Chapter 90: A dungeon

Lucien heard Rakuzen's words and only then did he calm down. While he was still a bit skeptical about his situation with his spirit beast, he still understood Rakuzen's words properly and found them reasonable. Unlike true spirit beast cultivators who have no other means of defending themselves without their spirit beasts, Lucien is also a mage and a capable fighter at that. Even without the spirit beast abilities, he is still a capable beast-man with the strength of two general-level magic beasts sealed in one body.

While the spirit beasts grow as his spirituality grows, he can checkmate the risk of dying by growing his mage and fighter strength and keeping everything balanced. Only after considering these things did Lucien calm down and smile.

"You don't have to worry… I am fine" Lucien suddenly said as he sat up and flexed his muscles.

The others watched him in utter confusion while silently asking if this kid is really sane or has the spirit beast cultivation affected his mind. Why did he ask about something called the faceless? What the hell is faceless? But seeing Lucien was unwilling to speak further on the matter, no one pushed it.

After washing his bloodied body and putting on a new dress, Lucien returned to the campfire and spoke with the rest of the team. He explained to them why Chenoa attacked them, he explained to them about the organization making waves now, known as the Creed, and surprisingly Instructor Emma knew enough about them. She recounted a number of events when the empire and the creed were forced to clash, leaving the empire's warriors and capable mages badly beaten or dead. In her explanation, she stated that the Creed members are wanted by the three great empires since they have carried out terrorist acts in all three empires.

This detailed explanation of the infamous group left Lucien stunned. Who would have thought a group willing to antagonize the three empires exists, isn't it scared of getting wiped out entirely?

"Why haven't the emperors joined hands to destroy this group?" Lucien asked after giving the matter some thought.

"He thinks it's that easy" Titan said while Lucy chuckled.

"The emperors are not on good terms so they are unwilling to join hands unless absolutely necessary… As the creed lacks the strength to wipe out an empire, they see no reason for that… Also, there are rumors that the Creed's leader is even more powerful than the emperors… It is said that he's at the fifth sky of the champion realm and only a step away from becoming a true demigod!" Instructor Emma said causing shivers to flow down Lucien's spine.

A demigod? 

What would happen when he breaks into the demigod realm? 

Will the emperor be able to resist him?

This also reminded him of the fact that he is one of the Creed's prime targets. His life is in danger and the stronger they get the more likely it is that he will die.

[Then get stronger so that no one else can threaten your life!] 

Rakuzen's words reawakened the terrified Lucien, forcing him to calm down and reevaluate his plans as a cultivator. He concluded that he will need to cultivate both his body and soul fast while searching for more powerful magic beasts to slay. He decided to keep his connection with the spirit beast cultivators and why the Creed members want him dead. As for his relationship with Chenoa, Lucien simply told them that he helped them resolve some problems and when he showed a talent for Spirituality cultivation, they were hell-bent on nurturing him so they sent her to serve as his master and bodyguard.

While the others saw no issue with this, Instructor Emma was seriously annoyed by this, especially considering the fact that Lucien has to sleep in the same tent with a woman as attractive as the blonde-haired Chenoa. She slept that night, dreaming of all the naughty things Lucien and Chenoa would be doing in their tent while in reality, Chenoa slept while Lucien cultivated in silence.

After everything that has happened, he concluded that he needs to start a life of his own. There is no way he and Chenoa can share a dorm in the academy so he has to purchase a place of his own. For safety issues, he decided he will purchase a land in the divine capital of the Fotia empire, where he can live close to the royal palace. That way in cases of unknown invaders or attacks the emperor should be able to aid him immediately.

Lucien's understanding of the laws of the empire and power ranking was too shallow so he swore to look into it after they return! For now, he has to focus his energy on dealing with the two members of the creed.

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The next morning, Lucien left his tent with Chenoa only to meet the suspicious gaze of everyone in their camp. Many failed to believe that he spent the entire night with such a beauty without anything happening. They expected Lucien to get flustered and defend himself in front of Instructor Emma but he didn't. In fact, he only spared them a glance before storing his tent into his omini pocket dimension.

The ring on this index finger made people believe he had a spatial ring but Chenoa couldn't be fooled since she noticed it. She shot Lucien a sweet smile which everyone noticed but they didn't know the reason for that.

'Does this girl have to act like a kid each time she sees me using one of your countless rumored abilities?' Lucien muttered in his mind.

[Does it matter… Her faith in me is so strong… feeding off her daily is an absolute delight… You are doing a good job as my successor, the only problem is that you lack faith… Why don't you be more like her] Rakuzen laughed.

'Yes, yes… I forgot the gods love fanatics the most… I apologize but I think this me is just fine' Lucien replied in a sarcastic tone.

The team set out and thanks to Chenoa's spirit wolves they moved faster than ever. Summoning her massive spirit wolves, Chenoa and Lucien rode one, Alucard and Titan rode the second while Instructor Emma and Lucy rode the third. While Lucien chose to ride with Chenoa since he was the only one that could stay close to her without having her rip his head off, it didn't stop Lucy and Instructor Emma from staring daggers at him. He could feel their vigilant gaze on his back, making him chuckle inside.

'To think that I am wanted by so many beauties' Lucien said in his heart.

[Don't get too comfortable… Jealousy can be a dangerous thing] Rakuzen warned, spoiling Lucien's mood.

It was noon when they arrived at the Talis village. Upon arrival, they were met with what looked like a wasteland with burning structures and destroyed properties everywhere. Lucien and the rest already guessed this will happen since a treasure appeared in their place so it's only natural that this place will become a battleground.

They ventured deeper into the village and only saw dead bodies of both warriors, mages, and even commoners littered everywhere. Lucien has never claimed to be a saint and as someone who was once an arrogant heir of a noble family, He didn't feel sympathy for the dead. If he were here, he would have tried to help them because it's morally right but that doesn't mean he felt anything for them.

[Your heart is dead and cold] Rakuzen commented, leaving Lucien to wonder if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

'I do not know what love is… I care for only a handful of people… should the world burn to the ground I won't give a fuck… But if anything should happen to those few people I call family… I will seek revenge for them even at the cost of my life' Lucien said calmly.

[You have always been a strange one… You rarely feel emotions but when you do, it's intense… It's what your spirit beast needs… maybe that's why it chose you as its master… All you have to do now is learn control] Rakuzen replied calmly.

Finally, the group reached what looked like a massive stone door leading to another dimension. It was a gateway to a dungeon!

"We are here…" Lucien said calmly and the others nodded in agreement.

Seeing the condition of the village they concluded that everyone must have entered in search of the sealed artifact. Lucien's adventure with the spirit beast cultivators left them behind for at least a day or two.

"The others have gone in… they may even be battling the creed duo as we speak" Instructor Emma said calmly.

"It doesn't matter… we gave them a head start and that's all there is to it… A dungeon is not something you walk through easily so consider this as then doing us a favor… While they kill off all the beasts in the dungeon, we can advance while reserving our strength… This will be a massacre!" Lucien said with blazing blue eyes leaving Chenoa stunned!