Chapter 609: Zephyr
As the guards cautiously retreated from the borders of the Northern Woods, a youth with a shock of blonde hair, approximately fifteen years of age, darted with urgency into the heart of the forest. Suddenly, he came to an abrupt halt; his gaze fixated on an enigmatic disturbance in the distance. Standing at about 160 cm, he possessed a complexion of fair hues, deep emerald eyes, an unremarkable physique, and a hawk nose.
"Oh no! A magical beast?" Cursing under his breath, he sought refuge behind the sturdy trunk of a nearby tree, cautiously unsheathing his long sword. With both hands tightly gripping the hilt, he drew a deep breath, attempting to steady his racing heart.
Simultaneously, the entity lurking several meters away from the young boy also became aware of his presence and began advancing toward him. Through the mirrored reflection of his sword, the young boy caught a glimpse of the beast's distinctive form and nearly let out an astonished gasp.
The creature stood at an imposing height of approximately three meters, displaying humanoid characteristics. Its single eye resembled a gleaming, bluish gem, while its body exuded a bulky, fatty appearance. In its hand, it clutched an unsettlingly strange club, adding to the sense of impending danger.
Unperturbed by the obstacles in its path, the Corrupt Giant effortlessly tore through vines and vegetation, its snout raised as it sniffed the air, seeking its prey.
With a sinking feeling of despair, the young man closed his eyes briefly, realization washing over him.
"It's a Corrupt Giant," he murmured, a sense of hopelessness creeping into his thoughts.
But before he could think of a way to escape this situation, the Corrupt Giant suddenly raised its club and directly smashed it at the tree trunk.
In a blink, the wooden club broke the three into it and smashed the young boy's body.
Like a wooden block, his body was flung to the right side and crashed onto a rock.
If he were a normal person, he would've died on the spot and gone into smithereens. But thankfully, his strengthened body managed to withstand the impact and barely kept him alive.
His breath turned rougher while his feet and hands went numb.
'This is the end, huh?' A whisper crept out of his mouth, followed by a strange darkness.
Alas, he gritted his teeth and tried to grasp the sword hilt in his hand.
Indeed, he still hadn't loosened his sword grip and appeared determined.
Watching this from the shadows, Charles couldn't help but get impressed.
"You have a good heart, lad. I'll save you once." He quietly walked out of the tree shadow, conjured a ball of greenish-blue flame, and tossed it on the young boy's chest.
A second later, the soul fire enveloped him, and started healing all the wounds at an incredible speed.
At the same time, Charles turned his gaze toward the towering humanoid Giant and snapped his fingers.
The next moment, the whole Giant was enveloped in a crimson flame and burning fiercely. Although it desperately tried to escape, the fire burned the Giant and killed it in seconds.
After killing the Corrupt Giant, Charles turned his gaze towards the young man and walked towards him.
"What's your name, kid?" He asked, smilingly.
"I-I'm Zephyr Silvercrest, Mister Mage." He said while standing up unsteadily and hurriedly bowing his head.
"Thank you for saving my life, Sir!"
He paused momentarily while cautiously looking at the fallen Giant and asked.
"Is it truly dead, Sir?"
"Yes. You don't have to worry about it." Charles waved his hand and probed him.
"So, what are you going to do now? Do you want me to escort you back to the Holy City?"
Meanwhile, Zephyr made a forced smile and shook his head.
"T-There is no one there for me, Sir. My mom died a month ago, and then everything changed. My father-" He gritted his teeth in anger and continued.
"That man didn't even come to bury my mother and just sent some guards to do the funeral work. But I thought it was due to the noble's reputation and followed my mother's advice to work under him. At first, he talked nicely and even gave me a Swordsman class gem. But after his fight with his first wife, I noticed he started to distance himself from me. But suddenly, he visited me a few days ago and promised I would be given a chance to become his heir."
"But he asked you to prove your worth, huh?" Charles instantly saw through that Baron's plan.
"Y-Yes. As long as I can earn some contribution, he promised to give me the position of an adviser and will also tell everyone that I'm his fourth son. That's when a guard suggested me something. He said I might get equal respect as Baron's other sons if I achieve something big like killing a few Rank-2 magical beasts. But after we entered the woods, I started to learn that all those guards were trying their best to harm me secretly. Before fighting the 'Dread Marauder,' we killed more than 3 Rank-1 Magical Beasts and another Rank-2 Magical Beast. Alas, the Guard Captain and other guards kept saying these weren't enough to make Baron Recognize my achievement and push me into the corner. That's when I realized their true goal and decided to escape."
"So, what's your plan?" Charles folded his hands and asked.
"I-I don't know, Sir. But I plan on going to some village and laying low for a while. After some months, I'll travel to other places and try to survive alone." Zephyr said while lowering his head.
In truth, it was just a random idea that came to his mind then.
'But I don't know how to get out of this forest. I also have no money to survive.' At that moment, he suddenly looked at the Corrupt Giant and asked with some hesitation.
"Can I take the Corrupt Giant's magic stone, Sir? If I meet you in the future, I'll return it."
An amusing smile appeared on Charles's face.
"You are smart but also a naive child." He quietly removed his old space ring and transferred all important items to Professor's space ring.
After that, he took out a pouch full of normal gold coins used in the southern kingdoms, one Sacred Gold Coin, and a few Silvers and stored them in the space ring. Then, he erased his spirit imprint and gave it to Zephyr.
"I'll give you this ring as my gift. From now on, you are a student of Rebirth Tower." Saying so, he took out a normal gold coin and imprinted a small part of his 'Will' into it.
He also infused some rebirth flame into it and made the whole coin appear to be made of molten lava.
"Go to the Iron Kingdom in the far south and find a way to enter the Tower of Rebirth. Once you enter the Tower, take out this coin and say, "Zera." After that, the Tower Spirit will take care of rest." Saying so, Charles gave the imprinted gold coin and added.
"Don't ever lose it, okay? Although the amount I kept in this ring isn't large, it will be enough for you to travel to the southern kingdom by carriage."
After that, he stealthily took a drop of Zephyr's blood from the nearby leaves and made an identity imprint.
"For safety purposes, you should also take a few common Magic Stones with you," Charles said before moving towards the fallen Corrupt Giant and dismantling the corpse.
After a minute of searching, he finally found a pure whitish crystal the size of his thumb finger and gave it to Zephyr.
For the next few hours, Charles roamed through the Northern Woods, killed more than a dozen Rank-2 Magical Beasts, and gave all of them to Zephyr.
What surprised Charles was that Zephyr knew a lot about magical beasts and even told him which parts were precious for making potions and artifacts.
While listening to his words, Charles also asked about Zephyr's personal history, family members, and even his late mother. Although Zephyr was confused by his question, he didn't mind telling his sad past.
Once, he got so emotional and cried non-stop for a while.
On the other hand, Charles kept listening to his words and memorized every detail. Not only that, but he also asked 'Genesis' to start gathering all information about Baron Cedric and his family members.
Around 1 P.M, he finally told Zephyr that it was time for them to part away and calmly grabbed Zephyr's shoulder.
Before Zephyr could understand, he cast [Flame Teleportation] spell and brought him away from there.
Zephyr only saw a blur before noticing that both were hovering in mid-air!
"I-I feel nausea-"
Before he could say those words, he saw the surroundings twisted eerily.
After a few times of teleportation, he brought Zephyr out of Sacred Empire and put him near a small town known as 'Night Fort.' It was a border town between Sacred Empire and another small kingdom called 'Goldencrown.'
After telling him to be wary of thieves and scammers, Charles quietly disappeared and soon returned to the Sacred Empire.
It was around 4 P.M.
Charles reappeared in the Northern Woods again, quietly activated the identity imprint, and shape-shifted himself into a blonde-haired young boy.
After that, he mimicked his voice and changed his cloth into an average-quality ones.
"Next is to adjust my strength." He calmly closed his eyes and adjusted his body to that of a Rank-2 Mystic.
"I can't go empty-handed to Silvercrest mansion." He released his' wisdom power' and scanned the surroundings.
Surprisingly, he saw the 'Dread Marauder' snoring under a tall tree and decided to hunt it.
As he walked closer to the Magical Beast, it woke up and tried to attack him.
Alas, Charles raised his fingers, cast [Finger of Destruction] spell, and made a hole through its head.
After that, he took a sharp silver knife from his space ring and started tearing the hardened skin.
"From what Zephyr told me earlier, Despair Marauder's eyes are very important for making potions. He also said its skins can be sold at a good price in the market. But I can only take a part of its skin to not expose me possessing a spatial ring." Muttering, he got into work and first skilfully took out its eyes. After that, he put it in a glass bottle and put them in a small leather bag.
After that, he cut the skin into the perfect size and took a small part. At the same time, he also took out the Magic Stone from its heart region and noticed that its size was almost as big as his fist!
'It's almost the size of Perfect Crystal.' After that, he pulled out the magical beast's teeth, fangs, and heart and even extracted some of its blood into a small glass container.
Once he completely gathered all the precious materials, he put them in a separate leather bag and put it over his shoulder.
Then, he turned around and started walking toward the Holy City.
