"Ugh" Caius groaned as he opened his eye—staring back at him was the moldy ceiling of the Inn he and Asterion had checked in…he Felt something move on his stomach and looked at the dragon still disguised as a fox. The bright blue, eyes of the dragon peered into his.
That Elderwood soul is becoming troubling, we should do something about it. The dragon snuggled deeper into his chest.
Caius raised his hand and looked at it. The dragon had a point, if the elderwood soul within him kept acting out everytime he tries to channel his mana, he would be in trouble. What if that happened when he most needed it? Then what? Another death?
"Now that I realized, do you even have a name?" Caius asked looking at the resting fox.
The blue eyes returned to him. Of course, My name is….
Caius blinked. "Can you repeat that?" He couldn't hear the name as if something had blocked it out.
My name is…. Argar said but to Caius his name was blurred out.
"Yeah I'll just name you, Kraven how's that?" Caius asked and Argar just grumbled in defeat unable to say anything in retort—the boy couldn't hear his name for some reason.
The door opened and Asterion walked into the room—he quietly sat on the chair and looked at Caius with a serious face. "I know I said you had potential but that was insane, an Elderwood Core? Not many possess that. Not many even meet one in their life times, they are specifically found in high tier dungeons."
Caius looked down, he knew this was going to come after that, and with Asterion knowing the cause behind his pseudo transformation made it easier for him to explain. He raised his hesd—scarlet red eyes met ruby red ones. "My name is Caius Thorne, the fifth son of the Thorne family."
"That makes sense." Asterion mused as he put his hand on his chin. The magic potential, the Elderwood core, all added up to being a noble's son, not just any noble son but the son of the leader of the Holy knights themselves. "But what are you doing here?"
"I got banished for something I did not do, so I was roaming the lands trying To find a way to uplift this curse placed on my soul…the Elderwood soul." Caius responded
Asterion leaned into the chair, his shoulders slumped and he sighed to himself. "Troubling, for now I placed an Enchantment rune on your core to suppress the Elderwood soul within you, you should be able to draw up some of your mana…the elderwood won't interfere."
He reached to his bag and pulled out a red coat with flower patterns on the back, a set of black pants, combat boots and a black muscle-shirt. He placed them on the bed alongside some gold and a map. "Go to this place, and when you get there, ask for Gerard, tell him Asterion sent you…I can't go with you, but the month long travel should give you enough time to learn some things on your own."
Caius' eyes watered—the gifts he had received were the first he has ever gotten from anyone. He offered a smile. "I will do that!"
Caius stared at himself in the mirror, the coat and the clothes made him look cool. He grinned and turned to Kraven. "Let's go."
Thought you'd never ask.Kraven retorted as he jumped on Caius shoulder.
And the duo left the inn, looking forward to the adventure ahead. As long as he got stronger to exact his revenge nothing mattered.
*
Three weeks passed after Caius and Kraven left the town—in those weeks, he taught himself various forms of combat, including swordsmanship, his magic prowess improved by leaps and bounds and a week into his journey, Caius was confident he could defeat atleast a C-rank adventurera without tapping into the Elderwood core or Kraven's core.
Speaking of Kraven's core, Caius willed the blue screen open and per his command it opened before his eyes. but like before, the other panels were crossed off leaving only the section of the main interface available.
[Caius Thorne — The Overlord Of Magic ]
[ Rank: SS ]
[ Title: Magic Overlord ]
[ Beast Wills: Dragon core (SSS Rank), Elderwood Core (SS rank | suppressed) ]
[ Magic: Gravity Magic, Disturbance Magic, Wood magic, Enchantment Magic, Elemental magic, Healing magic ]
[Proficiency in magic: Elemental magic (45%), Gravity Magic (0%), Disturbance Magic (0%), Wood magic (Unavailable due to the suppressed Elderwood core), Enchantment Magic (0%), Healing Magic (0%)]
[New Magic: True Dragon Flame Magic (locked)]
[ Special ability: Magic supremacy (Incomplete) ]
Csius saw his development and he was content with it—from the time that he was banished and killed by his father till now, he had improved so much, although not at the level he needed to venture back to Kraven's homeland or even go back to the capital, he was content with the way his progress was coming along. He was no longer a useless, mana coreless pariah.
His eye left the screen and he looked down from his place on the tree branch.
"Help!!"
His ears perked up as he heard the feminine voice—he looked behind him and saw a horse being pulled by a carriage; behind the driver was a large cage with girls trapped inside, the girls were cuffed by chains, riddled with burn marks on their bodies and they were not wearing clothing.
Beside the carriage walked a group of five people, carrying weapons and upon closer inspection, the adventurer badge on their clothes.
'Disgusting.' Caius thought to himself as he leaned over the branch, his feet held him up against gravity and he gazed at the group. "Adventurers dabbling in slave trades and abduction? How immoral. "
The carriage stopped and the five adventurers stood between the carriage and Caius who was hanging upside down on the tree.
One of the adventurers, particularly the one with red-hair holding a broadsword smirked at Caius. "Beat it kid, there's no time to chat with you about morals, what do you even know about morals? Shouldn't you be in your mother's embrace?"
Caius narrowed his eyes. "Becareful about what you say or else…"
He didn't finish his statement, he allowed it to linger…an audible threat he declared without many words, but the adventurers only laughed—to them Caius was just a kid playing hero, a kid who hasn't grasped the way life is.
"Or else what?" The same adventurer said sneering at Caius.
"Or else this." Caius voice was stoic, detached from any emotion. In a quick reposition, he blasted from the tree and delivered a devastating kick to one of the adventurers, kicking him in the stomach, sending him flying through the trees.
Caius ceremoniously landed on the ground, the coat he was given settling behind him aND he stood up, he glared at the red-haired and pointed his hand at him.
"Come at me then, I'm sure you can back up whatever you were saying regarding me won't you?"