Chapter 393 The Result Of The Clash
The skill-shrouded heart had been used, one that consumed all of the user’s mana, regardless of their stage or the amount of mana they possessed. All of it flowed to one place, to safeguard the mana core surrounded by the heart.
It wasn’t a final defensive move, per se, because the skill primarily protected a single location. If Feebie had chosen to launch a final attack towards his head or elsewhere on his body, he would still be injured, which explained the large wound on his back from the attack.
In most cases, it was easier for the target to move the head. The skull was also a good defensive measure and Raze had learned that in martial arts, in general the techniques learned weren’t attack’s aimed at the head.
Whether this was some type of honour code he really wasn’t sure, but it meant with probability that Feebie was most likely going to aim for the heart if she wanted to kill him.
‘I have to come to the conclusion that, with the way I am right now, I can’t defeat the clan head in this state! If I was Healed it might be a different story, but I can’t be stubborn about this!’ Raze thought to himself.
Especially without his magic skills, his trump card. He soon noticed the rubble moving, and shortly after, Feebie had emerged from it. She had a few marks on her clothing and head from the rubble, but there were no serious wounds on her body.
“You seem to be full of surprises, don’t you? Capable of blocking such a strong attack like that. The more I go against you, the more I realize that you are someone who needs to be eliminated!”
Feebie didn’t charge straight in after her powerful attack was blocked and she suffered some of the blowback; she was now slightly cautious. That was exactly what Raze needed.
Looking into his hand, Raze could see the blue pill. ‘Using the Shrouded heart, it has the same effect as taking the cursed pill, draining me of my mana. If I take a second pill, I’ll be in an even worse amount of pain. Even with my body at its current stage, I doubt I could take more than three of these pills, especially with no time in between them.’
‘Right now, I have no choice. I will just have to deal with the pain afterward.’ Raze lifted his hand and swallowed the pill. It was a hard thing to do normally, but with his pain, it was even more difficult.
A few moments later, the energy surged within him once again. The magic core was ignited, but it would only last for one minute. ‘For one minute, I have my magic powers back. That’s all. In that time, I have to figure out a way out of this situation!’
Raze slammed his foot on the ground, and in response, the sand in front of him started to freeze over in the area. It appeared to be heading toward Feebie, and in response, she stepped back, jumping on top of one of the houses.
Immediately, Raze started to run to the side, firing several Dark pulses in the direction she was in. Pulse after pulse went her way, but instead of dodging them, she swung her arms, deflecting the Dark Magic attacks.
“You’ll need to launch a much stronger attack than that!” Feebie shouted. “Is your power weakening after your last attack?”
Hearing this, Raze shifted to the side, bringing both of his hands together and started gathering more of his magic. Then, using the second stage, he sprinted forward with Qi and extended both of his hands.
‘Dark Canon!’
Instead of a small beam of dark energy, this was a continuous beam of dark energy, much larger than the Dark pulse. The attack struck the building she was standing on, completely destroying it.
Feebie tumbled to the ground, and at first, she had braced herself, using her body, Qi, and hand wraps to take the hit. She placed her shoulder forward. The attack had hit her, and she instantly felt the Dark magic burning her Qi as well.
She tried to move, and the beam of energy followed her, pushing her back through the ground and skidding her across the floor.
‘I have one minute with all my mana restored, that’s all I have. After that minute, all of my mana will disappear anyway, so I don’t have to worry about conserving it. I can just attack as much as I can!’
Raze wasn’t just standing still while using the Dark Canon; he decided to push himself, continuing to move through the sand. His breathing was out of sync, and he could barely gather Qi to help him move fast, but it didn’t matter.
Feebie eventually jumped in the air; the attack from the Dark Canon had stopped. When she was looking for somewhere to land, she could only see the ice on the floor, but it didn’t seem to do much.
‘Was the ice just a distraction, or was I wrong about his power weakening? Does he have a way to defeat me? It makes me wonder, should I just try to buy time until he runs out of power?’
Feebie second-guessed herself because the last attack was a strong one, and he wasn’t slowing down in the abilities he was performing. Eventually, Feebie crashed into the ground, breaking the ice beneath her.
Upon landing, she expanded her Qi and cracked it all over the place. She turned her head to see where Raze was, and that’s when she spotted him, next to the lifeless, dried-up body, the body of the person he had killed.
“What are you doing? Was this your plan all along?” Feebie said, confused.
‘I just needed a bit of a helping hand,’ Raze thought as he used his special Dark Magic spell.
‘Recreate.’
Dark magic started to swirl around the body, and in response, it began creating a human figure. The Dark shades made a person of the same height as the man on the ground, with the same body structure and even the details of his clothing. Although not clear or colored in the same way, they were distinctive enough to tell it was the same person.
“Is that some type of demonic art, reanimating the dead?” Feebie asked, as it was the only explanation that made sense to her.
With the recreated Dark magic image of his attacker, Raze had an ally. In this situation, it would have been better to have the statue, but he needed to improvise. Because this was more for show in the first place. The strength of the Dark magic Recreate wouldn’t be like the statue’s, which could fight fully; it could only emulate the attacks but not use Qi or anything like that.
The recreated attacker charged forward, heading straight for Feebie. At the same time, Raze lifted both of his hands up and started to swirl them around. In doing so, the sand began moving at great speed throughout the entire area.
A sandstorm was forming, covering the entire area and making it difficult to see.
Feebie could see the dark figure coming toward her and had thrown a punch, which she had caught instantly.
“I thought as much; I don’t really have a reason to be scared of you. All of this is just tricks, after all!” Feebie claimed.
With her other fist, she started to gather Qi in the wraps, spiraling it and hardening it like a drill. She then shoved it toward the center of the dark figure, creating a hole in its center.
“There’s no blood… and this thing feels as if it’s still alive.”
The Dark figure then exploded right in front of her face, with pieces of Dark magic dispersing in all directions. Some parts of the Dark magic hit her, causing her Qi to take damage.
She covered her head. ‘He’s going to attack me again, hit me with that Dark Canon. I have to
be ready.’
Feebie looked around, trying to see where Raze was, but the sandstorm that had been created blocked her vision. However, after a short while, no follow-up attack came.
She looked around, and the sandstorm was dying down. Finally, the sand started to settle, and only then did she realize what had happened. Both of her fists were shaking, her jaw clenched hard.
“That little white-haired twerp, he ran away! He ran away!” Feebie shouted. “But… he couldn’t have gone far. Even if he manages to escape through this portal, there will be more waiting for him. And besides, he has his friends to worry about as well.”
Looking on the ground, Feebie saw something in the sand, and it was blood. She remembered the wound she had inflicted on Raze.
“He couldn’t have gone far. All he’s doing is delaying the inevitable. Raze, the White Dragon, you will meet your end no matter what, and you will learn the power of the Lethal Bite Clan.”
Chapter 394 An Unknown Feeling
Lying on the ground in front of Dame was his attacker. There was no longer any breath coming from the person who was from the Lethal Bite Clan. In terms of skill between the two, Dame was quite a bit higher than the latter.
Not just in his cultivation but also his techniques, and he had used his gauntlets as a method of surprise, allowing him to finish off his opponent swiftly.
“I did what I needed to do, but I was unable to get any more information from him,” Dame said out loud. “Right now, there is one from the Lethal Bite Clan at a high rank with one of the others.
“I also have the statue in my possession, but I’m unable to use it without Safa, or Raze. It was my fault for taking the thing, and not handing it back in time.”
Hindsight was always better after the events had already occurred. He was sure Raze would be kicking himself for not healing his body now as well. Because most likely, he was dealing with Feebie.
“I guess, since there is no other information, there’s only one thing I can do, exit out of this place, and just enter the other portals one by one, helping them out. If I try to pry for more information that could cause bigger trouble.
“Everyone, just stay alive long enough for me to help you guys out.”
—
Inside one of the portal expeditions, they had entered a world that was filled with strangely shaped buildings that were winding. Large bridges built seemingly in the sky connected from places.
Tinson had come across one of the attackers, he had managed to do his best to defend himself but right now, he was hiding in one of the buildings across a large bridge that was made of stone.
It was a dark place, and he had found a few barrels in the corner. In most of the rooms, there were barrels that were seemingly empty. His hand was placed right up against his shoulder, he was pressing hard against his wound. His clothing soaked in blood.
‘This isn’t good, is this the academy’s doing again?’ Tinson thought. ‘What is wrong with them? I thought this whole assessment was to fight against beasts, not other warriors.’
‘I need to find a way back out of the portal, if I’m back in the academy, everything should be fine, right?’
Right now, all he could do was hide, but there were other things lurking in the shadows because, after all, this was another dimension, a place that would be full of beasts.
Right now on his mind more than anything though, was how were Violet and Joe doing, if he was struggling this much then surely they would be as well.
In another dimension, another student had managed to strike down their enemy, and was looking at the body sinking away into a strange thick muck-like substance.
“That was quite the tough one,” Ricktor commented, as he looked at the cuts he had received all over his body. None of them were vital but there were many on his shoulders, arms, and there was even a large fracture on his arm as well.
‘This is going to take a while to heal, and the techniques they used, it was quite clear that they were from the Lethal Bite Clan. Has someone from the clan betrayed us and informed them of the deal we made with Raze?’
Ricktor thought about it a bit more, but he believed that was unlikely to be the case, judging by how his attacker was acting as well.
‘He didn’t have any idea of my strength, which has improved quite a bit. If a student did report us, they would have asked for every detail about us. Which means it is a hit that Feebie had ordered herself.’
‘They would only listen to the clan head, and it seems like it’s something that Feebie would do. I’m quite surprised that she sent out a hit on me as well. Has she lost her mind as she’s obsessed with revenge?’
‘No, that’s not it, she just knows the truth, that even if something happened to me, Murkel wouldn’t act against her. If she’s done this, then most likely she’s gone against the Flowing Force Clan as well.’
‘Well Mada, if your opponent is the same level as mine, it seems like you might struggle a bit,’ Ricktor exclaimed. ‘Now, let’s get through this test and hunt some beasts.’
—
Mada too had an opponent that he was going against, Ricktor was correct with his guess. A member of the Lethal Bite Clan, a female who wielded two spiked fists attached to the end of her knuckles, was in front of him.
He had already been hit quite a few times, his clothes soaked in blood around his chest, across his arms, as well as in a few other areas.
His eyebrows were furrowed, as he was frustrated about the situation he was in. For one, his feet, they were sunken into the mud, going halfway up his shin. His movements were slower due to the terrain.
“Come on!” The female shouted, as she charged in from the side, Mada lifted his leg strongly, flinging part of the mud across the entire area. However, none of it had hit his opponent, as she bent and bashed her hand right into his side.
The spikes were lodged deep into his skin, and great pain was felt.
“Are you going easy on me, because I’m a woman or something?” The person asked.
“Oh, trust me,” Mada stated with his foot still in the air, he swung it to the side, hitting her just across the arm causing her to move slightly, but she wasn’t knocked down and just felt that her arm was a little sore.
“If I get a hold of you, or if you stayed still, then I would happily beat you until all of your teeth were gone, right before I killed you!” Mada screamed, twisting his legs and getting them out of the mud one after the other.
He was swinging his body in the air, trying to use his techniques to get out of the situation and close the distance between the two.
With each of the hits though, they were blocked by the fist techniques.
“You sure have bad luck,” The attacker stated. “The Flowing Force Clan rely on the link between their footwork and techniques. And you, the main disciple, specialize in kicking techniques, but in the terrain we are in now, you’re far slower, and can’t even get the full force of your attacks in!”
Mada could hear what she was saying but wanted to ignore it. He knew that he was in a disadvantageous situation but so what. It was the situation he had to deal with.
‘If my brother was in the same situation, he would be able to get out of it, so I need to do the same too!’
He could see the attacker bringing both of her hands forward charging at him. She seemed to have next to no problem moving through the thick mud. In the first place, the Lethal Bite Clan used fist techniques.
In terms of gathering strength for her attacks, it was still enough for her to attack.
“This is the end!” She screamed.
A kick was perfectly timed by Mada, as it swung through the air, but that was all it had managed to hit; the air. He could see it as if in slow motion, as she had ducked under the attack and had a smile on her face.
She rushed in, and then sprung up, hitting cleanly with her gloves Mada’s chin. Blood flung up in the air, and Mada’s body was lifted in the air.
‘Crap, am I going to die like this? For a while now, it’s felt like my luck has run out.’ Mada thought. ‘I didn’t care about the clan stuff, or the other main disciples. I just wanted… what did I even want, why am I still thinking of my brother in a time like this, when my life is on the line?’
Images were flashing in Mada’s head of his life, his life while being under Gunther’s shadow. Always seeing him go off, always seeing him being praised. Always seeing those in the clan respecting him on another level.
Yet what was it, was it jealousy, did Mada want to be praised instead? Did he want the eyes on him, or was it something else. Even if his talents were acknowledged, would he be happy about it?
‘I guess I won’t find out why my mind is so messed up in the first place.’ Mada thought. ‘I wonder if the White Dragon’s mind is just as messed up as mine?’
All of these thoughts were running through his head, as his body continued to fall to the floor. He knew that a follow-up attack was on its way, so then why, why hadn’t it happened yet.
Using his strength, Mada tucked in his chin, and that’s when he could see; a sword slicing through the air, cutting right through the head of his attacker. A blade he was familiar with.
20:16
Mada eventually landed in the mud, and lifted his body, and when he had done, the fight was already over. The man who had sliced his attacker, was walking towards him.
“What are you doing here brother, why are you here?” Mada asked, shocked, stunned, not even understanding if this was a dream or not.
“I’m here for you, idiot,” Gunther replied.
Chapter 395 Blood Eye
Mada couldn’t explain why his brother was here. Sure, he was part of the academy and worked for them, so he would have an idea of which student was heading off to which portal.
Even then though, that didn’t explain why his brother, who had always ignored him and said nothing to him, would go out of his way to protect him.
“That person, they were from the Lethal Bite Clan you know!” Mada claimed.
“I know, I was watching for a while,” Gunther replied. “Strange things have been happening in this academy for a while. Which is why I thought it would be best to keep an eye on you. I didn’t want to intrude on your fight, so I waited until it looked like you couldn’t handle it anymore.”
Hearing these words, Mada’s whole body was shaking, he was unable to even control his heartbeat.
“Because I’m not as good as you right?” Mada replied. “That’s why you intervened, and followed me, because you thought I wouldn’t be strong enough to defeat the beasts inside. Because I’m so weak that I’m someone that you need to protect!”
Mada hated it, hated that he had been saved by Gunther. The person who was always ahead of him, always praised. Mada had been trying to carve his own path, his own way, which was why he even stuck to the Flowing Force Clan’s foot techniques instead of sword techniques like his brother did.
“You brat, what are you even going on about?” Gunther replied, confused, and placed both of his weapons away. “You think I did this, just to make you look bad? The reason I saved you was simple. I don’t want to bury you, not see any of our family cry.”
This response, Mada didn’t know how to feel. He was a little annoyed still, at the fact that only Mada was the one that saw this as a competition between the two of them. That he was always compared to the other, but the response was a simple one… did his brother really care for him?
“The life I have, is not one that you want,” Gunther stated. “Carry on your own path, and don’t worry about the clan heads too much, let me deal with that stuff, you just do what you want.”
—
Safa was locked in combat. She was walking on a large stone-like bridge that was covered in clouds along the way. Most of the land was hard to see, or where one could stand or not due to the large clouds.
However, because of her god eyes skill, when using light magic on her eyes, she was able to sense things and she knew her attacker was waiting for her in plain sight. The students, before going off on their assessments, were given real blades instead of wooden ones to give them a chance to fight against the real beasts.
With the spear in her hand, she had thrust it into the smoke, to hear it clang against a large object that pushed her away.
“I thought I was going to deal with this whole thing relatively quickly and easily. I never expected that I would have to put up somewhat of a fight.”
The attacker leaped out from the smoke with a curved sword in their hand. Their whole body was sparkling. In order to stop this, Safa placed her feet firmly on the ground and thrust her spear forward.
It had perfectly hit, but the Qi and force of the attacker was a little strong, pushing Safa back. She braced herself as she could see the attacker swinging the sword through the air.
She lifted her spear, blocking the strike from above with the pole, and then moving it to the side as she shifted her feet, blocking the attacks again, but right as she blocked one hit, a fist came, hitting her to the side.
It was a powerful hit, and she could feel the side of her ribs breaking.
Her whole body flung, hitting part of the stone bridge, the side of the wall. Her body felt like it was on the edge of falling down into the cloud of smoke, not knowing what was really there or what was beneath.
‘I need to get up, and I need to be careful, this area, it’s so dangerous!’ Safa thought.
She could see her attacker coming towards her, running across the grounds, and before he had reached her, right out from one of the clouds was a winged beast with claws at the tip.
It looked like a grainy bat, it had crashed right into her attacker, sending him to the ground. The two of them looked to be having a scuffle as the giant bat creature tried to bite the attacker.
He was pushing back with his sword, and eventually managed to reposition so he could stab the sword right through its neck. As he kicked the body off, he was looking for his target and soon laid his eyes on Safa again.
‘That beast… might have saved my life. It allowed me to reposition myself and get up off the ground.’ Not only that, but Safa had also used her magic to heal the broken bones in her side.
Noticing how strongly Safa was standing, the attacker tilted his head to the side.
“I was sure I felt something break, but never mind that. You seem to be quite lucky, but with your poor Pagna warrior skills, you won’t be able to live for much longer.”
Safa focused as she pointed out her spear, the iris of her eyes started to light up a faint white light.
“It’s a good thing that I don’t just know how to use Pagna skills!” Safa shouted. ‘It’s time I use the skills that I’ve learned!’
It was time for Safa to show the power of Light magic.
—
In another dimension, a land that was filled with mysterious plants that had large shaped balls at the end of them, and giant trees with similar large shaped balls. Liam had run into a particular person.
An old-looking man, with a short black-haired ponytail, and stubble covering his face. He didn’t seem to be the type of person that cared about his appearance, but there was one thing that was questioning Liam.
“Why did he recognize this person so much?’
“Wait, are there meant to be other people in the assessment?” Liam asked. “Only students and teachers are meant to be in this place, does that mean, you’re one of the teachers, is that why I recognize you?”
The man had jumped off from the large tree, and lifted his straw hat. His hand was holding onto the hilt of his blade.
“I’m no teacher, but it’s no surprise that you recognize me,” the man said.
That was when it had hit Liam. He could see the sharp eyes, the straw hat, and his relaxed demeanor. This was a person that many from the Dark Faction would know, because it was a member of one of the main five clans, and not just any member, but a Vice Clan Head.
“You’re Royo Kien, from the Lethal Bite Clan, the Vice Head of the Clan, the second in command!” Liam said, struck with awe. His words were said in excitement. “You’re one of the strongest in the Dark Faction, and would be just under Lisa in strength!”
“Hey hey, don’t shout too loud, and don’t act like that, otherwise you’re just going to make my job a little harder,” Royo commented. “And besides, you have something wrong. Not always, the one who is the strongest is the head of the clan.
“There are sometimes those that don’t wish to lead, or the only strength they have is fighting, and I would put myself in that category. I’m sorry about this, I hate to have to kill a fan, but hopefully it’s a good warrior’s death for you.”
“Kill a fan?” Liam repeated those words, his lips quivering, he was sure he hadn’t misheard it, and it would explain the tingling sensation he could feel, the moment he had met this person.
“Hey, hey! Kill me?” Liam shouted out. “That’s pointless, I’m a nobody, I’m from a small clan, and I’m in the initial stage, you’re a middle-stage warrior! Isn’t it like against one’s code to kill those weaker than you.”
“It is for some,” Royo answered. “But it’s not really a problem if no one finds out about it, and right now, I don’t see any witnesses.”
Liam knew he couldn’t run, but could he beat a middle-stage warrior, that seemed impossible. At that point, he drew out his sword, and threw it in the air ready to use his juggling arts.
When looking at his sword in the air, he could see splatters of blood, and two arms detached from a body.
Royo was by his side, his sword already having sliced down.
‘Those arms, they’re f*cking my arms!’ Liam thought.
“I will make this as painless as possible,” Royo said, lifting his sword up, and thrusting it forward, the tip of it piercing right into Liam’s eyepatch, blood soaking through the wound.
