"Finally out of there."
Noah sighed with relief right after the team exited the cave and appeared in the open.
Compared to how long it took them to go in, they came out even faster.
"I wonder how Asher's doing." Melissa couldn't help but say.
During their journey back to the top, Asher suddenly stopped halfway and went back to the cavern saying he had misplaced his storage ring back there. As the item was too important, even for the team, he couldn't leave it back.
Originally, Noah and James had opted for the team to go back and help search but Asher refused their help. He stated that it was better they focus on the test instead and go collect tokens from the other students. As for himself, he would track them right after finding the storage ring. Asher had also refused any help stating that it would decrease the strength of their team drastically and with Wendel's and Aurora's squad still in good condition, it wasn't worth the risk.
Asher's logic made a lot of sense to the team so they didn't argue any more and did as he had instructed. Although Noah and Owen felt there was something off with Asher's departure, they didn't think too much about it. Just as he had said, there were more things to focus on. Also, they were sure that the cavern was empty and even if it wasn't, the protector mages would have scrapped it clean by now. So, it would make no sense for Asher to return there unless he had indeed dropped something.
. . .
"Fooling a bunch of kids is too easy." Asher smirked as he appeared in the cavern once again.
"With what has happened now, it's a given that the academy supervisors would cut the test short and end it here. I can't believe none of them could figure that out, especially James and Noah. Maybe I should give them a beating later on and even force Owen in."
On his left hand's ring finger was the very same space ring his teammates thought had gone missing. In truth, it never was; Asher had simply hidden it and told a lie to return here. As for why he did so, Asher's target wasn't anything in the cavern because, just as everyone thought, the cavern was indeed empty. What Asher was aiming for instead, was the desiccated hand in the possession of the protector mages.
After using it to defeat Fenrir, Asher was forced to return the hand back into the possession of the protector mages. Seeing the power it wielded was more than enough reason for them to not even consider letting it stay in the hands of a student any longer. Right after they had it, the group of mages left, giving Asher next to no time to plot out a scheme to retrieve it.
Left without an option, Asher reverted to his previous plan of ambushing them and stealing the hand, which had led to him returning here.
'Luckily, I placed a tracking mark on the mage.' Asher thought.
Placing a tracking mark on a protector mage counted as an offence in the academy's rules and if he were caught, Asher would be punished and even fined. Nonetheless, he was too skilled in this matter and was able to pull it off flawlessly. Before he had become the Celestial Emperor in his past life, Asher lived the life of a rogue, moving from one place to another, sometimes running from enemies. As such, he was quite skilled in concealing and tracking techniques.
'Now, where are you guys?' Asher closed his eyes as he utilized a special spell to find the mark.
About a few seconds later, Asher's eyes opened with a flash.
'Found you.'
Asher immediately used the spell that decreased his body's mana leakage and added a concealment technique that made it difficult to figure out which stage he was in. Finally, Asher used wood magic to make a fake face which wasn't difficult to pull off with his strength as it was the same as making a thin wooden mask. He then switched to a black robe and wore black Chelsea boots that made him look a bit taller. Finally, Asher used a black scarf to cover his fake face, adding more 'realism' to his disguise.
'That should do it.' Asher thought.
Since what he was about to do was technically a crime that could end with him being sentenced to death, Asher had to keep his identity hidden. If it weren't for the fact that he had a 'burden', which was the Arnhaunt family, Asher wouldn't have bothered about hiding his identity and would have left the kingdom right after this.
'Off I go now.'
. . .
"Hurry up. We need to reach the rendezvous point and inform the dean about what happened just then." The fourth-stage Guardian mage, the same one that tried to sell Asher out as well as the mage in charge of this mission, said.
The 'dean' he referred to was actually Zero, who was the dean of the grading panel and the official overseeing this test. As for the rendezvous point, it was a location in the forest where they would be picked up by the zeppelin after having explored the cave alongside the students.
The other path they had followed turned out to be the treasure chamber of the shadow beasts, but there weren't a lot of items inside, after all, the entrance to the cave had been sealed for a while. The chamber also had an exit tunnel that led back to the surface which the team of mages had gone through, bringing them back up.
'The item we have on our hands is something really precious; definitely on the level of a national treasure. If we can deliver it without any hitch, the academy's higher-ups would surely reward us well. Maybe even the director would do us a favour.' The mage thought as anticipation brewed within him.
The item he referred to was the desiccated hand that they had found on the black altar in the cavern. Although the item was safe with this line-up of theirs, after their encounter in the cavern, the mage couldn't be so sure. While he doubted that there was another individual as strong as Fenrir present among the enemy, he didn't know their strength and numbers.
It was for that reason that the mage had prevented any of the protector mages with him from assisting the students and had even sent Asher's team and the others back rather than bringing them with him. He planned to use the five teams to act as a distraction to the enemy. While this might sound absurd, one should recall that their target was Asher so, as long as Asher was still moving around freely and alive, chances were that the enemy forces would focus on him and ignore the rest that escaped the cavern.
'That should offer us enough time to get to the rendezvous point safely.'
Just as the leading mage thought this, a cry of alarm sounded from behind.
"Enemy attack! Hank is down!" One of the peak rank third-stage Guardian mages yelled.
Hank was another mage of the same power level who happened to be close to the mage.
Under the strategy of the leading mage, the group had taken on a formation that kept them close to the other, but not too close. In this way, it would be difficult for them to be ambushed as once one of the mages was taken down, there would be someone close by to spot this and alert the others. They would then take proper measures to escape if the enemy was much stronger, or fight if the enemy was weaker. Currently, the advantages of this formation were now playing out.
"Who is it?!" The leading mage roared as he came to a stop along with the others.
While he took on a ferocious expression, in truth, the mage was already calculating his escape routes just in case he needed it.
"Over there." One of the mages called out.
A hooded figure appeared on a tree branch in the direction the mage called out.
The figure wore a black hooded robe that covered even their feet with a black scarf covering their nose and mouth, making it difficult to figure out their identity or gender.
"Who are you?" The leading mage asked.
He got a weird feeling from the opponent but not the type that inspired fear due to a difference in strength. In fact, he couldn't even identify the strength of his opponent, which was strange. However, as there was only one enemy, the mage didn't feel the need to retreat. Also, the fact that the opponent hid his identity, unlike Fenrir, made him question whether this person was part of the secret organization or not.
Asher, who was of course the robed figure, didn't respond but took note of the positions of everyone on the team. Although he had a large memory bank and experience, the formation of the protector mage unit suited the landscape quite well which made it difficult for him to ambush them silently or take down the person who had the hand. In the end, he was forced to reveal himself but that wasn't problematic to Asher.
The goal now was to find out who had the hand and take them down. This wasn't even an issue worth considering as the summoning effect from the hand to the orb within his body was still active. Asher hadn't relied on it to track the group and had used a tracking mark instead since he needed something more efficient. But now that he was before the group, he could use it to find out who exactly among them had the hand in their possession.
'Found you.' Asher narrowed his eyes on the leading fourth-stage Guardian mage.