in that horror, her only ray of light was a demihuman boy called John. John looked at her and saw that she was walking in a daze, and in her daze, she was about to step on a wisp! He hurriedly yanked her away from it and pulled her towards himself. Iris yelped in shock as she crashed on his sturdy chest. Iris felt as if her head has smashed on a rock and it felt painful enough to force tears into her eyes. She raised her head to look at him with teary eyes and said, "What was that for." "Sorry, I didn''t mean to, but you were about to almost step on a wisp," John said in a hurry, feeling bad to see the redness on her face and the tears in her eyes. Realizing that he has saved her and the others from a lot of trouble, Iris felt apologetic and thanked him for stopping her. "If you are feeling scared, you can grab my hand." John offered her his hand, and Iris dly epted it while beaming a smile towards him. The deeper they head inside into the endless second hall of rose, the more the unease in Leni''s heart grew. She felt as if something terrifying was trying to creep up into her mind. But she didn''t know what it is. However, the mere presence of this feeling was forcing her to broke down in tears. She trembled and Vincent felt her shoulder twitching. "We will get out of this ce soon. I can already see the end." Vincent said to calm Leni down and he also pushed her closer to him, cing his hand on the back of her head, and she buried her face in the crook of his neck, breathing in his familiar scent. "Sorry for troubling you," she said in a low voice, but he could hear it because of his sharpened senses. "No problem." Vincent knew that she has be his responsibility the moment she epted to be his woman. So, he didn''t mind looking after her and cared for her to the best of his abilities. As they moved deeper into this ce, the glows in their surroundings lessened. Soon, darkness enveloped their vision, and only a few round glowing lights could be seen flickering in and out of this darkness. "Hey buddies, are you all still here?" Nevis asked in a shaky voice as he felt scared to be blinded by this darkness. He couldn''t even see that the others were around him. "Yeah, but I can''t see anyone!" Varth replied, equally blinded by the darkness. "Let''s say our name and hold each other hands so that we know that all of us are together," Iris said her peace of mind, and everyone agreed. Soon, they walked deeper into the darkness while holding each other hands. "Are we on the right path?" John asked after a moment. "Yes, I can see a portal that will lead us out of this ce. It is only several meters away from us," Vincent replied in a calm voice. "How can you even see in this darkness?" Nevis asked in a shocked voice. Vincent replied with three words, "Innate racial trait." His reply made sense to them but also forced Varth to wonder what kind of demihuman Vincent really is. He has never been such a rare demihuman in his life, so he couldn''t tell his race. Vincent, on the other hand, could see in the dark, but his eyes weren''t strong enough to see inplete darkness. He was able to project a map of this ce by using his energy sense spell matrix though and that told him that there was a portal in the center of this darkness. Chapter 162 - The Second Last Trial Vincent led them to the heart of the room of darkness. As they reached closer to it, a distortion of space urred. A gap opened in front of them, and it grew bigger and bigger until it was big enough for them to pass through it. After passing through it, they arrived at an unfamiliar ce. It waspletely dark, and they couldn''t see anything around them. They took out their weapons, ready to reply to any sudden attack. While doing that, one of them asked Vincent whether or not there is an enemy in their vicinity. Vincent used the heirloom''s energy-sense spell matrix to instantly get a better view of his surroundings, and seeing that there was no one except for his teammates in this ce, he assured them by saying that there is no enemy in his sight. "Let''s get a move on. Maybe we wille across something like a clue or a path that leads to the next inheritance trial." Vincent said to them. "Alright," they nodded their heads, agreeing with his words. "Buddy, how did you even know about those creatures? And why were you so sure that they won''t attack us?" After a moment, Nevis asked to satisfy his curiosity. "I have been visiting the library of the military academy quite often. You know, there are many books on monsters in that ce. I read a bunch and came across them in one of them." Vincent said in a calm voice, lying through his teeth. It''s not like he could tell them about his heirloom and the spell matrix that allows him to appraise not only items but also people who are in the range of his vision. Why? His heirloom was undoubtedly a treasured item that others would covert once theye to know about it. Even if his teammates were to have no ill intentions, there''s no guarantee that they won''t incidentally leak it to other people who are bound to show greed and aim for his life to get the heirloom of his family. That''s why he hasn''t told anyone about it in the past, and he also has no intention of telling anyone about it in the present and the future. If possible, Vincent wanted to take this secret to his grave. They moved ahead for a while and all of a sudden, glowing blobs of emerald lights manifested around them, vanquishing the darkness around them. They finally were able to make out their surroundings. It was a grand hall as big as a football field and there were entrances to it. They found themselves standing in the middle of this ce. "Congrattions for reaching the secondst inheritance ground!" Purple Fairy Melody suddenly appeared above their heads and said those words loudly, and she continued to say, "You''ve passed through a lot of hurdles to reach here, and now you only need to pass two more trials to take whatever you like from the castle Treasure Hall. Right now, I am about to begin the secondst trial. Are you ready to hear the details of it, or would you like to rest first?" The Fairy wasn''t acting merciless and cruel this time around and even gave them a chance to rx and rest. Undoubtedly, they were tired and wanted to rest. So, they told her that they wanted to challenge the trial after resting for some hours. "Well then, I will return after five hours. I hope all of you''re ready by then. The next trial is going to be the hardest one you will face in this ce." She said to them with a mysterious smile gracing the corners of her lips, and then before they could even say a word, she vanished from their sights in a puff of smoke. "Let''s recover our magic power and stamina and relief ourselves from fatigue," Vincent said. He and the others sat down on the ground and pulled out a few stones with magic power inside of them. They were low on energy and needed to restore it. Normally, a person, who can absorb energy into their bodies, breathes the magic power present in nature into their heart to restore magic power. It''s known to be the universal and the most simplest method, but there has to be magic energy present in order for this method to work. However, in this ce, magic power wasn''t present in nature. They needed to extract the energy inside the rocks to restore it. Some hourster, once Vincent was done converting all his magic power into mana and the others had rested well enough to restore their stamina, Iris hurried to hand over a few important things to her teammates. "These are magic power elixirs and mana pills. Once you consume the first one, you will restore ten units of magic power every few seconds for five minutes. It can be used three times a day. Anymore more than that, and there is a high chance to face a bacsh. The second one instantly pours fifty units of mana into one''s heart. As you might have not already heard about it, mana is a purified version of magic power and is ten times stronger. You can use it to activate powerful abilities but there''s a bacsh of doing that. So only use them when we are in dire need of help." Iris exined to them. The strength of a person''s supernatural cells is determined by the parents they are born to or the evolution materials they eat to possess them. Channeling mana into weak supernatural cells means overloading them, and this leads to the manifestation of an overwhelming and powerful attack in the world, but also the disintegration of one''s cell. Once a certain number of supernatural cells vaporize, a person loses their ability! They can regain it, however, by consuming the evolution materials. "We understand." They epted it from her and stored them in their spatial devices. If they face a deadly situation, then using this method to fend it off was far better than facing their end at the hands of monsters. Right when five hours went by, the fairy appeared in the wide hall once again, and this time she didn''t waste any time in order to immediately start the trial. "In this trial, you will be facing waves after waves of monsters! The ones that only the wise and the strong can defeat. Without knowledge, facing them is bound to be your doom. You need to hang on for twelve hours or defeat all of them to conquer this trial. Well, enough said. The trial starts now!" An instant after said those words, four portals opened up in the entrances to this ce, and monsters seeped out of all of these portals. GROWWR GROWWR GROWWR They roared at the top of their lungs, intending to intimidate them before the fight, and then scampered towards them as fast as their limbs could take them. They moved on all four and looked pretty scary. They have the head of a spider, arms of a gori, and the legs of a horse. Except for that, their bodies seemed to be glimmering in some kind of crimson radiance. With a single look, Vincent came to know about their strength and weaknesses. These monsters happened to be in the seventh to the tenth level of the magical realm, but the worst part was that these monsters had an unbelievably powerful magic technique. "Guys, these monsters be a level stronger every five minutes. We will lose if we hold back. So, go full out! Do whatever it takes to kill them within five minutes of engaging them in a battle." Vincent exined to them. The eyes of his teammates opened wide as they felt surprised to see that he even knows about them. The extent of his knowledge has even caught King Wrath off guard. He has traveled to a lot of worlds and even explored them, and knew that the monsters in this castle were one of a kind, not found even in the world of Lorena. There''s no way the military academy would know about them, but whatsoever. Varth shrugged his shoulders, kicking unimportant matters to the back of his head in order to focus more on taking down the deadly beasts in front of them. "Time to go full out!" Nevis eximed in happiness as he summoned the wood seal and poured all of his magic power into it. Then, spikes of woods manifested a few inches below the ceiling and dropped to the floor. Kuh! Kuh! Kuh! The spikes impaled the monster scampering on the floor of the wide hall and nailed them into it, killing them painfully and slowly. Nevis realized that using supernatural power is the best thing in the world! The monster, on the other hand, turned to move to the sides of the spikes, dodging the bodies of their fallenrades, before charging straight to them. However, they didn''t meet a good sight and what they saw horrified them to the very core of their beings. Ice shards, crimsonnces, magical bullets, glinting dagger, and fire magic scrolls cut through the air and rained down on them. BANG Bam! BOOM Boom! Chapter 163 - Might Of The Bracelet! Their ranged attacks badly mutted the bodies of the monsters, killing them in the time it takes for a person to blink an eye. Simply shocking! An entire wave of monsters was defeated just like that, amazing Melody. Sitting in her chair and looking at them with the help of a magical crystal ball, she wondered what more surprises these youngsters will bring her. "Oh well, this is only the initial wave of monsters. More are soon toe. They still need to fight for four more hours and defeat nine more waves before they can pass this trial. "I don''t think they have what it takes to do such a challenging thing. They will end up defeated. After all, they will be unable to fight and entirely exhausted from their stamina and magic energy facing thest wave and might not be able to survive it." Purple Fairy Melody made her judgment, believing that it is nigh impossible for merely two awakened in the intermediate evolutionary stage and fourbatants in the initial evolutionary toplete this trial, but she still wanted to know how they would survive against the waves of monsters till thest wave. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she decided to watch their struggle till the end, looking at the crystal ball with an emotion of deep interest in her eyes. After defeating all the monsters that came out of the four portals, they only got a few seconds to take a breath before more monsters poured out of the portals. The category of the monsters didn''t change. However, they now needed to face two times the initial number. "Remember these monsters will gain a major boost in their strength if they remain alive in battle for more than three minutes! Charge!" "Don''t hold back." "We must defeat them within three minutes." They didn''t hold back a single bit of their powers and continuously attacked the monsters, killing them before they could even reach them. Another wave of monsters poured out of the portals, baring their fangs at them. This time, there were three hundred and ny-nine monsters. Still, Vincent and his teammates managed to fend them off for three minutes, taking out around fifty of them before the three-minute mark. "Be careful. The rest are about to go berserk." Vincent warned them as he brandished his crimson sword, chopping the head of the frenzied monster that pounced on him. He killed it in one clean motion, but by that time, several dozen other monsters have entered a hysterical state of mind, strength increasing rapidly as well as their thirst for blood. AWOOOOO AWOOOOO AWOOOOO These monsters pounced on them from all four sides, attacking them like rabid dogs. Looking at the savaged beasts pouncing towards him and Leni, Vincent''s lips thinned into a murderous smile. He raised his palms in front of him, forcing arge amount of blood to burst out of them which stretched to each side before solidifying, condensing into the shape of a wall that protected not only him, but also Leni, Varth, Iris, Nevis, and John from the pounce of many beasts. <-10 units of blood> Thud Thud Thud The monsters smashed on the crimson wall, producing a dull thud. They slid down the wall, falling on their backs, and before they even got the chance to regain their bearings, Vincent crashed the crimson wall on top of them, crushing their bones and destroying their hearts. "Don''t panic, stick together with each other, and focus on the enemies in front of you and on your sides. Leave your backs to me. I will clean this side by myself, and once I am done with them, I will return to help you." Vincent said out loud, confidence flowing out of his eyes. "You seriously going to take one-fourth of the monster all by yourself?" "Are you serious?!" "We should fight together. Don''t put yourself at unnecessary risk. Alright?" Vincent''s teammates felt shocked out of their wits, finding it hard to believe that he is daring to take on one-fourth of the total monsters by himself, but when they saw him taking a few steps away from them and towards the monsters, they couldn''t help but persuade him to stick with them. However, Vincent didn''t stop stepping away from them, and he said in a calm voice, "Trust me and just do as I said!" They tried to persuade him, especially Leni, but he didn''t listen to them and charged towards the monsters. His demeanor changed entirely as he summoned the aqua blue and inky, ck daggers from his spatial ring, clutching them in his hands. He then infused thirty units of his battle energy with his legs, utilizing a transcendent-gradebat technique to increase the strength of his legs as well as his speed. "Here Ie." He muttered under his breath before stomping his right foot on the ground, sting himself into the ranks of the enemy, engaging them in closebat. Seven beasts immediately pounced towards him, attacking him from all four sides, leaving him with not even a single way to safety. Their attacks merelynded on his afterimage, and it was also fooled them into thinking that they got him. Of course, Vincent wasn''t a man good enough to rify the misunderstanding of the monsters. He took the chance to end their lives. DIE His afterimage vanished as he appeared behind their back, and he then brandished his swords, chopping their heads off their necks, reaping their lives where he stood. By the time their bodies copsed on the ground, he was surrounded by twenty monsters. Vincent smiled, thinking that he can finally test out the special effect of the bracelet of strength. Immediately the twenty monsters attacked him, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Of course, to their surprise, Vincent didn''t move an inch. He merely uttered the keywords to activate the special effect of the bracelet of strength. Just as their threatening fangs and ws were about to harm his body, the bracelet of strength released an eerie shine. At the time, negative energy surrounded every knock and corner of his body, providing him with the best defense. The barrier of negative energy was hidden from sight by his clothes. None of the monsters and his teammates knew that his body is surrounded by a slim shield which is as strong as a thick iron te. The monsters thought that something is fishy, but it was toote for them to pull back. Their jaws snapped down on Vincent''s flesh and their ws connected with his body. Crack~~ An instantter, the cracking sound of bone-shattering apanied by the painful moans of monsters resounded in the entire hall. His teammates hurriedly smashed the monsters near them and turned to look at the source of the voice, worrying for his life, only to see that the fangs and ws of twenty monsters seemed to have shattered from biting and connecting with his body, respectively. What the hell? Just how strong is his defense?! Chapter 164 - The Devilish Butcher [You''ve been attacked by more than a dozen monsters below the tenth level of the magical realm. The negative energy barrier has absorbed all of the damage. You''ve received zero damage!] [The negative energy barrier is on the brink of destruction.] [The Bracelet of Strength is asking for permission to utilize 300 units of negative energy to restore the negative energy barrier back to its peak condition. Do you agree?] "Yes." Without a single moment of hesitation, Vincent agreed to let the bracelet restore the negative energy barrier as it was his lifeline, and he said a single word in his mind to cover his will to the bracelet, mentallymunicating with it,manding it to use around one-third of the total units of negative energy to restore the barrier. [The Bracelet of Strength has channeled 300 units of negative energy into the negative energy barrier.] The huge amount of negative energy has restored the barrier back to its peak conditions and the cracks on it disappeared without a trace. The monsterstching on his legs, chest, head, arms, and even his genital used all their strength to break the skin-like barrier but found out that they were unable to do so, and in the end, they ended up using so much strength that they losing their fangs, teeth, and even their sharp ws. Vincent smiled, feeling a weird sense of satisfaction at their demise, and he yanked a lot of monsters off his body, throwing them to the ground, the ce where they belong. The monsters whimpered in pain and fear as they stood up from the ground, carefully stepping away from Vincent. They looked at him with eyes opened so wide in fear and shock that they threatened to pop out of their sockets, and their jaws were threatening to drop to touch the ground. Furthermore, with blood seeping out of their mouths, trickling down the edges of their chin, dripping on the floor, dirtying it, they looked like abused dogs and cats that were enough to be raised by nasty owners. [The monsters are terrified of your existence. Fear has taken root in every fiber of their beings. A lot of negative energy is detected in them. Kill them to gain many units of negative energy.] Vincent''s lips thinned into a murderous smile as he stared at the monsters with a look that was overflowing with killing intent. He was going to kill them to earn experience points and also gain negative energy, a source necessary to enforce and restore the negative energy barrier. He raised one of his arms, pointing it towards therge group of monsters. The monsters felt fearful, believing that something horrifying is going toe out of his hand to do unthinkable things to them, and so they turned tail and started to ran away from him, fearing for their lives. Of course, they weren''t able to run far away from him. "You''ve attacked me once and now it''s my turn to return the favor." Vincent said out loud, smiling devilishly as arge amount of blood burst forth from his body, sting away his tattered shirt and rushing towards the monsters. While cutting throw the air with an incredible speed, they coagted, taking the shapes of think tentacles with sharp triangr ends. Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh The tentacles pass through them, moving in a zig-zag manner, suddenly creating a huge trap in the blink of an eye, and as they stepped on it, they lost their bnce and were yanked off their limbs, tripping forward and crashing headfirst on the floor, producing a dull thud, nearly cracking their skull, and receiving a severe injury on their heads, one which clouded their vision and gave them dizziness, rendering them immobilized. Puchi* Puchi* Vincent manipted the tentacles made out of his blood and connected to his body, controlling them to stand their sharp ends into the brains of the monsters. He was met with some resistance as not only their flesh were thick but their skulls were equally strong. However, he repeatedly stabbed them, creating a hole the size of an arm in their skull, and then the tentacle stabbed them again, turning their brain into a mess, killing them in a gory way. [You''ve killed many monsters in the magical realm and obtained a total of 2000 units of life force] [You''ve also obtained 400 units of negative energy] [The Bracelet of Strength has absorbed them to refill itself, and now it has a total of 1000 units of negative energy stored inside itself] [Units of Blood: 20/50] "Using blood gear sure is taxing," Vincent said under his breath as he pulled his tentacles out of their skull, causing blood to spurt out of the hole in their forehead. The tentacles went back to him and dissolved into a liquid stage, entering his body through the pores of his skin, traveling along his veins, circting towards his second heart, and getting sucked inside of it. [You''ve gained twenty units of blood] [Units of Blood: 20/50] Unlike the first blood gear that burns a lot of blood when it''s activated, the second gear only solidifies his blood into the shape of deadly tentacles no less dangerous than powerful cold weapons that he can not only stretch to more than three hundred meters but he can also reabsorb them into his bodies to refill the blood missing in his second heart. The second blood gear is undoubtedly the best way to use my blood maniption ability, Vincent thought in his mind as he stepped towards the monster cowering near the portal. These poor monsters were terrified out of their wits and couldn''t help but tremble uncontrobly. In their eyes, Vincent wasn''t a human! Rather, he was a devil made out of crimson darkness! A being that has struck fear in their hearts and rooted them to the ground. How to survive? Runaway from this ce! He stepped closer to them in a hurry, intending to finish them off as fast as he can so that he will be able to help the others, but the monsters stepped away from him as fast as they could, intending to run away from him as fast as they can, and a few of them even tried to jump into the portal to return to their homes, but a mysterious force repelled them away from the portal, throwing them towards Vincent. He brandished his sword, chopping them in two halves, instantly obtaining hundreds of units of life force. "Since you''ve alle to this ce to kill us, I''ll make sure that you stay here till yourst breath." Vincent said smilingly, and he then rushed towards the monster, appearing next to one of them in the split of a second, and he killed it with a thrust of his dagger before stomping his foot on the ground and moving on the next one. A grand blood bath began on one side of the hall! Monsters drop to the ground one after another as Vincent ruthlessly brandished his weapons. His attacknded on their vital spots and reaped their lives in an instant. He killed a lot of them and moved on to kill the ones that were trying to avoid him. On the other side of the hall, Leni, John, Varth, Nevis, and Iris are many monsters by themselves. Most of them were aiming to take a bite out of Leni, intending to kill the most troublesome opponent first. "Hurry up and protect Le. Make a triangr formation! Stand at the edge of the triangr and let Leni stand in the center of it. I will provide you guy cover from the sides! Hurry up!" Varth shouted at the top of his lungs, telling them what to do before he rushed away from them and into a group of monsters, engaging them in closebat. He still used his guns to deal with them, but he was baiting them to attack him and kitting their attacks by using all of his focus, and also counterattacking them to reap their lives, lessening their numbers. Meanwhile, John, Nevis, and Iris followed hismand and stood around Leni, standing in different positions, making it seem like Leni was standing in the center of a triangle. The monsters pounced at them as they were in their ways. John fended them off by brandishing the melee weapon in his hand. Some monsters attacked him from the sides. However, Nevis used the power of the wood magic matrix to provide his defense just in time. The monsters took that chance to sneak attack him. Just as their ws were about tond on his body, few frost spikes impaled into the head of the monsters, forcing them away from him and also killing them. Chapter 165 - Skeleton Army While Vincent was taking care of the enemies on his side, Leni, John, Nevis, and Iris defeated several enemies by using the triangr formation. Varth, on the other hand, not only lured many monsters away from both sides but also supported them from behind the line, shooting down monsters. "Damn! My magic power is running low." Nevis said, able to determine that he only had seven units of magic power left in his body, and at the rate he was using his magic matrix, he would use it all up soon. "Switch with me," Leni said, offering up her spot to Nevis so that he would be able to recover his magic power safely. "Alright," Nevis said, epting her offer with a smile on his face. Leni hurriedly stepped out of the center of the triangle in order to stand in Nevis''s position, while Nevis leaped five feet backward to stand in the center of the triangle formation. While John, Leni, and Iris protected him, Nevis popped a pill in his mouth, letting a huge wave of energy rush down his throat and into his heart, restoring his magic energy. It only took a few moments for the pill to work its wonders and restore his magic energy. Right after, he switched ces with Leni, confronting beasts head-on. A whileter, John ran out of his battle energy, so Leni switched ces with him, while Iris gave him a battle energy recovering pill, hoping that the pill would be helpful to him in recovering his battle energy. Without any hesitation, John ate it, and as the effect of the pill was instant, he felt his battle energy restoring at a rapid phase. They kept on switching ces while fighting the monster, utilizing the triangle formation to the best of its capabilities. After a few moments, Vincent finished dealing with the monsters on his side, earning thousands of life forces, and he then moved towards his teammates, helping them kill the monsters. It didn''t take long for them to kill all the monsters in the hall, clearing the wave. The moment they killed the veryst monster, the next wave started, and skeleton poured out of the four portals. Each of the skeleton warriors held a melee weapon in their bony hand, and out of them, four particr skeletons stood out. Unlike the others who the creator has based on humans, these four skeletons were gigantic, adorned in heavy armor and holding massive swords in their hands. "At least give us some time to rest and recover our stamina," Nevisined in his heart, cursing the purple moon fairy under his breath. "Another wave of eerie monsters! What next? Are we going to tackle ghouls, vampires, zombies, and wrath after this wave?" John said, feeling annoyed by the immediate appearance of skeleton warriors. "Don''t jinx us," Leni said, popping a pill in her mouth, recovering her magic power. "Stopining and get ready to fight!" Varth said, reloading before pulling the trigger shooting a few rounds towards the skeleton warriors, signifying the start of the battle. With the help of the appraisal spell matrix, Vincent appraised them, hoping to know more about them and understand their strength and weaknesses. "Guys, I only have time to say this once, so listen well! These guys won''t die, no matter how much you attack them. The only way to kill them is to destroy their life orb. It looks different than a beast core and is somewhere behind their ribcage." Vincent exined the weakness of the skeleton warriors to his teammates. He then started to move away from them. "Where are you going?" Leni asked in a hurry. "I''m going to lure the four giant skeleton warriors away from you guys. Don''t worry, though, nothing is going to happen to me," Vincent said, "Defeat the skeleton warriors as fast as you can, and thene help me." "Good luck!" Vincent rushed forward, stomped his foot on the ground, jumping towards the ceiling of the hall. He vanished amid the jump, disappearing from the hall and appearing in his subspace. There, he drank a few mouthfuls of blood to restore the blood in his second heart. ?? Life energy is not pure and unique to oneself, and a person who directly absorbs the life force of another living being can face extreme pain or might even explode. The life spell matrix absorbs and purifies the life force of the beings that Vincent kills, converting it into a purified version called experience points. It''s safe for Vincent to use experience points to strengthen himself. One can not say the same for unpurified and chaotic life force. "Can the Life Matrix keep it as a separate entity?" Vincent said, not wanting to give up on it. He believes that there might be a way to put Chaotic Life Force into use. "Yes." Vincent gave his approval as he stomped one of his feet on the ground, pushing himself into the group of solidified variant ghouls, engaging them in closebat. Each time Vincent shed his crimson swords outwards, two to five Variant Ghouls would meet their demise, leaving this world for good. His sword moved so fast that the monsters near him couldn''t even see theming, and they died without knowing what hit them. While the ones who attacked him felt disappointed in the very fiber of their beings as he managed to evade all of their attacks. No matter how many times they attacked him, they weren''t able tond a single clean hit on his body. Vincent''s legs were moving too fast, fast enough to leave behind blurry afterimages as he evades their attacks beforeunching an attack of his own, killing a few to several monsters at a time. The battle against the ghouls continued as Varth and Leni froze them to ice status, letting John do the rest of the work and shatter them into pieces, while Iris used her fire magic scrolls to set many variant ghouls aze, causing their bodies to solidify because of the heat. Once their bodies solidified, Vincent would pounce on them like the king of the jungle hunting down its prey. Just like that, they defeated the sixth wave. "Now, only four waves are left," Nevis said, feeling smug to win against the variant ghouls. "Don''t feel smug." Vincent called out to him, chiding him to stay on guard, "The next one is going to be harder than this one." "Here theye," John said when he saw Grey Orcs, two times the sizeof humaning out of the portals. One look at them, and thedies felt disgusted as they were not only ugly and filthy but also chewing on the flesh of an orc. These weren''t merely orcs but zombified versions of one. It was normal for them to cannibalize. And, it seems like they were having a feast before the portals summoned them here. Vincent determined their weaknesses and strength with a single nce, and he told the others about his finding. The Zombified Orcs'' strength lies in their fangs, their ability to feel no pain, their nails that are sharper than knives, and their long, muscr arms, andstly, their poison. They didn''t have any poison nullifying pills, so they needed to make sure to evade their attacks. Or else, it won''t end well for them. These monsters also have a lot of weaknesses, not only were they slow but also easy to kill. As long as one destroys their heads, they will die. It''s because the parasite controlling them was nesting in their brains. First of all, they decreased their numbers by attacking them from afar, using crimson spears, ck bullets, and white as snow weapons, sun-like fireballs to st open their ugly mug. Then, Vincent and Varth took the lead, one of them chopped their legs to decrease their mobility, while the other pulled the demon trigger and sted their legs apart from their bodies, and both let them go past them before chopping the heads of the more powerful ones, killing them. The ones who they allowed to walk past them were taken down by Nevis and John, dying with their heads destroyed. And those they failed to kill were taken down by Leni. And whenever they were in danger of receiving a clear hit on their bodies, Leni and Iris would act, killing the Zombified Orcs before they could harm them. A whileter, they took all of them down, causing the wight wave to start. The same thing happened this time, with Vincent exining the weaknesses of the monsters to his teammates, they were able to get an easy but tiresome win by abusing their weaknesses. Purple Fairy Melody watched it all from her seat, feeling awed by Vincent''s wisdom. She looked at him with an expression of bewilderment and disbelief on her face. How can he determine the weaknesses and the strength of the monsters with a single look? He''s only a teenager, so why is he so knowledgeable about monsters? The monsters of this trial didn''t even exist in the ancient records of the federation or the Empire, so how does he know about them? "This youth is very mysterious, able to know so much about monsters as well as some kind of weird magic to disappear from the world. Whatever! At least I know he is not a bad person, and is far stronger than those in the same realm as him! That''s more than enough for him to earn my respect!" Fairy Melody said, looking at Vincent with gentleness in her eyes. Chapter 175 - The Tenth Wave Vincent and his teammates kept on defeating one monster wave after another until they defeated the ninth wave, causing thest and the deadliest monster wave to start. The moment thest monster wave started, a small army of one thousand green goblins came out of the four portals at the same time.?? The Goblins were not only short, ugly, and skinny but also only a meter tall. While some of them were holding staffs and bows in their hands, most of them came equipped with a sword in one hand and a shield on the other. "What the hell?! Even the night wave only had five hundred monsters! Why does the tenth wave have one thousand of them!" Nevis said, feeling shocked out of his wits, telling himself that the one who created this trial made the tenth wave for the sole purpose of killing the challengers. "Even though they are only goblins, isn''t this number ridiculous?" John said in a shaky voice, feeling bothered by the fact that it might be impossible to ovee this trouble. While those two were saying those words, several goblin shamans raised their staffs, chanting something in theirnguage, causing a fireball to conjure just above their staff. Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh As they brought their staff down, the fireballs sted towards them, leaving behind a hot and smoky trail. The eyes of Iris, John, and Nevis opened wide in fear as they speechlessly looked at the iing fireballs with a restless and somewhat devastated expression on their faces. How are they going to dodge them? If they fail to do so, then they would be severely harmed and then they would die under the des of the one thousand goblins for sure?! Of course, they didn''t want to die, but they couldn''t d anything to fend off the severalrge fireballsing towards them, and walking out of their trajectory meant running into the des of hundreds of goblins! "I got this!" Vincent said out loud before a huge amount of blood surged out of his hands, extending across each side, and at the same time, swirling around them, solidifying into the shape of a dome before the fireball reached them. Bam! Bam! Bomb! An instant after he created the crimson dome, one fireball after another crashed on it, causing it to tremble violently, and most of it shattered into crimson shards that dropped to the grounds with a thud, thud, and thudding sounds. "Let''s hurry up and reinforce the dome!" "Alright," Leni and Varth said, arousing the supernatural cells in their bloodstream, and their ice and telekinesis cells sucked a portion of their magic energy to release coldness out of their palms and onto the crimson dome. In the blink of an eye, huge chunks of ice reinforced the crimson dome, undoing the damage done to it by the fireballs, sealing all of its entrances. "What should we do now?" Sealing themselves inside of a dome wasn''t going to change the fact that one thousand enemies were waiting outside for them, and they knew it. Sooner orter, they would have to confront them. And they believed that it is better to fight them when they are not exhausted to the point of not having a single unit of magic power in the body and low stamina! "I have a n that can help us ovee this monster wave without much problem," Vincent said, his words caused their eyes to brighten up in happiness and ignited hope in their hearts. "What is it?" John asked, ears perking up in curiosity. "Listen well!" Vincent started to tell them about his master n. They will use the dome as a fortress, and Leni and Varth would keep on reinforcing it by using their abilities. They need to open up two entrances in the dome as that will bait most of the goblins intoing inside the dome. As the entrances of the dome won''t be toorge and not too small, only a group of five to ten goblins would be able to enter the dome from both entrances at a time. Since the goblin warriors are not too powerful and only in the early to the middle stages of the magical realm, they should be able to easily kill two groups at a time. While Vincent told them that he would head out of the dome and kill the goblin shamans before taking down the goblin archers. The goblin shamans and archers were the only foes who could attack from a range. He chose to take down the goblin shaman first as they were had the most destructive powers, and if they remain alive for a while, then even with Leni and Varth reinforcing the Crimson Dome, it would still shatter under the brutal assaults of the shamans. "Isn''t it too dangerous?" Leni said, worried about Vincent''s well-being. Vincent shook his head, knowing full well that in this group only he can perform the feat of charging into hundreds of goblin warriors and taking down the goblin shamans and archers as only he had the Bracelet of Strength, the negative energy barrier, and the blessing of the Purple Fairy Melody. Leni looked at the others with eyes that begged for their help, asking them to stop Vincent from heading outside. ''Should I take off my demon sealing mask and kill them? But what if it sees them and does its best to take over my body, making me go on a rampage and killing them with my own hands. No! It''s too risky.'' Varth decided to not take off his mask, not until he is sure that there is no way for them to survive. "Big brother, this time you might end up losing your life! There are a thousand enemies outside, and you are talking about charging straight into their ranks!" John said, stepping up for his sister as well as for himself. He felt afraid that he might end up losing him. Chapter 176 - Vincent Vs Goblins "I will be fine, trust in me," Vincent said, opening a small entrance in the crimson dome and walking away from them. He could feel the worry in Leni''s voice, but he wasn''t going to change his decision. Someone needs to go out immediately and attract the attention of the goblin shamans and archers, otherwise, the dome will be destroyed under their attacks, meaning them losing their haven. He knew that no one except for him has enough strength to charge into the army of goblins, survive the frontal assault of hundreds of monsters, and kill the shamans and Archer, and thus, he decided to fight them.?? "Will you be fine? Maybe I shoulde with you?" Varth said, asking him if he should apany him. "No need." One of Vincent''s hands balled into a fist as he raised it slowly, showing Varth and the others his clenched fist, highlighting the fact that he believes that he wille out victorious, just like the meaning of his name. "I will be back soon!" Vincent said like an absolute chad before pressing his feet on the ground, making noises as he ferried through the floor and dashed out of the small entrance in the blood dome. As Leni saw Vincent walking away from them, especially her, and towards the enemy, a few weird images popped up in her mind. In those images, she saw a few disturbing things, such as a child as red as blood standing in the center of a chasm, surrounded by thousands of oddly shaped grotesque monsters, fighting them off, trying to protect four horrified children. However, everything except for the first image was too blurry, and she could only make out the outlines of the rest of the images. And before she knew it, archaic bells rang in her mind, making her forget about everything that happened in thest few seconds, a mysterious power unknown to her resetting her memories back to when she saw Vincent stepping out of the crimson dome. Although she forgot everything that happened in thest few seconds, a weird emotion crept up to her heart, bothering her continuously and unconditionally. "What is this weird feeling in my heart? Why do I feel that the same thing happened in the past, and at that time, I chose to stay to myself, betraying his trust and hurting his heart? Why is my heart hurting so much that it is making me want to cry? Why do I feel like I am going to lose him if I don''t hold on to him this time?" As those thoughts haunted her mind, Leni called out to him while moving after him, trying to catch up to him, intent on fighting by his side. Vincent heard her shaky voice and could feel that she is extremely worried for his sake, bothering herself over his well being, but he knew that she would get severely hurt if she fights beside him since she doesn''t have a negative energy shield like him, and thus, he made sure that she can''t step out of the crimson dome. Before Leni could chase after him, Vincent made sure to close shut the passageways, sealing the only ways out of the crimson dome, and then a hand crept out of the inner walls of the dome, pushing Leni back to her brother and the rest of his teammates. The moment Vincent stepped out of the crimson dome, hundreds of pairs of eyes that were overflowing with viciousness turned to focus on him. The goblins looked at him as if he was some kind of tasty prey, raising and dropping their weapons in cheers as most of them stopped attacking the crimson dome and rushed towards him. Kuku! Kaka! Kuku Kaka!! They roared at the top of their lungs, showcasing their excitement. Vincent could feel that they were eager about hunting him down, but what they didn''t know was that he wasn''t going to be prey. Instead, he came out here to hunt them down. "Bring it on, you bastards!" Vincent said as he activated his first blood gear to double his strength while charging towards the ones blocking his way. Before he shed with them, he summoned his daggers from his subspace. By the time he tightened his hands around his daggers, a group of four goblin warriors had reached him, and they brandished their weapons towards him, swinging their weapons at him. Vincent reacted immediately, moving out of the trajectory of three weapons by maneuvering his body like a skilledbatant, and using one of his daggers to deflect thest attack, and at the time time, swinging the other dagger around, shing at their throats. As the four bodies fell to the ground, four of the goblin shamans finished conjuring a few fireballs above their staff, and they hurled it forward, not towards the crimson dome, but Vincent! Around the same time, several of the goblin archers set loose their arrows towards the ceiling, and in the middle of their ascent, the gust of winds conjured by several shamans caused the trajectory of the arrows to change, causing them to curve down towards Vincent and the crimson dome. FWEET TWEET FWEET The rain of arrows produced whistling noises as they cut through the air and charged towards them. "Good, good, good!" Vincent saw that he had already started to attract the attention of many goblin shamans and archers towards himself, and he said those words while stomping his foot on the ground, charging out of the trajectory of the ranged attacks before they could even reach him. Bomb Bomb Bomb A few explosions sounded behind him, and the sharp ends of several dozen arrows impaled the ce where he once stood. In the split of a second, the resulting impact caused the ce behind him to get covered in a sea of me and steel, while the force generated from the explosion crashed on his back, pushing him forward. Vincent wasn''t hurt in the least, as the negative energy barrier blocked all of the damage. He got pushed straight into the enemy ranks, though, but that''s just what he wanted. A few weapons shed on the thin but firm dark skin covering his own, causing nking noise to fill the hall. The eyes of the goblin warriors opened their eyes as they looked at their opponent with an expression of disbelief. How was he able to block their weapons with his body? Just how strong does a person need to be to stop magical weapons with their bare body? Is he a human or a monster?! Such thoughts popped up in their mind as the glistening edge of a blurry sharpness epassed their entire vision, and then there was nothing! They died, not knowing what killed them as Vincent fearlessly charged into the enemy ranks, heading towards the nearest group of goblin shamans and archers, killing intent overflowing from his crimson eyes. A short momentter, the entire room got filled with the dying cries of the goblins before getting dulled by the sounds of explosions. Wave after wave of fiery explosions sounded behind the body of the crimson-eyed boy as he ran away from the mes that tried to swallow him and charged towards the terrified shamans and archers. Vincent exposed a crazy and murderous smile on his disheveled face after he reached a few steps away from his targets, thinking that the time he kills these pests that only dares to attack from a range is not too far. When the goblin shamans and archers the mocking and deadly smile on his face, they roared out in horror,manding the warriors to protect them even if cost them their life. Following theirmands, the goblin warriors moved from the spot and stepped in between them and Vincent. "Creating a wall of meat to stop me? That''s the most foolish decision you monsters will ever make in this life!" Vincent roared out at the top of his lungs as he stomped his foot on the ground. The muscles on his thighs bulged as he recklessly sted himself towards the thirty goblin warriors. He appeared before the ones standing at the front of the wall of monsters before they could reach, and then he kicked several of them in the gut and chest in the blink of an eye, hurling them backward. The goblins crashed on their fellow counterparts, causing them to fall over one another, mming onto the ground. Vincent mercilessly stomped on their heads as he dashed towards the defenseless goblin shamans and archers. Although shaken to their core, they hurriedly released a few attacks towards him, intending to pull him back. Vincent saw a few arrows and two fireballsing towards him, but he charged ahead, dodging the arrows, reverse-summoning his daggers, and swinging his palms towards the fireballs, pping them on their round face. The fireballs exploded on him, covering him in a fog of fire, and as the goblins saw that he got eaten by their fire, they breathed in relief, thinking that they have finally taken down the monster. However, their sce was only temporary. [The negative energy barrier has blocked all the damage. Itis destroyed] [-300 negative energy] [The negative energy barrier is restored to its peak condition] [Remaining negative energy: 470/1000 units] Vincent wasn''t hurt, just a bit stunned by the explosion as he was caught in the middle of it. The horror was felt again by them as Vincent charged out of the fog of fire. "Your heads are mine!" Those words of the crimson-eyed demon that terrified their soul were thest thing they heard before darkness and nothingness befell their consciousness for all eternity. He then turned around and headed towards the next group of goblin shamans and archers. Chapter 177 - Army Fighting Tactics! While Vincent was facing off goblins on the outside, Leni and Varth opened two small entrances in the crimson dome by pulling back a part of the ice they used to restore and reinforce a part of it. The entrances were so small that at most, four to five goblins could enter it at a time. Some moments after they intentionally created entrances to the crimson dome, a group of goblin warriors managed to look at them, and they shouted excitedly, moving towards that ce and entering it, carrying deep intentions of killing the man and enving the woman. That''s how goblins did things--they killed the males and left the woman alive as their captives so that they will be able to impregnate them and produce more goblins. "Leave the ones entering the dome from the right to me, and take care of the ones on the left! If it''s too much, just tell me, and I will help you out." Varth said as the goblin entered the crimson dome. "Let''s kill them!" By the time those words left Leni''s mouth, Varth had already pulled the demon trigger multiple times, releasing bullets made out of the demonic beast''s bones that shoot towards the goblin warrior as fast as lightning. The goblins at the front didn''t manage to reach in time, and the bullets drilled a hole in their skulls before charging towards the ones at the back. The ones at the back managed to raise their sturdy shields in front of them, trying to intercept the bullets so that they won''t reach him. But how could they have known that Varth was using his telekinesis powers on them? Varth snapped his fingers, using telekinesis to change the trajectory of the bullets. The bullets that were about to crash on the goblin warrior''s shield swiftly took a turn to the right, brushed past their shield, and prated a hole in their chests, drilling a hole in their heart and bursting out of their back. They screamed out in pain and dropped to their knees and then to the ground as the pain they felt was too much, blood leaking out of the holes in their bodies. It didn''t take more than some seconds for them to die out because of severe blood loss. Varth cleaned up his side in the blink of an eye, leaving only the group of goblins on the left. To take them out, Leni conjured a few shards of ice andunched them at the goblins by using her telekinesis powers. The shards of ice swiftly moved through the air, and although not as fast as the bullets, they still managed to take out a few goblins by their undeterminable trajectory. Of course, they didn''t get to rx for even one bit as more goblins noticed the entrances in the crimson dome, and this time, they shrieked out loudly, notifying the others about the holes in it. They moved towards the entrances and began entering it. However, only a group of four to five goblin warriors could enter at a time, and goblin warriors didn''t have the patience, brain nor brawn to go group by group so they began pushing each other, hoping and trying to be the first one to enter it. Leni and Varth took advantage of the disharmony in their ranks and attack from a range, shooting frost arrows and bullets enchanted in magic power towards them. Many goblin warriors died stuck in the entrances to the dome. Some of them squeezed through the gaps, tongue hanging out as they crazily moved towards the humans. Before they could even take the fifth step, the feeling of death epasses their entire being, and then darkness took over their light of life, meaning they died on the fourth step. Of course, more came, and there seems to be no end to these midgets. It''s because they have only killed more than a dozen of them, a far cry whenpared to more than eight hundred of them in the hall. Iris didn''t do anything and only looked at them as they fought the goblins. She didn''t have any offensive magic scroll left with her, and she wasn''t strong as abatant, so she could do nothing to help them in this situation. Leni and Varth didn''t force her either as they knew that, for her, fighting monsters like goblins meant getting ripped to shreds in an instant. "What should we do?" Nevis and Peter wanted to help them out in some way as sitting still didn''t work with them. "Just stand still and do nothing," Varth said, focusing on the goblins that stomped their feet on the bodies of their fallenpanions, shattering their bones as they charged towards them with their shield raised high in front of their face and their chest. After watching how dozens of theirpanion died under the hands of the humans, the goblins acted smart and covered the most vital parts of their bodies before entering the crimson dome. Of course, their smartness wasn''t getting anywhere near Varth''s. He lowered his beloved a little and pulled the demon trigger continuously, and the bullets sted open their nuts, giving them the pain of their lifetime. The goblins cried out tears of blood as Varth destroyed their only means of reproduction as well as killing their future family. The pain was so much that they dropped to the ground, and the ones behind them didn''t stop. They simply ran over them, charging towards the humans. "But I would feel bad if I don''t do anything while Vincent is out there, fighting hundreds of monsters by himself for our sake," Nevis said in a low voice. "I have the same thoughts as him," John added, expressing how he feels right now. "Very well, then. Since you both insist, how about hiding beside the entrances of the dome to sneak attack them? And if possible, also set traps to maim and kill them." Varth said, giving them an idea of what they need to do to contribute to the team and help them in this messy situation. "Alright, we got this!" "Let''s go!" The two boys separated from the team and went ahead to hide beside the entrances of the crimson dome. The dome wasn''t transparent, so the ones outside couldn''t see that John and Nevis were hiding near the entrances of the dome, nning an ambush. Many goblin warriors were dashing towards the entrances of the dome. When Nevis saw that, a nice n was formted in his mind, making him smile just thinking about it. He motioned to John, telling him to be ready for what''s toe with the look in his eyes. Suddenly, Nevis channeled magic energy into the magic matrix held in his hands, causing a long wooden log, which stretched across from one entrance of the dome to another, to manifest. He held one end of it while John held the other. The goblins saw that, and they tried toe to a halt. Suddenly, most of them were moving too fast, and they tripped over to the ground due to the wooden pole. While goblins crashed onto the back of the ones who managed to stop, causing them to trip one after another. While Leni, John, Nevis, and Varth were busy killing the goblins at the entrance of the dome, many goblin warriors managed to shatter open a path from outside the opposite side of the dome. However, Iris managed to notice it. "Sister, there''s a breach on the left part of the crimson dome." Iris hurriedly said, telling them that the goblins have tunneled their way into the dome. "I will take care of them," Varth said, and four mechanical spiders and four tiny lighthouses came out from under his cloak. The spiders jumped from his shoulder, releasing a tranquilizing web thattched onto the monsters. The very next moment, the goblins dropped to the ground, signifying that the tranquilizers were potent enough to knock out monsters in the magical realm. The lighthouses hovered near him, facing the goblins behind them. They suddenly brightened up, and then a blue beam shoot out from their top, striking the goblins and disintegrating half of their bodies. "I will notify you about the parts of the dome that need reinforcement," Iris said, helping them out in her own way. "That''s good!" Varth said, feeling good that they have an extra pair of eyes behind their back. "Please do that," Leni said, praising her. Over the next few minutes, the goblins managed to shatter many other ces of the dome, but Iris told them about it to Leni and Varth. They took turns in solving the extra trouble, killing the goblins entering from that in a hurry before using their ice ability to create a thick frosty wall and seal it. Nevis and John also kicked the butts of many monsters, sending them off to the afterlife. Goblins were cowards by nature, and when they saw the huge number of fallen goblins, they refused to enter the dome. "What should we do?" John asked while waving his hands at them. "Let''s go out and hunt them!" Leni said. "You stay here with Iris and John while I will go out with Nevis," Varth said. "Why?" "We need a ce to fall back to. Please listen to me in case the hundreds of goblins outside the dome manages to push us back." Varth said. "O-Okay," Leni reluctantly agreed as she was sensible enough to not put others in danger because of her selfishness. Varth moved out of the dome, and Nevis followed after him, wondering why he didn''t even ask whether he was in or not? Chapter 178 - On A Rampage [You''ve killed 98 goblin warriors! Obtained 2940 experience points] [You''ve killed 78 goblin warriors! Obtained 3900 experience points] [You''ve killed 58 goblin shaman! Obtained 5220 experience points] A few notifications popped up in his mind as he killed hundreds of the goblins by himself, and although he felt tiredness, exhaustion, and drowsiness getting to him, a weird sense of pleasure satisfaction, pleasure, and happiness filled every fiber of his being, and the blood circting in his bloodstream jumped up and down in joy. The red blood of the goblins sshed outwards. Some sshing on the ground; Some on his face; Some on his clothes and some on his hair! When that happened, he felt an irresistible desire to give in to a weird kind of evilness that popped up in his mind out of nowhere and go on a massacre. He wanted to kill living beings, rip apart their heads, and drink their blood as it happens. When he gave in to it and did that, the goblin''s terrified screams sounded out, and he started tough out loud, feeling as if he was born to be on the battlefield, and his desire to kill everyone in his sight amplified, and as that happened, the crimson glow in his eyes intensified, literally radiating out into the world. As he brandished his weapons and the goblins dropped to the ground left and right, the world in his eyes started to be dyed red, making him feel a sense of nostalgia and familiarity, almost as if the world in his eyes used to be red before he lost it for some reason. "What the hell is happening to me?" Suddenly, he snapped out of the weird sense of euphoria that took over his rationality, consciousness, and the ability to reason and found himself standing in the middle of many corpses. "What?!" He looked around, then noticed that he was standing in the middle of hundreds of corpses as well as being gazed at by hundreds of pairs of terrified eyes belonging to several hundred goblins that moved away from him in terror. He felt confused, unable to understand how he suddenly nked out when the world in his eyes turned red and how he managed to kill so many goblins at the same time. Suddenly, a notification popped up in his mind, clearing his confusion. "Oh, I see. So, what I experienced is probably because of my bloodline, and it made me go on a mad rampage. I always thought using my powers came without any side effects, but this is the first time I am finding out that my bloodline can take over my rationality. Why didn''t you tell me about this before?" Vincent asked Blood in his mind while looking at the dismembered and somewhat dried bodies of the bodies, almost as if someone has sucked their blood out of their bodies. Thankfully, the others weren''t here when he went on a rampage, or else he feared that he would have attacked them, only to end up regretting his actions after regaining his sanity. ?I didn''t know that this was going to happen as only a few lucky ones experience such a thing. Moreover, ording to the knowledge in my database, there is not a single vampire that has undertaken innate racial ability awakening from killing some filthy goblins? Blood exined to him. "What should I do now?" Vincent wondered while looking at the goblins. "I advise you to keep on killing them to arouse your bloodline and awaken an innate racial ability." As if reading his thoughts, Blood popped up a notification in his mind, telling him that he should not falter and continue on with arousing his bloodline. ''I guess I have no choice,'' Vincent thought, believing that he will be able to control himself from going on a rampage this time and that he needed to grasp this chance as tightly as he can since only then will he be able to get another strong ability. Vincent stomped his feet on the ground to rush towards the goblins, but not only did he feel tired in the middle of the dash, but his vision also blurred. He wondered what is wrong with him and immediately went through the several notifications that popped up in his mind when he went on a rampage. <-1 Health point per minute until you detoxify yourself from the poison in your body> <-15 HP> Due to him drinking blood from the flesh of the goblins directly when he had gone on a rampage, the blood count got refilled to the max, but his health point was decreasing by a point every minute or so as the blood of the goblins poisoned him because he didn''t purify them before drinking it. "Agh, damn it!" He shook his head, then purged a huge amount of blood from his palms as well as the poison that got mixed in with his blood. [You''ve expelled arge amount of blood from your body] [2/50 HP left in your vampire''s heart] [8/53 HP left in your human heart] [Ninth, your conditions are extremely serious. You''re suffering from anemia] "I know that! I can feel it." Vincent said, lifting himself straight, standing straight as he looked at the goblins cowering to one side of the hall. The goblins were too terrified of him to notice the abnormalities with him. The way he ruthlessly killed theirpanions by shattering their bones, popping up their heads, and tearing them apart from limbs to limbs whileughing at the top of his lungs as way as the way he felt happy as if the sound of bones breaking was a melody to his ears, terrified the goblins to their core. There were too many of them, and he still needed to fight to secure victory. Vincent gritted his teeth, thinking that he has no choice but to use that as nothing else will get him out of this situation, even though he wanted to save that for the next trial. He reluctantly summoned that out of his subspace, and a magic scroll with many ovepping sheets materialized in front of him. This was one of the trump cards, the peak-ranked healing magic scroll that he had created to test the effect and limits of his fusion ability. "Activate and heal me!" He reluctantly said the keywords, activating the scroll in his hand, and it turned into countless specks of milky white light, converging into the shape of a silver dragon with osciting whiskers. Of course, the sudden appearance of the dragon surprised the lot. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the goblins dropped to their knees, showing the silver dragon their respect, saying words of prayers in their monstrous ''Guga'' ''Huha''nguage scaring the shit out of Nevis and confusing Varth and Vincent. Vincent turned to speechlessly look at them with an expression of disbelief, unable to make sense of their sudden and bizarre behavior, wondering what the hell is wrong with them? "What is going on? Why are the goblins on their knees, even though we are right in front of them?" Nevis asked, confused at the bizarreness presented before his eyes. "I think I know what is going on! Dragons are the strongest monsters and reign freely at the top of the monster hierarchy. So, most monsters considered dragons as their gods. I think they are worshiping that dragon, and hoping that it would take us out." Varth exined to him, pulling out his gun to shot one to three goblins in the head, killing them. However, the others continued to preg, almost as if they didn''t give a damn about their fallenpanion. "But how did that silver dragon appear here? And where is my buddy?" "He''s right there," Varth said while pointing just below the hovering silver dragon. Looking in the direction of his finger, Nevis located Vincent, who was standing below the dragon. Vincent looked straight into the eyes of the silver dragon, feeling amazed to find out that such a mystical phenomenon happened from merely using a magic scroll he created in a hurry. The next moment, the dragon roared and swiftly moved towards him, entering him and bursting up into million specks of milky white lights that healed him from head to toe. [The peak-grade talisman has healed your injuries] [Only a portion of its power are used] [The rest of the healing powers are stored in your body] [They will be automatically used to heal your injuries when you''re hurt] Chapter 179 - Awaken: Innate Racial Trait! "Since the magic scroll has healed me back to my peak conditions and I am able to fight once more, it''s time to take out the rest of them andplete this trial!" [I implore you to do so. Otherwise, you''ll miss your chance to undergo bloodline awakening and obtain an innate racial ability.] Vincent stored his daggers in his subspace and activated his ability to conjure two crimson swords out of his blood, then dashed towards the terrified goblins, terrified because the devil in their eyes has consumed the almighty dragon to heal itself. A blood bath ensured as with each swing of his swords, one to two goblins fell to the ground with a dull thud, lifelessly. "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!" "Bug off! I am not giving in to you anymore," Vincent said in his mind, giving a big fat no to the desires of his sinful and evil vampiric blood. Of course, the bloodlust erupted inside of him many more times, trying to erode his consciousness. However, each time he didn''t give in to it, and thus, managed to control himself until he killed his way back to the crimson dome. "What are you guys doing out here?" Vincent asked when he noticed Nevis and Varth who were outside the crimson dome. "Long story short, the goblins didn''t dare to enter the dome to kill us, so we came out to kill them. We were fighting them after the dragon disappeared but they backed off when they sensed youing here." Varth said, exining the situation to him. "Are they safe? What about any injuries?" Vincent asked, worried about Leni and the others. "They are fine, Buddy!" Nevis said, and Vincent felt his worries easing. "What should we do about them?" Varth said while looking at the goblins who were standing on one side of therge hall and cowering in fear. "The trial isn''t going to end unless we kill them to the veryst monster." Vincent''s words signified that they must kill them, even though the enemies had no will to fight against them. "Let''s not waste any time." Nevis passionately said as he, Vincent, and Varth rushed towards the goblins. "You guys take the ones on the left and leave the rest to me," Vincent said to them, then took off by himself, almost as if the opinions of the others didn''t matter. His behavior slightly hurt them, but they didn''tin and rushed towards the goblins as one, and then released their attacks once they reached closer to them. Wooden spikes, wooden boulders, ice needles, ice spikes, and unstoppable bullets rained down towards the goblins. Most of the goblins couldn''t endure the pain that came from having their bodies crushed, and they died. With a single barrage of attacks, more than eighty goblins died. On the other hand, Vincent continued his massacre. His body seemed like a blur as he moved through the ranks of the enemy, shing their necks and impaling their hearts as he did so. One green body after another dropped to the ground each time he took a step, a mess of blood decorating the ground in crimson. In less than ten minutes, more than 90 goblins died under his de. Moreover, the moment he killed the ny-ninth goblin, the crimson glow in his congealed over his irises, creating curved de-like insignias. Immediately after, the notification of his family heirloom popped up in his mind. [Congrattion! You''ve fulfilled the condition necessary to awaken your innate racial trait (Bloodline Ability)] [You''ve awakened a special innate racial trait] [I''m analyzing the changes in your body to determine the effects of your traits. It will take some time.] Vincent continued his killing as the world in his eyes turned red once again. It was at this moment that a notification containing the properties of his newly awakened trait popped up in his mind. [You''ve awakened Red Moon Gaze] [Effect: Asura Summoning: By directing your blood into the insignias in your body, you can manifest a six-armed killing machine. Gaze of Suppression: The Gaze of the Asura suppresses the strength of the beings that fears you.] "Insignias? Is it where I feel hot?" Vincent backed off from the goblins then directed his blood into his eyes, channeling arge amount of it into the insignias in his eyes. An instant after he did that, redness creeped out of his eyes, turning into specks of rubies that moved past him, only to intertwine behind his back to take the shape of a grotesque monster with six arms, out of six hands only one held a weapon in it. "What the hell?" Varth looked at the giant behind Vincent speechlessly, and the eyes of Nevis opened wide in disbelief as an expression of bewilderment stered itself on his face. "Am I imagining things? Yes, that must be it! Otherwise, how could such a thing pop up in the world out of nowhere!!" Nevis rubbed his eyes, unable to understand how a 5-meter tall crimson giant has suddenly appeared behind Vincent and became the main attraction of the hall. After rubbing his eyes, he looked in front of him once again, only to see that it was still here and not a part of his imagination! "Holy shit!" Nevis said, appalled at the mere existence of the crimson giant. "Hmm, is it another one of his racial traits?" Varth said while looking at Vincent and the six arms crimson giant hovering behind his back. Vincent, on the other hand, wondered why the Asura is missing a weapon on its other five hands. Of course, this time he needed to find it out himself ?as his family heirloom didn''t know why. This was a newly awakened trait with no mention of it in the database, so it didn''t know why. Still, Vincent concluded pretty soon. "Is it because I didn''t feed enough blood to the insignias in my eyes?" Vincent knew that it would take some time for him to understand how this ability works, but for now, he could feel the way to control it, almost as if his blood was telling him how to do it. One could even say that the information rted to his innate racial trait was present in the blood circting in his bloodstream! Following the instructions in his blood, Vincent raised his hands just above his head for a brief moment before bringing it down, and that was themand the giant behind him needed to charge at the goblins. With each of its steps, the floor trembled, and the fear in the hearts of the goblins intensified. However, there was no escape from this ce as the portals were closed, and there was no ce out of here, so they couldn''t make a run for it. They could only die under the giant''s hands or fight to survive. Even a cornered rabbit fight back, and these were goblins, so they mustered up their courage. The remaining dozen or so shamans conjured fireballs while the archers released their arrows, hurling a deluge of attacks towards the crimson giant. All hope faded from their eyes and their courage deted because of what happened next. The crimson giant raised his sword above his head for a brief moment and swung it downwards, generating winds so strong and fast that they deflected the arrows and split apart the fireballs in the blink of an eye. Nevis looked at all of that with eyes threatening to pop out of his socket and his jaw threatening to drop to touch the ground. "Holy! That thing is too strong! It dispelled all of their attacks with a casual swing!" Nevis said, expressing his excitement and showing that he was shocked and exhrated to see what just happened. Varth nodded his head, thinking that this crimson giant can go toe to toe withbatants in the early stage of the advanced evolutionary realm, that''s above level 150. The goblins felt devastated by the might showcased in front of their eyes, and they knew that the crimson giant is too strong for tiny green-bodied monsters like them to handle. They came term to terms with reality and epted defeat in silence. Whatever they did, didn''t matter to it, and its sword dropped on top of them, darkening their surrounding before it even reached them. The moment the sword dropped on them, they turned to meat paste, dying a grotesque death. Chapter 180 - End Of The Trial And Rewards! Within a few minutes, the crimson giant swept the area clean of green monsters, signifying the end of the tenth monster wave as well as the trial! Fairy Melody speechlessly looked at all of that with eyes opened so wide in shock that they threatened to pop out of her tiny eye sockets, and at the same time, her mouth hung low, enough for someone to stick five candies into her mouth, all of that because she couldn''t believe that a merebatant in the intermediate evolutionary stage would have such a powerful racial trait. Who the hell is he? Just how powerful is his race? Why has she nevere across anything like that ever before in her life? After killing all the monsters, it stepped up to Vincent, then kneeled on one of its knees, three of its in front of its left chest, and the other behind its back. Vincent raised his hand, touching it on its forehead, and the very next instant, the crimson giant shrank down into the shape of a red blob. Vincent grabbed it up to his mouth and consumed it. The moment it entered his mouth, the red blood melted, and he tasted the sweetness of honey and the warmness of caramel going down his throat. Vincent''s eyes blinked as various thoughts shed in his mind, and then he grouped up with the rest of his teammates. While they were talking to each other, Purple Fairy Melody suddenly appeared in front of them, and this time she had an extremely pleased smile on her face that expressed her joy. "I still can''t believe that you guys have managed toplete this trial! It''s a trial that utilize one of the most deadliest and useful strategy to its limit. The strategy is to use overwhelming numbers of monsters to surround a group, and even a lot of greatbatant was left with no way to escape and has fallen to such a strategy." The thousands of goblins that popped out of the four portals didn''te without a reason. It was a strategy used by overpopted empires to take down nearby kingdoms. As they say, two hands can not win against four. That was the basics of this strategy. A smaller kingdom might have one to four experts that could topple a small army, but if arge empire sends several of its experts to take care of these experts before starting a full-blown war, then the kingdom is sure to suffer a defeat and fall under the empire''s hands. It''s just that Vincent was too overpoweredpared to others in the same stage as him, as he not only had a bloodline belonging to the vampires in his body but also the Bracelet of Strength, a few powerful innate racial traits and so on, and thus, he managed to absolutely crush the overpowering like a true chad. "Congrattions by the way! You''ve done what many others have failed to do so, although most of the efforts were put in by a single person to do so." Melody congrattions them, saying sweet words of praise with a mixture of salt. No one retorted, though, as everyone in the hall knew that Vincent put in the most effort in this trial, and without him, there was no chance for them to conquer this trial. If it was not for him, then they would''ve failed miserably, or so everyone except for Varth thought in their mind. "Not really. Everyone contributed here and there. Without Leni, Iris, and Varth, we wouldn''t have been able to deal with the undead ghouls. John and Nevis proved themselvespetent and useful in many situations. If it wasn''t for everyone working together as a team, then we would not have been able to conquer this trial." Vincent said, standing up for the sake of his teammates. Everyone''s eyes brightened in happiness since they realized that Vincent doesn''t consider them as burdens, but someone who can stand by his side. "Indeed, that''s true." Even Purple Fairy Melody was forced to admit that what he said was true, and she agreed with his im. She continued, "Anyway, I''m not one toin. Since you''vepleted this trial, you can now challenge thest trial. Tell me when you want to proceed, and I will open up a portal to thest trial ground for you." "What about our rewards?" Nevis asked, wondering what they are going to get for conquering this trial. "Everything you see in this hall belongs to you, from the thousands of carcasses of monsters to everything inside of them." Purple Fairy Melody said while pointing at the monsters in the surrounding area. There were thousands of monsters piled up over one another in the hall, and it did make up to be quite a sum. One can easily warn millions of contribution points by selling all of them, but there was a catch. "We don''t have enough space to store all of that," Varth said, knowing full well that a normal spatial storage device can at most store several monsters inside of it, but not more than two thousand of them. Leni, Iris, John, and Nevis also agreed with him, as their spatial storage device wasn''t vast. It was only as big as a big garage, but some of them had even shorter ones, and their spatial storagebined could only store a hundred or so monsters. "That''s your problem, not mine," Fairy Melody said with a yawn before closing her eyes, signifying that she won''t be hearing any more of theirints. "I don''t know why, but although she looks cute and all, I think she has a nasty attitude," Nevis said, looking away from Melody. "Let''s try to dismember them and store as many useful things as we can," John said, ready to go ahead and put in as many monsters as he possibly can into his spatial storage device. Before he could do so though, Vincent stopped him. "There''s no need to work your ass off, guys!" Vincent said while looking at them with a smile. "Huh?" They wondered what he has up his sleeves that made him sound so confident, and thus, they turned to look towards him with an expression of bewilderment. "You guys are worrying about this unnecessarily. I can store everything in this hall into my spatial storage device. Just leave this to me, okay?" Vincent said in a voice overflowing with confidence. He could really store all of them as he had a subspace as big as an ind. "Are you for real?" They said those words not only because they found it hard to believe his words, but also because there was no way a spatial device with arge storage exist in this world. "See for yourself!" Vincent said before he got to work, meaning he stored one monster after another into his subspace by merely saying the keywords. Within a few minutes, he managed to store the bones of the giant skeleton warriors, around a thousand carcasses of goblin, and also all the monsters they have faced in the first to thest monster waves into his subspace. His simple act of storing the monsters into his subspace left everyone speechless and appalled, and they looked at him with eyes widened due to shock as well as lips parted because of the same reason. After all, he managed to do what he said, something that is impossible for the spatial storage devices of the modern world to perform. "Just how big is your spatial storage?" Fairy Melody asked, saying the words right out everyone''s mouth. They all wanted to know the answer to this question, so they looked at Vincent with big eyes filled with confusion, trying to pressurize him into answering. "Umm, it''s as big as an ind!" Vincent said, honestly mixing the truth with harmless white lies. "I see. You sure are lucky toe across a spatial device with huge storage." After Vincent fulfilled a part of her curiosity, Fairy Melody got even more friendlier with him. She was still curious about his race, the reason behind his overpowering strength, and so on, but she was not one to trouble others over their secrets. They told the fairy that they wanted to rest for a few days. Not only were they tired to their bones, but they were also mentally exhausted. Moreover, Leni has overused her powers, and that has put a strain on her supernatural cells, something that''s like a muscle strain and needs a few days to recover. So, they needed that rest. "Take as much time as you need," Melody said before she turned around and vanished from their sight, leaving them on their own devices. Chapter 181 - The Seducer! After Vincent and the others finished setting up tents, Varth took out a grill from his spatial storage and ced it in the empty space between the tents. He also took out a few packets of the finest quality meat, several bottles of fragrant wine, and some spices and herbs. Meats and others stuff remain preserved in the storage of the spatial device for several reasons, so the stuff he put out still seemed fresh. He showed the others that he truly was apetent person. He grilled the pieces of meat by using remarkable-looking emerald hues. It was actually a type of magical fire that he got from underneath the energy vein of a very hot. This fire could burn a lot of things from all sorts of impurities, and thus, increasing their quality by another level. Once he was done with roasting the meat, he sprinkled some spices on them, making them glitter like gold. Then he summoned his kitchen knife and used it to make some cut on the pieces of meat. After that, arge amount of mana poured out of his gauntlets and mmed into the pieces of meat, blending the spices into the deepest parts of the meat. Then, he created a red sauce and poured it on top of them before he served one te of steak to each of them. "Enjoy!" Varth said to them as he started to eat his food like a refined gentleman. Nevis and John went at it like hungry animals, while Iris kept on worrying for John, telling him that he should slow down or he would choke on the food. Leni wasn''t feeling it, and she ate her food slow. Vincent sat next to her and found her behavior a bit off, almost as if something was making her feel down. Vincent gently pulled her into his embrace, caressing her face softly, "What is wrong?" Leni beamed towards him, trying to hide the sadness in her eyes, "Nothing is wrong with me. I''m just feeling a bit tired and not too hungry. Sorry for worrying you." In truth, a strange feeling was haunting her for a while, and it has no intention of going away. She felt like she would lose him if she looked away for a while, and that thought was eating her from inside. Of course, she couldn''t share her feeling with him, as she believed that he would dismiss it as a mere delusion in her mind and might even take her for therapy. Vincent nodded, showing her that he understands her before he took the te from her hand, not to eat it himself but to feed her. "You can rest your head on my shoulder while I feed you." "I am not that tired. I can feed myself. So, please don''t trouble yourself over me." Leni gently said, as though she was tired of burdening him and didn''t want to do so anymore. "Don''t be stubborn," Vincent said with an adamant look in his eyes. He didn''t give her a chance to refuse and ced her head on his shoulder before he started to help her eat. He knew she didn''t like to take big bites, so he cut the steak into small pieces in the blink of an eye, picked one up with a fork, and raised it towards her soft lips. "Say, ah~" Vincent said gently, acting as if he was feeding a baby. "You''re the stubborn one." Although she said those words, she opened her mouth to let him feed her. The food tasted pretty good, and as he put one piece after another in her mouth, her appetite aroused, and she felt like eating more. So, Vincent decided to feed her his steak, too. He swiped tes so fast that his girlfriend didn''t notice. In several minutes, Vincent made sure to send every bit of the hot, sizzling, spicy, and finger-licking steaks down her throat and into her tummy, not only to warm up her body but also to help her restore her stamina. "Are you still hungry?" Vincent asked while looking at her face that was stained left and right with the red sauce. "No. I''m pretty full." Leni said with a happy smile on his face. "That''s good. Though, you''re pretty skinny. So, you should eat more and put more fat on your body." Vincent said, wanting to feed her like this every day till their hair turns grey. "Enough about me. Let me help feed you." Leni said as a smile blossomed on her pretty face from just thinking about feeding him, an act she has never done in her life. Vincent loved the attention he was getting from her, but sadly, there was nothing left to eat, at least not on the tes on the ground beside them. "Well, there''s nothing left," Vincent said in a sad voice. "But I am sure you didn''t have the time to eat it? Where did it go?" Leni asked, knowing full well that he has been solely focusing on helping her eat food and cheer her up. Vincent looked at her calmly. "Don''t tell me that I ate it?" Leni asked, feeling a bit taken aback by his gaze. Vincent calmly nodded, then said, "Yes, I fed it to you." "Oh, my. I''m sorry. I usually don''t eat that much." Leni felt awkward and also thought that he might mistake her for a glutton that empty houses from their rice, and thus, she had said thest line to make sure that he knows that she does not eat a lot. "Saying sorry won''t help me fill my stomach," Vincent said with a crestfallen look on his face, and Leni felt guilty. Of course, his stomach was empty, but he wasn''t feeling hungry for meat, but her warmth and love. "What should we do? Should I go and ask for more?" Leni said, thinking of asking Varth for more of that steak. "No! No! There''s no need to so as I don''t want that kind of meat," Vincent said, stopping her from leaving his side. "Then, what do you want to eat?" Leni asked while looking at him. "If you want to know, you must first bring one of your ears close to me," Vincent said, motioning her toe close. Unaware of his wolfish intent, the innocent maiden brought her tiny ear close to his mouth, wondering what he has to say. "I want to eat you, starting from your pretty lips to your soft flesh," Vincent whispered in her ear, watching coyly as her ears turned red. Leni felt flustered after hearing his words, and her heartbeat also sped up, fast enough for Vincent to hear it. She raised her head away from him in a hurry, only for Vincent to see redness painting her cheeks, making her look more mesmerizing, enough for him to wrap her hands around him tightly and keep on looking into her eyes, leaving her with no way of running away. "Let me go. What if the other looked at us? That will be so embarrassing." Leni said without trying to break free from his embrace. "They have already looked at us kissing and so on. Besides, does it matter what others think?" Vincent said without shame and without moving his eyes away from her. "What will it take for you to stop?" Leni asked in a low voice. Secretly, she couldn''t help but enjoy his warmth, and the best part was that he wasn''t smelly at all, almost as if he doesn''t sweat. There was no scent of blood on him, unlike her. She wondered why? But she was so submerged in the wonderful moment that she kicked the question to the back of her mind, not even thinking about it. Vincent teasingly looked into her snowy eyes, then said huskily, "I won''t let you go unless you give me an answer. Can I eat you?" Although his question was too sudden, and Leni wasn''t too sure about it, but she knew she wouldn''t mind giving her body to him as she trusted him as much as she loved him. Though, there was a problem! She still didn''t have any control over her transformation, and she was worried she would transform into feline form before the intimate act that every couple does to express their love even starts. "Should I give you a day to think about it?" Vincent asked, wondering whether her silence is an act of refusal. "No need. I am ready to do anything as long as it is you. But I am not sure whether we will be able to do it or not. You know, I am not like the other girls. Sorry," Leni said, feeling apologetic because there was something wrong with her. Chapter 182 - Calm Before The Last Trial! After hearing her words, Vincent felt so happy that he beamed towards her, wrapped his hands around her lithe waist, feeling her soft and supple body as he embraced her tightly. He couldn''t help it. Her words meant that she wanted him as much as he wanted her, but she fears that she won''t be able to do the most intimate acts of love with him due to her having extremely little control over her innate racial trait. A trait that transforms her body into a cat each time she feels extremely loved, extremely embarrassed, and other extreme emotions. Leni feltforted by his hug, and she rested her head on his shoulder without worrying about the gaze and thoughts of the onlookers. This moment belonged to her and her alone. She didn''t want to worry about being unable to give him the happiness that he deserves, one that any normal girl would be able to give him. She didn''t want to think about the heart aching feeling that has been haunting her. His warmth thatforts her and his love that envelops her body, mind, heart, and soul, that''s all she wanted to feel right now. And, if possible, she wanted the time to stop at this moment so that she would forever be in his embrace, worrying not about gaining power, stopping the invasion of the creatures of hell, and herplex emotions. Of course, time flows faster when one wants it to stop, and before she knew it, Vincent has already stopped embracing her. Though his hands never left her body, and they were currently stroking her head, each stroke made her feel his love. She raised his head to look at him and saw him looking at her like she is the most precious treasure of his life. Feeling the traces of shyness on her face, he suddenly stood up and walked towards the tent. Before entering it, he motioned her toe inside. She nodded, obediently following after him and entering the tent. After entering the tent, she saw that he was pouring a cup of wine, one that he extended towards her. "Do you drink wine?" Vincent asked while looking at Leni. "Yes," Leni''s eyes blinked in confusion, and a brief momentter, she took the cup from his hand before slowly slipping away the intoxicating content within. "You think too much." Vincent suddenly said. "Maybe I do. But have you never thought that it''s unfair for you to hang around with someone like me, someone who can never give you the simplest joy of life?" Leni said while looking at him with eyes that begged for an honest answer. The troubles in her heart weren''t little in number. She wasn''t born a princess, but she dreamed of having her white knight as a kid. Vincent was the white knight for her. After all, he was someone that makes her feel protected, safe, and loved. And although she believes in love, she also knows that the love between them won''t exist for a long time, especially because she is unable to give her body to him, much less a child. If one day, a girl far beautiful, gentler, and loveable than heres into his life, a girl without any disability, then for what reason won''t he abandon her? One look at her face, and Vincent saw aplexity of emotions. He sighed, wondering why she thinks so much, then said whatever flowed out of his heart, "Life is too short, and our time is full of death. The life of people like us sways ording to the will of the ones in power. You''ve seen the greed of the humans that cause ck clouds to cover the skies, just as much as I have. You''ve also heard about the invasion of the ones from hell, which, too, cover a part of thend in darkness. On such happenings, be it a peaceful and prospering city or an unending field of corn and greenery, all turn depressed, cover by an aura of death. Our life is too uncertain. Our superior can send us to war with a singlemand. Sumbing to death ismon there. We can be unfortunate enough to encounter a hell invasion. The chance of surviving that with our current powers is next to zero. I don''t know whether I will live on to see the next sunset, so why do you think so much? Instead of worrying about the future, we did rather focus on enjoying the present. Your words are enough for me, and they mean a lot to me. I''m happy just being able to sleep with you in the same bed while holding you in my arms. As for the rest, I believe that you''ll be able to ovee your inability to control your innate racial trait with time." Her heart swayed with each of his words, and she realized how foolish she was to think more about the future when she should be trying to embrace the happiness of the present. "I finally understand the fool I have been." This time, Leni took the lead, let go of the stic cup in her mind and ran into his arms, hugging him like a ferocious bear cub, surprising him so much that he didn''t make a move for some moments, and only after several seconds did he smile and hug her back. "Can I ovee it?" Leni asked. Instead of saying anything, Vincent merely kissed her gently on the forehead, then carried her like a bride to the futon, and Leni felt so surprised that her eyes widened, and her red cheeks also turned a shade darker. "What are you thinking of doing?" She asked shyly in a low voice. "Sleeping with you in my arms," Vincent said before cing her on the bed and then lying down next to her. Immediately after, he hugged her, pushing her towards himself and looking straight at her unblinkingly, almost as if her beauty was some kind of a lucky sleeping charm. Leni didn''t resist him, but just like the other times, his seductive handsomeness apanied by his crimson eyes that looked like the most precious of rubies as well as his soft, feminine, and pale skin proved too much for her, and she ended upying on her other side. Now, she was no longer at him and his face, a face that makes her feel the irresistible urge to do indecent things. Although she looked away from him, he didn''t feel the least bit angered. He could hear her thumping heart. He could tell that she did that, not because she was disgusted with his face but because she was too in love with it. "Do you know when it started?" Vincent asked. Leni shook her head, then said, "I remember I wasn''t like this as a child, but then it mysteriously started to happen." Vincent''s eyes narrowed in thoughts as he teasingly lifted a thick strand of her snowy, white hair, brought it to his face, then inhaled, taking in her smell. Leni froze in her spot as she remembered that she hasn''t had the chance to clean her hair ever sinceing to this ce! Does her hair smell? If it does, would he think that she is a girl who doesn''t like to wash her hair? Will he end up disliking her? "Don''t smell them. I haven''t washed my hair! They are probably dirty!" Leni said in a hurry. "They are not dirty," Vincent said as he turned her towards himself, and Leni buried her head in the nock of his neck after taking a look at his face. "Good girl." Vincent said while patting her head, "Go to sleep." Leni''s emotion calmed down after some time and she closed her eyes, taking in his pleasant scent as she tried to fall asleep. "Good night," she said when she felt that she was about to sleep. "Sleep tight," Vincent replied in a soft, almost inaudible voice while feeling her gentle heartbeats. "Hmm, I''m now sure that she lost a part of her memory due to the self-defense mechanism of her mind. That memory, whatever it is, resulted in her inability to control her innate racial trait of transformation. Will I be able to help her out without making her remember that part of her memory?" Vincent thought in silence, and after a while, he decided to keep things as they are. If sleeping together with her, like he initially thought, can help her maintain her form in front of him, no matter what they do, then it''s for the best. Otherwise, he didn''t mind just sleeping with her in his arms for a lifetime. After all, he didn''t want to trigger her self-defense mechanism and make her re-experience the painful memory that her mind sealed in her. He didn''t want to see her hurt! Drowsiness slowly took over their consciousness, and they ended up sleeping in each other''s arms. Chapter 183 - Restocking Three days passed away as they rested on the hall of the pce. During the past three days, Vincent and Leni spent most of the time together. They openly flirted with each other, not giving a damn about the feelings of the single dogs, and thus, one could say that Varth and Nevis ate a lot of dog food in the past three days. John and Iris felt inspired by their closeness and deep love, and following their lead, they, too, started to hold hands with each other, asionally exchanging kisses on the cheeks to express their love for each other. Slowly but surely, they were moving towards the first base of love. Except for the increasing intimacy of the young couples, Vincent and Iris had also used the cores and the elemental blood of the monsters to create many magic scrolls. As it turned out that Iris is an inscriptionist with profound knowledge about a lot of inscriptions patterns, Vincent asked her to teach him, and he ended up not only learning a lot from her but also creating a mountain of magic scrolls with her. Moreover, hepleted his daily mission of creating a new inscription every single day for the past three days, and as a reward, he obtained the methods of creating three powerful magic scrolls. Vincent and Iris started to create some more magic scrolls, preparing for the uing trial. Most of their teammates stood by his side while Leni sat near Vincent, helping him out in a few ways. She wasn''t doing anything outstanding, just helping him make ink out of the monster''s blood or handing the monster core over to him so that he can fuse the energy inside it into the magic scroll, but Vincent still felt the love behind her kind gestures. After creating thest magic scroll for the day, Iris sat down to rx and restore her stamina while Vincent roused his supernatural cells with a single thought, and his supernatural cells sucked the mana in his body to produce parasitic seeds of fusion. They appeared all over his body, patiently waiting for hismand. "Time to fuse the magic scrolls!" Vincent cracked his knuckles and loosened his muscles before getting to work. The moment those words left his mouth, his teammates turned to look at him as if he was some kind of an exotic animal in a zoo. Although it has been three days, they still couldn''t help but feel excited each time he is about to fuse items. Under the excited and eager stares of Leni, John, Varth, Iris, and Nevis, the seed of fusion left his side beforebining two fireballs into one. [You''ve fused two fireball magic scrolls] [Fireball magic scroll + Fireball magic scroll = Great Fireball magic scroll] [You''ve created a Great Fireball magic scroll] After creating a few more scrolls of the same name, hebined them all to produce the most offensive fire magic scroll called Hail of Greater Fireballs and Descend of Miniature Sun. One could see a red shineing out of the two scrolls and swathing the cold hall, not only making it lit up in a red shine but also increasing the temperature. Varth looked at the two magic scrolls and said in a voice containing a hint of disbelief, "I still can''t believe the way your ability works. It''s honestly ridiculous." Something like fusion costs a lot. First off, only those who possess the technology to do so can fuse two items into one. Unless a person is running a family that rules over many resourcefuls, there''s no way they can have enough purchasing power to obtain one. Secondly, encountering a trader willing to sell it is harder than searching for a needle in a haystack. Traveling between stars doesn''t necessarily ensure that one wille across a merchant selling the fusion machine. It''s all up to luck. Lastly, one needs one to ten million units of magic power to activate it one time. Even then, the chance of two items fusing into one is less than 10%. If a person is unlucky, then the fusion process will fail hundreds of times, and if his luck is going down the gutter, then an explosion will happen, taking the fusion machine with it. One item can only fuse with another one time, no more than that, or else the item will explode, taking millions of magic crystals and fusion machines along with it. So, even the four great royal families barely touched the fusion machine that depended heavily on luck- a phenomenon which no one has barely even touched upon-as they feared losing more than what they might not even gain after ten tries. Yet, here he was, able to fuse items till they reach their maximum limits. "To be able to fuse two magic scrolls into one is already groundbreaking, but you''re also able to incorporate more magic scrolls into the fused version! That''s simply unheard of, brother!" Iris added, saying words in a hurry due to excitement. Vincent was simply breaking the normality of the world. He was a cheat code, as to say. "Your ability is too cool, Buddy." The eyes of Nevis zed with excitement, and he felt like he couldn''t get enough of watching the way the seed of fusionbines two items into one. "It''s all thanks to the fruit of darkness, haha!" Vincent said with augh before he drank a potion to recover his mana. Leni was sitting by his side, gently messaging his sore muscles and attentively wiping the sweat in his face. After creating five more utmost-level magic scrolls, Vincent looked at them and exined, "The first one creates dozens of greater fireballs that rain down the skies to put an end to everything below when it is activated. While the other creates a meteorite-sized fireball that is capable of sting an entire mountain apart. Both of these magic scrolls are powerful enough to kill an army of intermediate-stagebatants in the blink of an eye. They wille in handy when we challenge the next trial, so hold on to one of them." Vincent passed one of each magic scroll to all of his teammates, and they took it after saying words of gratitude since they will guarantee their security. Some of their tummies rumbled due to hunger. Then they looked towards the mother of their party with eyes that demanded food. Varth gave up under their persistent stare that expressed that they were looking forward to eating a meal cooked by him. He decided to do what he has been doing for the past three days: cook food for his hungry child. "I will go and prepare dinner." While Varth was cooking a meal for them, John came up to Vincent and said, "Big brother, you can so easilybine many magic scrolls into one to create an undeniable powerful one. Have you thought of starting a business? I believe that many people would pay a lot to get one such magic scroll as it is already far above the power level of intermediate-stagebatants." Vincent''s eyes blinked. This truly was a good idea. Bing rich in a short time wouldn''t be much of a hassle if he advertises the godly items that he can create by using his superpower. "I will think about it after getting out of this ce," Vincent said before he eyed John, telling him to go away and stop disturbing his time with his sister. John obediently went away, leaving Vincent alone in thepany of Leni. Chapter 184 - Aroma Varth took out a high-quality cauldron that automatically cleanses the meat of beasts in the magical and demonic realm as long as a person uses mana crystal to charge it up. He opened the lid of the cauldron and put many chunks of meat inside of it. The meat belonged to the demonic beast that Vincent had killed in the spider kingdom. After that, he closed the lit. Then, he put a piece of low-quality mana crystal, a crystal that contains a thousand units of mana, on one of the three handles of the cauldron. The handle had many inscription patterns on it. The moment he ced the mana crystal on the handle, the inscription patterns brightened up in a blue hue. In the very next second, the mana crystal melted into wisps of blue energy that got sucked inside of the cauldron by a powerful suction force, which belonged to the inscription patterns engraved inside of the cauldron. These inscriptions used the mana to activate a special effect that automatically purified the chunks of meat from their impurities. The impurities seeped out of the meat, and a mysterious force pulled them towards the bottom corner of the cauldron. Ding! The cauldron released an attention-grabbing sound right after, one that told Varth that the chunks of meat were now free of all impurities. He opened the lid of the cauldron before pulling out the contents inside of it and putting them in two separate ces. He put the chunks of meat on a tray while emptying out the impurities inside of the cauldron in a trash bag. After smashing and mixing a few exotic fruits and vegetables, he created a paste that was literally glittering in specks of gold and silver. He used that to marinate the chunks of meat before putting them on a griller, turning on the fire, and letting them sizzle. Nevis, John, and Iris were looking at him preparing a meal for them with eyes sparkling in excitement. As the meat sizzled and the paste seeped into it, bing one with it, a mouth wetting aroma wafted outwards and permeated the surrounding areas. The aroma was extremely enticing, enough to whet the appetite of a thousand full-bellied soldiers! Their mouth watered when the scent reached them. It tingled on their tongues, and the texture of meat blinded their senses. It felt almost as if they were eating rather than smelling. They breathed heavily through their nose to relish the aroma in all its entirety. Instantly, their mouth watered, and their appetite roused, roaring like a white tiger. Vincent and Leni were sitting behind the others, enjoying each otherpany and watching Varth cook a meal for them. Even resting in each other''s arms was surprisingly healing for their souls and good for their mental health. Maybe it was because they were lovers who hadn''t quarreled; Maybe it was because Vincent didn''t mind whatever was wrong with Leni and loved her unconditionally; Maybe it was because Leni was devoted to him that Vincent felt at home around her. Or it might be because they were attracted to each other for no reason except for the fact they exist. Vincent didn''t feel anything when the aroma spread far enough to reach them, but one can not say the same for Leni. Her mouth watered after the aroma assaulted her senses. A bit of it trickled down one corner of her mouth, and she didn''t even notice it. However, when Vincent saw it, he gently swiped the saliva off her face with his thumb. As he gently wiped the drool off her smooth chin, Leni realized that her lips were a bit parted, and her saliva was trickling out of the corners of her mouth. Her eyes widened as she realizes that he has seen such an udylike side of her. Her emotions were vivid on her face, and thus, Vincent managed to make out what she was thinking in her mind. "Don''t be so embarrassed. It''s normal for a person to drool." Vincent said as he licked his thumb, tasting her saliva, unsurprisingly finding it to be sweeter than honey. Except for blood, he could also taste someone''s saliva. Maybe it was because they were both liquids? If he had said those words without tasting her saliva in front of her eyes, then she wouldn''t have been embarrassing. After all, light pecks and kisses on the lips had be casual between the two. Still, french kisses only happened on special urrences, and this was her first time seeing him taste her saliva, so of course, she felt embarrassed. Her cheeks turned red, and she hurriedly closed her mouth to stop more of her water from flowing out of it in case she ends up embarrassing herself even further by showing such an udylike sight to her lover. Vincent felt amused by watching the way she reacted. Interacting with her felt not much different than ying with a cat. "My little and sweet baby, why were you drooling like a child?" He asked teasingly while patting her head. Leni pointed at the meat on the griller and said, "It''s all because of that, alright? I was caught off guard by the powerful aroma of the meat. I don''t normally drool like that, not even while I am sleeping." "I know. I know. Anyway, you honestly look cute at that moment." Vincent said, telling her that she looked exceptionally cute when she was drooling. She felt teased by him and turned even redder. To hide the wonderful view from the others, he hid her face in his embrace. "Ahh!" When it entered through the nostrils of the others, their senses were also sted apart by it. The men felt as if they were pirates, sailing a ship across the mermaidnds. Drinking wine and eating meat as the mermaids sang for them all night long. While Iris felt as if she was sleeping in the center of a field of roses, left with nothing but peace and a clear blue sky. Only Vincent remained indifferent as he couldn''t relish the aroma. Varth, the one who was making the meal, thought back to the time when the owner of the cauldron treated him to his first homely meal. A smile crept on his face before mncholy and sadness filled his eye. The said person has already died in battle, after all. Chapter 185 - Wizards Meal (a) "How could grilling meat produce such a wonderful aroma? What kind of entric cooking technique is he even using?! More importantly, just what is he making that requires a cauldron?!" John''s mouth watered so much that when he gulped, he felt as if he was drinking water straight out of an ocean. "Damn, I want to taste it so bad. But it is still isn''t cooked perfectly. Control! I must control myself! Patience is a virtue. I must remain patient and preserve through this! Only then will I get to taste the best meal of my life." Nevis wrapped his hands around his body, stopping himself from stepping towards the griller by using all the strength in his arms. "I nearly lost my mind there for a second. I guess it''s been a month since I have left the temple and haven''t had a good meal ever since. Though, it''s surprising to see a young person that can cook as well as my home chef. Even if he is using an artifact to achieve such great results. His proficiency as a chef is not to be ignored. He must have put in a lot of work to gain such skills and knowledge. Ah~It''s been so long since Ist had such kind of a meal. I wonder how good it will taste" Iris thought in her mind while subconsciously biting her lips, looking very sexy at the moment. Varth didn''t know that even the scent of the meat and spices produced due to the grilling process was enough to make most of his teammates lose their minds. Even though they recovered after a couple of moments and managed to retain control of themselves, it was still a big deal. "Buddy, how long is it gonna take?" Nevis asked while standing several steps away from Varth and the griller, not daring to move near them because he feared that breathing in the thick concentration of intoxicating scent near the griller would make him lose his mind, that he would dive headfirst into the griller. "Although the fire is strong enough to burn animals into ashes, when ites to demonic and magical beasts, it''s still a bitcking." Varth pointed at the chunks of meat on the grill before saying, "For them to be good enough to be eaten by humans, it is going to take around ten minutes or so." "What kind of meal are you even making that requires the meat of ?a demonic beast?" Nevis asked. "Wizard''s Diner, have you never went to such a ce even though you''re a great royalty?" To Varth''s surprise, Nevis nodded his head, which meant that he hadn''t had something like that in his entire life. "Nope, they never let me go to fancy ces like this, so I mostly ate vegetables and sometimes meat." "You don''t even know about it?" Varth found it hard to believe that a great royalty like him hasn''t had one such meal in their entire life. So, he asked again, just to make sure of it. "Nope." Nevis refused once again. Varth scanned him from head to toe before his right eye reflected a few traces of pity. No wonder he is so skinny! No wonder why some girls would be ashamed topare their waist with his! It''s all because he hasn''t gotten proper nutrients while growing up. Varth instinct as a good chef roused, and he decided to fatten the little pig! Unlike what normally happens, he wouldn''t butcher this one once it''s all grown up, hopefully. "Are you going to tell me?" Nevis wanted to know about the wizard''s diner, so he asked about it. "First, answer my question, who are they?" Varth said while looking at him. "Huh?" "The ones who didn''t let you eat properly." "My family, I suppose." Varth remembered that Nevis is the infamous cursed child. But even an idiot would be able to determine that that was just some spread by the novels and royals so that they can keep up with their hypocrisy. Who would have known that his family actually treated him badly because of such unbiased rumors? "So even he was treated unfairly by his family." Varth felt even more sympathetic for Nevis as he found a reflection of himself in him. He was used as a tool for his family ever since he was little, and he didn''t know any better. When he was but a small child, his parents taught him that killing wasn''t bad. Instead, they glorified it to his curious and nk mind. Like a sponge absorbing water, his innocent mind took their words as it is. Kept away from the inte and other means of knowledge, his so-called parents brainwashed him to be the best weapon, one who wouldn''t feel remorse when taking a life, no matter how innocent! Truly, humans are no better than beasts as long as one doesn''t teach them morals values, and so on. If a person hasn''t learned how to speak, then they won''t know what to say. The same goes for writing, the proper way of eating, taking a dump, everyday activities, and so on. Just like him in the past, if a person never tastes freedom, then they would believe that the silence in the darkroom where they are confined is the best ce in their life, far better than engaging inbat and getting injured or dirtied by the blood of another. Thankfully, his parents made the mistake of enlisting him in the top-secret squad, and the leader of that squad pulled him out of the depth of the abyss. He taught him how to be human, guided him to be the man he was today instead of the weapon the hollow family desired for him to be. The same person taught him the joy of cooking. Sadly, the very person who shed light on his life, died protecting him from the creatures of hell. "Did you say something?" Nevis asked as he didn''t quite hear what he said. "Ah, nope." Varth hurriedly brushed it off. Chapter 186 - Wizards Meal (b) "I think I heard you say something along the line of the family." Nevis looked at Varth with eyes narrowed in suspicion. He clearly heard him say something, but he was now refusing to admit it. ''Something sure is fishy,'' he thought. "It''s probably your imagination. I didn''t say a word." Varth tried to brush it off, but his words only piqued the other party''s curiosity. "Your behavior is very suspicious. Now I want to know what you said!" Nevis looked at him with squinted eyes, acting as if he was trying to see through him, trying to find out what he is hiding. Having no intention of telling the sad story of his life that one could very well turn into a tragic novel, Varth turned away from his gaze and aggressively thought in his mind, "This damned unreasonable child!" Nevis''s gaze was so intense that he felt it searing his back. With his back facing him, Varth expertly changed the subject by saying, "Listen well, the meat of ranked beasts is full of impurities but also medicinal, replenishing, and strengthening properties. Combined with the right amount of magical spices, herbs, and stuff, they create a Wizard''s meal. Not only do these dishes taste more delicious than the ones made using the meat of farm animals, but there is also a chance for a person to gain temporary or permanent benefits after consuming them." Swayed by the prospect of gaining knowledge not known before, the interest of the young man changer faster than the blink of an eye. "What kind of benefits?" Nevis asked as he looked at him with eyes that desired to know more about the benefits of a Wizard''s dish. Feeling satisfied that he had managed to change the interest of the young man and finding the curiosity of his past self in him, feeling that Nevis is the boy he used to be, the one who used to hang around the man who taught him all that was to know about this world, Varth decided to bestow him more knowledge about this subject. "You might gain an increase in your strength, gain temporary or permanent beneficial effects, get better and healthier or feel a burst of stamina filling your body while eating them. It depends on what type of beast''s meat you''re using and the type of ingredients." "Then, what will I gain from eating what you''re cooking." "A temporary increase in your strength, flexibility, and defense. But you need to consume 3 kg of its meat." The eyes of Nevis brightened when he heard the mystical effects of a wizard''s dishes, all that was left was for him to experience it first hand. After he finished decorating the te with sauce and meat that smelled so great that the mouths of the humans and demi-humans watered unconsciously, Varth said, "Time to eat!" He served a pte to each of them before he sat down with one in his hand. "I''ve been waiting too long for this!" "Time to taste the fruits of my efforts to control myself," "Thank you for the meal!" They were talking too much and not even taking a bite out of the meat he prepared, causing him to feel a tinge of unhappiness. "Stop talking and dig in!" An instant after the basilisk said those words, the humans and demi-humans used their knives to chop it up and pick a mouthful of it up towards their mouths. "Mmm!" When the meat entered their mouth, tingled on their tongue, and exploded into a waft of aroma that assaulted them silly, their groans and moans of delight filled the hall, even though they had no intention of doing so. They couldn''t help it, however. After all, they felt as if thousands of firecrackers were bursting inside their bodies, making each fiber of their beings feel hot, warm, fuzzy, and extremely happy. The boy, neither human nor vampire, but a mixture of both, was able to understand the cause of their delight. However, he wasn''t able to enjoy it. Yet, he still kept on eating and asionally moaning as if he was eating something truly incredible so that the harmony of this moment won''t get destroyed. [You''ve consumed the meat of a panther-type beast that is known for its agility] [Your Flexibility, Speed, defense, and Reaction time has increased by 25%] [The effect will disappear after three days] To Vincent''s surprise, although the food tasted nk, it truly did increase his strength temporarily. Wizard''s dishes, he no longer doubted the meal''s capability or considered it frivolous.Now, he only had praise left for it. "Splendid! Truly, splendid." After Vincent praised him, the rest of them also apuded his extreme dish. Although a mask covered his face, the basilisk indeed smiled. It''s been too long, too long since hest shared such a meal with a group. Vincent teasingly touched Leni, and she turned to look at him. His eyes looked into her''s as if trying to convey something, and she stared right back at him with eyes that asked what''s wrong? His lips thinned into a smile. "You got the sauce all over your face." "Eh?" Leni hurried to wipe it off her face, but she repeatedly missed the mark. Seeing her going silly, his smile stretched from ear to ear. He raised his hands and gently grabbed her face, moving it to face him and holding it in ce. "Let me help you." He said before he started to attentively wipe the sauce off the sides of her cheeks. He said before he started to wipe the sauce off the sides of her cheeks. The pretty woman''s eyes opened wide enough to turn toplete rounds. He found her cute and squished her irresistible cheeks. She was so lost in her surprise that she forgot to free herself from his teasing. The basilisk could also see a part of their intimacy reflected off from John and Iris. He remembered the happiness he had already lost when he looked at their smiling faces and intimate actions. By the time the basilisk took his eyes off the others and focused on his surroundings, he saw Nevis looking straight at him. Although he was startled, he remained seated in his ce, not even a single disturbance appearing in his esoteric breathing pattern. "If you have something to say, then say it." Chapter 187 - Wizards Meal (c) A moment after Varth said those words while looking at him, Nevis smiled and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head before saying, "Can I learn how to create a Wizard''s dish?" The oddness of this profession has got to him. Cooking itself wasn''t something out of the ordinary, but dishes that can increase strength and provide different effects to abatant were what piqued his interest and made him want to be a chef that can create a wizard''s meal. "Why not? Though you need to read a lot of books and memorize the necessary ingredients, the amount used, and theirbination to create a wizard''s meal. Wizard''s meal recipes are also pricey. So unless you can get a mentor that is willing to guide you for free, you will be paying hundreds or even thousands of contributions points to learn how to prepare one such meal." After digesting Varth''s words, Nevis came to realize that it wouldn''t be easy to jump into this profession. He was also hesitating to do so because not only was the earning of a wizard''s chef less than that of a chef that prepares evolution materials for humanoid consumption but the price he needs to pay to learn it is equal to any other high-level profession. "It''s too costly for the current me. I''ll see what I get after we split up the loot. If the profit is too much and I can get my hands on what I prioritize and what I am interested in, then I would learn it." By taking the fact that he only earns enough to make ends meet through streaming into ount, Nevis made this rational decision. "Can I get a refill?" John asked after he finished his meal and gained a buff. "There''s plenty of it, so sure but don''t overdo it. Excess of anything has harmful effects. The same goes for a wizard''s meal." Varth motioned him to help himself. There was plenty of meat on the tray on top of the stand beside the griller, waiting for the destined one to eat it. "Can you get some for me too?" Iris asked after John stood up. "Sure, I will," John replied and took the te from her hand before going towards the stand. Everyone got a refill, including the girls, as the food was too good. Vincent followed suit as he didn''t want to stand out from the crowd. "I am already feeling stronger and full of stamina after the first meal, and I haven''t even had the second. It will be easy to face thest trial with so many buffs, and it''s all thanks to you." John said while looking at Varth with a thankful look on his face. "Yeah," Vincent said. "It''s a blessing to have a wizard''s chef in our team!" "Haha guys, stop embarrassing him," Nevis said. "I''m not embarrassed." Varth''s eyebrows raised. "Really? Then take off your mask and let us see your face." Nevis demanded that with an evil smirk on his pretty-boy face. "No way." Varth declined as removing the mask meant going full-on basilisk, and with him having new feelings towards them, he didn''t know what the demon would do to them. It might take control of his body, kill them or torture them till their minds break to get back at him. "See, he is embarrassed," Nevis said after Varth refused to take off his mask. "Hahahaha!" Everyone couldn''t help butugh a little, and that made Varth''s eyes twitch. After finishing the meat on his te by sneaking more than half of it to the te in Leni''s hand at a speed so fast that she didn''t even notice and eating the rest of it, Vincent shoot Varth a nce and said, "You don''t look like the type of guy who would spend a lot of time reading books to learn something like this." "It''s a hobby that I picked up from an old friend while I was touring differents and learning more about their culture with him." That was the background his family made for him when in actuality, he was not a tourist, and he didn''t visit thoses to learn more about their culture. He did travel to thes mentioned in his official records, but it was for an impure purpose, and that was to take out the people on the kill list, a list with the names of the enemies of the Hollow family and the people the Hollows want dead. "Visiting and explorings, that''s the dream of many. But you did it at a young age. You must have enjoyed it a lot." Vincent said those words because he didn''t know what Varth has gone through or that he wasn''t tourings for the fun of it but assassinating enemies of his family. "It''s pleasant but not as much as you think. Though it does have a sense of novelty to it," Varth replied to him. "It''s too good to be rich! After we make big bucks, let''s go and explore the other worlds!" Nevis said. "Hey, even if we get rich, it''s useless now," John said with a sigh. "Huh?" Nevis looked at him with a bewildered expression on his face. "After twenty-two months, we''ll be working our ass off in the army," John said, "You''re a Great Royalty, and thus, you can back off from bing a soldier or quit the army as you want. But the three of us need to fulfill our obligation before we can retire. So, it will be a while before we can travel together to tour other worlds." "That is, if we manage to survive." The moment that sentence left his mouth, the dizzying happiness evaporated in thin air, and coldness invaded the surrounding. Nevis''s mouth was left hanging. "Let''s talk about something else," Leni said. "My bad," John said, realizing that he had made a mistake by saying that. "Varth, that friend who taught you how to create a wizard''s meal, who is he? Can you tell us more about him?" Vincent said, trying to change the subject. Chapter 188 - Varths Past (d) "Hmm, he was a good person," Varth raised his head to look at the ceiling and then continued, "He was knowledgeable about a lot of things, but he was a gourmet and loved eating and drinking the most. As visiting and touring other worlds was (a part of) his job, and he traveled a lot, there were a lot of times where he had to set a tent in the wild and eat canned food. Tired of eating stale food, he decided to learn cooking himself. Thus, he ended up bing a wizard''s chef, and when we met and started touring together, he taught me too." As Varth had gained the guidance of his friend, who was a chef that didn''t only make a dish out of evolution materials but also the flesh of beasts, that''s why he was able to create meals far better than the ones a person typically eats. "For free?" Nevis asked, wondering whether that person taught everything to Varth without taking a single penny. "Yeah," Varth nodded his head. Since that person pitied Varth, who at that time didn''t have any knowledge about the world, couldn''t discern right from wrong, and also didn''t have a single hobby, he taught him how to cook food and enjoy eating meals. "He must be a good person, for he gave away his knowledge without any hesitation," Vincent said. He knew that in this world where knowledge about magic techniques and magical recipes indeed mattered, and that''s why all of them came with an unimaginable price tag. 1000 contribution points are enough to feed a family for their lifetime but it''s not enough for abatant to buy a magic technique. Yet, his friend gave him hundreds of thousand contribution points worth of knowledge for free. If that wasn''t a good person then Vincent didn''t know what was. "He truly was," Varth said, and the other could feel tinges of sadness in his voice. "Do you guys know about yellow-spotted maggots?" Suddenly, he asked this question, confusing the others. "Never heard about it." John shook his head. The others also didn''t know about it, not even Iris. "Those grotesque creatures only exist in deste worlds whose surface is barren, but the inside is full of energy mines. They have special poison in their bodies that is more like a curse, and they always move in a group of fifty or more. Once their poison enters your body, it spreads with each step taken. The more step you take, the further their poison spread, and after it reaches the heart, the person dies." Varth exined with a severe look on his face. He remembered that fateful night, which was both a nightmare and his best dream. He remembered that fateful night, which was both a nightmare and his best dream. Because that day, his eyes opened to the other side of this world, light, which was far different than his deste darkness where everyone was a pawn. And he came to believe in humanity because of that certain someone. "Why are you telling us that?" Nevis asked, wondering if there is a reason behind him telling them about yellow-spotted maggots. "I encountered them with my old friend. When we got injured by a group of mutated poisonous maggots in one of our adventures and had to abandon everything to run for our lives, he hid his wounds and carried me for a thousand miles to safety. His wounds got worse as he overexerted himself, and as he walked with me on his back, the poison seeped further into his body. "Oh!" Nevis''s eyes widened like saucers after he digested his words, and he felt amazed at the self-sacrifice of Varth''s old friend. "Gosh, he must be a kind-hearted soul," Leni said "Then, what happened to him?" Vincent asked while looking at Varth, curious about the fate of his old friend. "We managed to find a supporter from the military in time. He was old, but he stood out because he had powerfulpanions, incredible medical knowledge and skills, and also a ve tattoo. He purified the poison in our body in a matter of seconds, but by that time, my old friend''s legs had already been corroded from the inside." Varth recalled the past with a downcast look. "Did the old man heal his legs back to their peak state?" Iris asked. "The wound caused by the poison of yellow-spotted poison contains microbes that infect a person if they touch them with their hands or their energy, including healing energy. Using healing powers on such wounds is asking to be infected. Thus, the old militant had to amputate his legs and give him artificial legs." Varth finished with a heavy sigh. If it wasn''t for him, would the poison go so deep? "Why didn''t you guys use a scroll to regrow his limbs?" Leni asked innocently. His teammates looked at him with a bewildered expression before Varth said, "They don''t grow on trees, and only a peak level inscriptionist can create them. Most of them live in seclusion, hidden from the world, and the few that are well known demanded atrocious things in return to create one for us. Furthermore, my old friend preferred to use powerful mechanical legs, as that way, he didn''t need to train his legs from the beginning." Yes, not everyone was Vincent who could fuse multiple healing magic scrolls into the best magic scroll there is! Vincent, who got lost in thoughts after hearing his words, snapped out of his daze once he came to a contract and turned to look at him before asking, "That old person, is his name, Miller?" Leni''s and John''s eyes brightened as the person mentioned by Varth indeed shared a lot of simrities with Old Miller. "Old Miller? Who is that?" Iris asked in a curious voice, and Nevis was also wondering the same. "He''s my uncle," John answered. "Mine too," Leni added. "Ahem, I don''t know.." Varth didn''t know that person''s name. Chapter 189 - Blackmailing Melody. "They were in a hurry, and they left after treating us." He added. "Okay, I see," Vincent said. "Do you remember his face?" Leni suddenly asked. "It happened many years ago, so I can''t remember what his face looks like," Varth answered. It was a mystery for all of them whether the person Old Miller is the person who saved Varth and his friend or not. "How about we go meet him when we have free time?" John offered. "Sorry, but I don''t want to leave Xavier unless necessary." Varth hurriedly declined. Stepping out of Xavier without being under military supervision was the same as asking his family to do everything in their power to kidnap him back to the dungeon where he would be hypnotized and set straight through the means of torture. "Anyway, where is your old friend now?" Nevis asked after a couple of seconds. Even after a few moments, Varth said nothing. It was as if he didn''t hear anything, and thus, gave no reaction. However, as Vincent was closely looking at him and he had sharp eyes, he could see his hands shaking slightly. Vincent wondered if something is troubling him. "Did something happened to him?" He asked "I don''t want to talk about this topic anymore," Varth replied. "Alright, let''s talk about something else." Vincent could tell that something was wrong, and asking more would put a wall in their rtion. "Wait! Onest thing before we change topics. What was your friend''s name?" Nevis asked while looking at Varth. "Noment," Varth replied. "Are you for real? Why can''t you tell your old friend''s name to your new friends?" Nevis wanted to know more about his old friend but felt bad because he refused to even tell him the name of his old friend. Thus, he spoke in a slightly raised tone. "Friends? Are you my friend?" Varth raised his head to look at him and said some harsh words, and that came out of nowhere for everyone. "You!" Just at that very moment, Melody suddenly appeared in the space above their heads. Her sudden appearance calmed the tension between the youngster. "Hi guys~" She greeted them with a yful gesture before sitting down on Varth''s shoulder. "You are here, again?!" Varth''s right eye tilted to look at Melody, a bit of annoyance and affection mixed in his gaze. "Hehe, were you waiting for me? Could it be? You are already in love with me?" She pulled back her face and her mouth opened to aplete word as she said those words in a slightly teasing and mostly serious tone to make it took real. "Have you ever stood before a mirror and looked at your reflection?" Varth said while not even sparing a nce at her as he ced the cup in his hand near his mouth, then sipped his wine with his eyes closed. "Brat, are you calling this great aunt ugly?" She asked as her cheeks puffed up. "No, I am calling you tiny." Varth hit her right where it hurts the most. His words added salt to her freshly opened wounds. "You don''t know how to treat ady! You''ll never get married if you keep up such an attitude." Purple Fairy Melody said in a vengeful tone. "I already have several wives." Varth said in a calm voice filled with nothing but honesty, enough for everyone hearing it to believe that he wasn''t lying. "You''re lying." Melody refused to believe that a person wearing an entire ck attire as if he was an emo kid would be able to get multiple wives! Varth smirked and whipped out the marriage certificates from his spatial storage device. "Here''s the proof." He handed them over to Melody. "Omg!" She looked at them, and after confirming that they indeed were marriage certificates with the federation stamps on them, her eyes widened like a saucer, and her jaw opened so wide that it threatened to drop to touch the ground. "Got anything else to say?" Varth looked down at her, acting as if he has won some kind of war. "You must have ckmailed them," Melody said while throwing the papers back at him. Before they could p his face, he raised his hand and moved it in a swiping motion, caching all of the marriage certificates and storing them in his spatial storage device in the span of a second. Varth shook his head at her, then said, "Your attitude is condescending." "Huh?" Melody raised her chin while standing on his right shoulder. "You use others of severe crime and also don''t believe in the words of those weaker than you," Varth said. "Hmph! So what?" Melody humphed. "Men don''t like to get involved with girls with a bad attitude like you. If you keep that up, you will never get married in your life." Varth taunted her. "Ugh! You mannerless brat!" Melody gritted her teeth in anger. Looking at them bickering back and forth like little kids, the onlookersughed but realized how inappropriate it was for them tough at the fairy, who could make things easy but also hard for them, and they covered their mouths with their hands in order to hide their smiles and not offend her. "Appearing out of nowhere and eating the food of others without a single word of gratitude for two days straight, you''re the one without any manners." Varth retorted in a voice neither loud nor too low. "You''re asking for it." Melody rolled up her tiny sleeves, and her tiny hands also balled into tiny fists. "If you advance, then no food for you." Varth ckmailed her. It was at this very moment that the Fairy smelled something great. It was a smell that melted her tiny heart and made her wet in her mouth! "Do you want to eat or not?" Varth said to pressure her into giving up on the idea of duking out with him. "I''m sorry.." Fairy Melody said with puffed-up cheeks that had long turned red as tears threatened to drop out of her wide doll-like eyes. Chapter 190 - Aurelian! The moment tears appeared in Melody''s eyes, Leni''s and Iris''s feminine instincts red up. The fairy was cute and tiny, and with her puffy cheeks, she looked extremely adorable. So, how could they afford to let tears flow out of her eyes? There was no way for them to do that! "Come on, forgive her already," Leni said to Varth, speaking up in favor of Melody. "She is already on the verge of tears, so don''t tease her anymore," Iris added. "You shouldn''t break a girl''s heart," John said. Since you''ve many wives, I assume you know how vengeful they can get if you do so." Nevis added. King Wrath rolled his eyes! No, he didn''t know! He was King Wrath, a person whose reputation as a butcher and the most murderous man precedes him. Many people feared him, for he was someone backed by one of the pirs of the federation and also someone with a lot of blood on his hands. The rumors of his terror were widespread, reaching the soldiers on the deserteds near the borders of the humanoid races, which lie behind the dark sea, an area in space that oveps with the dimension of hell. Some say that he is a demon in human flesh; Some tell their crying children to stop crying or else he woulde and eat them; Some say that he indulges in the blood of virgin blood; Some that he kills at a single disagreement. With so many rumors to his name, his wives from arranged marriages treated him with the same amount of respect that a filial descendant would show his ancestors. They treated him like that, not because they loved him. Not at all. It was because they feared that he would kill them if they do something to displease him. He had also seen some of his wives trying to earn his sympathy by using crocodile tears. He saw those very tears in her eyes and believed that she was faking it. "Let bygones be bygones," Vincent said while looking at Varth with eyes that were giving him a warning. As knowledgeable as he was, he knew that messing with a fairy who he can''t beat in his current conditions won''t do him any good. Varth immediately became a good boy, and because he didn''t want to make the silly fairy cry and go on a rampage, he decided to let it go, and hence, he said, "Apology epted." The tears that were threatening to drop out of the fairy''s eyes immediately vanished, but at the same time, herplexion brightened up in happiness. "Growl!" Her tummy grumbled. "What''s for dinner today?!" She asked. "You little glutton!" Varth said while pinching the chubby cheeks of the fairy. "I''m hungry!" Melody said out loud, trying to say that he can''t y with her unless he feeds her with her eyes. A thousand years old fairy? More like a baby that hasn''t grown up, he thought. "Here you go." Varth served her the wizard''s meal he prepared a while ago. She smelled it, taking in the heavenly scent wafting out of it. Although it''s been a while since he grilled it, the meat was still hot. It''s because the meat and the heat he used to cook it were now not two but one. As the aroma of the wizard''s meal entered her nostril and reached her stomach, bursting into fireworks that spread inside her body, she felt electric currents of joy caressing her inside out. Her eyes widened like saucers! The meal smelled far better than the ones she had before. Thus, she felt happy by this pleasant surprise. She immediately turned to Varth and asked, "What is it? Why does it smell so good?" Like many others, Melody was the type of person who only eats and doesn''t know anything about making meals. She was clueless about what type of dish was before her. "This one is the most vorful national dish of the holy kingdom that rules Auria, a where most of the religious people live," Varth answered. If the others didn''t know better, then they would have believed that he was a chef working in a high-ss restaurant that hovers outsides and can only be attended by the filthy rich. "Oh, oh, I know about that! It''s near Lorena. I once visited it with my master. The people there are extremely hospitable, and thend is also very pretty, unlike most of the humannd. There are no giant constructs on that, nor does toxicity fills its skies. There were a thousand temples but tens of thousands of spas in the Holy Kingdom thest time I visited it. I remember spending time in one of the giant ones with my master. Ah, it was too peaceful. Even remembering about it is giving me the desire to revisit it." Melody said in a voice filled with reminisces. She was about to continue but Varth interrupted her. "The Aurelian has a tradition of not talking with their meals in front of them. That''s how they show respect to the life they have taken to fulfill their belly. Since you''re eating something that belongs to their homnd, you should follow their tradition and start eating it." The others weren''t surprised as they already knew that Varth was a tourist who roamed manys at a young age. At least, that''s what he makes himself out to be to cover his origins. "Okay," the fairy nodded her head. Then, she started eating. The te hovered up to her mouth, then the grilled steak separated into multiple pieces, and she started digging in, stuffing one piece after another into her tiny mouth, shoving them down her throat and into her stomach at an inconvenience rate. ''Is she even chewing it? ''How can she fit such a big thing in her tiny mouth? ''Fairies sure are mystical beings!'' Vincent thought, wordlessly feeling amazed by the fairy''s way of eating. Chapter 191 - The Last Trial! Right at that very moment, a voice sounded from his side, causing him to look away from her and turn around to look at Leni. Aurian, it sounds like a dreame true!" Leni said, hoping to one day visit it with her lover. From the dreamy look on her face, Vincent could tell what she was thinking. "If we have time, then I will make it possible." Iris suddenly said. Vincent, John, and Nevis knew that Iris could make it possible as she came from the twilight temple, but the first one couldn''t indulge in such happiness as he wanted to take revenge; the second one wanted to follow his idol, who was Vincent; the third one wanted to make a name for himself in the military as that was the fastest way to prove his family how wrong they were to treat him unkindly and unfairly. After Melody finished eating, she licked her lips and then said, "Umm, thank you for the meal. It was wonderful." Varth smiled slightly behind his mask, feeling good to have finally received her appreciation. "She ate all of that?!" Nevis''s eyes widened like saucers. The piece of meat she devoured was the same size as her body, so how was she able to fit all of it inside her belly?! Simply inconceivable! Nevis''s mortal mind couldn''tprehend it! "How can her tiny belly contain all of it?" John said in a low voice filled with traces of bewilderment. Nevis moved his face to look at John in the eyes before saying, "Maybe her tummy is actually a spatial storage device? "Don''t be so silly," Iris said. "" Vincent and Leni looked at the kids arguing with each other in silence. "Fairy, we''re ready to challenge thest trial, so please open the portal leading to that ce," Varth said after a few moments. "Are you guys sure?" Vincent stood up and gave her a nod. John, Leni, and the others also gave her consent. Melody raised her tiny hands, and in the very next second, arge amount of ck energy surged out of her palm, swirling in mid-air and expanding into an oval shape taking the form of a portal out of which a heavy suction force burst out. The portal instantly sucked Leni, John, and the others inside of it. Although Vincent had the strength to resist, he didn''t put up even a single ounce of resistance and let it take him too. The figure of the fairy blurred before she vanished. At the same time, the portal also closed, spatial ripples gently spreading in the hall, meeting nothing but emptiness. Their senses dulled when they entered the portal and felt a bit sluggish, but by the time they recovered from these side effects, they found themselves near a tower whose peak thrust towards the pink clouds in the dusky sky. While most of them were gawking at it and some were looking for clues, the fairy appeared in front of them. "Does this tower have something to do with thest trial?" Varth asked. She raised her hand and pointed it at the tower, saying the following words right after, "This is the Monster Tower, a manifestation of my master power. It''s her ability kingdom! I bet you guys are already excited but what''s toe is even more exciting." ''I bet it''s exciting only for her and bad news for us,'' Vincent thought in his mind, wordlessly standing on his spot. She continued, "This tower has a total of 31 floors, and on the first floor, you''ll fight a monster that is more or less around your evolutionary stage. The twist is that the number of monsters on the second floor will be double that of the first floor, and so on until the thirtieth floor. Every time you kill a monster, you''ll gain ten points, and you''ll pass and gain the right to enter the treasury if you manage to earn 100 points. "If you''ve any confusion rted to this trial, now''s the time to ask away since I''m willing to rify it." John raised his hand, pointed at the tablet with ten names on it floating above the entrance to the monster tower, and asked, "What''s that?" "That''s the scoreboard that only records the names of the people that manage to earn the highest points in the monster tower. The minimum threshold is 3000 points." Vincent looked at the scoreboard and found out the names and the total points of the challengers. 1: Mr. Joker (0) 2: Emperor of Might (4650) 3: Nights Knows All (3780) 4: TRV (3200) 5: Disciple of the heatless de and the joyful sword (3000) 6: No Name (20000) "Are there any benefits of breaking the records?" Varth asked while looking at Melody. "If you break into the top ten names of the scoreboard, I will allow you to take two treasures away from his ce," Melody answered. "Hey, what about the 31st floor?" Vincent said, "How many monsters would we be facing in that ce?" "Not telling, not telling." She shook her hands, refusing to say a single word about the secrets of the 31st floor. "Why?" Leni asked. "That''s up to you guys to find out, that''s if you reach the 31st floor," Melody said as a mysterious glint shed in her eyes. "Onest question!" Iris asked, "Is it possible to participate as a team?" Melody shook her tiny head, and said, "In this trial, you can only depend on yourself." They had no choice but to go in alone. The good news was that they came prepared. They were all of them under the effect of a few buffs and in their best condition. They stepped towards the entrance, and the wide gate meant for towering giants cracked open. One by one, they entered the tower through the split in between the entrance. After entering the tower, Vincent found himself in a dark ce. He could also feel that there was no one around him.. He was teleported to this ce, he believed. Chapter 192 - First Floor Of Monster Tower [You''ve entered a mystic boundary, a ce created by the Iron d Empress through imbuing a part of her Ability kingdom in this ce.] [The rules of this ce restrict the usage of any type of spatial device and spatial magic.] [The space of this ce is too refined.] [You can not open the pathway to your subspace in this ce.] [Subspace Spell Matrix: Restricted.] A few notifications popped up in his mind, and after reading them, he frowned. He couldn''t even pull out his dagger from his spatial storage ring! Furthermore, he needed to use the fifty units of blood in his heart more carefully than ever. Vincent moved ahead in the darkness. He had only taken the third step when enormous sources of light manifested above his head. The lights which were emitting out of the two moon-like orbs hanging from the ceiling were intense enough to rip apart the darkness and illuminate the surrounding. Now, he was able to take in his surroundings more clearly than before. He saw a crystal door and guessed that it was the path to the second floor. However, a monster in the second stage of the demonic realm was guarding it. [Hellborn de] It was a five meters long and two meters wide monster that had three pairs of legs, each shaped like a de, two wings with many scales on them, and a sturdy exoskeleton. It looks like a mantis; that was Vincent''s first impression about it. However, it didn''t have eyes, and it also didn''t have antennas. It only had a sunken nose in the center of its face thatcked all other features. The moment the creature sniffed the air, it realized that someone hase to this ce. Its head turned in Vincent''s direction. Right in this very moment, he had used his appraisal spell matrix to determine the strength and weakness of this monster. He raised one of his hands, out of which a drop of blood came out and dropped to the ground. Itcked many sensory functions, but its sense of smell was a thousand times better than humans. He knew that the scent of blood would reach it and aggravate it, causing it to go berserk and make bad judgments! "Roar!!" The moment the droplet of blood touched the ground, the monster from hell released a roar, then a bloodthirsty look appeared on its hideous face as it moved towards Vincent by stabbing its limbs into the ground. It was too fast for any typical intermediate-stagebatant, but it was too slow in Vincent''s eyes. His speed, strength, and stamina surpassed 100 points. He was unmatched by monsters in the early stages of the demonic realm. He could move out of its way as effortlessly as a person taking a stroll in the park. However, he stood still and didn''t make a single move even when it swiped its front limbs towards him. He was waiting for a chance, a chance that would help him reach the weakness of the Hellborn de in the least amount of time. Whoosh! Just as it looked like the de-like limbs were going to rip him apart, he made his move. The two de-like limbs passed from just over his head as he barely evaded the attacks by ducking low. While still in that position, he pushed himself forward, trying to slide towards the underbelly of the monster. The monster he was fighting wasn''t slow at all, and it was also determining his position by using its sense of smell. In its senses, Vincent was a massive pack of blood! Before he could even slide from underneath the front side of its body, the monster lowered its head, brought its mouth down, and opened its jaw to reveal knife-like teeth before biting at him. Bam! However, Vincent kicked its lower jaw before it could even fully open its mouth. The force behind his kick was enormous enough to force shut its mouth and cause its teeth to pierce the inside of its mouth and protrude out of its face. Fresh blood spurted into the air as Vincent reached its underbelly, which was coincidentally the weakest area of its body. An exoskeleton wasn''t covering this ce, and it was soft too. -5 HP, Blood surged out of his right palm, extending but at the same time solidifying into a sharp sword. The tip of the sword pierced into its flesh, causing it immense pain. It instinctively opened its mouth to moan out in pain, but it, in turn, ripped apart its face, a truly horrifying sight that would give anyone a chill. Even worse came for it as Vincent thrust his crimson sword further into its underbelly, causing the sharp sword''s tip to stab into its heart and explode it! "Gah!" The Hellborn de uttered its final painful roar as its body came crashing down towards Vincent. He immediately pulled out his sword by using his right hand, then smashed his left on the ground with a great enough strength to push himself out of harm''s way. The monster dropped on the ground with a heavy thud, raising dust in the air, after Vincent slid from underneath it. [You''ve killed the guardian of the first floor of the monster tower within a minute of engaging it in a fight.] [You''ve earned 10 Monster hunting points] [Total Time: 35 seconds] [You''ve surpassed eight top contenders and ranked just below the Emperor of Might and Mr. Joker] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 70 extra points] ''If it''s the Emperor of Might, then defeating the monster with a single hit shouldn''t be much of a problem for him,'' Vincent believed. ''Losing to such a person when I hadn''t even used my full strength isn''t a shame.'' ''As for Mr. Joker, I don''t know of such a person. Is he the human, devil, and God that Melody mentioned?'' While Vincent was lost in these thoughts, another notification sounded in the cave. [You''ve earned the right to advance to the second tower] Vincent didn''t even nce at the monster. It''s not like he could store it, anyway.. He moved straight towards the crystal door, pushed it open, and entered the second floor. Chapter 193 - The Last Floor (a) Vincent entered the second floor of the monster tower. It was dark the moment he entered it. However, an instantter, it began to brighten up in dim fiery lights. He was finally able to take in his surroundings more clearly. He was in a corridor of some sort, and above him, bulbs were hanging from the ceilings, attached to thin wires. Some of them weren''t working; Some of them were blinking every one or two seconds, something he found disturbing; Some of them were releasing intense rays of light, and they were the main source of light, acting as the brightest source of illumination. Thick metallic ting coated the walls, floor, and ceiling, making them appear sturdy and unbreakable. Just as he finished determining where he had appeared in the monster tower, he heard something that sounded like a whistle. Vincent looked over in a particr direction; the other end of the corridor. He was in the early levels of the intermediate-stage evolutionary stage, but his stats and physical capabilities were higher than one. His sight, hearing, and field of vision were stronger than monsters in the demonic realm.. Once he focused his senses on the whistling sound, he realized that it was simr to the sound produced when a sharp weapon cut through the air. No! It was the sound of several weapons cutting through the air at the same time. He was sure of that because several arrows with tips shaped like wolf''s fangs emerged in his field of vision, and all of them were rapidly charging towards him. These arrows were as long as his arm and as wide as his legs, big but sharp. They looked weird, no doubt about it. However, in a confined space like this, big but sharp weapons like them were the deadliest. Dodging the iing volley was out of questions, he determined, looking thoughtful for a moment. He stood on his spot for a brief moment before stomping his foot on the ground,unching himself towards the several arrows. Instead of waiting for them to gain more momentum whileing towards him, he had decided to put an end to them while they were still not at their best, something a typical person wouldn''t even think of doing. Before they reached near each other, waves of blood surged out of Vincent''s back, immediately solidifying into nine tails with thick shovel-like ends. Right at the very next moment, when it looked like some of the arrows would prate him, he stomped his other foot on the ground,unching himself backward. At the same time, he swung seven of his tails towards them. Their shovel-like ends snapped the half of the arrows into two, causing them to drop to the ground with a dull thud as he gracefully slid several meters away from the rest of them with a posture straight and eyes bright. Whoosh! Vincent kept himself in the middle as four of them passed by him and impaled the ground behind him. Thest two, he coiled his eighth and ninth tail around their ends, causing them to immediatelye to a halt and stop just an inch away from his shoulders. "Have a taste of your own medicine." Hisst two tails swiped forward, releasing the arrows after gaining maximum momentum, yanking them back to the ce from where they came. "nk! nk!" Sounds of metal shing against metal sounded, reaching even Vincent''s ears, as he rushed forward. He moved so fast, almost like a lightning panther, and charged out of the opposite end of the corridor, only taking three seconds to do so. The moment he appeared in a room with two capsules with green liquid within them, six sharp arcs of blue swirled towards him. He maneuvered his body almost instinctively, dodging the onesing from the front by ducking low. They passed over his head as three arcs of sharpness came towards him from each side but, they weren''t able to even graze him and only managed to kiss the surface of his tails that coiled around his body very protectively. Vincent stood up after dodging all of the sneak attacks as his tails uncoiled picturesquely, looking like a flower that just blossomed. [Demonic Twins of Wind & Moon] Finally, he saw his enemy. A tall monster with a gigantic wolf''s head and a human-like head stood in front of him. It looked a little disgusting as its skin was the same color as that of feces. It was 3-meter tall, having the lower body and the chest of a human, but two heads and six hands. Its left hands held a bow, one each. But it didn''t have a quiver, much less an arrow insight. The other hands held nothing in them. Thanks to his spell matrix, he found out that its bow could manifest arrows, that its right hands could conjure arcs of sharpness. "Human! Human! A delightful feast!" The two heads of the monstrous creature said at the same time, excitement flushing their two pair of eyes. Vincent smirked. "At the end of the day, you guys are the ones that are going to end up on the table." "Ignorant & weak," the wolf said, then the humanoid added, "Arrogant & foolish." "We will tear you apart, limbs from limbs, and eat you alive!" They said this sentence, amazingly in sync with each other, which usually doesn''t happen, and then they charged towards him, intent on doing what they just mentioned. Vincent had no intention of backing down, not in front of these monsters from hell, and he dashed towards them as his eyes turned deep red. Vincent and the twins exchanged dozens of moves before backing down. There wasn''t a scratch on his face because the negative energy barrier absorbed all of the damage he took a hit. However, there were many cracks on the twin''s body. As they say, two hands can''t win against four. Simrly, six hands were destined to lose against nine tails and two hands. "See, I told you so." He grinned like a child. "Ugh, the fight still hasn''t ended!" Wolf angrily stared at him. If looks could hurt, cuts would''ve already appeared all over Vincent''s body; that''s just how intense its murderous gaze happened to be at this moment. "Shut up, Wind Wolf! Keep your cool." Moon scolded the dumb brat. "I won''t listen to you, Moon King." The younger of the twins retorted. Suddenly, Vincent''s voice sounded out. "Hehe, the fight has ended alright!" They could see a look of confidence on his face, one that announced their ends. "Magic Technique: Mana Bullet!" Wordlessly and soundlessly, arge amount of mana had surged out of the tip of his forefinger, and a moment ago, it finished condensing into the shape of a blue bullet. "Goodnight!" While saying those words, he released the bullets towards them. It cut through the air and reached them in the blink of an eye, reached them before they could even make sense of the situation, reached them before they could even try to move out of its way. Bam! The bullet smashed on them with the force of a train, causing them to burst apart. Chunks of metal fell down the air as Vincent saw a portal opening up in front of him and heard announcements filling his ears, ones that told him that he hadpleted the trial and also broke the record of six people, that entering the portal would lead him to the fifth floor while going through the crystal door would lead him to the third floor. Intent on breaking records and earning the recognition of the leftover will of the Iron d Lady, Vincent chose thetter. A momentter, he appeared on the third floor and found himself standing in the center of three monsters that could breathe out fire, wind, and ice! Chapter 194 - Nevis! "I only need to take them down, and I will have enough to enter the treasury!" Nevis stood opposite to four goris with thick, burly arms and sharp teeth. The intent to kill them at all cost flushed his mesmerizing eyes. He had climbed up to the fourth floor of the monster tower by defeating several beasts and earning 60 points. Now, he only needed forty more points to be eligible to enter the treasury. Killing these monsters will earn him that! Angered by his defiant and murderous gaze, the four goris roared, then jumped towards him. They opened their mouths in mid-air and spewed out a boulder-sized fireball towards him. Nevis''s eyes widened the moment he saw those attacks, and he immediately integrated arge portion of his battle energy into his legs, increasing his speed and the strength of his legs, and bolted out of their way. He moved with such speed that the fireball they suddenly shoot towards him missed him by a few meters and crashed on the spot several steps behind him. After which, they exploded, releasing shockwaves that crashed on his back and sent him shooting towards the wall on the side.. He crashed face-first with the wall, causing his nose to break and blood to trickle down his nostrils as he dropped to the ground with a dull thud. "Ugh, god damn it!" Intense pain assaulted his senses, trying to kick his consciousness out of his mind, but Nevis gritted his teeth and forcefully held on to his consciousness. He knew that this wasn''t the time nor the ce where he could copse! Giving up meant death after all! He only had one choice, stand up and fight them. However, he could tell that he doesn''t have what it takes to take down four mutated goris. "I only have a few units of battle energy left in my body. How am I going to fight them? Forget about killing them. I won''t be able to even take them down with me. Did I make the choice wrong ofing up here? Did I try to chew more than I could swallow? Would it have been better if I had just given up and walked out of the tower after conquering the third floor?" Nevis regretteding up to the fourth floor despite his injuries, despite his exhaustion! He cursed himself for being a fool as well as greedy. But was it these two things that made him step up to this ce? Wasn''t he in this position because he wanted to achieve something by himself, because he wanted to earn the right to take a treasure out of the treasury? After all, he wanted to aplish those two feats to prove that he wasn''t less than any man! However, his desire to prove himself as something more than just a Hollow resulted in this fatal situation. ''I need to fight them.'' ''I need to win against them.'' ''Vincent carried all of us here. If I fail to do even do thest part by myself, am I even worthy of being his friend or being a part of his team?!'' A huge wave of willpower washed over his soul. Even with broken bones, a scorched back, an injured hand, he started to stand back to his feet. While he was trying to get up to his feet, the goris charged towards him. By the time he stood up to his feet, they had already reached him. He wasn''t even able to put up a proper defensive stance before two of them smashed their heads into his stomach, causing him to be thrown towards the wall once again. "Gah!" His eyes widened, a painful breath left his mouth alongside traces of blood as he dropped to the ground once more. He found himself pathetically lying on the cold surface and watching the four goris stepping towards him ever sozily. Each of them had a smirk on his face. He was so familiar with this position; he was so familiar with this pain; it reminded him of his life back home, the time when his step-siblings used to beat him up. For no reason, they woulde up to him, beat him ck and blue, then leave him unconscious on the cold, hard ground. However, thanks to his rapid health regeneration, he would be mostly fine by the time he woke up. Though, he knew that this was going to be different than the times before. After all, he might die for real this time! These monsters weren''t his step-sibling and they won''t show him any trace of mercy. They won''t stop beating him until he breathes hisst! ''Move!'' ''I want you to move!'' Nevismanded his body to move, used every bit of energy left in his body to make himself move, but he failed. His body didn''t even budge! He currently felt that his body wasn''t made up of flesh, bones, organs, and blood but lead. 100% lead. He felt awfully heavy. The goris came up to him, raised their fists, then brought them down on different areas of his body. "Gah!" He cried out loud in pain as several of his bones shattered under the first wave of their attacks. Then, they stomped their feet on his back, trying to squash him like a bug. Between their barrage of attacks and the mental humiliation assaulting his senses, Nevis failed to put a resistance. More like he didn''t even have any strength to fight back. His hands were clutched tightly into fists, but his armscked the strength to swing them at the bastard humiliating him. Large amounts of pain washed over his senses, dulling his senses, causing his vision to grow blurry. The light in his eyes dimmed bit by bit until he copsed, losing his consciousness. Now that their ymate, who was also the subject of their torture, wasn''t responding, the four goris decided to wring his neck, cut him up into four equal-sized pieces, and then feast on his flesh. Unknown to him as well as the beasts, his bloodstreams that shouldn''t have a single trace of supernatural cells lit up in bright blue lights, ones with such brightness that they would eclipse the radiance of the stars in the night sky. One of the goris grabbed Nevis by the neck and pulled him up. It tightened its grip on his neck, squeezing it with enough force to crush it. Just as it looked like Nevis''s windpipes would be destroyed along with his neck, silence and stillness suddenly reced the fourth monster floor. The monsters didn''t get the time to sense the change that had suddenly taken ce before a blue shockwave surged out of his body. The shockwave moved with such speed that the monsters weren''t even able to catch it in their field of vision before it crashed on them. BOOM The moment it touched their bodies, they exploded just like balloons, a mess of blood, organs, and flesh sshing on Nevis and across the ground. With nothing holding him, Nevis dropped to the ground, dropping right in the center of the mess. [You''ve conquered the fourth floor of the monster tower and earned 40 points] [You''ve gained the right to challenge the fifth floor] [You''ll be teleported out of the monster tower if you don''t challenge the next floor within a minute] A few notifications sounded in the air, but Nevis failed to hear them as he was fast asleep, lost in his dreams. Furthermore, his wounds started to heal at a rate visible to the naked eyes. From his broken bones to his bloody back, everything healed back to its peak state! After his body recovered all of its strength, the blue lights in his body disappeared! "Wow! What a surprise!" Melody suddenly popped up over his head. "Who would have thought that this brat carries dormant but dominant cells of true might in his bloodstream! I''m guessing even he doesn''t know of his terrifying potential!" She waved her hands, causing a gust of wind to pick him up, and then she brought him outside of the monster tower.3 Chapter 195 - Neviss Mystery! By using a teleportation portal that Melody opened with her ability to control space, she brought Nevis outside of the monster tower. John and Iris were already there. However, they didn''t notice their arrival, not only because they appeared behind them without anymotions, but also because their surroundings were too mysterious. The ce where they were at was ever charging. Currently, it appeared like a bright and airy garden, one with many trees around them and ake in front of them. In the center of theke floated the monster tower. Near the edges of theke, there were rows and rows of trees. The trees spread their shadows across the edges of theke. A fewmps here and there brightened up the atmosphere but not entirely, and most of it was draped in shadows. John and Iris had appeared here after exiting the monster tower. This ce reflected the memories of the iron-ddy, more specifically, it mimics the ces she had been to when she was alive. They had given up at the third and second floor, respectively.. They knew that they had reached their limits, and continuing onwards would mean certain death. They did want to fight for the right to enter the Treasury, but they weren''t willing to put their lives at a high risk of death to do so. Besides, Vincent had also told them to give their best shot at the monster tower but not overdo it or throw away their life as nothing was more important than them being alive. Unlike Nevis, they gave up and stepped out of the tower on their terms. Melody hummed, a pleasant voice sounding in the forest as the cloud of azure wind that carried Nevis moved towards thekeside. She, too, pped her wings and dashed after it. The azure winds carried Nevis towards John and Iris, and after plopping him next to them, they disappeared. "He overdid it." John cursed him as an idiot but not in a bad way. After cing her fingers on his wrist and determining the rate at which his heart was beating, she concluded that he was fine. "Thankfully, he is still alive and in somewhat okay conditions." "Really?" John found it hard to believe her words as he looked like a person who would breathe hisst at any moment. When John and Iris looked at him, they saw that his clothes were in tatters, and he appeared more haggard them ever before. With sunken cheeks and dry lips, he looked exhausted and depleted of his life force. Several strands of his hair had changed to white, and there was a sickly pale yellow hue on his face. It was as if a demon had sucked the life out of him, leaving him with nothing more than an empty husk. "Yeah, I am sure of it," Iris said, this time in a voice carrying certainty. "Leaving him on the ground doesn''t sit well with my heart, especially now that he is not in good shape." John pulled out a sleeping bag from his spatial storage and nestled Nevis into it, showcasing his ability as a gentleman and highlighting his traits as a good friend. His attentiveness and humane self did do well in leaving Iris impressed. By that time, the fairy also reached thekeside. "A good friend like you is what anyone would ask for, young one." "Just doing what anyone would do." John turned towards her so did Iris. "What happened to him inside of the monster tower? There''s no wound on his body, but he appears to be on the brink of copse. His body is cold too. Did he meet some kind of a terrifying monster that damages others without leaving any trace on their bodies?" John and Iris looked towards the fairy as she was the only one that could give them an answer. "Nothing of that sort." Melody continued with a thoughtful look on her face, "I believe that his current state is the consequence of him subconsciously using a power that slumber deep inside of him." "Power?" "What kind of power?" "Supernatural cells." She replied with a mysterious smile on her face. "What do you mean by that, fairy? As far as I know, he shouldn''t have any as he is a hollow." John''s eyes widened, bewilderment vivid in them. "The boy is no hollow." She refuted John''s im. "He is more than that, much more than that." "Can you please rify it?" Iris asked while looking at Melody. What was going on, one might wonder. Contrary to everyone''s thoughts and beliefs, Nevis wasn''t a Hollow but a full-fledged awakened with high-quality supernatural cells. Of course, he didn''t know anything about it since neither he nor the crystal ball that reveals the cells in a person''s bloodstream managed to detect the ones in his body. As it happened, these cells responded rouse from their slumber state to end the threats to his life the moment the three apes decided to kill him. However, by then, he didn''t have an ounce of magic energy in his body and only a handful of battle energy, leaving the supernatural cells in his bloodstream with no choice but to gobble up a portion of his life force to release an attack of massive proportion. They consumed a lot of his life force to destroy the three monsters harming him, and then they used even more of life force to heal his body, thus decreasing his lifespan by around twenty years and leaving him in such a pitiful state. Of course, the fairy had no intention of telling them that. "I can say no more." From the time they had spent together with the fairy and the exchange they had had, both of them knew of her stubborn character, knew that no matter how many times they ask her about the power in his body, her response wouldn''t change. Thus, they decided to drop the topic right here and now. "Is he fine, or does he need some kind of treatment?" John asked, still worried about Nevis. Although he believed Iris''s words, making sure of his condition wasn''t going to hurt anyone. "Nothing too bad," said the fairy. "He is just out cold. I believe he will wake up in the next couple of minutes, fresh but not healthy." "Just like I said," Iris said, crossing her arms before her chest. "It''s not that I didn''t believe you." John patted her head with a sorry look on his face. Of course, she melted under his touch and didn''t start a drama with him. "What about the signs of aging on his body?" He asked after some moments. Having nothing to do, she decided to just answer him. "They are caused by over-exhaustion of his life force. Just feed him a lot of meat, and I mean a lot of it, an inhumane amount of it, and he will be fine in a week." Chapter 196 - Bewildering Dream?? While still asleep, Nevis dreamt that he was not a human but a ship in the middle ocean, a ship so strong and sturdy that the mighty waves of the ocean weren''t able to submerge it. It didn''t matter what kind of hardship he faced as a ship as he always came out of it alive and stronger than before. The entire ocean tried to submerge him, and when it failed to do so, the world itself turned over the ocean to bury him, but he still came out on top of them. As a ship, he endured through all hurdles, and in the end, he became so powerful that even the entire ocean turning over didn''t end him. Right when he submerged from the ocean and stood under the bright sun that seemed to have focused all its attention on him, making him glow ever so brightly, the dream ended, and Nevis woke up. "Where am I?" His eyes snapped open, and he saw that John and Iris were sitting around him. They were openly disying how good their rtionship was. She was resting her head on his chest while he didn''t feel anything off about it, as if it was something natural to do. His hand was on her face, going up and down, caressing one side of it gently. "Outside of the Monster Tower." Before Nevis could start thinking that he had died and was in heaven, John gave him a reply, saving him from the mental trouble that the misunderstanding would have caused him.. At his words, Nevis turned his face away to take in the unfamiliar surrounding. His eyes were red, and his head was throbbing, intense headache were assaulting him and making him feel as if someone was nailing his head. His head was throbbing; intense headaches were assaulting him and making him feel as if someone was nailing him in the head. He wasn''t unfamiliar with pain, but he was to this kind and intensity of pain. He rubbed the bleariness in his eyes. When he raised his hands, he found out that for some reason, he was so exhausted that such a basic action felt harder than running for a mile. Although he was a bit muddled, he vividly remembered what happened before he lost his consciousness. He was beaten ck and blue by the three apes and was going to die! But then again, how did he get here? Why did he wake up outside of the monster tower when he should have died? "Howe I''m here?" Nevis asked, the expression of bewilderment vivid on his face. "Don''t you remember?" Came the voice of the fairy from beside him. Nevis, who just noticed that she was also here, moved his eyes to look at her and shook his head. "I don''t?" He was a bit confused but he was sure that he had no recollection of how he got out of the mess that signaled the end of his life. "Really?" Melody''s eyes raised, a glint of suspicion shing in her eyes. "Yes," Nevis nodded his head and sat up. "Did you save me?'' "You saved yourself; that''s what she told us." John butted in. "What?" His words just confused him even more. He grabbed his head in his hands and muttered, "Why can''t I remember what happened?" Was he always so forgetful? Maybe it''s selective amnesia? Only a doctor can tell what''s wrong with him, though, John and Iris had no words to give to him. However, Melody did know what happened to him. It''s just that his superpower was released after he had lost his consciousness, meaning he didn''t know that the shockwave that spread from his body destroyed everything in its path. "Don''t think too much about it," she said. "You will just give yourself a headache." Easy for her to say, but hard for him to follow. He had many questions bothering him senseless. How did he defeat the three apes? The dream he saw; was it trying to tell him something? What happened during the time he was unconscious? The good thing was that he didn''t feel any different than before, excluding the fact that he felt fatigued and extremely tired. "Anyway, you should be happy!" The palm-sized fairy said to him in a pleasant voice. "What do you mean?" Still a bit out of it, Nevis didn''t quite get what she tried to convey. "Congrattions! You''ve earned the right to enter the castle''s treasury and pick up one treasure to take back home." Her words caused his ocean-like eyes to widen, happiness vivid in them. His face was flushed red with happiness. He didn''t know how it happened but he was d that it happened, that he got the chance to pick up an item that would change his life forever. He clutched his fist and shouted out in joy, tears of happiness flowing out of his clear eyes and trailing down his cheeks. John and Iris patted his shoulder, garnering his attention, and then they also congratted him. After a few minutes of sitting on the grassy ground near theke and enjoying the wonderful scenery in each other''spany, John asked, "What about the others?" "Vincent, Varth, and Leni, how far have they climbed?" Iris added. "Fairy, can you tell us?" Nevis asked while looking at her. "I can''t, but you can see for yourselves," she said, raising one of her tiny hands and opening her palm. It was empty, but a momentter, a ck crystal appeared above it. It was three times the size of her body, and when she injected a bit of her mana into it, it shot out a beam of energy towards the clouds above their heads. Though, it didn''t go so high, as after reaching a certain height, it took the form of a screen that projected a tower made up of 31 floors. It was a map of the monster tower and showed three red dots on it. The first one was on the 29th floor and the second one was on the 13th floor. Thest one was on the 20th floor. "The dots show the number of participants inside the tower and the floor they''ve reached. However, there''s no way of knowing who is who." They blinked their eyes in understanding and kept on looking at the map. Suddenly, the dot on the 29th floor and the 20th floor flickered and then vanished at the same time, making them wonder what just happened. "It''s either that they died, gave up, or chose to climb up." To answer their confusion, Melody exined to them. Iris prayed that it wouldn''t be the first one of the three and the boys also hoped for the same as her. Before they could think of anything ill anymore, a red dot appeared on the 30th floor. However, no dot appeared on the 21st floor! Did that person give up or did something wrong happened to them? They didn''t want to even think about something bad happening to their teammates. dly, they didn''t need to as a vortex opened up in the center of theke, and out came Leni. Chapter 197 - The 30th Floor! The aura around her had changed considerably. If she looked cute and innocent before, then now she looked like the goddess of ice. She had gained a vital boost in her understanding of her abilities thanks to fighting by herself. She had learned how to apply telekinesis to herself or another to fly. Her hovering figure gracefully descended from the air. The tip of her shoe touched the water surface. Instantly, it turned to ice, and the ice spread outwards, creating a sheet of ice on thekea trail that she followed to step up to them. Melody, John, Iris, and even Nevis could sense the changes in her. When asked from her mouth, it turned out that fighting by herself made her realize the extent of her powers. Usually, Vincent would be with her, saving her from every danger. Although he was doing good and acting out his part as her lover, he was sheltering her too much, making her no different than a flower under the protection of a garden and the care of a gardener. However, as this time he wasn''t here, she truly got to experience what it was like to fight for one''s life, and that helped her tremendously. "Now, only Varth and Vincent are left inside the monster tower.." Nevis looked at the monster tower, hoping that one of them would be able to conquer it. "I wonder who''s on the 30th floor and who''s on the 15th floor," Iris said, a look of wonderment on her face. "I believe that it''s Vincent who is on the 30th floor," Leni said in a voice filled with confidence. "Yeah, it got to be him as he is the strongest among us," John added. Meanwhile, on the 30th floor of the monster tower, a young man wearing tattered clothes appeared at the edges of a cliff. Blood patches stained him in a lot of spots. Some of which was his but most of it belonged to the one he killed. His upper body was bare, and abs rippled down his abdomen. He had an exhausted expression on his face, but his crimson eyes burned ferociously with the intent of conquering this floor and challenging the next. [I congratte you, warrior, who has bathed in the blood of a thousand to reach this ce. But you''re far from conquering this tower!] Vincent had faced hundreds of monsters to reach this ce, many in the second stage of the demonic realm, some beyond that, but none weaker than that. Although only two floors were left, Vincent believed that they would be the hardest. Conquering them won''t be easy, especially thest one. After all, except for the one named Joker, no one managed to conquer it, and even the emperor of might failed. [I wee you to the 30th floor, Goblin Vige. Goblins are a weapon of mass destruction that the demons use to infest thes that they want to conquer. Their reproduction is terrific, enough to give the sage of sages a headache. These monsters can reproduce with any race, and theyck all manner of shame. Lust, gluttony, carnage, bowing down to the strong and ripping apart the flesh of the weak; that''s the entire cycle of their life. Toplete this floor, kill all of the dirty worshipers of demons at the bottom of the cliff, and prove yourself stronger than them.] The notifications were set in ce by the creator of the Monster Tower, and he had started receiving these notifications after climbing up to the 25th floor. Vincent''s gaze skimmed over the holographic screen in front of him, and he determined that the Iron d Lady hates the green monsters with a heart. Not like he was that much different. The 30th floor was no different than a diator arena. There was a 500-meter widend, shaped like a circle surrounded by cliffs. He was standing on one of them, and as he looked down below, he saw around thirty goblins, standing guard around two 2-meter giants with a potbelly and thick muscles. The two were Hobgoblin, the leaders of the goblin vige, and they were sitting in the center of thend and chewing on green flesh, one that could only belong to a goblin, meaning that they were currently practicing Cannibalism. "Roar!" "Roar!" One of the goblins, who was holding a bow and had a quiver filled with a dozen or so arrows, caught sight of Vincent and immediately roared at the top of its lungs to alert the others. Its mouth opened wide to the point where the onlookers could see the inside of its throats! Its roar worked wonders, and the goblins immediately got to work, appearing ready to deal with the intruder. All the eyes turned toward him. Whoosh! The goblin archers pulled a bow out of the quiver, fixed it in their bowstring, and then released it towards Vincent. The experts shot two to three arrows at the same time. Swoosh! Vincent immediately ran down the cliff, and several arrows stabbed the spot where he stood a split of a second ago. The goblin archers were no joke and they released another volley of arrows immediately. Vincent lowered his posture, jumping left and right like a monkey as he descended downwards to avoid the arrowsing at him. He maneuvered his body with such ease and perfectness that not even a single arrow managed to graze him. All of the arrows had missed him and stabbed into the wall of the cliff. The arrows sticks were sticking out of its wallthe same wall that Vincent just stomped to leap towards them. He was dropping on top of several goblin warriors who had already brandished the tip of their spears towards him. However, he came prepared. Waves of blood surged out of his back, condensing into his signature move, the tentacles of death. His tentacles charged towards the goblins down below, moving with such speed that they rendered all their resistance useless and stabbed their sharp ends into their heads and hearts. Chapter 198 - Crimson Vincent! The goblins fell over and rolled over the ground due to pain as blood leaked out of their body and warmness out of their flesh. The eyes of the nearby goblins trembled in fear but the eyes of the hobgoblins widened in anger at the suffering of their kinds. "Roar!" They roared yet again, causing all of them to charge towards him. "RED Moon Gaze!" Vincent''s crimson eyes turned a shade darker, and at the same time, a giant with six-arm with one of them holding a weapon manifested behind him. It was standing between him and the goblins, and as it had a rather big physique, its shadow draped over all of them and made them feel like It was a demon that was going to devour all of them. The 20 goblins, as well as the two hobgoblins that were charging towards him, came to a sudden halt. The red monster had suddenly appeared in front of them carried such madness within it that it made them stop in their track out of sheer fear. Their eyes showed fear, and their hearts palpitated in despair. "kill!" At hismand, it charged towards them like a bull released from its shackles, kicking up dust in the air.. It mmed into five of them and sted them backwards. The others around It met their ends under its de. Then, it squatted, remaining in that position for a brief moment before springing upwards towards them. It stomped down on eight of them, causing their body to burst. It had taken down eighteen of them and Vincent had taken down eight of them, leaving only four. Whoosh! Vincent threw a crimson spear at the hobgoblin standing the farthest from him, and it moved with such speed and force that it pierced halfway into its skull before it even managed to catch sight of it. "K-Kiek?!" Its blood sshed on the Hobgoblin standing beside it, causing its eyes to widen in shock and surprise. Right at that very moment, Vincent reached up to it and drew a red line across its neck. Just like that, with its eyes widened in fear, the monster died. Plop. Its head fell to the ground, disying the emotions it felt a moment before death. [You''ve killed all of the goblins and earned the right to enter the 31st floor.] [Would you like to advance?] Vincent didn''t have time to waste as his avatar wasn''t going tost forever, and he needed it to fight the monsters on the next floor. "Yes," he said, an urgent look on his face. Immediately, a portal opened up in front of him. He and his avatar charged into and they appeared in a dark ce. However, he was able to see everything clearly because of the glowing crimson figure before him. He was standing on top of ake, meaning that the softness below his feet was hard enough for him to stand on it. Standing on such a surface felt a bit weird, but he didn''t think too much about it. He turned to the red figure, who was looking at him. As his gaze focused on it, shock and surprise surged into his mind. That person looked just like him! However, it had hair as red as blood, nails as ck as ash, and eyes surging with madness. Not just that, but its entire figure was red, seemingly as if made out of blood or ruby. "What''s going in here?!" "Wee to the 31st floor, One''s Inner Self." His crimson doppelganger spoke in a raspy but thick voice while looking at him with those horrifying eyes. "Huh?" Vincent''s eyebrows raised. "In this ce, one must fight their doppelganger who can use their skills and techniques as good as themselves and defeat them; at least that''s what the creator of this ce intended. How could she have ever known that her paradise would help me awaken from my deep slumber, would help me experience freedom once again, would help me breathe in the same world as you?!" Vincent saw his doppelganger''s lips stretching backward, stretching from ear to ear! "Hehe, hehe, HAHAHAHAHA!" His doppelgangerughed out loud, at the top of his lungs. The crimson Vincent couldn''t help it. It had been too long since that day, a point in time where he had lost all his freedom under the hands of the person he trusted the most. "Bam!" He didn''t notice when Vincent had appeared before it as it was indulging in joy, but by the time he noticed, he had already stuck his face! Vincent''s fist carried such overwhelming force that it dislocated his jaw and sent him flying away from him. He watched the crimson version of himself tumbling on the surface of the water several times, causing its surface to ripple at different spots, and then he finallying to a halt. He stood up, and under Vincent''s crimson eyes, the crimson one snapped his jaw back to ce. "How can this be?! You! You! How could you be so pathetically weak!" A look of disdain was visible in the crimson one''s eyes as he said those words. "Could it be that father extracted my power from your body and swallowed it? He did, after all, betrayed me. Shit! I can''t believe trash like you is using my body! How could a father do this to me?!!!" The crimson version roared out in despair, the madness in his eye surging to new levels. "Enough of your nonsense!" Vincent shouted in anger as he rushed at him along with his avatar. "How dare you badmouth my father!" When Vincent reached near him, the crimson one struck out his fist in a swiping motion. However, Vincent stepped aside with such speed that he left an afterimage behind. The crimson one didn''t realize that, though, not until his hand passed through him. His eyes widened as Vincent delivered a kick to his face. His boots smashed on his face, inflicting a high amount of damage to him and throwing him backward. Right then, his avatar charged up to him and grabbed his feet, stopping him from going away, then pulled him towards itself. Right after, the crimson one kissed his knuckles that broke his nose, followed by several more punches to the face and the guts, which ended up in him getting disfigured. Between the fists to his face and his stomach, the crimson one wasn''t able to put up even an ounce of resistance. Then, the crimson giant got behind him, released him from his grasps, and as he was falling to the water surface, kicked his butt, sending him flying towards Vincent. Vincent charged towards the crimson one and elbowed him in the chest, causing his mouth to gape open in pain. It opened so wide that his jaw threatened to touch the ground. Then, he kicked him up. "Remember this beating and next time, don''t talk smack about other''s parents!" While shouting that, he sted two crimson towards it. Whoosh! The crimson spears whisked through the air and stabbed straight into the crimson one''s chest as he wasing down the air. The ends of the spears came out of his back, blood surging out of the holes in his body and sprinkling down on Vincent''s face. Plop. The crimson dropped a step away from Vincent, who believed himself to be the victor. "Weak! Too weak!! Pathetically weak!" Chapter 199 - The Crimson One Fight Backs! "Weak! Too weak!! Pathetically weak!" The crimson one eximed in a shrill voice that sounded just like the cry of a sword. It was jeering to hear and filled with disdain towards himself; however, Vincent remained unaffected. After all, he had beaten him, defeated him, meaning he was the winner among the two. So, why would the cry of a loser matter to him? "Still not down, huh? To me, it looks like you need another round of beating." Vincent said as he raised his leg and brought it down on his back. He wasn''t here to listen to the cry of a maniac. He only had one goal in his mind; defeat the crimson one and conquer thest floor of the monster tower. He stomped on the crimson ones with such force that he got buried under the water surface, vanishing from Vincent''s sight. He looked down, and after nothing happening for a few moments, he almost thought that he had won for sure this time around. Plop! Suddenly, the crimson one charged out from under him andunched an attack on his stomach.. Although caught off guard, Vincent still managed to chop the crimson one''s arm and deflect the attack. Right at that very moment, he grabbed his face in a vicious grip. His crimson hands were like a beast''s w and hot enough to make Vincent feel like his skin was scalding. "Too slow!" Vincent tried to knee him in the guts, but he had barely lifted his leg when the crimson one kicked him in the guts, tossing him away like a ragdoll. However, Vincent twisted his body in mid-air and hurriedly regained his bnce, stomping one of his feet toe to an immediate halt. Now, he was standing several meters away from the crimson one. "You''re the dumb one, though." Blood trickled out the corner of his mouth, but oddly there was a mocking smile on his face. His eyes reflected Asura standing just a step behind the crimson one. The crimson one''s eyes widened as an overbearing pressure acted on him. He calmly raised his head to meet its gaze. Right then, six of Asura''s hands balled into a fist, and It brought them down at the crimson one with such speed that it tore apart the air. Bam! Its gigantic fists fell on top of him, producing a crisp reverberation and causing the water surface to st upward. The scene slowly cleared up, and Vincent saw that the crimson one was no longer at his spot. Instead, he felt a scorching presence just behind him. "Am I?" Just as those words reached his ears, his legsshed out at the person behind him. Though, it hit empty air, surprising Vincent. A crimson sh appeared in his eyes, and he hurriedly twisted his body, dodging a sharp dagger. The one holding it was none other than the crimson one, and he rushed towards him. They rushed at each other, trading even blocks, dodges, and blows to each other''s faces. However, Vincent was getting slower and slower while the crimson one was getting faster and faster. It seemed like it was warming up, and the smile on his face showed that he was ying him! Anger surged in Vincent''s eyes, causing his already red eyes to appear a shade darker. He ate a punch to his face but used the force behind that very hand to back off from the crimson one, sliding backward. While sliding away, he raised his right hand and pointed his fingers at the crimson one. Arge amount of mana surged out of his fingers, swirling andpressing around his forefinger, condensing into the shape of a bullet. Bam! He shot it at the crimson one, who did not even budge, showing that he had no intention of dodging it. An instantter, the bullet crashed on his red chest and sted his body apart. "Heh, did you waste all your time learning these petty tricks?" A momentter, the crimson one''s mocking voice sounded in Vincent''s ears, but he wasn''t able to see him. "Stop fighting with your words and use your fists, you coward! Come out of your hiding ce if you are a man!" "A man?! How dare you degrade me byparing me to a man??" His eyes turned around in search of him, but the crimson one suddenly appeared before him and punched him to the ground. The moment his head touched the water of the water, the crimson one stomped on his face with such force that it gave him a concussion. Another stomp buried his body up to his waist under the water surface. He gasped for breath as water bubbles raised, going upwards. "Roar!" Asura roared out in anger, enraged at the crimson one, for he had harmed his master. It directed all the raw energy towards its mouth, and then it released a powerful beam of crimson energy from its wide opened mouth. Whoosh! It sted through the air and carried the sharpness of steel and the destructive power of a bomb. The entire 31st floor was brightened up in a crimson hue, and interestingly enough, crimson rays even managed to reach out of the monster tower. "Hmph! You dumb dog, how dare you bite the hands that had fed you!" The crimson one scowled in anger, intense sadness and madness swirling in his eyes as he effortlessly pped the crimson beam and redirected to his left. He did it all too easily, almost as if he was swatting a fly and not a beam of energy packing enough power to annihte a vige in the blink of an eye. "Bomb!" The crimson beam exploded, releasing intense shockwaves and shaking the entire 31st floor. By that time, Asura was already charging towards the crimson one, intending to cut him down by using his weapons. Before it could reach anywhere near him, though, a voice with no rationality and the desire to kill echoed in the air. "You deserve to die!" Chapter 200 - Broken Fragments Of The Same Soul (a) While looking at the red giant that had raised its hands against him not once but multiple times, The crimson one scowled, saying the following words in a merciless voice "I, the Tenth Ruler of the Throne, the Ruler of Blood and the harbinger of Crimson Nights, strip you, a being I made out of my flesh and soul, from all the rights I had granted you in the past." An instant after he said those words, the body of the red giant suddenly came to a halt, and then it dropped to the ground with limbs arranged in weird positions, making it appear like a broken doll. The crimson one snapped his fingers, a cruel expression coloring his face. Immediately after, the red giant''s body convulsed, then rapidly swelled to ten times its size, eventually exploding, a mess of blood sshing on the solid but soft water surface. The blood rolled up to his feet, and he lowered his head to look at it, sadness welling up in his heartless body. Three rays of light charged out of the red giant''s remain; a de-like fragment, a pea-sized crimson orb, and a name tag with a single word on it. They hovered up to the crimson one''s figure, causing his bestial gaze to turn towards them. When he looked at them, his eyes turned gentle as if they reminded him of peaceful and beautiful times, ones that he could never return to anymore. "Mother." A single word left his mouth. It carried immense sadness, one enough to make any eavesdroppers feel downcast.. However, the madness swirling inside of him crushed all other emotions, including the sadness welling up in his crimson flesh. Immediately, his gaze hardened. What was left behind was cruelty, a burning desire to destroy all of creation, and a hint of rationality. It was as if he was born for destruction and nothing else mattered. He opened his mouth and consumed all three things. A one in a non-humannguage appeared on his forehead. Furthermore, he regained 1-10th of his power. He regained the power to turn blood into iron. Vincent, who had nked out and was plummeting down into the depths of the ocean, felt immense pain when the red giant died, one antagonizing enough to cause his eyes to snap open. He felt dizzy, a demonic ringing deafening his consciousness as blood trickled out of his eyes and the mark in his eyes vanished, causing a soul-tearing pain to assault his senses. Although it was painful enough to make one believe that death would be better than living, he barely budged, and instead, he felt a strange sense of loss that proved more painful than the pain assaulting his senses. It was as if he had lost something precious to him; it was as if he had lost a part of his heart; it was as if he was a child who had suddenly lost his beloved toy! His eyes widened, intense sadness vivid in his teary eyes. The water in his surrounding swept away his tears, and as the emotions in both of his hearts intensified, making him feel extremely heavy, he instinctively opened his mouth to breathe out his sadness. However, as he was underwater, his actions led to him gurgling, causing a string of bubbles to rise from his mouth. "My weak and pathetic self, how long are you going to wallow in self-pity and sadness?" A taunting voice from above the water surface reached Vincent''s ears. His ck eyes turned crimson once again. He didn''t know the origin of the crimson one, but he was sure about one thing, he needed to kill that bastard! Otherwise, he would kill him. All his sadness at the loss of Asura turned to rage, giving him immense strength. A power based on hatred and murderous desires was not something humane, but he didn''t only have human blood coursing through his veins. In simple words, his dark emotions fulfilled a condition of his vampiric blood which in turn fueled his strength. For a while, it was silent enough to get on one''s nerves, and then air bubbles suddenly rose below the feet of the crimson one. His eyes narrowed into a smile as Vincent ferociously swam up to the water surface, and with a single punch, broke through it, leaping out of it. "Down you go!" He had only emerged from the water, when in that very moment, the crimson one ruthlessly appeared above him in the blink of an eye, then stomped on his head, throwing him back into the water. The force behind the attack caused him to plunge deep into the water. However, he immediately started to kick and kick into the water, propelling himself to a different direction before swimming back up and getting out of the water. "Cough!" He coughed out a mouthful of water while gasping for fresh air. His flesh soaked from head to toe and his clothes sticking close to his skin made him feel ufortable. But worse than that were the purple bruises on his pale skin. A momentter, he heard the sound of footsteps, and he immediately raised his head, only to see the crimson one walking up to him. Although he was feeling weak, dead tired even, he used his hatred as a source of power, and then he immediately stood up. He didn''t want to appear weak to his enemy. The crimson one shook his head in disappointment. Vincent was nothing but an injured beast trying to appear strong and intimidating. He clicked his tongue to express his emotions. In the very next moment, he disappeared from Vincent''s gaze. How and why was he so fast, he didn''t know. And before he could even think of something, the crimson one popped up in front of him and struck a fist on his chest. Crack~ the sound of bones cracking echoed as Vincent''s face contorted in pain. "Ugh!" A painful moan escaped his gaping mouth and then came out mouthfuls of blood. His ribcage had shattered, and his bones had stabbed into his lungs and other organs. The crimson one revealed a pleasant smile, almost as if he was not hearing the outcry of pain but a beautiful melody that soothes one soul, something only the demons would take joy in hearing! Chapter 201 - Broken Fragments Of The Same Soul (Semi-Final) Vincent got beaten so badly that he wasn''t even able to make sense of the situation. Without any pity for himself or at least a part of him, the crimson one grabbed him by the hair and yanked him above his feet, looking straight into his eyes. Vincent gritted his teeth and met his gaze, wrath surging below his hatred-filled eyes. The crimson one curled his lips into a mocking smile as he patted his pale cheek with his cold hand, one thatcked any signs of life and warmth. Vincent felt as his face would freeze if he were to touch him three or four more times. "Trying to fight me? Oh, father''s little champion, you''re too weak for that. You only made a fool out of yourself." The way he was caressing his face was enough to disgust and disturb him. The way he kept on involving his dead father in everything got on his nerves. His anger intensified and his blood boiled. "Y-you bastard! I will kill you!" Vincent said in a weak voice, appearing exhausted and tired, but he strongly grabbed his wrists, holding them in a viscous clutch. He used so much strength that the crimson one felt as if iron mps had gotten fastened around his wrists. "Resistance is futile," he said as several red threads carrying the sharpness of knives shot out of each of his wrists, stabbing into Vincent''s palms and branching out of the other side, giving him an immense taste of pain. He felt as if someone had stabbed him dozens of times. Painful groans naturally escaped out from the gap between his gritted teeth. The crimson one relished his agony as his groans were his favorite melodies, and watching him in pain was the best thing in his life. However, he was irked by the fact that Vincent''s grip remained as strong as ever. Thus, he stabbed his hands another ten times. Ten times because only after that did Vincent''s hands loosened around his wrists and weakly fell. "I mean, weakling shouldn''t try to fight back. Otherwise, you''re just asking for pain." Vincent didn''t reply, silently keeping his head low. He seemed like a body without a soul, all because the pain had ravaged him extremely badly. While watching the pathetic version of himself, the crimson one couldn''t help but sigh. "I can never understand our father! Why did he choose you over me? You''re nothingpared to me. Heck, I am better than you at everything! Yet, he still selected you over me. How is that fair?! Why did something so unfair happen to me?" "Haha!" Vincent raised his head and looked at him like he was looking at a soon-to-be corpse. "Pa!" The crimson one pped his face, not once but multiple times. Immediately after, he shouted, "Don''t you fucking stare at me like that! Next time I will gouge out your eyes!" As if he hadn''t heard his words, Vincent kept the same look in his eyes. Moreover, he also said a few insulting words to add salt to the crimson one''s decades-old wounds. "You got an inferiorityplex, don''t you? "You!" "Ptui!" Vincent spat on his face. It wasn''t just his saliva that spat on the crimson one''s face, but also his blood. His ridiculing actions caused veins to pop out on the crimson temple of his look-alike. The crimson one loosened his hold around his hair and suddenly grabbed his neck, holding his life in his hand. He could end his life in the blink of an eye if he just squeezes his windpipes. Only after did he say the following word with a murderous smile on his contorted face, "You''re simple-minded, weak, and easy to read. Just like the days old, you''re still daddy''s little boy, believing all his lies, never raising a question about your origins, attacking anyone that points a finger towards himeven if it''s your true self. However, you''re not only unable to fight for yourself but also unable to protect those who care about you; and you always need me to clean up your mess. "You''re stupid, charging headfirst into danger that you can''t possibly get out of alive, and also reckless enough to challenge those who are stronger than you without thinking twice. More than that, you are selfish and take actions without any consideration. "So tell me, just what right do you''ve to be in control of what''s mine?!" "Why is it you who gets to breathe in fresh air but not me? Why?! Why am I locked in the depths of darkness while you get to enjoy the freedom of experiencing the sky littered with stars? Why?!" While saying those words, the crimson one pped him twice on the face, keeping him conscious. He didn''t use a gentle hand and hit him extremely harshly, adding to his pain. Vincent winced, feeling as if bees had stung his cheeks. "I don''t know a damn about you nor do I know you, so how would I know?" To his pathetic cries, that was Vincent''s only reply. "You don''t remember me?" The crimson one said in a broken voice tinged with bewilderment. Vincent''s long eyshes fluttered as he blinked his eyes. It was his way of silently agreeing to his words, telling him that he knows not a thing about the crimson one''s godforsaken existence. The crimson one''s eyes widened to circles. He was shocked, almost rooted to his cores. He had spent a lot of time with him. To be more exact, he was born for him, born from within himself. Yet, the one who he spent every second of his life with doesn''t remember a thing about him? He felt his world slipping from beneath his feet. However, it knew that being shocked about it wasn''t going to take him anywhere. So he started to think about the cause of his forgetfulness while holding him by the neck. The wheels in his mind as well as the rusty clogs started to spin as a pondering look appeared on his face. Chapter 202 - Vincent Counterattack (Grand Finale) A thoughtful look shed across the eyes of the crimson one. He felt that Vincent had a problem with his memories, and his words just confirmed it. Only a few people had the power to mess with the memories of the others, and one of them was his father. Thinking of that person caused his crimson eyes to gleam brightly, signifying that he was agitated. Though, the more he got agitated, the faster his thought process became. One after another, he connected dots and hurriedly inched towards a conclusion. [Detected! The tenth is facing the crimson one and is under the threat of having your consciousness overridden by him. ording to themand of the ninth head of the family, as you''ve met your inner self before you could fully grow and have no chance of defeating him with your current strength, I''ve temporarily removed the Seal of Blood, allowing you to recover a part of your strength. Now, you can fight on equal ground with him!] Vincent didn''t know what was happening, but he felt as if something in his chest had shattered like ss, allowing something indomitable to surge inside of his body like rolling waves in an ocean. Instantly, he felt as if he had be ten times stronger. Not to mention, he was oddly familiar with this power. It didn''t feel foreign. It was as if it belonged to him, but someone took it away and put it somewhere inside of his body! At the same time, the power of the supreme healing scroll moved inside of his body, circting throughout his body, from veins and blood vessels to seeping into his tendon, bones, and skin. Immediately, the wounds on his body started to heal, from his broken ribcage to the purple bruises on his body. Vincent raised his eyes and saw that the other party was too busy to notice the changes happening to him. He didn''t make a move, waiting for the healing energy to fix up to his peak conditions. Maybe the crimson one was so self-absorbed in his thoughts, or maybe it was because he didn''t put Vincent in his eyes that he failed to notice that something was changing in him. ''Huh?'' Suddenly, Vincent''s vision turned blurry, and right after that very moment, a lot of memories surged into his mind. A video of some kind yed in his mind, showing him something unbelievable but also valuable. There were nine seals in his body, each sealing a portion of his strength and a part of his memories; that''s what the first part of the shback told him. The nine seals sealed the crimson one, but he managed to get out because of the specialty of this ce, a boundary that manifests one''s inner self into the real world; that''s what he inferred from the second part. The seals were the work of the ninthhis mysterious father. Because the crimson one managed to manifest in the real world, something his father had expected to happen, he met a condition that allowed Noah to unseal one of the nine sealsthe Seal of Blood. Nothing much about the crimson one was mentioned, nor did he found out why his father sealed his strength. Anyway, the most confusing part was that his father, Aaron, had expected that something like this might happen, so he left a fail-proof ce in ce. It was weird no matter how he thinks about it. "Noah, what''s going on?" Vincent inwardly asked. Although his voice was calm, the artificial consciousness of the heirloom could feel that it was tinged with bewildered that could easily change into anger depending on how it answers. [Tenth, listen to what I''ve to say attentively. The person in front of you is dangerous, but he is not a danger to your life. He may harm you and crush you, even go as far as do his best to break you down mentally, but he will never kill you as he is you, and your body is what he needs. The moment you close your eyes and ept defeat, he will rece you. But know this, he is an extreme danger to everything you care about, and the first he will do after taking your body is killing everyone close to you. So, you must never give up.] Its answer directed Vincent towards what truly mattered right now. He needed to take down the crimson one at all cost and not let him win. Anyway, he didn''t have much time. So, he decided to begin his counterattack. He had already recovered by a lot, and the crimson one was still lost in contemtion, so he didn''t hesitate to take advantage of the situation and made his move. As the crimson one pondered over the cause of Vincent''s memory loss and the way to restore all his strength, a cold breeze brushed past his ears, and the legs of the person opposite to him wrapped around his neck; viciously mping down on both sides of it. The crimson one was a bit surprised that his porcin doll was able to move, but he didn''t think too much about it. After all, his fingers were also around Vincent''s neck, and he believed that it was enough to threaten him to stay still and not make a move. "Do you want me to wring your neck?" The crimson one hissed threateningly. "Haha!" Vincentughed, not giving a damn about his word. He already knew that the crimson one couldn''t kill his body as he needed it for himself. Hisugh caused the crimson one to think that something was wrong. However, it was already toote as Vincent had already made his move. Vincent put strength in his legs and pulled him closer to himself, causing the crimson one''s head to bump into his chest, and then he stretched out his hand, balled them into a fist, and swung them at his head. Without warning, he started raining down attacks on his head. The crimson one tightened his hold around his neck, pressing his windpipe, causing him to start suffocating and even feel that death was near, but he didn''t stop and kept on attacking like a monkey pulling out hair from the head of his enemy. Vincent''s crimson eyes glimmered with a cruel brilliance as he became sure that the crimson one wouldn''t kill him. Rather, it was that he couldn''t kill him. Killing him was the same as killing himself! "You can''t kill me, right?!" Pa! Pa! Vincent said while returning the favor. "So you found out, heh." Those words had just his mouth when Vincent''s next attacks cascaded down in his already deformed head, one after another, each one more powerful and fiercer than the other. "So what?!" The crimson one had said that when his face once again kissed Vincent''s manly fist, causing him to be so angry that he let go of his neck and kicked him away. "Finally free," Vincent thought while touching his neck. Right at that very moment, the crimson one taunted him! "You punch and kick like a little girl, and it barely hurts! I just need to wipe the floor with you until you lose your consciousness! Then, what''s your will be mine." "You''re a fool. I was intentionally going easy in you so that your arrogant self would push me away and release the hold on my neck. If you hadn''t done that and just pressed on my windpipes for a few moments longer, I would''ve already cked out.." Vincent retorted, a sly smile on his face. Chapter 203 - Crimson Ones Weakness! The crimson one gritted his teeth as he realized that he had made a foolish mistake. He shouldn''t have let go of his neck; that way, he would have kept an upper hand. However, his anger and madness caused him to lose all sense of reason, and now he couldn''t help it. What''s done is done; He couldn''t change what had happened. Crying over spilled milk wasn''t going to be of help to him either. He raised his head, giving Vincent a deadly stare. Of course, he was angry because he had made a fool out of him. Vincent gave him a taunting smile in return. "Good!" The crimson one said in a voice that would make one gulp in difort. His voice sounded like metal getting scratched against metal, sharp and prating. "You''ve thoroughly angered me." A moment after saying those, he let loose his killing intent, unleashing his innate powers that terrified the man who sired him. The divines started waning; the pigs began squealing; the dogs started barking; the wolves started howling; the humans and the devils started falling to the ground lifelessly with thousands of cut on their bodies as a sharp and prating pressure surged out of the crimson one''s body, submerging everything in a sea of red. The surface of the sea turned red. Not just that, but their surroundings also changed color from nothingness to crimson. "Hell Paradise: Blood Monarch''s Madness!" Standing face to face with an anomaly and illuminated by the bright crimson rays of light of the killing intent reflecting off the surface, Vincent''s shocked and bewildered gaze rested on the crimson one. Hell''s paradise? Wasn''t this the innate power of every creature of hell?! How the hell is a being iming to be a part of himself able to use the power belonging to his sworn enemies and the nemesis of all the races?! The crimson one was pleased by the look on his counterpart''s face, and he didn''t have the slightest inkling of telling him about anything. "You! Just what are you?" Vincent had thousands of questions flooding his mind, and he was going crazy. "Instead of asking me that, you should ask yourself the same question. Just what are you?" The crimson one replied with a mysterious smile while gazing at the man standing opposite to himself. Unknown to Vincent, lingering behind his gaze was overflowing sinister intent and a desire to waste time. The crimson one''s words sessfully managed to disturb his mind. Was he truly a crossbreed, or was he something far different than what he had initially spected? Had the spirit of the heirloom been lying to him all this time? What about his father? Did he truly mess with his memories, making him forget the truth? Then, what about his life, his current memories? Were they all a lie, a tale fabricated by his closest ones? Doubts had just started to emerge in Vincent''s heart, when in that very moment, a sharp stinging pain assaulted his senses, and his eyes widened. He touched the right side of his cheeks and felt blood seeping out of from a newly appeared wound on it, trailing down to his jawline, dripping on the surface. Although no one had attacked him, two cuts had appeared on his cheeks, causing him to be bewildered. What kind of sorcery was this?! Simply unbelievable! "Heh, don''t be too surprised." The crimson one said, a yful look on his face. "This is the effect of the power that we used to use as a child to hunt down and kill thousands of enemies. Everyone in our Hell''s paradise would get inflicted with a cut every half a minute. Except for the owner, of course. And yeah, a hundred and twenty cuts on the body means death; that''s if you don''t die from blood loss or faint from the pain of getting shed a dozen or so times! It belonged to us, you and me, who were once one in both body and mind. But now, it''s only mine. I am the sole owner of this Paradise. You know what that means, right?" Of course, Vincent understood that he only had sixty minutes to live. Naturally, that''s only the case if he doesn''t sumb to his pain and fall unconscious, entering a state where his body would be for the crimson one''s taking first. "There''s no escape from this ce, either." The crimson one was all smiles, thinking that he had already won. The angrier he was, the calmer he became, and the better ns he could think of and execute. For now, he was intent on stalling for time and waiting for Vincent to nk outonly then would he turn off his Hell''s paradise. ''Is there truly no way to escape?'' Vincent was extremely worried. [There is a way. You must defeat him, and the Hell''s paradise will close all by itself.] "But how do I do that?" Vincent didn''t know what to do to stop the crimson one. He had fought him before and knew that his body heals at a rapid speed. Killing it even by beheading, breaking its body structure, or impaling its flesh a hundred times wasn''t possible! It wouldn''t die no matter how many times he attacks him. Not to mention, Asura wasn''t with him this time around either! Vincent initially nned to take it slow, fight it out with him, exchange hundreds of moves and find out about his weakness. However, the situation had now changed abruptly and he didn''t have enough time to do that! [Just reach close to him and stuck a sword or a weapon made out of your blood in his neck, forehead, or chest, and then think of absorbing him into your body. The seals left behind by your father will absorb him, and he won''t be able to resist!] Its words gave new hope to Vincent, who immediately charged towards the crimson one, the desire to impale his flesh zing brightly in his crimson eyes, mixing with the same color of brightness around him. Chapter 204 - Sealing The Crimson One (a) In the crimson one''s hell''s paradise, there weren''t any safe ces. The more time a person spends in this ce, the more wounds they will get on their flesh. That''s why one needed to end the fight as fast as possible, and Vincent recklessly charged towards the crimson one for the same reason. "See how restless you are, just like a rat trying to dash back to its hole for the sake of survival." The crimson one taunted Vincent by clicking his tongue, showing that he was disappointed with the way he was recklessly charging towards him. Vincent didn''t use his tongue to fight back. He knew that he had no time to exchange more words with the crimson one and that he needed to end the fight by sealing him inside of himself as fast as possible. Thus, he ran straight at him, and the moment he reached somewhat close to him, he directed the blood flowing across his veins as well as all of the battle energy in his body towards the tip of his right foot. The water surface below rippled as his leg''s muscles tightened, bulging veins appearing on the pale skin of his right leg. All the different types of forces gathered at one pointthe tip of his foot. An intense feeling of overwhelming strength overtook Vincent''s nervousness and other emotions. He could feel it in his bonesthe power brought by Noah unsealing one of the nine seals. Thanks to his newfound strength, his blood vessels didn''t explode from the overload of blood, and due to the same reason, the pressure brought about by concentrating nearly a hundred units of battle energy into a single spot didn''t crush his bones. The crimson one didn''t notice the changes that had taken ce in Vincent''s body. He didn''t know about Noah, after all. Also, he didn''t realize that it had unlocked one of the nine seals to bestow immense powers to Vincent. Right now, Vincent was able to control all the blood and battle energy in his body as he liked. Moreover, his senses had sharpened; his reflexes had gotten way better, and his physical strength had increased by arge margin. "Get ready. Now, it''s my turn to whoop your ass!" The glow in Vincent''s crimson eyes turned eerie as he red daggers at the crimson one, who smirked back while standing on his spot with a carefree attitude. He overlooked the immense amount of force that Vincent had gathered on his right foot. Just like a fool, he underestimated his opponent and even opened his mouth to taunt him. "No matter how many times youe at me, the winner among us two will not change." Hearing the crimson one''s words, Vincent couldn''t help but smile. "Oh, really?" Vincent showed the crimson one a broad smile as he crouched down while taking a deep breath of fresh. The crimson one nodded his head and was about to demand his surrender when, at that very moment, Vincent sted his body towards the crimson one with all his strength. Vincent moved so fast that he left behind an afterimage, and the crimson one was still focusing on it, appearing no different than a buffoon in Vincent''s mind. He moved with such speed that he reached the crimson one before his aftermath could turn blurry. Hence, the crimson one failed to suspect that Vincent had made his move before he reached up to him. Then, Vincent immediately struck out, burying his fist covered with sharp blood spike into his chest. Whoosh! The moment Vincentnded a strike on him, a sound of something breaking through the speed of air entered the crimson one''s ears along with immense pain that spread from his chest and reached his head and toes. ''Huh?!'' The crimson one''s eyes widened to the size of walnuts as Vincent''s afterimage suddenly vanished from his sight. Immediately after, he managed to notice the actual one standing an inch away from him with the sharpness of his fist stabbing into his body. "You? How did Y-you?!" As all of it happened in less than an instant of a second, it left the crimson one confused and writhing in pain. Vincent raised his head and saw that disbelief was vivid on the crimson one''s red face. He was internally delighted to see that as he felt that he finally gained the upper hand against his adversary. However, he had no intention ofying it out on his face and focused on sealing him inside of his body. "You don''t need to know," Vincent said with a smile on his face as he twisted the fist that he had embedded into the crimson one''s flesh, dealing him more damage and pain. The sharp ends protecting out of his fist cut deeper into the crimson''s one flesh, giving him the taste of the pain that Vincent had just gone through. Furthermore, as Vincent thought about sealing him, the nine symbols hidden in his brain pulsed rapidly and released a suction force that tried to suck the crimson one into the space where Vincent''s father had once sealed him. The crimson one didn''t give a damn about the injuries on his body, but the moment he sensed something trying to seal him, his expression crumpled, causing him to look like a man suffering from constipation. A treating sensation surged out of his very existence, and he was reminded of the decade of destion that he had lived through to gain a chance like this. Knowing full well that the mysterious energy surging into his flesh was the same energy his father had used to seal him, the crimson one immediately used all his strength to fight back. "Die!" Blood rushed out of his back, condensing into a scorpion tail with a sharp end, and he brought it down towards Vincent. The crimson one attacked without holding anything back, and his attack contained a hell of a lot of killing intent.. Vincent didn''t doubt that he would die or at least be severely injured if that attack reached him. Chapter 205 - Sealing The Crimson One (b) As Vincent had no other choice but to get out of the attack''s range, he regretfully pulled his fist out of the crimson one''s chest, freeing him from immense fear and threat. Immediately after, Vincent ducked low to evade the approaching tail. With a whoosh, the tail''s sharp end passed from over his head, taking a few strands of his hair. "I got you right where I wantedin the same spot as a cornered rat!" The crimson one said with an evil grin on his face, and his words sounded extremely ominous in Vincent''s ears. The ck hair strands cascaded down to the ground as sharp spikes sneakily and hurriedly protruded from the crimson one''s knees and charged towards Vincent''s limbs, intending to maim him enough to make him unable to move. Of course, one could see the iing danger reflecting vividly in Vincent''s crimson eyes. His eyes widened subconsciously, but he reflexively made the right move: immediately pping his hand on the ground from his crouching position with such force and speed that his body moved out of the spikes way at the veryst instant. Although he dodged it quite pathetically, one can''t deny that he sessfully managed to push himself out of harm''s way as all the spikes missed him by a hairsbreadth. Though, before he could even get the chance to bnce himself, the sharp crimson spikes shot out of the crimson one''s knees and charged towards him. Whoosh They sted through the air, leaving behind nothing but an arc of red light as they shot towards Vincent with such speed that the eyes ofbatants in the intermediate stage would surely be unable to catch. Vincent raised his hands, however, immediately causing raw blood to surge out of his palms. The amount of blood that came out wasparable to substantial ocean waves. His blood charged forwards like waves rolling in the ocean and mmed into the spikes, scattering them into pieces, each of which got submerged into the wave of blood, surprisingly bing a part of it and increasing its volume by a unit or two. Hisplexion paled, making him look highly sickly. He seemed no different than a body without blood. His vision blurred, and his head thumped as if something was trying to blind him and knock him out. [You''ve used more than half of the blood in your body to release an attack.] [Sangue Heart: 0/50 units of Blood] [Physical Body''s total amount of blood: 2/10 units] [You''re experiencing a hypovolemic shock.] [Recall your blood, or else you will suffer from internal damages.] Undoubtedly, it was the consequences of his own actions. Vincent immediately maneuvered the wave of blood back to him, absorbing all it inside of him. [You''ve gained 12 units of blood] [Physical Body''s total amount of blood: 10/10 units] [[Sangue Heart: 2/50 units of Blood] [Adverse effect caused by an immense loss of blood had been removed] "How? How are you still able to use blood techniques?!" The crimson one had a shocked and questioning expression on his face. One might not know, but a while ago, he was sure that there was not a single unit of blood in Vincent''s vampiric heart. Without any blood in it, inhumane creatures like them can''t utilize blood techniques. A vampire''s blood itself can''t take root in their vampiric heart, or else they will lose their sanity, causing them to sink their teeth in their flesh and suck themselves dry until they are all bones and no blood. Of course, the entire vampire race faced the same problem, but one with royal blood could pull off this stunt without losing their sanity. Naturally, he and Vincent shouldn''t be able to do it because their father had extracted the royal blood they were born with from their body, along with the royal privileges of using their body''s blood to utilize blood technique. Currently, the crimson one could sense that Vincent had some royal blood pouring through his vein, but it was too little to mention. Moreover, their father had sealed their royal privileges, and their powers were still trapped behind the sealst time he checked. "You should know the answer to that, shouldn''t you?" Vincent revealed a smile, haughtiness tining its corner. The crimson one''s eyes blinked as he immediately came to a realization. "One of the nine seals was unsealed, allowing you to gain one of the powers we were born with." Aaron, the ninth, sealed all his innate racial traits, the power that Vincent was born with behind the nine seals along with the crimson because of some reasonthis much Vincent managed toprehend. Out of all the innate power he was born with, the one that allowed free control over all types of energy, senses, and his blood was none other than Full Control, a racial trait that enables him to control battle energy, blood energy, and mana as he liked. Moreover, it also heightened his senses to the peak, allowing him to hear the sound of breathing for miles away and much more. His newly awakened and temporary innate racial trait allowed him to pull off such a stunt. Otherwise, it wouldn''t have been possible for him to use blood techniques. "That''s right," Vincent replied as he took his hands behind his back and performed hand signs to manifest a weapon. Blues waves of energy surged out of his finger, swirling andpressing, condensing into the shape of a bullet. His actions escaped the notice of the crimson one, who failed to realize that Vincent was standing still and answering his question to buy time to put all the mana in his body into the bullet. The bullet size grew as dozens of units of mana surged inside of it, causing it to expand to the size of a baseball. However, it took form behind Vincent''s back, so it didn''t enter the crimson one''s eyes. "How were you able to take the seal off?!" The crimson one said with shaky eyes.. He was shocked to his very core. Chapter 206 - Sealing The Crimson One (c) The nine seals were something that the current Vincent shouldn''t be able to control. No! He was too weak and pathetic to sense even their presence. So, him taking off a seal and unleashing one of his innate racial traits was a pipe dream. Something must have helped him. Was it their father? Even though he was no longer around them, he still left behind a n to help his beloved son! Weren''t both of them his child? Why must he treat him like an outcast all the time? Just what crime did he even do? Why was he always on the receiving end of their father''s ire? The crimson one''s eyes turned red and redder. Sadness, rage, betrayal, sorrow, and unbridled anger swirled in his crimson eyes that grew bright and brighter. "That''s something you don''t need to know," Vincent replied with a calm and adamant expression on his face. Noah had temporarily unsealed the ninth seal. Of course, it was for his good, and Vincent was sure that the crimson one didn''t know of Noah''s existence. So, it was best not to tell him about it. Saying anything too revealing would be the same as smashing his foot with a stone. Not telling him was aggravating him, and that''s something Vincent wanted to happen. After all, a person makes many mistakes when they are angry, and he believed that he would be able to catch the crimson one off guard by angering him to the point where he woulde after him directly. "I will just pry it out of your mouth." The crimson one said with gritted teeth as he stomped his foot on the ground, immediately vanishing from Vincent''s sight. The crimson one used the same move that he had used multiple times before to catch Vincent off guard and beat the crap out of him. However, this time was different as Vincent was able to see a red arc of light shing towards him! Yes, the crimson one wasn''t teleporting or something else, but just moving at such a high speed that Vincent wasn''t able to even catch a glimpse of him before. However, right now, he was able to see him approaching him in a straight line. ''I got you!'' Vincent''s lips slowly curled up as he hurriedly moved his hand to the front. A red light shed in Vincent''s crimson eyes, and the crimson one''s sharp knife-like nails came straight towards his guts. However, before they could reach him, a baseball-sized bullet came in between them. The very moment, the crimson one''s eyes widened, and he hurried to stomp his foot on the ground as he could sense immense danger seeping out of the blue baseball. Of course, Vincent didn''t give it the chance to use his agility technique again and immediately released the mana bullet. There was like no distance between them, and the mana bullet shot out like aser beam, smashing into the crimson one''s chest. Bomb! The mana bullet exploded after crashing on the crimson one''s chest, and the impact resulted in his body shattering into pieces. The shockwaves also smashed on Vincent as he was in point-nk range, and he too was pushed back by several meters. "Damn, that hurts like hell," Vincent said with an aggrieved expression on his face as blood trickled out of his mouth. His internal organs were shocked by the shockwaves, but he was far well off than the crimson one, who was missing his entire body! Seeing that his sneak attack had done so much damage to the immortal monster, a smile crept up on Vincent''s face. As if reacting to the happiness of its container, the healing force inside of his body got triggered. It charged up from the pit of his stomach, suffusing throughout his body and healing all the damages he just suffered. "Is that it? Are you going to keep on hiding like a rat after putting on a show of overwhelming strength?" Vincent spat out. He was sure that the sneak attack wasn''t enough to put down a mortal like the crimson one. And he couldn''t be more right. "No," the crimson one''s voice sounded out as crimson pearls rose from the bloody water surface right next to Vincent, swirling around him and twirling up to his shoulders, slowly and steadily, taking a humanoid force. First came the hands that extended towards Vincent''s head, and he immediately pped it away, causing it to scatter back into the crystal-like petals. Though they converged back into a hand, and at the same time, the rest of the petals assembled into the shape of his identical twin of red color. "We''re just starting." The crimson said as he charged towards Vincent like an angry toddler and released a barrage of punches at him, which, of course, Vincent dodged by maneuvering his body in aplex manner, avoiding the attacksing from left and right. While avoiding the crimson one''s attacks, Vincent studied his attack patterns and looked for an opening. The moment he found it, heunched a counterattack. Vincent''s legsshed out, hitting the crimson one on the left side of his cheeks. The crimson one got sted away from him at the maximum speed of a rocket train. Vincent immediately gave chase and caught up to him in the blink of an eye, almost as if he had teleported. Without giving him the chance to make sense of the situation or escape, Vincent grabbed the crimson one''s head as words that his other half never wants to hear ever again came out of his mouth mercilessly: "No, it''s high time to end things." An instant after these words left Vincent''s mouth, a significant amount of suction force charged out of his palm, trying to envelop the crimson one entirely. The crimson one''s fear maxed out, and he started to resist violently, doing his all to get out of his grip.. He kicked him in the guts and even went as far as hitting his hand and stabbing tentacles with sharp ends into his body but failed to escape. Chapter 207 - Sealing The Crimson One (d) Vincent was holding his head too tightly, seemingly having no intention of letting him go. Although Vincent was getting more and more injured, he gritted his teeth to endure the pain and focused on controlling the suction force, helping it envelop the crimson one from head to toe. He knew for a fact that there was no way to get rid of the crimson one. No matter what he does and how many times he destroys his body, the crimson one wouldn''t die. The only way to get out of the crimson one''s paradise was to kill him. The only way to solve this situation was to seal him back in his body. He had no choice but to use his body as a medium to stop the crimson one as that was the only way. "No! I am not going back in there!" The crimson one struggle grew more and more violent. He didn''t want to return to the dim darkness where the silence had held him for more than a decade. He had just tasted freedom and didn''t want to let go of it, even if it meant crippling his actual body. Thus, he didn''t pull back any punches and did his best to grasp on to the dimming light of freedom. Vincent, on the other hand, continued to release more suction force and tried his best to seal him relentlessly. He would''ve indeed dropped to the ground by now, but thanks to the healing power in his body that was healing his wounds at a rapid phase, he was able to hold on to his consciousness. The suction force had enveloped the crimson one to the waist when crimson shockwaves burst out of his body and crashed on Vincent''s chest. This one was too oppressive. Not only did Vincent iron-grip lose all its strength, but he also got sted backward. "You''re persistent as hell." Vincent clicked his tongue as he slid back. The moment he came to a stop, blood rushed out of both his palm and condensed into twin crimson swords. "Spurt!" "Spurt!" Courtesy to the Hell''s paradise, two more shes appeared on Vincent''s flesh, one on his ankle and the other on his chest. The worst thing about these wounds was that the healing energy in his body couldn''t heal them, leaving him losing blood at a considerable rate. [-2 units of blood] He didn''t have more than several minutes left to defeat the crimson before he ran out of his blood. Vincent''s expression fell. He was running out of time, and hisbat capabilities were also dropping each time the sh count on his body increased. The crimson one had an equally dim expression on his face. Being forced to express the dread of almost getting sealed had seriously enraged him. "You asked for it," he said as he raised his hands, and immediately several crimson bubbles charged out of the water surface. All of them were the size of a cannonball, and each of them extended to a meter and a half in length before bing sharper and solid. They all took the shape of katanas. "This is the innate racial trait I gained from dismantling my creation, Asura." The crimson one red at Vincent, and the swords hovering around him pointed their sharp ends towards him. "Avoid it if you can, but my swords will follow you until you die!" With those words, the weapons charged towards Vincent with such speeds that they left arcs of crimson light in their wake. Six katanas moved at once, and anybatant in the intermediate stage would''ve indeed died as they wouldn''t be able to avoid them no matter what they did. Heck, they might not be able to put up a defense before getting their bodies chopped into pieces by the sword, but Vincent wasn''t the same. "I won''t avoid them," Vincent said with a maniacal look on his face. He was not only able to see the katanas but also determine their trajectory. And instead of moving backward to gain a distance between them, he moved towards them, closing the distance. He was performing the act of a maniac! Blood Gear: The crimson Ruler While moving towards them with a fearless expression on his face, Vincent elerated his blood flow, causing an increase in his reaction time and speed. At the same time, throbbing veins popped all over his body. From head to toe, one could see veins trying to bum out of Vincent''s skin. One of the swords came close to Vincent, and his eyes narrowed to reveal a sharp look on his face as he took a quick step to evade it. The sword went past him, took a turn, and charged towards his back. Five more came from in front simultaneously. He had expected all that to happen. He moved towards the nearest katanas in front of him as another one homed on to his back. One was about to pierce his back, and the other his chest, but at that very instant, Vincent stomped his foot on the ground and vanished, causing the two swords to sh with each other. The moment that happened, they exploded, releasing immense shockwaves that reached the crimson one and caused his clothes and hair to flutter. The fact that the katanas would explode on impact was a truth that the crimson one had intentionally kept a secret from Vincent. Thankfully, Vincent evaded them instead of fending them off using his weapon, or he would have been in severe danger. Vincent took this chance to move past the rest of the katanas. However, they chased after him, intending on cutting and sting him apart. Though, that''s just what he wanted. The crimson one saw an arrogant smirk on his opponent''s face. [-4 units of blood] [Physical body''s blood: 6/10 units] In the very next split of a second, blood surged out of Vincent''s back, taking the shape of fox-like tails that shot towards the katanas way behind him, extending outwards like the tentacles of a Kraken! Chapter 208 - Sealing The Crimson One (E) Vincent had a smirk on his face when he made his move. Of course, it''s because he caught his opponent off guard. Everything happened so suddenly and with such ferocity that the crimson one failed to move his katanas out of harm''s way. Boom! Boom! The crimson tails that suddenly extended out of Vincent''s back smashed on the bursting katanas, causing them to explode. The shockwavesnded on Vincent''s back, just as he had intended. The force suddenly applied to his back increased his speed by two times, and Vincent endured the pain in silence. His bones were creaking, and his heart was throbbing, but he was willing to pay this painful price for the sake of victory. Charging straight towards the crimson oneit was a suicidal move. However, Vincent had no other choice. He knew that his body wouldn''t be able to hold on for long, and that''s why he gave it his all in this exchange. He was giving his all because of many other reasons. First off, if he failed to kill him, the crimson one would take over his body. Secondly, Vincent trusted Noah and believed that he would kill his loved ones one by one. He didn''t want anything wrong happening to the ones he knew, especially Old Miller and Leni. He would rather die trying to kill the crimson one than let his ne to fruition. "Courting death." The crimson handughed when he saw Vincent''s suicidal charge. It looked as if the personality controlling his actual body had developed some fascist tendencies when he wasn''t here. But it wasn''t something that would trouble him. After all, he will erase Vincent''s personality after taking control of the body, effectively getting rid of his duality. The crimson one raised his hand, conjuring a majestic crimson sword in the blink of an eye. It was sharp and coated in a red aura, one carrying immense killing intent. Even the air was getting ripped apart. From this, it''s easy for one to tell that this sword could cut through iron as easily as a hot knife cutting through butter. "Let me grand you your wish!" The crimson one grabbed the hilt and pointed the weapon at the approaching person. The crimson one''s sword uttered a sword cry as it charged towards Vincent''s trajectory, causing his vision to blur. However, contrary to the crimson one expectation, his opponent didn''t frown, stop, or tense up. It''s because Vincent didn''t need his eyes to see what was going on. A pair of eyes that he had conjured a while ago was rying all information to him. They were magic eyes, one he had learned when he was but a boy, and he summoned them sneakily. At first, he was dealing with multiple fields of view, one from his point of view and the others from the point of view of the magic eyes! However, the moment his actual vision blurred, Vincent closed his eyes entirely and maneuvered himself ording to the point of view of the eyes hovering around them. The crimson one realized that, but it was already toote to deal with them. "Nothing will change even if you can see what''s going on." He uttered arrogantly and brought the sword down at Vincent. Vincent moved in the straight line, and the sharp swords in his hands gleamed with intense killing intent. Although he saw the crimson one''s swording straight towards him, he still charged forward with his body lowered, giving no damn about his life. The crimson one''s sword met with his flesh as one of Vincent''s swords kissed the crimson one. Spurt! The sound of a limb tearing from the rest of the body sounded as intense pain assaulted Vincent. An entire hand made out of flesh and blood dropped down the air and fell to the ground, along with a crimson sword. Vincent had lost an arm. The crimson one attack had cleanly cut one of his arms off his shoulders. And that extremely surprised the crimson one. After all, he had attacked to kill Vincent, not show him mercy by amputating him! Yet, he only managed to take an arm. How was that possible? It might be because of the fairy''s blessing that he got lucky; it could also be the crimson one''s secret reluctance to kill him, or it might be because he tilted his head to the side at the veryst instant that the majestic sword missed his head and only took his arm. Spurt! Another flesh gouging sound echoed in the crimsonnd as the sword in Vincent''s left hand stabbed into the crimson one''s neck, going deep into it. "This time, it''s your loss," Vincent uttered as dark energy seeped out of his palm that was grabbing the sword''s hilt. It wrapped around the sword''s hilt, then the sword''s body, and finally travelled into the crimson one''s neck. From there, it expanded outward in all directions with an immense dedication to seal him. A sticky substance quickly started to converge all over him. The crimson one felt the energy meant to trap him, traveling down his throat, into his chest, and spreading further down. "No! I''m not willing," The crimson one mouthed out and immediately raised his attacks to grab the sword and pull it out of his throat. Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh However, all of Vincent''s tail shot towards the crimson one''s raised arm and wrapped around them, holding their wrists, immobilizing them. Of course, the crimson one struggled violently to free his hands. His resistance only made Vincent do something cruel. The tails that were mping down on the crimson one''s arms twisted the arms off his shoulder, effectively crippling him. He immediately changed his tactics. Instead of forcing the sword out of the body, he decided to make a run for it, just like a coward. For the crimson one, running away was akin to pping himself on the face ten times.. Yet, as he didn''t want to get sealed, he decided to make this cowardly move. Chapter 209 - Finale! Pride and life weren''t as important as not getting sealed for the crimson one, and he was willing to go to any length to grasp hold of Vincent''s body. "I won''t let you do that." Vincent could tell what the crimson one was thinking in his head, and he wasn''t going to let him go, no matter what. He hade this far, solely relying on his will. His body had long given up. He was tired, mentally and physically. Not to mention, he had just lost a hand and was still losing a lot of blood. He was on the brink of copse, but just like a hard-headed soldier who wasn''t going to stop killing his enemies to defend his kingdom until hisst breath, Vincent, too, was unwilling. He had things to protect, and he had people who were waiting for him out of the monster tower. That''s why he couldn''t afford to feel weak at this moment, and that''s also why he wasn''t going to give up unless he won or died. Before the crimson one could even stomp his foot on the ground, Vincent controlled the nine tails, moving them down to his legs. He made them immediately wrap around the crimson one''s legs, and then, using them, he also tore his legs off his body, effectively immobilizing him. "You''ve nowhere to run to." Vincent was now sure that this was the end and that he would win in a moment. "You''ll regret it." The crimson one said as the sticky ck substance pressed below his waist. "They wille for you again and again until they can take you. You can''t even remember what you mean to them, what your existence means to the universe. And the moment you realize it, it would already be toote. But don''t worry, just like thest time, I will wait for you toe to me. I will wait for you to give up your body willingly." "Who are they?!" Vincent asked. "Hahaha!" The crimson one didn''t give him a reply and just startedughing. Although he was the one that seemed to have lost this battle, he appeared genuinely happy, making Vincent feel that something terrible was about to happen. Blood gushed out of Vincent''s shoulder and immediately solidified into a hand that grabbed the crimson sword lying beside his amputated arm, immediately picking it up. Then, the sound of a sword impaling the flesh and then blood gushing out sounded out once again. Apanying them were the crimson one''s agonizedughter. They sounded so weird that Vincent couldn''t differentiate whether he was crying orughing. The crimson one''sugh was more like a feral howl filled dread and misery than happiness. It was sad, but Vincent wasn''t going to show him any mercy. He hardened his heart and released even more of the suction force. A momentter, the sealing energy of a dark color enveloped the crimson one from head to toe. "This is the end," Vincent''s words sounded out in his twin''s ears, who smiled widely. He immediately saw the crimson one''s boy twisting and blurring as if it was about to vanish any moment now, and he was looking forwards to that happening. "It isn''t the end until one of us dies." The crimson one said, knowing full well that he would get a chance to return and fight back for control over Vincent''s body. Next time, he will be more ruthless in his attacks! "There won''t be any more chances," Vincent said. He was going to ask everything about what happened from Noah and try to know about everything himself and the crimson one, and also the reason why his father had sealed such a thing inside of his body and messed with his memories. And then he would make sure never to let this thinge out of the nine seals. Vincent wasn''t able to sense eight of the nine seals, but he could feel the ninth one, so he was sure that there were nine seals in his body, and he was going to use them to keep the crimson one sealed. Until the day he coulde up with a way to deal with the crimson one''s immortality, he wouldn''t let him see the light of the day, no matter what and no matter how far he would need to go. "That''s not up to you to decide." The crimson one as his body twisted into a spiral of red lines. It was a wonder how he was still able to speak. After all, he didn''t have a mouth nor lips, and so on. Vincent wasn''t surprised, though. He guessed that it might be some sort of mentalmunication technique or maybe telepathy. Who knows? "It happened once before, and it happened today, so it is going to happen once again. I hope you look forward to itmy return, that is." With augh, the crimson one vanished into thin air, but the words he had left in his disappearance came as a mental blow to Vincent undoubtedly. Now, he couldn''t help but think of the crimson one resurgence again and again, and also the people and the events the crimson one mentioned just before vanishing. [Congrattions! You''ve sessfully sealed the crimson one in the space behind the nine seals!] [As the crimson one had disappeared, the Hell''s Paradise had also shut down.] [Congrattions! You''ve freed yourself from the curse of death by more than a hundred cuts!] Vincent felt something traveling into the depth of his brain and then vanishing. He breathed a sigh of relief and copsed to the ground, blooding out of his body profusely. Although in a lot of pain, he felt relieved. Sealing the crimson one made him feel like a heavy boulder got lifted off his chest, helping him rx, and his eyes started to close. Bang! Bang! Bang! Suddenly, Vincent felt something hammering his head, and a mouthful of blood came out of his mouth. Chapter 210 - Gain (a) Bam, bam, bam! Vincent''s entire body trembled violently, and he spewed out another mouthful of blood. What the hell is happening? As if seeing through his thoughts, the artificial intelligence of his family heirloom ryed a line of information to his slowly numbing mind. [The crimson one is relentlessly attacking the walls of the boundary, trying to open a crack in it.] Did he rx too early? From the looks of it, he indeed did. The crimson one had remained sealed for more than a decade, so of course, he would do everything to stay free. And now, he was trying to break out of the seal using attacks so ferocious that they nearly gave Vincent a heart attack. What a president bastard; Vincent cursed under his breath and tried to stand up. However, he failed to do so. His limbs gave up on him, showing him that he had taken a step beyond the brink of copse. A thin line appeared between his brows as Vincent frowned. He couldn''t feel his legs, and he didn''t have any strength to fight anyone or anything. He was not only tired to the core, but also exhausted and crippled. But could he do anything to keep the crimson one froming out from behind the nine seals? He had just thought of that when another notification popped up in his mind. [The tenth doesn''t need to worry about the crimson one as he will remain sealed no matter how hard he tries to escape. The nine seals are energetically enforcing the boundary walls, making it impossible for the crimson one to escape. Soon, the seal will strengthen, and you won''t be able to feel his struggle.] The frown on Vincent''s face eased up. The banging sound of the crimson one crashing into a wall sounded in his mind several more times, but eventually, they came to a stop. Just like Blood said, he wasn''t able to feel the crimson one''s resistance. Maybe he had fallen into a slumber, or perhaps he had stopped trying to force his way out of the seal as he knew that he would fail now that the boundary had gotten strengthened by the nine seals. Whatever it was, it was good to know that nothing threatening would being for his life. Now that he was free of all dangers, he breathed a sigh of relief. Rxation had just kicked in when a wave of pain dropped a bottle of cold water on top of Vincent''s head. From head to toe, wounds covered his body. Not only did he have a few broken bones here and there, but he had also lost his arm. Moreover, there were several skin wounds on his body caused by the adverse effect of the crimson one''s hell''s paradise. "Heal me." Vincent urged the healing force to make a rotation throughout his body. Moving ording to his will, the healing force inside of his body started to heal him. It started from his bones, mending those that needed it and healing the cracks in those that were threatening to snap. Then, it moved towards his right shoulder, intending to help Vincent grow a new limb. Vincent felt something warming up his right shoulder, and he looked towards it. He saw a few wisps of Billy white energy swirling around his shoulder. "What is this? [The Healing Force had started to recreate your limb.] To his surprise, a new bump of flesh started to protrude out of his shoulder, trying to shape into a hand. However, it had only recreated his arm before suddenlyinge to a halt. Vincent''s eyebrows raised, and he realized that there wasn''t enough healing force left in his boy to grow out aplete arm. "I will create another peak-grade healing scroll after returning to the academy." Although Vincent was sad and a bit troubled after knowing that he would''ve to live without an arm for a while, he wasn''t going to sulk his days away. Moreover, he already knew that he would help himself re-grow his limb, so there was no tension haunting him. There was a bit of healing force left in his body, and he urged to heal his superficial wounds, such as the cut of his skin that we''re shallow and not too deep. However, they were bleeding nheless, making him lose blood, albeit a minimal amount. Though it didn''t matter how little it was, Vincent wanted it to heal. The healing force went towards the cut and tried to heal them. The moment Vincent''s skin closed up, cuts once again appeared in the same ce. "What? How is this possible?" Vincent''s eyes widened in shock? Of course, he was taken aback by what just happened as it Barely made sense. He wasn''t in the crimson one''s hell''s paradise, so why was he getting cuts on his body? [The wounds afflicted on your body by the hell''s paradise can''t get healed by standard means. You either need to be the owner of the hell''s paradise or kill the current owner, the crimson one. Otherwise, you will not be able to heal the cuts. Your best option right now is to seal them.] Vincent''s eyes narrowed, showing that he was a little bit desperate but more aggravated by the crimson one. Although he wasn''t here, he still left a permanent wound on his body that would undoubtedly keep on reminding Vincent of the crimson one. "Sigh." Unable to heal the cuts, Vincent solidified his blood around the cut-shaped wounds, effectively stopping blood from leaking out. "The crimson one! Don''t let me meet that asshole again, or the first thing I would do will be smashing his face." Vincent had never met a person as insidious as the crimson one, and he could only define him as an asshole that sucks blood and gnaws on a man''s flesh, just like the creatures of hell. [Innate racial trait:- Full Control (sealed)] While he was cursing the crimson one, Blood started to seal his newly gained power in the ninth seal. Chapter 211 - The Truth About The Crimson One! (a) In the center of Vincent''s brain, there were nine dots, each so small that a person couldn''t take a look at them without using thetest object magnifying devices. However, Vincent was able to see them. It was as if he had gained the ability to look inside of his brain for a moment. He concluded that it was a one-time wonder, a miracle of some sort that came to him because some conditions got met. His gazended on the nine dots. As he concentrated, he found out that he was able to zoom into them. A closer look told him that the nine dots were all shaped like ruby tablets, and each of them had a character on top of them. Right then, the power that Blood had unlocked so that he would be able to defeat the crimson one left his body in the shape of numerous red wisps. They twirled around him, showing that they were reluctant to part ways with him. Vincent didn''t want to give up on this power either. He tried to hold on to it. s, they weren''t the ones making the decision. Everything followed the will of the ninth, and it pulled the red wisps away from Vincent''s body. They then charged towards his forehead, touching it, entering it. After that, he saw them dashing straight towards the ninth seal with the characters F and C on it. He believed that they were the initials of the two words, full controls. "Will I ever be able to get it back?" Vincent sighed. He was sad to see his innate racial trait getting sealed inside the ninth seal, but he could do nothing to stop it. [Yes, but you need to be stronger than you''re right now. Increase all of your stats to at least 200 units. Only then will your body be a suitable enough vessel to contain the power of the ninth seal. Simrly, as you grow stronger, I will release the strength held inside the nine seals, one by one, just as the ninth intended.] Blood''s answer told him a lot, making him understand a little more about the situation. For example, his father, the ninth head of the family, sealed his powers in the nine seals because his body couldn''t contain them. Vincent subconsciously believed that they would''ve hurt him, and that''s why his father had no choice but to look them away until he became strong enough to contain them in his body without any harm. "Increase my stats to 200 units? That''s all I need to do?" [Yes.] As if to prove its words, Blood also issued a new mission to Vincent. [Main Mission Activated] [Mission Name:- Reiming innate racial skills] [Objectives: Evolve and make your body strong and sturdy enough to contain the powers sealed within the nine seals.] [Current Goal: Increase all your stats to 200 units or above.] [Rewards: Full Control (Innate Racial Trait)] Vincent wasn''t too far off from hitting this goal. Bybining a few items and creating another overpowered thing like the bracelet of strength, he would increase his stats to 200 units. "What about the crimson one? Who is he, a part of me or something else? Can you tell me why father sealed him within me and where exactly? Like, is there a prison-like space in my head or something along the line?" While sitting on the water-like surface that had long turned as clear as an ocean, Vincent hurled a few questions at Blood. It was the only one that could give him answers and clear the fog of confusion surrounding his soul. After all, Vincent hadn''t met a lot of people when he was a child. Now that he thinks about it, he doesn''t remember anyone except for his parents! His childhood memories only held them. He couldn''t remember anything that happened when he was 1 to 5 years old. After that, he remembers his parents going was to fight for the sake of the federation. And then, ten years went by with his living alone, getting taken care of by robots, specially created to tend to his needs. For a while, no reply came from the other sides. A couple of secondster, Vincent thought that even Blood wouldn''t tell him anything and decided to give up. It was at this moment that a monotone voice rang in his head. [Since you''ve alreadye across the crimson one, it won''t be wrong to let you listen to the message left behind by the ninth. If possible, Ninth Lord Aaron didn''t want you to hear it until you''vee of age. He told me to reveal it to you if the crimson onees out before the predetermined time. Would you like to listen to the recording?] "Father left behind a message?" Vincent was so shocked to hear its words that he forgot to ask about what it means toe of age. Of course, it wasn''t something sensualjust a rite of passage performed by the vampires to grow into adults. Vincent was eager to hear his father''s voice more than know the answer to his question, so he didn''t hesitate to y the recording. A holographic screen popped up in his vision, showcasing his father, and he was holding the hand of his mother. When the recording started, they were both staring at each other with eyes filled with love. Their eyes only had the appearance of the other in vivid details as if nothing else mattered in the universethis was love, one at an extreme level. Though, when they turned to look at him, he same the same level of love reflecting in those sun-like and night-like eyes. That was the love his parents had for him. "Father, Mother, I miss you." Instantly, his barely calm mind went over the edge, and tears welled up in his bright, crimson eyes. It has been a while since their death. But even before then, he wasn''t able to spend a single day with them.. However, he knew that it was because they were busy upholding their duty that they failed to get to him, and he missed them very much. Chapter 212 - The Truth About The Crimson One (b) Vincent''s eyes remained on his parents. It looked as if he was trying to engrave their picture in his mind. Although well above their forties, his parents had no signs of aging on their faces. They looked as young, handsome, dashing, and beautiful as thest time he saw them. "Wife, it had already started recording us." After noticing that the device shaped like an orb had already started recording them, Vincent''s mother blushed. "Should we edit out the embarrassing part?" Vincent heard his mother saying those words while blushing a little. "What''s wrong with letting our son see how much we love each other?" Like a true man, his handsome father ced a kiss on his mother''s cheeks and added, "Let''s just keep it, ah!" "Stop being naughty." When his father''s somewhat cracked and thin lipsnded on his mother, her entire face turned red. Maybe it was due to embarrassment. Anyway, Vincent saw her pinching his father''s waist, causing him to yelp out in pain. "Haha." The love between his parents hadn''t faded even a little bit. Although they were rolling in the army, going to differents, and fighting back the invasion of the creatures of hell, especially the seraphs who led them in the attack, they were still able to act happily. Though, they were not here anymore. Nheless, Vincent was d to see the smile on their face. The camera zoomed in on his mother, who said, "My son, mother hopes that you will be in safe hands and good health when you see this recording. I hope you will forgive us for not being there for you." Sadness was vivid in her voice. Vincent''s eyes narrowed as he found several things suspicious. His parents were wearing thetest uniform that came into cirction only two years ago. ording to the way they dressed, Vincent concluded that they made this video six to 24 months ago. And from her words, his mother seemed sure that something terrible was going to happen. "Why does it seems like she is going to cry?" After saying those words, tears welled up in the eyes of Vincent''s mother. He wasn''t able to understand her sadness. But as a son, he wanted to wipe his mother''s tears and make her happy. Sadly, he couldn''t do that. His father patted his mother and buried her face in his chest, saving her from the embarrassment of letting her son see how she shed her tears. "Come on, don''t make ourst parting overly sentimental." Aaron''s words caused Vincent''s eyes to widen. He was shocked, surprised, and confused as he discovered another piece of information. His father mentioned that this was going to be theirst parting, which meant that they were already aware that they would encounter trouble on their mission. And this new information helped Vincent shorten the time when his parents recorded the video to days or weeks before they set out to Westford, a kingdom found on Moutanean. It was close to the border between the realm of the living and the Hell realm, so it was easy for the creatures of hell to open Hell''s paradise on this. And it had happened several months ago. The federation ordered his father to go and close Hell''s paradise before the dimensional path stabilizes and allows the creature of hell to invade the. This was too precious. As it was close to the border, the army desired to firstpletely colonize it by killing beasts and other mindless creatures that they found impossible to reason with, and then they wanted to set up armories andmissaries there for multiple reasons. First off, many skirmishes were taking ce near the border, forcing the federation to use teleportation technology repeatedly. Whenever there was a shortage of a weapon, food, and on, the federation ultimately utilized teleportation to send things to the border. However, it was too costly. Teleportation needed a tremendous amount of energy. Therger the distance, the higher the cost. Taxpayers'' money wasn''t enough to cover it. In the end, they decided to solve the solution by colonizings near the border. Of course, when they started doing that, the news reached the other side, and they started invading theses to mess up the n of their enemies. Secondly, the federation wanted to lower the usage of teleportation for their own benefit. With colonizeds having many armories and stuff, the soldiers near the border could use their spaceships to go to theses, pick up what they need, restock, and then head out to battle. New could also get trained in theses. This way, the use of teleportation to provide reinforcement would be little to none. His father knew that, and as he had received orders to go to one such, he took his battalion and went there. On his way, though, several enemy warships managed to somehow secretly breach the border security with the speed of lightning and sneaked attacked them. Yet, now Vincent was finding out that his parents had already predicted it! "If they already knew that they would get ambushed, why did they still enter the enemy''s trap? Just what were they thinking before taking such a risk? Why father? Why?" These thoughts had just popped up in his mind when his father stared at the camera, the very reason why he left behind this mission which was none other than the matters rted to the crimson one. His father had managed to soothe his mother, and now he was looking straight at him through the camera. "Since you''re seeing this recording, I believe you''ve traced your identity back to your origin, discovered the world we came from, a ce where reside the rest of our kindthe vampireand undergone the right of passage and unearthed our ancestral hall, or the crimson one had managed to somehowe out of the nine seals. If it''s the former, well, what I am about to say, you already know. Better just shut the recording and move away.. If it''s the former, I hope you''re still you." Chapter 213 - The Past (a) Aaron paused in the middle of his speech for a brief moment, and in that very moment, his eyes turned crimson, showing that he was feeling highly emotional, and only then did he continue, "No! I am sure that the countermeasures I left in ce would''ve been enough for you to deal with the crimson one. I believe that not only because I trust in my abilities but also because you''re my son, and I believe in you. I''m sure that you would''ve grown strong enough to reseal it by the time it would''ve managed to escape from the space created by the nine seals." A thoughtful look shed across Vincent''s eyes. Most of what had happened to him were all designated by his father. His father left behind his most fabulous lucky encounter. Afterward, he guided him to the ce where he could safely be strong enough to hunt beasts. Then, there were many events connected to him. Even his very first innate racial trait that let him keep his cool under any circumstances might be rted to him. Aaron calmed down his emotion, and his eyes returned back to their original color. "Ahem, it is time to make some things clear." Seriousness permeated the air. "Many people of our race who lose themselves in the pleasure of drinking blood are affected by a curse. It causes them to sink deeper into their madness, making them worse than beasts. They be monstrous beings who are always in search of prey. They do not stop unless they are cured or killed. Although there is a way to fix them, it''s costly and has a low chance of working. So, we mostly kill them. It''s cold, but that''s how we are. "Back to the main point, a child was born with a deadly variant of this curse. The heinous curse could manifest itself as a persona to corrupt the child and the others around him. It had never happened before and was something only mentioned in ancient records, a sort of a prophecy that defined the child as a monster who will be the end of his race and the universe as we know it. Many people knew about the birth of the child, and they wanted to murder it in its cradle. Kill it before it would grow up to kill them. Kill my child in front of me! How could I allow them to do that?!" Vincent''s head throbbed. He was the child that others wanted dead. The moment he came to this realization, he felt immense pain in his heart and his mind. Then, something clicked. A dam seemed to have shattered, causing water to flow out inrge waves. Many memories hiding in the deepest recess of his subconscious surged out, making him remember what he had long forgotten. He saw a luxurious room, one that would warm the eyes and fill anyone''s vanity just by looking at it. He saw moonlight glossing over everything in this room. Many maids were present in the room. A little deeper into the room, there was a beautiful woman with a big tummy. She was lying down on the bed, and there was a painful expression on her face. Push, many people were saying the same word. She held the hand of a very handsome man, dressed in royal clothes. Grace and majesty seemed to be radiating from him. Dozens of magicians stood around him, and they were casting spells on the woman, helping her give birth safely. The woman lifted her eyelid. There was a see-through window above her head. She saw the ck sky of the world that had never seen the day, turning red, almost as if a sun was descending upon it. Then, harsh winds started to blow outside the room, around the pce, and they spread outward, reaching the deepest and darkest corners of the empire. Tens of thousands of crows flocked to the skies and started cawing as if announcing the birth of a monster, and at that very moment, the woman heard the cry of a newborn. Although what happened was too bizarre for her and her husband, she still looked at her child with gentle, loving eyes. The child opened his eyes, causing everyone to gasp in surprise. The newborn child was born with the most previous of ruby eyes, one with many intricate designs. He wasn''t pure-blooded, yet he was born with what everyone desired! Royal eyes, something that destined him to be able ten thousand and only below one! He could order the entire race except for the most regal of blood, and they would''ve to follow his words unconditionally. Such was their tradition and culture. The first thing reflected in the child''s ruby eyes was the joyful face of his father, one that revealed his blood-sucking fangs. His smile looked so terrifying that the child started to cry. The manughed, and the woman scolded him weakly. The woman extended her hand, and the man happily passed the crying child to her. The woman used a finger to caress her child''s face, and she was extremely gentle in her actions as she was afraid that she would hurt him. Many weird things were happening around them, but she didn''t notice it, nor did her husband. Their eyes never moved away from the child, and they missed the abnormalities urring around them. The child looked extremely pure, making others think that he would not be able to even harm a fly. However, his cry was enough to make others go mad. Some second after it was born, the curse started to show its effect. Although nobles were resistant to its temptation and the royal blooded weren''t affected by it, it easily influenced themoners, causing them to enter a state of madness. Most of the servants in this room went crazy, including the personal maid of the child''s mother, one she treater like her sister. Their bodies swelled to a monstrous degree, and their eyes burst from their sockets. Chapter 214 - The Past (b) Their nails grew to the size of a long sword as their jaws opened wide so suddenly that the sound of skin getting torn and bones cracking sounded in the luxurious room. Following that were maddened roars and immediate attacks. Their figures were brimming with intense murderous desires, telling the man that there was no way to save them. Even if he somehow cured them, would they be able to live with what they had be? No, it was a big fat no, and the man knew it. He made his move and gave them all mercy by wiping them out with a single action. After corrupted ones died under the hands of the royal blooded handsome man, he turned towards the ones still alive and then looked at his child. He mouths some words, but the child who was just born was able to understand it. Why my child? Why? The man''s expression showed devastation. He had read the ancient records of his family, so he was able to discern everything wrong with this situation and realized that the cause of it was none other than his child. The others realized it too. Currently, the child was no longer crying. Instead, the sight of blood and carnage made him so happy that he started tough, looking no less than a demon spawn held in his mother''s shaking hand. The woman saw her sister dying, and she felt intense sadness assaulting her. Even now, she failed to realize that her newborn child was the one behind it all. The men around the handsome man wanted to kill the child. The man red at them and told them to back the fuck off, his eyes turning as red as finely-aged red wine. It was his family matter, and he would take care of it by his own hand. No one was allowed to harm his child. Most of them were loyal to the man, and they stepped back, but some merely pretended to do it. The moment the man''s gaze turned away from them, theyunched a sneak attack towards the child, wanting to end him. However, they failed. With a single word from the man, they were all forced to their knees. Such was the might of the ninth king of the blood moon! The man knew what they were thinking of doing, and they were right to take such drastic action. He was in the wrong, and he knew that too. He knew if he let the child live, then what woulde in the future would be the end of his race. But he was ready to wrong his entire race for the sake of his child. His wife had to go a long way to give this child, and she would never get pregnant. The child in her hand was his very first and also hisst. The man stepped towards the child. More than fifteen servants were kneeling behind him, unable to twitch even a single muscle. The woman saw himing towards her or, more specifically, for her child. From the exchanges between the man and his servants, she realized they wanted to kill her child. She pushed him deeper into his embrace and turned her back towards the man. The sound of her crying reached the man. He embraced her from the back and whispered sweet words into her ears, helping her calm down. After a while, he managed to assure her that he wouldn''t harm the child. Almost as if the man''s words carried the power to hypnotize her, the woman handed her child to the man. The man ced his hand on the head of the child who wasughing eerily. Instantly, the child''s eyes closed, and he fell into a deep sleep. The child also forgot everything that had taken ce. A single caress from the man also suppressed the curse to the back of his head. The man clicked his tongue, thinking that that wasn''t enough. Out of nowhere, six symbols appeared around them. At the same time, signs of aging appeared on the handsome man''s face, and his three thousand strands of ck hair turned white. He had aged in the blink of an eye. The six seals entered the child''s forehead, sealing the curse in an unstable space. After that, he gave the child to the woman he holds dear to his heart and moved towards the kneeling servants. A second after another passed as he calmly stepped past each of the servants. Using his powers, he erased their memories. The things that happened here mustn''t reach the ears of the others, or else many wille for his child. "Born under the crimson dawn, the child of the ninth blood moon. Bringing along with it, a demon of time ancient. The beginning of all ends, it shall be. Race destroyed, gxies destroyed, hell had long since arrived. Destroy the seeds of evil before they grow up to be a tree, one of pure evil. Kill it and show no mercy when doing so, or the end wille to swallow you all." Days passed, the rumors that the child of the ninth king was born to destroy his race spread in the pce. Somehow, the news still got out. As if they were bees attracted to honey, dozens of royal blooded vampires came to put an end to his child. He refused to let them. A great fight ensued, and the man came out on top. Without any hesitation, he sealed the memories of his trustworthy friends. Then, he started fighting his best friend. Why? He was the one who spread the reality of his child. He was also a prophet of the blood moon race. Even if he wiped out his memory, he would still be able to find out that his child was a threat ande to wipe him out. The only way to keep his child safe was to kill his best friend. Chapter 215 - The Past (c) His best friend was his subject, but he was more loyal to the blood moon race than he was to him. His best friend was faithful enough to give his all, including his authority, power, and life, to eradicate his king''s newborn son. Actually, at that time, the people didn''t consider Vincent as the crown Prince or the king''s only son. Instead, theybeled him with the title of the harbinger of destruction, a menace that someone had to purge before it dooms them. Aaron knew that, so he had no choice but to make his move. Rather than waiting for his best friend toe and kill his child, he went out to stop him instead. By the time he reached there, his best friends had already grouped up with many who were against him and in coboration with him to take him down and then kill his child. In a sense, they have started a rebellion and wanted to strip him of his right as the ninth king. Aaron felt betrayed, but he knew that they were feeling the same, especially his friend. He was the king of his race, but he was trying to protect the one who might end up annihting the entire blood moon race! His best friend had grown up with him, so he already knew what his decision was going to be, and that''s why he raised a rebellion to go against him without exchanging even a single word. He knew that Aaron wasn''t going to uphold his duty as a king and that he would choose the role of a father over performing his duties as a righteous king, and that Aaron wouldn''t be able to kill the demon spawn. After all, he was the most sentimental one amongst the blood moons. The two sides shed as thunder rumbled in the ever-so-darkening skies. That day, the moons hanging above their head turned so red that it felt as if it was shedding tears of blood. At the same time, thend cracked, and hundreds of miles long stripes of crimson tainted the ground, revealing the dreadful event that had taken ce in a single battle. Tens of thousands of dried corpses littered the ground, and even the king''s castle had lost its majestic shape. Rubbles scattered on the ground reced it. A single man shed tears amid this war-tornnd. The man was holding the hilt of the sword that pierced the heart of his best friend. As life slowly seeped out of his life, Magi weakly told him to kill the demon spawn, or else he will end up regretting his decision. Aaron was already regretting killing him, but he had already walked so far that it was simply impossible to take another road. Telling the dying man that he will find a way to let his child live even if he has to exchange his life in the process, he pulls out the sword. Immediately, Magi''s body turned to dust. A gust of wind blew, carrying his ashes away with it, scattering it all over the blood moon continent. The handsome man sighed and cried, and with relieved but heavy steps, he moved towards the secret realm where his wife and child were hiding. His child was safe, but the price he had to pay was too astronomical. He had lost the trust of his people. He had killed his best friend. He had ughtered arge number of people. He had be a failure as a king. He had lost all rights to rule his people! However sad he was, he still wanted to live with his family. Though, he wanted to leave behind everything, his authority, kinghood, and the blood moon continent, and take them away to somece warm and safe. But the moment he saw the sleeping face of his child and the tired expression of his wife, he changed his mind. He needed to hold on to his authority. Only then would he be able to provide a haven for his child. Many days passed away, and the child didn''t show any abnormalities. Aaron believed that the six seals had sessfully suppressed the demonic curse. When in actuality, the curse was merely hiding inside the child and biding for time. Just like the tree of evil, it could grow strong by devouring the people''s negative emotions. And it was waiting for the day it would grow strong enough to break the king''s seal to cause mayhem and carnage. The king didn''t know that the six seals were ineffective in sealing it sessfully. Two years have passed since the day the king killed the people who had betrayed him. In these two years, the ninth ruled his people with an iron fist, showing others that he too could be tyrannical. The people who had sworn loyalty to him felt betrayed. The reason they chose to follow him was that he was king and good to the masses. But now, he was way too different, almost like a paranoid man, always thinking that someone woulde and kill his child. Theint of the masses also started to grow in number. Slowly and steadily, the ninth king lost the support of his people, but he was still able to rule because of his overbearing and heaven-flipping strength. The child was wise. Not only was he able to talk and walk a few weeks after he was born, but he was also able to control blood and cast blood techniques. It was something unbelievable! He was a prodigy, never seen before, nor ever mentioned in the ancient record. Moreover, he was a cutie pie, extremely gentle, and kind. All the servants were awed by his cuteness and fluffy nature! He never scolded anyone, although he was extremely spoiled by his parents. Aaron believed that with his talent, his son would be able to surpass everyone, bring the blood race to another height, and make his people regret taking action against him and calling him a demon spawn behind his back. Chapter 216 - The Past (d) On his second birthday, he bestowed the child with the name Vincent, hoping that he would be able to surpass all the hurdles in his life, break his destiny, and be someone great. The people didn''t like Vincent. However, the rumors of his loveable character had spread far and wide, and their hatred at the fact that he still exists had lessened Not many people wereing for his life. Still, several people tried to assassinate him. Vincent''s mother got injured trying to protect him. Aaron went mad as it happened right in front of him. But before he could make a move, his son killed the assassins in the cruelest and vilest of ways and then even devoured than in ce of his vani cake! The taste of blood engulfed the maddened young Vincent, and the look in his eyes terrified all the people present in the banquet. Even Aaron was troubled as those eyes could only belong to a mass murderer. Furthermore, the young Vincent had lost all sense of reason. While standing in front of his injured mother protectively, he red at everyone with murder in his eyes. Even his father was given the same look along with a vicious attack that aimed to kill him when he came closet. Everyone was troubled by his behavior. The young Vincent only calmed down after his mother embraced him and whispered that she was fine, that the danger had passed. Her words snapped him out of his crazed state, and he started crying, just like any other child; he, too, was traumatized. He hated going outside and locked himself inside the pce. The pce maid refused to serve him after that day too, and one by one, they all left, fearing for their life. If young Vincent was to ever go berserk in their presence, wouldn''t they all die? It was better to stay away from this monster that was trying to hide its reality in sheep''s clothing than to serve him, hoping that everything would be fine one day. Another two years passed. In those two years, two girls and two boys hade into his life. They were his friends. He became close with them. One of the girls even said that she wanted to be his bride after they grew up, causing him to blush and reluctantly ept her proposal. Outside the Pce, riots and signs of aggression had increased. Many people were dissatisfied with Vincent. Everyone thought that the young Vincent was wasting away his life, that he was emotionally too weak to be traumatized because of the attempt on his life. Nheless, the truth was something else. Ever since that day, he had trained harder than ever to be strong. He didn''t want his mother to get injured again. He wanted to protect himself and those he cared about. He trained so much that he had no time left to go out of the pce. Only the people closest to him knew that, including his childhood friends. For the rest, his hard work was a secret. His parents were satisfied with him. Aaron went as far as to think that everything was worth it. At the rite of passage, his son will prove the masses wrong and be the legitimate crown prince. Then, he would pass the throne to him, letting him ascend to the rank of the tenth king of the blood moon race No one knew that he had another secret. As early as three years ago, Vincent always felt that something was staring at him, and that thing knew everything he had ever done in his life. Later on, he started to feel it, and on his fourth birthday, he gained the ability tomunicate with it. He didn''t know what it was, but it gave himfort like no other. It was as if it was himself or at least a part of him. It told him to keep his existence a secret from others, or else something terrible would happen to it. As ignorant as he was, the young Vincent agreed. It was his little secret. Also, he didn''t want it to get harmed. The child was too pure. It took advantage of his ignorance and naivety to grow stronger. Three monthster, it grew powerful enough to make a hole in the seal and manifest itself into the real world. It appeared in front of the young Vincent, ring at him. The young boy cupped its face and yed with it, thinking that it would never harm him, that it was his closet friend, a being that knew everything about him. And as it was red like the precious ruby around his neck, he named it crimson. Of course, the crimson one lived up to his expectations and didn''t harm him. Instead, the manifestation of the curse lost its initial desire tomit carnage and destroy everything. It''s all because he was sealed inside Vincent for so long that it hade to like him and many other things. The crimson one wanted to live and grow old with Vincent. The two could swap ces with each other, and so it was able to experience a lot of things, including the taste of ice cream, steak, and the warmth one can only feel from holding hands with another. The thought of spending a lifetime with Vincent quickly became a distant dream. Only after a month, it want to rece Vincent with itself forever! It wanted to take over his body permanently! The crimson one saw how Vincent''s parents had treated him over the thirty days, and it felt the desire to be the only one to experience it. It was greedy for what was never meant to be his, but even though the crimson one knew that, it still wanted to make it possible! It wanted to forever feel the warmth that one can only feel in the embrace of their parents. It wanted to be the only one to hear the praise of its father to fill its chest with pride and its cold eyes with warmth. It wanted to experience the joy of having friends that only cares about him. For that, Vincent had to leave the picture. And it needed to be Vincent! Chapter 217 - The Past (e) While standing behind the clueless Vincent and looking at him with nefarious intent, the crimson one smiled and thought up a n to take over his body forever. It was intelligent, and as it was a matter rted to evilness, it didn''t take long for it toe up with a way to snatch Vincent''s boy. It hade up with a mastermind, one that required pulling a lot of string, inviting unnatural disasters, and making civilians fall into chaos. The young man failed to notice the hideous smile on his friend''s face, and by the time he turned towards the crimson one, it was no longer smiling. "Let''s go." The young Vincent grabbed it by the arm and dragged it to his yroom. Vincent, who was experiencing these memories of the past, was lost in a daze. He was sitting on the water surface with a frown expression on his face. Vincent wanted his younger self to open his eyes and see the truth, but not even a word left his mouth. Moreover, it was not like he could change anything, even by shouting his throat dry. After all, everything he was experiencing was something that had happened in the past. The next piece of memory yed in his mind. The young Vincent was lying on the bed, a very big one. A crimson figure was standing next to him. "My firth birthday ising, did you prepare a present for me?" After letting the crimson one take over his body, the young Vincent loses consciousness and doesn''t remember what happened. The soul swap canst for at least five minutes and at lost two hours. In that time, whatever the crimson ones did, he wouldn''t remember. Last day, it had taken over his body, and as his birthday wasing, the young Vincent wondered whether his friend had got a present for him or not. "You said you loved sleeping, right?" Said the crimson figure as it sat beside him and caressed his face, causing him to feel ticklish. The young Vincentughed and escaped the crimson one''s touch before saying, "Because it''s peaceful and quiet, different than the buzzing sounding daily in and outside the ce." He was young but not deaf nor blind. Although his parents had tried to hide many things from him, he still noticed that others treated him differently. They alienated him, treating him like a fearful existence. He never understood why, as no one told him the truth. He was bitter but not too sad. He had many people by his side, from his parents and young friends to his angel, the crimson one. "Guess what; I will let you sleep for a long, long time." "Really?" He sat up excited and looked at the crimson one with round, innocent eyes. The young Vincent was surprised to hear that. He never managed to sleep more than two hours a day. It was an abnormality he was born with, and even the doctor said that there''s no way to fix it. So he had always wanted to sleep like an average person and had even wished for it many times, and now hearing its words, Vincent believed his wish would finallye true. "No more chatting." The light in his eyes was too much for even the evil crimson one. His innocence was blinding it, so it couldn''t help but flick his forehead, and due to pain, he closed his eyes. "Go to sleep." Those words worked like a magic spell, and the young man fell asleep almost immediately. The crimson one stared at Vincent''s younger self for a couple of minutes in absolute silence. Then, its opened jaw salivated, and it muttered, "Only five more months left, heh. On your fifth birthday, I will give you the biggest present in the world. I will help free you from your greatest burden. Did you know? Ever since you were born, death had started chasing you, andter on, you also started walking towards it? But if you die, I will too. We don''t want that. Anyway, it''s all your fault, so you''ve to fix it. But you''re too ignorant to do anything about it. And I don''t want you to determine my life anymore. So I will help you out, put you in an eternal slumber. While you remain asleep, I will fight for a perfect life." By the time the crimson one finished saying his piece of mind, the candle lights in the surrounding had flickered. Shadows of the cab, drawers and all the other stuff in the room wriggled, expanded horizontally, sprouted vertically, and took the shape of several men. The crimson one turned towards them, a look of expectations on his face. "My lord, the preparations areplete." Said one of them while kneeling before the crimson one. It handed a document to the crimson figure. It read the content and revealed a smile. Everything was in its ce, and it just needed to give an order to begin its grand n. "Good. Go back and do note looking for me ever again, less someone bes suspicious." The shadow race didn''t have physical bodies and looked no different than blobs of shadow with two eyes and a mouth that they could create as they liked. They were the best race for gathering information, spying on others, and many paranoid beings also used them as the sole mean of long-distancemunication. They could blend in with the shadows and make it impossible for others to detect them. Still, the ninth king wasn''t someone to be messed with. If he became suspicious because of a slip-up, everything it had worked so hard for would go into the dustbin. "Five months!" Right at that very moment, everything turned nk. The nine seals finally responded and started to stop the inflow of memories, saving Vincent''s brain from exploding because of an overload of information. ___ Hi guys, this is currently thest chapter of Vincent''s past. Of course, there are many others, but the rest of his past will be be revealedter, and then everything will make sense.. For now, I hope you guys can indulge yourself in the mystery and have fun. Chapter 218 - New Mission! [-2 HP] [-3 HP] [-1 HP] However, Vincent was already bleeding from his seven aperture, looking no different than a ghost that had died a dog''s death. "God damn it." After using what blood he had to give himself first aid, Vincent said with a weak voice that was full of anger. Why could his body not hold on for a moment longer? He wanted to know why his childhood friends looked simr to Leni, John, Irish, and Damien. The crimson one was nning something nefarious! Most likely, something against him. What was it? What happened? He survived, so somehow, its n failed. But who helped him? Lastly, his parents had left his home by the time he was five. It was probably rted to the scheme orchestrated by the crimson one. But what was the reason that forced the king, his queen, and the soon-to-be crown prince to leave his kingdom? Just what had happened in the past? He was so close to knowing all of it, but his body had started breaking down, and the nine seals took them upon themselves to pull him out of harm and towards safety. "What happened to me? Why was I shown the past? Blood, Do you have anything to do with it?" Vincent was hysteric, acting like a confused ghost. [I don''t know.] The artificial intelligence of Vincent''s family heirloom honestly didn''t know what happened to him. It might be something left behind by the ninth, or maybe the crimson one had tampered with the memories the ninth had sealed in Vincent''s subconscious before getting sealed by the ninth. "As you have already seen, the crimson one is the manifestation of the curse in you. I recognized it when I saw it for the first time since every king needs to memorize the ancient records. From the records, I also learned the way to deal with it. The only sad thing is that there was no way to kill it mentioned in the form. I could only seal it using the six seals at first. But knowing that there''s a monster in my son''s body, how could I rest peacefully. I started looking for ways to kill or at least separate it from you. However, I didn''t think that it would break out of the seal or even fool you. I only created the nine seals method and a curse ying method when it pulled us all towards doom. "It pulled a lot of tricks at the same time, but it failed, and we managed to get out of the mess alive. "I killed it using the curse ying method, but itter appeared in your body, meaning that the only way I could save you was to find a way to separate it from you and seal it in an eternal vessel. "I didn''t have a way to do that, so I could only use the nine seals to suppress it in your body. "Although it is nigh impossible to get out of the nine seals, you must always keep your guards up. There are a lot of wonders in this world and many experts in the starry skies that can make the impossible possible. Know this; its only desire is to rece you, to be you. For that, it will try to pull your soul down the very abyss and keep you there for eternity. You will remain in an eternal slumber, never to wake up as it destroys the world around you. It will try its best to destroy everything rted to you. And that''s the very first thing it would do. After all, the fewer connections you have with the world, the lower the chances of awakening from your sleep. "Where there''s a will, there''s a way. The manifestation of the curse is determined to steal your body, and it will undoubtedly find a way to do it regardless of all the obstacles hindering it. So, you must never take it too easy. Don''t becent. You can''t rest unless you create an eternal vessel, separate it from your body, and seal it in the vessel for all eternity." "Take care~." The recording ended there. "What is an eternal vessel, and how do I create it?" [I don''t know, but I think I can direct you to the ce where you can find it.] "And where might that be?" After a brief pause, Blood ended up saying the following words: [The ancestral hall of the blood moon race.] Vincent didn''t even know where the continent was, so it was impossible to locate the so-called ancestral hall. [Mission Activated: Reach and explore the ancestral hall] [Description: The tenth is missing a lot of his memories which might very well exin all the truth of the past and help you understand more about the crimson one and how to deal with it.] [Task 1: Reach your homnd: 0/1] [Task 2: Find and Enter the ancestral Hall: 0/1] [Task 3: Read the ancient record of the blood moon race: 0/1] [Task 4: Find a way to deal with the crimson one: 0/1] [Rewards: The soul matrix of the ninth king, memory control.] Using the memory control soul matrix, Vincent could tamper with other people''s memories, and he could also lift off the seal on his own. And that was just its minimum usage. It could be used to make others forget their skills, causing them to be weak chickens from strong dragons! That was the reason why the ninth was such a fearsome existence that even all the royalsbined failed to put up a fight against him. "I will find out what happened that year," Virginia vowed to himself, a newfound motivation burning in his eyes. There was a big gap between what his father said at the end of the recording and where his memories paused. He was still missing around five months of his memories, and those were the key to ending all his confusion. He will get them ande terms to terms with reality. [You''ve conquered all the floors of the monster tower! Congrattions!] Chapter 219 - Secret Organization: The Resistance! [You''ve earned 100000 points for conquering the monster tower] [As you''ve defeated all of the monsters and entities in the monster tower, you''ve made an extra ten thousand points.] [You can use these points to purchase the items that are present in the treasure hall.] [The slumbering soul of the Iron d Lady had awakened as a consequence of your action.] When these notifications popped up, ripples appeared on the surface of the water, reaching towards Vincent. He took a few steps back subconsciously. A momentter, he saw dozens of water bubbles floating up to the air, mixing together to create one big entity with armor on her body. "Iron-d Lady?" Vincent asked while looking at her. The water spirit was a few steps taller than him. Her long and wavy hair served justice to her blue eyes. There was a crown on her head, which told Vincent of her royal status. A slight smile hung at the corner of her lips. She was looking at Vincent with a gaze of approval. "Yes, I am her." She gave him a nod before saying, "I believe you already know why I am here, right? So, I will get straight to the point. You''re young and talented, someone I would like to have as my sessor. The only sad thing is that there''s a troublesome entity in your body, one chaotic enough to destroy many worlds. And as far as I know, you don''t have much control over it. You''re more like a bomb that can explode at any time. I fear that giving you what''s mine might only end in helping the explosive power of the bomb. Because of this, I won''t be giving my legacy to you directly. But you can take it away, piece by piece. Join the resistance; it''s a gctic-level organization. Complete missions for them and provide help to those in need. Each time you score a world-saving contribution, I will take it as proof of your conviction to fight against the evil in you. As a reward, I will let you take away a piece of my legacy. Do you understand?" Vincent understood her concerns and worries. He was no different than a man with a dissociative identity disorder. Actually, he was much worse than one. It''s because he had two distinct personalities,pletely opposite from each other.One only wanted to destroy, while the other wanted to protect those dear to him and end the war. "I''d like to know more about the resistance before making my decision." This was the first time that he heard about such an organization. Their goals, size, rules, and regtions were unknown to him. He didn''t want to get into something he had no idea about, and that''s why he was apprehensive about immediately joining it. "In the vast universe, just as there are many organizations that like to cause trouble much worse than terrorists, there are also organizations that protect civilizations and theirs from external and internal threatskilling evil moguls, spoiling the ns of terrorists, destroying kingdoms with no lower boundaries and morals before they can grow up to be a threat for others, fighting off demonic gods and their armies, even colonizings and closing hell''s paradise is the job of a resistor. The seniors there look after their members well. You''ll also get a lot of resources to be strong fast, and you probably don''t know, but the strongest human, no, a being whose existence I can''t exin with words, is the one behind it." Iron d Lady exined. Vincent''s eyebrows raised. He never knew that such a vast organization existed in secret. It was a surprise that such a big organization doing so many things managed to escape the notice of news reporters. Reporters, they were always hungry to cover up unknown topics that would certainly be hot and top trending and make them a profit regardless of the cost and troubles that would cause. In this era, they had the lowest decency out of all. "This being, is he Mr. Joker, the no.1 on the monster tower ranking board?" Vincent said after thinking for a while. "That''s just a name he goes by to keep his actual identity a secret. If you search for him on the inte, you probably won''t get a thing. Everything about him is probably restricted or kept as secret records." "How do you know so much about him?" Vincent asked. Wasn''t that person only a challenger that topped the chart of the monster tower, refused to take the inheritance of the Iron d Lady, and swaggered away after getting what he wanted? So, why does it seems like she was personally involved with that person? "That''s the thing. That person came here only to establish one of the side servers of the federation, as you know it, in this ce. His reasons for that were also pretty simple. This ce is cut off from the real world, and there are only a few waypoints to appear here. My will is absolute. If I want, I can send anyone and anything out of this secret realm. So, even if something would happen to the mainmunication and spatial warping server of the federation, this one woulde out as handy." "Umm, I am a bit confused." She could tell that he wanted to ask something but was worried that he would somehow offend him. It''s because his expression revealed his thoughts. "Don''t worry about the consequences and ask away." "Why did you let that person do as he wished in your ce? Actually, you don''t have to tell me." Vincent really wanted to know what made thepanion of the strongest hero submit to the will of another.. Still, when he saw her expression changing to a frown, her eyes revealing a look that said, you''ve poured salt over my injuries, he tactically decided to retreat and shut up, lest he ends up bringing misfortune over his head. Chapter 220 - Black Iron Gauntlets "I failed to expel him from my secret realm by exercising my regal rights as he was too strong, and I didn''t want to fight him either. I knew I wouldn''t win. And it was not like what he wanted to do was against my ideals or belief. Rather, it was in line with the way I lived my life. He was doing something for the good of every race in the federation, and that''s why I took a step back and let him make modifications to my tomb as he wished." She said those words in a bitter-sweet tone. No matter who, they would feel bad if someone messed up their resting ce. She was no different. However, she had epted the demand of the man, and that just goes to show that the man was extremely powerful and secretly protecting all the races that made up the federation. "He''s someone so great, but there''s nothing about him in the world. Just who is he?" Vincent felt that Joker was an awe-inspiring existence. He had left a massive trump card for them. The people could use the server here to open spatial portals that would allow the military to teleport warship from one point to another and also use it tomunicate over a long distance in case the main server gets damaged and be unusable somehow. He had left behind a life-saving grace for all the races, but nobody knew about him. "He is the main fighting force against the forces of evil and also the one who led your single world civilization into bing the great multiples civilization it is today. You can say that he is the founder of your federation and also the very reason your human race managed to reach so far even though the universe is full of tribtions that can end civilization." The Iron d Lady knew who he was because the data server in this realm contained many records about him and his historical deeds. All of them were kept hidden from the public for some reason. Since the person was so strong that even the Iron d Lady admits that she would lose against him, there was a high chance that he was the one behind keeping his identity a secret. But why didn''t he want others to know about him? Why didn''t he want to be recognized for his hard work? "Can I know his real name?" "One day, you might." "I''ve made up my mind; I would like to join the resistance." "Good, give me your hand." Vincent extended one of his hands towards him. She grabbed it with both her palms. He felt the back of his hand turning hand, and suddenly, she let go. "It''s done." A mark had appeared on the back of his right hand. "Is that all?" "Yes, you have be an informal member of the resistance." After throwing those words at him with a chuckle, the iron-ddy''s water avatar gave him a gauntlet. "What''s this for?" "A part of my legacy." "B-But why? I haven''t even done anything yet." "Just take it." Vincent was a bit confused, but because she urged him, he still grabbed the gauntlet. It was too big for his arm, meaning it wouldn''t fit him. The gauntlet was of a ck color, and he found a red gem in the middle of it. A few lines stretched beneath the red gem, taking the shape of a magical symbol. There were two hollows above the red crystal and two below. They were crystal sockets, and a person can imbue elemental gems inside of them to achieve various strengthening and magical effects. Curious about what it was, Vincent didn''t hesitate to check it out. [ck Iron Gauntlet] [Type: Esoteric Technology] [Grade: Undetermined] [Description:- A piece of high-level technology that can convert mana or refined element energy into a frontal st, shield, or other forms of attack depending on the inscription patterns you inscribe on its five sockets. It has five pockets, and you can imbue each one with a refined magic gem or an elemental gem. When you say the keyword, the gauntlet will convert the energy of the gem and infuse the matrix with said energy to manifest a magic technique.] [upied Gem Socket: One] [Effect 1: Summoning Red Giant] [It used one-third of the blood crystal.] [You can use this effect three times before you deplete the red gem from all its uses.] [Remaining gem sockets: 4] He could still inscribe four inscriptions on the gauntlet to give it four more special effects. It was a rare treasure, one simr to the item used by Varth. "Isn''t this too simr to the battle suit of the crystal race?" "Humans aren''t the first ones toe in contact with them." She said with a small. Vincent realized what she meant as everything she didn''t say was self-exnatory. Suddenly, her figure started to blur, almost turning imaginary. "What''s happening to you?" Vincent asked, feeling that something was off. "The remnant of my soul has run out of its time. I guess this will be ourst meeting." She said, mncholy in her eyes and a gentle smile on her face. "I will tell Melody to uphold the promise I made to you." She had died a long time ago, but before breathing herst, she used a unique method to split her soul into two. This was her split soul, also known as soul projection. She created it because she wanted suitable sessors to her legacies. After all these years, each of the gifts in her possession, one belonging to her and the rest belonging to her fallenrades, have finally found their way into the hand of the younger generation. Now, she had no more regrets. She could eventually go away forever. Vincent didn''t know, but he felt sad. "I hope you rest in peace." "I hope that you will bring peace to these chaotic times and honor my legacy." Her avatar exploded into countless water droplets that rained down on Vincent. Maybe he was too lost in thoughts or sad at the fact of seeing the end of an ancient legend that he failed to move out of their way. In the end, he got drenched from head to toe. [The healing properties of the water had undone the curse of Hell''s paradise of madness.] [All the cut on your body has vanished.] [The healing property of the holy water has helped you with regrowing your arm.] Chapter 221 - The Mastermind (a) Vincent was now extremely happy as there was not a single injury on his body. Even the curse left on his body by the crimson one''s hell paradise has vanished, setting him free from all the pain! "Thank you." As it was all thanks to the person who had already vanished, Vincent immediately expressed his gratitude. He acted as he didn''t care about whether she heard him or not, but he wished that his words had reached her. "Go, your friends are anxiously waiting for you." Using thest bit of her powers, Iron d Lady made a way out of the monster tower. It was a blue portal, and stepping into it, Vincent appeared next to Leni, John, Iris, and Nevis. Melody was also in this ce. The moment he appeared, his name appeared on the ranking board. He was above all and only below a single person. He had earned so many points that he surpassed the emperor of true might! Only the mysterious existence, Mr. Joker, was above him! Everyone congratted him, and Leni even hugged him. Her actions made him so happy that he hugged her back and nted a few kisses on her forehead, cheeks, and one on the tip of her nose. The onlookers ate a lot of dog food. After a while, Fairy Melody broke them apart and showered Vincent with a few words of praise. She abruptly stopped. Leni felt that something was wrong, so she asked in a somewhat concerned voice, "Is there something wrong?" "I think there is." Melody nodded and said, "Wait here, guys, I will be back soon." Her master was calling for her, but that wasn''t what got her worried. It was the weakness in her master''s voice, a weakness that only a dying man can emit. "Take your time." "We will be patiently waiting for you to return to us." "Thanks." Although she should be leading them to the treasure hall, seeing what was wrong with her mastere first for her. She immediately dashed towards the chambers where the split soul of the Iron Cliff Lady slumbers. Vincent looked around. They were in a beautiful ce, and there was a river of stars high above their head. Out of them all, everyone except for Varth was here. He found out that no one was severely injured and showed a relieved expression. Even though there were still injuries on their bodies, he wasn''t worried. A few pills and healing energy shots would quickly take care of the injuries that they had. "Where''s Varth?" Vincent asked after noticing that only Varth was missing. "For some reason, he has gotten stuck on the 15th floor for thest fifteen minutes," John said. "Oh, he just climbed up once again." Vincent said, and his words caused the other to look at the holographic projection of the tower, and they noticed that Varth had just moved up to the 16th floor. "He is definitely stronger than that. Either he is not trying his best, or something suspicious is going on." A thoughtful look shed across Vincent''s eyes as he said those words. ording to him, Varth was seriously strong. Not only was his ability out of the ordinary, but the items in his possession were also top-notch. The battle suit was the best among them as it allowed him to use different superpowers. With it, he could take care of all the problems far faster than the others! He should be on the 20th or above floors. Yet, he had just reached the 16th floor of the monster tower. Just why? The 16th floor of the monster tower was a desert with no end in sight. The trial of this ce was simple. One needed to move towards the monster den present in the center of the desert. The cave harbored many living entities such as centipedes, spiders, and so on. Every ten minutes, a wave of monsters would leave the den to hunt down the contestants. As long as a person kills all the beasts or destroys the exit point of the monster den, he will be able to advance to the next level. A handsome man with ck hair dropped from the sky andnded on the sand. His hair scattered, covering the murderous look in his eyes. "This ce better has it, or else I will crush your heart after finding it." "Try me." After exchanging those words with the demon in him, the boy started hovering over the sand. He rushed towards the center of the desert with such speed that he looked like an arc of lightning cutting through the night sky. In mere moments, he appeared above the monster den. "Hell''s paradise: Devil''s arrows piercing the Heaven and Earth!" With those words, tens of thousands of arrows manifested all around the handsome man. The many arrows nketed the ring sun, causing the entire area below to darken, making it seem like night had fallen and doom was about to descend! Swoosh! Wrath lowered his right hand, motioning the arrows to charge towards his adversaries. The arrows immediately rained down from the sky. The entire monster wave that wasing out of the monster got pierced by the arrows. The damage didn''t stop there. Destruction has just begun! The arrows charged into the monster''s den as if they had a will of their own and started killing all the monsters inside. Five minutester, Wrath descended down from the air andnded in front of the den''s entrance. "Are you sure I am going to find it here?" It appeared as if he was talking to himself since no one was near him or in his sight. Suddenly, a mouth appeared on his cheeks. "How many times must I tell you to believe me?" "You said the same thing the previous four times!" Wrathshed out at the harbinger of devastation. "The scent is the strongest on this floor! I''m sure my heart is in this ce!" Chapter 222 - The Mastermind (b) "This is the fourth fucking time you''re saying that." King Wrath seemed pretty pissed at the harbinger of destruction. He wasn''t in the wrong. Because of Ancient Demon Admiral Abhorrent, he had overturned the ecosystem of three floors of the monster''s tower already. All to find the demon''s heart, he had nearly exhausted itself to death. But each time, he came across destion and not the thing he worked his ass for! If he didn''t need to overturn thend, he would''ve already conquered the entire monster tower! The damn demon was intent on wasting his time! "Come on, tiny human. Stopshing out at me and focus on the task at hand. It won''t do us any good if the owner of this ce detects what we''re doing ande here to stop us from getting to it!" Abhorrent retorted. Its words indeed made sense. "Shut up; I know that better than you." King Wrath replied. He knew that they should not be wasting time bickering with each other. After all, the owner of this tower could notice the abnormalities created by them at any time. If that were to happen, extra trouble would fall on their shoulders. "My mouth will close itself as long as I see you walking towards my heart." King Wrath didn''t mind fulfilling its conditions. As long as it didn''t cross his morals, he was fine with doing anything so that it would shut up. Wrath grunted and entered the monster den. ording to the demon inside of him, the scent of its heart wasing from the center of this ce. He started walking towards the innermost area. The monster den was smelly. Fresh dead bodies littered the ground, and blood trickled out of their bodies, making the scent in the air even more rusty and unpleasant. King Wrath wrinkled his nose in disgust. He felt as if he was walking in hell and smelling sulfur mixed with blood. The further he went inside, the thicker the smell got. Still, he didn''t slow down. Instead, he increased the pace at which he was traveling. The demon''s heart was something too important to him. He couldn''t give it up. Obtaining it would let him experience a significant surge in his strength. And that''s what he needed the most right now. After sprinting for a while and reaching the other end of a rather long corridor, King Wrath came across three passageways. Each of them might lead to different ces, so he couldn''t decide which one he should choose. "Take the left." The voice of Abhorrent sounded in his mind. The demon could smell the scent of its heart. This scent was so unique that it didn''t share any simrities with other things. So, it was sure that taking the left route would lead them directly to its heart. "Why am I just knowing that you can work like Eve?" Eve like Noah, is a virtual assistant who mainly assists its owner in driving hover cars and spaceships. "Who in hell''s glorious name is Eve?" Said the demon. From its voice, he could tell that it was feeling offended. It was probably cursing him in its mind because hepared it to some other existence. The only reason it didn''t swear at him was that he was moving towards its heart. "Your ancestor!" King Wrath repliedically and then took the left route. Time passed. King Wrath once again met a troublesome situation. This time he came across a dead end. After seeing the pinkish wall with mutated insects'' eggs, and poop on it and remembering that it was the harbinger of devastation that led him to this ce, his eyes twitched rapidly. "It''s a goddamn dead end!" He roared, wholly overtaken by anger. "Don''t apply so much pressure in your words, or you might end up shitting your pants next time." "Fuck you. Come out and let me smash your face." King Wrath demanded. The damned demon had worked him like a donkey ever since he entered the monster tower. The fault lied with him. He was too greedy for power, so he gave in to its enticing words. But now, he was regretting it. If only he hadn''t listened to its terms, he would''ve conquered the monster tower and earned a lot of treasures and monster-ying points. Sadly, a person cannot recover spilled milk. "Take three deep breaths, cool down, go back, and take the middle route." Abhorrent advised the youngster. "No! Damn No! I''m tired of getting ordered by a deranged and damned bastard like you!" King Wrath said and punched the nauseating wall that was emitting a putrid smell that would kill any ordinary human and disgust anybatant to express his anger. Bam! His single punch carried so much strength that it shattered the wall and created a gust of wind that sted everything afar, from the putrid smell and poop to the dirty eggs. "Looks like we no longer need to take a round trip." Hearing its words, King Wrath was a bit taken aback. "Hmm?" However, after he raised his head and looked ahead, a trace of rity and happiness shed across his eyes. Behind the wall was a massive spiral staircase that seemed to be leading to the eighteenthyer of hell. Because he shattered the wall, it got revealed to him. He looked upwards and only saw a ceiling with many spiders crawling on it. Each of them was 3 meters tall and had eight des like legs. Their nine pairs of ruby eyes reflected King Wrath''s figure. "Screech!" After emitting a shrill roar that would usually paralyze the target for several seconds, all of the spiders jumped towards him. Their salivating mouth made their intentions as clear as daylight. They wanted to bite his head off and chew on his limbs! "Creatures that fail to recognize their ce are truly disgusting." Wrath humped to express his anger, and at the same time, poured ten hundred thousand units of demonic energy into his palm and waved one of his hands. Chapter 223 - The Mastermind (c) While some spiders dropped towards him and some crawled down the walls to reach him, King Wrath casually waved his hand towards them. Such a simple action, but it carried the force to twist the fabric of reality itself. Everything above him started twisting into something unrecognizable. First off, the air twisted. Along with that, the walls on each side of the uppermost part of the staircase twisted so much that spiral cracks appeared on them, and these cracks spread outwards in all directions, signifying the spread of doom. The uppermost part of the spiral staircase, which was made out of a material a hundred times stronger than iron, twisted so much that they broke apart into sharpness and other rubbish! All the spiders that jumped at him found their bodies twisting uncontrobly, twisting to the point where they became so deformed that they no longer looked like spiders. Blood, green juices, and white poison gushed out of their bent bodies and sshed on the walls. As it happened in a very short time, the monsters were not even able to sense the danger before it took their life. The fabric of reality twisted so much that a crack leading to god knows which spot in space appeared. The ceiling twisted and fell down straight to the wide spatial crack. By the time the ceiling vanished into the spatial crack, King Wrath had already plunged into the depths of darkness. Although he stomped on the wall multiple times to increase the speed of his descend, and one could even say that he was moving down at an abnormally fast pace to the point his figure was blinking through the air and leaving behind dozens of afterimages, it still took him a couple of minutes to touch the ground. The spiral staircase was just that deep. "Thankfully, I didn''t take the stairs," King Wrath was d that he had chosen to go againstmon sense and walk at his own pace. Such was his character. The arrogance of the king was in his born. As far as he knows, wherever he stood was his kingdom. In his kingdom, there was only one rule and only onemon sense. The former was him. He was the rule. Thetter was whatever he decided to do. In his kingdom, his thoughts and actions were what gave birth tomon, and it was ever-changing, just like his thought process. It also could hide the presence of those on board, meaning it could be flown in dangerous areas. After reaching the basement of the 16th floor, he found himself standing behind an iron cage. In front of him was a vast hall. It was too dark. King Wrath only managed to make out a few pirs. "Just what is this ce?" He muttered while stepping close to the iron cage, nning to rip it apart using raw strength. "Hurry up and investigate it!" The excited voice of the demon sounded in his ears. "What got you so excited that you started spitting out of your mouth? Did you forget that I find that awfully disgusting?" King Wrath said while wiping the spit on the side of his face by using the end part of his sleeve. Thest time it identally drooled and got King Wrath''s face with its demonic saliva, he punished it with no food for years! Ancient Demon Admiral hurriedly admitted his mistakes and said, "My bad but I can''t help it!" "I can sense it." "Sense what?" It added, "My heart! It is infinitely close to us." "Okay, keep your mouth shut and wait for me to investigate. I don''t want to wipe your saliva off my face once again." King Wrath said, a threatening look shing across his eyes. Abhorrent had lost all its pride as its heart was in its sight. It was willing to act like Wrath''s golden retriever. Not just that, it was ready to do everything right now. Even if King Wrath told it to bark, it would not hesitate before barking three times! It was willing to endure all sorts of humiliation to get to its heart, even if it meant cursing its ancestor and condemning seven generations of his family to hell! King Wrath grabbed the iron bars and tried to bend them enough to open up a path. His hard work was all in vain. The bars didn''t even budge! Now, King Wrath didn''t know what material the owner used to make it, but it sure was durable and sturdy. "What? When did you get so weak that even breaking apart a mere iron cage became a big task for you?" The demon said in a voice full of disbelief that sounded rather taunting. Although It was still keeping up its obedient-pet act, it wasn''t able to help itself when it came to making fun of his damned vessel. "I was just warming up." King Wrath grunted and gave his all in pulling the iron cage apart. His muscles swelled up, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the floor, but it still didn''t budge. "Still warming up?" The demon asked tauntingly. "Heh." King Wrath''s eyes turned red and ck. "Hell''s paradise: Memoir of the past." Tens of thousands of skill scrolls appeared in King Wrath''s vision after he chanted that. He immediately chose the darkest one out of them all. Strength of ten thousand demons that was its name! Immediately, his size increased, and he became a little giant. Dozens of magical symbols also appeared all over his body. Rip! A disturbing sound echoed in the spacious hall as King Wrath pulled the iron cage out of the ground itself and overturned it! "Good work!" The demon praised. King Wrath said nothing to amuse it and walked into the spacious hall. He looked around for a while, but after finding nothing but a few symbols on the pirs, he decided to head towards the center. Suddenly though, the noise of something scurrying around entered his ears, causing him toe to an immediate halt. "What''s wrong?" "Did you hear something?" "No. You did?" "Yeah, it sounds like we aren''t the only ones here." King Wrath''s scrutinizing gaze roamed around the spacious hall in search of whatever the hell was here except for them. Chapter 224 - The Mastermind (d) He didn''t notice anything out of the ordinary. Whatever it was, it was good at hiding and covering its tracks. No, it was invisible to the naked eye and also able to disappear into thin air, almost as if it didn''t exist in the first ce, King Wrath reassessed. "Are you sure you aren''t hearing things?" Abhorrent wasn''t able to detect anything around him. Even though it didn''t have ears or eyes, it could hear and see everything much better than humans, who were subjected to the limitations imposed by their carbon-type bodies. King Wrath rolled his eyes, "Have you ever heard of a king-rankedbatant hearing things?" The peak evolutionary stage of abatant had fouryers. The first two were the lord stage and the king stage. The third one was the emperor stage. Thest ones were knowns as sublime Emperor or Beyond Emperor. At the king stage, a human bes awfully strong, and his senses be too sharp. Right now, it wouldn''t be hard for him to detect killing intent directed towards him from a hundred miles away, much look so close to him. King Wrath was sure that something was ring at him, looking for a chance to attack him. But where was it hiding? "I think you''re being paranoid, and that''s seriously going to cost us a lot." "Shut up for a while, and let me focus on getting to the bottom of it." King Wrath was sure that he wasn''t feeling things, that his guts feeling was right! "Swoosh!" Out of nowhere, a gust of wind charged towards him. He sensed it from meters away. It moved so fast that it reached an inch away from him, and all it took was an instant. It was wholly ck, at least that''s what it appeared to look like under the dim lights of the damp hall. Its six sharp and pointy fingernails were about to lodge themselves into his throat and chest when in that very moment, King Wrath''s figure distorted. The monster fingernails passed through him, more specifically, his afterimage! A crack opened up in the middle of the hovering darkness, exposing a crimson eye filled with disbelief. It was sure that it would get him, but the person moved so fast that he escaped its senses! King Wrath used a particr movement technique that caused the monster''s eye to open so vast that it threatened to pop out of the center of its body! "Looking for me?" Just when the monster started thinking where he had vanished to, a husky voice came from behind it, chilling it to its core. It immediately moved around and wed at the spot behind him. However, no one was there! "Too slow." King Wrath''s taunting voice came from behind it. "Gah!" "Do you seriously think I will give you the attack to attack again?" The monster hurried to attack him once again, but this time, King Wrath struck first. He kicked it with such strength that half of its body exploded, and the other got sted away. It crashed on the pir, and cracks immediately appeared on it. The monster slipped down to the ground lifelessly as King Wrath looked down at it with contempt vivid in his eyes. "What kind of monster looks so disgusting? What breed is this thing?" King Wrath had never seen something like this. It was ck and looked like a piece of silk cloth. It had an eye in the middle, one red like blood. No bones, no skin, no nothing! "Idiot! Hurry up and attack. It''s still not dead." The voice of the ancient demon admiral contained urgency in it. It sounded like that only in times that really mattered! King Wrath realized the urgency of the situation and hurriedly threw a lightning bolt at it, and it was just weak enough not to destroy the pir. He was controlling his power as he didn''t want this ce to cave in. Either it was because of his hesitation, control of his power, or because he made his move toote, the monster escaped. Its figure vanished into thin air before the lightning bolt reached it. Boom! The lightning bolt crashed on the pir and burst into multiple sparks. "Did I get it?" King Wrath sounded unsure because, from his point of view, it seemed as if the lightning bolt obliterated the monster. The demon said, "Nope, you definitely missed. I sensed it escaping into the dark world before the bolt reached it." "Dark world?" "It''splicated and would take time to exin, but we don''t have much time." The demon said, "Just do as I say, and we will get rid of it in a sh." "I''m all ears." King Wrath didn''t show even a single sign of his stubbornness and hard-headedness. "Just lit this ce up in brilliant lights, and it will get pulled out of the dark world." Following his instructions, King Wrath used his Hell''s paradise to change his skill into me hell manifestation. "Manifest mes of hell!" King Wrath snapped his finger, and pirs of mes surged out of the ground, covering the entire hall in a sea of fire in the blink of an eye. He took the meaning of the words "the floor isva" to the next level! The fire was reddish-yellow, and as they appeared, it tyrannical devoured the darkness of the hall. With no shadow left in this ce, the ghastly monster that was hiding in the dark world got pulled out of it and thrown onto the floor. "There it is, just near the spiral staircase!" King Wrath looked at it from the corner of his eyes and prepared to attack. When it felt his gazend on its body, the monster screamed shrilly, signifying how scared it was and how much it feared him. Without a moment''s hesitation, it turned around to charge up the staircase. "Want to escape? Not possible!" King Wrath saw what it was trying to do and chuckled evilly. Chapter 225 - The Mastermind (E) An instant after he said that,nine walls of mes manifested in front of the spiral staircase, stopping the ghastly monster from advancing any further. The monster cried tears of blood. It would turn to dust if it charged into the walls of mes. The fire element was its natural enemy. Evening in contact with it was enough to give it soul-numbing pain. Beneath it was a sea ofva. The upperyer of the marble floor had melted, turning molten. All around it was a sea of fire. Behind it was the monster that created it. Worst of all, that monster was stepping towards it. "Gah!" With a roar, the monster threw itself at King Wrath. What else could it do? There was no chance that it would escape this ce! The only thing it could do was take down the person who invaded its home along with it. "You overestimate your capabilities." King Wrath scoffed as he waved one of his hands. Multiple wisps of fire surged out from the hot sea around him and instantly struck the ghastly figure, cutting its sorry figure into various pieces. Then, theyshed at it again and again until nothing except for a crimson eye was left. That was the effect of his Hell''s paradise. It lets him create a unique ce that looks like a sea of me and works like one. By using his hand, he could control it. Simple and easy, this technique was one of his signature moves. King Wrath grabbed the eye and asked, "What is it?" The demon seemed to know a lot about this thing, so he was sure that it would tell him what this thing that felt like marble was helpful for if it had any uses at all. "It''s its heart." "Disgusting." "Careful there! Don''t damage it!" The demon hurriedly yelled to stop him. "What uses does it have?" "Get my heart, and you''ll find out." "Tell me now, or else I will crush it." "You stubborn brat." "I''m still waiting." "Okay, okay, I will give in to your stubbornness this time." The demon sighed and exined everything to his vessel, "You''ve never seen a creature like this before, right? Well, it''s because it only existed in my time. They had good abilities, some that defied the naturalws and order of the universe. So, I started hunting them down for their hearts. By devouring them, I gained their abilities. But I also caused their extinction. Hah, hah, hah." "Sick bastard, you really are the harbinger of devastation." ''And I am one with it!'' ''What bad luck!'' ''May God my parents for binding me to such a piece of shit that causes the extinction of an entire race just to fill its belly!'' "Whatever! After you get my heart, you''ll also gain that ability. Devour this heart, and you''ll be able to enter the Dark World or transform your body into shadow, something only Beyond Emperor can do." The demon added. Its words indeed sounded enticing enough for King Wrath to store the heart in his spatial device. With a snap, the mes around him died down. The damage it caused through wasn''t restored. The pirs looked half-melted, so did the floor. "The thing is, where the hell is your heart?" "Look at the floor!" The demon shouted. King Wrath lowered his head and saw ck lines behind the molten surface. If he had never melted the floor, he would have surely missed it. "What are these?" King Wrath had never seen something like this. This ce contained a hell of a lot of things that he hadn''t seen. After all, all of them belonged to ancient times and the past. "Spatial lines, and they aren''t damaged, thankfully." The demon answered. "What do they?" "From its design, I determine that it is going to open a portal to another ce for five minutes." "How do I operate it?" "Che, you need me for just everything now!" The demonughed. "Now, aren''t you the one who is wasting our time?" King Wrath fought back. "Che, just pour your blood until all the ck lines turn red, and a portal will open." King Wrath did just that. He mercilessly made arge wound on his body, spraying his blood on the ck lines. He wasn''t Vincent, who carries liters of blood on himself wherever he goes. Thus, he could only use his blood to fill the spatial lines. Although he looked slim, he had more than a hundred times more blood in his body than an average human. It took a couple of minutes, but all of the spatial lines turned red. Immediately, a portal opened up in the center of the room. A baleful aura, along with a foul scent, wafted out of the portal. "What is this hell of a smell? So bad, worse than shit!" It was so bad that King Wrath''s felt his guts twisting as a sense of nausea filled his mutated body. "Bullshit! It''s the beautiful smell of my heart! How dare youpare it to shit!" The demon roared angrily! "I didn''t!" King Wrath protected himself rightfully. "I said it''s worse than shit!" He corrected the demon! "Fuck you! Hurry up and head inside! Get my heart. We only have five minutes before the portal closes. argh! King Wrath didn''t move ahead. Instead, he started puking on the spot. "What the hell are you doing?!" The demon roared. They were so close to getting its heart, but now its vessel was showing signs of weakness! It wanted to damn this vessel to hell! argh! King Wrath answered by puking even more. "Now, we have less than five minutes left." He said after puking. "Get your ass moving, or everything we did so far will go down the drain." "Alright, alright, I won''t let that happen." King Wrath charged into the portal and appeared twenty steps away from a coffin from which the baleful aura seeped out. Chapter 226 - The Mastermind (F) King Wrath found the ce he was in very ufortable. The ground where he stood seemed soft like jelly. The air around him was at the worst level of putrid. In front of him was a coffin. Behind it was bones. Around him were walls. Though, the area he was in was very spacious. "My heart!" The demon cried out joyfully. At the same time, King''s Wrath right eye throbbed violently, ckish vein propping up near his right eye socket and spreading outwards, nearly covering half of his body. His body subconsciously started stepping towards the coffin. "What the hell are you doing to me?! This wasn''t part of our deal!" King Wrath scolded as he controlled the other half of his body to not his body move towards the coffin. "My heart is just ahead of us! Stop being stubborn." "You first! Stop controlling me." King Wrath wasn''t going to give in to it, and the demon wasn''t willing to stop controlling his body either. As it was in control of half of his body, It easily moved his hand tond a solid punch on the left side of his face. "You bastard!" King Wrath felt his blood boiling from the rage umted in his heart. He struck out two andnded an apparent hit on the right, infected side of his body. "Today, I am going show you who is the daddy on us two!" "Hah, I won''t stop until you call me grandpa Wrath!" The two started fighting. It was King Wrath''s body, but he didn''t hold back at all while attacking the infected side. It was its vessel, and it couldn''t exist without his body, but it showed him no mercy. While the two started beating the crap out of each other, the baleful aura seeping out of the coffin converged into the shape of a human+sized eye. The moment it saw what was happening around it, arge amount of baleful energy surged out of the coffin and injected itself into the tiny eye. Immediately after, it grew to the size of 5-meters, looking like the eye of a giant. Two small lumps were attached to its end! "Hold up! Let''s stop fighting!" The demon shouted out as it noticed the giant eye ring at them. "No way I am stopping!" King Wrath didn''t give a damn. He didn''t mind showing others that his family was messed up, and such a drama of infighting was casual! "Idiot! Look out! It''s going to shot at us!" The demon cried out as it saw the giant eye turning red. Tens of thousands of red dots came out of the big sight and condensed into a single point. King Wrath heard it cry and also felt something deadlying towards him. He didn''t need to turn around to see that a red beam of destruction wasing towards him. His body distorted yet again before its attack could reach him. He appeared on the right side of the ce. "Phew~we narrowly escaped death." The demonughed. King Wrath nodded, his heart beating frantically. No matter how strong King Wrath was, it was impossible to survive an attack that created aceration in the spot where he stood a moment ago. The two turned towards the source of the attack. "What a huge eye!" King Wrath eximed. "Hurry up and burst its nuts! No one can have bigger nuts than me!" The two lumps dangling below the eye offended the ancient demon admiral. It wanted to do nothing but burst them like watermelon. "Shut up, will you?! Is this even the time to joke?" King Wrath chided the retard who wasn''t taking this situation seriously. "It''sing!" The eye was preparing to discharge the same attack once again. "I can see that!" King Wrath sneered, his eyes narrowing down to thin slits. A murderous look shaped like a thin red line shed across them. The same thing happened once again as red dots appeared in front of the giant eye that was hovering above the coffin. However, this time, it didn''t shoot out a destructive energy beam. Instead, the red dotsbined to create a three-headed dog! "What the hell is that?" King Wrath said, tired out of his mind. "Another being whose heart I ate." The demon said in a hurt voice. "My heart can manifest the races it devours in arge amount." The one listening to its voice felt as if it was feeling betrayed. But what betrayed it? "Damn your heart." King Wrath said. "My heart has gained consciousness of its own, and now it wants to fucking eat us alive!" "What the fuck? Does that even make sense?" "Since I can gain intelligence, the other parts of me can do the same." Now everything made sense. From the very start, the heart used its scent to attract King Wrath and the Right eye of Abhorrent to this ce all so that it could consume them and gain a body for itself. And they stupidly fell for its n. It was a part of the demon, alright, totally insidious. The three-headed dog leaped towards them. Its wide opened mouths that were overflowing with murky water revealed its evil desire. It wanted to eat him alive. "Scram!" King Wrath moved with such speed that hended a mighty p on each of its dog''s heads, taking merely a moment to do so. Poof! The three heads of the hell dog exploded, creating a baleful mist to permeate the surrounding. "Move in for the kill before it creates another creature." It had only said that when the giant eye created multiple duplicates of itself. The eyes were ring at him, intending to st him apart. "You''re a damn jinx; you know that?" "I won''t bother fucking with you. Just make sure to get out of the uing attack alive." It said, and to prove itself, it willingly gave up its control over his body. Monthly Goal: 16/30 Chapters! Chapter 227 - The Mastermind (G) "At least you have a little bit of concise." King Wrath said, feeling a bit thankful for what it just did. It wasn''t easy for it to control his body, and it could only do that once in a while, especially at those times when he wasn''t fighting against its corruption mentally, physically, and spiritually. "And you still haven''t learned to express gratitude correctly." It said in a lighthearted manner. The two couldn''t indulge in their dog blood but sweet-hearted drama anymore, though as life-threatening danger charged towards them. Each of those eyes released aser beam towards King Wrath simultaneously. Now, any averagebatant would have indeed failed to avoid all of them, and they would have gotten obliterated after getting hit by one or more than one of the red beams. But King Wrath dodged all of them. His figure distorted and appeared behind one of the many giant eyes. The giant eyes shot multiple red beams towards him, but his figure distorted once again, and the behind him got struck by the many destructive beams. Instantly, it turned to ash. That was going to be his if he got hit even once! King Wrath used the same tactics to annihte some more until the main giant eye realized what it was doing and created several more copies of itself. "What a royal pain in the arse!" "You need to take down its original self, and the rest will disappear by themselves." Killing the original would finish the battle and set him free from this life-threatening situation. The problem was that he didn''t know which one was original and which one wasn''t. "I can''t determine it!" He said. "Stop holding back and wipe them all out. We don''t have much time left." It said. "You sure?" "My heart is strong enough to survive our frontal assault, and even if it gets destroyed, it can only me itself for targeting us." It said. The eight giant eyes prepared to attack once again, but this time, King Wrath, who was holding back in fear of destroying its heart, made his move first. The look on his eyes deepened to the point where his looks could literally kill a normal human being. The air around him trembled and gathered tightly. The gravity in this ce increased dozens of times, making it inhabitable for humans. A considerable amount of raw energy sted out from his body, spreading towards the eight eyes. The destructive energy permeated the surrounding so fast that it reached its targets in the millionth of a second. The eight eyes instantly got crushed to the point where what remained of them were mere dots. "Good job." It said. "Now, let''s meet the asshole who nned this y." It added. King Wrath was already walking towards the coffin. Now that he was looking at it closely, he realized that the coffin had many talismans on top of it. Each of them had a shield, sealing, and fortifying effect. That''s why his previous attack didn''t destroy it. While thinking that, he also realized that no matter how strong an attack he uses, it would still fail to crush open the coffin. "Damn the asshole who sealed my heart here." It said, cursing the mother, father, and the entire race of the one who cut his immortal flesh and immoral self into multiple pieces and sealed each one of them into different secret realms. "Wasn''t it the king of time?" Yes, the ancient demon admiral lived in the same era as the King of Time, which was the saddest part of its life. If only that person hadn''t existed, then in those times, it would''ve conquered the realm of the living! Damn the King of Time! "Don''t say his damned name in my presence." It said in a voice that sounded extremely threatening. "Haha, I guess he''s your sore point." King Wrathughed. "Can you stop pouring salt on my ancient wounds and do something to open the sealed coffin?" It said. "How much time before the portal closes?" King Wrath asked. Hopefully, he would have enough time to unlock all the locks on the coffin. "45 seconds!" It answered. King Wrath stood up. "What are you nning to do?" It was worried that he would get out without obtaining its heart. "Unlocking the coffin." Its worries were useless. King Wrath needed its heart more than it needed it. He was willing to get trapped in this ce just to get the heart. The heart was his key to obtaining more power and breaking through the bottleneck haunting him. "Is it even possible? Don''t uselessly trap us here." The ancient demon sighed. It knew full well that they didn''t have anything to put out the talisman created by the King of Time. They could only leave, and no matter how painful this choice was, it was still better than getting trapped in this ce until theirst breath. "You should revisit your memories sometimes." King Wrath said. "Hell''s paradise: Memoir of the past." Only 30 seconds were left. He hurriedly selected a skill scroll that had a pretty dreadful name on it and merged with it. "Ten thousand pairs of eyes and hands." Just like the name of the skill belonging to a demon that served as the harbinger of devastation, King Wrath gained numerous hands and eyes. "Did you know that if you reverse inscribe the inscription patterns of a talisman on top of it, it will cause the talisman to lose its effect?" Even though it had lived within King Wrath since the day he started breathing, this was its first time hearing it! "When did you gain this information?" "After I sealed you behind the demon sealing mask for good because you backstabbed me." King Wrath out emphasis on thest two words. "Hah, hah, hah." The demonughed nervously, thinking to itself whether Wrath had detected something off with itself or not. ___ Monthly Goal: 17/30 Chapters! Hopefully, I will get to 30 by the end of this month! Let''s go! Chapter 228 - The Mastermind (H) However, after it saw Wrath focusing on using his thousands of hands to inscribe patterns on the talisman, it told itself that it was worrying about nothing. There was no way that King Wrath found out that everything was going ording to its ns from the very start. It knew the moment it smelled the scent of its heart that its heart had gained a consciousness of its own and that it was going to eat them. But it still led them here. Why? It''s because it needed him to merge with its heart so that it would be able to realize his n and take over his body for good! In merely fifteen seconds, King Wrath managed to inscribe a reverse version of each of the inscription patterns on the talisman. Most of the talismans lost all of their power, and they loosely fell to the ground. The ones still sticking to the coffin still had some power in them, meaning they were still effective. Without a single change in his expression, he controlled his numerous hands to grab the remaining talismans that fortified the defense of the ancient coffin and ripped them apart within a single moment. "Only ten seconds left." Hearing its words, he hurriedly opened the lid of the coffin. Insideid the box, one made of gold. It had many intricate designs on it. There was nothing else in the coffin except for it. "Is this it?" King Wrath asked, a slightly excited expression on his face. "Yes, I am sure that my heart Is inside of it." It said in an overconfident voice. Just to be sure, King Wrath used energy pressure to pulverize the coffin into many grains of sand. Then, he waved his hand, causing a wind to get generated. The gust of wind scattered thend, revealing nothing but emptiness. "That''s good." King Wrath hugged the golden box shaped like a nugget and dashed towards the portal that had already started thinning in size. "Move faster!" It didn''t need to tell him that as King Wrath stomped his foot on the ground with such force that he managed to charge in the small gap of the portal before it closed. The very next moment, King Wrath found himself in the empty hall. The familiar spiral staircase was in his eyesight. It was merely steps away from him. "Open the box and get my heart!" It said excitedly. "Alright, alright," King Wrath said, happily following his words. It cursed him as a greedy dumbass in his mind and thought that it would soon make him pay the price of his green! What it didn''t notice was that King Wrath thought the same about it. He knew everything about it. He knew that it was thinking that everything was going ording to its ns! He knew that it would try to take over his body the moment the heart merges with him. He knew that with two pieces of the demon body inside of him, it would be nigh impossible for him to fight against its corruption and invasion. He knew all that, but he still happily took the heart out of the golden box. "Swallow it, and you''ll be one with it." "Should I?" "Yes, I guarantee you will be as strong as an emperor! You might even kill one! Believe me." "Devil''s whispers are the sweetest." King Wrath quoted the favorite line of the King of Time, "Why do I feel like you''re nning something nefarious and it would only work if I consume this heart. Why do I feel like I would die if I do as you say?" "Why would I betray you? Am I crazy? Didn''t we already decide to put aside our differences and work together for a better future? I live only if you live. If you die, I die too. Enemies areing for us from all sides; why would I still fight against you? You''re my vessel but also the source of my existence. I will never try to take your life. You''re a variant basilisk, and we can''t exist separately." ''We can''t live separately, my ass.'' True, it would die without his body. And he would also die under the hands of his enemies if he lost his demon. So, they indeed couldn''t exist without each other. However, it wasn''t nning to get rid of him. It was nning to suppress his consciousness to the deepest recess of his brain and take over his body! "I guess I will believe you just this one." Despite knowing the consequences of his actions, King Wrath happily put the demon''s heart in his mouth after hearing its words. ''Close you damn lips already!'' It roared in its mind when it saw its dried heart in the middle of his open mouth. King Wrath closed his mouth but didn''t swallow. ''What is he waiting for?'' It wondered. King Wrath wasn''t waiting for anything. He was just fucking with it. A momentter, he swallowed the heart with a gulp. The heart went down his throat and into his stomach and took roots there. Tentacles stretched out of it and started spreading outwards. They passed over the inner walls of his guts, and they also wiggled over something extremely tiny. It was a tiny bomb that contained the power to destroy a city. What it was doing in King Wrath''s stomach, no one except for himself knew! "Ah, fool!" Now that it was 100% sure that King Wrath had consumed its heart, it didn''t need to hold back. "You fell for it! Hahaha!" "Huh? What the hell are you trying to say?" King Wrath acted surprised. His mouth gaped, and his eyes widened a bit too. And he acted so perfectly that he led the demon to truly believe that he hadn''t expected its betrayal! "Let me tell you a secret; your greed is going to be the end of you." "Bullshit! Come straight to the point. I don''t have time to listen to your nonsense.." He said. Chapter 229 - The Mastermind (Last) "You big idiot! Everything you did was ording to my ns. Did you know that since my heart had taken roots in your body, it will be hundred times easier for me to take control over your body? And right after doing that, I will use a technique called soul sealing to lock you up in a nice ce forever. You''ll live there, in a dark ce, unable to end yourself. It will be quite simr to your younger days. Though, this time there would be no one getting you out. While you''re there, I will work out our rtionship with your family. Don''t worry; I will return the love they gave us when you were younger. I will cut them up and sew parts of different monsters into their bodies to let them understand how it feels like to live as a basilisk. Hahaha!" The ancient demon admiral exposed its master n to King Wrath. It really hated its parents. After all, if it weren''t for those bastards, it wouldn''t have met the disaster of getting stuck in the body of Wrath, this evil genius that had managed to outwit him each time he tried to take over his body. "Hahaha," King Wrath startedughing at the top of his lungs. ''Did he receive such a huge shock that he went mad?'' It thought. Heughed so much that his stomach started hurting, and tears appeared in his life eye. "Sorry, I can''t keep up my act any longer." King Wrath said while hugging his stomach with one hand and wiping the tears in his eyes with the other. "Have you gone mad?" It asked. "Who knows?" King Wrath said with a mysterious smile on his face. "Why don''t you find out?" "No thanks, I don''t have time to waste on the likes of you." It sad and hurried to take control of his body. One body apart after another, King Wrath started to lose control of his body. First, his hands. Then, his legs. He lost his vision, causing everything to turn dark. He lost his warmth, and at that moment, he felt severe cold enveloping him. He lost his emotions. Rage and happiness, everything turned to nothing. He lost his sense of hearing, and it made him feel helpless, andbined with his loss of eyesight, it made him feel helpless. The silence and darkness were too much. But he could have chosen not to feel it. However, he wanted to experience it once again to remember his childhood so that he would remember those days where he was locked with thousands of others in dark, damp ces with no sound! He remembered that the price he had to pay for freedom was the death of his best friends. He remembered that he crawled out from the pits of hell after he killed a thousand others who were chosen for the experiment like him. He remembered every hellish pain he went through to reach this point. Oh, he remembered it all. "Explode." Before he could lose control of his mind, tongue, and mouth, he hurriedly uttered those words. "Bomb!" He didn''t know what happened as he had lost all sense of feeling. He didn''t hear the sound of an explosion or see his body exploding apart. He didn''t notice anything. He just found out that he also lost his ability to talk. He guessed that it was either because he didn''t have a body or failed, and the demon had sessfully taken over his body. "Fuck you, Wrath. Fuck you." He regained his hearing after a while. He didn''t know how long it was, but the moment he heard his weak curses reaching his ears, he realized that his n had worked. At the same time, he also regained all of his senses. "If I were you, I would also want to fuck me too." He said whileughing and crying at the same time. "Go to hell." The demon said, tired out of its soul. "Why do you sound so weak?" King Wrath k ew full well why it was exhausted to the point of being unable to utter its words domineeringly. Yet, he still had the face to ask it for the reason. He was a ck-bellied bastard with no sense of shame! "Ugh, you''re my nemesis." It said. When King Wrath had said the keyword, the bomb in his stomach exploded. It sensed that something was wrong, and when it found out that a bomb had exploded in its new body''s stomach, it used all of its energy topress the explosion. But in the end, it failed, and the body got sted into pieces. And then it started feeling as if death wasing to take it. So, it used all of its power to regrow an entire body from the leftover pieces. Of course, doing that left it with no strength at all. The strength that came to it after the heart took roots in king Wrath''s body left as fast as it came! Along with that, the strength it had saved up also vanished. Now, it was so weak that it was a thousand times fr it to take over his bodypared to before. It obviously had no strength to try and take control of Wrath''s body, and it could only ept defeat. At the same time, they had worked together to destroy the consciousness of its heart, so now it couldn''t work together with it to take down Wrath! Basically, it partially defeated itself. "When did you know that I was going to betray you?" "A person close to me once said, don''t trust demons, they are all backstabbers, and ever since that day, I never trusted a demon." King Wrath said, "From the very start, I never started trusted so. So what''s the talk about being betrayed?" He chuckled, but suddenly, blood spurted out of his mouth. It looks like he was suffering from internal damage. "Who is that bastard?" "Oh, you know him well." Chapter 230 - Sealing The Demon The only one who had ever fed King Wrath with words of wisdom was his old friend, the one who urged him to escape the control of his parents. He was also the one who sacrificed his life to save him from certain death. His old friend was who It hated the most as without his interference; It would''ve sessfully overtaken King Wrath''s body years ago. "Goddamn him, I should''ve gotten rid of him the very day you came in contact with him." The demon roared weakly. "No one can change what had happened in the past, not you, not me, nor anyone else." King Wrath folded his hands over his chest as his lips stretched back to form asmugsmile. "Don''t be too smug! Didn''t he die too because of you?" "It was his choice, and he told me never to regret and move on, or else he would''ve really wasted his life in return for nothing." King Wrath said in a regret-free voice. That person was too good for him. Honestly, if there was one thing he wanted to change, then it was the death of his old friend. "It''s time for you to sleep for another few years." King Wrath pulled out the demon sealing mask that he had taken off after entering the monster tower. The ancient demon admiral had lost all his energy and was too weak to contend against him or even stand the power of the mask. It meant that he wouldn''t be facing any sudden of getting his body or a part of it overtaken by the demon in him. "You think you''re the victor? No! You''re wrong! Weakening me and sealing me off is the same as cutting off your bridge to survival! With me wasted, how many times do you think you can use my Hell''s paradise? Let me tell you, once or thrice, but not more than that. Without it, can you survive the threats to your life and the assault of your enemies?" The demon was sure that it had said enough to save itself from getting sealed by its vessel once again. It was weak right now, so the mask will be extremely effective. It won''t be able to sense or see whatever its ship was doing or what was happening in the outside world. Not to mention, without the mask, it would take a few months for it to recover. But with the show on its vessel''s face, its recovery will be extremely slow, and it will take two to four years to recover. King Wrath surely understood the implications of what he said, but instead of panicking or stopping himself from wearing the mask, he exposed a smile and said, "Why do you think I joined the military academy? Did you seriously believe that it was because I wanted to hide from my enemies and the academy was the best ce for it? No! dumbass! It was because your left arm is there, sealed in the deepest underground level of the Academy!" When it heard that King Wrath had already located another piece of its body and it was also close to him, its eyes widened like saucers, and disbelief filled its eyes. "Impossible! I''ve always been with you. Why don''t I have any memory of you finding out the location of my left arm?!" It resided in his body. It saw everything through his eyes. It heard everything through his ears. So, how could it be possible that it didn''t know that he had already found another piece of his body! Just how? "You must be bluffing!" It confidently said those words. "Dis you forgot that you grew weak years ago, and I used the demon-sealing mask to seal you for half a night?" His words charged ahead like a bolt of lightning and struck the demon right where it hurts the most. The demon turned silent. Everything made sense to it now! The first time it became weakened happened many years ago. It was the time King Wrath went toplete his third mission with his old friend. It was a surprise that he managed to hide such a huge truth from itself for so many years. Really a surprise! "I''m impressed." The demon said, "Damn the world for giving me a vessel like you who is always plotting against me, ah!" It could only sigh in defeat and curse the world and Wrath''s parents. "Just like how I got your heart, I will also kill the consciousness of your arm and attach it to myself. Then, I will have two Hell''s paradise, one from your heart and the other from your arm. With those two add up, I will be far stronger than now. By the time you recover, I will leave you with no way of invading my consciousness." After throwing these words that will haunt the ancient demon for as long as it remains sealed in the darkness, the young and handsome man, who was only 20-year-old fitted the mask on his face and poured some energy into it, causing its effect to get activated. The demon-sealing mask effectively put the demon behind bars, freeing King Wrath from many dangers. The demon that he had been fighting against for the past several years would now no longer trouble him, and although this situation wouldst only for some time, it still made him immensely happy. After all, it was different than a terminally ill person bing healthy overnight. Who wouldn''t be overjoyed? King Wrath ced his hand on his stomach and said, "I will be relying on you from now on." To show that he really meant his words, he pulled out the heart of the ghastly monster he killed and consumed it. He had heard and remembered what the demon had said. Its heart had the ability to give its owner the ability of any being whose heart it consumes.. King Wrath wanted to gain the ability of the Ghastly Monster to up his current power level. Chapter 231 - The Treasury! The moment the ghastly monster''s marble-like heart went down his throat and into his stomach, the badly damaged demonic heart that had taken roots in the pits of his stomach released a strong suction force. "Fuck!" It was so strong that he felt his stomach contracting. He felt pained. Thankfully, after pulling the monster''s heart towards itself and devouring it, the demonic heart stopped releasing the suction force. King Wrath barely felt at ease when a contorted expression appeared on his face. Misfortune always strikes in pairs! "Shit!" Right after, King Wrath felt searing pain all over his body. It was as if someone was using a hot hammer to smash every inch of his body again and again. He didn''t know how long he had to endure this pain. But when he stopped feeling it, sweat covered him from head to toe, and he felt wriggling all over his body. What could it be? King Wrath hurriedly took off his clothes and also pulled out a mirror from his spatial storage device. Reflected in the mirror was a beautiful man with pale white skin and inky, ck eyes. His hair reached his waist, and he had well-defined muscles all over his body. All in all, he looked like a popr idol who had fans all over the gxy. It was just that he had a mask covering half his face, and there were ck veins mixed with his blue ones. King Wrath''s brows furrowed when he saw ck lines that had suddenly appeared all over his body after the pain died down. "What are those?" His eyes squinted, a thoughtful look appearing on his face. The first thing that came to his mind was that these lines seemed awfully simr to inscription patterns and magical symbols. And both those things be effective after a person pours energy into them. So, he decided to direct energy out of his energy channels and into the ck lines. King Wrath was already a peak-level expert. He not only had all of his energy channels opened and connected together into the shape of a circuit, but he also had a supernatural core which indicated that a person had stepped into the advanced evolutionary phase. It was easy for him to control the energy in his body without doing anything special. The tainted mana entered the ck lines, and the moment he lost a thousand units of it, his figure started to turn blurry. He didn''t enter the dark world, but he did blend with the world, bing invisible to the naked eye. He determined that he was invisible because even though he was standing before a mirror, it didn''t show his reflection. "Damn, this skill is too good for assassination." King Wrath packed up and dressed up. Then, he hurriedly made his way out of the monster tower. He was willing to give up on the 16th floor. He was already d that he managed to get the demon''s heart, seal it, and also escape the notice of the owner of the ce and her subordinate. He didn''t want anything else. He also was worried that if he kept them waiting, then they might think that something had gone wrong, and that might result in Melody conducting an investigation. And that might expose the event that had taken ce in the monster tower and expose that he was a basilisk! He didn''t want anyone to know that he was one. After all, if that happened, he wouldn''t be able to stay at the academy any longer, and he needed to stay there to get the demon''s left arm as well as remain underground. King Wrath grouped up with Vincent and the others. They asked what took him so long. He hadn''t prepared a script, but he was a casual liar and expert maniptor. It didn''t take more than a couple of seconds for him toe up with an excuse that actually sounded believable. He told them that he wasn''t able to ess his spatial storage device just like all of them, which he definitely could as he was powerful enough to uplift the restrictions imposed by the rules of the monster tower. He also added that as he couldn''t use his weapons and auxiliary items, hisbat ability decreased by a considerable margin. And that''s why it took him so long only to reach the 16th floor. "If there weren''t such ridiculous rules, I would''ve certainly climbed higher." He said in a voice full of regret and held his shoulders low. His acting was perfect, and everyone believed that he was feeling down. "You''re still better than us. We didn''t even get to the double digits and dropped out of the tower after climbing a few floors." Nevis discredited himself to uplift King Wrath''s spirit. What a silly child, King Wrath thought to himself. "What about you?" King Wrath looked towards the other child who certainly had his attention. "I conquered it," Vincent replied with a smile. "I did expect that to happen, but it still fills me with disbelief that you managed to do what many failed to do." King Wrath praised the young man. "d to have lived up to your expectations." Vincent smiled in response. Seeing him smiling, a smile also blossomed on Leni''s face. Since her man was happy, why wouldn''t she be too? Melody returns after a while. By his time, Iron d Lady was no more. There was sadness in Melody''s eyes, but she hid it behind a vast and fake smile. "Follow me." She took them to the treasury hall, which was only a portal away. After stepping through the portal, Vincent and the others find themselves in a vast room. Treasure filled it! There were mountains of gold and other materials. Vincent also saw several huge chunks of meteorites. All of them were anti-gravity items that he could use to create hovercraft and spaceships! Then, there were many racks with weapons in them. Some shelves with essories in them. Andstly, many pieces of equipment sat on the ground, waiting for someone to pick them up. Each and every single thing here was good enough to set a person for life! Chapter 232 - Picking Treasures! "Ah, it''s too blinding!" There were so many shiny treasures that Nevis and John feared that they might go blind. Their shine was prickling their eyes. They had never seen o many treasures in a single ce, much less that they would be standing here. Greedy Water flowed out of their wide-open mouths. "You guys look pretty disgraceful right now, so stop salivating." King Wrath said in a slightly mocking voice that one would use to poke fun at the people he found stupid or funny. The two youngsters snapped out of their daze and closed their mouths. "As you''ve conquered the tower, you can pick up any three treasures you like," Melody said to Vincent. And then immediately looked towards Leni and King Wrath and added, "Since you reached higher than the 20th floor, you''re qualified to get two treasures free of charge." She pointed her fingers at King Wrath, and while twirling it around, she said, "While you, well, you can take one." As he reached the 16th floor, Melody decided to let him take one too. "What about them?" Vincent felt that it was unfair that John, Iris, and Nevis couldn''t take anything. Why? Was it because they were weak? Why must weak people get bullied and get treated unfairly all the time? Didn''t they all reach here because they worked hard together and supported each other at every turn? So, why weren''t they qualified to get treasures for free? He wanted them to get something out of this too. "Rules are rules. I can''t just change them as they are set in stones." Although there were a lot of items here, so much that it could even help an entire kingdom run for a few years, it didn''t mean that she could give them away to those who failed to make it. Nevis, John, and Iris felt disappointed. But they had no one to me except for themselves. They were personally too weak. "No need to feel so down. You guys cause the monster-ying points you''ve got to purchase a thing or two. Even though the cheapest items might not be the best there is, they would still yourbat prowess." Melody said. She wasn''t in the mood to joke or act yful, so her words were straight to the point. The group remembered that they could use their points to get items in this ce. They started looking for something suitable for them. Leni and King Wrath were a bit disturbed. Now, the things didn''t have a name on them. They also didn''t know how they worked or whether something waspatible with them or not. Everyone except for Vincent fell into a dilemma. They feared that hastily picking something up mighte back to bite them. They wanted an item that would go along with their battle style, but they didn''t know what effect they might have or whether those effects would be beneficial to them or not. Vincent, on the other hand, didn''t fall into a dilemma. Of course, he was different than them. He could use his spell matrix to determine the true worth of any item in this ce. He, at first, thought that this skill might fail him this time, but he was surprised and happy to see that there was enough knowledge in its database to determine everything here. "If you guys are having trouble selecting items, don''t hesitate to ask me for help." Vincent wasn''t blind to the problems of his teammates, and so being him, he decided to extend his helping hand towards them. Whether they take it not, well, that was something he didn''t need to concern himself with. "I promise I will select the things that go well with you guys. I can''t tell you how it is possible for me, but if you trust me enough, then I am willing to help." King Wrath had seen and heard a lot of things, but to believe that a young man would''ve knowledge about ancient items was something he found hard to swallow. Of course, Vincent was a man with many secrets. So, he didn''t believe nor disbelieve his words. He decided to let others go first, and if Vincent can really do as he says, he will let him pick an item for him. John, Nevis, and Iris were wandering afar, sightseeing and stuff. "Then, please pick for me." Leni was the one who said it. Vincent could never mean harm to her or the others. He had been fighting for them all along. She trusted him a lot too. Thus, she didn''t hesitate to let Vincent choose two pieces of treasure in her ce. "I will be back soon." Vincent looked around for an item with Leni''s skill set and fighting style in his mind. He left them behind and explored the entire treasure hall. She meant a lot to him. Not to mention, she looked awfully familiar to the little girl who said she would marry him once they grew up. In his memories, that girl was really close to him. He felt as if the reason why he thought that he had met with someone he had lost long ago when he came across Leni was that she was his childhood friend. There was a high chance for that to be true. He just needed to see her left ankle and right foot. If she had a birthmark on those two ces, then she really was his childhood friend. As luck would have it, be found ice queen boots and an ankle bracelet belonging to the same set. Leni, who was anxiously waiting, didn''t need to wait for long as Vincent returned to her with two items in his hand. "These pair of ice boots will amplify your ice-ability cells by one level, boosting the damage of all ice-type attacks by 50%. It also has the effect of increasing its wearer stamina and agility by 45 and 35 points, respectively.. It''s an A-ranked item." Chapter 233 - Give You What You Want! The boots being A-ranked means that unless her supernatural cells evolved to be S-rank, they would amplify all of her ice attacks by 50%! She had tested her ice cells before and found out that they were only D-rank. She was far away from S-rank, which meant that she would be using these boots for a very long time. "Wow, thank you!" She was so happy that she hugged him. Vincent wasn''t expecting it, so he only reacted after a moment and hugged her back even though there were still items in his hand. "I am still not done," Vincent said after a hug. Leni''s wide and crystal clear eyes that would melt any heart with their purity looked at him curiously. He took out the anklet bracelet and held it loosely, causing it to dangle in empty air. "Is this the second item you chose for me?" She asked. He nodded and said, "Yeah, it is. This ankle bracelet will increase your energy capacity by 1000 units, allowing you to use your supernatural ability for a long time. Although it doesn''t have any other effects, it is still better than anything else here, especially when you being a two ability holder is taken into consideration." As Leni had two abilities, her energy expenditure was greater than others. She had faced several troubles because her body''s energy capacity was little, causing her to run out of energy in the middle of battle. But this ankle bracelet will increase her energy capacity by nearly ten times, allowing her to gain peace of mind and not worry about energy expenditure while unleashing her superpowers. "Do you like it?" "I like it." While she was saying that, her ears turned red, and then she blushed slightly. Vincent saw that and wondered what caused it. Was it due to happiness? What he didn''t know was that Leni took this as a dowry. Typically, the women''s family was the one who gave the dowry, but in this case, it was her man. She felt lucky to have him interested in her! What she didn''t know was that she, too, was a queen! "Well then, how about you reward me?" Vincent still hasn''t given the two things to Leni, and she realized what he was nning. The naughty guy intentionally exposed the true worth of the items to her so that it would be impossible for her to give up on them. And he would use this chance to take advantage of her. "Want to take advantage? I will let you take advantage of me as much as you like." Her sweet words surprised Vincent, and while he was taken aback by what she said, Leni made her attack. She smiled, stood on the tip of her toes, and kissed him on the lips. The kisssted only for a moment, and it was more like a peck on the lips. The warmth left his lips as soon as it came. "Satisfied?" She asked, a teasing look on her face. Leni knew clearly well what she did. She yed him, yed him hard, and made him fail at his own game. "Who could that satisfy me?" Vincent looked at her, somewhat finding it hard to believe that she was the innocent girl he fell in love with at first sight. That little kiss only ignited a me of lust in his heart. He felt the need to hold her, to run his hand through her head, to kiss her forehead, then the tip of her nose, then go down and taste her lips. "But a reward is a reward, and you promised." Leni said, "Or do you want to go back on your words?" Vincent wasn''t satisfied with the reward as thess didn''t fall for his tricks this time. She wasn''t silly, after all. Anyway, he was a man of his words. Since she had given him his reward, he would give her her things. "Alright, but I want to help you wear them." Vincent had a condition of his own, but it wasn''t too hard or naughty for Leni to swallow. "You will allow me that, right?" While saying that, he dropped down to one of his knees, taking the same pose that a man would take to propose to the love of his life. It was hard for Leni to refuse him as he was already on his knees, not that she wanted to say no to him. Instead, she wanted him to help her wear it. "Umm, okay," she said. Only after those words left her mouth that she remember that she hadn''t washed her feet or taken care of them in the past few days, and they had been fighting for a long time, causing them to get sweaty. They probably looked ugly as hell right now, right? She thought and gulped. Was he going to look at them? Did she want him to see her ugly feet? No, definitely not. She wanted to decline, but she found out that her inner monologuested for so long that he had not taken often taken her boots but also looked and touched her feet. Worst yet, he was touching them. She felt guilty and didn''t know what to say; should she apologize? She clearly was a sillyss, but as they say, love makes one go blind, and that''s why Vincent thought that she was only an intelligentss. "Your feet are beautiful," Vincent said after his scrunching wandered all over her feet and ankles. He found the birthmark he was looking on her body for and found out that she truly was his childhood sweetheart. "Huh? What did you say?" Leni wasn''t blind or numb that she failed to see and sense the state of her feet. Her feet that had so many callouses here and there were anything but beautiful! "I said they are most pairs of feet I''ve seen in my life." Vincent made his words sound more embarrassing! ___ Monthly Goals: 23/30 Chapters! Chapter 234 - Vincent The Philanthropist! Vincent was either too thick-skinned or too happy to know that Leni was the little girl in his memories who puffed up her chest and eximed that she would marry him and be a little princess of the blood moon race. From the looks of it, it was clear that his childhood sweetheart wanted to marry him because she wanted to experience what it feels like to be a princess. And it wasn''t because of love. One must know that they were barely kids, so how could they understand what love and marriage actually mean! Vincent knew that, but he wanted to make it real. Leni blushed madly at his shameless but sweet words, and redness painted her cheeks. ''Gosh, this man always says things that make my heart beat frantically, make me feel the need to hide in a rabbit hole!'' She was too embarrassed. Meanwhile, Vincent admired her feet. They were small, dainty, and just of the perfect shape. Her toes were like candies, cute like bunnies, and her feet better than the best paintings. There were a few callouses, but he was blind to them. Even if he sees them with his dog eyes, he would still praise her for working so hard that she damaged her skin and nothing else. His thumb rubbed the back of one of her feet. He felt their warmth while Leni felt the need tough and giggle! Not fair! She was too sensitive at that spot! "Can you please hurry up and put my feet in the shoes?" Leni said. She didn''t want to y naughty with him any longer! She felt that otherwise, she would like to do more things with him. This wasn''t the right time nor the right ce for kisses and cuddles, however. What if she transforms and exposes herself and John as feline demi-humans? She didn''t want that! Vincent also didn''t want that. Her super cute side was something only for him to see. "Your wish is mymand." Her long eyshes fluttered as he grabbed her by the ankles and put her feet in the ice queen boots. Then, he also tied the frosty bracelet around her right ankle. He purposely caressed her star-like birthmark, which she considered ugly, before taking his hands away. The boots were white as snow. Some rare types of intricate silver designs highlighted its sparkling beauty. It went up to her ankles. She felt that they were prettyfortable. The sad thing was that they were bigger than her feet! The frosty bracelet wasn''t cold at all. Instead, it was rather warm. "I forgot to tell you the best part. These two items belong to the same set and can resonate, causing new skills to be unlocked. Since you''re two pieces of the same ice queen set, you can release the special skill, Ice Leap, size adjustment, and stamina increase. What they do, I believe it is self-exnatory." Vincent said to Leni. "I will try it out." After hearing his words, Leni thought of adjusting the size of the ice queen boots. She just thought of the adjustment when a lot of information popped up in her mind. It was about how to increase or decrease the size of her boot. Following the instructions in her mind, she directed some energy out of her body and into one of the several intricate designs on the boot. Instantly, the shoe decreased to the size that fit her perfectly. She said the name of the other two skills in her mind and again gained more information. Ice leap let her sink into a huge body of ice and teleport at another point in an instant. It was like teleportation but subjected to the limitation of icy terrain. "With so many buffs, I won''t get exhausted as quickly as before. Thank you, these are the best gift of my life." Leni expressed her deep gratitude to Vincent. Vincent: "Did you know you look cute while handing out "thank you." Even at this moment, he didn''t forget to sway her heart! Afterward, he helped Iris, John, and Nevis get the best they could with the limited amount of points they had. King Wrath saw that Vincent had indeed picked up treasures for Leni, so he decided to let him get one for him too. He asked ever so kindlyhis voice sounded warm and not at all arrogant. If his subordinates or enemies were here, their jaws would have dropped to touch the ground. This tamed person shared no resemnce to the ruthless demon in their memories. "Alright, but what would you like? An increase in strength, extra skill, or something along the line?" Vincent asked. He didn''t know what Varth needed the most. Varth fighting style contained a various number of things. He had many weaknesses but an equal amount of strength. What he wanted to strengthen was up to him, though, and he couldn''t decide that for him. "Knowledge. If there''s something on inscriptions, then please get that for me. Otherwise, a nice armor or a life-saving treasure would do." Inscription knowledge of ancient times was supposedly the best. If there were such records, he wanted to obtain them. At the same time, as his life was under constant threat and untold dangers coulde at him at any time, he tried to get a life-saving treasure too. "Here you go." Vincent gave him a crystal after a few minutes." "It is?" "Both a life-saving treasure and a book," Vincent said. King Wrath was surprised. This tiny ne that he considered insignificant was beyond reasons and doubts. Vincent told him the way to bind with it. King Wrath used his blood to be its owner. Then, he found out that if he ever takes a life-threatening attack, the crystal would shatter in his ce. At the same time, it had many pieces of information in it. They were written in an elvennguage that he hadn''t learned but knew about. ___ Monthly Goals: 24/30 Chapters! Chapter 235 - Johns Gratitude And Vincents Choice He was sure that the context in the ne that he could only ess by using energy was in the ancient elvishnguage. Although he didn''t understand and couldn''t read it, he was happy to have received it. After all, he could still trante it, and tranting wasn''t going to be a bother. He knew that the academy had an extensive library covering hundreds ofnguages, and it would be easy to get it done there. In this era, one can even pay others to trante the ancient elvishnguage. But he didn''t want to do that as he didn''t like to share the context in this ne with anyone else. King Wrath looked towards Vincent and said, "I will repay you in the future." There was no yful air around him, meaning he really meant what he said. Vincent took his words quite casually as he didn''t know that he was King Wrath, an expert far stronger than himself. Gaining his favor was the same as surmounting a mountain of swords or getting out of a sea of fire. "Go and look for your lucky encounter already." "Yes, you''ve wasted a lot of time on us already." Vincent was the only one who hadn''t gotten anything, and it''s all because he was busy selecting the best things for his teammates. It was only good people here, so he didn''t mind showing off his knowledge and flexing wildly. More than that, he wished the best for all of them, and that''s why he willingly took a risk. "Well then, goos people, excuse me." Vincent turned to leave, but he only took several steps when John hurriedly caught up to him. "Wait, big brother, I have to say something to you." "Don''t say it," Vincent stopped him, saying another word, and after seeing a crestfallen expression appearing on his face, he added to make himself clear, "just follow me." Vincent took John away under the eyes of the other. He went straight to the fruit of life, and John followed after him. He picked it up and became its owner giving up one of his three rights to choose an item. Then, he gave it to John. "Take it and awaken." Vincent said, "I look forward to you bing a saint among healers." John nearly teared up. Blinking his wet eyes like a bit of baby, he shed some manly tears and cried out, "Thank you! This means a lot to me." He kept on thanking him, and after a while, Vincent clearly told him that they were here for the sole reason of the fruit of life. And that if it weren''t for him, Iris would have never exposed such a massive secret to them or led them to this ce. Vincent also told him that he was like a brother to him, and he couldn''t see him under the constant threat of death because of an awakening that could happen anytime. "I still want to somehow repay you. You''ve done so much for me, for all of us, but I haven''t repaid you in any way." John seriously felt indebted to Vincent. Vincent patted his shoulder, and like a good nig brother, he said, "Once you be a big deal in the future, and I trust you will remember to take care of your sister and me." The supernatural ability that John could awaken was bound to be extraordinary. Vincent didn''t doubt that he would be a superpower and also a role model for the people and that many superpowers would like to have him by their side. John was bound to be a huge deal in the future, and at that time, a single word for him would carry enough weight to solve many troubles. "Now that I am done helping others, it''s time to get what caught my eye." John left Vincent, who walked towards the darkest ce of the library. Not only did this ce have no sparkling treasure, but it also looked so ordinary that no one would look towards this ce twice. It had a simple dark desk. There was a ring with a skull on it and a hilt of a sword. There was no sword body. But Vincent looked at it as if it was the greatest treasure. There was a small hollow in it, probably a crystal socket. [Artifact Name: Sword of Life Artifact state: Ownerless Artifact current stage: Unknown stage Strength: +10 Stamina: +10 Amplification status: +0 Description: It''s a weapon that was used by the Emperor of night. It operates solely on extremely pure energy, such as refined mana. Refined mana is a more stable and condensed stage of mana. Effect 1: Once you pour energy into it, an energy de will manifest on the hilt. Effect 2: If you cut using this de, it will heal the target. Effect 3: You can imbue life and vitality into thend if you stab this sword into the ground. Depending on the amount of refined energy you use, the targeted area would get terraformed into a preciousnd. [Artifact Name: Demon King''s Requiem Artifact state: Ownerless Artifact current stage: Peak-stage Strength: 50 Stamina: 70 Description: It was an item owned by Mr. Joker. It contains ten spaces. Each floor has a treasure room containing treasures. From alchemy recipes and arts tobat techniques and powerful subordinates, you can find everything inside it. However, to reach the treasure room, you must clear the trial of the same floor room. [Would you like to participate in the first trial set by Mr. Joker and enter the first floor, invasive hell?] "No," Vincent refused as he didn''t have time to take the trial. These two things; he seriously wanted for himself. Thus, he picked them up and went to Melody. "I want to take them as my prize money," Vincent said sheepishly. The two things he picked up weren''t just two items but more than hundreds of them. He knew it, and she also knew it.. That''s why he felt so guilty that he couldn''t look at her in the eyes. Chapter 236 - Back To The Academy! Vincent was feeling guilty for multiple reasons. One of the things he chose was a sword that could terraforms and make them inhabitable for humans and demi-humans! The other was a spatial storage ring with many treasures inside of it. Both of them were items that could change the fate of an entire low-level race! Low-level races are those people who haven''t be multiary. "You have a good eye for treasures." Melody squinted her eyes and praised Vincent. She knew that it was Mr. Joker, alias Emperor of the night, who left these items here. Since the previous owner himself was a legend, these items are bound to be extraordinary. She didn''t know how good they were, but she considered them equal to the pieces of equipment belonging to her master. Vincent ced the two things in his inventory, happy that she didn''t raise any objection and d that he got to keep these two things that will be partially responsible for shaping his future. Vincent regrouped his teammates. He was standing beside Leni. King Wrath and the others were standing together. They all knew that this was the end and that it was time to return to the academy. Melody was hovering near them, and seeing the look on their faces, she realized what they were thinking. "You still have tens of thousands of monster-ying points left; remember to use them up before leaving," Melody advised. They didn''t forget about that. Vincent had already considered what to do with his points. He wanted to buy pill recipes that would help him be more robust in the shortest amount of time as he had already decided upon learning alchemy as soon as he returned to the academy. He also told King Wrath and Leni that he would pick up things rted to the profession they wanted to master in the future. "Which profession do you like?" He asked them. "I think bing a Magic chef is the best for me. It''s profitable, and after I learn it, I will be ours, personal magic chef. In the future, you can leave purifying evolution material and prepare nourishing meals for me." Leni said. Hearing her words, Vincent saw a future where he would get back home and his wife, Leni, would wee him. And then they would eat the food she prepared together. Cough! "Get me as many ancient inscription patterns as you can with the little amount of points I have." King Wrath was a magic scroll maker, it seemed. Vincent strolled around the library and picked up a few things. He spent all his points getting the highest-grade Energy Channel Opening Pill and Channels connecting Pill recipes. The first one would allow him to open his channels fastly and the other would let him connect them to create a circuit. And once he does that, he will be an advanced-stagebatant. They were all missing the academy. They couldn''t wait to return. The great adventure in this ce has finallye to an end. This thought popped up in their mind as Melody let them to the teleportation device. "Where would you guys like to go? The Academy or the spider kingdom?" Melody asked. Vincent and the others knew that they had offended the spider kingdom and that its citizens were looking for them, so going to that ce was not a good idea, not that they wanted to go there. "Please open a portal to the spider kingdom." "Alright," Melody said. She pressed some buttons, and a portal leading to a ce somewhat close to the academy opened up. It was an empty, dark alleya ce with no CCTV or surveince devices at all. No one would know that they used a portal to appear here. They wouldn''t get questioned as to where they went and why they used the portal. It will be saving them a lot of problems. "Vincent, you stay here." As everyone started entering the portal, Melody called Vincent toe to her. "I need to say some things to you in private." "What do you want to tell me?" After everyone left, Melody said, "Mydy wanted me to tell you that although you have the mark of a resistor on you, you''re still not an official member of the resistance. To be one, you need to track down an official member, show him your mark, and make him take you to the testing ground where the resistance holds an entrance examination to ept new members. If you pass it, they will take you in. I don''t think you''ll fail, but still, you deserve to know that if you fail, those ruthless guys will wipe out everything rted to them from your memories." Melody''s eyes turned a bit chilly, and her expression frosty. "Interact with them at your own risk." She warned Vincent in such a serious voice that he believed her words. "Thanks for your kind advice, but I will be tackling them head-on," Vincent said. No matter how risky it was, he needed to get into the resistance. A secret organization like that was something he needed to understand, know more about, and use to be string and gather allies. It wasn''t something he should turn away from, no matter how dangerous. Walking a mountain of swords and charging into a sea of fire would only harden his will and train him so much that he would be able to react to untold dangers more suitably. "Good," she knew from the very start that her warning would not deter him and was satisfied that his response matched what she thought about him. "now go." "Goodbye, and take care." Vincent wasn''t a friend or family to Melody. Although she lost thest bit of her master, there was nothing he could do to cheer her up. After waving his hands at her and advising her to live her life and enjoy its wonder, he took the portal and appeared in the dark alley where the others were waiting for him. Left behind was Melody, who sighed and said that she couldn''t leave this ce as her master tasked her with protecting themunication and spatial warp opening server that the emperor of night left behind. "What did you talk about with her, eh?" Nevis asked, not respecting Vincent''s privacy at all. "It''s something personal," Vincent said, signaling him not to ask about it. Nevis effectively shut his mouth. Chapter 237 - Joining The Alchemy Class! While they were exploring the tomb of Roselia, a lot of things had happened. The war had gotten worse! The creatures of hell, for some reason, had gotten more aggressive. Hell''s paradise, a spatial rift that connected the realm of the living to the hell realm, had started appearing in massive numbers all around thes owned by the federation. The federation dispatched all of its soldiers and every top-notch expert to go to differents and close Hell''s paradise before they could stabilize. Once stabilized, the creatures of hell could step into their. As they liked to prey on demi-humans, aliens, and humans alike, irrespective of their color, handsomeness, or horror, it was easy for any soldier to calcte that the damage would be huge if they failed to close one within the estimated time that it would take for it to stabilize. The federation made it mandatory for every top-notchbatant to close at least one Hell''s paradise or contribute to the destruction of one; thus, everyone, from the emperors and the leaders of the four great families to instructor Theodore, Instructor Alex, and Instructor Kyle had to move their butts and deal with the adverse situations popping up in differents. It just happened that after rolling in deep troubles and fighting for five straight days, Alex the alchemist returned to the academy. He had finished his mandatory duties and now wanted to rx for a few days, but as his luck or rather fate would have it, headmaster Tirion called for him only after a day. He went to him, only to find out that many groups of second-year and first-year students with powerful backings had made a petition and demanded his presence. They wanted him to do his job and teach them alchemy. Or get the hell out of the academy if he was going toze around! "Why can''t a man even get allowed to rest after working hard in this ce?" He cried out. Left with no choice, he decided to hold alchemy sses starting from Monday. When Vincent heard that, he immediately informed instructor Alex that he would be joining his sses. Hopefully, Alex wouldn''t mind him. As he was a particr ss student, the instructor couldn''t refuse him even if he didn''t want him in his ss, not like he didn''t want Vincent to learn alchemy. His guardian, Theodore, had specifically told him to treat Vincent better than others. Not to mention, he didn''t dislike this kid. Instead, he viewed him in a favorable light because he helped them root out the trouble happening in the lower legs of the river of 208 legs before it could grow bigger and spread to other areas. The next day, after taking a hot bath, Vincent felt extremely rxed. All the tension that had gathered in his muscles from fighting for thest several days, as well as all the mental strength that he umted from knowing anding across the crimson one, dimmed significantly. He ate breakfast in the canteen with King Wrath and Leni while feeling extremely light-headed. Nevis and John weren''t here. Iris came only when they were finishing eating. Slightly worried about why her brother had missed lunch, Leni inquired about where he was and what he was doing from his girlfriend, Iris Twilight. She told them not to worry, that John had taken the fruit of life to awaken his superpowers. She also told them that Nevis stayed behind to guard him and make sure no one, from students with ill intent like Felix to the academy''s staff members, such as rooms'' cleaners and so on, would enter the room and disturb John. Even though there was a sign that said, "do not disturb as there is a person inside who is trying to awaken his superpower," Nevis believed it would be better to guard the door. While sitting in the food court, Vincent nced a few times at Damien. This person looked familiar to one of his childhood friends. And the things he said the previous few times also asserted the fact that he knew him. He wanted to strike up a conversation with Damien but decided against it. He was feeling that something terrible might happen; that''s what his guts feelings were telling him. In the end, he decided to confront him to know more about his past another time. After lunch, Vincent went to the ssroom where instructor Alex would be teaching alchemy to the students. There were many people here. Some of them took the alchemy lesson for the first time while the others had dabbled in it previously. All of them were strangers to Vincent. He moved past them and sat in an empty area. He didn''t notice that when he entered the room, Eric, the student council president, who fought for his sake, was looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze. Eric''s knight was sitting behind him, and he turned to look at the person who caught his master''s attention. With two pairs of eyes on him, Vincent noticed that someone was looking at him. Call it his vampire senses. He turned to look around and saw two men, a pretty boy, and a big, burly man, looking at him. What did they want from him? Did he know them? Eric shed a smile at him and looked away. Since his master was no longer staring at Vincent, his knight felt no need to re at him threateningly either. ''What a weird pair.'' Vincent internally thought. He found out that the two were already advanced-levelbatants. Talk about being rich; these two guys indeed came from wealthy families who fed them so many recourses that they managed to open all their channels and even connect them together to form a circuit before the age of 20! One of them belonged to the Great Ambrose royal family, while the other came from the family of knights that served them! Lucky them! ___ Monthly Goals: 27/30 Chapter! Chapter 238 - Alchemy Basics (a) A few minutester, the door to the room opened. Everyone turned silent as Alex, the alchemist, entered the ssroom. They knew that his temper was the worst among the instructors, that it wasn''t good to annoy him, so they kept quiet. No one wanted to get on his nerves and get humiliated, especially when they were burdened with maintaining their family''s honor. Instructor Alex turned to the students sitting at the tables that could house two people at most. There were more than thirty here, meaning at least sixty people havee today. The ss could change its size ording to the number of people entering it so he could teach an n-amount of students at any time. He saw many new faces, so he said, "Hello, ss! Today, I will start from the very basics of alchemy as there are many new faces here." After saying that, he ced some ingredients on his table. "Two things are the most important when ites to learning alchemy. The first is having a good head on your shoulders as it would allow you to memorize the effects and characteristics of many herbs, which you''ll have to learn to be sound alchemy. The second is knowing how to purify an ingredient from its impurities. "Before I teach you guys how to purify ingredients, let''s have a little talk about impurities. As you all already know, most magic herbs and nts absorb magic energy present in the surroundings to grow. Magic energy itself is impure in nature, meaning the things absorbing them to grow would also umte impurities over time. These impurities are harmful to us humans and also demi-humans and the subspecies. Some might be more resistant to them, but it doesn''t mean that they don''t get harmed by them. Impurities are like poison that takes roots in the body and then spreads outwards, devouring our body from inside out, causing us to get ill and, worse, be weak! So, you guys must remember always to do your best when ites to purifying the ingredients that you will use to create a pill! And also, remember that it''s hard to nigh impossible to get rid of all the impurities from ingredients, so it is impossible to create a pill thatcks all impurities; thus, you must never take pills in excess or prescribe others to eat your pill in excess. Or else, I will personally denounce you and get rid of your status as an alchemist! "Do you guys get it?" Alex, the alchemist, said in a frosty voice that chilled the ones who heard his words to the bones. His eagle-like eyes were staring at all the students and noticing the change in their expression. They felt threatened under his gaze. Everyone could tell that he was absolutely serious when he said that he would get them banned if they blindly chased after profits without following the ethic and basic morals of an alchemist. "I understand, sir!" Eric said. "What did you understand?" "That I must conduct myself with dignity worthy of an alchemist. I must make it clear to others what would happen from taking my pills in excess or if there are any adverse effects in even consuming a single piece, no matter how high my losses be from doing so." Eric replied, looking as graceful as a handsome prince on a white horse. "Good!" Alex mmed the table and said, "Thew doesn''t enforce such rules on alchemists, and most of them hide the adverse effects of their pills but advertise their benefits so that people would get fooled into buying their pills. Such acts, although they will make you reap a lot of profit, will make you fall under the weight of your own greed in the end. No matter what, justicees above all, evenw, so do everything righteously and never lower your morals even if it means losing a treasure trove." "I hope all of you will be masters in this field, not crooks and lying bastards that put others'' lives at risk or getting many diseases." All those words, no matter how rough they sounded, came straight out of his heart and touched most of the students. Some even joked to themselves that instructor Alex could join the political party of the alchemist society with his glib tongue, and he might even be its new president for a decade. Vincent heard his words and promised that he wouldn''t let greed blind his eyes. What use was wealth if he earned it by killing the people that his parents and theirpanions died protecting?! Of course, such wealth was useless, and he had no desire for it. "Now, I am going to purify these few ingredients you see on my table." Instructor Alex said, "Magic Blueberry, Red leaves, Mulberry''s branch, and flower of the night, these four ingredients added together form the energy recovery pill that restores 50 to 100 units of energy depending on its grade. The alchemist association had divided pills into different grades, but I will take about itter. For now, let''s focus on the purifying process." Under the attentive eyes of Vincent, Eric, his knight, and the rest of the students, instructor Alex let his mana surge out of his body and directed it into all four ingredients simultaneously. "To purify an ingredient, you need to have pure magic power, moremonly known as mana. It''s an energy thatcks impurities. As you inject it into the herb, the mana annihtes impurities. One unit of mana annihtes one unit of impurity. Ingredients have varying amounts of impurities, and you will be able to tell how many impurities it carries by seeing whether it''s rotten, dry, or has lost its color. You''ll need to read the ssic on magic herbs and ingredients to understand that." By the time he finished saying those words, ck sand-like grains hade out of the four ingredients.. There were a lot of them. They started moving towards each other almost as if they had a life of their own! Chapter 239 - Purifying Ingredients! "Too disgusting." "Ah, I want to look away. Can I?" "Don''t you idiot; you might miss something important." There were so many impurities that once they got together, they made a small worm. Although it was too small, everyone could see it and got disgusted when they saw the worm made of impurities wriggling about on the table. "Sir, are these impurities?" One of them asked. Alex nodded his head and said, "The ingredients I used were of the lowest grade. Thus they were full of impurities. Usually, alchemists don''t use them. Anyway, I used it to show you guys what an excess of impurities looks like to make you better understand how important it is to get rid of as many impurities as you can before beginning the pill creation process. Consider this ck, ugly-looking worm wriggling inside of you, moving from your guts to your heart, aiming to nibble on it. Would you like that?" "I definitely wouldn''t." "I would be too disgusted with knowing that something is inside of me, and I''m living with it." "I might stab myself, hoping to kill it." "Oh, I can''t, I can''t help it anymore!" One of them stood up, rushed to the dustbin, dropped down, and puked out of disgust. Vincent could tell from a single look that this weird-looking kid with spiky yellow hair must have imagined it happening to him, and that''s why he couldn''t get help but throw up. "Ahem!" Instructor Alex continued his lesson, almost acting as if he didn''t notice that someone puked up because of his exact words, "Everyone, take a few sets of ingredients needed to create the energy restoration pill from the drawers on your left and start purifying them. If you manage to get rid of 50% impurities from all of the four ingredients, I will consider it as you having enough talent to start learning alchemy. If not, you guys will keep on purifying the ingredients until you get it right." He had not said those words when a small hovering robot with a round body entered the ssroom. "Mr. Holmes will be overseeing your process. Don''t try to cheat. And yeah, half of the ss must seed, or else I won''t be teaching the pill creation process! Compassion and bootlicking the talented ones for their wisdom is the key here, don''t forget that." After throwing those somewhat taunting words, instructor Alex stepped towards the door. "Sir, where are you going?" Eric asked while looking at his back. "To the ssroom on the left." He said without turning around to look back at him and left the room quietly. The ssroom on the left was more like a club. It had a sofa bed, and he came here to rest and rx his taut muscles and veins. Heid down on the sofa, out on his blindfolds, and fell asleep immediately. The sound of snoring echoed in the club room disguised as a ssroom. Talk about being irresponsible; he definitely was on top of the list. However, the students couldn''t do anything as he had already handed out a task to them, and they had toplete it before they could have him teach them any further about alchemy. Everyone got busy with testing how good they were at purifying ingredients. Vincent, too, was among them. He always had self-studied, so such a collective environment was new to him. He preferred doing everything alone. So, he picked up a tray, pulled out the four herbs shown to him by Alex, put them on the iron tray, and returned to his table. Vincent was the only one there, and he felt that it was good that he was alone. He put the tray on the table and got to work. [Ingredient 1 Impurities: 4 units] Ingredient 1 Impurities: 3 units] [Ingredient 1 Impurities: 8 units] [Ingredient 1 Impurities: 5 units] Each of the herbs had a different amount of impurities in it. However, the ingredients Vincent picked up carefully had a hundred to thousand times fewer impurities than the ingredients instructor Alex used to demonstrate the process. "A total of twenty impurities means that it will only take me 20 units of mana to purify them. Good enough." Vincent got to work. Now, he had two ways of purifying the herbs. Vincent could use the spell matrix filtration to get rid of the impurities in the herb. As it was something special, he was sure it would be too easy to purify herbs using it. But where was he? He was in a public ce. He couldn''t possibly use his spell matrix here as there was a chance someone might notice it or be suspicious that he got some kind of treasure that let him purify stuff. Even though there was only a sliver of a chance of that happening, Vincent didn''t want to take a risk. Vincent took the better road that would keep his secrets safe. He performed the hand signs necessary to gain control of his mana. He wasn''t instructor Alex, who did not need to perform hand signs to control his energy as he had an energy circuit. Vincentcked one, and thus, he could only use hand signs to move his energy. The few people who were interested in him saw mana surging out of his palms in the shape of thin threads, a total of twenty, which injected themselves into the four herbs. [Ding! Spell Matrix Filtration self-activated itself.] The moment his energy threads entered the ingredients, a notification telling him that his spell matrix had activated to help him popped up in his mind. Vincent just heard those words when in the very next moment, he gained another field of vision. In this field of vision, he was able to see white dots, ck dots, blue lines, and many other colorful lines. A thoughtful look shed across Vincent''s squinted eyes as he assessed the situation. The colorful lines and the white dots were the medicinal essences of the ingredients! The blue lines were his mana threads! The ck dots were the impurities! Chapter 240 - A Misunderstanding! It only took him a moment to realize that he was seeing the varying energy present inside the ingredients; it was as if he had gained X-ray visions that could see through the outer surfaces of herbs and flowers! Whoever created the spell matrix filtration was a genius! Vincent thought that this spell matrix was truly an incredible marvel! Vincent''s lips thinned into a slight smile. He had never expected that he could use the spell matrix filtration this way, and finding out that he could, made him happy. Usually, it was hard for a person to determine where impurities were in the ingredients. But now, because he could see where they were and how many there were, the purification process became a hundred times easier for him! He directed his mana threads towards the impurities! Under Vincent''s careful control, the mana threads went on to annihte and push the impurities out of the ingredients. [You''vepletely purified the mid-quality Magic blueberries. Quality increased. It has be a high-quality berry.] [You''vepletely purified the Flower of the night. Quality increased. It has be a high-quality flower.] [You''vepletely purified the Mulberry''s branch. Quality increased. It has be a high-quality branch.] [You''vepletely purified the Red leaves. Quality increased. It has be a high-quality herb.] A few momentster, more than a dozen ck debris the size of a single sand grain left the four herbs. Immediately, several notifications popped up in Vincent''s mind, telling him that the ingredients had be good enough to get used by him to create a pill. Vincent''s smile deepened. Not only did he prepare them, but he also had upgraded their quality! An upgrade in a herb''s quality could only happen due to two reasons. The first was that it was extremely close to leveling up. The second was that a master alchemist had used his skills to free it from impurities. Thest was that someone injected it with quality upgrading dew that was so hard toe by and so costly that no sane person would use it on cheap ingredients like the ones Vincent recently purified. Now that he got done with purifying them, it was time to inform the substitute teacher of his sess Vincent picked up his tray and started walking towards the front of the ss. At one side of his tray was a ss prison. Inside of it was the debris he got from purifying the ingredients. On the other side were the mentioned ingredients, and all of them looked healthy beyondpare. Some had even adorned a shiny luster after getting their quality increased. The sound of his footsteps attracted many pairs of eyes. Everyone who looked at him thought that he had given up. Why? Well, it was because they hadn''t even purified a single ingredient! Some of them were attending this ss for the ninth time, and even they had only purified a single herb. So, how could they believe that Vincent had purified all the thins on his tray? "Bro, you''re not in this alone. Don''t give up, right? You giving up is like disheartening all of us. And it hasn''t even been five minutes since we started purifying. Why give up so soon?" One of them blocked Vincent and told him to go back. He was a head shorter than him. He had blonde hair and eyes of the same color. He was wearing the second-year uniform. Beside him stood Eric, his knight, and some other first-year students. All of them didn''t want anyone to give up, at least not so fast. It''s because they would all fail if less than 30 students managed toplete the ingredients purifying process. Instructor Alex would use their failure as an excuse to not teach them the next step of alchemy. They were sure that he would do that because he had done it previously too! That instructor was an asshole! Hearing his words, Vincent rolled his eyes. Even though he could tell Gale didn''t mean him to harm, he was still annoyed because the person assumed something without even making sure of things and then even went as far as to block his oath and use him of giving up. "I don''t know what misunderstanding you''ve about me, but a, my name is Vincent, and I only conquer things, not give up in the middle of them, and b, I would like you to stop blocking my path." When he said these words, Vincent''s eyes shed a trace of red. Paired with his pale skin, it looked so terrifying to the newborn calf that he subconsciously moved three steps to the side. Vincent took this chance to slip past the shorter guy. "Hey, wait. I have not finished talking." The shorter guy wanted to stop him once again and even took a step towards Vincent, hoping to drag him away from Mr. Holmes, but one of his friends stopped him and pulled him back to their table. Eric''s knight said, "Gale, stop it. Since that person wants to leave, we should not stop him. It''s not like we''ve any rights to interfere with his decisions." The shorter guy hung his head low and replied in a disappointed voice, "If you say so, I will." Eric said, "Ahem! I think we''ve misunderstood the situation." He had heard what Vincent said about not giving up, so he came to believe that they had misunderstood Vincent. "Huh?" "What misunderstanding could there be about this situation?" His words caused his knight and Gale to nce at each other, only to see confusion in each other''s eyes. Why did Eric say that? Didn''t he know that it was impossible to purify all the ingredients in such a small time? It was obvious that Vincent had given up. As for the words he said, wasn''t it only because he was too arrogant? "Well, whatever it is, we shouldn''t just assume that we''re absolutely right without seeing the whole picture. Early judgments are sometimes too wrong ande to bite us back. You two should stop doing that." Eric blessed the two stupid guys with words of wisdom. "Okay, okay, we will see." Whether they were right about Vincent or not, they will soon find out anyway! Chapter 241 - Vincent The Purifier! By the time Eric and his groupies finished bickering with each other, Vincent reached the substitute teacher, who was here to oversee their process. "Mr. Holmes, I have finished purifying the ingredients," Vincent spoke to him formally as thetter was his teacher. Even though Mr. Holmes was only a robot, a being artificially created by the esoteric engineers of the federation, Vincent believed that he still deserved to be treated with the respect a student would give to their teacher; he and the other should not treat him like a mere thing because even though he was made of metal and lived off of energy, he was the one teaching them stuff. "Finished?" "So soon?" "Am I hearing it right?!" "Is the purifying process as easy as taking a stroll around the park, heh?! He is spewing bull shit!" Vincent was intentionally loud, so everyone in the ssroom had heard him. Everyone suddenly stopped whatever they were doing after hearing what they said. Some of them thought that he was faking it as they couldn''t believe that he managed to purify all the ingredients in merely minutes. It was not like he was Alex, the alchemist! He was just a newbie. How could Vincent, who has never dabbled in alchemy, purify ingredients nearly as fast as a veteran alchemist? Did that even make sense? A big fat No! His ssmates were bound not to trust him and take his words for the truth. However, even though everyone didn''t believe him, Mr. Holmes still took him seriously. Emotions such as disbelieve, one that imprisoned humans in a small well of ignorance created by their sky-high arrogance, pride, limited knowledge, and refusal to believe something way out of the ordinary, didn''t inflict Mr. Holmes. Instead, he needed to see things through with his own eyes, calcte what he saw, and thene to a conclusion and ry the result to the others. He closed his book, put it aside, stood up, and looked at Vincent. "Oh, let me see." Mr. Holmes said as he used his middle finger to affix his pair of eyesses. His eyesight wasn''t weak. The only reason why he was wearing them was to show off. He was a robot who was addicted to wearing sunsses, ah. "Please take your time." Vincent ced the tray full of purified ingredients, as well as impurities, on the table that separated them. "Hmm." The eyes of Mr. Holmes started scanning the ingredients. Because his eyes could determine how impure something was, it only took him a couple of seconds to decide that the ingredients on the tray contained not even a single trace of impurities. "How is that possible?!" The students thought that something was wrong. Lost in a fantasy of their own creations, they concluded that Vincent hadn''t even done a thing to purify the ingredients, thus earning such a strong reaction from Mr. Holmes. However, the reality was far from the things they cooked up in their minds. Mr. Holmes was shocked, but the cause was the fact that a student managed to nearly best the official record of purifying and upgrading the quality of the ingredients that Alex set himself! "Mister, is there something wrong?" Vincent asked. "No, no, no, nothing is right with this situation!" Again the students misunderstood their words, and Gale and Eric''s knight started saying they were right, that Vincent was a troll. But they had only started yapping when Mr. Holmes, with his hand holding Vincent''s shoulders and body trembling in fervent excitement, added, "You eliminated all the impurities in these ingredients in less than four minutes, something that is so hard that even professional alchemist who has a grade-2 official license would sometimes fail to do. You also increased their quality from mid-rank to high-rank, adding four cherries on top of the cake ah. Even Alchemy Lord Alex can''t confidently say of doing that. That''s something that no one can attribute to beginner luck. Is this really your first time learning alchemy?" Pin-drop silence! Everyone booing Vincent and calling him out as a coward who abandons things when he finds them hard couldn''t utter a word. Whatever they wanted to say got stuck in their throat, and they choked over their words. They stared at him speechlessly and with mouth agape! Why was there such a vast disparity in their talents? Why were they so bad at purifying ingredients and he so good that he started amotion?! Had fairness left this universe, eh?! With what face were they calling him out as a sore loser?! "No, sir, I had never taken alchemy lesson before or even dabbled in it." Vincent was speaking the truth. The only thing was that he had used the help of his spell matrix in performing such a feat. Though, he was sure that no one would manage to find out about that as it worked so covertly that there was no one way of knowing it even if he performs purification while using it under their eyes. "It isn''t?! Eh? I guess you''re what they call a prodigy born for alchemy!" Mr. Holmes was so excited that he praised Vincent for the next minute, making him be the center of attention of the entire ss. "We''re such fools." "Failed to recognize a genius and even bad-mouthed him. He probably won''t see us in a good light anymore and even stay away from us." Gale and Eric''s knight faces turned beet red out of embarrassment. All the bad words they said about him came to bite them back in the most unexpected way. "That''s why I told you guys to make sure of the situation and see things through before opening your mouth and pushing your opinions on others," Eric said to them and sighed. To get Vincent on their side was going to be exceedingly hard now. He wanted him because he was too talented as an alchemist. "You can return to your seat, and if you want, you can take as many ingredients as you like and purify them." On the other hand, Mr. Holmes told Vincent to go back to his table, and he himself turned around and left the ssroom. Then, he went on to reveal his capabilities to Alex, the alchemist. At first, Alex didn''t believe the words that came out of his mouth, but when Mr. Holmes showed him the evidence, he had no choice but to believe. After that, they returned to the ssroom and what they saw left them shocked to the point they stood still at their spot like startled bears! Chapter 242 - Instructor Alex Evil Plot! They were staring at him so intensely and in such a weird way that it made Vincent feel difort, and he couldn''t help but gaze back at the instructors and say, "What''s wrong? Is there something on my face??" Mr. Holmes, who liked saying no the said honestly, replied, "No, no, no, nothing is wrong with your face. It''s just that I was shocked to see the dozens of recently purified herbs that had 75% to 99% percent of their impurities removed, and their qualities increased by a good enough margin. Did you do it all in merely minutes?" Instructor Alex, on the other hand, stormed ahead and stopped once he reached Vincent. He pointed at the dozen or so ingredients on his table and asked, "Did you purify all of them?" All of the ingredients were mostly free of impurities. Vincent had purified them after Mr. Holmes left the ss to get instructor Alex. By the time they returned to the ss, he had sessfully prepared around ten ingredients ready to get used in alchemy. The good thing was that Vincent left 5% to 25% impurities in them intentionally. He was sure that if he purified them perfectly, someone would be suspicious that he has something that lets him perform such a feat, or he might enter such blinding limelight that he would get crushed under its weight! "Yes," Vincent replied confidently. Alex was sure that he wasn''t lying. He had lived half his life for alchemy and only reached his current level after making pills for fifteen years. Yet, the boy in front of him was already better at purifying herbs than him. Was this what they call talent? No, Vincent wasn''t talented. Then, what about him being a genius? Genius didn''t cut him. He was better than one! Only the words born to be the king of the purifying process could define him. "Can you purify one in front of me?" Alex asked while looking at Vincent. He wanted to see just how good his control over mana was and just what type of skill he was using to purify stuff so fast, so urately, that it reached his level. [Tenth, do you need help to fool him?] Blood asked. It had many powerful alchemy techniques in its database. Just transferring one over to Vincent would allow him to hide the fact that he could see through ingredients and find out how many impurities there are and where they are without using advanced technology. ''Nope," Vincent replied. He also had many tricks up his sleeves that he could use to fool instructor Alex and hide that he could locate the impurities inside of a herb. He didn''t need Blood''s help. More than that, there was no need to purify an ingredient in front of him. With just a few words, he could escape doing it. "I would love to, but I am sorry." Vincent said, "You see, I am only an intermediate-levelbatant with two energy channels opened. Because of purifying all these ingredients, I have run out of mana." Because he said these words with an honest expression on his pale, handsome face, it made the onlooker believe him. Alex stared at him. Because of the special properties of his body, he could detect the energy radiation level of a person. Vincent''s had dropped to zero, meaning he didn''t even have any. That meant he wasn''t purposely evading him, but because of ack of energy, he couldn''t help fulfill his request. Now, he could give him an energy restoration pill, but he didn''t do so. He had multiple reasons for that. The first was that it would be a waste. The second was that he didn''t want toe off as too aggressive and force an alchemy prodigy to perform for his amusement. Thest was that each pill contained impurities, and he didn''t want to form poison into his student''s throat, especially since the situation didn''t call for it. He would be teaching him for a good while. There ould be many chances to see the techniques of the prodigy and cover his own shorings. "I guess it can''t be helped then. Anyway, good work! You''re the best one in your grade, the whole academy actually at purifying alchemy ingredients." "Thank you, sir." After saying those words to Vincent, Alex turned to the rest of the kids, looked at the ingredients on their tables, and after finding out that they were all far frompleting the goal he gave them, he said the following words in a disappointed voice: "All of you should learn from your ssmate here. Vincent hadpleted his task perfectly, yet some of you haven''t even started. The best ones who had been learning alchemy for thest few weeks aren''t even halfway towards the goal! I''m disappointed! Extremely disappointed! You guys aren''t only failing yourself but also pulling the legs of this alchemy prodigy! Because of you all, he might not even get to learn the second step of alchemy as early as his peers, who are learning from other alchemy masters. Better try hard lest you destroy someone else future." It sounded like he was taunting the students, but Vincent realized the whole other truth hidden behind the facade of aggression. First off, instructor Alex intentionally used harsh words to demoralize and also motivate the students in the ssroom. Secondly, Vincent inferred from his words that he wouldn''t be teaching them the next step of alchemy until 50% of their sspleted the first goal. That meant that Vincent needed to guide them to get on to learn more about Alchemy. If he didn''t do so, he would be wasting his time, something he didn''t want to do. Who knows how long it would take them toplete the first goal without the guidance of their teacher or him! Instructor Alex simply threw his baggage on him and Mr. Holmes, who could only answer if someone asked him a question about a subject rted to alchemy, and returned back to the other room to kick the bucket and sleep! Chapter 243 - Carrying Noobs; Even Gods Shoulder Cries! (a) With the departure of instructor Alex, mostly there were only clueless and talentless alchemy apprentices. Vincent stood at the back of the ss and looked at how they purified their ingredients. A couple of seconds was enough for him to assess that they were clumsy. It wasn''t that they were terrible; they were just clueless and trying to mimic Alex, the alchemist. Their thought process was in stupid. Their instructor wlessly and efficiently purified the ingredients because he was a master at it. Even repeatedly doing what he did was going to lead them nowhere. It would take them some days to realize that and change their method of doing things. Vincent realized all that because he was looking at the situation from above. As he had a better viewpoint, he could infer the wrongs and rights more clearly. ''Instructor Alex must have intentionally shown off his skill to mislead the students, and I added to this misunderstanding by doing what he did and effortlessly purifying dozen or so ingredients.'' Vincent realized that he had yed straight into Alex''s hand. By being too impressive and good at something, Vincent not only helped Alex in creating an urn but also fell into the trap with the others. ''Instructor Alex must be feeling pretty smug for ying such a move on me. Sorry, but I am going to make you get back to working your ass off far earlier than what you must be thinking.'' Vincent''s eyes shed a yful crimson color before returning to normal. Vincent thought for a moment and realized what he had to do to set the others on the correct path and help at least half the ss get the ingredient purifying process right. The first task was making them realize that they were doing it wrong. Now, Vincent couldn''t just outright say that they were all wrong, that even if they seed one time, they will fail ten times. He had to help someone get it right and grab the attention of the others. Then, using that momentum, he will advise them carefully and attentively and unconsciously make them take a different path, one better than the trap Alex the alchemist set for them. Before Vincent could put his n into y, he got blocked by the same short-legged boy who not only misunderstood him but alsobeled him as a coward. Vincent could see from the boy''s expression that he wanted to say something but was finding it hard to say it, so he asked, "What is it?" "Hey, I came to apologize," Gale said, "I am sorry for wrongly ming you. Can you forgive me?" In truth, Gale didn''t want to apologize. Who was he? Gale was a high-ranked noble. When had he ever apologized to anyone? Even the heads of a noble wouldn''t mistreat him, let alone demand an apology if he mistreated their son. However, he still came here because Eric, a great royal, wanted him to set his misunderstanding straight with Vincent, clear up the mess he caused, and invite him to join their table. Although reluctant, Gale still agreed to go along with his idea, and now he was here, standing in front of Vincent and apologizing to him in front of the entire ss. He felt awfully ufortable and embarrassed and felt as if every pair of eyes was staring at his back and side profile with disdain while the owners of those eyes were jeering at him in their hearts. Vincent saw his face, ears, and neck turning red, and he realized how ufortable he was feeling. He decided to let the past go. "Not a big deal." At that time, Vincent was annoyed and a bit angry for sure, but his negative emotions had cooled down a while ago. Thus, he no longer felt annoyed at the person who blocked him and wrongly used him. "Really? Are you no longer angry at me?" Gale asked. "Nope," Vincent said before excusing himself. "Wait, I still have a thing to ask." Gale said, "Can you please join our group and help us out." Vincent''s eyes widened. He realized the real reason why this high-ranked noble came to him. Apologizing wasn''t it but gaining his help surely was Gale''s main intention behind approaching him. Vincent walked past him, and Gale thought that his request got declined by Vincent. "What are you waiting there for?" Vincent called out. Gale turned around and realized that thetter was already standing with Eric and Eric''s knight. Vincent was going to join a group anyway, so he decided to be part of one with the most influential person in the entire ss, and it was none other than Eric Ambrose! "Coming." He walked up to them, and they started purifying a fresher batch of ingredients. What happened to thest batch of ingredients? Well, they somehow destroyed it! ''How can you destroy ingredients while purifying them?'' Vincent was so shocked that he gaped for a moment. They were so terrible that they not only failed to clear impurities for the ingredients but also deformed their shapes or poked such huge holes in them that all their medicinal essence leaked. No one buys deformed herbs as they are hard even to purify. At the same time, herbs with no medicinal essence are empty husks with nothing of value, so no one purchases them. Eric''s group now had four people, his knight, Gale, and Vincent. They decided to start with purifying one herb each so that they could get to know each other skills. This time, Vincent finished his part within thirty minutes. It was because of multiple reasons. First off, he took some time to restore some of his mana. Then, he slowed down even further to match the pace of the people around him. But even then, he finished purifying the herb before Eric and the others. "I''m done," Vincent said. "Wow! You''re too fast!" Gale praised. Vincent: "" I took thirty minutes to do something I couldplete in a minute, and you still call it fast. Boy, are you blind, or had you never learned how to calcte? Chapter 244 - Carrying Noobs; Even Gods Shoulder Cries! (b) "Ah, why can''t I get it right." Gale cried out. "Me too; I failed again." Eric''s knight, the man with burly muscles and a height two heads taller than Vincent, said. "What about you?" They both asked Eric. Eric didn''t have any ingredients on his tray. Where did they go? It was at this point that Eric''s stomach grumbled. ''Was he feeling so hungry that he ate them?'' Thought the stupid boy who was too short for his age. "Mine turned to dust." Eric coughed out those words with an embarrassed expression on his face. "How?" "I was proceeding gently, but I guess I used too much mana. The ingredients couldn''t stand the energy pressure and ended up deforming into dust, ah." Eric sang the tale of his failure with a sobbing expression on his pretty face. It was at this moment that Vincent realized that he had missed something crucial! "Can you guys do this?" Vincent asked as he performed some hand signs, gained control of his mana, and caused a blue thread made out of a single unit of mana to surge out of his finger and wriggle in mid-air. "Something so easy I surely can do that," Gale said confidently. But when it came to doing it, he was pushing dozens of units of energy out of his entire palm. And after doing it wrong, he still had the galls to act smug. Also, he raises his head as if wanting to get praised. Vincent rolled his eyes and turned to the other two. "You guys give it a try too." "Is this rted to purifying ingredients?" Eric''s knight asked. "Yes, it is." Vincent calmly replied. Eric''s Knight was both a battle master and a supernatural ability user. However, he had never learned to control himself while dealing with anyone that threatened to harm the person to who he swore loyalty. Use one swing, one attack, to make more enemy of his lord be a mere corpse. That was how he lived most of his life. Now, such a maniac has to treat something like a bit of a doll all of a sudden, just because his lord wanted to learn alchemy. Was that even possible? No! A big fat No! Under his care, his ingredient deformed into the shape of a finger-sized stick. Vincent: "" Only now did he realize that he had been a frog in a well. The world was so big, and its wonder so plenty that he had just started toe across them. "Want me to do that too?" Eric asked while looking at Vincent. "Yes, please." Vincent nodded his head. He was determining their capabilities. When Eric tried to purify his ingredient, Vincent was filled with the sudden desire to flip the table and p each of their heads. Eric put his palm on the ingredient he was supposed to purify, and it turned into dust. Vincent''s eyes twitched seeing that. These three were all advanced-stagebatants, and because they had an energy circuit, they didn''t need to use a magic technique to control the mana in their bodies. Still, they didn''t know how to limit their energy output to a single unit. They only knew how to push arge amount of it simultaneously! Not only did these people didn''t have their basic correct, but they couldn''t even control their mana perfectly. Everyone knew that it was hard to control battle energy as it was sturdy and vtile but easy to make mana dance at the palm of one''s hands because it was stable. Yet, they couldn''t even do the easy part right! Vincent turned around and realized that it wasn''t just the three members of his alchemy group but most everyone around him. These first-year students, second-year students, nobles, royals, and great royals were so pathetic andzy that they couldn''t even control their mana correctly! "Is there something wrong?" Eric asked after seeing the dark expression on Vincent''s face. Vincent smiled, but because his face seemed contorted, his smile appeared highly menacing. It''s time to school these guys. "You guys are failing because youck control over your mana. It''s simply too bad. Instead of pouring it inside the ingredient, you are using it to put energy pressure on the ingredients, causing them to change shape and break. Unless you can limit the amount of energy you release to single-digit numbers, don''t even try to purify an ingredient. You''ll just waste it." Vincent said, his words confidence-destroying, hurtful, but true nheless. Eric and the others already knew that they were failing because their mana discharge was too high, causing the ingredients to deform or turn to dust. They lowered their heads in defeat. Vincent told them to try to discharge mana until they get it right. They did but failed and kept on failing. No matter how hard they tried to do things right, they didn''t manage to release mana from their forefinger, much less a single unit of it. "This is getting us nowhere! We''re just wasting our time." Gale said as he red at Vincent. He had enough of following someone else words. Vincent had his arms crossed before his chest, and he had an easy expression on his face. "I''m guessing that you guys are not familiar with the sensation of discharging mana from your fingertips, right?" "What does that question have to do without a situation?" Gale said, squinting his eyes at Vincent. "Stop it," Eric told him to peace out. He turned to Vincent and said, "You''re right." Vincent''s eyes narrowed. Eric and the others were born with a silver or a golden spoon in their mouth. Their family gave them the best resources ever since they were born, causing them to be advanced-levelbatants without doing anything. They didn''t go through the process of memorizing hand signs to learn magic techniques, neither did they train their bodies. Unlike Vincent, who had learned Viper Hunt, mana bullet, magic bullet, and other techniques through the most fundamental ways and had huge control over his body, they didn''t. "I have a way to help you guys get better at the ingredients purifying process, but are you willing to follow my n?" Vincent said, his eyes brightening up in a profound light! Chapter 245 - Level Up Requirements! The academy had many training rooms, and each of them had a track field, gym equipment, personalized gravity adjusting watches, and many other training equipments. Students could pay some contribution points to gain ess to such rooms. The prices vary depending on the amount they would be using it. Eric had loaned one such room for four hours. It was so Vincent could train him, his Knight, and Gale. "Gale, keep on running until your legs give up!" "Increase the amount of weight you are carrying on you by another 50 KG, Salvador." "Eric, increase the gravitational force on you to five times that of Earth and try toplete ten more rounds." Vincent gave out a few instructions to the people running in the tracks. "Yes, sir!" While running at the top of his speed, holding his arms high up in the air, and clutching a dumbbell weighing 300 kg in his hands, Gale gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep moving at the same speed. Salvador was sweating from head to toe as he was not used to carrying three times his body weight while training. Even though he was not used to it, he still followed Vincent''s words and used the watch-like technology on his wrist to increase his weight by 50 kg. Eric was no better than the others, even though he was at a higher evolutionary stage than them. He was breathing raggedly and felt as that his lungs were on fire. Eric wanted to give up. But seeing the two people who had no intention of giving up, he too decided not to give up and follow Vincent''s instructions. Thus, Eric increased the amount of gravitational force pressing down on him by a few times. Instantly, his movement became sluggish, and it became even harder to take a step forward. "What a surprise." Vincent looked at Eric, Salvador, and Gale with a look of approval. "I thought they would give up after an hour, but they managed tost for two. If they don''t give up andplete this task, I will be able to push them one step closer to mastering the ingredients purifying process." Vincent knew that he would see whether they were serious about learning alchemy or not if they did his training withoutint. If they do, he will walk away and turn to train some others first. "What a bitter taste." Vincent wasn''t training. Instead, he was lying down on the curved grassy field beside the track, looking at the three people working their butts off and chewing on a stalk of green that tasted exceptionally bitter. As he had nothing better to do than rx in the grassy field, he decided to use the experience points he had umted in the tomb of Roselia to strengthen himself. Now, he had earned a lot of experience points. He had used 10000 points back in the tomb to upgrade his subspace. But even after expending such a huge amount, he still had around 48000 points left. [Experience Points: 48610] Vincent opened the character screen and looked at the amount of XP he needed to reach the next level. He saw that he only needed 1400 points. It was a small amountpared to what he had. "Level up!" [-1400 experience points.] [You''ve reached level 6!] [You''ve gained two attribute points for reaching level 6.] "Keep on leveling up!" Vincent knew that reaching level 16 would allow him to evolve himself. And only after that would he get to increase the levels of his innate racial traits. They were already too powerful, but once their level increased, they would be able to stand up against the best supernatural powers. [-38210 experience points!] [You''ve reached level 15!] [You''ve gained 18 attribute points for leveling up nine times.] Now, Vincent had 20 unallocated attribute points! "Hmm? Why can''t I reach level 16 even though I have more than enough experience points?" Vincent had around 10000 points. To reach the next level, he only needed 6000 points. Yet, every time he tried to do it, an error prompt would pop up in front of him. [You do not meet the requirements to reach level 16] "What requirements? Can you be more specific?" [To reach the next level, you need to consume the drop of blood of a vampire royal or three liters of a noble vampire''s blood. In addition to that, I must let you know that you''ll also need a lot of blood and carcass belonging to a monster lord. Without them, you might lose your rationality and go berserk. Once that happens, there is a high chance the crimson one would do everything in its power to take over your body and seal your corrupted consciousness behind the nine seals.] Some things were better to be made clear. Aaron knew that. Hence, he had instructed Blood to tell all that to Vincent once he reached a step away from entering the second evolution of the blood mace race. Vincent chewed on the stalk of grass more harshly. Killing a monster lord was as hard as getting its blood and flesh. Completing the second requirement to reach level 16 was too hard. But the first one was even moreplex. At least he knew many ces where he could hunt down monster lords. But he didn''t know where he could find a vampire novel, much less a royal. Actually, Damien was one, but Vincent didn''t want to harm an innocent federation citizen to be powerful. "Let''s just distribute attribute points." Vincent looked at his character screen. His strength stat had reached 259 points, while his stamina stat had reached 180. In truth, his permanent stats were around 100 points. His current stats were so high because of all the items on him. Anyway, even with all the items on him, only his agility was below 150 points. He added all the attributes points in his agility stat. [-20 attribute points.] [Your speed stat has increased to 154 points.] [0 attribute points left.] Vincent smiled. He was now fast enough to outrun a person who had recently be an advanced-levelbatant! Chapter 246 - Vincent The Grand Teacher! Vincent could still increase his strength and stamina stats by ten points, but he would need to be the owner of the demon king''s requiem first. It wasn''t going to be easy to do that, though. He needed to pass a trial, and he didn''t know how hard it would be and how long it would take him to finish it. He decided to do it after solving the current affairs of his life. Do one thing at a time; that''s what Vincent wanted. First off, he needed to train Eric, Salvador, and Gale. After they seed in purifying the ingredients, the rest of the ss will naturallye to him and ask for advice. He would just tell them what they needed to do, and as long as they stuck to his ns, they too will be proficient in the purifying process. Then, once half of the ss learns it, Instructor Alex would''ve no choice but to move hiszy butt and teach them the rest of the things rted to alchemy. It took half an hour for Eric and the other two toplete their task and return to Vincent. They dropped on the grass by his side andid down there, breathing raggedly and blowing off the bitter sweat trickling down their lips. "Ah, I am dead tired!" Gale eximed. "I''ve never trained so intensely before." Salvador said, "It''s like torture." "Are you sure you''re not taking revenge on us?" Eric joked while looking at Vincent. "I''m not," Vincent said with a straight face. "I was just joking." Eric thought that he had taken his words for real and corrected himself. Vincent detected not even a trace of imposing manner and overbearing arrogance that great royals would carry whether they went. "Me too," Vincent said, again with a straight face. His expression doesn''t match his words; the three of themined in silence. "You all are exhausted, and your body is in dire need of rest. Go and take a nap, but be here at sunrise or I will take it as you''re not serious about learning alchemy and go my own way." Vincent said with a decisive look in his eyes. He wasn''t their nanny. They weren''t paying him to get taught either. So, he won''t put up with any of their tantrums. "6 in the morning, is it? I will be here by then, sir!" Eric said, treating Vincent as if he was a soldier or some kind of temporary instructor. "Me too, sir!" Gale added with a salute. "Me three!" Salvador said. Vincent walked away. Looking at his back, the three of them made fun of him, saying how he was a dead-face, a person who doesn''t change his expression often. The next day, the four met up in the same training room. It was still early in the morning. Most students were still sleeping. Yet, Gale, Eric, and Salvador sere here to get trained by Vincent. "As you guys already know, with an energy circuit, you can control magic power or the purified version of it without using hand signs. That''s the use of having it. But it also has disadvantages! "It''s harder to control energy using your circuit than using hand signs to do the same thing. And to discharge a determined amount of it out of certain ces in your body, you need to know which veins you need to inject energy into it. "So, how do we do that? Well, there are many, but I rmend you guys to learn my self-created magic technique, zapping, and keep on using it until you can feel the sensation of a limited amount of mana coursing through the veins in your body anding out of the tip of your fingers. After feeling it and training repeatedly, you''ll get used to it, and there wille a time when you''ll know which veins to inject energy into to discharge mana from your fingers. And you guys will also gain better control over it." Zapping was something Vincent had derived out of the magic technique, mana bullet. He didn''t want to teach thetter to the others as it was one of his signatures skills, and he also didn''t have the creator''s permission in teaching others said skill. So, he decided oning up with a new one and ended up creating zapping. Like its name, it causes some units of mana to surge out of the fingers, mix into one to create a thin energy beam, and strike a single point on the enemy''s body, causing them to feel stinging pain. It wasn''t lethal or harmful but worked better than a finger flick. "Are you going to teach your self-created technique for free?" Gale asked. "If you don''t want that, you can give me all your treasures." Vincent joked with a smile. Seeing a smile on his face for the very first time, they were all shocked at how handsome he looked. Then, they coughed as they snapped out of their daze. "You''re a really good guy, but I won''t be taking advantage of you," Eric said. He gave Vincent a token. "What is this?" Vincent asked. "You can use this to purchase anything you like in the special shop of the academy," Eric replied. Vincent knew that the student council was running the special shop, and his words just confirmed it. He taught them the magic technique, and they started using it. At first, they zapped a dummy, then they became yful and started zapping each other whileughing and crying like idiots. Vincent, who was looking at them from the sides, opened his mouth and said, "At least after a few days, Eric, you won''t be disintegrating alchemy ingredients." Vincent turned towards Gale and continued, "Gale, you''ll be able to remove 50% impurities from an ingredient." Vincent nced at the leftover hunk and added, "Salvador, you will do better than them if you just don''t touch the ingredients with your hands during the purifying process.. But of course, you''ll gain better control over your body because of all the physical training, and picking them up with your hands won''t cause them to get crushed as long as you concentrate and keep your physical exertion to the bare minimum." Chapter 247 - Leaning Alchemy Recipes! Eric, Gale, and Salvador felt pumped up after hearing Vincent''s words. At first, they didn''t know how long they would need to train to master the ingredients purifying process. Now, however, they knew how long they had to undergo this grueling training to conquer the purifying process and make their instructor work. Thus, even though the training was too hard, they didn''t feel downcast. In the next few days, they trained and exhausted their bodies at night, followed by practicing discharging energy from their fingertips by using hand signs in the morning. To Vincent''s surprise, Eric Ambrose was the first one to understand the path his mana took to escape out of his fingers and learned to shoot it out by using only his energy circuit. Gale mastered that a day after him, and Salvador was thest one to understand it. He took four days. Their progress was impressive, enough for Vincent to praise them as geniuses. However, they all knew that he was the one doing his best to polish unrefined gems like them who were rich second-generation that never did anything the hard way and only ever took the easy route. If it wasn''t for him, who can say that they would change their course? The next alchemy ss was still a day away. Their teacher only held it once a week, and if necessary, then three days. Though, that depended on Alex''s mood. He was the best of the best, so the headmaster couldn''t evenin too much, not too much they couldn''t kick him out as the person backing him was instructor Theodore. If only he pulls out, then instructor Alex wouldn''t act as carefree as he was acting nowadays. Eric and the others wanted to test out how much they had improved, but they could only do it tomorrow. "See you guyster." "Bye!" "Tomorrow, don''t miss the alchemy ss!" "Yes, I won''t." "Promise?" "I mean it. Even I want to see how much you guys have improved." It was still early in the morning. The three people had just finished their energy control training and were soaking wet with their sweat. Vincent said his goodbyes and went to deal with an important matter. In contrast, the three of them cleaned themselves and started partying. During this week, a lot of things had happened. Vincent had made three people ready to crush the first process of alchemy,pleting the first step of his n to make instructor Alex take them and his job seriously instead of goofing off and sleeping his days away. The second important thing was that John had awakened. He took four whole days toplete his awakening process and, in the end, gained two powerful superpowers. Nowadays, after sses, he spends the rest of his time understanding how to use them. Thest was that Vincent had used his spare time to sell monster cores, carcasses, and other items that were useless to him through the online market. He earned a lot, nearly a million contribution points which he split up with the others. They didn''t take much as they said they didn''t do much to defeat them. As a result, he ended up with half a million points. Half a million was a significant sum of contribution points, and Vincent found an excellent way to start using them. Vincent invested them in purchasing alchemy recipes, which Vincent believed would tell him where he could find the ingredients needed to make them, what dangers he mighte across while trying to pick them, how to pull them out of the ground, how to grow them, and what he needs to keep them away from wilting. He also learned many basics of alchemy from these recipes, such as heat control, timing, etc. After splitting up with the people he no longer needed to carry on his back, Vincent went to the depository. It was near the Academy. The things Vincent purchased online had gotten transported to the deposit. Today, he was going there to get them out of it! The depository had a spacious interior and twelve floors. The floor was marbled, and there were twelve counters on the first floor. Each had a clerk in it, and huge lines of people stood in front of each of them "It''s going to take a lot of time." Vincent clicked his tongue and got in line. He waited there patiently. Soon, his turn came up. The clerk asked him some questions in a monotone, androgynous voice, making Vincent believe he was talking to a robot. He answered the robot''s question and gave him his student ID when it asked for it. He also gave the robot the serial numbers he got at the time of purchasing the hundreds of alchemy recipes to the robot. A moment after that, the robot handed him a ring. Vincent put it on him, left the ce, and while returning to the academy, peered inside of it. He saw many alchemy recipes, so many that he could make around half his million by selling them! Vincent went back home and pulled all of the alchemy recipes out of the spatial ring. They were in the shape of tiny marbles, and they scattered all over his study table. There was no paper or such stuff, but Vincent wasn''t surprised. He knew that they could record information and that they all represented one pill recipe. Some were bigger than the others. The biggest one contained the best one. He wanted to start by mastering the best, so he picked one up and poured mana into it. Immediately after, multiple holographic papers containing line after line popped up in his vision. ''Reading and memorizing the context of this recipe would take up the rest of my entire day,'' Vincent thought after noticing that there were seventeen pages withplex information and forms in them. [Would you like to memorize it by using some experience points?] Vincent thought about it. Instead of working hard and studying for months, it would be best to learn all of them in a single day and free himself from overstudying. All it would take was experience points that he had plenty. Vincent picked up one marble after another and used the unique method to memorize their context. [-50 experience points. You''ve memorized the entire context of the Upper energy purifying form.] [-10 experience points. You''ve memorized the entire context of the lower health potion recipe.] [-30 experience points. You''ve memorized the entire context of the Pure Restoration Pill Recipe.] A lot of information kept surging into his mind, bing a part of his memory. Still, he didn''t feel overloaded, and his brain was able to keep up with the speed at which he was learning new knowledge. Before the twin moons of Xavier managed to overthrow the sun, Vincent ended up bing a walking, talking library of alchemy topics. He could process knowledge about different pills at any moment he liked. The only thing he wascking was learning thest process of alchemy. And he was sure that the day he would learn it wasn''t far away. A new monster of alchemy was born! ___ "He is probably noting today." Salvador saw that it was already 12, but the person in charge of their alchemy hadn''te and felt dissatisfaction arising from the bottom of his heart. It was Sunday, and only a single person had dropped out of the alchemy ss, thinking it would waste his timeing here as the instructor he got wasn''t interested in teaching him. As if he were cursed, Alex didn''t evene here. Only the substitute was here, ready to answer if they had any alchemy questions. "He is kind of an asshole. Don''t you guys think so too?" Gale said, dissing Alex. "I also feel that his attitude isn''t right, and I even sent a formalint to the headmaster to impeach him or put someone else in his ce to teach us, but both of my requests were turned down." Eric agreed with him as he felt that instructor Alex was too irresponsible. "Wait, the higher-ups of the academy usually fawn over you to gain your favor, but they even turned your request down for instructor Alex. I''m guessing his backing is quite big." Salvador said after thinking carefully for a moment. Before they could start chatting away the rest of the day on some useless topic, Vincent intervened. "Ignore him and focus on what you guys came here for. See how good you''ve be in the purification process and forget about everything else." Vincent said to them. He knew that instructor Alex was testing them. Though, his way of doing things was too insidious. Besides, He might not teach them if half of the ss fails toplete the first process of alchemy by the end of the month. Gale and the others started purifying one ingredient each, and it only took several minutes for Gale to expel around 50% from one. Chapter 248 - Impressing Instructor Alex! "I did it!" Gale eximed. He had cleaned 53% impurities from one of the four ingredients! Gale felt happy. With such a result, he could finally face p the smug face of instructor Alex, who was looking down on him and the other students while degrading them a week ago. Many pairs of eyes turned towards Gale, and when they saw that he had seeded, their eyes widened in shock. Just a week ago, he was failing miserably. And now, after a week, he improved by leaps and bound and mastered the first step of alchemy. What had he gone through in a single week to gain such an impressive improvement in his alchemy technique? While Gale was self-indulging in his happiness, someone else also finished his task. "I did it too, and I did it better than you. See how vibrant this flower is looking? It makes me believe that my ingredient probably only has 30% or so impurities left." Eric Ambrose chimed in from the sides. The eyes of their temporary ssmates widened like saucers! What did they just hear? Another person who was failing a week ago managed to seed today?! Were they hearing it right?!! "I don''t believe you did better than me," Gale said, not wanting to believe that the student council president who was better than him at management would also be better than him in alchemy and energy control. "Believe it or not, the truth is that I am better than you, and the proof is right in front of our eyes." Eric unted his superior skills in front of the entire ss. "That''s what you''re saying." Even though his ingredient looked worse, Gale still didn''t want to believe that he was better than him. One shouldn''t judge books by their covers. What mattered was the content inside of it. "Well, since you don''t believe me, how about we ask Mr. Holmes to verify it?" Eric offered. Vincent could tell that Eric said those words to ce a trap out in the open. If it were him, he would simply ignore it, curb his arrogance, lower his pride, and not ept it. However, Gale and the other nobles and royals in this ssroom were prideful to an extreme level. If they weren''t, they would have requested to change sses and study under another alchemy master. But they not only wanted the best of the best, but their pride also didn''t allow them to take someone verbal besting lying down. That''s why except for one person who left, they were still here, wanting to prove to instructor Alex that he was wrong and that they were worth getting taught by him! "Alright, let''s do it. It''s not like I am afraid of seeing things through. Even if you''re better than me, so what. I have apologized once, and I can do it again." Gale excluded a unique sense of shamelessness, making Vincent feel that Gale had gained an extra thickyer of skin after apologizing to him the previous week. "Then, you better prepare for it," Salvador said. "Even you are taking his side!" Gale revealed a somewhat devastated expression. Salvador, who was his best friend, was taking someone else''s side and not his. What did that mean? It meant that he got abandoned by his best friend, too, as he didn''t believe in his ability. Meanwhile, Salvador had a unique conflicted expression on his face. One was his best friend, but the other, his lord. When ites to the taking side, he would always be beside his best friend. But since it was his lord standing on the other side, he couldn''t help but betray his friend and take his lord''s side. What else could Salvador even do? Eric was his lord, and he was so loyal to him that he would not mind giving his life to save Eric if a life-threatening situation ever arises. As he was devoted to him, he was bound to take his side in matters big or small. They both went to Mr. Holmes, and he scanned both of their ingredients. As a result, he announced Eric as the winner. The crowd cheered for him, and Ericughed with them. Gale felt embarrassed, remembering all the big words he had said, and he also felt his inferiorityplex tingling his senses. Vincent patted him and said that he was still impressive for improving so much in such a short time and thatter on, he could improve even more as long as he kept on trying. It was not the rabbit who won the race but the turtle. Gale cheered up, thinking that he would keep on trying to improve, and there woulde a time where he would defeat Eric in at least alchemy. "How this you guys improve so much, though? I clearly remember seeing you guys struggling with not destroying the ingredients, much less purifying them. What kind of crazy luck did you threee across?" Asked one of them. Gale and Salvador let Eric speak since he was a fluent speaker, "Our improvement is all thanks to him. If it wasn''t for him, I don''t know how long it would have taken for us to reach such a level, but it definitely wouldn''t have been less than a week." Who was he praising? Well, it was none other than Vincent! Everyone knew that he was as good as the instructor himself when it came to purifying ingredients. However, they were surprised to hear that he was also good at teaching others. Immediately they crowded around him, asking for him to guide them. Some begged him; some offered to pay him arge sum of tuition fees; some praised him to the skies, hoping that he would favor them and teach them a thing or two, causing them to be extreme alchemy masters! "If you guys want to learn it, follow Eric ande to the training ground today. I can promise to make you guys improve by leaps and bounds if you follow my training word to word." Vincent said. "We''re willing to follow you!" Vincent''s eyes twinkled in happiness. The second part of his n wasplete! And now, he just needed to give them the same training that he gave Eric, Salvador, and Gale to make them be proficient at the first step of alchemy! Chapter 249 - Instructor Alex Teaches Alchemy! With Vincent at the helm, the alchemy students quickly gained better control over their energy. They became good enough to purify 50% of impurities from the ingredients. It took them two weeks of training for four hours in the night and an hour in the morning to reach such a level. When the news that nearly all of the students in his ssroom had reached such a level spread across the academy, many instructors praised Alex, the alchemist. The headmaster even drank with him and gave him a few things. Alex, who was confused, had no choice but to get back to his ss and witness their improvement for himself. As it turned out, the students who were so clumsy that he didn''t want to waste a single second of his life on them exceeded his expectations. Just how did they be so good? Why did nearly the entire ss pass the test he set for them when he thought that only 3 to 7, including Vincent, would manage to hold on in the end? Who was behind this great y? It was at this moment that he saw Vincent beaming towards him. That suspicious smile on Vincent''s pale, handsome face made it too apparent to instructor Alex. The one behind the improvement of the entire ss was none other than Vincent, the boy born for alchemy! ''What an interesting guy!'' Instructor Alex smiled back. ''Theo sure has an eye for picking up treasures.'' Instructor Alex wasn''t mad. He was somewhat happy. He believed in the term; the more, the merrier. Not to mention, no matter how good Vincent was, if the others didn''t put any effort into improving themselves, they wouldn''t have reached such a level in merely a few weeks. Such hard-working kids deserved to get taught by him. He took the students to another ssroom with many cauldrons, timers, etc. Instructor Alex turned to the students and said with a generous smile, "Alright, it''s time for you guys to learn alchemy for real." Then, he walked up to the cauldron in the middle of the room. He pointed at the cauldron with many inscription patterns and said, "As you all already know, this here is a high-tech cauldron. It has four inscriptions on it. The first one allows you to create fire. The second one will enable you to control how hot it gets, letting you control the temperature of the cauldron. The third one allows you to put mana into it. The fourth one will let you see what''s happening inside this big copper pot. Of course, you will be expending mana to activate them. Now, I will give you a minute to remember which inscription does what before moving on to the next part." One nce was enough for Vincent, and of course, many others. Vincent thought that he really was too lucky to be born in this era where technology has improved so much that anyone could learn alchemy. In the past, only those people with fire ability and excellent control over their energy were able to do alchemy. But it all changed with the introduction of inscription patterns, as it made it possible for everyone to do alchemy. As long as they were willing to work their ass off and study like dogs, who bark at night, they would master it and start creating pills to earn wads of cash. A minuteter, not caring whether some students who were slow on the uptake had memorized the effects of the inscription by heart or not, instructor Alex moved to the best part of alchemy. "The first you need to do is to open the lid and put ingredients inside of the cauldron. You can use your hands, but nearly all the alchemists use mana to perform such tasks." He opened the lid not by using his hands but by using mana. It hovered in mid-air as one ingredient after another took flight and charged inside the cauldron, settling inside of it. The lid closed, and instructor Alex proceeded to the next step. "The second thing is to heat the cauldron to an appropriate temperature and melt the ingredients." While saying that, some mana surged out of him and charged into the fire-creating inscription, causing fire to manifest beneath and inside the cauldron, heating it up at an incredible phase. "Remember, each ingredient has a different melting point. If you use more heat to melt it, the me will also eat away at its medicinal essence!" Instructor Alex said, "The melting point of these four ingredients is on the holographic screen. Make sure to note them down. Better yet, memorize it by heart." Suddenly, a holographic screen popped up, showing them what was happening inside it and also the melting point of each ingredient. At the same time, wisps of fire roused up from the pit of the cauldron and enveloped the ingredients, melting their bodies and revealing their medicinal essence. Each had a different color. "Mixing the medicinal essence into a solid form by using your mana is thest step of alchemy. The most important part of this step is the golden ratio. Without it, you will fail in creating a pill, elixir, potion, whatever you would like to create. If you don''t know what it is, look up its definition on Wikipedia!" Vincent knew that the golden ratio was the quantity of medicine essence required from each ingredient to be mixed into one to create a pill. So, he didn''t need to look it up. More mana surged out of Instructor Alex and entered the cauldron. It separated the medicinal essence of the four ingredients into different portions, enough to create more than a dozen pills. Then, itbined those parts to start making multiple pills. Under the energy pressure emitted by his mana, the various portions of medicinal essence that were in a gaseous state first turned into liquid, then solidified into the form of a pill. Under the eyes of all the students present, the different portions of medicinal essence turned into pills! Chapter 250 - Unnamed "Collect." Instructor Alex waved his hand, and the lid of the cauldron opened before twelve pills jumped out of it andnded on his hands. He created a dozen pills using a single batch of ingredients that glorified his status as one of the best alchemists! Seeing him perform pill refinement was the same as watching a festival or a piano concert. The eyes of the students sparkled with excitement. Soon, even they might reach a good level as they were getting taught by Alex the alchemist! Instructor Alex turned to the students and said, "You all get to it. If you sessfully create a consumable pill, report to me. I will give you a grade-5 alchemist certificate. The more pill you make with a single batch of ingredients, the higher the grade of your certificate. You can directly get a grade-2 certificate if you conjure 12 pills as I did! Such is the reward for a solo performance. If you team up, the reward will get halved. The more the members in a team, the lesser the reward." Vincent''s eyes brightened. The alchemy association had divided alchemist into different grades, starting from grade-5, the lowest one, and going to grade-1, the highest one. Then, there were titles, namely Alchemy Lord, Alchemy Master, Alchemy King, an Alchemy Emperor. One could only earn titles by making significant contributions to the advancement of alchemy or joining alchemypetitions held by the higher authority. In the world of alchemy, only those with titles were the higher-ups. In contrast, to improve the grade of one''s alchemy profession, a person needs to participate in many exams! However, Vincent would get to skip all such tiresome processes as long as he creates 12 pills and impresses Alex, the alchemist! The entire ss started trying to make a pill. None of the students doubted instructor Alex. He was a master alchemist, and he could directly promote them to Grade-1 Alchemist. Such was the authority of a master alchemist. Not to mention, Alex was one of the best, and the only reason he still had the title of a master alchemist was that he didn''t participate in anypetition for years! If he did, there was a chance that he would be the current emperor of alchemy, a title which could belong to only a single person! Even if instructor Alex had failed to achieve that, he would at least be poprly known as an alchemy king. However, he didn''t care about reputation and stuff and did everything he liked. Thus, he didn''t give respect to the alchemy association when they invited him to join the most significantpetition for alchemists and declined their invitation. Eric, Salvador, Gale, and Vincent talked for a minute. In the end, they decided to go solo. The pros of going solo were far more excellent than the cons! "Let''s start." Vincent cracked his knuckles and got to work. He started by purifying a single batch of ingredients. Then, he used a couple of minutes recovering his mana. Once his mana recovered to 300 units, he opened the cauldron lid, which he ced on the table nearby. He looked inside and saw that the cauldron had two sectionsan inflexible horizontal te made of a material that won''t melt no matter how hot it gets. Instead, the higher the heat, the more itpacts and hardens. It was an exotic material, and each high-tech cauldron came equipped with it. One could ce ingredients on top of the metallic te if they didn''t want to use mana to keep their ingredients afloat. Vincent didn''t have a lot of energy like instructor Alex and most of the students here, so he picked up some ingredients that he purified moments ago and carefully ced them inside the upperyer of the cauldron. Then, he put the lid back on the cauldron. With that done, he could finally start the main process of alchemy. Vincent touched the pendant beneath his shirt andmunicated with its artificial intelligence mentally, "Blood, are you ready?" [Alchemy assistance program activated!] The moment that notification sounded in Vincent''s ears, he directed his gaze towards the cauldron. Many small boxes opened up in his vision. They contained all the information about what he should do and not do to refine energy restoration pills! [First, start by using three units of mana to activate the fire creation inscription!] Following the first step mentioned in the alchemy assistance program, Vincent released three units of mana and ingrained them into the fire creation inscription. Instantly, a fire appeared beneath and within the lower section of the cauldron, healing it up. [Wait for five minutes.] He needed to let the fire head the cauldron for five minutes. Vincent used those five to recover the mana he had just used. [Five minutes have passed.] [Now, please split the fire inside the cauldron into 12 parts by using your mana.] After five minutes passed, the alchemy assistance program gave Vincent two more instructions. He hurriedly put 120 units of mana into the me control inscription and gained significant control over the fire around and inside the cauldron. He easily split the fire in the lower section of the cauldron into twelve equal parts. He was sweating, making the onlooker think that even if Vincent was born to do this, it might not be easy for him to seed in a single try. Alex smiled. Yes, alchemy wasn''t easy. If someone seeded in a single attempt without finding it hard, wouldn''t there be many alchemists and not just a million or so. He thought that Vincent might fail his first attempt. "Now what?" Vincent asked. [Use five parts of fire to melt ingredient number 4, three to melt ingredient number 1, three to melt ingredient number 2, and two to melt ingredient number 3.] The alchemy assistance program told him how much fire he needed to pour on the ingredients to make them reach their melting point! ___ Monthly Goals: 13/60 Chapters! Chapter 251 - Vincent Shocking Heaven And Choking The Mortals! ''Amazing! Blood, you''re amazing!'' Vincent praised his assistance and focused on the task at hand. Vincent didn''t need to use the other inscription to see what was happening inside the cauldron. Thanks to the alchemy assistance program, he was able to see through the outer surface of the cauldron. In his eyes, the four ingredients used to create the energy restoration pill appeared with a number box above or next to them that showcased which one was number 1 and which ones were number 2, 3, and 4. Vincent immediately directed the necessary parts of fire towards the ingredients. Sizzle, sizzle! After getting touched by the scorching heat, the four ingredients melted in mere moments, leaving behind nothing but ashes and medicinal essence. "Bam!" Bam! It was at this moment that a thundering noise echoed in the ssroom. The devastating sound was so loud that everyone''s eyes wandered off to its source. Vincent, too, came to a sudden halt and looked around to see what had just happened. They saw that three groups had failed at refining pills simultaneously. No wonder the sound was so loud. Three groups messed up theplex alchemy process so severely that even the high-tech cauldron showed signs of cracking and breaking down. The ones who failed were terrified out of their wits already, but when they saw the scowl on instructor Alex''s face, their fear intensified. "Sir, we''re sorry." One of them begged for forgiveness out of nervousness. Instructor Alex clicked his tongue at their attitude, but the words that came out of his mouth didn''t demotivate the students who failed, "Stop looking like it is the end of the world, you rich and poor brats! Even I messed up a few times before getting it right the first day I tried to refine pills. You''ve only failed once and are acting miserable! Raise your chest and redo the process from scratch! Don''t stop until you get it right! It''s not like there''s a shortage of high-tech cauldrons and ingredients in the academy! Make sure to abuse your privilege as academy''s students to the limit, and when you get out there in the vast universe, don''t disgrace our name!" "Yes, sir!" The students who failed went out to get new cauldrons. The rest lost their nervousness and redirected their focus on creating pills. Most were still heating the cauldron, and the best ones were trying to melt their ingredients. Vincent, on the other hand, was already trying tobine the medicinal essence into a pill! [You can separate the medicinal essence of the first ingredient into twenty-eight parts, each containing 20 units of medicinal essence.] [You can separate the medicinal essence of the first ingredient into fourteen parts, each containing 20 units of medicinal essence.] [You can separate the medicinal essence of the third ingredient into fourteen parts, each containing 20 units of medicinal essence.] [You can separate the medicinal essence of the fourth ingredient into twenty-eight parts, each containing 20 units of medicinal essence.] Vincent hurriedly used his mana to separate the medicinal essence of the four ingredients into many parts. Right after, another notification popped up. [Mix two parts of the first and fourth ingredients with one part of the second and third ingredients to create an energy restoration pill.] A vast amount of mana surged out of Vincent''s hand and poured into the cauldron through the inscription that allows mana to pass into a sealed cauldron. It took him a minute to create fourteen portions consisting of two parts of the first and fourth ingredients and one part of the third and second ingredients. "Only one thing left to do, use energy pressure to smash them into one and solidify them into a pill!" Vincent performed some hand signs and released all the mana that was inside of his body through his palms, and poured it into the cauldron. Themotion created by his actions was enough to attract many pairs of eyes towards him. The moment they saw that he was on thest step, they gaped in surprise, and it shocked them so much that they stood speechlessly on their spot. "Huh?! How is he already at thest step? Only several minutes had passed! This kid, he exceeded my expectations again!" When instructor Alex saw that Vincent was focusing on condensing medicinal essence into a pill, his hawk-like eyes widened to the size of saucers, disbelief vivid in them. He had never thought that a first-timer would be able to move so fast. And he never believed that Vincent, who wascking in the energy department, would surpass everyone in this alchemy process that was heavily dependent on a person''s mana reserve. "Condense!" Vincent''s manapressed all the portions of medicinal essences belonging to four different ingredients into fourteen energy restoration pills. By this time, he only had 20 units of his mana left! As he had used too much mana in a short time, he was also feeling dizzy. He extinguished the mes. "Retrieve." The caldron opened up immediately, and fourteen pills shot out from inside it,nding on Vincent''s hands. "What the heck?!" "He created not one, not two, but fourteen pills, two more than Instructor Alex!" "Is this really his first time? How could he be so better than us?" "Idiot! He is not only better than us but also our instructor. We can''t even begin topare ourselves with him." Although instructor Alex didn''t do his best, it was still extremely shocking to see that Vincent, a first-timer, had outperformed him! Alex was a master alchemist, a titled alchemist! Who was Vincent? A first-timer with no records of ever doing alchemy in his entire life! The one who shocked the entire ss and caused many to feel inferior put the pills in a bottle and went up to the speechless instructor Alex. "Instructor, I am done." Vincent beamed a smile while handing over the pill bottle to Alex so that thetter could inspect the quality of the pills! Chapter 252 - Getting Certified As An Alchemist! Vincent was confident that all of his pills were consumables and of the best quality. Alex looked at the pill bottle in Vincent''s hand with a scrutinizing gaze. A casual gaze was usually enough for him to determine the effect and quality of a pill as he was a master alchemist. However, this time it wasn''t enough. He took the bottle from Vincent''s hand and opened the lid. A bluish aroma burst out of the bottle, and Alex didn''t hesitate before sniffing it. The aroma went inside his body, and instantly he felt the changes taking ce in his energy recovering abilities. Then, everyone saw Alex''s squinted eyes opened wide! Alex immediately noticed that the quality of the pills was as good as the ones he had created a while ago. It was just that Vincent had made two more than him using the same amount of ingredients. He was a genius! Alex raised his head and looked at Vincent, who appeared somewhat anxious. Vincent was waiting for him to announce the result. Alex didn''t keep him under suspense any longer as he said, "All of these fourteen energy restoration pills are the best I have ever seen. A restoration rate of 1000 units of mana per second for a total of 10 seconds makes it nothing short of awesome! If you sell them in the auction, people will fight to buy them. I mean to say that you''re on the level of a first-grade alchemist. Good work!" Alex pped his hands after announcing Vincent''s result. "Thanks for yourpliment." Vincent had only said those words when cheers erupted from behind him. He turned around and saw Eric, Salvador, and Gale giving him a standing ovation. Their actions seemed to have set an infectious wave that infected all the students in this ce, causing them to move their tongues and hands. The entire ss started pping and praising Vincent! This was one of those rare times when no one expressed their jealousy and participated only in the joy of another''s sess. The students got to work, and instructor Alex took Vincent to his office. As he was a titled alchemist and a person backed by instructor Theodore, the academy treated him well. Alex had a ce where he could conduct official business. Aftering here, he took off his coat, ced it on the table, and sat down on the seat behind the desk. "Instructor, we are here for what?" Vincent asked. "Take a seat." There were four sofas in this room; two could house four people and the other two only one. Vincent sat down at the edge of the double sitter and looked at instructor Alex in doubt. The next moment, instructor Alex opened his table drawer and took out a document. "This is?" Alex smiled at him and said, "the reason why I took you here." Instructor Alex handed over the grade-2 alchemist certificate and told him to fill it. Vincent wrote his personal information on the certificate and returned it to him. Alex checked it once and then stamped it with a legal seal. After that, he wired it to the headquarters of the alchemy association along with a video of Vincent''s performance. "The oldies of the alchemist association will review your performance before putting your name in its second-grade alchemist under 20." He suddenly clicked his tongue, "I wanted to give you a grade-1 certificate, but I am sure my enemies back in the association would decline and make trouble for you." From his words, Vincent realized that there was a reason why Alex the alchemist hadn''t joined any alchemist tournament in recent years. There wasn''t one but many reasons. Alex''s past was messy. Many people who knew what he was didn''t like to associate with him. One time a group of alchemists used his past as an excuse to ckmail him, and he ended up getting rid of them all. How much of this was true was still not verified. But the fact was Alex killed many alchemists, and the investigators at that time med it on them trying to ckmail him. Still, killing was a crime, not to mention, he killed alchemists of high grades and titles. If it weren''t because instructor Theodore guaranteed that Alex would behave himself, the federation would have disposed of him already. Because some higher-ups weren''t willing to take the loss of several talented alchemists dying in silence, they banned Alex from participating in thepetition. They wanted to make it public revoke his alchemy title too, but with a single word from the Federation President, they changed their decision. The alchemist association didn''t make the information of him getting banned from every alchemypetition public. At the same time, Alex got to keep his title as a master alchemist. "Anyway, as you are too good, I am sure they will agree to make you a grade-2 alchemist. I put in an extra request so that they will review your performance within a week. On any day of the week, you will get a parcel from the association, which will contain your alchemy robe, certificate, high-tech cauldron, and a wishlist. Don''t let anyone scam you off of that." Instructor Alex said to the happy and surprised Vincent. Vincent was feeling thrilled. He was a no-name person who had only started dabbling in alchemy a few weeks ago, but now he would soon be a certified grade-2 alchemist! What an incredible stroke of luck. Everyone would respect him. Auction houses would treat him with extra care not because he was the son of war heroes but because he was a grade-2 alchemist. He would face no problem selling his pills and making connections with merchants. The truth was that some people would go out of their way to contact him once he became a second-grade alchemist. "I''ll make sure to get the parcel and keep it safe," Vincent replied. "Any questions?" Instructor Alex gave him a look that said if you got any confusion, now was the time to clear them up. "What''s a wishlist?" Vincent asked Chapter 253 - The Federation President! Instructor Alex knew that the wishlist was an item with no information on the virtual, so he didn''t mind telling Vincent about things rted to it. "The wishlist is a one-time useable item that allows you to order an ingredient from the association, no matter how precious or hard it is for a person to get it. However, its rank can not surpass grade-2." Vincent thought it was a great item as he could use it for multiple purposes. He could use it to get an impossible to obtain ingredient. The alchemy association sure does not maltreat its alchemist. They know how to shower others in favor so that they won''t turn their back on them when they need them. Since there was nothing to do here anymore, Vincent decided to leave. But before he could step out of the office, instructor Alex stopped him as he had something important to say. "Yes?" "The alchemy association will be holding a tournament after two months. Any alchemist with a grade-2 license can join it. As long as you reach the top 10 positions, you will get promoted to a grade-1 alchemist and obtain the chance to participate in the yearly alchemy titledpetition. The top 3 will earn additional rewards. Make sure to join it and put your skills to good use." Instructor Alex exined and threw a pamphlet to him. Alchemist association only holds two tournaments every year. The first one promotes grade-2 alchemist to grade-1. The second one let grade-1 alchemists get a title, and it wasn''t easy to get one because a person needed skills to surpass thousands of other grade-1 alchemists. Both thepetition had a lot of viewers. Winning was the same as shooting to fame. Vincent grabbed the pamphlet, read the content, and said, "Interesting." ___ In the uppermost area of the military academy, headmaster Tirion and all of the higher-ups were sitting around a round table. All of them were looking at the official from the federation as if they had seen their enemy. If looks could kill, the poor official who was only here to ry the words of the federation head to the people would''ve already be a meat paste. Instructor Tirion mmed his hand on the table and aggressively asked, "What did you say?! Repeat it!" "The Federation President, Crimson Emperor, ismanding all the 33 military academies to prepare their students to participate in the closing of Hell''s paradise. He said, and I quote, "The creature of hell has further increased the rate of their invasion. It seems like they are looking for something in the living realm. Cursed Child, that''s all I managed to get from a two-winged seraph. From now on, Imand the four great royal families, the headmaster, vice-headmaster, and elders of the 33 military academies, and royals of all thes to look for the cursed child and protect him from all harm. At the same time, I order all of you to dispatch your private force and save the people from suffering. "In manys, especially those closer to the border between the living realm and the hell realm, people seeing a crack opening in space every day has bemon." Everyone realized the severity of his words. The crack was a passage that connected to hell. Inside it resided hellish monsters and gatekeepers who protected the hell''s core. When a crack appears, anyone can go into it and enter the other side but not go out of it. Unless the core gets destroyed, the crack will remain and continue expanding until an outbreak urs, meaning creatures of hell would be able to invade thes. Once they invaded, it was clear what would happen. Many people would die, and only supernatural humans would be able to protect themselves. "All of them are panicking, and their belief in the federation is dimming. As much as I would like to keep things as they were and make the people not worry for their lives, it is no longer possible. The military doesn''t have enough workforce to keep them all close. All the Generals are busy fending off the enemies at the border. The border conflict has advanced to a sudden all-out war. The news is, of course, not made public to keep the public from panicking and creating more trouble. I hope that remains the same. Everyone except for the Academies will be on their own. No help will be provided to them. As for the academy, you guys will work with the resistance members. You have one month to prepare your students, newly enlisted or not, for participating in the closing of hell''s paradises around thes." "The crimson period has started. Everyone will get punished severely for breaking the rules." The official emphasized thest sentence. The crimson period was a wartime measure enforced by the federation''s president. The moment it begins, anyone breaking the rules would get their names recorded in the all-seeing list. Then, the president will dispatch Enforcers to punish the rules breakers. Any form of corruption was ill-advised. Escaping the notice of the crimson list was impossible! Tirion calmed himself down and said, "We understand. But we have a condition." "Please say it." The official said. "We must know who we''re coborating with and when I say that, I mean their name, background, everything." The resistance was an organization that was best at closing gates. But they were secretive and maniacs! Everyone knew that! So, how could they simply put their well-bred students with a bunch of monsters that care not of their lives but the only mission and wouldn''t hesitate to abandon outsiders from theirrades and missions? "The Crimson Emperor said that he understands and that he will tell the resistance organization to forward the personal info of all its members the studentse across to you." The official said. "The crimson emperor, is he on the phone?" Tirion asked. "No longer. He just cut off the line.." The official replied after a simple cough. Chapter 254 - Information Broker! The academy started training the students for what was toe. Everyone had to go to the training field early in the morning, and only when it was dark outside did they get to return. The instructor taught them fighting tactics and various magic techniques, from offensive and defensive to supportive and auxiliary. Leni, King Wrath, John, Iris, and Nevis had to attend these sses as they weren''t special students. In contrast, it was up to Vincent if he wanted to participate in them or not. Vincent''s choice was a big fat no. What he needed right now wasn''t training but bing powerful and advancing his evolutionary stage. He had the recipe for opening energy channels and connecting them. What he needed were ingredients and a high-tech cauldron. Thetter would arrive soon as the alchemy association had epted him as a grade-2 alchemist. They were busy with some things, so they could only dispatch sending his robe, cauldron, and wishlist after four days. Vincent wasn''t irritated. He decided to use those four days to get the ingredients necessary for the energy channel opening pill! To create the energy channel opening pill, an alchemist needed seven ingredients, and Vincent knew where he could get them. He went to the marketce and managed to get three of the seven ingredients. He went to the shop which Eric had created for the students and purchased two more ingredients necessary toplete the pill. He had five out of the seven ingredients he needed to create the pill. Thest ingredients weren''t avable in any market or even the online shop. The only way he could get them was to search for them in the wild. One ingredient was known as the Flower of Death. Why it has a weird name was because of a reason. The flower releases a hard to resist smell that can enchant people walking towards it. Once they reached it, they would die getting eaten by the main body of the flower, which was a five-meter-wide toad! The second ingredient was called Grade-2 Sun Herb, a very exotic material. A person could only find it on extremely hots. To go to another world, he needed to use a portal. For that, he needed the permission of the military academy. And he was sure he could not get it as they wouldn''t let a student go to a dangerous where the chances of dying are high! "It is impossible to get the Sun Herb in a short time. But easy to get the flower of death." Vincent thought for a moment and made his decision. "I can get the Sun Herb by using the wishlist that I would get by the end of this week. As for the Flower of Death, I will have to search for it myself." Vincent didn''t have anything to do for the rest of the day. He wasn''t bound to rules. A holographic screen opened up before him as he essed the virtualwork. He searched for an information broker as they are people who sell different types of information in exchange for contributing points or hard cash. Vincent was searching for one to find information about whether there''s a flower of Death in Xavier or not, and if there''s one, then where was it? The virtualwork had a lot of functions. Vincent used the filter option, and only pages rted to the flower of death popped up on the screen. It didn''t take long for him toe across a trusted broker with hundreds of thousands of followers and numerous likes selling news rted to the flower. Vincent immediately hit him up. The Conquer: "Hey, I am interested in buying thetest information rted to the flower of death. You selling?" Evil Hand: "Yes, but it would cost you." The Conquer: "Money is not the problem." Evil Hand: "You sure? It will cost 1000 contributions points if you want to know whichs you can find the flower of death and ten times that to learn about the exact coordinates. You still want to buy?" Vincent had 50k+ contributions points. Also, out of the 500 thousand that he had earned from selling the useless stuff that he got from the tomb of Roselia, he still had 20k left. Moreover, He could make millions of contribution points if he put his superpower to use and started selling peak-grade magic scrolls! Thus, money wasn''t a problem for him! He didn''t need to worry about how much he was spending or making! Vincent tapped away at the virtual keyboard to express his thoughts to the broker. The Conquer: "As I said, money is not the problem. Let''s shake hands and proceed on with this deal?" Evil Hand: "Damn, I should have doubled the price!" The Conquer: "Crying over spilled milk is useless." Evil Hand: "Ah, whatever. What did you want to buy? The Conquer: "First, sell me the names of thes where it is present." Evil Hand: "Initiate the deal." The Conquer: "Initiate the deal." After both of them typed the same line, a new window opened up in front of them. Vincent saw that his screen had many empty slots in the middle, and there was one big slot with a big pouch of golden coins in front of it. He clicked that, and a number pad opened up. He put in the number 1000 and pressed enter. Then, his screen turned green. "You can proceed with the trade after Party B puts in his item." Several words came out of the earbuds which Vincent was wearing and sounded in his ears. The other side screen turned green after some seconds. Vincent could see that an item had in one of the many empty slots. "Please confirm if you want toplete the deal and pay Party B 1000 contribution points for the item, A record on the names ofs where the flower of death grows." It wasn''t absolutely necessary to purchase it. One could even read some of the information to see its authenticity.. Vincent first checked it out, and only after reading the few detailed lines that told him that it was made by a professional and not a scammer did he agree toplete the deal. Chapter 255 - Spider Kingdom! [Congrattions! You''vepleted the purchase.] Vincent got a notification that told him that a thousand contribution points had gotten subtracted from his ount and that the item he had purchased was safe in the virtual storage. If he wanted to gain ess to it, then he would''ve to use the online delivery service and get it teleported to the depository. Vincent did just that, but as this service wasn''t free and came with a cost, he had to pay another 500 contribution points. Evil Hand: If you want to buy the coordination of any ingredients, then private message me their names and the price you''re willing to fork out. Don''t go to others. Believe me, most of them are space pirates in disguise, waiting to fool a rich man like you towards the urn. Vincent: I will contact you if I need your help. Evil Hand: See youter! Vincent closed the uniquemunication device that allows instant ess to the virtualwork. Then, he took off towards the depositary, and after getting the thing he had purchased from there, he went to an empty lobby, opened it, and saw four pages. Vincent''s eyes roamed across them, and he found out that the flower of death was avable on Lorena, Cold, and so on. Vincent couldn''t go to thoses as he didn''t have ess to a teleporter. It took him some minutes toe across a piece of information that put a smile on his face. It was avable in the wilderness of Xavier, too! But which one? To know that, he needed to fork out ten thousand contribution points. "I don''t have a choice." Vincent needed the flower of death urgently as only then would he be able to increase his strength at a rapid phase. The exploration of a hellish domain was upon him, and he needed absolute power. Otherwise, he would not be the one dominating the soldiers of the race he hated the most. Instead, the creatures of hell will be the ones wiping the floor clean with him! Vincent immediately used hismunication device to ess the virtualwork and contacted Evil Hand. Vincent: I want to buy the coordinates of the flowers of death present in Xavier. Evil Hand: So fast? Vincent: Seeling or not? Evil Hand: Okay, okay, dude, I am selling, but Vincent: But what? Evil Hand: What are you going to pay?" Vincent: 2k contribution points? Reasonable price, I believe. Vincent wasn''t buying the location of all the ces where a person could find the flowers of death on differents. Instead, he needed to know where it was on Xavier only. So, 2 thousand contribution points was a high price. Evil Hand: Deal. Vincent: Let''s proceed. Evil Hand: Initiate the deal. Vincent: Initiate the deal. Just likest time, a package arrived in the depository. As it was in Vincent''s name, only he could get it. He picked it up, opened it, and saw a thick file full of information. After going through it, he found out that he could find the flower of death in the spider kingdom. He was familiar with that ce. He was wanted by the spider kingdom, ah! Vincent rubbed his temple. He thought that it would be troublesome if he went back there, but did he have a choice? Vincent thought for a moment, spat out a big fat no, and decided to just go for it. He needed to prepare himself, so he hurriedly walked back to his room. Beep, beep! On his way, hismunication device started beeping. He opened it up and saw that the broker had sent him a private message. After returning to his room in the boy''s dormitory, Vincent checked it out. Evil Hand: As you already know, the spider kingdom is in cooperation with the federation. We don''t eradicate them, and they don''te out of their homes to attack our bases. That''s the rule. I''m not too fond of it. The spider kingdom is a den of vicious beasts who attacks us, humans, on sight. Why should we keep them alive? But thanks to a few assholes who love eco-terrorists and a bunch of retarded environment lovers, we haven''t eradicated our enemies. You might be thinking I am crazy, right? Well, know this, three years ago, some people went missing in the spider kingdom. The officials weren''t willing to investigate as they were sure that those people must have gotten devoured by beasts, just like others who never returned from there. So, the member of the family hired me to search for them. As they paid me well, my investigation was extensive. I came across something nefarious there. The spider kingdom has long betrayed the federation and joined hands with evil. I still don''t have enough proof, but I am gathering it. Anyway, if you''re going there for the flower of death, be careful. There''s no saying what would happen if youe across the wanderers. If you don''t know, they are ex-soldiers and runaways who have joined extremists organization. They prey on adventures and like to make their cash. And recently, they have set their den in the spider kingdom. Vincent was a bit surprised. Why was an information broker telling such important pieces of information to him for free? Did he know him, or was this guy a too-good-to-be-true good person? Vincent typed back. Vincent: Are you telling me this for free? Evil Hand: Fuck! My consciousness got the best of me!! Vincent: Lol! Evil Hand: Hold Up! How about you pay me? 10k would be good. Vincent: Do you know about the two things that lose their value once spilled? Evil Hand: Huh? What are you talking about? Vincent: They are words and milk. Information was valuable as long as the other party didn''t know about it. As Vincent now knew about the danger hidden in the spider kingdom, there was no value of the same information in his eyes. Since there was no value, why would he pay 10 thousand contribution points to Evil Hand? Evil Hand: You''re a god!! Vincent: If I were you, I would''ve thought the same thing. Evil Hand: Fuck! I misspelled! YOU''RE A DOG! Vincent: Woof! Happy cooperation. After saying those words, Vincent pulled out and shut down hismunication device. A big message popped up in a dark room where a young boy with a pretty face was sitting in front of aputer, a technology not many owned nowadays. [Party A Vincent has disconnected from the chat!] Bam! Bam! The boy pped his hand on theputer table to release the frustration in his heart. "My 10k! Goddamn! Being a good person in this world sure is non-profitable!" "Sam! Come down and have dinner!" A shout came from downstairs. Sam''s face turned pale. He knew if he didn''t reply soon, then his mother would storm into his room. If she saw the mess in his room, he might get kicked out of the house in his underwear, no less! "Mom, I''ming," Sam shouted, dressed up, and went down to the dinner table. Chapter 256 - Emily The story will get back to Vincent after 5-6 chapters, and that''s when he wille across Emily. Who is she? A third main character who is the wife of a third main character. Please read. Thanks~ ___ "Mydy, the carriage sent by the House of Phantasia is waiting outside the house, awaiting your arrival." The maid that has been serving the Godwin Family for the past four years said while looking down at the woman who was sitting on the chair next to her. Her voice contained a hint of disdain, but the way she stared at the golden-haired woman vividly revealed theplete disregard she held for her. L, the maid, knew full well that this low-born wouldn''t talk back to her and only endure her taunt in silence. Emily''s brows scrunched up at her words. It sounded as if L was telling her, "It''s high time we send you off to your new home, to the monster feared by the entire kingdom, to the bloody fiend who your sister was supposed to marry, Low-Life!" A mere maid behaving in such a manner wouldn''t have been only pped thrice by her master but also kicked out of the family with one or two broken limbs. Emily knew that. However, she didn''t have any say in this family. Not to mention the fact that this maid belonged to her sister and was here only to help her dress up from head to toe. Add on the fact that her eldest step-brother the second-highest authority of the Godwin familywas in love with her, and thus, saying as much as a word to her would result in stinging pain on her hands as well as an hour of lecture. Furthermore, she was timid. It wasn''t in her nature to talk back to others. Ah yes, this rule applied as long as she was interacting with the members of the house or a person who is a stranger to her. To make it more clear, she was timid but not in a bad sense. To protect herself, she had to act timidly, just like she always had been since the young age of four. Not doing so meant abuse, both mental, verbal, and physical. Showing a smile or even a hint of happiness in her eyes meant the same. To leave this house without any more pain and humiliation, she had to keep her head low, remain silent, and behave timidly; that was the only way. ''She remained silent, just like I thought, heh.'' Happy to see that her taunting words had worked in earning a messed-up reaction from her, L smiled tauntingly. However, she hid that in the blink of an eye, almost causing Emily to think that the smile reflected on the mirror in front of her was something she imagined, not something shown to her by L, who was now showing a worried expression on her face. She, however, knew how little the servants and maids of this house thought of her. So she was sure that what she saw was indeed a taunting smile. L''s taunting smile had conveyed her emotions to Emily. ''Stop enduring and say something back to me, then see what happens on your wedding day.'' Emily exhaled, looking a bit tired and unwell, making the onlooker think she was sighing. Right then, L decided to press her buttons once again. "Lady, did I do anything to displease you?" L asked, ever so worriedly. If words had a shape, then each of L''s would''ve appeared as a snake, Emily thought, her brows scrunching up even more. L wanted a reaction out of her, and she was giving her what she wantednot giving meant bing a target of an insidious plot that would hurt her in one way or another. "No." Emily hurriedly replied; her voice meek, sounded like a voice of a cute rabid. "May I dare ask, what made you so dissatisfied?" L continued, trying to agitate her. She wasn''t born a noble and was nothing more than a meremoner. When she was a child, watching nobles dressing up in shy clothes and eating meat would always make her burn up in jealousy. She desired the life they had and also hated them for living such a good life, one that was tenNo, hundreds of times better than her''s. One could say that Emily, who couldn''t fight back, became the puppet upon whom she loved to release her hatred. ''It''s you!'' She couldn''t say it out loud and only screamed in her mind. No matter what, she needed to give her a reply, or who knows, her step-brother might juste to teach her a lesson. "It''s just that these clothes are too luxurious, and I think I am not deserving of them." Emily looked at the mirror that showed her reflection. She saw a gorgeousdy, one too unfamiliar with her. She had golden hair that went well with her bright green eyes, one she had always kept hidden under bangs. Her swan-like neck was enticing, and her smooth, milky skin and kissable red lips left much to the imagination. She had never dressed up before, and thus, this was her first time seeing herself in such light. Gorgeous and enticing; terms that she thought would never match with her, who dressed inly and covered her beauty in fear of her father selling her off to a lecherous man that would''vee to want her if she dressed otherwise. As luck would have it, or rather her miserable fate, she was still sold in ce of her step-sister to pay off the debt the Godwin family owed to the Phantasia Family. Before L coulde up with words to taunt her more, the door to Emily''s room silently opened, and the first daughter of the house, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, entered the room. "Do not mind such insignificant feelings of inferiority, for I am sure the Guardian of the North would drown you in such luxuries in the future. The faster you get used to indulging in luxury, the better it would be for, my dear sister." A voice that sounded like the melody sung by God''s beloved angel sounded in her ears. Emily and the maid beside her turned their heads to look at the source of the voice. There, she stoodthe apple of the empire''s eyesthe gorgeousdy as well as Emily''s step-sister, Angelica. Why? Why did God bless such a person with the voice that could memorize any man? Why had her father named her Angelica when she should''ve been named Satan? From childhood until a few days ago, she had treated her as a ve. They had maids, but she always ordered her to clean her room and bathroom, even though she knew full well that she was allergic to dust. Thanks to that, she had suffered a lot. Bullying and verbal harassment weren''t enough, but now she was sending her off to die in her ce, sending her off to marry the person she was supposed to marry. Their family owed a debt to the Crimson Lord, the Guardian of the Northern Duchy. A debt of billions of magic coins. "I will heed your words, sister dearest," Emily replied with a smile on her face, which helped hide a face full of fury, distress, and helplessness. Angelica seemed pleased by the way she was behavior today. "Come now," said Angelica, a smile so wide on her face that it revealed all her pearly-white teeth. "Let me take you to the bridal carriage." She extended her hands towards Emily, who grabbed it and stood up. Then, they walked out of the door, heading towards the magnificent staircase, and towards the door that would let her leave this house for good. Each step Emily took weighed down on her heart. The glow in her emerald eyes dimmed the closer she got to the majestic door. She was going to the man that purchased herthe man who she had heard about only in horror stories, after all. How had that happened? And why her? Unable to repay the debt that was already overdue, her father, Marquis William Godwinleft with no other choice but to honor the deal or face the destruction of his houseagreed to repay the debt by sending his daughter off to him. However, He was a man that had been alive for a long, long time. No one knows for how long, but it was probably in the hundreds. Maybe he was as old as the Emperor of Avalon or the founder of the federation. Rumors about him ran ramage in the street and the alleys, such as the fact that he is beyond ugly, that his face is no different than a devil, that he sucks the blood of virgins each full-moon night to quench his thirst, and many more. Of course, Angelica disagreed and threatened their father with her life. After which, her father stopped forcing her and ordered Emily to go in her stead. He ordered her, signifying the fact that her consent didn''t matter. Declining her father would be the same as asking for a bloody beating. So, she neither agreed nor disagreed and silently watched whatever was happening as if she wasn''t the center of it all. The little bit of stuff she had; the servants had already packed it before her father even broke the unbelievable news to her. They added a few things into her stuff so that the world won''t know how badly the Marquis treats the daughter born out of his second wife, who was his beloved, the target of his first''s wife hatred, and also amoner. And also a person who was dead for many years! Chapter 257 - Guardian Of The Northern Ducky Of Avalon Emily walked along with Angelica, and L followed after them with her head held low. Emily''s dress trailed behind her as she walked up to the door, one with many intricate designs,bining at the center to make a rune, something magical and profound. She knew that magic and stuff existed in this world, but she was illiterate and didn''t know how to read or write, much less understand a rune. One of the servants opened the door for them, and they stepped out of the mansion. There were dozens of shiny cars, all fully equipped with thetest technology. Some had anti-gravity properties; some had jet propellers attached to their sides. The best one had both. However, Emily wasn''t going to be using any of them to get to her husband''s home. Instead, she was going to use an outdated vehicle! There was a carriage at a short distance, here to take her away. Such was the custom of the House of Crimson. A man sends a carriage to his bride''s home, and she uses it to start the journey of getting to her groom by nightwhen the moon hangs high in the sky. Otherwise, rumors have it that the bride would go missing or that misfortune would befall her if she missed the auspicious time of marrying a man of said family. Emily didn''t believe in such rumors; however, she didn''t want to take a risk. Better safe than sorry, she thought. That''s why she needed to start her journey right away. Her stepmother and elder step-brother weren''t here to see her off. They didn''t see her as a part of the Godwin Family, after all. Not that she expected them to, and thus she wasn''t disappointed at all. The fact that they were not here secretly came as a relief to her. If they were here, it would''ve been weird, and that would''ve undoubtedly weighed on her heart. Her father, the man who was partly responsible for her birth, had been waiting for her outside the mansion. When he saw that she was alive and well, his beady eyes lit up. He walked up to her, a smile on his face. Her sister and maid stepped away as he wanted to talk to her in private. Emily greeted him meekly, her head down low and her eyes facing the ground. "Ah, my good daughter." Marquis William Godwin was all smile andughter as he lovingly hugged his daughter and patted her on the head. There was no sorrow in his eyes, only joy, so much pleasure that it was dripping out of his eyes. This member of his family: he had never once looked at her as if she were his daughter and had always turned a blind eye to all the injustice done to her. He could''ve never thought that she would end up as the ultimatum for the survival of his family. "Today''s the happiest day of your life, so smile widely and keep your head high." She raised her head to look at her father. He was a fat man with beady eyes, and there were strands of white hair mixed with ck on his head. This man, she didn''t even want to call him her father. He treated her like she was air, as if she didn''t even exist, after all. "Father, I am happy following the path you hadid for me, but I am a bit reluctant to leave everything behind." She tried to smile widely but wasn''t able to. There was rage and anger inside her heart, corroding it and making her want to lose her reasons andsh out at them, but she didn''t and kept a slight but warm smile on her face. "I believe the Guardian of the North, fourth of his name and the defender of the Avalon Empire, will shower you with eternal happiness. You should look forward to the future, not remain attached to the past." William said, in a sense telling her that there is no need for her to feel reluctant in walking towards her death, that she should stop wasting his time. Emily was not dumb nor a deaf person. Who had not heard the rumors about the Guardian of the Northern Duchy? The records of him having existed for a hundred years itself was enough to tell anyone that he was no human. Add on the rumors; one would be able to conclude that he''s a devil disguised as a human. Still, her father was actively engaged in sending her off to him. It was clear as day that he hated her! "I wish it would be as you say, that my husband would cherish me dearly," she excused herself and started walking towards the carriage, leaving her happily smiling father behind. Her sister apanied her. Whether she was trying to appeal to the crowd or taunt her, it was hard to discern. Angelica was smiling, though, meaning she was happy to see that the one about to sit in the ck charcoal carriage wouldn''t be her but her sister, Emily. Emily knew that there was no going back. She hurried her steps towards the carriage. "You''ve made the right choice." When she was standing next to the carriage, Her father''s voice came from behind her. Emily felt disgusted with him, but she suppressed it and didn''t allow it to show on her face. He was treating her, his daughter, as a pawn, a thing he could use to get the duke off of his back. A person with no patience and practice would''ve already taken out a knife to draw a red line on his neck. Why did her father hate her so much? She knew it all too well. Her mother had aplicated delivery. She suddenly started puking out blood the day she was about to be born. The doctor told them that he could either save the mother or the child inside of her. Marquis Williams, who cherished his wife for her beauty, wanted her to survive. However, her mother was adamant about giving birth to her. As it happened, her mother, Liliana, died just moments after giving birth to her, holding her in her arms andnding a kiss on her forehead. Emily found out about all this from the midwife in secret. Of course, it''s because her stepmother forbade everyone from even saying the name of her mother. Anyway, her father hated her, a mere newborn child, as in his heart, she was a monster that killed his beloved toe into being. And he did all in his power to remind her that she was the murderer of her mother every year. Emily, you''re the reason behind the death of my beloved. If it weren''t because of you, your mother would''ve never died; that''s what he would tell her. He used her of killing her mother every year on her birthday after taking her to her mother''s grave, tripping her with guilt and sadness, almost causing her to believe that she was a monster, that she doesn''t deserve to exist, that she should pick up a dagger and plunge it into her heart. He also paid others to spread the rumors that she was a devil. He allowed his first wife to direct her hatred from mother to daughter, silently watching from the sidelines as she made her life miserable. If that wasn''t enough, he even treated all his children differently. Angelica and Lucas get everything while Emily gets nothing; that was his disposition towards his children, his flesh and blood! "What''s wrong, sister? Are you feeling cold feet because you''re going to marry a monster and don''t want to get inside the carriage?" Angelica said, her eyes narrowed into a frown. "No," Emily shook her head and stepped forward. There were only two knights of Godwin standing guard around the carriage while a driver was sitting in the front seat. The servants had long since stuffed her stuff inside the carriage, and the door opened by itself when she decided to step inside it as if magic, enticing her toe and take a seat. Under the smiling eyes of her sister, Emily helped herself into it as there was no one to help her. "Now, you are officially the property of the House of Crimson. Whether you live or die, the House of Godwin no longer needs to concern ourselves with that." Right at that very moment, her sister said some words that came as a shock to her. She said it in a way that signified misfortune was going to catch up to her in the middle of her journey. Emily inclined her head towards Angelica. "What are you trying to say, sister dearest? Can you be more clear?" Angelica''s eyes narrowed, and evil glints shed in them! Chapter 258 - To The North & Coming Across The Wanderers (a) "Oh, my dear sister, are you still ignorant of the nightmarish news circling in our empire? The gates to hell have opened in the north. Demons, Hellish Devils, and Monsters have appeared along the road heading to the north a week ago, inflicting harm to many adventurers, soldiers, and travelers. So there has been no traffic for the past few days. If you encounter the creature of hell,ing out alive would be next to impossible." Angelica''s lips curved into a devilish smile. "Although I wish you all the best, I can''t help but think this might very well be ourst farewell." Emily''splexion paled, and her eyes widened in horror. Her heart palpitation nearly increased by two times, and she felt as if her racing heart would jump out of her chest. Although she wasn''t troubled a lot with the idea of going to the Northern duchy and bing the wife of its guardian as she believed that the disgusting rumors about him could be fake, she wasn''t alright with taking the roads infested with the creature of hell! Demons and devils and the fallen seraphims were not the imagination of man but grotesque creatures that eat humans alive. Taking the road towards the North was the same as putting her life at risk. "You! You''re murdering me!" Emilyshed out at her. She couldn''t help it. Every person has a limit to what they can endure, and she could no longer take her abuse lying down. "You wrench, how dare you shout at me?" Angelica shouted back at her, not a single trace of remorse on her face. She didn''t feel even a single trace of empathy at sending her younger sister towards death''s door. Instead, she would''ve pped Emily if she was not sitting inside the carriage but standing next to her. Emily subconsciously flinched at her words. She was terrified of her. After all, she wasn''t a human in her eyes but a demon. Before Angelica could feel smug at her reaction, a cold snort sounded in her ears. "Hmph!" It carried a trace of magic in it, something both the sisters had only heard about but not learned. The moment it reached Emily, she felt something warm touching her as if sticking to her skin. But that feelingsted only for a brief moment as it seemed inside her flesh, warming up from the inside out, calming her down, andforting her. Although she didn''t know how good a child feels to be embraced by her mother, she believed it would feel this warm. Angelica, on the other hand, had already dropped to her knees. It was because the cold snort wasn''t beneficial to her but harmful. It carried the might of the adult human and had crashed on her back with such force that it forced her to her knees. "She has all rights to raise her voice against you, mydy." A voice came from the figure sitting at the carriage driver seat. It was a wizened voice belonging to a female. "She is, after all, already a part of our family and the wife of my master. If I hear you disgracing her once more, then, believe me, I would pull out your tongue and shove it down your throat." The move the carriage driver used to teach Angelia a lesson was energy discharge, a technique that only advanced-levelbatants can use! Angelica realized that as she knew of the various power level. But since she had no talent nor interest in fighting and training, she was not too strong. At best, she was a product of a pig getting fed unlimited resources. Her strength was her financial backing which was actually still possible because her father had sold Emily. Angelica saw the driver looking at her from over her shoulder. Her eyes were cold, as cold as an iceberg, and her expression extremely stern. Her gaze caused her to believe that she wasn''t a human but a beast, that she would be her prey if she taunted Emily anymore than what she already had. She kept mum and stiffened up. Not just that, but she also felt a bit wet between her legs, which caused her cheeks to turn red from embarrassment. That was how Angelica was. She only bullied the weak and kept her head lowered before the strong and the unknown, especially if that person was a mage, someone even her father feared. Emily felt pleased, and she smiled at seeing her embarrassed. But a momentter, she felt guilt haunting her, and she stopped smiling. She didn''t like hurting others, even if that person was someone as vicious as her sister. Such was the innocence in her heart. "Thud!" As if magic, the carriage''s open door closed shut, producing a dull thud that did well to pull her out from the cycle of guilt and raise her head. "Master''s wife, please ease your worries." The wizened voice sounded in Emily''s ears again, but this time it was pleasant to hear and soothing to the soul. "As long as I am alive, I won''t let any demon harm you." Now that Emily found out that a mage was apanying her, the cause of her worries vanished. She didn''t know much of the world, but she did know that magic was the greatest weakness of the creature of hell. So, that means she could trust the mage to keep her safe, and she did just that. "Umm, I do not doubt you, and thank you for helping me deal with my sister," Emily said. Her nervousness and worries were vivid on her face. She was talking to someone not of the Godwin family for the first time, not to mention that she was a mage. "Hiya!" The driver maneuvered the horses, and as they moved ahead, they pulled the carriage in which she was sitting along with them, leaving Angelica to eat dust. The horses were as white as snow and had two tails behind their back and a horn on their heads. They looked exceptional to the eyes of the curious youngdy who was staring out the window. Two cars were running behind the carriage, and in them sat the young and brave knights of the Godwin Family. For courtesy sake, Marquis Williams had sent them to apany her. "Miss, what should I call you?" Emily asked her. She made sure to keep her voice loud enough to reach her. "Sarah Crimson." Only after a brief moment did a replye from the driver. She thought that Emily was overly polite and that she was a person with a good heart. So, she didn''t mind telling her magus name. "Can I call you Miss Sarah?" Emily asked. "No," Sarah declined in her wizened voice. However, before Emily could feel low, she added, "My Master''s wife, I am too old for such a title. You may call me aunty or by my name. That would also do." Emily''splexion immediately brightened up, and a broad smile appeared on her cute face. "Then, I will call you Aunty Sarah?" "I understand," Sarah replied, and from behind, Emily even saw her nod her head. This was the first time Emily didn''t feel taunted or looked down upon while talking to another, and she was thrilled to have experienced such a conversation. Chapter 259 - Betrayal The carriage moved towards the north steadily. After four hours of travel, Emily, Sarah, and the two knights from the Godwin family stepped on a dust-colored road with trees on both sides. "They are finally here." A burly man with rough looks and a scar stretching from his eye and creping down to his chin said when he noticed the carriage of the crimson family entering the road to hell. He was Uriah, themander of the fourth squad of the wanderer''s vanguard legion. He was sitting on a ck panther, a very ferocious-looking eyes. Its gray eyes were strong enough to intimidate anyone, and its long w sharp enough to break steel and swords alike. "It''s as the head of intelligence mentioned." Camille Patterson muttered, seemingly appearing shocked for some reason. A few days ago, the head of the intelligence department of the wanderer organization had visited their vanguard department and ordered their leader to dispatch some experts to this ce to abduct the wife of the crimson guardian. And today, she really had appeared here. The fact that the head of intelligence could urately determine what was going to happen before it even happened shocked Camille to her core. "Get ready to kidnap the bride," Uriah said to the four people around him, and that included Camille. "Boss, just say the words." Their n was too simple. Uriah and his three henchmen will distract the enemy''sbatant while the rest will kidnap Emily and make a run for it. "Greater Fireball!" An instant after Uriah said those words, steams of white fiery hot energy manifested around him, swirled towards a single spot in front of him, and condensed into the shape of a boulder-sized orb. Whoosh! After he discharged some mana to push it at extreme speed, it shot towards the crimson family''s carriage like a shooting star cascading down the sky. "Iing." Said one of the two Knights from the Godwin Family in a voice full of worry. Sarah Crimson and the other knight raised their head and saw a massive ball of fire heading towards them. Emily heard the knight''s voice that was full of worry and felt that something was wrong. "What is wrong?" She asked Sarah Crimson. "So far, nothing is wrong, so master''s wife, please don''t worry and stay seated," Sarah said as she stopped the carriage, stood up from her seat, and jumped on to the head of one of the horses. She calmly unsheathed the sword strapped to her side and raised it above her head for a moment before bringing it down. A blinding ray of sword light surged out of her sword and charged at the blinding fireball. It crashed head-on with the boulder-sized boulder in mid-air and chopped it in two half. Kaboom! An ear-wrenching explosion urred as the two halves of the greater fireball exploded into a brilliant disy of fire that lit up the entire sky. The sound of the explosion also reached Emily''s ears, and the palpitations of her heart increased so much that she could hear her heartbeat p, p! The sound of p sounded from high above, and as Sarah crimson and the two knights raised their heads to look at the source of the voice, they saw four people, three men and one female, standing on top of a ten-meter tall winged-panther. "Splitting apart a fireball capable of destroying an entire skyscraper, I expected nothing less from you, Sarah Crimson." Uriah praised Sarah with a smile. "You''re too daring," Sarah said while looking at Uriah with the intent to kill. "I haven''t even started," Uriah whistled, and the ck panther plunged down the sky. "Take herdy and head deeper into the forest," Sarah said to the knights, one of who had already taken Emily out of the carriage and ced her on his horse. "What about you?" Emily asked with a worried look vivid on her face as she looked at Sarah. "I will hold them back until reinforcement arrives. Please go." The knights ran away, leaving Sarah to fend off the four wandered all by herself. The two parties shed with each other in mid-air and exchanged dozens of moves that not only sted a hole in the cloudy sky but also crushed many boulders and uprooted many trees. "Camille, go and get the bride." "You sure you can entrap her?" "Us three aren''t as weak as you think." "Where is your attention?" While they were talking, Sarah Crimson struck her sword out with such strength that a massive gale of emerald wind surged out, chopped off everything in its way, and also ripped off the arm of one of them. "You wasted that attack." The one who lost his arm taunted Sarah Crimson and used his supernatural power to regrow another one. "Go," Uriah said to Camille before he rushed towards Sarah with the other three people. Camille turned around and started chasing after the two knights. ___ "Wait!" Suddenly, one of the two knights, Archie, stopped his horse andmanded the other knight toe to a halt too. "What is wrong? Is there a trap in front of us?" May asked as Archie came close to him. "No, that''s not why I stopped you." "Then why?!" May had just finished his words when Archie brandished his sword and stabbed his chest, shattering his heart into two. "Why?" May died with wide eyes that were full of disbelief. "Heh, because I too am a wanderer," Archie said as he tightened his hold around Emily. Archie''s betrayal came as a surprise to her, and she tried to run away, but he was holding her so tight that no matter how much strength she exerted, she failed to escape his grasp. "Let me go, let me go, you murderer! Somebody help!" Emily shouted for help as she tried to struggle her way out of his grasp. Pa! Archie pped her so hard that he left behind five red fingerprints on her cheeks. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!