There were three people on their way out of Dark Valley. Of the three, only two rode mounts. The other followed on foot. Yet it effortlessly kept up with them. The three were a dashing teenage boy, a beautiful teenage girl, and a giant Crystal Monkey. In front of the group of three was a floating flower that lit up their way and gave them an idea of where to go.
"We are almost out," Mane exhaled a small breath of air as he spoke.
"Yes," Lily smiled gracefully and nodded her head.
*Roar*
Silver who was walking right behind them roared in excitement. He had been trying to leave Dark Valley for a very long time. However, he had no idea where the entrance of the valley was since he was born here. So he had never been able to leave. Now he could so it was natural that he was so excited.
As they neared the entrance of the Dark Valley Mane was filled with a bit of relief – relief born from knowing that they had accomplished their purpose. However, as they got closer to the entrance of Dark Valley, an uneasiness he couldn't understand overcame his soul.
"What is it?" Lily noticed Mane's uneasiness and prodded for an explanation.
"I don't know," Mane furrowed his brows and said. "Something feels off," Mane added.
"What does?" Lily tilted her head adorably and asked. However Mane was too engrossed in this strange feeling of his that he couldn't appreciate the adorableness of the Elemental Princess.
"That I do not know," Mane shrugged and said. He was finding it hard to explain what he was feeling to Lily. After all, he had no evidence that something was wrong. It was nothing but an uncomfortable feeling.
"Mane," Hildegarde who was dozing on his shoulder suddenly sat up and called her Tested's name.
"I can feel some powerful auras up ahead. About 19 in total." Hildegarde knew that Mane wasn't going to give her a response since Lily was riding right next to him and had her eyes glued to his figure. So she went ahead to tell him what she felt.
"This may be the reason for your unease," Hildegarde added. As a fellow wielder, she knew better than to disregard the intuition of a wielder. That's why she took it much more seriously than the newbie Lily when Mane said that he felt uneasy. In response to his words she spread out her aura and noticed that there were strong presences outside Dark Valley.
Mane narrowed his eyes in thought when he heard Hildegarde's words, and he spread out Trace to its maximum range. When they were within less than 500 meters of the entrance, Mane felt exactly what Hildegarde was talking about.
*Roar*
Silver suddenly began to act in an agitated manner once they were so close to the entrance that they could see a bit of the light from the outside. Silver could feel the auras of very threatening presences outside, and that was why he was agitated. Lily furrowed her brows in alarm at his strange actions and decided to investigate herself. Lily was now a Scholar, so although she was the weakest of the three Scout picked up the powerful auras outside and transmitted the information to her.
"Is that why you said you felt uneasy?" Lily had a look of alarm on her face as she spoke. Her voice shook slightly when she addressed Mane. It wasn't easy to resist the powerful presences that had latched onto her skill.
"It may be highly likely that is the reason," Mane nodded and said.
"There is something strange though," Mane suddenly spoke. Although he was speaking to Lily and Silver, Hildegarde was a part of this conversation as well. He just couldn't address her because of how close Lily was to him.
"The auras I feel are those of 19 people. Of the 19, 5 are High Level Pseudo Nightmares, 5 more are Peak Level Pseudo Nightmares, and 5 are Nightmares. 2 of the 5 Nightmares are at the Low Level, one is at the Mid-Level, and another is at the High Level. The last person is at the peak of the Nightmare Realm"
Mane calmly mentioned the levels of the opponents like he wasn't talking about Pseudo Nightmares and Nightmares. And Lily exhaled a small sigh of relief when she heard Mane's words. She had learned a few things from the Crystal Monkeys during her two days stay, and had come to understand that there were other levels beyond the Predator level. So she was now pretty well informed. After Mane's breakthrough in the cave that saw him defeat the Monkey Queen, his combat prowess had improved even further. Now he could handle anyone below the Pseudo Phenom Realm! As long as there wasn't any Pseudo Phenom involved, they had a chance at survival.
Mane was hiding something from her however. The auras outside were those of outer energy users. And the only outer energy users who weren't from The Citadel yet had gone beyond the Predator level were Barbarians!
"What about the other 4?" Lily asked. Her heart clenched in anxiety when she asked the question. For if the other 4 were Pseudo Phenoms, there was no way they could get away. She wished that she could tell for herself, but the enemies were so far out of her league that she couldn't tell their actual strengths.
"Try to concentrate Scout on each of them, and you would realise that what I am talking about," Mane didn't give Lily a direct answer.
Rather he asked her to investigate herself. It was a proposition that Lily didn't quite understand, considering that Mane was a Scholar himself and a user of Scout (now Trace for Mane). He of all people should know that it would be impossible for her to tell the levels of the people that were outside. However, she did still close her eyes and focus on the auras outside. Mane wasn't a fool, so there must surely be a good reason for his direction. And soon her eyes snapped open in understanding. She understood why now.
"Did you sense it?" Mane asked when he saw that she had opened her eyes. Since she was new to this she needed to concentrate a bit more to do this. In just a matter of days she would be able to use Scout effortlessly without having to focus too much. She may even be able to leave it on indefinitely.
"None of them are Nightmares or Pseudo Nightmares. They are all weaker!" Lily's eyes were filled with confusion. The four people she had just Scouted were all weak. The strongest was a Predator and the weakest was a Thrasher. Of the 4, two were Predators and two were Thrashers. Compared to the other 15, they were too weak! It was almost as if…
"They don't belong!" Lily suddenly exclaimed upon her realization.
"Yes," Mane assented. That was exactly what he thought. "Not only are they weaker, their auras are unstable and growing weaker." Mane elaborated. "Which likely indicates that they were captured and are being tortured," Mane frowned and said.
"You are still uneasy," Hildegarde noticed that although Mane was now aware of the threat and shouldn't be uncomfortable since it was within his power to handle it, he was still insecure.
"The auras I felt; they are familiar," Mane explained to Hildegarde seeing that Lily was speaking to Silver.
"That means that you may know the captured?" Hildegarde's eyebrows jumped in surprise. Mane knew very few people in this world, and apart from the twins the one he was closest to was Dan. Dan was not a Profound Wielder, so he surely wasn't among the captured. Besides, they wouldn't be able to capture him so easily. The issue was that all four auras were familiar.
"It can't be!" Mane suddenly exclaimed via Lock-On.
"What?" Hildegarde could feel the anxiety in Mane's voice. For him to react like this must mean he had figured something out.
"Remember how Lily and I ditched the Orange Team when we were coming here, and how they said they would follow us no matter what?" Mane transmitted his worries to Hildegarde.
"You don't mean that…" the cute fairy immediately picked up on what Mane was implying.
"It's them! That's why the auras were familiar." Mane frowned deeply and jumped off Roxanne. He pulled out his swords, Night Mare and Night's Kiss from one of the bags strapped to Roxanne and slung them over his back.
"Lily, stay here with Roxanne and Skimpy," Mane ordered Lily as he dashed into the distance. Lily bit her lips unwillingly, but didn't protest. She didn't like violence, and she wasn't strong enough to help him anyway. So there was nothing she could do but stay out of the way. Since there were no Phenoms or Pseudo Phenoms, Mane should be fine. She would only hinder him if she were to follow. She balled her fists tightly when she realised how helpless she was. For the first time in her life she began to crave power; power that would allow her be of help to those she loved.
"Silver, protect Lily," Mane's final command came before his figure disappeared into the entrance – which was also the exit – of Dark Valley.
*Roar*
Although Mane's figure had disappeared, Silver still responded. As long as the opponents weren't as powerful as those outside, he would be able to protect Lily with very little issue. This was especially so since they were on the outskirts of Dark Valley. The beasts here weren't strong and Lily could easily deal with them even without his protection.
Mane's eyes narrowed as soon as he left the valley filled with darkness and came to the outside. The sky was so bright that the light that flooded his eyes was too much for him to take. But he hadn't forgotten that there were enemies outside, so he kept Trace active. Soon he could feel several auras surrounding him.
15 powerful auras locked on to him from all sides, and Mane could hear their voices as they talked amongst themselves, seemingly trying to confirm if that was their target.
"Is that him? The one who killed the Princess?"
"Should be. We were told his hair was golden and ragged, and that he was good looking."
"His height and age fit the description as well"
"Plus those swords on his back have the engraving of the Black Dragon of the East. It must be him."
"It seems that they know an awful lot about you," Hildegarde stated, and Mane agreed. For them to know this much meant that he had been sold out. Someone had passed on his information to the Barbarians, and even the description of his weapons was included. As for who this Princess was, Mane wasn't sure. But he reckoned that this person was amongst the two Barbarian women he killed that day.
Mane's eyes quickly grew accustomed to the sunlight, and he was able to open them. Once he did he came face to face with his aggressors.
"They are all Barbarians," Mane thought to himself.
Just as he suspected, the people who surrounded him were Barbarians. Each and every one of them was in good shape, and that was easy to see because their clothes were flimsy and barely covered anything. They had a variety of weapons, and their eyes were deep red. Mane's gaze remained on the figure of the Peak Pseudo Phenom here. But he didn't focus on her for long. For there were four people who caught his attention.
A few yards away were the familiar figures of Vital Orange, Black Ink, Orange Ivy, and the unfamiliar yet recognizable Orange Monk. They had stuck to their words and had followed him here. Yet Mane wasn't best pleased to see them. For each of them was tied to a pole. Their clothes were in tatters, and their complexions were pale. Sores and bruises littered their bodies, and a few purple patches indicated that their bones were broken. Mane's anger slowly boiled when he saw their sorry states. They were like this because of him! If he hadn't left them behind and had taken them with him he would have been able to protect them. If it wasn't because they were hell-bent on helping him they wouldn't have been found!
"Are you the one called Mane?" Camila quietly observed the boy before her. She couldn't sense his aura, but Ivor had already informed them beforehand that the boy could hide his strength. She was sure he was the one they sought. And if he wasn't, they would still capture him. He was young and handsome and would make a good breeding tool. Yet the boy didn't answer her. His eyes were fixed on the men and woman they had caught only today.
"Hey boy, didn't you here our leader's words?" one of the Peak Pseudo Nightmares growled and said. He was already annoyed that he had to wait for a human boy, and one that that they couldn't even kill for that matter. And he was eager to take his anger out on him.
"Kill yourself," Mane only glanced at the man before using Words of Power. And the bumbling man lifted his hand and stuck his axe into his neck before he could say anything else. His eyes were filled with disbelief as he fell, finding it hard to believe – even to the point of death – that he would actually kill himself.
The Barbarians were stunned, and Camila, Nasir and Chichi were shaken. Mane's blue eyes gazed into Camila's soul, and she felt her own mind shake in fear. She felt like she had been accused of a crime and stood before a judge. She felt as though her life wasn't in her own hands, and that the one who held her destiny was this boy in front of her. Mane slowly parted his lips and declared his judgement.
"All of you will die."