“Celadon!” Bruce said quietly. “Celadon? Do you have beef with them? Do you need my help?” Boxer said, chuckling quietly. Celadon was a strong city, but Lake Taiho did not lag far behind. Boxer would not be so gracious with them if he had to get down on it too. “No need, we’re about to begin. We don’t need to care about them!” Bruce said calmly as the Celadon men approached. The man that approached them so hurriedly carried an air of defiance. He had a slender build, and had attractive features. His eyes were sharp and they carried an intense look. He looked to be in his twenties, but the energy he emitted was telling of his power. The middle-aged man next to him, glared at Zephyr and Bruce with a fake smile. “I am Samson Leed, the prodigal son of the Leeds of Celadon. The older brother to Noah! Zephyr Khan, I’ve been looking for you! How dare you cripple my brother!” he scolded.Samson looked to be not much older than Noah, yet it was obvious his battle prowess far surpassed his brot
With a loud boom, Zephyr’s Might had resisted the Golden Devil. In the next moment, Zephyr felt his body float within an endless void, his eyes saw nothing but darkness. It ended as soon as it started, and when Zephyr came to, he realized his surroundings had changed drastically. It was barren, quiet, bloody, and most of all, full of despair. In front of him was but a thick jungle, yet it gave off an aura that made him feel uneasy.A sense of dream and despair overcame Zephyr, and it smothered him dearly. He felt cold, as if his veins were made of ice. A roar came from within, Zephyr had used his Might to halt these dreadful feelings. ‘So, this is the Land of Despair, huh?’ Zephyr thought as he observed his surroundings, confirming its namesake. This place was dreadful and depressing. The air was still, as if there was no air to begin with. It was dark and damp too.Suddenly, a scream came from afar, followed by a hollow ring. ‘Someone’s in trouble!’ Zephyr thought. They had just beg
Zephyr guessed that many fighters were making their moves lurking in the shadows. Battling the beasts was but a small inconvenience, the true danger lies in the backstabbing competitors. Right as Zephyr was about to continue recovering, a loud boom was heard. A great wave of energy came crashing upon someone, sending them flying thirty feet away. Every tree caught in the attack was immediately shattered and destroyed. The attack only stopped once it reached the tree where Zephyr was perched atop. Despite that, the tree still took a hit, and shaked violently from the impact, it was enough to make Zephyr stumble out from it. He wondered what person had made that attack.Suddenly, two loud crashes came, followed by the appearance of two people. Seeing the man on the floor, one of them nervously called out, “Yosef! Are you alright?” It was a girl with nice features, about seventeen or eighteen of age. She was beautiful. The man replied only after he let out a series of haggard coughs. “I’
“Heh heh heh, you girls are all the same, always saying ‘no’ when what you want to say is ‘yes’!” The fat man laughed at her actions. “Sienna you b*tch!” Yosef cried angrily. “Let’s go, beautiful!” The fat one ignored the man on the floor and continued. “B*tch! You two have no shame! I won’t forget this!” Yosef cried, absolutely livid. He finally realized that Sienna had been using him all along. She was a woman with personal plans, not the innocent girl she portrayed herself to be. She viewed men as tools to be used.“Hahaha, no matter how defiant you are, it’s useless! You’re useless!” the fat man laughed. He had not noticed how close Yosef had approached them. “Die *ssholes!” He was but 30 or so feet away when he made his move, brandishing something from his sleeve. “No!” The two of them cried out, as Yosef pulled out hundreds of silver needles, each tipped with poison, launching them at his aggressors.“Die!” the fat man yelled, he channeled all his energy and blasted it forth, s
“This Serpent is powerful. Too bad he was too lax about it. There’s nothing more I could do once he was poisoned,” Bruno said with a sigh, though his tone told otherwise. Not far from them, a young man lay on the ground, his body had turned black from the venom. “Please don’t blame yourself Bruno. This wasn’t your fault! If it weren’t for you, we’d never have gotten the chance to kill this beast!” the four of them cheered. “Thank you for your kindness, once I get into the Boundless Academy, I will repay you! I’ll never forget you!” Bruno said to the four. “Thank you, Bruno!” the four of them said respectfully. Zephyr shook his head at this lot.It was obvious this lot was a coalition of sorts. They had given their points to Bruno in exchange for protection and future benefits. All they had to do was kill monsters to raise their stakes. They knew they were never going to get into the academies, they were but Strengths of level eight. They thought that by helping Bruno, they would rec
“The scent of the fruit is getting stronger! It’s almost ripe!” a young man said excitedly. “Be careful, we’ll be going down together. If the fire fruit can be found here, I’m willing to bet there are other strange herbs nearby too,” another said. “Indeed, that’s a real possibility! If there are more herbs growing nearby, we’ll no doubt be rich!” exclaimed another young man. “Y’all head in first, I’ll stand guard! If I could find this place, no doubt others would find it too! I’ll stand watch!” Bruno said sternly.“Good thinking, Bruno!”“Indeed, we didn’t even think about that!”The rest clamored on.“Now, now, enough of that! Let’s work together!” Bruno said, ignoring their blatant sucking up, keeping a straight face. Though, his true intentions have long been spotted by Zephyr. He knew Bruno’s actions were not all he made them out to be. Zephyr quietly raised his guard, he would not be charmed into servitude like the other fools. He knew Bruno had a reason for staying outside.
“No!” Bruno cried. The attack was too quick, too sudden. He could not react at all, and before he knew it, he felt his life drain from him. Before the life fully seeped out of him, he noticed Zephyr who stood before him, chuckling to himself. “You...you’re still...alive?!” he gasped, wondering how Zephyr had not fallen for his trap, how had he not been slain by him. “Dumb*ss!” Zephyr huffed, before he picked up the scoreboards on him. He knew Bruno would sooner or later betray his team. It was the most logical outcome, not only would he benefit from everyone’s scores, he would not have to ‘repay the favor’. It just so happened that he unluckily encountered someone like Zephyr, one who could never be so easily swayed. However, what Zephyr did not expect was the amount of points Bruno had accumulated. The Tournament had just started, and he already had over 600 points! The others only had about 700 or so altogether! ‘It would seem that this b*stard’s done this before!’ Zephyr thought.
Zephyr kept his guard up at the sight of such a strong attack. “Hmph, that dumb*ss didn’t know a lifeline when he saw one!” a young man said, his hands still ablaze in reddish flame, he was the source of the great attack. He then picked up a scoreboard off the burnt ground. “Bunch of dimwits, didn’t know when to quit!” another spoke up. Behind the man with the flaming hands were seven others, the one who spoke up was dressed in fine, tiger-skin clothing. “We must get more if we are to help our prince enter the Academy,” another continued.“We must help him reach the top! He must become an initiate!” another chimed in.The eight of them started to debate amongst themselves. ‘All eight of them are Strength of level nine, this is trouble!’ Zephyr thought. ‘They must be some of the strongest fighters in this Tournament, why are they bothering with helping the prince get points?’ he pondered further, troubled with their odd actions. “Wait!” Suddenly, Zephyr turned his gaze onto one man,