Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 219 Fog of the thousand illusions [1]

There was something about the cadet that Leon had a hard time describing.

....He didn't look strong, and yet, there was something about him that made his body tingle in dread. That feeling... it was somewhat familiar.

'Could it be...?'

An idea occurred and Leon's eyes narrowed.

"What are you looking at?"

Aoife appeared next to him, her eyes following his line of sight and pausing on the figure Leon was looking at.

"Hm?"

She too seemed to have realized something as her brows jumped up a little.

"Who is he?"

"I don't know."

Leon answered seriously.

Then, looking at Aoife, he shared his thoughts.

"He doesn't look strong, but he gives off a familiar feeling."

"You mean...?"

"Yes, he's most likely an Emotive Mage."

"....."

Aoife remained quiet and looked at the cadet in the distance who seemed to have noticed her gaze. He smiled curtly at her.

Staring at him, Aoife frowned.

Regardless of how hard she tried, she couldn't think to recall a face like his. He wasn't handsome, but his face was certainly not forgettable.

Especially with the creepy vibe he gave off.

There was something about him that made her uncomfortable.

Nonetheless, she too nodded her head in acknowledgment. Their interaction was short, and he left shortly after with his group.

From what she heard, they were going on different routes, so she didn't expect to meet them again, but...

"Just who is he?"

The image of the new cadet continued to replay in her mind.

They had struggled quite a bit to beat a team with a forfeiting Kealion. If there was another strong person added to the mix, then...

"This is not good."

Aoife turned around and looked towards a short girl with shoulder-length black hair and framed glasses.

"Chloe, do you have any idea as to who that might be?"

She was the group's analyst.

Her job was to research their opponents and tell them beforehand so that they could be prepared for it.

Chole was rather good at her job, with her having information on all the cadets that had come from the Aurora Empire.

Unexpectantly, she shook her head.

"No, that's the first time I've seen him."

Aoife's expression turned tense, and so did Leon's. Taking a deep breath, Aoife pursed her lips.

".....This is troublesome."

"What is?"

Stepping forward, Kiera looked towards the distance and her eyes squinted at the sight of the person they had their eyes on.

"Who the..."

"That's what we're trying to figure out."

"Oh."

Kiera nodded before looking at Aoife. Feeling her gaze, Aoife frowned.

"What...?"

"Well, you know."

Chewing on the licorice stick, Kiera nudged with her head.

"Do your thing."

"Ah...?"

Aoife blinked her eyes.

Do my thing?

What in the world was this idiot talking about?

"Tsk."

Kiera clicked her tongue looking at Aoife with a gaze that seemed to say, 'Are you dumb or just stupid?'

Aoife's frown deepened further.

"Just wh—"

"Aren't you a great stalker?"

Kiera cut Aoife off, forcing her face to freeze.

Holding onto the licorice stick, she pointed it in the direction of where the group just left.

"Do what you're good at. Stalk him so that we know who he is."

"...."

Aoife felt her hand twitch.

Her cheeks. Her plump and mellow cheeks...

They looked so lonely to Aoife.

***

Clank—

Julien closed the door of the wooden house. The wooden floor creaked under his step as he looked around.

The room was small, with just a small window by the side. There was a single bed and a sofa.

"....I feel scammed."

He had booked the room for himself and paid 100 Rend for it.

His group was only going to stay at the checkpoint for an hour before leaving. There was really no need for him to purchase the room.

....But he had no choice but to.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

Scratching the side of his neck, Julien's expression shifted slightly. His brows furrowed, and his breathing quickened.

"Haa... Haa... Haa..."

Bang!

His fist smacked against the table as his eyes turned bloodshot.

"Ukh...!"

Covering his face with the palm of his hand, veins started to protrude from the side of his neck.

Scratch. Scratch.

The scratching quickened.

....Julien's expression started to change. The same was true for his eyes and his overall demenour.

"Red, red, red..."

As he did, he continued to mutter the same things over and over again.

"Akh...!"

He seemed like a completely different person.

This went on for several minutes until he felt a wet sensation on the side of his neck.

He was only able to calm himself down when he looked at his hands which were stained in his own blood.

"Haaa... Haa... Ah..."

His expression started to calm down, and the anger within him started to subside.

"Hooo..."

Sitting on a wooden chair, Julien looked up at the ceiling of the room and took a deep breath.

"....I need to hurry."

The trip to Bremmer was an important one.

His mental state was deteriorating by the day, and the personalities he had been keeping hidden within him were slowly starting to take over.

Alexander in particular.

....He was slowly taking over.

There was only one person who knew about his current condition.

It was none other than Delilah. She was the one who told him to go with the other group instead of the Haven group.

.....It was for both his and their good.

A simple stimulus was enough to trigger problems for Julien.

He had no choice but to stay away from them. At least, until he got to Bremmer where he could find the cure.

'It's a pity that I have to get it myself.'

Delilah wasn't exactly on the best of terms with the Royal family.

Rather, her relationship with them was one of the worst. For that reason, she couldn't help him in that regard. The same was true for Atlas who already did a lot to get him the Dragon Bone.

Julien...

He was on his own this time.

"Huuu."

It took five more minutes for Julien to completely go back to normal.

"....Not good."

Just keeping up with his own thoughts was hard. They were a jumbled mess with all sorts of voices entering his mind, and trying to take over.

It wasn't just that.

His emotions were also an utter mess.

Over the past few days, he cycled over the six emotions on a routine.

It took every bit of his willpower to keep himself from lashing out in public.

Getting to Bremmer was a priority for him. Otherwise... He really would not be able to return to normal.

"Good thing I bought my own room."

Looking at the mess he had caused, Julien sighed and started cleaning up the room. There were cracks on the table, and everything that had been on top of it was scattered all over the ground.

It took several minutes for him to clean.

He only relaxed once he was done.

.....Or at least, that was until someone knocked on the door.

To Tok—

"Get ready. We're starting to leave."

It was a familiar voice.

Kaelion.

For him to have come personally to tell him...

'How nice.'

Julien stood up from his seat and fixed his clothes. Leaving a couple of notes on the table to pay for the damage, he directly opened the door where Kaelion stood.

"...."

Leaning against the wooden handrail, their gazes met for a brief moment as he looked behind.

"Why did you buy a room?"

"....Well, I needed to private space for myself."

Julien answered with a small smile.

He could only smile.

....He had long lost the ability to keep his face straight.

Smiling was the only way he could hide his true thoughts.

"I see."

Kaelion gave a short nod before walking down the flight of stairs.

Julien followed right after, and they soon joined the main group.

"Everyone is here, good."

Professor Thornwhisper stood at the front like usual. Doing a headcount, he proceeded to head towards the main gate of the checkpoint.

There were several guards waiting there and after a brief talk, the gates began to open to display what appeared to be a large forest.

"There are better places to get to the capital, however..."

Pausing, the Professor turned his head to look at them with narrowed eyes.

"....I believe we're in need of some intense training in order to make up for the loss that you've suffered."

His deep voice made its way into the ears of the cadets who lowered their heads in shame.

"Good, let's not waste any more time."

The Professor proceeded to head deep into the forest shortly after that.

Staring at each other, the cadets could say nothing and followed him right behind.

That was the start of their hell.

*

Bremmer was located within the Netherborn forest.

Some could say that it was strategically built in the middle of the forest in order to make it harder to invade the capital given that portals couldn't be built within a certain radius of the city.

For someone to enter the capital they needed to traverse the forest, which was filled with dangerous monsters.

There were several strategic checkpoints placed all over the forest.

The Gryphon Gate was a popular point, with it providing several easy roads that travelers could take in order to head into the capital.

With that being said, not all the roads provided were easy.

There were several that were infested with monsters.

....And that was the route those of the Aurora Empire took.

Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

Holding his hand forward, Kaelion's hair fluttered as over a dozen spells flew in the air, impaling the trees and rocks that were ahead of him.

"Hieeek!"

"Akh...!"

A few moments after his spells landed, the ground trembled, revealing what appeared to be black hands as they reached out from beneath the ground.

"Happ...!"

Appearing from his side was Jessica who held onto a broadsword. With the stick of a lollipop still in her mouth, she slashed down with both hands.

Bang—!

The surroundings shook, and the hands were severed in half.

"Ukh...!"

But that didn't prove to do the trick as the hands multiplied, splitting into two separate new hands that reached out from the ground.

That was when Aiden stepped forward, holding his hand forward as the hands stopped moving altogether.

Then, squeezing his hands, the hands shattered into thousands of pieces.

Defeating the monsters, he looked at Jessica with a gloating look.

"See? That's how you do it."

"Fuck off."

Crunch. Crunch...!

Spitting the lollipop stick in her mouth, the ground beneath her shook as she appeared in front of several other hands.

"Hap..!"

Booom!

"Not bad."

Observing from the distance was Professor Thornwhisper.

The monsters that the cadets were currently dealing with were known as 'Shadow Walkers' and were creatures that utilized the dark to attack their prey from their weak points.

They were rather difficult creatures to deal with as they hid in the shadows, but the group was handling the situation rather well.

Especially Kaelion who found the Shadow Walkers wherever his gaze swept.

....They were supposed to be tricky figures to find, but under his gaze, nothing could be hidden.

He was probably capable of taking care of all of them, but he didn't and just brought them out of the shadows so that the others could take care of them. He was doing excellent in that regard.

The Professor had nothing to complain about.

If he hadn't forfeited then...

"Hm?"

And then, the Professor's gaze wandered over to a certain cadet.

Standing by the side with his hands behind his back, he watched the spectacle with a smile on his face.

He was acting as though he had no part in the entire situation.

And as if he could sense his gaze, his head lifted up to meet the Professor's gaze. He smiled at him shortly after.

"...."

The Professor frowned at the sight but soon shook his head. He hadn't been trying to hide his gaze so it was no wonder the cadet found him.

'I guess he doesn't want to display his abilities.'

That was the most likely reason he wasn't doing anything.

Professor Thornwhisper didn't mind that. So long as he didn't interfere with the training, he couldn't care less about what happened to the student.

His only job was to bring him to Bremmer before parting ways with him.

He just needed to do that and everything would be over.

"I'll report this later to—Uh?"

All it took was a single blink from the Professor for the situation to change.

By the time it took for him to blink, the view before him changed dramatically and the Professor felt his entire body grow stiff.

"Where...!?"

He moved forward, his heart dropping at the same time.

"....Where did they go?!"

Gone.

The cadets were gone.