As the arrow rain drew ever so close to the convoy, many of the Frie Clan members, including Shin, retreated back into their aether cars. Those with higher cultivations, however, readied their Spirits to deflect the oncoming onslaught. The Instructor raised his behemoth club and swung it around in circles. Flames that wreathed out from the Spirit formed multiple rings of fire that hovered above the Instructor’s hairless head.

“Hah!”

With a shout, the muscular man who wielded the prehistoric club directed the numerous fire rings towards the arrow rain. As the rings made contact with the bolts, the projectiles burned into oblivion thus preventing any damage to the aether cars.

The other Frie Clan members also did their jobs as well, since none of the arrows fired managed to even reach within ten metres of the convoy. Currently, the caravan consisted of thirty escorts while their foes numbered in the triple digits. Easily outnumbered, a regular escort convoy would have long met their end. Unfortunately for the bandits, they had picked on the wrong target.

Each one of the escorts was highly trained Spirit Users with years of experience under their belt. With this current lineup, they would not even fear an army battalion let alone a group of criminals.

Clearly astonished that their initial barrage had little effect, the bandits stood rooted to the ground unsure of how to proceed. They had used this tactic many times before and it had brought in excellent results. Once their target caved into the arrow rain, the frontline would charge in and raid whatever they saw, leaving no chance for their victims to retaliate. However, their current enemy deflected their arrow barrage with ease thus leaving them unsure of the next step.

Such hesitation did not slip past the eyes of the veteran Instructor.

“Now’s the chance! Half of you, stay behind and guard the items. The rest of you… CHARGE!!!”

A dust cloud formed as the Instructor kicked off his initial position and advanced to the bandits who were somewhat clueless about what had happened.

“ARHHHH!!!”

Following his lead, half of the escorts utilised their summoned Spirits to boost themselves as they faced the oncoming threat. A deafening warcry reverberated through the air as fifteen battle-hardened Spirit Users charged with the Instructor.

Noticing that the Instructor and his subordinates were closing in the distance, the bandits raised their steel weapons and prepared for impact. Alas, there was no way mere steel weapons were able to pose a suitable challenge for Spirits that had been nurtured for decades. Like cutting through butter, the Frie Clan Spirit Users carved through the formation of the bandits leaving them in disarray.

“Hmph! Thanks for coming, I needed some punching bags to vent my anger!”

Infusing more and more spiritual energy into his gargantuan club, the flames that came out from the Spirit became more distinct. The Instructor, who had already looked like a caveman, seemed to have upgraded to become the progenitor of the man who had discovered fire for the very first time.

Leaping into the air, the Instructor aimed at the centre of the remains of the bandit formation. With a shout, the brawny man slammed down onto the ground with his fiery club causing a miniature explosion, scattering the bandits away. The once flat floor suddenly had a huge dent that was akin to a meteor crater. And it was formed by the man standing right in the middle of it.

“Not bad...”

Lifting up his Spirit and placing it on his shoulders, the Instructor seemingly admired his work, and he wiped off the sweat on his forehead.

The bandits, on the other hand, were dispersed and panicking over what had happened. This wasn’t the job that they signed up for. Initially, when they saw the convoy that consisted only of aether cars, the bandits assumed that some wealthy merchant was flaunting his riches and that they could easily raid the caravan for loot. Unluckily for them, what they encountered wasn’t a fat cat but a vicious tiger.

Peeking out of the lead aether car, Shin and Junius were trying to get a better look at the happenings outside. Thankfully, the car had installed retractable windows that enabled the duo to carefully observe what was going on.

“Woah, to think that the Instructor is that strong!”

Shin had always known that the bald, burly man had always been strong, but he had never witnessed to which extent. But now that he saw the Instructor easily fending off a horde of bandits and deflecting a hail of arrows, Shin gained a newfound respect for the man who had always tormented him.

“Of course he has to be powerful! If not how could be become our Instructor?”

Hearing Shin’s words, Junius beamed with pride as if he were gushing about his own child. It’s always a good feeling when someone appreciates and praises your teacher.

“Yeah… How can he make so many rings of fire? Junius you can only make one!”

When the black-haired youth saw that the Instructor could form a large number of fire rings with just a few swings of his Spirit, he questioned his senior who had learnt the exact same skill.

“I have no clue… The Instructor had not taught me that yet… And since he keeps it a secret, I assume that it means I’m not ready to learn it.”

Junius had absolute trust when it came to the Instructor. So finding out that the skill he learnt had an advanced version did not tick him off one bit. He knew that the mentor he respected would never withhold teaching skills. If Junius didn’t learn it, it meant that he wasn’t ready.

“Maybe, one day you will be like him. Swinging your sword around, making countless of water rings.”

“Easy there, that’s for the future… And we need to concentrate on the battle...”

Teasingly mocking Junius, Shin smiled as he diverted his attention back to the battlefield. But at this moment, the Instructor and the other Frie Clan members were just giving the bandits a beatdown. It wasn’t even a fair fight. Unable to do anything to the caravan, the bandits had long ordered a retreat, but the airtight assault of the Instructor made it impossible for a clean withdrawal.

“Hah… Time to end this!”

The Instructor raised his behemoth club Spirit up in the air with the full intent of slamming it to the ground once more. The resulting explosion would produce a shockwave that would paralyse the remainder of the bandits thus, ending their encounter.

“*Whhooossshhh!*.”

The hundred and fifty-centimetre weapon dashed down towards the floor as everyone braced for impact. But strangely, the explosion and shockwave that everyone expected did not come to pass.

“Hoho… As I expected, there’s no way those bandits figured out how to fight… You guys are the ones pulling strings.”

Underneath the Instructor, a lean man dressed in cotton blue garbs was using a sword to stop the humongous club from making contact with the ground. The obsidian black sword looked like the darkness of the eclipse and staring straight at it might mesmerise a person’s soul. Spiritual energy began emitting from the sword indicating that the weapon in the man’s hand was no ordinary sword, it was a top-tier awakened Spirit.

The man seemed like any other, but one thing that sets him apart was the distinct black mask that covered the entirety of his face, hiding the man’s true identity. The moment the Instructor saw this man, it was as if a million light bulbs lit up simultaneously in his brain. He was more than familiar with which organisation this man belonged to.

“Black masks!”