Alem reach his group with Linsal close behind him.
"Linsal!" Nor was the first to notice. She got into a battle posture.
"Oh? Is it the fellows from the Nillian clan?" Linsal was surprised to see a few familiar faces.
"Nor, relax. Linsal is with us." Alem sighed at the girl. She was normally smart, but why did she become so aggressive and stupid?
"Alem, this man is a from an enemy clan. He is anything but trustworthy." Nor scowled. Kir and Eli also stood behind her and glared at him.
"Don't make a big fuss. Plus, you guys are outnumbered. There are nine others from his clan here." Alem lifted his arms and approached Simar and Salea.
Nor's pupils shrunk. "Ten?! How were so many allowed?! The clans agreed on three max!"
Linsal smirked with a prideful expression. "Princess Nor, don't you know that our ancestor is a host of this test? We were given a small advantage."
"Princess?" Alem looked at Linsal in confusion.
"You don't know? The Nillian clan is royalty since they're descendants of the Gilly Queen. Nor is the eldest daughter of the clan leader so she is a little princess." Linsal then brandished is hammer which was hidden in his wings. "Little princess move aside. Let me face the heir. He beat me in the past, but can he beat me now?" Linsal looked at Kir with battle intent filling his mind.
"Kir, you're that powerful?" Alem asked with surprise again.
"The heir to one of the largest clans in the main world. Kir the Sword Seed. He is among the most genius in our generation, even Tirax is worse than him." When Alem heard this, he couldn't help but look at Kir once again. The latter blushed a little.
"That's just a title, compared to you I'm still lacking." Kir had become a fan of Alem during the week of travelling. So in front of him, his pride was nothing.
"Oh c'mon. What happened to the crazy Kir of the past? The one only Princess Nor could control? The one who would fight even a bug if they asked for it." Linsal taunted, but was still careful. He knew Kir's battle prowess. "Come, fight me for a round."
"Clear the area." Alem suddenly said.
"No way." Nor growled, but Alem suddenly glared at her.
"Clear the area." He said slowly.
She hesitated but still listened. A large circle was created around Kir and Linsal. Alem stood between the two as a referee.
"Kir, I've trained you for a while so you better not lose. As for injuries, that's inevitable. I'll only step in if things look serious, alright?" He didn't give Kir a chance to speak, mostly because he could tell Kir wanted to fight. "Are you both ready?"
They nodded and Alem flicked a pebble into the air and took many steps back. Both watched the pebble begin to fall with serious expressions.
"Start!" With Alem's shout, Kir took a few steps back, with Linsal rushing in.
Swinging his hammer, Kir dodged each swing easily. "Predictable." Kir said with a low voice. Stabbing his sword in the ground suddenly, he lifted himself up and kicked Linsal in the face, while also using it as a boost to land back on the ground.
"Bastard!" Linsal was pushed back easily, but Kir wasn't done. He left the sword stabbed the ground and began to use hand to hand combat. He kept attacking the left side of the face, hitting directly at the left eyes. "Fuck!"
Linsal kept on being pushed back and couldn't even fight back.
"Nice." Alem smirked. He could see the major improvement inside Kir. 'Maybe he was a crazy genius. His learning speed is just as fast as mine.' Alem was slightly shocked. This was his first time seeing the progress of Kir. Sure they sparred, but Alem mostly overpowered him no matter how much he held back, so it was hard to tell.
"Linsal, do you want me to use my sword, or are we done?" Kir was standing on Linsal's throat, looking down at him calmly.
"You beast, how did you get stronger?! The others will go crazy once they learn! You might even rank first in the next tournament!" Linsal sighed as he pushed Kir's foot away before getting up.
"Probably." Kir didn't reject that. He knew his skills had improved by a lot. 'Maybe I'll break through once I'm back. I have so many ideas now!' Despite not showing it, Kir was extremely excited. The fight gave him many ideas for future sword moves and skills he could create.
"Good fight. Congratulations Kir." Alem smiled. "Anyways, Linsal since we're done here, let's quickly go to the beast king."
"Beast King? The Serpent Hound?" Nor asked with confusion. Though Kir's skill increase was astonishing, she only expected as much. Even she improved under Alem's training, though much less than Kir.
"I made a deal with Linsal, so I'm killing the beast king for him." Alem shrugged and spoke.
"What?" Eli suddenly stood out.
"Don't stop me, I'm gonna do it." Alem didn't let her continue.
"Oh? Nillian's Eli? Didn't expect to see you joining this test. Honestly thought it would be the Little Prince." Linsal didn't noice Eli before, but seeing her was a bit surprising.
"Why do you care if I come here?" She said with a bit of annoyance. Alem just cut her off so she was somewhat irritated.
"Ignore me then." Linsal didn't bother speaking anymore. "Alright, my men should have gotten our rides ready, let's head back to camp." With that, Linsal flapped his wings and flew away, leaving the group alone.
"Alem, what kind of deal did you make?" Kir asked out of curiosity while pulling his sword out from the ground.
"Before that, you're called Kir of the Sword Seed? Haha, so you're some sort of super genius?" Alem was intrigued.
"Of course." Nor spoke this time, puffing her chest out. "He is the prodigy of our clan. Other clans fear his talent. He is known by every person as a Sword Seed since his talent in the sword is unmatched."
"Really?" Alem was even more interested.
"Compared to you, I'm still lacking." Kir said while blushing.
"Don't hide your talent Kir, you're the future clan leader. Be confident in yourself." Nor said with an angry tone. "Among the various genius', he has one of the highest realms, but he is the only one to slay an immortal! Not just any regular immortal, but a Moon Door immortal. His body contains Core Sword essence! It's Tier 2, yet he has it!"
"Impressive. Tell me more about this Core Sword essence." Alem listened carefully as the group began to walk.
"Well, it's known as the Core Sword essence since it's power is built upon the core of something. In Kir's case, he used the core of a star, ancient planet, and the core of an ancient beast to understand and form this essence. He's the pride of our clan." Nor patted her little brothers head. "If not for him only being good at the sword, then the clan would focus more on him than the me. Alas, this little brother only cares for the sword and animals. The Nillian clan become quite wild when he becomes the clan leader."
"I'm a little confused about one thing though." Alem suddenly interjected. "Linsal said even Tirax is less than Kir, yet why do you seem so scared of that guy?"
Kir and Nor suddenly frowned, their faces more serious. "In the outside world, Kir is stronger than Tirax, but not by a lot. Unlike Kir, Tirax is well rounded. He is incredible at cultivation, he is ruthless, and essentially the embodiment of what a Hell clan member should be."
"Still, if Kir is stronger, then he shouldn't be a problem." Alem didn't quite understand.
"Tirax is different from others. Even Immortals are not as scary as him." Kir said with a bit of fear. "This man is a psycho. I'm stronger than him, but that's only after I obtained my Tier 2 essence. Yet, he is still comparable to me. On the same level, he can decimate me." He suddenly looked at Nor. "If it wasn't because he liked Nor, he would have killed me ruthlessly already. He doesn't fear our clan since his is not any weaker."
"Nor, you have such a strong suiter, huh?" Alem snickered a little.
"Shut up, this isn't a joke. He is a scary man." Nor shivered a little. "If I ever married him, my life would end quickly."
"Is he ugly?" Alem asked.
"Not at all. He is extremely handsome, almost devilishly handsome." Kir said with a frown.
"Then what's the issue? Is he unloyal? A wife beater?" Alem was still confused.
"No, he likes Nor a lot. He wouldn't harm a single strand of her hair. As for unloyal? He has eyes only for Nor. He is even respectful to her." Eli spoke up this time.
"What the hell? Then what's the issue? He's loaded, handsome, loyal, and respectful! What else do you want?!" Alem was a frustrated on behalf of Tirax. 'Tirax, just drop this girl, she doesn't deserve you!'
"You haven't met this man yet." Nor said with a glare. "On our first meeting, he gifted me the heads of one of our enemy clans. The children's heads included." She spoke with slow breaths. "He killed his contestants for clan leader and annihilated all of their family members. He killed his own father and mother since they tried to stop him from liking me. He is a psycho."
"My man is a simp!" Alem spoke in shock. "That is scary." He mumbled, though mostly joking. "Honesty, I find his actions cute, aside from killing his parents."
"Cute?" Nor and Kir looked at him with wide eyes.
"Like he just likes you a lot. If he treats you well, just give it a shot in my opinion." Alem shrugged and spoke his mind.
"I'd rather die." Nor rejected without question.
"Fine, I'll marry that guy myself! I want someone to simp for me too!" Alem joked as he finally reached Linsal's faction.
"Where is Shameless?" Back in the room, a few powerhouses were watching the screen with a lack of interest.
"He took him." Gilly Queen spoke with a sigh.
"What?! What did that old man do?" The few asked with shock. "Gilly Queen, what happened?!"
"I don't know." She didn't want to delve into what the two discussed. "But, it shouldn't be long before he is back."
"Damn, even Shameless could be called? He's the favourite." Everyone sighed and focused back on the screen. "Anyways, Gilly Queen your descendant is quite strong, huh?"
The Gilly Queen didn't really pay attention to the screen.
"Kir is a great seed, he should reach our level one day if he is groom properly." A young man spoke. His face was handsome with horns protruding from the back of his head and the back of his neck. "Still, I feel that the Little Princess is better. Kir is just a sword genius, but how many of those are there? The Little Princess is much more talented, the Nillian should let her take over rather than Kir."
"You know how the Nillian work. Females are not able to lead the clan." Another woman spoke with a sigh. "Despite the women being more talented than the men overall in this clan, the men lead." Everyone shook their heads, yet they couldn't do a thing about it.
"Alem, how are you able to kill them so easily?" Samir walked over to Alem who was squatting on the ground. His body was covered in blood, yet none of it was his. Rather, a large creature was laid behind him, unmoving.
"I don't know. As long as they aren't too much faster than me, then I could always beat them." To Alem, the persons strength and defence did not matter, only speed. If he couldn't keep up, he would die. If he could, he would slay. It was simple. "Anyways. Simar, what do you plan on doing after this test?"
Simar was caught off guard by this question. "I should go home, right?"
"If you want to, but I don't know if you should." Alem would prefer Simar going home, but the guy was not mature enough yet. "You're already presumed dead by everyone, so going back would raise lots of questions. Why not follow me?"
"Follow you? What do you mean?" Simar was confused. "You want me to join this dangerous world? If so, I'm good. I'd rather not."
"Well, you would be joining this world, but in a much more safe manner." Alem grabbed Simar's sleeve and pulled him from the nearing people. "Listen, I have a world bigger than Earth in my hands. It's where I trained. Right now, it's undeveloped. If you want, I can ask the old man to set up a safe location for you. There you can cultivate, learn to fight, and just live a peaceful life."
"Alone? What about mom and dad? I'd rather stay with them." Simar was still unwilling. Most dreamed of being in a fantasy world until they actually entered it. It was dangerous and not fun in any way. Pain was felt daily, plus without loved ones around, one could go crazy. No place was as good as home afterall.
"Don't worry. My plan is to slowly shift our family into that world." Alem smiled. "The thing is, Earth can't have cultivators, so if you do go back, then coming back here would be hard. At the same time, if you ever begin cultivating, then going back to Earth would be impossible for now. Other than me, no one else can go into Earth as a cultivator."
"Why?" Simar frowned.
Alem shook his head. "I can't say since it's not something I have to right to explain. Still, my point it, once you begin cultivating you can't go back. I will bring our family into the world too, which means that they can't go back to Earth as well."
Simar thought about it but shrugged. "I don't know yet. Let's first survive this and then discuss this."
"Up to you. But if you decide to go back to Earth, know that your memories of this place will not stay." Alem patted his cousin on the shoulder and walked towards Nor and then rest who were nearing him.
Watching him leave, Simar sunk into his own thoughts. 'I'm scared now. I can't stay in a place that is out of my control.' Simar sighed. Atleast on Earth he knew what would cause his death. In this world, anything could happen. It was too magical, too eerie. Unlike Alem, he loved life. He had goals and dreams. 'Lets see how everything proceeds.'
"Alem." Eli smiled at him and began to inspect him carefully, yet Alem avoided it a little. "What's wrong?" She asked with a bit of concern. She noticed that ever since she got mad, a slight distance was created between the two.
"I'm covered in beast blood, my whole body feels uncomfortable. Let me just wash up." He only avoided her more because he noticed more of her affection. Despite being clear that they were friends, Eli seemed to be slightly interested, which was not Alem's plan. He didn't care for relationships anymore. Sure, in the past he did a little, but after entering the test grounds, he didn't care too much anymore. He just wanted to learn about the world and it's history. Learn secrets and discover different animals. That was his goal now. It was more interesting than any sort of relationship.
"Ok, no problem." Eli wasn't an idiot. She could also tell that Alem now wanted to form some sort of distance. 'I should have stayed away.' Deep inside, she was hurt, but she couldn't blame anyone. Alem always openly stated that they were nothing more than friends.
Sighing, Alem walked away, heading towards Linsal. "Hey, how is the situation?"
"The three factions in this area know that the King Slayer is around. They want to meet you." Linsal was relieved that the factions didn't try and fight his faction. He may be third on the list, but that didn't mean he was invincible. The three factions combined were stronger than his own faction. "What do you say?"
"I can meet them. Who knows, they might have something that could interest me." Alem used a clean cloth that Linsal handed him to wipe his bloody face. He was used to stench at this point. It didn't affect him at all. Though, killing the beast king did hurt him a little. 'Why can't there be human kings that can be killed? Why always the beasts.' Grieving for the Serpent Hound, Alem saw three people sitting around a flattened boulder.
"Let me introduce you." Linsal smiled and pointed at the man on the right. "He is Krck of the Winged Apes race."
"Nice to meet you." Krck smiled with his razor teeth. His body was covered in brown fur, while two tails came out from his behind. His eyes were gold and his ears sharp like swords. Yet, the most noticeable feature were the fan like wings warped around his long arms.
"Wassup." Alem was casual.
"The one in the middle is Renis. She is a core disciple of the Tainted Angel sect." Unlike the other two, Renis was a human. Her eyes were a bright green, while her long hair was akin to dirt. Her features were anything but ordinary. If anything, her countenance was extremely attractive.
Alem looked at her for a bit longer than the others before smiling. Rather than saying anything, he just nodded his head. Renis replied with a similar nod.
"As for the last person—" Before Linsal could continue, the brawny man stood up and smirked.
"The name is Flor. I'm from a member of the Icy Weapons sect." He was looked human, but there was one thing that stood out. His hair was completely crystal. His face was also extremely beautiful, almost feminine. "The great 'Solo Faction' lives up to his title."
"I am a one man army after all." Alem spoke without any shame. "So, what kind of race are you from?"
"Crystal Fneg." When the race name appeared, Alem was a little confused. Most races had animal names that he could understand. Such as the Winged Apes. They were a kind of ape with wings. Very simple. However a Fneg? What was that? "Fnegs are unnatural. They were created by some big shots. Us Crystal Fnegs are a more rare breed."
"I see. That's very cool." Alem nodded. He liked that Flor wasn't offended by his confusion. Definitely an open minded guy. "So what did the three of you want to talk about?"
The one who spoke first was Flor. "I want to join your faction."
"Huh?" Linsal was taken aback, so he looked at the other two as well. "You guys too?" The two nodded their heads as well.
"Why?" Alem smirked, wanting to hear more about their decisions.
"Well, from what we can tell, you're either the arena guy or atleast just as capable. With you, we don't have to worry about him." Renis spoke wither her pleasantly soothing voice. It was higher pitched, but not annoying. It was cute.
"Oh? That can't be the only reason. I don't think you guys are incapable of getting rid of this arena guy with a single faction. He isn't invincible after all." Sitting down, Alem became more interested in the topic. "What else can you guys gain from me? If you're looking for a person to find pellets for you, I'm sorry but I am not interested. Funny enough, I hate fights. I just want to relax in this world and just explore everything."
"We don't need you to gather pellets for us." Flor spoke with a serious expression.
"Then why? I see no gain for you guys." Linsal couldn't help but butt in. He was interested in knowing their reasons as well.
"It's the faction members." Renis sighed.
"They want me to join?" Alem was still a little confused.
"That isn't it. They're getting restless. Unlike major clans and sects like Linsal's and the Nillian's, we came into this world alone. We aren't even from the main world. Aside from our ability to overpower our members one on one, we can't control them." Krck spoke with a raspy voice.
"And you wish for me to control them?" Alem asked.
"No." Renis shook her head. "We wish to dissolve our factions and join you."
"Just the three of you?" Alem asked.
"Yes." Flor nodded his head.
"I see." Alem began to think deeply. Linsal was actually kind of shocked by this.
"How could you dissolve your factions? Together you're stronger than my faction, and even alone you guys can dominate an area." He was finding this whole thing to be unbelievable.
"It's tiring being a leader." Flor said. "I'm just a blacksmith, how could I enjoy being a faction leader. There is too much stress." Alem noticed that Flor was very pleasing to the eye. He was lazy like him and not interested in power. A feeling of kinship was bred in Alem's heart.
"What about you two?" Linsal didn't believe that the other two could have the same reason.
"I want to survive." Krck said with a straight face. "I'm the hope of my race and I can't die early. This test is dangerous and even the faction members are becoming a problem to me. I was almost assassinated twice within my own faction." He shook his head. "I can't take the pressure anymore."
"I'm the same. Lots of members have tried to poison me, rape me, and so much more. If it wasn't because I was wary, I would be dead." Renis was the most frightened of the three. "It isn't easy for me to keep myself alive. Plus, I can't runaway since there is no place to go. Who knows when I would be caught and killed. Maybe even worse. I'm honestly seeking protection from you like Krck."
"Damn." Alem was taken aback by this. He thought the factions would be safe internally, but who knew they were even more dangerous than the outside world. "I don't mind letting you three join me. But you need to understand a few rules."
"Anything." Flor spoke without hesitation.
"Don't be in a hurry." Alem said with a smile. "First rule, the final decisions is mostly made by me. At one point I liked the idea of a democracy, but not anymore. After all, I only have a faction to make my life more fun. I don't need help from anyone in terms of battle or surviving." The three nodded as this made sense. Plus, it wasn't a big deal. "Don't worry though, I won't sacrifice any of you nor make you fight hard battles. I can do that myself. Second, I don't actively look for beast kings, I don't care for such things. If I want pellets, I'll get them later. There is no rush."
"We have pellets of our own so we don't care for them at this point." Renis said with a calm expression. "We can even provide pellets for the rest so that we all have enough."
"That would be fine. But doesn't really matter too much." Alem smiled. "Third, I just want to relax in this world by exploring. This means, for the most part, we are travelling. If you guys want my protection then you would be forced to accompany in these adventures."
"That sounds like fun." Flor spoke with a smile. "I like travelling too so that isn't a big deal."
"Great to hear." Alem nodded at Flor with a smile. "And that should be all?" Alem just made these rules on spot. He had to show a bit of power after all.
"If that's all, I'm willing." Renis said in a hurry.
"Us too." The other two replied as well.
"Well then it's settled." Alem clapped his hands and then looked at Linsal. "I bet you didn't expect this."
"Not at all. I thought they rope you in, but who knew it would be the other way around." A bitter laugh escaped his mouth.
"Anyways, you got your beast king and I have two years before the next one, right?" Alem stood up and patted his butt. "I think I want to start traveling now."
"Actually, can you do me one last favour? I'll owe you one for it." Linsal spoke seriously.
"What is it?" Alem had a good impression of the slimy mouthed man.
"The thing is, if these three join you, the chances of the factions teaming up is not small. They might reorganize and then attack us." Linsal didn't say anymore. It was obvious what he was asking for.
"You want me to settle this?" Alem pondered for a second before nodding his head.
"Sure, I don't mind. But if I do this, that means I will skip the next beast king. I will only kill another after four years." Alem took his chance to increase his leisure time.
"No problem. If you get rid of these hidden threats, then four years is fair." Linsal easily agreed.
Alem looked at the three right after. "Any objections?"
"I don't mind." Both Krck and Renis didn't have an issue. It was Flor who was hesitant.
"Can you not kill my members? Although they are hard to control, its mostly because I don't want to lead. If anything, why not Linsal's faction swallow them up? I can even help with he process." Flor didn't hate his members, rather he was too lazy which led to everything slipping from his fingers.
"That's fine with me." Linsal said. "We go right now and get that settled."
"Alright, you two can go handle that. As for Krck and Renis, let's go and settle your matters." He smiled and led the two back to his group.