“Did you… kill them all?” asked Hymar.
“Yes.” Throwing his weapons away, Kane approached them while wiping the blood off his face. Both of the axes crumbled into two piles of ashes.
“Alone?” Lamille interjected.
“Did you see anyone else?”
“…”
No more words were uttered after that exchange. They looked at the corpses, then at Kane’s, then at the corpses again.
---
Watching the S-Class students flabbergasted, Kane couldn’t help but laugh inside. He was one of the great saints after all. He could’ve finished them much quicker if he had his original strength.
Not even half an hour inside this realm, Kane only had two axes remaining. He might have scratched his itch to battle, but was it worth the sacrifice? Probably not. The itch was still there. He craved to find tough opponents — opponents that were hard to take down but not impossible. They had to exist somewhere in this labyrinth. Definitely.
Leonard then approached Kane with clenched fists. He furrowed his brows with a cold stare.
“Kane, we need to talk,” he said.
“…” Kane took a deep breath. “Go ahead.”
Swinging his arm, Leonard punched him in the face. Kane flinched and grasped for his cheek. It stung, somewhat. Both Hymar and Lamille cringed in silence as they watched. And of course, he fully understood the reason Leonard for his action.
“What the hell were you thinking!? Charging against more than two dozen enemies alone… are you out of your mind? You’re too reckless, Kane!” berated Leonard.
Kane was silent. He knew this would happen beforehand based on his experience. Getting reprimanded by someone for disregarding the leader’s order… oh, it had been so long. Back in the younger days, there was a commander who was constantly mad at him despite Kane always completing his missions simply because he didn’t follow the standard protocol. Kane couldn’t be bothered to change his way because, at that time, the commander was way weaker than him. Why should he respect weak people?
As Kane spent more time in the organization, he discarded that principle or at least, changed it. Respect shouldn’t be measured by their strengths or positions, but rather their character and situation. If he were still at his younger self, he would talk and punch Leonard back instead. To him currently, the most prudent action would be…
“You’re right. I should’ve stuck together with you. My action was stupid and I deserve that punch,” he admitted.
“If you understand that, then why—”
“It’s been a long time since I killed monsters like them. That’s my reason.” Kane stood up. “Don’t worry, Leonard. I won’t repeat the same action again.” Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t because he needed to save his axes for crucial situations. Doing the same thing without them was suicide.
Leonard stared at Kane for a while before letting out a deep sigh. “Good, I’m glad you understand quickly. I don’t want you to die because of a haphazard decision. Also, I apologize for punching you.”
“It’s fine.”
Then his frown turned into a smile. “But I must admit, you were amazing! I never thought you’d be able to kill them single-handedly!”
“The narrow corridor gave me a huge advantage. I fought them one versus one twenty-five times. And it’s all thanks to my axes… which are already gone.” Kane downplayed his feat.
“You don’t need to be so humble.” Leonard chuckled.
Kane smiled wryly. It wasn’t as if he tried to be humble. There was simply nothing special about it.
“I apologize for the interruption…” Hymar called. “Could we… loot the corpses before anyone else arrives?”
“Alright. Let’s finish it as quickly as possible.”
Hymar and Leonard pulled a knife from their pocket before excising one of the corpses. They took out the Lumetraxes' mana core one by one. Kane too joined them; he still had the dagger he bought from Bokar.
In the meantime, Lamille was standing guard to prevent ambushes. The process was smooth without any interruption. While helping, Kane had noticed a peculiar object — a very familiar object that lit his desire to investigate the dungeon further.
“Is this… Black Feather?” He examined it closely. The feather somewhat resembled the first feather he saw in many aspects except much smaller. No dark aura emitted from it either. Could it be connected to Xervatia somehow? Or it was simply an ordinary feather. Kane wished for the former, but he wasn’t completely sure. Either way, he had to find the source before leaving.
“What’s wrong, Kane?” asked Leonard.
“Nothing.” He hid the object.
The group moved on after looting the corpses. They navigated their way through the maze. Kane was assigned as a scout because he volunteered to do so. Although Kane had very rarely been a scout before, nobody in the group besides him possessed 50 years' worth of adventuring experience anyway. Thanks to his effort, the group managed to avoid dangerous situations and evade hidden traps.
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---
While Kane was busy scouting, the other three sat in a circular room, quite far from their starting place. Ruined debris of chairs and tables were scattered all over the place. On the west side, there was a kitchen, but it was already filled with rocks and rubbles from the ceiling.
Lamille broke the silence and asked Leonard, “Leader, where and how did you meet Kane?”
“Hmm…” Leonard tried to come up with a proper excuse; he didn’t want to expose Kane yet. “I met him on my journey. He appeared strong, so—”
“You’re really bad at lying, as always.” She heaved a sigh.
“Ugh…” Leonard flinched.
“Kane… tis’ a familiar name. Perhaps, he is the same one as… the rumored student of our academy,” said Hymar.
“Huh, you mean that oni kid?”
He nodded.
“Ha, as if a first-year student can vastly surpass us, the Class-S!” Lamille laughed, then immediately stopped. “But then again, it’s totally plausible. I mean, he’s beaten Leader in a sword duel before.”
“Therefore, Leonard met Kane… for the first time… in that event? Am I correct?”
“…Yes,” admitted Leonard. Kneading his temple, he apologized to Kane in his heart. “I hope you two keep his secret hidden. Other academies must not know this.”
“Of course, Leader. We won’t tell a single soul,” assured Lamille.
---
A moment later, Kane jogged at a brisk pace toward his group. The three were having a conversation but suddenly stopped upon his arrival. They stared at him before cracking a little laugh. Curious, Kane asked, “Is there something funny?”
“No, not really,” replied Lamille.
Were they talking about him? Well, it was inevitable, especially after Kane displayed his ability. He coughed once and said, “Anyway, I’ve found a group of four people walking toward us, about 500 meters away. How should we proceed?”
He also discovered traces of Lumetraxes, but they were too far away to be worth reporting.
Leonard scratched his chin. “Could you describe their uniform?”
“Vest, shirt, and bottom were all white with a red tie.”
“!”
The S-Class faces soured in an instant. Even Hymar, who rarely showed his expression, was affected too. For them to lose their composure… they definitely had an encounter with the group before and not a pleasant one.
“Are you sure, Kane? Are you absolutely sure?” pressed Lamille.
“You can see them for yourself if you don’t believe me.”
She staggered and looked elsewhere. “What should we do, Leader? It’s most likely he’s with them.”
“Calm down. Was there a male with light pink hair, always smiling?”
“Yes. He’s leading the group.”
Their expression became even gloomier than before. As for Kane’s impression of the other group, there was nothing special about them. Just a bunch of young mages from the nobility. Then again, he had a hard time estimating or comparing the mages’ strength. Perhaps they were more formidable than they appeared.
“That settles it. Let’s avoid them,” suggested Leonard.
Hymar and Lamille nodded in agreement.
Kane, on the other hand, was disappointed with the decision. Cowardly, but reasonable at least. He usually would disagree, however, he should follow Leonard’s words for now as long as not idiotic. Although…
“Too late. They’ve found us,” said Kane.
Everyone turned toward the entrance. The mentioned boy had appeared before them. Resting against the door frame, he took out a thornless white rose from his pocket and twirled it.
“Oh, dear, what do we have here? I certainly never expected to meet you this quickly, Niflenians,” he said with a condescending tone.
That was quick. The boy was silent with his feet despite not casting any self-buff. An impossible feat for a mage unless he used a short-distance teleportation ability, which was common among skilled mages.
“Roslain!” shouted Leonard, gritting his teeth.
“I appreciate that you etched my name in your heart, Leonard. I’m touched.” He chuckled. “I see my quirky little darling, Lamille, and Hymar, blue as always.”
“I’m not your darling, creep.”
“Blue…?”
Roslain then darted his eyes at Kane. “And an unknown stranger I have yet to meet. May I know your name?”
“Kane.” He pronounced it like the word ‘cane’.
Roslain most likely didn’t care about him, judging from his tone. He was stalling for his teammates… How classic. Kane kept his guess to himself since he wished for the obvious outcome.
“I assume that Sharon isn’t with you once more?”
“She’s a busy woman,” replied Leonard.
“Kane! Why couldn’t you be more sneaky?” Lamille interjected with her accusation.
Before Kane could answer, Roslain took the initiative, “Don’t blame your friend, Lamille. Your bickerings have reached my ears. This place is rather quiet, don’t you agree?” He then looked at the hallway. “Ah, my friends have arrived at last.”
Several people rushed toward the doorway. A black long-haired girl entered the room first followed by another similar girl. They both carried a katana and resembled each other save for few slight differences. The last one was a curly ginger boy with round glasses, catching his breaths.
“Sir Roslain, you should’ve told us your action beforehand!” shouted one of the girls.
“Hahaha, I believe in act first, talk later, my dear Aya.”
The other girls glared at Kane’s side. “Great. Can we not waste our time with them?”
“Take a closer look, Miss Izami. They’ve got a big amount of spoils.” The four-eyed boy adjusted his glasses.
“Good eye, Oliver. Even though you’re myopic,” replied Izami.
“H-hey! Is that last comment even necessary?”
“Even the other elites are here…” muttered Leonard.
Kane stood in silence, trying to process the whole thing. Confused, he asked Leonard, “Who are those people?”
“They are students of Calsweir Magic Academy, one of the most prestigious magic academies in the world. Out of 10,000 talented people, only a hundred may enter. And those four are the most elite from those hundred!” explained Leonard.
“I see.”
“You seem to carry a great burden in your bag. I am certainly able to alleviate it. Whether peacefully or by force, it’s your choice,” threatened Roslain as if he had rehearsed the line many times in front of a mirror.
“Do you think we’re afraid of you?” challenged Lamille.
“Did you forget your utter defeat by our hands? Where did your bravery come from?” said Izami.
Then, Hymar stood beside Kane as if presenting him. “Because we have a helper… who has killed 25 Lumetraxes… alone!”
“!” Now, it was Calsweir students’ turn to be shocked.
“Is that blue rubean speaking the truth?”
“That mysterious guy must be really strong, then.”
“W-what should we do?”
Roslain snorted. “What a farce.”
“It’s true. That’s why we’ve got so much spoils,” backed Leonard.
Placing his finger on his lips, Roslain’s eyes grew sharper and focused his gaze on Kane. The other three too became silent, seemingly waiting for his decision.
Crossing his arms, Kane drummed his foot. The parley began to drag on. Leonard most likely tried to avoid confrontation with them, but unfortunately, Kane’s patience had run out. Besides, running away would be a bad idea because the enemy could easily catch up.
“Enough of chitchat! How about we talk with our magic instead?” proposed Kane.
Everyone immediately turned their attention toward him, wide-eyed.
Roslain burst into laughter. “Hoho, I wholeheartedly agree! Then, I shall duel you personally, Kane!”
The others readied their weapons and spells, entering battle stance.
And thus, the magic duel between Niflenia versus Calsweir… began!