Bab 71: Planning
Beta kind of expected that he wouldn't get a proper answer, but it nonetheless disappointed him. He would've liked to have some more information about his mysterious teacher. Beta looked once more at Lores who still seemed to be feeling down. Even if he wanted to help Lores, he wasn't the right person for that right now. He slowly walked away and sat down next to Brian who looked at him happily.
"What are you so happy about?", Beta asked with a raised eyebrow.
"If some small ruins are already that mysterious and full of treasures like that gun and the machine you found, what about the rest of the world? Even though the city we've seen was gigantic, it's still called a small ruin. Can you imagine the truly big ruins then? How big can they be? What secrets are buried there? I'm really anticipating the future ahead of us!", Brian answered, excitement filling his face more and more as he continued on.
Beta, who listened to him with a wry smile, couldn't help but get excited as well. He hadn't really thought of that yet. All the treasures that he had yet to find and possibly even a clue as to what happened to his family within the time he was within the capsule, both are something that's still far off in the future. Though the later one, finding out the mystery about his family, was something that still troubled him.
Lately, the more he trained and the stronger he got, the difference in power between him and his parents became more prominent. He didn't expect that the distance of his strength compared to his parents was that enormous. Knowing that fact, his desire to be stronger rose even more. If his parents were still alive after all these years, they would surely be even more powerful than back then. He has a lot of catching up to do to surpass them.
"If they were still alive, would they feel proud of me?", Beta mused to himself. But in the end, he could only shake his head as he didn't have much hope for that silly thought of his. His father's face showed him that he was rather unwilling to give him the glowing orb which contained memories about Surgeon's Rule and most likely many other things. That memory was enough to answer his question. To him, Beta was nothing more than a failed product on his way to creating Alpha.
Beta looked at the scenery and let out a sigh that seemed to be filled with very difficult feelings. Brian, who sat next to him, obviously heard it, but he knew better than to interrupt him. He was already aware that Beta had a few things he had yet to tell him, but he was sure that time would solve this issue. For the time being, the only thing he could do for Beta is to stay beside him through thick and thin.
After fixing the road damaged by the explosion, the carriage was ready to go again. Luckily, only the roof was cut off by Firmament Slash so none of the important parts of the carriage were damaged. Erde was the one who paved a way for them they finally hurriedly left the scene.
"Are you sure we shouldn't have searched their bodies for clues?", Erde asked as he looked at the path ahead.
"Don't you think it was too easy to defeat them? No one in their right mind would attack Malvic Academy with just a few bandits and Intermediate Elementalists. Also, even after killing almost all of their forces, I feel uneasy looking at our surroundings. If there are even more people incoming as reinforcement, we may not be able to defend the students properly. So, just like you said, bringing them to a safe place is more important for they are currently our top priority. As soon as we arrive at the Academy, we will let the students out, tell the headmaster about the ambush, and then we can head out for more clues.", Lores said calmly, looking a bit ashamed due to his earlier actions.
"I wonder if the others got attacked on their way back as well...", Erde mumbled to himself.
"It's possible. At least they shouldn't have suffered too much with the headmaster protecting them.", Lores answered his mumbling nonchalantly. Erde looked at him as if he wanted to say something, but he decided to just keep quiet this time.
The last part of the voyage was uneventful, except for the questioning stares they got from the people in Saland. The moment they finally arrived made all the teachers and students let go of their tension and released a big sigh of relief. But then they noticed the countless eyes on them as well as realized their predicament. "Ahhh… this is pretty embarrassing indeed", was all the teachers could think of. Their carriage must've been quite a sight to behold for the commoners and nobles who knew of them.
Of course, the people didn't dare to say anything because of their fear towards the Academy's power, but everyone who was on the carriage felt shameful coming home like this. All of the students thought of how things may have been different if they were just a bit stronger. But it was useless now. They had to endure going through a big part of the city while carrying that shame with them.
Beta was an exception though. After seeing Lores' and Erde's fight, he was more absorbed on how he could quickly train to be as strong as them. What others think doesn't bother him one bit. What matters to him was they all survive and they get to live another day. Feeling ashamed for something as simple as that won't make them strong but using that feeling to fuel up their passion would be better.
Once they got into the Academy, most of the students swore that someday they'll prove to these villagers what they were capable of. Of course, they wouldn't hurt the villagers, but the people who cut off the roof was another matter. It wasn't the villagers who brought them this shame, it was the group of bandits and mercenaries as well as those cloaked figures. As long as they work hard with their training, it shouldn't be impossible to avenge themselves.
Lores arranged treatment for everyone who got wounded and then directly headed to the headmaster's office. Beta thought of following him in hopes of meeting the old man again, but he thought otherwise and chose to just let him go. This wasn't something that he could handle right now after all. Plus, Lores seemed like he got something in his mind and wanted to be on his own. The gloomy atmosphere he had on made it quite clear for everyone to stay away from him for the time being. Well, with the exception of Erde who went tagging along Lores. "Seems like they are really that close…", mumbled Beta while still looking at their backs.
The moment he couldn't see them anymore, Beta started sorting out his plans. Now that they're back in Saland, he can finally proceed with upgrading his power. He shouldn't be bothered about things that are out of his control, instead, he should take care of his plans that he had to set in motion now.
Beta told everyone to rest and train properly for a while and he himself went into the dorms to rest. It has been a while since he last had a good night of sleep. Only after that would he be able to think of a proper plan to get his desired legs. He said goodbye to Brian and Domian as he hurriedly entered his room, taking a quick shower before going to bed. This was the first shower that he had had ever since he went to the ruins so it felt even better than usual. Once he was done with cleaning up, he instantly dived down on his bed and just passed out.
Beta slept so long that he couldn't tell how long exactly. But one thing was for sure. It was already night time when he finally woke up. It seemed that he was really that tired for him to black out that fast and not even being aware of his surroundings. It felt strange to him but he was kind of thankful for being able to rest properly. He looked at the clock to check the time. If it was before, he should've been already heading out to do his nightly activities. However, this time, he didn't go out as he usually did but instead started cultivating. He sunk into the Soul River to train again and started thinking about his plans for the near future while the countless souls tore parts of him off.
After undergoing the same kind of painful training, Beta somehow got used to it and was even use the time he was being tormented. Since the pain doesn't bother him that much anymore, his head became clearer, which made it easier for him to contemplate and think of things.
"First off, I should verify the ability of my Death's Gaze. It may be a huge game changer in a battle if it's as strong as I think it is. Considering that I haven't been around here in Saland for a while, there should also be some bandits on the run again. So, it shouldn't hurt for me to start hunting and take a few to test the effects of Death's Gaze. I also shouldn't keep them all in one chamber because they may falsify the results according to the other test subjects. Hmm… This means that I will have to make my hideout bigger and add more runes to fortify it. Oh! probably some shackles too just in case they try to make a fuss. For the shackles, I will have to go to the black market and the other things should be easily taken care of. I'll also try experimenting something I've been itching to do... adding some beast characteristics to a human should be rather interesting. Who would expect the stinger of a scorpion to suddenly appear from their opponent in the middle of a battle? Though I don't really want something that changes my appearance too much because it would be troublesome to get into several cities, but I could create some specimen that can fight for me. I'm sure I can find one or two weak fools that will swear eternal servitude for a bit of power and the chance to achieve something. The trip to the ruins made me realize that every strong person has a few squads that take care of scouting and several other duties to increase their efficiency. I can't always use Brian and the kids in the slums for duties like these... But then I'll have to worry about their loyalty and information leakages. Sigh… I'll try to find something in the library or the black market for these issues. As for those legs... Sadly, I'll have to wait a little bit longer until their current location is verified.
Beta hasn't decided yet on any specific locations for taking the legs but he already started to think of ways to get them off their owner. He had been wanting to upgrade his body for a long time now so just the thought of those pair of legs made him pretty excited. He didn't know when, but at some point, he had started to see the person he was going to attack as only a pair of legs ready for the taking, just like casually going to the market to get some upgrade to his armor.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone