The sky was clear and the night promised to be peaceful, but Darius was busy with something else.

  Darius began to accelerate the astral energy within the energy pathways to their limits before pulling it into the crystalline body where it began to condense and amplify before sending it through the first portal on the left side.

  After repeating this about thirteen times, the portal began to loosen up before opening and allowing the energy stored inside to be released, however, it was not time to rest yet as there was still another portal on the right side.

  Darius repeated his previous steps until he had passed the fourteenth step and thought that the right gate could not be opened.

  On the fifteenth step, the gate began to wobble before opening and releasing the energy stored inside.

  Darius knelt on the ground, panting from sheer exhaustion, and remained in this state for some time before he got up and began to examine his body to make sure it was not damaged After a while he opened his eyes, smiling and said

  I've become a fighter from the realm of authorship.

  In another part of the city, a few kilometers away, a man woke up from his sleep and walked over to the mirror to look at his image before saying

  Hayden, what happened? Didn't we win the war?

  We won, but it seems that the enemy has managed to cross over into our world and caused a change in the course of time in the Eastern Territory once again.

  The person standing in front of the woman was silent for a while before he raised his head and said

  I will never give up, even if I have to try a hundred times. Will you accompany me again?

  I'll always be with you, Mr. Eugene.

  The next day

  Darius went to the academy with Brown.

  Did you manage to break through just yesterday? Brown asked

  “Yes. Why do you ask? Darius answered

  The stabilization of the energy coming from your body usually takes a person three days to achieve, not overnight. Brown said

  “Hmmm, maybe I'm just a natural, I don't know. Darius said

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, brag now. At the end of the month, we'll see who's really bragging. Brown said

  I think it's Cecil who's going to brag about us. Darius said

  “Damn, you're right, that girl is a hmmm. Darius put his hand over Brown's mouth before someone in front of them could hear him and said

  “What's up, Cecile, why are you standing there?

  Cecile looked at Darius for a while and also at Brown, who was smiling goofily, before saying

  “I've been looking for you, I have something to offer you, would you like to join me on a training trip to the Valley of the Withered Trees?

  Darius and Brown looked at each other and spoke.

  When would you like to go there?

  In three days. Cecil said

  Cecile then told Darius and Brown how she was going to apply for training missions outside the academy before the test to test her technology

  Well, I guess we'll accompany you to see how our combat skills are progressing. Brown said this and saw Darius nod his head in agreement.

  In a lavish hall, a man sat in a hand-carved chair inlaid with gold and precious stones, reading a letter while his servant waited in front of him.

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  Are you sure about this information? The person at the head of the table said, pointing the tip of the paper to his servant

  “Yes, sir, the heiress of the Yuktan family is going to train with two of her friends in the Valley of Withered Trees in three days. The servant said

  Jerome, prepare some trained monsters and release them into the forest to eliminate them. The seated person said

  As you command. The servant said

  Three days later

  four people got out of an airplane and walked into the forest.

  “Guys, if you're in a dangerous situation, all you have to do is signal with the torch you're carrying. Cecil's bodyguard said

  “Okay then, let's go. Said Cecile

  After the three young men entered the forest, the bodyguard waited for a while, and when he was satisfied that everything was fine, he returned to the flying car and opened the trunk to take out a folded seat to sit on.

  At that moment, he felt that something was wrong and quickly turned to look behind him before jumping and rolling quickly, avoiding the sudden attack a few inches away.

  When he got up, he saw that a strange creature had stabbed one of his spines into the trunk of the car before pulling it out and looking in his direction.

  Why would a spiny salamander be here? The attendant said as he saw a creature walking on four limbs with long black scales covering its back and belly and having three tails, each with a sharp, black-colored spine at the end

  The guard was preparing to attack the monster when he felt a slight sting in the back of his head, so he reached out to pick up the object that stung him, and when he saw it, he turned back to find a hooded figure standing behind him.

  Excuse me, but I have an errand to run. Sweet dreams. That was the last thing the guard heard before he passed out.

  Meanwhile, Darius, Cecil, and Brown had reached an intersection and were trying to figure out which way to go.

  “Okay, guys, left lane it is. Cecile said as she moved to the left before someone grabbed her shoulder and said

  I think we should change lanes. Darius said, pointing towards the end of the road

  Cecile didn't understand what Darius meant, so she looked at the path to see what he meant

  At the end of the path, there was a monster crouching in the road with its back to them.

  “Well, should we go back or should we choose a different path? Brown said

  “No, we'll go through the right path, it's a little longer but it's safe. Cecil said

  Okay, let's move fast. Darius said with a bad feeling

  After the three of them took the right lane and were halfway through, a monster jumped in front of them and cut them off.

  Damn, I had a bad feeling all along. Brown said

  Not that bad. Darius said as he watched the monster in front of them

  The monster was a large animal with two horns on either side of its head, four claws on each hand, and several bony shields on its back.

  It is still at the second level of the Composition Realm and we have a great chance of defeating it. Cecil said as she drew the sword at her waist

  Darius drew his sword and said. Darius drew his sword and said

  We need to spread out and surround him to distract him. I recommend using the V tactic.

  Okay. Brown said and drew his spear

  The three people and the monster exchanged glances for a while before it rushed towards them

  Darius jumped to the right while Brown took the left side while Cecil stepped back a few meters.

  The monster continued to rush forward, aiming for Cecil.

  At that moment, a spear lunged at its left eye. The monster quickly covered its eye with its eyelids and managed to block the attack coming from its left, but it was blinded for a moment and did not realize that its opponent's weapon had changed its trajectory and instead of targeting an eye, it aimed for the area below the ear.

  Brown wasn't the only one who took advantage of this opportunity, Darius and Cecil took advantage of the opportunity to attack as well.

  Darius and Brown's attack was superficial, but Cecil's was effective. There was a streak of blood on the monster's face.

  After the three of them retreated, the monster went berserk and tried to attack anything and everything nearby, making it very difficult to target with a precision attack.

  “If this goes on too long, we're going to lose control of the pace of the battle. Brown said

  His random movement makes it difficult to target him with an accurate attack. Darius, do you have any ideas? Cecil said

  What makes the Raiden monster special. Sal Darius

  Its brutal strength and tough armor. Cecile said she didn't understand what Darius meant

  Exactly why he chooses to fight rather than run because he's slow. Darius said

  “You mean we don't have to keep fighting him, we need to outrun him. Brown said

  Darius shook his head and pulled out two finger-length objects wrapped in white paper. When Cecile saw what Darius was holding, she said

  Did you bring smoke grenades?

  It's better to be safe than sorry, and these bombs are not ordinary smoke bombs, they contain something extra. Darius said

  “What is it? Sal Brown asked

  Hallucinogenic herbs. Darius said

  After the monster calmed down, it began to look for its targets before it saw someone standing alone with a mask covering his face and holding something in his hand.

  The monster rushed towards it quickly and before it reached its target, the person threw the object he was holding towards the monster. When the object hit the monster, it stuck to its skin and started emitting green smoke very quickly.

  The monster reached its target, but there was no one in front of it before it felt something standing behind it and turned to look back before it started howling and running hysterically as it crashed into the surrounding trees.

  There were three people sitting in a tree watching the terrified beast before one of them asked

  “Darius, what do you think he's watching in his hallucination? Brown asked

  I wasn't there when he started his training, so I don't know what he's seeing. Darius said

  “Yeah, you're right, wait, what do you mean by training him? Brown asked Darius

  There's a collar on his neck, look over there, you can see it. Darius said

  Brown looked at the monster's neck and there was a clear sign of a collar on its neck, which made him think of something and he said

  Do you mean someone left it here?

  So should we go back? Cecil asked

  “No, if this was an intentional act, the opponent will be waiting for us even when we get back. Darius answered

  That leaves us with only one option, which is to keep moving forward. Brown replied

  The trio moved deeper into the forest