Book 2: Chapter 1 (2/7)

Seeing Sofia was fine, Cade said, “Alright, everyone back to their tents. Sgt. Sandwise, please leave tomorrow morning to avoid getting into any unnecessary problem with my student.” Chas nodded as he acknowledged her advice.

Kain banished all of his conjured creatures including Finwe to allow his mana to regenerate. He had used almost eighty percent of his mana pool to conjure too many creatures at once. If Kain activates another [Soul Bridge] for the next seventy-two hours, it will cost him a tremendous amount of his mana which is equal to twenty percent of his current mana pool. Kain decided to allow his mana pool to regenerate and willing to activate another [Soul Bridge] using the remaining twenty percent of his mana pool to conjure Finwe again if a strong Magical Creature lurches into their camp tonight.

After Cade, Chas, and other Student Mages walk back into their tents, Sofia wants to talk to Kain but she doesn’t know what to say to him. She apologized again for making him worried about her again then walked into her tent to sleep. Jaane wasn’t offended when Kain threatened to kill everyone here including her. After knowing Sofia was fine, Jaane walked back into her tent and wished one day Kain would worry about her as he had done for Sofia.

After the second watch was over, Arthur walked out from his tent to replace Kain to guard the camp for the third watch. Kain was about to walk back to his tent when he saw Arthur, but Arthur stopped him and said, “I don’t know why you have to put up an act like that, but I supported your decision. I wanted to apologize to you for how I saw Sofia was crying when ran out of your tent last night. I don’t know what exactly happened between the two of you. But if there is anything I can do to help, just let me know.”

Kain nodded his head as he walked away confirming with Arthur that he indeed was just acting. Even if Arthur didn’t see through his acting and was offended by the way he threatened him earlier, Kain won’t bother to explain. The moment Kain saw Sofia was holding Chas’s hand, he knew Sofia was trying to make him jealous and she won’t stop doing foolish things like that anytime soon. Kain thought about making Sofia hate him, but that is too obvious. That was why Kain decided to put up an act to make Sofia afraid of him. It will be much easier for Sofia to forget about Kain when she is afraid of him instead of hating him. Believe it or not, some people really fell in love with the persons they used to hate, Psychology 101.

Early morning when the dawn just arrived, Chas Sandwise left the camp in a hurry without saying goodbye to anybody. “I wouldn’t want to play with my life fighting with that crazy magic caster again.” Chas thought to himself. He just wanted to marry the boss’s daughter for a better future for him and his family. But he won’t be foolish enough to trade his life for it. Arthur saw Chas left in a hurry, he smirked and thought to himself, “Kain’s acting is outstanding. If I wasn’t his friend for the past four years, I would have been deceived by him as this Army Sergeant Sandwise had.”

After all the Student Mages woke up, they packed up their tents and took out their breakfast rations to eat while chatting with each other. Kain ate his ration quickly then turned his gaze toward Sofia and saw how she avoided making eye contact with him. Kain was sad but at the same time, he was relieved knowing Sofia had started to be afraid of him. Soon, she will no longer want to be with Kain and will fall in love with someone else who can warm her heart and make her feel safe again.

“Kain.” A voice softly called out to him.

Kain turned to his right and saw Jaane was sitting next to him. Kain was too focused on his thinking that he didn’t pay attention to his surroundings, this is a major flaw he needed to improve. Kain smiled and said, “Jaane.”

“Is there… is there something wrong between you and Sofia?”

“Is there something wrong between us? Hmm, what is wrong with us that we didn’t know about?”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t bother you.” Seeing how Kain avoided her question, Jaane understood that Kain didn’t want to talk about it.

Jaane was about to walk away but Kain laughed and said, “Haha… I’m joking. Stay with me.” After Jaane sat back down, Kain said, “I scared her last night just like I have to everyone else. Sofia is avoiding me right now.”

“It will be okay. Sofia just needed time to process it.”

“You seem very calm around me, didn’t I scare you last night when I threatened to kill everybody?”

“I wasn’t scared. I think what you did was very romantic. I hope someday you-” Jaane was about to say something but then she decided to stop. It would be very embarrassing if Jaane said she hopes someday he would do the same for her.

Kain could have guessed what Jaane was about to say. Kain shook his head in disappointment after he knew Jaane liked him much more than Sofia did. Actually, Sofia never liked Kain. She liked the person that Kain pretended to be. The real Kain is very evil. He would love to stab a baby in the neck just so he can collect the baby’s blood to store it in his Blood Ring. Kain remembered all the wicked things he had done in the past and felt disgusted. No, Kain wasn’t disgusted with himself. Kain was disgusted by the humans that made him into the person that he is today. Yes, Kain blamed the society, the Mages Council, this f**ked up world of Toria Continents.

Kain thought to himself, “This little girl thought what I did was romantic. One day when she found out how ruthless I truly am, I wonder if she would still think that way.”

Kain smiled as he asked, “Jaane, what level are you now?”

“I have recently advanced into level 19. That was about a month ago.”

“Wow… look at you. You have advanced pretty quick huh.”

“I couldn’t be compared to you. You were already level 25 when you were just nineteen years old. I’m already twenty-one years old.”

“Five years ago you were still just a level 10 Novice Earth Mage. You have gained 9 levels in five years, that is impressive.”

“Yeah… for some reason my training rapidly increased as soon as I have broken through the Novice-tier.”

“I wonder if your training will increase even further after you break through the Intermediate-tier.”

“Do you think that I can break through the Intermediate-tier? Becoming a Master Mage is like… dream come true for me.”

“I do. Not only I believed you would break through the Intermediate-tier, but I’m also sure you will become a Saint Mage in the future.” Kain lied to Jaane. He believed Jaane won’t even be smart enough to step into the Legend-tier.

“Me? A Saint Mage?”

“Why not?”

“But I’m just an average magic caster.”

“Average? Haha… don’t make me laugh. You are very special to me, Jaane.” Kain said this without actually thinking about it.

“I’m special to him?” Jaane’s heart was beating fast as she started to blushed while asking herself this question.