Free Web NovelChapter 13: 13: Level Up
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Jenny lowered her voice and replied, "He must be very panicked inside. He almost died. He saw our home destroyed. He saw all that killing. He himself killed people too. That must be very heavy for his heart."
Jake’s eyes became wet again when he remembered the mansion, their parents, and the bodies on the ground. He tried to act brave, but he was still ten years old. His voice shook as he said, "I am glad that Big Brother is alive. But Father and Mother are dead. Sister, what should we do now?"
Jenny took a slow breath. Her own heart felt like it had been crushed under stones, but she could not break down in front of Jake. Their father and mother were dead. Their house was burned. Their servants were slaughtered. Their manager had betrayed them. The Vardros family had fallen in one night, and the only people left were a young woman, a child, an injured knight, and a bastard brother who had somehow returned from death with strange blood magic. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"I am also happy that he is alive," Jenny said softly. "As for what we should do, we will decide after we are safe. For now, we will listen to Lucard."
Jake looked at Lucard again. "He looks so cold. Do you think he is angry at us?"
Jenny paused before answering. "No. I do not think he is angry at us. I think he is angry at everything." freēwēbnovel.com
That answer was closer to the truth than she knew.
Lucard heard them.
He did not turn around. His senses were sharper than theirs, and their whispering was not quiet enough to escape him. He ignored most of it. Let them believe he was panicked. Let them believe killing had burdened his heart. It was better that way. If they knew the truth, that the person walking in front of them was not their weak brother but a fallen Blood God, they would probably either faint or ask useless questions until his ears became tired.
A few hours later, they stopped deeper in the forest.
The night had fully arrived. Cold wind moved between the trees, and the forest became darker. In the distance, beasts howled. Some sounded like wolves. Some sounded larger. Some did not sound like anything a normal human would want to meet. Because of that, they had to light a fire even though they might be chased. At night, many wild beasts and monsters attacked humans. Fire kept most of the weaker ones away. Also, the air had become very cold, and Jake was shaking even though Jenny wrapped one arm around him.
Jenny and Jake slept under a tree near the campfire. They did not sleep deeply. Their bodies were too tired to stay awake, but their minds were still afraid. Jenny leaned against the tree with Jake’s head on her lap. Even while sleeping, one of her hands rested on his shoulder as if she was afraid someone would steal him the moment she let go.
Peter sat near the fire and added dry wood into it. The orange light moved across his tired face and damaged armor. He kept looking at Lucard from time to time, then looking away before Lucard caught him. Although Peter had never looked down on Lucard as cruelly as others did, he had never thought Lucard was capable of fighting like that. He had seen Lucard train many times before. The boy had no sword talent. His body was weak. He had a little talent in magic, but it was so low that most mages would not even bother teaching him seriously.
Yet tonight, Peter had seen that same Lucard stop bleeding with strange magic. He had seen him drain the blood from Manager Jeff and the hired killers. He had seen him kill men with a dagger in a way that was too clean for someone with no real battle experience. Peter had been racking his brain for hours, but none of it made sense. People did not change that much just because they almost died. If near death could make weak boys become terrifying fighters, then every battlefield would be full of geniuses by morning.
Lucard stood near the edge of the firelight.
He did not sit. He did not sleep. He listened to the forest.
Peter placed another piece of wood into the fire. Sparks rose into the night.
At that moment, Lucard said, "Peter, stay here and be alert. I can hear movement."
Peter immediately raised his head. He held his sword and listened carefully. The forest had wind, cracking branches, insect sounds, and the distant calls of beasts, but he did not hear any human footsteps.
"I did not hear anything," Peter said quietly. "I am a Rank Two knight."
The Vardros family did not have a high level sword technique. Their family sword technique could only reach Rank Three at most. The old Baron Vardros had been a Rank Three swordsman, and in a small baron family, that had already been considered good. Peter was the second strongest fighter in the family as a Rank Two knight. In this world, knights were ranked from Rank One to Rank Nine. A knight could only truly use aura after reaching Rank Four, and once a sword user reached that level, people called them a Sword Master.
For baron families, reaching Rank Three was already enough to become respected. Count families could often train warriors up to Rank Six, and duke families had techniques that could reach Rank Nine. That was one of the reasons nobles were not equal. Their bloodlines, techniques, mana arts, and resources decided how high they could climb.
Peter was only Rank Two, but he was still far stronger than an ordinary guard. If he could not hear anything, he naturally felt confused.
Lucard could hear because he was not a normal human. He had rebuilt his body’s senses with the last grain of chaos energy.
