Rivers of the Night

Theron's actions were so abrupt that the academic stream students by his side didn't even realize what was happening. Or more accurately, they didn't see what happened at all.

It wasn't until the Third Year of the military stream screamed that they saw the end result, but even then, they didn't know that it was actually Theron who had done it. How could they ever guess at such a thing? On its face, it just felt so completely and utterly ridiculous.

But then the Third and Fourth Year of the military stream both took out their weapons, a spear and a glaive suddenly pointing right at Theron.

Theron himself, though, had already hopped up from his seated position, landing on the back of his horse with two feet. In terms of leverage and ability to read and react, he was in the superior position. By comparison, the experience these two military stream students had with battling on horseback—while there—was still obviously limited.

Knowing he had too little experience himself, Theron just forewent it entirely.

The eyes of the lieutenant by General Pennel's side sharpened, but he froze as a spear pierced right through his chest.

Looking down with a light of shock in his eyes, the lieutenant was shocked to find that it wasn't the Pennel who had attacked him, but instead Aliza, who was behind them all now.

"You…" The lieutenant couldn't believe it. He, a mighty Gold, had died at the hands of a Silver brat?

In those last moments, he barely registered the fact the weapon Aliza was holding in her hands wasn't normal at all. And just when his Mana had been about to flare up, a suppressive aura had come from his right. Catching him off guard, he didn't even stand a single chance.

"… Damned… rich… brats…" he wheezed out.

Theron lightly tapped a foot on the back of his horse, soaring up and out of the way of a duo of strikes. He landed on a branch that seemed barely strong enough to hold the weight of a medium-sized bird. And yet, his steps were so light it hardly seemed to register him.

Chi. Chi.

His weapons flashed and he deflected the pair of strikes that came at him, retreating further and flipping down and back from the tree.

By the time he landed on the ground, the Third and Fourth Years were already out of their saddles, ready to attack again. But this time, they were stopped by General Pennel's voice.

"That's enough."

The duo froze, frowning. It wasn't until Theron put his blades away that they fully relaxed.

"… What… what is happening?" Shah couldn't help but ask.

"Spies." Theron said simply.

"You… how could you possibly know that?" Gengh's worry wasn't without merit. Just now, he had "tried" to lead them down the wrong path. Would he be accused of being a traitor next?

No, it wasn't just an accusation. Theron didn't accuse anyone. He killed first and didn't even bother to ask questions later.

It was then they noticed the spear through the lieutenant's chest, and they understood that this matter had suddenly become much deeper than any of them were prepared to deal with.

"How? He claims to be a member of the Zhen Clan, but he showed no hostility to me at all. His word selection was off, too kind, too measured. Plus, he wasn't glancing at me nearly enough for someone who was to my back."

"You… you killed someone based on that…" Gengh was horrified.

"Well, his cultivation was already an entire tier higher than he should have been."

Gengh froze.

A tier? As in three sub-realms? Did that mean that the Second Year was actually in the Seventh Resonance? And Theron killed him before they could even understand what was happening?

Even if Theron caught him off guard, and was in close proximity, the gap between a First Resonance and Seventh Resonance should be so large that it could be akin to a toddler and a fully grown adult.

None of this made any sense.

Wait. How did Theron even tell the cultivation of someone who was trying their best to hide it? If he was so confident in hiding from General Pennel's eyes, how could he not hide from Theron's?

"I'm just messing around," Theron said with a smile. "Look at his lapel."

Gengh felt like he was going to faint. Was this a joke to Theron? He had heard that this boy was very arrogant, but this was the first time he was seeing it so clearly in person.

Even so, he obliged and looked. But there was nothing special there at all.

"Now look at his hair."

Gengh looked again, but still found nothing special.

"The stitching on the emblem he's wearing on his chest is fresh, too fresh. There's too little fraying. It's either he's never worn this before, or it's new."

"It's possible that he just wore a new robe to impress the General. What is unexpected about that?"

"I agree." Theron nodded. "That's why I said look at his hair."

"What's wrong with his hair?"

"Unique bloodlines have unique traits. The Thistles, for example, have a unique almost brass-brownish tint, with just the slightest hints of rouge, to their hair that's very hard to replicate. Replicating it with a technique would be even more difficult to do because the Mana fluctuations would be off.

"Their different colors come from their unique Resonances with Mana to begin with. Plus, hair is too fragile and falls out easily. Once it loses connection with the Mana flow in your body, it would return to its original color, exposing you. So if you use Mana to start replicating it, you would either need a technique at a much higher level than the Zhen Clan's Bloodline, which is unlikely. Or, you would just have to do it the old-fashioned way and dye it."

Gengh's mouth opened, then closed. But even after several moments, he still didn't understand.

Was the shade off? Was there a slight discoloration?

"Look at his scalp. It's redder than the rest of his head, probably because he had to use a particularly abrasive bleach to reach the right consistency. It would normally be a simple task to replicate that redness, except for the fact…"

Theron took a step forward and pinched at the head rolling along the ground, peeling a layer of skin off to reveal the face of a middle-aged man beneath.

"Changing the shape of a body is too difficult. Rather than doing that, they got someone who was close enough in size and then sowed them a perfectly matching set of robes. No one would notice usually." Theron looked up at Geng. "Usually."

Silence fell.

From the back of the group, Aliza's gaze was flickering wildly as she looked to Theron. She hadn't known what was happening until the very last moment when Theron gave her a look. It was then she realized what she had to do.

But even then, if not for the subtle shift in the lieutenant's aura, she still wouldn't have acted.

"… What now?" Shah asked, still a bit shell-shocked.

"Well, why would spies choose to come on this mission? Aliza's words were interesting, don't you think? This region between the center and north has been dead since the very start. What if the real reason that pack of hounds is here is because it's no longer so dead?

"Why don't we go and see what would make a group of Mana Beasts ignore a stash of Imbued Mana Herbs? No, more accurately… why don't we go and see what changes could have triggered in this region to cause such powerful Mana Herbs to appear in the first place?"