Having his kill stolen, Nico stared deeply at Jake. He wanted to understand why Jake did that, but all he got was nothing. Jake scoffed at his stare, not paying any attention to him.

"Young master Gavin," politely greeted Jaya.

"I told you, call me Gavin," humbly said, Gavin.

Wanting to understand the situation, he asked them, "Why are you here?"

Upon hearing his question, Jaya recounted the events that occurred to the group before Gavin's arrival to him. Of course, she didn't mention some details like the purple whirlpool. She understood that Jake wouldn't want them known.

Digesting the information, Gavin asked to clarify, "A treasure? Are you sure?"

"Yes. That was the reason they attacked us. But the treasure is not with us."

"It is with the boy you talk about, Nico?" asked Gavin.

"Yes. Unfortunately, he escaped," mumbled Jaya.

"That must be the cause of the pillar of light that appeared in the forest," muttered Gavin as he entered deep thoughts.

'Still, I'm not sure. I need to tell my uncle. He would understand things better,' Gavin thought as he held his chin.

The real reason they went into the forest was for another investigation. This time it was for the pillar of light. His uncle took on the investigation mission as he was bored, while Gavin tagged along to gain experience.

It was purely accidental that they met the Krees and his men.

Having wrapped up their respective battles, the group moved in the direction of Krees and Todd's battle...

....

*Bam!* *Boom*

After clashing for more than a hundred times, the two combatants were getting slower.

Todd looked to his left, seeing the teenagers and his nephews intact and safe.

'That must mean they came out victorious,' he smiled.

'I guess I should wrap up my own end too,' thought Todd.

The bluish brown spirit essence surrounding his arm became immensely thicker as it turned completely brown. It pulsed around his right arm like a brown earthen rock.

Upon seeing this, Krees exclaimed, "What technique is that?"

It was known in the cultivation world that techniques are for manipulating spirit essence. Even then, techniques have limits. Most of the time, they are limited by the cultivator using them. In a cultivator's hand, the average technique can only help them unleash their 100% strength. That is why techniques that double a cultivator's normal attack strength are rare. They could only be owned by noble families.

Such was the technique now being used by Todd. It was also the reason why Krees was panicking.

He was all alone, as his henchmen had died. It didn't bother him that they died; they were disposable pawns. Still, he would have liked if they died doing something useful.

Taking a deep breath, he adjusted his stance as he prepared to receive the attack.

"It seems like you understand," said Todd.

He shouted out loud, "Gavin. Watch me. I'm going to display the technique of our family. The technique you so badly want to learn. The reason why we can maintain our standing."

A terrifying pressure began to exude from Todd's brown arm. It sent a shockwave that ripped apart the surrounding trees.

Looking at this, Gavin was in shock. Growing up, he had heard stories of the technique and how deep it was tied into his family. It was a technique created by the founder of the family. A man that fought beside his king during the 3rd Nether War.

The man, so in love with the rock and creations of the earth, watched one day as a large rock fell from the sky, decimating a city. Countless years passed and the man tried to mimic the rock. The "way" of the rock. What made the rock so domineering!

Towards the ending of his lifespan, the man finally did it. He had created a technique that encompassed the "way" of the great rock. He passed it on to his descendants on his deathbed and died with a smile.

It was a story of the Elliot family's origin. And the name of the technique was...

"[First style of the Meteor: Boulder Fist]!" Todd shouted the name of the technique, as he reveled in its glory.

He leaped into the air, as more brown rocks began to accumulate on his arm.

Looking up, Krees saw Todd falling from the sky, towards his position. His brains told him to move, but he couldn't move.

It was as if a god placed his palm on him, restricting his movements.

Krees watched as Todd with his brown fist smashed his head. The attack buried him deep in the soil as his body visible broke, cracks appearing on his skin.

"Amazing," gasped Gavin and the group at the sight.

They saw Todd rain down like a meteor and smash Krees into a paste. Todd's attack destroyed the forest ground and thundered throughout the forest. It was truly amazing…

'And this is only the first style,' hot blood burned in Gavin as he thought of that.

Jake looked at the scene with no emotion. He nodded as he had further confirmed that cultivation was the right path. While Todd's attack didn't surprise him much as he could do something similar before his rebirth, it made him truly understand the path of cultivation. The path of wonders!

The trio beside him also marveled at the scene.

Todd stood, panting, close to a waning Krees. He was exhausted from the attack, as it demanded abundant spirit essence.

Sensing something, Todd glanced at Krees. He realized his opponent wasn't dead, which was strange. His Boulder Fist was an instakill attack, and it had never failed him.

"Surprised?" a peal of laughter echoed from Krees' mouth.

"I took a forbidden pill before I could die," explained Krees as he slowly stood up.

"Forbidden Pill? Isn't that banned from Aztec Kingdom?" Todd narrowed his eyes in disbelief.

Once again, he got no reply from Krees.

"Ahh," with a shout, boundless energy flowed out of Krees.

'That must be the effect of the forbidden pill,' discerned Todd.

Gavin also scrutinized as he heard the conversation.

Seeing this, an ignorant Jaya asked, "Gavin, what are forbidden pills?"

"Forbidden pills are pills that come with a huge side effect. Some of them are not worth taking, and most usually lead to death. The kingdom banned the production of the pills since they have a negative influence on its people. The pills are mostly used by people nearing death to cause chaos in the kingdom," explained Gavin.

He kept quiet, not saying more, as he watched the scene.

After his spirit essence reached a certain amount, the spirit essence gained a red hue as it swam towards his saber.

"If you won't go full strength. You will die," claimed Krees

"You noticed, huh? Be prepared. I will go full strength," declared Todd as he donned a serious aura.

His right arm donned its rock form.

His left arm also changed. The spirit essence flowing there took a yellow glow as it began to vibrate in a low pitch.

It quickly amassed to a physical form. However, instead of it assuming a rock form, it took on a hairy form on his skin. Making Todd's left arm look like the arm of a beast.

Seeing he was ready, Krees made the first move.

His saber drowned in red spirit essence as it began to release hot steam. He held his saber up high as he took a swing at Todd....

*Roar!*

Todd's right arm cackled, while his left arm released a mighty tiger roar. The roar of the king of the jungle.

Instantly, Todd sent both his fist at Krees' steamy saber.

The clash brought about a dust storm that covered the two figures.

But when it all settled, only Todd was left standing, with Krees lying on the floor with a hole in his chest.

....................................

"Is he finally dead?" Nico broke the silence.

He had watched as the dust settled revealing Todd as the victor.

"Yes," confirmed Gavin.

Todd walked to the group as blood dripped from his injuries. He had not come out of the clash easily. His body still shook as he tried to suppress his internal injury. But that didn't stop a smile from appearing on his face.

"Did you see it?" He asked Gavin, "The technique of our family."

"Yes!" shouted an enthusiastic Gavin.

"The Meteor series is an amazing technique. It is a shame that for the past three generations, no one has ever unleashed its full potential. That was one of the reasons our family deteriorated to Viscount rank," sighed Todd.

He once thought with his talent he could uplift his family's status, but sadly the truth was cruel. Sure he had potential, but they were others like him who also had potential. He was just one out of the many.

That was why ever since Gavin's amazing talent was discovered, he had made it his life mission to groom his nephew, into something he, himself, couldn't be.

"Uncle Todd?" Gavin tilted his head as he saw his uncle absent-minded.

"Hmm, that's right..."

Todd went back to Krees' corpse. He fumbled through his clothes and took out an emblem. The emblem was just like the technique of Krees. On the emblem was a sword flaming with hot flames at the blade edge.

Looking at the emblem, Todd gasped, "It appears the situation is bigger than we can manage."

"Uncle Todd, is that?--" Gavin asked, surprised, as he saw the emblem.

"Yes, It is the emblem of the earl ranked Vargas Family," solemnly replied Todd.

The Vargas family was one rank higher than the Elliot family, which denoted their strength. They held more authority than the Elliot family in the kingdom.

'I will need to report this to my elder brother. We must tread this matter carefully.'

Gavin stood beside his uncle. Seeing he was deep in thoughts, he kept quiet and allowed the man to think.

"Gavin, what is the full situation?" Todd broke out of his thoughts, asking Gavin. He believed that Gavin should have collected information by now.

"Yes, uncle. It goes like this...." Gavin recounted everything he had been told to his uncle.

It took a while for Todd to digest the whole information. Now that he understood the full picture, he looked at Jake and co.

He asked, "Where is the ring?"

Nico, Lola, and Jaya glanced at Jake, indicating for him to give Todd the ring.

Dipping his hands into his pockets, Jake brought out the crystalline ring and offered it to Todd.

He took a few steps back, as he calmly watched Todd's next action.

Amidst, the distracted crowd, he took a few more steps back.

Todd rubbed his finger on the gem on the spatial ring.

*Whing!*

The ring released a black glow. A big black bean the size of a dog was sent out from the crystal.

The moment it appeared, it shined like a star and exploded, before anyone could react.

*Boom!!*

The explosion was so fierce that it changed the surrounding, making it barren.

Luckily, Todd had reacted just in time. He had used his body to shield the group from the explosion. Still, they got affected by it, as Todd couldn't cover all of them.

After the explosion, Todd shouted, "Are you all okay?"

He was replied by muffled yesses.

They all stood up bloodied and injured.

"I guess now we know what was in the ring," said Nico, as he tried to joke.

But all he got were deep stares from the rest.

They did not understand why someone would try to joke in that situation.

Nico looked around and noticed that Jake wasn't nearby

"Where is Jake?"

"Isn't he with us?"

"No, he is not here."

The group was confused by the disappearance of Jake.

"How could he go missing?" asked Todd.

He didn't want to jump to a conclusion, but since Jake was not with them, and he was the one to give them the ring, did it mean…..

"Looks. That's Jake," shouted Nico.

Having suspected something wrong with the ring, Jake had escaped to a long distance before the explosion.

Now, he appeared in front of them clean and sparkly white, like a White bird untouched by the foulness of the land.

"Where were you?" Todd asked loudly.

"I went to take something," he feigned surprise as he looked around

"Huh, what happened here?"

"The ring. It exploded," informed Nico.

"What did you go and take?" scrutinized Todd.

His expression became more fierce at every passing second. He began to suspect Jake, as the timing was too convenient.

Upon hearing Todd, Jake smiled as he brought out a broken sword. It was the weapon he made in the Dark Forest.

"This. I left it at my previous location."

Providing proof, Todd could not say anything. He could only watch as Jake smiled at him.

'Hmm, that didn't kill him,' thought Jake.

Since he guessed that they would be a bomb in the ring, he left the group for safety.

He didn't tell them his assumption due to his curiosity. Yes, curiosity.

Watching Todd fight, he began to wonder what his limit was. He could not help but think about what would be needed to take Todd down.

So when he gave Todd the ring, he didn't warn the group. So that he could test Todd's durability.

'He is barely alive. But he is not dead. Interesting, someone of his level can take an explosion of that caliber and even manage to protect others.'

Jake smiled as he examined Todd with a beaming interest. If not for their power difference, he would have kidnapped Todd, to examine his body.

'I am the seeker of truth. As long as there is something before me, I would decipher it!'

Todd dropped the case as he addressed the teenagers, "This matter must not spread. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," replied all of them.

"Good. Good. Seeing as you all are good seedlings, I will give you something to motivate you."

He removed his gloved hand which revealed his spatial ring. Rubbing on it, a scroll came out.

"This is the information on how to break through to the next realm. Treat it well," he said as he presented it to Jaya, as she looked like the leader of the group.

"Thank you, sir," they bowed their heads at him.