"This bastard…" Aina placed her head at her throat. Insanely sore and pained, it gave testimony to how furious the girl was.

"Ah, right!" Moving her eyes away from the path that Hayen took, the girl looked at the injured beast below. Thankfully, the fall from their position high-up the tree wasn't sufficient to further injure her loyal companion.

"Betraying me I can forgive… But not this." Aina's face darkened. Just seeing the bloody streaks running through the soft skin of her companion was enough to put tears on her face.

"I'm sorry, dear. Let me see what I can do for you." Noticing the look of affection in the beast eyes, the girl smiled. Caressing the soft fur of the panther to calm it down a bit, the girl looked towards her sacks.

"Purrrr." Not caring for its dignity of a royal beast, the panther snuggled against the girl's hand with a satisfied look in its deep, black eyes. After a moment of showing affection, it turned its head around and licked its wound. After just a few moments, the bloody wounds started to close. It seemed as if the flesh itself instantly started to multiply, allowing the beast to regenerate it's injury.

"If only you could be at the fourth stage…" Even though the girl's words could sound as an attack, her voice was filled with grief and disappointment… but in herself. As the master of this loyal monster and her beloved pet, it was her responsibility for failing to provide the resources necessary for her pet to achieve breakthroughs. Once Royal Panther would reach the fourth stage, such a minor wound wouldn't even slow it down, but now…

"Well, nothing that I can do about him anymore. If he passes the exam, maybe he will at least give me the medicine he promised." Looking back at the trail that Hayen left while taking a dash, her eyes suddenly turned moist. 'Even after all this time… Damn it!' The overwhelming feeling of disappointment and powerlessness shook through the girl. As her body tensed, the golden panther now resting its head on top of the girl's lap noticed that something was going on.

"Purr, purrrr." Instantly jumping into action, it snuggled its massive yet soft head against the girl's stomach. Melting in an instant under the attack of soft cuteness of her pet, Aina could see her desperation slowly fading away.

Creak.

A sudden noise put a stop to a relaxed atmosphere. And at this moment, Aina suddenly recalled that they were quite deep in the forest. Even though most of the monsters here should be curbed by the Gloryhouse sect in advance, that didn't mean there were no tough opponents here. Standing up, the panther shielded the girl before growling at the source of the sound. At the same time, Aina pulled her short sword.

'Whatever it is, I can't let Silia move,' sending a quick glance at her pet, the young girl prepared for the fight. But after just a few moments, both the girl and her pet noticed that something was amiss. Because the noises from right beside didn't seem to stop. Yet, no matter how long they stood at attention, nothing seemed to appear at all!

Then, without a single care in the world, a young man has appeared. Lightly swinging a strangely familiar sword, he seemed to be in a daze. Only when he finally stepped into a small clearing, sanity seemingly returned to his eyes.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Huh? Who are you?" Turning his head around, this strange man instantly locked his eyes on the girl, causing a shiver of terror to travel down her spine. Even though he appeared to be a complete and weak amateur, there was a certain aura around him that made Aina weak in her knees.

*************

About ten minutes earlier, Sebian's location

*************

"It couldn't be any easier…" Staring down at the items obtained from the young cultivator, Sebian couldn't hold his smile back. Yet, his intentions for their use were quite unorthodox.

"First, lest start with the shoes." Enjoying the moment beyond any reason, Sebian quickly cleaned his feet with dirt before putting them inside his new footwear. For some accustomed to all the luxuries the world had to offer, it was the lack of shoes that bothered him recently the most. But that was the only item that would serve the purpose it was designed to do.

"Now, let's take a look at the coins…" Rather than requiring them as a currency, Sebian was curious about the level of common craft of this world or at least this place. While the sword could be used to gauge the fine arts of the locals, it was the coins that could be of the greatest use. But…

"What the hell is this?!" Not expecting to pull out several primary grade stones from the pouch, the greatest stone inside was actually just a grade two!

'Was I scammed?!' Instantly throwing both a hateful and astonished look towards the direction the young man from before left, Sebian shook his head for a moment before putting the stones back on the couch. Given how they were in their raw, unrefined forms, there was nothing that he could learn from them. Outside of the advice where to head to once he would get to the city, only one thing remained.

"The sword, huh?" As reluctant as Sebian was to pick it up, the time for it finally came. As little as he liked it, the general influence he could achieve in this place greatly depended on the quality of this sword. While not a blacksmith himself, given how a saber was his weapon of choice, Sebian was pretty familiar with the swords in general. And depending on just a single inspection, most of his future prospects would be decided.

"Well, let's make that jump." Sighing deeply, Sebian lowered his gaze at the sword. As much as he hated leaving stuff to fate, he didn't really have much choice in this regard right now. But once his eyes laid on the blade, the alchemist froze.

"What the…" Sebian's eyes widened as his shock wreak havoc in the alchemist's mind. Because out of all the scenarios, the one that appeared to be true was just too damn great to be possible!

"Not even the basic refining… How could I be so lucky? Did that damned God made a mistake?" Looking up to the skies, Sebian scanned the heavens before lowering his sight on the blade. Now that he held this simplistic weapon in his hand again, a certain feeling of nostalgia appeared in his mind.

'Well, there is no point dawdling here. I guess it's time to make my first visit to the city.' Looking in the direction of the settlement he observed ever since a few days ago, Sebian smiled. Then, he started moving forward in a relaxed manner. Maybe due to him falling into a daze or the lingering nostalgia in his soul, after just a few steps his hand involuntary started swinging the weapon in the patterns he was familiar with. While most of his leisure moves were designed as saber arts and as such appeared to be quite crude, they were, in fact, Sebian's own creation.

The pinnacle celestial grade, Royal Saber art. It was one of the few minor tools that allowed the alchemist to reach for the greatest heights in his previous life. But just as he was swinging his sword with leisure so great that he was actually starting to whistle one of the songs that caught his ear recently, he stepped outside of the woods. Whilst still in the forest, it appeared as if he entered some kind of clearing in it. And in an instant, he noticed two figures to his side.

"Huh? Who are you?" Puzzled by the situation as he didn't expect to meet anyone in the direction Hayen dashed off, Sebian leaned his head to the side as genuine curiosity flashed in his eyes. Then, when his sight finally transmitted the image of the girl in front of him, his mind froze for a moment.

'What a beauty… I want her!'