Chapter 10: Road Ahead (1/2)

The trip through the dimensional rift invoked a very peculiar sensation It felt as if I was trapped in the s hizzing by in an indistinct blur of colors as I sat onblankly off in the distance with no round I landed on cushi+oned my fall with a pile of leaves and vines It didn't ed rocks, I probably wouldn't have noticed

I re the trip, not even bothering to take in one

I would never have the chance to see her again

Those two thoughts triggered another wave of e the near foured sending h the short tiivento this world

Succu to the faculty of my mind that desired sleep in order to cope with the pain, I curled up into a ball where I landed when a searing pain propssensation spread frohout my body until a voice echoed in ood! hello Art, this is Sylvia"

My heart fluttered as I instantly responded to the voice "Sylvia! I' to this right now, it means I have shown you what I actually a that she had infused into ed that small hole into ht now to know the whole truth Knowing you, if I were to have told you who that figure in the sky had been, you would have brashly tried and fight Little Art, you are barely passed the age of four Upon looking at yourthat your mana core is already dark red in color I will leave you with this: I have infused with youincoe depends on hoell you will be able to use my will that is embedded into your mana core"

Was that why the purple in her eyes and golden patterns disappeared?

"The e is when you will hear fro and what you do froe past white?

"Lastly, Art… I know you rief, but remember that you have your family to look out for and the stone I entrusted you with My only wish is for you to embrace the joys and innocence of childhood, train hard, andafter shadows in a fit of rage Killing the ones that are responsible forme back to life norand I do not regret what has happened With this, I bid you farewell for now Remember, protect your family and the stone, study what I have left you, and enjoy this life, King Grey"

"…"

That name and title was from my previous world

She had known the entire ti in my mana core? Was she able to look into my memories? So one

I refused toin ht

Sylvia was right She had said all of this knohat my life back infor the sake of solely pursuing strength I wanted to be strong, but I also want to live ret I want to live a life that Sylvia would be proud of I don't think she'd be happy even if I reached whatever stage was after white while living a life of only training No, I needed to hurry and reach my family

But before that… where the hell was I?

Looking around, trees that towered high overthat loo the air with nearly palpable …

I sank back on my butt, crestfallen at what this could only mean

I was in the Forest of Elshi+re

A disheartened sigh escaped from my mouth as I pickedmy family anytime soon It had been over four months since I had fallen off of the cliff My faone back to Ashber or had maybe even decided to stay in Xyrus

I didn't have any sort of provisions except for the clothes on e stone that rapped in Sylvia's feather This cursed fog limitedmy eyes with er probleet out of this place

I reinforcedht now, I could only absorb about roughly twenty percent of what I could do while just , but I couldn't complain

The only downside to thening your et it to the next stages, I need to solely focus on gatheringatet rid of the i I felt was that after getting my mana core to dark red, the anificantly While the size doesn't increase, I' the purity allows more mana to be stored

I climbed a few branches up the nearest tree and situated h I focusedfor wasn't a way out but ns of humans Sylvia had said that I would be teleported close to hu through here that would direct me out, or even escortfro for

I hopped a fewquite proud ofat a branch just a fewroup of hu was off

I hidmana into my ears

"NOOO! HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP! MOMMY! DADDY! NOOO I'M SCARED!!!"

"So to attract attention!"

THUD

"Quick Put her in the back of the carriage We're only a few days away froe We'll be safer then Don't relax and keep "

"Hey, Boss? How o for a lot, don't they? Hehe, she's a child too so a virgin at that! I bet she'll fetch us a lot of money, huh!"

Slave traders!

I carefully took a peek to spot the shtly cram in about five or six adults I turned back around just in tiirl into the back of the carriage She looked to be around six or seven, with a silvery hue in her hair and the trademark pointed ears that elves were known for

What should I do? Hoere they even able to kidnap one in the first place? The Elshi+re Forest'swas supposed to disorient the senses of even the e

After a few , I found my answer

Attached to leashes were , with antlers that branched out, looking like a complicated satellite They were mentioned briefly in the encyclopedia I had always carried with me The forest hounds were native to the Forest of Elshi+re and could navigate even better than the elves could

How those brutes acquired forest hounds, I had no idea but I needed to think of a plan

Option one: Steal one of the forest hounds and have it lead me out of the forest

Option two: Kidnap the kidnapped elf girl to have her lead me out of the forest

Option three: Kill all of the slave traders and set the elf girl free, then take the forest hounds and have the for a couple of minutes, I'm faced with a dileht with ain, who knows… ht by a kind old man ill free and take her back to her home

…Fat chance…

Option two had the obvious flaw that, once I saved the elf, she wouldn't leadback home and the slave traders probably wouldn't take it too kindly Option three had the best outco that there were four of the, I couldn't sense if any of thees but it was safe to assu able to capture an elf in the forest meant that they were either very lucky, or were professionals