Taking Root
*Thud!* The iron fist wreathed in scarlet flames ruthlessly struck the old bishop clothed in red, causing him to fall back while coughing blood. The large phantom phoenix at Leylin’s back let loose a frightening cry. Pressing forward, Leylin immediately charged to the other bishop in red.
“Even if you’re also a Sky rank, you’ve only just advanced. You definitely know too little about battles between Sky ranks. Kid, looks like I’ll be the one to have to deal with you!” The bishop who was on his guard against Schiker yelled. The reason for the defeat of his ally before seemed to be an underestimation of his enemy, which was why Leylin’s sneak attack had been successful.
“Let instructor Schiker go, and I can pardon you!” With a ferocious roar, Leylin and this bishop collided.
*Rumble!* A red blaze and a black storm intertwined as they engaged in battle. The soil was devastated, opening up to reveal the bedrock.
“Things... should be fine, right? Even if Ley suddenly broke through, those are two Sky ranks!” Loke touched the item in his hands, preparing to dash out.
He had come here with a mission. He was to gain Schiker’s trust and successfully sneak into the higher ranks of the Special Task Force. However, with Leylin suddenly interfering, he was obviously annoyed.
*Pu!* A streak of fiery red rays broke through the storm and made a quick stop by the area Schiker was located. The man disappeared.
*Whoosh!* In the next moment, Leylin brought Schiker and appeared before Loke and pushed Schiker into Loke’s arms, “Leave with the instructor!”
“...”
Though Leylin did not know what kind of expression Loke had on his face right now, he was sure that he wanted to curse him and his family.
Due to his escape, the storm which had initially lost its target was madly rushing in his direction. The bishop ahead who had been attacked by Leylin had already come rushing over to hunt him down with a grim expression.
‘Damn, damn, DAMN! Ley was at the peak of the seventh level, so it made sense that he suddenly broke through, but I only showed power at the sixth level. It’s no use breaking through.’ Loke watched the two Sky rank red-robed bishops who were dashing over, and began to wail inside.
“I don’t care anymore. I have to use this!” Loke gritted his teeth, and a black metal egg flew out.
*Swish!* Black light flashed, and a slender metal egg exploded in the air. Large amounts of smoke flew out and a large construct appeared, blocking the area in front of the two red-robed bishops.
“A binding construct!” The bishops’ cries of surprise were transmitted into Leylin’s ears, and he grinned inside.
In front of Leylin, Loke’s little schemes were like children’s pranks that could be seen through by any adult, even forcing him to showcase his talents to this extent.
“This is... a spider model construct! So you’re...” Schiker looked weakly at the construct, eyes glinting as they held more kindness towards Loke.
“The family treasure that I inherited can hold them for at least 5 minutes. Let’s go!”
Loke displayed a smile that looked even more ugly than a crying face and carried Schiker on his back, a defensive layer from Fireplume emitting from his body.
“Wait- wait for me!”
Hearing they wanted to break out of the encirclement, one of the corpses on the floor leapt up, revealing Mies’ bloody face. “Big brother Ley, bring me along!”
“So there’s one more!” Loke rolled his eyes powerlessly, feeling that the number of unexpected situations he had met in his life before this could not compare to this day.
“Good. Let’s go!” Leylin chuckled, surging flames brimming on his body. He opened up a path of flames through the encirclement by the Mobius cultists.
The two Sky ranks were temporarily out of the way. Leylin used his Fireplume at the eighth level and swept through the area immediately. Whether they were ordinary worshippers or crazed fanatics, none could withstand the attack of the crimson-golden flames. Most of the ordinary followers would begin to burn if even the smallest spark touched them, turning into giant human-shaped torches.
......
“Take a rest here. I need to go out and do something!”
After returning to the camp in the city, Schiker had pretty much recovered and could even move around freely. On the surface, it was hard to tell that he was injured at all, besides his slightly tattered clothing.
“Understood, instructor!” Leylin and the other two immediately puffed their chests out and shouted.
“Mm!” Schiker’s gaze now held gratitude towards Leylin and Loke. Before proceeding forward, he patted Leylin and Loke’s shoulders.
“Ley, you did well this time and even broke through to the Sky rank! I will recommend you for a promotion. And Loke... I hope to be able to speak with you tonight!”
“That would be my honour!” Loke immediately shouted. From his expression, Leylin guessed that it was anything but bad. It looked like the origins of that spider construct had attracted Schiker’s interest.
‘The organisation backing Loke has truly put in a lot of effort for him to sneak in...’ Leylin sighed inside, but little did he know that Loke was green with envy. If looks could kill, Leylin would probably long since have turned into a human torch.
“As for you...” Schiker’s eyes turned to Mies, immediately causing the young man’s face to turn as white as snow.
“I’d initially wanted to penalise you for escaping right in the face of battle, but this happened because of a lapse of judgement on my part. I’ll let you off.”
“Many thanks, instructor!” Mies answered loudly, his apprehension disappearing.
“But if there’s another instance of this happening, I’ll stuff your head up your arse. Do you hear me?” Schiker shouted, and Mies little face crumpled.
“Alright, you’re dismissed.” Schiker left in a hurry, and Leylin was stuck deep in thought while watching his back.
Just from the murderous aura he had that was unafraid and not planning on backing down, Leylin knew that some people in this base were in trouble.
Schiker returned very quickly, and there were even some spots of blood on his collar and cuffs.
He swore constantly while throwing a gold badge and a set of new military uniforms in front of Leylin. “You’ve been promoted to be a captain of the Special Task Force. You’ve also obtained a second class medal of honour of the union, as well as points for a rank as nobility. You now have enough to pay for the lowest authentication as a knight. Wear the uniform for now. The real documents and procedures will come in a few days later.”
“Loke, while you haven’t been promoted, you’ve obtained a medal of honour from the union as well...”
“It is my honour!” Loke’s voice was full of spirit, to the point that there were faint tremors in his voice.
Seeing the fake look of excitement on his face, Leylin immediately realised the value of this medal of honour of the union thing.
However, this had little to do with him.
After this matter, Schiker would definitely place him in higher regard, and would allow him to look at some confidential information. That would be helpful.
......
The average temperature of the Lava World was at least 50 degrees and above. Astounding heat waves filled the air.
As a result, most of the outer walls of buildings were very thin and had the function of absorbing heat.
The buildings of the Emberwing race were of a different style than in Woking City. They were more similar to bamboo houses, and Leylin’s residence used a rock that constantly emitted cold air, keeping his room always cool and refreshing.
The benefits of being in the Special Task Force were generous. Even normal members had their own residences and allowances of resources for their training. As the captain, Leylin had a villa of his own. This chilly stone was a very precious resource, and those who did not have the captain rank could not enjoy this.
Mies often found excuses to hang around at Leylin’s, enjoying the cool air.
Leylin currently held something like a monitor in his hands, skimming over something. With his authority, much of the information of the Special Task Force was open to him, and he had also gathered much information on the Triserpent Sect.
The full view of this organisation appeared before Leylin’s eyes.
“The Triserpent Sect! Looks like it really has a connection to the three dukes!” Leylin put down the monitor and rubbed the space between his eyebrows, unconsciously tapping at the table.
“From the intelligence, the Triserpent Sect seems to be trying to overthrow the government of the Atlan Union, allowing other races to have more space to survive. In actuality, they’re a bunch of terrorists. They intend to attack the city of every Emberwing clansman and loot them. They don’t have any special activity... Hm!”
Using the A.I. Chip, Leylin went through the cities that had been attacked. The data on the losses was arranged in a unique database, and the relationship was quickly found.
“This resource seems to be the favourite of the Triserpent Sect!” Leylin’s eyes brightened. He’d found that the Triserpent bandits seemed to have a vested interest in a type of special ore. Perhaps the attacks on other cities were all in order to obtain the ores, but this target had been concealed well and not been discovered.
However, through the comparison of gargantuan amounts of information, the A.I. Chip had managed to accurately pinpoint this common ground from all the data on the destruction caused.
[Firasource Stone: A treasure said to be able to increase progress in Fireplume, and a top-grade ingredient only possessed by the Atlan Union.]
Leylin touched his chin, observing the projected image given by the A.I. Chip as well as the explanation next to it. He sunk into thought.
The reason why the people of the Triserpent Sect liked this firasource stone this much must be because of something unusual.
Anything that would cause these Morning Star Magi to go so frantic had Leylin very interested as well.
“I remember that with my merits and status, I’m able to apply to purchase limited-grade resources. I can use this opportunity and get a sample for research...”
Leylin made his mind and commanded the A.I. Chip to scan and record the other books of the Emberwing race.
It was the accumulation of a civilised society in another world, and definitely held much research value for him.