"Because you will die soon."
Taufik, who heard that, just looked at the leader with a questioning expression. Thought.
'Where does their confidence come from? Are they really that strong to be this confident, or are they simply ignorant?'
Like when Jenn first saw Taufik's Mana, if other magicians looking at him right now, they must have seen his pure Mana.
But seeing that they were not reacting at all, even after Taufik purposely leaked out his Mana, he guessed that they were either simply ignorant or that their Realm did not allow them to sense his Mana yet.
After the incident with Jenn, he had learned to conceal his Mana so that when he met other magicians, they would see him as just a normal magician.
This happened when Taufik met Rijal, at that time, Rijal only saw Taufik as an ordinary magician with the same Mana as other Magician and did not see his pure Mana.
--------
'Is the Rune Family looking down on me that much? Are they really just sending a bunch of weaklings?'
"Hey, are you guys magicians or something?"
Taufik asked them to confirm his guess.
"Magicians? We're not. We are far superior to them... We are spiritualists,"
Said one of them, revealed their identity.
'Oh wow, we have a spiritualist here. What's next? A draconian or something?'
Taufik thought. He knows what a spiritualist was from what he had heard from Jenn.
A spiritualist is someone who borrows the power of spirits by forming a contract with them, allowing the spirits to lend their power.
The power they receive depends on how much they can handle. However, spirits do not form contracts with just anyone because they will judge whether a person is worthy of wielding their power or not.
Because of this, spirits usually prefer to form contracts with tribes that have long existed and have been in contact with them for generations. As a result, there are very few spiritualists in this world.
A person who has already made a contract with a spirit is called a spiritualist, and the power that the spirit lends to them is usually infused into their weapon.
Spirits themselves are creatures made of pure Mana. However, since the Mana on Earth is now polluted, it has become difficult for new spirits to be born, and their existence is almost extinct.
There are only a few known spirits, and some of them are guarded by tribes scattered across the world.
Each spirit possesses elemental power, such as fire, earth, water, wind, light, and darkness. There are special cases like life and death, but their existence is almost unheard of.
--------
'But from what I heard from Jenn, they don't usually leave their territory'
With that in mind, Taufik asked them,
"A spiritualist is usually from a tribe. So, which tribe are you from?"
"Oh, you're very knowledgeable for someone so young"
Said The leader, quite impressed by Taufik's knowledge. However, a mission is a mission, he still needed to kill him. It didn't matter if the target was a genius among geniuses.
They couldn't abandon this mission because the promised reward was something their chiefs desperately wanted.
"Since this is your last day in this world, consider this your final present... So when you die, you won't become a wandering ghost... I will tell you who we are. Since we are in Kalimantan, and Kalimantan is the territory of our tribe... The Dai-Yak Tribe, Now you know who will take your life. So please die quietly, and don't blame us. We are simply following orders... Blame yourself for offending the wrong person"
The leader spoke, feeling uncomfortable about having to kill Taufik. Although their nickname was The Silent Killer, it only applied to their enemies. They were only doing this mission because the reward was extremely important to them.
After that, The leader then ordered his men,
"You two... Kill him painlessly"
Hearing that, the two nodded their heads and then approached Taufik.
When the leader saw his men begin their attack, he just watched silently.
However, not long after, he saw something unbelievable.
Although his subordinates had only recently become spiritualists and their spirit contracts were just their main earth spirit contracts, they were still quite strong due to the training they had undergone before becoming spiritualists.
But Taufik's way of fighting was simply unbelievable.
--------
Since they only possessed earth spirit power, they first changed the terrain to their advantage, ensuring that Taufik had no escape route.
'It's a good move'
The leader thought.
Seeing that Taufik had no way to dodge or escape, they rushed toward him at high speed with their mandau swords, aiming for his vital organs.
But Taufik simply blocked their attempt to end him in one go.
But Taufik simply just raised his Katana, then.
*Clang!*
Seeing their attack blocked, they prepared to strike again, but Taufik moved faster than them. He swung his katana downward.
Taufik's speed in swinging his katana was not that fast, so naturally, they saw the sword's trajectory and prepared to block it. But this was where the leader saw something unbelievable happen.
When Taufik's katana met their mandau, it passed right through their blades, and one of the men was slashed.
"Arghhhh!" One of his men fell.
Taufik didn't stop there. After taking down one opponent, he went for the other.
Seeing his comrade fall, the second man was shocked. Learning from his friend's failure, when he saw Taufik coming at him, he didn't block the katana with his mandau but instead created an earth shield using his spirit power.
Seeing this, Taufik smiled.
His katana then changed color from blue to crimson.
Seeing Taufik's smiling face, the leader had a bad feeling and moved to protect his subordinate, but it was already too late.
Taufik's katana had already cut through the earth shield as if it were butter, slicing it cleanly in two. Leaving a burnt residue where the katana was slashed.
After cutting the shield, Taufik's katana returned to its original black color before slashing the last remaining man.
"Lea- Arghhh!"
Seeing all of his men down, Taufik looked at the leader, who stood frozen, unable to believe what had just happened.
Taufik pointed his katana at him, then said.
"I didn't kill them, but if you don't treat them soon, they might die"
Hearing that, the leader let out a sigh of relief.
"I'll spare you today because you were just following orders. I also don't want to kill a native of this island because if I do, it'll only bring me more trouble, but... You have to tell me where the Rune family is located... I need to visit them when I have time"
Taufik wasn't sparing them because he was afraid of trouble, he was just too lazy to deal with them. He only asked for the Rune family's location so he could visit them later.
"I thank you for sparing our lives. Even if I didn't fight you directly, seeing your strength, I know I wouldn't stand a chance. So once again, thank you for sparing us... Our tribe never forgets either kindness or grudges"
At those words, Taufik nodded. Then said.
"It's nothing. Just tell me their location"
The leader hesitated for a while before saying.
"Do you really want to visit them? It's not that I don't want to tell you, I just want to remind you... The head of the Rune Family is a Master Realm magician. Only some elders from our tribe can confront him head-on. Even though you have a very strong artifact, but-"
"Wait"
Hearing the leader mention an artifact, Taufik interrupted the leader's words. Then asked in confusion.
"Artifact? What artifact?"
'I never had an artifact... I never received one from the system either, so what is he talking about?'
"Ehh, isn't your katana an artifact? That's what the Rune family reported"
"This katana?"
Taufik asks while showing his Katana; seeing the leader nod, Taufik lets out a chuckle and then says.
"... Looks like the Rune family fooled you guys. I've never had an artifact"
Hearing Taufik's words, the leader felt silent for a moment, and then anger formed in him, anger toward the Rune family for giving false information.
'... I have to tell the chief and elder about this'
The leader thought, looking back at Taufik. Then said.
"I will tell my tribe about this. Once again, I thank you"
"Yeah, so the location?"
"Ahh, you want to visit them that badly, huh?"
"Yeah, like your tribe, I never forget the grudge I have"
"Hehe, but you don't have a grudge against us for attacking you, right?"
The leader asked with an awkward smile, fearing Taufik would hold a grudge for being attacked.
"As I said, if I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be standing right now. So just tell me their location quickly"
"Hehe, okay, so their location is…"
After that, the leader told Taufik about the Rune family's location. He did not know the exact location, but he knew where they might be.
Their location is inside a forest in Tarakan City. They covered their location with illusion magic so that only their family members could enter and leave. However, Tarakan is a city that still has a lot of forests, so its exact location has never been known to the outside world.
--------
'Magic illusion? Then I'll have to wait until my quest is finished and get the All-Seeing Eyes before I can visit them...'
Taufik thought after hearing the information from The Leader, sighed lightly before looking back at The Leader, then said.
"Thanks for your information, I appreciate that"
"No, it's me who has to thank you. I have already told you the information, so I will take my leave now. My men need further treatment, so I will see you around"
SaudThe leader, already carrying his two men. He was about to leave, but Taufik stopped him.
"... Wait"
The leader tensed up when Taufik suddenly stopped them from leaving. Slowly turn his head toward Taufik, then ask.
"... What? You didn't just change your mind and decide to kill us, right?"
"No? I just want to ask your name if you don't mind"
"Ahh~ Just my name? I see... I thought you just changed your mind, haha~ I'm sorry"
"No, I'm Taufik D'Archy Hidayat. And you?"
"I'm Djaata Jaan. It's nice to meet you"
"Cool name"
"Hahaha, thank you. It's just an ordinary name in our tribe, but thank you. So… Can we leave now?"
"Yeah~ Sure"
After hearing that, the leader, Jaan, left in a hurry, fearing that Taufik might stop them again.
Seeing Jin's figure leaving in a hurry, Taufik just shook his head, looked at the Katana in his hand, then said.
"... I have to complete the quest soon, so I can collect my debts from the Rune family"
After that, Taufik continued his training because he still had some time before he usually went home.
....
...
..
.