The members of the Organization that Plays with Oknodie were heading towards the peak of the Dragon’s Master when a sudden question arose.
“So, what is this place exactly?”
“I guess it must be an important facility like the major cities with a transfer station installed, but why don’t I remember hearing about it?”
“Well, it’s obvious! It’s a region where all sorts of organizations control information.”
The one who revealed this knowledge was none other than the Assassin, Jiang, who usually showed no interest in the organization’s members.
“Whoa, Jiang just spoke!”
“I just had my first chat with Jiang.”
“So jealous…”
While they were all Foundation Scholarship Students, Jiang casually roamed with Oknodie, and this only fueled envy and admiration among fellow scholarship students.
“What’s with those reactions? Are you picking a fight?”
“Yikes! You can’t do that, Jiang!”
The socially awkward Titosso flailed a light stand in frustration at his friend’s lack of social skills. As Jiang perched on top of the light stand, growling with Titosso, Hestia stepped in to explain to the students, who were genuinely curious about what made this place so special.
“See those people laid out in front of the peak?”
“They’re selling fish bread.”
“There’s also a fabric shop that repairs clothes while selling them.”
“And look, there’s a restaurant selling drinks and dumplings.”
“They even have accommodations available.”
“And they sell camping gear too?”
“There’s everything you would need right here?”
Hestia proudly took the lead, showcasing her adventure experience to the students’ childlike naivety.
“Even though climbing to the peak, the center of the dragon’s ley line, is tough, those wannabe pros are gathering at the base, Dragon Mountain, hoping to level up faster.”
“Wait, if information is being controlled, where did those guys come from?”
“From the Magic Family. They’re under scrutiny. You might find descendants of some famous wizards or swordsmen there. In the adventurer circles, they have solid ties with their guild higher-ups and clients. Some crime lords and their henchmen might also show up after losing their turf in gang wars.”
Watching the diverse crowd that had gathered left the scholarship students feeling frustrated.
How dare so many people enjoy the sweet life without them!
“Get lost! This area is controlled by the Basil Family’s guards. Practice somewhere else.”
“I hope you don’t cross that line. You’ll be facing the bombardment techniques of the Isara Magic Family soon.”
“Whoever you youngsters are from, we’re local thugs getting some action in Kanelle City. Don’t be a nuisance!”
True to their form, the despicable group adopted a bad attitude towards others, having monopolized information.
While the students pondered whether to take them down, Titosso suddenly rushed in.
“Whoa! Kanelle City!”
“… Huh? Is that bright light by any chance the ‘walking sun’…?”
“Do you know our city? How long have you lived there? We just partnered with Older Sister Arcadia’s trading company and imported fans, cheongsams, and silk from the Eastern Empire! Did you buy any?”
Excited to meet someone from his hometown, Titosso’s shout left the thugs paling in color.
It was uncertain whether they paled because of fright or the intense light above—but it was clear that the subjects felt weak.
“Isn’t that the daughter of the Market Family here, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to find someone, at a friend’s request!”
“Not us! We’ve never engaged in human trafficking or kidnapping; we’re merely honest tribute merchants! Besides, the street has been cleared by the Revolutionary Army, so there’s no place to extort tribute from! We’re just healthy thugs here to train!”
“Oh, I see. Then can you help us find someone?”
“There are many high-level fighters here, and you might get caught in a blind attack from a sword or spell… Do we really have to guide you?”
Titosso tilted his head.
When Oknodie requested favors, people weren’t clamoring to help, though he was usually on the receiving end of helpful gestures.
“Ah!”
His worries were short, and his realization came swiftly.
“I didn’t fire the Persuasion Beam!”
“The Persuasion Beam…?”
At the mention of “beam,” Irene perked up, living up to her title as the Northern Grand Duchess.
Clunk! Clink!
Adjusting the light stand’s color buttons, a nearby rock got hit with the icy ray and froze.
“… That’s the Persuasion Beam?”
Irene repeated the same phrase, this time with a different nuance.
Titosso shouted as he faced the thugs, who had also frozen in a different sense.
“Did I twist the dial too much?!”
Tick, tic.
As the beam’s color changed, a pressure ray shattered the frozen rock into pieces.
“Wait, was it not that color? Hmm… If not blue, what was it? I forgot!”
“…”
“Should I try adjusting each one from the left?”
“I’ll do it. Local guide, please just let me.”
“… Persuasion?”
Seeing the thugs wanting to help for their lives, Irene gained an unsavory insight.
Persuasion is best accomplished through force, after all.
“Whoa. I haven’t even shot the Persuasion Beam yet. Just wait a bit longer, and I’ll shoot a beam that will persuade you deep in your hearts!”
“No, really. We’ve loved the dark blue color since we were kids. It’s so refreshing, it resembles the shadow in the alley.”
“My brother’s right. For us shady thugs, just gazing at that dark blue light is enough.”
The ruckus caused by Titosso’s not yet adjusted light stand brought unfortunate trouble to the thugs who had fled from Kanelle City…
The Organization that Plays with Oknodie unwittingly hired a local guide for free!
“How strong is the person you’re looking for?”
“Well, Professor Sadako was called to face our midterms…”
Jiang said from the side.
“At least a 6th tier.”
“Whoa! Such a powerhouse could dominate an entire peak. They shouldn’t just be wandering around in the mountains.”
“But we can’t go up, right? They told us not to step on their land.”
“That’s nonsense. There’s no land ownership so they’re just trying to play games with spirits. It’s already been bothering me, so let’s show them the strength of the Castle Family, Titosso.”
“If it’s Titosso’s cold death ray, even their screams would be extinguished as their last breath!”
Hestia, not one to shy away from villain antics, promptly clenched her fist and smashed the thugs’ heads.
Wham!
“Gag!”
“Don’t blow a bad wind towards Oknodie’s friends. Kids like that stuff.”
For a girl blossoming into chaos, the reckless naming of thugs was a bit too amusing.
“Well, we don’t really have a choice. Let’s go up.”
The guards enforcing the checkpoint leading the way drew their weapons.
“Tsk. The wise retreat from the sharpness of the wind, but the foolish feel pain only because of their cuts.”
“Don’t say you’ll regret it. You’re the ones crossing the line. If you encounter the bombardment technique, it’s merely an unavoidable accident caused by intruding on our territory.”
Hestia stepped onto the land of the Isara Magic Family, where the bombardment technique was laid out.
The earth turned red, and the severed spell patterns interlinked, causing a high concentration of mana to gather in the air.
“What’s taking so long?”
“You’re kind of weak.”
“We might not even need to help you.”
The members of the magic family, who had engraved the technique painstakingly, grimaced at the unsatisfactory reactions of the scholarship students.
It was pathetic that they had to clean up after the body of the fearless youngsters.
Hestia took a gigantic double-edged axe.
Cutting>
Powerful>
It wasn’t a grand spectacle.
She simply injected a bit of power into the axe to slice through the air.
As this simple action stirred Nature Mana, the bombardment spell disheveled, causing it to run wild in the air.
Boom! Bang bang bang!
Fireworks erupted, and the disciples of the Isara Magic Family shrieked as the sparks fell, deploying their shields too late, setting their clothes ablaze and casting water magic in a panicked uproar.
“Destruction of the technique?!”
“Why would a warrior of that level be all the way out here?!”
The Basil Family guards hesitated, dumbfounded, but it was already too late to withdraw.
“If you’re this weak, then these guys are nothing!”
“They seem too easy!”
The scholarship students rushed in, each taking turns to land a hit, while the guards’ swords broke, making the heirs and disciples roll on the ground.
Gathered from all over the world, top talents who had trained together for a year at the Gift Academy weren’t the students you could easily block like some local family or city organization.
“What is this place? There are weaklings inviting a fight to relieve stress. Is this heaven?”
As if fish met water, the ecstatic students moved up the path to the peak, smashing every person they encountered, while the Guard Golems Oknodie provided merely watched in dumbfounded silence.
Until they reached the Apex of the Dragon’s Ley Line, dominated by true masters.
“Stop! Not that person!”
In response to Hestia’s shout, a few overzealous students recklessly rushed toward a bard perched on the rock, clutching something long wrapped in cloth.
Playing>
Verse – One Sound, Curse>
As the mist swirled around the bard, the students stumbled the moment they stepped within a 20-meter radius, those unable to stop within 10 meters collapsing altogether.
The astonished students stopped mid-action, turning towards the master.
“Even the clouds delight in the meeting of cloud and rain; thus, my inner cloud anticipated the bloodthirsty youth’s droplets without fear of death.”
“I apologize for the intrusion. We are from the Gift Academy, dispatched to search for a kidnapper at a friend’s request. Might you be the famous golden mercenary, known as Yuneon, whose name brought sorrow to an entire village with just one note?”
From Hestia’s rarely seen respectful demeanor, the students sensed what it was like to face an industry senior and a master.
The woman known as Yuneon, looked with sad eyes, though she spoke without hesitance, her voice composed.
“I once bore that name, but now you see before you only Blood Bard—who has severed ties with her former entanglements with blood.”
While even Hestia contended with the bloodthirsty berserker, Jiang couldn’t hold back his astonishment at the sudden emergence of a known killer.
“Assassins are going to starve. Why are there so many new businesses popping up? Is she part of some Blood Band or something?”
“The name sounds familiar. Didn’t the townsfolk call it the Blood Band as they restrung the old instruments after they broke?”
“…!”
Surpassing the gap of masters, Jiang recognized he had maintained a 20 meter distance since the beginning, his face reflecting astonishment.
He learned that it wasn’t just that the Blood Band existed, but it meant that until the appearance of the band, this individual had managed all the organization’s tasks by herself.
A true concealed hypermaster had surfaced.
