With all her strength, Adeline pulled Kai's unconscious body up onto the river bank. She quickly took off Kai's shirt to examine his injury on his back. It was sorely bruised and Adeline predicted that there would be a few broken bones. She quickly performed healing magic on his wound, hoping to at least mend the broken bones if there were any.

After several minutes of healing, Adeline could observe that her effort had paid off as the colouration of the bruise on Kai's back lightened considerably. Unfortunately, he was still unconscious though his breathing had become more regular.

Adeline, in her fatigue from performing healing magic for such a long duration, rested next to Kai as she drifted off into deep sleep. The next thing she knew was that she was woken up by movement. Kai had regained consciousness as he stretched his body, feeling for his back.

He said, "Good morning, sleepyhead. Thanks for treating my back, it still feels sore but it's definitely a lot better." Adeline blushed as she replied, "Why did you shield me from that attack? It could have got you killed!"

Kai replied, "Well, my body's more durable than yours. After all, which true man would let a woman get injured in front of him? That's what my father used to say all the time." Adeline's face reddened even further and she said, "Glad that you're alright now. Can you walk? It's getting dark and we have to search for shelter." Kai nodded and the pair walked towards a nearby cave.

Just as they entered the cave which was pitch dark, a raspy voice echoed through the cavern. "Welcome to my abode. Name yourself, intruders!" Kai replied as politely as he could, "I'm Kai and this is my companion Adeline. We only seek to spend one night here as it's getting dark."

Suddenly, the cave lit up and both Kai and Adeline shielded their eyes from the sudden change in brightness. Upon recovering, they found themselves surrounded by lots of laboratory equipment containing chemicals of various colours. Some of these chemicals were giving off vigorous effervescence and the entire place simply emanated an eerie feeling.

In the centre of the cave, a man with messy green hair and dark eye bags sat cross-legged. He eyed the 2 newcomers before stating, "Since you are so polite to offer your names, I shall do so likewise. I'm Jaeger and I used to be a member of the Research Council."

Kai's eyes widened. The Research Council was the at the forefront when it came to scientific and magical advancements in Nirvania. Only the brightest minds with the greatest talent were permitted within that organisation.

Kai felt a nudge on his left arm as he turned to face Adeline, who was signalling him to take a look at the far left corner of the cave. There, his eyes widened in shock as he saw a huge number of captured goblins, where a few were being subjected to some unknown purple chemical while being restrained.

Jaeger turned his head towards the direction the 2 were looking at before turning back and replying, "Ah…you guys are enjoying my latest experiment, part of PROJECT SUPERSOLDIER. A pity that those fools at the Research Council didn't appreciate my work when it can turn even the weakest creatures into a menacing beast!" Kai shouted, "You were the one responsible for all the hobgoblins that appeared in this area! Thanks to you, my friends may be dead!"

Jaeger scratched his chin and answered nonchalantly, "Well, experiments can yield unfortunate results, looks like you guys were simply in the wrong area at the wrong time when my babies were out hunting. This place is perfect for my research as there are simply so many research subjects in the form of goblins here. Anyway, now that you know what's going on, what do you intend to do, young man?"

Kai angrily shouted, "We're going to put an end to your senseless experiments right here by defeating you!" Adeline nodded in approval as she drew 2 small daggers from the holster on her waist. Jaeger laughed maniacally as he bit his left index finger, "Pride! Wrath! You guys are exhibiting 2 of the 7 Deadly Sins hahaha! You sure you kids can stand against my Enigma Ability, [Gas]? I warn you, I may be an academic but I'm at least a Master tier combatant hahaha!"

Kai muttered silently to Adeline, "We're going all out against him, I can sense he's pretty strong. Extend and impale, [Cavalier]!" [Cavalier] morphed into its spear form and was grasped tightly by Kai as Adeline called, "Impeded by none, [Phasewalker]!" Her 2 small daggers transformed into short swords that gleamed like moonlight.

Kai looked on in surprise, he didn't know that Adeline possessed a magic weapon like him. Jaeger laughed uncontrollably as smoke billowed from all over his body, "Magic weapons? Interesting, I'll be taking them over your dead bodies!" Ignoring his taunts, Kai and Adeline surged forward.

Jaeger spoke calmly, "Let's see how nimble you guys are, [Fireball]!" Kai and Adeline dodged the numerous fireballs thrown at them by Jaeger, who was only using his left arm for some unknown reason. With a sudden change in pace, Adeline leapt towards Jaeger and slashed one of her [Phasewalker] swords at him in a horizontal fashion.

Jaeger took a step back and muttered, "[Earth Wall]." In an instant, an earth wall appeared in front of Jaeger, who intended for it to block Adeline's attack. To his surprise, Adeline phased right through his earth wall, her momentum uninterrupted as she earned a nick on Jaeger's right cheek as he barely dodged her attack in surprise.

Jaeger wiped the blood off his cheek as he commented, "That's an interesting weapon you got there, Miss. Seems like normal defences won't work. However, they do say that the best offense makes good defence too, hahaha!"

Kai sniffed the air surrounding him and it smelled different from earlier. His eyes widened as he recognised it was flammable gas. Kai shouted, "Adeline, watch out! There's gas!" Jaeger smirked, "Too late, [Fire Stream]!"

The whole cave exploded in flames as Kai barely managed to conjure an [Earth Dome] to shield himself from the intense flames. When the smoke finally settled, Kai deactivated his [Earth Dome] as he searched frantically for Adeline within the smoke.

There, Kai saw a sight that would captivate him for life. Amidst the thick smoke, Kai watched a figure glowing with golden light. It was Adeline, with her beautiful blue hair flowing down to her shoulders. Her ears had become pointed and her eyes turned sky blue with a unique pattern on her pupils.

Adeline commented, "That was really dangerous to have made me use my Enigma Ability, [Perfect State]." Jaeger laughed crazily, "Interesting! Interesting! A Sylph with the legendary Luminos! You would be the perfect experimental subject!"

Adeline ignored the crazed man's words and turned to face Kai, "I'm really sorry, I genuinely wanted to tell you who I really am. I'm hideous right…" Kai replied, "N-No, you are absolutely stunning. Let's win this and go home."

Adeline smiled and nodded, saying, "I can't sustain my [Perfect State] for long, but in this state, my regeneration shoots up to unprecedented levels, allowing me to tank and recover from any damage no matter how severe. I can't take too much damage though as my mana is consumed rapidly to heal my wounds, so I must use my mana sparingly."

Kai exclaimed, "To let a lady bear all the damage is irresponsible as a man, let me lead the front, we can share the responsibility together." He quickly dashed forward towards Jaeger and shouted, "Don't forget there's 2 of us, [Lightning Bullet]!" as he shot a focused stream of electricity from his right index and middle fingers.

Jaeger shook himself out of his frenzy as he said, "Right, there's another unwanted baggage here. [Gas Wall]!" A wall made of gas appeared in front of Jaeger, and upon collision with Kai's [Lightning Bullet], Kai's attack was dispersed in all directions.

Kai was dumbfounded. [Lightning Bullet] was an Intermediate tier spell that can pierce through ordinary barriers easily due to its focused nature. Jaeger laughed, "As an alchemist, I study the chemical properties of various chemicals in their various states. By simply adjusting the properties of the gases I emit, I can counter any magic thrown at me. My [Gas Wall] earlier contained gases that could conduct electricity easily, hence I was able to disperse your attack. Ah, the marvel of science!"

Without waiting for Jaeger to finish his explanation, Kai charged forward and said, "How about this, [Cavalier]!" Upon being fed with mana, [Cavalier] extended quickly towards Jaeger, who nonchalantly formed another [Gas Wall] with his right hand while covering a yawn with the other. [Cavalier] pierced right through the wall, but its spear tip could not reach Jaeger as the gas surrounding it prevented it from extending further via constriction.

Kai said, "Damn it…I can't move, but don't underestimate me!" as he streamed electricity through [Cavalier], shooting a well-placed lightning bolt at Jaeger's chest, shocking him while blowing him back. Jaeger clutched his chest in pain as he recovered from the attack.

Revealing a burn wound, he cried as he wiped off some blood from his lips, "Now you've done it, boy! Time to die, [Gas Blade]!" Jaeger swung a huge blade made from gas at Kai, lighting it up with fire to create a huge swath of flames. Despite letting go of [Cavalier] to return it to its pen form as an attempt to dodge the incoming attack, Kai was too slow as the blade looked set to reach his midsection.

Suddenly, Kai, with [Cavalier] in his hand, was pushed out of the way into safety by Adeline, who in turn had her body ripped into half. Kai shouted, "NO!" before he realised that the wound on Adeline's stomach disappeared as quickly as it was inflicted, thanks to her [Perfect State].

Jaeger looked on with interest as he commented, "Man, that regeneration ability sure is annoying. I've an idea to counter it though, mwahahaha!" Putting his 2 hands together in front of him, he said, "Enjoy this! [Poison Gas]!" as his 2 hands started emitting large amounts of smog.

Within seconds, the smog covered the entire cavern and Kai felt weak instantly as he collapsed to his knees. He started coughing and covered his nose to prevent himself from inhaling anymore smog. He said weakly, "Adeline…get out of here…"

Meanwhile, Adeline was seemingly immune to the poison, but she knew that the purpose of the smog was to quickly drain her of all her mana as her [Perfect State] was in constant battle against the poison. She knew she had to end this quickly and bring Kai to safety.

Adeline rushed towards Jaeger with [Phasewalker] in her hands and attempted to cut him down, but each time she came close, Jaeger trapped her with his [Heavy Gas], the same spell that restrained the movements of [Cavalier]. Though [Phasewalker] allowed her to escape Jaeger's trap, every time she used its ability meant more mana spent and less mana to maintain her [Perfect State].

It was clear that Jaeger intended to fight a drawn-out battle of attrition. Even as Adeline attempted to use ranged spells such as [Ice Barrage], Jaeger would simply nullify them by manipulating the properties of his [Gas Wall], making her spells a waste of mana.

Eventually, after minutes of struggling, Adeline's [Perfect State] wore off as she ran out of mana and she quickly succumbed to the effects of the poison. She fell unconscious just as Jaeger caught her in his [Heavy Gas] as he brought her closer towards him. He chuckled perversely, "My precious little Sylph, you're going to be my most important experiment to date hahaha! I wonder what effects the potion from PROJECT SUPERSOLDIER would have on you, mwahahaha!"

Kai could only watch on as Jaeger carried Adeline away, leaving him to die in the poison smog. He became light headed as he was about to lose consciousness, cursing his weakness and inability to protect his partner. Just as his consciousness was about to fade, he heard a voice, "You're just going to stand there and watch a loved one get taken away? Just like your mother then?"

Kai clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as he struggled to stand on his feet. He growled, "Stop, you bastard…I'm not done yet." Jaeger spun around and said, "Wow, you're not finished yet. I admit, your poison resistance is pretty good but I'm not interested in you. You can stay here and rot to death."

Kai bared his teeth and shouted, "I said STOP, didn't I!" Kai opened his eyes and glared at Jaeger. His left eye turned from black to sky blue, with a unique pattern adorning his pupil. Kai screamed, "Aaargh!" as a shockwave rippled from him as its epicentre. Immediately, the poison smog disappeared to Jaeger's surprise and suddenly, Jaeger himself felt weak, letting go of Adeline.

Jaeger muttered, "What's going on? Another Luminos? Why does my body feel almost void of mana?" Before he could comprehend the situation that unfolded before him, he felt a sharp pain through his chest. Kai had actually appeared close to him and pierced [Cavalier] through his heart.

To ensure the kill, Kai released a stream of electricity through [Cavalier] to electrocute the insides of Jaeger. Upon withdrawing [Cavalier], the lifeless body of Jaeger slumped onto the ground.

Kai collapsed to his knees from exhaustion, his Luminos deactivated. He placed his hand on the cheek of the unconscious Adeline and stroked it, whispering, "Even when unconscious, you still look so cute and at peace. Now, I've got to get us to safety. Let's…" Before finishing his statement, Kai collapsed onto the ground, succumbing to his fatigue.

A lone figure entered the cave and analysed the damage done. It was Ray, the leader of Saint Cross and a member of the 10 Saints. He had actually arrived much earlier, but he wanted to see how the 2 would fare against the rogue alchemist. He was pleasantly surprised at the potential exuded by both, and was genuinely shocked to see that the boy had a Luminos despite appearing human.

"A talent worth grooming, I must find out his identity." Ray chuckled to himself. He scanned his surroundings. The laboratory equipment were all destroyed, with chemicals spilt all over the place. The captured goblins were largely all dead, save for a few fortunate ones.

Ray thought, "It appears that once he found a new experimental subject, Jaeger can't be bothered with his previous experiments." He then heard approaching footsteps behind him and turned around, facing Frost. Frost asked, "There are 2 kids here right? I can't seem to find them anywhere else near here. Looks like you had quite a fight."

Ray shook his head and replied with a grin, "No, these 2 kids had the honour of defeating Jaeger. I only observed the fight from a safe distance." Frost gave a horrified expression and cried, "Ray, this is serious! Letting a bunch of greenhorns take on a dangerous guy like Jaeger, are you out of your mind?"

Ray replied stoically, "I was just about to intervene when Jaeger was about to take the girl away, but our boy here performed something…intriguing." Frost glanced at the unconscious body of Kai, who looked completely battered.

Ray commented casually, "Anyway, we got to get the 2 of them out of here and back to their friends, right?" Frost enquired, "What about all the stuff here?"

Ray's expression quickly turned grim as he replied, "Destroy everything here. I don't want another madman using this research for his own evil gains." Frost turned around as the air became more chilly, "Your wish is my command."

The next instant, the entire interior of the cave became frozen, entrapping any surviving goblins and all the research evidence. With a stomp, the ice within the cave shattered, turning everything it engulfed into pretty sparkles as Ray and Frost hoisted the 2 unconscious bodies of Kai and Adeline over their shoulders.