Martial Online.

"How's your training going?" Casper asked. "I was supposed to assist you, but as you can see, I am not currently in a condition to do so."

"Uh, fine, I guess." Ambrose removed his hat and scratched the back of his head. "It's difficult. I don't know how to meditate, as I tried to meditate for a few hours with my eyes closed, but nothing happened."

Casper nodded as if he had expected that.

"You can't learn meditation immediately. It takes time and practice to quiet your mind and let go of distractions.

"It took me a few years, sitting inside a silent cave, to finally reach a state of true meditation."

"Yeah." Ambrose nodded with a troubled look. "And I ate that crystal, but for some reason, I was dreaming about killing so many people."

"What is it that you want now, after the dream?" Casper asked curiously.

"Ultimate power." Ambrose clenched his hand into a fist. "I want to grasp the entire world in my hands."

Casper scoffed inwardly.

'Indeed, a fool. Many thousands of magicians have had the same dream since they were children, and when they became old and wrinkly, they all realized just how impossible their dream was.

'This guy, already older than most when they started training magic, now thinks he can do it. He is just another fool who would get disappointed or die because of their arrogance.

'However, unfortunately for him, he'll die before he can even try.'

"Can I do magic before meditation?" Ambrose asked curiously.

Casper nodded while being careful of his broken arm.

"Yes, it is possible, but it would be dangerous to not know meditation, as magic is like a thunderstorm. It will create chaos in your mind, and that would make learning meditation even harder.

"Meditation is also the only thing that can help you calm your mind after doing magic."

'I didn't feel that after the fight.' Ambrose thought in curiosity.

"Are you ready to kill to increase your strength?" Casper asked with a raised eyebrow. "Not many have what it takes."

Ambrose clenched his hand into a fist and firmly stated, "Yes! I'll do anything to become powerful!"

'Hmph.' Casper scoffed inwardly. 'I thought he was supposed to be a saint, but like any mortal man, with false promises of power, they all subdue to their own greed in the end.'

"We can go on a mission in the outside world soon." Casper said. "I'll just heal myself tonight with healing baths, and once I've recovered most of my strength, we can go study Golden Knife Street, where Zane lives."

"Sounds good." Ambrose nodded.

"Also, I have some questions." Casper turned to him with a serious look.

"What is it?" Ambrose asked innocently, but he was very wary after seeing that serious look.

"After waking up from the dead, did you visit any place before going to the tavern?" Casper asked with a frown.

"Ah, yes…" Ambrose said, hesitating slightly. "I visited my school because I was confused and didn't know where to go…"

"Alright…" Casper clicked his tongue. "Did you go to the tavern then?"

"Yeah, I wanted to know Zane's location, as I was convinced he was the one that killed me!"

Casper nodded as if he had realized something.

'That Beowulf trash must've heard news about someone who looks like Falco went to his school after death. Then, he probably used some tracking magic to find out where he went next, and then he met Eli in the tavern.

'Eventually, Eli spilled beans about me, and then Beowulf found where we went because of the tracking magic.'

Casper clicked his tongue and looked with annoyance at Ambrose, who was oblivious to his gaze.

'That fool must've left some personal belongings in the tavern, which Beowulf managed to use to track us down. I should've burned the tavern to the ground just to be sure!

'I am surprised that Beowulf didn't kidnap Falco here, but I suppose even he wasn't reckless enough to do that, as Sage Edegron is keeping a watchful eye over this place.

'No matter how strong Beowulf was, even he must've been frightened of our Sage!'

Casper scoffed and thought that his investigation seemed correct, as every puzzle piece seemed to connect perfectly.

"Anyway…" He stood up with great difficulty and said to Ambrose: "I'll meet you tomorrow morning in your room. I'll accept some easy mission near Golden Knife Street.

"Also, if you're ready to abandon your previous life and accept yourself as Black Hand, I can start your initiation process."

"What is the initiation?" Ambrose asked.

"To show your loyalty to Black Hand, you must kill a traitor of our organization." Casper said coldly. "The traitor I chose is Eli Goldsmith. If you kill him, you're officially a Black Hand."

"Eli Goldsmith?" Ambrose asked in surprise. "I thought he was with you guys."

"Recently, he had betrayed our organization, and we do not tolerate betrayal!" Casper said sharply, and as he started walking away, he said, "Tomorrow, you shall kill him."

As he walked away, Ambrose still bore a surprised look, but when Casper vanished into the crowd, his look returned to normal.

'I expected him to want to kill Eli, but he wants me to do that? Quite harsh, I would say. Well, he was the one who betrayed me in the first place, and I have kind of thrown him under the bus.

'A person like that cannot be a good person, but will I have peace of mind if I kill him?'

Ambrose touched his chin and wondered deeply.

'I'll visit him tonight and see from the shadows just what kind of person he is. If he is as rotten as I think he is, I'll give him a death sentence.'

…

The night fell over the Great City, and thick fog filled the streets like a heavy cloak, obscuring everything from sight.

At the current moment, the tavern was bright with activity, with all sorts of people drinking alcohol, laughing, dancing, and playing music.

Eli gave drinks to the patrons and then looked around the tavern for any kind of trouble, but it was a surprisingly calm night.

He was expecting there to be a few deaths already, but only a few fights that ended with minor injuries.

At that moment, a bushy-bearded man sat on the stool in front of him, wearing an open-front shirt that revealed a chest full of hair and scars.

Eli recognized him and poured him a drink with a sigh.

"Who is it this time?"

"Her." The bushy-bearded man looked over his shoulder to the woman, who was seated on the table near the front door. She was clearly not belonging here, as she looked panicky around at the rowdy-looking people.

"She belongs in a good, silvertongue family. She'll probably sell for a lot of money."

Eli picked up some kind of powder from the table and sprinkled it into her drink.

"This'll make her pass out in an instant. Then, bring her unconscious body to the back alleyway, like always, and I'll take her from there."

The bushy-bearded man grinned viciously, took the drinks, and joined her at the table near the front entrance.

Eli watched as she drank her drink with obvious ignorance, and in just about five seconds, her body turned limp and her head slammed into the table as she fell into deep sleep.

Not a single person in the tavern took her into consideration and just continued doing their own thing.

After that, the bushy-bearded man put her limp body on his shoulder and started carrying her to the back door of the tavern.

Eli went to open it, and left the tavern with the bushy-bearded man.

After the bushy-bearded man lowered her body to the pavement, Eli gave him the payment.

"It's nice to do business with ya." The bushy-bearded man kissed the pouch of gold coins and entered the tavern as a happy man.

Eli looked at the unconscious, beautiful woman and stretched his limps.

"I should pay him to carry her all the way to the next destination."

As he was about to start carrying the beautiful woman elsewhere, at that moment, she vanished into a purple mist right in front of his eyes.

"Huh?!" Eli's eyes widened in shock, and he quickly activated several magic spells that created a protection barrier around him.

He looked around the dimly lit, empty alleyway, but there was no one there.

"Who are you?!" He screamed angrily, but his back was sweating with cold sweat.

He realized that whoever took her was an extremely powerful magician, as it wasn't easy to teleport someone away without touching her physically.

Eli wanted to rush inside the tavern to shout for help, but he didn't want to expose himself to the magician.

He could die in just a split second if he was careless!

"What were you planning to do with her?" A voice boomed across the alleyway.

It was so loud that Eli had to cover his ears.

However, strangely enough, no one in the tavern was able to hear the voice.

"Who are you?!" Eli screamed in frustration. "Where are you?!"

"Right here." A voice came right behind him.

Eli turned around in shock and saw a purple-masked person facing him.

At that moment, Beowulf punched through the protective barrier without any difficulty and smashed Eli right in the face.

Eli fell to the ground, dazed and bleeding.

"H-how… my barrier… what…"

"What were you planning to do to her?" Beowulf put his foot down on Eli's face and rubbed his face against the rough pavement, causing his face to bleed furiously.

"Ugh, sell her away!" Eli screamed. "I work with a human trafficking ring! I only deliver them some goods, get payment, and nothing else!"

"Where is this human trafficking ring?" Beowulf asked coldly.

"Ugh…" Eli whimpered painfully.

"Answer me!" Beowulf screamed with a voice so loud that Eli's ears started bleeding.

"At the docks!" Eli screamed. "They have a warehouse there!"

"Which warehouse?"

"The warehouse has a red door with a green handle!" Eli screamed as he felt like his head was getting crushed like a watermelon.

"I appreciate your answer." Beowulf stepped away from Eli. 'Wait for tomorrow, you bastard.'

Then, with a single snap, Beowulf vanished into a purple mist, leaving Eli bruised and battered on the ground with blood trickling down his face.

"W-what kind of monster… was he…"

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