“Sword Technique—Lightning Slash!”
An arc of light condensed from violent lightning swept toward the pack of magic wolves in front of him. In an instant, all the magic wolves were sliced in half, their wounds charred black and emitting wisps of dark smoke.
Theodore sheathed his longsword and walked back to the group. His teammates were all busy with their own things, looking utterly bored, not even sparing him a glance.
The atmosphere was thick with leisure and boredom.
Theodore let out a slow sigh. Finally unable to bear the silence, he complained loudly, “I can't take this anymore! I thought there would be plenty of powerful magical beasts along such a long route. Can someone tell me why we've only encountered low-level magical beasts from Tier One to Tier Three for the past two weeks?!”
Theodore was twenty-eight years old, and his cultivation had already reached Tier Five, Rank Eight. He was an absolute genius.
In the entire Toka City Adventurer's Guild, only Milia, the captain of Wolf Hunt, possessed talent on par with his.
However, unlike Milia, who founded her own party, he chose to join an even stronger one.
This allowed him to fight against powerful figures and strong magical beasts much sooner.
Milia helped the weak, whereas he revered the strong.
He believed that powerful beings always had exceptional qualities. As long as he fought against the strong, he would reap great rewards, which was why he constantly challenged powerful opponents.
He had joined this A-rank adventuring party, which boasted Tier Six members, because they had promised to guide and spar with him whenever he wanted.
Returning to the present, he pointed at his teammates in dissatisfaction. “Can't you guys show a bit more enthusiasm?! What if we get ambushed! Besides, this is the Count's commission. The guards of the Count's estate and Miss Lilith are watching! We absolutely cannot leave a bad impression!”
“Aiden has had his perception magic active this entire time. Since we accepted the Count's payment, we have to show the appropriate attitude. As for being enthusiastic? If you can't even handle a bunch of Tier Two and Tier Three minor magical beasts, you can leave our Searing Scar.”
The female Healer, who was filing her nails, didn't even look up as she spoke with complete indifference. “Besides, with that person on this mission, any powerful magical beasts wouldn't be our turn anyway!”
“Tarosha is right. With him around, we can only kill these low-level beasts. If a high-level one actually shows up, he'll probably be the one to step in. After all, he is the youngest S-rank adventurer.”
“But still!”
Theodore wanted to say more, but Tarosha cut him off, teasing, “What? Do you want to be hung up and whipped by him again?”
However, a trace of dread was clearly audible in her voice this time.
Hearing Tarosha's words, Theodore's face instantly twisted as if he were constipated. His body shuddered, and he shut his mouth.
Inside the carriage, every word of their conversation reached Xia De's ears without fail, causing the corner of his mouth to twitch.
So what if he had hung that foolish swordsman from a tree and thrashed him half to death, only to heal his injuries afterward?
He had merely preserved the sensation of pain, leaving the guy unable to move for two whole days.
Was there really a need to be so terrified every time his name came up?
Thinking back to that incident, Xia De curled his lips in disdain, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
Back then, he had told them not to interfere if they encountered a Tier Six magical beast. Everyone else had agreed, but that idiot simply wouldn't listen.
Even after Xia De explained, the guy kept rambling on. Xia De knew perfectly well the man was trying to provoke him into a fight.
But in the end, unable to tolerate it any longer, Xia De hung him up and beat him half to death.
After all, it was the first time Xia De had met someone practically begging to be beaten.
How could Xia De not fulfill his wish?
When he was beating that swordsman, his teammates had stepped in to stop him, only to collectively turn into spinning tops under his whipping.
The swordsman got the worst of it, suspended from the tree while Xia De thrashed him.
Carefully reviewing the entire incident, Xia De nodded in self-satisfaction and thought in his heart, “I'm still too kind. I actually gave an explanation first instead of spinning them like tops right away, and I even healed their wounds afterward. I'm such a good person!”
“Pfft!”
Sitting across from Xia De, Lilith covered her mouth as a soft giggle escaped her lips. Noticing Xia De's gaze turning toward her, she hastily sat up straight again, looking as though she wasn't the one who had just laughed.
Xia De spread his hands and asked helplessly, “Is it that funny?”
Lilith covered her mouth and hurriedly shook her head. “Not at all!”
“Then what were you laughing at just now?”
Lilith lowered her hand, her expression gradually returning to calm, and she said softly, “I was just thinking that they've all misunderstood you, Mr. Xia De, treating you like some terrifying person.”
Xia De stared at Lilith, who was maintaining her perfectly upright posture. Seeing the respectful look still plastered on her face, he couldn't help but complain in his heart that it would be better if she said that with a different expression.
In many of the works Xia De had read in his previous life, the name Lilith usually belonged to a mischievous little witch. He had assumed Count Toka's daughter would be the same.
But he hadn't expected her to be a quiet and elegant girl with the demeanor of a well-behaved daughter, especially with Count Toka's strict warnings beforehand.
During the first few days of the journey, Lilith hadn't said a single word to Xia De aside from daily greetings, quietly reading her grimoire instead.
Of course, Xia De preferred it this way.
He wasn't some simp who felt the need to make a move or show infinite tolerance just because the person opposite him was a woman.
If she had been a mischievous brat who played pranks regardless of the occasion, given Xia De's temper, she would have ended up severely injured at best, or her entire family would have gone to hell at worst.
As they traveled together in silence for a while, Lilith noticed that Xia De always appeared friendly and behaved with perfect manners.
Most importantly, his incredibly handsome face made it hard for her to maintain her reserved nature. Gradually, she began trying to find topics to chat with him.
However, she mostly asked questions about the contents of her grimoire.
Xia De would answer her concisely.
Yet, every time this happened, the figure of a certain elf would appear in his mind, and he would sigh inwardly, “At just sixteen years old, she has already reached Tier Three, Rank Five, and has a deep understanding of the magic in the book. She is an absolute genius. In comparison, Hilia, who was only at Tier Three, Rank Seven at age twenty, wasn't wrong when she called her own talent mediocre. But that's fine. If she wants to later, I can help her alter her talent and aptitude.”
Suddenly, Xia De sensed something. He sent a thread of his consciousness to a location about ten kilometers away.
There, a man was slumped weakly on the ground. A massive shadow loomed over him, and his pupils dilated in sheer terror.
The surrounding area was littered with severed limbs and shattered corpses—the remains of his companions.
He stared at the massive figure before him, whose body was composed of some strange, black substance. Crimson light flickered in its eyes as it raised a black greatsword. The man let out a desperate, weeping cry, “What kind of monster are you?!”
With a heavy swing of the shadow soldier's greatsword, the man was sliced clean in half down the middle, his soft organs spilling all over the ground.
Having completed its task, the shadow soldier plunged its greatsword into the ground, sank to one knee, and bowed its head. It spoke respectfully, “My Lord, the trash has been cleared!”
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