Chapter 148: let's race

Not long after they left the academy, it started to rain heavily. Now they were sprinting through a huge forest. Those that had excess QI used their QI to keep their body dry.

Alex didn't care if he was wet or dry so he wasn't bothered about it, but some of the females were. Their clothes started to stick on places that they drew the attention of the opposite sex.

"Don't you think it's time you told us what this mission is about!" Alex asked. They had left the academy without knowing what their objectives were.

"I was waiting for you to ask!" Answered. They had to increase their voices because of how heavy the rain was.

"Have you heard of the Luxure occult?!" She asked.

['Isn't that the French word for lust?'] Al reasoned.

['It is.'] Xander confirmed.

"No I haven't, what about it?!" Alex answered.

"They are an occult that teaches and practices dual cultivation. To be specific they use lust to increase their cultivation!" Arabella spoke.

['What?! Why am I just hearing about my destined place now?'] Al exclaimed.

['You make me want to gag and choke.'] Alex said in disgust.

"Our objective is to destroy the whole occult!" Andrea said.

"Why!?" Camron who had been listening to their conversation asked.

"Because they refused to listen to the warning of our academy. The residents of the Del Nosaroc have been sending complaints that the occult has been destroying the lives of my families. For the past 2 years, they have been kidnapping the daughters, sons, husbands, and wives of different families and-"

"Kidnapping is the wrong word to use!" Arabella interrupted Andrea. "According to the reports that we got, those people chose to leave with them willingly. They are not being stopped from returning to their homes or families, they are also provided with whatever they want, food, money, etc. if this was all there was to what the cult was doing then the academy wouldn't step into the matter. When, or if any of them choose to return to their family, they start to lose weight rapidly and die within 3 days, after their departure."

"So mind control then?!" Alex asked.

"Something of the sort. It is more like they are preying on their desires. They stimulate the desire of lust in them and that clouds the decisions of their victims, then absorb the innate energy from them. That innate energy is more or less their life force!" Arabella explained.

Alex understood the crime of the occult and why they were tasked to destroy it. He looked at Andrea and asked; "How difficult is the mission?! If the objective is to destroy the occult then you will have to kill the head of the occult. How strong is the head of the occult?!"

"Intel says that the head of the occult is a rank-2 nirvana realm cultivator now, and I am also a rank-2 nirvana realm cultivator. To be honest, if I was going to be the only nirvana realm cultivator to face the head, then it would have posed some kind of difficulty to me. But with Arabella here it wouldn't, she can assist me!" Andrea answered.

['Why do I feel like things wouldn't go as smooth as they think that it would?'] Alex thought.

['Because you are a pessimistic person and also a carrier of bad luck. With you here there would definitely be more unforeseen problems.'] Al responded to Alex's question with a snarky tone. He was still angry at Alex.

['Thank you for your unwanted response, mutt.']

"Okay… now can you tell me why you want me on this mission with you guys!?" Alex asked Andrea.

"Was it that obvious?" Andrea chuckled and asked.

Alex only took a glance at her and said nothing.

"Well, it seems like you don't know that your team is infamous in the academy now. Especially you and Camron. The boy that has a high affinity with the rare darkness element and the other one is a disciple of the psychopathic witch and rumored to have high affinity with both the fire and lightning element. And also, your rumored ability to find treasures that are hidden in plain sight!" Andrea mentioned.

"My ability to find treasures?!" Alex raised his brows, stunned at the rumor of himself that he just heard.

"When did I ever claim to be able to do that?" Alex whispered to himself.

['Maybe someone that was on the last mission with us told someone else about your good eyesight.'] Lex chirped in.

['But those were just alchemy ingredients, not treasures.'] Alex reasoned.

['Don't think much about it, they are just rumors.'] Xander interjected.

Andrea could see the confusion written on Alex's face. "There was a rumor going around in the school that you found a miracle fruit, and when the people that came back from the same mission with you guys were asked, they confirmed that you were able to find things that others weren't able to, in seconds. A lot of people want you to join them on missions." Andrea attempted to clear out the confusion that he had.

"In other words, you want me to search for miracle fruits for you while we are on the mission!" Alex stated.

"Yes, but whatever you find will be shared between my team and yours, 50:50!"

"No wonder you were ready to share the rewards of the mission with us, you had this in mind!" Alex paused.

"First, how sure are you that I'm going to find anything of the sort in where we are going to!?" He asked.

"Well, Del Nosaroc is very close to a place called the tomb of fortunes. Millions of years ago, there was a war in the lower plain and many ancient families were wiped out. Those that had the chance to live a few extra days built a tomb for their graves. Hidden in their tombs are treasures, weapons, pills, manuals that are priceless.

Now you are probably wondering that people would have already taken whatever is inside the tomb, but no. the treasures are yours only if you can find them. Occasionally, over the past few years, some people were lucky enough to find a part of those treasures. If the rumor about you is true then we should be able to find some good things, don't you think?" Andrea answered.

"And second, the ratio of whatever I find wouldn't be shared at 50:50. It will be 60:40, 60 for my team and 40 for your team. But the ratio at which we share the rewards of the mission will remain as 50:50!" Alex stated.

"If you find nothing in the tomb, then we will share the rewards of the mission 60:40, my team 60, and your team 40!" Andrea proposed.

"It's a deal then!" Alex agreed.

"Alex!" Arabella called to him. "Do you want to race with me?!"

Alex looked at her, not sure what her intentions were.

"Don't worry, I'll restrict my speed to that of a rank-9 nascent realm cultivator. I heard that lightning users are speedsters and I just wanted to know how fast you can go." Arabella disclosed her intentions.

['A race, huh. What do you think Xander, are you up for it or not?'] Alex asked his alter.

['Gladly.'] Xander replied.

He looked at her and smiled. "Whenever you're ready, I'll give you 2 seconds head start!" Arabella smiled as she stated.

Alex closed his eyes for a second.

-Switch.

And he opened them, Xander had taken control.

-Boom!!

Thunderstruck and dragged their attention. They looked into the night sky and watched as lightning danced to the rumbling tune of thunder.

-Zzznn!!

They started hearing the sound of sparks and they all brought their attention away from the night sky to see where the sound was coming from.

Thread-like streaks of rose gold lightning flashed beside Xander's eyes.

"You were the one that chose to limit your speed to that level, do not go back on your words and not regret it," Xander uttered softly.

-Zzznnn!!

The streaks of lightning flashing beside his eyes began to grow and make louder noises. The water that had soaked his cloth started to evaporate and steam was coming off his body. Soon his body was dry, under the rain.

Arabella was about to comment when Xander vanished from her sight.

-Fwoosh!

The only thing that they could see were the streaks of rose gold lightning that Xander left in his wake.

"That's not the speed of nascent realm cultivator," Andrea uttered, stunned by the speed that Xander just showcased.

-Whoosh!!

As soon as 2 seconds went by Arabella chased after Xander. She went against her statement that she wasn't going to exceed the speed of rank-9 nascent realm cultivator. She couldn't stick to that speed after seeing the Speed that Xander used from the get-go. Arabella increased it to that of a mid-stage disaster realm cultivator.

-Whoosh!

Oliver and 2 red badge females from the same group as Arabella decided to join in on the fun. They chased after Xander.

Xander looked behind and saw 4 persons in the distance behind him. As he ran, the lightning that was emanating from his body shot at every drop of rain that approached Xander. He licked his lips and increased his speed.

-Fwoosh!