The forest surrounding the Sunrise sect was large, thick, and archaic. Its canopy was ruled by monstrous linden, purple cottonwood, and gigantic chestnut. The occasional beam of light that made its way through the canopy allowed bright shrubs to cultivate the rich grounds below. Coiling climbing plants grasped many trees, and a medley of flowers, which blossomed brightly, protruded from the otherwise colorless view. A variety of sounds, belonging mostly to vermin, filled the air and were out of sync with the trickling sounds of a gentle river stream.
Hiding within the thick forest, Connors was watching at a construction site a few hundred meters away. He was wearing full white clothes to blend in with the snow in the forest. At the construction site, he could see several black-uniformed disciples helping the construction workers. Just by looking at the construction site and the tons of wood, marble stones, and glasses they were bringing in, he could tell they were building not just a house but a huge mansion. The dwarf engineering was a dead giveaway showing the intricate design of the mansion.
"Where are you, Ghost?" Connors mumbled. It has been a month since he was allocated more resources to gather more information about Ghost. Considering Ghost disappeared using a teleportation scroll a month ago, he couldn't follow him. Therefore, he was surveying the sect and his underlings were surveying Ghost's restaurant in River Town.
Whoosh!
A shadow brought extra darkness to the forest as Connors looked upwards to see Ghost's pet dragon hovering over the sky before flying towards the construction site. This was the third time he had seen the dragon, yet it always freaked him out regardless of its Body Strengthening cultivation level.
It wasn't a full-grown dragon yet. The dragon was almost 3m long, almost the size of a full-grown horse. Bright scarlet red eyes sat well within the dragon's rounded, scaled skull, which gave the creature a frightening-looking appearance. The dragon had crimson red shiny scales that made the dragon look more majestic and noble. Two small crystal growths sat atop its head, just above its thin, curved ears.
Its nose was short and had two wide, slitted nostrils and there were crystal growths on its chin. Several razor-sharp teeth poked out from the side of its mouth and gave a preview of the terror hiding inside. A wide neck ran down from its head and into a slender body. The top was covered in wide scales and a row of small tendrils runs down its spine.
The dragon's belly was covered in radiant greyscales and shinier than the rest of its body. Four slender limbs carried its body and allowed the creature to stand sturdy and elegantly. The most iconic feature of the dragon was its colossal wings that grew starting from just above its shoulders and ended at the end of its shoulder blades. The wings were bladed in structure, the skin of the wings seems to glow as if made from the fire itself and armor-like scales grow on top of the wing's primary bones.
Its graceful tail ended in a sharp, arrowhead-shaped tip and was covered in the same scarlet red scales as its body.
"How's the work going?" The dragon's voice sent a chill running through Connor's spine yet at the same time, it kindled his hunting spirit. He wanted to hunt down this creature and put its head on his wall. It would definitely increase his status among the other guardian trainees in Operation Dawn.
When Connor received Ghost as his target from Peyton, he was beyond excited because unlike Lucifer or any other targets on the list, Ghost seemed to be the most overrated yet easiest one in his eyes. The only drawback was Ghost's teleportation. Now, Peyton allocated more resources and a team of dedicated teleportation experts working on a rune that would track Ghost's activity even after he teleports.
If he could gather enough evidence to neutralize Ghost, this would catapult his career through the roof. His family spent millions of gold coins to help his cultivation, otherwise, he wouldn't have reached the Core Formation stage at just 27 years old. If he could become a full-fledged guardian, he could earn what they spent in just a couple of years. As any guardian, his life would be spending nights with countless beauties as well as attending balls organized by various noble families.
Whoosh!
The dragon flapped its wings, taking off from the ground. The heat radiated from its body melted the snow where it was standing a moment before. Connors quickly hid behind a chestnut tree, it was not the time for him to hunt this creature.
Connors continued to watch the construction site as well as the female disciples who were bringing hot beverages to the workers through a rune placed monocular.
Krick!
Suddenly in his interest in checking out the female disciples, he ignored the sound coming from behind.
"Hey!" Connors almost dropped the monocular as his body jerked when he heard the voice. He immediately turned back to see a golden-haired youngster staring back at him. On the ground, Connors saw a basket full of chestnuts as the golden hair youngster unsheathed his sword.
"Jack" Connors knew almost every single known associate of Ghost. So, he naturally recognized the golden-haired youngster as Jack, one of the most loyal lackeys of Ghost.
"What are you doing here?!" Jack saw spell scrolls, weird pieces of equipment lying around the white-clothed man. Jack couldn't see his face through the mask yet his fully covered face only increased Jack's suspicion.
"Calm down" Connor let out a burst of Arch energy showing his cultivation level.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" Jack shouted at Connors fearlessly. The image of Gaya and Ghost in his heart gave him the courage to face a Core Formation intruder.
Connors was slightly surprised to see the fearless expression on Jack's face as he slowly stepped towards Jack.
"You sick bastard, are you spying on us?!" Jack took a step forward.
"Yes," Connors calmly said,
"Surrender peacefully" Jack threatened Connors. Unlike Michael or Gaya, Jack never had real-world battle experience. If he had, he would have called for help instead of asking Connors to surrender.
"If you come with me peacefully, I'll ask Sister Aelia to go easy on you"
"Hahaha" Connors burst into laughter after hearing Jack's words. Jack creased his brows, until now he didn't think to call for others. His devotion towards Gaya and Ghost gave him blind courage.
"Aelia, the Body refining bitch of Ghost?" Connors laughed thinking that JAck threatened him by mentioning Aelia, Ghost's girlfriend instead of using Ghost's name.
"How dare you!" Jack lost his cool when he heard Connors call Aelia a bitch. Although Gaya would constantly slap him around, he always thought of her as his big sister. Every time he got into trouble, she would beat him silly but always got him out of the trouble at the end. Jack respected and loved Ghost as his brother but he worshipped Aelia because compared to Ghost, he spent more time with Aelia. Even when all of his friends were against him for loving Nyla, Aelia supported him saying he should listen to his heart rather than to others. She was his big sister he never had.
Jack leaped at Connors raising his sword. He tried to use what he learned from Ghost in sword mastery.
"Void step" Connors cast the spell as Jack saw him vanish into thin air.
The very next moment after he saw the intruder vanish, he felt a sharp pain in his chest.
pulch!
Jack coughed a mouthful of warm blood. He looked down to see a sharp dagger sticking out of his chest. Jack tried to take out a healing potion from his ring but before he could access the ring, he felt another excruciating sharp pain in his chest.
Jack's body lost the strength to stand straight as he stumbled down on the ground. He crawled through the snow towards a tree. Connors appeared beside Jack before kicking Jack in the gut.
The kick sent Jack flying into a tree. He coughed up more blood as his vision began to blur, he barely saw the white-masked figure squatting in front of him.
"Sister...Aelia...cough...cough...will..."
Pulch!
Jack wanted to scream in pain but all he heard was a chuckle from the masked figure. Placing his hand on Jack's shoulder, Connors slowly thrust his dagger deeper into Jack's heart.
"Come...for...you...cough" the words barely escaped Jack's mouth. It was too late for Jack to realize that he should have called for help. Even in his last moments, he believed his Sister Aelia would come out of nowhere and save him. He refused to believe that he was dying. The snow below him turned red from the blood coming out of his wounds.
"You were in the wrong place at the wrong time," Connors said, removing Jack's bloody hand from his chest. In his last moments, Jack felt the embroidered symbol on the masked figure's chest.
Connors saw Jack close his eyes but he could swear that he saw a tiny smile on the corner of Jack's bloody mouth. Since his place was uncovered by Jack and probably someone could soon come looking for Jack, Connors immediately gathered all of his equipment, preparing to leave the place.
Although he was dying, he didn't worry about his family because he knew Ghost and Sister Aelia would look after them and avenge his death. An image of him getting slapped around by Gaya appeared in Jack's mind before everything turned into darkness.