Chapter 65 - Wesley's... Epilogue

It was the time between the waning of autumn and the beginning of winter. However, today was an uncharacteristically hot day, with the sun high in the sky, bathing the world in its radiance and heat.

On a small dirt road surrounded by green shrubbery and trees that seemed to cover everything, six people were walking forward at a steady pace. Of the six, five wore dark robes, while the sixth wore an azure robe.

The azure-robed person appeared to be a middle-aged man, slightly past his fifties. His eyes were filled with ardor and strength, and his slightly graying hair reached his shoulders, swaying gently with the autumn wind.

In contrast, the six black-robed people seemed much younger than the azure-robed man. There were three boys and two girls, all appearing to be in their teen years. However, their faces bore no small amount of pride, uncharacteristic of people their age. Each of these youths exuded an air of confidence, and their eyes paid testament to this fact.

One of the black-robed youths, a girl with dark hair that almost bordered on purple, turned to the azure-robed man. Her eyes contained a hint of worry, though it was hard to notice, as her head was raised pridefully.

The girl spoke with a melodious voice:

"Elder, do we really have to do this? We have no need for such a paltry amount of gold."

The azure-robed man turned to look at her with a complicated expression. It was clear he felt reluctant. He was about to say something, but before he could, one of the other black-robed youths, a handsome boy with welcoming features, spoke with a laugh:

"Tey, think of this as an adventure. We do have the Elder with us, after all."

The azure-robed man frowned at the words of the youth. He immediately spoke in a deriding tone:

"Mike, you best change your mindset now. I won't allow you to die, but you might lose an arm before I intercede. And while we're on the subject, if I have to save you, you will fail this year."

Mike’s welcoming smile instantly vanished. He had spoken as a joke, yet he seemed to have angered the elder. He immediately started feeling nervous, and an invisible pressure piled up on him.

The azure-robed man didn’t pay attention to the youth named Mike and continued speaking:

"And Tey, this is not about gold. This is training. If you are not confident in the training you've gone through the last five years, then I’m afraid you'll spend five more years here."

Mike and Tey instantly looked down. They knew the elder was a kindhearted and happy person, so the change in his tone told them he was serious. The other three black-robed youths simply snickered at the exchange but said nothing.

Almost an hour of walking later, the group of six suddenly stopped in their tracks. Their surroundings were still filled with trees and shrubbery, but now there was a wooden building beside the small dirt road.

One of the black-robed youths immediately spoke with a questioning tone:

"Elder, is this the place? It seems a little too shabby."

The elder's eyes sharpened for a moment, as he seemed to be evaluating the small building closely.

"It seems this is in fact the first destination. Let's go."

The azure-robed man immediately strode forward, followed closely by the five robed youths. The five youths were slightly hesitant in their steps, but they all had confidence that, despite his words, the elder would definitely save them.

The azure-robed man and the five youths walked through the door of the small building. As soon as they did, they were met with a heavy smell of alcohol mixed with numerous other odors. The faces of the two girls in the group instantly changed, while the three boys also frowned.

There were nearly fifty people crammed into the small building. It was rowdy, with constant shouting and talking. However, the moment the group of six walked in, the entire place quieted, and all eyes turned toward them.

Out of the fifty people in the building, the majority wore various armors and carried swords and shields. Three people were sitting at the counter, eating something while talking, and a bartender behind the counter was also speaking with the group of three.

The azure-robed man stood at the entrance to the building, while the five black-robed students walked to the center of the room and stood there with their backs to one another. Everyone in the building looked at this scene with uncertainty.

The azure robed man cast his gaze over everyone in the building as if he was doing a headcount. Shortly after, the man spoke to the five youth with a clear enough voice that everyone present could hear it:

"Everyone present here must die."

As soon as the words left the man's lips, everyone who heard it couldn’t help but stare In disbelief, but these men seemed to be rather experienced and didn’t dwell n their surprise. Each of them reached for their swords. Some rushed to attack the azure robed man, but the majority moved towards the five dark robed youths.

However, before they could even take two steps, a sonorous voice resounded from one of the black robed youths:

"Water Fog."

A milky white fog spread from the youth that spoke and covered the entire room. No one could see an inch in front of them. The rushing men stopped in their tracks as they realized that they couldn’t see anything.

"What is this?"

"They are mages. Attack them before its too late."

"Where are they."

Screams of confusion rang out throughout the building. The armored men seemed to understand what was going on, but none of them knew what to do as they couldn’t see a thing in the fog.

While the men were shouting to one another while other were aimlessly rushing forward, another voice reverberated throughout the room:

"Water Drizzle."

A sort of cloud formed near the roof of the room and then small water drops started falling as if it were raining. Before any of the men could react, another voice was heard:

"Water Fall."

The small drops of water that were falling lightly suddenly started accelerating and increasing in size. Soon enough, it was like a waterfall was actually descending from the roof of the room.

The armored men started feeling their bodies get heavier. Under the weight of their armors coupled with the pressure of the water that was falling on them, they simply couldn’t move normally.

"Water Needle."

"Water Needle."

After the two soft voiced were heard, agonizing screams started reverberating throughout the whole building. The drops of rain that were descending at an already fast pace were suddenly became elongated and hardened.

Soon enough the rain that was falling on the men became a rain of needles and started burrowing into every exposed part of their bodies. They simply had no means of retaliation and no means of survival.

A few minutes later, the agonized cries completely disappeared and only silence remained in the foggy room. The milky white fog now had streaks of read mixed in it, and a thick smell of blood overtook that of alcohol.

"Disperse."

"Disperse."

"Disperse."

Three voices followed behind one another, and a few seconds later, the room was back to its original state. Except, everyone in the room was now dead. There were dead bodies strewed all over the floor with faces and bodies filled with bloody holes.

Seeing the scene around them, then five youths' faces turned ugly and some of them even started vomiting their guts out. They have all killed before, but they have never witnessed such a scene of carnage and gore before causing them to feel slightly queasy.

While the students were battling their own senses and keeping themselves from passing out, the azure robed man's voice reached their ears:

"FOCUS. There are still some enemies alive."

The five youths instantly became vigilant and pushed their uneasiness aside. They looked around only to have their eyes settle on the counter where four people were still alive.

Two of the people, the bartender and a middle age man were currently staring at the five youths with faces filled with horror and drained of all color. The other two simply looked forward and even seemed to be continuing their meal.

The five youths also stared at these four figures, especially the two that were looking forward as if everything that was going on didn’t concern them. The thing that scared the five youths was that there were currently two swords floating near these two.

One of the swords was a giant greatsword that seemed somewhat larger than regular greatswords. This sword covered one of the men under it like an umbrella stopping the offensive of the five youth from reaching the man.

The other sword was a thin dark sword that was about five inches wide. It was floating vertically behind one of the men. The amazing thing is that this sword seemed to be emitting some sort of hazy energy that stopped the spells of the five youths. It was this man's sword energy that saved the bartender and the other man.

The five youths understood what floating swords meant; these two were at least master level swordsmen and possibly Grandmasters. This caused them to become vigilant because the distance between the two and them was really not too big, and it is very unlikely that the two would allow them time to cast their spells.

The five youth moved backwards slightly to put some distance between them and the swordsman, but none of them dared to run lest the two swordsmen attack them immediately.

Before the youths could move backwards enough, the azure robed man walked past them and stood between them and the two swordsmen. He immediately spoke:

"The five of you did well. I'll take care of these two."