Chapter 26: Blackwater cave

It was a small circular-shaped pool barely a hundred meters wide, while allowed only one person to enter at a time. What was more shocking was that the water in the circular pool was black and had an irritating stench. This pool was located at the deepest parts of the Torn forest is located between the Raizen and the Lucardo noble families

"To think no one noticed this here… the power source our master's sort are beneath the pool" Blink said as he gazed at the black pool.

Thinking about it, he found it quite reasonable. The Torn forest was too large and vast for the two noble families to claim it as a territory since there are many unknowns here! Since the Torn forest is located at the edge of the southern region of the empire, stretching even further than that.

"Just like we have the endless sea back in our place, this place has attained the right to be called the endless as well… no one has ever gone this deep and I am sure if we came here on foot, most of us will be dead right now… There are lots of unknowns in here, I believe we should get this over with quickly and leave" The golden-haired youth standing beside Blink spoke while playing with his hair.

"Clovis… From here on out, things will be a little difficult… I am confident in my strength but I don't think we will be able to protect these ten… I sincerely don't know why our masters insisted on having them tag along, just to die here" Blink's voice was transmitted into Clovis' head.

"I know, I know but on the bright side, those who survive this encounter will definitely go far in the future… Sacrifices have to be made to grow stronger… these ten are the best amongst our newest set of disciples with no life and death experiences… This is perfect for them" Clovis didn't bother communicating with Blink through telepathy and just blurted those words out.

Woosh!

Without waiting, he lightly held on to his nostrils while jumping into the pool, regardless of the foul smell. Immediately his leg made contact with the black substance he realized this wasn't water, since it was way thicker than usual. Before he could even react felt a suction force pull him in!

It was just a few seconds of silence before he got pulled through the black substance and out of it.

Thud!

Landing roughly, Clovis looked up to see a whole new world right before his eyes. Above what looked like a cave was the same black substance, acting as the ceiling of the cave.

"This is amazing!" Blink's voice resonated from behind as he walked past Clovis with his eyes shut tight, desperately trying to explore the cave without even moving an inch.

While he did this the remaining members of the team descended from above. They silently waited for Blink to finish before they moved forward.

"There are powerful magic beasts here… let's go!" Blink said with a serious look on his face.

_________________________

Bang!

The space above the blackwater pool tore open as three figures appeared. Lucien gazed at the Beast emperor, Fei, and Instructor Han with a hint of worry in his eyes. They were going up against twelve enemies. He saw only a glimpse of Blink and the Clovis' strength so he felt extremely anxious and proud at the same time.

'I can't believe I am part of a major operation like this!' Lucien screamed in his mind.

"Don't worry, I will deal with the one you call Blink and the golden hair kid… You and Little Han will just have to take care of the ten weaker… Minions" Emperor Fei said with an infectious smile.

"What is this all about... You seem to know this place and the reason why they are here, Emperor" Instructor Han asked coldly.

Lucien felt like pouncing on Instructor Han for speaking to the Emperor that way but then something struck his mind. The emperor calls him 'Lil Emperor' and calls Instructor Han 'Lil Han'. Considering this, he came to the conclusion that they both have a close relationship.

Gazing at the emperor, he let his gray hair flutter freely and he wore a sleeveless red mage robe but there was no talisman or any form of enchantment on him, it seemed as if the old man didn't consider this a hard task.

"I found this place when the Fotia empire was newly formed, that's about five centuries ago… I wanted to expand my empire further and decided to explore the Torn forest! From here, leads to an underground ancient civilization… There is a power source down there, but it was been protected by some sort of barrier… I tried to take it and make it my own but I couldn't bring destroy the barrier… From time to time I come here to check but the barrier has always been there, but weakening… the fact these invaders came for this means they are confident of breaking this barrier… if they can, then I can't let them have the power source down there" Emperor Fei saw no reason to lie to them since they were all going down there anyway, so he didn't hesitate to tell the story.

"…" Lucien gazed with a blank expression, unable to know what to make out of the story he just heard.