Eternity's Fangs

Opening my eyes, I looked in the direction of the combat practice room. My sight pierced through the barriers of space and observed the situation inside the space-time tunnel.

Seeing Raven using the Soul Reaping Slash, my lips curved up involuntarily.

It had been a while since the last time I used that technique. I never thought I would see it again.

Cutting through the soul, slicing the spirit. The Soul Reaping Slash was the perfect assassination technique. It was soundless, undetectable, and traceless. Furthermore, it was very hard to defend against it.

Even someone many times stronger than the user can be killed if he receives the Soul Reaping Slash head-on.

It was the perfect technique for someone like Raven.

Now that they killed the dragon, their test was complete. Soon, the runes that I left on their bodies will activate and bring them back.

Them being able to kill the dragon was outside my expectations. To be honest, I was ready to act at the last second and kill it.

I can only say that Raven's potential continues to impress me.

I stood up and used my mind to examine my injuries. Meditating for six hours helped me to heal a bit faster, but it was far from enough to achieve a complete recovery quickly.

Fortunately, the abundant mana in the space-time tunnel can help me to speed up my recovery. I estimate that I can recover completely in a month if I spend each second inside the space-time tunnel, but as I can't spend too much time there, I'll probably recover completely in three to six months.

It's a great improvement compared to the one year I estimated before.

Heaving a sigh, I took a step forward and disappeared from the room. The layers of space compressed upon my step, allowing me to reach the combat practice room in less than one second.

One second after I appeared there, the portal leading to the space-time tunnel lit up.

Then, 253 people appeared before me.

Surprised by the change, the 253 people looked around and realized that they were back to the capital. Before I could open my mouth to greet them, they collapsed to the ground.

Some of them started to cry, others grinned foolishly. Some hugged each other, and others closed their eyes and sighed in relief. I even saw a few kissing each other to celebrate that they survived the six hours.

I looked at their reactions helplessly and coughed. C'mon, it was not so bad… right?

"… It looks like you are happy." I smiled brilliantly at them.

Instantly, all of them looked towards me.

… Even I felt a bit overwhelmed by their killing intent. Imagine more than 200 people looking at you as though they want to swallow you alive.

Well, that is my current situation.

"… Cough, I'm glad that all of you returned alive." I reminded myself to not laugh to them, but even so, my lips twitched slightly. I can't help it; their reactions were truly hilarious.

"BASTARD!!!" A yell of profound hatred suddenly sounded. Akilah unsheathed her rapier and thrust it towards my face full of killing intent.

I looked at Raven waiting for her to move and stop Akilah, but strangely, she remained quiet. She looked at me and then moved her gaze aside as though saying 'I don't see anything'.

… Hey, what happened to your oath of protecting me.

Heaving a sigh, I stopped the rapier with a finger and pushed it back slightly. Akilah felt an overwhelming strength assaulting her, throwing her back to her previous position.

Seeing that, Akilah looked at me with a look of despair and grievance.

"… How petty. I just wanted to vent a little bit."

… Please, stabbing someone in the face is not a good way to vent.

"Cough… Okay, now that you are back, any of you want to tell me what do you think about that place."

Everybody looked at me with scary expressions.

How awkward.

"… I know that it was dangerous, but none of you noticed that it was much easier to advance in strength there? I can see that many of you managed to breakthrough using the space-time tunnel special characteristics."

The gang members looked at each other and nodded. Actually, each one of them could be considered as an elite. They understood that that place was truly great for cultivation.

Of course, you had to survive first.

After seeing their reactions, I nodded. "As you noticed, the space-time tunnel is the best place for cultivation. I can assure you that if you continue using it daily after today, in one year most of you will be at least two layers stronger.

"But at the same time, that place is very dangerous. The monsters you faced today are just the weakest monsters you can find there. Next time you enter, you will face a much more dangerous situation."

The entire group fell silent.

I continued speaking. "So, I'll give all of you an opportunity to leave. If you are afraid, raise your hand now. I promise you that you will continue with your lives as normal and it will be as today never happened.

"But if you want to grow stronger, then stay and I'll do my best to help you to grow into a powerhouse. Now, choose."

The gang members looked at each other. After witnessing my abilities and seeing the space-time tunnel, none of them doubted my words. They knew that this was an opportunity they would have once in their lifetime.

However, they also knew that this opportunity was filled with dangers.

It was very possible that they would die instead of becoming a powerhouse.

For a while, the place remained silent.

But before long, someone raised his hand.

"… I'm sorry, I have a family. I don't want to risk leaving my children to grow without their father."

I looked at him and nodded.

With the first man raising his hand, more soon followed his example.

"... I'm sorry, I'm happy with my current life."

"… I'm the only child of my parents, I'm sorry."

"… My sister is sick, if I die, she will die too."

"… My husband died and leave me alone with our children. I can't risk my life like that."

In less than one minute, more than fifty people had raised their hands.

I looked around at the remaining gang members. When I was sure that nobody else was going to leave, I nodded.

"I understand, you can go."

The gang members sighed in relief and walked out. Although they felt apologetic to their comrades, they did not want this kind of life.

But when they were about to leave, I snapped my fingers.

Instantly, their eyes turned blank.

They then looked at each other in confusion, but the suggestion I left in their minds forced them to continue walking.

"What did you do?" Marana realized I did something and narrowed her eyes.

I replied with a smile. "I erased their memories of tonight."

"!!!" All the gang members' faces paled.

"The place I sent you is very special." I explained. "Nobody else can know about it. When they decided to leave, they forever lost the opportunity to come here."

Marana looked at me and sighed.

I then stared at the remaining gang members. From the original 253 (including Marana, Akilah, and Raven), only 195 remained. But I was satisfied.

With a thought, a magic circle formed in front of me. The magic circle then divided itself into 195 parts, each one flying towards one of the gang members.

Seeing their confusion, I explained. "Contract magic. Once you put a drop of your blood on it, you will be unable to reveal information about the space-time tunnel to others. If someone tries to do it, that person will die."

The remaining gang members changed their faces and looked at the contract in fear.

I smiled. "You don't need to sign it if you don't want. You simply need to leave and it will be as tonight never happened."

The gang members looked at me with expressions of struggle, but soon, someone dropped a drop of blood in the contract.

It was Raven.

She looked at me with an expressionless look and nodded.

Seeing that, Marana and Akilah also dropped a drop of blood.

Afterward, the remaining gang members also accepted the contract.

I nodded satisfied. "Very well, from today onwards, all of you are my people. Mmm, this group needs a name… Let me see… Okay, I got one."

I then looked at them and opened my lips.

"From today onwards, you will be called [Eternity's Fangs]."