Chapter 1048
(Unedited)
…
The glowing sun on the horizon is like a dying ember as it slowly hides within the mountains afar. As the darkness blanketed the land and the twin moons in the sky showed their silver glow, a shadowy figure slowly emerges from the top of a large manor near the edge of the town.
The shadowy figure sneaks out by running through the roof, but its footsteps are soundless, akin to a shadow passing by.
The people in the manor are unaware of the figure running atop the house until it vanishes within the clump of trees nearby.
The figure ran through the woods like a shadow in the night. Within the cover of the trees, not even the wild animals have noticed it passing through.
Soon the figure arrives near a lake where the silver rays of the two moons reflected their beauty and charm..
"Ahh… This is what I needed…" a young voice could be heard from the figure as the moon shines in his youthful face while he stretches his body in the air.
The figure is that of a young lad about 15 years of age, he has a medium height of 1.72 meters and a good physique. The young teen has a tall nose, thin lips, and a semi-triangular jaw which looks like something that was sculpted into perfection.
His dark blue eyes are like gems that glitter in the night.
This particular young teen is Xin Ja.
In the past five years, he began his studies in secret. He has truly suffered a traumatic experience, but instead of losing his mind, it actually gave him the impetus to strive to be strong. He knew that if he is not strong and would stay as weak as he is, he and his father would surely suffer the same fate over again.
And so, he has put his full attention in studying and not minding his surroundings.
Four years have passed as he did the same thing over and over again.
After four years, Xin Ja has already learned most of the things that he needed to learn from the unique vision he has. Although the higher learning needed him to gain more strength, his current strength is already enough for him at the moment.
After four years, he would study by the day, and at night, he would sneak out of the manor where they are living now.
When he first discovered that he is actually living in a manor he was truly astounded. He could fathom how his father could have afforded the house. But he did not want to dwell on it. As long as his father is doing well, it was already enough for him.
And from that time forth, he began venturing out in the forest to test his strength and the practical knowledge he has learned.
So far, his focus is on two subjects. Runes and array formation, and the other one is forging without fire.
These two skills are what helped him in his time of need, and so he decided to slowly develop them through constant learning and deeper study.
Aside from that, he also learned practical martial arts. This kind of martial arts is something that his previous self has been learning.
These martial arts include… the shadow steps, and the blades and swords fighting skills.
Every night he would practice outside in the forest, and it has been almost a year now since he's been doing this.
"Today… I want to venture out deeper into the forest… Those 1st level beasts are of no match to me already… I need to find at a level two…" he muttered as he suddenly write something in his palms and then takes out a box from his pocket.
The box is about 3 inches thick and just a few centimeters longer than his palm.
From his other pocket, he takes out a sword handle and then connected it to a hole in the box. Upon connecting the handle, Xin Ja flicks the box in the air as it opens up and several pieces of objects suddenly began joining together to form a rock short sword.
At this time, Xin Ja is wearing a black robe with a small bag at his back. This bag is connected by a rune array in his pocket. So everything he put in his pocket would be sent to his bag.
And to take out something all he has to do is write a rune in his palm and once he put his hand in his pocket, the item according to the rune would appear.
"Let's go then…" he muttered as he suddenly uses his shadow step to run deeper into the forest.
…
Meanwhile, at the same time, a group of seven people are currently venturing through the deeper part of the forest. Each of them is wearing the uniform of Ogden academy. The uniform is a dark shade of blue with a broken sword emblem on their shoulder.
Ogden academy can be considered as the best school within the territory of Ogden town and its surrounding villages. In this school, only the best of the best from every nearby village and in the nearby towns could enter its doors.
In the academy, every student are taught by the best teachers and are offered the most comprehensive knowledge available for those in the 1st to 5th level Ki fighter.
Many of their graduates are able to enter the higher-tier academies in the big cities. The goal of each student in the academy is to reach the higher levels in their Ki practice, and that is the Shen stage.
Once they reached the Shen stage, then they could already be considered as someone with a status in the Sudan Continent. But reaching the Shen stage is not that easy. Only when one reaches above level 50 in Ki could one be considered as a Shen.
The 7 people are composed of four young men and three young women at the age of 16. They are each holding different kinds of weapons and artifacts. Most of them are holding swords, while one of them has a huge ax in his hands. Another male youth is holding into a long spear, and the two other women have a broken lampshade, and a staff that looks like a weird-looking tree branch.
"Hey… Manao… Are you sure you brought the right things that we needed for our mission this time? I don't want to experience like what had happened last time." asked one of the female students with a hint of complaining in her tone.
"Yeah, yeah… quit your whining, Linxue. Last time was just an accident, I would not always make mistakes like that you know…" the tall young man named Manao said with a frown.
"Well, if you made a mistake this time, then all of us would either be dead or will go back severely wounded. I think it's better if we double-check everything…" another female student wearing silver spectacles said.
She is the one holding the weird staff.
"Anxi is right… I think that we should check the bag first…" this time, the young man who seems to be leading the group said as he suddenly stopped.
The group stopped and decided to follow their leader and began checking the bags.
He Manao is grumbling a bit because he is sure that he did the right thing this time. As the logistic of the team, He Manao is always tasked to prepare their needs in every mission that they will take.
So the feeling of his teammates not trusting him is a bit of a hit in his pride and ego. But then he also understood that they are just concerned, so he just reigns on his dissatisfaction and followed their leader's command.
They are all alert and in a defensive formation while entering as they knew that the deeper they went into the forest the stronger the beasts they would encounter.
And their target this time is to get a level 3 beast, according to the mission set by the academy for them.
With their group of seven, they are confident that they would be able to accomplish their goal.
The group is composed of He Manao, a level 3 sword apprentice. Fu Linxue, a level 2 rune apprentice. Gao Anxi, level 3 rune apprentice. Tang Hao, a level 3 sword apprentice and the leader of the group. Liu Zhen, a level 2 sword apprentice. Deng Xan, a level 2 spear apprentice, and Gong Han, a burly level 3 ax apprentice.
They are the top students in their grade and are considered as one of the strongest groups in the academy.
This is the reason why they are confident enough to enter the dangerous forest at night.