Their breaths rushed after fighting the Goblins which turned out to be hundreds in number. As soon as the wave of Goblins containing several dozens of them succeeded in killing them, another wave immediately came to fill the empty place of the dead Goblins.
Notifications appeared sequentially in the eyes of all of them. Even Clyde also gets a lot of notifications which makes him get a lot of Exp. Especially with his [Skill: Exp+], now Clyde has leveled up to level 102 for killing hundreds of Goblins.
He didn't expect that they would still gain Exp even when they only killed creatures created by the sage. But here they were, gaining so much Exp.
Clyde looked at the five people he brought as a companion. They were still breathing rapidly with faces that looked exhausted.
"Are you all right?" Clyde asked.
"We're alright," Lola answered.
"No. Let's rest here for a minute," Albert said quickly. "We are not as strong as you."
There was some kind of sarcastic undertone that Clyde could sense in Albert's voice. He immediately realized that Albert's words were referring to what he had said before.
Clyde snorted without humor. "Fine. You guys can sit here while I check the road ahead."
Clyde was completely fine even after fighting those Goblins. If the condition is like this, it means he doesn't need to use his Stats and Skill points for a while.
Without waiting for anyone to say anything, Clyde turned and walked away from them.
"I'm going to leave a mark. You guys can follow the mark when you're feeling better," said Clyde.
Clyde disappeared behind trees and bushes moments later.
"Is it alright to part with him?" Lola asked while looking at her friends with evident anxiety on her face.
"It's alright. Besides, we won't be able to chase him now. Aren't you tired?" Albert replied to her.
Lola bit her lips. She felt quite sad hearing Clyde's words but she couldn't do anything because it was true. Lola was sure her friends would feel that too.
In the end, Lola could only obey her friends because she felt it was impossible to choose to chase Clyde.
Clyde slashed his flaming sword at the trees he passed as marking. He was sure that they would definitely be able to find the mark. Unless something happened.
Clyde felt he could handle things on his own without them. He only brought them so that Maethion would have no trouble giving this expedition mission to him.
Clyde thought of the disappointed looks on their faces after he said that he didn't want to waste time by waiting for those who were too weak.
'Am I too much?'
Clyde looked back. They still didn't seem to follow him. There was a slight feeling of burden all of a sudden. Even though previously Clyde thought that it was alright to just take advantage of them.
Clyde had not thought that he would feel something like this. He, who rarely associates with his peers makes him lacks a sense of how to build good relationships with other people.
'Maybe I really wasn't meant to be together with other people.'
Clyde brushes the thought out of his head because for now, he thinks it will only hinder the mission.
Maethion said that he had to retrieve some information from the sage. Maethion did not say in detail what the information contained. He only said that it was something important.
Clyde wasn't really interested because all he wanted to do was gather strength to carry out his revenge act.
And so far his plan had worked out as he had hoped. He has leveled up and gained Stats and Skill points which he can use as he pleases.
Clyde stared at the map to the left of his vision. The place he was going to was still at the end of this map. The spot that glowed white wasn't going anywhere. Because of that Clyde became suspicious.
"Who are you?"
Clyde turned his head and took a stance on reflex when he suddenly heard a voice. He saw a man with long silver hair down his back staring at him.
The man had pointy ears which indicated that he was an Elf like Maethion. His eyes were golden and seemed to light up.
The man's skin was pale white and flawless. He was also quite tall with a slender body.
Clyde could feel a strong aura of power coming from him. In a moment Clyde had come to a conclusion that the man was the sage he had to meet.
'Didn't Maethion call him an old man?' Clyde frowned because the sage looked like a man who had just turned twenty. He even looked younger than Maethion.
There is only one reasonable explanation for that. That is, this Elf has enough power to be able to maintain his youthful appearance.
"You're Olaflyn?" Clyde asked back.
"Wow, you turned out to be so bold. I asked you and you asked me back before answering?" said the man.
Clyde thought that provoking the sage's anger was not a wise decision.
"I'm sorry," said Clyde. "My name is Clyde Cross. Maethion sent me and my companions to retrieve information from you."
"Hmm... Maethion sent you, huh?" Olaflyn nodded with a mysterious look in his eyes.
"Yes." Clyde was starting to feel a little anxious.
Suddenly, five blades of light were created around the sage's body. He glared at Clyde than the swords of light shot toward him.
Clyde who was surprised immediately raised his sword that luckily he didn't put into its scabbard yet. The blade flames flared more violently and formed a wall of flames in front of Clyde.
*BWOOSH!*
The swords of light smashed into the wall of fire and stopped. Because Clyde was flowing Mana, the wall of fire became denser than it was supposed to be.
'What the hell is wrong with this guy?!'
Clyde couldn't understand why he suddenly attacked him. Could it be that he had done something to make the sage angry?
Suddenly, Clyde saw the sage hover above his wall of fire. Five swords of light were also created around him and without wasting any time, he threw them at Clyde.
Five swords of light shot out at high speed. So Clyde swung his sword with all his might to block the swords.
*CLANG!*
*CLANG!*
*CLANG!*
*CLANG!*
*CLANG!*
"Wait! Stop!" Clyde shouted while stretching his palm forward. "Why are you attacking me?!"
"Maethion would not give the location of this place to anyone. Not to mention a child like you," said the sage. "So you guys must be the ones sent by those damn Celestials."
"No! Maethion really sent us. I can prove it!" Clyde said. Even though he still didn't know how he was going to prove it, he should at least create an opportunity for them to have a civilized talk first.
However, the sage did not care in the slightest. Instead, he increasingly adds to the intensity of his attacks.
*WHOSSH!*
*WHOSSH!*
*WHOSSH!*
...
"I won't risk letting Celestials' slaves live," said the sage.
"I am not a Celestials' slave!" replied Clyde who was getting annoyed. "Listen to me!"
Now suddenly a huge sword of light appeared above the sage's head. The sword was 10 meters long and the sage created it instantly as if without effort.
Clyde who saw the size of the sword gritted his teeth. He immediately added the Stat Points he had because he didn't want to take any risks when facing this powerful-looking sage.
[ Strength: 40/100 ]
[Magic Power: 35/100 ]
After finishing adding Stats Points, Clyde felt the sensation of a new surge of power in his body like he always felt before.
Then he activated [Skill: Pure Lightning]. Incredibly brilliant and dazzling bluish-white lightning appeared around Clyde's body.
The sage's eyes narrowed at the lightning that appeared on Clyde's body as if he recognized it. But that wasn't enough to stop him from throwing his sword of light.
The sage pushed his hand forward. The sword of light shot in Clyde's direction.
Clyde knew that he couldn't possibly avoid it so he charged forward while pulling out the Elderglass Sword and then kicking the ground to shoot towards the sword.
Clyde poured massive amounts of Mana into the Elderglass Sword like he used to. The transparent blade of the sword flashed with brilliant bluish-white lightning.
Clyde slashed the Elderglass Sword at the giant light sword.
*BOOM!*
The clash created a shockwave filled with light that mixed with bluish-white lightning around. Intense light and sound filled the sky.
The five people who were resting noticed it too. They turned their heads towards the bright light that appeared suddenly.
They too could feel the immense pressure from that light and lightning. They knew that Clyde must have been fighting someone very strong.
"Breaks time is over," Leon said then stood up and started running. "Let's go!"
Albert, Wiley, Rosie, and Lola immediately followed behind him. They ran towards the explosion.
Moments later the explosion and light disappeared, but the overwhelming pool of energy from the impact of Mana still remained in the sky and around the place.
~~~
