“Liar! That was not the speed of someone at the sixth star of the law of Capricorn!”

Far from the human settlements, on the side of some rarely used road, Alan stomped his foot in anger while Zoemi was patting the back of Aaron who was throwing up.

“Don’t tell me that after all of that you actually are a member of the dark sect!?”

The young man gasped, taking a step back from the black-haired man, as his face became pale.

“No, I’m not. It is just that during the fight I managed t achieve the first star in the law of Libra. What you experienced was the speed of the sixth star level of the law of Capricorn equalized with the supernova level of the law of Aries.”

Zoemi glanced back at Alan, only to roll his eyes at the young man and explain before turning back to the sick boy.

“Now, now. Everything will be alright. I imagine that getting carried like that isn’t actually very comfortable. Sorry for not being more considerate.”

The black-haired man apologized, rubbing Aaron’s back like a doting parent – or at least that one drunk friend at a party that becomes worried about everyone after drinking too much.

“How did you manage to mediate while fighting? And don’t you think that all the gore is a more likely reason for his state?”

The slightly hesitant but almost calmed young man breathed out and motioned his head at both the black-haired man and the vomiting boy.

“Master Alan… why do you even know that there was any gore there whatsoever? I believe to have advised you to stay hidden until I make sure that the escape is possible. Did you think that blowing up an entire building was only a small mistake and they weren’t intending to kill you too just to get me?”

Instead of answering the question directly, Zoemi looked at Alan from over Aaron’s back and questioned back, slightly angry.

“…”

Alan closed his mouth and backed off looking down to the side with his shoulders raised up defensively.

“…I wanted to confirm that it was the case… Doesn’t change the fact that what you showed there was messed up… Now there is no way for you to escape the stigma of the dark sect member. Painting things that way will be the only viable way for my parents to salvage whatever is left from the honor of our sect…”

The young martial artist stepped even further back, distancing himself from the black-haired man.

That… really was quite a problematic situation.

𝒐𝓥𝓁xt.𝗇𝓔t

Fleeing from the scene left everything in the hands of the remaining party – which could not turn out well.

“I am terribly sorry to remind you that in this case, there is no I, only WE. You might not want it, but you don’t have an out anymore. Not with parents like that.”

“!!!”

Zoemi returned to patting Aaron’s back and said in an indifferent tone, causing Alan to flinch.

“Even if I had left you there, you would not get away without some serious punishment. Who was that back-shooting pervert again? Head of the justice magistrate and the leader of the Heavenly Archer sect?”

He asked as if didn’t remember everything perfectly.

“Now that I think about it, I think I achieved the law of Libra’s first star after I got him… Hmm…Wait…!”

With no response from Alan in sight, Zoemi tilted his head and considered before sensing something odd about his power.

“…it is on the second-star level already…? Huh…? That doesn’t sound right…”

The black-haired man moved away from the sick boy and sat cross-legged on the ground, where he started meditating without any delay and immediately made a shocking discovery.

“What?! How did you jump on the second star level from zero?!”

Alan gasped, relieved because of the change of subject that honesty was very uncomfortable for him.

“How am I supposed to know? I have barely any knowledge about spiritual energy and star power.”

Zoemi furrowed his brows and scoffed without opening his eyes.

“…it’s… it’s because you killed grandpa Daniel… He was at fifth star level of the law of Libra, after all…”

The shocking answer came from the trembling boy still tormented by nausea.

“Sounds like something a dark sect member would do.”

Alan blinked a few times before nervously glancing at Zoemi and taking yet another step back.

“Aaron, could you explain what exactly you mean by that? I really am not a dark sect member, why would I gain star level by killing others?”

The black-haired man opened his eyes and stood up just to move a few steps and kneel by the trembling boy and asked in a calm voice.

“…”

Aaron closed his mouth, looking up fearfully at Zoemi and then glancing worriedly at Alan…

…and that seemed to be it. The boy did not reveal anything, simply looking down and staying quiet.

“What are we supposed to do now? Unfortunately, you are probably right about me and you being marked as the dark sect members, so depending on how fast the news is spreading, we will be hunted down the moment someone from any lawful sect recognizes us in any of the human settlements.”

Alan sighed at the silence and looked up at Zoemi, moving on to the matter at hand as there was no use crying over the spilled milk.

“You kidnapping the beloved child of Sagittarius must have looked like a good strategy, but with him around we will be more recognizable. We can’t return him for the good-guys points because we will still get executed on the spot and, as I already said, we will be easily recognized with him around…”

The young man continued the sigh and motioned at the curled-up boy with his chin.

“Master Alan, we are not leaving Aaron.”

Zoemi scoffed shortly, shaking his head and dismissing the idea on the spot.

“Why? He knows something about your gaining levels but doesn’t want to share it. He is not on our side. We got into so much trouble and you are telling me we should drag a potential enemy along?!”

Alan rolled his eyes so much that his entire torso traced a circle and pointed out while glancing to the sides as if he already expected the martial artist potentially chasing them to start popping up.

“Listen, it is more than certain that eventually we will get spotted anyway, why not…? Hmm?”

Zoemi waved his hand dismissively, about to reveal his reason when suddenly he stopped with his hand up, listening in to something…

“What? What is going on?”

Alan asked, straightening his back and looking around all fidgety, worried that someone giving chase did show up already.

,m “I can hear something… it’s… it sounds like digging…?”

Zoemi furrowed his brows and turned his right ear towards the surface of the earth, furrowing his brow in confusion.

As he said, a dozen of feet away, the ground bulged up and a moderately big molehill showed up, as the creature beneath was slowly but surely digging its way up.

“Oh. Have you heard that? How good is your hearing?”

Alan, Zoemi, and even Aaron looked at the molehill, and the young man breathed out with relief before nodding at the black-haired man.

“Master Alan, why are you so calm, that… that is huge, are you telling me you have moles the size of foxes around here?”

Zoemi wasn’t as calm as the younger man, and asked, pointing at the mound of earth still increasing in size.

There definitely was a big disparity between the molehill that the moles the black-haired man knew made and the one raising up in front of his eyes.

“Then you not only don’t know much about star powers but monsters too? This is clearly a great mole, a usually peaceful monster that eats bugs and other small creatures living underneath the ground. It doesn’t see very well, so it eats vegetables too, making it a big problem for farmers, as even a single one can ravage an entire field in no time if not discovered in a timely manner.”

Alan raised his brow and explained, crossing his arms, taking the role of Zoemi’s bestiary.

“Is it actually not harmful? Most creatures from the forest looked harmless but would always turn out the opposite.”

The black-haired man asked, cautiously moving forward, shielding both Alan and Aaron and taking a defensive stance.

“Oh, this one is the opposite actually. It got these big claws on its front paws, but rarely uses them to attack as long as we will not bother it, it will not attack us.”

Alan assured him with a confident smirk.

*PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS*

“Zhhhoo…! Zzzhhhhoooo…!”

“!!!”

The young man said that, but when the head of the supposedly peaceful monster popped out from the earth. The moment two sets of two massive grayish-black claws pierced the earth, a blackish smoke escaped into the air with a whistling sound, and the next moment the creature popped up seemed…

The great mole did share some traits with the animal that Zoemi was familiar with, but was not just an upscaled version of it, although it shared the dark-brown, almost black color with its smaller version. Its head was much bulkier and the jaw was much wider and stronger. The front paws were almost completely covered with thick keratin carapace that was extending into shovel-like claws that were exposed to the outside world.

“Zhooo…Zzzhhhhhoooo…!”

Still, the one specimen that showcased itself, could not be doing well, its thick furcoat was mated and the creature was gasping for air, letting out short, spasmatic breaths and gargling noises as cloudy saliva was dripping out of its mouth.

The bloodshot beady blackish eyes were looking around erratically, sometimes flashing their whites.

“Ewww…! What in the world…?! Is… is it rabid?! Why does it look like this?!”

Alan shivered and scuttled to the side, hiding behind Zoemi’s back and glancing nervously at the sick creature.

“Oh, so that’s not the default look then? Good to know.”

The black-haired man gulped down his saliva and nodded, trying to decide between just escaping or killing the monster while it was still relatively calm…