Chapter 235: SECRETS
"Who are you, actually? How do you know about a soul sword?" While Raphael still had his eyes locked on the sword, slashing each of his men one by one, Logan’s voice rang again.
Raphael shifted his gaze. "Now, even I am curious, Logan Smith. Who are you, actually? How do you know about the techniques that were lost a thousand years ago? And now even the soul sword is working with you?" He smirked. Well, never mind. Once I beat the shit out of you, you’ll tell me everything on your own. I won’t even have to ask anything." He shrugged his shoulders.
"Now.....
Let me give you a taste of what real magic feels like."
Slowly, his feet left the ground as he started to hover in the air.
1 feet.....
2 feet....
5 feet....
15 feet....
He was now fifteen feet above the ground. Logan’s eyes widened in shock. "How is this possible. He can fly?"
Even the members of the Third Eye Sect who were rushing inside the house were dumbfounded. "That dude can fly? Damn! Maybe that’s why the sect master was so respectful toward him. He is a hidden master! But still.... How can he be a master and also so young at the same time?"
Logan took a stance, ready for a fight. But for some reason, he had a bad premonition inside his heart. He knew nothing about the extent of the power of the person hovering in the air in front of him. "He said real magic. So is he also from outside the world?"
Raphael slowly raised his hand. And instantly, five fireballs materialized. All looked concentrated, surging with power.
Logan wasn’t a pushover either. He blurred, weaving through the incoming spheres. He reached just below Raphael. And threw a fireball of his own upward.
Raphael only straightened his left hand slightly, opening his palm. And the air started to spin, creating a short vortex that received the fireball and neutralized it.
Then, arcing his right hand, he waved it downward. Multiple ice spheres shot toward Logan.
Logan was alerted. His body stirred, ready to move, but just then, some hands emerged from the ground, gripping his legs tightly. All were made of earth magic.
"It’s not good." Logan quickly flung his left hand upward, sending several wind blades. Then used his right hand to materialize an ice blade. He used it to free himself from the earth hands and quickly leap back.
His feet touched the ground and skidded back a little due to the moment of his own leap before finally stopping. He looked upward, where Raphael’s body was hovering. "Five. He can use five affinities." He whispered to himself in shock. He himself could use five affinities. But it was the first time seeing someone else using five affinities.
But as Raphael could read his mind, he smirked. "You are shocked to see that I can use five affinities, aren’t you. Well, here is another gift for you." Saying that he twisted his right hand slightly.
And below, Logan’s eyes widened. He felt a tremendous amount of pressure pressing down on him.
But it wasn’t the pressure he was shocked by. It was the affinity. "Gravity magic?! Six affinities?!" He could barely utter those words.
But his voice still reached Raphael. "You still don’t get it, Logan, do you? When it comes to real magic, there is no such thing as affinities. It’s just how well you are acquainted with nature. The better your understanding, the more powerful your magic is. And power doesn’t mean how devastating your single spell is. It means how many varieties of spells you can cast. Like this..."
The moment he finished speaking, an earth golem emerged from the ground and threw a punch. The first landed squarely on Logan’s chest, sending him flying.
Boom! He crashed into the house wall, creating a crater.
Alice gasped, her body trembling with fear. "Logan, run from here. You don’t have to worry about me. But if something happens to you, I will never be able to stay alive with that guilt."
Logan’s body moved. He sat up, scattering the dust and debris. Though he was under tremendous pressure from the fight, he still turned his head toward his mother and gave a smile. "Don’t worry, mother. We will both walk out safely from here."
With that, he stood up and walked out again. He looked up while brushing off the dust..
"You are already so strong. I don’t think anyone in the world will be your opponent. Then why even bother with me and my family?" Logan asked calmly. The baffled expression he had on his face earlier, the confusion that was written clearly, had vanished. Now his face was a bit unreadable.
Raphael scoffed from above. "Because I want your cultivation technique."
"Cultivation technique?" Logan was a bit surprised that Raphael knew the exact term. "What then? What will you do after you get it? And how did you know about my technique?" Logan asked, while his focus was solely on Raphael.
"Who do you think you are, Logan? What makes you think I need to answer your question?" Raphael sneered.
"Well, only I have the cultivation technique. So if you really want it, you will have to answer my questions first. Or else you can try to take it from me. What makes you think I will let you have it even if I have to die for it?" Logan questioned back.
Raphael was taken aback. "Well, I have your mother with me. I will kill her if you don’t tell."
"Come on, man. I am a kid, yeah, but not a newborn, right? You will kill her anyway, the moment you have your hands on what you want. So if you want that technique, speak up." Logan’s voice was firm.
And that made even Raphael a bit startled. "Fine then. I will fulfill your last wish." Finally, Raphael decided to reveal everything. "I know about your cultivation technique, and I am still after that even when I am stronger than you, because....." He paused for a bit. Then finished his sentence. "That’s what I came here for."
Logan’s eyes narrowed. "And by here, you mean on earth, right?"
"Yes."
A silence spread across the area, even amidst the sounds that were coming from Audrey’s slashing and the agonized screams of those being taken care of.
"So are you also a monster like the one from the dungeons?" Finally, after some time had passed, Logan asked.
"No." A short reply came from Raphael.
"Then, the one from where the soul sword is?"
"No." Again, a short reply from Raphael as if he didn’t want to let out more than he had to.
"Then where are you from?" Logan asked calmly, but the clenching of his fist betrayed his expression. He wanted to know what was actually happening.
"Humans are being turned into monsters, my disciple from thousands of years back had still been lingering in the dungeons even a few days ago, some other species coming to earth for cultivation, a talking sword... So many things had been happening behind the scenes. I need to get to the bottom of it."
Raphael didn’t answer the question right away, as if he was still thinking about the pros and cons. "I will kill him right after I have the technique." He thought to himself.
And then he finally opened his mouth again. "I am from the planet ’Ravanos’. I am from the leading race of the Milky Way Galaxy, the Beast race." He said the last sentence with great pride.
"Leading race, huh! And so how many races are there?" Logan could barely control the turmoil of emotions coiling inside him. "That’s it. Spill it. Tell me everything you know." Logan thought to himself.
Meanwhile, at the back, all two hundred men were taken care of by Audrey. If Logan weren’t busy talking to Raphael, he would be shaken to the core. Alice, too, was worried sick thinking about Logan. That’s why, even in her mind, the question didn’t arise even once: how a sword could hover in the air on its own and take care of so many people.
Back where Logan and Raphael were facing each other....
Raphael opened his mouth again. " There are six races. You—humans, us—beasts, the one in those dungeons—monsters, the one residing on the planet that sword is from—elf. The other two are dwarves and mechas." Raphael was done. He paused to let Logan digest the information he had just received. Because even he knew, for someone with no prior knowledge of these, it would be hard —hard even to believe they were real.
And that was actually happening to Logan. He could barely stay standing. His thoughts raced as if his head would blow up at any time.
"Five other races like us? Who can talk, think, strategize? Who are our allies? And who are the enemies? Or are they all just enemies to each other? And why the hell are the three I have met, two of whom are after the cultivation technique?
Maybe three. Maybe that sword is also after it."