Lyrius!

<Where are we heading?>

"Remember the cave we saw when we were running from the Minotaur?" Link asked, pulling up the Map Window.

<You mean when YOU were running> Zero laughed <Yes, i remember it. Are you sure you want to go there now?>

"Yes, I am. Since I became a Level 2 Mage, I felt the change. It is like my body is breathing again and Mana is flowing more fluently than before. Spells cost less Mana now too, plus with all my training i want to check it out and test myself" Link said, navigating his way towards the Mark he left on the spot "Plus, with all my skills i believe i can easily escape from Level 2 Monsters easily"

<Proceed with caution, you can't get too conceited and let your guard down or it might lead to your demise>

"I understand" Link moved through the forest, turning to look back from time to time.

<What's wrong?>

"Might be my imagination, but I keep hearing noises from behind. Like someone is following us" Link said, tightening his grip on his Dagger.

*****

"Why are we not attacking yet?" Kal asked, he stood atop a tree.

"Patience, I don't want to risk anything with this kid. He's strong." A boy said, keeping his eyes on Link.

"You want to wait until he's exhausted or cornered?"

"Exactly"

The group kept following Link. Watching his every step. The group's names were Kal, Aguirre, Gunther, Esprin and Lyrius, their leader. They followed Link until they saw him enter an odd looking cave, losing sight of him.

"What should we do?" Aguirre asked.

"Should we wait here until he comes out to ambush him?" Kal asked.

"You want to wait here for God knows how long? I'm good. Let's go in, but keep your guards up" Lyrius said, he only wanted to get revenge on the peasant that doesn't know his place.

They are a group of proud nobility, even in their own territories not even other nobles dare look at them in the eyes. But recently Link has been getting too much attention. So Lyrius used Kal's defeat as an excuse to go after him, he was a very manipulative and merciless kid.

He would use commoners of his family's territory as training dummies, he killed many and injured more. His father is a general, fought in wars and a very violent man. Which made him see Lyrius's actions as proof of his strength.

The rest were ordinary nobles, only followers of Lyrius. They were twisted in their own ways but Lyrius always seemed to scare them.

Kal and Lyrius covered the front, while the other three stayed in the back. They were more efficient in ranged attacks.

*****

Link appeared in front of the cave's entrance. Deactivating 'Ambush' and 'Shadow Walk'.

<Why didn't you engage them?>

"Why would i? We have a cave to explore" Said Link, a sinister smile appearing on his face.

Link noticed the group a while back, his hearing was too heightened that he managed to hear their footsteps, whispering and even their breathing.

From all his previous fights, Link learned that he should never take unnecessary risks. He nearly god himself and his father killed by the Hell Bears once, which taught him a lot of things.

As the group went forward, Link kept tailing them from behind.

The cave was what you would expect a cave would be, a path made of stone covered in moss.

"Zero, I think something lives here" Link asked.

<I'm inclined to agree. There is no spiderwebs, the walls and ceiling is covered mostly by moss and other grass but not the floor>

"Well, it's a good thing we got ourselves some guides" Link giggled.

As the group went in deeper, the passage was slowly becoming wider. The walls and ceiling were slowly losing any sign of life on them, becoming dry stone.

"Lyrius, should we head back?" A boy named Aguirre stopped, clear signs of worry were on his face.

"Are you getting scared now?" Lyrius turned and asked, frowning.

"No, but we found no trace of Link whatsoever. He entered not long after us so we should have been able to at least hear some footsteps."

"Aguirre. We don't need your help, you can head back if you wish" Lyrius said "But we'll have a talk after this"

Aguirre started to get nervous. He did not want to get on Lyrius's bad side, but he still trusted his instincts.

"This guy is taking this too far. The worst thing that might happen to me if we go back is a small beating, but i'm not going to risk my life for this" Aguirre thought to himself. He was following Lyrius only due to his family's influence and his scary talent. He had no sense of loyalty for the guy, he did it only to survive.

"Sorry Lyrius, something doesn't smell right. I'll head back" He said, bowing slightly and turning to leave.

Argh!

A loud thud echoed through the cave's passage. Aguirre fell forward with a loud scream. He was reaching behind his back, something was burning him.

Kal, Gunther and Esprin looked with wide eyes. They looked at Aguirre slumped on the ground, trying to reach a spot on his back. His skin was showing in a round hole in his shirt. His skin was burnt black, small drops of blood started to form.

They looked towards Lyrius, a small ball of flame levitating on top of his hand.

"You worthless trash" He yelled, throwing the Fireball towards Aguirre, burning another hole in his skin.

ARGH!

Aguirre did not know what was happening. The first hit knocked him off of his feet, slamming his head on the Cave floor. His vision was blurry and he had no strength to get back up again. All he could feel was an immense pain coming from his back as he tried to reach for it.

"Lyrius! Stop" Kal said, looking at Aguirre's back. His clothes no longer covered it, it was a burning mess.

"Fine, whatever. We don't need him for this anyways" Lyrius said "He's only the son of a low Baron. I can think of many others to replace him in our group"

Lyrius turned and kept walking. The rest started following him instantly in fear of receiving the same treatment.

Link approached the boy, looking at his back.

"I'll never understand those nobles" Link muttered. Moving past Aguirre's unconscious body.

At first, Link was planning on killing all of them and feeding their bodies to the Creatures. It was not an uncommon thing after all. Such deaths happened all of the time. But after seeing what just transpired, he felt bad for the kid so he didn't do anything to him, but he did not help him either.

The group walked for a while, with the cave passage getting bigger, until it felt like they were small ants inside a corridor.

"A dead end!" Kal said, looking in front of them. He frowned and looked at Lyrius.

"How is it a dead end? Where did that f*cker go?" Lyrius yelled. He started looking around, trying to find a clue.

ARGH!

"Gunther, what are you doing!" Kal screamed in horror as he saw Gunther plunge his sword into Esprin's back and piercing through his heart. He couldn't even make a sound before he died.

Gunther's eyes were completely white, his aura and the way he carried himself completely changed as well.

"What is wrong with Gunther?" Lyrius asked, shocked by the scene.

Gunther held his sword high and charged towards them. Kal and Lyrius got their weapons out ready for battle. They did not know what was happening but they were not going to die in this place.

Ding!

Kal blocked Gunther's strike, while activating his Void Aura. Gunther swung nonstop as Kal blocked all his strikes.

Wosh!

A kick came towards Gunther's side, sending him slamming into the wall.

Lyrius stood there, frowning.

"What the hell is happening?" He muttered.

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Currently :

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-- Beast Souls :

<Wind Wolf's Beast Soul> <Dagger> <Intermediate Level 1>

<Sky Turtle's Beast Soul> <Armor> <Basic Level 3>

<Ruby Python's Beast Soul> <Glove> <Basic Level 2>

<Water Fox's Beast Soul> <Halo> <Intermediate Level 1>

<Dire Wolf's Beast Soul> <Pet> <Basic Level 2>

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-- Status :

<User: Link>

<Race: Divinity>

<Level 1> <2nd Tier>

<8 600 / 15 000 Exp>

<HP: 55 / 55>

<MP: 2715 / 2715>

<Strength: 13>

<Agility: 15>

<Stamina: 10>

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-- Skills :

<Shadow Walk> <Active Skill>

<Counter Instinct> <Active Skill> <2>

<Blink> <Active Skill> <1>

<Wind Blade> <Active Skill> <1>

<Consume> <Active Skill>

<Instinct> <Passive Skill>

<Heal> <Active Skill>

<Air Boost> <Active Skill>

<Ambush> <Active Skill> <2> (10 Minutes)

<Heat Vision> <Active Skill> (1 Minute)

<Soul Possession> <Active Skill>

<Shadow Clone> <Active Skill>

<Dungeon Search> <Active Skill>

<Alertness> <Passive Skill>

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-- Martial Arts :

<Viper Sutra> <0 / 200> <2>

<The Story of Genes> <0 / 2 000> <3> <Apex Predator>

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-- Quests :

<Main Quests :>

<Reach Level 10> <Second Tier>

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