Chapter 8: (6/9)

Later that night, after the party was over and Kain got back to his room. Kain sat on his bed to mediate but he couldn’t focus. Tears kept coming out of his eyes. His heart kept skipping beats. Kain wanted to scream out loud but he had to hold it in. Kain closed his eyes and the images of Menas saving him kept appearing. Kain remembered how Menas brought him to the Blood Mages Guild and took good care of him. Menas was just a Novice Blood Mage but his courage is greater than any Legend-tier Blood Mages Kain has met during his time in the Guild.

“Brother Menas, I won’t let your killer live for another two years.” Kain unlocked his Storage Ring, took out both Magical Blood Daggers, and left Mages’ Academy of Nosh on the same night. He thought about leaving a letter on the table explaining the reason why he left the Mages’ Academy. But after thinking for twenty seconds, Kain decided not to leave any letter because he couldn’t find any good reason to explain for his absence in the Mages’ Academy.

“Senior Caligarus will think of something to explain for my absence.” Kain advised himself as he secretly sneaked out of the Mages’ Academy.

City guards were patrolling at night but Kain managed to sneak around and successfully got to the gate. Kain activated [Infused Blood], casted [Conjure Thunder Eagle] using the nearly depleted blood pools inside his Magical Blood Daggers. Kain wanted to reserve his mana pool just in case he faced an opponent that forced him to use [Mana Infusion]. He commanded the Eagle to fly far outside of the gate. Kain activated [Warp Infusion] to switch places with the Thunder Eagle and sprinted toward the wooded area. After about an hour and thirty minutes of running, Kain suddenly stopped when he saw the back of a tall long hair man wearing a red robe. Kain didn’t know who this man was and was positive that he hadn't met him before tonight.

The man turned around. He looked directly into Kain’s eyes, smiled, and asked, “Kain Bersk, where do you think you are going?”

“He knew of my true identity. Is this man a Blood Mage?” Kain thought to himself while saying the code word to the unknown man, “How many ways to avoid death? Yet no salvation comes to Blood Mages."

“What are you babbling about?”

“He doesn’t know the code word, definitely not a Blood Mage.” Kain thought as he took out the Magical Blood Daggers and got into his physical fighting stance.

“Hoh? Seems like you want to attack me. Kain Bersk, I have kept my eyes on you since the battle tournament. What were you babbling about earlier? No salvation comes to Blood Mages. Is it some kind of code for two Blood Mages to acknowledge each other?”

Kain remained silent. The man smirked and said, “ You are indeed a Blood Mage, aren’t you?” Kain continued to remain silent.

Kain’s mana pool is still full but the blood pools inside his Magical Blood Daggers are nearly depleted. Kain was coming up with different plans of how to kill this man but Kain doesn’t know how strong this man really is. “It’s better to figure out the man’s intention first while coming up with a plan.” Kain thought to himself.

Kain calmly asked the man, “Sir, may I know your name?”

“My name doesn't really matter. I’m just a nobody.”

“Sir, you have been keeping an eye on me since the tournament and suspected me of being a Blood Mage. I’m sure you are some kind of big shot in the Mages Council. Are you an Executioner?”

“Suspected? Are you telling me that you aren’t a Blood Mage?”

“No sir, I am not. I am a member of the Gray under the commands of Lord Clerico.”

“Haha… how long have you been trying to play the role of Kain Almos in front of me? Huh? Kain Bersk?”

“Who is Kain Bersk? I’m confused.”

“Ah… looks like you want to play dumb. In that case, I will apprehend you first then torture everything you know about Blood Mages Guild later.”

“You can’t do that. I know my rights.”

“Who gives a crap about your rights? Do you see anyone around? If it’s my mistake then I will just silent you permanently.”

The man activated [Gust] and a very powerful wind pressure appeared that could blow Kain away if he didn’t control his footwork.

“His [Gust] is at least ten times stronger compared to Rogal Caligarus. This Wind Mage is too powerful.” Kain thought.

Kain activated his LYAUR and The Thunder Eagle Emperor, Fundin, appeared. Kain said, “Fundin, keep-”

Kain couldn’t finish the command because a powerful [Wind Strike] appeared and slashed Fundin into two pieces which killed him in an instant. Kain was shocked by that attack while Fundin was so happy that someone successfully killed him. Death is the only way for Fundin to be released from being trapped by LYAUR and transported back to the realm where he came from.

“That was just a level 1 Wind spell, [Wind Strike], and it instantly killed the Thunder Eagle Emperor. This Wind Mage has to be a Saint-tier magic caster.” Kain thought to himself.

Kain began laughing out loud to help him get more courage from this deadly situation. Kain activated [Infused Blood] and sprinted toward the Wind Mage. Kain lunged both Daggers at the Wind Mage but he suddenly casted [Gravity Manipulation] and Kain was sucked to the ground. Kain was then flown up fifty feet and slammed back down to the ground by the [Gravity Manipulation]. Just one slam and Kain felt like all of his bones were shattered to pieces.

The Wind Mage said, “Kain Bersk, tell me everything you know about the Blood Mages Guild and I won’t kill you.”

Kain wanted to cast [Sanguine Tide] but he knew it was not strong enough to free him from the powerful [Gravity Manipulation]. Kain can’t cast [Abyssal Flesh] because it will drain away his blood pools even faster. Transforming into a Flesh Monster will help Kain automatically heal himself but won’t help him get out of the [Gravity Manipulation]. Kain decided to cast [Vampiric Swarm] to transform himself into a swarm of bats and flew away from the range of [Gravity Manipulation].