Rising god-Chapter 108: Something off…

Tasha’s murmur stirred Aires’s agreement. "It’s true," he said, his eyes narrowing. "But who is that?"

Tasha’s frown deepened as she scrutinized the so-called Jin Malakar in the sparring arena. Doubts gnawed at her. First, his aura registered at the 5th star, not the 6th star Jin was known for. The second was that Jin accepted a challenge, which didn’t make sense. He was one to run from a challenge, not accept it. The third and most disturbing was that he was smiling.

If anyone had met Jin, they would immediately know this was only a fake.

Also, one would wonder, just what the fuck was Tasha doing here? Well, the truth was, to advance to her fifth year, she needed real-world experience, which led her to follow her father to the Last Front, then the set of missions she took with Baines.

"Think about it," Aires said. "After receiving his One Sun rank, how many guards were assigned to him?"

"Ten," Tasha replied, scanning the entourage.

"But I see only nine," Aires noted thoughtfully.

Tasha’s eyes widened. "Oh, yeah." The pieces clicked: Basically, Jin was tricking the whole empire at the moment.

"Do you think others have noticed?" Aires asked, his gaze drifting toward the distant Sun Palace.

"Of course," Tasha said. "They likely realized it the moment it happened. The real question is, where is he?"

Boom!

The spar below erupted.

Diphus Lindell conjured two massive water magic circles, flooding the arena. ’Jin’ pushed back, his aura forming a shield to halt the water’s advance. As the water struck his shield, it morphed into spikes, hammering the shield continuously.

’Jin’ prepared to bolster his aura, but the water snaked around, forming more spikes. He dodged with swift footwork, but Diphus anticipated it.

Water spears riddled Jin’s new position. He raised his sword to block, but spikes from the ground pierced his legs. "Haa!" he roared, unleashing a fire aura that incinerated the surrounding water.

Charging, his sword reached Diphus’s throat. Diphus didn’t flinch; the figure dissolved into water, soaking Locke.

"Suffer," Diphus’s voice echoed from elsewhere, as the water on Locke turned into spikes, impaling him.

"Argh!" Locke screamed, blood streaming from multiple wounds. Diphus approached, water spears and swords orbiting him. "Surrender," he snarled, driving the spears into Locke’s legs, amplifying his agony.

"I said, surrender," Diphus repeated, silencing the crowd.

What was this they were witnessing? The invincible Jin, every student’s idol, was being crushed? Where were his skills? Where was his weird form of fighting?

As blood pooled in a large amount, Locke collapsed.

The referee, regaining composure, declared, "Winner, Diphus Lindell!"

"Pathetic," Diphus sneered, turning away.

The crowd all turned their backs on ’Jin’. Just as fast as his reputation blew off proportion in a matter of days, his failure shone brighter. The crowd’s shock turned to disdain.

"Tch, no wonder. He was only known for cheap tricks and strategy," a student scoffed, the sentiment echoing as spectators dispersed.

Locke’s guards rushed him to the infirmary, leaving Tasha and Aires behind among the crowd.

"Why do I feel this was deliberate?" Tasha muttered, asking no one in particular.

...

Rumors spread like wildfire:

-Jin Malakar is weak.

-He’s only good for strategies and tricks.

Those were the words spreading around. ’Jin’ hadn’t woken up yet; however, when he did, he would notice the difference in his level of treatment.

The whole academy couldn’t help but the disappointed. However, the few intelligent among those who heard the news couldn’t help but see a flaw in the whole event. Slowly, they were picking up on the strangeness, and soon they would realize the truth.

***

In Darkan, Dawnless, under Baines’s orders, had joined the underground alliance, attending frequent meetings. Though not top-tier, their influence kept them relevant, albeit in the shadows.

They had closed a few of their businesses and put their expansion on hold for that reason, and Ralph was able to meet the Mistars’ leader frequently, making them somewhat close.

Today, they had just finished another pointless meeting on taking over Darkan when Mirta asked suspiciously, "Why isn’t your leader here?"

"Eh? Haha, you mean my brother? Hm, how do I put it, yes, he is busy." Ralph spoke carefully. He knew Baines didn’t trust anyone who wasn’t him.

’Unless you want to be put in chains, I’m sorry but I can’t tell you,’ Ralph thought as his mind drifted to Baines’ face. If he told her, Baines would kill her; no, Wick would kill her immediately.

"Then can I visit?" Her eyes narrowed as she asked.

"That, no. Tell me, and I will pass it on."

’What are they hiding?’ Her eyes narrowed. Actually, she had tried to sneak in; however, she couldn’t even bypass the illusion formation, not to mention entering.

’I must find out,’ She thought, and changed the topic.

***

That morning, an unease settled over Baines on the Sun Tower’s second floor. He didn’t know anything was happening outside, yet he could feel it.

Something had definitely happened, as if the world had shifted. Following his usual routine, he scanned the library shelves, pondering the anomaly.

Suddenly, his iris flashed:

[TREASURE HAS BEEN LOCATED].

’What?’ Baines’s eyes widened as he snatched a book from the shelf.

’Is this where the feeling I was getting from?’ It was good news, but why was he still feeling it?

"Huh? You!" a voice called. He turned to face the registrar, the woman who’d stamped his Kirk Barn alias. "You’re still here?" she asked, bewildered. Average talents would’ve at least reached the fourth floor as of now; however, he was just on the second.

’Was he that untalented?’ Her face almost turned to one of disgust, but then she sighed.

In the distance, going down the stairs from the second floor were hurried footsteps and hushed voices, their faces etched with shock, and their voices trembled slightly.

Seeing that he asked in interest, "What happened?"

"You haven’t heard?" she replied, sighing.

"Heard what?" Was this what his mind was uneasy about?

"Jin is dead."

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