Placing the basket containing food on the stairs near the front door of the cottage, I looked around, searching for any traces of Zack. I looked around the lake and within the forest, all to no avail.

Just where did he go?

My eyes darted through the surroundings as time flowed like sweat down my back. A layer of perspiration formed beneath my wrinkled brows. Cogs in my brain started spinning as I came up with all sorts of scenarios, of which the majority were less than ideal.

A moment later, my eyes opened wide as an inspiration struck me.

I’m an idiot. I should’ve checked there earlier.

Patting my forehead, I let out a turbid breath before picking up the basket containing food as I walked into the cabin.

The area within was as spacious as I had imagined. Walking through the front door, there was a hall with a table surrounded by three chairs, reminiscent of my own home. To the side, there was a nearly empty bookshelf with some common books lying around. The furniture looked to be made in an older style, giving an air of agedness.

Through the hall, there were two walkways, one leading to a room containing a lot of bookshelves — a study.

Walking into the study, there were two large bookshelves. However, they only had an occasional book lying here and there, books being barely enough to fill a drawer. There were two chairs in the study and a small table next to them, facing opposite to the bookshelf, towards a large window with an aged glass pane.

Walking out and towards the other side of the hall, I passed through small a corridor with doors leading to four rooms. The corridor was rather peculiar as both the floor and walls were wooden, whereas the corridor had a mix of wooden and stone ceiling, wooden ceiling reaching to first two rooms and a stone ceiling for the rest of the corridor. The stone part of the ceiling had multiple cuts running through it, forming what looked like a wine covered with flowers of various shapes and sizes. Looking at this, my astonishment reached another peak altogether.

Wow, it actually cuts into the mountain for more space. Ain’t that amazing? And that also means if space runs out, all we need to do is cut into the mountain some more. What’s more… This looks amazing. The rooms at the front should be the ones made from wood while the ones at back would be ones carved inside the mountain. Cool!

Opening the door of one of the rooms at front, I found a simple yet practical layout. A desk and a chair, a bed a bit too big for a single person yet small enough that two people would have to squeeze together, a small bed stand, a closet and a window giving the view of the outside.

Going further ahead, I opened the door of the rooms cut into the mountain, finding a similar layout to that of the room earlier, with the changes being a lack only the window and the ceiling being made of stone rather than wood.

Out of curiosity, I checked the other two rooms to find the other room cut into the mountain having the same layout as its counterpart. However, contrary to my expectations, the other wooden room at front was a kitchen, having a stone floor and a stone shelf for cooking and some other wooden closets and drawers at the back and near the shelf, supposedly for utensils.

Running my finger over the shelf on a whim, I found the shelf to be clean with not a speck of dust while also being rather smooth like wood.

Through the window in the kitchen, I found a kid a bit shorter than mine sprawled on the ground at the backside of the cottage, his back facing up as he slept like a log.

Rubbing my temples, I jumped down the window before patting his shoulder to wake him up.

His head turned towards me as he slowly opened his eye. After blinking a few times, he said, “Ah, Samuel. Fight me!”

Quite a greeting… does he want to start it already? At least get some food. Don’t you feel hungry?

Mildly annoyed, I said, “Hey, wake up. Sun’s up already. What’re you doing here? Go wash up and let’s get some food.”

While getting up, Zack glanced towards me before fixing his gaze up at the sky. After a moment, he nodded.

He walked around the outside of the house, coming towards the lake at the front. Using the water from the lake, he washed the dust off of himself before walking into the house and using a cloth to wipe himself dry. Next, he walked towards the table in the hall, gesturing to me to sit.

All the while, his gaze never met mine, nor did he speak a word, giving an unapproachable air.

I sighed inwardly as I took out two boxes packed with food and two spoons, passing a set of one each to Zack.

He took a spoonful before putting it in his mouth, chewing it silently.

Next, he just stared at the food in front of him blankly for a while. A few moments later, he closed his eye as if in deep thought.

A sense of helplessness surged within me, similar to the one I feel when looking at dad when he is in his depressed mode. Following after which, a sense of denial filled my being as I began eating fast, taking it out on the harmless food in front of me. Although the food was subpar in taste, I just wasn’t in the right mind to sit calmly and enjoy it.

As if following my lead, Zack also began gulping down food like if it was water.

We both finished our food at around the same time, after which Zack got up as he said, “Let’s fight!”

Filled with annoyance at both myself and the situation, I nodded.

A little while later, we both were standing outside as Zack used a branch lying on the ground to draw an oval shape beneath our feet.

After he finished drawing, he raised his head to look at me, giving me a fierce yet vigilant glare.

I gave him a solemn look before closing my eyes to calm myself down.

“As soon as the stick hits the ground, we start.”

His voice echoed through the air.

I opened my eyes, calmly gazing at my opponent, tuning everything else out. All that was left was me, my opponent and area to battle.

Through my peripheral, I glanced at the stick moving through the air, about to hit the ground.

It was no Ki and no magic. Just a regular fist fight. The way I like it.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

*Tak*

I breathed in deeply, filling my lungs to the brim with air as I took a step back.

Zack flinched, giving me a clean opportunity to attack. So I took it without hesitation. Air grazed against my skin while my hair swayed with the wind as I made a swift leap forward.