The group of youths and teachers quickly arrived at Greywater Lake.
Greywater Lake was located in the central region of the Kingdom of Eiche on the edge of the Riverbend Plains. Beyond here were the Winterfell Plains and Icefrost Plateau which composed the northern region of the Kingdom of Eiche.
Bordering Greywater Lake was the Carlin Bay and the White Harbor Plains. Both of these territories were easily accessible and contained a large number of cities.
Meanwhile, between Greywater Lake and the Winterfell Plains was a vast expanse of barren wilderness. Due to the many nameless graves which were scattered through this rugged wilderness, it had been simply named the Land of Nameless Graves.
Not a single town existed in the marsh-ridden Greywater Lake and the Land of Nameless Graves. As a result, very few arcane masters or teams ever traversed through either area.
It was rumored that this was why the ruins of the Clockwork Corps had not been discovered until a few years prior.
"Ayrin! Rinloran! Look! Belo is eating a poisonous snake again!" Stingham"s voice abruptly rang out somewhere within Greywater Lake.
"Idiot!" Rinloran replied in a scathing voice.
With its many marshes, Greywater Lake was naturally a haven for amphibious creatures, especially of the poisonous kind. As a result, there were many poisonous frogs and venomous snakes hidden throughout the area, along with numerous venomous spiders nesting in the trees.
As they traversed through Greywater Lake, Belo had been continuously grabbing any poisonous organism he could lay his hands on and devouring their blood and toxin as allowed by his beastman bloodline. Having bitterly tempered himself and gained a portion of the abilities of the Poisonflame Emperor, this constant ingestion was evidently allowing him to grow his strength further.
"Belo should be doing this to further strengthen his own poison. He is only becoming more terrifying for our enemies to deal with," Ayrin explained to Stingham.
"But won"t the snake blood also contain many impurities?" Stingham muttered. "And what about parasites?" Stingham gulped. "What if Belo"s body becomes infested with parasites?!"
"Idiot!" Rinloran said once more as his face became covered with black lines.
The beastmen ancestors were innately reliant on consuming blood to strengthen themselves. So how could someone with a high rank beastman bloodline be afraid of parasites? Moreover, earlier beastmen had managed to live and thrive in conditions even worse than the Greywater Lake around them.
Coupled with the ma.s.sive improvement of Belo"s own bloodline, they didn"t need to worry at all.
After all, Belo"s blood was now extremely abnormal when compared to a normal arcane master"s blood.
It had basically become a stew of the most toxic poisons. How could anything survive in such an environment?
Upon hearing Stingham"s shouts, Belo immediately turned around. Blood slowly dripped from the corner of his mouth as he threw the snake in his hand towards Stingham and he said in an impetuous manner, "What? Do you want a bite? Or do you want to kneel and lick this grandfather"s feet?"
"Why would I want to take a bite? And why would I ever lick your feet?!" Stingham cried out as he immediately dropped the mangled snake corpse, his face paling.
"We have almost arrived at the destination. Do you really have the time to pay so much attention to Belo?" Rui"s voice abruptly rang out from behind Stingham. "How is your study of Invulnerable Golden Body coming along?"
"We are almost there. There is not enough time left to take advantage of," Stingham replied as he chuckled awkwardly.
"Is that so?" Rui indifferently stared at Stingham as a black light flashed in his hand and the big black stick appeared once more.
"It"s the big black stick again?"
A smug look appeared across Stingham"s face as he nonchalantly said, "So what? Now that I"ve mastered Shock Conduction, you can"t hurt me anymore."
"Is that so?" The same three indifferent words came out of Rui"s mouth once more as the black stick in his hand began to rotate at an alarming speed under the control of the arcane particles which emerged from his fingers.
In the next moment, the black stick viciously stabbed towards Stingham"s chest like a spear.
A terrifying penetrative and twisting force invaded Stingham"s body.
The skin over Stingham"s chest seemed to distort as he let out a wretched and painful scream, "Argh!"
"That must have hurt a lot."
"Just from the sound of his scream, the pain must be unbelievable. I"ve never heard him scream so miserably before.
Ayrin and Rinloran quickly exchanged looks before turning their attention back towards Stingham. Their gazes were full of sympathy.
Stingham twitched as a white froth emerged from his lips. For a long time, he remained incapable of speech.
"So how was this Starcrus.h.i.+ng Strike of mine?" Rui asked as he swung his stick around.
Tears immediately emerged in Stingham"s eyes as he quickly replied, "You scoundrel! You are too mean! Why did you stab and not bash?!"
"Are you going to learn Invulnerable Golden Body or not?" Rui"s tone became persuasive as he continued, "If you learn Invulnerable Golden Body, this Starcrus.h.i.+ng Strike of mine will become useless against you as well."
"I won"t learn it!" Stingham madly replied, "I want to rest! I don"t want to learn! A true brave warrior! I"m a man of my word! If I say I won"t learn it, I won"t learn it!"
Stingham"s response caused Ayrin, Chris, and everyone else present to become completely speechless.
Stingham"s manner and appearance was surprisingly resolute and like a true warrior.
"You really won"t learn it?"
"I won"t!"
"Really?"
Rui"s gaze strayed onto the figure of the Dark Queen Mermaid beside Stingham.
"Teacher Rui, what are you looking at? Could it be that you also have plans in store for her?!" Stingham cried out in an inconsolable manner.
Rui shook his head as he spoke in an even more persuasive tone than before, "Do you wish for your girlfriend to become prettier, and able to speak?"
"What?!"
Stingham abruptly stiffened as a bright golden light appeared in his eyes, "You can make my girlfriend prettier and able to speak?"
"Of course," Rui nodded.
"Tell me what your methods are! As long as I can confirm that you are not tricking me, I will immediately start training!" Stingham shouted as he enthusiastically grabbed Rui"s hands.
Rui emotionlessly looked back at Stingham as he replied, "The Fruit of the G.o.ddess of Wisdom. This fruit allows higher level creatures like her to undergo a complete transformation. Not only will she gain the ability to speak, her fish-tail will also be able to transform into a pair of legs as well. As long she is willing to… for you."
"The Fruit of the G.o.ddess of Wisdom?" Stingham turned and looked at Liszt, Ciaran, and the others for confirmation, "Teacher Liszt, Teacher Ciaran, respectable teachers. Is Teacher Rui speaking the truth?"
"Of course he is," Ciaran smiled as she nodded in response.
"I know where the Fruit of the G.o.ddess of Wisdom grows." Rui looked Stingham in the eye as he confidently said, "As long as you manage to master Ashur"s Invulnerable Golden Body, I promise you that I will bring you there and help you procure a fruit."
"Deal! I"ll immediately start training!" Stingham"s expression became as bright as the sun as he excitedly grabbed the Dark Queen Mermaid"s hands and exclaimed, "My dear girlfriend, we have hopes! In the future, when we obtain the Fruit of the G.o.ddess of Wisdom, you will no longer have to wear that thick and heavy robe anymore! You will be able to wear short skirts!"
Loud thumps rang out around Stingham as Ayrin, Moss, and the others all abruptly collapsed to the ground.
All this discussion, and what moved Stingham the most was the thought of being able to see his girlfriend in a sensual short skirt!
"Stingham, since she is your girlfriend now, shouldn"t she have her own name?" Ayrin abruptly asked at this moment. "You can"t just call her by your girlfriend forever."
"Didn"t Teacher Liszt once say that high level dragons and creatures all have very strong egos and don"t like other people giving them random names? I was thinking to ask her what her name is once she can talk. To just give her a name is disrespectful to her," Stingham replied in a honorable manner.
"This fellow treats his girlfriend rather well…" Rinloran, Moss, and the others muttered under their breath.
"We have almost arrived."
Liszt nodded towards the fog-shrouded swampy forest before them as he said, "You guys head on over first and meet up with the tournament organizers. I"ll be right over once I finish dealing with some matters."
"What matters? Are there still enemies around?" Ayrin asked as he suddenly became alert.
"Don"t worry, there are no enemies around. It"s just some personal matters. After all, everything must have a conclusion," Liszt responded as he stretched his waist.
A look of understanding emerged atop the faces of Ayrin and the others as they took their leave.
Liszt motionlessly watched Ayrin and the others enter the fog-shrouded forest. Afterwards, he slowly turned around. His gaze fixated on a tall patch of weeds not too far from him.
A figure slowly emerged from within the weeds.
"Lotton, can you tell me why you have been following us?" Liszt asked in a solemn manner.
"To help. To protect," Lotton replied.
Liszt"s expression remained unmoving as he asked, "Why?"
"Bloodline… it gave me the confidence to defeat Dias" group and other stronger Evil Dragon Followers," Lotton slowly answered.
"It seems like you know quite a bit. To think that you have already seen through it." Liszt smiled as he continued, "Since it is like this, I will not interfere with your actions. That"s what you"ve been fighting for this whole time right? The ability to dictate your own actions, the sense of freedom."
"Thank you." Lotton"s voice was quiet but contained great sincerity.
"However, in this coming round of compet.i.tion, it is best if you don"t interfere. Although we see you as part of their team already, you are not an official member of Holy Dawn Academy." Liszt observed Lotton as he added, "After all, this is just another session of special training for them."
"I understand. I will remain out here." At this moment, Lotton no longer looked like the G.o.d of Death who had shocked the national tournament, but an obedient child.
"This new Holy Dawn Evil Six will definitely surpa.s.s us old fellows." Liszt turned around and sighed as strode towards the fog-shrouded forest and quietly added under his breath, "Because this new Holy Dawn Evil Six is actually a team of seven which contains a powerful fellow like you off in the shadows, constantly watching and guarding them."
Behind him, Lotton"s figure gradually faded into the white fog once more.