Is that a Wisp?

"The seal is in danger," Krune muttered in worry. 

He took out a map of the empire that his mother had given him, taking it out as he placed pins all over it, signifying the places where either a Yin Beast or a Nightmare had appeared and wreaked havoc. 

Once he began to connect the dots, he noticed that they were erecting a formation of sorts, with the capital forming the formation core. Normally, this wasn't something anyone would understand, even if they saw such a scene. 

But, Krune was aware of formations, understanding the underlying logic. A Demon was similar to a Nightmare, capable of growing by absorbing the malice in the air. And at present, this malice was being used as energy to lay down the formation. 

Once the formation was complete, the malice in the air would be amplified. Using the various places of damage as the node, the malice would flow through the people, affecting them a little, using them as mediums to travel forth before gushing into the capital. 

And there, the Demon within the seal would absorb them, using the malice to break out from the seal, corrupting everyone in the place to make them full of malice. 

In a desolate scenery, a person would be pensive, scared even. Similarly, in a village where many deaths had happened, there would be a vicious feeling permeating in the air. This wasn't anything concrete, but just a psychological feeling that was induced into the minds of the people due to the environment—words, actions, visual input, auditory input, olfactory input, and so on. 

And that was how malice also spread. It wasn't some tangible energy to the humans. It's just that when people expressed their malice, whether to defend against it or for other reasons, the rest of the people would also express varying levels of malice. 

That was how it would spread. Nightmares were able to harness this for their growth. So, it would be similar to creating a mob mentality that would fuel their growth constantly and place the Empire in a state of unrest. 

With that, their objective would be achieved, allowing the Demon in the capital to free itself. 

'Mom, you there?' Krune shouted in his mind, receiving a reply from his mother a couple of minutes later. To ensure information was passed along without any problems, the connection between Krune and his mother was kept as is, allowing them to converse with one another through telepathy whenever they wanted. 

'What happened?' His mother's voice resounded, slightly tired. 

'The situation has become dangerous,' Krune said, informing her about everything that he had figured out. 

'I see, so that's what they're planning. Formations, huh. I never thought something like this was possible.' Daxia Ting sighed in exhaustion. 

'It'll be for the best to take action immediately.' Krune urged her. 'As long as we deal with the Yin Beasts first, we'll be able to mitigate this to a great extent. The number of Nightmares are too little, after all.'

'No, that's what I've been trying to do. It's just that they're too fast,' Daxia Ting said, expressing her worries. 'The Demons have a flying-type Yin Beast. On top of that, it's tremendously fast, transporting other Yin Beasts and Nightmares all over the place. Just so you know, there are seven of these flying Yin Beasts now. So, even though I have been giving orders to mobilize all the Imperial Meisters, our enemies are faster.'

'They've been running all over the place. If our Imperial Meisters chase after them, the Yin Beasts living in the nearby forests target the cities they've been guarding.' She let out a groan of annoyance after that. 'We're only tiring ourselves out at this rate. Thankfully, with the influx of County Arms users, the situation has stabilized a little. But we're still facing a lot of trouble.'

'Mom, are there any near the capital now?' Krune asked. 'If there's anything within 6-7 hours of travel from my location, I'll deal with them. It'll also serve as combat practice for Wang Hao and Chen Xue. We'll also be able to shave away their combat reserve.'

'There's a group of five Yin Beasts in your range,' Daxia Ting replied. 'However, focus on your studies for now. You also have the responsibility of training the first generation of County Arms wielders. After all, only you understand them the most. With your training, they would become strong enough to deal with this threat. That'll be better than you running around and exhausting yourself.'

'Fine, but Wang Hao and Chen Xue still need combat experience. I can rely on my memories to have enough experience. But they don't have that,' Krune replied. 

'Alright, I'll contact them and allow them to deal with some weak Yin Beasts. I'll make a group of those from the Imperial Family travel along with them. Since all of them can fly, it'll be easy, and they can also protect each other,' she said, turning silent. 

Sighing as a result, Krune stretched his hands, taking a scroll that he read, maintaining a constant frown all along. He then noticed Wang Hao silent, focused even. It was apparent that he was talking with Daxia Ting through telepathy now. 

Krune spent the night reading through the accumulated information, only coming to his senses when it was already morning. There were the sounds of chatter in his surroundings. 

Surprised, he freshened up, wore his student robe and began to make his way towards the class. Though, he paused along the way, realizing a rather crucial point. 

He had no idea where his class was. 

As for Wang Hao, he had left during the middle of the night and had yet to return. So, Krune was alone. 

He looked around, failing to find any familiar faces, casually following through the crowd as he used his Sonic Radar to spy on their conversations, finally discovering a couple of people who were part of the second year. 

Soon, he arrived at the building where there were many classes for the second-year students, pausing again. He wasn't able to determine which class had been assigned to him. Just as he thought as such, his mouth opened automatically, letting out a long yawn. 

"Well, might as well." Rubbing his eyes, Krune entered the closest classroom, picked a seat in the corner, felt around the table and the cushion on the floor, feeling that they were rather perfect. 

With that, he seated himself, taking on the most serious of faces a student could pull off, sitting with the utmost devotion and respect to education before sporting a gentle smile as he began to sleep, with eyes open.