The sunrays gleamed on the face of a middle-aged Human sitting on the Colosseum bleachers. His gaze betrayed his long experience. His cold stern posture made him stand out from the Goblin crowd even more easily than his white Human skin. For being a Human, he really didn’t mind the suspicious gazes of the frowning Goblins around him.

“So Hades’ brother is 15 and he’s talented enough for Caesar to have accepted him as his pupil,” with a wisp of voice, he read the few lines he scribbled on his block notes before shaking his head. “Looks like everyone can be a dragon if surrounded by a bunch of sheep. I don’t see why I would need to investigate on this brat. Hades’ talent is indeed impressive, but it’s nothing the Mana Congregation can’t deal with.”

The man had been sent by the Mana Congregation indeed. He was responsible for inspecting Helial’s and his friends’ potential. A man of his caliber should never step on the same filthy soil as those barbaric Goblins, so he thought. However, his superior didn’t leave him much of a choice. They needed to gather information about the boy.

Despite their attempts at keeping this matter a secret, it was nonetheless clear that the members of the Mana Congregation who tried to get information about him were Hades’ friends. He had asked his friends in the high places to pull the strings for him so as to find out about the little boy who happened to live now in the Goblin capital.

The senior in charge of these investigations had asked no questions to his superiors as his position required. But there was something fishy to this. At first, he had been ordered to spark off a riot in the Senate in order to let a Goblin army under the Third Phase to attack the Outpost of Alabard while razing to the ground all the villages along the way.

Once completed that task, the army would be wiped out from the outpost. This should all look as a diplomatic incident whose blame was to be taken by some Senate Senior.

So why would now send him to chase after this little brat?

The senior investigator was no fool. He know there are questions that are best left unasked. However, doubts could not but arouse in his heart.

The roots of the Mana Congregation ran deep through the whole continent. Its claws surely stretched as far as Orma. Actually, the only reason why there were only few seniors from the Mana Congregation in Orma was the Goblins’ weakness. What could two mere Immortals against the power of the Mana Congregation?

The senior – who apparently cast no Aura – shook his head helplessly. How many Immortals did the Congregation boast? Plenty of.

So why did they send him after a little brat yet to reach the Second Phase?

On the reports he read about the boy, he discovered that some Heavenly Star Tiger had followed the Human all the way to Orma. They had soon become joined at the hip.

Maybe the high places wanted him to get rid of the boy himself. He couldn’t say. It wasn’t the kind of order one could explicitly write down on paper. Subordinates were supposed to read between the lines and figure it out for themselves. If he either misunderstood the order or was sent as an scapegoat, however, he would come to a bad end.

This was why the senior has seen it fitting to keep an eye on the boy without taking action. He concluded it would be a nice idea to get rid of the Heavenly Star Tiger to begin with. He could then make up some excuse and bring its fur to the Congregation. Honestly, he did not dare lay a finger on the boy. He had no idea about what consequences that would bring along. He was sure Hades wanted his little brother dead- Since he had received blurry orders – last time, an entire army had been sent to kill him, had it not? – then he had better not act rashly.

The Mana Congregation had a man planted in every influent city. Also, its headquarters were set in the very center of the Continent – where some nation like Fiercelake couldn’t even be considered a rural area.

In the Central Continent, there were as many Immortals as flies on a pile of shit. Due to this, the Mana Congregation never really considered Orma as a potential subsidiary.

Nonetheless, they sent there a senior in charge of supervision on the Goblin situation. This way, they would always be aware of the main facts while able to plan how to use such inferior people as Goblins to their advantage.

The Mana Congregation only had Human members – the highest race. The one race who could reach Immortality the quickest. Despite a few exceptions, every other monster-like or humanoid race boasted an incredibly long lifespan yet an incredibly slow pace on the Dao of Mana.

What was most terrifying about Human was the fact that despite they lived so briefly, they could reproduce endlessly. Also, their talent for Mana was unparalleled.

It would take a decent amount of millions for a beast to reach the Tenth Phase, whereas rumor had it that in some of the greatest Clans in the universe, there were twenty-year-olds already on the brink of Immortality.

The Congregation senior dwelled on the fact that maybe, he had better kill Helial’s whole group after the Heavenly Star Tiger. After all, despite the orders not being this clear, he would have curried favor with Hades. If he succeeded, then his chances of climbing up the Mana Congregation hierarchies would definitely improve.

Once reached a certain level, who chose to become senior instead of Master of the Mana Congregation would face many challenges in lack of the right connections.

“Yeah. I will get rid of his little gang first. I’ll bring their bodies to Hades to gain some nice recommendation,” the Mana Congregation senior laughed to himself.

Meanwhile, he caught sight of a member of the Tristia Team, some Frankenstein, wring the neck of his opponent. He was covered in blood from head to toe. The match must haven’t been too easy. For what he heard indeed, the Sect of the Worthy would provide all its fighters in the Colosseum with some special Fury Elixirs.

Fury Elixirs would push the strength of its user almost an entire Phase further. However, the effect would be achieved through the release of a great number of impurities through the user’s Meridians. The Elixirs did heavily affect one’s Dao of Mana. By being on such powerful drug, one’s talent would get irremediably affected. It would surely make levelling up harder on the long run.

Once in the Fifth Phase though, the collateral effects of the Fury Energy would disappear. How many people would nonetheless destroy themselves before reaching that checkpoint on their Dao? Many, too many.

“Most likely, the Sect promised to provide them with the best resources before they reach the Fifth Phase if they succeed in killing Hades’ little brother and his friends,” the Mana Congregations senior whispered.

Frankenstein was panting in the arena. His chest was raising and falling quickly. His eyes were bloodshot yet full of sheer joy.

The match was a tough one. Though, he received a number of Epiphanies on Elements Manipulation and developed a few theories on how to increase his Skill’s level. He only had to test them now. So, not bearing in mind that his body was in such terrible conditions he could hardly walk, he ran out of the arena in a desperate hurry to test everything out.

The crowd was speechless.

They were all convinced Frankenstein would badly lose that one. No one had expected such a miserable Goblin to win. And yet Frankenstein’s triumph even exceeded victory; he had been bold enough to wring the neck of a fighter from the Sect of the Worthy!

Yes, that was a knockdown fight. However, how many people would have actually dared to offend the Sect of the Worthy that way?

The Mana Congregation senior shrug. He stood up and walked towards the exit. He would leave the crowd making up stories on Frankenstein’s luck by itself. For his part, he knew that Frankenstein’s talent wasn’t bad. That was but a well-deserved victory.

He had quite enjoyed the match. But now the time had come for him to start preparing for the murder of those little brats.

According to the reports he received, fighters would have a break before the 3v3 relay match. The time would be enough for him to localize them and come up with a way to eliminate them one after another.

As he pondered on how to skin out the Heavenly Star Tiger, how to remove the kids’ head from the chest and on how much Hades would appreciate his job, the senior smelt like burning fried fritters down the dark corridor leading to the exit.

A translucent silhouette appeared behind the back of the senior, who went on walking calmly.

“Well,” a kid with the black bangs sighed, “kill someone by mistake is not like interfere, right? After all, it’s just so common for a strong man like me to accidentally squash an ant!”