However, Chitra's intense gaze failed to intimidate Karthi. Instead, he met her eyes, unfazed by it.
Nonetheless, Chitra decided to end the battle before talking with him.
"Leave." She declared while looking at the spider gang members.
Chitra was well aware of the rise of the notorious Spider Gang and the havoc they had wreaked upon the city. Despite the relentless efforts of the Divine Butterfly tribe, they had been unable to locate and neutralise the gang's leader.
This allowed the Spider Gang to flourish rapidly, operating covertly and manipulating ordinary citizens of Pushpam into becoming their minions, eventually drawing them into a world of crime.
However, Chitra decided to halt the battle for now and spare the Spider Gang on this occasion. She understood the grave repercussions that their failure to eliminate their leader would have on the city.
Their existence was comparable to a persistent weed, and merely cutting off the surface layer would not ensure the safety of the city. To truly eliminate them, their roots needed to be eradicated. The time was not right to do that.
By allowing the Spider Gang to leave unharmed, Chitra aimed to buy time and prevent innocent citizens from suffering further harm. It was a calculated choice to spare them for the time being.
Her commanding voice reverberated through the surroundings, reaching the ears of everyone present. At that moment, a profound silence engulfed the battlefield, rendering all motion frozen in time.
Gradually, as her mental pressure receded, the members of the Spider Gang, including the burly mage, cautiously began to retreat. They scattered in all directions, fleeing the area entirely.
Through his unorthodox strategy, Alex miraculously managed to rescue the father and child, filling him with a surge of exhilaration.
While the Spider Gang made their escape, Alex realised that he could no longer follow suit. The penetrating gaze fixated upon him made it abundantly clear that leaving would not be an option. He was sure of that.
"Who are you?" Chitra, who suddenly appeared near him asked. She scrutinised his every action trying to figure out his identity.
Having to bear the penetrating gaze of a tier 5 warrior was not easy for Alex. However, his white robes and mask allowed him to keep his anonymity.
Initially, Alex intended to transport the father and son to the spice garden, where they could remain hidden for a week or two before finding a way to help them escape to the northern region, ensuring their safety.
During this time, he planned to enlist the aid of the street vendor to gather information about the whereabouts of the Spider Gang members and ultimately eliminate their nefarious leader.
However, with the unexpected arrival of the mage, their ability to track Alex became a significant threat. This compelled him to alter his plan and call upon the Divine Butterfly tribe for assistance.
With the situation reaching this critical point, Alex was prepared to engage in dialogue with the Divine Butterfly tribe, entrusting them with the vital task of safeguarding the father and son.
"I..." Alex began to speak, but his words were abruptly cut off as a mysterious vibration emanated from the ground, sending tremors through his feet.
The sensation was subtle, yet Alex's heightened senses alerted him to the impending danger. Similarly, Chitra also directed her attention towards the source of the vibration, searching for its origin.
Both Alex and Chitra shared a simultaneous realisation that something was rapidly approaching from beneath the ground.
Swiftly, Alex shifted his focus towards the street vendor and his son. Although the vibrations seemed to be honing in on Alex and Chitra, he sensed that there was something amiss about it.
'No one sane would dare to attack a tier 5 warrior. Their goal must be something else.
Perhaps it was a diversion meant to distract and draw their attention away from something else.' Alex thought.
However, before he could respond, Chitra decisively stomped her foot onto the ground, unleashing a powerful surge of energy that rippled through the earth.
The impact caused the ground to collapse beneath her heel and a giant crater formed below her. The released energy swiftly propagated through the ground, targeting the enemy below.
Using his mana vision, Alex witnessed a colossal whirlwind of mana dispersing from the ground, signifying the demise of the entity that had been approaching them.
As it perished, the mana within its body dissipated into the surrounding atmosphere.
Chitra had killed it with a simple stomp on the ground. But it was enough distraction for the real culprit to come and apprehend the child barely holding onto his father.
A mysterious figure clad in black robes materialised near the father and son, before snatching away the child.
As Chitra's actions caused Alex to lose his balance, he found himself unable to respond in time to assist the street vendor and his son, despite their close proximity.
His voice reverberated with desperation as he screamed "NO!" at the mysterious individual.
However, before his eyes, the perpetrator vanished from sight, utilising a type of teleportation spell, leaving the onlookers stunned and bewildered.
A profound sense of loss washed over Alex, assaulting him with the realisation that he had failed to fulfil his promise of protecting the child and his father.
The evil organisation had brazenly kidnapped the child right before his very eyes, employing rare teleportation spells to execute their sinister plan.
At that moment, a surge of anger, unlike anything he had ever experienced, welled up within Alex. It felt as if his entire world was crumbling around him, fueling a fierce determination to seek justice and bring those responsible to account.
The dense mana inside his body that he amassed due to his recent meditation began to react to his emotion. Hundreds of cores inside his body began to synchronise and reverberate.
Usually, Alex was only capable of activating a hundred cores at a time. But this time, he was able to activate 500 cores at a time. The breakthrough he was hoping for finally arrived. His strength instantly skyrocketed to master mage rank.
Despite his newfound ability to wield complex spells that had eluded him before, Alex's current state of mind remained clouded by anger, overshadowing any sense of happiness he should have felt for attaining the rank of a master mage.
Harnessing his expanded mental power, he swiftly unleashed the immense reservoir of mana contained within his five hundred cores.
That was just half of the mana he had. He still had five hundred more cores of mana left to use. He was keeping it for future use.
In an instant, a dense layer of mana enveloped Alex, emanating from his core and spreading outward.
It formed a thick smokescreen, unlike anything ever witnessed before. Its radius extended over a kilometre, expanding in all directions, shrouding the surrounding area in a mystical veil.
And unlike the smoke screen used to inhibit vision, Alex was using it as a sensory field.
He wanted to find the damned mage that used teleportation to kidnap the child. For that, the mana was spread thinly to sense everything around him.
The astounding sequence of actions left all witnesses dumbfounded. The dense surge of energy that engulfed them sent alarm signals echoing in the minds of every warrior present in the vicinity.
They were perplexed by how a single individual could unleash such a formidable wave of energy.
The display of power exhibited by Alex, the white-robed man, surpassed the capabilities of an ordinary early Tier 4 warrior. It defied their expectations and pushed the boundaries of what they believed was possible.
Even the strongest tier 4 warriors are incapable of releasing such dense energy without transforming into their spirit guardian possession state.
However, the most shocked among the warriors were the duo that originated from the primal chaos tribe.
Their eyes almost popped out as they witnessed the display of power by Alex.
The greyish-white smoke may have been something most people would not recognise. But as someone from the primal chaos tribe, they knew what it signified.
A balanced affinity to all elements. One of the most sought-after abilities of the primal chaos tribe.
The way the white-robed person used the energy was crude. But unmistakably, it was the ability of their bloodline, their spirit guardian.
Shock and joy welled up inside the mind of the old man who witnessed it. He was happy that one more powerhouse emerged inside his tribe. He then looked at Karthi while giving an understanding smile.
Karthi nodded back in affirmation.
They decided to take any means necessary to include the white-robed man before them in their tribe.
They knew that there was no known talent like the white-robed man, Alex in their tribe.
So, it must mean that he was someone born outside their tribe's information network. Still, it meant he was their tribesman. So, they were willing to happily befriend him and invite him to join their tribe.
Now, they finally know what made their body shiver, their bloodline agitated while they slept.
However, Alex who didn't know of any of it suddenly disappeared from their view.
He finally found the damned mage that dared to kidnap someone from his protection.
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