'Hiding is impossible, so I have to take the risk!'
Lucas didn't waste any more time, running towards the gate as fast as he could. Sure enough, the 6 guards saw him and immediately started attacking. They had gotten orders for Lucas to be killed, so the guards didn't have any reason to hesitate.
Lucas tried to dodge but he couldn't do anything against 6 guards. Still, Lucas was determined to take at least one out.
Ignoring the pain and the swords, he ducked and sprang up just as quick, slashing in an upwards manner, easily severing the guards' head.
Lucas knew his time was running out, so once an opening was created, he sprinted towards the gate and slashed wildly and destroyed part of the gate. After that, the energy blade finally dissipated, leaving Lucas defenseless.
Sadly, Lucas couldn't see any trees or forest of any kind. It was all just plains.
The guards quickly caught up and were about to kill Lucas.
...
...
'Hm? Why have they stopped?'
Lucas found that the guards had completely stopped. He wanted to use this chance, but his body was too tired. He passed out right after.
...
...
Lucas woke up to find himself inside a wooden hut that looked to be in the sky. He couldn't be sure until he took a look.
'Where am I? I'm sure I wasn't captured by those guards, otherwise I wouldn't be waking up at all.'
"Ah, you're finally awake."
Lucas was startled, he turned to see a gray-bearded man, the exact same one as before. Lucas could make out more details this time though. The man had a short gray beard, he had dirty brown hair and green eyes. He had a muscular body and he was quite tall.
Lucas was about to speak but the man interrupted him by holding out his hand.
"I know what you want to ask, but I think I should explain some things to ease your mind first."
Lucas could tell that this man wasn't simple, he was probably the one who froze the guards after all, and he gave him the technique, there was no reason for Lucas not to listen.
"Firstly, your family is not coming for you anymore. The guards were sent back without any memory of what happened."
Lucas' eyes widened.
'Even their memory got erased?'
"I was going to tell you about your mother, but it seems as if you don't care. You even left her inside the dungeon after all. I was really quite surprised when I saw that."
'Oh that's right, I did leave her there.'
"Your mind seems to be a bit stronger than other kids your age too, you killed someone easily and you are truly talented, even if not as talented as those monsters in the Central Zone."
'Did he really have to do add that last part?'
"Anyway, congratulations on escaping! You have the qualifications to be my student. Normally I wouldn't take in someone so young but I guess you'll have to be an exception."
'He did mention that, however I still don't know anything about him. Cultivating does sound awesome and getting help from a teacher would boost my knowledge. I guess I'll see what he has to say.'
Lucas wasn't going to trust the man so easily, but he did save Lucas after all and gave him a chance to become a mighty cultivator. It would be rude not to hear him out.
"Let's start with introductions. I'm Seth Ilhyde. My family used to be at the top in the Central Zone, renowned for our technique that gave us an advantage in basically any battle."
Seth said that with a lot of pride. He seemed eager to want to talk more about his family, but he stopped himself from talking any more about his family and said more about himself.
"I'm 143 years old, and I am a Rank 5 cultivator. With all this said, I'm sure you can tell that I can be a competent teacher."
'Rank 5?! No wonder he could easily freeze those guards. He could easily just look in their direction and blast their body into 5 million bits!'
Lucas only remembered the traces required for Rank 1, so he had no clue about the rest of the ranks, but Lucas was sure it was an amazing feat to get to Rank 5.
'If only I still had the book, I still have the technique with me but I left the book inside my room in the mansion.'
Lucas was about to introduce himself too, but then he stopped when he realised that Seth probably already knew.
"You seem to be all rested up so there is no harm in training you right now. However, you're body is still too weak right now, it can only handle a few activations."
"Get up, we're going to do some good old-fashioned exercise."
Lucas wasn't excited for this at all, but he got up anyway and started listening to Seth.