My Roleplay System
Chapter 165: The Bay

Chapter 165: Chapter 165: The Bay

Many martial artists were scattered about, fishing out the monsters near the shore of the bay. They used various tools from rope spears to specially designed fishing rods that were able to drag out even the toughest of monsters from the deep waters.

Lake stood nearby and watched it all with passive eyes. He could see the shifting fates of everyone present and couldn’t help but sigh.

"What are you planning in that head of yours now?" Kate asked as she eyed Lake suspiciously. Before they left the Stronghold, Lake had asked Kate to send out a gathering notice to everyone, asking them to meet up at the bay later.

After hearing news of the late-night hunting and remembering Lake’s past actions, she couldn’t help but feel that he was up to something that would cause her a headache later on.

"It’s nothing for you to worry about," Lake replied casually before turning to look at everyone else. Kate frowned but didn’t say anything seeing that Lake was unwilling to answer.

Lake’s eyes swept through everyone present. Sylph and her two bodyguards, Bramble and Iris, were admiring the waters of the bay while the pack of green wolves were resting on the open grassland.

Romero was the last person among the group and was the only guardian accompanying them this time. He was watching over everyone while not letting down his guard.

It seemed that even after realizing everyone’s strength, he didn’t forget his duty as their guardian hunter.

Eventually, Lake’s gaze returned to his teammates who looked over upon noticing his gaze.

"As I’ve explained before, I’ve been granted permission to hunt in the bay from the Academy themselves. This was done so that I can reasonably achieve the new quota they gave me within the remaining time limit."

Hearing this, everyone nodded in understanding. Although they were shocked when they heard the insane quota the Academy had given to Lake, they were all already accustomed to the brutal style of the Academy so they were able to quickly come to terms with this ridiculous test.

Sylph looked at Lake with a slight gaze of pity, "Don’t worry, Lake! We’ll help you achieve the quota within the time limit!"

Hearing Sylph’s words, everyone, including Bramble who often went along with the flow frowned.

Looking at Sylph’s passionate gaze, everyone swallowed back the curses they were about to sing.

Knowing Lake, everyone assumed that he was going to put them through hell even if they resisted, so they decided to just let Sylph’s enthusiasm be. Maybe it might even affect their mood and give them the strength to get through whatever Lake was planning.

However, to everyone’s surprise, Lake, the man who was known to be exceptionally cruel and coldblooded, to the point that he dragged a hundred students out in the middle of the night to a dangerous monster-infested forest, all in the name of training, did something completely unexpected.

Raising his hand, he rubbed Sylph’s head as he smiled gently.

"Thank you, Sylph, but, this time around the permission only extends to me alone. The rest of you will have to stay here near the shore or find some other creatures to hunt in the meantime. I’ll leave the wolves with you so there shouldn’t be any problems if you want to go out and hunt."

"...."

Everyone stared wordlessly at Lake who was looking at them with such a gentle expression that they strangely felt sick in their stomachs. The only person who wasn’t bothered by this was Sylph, who looked a little downcast by Lake’s rejection of her help.

Seeing this, Lake patted her head again which did help to comfort her a little bit, but this action only sent shivers down everyone else’s spine.

When Lake pulled his hands back, he noticed everyone’s strange gaze towards him but chose to ignore them.

Turning his gaze to Romero, Lake said with a serious expression, "Mr. Romero, you’ll be staying with everyone else and I’ll be hunting alone from here on out."

Hearing his words, Romero instantly frowned.

"Sorry, that’s not going to happen. I’m responsible for your team’s safety, and that includes you too Lake. I already made an exception the first time when I allowed you to separate from the team due to the Alpha Wolf’s presence, but the bay is a different matter."

"Unlike the field, the bay itself is filled with tens, if not hundreds of Rank Two creatures, many of which can easily overpower the likes of the Alpha Wolf and Giant Horned Bison. Leaving you here alone as your guardian isn’t just irresponsible and goes against my duties, it is downright insane."

Romero protested sternly to Lake’s plan to which Lake could only shake his head.

It’s not like he didn’t know what Romero was thinking. Romero is their team’s assigned guardian and is responsible for the safety of the entire team, Lake included. If anything were to happen to Lake while he was hunting in the bay and Romero wasn’t around to save him, the blame would ultimately fall on him, even if Lake was the one who insisted that they separated.

However, even if Romero wasn’t willing to bend the rules for him, Lake didn’t care. Looking up, he could already see that both Kate and Romero’s halo had already started to flicker just from being near the bay, increasing Lake’s sense of urgency.

He had to act fast if he wanted to improve his chance of stopping the abnormality and prevent anyone from being killed this time.

"Fine, Mr. Romero, I won’t push you to go against your principles. However..." As Lake spoke, faint traces of mana began to rise off him as his presence quickly faded from the surroundings.

"Whether you won’t allow me to go, and whether you can stop me from going, are also two different things."

"!"

Without a sound and before anyone could react, Lake had disappeared right in front of them almost as if he was blinked out of existence.

When Romero realized what had happened he quickly stretched out his hand as if trying to catch Lake before he could run off, but he only managed to grab a fistful of air.

Kate and the others also looked surprised at Lake’s sudden disappearance as it was completely unexpected.

"Did he just vanish..?" Romero asked as he stared blankly at the spot Lake had been standing just moments ago. He was thinking about how he was going to report that he, a Martial Master, allowed a student to escape his supervision from right in front of him to the Academy.

Kate who was frowning felt the headache she was foreboding start to come down on her as she sighed.

Clutching her head in her palm, she mumbled with an exhausted tone, "I guess we better just go hunting in the meantime..."

****

While everyone was still in a daze at Lake’s sudden disappearance, he had already entered the bay without making a splash.

Just now he had cast an intermediate-rank Invisibility Spell, making him blend into the surroundings around him. Paired with his level 2 Master of Stealth skill, he had created the illusion of vanishing out of thin air which was what Romero and the rest experienced.

’My magic casting speed and efficiency seem to have improved...’

As Lake traveled under the water, he was already experiencing the effects of his improved magic. The mana that was previously rushing through his veins like a powerful stream, had become gentle and soft as it circulated through his body.

When he took a breath on the surface, he could feel the mana in the atmosphere flowing into his body and entering his lungs. As he exhaled, the impure properties mixed into the mana would be expelled and the remaining purified mana would be absorbed into his body, both replenishing his mana reserves and increasing their max capacity.

His organs and blood also seemed to have gone through a transformation, becoming more attuned to mana and allowing them to seamlessly integrate and expel mana into their very being. Because of this, Lake started to wonder whether his internal structure had any change in its physical appearance too.

He was tempted to cut himself open to investigate but resisted the urge with strong willpower. Instead, he tried to focus his curious mind on his surroundings.

’The system said that the Integration process would remodel my body to suit the role, but this is really unexpected...’

The changes weren’t only with his body either. The mana around him that was previously lifeless and unchanging had now become more vibrant and lively, dancing around him as if reacting to his presence.

All the previous theories on mana he had stored in his head like a great library seemed to be thrown out the window when Lake swam with the mana flowing around him.

He felt a comfort he couldn’t easily describe with words and a sense of marvel and awe filled his mind as he watched the mana flow through the water like a current made of light.

After taking in the sight for a few moments, Lake eventually refocused his mind on the task at hand.

Taking a look around, he could see large schools of mutated fishes swimming around him. He was currently invisible so he didn’t have to worry about them noticing him and attacking him.

Before entering the bay, he had also cast an Underwater Breathing Spell so he didn’t have to worry about breathing either.

Swimming through the crystal clear water, Lake observed the fates of the fishes he passed by and saw that all of them were also flickering like the hunters on the surface.

’It seems like the disaster isn’t related to the sea creatures as it’s also affecting them as well.’

As Lake thought to himself, he swam deeper and deeper into the bay, looking around for any signs of the disaster but he was having a hard time locating anything, even when he expanded his sixth sense as much as possible.

No matter where he searched, all he could detect was the life force of countless fish swimming around him. Considering how large the bay was as well, Lake realized that looking for clues wasn’t going to be an easy task.