It All Started With Lightning

Discovery

'Damn it!' thought William. 'If I had known that this would happen, I would have definitely refused.'

Wolf muttered something to him. It sounded like he was telling him to get down. William could now more or less understand what the wolf meant by his head movements.

As the wolf walked slowly and carefully into the mist, he lowered his head and muttered to William again in a low voice.

William understood what he meant at once. He lowered his head and began to creep around like the wolves.

There were at least twenty wolves on their way here, but only five wolves and William got in.

One of the wolves was bronze level, one was a little bastard, and the other three were mid-iron level wolves.

William was the third to enter the mist. The other three wolves followed him.

Inside the mist, it could be described as a completely different world. After a few tens of meters, the color of the ground changed, the red earth filled with lush green grass gave way to ash-gray withered grass.

He could see a few trees in it, but almost all of them looked dry or burned. Looking around him, he felt no visible life energy. This included the ground itself and the trees.

Only fifty meters from the entrance the mist was very thick. William could see almost nothing within fifty meters. He just walked straight ahead. Beyond the fifty-meter line, the mist thinned. He could now see clearly twenty or thirty meters ahead of him. This included the wolves.

William was surprised to see something like this for the first time and was thrilled by the discovery. Rumor had it that even the principal of the academy was afraid to enter these forbidden areas, but despite his fear, he verbally encouraged Bronze level and above to go in search of possible treasures.

William didn't even want to think about what a gold-level warrior might be afraid of here.

The little wolf growled again. He told him to follow him quietly.

After about five hundred meters the wolf spoke to him again. He pointed ahead. He told him to go ahead.

William approached and calmly asked. "Should I take out my sword? Should I be prepared for any situation?"

The little wolf nodded yes.

William did as he was told and drew his sword. He walked cautiously again, not making a sound, but this time he had pulled the sword gently from its sheath.

After walking like this for a while, they came to the last place William wanted to see. This place scared him to his bones. Even though he could fight and kill someone, such places still seemed strange, incomprehensible, and frightening to him. It took some time to get used to it.

The place they came to looked like an old battlefield. There were skeletal remains and half-dehydrated corpses everywhere.

The wolf nodded for him to go on. William had no choice but to go. He was self-motivated.

'Will, you will either herd these sheep or leave this land.'

This time he walked more carefully. He began to get the feeling that he was being followed. It was as if the bones beneath his feet were alive and their eyes were staring at him.

William felt an itch on his feet as he walked and looked down.

'It's alive!' A bone protruded from the ground and grabbed his ankle. With fear and great strength, he immediately cut the bone.

Fortunately, this bone did not belong to a powerful creature or a human. The Firebringer was able to cut it with ease. Out of fear, he hadn't even used the execution sword.

The little wolf looked at him strangely. It was as if he couldn't understand why he was so afraid.

After another kilometer, they came to the edge of a forest that exuded an air of death. The trees here were alive, but the shape of all of them was strange. Their leaves were ash-gray instead of green. Their bodies were almost black.

The wolf pointed inward. They had to go into the forest. William could sense something in this forest that frightened him even more than the bony ground. He didn't know what it was, but it certainly wasn't good.

Nevertheless, he entered. Even though this forest frightened him, he knew that he had to take the blood of these wolves. Their bloodline might be of use to him.

Inside, it was like a normal forest. It was a place where he could easily walk and hunt if it wasn't dark and misty. The ground was flat. Most of the leaves that had fallen from the trees in the previous season covered the ground like a carpet.

After a while, they came to a clearing. In the clearing, which was thirty meters wide, William saw a scene that made him sad. Five skeletons dressed in Academy outfits were lying silently at the foot of the trees. Their skeletons were all in one piece. It was as if they had died in their sleep. They were all armored warriors. He even liked one armor very much. He thought it would look good on him. It was made of the scales of a red creature. It was like fish scales. The scales were lined up. It looked like ancient Chinese armor.

Even though they were skeletons, William did not dare to approach them. As he was about to ask the wolf to go by, he heard a rubbing sound.

He immediately turned around and looked. The skeleton, whose armor he liked, turned his head to look at him.

The two of them stood face to face. Then a power began to gather in the skeleton. The other four skeletons were the same. They became stronger. It was as if a spiritual energy came out of nowhere and strengthened their bones.

William couldn't understand how a skeleton could look like it was alive because there was no qi pool, but now that question mark was cleared in his mind. Spiritual energy pierced their bones.

William was no idiot. He wasn't going to wait for them to get stronger. He immediately used 'Like a Volcano' and was thrown into the strongest-looking skeleton. He came to it immediately. With a slash of his sword, he cut off its head like wood. While he was cutting, he heard the sound of the axe hitting the wood. If he had waited a little longer, he certainly wouldn't have been able to cut it off. He immediately cut off both arms and both legs holding the sword. Then he kicked it away with his feet.

'What's going on here,' he thought.

Meanwhile, while he was dealing with the strongest, the other wolves were still staring at him. Only the bronze-level wolf understood the reason for his actions and was thrown at the other skeletons. William did not wait for the other wolves to join the fight but hurriedly threw himself at the remaining skeletons. Although these skeletons were former members of the Academy, they were now dead and erased from the stage of history. Therefore, he didn't feel any emotion.

He just cut. The last four skeletons looked like they were about to reach the top of the iron level, but only the first skeleton he cut showed signs of reaching the bronze level. Therefore, it was very easy for him to take down the others along with the bronze-level wolf. He said to himself, "Never wait. Be the first to attack!"

After killing the five skeletons, William collected armor and swords that were intact, although he didn't know how many years had passed. In fact, he also found five dimensional bags inside the five skeletons that he hadn't noticed before.

He pocketed them all for later examination. The wolves didn't mind that he took his own prey. After all, they couldn't use it.

After a breather and William peeing, they continued on their way. He had peed under a tree. Even though the smell bothered the wolves while he was peeing, they did nothing. They just made a funny 'sour face'.

There was nothing to do. After all, he had been nervous ever since he entered this place. It was normal for his body to work fast and fill his bladder.

They encountered no other danger on their way. This time the wolves were in the lead. William didn't feel the danger diminish after that, but certainly less than the wolves were emboldened.

They walked about two kilometers. They saw bodies and bones all along the way, but it seemed as if there was no danger as long as they didn't get too close. William wrote this as a note to himself.

After a while, they saw the shadow of a tower-like structure in the distance. The wolf pointed with his head.

William thought it might be one of the famous Mage Towers. There was only one of the four great kingdoms. The wealth of the entire continent was only enough for one tower. William could guess that it was because of the materials it was made of and the tools it contained, but he did not expect to find such a tower here.

He was immediately excited. Right now, his soul might be strong enough to become a mage. If he found a method of meditation here, he might be able to learn it.

His eagerness to become a mage was growing. Being able to freely interact with and manipulate the elements was what he always wanted most. His techniques as a warrior were not considered magic at that time. They were only weak, supportive spells. A real spell was different.

He still remembered the scene when Baldur killed the big worm.

The wolf woke him from his thoughts with a growl. He pointed to a wolf and told him to ride. They ran down the next target. They had met no skeletons or creatures. There seemed to be no danger.

The wolves led him to the edge of a lake. The Mage Tower stood silently, upright, and proud. But it could not hide the marks of time from William's eyes. Some parts were destroyed. But the doors and windows were completely intact.

There was a large tree by the lake. It was at least thirty meters long. Its branches hung like willows. He could see a shadow moving between the hanging branches.

He felt a shiver as he looked at the shadow. The level of that shadow was higher than he was. The wolves stared at the shadow, snarling silently. As if they were facing a great enemy.

The little wolf pointed to the tree and muttered with his head. William did not understand at first, but after a second look, he saw that there were several fruits on the tree. The shape was strange. It looked like an eggplant. Most of them were hidden between the branches of the tree. There were not many for such a tree. He could only see ten. Behind it, he thought, there were at most ten more. It was these fruits that the wolves obviously wanted.

The shadow between the trees was also their protector. The wolves wanted to attack, but were obviously afraid to take the first step. So they pointed to William. They wanted him to make the first move.

"Are you crazy? I'm not even bronze level!" he said, looking at the wolves.

The little wolf pointed at the sword and growled.

William said, "Is that enough? Is fire its weakness?" showing the sword.

Wolf shook his head.

"I don't trust you at all, but I will." He said.

The wolf grimaced and muttered something.

William drew his sword and put the scabbard into his dimensional bag. Slowly, with himself in front, he approached the tree with the wolves. When they reached the edge of the tree, fifty meters away, the shadow stopped moving.

William noticed, but didn't stop. When they got within thirty meters, they heard a scream. The shadow was screaming at them from under the tree. It was such a harsh, agonizing scream that some of the wolves showed signs of giving up. William was afraid too!

The scream had a distinctive sound. It was as if it went straight to his soul. "Go!" he signaled.

The little wolf also showed reluctance, but he held on. He let out a low howl and continued walking. William, the little wolf, and the big wolf, the three of them side by side.

The wolves behind them were excited by the howl. When they got within twenty meters of the tree, the shadow couldn't take it anymore, it rushed out from under the tree and charged at William and the wolves, whom it saw as intruders.

William felt like he was living one of his most terrifying dreams as he saw the creature being thrown at him.

The creature had beautiful breasts and a perfect female body. Its long white hair reached down to its feet. But her hands and feet were like creature claws. They gave off a gray metallic glow. William immediately felt that he should not be hurt by those claws.

However, lastly, he was able to see the creature's face. In the middle of the creature's face was a completely vertical mouth!

Its two eyes were as far away from their normal position as possible!

Such a beautiful body, such an ugly face! Before they could sigh, "Unjust world," the creature had come to them. It radiated a mid-bronze level power.

It extended its claw and its first target was the weakest little wolf. William used the execution sword just in time. There were five meters between them and the wolf. So he used 'Like a Volcano' to catch up and dashed toward the creature's claws, leaving the scorched ground behind him.

"DINGGGGG!"

The sword rebounded from its sharp claws. Since he did not use the sword's enhancements, he was unable to cut off the creature's claws. The creature was also stronger than him. Between his two fingers, it felt like it would tear from the force of the reaction.

Meanwhile, the bronze-level wolf did not remain idle. It took advantage of the exchange of blows between the two and sunk its huge claw into the creature's back!

It left three deep claw marks, but not enough to kill the creature. William felt that this creature might be immortal unless he was the one to kill it. In a few seconds, the slowly opening claw marks merged together as if an invisible hand was stitching them.

William immediately shouted at this scene. "Keep attacking! I will kill it! Little wolf, get back!" he said.

He didn't forget the little wolf either. He knew that he was too weak for this fight.

The big wolf continued to attack as if he understood his words. Their claws collided, but it was only a metallic sound. He knew that the big wolf was at a disadvantage. His claws began to lose power.

William waited for the right moment. He unlocked the sharpness of his sword and wielded the sword of execution and the weight of the mountain, even though it had little effect. He didn't want to waste his qi on strengthening the sword's weight. It was a good idea to keep it to himself since he didn't know what would happen next.

About a minute later, just as he was about to claw at the wolf's head, exhausted from the excitement on the creature's ugly face, William saw his opportunity.

He immediately used 'Like a Volcano' and sliced the creature's neck with his sword under the excited face.

The creature was frozen. Ten meters away, William suddenly appeared. He had moved so quickly that the little wolf thought he was teleporting.

William pulled the scabbard from his dimensional bag and put his sword in the scabbard with his back to the creature.

"Kacha!"

He hung his sword around his waist.

"Here goes another one." He muttered.

William's face smiled in a very strange way. 'I was so cool,' he thought.

Then he calmed down and turned around.

He saw the creature's headless body burning slowly, and the big wolf breathing like an old uncle dying from a smoke.

The big wolf had worked hard to kill this creature.

The creature burned in a different way than usual. Its head quickly turned to ash. Even though its body was a little slower, the places where the fire touched quickly turned to ash. William knew it wasn't his fire or his sword. 'This creature must be something special,' he thought.

After a while, the creature's chest burned as well, and a blue crystal fell from where its heart had been.

Surprised, he went ahead and took the crystal.

He was surprised by the message in front of him.

It read, [Skrecwee Crystal (Medium Bronze) x1].

'A Skrecwee? What is that?' He didn't know what Skrecwee meant. There was no mention of such a humanoid creature in any of the books he'd read.

Looking up, he noticed that the little wolf was looking at him with disgust. It was as if the cool move he had just made was nothing in his eyes. He also felt that the crystal disgusted him. William just smiled and threw the crystal into his dimensional bag.

The big wolf got up after a short rest. They all went into the tree. The little wolf nodded again and told him to pick the fruits. When William touched the first fruit, he was surprised by the notification.

[Fruit of Life (Artificial) x1] "Fruit of life? And is it artificial? Is it some kind of experimental product? Did the owner of this tower create this?'

William couldn't help but wonder. The name Fruit of Life sounded very strange to him. He knew that it needed to increase his life energy, but could it be done artificially? He knew that such fruits and plants formed naturally in nature. How knowledgeable was the owner of this tower in magic, and how he was able to produce the Fruit of Life?

William became more interested in the inside of the tower. He picked all the fruits and placed them in front of the little wolf. There were twenty-one fruits in total.

The little wolf separated five of them and gave them to William. He gave them to him as extra payment. William gladly accepted.

He even thought that it would be difficult for him to carry them in his mouth, so he took an outfit from his dimensional bag and made a sack out of it. Then he tied the fruits together and gave them to the big wolf.

The little wolf mumbled thanks. Then they all sat down and began to rest. William looked back at the three wolves. He felt that they had been rewarded for nothing. He had done most of the work with the bronze wolf himself. He thought about using them or not. Then he gave up. He wanted to explore this tower on his own. Of course, he wanted the loot for himself.

Greed showed up again. William could feel it, but for now, he could not control human nature.