An escaping scent

"And that's what happened..."

The hopeless look in her sky-blue eyes reflected the two men's clueless faces as she heard those words. The explanation behind the mountain of monster corpses was narrated to her by them.

Trying to reason with the situation and their narration, she glanced at the staff and sword they both held in their hands.

Tsk

Despite the condition of the surroundings, the two had no blood spilled on their bodies at all. Not to mention, their outfits were completely clean. That made the woman click her tongue.

Her feelings of frustration didn't last long, though. Those monsters would've caused a mess near the village if the two of them hadn't stopped them.

"And now? What will you two do?"

"Of course... We will go..."

Fwip

His crimson-red hair wavered as he spun around before walking away from her. That road would lead them to where the huge tremors were originating from a while ago.

"To where he is fighting that weirdo."

Diona facepalmed herself upon realising that arguing with Blaise to go back with her would be pointless. The determination visible through his actions was stronger than one could expect.

The appearance of countless monsters wasn't something to be taken lightly. Even though Jaden and Blaise gave their best, a few beasts still managed to make their way past them.

Luckily, Diona, who was following the two of them from a distance, hunted them down using her crossbow.

"Wait for me, at least."

Jaden tried to keep up with Blaise since he was also eager to witness the battle Adrienne was engaging in. They had never seen him display his full strength.

The monsters that were pouring out of Adrienne's location were surely the work of their enemy. That meant that Adrienne might've been fending off even stronger monsters than the ones they faced earlier.

That was also one of the reasons Blaise wanted to rush towards that spot. As for Jaden, he was simply curious about their enemy and Adrienne's true strength.

'Should I follow them? Or return and report this first?'

Diona was in confusion about what to do since the situation was already as grim as it was. If more monsters were to be released, the elves would be caught off guard.

Since the three killed off the monsters before they could even reach the village, the elves would have no idea about it at all.

Tsk

'I will return for now... They will be fine, right?'

She jumped backwards while dashing towards the Elven Village. The worries about the Elven village were more than what she could care about the two men.

Tink tink

The sounds of the windchimes graced the two when they found themselves sprinting again. The darkness of the forest didn't matter since Blaise had a ball of fire floating around them.

His proficiency in controlling magic was something to be reckoned with. Even when he was burning down the monsters to their deaths, he made sure that no tree caught fire by limiting his mana.

Jaden, on the other hand, in fact didn't bother thinking of the surroundings and just jumped at the monsters while letting countless trees uproot.

"How much more do we need to run?"

"We are almost there."

Jaden could tell that Blaise was being impatient from the tone in which he spoke. It was understandable since they had been fighting monsters for almost forty minutes.

Their main goal was to spy on Adrienne's true sword techniques. Also, identify and take care of the enemy who has been releasing monsters in the forest.

"Would we even need to interfere with him? That guy is never showing his full strength."

Jaden laughed softly at himself, listening to those words. What Blaise said was indeed true. Even if they got involved, it wouldn't count as much.

Sigh

There was no telling what the situation at that place might be like. Yet Blaise was thinking ahead by making his own assumptions.

If Jaden was asked to be honest, he would've answered that they should hide until the time calls for it. But he didn't say that since he was aware that Blaise would prefer to jump in right from the start.

"Speak about yourself. I bet you are holding yourself back from showing your true powers too."

Blaise was a narcissistic person to the core who would get full of himself with just a little praise. He smiled brightly upon hearing Jaden's words.

Jaden remembered what had happened when Blaise used his magic at the monsters. He cast spells of two different attributes at the same time with ease.

-Multicasting. Though rare, it surpassed the realms of common sense. Making the mixing of multiple attributes possible. Only true geniuses possess the said ability.

That was one of the rarest skills he wrote about in 'Light of Dragonaria'. It allowed the user to cast multiple spells at the same time.

Not to mention, all this while, he hadn't been using incantations at all. To show the true power of a spell, an incantation was a must. Yet he had never used it even once.

-Zero incantation or chantless magic. The magic spell performed while not chanting an incantation would have half the original firepower. Still, it would be efficient enough to be used effectively.

"My. That ain't the case. Trust me."

"Yeah, yeah. I trust you."

Jaden was very well aware that Blaise had not become Magic Tower Master for no reason. He must be special enough to be able to get to that position.

And in reality, Blaise was holding himself back. If he hadn't done so, the forest would've been turned upside-down in no time.

Even when Jaden was trying his best to kill the weaker monsters, Blaise wasn't sweating a bit hunting the stronger ones.

Had he gotten serious, regardless of the bet, he would've obliterated all of the beasts in no time. Along with the forest itself, though.

"Wait..."

Jaden mumbled as the brightness increased in front of them. The ball of fire floating near Blaise vanished into thin air.

"We are there, I suppose."

----------------------

Crackleee

The sounds of the flames burning down the wood were the only thing audible through the silent forest. The blinding black light flickered momentarily.

If one were to say, the line 'a hellish scene of the terrain being incinerated to crisps' would perfectly suit the description.

The black flames that burned ruthlessly didn't scorch the trees nearby. The ground that was devoid of trees was due to the four beings standing at the place.

Wait... The one being standing tall while the rest three lied down on the ground with no signs of life, should I say?

Swish

The black blood that stuck on his blade fell off as the man swung the sword lightly. The darkness spread throughout the area, with the flames dying out. Yet his black hair was shining faintly.

Adrienne tried to look for the two he had been going up against a while ago. But to his disappointment, they were nowhere to be seen.

'Did they escape...?'

Ace and Jack had already escaped with the help of Club when Adrienne was busy killing the four disaster-level monsters.

What was left behind was a mess of a wide, open forest with no trees but only huge cracks and dents in the ground. The pieces of boulders that were once the 'giant rock golem' were scattered here and there.

The three corpses were lying around him with deep cuts on them. The scabbard around the man's waist became slightly heavy as he sheathed the blade.

'There's no helping it...'

There was no way of catching the two when he had no idea where they had disappeared. Adrienne was clueless as to how they managed to go unnoticed while escaping. He was sure that he was keeping a proper check on them.

Club's ability to teleport was so unnatural that his presence would go uncharted for quite a while. And during that short time, he got Jack and Ace away from there.

Suspecting the involvement of a third person, Adrienne found it reasonable enough that they escaped. To be honest, he had already understood what Jack and Ace's actual abilities were.

Ace could manipulate darkness to create any solid form he desired. Jack had a strong physique along with a bizarre healing ability.

There was also the possibility that one of them had one more ability that helped them escape, but that was nothing more than an assumption.

'I should head bac-'

Rustle rustle

His thoughts were frozen due to the sound of the bush shaking. Something—no, two individuals were creeping in closer to him.

He slowly moved his hand to grab the sword hanging around his waist. Before he could pull it out, luckily, two familiar voices fell on his ears.

"Are we not there yet?"

"I think it was around here."

"Oh-"

Jaden stood with a blank face, witnessing the damaged part of the forest. Adrienne stood at the front, with a few huge monster corpses lying around him.

His body shuddered at the sight of Adrienne covered in the black liquid. Jaden had surely seen that amount of blood, but the calm, cold look in Adrienne's eyes was new to him.

Ouch-

Blaise cried out as his head hit Jaden's back, who had stopped at the spot. He didn't say a word but peeped from behind him. A nervous smile forced its way onto his lips.

He nodded to himself, understanding how accurate and natural Jaden's reaction was. The monsters they were fighting a while ago couldn't even be compared to the three lying there.

Then his gaze fell upon a greatly cracked, red, crystal-like stone. He swallowed his own saliva when he recognised what it was. It was just to flinch alongside Jaden because of Adrienne's sudden words.

"It's just you guys, huh..."

Adrienne wished that it was Jack and Ace, but it wasn't them who approached him. The only reason he wanted it to be them was to be able to cut off their heads.

The disappointment visible on his face couldn't be any more obvious. Jaden glanced at an awkwardly smiling Blaise once before speaking.

"Just what happened here? And where are the people you were fighting against?"

"We should head back first. They must've escaped using some lowly trick."

Blaise made sure to reply while making sure that he didn't offend Adrienne. Not that Adrienne would've killed him or something.

If he had said that they escaped when Adrienne didn't notice them, he would've been dragged to the training grounds for harsh training later on.

Not minding minor details like that, heading back seemed like the correct thing to do for the three of them. Jaden nodded his head lightly in agreement with Blaise's words.

More than that, they would surely need to have a proper talk with others about it. Sierra and Eleanor needed to know about it since it was regarding the forest's safety.

"He is correct. We need to be prepare."

There was no telling when their enemies might initiate another ploy against them. That's why it was necessary that they make preparations beforehand.

Saying that, Adrienne walked past the two and disappeared before they could even turn towards him. The two stared at each other blindly.

"What absurd speed..."

Jaden muttered lightly with an awkward smile. He was just there a second ago, and now he was gone.

Blaise didn't reply for a while and then began walking in the same direction. As he reached a bit further from him, he spoke.

"We should head back too, I suppose."

With that, the shabby area along with the torn-apart monster corpses was abandoned as it is. It should've been silent, but no. Some sounds graced the air.

Kyunggg

The monster corpses that were lying on the ground disappeared without any trace. It all happened within a ten-minute time span.

The black ball of fur that devoured them all rolled around into the bushes nearby. It had been following one scent for a long time, but every time he lost it somehow.

And the same happened again because of the barrier that Eleanor raised over Elven Village. Maybe this time it would come across the owner of the scent? Or maybe not...

Kyyyung

The voice of its dejection soothed the air. It followed the scent for a few moments, only to lose track of it again.

One could only hope that it will manage to catch up with its target in the near future.