_ _ _ _ _ _ _
The wolves kept trying to attack him, but failed as they were mowed down by the gunfire, while he held his ground. By the time the first magazine was empty, he had killed dozens of wolves. When the magazine ran out, he threw a bunch of smoke grenades around him to confuse the wolves while he was changing the magazine. All around him shrill howls echoed, as more and more wolves were gathering near their nest. A few wolves tried attacking him through the smoke, but were unable to pinpoint his location. Within moments, the second magazine was linked and Add resumed his killing spree, retreating back through the smoke he slaughtered any wolf that made the mistake of coming close to him.
They tried their usual tactics, but those were mostly ineffective on Add. A few wolves were able to scratch Add, but aside from a few tears on his body armour, he did not suffer any damage. While he was finishing off the wolves, a low guttural growl reached his ears, which would send shivers down anyone’s spine. Through the thinning smoke he could see the silhouette of a large wolf. His thermals gave him the identity of the new arrival, and unsurprisingly it was the Alpha Wolf. Its feral eyes glaring at him with dense killing intent. With its appearance, the surviving dozens of wolves broke out of their confusion and gathered around the Alpha, baring their fangs and growling menacingly. Add showed no curtsey and opened fire once again, but the wolves seemed to have learned their lessons. They scattered, and began surrounding Add and by doing so minimized the number of targets Add could shoot at a time.
(As expected of you sly creatures, but I am not done yet!)
Holding the gun with his left hand, he began taking out HE grenades which he had previously stocked in his inventory, and throwing them around without care. Within a minute he had thrown tens of them around.
*Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom*
The grenades were not powerful enough to kill a wolf unless it went right under one, but they managed to injure many wolves, and made it difficult for them to surround Add. Taking this chance, he resumed firing while continuously turning in 360 degree arcs and destroyed the wolves’ assault. Suddenly, the Alpha Wolf howled loudly, and all the wolves began madly pouncing towards Add. Even though they were killed very fast, they kept attacking him without any fear. While he was fending off the attacks, the magazine finally ran out. The Alpha, who had been looking from a distance, took the chance and rushed towards Add. Before he could attach a new magazine, he large wolf bit onto the barrels of the gun and wretched it out of Add’s grip. The strength was really fearsome. It threw away the gun and again lunged at Add, who tried to dodge, but the Alpha’s speed was very fast. By the time Add could move out of its way, its jaws had already arrived on to him and he could only block with his Katana.
“GAH!”
The powerful jaws of the Alpha clamed onto the blade and a crushing pressure travelled into his arms through the blade. If not for his reflexes, his hand would probably be crushed into pulp by these jaws, or worse, may have been immediately bitten off. The Alpha was very strong, and coupled with the force of its pounce Add was pushed on to the ground. He was barely holding onto the Katana which the Alpha was trying to snatch away. It held Add down, placing its large paw on his chest, the sharp claws sinking into the body armour and prevented him from moving. The latter kept retreating his head, as farther away as possible, he could almost smell its foul breath through his gas mask. While the Alpha wolf was busy trying to bite Add, it failed to notice that the AK-54R had appeared on the ground in front of Add’s right hand. With one hand somehow holding off the jaws of death, he quickly loaded a round and the next moment the barrel of the rifle was plunged into the open mouth of the Alpha. Although all this seemed to have taken a long time, all of this happened within moments. When the wolf realised that something had entered its mouth, it was too late.
*RATATATATATATA*
The entire magazine of 30 bullets was instantly emptied inside the alpha’s mouth, and the bullets burst through its upper jaw, making mush of its brain and blew up its head. Its eyes widened in shock before the glow in them faded and its large body collapsed on top of Add with a thud. Having a body weighing around 200 kilograms pressing down on you was not a pleasant feeling, Add quickly crawled away from below the wolf, his fingers on the trigger as he loaded a new magazine and prepared for engaging other wolves.
The other surviving wolfs, realising that their Alpha was dead, dared not attack anymore and turned to run away. He was able to kill a few of them, and snipe some others, before they escaped into the woods. After confirming that there were no more wolves around, he inspected himself. The body armour was damaged, with some of the ceramic plated having broken and the Gatling gun also was deformed by the bite of the wolf. The Alpha was really powerful, its jaws could deform metal, its claws almost penetrated his body armour, and its speed was amazing as well. Even the sensory boost from two gene enhancers fell short before its speed. Still, it was not all too bad, he was only feeling some minor pain in his abdomen where the wolf had placed its claw, but he drank a healing serum just in case. Also, most items purchased from the System shop could be repaired using CP so his investment was not wasted. After repairing his armour and the gun with a few hundred CP, he finally reached the wolves’ nesting area, but he found no traces of any other wolves; even the pups were not there.
“Looks like the survivors probably escaped with the pups…”
He thought for a while and decided not to give chase as he had no need to. He had already killed enough wolves and there was no need to waste time chasing the rest. Opening the system menu, he checked the notifications.
[Ding! You have killed Dire Wolf x 83]
[Ding! Received 332,000 CP]
[You have killed Dire Wolf Alpha x 1]
[Ding! Received 35,000 CP]
He now had over a million Credit points which would be needed for the upcoming stages of his plans. With these many CP he could buy two of the item he was originally planning on buying, and that in itself was a huge plus. Sorting himself up, he made his way back towards Rigel and once he returned there were some things which had to be settled. He had been away for over one and a half month now, and he wondered how the training of the cadets was proceeding without him back there, while also preparing himself for an earful of scolding from Martha.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
A few days later, at the training camp near Rigel.
The 100 cadets were training as usual, according to their daily training regime. Under the watch of Kent, they had been repeating the various exercises and harsh training day after day. Their Instructor, Add had left to train himself in the mountains for over one and a half month now, but before he had left, he had ordered them to train with the a single weapon, the spear. Add had told them to use the three basic moves, stabbing/thrusting, blocking and swinging. After the harsh training for over three months, the 100 cadets had now become a decently disciplined group. All of them had healthy bodies, and their strengths had grown a lot as well. Kent had also taught them simple breathing and meditation exercises which allowed them to feel their internal mana. Once a person could sense her/his internal mana, they could channel it to empower their bodies.
Among the cadets only a few had the mana capacity to become warriors. However that was not much of a concern as Add had specifically told Kent that it was not compulsory for the cadets to be mana users. The few who did have this ability had had to learn to use their mana to supplement their physical strength. This process of using mana to increase ones physical abilities was called [Mana Equip]. The amount of mana present in the body was limited for all individuals and once depleted; it would take time to naturally recover. The body had finite mana, but all across the world, mana was abundant, the body could absorb this mana naturally, however, there were meditation exercises which could enhance the amount of mana absorbed and the rate of absorption as well. Naturally such techniques were very precious, and common people had no access to them, and a relatively poor and underdeveloped place such as the Weismann territory would naturally have no way to afford Mages.
As the cadets continued their training, Kent observed them and was internally satisfied. They had progressed a lot, compared to the weak and whiny kids at the beginning, they were now a properly trained group. Speaking of growth, the rank of a Mage or Warrior was measured by a special device called the [Rank Crystal]. This was a small ball of a white crystal which was around the size of a melon. It was a product of Alchemy. Alchemy was a branch of magic, which dealt with the creation of new substances and items, much like a chemist does in science. Alchemists wee mages who delved in this art of alchemy and used their magical skills to make strange items and magical inventions, such as the [Rank Crystal]. When a person increased in rank, she/he would feel a noticeable change in their body, with common effects being increase in strength, better senses, feeling more energetic, etc. However, concrete evidence was only possible through testing with this crystal which worked in a simple manner. If a person wanted to measure his or her rank, they had to palace a palm on this crystal and focus their mana into it. The crystal changed colour according the amount of mana it received. The order was as follows :
Rank 1 – Grey
Rank 2 – Yellow
Rank 3 – Orange
Rank 4 - Red
Rank 5 – Green
Rank 6 – Azure
Rank 7 – Blue
Rank 8 – Silver
Rank 9 – Gold
Rank 10 – Purple
Beyond rank 10 was the saint realm, which could not be measured by this [Rank Crystal]. It was a completely different level, and it was said that a single Saint could defeat dozens of Rank 9 people by on its own. Kent had one such [Rank Crystals] and he had tested all the cadets, once every week since they had arrived here, but till now none of them had come close to reach Rank 1. He was not very worried though, as this was a slow process and could not be rushed. Aside from this, the man also had other more pressing troubles. The young master had been gone for a long time now, and still had not returned. The finances were tight, and Walter who managed the territory’s finances was much tensed these days.
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Add had spent a lot to train these people and to most people, all this spending in their current financial situation just did not make sense. Martha, the Head Maid was calm, but everyone who knew her, understood quite well that under that calm exterior, a demon was rampaging. Even her husband old man Walter did not dare confront her these days, and the poor servants under her, were being thoroughly baptised by her on a regular basis. And Ken who had to report to her thrice a week, as per her instructions was helpless, and could only hang his head low and endure her sermons. In his heart he could only hope that the young master would return quickly and the target of Martha’s rage would shift to the correct person.
As he continued guiding the training of the cadets, he saw a group of horse riders arrive at the camp from the direction of the town. The identity of these horse riders caused him to frown and become tense instantly. They were dressed in chainmail and light plate armour and had swords hanging from their hips. This group of 5 people, were no strangers to Kent, in fact were part of the town’s militia. This was a one of the patrol parties who were in charge of maintaining the security around the town and its surrounding areas. The group was led by Zac, a deputy of the Militia. The horses stopped some distance away and the 5 people began walking towards the camp. Kent signalled the cadets to stop their drills and gather together.
“What brings you here Zac?”
Kent asked with caution. He knew this man well. Zac was a Deputy and a close aid of Dave. Since the death of Henry Weismann, the captain of the 400 strong Militia, Dave had pretty much taken over the militia and ran it as he wanted. Kent feared that if not for the fact that killing a noble was a capital crime, punishable by execution, Dave would have killed Add already. Recently, the attitude of the Militia had also been in clear disregard of the Lord. None of them put Add in their eyes, and to them he was just a figurative lord that had no power. Under Dave’s leadership, the Militia began behaving like a gang of thugs, and the reputation of this Zac was also quite worse. But no one dared question them, since the militia, though small was still the strongest force in Rigel. Almost all the members were rank 1 warriors with many rank 2 warriors as well. And they had received training under Rudolf and Henry Weismann, both of which were respected generals, and hence these men were quite a force in this region.
“Well, if it isn’t old man Kent. I am surprise your old bones are still alive…”
Zac, the leader of the group who was also a Rank 2 warrior said in a mocking tone, while his followers also began smiling. They looked around the camp, and the cadets who were mostly young boys and their eyes were full of disdain. Kent felt very angry, but he did not lose his reason. The other party was a Rank 2 warrior, while the 4 others behind him were also Rank 1 warriors. With their strength, they could make short work of the around hundred people present here. So he suppressed his feelings an asked again,
“Zac, isn’t your duty to patrol the region, why are you here?”
This made the, man frown.
“Shut up you old dog, do I need your permission to go anywhere I want? Huh? Just because you are a dog of the Weismann’ don’t think that you can order me!”
“You….”
Kent was humiliated, his face was scrunched up in rage, but he could not do anything. Zac saw this and smiled. When he was about to continue humiliating the old man, a boy shouted out from the group of cadets.
“You! How can you insult Mr. Kent like that!? Apologise to him!”
Zac looked at the boy who said this. It was Edward, the young man whom Add had interacted with on many occasions. He was also one of the most hardworking and promising cadets, among all the others. He had a natural talent of leadership in him, and many of the other cadets valued him highly. Edward, respected Kent a lot, having trained under him when he first joined the guards, so when he saw Zac openly insulting Kent, he was enraged.
“Oh… so you want me to apologise?” Zac looked at him and a cruel smile crept up his lips.
“Yes!” Edward nodded.
Kent who knew what kind of person Zac was immediately shouted to Edward,
“Edward! Who the hell told you to speak! Shut up and stand quietly!”
“But Mr. Kent, he insulted you first!”
“Shut up, do you not see me talking, you…”
“Now now, old man, let the boy speak. After all he said nothing wrong right? Ok boy, come here and tell me why I should apologise…”
Zac said with a crooked smile. Edward fearlessly stepped out of his line and walked before Zac, but before he could open his mouth to speak, a cruel light appeared in Zac’s eyes and he sent a kick at Edward. The later, was caught unprepared and the kick landed on his abdomen. The force was so strong that he was sent flying backwards and coughed blood. His body twitched a few times and then stopped moving. This was the strength of a Rank 2 warrior. A normal person, Edward, although his body had become strong due to Add’s hellish training regime, but at the end of the day, he still could not be compared with Zac. The difference was like an adult and a one year old child. The cadets, who had never experienced such a scene before, were horrified and many had weak legs. Zac spat on the ground and said,
“To think a pathetic dog dares ask me to apologise, asking death so openly pah!”
Kent was stunned for a moment and then he hurriedly ran towards Edward and checked his body. Fortunately he was still breathing and the pulse was there but the breathing was faint and he had coughed a lot of blood. There were definitely some serious internal injuries. His eyes reddened as he roared,
“Zac! How dare you! Do you think the young master will let you off if he knows!?”
Zac did not care about Kent’s anger or Edward’s life and death. He laughed at Kent’s words.
“Heh! Old dog, you still think that the Weismann Family is a thing! You are delusional! All that is left of the family is that little ‘young master’, who is worth nothing. Well I might be worried if the old lord was still alive but peh! He is dead, and you think that spoilt brat can do anything to us. Hahahaha listen old dog, even if I kill you and your puppies here, he won’t be able to do anything to me!”
Kent was trembling in rage. These bastards! All of them were normal people who came to settle here. It was Add’s grandfather and father who made them what they are today, and now that those people are gone, they do not even place the Weismann family in their eyes anymore.
“Zac, no matter what, the young master is the lord of this region. If you go against him, are you not afraid of committing treason!?
“Lord? Treason? hahahaha old dog, you sure say funny things! Well then, open your dog ears and listen, if I want, to there are a hundred ways to kill that lord of yours without anyone knowing. You should be grateful to Commander Dave that he has allowed that brat to live till now! Instead of me, you should worry about that trash. I heard he went in the hills to train, hah! Those hills are not a place for a child to pay, who knows maybe that brat died there already hahahaha ”
His arrogant laugh echoed in the area, but no one dared say anything. They had seen the outcome of Edward, and no one wanted to die. But then, a familiar voice was heard by Kent and the cadets.
“Who did you say was dead again?”
Hearing this voice, the smiles on the faces of Zac and his subordinates paused. They turned their heads to look at the source of the voice and saw the silhouette of a person slowly making its way towards the camp. As the person came closer, the militia men frowned realising who it was, while the faces of the Kent and the cadets brightened. It was the young master! He had finally returned after so many days! Kent was relieved that he was safe, but his excitement turned into worry as he realised that the situation had become more complicated. Add looked at the scene and understood what was going on. He could not help but sigh.
(The first thing I see after returning is this…)
He looked at the collapsed Edward who was being supported by Kent, walking up to Edward, he placed down the backpack he was wearing, and began fumbling in it. His hands inside grabbed a intermediate healing serum and he took it out, to the others it appeared that he had taken it out of the backpack. He told Kent to open Edward’s mouth and poured all the serum in the vial inside. After doing this he checked Edward’s pulse and found that it was a bit weak but stable, and his breathing was also stable so he signalled the other cadets.
“Take him to the infirmary building…”
Four cadets immediately came forward to pick him up and took him to the small infirmary building of the camp. Add then shifted his attention to the group before him, and looked straight at their leader, Zac who smiled and started speaking,
“Ah young master Adolf; it’s an honour to meet you here. It seems you are doing fine, and here I was worried that some mishap might have happened to you in the hills.” His eyes then fell on the black and grey camouflage uniform which Add was wearing. He had never see such a dress before, “Also, that is some unique clothing you are wearing there, and I have never seen that before, is this also part of young master’s ‘training’…”
But Add ignored his words, and asked another question in return.
“Which one of you hurt him?”
His face was expressionless as ever, but the cold and detached tone of his voice giving others a sense of discomfort. Kent realised that things were going in the bad direction and tried to intervene…
“Young Master the thing is---“
“Did I ask you?”
But his words were cut off in the middle as Add turned to look at him. Even the old man who had seen a lot in his life, shivered and took a step back reflexively. Those hollow and emotionless eyes of the young boy, actually managed to scare him. Add turned to look at the militia men and asked again.
“Did you not hear me? Which one of you hurt that boy?”
“It was me ‘Young Master’.”
Zac snorted in reply. His face was dark, as Add’s attitude angered him, and his tone clearly indicated that he did not put Add in his eyes at all. This caused Kent and the cadets to be enraged, however, the young master did not seem to mind and continued…
“So, it was you. Mind telling me why you hit him ?”
“I was just trying to see how you were training these people ‘young master’, but for them to be this weak. I cannot help but feel sorry for you. Seems like your talent is wasted on these people…”
Zac and his followers had mocking smiles on their faces. After all what more would anyone expect from a worthless young master who only knew how to spend money and live lavishly. At this Add suddenly smiled, but those who saw this smile could not help but feel that something was very wrong with that smile. His eyes were cold, and the four militia men behind Zac trembled, as they filled a chill creep up their backs. He then said,
“Oh, so it was like that. Then you wouldn’t mind if I tested how your commander trains you right?”
At this Zac’s eyes widened for a moment and then he began laughing. Kent, who had been silent for a while, was shocked at Add’s words and spoke out,
“Young Master! You must not! This Zac is a Rank 2 Warrior, and his strength is not far from Dave! Please think properly!”
“Mr. Kent, I know perfectly well what I am doing. Please stay silent. So then, Zac was it? What do you say?”
Add looked calmly at Zac, which made the latter irritated.
(Looks like I should teach this brat a lesson. A piece of trash and he thinks he really is some Lord….)
“Does the young master wish to compare moves with me? I must mention that if we spar, I am afraid I may accidentally hurt you”
Both his face and voice were full of mockery and disdain.
“Yes, I am sure. Do you agree?”
“Very well then young master, let’s begin. Seeing that you are younger than me, I will let you have the first move”
Add’s smile increased even further, and looking at that, Zac could thought ‘Is this brat mad?’ But the next moment, something which was beyond the expectation of anyone present happened. Add who had been standing a few metres away from Zac, suddenly reached in front of him in a flash. His speed was so fast that the Rank 2 warrior was unable to process this, and the next moment, Add’s fist landed on his chest. The man felt a violent force enter his body, as if a large hammer had hit him, and the force sent him flying across the ground many metres away. The faces of Zac’s followers who were hoping to watch a nice show froze, while Kent and the cadets had their jaws wide open in surprise. This was a Rank 2 warrior! Even though that did not sound much, the strength of such a person was much greater than the average man; in fact they could kill a normal man with a punch if they wanted to! But such a person was sent flying by the frail looking young boy! How shocking was this! The person in question leisurely made his way to the fallen Zac, his face still had the strange smile.
(How is this possible!? I….by a mere brat!..No No this is not possible, I am a Rank 2 warrior, how can I be weaker than this trash!?)
He stood upon his feet with great difficulty, the pain in his chest was unbearable, but he was a warrior, after all. As a warrior increased her/his rank, their bodies became much stronger than normal people. It was said that warriors of high ranks had so tough bodies, that even regular swords could not cut their skin. But by this time Add had arrived beside him and said,
“Are you satisfied?”
Zac glared at him and was going to say something but,
“No? Then let’s continue…”
What followed was a kick to his solar plexus, which made him unable to breathe and he was sent rolling once again. The young master again walked up to him and asked the same question and before he could answer, he was set rolling with another kick. The onlookers watched in shock as Zac was repeatedly beaten like a dog and could not leave the ground for a moment. Finally the man’s body was hurt so badly, that he coughed up blood. To normal people, this may look as if Zac was not trying to resist, but in fact, he wanted to, he really wanted to, but he was helpless. Every time he tried to stand, he was sent to the ground by those powerful kicks. He initially thought that Add was using some tricks, but after being kicked many times, he realised that there was real strength behind those kicks. This weak looking boy was actually strong! Finally, he couldn’t bear the pain and humiliation and shouted to his followers!
“What the hell are you idiots doing!? Get this bastard!? Kill him!”
The 4 rank 1 warriors who were watching till now, suddenly broke from their trance. They drew their swords, but hesitated, after all as Kent said, Add was till the Lord even if just in name, and killing him could have drastic consequences. Watching them hesitate, Zac was even more enraged and shouted,
“You bastards! What the hell are you hesitating for! Commander Dave will handle whatever happens! I want this dog dead! Kill him now or I will kill you all!”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _