A silhouette of a man emerged from the edge of the forest of Daragang. His body was covered by the pelt of the giant wolf he just defeated. On his right shoulder, he was carrying what seemed to be a long pole made from a trunk of one of the smaller trees of the forest. Impaled on the pole was a skinned body of what used to be a giant wolf.

“Don’t we need to eat? We have a body now that needs nourishment don’t we?”

“Oh?... That is convenient… so that was why we did not need to eat that whole year when we were inside that crystal.”

Magnus held his chin with his left hand as he continued to walk up the slopes of the mountain. His destination was the small cave where he left the adventurer he saved from the giant fire ants.

“Does that mean then we can grow stronger if just keep on absorbing this “mana” you are talking about.”

“Is there a faster way to do it?”

“And what is that?”

Magnus was deep in thought… So if we fight stronger monsters, we can improve faster as well, he said to himself while trying to figure out a plan.

Magnus sighed in his mind. When he was chosen by Suzaku to become a vessel, he thought he can turn to his partner for wisdom and guidance. But it turns out; Suzaku’s contribution mainly revolves to fighting strength. Magnus already reached into the memories of Suzaku, he was impressed back when they were inside the crystal, since it was filled with knowledge of this world. But mow, most of it was outdate for ten thousand years. And he can’t help to notice something that his partner may have ignored or totally ignorant about.

“Suzaku… How do you compare yourself now to you back then?”

“You fought against the seven princes of hell right? How do they compare against that wolf we just killed?”

“Exactly! Since you are comparable to the demons in strength, we… you should be able to defeat this wolf with no effort at all…”

“How long do you think it took you to kill it?”

“True… but, shouldn’t it take you less than that? Not to mention it evaded the first strike!”

“Let us say that was a given… but your speed and agility should have made up for it…

Suzaku was silent. He knew his “partner” had a point. But he did not want to admit it. And he also did not want to reveal that that was currently his top speed.

“I know you realized it by now… You are way weaker compared to how you used to be…”

The words of Magnus were a bitter pill to swallow for Suzaku. He never felt it during the encounter against the giant fire ants since he was able to eliminate those monsters with one strike. But the fight against the wolf made him realize the fact that he was not able to use the strength he once had.

“Or may be because you were actually away for ten thousand years… It is normal to regress if you remained idle for that long…”

“We train ourselves of course… we decided to eliminate all monsters in this continent here anyway… might was well use it to strengthen ourselves… But…”

“We need to prepare… let us test out first all the skills we can use so far and be familiar with them.”

“That was back then when you had a body of a bird. We now have this body of a “man”… well, at least it looked like a man… The point is; the two bodies greatly differ from each other. The way we use our skills and its effects may be different as well.”

There was silence once again. Suzaku was starting to agree with Magnus. Still, it pained him to admit that he needed to improve to get back the strength he lost.

“Hey, to cheer you up… Think of this as publicity…”

“Publicity for us… for you… at least here in Timugan… Remember the fight with the wolf? It was not afraid of you right?”

“Of course it was terrified near the end of the fight, it was about to die. What I meant was why did it fight you in the first place?”

“Exactly! Very good in noticing that!... It might be because of this body though…”

Magnus was the one who fell silent this time. He never thought that power can be identified with the one using it. It seemed like it is worse than not being recognized due to the way they look. Suzaku has been disremembered in this world.

A forgotten deity, Magnus thought to himself. Though legends still passed down the name Suzaku, it was barely mentioned. The only significant incident it was related to was the battle that started the War of Twilight. The legends even mentioned that Suzaku died during that fight.

“It seems the princes of hell took more from you than we initially thought my dear friend. But again, we can use this training as publicity…”

Magnus finally found himself in front of the small cave he was using as a temporary shelter. When he went in, he saw Braxt trying to clean the wounds from the battle against the giant fire ants.

“Teacher Magnus, you are back… and did you just hunt a giant wolf?!” Braxt exclaimed, surprised yet again with the feat his savior was able to do.

“This? Well… Anyway, can you cook?” Magnus changed the topic to avoid any more questions from Braxt.

“Uhm… I can… somehow… But without tools, I won’t be able to make something delicious to eat.”

“ Shhhh, it’s for appearance’s sake. It will beweird if we don’t eat while we are with him”

There was a moment of silence when Magnus put down the pole with his game hanging on it.

“Do not worry about taste, that is a given with what is available here. But before that, let me help you with your wounds” Magnus faintly smiled while walking towards Braxt.

“Hey Suzaku, do we have a skill to heal wounds?”

“Consider it as practice for using the skill…”

Magnus followed Suzaku’s instructions. He first tried the skill on the injured foot of Braxt. To him, this was the most serious injury this man had.

A gentle flow of mana strands slowly flowed from Magnus’ hand to the injury. They looked like small tongue of flames trying to spread within the wound. Braxt can feel warmth on the foot and noticed that the pain was fading. After a few moments, the injury was almost healed.

“That should do it. Though it is not completely healed yet, that should lessen the pain and possibility of infection.”

Braxt was surprised as he tried to move his foot. The pain was gone. It will only take a day or two more for the wound to fully heal. He almost cried in joy since he was certain that even if he can find a healer back in Boarder Town, his foot might need to be amputated due to gangrene.

Magnus continued to heal the rest of Braxt’s injuries. It took him no more than five minutes to complete the task. After he did so, he observed Braxt and was somewhat satisfied.

Suzaku is really starting to realize the difference from ten thousand years ago, Magnus thought to himself. But the results so far is satisfactory and said to himself, the skill is way weaker, but at least it can be used and give this much of an effect.

Braxt was ecstatic, he was almost completely healed. The minor wounds were gone and not even scratches were left. It was as if his flesh and skin were born anew. He then faced Magnus, and then single kneeled in front of his savior.

“I am Braxt, an adventurer-swordsman from the Kingdom of Agan, hereby swear my services and life to you teacher Magnus. Please accept my fealty.”

Magnus was surprised. He did not accept that this man will react this way. He did not want a servant. He did not need one. But, it might be for the better. Braxt had information of the current world of Terra. Although it may not be everything Magnus needed, it still will give him a better picture of the world.

“No, he will be our butler… hehehe, let us use this chance to gather more information from the world.”

“Call it cunning my friend… we need it to survive…”

Magnus gestured for Braxt to stand up. He was thinking whether he was able to do it like he was royalty or not.

“Very well, I accept your service. I do hope you strive to gain my trust.” Magnus declared to Braxt, slightly releasing aura to intimidate the man. “As your first task, prepare our dinner for tonight. Let me help you out a little…”

Magnus walked to one side of the cave and pointed two fingers on the floor. A thin beam of flame came out from the fingers and melted the ground it hit. Magnus then drew a rectangular shaped hole using the beam while continuing to melt all the ground and pebbles inside the hole. When he was done, a mini lava pool was created.

“Woohoo, Suzaku, we can really shoot beams out of our fingers”

Suzaku was starting to rush. He was anxious of what he realized today and was very eager to gain strength once more.

“You can use this while cooking…” Magnus pointed at the “lava stove” he made.

Braxt’s jaw almost dropped open. How can this master he chose to follow easily melt the hard ground? How much power does this man have?

Magnus was amused at the reaction of his “butler”. He then stepped out of the cave and let Bract to do the chores.

“Hahaha, no harm in showing off from time to time. Besides, he just swore fealty to us; we needed to show our abilities a little to keep him in line.”

“Fear and respect my friend… we need to have a good command of both… Fear and respect…”