These alchemists diverted into another occupation known as the Star Diviner.
Star Diviners performed divination for to calculate a person's fate and destiny. They were hunted by Holy Church too. The reason was very simple. The Father's will could only be intherited to Holy Church. Only the great Pope could make interpretations on any attempt on gain insights into the Will of The Father. Anything else was only a speculation by the evil cults.
"I did not expect him to be a powerful figure." The burly strong man's eyes narrowed, "A certified 3-star alchemist should have extraordinary power. To be able to kill him there means that there had to be many other alchemists, or maybe even ... ... a single 4-star alchemist!"
The graceful woman's face was gloomy at this point, "Order some people to dig this place to retrieve the captive children's corpses. At least their parents should be comforted by this, because they had died due to this assessment."
"I hope we can identify their appearances." The short one sighed.
The graceful woman did not say anything else.
"You go and look for clues in the vicinity. I will take the body of the alchemist over to the Knights. By the way, check out everything inside the place." The burly brawny guy finished speaking and he jumped down.
The graceful woman and the short man unsheathed their weapons. They went around in search of clues.
...
...
In the blink of an eye, ten days passed.
Dudian and the other three leaned against each other near some desert plants. Unlimited sand disrupted their vision from all sides. Their bodies were dry due to lack of water, resulting in rapidly rising body temperatures.
"Ten days ... ..." Mason listlessly chewed on grass roots and muttered: "Do we have to rely on our own? I have no strength left. "
"If we haven't relied on Dean we couldn't have endured for the past ten days. Imagine what would have happened if we were eliminated. Most probably we would have ruined our family's financial situation." Sham replied.
Mason rolled his eyes and said: "That is why I always say, Dean you are my savior."
Dudian glanced at him, and retorted, "You know that I am your savior, but you didn't want to even give me a bit of water last night."
Mason's face reddened before he said: "I was too tired and a bit dizzy. As we go back, I will pour water to you every day. I would even ask my grandmother to serve you."
Dudian shrugged. "I do not want to be your grandpa."
"Do you take me for a cheap person?"
"You have the strength to speak though", Zach was sitting on the other side.
"Then you should be the one to go back and tell everyone that we are stuck right here!"
"I was wrong. I was wrong. I do not have the strength now. So, you should go and inform them! I will owe you!"
"You are nothing but a dirty slut." Zach turned over.
In the ten days four of them had experienced lots of adversities together. Throughout this survival examination, they long had become like real brothers. They became frank with each another and what they tell to each other. And as a result, Sham, Zach and Dudian had learnt to appreciate the unknown side of Mason; being a cheapskate.?Tink! Tink!
Suddenly burst of bells sounded.
They turned around to see a nearly five meter high camel slowly trotting on the desert. It was dragging a 10-meter-long plank. There were seven or eight children seated on the plank with wheels.
Dudian was stunned. Nuclear radiation had great effects on the world. However, he would have never expected that camel's genes to undergo evolution via radiation to such a degree. In addition to its size which was twice larger than a normal camel's, there were snake like scales covered on its hooves, just like a war monster.
He had previously seen the three-meter-high dark horse. But this camel's evolution, compared to what happened to the horse, was simply astounding.?"It is a camel!!" Zach actually recognized the animal and spoke in surprised manner: "It is the best animal that could be used in the desert, ha ha ... ...". He wanted to laugh but the wind blew sand into his mouth almost choking him.
Dudian saw the children on the back of the board. These were the ones that should have passed the survival assessment.
The trial successfully concluded. He was also relieved. Finally, he would be able to go back to have a good rest. He would have a chance to study the alchemy notes. He was quite curious about the scientists of this world.
"Come, you four," said the woman, who sat on the camel, wearing a veil.?Dudian and others immediately dragged their bodies, moved past the camel and went towards its rear to sit on the board.
"You four survived." At this time, a thin looking boy who sat on the board talked to them in a surprised manner.
Dudian looked at him. He remembered the boy, he lived in the bedroom next door to theirs. He smiled but didn't reply to him.
Mason proudly announced, "I think you don't know who we are. We are the strongest four-man team. A mere ten days to survive in the desert does not even count as anything to us. Maybe surviving for twenty five or thirty days would be a bit difficult."
Sham whispered: "Stop bullshitting if you want us to continue to be friends."
Zack shrugged: "His true colours have revealed itself and he won't turn back from it."
Mason laughed hard. His laughter cheered up the silent atmosphere on top of the board a bit towards the positive side.
The thin boy sighed and said: "Me and other three flatmates did not stick together. You guys are pretty lucky!" There were loneliness and regret that reflected on his face. After all his flatmates had separated from him, leaving him alone with others.
The other children who heard his words, were depressed as most of them had faced this kind of a situation as well.
Dudian did not say anything. He looked up at this woman on the back of the camel's hump, and in his tiny heart he thought about a problem... how did she climbed up?
...
...
Chapter 27: Rewards
A friendly reminder: Don't forget that the MC is a kid. Literally! You should not have expected him outdo a normal wuxia/xianxia MC...?***********?Dudian and rest sat on the board dragged by the camel as the group approached to the rendezvous point. There were many students standing high and mighty. Although the total number of students were much lesser than before, but it was still a very impressive result.
"There are so many people who are qualified!" Mason exclaimed with surprise.
Many of the children came from variety of families, but at the end of the day each of them were trained by Tobu. It didn't matter whether you were weak or a girl, after the training a transformation had occurred on each one of them. They had undergone through very harsh endurance training before the assessment.
Moreover, in the desert survival assessment, endurance only played a supporting factor. To survive through you had to rely on luck and brains.
"I did not expect so many powerful people." Mason spoke with some emotion. "I thought we were the only ones desperately trying to survive. Never thought that those same conditions applied to everyone."
Everyone was aware of the difficulties of the ten-day assessment. The thought that they had survived, was already a miracle. But overall everyone understood that to finish the course, they could not simply continue with their current efforts. They had to push themselves ten times more above their current limitations.
At sunset, the last desert camel arrived. All the students who passed the assessment were gathered in attendance.
Now, a huge black carriage rode over, before it stopped in front of everyone. Kris and Tobu jumped out of the carriage. Kris turned towards the carriage and opened the door. The students heard tinkling sounds of chains. The sounds were followed by the emergence of a distorted figure that was pushed down the carriage. It stumbled and fell on to the sand.
Tobu and Kris weren't polite in the slightest. They brutally pulled the man's chains to make him kneel in front of
the students.
Silence fell. There were no sounds except the sound of the wind blowing against the sand.
Dudian's pupils suddenly narrowed as he saw the figure. His fingers clenched tightly unto his sleeves and cold sweat oozed down his spine. The figure locked in chains was an alchemist. Moreover, this alchemist was in the same faction as the one he had killed. It was a 'life' alchemist who also had experimented on his own body.
Moreover, the results of the experiment were also terrible!
His body was burly. However, below his hip there existed a twisted tail which wrapped around his body. The alchemist's face was full of meat knots. A scimitar-like extremely sharp bone dagger poked out of his left wrist. But the most appalling sight was on his chest. On the center there were sharp fangs that extended out from his body.
This, simply could not longer be called a "person"!
Everyone stared.
The children who had never seen an alchemist in their entire lives stared at the 'monster' with wide open eyes.
Tobu looked around at everyone, and then with an indifferent smile, he said: "First of all, I have to congratulate you for passing the survival assessment. You can be ravaged by me for another six more months. Secondly, some things should be made known to some of you." He used his leg to kick the burly man onto ground, "This. Your parents should have told you about alchemists, the devil's apostle!"
The children burst into an uproar. No one had expected for an alchemist to appear in front of them. All kinds of evil legends about alchemists emerged in their minds. That kind of a body confirmed the tales - this is without any shred of doubt the embodiment of the devil!
"This time, in the place where you were assessed the 'alchemists' hid in waiting. Therefore it resulted in a lot of people accidentally eliminated." Then, Kris stood out and said "But fortunately there are no casualties. I have to congratulate all of you because most of the students who had encountered the 'alchemists' were not terrified, but rose up against them!"
She raised her hand and said, "There is a Knight of Light with us today!"
All children were burst into an uproar again, full of excitement, after hearing her words.
Knights of light were not part of military career. But they were exclusive knights under Holy Church. A symbol of noble character and pure will. Even the nobility would wish their children to marry a Knight of Light because of their glory!
"There is a Knight of Light!"
"I would have never expected the Knight of Light to help in capturing this demon. "
"I'm way too happy! I want to his appearance! I want to meet the Knight of Light! "
Mason, Sham and Zach were filled with emotion.
All the students were envious as someone had assisted the Knight of Light while capturing the demon. Think about the excitement of the situation. How great a chance it would had been!
Kris smiled and her voice boomed, "In total 38 students encountered alchemist attacks. Yet, 17 of them not only refused to surrender to the devil but also delayed it long enough until the arrival of the Knights of Light! Especially last night. Lorian not only avoided the alchemist but also secretly left a signal which allowed the Knights of Light to smoothly pursuit the demon and capture it in one swoop!"
"I declare that all the candidates who assisted the Knights of Light in capturing the alchemists will be rewarded with the second military merit at once. This will be recorded under your household. In the future if you become guards, you will begin with a rank of captain and will have a right to become a 'knight'!" When she mentioned the 'knight' part it referred to the 'knight' of military, not the 'knight' of Knights of Light.
Hearing her words, many students displayed traces of envy in their eyes.
Knights and the guards are completely two different levels, ah!
Although the knights of the military and knight of light are not comparable in status, but it is still a favorable status. It's only slightly inferior to the noble status. In the event in future that one can become a Knight commander then that said person's status would be higher than of a noble family's. As for the Knight of Light, nobles would kill to have them as guests in their households.
"In addition to what we know ten days ago the Knights of Light found several footprints near an alchemist's secret base. According to their speculation someone was caught by the alchemist, but successfully escaped. I don't know who was it so please stand out so that I could deliver your military reward." Kris suddenly said in sweet tone.
Hearing this everyone was surprised. For a moment, they looked at each other.
Dudian's heart tightened. He saw Zach and Sham look at him, waiting for his actions. Only three of them know the story.
Looking at the eyes of the three, filled with envy and excitement, Dudian's heart sank. After they ran out, he had wiped out and concealed the footprints in worry that some other alchemist may have trailed them.
When he killed the alchemist he wanted to conceal his whereabouts not because he expected the Knights of Light would appear. It was actually to avoid other alchemists. Thinking about it right now, he had done the right thing by eliminating traces of their footprints. He had tied the alchemy notes onto his leg. If it was found out by a Knight of Light, he didn't know what kind of a big crime it was.
Chapter 28: Judgement
Although Kris said that the military reward was extremely alluring, Dudian was sensible enough to dispel the idea of ??even claiming the prize. He was not sure what kind of clues that were recovered from the alchemists' chamber by the Knights of the Light. He had utilized fire to destroy everything but the traces of the explosion would not disappear. If he was taken into a cross-examination, he would inevitable expose flaws.
Moreover, in his trousers he hid the alchemy notes, so in the moment if he underwent a search, the consequences could be disastrous. He just wanted to stay away from Knights of Light. The further, the better it is!
"Knighthood opportunity, ah ... ..." Dudian's heart hurt, but he bit his tongue to be a bit more sensible regarding his security.
"Dean, very good ... ..." Zach's face was full excitement. He was about to go on to talk but saw Dudian's harsh look so he stopped.
Mason, Zach and Sham was caught off guard and surprised for a moment. After few months of getting along, and then ten days of survival test they have long taken a deep understanding of each another's behaviours. With a simple glance, they could understand the meaning behind Dudian's eyes. They couldn't help but to wonder as to why Dudian chose to miss this golden opportunity. The golden symbol, the zenith status that a civilian could attain has landed on Dudian's feet and he only needed to take one step forward.
This is the dream of countless people, ah!
However, under the glare of Dudian they stopped. The three of them did not say anything. They respected Dudian's choice, although as incredible and puzzled as they were. They knew that they could not convince Dudian otherwise, so they didn't want to stop him.
Kris looked at the crowd which was in silence. Nobody responded. She frowned slightly, and at this time, suddenly a voice was heard, "I, I." A short boy held his hands together, who looked a little nervous stepped out of the crowd.
Kris was relieved, as she looked at him deeply, smiled and said, "Congratulations, you will be rewarded by the instructor and it will be recorded on to your household. Now let us appreciate how the Knight of Light is going to punish the demon."
As she finished talking, a person slowly came out from the previous huge black carriage. His body was clad in silver-white armor. He was a young man with a handsome appearance. He was tall. For most of the onlookers he was full of ungodly charm.
All the children had excitement exposed on their faces. Compared to the proud aristocracy, civilians highly regarded and loved the benevolent Knights of Light.
Dudian looked at the young Knight of Light. What was he going to do? Was he going to award the child who was posing for Dudian's accomplishments? He felt a bit of regret i
n his heart. If he had known that everything would pass by in a such a simple manner then he would have stepped forward no matter what. He couldn't help but to blame himself for overthinking everything.
He sighed inwardly but knew that he missed his chance. He can only put it away behind his mind. In any case, being cautious is always good, as for military reward... He shook his head, and put the thoughts aside. Then, a young Knight of Light walked passed by Tobu and stepped right in front of the alchemist. There was a hint of smile on his face as he slowly pulled out his sword. The sun was reflected on the blade of the sword.?"I, Melk, in the name of the Father, will now decide the fate of this devil!"
"Light will eventually expel all the darkness!"
He said. In a moment his hands used to momentum to swing the sword towards the alchemist's head.
The Alchemist was immediately beheaded. Blood spewed out from the neck, his body fell to the ground. The Alchemist's head rolled a few times before coming to a stop. The blood continued to spill to the sand.
In front of the bloody scene many of the children were scared and took a step back out of fear. But soon that fear transformed into excitement. They shouted and echoed the last words that Melk spoke, "Light will eventually expel all the darkness!"
One after the another, the words echoed out in the desert.
Dudian did not want to be found strange, so he also followed by slowly shouting the words. But in his heart, he screamed, "Did not any of you saw the blood that spilt into the sand, its colored red just like every single one of us here!"
In this world, it is not uncommon to publicly try inmates. Countless people would come as onlookers to the trials of the convicted prisoners who had done great evil. Perhaps in this monotonous world it is kind of an entertainment.
Soon, the man named Melk wiped his sword, then turned and left.
Kris and Tobu escorted Dudian and the other children using the black carriages back to Scavenger special training ground.
The Dark King Page 12
