"Aaaaarghhh!"
A roar of pain and fury thundered through the underground chamber.
Zyron snarled, the sound low and heavy, like a beast forcing its voice through a clenched throat.
His eyes burned crimson, overflowing with rage.
Both hands were clenched tightly, trembling violently.
His face twisted, contorted by grief and hatred.
"How could Veylor not only fail… but also get Zarek killed?!"
His voice exploded again in fury.
Of course—
There was no one in the sealed chamber to answer him.
Veylor had served Zyron for many years.
He was the most trusted subordinate Zyron had.
Zyron knew exactly how powerful Veylor was.
That was why he had entrusted him with the mission without hesitation—
even allowing Zarek to accompany him.
And yet now—
Both candles bearing the names Veylor and Zarek had been extinguished.
A clear sign of their deaths.
"How…?"
Zyron repeated the question, his voice dropping to a whisper.
Forcing himself to calm down, he began to think.
The most likely culprit—
was obviously, Tris.
But the problem was—
Could that brat truly be strong enough to kill Veylor?
Zyron recalled the detailed report Veylor had given him about Tris's performance in last year's tournament.
It had been extraordinary.
So impressive it bordered on unbelievable.
However, the reason people give such high praise is simply that the person being mentioned is excessively young.
In terms of actual strength, Tris had only surpassed the young Mages in the competition.
Compared to the top Mages of the village—
There was still a vast gap.
If anyone had told Zyron before this that Tris could defeat Veylor—
He would have laughed it off as a joke.
Zyron acknowledged the boy's terrifying potential.
But potential and actual power were two entirely different things.
Potential required time—
to be forged into true strength.
And only one year had passed.
Far too short.
'Could the blessing of that evil god really be this overwhelming…?'
A flicker of unease crossed Zyron's mind—
along with something else.
Jealousy.
'The urgent matter now… is how to deal with him immediately.'
He continued to calculate his next move.
Even with absolute confidence in his own strength, charging in to confront the boy without preparation would be nothing short of foolish.
If Tris could kill Veylor—
Then he was dangerous enough to kill Zyron as well.
'First… gather more information.'
With that thought, Zyron moved at once.
* * * * * * * * * *
Three days had passed since Tris dealt with Veylor and Zarek.
For now, Tris remained camped on the mountain, doing everything possible to strengthen himself before facing the next enemy.
With both Veylor and Zarek failing to return, even without any long-distance surveillance methods, that village chief—no matter how foolish—would have realized something was wrong and taken action.
'What will he do next?'
Tris pondered, all the while continuing to dig.
Yes—dig.
Why was he digging a tunnel?
Because Tris believed that preparing an underground shelter here might yield an unexpectedly effective result.
He had started this project after obtaining the compass from Veylor's spatial ring and learning how its tracking ability worked.
Even with the assistance of magic, carving out a sufficiently large underground hideout—complete with multiple escape routes—was exhausting and time-consuming.
Tris let out a weary sigh, grumbling to himself, yet his hands never stopped working.
…
That night—
While he was fast asleep, a warning magic suddenly jolted him awake.
It was a variant of "Eye From Nothingness", modified to cover a designated area.
Any sudden intrusion into that zone would immediately be detected and relayed back to the caster.
Because the mountainous forest was vast, Tris could only place the spell in a few key locations—areas he believed most likely to be used for approaching the summit.
Previously, the spell had triggered many times due to passing magical beasts.
But this time—
The intruder was human.
In the dead of night, someone was sneaking up the mountain.
Tris didn't even need to think twice to know—
That person came with ill intent.
Without hesitation, he slipped out of his shelter and set "Feathers" into motion.
* * * * * * * * * *
In the darkness of night, a lone figure moved swiftly across the treacherous mountain terrain.
The ease of that movement spoke volumes—this was someone with exceptional vision and masterful mobility.
Tall and lean, with an utterly unremarkable face, the man blended into obscurity.
His name was Jace—
a professional assassin.
The day before, he had received a rather unusual contract.
His target—
An eight-year-old child, currently somewhere on this mountain.
The employer had offered an astonishingly generous reward.
Jace had been paid 100 gold upfront for travel and preparation.
Upon successful completion, he would receive another 1000 gold.
Of course—
There was no such thing as a free meal.
And Jace certainly didn't believe in "easy jobs" with that kind of payout.
When he pressed for details, the intermediary explained that the mission carried extreme risk.
The target, he was told—
was an exceptionally powerful Mage.
At that moment, Jace had genuinely thought something was wrong with his ears—
Or that the man relaying the information had drunk himself senseless.
'What the hell? You're telling me an eight-year-old is an exceptionally powerful Mage?'
He hadn't been able to hold back his curse.
What followed was a lengthy verification process.
And now—
Here he was.
Carrying out this absurd assignment.
'I really want to see what kind of child is worth 1100 gold.'
Jace thought to himself as he pulled out a compass and checked the direction of his target.
The special enchanted item was provided by the one who hired him.
'If only every job came with tracking equipment like this.'
After confirming his heading, Jace continued moving through the night with fluid precision—
completely unaware that, not far away,
a bird was silently watching his every step.
* * * * * * * * * *
'Judging by the way he moves, he's most likely a professional assassin.' Tris assessed.
'But what exactly is that village chief planning? Is hiring an assassin really all there is to this?' Suspicious by nature, Tris questioned himself.
'I killed his son, yet he didn't come personally. Instead, he spent time hiring an assassin.
Does that mean he's tied up with something urgent and can't leave? That seems unlikely—what could be more important than avenging his own child?
Then what other reason could make him choose this approach?
If I were Zyron…'
Tris placed himself in Zyron's position and continued his line of thought.
And then, an answer surfaced.
"He's afraid."
If Tris were in Zyron's place, he would naturally want to rush out and avenge his son immediately.
But wanting revenge didn't mean charging blindly at the enemy. Everything required a plan.
Just like Tris himself—he was still on this mountain instead of heading straight back to the village to avenge his father.
Because he, too, felt fear.
He knew Zyron was incredibly powerful, while his own strength had limits.
Rushing headlong into the enemy's territory without proper preparation was not something a rational person would do.
'The death of someone as strong as Veylor must have made him wary of me.
If that's the case, hiring an assassin might be nothing more than a probing move—to gather more information.'
With that conclusion in mind, Tris immediately began taking new actions to test his hypothesis.