Chapter 53: Greed

In a harrowing forest, the place was devoid of noise; utterly lacking of a single voice. It was like no creature existed within. The cold wind blew, rustling the bushes and old aged trees, evoking a frigid and eerie atmosphere around the place.

"Truly, hatred is born when people gather together..." Aza hummed, his hand holding over a person's chin. He stared at the person's eyes, savoring the person's expression, "And, greed amplifies it. How remarkable."

Aza chuckled, his silent laugh echoing at the area. Beneath him, a man kneeled on a pool of blood. The man's eyes were frenzy while greed swirled within the man's pupils.

"The Nascent Bead is mine..." The man muttered, his body shivering in excitement, "It's mine...It's mine.."

"Greed allures man; tempting them to sin," Aza spoke, his head shaking, "It is the temptation that induces conflict within."

Truly, he did nothing but influence them 'slightly'. It was their undoing. If they were more observant, and aware then perhaps their doom wouldn't have happened.

...Who was he fooling? They were going to die either way. The moment he set his eyes on the group, their doom was already destined. They would, all the same, lay their dead bodies on the forest while blood would leak to the land as an offering to the God he served.

He could have even killed them more faster and efficiently, but this time he wanted to test out the extent of his powers. Thus, he thought of the idea of letting them kill each other. It was the perfect idea to test his newfound powers.

Among the skills at the Numen Web of his God, Qrqvitiq, The Apostle of Greed, offered. There were only three higher ranking skills he was able to access with his current strength. While it was few in quantity, those skills, however, were extremely powerful.

The first one is called, «Instinctual Irrationality». This skill was a passive skill, unlike the other two he got. «Instinctual Irrationality» granted him the ability to influence the psyche of the people near him. Those who were near his range would get irrationally angry and irritated without a concrete reason. The only downside of this skill was the skill was not targetable, it affected his allies too.

The second of which is called, «Incorporeal Illusion of Greed». Unlike the first, this one was an active skill. «Incorporeal Illusion of Greed» allowed him to put a group of people inside an illusion where their deepest desires would exist, thus amplifying their greed. The limit of people he was able to put is 50.

Then, the third one. The most powerful and magical skill he had got on the Numen Web. It was called, «Ruler of Desires; Greed». It was his personal favorite. The power that the skill granted him made his eyes wide open in shock.

"I suppose I shouldn't tally any longer, I still have people to kill..." Aza spoke, his face morphing into a calm angelic smile, "So, by the will of Qrqvitiq. Kill thine self."

As soon as the words dropped, the kneeling man on the ground immediately strangled himself, making his skin go pale and eyes wide open. His mouth choked, spitting saliva over the ground. His mutterings gradually grew quite while a red mark was plastered over his neck. Moments later, the man no longer breathed.

"As long as greed exist within man," Aza spoke, his body walking away, "I rule both their bodies and mind."

That's right. The skill, «Ruler of Desire; Greed», allowed him to control people who had greed within them. However his control to others depends on the greed they hold. For people below his strength, as long as they were greedy enough, he held absolute dominance over their lives.

—

In the middle of the forest, a young teenage man with snowy white hair suddenly shivered, his eyes opening, revealing his beautiful shining golden pupils to the world.

"...Are you alright?" Eugene asked in concern, his hand reaching out to the man.

"..I'm alright." Arcuied replied, his head shaking, "It's just...I feel an ominous feeling, as if my mortal enemy is here."

"Mortal enemy?" Eugene chuckled, "You seem to have quite an identity, if that's the case."

"Believe me, I would also like to know..." Arcuied sighed.

"Are you implying you have amnesia?" Eugene inquired, his eyes staring at Arcuied.

"That's the gist of it," Arcuied shrugged, "But, it's a bit more complicated than that."

"I see," Eugene nodded, no longer interested in the topic, "By the way, what's your plans of the exam next week?"

However, Arcuied didn't reply. Arcuied stood still on the ground, closing his eyes, trying to sense something within the area. His hands slowly reached out on the hilt of the long, blue sword behind his back.

"..Arcuied?" Eugene asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. Then, a dawn of realization struck him, "...How many?"

"Enemies." Arcuied nodded, his hand tightly grasping the hilt of his sword, "Three Rank D's."

Eugene nodded gravely, his face hardening. Not only did the attackers outranked them, they were also outnumbered. His eyes closed, preparing himself.

"What do we do?" Arcuied asked, his eyes shifting to Eugene.

"We can escape and leave right now, or," Eugene replied, his grave expression turning into an excited one, "We can fight them head on,"

"...They outrank us," Arcuied sighed, his head shaking.

"As if that's a problem for you," Eugene scoffed, "Normally, we wouldn't stand a chance at all under ordinary circumstances,"

"..What are you getting at?" Arcuied asked.

"Normally, that is," Eugene emphasized, his hand taking out a few vials of potions in his clothes, "Not unless we have this."

"Miracle Strengthening Potions!" Arcuied exclaimed quietly, his eyes staring at the vials of potions in interest, "These potions are able to strengthen us temporarily to Rank D. Not only are these expensive, but also hard to get! How did—"

"Do you even have to ask?" Eugene spoke, his head raising his pride.

"..So this is the true power of the filthy rich nobles," Arcuied muttered.

"What do you mean, filthy?" Eugene asked, his face contorting in a scowl. He shook his head, continuing, "In any case, I don't think you would have a problem right...?"

"None at all," Arcuied responded, "How about you though?"

"...Are you really underestimating me?" Eugene scoffed, his face unamused as if mildly offended, "Do you really think I had shown all of my skills, and abilities during the mock test?"

"...That would actually make more sense," Arcuied nodded, "Why didn't you though?"

"...Do I really have to explain it?" Eugene muttered, his head shaking, "One, because the weapon I was using that time would break from the force. Two, I don't have infinite magical reserves, so I have to settle with slowly killing the beast. Three, I want to hide it."

"Was the third reason even needed?" Arcuied muttered.

"Here take this!" Eugene shouted, handing out one of the vials of potions to Arcuied, "Drink it."

Arcuied nodded, his hand grasping the vial. He took the cover down, putting the vial on his mouth, drinking the contents in one gulp.

"Don't mind If I do," Eugene muttered, his hands likewise taking off the cover on the vial. He drank it one gulp.

At that moment, the magical energy in their body expanded, while the pressure around them amplified. Both Arcuied and Eugene stared at each, nodding in agreement while they reached out to their respective weapons.

Suddenly, from the corners of the trees, three people with scarlet red cloaks jumped towards them, on their hands was a chain covered in blood.

In that moment, Arcuied swung his long, blue sword. Behind the sword, a pale blue shadow followed the blade. The sword clashed with the chains, producing a clanging sound, while Arcuied stared at his opponent.

Clang—!

His opponent was garbed with a long, scarlet red cloak, completely covering the person's whole body. Arcuied couldn't even tell if the man was human or not.

On the other side, Eugene gracefully brandished his long blue spear, thrusting it the two enemies infront of him. On the tip of the spear, an illusory form of a water dragon erupted. It's fierceness and elegance was unparalleled.

The long blue spear rushed in, clashing with the chains of the two cloaked opponents. Instantly, the two cloaked attackers were pushed back from the force of the spear.

"You seem to be handling yourself well," Arcuied commented, his hand waving the sword, "I'm suprised."

"I'm honored," Eugene spoke playfully, "On another note, how is the Typhoon Wave Sword?"

"Horrible name by the way," Arcuied scoffed, his eyes focused on the enemy infront of him, "I renamed it to Wavedancer."

"...That," Eugene muttered, "That honestly sounds a lot more cooler. Do I really have that bad of a naming sense?"

While both of them were discussing, their three opponents were enraged of being casually ignored. They were a rank higher than those two brats!