As the others heard this, they began laughing and gloating at Vladimir’s misfortune.“I am so sorry, man. I was not expecting this turn of events for you, but you will be alright,” Krystal said as he turned away to laugh.“A ruler that increases per day? Someone take my life,” Grover jested as Krystal held his neck as if he were strangling him.“Very funny guys, very funny,” Vladimir responded to all of them.“I will be very much okay regardless, and I will see what your second artifacts will be,” Vladimir added.After he said this, Shambala just smiled and said nothing as they began to walk out of the crypt, while Grover and Krystal kept teasing Vladimir as he ignored them.Reaching a particular point at the crypt, Shambala told them to keep quiet, and as they went silent, they walked out of the crypt.As they stepped out, Grover immediately asked why Shambala asked them to keep quiet."Sensei, why did you ask us to stop talking back there?” “Oh, it had nothing to do with your teasi
On their way, Shambala led them to the terrain of demons. Different demons known for different things lurked there, as that was their base.On their arrival, the group met with the boundary keepers, called Araggins. They were fierce demons known for taking the souls of men, beasts, and fellow demons who trespassed into places they were not wanted.“Who are you? Why do you trespass into a land where you are not wanted?” the Araggins, who spoke in unison, asked the guild."Well, we are just passing by, and if you would be so generous enough to let us pass, we would be grateful,” Shambala replied. “Hahaahaha, you petty humans think you can transact with demons? How pitiful. You will learn to go the right way and not stray into unwelcome territories as this next time, if you happen to exist again,” the Araggins added sternly.“Okay, I think you demons misunderstood my initial pleadings. They are not a transaction or us begging to pass; it was kind of” Shambala said as he paused a bit.“
(A month later)In no time, it had already been a month since the group had been traveling in the forest. Killing demons is now their job. Each of them had a ripped and fit body.“I cannot believe that we now fight and kill not only beasts but demons too. I feel like a conqueror. Send your best my way, universe!” Grover shouted.“Oh, the sure thing is that the best will soon come your way; the Ore Organization is waiting for you,” Shambala replied."Oh, that should not be a problem, sensei, given the number of crypts we have conquered and the numerous beasts we have defeated and killed, not to mention the demons. The Ore should tremble at our presence,” Grover added as they all laughed."Vladimir, you can drop the ruler now; it has been long enough, and you do not even look like someone who has a ruler on their back,” Shambala said as he had already taught them how to bring down the rulers without him having to snap his fingers.Vladimir brought down the ruler and did a little stretch
“We are here now, lads,” Shambala said after looking around.The guild was surprised, wanting to know what Shambala was talking about.“Hahaha, why are the lads looking confused? Oh, I get you lads do not know what I mean by we are here now,” Shambala added."Yes, sensei, where are we? Because I cannot see anything of interest here,” Krystal asked.“Look beyond what you see, lads,” Shambala said, as he wanted them to make out what he was saying.“Did we reach a camping spot?” Grover asked, showing where his mind was. He had always wanted to rest.“Did we reach a good training ground, sensei?” Vladimir inquired.“Or perhaps you stumbled upon something you have been looking for?” Krystal asked.“Quite close, but that is not it,” Shambala retorted.After much thinking, Shambala noticed they were not getting it yet.He then laughed and said that he had found the location of the best type of artifact, and they were there already.“Lads, we have reached the place that has one of the best in
When they got to the artifact, Shambala walked forward and noticed something different.Although he knew that the artifact was good, he was now wondering how their artifacts worked in the crypt when they were not beast-type artifacts. Looking around the body of the artifact, he noticed that the spirit of the artifact was dormant, which was why they could use other artifacts in the crypt. "Lads, we just got ourselves another beast-type artifact. It is a Raven-beast-type artifact, though,” Shambala said.“How then did we use our artifacts, sensei? I thought you said, ” Krystal asked as Shambala cut him short.“I know what I said, and you are right to ask that. The Raven spirit of the artifact is dormant, which is why you lads could use your artifacts in here. I am thinking of a way to get it awake so one of you can bond with it and we can move on to the next,” Shambala added as he dropped the artifact back.“Now we have to find out what can wake the spirit up, and if nothing works, we
Soon Grover found himself in another space; this time in front of him was a huge bird.“Bloody hell, you are the Raven?” Grover asked.The huge bird had red eyes, but they were shot when Grover was pulled in.“You are not going to say anything? So much for a smarty pants like sensei said you would be. Look, big birdy, I do not have all day, okay?” Grover angrily added. “Hahaha, welcome to the Dark Clan,” the Raven replied as it finally opened its eyes.“Who gave this shithole such a name? Too solid for what I am seeing in here, if you ask me,” Grover said.“That is the point; no one asked, and no one will. Why does the universe keep sending fools to die at my talons?” The Raven retorted.“Now you are wrong; no one else out there was able to access this ‘dark clan’ of yours, so I think the universe knows what it is doing,” Grover replied."Oh, really, we will have to find out about that real soon,” the Raven added.“I bet we would,” Grover said with a grin on his face.“I cannot wait t
“No fighting? Can this be the best day of my life? My goodness, conquering an artifact has never been this busy, but I should not underestimate this bird, as it is corny and smart everywhere that spells evil,” Grover thought all these to himself.“You know I can hear your thoughts, right?” Raven asked as it looked at Grover with an evil smirk on its face.“How is that even possible?” Grover inquired in shock.Seeing the shock on Grover’s face, it laughed and said, “You have forgotten that I rule this place and my rules apply here. I told you to pay attention, Grover, the human. You humans are the same; why would you be stubborn in a life-and-death situation? Well, guess you have chosen the path of death then,” Raven added as it looked sternly at Grover.“For the record? My choices are mine to make, and like I said, you will be surprised at the things that I can do in a game,” Grover said.“Indeed, you are not the first until you know the game; I would not brag if I were you,” Raven st
Grover began to change his expression as he compared all four rules in his head. He suddenly burst out, saying the rules were unfair.“Why are the rules so unfair? This should not be this way,” Grover began to complain as he saw no way out of the mess Raven had just created. At first, he thought he could win the big black and corny bird, but that was no longer the feeling he had after summing up the four rules he needed to abide by in order to win and conquer the spirit of the Raven. Now he wished he had to fight the Raven instead of facing it on a board game with his opponent giving the rules.“You are in no position to tell me what to do or what not to do, human! Now we are going to start the game, and there is no turning back. Besides, there is nothing unfair as long as strength is involved; if only you were strong, these complaints of unfairness would not have even come up,” Raven said, as he was already becoming pissed.Grover knew and had to accept that this was a test of his p