Where Are You Going?

After he killed Tyko and his men, Arias used Fire magic to take care of the three bodies. Each of them carried a dimensional ring but there was not anything interesting inside except for an old map from Tyko’s dimensional ring. It was the same map that had led them to this place.

“So, it was this map that led the three fools to die here.”

Arias opened the map and studied it with interest. He did not know the origin of the map, but it was probably written over a thousand years ago. He found a lot of interesting points on the map like there was still some hidden puzzle that would perhaps lead him to another dungeon.

“Where did they all go? Was it those guys’ doing? Unlikely. Those three fools would have been chewed up without a piece of their bone left if they ran into flamed-feet wolves.”

Once he exited the cave, Arias examined the area around the entrance but did not see even a glimpse of a flamed-feet wolf. He had no idea where all of them had gone to, but he certainly did not think they ran away because of Tyko and his men. Their skills definitely were not enough to handle the flamed-feet wolf pack. The most they could do was be the wolf pack’s chewing snacks.

“At this rate, some amateurs will surely show up here again.”

Arias turned to look back at the cave that was an entrance to the dungeon. He seemed to be considering something. The entrance of the dungeon was not located in an open space that was too easy to spot, but it was not exactly hidden either. He also wondered why no one had discovered this place before.

Arias walked to the cave’s entrance once again and inscribed a magic circuit on a stone by the entrance. Every step was diligently executed. He used his highest concentration in order to inscribe this magic circuit. Small drops of sweat slowly trickled down from Arias’ face. It might seem simple if you just stood watching, but the real execution was not as easy. This magic circuit was very complicated. If weaponsmiths witnessed the inscription process of such a complicated circuit, they would have been astounded. After several minutes, everything was finally done.

The light shone from the magic circuit Arias had just created. The entrance of the cave slowly disappeared; it was erased and then replaced by a rock that seemed to blend well with the surroundings. No matter how hard you stared, you would not be able to tell that it was a cave.

This was an illusion magic circuit that was used to create illusions to deceive people. In this day and age, both the illusion magic circuit and the illusion magic itself were almost completely lost. There were but a few of them left. Thus, Arias did not have to worry about people seeing through his illusion magic.

Until he could successfully clear this dungeon, he did not want anyone to find it. And he would come back to this dungeon soon to finally clear all the floors.

Arias’ body glided through the greens of the woods. The big and small trees by his sides were the kind of scenery he had not seen for almost a month. Arias found the freshness of the trees, which competed with one another to spread their branches toward the sunlight, and the clean air of the woods to be quite pleasant.

Along his journey, Arias chose to avoid running into beasts at all times. He did not want to waste his time with fruitless fights.

About an hour later, the woods surrounding him began to change. Trees had visibly thinned out, leaving only small ones that were just a few decades old. This was a sign that Arias had entered the outer part of the woods. It should not be long until he reached his destination.

“Stop right there! This is the Scarcia Clan’s territory. Master Farhan had prohibited everyone from entering the clan’s territory without permission.”

A shout came from one of the guards patrolling the area around the manor.

“Have I been gone for so long that all of you've forgotten what I look like?”

Arias’ words made the guard stare intently at him with surprise. The young man had become different, whether it was his body, his attractive face which looked more handsome than before, or his tall and muscular figure, which resembled that of a man. He looked nothing like the bony Young Master Arias who always looked like a sick person. More importantly, the magical power in this young man’s body made the guard unable to believe that he was truly Arias.

“You think that disguising yourself with silly magic would be able to fool me!? Who are you? How dare you disguise yourself as one of the clan members. Don’t you know what kind of punishment you’ll face?”

Though he was a little stunned, there was no way that the guard would believe that this was Arias. It was impossible for a Powerless young master to become a second-level adept. He pointed his spear toward Arias sternly, his magical power released in preparation for a potential fight.

The guard’s yelling worked like an alarm, calling two other guards who were not too far away from the spot to immediately run over and surround Arias.

Though he was not very pleased, Arias was not planning to attack. These people were still Scarcia’s guard regardless, and all this was nothing but a misunderstanding.

“What is this ruckus!? That’s...Young Master, you’re back!”

Kanl, who had heard the guards, came over to see what was happening. The moment he saw Arias, there was a shocked look in his eyes, and his face was full of joy. Kanl had been worried about Arias as well.

“Yes, it’s me. But it looks like I’ve been gone for too long, and the people of our clan have forgotten about me already. I’m lucky you still remember me.”

Arias let out a good-humored chuckle. As soon as he saw Kanl, he felt quite relieved because it meant that he did not have to go through all the trouble of explaining himself to the guards. Kanl was one of the people who knew that Arias could now use magical power. Though Kanl’s position was the family’s butler, he was no different from a personal guard to Farhan. It could be said that he was the one Farhan trusted the most, which was why he knew almost everything that happened within the manor.

“What are you doing!? Why aren’t you lowering your weapons!?”

Kanl turned to yell at the guards in a voice mixed with anger.

Though the guards were quite perplexed by the situation, they quickly lowered the spears in their hands before fervently apologizing to Arias. Arias did not mind what they did. If anything, he thought it was good that the clan’s guards took their duties seriously like this.

“Thank you, Kanl. If it wasn’t for your explanation, this would’ve become a lot more complicated.”

“It was the duty of a butler like me, sir. But Young Master, why is your power…”

Kanl asked with surprise. He was also curious how Arias, who had gone missing for almost a month, had become a second-level adept.

“You mean how my power reached the adept level? It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it later, but first I want to see my parents. I wonder how they’re doing. Can you lead the way?”

Arias did not really want to talk about his discovery of the dungeon, and he also felt a more urgent need to see his parents. He had been gone for almost a month without telling them, his parents must have been worried.

“Uh...Master Albert and Lady Maria are currently not at the manor, Young Master. Even Master Farhan is not here as well.”

“What!? What happened?”

Arias’ expression changed the moment he heard Kanl’s answer. The feeling of concern grew in his heart. He feared that something bad might have happened that compelled the three of them to be away from the manor.

“Calm down, Young Master. You must have forgotten that today is the day of the Tournament, the one held by the Hargen at the fighting arena inside the city. Since you disappeared, Lady Maria has been drowned in nothing but sorrow, that’s why Master Albert wanted to take her outside the manor in order to raise her spirit, and so he took Lady Maria to watch the Tournament. As for Master Farhan, he’s obliged to attend the Tournament as the Scarcia’s leader.”

Kanl explained the situation of the clan to Arias.

“Mother…”

Arias’ heart was filled with sadness. It seemed like his concern had been true.

“That’s right. The guard who escorted me, did he come back to the manor?”

While Arias’ mind was working through all the information, he was suddenly reminded of the source of it all, the one who caused him to run away and almost did not come back alive. Now, it was time he took his revenge.

“I’m sorry, Young Master. Kyon has been killed by beasts.”

Kanl answered quietly. He was afraid that this might bring sadness to Arias, as he thought that the young master had asked about Kyon out of concern for the man. He did not notice the fire of rage in Arias’ eyes at all.

“Huh! If there’s something to be sorry about his death, it would be that I didn’t have a chance to kill that man with my own hands as revenge for him trying to kill me.”

Arias said in a cold voice.

“Did you say he tried to kill you? Could you tell me what exactly has happened? Why would he do something like this!?”

Kanl was utterly shocked upon hearing Arias’ words. Betrayal was an unforgivable crime within the clan.

“I’ll leave this matter to you. I believe that someone is behind this. I think you already know without me telling who in this clan had enough authority to order a guard to betray the clan and turn his blade against me.”

Arias said before turning away. He was about to head out of the manor once again. After hearing Arias’ words, Kanl could already understand what the other was trying to tell him.

“But where are you going, Young Master? You have only returned for a few minutes.”

Kanl turned to curiously ask Arias as the young man prepared to head out of the manor.

“To the Tournament, of course.”

Arias turned to give Kanl a smile before his body quickly moved away. It was a speed far superior to any adept mages that Kanl had ever seen. If Kanl had known that it was not Arias’ true speed yet, he would have been even more shocked.

“But Young Master, are you really going to the Tournament wearing those ripped clothes…?”

Seemed like Kanl’s voice did not reach Arias as his body had already disappeared from the manor.