章節 25: Chapter 24 : Power is everything

The loss of Greenthorn made Ignatius furious as he was eager to reclaim it himself.

When the news of Windspire's attempted takeover reached him that it was stopped by the white haired young boy Satoru singlehandedly, he was beyond glad.

Satoru returned back to Ember quickly and there awaited Elara at the front gate, going to walk with him.

"That potion.. Thank you. What was in it?" he asked.

"It consisted of healing plants and roots as well as a temporary physical energy boost." the she-Mage responded quickly

Wondering something, Satoru asked "Did it have any power boosts or ability energy boosts?"

Without any hesitation he was given an answer. "No. The strength you demonstrated was all your own doing, with the placebo effect allowing you to think you were boosted from the beginning."

"I see. In any case, thank you." he said, departing from their walk as she waved to him for a moment and continued to walk in the direction she was headed.

The birds chirped and the sun was shinning, so Satoru used this opportunity to practice out his techniques, further refining them and expanding his arsenal with everything he had ranging from the teleportation kunai he received from Nova to his own abilities.

He knew that he needed to do something, something important, even during the midst of this mini war going on with the Demon Eye clan but decided to postpone it for a short period of time.

Satoru knew that Ignatius tactically wouldn't send everyone onto them because of the possibility of them not only escaping with their unknown Mage, but expecting it as well.

He walked down the street, up into the leader's office upon request and there stood Karoi and the other sensei.

"Satoru, the news I received from the leader of Windspire Village says that you were the one responsible for defending it against the demon eye wielders and tamed bugbears."

He nodded.

"I'm extremely grateful for you actions and you will be rewarded!" he said almost exclaiming it and adding on additionally :

"There's one in the base of the Ember High Guard cave that's being overlooked even right now and questioned. Do you wish to come with us to question him?"

Quickly replying with "Yes." they left off to the cave, seeing the strapped and blindfolded member tied with chains and him being whipped, having blood over the floor and his wounds clearly visible.

Even when entering the cave, his screams could be heard all the way to the entrance.

"Speak dammit!" yelled the commander of the Ember High Guard at him.

The words the demon eye member uttered were in a tone of disgust. "I'd rather die than tell you anything..." he said

Ignatius, Satoru, Karoi and the other sensei arrived there and saw this, observing the following interrogation and beatings they gave him with still nothing.

Walking in behind them was someone else, someone who was surrounded entirely in a blue cloak with a pointy hood and the facial features were unable to be seen due to a spell placed to cover the face.

Karoi and Satoru recognized it as Elara, who Karoi brought in to extract the knowledge with magic from the demon eye possessor's head in front of them, from Rurik.

She walked up to him, performing gestures with her hands and grabbing him telekinetically, holding him and making his arms lock out and twist in impossible directions as he screamed out in pain.

Elara reached him and placed her thumb on his forehead, immediately both her and Rurik looking up as she invaded his memories and searched for parts of the plans but more importantly - the Mage that's helping them.

Satoru patiently watched as he got this feeling of uneasiness... He looked around the cave but didn't particularly see anything out of the ordinary.

The feeling remained however and if anything, intensified.

A minute passed and Elara's spell was over. She was unable to find anything due to Rurik's mind being fortified, specifically, the part regarding anything about the Mage's voice, appearance or presence.

She waved her head left and right, signaling to all of them that she was unsuccessful and left.

"Fuck!" yelled out Ignatius.

"Satoru, come with me." said Karoi, leading him out of the EHG's cave.

"What is it?"

"You did a good job at Windspire, but that falls not under our plans for which I take it you're still up for?" the masked sensei asked the boy before.

"I am."

"Good good... I took the liberty to detach Anubis off from Zeus, so he cannot contact him about you. Speaking of that..." he was silent for a moment before continuing. "I'm genuinely sorry for sending you against him, it's clear that you wasn't just ready. And right now, there is quite a lot to do and that needs to be done yet it's all being pushed back because of these idiotic squabbles between Midgardians."

"It's fine. I'll bring you Anubis' head when I return to kill him." Satoru said in a determined voice, one filled with certainty.

"It's not the head I require, but his blood, the hollow's energy and blood that he holds. Once you get that, you'll obtain what we require."

"I see. That's what I'll do then."

"I'll head back inside and observe this more, hopefully obtain information. After all, I do owe Elara that for having her give you that potion. Favor for a favor. By the way, I know you can sense the uneasiness coming from him as well, but don't think much about it, it's most likely a spell. I'll see you later." he turned around and left back inside.

Satoru returned back to Ember, immediately going to his hospital when he heard someone yell out something to him from behind.

"If it isn't the Protector of Windspire all well and about!" Nova yelled out to him, having him turn around and each of them walk up to each other dapping each other up.

"Yeah yeah.." Satoru said

"I don't wanna waste your time just wanted to see how you were doing, so how are you?"

"Better, and you?"

"Me too, me too.. I'll leave you to it, I have something to attend to. Later." Nova said

The two of them departed and Satoru left immediately back to the hospital where he gathered his things and officially checked out.

Not wasting any time, he returned back to the empty compound of his clan but specifically to his own house which was still intact.

There he read the technique books, which were basically guides to honing and mastering your abilities and capabilities.

Most of the books he had were hand-to-hand books containing things such as punches, kicks, counters, blocks, parries, barrages, combos and all of the above.

Realizing it only now, most of them were duplicates he had already read... "Dammit" he thought to himself.

A sudden knock on his wooden door was heard, so he went to open it and to his surprise it was something he had never expected...

The mutilated moving body of Masato, who had vanished almost 2 weeks ago in Cedarfall...

He went for a vertical upright slash at Satoru, who moved his head back barely in time and kicked him back.

"Masato, fucks the matter with you!" he yelled at him as he got up.

He didn't say anything, he was silent. Like a wild animal with no intelligence...

"No fucking way..." Satoru mumbled, coming to the realization that he is under an illusion. One that most likely is set to kill him.

He was hesitant, but he realized that Masato's mind was too weak, it had to have been. Without a strong mind, there's no chance he'll escape the illusion.. So there was only one thing the white haired boy could do.

He picked up a knife from the counter and threw it Masato who had started rushing at him mindlessly. The knife impaled him right between the eyes, stopping him in his tracks and making him fall onto the floor on his stomach.

"This is what not being powerful gets you in this world. Being used as a weapon whether you have a choice or not, no matter how old you are. And this is exactly why I will become my own blade, my own weapon that will strike anyone down in my path. Because.. Power is clearly everything. Once you achieve that.. Then and only then, will you be able to have everything else."

Satoru didn't know what to do with his body, not wanting to reveal that he is dead to the others and that he had killed him. So he incinerated his body with his fire power until nothing was left but ash, one that he allowed the wind to take away.

"Nothing I can do in this war, nothing in this moment at least. They are definitely planning to take over another village, bit by bit, then nation by nation. Even if that is their plan, in this moment, they're definitely cherishing their claim on Greenthorn so I'll use this as an opportunity..."

Satoru took his axe, took the potion that he still had from when Karoi gave him before his fight with Anubis and left the compound and soon the village to face the God of the Dead once more for a rematch, one that he's confident that he'll definitely emerge victor of.