One power down, two power down, three power down. It was the custom of this residence that whoever was to be promoted as an official captain must submit an oath with the master that they would fight to protect the civilians and the residence and if they intentionally broke the oath then their respective powers were to be dissolved. They were to be exiled from the residence.
With a frown and deep disappointment from the people the master trusted, He finally dismissed the last captain as now only a few loyal captains were left including the ones who were out on a mission or had protected the residence during the recent attack.
The residence's structure had fallen along with the defense due to the lack of manpower. With Hazel and Gabriel injured it was ideal for the residence to get attacked by foreign clans or unknowns so it was crucial to recruit some new people either to train the young or to lead their students. With most captains on a mission, this task was given to Barry's crew which now hosted Shelby as well.
When Master was out exploring the new land he came across certain districts far away from the residence in which he stayed and was treated with respect and was even offered to learn the fighting style of that area, But because Master didn't have much time he had taken down this offer but now he had the chance to acknowledge them not directly but through a trusted apprentice.
With the received details from Master Barry and his crew headed out towards the unknown district for some outstanding talents to recruit, but it was against Barry's request as he was picky with his subordinates and he only trusted Alan as he saw himself in him but now he had no choice.
Alan was concerned about Barry lately as he had just been through a rough time so he hoped this recruition would help him forget things. They said their goodbyes and headed towards their destination.
[Light Type: Travel]
[Water Type: Travel]
[Wind Type: Travel]
All of them skimmed through the forest as it was rather a silent journey. So with much time to spare Alan decided to zone out and check any new updates in his system.
[ Name: Alan Remorse ]
[ 1 new notifications ]
Alan pondered as this was the first notification since and just like before he was more than amazed to check if he had received a level-up or any rewards apart from his daily tasks.
[ Anamoly occurred ]
[ Absorbed crystal has not been used in the user's favor and is feeding into a third party ]
[ Cancel use of Crystal Energy ]
[ Yes ] [ No ]
Since the modern era of system users, whenever beast crystals were found it was used to craft weapons as they had the power that normal human couldn't naturally possess, but in the case of Alan, it was different as he had the ability to absorb the crystals which was never an option of one's system. But now it wasn't benefiting Alan but still, Alan knew that the third party was the Demon inside him and thought that if it were receiving its energy then in future it would benefit him as well so keep this in mind, Alan knew what to decide.
[ No ]
A smooth Blue aura washed over him as he felt nothing, but now he could sense a slight presence of Kenta which he had never been able to acknowledge in his life.
With a bit of change in the surroundings, Alan came back to his senses as he realized they had left the light residence and the mana in this particular area felt different than usual. He had traveled through here when he was chasing after master but now there was some change. The sun had almost set as the cold breezes made their path along the open land.
With a slight opening in the forest, they entered the village master spoked of, but it looked like it was recently abandoned. With a confused state of mind they slowly, made their way into the small houses either calling out to the people or checking through the windows.
"Are you sure this.....
Before Alan could complete his sentence a thing in black collided with him at max speed sending both of them crashing into a tree but it was Alan who took most of the damage. With a huge release of breath, Alan fell to the ground coughing heavily.
The thing that hit him stood up as its cloak fell down to reveal a person. The person's dark attire seemed to absorb what little light there was, rendering them a shadowy figure. A mask concealed their face, leaving only a pair of intense eyes that now adjusted to a specific line of sight as if they were expecting something.
Alan stood up after some seconds thanks to his fortitude, and grabbed the shoulder of the man behind him, But to his surprise, the guy's reflex action was too quick for Alan to respond to as he performed a single-sweep to make Alan fall to the ground.
"Dude hit the gym or something, you call them legs?'', said the man.
Barry seeing this rushed in with his ability but as he was about to make contact with the man's face, his face drifted to the side as it was like that before. Taking advantage of Barry's momentum he progressed his feet to trip Barry which seemingly worked.
"Why the violence bro, chill'', said the man.
As he completed his sentence, an unbearable loud noise struck from the forest as all fours' attention diverted to the huge beast that stood in front of them, with mana vaporizing from its flesh.
"Alright some action, by the way, all men for themselves", said the man before running towards the beast.
He lunged toward the beast as he showcased his natural physical abilities, his face had that craze in him for hunting, and with an ambitious smile he raged on to the beast, his eyes however had taken another shape as if he was displaying his ability perhaps but as the beast retaliated by sending power rays in his ways, he seemed to evade rather than block, which led the crew to defend the incoming attacks by themselves.
"What's the deal with this guy?", questioned Alan.
The man took no rest and within a short distance between him and the beast, he leaped and performed a swiping motion with his hand mid-air while locking eyes with the beast. He landed smoothly as he had nothing, and the beast moved further to attack him but burst mid-track as its blood and muscles spread everywhere and a glowing crystal fell to the ground.
"Well that was quite a show, am I right fellas?", questioned the man to the crew.