Eric leaped off the ocean cliff and arrived at the location where he, Lysandra, and Elara had previously landed.
He also held a deep-green transparent sword in his hand.
After catching his breath, Eric grinned.
It wasn't as difficult as he had previously thought. It only took him around two hours to swim across despite going against the waves.
Thanks to the low-grade Tier 1 sword, even climbing the high cliff wasn't difficult, as it could easily be dug in and out of the cliff wall with just a little effort.
After drying off, Eric searched for his back-stabbing birthday dagger.
It only took him a few moments to find it stuck in the roots of the tree that had taken the full brunt of the fireball from the Dark Elf Tribe's chief's son.
Thankfully, the tree survived with only a few burns and would heal completely over time—all thanks to humans not having raped this planet as they had on Earth.
Eric remembered hearing that due to high-powered pumps drawing underground water to serve the advanced 21st-century humans' well-being, many places on Earth were drying up beneath the surface. Trees couldn't absorb enough water. A tree might look healthy, but that didn't mean it was—it had safety measures that failed due to dehydration. This made trees far too dry internally, leaving them much more susceptible to fire.
Eric gently stroked the tree's burnt spot, thanking it for saving his sorry ass from being overcooked and for bravely serving as a shield.
Eric chuckled and then jumped straight up.
With a few leaps, he soon reached the treetop and began determining the direction he should take to return.
He remembered the sun's location the last time he was there. Unless the season was changing and the planet's orbit shifted, the sun usually rose from the same location. By this, he could roughly guess which way was northwest.
As Eric marked his next landmark—a small hill some kilometers away—a sudden thought struck him.
Why should he even walk?
Just like how he had climbed, or rather glided, toward the top of the hill on Heart Shaped Island, why couldn't he use these tall trees, branches, and even big rocks to simply fly off?
The more Eric thought, the more excited he became.
He had initially been 'depressed' due to not being able to awaken the Wind Element, but couldn't he become 'one with the wind' like this?
So, after getting the rough direction, Eric leaped to the next tree branch. With another solid kick, he sped off at extreme speed toward the next springboard.
Eric's speed kept increasing faster and faster. Soon, he covered an entire kilometer within five to ten minutes.
At this rate, he might reach Ringwood Town by dawn.
With his 'dark vision', Eric could see clearly, so he had no trouble finding footholds. He was already great at maneuvering due to Bella Noll's tortures, even as a mortal.
While passing a lake, Eric noticed a huge alligator that had raised its head out of the water, gazing toward the horizon, recalling its past lovers.
So, Eric helped it by kicking its head—shaking its brain—so it could recall better, as he flew away.
The previous difficulty Eric had faced while traveling the forest as a mortal had become almost nothing.
As a Mana Wielder, it was no longer impossible to cross certain difficult-to-pass terrains.
For example, he could now swim in alligator-infested lakes or ponds, or jump across rocky and dangerous terrain without fear—largely due to his mastery of body maneuvering, and secondarily because he was a Mana Wielder.
Mana Wielder not only have great stats but can also use them much more smoothly than mortals could with the same stats.
Hours flew by quickly.
While Eric maintained his happy-go-lucky mentality, he suddenly heard a terrible—or rather pathetic—wail from some poor soul nearby.
Eric stopped and tried to recall the voice.
He was certain it was not a pig, though it almost sounded like one. It had to be human or some other intelligent species.
Eric's expression turned serious.
He had just gotten rid of dark elves earlier that day, and now he didn't want to encounter some random pig's tribe inside this forest.
He quickly sneaked toward the location where the voice came from.
He was fairly close, so he arrived quickly, gliding between a few trees and branches.
Eric hid above a tree within its dense leaves and gazed at the scene below.
He was speechless.
'What the hell's going on here…?'
A wild human male had just chopped a poor young human male in half! Then the murderer started wailing like he'd lost his mind.
Within that split second, Eric captured many details—like the rank of the 'wild human male,' who was actually an early-stage Rank 1 warrior.
A Mana Wielder is like a miniature sun or fire—nothing dangerous, but they give off a distinct presence. As long as someone's senses weren't too pathetic, even mortals could judge the major rank of an Apprentice Rank. Though they would need regular exposure to such individuals—otherwise, they would misjudge.
As an early-stage Mana Wielder himself, Eric was certain the wild human male was a Warrior—not a Mage or Mystical Knight—because he was releasing his presence wildly. Normally, one could hide this by controlling themselves, but this person clearly wasn't doing so.
This guy also happened to have lost both eyes—likely within the last 24 hours, with the left eye being extremely recent. Other than that, a dagger hilt stuck out of his butt.
Eric guessed this Warrior had been terribly bullied by the young man who'd wanted to… seek entrance to his butt?
'Did I just see something I was better off not seeing?'
Eric also found the bloodied dagger hilt awfully familiar—as well as both human males, as if he'd seen them somewhere.
But it was hard to recognize them. One was bleeding terribly, and the young man's face seemed to have been raped terribly by women mosquitoes.
The homo-boy had just uttered Uncle as his upper and lower body slid apart.
Were they trying to do the uncle-nephew business deep in the forest?
Was that necessary? They could have done so behind closed doors, and nobody would have bothered watching!
Eric's attention soon turned to the heavy sword in the Warrior's hand.
He noticed it was boiling with the blind uncle's Mana.
Previously, as a mortal, Eric couldn't notice these things clearly. But now, he could distinctly differentiate whether a lot of Mana was imbibing something or not.
Given how the blind ass-raped uncle was slashing his sword, Eric guessed the guy would be out of Mana within five minutes.
Riya shook her head. "You're comparing yourself to him. His Intelligence stat definitely isn't as high as yours—he wouldn't last that long. Not to mention, he isn't a Mystical Knight, nor is he calm. I'd guess he'll only last one or two more minutes—assuming he had a full Mana pool before this."
"Leaving that aside, this uncle is screaming Jack's name. 'Jack Eldridge' was the adult guy—or rather, the 15-or-so-year-old brat—who tried to kidnap my sisters Ly and Liv from Ringwood School six years ago. The one whose teeth you broke with a slap and a kick. So, if my guess isn't wrong, then being the 'uncle' of this child-kidnapper, the blind mad fellow is Cooper, who nearly crushed your neck in the past."
Eric recalled and suddenly felt nostalgic. He had been very close to meeting the death mistress that day.
He shook his head and noticed the ass-penetrated uncle was also missing his right wrist.
Cooper was literally living the life of being crippled all the way. No wonder he'd lost his mind and tried to do uncle-nephew business deep in the forest.
But then it begged the question—why were Cooper and Jack even here? It shouldn't have been solely for uncle-nephew business—there had to be other reasons! And why was Cooper in such a terrible condition?
Suddenly, a thought emerged in Eric's head. He quickly looked around.
Even with his night vision, it took him nearly ten seconds to detect the two completely muddied girls clutching trees like monkeys.
Eric suddenly felt emotional.
He'd already pieced together what might've happened. But what truly impressed him was that neither girl had succumbed quietly. Unlike 98% of girls on Earth, they hadn't pushed each other to save themselves—and with their amazing teamwork, like veteran soldiers, they'd successfully crippled an early-stage Rank 1 Warrior to such a terrible state… as mere mortals.
Eric was weirdly touched watching Lyria and Livy's half-naked figures, completely covered in mud—unlike girls from Earth, who were too busy looking pretty and presentable.
He didn't think that many girls from his past life had this level of boldness, fierce spirit, commitment, or determination. They weren't nonexistent on Earth—but they were very rare.
Most girls stayed within their safe, comfortable borders, clinging to survival instincts to avoid trouble and focus on their skin. In short, their joy came from gathering admiration with their faces and beauty.
It wasn't that he looked down on such girls—or boys—but anyone who relied solely on material things like skin, body, or wealth was bound to be insecure. And if people were insecure, they were bound to do stupid things—whether they liked it, understood it, or not. It was inevitable.
Eric sighed and shook his head. He was extremely impressed by how Lyria and Livy had abandoned everything and decided to stick around in the forest, despite knowing a Warrior was chasing them.
It wasn't hard to guess—Cooper's right eye had been destroyed many hours ago.
Even after escaping Cooper unharmed, Lyria and Livy hadn't returned to the orphanage. They'd stayed, planned, and executed a reverse-ambush on a Warrior—as mortals—knowing full well one mishap could've meant death, with no hope of outside help.
Riya rolled her eyes. "Why are you so surprised? The training you guys went through was far beyond this little struggle."
Eric coughed. He understood—but right now, he genuinely respected Lyria and Livy's fighting spirit and resolve to stand up for themselves instead of crying for help.
He didn't know how girls were in this world—but as someone who'd seen all sorts of people in his past life, Eric deeply admired those with resolve, tenacity, and perseverance, regardless of their success or failure.
"So, what are you going to do now?" Riya asked, feeling proud of her sisters.
Eric watched Lyria and Livy reunite on a tree branch, having a conversation that he couldn't hear.
He smiled and shook his head. "This isn't my battle—I won't interfere with whatever they plan to do."
Though he would help if they were in trouble. There was no way he'd let Lyria or Livy die while he was nearby.
Riya nodded. "I wonder how they'll deal with Cooper. As long as he has his sword, approaching him is dangerous from any angle. Even you'd be in danger if you took his full blunt attack."
Eric agreed.
Mana-imbued weapons aside—which already strengthened a weapon significantly—even if his Constitution surpassed Cooper's, he wasn't immune to lower-strength attacks unless his Constitution far exceeded Cooper's attack power.
But if he protected himself with Mana beforehand, he might avoid being slashed. Sadly, despite higher Intelligence, he wasn't confident in his Mana Control yet, as it hadn't been long since he'd started wielding Mana.
So, for now, he could only support Lyria and Livy with his bow if necessary.
Of course, Eric was fully confident he could defeat Cooper—even if Cooper weren't crippled and raging. But right now, he didn't want to interfere with Lyria and Livy's battle.