"You've really done it. Did you know how hard it is to raise that mutated Hydra?"
The raspy male voice spoke again.
On the other hand, Kyran remained still. His battle senses kicked up into gear as he tried to pinpoint the person's exact location. However, he instantly realized that it was impossible to locate the man.
It was as if the man's presence had completely blended in the surrounding, seemingly there, yet somehow not there as well.
"But…" The man paused before saying in a cheery sounding voice, "… I was expecting a new mutated beast, not a Numa. Interesting."
Suddenly, a menacingly immense pressure bore down within a hundred kilometer radius with Kyran at the center. In that instance, all beast carcasses inside got flattened to the ground from the pressure's power. Even the ground cracked and caved in a few inches.
The tall gray obelisk also sank at least half a foot in the ground from the pressure.
Even Kyran would have keeled over if he had not switched into battle mode the moment the man spoke. Still, he fell on his knee, and even his bones creaked from the pressure. The man's pressure was almost the same as Malek's. But with Kyran's circumstances being different on each occasion, he was unsure whose more powerful.
For one thing, Kyran was not wearing the coat that had been super-enhanced by Stella. However, the enhancements on his clothes right now were based on that. And compared to the original enhancements, it paled in comparison. But he still felt the man's pressure to his bones. Though he could not use any Regis Techniques to alleviate the pressure, his magic energy was circulating in his body, cancelling some of it. Still, the ground around him cracked as his feet sank a few inches.
"Ho~ you're able to withstand this?" The man commented, sounding amused. "You're an eccentric Numa. Which tribe are you from?"
Thud!
Surprise flashed in Kyran's eyes as his pupil contracted, but only for a second because he had yet to find the location of the man when he suddenly appeared in front of him.
Kyran reigned in the sudden fear creeping into his heart as he stared directly at the man's sharp red eyes.
A lanky man who seemed to be in his early twenties had dark-red spiked hair. He wore a thick black banda that covered his forehead, a long red coat that seemed big for him, and baggy black pants. The man was bare-chested, and from his exposed skin, there were runes tattoed on his body.
At the moment, these runes were glowing faintly in red.
The man before Kyran was also kneeling in one knee, imitating his stance. He initially had a carefree expression but was instantly replaced by a grim one after having a better look at Kyran.
"You're not a Numa," the man said, his voice turning cold. "You're a human."
Before Kyran could react, thick killing intent erupted from the man. His pressure's power tripled which bore down on Kyran, instantly making his indifferent expression twist in pain.
Faint cracking sounds were heard as Kyran's bones cracked under pressure. His body was forced down again. However, he gritted his teeth stubbornly and circulated his magic energy in a frenzy, refusing to fall. Though he was in pain, it was nothing compared to his pain after taking a sip of the Elixir.
Red veins appeared one after another around Kyran's dark gray eyes, but they still glowed with a stubborn determination as he stared at the man straight in the eyes.
Usually, the red color represents warmth or raging emotions. But the man's red eyes did not reflect any of these but coldness.
"How did you get here, human?"
The man asked as his arm shot forward and grabbed Kyran's neck.
But.
The man grabbed nothing but air as Kyran vanished in thin air.
The man immediately stood and looked around him. He widened the range of his divine sense and yet failed to locate the human.
"DON'T THINK YOU CAN HIDE! I AM THE SOVEREIGN OF THIS PLANE! YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ME!"
The man's shout reverberated in the air, making everything tremble from it.
Meanwhile, Kyran appeared back in his makeshift workroom. His face was pale, and his body ached all over as he dropped on his knees, breathing in short gasps.
He was not expecting to meet another person in this place. Not to mention a person who appeared to have a very high magic level. The man likely had the same magic level as Malek or even Nolan.
"DON'T THINK YOU CAN HIDE! I AM THE SOVEREIGN OF THIS PLANE! YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ME!"
The man's voice sounded like a rumble of thunder, sending the walls and the ground inside the makeshift workroom shook tremendously.
Kyran frowned at once.
'Sovereign? Plane?'
He suddenly had a bad feeling about this place.
No. Kyran already knew this place was 'bad' from the moment he arrived, especially how strange-looking beasts infested the whole area killing each other to eat or take each other's internal organs. Aside from this, the fact that there were obelisks, and a magic array made by his predecessor right here, meant this place was already beyond bad.
Kyran recalled the lanky man's words and his undisguised killing intent when he realized that he was a 'human' and not a 'Numa.'
'This is supposed to be training. What the hell is with that killing intent?' Kyran thought through clenched teeth.
To be honest, if he did manage to replenish his magic reserves back at the black obelisk's area, he probably would not be able to warp at such a long distance.
He actually had a choice to warp to the black obelisk, but though it was a distance away from the gray one, it was still closer than the makeshift workroom. The man would find him immediately if he warped around there.
Apart from that, he was fortunate that he could perform the warp without the purple disc appearing beneath his feet.
It was one of the ideas he thought of and wanted to try out after Zephyr's advice.
He usually had to summon the purple disc and use it to warp, which took some time. But he wondered if he could use the Void energy within him to warp himself in an instant.
Good thing it worked. If not… well, Kyran would still warp using the normal way. He would probably end up beaten up before he could find a chance to warp, but he could still do it.
The reason Kyran decided to escape instead of confronting the man was simple.
When he was trying to find the man's locations earlier and failed, he realized that it was not that he could not find him, but that his presence was everywhere. If he had stayed and fought, his death would be the result.
He did not know why, but at the moment, he assumed it was something like a domain. Or even a technique unique to that man. It could even be an innate ability.
'Is this place real or not?' Kyran thought, but the truth, he already knew the answer.
While it might be true the tower could create a place and even 'beings' for training; it was impossible to create a perfect being with pure killing intent.
But this place had it.
That man had it.
The worm-like beast also had it.
All the beasts he had seen so far had it.
'Void path, huh? Just what the hell is it supposed to be?' Kyran wondered, feeling a little frustrated.
He already had his hands tied with the matters of his clan. Now, this Void path did not look like training at all. It was more like a preview of what he had to expect while treading the Void path—something Kyran did not want to know at the moment.
After a few minutes, Kyran forced himself to calm down. Then he sat cross-legged and started to check his body using his magic sense.
His internal organs had suffered a bit but not much. The man's pressure was tremendous, but thankfully, Kyran's magic energy protected his organs from avoiding getting crashed. His bones had a few cracks but also nothing major. If not, it would become a huge problem for him. Even with injured internal organs, he could still move, not with broken bones or internal bleeding.
As Kyran thought of these, he belatedly realized that he had left all of his things back there.
Groaning in frustration, he looked over the iron anvil he used as well as the smithing tools he left inside the makeshift workroom.
He had no time to create new ones. It was too laborious.
Then he remembered what the obelisks were made of, and his Void core resonated at once.
Kyran closed his eyes as he leaned forward while resting his elbows on his legs.
'Can I do that with limited magic energy?' He wondered.
He actually depleted half of his reserves to warp in the makeshift workroom. If he tried creating something from Void, it would definitely require a lot of magic energy.
'There is no other way. I can only try that,' Kyran told himself, his eyes glinting with determination.
That was right.
He could not let this kind of setback get in his way. If the tower brought him here for other reasons than training, then so be it. He would deal with it head on.
He had to runaway now, but next time he see that man, if he ever meet him again, then he would no longer run.
No matter what, he would redeem himself.