Chapter 227 - Tension

It was still unsure when either Lux or someone from a foreign race would arrive, but everyone felt restless, and Jason tried to ease up their tension, which only partially helped.

Even if they were restless, in the end, they couldn't change the situation they were currently in, and feeling scared, anxious, or nervous wouldn't help them to overcome the approaching threat.

Weirdly enough, instead of being filled with fear, Jason was somehow able to remain sober, which was not something anyone should expect from a 14-years old youth.

'If multiple races appear, even Shane is powerless and the whole City might be demolished, what can I, an Adept rank do against it?' He thought while sighing deeply.

Looking at his masters he asked.

"Should I also enter the underground shelter or remain on the surface somewhere more secure?"

Shane pondered for a moment, and Dalia used this period to answer his question.

"Stay next to me, with my strength, I'm the best protection you can rely on at the moment, after Shane of course."

While Shane, Dalia, and Jason were talking, Old Drake and Till used the time to message Max and Seron in order to call the two to them.

Old Drake couldn't use mana and his physique, thanks to his injury anymore, but Till could protect Max, who was one of the most important descendants the Drake family had over decades, while Seron was Till's disciple and furthermore from a big family.

In the end, Till had to protect both of them, otherwise, the two youths might die in the sovereigns' crossfire or something worse.

Looking at Jason and Dalia for a moment, Shane pondered what he could do in order to secure their protection, without attracting too much attention.

Taking out a few items, that were enveloped in all kinds of colors, Jason was astonished to see what he presumed to be Shane's treasure trove.

Almost all items Shane took out were marbles with all kinds of runes inscribed on them, while a few particular runes stood out because their composition was similar to the rune the four-star rift was made of, even if it was only to an almost negligible degree.

'Is that a rune made out of pure transmuted mana?' He wondered, without being able to ask because Shane began to speak.

"These items have my mana stored within and can release either one-time protection shields or single attacks at the sovereign rank.

They're extremely precious and made out of expensive items, but that doesn't matter now, right? Don't try to attract too much attention once the foreign races appear and only use these items if you can't stay hidden anymore.

Even if I doubt that these races will bother about any of us and at most take care of their mission, it's always better to be prepared, remember that Jason!"

Nodding his head, Jason found it logical to be prepared for all kinds of scenarios and when Dalia took out a small dice with unique runes on each side, he was immediately interested in it thanks to its distinct mana fluctuations.

"We'll use the untraceable dice once the slightest sign of any foreign race emerges and stay within the protection field. Just take care of yourself, Shane, alright?"

Suddenly Till came over, with an uncomfortable expression as he asked.

"Aunt Dalia, is it possible if my disciple and Old Drake's descendant stay with you?

I know that it's rude to ask, after what the big families caused everyone, but the children are not responsible for that, right? I want them to survive, even if I have to protect them with my life, if necessary!!

They won't be a burden! I promise…"

Till seemed desperate and with every second passing, Jason could see his discomfort deepening, as Dalia sighed deeply before she nodded.

"I know that you and the kids are not responsible for what their ancestors did...They can naturally stay with me... It's only unfortunate that we can't hide on Astrix anymore, once this is over…"

Hearing this, Jason's eyes widened, and only now did he understand what it meant for Shane to reveal himself, once he was forced to reveal himself.

'They have to flee again!... Wait?! Doesn't that mean that I have to flee with them?' Comprehending the meaning, behind her words, Jason was shocked, as he heard Shane talking to Old Drake.

"Once this is over, let us have a good talk, ok? The other big families and clans will most likely search for me on Astrix, and it's only obvious that we have to migrate to somewhere else…This is not really a problem per se, but we can't take Jason with us, because it would be suspicious, if we and Jason disappear at the same time, right?"

Sighing deeply, Shane and Old Drake looked at each other, knowingly and Jason felt as if the whole world rotated without him, which was the case.

'I'll be left alone, again?' He thought frustrated, as he heard Old Drake saying.

"Well, that's less of a problem... Just tell me where you migrate to and if we continue with the Big-three tournament and he reaches a high placement, I can send him wherever I want, labeling him as an exchange student and even if the Big-Three tournament doesn't occur, I can still send him away after a month or so….Don't think too far and take care of the next big step"

Hearing what Old Drake said, felt reassured, and he sighed in relief, thinking that he might not be abandoned, and it was as if a heavy rock suppressing his heart, crumbled when he perceived a gleaming in Old Drake's eyes for a quarter of a second, which made him uncomfortable.

However, before he could even think about this, another thought emerged in his mind

'Wait?! Doesn't that mean I still have to leave the Fler's?'

Noticing this, Jason felt shocked, as he subconsciously took a step back.

Dalia noticed his emotional rollercoaster, as she knowingly patted his shoulder.

Life was not a playground but a battlefield of emotion, sometimes full of joy, yet also grief, agony, and much more complex than one might think.

Trying to steel his heart, the first thing they had to do, was to survive the next few days, and Jason messaged the Fler's a few clues he received from Old Drake in order to search for the best protected are within the underground shelter in order to stay alive if the worst-case scenario occurred.

Everyone messaged him hundreds of messages in their small group chat about his whereabouts and well-being, but he remained silent, not knowing what to do with the torment of emotions, raging in his heart.

Sighing, he gritted his teeth and thought 'I have to thank them properly, once everything is over!'

**

The next four days were nerve-wracking, with all citizens entering the underground shelter, not without forgetting to complain, while even the Magus and Grandmagus ranks entered them.

The underground shelter was considered a large-scale base, manufactured out of peak grade-3 materials and high-grade runes, that had to be constantly supplied in order to protect the individuals within from all kinds of attack below the sovereign rank.

It would even withstand sovereign rank attacks, but the mana consumption was devastating, which forced all 80 million citizens to circulate their mana inside the underground shelter in order to supply it for a week.

Over the last few days, only Till, Old Drake, Shane, Dalia, and the three kids remained on the surface, waiting for the last hunters and governmental workers to step through the rift, before they were sent to the underground shelter.

To ease their tension, the three kids sparred with each other, but they couldn't completely focus on that because their train of thought was somewhere else.

However, that didn't mean that Jason neglected his Heaven's Hell- or affinity-/martial art practice.

With his soul energy crossing the threshold of 400 units, he was already satisfied, while Artemis and Scorpio's demand for soul energy increased only by a small margin.

It was the already last day before the four-star rift would become unstable when everyone felt that something huge was about to happen

Early in the morning, everyone above the surface suddenly noticed an astronomical amount of mana erupting far away from the city, while the four-star rift trembled violently, with four badly beaten up humans emerging out of it.

Suddenly, as if the erupting mana from far away was not enough, Jason's mana eyes perceived that the erupted mana were initially two intertwining mana sources, which indicated two beings fighting against each other.

However, his attention was distracted, because of a four-meter-tall door made out of pure darkness mana which suddenly manifested close to the rift, as a three-meter tall humanoid-being with ruby-colored eyes and darkness enveloping it, stepped through it

Everything went chaotic and Jason could only hear, Shane taking a deep breath, as he mumbled "F*CK", before he saw Dalia and Till's ashen white face.