Lyren was caught up in his excitement when he heard footsteps approach behind him.
What seemed to get on his nerves was the fact that he was immediately ignored and to make matters worse, they went ahead and started sharing the spoils as though they had taken part at it at all.
He heard that the horns were expensive and that was something that he was not going to leave behind them.
Again, his identity as a future sect master had been challenged. One thing he could not take was someone taking his spoils.
He had bled and hurt for this victory. His blood surged and just when he turned, he heard words that actually struck a chord he did not know existed.
"Hey kid, don't take it to heart but we can't leave behind liabilities. We shall give you a proper burial for you have truly helped us. Just make sure that you enjoy the other side and don't come back to haunt us."
It dawned then to Lyren that this was actually the way of the world. His mother had been killed in this forest and the core cause was because she was weak.
And this group had to rub it onto him once again.
'So, this is the way of the world…'
He turned to the group and everyone was busy doing something and even the one who had spoken had not bothered to look at him.
He took in a deep breath and a white light flashed in his eyes and stretched his hand.
Golden gears rotated in his eyes and he did not realize that he did not use the mind's eyes directly. But it did not matter as five arrays lit up above the group of five.
The golden arrays turned red at the core before the red color spread throughout the entire arrays.
The core inflamed and as the inflammation split up, five arrows were shot from the arrays and each aimed at a person.
One guy just happened to look up and he saw the arrows but they were coming too fast that he could not even warn the others before the arrows struck them.
They caried the same properties and they burned from inside out but it was different though.
A human body could not compare to that of a beast and their internal organs were burnt into crisps and the flames burned even the whole bodies leaving behind ashes and black patches on the grass.
Lyren realized that these arrays were different though because it was impossible to burn cultivators to ash... Not that many.
This made him rethink the properties of amplification arrays and the fact that they were red was a hint on its own that they were more powerful. Could it be…
At that moment, he must have exuded the intent to kill and that had affected the arrays. He felt a shiver because he could not use the arrays as he wanted in the future.
Especially against weaker opponents. He saw the horns had been removed and he took a step forward towards the horns as they were more valuable.
His first step never came and his world seemed to darken as the arrays floating in the air dispersed and he fell face first.
He could not form any thoughts but he could not afford to lose consciousness. Not here in the middle of the wilderness with beasts stronger than or as him.
His head started thumping from the inside as though someone was hammering him mercilessly.
His mind was sloppy but he refused to give in and he held on to the last dregs of his consciousness.
He tried to form thoughts but only a white screen appeared before him. He tried to move but it was impossible.
He tried to reach a pill from his pants and it took forever before he felt his pockets and inside the pocket was a dimension on its own.
His fingers searched for a long time before finding a pill which felt like lead as he brought it to his mouth. It felt like ages later when the pill touched his tongue.
He dragged his tongue inside and swallowed what felt like a huge ball that refused to pass through his throat. The pill somehow made it to the stomach and it was absorbed but his mental energy did not recover.
He had forgotten that Elyria could be replenished even when sucked dry but mental energy could not be easily replenished. It happened naturally.
The pill had no effect on his mental energy and his first thoughts that formed were for him to wake up and lean on a tree.
He opened his eyes but he realized they were already open. It was just that he could not see anything.
He had thoughts of activating his mind's eyes but that thought was disapproved because he could not even feel it!
He started crawling backwards trying to follow what his foggy memory could tell a tree was. It felt like forever before he hit one with his head but he felt no pain and he turned and leaned on it.
His head finally rested on the stem of the tree and he waited for his body to get back to normal.
He could only hope that he was going to be safe because the wilderness was not a place where you could show any weakness.
An unknown amount of time passed before he heard ringing in his ears. I had been long since he felt this way as he was struck by a sense of déjà vu on his time on the ruins.
The only difference was that back then he was safe.
***
"What do you think is going to happen to him? I never thought that he could be this ruthless. Just where did he come from?"
"I think that he is a goner. We both saw him collapse and if the beast failed to kill him, something else ought to have done it.
"Killing five seventh stage cultivators instantly is not a task to take casually especially for someone like him. The cost he bears is tremendous and he is glad to have survived this long."
"The mayor will be pleased with this news. I know that the headmaster is not going to blame us. We have been watching over him since he commanded us to. It is unfortunate the kid is unlucky and he overestimated himself."
The speakers were the two assassins sent to protect Lyren and they realized that the kid was dead.
They were glad tgat they had revenge for the young master and also, they were now free from this babysitting task.
They looked around and decided to leave as their work here was done. The mayor had told them to look for a chance and dispose the kid and make it look like an accident but they did not have to act.
The kid had brought this unto himself. The two left his corpse intact and left with a story to tell.
***
The ringing was prolonged and as it subsided, he felt the headache reduce and his eyes cleared slowly.
At first like translucent glass and slowly to clear glass. When he could see clearly and there was no more headache, it was still daytime. He moved his neck slowly and saw that everything was intact as it had been.
He felt a chill. That was not something he should repeat. His mind's eye was still shut and he did not know whether he could open it again.
Those red arrays were not to be taken lightly.
They were powerful but the cost was this tremendous. He had risked his safety in a moment of his whim. What drove him to light up five arrays was something he could not place yet.
He did not hurry up to try standing and it was a while later that he stood up and walked towards the beast.
His steps were slow and his brain did not stop thinking.
He had been rash and he had not looted the group that tried to loot from him. He discarded the thought and decided to take the horns and he looked around and saw his sword lying below.
He sheathed it and he left the rest of the corpse there. He did not have the strength to carry all those parts but recalling the hooves, he went back for them and chopped them off.
Then he left for good…