Draconic King of Shadows-Chapter 68: The Second Mission

Immediately Drax’s name was mentioned, everyone frowned. They didn’t know much about him, in fact the only thing they knew was his name, Ability, and the fact that he once bullied Damion. Now that his name was mentioned in something so serious, they tried to pull up what little they knew about him, but failed.

"I killed the Rhino, only for him to swoop in, attack me, and then use his superspeed to get away with the horns," Damion explained.

"So what do we do now?" Lyra asked. "I’m starving."

The sound of the bell in the compound drowned out Lyra’s cry, and their ears perked up. They shared a glance, wondering what Captain Shodan had in store for them this time, before they left together.

Lyra’s steps were drawn and sluggish. It was a result of fatigue and hunger. The rest were more tenacious and were not that affected by it, but it looked like Lyra was about to pass out.

She had probably not slept properly when Damion, Matilda and Kenzo returned and didn’t wake up immediately, even when the medics healed them of any minor injury.

The ten students stood before Captain Shodan in a semi circle. Drax had a triumphant smile etched on his face, and he threw cursory glances at Damion’s group. However, Damion didn’t spare him a glance.

’Pretending to be unfazed huh?’ Drax thought, his smile faltering at the lack of a reaction from Damion. ’This is just the beginning, I’m going to enjoy haunting you, Agony.’

"You have another mission that needs to be completed right now," Captain Shodan began, his voice carrying a deep bass to it.

"You see that mountain?" He asked, pointing behind with his thumb.

Damion squinted his eyes, and he vaguely saw the outline of a large mountain shaped structure in the distance.

"Get to it, pick a Wild Pink Rose and bring it back," he said. "The first three get to have a room to themselves."

The ten students didn’t bother to know what he meant by his last words and immediately dashed ahead, each one trying to one up the other in a battle of speed.

Kaiden took the lead almost immediately, turning into a bolt of lightning and flying straight ahead. Drax followed right after, almost surpassing Kaiden in just a few steps with his superspeed.

Shockingly, Melruen was the third. He moved so fast and suddenly that he created a massive dust cloud in his wake.

Emily followed him immediately, shifting forward on a platform of earth and cutting through the air at a shocking velocity.

Aspasia transformed her lower body, gaining a new strength and speed to them, before shooting after the rest.

The gang activated their various abilities too and dashed ahead, trailing not far behind.

Lyra was slow, and Damion didn’t hesitate to leave her behind. Kenzo charged ahead, his Stigmas glowing brightly as he turned into a streak of light.

Matilda had recovered from the previous day’s backlash, so she was able to enter a partially transformed state to increase her physical stats.

Damion, though, made use of a combination of his physical strength and his ability, to weave in and out of the dense foliage of the jungle. He located the farthest shadow in his range and dived through his shadow to reappear there. It chipped at his Mana slowly, but he needed to do so to not fail.

The fact that Captain Shodan didn’t give them a time limit probably meant that anyone who wasn’t in the top three would fail.

Damion considered using Shadow Possession, but he threw that thought out of his mind and instead summoned the Tang Dao.

His strength surged, and with the Blessing of Strength maximizing his power output, he moved faster than he usually would, catching up to those ahead quickly.

Matilda shot by him, but slowed down after and maintained the same pace as he did.

"You don’t need to follow me," Damion said to her, his gaze focused ahead. "Go."

Matilda blinked her eyes at him, then wrinkled her brows before increasing her speed, disappearing behind the trees.

Damion slowed down considerably after that and stopped, then Nyx turned visible.

"Why did you stop?" He asked.

"How long have you been living in this Jungle?" Damion replied with a question of his own.

"A very long time," Nyx responded.

"Surely you must know a shortcut," Damion claimed.

"If you’re talking about a shortcut to the mountain and back, then yes," Nyx replied, bobbing up and down.

A smile spread across Damion’s cheeks, and he resumed his run. "Show me."

***

Up ahead, Kaiden was moving quickly through the jungle, weaving through obstacles like he had foresight.

Drax was close by, pushing himself to his limits to keep up, yet failing. He didn’t know why, but he just had this need to not lose to Kaiden in a battle of speed.

The nagging feeling that he wouldn’t be at rest if he didn’t win was weighing down on his mind, so he channeled the frustrating feeling into focus and ran.

His Mana flooded his limbs, and a golden hue coated his body, a golden dot appearing on his forehead too. Drax’s speed nearly doubled, but somehow, Kaiden was matching that speed almost too easily.

Drax clicked his tongue, annoyed, and deviated, taking another path.

Kaiden’s long hair trailed behind him, their softness clearly seen through how well they danced behind.

Bluish sparks of lightning ran across his body, and his blue eyes gained a brighter color, looking more like glowing white orbs.

Each step he took took him forward by meters. The ground, wherever he stepped, got scorched, but his clothes didn’t seem to have that problem.

The smile on his face would make anyone who saw it scream ’pervert’, but Kaiden didn’t seem to care.

The smile on his face, however, suddenly froze, and he stomped his foot, coming to a screeching halt as his lightning lashed out at the spot ahead of him.

A wall of ice rose instantly, blocking the incoming lightning whip.

The whips landed on the ice wall with a loud crackle, and sparks danced around it before flickering out as the ice wall crumbled.

Ahead of Kaiden stood a female, having looks quite opposite to his.

Kaiden’s smile widened. "Ahh, Jane... it’s been a while."