Sliding the lid open, Grace and Alice appeared above ground. The former looked around, observing their current location.
"We're not too far away from the academy." In fact, the academy walls were still visible from where they stood. However, they were much closer to the city's shopping district that they would have imagined.
"We shouldn't stay," Alice warned. "Drunkards are bound to be looming like bastard critters." Grace nodded, understanding her logic. Within the dark, eerie night--they lurked. Their bodies, submerged in the shadows of the world.
Quiet.
Quick.
Efficient.
They were truly one-of-a-kind prodigies. That much could be certain. Even as they twirled under the guiding light of the moon, Grace could not believe that he was maneuvering through the night alongside Alice White.
A character that he admired.
Grace briefly glanced at Alice.
He would get to see it first-hand.
Her determination.
Her talent.
Her strength.
Waiting around an alleyway, they peeked over the corner of the wall - their backs facing the bricks stacked on top of one another - and oversaw anything that could be a hinderance to their way to the outskirts of the city.
Nothing.
Hastily, their bodies swung through the larges gap between them and the next alleyway not too far away from them. For a moment, their bodies shone from the glossy, glimmering lights of the neons signs and the luminescent street lamps that stood overhead.
But they remained quiet, elusive. Their bodies engraved by their family's teachings.
And after a few hours--
They made it to the outskirts.
"Let's rest in the morning," Grace told Alice. "There is much work to do." The girl beside him sighed, but she nodded all the same. They marched beyond, entering a vast forest with trees surrounding them likes armies of soldiers.
Not condense enough. Grace mused. After thirty more minutes of walking, there was a sudden shift in the air. As their feet moved along a much more condense ambient mana, the two focused.
The air - the ambient mana that loomed - was denser.
That meant the chances of a beast forming was likely.
Though they continued walking, pressing onwards with their hands closely holding their weapons. Their eyes scanned the vicinity. From one end to the other. In the most minute detail.
Anything can sprout from mana.
"Anything?" Alice asked aloud.
"Nothing."
Though it did not mean there would be a guaranteed chance for these beasts to appear due to the area around them - while denser in mana - was not dense enough to properly summon these beasts of magic at a consistent level.
That meant one thing.
"Further," Grace told Alice. "We need to go further."
~~~
The crack of dawn. In which the world became upside down. The horizon became a mesh of vibrant colors that all coalesced into a magnified beauty--the orange and lilic hues.
A town not too far away from where Ivan had indirectly killed those two men, had been burnt to a crisp. The ashes of what remained filling the surroundings with the instinct smell of burnt wood.
Three days ago--
It had been destroyed by a person.
Three days ago--
It was eradicated by the strong in search of a scent.
But one survived.
A bloodied man in his mid-thirties. His facial features were unrecognizable from the piles of blood that lingered all across his face. Blood. All it was. Though his stature was slim, frail even. And his hair was long and a hazel-brown.
Slrchhhh!
He was lurch forward as he dragged two dead bodies along the rough dirt. Ashes filled his lungs as their bloodied bodies were desecrated by the consistent dragging of the man.
Benjamin Lan.
That was his name.
A commoner.
And someone who was hardly Normal Grade 5.
If geniuses were once-in-a-billion, then the same can go for even the most untalented of folks. Someone who never got the opportunity to shine until later in his life; his potential has long since rotted to the core of the earth.
But luck was a skill.
And for a Normal Grade 5?
Surviving this fire was the highest possible demonstration of such a skill. It all came down to the pieces all falling into the right place. He lived in this village, but he had been out of town for a few days prior in order to...
Rejuvenate.
Entering a house - one that was possibly the most intact out of every other house in the village - Benjamin breathed in and out, revealing his teeth.
Even his teeth was covered in the crimson.
Thump!
Plopping down the bodies of the two now burnt victims of the fire, Benjamin kneeled down. He opened his mouth, his teeth now fangs. And his eyes were diluted by bloodlust.
His torso bent down and Benjamin plunged his teeth into their bodies, engulfing their blood and flesh.
And now--
Strength pulsated through his veins.
~~~
The first night was not so bad. Even though Grace and Alice did not get any action done with any mana beasts, they were actively gaining experience in the wild. Without service and anything of that nature--they had to be resourceful with what they had.
The sun was out, the rays of sunlight creating thin, long shadows as it stared down on the trees that swayed gently from up above. Sitting down, his back leaning against the rough bark of the tree behind him, Grace sat in silence.
They ventured far.
And much further than they had originally intended.
But this was fine, Grace ultimately concluded.
Feeling a watchful gaze sticking to him, Grace turned towards Alice. She eyes attentively analyzed his every move. Not out of a feeling of affection, but rather from the feeling of curiosity leaking from her bones.
"Something to ask?" Grace wondered aloud.
Alice merely narrowed her eyes. Her gaze remained relentless and unmoving.
"What brought you out of hiding?" Her question was direct and sharp. It was a question that Grace anticipated due to her straightforward nature. He avoided her gaze - turning to the front - and thought for a moment. Though it almost seemed like an eternity for Alice.
He turned back to the girl.
"Ambition," Grace responded simply. He did not say anything more, to which Alice decided to press for more information.
"And? What is this ambition of yours?"
Grace did not say anything.
Zero response.
Merely a small, thin smile directed at the gorgeous girl that sat parallel to him. He was fine saying that he had ambition that existed deep within his heart. And that it was a driving force for his pursuit of strength.
However--
He would not divulge anything more than that word. There was no reason for anyone to know - aside from his family, of course - that he wishes to attain the strength necessary to return home.
There was no confirmed method for Grace to pursuit.
But, deep down, he knew that the answer lies in the pursuit of strength.
That is why Grace had determined that merely being a Special Grade 1 would not be enough.
No.
That is where humans stop.
The answers he wanted stood beyond those walls and would be the only way to attain the answers to get back to the place where he yearned for.
Godhood.
Anything less than that would not be enough.