"Impossible, you shouldn't be here," the leader of the pursuers panicked at the sight of the older man accompanying Gavin.
His intel had told him given the green lights for this operation.
"What do you mean I shouldn't be here? This is my family territory, but you….." said the man with Gavin.
His appearance resembled Gavin with the signature Elliot brown hair and the mature face. However, he leaned towards a leaner side than the usual burly Elliot members.
Looking at Jake and co, he said, "These are good seedlings. Quite rare in the Pinesun City."
His eyes glowed with a blue gleam as he stared at Jake and the trio. With a piercing gaze, he made them feel like all their secrets were laid down before him.
The man then asked Gavin, "Gavin, why haven't I heard of them before? With their talents, they can't be hidden."
Gavin raised his eyebrows as he saw the familiar group. He hadn't thought he would see them this soon.
With an enthusiastic voice, he replied, "Uncle Todd, they are the group I told you about."
The man called Uncle Todd examined the group one last time before focusing back on what mattered currently.
"Our men detected a group of people crossing the forest borders. Crossing the forest borders has been banned by the King twenty years ago. It is a crime. So tell me why you still did it knowing the consequence?" Todd stood straight with beaming confidence as he questioned.
Now, it was the group of pursuers turn to curse their luck. They had known what they were doing, but they didn't factor that they would get cut easily.
The leader of the alleged trespassers exclaimed, "So you are Todd Elliot. The brother of the current family head. The second strongest member of the Elliot family."
Todd stared deeply at the leader, "It seems like my reputation precedes me. Now you know what situation you are in. Tell me what you are here for and who you work for. Someone of your caliber cannot be a mere bandit."
Todd's only reply was the leader shaking his head, refusing to give an answer.
"It is quite a pity. I have heard of the might of the raging tiger of the Elliot family. I would have preferred to spar while drinking, but unfortunately, the situation does not give room for that."
The leader took out his saber from its sheath, he brandished them at Todd.
Baffled by his actions, Todd asked, "You can't possibly think of fighting at. You are two stages lower than me, at Stage 7 Morning Dew Realm, while I'm at Stage 9 Morning Dew Realm."
Todd stated their power difference. Unintentionally revealing the next realm to Jake and co, who paid close attention to the two mighty figures. The four teenagers engraved the name of the realm in their minds.
Upon hearing his words, the leader flashed a smile at Todd, "It doesn't matter. It is not rare to bridge the gap between stages. The younger generations have shown us that."
"That is true," nodded Todd
He rubbed on a ring on his right hand as a glove materialized from thin hair. The glove was red with a domineering tiger's face imprinted on it.
Todd wore the glove on his right hand as he quietly gazed at his opponent.
Before he moved, he told his nephew, "I will take care of the leader. You and the teenagers should take care of the rest."
Todd shouted out loud so Jake and the trio could hear.
He looked at his enemy as he asked, "Before we begin, tell me your name. I don't like killing unknown people."
"Hehehe. I know what you are doing. You are trying to fish out my background. However, it won't work. My name is Krees."
Todd dived deep into his memory, trying to think of anyone he knew called Krees. But just like Krees said, it wouldn't work. He set the matter aside.
"Hmph, if I can't get it from your mouth, then I would get it from your body," scoffed Todd.
Blue light with a hint of brown coalesced his right hand, spreading wide to his arm. The light almost felt solid, appearing as if Todd's arm was encased in rocks.
As he saw this phenomenon, Krees squinted his eyes. He also got serious. He held his saber and channeled spirit essence into his body. Thereby, increasing his body attribute.
Krees took the first move and the battle began…..
He lunged at Todd, swinging his saber at his head, but he missed as Todd sidestepped and planted his knee cap at Kree's stomach.
The after wave of the first clash tore apart the trees with savage strength.
'Strong,' commented Jake as he watched the fight trying to analyze the strength of the so-called Morning Dew Stage.
At first, he was doubting the power of the realm after battling with Ray, but seeing this spectacle, he was sure that if Ray hadn't been injured, he would have defeated them easily.
Jake wasn't spared much thought as he was interrupted by one of the henchmen who engaged him. Three henchmen engaged the trio, while the last one fought with Gavin.
The lower-level battles were staged far away from Krees and Todd, so as not to get caught in the crossfire.
.....
Jake stood, calmly and confident, in front of his opponent. Firmly gripping Ray's sword, he lunged at his opponent, not giving him any time to react as he slashed at him.
His opponent blocked the attack with his saber, but Jake smiled as he weaved his sword around the saber as he stabbed at the enemy.
But his opponent wasn't having it!…..
He stepped back, successfully evading the stabbing attack.
"What is your name?" Jake asked.
"Why do you ask?"
"Nothing really…." Jake smiled, he was just being cordial. Truthfully, he didn't care for his enemy name. So, he went back into the fight.
"Hmph, I will tell you my name. My name is Gob," crooked the enemy.
"My name is Bob"
"My name is Tob"
"My name is Lob"
"My name is Cob"
As soon as Gob introduced himself, Jake heard shouts from the other henchmen, who were also introducing themselves to their opponent.
"Gob, Bob, Tob, Lob, and Cob….." Jake repeated as he gazed at Gob. A burst of laughter was leaking from his mouth.
"By any chance…...are your fellow comrades related to you?" Jake gingerly asked.
"No." Gob thought and replied, "Maybe? I don't think so. I can't remember my family members."
"Why is that?"
"My father has forty children…."
"Ahh, that explains the lack of naming sense in your family. I could have sworn that you were related. Still, if you are named Gob, I wonder if all your sibling's names end with O and B." chuckled Jake.
Furiously Gob asked, "Why does it matter to you?"
Jake sweetly smiled, like a devil, "Nothing at all. I'm just trying to chat you up, considering you are dead already."
"What do you….."
Jake dashed at Gob, catching him off guard as he stabbed his neck. All the while he was smiling widely, like an innocent boy in a field of flowers.
Blood spurted out of Gob's neck as he slowly died.
Jake coldly gazed at Gob's corpse and lightly laughed, "I mean seriously, who names their child, Gob? Is he a goblin? And they expect him to be successful?"
He looked at the others and noticed that they were wrapping up their fights…..all of them except Nico.
He was struggling to face his opponent who was weaker than him. His opponent, Lob, was at Stage 8 Physique Modeling, while Nico was at Stage 9 Physique Modeling. Yet, he couldn't end the battle easily.
Analyzing the fight, Jake noticed that Nico was always hesitating to strike a killing blow, he would always opt for a weaker attack. The experienced Lob knew that and took advantage of it.
'What a total idiot,' Jake laughed in his mind.
He temporarily switched his focus on the other fights.
Jaya was fighting Cob, who was at Stage 8 Physique Modeling. Considering her inexperience, she was doing pretty good, attacking all the weak points of Cob. Jake estimated that in a minute or two, she would defeat her enemy.
Lola was engaged with a Stage 8 Physique Modeling cultivator, Tob. Due to their choice of weapon, she maintained her distance as she shot arrows at Tob. He, of course, dodged them, but that was not her goal. Her goal was to wear him down.
Jake watched as Tob got frustrated and ran at her. He smiled at Lola's cunningness. She purposefully baited him into closing the distance. As Tob got close to her, she surprised him by digging his skull with a hidden dagger.
Lola perfectly displayed why one shouldn't underestimate an archer.
'Still, she is quite brutal,' thought Jake as he noticed Lola was unbothered by the gory scene.
Jake moved on to the next one, Gavin.
After gaining knowledge of cultivation, Jake tried to guess Gavin's cultivation realm.
But now, looking at the blue glow encasing him, Jake discerned that Gavin was at the Morning Dew realm. He couldn't guess the stage as he didn't know about the Morning Dew realm. Still, Jake had to admit that Gavin was a genius even by Master Luca's standard. He reckoned that Gavin was 18 years old, but he was in the Morning Dew realm. The same as Ray, who looked close to their age, but was also in the Morning Dew realm. But that didn't deter Jake, instead, he felt more confident in himself.
Under one month, he rose from no cultivation to the Stage 6 Physique Modeling realm. If that isn't a genius, he wondered what was?
As he was thinking, Jake didn't notice when Gavin finished his fight. He had killed his opponent, Bob, who was also at the Morning Dew realm.
Jake came back to the physical realm and saw that only Nico was left.
Suddenly having an interesting thought, he entered a stance, as he threw his sword at an unfocused Lob. He had noticed that Ray's sword was very sharp, so he was not surprised when the thrown sword decapitated Lob.
For now, he wouldn't allow Nico to kill. He would allow him to carry on his naivety. And he would smile when he falls due to that. It would be even worse if he drags down his friends with him.
Thinking of this, Jake laughed out loudly.