The Devil's Cage

The terrifying presence was different this time.

It was slightly longer yet it wasn't even two seconds but enough for Kieran to precisely determine where the presence came from.

However, Kieran stood still. The tremble beneath his feet hadn't stop either.

In fact, the waves of tremble only began to erupt.

Kieran would also be helpless against the wrath of nature. All he could do was wait patiently.

At the same time, Kieran's attention was locked on the man's back.

There was too much mystery surrounding the man, to the point that Kieran's instinct told him that the man had a hostile nature.

As for the man himself though, he was still standing where he was, calmly looking at the lake water.

Ripples rippled through the surface of the lake and turned extremely muddy because of the ground's vigorous tremble. The man frowned a little as he continued to looked at the scene.

"Hmmm?" A slightly displeased sound came from the man.

The slim man didn't have any actual movements in regards to the tremble though, all he did was express his dissatisfaction with one sound.

As the sound from him came…

The earthquake stopped completely.

Kieran clearly sensed the surge of power beneath his feet was forced to a stop and the process of it turning calm. That tremendous power that was enough to flip the world over was suppressed down forcefully just as it was about to emerge, or in a more appropriate way, it disappeared like it never appeared before.

"WHAT KIND OF POWER IS THIS!?"

Kieran squinted his eyes, drawing out [Arrogant Word] directly. His muscles were tight like a loaded spring, ready to throw himself at his foe like a jaguar as he gazed at the man before him like he was his mortal enemy.

Even a rare nervousness appeared in his heart.

The strength that the man showed was enough to overwhelm him.

Those who could oppose even natural disaster… only the God of Earth Nikorei had such an achievement recorded.

Yet it was just recorded from books, it was the first time Kieran encountered such a fearsome existence.

Kieran's brain was spinning quickly. He was thinking if the man would strike at him, what would it be, how would he react to the attack, defend, counter or even ...retreat.

Kieran wasn't a stubborn person with an old-fashioned sense.

He was respectful to those who still fought even though they knew they would be no match but it didn't hinder his thoughts of retreating.

Deep inside, he knew he wasn't the kind of martyr that would sacrifice himself valiantly.

Those who did would be known as heroes.

Kieran, was just a mere mortal.

"It seems like you are hostile against me. So, I see the previous incident has caused some misunderstanding?"

The slim man said as he faced Kieran with his back. His tone was still as calm as before and his words were direct as ever.

Kieran kept quiet because his heart didn't assume that was a misunderstanding.

"I am quite surprised by your appearance and I think we could have a good talk, but somehow some others are anxious…Well, so do I! Do as you please, regardless of how it turns out, I will pay you with rewards. Of course, a deposit will be issued first!"

The man was saying a lot of confusing words to Kieran.

Though as he spoke, he finally turned around to Kieran.

It was nothing but a common face, if he wasn't within this estate that would strike one speechless and presented such unimaginable power, he would be nothing but a passerby.

The only feature on the man was youth.

He seemed around the same age as Kieran, around 16 to 17.

He even shared a similar temperament, a youthful face yet a mature temperament.

Even more, coincidentally, Kieran's pupils and his were black!

If Kieran's feature wasn't as distinguishable, Kieran would be looking into a mirror.

The young man saw Kieran's astonished face, yet he smiled lightly following a reach of hand.

The Pawn Fire Raven egg plus the nest that Kieran hid under his hood flew out straightaway into the young man's hand. [Crimson Ghost Stomach] couldn't really hold living things, not even eggs.

When Kieran reacted to it, the young man already had the nest in his hand. A blurry mist came out from the young man's hand was infused into the egg within the nest.

The nest then flew back to Kieran.

Kieran caught the nest but his eyes were locked dead at the young man.

Even Kieran was within range, he couldn't even sense the power within the white mist. If it wasn't for his own eyes, he wouldn't even believe the white mist existed.

"Fearsome power!"

He commented in his heart and was thankful to himself that he could never be too careful.

Though, the young man seemed to not notice how cautious Kieran was.

"I was planning to explain it to you but now, it seems like you have to go investigate on your own."

His words were clear but his figure started to drift away.

When the last few words of his sentence came out, the young man's figure vanished into thin air without a trace.

The wind breezed over the pavilion.

Kieran suddenly felt a cold at his back. He only realized his back was drenched because of the cold sweat that broke out without knowing when.

"I'm too far apart!" Keiran thought.

Then, his initial speculations started to wobble. After all, with the strength the young man presented, should he want to deal with Kieran, petty tricks wouldn't even be necessary.

The young man could very well crush Kieran with raw power.

Kieran was certain that it would be as easy as flipping a palm with the young man's power.

"Yet he didn't… Perhaps…"

While he was still pondering the question, the nest in his hand started to rumble.

Ka, Kakkakaa!

The surface of the raven egg started to break out and was soon followed by cracks all over.

When a light red beak burst out of the eggshell, the whole egg was hatched.

An almost naked Pawn Fire Raven was hatched from the egg, which could only be considered to be very ugly.

"He saved the time for me to hatch the egg… so this is the deposit?"

As Kieran's words subsided, that smaller than a chick Pawn Fire Raven started to grow at an exponential rate.

Its naked body had thin hair growing out and soon turned into raven feathers. The feathers were slim and long, growing into a plentiful amount. Its body even expanded like a balloon. From only a thumb size chick into a palm-size bird, eventually growing to the length of a forearm.

[Name: Pawn Fire Raven]

[Type: Fiend]

[Rank: Low]

[Attack: Feeble]

[Defense: Feeble]

[Attribute: 1. Agility, 2. Transform Fire]

[Effect: Infuse]

[Prerequisite: The first sight]

[Remark: This is a matured Pawn Fire Raven, able to carry out scout and contact missions]

...

[Agility: Increase flying speed by +1]

[Transform Fire: Able to transform into a ball of fire with a Weak attack. Able to adhere to surface and float]

...

[Infuse: Able to infuse itself into its companion or user's fire, boosting the fire element slightly.]

...

Gark!

A clear, sonorous cry from the raven.

It quickly gobbled down the remaining shells in its nest and jumped onto Kieran's left shoulder, rubbing its reddish black head at Kieran's cheek.

Witnessing the hatching process of the Pawn Fire Raven and how it rapidly grew in size, Kieran took out [Merman's Meat] without further ado.