Jack had met several mages, both weak and strong. He had measured their strength, knowing those who were as strong as he was, those who were stronger than him, and those who were weaker than him. He had never been unfazed when facing any of them.
Today, he finally met someone that made him shiver.
As soon as he gripped Kael's small hand, he felt himself enveloped by darkness. His surroundings had become a pitch black void, and the only thing he could see was a faint pair of purple eyes.
He didn't dare to look at those large eyes for long, feeling their unnerving gaze on him.
"Sir Jack?"
Kael's voice snapped him back to reality, and he quietly composed himself.
"Ahem, young lad. I look forward to your achievements."
Without waiting, he turned around and immediately left the banquet hall. In his heart, only one thought repeated itself.
'He's a monster.'
...
On that same day, Isaac planned to leave the Brask Hollow village with his father on a business trip.
The man was an entrepreneur who harvested local resources of the village and went to sell it to the surrounding cities.
"Father, how long will this journey take?"
Isaac asked, seated at the back of the carriage with his father and fellow entrepreneurs.
The carriage was already out of the village, with several carts attached to it. At the forefront, a magic beast called Earthen Salamander pulled everything by itself, slowly dragging them forward.
"It could take up to four days at max, depending on the circumstances." Isaac's father, Reymond replied.
The boy nodded calmly, seemingly playing with his black hair. Inwardly though, he was thinking.
'So there are likely to be bandits on the road? No wonder they all hired mages as guards.'
He looked outside the window, staring as trees passed them by.
'Perhaps I can learn a thing or two from them.'
Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of something unnatural in the forest. Behind those trees that brushed past them as they moved, something stood still.
'No, that's not right. It's following us.'
His eyes sharpened, and he immediately saw dark brown clothes and the attire of the bandits.
Not long after he noticed those bandits, the mages outside also noticed them.
"Heck! Hellish bandits! Kill them all!"
Instantly, several fireballs, water arrows, and wind blades shot into the forest. Some were blocked by the trees, but some truly hit the bandits.
"Brace for counter!" The lead mage shouted, creating a magic circle as fast as he could. The other mages also followed his movements, jointly creating an earth wall.
Just as the wall was about to completely cover the carriage, several fireballs shot out from the forest, aimed at the carriage itself. However, the earth wall had been erected, and it successfully took the attacks without shattering.
"Water arrows, after them."
Four mages peeked over the wall, shooting water arrows into the forest, while the others maintained the earth wall to move along with the carriage.
Stopping the carriage entirely just to wipe out the bandits would be a foolish decision, as the bandits would have more time to concentrate on them.
Therefore, fighting on the run was the only thing they could do at this moment.
"Kuaa!"
From the forest, screams echoed as the bandits get killed one after the other. In less than ten minutes, all the bandits were dead, and nothing chased after them anymore.
Isaac hummed, tapping his chin. 'That was a good teamwork between the mages. They're all efficient and good.'
He was really impressed, as they didn't lose any member in the fight.
"You're surprised? Yes, the Hired Mages are usually very strong and disciplined." Reymond said to him with smile.
"What grade are they?" Isaac asked curiously.
His father pondered a bit, and answered. "Most are Second Grade, and their leader is a Third Grade mage."
Isaac's curiosity vanished gradually. To him, who was about to become a Fourth Grade mage, the team looked weak. However, he still commended their teamwork.
"Father! What city are we going to and how does it look like?"
Reymond patted his head, looking outside the window.
"Our target is to sell the minerals to Valmere City. It's one of the greatest and most prosperous cities in the Palmera Kingdom!"
One of the other village sellers added, "That city is also the one that produced one of Palmera Kingdom's strongest warriors—Ripper King."
"Eh? Should you be telling that to a child?" Someone chastised him, but the man shrugged.
"What? I'm merely telling him about some real history!"
Reymond laughed, "It is fine, Josh. He's old enough to know."
Josh snorted proudly, smirking at the other guy who had been dissuading him. Turning to Isaac, he started.
"So there's this guy called Ripper King. He's so strong, so skilled that he could singlehandedly kill over a thousand warriors in battle."
"Oh?" Isaac's eyes shone.
"Yes, boy. If you see him, he's completely ripped with muscles, looking like a giant. Do you know that his body can tank fireballs and he can easily smash through earth walls? His physique is insane—one of the ten divine bodies."
"Woah!" Isaac gasped like an awed child, "You said he's ripped with muscles. Is that why he's called Ripper King?"
Josh fell silent, looking at the others in the carriage. They all avoided his gaze, leaving him no choice but to explain by himself.
"Uh… he's actually called the Ripper King because of his fighting style."
Isaac's eyes narrowed slightly. 'Fighting style, you say? It has to be something brutal.'
Josh continued. "He rips apart every mage who's his opponent, directly tearing them into two."
Isaac's eyes widened, not in fear but surprise. "That's… brutal."
He sighed, falling silent. Reymond patted him reassuringly, thinking he was scared.
The others also fell silent, not saying a word as the carriage advanced. While Isaac's head was lowered, different thoughts passed through his mind.
'That guy… he's very strong. I don't know how long I can be here and if I can even return to Earth, but I need to grow stronger than him. Strong enough I wouldn't be threatened by the existence of anyone.'
Beneath his bangs, his brown eyes gleamed sharply.