After leaving the second layer. Jessica and Leo continued to talk. Jessica was mostly speaking while Leo listened. Partially due to Jessica already being Grade D, the first layer didn’t have very much that could threaten her.
No longer were they going to stay. Since she was leaving, she took a direct route. Making matters even easier was Leo being able to sense his surroundings to about the same level as her. Once he was able to get his mana to Grade D, he would have a greater ability then her.
Since the majority of Leo’s time was spent fighting strange creatures. After the first few, it became a bit repetitive. Jessica thought she had it bad, with the endless amount of training and studying she did. Now she felt that maybe it wasn’t so bad.
“Where do we go now?” Leo couldn’t help but ask a bit hesitantly. Right now they were in a bit of a strange place. Leo didn’t even need to be said.
Jessica had no reason to return to the house without the old man. Mercury City was now possibly going to start a war. As Cassie’s student, by all rights, she should return to Mercury City. Even though Leo was against it.
She was not sure if she could just leave without saying anything. In a sense, it was betrayal. At the same time, Cassie had sent Jessica on a strange trip. It was bound to fail, even if she wiped out the entire valley slowly.
If Leo was correct. There wasn’t an end game. If she was a distraction. Even if she wiped out the entire valley it left her with a point of no return. Then again, because they were only using her as a distraction, they would be attacking the main base.
Thus, there would likely be no reinforcements. With the way Cassie did things. Jessica had a feeling she was just one of many distractions. But, nobody had come to take her away. As if Cassie was softly telling her to leave.
With a furrowed brow Jessica couldn’t help but scratch her head with no idea what to do. She stopped, standing still as she sat against a tree at the very edge of the forbidden zone.
Leo was about to ask if something was wrong when he felt something. It was slow, but slowly someone was coming closer to them. It was clear they didn’t know exactly where they were. Somehow Leo felt like it was someone familiar.
“Oh, there you are!” Jumping down from a tree. Saleh was about to go up to Jessica when he stopped. His eyes squinted as he turned towards Leo, “Is that, that thing?”
With a bemused expression Jessica ignored Leo’s cursing, “Yeah, that is Leo. It appears your breakthrough has made your senses stronger.”
Shaking his head, “No. He is different. Before it was a strange feeling. Now I can directly feel someone as if they’re just invisible. It is completely different. Before he was like a ghost, now he is like a real person.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Unable to make heads or tails of it, Jessica decided not to ask for further explanation, “Did you come to pick me up?”
In some weird sense, even if she went back to Mercury City. That slight feeling of being thrown away, was now dissipating.
“Yes, but not for what you think. Teacher said that a war is coming. However, we aren’t at a level that we can do anything but put a target on our back. If there is a price on your head now. If we join the battle, the other side will specifically aim for us because of who our teachers are. Combined with our low Grades, we are nothing but useless fodder.”
With a strange expression on her face, “Then what are we supposed to do? Hide in Mercury City?”
A strained expression appeared on Saleh’s face, “Uhm. I got an invitation from my senior. So teacher said that I should take you along. You two haven’t met, but she knows you.”
“Senior?” Slowly as it sunk in Jessica showed a surprised expression.
“Yeah.” Saleh was not sure how to feel about it.
Seeing his expression Jessica could only laugh, “Alright.”
Setting off it would take them a few months to reach the meet up point. With that in mind, the two set off, heading south.
Far, far away. In an ancient forest, trees so large that straining one’s neck would not allow you to see the tree tops. A dark mist was blocking the sky. Because of the tree tops blocking the light, the entire forest was shrouded in darkness all year around.
One of the trees, had a hollowed out section. Having originally been a small hole, because of the size of the tree, it was enough to be a large house. Someone had made it into a dwelling. A light through a makeshift window could be spotted.
Inside was an old man with white hair. He was currently sitting in an armchair with a glass of red liquid sitting on a small table next to the chair. The wine inside was still, seemingly haven’t been touched in a long while.
A book was currently occupying the old man’s attention. Suddenly, looking up. Frowning he looked at the intruder, “You’re not supposed to be here.”
Smiling slyly the intruder spoke, “Come on now, I brought you a housewarming gift!”
A deep frown appeared on Everwood’s face, “What happened?”
Ignoring the blood that was dripping onto the clean floor, Everwood couldn’t help but think the worst when he saw Izic appear in a place he was not supposed to be. Let alone with Anthony’s head.
“Hahaha, don’t worry I got permission. I am only allowed to come here. Otherwise, I will be breaking a promise. I got special permission, just so I could bring you this gift. But don’t worry, I wasn’t the one that did this. That granny did it.”
A deep frown continued to sit on his Everwood’s face. Only once he understood Izic’s lingo the color on his face drained completely. With a flabbergasted expression, “Is Jessica okay?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. Though, how heartless. Two of your colleagues were heavily injured. If you hadn’t escaped to here, it would be a perfect opportunity to make a comeback. Really too bad.” Sighing regretfully.
Finally relaxing, “It doesn’t matter. So long as Jessica is okay. I can simply return later.”
After a few more attempts, Izic grew bored. Seeing Everwood return to reading, Izic went to the door. Opening it, he took a large whiff of the air. As if memorized. Even still, he never took a single step out. Only when a large amount of time past did he disappear.
Seeing as the intruder was gone. Everwood stood up and moved to the open door. Grabbing the so-called present he ruthlessly threw it out the door. Having no solid ground, the head continued to fall for an unknown period of time. However, it never made it to the ground.