Chapter 107 - 106 – A New Beginning
( Volume Two )
Chapter 106 – A New Beginning
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The wind was high...
but gentle.
The sun rose high, not allowing anyone to look directly at it...
as if it was ashamed for someone to envy it.
The atmosphere slowly became normal... like Earth itself, completely opposite to what it had been inside the secret space.
The eternal spring... had ended its era.
And the era of changing weather had begun—night and morning, noon and afternoon, day after day, week after week.
At the tops of the tallest mushroom trees...
I sat in a crouching position.
"It has been more than a month," I whispered.
My eyes focused in one direction.
There was a large river, its water flowing extremely fast...
and there was a wind current pushing it.
As if that alone made it flow even faster.
Ahead of the river’s course...
there was a large wall... for a city or a kingdom... or maybe just a meaningless wall standing alone nearby.
Even with my strong vision... I could not clearly see what was ahead.
If this means anything... it means the distance is definitely not close.
On the other sides of the forest... there were several other signs of cities... or kingdoms.
The closest one...
was a small village.
It had a small wall.
It lived hundreds of meters away from the rushing river.
Two siblings came out of the village gate.
One of them was not even nine years old yet... while the other was around thirteen.
They wore ragged clothes...
and their feet were covered with straw-made shoes that were nearly broken.
The older one held a long wooden stick with a sharp end...
while the younger one held a stone slingshot.
"Do you think luck will be with us today as well?" the younger brother asked while following his older brother.
"I don’t know... maybe. Watch behind you. No one should follow us to that place," the older brother said.
"Hehe... no one is following us... today I’ll catch ten fish haha," the younger laughed.
"Shut up... your voice is loud," the older brother quickly scolded him.
"What you are saying will bring bad luck to us."
The two brothers continued walking... then approached the river.
They walked along its bank... then after about two hundred meters...
they stopped on a large rock.
The older brother inspected the place carefully... then moved his foot over the rock to check if it was slippery.
"Move back more," he ordered his brother.
The younger stepped back and also looked around carefully.
"Thereee... thereee!" the younger brother shouted.
"Shut up... I saw it."
From a distance... there was a fish moving with the current at high speed.
It was approaching the two brothers more and more.
The older brother raised his wooden stick—three meters long.
He waited for the fish to enter his range.
The younger raised his slingshot.
Suddenly—
The fish dove into the water.
It disappeared.
"Damn it... it sensed you," the older brother snorted.
"The spinning river fish... whenever they sense any movement, they immediately dive into the water. Why did you move?"
"I didn’t," the younger replied.
"Always like this... ’I didn’t, I didn’t’... until you made our mother sick," the older shouted.
"I didn’t," the younger said again, his voice hoarse... a few tears fell quickly.
After some time...
"Don’t move," the older said.
He had spotted another fish.
Soon... the fish entered his attack range.
The older raised his hand quickly and skillfully...
Swish—
He struck.
The fish didn’t even realize what happened... until it was hit.
He quickly pulled the stick back.
"It’s big... and amazing!" the older shouted happily.
After three hours...
The two brothers carried five fish and ran back to the village.
The next day...
The brothers returned from fishing with sad faces.
They had not caught a single fish.
Throughout the way, they kept blaming each other.
Every time a fish appeared... it disappeared the moment they got close.
Every time... one of them shouted at the other.
The next day... they caught three fish.
On the fourth day... nothing.
On the fifth day... they caught five fish.
On the sixth day... the two brothers stood fishing again.
"There they are again," I whispered.
My eyes followed the fish approaching them.
I raised my hand...
I pulled a thread from Flame Arts.
I cut it...
Then ordered it to spin around itself like a tiny needle.
Swish—
The needle shot from far away...
toward the fish.
Suddenly—
Boom—
The fish was hit.
It disappeared.
"It moved!" the older brother shouted.
I laughed.
The two brothers were fighting again... arguing about who caused the fish to disappear.
I turned my eyes to the side.
The fish was already close to me.
For several days...
I had been testing the range of my Flame Arts... and also creating new forms from Flame Arts itself.
The ability was good... my projection power was strong.
But it was still far from perfect.
On the other hand... obtaining the cave gave me the ability to transfer small objects into it.
Throughout the past days... fish had been my testing ground for accuracy, transfer ability, and losing control at the same time.
Of course... it was also a test to see if anyone would notice.
These two brothers were the perfect training targets.
After more than a week...
none of them had noticed that someone was fishing from a distance.
On the tenth day... I decided it was time to stop fishing.
It was time to move.
Maybe I should go to the village... or maybe the city.
Each one had advantages and disadvantages.
The next day... I decided to go spy on the village.
My goal was clear.
To understand their way of life... clothing... speech... and gather more information.
I slept for a few hours...
Then morning came.
I moved lightly toward the sides... then toward one of the hills.
The village was beneath one of the hills.
The first thing I heard was the sound of roosters... a sound that brought back memories.
Then...
life slowly began after an hour.
"A truly small village," I whispered.
It contained fewer than twenty houses...
surrounded by a fence made of simple wood that barely mattered.
A number of children came out to play... then women and men... then the elderly.
After observing...
the population was less than one hundred.
Most of them left the village to work in small farming areas.
Some went to a nearby forest to cut wood.
Others carried wood on carts pulled by oxen.
I was planning to enter and search for a map or books or something...
But after a full day of observation...
it became clear that these villagers were barely surviving.
What books could possibly exist here?
I withdrew.
Then...
the next morning.
I took a small yellow flower out of nowhere.
I ate it.
Immediately... my rank energy completely disappeared.
No one could sense that I was a master now.
"Almond Flower," I whispered.
It was sold in the shop... extremely expensive.
Each one cost 20,000 dinars.
But its ability was powerful...
It hides a master’s energy for a full day.
For an entire day... you become completely ordinary.
Even if it reached 100,000... I would still buy it.
I needed it badly.
I would not risk entering a city I knew nothing about with Fourth Rank energy.
That would be stupid.
I walked through valleys... then reached the river.
I followed it as a guide.
I moved slowly and carefully.
The weather was sunny with a light breeze.
After a while... the heat increased.
After five hours of walking...
I had not even crossed half the distance.
"Just as expected," I whispered... then lay down.
The distance to the wall was far greater than it looked.
By my estimation... it would take a full day of slow walking.
If I used my power and rushed... I would arrive much faster.
But that would also be stupid.
Before knowing what world I am in... any reckless action is stupidity.
I sighed... and lay down on a rock on a grassy hill.
After more than half a day of walking...
the wall was in front of me... maybe two hours away on foot.
But this time...
the scene was clear.
A huge city stood behind the wall... and on the far side... there was indeed a sea.
It was night.
I decided to spend the night here.
As soon as I placed my head on the grass...
I fell asleep.
I opened my eyes slowly.
Feet.
I jumped immediately.
"Ah!"
It was just a deer.
It saw me and jumped away as well.
I continued walking.
The land in front of the wall became flat.
Then turned into a large green plain.
There were many roads crossing the area.
Many carriages...
pulled by horses, two horses, four horses... or oxen and cows.
Travelers walking alone carrying bags behind them.
It was very noisy.
I changed direction and avoided empty paths.
I approached the road and merged with the crowd.
I wore a worn-out outfit similar to villagers...
a gray cloak with torn edges... straw shoes... and a wide straw hat.
But of course... this was only an illusion.
I used one of my weapon abilities.
A worn dagger that changes the appearance of clothing.
Its effect was only visual... it only changed how others see me.
My real clothes remained the same.
Black cloak with red lines underneath... black shirt and pants... no gloves.
I joined the crowd and walked with them toward the gate.
Suddenly...
the crowd stopped.
"Show your pass before arriving!" a guard shouted.
I turned my head.
A guard in red armored clothing stood on top of the wall directing traffic.
Next to him... at least twenty soldiers.
And below... twice that number.
The wall was more than ten meters high.
A black gate stood wide open... more than five meters in width.
"Pass?" I whispered.
People began taking out white cards with inscriptions.
"Damn it..." I whispered.
The line moved forward.
My eyes scanned left and right carefully.
Then I moved my hand slightly...
A thin red thread appeared.
Swish—
I stole a white card.
I stayed calm.
Two people stood beside me.
One of them carried a bow.
The other was extremely large... carrying a bear on his back.
They arrived before me.
The bowman checked his pocket...
Nothing.
"Move faster!" the guard shouted.
"Wait..." the man said, checking the other pocket... nothing.
"What is happening?" the large man said.
"I can’t find my pass," the bowman said.
"Did you lose it?" his companion asked.
"Step aside both of you until you find it!" the guard shouted.
"Wait! I’m an adventurer! Don’t you know me? I’m the Swift Arrow!" the man shouted.
"Show your adventurer card then."
"Yes, yes!"
He quickly showed his card.
They allowed him to pass.
Finally it was my turn.
"Your pass," the guard said.
"Here," I gave it to him.
He turned to me.
"Where are you from?" he said.