Chapter 172: Public Eyes and Silent Steps

Chapter 172: Chapter 172: Public Eyes and Silent Steps

Across the human empire, the public squares, the taverns, and viewing halls erupted at the same moment they saw the Third Prince of Winterfang, Alexander Abyss on the screen.

The same image filled the projection at every place: a boy with deep black hair dropping into the center of a vast white spider web, his body was immediately trapped, and a strange mist was flooding into him while a violet chitin spider with glowing pink eyes continued its meal as if the boy were already a dead prey it will enjoy eating.

Silence held for one heartbeat as everyone watching absorbed the implications of the scene in front of them.

And then the crowd exploded.

"I-is that the Third Prince?!"

"What is that creepy place?!"

"Are those Peak Awaken level mana beasts trapped in the spider web?!"

"How will a 12 year old escape something that those can’t even escape?!"

"The Third Prince is also unconscious!"

"He might not last long and will be taken out of the Proving..."

"How is that even allowed?!"

"I knew they would put him in a difficult spot but this..."

Arguments broke out in every direction.

Some people shouted that the CBI had gone too far and this is equivalent to declaring a direct enmity against the Winterfang Royal family.

Others claimed it was the natural price for breaking the age tradition, as the Curse Bloom Institution had already warned that participating early was not recommended.

A few simply stared in stunned silence at the feed of the motionless boy.

In one crowded tavern an older warrior slammed his cup down hard enough to crack it. "That’s not a trial! That’s an execution of his reputation dressed up as a test!"

No one contradicted him because everyone can see it for themselves.

"Do these people from Curse Bloom Institution have no fear? I knew they are strict, but to do this to OUR Prince?! Hah! I guess they have finally gone senile!"

In a public square in the capital a group of younger cultivators argued heatedly.

"He’s only twelve! Even if he is a prodigy, that spider has already taken peak Awaken beasts in that trap!"

"The CBI is making an example out of the Third Prince, that’s all this is, we already knew something along the lines of this was going to happen."

"Or maybe they just want to see if the rumours about him are true?"

"Oh?! And you think he can break free of whatever that mist is doing to him, not to mention if that spider creature itself has some kind of spell it had used on the Third Prince!"

A woman selling roasted skewers nearby shook her head. "My cousin entered the Proving three years ago and the hardest spawn he got was a mid-Awaken pack, but he had others nearby who helped him, and he was above level 10 himself."

"But this... this is something else entirely." She muttered as she looked at the projection in worry.

A young man in the back of the crowd muttered, "If he is eliminated here, the entire Winterfang Royal family will lose face across the empire, no matter how unfair the situation is for him, and the Curse Bloom Institution knows that, and they are using it without a hint of same!"

No one had a clear answer to how the Third Prince could escape alive, many had already started to believe that this was the end for the Third Prince and he would be eliminated without anyone ever getting to see him fight in this year’s Proving.

"Sigh... I really wanted to see he fight!"

"Yes, me too!"

The feed remained fixed on the still figure hanging in the center of the web while the violet spider continued its slow and methodical feeding.

Every few seconds the runes on its back pulsed, and the mist around the trapped boy thickened.

The crowd watched in a mixture of horror, fascination and dark speculation.

***

Far from the viewing chambers and public screens, Zara materialized in a dark swamp biome.

Black water stretched between twisted trees whose roots rose like skeletal hands.

The air was heavy and wet in this biome.

A light fog drifted low across the surface, obscuring anything that was below the water, making this biome a death trap for rookies.

The light that filtered through the canopy was a dull grey green, barely enough to cast real shadows.

The entire place smelled of rotting vegetation and stagnant water.

She landed without a sound.

She found that she had somehow gained a bracelet on her wrist, when she tried to access it, it displayed:

***

Welcome, Zara! The Proving has officially begun.

You have been granted a bracelet that will help keep you up to date with the real-time points ranking among all participants across the human empire.

You can access the Live Rankings by going to the main interface and clicking [ => Live Points Rankings ] at any time.

***

THE PROVING

[ => Live Points Rankings ]

[ => Survive until the event ends to get a chance to qualify ]

[ => Gain points by :

A) Eliminating other participants. { 100% Points transfer after elimination. }

B) Killing other creatures. { Points depend on Level of the creature killed. } ]

***

It was pretty straight forward.

She reached for the Shadow Bond, but then she found out that...

...the Shadow Bond was completely silent.

Zara stood still for a few seconds.

She was testing the link in every direction.

Nothing answered her, but she tried again, she was pushing harder.

The connection remained muffled and distant, as if a thick wall stood between them.

’Alex...’

No response came even when she tried multiple times.

She started to move because remaining still in an environment like this isn’t a good choice.

A low slung predator with moss covered scales lunged from the water.

SPLASH-ROAR!

Zara’s hand flicked once.

A shadow tendril pierced its skull before it fully left the water.

Sssss-CRACK!

The body sank without a ripple.

Blrb...

She continued forward, she was like a living shadow among the trees.

Two more beasts died the same way, their deaths were silent, efficient, unnoticed by anyone.

A pair of human participants appeared on a raised root path ahead, arguing about direction.

Zara passed them without being seen.

When one of them later noticed the other was gone, only empty air remained.

Then he was also gone.

No one remained.

She kept trying the bond every few minutes.

’Alex! Answer me! The bond is being restricted by something! Where are you? Your surroundings? Survive as long as you can!’

Still, nothing came back.

’Alex!’

Still nothing.

After nearly half an minute of silent travel and the occasional clean elimination, a faint flicker brushed the edge of the bond.

Zara stopped dead on her track.

She poured her focus into that single fragile pulse.

’Alex! Answer me! The bond is being restricted by something! Where are you?! Your surrounding?! Survive as long as you can!’ She repeated the same words, she really hoped that he would somehow hear her message.

The connection wavered and then it slipped away.

Yet the pulse had been real.

The direction was vague, but it existed.

There.

She turned toward it and began to move faster.

She was silently killing anything that came too close without breaking stride.

A larger amphibious beast rose from a deeper pool, jaws open.

Shadow Mantle flickered across Zara’s form for less than a second.

She passed through its attack as if she were part of the swamp itself and left a clean hole through its skull.

The body collapsed back into the water with almost no splash.

Further on she encountered a small group of participants who had formed a temporary alliance.

They never saw her.

One of them simply vanished mid sentence.

The others scattered in panic, never realising what had taken their companion.

The pulses grew slightly stronger the longer she travelled.

It was not clear or stable, but at the very least they was present.

She followed them without hesitation.

Minutes of careful movement later the bond finally stabilized enough for a full sentence to pass through.

’Alex! Finally I can reach you through the bond! I am coming towards the direction the bond is pointing!’

Zara’s eyes narrowed on the distant treeline.

The direction was still imperfect but it was enough for her to follow.

She vanished into the swamp shadows and continued forward at greater speed.

Somewhere ahead, the Third Prince of Winterfang still hung motionless in a web the size of a battlefield, and every powerful figure in the empire was watching to see whether he would ever move again.

The swamp around her remained quiet and deadly.

Only the occasional soft splash marked another silent kill as Zara closed the distance one careful step at a time.

She did not know how long it would take to reach him, but the bond had given her a direction, and that was all she needed.

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End of Chapter 172: Public Eyes and Silent Steps

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