The Dawn of the New World

"You can barely walk. I'll go," Hazel whispered from the side. If not for her holding him up right now, he would not be able to stand on his own.

Henrik's brow scrunched up instantly and he opened his mouth to berate her but Fulke patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'm going too. I am a guest of your academy and I think it's time I repay the favor," Fulke said with a smile that was not a smile.

"But-"

"Relax, nothing will happen to her," Fulke's voice rang in Henrik's head, instantly calming him down.

Speaking through spiritual sense required a lot of effort and concentration. If Fulke hadn't recovered most of his Qi, it would not have been possible to speak through Spiritual sense with such ease.

Henrik stared at Fulke with a thoughtful expression. Fulke was one of the people that had arrived from one of the other continents but it was all kept very 'hush-hush'. Henrik didn't know anything about his background, only that he could be trusted. Until now, Fulke didn't show off at all during his time with Herik and company but that didn't mean he didn't have some hidden cards up his sleeve.

Henrik slowly nodded his head, "Alright, you guys come back in one piece you hear? If it becomes too much then just run away, we will get reinforcements from the city and return as soon as possible."

"Unh," Hazel nodded her head obediently. It made for a strange image, her acting so submissive to Henrik who looked so feminine.

Hazel was actually more muscular than Henrik but that wasn't really much of an achievement since Henrik was thinner than a pencil. And when both of them stood together, they looked like a couple of pretty girls, with Henrik being the prettier senior sister.

He patted her head and sat back down, "Go then, quick. Follow Lady Ceni," he shooed them away.

Fulke smiled and looked at the other people in the cave.

"Those that can fight and are willing, come with!"

But he didn't wait for a response and walked out swiftly, followed by Hazel.

There were a little more than 20 people here including Ceni and Henrik's group. And out of all of them, only 4 people picked up their weapons and followed after Fulke while the rest either pretended not to hear them or straight up ignored them.

'Why should I risk my life for someone I don't know?'

'We just got away from them and now they want us to willingly go into their camp? Dumbasses!'

These were the thoughts going through the minds of the people that stayed. If they didn't have to, why would they fight?

**

Outside the cave, darkness and poisonous rain had covered everything. Raindrops the size of thumbs fell loudly and frequently. The wind howled like a hungry ghost in the night turning the creepy atmosphere even worse.

But the good and came in hand in hand. The fog reduced significantly due to the rain so they could see much further now.

Ceni was standing a few meters away from the cave's entrance, looking down at the streams of green water that were starting to form.

Hearing the sound of the footsteps she turned her head halfway before looking away.

"Just this many people?" she mumbled looking at the handful of cultivators.

Fulke walked next to her, his massive body dwarfing hers.

"You can't blame them, most of them are injured."

"Hmph. Cowards, all of them," she muttered with obvious disdain.

Fulke scratched his chin awkwardly, "S-So, which way?"

"Follow me," without explaining anything to the others, Ceni jumped and landed on the other side of this 40-meter wide valley.

Of the 4 others that had followed them, three were young men with heroic spirits oozing out of them and one was a quiet teenage girl. It looked like she was forcing herself to come with but Fulke didn't send her back.

"Stay close to her," he told Hazel through Spirit Sense before leaping towards the other side and nimbly landing on the small pathway.

Fulke gestured and each of them jumped one by one. Hazel went up to the girl with a friendly smile.

"What's junior sister's name?"

She looked up at Hazel through her bangs that were almost poking into her eyes and replied meekly.

"R-Riane."

"Junior Sister Riane, hold tight."

"Eh?"

Before she could process what was happening, Hazel grabbed her by the waist and carried her like a princess, leaping with such force that it left a crack on the ground and shot forward like a bullet.

About 2 kilometers away from them, the Wizards had just taken a turn into a small valley and came out right in front of the Roach camp, but that's where they stopped.

The rain had gotten heavier, falling faster and harder than ever before.

At the camp gate, four dismembered roach corpses welcomed the wizard's caravan.