Amos was surprised by Lucas's suggestion, but he quickly protested.
"I don't think it's a good idea to skip classes and go somewhere that dangerous."
Lucas rolled his eyes, crossing his arms.
"Come on, we're heirs. Nothing that bad could happen to us."
Amos thought for a moment before responding.
This could turn out badly… worst case, I can use the Void King if things go south.
He finally let out a sigh, giving in to Lucas's proposal, though his expression wasn't entirely confident. He knew very well this wouldn't be a walk in the park.
"Fine, let's go follow them. But let's avoid drawing attention and stay discreet."
Lucas nodded, a mischievous smile on his face. Amos already started to regret his decision, seeing that smile and wondering if this was really such a good idea.
Amos looked around carefully. He didn't see anyone nearby, then turned back to Lucas.
"I'm going to teleport us. Don't make any noise."
Lucas raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical.
"What are you talking about? No psychic energy has that capa—"
Before Lucas could finish his sentence, Amos snapped his fingers, his expression deeply focused on the spell he was casting. Lucas was instantly wrapped in a black mass with violet edges—the spatial void.
Lucas's eyes widened with concern, unsure of what was happening. But just as quickly, he was released, suddenly finding himself outside the school. His confused expression betrayed his shock.
"Did he… do that?"
As Lucas finished his sentence, a large black mass, big enough to fit a person, appeared in front of him. Startled, he took a step back, hands raised defensively. The mass dissipated, revealing Amos stepping out of it.
Lucas straightened up and turned to Amos, a curious look on his face, eager to understand how Amos had managed to teleport like that.
"How did you do that? Don't you need something called a teleportation stone or something?"
Amos approached Lucas, trying to explain briefly.
"There are several types of void. Teleportation is one of them."
Lucas's curiosity deepened even more.
"Several types of void? I saw you using a different void from the one you just used to teleport… Don't tell me…"
Amos responded calmly, trying not to sound like he was bragging.
"Since I'm the heir of the void, yes—I can learn to control any type of void."
Lucas placed a hand on his chin, clearly even more intrigued.
"That's ridiculously overpowered… And can you—"
But Lucas didn't get to finish his sentence. Amos had grabbed his wrist and was now running in the direction where they had seen the hunters' car driving away in the distance.
"Damn, we wasted time talking. We're going to lose the car!"
Amos pulled Lucas along as he ran. At first Lucas looked slightly disgusted—his rich boy ego clearly bruised—but he eventually set his pride aside and ran alongside Amos.
As Amos and Lucas sprinted after the car, it kept moving farther away despite their efforts.
Amos gritted his teeth, struggling to talk while running.
"We're never going to catch up at this rate…"
As Amos watched the car speeding off, he saw Lucas suddenly surrounded by psychic energy. Lucas had strengthened himself with The strength energy to run faster.
As Lucas ran, easily closing the distance to the car, he smirked and taunted Amos as he passed him.
"Speak for yourself. I'm doing just fine."
Lucas dashed ahead, quickly gaining on the car.
Amos let out a faint smirk, then bent down to gain momentum and propelled himself forward, catching up to Lucas in a burst.
"You spoke too soon."
Lucas, who was closing in on the car, saw Amos right beside him—dodging obstacles effortlessly and steadily narrowing the gap between them and the vehicle. An irritated expression appeared on Lucas's face as he ran alongside Amos.
"You're not even supposed to be able to do that, how—"
Amos, with a slightly taunting smile, answered between each dodge.
"I… don't… really… know… it… just… happens…"
Lucas clenched his jaw, a little annoyed, and decided to stop asking questions. He didn't like Amos's vague answers anyway.
After running for a while, Amos came to a halt as he saw the car stopping as well. Lucas did the same, sliding on the ground as he braked.
The vehicle stopped near a large cave—it was probably the nest the hunters were about to clear out.
Amos gazed at it, feeling slightly intimidated by its size. Lucas approached him, forcing a confident look on his face that seemed more arrogant than brave.
"Doesn't look that scary to me."
Amos sighed at Lucas's bravado. Meanwhile, the hunters started getting out of the vehicle.
Amos fixed his gaze on them, intrigued. They were all well-equipped, and Amos could sense they were fairly powerful. One by one, they entered the nest, disappearing into the shadows.
It was the first time Amos had witnessed something like this. He stood motionless, unsure if it was really a good idea to go inside. Lucas strode past him toward the cave with his usual arrogant rich-boy walk.
"Come on, I wanna see what's inside."
Seeing Lucas advance, Amos decided to follow him, moving cautiously behind.
Lucas entered the cave first, with Amos following. But something felt wrong—upon entering, due to the darkness, Amos couldn't see Lucas anymore.
"Careful, it's dark in here."
No one answered. Amos's unease grew.
"Lucas? Answer me."
Still no reply. Then, light returned—but they were no longer where Amos had expected.
Looking around, Amos was completely confused. He had appeared in a cave filled with pink-purple crystals, each reflecting his face.
"What the—"
He cut himself off, feeling an aggressive presence lurking around him.
Amos immediately raised his guard, analyzing the situation.
The entrance teleported me here and separated me from Lucas. It must've used some kind of teleportation spell.
A shiver ran down Amos's spine as he sensed something lunging at him from behind. He spun around instantly and materialized a void sword, thrusting it into whatever had attacked him.
It was a kind of wolf—but its body was glassy, reflecting the pink environment of the cave. As the sword struck, the creature shattered into a thousand pieces.
A bit shaken by the surprise attack, Amos approached the remains of the wolf.
"What is this thing? It made such a racket when it exploded…"
But Amos straightened immediately upon hearing barking—
A pack of glassy wolves had heard the commotion caused by their fallen companion.
Amos, fully ready to fight now, his expression filled with determination, summoned a second sword into his hand.
End of Chapter 18