CHAPTER 23 - WORLD LEVEL

Tully and Mello made their way towards the shattered forest. On the way, Mello kept questioning Tully about all kinds of things related to the process of how he discovered the path towards the Siren pearl. Tully answered very patiently, his answer did not seem to satisfy Mello. But every time he got suspicious, he once again fails to notice how Tully secretly crushed a small stone.

"My lord" Tully asked after Mello cut a huge saber tooth tiger that blocked their way. "I heard that lady Elaila still hasn't found the creature you're looking for. Could it be that he left the city?"

Mello wiped his sword in the tiger's fur. Not even looking at Tully when he answered. "No, although the mark placed on him after Jenna's death has its signal blocked, I can still sue it to roughly determine his whereabouts. He is in the city I'm sure of it"

Tully nodded and changed the subject. "My lord, if we really do manage to find the siren's pearl. What would you do with it?"

Mello grinned as if the mere thought of getting that legendary pill sent an inexplicable rush to his brain.

"If I get it? If I get it then forget about finding that pest hiding in the city. I'll be able to…" feeling his almost tongue slip, Mello frowned at Tully, "don't ask too many questions"

Mello suddenly remembered something and asked Tully, "wasn't there a report saying that a great battle took place in the shattered forest?"

Cold sweat suddenly formed on Tully's back but his expression remained the same. "Yes, I remember…" he thought for a second before breaking into a visible panic.

"Could it be related to the siren pearl pill? Did someone get to it for us and that's why there was a fight?"

"They dare!!" Mello understood the gravity of the situation and erupted in anger.

"My lord, I think we should hurry"

"Where is that place exactly?"

"Yes my lord...after we cross the valley beyond this rift, I saw a giant crater, so giant it can cover the entire city"

Although Mello hasn't been out of hid meditation in years, he still has some information about the shattered forest. That giant crater his servant described that is the entrance to the core region of this forest.

Unknowingly, they've been speeding ahead full speed for hours and had already left the boundaries of the outer region, delving into the inner region and now approaching the entrance to the core region which is not known to many but is actually located underground.

Mello failed to notice that even though he was running full speed and managed to cross thousands of kilometers in hours and left Lavin city and Grandor borders way behind, his boy servant was able to keep up, though with visible effort.

Every time he would start getting suspicious, the boy would just secretly crush a small stone and the suspicion would be gone.

"That place…" Mello hesitated, "there is a world rank beast in the core region, I cannot yet fight it"

He clearly wasn't a greedy fool, a world rank beast is beyond his strength level.

"But my lord, think, about how if you consumed the pill, would a mere beast who somehow managed to cultivate be a match to you??" Tully persuaded, "you'll be able to walk sideways in most of the kingdoms in Thesa continent"

"Hmm" Mello contemplated, the boy's flattery words got his attention.

"Although the location is near the entrance, it's really not that close… we'll scout the area first and if we see any sign of the world rank beast, we'll retreat at once"

"Yes my lord"

The two resumed their journey. Mello got rid of all the beasts in their way while Tully just kept talking about his artifacts and things his father left him.

A few hours later, they arrived at the crater. From the strand of earth people, this place looked like a land where a massive nuclear bomb exploded. Even the soil was smooth and glassy, showing that whatever it was that happened here, it was strong enough to melt the soil.

���It's there my lord, I can feel the location, that's the exact same cave from the map vision"

Mello scanned the area. They were still on the outskirts of the crater. The entrance to the core region where the world-class beast lived was still a far distance ahead. He heaved a sigh of relief and turned his full attention to finding the siren pearl.

Although it is called a cave, it was more like a hole in the crater walls. It was dark and somber inside, but Mello simply channeled the internal energy in his body and created light to guide the way.

"Wow my lord, I heard only the strongest people in our kingdom can condense energy to become like that" Tully flattered the lord a bit.

Mello proudly raised his head, "the things I can do are more than just children's trick. If we get the sirens pearl, I'll make sure to teach you a lot of stuff"

"Thank you my lord" Tully bowed gratefully.

"Shh" Mello silenced him. "I feel something"

The cave extended for a few more minutes' worths of walking. When they arrived at the end, whatever Mello kept feeling only got stronger.

At the end of the cave lay one stone coffin made of unknown black material that Mello could see nothing through, as well as many skeletal remains of humanoid shape. But the thing that caught both of their attention were the two beautiful round pills floating above the coffin.

"This is it, this really is the siren pearl" Mello's voice shook in excitement, "and…there's actually two of them"

"My lord, what in that coffin?" Tully asked.

"Probably the one who left the pills behind" Mello impatiently answered while walking towards the pills. He thought for a second and turned to Mello, "since you found it, you can take one. You are my student now after all"

"How could I?" Tully jumped, "teacher, those are yours. My body cannot handle such power. Just from being next to them, I feel my soul getting crushed" Tully hurriedly answered while crushing a stone behind his back again.

Mello looked at this new student of his with approval.

"Teacher, are you going to take it now?"

"Hmm, yes. It's better to do it now than waiting till later and risking unforeseen events to happen"

"Teacher is wise"

"Then stand to the side, since I don't know what can happen when I refine the pill"

Tully obliged, standing against the cave wall, he watched as Mello took the two pills in his hands, sat down cross-legged, and swallowed one pill.

Minutes turned to hours, and Tully stood in the same position watching over Mello. By the crack of dawn the next day, Mello finally opened his eyes, strength radiated from every fiber of his being.

"Magnificent" he yelled before laughing hysterically.

"Teacher, did you succeed?" Tully hopefully asked.

"Yes, I am halfway towards the world level myself"

"what do you mean master, could it be that we were wrong and the Siren Pearl does not let one jump directly to the world level?"

There are three levels of Mana and internal energy cultivation known to people of this continent. Normal level cultivator, expert-level cultivator, and world level cultivator.

Cassil, Ebara, and other court mages as well as the best warriors of the Grandor kingdom are all on the expert level. Clearly, even for individuals with the same cultivation levels, there is a clear and distinct power gap. The same thing applies to warriors

But, when a person manages to reach the world level, then it basically means they've become a powerhouse capable of facing more than a hundred expert cultivators.

This is also the reason for the wide disparity between the kingdoms of the Thesa continent. Kr'asia kingdom, the strongest kingdom, has two world level cultivators, while other continents have one. Others, like Grandor, have none; hence the reason for it being considered a 'weak kingdom'.

Now that Mello has been offered a chance to enter the world level, how could he not be disappointed to only be halfway there?

However, Mello wasn't disappointed that much, because, "with the second pill, I'm sure to breakthrough in a few days"

"Teacher, I think you should take it now. So far, we know that there was a fight near this core region entrance vicinity and maybe its people like teacher searching for the siren pearl. To prevent anything from going south, I really think you should take the second pill now"

Mello disagreed, but something about his new student just said changed his mind slowly. Yes, that's right, he should take it now otherwise, and he never knew what could happen. This student of his was quite attentive, too bad he is going to be refined into the blood basin and join his personal collection once they're in the capital.

A person who knows him so well and can influence his thinking, Mello can never allow them to live.

Melo once again drowned in his evil thoughts and failed to see his student's hand behind his back.

"You're right, then I'll take it right away"

Repeating the same process, Mello once again started refining the pill. Only this time, only a few minutes passed before he felt a piercing pain in his stomach and vomited blood.

"Ghr..."

A muffled sound with blood came out of Mello's throat.