Chapter 118: The Bad Guy

"Adam!"

Aurelius bellowed as he backstepped and drove his sword into a beast and viciously pulled to the right, cleanly cutting through the creature.

As he moved to evade another lunge while brandishing his sword for another strike, the three peak Second Realm beasts appeared before him in a flash.

"!!"

Ba-Thump.

Aurelius’ eyes widened as his heart skipped a beat. The colour drained from his face, a dreadful chill running down his spine. His heart hammered so hard that he felt it in his throat, his perception growing deceptively slow.

The beast master could barely follow the speed of the three that had appeared before him. He knew he would not be able to react in time, but he didn’t want to lose his protection either!

Not now, at least.

At that moment, Aurelius felt a breeze brush past his sweating and bleeding back. Before he could even register what it was, his perception of the surroundings changed, the change so abrupt that it felt like he had been teleported.

Everything that followed afterwards was something he had expected but still severely underestimated. One moment he was about to be torn apart, then the next, he found himself in a niche above the cavern.

Realising what had happened, Aurelius swiftly turned around to see what would unfold. He only saw a blur of rapid movements, the violent clashes resounding through the cavern before everything went up in flames.

BOOM...!

"Mm!"

Aurelius groaned, turning his head away while shielding his face from the powerful shockwaves and heat. The cavern walls shook from the overwhelming destructive power, stalactites breaking off and falling toward the ground.

’He-He is this strong?!!’

Aurelius looked on with wide eyes, the flames reflecting in his disbelieving and trembling eyes. The strength his partner had just displayed belonged to those in the fucking Third Realm!

Ba-Thump.

’He’s a monster!’

The thought slammed into him unbidden. The grim look of realisation on his face could only be imagined. Aurelius had never thought he would be this shocked by someone in the same age bracket.

’They were way off...’

Aurelius thought solemnly, his hand moving to feel the hidden necklace around his neck. His expression hardened as the smell of burning meat reached his nostrils. Adam had single-handedly brought what could only be described as a hopeless situation to an end.

While Aurelius stewed on his shock and discovery, Adam stood in the midst of burning beasts, his shoulders rising and falling, his breathing uneven. The surviving few turned tail and ran away, whimpering and shrilling.

When he had appeared before Aurelius and realised he had overshot into the mid-stages of the Third Realm, he decided to finish things before he ran out of Spark.

After finding a niche above the cavern and securing his friend, he went on a rampage. The first to be cut asunder were the three peak Second Realm beasts.

Using a combination of sword techniques, he reduced them to mincemeat and appeared before the Third Realm Deathstinger Scorpion. The creature reacted to his sudden appearance, but it did not matter.

The Deathstinger thrust its stinger the moment Adam appeared. Adam swung his blade, meeting the incoming stinger with a devastating boom. He then exchanged a few moves with the Deathstinger as they moved around at incredible speeds.

When he found an opening, he did not hesitate, slicing through the scorpion’s stinger before driving his blade into the beast’s head. Spark flowed as Adam channelled a concentrated ball of explosive flame essence into the beast, making it and every beast around go boom.

Causing the explosion within the cavern was a risk he gladly took because he had already analysed the structure and integrity of the walls, and knew it would be alright.

"Hah..."

Adam let out a long sigh, his breathing returning to normal. He looked up to meet the emerald and shocked eyes of his partner.

"You alright?" he asked.

Aurelius held Adam’s gaze for several long seconds. He jumped out of the niche and landed with a heavy thud, a muffled groan escaping him.

With the adrenaline worn off, the pain he had been suppressing came rushing back. Still, he rose to his feet and took a long look at his partner.

"Just- just how strong are you?" He asked, his tone heavy with emotion.

Adam looked away, taking in the scene around him. They were pretty much alone now. But they were both exhausted and in need of serious rest. The blade in his hand vanished as he turned to face his partner, holding his gaze.

"Would you believe me if I said my physical affinity is a lot more powerful than I let on?"

"..."

Aurelius stayed silent, unsure as to what to say. Adam’s response would mean he had been hiding just how strong he really was. It finally made sense how he survived that assassination attempt at the academy.

But he still had a lot of questions.

Looking at the destruction and death around them, the beast master finally understood. He was not the most talented genius of his generation. He wasn’t the most fortunate; he was just another genius out of the many.

"We should get out of here." Adam proposed, snapping the beast master out of his thoughts.

"Mm."

Aurelius agreed with a nod, turning around and heading for the cave tunnel towards the exit. Going deeper into the cavern could be dangerous with how exhausted he was. He suddenly paused, looking at Adam again.

’Is he even exhausted?’

Adam looked out of breath, his breathing slightly shallow. But other than that, he looked fine. There were barely any marks on his clothes or body. And the blood on him was most likely from the beasts he had effortlessly slain.

Adam made him look like a fool. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth as he looked away and continued walking, a slight limp in his steps.

Feeling the gaze on his person, Adam turned his gaze from the passageway he was observing to the beast master. The boy’s emotions were in turmoil again, and this time, there was caution and anger in the mix.

Those emotions stirred a bitter feeling within him, like he had done wrong. ’This might have been a bad idea.’

The emotions he sensed from Aurelius made him feel like the bad guy. Was trying to help a friend such a bad thing? Adam could not understand it.

’I should consider taking missions alone.’