Mr. Jonathan returns back to the castle after finishing the mission. Next, he decided to head out to outerpost 1012 with his master.
McClain Castle,
Inside the study hall,
Sir.Lowell McClain came to know that Jonathan had returned from his mission.
So he is ready to meet him.
"Creak," the door opens.
Jonathan walked inside the room slowly. After seeing his master, he halted his footsteps and waited for him to speak.
Sir, Lowell McClain stopped looking at the projection screen and turned towards Jonathan and asked, "What happened with that level-6 monster?"
His words were as calm as a breeze.
Jonathan raised his head to see him and answered, "Master, the monster was wiped out by our men."
Hearing that, Sir. Lowell McClain nodded and said, "Good,"
Sir. Lowell McClain thought about something and asked, "Do you have any other work after this?"
Jonathan shook his head in denial and replied, "No Master."
Sir.Lowell McClain commented, "Well, there are still 2 and a half months left before that Crimson Hall event."
Then he continues to say, "We will go to that outer post in two months."
Jonathan sighed in relief upon hearing that. He thought it was difficult to go along with the master. But now he is glad he was worried for nothing.
Then immediately, images of Zack flash before their eyes. He remembered that he needed to send back the lighting ore to Zack.
"Master?" Jonathan hesitated a little bit to ask permission for this. He knew his master didn't want to give too much help to Zack.
Zack has to endure this and has to win first place at Crimson Hall's event. After that, everything will change. His master won't reprimand him for helping Zack.
Sir.Lowell McClain clearly saw that Jonathan had some trouble. So he asked, "What is it?"
Jonathan mustered up his courage and spoke to his master about the lightning core in his hands.
Sir. Lowell McClain understands that the lightning core is precious to Zack. Because of it, his strength will rise by several points.
Sir.Lowell McClain didn't immediately answer. So the atmosphere becomes quite solemn around them. Jonathan's heart skips a beat. Lately, he has been talking back to his master very frequently.
A quick glint flashes in Sir Lowell McClain's eyes.
He is not displeased by Jonathan. Rather, he is thinking about allowing him to send that resource back to Zack.
Sometime ago, he received credible intel from his trustworthy friend, who also happened to be one of the elders from Saw Scale Viper Academy.
According to that intel, the sketch of Crimson Hall this time is very treacherous. Sacrificing thousands of young warriors for their own personal interests.
The Crimson Hall is damned. It would be shocking if they didn't arouse public anger after the event.
"Experimental Zone!" He muttered in his heart.
He also saw the files of that experimental zone after getting the intel from his friend. In that monster zone, the monsters were top notch among weak monster species.
From mutated ones to rare tree monsters.
"Crimson Hall's sketch is really big," Sir. Lowell McClain said in his heart. He is not worried about the lives of others.
From Crimson Hall's eyes, these hundred thousand young warriors were nothing in their eyes except talented warriors.
It is the same for Sir. Lowell McClain: In his eyes, the entire outpost is nothing. He knew the strong warriors were gathered in the inner post.
If not for Zack's presence, he wouldn't care about any of this. Including Crimson Hall's activities.
At first he thought of testing Zack's strength, so he used Crimson Hall's event as a whetstone. But the events that have happened lately have surprised him greatly.
The blatant scheme of Crimson Hall hasn't received a backlash from academies. Those people even seem to be okay with it.
It looks like the situation of academies is also not good. They urgently need talented young blood to bolster the academies.
For Zack, he knows this experimental monster zone will increase Zack's difficulty by 50%. Because some weird monsters have abilities to protect themselves from harm.
It's pointless to fight the monsters unless Zack knows about them. It's more impossible to survive without knowledge.
Sir. Lowell McClain had even read the confidential file about those monsters. He decided to give some hints to Zack about the experimental zone.
Looking at Jonathan, he said, "Okay, now you can return this ore back to Zack and also, I want you to act as his guardian secretly."
He stressed the last word very hard.
Jonathan is completely stumped. This is beyond his expectations.
Sir. Lowell McClain thought of something and reminded, "Don't reveal your original strength in front of him."
Jonathan nodded in understanding. He knows that Zack doesn't know about actual strength. Since the master strongly advised him not to reveal it, he won't talk about it.
"Where is he now?" sir. Lowell McClain casually asked.
Jonathan was surprised to hear that. He immediately replied, "Master, yesterday I sent you a new report."
"Oh!" Sir. Lowell McClain is surprised that he missed reading the report.
Soon, he accessed the projection screen in front of him. He opened the inbox screen, where the new report sent by Jonathan popped up first.
He opened it to look at it. It was the report about Zack's current whereabouts. Not only Zack's current circumstances. The report also included information about strong forces ruling that location.
And what about people who might pose a threat to Zack?
"Iron Post City?" Sir.Lowell McClain muttered to himself. What a name?
Then he begins to read about the current environment of the city.
A quick glint flashes in his eyes when he reads about the bandit hunting mission. It piqued his interest further.
"This kid, why doesn't he go to any normal places?" Sir.Lowell McClain said, with some surprise.
On the other hand, Jonathan wasn't surprised by this. because he too had the same reaction when he first heard it from Zack's uncle. He also knew his uncle was the one who told him to do so.
Jonathan also thought it was a good idea. as long as Zack is in new territory. The threat faced by him will be reduced further. It may seem that no one is eyeing Zack in public.
But in the dark, some forces are staring at Hansen Campus. The public may forget about the Star Tower, but not the forces.
Some forces have already suffered severe damage caused by Star Tower's Elders. Seeing such an action, the rest of the forces were kept quiet. None of them were ready to stir up new trouble.
And every force was preparing their young warriors for the Crimson Hall event. The young warriors didn't gain much from Star Tower, so they were eyeing the Crimson Hall event.
For that, they have to face the strongest obstacles from monsters and fellow competitors. The young warriors from Tier-7 City were indifferent to this.
But when it comes to Tier-8 City, Zack is the strongest among young warriors.
Before the Crimson Hall event, everyone wants to challenge Zack and test their strength. So there are numerous eyes on Hansen Campus in the dark.
So Jonathan is glad that Zack is out of the city.
On the other hand,
Sir. Lowell McClain's face frowns after reading the information about the bandits.
"Insect forest, home for special bugs," he said in his heart. This place is not new to him; he has seen several places like this.
But the troubling thing is, why would someone hide in the forest? An Elite Warrior? Sir Lowell McClain raised eyebrows.
He convinced the bandit boss that he must be an Elite Warrior. such a
large-scale operation and management of over 500 bandits.
It can't be done by low-level warriors. Even if it's an elite warrior, it's impossible for an ordinary warrior to do this.
He also notices that this bandit issue has been going on for years.
Sir.Lowell McClain felt something amiss. He raised his head and asked, "Do you have any idea about the identity of the bandit boss?"
Hearing the master's words, Jonathan begins to contemplate. He actually didn't know about the bandit boss. But he tried to recall something from his conversation with Zack's uncle.
According to Zack's uncle, the bandit boss might have the strength of a Peak Trainee Warrior or an Initial Elite. If it's above, then he can easily destroy the iron post city. Because there are no Elite Warriors in all Tier-8 cities.
Jonathan also suspects that the bandit is injured. That's why he is hiding inside the insect forests. Otherwise, with his elite strength, he can easily destroy iron post cities.
After pondering, Jonathan looked at his master and replied, "Master, I don't know his identity." But I suspect the bandit boss is an elite warrior. "
Sir.Lowell McClain nodded, but he still feels it's too dangerous for Zack to be involved in this. Most of the bandits also have the strength of trainee warriors.
But this kid dared to venture alone. Sir
Lowell McClain feels something is amiss about this. How come a city lord let this happen? Is their superior from Tier-7 City not willing to act?
There were a lot of things strange about it.
Next, he looked at Jonathan and said, "Jonathan, first inform that kid to not act before you get there in person."
Jonathan nodded his head in understanding.