Hell's Academy

Chapter 75: Bridge Between Worlds

"The Authoritarians you're both about to meet are all Horned Authoritarians." Korlen said, pointing over to a large mountain that looked like a small hill from their location. It seemed hidden underneath the blue sky, far in the distance, but nonetheless only a few seconds away if they rushed their at maximum speed. "Horned Authoritarians all descend from a single group of ancestors. We've all changed drastically because of the Ki of the Furnace, but we come together in times of need."

"I thought Authoritarians don't work together?" Howard asked, brushing some of the blood off his face from his final bout of training. He'd finally managed to cross the river using the King Fire Steps after two days of training. "Heh, if that's the case, why did i learn you're the weakest."

"Howard!" Barabin coughed, clearing his throat. "Korlen here is clearly stronger than me."

"It's fine," Korlen sighed, crossing his arms. "We are weak because we don't work together. However, unlike you Horned and the Aresoul, we all look extremely different from each other. It's hard to work with a ten headed serpent when you're a lizard."

"However, we still work together when an ominous future lurks in the shadows." Korlen tapped his back. "Howard, if you don't mind, I'd like us to get there fast. You want me to throw you there, or you want to get on my back?"

"Uhm, I don't want to die again today," Howard smiled, jumping onto Korlens' shoulders, wrapping his arms around him, with a smile. It felt like his father had been resurrected, brought back from the darkness that took him, and turned into a nice guy. "Heh, how should I act?"

"Act like you might die if you say the wrong thing," Barabin sighed, crossing his arms. "Howard, Authoritarians love children, but they don't like strong people like me. Since you're with me, your words are naturally my words. I don't want to die because you're careless."

"He's telling the truth, Howard. If there is one thing you need to work on, is being so honest," Korlen stepped off his back foot.

Swoosh!

Leaping across the dozens of spiked mountains beneath them, in just a second Korlen seemed to cover over a dozen mountains in the endless distance. Landing on top of a peak, he gently placed Howrad down as Barabin landed by his side.

In front of them, three humans seemed to be sitting around a fire, sharing drinks and smiling while waiting some food to come to the boil. To the left of them, the carcass of some type of small Authoritarian had been fully cooked, and to the right a single 1.6 meter tall female with blonde hair seemed to have fallen asleep. Howard couldn't help but stare at her gorgeous figure and alluring body before realizing all three men had turned to him with suspicious and unwelcoming expressions.

"Who is the kid? I thought we only agreed to earth man over here," A buff man, roughly about 2 meters tall, stood up with the wing from the Authoritarian carcass and bit down into it. "Are you trying to kill us, Korlen?"

"I'm here to sneak into the base!" Howard said with a smile, "Hi, it's nice to meet you! Who's the pretty girl?"

"Howard," Barabin face palmed himself. Bowing deeply to try and show his respect "I apologize. He's a student of Horned Nation that's only fourteen years old. He means nothing but respect."

"Hmm, well I like him already!" The man laughed, patting his belly and pointing over at a log that had been prepared to the side. "He's honest! People who are honest don't usually back stab you! Ha, who made him? Was it you, Korlen?"

"He-he really is a student of Horned Nation," Korlen had taken time to adjust to Howard's strange Ki fluctuations too.

Howard really did seem to be an Authoritarian to most Authoritarians due to his Ki Frequency. When he moved, it seemed that he carried an ancient will full of limitless might. To describe it further, he gave off the presence of a special type of ancient being, one of the first horned creatures that had walked the land.

Nonetheless, it wasn't quite the same as a regular Authoritarian, and could best be compared to a diluted wine. It wasn't quite like the Horned, or the Authoritarian. In many ways, Howard seemed to be the perfect bridge between their two worlds.

"Hah, well then. I'll tell your 9 wives you've been faithful, hahaha! Kid, I'm Bersax. I'll be haunting your dreams for the next few hours! That over there is my daughter, however, she's much older than you!"

"She's training in her sleep," Bersax laughed, sitting down and guiding Howard over to his side. "So tell me? How are you going to help us with the Jarkeles. Do you even have an Authoritarian form?"

"He doesn't," Barabin said, shaking his head. "However, he can do two things no other Horned can. One, he can use recently expelled energy and weaponize it as his own Ki. Two, he can tune into Ki much better than anyone I've ever seen at his level."

"He's a little monster. I'm trying to get Perelel to marry him," Korlen said, sitting next to Howard and grabbing a piece of the small pig like Authoritarian that had been partially butchered. "If you do well, Howard, you better watch out. A few more women might have to go to the West Branch to try and earn your affections!"

"We have something to discuss." The girl opened her eyes, folding up her beautiful torso into a seated position. "We don't have very long to discuss it. The Jarkalez will be finished making a pathway in less than a day. We need to attack tonight."

"We can discuss the fake Authoritarian later,"

"She's a little mean, but she'll warm up to you!" Bersax's tone got more serious, before he snapped his fingers, turning the flames into a map of the nearby area. "Heh, sorry Howard. Korlen, did you tell those two our plan?"

"The plan is to kill them all, right?" Howard said with a smile. "If they're trying to hurt my friends, than it just be better to kill them."

"Hoh, I like him a little bit," The blonde women pepped up, laughing a little bit. "Kid, the Jarkeles aren't easy to kill. We're going to lure them away and have Barabin here protect us while we try to get close to them."

"And that's where you destroy the pathway," Korlen finished the girl, Varkale's sentence. "The Jarkales only travel in packs of 10 to a fight, never less, and we sense only thirteen with them. Two of the Jarkales are definitely student level, roughly the C rank. Howard, your body is almost to the C rank. As for the final one, it's an old man in the B rank. He's likely going to be unable to hurt you if you destroy the path."

"How do I destroy it?" Howard asked, having never seen what a so called pathway was in person. Barabin had shown him how to make a small path on the bus, it was basically just blasting a single area with your Ki in order to create a swelling of your power in space. However, how do you destroy one?

"It's simple. You just put your own Ki into it." Barabin patted Howard on the back. "When I showed you how to make a path on the bus, it disappeared when I touched it right? Ki gathered into such small places is very sensitive. If you throw a fireball at it, it will explode."

"Make sure you're close away from it," Korlen added, snapping his fingers, causing a black flame to spiral in his hands. "Worst case scenario, use King Fire Sprint to escape as fast as possible. There is a small chance a Jarkeles in the A rank will stay behind. If that happens, Howard, you're going to have to escape by yourself."

"I'm in! It's to protect Monica, and Jenny. I'll kill everything that gets in my way if I have to," Howard smiled, nodding his head and turning to the mountains in the distance. "So, how far away are they?"

"They're pretty far, but also close for them," Bersax pointed at the Horizon, a small swelling in the distance that seemed like a small dot seemed to be his target. "They're roughly 150 miles away. However, at about 100 miles, they'll attack us. Since you're weaker, I'm guessing Korlen's plan was to have you run there unnoticed. Heh, you might even win my daughters affections if you succeed."

"You have plenty of other daughters, father. I'm into older men. Frankly, I'd rather date earth dude over here than pipsqueak. Unless he can crush me in a battle, I'd rather starve every night than look over and realize my husband is a pansy." The Authoritarian named Varkale's replied, having it with her father and his strange humor.

She had grown up with an extremely high aptitude compared to other of her Authoritarian peers, and reached the B rank by the time she turned 20, and learned to change into her human form when she was twenty-five.

Not only that, but she was a Nine Horned Lotus Lizard, which was the strongest and most powerful Lizard species on this side of the Furnace. For her to marry just any regular person, it would be an insult to her upbringing and years of hard work. Frankly, she really wanted to be the strongest Nine Horned Lotus Lizard and never marry.

Unfortunately, it seemed that her dad wouldn't let her go another ten years without marrying, or he'd force her to leave their den. Authoritarians, prioritized the birth of the next generation, and this also applied to her father. Naturally, since his daughter had grown up so strong, it could only mean his grandkids would be even stronger.

"Father, do you hear me? I don't want to marry ever frankly! Not until I meet a man who can literally knock me off my feet!"

"Well, Howard, would you like to fight my daughter, later? Hah, if you knock her off her feet, she'll follow you wherever you go, hahahaha!" Bersax patted him on the back before he noticed a loud bang in the distance. "Ugh, but seriously, I think they're almost done with their path. We have roughly two hours before we go. Is there anything we need to practice?"

"I'm unfamiliar with your powers," Barabin sighed, pointing down at a ravine below, "In one hour, I think we can spar enough that I know how to protect you," Barabin gently tapped the floor, jumping into the air before he spun towards the Ravine below.

"Howard, why don't you come watch. Consider this part of your training."