In the middle of the woods, someone was training hard in the fading sunlight of the evening. It was Marya who still could not get over the humiliation she received from Alan.
She had always thought to be the strongest in the academy after her sister, and she had worked hard for it. Although he did not punch her that badly for it to hurt, it was hurting her from inside.
Baam! She punched a rock and cracked it. She did it just from her fist. Yes, she used a technique of Nigrosian arts through which she could control the flow of her spiritual energy. She could accumulate it to any part of her body and use it as her will.
She looked really pissed from her face. "Damn it, not enough," She uttered when the rock didn't crumble down completely. Only half of the rock crumbled and the rest of the rock had only cracked but did not break.
"You are using your technique wrongly!" Someone said in a loud voice. She turned and saw Alan standing behind her at a distance.
"Why are you here?" She asked with a frown.
"I was just here to meditate, and found you training here," Alan answered before he kept his hands on his waist. He looked at the cracked rock and smiled. "You sure hate me so much to break that rock to this extent."
"If you don't want your face to be broken like that, get out of my sight," Marya said with her frown getting denser.
Alan raised his hands. "You are so scary… I was just here to tell you that your technique is incomplete."
"What do you mean?"
She got on her guard when Alan headed towards her. He approached her the same way he did earlier. She let her guard down when he passed by her and stopped in front of a rock that was beside the rock Marya cracked.
"What are you trying to do?" She asked with a confused expression on her face.
He didn't answer and clenched his fists after he bent his left knee ahead of the right. He pulled back his arm and aimed for the rock.
Marya could not calculate the possibility of him breaking the rock using no spiritual energy. It was almost impossible for a boy of his age.
"Ha!" He punched the rock with all his might, and then…
"Ouch! Ouch! I have gone rusty after so many years," Alan mentioned while jumped around in pain, holding his hand.
"What an idiot…" Marya muttered as she could not see a single crack appearing on the rock. This idiot tried to act all cool but had failed miserably. "Now get out of here and let me train in peace. I don't want to see your idiotic face."
"You are so blunt." Alan sighed. "Alright, I will leave." He walked away while holding his hand. "I will need to get some medical help for my hand."
Marya first thought that this guy had something in him, but it seemed like she was wrong after witnessing his idiotic move just now. The punch she received must have been a one-time wonder. As soon as he walked away, she stood in front of the rock which he punched.
She clenched her fist and transferred her spiritual energy from her core to her fists after taking a deep breath. As soon as she pulled her arm to hit the rock, it crumbled down to pieces.
"What?" She uttered in disbelief and it expanded her eyes in shock. "How?" She could not think of him breaking the rock without using spiritual energy. How did he do it?
Meanwhile, in the seventh castle, the king was taking a bath with his harem. He had wrapped his arms around the shoulders of the naked women on his sides. One other woman locked her lips with him.
The king loved only a few things in which 'women' were in the top three. His blood-red eyes were always an attraction. They were enough to captivate the women and make them enter his bed.
Someone entered his bath chamber when he got done with the lip lock. He pushed her head and held her cheeks when a soldier entered to give him an important piece of news.
"My king, there is a report from the first castle," The soldier said upon entering.
"What is it?" The king asked while he still stared into the eyes of the woman.
"My king, the commander, and the soldiers who went missing in the first province… they have found their skeletons in a lake," The soldier reported with his head tilted down.
The king's grip tightened on the cheeks of the woman. "Hm, what does Snail say on this?"
"Governor Snail had reported they had found a piece of leather with something scribbled on it. They found it stuck on the head of one skeleton."
The king's hand shifted a bit upwards from the cheeks of the woman and tightened his grip even more. She held his hands and tried to struggle as she was in pain. "Hm, what did they scribble on it?" He asked.
"My king…" The soldier was hesitant to tell him. "It was your name–'Blood Victor Nigros'."
As soon as the soldier said it, the king tightened his grip on the skull of the woman. She struggled and grieved at the moment she felt the crushing force, but could not do it for longer. She passed out from the immense pain first, then, her skull got snapped.
The blood splashed on the king's face before he left her head for her body to float in the water. The water became crimson as her blood got mixed in it.
The two women on his sides stood aghast at the horrifying scene they witnessed. They could not utter a word and move even an inch.
"Tell Governor Snail to catch the culprit as soon as possible or I will snap his head just like this," The king ordered the soldier.
"As you order, my king," The soldier bowed his head and left the chamber.
Alan heard someone's voice when he was on his way to his home from the woods.
"Hey, wait!" It was Marya's voice. He turned and saw her coming towards him.
"What happened? I am not in the mood to quarrel with you," He mentioned as soon as she stopped in front of him.
She frowned and said, "I don't want to argue with an idiot like you either."
Alan squinted on her bluntness. He could remember the childhood days he spent in Alabusia as Argus Devonté Albus.
"Then why are you here?"
"I want you to have a sparring match with me again," She mentioned while panting. Alan could see that she was serious.
"I am injured, so…"
"I will wait!"
Alan sighed as he knew he had to accept her challenge now.