Chapter 103 - Traitors! (1/2)

After Ao and Arlan explained how Krune's personality works, Lofa finally woke up from her dreams. One can't blame her though, that was a perfect Denzel in distress situation. So she really got somewhat emotionally affected. Let's not forget here that Lofa is a woman, after all.

Lofa took a look at Krune, who was cleaning the cooking tools as if nothing had happened. Now that she paid more attention, he really didn't seem like he was bothered by anything that happened before. Not to mention, she can see that Krune isn't human, so it would be weird if he got interested in her all of a sudden. She then looked at Ao and Arlan and asked.

”Is he always like that?”

Arlan hasn't known Krune for long, so he refused to answer. But Ao was different.

”Yeap! That's the Krune I've always know. But you don't need to worry. If he says he will do something, he definitely will keep his words.”

Lofa then took a deep breath and nodded. Now that she was back to normal, she remembered that she hasn't talked with Ao and Arlan yet about going together with them.

”Sorry for becoming a burden for you two too. After what I've seen, I know very well that I'm not as strong as you three. So I will try to keep out of your way as much as possible and help when possible.”

Arlan and Ao nodded, now that it came to it, they might as well go to the very end. Ao was especially at easy with this. In the past, he was just an ordinary cultivator who liked swords. His future prospects weren't that big to start with. It only changed after he met Krune. So he can understand how Lofa feels at the moment.

Krune finished cleaning and asked everyone.

”Alright. Have you all recovered already?”

Ao and Arlan nodded. They didn't use too much energy like Krune to start with.

”And what about your Tribulation Lightning? Is it recharged already?”

Krune shook his head.

”It will take some time, but other than that, my spiritual energy and injures are done with. Also, I haven't used all of it last time, so I still have enough for average level battles. Not to mention that we are going to spend some time to reach the other side, so it will definitely be recovered by then.”

Lofa finally thought back to the battle against the fire eagle, at that time, she really did feel the power of the Tribulation Lightning. But only now did she remember that it shouldn't have been there.

”Right! What is that Tribulation Lightning? How can you manipulate it?”

Ao and Arlan looked at Krune; he is the one who can use it after all.

”Well, it's not like a big secret or anything. As you probably already know, universe foundation cultivators and demon beasts need to pass through a Heavenly Tribulation after the foundation is created. I just so happened to keep some of that lightning with me, that's all.”

It indeed isn't a big secret. There is no doubt that all the elders already noticed that in the last Mercenary Selection. Cultivators or demon beasts capable of using Tribulation Lightning power aren't exactly unheard of. It's just that they are scarce. Not to mention that as a member of the Mercenary Guilds Alliance, it's an excellent thing for them.

Lofa was even more amazed by Krune; she couldn't help but think that this demon beast in human form is capable of everything. She wanted to ask what race Krune was from, but she remembered that it is a taboo question for those who are hiding it. Tasier and Drorne only kept using their original forms because they can't transform while into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

---

Krune's group left soon after. They immediately proceeded to the other half of the testing location. On the way, they encountered two different teams and one more territory boss. But it wasn't anything hard to deal with, and they still were able to get another black token. It's just that Krune noticed the decline of contestants and couldn't help but comment.

”I wonder how many teams are still remaining.”

Lofa was part of an average team, so she had a better picture of the situation.

”My team had encountered quite a few groups with no black tokens. Usually, they attacked straight away. I think the problem was when two teams without black tokens met each other. They couldn't tell if the other side really didn't have a black token or not, so they could only force their way. In the end, even more blue tokens were used because of that.”

Ao agreed with Lofa.

”The initial plan was for our planet to go through this test alone, not to mention that there wasn't supposed to be any tokens to be acquired. So our world was supposed to let the first 400 contestants pass the first phase. But now I doubt that even half of that number will finish this.”

Arlan and Krune also thought the same thing. The three phases of Martial Gathering might not even happen anymore.

The time passed, and a few days later, they traveled around 70% of the way.