Eternal Freedom's Ascension-Chapter 49: Something’s Wrong

Kaiser dropped from the tree, drawing attention to himself. Facing the ferocious stares of the beasts, he remained unfazed.

He unsheathed the Unremarkable Sword, his lips curling into a slight grin.

"How about everyone peacefully die and drop their crystals?"

As if sensing the implication of his words, the beasts let out threatening sounds. Kaiser sighed, as if disappointed in their answer.

"Why can’t we settle this peacefully...?" He vanished.

Howl~!

A wolf cried out, leaping away with a deep wound on its thigh. Kaiser didn’t let it land. A single thrust pierced its skull, ending its life instantly.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Bone Wolf]

He dismissed the screen, then descended into the midst of the remaining beasts.

...

Ten minutes passed, and the howling sounds seized. A deathly silence hung in the air, along with the heavy scent of blood.

Beast carcasses lay scattered on the ground, each sporting cuts that bled heavily. The vegetation below was soaked in blood, dyed red like the evening sun.

A single person stood amidst this sight, shoulders slumped and expression blank. Slowly, clarity returned to those eyes as they shifted with a dull ache. He looked at the carnage surrounding him, then at his bloodstained figure.

’Ugh... I fell into that state again. I even got myself drenched.’

He clicked his tongue, then wiped the blood off his cheeks. Sensing the persistent ache in his eyes, he immediately deactivated [Eyes of Sequence].

The pain receded, and his vision returned to normal. Sheathing his sword, he summoned the dagger, then began digging out the soul crystals from the corpses. Even though the scene looked gory, he was indifferent, already used to it as a trained assassin prodigy.

While he was harvesting his spoils, a few beasts came by, attracted by the scent of blood. Their growls filled the silence as they arrived, only to turn into whimpers upon spotting the blood-soaked figure walking about.

Eventually, he collected all the crystals, then smiled thinly. "Looking at the rewards, killing them isn’t so useless."

......

In the monitoring room, a deathly silence hung over the room. All eyes were fixated on a single student, unable to look away.

"Is that... a student?"

Natalie gulped, her pink eyes held a high degree of seriousness. Her eyes shifted to her friend, whose expression remained unchanged.

"Rina. That’s your student?"

Myke asked, a tight frown on his lips. The other instructors were also astonished. This single figure had slain over twenty beasts all by himself.

Rina didn’t reply, as her mind was elsewhere. She looked at that blood soaked figure, reminiscing about a familiar man she once looked up to.

’So similar.’

"Rina."

A heavy voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned, looking at the oldest instructor among them.

Instructor Rutherford had opened his eyes, solemnly staring at the screen. He didn’t even glance at Rina as he asked.

"What are his origins?"

The black-haired woman frowned slightly. "Why don’t you ask the Chairman? I don’t know too."

Rutherford wasn’t offended by her sarcastic words, but smiled thinly.

"For such a vicious figure to exist among the students, I wonder if it shouldn’t be removed."

His words caused the air to tense, and Rina’s expression darkened. "Remove? It seems your position has gotten to your head. You want to revoke a student’s admission? Quite presumptuous."

Rutherford laughed like it was a joke. "Don’t be so snappy, I’m simply expressing my view. What can this harmless old man do?"

He spoke like he was indeed harmless, but everyone present clearly knew how dangerous he was.

Rina clicked her tongue, but didn’t reply him. Instead, she turned her attention back to Kaiser, watching as he collected soul crystals.

’Do I really have a chance with this set?’

...

A cohort of students from Class-B were currently engaged with a large insect-like creature, surrounding it and besieging it with attacks.

"Focus and beware of its mandibles. It’s going berserk."

Iruca’s clear voice resounded from the back of the formation. She wasn’t a close range damage dealer, but an archer. Her shots were precise, with most of them slipping into the gap between the creature’s chitin.

The creature gave a loud shriek, then attacked in a frenzy. Some students were pushed back, while others perfectly defended against its attacks.

"Haap!"

Ashley, a dark-skinned student with a massive build lunged at the creature and bravely swung his sword at its neck. The blade bit into the gap between the chitinous armor, then sliced through the soft flesh.

[You have slain an Awakened Monster, Ritual Scorpio]

[You have received a Relic]

The creature collapsed, its massive body making the ground tremble. Collectively, the students heaved a sigh of relief. They had been facing against beast-level creatures and this was the first time they fought against a monster-level creature.

"Damn. I guess it wasn’t a monster for nothing."

Rita chuckled nervously, throwing a kick at the limp head. This single creature had required all ten of them to bring it down, with most of them injured and exhausted.

"I got something over here."

Ashley called their attention, then summoned something. The relic materialized in his hand, taking the shape of a black horn with gold runes etched on its body.

"Hm? What’s that for?" Iruca asked curiously, stepping forward to get a closer look.

"It’s quite amazing. You can check the functions."

The boy grinned and passed the horn to her, allowing her to hold it. As she willed it, a screen appeared before her.

[Myriad Echo]

[Rank: Tier IV Awakened Relic]

[Function 1: Amplifies any sound to over 300 meters]

[Function 2: Produce echoes efficient for terrain mapping]

[Function 3: Deal attacks with deafening effect]

[Memory: A priest once called upon the gods with the blood of a thousand infants. Under the roaring sky, the cries of the infants echoed like thunder itself.]

Reading the information displayed, Iruca was surprised. The functions were outstanding, and efficient as an utility relic. As for the memory, which was the history of the item, she was shocked.

’Infant... isn’t that the Infant Desert?’

She had heard of that region of the Nirad Realm and knew how dangerous it was. Even her grandfather, who was an Ascendant, said he didn’t dare venture into that place.

’This seems to be the relic originating from there, it can’t be underestimated.’

She smiled gently, then passed it back to Ashley. The boy raised a brow, surprised.

"You don’t want it? It’s pretty decent."

Iruca shook her head softly. "I can’t have it. You dealt the final blow and killed it, so it’s yours."

"That..." Ashley hesitated. "Even if you say that, your arrows were the ones that dealt the most damage. So it’s right if you have it."

Even under his sound reasoning, she declined. "You should have it, Ashley. You were given, so it’s rightfully yours."

Faced with her words, he had no more words to say and quietly accepted it. Seeing him dismiss the relic, Iruca turned to the others.

"Rest up, guys. Joanna, you should heal those injured."

The fawn-haired girl nodded readily, then approached Ashley. He had a large cut across his arm, which was still bleeding slowly.

"Hold on, it’ll sting a bit." She said, then placed her hands on the wound.

She activated her ability, and a soft white light was emitted from her hands. The torn flesh slowly sealed up, then closed like there was no injury at all.

"Thank you." He muttered with a grimace, a soft blush on his cheeks.

"You’re welcome, Ash."

She chuckled, then proceeded to heal the other students with injuries. When she was done, she returned to Iruca’s side, only to find her with a frown on her face.

"Iruca? Is something wrong?"

The silver-haired girl smiled wryly, then spoke. "I find it a bit strange. This hunt is quite lax, and feels like something is lacking. I wonder if it’s a Special Evaluation?"

"Eeeh? Special Evaluation this early? No way it’s that."

Joanna shook her head, though she had her own doubts.

"I don’t know if I’m being paranoid, but let’s just aim for the class with highest number of crystals gathered."

Hearing the resolution in Iruca’s voice, she nodded. "Well, we can target beast groups and see what we can do."

Iruca nodded with a smile, then looked up at the sky. Somehow, the weather over the forest looked strange.

...

In the monitoring room, the projection relic suddenly glitched, then turned off.

"Huh? What’s going on?"

The instructors and staff reacted immediately, trying to turn it on. However, no matter what they did, it didn’t come on.

"This is bad."

The relic was priceless, and it was their only method of watching over the students and guarding against outside interference.

"Set out. This must be a planned attack. Gather the students immediately."

Rutherford said solemnly, then dashed out of the building. The other first-year instructors followed him, their expressions grave.

...

Meanwhile, after Kaiser washed at a nearby pond, he leisurely strolled around the forest.

"Something’s wrong."

He looked up at the sky, noting the darkening clouds. A confused expression crossed his face as he wondered if it was about to rain.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed subtly and he tilted his head.

An arrow brushed past him, then struck the ground heavily. His eyes quickly found the source, seeing a feminine figure in black clothes.

"An assassin? How ironic~"

He smiled, then shot at the assassin with his sword unsheathed.

Clang!

His attack was met with another sword, perfectly blocking the strike. Even then, the assassin was forced back by five steps.

"Who sent you? I’m truly curious." He asked curiously, sizing up the woman... or was it a girl? He wasn’t so sure.

The assassin didn’t reply him, but took a fighting stance.

"Good grief... what did I expect? Anyway, it’s a mistake they sent you. You’re too weak."

In response to his declaration, the assassin produced a luminous pearl, then smashed it to the ground.

A blinding light burst forth, and something vicious was released.

Clang!

Kaiser barely blocked an attack, and was sent flying instantly.