31 Onward to the Mission

The moment Samael got back to his room, he began packing up what little things he owned. Julius' things were also gone, it looks like he also went out early. In the cover of the night, Samael left the academy.

As he left he Academy premises, he noticed a presence. He turned towards a nearby tree and saw a mesmerizing scene. It seemed like a goddess dressed in white, illuminated under the light of the moon. She sat there on a tree trunk, seemingly waiting for someone.

It made Samael recall what happened earlier and he tried his best not to blush. He walked towards the tree that Silvia was seating on and called out to her.

"Hey, don't you know that's dangerous?" He said but in his mind he thought

'Dangerous to me anyway.'

There were no changes in her expression as she jumped down and time seemed to have stopped and she looked like a fairy dancing under the moonlight.

She arrived down slightly behind him but he could still see her figure. With a light smile she walked back to the Academy leaving a simple sentence.

"Do your best...be careful"

As he heard this Samael chuckled and started to walk towards the outer area of the Academy. Samael wanted to go and stroll through the academy's forest. The rustling of the tree leaves and the sound of the crickets entered his ears as he walked along.

Stars twinkled above the dark skies giving a sense of tranquility.

Samael searched for a safe place to sit and began meditating, taking advantage of the tranquil feeling that he's experiencing.

Inside his consciousness Samael saw Black lightning coursing like a dragon, Ice Crystals floating in the open space like pillars. Like this Samael cultivated, refining his control over the two elements.

The next moment he opened his eyes, the bright light of then sun made him closed his eyelids a bit. But the refreshing feeling of the heat from the sun rejuvenated him and with a light stretch he began to rush towards the Easter Mountains where his mission location is.

As he exit the forest he saw a small village just below the mountains, at first sight Samael estimated that around five hundred people lived there, he could see the farms and animals that they are raising and a local saw mill.

Samael walked down and headed towards that village. Just as he neared the village he saw a group of farmers coming from the village. They wore straw hats which they awkwardly lowered once they saw Samael.

He didn't put much though to it and he entered the village, there was a wide road at the center of the village to make it easier for carriages to pass through.

Residents of the village were walking left and right but the moment someone spotted Samael, most of them acted awkwardly trying their best to avoid him. Samael even picked up some malicious intent pointed towards him.

He thought of this to be weird and he walked inside a local pub as this was where most of those malicious intent was coming from.

As entered the pub, the few men inside all glanced at him. It didn't take much to figure out that the locals doesn't take kindly to strangers or to be precise, outsiders. Though this was the case, Samael knows of a trick that will be effective no matter where you are.

Samael walked up to a table where three men sat, drinking their ale. The three of them angrily glanced at Samael but their attitudes changed quickly once Samael placed a gold coin on their table.

"Info, anything you can give." He said.

And true enough, the faces of these three men took a huge turn. They started talking about some fights between their neighbors, how a few of their cows might've been stolen by a mysterious figure, just anything that they could think off. Then finally one of them brought up a recent major robbery by the mountain bandits.

From the looks of it these people were local targets and they would usual be attacked once a month, they have already notified the lord of the area and expeditions for searching the lair of this bandits have been done but no one has found them yet.

Samael asked where most of these robberies were done and it seems like they were done near the west side of the mountain which is north-east from here.

Finally, Samael stood up and left the pub along the coin.

He walked towards the direction where he heard most of the cases happened. Along the way he suddenly heard a woman's scream and the cries of a child, together with the sound of hooves.

"No, please! don't hurt my daughter! Please! Spare her!"

"Mommy"

Samael rushed with a burning fire in his eyes, those cries were similar to the cries his clan members made as they were slaughtered. Their screams and cries still haunts him from time to time. So hearing these similar cries prompted him to move.

It didn't take long for him to find them, there were three men holding down the mother, two more who were holding the girl and lastly the two men riding the horses.

The mother was being held down and her daughter was being dragged by the other two men.

He flashed by, quickly taking care of the two men who was holding the little girl. This shocked the other bandits and they were quickly angered.

"What the- who the hell are you?!"

"Take another step and I'll kill this bitch!"

Samael stopped in his tracks but his eyes was still as cold and he muttered "Terminus..."

And quickly a frost layer covered the ground, stretching towards the the three men holding the mother. In an instant their body was encased in Ice and you could still see the shock from their faces.

Seeing this, the remaining two, who were riding the horses, fled the scene.

The mother hurried and embraced her daughter and the two of them cried in their arms. Seeing this scene Samael breathed a sigh of relief, it was a good thing that he arrived in time. He didn't want to see what happened to his family happen before his eyes.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you..." The mother turned to him and thanked him.

When they calmed down, Samael took out a bunch of food supplies that he had packed for this mission and shared it with the mother and daughter pair.

Things always start to look good once food is out, it didn't take long for the child to smile again after eating the food. The mother also partook in the meal and feeling their bellies full, their spirits were lifted allowing them temporarily forget about what just happen.

Samael then asked "Do you mind if I ask you about the village, ma'am?"

The mother blushed a bit and gracefully responded "Please, by all means."

Seeing her act like this, Samael laughed a bit before getting serious. "I get the impression that the village doesn't take kindly to strangers, why is that?"

She then replied "It's because of the bandits. The people are scared of outsiders because they don't know if they can trust them or not. The village had guards patrolling once but those wretched thieves dressed up as merchants to enter the village. They've played this card a few more times after that and because of it the village no longer trust any outsider that comes into the village."

Samael nodded, now that he understands why he can put that matter behind him as he couldn't very well blame the villagers for that. He then followed up "So why aren't you doubtful towards me?"

"You helped me and my daughter, you couldn't be a bad person. Also, we live outside the village so we didn't experience what they have."

Laughing, Samael then stood up and bounded the five bandits that he incapacitated earlier. He could've killed them earlier but he couldn't bare to do it in front of the kid. So he decided interrogate them later before killing them.

The mother then meekly walked up to him before saying "Uhm, let me treat you dinner as a thanks for saving us. It's the least that I can do."

"Please mister..." Her daughter also begged while hiding behind her mother, shy.

Samael didn't know what to say, scratching his head he agreed.

The mother and daughter pair lead the way and Samael followed, dragging the five bandits. He followed them till he saw a hut just a bit away from the village, it was fairly hidden so the bandits rarely came across this mother and daughter pair.

He tied the five captured bandits near a tree, when he went inside the hut the mother was already preparing dinner.

"Mister, mister." Her daughter came up to Samael and in her hands was a doll.

"Little one, call me big brother instead." Samael crouched down and ruffled her hair.

The little giggled and she looked extremely cute. Samael didn't get a good look at the mother and child pair earlier due to the situation but now that he thought about it, these two were beauties on the same level with Stella.

The mother was spunky, with a high pony-tail and brown hair, her daughter inherited this trait but her daughter was way more energetic and outward with her emotion.

"Casey dear, could you get the plates?" Her mother's voice came from their kitchen.

"Yes, mom~" The child, Casey hopped, appearing to be excited for dinner. She then went inside the kitchen and brought one plate at a time.

Samael was a guest and Casey's mom forbid him from doing anything so just sat there and enjoyed the scene. He felt a connection with this mother-daughter pair, especially the daughter, Casey. Thinking that should his family is still alive and he had a sibling then he would like his sibling to be like Casey, pure and energetic.

A sudden sadness then stun his heart but it was only for a moment as Casey's mom then left the kitchen with two plates of dishes then she went back and came back in with a bowl of soup.

The three of them began eating, Casey who had the purity and curiosity known to a child began asking Samael about the outside world. Samael laughed and did his best to describe the world as best as he could, he even talked about the higher realms. Talking about them as if they were mysterious and fantastic lands filled with treasures.

The child's eyes gleamed and she swore that she would travel to these places and bring back souvenirs for her mother. The mother and Samael both laughed at this but they were not belittling her, no, in fact they cheered Casey on.

Once dinner was done, Samael excused himself as he had to do his usual cultivation routine. The Mother had long known that Samael was a cultivator hence she didn't asked much. She then explained it to Casey as simple as she could, Samael thanked her for that and exited the hut.

He also brought along the bandits that he captured.

The moment they were deep in the forest, Samael freed one of them and asked. "Where is your headquarters? Speak!"

"I-i don't know, i swear." the bandit said.

"I don't believe you..." Samael raised his foot and brought it down on his left hand, crushing it.

"Aghhh!" The bandit screamed before following it with a "I promise, I know nothing. I'm just a nobody, all I do is grunt work."

Samael's face was still cold and he didn't say anything before he swung his katana, decapitating the man.

He did this to prove that he means business and he will kill them. Pressured and terrified the four remaining bandits then began swearing that they know nothing, they even pointed to one of them who they claim to know where the headquarters was.

This one then screamed "No! I don't know anything!"

Samael knows that he gotta strike while the iron was still hot and he swung his katana again, cutting off one of the man's fingers off.

This man screamed in pain like the first one did and it dawned to him that Samael was really gonna kill him if he didn't tell him everything that he knew.

Bandits...scumbags who have no code of loyalty, only blinded by the allure of money and joy of hurting others.

Samael has no compassion for people like this.

The man then shivered before saying "Okay, okay, I'll tell you all I know but you have to let me go."

Samael was silent for a while before answering "I promise."

"A-alright, I don't really know where the boss's lair is but they usually meet me on the other side of the mountain." And he pointed to the mountain just north of the village.

Nodding, Samael then cut off the man's restraint.

The man hesitated, unsure whether this guy was kidding or true to his word. Once he confirmed that Samael wasn't gonna do anything, he ran as far away as he could but not even twenty meters away he saw his vision suddenly moving clockwise. It didn't even occurred to him that he was decapitated, not even to his death.

"You-you promised." One of the remaining bandits screamed once he saw what happened.

"Remind me again why I should uphold any promise with scumbags like you." Samael's eyes glowed red and killed the man after he spoke. It was a swift blow to the head.

The last two bandits trembled, one of them even pissed himself from fear. They tried to crawl away but Samael caught up to them.

"Trying to get away? Too bad you won't have the chance." Samael smirked and he then killed two remaining bandits.

Once he was done, he cleaned up the scene and proceeded to find a suitable place to cultivated. Now that he has a clue where to look first, Samael decided to bring himself to his most optimal condition.

Under the moonlight, Samael once again sunk deep into his subconsciousness. Refining his control and understanding of his Black Lightning and Terminus Ice.