Riyan trekked upstream, his gaze sweeping over the children in the vicinity, searching for Rocky or anyone associated with him, however, despite his efforts, he recognized none for a while.

‘Hmm, isn’t that Miss Sophia?’ he thought, as he spotted Sophia near the river after almost an hour of trekking.

Pausing, he began to go off-stream to search the nearby forest as he looked for any signs of Rocky.

‘That’s the blonde human-‘

‘That’s the orc mage-‘

Riyan thought as he spotted Rocky’s known affiliates in the surrounding forest, feeling confident that he was closing down on Rocky’s location.

Finally, near nightfall, he saw a swordsman effortlessly killing a group of small foxes and that was when he knew that he had successfully located his target.

‘Rocky Yadav…. Champion of Gemini, *Scoff*’

Scoffing in his mind, Riyan prepared a tranquilizer dart, with the intention to sedate and knock out Rocky.

Once Rocky was knocked out, he planned on taking him to a safe spot nearby for interrogation, where using various truth serums, he intended to extract the information Perseus wanted.

*Shua*

Riyan carefully loaded a dart into a bamboo tube, and then took a deep breath. With pinpoint precision and a forceful exhale, he propelled the dart through the bamboo, sending it hurtling towards Rocky at an astonishing velocity.

Unaware of the lurking danger and with his back turned, Rocky remained oblivious to the dart’s silent yet swift approach.

*Block*

Instinctively, without any forewarning of the incoming dart, Rocky managed to intercept it, demonstrating a reflex that bordered on the superhuman.

“He blocked it? Impossible,” Riyan thought, his astonishment mirroring Rocky’s own. The fact that Rocky had managed to intercept the dart left Riyan completely taken aback.

Rocky stood there, momentarily stunned, staring at the dart that had inexplicably appeared and was now planted into the ground below after he somehow blocked it with his sword.

Confusion etched across his face; he hadn’t seen it coming, hadn’t even sensed an impending threat until it was almost too late.

It was as if his body had acted independently, governed by a deeper, unseen force. This perplexing moment reminded him almost of the instinctual reaction one had when they inadvertently touched something hot—a hand retracting before the brain fully processes the pain.

There was no need for thought, no conscious decision-making; the body simply knew to move away from harm.

This inexplicable reflex in Rocky hinted at a profound, albeit unrecognized, sixth sense—an instinctual awareness that operated outside the realm of conscious thought.

Like the spontaneous recoil from a scorching surface, his body had responded to the danger with immediate action, bypassing the slower pathways of conscious thought.

A protective mechanism that was unlocked when he evolved from being just a human to a perfected human, but he wasn’t aware about it.

“Ambush-” Rocky murmured to himself softly, as instead of panicking, he composed himself and turned towards the direction where the dart came from and stared straight through the bushes and the distractions into Riyaan’s eyes who was at least 20 meters away from Rocky.

Riyan’s shock was palpable, a shiver of goosebumps crawling down his spine as Rocky’s intense stare met his.

“How is this possible?” he thought, bewildered. “I’ve conquered the tower up to floor 50; who is this kid? Why does his gaze weigh on me like a mountain?”

Before Riyan could grapple further with the mystery, a sudden force barreled towards him. A man, with a bald head and thick beard, burst into the clearing, his approach being silent yet devastating.

“Fist arts, First Style, Tiger Punch!” he announced, his fist connecting with a force that could carve pathways through mountains.

*Boom*

Riyan was sent hurtling backward, crashing through branches before slamming into a tree trunk.

“How dare you assault a student of our esteemed university during midterms. This is a sanctuary for nurturing young talents, not for trash like you!” Professor Maven bellowed, stepping forward with big gauntlets adorning his fists.

He had been discreetly assigned by the Principal to safeguard Rocky and Sophia. Initially, he had questioned the Principal’s concerns, deeming them overly cautious. ‘Surely, no one would be audacious enough to launch an attack during midterms’ He thought, Yet, the brazen assault on Rocky had proven him sorely mistaken.

Riyan, staggering to his feet, wiped the blood from his lips. “A guard, huh?” he sneered, eyeing the professor with newfound caution.

*Shua*

Unsheathing his short sword, Riyan pointed it towards Maven, ready to face whatever threat Maven posed to his mission.

Professor Maven, unfazed, stood tall, his fists ready, gauntlets gleaming with a faint, magical glow. “You’ve made a grave mistake, attacking a student under my watch,” he declared, his voice carrying the weight of his resolve.

With no further words, Riyan lunged forward, his sword aimed with lethal precision. But Maven was no ordinary opponent. With a swift sidestep, he dodged the attack, closing the gap between them. “Second Style, Earthquake Slam!” he roared, his fist slamming into the ground with such force that it dislodged a piece of the ground below, sending shockwaves because of the impact.

Riyan, caught off guard, was thrown into the air by the impact. But he was quick to recover, flipping mid-air to regain his balance as he descended with his blade directed downwards, aiming to strike Maven from above.

However, Maven was ready. With a quick pivot, he caught Riyan’s wrist mid-strike, halting the attack. “Third Style, Whirlwind Throw!” he exclaimed, using Riyan’s momentum against him, spinning him around and hurling him towards a nearby tree.

*Crash*

The impact was thunderous, leaving Riyan dazed and struggling to stand. It was clear now that he was outmatched, his opponent’s mastery over fist arts far exceeding his expectations.

Breathing heavily, Riyan glanced up at Maven, realizing the futility of further combat. “Who… are you?” he managed to gasp, the fight draining from his voice.

Maven approached, his presence imposing yet not hostile. “Who am I? I’m simply the guy who keeps you here till the death reaper arrives” he said in a chilling voice, “I’m afraid, your suffering won’t be as simple as being physically tortured. Your very soul is bound to be tortured for eternity for the transgression of attacking a student of Liam”

After Maven’s warning, Riyan abandoned all hopes of completing this mission as even he did not wish to cross the mad ghostmancer Liam. .

Rocky, who watched the battle between professor Maven and Riyan unfold, was simply stunned by the level of the fight.

While he could see their figures move, the brief exchange that they had was almost too fast for him to process.

‘Professor Maven….. he was watching over me?’ Rocky wondered, as he jogged to his side just in case he needed any back-up, although it looked like he did not need any.

“Stay back Rocky, he’s almost here…. The only thing we need to do now is prevent this man from escaping for a few more seconds” Professor Maven said as he told Rocky to not interfere in this battle.

Recognizing the dire urgency of his situation, Riyan felt the walls of fate closing in. In a moment of sheer desperation, he decided to make a daring move, a sort of last ditch effort to escape as he lunged towards Rocky, hoping to throw Maven off his game and escape.

However, once again, Rocky showed reflexes far beyond what a human of his strength should be able to show as he twisted his body and jumped out of Riyaan’s way.

Ofcourse, his speed was much slower than his opponents, however, just the fact that he was able to react at all was a big achievement, as because of his slight twist, he was able to avoid his opponents attack, who was bodied mid-way by professor Maven, who slammed his shoulders in his path.

*Tumble*

*Tumble*

*Roll*

Because of Maven’s strong shoulder push, Riyan rolled on the forest floor as at that moment the ground began to freeze and the temperature around him began to drop rapidly.

“Ha-hahaha-hahaha” a voice ominously lingered in the surroundings, as specters filled the entire space around them.

Professor Maven walked into the clearing, his face bearing an even more crazed expression than usual as black wisps of smoke rose around him and his usually white pupils turned black.

“Good job keeping this insolent bastard here, Maven, I knew you were the right man for this job” Principal Liam complemented as his voice seemed raspier than usual.

“Let’s go, Rocky, what happens next is not something a child like you should witness” Maven said in a hushed voice as he pulled away at Rocky’s arm.

For a moment Rocky hesitated, his eyes lingering at Riyan who seemed to turn white when facing Professor Liam, however, he turned away at the right time and did not witness the process of turning a living man into a spectre.

“Arghhhh”

“Arghhhh-“

Horrifying screams filled the forest as Liam toyed with his prey, slowly but surely stripping him away of his soul.

“Ha…haha….hahahhaa”

Occasionally, between the screams of his victim, Liam’s loud maniacal laughter was also audible, as students and monsters akin, shuddered in fear at the very sound.

“One last extraction and you will lose your consciousness forever….do you understand?” Liam asked Riyan, who was bleeding at this point from all his orfices.

“P-please spare me” Riyan mumbled, almost incomprehensibly as Liam kneeled beside him and looked into his lackluster eyes.

“Who sent you? Tell me and I may spare you-” Liam said authoritatively as Riyan spared no time in giving Perseus up.

“Perseus…. Floor master Perseus” he said as the moment he revealed the name, Liam claimed his soul forever.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep