Foreboding Storm - Chapter 136

“Sister Ling, the Hunters Guild is requesting a larger price to complete the task. I used up all my savings to cover the original cost, but now I’m out of Magical Stones.” Aarya Quime spread her hands out and sighed helplessly.

The smokescreen before her displayed the image of Murong Ling, the student of the Mistland Academy.

“You are already out of Magical Stones? Doesn’t your academy allocate a fixed amount every month?”

“You jest, sister. Even if the academy allocates a fixed amount, do you think what we’re about to do is easy? It requires a lot of preparation and resources to ensure every loophole is covered and sealed. That’s the only way you and I can achieve our dreams. Besides, even your academy allocates Magical Stones every month.”

“I used half of my Magical Stones to arrange the men you wanted. Now there’s barely any left for me to cultivate.” Murong Ling’s face turned dark as she recalled her exhausted secret stash.

“Sister Ling, how about you decide now? The path we’re about to take isn’t one for hesitation. If you can’t let go of a few Magical Stones, then how do you plan to play big? It’s either Brother Lail or Magical Stones. You can’t have both.”

Plan to stand by and reap the fruits of my labor? Hmph! In your dreams.

Aarya Quime had no desire to entertain Murong Ling’s pitiful act. After all, who didn’t put in their best effort to achieve the dreams of their hearts? She herself burned her Magical Stones like water just to clear the stumbling block in her way.

Now the other didn’t want to make any contribution but wanted her dream to be realized…

When was there such a good deal?

“Sister Ling, time is tight, I hope you decide soon.”

Seeing Aarya Quime’s unmovable attitude, Murong Ling’s eyes narrowed with obvious struggle. After a few heartbeats, she gritted her teeth and nodded.

“I will send the stones to the Hunters Guild in your name, Aarya Quime, this plan of yours had better work!”

“No need to worry. More than you, whether by hook or crook, I want to make this work.” With a fierce glare, Aarya Quime dispersed the smokescreen.

“Now, I only need to make sure that everything on Marui Osklain’s end is proceeding well.” Raising to her feet, Aarya Quime dusted her white robe and ran a hand through her hair.

“Princess Qamari, so what if you’re a level 2 magician? With the Hunters Guild’s sight fixed on you, sooner or later, you’re bound to be nothing more than a bag of bones!”

With a sinister smile and a malicious gleam in her eyes, Aarya Quime stored the remaining Magical Stones back in her pouch and left the secret cave in search of Marui Osklain.

Her plan, though meticulous, still needed to be carried out with caution and care.

Everything needed to be perfect to shut off any and all possibilities of failure.

In one of the training rooms, Marui Osklain sat with a packet and a bottle of potion before her. Her gaze drifted to the window, falling on the enchanting scenery of the Sealand Academy.

After she took this step, she could never return to the academy again.

Her mind flashed back to the day of her admission, when she was still full of hope and expectations for the future. At that time, her greatest desire was to become the greatest magician in the academy.

To earn and win the love and admiration of the teachers and students.

But 9 months later, while the scene of the academy hadn’t changed, her mind and heart were no longer the same. She didn’t even realize when her hatred and desire for revenge overpowered her dream to become a Great Magician.

“Am I doing the right thing? Is my hatred worth discarding my dream?” She frowned in confusion.

Aarya Quime wasn’t a trustable ally.

She always hid a plan behind a plan and a scheme behind a scheme. Her words never conveyed her heart, having double meanings in every utterance. If she happened to betray her in the future, then where would she go?

Because once she left the academy, then its doors would be closed to her forever.

Because once she left without graduating, she would instantly be branded as a failed magician, the most despised and disgusted of magicians.

And once she left, she would be on her own.

“Marui Osklain, I have been for you since forever. What took you so long?” At this moment, Aarya Quime’s voice sounded from the back, causing Marui Osklain to school her expression and force a stiff smile on her lips.

She folded her arms and put on her usual snarky attitude.

“Hmph! Do you think getting the things you asked for is easy? I had to go to seven countries in the Iris realm before even finding a lead to trace them!”

“So, you found them, then?” Aarya Quime’s eyes instantly lit up in excitement.

“Of course! Why else would I be back…” Her hand twitched with hesitation before she gritted her teeth and passed the bundle with the bottle over to the other girl.

By helping Aarya Quime in her scheme, she had already crossed the line anyways. And her hatred for Princess Qamari was still as strong and fierce as the day before.

Since the way back was closed, she would concentrate and look forward to the promised future.

“Great! Marui, you did splendidly well this time. Don’t worry. In the future, I promise to lead you to prosperity. You will enjoy a wonderful future living like a princess!” Aarya Quime anxiously pulled the bundle, her hands trembling with excitement as she opened it.

Once her sight fell on the materials she needed to carry out her plan, her breath hitched and she scanned the items a second time to ensure that nothing was missing.

Only after ascertaining the presence of every item did Aarya Quime breathe in relief and smile.

“Marui, you’ve truly outdone yourself this time. Because of you, our scheme will proceed even smoother.”

Once she thought of her great plan, Aarya Quime’s eyes flashed with anticipation and for the first time ever, impatience filled her heart.

At that moment, the student of the Sealand Academy blazed with a burning desire for time to pass quicker and the Seven Academies Competition to commence sooner.

That way, she would finally be able to set her great scheme into motion.

*

“The Dark Moon is only a day away. Why haven’t you still found her yet!” The Tribe Leader banged the table with a red face and fierce eyes.

The incompetence of her people had her trembling in rage.

“Tell me, if you can’t even accomplish such a simple task, for what do I have you here? Why am I in the company of useless fools?”

The faces of the group turned red in turn, resembling that of their leader. But while the Tribe Leader was red from anger, they turned red from shame.

“The Dark Moon is here…the Dark Moon. Do you know what this means? Do you understand the gravity of our situation at all!? If we don’t find her before the descent of the Dark Moon, then the only hope will be lost forever!” Powerlessly slumping into her seat, the Tribe Leader’s eyes turned vacant as she continued in a voice rough with emotion.

“My father, his father, his father’s father…generation after generation of our tribe’s leaders and commanders have been waiting for her arrival. With great fervor, excitement, impatience, and love…they waited just for her arrival. And yet, when the one to sight her was you, you guys failed to treasure the heaven-sent gift…”

“Tribe Leader, please, forgive us for our mistake. We…we didn’t mean to lose her. It just happened. If You give us one more chance, then I promise to bring her back with me!” A man covered in marks fell on his knees and solemnly vowed.

“Give you another chance? Heh… in one day, what can you achieve? You had three months to find her, but failed to do so. No, I don’t trust any of your abilities anymore. I will go out there and find her myself!” With a determined expression, the woman pushed herself to her feet.

“Leader, no!”

“You can’t leave the settlement leader! They’ll sense you!”

“It’s our fault to lose her, so we’ll go. You can’t leave the settlement.”

All at once, anxious cries and frightened shrieks rang out as the group of ten talked over each other in great anxiety.

Let the Tribe Leader leave the hideout?

Impossible!

Not finding the girl only pointed towards their possible destruction, somewhere, in the future. But if their Tribe Leader left the hideout and was discovered by them, then destruction will certainly follow without doubt.

The Tribe Leader sneered.

The useless fools weren’t able to accomplish the task of tracing the girl for three days, and now that she decided to take the task on herself, they dared to stop?

They were seeking death!

Without hesitation, the Tribe Leader withdrew an arrow from her back and aimed at the first speaker, the head of the group.

“I said I’m going out myself. That isn’t a question. It’s my decision. If anyone gets in my way or tries to stop me, heh…then I won’t mind walking over your dead corpse.” Her cold eyes, mirthless smirk, and cold words froze the group mid-speech.

Shocked speechlessly, they watched their Tribe Leader restock her stash of arrows, and with her bow in hand, decisively walk out the cave.

By the time they returned to their senses, only the flap of the animal hide on the door entered their ears.

“Da**! Tribe Leader left the Settlement!”

“This is bad! This is bad! We need to do something! We…we should seek the wise elder! Maybe she’ll have a solution!”

“The wise elder? You mean the holder of prophecies?”

“Yes, they were the ones who began the shi** Dark Moon, Eternal Doom prophecy. Now they will give us a solution to escape from the impending destruction.”

“Yes, yes! Let’s go!”

“Hurry! We need to move quickly!”

Flustered and in great panic, the group of ten pushed one another as they went out of the cave and raced to the back of the rocky landscape.

To the north of the settlement, there was a large cave that had skulls and bones littered around its entrance. On the entrance of the cave hung strings of tried herbs, animal skin, skulls, severed limbs, bags with power, and some with other miscellaneous items.

Inside the cave, the faint sound of dripping water and continuous scratching of animal claws or long nails resounded.

It was here the group of men arrived.

Breathless and covered in sweat, they hesitantly stood outside the damp cave, shivering in trepidation at the unnatural cold air and continuous sound that reverberated.

“Should we enter or wait to be invited?”

“If we don’t enter, how will the wise elder know of our presence?”

“You forget. They see into the future. Do you think she hasn’t seen our arrival?”

And as if in agreement with his words, a faint, raspy breath echoed, before an aged voice sounded out.

“I know you’re out there. No need to be polite and enter.”

The group looked at each other in equal measure shock and fear. The wise elder’s abilities had spooked them out of their minds.

“I say we rethink this. Are we really going to enter this creepy cave? We don’t even know what’s inside!” A female shakily whispered.

“Then, do we have any other choice?” The head man steeled his heart, and with clenched fists, bravely stepped inside.

The others sighed dejectedly, and with great caution, followed behind.

The moment they entered, however, their hearts nearly exploded out of their chests.

“Whahahah!”

“Boooo!”

“Welcome to the other side…hehehe!”

“Hey, hey! We have new friends! Can we eat them?”

“Kekkekke…what good flesh…keke!”

The cacophony of mad cackles and creepy voices, combined with the constant flicker of grotesque shadows and various shapes, forms, and appearances rapidly flashing on the damp walls made them huddle and shiver against one another.

“Wha…what is….this?” The faint stutter was barely audible, but once it left the female’s lips, it resonated in the cave as if she yelled.