Free Web NovelChapter 12: Chapter 12. Invisibility bracelet
"Name’s Norton," Norton said. He turned to Dahlia.
"This is Dahlia, our pocket world specialist." Dahlia nodded towards Aiden.
"Hi," she said. "We are all second year students from Derulo City University."
"I’m Aiden, Aiden Vhorn," Aiden said.
"So these guys are Derulo City University students and closing this gate is their mission huh. The fact that they are Derulo City University students will save me a lot of trouble. Even if the enrollment period is over by the time we leave this special pocket world, these guys could help me pass through the back door. Looks like I’ll have to contribute well to closing the gate for that to happen. There’s no way a university will make an exception to grant me admission after the enrollment period is over, if there’s nothing uniquely special about me," Aiden thought.
"Hi Aiden, I’m Sarah."
"Im Steve."
"I’m...
The rest of the team kept introducing themselves. After a few moments, they were done. Aiden nodded politely to each of them.
The team kept travelling through the mountain range.
"I’ve never seen you on campus before," Dahlia asked Aiden.
"I’m not a student," Aiden replied politely, calm.
"Oh," Dahlia nodded in realization.
"He must be one of those students who wanted to enroll. He must have been travelling from Fulco City, to Derulo City for that, before he got trapped in this pocket world with the other passengers on the train. The enrollment ended three days ago. Perhaps, depending on his capabilities as he journeys with us, we could talk to an instructor about him when we return. He could be allowed to enrol," Dahlia thought.
Aiden remained silent. Dahlia chatted with the rest of her teammates, including Norton. It was mostly class gossip and Derulo City University information.
Suddenly, the group ceased talking. All this while, everyone had been alert. It was clear that this was not the first time they had entered a pocket world. They were quite experienced.
Norton motioned for everyone to crouch, behind a large stone.
Suddenly, a colossal creature loomed above them. It was reptilian. It looked like a lizard and a dinosaur at the same time. With each breath it took, fire spewed out of its mouth.
The creature sniffed across the place. For a moment, everyone’s heart skipped a beat. Then, the creature turned away. It did not notice them.
The creature started walking off towards the distance. Each step it took caused the ground to quake. Its reptilian legs crossed large distances in a moment.
"That was an advanced rank 1 chaotic beast. And I have a feeling that not even me, an advanced rank 1 warrior, can take it on."
Everyone, including Aiden, sighed deeply. That was a close call.
"We need to be very careful from here on," Aiden thought. "But, that creature, it did not just turn away from us for the sake of just turning away. It did not have the time to notice us because something drew its attention away," Aiden thought.
However, he did not suddenly voice out his opinion. This was his first time in a pocket world, and he could be wrong. There was no need to overestimate himself.
Dahlia suddenly looked at him. She noticed the subtle expression on Aiden’s face before it disappeared.
"This guy is not simple." A glint of realization flashed through her eyes. "He seems to have realised it too huh.. For someone entering a pocket world for the first time, he’s quite remarkable."
Aiden naturally didn’t know what she was thinking.
"Dahlia, how do you think we should proceed?" Norton asked.
"I don’t think the creature turned away because it didn’t identify us," she said.
"What do you mean?" Steve, the healer of the team, a chestnut haired fellow with a light affinity, asked.
"The creature was drawn away from us elsewhere," Aiden said. "Something else caught its attention before it identified us."
Since Dahlia had confirmed his thoughts, he took advantage of the situation to make a contribution. These fellows would be the ones leading him through the back door into the university after all.
"Oh," Norton nodded, as realization flashed through his eyes and that of everyone else, apart from Dahlia.
"Yeah. He’s right," Dahlia said.
"Does that mean..." someone said.
"Yes... we need to follow the creature. For all we know, what drew it away from here could be the factor we need to deal with to close the gate," Dahlia replied.
Everyone nodded. They looked at Aiden with renewed curiosity and respect. This fellow was sharp.
The group proceeded forward. They followed the trail left behind the colossal reptile. Eventually, they arrived on a mountain peak.
The group looked below. Several chaotic beasts ranging from beginner rank 1 to expert rank 1 chaotic beasts were roaming across a particular dead body at the bank of a river.
The dead body was very large. It was the dead body of an expert rank 1 chaotic beast. It had not been dead for too long. The worldly energy radiating from the creature was nothing to scoff at.
Everyone was completely surprised.
"This is definitely what we need to deal with to close the gate," someone said.
"But to do that, we need to have access to the dead body first," another fellow added.
Everyone nodded, agreeing with them.
"Vincent, do you still have any of those invisibility bracelets you bought from the university stores?" Norton asked.
"Only one is left. It’s a legendary rank 1 invisibility bracelet," Vincent replied. "It can only make one invisible for ten seconds. It can only be reactivated after one minute."
"No problem. That’s all that matters. We only need one. In order for the plan I’m thinking of to work, we just need someone who can maintain aerial maneuvering for a while and can be very fast," Nortex said.
Glints of realisation flashed through several eyes. All of them could maneuver aerially. It was just a matter of controlling their affinities so that they assumed a posture that defied gravity. But no one could maintain aerial maneuvering for very long because their worldly energy reserves would be depleted very quickly in that state. They were not powerful enough to sustain such a state for long.
Aerial maneuvering actually differed from natural flight. Natural flight referred to a state where a warrior could naturally fly on their own without the aid of their affinity. Naturally, natural flight was possible when one became a rank 4 warrior. Rank 4 warriors could decide to use either aerial maneuvering or natural flight. They could even decide to use both to bolster their flight to terrifying levels.
However, before one got to the level of a rank 4 warrior, they could make use of aerial maneuvering to navigate the atmosphere. One could maintain aerial maneuvering more as they became stronger. But all of them were rank 1 warriors. The strongest among them was an advanced rank 1 warrior.
"Perfect opportunity to contribute," Aiden thought.
He didn’t need worldly energy for cultivation. He needed blood essence to cultivate. And the blood essence he absorbed would be permanently part of his being. It would never run out. This meant that he could manifest his blood and manipulate it without exhaustion.
Of course, a stronger opponent could kill him if he were to be careless. Just because he could manifest blood attacks forever in battle did not mean that the potency of his attacks would exceed that of a stronger opponent. His power would still increase as his strength increased. But against an opponent of the same level of power, Aiden would be very troublesome.
"I can manifest blood wings forever without worrying about any form of exhaustion," he thought.
"I’m sure his plan is to let someone use the legendary rank 1 invisibility bracelet to head to the river bank and steal the corpse away. But to achieve that, someone who can fly back here quickly before the 10 seconds invisibility effect of the invisibility bracelet wears off is needed for the plan to be successful, so that we don’t get noticed and followed by the beasts early. This is to ensure that by the time the invisibility effect wears off, we would have already escaped. Smart plan. Not only will contributing to pulling off this plan help with my backdoor entry into the university, I will also get to absorb the blood essence of a dead expert rank 1 chaotic beast," Aiden thought.
A glint of decisiveness flashed through Aiden’s eyes.
"Let me try," Aiden said.
Everyone looked at him.
