Chapter 84. Breakthrough
The instructors stepped into the volcanic mountain range. Their movements were swift, deadly, precise and lethal. They were experienced warriors for a reason.
Instead of launching flashy long range attacks to alert the Wyverns and expose themselves, they stealthily crawled beneath the backs of the advanced and expert rank 2 creatures in the mountain range in their invisible state.
When they were within a suitable attack range, they launched swift, covert attacks and killed the creatures.
Across the mountain range, the 15 instructors acted covertly. Dull thuds of creatures resounded across the place as their corpses fell on the ground.
During this period, the Wyverns were also hunting some of the creatures. But they could not see the instructors. The instructors were wearing legendary rank 2 invisibility bracelets. The ones they were wearing were of very high quality. The effectiveness of the legendary rank 2 invisibility bracelets were terrifying. So, the wyverns could not see them moving across the place. Had the bracelets been some cheapskate legendary rank 2 invisibility bracelets, their effectiveness would have dulled before the Wyverns and the wyverns would have been able to see the instructors.
Aiden and the others were still at the edge of the mountain range, behind the large stone.
The rest of the group did not know what was happening. They were very nervous. If the instructors died, Aiden’s plan would fail and they would all be stuck in the pocket world forever and they would eventually die.
However Aiden could see them. He was scanning the instructors. The moment they finished their tasks and rushed back and the wyverns killed each other, he would rush ahead and consume their blood essence.
"Its pity my blood essence absorption range is still at 20 meters. I can’t absorb their blood essence from here," Aiden thought.
Very soon, the mountain range was full of corpses of expert and advanced rank 2 chaotic beasts.
The instructors slipped away after the moving corpses of the creatures they killed into their storage bags.
They arrived behind the large stone where Aiden and the others were gathered.
The moment they arrived, the effects of their invisibility bracelets wore off.
Had they been a second late, they would have been discovered and killed by the wyverns.
"That was one of the most dreadful experiences I’ve ever had," an instructor said.
The others nodded.
"Now... we wait.." Aiden said politely as he observed the legendary rank 2 wyverns. The wyverns eventually grew restless.
They searched the volcanic mountain range. There was no prey for them anymore.
One turned on another and killed them in their sleep. It bit the head of the corpse off and took out the heart. Then, it chewed it.
Then, another killed another.
The cycle continued. Each wyvern was in a crazed state where they were killing each other, chewing certain body parts of the corpses of their kin, and leaving some body parts remaining.
Eventually, by the time they realised it, the last two had killed each other.
The leftover body parts remained scattered across the mountain range.
"My range of scouting is limited," Aiden said.
"I need to enter the mountain range to confirm if all the Wyverns are truly dead. The plan seemed to have worked but one can never be too careful. There could be a more dangerous threat we may not have considered. I’ll give you the signal to come when I completely confirm the coast is clear."
He could not tell them he was going into the mountain range to absorb the blood essence of the corpses of the wyverns. So, he cooked up a lie, which everyone bought.
A glint of greed flashed through his eyes as he disappeared into the volcanic mountain range at a speed the others had not seen him use earlier.
"This speed.. an advanced rank 1 warrior cannot have this level of speed. He must have become an expert rank 1 warrior?" An instructor said as the group watched Aiden, flapping his wings and retreating into the volcanic mountain range.
The other instructors nodded.
"This young man..."
"Indeed. His cultivation speed is unlike anything I’ve seen before."
The students were shocked. All this while, he was an expert rank 1 warrior?
When? How?
"It won’t be long before he graduates from the university. I don’t think it will take more than 2 years for him to become a legendary rank 2 warrior. He might become the fastest legendary rank 2 warrior to ever appear on Endra," Pamela said.
"Indeed. It seems the National Warriors Competition happening next year will be full of surprises. Participants should be advanced rank 2 warriors right?" An instructor from Harland Metropolitan University said.
"Yeah. It won’t be surprising for him to be an advanced rank 2 warrior at the time of the competition," the Harland Metropolitan University instructor said as he stared at the students from his university. He gave them a knowing look which meant, this kind of monster is what some of you will be up against at the intercity level competitions.
They gulped and steeled themselves.
Those from Cosmere City University also had similar reactions when their instructors looked at them.
Aiden Vhorn was a literal monster.
As for those from Derulo City University, they could not help but sigh.
Even the advanced rank 2 warriors felt like Aiden would come and overtake them sooner or later.
As for Aiden’s friends, they all couldn’t help but feel proud of him. At the same time, they realized that they were slacking off.
If anyone heard them think these thoughts, they would call Aiden’s friends shameless. They were all geniuses in their own right with great potential. The fact that they were on this expedition proved that. It was just that Aiden Vhorn was too abnormal.
But who could blame them?
The five fellows felt like it was a good thing they were friends with Aiden. They had never been this motivated to grow stronger. They each made plans to grind missions when they returned back like crazy, not so that they could compete with him. That was impossible. The guy was a monster. They wanted to use missions to obtain resources and hone themselves so that they wouldn’t waste their potential. Aiden’s discipline oriented ethic towards his training was influencing them.
Also, they were intentional about their relationships with each other and Aiden. In this world, ants did not walk with eagles. They needed to keep up.
Aiden appeared in the volcanic mountain range.
He flapped his crimson wings and moved at blinding speed. He already knew where the corpses of the Wyverns were.
He moved across different mountains, and volcanoes, absorbing the blood essence of the 400 legendary rank 2 Wyverns.
Very soon, he was done.
The accumulated blood essence within his being finally reached the threshold required for a breakthrough and resonated. He felt a great surge of strength.
"I’ve broken through. My power is finally on par with that of a Legendary Rank 1 warrior. This would have taken longer had I not embarked on this expedition. In addition to absorbing the blood essence of many Rank 1 and Rank 2 creatures, I managed to absorb the blood essence of these Legendary Rank 2 creatures, which is far more potent. As a result, I was able to reach the threshold required for my breakthrough much sooner," Aiden thought.
He closed his eyes for a moment and opened it.
"The range at which I can absorb blood essence has increased. It is now 50 meters," Aiden smiled.
After that, he returned to the group at the edge of the mountain range.
"Coast is clear," Aiden said. "We should head into the vicinity where the last wyvern died. I marked it. That’s where the gate will most likely close into."
The group darted across the skies towards a mountain where the corpse of a half eaten wyvern lay.
They arrived on the mountain. Something appeared in the sky and drew closer to them.
It was the gate.
"Finally.. we are leaving..." Many sighed.
Everyone looked at Aiden with respect.
This young man had literally carried the expedition. Who would have thought.
When they return to Endra, this accomplishment will rock the major information networks of not just the three cities, but the whole Hessington State!
His feats, especially his tactical acumen during this expedition was phenomenal.
No one in Hessington State would be oblivious to the name of Aiden Vhorn, the crimson reaper, anymore.
Also, everyone stared at Henrich. He looked broken and hollow, a shell of his former self.
They wondered how shocked the three cities would be to hear that he killed his fiance. As for The Ravenspars and Fangs, war was imminent between them.