Crawling from the bottom...

"I can feel it... My power is returning to me!"

"This... is not even your full power?!"

The convict was shocked. Nox shattered the Cage of Nilhelm with just two mana waves. And this is still not his full power! No spirit could be this dangerous!

"Of course not! If this was my limit, why would those senile fools lock me up here!? Hahaha!!"

Nox let out a crazed laugh. He was there from his childhood. They said that he was an abomination, a threat to the rest of the realm. A half-breed without the weakness of the spirits or humans.

"How do we go to Human Realm?" asked Nox. He never left the Spirit Realm before, so he didn't know what to do now.

"We should get out of here first. I can let us teleport to outside."

"Good."

A purple glow released from the Convict's body and it covered all of the cages. Nox felt discomfort because of the light but it soon fades away.

When the light shines out they were in front of the pyramid's gate. Nox look dazed when he saw the outside after a long time. The endless rend sands and the gray sky aren't exactly reminding good things but it means he is free.

"I am free!!"

He shouted with joy. He opened his arms and take a deep breath. The freedom he sought after was his. But there was one thing left. His revenge on the people who lock him up at that prison.

"Do you know how can I go to Human Realm?"

"There is a rift, which Rebellion monopolizes. We might need to fight them."

"Good. I want to have a strong fight."

"You meant good fight, right?"

"Whatever."

Nox and Convict moved through the crimson desert with Convict taking the lead. Nox was silent after his initial joy. He was deeply thinking and no one knew what he was thinking.

A day later their traveling comes to an abrupt stop. Nox calmly observed their surroundings. Meanwhile, Convict just stands there floating.

"I thought many of them were gone extinct by now."

"They are not. Neither Council nor Rebellion could figure out how."

When Convict's words end red sands shook and a giant gray worm come out of the underground. Its body was massive, it was easily towering over both of them. Its skin was gray and shining under the gray sky. It was covered with some sticky liquid.

It didn't stop with one. Two more giant worms come out of red sands too. They were surrounded by Nox and Convict and cut off their escape routes. Under the shadows of the giant worms' Nox smiled faintly.

"I used to be a weakling, who is at the bottom of the food chain."

Suddenly mana rushed out of his body. Not even a second later mana turned into dark tendrils and strangled the worms. They easily crushed worms. When the twitching corpses of worms fell on the ground Convict looked at Nox.

"I changed. Crawling from the bottom, I will reach to the top!!" shouted Nox with determination.

Because of Nox's mana, several giant worms come over to their place. Convict finally moved and take out a sword from his chest. Sword was single-handed and its blade was jet black. The convict was worried after seeing ten more worms.

"They are attracted to mana. Their bodies are as strong as magi steel. Be careful."

"Are you worried about me? I will show you that it's not necessary."

Nox cracked his neck. The dangerous glint in his eyes became even more intense and his eyes turned purple with yellow hexagon pupils and black sclera. At that moment mana in his body caused a disturbance in his surroundings. Even Convict had to back step.

Nox brought his two palms together and intervened with his fingers. His mana reacted to the hand sign and traveled to the corpses of the three dead worms'. They all twitched and stand high up.

Three corpses quickly attack their living brethren. Other worms were confused by the turn of events, Nox immediately noticed this and took advantage of it. He created a mana blade in his right hand decapitated the worm close to him.

Meanwhile, Convict didn't stand there and joined the fight. With a swing of his blade, he released a strong air pressure. Air pressure was so strong that it killed two worms.

"You are better than I thought. Did you use mana with that attack? I couldn't even perceive it."

"Just a tiny amount."

Nox squinted his eyes. He didn't expect Convict to have this kind of power. The Spirit race was dying and not much of the strong ones were left alive. Seeing Convict causing so much damage with just a tiny amount of mana was hard to swallow. Can he be a threat, asked himself.

In a matter of minutes, they slaughtered all worms. Right after the battle finished Nox fell on his knees. With Nox's fall, three living corpses turned into dust.

"Are you okay?"

"I-it... *huff*... took... *huff*... more mana... than I thought."

"Take a little rest."

Convict looked at the remains of the corpses Nox used. This kind of spell was quite similar to the forbidden ones. In ancient times necromancers used forbidden spells.

Is he a dead spirit? Information about him is almost nonexistent. Just how much time they kept him there. Still, he can't be a death spirit. He didn't have the death aura. So darkness? No, it is not that either. Something different. Hahh... Too little information.

The convict was deep in his thoughts. He heard about Nox but they were essentially rumors. So he is not so sure about many things. They will have to crossways with the Rebellion and Council. Fighting is inevitable. Council kept Nox in that prison for centuries and Rebellion helped them at that. Because of this Nox would attack them to get his revenge. Still, this is not a problem for Convict. It has its agenda, acts of revenge, torturing and punishing several people.

What worried the Convict was Oscar Williams. He was the grandson of the Hex Master. First Mage approved by The Council. And finally partner of the last Undine. The Great Water Spirits, one of the most known clans of the Spirit Realm. They were annihilated a few decades ago. But their knowledge, secret weapons, and spells were mostly left behind to the sole successor. Which happens to be Oscar's partner.

"So troublesome..." The Convict sighed. Nox is powerful this can't be refusable. But fighting against the legacy of a great clan, that's something impossible to win. A great spirit clan with a history of thousands of years, many spells, and many forbidden magic is not easy to deal with. It takes more than being powerful to defeat them.

The Convict wasn't eager to see their fight. It will definitely be bad for both sides. It would be bad for his plans. It promised itself to intervene their fight the moment it broke out.