Ethan didn't even pay attention to the system's notifications as he ran around the casino in search of his friends.
Bang.
He smashed a door to a small room that looked to be an office. Opening it, Ethan saw abominations—rotting corpses of both beast and human warriors all cramped up like a market stall.
Ethan covered his nose from the stench as he began searching. He used his hands to dig around, searching for who he thought might be there.
After a couple of minutes, he found nothing. Sitting on the floor, Ethan covered his face as he began thinking of the worst. What if the beasts had them killed and hid their bodies?
Still, Ethan didn't give up hope. He stood up and continued his search. When he reached the clearing with humanoid beast bodies, he heard footsteps.
Rushing forward to the entrance, he saw familiar faces.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Earlier.
When the group was surrounded by many humanoid beasts—about twenty-four—they were put in a tight corner. Not only were they injured, their strength couldn't even match five of these. All they could do was distract them.
Gloria, with her whip, whipped away in the horde. Freddy kept using his shadow skills, using the Phantom Ghost technique and his rank-2 short sword to hack at them.
Not only the humanoid beasts, even the normal beasts kept on attacking them. It was as if they appeared out of nowhere. Earlier, when they entered the estate, everywhere was cool, calm, and quiet.
"We have to retreat, we have no choice," Lynx said in desperation. The group was now surrounded, leaving only a narrow way to escape.
"No way! What about Ethan?" Gloria cried.
"Trust me, if we wait for Ethan, we will be meat paste before he finds us," Lynx continued.
"Ethan too is surrounded. How do you think he's fending for himself?" Freddy shouted.
"Even Ethan will be mad at us if we wait for him," Lynx said, expecting a dire answer from them.
Gloria furiously threw fireballs at the beasts, but it was of no use. They were just too many.
Freddy frowned. How did it get to this? Rushing forward, he performed Phantom Ghost and stabbed a beast in the eye.
"I will open up a space for you. You guys get out now," Lynx said, summoning his giant python.
The huge beast rammed toward the gate, killing three low-level beasts in the process. Gloria, Freddy, and Lynx immediately followed behind it.
Dozens of beasts hacked at the serpent, but it kept going like its life depended on it.
BOOM!
Finally, they were out, but in the process Lynx's precious python exploded and ended up being destroyed.
"Noooo!" Lynx cried.
"We've got to move!" Freddy shouted as they saw numerous beasts rushing toward them.
The three ran with all their might. Freddy was the fastest because of the Phantom Ghost technique.
After some hours of chasing, the group ran about fifty kilometers deep into the ruins. They had run out of stamina and mana. They were panting heavily beside an electronic store.
"Cough, cough." Freddy coughed up blood. He had overused the Phantom Ghost technique more than his body could handle.
"Ah, we are seriously injured… how do we get aid?" Freddy asked worriedly as he stared at Gloria.
"I lost my storage ring, but I have a backup plan," she said as she brought out a small pouch.
Lynx looked worried as he stared at the place they ran from. He was the one who made the decision to abandon Ethan. If Ethan didn't make it, he would have the darkest regret of his life, which would hinder him from becoming stronger in the future.
"You made the right decision," Freddy said, looking at Lynx. "There was nothing we could do. We would only be a burden on Ethan if we stayed."
"And besides, Ethan is not a weakling. He is at the peak stage of Awakening, remember?" Freddy said, trying to boost Lynx's morale. Only if they knew that Ethan was only at the early stage of Awakening—perhaps they wouldn't believe him.
"I trust Ethan will make it out," Gloria chipped in. "I wish I knew this was how the situation would be. I would have applied to another school," she said.
"Yh, I heard you only need to pass the attribute test, that's all," Freddy chuckled.
"Which means one thing—we are destined to be great Supremes and not just some regular fighters," Lynx said, gaining his composure. "I think you all agreed to apply to Helios War Academy because you want to be elites of the elites."
The two nodded.
"Well, I guess we are on the same boat," he chuckled.
"C'mon, let's treat our wounds and find Ethan," Gloria said, bringing out green pills from her bag. These were mid-grade healing pills.
Gloria brought out a handful. Then she brought some fast foods like cheeseburgers and meat jerky.
It was now morning, and the sun was already up.
After healing, eating, and resting for an hour, the group was now back to their peak.
"Hey, I'm sorry about your serpent. Was it your pet animal?" Freddy asked Lynx.
"Yh… there is no need to be sorry. I got it from my grandpa as a birthday gift when I was 10. You see, I awakened when I was 10," Lynx said, which shocked Freddy. This was new—he only knew people awakened when they reached age fifteen or sixteen.
"Then what happened? With your talent, you should be an Ascended by now," Freddy asked.
"After I became an Awakened, I inherited our family's ultimate aspect—Beast Control. I became the talk of the town. People referred to me as the young genius," Lynx said as he sighed.
"But all that changed when I couldn't learn the family's secret technique. My body was too weak to handle it. Our core family tried to hide it, but word quickly spread out. An intel said it was the clan's elder that leaked the secret," he continued, looking at the bright sun.
"Quickly, the clans under our family began to despise me. Formerly, I was known as the upcoming second overlord of the family. But people began calling me trash," he said.
"One day someone tried to assassinate me. Turns out it was the same clan elder who leaked the secret. My grandpa saved me and killed the elder. My grandpa quickly gave me some money and told me to run away," he said as tears began to flow from his face.
"I was just a kid. All I could do was look at my grandfather's eyes as he begged me to run away. He knew if the other elders' father knew that evil elder was dead, they would blame it on him, and his position as overlord would be at stake. He might lose his family," he said softly.
Freddy became sad for Lynx.
"I had no choice but to run. I stole a spaceship and took off to a distant planet. And from there, I promised myself to avenge my grandfather. It was said he committed suicide, but I knew too well it was the evil elders that did this. All for what? Power at the cost of my family's life and mine," Lynx gnashed his teeth.
"I promise you—follow Ethan, and together we will get revenge for your family," Gloria said, placing her hand on Lynx's back. Only she knew what clan betrayal is.
After what her uncle did, she investigated deeper only to discover most of the people around her family wanted her dead.
BOOOM!
They heard an explosion. Immediately they took off to see where it happened. Then they came across a casino. In the middle of the building they saw a figure.
"Ethan!" Gloria shouted as she ran toward the figure.