Reborn as the bastard son of a Duke

Adam traveled deeper as the forest begun to change more.

The air was growing even thicker until it felt like it was pushing through a hard wave of water.

The mana in the area was growing even more dense, heavy until it felt oppressive.

It was sinking into peoples lungs like it was metal dust, the trees themselves were twisted like were growing far from the center, it was like they were trapped unable to escape.

He then stepped over ridge, it was blackened with roots and he felt it immediately.

There was a pull, and a direction. It was wasn't physical, almost instinctive. It was his own blood reacting again, guiding him towards the source.

"I'm closer to the source now, I can feel it."

He adjusted his grip on his sword and kept moving forward.

While moving the cultists were tightening the net expertly all around him.

There were three cloaked figures that were moving in perfect unison, they were several meters meters behind him, they kept enough distance to avoid being detected.

Then another trio sprung, they were circling ahead keeping their mana suppressed.

They weren't attacking, at least not yet.

They had clear orders to follow:

Guide the boy towards the ritual circle, do not attempt to harm him in anyway before he enters the perimeter.

Even if if they wanted to harm him, they wouldn't dare try to break the pact.

Not when they had the possibility of capturing an ancient bloodline and propelling their standing within the cult.

There was a faint whisper that fluttered through their linked mana threads:

"Target is approaching the second quadrant, the circle is ready."

"Hold your positions, prepare to activate the seal."

Meanwhile at the Guild's temporary outpost.

At the area, the barrier pillars they set up were flickering.

The mana reading officers were watching their gauges, their panic was growing.

"Commander! The corruption isn't expanding—"

"—it's converging. All of it is being pulled towards a single point!"

Darian, the commander had a dark expression on his face.

If it's going towards one point, it meant only one possibility:

It's a ritual. A binding. Or even a summoning.

"What's the direction?" He asked.

"At the central forest! That's the same area Adam is going to!"

Darian quickly relayed orders, his voice filled with panic.

"Sends team C and D now! And also tell them to move out immediately, they should prepare for a high level of interference!"

All of the officers gathered quickly scattered, they sent urgent messages to the guilds units.

But Darian already knew, they were already too late.

Back At The Ritual Site.

Adam then stepped into a clearing when something stopped him dead in his tracks.

The ground he stood in was carved with a massive circle diagram, it was spanning at least twenty meters.

There were crimson runes that were pulsing like veins, threading out into the trees.

There were black crystals that floated above the circle, roasting slowly.

Each of them was dripping with drops of thick, viscous mana that was dissolving the soil when making contact.

And standing around the ritual site, were the dozens of cultists.

All of them were silent, unmoving, they watched him the moment he arrived.

All their holds turned in eerie unison.

Adam slowly started to unsheathe his sword.

"So, this is their plan." He said.

Then a cultist stepped forward, this was their captain.

"We don't want to kill you child," he said softly. "You carry an ancient bloodline, it's from an area that's far older than yours."

His voice was filled with reverence, greed and hunger.

"Just submit quietly, you won't be harmed."

Adam scoffed at the idea.

"You want me alive long enough for whatever thing your planning. Your plan is obvious."

"True," another cultist said, "but not unharmed."

"Don't worry about that," the captain interjected. "Your role is a great one, reawakening the great—"

Adam just showed all of them the middle finger.

"—fuck off, I'm no one pawn."

There was an icy silence that followed after.

The runes beneath Adam started to ignite instantly, light was blazing up like a blooming sun.

There was a cage made out of crimson pillars that shoot out the ground around him.

Adam reacted instantly, he leapt back but the cage expanded even further, it was faster than lightning itself.

Tendrils of corrupted mana shot out the circle, they tired to coil around his legs binding him in place.

"Binding Circle!" The Captain chanted with the others.

The air started to ripple, the circle grew tighter.

Adam clicked is tongue in annoyance..

"Pathetic.".

He forced his mana into his body and time seemed to slow around him when he started to move.

He dodge each tendril fluidly, he didn't spare much effort in avoiding them, while doing so the ground beneath him was warping like liquid tar..

The ritual was adaptating to his movements, it was trying to read him and trap him.

"Seal!"

That's when the entire circle tried to surge at once, but Adam wasn't going to let himself get captured.

He slammed his foot into the ground.

BOOM!!

The was a shockwave of pure mana that shattered the first three rings of the ritual.

All the cultists stood there, frozen in pure disbelief.

"How—!?"

"This has enough power to immobilize a peak B-rank!"

Adam just dusted off the dust from his shoulder.

"Lame, I expected more from you all. Considering how well though out this plan was."

The cultists didn't even hesitate.

They lunged at him at once, there was over twenty cultists that moved.

They had their weapons drawn, mana was gathering together like a rising storm.

They conjured spears made of corrupted mana shooting it towards Adam..

There was storms of black flames, tendrils, poison cloud enchantments and warped blades that were coated with anti mana poison.

All of them had one purpose, that was capture and containment. But this made them even more aggressive, not less.

Adam narrowed his eyes, a smirk appearing on his face.

"Okay fine then, lets dance.".

He made a move and the whole atmosphere in the forest changed, wasn't from his bloodline or recently gained power.

It was from him, Adam.

His footwork was sharp, breath steady. He didn't move like a mere student, he was like a seasoned fighter who had hardened instincts from near death situations.

There was a spear that came for his ribs—

He twisted his body, grabbing the shaft, and smashed the attacker into the others.

A dagger flashing from behind—

Adam caught the wrist of the attacker, snapping it like a twig, he swept the attackers legs and slammed him hard into the ground.

Flames surged towards him—

He merely kicked a fallen cutouts towards the incoming blaze, this disrupted the spell and he used the explosion to propel himself forward.

Each movement was efficient, direct and brutal.

The cultists gasped:

"He's... he's reading all our moves!"

"No... he memorized our formation!"

"His instincts are—!"

But Adam didn't give them another exchange to speak, his spun his sword once with a cold expression.

"You wanted to capture me alive. You should've done analyzed your target before even thinking about attacking me."

He vanished like a shadow.

His form reappearing behind a cultist, a blunt strine to the neck.

The cultist dropped to the ground.

Another followed.

Then another.

The ritual circle was flickering violently, as its operators were being taken out one by one.

The Captain was watching this whole ordeal play out in disbelief.

"This wasn't the plan... This wasn't—"

But then, Adam appeared right in front of him.

He delivered a single punch into the Captain's gut.

The Captain coughed out blood as his body bent, his breath was leaving him entirely.

Then he collapsed.

Adam just frowned.

"You wasted my time."

But when he was stepping out the damaged circle, the whole ritual diagram pulsed violently.

The runes started to twist, writhing like serpents.

"Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me!"

The was a wave of corrupted mana that surged out, it formed into dozens of tendrils that were aiming to latch onto anything.

Him, the trees, the corpses, anything until the ritual is completed forcefully.

"THE CORE IS MALFUNCTION! IT'S TRYING ABSORB HIM DIRECTLY—!!" A cultist screamed.

Adam's eyes narrowed, he wasn't going to let this continue.

"A desperate attempt, but useless."

His raised his sword up high, his mana flared.

And then—

SLASH.

The whole ritual circle got split down the center, all from a single clean strike.

The ground started to erupt, the runes were burning out like dying stars.

The tendrils were shriveling.

The forest was pulsing once, then silence followed.

The cultists that remained, were staring at him with pure horror.

"His...his power—!"

"His strength is over—!"

"This wasn't supposed to happen, this was a greater binding ritual—!"

Adam just sheathed his sword.

"I don't fucking care about your reports."

The stepped forward.

"You lot are next in line."