Chương 25: Chapter 25: Siblings
After observing his reflection, Luck raised himself to stand. Suddenly a wave of nausea swept over him. The massive amount of information within his sea of consciousnesses was simply too much for an untrained soul such as his. He still needs to consolidate all the memories and rest his soul. Feeling how strained his soul was, Luck decided to get a night of rest.
Luck wandered through the vast forest before he stumbled upon a cave. As Luck entered the cave, he was met with a large, brown bear that was sleeping. As Luck wasn't masking his footsteps, the bear's ears twitched as it opened its eyes. It had obviously noticed the intruder entering its home.
"You wouldn't mind sharing this cave, would you?" Luck spoke, smiling slightly.
Of course, the bear didn't understand Luck's words in the slightest as it roared fiercely.
The bear seemed quite nice. It had roared at Luck to tell him to back off, giving Luck a chance to escape. However, as Luck took another step in the cave, it immediately pounced at him.
Seeing how Luck was merely a child, the bear blindly attacked him.
Whoosh!
The bear paw struck as a whipping sound of air could be heard.
The paw immediately collided with Luck's head, easily snapping his neck and instantly killing the vulnerable boy. At least, that's what the bear thought would happen. However, the bear felt as if he had struck a boulder. As it retracted its massive arm, the boy was left standing at the same spot as if nothing had happened.
"I tried being nice, too bad." Luck mumbled. As the bear remained confused as to why the human seemed unaffected by its attack, Luck suddenly swung his right arm, the sound of wind breaking resounding in the cave. His palm collided with the bear's head as it flung the bear before its body violently crashed onto the cave wall.
The bear's body immediately went limp as its head had been grotesquely deformed from the slap. A palm imprint could be seen deeply ingrained into the bear's head as brain matter dripped and oozed out.
After killing the bear, Luck threw the bear outside the cave before finding a nice spot to sleep. After finding the spot, he immediately closed his eyes as he drifted to sleep.
...
Waking up, Luck briefly stretched before examining his cave. He had slept at the deepest part of the cave so he could slowly adjust to the light from the sun.
As Luck casually walked towards the exit of the cave, the light outside suddenly blinded him. It felt like lava was covering his eyes as Luck gritted his teeth. After a few hours of adjusting to the light, his sensitive eyes only felt slightly uncomfortable towards the sunlight now.
Walking out of the cave, Luck raised his left hand to shield his eyes. "It felt as if it has been many years since I've felt the sensation of sunlight on my skin." Luck smiled.
After contemplating, Luck spoke, "I should find a village or a city and get information there. Although I have no idea as to where those villages are, from Avice, I know that the Sanctuary should be somewhere near the Black Iron Kingdom or the Golden Gate Kingdom. Judging from how vast this forest is, I should be currently in the territory of ferocious beasts, also known as the Myriad Glades. Only villages and bandit camps exist in the Myriad Glades, each inhabiting around a hundred to a few thousand people."
Avice had been in a small village of about 300 people, thus they had been easily raided and eradicated by bandits. In the Myriad Glades, villages are constantly under threat of beast tides and bandit attacks. Usually, the small villages would be forced to pay food and resources to bandit groups so they don't raid them.
Once Luck gathered his thoughts, he eventually headed towards a random path, using the river as a small guide.
...
In the Myriad Glades, deep in the forest.
Caeli, a young girl, was rushing through the forest with all her might.
The scorching sunlight pierced through the small gaps of the leaves, shining upon her figure as her legs rapidly moved. She had golden hair and big, watery blue eyes.
But at this moment, her eyes were currently filled with a sense of urgency and panic.
She was panting heavily, drenched in sweat as fatigue was slowly consuming her. Although she had trained for a few years, surpassing many of her peers as her grandfather was of the grandmaster rank, the relentless running she had done had caused her to reach her limits.
Perhaps she might of had an easier time if she wasn't currently carrying her younger brother on her back, however, she would never abandon him!
"Sister..." The boy on her back mumbled, his expression bitter and guilty. He was being such a burden to her as tears formed in his eyes. Although he wanted to tell her to just leave him and get to safety, he was scared of dying.
Hearing the faint sniffles of her brother, Caeli reassured him with a smile. "Don't worry, we will surely make it back to safety, I promise!"
A few hours ago before this tragedy happened, Caeli and her younger brother, Han, had begged their older brother to take them with him to the city. They had always been in their village all their lives so they were extremely curious of the world outside the forest. Everything had went smoothly, they reached the city, looked around and were amazed by all the people, food and buildings there. However, when they wanted to return back to the village, a disaster struck.
A small beast tide had suddenly appeared when they were halfway back to their village. Their older brother was a part of a group to escort and sell their village's resources to the city for food. The group were all warriors, however, the beast tide was too formidable. Their older brother knew they couldn't fight the beast tide while protecting them, so they ordered them to run back to the village with one of his group members to escort them. As the beast tide was only coming from one direction, they should have been able to arrive safely, but a dire wolf had suddenly attacked.
The person that were escorting them had held the wolf back. But he was no match for the wolf as only someone at the master rank can contend against it.
Now, they were desperately running, trying to find their way back. But on the way, they had gotten lost within the forest. Han had sprained his ankle, forcing Caeli to carry him or the dire wolf will catch up to them.
It was then that a howl in the distance could be heard, sending shivers down the two's spine. This meant the man that was protecting them had died and soon...
They were likely next!
Despite fear enveloping Caeli, she suppressed the anxiousness and panic within her. She has to remain clear headed for their survival.
As she kept pushing, eventually a river could be seen in the distance.
Caeli's pupils constricted. How was she suppose to traverse the river? She estimated that it was very deep and the current was extremely fast. If she tried to cross it, she would undoubtedly be swept away. Even without carrying her brother, she didn't have much confidence.
It was then that she spotted a tall, brittle tree next to the river as an idea quickly emerged within her mind.
As she quickly arrived in front of the tree, she gently placed her brother down as she told him,
"Han, help me push the tree down so we can cross the river!"
Han hastily nodded as he weakly stood up despite the pain. The two placed both their hands on the trunk as they pushed with all their might.
As if the heavens had blessed them, the tree had collapsed as a bridge was created.
Both of their expressions showed a look of joy before Caeli once again carried her brother across the river.
"Slowly... step by step." Caeli muttered, taking careful steps across the river.
It was then that they heard a howl behind them. Taking a glance towards the sound, Caeli's eyes constricted. It was the dire wolf!
It had already arrived so soon?
Once Caeli crossed the river, the first thing she did was to push the tree and destroy the bridge.
Thankfully, the tree was quite light. Under the force exerted by Caeli, it had been pushed away as it fell into the river, quickly getting swept away.
She let out a breath of relief. Can they finally have a moment of rest now?
However, to their horror, the dire wolf didn't stop its pursuit. Instead, it charged right for them as it leaped into the air as it easily jumped the distance of 16 metres!
It landed right in front of them, it's sinister, golden eyes almost sneering at their attempt to escape.
It released a low growl as its long legs were walking towards them. Caeli felt her world shatter. After all her efforts, they were still going to die?
No!
They must live!
She won't give up!
She immediately tried to run again, however, the moment she tried to, she fell. Her legs felt like heavy iron. She had used up all her energy.
"Sister!" Han shouted, his expression becoming terribly frightened.
She was panting heavily, her world spinning due to her dizziness and fatigue.
Han's eyes were filled with tears as he weakly lifted himself. Despite his pathetic state, he needs to protect his sister!
Han had a resolute expression as he faced off against the wolf.
His legs trembled with each step the dire wolf took.
Thump. Thump.
His heartbeat felt as if it were about to leave his throat, beating crazily.
Not wanting to play much longer, the dire wolf pounced on the boy, opening it's mouth to bite into the boy's neck. The boy closed his eyes in fright.
However, before the wolf could have its way, a blurry shadow had suddenly appeared in front of it.
The wolf let out a miserable sound as it got carried by the momentum of the figure.
Not feeling the sensation of death, Han cautiously reopened his eyes to see a boy, perhaps only a year or two older than him, carrying the dire wolf by its neck. His appearance was unusual, with long grey hair flowing down to the upper part of his back. What was even more unusual was that he was completely naked, exposing his pale skin teemed with countless scars.
This was, of course, Luck.
The dire wolf violently struggled, however, under the powerful grip of Luck's hand, it was futile.
The crisp sound of bone breaking could be heard as the movements of the the wolf stopped.
Without much effort, Luck tossed the wolf into the river as he turned his attention to the pair of siblings.
With such a scene, Han's eyes seemed to be shining. He immediately felt a sense of gratitude and reverence. So cool!
He was as cool as his grandfather! Someone who was a grandmaster. Yet even he was sure he couldn't effortlessly kill a dire wolf this easily.
His prior terror seemed to have completely reversed.
"Big bro! How did you do that!" Han exclaimed, before he suddenly realised his sister's situation.
Immediately, he ran over to her as he checked to see if she was alright.
"Sister, are you okay?"
"Mm... Just a little tired, I'll be fine..." She weakly spoke.
Luck walked up to them.
Seeing the person that had saved them, Caeli's blue eyes expressed her thanks. Such a young person had saved them?
"Thank you... for saving us..." Caeli said in a sluggish tone as she suddenly lost consciousness.
"Sister!" Han shouted.
Seeing her state, Luck indifferently said,
"She'll be fine. She has just exerted herself too much. A few hours of rest should make her better."
"Okay..." Han muttered, his expression downcast. If it wasn't for him, he was sure she would be in a much better state. If it weren't for this stranger, they also would have died.
After a few minutes of gathering himself, Han spoke,
"My name is Han, big bro! You were so cool back there!"
Luck lightly chuckled as he replied,
"My name is Luck."
After the introductions, they spent the next few minutes talking with each other. Han merely explained how they were separated by their group because of a beast tide.
...
"Big bro, what will you do now?"
"I need to find a village. I've been lost in this forest for quite a while now."
Han's eyes seemed to shine when Luck said that as he formed an idea.
With a hopeful tone, he said, "That's perfect– I mean, we are in the same situation. Why don't we go to our village together?" His big, blue eyes looking like a puppy.
Luck was in deep thought, before saying, "Sure!"
After saying that, the three searched for a way back to the village. Luck was currently carrying Caeli on his back as they traversed the forest.
After around 8 hours of travelling and searching, they had eventually stumbled upon a village barricaded with wooden spikes. They were in front of the village gates.
The two villagers acting as guards by the entrance noticed them, immediately recognising the two siblings.
"The grandmaster's grandchildren! Quick, inform Sivo!"
After only a few minutes, a tall, 17 year old boy clad in leather armour suddenly arrived. His eyes quickly searched for his two siblings. Seeing Han brought him great joy. After his eyes looked for his sister, he eventually noticed how she was being carried by a naked person.
He felt momentarily stunned before a feeling of rage suddenly enveloped him. What was this lecherous pervert doing with his sister?! They didn't return with one of his friends that were suppose to escort them, but this naked boy covered in bloodstains instead?!
Moreover, seeing the countless scars on the boy's body made him wary, perhaps he was from a bandit camp!
"Bastard! Unhand them!" Sivo shouted as he took out his spear from his back.
Seeing the warrior charging towards him, Luck sneered slightly.
"Wait, don't fight eac–" Han tried to speak, but it was too late. Sivo had already arrived at striking distance as he thrusted his spear towards Luck's shoulder.
It wasn't an attack meant to kill, but one to incapacitate.
Luck lightly threw Caeli towards Han as he reacted. Han had dropped to the ground due to the sudden force.
Luck suddenly leaned forwards. In Sivo's point of view, Luck had suddenly disappeared from his vision before he suddenly felt him lose the ability to breathe. It felt as if a snake was tightly coiled around his neck.
With his right hand, Luck choked the man. Due to the difference in their height, Luck couldn't lift him in the air, so instead, he lowered his arms. Sivo was placed in an awkward knelt position, as his face was beginning to lose its colour.
"Wait, big bro! Don't hurt him, he's my brother!"
"Hm?" Luck let out a sound, before loosening his grip.
"Sivo, why'd you randomly attack him? He helped us get out of the forest!" Han shouted, showing an expression of anger.
"Saved...? Not hold you hostage?" Sivo mumbled. He had always been a simple minded person that would quickly come to conclusions. Seeing his unconscious sister being carried by a naked man made him become enraged. Rubbing his neck, he took a careful look at the naked man more closely. He quickly realised how young he was, around 11 to 13 years old.
"This brat... so young?" Sivo muttered. Then... how'd he lose so miserably? And... why was he naked?
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