Michael let out a deep breath. The stale air only fueled his agitation. He stepped out of the cave he had just been in with gritted teeth and clenched fists. He glanced back before casting Whisper. Viktor quickly responded.

“…Nothing, I would expect.”

“…Yeah. Nothing except for another location.”

“My side is done for today. We’ve been at this for far longer than we could afford. We’re going back to Yellowbright to rest.”

It was a natural course of action.

“…Alright. I’ll keep at it for some more time.”

“Take care of yourself. You need rest too. Delving into enemy territory with a tired body and mind is stupid.”

“Don’t worry. I can keep going. I’ll contact you if I obtain worthwhile information.”

“Alright.”

The connection was severed. The floating mouth shimmered out of existence. Michael tried to calm his rampaging emotions.

It’s been too long.

He had been hunting Lohann for almost twelve hours. It was sincerely unthinkable. He had been rushing from hideout to hideout as fast as he could without using Lightspeed, but there seemed to be an endless number of them.

How the hell did they manage to establish this many bases?

Most of the hideouts couldn’t even be called that. They were simply small caves or nooks with ten or so enemies. After a short fight, Michael would ask for information, becoming aware of another hideout. The same would happen in the next location. By now, he had noticed that the information he extracted from the wounded enemies wasn’t reliable, even though he had changed the question to one they could answer. They all talked about a “location where Lohann met his followers,” only for that location to turn out to be another mere hideout. In such a fashion, Michael had been sent on a wild goose chase for half a day. He couldn’t believe the sheer number of people Lohann had managed to recruit, and their willingness to put their lives on the line for apparently no reason.

What the hell are the Skill’s effects? Can he control them somehow?

It was virtually impossible to nurture a large group of people with that trait. Michael had defeated almost three hundred people with his running around – without killing even a single one more – and all were willing to fight, kill, and die for Lohann. He was certain that it was the work of the Skill. Still, what Skill could brainwash such a large number of people?

No, there are even more people whom I haven’t found yet.

If he was correct about this, it was highly likely that Lohann had also reached Level 25 and achieved his Class Evolution. Michael felt that only a powerful Skill belonging to an evolved Class was capable of this. There was only one other possibility in his mind.

A Blessing.

His Blessing of Light had provided him with his strongest Skills in the form of Heritage, even if they didn’t have Mana Field’s magnitude. Lightspeed and Cleansing were invaluable and had saved his life more than once, despite their significant drain to his mana pool. If Lohann had been blessed, it was possible for him to have access to a powerful, abnormal Skill.

Even then, it’s pushing it.

What kind of Blessing could grant such a Skill? He had been blessed because of his connection to the Dragons, but what about Lohann? If the man had truly been blessed, why did it happen?

Michael cursed in his mind. He didn’t have the answers to any of his questions. This situation was a burden.

If his enemies were truly brainwashed, he shouldn’t kill them. They deserved the opportunity to be free of Lohann’s control and to make their own choices. Maybe many of them were good people. People with family, dreams, aspirations, and feelings. They were more than the puppets they seemed to be when Michael fought them. At the same time, it was still true that they were aiming for his life in the current circumstances. There had been scenarios where Michael had been forced to deal heavy damage to his attackers. Besides, his hypothesis about the brainwashing was mere conjecture. He wasn’t able to show too much mercy based on it.

The burden of the continuous fighting on his mental strength was enormous. Michael was tired. Even though his body was physically able to continue fighting for an unknown amount of time because of his high stats, his mentality couldn’t keep up. In every battle, he had to carefully adjust his mana output so as not to kill everyone, while simultaneously protecting himself; it was also essential to do it quickly in order to move to the next location. In the end, the battles were taking a toll on him.

Michael sighed.

“Fuck.”

His last fight had resulted in the information about another hideout. It was certain to be just another spot that would wear him down, but he still needed to check it out. At this point, he felt like he understood Lohann’s plan.

He wants to tire me out.

It was an effective plan. The man had realized his personal power couldn’t compete with Michael’s, so he came up with a way to even the odds. By the time Michael reached him, Michael’s capabilities would have decreased significantly. There was also the mental pressure of not knowing for how long he would need to keep fighting. He had gone through hundreds of people, but perhaps there were hundreds more waiting for him. This realization sapped his energy.

If I die while fighting his followers, great. Even if I don’t, he will only meet me when I’m worn out.

It was a plan that took advantage of Michael’s hastiness. His desire to quickly deal with Lohann was what fueled this mad hunt and allowed the plan to take shape. The reason for Michael’s urgency was simple: the longer he drew this out, the more people would die. News of people getting killed while out in the underground expanse reached the Challenger’s ears every day. Most were holed up in their Villages, but some were still going out and ended up getting killed. Lohann’s announcement about killing two hundred more people had accurately struck a nerve. Michael knew that he was rushing, but what else could he do? For every day he spent resting, people would die. His conscience didn’t allow him to stop. He needed to save those lives.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

At that moment, a thought struck his mind like a lightning bolt.

Wait.

He didn’t know how many people Lohann had under his control – through the Skill or otherwise – but he had fought against and defeated over three hundred people. All of them had been incapacitated. Were there even enough followers to keep hounding the Village entrances looking for kills? Given that almost everyone in Bluestone, Redglow, and Yellowbright was in hiding, and Lohann’s forces had just been greatly weakened because of Michael’s fighting spree, would Lohann truly be able to carry out his decree?

No.

It meant that Michael didn’t need to play along with the enemy’s plan. He immediately looked around, found a reasonably hidden spot, and walked towards it. He then sat down on the ground and closed his eyes. A golden halo appeared over his head, rotating slowly and bathing him in light. He would recover before moving on. Viktor and the others were also resting in Yellowbright, but it wasn’t as if he needed several hours to rest. Cleansing mended the minor wounds on his body. After the halo disappeared, he perceived the mana floating in the atmosphere, letting it flow into his Dragonheart naturally. His mana pool slowly recovered.

After two hours, he was good to go. He stood up and ran to the next hideout. He ran for kilometers on end, but his Endurance stat was high enough. His combat abilities didn’t decrease in the least out of fatigue. He cut through Redglow’s Territory and into Bluestone’s. He reached his general destination and started looking for a place that could house a base with experienced ease. It took him less than ten minutes. He sighted the entrance of a cave. He could see two people guarding its sides. Michael walked towards them, unflinching. The two people saw him as he walked out of the shade of a giant mushroom. They drew their weapons and screamed, making more people leave the cave.

Eight people.

As expected, the number of enemies in every hideout was close to the same. It was as if someone had manually placed pawns on a chessboard. The hideouts were unnaturally arranged, both in terms of people and in terms of location. The hideouts drew a big circle through the Territories of Redglow, Yellowbright, and Bluestone. Michael had realized they were outlining a spiral once he reached the tenth hideout, but it was too much to hope that Lohann would be waiting for him in the spiral’s center.

Michael threw his thoughts to the back of his mind as he approached the group. The first enemy stepped forward, swinging his sword with deadly accuracy. Michael unceremoniously dodged it. Yet, the attacker’s expression didn’t even change. The remaining seven people quickly rushed at Michael. He knew that if he allowed himself to be surrounded, the battle’s difficulty level would spike; nevertheless, it wasn’t enough to pressure him.

To his right, a Warrior stabbed at him with a crude spear. Michael took another step back, dodging the stab, but the weapon was quickly pulled back and stabbed forward once more. This time, Michael was focused on it. His superior Agility allowed him to grab the shaft as it passed him by, while his Strength was enough to break it in half with a single kick. However, the time it took to do this resulted in three enemies attacking him from the back. His staff glowed as he drew symbols in the air. A Shield came into being around him just as the three blades cut at his back. Michael took a few steps to the side, getting closer to the Warrior who now wielded a broken spear. A strong jab with the staff’s bottom to the chin later, the Warrior fell to the ground. The sudden movement sent ripples through the Mana Shield.

More slashes hit the Shield, but it didn’t even tremble. Mentally discarding this Shield, Michael stepped closer to the nearest enemy. It was one of the people who had aimed for his back. The Mana Shield shimmered out of existence just as Michael rapidly crossed the distance between himself and his enemy. A surprised expression crossed the enemy’s face before Michael’s fist dug into the pit of his stomach, making him drop to the ground.

Suddenly, a blade came flying from the right. Danger Sense flared up as Michael’s improved senses and high stats allowed him to react instantly. He dodged it, but it almost wounded his cheek. His brow furrowed. His heartbeat quickened and resounded loudly. His Dragonheart had been activated. It was the moment when the battle was decided. With nothing but his physical stats, he overwhelmed the remaining fighters. Soon, only one enemy remained standing. Michael liver-punched him, then grabbed him by the neck without putting too much pressure on the throat.

“Where should I go next?”

At the same time, he observed the man carefully. He could feel an indistinct, almost non-existent trace of strange mana within the man. It was highly likely for it to be the Skill, but he wasn’t certain. A glint of mysterious emotions shone deep within the man’s eyes. He opened his mouth, eking out a few words.

“Three kilometers… North. Cave,” the man coughed, “ Three mushrooms.”

Michael nodded, then deliberated on his next move. Should he try to learn more about the Skill by examining the man? Or should he keep going?

Let’s be quick.

For some reason, he felt a distinct aversion to the mana, one that he couldn’t explain. Just studying it made him feel as if something slimy were crawling on his skin.

An imprint?

It was his best guess. Momentarily, he was stumped. How was he supposed to remove an imprint that he barely understood? There was no way to reverse the process, since he didn’t know what it consisted of in the first place.

Should I try to overwrite it with my own mana?

It was the only method he could think of. It was crude and forceful, and he didn’t know what the consequences of failure would be. He needed to be careful. Permanently damaging the people in front of him was the last thing he wanted to do, since he didn’t know the foreign Skill’s exact abilities or brainwashing extent.

He started to insert his mana into the body of the man, who immediately shook. Unrelenting, Michael attempted to find anything resembling an imprint while simultaneously trying his best not to damage the man. It was difficult. He had only ever used mana on others to destroy and kill; trying not to harm someone was difficult. He scoured the man from top to bottom but found nothing. He could feel the distinctive presence of the foreign mana more than ever, but he couldn’t grasp its “location.”

There’s no physical presence.

He closed his eyes, envisioning his spiritual self at once. It was the precursor to Astral Meditation, but he didn’t keep going. Instead, he tried to reach out to the man’s own spirit. At first, it was fruitless. He couldn’t sense anything other than his own soul, but he didn’t give up. He didn’t question whether the Warrior in front of him would have a spiritual self, since he wasn’t a Mage.

After unceasingly trying, he felt something.

It was very faint. At first, it was to the point where Michael didn’t know if it was his mind playing tricks on him. He became certain as the feeling intensified, however. It was the same sensation of something slimy crawling on his skin, only amplified tens of times. He was extremely uncomfortable, but he powered through it and looked for the source of this feeling. He envisioned the shimmering spiritual self of the Warrior. Its outline was unclear, being only vaguely humanoid. It was a far cry from Michael’s spirit, but he had already expected this, since the man wasn’t a Mage.

On the back of the humanoid, blueish humanoid shape, a symbol burned. It was as if it had been forcefully branded on the spiritual self’s back. It trembled in a stable fashion, like a flame. Michael’s spiritual self reached out to it, emitting his mana. The moment the two different manas touched, however, something went wrong.

Michael realized instantly what was going on. He immediately flooded the man’s spirit with his own mana, but he couldn’t stop the symbol from spreading rapidly, covering the man’s entire soul in a flash. Then, it ignited, burning itself along with the soul. In nothing but a few instants, they turned into nothingness. Michael dragged himself out of the spiritual world with a heavy frown. He looked at the man in front of him. Blood poured out of his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. It was a grisly sight. Michael let out a sigh and let go of the man’s shoulder. The man fell forward. He had died the moment his soul had been extinguished.

This will be harder than I thought.

How the hell had Lohann managed to obtain a Skill like this? His conjecture about it being part of a Blessing became stronger. Only something outside of the Tutorial Zone could grant this type of power. No, maybe it wasn’t a single Blessing. There might be something else at play. Either way, the man’s methods were elaborate. Michael frowned.

Either way, he needed to keep going. He would certainly find other branded individuals on his path. He started making his way to his next destination.