After a few hours of practice, Kael had finally decided to head back to the academy, taking the exact turns he had used to get to that part of the forest.
For a while, he was heading straight, and to his surprise, he hadn't reached the end of the forest. At first, he assumed it was probably farther than he remembered, but after trekking for a few more minutes, he instantly knew he was lost.
'Where the hell am I? I followed my directions to the last detail…'
[Use your sensitive hearing. Maybe that could help you pick something up.]
Kael nodded to the artificial voice of the system, then dimmed his eyes to focus solely on his hearing. At first, all he could hear was the wind and the shaking leaves, but as he listened further, he picked up the sound of human boots meeting the ground and murmurs.
He wasn't far away after all.
He rushed toward the origin of the sound and soon found the end of the forest, entering a strange place he had no idea of.
The ground beneath him was hard concrete, and in front of him was what looked like a market, with numerous houses and a variety of goods scattered about.
The feeling of being lost immediately disappeared as he saw people in the crowd wearing the academy's uniform. This reassured him that he could find his way back just by following one of them.
Kael, now being in the marketplace, saw this as an opportunity to purchase some raw flesh for his own consumption since he could no longer eat normal food. He knew he would surely need food during the Farm Hunt.
At least he had some money left in his bank; hopefully, the currency on his phone would be spendable here.
Kael mixed into the crowd and began searching for a meat seller. Eventually, he found one, and luckily, he was able to buy a few chunks of raw meat with all the money left in his bank app.
After making the purchase, he asked the woman for directions back, which she gave instantly, a smile plastered on her face.
Kael responded with an equally special smile. During his time in the market, he noticed that all the vendors were Grade Ones and looked very stressed. He had no idea what caused that but knew it had to be tied to the power system of the world.
This was a brief reminder that he needed to grow stronger and—
Kael paused by an alleyway instinctively as his ears caught the sound of something in the distance.
He turned his head and, with his sharp eyesight, spotted two large boys beating the hell out of a small, skinny boy.
He wanted to just walk past, but he felt an urge to help, feeling a little confident in himself and his learned skill.
He went into the alleyway and, when he got closer to the boys, yelled:
"Hey, let that kid go!"
The two boys jolted in fright at his voice, turning hesitantly, but as they saw who it was, they stood tall, their expressions holding sickening grins.
Kael felt a chill run down his spine. This was the worst-case scenario. One of the boys was someone he couldn't recall, but the other was Mike from Elliot's team.
"Look who we have here."
"I can't believe my rematch comes so soon. You'll regret ever hitting me," Mike said smugly, approaching Kael with a grin on his face.
This was the only member of Elliot's crew whose ability Kael had no idea about. He needed to be cautious and precise in his approach.
'The goal is to save the kid and escape... I can't take the two of them down.'
As Mike got close enough, Kael sprang forward, throwing a fist at his face, but Mike sidestepped, avoiding the attack completely.
"You call that an attack?"
"Shockwave!"
Kael yelled at the top of his voice, activating his Shockwave skill. An almost visible wave exited his fist and struck Mike.
The wave was so strong that it threw Mike into the nearest wall. This fact agitated both Kael and the other boy, as they were both thinking the same thing:
'What sort of ability is this?'
Kael had no idea the Shockwave skill was this strong. When he used it against Leonard, it had no effect, probably because of the strength of his opponent.
Still, this was no time to think. While the other boy was distracted with Mike, who was slowly recovering on the floor, Kael raced past him to the boy on the ground.
In mere seconds, Kael hoisted the boy onto his shoulders and began to run as fast as he could without looking back, in case an attack was thrown at him. He prioritized escaping the alley over engaging in a battle.
"Hey! You come back here! How dare you run after an attack?! Coward!"
Luckily, the other person was not a ranged attacker and couldn't pursue Kael, thanks to his speed.
In a matter of seconds, Kael made it outside the alley and continued running through various corners until he reached a distance he deemed safe. Then he dropped the boy onto his feet.
The boy hadn't said a single word since Kael saved him—not a thank you or even a sorry. Nothing but looking down at the ground like an innocent puppy.
"Hey, you're safe now. What's wrong?" Kael's eyes met the necklace the boy wore, and he instantly understood why he felt this way. The boy was a Grade One.
Kael waited for a response, but each time the boy opened his mouth to speak, he stuttered again and again until Kael grew tired.
"Okay, I'll be leaving. Just try your best to avoid any more trouble," Kael said, turning around and walking in a direction he had no idea led anywhere.
After Kael disappeared from view, the boy, Cole, thought about the words Kael had said to him. 'Trouble? Why does this guy act like he's not a Grade One like me?'
He thought about this for a while, but as he did, he felt a hand tap him on the back, startling him into jumping to his feet.
"What's so startling, you fool? Your acting was great, except at the end, when you kept stuttering like an idiot!" The person who tapped him hissed in annoyance, and Cole shrugged.
Mike and the other boy Kael had hit also emerged, their faces pressed with rage.
"What the hell! I'm gonna kill that friggin' newbie! He hit me with some sort of ability and ran off like a coward!" Mike ranted angrily, walking over to Cole and planting a fist into his gut, forcing him to his knees.
"Don't take your anger out on my slave. You all did well," the supposed boss of the gang chuckled. "Hold your aggressiveness, because in the next step, we'll make sure to kill Kael Auron in the Dark Hunt."
"Eric, are you sure we should attempt something that far?" Mike asked, concerned about the weight of killing under the academy's laws.
Eric laughed again. "He's been too cocky lately. We'll just lie that it was a beast. I'm from a great family, and as long as you're under me, nothing bad can happen to you. And Cole here will be the key to succeeding in this plan."