"Would you believe me if I claimed we were just passing through?" Zavier shrugged and spread his hands.
Fred craned his neck, his guard heightened. 'Damn it!' he exclaimed, not believing it was a coincidence. 'Who the hell leaked my data?'
"I don't think we have any hostility, especially since we're both wearing masks."
"Certainly," Zavier replied, "but I need you to tell me something."
"Please forgive me that I can't inform you about the assignment. I am, after all, a professional hunter." Fred began to mobilize the few remaining mana in his body, intending to fight.
"I never had any illusions about this from the beginning," Zavier and his five clones said of their ability to mobilize mana.
The fight was about to start.
Zavier uses his blood sword first, stabbing Fred in the face.
Fred dodged expertly, but there was already a cold blaze in his landing site.
"Chiiiiiii~"
A strange sound was emitted when the bone membrane and the cold blaze collided.
"Indeed hard!" Zavier yelled.
"So freezing!" Fred exhaled a frigid breath.
Zavier's consecutive strikes occurred before Fred could take a breather.
Fred had to defend himself because he couldn't counterattack. He was amazed by how well the team worked together. Their strength wasn't A-level, but their tacit understanding was definitely S-level.
His battle experience, though, was more than Zavier's. He swung his blade at the back of one of the guys after exchanging several light wounds for a chance to counterattack. But he easily bent over and evaded the strike, as if he could see behind him.
"How did he accomplish that?" Fred exclaimed.
His battle experience revealed that there could be a variety of explanations for this. To put his numerous theories to the test, he covertly buried a bone seed in the earth during the struggle. However, before he could release his 'bone spike,' Zavier used cold blaze to kill the ungerminated bone seed.
Fred was taken aback "Is it conceivable that all of my information has been compromised? Or does he have eyes that can see everything?"
He inhaled deeply with mixed emotions, and his body swelled like a puffer fish, followed by a massive cloud of smoke. This was a maneuver he had planned ahead of time to obscure his opponent's eyesight in conjunction with a sneak attack, and now he had to rely on it to escape.
However, he was still surrounded by smoke and enemies, which caused him to lose his vision.
"Stop!"
Fred yelled helplessly.
"Have you changed your mind?" Zavier asked as he paused his onslaught.
"I must accept that you have a good team, but it doesn't mean I'm giving up. Simply because one of us will die if we continue to battle. I don't believe we need to go such far."
Fred still had some cards to play, but he didn't see the point.
Zavier clenched his fists against his chest "I believe the same. So you've agreed to respond to my question?"
"It all depends on the question. If the knowledge involved is too high level, it may kill me," Fred stated seriously.
Zavier acknowledged with a nod of his head. A key piece of knowledge in this isekai could cost the lives of a dozen senior mages.
"What I want to know is that you were just told to take an unusual package from Valarie Adam's squad."
"If you want to know who the employer of this mission is, then we can continue the war of life and death until one side falls forever," Fred said solemnly.
Zavier confidently waved his hand and stated, "Believe me, you can't beat me. But first, let's get one thing straight. So, that task is quite high-level, right?"
"I'll be eternally hounded if I give out any information about it," Fred said solemnly.
Zavier massaged his chin, knowing that if the struggle went on, he'd have to sacrifice one or two clones to defeat the masked guy. And there was a high risk he wouldn't catch him alive. Because it was much more difficult to catch someone alive than it is to kill someone. And, unless absolutely necessary, he was unwilling to murder. He, too, did not want to go through death again.
Fred was concerned. The group reminded him of the mystery man who had helped one of Valarie's classmates. If they belonged to the same group, the opposite side was capable of defeating or even killing him.
The two guys pondered their options in silence, facing each other.
Fred was finally the first to cave.
"Okay, then! I conceded. I'm not sure why you're interested in this, but I can tell you that this employer is a member of the Royal Family. I am unable to provide any other information."
Such degree of information had originally satisfied Zavier.
'Royalty? Is it Uncle Val's opposing force?' He thought to himself.
"May I go now?" Fred inquired, his voice trembling.
"Just a second." Zavier gestured with his palm that he shouldn't be in such a rush.
"I can't really tell you anything else. I'll be as good as dead if they take me away." Fred had a minor breakdown.
"I didn't mean that. As a thank you, I shall treat your wounds," Zavier said as he waved his palm over Fred's wounds. He then directed Hansa's clone to bring her over.
Hansa was taken aback to see Zavier uninjured and the other masked man weary. She had a feeling the wounded masked man was of higher rank than them both. Nonetheless, the members in Zavier's group appeared to be doing quite well. She was taken aback by Zavier's genuine fighting ability.
Hansa then utilized her special abilities to begin mending Fred.
Fred was shocked by the odd girl's ability to cure his wounds at a perceptible rate. He was soon back on his feet.
"Aren't you frightened I'll murder you now?" he said as he rose up and squeezed his wrist.
Zavier's eyes were filled with homicidal purpose. "You could try."
There was a brief stalemate until Fred deliberately laughed "Geez! I'm not serious! I was just trying to make things a little more interesting."
"We should go find the Lanling grass," Hansa said, hiding behind Zavier and pulling on his cloak, not certain if the masked figure in front of her was a friend or foe.
"You're not here particularly to deal with me this time?" Fred was clearly astonished.
Zavier shook his head, "As I already stated, I was only passing through but you simply do not believe me."
Fred was even more taken aback. Because this meant that his intel had not been compromised, and the war he had just lost was due to the opposing side being more capable. Cold sweat raced down his brow. He inwardly commended himself for not choosing to fight to the death on the spur of the moment.
Then he turned around and walked away, privately murmuring, "Sure enough, those who learn blood blade are all insane!"
The group of Zavier resumed their search for Lanling grass after recovering.
They arrived at a cliff, according to the map. The adjacent cliffs were plagued with fissures in both look and construction. It wasn't clear whether the damage was caused by natural causes or by some kind of destructive technology, but there was a distinct pattern: cracks extending downward toward the surface and then widening outward, forming a straight route.
In theory, no matter where you walked, the paths would intersect and cross directly.
However, the passage was actually connected to multiple caves beneath. Occasionally, a cave would open into another larger cavern, which would lead to a smaller tunnel that ran beneath the city through layers upon layers of caves.They all led to the abyss's bottom.
According to the map, these caves housed a large amount of Lanling grass.
"I'll go down and look at it."
Zavier leaped down without waiting for Hansa's response.
"Be cautious!" Hansa yelled from above, concerned.
It appeared to be a dead end inside the tunnel, but a few minutes later, an entry emerged on the walls in front of him. The path continued forward after it opened up, eventually leading to a cave.
From within, a faint green glow could be observed.
"It must be the origin." As he headed towards the cave, Zavier reflected.
When he first entered the cave, he noticed a small plant. Its leaves were luxuriant, as if the entire room was filled with water that would never evaporate.
"It's certainly unusual." As he grabbed for the plant's leaves, Zavier said. He felt a surge of energy go into his hand as soon as he touched the leaf; its texture and color were unlike any other plant material.
He drew his hand back and carefully examined the grass. As he had predicted, there was something remarkable about the leaves, particularly in the middle. Its stem was unusually slender in comparison to the surrounding foliage.
"Hmm... Interesting..."
Zavier opted to experiment with this particular plant since his curiosity was piqued.
The grass disintegrated into numerous fragments and floated towards him with a wave of his fingertips. Every piece fell to the ground after being blown away by the wind, forming a little windrow of leaves.
"What a powerful spiritual force. It appears to have absorbed a significant amount of spiritual power."
The grass roots were coated in green veins that wound around the stems of the plants that grew within, like little snakes.
After completing his examination of the plant, Zavier directed the other clones to bring Hansa over.
Hansa was overjoyed when she noticed the Lanling grass here "Oh my goodness! There are so many Lanling grasses in this place!"
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶