Year 3, Day 74
Since I've been here, I've learned how things work in our universe.
Worlds can be classified into different grades: debris, lower world, upper world, each of which can then be divided into 1, 2, 3, or 4 stars.
According to the elders, Trynal, our world, is a one-star upper world.
Additionally, each world has at least two affiliated lower worlds. In other words, a two-star upper world has at least two "one-star sub-upper worlds," which in turn have at least two four-star lower sub-worlds, and so on.
Even so, the worlds are not close together. One often has to travel trillions of kilometers to find the nearest world.
The reason we say that lower worlds are "affiliated" with upper worlds is that void energy seems to follow certain paths that connect them and allow them to strengthen more quickly while facilitating transportation in the void.
I have no idea what this void energy is, but it seems to be something powerful.
Apparently, only cultivators of the transcendent realm can truly use it, so it's not for me yet.
…
Two regiments of the Great Army of Alandal quickly left the main camp, followed by a thousand soldiers from Yvengoth's troops and five hundred Wylarch killers, both led by a beginner rank 4.
The four intermediate existences flew over the army and were ready for any eventuality, while two sections led the way and were sent for reconnaissance.
James and Alice stood side by side, casting tense looks towards the horizon.
James glanced at Alice's beautiful face and her long white hair, feeling almost hypnotized.
"Damn it, if only I had been reincarnated as a Valyr!" he thought.
Since they had reached the capital, their relationship had grown closer and closer. Even though they hadn't done anything yet, their relationship had long surpassed that of mere friends.
Maybe because his former race was quite similar to the Valyrs, he felt very attracted to her. Whether it was her beauty, her strength, or her character, he thought she was perfect, but he couldn't make the final move.
He knew very well that it only took a small action on his part to conclude, but he was too scared to move.
"Ha, you're a real joke, kid," said the old immortal, laughing. "You're not even afraid to fight beings halfway to rank 5 as a beginner golden core cultivator, but you lose your nerve in front of a girl. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it." The old man was almost doubled over with laughter, wiping tears of joy from his eyes.
"Shut up, old man, it's not the same!" James roared inwardly.
"Bahahaha, look at him getting angry."
"Old man, you—"
"James, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Alice interrupted their internal dispute when she saw James's expression change.
James's anger deflated instantly, and he almost stuttered.
"No, no, it's nothing, why?"
Alice said nothing and just narrowed her eyes, giving him a suspicious look.
James could only spend the next few minutes trying to calm the young magus while the other rank 4s watched the scene with astonishment and the perceptive men of the Great Army raised flags internally, encouraging the young naga.
Meanwhile, the troop did not slow down and headed at high speed toward the nearest village.
…
A few hours later, in the main camp of the student armies.
Sylvera stood in his office reading the daily reports, feeling his irritation grow as he sensed a strange gaze directed at him.
After long minutes, he finally snapped and slammed his fist on the table, almost splitting it in two.
"Are you going to stay here much longer?" he roared at the person in front of him.
The woman smiled gently, exposing her razor-sharp white teeth. She crossed her legs and placed her pretty face on her scaly hand.
"Why? I haven't done anything," she said cheerfully.
Sylvera felt his patience rapidly diminishing.
"Exactly, you're not doing anything and you're disturbing me!" he roared, pointing at her.
Isabella just smiled, lightly flapping her wings as her tail swayed, showing that she loved the current situation.
"Oh, come on, we've only been here a few days, why are you so tense? Want me to give you a massage?" she said, getting up and approaching Sylvera.
The high priestess didn't really know why, but since she had met Sylvera recently, it was as if she was obsessed with him.
It wasn't as if she was an easy girl. In fact, the female drake had never been so close to a man because she had never found one worthy.
She clearly felt it; Sylvera was stronger than her, even though she was at the absolute pinnacle of rank 5.
It wasn't like Ilbert. He was also very powerful, but she was convinced it would at worst be a draw.
She didn't really know how to describe this feeling, but she knew it. It was her instinct.
Moreover, Sylvera was a melee warrior with a solid physique and bulging muscles that attracted her immensely.
It's worth noting that dragons had always been very possessive and aggressive about anything they liked, including their partners.
Since Isabella had finally found a man who suited her, she didn't intend to let go.
She jumped on him and wrapped herself around him like a koala, her arms around his neck and her legs tightly around his waist, while her tail tickled his body.
Their scales touched and rubbed, stimulating them both.
Sylvera found the distance much too close and tried to move away, but strangely, he couldn't muster all his strength.
For the first time in hundreds of years, Sylvera's green and beige scales slowly retracted, revealing a beautiful tanned skin.
At the same time, his face gradually changed shape, becoming more human, making the high priestess blush slightly.
As their heads were just a few centimeters apart,
BAM
"Marshal !"
A red-moon naga with a general's rank burst into the office at full speed, smashing the door and surprising the couple in the act.
Sylvera exploded with all his strength and pushed Isabella away, but it took him some time to bring his scales back.
The general widened his eyes but, as a pinnacle magus, quickly regained his composure and pretended not to see anything, waiting for the marshal to return to his true form.
"What is it that you're making so much noise about?" he finally growled, still upset.
The man gave a formal salute and suddenly took on a fierce expression.
"Reporting, Marshal, we found three corpses in the southeast zone of the camp!"
"WHAT?!" Sylvera roared so loudly that almost everyone in the camp heard him, then let his terrifying aura loose.
Almost all beings below rank 2 instantly fainted, while the others were pinned to the ground.
Only the intermediate existences and a few rank 3s barely managed to stay standing.
Sylvera made no distinction between the Great Army and the other armies. Everyone was affected.
He immediately scanned the entire camp with his spiritual sense and quickly found the murder site.
He instantly made a hole in the wall and rushed to the spot, quickly followed by Isabella and the naga general.
BANG
BANG
They easily broke the sound barrier, sending a huge gust of wind that made the whole camp tremble.
As they flew through the air, everyone who could still move followed his lead and joined him in an instant, facing the three corpses.
Or rather, what was left of them. In fact, it was hard to even call them corpses.
All that remained were three bloody piles of flesh and bone, completely reduced to mush.
"Do we know when this happened?" Sylvera asked the general who had just landed.
The man could only shake his head in disappointment.
"Not really, a soldier found them a little while ago and quickly reported it, but there was no sign of this before."
Sylvera could only frown as he looked at the gruesome scene.
"Since the blood hasn't completely dried yet, it probably happened today," he said grimly as his murderous aura rose into the air, sending shivers down the spines of everyone still conscious in the camp.
Seeing Sylvera trembling with anger but forcing himself to stay calm, Isabella almost felt sorry for the one who committed the act.
"I hope for their sake that the war chiefs have nothing to do with this; otherwise, Sylv might massacre their entire race in one fell swoop," she thought.
Meanwhile, all the rank 4s in the camp had gathered around the corpse, and even Ilbert had arrived, looking at the scene with a calm gaze.
The great mage suddenly approached the scene and scanned everything with his spiritual sense, then extended his hands and several spell matrices formed in the air.
The others said nothing and let him examine the area thoroughly.
Finally, he could only lower his arms after a while and give an embarrassed smile.
"Sorry, but I can't find anything. These guys were very meticulous. There's no trace of magic used in this area. I didn't even find a single organic particle from anyone. It's likely there was no fight at all. Someone just came and simply crushed them with pure brute force. Since all the rank 4s are more or less monitored, I imagine it's probably one or more rank 3s specialized in body reinforcement."
Sylvera gradually calmed down upon hearing Ilbert's report.
Even though he was still angry, being impulsive wouldn't help.
"Do you have anything on the victims?" he asked, pointing to the three piles of flesh.
However, Ilbert could only shake his head in dismay.
"Judging by their muscle density, there were two apprentice warriors and one warrior. Given the size of the pile of meat,
they are probably from small-sized species. I can't tell you more; I've been busy guarding the portals lately and haven't had time to study the races that came with us."
Ilbert could only display an embarrassed smile.
However, Isabella stepped forward at that moment and sniffed the air slightly above the bodies.
Sylvera watched her cute nose wrinkle slightly and almost forgot the situation as he got lost in her beautiful face.
"I recognize their scent. These three guys were mountain dwarves."
Liam's incarnation, who was also at the scene, turned his attention to Lucie's incarnation, who wore a very grim expression.
Given her look, he was almost certain Isabella was right.
Meanwhile, the other incarnations could only cast insistent glances at her, some contemptuous, others pitying, and the rest indifferent.
After a while, Isabella turned to the crowd of officers and spirit beasts and began sniffing them one by one.
Finally, she stopped in front of a beginner Valyr magus and looked him straight in the eyes.
"You, where were you this morning?"
Under the drake's piercing gaze, the old mage felt his spirit tremble as he stammered.
"I—I was at—at my p—post, I—I swear!"
Isabella gave him a flick that seemed to bring him back to reality.
"I know, otherwise I would have already separated your head from your body, so don't test my patience and take us to your regiment's camp!"
As she ordered the poor old general, she also sent a mental transmission to Ilbert and Sylvera.
"There's another scent mixed with that of the mountain dwarves. Even though it's not very present, it's clear someone else was there. Either it's because someone is trying to cover their tracks, or it's because they were there before. In any case, it could be a clue. Moreover, this scent does not belong to any of the races of the war chiefs."
She quickly shared her findings with them as the group of intermediate existences flew through the air.
As for the divine envoys, they had already told them to act as if they were not there. They were just supervising the area and would only intervene in case of a mortal threat to the entire army, so she said nothing to them.
With their flying speed, it only took them a few moments to reach the northeast zone of the camp.
"I see, it's at the border!" said Sylvera.
When they arrived in this world, they were at the far north of the plan, almost glued to the spatial barrier.
The student armies' camp could be roughly divided into three parts: the entire north was occupied by the Great Army, which also guarded the portals, the southwest was occupied by the other elite class students, and the southeast by the other twenty students.
The old Valyr general's regiment was located at the junction between the Great Army's camp and that of the lower class students.
Moreover, this distinction was easily noticeable.
Where the mages of Alandal had made a clean and orderly camp, the others were a completely chaotic and random mess.
Sniff Sniff
Isabella smelled the area below her again and followed her nose, while the others hurried to follow.
Finally, she reached a large dilapidated tent made of torn fabric and easily destroyed it with a wave of her hand, then smiled brightly.
"Haha, found it!" she said joyfully.
Nearly two hundred intermediate existences looked down at the remains of the tent where two purple beings about 2.5 meters tall with double-jointed arms struggled to stay conscious under Sylvera's oppressive aura.
When the two rank 3 beings saw those towering over them, they plunged into despair and lost consciousness.