"Get up, Raze."

  A gentle feminine voice echoed through the calm forest.

  "Hey…"

  "Get up already."

  The voice called out again, desperately trying to wake the boy lying unconscious beside the river.

  It had been a few minutes since they had washed up on the riverside and ever since then, Ellara and Lyla had been trying to wake Raze, who had suddenly lost consciousness.

  "What should we do, Lyla?"

  Ellara asked, her voice a nervous wreck. She was already drowning in despair, blaming herself for being the cause of so many deaths…

  "I believe he might have inhaled some water." Lyla said firmly. "We have to give him mouth to mouth."

  Even in such a situation, Ellara's mind froze for a moment, the seriousness of it vanishing from her thoughts entirely.

  "W-what are you talking about?"

  Her face reddened immediately.

  Lyla replied immediately, her expression serious.

  "I read in a book that it's the only way to save someone if they inhaled in water, Young Miss."

  Lyla stepped forward without hesitation, reaching for his nose to pinch it as she brushed her wet brown hair back and closed her green eyes but before she could get any closer, a hand shot up on pure instinct and grabbed hers with crushing force.

  "Ouch!"

  She tried to pull away but her body froze as cold blue eyes locked onto her.

  "What are you doing?"

  Raze had regained consciousness and the moment she saw his eyes, a chill ran straight down Lyla's spine.

  He had only formed his core a few days ago and she herself was an apprentice-rank martial artist for many months more than him. She shouldn't have been scared… and yet she was so scared she couldn't even speak.

  Unbeknownst to her, even though Raze had only awakened his core a few days ago… his body had already been trained to the absolute peak of mortal capability since childhood. Even without aura, he could easily exert strength equal to that of an Apprentice and now that he had awakened his core, that strength had been boosted even further.

  "She was trying to save you." Ellara added quickly from the side. Only then did Raze loosen his grip and release Lyla's hand.

  "Please refrain from touching me without permission."

  He gave the warning coldly before getting up, his eyes already scanning the surroundings.

  "Hmph, who would even want to touch you anyway? I was just trying to save you," Lyla scoffed immediately.

  Raze didn't spare her another glance, his gaze went straight to Ellara.

  "How far are we? Do you know where we are or how much farther the academy is?"

  He cut directly to the point, making Ellara frown in shock.

  "Aren't you even slightly fazed by their deaths? By Luna… who sacrificed herself for us?" Her voice trembled as she spoke, unable to hold it in any longer as she saw Raze's emotionless face.

  Raze looked at her, his expression cold and unwavering.

  "Does being fazed or shocked by their deaths guarantee my survival?"

  He paused.

  "Can you guarantee that enemies aren't following you right now while we waste time on a pointless discussion?"

  Silence fell.

  He wasn't being heartless, he was just being practical but before Ellara could say anything more, Lyla gently held her back.

  "It's been about fifteen minutes." She said calmly. "We should be fairly far from the battlefield by now and are probably somewhere near the capital."

  "Do you know the direction?" Raze asked.

  Lyla nodded. "We can guide you."

  She didn't say take us with you but that was exactly what she meant. After seeing how he reacted, how detached yet sharp he was, Lyla wasn't confident he would choose to bring them along on his own, especially after knowing the danger now.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  So she gave him a reason to keep them close.

  On paper, both she and Ellara should have been stronger than him but after witnessing his swordsmanship and after feeling that terrifying grip on her wrist… and now sensing that faint, unfamiliar pressure around his body—

  She was sure of it.

  Raze had awakened Aura and that changed everything.

  He nodded, and the three of them started moving toward the capital.

  As they made their way through the dense forest, Raze spoke calmly. "Who were those people? And why did they want to kill you?"

  Ellara was still upset at his cold detachment but she knew she at least owed him the truth. So she answered without looking back.

  "They were probably assassins sent by my uncle. He is also the reason my father sent me with a mercenary group instead of our family knights… most of them had already joined my uncle's faction."

  Her voice trembled slightly.

  "My uncle wants to become the family head. My father knew a coup was inevitable, so he negotiated with the Principal of the Ascension Academy and convinced him to take me in."

  "Once I was inside the academy, even my uncle wouldn't be able to touch me."

  She took a shaky breath.

  "But from the way those assassins attacked us…"

  Her steps faltered for just a moment.

  "That probably means my father has already been captured… or worse."

  She tried to keep her voice steady but Raze could hear the way she was holding her sobs back and the way she was forcing herself to stay strong even as her world quietly collapsed.

  "Did they know about this?" He asked, his voice low.

  Ellara's steps halted for a brief moment before she nodded softly. "My late mother used to be a party member of the mercenary group. I have known every one of them since childhood. When they found out about this… they volunteered to protect me until I reached the academy."

  Raze didn't say anything as the three of them continued walking in silence, the weight of unspoken sacrifices hanging heavily between them.

  —

  The trio walked across the dense forest without any further problems except for a few beasts that intercepted them but since the forest was under the territory of the Imperial City, the beasts were mostly unawakened ones and even if there were awakened ones, they were of the lowest tier.

  Ellara and Lyla walked ahead while Raze followed behind them. His mind was still occupied with the aura he had awakened.

  He could feel the world differently now as every step and every movement in the air seemed to echo more clearly than before, as his already enhanced senses were pushed even further.

  Each muscle in his body was brimming with more power than before. He wanted to test his aura immediately, but he decided to do it in private later.

  The sun was close to setting when Raze suddenly heard a faint rustling sound from some distance. He immediately whispered,

  "Stop."

  Lyla and Ellara halted at once, their bodies tensing as they too began to hear the noise. Just then, a hooded man jumped out from one of the bushes to the side. His rank was barely at the three-ring gray core.

  Their gazes immediately met his.

  The man held a small orb in his hand as he channeled his mana into it quickly, preparing to inform his boss as the orb began to glow before the man prepared to speak. "Sir, I have fo—"

  But before he could finish his words into the glowing orb, Raze appeared in front of him, his sword already swinging toward his neck.

  The man's eyes widened and before he could form a proper shield, his neck was severed.

  Still, it was too late as the moment the man died, the orb started glowing a bright red.

  "We don't have much time. Run." Raze ordered.

  Lyla and Ellara understood immediately and started running wildly through the forest toward the city and Raze joined them.

  From what Lyla had told him, they were already close and once they reached the city gates, the assassins wouldn't dare to follow. Lyla had no problem running but Ellara, who seemed tired, couldn't move nearly as fast.

  Raze glanced at her.

  "Sorry." He said before lifting her onto his shoulder effortlessly.

  "Ahh! What are you doing?" She let out a startled cry but Raze didn't care and immediately increased his speed.

  Lyla looked at him for a moment, slightly stunned, before continuing forward, since she was the only one who knew the way.

  Even while carrying Ellara, Raze was slightly faster than Lyla. He could have abandoned them and escaped alone but that would be pointless.

  The assassin wouldn't allow a witness to live and more importantly, the people of Stonegate City had already seen him leaving with Ellara. If he were to return alone, he would become the perfect scapegoat for her uncle and it would drag him into endless trouble and even if he somehow proved his innocence, questions about his identity would follow him everywhere.

  Running together was the only choice.

  They ran desperately, moving like a blur through the calm night forest.

  "We are close, just a few kilometers more and we will be in the Imperial City," Lyla muttered, a small smile appearing on her face as she slightly turned her head to say that but just then, the ground beneath her left foot exploded.

  "Arghhhhhhhh!!!!!"

  She screamed as her leg was completely crushed and her body crashed onto the ground.

  "Tsk… tsk, you guys are so slow."

  A man walked out from the trees, wearing a black cloak, his golden eyes fixed on Raze and Ellara. Half of his body was burned and slightly deformed.

  Raze recognized him immediately.

  ‘The red-core mage….’

  "I have been waiting here for a while, you know. Since the moment you killed that poor weak guy." He said with an amused smile.

  Raze's eyes scanned everything around him with cold calmness. He saw Lyla lying on the ground, wincing in pain while Ellara, on his back, was trembling uncontrollably.

  There was no escape route in sight.

  "How did you know we would be here exactly?"

  He kept talking to buy time, even though escape seemed nearly impossible.

  "Well, there are merely sixteen routes toward the Imperial City, and I had sent different scouts in all directions. The moment I was informed of the death of one of them, I knew which direction you were taking… so I decided to wait for you here."

  He explained it leisurely as if he were teaching a lesson rather than trying to kill him and the moment his explanation ended, Raze's survival instincts screamed. He jumped to the side as right on cue, the ground beneath where he had been standing trembled before erupting into flames.

  Seeing him dodge the attack, the mage smiled.

  "Hmm, you're even more interesting than I thought but that only gives me more reason to not keep you alive." His voice turned chilling. "You see, I don't like leaving enemies alive for them to grow strong enough to kill me…"

  "I usually do it painlessly but please forgive me. That bitch from before nearly shattered my core, so my powers and control are a bit messy… so be prepared to feel the pain."

  His smile twisted as he raised his hands, and the ground all around them began to tremble.

  "So, try to die quickly, will you?"