The Messenger of Death

"Okay then, answer my questions first. How did the people in the forest become aware of my presence and why am I being hunted?" Xander agreed, quite satisfied with the way Al instructed him to handle this.

['Damn, would have been nicer if I was the one doing this directly.'] Al mentioned.

['Now that wouldn't be a wise decision.'] Alex commented.

['I know. Even I wouldn't advise that at this point. This muscle lady has already registered Xander's personality in her head and is acting according to his deposition. My personality is too different from Xander's, I wouldn't be able to pretend and not look at these sexy ladies. Damn! So unlucky!'] Al complained.

"The reason we were able to know of your presence is because of a man named Scar. There are 4 known entrances to this forest, 3 of which are considered to be safer than the fourth entrance. Each entrance is in a territory ruled by the strongest person in that territory.

The entrance you were brought in from is in Scar's territory, which is the safest of all the entrances. Scar wouldn't kill anyone in his territory and wouldn't condone killing in his territory. It's like a neutral ground in this huge forest of a prison.

If you had been brought in through Jarja's territory, you would most likely be killed before you know what's going on. And if you were brought in through the entrance in my territory, it's hard to say if you would have been killed.

While we ladies are hardheaded, we don't always result in violence, hence our present predicament." Kymani paused to assess Xander's expression, and as usual, he still had his cold expression on.

"Kymani's territory, that's my territory. Jarja's, Scar's, and the Beast's territory. These are the 4 territory heads of this island. Me, Scar, and Jarja are all peak Sky realm cultivators at the ninth rank of the Sky realm. With a little nudge, we will be able to break through to the Heaven cultivation realm.

Now, while Scar won't kill anyone in his territory, he will kill people outside his territory, he has a twisted sense of morality. If you had just stayed in Scars territory when you came, he would have negotiated with you, however, if he feels that the negotiation isn't in his favor he would have asked you to leave his territory.

And then the moment you leave he would have chased and killed you."

"So why didn't he just do that, rather than inform the whole forest about my arrival?" Xander questioned.

"That's the reason why Jarja wants to get a hold of you. You must have done something that made Scar cautious of you, or you have something on you that can threaten him. Whoever gets to you first will most likely have to share whatever they find on you with Scar, or use that same thing that he's been cautious of to threaten Scar and take over his territory. But that will be unlikely as we need to live peacefully amongst ourselves or else the beasts will commence a feast on us.

Or perhaps he just wanted to observe you for some time, given your specialty, but seeing that you were heading right into Jarja's territory he couldn't keep on following.

If not he might have started an unwanted conflict between his territory and Jarja's. So you tell me, what did you do to catch his attention when you entered this prison?" Kymani questioned.

['Ahh, so he's being cautious of us. Maybe because he saw Milo and wants Milo for himself, or because he saw us kill a Sky realm cultivator, Vincent.'] Alex thought.

['Or maybe both.'] Al added.

['Indeed. This person called Scar might have seen Milo and also saw Lex in action too. The way Lex killed Vincent looked too easy, and that's not an exaggeration. Perhaps he's using the rest of the prisoners to test our abilities before he strikes. The only trump card that hasn't been revealed is that we can control Water element to an extent, and it should remain hidden.'] Xander deducted. He referred to being able to control Ice, due to the techniques that Nana taught them as being able to control Water.

['What about our innate bloodline, it should be included as a trump card too right?'] Alex questioned.

['Not at all rabbit. That bloodline is no trump card, but a death card. We might die alongside them if we use that. It will only be our last resort, that's if Nana doesn't come after activating the Talisman she gave us.'] Al said.

Xander's attention had only been sidetracked for a few seconds as he was talking to the other egos in his head. He then returned his attention to Kymani, she was waiting for a reply.

"I killed a Sky realm cultivator when I entered the barrier," Xander revealed nonchalantly.

Upon hearing his reply Kymani wanted to laugh, but she couldn't bring herself to because of the expression that Xander had on. 'Did he crack a joke, or is he serious about this? His expression is making it hard to read in-between his words! His eyes are steady and eyelids aren't even flinching. The only thing that moves is his mouth! He hasn't blinked since I saw him!' Kymani thought.

"Might I ask who the Sky realm cultivator was, the one that you… claimed to kill?"

"It was a staff of the academy, he didn't like me and the feeling was mutual. And then… I killed him." Xander replied coldly.

'Does he have any artifact or treasure on him that can kill a Sky realm cultivator? Even if he does, it has to be early-stage Sky realm cultivators, right? Is that why he said that he's not scared of us?' Kymani's thoughts flickered through many possibilities, and at the end of it all, she couldn't help but doubt Xander's words.

'Sky realm cultivators aren't like cabbages, even if he could kill one by himself it must have caused him something in return!' She concluded.

"Let's forget about what you did… even if Jarja knows that there's a reason why Scar didn't kill you and kept all that you have with him, he still chose to come after you. Probably because it was included in the information that Scar passed on, that you're just a Nirvana realm cultivator.

That was what made Jarja unable to resist the temptation of going after you, but I'm very sure that he was careful and sent more than one of his men to hunt you."

"There were more than 10 men," Xander said.

"Hahaha! He might be a brute but he's not completely stupid. Just for a Nirvana realm cultivator, he sent over 10 Sky realm cultivators to hunt you down. Boy, how old are you? The way you act makes you seem mature, but your face looks very young. You must be a 30-year-old man that used some alchemy pills to maintain your youth. You must be from a rich family."

Kymani couldn't resist the aroma coming from the so-called 'healing wine' so she opened the one closest to her and placed her cup in it, scooping a cup full of the 'healing wine'.

"I'm just 16 years old," Xander replied her question.

-Ptooie!!

Kymani involuntary choked on the wine and spat it out because of the surprise that came from Xander's reply.

"What do you mean by you're just 16!? A Nirvana realm cultivator that's only 16 years old!? Has the world changed that much since the last 70 years that I've been imprisoned here!? If you are really 16 years old as you claim to be, do you think the academy will through a genius like you here to die!? If that was your actual age, they would have swept the crime you did under the rug and you'll get away with a light slap on the wrist." The flustered Kymani blurted out quickly, refusing to believe Xander's age.

She got herself another cup of the 'healing wine' since she unintentionally spat the first one and was unable to savor the taste properly. But the aftertaste left a good impression on her tongue that made it harder for Kymani to resist. She had just poured the wine into her mouth when Xander spoke again.

"That would have been the case, but it was my decision and intention to come here." Xander was being quite chatty with Kymani, and that was because she was being honest with him. Although he was responding to her questions, he didn't trust her one bit.

Kymani choked on the wine for the second time and almost spat it out, but she used her hand to cover her mouth and forced herself to swallow the wine.

'I'd be damned if I waste another drop of this precious wine all because of this kid!' Kymani thought.

Before she could catch her breath, Xander brought out his student identity token and revealed his details to her.

His name, date of birth, age, sex, contribution points, and cultivation realm were being displayed on the token for Kymani to see.

"My God," Kymani whispered when she saw his age being displayed.

'What is someone like him doing here?! If he came in here willingly then he might have been escorted by someone powerful enough to defend him from any true danger in this forest. Is that why he had no fear for us? Besides, he has a bloodline class! Shit!! Thank God I stopped the girls from attacking him if not we might have lost our lives tonight!' Kymani gulped and looked at Xander with a more respectful gaze.

Xander glanced at the Skin crawler's screen interface, hoping to see a change in its status. However, it was still showing the same thing that it has been displaying for hours '…