23: A trap for sure [pt1]

Keith had a plan now. And the plan involved letting Clair do her work in the background while he did his best to fake his frontal assault.

There was a big chance of failure but Keith was not going to think about it. He was not going to speak things into existence. No, he was not even going to think about that possibility.

"Everyone, be careful. I know you all have not been the …best in your field, but I hope you will be able to keep your cool for the time being."

Keith warned his group for the last time. Most of the people who followed him were lazy and not very useful. But they all seemed like they had big mouths.

The most suspicious person in their group happened to be the dancer who had led them this far. The dancer, who had introduced herself as Natasha, had led them right to the small hidden forest at the town's east entrance.

It was such a hidden location that there would have been no other way to find this place except by hit and trial.

"Of course, Grandmaster. We will make sure to be careful."

The student at the front yelled, a little too excited before running toward the forest. Keith had a bad feeling about it and he exchanged an alarming look with Clair.

Instantly, Keith hurried out to catch the student before he could step into the forest. The student he had caught by the back of his clothes lost his balance and fell inches away from the forest entry.

A stone rolled into the forest entry and electricity sizzled as soon as the stone touched the boundary.

There had been a trap laid in the forest entrance.

Keith was spooked out but he managed to retain his wits when he turned toward his students and coughed.

"You see. This is why you need to be careful there. You might be heading right into a trap if you are not careful."

Keith coughed as he tried to calm his fast-beating heart. A tragedy was about to happen in front of him and Keith was sure it would have been his fault.

The student who had been saved by Keith looked back at him with grateful eyes. There was worship in his eyes which made Keith a little uncomfortable but he still somehow let the child be.

Everyone who looked at the Grandmaster could not help but marvel in awe at his situational awareness. He had managed to find even the trap no one else had. They would forever follow his lead.

But not everyone was happy with Keith saving the student. The one who was most irritated by Keith's actions was none other than Queen Natasha. She had wanted to kill one of the group with her trap but her plan had been foiled.

She admired and cursed the grandmaster at the same time. She did not want to lose to him in any way, shape, or form.

'Next time. I will make sure I kill one of your lackeys. Just you wait Grandmaster, I will have your flesh.'

This whole trip was a trap the skinner queen had fabricated to trap the Grandmaster and to gain ownership of his powers. But there were too many problems in the way of achieving this for Natasha.

Not that Keith was aware of anything that was being planned behind his back. He had enough on his plate to just keep himself alive and working.

"Alright, now that you are all safe and sound, Clair would demonstrate how to break through such a trap. Make sure you all pay attention to it."

With that said, Keith successfully managed to divert all the attention from himself to Clair. The cat-girl did not look happy with what she was being made to do, but she had no choice in the matter but to cooperate now.

Clair demonstrated how to break through the trap and everyone took a step into the forest.

It was a dark and dreaded place and Keith felt his foot sink in a small poodle not too far away from the entrance. He tried to move his foot, only to realize that he was stuck.

"Grandmaster, is something wrong? Why did you stop moving?"

The student Keith had saved asked. He seemed to be paying a little too much attention to Keith currently. He wanted all the attention to be off him but that was seemingly impossible.

"I am alright. I just felt some kind of energy here so I want to have a look around. You all should go ahead and secure the area. You have been taught how to do it, right?"

Keith wanted some time but he was running out of excuses. Thankfully, his excuses were still strong enough to make sure no one opposed his words. And no one even questioned him.

But there was something weird about their guide. For some reason, Natasha, the dancer who had led them this far, looked paler than she was supposed to be. Her pale complexion did not sit well with Keith.

"Hey, are you alright? You should head back if you are feeling sick."

Keith advised the dancer but for some reason, her panic became even more prominent. Her breath became short and she was panting harder and harder.

"Clair, have a look around for now. I have a bad feeling about it."

The cat slave bowed to Keith with an annoyed expression but she was off soon enough. And she was not the only one who was annoyed with what was happening.

The skinner queen was equally angry and annoyed with what was happening.

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Natasha cursed inside her mind as things began to go off-trail. The more she tried to keep them on track, the more they ended up going the wrong way.

Especially even more so once they had stepped inside this forest. None of the traps she had prepared seemed to be working. It was only possible that the Grandmaster was suppressing his power with perfect precision.

Even being this close, Natasha could feel nothing from his person. It was almost as if he had no magic of their own.

'How is he so good? To not even let out a hint of magic throughout this mission. Just how mighty is the Grandmaster and just how much practice does he have?"

Natasha questioned as she tried to keep up with the Grandmaster's group. He had recently stopped walking and his body had stiffened.

Natasha tried to remember what could be wrong when she froze. This place was where the main nest of skinners was made.

Most people thought that the main nest would be in the middle of the forest but it was optimal to make it near the entrance.

'But surely the Grandmaster could not feel our presence? We masked it perfectly and we were also careful to keep account of who went in and out of the forest.'

Natasha had personally made sure nothing went wrong for the past few days. So she was not sure why the Grandmaster had stopped walking like that.

"I am alright. I just felt some kind of energy here so I want to have a look around. You all should go ahead and secure the area. You have been taught how to do it, right?"

Natasha's breathing stopped as soon as she heard those words fall from the Grandmaster's lips. She was now more than sure that her plans had been discovered.

'Time to abandon my strategy of waiting around. I need to dispose of this group and kidnap the Grandmaster as soon as I can.'

And she had the perfect thing to make sure no one would be able to stop her. She had recently acquired a powder that would put anyone with any hint of power to sleep.

She secretly took it out and sprinkled it into the air. She also closed her nose so that it would not affect her in return. One by one, the students began to fall asleep and she waited for the Grandmaster to fall asleep as well.

"You, what are you doing?"

The Grandmaster turned toward Natasha the first chance he got and he successfully managed to single her out. She did think of lying to get out of this situation but she ultimately decided not to lie.

After all, why did it matter when the Grandmaster was going to fall asleep in a few seconds? She could tell him the truth now if she wanted to and he would never know what happened to him.

"You do not need to worry about it Grandmaster. I will make sure your skin does not go to waste once you fall asleep. And speaking of sleep, you should be falling asleep any second now."

All Natasha had to do was to count down from 10 to zero and the grandmaster would be asleep. He was too powerful to not be affected by this special powder. And Natasha had been assured of its potency by a reliable source.