Deep in the forest-like area, Mada had gotten over the fact of what had happened. That he had been attacked, and the one that had come to save him in the end was none other than Gunther.
The two didn’t say much, but it looked as if Mada was ready to just walk off, leaving his brother be. There was nothing he could do anyway.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Gunther asked, pointing one of his swords towards his brother.
“Where do you think? I’m continuing the assessment, and going to fight the beasts in here, to keep growing. I need to get stronger,” Mada replied.
There was more that he wanted to say, he wanted to get stronger to catch up to Gunther, but didn’t mention that bit out loud.
“Do you seriously think beating these beasts is going to get you stronger? You can see that their level is 3 or 4 at most. The level 4’s might give you a bit of trouble but not enough to help you get to the next stage.
“This assessment is useless, and I can’t believe after what’s happened you’re just going to continue.”
Mada stopped in his tracks, and the vein on his forehead was growing in size.
“So what do you suggest I do, if you’re just going to shut it down, shouldn’t you have a suggestion!” Mada shouted, turning around.
“I was going to make a suggestion, something the two of us have never done before,” Gunther replied. “Fight me.”
“Fight you?” Mada waved his hand in the air. “Forget it, you’re a middle-stage warrior, I already know you’re stronger than me.”
“And that’s exactly what you need, someone stronger than you. I’ll level my power, so it can give you a challenge but at the same time, I won’t pull my punches so you still feel the fear of death.’
“If you fight me, you should be able to learn a thing or two, so how about it.”
Fight against his brother? He had only been watching him from afar. Honestly, this was the most the two of them had ever spoken as well.
‘If I show lackluster skills, he’ll just continue to ignore me. He might think even less of me, but this is also a chance for me to prove myself… should I really be doubtful of all the hard work I’ve put in?’
‘I’ve gotten stronger, we Red Headband students have been through things none of those in the past have been through. If we were to compare ourselves at the same age, I should be ahead of him.’
“Fine, but if I get the chance to hit you, don’t blame me if it hurts,” Mada stated.
The two of them went at it in the forest, and Gunther was careful to use the right amount of power. They had fought for a while but eventually, Mada had run out of Qi, which was to be expected.
That’s when the two of them had decided to rest by one of the nearby trees, sitting down.
“You did good,” Gunther stated. “And I’m not just saying that because you’re my brother. You need to remember what you did today, and keep that feeling.”
“And try to just worry about yourself. I know you’re probably comparing yourself to me like it’s some sort of contest, but even above me, there are so many that are stronger.
“The only person you should compare yourself to is you. As long as you’re stronger than the person you were yesterday, then everything will be alright.”
After finishing his little pep talk, Mada stood up from where he was, and started to walk away.
“Are you leaving?” Mada asked.
“I thought you would have been happy with me going,” Gunther replied. “Anyway, yeah, I can’t be gone from the academy for too long. As for you, I think it’s best after a short while that you just return back to the academy as if nothing happened.”
“You mean after someone from the Lethal Bite Clan tried to kill me? Shouldn’t we make a deal out of this? We’re one of the five major clans as well!” Mada replied back.
“I don’t think this is the academy’s doing, I think this is a personal grudge of sorts. Right now, it’s better for the Dark Faction as a whole if we don’t have any internal fighting, otherwise the other factions will jump on us if they know of this.”
New n?vel chapters are published on .cσ๓.
“It’s just a suggestion, at the end of the day, you do whatever it is that you want to do.”
Dame along with the rest of the people he had tagging along with him had entered a new dimension, and just like the others, they were in search for the student that would be present in this one.
The field was vast, and they decided to split up slightly in groups as they went on their search. They didn’t split up fully because there was a big worry above their heads.
The Vice Clan Head of the Lethal Bite Clan, Royo, could be in here. They needed to stay in sight of each other, being able to call Dame at any chance.
“If we really do run into Royo, do you think we can beat him, with all of us?” Tinson asked.
Tinson, Joe, and Violet were with Dame, while Simyon and Safa were searching through the fields elsewhere.
“If he’s a middle-stage warrior, it will be a tough fight, I will need everyone’s help,” Dame answered. “But now that we have her, I have a trump card.”
The trump card in question was the statue. It needed magic to activate which was why Dame was searching for Safa and Raze.
For Dame though, he thought going against Royo would be a good test of his capabilities, but if he was too weak then he would need to use the statue.
Eventually, the group had come across dead beasts on the ground. They had been slashed, killed with a single strike clearly by a skilled user.
They continued to search the area, that was until Simyon shouted from the other side.
“Guys, I think you should come over here quickly!” Simyon yelled.
Dame looked over, and he couldn’t see anyone there. There were no others standing next to him, so why would Simyon call them if they hadn’t found Royo or something else?
As the group got closer, Dame noticed that Simyon was looking at the ground, and the dreaded thought had entered his mind.
‘Is he staring at the dead… I hope it’s not one of our own,’ Dame thought.
When the group arrived though, they were surprised to see that it wasn’t anyone they knew, instead it was of a man’s head, with a straw hat, and a body not too far from it.
“That’s… that’s… it’s Royo!” Tinson pointed. “That’s definitely him, I’ve seen him in person before, but how is he dead, who killed him!”
For a moment, Dame wondered if it could have been Raze, but the kill, it was too clean. For a person to kill someone like this, they had to have overwhelming power compared to the other individual.
A death like this, it would be someone who was on deity level.
“There’s something else,” Safa said, staring at the ground.
When they came over, they could see a pair of arms on the floor.
“I think… these belonged to Liam,” Safa stated.
Chapter 406 A connection between worlds (Part 2)
Safa knelt down next to the chopped-off arms, lifting one of them up in place. She had to see if what she was seeing was real.
She recognized the clothing that was worn.
“Wait, how do you know this belongs to Liam?” Simyon asked.
“These hands, of course, I would recognize them,” Safa replied. “They were the hands that had tried to touch me… many, many times.”
Hearing these words, Simyon didn’t know whether to get angry or be upset because of what he imagined Liam had tried to do, but if his arms were like this…
“Does that mean, Royo, he killed Liam?” Tinson asked.
Everyone was stunned into silence. If Liam did go up against Royo, there was no chance for him to survive, no matter how much stronger he had gotten through their training.
“Don’t count him out just yet,” Dame replied. “Those might be Liam’s arms, but then where is his body, and if we look at Royo, it’s quite clear that he’s dead as well.
“The markings, the clean cut on his head, it’s not something any type of beast could do, at least not one in this type of dimension.”
“I think there’s a good chance that he could still be alive. We shouldn’t give up until we’ve found a body, and everyone, let’s stay close together.”
Dame didn’t want to tell the others why he wanted them to now stay close together; he was worried it might frighten them more.
One thing was clear, the person who had beaten Royo was incredibly strong. The statue would have to be used, and even then, who knew what would happen.
The group continued their search, and Safa herself had decided to use her god eyes. She was currently also carrying the pair of arms on her back, tied up by a ripped part of clothing from Royo’s body.
If they found Liam in a certain state, she was sure she would at least be able to heal him and put him back together.
While using her god eyes, she soon noticed something. In the fields of grass, there were dead beasts. The energy from their bodies was still present because she could see that there was a crystal still inside those that were dead.
For some reason, whoever had killed the beasts hadn’t pulled out the crystal.
Going ahead, the rest started to follow. As they were moving upward in the grassy hills, they had reached the peak of one, and in a sunken area of land, down below, they could see a certain individual with a sword held in his hands.
Around him, there were several beasts dead, at least five of them.
“Liam!” Safa shouted out.
Liam was midway, practicing the strike that he had performed via his new system and was trying to perform it on his own. When he heard his voice though, he turned around to take a look at the group of people that were running toward him.
‘System, can you confirm, I’m not seeing things, are they real?’
[I can confirm that what you are seeing is not an illusion; they are certainly real.] freёReadNovelFull.com
“Wait, you look fine, you look completely okay?” Simyon said, staring at his arms in particular.
“What, did you wish me dead or something, so that’s one less rival to get in your way?” Liam replied.
“No, I mean…” Simyon wasn’t even in the mood for jokes because just moments ago he really thought Liam was really hurt, and a part of him was actually upset by what had occurred.
Safa then went to pull the arms out from behind and dropped them on the floor.
“Those!” Liam replied, scratching the back of his head. “Why have you been carrying around someone’s arms for? I’ve never seen them before, as you can see, my arms are perfectly intact and working fine.”
Liam was awkwardly moving his arms through the air. It seemed like they were working fine, but it was also quite clear that he was hiding something as well.
“We saw the dead body of Royo,” Dame stated. “That’s where the arms were as well. I’m not sure if you know, but that was the Vice Clan Head of the Lethal Bite Clan, a middle-stage warrior.”
“Now, I’m okay with accepting that these arms that we found, in a dimension where there is only meant to be us, aren’t yours, but I can’t accept that you were the one to beat him… what killed him, or who killed him?”
Liam was hoping he could avoid this conversation, he didn’t even think it was going to happen. After taking out a few more beasts, he was ready to leave this portal and see how the others were doing.
“It wasn’t me,” Liam replied.
“Well, no shit it wasn’t you,” Simyon replied. “Who was it?”
“Look, it’s really hard to explain because I don’t know what really happened myself,” Liam stepped back, feeling the pressure. He felt like he was being interrogated.
“I did meet Royo, I saw him in front, he said he was here to kill me, on the orders of the Lethal Bite Clan Head.”
This was expected since all of them had gone through the same thing.
“But, before our fight could even get underway, and I could strike him down, a portal had opened in front of us, a red portal.
“The next thing I know, and this guy, in a full metal suit comes out and kills the guy.”
Hearing the story, Dame thought there was no reason for Liam to lie. It sounded impossible for portals to just open up, but Dame knew someone who was quite capable of doing just that.
The more important question was, who was that guy.
“Why did he help you?” Safa asked. “You don’t think it was a coincidence that he appeared in the middle of that fight between you two, do you?”
Once again, Safa’s question was met with silence. They were starting to wonder what Liam was holding back from them.
“I’m not sure, but when he saw me, it seemed like he was almost disappointed. Like, I wasn’t the one that he was looking for.”
“He said something else that worried me a bit as well, he said that he was looking for a mage.”
Safa, Dame, and Simyon all looked at each other. They remembered when Raze had told them the truth about him; he had told them he was what they had called a mage.
If someone close to Raze, like Liam, had met with someone and was disappointed, then it meant one thing.
“This person, I think they might be looking for Raze,” Safa exclaimed.
“And we’re not sure if he’s on our side or not, we should hurry again. There are still multiple dimensions that we have left to check.”
Nodding along, it was time for them to head out, and they were thankful that Liam had somehow managed to survive that ordeal.
As they ran, Liam stayed at the back of the group.
‘It’s the right thing, keeping what I am now a secret from them, right?’
[I cannot answer that question for you, as I do not know what will occur in the future or the reactions of others.]
Liam thought it was best to keep it to himself, but he was worried about something else as well as he went to rub the back of his neck.
‘When he appeared the time before, my neck was hurting. I’m wondering if he’s keeping an eye on me. If I’m being tracked and leading him right to the one he wants.’
Chapter 407 The Appearance Of The Dark Magus
Feebie’s fists were shaking as they pushed against the two swords. Only a few meters ahead of her, she could see her target, the one she had been chasing for a while now.
‘So close, I’m so close to getting rid of the White Dragon, he’s right in front of me, and then, and then, this person gets in my way!’ Feebie tried to push forward hard, but equally, the same force of Qi was being pushed back.
“I know who you are, but do you know who I am!” Feebie shouted. “I am the Clan Head of the Lethal Bite Clan! The Crimson Crane are a wandering Clan.”
“If you go against me, and get in my way, then it will mean the Crimson Crane will no longer have privileges of stepping foot in the Dark Faction!”
Alba couldn’t help but smirk, first the Light Faction declaring them as an enemy, then them putting the Dark Magus in their care just put them even more so on the hit list.
After that the Behemoth Clan and their troubles. They could still stay in the Demonic Faction but not without having trouble looking behind their back.
The only place that was still okay for them to be in was the Dark Faction, but now it looked like trouble was brewing here as well.
‘Dark Magus, are you trying to start trouble with the whole planet!’ Alba thought in her head.
“As I said before, it’s not up to me, the one who is calling the shots is him!” Alba’s swords started to glow slightly brighter red in color.
They were charged, and she pushed forward causing Feebie to flip in the air and jump backward. Most of the energy continued forward until it crashed into a building behind.
While Feebie landed back on the ground, not hurt, but extremely agitated.
“What do you mean he’s your boss, how could a mere student be in charge of the Crimson Crane, what could he have done to make you follow his orders!” Feebie shouted.
None of it made any sense, even if he had relations to the Noctis Clan, the Crimson Crane were practically a neutral group.
“I’m thinking about it now myself,” Alba mumbled, as she looked back at Raze, a weakened white-haired student, from the corner of her eye.
——
Not too long ago, Alba, as well as the other members of the Crimson Crane, were in the city of Repton in the Demonic Faction.
They were in the usual place, on the third floor in a private room filled with mats, and as usual, Alba was busy drinking away, with the rest of the Crimson Crane.
“Is this okay?” Cronker asked, sitting at the table, his arms were folded. He didn’t participate in the drinking like the rest of the group was.
In fact, he still had a black mask that was covering his upper face.
“What do you mean,” Tilon stated, with his large shield on his back. “We’ve been through a lot lately with everything that happened with the Light Faction elder, and then the Behemoth Clan, we should be able to just relax.”
“Tilon’s right!” Froma said, holding up a drink with her face bright red. She had only drunk one glass, but she was never one who was able to hold her drink, mainly due to the small size of her body.
“What I mean is, we have a reputation to uphold,” Cronker stated. “Before this, we were going full steam ahead, making our reputation known. Working as mercenaries for other kingdoms, or taking on troubling dimensions that needed to be closed.
“Our reputation has increased though,” Reno commented. “Although, whether in a good or bad way is hard to say.”
“Right,” Cronker replied. “Although I’m not complaining about that. I just don’t understand why for the last week we have done absolutely nothing but just stay in the city.”
As soon as Cronker finished his sentence, Alba placed her drink on the table making a small bang. A wave of Qi had gone out, hitting all of the others slightly.
“It was a request made by none other than the Dark Magus, who is a member of ours,” Alba explained.
“Correct, a member, but one in name only,” Cronker retorted. “If any of us were in trouble, then we would all go to help them out in a heartbeat. That is what makes our clan special and unique compared to the others.
“We care for each other like that of a family. If we were in trouble, do you think the Dark Magus would help us? I think you know the answer, which is why I find it hard to understand why you are treating him so well.”
Kizer then stood up, and pulled out the large blade from his back. It was shining with power and the moment the others saw it they started to clap and cheer.
“I believe that this is reason enough. This is a weapon that was created by the Dark Magus himself. It has increased my power beyond what I imagined, and it’s the same for Reno as well.”
“If we all have such great items, and exclusive pills that he creates just for us, then it doesn’t matter who we anger, we will be at the top.”
“The other factions have looked down on us for a long time. We, the Crimson Crane, have changed that slightly, but still, they allow us to go into each faction because they see us as nothing.”
“But we will show them, that us wanderers who paved our own path, will be able to shine above them.”
Everyone had long stopped listening to Kizer’s speech and had continued to drink as they were enjoying themselves. To which his face had turned red, and he soon found himself sitting back down on the ground.
“What Kizer says is partly true,” Alba replied. “But what he said was important. When I think about him, and it’s the same with Dame as well, I believe the two of them feel the same way, as if they want to pave their own path.”
Cronker knew it was a conversation that he wouldn’t win; he wouldn’t be able to change Alba’s mind. She had already made it up, but he just couldn’t help but vent his worries.
“He is someone we don’t know much about, and I feel like, this favor that we promised him, in return for these items, based on what he has done, and the trouble he has caused so far, it might be a favor that puts us all at risk, and beyond what we expect.”
The time was ticking, the Dark Magus had claimed he would be back to them around the end of the month, so they would expect him at any moment.
“Excuse me!” A bell rang on the other side of the sliding door. “A guest has arrived to meet you.”
“A guest?” Alba raised an eyebrow. “Let… them in.”
The door was slid open, and the worker stepped to the side. At that moment, a man wearing a strange blazer-like costume walked in, with bright white hair on his head.
As he stepped in, his breathing was unnatural and heavy. When the door closed behind, Cronker couldn’t help but ask.
“Who…are you?”
“I’m… the Dark Magus, And I’ve come to ask for that favor.”
Chapter 408 This Is More Than A Favour
After taking the Cursed Qi pill, Raze knew he had a limited amount of time with all of his mana. He had already overexerted himself, especially in the state that he was in.
There was one fact he had to come to terms with, and that was, he was unable to beat the current head with the state he was in.
It was hard for him to swallow; he had used his trump card, his magic, but it wasn’t enough. With what mana he had left, he decided to escape.
Using his wind magic, he covered up his tracks in the sand and pushed himself further than he could go, but there was a problem; he had run out of mana once again.
He found himself at the edge of a new town, filled with houses made of sandstone and a river that ran through the center of the living area.
‘She wasn’t even hurt by everything that happened, I’m sure that the Clan Head will catch up to me in no time. Even if I hide, I won’t be able to beat her,’ Raze thought.
Thinking about this, an idea clicked in his head. Maybe he couldn’t beat them, but there were others he had met and knew that they could, that were far more powerful he had come across.
‘I can escape this place and return the same way I did in the underground assessment. I have the coordinates to the cave in the Demonic Faction… and if I want to return here I can do the same as well, but I need mana, I’m completely out.’
Looking in his hand, there was another option; it was a regular mana pill that Raze currently held. He had just taken the cursed one; if he was to take another pill to restore mana after, then the blowback would be quite large.
‘I remember the pain I had when using the astral projection skill. It felt like I was about to faint, my whole head was splitting apart, but I have no choice.’
Drawing the magic circle on the ground, Raze got to work. Sure, he could just use a portal and escape from this situation completely, but he wanted to make Feebie pay for putting him in the situation he was in now.
He didn’t want to let her go. After finishing up, the magic circle, the pill was taken, and he was off.
——
Feeling the effects of having used a second pill, Raze was in incredible pain, but he was determined to move further and further.
He couldn’t waste his time, and he was finally outside the room where the rest of the Crimson Crane were present.
The door slid open, and all members were focused on the one who had just entered. When they saw the man enter, they thought it was quite the young student.
He oddly had white hair, but none of them recognized the person who had entered.
“I’m… the Dark Magus, and I’ve come to ask for that favor.”
After hearing these words, the laughter and cheerfulness in the room had become incredibly quiet. They looked at what they thought was a simple student in front of them, and tried to match it up with the words he had spoken.
“The Dark Magus… this is him, wait, it can’t be right?” Lilly asked.
None of them had seen the true face of the Dark Magus. He would always wear the dark robe when he was around them, and the effects of the dark robe shrouded the face of the certain individual.
There was one trait of the Dark Magus that they had managed to spot a couple of times, and that was his white hair that would peek through once in a while.
“The Dark Magus was a kid, the one that defeated the middle stage warrior, and made this, how is that possible!” Kizer thought, holding his sword.
It wasn’t just that, through the sound of silence, they could hear the person in pain. With each breath, it felt like he was struggling and hurting.
He was currently covered in sweat as well, so they were a little hesitant.
“Do you think this is him, it could be someone just trying to trick us,” Cronker whispered.
“It has to be him; he asked about the favor,” Alba replied. “Reno, what are you doing, hurry up and see to him.”
Rushing over, Reno was using what he had at his disposal to help Raze, but as he approached, even in the state that he was in now, Raze pushed his hand away and took the items rather than them being applied to him.
‘That’s the Dark Magus alright… he acts just like him,’ Reno thought. freёReadNovelFull.com
Raze went ahead and took the Qi pill, as well as the strange liquid that was given to him. He had joined the others at the table.
He felt a little better, but his head still felt like it was trying to split itself open. It made him wonder, what would happen if he was to take more pills while he was in this state.
Would it be certain death, would his brain just give out on him? It was an effect he didn’t know about since he hadn’t tested it out.
Reno was still concerned about why the Dark Magus was breathing like so after the medicine, but he assumed, if there was one person that would know how to improve his condition, wouldn’t it be himself.
Just what happened to him, and what life did the Dark Magus live, outside that of what he did with the Crimson Crane?
Some of the other members couldn’t help but continue to stare at the Dark Magus. With him wearing his dark robes, he was so mysterious to them before.
They wondered what type of person was hidden behind, and some had guessed that he might not even be human.
He did do non-human-like things after all, but now he just looked like a weak child.
“You have come to us in this state, and judging by your strength the person who has done this to you isn’t weak,” Alba commented. “And you have decided to request that favor now of all times, do you mind telling us what this is all about?”
Raze was still breathing slowly.
“I think his throat is damaged; it’s hard for him to speak, just give him some time,” Reno stated.
Right after, Raze lifted his hand and held onto his throat.
“I’m being targeted; my life is being targeted,” Raze answered.
“Oh, so you want us to simply protect you from this person, or get rid of them?” Alba asked.
Raze shook his head.
“Remember, our promise, that I was to take charge of the Crimson Crane, as if it was my own,” Raze replied, and took in one deep breath.
“I want the Crimson Crane to come with me, and help me fight against the Dark Faction’s Pagna Academy.”
Immediately, everyone’s heart felt like it had skipped a beat, as their eyes had widened. Just what reason did the Dark Magus have to do such a thing?
And just as Cronker had said, this favor was beyond that of which she had imagined.