Chapter 44

“Master, I knew you would come!” Finn screamed with joy, running up to Zairen and hugging him enthusiastically.

Zairen didn’t stop him and sighed, patting Finn on the head. “Yes, I’m here now. You did well.”

“Zairen…” Alivia dazedly ran up to Zairen as well, appearing completely stunned, yet also relieved and happy. “That was amazing. I didn’t know you were so strong!”

Zairen smiled gently. “Sorry for being late. You guys were almost in a lot of danger.”

“Where have you been the past three days?” Alivia ran up and held onto Zairen’s arm. “I was so worried.”

“Huh? Uh… well...” Zairen averted his eyes and scratched the back of his neck. “It’s kind of complicated…”

“Complicated…?” Alivia looked into Zairen’s hesitant gaze. Realizing that she probably wouldn’t get a clear answer, she begrudgingly pouted her lips. “You have to explain to me later, okay?”

“Ok,” Zairen quickly nodded. He would think about what to tell her later.

“Oh yeah! Here’s your ring back.” She passed a full grey ring to him. “You left it in your room when you left.”

“Oh, thanks.” Zairen smiled underneath his cloak and slipped the ring onto his finger. He looked over at Grandpa Dinran and the governor, who was supported on Grandpa Dinran’s shoulder. “Governor… are you alright?”

“I think so…” The governor wheezed. “I definitely won’t be able to do much for a few weeks at least, but I don’t think there’s any lasting damage. After taking the pills you gave me, I’m starting to feel much better.”

“That’s good.” Zairen smiled. He was relieved that he was able to save everyone in time, knowing how little control he initially had over his body.

After realizing he had lost control of his newly evolved body, he had frantically trained and dashed around with his new body in the interdimensional space for the duration of the governor’s last stand, barely managing to regain some semblance of control at the end and bursting out of the ring in time to save the governor.

Then, although he was initially very shaky, he was able to use his fight with the masked fighters to solidify his control over his body: that was why he dragged the fight out so long.

By now, he felt that he had mostly regained control of his body. Although it definitely wasn’t as perfect as before, he was satisfied. The pressure of battle was like a honing force, forcing him to quickly adapt and regain his old instincts and high level of control. He was confident that the remaining small bit of unfamiliarity in his body would disperse through the next few days as he moved around more.

Zairen glanced down at his body. Now that he had more or less adjusted to it, he couldn’t help but be amazed at how much stronger he had become. Before, his actual physical strength had been minimal, only some degree stronger than an average child. What had actually made him strong was his highly detailed degree of control he had over his body and spirit energy, allowing him to bring his perceived strength to great heights. Yet now, his actual physical strength had multiplied! He estimated that he now had a greater physical strength than that of an average adult - this may not seem much, but on a seven-year-old child’s body, it was rather ridiculous!

Not to mention, his muscles had now gotten much quicker, firing off and twitching with insane speeds. He had only think, and his muscles would instantly move! Before, his muscle fast-twitch reaction time was only somewhat good, from his practice of the Silent Shadow Art. He would rely on his great degree of control he had developed as a doctor to move only meaningfully without any excess movement, allowing him to easily dodge ordinary attacks seemingly easily, and supplement his movements with spirit energy. His actual muscle reaction time hadn’t been particularly amazing. Now, it had become insanely fast!

These amazing new changes were not visible on his body. He still seemed to be an ordinary skinny, small child.

Now that he possessed these enhanced physical abilities, combined with his fine control and larger pool of spirit energy, Zairen had found it extremely easy to dispatch the four gold-masked fighters. With how fast he could move and react, it was almost like the enemies were moving in slow motion! He didn’t even have to use any tricks - he was just plainly faster and stronger.

However, thinking about it, Zairen couldn’t help but furrow his brows. Although he definitely appreciated being so much stronger, he still didn’t understand how his body had evolved like this in the first place. He could understand how his body could make a breakthrough… but like this? These improvements were so exaggerated! Usually, breakthroughs would only allow a person to become a certain bit stronger.

‘Did something happen to me?’ Zairen thought about who could have possibly done something to affect him like this. ‘...Madam Sue? Did she do something, after all?’ He shook his head. That vile lady wouldn’t do something like giving him a treasure to improve his body. Even after he had saved her life, she hadn’t uttered a single word of thanks, only criticizing and threatening him. Further, even after everything, she cared so little for him that she didn’t mind watching his family die!

Zairen recalled that as he had been running around in the space trying to get used to his body, he had been silently cursing Madam Sue’s name the entire time. Her looks may have been approaching levels of divinity, but her personality was rotten to the core! He detested having to carry her around with him. He was stuck with her now.

After spending a few moments thinking and coming up with nothing, he clicked his tongue. If there was no way of knowing, there was no use thinking about it. Maybe it just happened to be a crazily great breakthrough.

Now… there was one thing left.

Zairen turned away from the governor and glanced intently behind him, feeling a presence. As he turned, around ten silhouettes appeared in the the distant forest, gradually approaching the group.

Everyone else saw his sudden movement and also looked in that direction. Seeing the figures, they also grew tense.

Zairen’s eyes narrowed. Who were these people? He had felt their presence observing from trees during his fight, but since they didn’t make any moves, he had ignored them.

Now, they slowly approached, finally coming into view. Reaching the group, they stopped where they stood and stood imposingly in a line. It was a group of around ten army-clad warriors carrying various weapons, led by a pretty and headstrong-looking black-haired woman.

As Zairen glanced at her, his pupils dilated and he suddenly went on alert.

Long, straight black hair, a smooth perfectly proportioned force, dark obsidian eyes, a skinny tall frame… however, Zairen wasn’t concerned about her physical appearance. Strong! That was the impression that Zairen got. To others, she may have just looked beautiful, but Zairen’s senses were fine-tuned. He could just tell from her aura that there was much more to her than it seemed. She didn’t emit any spirit energy, but that just made him even more cautious.

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Seeing Zairen’s caution, Captain Janor chuckled to herself. ‘As expected, good eyes,’ she thought.

“Ahem.” She looked around and saw that she had everyone’s attention. “Let me introduce myself. I am Captain Janor, and these -” she extended a hand, gesturing toward her patrol team “are some of my soldiers. We come from Sunrise City.”

Upon hearing the words “Sunrise City,” everyone relaxed. So they were from there! Thank god.

Sunrise City was the nearest city to Bindan Village, only around forty miles south, and also happened to be one of the largest in the entire Rain Province, only eclipsed by two others: Kimongrass City and the capital of the province, Rain City.

“We were on a routine patrol,” Captain Janor smiled. “when we noticed there was a fight going on, so we rushed over. We saw Senior Black Cloak over here completely defeat those mysterious masked fellows. You are very strong, very impressive!” She saluted Zairen.

Zairen slowly nodded. “Thank you… No need for formality, can just call me Black Cloak. Is there something you need?” Hi voice was still awkwardly gruff.

“Well, we’re just concerned that there was some big incident,” Captain Janor slightly raised an eyebrow but continued. “We’re required to report any suspicious activity we see.” She tilted her head, glancing at all of the unconscious bodies on the floor. “Could someone explain what happened here?”

Zairen raised his eyebrows, finding that he had no idea either. It was not him that started the conflict; he only cleaned it up. He turned towards the governor.

“Uh…” The governor hesitated, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. “The target of these guys is clearly me. I am the governor of Bindan Village, about forty miles north from here, where we’re all from. They first tried to kidnap my son a few weeks back. However, Zai- I mean, Black Cloak, managed stopped them. Then, knowing that they had two strong people to deal with, they sent a large of amount of people over to deal with us.” He glanced back at Zairen. “And the result of it is what you’re seeing now.”

“I see,” Captain Janor nodded thoughtfully, stroking her chin. “I have a question though. Why were they targeting you in the first place?”

“...huh?” The governor blinked a few times. This Captain Janor was very direct! He smoothly answered with a shrug: “Well, good question. I have no idea.”

Captain Janor stared back at the governor suspiciously. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” the governor confirmed with a nod, looking very sure of himself. “No clue. I’m trying to figure out for myself as well. It seems like someone wants me dead.”

Inwardly, a suspicious feeling began to bubble. Why was she so curious?

“Really?” Captain Janor narrowed her eyes. “That’s funny, because by how it looks, it seems like they wanted to capture you, not kill you.”

“Huh?”

“With how many people they sent, there’s no way they just wanted to kill you,” Captain Janor continued. “They wanted to assure your capture.”

“How do you know that?” The governor’s eyes flashed.

“It’s pretty obvious.” Captain Janor laughed. “Why would they send people to capture your son then? They wanted a hostage to use against you.” She glanced toward the governor’s poker face. “Why were they trying to capture you, instead of kill you? I thought that the Dark Mask was an assassination organization.”

“You know the Dark Mask?” The governor was stunned.

“And it seems like you do, too,” Captain Janor smirked.

“...” The governor closed his mouth.

“Why would the Dark Mask want to capture you?” Captain Janor continued, her beautiful black eyes reflecting the governor’s poker face. She began to pace around in the governor’s direction. “Because they want to torture you. And why would they want to torture you? Because you were once part of the Dark Mask too, and then you defected. That’s why they are spending so much effort to capture you; they want to punish you. Isn’t that right, governor?” Captain Janor’s smile suddenly seemed overbearing.

“Captain Janor, was it?” The governor silently stared into Captain Janor’s drilling eyes. Finally, he let out a sigh and slightly shook his head. “You’re clever.”

Behind Captain Janor’s back, Lenny was amazed. Mouth agape, he silently praised her. She lived up to her reputation!

Zairen was also stunned by this Captain Janor’s aggressive words. Hearing the governor’s response, Zairen was further surprised. Was it true? The governor had been a part of this masked organization as well?

He let out a breath. This Captain Janor was perceptive! He had suspected such a thing for a while, but only because he had much more context. This Captain Janor had only just arrived, and had already worked out everything!

“Relax,” Captain Janor chuckled knowingly. “I won’t arrest you. It seems you’ve already realized your faults.”

“Is it true, dad?” A squeaky voice rang out. It was the short, stubby Finn, who was staggering up to his father with a flabbergasted expression on his face. “You were… one of those masked guys?”

“...Finn.” The governor turned towards his son and sighed. He opened his mouth and closed it, clearly unsure of what to say. Finally, he opened his mouth again. “...That was a long time ago, when I was young and idiotic. When your mother and I had you, I left that way of life.”

“My mother…?” Finn’s eyes widened. In all of the eight years of his life, his father had never once talked about Finn’s mother. This had only served to make Finn more curious: what was she like? Where was she? What had happened to her?

“Yes, your mother…” The governor smiled ruefully, his eyes clouding. “She was the kindest woman I ever met…” He patted his son on the head. “Anyways son, for your own sake, don’t be like your father.”

“Father…” Finn’s eyes clouded as well, and he strode forward and hugged his father. “Don’t say that. You’re not a bad person... I want to be strong and protective like you are.”

“...haha.” The governor couldn’t help but laugh, and ruffled his son’s hair. “Good boy.” He suddenly felt that his son had really grown up.

“Alright, now that you know what happened, is there anything else you need?” Zairen spoke up to Captain Janor with his awkward-sounding gruff voice.

“No…” Captain Janor replied slowly. She glanced a bit inquisitively at Zairen but then turned towards the unconscious masked fighters. “You don’t mind if we take these guys in, right? Our jails could use some new occupants.”

“Of course not,” Zairen replied. If she weren’t here, he wouldn’t know what to do with them.

“Cool,” Captain Janor brightly replied. She signaled her soldiers to pick up those unconscious fighters. As she did, she suddenly thought of something. “Oh yeah, check their pockets.”

Her soldiers nodded, checking all of the masked fighters’ pockets and emptying them before picking their bodies up.

In total, they produced four small bags, one from each person, as well as each’s weapons. They handed them off to Captain Janor.

“You should have these,” Captain Janor remarked, holding out the bags and weapons toward Zairen. “You’re the one who dealt with them, so it’s only fair that you take the spoils.”

After a moment of hesitation, Zairen nodded his head and accepted the weapons and bags. First turning towards the governor and seeing him shake a palm and shake his head, rejecting the items, he then pocketed the bags. He would put check out what he had gained in the bags and put them in the interdimensional space in the ring later.

“Also, you guys should probably come with us to stay in the city, at least for the time being,” Captain Janor said to everyone from Bindan Village. “Once the Dark Mask realizes that their mission failed, they will definitely send more people, stronger people this time. It won’t be safe in… what was it, Bindan Village. It is, however, safe in Sunrise City. Our military is known to be very intimidating; they won’t dare cause trouble there.”

“Right now?” Everyone from Bindan Village looked at each other in surprise and slowly realized that this was true. They definitely couldn’t go back to Bindan Village. Not only would the Dark Mask definitely send more strong fighters, who knew if the force that had chased them was the only force? Another powerful force could be waiting in ambush in Bindan Village.

They all felt a bit melancholic. They had to leave? How long would be it be until they could safely go back? After living there for a long time, they couldn’t help but get attached to the place. Sunrise City sounded nice, and they were curious what it was like, but nothing could compare to home.

“Alright, should we go then?” Captain Janor didn’t seem to sense the mood and cheerfully smiled.

Everyone from Bindan Village nodded.

“Oh, one more thing,” Captain Janor turned and looked at Zairen, before making a funny face. “No offense, but what’s with that painfully fake voice? I understand that you’re hiding your identity… but do you have to sound like a hippo with bronchitis?”

Zairen stood up straight in shock. This… this woman…

In the background, Alivia couldn’t help but snicker. In fact, she had found Zairen’s fake voice extremely amusing the moment she had first heard it.

“Relax, I won’t uncover your identity,” Captain Janor assured. “Why are you so obsessed with hiding it anyway? ...You know what, here.” She pulled a jade scroll out of her bag and held it out toward Zairen.

Zairen hesitated for a moment and then accepted it.

“This is the training method for an art called Spiritual Voice Modifier I picked up from somewhere,” Captain Janor remarked. “It’s not too hard to learn. I feel like you could really use it.”

Zairen quickly nodded. Receiving this, he couldn’t help but be really grateful to Captain Janor. He knew how his voice had sounded but had no way of changing it, other than being silent. If this new method worked, this was one was big problem solved.

He stared down at the jade scroll - it was an ordinary looking piece of jade with a spiritual signature to it, used to store different arts or scriptures. By inputting one’s spirit energy into it, one could read what was inputted inside. He was familiar with this type of thing - he had encountered numerous arts and scriptures in his past life. They were usually created by experts explaining a technique or art. Some were harder to learn than others.

“Alright, let’s go!” Everything having been dealt with, Captain Janor made a beckoning motion and then turned and headed in a direction through the woods.

Zairen and Finn quickly supported the injured governor on their shoulders, and everyone dusted themselves off and followed Captain Janor, setting off for Sunrise City.

———————-

Inside the interdimensional space.

Madam Sue floated cross-legged in the middle of the space, peering out into the world with a solemn expression. Her gaze settled on Zairen and she unconsciously clenched her jaw, her face turning pained.

“Why is he so similar…”