Lily - Pure Kindness
After Mark was expelled from the meeting room, everyone instinctively breathed a sigh of relief. Arden exhaled, looked at Nors and the others, and succinctly said, "In that case, everyone can prepare to disband."
"Finally, it's over." Alex stretched lazily, "I'm fed up with this tense atmosphere."
"Me too," Scarlett echoed. Mainly because Elder Arden's aura was too strong, and his face was stern and taciturn. Ethan followed behind the group, also not expressing any opinions.
"Alright, go prepare. We'll meet at the gate then," Nors said.
The next morning, Nors and the others were ready to depart.
Elder Elwin repeatedly reminded everyone, "Try not to eat or drink anything from strangers, got it?"
"Do you have enough food? And water?"
"Finish the task quickly and come back, don't linger."
"Ethan, you're the most stable one here, keep an eye on them."
"Alex, stop arguing with Scarlett, what's wrong with giving in to the girls?"
Elwin nagged for over ten minutes, completely ignoring the weary expressions on everyone's faces.
"Alright, old man, you're nagging too much, it's annoying," Alex interrupted impatiently.
Elwin unceremoniously punched him on the head, "Hey, you brat! Stop calling me an old man."
"Don't worry, uncle. I'll keep an eye on him!" Scarlett said disdainfully, adding fuel to the fire.
Elwin handed a rhombus-shaped necklace to Nors, "Take this. Once the academy's barrier is closed, it will become completely invisible. Use this to contact me."
The prism was a communication artifact made from beautiful energy crystals. No matter how far apart, voices could be transmitted. It was clearly a product of the Clair Magic Academy, known for their research on artifacts and had a long-standing friendship with the Noying Academy.
Nors nodded and accepted the communicator.
"Alright, let's set off."
"Check the archway on your way; there hasn't been any news from there for a long time, and I don't know how the patrol team is doing," Elwin added with concern.
"Yes," Nors and the others nodded.
"Alright, kids, I hope your journey is safe. May the spirits bless you."
Elwin waved his magic wand, and a small opening appeared in the barrier, just big enough for everyone to pass through.
"Goodbye, old man. Say hi to my mom for me," Alex waved vigorously.
"Alright, go on, go on," Elwin waved his hand to send them off quickly.
As soon as they left the barrier, the opening instantly closed, making the academy invisible to the naked eye. To outsiders, it looked like a peaceful lake.
After a long while, Nors finally spoke, "Let's go."
When they reached the archway, they were shocked by what they saw. The scene before them was entirely different from what they had imagined. The patrol leader and his team lay on the ground, blood staining the surrounding soil.
Nors was the first to react. He quickly drew his sword, looked around vigilantly, and signaled the others to be on guard.
"The wounds are exactly like Elder Yu's," Ethan observed the wounds on the bodies closely.
Everyone exchanged glances, a feeling of unease rising in their hearts.
"Let's temporarily bury the bodies. We can't go back now," Nors suggested. The others followed his advice and immediately began to act. Alex painfully used his blade to dig a deep enough pit. Once done, they silently placed the bodies inside. Scarlett gently waved her wand, summoning elemental sigils that caused the soil to automatically fill the pit.
Suddenly, the white sphere in the middle of the archway emitted a buzzing sound and began to vibrate violently. Strange lights flickered on its surface, and some kind of force surged within.
"Quick, find a place to hide!" Nors decisively grabbed Celia and ran. They each hid behind large rocks, ready to face any possible situation. After a few minutes, when the vibrations stopped, they didn't relax yet. A figure gradually appeared from the archway.
That outfit, and that weapon!
Exactly like the ones who attacked us that day!
Nors's pupils contracted. So those people appeared through this archway!
The person didn't move forward but stopped in place. However, he made a sweeping motion with his hand, and then a screen-like thing appeared in front of him. Nors carefully observed his mouth movements, suddenly had an idea, and imitated the action. A screen also appeared in front of him.
"Celia, try doing this," Nors whispered to Celia beside him.
Celia mimicked Nors's gesture, but Norsing appeared. She looked at Nors in confusion, indicating she saw Norsing.
Nursing?
Is it just Celia, or everyone else too?
Or...
Only I can see it.
Put that aside for now and see what he's muttering about.
"Slaughter... Noying... Academy, mission... failed, useless... guys. Seems like it's up to me. Let me see where..." The person didn't notice his surroundings and muttered to himself.
Nors felt like he was struck by lightning, his chest boiling with rage. This person had received some kind of order to slaughter their academy, just like those people!
"Celia! Kill him!" Nors's voice was filled with determination and ruthlessness. Without hesitation, Celia quickly gathered a light arrow in her left hand and shot it at the person.
Everyone was shocked, not expecting Celia to act so decisively.
Yes, they still thought of it as killing a person.
Alex wanted to stop her, but Scarlett immediately grabbed his clothes tightly.
"Hey! They're killing someone!" Alex growled softly.
Scarlett looked at him seriously, "Nors and Celia aren't the type to kill without reason. That person must be strange."
Alex was incredulous, "Does that justify killing someone?" He tried to shake off Scarlett's hand.
"That person was just talking about slaughtering, wasn't he? Should we wait for him to come and kill us?" Scarlett retorted.
Why is this guy always so naive?
Ethan remained silent, not expressing any opinion, but his eyes glanced towards Nors.
The arrow instantly hit the person, and he turned into a ball of light and disappeared, just like the other attackers.
Nors walked out from behind the rock, intending to examine the strange archway closely.
Alex immediately walked up to him, pointing at Celia and asking hoarsely, "Why kill?"
Celia frowned slightly, not understanding why he was questioning Nors.
Nors looked Alex up and down, then clicked his tongue and mocked, "I never knew you had a saintly heart."
Alex's face turned red with anger, "What did you say!"
"Put away your kindness. That person received an order to slaughter our academy. Are you deaf?" Nors said coldly and then walked straight towards the archway.
Alex was speechless, clenching his fists. He had never seen someone use magic to kill before. The attack on the academy happened too fast for him to react. He was surprised by Nors's calmness and Celia's decisiveness. Scarlett said Nursing, knowing that Alex was spoiled by his doting parents. Like an honor student living in an ivory tower, unaware of the danger, his most significant act was teasing her.
As Celia passed Alex, her usually cute demeanor turned cold, "Don't question Brother Yun." She followed Nors without looking at Alex's reaction.
Scarlett, unable to bear seeing him like this, patted his head, "When you don't know anything, observe before you speak."
Alex pulled Scarlett's hand in front of him, not letting her see his expression.
Sigh, really...
Now he looks like a scolded puppy?
Ethan, speechless, quickly walked towards the archway, not wanting to see any more.
After inspecting the archway, Nors found Norsing special, except that the light ball was likely a teleportation device.
"This archway seems to be a teleportation array. Let's destroy it."
"Shouldn't we inform the elders?" Ethan asked Nors.
"No need. They'll just waste time discussing for half a day. What if more people come in the meantime?" Nors thought of the elders who were all talk and no action. Better to solve the problem himself.
After thinking, Nors told everyone to step back.
He gripped his sword tightly and chanted a spell, "Elemental Magic - Whirlwind Slash!"
The sword was instantly enveloped in a fierce wind and struck the archway with a formidable force. Everyone expected the archway to shatter, but it remained unscathed, without a single crack. Nors's expression didn't change. He hadn't expected such a powerful attack to fail. The archway's defense was far beyond their expectations.
Scarlett summoned earth spirits and cast earth magic. Thousands of stones floated in the air and shot towards the archway.
The stones roared towards the archway, but it remained unscathed. Even Celia's light arrow said to pierce anything, was ineffective.
"The defense level of this archway is higher than any of us," Celia, the most powerful among them, said.
The situation became tricky. The enemies and challenges they faced might be more terrifying than they imagined.
Ethan spoke timely, "How about sealing it?"
Alex immediately understood, "Oh, right! You're a magic array master."
Ethan looked at the massive archway, thought for a moment, and suggested, "This archway isn't something I can completely seal. Its energy is at the spiritual level, maybe even higher."
"Those people easily killed Elder Yu, who was at the Tao level. The archway must be difficult to tackle."
"We might need an elemental array to seal it. I need everyone's elemental power," Ethan said.
Nors nodded, "The elemental array requires a lot of magic. Let's rest first."
Suddenly, Nors heard faint footsteps. He pulled out a dagger from his waist and threw it in a direction, shouting, "Come out yourself."