It had been a week since that conversation with Life. Throughout that entire week, nothing of real significance changed about his training. It remained as boring as usual, the only difference being the fact that he no longer had someone to break his bones, so he had to do it himself.
*Woosh*
Silas descended at high speeds before eventually smashing into the ground and injuring most of his lower body.
Grasping at air, Silas pulled down, causing the enormous boulder to shoot toward him before letting go of his control over it.
The boulder descended 200 meters in the blink of an eye.
Placing his hands above his head, Silas put all his strength into his arms before-
*Swoosh*
*BOOM*
The impact of Silas’ hands and the boulder colliding kicked up an enormous dust cloud while the blood-curdling crunch of his bones breaking echoed throughout the forest.
When the dust cloud finally dissipated, Silas’ tiny figure could be seen holding up an enormous and extremely dense boulder, covered in hundreds of cracks that spread throughout it all.
Silas was still holding the boulder up, but barely. Every breath made him feel excruciating pain, but at this point, he was almost used to it.
Of course, being used to it didn’t mean he didn’t feel the pain.
No, he definitely did feel it. Every time felt like it might be the worst pain he had ever felt, yet he kept doing it over and over again.
Silas let out a loud roar as he threw the boulder away with what remained of his strength before finally collapsing to the floor.
A few seconds later, Silas sat crosslegged and took a deep breath filled with mana that quickly turned into life energy when it hit his mana core.
The life energy coursed through his mana channels before going into his blood vessels, coursing the could energy into every inch of his body in pursuit of healing it back to its peak.
‘Hmm… Maybe I should return to the city? I wonder if they have announced the commander’s death yet.’ Silas asked himself when he eventually healed fully; however, instead of returning to the city, he cultivated for a few more hours before eventually returning to the platform.
As the platform slowly lowered itself toward one of the large root-like bridges, Silas finally saw the aftermath of Judgement’s death.
The best way to describe the city would probably be “chaos.” People seemed to be rioting for something?
Others were chanting a certain name while lifting a man sitting on a throne into the air.
“I’m assuming you’re new.” A man jumped onto the bridge from his own platform.
“How did you know?”
“Well, you wouldn’t have the reaction on your face if you’ve been here for the last one.” The man chucked.
He was a middle-aged man with a goatee and a ponytail. His hair with mixed with shades of grey and black, and in a way, he looked a lot like the chief of Uladia… Or at least before he died. Now he’s just ahead.
‘He doesn’t have the bulk though.’ Silas looked at the man’s athletic figure before narrowing his eyes when seeing an awakened mana core.
“The last what?” Silas questioned.
“The last election.”
“These people have elections?” Silas seemed genuinely surprised, even though Archie told him about this before.
“Of course we do. We’re not barbarians. Unlike those Xylem kingdom bastards. How much I would pay to see all of them slaughtered.” The man clapped his hands together and prayed silently.
“So… What are they electing exactly?” Silas asked.
“We found out the commander is dead so we’re electing a new 7th general and a new commander.”
“I thought the commander chooses who the generals are.”
“Technically, they can. When the Architect became the Architect, the commander chose him for that position.
However, it was much easier to do that since the Architect didn’t have a faction. Judgment does, so we wait for them to choose their next general.” The man explained, causing Silas to raise a brow while inwardly cursing Archie.
“What if the commander chooses someone as Judgement that the faction doesn’t vote in.” Silas asked.
“Well, the commander usually never does that, but technically it had happened before.” The man scratched his goatee.
“What did they do?” Silas questioned.
“They fight to the death if the general role is strength-based. To be Judgment, you need to be strong. Though, I did hear that there is another candidate the temporary commander is going to choose.” The man shrugged.
“Is that man over there the prime candidate?” Silas asked while pointing at the man on the throne.
“Yeah. He’s pretty strong.” The man crossed his arms and nodded.
“Alright… Nice meeting ya.” Silas waved before increasing his pace.
“Oh, wait! Kid!” The man shouted.
“What?” Silas turned around slightly to make eye contact.
“If you’re looking for a job, you can go to the mercenary hall.”
“What gives you the impression that I need money?” Silas tilted his head.
“Your clothes…”
“My clothes?”
“…”
“…”
Silas looked down at himself before sighing.
“Sure. Thanks,” Silas waved one last time before fading into the crowd; however, he didn’t go to the mercenary hall.
Silas opened his apartment door with a low click before walking in.
Turning on the light, he placed a small bag on the ground filled with yellow and browny-orange crystals before walking to the furthest wall from the door.
A large chalkboard could be seen placed on it, essentially taking up most of the wall’s surface area with its width and height.
Everything on it was written in English to keep all the information he had a secret.
The names of all the generals could be seen written, with their known strengths and weaknesses. Their real names, affinities, knowledge, threat level, family, and heritage.
Everything about each and every one of them was there, and it wasn’t had to find out either.
The only two Silas didn’t know anything about were Eclipse and Archie. Sure, Archie seemed innocent on the surface. Everything about him was public knowledge since he grew up in this city. However, Silas knew that there had to be more about him.
However, Eclipse was a completely silent individual. No one even knew what he looked like… Or at least until now.
“I thought you’d be better at hiding, but in the end, you came to me.” Silas smiled while recalling the man with the goatee.
“Now that I know what you look like, finding who you are will be a lot easier than I first thought it would be.”
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