[ 46 ] Revenge

Slashing at underbrush as he dashed through the forest, Kal closed in on Team Allseeing. They hadn’t been far away, but the moment he sensed the botflies on the move again, he knew they needed to strike.

“It’s nice seeing you so confident, Kal, but Caesil Galador is no ordinary mage,” Vae said as he struggled to keep up.

“I’m aware,” Kal replied.

“I’m being quite serious. There’s a reason they call themselves Team Allseeing. It’s that Void Eye. It floats above them and gives him a birdseye view of their surroundings. Not only that, but he seems to be able to control it. When they stole the Astral Pouch, the first thing we saw was that Void Eye flying toward us. Less than a minute later, they were upon us. They knew exactly where we were, how spread apart we were. It allowed them to perfectly plan their assault before we even knew they were coming. Defending against them was hopeless. You can’t do anything in a situation like that.”

Damn, that does sound like a nifty trick. Still, like hell, I’m going to just let them steal my hard-earned objectives. 

“What if we can turn that advantage against them? What if we spot them before they spot us?” Kal suggested.

“I’m afraid that is likely easier said than done.”

“What about your Farsight?”

“Here, in the forest?” Vae countered. “Trees obstruct my view in all directions. On the other hand, Caesil’s Void Eye can fly above and then swoop down to get a closer look when needed. In an open plain, that would work, but here, his advantage is just too great. We’re playing on their terms.”

“Then we don’t meet them on their terms.”

“What do you suggest?” Vae raised a brow as they came to a halt beside a large oak.

“We can’t sneak up on them here, right?”

“Right,” Vae nodded expectantly.

“Remember the puzzle in the volcano? Our two spells might be limited on their own, but those weaknesses are lessened when combined.”

“Go on.”

Kal wasn’t exactly sure how far Void Eye could see or if it was busy doing patrols above the surrounding forest. Caution was required, and sensing their target within range, he cast Minor Clone.

“Okay, at this distance, we should be relatively safe. Vae, I’m going to need you to keep an eye on my clone and provide feedback while I circle around. The idea is that I send the clone directly to where I sense the botfly mana while I circle around to flank their position. I’ll wait for your signal to tell me they’ve engaged, so don’t lose sight of either me or the clone. Be careful when moving forward, and keep your distance,” Kal said as Ellie and Arix caught up to them, huffing. “If you’re unable to do so safely, or you’re going to lose sight of the clone, let me know. Vae, I’ll be relying on you to show me what the situation is before I make my move but be sparing with your mana. You’re by far the most suited to protecting my retreat.”

“Can do. But tell me, Kal, what happens if I lose sight of you or the clone?” Vae said, turning on his heels to gesture at the surrounding forest. “There’s a good chance they don’t engage the clone before trees get in the way.”

“Leave that to me. As long as I know where they are, and they’re distracted, I’ve got a plan. Knowing where each member of their team is located is just a bonus.”

“And what’s to stop this Void Eye from spotting you?” Ellie said.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a foolproof solution,” Kal said. “Every step closer we get, the higher the chance of that happening is. The clone is just a distraction. We just have to hope it's good enough to get a jump on them. And this way, even if Team Allseeing spot you three, they hopefully won’t know where I am, and that’s all the advantage I need.”

Kal knew the plan had its shortcomings, but he also felt confident that he was faster than this Caesil guy. If he could overcome the Astral Prince’s early warning system, even if only briefly, he was willing to bet on himself.

Team Ebenshire got into position as Kal circled around. He was a good forty or so yards away and barely able to see the rest of his team through a narrow alley bush between the trees when he took position and gave Vae the ‘ready to go’ nod. 

Instructions had already been implanted on the clone, and he sent it rushing forward.

Kal felt his muscles tense up. It wasn’t easy waiting for the signal from Vae whilst being effectively blind to what was happening.

Vae moved forward, and Kal attempted to shadow his movement and keep an eye on his teammate. They moved a couple dozen or so yards closer before Vae’s vision entered his mind.

Through Vae’s vision, Kal could see that there were three of them, and the clone was straight toward the opposing team. Unfortunately, Vae’s limited version of Farsight could only share a still image; however, Kal expected that he would send another if the situation drastically changed, and if he wasn’t, it meant that it wasn’t worth the mana to do so.

Kal sent the clone new instructions, knowing that they would be rough due to the lag between what Vae showed him and what was actually happening.

There was a girl dressed in gaudy gowns, with gold bracelets, bangles, and chains hanging from every inch of her—there was also a pouch hanging from her finely embroidered leather belt.

With a target in sight, Kal sent an order for the clone to lung for the prize. But he didn’t wait around, nor did he expect the clone to achieve anything. Instead, he charged straight toward Team Allseeing, arcing around in a flanking maneuver.

One last troubling thought hung in his mind as he raced toward them: he hadn’t seen the Astral Prince.

Seconds later, Kal spotted them as he passed through the underbrush. The small girl, covered in jewelry and gaudy gowns completely inappropriate for the Magic Hunt, shrieked as the clone fell at her feet.

Closer than I expected.

A plump boy beside the girl—dressed in equally exaggerated gold jewelry and fine satins—waved a wand that looked more like a royal scepter at the clone while a meek, pale girl with long black hair dressed in a silky white gown cowered behind the other girl. 

Kal’s jaw dropped. None of them looked even close to being prepared for the Magic Hunt. In fact, they didn’t look prepared for the examinations at all.

An entire group of noble brats?

It would have pissed Kal off if not for how pathetic they looked. Mages worked so hard to get here, and these nobles looked to be treating the examination like a holiday.

Thinking back on Earth’s feudal history, Kal realized this was likely good old-fashioned nepotism—not that he was in a great place to judge. Recruiting Vae into Team Ebenshire had been based on a similar reason; the fact that he had turned out to be talented was more luck than anything else. 

Undoubtedly, the Astral Prince of all people could have filled his team with the strongest mages competing. If he chose not to, he no doubt did it for a reason.

Networking and or building alliances with other noble families made a lot of sense, but Caesil was already rich and powerful.

This likely meant one thing, Kal realized. This so-called Astral Prince didn’t think he needed powerful allies.

Where was that Astral Prince anyway? The thought made his heart pound, but Kal ignored it as his mana senses thumped loudly through his core—it was the demonic botfly held safely in the girl’s pouch.

Eyeing the pouch, Kal shot forward. The girl squealed again as she spotted Kal leaping out from the nearby tree, but compared to his Swift Step, it was as if she was moving in slow motion.

With ease, he snatched the pouch and bounced away, sending a new command to the clone as he retreated, urging it back to its feet.

The dark haired girl behind her screamed “thief!” as she squeezed her eyes shut and pointed aimlessly.

Swinging around to his comrades with a grunt, the goudy boy turned on the clone, and with a swipe of his wand-scepter, ice began to curl up and around the clone's legs, freezing it to the ground.

Glancing over his shoulder, Kal was somewhat impressed by the ice encapsulating his clone, except for the fact that it was a magical item and not the boy's handiwork. Nonetheless, if the ice was turned on him, it could still freeze him to the ground.

Despite the growing distance between them, Kal engaged his core stats. He still had plenty of mana, and there was no point getting caught being too stingy with it.

Once the clone was dealt with, the boy turned his wand on Kal, causing ice to climb up his feet with every flick of his wrist. 

The ice slowed him, but thanks to his speed and additional strength from his core, Kal managed to muscle through the magic. But the boy didn’t relent and began to wildly swing the wand from side to side, causing the ice to grow increasingly fast.

Core stats alone wouldn’t work, Kal realized as the ice began to harden and anchor him to the forest floor. 

Nice try, but not good enough, rich boy!

Immediately, Kal cast Steam Burst and followed it up with Swift Step the moment it weakened the ice. The cocooning spell shattered around his legs, and he shot off once more.

“Get back here, you scoundrel,” the boy shouted and waved his fist.

Kal turned to blow a mocking kiss and dispelled his clone. “You picked the wrong team to mess with,” he shouted back, then bounded through the trees, breaking their line of sight.

His little stunt had been closer than he would have liked, not because the noble mages were skilled, but because they had fancy magical items, reminding Kal that he needed to start earning himself some coin.

“It was a fake?” Kal heard one of the noble girls scream in the distance.

Seriously, they didn’t even realize until now? What, did they think I had an identical twin brother?

Speeding through the forest, he spotted Vae hiding behind a tree flanked by Arix and Ellie, who acknowledged him with a nod.

“Told you I could do it,” Kal said, dangling the pouch as he approached.

“You might want to check the leaderboard,” Ellie said, shying away from Kal’s gaze.

“What do you mean?” Kal’s brow curled, and he did as advised.

• Team Allseeing - 300

• Team Dreamkeeper - 280

• Team Alpha - 240

• Team Kingmaker - 185

• Team Hijinks - 180

“What?” Kal muttered as his heart dropped. “How?”

Dipping his hand into the Astral Pouch, Kal confirmed that it was, in fact, theirs. He also confirmed that it contained all ten botflies and their camping supplies.

Not only had the Astral Prince somehow figured out that Kal could sense the botflies, but he had been smart enough to keep them all in one place, willingly giving up 20 additional points in order to trick him. 

Spotting a shadow in the corner of his eye, Kal swung around and looked to the sky. The lid of a giant, visceral eye covered in pulsing veins flickered above, staring down at them.

The Void Eye! Oh, you’re going to pay for this, Astral Prince.

“So, that’s how,” Ellie murmured in disbelief as she spotted it.

“Vae!” Kal shouted and threw the pouch at him.

“What are you doing?”

“Wait, Kal,” Arix called.

“Take it and keep it safe,” Kal glared back, brows pointed and jaw clenched. 

He had been irritated before, but this was dirt in the wound, and he wasn’t about to just let Caesil toy with him.

“I’ve got a prince to catch.”

NEXT CHAPTER