Chapter 323: 321: Condescending look.

Sun started to set.

Raven and Blaze kept themselves busy surveying their surroundings from time to time while Ozul slept soundlessly.

It was evident that Ozul had no plans to move out of this jungle. He was comfortable here since the trees had branches big enough for him to sleep on.

Although Zier felt that this kind of place was dangerous for even strong Mages, he didn't dare voice out any complaints.

After the two Rank-7 Mages, they hadn't encountered any more people until now. 

One thing Zier noticed was that both the scary lady shrouded in black clothes and the cyan-haired cold dude didn't conceal their Mana at all. It seemed as if they were openly challenging anyone who could be around their area.

Safe to say, he felt a bit pressured because of this. At the same time, he wondered if these monster-like people could actually crush him with their Mana pressure alone.

He felt goosebumps run all over his body as he was once again reminded of how easily he could die in this death game.

Seeing them do nothing but lay around lazily and meditating whenever they are not surveying the surroundings caused Zier to imitate them. He had nothing else to do anyway.

By the time it was completely dark, he had already checked all the trees around him and had even set up a few basic traps around him for any roaming Beasts.

After that, he climbed up the tree and rested his back against the trunk; it looked like he was taking a nap.

But if one were to look closely, they would notice that his eyes weren't fully closed. The eyelids stubbornly hung halfway, refusing to close because of the looming sense of danger.

In contrast, Ozul seemed as off-guard as ever. If one didn't know any better, they would think that he was the weakest person in this group.

Raven and Blaze noticed Zier's activities but they didn't disturb him or asked him unnecessary questions. In their opinion, this purple-haired man was at least sensible enough to look after himself instead of wholly relying on them.

He appeared to be less repulsive to the eye now — still unpleasant, but bearable for the time being.

It was only in the middle of the night when their peace was disturbed.

Zier was in a balanced state of sleeping and staying awake when he felt a pungent  smell invade his nose.

He abruptly rose to his feet and immediately looked around. Though the only light source was the fire that Raven had started with some sticks, it was enough for him to see that the spooky man on the tree had also woken up.

Meanwhile, Raven and Blaze stayed on the ground meditating without moving. It seemed that they hadn't yet caught the weird smell around him.

Yet, when he looked towards Ozul again, he found the latter to also be staring straight at him with an unfounded gleam in his eyes.

What came next unsettled him even more.

The other person slowly raised his forefinger upto his lips, gesturing for him to stay quiet.

'huh? Why would I make a noise...?'

Zier had just thought this thought when he felt hair on his body stand up in alarm. 

The smell had abruptly increased so much that he couldn't help but scrunch up his face in disgust.

Nevertheless, a single glance at the two people on the ground was enough for him to understand that they were peacefully unaware of everything.

Zier's eyes widened as if he had come to a sudden realization.

'!!!'

"It's pois-"

He was about to alarm the two but stopped himself in the middle when he remembered the mysterious man motioning  him to keep quiet.

Discreetly positioning himself on another branch of the tree, Zier looked again to see that the mysterious man was currently staring vacantly in a certain direction with unreadable thoughts.

'That man... just what is he trying to do?' Zier asked himself in his heart, but he didn't disobey him. After all, from everything that had happened as of yet, he could tell that this man must be a lot stronger than the two on the ground. If he wanted to survive, he had to rely on this guy more.

***

Ozul had planned to sleep for as long as he wasn't directly disturbed even if it took days.

However, that plan came crashing down when it was almost midnight.

He was forced to wake up when he realized that Raven and Blaze were unaware of a certain threat looming around them.

'Hm... So they are concealing their presence with some artifact.'

He felt the presence of exactly three people, one of them seemed to be a Rank-8 Mage while the other two were peak Rank-7.

The only reason Raven and Blaze couldn't detect the presence of someone at their level would be if some powerful artifact was used. Rank-9 Mages lending their prized collections to the younger generation for an event this important wouldn't be so surprising.

After all, Old Gu had stated no other rules than death. So it didn't matter which means the participants used to kill or survive.

'But if that's the case, why is this guy alarmed?' he shifted his eyes towards the purple-haired Fighter who was worriedly looking all around him.

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It was clear that he had noticed something off as well.

Just then, he also felt a faint smell floating all around the area.

Ozul again glanced towards the duo meditating on the ground and realized that they hadn't felt the foul smell in the air.

'So that must be the case,' he shifted his focus back to the purple-haired man and guessed that this man must have also felt the smell, unlike Raven and Blaze, '... that's interesting. He is not normal after all...'

This new situation made Ozul think about what he wanted to do next. He could take care of these people himself in a matter of seconds or he could leave it up to the duo to handle despite the dangers.

'... The choice is obvious.'

An invisible smirk hid behind his expressionless face.

It was at that point when he realized that Jinx was sitting next to him and she was currently looking at him with knowing eyes.

As usual, she didn't utter a sound but her disappointed eyes clearly seemed to be saying a lot along the lines of, 'Torturing these poor kids has really become entertainment for you?'

In response, Ozul averted his eyes and ignored her condescending looks.

Though in his mind, he consoled himself with the chants of, 'I'm just training them... yes. It will be a new experience for them.'

Repeatedly nodding to himself, he forcefully shifted his focus back to the three people who were setting all of this up.

'... doesn't matter if I enjoy it or not.'

***

Quite a few minutes passed but nothing notable happened. 

While Ozul was getting bored with each passing moment,  Zier felt increasingly worried as the silence continued to ensue as it had been from the day.

What changed was that this silence felt like the calm before the storm now.

He had even prepared himself to flee at a moment's notice.

"Can they even survive something this strong?" he muttered to himself quietly when Ozul's image flashed in his mind and yet again a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"I can't see through that man at all..."

'Wait!' Zier widened his eyes, 'Could it be that he could smell it too? But even grandfather couldn't smell it! Heck, grandfather even said that he had never come across anyone who ever could! No way this man could... could he?'

All of a sudden, he found himself getting even more intrigued by the mysterious man.

It was at this time when both Ozul and Zier shifted their focus to the same person.

Raven had woken up from her meditation and was now staggering to stand up straight.

"Idiot! Wake up," She shouted as she weakly kicked Blaze.

As her shout rang throughout the forest, Blaze rubbed his back with his hand while standing up with an annoyed face. No one liked being disturbed during their cultivation.

"What is it?"

"What do you mean by what is it? Don't you feel it? Do you not realize that you can't even properly open your eyes?" Raven replied fiercely while pointing at Blaze who shook his head multiple times in alarm.

"Don't tell me you didn't even notice how hard it had become to absorb Mana now," Raven spat another question. 

Embarrassed that he didn't find anything odd even though he had a greater affinity with Mana than her, Blaze muttered, "Still, as far as I can sense, I feel no presence  near us."

Raven didn't reply this time but kept looking around.

Although they couldn't sense anyone, there was clearly something wrong with their bodies.

As she had stood up, she had felt a wave of weakness wash over her body to the point where she even struggled to find her footing at first!

'No way, nothing is going on...'

It was then when she felt a nudge from Blaze who in turn pointed towards a certain direction with the most helpless and bitter face he had ever made in front of Raven before.

Raven didn't fare any better when she noticed Ozul petting an indistinguishable black figure of something in his lap that held an almost luminescent pair of blue and red eyes.

Ozul was staring down at them and didn't say a word.

Yet, despite all the barriers, Raven and Blaze somehow knew that those dark beady eyes currently hid amusement behind them.

They couldn't help but collectively sigh before readying themselves for whatever shit they were going to face in the middle of the night.

Whatever it was, they were at least sure of one thing; if Ozul was interested, they could very well be facing a life-threatening situation right now...

[Note: Read the short poem in the note below :3]

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