The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

"Vault. The rest of the words are still worn down, but this part is barely legible. I'm certain it's the word for 'vault'." Oscar said with a smile extending from his lips, the kind which came up in anticipation of treasure. His obsidian eyes darted from place to place, the light of expectation and greed glowing within them.

Overgrown trees, rubble, and ruined structures almost consumed by nature, everything entered Oscar's sight except for a clue or indication of a vault. He wandered around the area, scrutinizing each part, leaving no stone unturned. However, the search turned up empty with no results.

"I guess there's only one explanation for this." Oscar stared at the large tree, its trunk so wide that walking around it took them a few minutes. His eyes wandered up into the thicket of branches and leaves, which held some rubble. "The most probable cause is that when the realm changed through its mysterious means, the stone with words on it fell from this tree."

Austin placed his hand on the smooth trunk of the elder tree and stabbed his dagger toward it. However, the bark remained unharmed.

Oscar looked shocked that the tree could withstand Austin's fearsome dagger, but the reality was right in front of him as the dagger could not budge further into the bark. The tree's height reached high up into the air with no branches on its lower parts to help them climb. Oscar furrowed his brow, thinking about what to do.

"Here!" An unexpected voice came up from another part of the ruins.

Oscar and Austin snapped their heads around with a dangerous glint in their eyes and quickly went into hiding. Oscar turned to Austin with a nod and gestured with his hands, telling him to move forward. Whoever these newcomers were, they arrived from the opposite direction they had; the chances favored the probability of being students from another school.

Walking steadily with his feet barely making a sound, Oscar moved toward the source of the commotion while crouched. His obsidian eyes gleamed as the Prinstyct activated. They could be walking into a trap, so he had to be prepared as much as possible.

"There's nothing." Another voice called out.

"Are these ruins even worth it? We went all this way for nothing." A frustrated voice of a young woman resounded.

Oscar couldn't believe people could be so careless in this place. Perhaps since all the heavy hitters of the four powers went on to secure their base in the inner region around the central temple, these foolish individuals believed that there wouldn't be much danger to consider in the outer region. However, Oscar understood very well that danger lurked in every corner.

Finally, the three newcomers came into view. Peeking over a ruined wall, Oscar saw three people, two men and one woman, dressed in red uniforms, a clear indication of belonging to the Undying Flame Sect. They seemed to be arguing against each other but had friendly smiles on their faces.

'Calm down.' Oscar closed his eyes for a moment and regained his composure. His eyes could not help but look sadly at the group, who looked to be close friends, reminding him of himself with Frederick and Emily. As his sadness spilled out, a hand grasped Oscar's shoulder, and he turned to see Austin staring at him with a hardened expression.

A weak smile formed on his face to say he understood, and Oscar turned to the three, who decided to wander around. His eyes locked onto the woman, who smiled happily, not knowing of the two hunters lurking at the side. In the next instant, his eyes widened, and his Ein exploded.

'Silver Star'

Oscar quickly shot a 'Silver Star' with the added propulsion from Reis; it tore through the air without resistance toward the unassuming girl. All of this happened in a second; the presence of his Ein alerted the three, who turned toward the source. To Oscar, it seemed as if time had slowed as the woman turned around to see his 'Silver Star' right in front of her, an inch away.

He could see every contortion of her face as it changed from her smile to an expression of shock and fear at the 'Silver Star' about to shoot through her. The time flowed back to normal as the sound of a splat followed by a thud. The woman had a bloody hole in her chest, and her face paled with blood gushing out her mouth.

"Anna?!" The other two turned to their friend, the fallen woman, Anna, who had tears flowing down her eyes, but her life quickly faded as her eyes dimmed.

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Taking advantage of their moment of worry for their friend, Oscar and Austin rushed out from behind the wall. Oscar stabbed his 'Silver Lance' straight into the gut of one of them while Austin slit the other's throat. None of them could muster up their resistance in time because the death of their long-time friend had shaken them to the core.

"Dave. Anna…." The one Oscar impaled gurgled out his last words before his life also faded.

The one whose throat was slit squirmed on the ground with a whimper, unable to speak a word as the air escaped through the gash in his throat.

Oscar stopped Austin from finishing the struggling man off with a shake of his head. They watched as the man crawled toward the woman, Anna, stroked her cheek with his bloody hand, and clutched her hand with his, tears falling like a sudden downpour onto her face. Finally, the last flames of life flickered out of him as he plopped to the ground next to her, their hands still gripped tightly.

"Hmmm." A sigh escaped Oscar's lips. He looked drained while Austin continued to scan their surroundings. His hands moved toward their space pockets and took out all the items they had, pouring them into his own.

"I'm sorry," Oscar put away the space pockets and bowed to the three bloodied bodies. He noticed his uniform had blotches of blood on it. With a sigh, he laid them side by side.

Burying them would be a waste of time, and burning them would be eyecatching, so Oscar could only let them rest side by side.

"Have you not killed Greg in the past?" Austin asked as they went on their way back to the large tree. He saw Oscar's actions of carrying so much for the enemy as strange, even before killing them.

"I have and one other in the past. However, I was distracted both times by something right after, and they were alone. I had never seen friends dying together." Oscar's eyes lowered, recalling how they called their names in immense sadness that gripped his heart. However, he forcibly drove it out and hardened his heart. These battles were commonplace in the world of Exalts, and Oscar needed to be ready for the worst.

"I don't think the enemy would show you the same respect," Austin said coldly.

"That is true. However, I believe it is the right thing to do," Oscar stopped and stared at the large tree where he believed the vault was located. "I'll think about all the unsightly things I've had to do after Ashen Grove is over. For now, let's focus on surviving and gathering treasures."

"As long as you understand. Though we are students, we are also soldiers, by extension, for this mission. Do not forget." Austin crossed his arms and stared at the large tree, contemplating a way to climb.

Oscar frowned. "Don't worry. I understand that. Let's find a way up."

However, he couldn't get the image of those three out of his mind. Their happy smiles ended instantly; the same could happen to him and the others. Oscar clenched his bulwark as veins popped out of his hand; he would never allow that to happen.

"There's no easy way up," Austin said. "Should we abandon this vault? If it's this hard to climb, then others should have the same issue."

Oscar tapped his fingers on a stone pedestal with a frown. Their gains right now were the cores of the Grovekeepers and the items from the three fallen Undying Flame Sect members. It could be considered a worthwhile venture since they eliminated a few enemies.

However, with a great treasure trove potential up in the trees, it left a sour taste in his mouth to leave. But, it was more foolish to gripe and waste time when they could do something more productive. Oscar sighed and nodded. "Let's go to other places and return to base before nightfall."

"Ok." Austin nodded with a thin smile.

Oscar departed from the ruins, but not before glancing at the large tree that loomed over the ruins. He scoffed with a promise to scale that eventually.

The day slowly passed by. Oscar and Austin were a fearsome two-man team, moving around carefully and dispatching several powerful Lower Elite Exalt Beasts, collecting their cores and body parts until they made it back to the base surrounding the gate.

"They did quite a lot of work." Oscar noticed many white tents and tables with bonfires roaring, surrounded by a large stone wall with watchers on top. When they approached the campground's entrance, several students brandished their weapons and faced them.

"Calm down." Oscar held up his hands to show his compliance. "I am not a spy or impersonator. I am Oscar Terr."

"You will agree to a test." One of the students had a stern expression.

"Of course." Oscar nodded. Then another student came forward and formed a bubble of Ein surrounding her and Oscar. He noticed this bubble had placed some directive to tell the truth in him, something he could easily resist but that would needlessly alert the others.

"Drink this grade-two Truthsayer Elixir and answer my questions." The student pulled out a black vial from her space pocket and tossed it to Oscar and Austin.

They downed it and answered all the questions.

The woman nodded and said, "Thank you. Sorry, but we have to be careful."

"It's understandable." Oscar smiled in response. "You have an important duty to fulfill, and it would be disrespectful to reject the test."

Oscar passed through the entrance and felt his body pass through a thick film of air like his skin was squeezed. The formation, created by several students focusing their Ein in central points to link up, had allowed them through. At the central grounds with the large bonfires, Oscar found several students resting and eating as they chatted.

"This could work," Oscar mumbled, and Austin immediately understood what he was thinking.

Jumping on top of a table, Oscar shouted out to the gathered students. "I need someone who can help us scale a large tree. Its bark is smooth and hard, impenetrable, and the branches are too far away for us to reach."

Seeing the other students frown as they apologetically shook their heads, Oscar sighed. However, someone approached him, a familiar man.

"Erik?" Oscar recalled the man's name.

"Long time no see." Erik Miller smiled.

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