31 Jinxed. (2/2)

He looked for around twenty minutes before he found the hideout. It was well-hidden; even though Ozul knew the location, it still took him twenty minutes!

The hideout was an old building, and debris was scattered all around it. Some wild plants grew on the walls; it looked as if it was some kind of ancient architecture that could not survive the tides of time.

Furthermore, thick vegetation surrounded the archaic structure!

Ozul arrived at the only door and knocked on it. He received no answer whatsoever even after waiting for several minutes.

He guessed that he needed to say the code sentence. So he spoke;

”No light without Darkness.”

Ozul gently whispered those words. But even after that, no response came from the other side of the door. He sighed as it did not work.

”You won't open the door after only changing it a little bit? Okay, It is Light in the Darkness.”

Just as Ozul said the last part,

*creak*

The wooden door opened with the screeching sound, and a man's face covered in dirt appeared behind it.

With a face which showed annoyance, the dirt-covered man spoke in a grumpy voice;

”You should've said it the first time. Do you know how anxious I got after your prank!?!”- The man continued,

”And why did they even send a kid!? Ah! Whatever, It's in your hands. I don't care anymore!”- The dirt-covered man gave a small wooden box to Ozul.

Just when Ozul received the box, the man shut the door with a bang, which caused quite a commotion in the surroundings, as the birds on the trees flew away.

It was not as Ozul wanted to joke around, he just did not find the code sentence to his taste. So, he thought maybe a little tweaking would not change much. Alas, it did not work.

Ozul just strapped the box around his waist and started to head back.

'No obstacles until now. I hope it remains that way... I probably jinxed it.'- Ozul thought and started running in the direction of Azmar Town.

As expected, just as Ozul was leaving the outskirts of Nork City, several shadows began to follow him.

Ozul sighed but kept jumping from trees to trees to create a distance from the City. After a while, he stopped, and all the shadows landed near him.

The shadows consisted of five male figures, covered in black from head to toe, only leaving their eyes.

Ozul was surprised when he noticed their Ranks though! There were three Rank-4 Mages and one Rank-5 Mage. But the last man... he was a Rank-6 Mage!

He had prepared to face off against multiple Rank-5 Mages, but the involvement of a Rank-6 Mage drastically changed the situation!

Advancements after Rank-5 can take years! And the power boost cannot even compare to any of the previous Ranks. The people in Rank-6 and above can store Mana even in their skin cells!

And now Ozul was about to face against someone who had taken the first step in removing the mortal shackles!