"Go!" Instructor Vick said loudly.
Neiso quickly raised both of his hands. Magic circles formed beneath his feet as he launched a barrage of ice spears at Souta. Souta wasn't even bothered by it as he swiftly move his body avoiding all the ice spears.
Bang! Bang!
Neiso was a little bit surprised to see Souta dodging all of his attacks. He stomped his feet on the ground and a thick transparent barrier formed around him. With a wave of his hand, he casted another spell. Several black tentacles rose from the ground.
"Try this!!"
He gritted his teeth as a wand appeared in his hand. His energy fluctuations grew stronger as he activated the effect of his orange grade wand. Neiso was strong but he met the wrong opponent this time.
Souta simply avoided all the attacks coming at him. The voices of the two old men were low and they even isolate it but Souta's power was able to bypass it. They didn't even realize that Souta's attention was on their conversation, not the battle.
"Did you investigate who's the one that attacked the Hundred Face Alliance?"
"Yeah, but all the clues lead to nothing. I could only think of one organization based on the description of the survivors."
"Is it Murder Society?"
"That's the only organization that comes to my mind but I'm wondering why did they attack us or how did we offend them? The Master is currently in a meeting with the other Masters of the alliance."
"Is this really the end? Our Mince Hand is getting weaker and weaker each generation. Seventy years ago we don't even need to join an alliance as we have the strength of an overlord organization."
"We can't actively move before of our bind. The era is changing and the powerhouses of the Hall Plains will be shuffled. The most dangerous region right now is the central family where the Imperial Family reign."
"It's too sad. Taking the powers of previous ancestors binds us in this place."
'They are bound in this place?!' Souta didn't know what they were talking about but he continued to listen to them while avoiding Neiso's series of attacks. He wanted to prolong the match so that he could listen more to their words.
He knew that they were telling the truth or else he would sense it. So he trusted their words and think that it would benefit him since he was staying here in Hall Plains.
The two old men continued their discussion without being aware that someone could listen to their words.
"The Imperial Family will suffer greatly this time. A lot of factions are eyeing the throne of the central region. Sooner or later, the war will envelop the entire Hall Plains. The Murder Society is being active recently and we still don't know what they are planning."
"The Triple Tribe Alliance is trying to absorb all the organizations that had fallen. They are one of the strongest organizations here aside from the Heiro Kingdom. According to our intel, the three tribe leaders are all experts at third shackles."
"Three Shackles? That's a big problem that even the Imperial Family would have a hard time facing."
"Yes, Thunder Hall had fallen too. Their leader along with other top experts is confirmed dead. Their corpses are at the entrance of ancient ruins. A lot of factions wanted to investigate it but they couldn't enter inside it. It seems that someone gained control over the ruins."
"It means that no one could enter it unless they had the power of a God to forcefully break the barriers. What happened there shocked the entire Spring Land. There are survivors but they only passed the first to fifth trial. All the people that have gone to the sixth trial didn't come out except for Princess Yaniesvyl and Dream."
"Speaking of Dream, the Great Chan Hall was destroyed too a few days ago. The attackers almost wiped out everyone before kidnapping Dream. Two of the strongest faction had fallen. Thunder Hall and Great Chan Hall."
"The ancient writings are maybe right. This must be the sign of the return of the old emperor."
"It's passed down from generation to generation of elders since the formation of Mince Hand. Just what is this old emperor? Is it related to the old powers in Hall Plains?"
"The writings just said that the old emperor will return. We don't even know what's this emperor about. It is said that the emperor is sleeping in this very land, the Hall Plains. One day, he will rise again and claim what's rightfully his."
Souta narrowed his eyes. He heard this emperor again. This so-called emperor must be at god level but... why didn't anyone know about it. If it was a god of Hall Plains, then surely everyone should have heard the name of the god.
Surely, he was right on track. This must be related to his Chain Quest. This so-called emperor and the Blood Sacrifice were making sense. Blood Sacrifice was created to borrow the power of god so there must be truly a god in this place. Also, he recalled that there was a Grid before. It must be related to this emperor.
But without proof, he still wasn't sure. If there was really a god then why everyone didn't know about it? Even if it was a god that committed mass murder, the tales of this god would still be heard.
Maybe, it wasn't really a god. It was just a powerful mortal at Freedom Realm.
Souta continued to listen.
"Sigh... The most important thing right now is how to survive. I don't think that the Hundred Face Alliance could face all those hungry organizations. Aside from the Murder Society, there is another faction lurking in the dark. There isn't a single proof if it is true but most experts felt that the various accident across the land isn't a coincidence."
"I'm also wondering about that. The Green Vine Pavilion kept saying that they aren't the ones that attack us. "
"So you are saying..."
"Yes, I think that the rumors are true."
The two old men continued talking but their topic changed to their training. Since there was no point in listening to their training, Souta decided to end the match. Also, it would be too suspicious if he delayed the match longer.
He already heard enough so it was time for him to end this. Souta swiftly moved his body from side to side as he slowly brandished his sword. His body had several wounds as he let Neiso attack him before. The cause of Souta's wounds wasn't Neiso, it was Souta himself. Neiso didn't have the power to damage Souta even if he sleep on the ground and let Neiso attack him. It was possible if Souta was on the verge of death and Neiso had a higher-grade weapon.
Swoosh!!
Souta arrived in front of his opponent. He raised his feet and kicked the barrier around Neiso several times.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The barrier was shattered after the twentieth kick. Neiso was shocked as he tried to jump away but Souta didn't let him go easily. Souta slashed his sword and a red energy blade flew out.
Boom!!
Neiso groaned in pain as he directly received the energy blade. He wanted to cast a spell to protect himself but he felt an intense pain on his side. His figure bent sideways before he flew out like a missile.
Souta quickly chased after him. He gathered a little bit of mana before he swung down his sword. His attack directly reached the realm of peak B-rank.
Holding back was extremely hard. Souta was even sweating hard as one wrong move he could kill his opponent. Well, controlling his strength was also a type of training so he wouldn't complain about it. It would be great for him in the future if he learned to fully control his strength.
Swoosh!!
The smoke and dust slowly disappeared. Souta checked Neiso and found that he only fainted. He breathed a sigh of relief as this quest was finally completed.
Instructor Vick stepped forward and checked Neiso's condition. After seeing that he was fine, Instructor Vick looked at Souta and declared Souta as the winner. He became the fifteenth rank Core Disciple.
There was no audience aside from the two old men and hidden S-rank experts. So no one knew that Souta had beaten the fifteenth rank Core Disciple. It would be announced later.
"Come follow me, I will give you the uniform of the Core Disciple." Instructor Vick said.
Souta nodded and followed Instructor Vick while looking at the system.
*Ding!*
[Congratulations on completing the Quest "Disciple"!]
[You've gained 10,000 experience points, 5 free attribute points, 3 skill points, and a manual of the Divine Light Circulation technique!]
This was enough for him. He would return once he visited the Murder Society. Then, he would report back to the Athen's Champion what he finds here and ask for more reinforcement. He doubted that they would send more since they were wary of other factions too. If they send a large batch of warriors outside the territory of Olympus, it would be mistaken as them expanding their territory. The other Holy Lands and Large Countries wouldn't tolerate it.
