Chapter 184: The Hunt Continues

Panic washed over Cairo as he ran toward Kael’s mana signature.

What is that boy thinking? He barely escaped punishment for his first offense, and now he’s assaulting another student!

Cairo and the rest of the Disciplinary Committee hurried toward Kael’s location. However, before they could get any closer, a figure suddenly rushed past them.

It was a Beast Kin.

He collided with Lynx, who was trailing behind the group, nearly knocking him off balance before continuing to sprint at breakneck speed, using mana to boost his physical abilities.

The Beast Kin’s face was badly battered. Several teeth were missing, his skin was swollen and purple, and his face was so disfigured that he was barely recognizable. His breathing was heavy, but that didn’t stop him from pushing Lynx aside and continuing his desperate escape.

"Isn’t that Craig from second-year Class B?" Miko muttered.

Everyone turned to look in the direction he was running.

"Don’t tell me he’s the victim," Jace said in disbelief. "But he’s powerful. He was planning to secure a spot in this year’s Inter-High Tournament!"

While they were still trying to make sense of what had happened, a familiar voice echoed through the air.

"HULK! I THINK I KNOW WHERE HE’S RUNNING! LET’S CATCH UP TO HIM! HE’S DEFINITELY PLANNING TO TERRORIZE MORE STUDENTS!"

A dark figure shot straight through the middle of the Disciplinary Committee without even bothering to slow down.

Cairo immediately recognized Kael and attempted to chase after him. However, for some reason, he found himself struggling to move.

He looked down and noticed that his shadow had taken on an unfamiliar shape pinning him to the ground.

His eyes widened.

Since when could Kael do this?

Before he could figure out what was happening, another figure streaked past him. Although smaller than Kael, he was just as fast.

"DON’T WORRY, KAEL! I’M RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" Hulk shouted as he chased after Kael, completely ignoring the members of the Disciplinary Committee.

"KAEL! HULK! WAIT! I THINK HE’S ALREADY LEARNED HIS LESSON! DON’T YOU THINK YOU’VE MALTREATED HIM ENOUGH?!"

Charlotte’s voice rang out as she chased after the two of them.

However, when she finally reached the members of the Disciplinary Committee, she stopped to catch her breath. Felix, who had been following her, came to a halt beside her.

"Charlotte, what’s going on?" Cairo asked.

"I think Kael might actually kill that second-year student if we don’t do something! We need to reach him before he catches up to the Beast Kin!" Charlotte replied breathlessly.

"And you don’t know why Kael is doing this?" Cairo asked.

"Not really. Although, he did say something about wanting the Beast Kin to get healed in an unconventional way," Charlotte explained.

Everyone stared at her.

Before anyone could ask another question, Lynx decided to address the obvious issue.

"And what are you doing here, Felix?"

"Oh, him? He’s the reason this whole mess started in the first place," Charlotte replied before Felix could even open his mouth.

"Alright, let’s get moving!" Charlotte declared, immediately resuming her chase in the direction Kael had taken.

"You guys should stop standing around discussing this! We need to catch up to Kael before he gets out of our reach. Instead of interrogating everyone, we should focus on stopping the main culprit before he sends another person to the infirmary!"

With that, she took off.

"She’s right. Let’s go!" Cairo said, running after her with Lynx close behind.

"I didn’t even get a chance to defend myself! I’m not the one causing all this trouble!" Felix muttered.

Unfortunately, everyone was already running after Kael.

Felix: "..."

After a brief moment of hesitation, he decided to follow the Disciplinary Committee.

What else am I supposed to do?

As they ran, Mira moved alongside Charlotte.

"What led to the confrontation between Kael and the second-year Beast Kin?" she asked.

"Well, Kael spotted Felix and called out to him in a friendly manner, I think," Charlotte replied hesitantly.

"Friendly?" Cairo and Lynx repeated simultaneously.

Both of them had witnessed what happened at the Student Council and knew exactly how Kael usually greeted his enemies.

Charlotte shrank back a little under their questioning gazes.

"Well, I think it was a friendly manner," she insisted weakly, continuing to run.

The rest of the Disciplinary Committee turned to look at Felix, who was vehemently shaking his head in disagreement.

Charlotte noticed that nobody seemed convinced by her explanation. She glanced over her shoulder to see what everyone was looking at, only for Felix to quickly turn his head away.

Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before resuming her explanation.

"Anyway, Felix noticed Kael and immediately started running away, with Kael following close behind."

Why am I still here? This situation is clearly getting worse! I could easily return to my dorm. I haven’t even eaten since Kael knocked me unconscious this morning, so why am I chasing after someone who might attack me again in the future?

Felix considered turning around and leaving.

Then he remembered the smile on Kael’s face as he mercilessly beat the second-year Beast Kin.

On second thought, it might be better if I stay here.

"Why would you say Kael called out to him in a friendly manner?" Cairo asked, interrupting Charlotte’s narration.

"Well, for starters, Kael said he had a gift for Felix to thank him for reporting him to the Student Council," Charlotte explained.

Cairo stared at her with a deadpan expression.

"I refuse to believe you’re that innocent."

Charlotte ignored his comment and continued.

"Well, that’s only one side of the story. Before Felix bumped into the second-year, the Beast Kin appeared to be preparing to start a conflict."

She paused briefly before continuing.

"So, according to Kael, they were stopping a conflict before it even happened."

Everyone fell silent.

"And he was also protecting Felix from being bullied by a second-year student," Charlotte added.

The entire group turned to look at her before shifting their gazes toward Felix.

Felix had a look of pure terror on his face.

Yep. Kael is definitely influencing her, he thought silently as he watched Charlotte defend Kael’s actions.

"What about the dwarf who ran after him? How did he get involved in this mess?" Cairo asked.

"Oh, him? Kael made a deal with him to meet after class. Then Hulk found Kael while he was fighting the second-year and decided to join in because the Beast Kin was taller than both of them," Charlotte replied.

She paused for a moment before adding, "Also, Kael might have convinced him to join the fight by claiming the Beast Kin was terrorizing first-year students. But I think he had Hulk convinced the moment he mentioned the height difference."

Everyone fell silent.

For a moment, nobody seemed to know what to say.

Then Cairo stopped running.

"Can you sense his mana?" he asked quietly.

The others immediately came to a halt, turning toward the direction where Kael’s mana signature had last been detected.

Surprised expressions appeared on their faces.

"Isn’t this similar to Lynx’s technique? There’s no way Kael could have copied it. He hasn’t even fought Lynx yet!" Jace exclaimed.

"That’s secondary," Cairo replied. "If Kael is hiding his mana, it means he’s deliberately concealing his location from us. We need to find him quickly before he causes any more catastrophes!"

With that, he resumed running toward the place where they had last sensed Kael’s mana signature.

The others followed.

When they finally arrived, they were greeted by a scene of utter destruction.

The surrounding area was a wreck, and a puddle of blood stained the ground.

Mira and Miko approached the bloodstain and crouched down, sniffing it carefully.

"This blood belongs to the Beast Kin, and it’s definitely Craig’s scent," Mira muttered. She straightened up, looking at the destruction around them. "Wow. Kael really did a number on him."

"Well, it seems Kael is still hunting him," Miko observed. "Instead of tracking Kael, let’s track Craig."

Everyone agreed, and they immediately began following Craig’s mana signature.

Fortunately, tracking him wasn’t particularly difficult. There was a literal trail of blood leading toward his location.

Eventually, the trail led them to the academy’s gym.

Charlotte stopped when she recognized the building.

"The academy’s gym? Is Craig hiding in there?"

Jace nodded slowly.

"Considering how fast Kael is, I doubt Craig could have outrun him even if he were in perfect condition. It was definitely Kael who brought him here," Cairo muttered.

"Did Kael bring him here to train him?" Charlotte wondered aloud.

"Then it would be quite the brutal training session," Mira scoffed.

"But why else would Kael bring Craig—or whatever his name is—here?" Charlotte asked.

Miko turned to look at her closely.

"Do you genuinely believe Kael brought a second-year Beast Kin, whom he had met for the first time in his life, to the academy’s training center for the sole purpose of training him?" she asked, seemingly trying to make Charlotte understand how ridiculous her reasoning sounded.

However, Charlotte remained steadfast in her belief.

"Knowing Kael, there’s no other reason he would have brought him here. He might also be questioning him for information about Raya. After all, he’s assaulting Raya tomorrow, so Craig could be his practice dummy."

Miko’s expression turned cold.

"If Craig is his practice dummy for fighting Raya, then Kael isn’t winning that competition."

Her eyes glowed eerily as she spoke.

Cairo sighed.

"Alright, you guys should stop discussing this among yourselves. Let’s apprehend Kael."

The group began walking toward the training center.

"Why are you saying ’apprehend’ as if he’s some kind of criminal?" Charlotte asked.

"Because that’s exactly how he’s behaving right now," Cairo replied. "Besides, it’s best to settle this matter before the Student Council gets wind of it."

With that, they stepped into the training center.