When Eva regained consciousness again, several hours had passed. Opening her eyes, Eva stared at the wood ceiling above her; her mind was feeling very fresh. For as long as a month, she felt frail. But now, she felt good.
Eva sat up on her bed with the help of her hands before she looked around her room.
"Mama!"
Sarah's eyelids moved. But she didn't wake up due to being tired and lack of sleep.
"Mama! Wake up." Eva shook her mother's shoulder.
"Huh... Ah, Eva, my darling!" Sarah woke up the second time she heard her daughter's voice. She has been dying to listen to those words for many days. She hugged her daughter tightly.
"Does it hurt somewhere? Tell mother if you don't feel good." Sarah asked as she looked into her eyes.
"No, Mama, I feel good. It doesn't anymore... Mama, where did he go?"
"He?" Sarah asked, confused.
"Hm, the fairy. He was standing right here, near me." Eva pointed at the edge of the bed.
'Ah! She is talking about Ivan.' It suddenly clicked to Sarah what her daughter meant by a fairy. She had indeed told her many times while sitting beside her that a fairy would come and heal her. She did it so that her daughter does not succumb to the pain and keeps fighting the illness.
"Where did he go, Mama?"
"He has left for his home after healing you," Sarah answered.
"He's gone? But why didn't he take me with him?" Eva asked, her eyes tearing.
"Eva, why are you crying? Why would he take you with him?" Sarah became worried. She didn't understand what her daughter meant.
"Sniff. . . Mama, didn't you say, I will marry the man who will kiss me like how Papa does to you and then take me away with him? Big brother fairy kissed me, doesn't that make me his wife? So why did he leave without me? Sniff. . ." Eva innocently replied and asked.
'Oh, my god! How did she know that? Wasn't she... unconscious at that time when Ivan was blowing air in her mouth?' Sarah looked visibly shocked. She understands that Eva was talking about Ivan, but it's impossible she would know he kissed her. No, it was technically not a kiss, and Ivan only did that one time to show Naina how it was done. No matter how unexplainable it was, Sarah had to give an answer, or Eva would start crying.
"Ah, my dear child... He didn't leave you; it's just that you are too young for now. He will come back and marry you when you grow up and become an adult. So wait patiently, okay! Please don't cry; I will also cry when I see you sad." Sarah said softly; she didn't know how to explain.
Eva was just a nine-year-old child, after all. She didn't know about the matter between men and women.
After she grows older, Eva would gradually understand and become mature in her thinking. Therefore, Sarah did not clear the misunderstanding about the relationship between a kiss and the marriage theory that Eva's father made up when Eva asked why he would kiss her Mama on the lips.
Though it was an innocent question, she was too little to know that stuff, or maybe they were too protective in her upbringing, so she and Torres never had 'the talk' with their daughter.
"Hm," Eva nodded, wiping her tears flowing down her cheeks puffed up because of baby fat.
Sarah heaved a sigh of relief, seeing that she stopped crying.
What Sarah didn't know was that the image of Ivan had already etched on the little girl's heart and mind as she had already started seeing him as her future husband.
The destiny has started changing for both Eva and Ivan from this day onwards as their meeting wasn't destined at all.
Whether this meeting would be ill-fated or will it bring happiness to the life of these two in the future, only time would tell. No one could foresee what world-changing effect their encounter would bring to the World of Aragnar.
"Achoo!" Ivan rubbed his nose after he suddenly sneezed involuntarily.
'Did I catch a cold?' Ivan looked at his stats, but everything seemed normal.
It has been two hours since they have been riding on the back of Fenrir, it was tiring as hell, but both and Ivan and Naina endured. Fortunately, they did not encounter any wild animals and quickly reached the official road that initially leads to the White-tiger city. It's the route that Ivan and Naina were taking before the bandits captured them.
"Ivan, how much more distance is left," Naina asked because she felt great pain in her butt and legs.
"White-tiger City shouldn't be far off; we should reach there in half an hour or so." Ivan figured.
Fenrir had slowed down since it was quite tiring to run such a long distance with two people on top.
Up ahead, there was a slight curve in the road as it bypassed around a small hill. Just as Fenrir ran the hallway around it, they heard a neigh of a horse.
A horse suddenly appeared from the opposite side, galloping at full speed with two men on top of it.
The sudden appearance of the wolf spooked the horse. But the man who had the reins in his hand controlled the horse and passed by the wolf without colliding with each other. Even if he had not moved, Fenrir would have easily dodged.
Ivan glanced at the second man sitting behind the one holding horse's reins. He was facing the back.
Because it was dark, Ivan found it hard to clearly see that man's facial features, but the arrow lodged on his shoulders didn't escape his eyes. That man was injured, and they seem to be running away from someone or something.
Rumble!!
Just when Fenrir came at the end of the curved road, they came across numerous armed soldiers galloping towards them with bows or torches in their hands.
Neigh!!!
The soldiers at the front pulled their horses' reins to stop them when they noticed the grey wolf and the two humans riding on top of it.
Fenrir also slowed down until he came to a stop just some meters away from the soldiers.
"Grrr!" Fenrir growled when he saw one of the soldiers aiming his bow at him.
"Easy Fenrir, move to the side and let them pass." Ivan rubbed the back of the wolf's head and nudged it to move to the side of the road.
The soldiers looked at each other before looking towards the man riding at the front.
"Hurry! They will run away. HA!" That person said after looking at Ivan's and Naina's face. Once again, his horse started moving forward when he urged his mount to run with a whip in his hand.
The soldiers followed after him and soon disappeared at the curve.
"They were the city guards of the Whitetiger city. They must be following after those two men that we passed just some minutes ago." Naina said.
Ivan nodded in understanding. Anyway, it did not concern him and Naina about their matter; therefore, Ivan patted Fenrir's back and told him to move.
After running more than two kilometers, the forest around the road suddenly became sparse, and then Ivan saw a vast barren land. In the middle of that barren land, they saw a massive city with outer walls towering nine or ten storeys in height and more than a kilometer in length. Something that Ivan had never seen in his past life.
1st chapter of the day.
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White Tiger City!
Ivan was staring at the enormous city's grey walls in awe as Fenrir brought them closer to it.
Before the city walls and its colossal gate, there were thatched houses built on the right side, a little farther than the road leading to the entrance. Ivan could see it light up with torches and humans' movement around it even this early in the morning.
"Didn't I tell you that the city gates won't open until the sunrise? Now we need to wait for them to open before we can enter the city," Naina said while rubbing her arms as it was quite chilly in the morning.
<<
Main Mission:
3. Reach the White Tiger City by Dawn: Time Limit - 10 Hour | Difficulty: D+ (100% progress)
Mission Completed: Perfect Ranking.
Reward: 10 Exp, 4 Silver Coins, Armguards, Mana Potion (2), Rank 0 Fireball spellbook
>>
<<
Name: Ivan Jaeger
Race: Human
Currency: 23 Silver and 34 Copper Coins.
Lucky Coin: 3
Level: 3 (Exp:35)
Status: Apprentice Warrior
Strength -(17)
Dexterity - (16)
Endurance - (13)
Intelligence - (15)
Vitality -(15)
Charisma - (4)
Class: Freeman
Adventurer Class: None
HP(Health Points): 30/30
MP(Mana Points): 30/30 - Meditate to speed up Mana recovery (Normal recovery speed is 1 Mana points every 20 minutes).
Attributes: Water Element (1% Contol), ??
Magic Spells: Rank 0 Fireball(Cannot cast- Fire Affinity not found)
BSP:(Battle Skill Points): None
AP:(Ability Points): None
Battle Skills: None
Ability: Appraise | Peak Human Jump (LVL-1) | ??(Dormant)
>>
Ivan took his eyes off the spellbook that was now deposited in his inventory. It seems he could have used it without reading it but since he doesn't have the Fire attribute, Ivan couldn't cast it using magic.
"It's alright; we will wait… Let's go there." Ivan said while pointing his finger towards the tents and the rundown houses. Since the mission is completed, it doesn't matter if he has to wait outside the city.
"Okay," Naina nodded.
Ivan patted Fenrir's back and told it to move where human activity was going on even this early in the morning.
When Fenrir arrived near that place, the people walking outside looked at the wolf in slight fear but seeing Ivan and Naina riding on it, they soon lowered their guards and their hands on their weapons.
Everything was good as long as the carnivorous animal was a tamed beast.
Ivan was also looking at the expression of those people who came across the grey wolf, and he finally heaved a sigh of relief after knowing he made no mistake in bringing Fenrir with him.
And Ivan soon knew why it wasn't abnormal because he saw other people riding on Beast that was bigger than the wolf and exotic looking as Ivan had never seen anything like them back in the previous world.
Ivan came across an oversized Lizard, a three-horned rhino, and a weird-looking bird that had walked like a duck. Ivan was sure he saw the fire lit in the bird's mouth when it yawned. A man was sitting on his back with a huge sword latched to his back and behind the two of them followed five carriages guarded by armed men.
Fenrir had already moved to the side of the road when he noticed the bird coming from the opposite direction.
"That was a magic beast, Chickbul. They are quite difficult to tame. Doesn't it look cute?" Naina said in awe as she stared at the back of the bird.
<<
<<Name: Chickbul
Race: Magic Beast
Level: 12
Status: Rank 1
Class: Iron Class Magic Beast
>>
"Cute? Yeah, it is cute." Ivan wryly smiled. To Ivan, that magic Beast was everything else but cute.
Many shops opened on both sides of the gravel road, and people were standing in front of them bartering loudly with the shop owners.
Suddenly, Ivan knitted his brows as he saw five men walking towards them, but their eyes were only on Fenrir, and it did not seem they had any good intentions.
"Oy, boy, come down. Brother Jose wants to talk business with you." Said one of the guys whose eyes stayed on Naina for too long, making her uncomfortable.
"Sorry, but we are in a hurry. Please give us the way." Ivan did not want to entangle them.
"There is still half an hour for the gates to open, so everyone has to wait here until then, and it won't take us that long. Anyway, I want to buy your wolf. I will give you two hundred copper coins in exchange for it." The person that was introduced as Brother Jose by the first guy spoke up in a hurry. It seemed he did not want to let them leave.
"I don't want to sell him."
"Three hundred copper coins, that's the last price I will give you." Jose raised his hand and showed three fingers to Ivan, but he also moved his other hand on the handle of his sword suggestively.
"Grrr!" Fenrir suddenly growled at Jose. Maybe he didn't like being priced so low, or perhaps he was angry when Jose made a threatening move toward him and his Hooman friends.
But Jose did not seem to fear the wolf, unlike the four other men who took a step back when they saw it baring teeth at them.
Ivan scanned Jose with his appraisal ability.
<<Name: Jose
Race: Human
Level: 7
Status: Intermediate Warrior Apprentice
Class: Freeman
Adventurer Class: Rank F
Ability: None>>
'He is stronger than Grant' Ivan knew he wasn't a match for the man in front of him.
'Will he dare to use that sword on us in front of the other people…' Ivan did not want to take a bet on it since this world wasn't the same as the previous one.
"Mister, you can't buy this wolf."
"I cannot buy it?" Jose was dumbfounded when he heard Ivan say that.
'Is he mocking me?' Jose fumed.
"It's not mine. If you want to buy it, then go and find Kyle Wheelbarrow; he is a Ribeiro Academy student and her brother. He should be waiting for us on the other side of the closed gates, let's go together, and you can directly buy the wolf from him yourself." Ivan hurriedly explained when he saw Jose's misunderstanding. He also wanted to see if his bluff could work and if the Academy's name had any effect on these people, but their reaction shocked Ivan instead.
The thugs looked at Naina wide-eyed. Even Jose acted the same.
"No! It's alright. We don't want the wolf anymore. Sorry for making you wait and troubling you." Jose said in a trembling voice. He signaled his men and turned around, scurrying away as fast as he could from Ivan, Naina, and the wolf. His subordinates followed after him.
Ivan did not know what these guys suddenly became so afraid that they ran with their tails tucked between their legs.
'Were they scared by the academy name, or were they scared of Naina's brother, or were they scared of both' Ivan could not make heads or tails about the situation.
1st chapter of the day.
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