MM - Chapter 230 - THE PATH REVEALED

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- Recluse Mountains, ZionLine -

BallZack clicked his tongue in annoyance as the gorgeous pink-haired girl shrank into the distance. The hammer he’d summoned to knock her out before she could commit suicide dissipated in a shimmer of light. He hadn't anticipated her going to such extremes—severing her own foot—to escape. Her actions were a stark reminder that ZionLine operated on different rules. Limbs regenerated here with a flick of Celestial Power, rendering the concerns of Earth obsolete. 

He licked her blood from his wrist, savoring the metallic tang; an unfit consolation. However, missing the chance to capture her only added to the excitement of what came next: the chase.

Unfurling a scroll from his inventory, he pointed it in her direction and willed its activation. A harmless orange tracking beam lanced out, latching onto her retreating form. Satisfied, he turned back to his companions, who stood atop a sharp mountain ridge. The chill winds raging around them failed to pierce the wall of Connection erected by their newly-promoted leader. 

Touching down on the rocky summit, BallZack faced KakaruNeko with narrowed brows, daring her to chastise him. She stood with arms crossed, her lithe frame clad in flowing robes embroidered with phoenix motifs that shimmered like living flame. As a peak master at her 24th tempering, she was no stronger than anyone else in the wing. Yet, she had usurped the role of leader, all for an achievement that wasn’t even hers. The injustice annoyed BallZack every time he saw her wrinkled old face.

He sneered at her frown. “Is there a problem, oh glorious leader?”

More than a few snorts of amusement sounded in the group. Each of them was a prideful peak master on the verge of grandmaster, and together, they were the 3rd Wing of the Halnugen—one of the most prestigious and feared assassination squads in all of the Phoenix Clan. They were supposed to be under the Patriarch's direct command. That was how it always had been for the Halnugen. Having a leader infuriated them all.

KakaruNeko sneered right back, brown eyes blazing behind a veil of dark hair. “How could you allow a level 25 to escape? Pitiful.” She spat the word, teeth bared.

BallZack shook his head slowly as he licked the last traces of blood from his fingers. “Wouldn't be much of a chase if I caught her right away, would it? Not that you would know how it feels to earn a prize after hard effort.”

Her nostrils flared, domain rousing to the anger flowing through her. “I ordered you to bring her back for questioning!”

BallZack stepped closer, showing no fear as he maintained a tight hold on his own domain. “And now we can follow her back to wherever they’re hiding. She's from Astra Infernum; I saw the guild emblem in her status. Satisfied?”

KakaruNeko's hand shot up, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. “Moron! We have spies in their ranks. We don't need to know their location; we need to know their plans! And now they know we’re coming.”

“So what if they know? Latest report says their strongest is still a fresh master,” another member of the wing remarked in a bored tone, hands clasped behind his head as he stared at the horizon.

She ground her teeth, unable to understand how her life choices had led her to being surrounded by such idiots. “How many times were we warned by Mistress GhostRose (Arya Tafell) not to underestimate Alaric?”

“Zero.” Desmondo snorted. “She wasn’t warning us. That was directed at Damian’s little toys.”

Her domain winked out like a light as she gave up on talking sense to these old bastards. If anyone should be giving them orders, it was Desmondo. At ninety-four, he was the most experienced member of the wing. Those years weren’t spent in idle recovery, either. Only the clan’s sealed records could remember how many successful assassinations he’d completed. He even had the respect of the 1st wing's members—the most elite unit of assassins in the entire clan. Verbally rejecting his stance would only invite further anarchy.

Still, Neko couldn’t help but think that this time, Desmondo was wrong. As far as she was aware, no one else had studied Alaric more than her. If not for meticulously analyzing each and every one of that boy’s recorded battles like a woman possessed, she never would have figured out the secrets of using Connection to Lunge off the air. The fact he discovered how to do it weeks ago was troubling in the extreme.

“Exactly!” BallZack agreed with Desmondo while waving a dismissive hand at her. “Alaric is just some bumpkin who got lucky with a few quests. He's nothing compared to the Halnugen. Rose said it herself; he’s still a kid. We’ve all seen his stances; he’s more likely to stab his own foot than hurt any of us.” His jab at the boy caused a round of chuckles. 

Frustration boiled over, and KakaruNeko hopped into the air. “Never mind. Let’s go before she gets too far.” Connection firmed the air beneath her feet for the split second it took to trigger Lunge. As she dashed toward the next peak, her heart thudded nervously. They were wrong about Alaric. Sure, if this were Earth, he would be utterly overwhelmed by any of them in a heartbeat, for together, even grandmasters had fallen to the hands of the Halnugen; but this was not Earth.

The group lifted off, chasing after her. They streaked across the sky, only alighting on peaks long enough to recover their Discipline before zipping to the next. Her stride slowed, allowing them to keep up. Manipulating Connection was still new to them, and it had taken her nearly a week to understand it enough to barely teach the trick.

The pink-haired girl’s familiarity with the complex technique had been a surprise. Even if BallZack hadn’t seen her guild emblem, it would have been obvious she belonged to Alaric. Beyond her frustrating competence with air-jumping, the girl's beautifully smooth skin pissed KakaruNeko off. At eighty-six, she could easily be that little girl’s great-grandmother.

She developed her mental ability at the prodigious age of twenty-one. Her meteoric rise ended as quickly as it began. Instead of the usual ten, it took her almost fourteen years to gain enough mastery to safely undergo Quenching, landing her squarely in the middle of average for breaking into the ranks of masterhood. Even with ample nutrients from the clan, her recovery between temperings was also standard, between 2 and 2.5 years. By the time her aging slowed at the 15th tempering—the entrance to peak master—she was already an old woman.

That young, flawless-skinned child Lunging through the air at nearly supersonic speeds was yet another reminder that the next generation of martials would be nothing like those who came before. ZionLine’s ample combat experience, constant threat of death, and access to monsters with internal force would drastically reduce the development time required to achieve Quenching. The time dilation only exacerbated the issue.

It was so bad that KakaruNeko wouldn’t be surprised if the next true genius to hit the world stage reached master while still in their teens. Instead of reaching peak master at sixty-five to seventy, they would arrive by the ripe age of thirty. Like the pink-haired girl, they would appear as children, but be immortal in a young, supple body. She couldn’t help but seethe with envy. If only she had been born a little later, she wouldn't be stuck in an old woman's body.

Worse, their overall combat potential wouldn’t even be reduced from the shortcuts they were being given, which was disgusting to think about. ZionLine’s attribute system and immaculate mimicry of the human form gave a chance to experience what it felt like to move at higher stages of tempering. Instead of becoming more awkward with each step down their martial paths, they would only grow more comfortable as their Earth forms began to match what they were used to in ZionLine. 

It was as though every aspect of this world was designed to speed the progress of martials becoming grandmasters, which was a sobering thought to be sure. The only silver lining was that those who had already experienced many temperings had a massive advantage in ZionLine, since they knew how to move bodies enhanced far beyond the typical human physique.

While that fact might rouse arrogance in her companions, it was not enough to soothe KakaruNeko’s concerns. There were too many mysterious forces at play in ZionLine; Connection and Discipline were only the tip of the iceberg. The thought brought her right back around to her concerns regarding Alaric. His rise had been too swift, too impressive for one so young. There was something off about him, and their current mission was a perfect chance to uncover his secrets.

If not for the discovery of the guild merchants, even getting to this distant kingdom would have been impossible, as the land they came from was over a hundred thousand kilometers distant. The instant Patriarch Tannis learned of the Guilder Summoning Scrolls, he’d spared no expense sending them after the artifact Alaric supposedly had in his possession.

Luckily, they hadn’t been wasting time for long. While scouting the area between Astra’s forces and their combined army, they stumbled upon the girl doing a terrible job at scouting. Thanks to the tracking script, her position was now a persistent blip cutting across the vast swaths of their maps that remained shrouded in gray fog. 

Two hours passed in their pursuit before the girl’s trajectory veered sharply eastward. The wing adjusted seamlessly, none minding the relaxing chase. Each Lunge brought them closer to mastery of the new skill system. KakaruNeko frowned when an update from their spies arrived. Astra's core forces were north of them now, making it evident their quarry was leading them elsewhere. Silent understanding passed between them, and they picked up speed, no longer holding back.

KakaruNeko resolved to seize the girl personally this time; her fingers itched with anticipation as the range's jagged boundary materialized. White-tipped peaks yielded to rolling lowlands beyond. Mid-morning light danced over the terrain, gilding across ridges and casting the numerous valleys in sharp relief.

The girl’s marker halted in her display, igniting murmurs of eagerness for what kind of trap she might have set for them. It didn’t take long to find her. In the shadowed depths of a winding pass, a compact unit of soldiers advanced at a brisk clip up a mountain road. The wing alighted on the most distant summit that was still in line of sight of their prey.

KakaruNeko invoked a skill she’d developed complex emotions for: Magnify. Her sight stretched dizzyingly, pulling the contingent of soldiers into crystalline detail. Shock stiffened her spine as their statuses registered: their levels defied logic.

The Halnugen were among the first peak masters to take an interest in ZionLine. They had breezed through the low-level content, acquiring their classes within mere days. Their lowest was level 42, their highest 45. It was impossible for the lowly soldiers below to be stronger.

A deeper scan eased the knot in her chest. Vaaterran icons were embedded in their statuses. She exhaled, relieved that her fears of an even more elite force than theirs were unfounded. Since nearly the first hours after ZionLine’s launch, the 3rd wing had put their all into leveling, completing quests, and tracking down powerful gear to pave the way for the clan elders. Not a single piece of their gear was below Marvelous Gold, and each had at least two Chaotic Gold.

They were true elites through and through. Even the grandmasters of the clan had yet to surpass them. That would not last for long, as those monsters’ attention was finally turning to ZionLine. For now, there was no more powerful force in this game than they, the Halnugen.

Their pink-haired quarry strode at the vanguard of the soldiers, her steps paced with the figure at her side. KakaruNeko instantly pegged his appearance from the latest intelligence reports—Alaric. A cape billowed from his shoulders like a shadow in motion, trailing over full-body armor forged from dark leather that absorbed the light without a gleam. No weapon dangled at his hip, yet his posture radiated coiled menace, every stride a silent promise of death to those who barred his passage.

[Magnify: (Completion - 18% Novice)]

KakaruNeko ground her teeth in frustration. She'd spent most of her accumulated Attunement upgrading Magnify to Master grade before the expansion. Not one target had managed to fool her skill. Now, she could barely reach adept completion rates on her normal abilities, and Magnify was far from normal.

Desmondo interrupted her dark thoughts. “Well?” He queried.

“She’s with them, Alaric too. Vaaterran soldiers, none below level 40. Five are level 50. Can’t get a read on Alaric’s status at all.”

“God, would you get over your nasty crush on him already?” BallZack gagged.

“I’ll take one of the 50s.” Desmondo’s curt words were more a demand than an offer. As a group, they had fought level 50 beasts twice. The first time was a test, the second, a stubborn refusal to believe they couldn’t beat them solo. Since that frustrating draw, they’d resigned themselves to fighting level 49 enemies for the time being. That had been two levels ago, and all of them were eager for a rematch.

Not getting the reaction he wanted, BallZack tried again. “Since he’s so dangerous, oh, fearless leader, you can hold Alaric off while we have our fun with the others. Or… is that going to be too much for you to handle on your own?”

Backing down from the provocation would only further erode any chance she had of getting these old asshats to follow orders. KakaruNeko nodded solemnly as she dove from the mountain peak. While she picked up speed, the wind whistling in her ears, that same horrible feeling from before came back in full force.