Chapter 28: Record Return
Through the deep purple mist, Darcel and Aniela's eyes still managed to directly lock on where the black robe man was. Their eyesight hasn't cleared up, but their senses were greatly enhanced!
With the poison giving the two this sudden dramatic boost, the duo could finally identify this black robe man aura. It was...just near the edge of the legendary realm above the Qi Formation Sea level.
The Nascent Core realm!
This realm is the start where one's latent potential and hidden talents began to surface. Furthermore, one could use the overwhelming power of Nascent Qi!
And compared to Profound Qi, Nascent Qi utterly dominates it in every way. Just a small dosage of Nascent Qi can crush any Perfect Order Qi Formation Sea cultivators.
Thankfully, for the duo, this black robe man seems to have this...incomplete form of Nascent Qi.
It was a vague trace of Nascent Qi this man could grasp, but even then, it puts him above ever Perfect Order cultivator.
But no matter if this man was in this odd state with his Nascent Qi, the duo didn't care in the slightest. A phantom image of a feather was forming on their bloodline arms, yet no one there could notice it.
Seeing this black robe man become momentarily stunned, the duo immediately pounced on this perfect opportunity. Instantly Profound Qi swirl in their legs, and their black and white glow turned even harsher.
'Hua!'
Speeds that nearly reached instantaneous level spewed out from the duo! In just a split second, the black robe man felt the air storm around and saw a black glow fist and a white glow fist sail to his head.
The power of these fists, the speed of these kids...just what the hell changed?! Not even when they first blared out their aura was it this powerful!
It caused tremendous pressure on the man, but he wasn't going to simply roll over and die. Hastily, he willed his incomplete Nascent Qi throughout his body and into his hands.
Forcefully, he gritted his teeth against the massive pressure his body was feeling, just barely resisting it. His hands immediately formed into fists, and within a split second, he hastily counter-attacked!
The deep purple mists did little to affect either side's movement when attacking. At equal senses, both attacks sailed towards each other at blinding speed, causing,
'BANG!'
Tremendous frantic waves of Profound Qi and incomplete Nascent Qi crazily spewed out in the area!
The ground buckled beneath the black robe man's feet, dust flew everywhere, and even the purple mist was clearing up.
Besides feeling like they hit a concrete wall, Darcel and Aniela still raged on with power. The one who took a significant loss from this attack was the black robe man.
Pain, sorrow, joy, lust, rage, all mixed emotions, and sensations clouded the black robe man's mind. And above all this pain he felt...no mistaking it, this was somehow his own poison!
Through their clashes of fists, the poison that seeped into the duo expelled straight into the black robe man. His body had immediately locked up, causing a single second of lapse.
A second that Aniela saw and capitalized on. Fighting this man with his poison is far too troublesome and dangerous. So if he wants to play with poison, then she'll give him exactly that!
Her eyes ignited in crazed killing intent, while her other hand quickly fished out something from her pocket. In all one smooth motion, before the black robe man could even attempt to struggle,
'Chi!'
Aniela plunged the purple scalpel deep into the man's neck! Darcel and Aniela had both bear witness to a significant change in the man. Most notable was several purple lines rapidly appearing on his face and body.
"GE-AH-AGHHH!!!"
Nothing, no matter what pain the man experienced before, it couldn't be compared to this pain now. It was like some powerful force was ruthlessly rampaging inside his body, shredding every part of himself.
The purple mist had fully cleared up, and the man recalled his hand to begin clutching at his face. His legs frantically quiver, bringing the man down to his knees.
Every second that he lived was astronomical pain that was worse than torture. Unlike Anne, who had immediately collapsed by the scalpel since she was far weaker, the black robe man prowess kept him hellishly up.
But even in this extreme state of nearing a painful death, the black robe man nightmare was nowhere near over. When two strong hands clamped on his shoulder, it was then the man wished he never took this job.
Alas, turning green with regret couldn't save him now. Darcel and Aniela's bloodline arms clenched tightly on the man, digging their nails deep into his flesh.
From the last clash, the duo can tell all they need to do to get rid of this poison is to simply eject it into something. And for the tiny last remaining portion, it was clear as day who will receive this treatment.
"Gi..gi.."
The black robe man uttered short, painful breaths as his life quickly slipped away from him. His own poison and whatever this freakish scalpel was led him on to an inevitable road to hell.
Staring into the glossy black trees ahead of him, the black robe man only had one last dying thought. Those kids...whoever or whatever they are, they shouldn't exist in their small city..
Letting their hands go after a couple of seconds, the black robe man corpse crashed into the ground. His eyes were still wide open in disbelief, and the purple lines on him looked like they were searing his flesh.
Taking a look around, Darcel saw the purple mist had finally fully cleared up, returning the area back to normal. But his main priority was on himself and Aniela.
Feeling himself, Darcel felt immensely drained and tired now. In this state, he would struggle with fighting any more foes. But he could at least still walk.
Swiftly his eyes snapped to Aniela, who was sweating and taking short breaths. She seemed to be feeling the toll from overusing their bloodline and expelling that poison.
Shifting over to her, Darcel put his hand on her shoulder, asking, "Are you...alright? That poison did put us in a troublesome position."
"Mnh... I'm fine...just worn down. But I'm already starting to feel better under your warm care." Aniela looked up at Darcel, giving him a more tired smile after all they've been through.
Remarkably even after getting heavily drained, her smile will always form on her face no matter the situation.
It was...endearing.
Her cute face seemed to just carry even more charm as she pushed through exhaustion.
Cracking a smile, Darcel got reminded of just why he depends on this ditzy girl so much. Through small little actions like this could make him feel better.
Suddenly Darcel felt the urge to at least pat her soft hair after this short odd battle. He didn't fight this urge and simply relied on his instincts.
Slowly his hand stroke Aniela's beautiful hair spewing warmth in both of them.
Aniela cooed into Darcel's hand, already starting to gain some of her energy back. Darcel's small action to show that he cared always warms her heart and supplies endless joy for her.
"Luckily, our bloodline managed to stop whatever poison that was and help us kill this guy. If this was normal, then I'm pretty sure we would have a far more annoying time. Still, are you guessing what I'm thinking on just who sent this guy towards us?"
Darcel's eyes gained a cruel haze thinking about one boy. The Quicksilver Roc sect disciples were just a bunch of naive fools. But this attack was a deliberate attempt on their lives.
"Yup! That closed eyes Giel just has to be the one behind this. Did you see his eyes when we were leaving? It was the eyes of someone assigning death towards you!" Aniela had a rare expression of smiling rage.
She held a more tender disposition to other people compared to Darcel's lack of care. Even people who disliked her tend to relent against her bright energy. But Aniela did hold a clear limit!
"People like him are endlessly annoying to deal with unless you can suppress them. Frankly, I should've expected for us to need to collect debts as soon as we enter this Academy."
Aniela's smile grew even wider as she shifted out from Darcel's hand. Excitedly she grabbed his hand, telling him, "And with what have, and we're going to get, collecting Giel's debt is just around the corner!"
Smiling at her sudden eagerness, Darcel still held on to Aniela's hand and went to grab that scalpel. Once again, that Organization ended being dramatically useful for them.
However, when the duo neared the black robe man's body, a substantial swift feeling struck their senses. This feeling, it was deep, profound, but also didn't cause any dangerous or threatening feelings for the two.
Two times in a row, whatever this feeling randomly appeared again. And in the same motion, as soon as this feeling appeared, it quickly vanished the very next second.
Darcel and Aniela's eyes crossed with each other. Their faces held intrigue, but they both knew that if this was a person causing this, they wouldn't be alive if they had malicious intentions.
Unspokenly, the two decided to ignore this feeling just to not raise any alarms if they are being watched. Focusing back to reality, Aniela's eyes lit back up as she observed the scalpel sticking in the black robe man.
"Once again, coming in clutch, this weird scalpel...one day, we have to find out this small thing mystery," Aniela commented while Darcel went down to take the scalpel out.
"Until we get more powerful, is when I'll feel safe exploring anything we got from that place. Come on, let's head back to the Academy to broaden some eyes."
Darcel and Aniela's walking speed now was far slower than coming here, but they could catch their breaths this way. Aniela breathed out a pleasant sight as she said out loud,
"Ahh...another delightful treat to end this long day.."
...
Making it back to the expansive Necroplic City, Darcel and Aniela had promptly rushed back to the Academy. Their walk coming back here took a couple of hours, yet the day still hasn't fully passed.
Because of their student uniforms, the two were easily let back in the Academy's initiate level. Once back here, the duo took notice of immediate queer glances at them.
Since they were gone, news that the black hair boy and long white hair girl had suddenly taken on that nearly impossible initiate level mission spread like wildfire.
First, these two beaten trained students, and now they're immediately taking on an impossible mission? It sounded like a strange joke! But the joke was confirmed by the mission elder there.
Simentansouly another rumor popped up while the duo was gone. One in which they had suppressed their realms just to have an edge in battle.
This rumor seemed a lot likely, considering the duo had broken through the very next day after their test.
In just a short while did the two reputations become a bit tarnished.
However, no one expected for those two to return so quickly? Not even a full day has passed! And in the eyes of the students, this can only mean one thing...failure!
Although, no matter what the students may be thinking, Darcel and Aniela didn't waste any time.
Remembering the layout of this side of the building, the duo swiftly trekked back to the mission center while word spread of their return.
"Thankfully, no fools tried to stop us when coming here," Darcel remarked when the two arrived outside the mission center.
More eyes gathered on them from all around, and the duo saw two specific people they wanted to see, already inside the center.
Aniela's eyes sparked with slight maliciousness seeing Giel as she told Darcel,
"Look at this, Darcy? I didn't know Giel and his little brother would be so patient to conveniently wait so we can quickly collect our rewards.."