“I don’t care.”

These were the last words teacher Khasas heard as his neck was crushed by the old man’s bare hand. Before his death, he was cursing lady Kim nonstop in his mind. She had betrayed him and left him fighting the old man all on his own. He was sure, they could have defeated the old man together and grabbed that young boy.

The old man twitched the sword and pulled it out from teacher Khasas’ corpse. He swung it briefly into the air to get rid of all the blood still sticking on the blade. Quick steps could be heard coming from his side. Seeing the hesitant expression on Reli’s face, the old man sighed faintly and clapped on the boy’s small shoulder.

“I know you have questions but let’s talk later, alright my child?”

Reli smiled and nodded firmly. He heard what teacher Khasas said during the fight. It made his innocent mind waver but he would always listen to his grandpa. As if they had done it endless time before, he swiftly climbed on his grandpa’s back and tied his own animal hide firmly to the old man broad shoulders.

The riverside was utterly silent. Just the calming sound of water flowing could be heard in the background. More and more dark clouds had gathered in the sky, preventing the last sunbeam from reaching the earth. The ominous darkness gradually cast over the whole forest and hid the old man’s silhouette within it. Spreading through the air by the cold winds, only the faint smell of warm, fresh blood reminded of the brutal battle a moment ago.

“How many are they?”

The old man’s low voice rung out from the riverside. Reli remained quiet cause he knew the question wasn’t for him. No answer came from the darkness but right after his sudden question, the slight sound of someone taking a short deep breath was detected by the old man. He smirked. Within a second his figure disappeared in the gloomy shadow of the forest.

Small raindrops bounced off a thick leave. Quick steps over broken dry branches resounded in the air as two blurry shadows flashed by a large tree. Suddenly the figure leading them came to a halt. The other figure didn’t stop and quickly closed in. A metallic sound rang out as the old man’s calm face emerged from the darkness. Meeting his gaze was a pair of sharp eyes. Those, that could only belong to a woman with stunning beauty.

She stayed motionless. Her hand was feeling numb from blocking the old man’s last sword strike. His sword blade was still vibrating intensely just a hair’s breadth away from her neck. His face was so close to her, she could feel his warm breath on her thin black face cover.

“They can’t see or hear us now.”

Lady Kim spoke quietly. Her voice was hoarse but still soft and pleasant to the ear. Yet her furrowed eyebrows showed how much she disliked it. She watched the old man closely, trying to catch something with her eyes. To her disappointment, his facial expression remained emotionless.

“I know. Continue.”

Still holding tightly on his sword, the old man gave a short answer. He knew from the moment when the unexpected duo appeared, that more people were hiding in the forest behind them. That fat black golden-paw bear had a typical behaviour. Instinctively or maybe forged by experience, before going to sleep, it would always change its lying position, with its head facing in the direction of the biggest threat. Normally it didn’t fear any beast or man but it was extremely cautious against unknown newcomers. Since it ignored the direction, where teacher Khasas and lady Kim were standing, the old men knew they didn’t come alone.

“I don’t want to team up with them, but I had no choice. My strength alone is not enough to resist their combined force so I pretended to join their group. I have heard stories about you. I have witnessed your power long ago. So, when they planned to contact you, I knew this will be my only chance of escaping. Not just from them but also from this land. I don’t want the boy. I don’t want the secret of this forgotten forest. I have explored this place by myself and I’m fully aware of that power. My own ability is not enough to get tangled in its affair, nor is it my destiny to be the chosen one.”

Lady Kim said everything in one breath. Her glance was determined and her voice was serene. She had seen the old man’s decisive actions. She knew she only had limited time to convince him of her own goodwill.

“Please take me with you. After escaping from this forest, I’m willing to accompany you on your journey. That’s it if you see me as worthy of a companion.”

Even though she had only interacted shortly with him, her instinct told her that the old man is a man of his word. Someone she could trust.

For the first time lay Kim saw a hesitant expression on the old man’s face. Even though it lasted for only a short moment, it gave her hope.

Just as she wanted to say something, the old man raised his face to the sky and let out a loud painful cry. Some sleeping beast were scared awake and flied nervously up into the dark sky. After that, the old man lowered his head again and looked at the stupefied lady Kim. His eyes were still calm as ever and it didn’t seem like he was hurt anywhere. Grabbing the woman’s shoulder, he lifted his left foot and stomped brutishly on ground. A forceful vibration spread through the earth and threw all the trees around them along with their roots into the air. Huge cracks appeared under the old man foot as the earth was split apart.

“Pretend to chase after me and when the time comes, … KILL THEM ALL.”

The old man whispered into lady Kim’s ear. His last three words sent a chill down her spine. She turned her head and looked deeply into the old man clear eyes. Would he help her to ambush that group or would he flee away and let her perish together with the pursuers? She knew this was the old man’s test for her. She wanted him to believe that she meant no harm for them, so now she had to believe that he will aid her in the coming fight. She wanted to accompany him on his journey and now was the time to show that she had the required strength to do so.

Explosive sounds of something breaking through the air were closing in from the darkness behind her. Lady Kim looked pensively in that direction and grabbed tightly on the hidden weapon under her black robe. As she turned her head back, the old man had already vanished. A few trees away, his figure appeared again on a thick branch, looking at her. She nodded and started the chase. Shortly after she left, several figures appeared on the destroyed ground.

“What a mad power. That old cripple is still as dangerous as ever.”

A bearded man with a corpulent figure landed on a huge fallen tree and exclaimed in admiration. He had always been in awe of the old man’s power. In the past, there were many occasions, when he wanted to test it himself, yet he was not stupid enough to confront the old man alone. However, this time was different. The barrier was about to disappear, along with his mysterious illness. His strength had recovered greatly and his side had more people.

“I thought that young girl would have died for sure but judging from this destroyed area and the scream earlier, the girl must have gravely injured that old cripple.”

After picking up some wet earth and sniffing carefully on it, a small old woman voiced her opinion.

“Let’s catch up with them. That girl is good at ambushing but in a direct confrontation, she is no match for that old cripple.”

The other people nodded and disappeared from their spots. They were sure everything went as planned. They didn’t care about teacher Khasas’ death. As long as he could weaken the old man somehow, it was good enough. The old woman just didn’t realize that the blood she smelled on that chunk of we earth wasn’t from the old man but lady Kim. The rain was getting heavier every second and it was difficult to analyse the scene correctly.

Big, cold raindrops hit rapidly on the old man face. His old skin was used to the pain but the dense rain was blocking his sight.

“How are you? Be careful and keep yourself dry.”

He asked in a low voice and a kind smile appeared on his.

“I’m fine, grandpa.”

On the old man’s back, Reli stuck his small head out from under the thick animal hide. He smiled brightly as his tiny hand reached out to the old man’s wet chin and tried to wipe away the dirt sticking under it. Feeling Reli’s clumsy stroke, the old man’s facial expression became soft for a moment before his gaze grew resolute again. Because of those people’s unexpected arrival, he had to change his original plan. He wanted to do it alone at first but since they delivered themselves to him, he might as well use them to his advantage. His eyes sparkled dangerously as he spoke to Reli.

“Did you grab some fish flesh before? Feed me a bit of it and you eat some too.”

“Aye, grandpa. I have picked up as much as I could. I’m still full but you have fought a lot so you should eat more.”

Reli grabbed a huge chunk of fish flesh from the big leaf under his clothes and stuffed it carefully into the old man’s mouth. After that, he covered himself with the thick animal hide again.

They had been running for only a while but she could already hear other people’s voices behind her. Lady Kim looked back and met the old woman’s stinging gaze.

“Good job, lady Kim. It seems like your ambush was pretty effective for him to not dare to fight against you.”

The old woman nodded at lady Kim as they were getting closer to her. Lady nodded back at them and reduced her speed, falling behind the bearded man with the corpulent body.

The man raised his eyebrows in surprise before letting out a loud laugh.

“Hahah you’re right, lady Kim. You already did a good job of ambushing him. He ran away cause, he wasn’t sure of your real fighting power. Your assassination skills are excellent but for face to face combat, just leave it to me. I will show you all today, what the peak of physical strength is.”

With that said, he accelerated his speed and claimed the leading position in their group formation.

The old woman glared at the bearded man’s back and a scornful smile flashed over her face. Lady Kim glanced at the other group members from the corner of her eyes and realized that despite talking nicely on the surface, everyone was keeping a safe distance from each other. That made it much easier for her to ambush any of them.

A faint silhouette with long, loose white hair swiftly jumped over a big bush, catching everyone’s attention. With no hesitation, they dashed towards that direction and spread themselves along the way to form a semi-circular formation.

“Hahah, old cripple, long time no see. How have you been? What is with this buckle on your back? Aya, you’re too old already. Don’t run so fast, you might slip and hurt yourself. How about we stop and have a drink together? I have always wanted to have a chat with you, to show you my deepest respect.”

While they were running, the bearded man shouted nonstop at the old man. Even though he was laughing recklessly, his eyes carefully followed every single of the old man’s movement. Suddenly he stopped his shouting cause in that same moment, the old came to a halt. He saw the old man slowly turned back to face them.

There was no fear or pain on the old man’s face. Only an unconcerned smile as he spoke:

“Let’s have a nice chat then. How about having some fun with my little friends first?”

With his faced raised high in the rainy sky, a shrill whistle sound left his mouth.

Surprised by the old man weird action, the bearded man’s group vigilantly scanned their surroundings. All of a sudden everyone’s body became tense as their feet felt a faint vibration, which was getting stronger and stronger. The old woman turned her head nervously towards the darkness behind them.

The roaring sound of thunder shook the heaven and a pair of red glowing eyes was closing in on their spot with unimaginable speed. With a thud, a small golden-ears monkey landed behind their group. The old woman let out a relieved sigh while the bearded man laughed out loud. Just at this moment several bolts of lightning flashed through the sky and brightened up the gloomy forest. The bearded man almost choked on his own laugh and everyone’s eyes widened. Behind that small monkey was a troupe of at least a hundred others rushing towards them, with some thrice as tall as a grown man. They wondered if the old man really had tamed them all.

Right when everyone was stupefied by the absurd sight, a desperate scream brought them back to their sense. The bearded man swung his arm forcefully backwards but he missed the old man and his fist smashed into a big rock instead. The rock shattered into sharp pieces, shooting in every direction. Just as the others turned their head and wanted to rush towards the old man, another scream rung out behind them. This time a member of them was twitching on the ground with an exploded chest.

“Lady Kim!”

The old woman hollered ferociously to the figure next to the corpse. But before she could do anything, a whistling sound rang out from her left side. She hurriedly jumped away and landed on the other side of the group.

“Johann, I leave her to you.”

The old man shouted at the person on the right side behind the old woman before ignoring them and rushed towards another direction.