500 priv chapters unlocked! Mass release this very week. Another mass release comes with 18 more Golden Tickets at a total of 75. Stay tuned! Enjoy!

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Adrian who was running at full speed suddenly slowed down and came to a halt. He looked towards a certain direction with his indifferent face.

An unfamiliar masculine voice entered his ears. “Adrian Darkheart. Did you know how much you annoyed me these last two years?”

A hooded figure that seemed to meld with the darkness itself came out of nowhere.

Adrian smiled. “Finally. I am honoured to meet the notorious ‘Viper’- the leader of the organisation that really irked me for the last two years.”

“Looks like you were even able to force out my name somehow.” The hooded man said. “But it hardly matters. How was your trip?” He asked Adrian.

“Would have been fine, if not for those unforeseen obstacles.” Adrian smiled.

“We are the ones who are actually facing an unforeseen situation.” The man said.

“Oh. Is that so?”

“We never expected you to take this route.” He said. “But I won’t complain; you made things easier for us after all.”

“Well, it has always been a wish of mine to travel through the Elesborg Forest and witness the Tistan river that flows through it.” Adrian’s countenance was cool, devoid of any signs of fear or nervousness.

“But the fact that you escaped through the senses of two level 8 circlers really surprised me. Fortunately, I expected something will go wrong like it always had been done; hence, I was on standby.” The man said with intrigue. “How did you do it?”

“The ones at the Academy praised me as the most talented youth to have ever lived.” Adrian answered in his charming voice. “So, it’s no wonder I guess.”

“Yes indeed, you are talented…” The hooded man’s voice grew cold. “And monstrously so. You are a variable we can’t afford to be careless with.” His voice grew even more cold as he brought out two short swords from the sheaths hanging at his waist.”

Adrian’s carefree face, for the first time since the beginning of his journey, turned serious. He brandished his own sword, taking a defensive stance. He stood like a mountain, able to stand against all of the attacks, but he was still light on his feet, ready to agilely manoeuvre around the battlefield.

Viper charged at Adrian with thunderous speed.

“Tsk.” Adrian used every ounce of strength of his body to jump to his right. He even used the sword to protect his exposed left.

*Ting*

The two swords collided. The short sword in the black clad man’s did not move a bit while the one gripped by Adrian trembled vigorously. Adrian himself was blasted against a tree.

*Smash. Smash. Smash.*

He pierced through the trunks of three stout trees until the momentum finally ended, putting him to a stop- in a messed up condition of course.

His stylish black coat, shirt and pants were already ripped here and there.

*Cough. Cough*

He spurted out blood, dyeing his black torn shirt with red. He wiped off the trailing sanguine liquid from his chin.

*Tsk.* He clicked his tongue again.

The power difference was too high. He was still at level 5 while his opponent was a level 8. Moreover, the black clad man was a peak level 8 and his capabilities easily exceeded other peak level 8 circlers; he was strong enough to hold his own against an average level 9 circler.

But what was worse was his opponent’s attribute. It was none other than wind- the attribute he was weakest against. Fire circlers had the strongest and most explosive attacks. He could dodge them with his natural high speed along with the help of his demonic eyes. Water circlers were balanced, but that meant nothing against Adrian whose strength, speed and battle sense surpassed any ordinary circlers by quite the margin.

Earth circlers were vulnerable to him. After all, Earth circlers were known for their defence, but what could it do against Adrian’s <Corrosion> property? It could completely negate that extra defence and go through everything. As for wood circlers, they were support class anyway- with little battle potential.

But what troubled Adrian the most would definitely be Wind magic, especially Augmenters. Why? Because of their extremely high speed and agility. Though Adrian was naturally fast- very fast, it felt short of those of wind augmenters. Speed reigned supreme in battles. Though his demonic eyes allowed him kinetic vision, it had its limits. Moreover, his body must also be fast enough to be able to react.

And this difference of speed increased exponentially with the difference of levels. He already had trouble duking it out against the supervising lecturer back at the Hunt; he was only able to manage a Pyrrhic victory, that too- with the sneak attack from Isabella. Not to mention, the lecturer was just a caster.

And now, he was against a top tier wind circler, an augmenter at that. The probability of victory- a little above nil, and that was if he used his life force without a care.

Adrian took in a deep breath and got into a defensive position again. This was the best he could do until he got an opening.

Viper was surprised at the young man’s capability of surviving this attack of his. It contained 80% of his powers. The face under his hood grimaced, his eyes became serious. It was all the more reason to not let the youth in front of him get out of the forest alive.

He charged at Adrian again, brandishing both of his short swords. Playtime- was over. He needed to kill the youth before him as soon as possible and get to where the ‘real battle’ was taking place- beside the royal carriage.

*Ting!*

This time, the two pieces of metal clanked even harder than before.

But Adrian did not smash into any trees this time. He fell down on one of his knees.

The black hooded Viper used one of his swords to prompt Adrian to dodge while using the other to attack from above. Though Adrian had ‘predicted’ this through his demonic eyes, he had no other choice but to dodge the first one and block the second. He played right into his opponents hand.

He could not even use his <corrosion> property to cut through those short swords. After all, they were made from top quality materials and further enchanted. And most importantly, it was being coated by a level 8 circler’s magical energy.

Adrian’s sword was now trembling from the opponent’s force. Worse, Viper’s second sword was free which could come at him anytime.

Nonetheless, there was a smile on Adrian’s face as he looked up at the hooded head of Viper, prompting the man to frown. A terrible sense of foreboding hit him. Something- was not right.

Suddenly-

*Whoosh*

The already fast winds began to soar even faster, blowing off dust everywhere. And it kept increasing and increasing, as if a storm was suddenly coming- a hurricane.

Viper looked up. Yes, the clouds took a spiral shape, and the eye was right above them. Seconds passed, but the winds kept racing faster and faster- even to the point of uprooting shrubs and felling trees.

Viper gulped. It could not be happening. Terror was written all over his face. It was the worst possible case scenario.

The smile on Adrian’s face, however, got wider.

“‘She’ is here.”