"Ah! Feels good." Rivock heaved a sigh of relief as he sat proudly atop a heap of dead beasts.
Beneath him were around fifty slain creatures, their blood pooling across the ground, and a wide grin stretched across his blood-stained face. At this point, it was hard for his companions to even tell whether the blood belonged to the beasts or to him.
His head rested lazily on his knuckles as he watched Mada and Noelle struggle against the last five remaining beasts. After a few minutes of battle, it was over.
Noelle braced herself with her hands on her knees, huffing and panting in exhaustion, while Mada walked calmly past her. He crouched down without a word and began extracting the cores from the slain beasts with his usual precision.
"What feels good?" Mada asked with a raised brow, his voice calm but carrying a faint hint of curiosity.
"Feels good to be on top of everybody. Kek! Especially knowing that nobody can touch you except those strong enough." Rivock replied while stretching his arms in amusement, his grin widening as if the world itself was beneath his feet.
"Hmm." Mada muttered in response, deciding not to say anything further.
'Should I tell them?' Rivock thought as a small frown flashed across his face for just a moment. 'I wonder if they felt the aura that swept over here a few moments ago. Hmph! That presence… what the hell was it?'
"I feel like we've hunted enough for today." Noelle finally said as she curled her whip neatly and tucked it by her side. Sweat still trailed down her forehead as her breathing steadied.
"Indeed." Rivock agreed as he leapt off the heap of bodies, his boots crunching against the ground with a heavy thud before he began striding forward. "Let's return to the shed back on the daylight side."
"I hope that brat dies at the hands of the beasts so we don't have to soil our hands." Mada scoffed as he stood, his voice laced with disdain, before following Rivock.
"Trust me, he won't. Especially not against these mere weak beasts." Rivock chuckled darkly, shaking his head as though the thought amused him beyond measure.
"Sometimes, with the way you sing his praises, I don't even know if he is your friend or your enemy." Mada scowled angrily, his brows furrowing deeper.
"Don't worry," Rivock replied, his grin stretching once more. "In due time, we'll know exactly which he is to us." He chuckled loudly this time, his voice echoing before he yawned and stretched his arms lazily.
—
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the hunting grounds, something utterly unexpected was unfolding.
Grey stood frozen, staring down at a group of students bowing to him, their heads lowered in desperation, their trembling voices begging for his help.
"Huh?" Grey muttered as he blinked rapidly, still stunned at the scene before him.
"Please, don't refuse us. We'll do anything. Is it money you want? Or some artifacts? We'll get it for you. I'm from a small clan, but I can still gather whatever you ask for." The blonde-haired student added again, his tone frantic.
'Huh? Money? What do I look like? A pauper? Tch!' Grey sighed inwardly, already irritated. 'Whenever I return to the Noxarian faction, I know a pile of wealth will be waiting for me. What use do I have for their scraps?'
"I'm not interested," Grey muttered flatly as he turned his back on them.
The bowing students instantly rose in panic, their mouths hanging open in disbelief at his rejection.
"But… but please! We need your help. We really want to participate in this tournament, and right now, you're the only one who can make that possible. Don't turn us down!" A female croaked desperately, her voice quivering with both fear and hope.
"I do want to help, honestly, I really do. But the instructor said we must do this on our own." Grey's tone grew sharper as he spun around, his gaze cold as he scanned their faces. "She knows those who are strong enough to hunt these beasts and those who aren't. Now I ask you…"
His eyes narrowed, and his voice carried a weight that silenced them completely.
"How will you explain that just six of you—mostly blue bands with only a sprinkle of yellow bands managed to hunt sixty sky-ranked beasts? That's absurd. Even for me."
The words hung heavy in the air, suffocating the group with their weight.
"You make a fair point." The blonde-haired student sighed heavily, his shoulders sagging. "Just help us and we will owe you one. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, we will help you. Just please."
'Hmm. Sounds like a nice deal,' Grey thought, his eyes narrowing slightly as possibilities spun in his head. 'If I actually manage to help them, I'd gain myself some valuable allies. They might prove useful to me in the future.
I did say I wanted to build a clan, didn't I? With this, I could start laying the foundation right here. I mean, all those major clans began from somewhere. Perhaps this could be the beginning of my own legacy… the legacy of the Supreme Magus! Kek!' Grey chuckled inwardly, the thought alone thrilling him as he drew in a deep breath.
"Fine," he finally said aloud. "I'll help, but on one condition."
"Which is? Whatever it is, we'll do it as long as you help us." A female student answered quickly, almost cutting him off in her desperation.
"I'm going to summon the beasts this way," Grey declared, his voice sharp and commanding. "So whatever I do, whatever you see—or don't see must not leave this place.
If word spreads, I promise you none of you will escape me." His tone dropped into a low growl, and with it came a suffocating wave of pressure that slammed into the group like an invisible storm.
The students all flinched. Their knees weakened, sweat dotted their brows, and their throats turned dry.
'This is too absurd,' the blonde-haired student thought in fright, his heart racing wildly. 'How can a yellow band student like him emit this kind of suffocating pressure? This… this isn't normal.'
"As… as long as you help us, your secret is safe with us. I promise." He forced the words out, though his voice trembled.
"Great then." Grey's face suddenly broke into a disarming smile, a complete contrast to the menace he had exuded seconds earlier. He turned around toward the carcass of a dead beast nearby, and an idea instantly lit up in his mind.
"Close your eyes, all of you. And no peeking," he said with a sharp edge. His lips curled into a smirk. "Otherwise, the ghost of the night will hunt you down."
The students all gulped audibly, fear creeping into their eyes. Without hesitation, they squeezed their eyes shut and even went as far as turning their backs to him.
"Perfect." The Supreme Magus muttered under his breath. Then lightning began to crackle violently around his hands, sparking bright blue arcs that hissed in the air.
He raised his arm high, pointing to the sky, before swinging it back down with terrifying force. A deafening thunderclap split the silence as the lightning bolt slammed into the dead beast's carcass, scorching it completely.
Instantly, the rich smell of roasted meat wafted through the air, heavy and mouthwatering. Grey twirled his fingers, manipulating the winds, causing the scent to spread farther and higher, carried deep into the skies above.
Then he waited. And waited. His grip tightened on his sword as the silence dragged on for a few minutes, the tension only making his heart thrum harder.
GROWL!
The first beast answered. Then another. Soon, loud guttural growls filled the air one after the other, echoing ominously in the darkness. Within moments, the ground shook slightly under heavy footsteps.
Finally, standing just two meters away, were no fewer than seventy beasts. Their fangs bared, their eyes bloodthirsty, and every single one of them looked starved and ready to devour.
"Now just remember…" Grey muttered, his pendant glowing brightly as his sword materialized into his grasp. Lightning instantly crawled across the blade, encasing it in a storm of pure power. His eyes flashed with cold determination.
"No peeking."
BANG!
The ground cracked as Grey's figure vanished from where he stood, reappearing in a thunderous explosion as he charged headlong into the horde of beasts.