Chapter 104: Discovery
"So, you mean to say, you have no idea who that person is?"
Hearing the entire explanation from Medea herself, the staffs couldn’t help but doubt her words a bit as she was exactly the same person who appeared at the same time as that anonymous helper, causing them to cast a doubting glance at her.
"Yes, he doesn’t feel like a student at all, but he’s definitely wearing the academy’s uniform... a freshman perhaps?" Medea replied, making her story all the more believable as she mixed correct information with wrong ones, causing the staffs to feel all the more convinced.
"Right, speaking of freshmen, I remember Student Medea hunting with another person, a freshman, where is he right now?" another staff asked as he recalled what he saw back when everything in the postponed exam is still normal, the question taking Medea by a bit of surprise.
However, she managed to keep said surprise for herself as she answered composed and confident, a faint smile on her face as she opens her lips and words came out of them.
"He’s in a safe place right now..."
She began explaining how the two of them figured out that the encirclement of the beasts seems to tighten on the location where all remaining students were gathered, giving emphasis to how this discovery is a joint effort between the two of them rather than just herself alone in order to give a bit of credits to the young man.
’He shouldn’t be complaining on this right? He’s only hiding his combat prowess after all...’ recalling his show of spiteful wit from the rumors surrounding him, Medea thought to herself, thinking that he ought to still take some credits after all that he had done to foil a plan that could possibly be immensely devastating to the reputation of the academy.
Meanwhile, as Medea explains about ’everything’ that she knew regarding the mysterious helper and where she was during all of this, said mysterious helper is giving chase, his senses expanding in search for human mana signature.
"UAAGHH!!" as soon as he finds one, scream will follow as he lands a debilitating blow directly on his target’s spine, making it difficult for them to even stand and allowing him to question them.
A scream resounds once more as mana blade pierces through the paralyzed traitor’s palm, boring a hole in his body as he tries his best, struggling to escape from the hunter’s grasp but to no avail at all.
"Tell me, where are the missing students?" from his previous fight with Gallad, this hunter, Novus, knew that there are a lot, more than a quarter of the students missing from the large group protected by the loyal academy staffs, hence the reason why he assumed that most, if not all of these traitors knew the location of the missing students.
’Taking account for the ones who were eliminated before the magic barrier was deployed, there are still a whole lot that they managed to kidnap...’ he thought to himself as he waits for the traitor’s answer, his face emotionless, as if he takes hurting this person as nothing more than a job for him to do.
"Haha... too... late... do you really think I will tell—AHHH!!" before the rogue field staff could even finish his words, Novus already made his verdict, making sure that this one will still be captured by the academy, he slashed the mage’s back with a small mana blade formed around his fingers, severing said mage’s spinal chord while barely making him bleed.
Then, his figure disappeared again, out to hunt more of these people until he eventually finds the missing students.
As he continues to search for traitors running away, Novus continues meeting dead end as every single one of them refuses to tell him what he wants, causing him to feel more and more frustrated as time goes by.
Eventually, he was forced to take a breather, allowing him to notice that there is not a single beast nor monster around him as he continues with his hunt, causing leading his thoughts to a question he never really mulled himself over before.
’Come to think of it... how did they even managed to force everyone in a corner...’ he asked himself, the only thing that he can think of being the coordinated attacks of beasts that he himself, along with Medea, experienced.
’No, that’s too small of a group to force a large number of field staff into a corner... but what if... it’s a bigger group?’ the thoughts made even himself shiver as he recalled the Slime Beast Wave during his last time in the Evolution Domain, the idea being pushed out of his mind as he thought that it is too absurd.
’In the first place, Venica is the only one we encountered who seems to be capable of controlling beasts, and even she herself is only capable of controlling that much...’ he added, reinforcing the thoughts further.
But that very same idea dismissing his previous thoughts became the very thing that made him stop on his tracks to think, his face turning serious as he had come to realize something that he doesn’t wish to be true.
’Then... are the remaining Beast Control Magic users hiding somewhere else?’
He thought as he pushes his senses to the limits, expanding it as much as he can all while moving around, shifting his focus away from the escaping traitors to the traces of beasts, and there, as he searches, he found something that made him smile a bit.
Tracks, large and small, footprints, broken twigs amidst all things, moving towards a certain direction, giving him a clue on where he should go as his mind concluded something pointing him not only to the missing students, but quite possibly to the center of operations of the traitors as well.
’If I’m right, then they should be holding the students there...’ he thought to himself as he continues following the tracks left behind by beasts moving towards a certain direction, a prompt on a floating, semi-transparent screen appearing in front of him as he felt an odd, seemingly ethereal liquid entering his stomach.
[Consumed Liquid Shadow.]
[Shadow Element Affinity has slightly increased.]
[You are now in a stealth state for five minutes.]
His presence itself was suppressed to the minimum, making it impossible for anyone who isn’t seeing him to know that he is anywhere near, each step, each leap across branches bringing him closer to his target as he sensed more and more tracks converging, pointing to a certain place.
’I should’ve known...’ as soon as he picked up movements, he immediately stopped his tracks to observe where they were coming from, allowing him to sense multiple traitors who ran away from the battle gathering near his spot.
If it was only that, he wouldn’t have stopped at all as he is well aware that these ones are way weaker than Gallad who he fought and win against.
No, it was something else.
Letting these traitors to pass and move beyond this place are numerous D Tier beasts seemingly in an orderly trance, acting as if they are military personnel guarding the borders of a place and only allowing qualified personnel to enter, and eliminating everyone else unqualified.
As he watches this uncharacteristically orderly manner that the beasts’ act, Novus had yet to realize it, but will, soon.
That he had come into contact with something far bigger than he would ever expect.