“Oh dear, the kids are dirty from playing in the riverbanks. Can you bring them to the bath? There’s also a hot spring Power Spot. It’s a must-try,” Viers said.

“Uhh, shouldn't you hurry? Isn't Boram in danger?” Paina asked the unworried Viers.

“The teleportation portal is priming. Can't go to where Boram is before it’s ready. Besides, I believe he can hold on.”

“On what basis, Lord Viers?”

“Belief. Just that.”

Viers geared up for the sortie, although he didn't need to do anything special so it was over in a short time. His inventory items were always filled with travel supplies. His condition was perfect. His wounds from Georgi and Dumuzin were already healed. Fetching Boram, in trouble or not, didn't matter.

After the bath, Viers sent Luca home, with gifts for her parents and baby brother.

“You three, come.”

With Viers’ call, the three familiars went into the small pocket dimension in his three badges.

“Guess we're house-sitting for the time being.”

“The way we are now, it’s a natural choice, Paina,” Farley said calmly.

“I get it… Pity. I kind of miss the convenience of Viers Channel,” Paina wished to go as well.

“Me too. Just a tiny bit. Lord Viers, may fortune be with you,” Farley gave a light bow.

“With you,” Gwen also mimicked her sister.

Viers was playing with a stone with a rune symbol on it with one hand, and Boram’s card on another. He was constantly monitoring Boram's condition. He wasn't dead yet.

Disguise, ok. Insignificant Fate, ok. Mystic Star Shroud, ok. Status, all green.

“I’m off.”

***

Surrounding a formation of rock resembling the stonehenge there was a gathering of people.

“Let me through! Let me through!” A girl forced her way in. She seemed to come here in a hurry as her breath was ragged. “Elder Hoseb, and other elders too, what is the meaning of this!?”

“Fio, huh?” A man that looked like a muscular, bearded, big shot, answered after glancing at the girl. “This doesn't concern you.”

“The condition of the Sand Atlas is strange. Something happened in the trial. Is that your doing!?”

“Peh! An outsider half-blood isn't worthy to enter the trial anyway.” A youth, who seemed to be quite handsome but he had many bandages and a few missing teeth, said.

“Roseb…” Fio scowled. By the name’s similarity, it implied the youth had a connection to the number one elder.

“So you’re the snitch. Boram beat you fair and square thus gaining the qualification to enter the trial. You’re just being a sore loser!”

“Hmph! I didn't lose to that kid! You think that half-blood is so much better than me, huh? Well, let's see how he exits the hellish Earth Diamond Crevasse!”

Fio looked horrified. “Wha-!? You changed the trial? No one below Level 3 has ever cleared it!”

“If that half-blood midget is truly worthy, then he should be able to pass the Crevasse, right, Grandpa?” Roseb said with a heavy schadenfreude.

“No way… Boram…” Fio’s heart sank; she feared for Boram’s life. Even if she called the village chief to stop the elders’ tampering, it would be too late.

Because Roseb laughed, the others also laughed. The crowd was the clique of Elder Hoseb, she had no allies here.

“I see, I see. I understand the gist of it. Girl, how about you take a seat here? You look like you’re about to pass out.”

A hooded man patted the empty space of the stone beside him. Fio felt strange, how could one of Hoseb’s people show any concern for her? She tried to discern the identity… but she didn't recognize him.

The man should be less than twenty so he should be about three years older than her. He had no intimidating aura or something extraordinary. He was like a regular guy, not even a Pathseeker.

Fio knew every resident on this island so he must be an outsider. The strange thing was, it was as if the crowd didn't even realize the man was there, even though he was sitting among them in broad daylight.

“Seems like you’re quite concerned about Boram, hm? Don't worry, he’s still alive.”

“You’re…!”

Fio saw the pulsing white card that the stranger was holding. She had seen it before. Boram had the same thing. He said he got it from his master. Fio’s brain connected the dots rather easily.

“You’re Boram’s master, right?” Fio said in a whisper so the others couldn’t hear her. “Please, can you help Boram?”

“Mmm, it’s a tad difficult entering a sealed space after it has been closed, you see,” Viers made a difficult face.

“Please…” Fio said with teary eyes, “Can you do something?”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Don't worry,” Viers gave Fio a head pat. “I believe in my disciple. You should too.”

While Fio was still processing what Viers said, a magical portal appeared in the rock formation. Everyone had a surprised expression. Unbelievable was written on their faces, including Fio’s and Elder Hoseb’s. There was a single exception, one who simply smiled.

Boram walked out slowly from the portal, battered and bloody. The visage of a warrior that had survived a calamitous battlefield and returned. The kid slave that Viers bought one-and-a-half years ago still looked the same as before, not growing even an inch taller.

Still, the boy had changed.

Boram took a moment to observe the unexpected gallery in front of him. He found some hostile faces, Roseb, and his followers. Just local bullies, nothing worth mentioning.

“Boram!”

Fio rushed in and embraced Boram in her arms. One was sixteen and the other looked ten years old. They look like siblings rather than good friends.

“Fio…” Boram said slowly. His voice was filled with tiredness but mixed with gladness. “Your clothes will get dirty…”

“Stupid! Don't worry about things like that!” Fio said while shedding tears of happiness.

“Fio… I did it.”

“Mmm!” Fio’s emotion was overflowing. “You really did it!”

But one among the crowd was trembling with rage. Complex emotion seethed from his heart; in his mind, the memory of defeat at the hands of Boram in a duel. Without thinking, Roseb attacked Boram.

It was a single Ruby Shot, but its power was thrice that of a cannon. Boram moved swiftly, in concern for Fio’s safety, who wasn't a Pathseeker. He shielded Fio with his body without a second thought. As the Arte hit his body, the rock shattered with a loud sound.

“I-Impossible,” Roseb said with a trembling voice. Boram was completely uninjured from that, from a Level 3 Arte, so what manner of enemies had he fought and bested in the trial?

Roseb got slapped to the ground by his grandfather.

“Foolish grandson! What if she got hurt?” Elder Hoseb scolded harshly.

And then, the hooded Viers leisurely walked in front of Boram, disregarding the onlooking crowd.

“You took that Arte like a chad,” Viers lowered his hood and so revealed his face. “You’ve really grown, my boy. Marvelous.”

“Master…?”

“Long time no see,” Viers smiled and extended a hand. He made a stance to receive a punch, like a boxer and his trainer in a spar. “Now hit me with all you’ve got.”

“Eh?”

“Here and now, show these small-minded naysayers what you really got. What that small fry could not bring out of you.”

“Wha-!?” A man in the crowd took offense. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Wait, in the first place, who’s he?”

“Boram called him ‘Master’. Is he an outsider?”

Viers and Boram tuned out the noise from the gallery.

“But…” Boram hesitated, giving a glance in the four elders’ direction.

“It’s fine. Even if you pass out afterward, don't mind. I’ll take care of everything.”

Viers’ smile instilled confidence in Boram, not that he ever doubted his master in the first place. He was a male after all. He had grown stronger since his separation from Viers. As his strength grew, the question appeared more and more often in his mind.

How much wider is the distance between me and Master?

Had it shrunk? Or had it grown bigger?

Boram was dying to know. His fighting spirit burned.

“Fio, excuse me a bit, okay?”

Boram gently moved Fio away from his embrace before heightening his concentration. The face he made was very mismatched with his kid's appearance. As he molded his Arte, the amount of Victa he emitted was astounding, making the crowd react with gasps of surprise and dread.

Boram’s forte was his physical attack. Viers made him to be a shell-breaker. Someone that broke steel and smashed shields. To be a bane of all the enemies that Viers himself had a poor affinity with, such as metal golems. Whether Artes and Profound Codex, Viers put much consideration into Boram’s ‘build’.

And now, the tiger cub seemed to have grown to be a proud young tiger. Facing down the current Boram made Viers feel like he was standing in front of the main gun of a warship.

Viers wondered how far Boram would go. Could he become something as fearsome as Saitama?

Perhaps taking Boram’s full-powered fist was a bit reckless after all, but he got some pride as a teacher too. So it’s on.

Victa gathered in Boram’s right arm and muscles bulged up. The hazy visage of a craggy-skinned giant, muscular and fierce looking appeared behind Boram. It had some resemblance with one of the Niō statues, guardians of the Buddha.

Boram was too focused on Viers to notice it but it was clear as day from Viers’ standpoint.

Fio’s heart-stirring face of a maiden falling in love.

Heeeh… So it's like that, huh?

Viers and Boram were putting on a show, but such a display of power was interesting. Most of the people here were Pathseekers; it was impossible for them to not be concerned about power. Therefore, none of the galleries made an effort to stop it.

Curiosity was a powerful motivator.

“Master…” Boram said after a few seconds of charging. “I’ll begin.”

Against Boram’s strike, Viers wouldn't take it with no guard. Not unless he got a death wish. Unreality Field alone was not enough as Boram incorporated his own into the attack. Viers did not exude his Victa outward like Boram, nor did he create some impressive phantom behind him.

“Hou…” Elder Hoseb let out a breath from his mouth. He was one of the few that understood what Viers was doing.

Boram didn't understand, but as the one facing Viers, he felt a sense of vastness. He didn't feel like he was facing a human. It felt like…

Like facing the sea.

“Come!” Viers shouted.

Boram moved with the signal. His preparation, form, and fist were as perfect as he was able to make them.

Viers witnessed it in slow motion as his brain was juiced with endorphins and magic. The intensity of a giant’s fist falling down on him. The power! The pressure! For a split second there, he felt like his legs would move on their own out of reflex. Yet, he stood firm.

The reason was that he had braced something similar or greater. In the Tower of Doom at Valkut, or against the rampaging dragon, he took it.

Boram’s fist landed on the open palm of his master.

A shockwave cut through the air, passing the spectators around the pair, like a blade of wind.

Fio had already moved farther away as she would not be able to withstand the implication of standing too close. She and the spectators were given one heck of a show.

Their eyes saw it. Their feet felt it. Their ears heard it.

The sensation of something massive struck the ground as if there was a falling meteor.

That was Boram’s best.

When the dust faded, Boram had fallen unconscious and Viers propped him up so he didn't fall to the ground. His right hand was minorly injured.

“Most impressive, kid.”

Viers’ praise wasn't heard by the recipient but it definitely reached his soul.

The crowd was spelled with silence. Normally they would applaud according to their instinct but Boram was a shunned figure so they refrained. The elders themselves were as silent as a grave, waiting for their leader’s instruction on how to act.

But to their surprise, Elder Hoseb suddenly looked to the sacred mountain and before long, they knew it too.

Earthquakes came as the mountain trembled. They had a laughter-like rhythm.

“Lord Titan’s approval!? Impossible!”

Elder Hoseb looked like he’d seen a ghost.