234 – L & E, the evil duo

Eric and Livy appeared in a secluded spot surrounded by trees and bushes. There was no one around except the two of them.

Eric removed his hands from Livy's shoulders and said softly, "Liv, cover yourself with your hood and mask." While saying this, he also covered his own face.

Livy absentmindedly nodded and did as she was told.

Eric then started moving toward an opening between the trees, heading toward his first destination.

He suddenly noticed something odd; Livy was usually always energetic, especially when she was alone with him, yet she was currently far too quiet. He looked back at her and asked with confusion, "Liv, what's wrong? Why are you so quiet?"

Livy, who was still deep in thought, raised her head and stared deeply at Eric.

Eric raised an eyebrow with even more confusion.

"Brother Eric, what is 'Go All Out—Level 3'?" Livy asked with a troubled look, appearing suspicious, worried, jealous, and depressed all at the same time.

Eric gaped, "Are you seriously worried about that?" He had thought it was something truly serious.

Livy tensely nodded. She had never heard this code word before. In other words, Eric and Lyria shared secrets completely unknown to her!

She was incredibly jealous; they might have done 'more' things while she was completely oblivious! How could she not be jealous and worried? They should at least include her in the middle too!

Eric stopped in his tracks and, after a short pause, he couldn't help but burst out laughing. He tried to keep his voice down, but it was really hard for him.

After a while, he glanced back at Livy, who looked thoroughly confused by his sudden outburst.

He patted her shoulder and chuckled, "Alright, I'll tell you—we have never actually set up a secret code word like that before."

Livy stared at Eric doubtfully, "Really? Then what does it even mean?"

Eric coughed and returned to his normal expression. He glanced at their surroundings, which were completely devoid of any humans. He had intentionally chosen this place to land because it was close to his first goal and there was no one around in the immediate vicinity.

"Liv, we cannot always go all out in every future battle. We have to control our strength and only bring out the exact amount necessary for any given situation."

In the future, if they continued to develop at their current pace, there would be a lot of things to hide, including their basic raw stats. Their current four unique abilities also needed serious consideration regarding what to expose and what not to, especially during times when there were prying eyes around them.

Just because they could end a problem swiftly with their abilities didn't mean they had to use them in every single situation.

All of this required a bit more time and preparation. Eric had already thought of a few solutions, including how to hide their identities. However, even if they didn't expose their faces, they still needed to curb their full strength and avoid going all out unless they were in a true life-or-death situation.

Eric was certain that sooner or later, many powerful eyes would turn toward them. What he wanted was for the world to remain completely unaware of the full extent of their capabilities.

He noticed Livy was listening seriously, so he smiled and made a hand gesture for her to walk with him. She followed, and he continued explaining:

"Liv, that code word 'Go All Out—Level 3' that I told Ly was just to use the current situation to understand the difference between her and her opponent's strength, and how much she needs to expose to kill or end a battle swiftly. It is still experimental, nothing too serious yet."

Livy thought about it a little and nodded, "I understand. Then what are Level 1, 2, and also 3?"

Eric was certain that Lyria could mostly figure it out without any explanation, but Livy needed some, so he explained, “Level 1 is when we only use the stats we should naturally have according to our current Ranks. We will just fight with normal spells, skills, and so on, and this shall be our priority for the time being, especially when there are people around who cannot be suppressed or are untrustworthy."

"Level 2 is when we release our full stats and use them as much as we need in a situation; if one hundred percent isn't required, then we won’t use it. Basically, we force people to think that we took some sort of drug, potion, or whatever to boost our stats temporarily. How temporarily we do that shall be decided according to the situation.”

“Can you guess Level 3 now?” Eric asked with a smile.

Livy nodded and smiled back, “In that case, Level 3 should be to use our special abilities appropriately according to the situation, am I correct?”

“Correct.” Eric gave her a thumbs-up.

“Then is there a Level 4 or 5?” Livy’s eyes were bright; she was starting to enjoy these secret code words that only they could share.

“Level 5... I don’t know, we will see about that in the future. As for Level 4… Wait, hold on, ‘Level’ is not really a suitable term for this; ‘Gear’ sounds much more appropriate!”

Eric started stroking his masked chin in deep thought. 'Gear' was far more accurate, as this was just like changing gears in a vehicle.

Eric oddly felt that his new hat was taking over his brain even before he had a chance to wear it. So for now, he stopped musing on the topic. First, they had to leave the Silvia Kingdom before any of this would even matter.

Soon they came out from the foliage, and in front of them lay a massive lake.

There were quite a few mortals scattered sparsely around the water, looking thoroughly depressed and likely writing melancholy poems inside their hearts while gazing at the beautiful lake. They all knew they were useless and would die as soon as City Lord Gideon knocked on the gates of hell.

Standing on one side of the massive lake, Eric raised both his hands sideways like how an evil-looking boss should act and laughed 'evilly' while changing his voice into something heavier. It wasn't any special technique, just spoken with a much weightier tone.

"Mahaha! For now, Li... Li... L. That's right, L! Right now, I want you to use your 'Go All Out—Gear 4!' Mahahaha!"

He instantly wanted to curse himself. Due to his pure carelessness, he had just called Livy—who was already not the sharpest—by the name of one of the most famous, tragic detectives from Earth.

He seriously needed to think of some fake names for them soon!

All the nearby mortals who heard the evil-sounding laughter turned toward the source of the noise.

Looking at the completely cloaked figures, they all immediately assumed they were necromancers. They were far too inexperienced to differentiate between normal Mana Wielders and Necromancers.

After understanding the tragedy that would soon descend upon them, their faces turned completely bloodless.

Livy immediately understood her assignment and similarly cackled like an 'evil woman', "Mohoho! Then E, let's fulfill our very first step toward world domination! Mohohoho."

All the mortals nearby, without any hesitation, turned and bolted at their absolute fastest speed.

They didn't quite hear the necromancers' words clearly, but just from their evil laughter and sinister postures, one thing was perfectly clear...

These two were evil to the core! They were monsters who would kill and eat anyone!

They had to escape, or else they would be subjected to extreme torture, cooked in a boiling pot, and then eaten alive—somehow.

At that moment, all the mortals’ wild creativity regarding their tragic fates was unleashed within their minds, and they all ran like their backsides were caught on fire toward the sturdy-looking building not far from the lake.

The mortals further away were confused by the sudden panic of their brethren; they didn't speed up like the first group, though their feet had already begun moving toward the same building out of instinct.

It was a broad, three-to-four-story-tall building, very well designed and maintained. It also featured a large insignia in front: a large circle with an 'A' in the center, and two diagonal slashes running across the entire emblem.

Eric was already aware of the Adventurers Guild branch beside the lake; Brunhild had mentioned it in the past.

Though, at this exact moment, Eric really wanted to slap Livy on the back of her head.

What did she mean by 'E'? She should call him 'K'!

Why Bella Noll gave him such a straightjacketed name for his evil persona was completely beyond him.

Also, what did Livy mean by 'World Domination'? Did he look like a fool who wanted to shackle himself by becoming a King or Emperor? Anyone who even wanted to become a ruler was a pure idiot, especially in a fantastic world where people could do so many incredible things, with so many wonderful places left to explore and adventure in.

Eric felt that anyone who wanted to be a Ruler without deep love and compassion in their hearts toward their people—possessing a genuine wish to develop and protect them while also not destroying nature and others—was simply, deep down, a complete hypocrite. A bunch of vile people that even his evil self felt immense disdain toward. Of course, that was only when people actively 'wanted' or 'declared' themselves as a Ruler; if they were already born a Prince or some rightful Ruler, then from his eyes, they were rightfully pitiful!

"Alright Liv, get to it."

Livy nodded, and her expression turned completely solemn.

Soon, massive amounts of water started disappearing from the lake, turning into small orbs before vanishing entirely up into Livy’s long sleeves.

The people around quickly noticed the lake's water levels dropping rapidly. At first, they were confused and thought they were imagining things, but soon their expressions changed drastically.

The lake was truly disappearing!

And within just a few brief moments, the entire lake's water was completely gone!

The onlookers no longer held back and ran crazily toward the Adventurers Guild building while screaming like their backsides had been assaulted countless times.

They had never imagined this was even possible. They had some general ideas regarding what a Mana Wielder could and could not do, and this feat went well beyond that!

In other words, this was the purest, most terrifying form of demonic power; they were absolutely certain of it!