Two hours later, Rael tried his skills inside the courtyard of Village Head Reonald. Since he had improved his attributes significantly, he was pleased to see that his skills had become even stronger.
By his own estimations, not even an E- Rank Lifeform could resist him now. Even an E Rank Lifeform should be manageable if the perfect conditions are met.
Finishing his practice, Rael was about to exit Reonald's territory when suddenly the man himself showed up.
"You truly look better now. Did you have a good rest?" Reonald curiously asked. In his mind, even if Rael had evolved, he should still be a little tired.
"I'm fine now, thank you. If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have made it out alive. Celia too; she's the one who brought me here in one piece." Thinking of the cute girl who was like a little sister figure to him, Rael chuckled a bit.
'A little sister that somehow kissed me...' Shaking his head a bit, Rael tried to stop these thoughts from surfacing in his mind.
"You don't have to thank me at all; instead, I should apologize to you. Due to our error, you, a stranger, almost lost your life trying to help us."
"If you need a place to stay during the Apocalypse Games, just tell me. We're going to do our best to protect you and provide information about the other cities and villages in Ceria."
What Reonald just said caught Rael's attention. "You do know of other Villages and Cities?"
"Of course." Reonald took a deep breath before continuing, "In fact, Ceria is not as big as you may think, under the right circumstances."
"There are four Cities, sixteen villages, and one Capital that belongs to the human race. As for the Monster race... All I know is they have territories everywhere, but only some of them are important enough to be guarded by elite monsters twenty-four hours a day."
"Oh? Please tell me more! I really need to know the terrain around us; it would be a great help for me in the future."
Looking at Rael's warm smile, which also emanated faint killing intent, Village Head Reonald knew that the young man would have other uses for this information.
'But he still helped us, my ancestors also left a few messages for their future descendants. Heh, they want to free the Chaos...'
"Listen carefully. The four cardinal directions, North, East, South, West, all have a City managing the territory, with four villages surrounding each city."
"For instance, we are situated in the South, the most southern village. There are three other villages around the city, besides us, in the other three directions."
"Walk about 50 kilometers south of here, and you should reach the City of Southernia. The same goes for everything else since Ceria was made with a grander goal for everyone to reach the Capital, where the bloodshed between 'participants' would commence."
"Since you haven't gone through this before, you need to know that when you reach the City, there will be a portal there capable of transferring you to other cities."
"In the last three days of the Apocalypse Games, the system should announce a tournament that will take place inside the Capital. At that moment, people will flock there and kill their own kind for some useless rewards before being transported back to their own world."
"But that's not all; it will also be the moment for Divinities to choose their recruits. For what? For their universal forces that are using the entire Universe as a battlefield."
When he finished, Reonald looked into Rael's eyes before saying, "You didn't think for a second that it would turn out to be like this, huh?"
Rael, completely stunned by what he heard, tried to open his mouth and say something, but he couldn't.
Reonald's information turned out to be something beyond anything he could have ever imagined.
'So... We're going through this Apocalypse, these Games, just to prove our worth in front of more powerful races?'
"Reonald..." Not being aware of the tone he used, or the fact that he called him 'Reonald,' Rael's eyes turned a shade darker. "Are you telling me that whatever I'm going to achieve here would only be for some people to take advantage of and work me to the bone, without considering my life at all?"
Reonald was a bit surprised to feel a threat coming from Rael's direction. After all, he was a D Rank Lifeform; how could an F Rank Lifeform make him feel like that?
"It's a bit more complicated than that. It will take me a while to go into details. Do you want to hear everything?" Saying so, Reonald pointed to his house.
Rael softly nodded at him before calming down and following the man inside.
It's been a couple of hours since Rael and Reonald were discussing things inside the latter's house.
And after a few more minutes, Rael could be seen leaving. He seemed deep in thought.
So much that he didn't even notice Celia coming closer to him.
"Rael!" Her shout made him aware that someone was trying to talk to him. Turning around, he saw the beautiful Celia approaching him.
"Celia, I'm glad you're here. I was about to look for you," said Rael in a somber tone.
"You were looking for me? What's wrong? You don't seem alright at all. Did you make sure to rest for a bit?" The young woman was concerned about Rael's strange state.
He seemed to be absent from his own body, and there wasn't anything warm left in his eyes, only coldness.
"I'm sorry that it's on such short notice, but I decided to leave the Village and go out to discover some places."
"You don't have to worry though. I'll make sure to come back one day and properly say goodbye to you."
Drop! Celia dropped something that she was previously holding in her hand, behind her back.
It appeared to be five White Crystals and a gray one.
'This is...' Rael didn't have time to ask what happened because he saw the beautiful figure of Celia trembling, tears filling her face.
Without saying anything else, she turned around and left in a hurry.
"Huh? Wait a bit! Celia!" Rael tried to call for her, but she didn't respond. Instead, she completely disappeared from his vision.
'Why did she react like that?' Rael frowned for a while, but he couldn't think of a good reason to explain what just happened.
"Don't worry about Celia; I'm going to talk with her in a while. For now, just go. But don't forget to come back from time to time."
Reonald, who suddenly appeared close to Rael, looked at the Crystals on the ground. "You should take them; I'm sure they're going to be a good boost to your power."
Rael was still pondering what happened. He reluctantly nodded at Reonald before picking up the Crystals from the ground and slowly leaving the village.
'Go, go and meet your destiny, Rael Hamartia.'
"Well then, where should we go now?" Muttered Rael, as he was about ten kilometers away from the village.
He was going to get stronger, for his future, for his revenge, for everything that was still worthwhile in his eyes.