44

Chiron received gold coins from Benjamin with an awkward smile. Benjamin input his old disciple’s identification number into Id’s crystal ball.

“I’ll send you my new number through the communication crystal later. When someone tries to communicate with you, the crystal ball will vibrate, and its color will be changed. Just touching the crystal ball will open the communication channel.”

Benjamin explained in detail to Id how to use the magic communication device. The next day, Benjamin went to the Scandia Wizard Tower with Chiron, and Id, Sasha and Lara followed Blackanvil to his house.

The eastern and southern sides of the Scandia City were vast plains, but there were dense forests in the northwest of the city where the Pleo Mountains were passing by. Thus, the Scandia City had grown mainly in the eastern and southern directions when the town had expanded. On the way to Blackanvil’s house in the woods about five kilometers from the outer ramparts of the city, the Capital Defense Forces were stationed. Although monsters have disappeared recently, about two thousand troops of a regiment were stationed on the outskirts of the city's northwestern area, just in case.

When Blackanvil greeted the familiar platoon captain at the checkpoint, and the party passed through it, they could see the endless forest of birch trees. White trees, densely packed in the fog, created a mysterious atmosphere that seemed to come straight out of a fairy tale, and a crystal clear brook was flowing out of the forest. It was called the Forest of Elves, as many elves had lived there in the old days, but few have been seen recently. Some people claimed to have seen elves in the forests, but those sightings were mostly treated as fake rumors. Others said that the elves had moved elsewhere after the establishment of a human city nearby, but nobody knew the truth.

As the party trotted on horseback about a couple of kilometers into the forest along the stream, they saw a log house next to the brook. Though it looked like one large house from a distance, Id’s party could discern three separate cabins as they got closer. The two-story house in the north was Blackanvil’s residence, and the extensive cabin in the east was his workshop. The cottage by the brook in the west was a building with a warehouse and a sauna attached. Id’s party tied their horses and a mule that pulled Blackanvil’s cart under the awning attached to the warehouse and entered the two-story log cabin.

“I like this birch forest. Actually, this is why I decided to settle down in Scandia City. It is not easy for a dwarf to live with humans. If you stay here, it’s hard to meet people even once a year, which is the best environment for me to dwell. There are three rooms on the second floor; you can take one each. I’m going to heat up the sauna, so those who want to use the sauna can head in in about half an hour. You’ll feel pretty good if you go into the stream afterward.”

Id and Sasha were familiar with saunas, as their dwellings in the Forest of Evil Spirits also had sauna facilities. The two entered the sauna wearing only their underwear. Id sat on the spacious wooden bench in the middle and began manna circulation. When Sasha, who did not like to stay in the hot place for a long time, was about to exit, leaving Id behind, Lara entered the sauna. Sasha, who had gotten up from the bench, sat down again in a slouched posture. Although Lara covered her body with a big towel, Sasha couldn’t look straight at her, so instead, he looked at the floor. Lara, who had been in a sauna for the first time, began to ask Sasha a lot of questions. Sasha had to explain to Lara how to use the sauna, but his gaze remained on the floor throughout the whole conversation. During the time Sasha and Lara finished the sauna and went outside, Id remained focused on the manna circulation without any movement.

Id did not come out until after the sauna cooled down. Because the log cabin was not completely sealed, the sauna was well ventilated even though it was sweltering inside for more than an hour. Id felt that the manna’s flow was more lively than usual. He swam in the cold stream for a while after the sauna, savoring the flow of manna he had felt in it. Having prepared a lot of firewood in the afternoon, Id heated the sauna himself from dawn the next day and circulated manna in it for two hours a day. Although Sasha, Lara or Blackanvil came into the sauna while Id was in it from time to time, no one spoke to him because he kept his eyes closed and focused on manna circulation continuously, sitting in the middle of the bench.

Usually, Id’s manna circulation started from the left side of his body. However, on the second day after Id began to train in the sauna, the manna stream, which came out of his manna hall, directly climbed his spine and went up through the back of his head to the top. It encountered a small but sturdy wall at the top of his head. Though the manna stream crashed against the wall several times, it blocked the manna’s flow like an ironclad castle. Still, the manna did not try to bypass the barrier and went back to the manna hall after circulating Id’s body through the usual manna passages. The same phenomenon repeatedly appeared twice a day for several days. The process of knocking on the obstacle at the top of Id’s head caused him tremendous pain. However, Id patiently endured the pain, neither giving up nor rushing. He instinctively realized that if he could break through the intangible obstacles on the top of his head, he would have taken one step further in his training. Still, he maintained his position as an observer of the manna flow as he had been up to then.

On the seventh day of his stay at Blackanvil’s, unlike the other days, Id skipped all three meals as he concentrated on manna circulation from dawn to evening. Two hours of training in the sauna at dawn was followed by an hour of training in the brook, and he entered his room to continue manna circulation sitting on his bed. At last, he fell into a trance. Sasha and Lara alternatively examined Id’s condition, but they did not disturb his meditation. Id didn’t seem to be aware of their presence next to him.

At dusk, Id heard a sound akin to fireworks exploding in his head. The manna stream, which had repeatedly knocked on the barrier in the top of his head, finally broke the obstacle and opened a new passage. At that moment, the amount of manna flowing through Id’s body increased explosively, and the main stream of his manna returned to his manna hall after circulating his whole body three times at a tremendous speed. Id’s manna hall expanded twice, and a halo appeared over his head. Id experienced ecstasy as the pain that had tortured him for several days disappeared.

The next day, Id realized that he had been completely transformed. Although there was no significant change in appearance, except that his skin was peeled off thinly and his height grew a couple of centimeters, Id felt that his bones and muscles were entirely different from before. Dressed in a travel suit and holding his sword, Id went deep into the forest alone at dawn. Having walked fast for about an hour, Id stopped in front of a small waterfall. A waterfall about fifteen meters high was falling on a large rock next to a pond. The sound of the waterfall was not loud; it sounded like a piece of beautiful music. Id jumped a distance of about twenty meters and landed on the sizable rock where the waterfall fell. Unsheathing his sword, he carefully followed the movements of the swordsmanship he created. His sword, which moved slowly in the beginning, grew faster and drew dizzying sword paths in the air at a tremendous speed. Eventually, from the end of his Aura Blade, about a meter of Aura Beam stretched out at the speed of light. As Id swung it toward the waterfall, the falling water seemed to have split in half for a moment.

Id, who was about to retrieve his sword and sheath it, flew up to a birch tree standing on his left side. As he charged up to the tree, an arrow flew toward him. Id struck the arrow away with his sword and held out his sword in front of him, stepping on a branch of the birch tree. The tip of his blade touched the neck of a hooded figure. Then, a beautiful voice rang out from underneath the hood.

“I didn’t intend to hurt you at all. Why do you attack me?”