Chapter 56: Somewhere far from the village
Kuh
The man groaned painfully while dragging his body to sit up straight. His head was hurting as if something heavy had dropped on it.
The hand that ruffled his hair while he continued grinding his teeth couldn't feel any bandages covering his head. The dark blue colour of the pupils became partially visible once he tried to open his eyes.
The faint light blinded him for a few seconds before the view awaiting his gaze became clear. The room that he happened to be in was somewhere he never remembered to have visited.
His breathing was still a bit off since the sore muscles were restricting his movements. The black figure he witnessed, despite the white light through the window next to him, wasn't recognisable.
'Surely, I was hit by...'
His thoughts came to a stop when he noticed that there were no wounds on his body. What lied just a bit further away were a few green tree vines coiled up. Were they rolling around something?
Of course, he had no idea that those regular-looking vines actually belonged to the World Tree. The ability to heal any physical wound or illness was far superior to any potions or magic spells.
"Have you come back to your senses?"
The sound of the man that was familiar to him got his whole body shivering. The cold tone of speaking belonged to the very person who had wrecked his physique. He could feel the colour drain from his face.
Adrienne was sitting beside the bed where Jaden had been put to rest by Sierra. The situation Jaden was facing was making him feel conflicting emotions.
Swallowing all of his bitter feelings, Jaden let out a sigh. Being still alive meant that he had managed to pass Adrienne's test. A cold sweat broke out on his body.
A clumsy smile followed, and with his right eye twitching, Jaden tried to speak. His voice was unclear due to his throat being dry. Yet he managed to say a few words.
"Surprisingly, yes."
Jaden himself had no guarantee that the skills he knew were enough to help him in that situation. What coloured his face was astonishment and a sense of achievement. There was no way that he could believe that he had managed to survive such a fierce attack.
Adrienne's gaze was fixed outside the window throughout the time he was standing there. The mad emperor title of his was just something people called him. In truth, he was quite a considerate person.
Even at the present moment, he was waiting to be certain that Jaden wasn't seriously injured. The strength he poured into his attack was slightly greater than the first strike.
If he had gone all out on him, things wouldn't have ended with Jaden losing one arm or something. Definite death aside, even the dimension made by Sierra would've shattered into tiny pieces.
It wasn't like Adrienne was worried about Jaden, but he had a role given to him by Aliana. The favour he owed her made him do what she had told him without any questions. Also, he had found Jaden a bit interesting because of what he did earlier.
Piercing through an attack coated with mana head-on was something that even skilled sword users wouldn't dare to do. There was only one reason behind it: if one were to hit at the wrong spot of the attack, it would end up causing a huge explosion.
Jaden had managed to pull off such a ridiculous stunt without even realising it. He wasn't aware of the fact since it wasn't written by him in his novel.
Thnk
The window opened upon Adrienne's gentle push towards them. The cold breeze that entered made the two's hair flutter, making them feel refreshed.
"Why don't we soon start with your training?"
The cold, serious voice didn't surprise Jaden, who had gotten accustomed to it within a few moments. All thanks to Aliana, whose behaviour seemed more crazy to him.
What left him amazed was that someone as strong as Adrienne was going to teach him. There still remained a few problems, though. What could those be?
Jaden's body had not recovered from the test Adrienne put forward for him. Curing one of his exhaustion wasn't within the range of Sierra's skill.
Also, Jaden wasn't mentally prepared for it. If he had any opinion about it, he would say that he wanted to rest for a few hours before starting the training.
As he had no good options, Jaden simply stared at Adrienne's back blankly. He actually had no way of knowing how Adrienne would react to his answer.
Every choice he made would've had different reactions from Adrienne. For instance, if he agreed to start with the training, there was a chance that Adrienne would say something like:
-You sure are eager for it.
And then keep the intensity of the exercise at its maximum. Or if Jaden said that he would do it later, maybe he would've given up the thought of teaching him.
Accepting what one is getting rather than being selfish and losing it all is way better. That was the reason Jaden forced himself to get out of bed.
Seeing him stand up, Adrienne's lips twitched for a moment. He said no words but simply walked out of the room, which Jaden followed.
"Where are you going?"
Sierra's question directed towards the two made Diona flinch. She was approaching Sierra when Jaden and Adrienne happened to show up behind her. Eleanor and Blaise were at a distance too.
The place they were currently at was a small house in the corner of Elven Village. Jaden had little clue about that.
"The training grounds..."
He walked non-stop after uttering those words. Not knowing what to do, Jaden smiled lightly at Sierra.
When Eleanor heard that they were going to train, her gaze switched towards Blaise. Thinking that the person she admired the most shouldn't be left out of such a beneficial task, she let out a sigh.
"My prince is stronger than that man."
She grumbled while glaring at Adrienne as she saw him walk away. That made Blaise get full of himself. Despite knowing that he was weaker than Adrienne, Blaise was on cloud nine.
Sadly, he would've never even imagined what awaited him—a harsh training session. And all of that was because of certain words from Eleanor.
"You should give them some tips."
Blaise, who had lost his sense of rational judgement due to being praised by Eleanor, followed the two without thinking twice. It was a win-win for him since he got to be away from Eleanor.
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Slash
The crescent-shaped, shiny black metal swung upwards while throwing aside the drops of blood. The sunlight that passed through the canopies of the dense forest made the edge of the blade glisten.
As the red liquid touched the ground, a smile crept onto the face of the girl. The scythe she wielded was totally tainted with the blood of the people lying on the ground.
Puh
The laughter she was trying to hold back finally freed itself from her little mouth. Anyone listening to it would definitely get shivers and goosebumps.
Her face, which was covered with small drops of red liquid, made her look just like a maniac crazy for blood. The dead bodies lying around her enhanced the scene and made it look more horrific.
The darkness that gloomed over the ground due to the shadows of the tree and a faint layer of fog was looking more eerie. The brutally torn-apart bodies were being censored by the very shadows.
Rustle
The sound of bushes moving made her turn around, with her smile remaining the same. She couldn't care less who or what it was; at the moment, she was enjoying herself the most.
"Ah. Damn. Crazy idiot, not again."
The boy's expression stiffened as he witnessed the tragic scene that had unfolded during his absence. He bit his lips while glaring at the girl.
One eye hidden underneath a thin layer of his red hair became visible to her. It glinted a light blue, similar to his other one.
The eyes and hair strangely mirroring each other, along with their faces that looked a bit the same, told one that they were twins. Despite looking like some children in their teenage years, these two were full-fledged adults.
"How rude, Castor~"
Pollux acted as if she were disappointed in her sibling while trying to tease him a bit. Castor's eyebrows furrowed themselves, making the wrinkles on his forehead intense.
That was the usual stuff that Castor had to go through since the time they both were born. He couldn't actually hate his only sister, but he definitely got pissed off on several occasions.
And the present situation was actually the worst case possible. Pollux had done something he was afraid to even imagine. It was absurd that Pollux was being carefree even after doing it.
"Killing some replacements is okay~"
Her gaze, filled with craziness, made his stomach shiver. It had been quite a while since he got to witness that expression. The sign of actual bad omens.
He gulped down his own saliva while trying to figure out what to even do at that point. What could he even do to bring dead people back to life?
The edge of a cliff named Life was where he was currently standing. Behind him was the beast he hated the most, while in the front was a deep abyss. No matter what he chose, what would happen next was already decided.
"My, you've got some guts doing this."
Guh
The pressure on the two's bodies left their legs quivering along with those words. The voice that was engraved in Castor's mind came back to haunt him. Was it his imagination, or was he daydreaming?
It was none of those. The man they both hated the most in the world had made his appearance. The heavy air, which made one feel suffocated, convinced them that he was stronger than themselves. Yet, why?
"Why are you smiling after killing the 'numbers' and interrupting my mission?"
Why was it that the two had smiles on their faces? They had broken a lot of rules by doing whatever they felt like. In actuality, it was Pollux who did it, but who would explain it to him?
Pollux had sprinted in the direction of the elven forest in search of the numbers Ace had dispatched. After encountering them, she proceeded to slaughter them without even giving them any chance to resist.
Castor was innocent since he happened to fall behind while trying to catch up with Pollux. Naturally, Ace wasn't aware of the fact.
What he could see was that the numbers he had sent were lying cold on the ground, and that too in the form of multiple separate parts. That was the artwork performed by Pollux.
Ace was still standing within the shadows, making his appearance unclear to them, but they were aware of it. The man was the very person who had interfered in their mission four years ago.
Castor, unlike Pollux, wasn't actually hungry for fights. But that was the case most of the time. There were a few exceptions when it came to it.
"Why would we tell you? Isn't it fun this way?"
Bleh
He mocked Ace with his tongue out while pulling the lid of his left eye lower. The smile on Pollux's face widened upon hearing those words.
The rage Ace was feeling growing in his heart made him release a huge murderous intent mixed with his mana. Seeing his expression, Pollux glanced at her brother.
'What do we do now?'
That's what her eyes were asking of him, who was already prepared with a plan. He blinked his eyes twice in a peculiar manner. That was him signalling to her that he had a plan.
'What is the plan now?'
The smile Castor had on his face dropped when Pollux asked herself that question. He was aware of what she was asking him about.
Castor let his body loose before turning around smoothly. Ace couldn't comprehend his carefree actions.
Pollux saw a faint smile on Castor's face. She was feeling excited and trying to imagine his plan. Maybe she could throw a fist or two at Ace as revenge for the previous time?
"Of course..."
His calm-toned words made Ace lighten up the murderous aura he was directing towards the two. Pollux steadied herself, copying how Castor had done it. Then a loud sound fell on her ears.
"WE WILL RUN NOW!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
AbyssKun00
AbyssKun00 Never face a stronger enemy head-on. Just escape. -_-
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