"Oh? You actually managed to dodge my attack; you indeed seem to have some kills" Xander said while nodding in approval
"Ok! I will grace you with the honor of being one of my people, and as you should know, once you're my people, you will enjoy life along with me when I inherit the academy" he said with confidence as if rejecting wasn't even a possibility
"No way! He actually got recognized by Xander"
"Damn, I wish that was me"
"The people that are loyal to him are given cultivation resources and much more, I guess his luck is also part of a skill"
"....."
"What's wrong? Oh! Are you mute? No wonder you haven't spoken since and were just using gestures, no worries, just sign a contract of loyalty and be accepted as one of my people" he said as if it was a reward
"....."
"-_-"
"What? You don't want to be one of my people?"
Rio shook my head to show he was indeed refusing his request. It is not that Rio refuses to speak, he just prefers not to waste time on such a person, and if he spoke right now it might escalate the situation, right now he needed to train and get strong as fast as possible.
"Huh? It seems you haven't come to terms with reality, by looking at you, those who are weak have no will against those with a bigger fist, I wanted you as one of my people, but now I have changed my mind, I want you as a slave!" as he said that he once again disappeared, however, Rio already expected this
Rio rotated my body 90 degrees dodging Xander's punch slightly from behind and while carrying on his motion, Rio swept his leg making him fall on his bottom.
To be honest, Rio wanted to kill him on the spot, however, there were too many witnesses here and this guy seemed to be one with a very strong background, the repercussions were not worth his little silly life.
Suddenly Rio's instinct kicked in and made his arms block a roundhouse kick that Xander made while he was still on the floor. He used the momentum from the block to smoothly get up and analyze Rio, then he seemed to start chanting readying an attacking move
However, before he could finish the chant, someone placed their hands on his shoulder. "Xander, instead of kicking up a fuss in this little place, did I not tell you to go train for the upcoming competition, I sent someone looking for you just to be making trouble."
"Grandpa?" he called in a low voice
"Let's go, it's time for your medicinal soak, since you are still in the growing phase, we need to force out all the potential you have."
They both walked out with Xander looking back at Rio while slightly squinting his eyes and his injured "person" walking out behind them. Leaving the scene with noise-deafening silence.
Rio walked out of the Mission Hall, he had three days left to prepare for the competition, since everybody was getting ready for the competition classes weren't necessary for that week and we could train without being disturbed, so he decided what better way to train than to go farm some EXP.
Since Rio broke through and reached 2nd Rank Mage, it would be better for him to go further deep into the forest to get more EXP than killing the little beast around the academy. So, Rio went to his dorm and got everything he needed for this three-day expedition.
If Rio could reach peak Mage, it would be better since the prodigies natured are at least 4th Rank Mages and he needs to be matched with them, it would be easy with origin magic, however, he can't use it in front of people or it would arise suspicion.
After one day in the forest and killing a menial beast slowly raking in EXP points Rio looked for a place to rest, Rio didn't need to sleep since a Mage can go about half a week without sleeping just by cultivating, he just needed a safe place to cultivate.
After searching and killing, Rio finally found a cave near a swamp, so he entered and killed all the insects in there before clearing the cave to look habitable. After securing a base, he once again went to kill some more beasts, however since the ground was already wet at the entrance of the cave, Rio smudged the ground to make a smooth wet surface, so if anyone entered a footprint would appear.
Rio left the cave swiftly and started to go further into the forest he started to feel a bit anxious, so he stopped and surveyed the area to see if anyone was following him, 'what's the reason I'm feeling anxious' Rio thought before disregarding the thought, it was an alarming feeling but just a little caution
But to be sure let me put all the EXP into stat before continuing into the forest.
'status'
[Ding!]
Name: Rio Casmir
EXP- 20,500
Class: 2nd rank Mage
Subclass: 1st Rank Hachidan Martial Artist
Strength: 54.6
Agility: 57.8
Endurance: 52.0
Mana: 150.0
'The point I have now won't be enough to rank up to 3rd Rank Mage and my other attributes are all already high enough, I'll rake in more EXP and get stat point to 200.' Rio thought before heading further into the forest
'GRRRR'
'a beast?' Rio thought as he heard growls and it seemed to be targeted at me
Rio furrowed his brows as he couldn't see the beast and could only hear the light growl, it seemed to see him as a threat due to it not immediately attacking however it seemed that the beast deemed itself stronger as Rio heard the low growl slowly get louder and clearer.
A what seems to be a 5-foot-tall panther of some sort with Dark black fur, sharp eyes, two curved teeth sticking out of its mouth, and a creased snot clearly showing its hostility towards Rio
'System analyze'
[Ding!]
[High-Level Beast - Demonic Shadow Panther]
'High Level? Oh, I never needed to analyze a beast before, so it seems I wasn't aware of the power levels for beasts' Rio thought realizing back at the cave he killed two High-level beasts.
After asking the system about the power level for the beast, he gained a general understanding of the power levels and the points that come along with it.
[Ding!]
Ranks Beast
· Regular Animals: – 199
· Low-Level Beast: 200 – 999
· Intermediate Level Beast: 1000– 3999
· High-Level Beast: 4000 – 9999
· Superior Level Beast: 10,000 – 19,999
· Lord-Level Beast: 20,000 – 49,999
· God-Level Beast: 50,000 – 100,000
Seeing this really does make me feel small, it seems Rio really got lucky when dealing with the two Superior Levels, if he didn't know where the weak spot for the sleeping wolf was, it would have been nearly impossible to kill and get the EXP to kill the other wolf albeit nearly dying.
Rio then focused all his attention on the Panther ahead of him and although he knew he could kill it, it won't be easy, and he couldn't do a near suicide spell like last time; sucking basically all the mana from his dantian since he was in the middle of this dangerous forest, there are two ways to deal with this situation, fight or flight and the flight option is looking like the better option.
'If only I had a larger pool of mana, I could fully optimize the spells I learned from the inheritance' Rio contemplated while making his decision and running back towards the academy since the competition is in three days, Rio surely can't get injured here and risk losing the opportunity to enter the secret realm.