Chapter 48: Pretty strong
Finally, after all their relentless effort, they had successfully opened the mana barrier and escaped the town safely.
At this moment both were exhausted.
Roy collapsed, lying on the sticky grass and breathing hard. His breaths were jagged as his chest rose; he looked very pathetic, which was understandable since Roy himself was a weakling with bony, pale skin.
Carl was also worn out, but he was obviously much better than Roy even after withstanding many fights with those monsters to protect both. Yeah, it was unfair compared to Carl’s physical strength and agility.
After 10 minutes, Carl was the first to manage to stand and blinked rapidly at the mana barrier behind them.
"Damn! Sure enough, the monsters came from another space." He wiped the sweat from his face and let out a deep breath.
The outer barrier had no monsters, not even a hint of their scent. He could tell one thing: this was a destructive, dangerous weapon, and on top of everything, it shouldn’t exist.
"Damn it! What kind of weapon—"
Ting!
Mission: [Escape from the Town of Brothels] completed.
[You have received +50 Available Stat Points!]
[You’ve received a Reward]: Mana Thread Skill.
"Wait a sec...."
Carl finally managed to calm himself down and took a look at the system screen.
[Draconic Mana Thread — Rank: A]
[Short Description]: A condensed mana filament infused with draconic elements — razor-sharp, harder than steel, and deadlier with every additional strand.
"Sounds great."
However, he quickly dismissed the system screen with a wave and glanced at Roy, who was still lying there in exhaustion.
"Roy! Wake up. There’s no time to rest. We need to get out of here as fast as we can. I suspect soldiers from the Ortega family might be patrolling around. If they find us, you might spend the rest of your life rotting in their prison."
Roy gritted his teeth in frustration, dark circles under his eyes. Struggling to sit up, he asked weakly,
"W-Which way do we go now?"
Carl smiled, tossed him a handful of healing herbs, and said,
"Eat it... it’ll help a bit."
Then, the two quickly made their decision and headed toward the border of this land. During their crossing, they ran into trouble with the Ortega family’s soldiers, but thanks to Carl’s quick judgment, they managed to avoid any unnecessary conflict.
After that, they rented another carriage and made their way back to the Academy — a journey that took about fourteen days.
***
’’Damn it. It’s really tiring.’’ Carl fell onto the bed, sinking into the softness of the blanket. After so many days, he had finally made it back to his dorm room. Now, his top priority was sleep—and checking his new skill.
As for the council student, he completely ignored it. That bastard had pushed him in a dangerous mission, and since his mission had failed entirely, he had no reason or intention to report it to Haley.
He guessed that the nasty student president would probably laugh at his failure and expel him just to feel satisfied.
’’Bastard, I’ll deal with you later.’’
Carl snapped out of his discomfort and said,
’’System!’’
[Draconic Mana Thread — Rank: D]
[Short Description]: A condensed mana filament infused with draconic elements — razor-sharp, harder than steel, and deadlier with every additional strand.
Carl crossed his legs while lying down and rubbed his chin.
’’Well... let’s see what it can do.’’
[Draconic Mana Thread activated!]
Carl focused inward, channeling his mana into the thread. Soon, a thin filament formed on his palm.
’’That’s odd.’’
He frowned, pulling it up with his fingers. Then, adding a bit more force, the mana thread instantly snapped in half.
He scratched his head in confusion.
’’Hell. What did I do wrong?’’
[System Notice]: What’s happening with your genius brain, my husband? Just add an extra strand. Try as many as you can.
Carl smiled awkwardly and followed his wife’s advice.
Eventually, the mana thread, with a ton of strands wrapped into a single thread, was complete. He had already managed to add more strands into the mana thread, but it seemed impossible with his current power.
’Seems enough.’
Carl could hardly break the mana thread with his strength. Even when he tried cutting it with a steel knife, the outcome utterly surprised him.
’How sharp it is.’
Judging by the mana thread, he could be certain it was exactly like the system’s description.
’Great, I have one more hidden card.’
He took a nap before the sword by the front of the bed shivered. Soon, a black dragon head materialized from the sword with a small groan, as if it wanted to say something.
’Huh? Cobb? What’s up?’
***
’You little piece of shit.’ A muscular student called Varge spat and punched Earth’s face, sending Earth across the dirty ground and slamming him into the alley wall.
’Don’t let him die... it’ll be complicated for us.’ Another thin, cheek-scarred student named Ford gestured for his friends to stop the brutal action.
’Varge, have you no mercy for our classmate?’ Berry scoffed. She approached Slater and yanked Slater’s ponytail up while looking at her sobbing face. Not only that, she even shook the broken figure of Carl in front of Slater’s face, smiling insanely.
’’You’re pretty. It’s a waste if I put a wound on your face... it’s gonna leave scars for you.’
Slater shivered when she heard that, but she could barely do anything against the woman in front of her.
Berry was just too strong; Slater could only cry and groan in despair and fear.
’However, destroying your face is not a bad idea.’
Berry smiled again and threw the broken figure of Carl aside, slowly moving her dagger toward Slater’s face.
’YOU FUCKING BITCH! I’LL KILL YOU.’ Earth, from the wreckage, struggled to stand and lunged at Berry without thinking, ignoring all the wounds and bruises on his body.
His mind, at that moment, held a single intention: tear that bitch apart and save his little sister.
However, he let murderous intent overwhelm his sight. An afterimage flashed in front of Earth’s face, and before he could understand what was happening, that shadowy figure delivered a horizontal blow to Earth’s throat, making him stumble down.
Varge frowned and gave a disgusted look at Earth, who lay on the ground, unknown whether alive or dead.
’Brother!’ Slater screamed in horror and fear when she saw her brother knocked out.
’Shut your shitty mouth, brat!’ Berry sneered and slapped Slater hard. It was enough to make Slater fall silent.
Then she quickly pulled Slater’s ponytail up and said, ’Don’t pass out. Let’s see the consequences for picking the wrong friend.’
Slater’s eyes were nearly hollow, staring into nowhere. Slater and Earth had barely done anything wrong, but just because they were friends of Carl, those damned people had bullied them for hours. Slater and Earth only wanted a normal life and had become Carl’s subordinates because they admired him.
Born into an ordinary family, their lives had already been harsh for the poor and weak. Yet they had great potential, so they had value and useful to their parents. As a result, the siblings were sold to a noble family, but this life was nothing like they’d expected.
They again went through another hell.
Stealing.
Prophecy.
Siblings did everything for new parents.
But, someday, their life was changed by a person, Carl.
Carl had saved them during the process of escaping from hell, despite just by a chance, they were always grateful to him, even if he barely remembered all about them.
They did no wrong..made a friend with the savior was wrong? No.
’’It’s beginning to get boring.’’Berry frowned as Slater barely showed any emotions, however, she began to raise the side of her eyelids when it seemed Slater was stumbling something after losing consciousness for some seconds.
’’What happen to your mouth, Bitch.’’
Slater managed to speak up with a weak voice.
’’Y-You..All of you will die.’’
Berry’s face darkened, then she sighed and shrugged.
’’Let’s make a new game, Varge!’’
She dragged Slater across the ground to the Earth and said.
’’Use healing potion on that brat.Then torture him before this bitch until she say: Carl is a fucker!’’
Varge nodded coldly and followed Berry’s request.
’’Don’t blame me. It’s your fault for being a weaklings.’’
Ford shook his head and said.
’’Do whatever you want, but don’t let them die...we need them survive before taking a new Marsh’s new order.’’
...
’’They seemed to ignore me? ... I don’t care, I’ll interfere in their way, if everything is going too far.’’
He headed the wall of the alley and leaned his back against the wall of the alley, ignoring the deafening yell and sobbing from wretched siblings.
However, at that moment, a cloud of darkness burst from Slater’s right hand and lunged at Varge and Berry.
An unexpected incident unfolded, making Ford’s eyes light up with excitement. He observed the black dragon and assessed its power, a smile curling on his lips. It was rare — a holy creature that could actually put up a fight against them.
’Huh? A holy creature?’
’’Pretty strong. I should capture it. It’ll make a good pet for Lord Marsh.’’