The exit from the kitchen inn leads to a narrow alley. The end of the alley points towards the forest at the foot of Oakpeak mountains. Rico walks towards a path into the woods, and Zorka follows, occasionally hiding behind trees when Rico looks around cautiously."Where's he headed?" Zorka wonders, keeping an eye on Rico's suspicious actions.Rico stops briefly to check his surroundings, making sure he's not being followed. Rico uses a magical glass ball with fire inside to light up his way. Then, he continues walking into the forest.The short guy reached a place with big rocks piled up near a large oak tree. The bright light turned the dark and creepy forest into something quite calming. Zorka sneaked behind the wild bushes under the oaks, keeping a close eye.Rico checked his surroundings again, making sure no one was tailing him. Even though he sensed something, he couldn't figure out what or who was following him. Then, Rico's voice echoed, calling someone."Hey, Alex. Show your
Bam!Rico fell to the ground. He held his chest from the blow delivered by Alex.Seizing an opportunity, Alex was caught off guard by Zorka. Zorka attempted to create another electric energy ball, this time with more power than the first attack.Bang! Buzz!Zorka's powerful strike hit Alex's body. This time, Alex staggered. He felt the electric shock coursing through him. However, the attack hadn't incapacitated the kingdom official."Son of a bitch!" Alex yelled, not taking well to being countered by Zorka.Quickly rising from the ground, Zorka gathered his strength again. Alex resumed a barrage of attacks on Zorka. This time, Zorka evaded Alex's magical assaults by hopping around whenever the attacks were directed at him. Occasionally, Zorka retaliated, although his magical attacks could be intercepted by the kingdom official.Rico was stunned by the uneven fight between Alex and Zorka. Alex's attacks appeared more coordinated with a stable frequency of power compared to Zorka. As a
Rico took Alex to the hotel lobby. Meanwhile, Zorka asked Azurks for help to teleport his into her room. He had sneaked after Rico without telling anyone."Azurks, do you have any healing magic?" Zorka asked through telepathy while taking off her blood-stained clothes."That's easy for me! Just repeat what I say!" Azurks said, "Anáro̱se!"Zorka repeated Azurks' words. A bluish-white burst of light covered Zorka's body, slowly healing the wounds from Alex's attack.When it was done, Zorka threw his bloodied clothes into the fireplace and burned them to ashes. He put on another set of clothes that Rico had bought earlier.A knocking sound is heard from outside."Sorry, Zorka. Are you in there?" says someone behind Zorka's room door.Zorka opens his room door. A hotel staff member asks him to go to the lobby because Mr. Em, the receptionist, wants to meet him there.The server cleared the way for Zorka to follow him to the lobby. When they arrived, Mr. Em was giving Rico a piece of his m
Mansion Kayleigh, imprisoned in Renata's tower. Renata felt relieved knowing Zorka had met Azurks and made a contract with that legendary beastmaster."I want to meet Zorka with a different soul," Renata mumbled, gazing far through the tower window.Suddenly, the tower's seal magic vibrated. Renata stepped back from the window."Demista!" Renata shouted.Demista, located in Mansion Kayleigh, specifically in his office, stared sharply at the tower. A while ago, he felt the tower's seal magic energy vibrating, then breaking.Something had penetrated the tower. Demista thought it was Renata's doing."Stop playing games with me, Renata!"Hearing the anger in Demista's voice through telepathy, Renata chuckled."Why would I play games? There's no point in breaking into your tower because I'm already inside, and it's tough to get out.""Stop your jokes, Renata! It seems like after the death of your child, you've gone insane," mocked Demista.Instead of being offended, Renata laughed. Demista
At dawn, Zorka handed over the inn keys at the reception desk. Only one attendant was there, taking over from Mr. Em's shift. Zorka intentionally left the inn early to skip any unnecessary goodbyes – not a fan of small talk.Zorka walked a few hundred meters outside the Elmdale village gate. Then, Azurks transformed into his true form."Get on!" Azurks commanded Zorka.Azurks' giant body left Zorka wide-eyed. It felt tough getting onto Azurks, where Zorka ended up positioned at Azurks' clawed feet.Without being told, Azurks noticed Zorka struggling to climb onto his back. He cast a bubble spell enveloping Zorka, making the small figure float and land on Azurks' back."Hold on tight to my mane!" Zorka followed Azurks' instruction, sitting calmly while gripping Azurks' mane.Azurks' large bat wings unfolded. Slowly flapping them, a strong wind rustled the oak trees outside the Elmdale village gate.There's a reason why Zorka left the village of Elmdale. Azurks invited him to fly to a p
Zorka found some jatropha leaves useful for reducing the effects of the spider's venom. He picked a few fresh leaves and asked Azurks to find water through telepathy while he searched for other herbal plants to treat the girl who had fallen victim to the spider.Once the necessary plants were gathered, Zorka washed the jatropha leaves and found a stone to crush them into a paste. Despite Azurks grumbling, Zorka asked him to carve the stone into a makeshift mortar. The jatropha paste was squeezed to release a greenish liquid, which was then allowed to settle until jatropha oil emerged. Though it took a while, Zorka kept monitoring the girl's pulse.At one point, Zorka asked Azurks to heal the girl, but Azurks explained that his magic couldn't handle toxins or venom. Azurks only healed the spider bite wounds, not the venom. Earlier, Zorka had applied jatropha oil to the bites."Luckily, the venom in her body is just neurotoxin, not protein solvents or histamine. So, it can still be mana
Almia wiped away her tears with the back of her hand."Now I'm worried about my mom," Almia whispered.A sudden silence filled the air after Almia stopped telling her story. Zorka's eyes stared at the crackling bonfire, consuming the firewood. A few tiny sparks floated briefly and then disappeared.The silence made Almia uneasy. She changed the topic to lighten the mood."By the way, Zorka. I'm curious about you. Why would a kid like you enter the dangerous Dzara forest? Especially alone."Hearing that, Zorka just chuckled while rubbing his nose."Well, that..." Zorka took a moment to think about what to say to Almia. He didn't want to reveal the secret that he came there to train with his contracted dragon."I'm learning specialized poison treatment. My teacher asked me to search for various toxins and venoms, whether from animals or plants," Zorka explained."So, you're a future healer?" Almia's eyes sparkled hearing Zorka's explanation."Hmm, you could say that, hehe.""So, did you
Zorka grills wild boar meat on a heated flat stone over embers. As the sun peeks through, the savory scent fills the air, waking up Almia. Her empty stomach catches a whiff of the tempting grilled meat."Smells so good." Almia sits by the natural stone grill in front of the campfire.Zorka places a big piece of well-cooked grilled meat on a leaf. "Here, give it a try!"Almia happily takes a bite. But as she eats, she suddenly gets thoughtful."Do you want to go home soon?”Almia looked at Zorka after he just asked her. "Y-yes, of course.""Well then, finish your breakfast. I'll take you out of this forest," Zorka replied."You better hurry up with that. Your time for training is wasted just to deal with one human," Azurks reminded telepathically.After breakfast, Zorka got ready to escort Almia. Azurks curled up on Zorka's shoulder, unnoticed by Almia. They both walked following Zorka's memory from his first visit to the forest.A while later, they reached the edge of the forest."We'