Chapter 1110 Cooperation
Four day had passed since the attack by the swarm of Vasps. After surviving its first encounter, there were no more traces of the flying swarm ever again.
Emery could only assume that the swarm just acted like a horde of birds transmigrating during certain seasons and would return to their true habitat someday. But for now, he had to make do with the current situation.
After the last battle with the swarm, Emery had gained a much deeper understanding of the planet’s gravitational pressure. Since then, he had been experimenting with the gravitational force during his hunts, using multiple spatial magic that distorted the fabric of space.
He was hungry for more comprehension, hence he diligently hunted for more creatures to be devoured.
[Spirit force has increased]
[Spirit force: 1670 (1686)]
Thanks to that, Emery only needed a few days to finally reach his bottleneck. This was something monumental for him, as it hadn’t been long since he achieved a breakthrough in his cultivation.
Other than the tremendous increase in his spirit force, the last few days Emery also attempted to increase his cooperation with the Dragon protege. The start was rough due to their differences, but gradually they managed to peel off the ice that had been separating them.
They began to interact with each other more, starting from small conversations up to discussing techniques and skills of one another. Slowly but surely, the two of them bridged the invisible distance.
For one, Zach had been focusing on finding ways to defeat Mahinder, who he believed to be the most powerful among the three standing above him.
“I have been practicing my innate skill in order to defeat him.” the Dragon protege said, informing the reason for the skill Emery had never seen before.
Apparently, Zach believed that the way to break through the monk’s infinite spirit pool was to attack the latter with a quick burst of powerful attack instead of a long one. With that the monk will not be able to fully utilize his ability. Hence the reason for his continuation of mastering the innate skill.
The Dragon protege even shared his thoughts on ways to defeat Eeshoo’s long range attacks and Olivier’s time based attacks, which was something Emery inwardly appreciated when he heard it.
Later, Emery realized the reason as to why the Dragon protege was willing to share his thoughts. All along, the man had always put himself above him. Never in his mind did he thought Emery as a threat who would be able to beat him.
But of course, Emery just smiled wryly when he found out this fact. He had no intention of bringing this up to the Dragon protégés, as there was no point at all for them to argue about it. He just needed to find the opportune moment to prove the other party wrong, after all.
This particular day, Emery was caught off guard by Zach who had interestingly asked a different matter – a more personal one.
“Emery.. Tell me what you will do after graduating from the academy? Are you going to go for further studies, or enter military duty?”
Naturally, Emery knew about the two choices. The former would keep him tied in service of the Magus Academy, while the latter – as it directly implied – would enlist him straight to the military, being part of the magus alliance fighting forces.
However, unlike what the Dragon protege expected, Emery would not choose both options. As for someone who was from a lower realm like him, there was another choice that was different from the two.
“Neither.” Emery replied, causing Zach to raise his eyebrows at him. “I will be returning home.” He added, a sincere longing for home was apparent in his voice and facial expression.
But then, he saw Zach’s expression change that startled him. To his surprise, the Dragon half-blood unexpectedly lost his cool and exclaimed in a raised tone. It was as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
“Going home! Are you kidding me!?”
Before Emery could say anything, the young dragon beat him to it.
“Emery, we are at war! Especially us half-bloods on two fronts with those humans that hate us! Why the hell did you choose to return home!?”
Without giving Emery an opportunity to speak, the Dragon protege began to speak a long and thorough explanation about the honor of heading to the frontline, as he himself would be joining the military after graduation.
At this moment, Emery couldn’t help but recall what Annara had told him about Zach. The fact that the Dragon half-blood aimed to bring his father’s honor back by obtaining numerous merits at the frontline.
It kind of explained the reason as to why his reaction was extreme, but it didn’t mean Emery would have to accept it as truth. Still, Emery chose to convey his point across in a non-aggressive approach.
“Sorry if I let you down, Zach. but there’s too much going on in my home that I can’t leave for anything else just yet.”
It was truly unfortunate that when a lower realm acolyte like Emery decided to return home, he won’t be able to return back and forth to the Magus Universe until he became a magus. For individuals like Zach who really valued power, they would certainly find his choice of returning home a mistake.
After his long rant, Zach took a deep breath. Apparently, he himself was surprised by how emotional he was. There was a moment of silence until Zach finally spoke once more.
“You’re only wasting your time and talent if you choose to return home.”
He stood up and looked away as he added, “It seems I was wrong in choosing you.. You are wasting my time as well!”
Emery saw the glint of disappointment in his eyes as he walked away saying, “Don’t follow me” and flew into the sky leaving him to hunt by himself.
It seemed that their newly formed corporation had ended. It was such a short one.
Emery heaved a sigh. He understood what Zach meant. Unfortunately, unlike the latter who was born in a high realm and had a king and leader of a powerful faction as uncle, Emery had no one else he could depend on.
There was no way he could fight in a distant war when he didn’t know an inkling about the fate of the people he cared about. Once again, he heaved a long sigh of helplessness.
Now that the Dragon had left, it was time for him to find a new way to devour more creatures and break through to the next stage.