Esseker, the man with black hair and black eyes were panting as he jogged on the broken road. However, he suddenly felt there are some people following his back and as he turned his head to look, he realized it was the two people from earlier.
'Urgh! Why do they have to follow me?! I thought I left a great impression!!', he thought as he forced himself to run faster, 'I am still exhausted from that Soul Break I used to that stupid Ruler!', he was starting to hate his weak body more.
"Sir, we would like to ask you something if it is possible!", Lei Zhe shouted as the looked like frogs from leaping.
'Ask? Ask what? Should I let them? So I would know what they ask me. I should just answer yes since they sound polite.', Esseker thought as he ran faster and jumped on the rubbles of rocks after rocks because of the broken ground while his energy replenishes bit by bit, "No!"
Yun Ju Mei's eyebrow twitched, "Is it me or he getting faster?"
"Hm, he is getting faster.", the two then upped their game by kicking the ground with their body forward instead of upwards that made them looked like they are sprinting with large strides rather than jumping.
However, they still felt like they were being left behind and so they tried faster and faster.
"Hey, Zhe, that guy doesn't have the image of someone who needs help, should we stop chasing him now?!", Yun Ju Mei shouted forcibly, their acceleration has been taking an effect on their body.
Lei Zhe replied with a very serious tone, "No, he doesn't look like he needs a hand."
"Then can we stop now?!", with a happy tone, Yun Ju Mei relieved.
"No"
"Again with the no?!", she complained.
"There is another reason why we're chasing him. there is something strange about him and with the fact that he came out of nowhere all alone. If he is not someone who is just lost and needs help, then, why is he here?", Lei Zhe said with heavy but uniformed breathing.
On top of it, why is he running away when clearly we have good intentions? It is very different from the way he acts when we saw him first, Yun Ju Mei thought.
Now that this is not only just "helping a stranger" setup, but she also began to take a look on it from a different perspective.
"But...ha-!", Yun Ju Mei huffed before continuing, "this doesn't seem a job..... for us anymore.", the man in front accelerated even more to the point that the couple could no longer keep up.
But before the two lost sight of the man, he strangely slowed down and the reason was clear to the two, the Soulless Garden wasn't that far away from that point on.
Esseker placed back his sly smile on his pale face. He then stopped completely from deceleration before entering the "gate" of the Soulless Garden which is the entrance to the greenless place surrounding the very garden. From the road and pass the gate, there was a huge difference in the earthquake's effect on the ground. The place surrounding the Soulless Garden was actually untouched!
Without knowing about the flowers of this garden, one would already know that this place is special from this sight alone, Esseker thought as he turned around to see the dying Demon Eater faraway while the couple steadily coming to his way.
Even after seeing the state of the Demon Eater, he calmly thought, 'There should be more time, I can still have my queries satisfied.'
He didn't wait long before the couple reached him with exhausted faces, unstable breathing, and their whole body profusely sweating but still retaining their decorum stature by their upright complexion.
However, this time, they appeared to be cautious and was far from where Esseker stood which didn't surprise him.
"I know that this is rude of me because I just declined your offer earlier but can I ask?"
'What's with the polite but formal tone?', Yun Ju Mei felt weirded out.
"...if I could answer that, yes.", Lei Zhe doesn't have a different feeling from Yun Ju Mei while thinking, 'I should answer with honesty.'
"Are you familiar with the man beside the little girl when I asked for directions?"
Lei Zhe sighed, "We followed you at first because- wait,", awkwardness revolved around the air, 'I totally thought he was going to ask why we were following him. Why would he ask that?', but rather than looking at a strange way to it, it was such a simple question.
After gulping, Lei Zhe answered, "He is my former teacher."
"Oh, from the sound you answered, you seemed close to him?", Esseker calmly asked to hide his wariness about the fight behind the couple, 'Come on! Just answer the question!'
Yun Ju Mei held Lei Zhe's hand and lightly squeezed it.
Lei Zhe wasn't so dull to not read onto this signal but he was also curious about what would this man do with his answer. Although it was a bit personal, what could a stranger do with this information?
"Yes, because I see him as my second father back then."
"...."
His hand was squeezed more tightly but the man in front of them wasn't satisfied that let Lei Zhe continue, "You see, I have this little girl as a childhood friend, no, actually she's like a little sister to me, the one who gave you directions. I was very close to them as I saw them as the warm family I didn't have."
Esseker's eyes looked straight to the very depth of Lei Zhe's with a focused thought:
'[Sinless Tongue]'
"She was very enthusiastic about beating me in some contests she made herself. I'd say it was pretty cute back then", Lei Zhe laughed, "My teacher is like her foster father who is actually her uncle but they get along very well."
Esseker's eyes widened as if he confirmed something.
"Hey, Lei Zhe!", Yun Ju Mei whispered as she tugged Lei Zhe's fingers.
"Say, one last question", beads of sweat began to appear on Esseker's face, "Is this little girl have a special constitution or a bloodline?"
"Yes, we are under the Lei Clan with a bloodline of the Thundering Wolf."
'Thundering Wolf? Why do they have a clan filled with the blood of a dog?', Esseker felt irritated, not knowing if it's because Lei Zhe said it with a tinge of pride or because he heard some insignificant dog right before knowing the answer that will satisfy him.
"But is she a prodigy of some sorts?", his fleeting patience made him straight forward.
"Yes, very in fact, even though I am seven years older than her and was considered a talent to the point of being chosen as a top student, she's surprisingly fast approaching me."
Yun Ju Mei looked at Lei Zhe with a confused look.
Esseker slowly nodded and closed his eyes, "Oh, she seemed very talented, indeed. It looked like that I am not alone in this world."
"Huh?", Lei Zhe didn't know why this stranger said that but more importantly, he didn't feel anything out of place and has no idea but why is he so open earlier? Why did he only think about it now?
"Thank you very much and I shall excuse myself now. I have many, many things I have to do first.", Esseker wasted no time as he turned his back to the Demon Eater that already lost its fiery and light.
Reaching the field of flowers, Esseker kneeled down and plainly plucked one of the flowers instantly withering along with the whole garden.
The couple didn't even have time to react as they just saw the entire Soulless Garden withers.
Facing their backs, a small red dense light lit up from the very eyes of the Demon Eater.
"Now", Esseker stood up as he stretched, "I have to go back there again.", he sighed but it sounded enthusiastic.
"He-hey! Why would you do that?!", Lei Zhe couldn't think straight and blurted while Yun Ju Mei was speechless.
Roars of beasts came thundering in unison from all directions.
"Goodluck, I have to run now!", Esseker then sprinted and entered the adjacent trees not too far from the two.
They felt the tremor from the ground as it warned them the huge wave of the incoming beasts.
From the middle of the withered Soulless Garden, a monstrous snake came out of the ground and with its keen eyes looked at the two who seemed to plucked the flowers.
The two stared blankly at the monstrous snake, it has an appearance of death itself!
"A Grade 5 Beast...", Yun Ju Mei inertly whimpered as she lost her strength, luckily, Lei Zhe caught her but she still cried. There is no hope in escaping anymore. Both of them could kill a Grade 3 Beast but a Grade 4 Beast would be too overwhelming and the only choice is a planned escape. However, a Grade 5 Beast.... How are they supposed to react?
Waiting for death?
With his chest going up and down rapidly, Lei Zhe noticed a red dot that was suddenly reflected onto the snake's eyes after it looked upwards, not giving its attention to them.
He clearly saw it. Even though it was a beast, Lei Zhe clearly saw the terrified expression it made as it looked faraway. The red dot that was reflected the snake's eyes became bigger and that was the only time that Lei Zhe saw a legendary Grade 5 Beast fleed out of fear.
There is such a thing that could make a Grade 5 Beast flee and it is right behind their back.
Lei Zhe gulped, should he turn around to see?
...
Deep underground.
"What is it this time?", a hoarse voice resounded inside a very dark cave which no light was able to enter.
Dark and cold but the voice toppled the coldness, "Hmm, fine, this is perfect timing to test my newly found power."
Two dots of brown light lit up the cave and revealed two eyes of an old man with rugged robes.
His body started to float and along with it, the earth and the cave shifted to his pace.