(Back of the Earth Mountain {Real World})
While the back of the Earth Mountain is considered dangerous and forbidden to venture there alone, it's also a place where missions are being carried out, its dense forests stretching endlessly with towering trees and jagged rocks scattered across the uneven ground.
The Northern Gladiator Guild does issue guild missions to its disciples...
Missions ranging from defeating a specific beast to collecting a specific carcass, herbs, or energy cores hidden deep within dangerous territories..
Currently, the now champion of the Earth Pavilion — Nicollo — was on such a mission.
He wasn't alone but brought along with him 5 of his lackeys, and naturally Mastrile was among them, walking slightly ahead with a cautious gaze sweeping across the thick vegetation.
They're on a mission to bring back the dead body of an Obsidian Rabbit...
Naturally, the beast isn't that dangerous, but it was very difficult to catch due to its extreme agility and craftiness, often darting between shadows like a streak of black lightning.
They've been rotating around the forest for the past 1 hour, their boots crunching softly against fallen leaves, until one of the lackeys announced that he saw something like the Obsidian Rabbit stroll into a cave.
"And you didn't say anything about it.." Nicollo reprimanded, his tone sharp and displeased.
"I'm not too sure. I was waiting for it to run out again before announcing." The lackey replied, lowering his head slightly under Nicollo's stern gaze.
"Instead of standing and arguing.. Why don't we go inside and check it out?" Mastrile suggested, his voice calm but firm, and they quickly bought his suggestion.
The team of 6 walked slowly and steadily into the cave.. They didn't run for two reasons..
One was to avoid allowing the creature to suspect something and run away..
The second was to avoid any other creature coming their way, as caves often housed more than just one beast.
They moved in silence into the almost dark cave, if not for the faint light from outside penetrating the rocky entrance and casting long shadows along the damp walls.
They haven't moved up to 20 meters when the lackey spotted the Obsidian Rabbit on the floor.
"That's it..." He announced to the rest, and they turned to the direction he pointed just to see a black creature lying on the floor in front of them, its body motionless against the cold stone surface.
The white two front teeth of the beast were long and covered with blood, while the beast's eyes were closed, its glossy fur stained dark with dried crimson.
Sniffs sniffs**
"I smell blood.." Mastrile whispered as he squinted his eyes into the darkness, his grip tightening around the hilt of his sword. Nicollo also wondered that something ain't right here..
He also squinted his eyes, and then the darkness took a shape.
An outline appeared in the midst of the darkness and slowly formed a silhouette, standing unnaturally still like a statue carved from shadow.
The two shifted back instantly as they pulled out their weapons instantly, the faint scrape of metal echoing softly within the narrow cave walls. Mastrile pulling out a sword while Nicollo pulled out two daggers, their polished edges reflecting the dim light that filtered in from the cave entrance...
The 4 other lackeys also pulled out their weapons.. One pulled out a gauntlet while two pulled out axes of identical shape and size, the last pulling out a sword but the quality was inferior to that of Mastrile, its blade slightly chipped and worn from repeated use..
The silhouette in front of them squinted his eyes at the two lackeys holding the identical axes and then back to Nicollo, his gaze calm and steady despite being surrounded.
"Who are you and what's your mission here?" Nicollo asked, pointing his dagger at the silhouette in front of him. He couldn't sense any energy from the person in front of him.. So he was very confident of taking the person on.
The reason why he was alerted was that the silhouette was stepping on the body of the Obsidian Rabbit which is very difficult to kill..
"Is that how to welcome an Old Friend? Nicollo.. Or should I call you the Champion of the Earth Pavilion.."
The voice of the silhouette traveled into the ears of the six present, and many among them seemed to recognize the voice instantly, their expressions shifting from caution to disbelief.
Nicollo's heart skipped a beat as his hands reached for his wristband, pressing a button as a bright light flipped out, dispersing the surrounding darkness and illuminating the damp cave interior.
And the silhouette's face came into view...
The former champion of the Earth Pavilion.. Socrates Trueblood.. All in flesh..
"How? You were supposed to be dead?" Nicollo asked with a shocked expression, his grip tightening around the daggers.
"Yeah.. Logically I'm supposed to be, but miraculously I didn't... My body was protected by a Goddess." Socrates replied, his voice calm and steady, and the six looked at him as if he were spouting nonsense.
"So a Goddess protected you in this Earth Mountain for six months? Why didn't you just leave? What did you come back for? Revenge?" Mastrile asked, slightly confused, his brows knitting together as suspicion filled his eyes.
"Was it just six months?" Socrates arched a brow in confusion.. He had spent years in the space created by the Gladiator King Achillia.
"Yes. We threw your body in this forest six months ago expecting that you'll be long eaten by beasts.. Surprisingly, you've been alright all this while.. How did you manage to survive out here? Let me guess.. The Goddess saved you." Nicollo said and ended up chuckling, which caused the others to chuckle too, their laughter echoing faintly within the cave.
Socrates just stood there looking at them, his thoughts processing another piece of information.
'Seems like time flows differently in the space created by the Gladiator King. Wow, this is a good news for me.'
The silence that followed carried a faint tension, broken only by the distant dripping sound of water from the cave ceiling.
"Where is that your Goddess? I bet she's the one that killed the Obsidian Rabbit." One of the lackeys said to Socrates, who arched his brow and then looked down at the small beast he was stepping on, its dark fur matted with dried blood beneath the sole of his bare foot...
"This.. I killed it by myself.. With just a single blow." Socrates said to the team, his tone calm and unhurried, and they burst into laughter, the mocking sound bouncing harshly off the stone walls of the cave.
"I was never aware the former champion of the Earth Pavilion is such a comedian." Nicollo laughed out loud, his shoulders shaking slightly as he tilted his head back.
"He doesn't even have an ounce of energy. A Cultivator with a broken meridian killing a first level Energy Condensation beast?"
"Or he thought every creature was like Candidate 160 who was willing to die for him?"
The team discussed among themselves, exchanging amused glances while tightening their grips around their weapons..
"I was waiting for him to call his goddess to come protect him.."
"Let's see the so-called goddess of his..."
"Months alone in the forest might have made the Son of Trueblood run mad."
"Look at how he's naked with nothing but chains on both wrists and legs." One of them added, his gaze lingering briefly on the heavy metallic cuffs that rested against Socrates' skin.
"Is that his sense of fashion?"
"I'll go retrieve the Obsidian Rabbit from him.." The lackey with a sword stepped forward as he walked past Nicollo and Mastrile, closing the space between him and Socrates, his boots scraping lightly against the uneven cave floor.
"You know even if you're lucky to survive.. You should have just played dead and found a way to escape instead of coming back here.. Of course. You're here again.. You're here to die." The Earth Pavilion disciple said to Socrates as he took a step forward while also swinging his sword forward in motion, wanting to crash it into the head of Socrates.
Socrates raised his right hand lazily as the blade fell on it, passing through the space between two of his fingers but couldn't go any further as he closed the fingers together with the blade in the midst of it, the metal stopping completely as if caught inside an iron clamp.
'Why is the blade not pressing forward?' The disciple asked as he tried to move the blade when Socrates twisted his hand and the blade snapped instantly, breaking into two with a sharp metallic crack that echoed through the cave..
"What?" The eyes of the lackey widened as he heard the snapping sound of his blade, but before he could move or know what next, the air around him distorted slightly as Socrates' left fist rushed towards his stomach with explosive speed..
He didn't even have a chance to react.. He saw the blow but he couldn't move as the punch landed squarely on his chest, taking his body off the ground and flinging him backward with a great force, his body crashing violently against the rocky surface behind the group.
The heads of the team turned from Socrates to the disciple who landed behind them instantly, passing out with blood seeping out of his chest and staining the ground beneath him.
'A single blow...' The thought loomed over them as they started reviewing all what Socrates had said, their earlier laughter fading into stunned silence.