Henry boarded the bus that would take him to a village on the outskirts of Rainford, which would take about three to four hours to reach.Whether it was because there were few passengers traveling to that destination or because it was still very early, there were many empty seats here and there, making it easy for him to find a seat.Henry placed his bag in the overhead compartment and chose a seat in the first row.After selecting a seat closest to the window, he opened his phone again to read information about the students conducting the research.Earlier, Hannah had sent not only their address, but also some important information about what they were researching, the students' profiles, and who was working with them."Birkenhand...?" muttered Henry. "Why does that name sound familiar?"He had the feeling that he had heard the name before, which caused him to recall information he had previously received about the village. "Ah, yes... Now I remember!" he murmured.Just as Henry spok
Henry got off at a crossroads that also served as a traditional market where many people sold their goods by the roadside."Hey, move aside a bit! This road doesn't belong to you alone!" a man in his thirties said to the young man passing by.He was wearing a short-sleeved patterned shirt with the buttons undone.At first, Henry didn't want to make an issue of it.But when he saw a hammer-shaped tattoo on the man's chest, his mind flashed back to his conversation with Hayden about Myron being the leader of the Hammer Gang."To determine if someone is a member of the organization or not, it's quite simple: there's usually a large hammer tattoo on their right chest!"With his hands on his hips, the man walked off in another direction, acting like he was the boss of the place.At first, Henry was interested in following him, but when he remembered his purpose for coming to Birkenhand, he reluctantly gave up on the idea.He continued through the busy market until he reached another bus st
Henry used his internal energy to resist the black aura around him that was slowly trying to suppress him, especially his chest, trying to make it difficult for him to breathe.The aura might look like a harmless mist of light.However, it was actually a very dangerous black shadow.The further Henry went, the darker the surroundings became.This made him wonder."Isn't this forest that big?" he muttered.He remembered that when he used to go through this forest to do research, it took no more than thirty minutes to get out of the forest.But this time, when he looked at the clock in his hand, his forehead wrinkled slightly."It's been forty-five minutes, and I still can't see the end of this forest!"Not only that.The surrounding atmosphere had gone completely dark, like night, even though it was still 2:45 in the afternoon!"Damn, something very bad must have happened! This is really not right!" he muttered. "No wonder those students have not been found for a few days!"Henry now u
Not long after, he felt a slight weakness in his body and his head began to throb.Henry brought his palms to his back to treat the scratches, but it seemed that the Divine Hand Treatment had little effect on them."Damn! What's happening to my body?"At the same time, he felt the strong wind blowing in front of his body again.This time, Henry didn't want to get caught a second time.Channeling his power to eighty percent, Henry threw his right and left punches forward, hoping to push the creature back.Bang!His punch hit the target, but he felt the slash wound on the back of his left hand again.It didn't stop there.In a split second, he felt the breeze from behind his back again.This time, Henry had no intention of retaliating with punches again. So he tilted his body a few steps to the side.But that turned out to be a mistake.The creature whipped its tail towards Henry's head, knocking the professor to the ground.Before he could prepare for the next attack, a powerful claw t
Faintly, Henry heard the echoing calls of the Willow Warbler, something he often heard when he was in the forest outside of Birkenhand Village five years ago. Not only were the birds' chirps melodious, but they were getting closer to him with each passing moment. Henry continued to enjoy the sound until he suddenly felt a gentle touch on his chest, causing him to slowly open his eyes. "Ah, finally you're awake!" Those were the first words he heard. But before he could comprehend what was happening, his nose caught a strong yet gentle scent of blooming flowers. "Who is she?" he thought. He knew that the forest around him was still dark, just like before. The only difference now was that he could clearly see who was sitting next to him by the flickering light of a campfire not far from where he was lying on the ground. Turning toward the source of the voice, a girl of about twenty-one was holding a hand to her chest, trying to heal the scratches the animal had left. "Is she hum
"If you're not a sorcerer, how do you know that I don't have any evil or harmful magic?" Henry asked.Although he had addressed the question to Gatrix, his gaze now shifted to Lava, who seemed to be looking at him differently.The creature seemed to like Henry's presence."Just because you're not a cultivator doesn't mean you don't know anything about them, right?" the beautiful girl replied.Then she pointed her hand at Lava."He can sense the presence of a sorcerer! Every time he smells the scent of magic on someone, he becomes cautious around that person! But something was strange when he attacked you earlier!"Upon hearing the last sentence, Henry unconsciously shifted his gaze back to Gatrix, making him look at the girl's face again, leaving him fascinated."What is this strange thing?" Henry asked, but then turned his face away again."Lava never acts aggressively towards a sorcerer! But when he met you, he became very different! At first, I thought you were evil too. However, a
It didn't take long for Henry to witness the arrival of a group of supernatural beings made up of various monsters.In the distance, about three hundred meters away, he could see that most of them were creatures with human bodies and animal heads, such as bulls, pigs, and wolves.Meanwhile, others had a combination of human and other animal forms.They came from behind the trees in a horde, creating a thunderous roar.As Gatrix had mentioned, their total number might be more than a hundred.Glancing at them, Henry could sense that their power was much greater than the first group of creatures that had attacked him earlier."On average, these creatures have a level four internal energy! While there are a few at level three, many of them are already at level five!" he observed.They didn't scream or say anything, but as they approached Henry and Gatrix, the professor realized they were coming to attack them. Clenching his fists, Henry said, "Miss, stay here! Let me deal with them!"He s
Henry's attack was truly devastating.As soon as his fist hit the chest or head of one of the monsters, its limbs immediately exploded, sending shreds of flesh and jets of thick, red liquid everywhere.And this time, Henry did it even faster than before.Less than a minute later, the monsters' bodies had crumbled to the ground.If someone had looked at them, they wouldn't have thought that the pile of crushed flesh had originally been a terrifying monster.Henry caught his breath.He had just blindly and furiously attacked that group of monsters.When he looked at Lava, the animal was sitting on the ground, but it no longer had a mocking expression on its face.It seemed that the winged lion understood that Henry was very upset.But what made Henry feel strange was that the monsters Lava had killed didn't come back to life.They continued to lie on the ground without moving."Why do I find this a little strange?" he muttered.But he didn't want to think about it anymore, because now h