Helial was slowly walking down a corridor of the Royal Academy. Behind him walked Lumia, Snowflake, Frankenstein and Lulu. They were all staring at him in curiosity yet none would dare shatter the silence.

Like, almost none.

“HAHAHAHAHAH !DID YOU SEE IT WHEN PSEUDONYM MOPPED UP THE FUCKING FLOOR WITH HIS FACE? I FUCKING RISKED CHOKING MYSELF WITH A FURBALL!” Snowflake’s sudden yelling broke up the silence weighting over the group.

They all let out a sigh of relief. The heavy atmosphere really had made them uncomfortable, even though they didn’t know how to wipe it away either. Truth was, Helial had badly lost to Pseudonym without the least chance to react. Despite his outstanding talent and leading attitude, which they had thought powerful enough for him to defeat stronger opponents, the match ended up in a tragedy. They all knew that if Helial had challenged a warrior in the Third Phase Intermediate stage, by going all out he would have had many chances of winning. With Pseudonym though it had been nothing like that.

The defeat was devastating.

After the match, Pseudonym’s armor had no scratch. On the contrary, Helial had been knocked out without having brushed a finger against him.

“No worries guys. It’s not like I’m depressed or feeling down. I was just thinking at what expects us next,” Helial said as he ignored Snowflake, who was rolling on the floor laughing.

***

A few hours before

Helial slowly opened his eyes. He tried to focus his gaze on the place he was in. Judging by the colorful mosaic he could make out on the ceiling, he was in his room.

A silhouette soaked into sunshine was sitting by his bed.

Helial moved his eyelids repeatedly to make it our more neatly.

“Master?” Helial asked Caesar, who was waiting for him to wake up.

“I paid visit to make sure the match with Pseudonym has cast no shadow on your heart,” Caesar said. His eyes looked serious.

The state of one’s heart was at the very basis of Mana cultivation indeed. In the long run, peace of mind was far more important than fast level-ups. If Helial hadn’t come to terms with the defeat and tarnished his heart in rage, his Dao would have probably ended up devastated.

The reason of Caesar’s visit too Helial slightly aback. He didn’t object though. After the months spent reading the manuals of the Royal Academy while listening to Iblis’ advice, Helial could boast a pretty vast knowledge on Daos. The fact that Helial drew from Iblis’s experience probably made him a far more informed expert than Caesar himself.

His only lack was that of experience.

“I’m too inexperienced. I know I haven’t fought in enough matches yet. The fact Pseudonym beat me isn’t a big deal to me,” said Helial without going too detailed.

However, Caesar was still concerned. “Do you think you’ll be able to beat him one day? Will you outdo his strength?”

Helial shortly glanced up at the embellished ceiling of his room.

Then he slowly gazed down until his eyes met the icy glare of Caesar.

“Do you think Pseudonym would ever hurt Lumia or someone I love without a reason, just to prove he’s stronger than me or cause me any harm?” Helial asked Caesar.

The question caught the King of Orma off-guard. Yet he knew the answer. Despite his mysterious past, Pseudonym was too strong for the powers of Orma to turn a blind eye on him. If he were to increase in power, he’d probably become the strongest unrivalled Immortal in the Goblin capital, one day.

“No. Pseudonym firmly believes in pure absolute justice. He would never hurt someone for the sake of it nor to harm anyone else,” Caesar said in bafflement. He didn’t see where this was going.

“Then I couldn’t care less about outdoing Pseudonym,” Helial said in a yawn. “It’s late. We have group training, today. We need to form the parties. Circe…” Helial suddenly interrupted midsentence, as if he had just recalled something. He coughed as his face flushed. “… My fiancé asked me to team up with her cousin, and I still haven’t met him.”

Caesar raised an eyebrow. He felt surprised and calmer at the same time, but he wouldn’t give up.

“Why wouldn’t you want to defeat Pseudonym, given that he doesn’t attack your family? Why doesn’t the idea of being stronger than him appeal you?”

Helial stood up and began to wear the equipment bought at the Merchant Guild Caliban had delivered him personally. He shrugged.

“Power is no absolute deterrent. If it should become a deterrent towards every human being, the freedom gained by the powerful would become their prison instead. I don’t aim to be the strongest,” Helial said casually, “I want my strength to pave my way to freedom. I have no interest in using it to imprison others. If Pseudonym doesn’t threaten me, I have no intent on competing with him.”

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“But could you beat him in a match one day?” the King insisted. He was curious to hear his pupil give him a feedback on that.

Helial fastened his cloak. It was the piece of an equipment set recommended to him by Circe herself. “Makes you look like a man,” she had told him, and Helial had nothing to object. The cloak had no Stats, so it didn’t really matter to him. Helial would put it back into his Interspace Ring, Call of the Mermaid, as soon as he stepped into the Dungeon.

“If one day Pseudonym changed ideals and wanted to hurt Lumia, I would wipe him away from the face of the earth,” Helial said without too much thinking.

Caesar didn’t have any more questions. He bid farewell to his pupil, wished him luck for the training, and then walked away. He had some important business for the well-being of Orma to care about.

***

In the present

Helial was walking with slow steady steps. The hubbub around him left him unconcerned.

Caesar’s words were echoing out through his head.

“Could you defeat him one day?”

Well.

He gave a sigh as he glanced up at the end of the corridor. It gave on the training ground. An infernal bedlam of yelling Goblin disciples were splitting in groups for the training.

Most of those Goblins had already formed a group, so there were little people still roaming in search for a team to join in.

As soon as Helial stepped on the training ground, the voices lowered as many gazes fixed on his figure.

Lumia looked about herself and smile: “Looks like you’re a celebrity now, brother.” She let out a giggle, scrutinizing the curious gazes of the crowd.

Helial gave her a helpless look. He didn’t like to be the center of attention. He knew perfectly well that many of those gazes actually betrayed the worst intentions.

He walked forward, chin up. He took notice of a silhouette in the distance, taking a nap on a wooden bench on a corner of the training ground.

His sharp shapely facial features were peculiar for a Goblin. Some strange demoniac charm seemed to linger on his face. His Aura was so mysterious no one would dare step too close to him.

His ginger hair and the faintly green complexion made him look more like a Human and couldn’t but arouse doubt regarding his Goblin origins. According to Circe, her aunt fell in love with a Human. Together, they gave birth to a half-Goblin half-Human baby who inherited many more features from his father than from his mother.

Helial’s new fiancé also told him that Vlad was matchless in talent. Yet, the youth showed no willingness to train. Vlad spent his day roaming free across Orma without much aim. From time to time he would take a nap, regardless of whoever or whatever lay in the surrounding.

The mere fact that he was cousin to Circe made anyone unwilling to bother him. Except for Pseudonym, no one in Orma including the Sect of the Worthy wouldn’t give face to Circe or to her Guild of Life and Death.

Even though the roots of Sect of the Worthy and the Clan of the Heavenly Eagle ran far deeper than theirs, and despite their foundation being more grounded, the Guild of Life and Death boasted a millennial unmatched expansion in Orma. This was mostly due to Big’s fierce management measures as well as to the fewer string they were attached to. The Guild had no Immortal in its ranks, but people thought that if not Big, Circe would surely become the first Immortal of the Guild.

Circe’s generation was blessed by two talented youths beyond any common sense. Circe was frighteningly powerful, even more than Comodus in her same phase. Circe was probably the greatest talent in Orma. Caesar, Aure, Big… none of them could match the full potential of that peculiar I-want-it-all young girl.

Rumor had it than if she broke out the big guns, Circe would compete with someone in the Fourth Phase Intermediate stage.

And yet, if a talent like that of Circe was one in a million, that of Pseudonym was a gem which could not possibly be outshone. Even the Immortals in Orma didn’t know for certain the exact nature of Pseudonym’s power and the extent of his potential. All in all, he had already pierced the sky itself and left a mark in the heart of every citizen in Orma.

If she had been born in a different time, Circe would have probably been worshipped. However, she was unlucky enough to have stumbled on Pseudonym. She was doomed to be the eternal second in Orma.

But according to what Circe herself said: “Vlad is your age. If he had trained all the time, today I wouldn’t have been called second, but third.”

What had truck Helial the most was to hear such words by an overly proud woman who wouldn’t admit publicly Pseudonym’s crushing superiority.

Now he must find out whether she had told me so to convince him recruit Vlad for his group, or if the boy’s talent was really as terrifying as she promised.

A sudden roar interrupted Helial’s train of thought. “You piece of shit, this Emperor Cat here his hungry. He wants to go hunting some snacks in some fucking wood. Why are we hear instead of going and ask more details of this Quest?”

Helial’s slowness deeply irritated Snowflake.

“We still need to recruit one more group member. Someone warmly recommended that I took someone with us,” Helial answer as he looked at Snowflake’s candid fur.

“Warmly, you heard him? It’s because the bitch is in heat,” Lumia remarked with a sweet innocent smile on her face.

Lumia’s obscene language left Snowflake puzzled. But he quickly nodded in satisfaction. Never leave an enemy alive. First rule of the Supreme Cat Club: you steal my food and I fucking kill you, bitch.

Helial pinched Lumia’s cheek. He really didn’t know what to say.

“So, who’s the lucky one we need to recruit?” asked Snowflake in ever more impatience.

Helial pointed at a ginger-headed Goblin lying asleep on a bench.

“I would like to find out how strong he really is first, so I’m thinking at how to test him. I’ll scan him out through Percept- THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, SNOWFLAKE?”

As soon as Helial expressed his intention to test him, without thinking twice Snowflake gathered a frightening amount of Mana on his right paw. Twirling his claws, he delivered five sharp Mana blades towards Vlad. He hadn’t refrained. The blow carried 100% of his strength. Despite the target being quite far and brute force not being the cat’s strong suit, such attack could easily kill a First Phase practitioner caught off-guard… And Vlad was sleeping!

In that very moment, another group of powerful-Aured people stepped inside the training ground. They were all in the Third Phase. The eyes of the girl leading the group lay on Vlad just when Snowflake delivered his blow. “Now you’ll see.”

The Mana blades brushed against a few students who risked being hit. They promptly stepped aside in fear of being torn to pieces.

Helial’s expression was dark. The attack could kill Vlad on the spot. Even though one could be brought back to life, that wasn’t the most effective way to recruit a new team member, that was for sure.

If Helial really convinced some as strong as Circe suggested in their group, his position in Orma would become more stable. He needed allies in case of future problems. Also, Vlad was half-Human. The Sect of the Worthy would certainly look at him as a traitor to his own race. It was pretty clear they frowned upon Helial and the entire Human race.

Sooner or later, openly or not, this would come to a conflict. He just needed to figure whether Vlad could make for an alley or a deadweight.

Helial gazed at the Mana claws as they rushed towards Vlad leaving long trails on the ground.