Edgar readied himself to face the incoming arrows.
The guard faintly smiled. (Yeah, that’s it. Face them just like that. The moment the arrow hits, it explodes, and the others in line will then join in and cause a chain explosion. After it’s all done, you’ll be blown into unrecognizable pieces of bloody mess!)
CRACK~! SHAKE~!
The earth in front of Edgar cracked and reverberated, and out of it rose tall spikes pointing in random directions, forcing Edgar to jump back. And all the incoming arrows struck the earthen spikes and exploded together, startling Edgar as he got pushed back by the waves set off by the explosion. If he had blocked those arrows, there was no guessing what could have happened to him. He thanked his sister in his heart for the help.
As Edgar’s feet slid down deeper into the crater, the times when both the guard and the zombie-girl targeted his sister and the little boy came to his mind. “Wood Cutting Arts… One-sword Style…”“No, no. Wait,” the guard hurriedly yelled with a frightened expression. “I have a last wish. Hear me out.”Edgar's eyes caught sight of the diagram, and then he diagonally slashed his blade from top right to the bottom left. “Trunk Tear!”Before the slash reached him, two earthen walls rose and took the brunt of it, but some of it still cut the guard’s chest again and opened up the past wound, causing him to writhe in pain.The move worsened Edgar’s pain, and he got down to one of his knees. Fabby so
Edgar and Fabby had earned more than a hundred evergreat coins through missions, but they spent most of it to get treated. This just showed them how hard it was to not only earn money but to spend it as planned. Though they were planning to rent skill scrolls with those coins as well in the future, that was no longer possible.After what happened at the funeral hall, they didn’t do anything for a few days. Fabby told Edgar that something seriously wasn’t right, and that they shouldn’t even report the incident to the discipline hall or anywhere. Though Edgar suggested that they should at least tell the information to Gavin, she said they shouldn’t trust anybody with this, especially because someone might still be watching over them in secret.After four long days of doing nothing but resting for Edgar, they finally decided to move.
If anyone asked the foot disciples, who are the most popular among the newly joined members, then they would all give three names for different reasons.The third most popular name among the new foot disciples was none other than the ‘Little Bolt’ Edgar himself, for all the unceasing ruckus he had caused time and time again. In people’s eyes, he became a bolt that fell out of a clear sky. Nobody was safe when he was around. Even though he defeated an inner disciple, many still believed that there was probably some crookery involved, so not many fully believed that he took out an inner disciple fair and square, which was probably why he was in third place.The second most popular name among the new foot disciples was the ‘Red Rain’ Gossini, known for her impeccable record of finishing thirty missions on the first day after she had j
“889… 890…” Tenzai was fully focused on doing the pull-ups, while the baby sparrows chirped in their nest situated high in the tree.“He’s living here on his own instead of living in the rooms,” Edgar wondered as he walked up to the hut and looked at the dumbbells made out of finely chopped tree trunks.When he bent to pick the dumbbells, Marfa said, “Brother, those are fifty kilograms each. You can’t—”Edgar picked up two dumbbells with a bit of an effort and sat on a fallen tree trunk and exercised slowly.“These two are just monsters…” Chica said, and Marfa could only shake his head.After doing ten compressions, Edgar put them down. &ld
“Listen to me, little punk. This is what you deserve.” He immediately dashed at Edgar. “A crude kiss!” A fierce punch was thrown at him.Edgar cross-blocked the incoming fist, but at the moment of impact, Edgar’s eyes slightly widened, and the next moment, his feet lifted off the ground, and he got sent flying back. Edgar landed on his feet and slid a couple of meters, but Tenzai was already upon him, swinging his leg. Edgar bent backward and dodged Tenzai's leg that made a whizzing noise as it moved through the wind, and then Edgar’s foot struck Tezai’s chest, pushing Tezai back.Edgar stood straight and shook his arms. “That wasn’t a kiss, but it was definitely crude.”“Heh, your arms didn’t break from my punch. Not bad, little fellow,”
Edgar and Tezai just arrived at the mission hall on a muscular. Marfa and Chica came later on another muscular they had forcibly taken on their way.“I don’t know a thing about herbs,” Tenzai said, sitting on the stairs. “But collecting beast cores is sort of my field of expertise.”Edgar guessed as much. Otherwise, how could Tenzai get so strong without even being able to use drive? “You live alone, don’t you?” asked Egar. “You should already have an idea on basic herbs that you use for cooking.”“I eat raw fruits and veggies; sometimes boiled ones, but nothing more,” Tenzai said. “If it smells alright, I eat it. That’s all.”“Oh…” It was a four-hour journey to the base of the Lero mountain.The four of them were riding their own musculars, but the one Tenzai was on seemed more fatigued, for its tongue was hanging out and its breathing was rough, too.“Let’s split into two groups,” Fabby said. “I and Gossini know about herbs, so we’ll be in separate groups. Eddie, you go with her.”“W-Why me?” Edgar hurriedly replied. “Tenzai will go with her.”“No. If you are with me, you won’t collect herbs and will stand on the side, so for a change, you go with Gossini,“ said Fabby, causing Tenzai to snicker. “I’m not being funny, you know. This is serious business. We didn’t form a four-personnel team so we could plWHIT 142 - TRIP TO THE MOUNTAINS
“What caused that ear injury?” asked Gossini.Edgar whirled around and gaped at her. He was more than a little surprised to hear that question. After Fabby explained what had happened when she returned to the funeral hall, both of them decided to never talk about what took place during that night. So he didn’t know how to reply.“When did you lose it?” seeing his uneasiness, she changed her question.“Two nights ago,” he said even though it actually happened many more nights ago. “Why?”“Two nights…” she pondered for a while. (I can’t believe he’s lying. Imagine the gall! Hmph! I don’t feel like helping him, but… for the sake of kee
Edgar woke up, only to find himself in a pool of mud. He could feel that he was being healed by fish that were swimming in the mud and were nibbling at his skin.At first sight, it might look like they were eating him, but they were actually taking away the negative energy from his body, though he was not able to feel that.Edgar tried to grab one of those fishes, but they turned into pure mud, pleasantly surprising him.He looked at Fabby who was sitting in the distance, by the cliff. “What are these fishes, sis?”“Elder Gavin made them with his drive. He said they can suck away impurities from your body and make you stronger,” Fabby explained. “He said even your drive will get smoother and faster afterward. Also, the negative effect the beast cores have on our bodies can also be reversed, or so he said.”“Such a thing is possible with drive?” Edgar was both surprised and doubtful. “These fish are biting me, but I don’t feel any pain.”“Yeah. Just stay there until all those fish are
The eagle brought the siblings to a mountain range and dropped them next to Gavin who was weaving gloves with drive.He wasn’t surprised to see the position the siblings were in.“Here,” Gavin handed the gloves to the eagle, and it put the gloves on its feet and then screeched in happiness.“Haha, you like them, huh,” Gavin smiled. “They are durable as I knit them with my drive. So, don’t lose them.”Scree~!The eagle replied in a confident voice and then began to walk around happily in its new footwear.“They look like gloves, but they should be called socks, I guess?” Gavin wondered. “Ah, well, whatever…”Gavin then looked at the siblings, out of whom only Fabby was still conscious. She was trying to sit up, and it was taking her a while.“You don’t seem to have any external injuries. You are probably tired from using too much energy,” Gavin said. He sent a bullet of energy into her forehead, which didn’t hurt her but went straight into her brain and melted into it. This suddenly ga
“Surfing Strike!’ Edgar’s foot viciously struck Ryu’s face and sent him flying high like a rotating paper fan. Any normal person would have had their head separated from their shoulders from that kick, but Ryu’s neck was flexible as well as sturdy as rubber.Ryu grabbed his head and stopped it from spinning before somersaulting and landing in the distance.“Huh?” Fabby was quite shocked by it. “Why is he not dead? Is he even human?”“His body is a bit special, you see,” Anarga smirked and then looked at Ryu. “But, hey, how could you get hit by that brat like that? You should be glad that there isn’t anyone else around, or it would have brought such shame.”Blood leaked from Ryu’s ruptured upper lip. He licked it and faintly smiled. “It’s been a while since I tasted my own blood.” His eyes turned red.“Oh, crap…” Anarga skipped backward. “You guys brought a disaster on yourself. When he goes into that frenzy mode, he’s unstoppable. Even I wouldn’t dare stand next to him because he can
Anarga squeezed Edgar’s chest down, but when Edgar saw Ryu step toward his sister, he uttered, “Thunder Knight…”The ground beneath them cracked, and the air around them crackled. The very cliff itself vibrated in resonance with Edgar’s heartbeat.Anarga lost her balance just for a second. A double-edged lightning spear appeared in Edgar’s hand, and he thrust it right through her abdomen.She thought it would leave a hole in her, but it didn’t. However, it then electrocuted her to the point her clothes were half-burnt, and she looked like a semi-roasted grizzly bear.Ryu immediately clawed through the middle section of the spear and then took Anarga and jumped a few feet away. “How could you be so careless?”Anarga fell on one of her knees. Blood leaked from both corners of her mouth, even though she tried not to leak any blood.“Does it hurt that much?” Ryu asked.She gave him a glare.“I see…” Ryu then looked at Edgar, who was rising off the ground without the use of his hands, as th
Anarga’s body went into the rock, causing cracks all around her to spread for over thirty feet.Ryu’s feet were still locked by the earthen boots that Fabby had created, but he forcefully broke through them and whipped his leg at Edgar. “Dragon Knock!”“Ngh!” Edgar raised his left arm and blocked the kick with his forearm.Ryu’s foot forced its way through Edgar’s flame drive and struck his forearm and hit a nerve, sending a jolt of shock through to Edgar’s brain. On top of that, Edgar’s forearm got dislocated near the elbow.Ryu’s kick still sent a gust of energy over into the distance, which ended up blasting away a part of the cliff, shocking Fabby and Edgar.Fabby’s heart shook at that moment because if Edgar hadn’t deflected that kick, he wouldn’t have just got his arm dislocated. It was Edgar’s hunter-like instinct of parrying the kick at the last second was what saved him from experiencing a crushing defeat.Ryu didn’t even use drive. Whether he could even use drive or not, Edg
“Is this the best you can do?” Ryu said disappointedly. “I know you can do better, bald brat.” He treated Edgar as nothing more than a kid because he was much older than him. “Why don’t you show me what you got, or I’ll kill this bald girl.”Edgar, who was bleeding profusely from the chest, felt his soul stirring madly after hearing Ryu’s words.“Don’t listen to him,” Fabby said in a low voice. “We are not their match. Fighting them will only put us at a disadvantage. And there’s no one else here to stop the fight in case things go bad. It doesn’t benefit us in any way no matter how I look at it. Moreover, you are already badly injured.”Fabby’s words made total sense, but there was one thing that she didn’t consider. Edgar just couldn’t digest let alone accept the fact that Anarga Utsav had used her wind attack and pushed Fabby off the cliff. What if Fabby died from that?Edgar utterly disliked Anarga as well as Ryu. He didn’t want them to leave with a sense of victory.“Sis,” Edgar
“AHHH!” The siblings cried out in horror, mostly because of the pure shock value. Their eyes sprang out of the sockets. They totally didn’t expect that the eagle would do such a thing.Edgar was about to use his skill, but Fabby quickly said, “No, wait.”“Huh? Wait for what?” Edgar asked her back as winds viciously whipped at their faces.“Just wait,” she replied. As both of them kept getting closer to the ground, Edgar’s heart raced fast. “Screw this. I’m-” he was saying, but then the eagle suddenly came swooping down and caught both of them when they were about 100ft close to the ground and took them away with him.Edgar and Fabby held onto its talons so they wouldn’t fall.The eagle stopped by another mountain top and acted as if everything was okay.“You think I’ll thank you for saving our asses, you shitty bird!” Fabby punched the eagle hard in the face. “I thought I was going to die! You were the cause for scaring me near to death.”Even Edgar looked angry. His heart jumped in
Coming back to the present.The eagle had no idea who Edgar was, so Fabby had to do all the work except for flying. “Where is he?”She was worried for many reasons.The eagle even flew over the colosseum grounds, and she shouted for him, “Are you there, Eddie?”“Who’s that?” some masters and disciples wondered as she wasn’t clearly visible from below. “How rude of her to be flying over this place when the competition is still going on?”“He’s not here, either,” Fabby told the eagle to keep flying.As she kept looking around, she noticed someone bathing in an open pond. Just when she looked at him, he also looked up. She remembered his face mask. This was the same guy she met in a cave not long ago.Numo was not wearing a shirt right now, and his body was pristine white. It wasn’t muscular, but it still looked athletic and toned. It was very attractive, especially because he was a tall man.“Ahem,” Fabby looked away.After the eagle flew out of his sight, Numo continued rubbing his body
Months turned to years.Even though working in the fields had become a daily habit, so did the body pains. If not feet, then legs; if not legs, then back; if not back, then something else in the body took the turn. And by the time they got home, they were pretty tired, yet they wouldn’t be able to eat what they had produced or found.They were only given a limited amount of food such as corn or grains so they could make soup and live with it. The same plain soup with no vegetables in them whatsoever waited for them every night. And they were not paid anything else for their labor, for they were forced to work for the rest of their lives. There was no contract. Nothing. They were pretty much treated like cattle, or maybe even worse, with the only difference being their ability to talk. No matter how they were treated, they still worked hard, for most of them had reasons, be it their children and families.Fabby had Edgar, and Edgar had Fabby. Everyone had someone else they were willing