Chapter 428 - Runemaster

"I should check out what's happening" After traveling for an hour, he eventually decided to send spyders throughout the train.

"Open the door," Michael said to Nightmare who was watching the outside with his nose pressed against the window. Nightmare flew towards the doorknob and opened the door by twisting the knop using both of his hands.

Michael sent several spyders through the door. Nightmare kept watching the spyders crawling out the door and activating their camouflage to blend in with the environment,

The corridor was pretty much empty except for a few youngsters who put their heads out the door to look at the corridor as though they were expecting someone.

Michael was watching everything with his eyes closed. The feeds were running in his mind. Although it was stressful to watch them in his mind, he was not in the situation to set up mirrors or contact Azazel.

Speaking of Azazel, Michael tried to establish a connection with his demon butler but he was unable to connect with him. It didn't come as a surprise to Michael as his earpieces lacked the power to enable him to communicate between realms.

The spyders he sent towards the front of the train returned nothing. However, the ones that went on the other side showed him something interesting. It was a sight of several youngsters who were tall, lean, and mean-looking ganging up on a youngster. The guy who was getting the beating curled in the shape of a question mark to cover his chest, gut, and face.

The elves wore robes so fine and silky. They looked like they were weaved using golden threads. They neatly combed their golden hair and wore a silver circlet with a red ruby in the center.

Their pointy ears and flawless smooth skin were a dead giveaway of their identity as elves to Michael. He could not identify the youngster's race as he was covering his face. Michael moved around the spyders to get a better angle,

"Filthy half-blood"

"Thank Eladriel we could only give you a beating"

"Let's just cut his ears"

"I feel disgusting just by kicking this filthy half-blood"

The elven youngsters were shouting while beating the one who they called half-blood. Michael began to realize what was happening and his suspicion was confirmed when he saw the ears of the youngster who was getting beaten up. Those ears were not as pointy as the ears of the elves, still they were not the ears of humans.

"Half elf," Michael thought. He heard Claire's grandfather Christopher talk about the proud nature of elves. Because Claire's mother, who was an elf eloped with a human, the house of Elacan sent a mage to capture Elasha, Claire's mother, and put a powerful cure on Christopher and Claire's father.

Claire was a half-elf too but she seemed completely human, unlike the youngster. Although Claire was an exceptional beauty, it was still far too for someone to say she has elven blood running in her body.

"I am tired"

"Yeah I need some blood wine"

"And I need to change my shoes because of this filth"

The youngsters began to kick the half-elf harder and harder but soon, they left him alone. Michael saw the half-elf lying on the ground still. He almost thought the half-elf lost consciousness because of the beating the elves gave him.

The half-elf surprised him by standing up. Now that the half-elf was on his feet, Michael could see his face. The half-elf had a pair of blue eyes, golden shoulder-length hair, warm ivory skin tone as well as a pair of arched eyebrows on his long face.

Unlike the elves, the half-elf was wearing a cream colored jacket, black pants that had several stitches and worn-out brown boots. The half-elf bent backward holding his waist,

"Oh my back" the half elf grimaced,

He then wiped off the blood coming out from his nostrils and surprisingly, he grinned ear to ear. The reason for his happiness was revealed to Michael when the half elf opened his fist. Michael saw several silver rings,

"Great harvest. I hope these assholes have something valuable inside"

The half-elf mumbled under his breath. Still, Michael was able to hear him. The half-elf gawked back and forth before rushing towards the back of the train.

"Interesting"

Michael moved the spyders behind the half elf to follow him. The half elf passed every compartment until the last one. Yet, he never opened the last compartment. He walked past the compartments and stepped into the last couch which was one open compartment. Several suitcases were lying around and some of them were opened. Clothes and books were lying around chaotically. The half-elf jumped onto a stack of suitcases,

The half-elf looked around, closed his eyes, and placed one space ring on his right palm. Michael was staring at the half elf curiously.

The half elf remained with his eyes closed for a couple of minutes. When the half elf opened his eyes, his index finger was glowing. He touched the space ring with his index finger as the space ring began to tremble. The half elf moved his finger, drawing some kind of symbol on his palm.

Boom!

The trembling space ring all of a sudden exploded. Yet, there were few items materialized on the floor just after the space ring exploded. Michael saw a couple of jade daggers, scrolls, and a few gold coins.

The half elf frowned,

"Damn it" he cursed, waving his hand. A beam of light shot out from the half elf's palm and engulfed the items. The very next second, the light beam disappeared along with the items on the floor.

The half elf continued to break the space rings one by one. Each time he broke a space ring, he ended up stealing the leftover items.

"A runemaster"

Michael realized the specialization of the half-elf while watching him break open the space rings one by one. Obviously, the half elf was destroying the space rings along with most of the items inside. Still, it was a great feat that many believed that space rings are unbreakable.

"If he was called by Mazeroth, he must be a gifted one," Michael thought.

For a long time, he was looking for a runemaster to serve him. It seemed like he had finally found a suitable candidate to recruit. The problem was however how he should approach the half elf. He could either meet the half-elf as Ghost or Lucifer but getting into his Lucifer persona in the Akilan realm was a risk.

Therefore, he decided to approach him as Ghost. Fortunately, the girl he met told him that in the Akilan realm, Mazeroth in particular, everyone would be called using their student numbers rather than real names. If he played his cards correctly, he could hide his identity and recruit him into the order.

Several minutes later, the half elf broke all the space rings in his hand. He jumped down to the floor with a grin,

"It's time to find another group of racist assholes to steal from" the half elf made his way towards the student compartments once again.

The half elf walked out of the compartment having no idea of being followed.

Inside compartment 33, Edith and Victoria were staring at an orb floating in the middle of them.

"Why does your father want you to hide your identity?" Edith asked. The orb was powered with Cosmin c energy. Hence, they were able to communicate with Victoria's father in Thusia using the orb.

"I don't know but dad must have his reasons"

In her life, Victoria had never questioned her father's decisions. For her, he was the greatest ruler born to unite the entire world under the name of Thusia. She believed it was her destiny to rule the united world as the Empress of Thusia.

"Atleast I dont have to wear any masks to hide my face" Edith rolled her eyes. She did not seem very happy about Victoria hiding her face as well as her identity as the princess of Thusia.

"So be glad," Victoria said, flicking her wrist. A porcelain mask appeared on her face. She slowly placed the mask on her face. Victoria kept the mask on her face and gradually, the mask merged with her face, changing her facial feathers and the color of her hair. In mere moments, Victoria's face transformed completely. She looked nothing like the Victoria Edith knew and saw a few seconds ago.

"This is going to be weird," Edith said. She couldn't help reaching out to feel Victoria's face. Her face was still soft and very human-like.

"Now can you keep your mouth shut Edi?"

Edith knocked Victoria on the head playfully,

"I'm not a secret spiller. You can hide your face but you cannot hide who you are. Eventually, you yourself will reveal your identity, and Ill have to save your butt as usual" Edith said, puffing her chest out,

"Tell me the one time you saved me" asked Victoria.

Edith stuck her tongue out since not even once she saved Victoria from trouble. On the contrary, it was always Victoria who saved Edith from trouble. She was friends with Victoria as far as she could remember. Simply, they were family to each other. They did not keep secrets from each other except for Victoria's involvement in acquiring the Cosmic Stream. However, that was because Victoria's father made Victoria promise not to tell anyone until they obtained the Cosmic Stream. Edith would have stopped Victoria and persuaded her to find another way instead of betraying someone using love. For Edith, love was the most precious thing in the world.

Because Victoria was her best friend, subconsciously Edith ignored the fact Victoria faked being in love with Abras and betrayed him for the Cosmic Stream.

Thusians did get the Cosmic Stream and they were using the Stream to become the strongest. However, they failed to realize that the power came at a cost.