Hey guys here is the super late chapter. I'm sorry for this lateness but I've been having midterms left and right. I mean like literally every single week for the last couple weeks. Anyway here is a longer chapter as an apology and I just want to say that I have finished mapping out the future chapters. This arc/volume/book/whatever will end in about 6-7 chapters. I will try to release 1-2 chapters this weekend and the rest by the end of this month but it will be tough, So I'll try my best. Anyway happy May people. Almost summertime.

“Obviously it’s the bird.”

This sentence shocked both Frostsickle and Ghostblade so hard that they just stood there staring at Firesword. There was indeed a bird in the room with them, but it was a small yellow bird that was sleeping while perched on Ryu’s shoulder. During the duration of the entire meeting, the bird had not woken up. It was sleeping and so Frostsickle and Ghostblade had ignored the bird and placed most of their concentration on Ryu. Now hearing from Firesword that the bird was dangerous made them sweat thinking of what might have happened if the bird had attacked them for being rude to Ryu. But still unable to accept this, Ghostblade shouted, “That can’t be possible. That bird can’t be that strong. And even if it was Why didn’t we notice. Plus it’s killing intent only produced a little bit of a chill and wasn’t even threatening. So that bird can’t possibly be as strong as you say it is.”

Firesword chuckled, “Ghostblade, you style yourself like an assassin and you are this unnerved? Remember this, just because you can’t perceive it doesn’t mean it’s not true. All it means is that you are not strong enough or that you haven’t trained yourself well.”

“But…..” Ghostblade bit her lips and was still unable to accept that she had not been able to sense the strength of the bird.

“No buts. Get over yourself. You are not as strong as you think. You couldn’t beat me even if I had a handicap. Thinking that there will never exist anything that you can not see through is stupid and foolish.”

Hearing this, Ghostblade hung her head down as she closed her eyes. Seeing this, Frostsickle asked Firesword some questions, “Why say this now? And why did you only say it to Ghostblade and not me? Why haven’t you said anything before? Don’t you think that this is a little bit too harsh?”

Firesword frowned and shook his head, “Harsh? No, I don’t think so. She has been pampered far too much and most of that is your fault. You have purposely helped her do whatever she wanted and you have coddled her and because of this she is starting to have a condescending attitude. What she had before was a cold view and this is not bad. But condescension is something that she should not act with because it will lead to her death. And as to why I am speaking about it now? Same reason I told you when we were with that boy, There is no more time for me to slowly nurture you. You two have to grow up and fast. I will not be here for much longer and you two can not keep acting like brats. The survival of all goblins in this forest will depend on you two in the future. This is a fact and you must be able to take responsibility.”

Hearing this, Ghostblade’s eyes became more clear. The wisps of despair that was emanating around her before vanished. She stood up and said, “So it’s not me you should scold. It’s all Frostsickle’s fault. Scold him.”

Frostsickle gaped as he heard Ghostblade willingly throw him under without even hesitating. Why him? Hadn’t he always supported and taken her side and helped her out when she needed help? How could she suddenly do this? Thinking this, Frostsickle began getting depressed. Seeing this Firesword sighed. What is wrong with these two. Seriously why did he have to always babysit them? Thinking this Firesword addressed both of them, “Seriously what is wrong with you two? Always fighting. Did you not pay attention to anything I’ve been saying in the last couple minutes? Work together. That is the only path to survival that you have. Remember, your decisions affect not only you but also every single goblin in this forest. And as to why I didn’t scold Frostsickle, it’s because this brat actually knows what he is doing. He’s a smartass pretending to be a blockhead.”

Frostsickle’s eyes widened and he mumbled, “Damn, didn’t think you knew.”

Firesword snorted, “Of course I knew. I’ve known you brats since you were little babies pooping all over the place.”

Ghostblade lowered her head in embarrassment, “That last part was unnecessary.”

Firesword snorted and moved onto a different topic, “Anyways that human brat is still stronger than most of our elite troops. So with the help of that human brat and that bird, we can finally kill the 5 beast kings. This is the only hope we have. Luckily he needs our assistance as well so we can work together.”

Frostsickle understood this point and nodded. Ghostblade just stood there but her eyes displayed a light of understanding. Seeing that they had finally decided to listen, Firesword said, “Good. Now that you have calmed down, you have begun to understand. Let’s go back to the base. Get everything you need. It will probably take us about 2 weeks to kill the 5 beast kings if there are no unexpected circumstances. So, Frostsickle you are responsible for getting enough rations for you and Ghostblade. Ghostblade you are responsible for getting herbs and medicines in case either one of you get hurt.”

Ghostblade asked, “What about you? Won’t you need food and medicines?”

Firesword laughed, “Hahahaha, are you worried for this old man?”

Ghostblade looked away as a hint of red could be seen on her face. Frostsickle stared in amazement, “I’ve been trying to get her to show any girly emotions on her face for so long….. And old man you managed to do it just like that? With only ONE SENTENCE??”

Firesword smiled and said, “Fufufu, Don’t you regret not becoming my disciple now?”

Frostsickle bowed and exclaimed, “I Greet the MASTER!!!!”

Firesword laughed, “HAHAHAHAHA, Sorry kid. Sometimes that which has been done can not be taken back.”

Frostsickle, “NOOOOOO!!!!”

Ghostblade sighed as she watched this 2 man comedy act. This act continued all the way until the returned to their base.

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(Back at Ryu’s Tree Hollow)

Ryu was lying on his back thinking about the meeting that had just taken place less than an hour ago. He had been extremely surprised to see that the goblins had tracked him back to his base. So he had prepared to fight with his life on the line. However, the goblins called out for a truce and even followed all of his demands such as putting their weapons down and sending away all of the other goblins. This had made them more trustworthy so Ryu decided to hear them out. They had answered many of the questions that Ryu had about this place. They had also given him a clue about how to get home. They had given him Hope. Hope that he will see his family again.

Thinking about the huge task ahead of him, Ryu sighed. He had to help the goblins kill the 5 beast kings. This would be a very hard task. He had to prepare well. And the goblins said that they would come back in 2 days. That means he had 2 days to try and break through and become stronger. Ryu’s eyes became focused and he set to training. Spark’s eyes flashed with a strange light as he watched this scene. Then he promptly closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

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(2 days later)

Ryu was sitting in his hollow waiting for the goblins to arrive. He had tried to condense the sphere of liquid mana into a solid during these past 2 days but he had not succeeded. He had managed to compress the liquid mana further but he couldn’t compress it into a solid. However, the continual flow of mana through his body had strengthened him far beyond what a normal child was capable of. Although he was stronger than he was two days ago, it was not a drastic improvement. His strength had only risen by about 2 percent. It was not enough to make him equal to the goblin commanders. Even Ryu knew that he was inferior to the three of them. However he was much stronger than most at his age, enough to say that he was a legendary genius. Afterall, he was only at the 10th tier of the Novice Rank, but he could mathc up against a 2nd tier Elementary Rank by sheer virtue of toughness of his body and density of his mana. This fighting power that skipped over Ranks was enough to qualify him as a legendary genius.

Ryu had prepared himself for the upcoming battles. He had made himself protective equipment with the hides of the magical beasts he had killed and some silk threads he found while foraging. He also readied his weapons; his bow and arrows, his sword, and his dagger. He put all of his rations, meat jerky for both him and Spark, into a satchel that he had looted from a goblin magician in the ‘Cursed Caves’. He also put the vials of water that he got from the pool in the ‘Cursed Caves’. Lastly he put in all the metal ingots and bronze coins subconsciously. He had even forgot to ask the goblins what these were as if someone had erased these thoughts from his mind. He also put some herbs that he had come across in the satchel in case he got wounded. Spark was perched on a ledge above him, probably sleeping.

As he stood there thinking about these things and making sure that he was ready, he heard shuffling sounds in the tunnel leading to his door. He stood there and waited for the person to come inside. The person finally came to the door and opened it. The person was Firesword. He looked at Ryu and asked, “You ready kid?”

Ryu affirmed by nodding his head. Firesword nodded back and said, “All right, everyone else is waiting outside so lets go.”

Ryu said, “Ok.”

Following Firesword, the both went outside and saw Ghostblade and Frostsickle waiting outside for the two of them. Spark had perched on Ryu’s shoulder and was currently asleep. Ghostblade and Frostsickle looked at Ryu and then shifted their attention to Spark and their gazes lingered on Spark for a while before they moved on. Having all met up Firesword asked, “You brats ready for this?”

The three of them said, “””Yes!!!”””

Firesword said, “All right, then move out. Our first target is the The Jade Lynx!!!”

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The entity stared down at this group and mused, “Hmm, this boy has some potential. At least he didn’t go on a rampage like those idiots from before. But he is still kind of an idiot. He never stopped to think why he can converse with those goblins so fluently. Or why he is so decisive and quick to attack and kill. Hahaha, it’s all because of that tunnel and that boy hasn’t noticed anything wrong with it. Hahahaha, what an idiot. Speaking of tunnel, that BASTARD!!!!!!! I can’t believe that he Cheated ME, ME of all people. If he wasn’t dead I’d kill him right now!!!!”

As the entity raged, a shadow formed behind him. The entity spoke without turning around, “Oh look who decided to show up! And you’ve gotten stronger too! He would have been so proud of you. Too bad that he’s dead. Huhuhu.”

The shadow simply said, “You don’t have the right to say anything about my master, you sick perverted twisted old man.”

“WHO”S A PERVERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The shadow looked at him and stated, “You are obviously.”

The entity screamed, “I’m not a pervert! And I will never be.”

The shadow looked at him and asked, “How are your daughters doing?”

The entity started giggling uncontrollably, “Oh, they’re doing so fine. I mean they are soo cute so how else would they be, they are my darling little girls………..”

As he rambled on, the shadow’s face twisted and said, “Pervert.”

The entity protested, “I’m not a pervert!!! I’m simply a dad who adores his daughters and wants to protect them!!”

The shadow said, “You know that your daughters told my master that they will marry someone eventually right?”

The entity suddenly clutched its chest region and bent over and fell to the floor, “Im..Im-IMPOSSIBLE!!!!! I’ll NEVER ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN!!! TO-TO-TO STOP THIS I MUST-UH-MUST THAT’S RIGHT!!! I’LL KILL ALL THE MEN AND BOYS IN THE UNIVERSE!!!!”

The shadow clapped its hands, “Thanks for such a wonderful performance. Look forward to the movie being released.”

The entity scratched its face shyly, “Oh thank you, thank yo- Wait! What do you mean movie?”

The shadow replied, “Oh you know I just recorded that scene just now and I was planning on showing it to your daughters and while I’m at it, I might as well show it to everyone else too.”

The entity shook it’s finger at the shadow as a heaven defying pressure began to emit from its body, “Oy, you dare to THREATEN ME???? DO YOU DARE???”

The shadow not being affected by this pressure simply said, “Yes.”

The entity suddenly fell onto the shadow’s feet and held on and begged, “PLEASE DON’T THIS TO MEEEEEEEEE. MY DAUGHTERS WILL KILL ME IF THEY FOUND OUT!!!!!”

The shadow said, “Then shut the hell up and watch if you want to or leave otherwise. And if you say one more thing about my master I’ll send this recording to your daughters and everyone in the divine realms.”

Upon saying this the shadow disappeared without waiting for the entity’s response. The entity let out a sigh of relief and said, “Whew, Really dodged that one by a whisker’s length.”

As the entity was about to continue talking, it remembered the shadow’s warning. Drooping it’s head, it silently continued to watch the trials.