Those guarding the entrance however appeared rather oblivious, chatting idly.
As he noticed their aloofness, Lucius couldn't help but wonder, 'Don't they sense it?' he thought to himself, his mind racing with questions.
It's almost as if he was reacting without rhyme or reason.
Yet Lucius was sure of this strange and unsettling feeling which from the depth of his heart was echoing one thing— a powerful presence was approaching.
Lucius couldn't discern whether the guards outside were genuinely ignorant of the presence or if they were intentionally ignoring it, having already noticed it.
Every instinct within him was screaming to flee, to escape whatever was approaching but a wrong judgment could very well put his life in danger, once again.
Thus, despite noticing its presence, he was rather hesitant to make his move.
Letting out a mouth full of turbid air, he then made his decision to stay and observe this event before making his move, after much careful consideration.
After all, if the situation turns ugly, as the saying goes, "Amid chaos there is also opportunity"
Though even if it gets violent, he never intended to get his hands dirty. No matter what happens, his first and foremost priority is his survival.
Returning to his position, Lucius then began to track this formidable aura he was sensing. For some while, he continued to track.
But after a while, abruptly the fluctuation of this aura he was sensing vanished without a trace.
Feeling quite perplexed, Lucius murmured, "What? It vanished?"
At the same time, somewhere far away from the location where Lucius was held captive right now, tearing through the dense forest, a silhouette darted through the air at an incredible speed.
Suddenly the silhouette came to an abrupt stop as it froze at a place.
Dressed in an intricately designed ethereal robe that was fluttering along with the wind, his silvery eyes glowed as he jolted his eyes on a faraway location, "I can see the camp" he murmured in a low whisper.
"But wait a minute, how could I see the camp? Should I instead be saying that I can sense it? Hahaha....." Talking to himself while making fun of his disability of not being able to see, he burst into laughter.
However although blind, he was still blessed or perhaps cursed with a sharp sense of mana sense. This allowed him to discern things and people based on the presence of mana.
The only drawback was, that he couldn't properly determine the inanimate objects. Since mana is present almost everywhere, he could still detect those inanimate objects based on the absence of mana.
Then again, he shifted his gaze to the moon, hidden behind wispy clouds. The sight of the moon hidden behind wispy clouds made him wonder, 'Why didn't I encounter any monster on the way?'
Though he couldn't see the moon, he could still sense it.
Although he wasn't traveling on foot, which had already reduced his chances of encountering a monster, he should have still encountered some flying monsters on his way.
Having experienced such encounters many times in the past, he couldn't help but feel perplexed for not encountering any monsters on his way right now.
As he thought about his journey until this point, suddenly something perked up inside him as he noticed a fluctuation in his mana. "Ahh... So, I forgot to conceal my aura huh?"
Once again as he realized his ignorance, he burst into laughter, "Hahaha..... I have excellent mana sense yet I couldn't sense the fluctuations of my own mana. Seems like I must be nearing my end hahaha"
No sooner had those words escaped his mouth, than all of a sudden his concentration peaked as he concealed the mana escaping his body by concentrating it within his body.
"No it didn't vanish, it simply concealed its mana." Murmuring such, Lucius concluded.
"It's not a simple being if it can conceal its mana at will," he said darkly as he contemplated the abilities of the mysterious creature whose aura he had sensed moments earlier.
Shingggg!! Shinggggg!!
In a dimly lit tent lit by the flickering flames of candles, a ringing sound similar to that of a sword rubbed against a whetstone could be heard. While at the walls of the tent, a silhouette of a person grinding an axe time and again could be seen.
Currently, Marcius was sharpening his axe.
"How long are you planning on remaining outside?" he spoke while continuing with his task, noticing the presence of the person standing outside his tent.
No sooner had he finished speaking, a man lifted the veil covering the entrance of the tent and made his way inside the tent.
As he entered the tent, the man broke into a soft laughter and spoke cheerfully, "Sorry for interrupting you, I hope I'm not disturbing you."
He was quite courteous.
Marcius spoke sternly while continuing his task, "So they sent you here huh, Blake the blind magus" without being bothered by the person's presence.
"Even though the boy is related to Princess Rafaela's assassination attempt, however, sending the only grandmaster magus of the empire for an escort mission away from the capital isn't it a bit too excessive?" Marcius continued.
Blake the blind magus responded with a sly smile, "Well, I could say the same about you, Captain Marcius, slaughterer of a thousand demons. Why would you volunteer to come here just to hunt a berserker?"
"Perhaps this is because you're planning on entering the Royal palace this time by finding the lair of the berserk demon?" playing with words, Blake continued as if he was only guessing while trying to provoke Marcius.
Just as Blake finished his words, Marcius threw the axe he was sharpening towards Blake. Even so, while coming face to face against Marcius's axe aimed towards him, Blake didn't even budge even an inch as he stood there with no fear.
The axe stopped right in front of his eyes.
And although Blake couldn't see it, he could still feel the presence of the axe right in front of his eyes.
"Watch your mouth, old man. The next time you try to speak such nonsense, you won't have a mouth left to speak further" Marcius while controlling the axe with his aura, threatened Blake in an indignant tone.