Swoosh! Swoosh!

The two men of the Celestial Order returned and reported, "We cleaned up the village, Young Master."

"What’s the damage?" asked the Young Master.

"Many of the houses were wrecked and 102 people were killed." they reported and everyone’s expressions fell.

Save for a few like Joshua and Randy, everyone else had families and this news made their hearts sink.

"Mm." the Young Master nodded expressionlessly. Then, he swept his gaze across everyone and said, "Bury the dead and go see if your families are alright."

Everyone began moving the corpses of fallen.

Joshua watched them for a moment before he walked over to Randy, who was staring at the spot Oliver died, in a daze.

He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. So, in the end, he just patted his shoulder to let him know he was there.

Someone came over and brought John away.

I continued standing there, watching people mourn and shed silent tears.

"How fragile life is, no?" I glanced over and saw it was Luna. Unlike everyone else, she had a neutral expression on her face but the look in her eyes told me she was also grieving.

"Indeed." I nodded, then after hesitating for a bit, I asked, "You aren’t going to check up on your family?"

"I have none." She shook her head. I noticed that when she said this, a desolate and longing look briefly flashed in her eyes.

I fell silent.

Right then I heard footsteps coming toward us and turned around. Luna did the same and we saw the Celestial Order’s trio walking over, their eyes fixed on me.

My eyes flickered but I quickly settled my thoughts and nodded at them, "Thank you for your help."

"Mm." The Young Master lightly nodded, then directly asked, "Do you want to join the Celestial Order?"

Luna’s eyes widened in surprise when she heard this, but then her expression returned to normal when she recalled how she had seen three Dark Beasts freeze in place when I jumped down from the wall.

’This is it.’ My heart skipped a beat. This was my way out of this wilderness and to larger pastures where I could rapidly grow stronger.

But despite my excitement, I didn’t immediately agree. Instead, I asked, "What are the responsibilities I will have if I join it?"

The two behind the young master furrowed their brows in displeasure.

To them, I was being too arrogant and wasn’t able to understand the young master’s kind intentions by not immediately accepting the offer.

On the other hand, the young master looked at me in surprise and I even noted a hint of appreciation in his eyes.

After a moment’s silence, he said, "If you don’t want to be bound, join the Aetherion Academy."

Saying this, he walked away with the two men in toe, who didn’t forget to give me disdainful looks before leaving.

After they left, Luna looked at me with a strange look on her face.

"What is it?" I raised my brows.

Her lips curved upwards as she said, "I hadn’t expected you to turn him down. You are... not bad."

I found myself smiling upon hearing her. Then, I opened my mouth but before I could say anything, she asked, "You want to know about the Aetherion Academy, no?"

"Wow, I didn’t think you were able to read minds." I joked. Given how I had been ignorant of everything, it wasn’t difficult for her to know I was going to ask her about this new institution after hearing its name.

Luna gave me a mock glare and I found myself thinking, ’She is indeed beautiful.’

I quickly snapped back to my senses, then asked, "So what is it?"

"The only information I have about it is that it is a massive institution and everyone, be it Awakened with ordinary backgrounds or those from the Celestial Order, Ironclad Dominion and Eclipse Sect, wants to join it." She answered.

I nodded in understanding, then asked while staring in the direction the trio left, "Do you think they will return to the village after they are done investigating the Black Sea’s anomaly?"

"I doubt it." answered Luna.

I pursed my lips, my expression falling. I also thought the same seeing how unconcerned they were about the village.

In fact, if not for the fact that they hadn’t gone too far when the Dark Beasts attacked and if the young master was as indifferent as the other two, they wouldn’t have helped kill the beasts either. Then, the village would have been destroyed and everyone, including me, would have died.

I thought about chasing them, but knowing it wouldn’t result in anything good even if I caught up with them, which I doubt I could in the first place seeing how fast they were.

I sighed. I was back to square one.

"Regretting your decision?" asked Luna.

"No," I shook my head, "I’m just feeling a little troubled because there doesn’t seem any safe way to get to the city."

This time Luna also sighed. She could understand how I was feeling. For the Awakened, this barren village wasn’t a good enough place.

"Come, we should help out." said Luna before she walked over and began helping people move the corpses into the village.

A few hours later, a mass burial was carried out and everyone gathered to mourn the loss.

A while later, while the children and women were still crying for their husbands and fathers, Joshua, Randy and other hunters who survived gathered in Joshua’s house to discuss things.

Thanks to my efforts in the battle, I was recognised to be one of them, so I was also invited to the gathering.

In the main seat, Joshua, covered in cloth bandages, his hand hanging limply by his side, began, "From what those people said, something is wrong with the Black Sea. And I doubt things will go back to normal anytime soon. This means... we’ll suffer more such attacks."

He paused as a heavy silence hung in the room.

"You want to take everyone and move to the city?" Randy spoke up when Joshua was about to continue.