27 Campaign for a Herb

The morning had already arrived and one of the rooms was bustling with activities over the communication of multiple students.

Students would look for friends or people from their own school before dispersing into smaller groups that caused this somewhat chaotic scene.

Dean had already opened the door and wandered around the room, looking for the Autarch Society.

It was quite a surprise for him as he expected that a more powerful organization would start becoming impatient for power but for the Autarch Society to make the first move was quite daring.

This could be the beginning of a trend for powerful organizations to start terrorizing the Core Circle and profiting with precious herbs and corpses but there was a risk.

If the raid failed then larger organizations would stay hidden and any powerful aces would stand by until something bigger happens.

The power in play was basically a war of attrition but Dean had no group behind him meaning he had no need to babble around with this nonsense.

'Christian has truly become more daring; Master did say that his ambition was difficult to restrain.'

The quick thought dissipated when he witnessed the group in the center.

Most of the people there had collars and an insignia pinned to it while those without collars stuck their insignia to their chest as if they took pride in their group.

One person that stuck out like a sore thumb was the bright blonde hair in the clothes that were devoid of color, instead replaced with shades.

Their brown eyes sent a glance in every direction, analyzing all the people that were currently here.

Christian had invited some of the most powerful students in this area and hoped this plan would go well.

They would act as cannon fodder to test the waters that could allow them to make their moves and with their planning, everything seemed ready.

Those at the front of the group would be those without a strong background, wandering cultivators that only relied on themselves to become powerful.

The middle tier was those that were enemies of the Autarch Society that usually had a little bit of background.

Rash teenagers that would like to instantly jump to conclusion were not lacking in this world and the only reason Christian dared to attempt something like thsi is because he received news from the other side of the Inner Circle.

A group had managed to raid the Core Circle.

Their profit was a newborn cub from a weakened mother they killed in cold blood. With another group initiating the invasion of the Core Circle, Christian had no problem following them up.

While those at the veyr back were powerful people who only wanted experience; to place them in a position of harm would mean instant death.

Pamphlets were sent everywhere with multiple people explaining about what area a person should be taking.

It was generalized into North, West, South, East and Center.

There was barely a talk about the southern location while those at the north would be the most in danger.

Dean and Leonard had also received the talk but mostly ignored the monologue.

Patiently waiting until the talk was finished, Christian prepared his crowd to charge into a certain route.

The weather was in favor for their mission as there was no rain that could've effected their walking speed or cause beasts to become more active.

In the end the day of walking would be bored for most leading to gossip in the area.

Dean had nothing else to do so he eavesdropped their conversation while Leonard stared listlessly into the sky as he followed the group.

"You see them? Those are from the Harley Squad, I mean look at those blue caps."

"Nah, nah, nah. You guys got it wrong! The men in the black robes are those we should be looking out for."

"Un, that young guy is said to be the direct disciple of the inner disciple in his sect. Using his skills in assassination he earned the name: Shadow of the night."

"But I heard Pierre from Redwood Academy was pretty strong?"

"The whole thing might have been staged. Maybe if he had a proper reputation would he seem strong."

One nodded in agreement as he spoke

"Hmm, maybe if he held the Crest Sword or other sacred weapons would he be memorable or done missions such as the River's Snake history. It all comes down to what he does next..."

The conversation was like a rabbit hole and never seemed to end as more people started to join into the conversation while others had many reactions to their debate.

Taking a closer look, Dean realized that Pierre, Anne and Rose weren't even here. He scoffed at this fact but consoled himself that there was a better chance next time.

Some held this in contempt as they felt ants had no rights to decide who was strong or weak while others became more confident with their ego boosted.

Dean and Leonard were treated as outcasts compared to other people.

They were nothing more than a duo compared to the glamorous gangs of other groups.

Isolated, they acted in a calm manner and were like everyone here.

To go to the Core Circle.

Whether it was greed, curiosity or just for fun, there had to be a purpose for everything person will do and can do.

Reaching their destination it was a large yet shallow cave that had a tree in the center of the cave.

A small dew dropped from the ceiling that fell onto the shiny red skin of a fruit hanging off the tree.

The beast was clearly not here but when Dean turned to his left he saw the guardian of that precious fruit.

A giant figure with the height of triple the average human's and blue flames that extended from it's skin was glamorously shown off in front of the crowd of hunters.

The feline features turned out to be similar to a tiger and two large fangs stuck to the mouth of the beast.

Taking a slight sniff, its yellow eyes scanned the area filled with hunters and echoing a low roar as well as a tyrannical aura that followed its glare.

Christian took notice of the warning and prepared to catch the tiger off guard

"CHARGE!!!"

The command resounded within the mob and as the first few people ran towards the beast, it created a chain effect where the whole squad followed.

Dean looked to the side and saw that there were other calm minded people.

Grabbing the shoulder of Leonard, he pressed his index finger tohis mouth to signal silence and made sure he didn't move.

Leonard complied with the subtle movements and watched the ensuing chaos before him.

The tiger had pounced towards one of the groups and instantly crushed them using sheer weight while using his claws to strike a few dozen cultivators.

It was simply a slaughter fest and those that tried to get close suffered pain that was worse than death.

The blue flames would instantly disintegrate their hopes into ashes as their clothes would catch fire yet felt warm and soft until it reached the skin.

The skin would burn until the fire would roast the muscle, nerves and bones one by one.

Those that managed to bypass the flames were slowly losing their hopes as the thick white hide of the tiger was impossible to penetrate using their weapons

Feeling a slight tickle, the tiger would turn to those in close range and simply swipe its paw to kill a person.

This slight disturbance caused great annoyance that made the tiger scream its irritation for being surrounded by ants.

"ROAR!"

Along with the ferocious roar was the aura of what cultivation level the beast was at.

Spiritual Cultivation 5

With this, it was the last straw for everyone in the presence of this tyrant.

Formations were scattered and everyone ran for their lives with the majority of them in the center that ran south while the smarter people dispersed into the other directions.

Seeing the annoyance running away without learning a lesson, the tiger leaped towards them and howled.

Those calmly watching could instantly see what the tiger was doing.

It was releasing magic!

A barrage of flames instantly roasted a group and those lucky enough to survive had to withstand excruciating pain to try and run away.

Morale was something that couldn't be raised in this circumstance while Christian smiled in quiet.

'I can start making my move.'

Dean saw the dominant strength of the beast and knew his limits.

'Only a fool would want to try and beat a monster with that much strength'

Sighing, Dean knew he couldn't make any profits but his starts were in sync with Christian

'I should start making my move'