CHAPTER 12 STRENGTH (PART TWO)

Once the outburst had died down and what was left was only the silence, Darren turned his back away

from Marvin.

"That sword is possibly one of the most powerful I've ever seen!" Marvin resented admitting it. He

couldn't help feeling a tiny bit amazed by Darren's superb talent.

Just as he was about to come to terms to the fact that he can't beat Darren, numerous injuries on his

skin came into view and every inch of his body began to crack and crumble away. He started to Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

collapse, and died before he even hit the ground.

"How is it possible that only one move of your sword was able to easily defeat someone at the eighth

stage of the Primary Realm? You cut through him just like a piece of steak!" Elsa blurted out a few

moments later. She had no words to describe Darren, especially when it came to his exceptional

swordsmanship. It might have taken her months to completely grasp the skill as efficiently as he had.

Watching the ball of light as it flew out of Marvin's head, Darren absorbed his talent and walked

towards where Elsa was.

"Are you alright?" he awkwardly asked.

Darren was perplexed at seeing Elsa absolutely dumbfounded by what had just taken place. He had no

idea how the whole fight must have looked like from her perspective. He had no idea how impressed

Elsa currently was. It was unlike anything she had ever seen from someone of his cultivation base,

even from someone like her who came from a prestigious sect.

Although, in a blink of an eye, Elsa fell back to her usual apathetic self. "I'm fine, thanks," she

nonchalantly replied.

Soon afterward, Kyle and Phil woke up from their coma to the sight of spilled blood and corpses all

over the ground.

Darren filled them in on everything that happened. They were understandably shocked to hear about

the events that took place while they were out cold.

"Jared, that son of a bitch! Poor Corrine did not deserve that," Kyle said. The two men grew furious just

thinking about it.

"We had not expected that you are such a powerful guy. It is our mistake. Please forgive us if we've

ever done something against you," Phil humbly said.

Darren accepted the apology and nodded his head.

"Why did you hide your strength from us? If you had told us about it, if you had used it sooner, Corrine

would still be alive and wouldn't have killed herself!"

Elsa wasn't able to stop the emotions that burst out of her. She clearly had a bone to pick with Darren.

She needed him to know that he was partly to blame for what happened.

What Elsa said did have some truth to it. Darren just stood by as his friends were injured by the Flame

Tiger; he just stood by while Corrine endured humiliation which led her to kill herself; he just stood by

and let it all happen. If he was a good man, he should have used his power to help them, he should

have done something.

"It was beyond my power to be able to help at that time. I can't tell you the reason why right now. All I

could say is that I'm really sorry," Darren explained.

"Humph!" Elsa sneered, frustrated at Darren. She believed no one could possibly be able to level up to

such a high stage from the third stage of the Primary Realm in just a short amount of time.

Elsa turned around without saying anything and left.

A mix of guilt, shame, and awkwardness washed over Darren, Kyle, and Phil as they watched Elsa

walk away.

"Darren, this Barren Wasteland proved to be dangerous especially for us who basically had no fighting

experience. We realized that we still need to improve our skills. We'll get going now, see you next time,"

said Phil. After saying those words, the two men cupped their own hands, raised them in front of their

chests in a salute. They then turned around and walked away, still limping from the injuries they

sustained.

Unlike them, though, Darren decided that he didn't want to leave immediately. Fighting in the battle

greatly empowered him and he didn't want to lose time in improving his cultivation base and his talent.

He has decided to stay in the Barren Wasteland and continue fight those fierce beasts.

A whole month has passed.

While taking a small repose near a lake, Darren saw his reflection in the water. Drying blood covered

his skin and his clothes were ripped off - he was a mess.

"I've been fighting fierce level six and seven beasts left and right for the past month. I wonder how

much my skills have improved.

I wasn't able to keep track of what stage I've reached, but I did just feel that I was able to quickly

absorb the spiritual energy of the earth and heaven.

I must probably at the eighth stage of the Primary Realm by now, after I spent more than a month in

practicing skills and absorbing the spiritual energy of the cardiac core," he said to himself.

He recalled that Nicholas had stopped at the seventh stage of the Primary Realm, and after receiving a

lot of resources from his father and spending three years practicing, he was finally able to break

through that barrier. "Unlike him, It only took me a very short time to figure out the solution to the

problem. This achievement was unprecedented in history!"

Darren was ecstatic as he thought about how after years of being the underdog. He finally reached a

higher stage and didn't have to fear the younger generation in the clan.

"They're all going to taste my revenge. The first one to be served will be Evan!"

Darren was confident that he would be able to easily defeat Evan who was currently only at the fourth

stage. The only thing that he was worried about was the clan power of Evan's mother.

But once Darren became a disciple of the Ilmen Sect, he would not have to worry about any kind of

clan power.

"The Ilmen Sect will choose disciples from each clan soon. I should head back."

Darren soaked himself in the pool to wash out the blood stains and all the grime off of his body. As

soon as he finished up, he headed over to Acqua City.