Long gone was Kevin from his tent, the only evidence of his early departure was a note left on the bedding.
Elaine read the note and proceeded to burn it into ashes out of sheer anger. Even as regret tossed about in her heart, she sighed in resignation and apprehension, as the note merely stated that Kevin had more urgent things to take care of than settling their debts.
For instance, securing Sun Crow County for his branch of the Rogger family. However, this also gave the woman a chance to amend the mistake since time could heal all wounds.
After thinking for a bit, Elaine realized that her only hope of placating Kevin's simmering anger was through Lexia. That thought somehow brought a sense of false security to the young woman's heart as she rushed back to her military tent, an expression of unprecedented tenderness and care in her eyes.
Kevin's level of psychological torture was years ahead of this current era. In a civilized society, humans enjoyed these stupid rights that made it difficult for people of his profession to traumatize their victims. Eventually, they settled for mental anguish; Everlasting while untraceable.
…
After his recuperative meditation, Kevin realized the need of replenishing the mysterious third eye with more than simple mental power refined from mana. In fact, he realized the urgent need for souls nurtured by abundant mana, like the souls of mages.
He had this nagging feeling that killing ordinary people would only help replenish and stabilize the mental power in his sea of consciousness, but it wouldn't have any discernible effects on the slumbering third eye.
Tens of tests carried in cold blood on his way across the borders of the two kingdoms proved his hypothesis was right. Furthermore, although the mental power gained from refining the ordinary souls couldn't rouse the third eye or improve it, the energy was capable of cleansing his mental power and enhancing its potency.
A hundred or so assassinations later, and Kevin's mental power was no longer fragile and unstable when deployed in a fairly mana-rich environment, making it even more difficult for newly awakened and ordinary novices to notice anything amiss in the surroundings when Kevin's mental network sweeps the area.
With this discovery, Kevin was no longer in a rush to move past the borders, opting instead to continuously refine the potency of his mental power till it reached a point where at the very least, a mage apprentice must be in the area to notice the mental network.
At that moment, Kevin stopped near yet another military settlement stationed in the buffer zone between the Onyx Kingdom and the Solace Kingdom.
"Alright, this is the fourth one," Kevin murmured to himself, even as he closed his eyes to recall the details about his targets. Plenty of people to kill but he had only found two of them while sweeping the earlier settlements.
Then again, key personnel wouldn't be stranded on the frontlines in the buffer zones, they must be in a tight security military camp located in a strategically defensive position, just the Marquis Armstrong's camp near the intersection of two mountain paths.
The elevated position above the narrow path allows for a very destructive counterattack if the opposing army decided to advance past the Northwest Mountain Passage.
"Hm?" Kevin suddenly cast his gaze on the far end of the settlement, spotting a black dot fast approaching. Burrowing the dim lighting of this beautiful dusk, Kevin was positive that the approaching black dot was a person.
The inhumane speed indicated their identity as a mage, most likely an apprentice mage as well. Kevin was intrigued and delighted!
"What a fat piece of meat!" He exclaimed, his mind calculating how to assassinate this mage and refine their delectable soul.
With that in mind, Kevin sat down on a cliffside overlooking the entire military settlement, biding his time.
…
The sentry soldiers also noticed the quickly approaching mass of darkness, coming to the same conclusion as Kevin; an exalted mage had come to visit. Anxiously, they passed down the news.
This settlement was large enough to house a division of 2,000 soldiers give or take. Four squadrons were stationed at the four cardinal directions of the settlement for a quick deployment, and the military tent of the Chief Officers was stationed at the epicenter.
2,000 soldiers weren't a lot nor was it a little, but when comparing utility, the entire settlement wasn't much when compared to a full-fledged mage. Thus, the entire settlement was riled up by the short-notice visit of a mage.
This mage was clad in crimson, dark red robes that seemed almost black from the distant shadows.
When he was within a few hundred paces of the settlement, clusters of flames suddenly erupted from beneath his feet, and like a missile, he blazed forward, covering the distance within seconds.
A thick cloud of dust and black ash rushed to the sky, almost enveloping the watchtowers and flanking the entrance to the settlement. From the obscurity jogged out a middle-aged man, his steps light and agile.
With a broad smile, he ran his right hand through his long, crimson hair, sparks of flames twinkling in the disordered locks.
"Looks like no one died yet… Good!" The man examined the faces of these soldiers and didn't spot anything remotely close to negative emotions in the wake of suffering the loss of comrades. Though his comment baffled the soldiers, some even took it the wrong way.
"At ease soldiers!" Came a shout further back in line, and the crowd of soldiers saluted and split, revealing a man in his late forties, hair already bleeding out its black luster.
This man of great prestige took a few powerful, firm steps forward and looked the mage in the eye, asking, "So, are the rumors true?"
"Pretty much," the mage replied. "I'm here to further investigate, we might be dealing with some little guy called Kevin Rogger; son of that little guy Issac, pretty sure that rings a bell."
The Chief Officer's face twitched, a malevolent light in his eyes. "That name is synonymous with the greatest humiliation for my men and nation. Pity, he deserved a better death, a death we couldn't provide."
The mage cracked a smile. "What we couldn't honor him with, we could pass it down to his little kid, haha! No one expected that fool to spawn a mage offspring, a male too. The big fellas back home want this mission to be a suicidal one."
The Chief Officer's face darkened. "Are you saying you knew our brothers in the other settlements were under the threat of death yet you did nothing?"
The soldiers immediately went tense, eyes red.
The mage laughed awkwardly. "Actually, we have no idea why he'd detour like this, he should have headed right into our trap, but he's been killing off-target soldiers for a while— so much that we had to change plans and intercept him prematurely."
The mage was also confused, not having expected the kid to be so ruthless as to pick on defenseless little soldiers.
"But… Sir Pyro… Your appearance is too… Well, high profile? Would he still dare come into the light when he notices the Crimson Warlock is in our midst?"
The mage snorted. "That's exactly why I made my presence known so blatantly. Don't worry, I am always prepared. Of course, he would feel restless because a mage apprentice is around, but what if he saw me leave with his own eyes?"
Pyro narrowed his eyes as they sparkled with a crimson flame.
The Chief Officer slapped his thigh and exclaimed with a low shout, "He'll be worried you might come back, forcing him to make his move the moment you left!"
The soldiers also grew excited until someone said, "So, we will be using our brothers in arms as bait? For a brat?"
The Chief Officer also paused, his expression growing dark as he recalled an important factor— by the time Pyro made it back, tens if not more of his soldiers would have already died.
The man took a deep breath. "I can't risk the safety of my men, Sir Pyro, I hope you can understand that."
Pyro snorted. "What are you so scared of? He's only one man— yeah he might be a mage, but you need to realize that no one had taught him any spells yet. Just think of him as one of those super soldiers— all power but when confronted with huge numbers, they're nothing to worry about. Everyone he killed was done in through an assassination! Learn something and gather up in groups of twenty or forty people, how can he kill your men then?!"
The Chief Officer was stumped for a moment.
…
As for Kevin, he was also in a solemn mood at the moment. Last time, Elaine was caught off guard and suffered from the mysterious force in his third eye.
This time is different— he would have to ambush and assassinate a powerful mage apprentice, while he didn't have a single offensive 16-node spell in his arsenal.
When he saw a pillar of flame erupt into the sky and suddenly shoot off into the distance, coldness swam in the depths of Kevin's eyes as he silently blended into the shadows and began the chase.