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32.65% The Talentless Inheritor / Chapter 48: Isn't This Forest Too Strange? (1)

Chapter 48: Isn't This Forest Too Strange? (1)

"You've been looking better lately," Amy inspected Sebastian from head to toe before commenting.

"Eh? I do?"

All Sebastian had noticed were the additional things he could do with his body. He could lift heavier weights, run faster, and he also had increased stamina.

"Yep. You're taller and I can feel more muscle in your arms. I started to feel the muscles around three months ago but they've only become apparent now," Amy replied while feeling up his body here and there.

'I don't recall being touched by her so closely before... When...?'

Putting aside that matter for later, Sebastian put his hand atop Amy's head, "now that you mention it, you have become shorter."

"Wha-? I'm not getting shorter, you've just become taller!" Amy pouted and lightly punched Sebastian.

If she really shrunk more than this, then Sebastian would eclipse her. That wasn't something she could allow.

"I'll drink a lot of milk later..." Amy muttered. Sebastian couldn't quite catch what she said but judging by her expression, he had an inkling of what it was.

For this week's date, they had just decided to hang out in Sebastian's room. Rumors were already floating around that the two of them had dates every week. It was completely true but it would be bad if some weird rumors started and they decided to hold the venue for this week's date here.

Sebastian sat on the floor while leaning on the bed—Amy sat down in front of him.

For a couple of hours, the two of them just talked about silly things. Past memories, stupid ideas for the future. It was a very harmonious talk. Sometimes, one side teased the other while other times, they coaxed each other.

All of a sudden, Amy stopped in the middle of her laugh and nestled herself in his arms. She closed her eyes and leaned her head on his chest.

"Hey... are you going to leave?"

Sebastian flinched and held his breath.

"You've been saving up money while training. I thought that maybe you'd want to buy something but then I realized that the money you're saving up is too much for just any item. I remember the time you muttered something about saving up two million and connected it together... The only thing I can think of that you could buy with that money is a ticket to the airship.

"You want to go abroad, don't you?"

He really couldn't fool her.

"Please answer me truthfully," there wasn't any hint of anger or pain in her voice as she continued to plead, "can't you?"

Somehow, that hurt his heart even more. He wrapped his arms around her body and whispered in her ear, "I need to go to Tidas. I've been saving up money to buy the ticket to the airship, as you've said."

He could go by land but it would take him a year to get there and back.

He couldn't keep lying to her but he couldn't tell her the whole truth either. It was a difficult position to be in.

Amy responded with silence and nested herself even deeper in his arms as if she was afraid that the warmth he provided would disappear.

Sebastian continued, "I'd take a month at the least. I planned to tell you when I had the money..."

Amy raised her head abruptly and sealed Sebastian's lips with hers. It was only a brief kiss but because the last one they had was quite a while ago, it felt enchanting to him. Her lips tasted sweet, like the tart she had eaten earlier.

Enraptured by the kiss, Sebastian stared at her dumbly as she stared into his eyes, "can I not come with you?"

To that question, Sebastian blinked once. Then twice.

"Huh? You can... Wait, what have I been worrying about? Couldn't I have just brought you with me? No wait, there's also the matter of the cost..." His words trailed off.

Amy held his head and forced him to look at her, "don't worry about the cost. You don't have to worry about your portion as well."

Sebastian furrowed his brows, "I can't have you pay for me."

In response, she chuckled and spoke in a tone filled with mischief, "who said I was the one paying? Just tell me when you want to leave and we'll be able to go at any time."

The sudden change in her personality reminded him of another matter he had forgotten to address.

"Amy, I've been meaning to ask you, who's the one teaching you? Just a few months ago, you were so pure that even the thought of a kiss would leave you as red as a tomato..."

She flashed him a big toothy grin, "that's a secret~"

...

Even though Amy had told him not to worry about the cost, he still couldn't help himself from trying to earn more money.

In regards to time, he had practically given up on being a valedictorian. He used the time he could've gone to classes for training and selling. Because of his academic record, he could afford to skip most of his classes but he hadn't. Now, he was using it to the fullest.

Today, his destination wasn't any of the villages but the forest that the hawk had appeared in.

"...!"

Two rodents leaped at Sebastian but with his spear, he managed to kill them in a few movements before they reached the ground. Then, he coated his body in more energy and shot towards another rodent that was preparing to ambush him and killed it in one hit.

He swung his spear and the blood flew off the spearhead. "There's a lot of them today," he muttered while looking at all of the beast carcasses surrounding him.

Although it was true that the hawk was still roaming around the forest, he had confidence in being able to escape now that his energy was only a cusp away from reaching Apprentice. Just the tiniest push was enough for him to be regarded as one.

During the past month of training his body, he hadn't forgotten to train his stigma. Just because he did not use the stigma's energy to enhance his body did not mean that he had no other ways to drain it. He expended the energy while training his body.

Although it was less efficient than focusing on the energy alone, it allowed him to train both without neglecting the other.

Sebastian equipped his bow and loaded three arrows. He fired them towards the sky and a few seconds after, three small figures fell down.

He walked over to their landing spot and inspected the winged creatures. "Bats. Why are they out here in the sun?"

They weren't the harmless bats that were normally found. They were beasts that could kill humans and large animals. Still, it was weird for them to be out in the open because though they had become monsters, they were still nocturnal.

"Is there another predator?"

It would explain why the rodents and bats would be out here. Maybe a predator holed itself up in a cave and forced the rats and bats to flee.

Sebastian raised his energy. Balanos wasn't here to tell him where the enemies were so he had to rely on himself.

Using the stigma, he expanded his awareness.

"..."

Surrounding him were several Apprentice beasts and even more numerous Novice beasts. They weren't particularly any trouble as he had confidence in being able to defeat them or escape but... where had they come from?

He was only two to three hours away from the nearest road. Beasts should seldom appear here but what was he looking at?

There was no time to ponder as the beasts started to advance. Sebastian took a handful of arrows in his draw hand and aimed with his bow using the other and shot down any beast he could.

Arrows and blood flew in the air. There were beasts of all kinds surrounding him but only about half of them were left by the time that they had reached the range where his bows wouldn't be as effective.

Sebastian let the bow hang loose on his body and gripped his spear. He had to take the initiative.

SHIK SPLATTER

He cut apart the nearby beasts without stopping. The blood that was covering his body and the ground that he was stepping on didn't bother him in the least. He continued to fight and kill the beasts.

"Ugh..."

One of them had managed to land a hit on his back but it was quickly dealt with.

There weren't any particularly large beasts but that just meant that his enemies were more agile. Luckily, compared to Gilbert, their speed wasn't even worth mentioning in his eyes. Whenever Sebastian was about to get hit, he used more of the stigma's energy and boosted himself to strike back.

Sure, he had suffered a few wounds here and there but overall, the beasts couldn't do much to him.

"Sheesh, what is wrong with this forest?"

First, there was the hawk. Then, there was the fox. Now, there were hordes of beasts that weren't in their natural environment walking around.

Although he wanted to go back, he couldn't help but want to inspect a bit more either. Sebastian gritted his teeth and followed the direction of the beasts. Surely, one of them would eventually lead him back to the source.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
SeverTheHeavens SeverTheHeavens

I was on a trip for 3 days without any internet. I've only now realized that I didn't actually schedule this chapter.

Chapter 49: Isn't This Forest Too Strange? (2)

"...Empty."

That was the only word he could use to describe the current state of the cave. He had ambushed a beast and injured it then followed it back to its lair. After killing the beast just as it entered the cave, Sebastian saw an empty cave with no other entities.

No plants, no beasts, nothing.

Other than the barren inside, he could only see the dark and moody jagged walls and ceiling.

He tried to inspect it a bit more to see if he could find a hole or something that the rat or bats could fit in but there really wasn't anything. He even tried hitting the walls with his spear for a bit but other than putting some large scratches, nothing happened.

Sebastian left the cave unwillingly.

"What the heck is happening around here?"

Because he couldn't find any more clues in the cave, he began searching for more beasts. However, each time he followed them to a cave, a tree, a hole, no matter where they went, it was always an empty spot with no signs of other life.

An ominous feeling slowly crept up on Sebastian and he subconsciously turned around and thrust his spear forward.

All Sebastian saw was some black smoke that faded away as soon as it appeared but it sent chills down his spine.

His instinct yelled at him to run away as fast as possible but his mind was asking him where to run away. He felt as if no matter where he went, that black smoke would just follow him.

Still, he had no time to think. A gust of wind brushed past his head with what felt like a blade about to sweep past his head.

Sebastian crouched as fast as he could and mere moments after, several trees around him were cut in half.

"There really is something here!" Sebastian ran away as fast as he could and even used the trees as cover sometimes but no matter what, he couldn't shake off the black smoke following him close behind.

He tried using arrows but they just passed through the black smoke that became more and more visible as the chase went on.

"Fireball!"

Sebastian yelled and fired off a small fireball towards the smoke but like the arrows, it simply just passed through. He could've used a larger flame but he wasn't sure if it would hit and used a small one to save energy.

"What is that thing?!"

He couldn't help but yell out in frustration. It could chop trees like paper, pass through objects and flames without getting hit. Of course, he also tried using wind but like the many things he threw before it, they all just passed through.

The chase where one mistake would cost him his life continued for a few minutes but then, the smoke suddenly disappeared and the ominous feeling he felt accompanied it.

"I'm back where I started."

Sebastian looked back and noticed his path. Did the dark smoke lead him out of that place on purpose? Or could it be that it just couldn't get past that range and returned to its home?

Either way, it was good news for Sebastian. He could finally escape from that nightmare of an opponent.

He wanted to investigate but he couldn't do anything in the face of that dark smoke.

"...I'll just leave it for later. If I inform the house then they can seal the forest."

It was far too dangerous to just leave it alone. The only reason Sebastian could was that he could use the Walt House's ability, body enhancement. If a regular person were to encounter that dark smoke, then only death would await them.

"Still, what the heck is that thing? It's intangible to anything I throw at it whether it's made of energy or physical weapons... it's practically invulnerable. Let's just hope it doesn't leave this forest."

...

"...An entity wrapped in dark smoke that can cut apart dozens of trees in an instant but is intangible to everything that hits it. A ghost?"

"That's basically it, yes."

"Have you been eating mushrooms?"

"Wisteria, I'm not joking!"

Sebastian slammed down his fist onto the table and the third seat of Blue Rose, Wisteria looked at him with a raised brow.

"Look, I'm incredibly busy. If you want someone to help you, then ask 31 or someone else. Why don't you just ask your house for help?"

"I've already tried. They reacted the same way you did, looking at me like I'm crazy..."

"..."

"I'm not!"

Wisteria rolled her eyes and continued doing the papers in front of her. Even as an assassin organization, they still had to handle a lot of paperwork. They weren't any run-of-the-mill assassins. After all, they were assassins that controlled part of the kingdom.

With such great influence, they can't just rely on verbal promises. There's also the front side of the organization to deal with.

Seeing as how Sebastian wouldn't relent and continued staring at her and impeding her work, Wisteria sighed and called for someone.

"Bring Fox over here to the archives and inform Fourth that he wants to know about ghosts."

"...Fourth, madam?"

"Yes, Fourth."

"Right this way, sir..."

Inwardly feeling sorry for Sebastian, the man led him into the basement and into the archives filled with dust and webs.

"With the exception of that one bookshelf, you can read anything in here. Fourth will be on his way down here soon. If you want to read about... uh... ghosts, I suppose that bookshelf over there is a good place to start."

"Thank you." Sebastian walked over to the shelf and chose a random book. Most of the books were covered in dust and some were even so tattered that he couldn't read the names of the books.

'This feels familiar.'

Other than the dimly lit lamps, it was similar to the old library.

Sebastian took a nearby seat after dusting it off and began reading in earnest. Although he occasionally sneezed because of the dust floating around, it was still doable.

"Creatures of Legend..."

The book was old. As far as he could tell, it seemed at least over a century old.

"Cerberus, Dryads, Centaurs..."

He had heard of these names before but there were never any detailed descriptions but in this book, it seemed like the author was someone who had been alongside those beasts.

"One-eyed giant creatures, Cyclops. They like to feed on smaller creatures and often herd sheep for staple food. Dryads, creatures of the forest that reside in trees. Of them, Hamadryads are special, with only eight in existence, all of which are women, Karya, Aigeiros, Balanos—"

The information in the book sounded exaggerated and too suspicious but for some reason, he felt like they were the truth. After all, he had personally met Balanos. It felt like when he had first read the book containing information about the stigma.

Sebastian skimmed through everything else after reading about Dryads until he arrived near the middle of the book.

"Shades, spirits of dead beings that have lingering attachments whether they be regrets or forced servitude. Has an innate anger against those who live, most likely due to jealousy. There are many variations of Shades but the most common is made of dark smoke..."

"Ah, so you've found it."

"Woah?!"

Sebastian jolted and fell down on his chair.

CRASH

"Ouch..."

"Sorry about that, do you need some help?"

The mystery figure reached his hand out and Sebastian grabbed it with little hesitation.

"Fourth?"

"Yes, I was a bit delayed because of some matters and I was worried that you'd be irate but looks like I don't have to worry about that," Fourth glanced at the book and back at Sebastian, "are you a bookworm, perchance?"

Sebastian scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and nodded. It was rare to find someone who enjoyed reading, or at the very least, he had only met a few.

"Splendid! I haven't met anyone in Blue Rose who even wants to go near a book, let alone a true reader! Well then, what do you want to know about spirits?"

"Ah, right." Sebastian took the book and showed it to Fourth, "is there any way to deal with these?"

"I can understand your curiosity but why do you want to know about them so much? Are you fascinated by the idea of souls or are you just scared of encountering them?"

"It's just that I think I've encountered one."

Fourth's eyes widened and he grabbed Sebastian by the shoulders and began shaking him.

"Where?! How?! What did it look like? Did it attack you? Did—!"

"Wait, stop! I can't understand a word you're saying anymore! One question at a time!"

Unfortunately, Fourth couldn't be restrained. It took all that Sebastian had to keep up with his pace. When Fourth finally finished, Sebastian was exhausted.

"C-can you tell me about the method to deal with them now...?"

"Oh, I don't know."

"What?!"

Who knew how much willpower Sebastian had to use to stop himself from hitting Fourth at that moment?


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
SeverTheHeavens SeverTheHeavens

Sorry for the late chapters. Been busy because of the holidays and people visiting.

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