Zachary and Oliver left the hut and let the women tend to Heather. She was still exhausted from the ordeal and needed time to recover. Olga insisted on giving Heather all kinds of herbal medicine. Zachary didn’t say anything but he wasn’t worried. Wander’s healing ability was a perfect heal with no possibility of infection or complications.

At this time, the sun had just set. The sky still had an orange glow. The front gates opened and another man strolled in. He had an average build, with short brown hair and intelligent blue eyes that seemed out of place in this wilderness. He was followed by three towering treants of different types. One was tall and willowy and reminded him of Oakley. Another was short with a thick trunk, not dissimilar to Elmont. The third was somewhere in between.

“Hey, professor!” Oliver waved and the three people greeted each other, “This is Zachary Zhang, our new recruit. We got ambushed by the Dark Star Gang and he helped us get away. He even saved Heather twice! Zachary, this is Pedro de Soto. We call him professor because he used to be a lecturer at the University of the Republic in the capital.”

“Zachary, welcome!” Pedro said and extended a hand.

Zachary shook it, “Professor.”

“Oliver, how is Heather?” Pedro asked, his face turning serious, “Carlos told me something happened and I rushed back.”

Oliver patted Pedro’s shoulder, “She’s fine, don’t worry. She was injured during the ambush but thanks to Zachary, everything is fine.”

“That’s good. That’s good. In that case, please take this as a token of my thanks,” Pedro said and offered a heavy sack to Zachary.

He opened it to reveal some freshly harvested ears of corn.

Seeing Zachary’s expression, Oliver laughed, “Professor is an expert in agriculture. He manages our fields where we grow corn and a variety of wild vegetables that he has gathered from all over the jungle.”

“Thanks,” Zachary said and accepted the sack.

After some more pleasantries, Pedro left to check on Heather. Oliver led Zachary to one end of the village and pointed to two simple huts made from wood and mud.

“These two are unoccupied. Pick whichever one you want.”

“Why are there two empty huts when there are seven people?” Zachary asked.

Oliver grinned slyly, “That’s because I share a hut with Olga.”

Zachary chuckled, “Lucky dog.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Oliver laughed as well and patted Zachary’s back, “Who knows, you might find yourself a lucky lady too.”

He laughed some more and walked off with a wave.

Zachary watched him go and shook his head. The trio of Heather, Suhua, and Nellie were all considerably attractive for someone like him who hadn’t had a companion in months. And Heather was head and shoulders above the other two. In fact, she was stunning and only paled in comparison to Minah...

He frowned deeply and threw all thoughts of the opposite sex from his mind. He had more important matters to focus on, including quickly getting stronger. Now that he had the Soul Ruby Fruit, it was time to gain another adept rank summon.

He went inside the hut. It had a single spacious room. Aside from the clean, dirt floor, there was a fire pit in the middle and a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape. Against one wall, there was a pile of firewood and some kindling prepared.

“But first, dinner.”

“Dinner!” Wander shouted as he came out.

He spun around a few times and then barked at Zachary in displeasure because he had to stay in the soul realm for so long. Zachary ignored him and started a fire. He shucked four ears of corn, stuck them on sticks, and placed them near the fire. He then summoned Onkie and took out one of the puffballs.

“Hey, Onkie. What do you think of this? Is it edible?”

Onkie sniffed the white fungus once and started to drool. She immediately took a bite and started chewing happily.

“Mm… mmmm…”

“Is it good?” Zachary asked.

Onkie replied simply by taking another bite.

“Hey.”

Wander waddled over and also took a large bite.

“Hmm, it's pretty bland.” He commented as he chewed.

As he spoke, Onkie took another bite. Not to be outdone, Wander quickly swallowed and went in for another bite as well.

Zachary broke the puffball in two and let each of them have half. He also left a small piece for himself which he started roasting on the fire.

A comfortable silence fell inside the hut as a man and his summons ate their meals. For Zachary, he had never experienced such luxury since stepping foot in the New World. He had a roof above his head. It was dry. There were only a few bugs. And he could eat something besides meat and berries for once.

Heather had gathered capable people. Olga was knowledgeable about herbal medicine. Pedro was a professor of agriculture. With just these two people, Heather’s group would be able to establish roots and live here for a long time. They had even started farming. This wasn’t just mere survival; this was the beginning of colonization.

There were many such colonies in the New World, where humans had established a permanent foothold in the land of wild Ensouled. It was the dream of many nations to conquer the vast untamed lands and take all of the untold wealth that was hidden within.

Many colonies would fall to disaster and disappear without a trace. Others grew into large cities. Sometimes, nations would send out large armies of summoners to defend their holdings in the New World and battle hordes of wild Ensouled. On rare occasions, human saints and beast saints would clash directly, causing devastation in all directions. It was all very exciting. It was what he yearned for as he was turning twenty, when he had his whole life ahead of him.

Now, he wasn’t so sure.

The most pressing matter on his soul was still Yaoyao. He had to find her whereabouts. He had to save her. She was his first and he had to do this. Wander was his eternal summon. But Yaoyao had been with him for over ten years. They grew up together. They shared all of their joys and achievements. Even though his soul had been healed, thinking about her was still jarringly painful.

At the very least, he wanted to find out the truth. He wanted to know why Minah betrayed him. He wanted to know why he was convicted with a sham trial. He wanted to know.

Once he knew… he would decide what to do.