Chapter 416: Dad

"Kill them!" Auric shouted, pointing to the right side.

Stella killed the beast in front of her before glancing to the right. As soon as she found the few beasts heading their way, she immediately headed toward them and struck them one by one.

This place might be a wilderness, but it wasn’t too far from the city, so the number of beasts wasn’t too high and the strength was only up to Rank 4. Even then, there should be only less than three Rank 4 beasts in the area, which Auric and Stella could handle.

Fortunately, they managed to make their way to the mountain without encountering a single Rank 4 beast. With Auric’s keen eyesight, they managed to avoid a lot of unnecessary engagements.

Auric had considered bringing Maya and Ellia as additional reinforcements, but he didn’t really want to get a lot of them involved, especially when it was something he could handle with Katarina.

With his mother drawing everyone’s attention to herself, no one would approach him or try to kill him for the time being.

"We’ve finally arrived at the bottom of this mountain." Stella felt a bit relieved. She looked around, making sure no one was close to their position.

"According to the locals, there is an unmarked gravestone on the other side of this mountain." Auric sounded a bit conflicted. He wondered if his dad actually buried his mother here with an unmarked gravestone.

Stella pointed to the mountain. "There is a small track over there. I think it’s better for us to fly over there. We need to fly low and avoid as many beasts as possible, but some will surely notice us. However, using that path to go around the mountain should be the quickest way. We don’t need to introduce unknown variables by taking the longer detour."

"All right. Let’s go. I will cover."

Stella summoned her valkyrie avatar and transformed, forming a pair of wings made of energy. She then grabbed Auric from behind and started flying.

Some beasts noticed them when they were airborne, but fortunately, Auric didn’t see many beasts around the area.

A few attacks flew toward them, but Auric managed to block them just fine. As soon as they reached their target, they immediately used the trees for cover. They started moving between trees at high speed, trying to shake these beasts off.

Auric and Stella continued moving swiftly in that direction while remaining aware of their surroundings.

Because they had less distance to cover, they managed to get to the other side of the mountain in just ten minutes.

"Auric, I think that’s our destination." Stella pointed toward the big tree on the cliff. It was an iconic tree among the locals, but not many people visited this mountain, so it remained undisturbed.

"Yeah. Let’s go there." Auric waved his hand, gesturing for them to keep running.

They gradually approached the cliff, but then they noticed something. "Now that I look closely, don’t you see a silhouette standing over there?"

"Hmm?" Auric squinted his eyes. His normal eyesight wasn’t as good as Stella’s, but the ability to capture the energy particles didn’t show anything. That was why he couldn’t confirm. "I’m not sure."

It only took them another ten minutes to reach the cliff, so Stella stopped and turned around. "I should stay here and kill all the beasts chasing us. You can take your time to meet your mother."

Auric glanced back. There were indeed a lot of beasts chasing them.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say, ’I’ll help. I just don’t want the beasts to bring any harm to this place.’

However, a burst of gray energy erupted from behind them, or rather, from the grave’s direction.

"!!!" Auric and Gloria widened their eyes. They could see a wave that kept glitching, making the soil look like it was disappearing for a split second before it was restored to its original position.

This wave continued toward the beasts. They saw a few beasts leaping into the air to avoid this energy, but they couldn’t escape. Their bodies glitched as well, but unlike the soil, they didn’t return to normal.

All the energy signatures in front of them were gone.

"What?" Gloria gasped, not understanding what had happened. She glanced behind her and saw the silhouette that wasn’t supposed to be there. "A person?"

"!!!" Auric froze for a few seconds before turning around. He found a familiar back. "Dad?"

After hearing that word, Gloria let out a long sigh. "You go. I’ll stay here and guard this place."

Auric hesitated for a moment but he soon nodded, entrusting the task to Stella. "Thanks."

Gloria just waved her hand, gesturing for him to hurry.

Auric slowly walked toward this silhouette. He had mixed feelings about this. Part of him wanted to punch his father for losing his mother twice. A part of him wanted an explanation about the entire situation.

Still, Auric kept walking. He was a bit surprised when he found out that the unmarked grave that people talked about was actually marked.

Here lies a good wife, a good mother, and a good friend.

Rest in Peace.

Natalia Elfe.

It was marked, so why would people actually call this an unmarked gravestone?

Auric raised his head, finally seeing why his father chose this spot. He could see the vastness of the world.

The breeze coming from below made him feel as though he was in the sky. The screeching sounds of leaves brushed by the wind soothed his heart. The horizon stretched in all directions. There was nothing, no buildings, no trace of civilization. It was all just nature.

Auric turned to the man next to him. It was really his father.

"I have been waiting for you." His father, Gran Elfe, was the first to speak.

"..." Auric’s expression turned grim.

"I know there are a lot of things you want to say and ask. Your mother indeed died after giving birth to you."

Auric clenched his hands into fists. "Why didn’t you tell me all this? Why did you hide it from me?"

"You should have heard the reason. I... am a coward. 25 years ago, I once saved a woman called Natalia Crystal."

...

25 years ago.

At this very cliff, a young girl covered in wounds stood. While holding her right arm, she gritted her teeth and glared at the pack of beasts that were about to launch themselves at her.

"I guess this is where I die. I’m just a healer. I can’t fight my way out this time." She let out a long sigh.

One beast pounced on her. Despite giving up, Natalia’s eyes remained open as though she wanted to see her own final moment even if that meant becoming a beast’s meal.

She gritted her teeth, bracing herself.

To her surprise, a massive claw suddenly smashed all the beasts right in front of her eyes.

"!!!" She was startled and looked up, finding a massive black dragon above the mountain.

"That’s enough, Lindwurm. Thank you for the help." Gran, who looked exactly the same as he did thirty years ago, leaped off the dragon and landed in front of her. "You alright?"

"T-Thank you." Natalia didn’t know how to react. "That’s... a dragon? Your avatar? No, wait. That’s not what I should say. Thank you very much for saving my life. I don’t have anything with me right now to repay you, but in the future, when I achieve something, I will definitely repay you."

"You don’t have to. I don’t need any repayment." Gran shook his head.

"Teacher?" A kid peeked out from behind Lindwurm, wondering what had happened.

"It’s fine." He waved to the kid before turning back to Natalia. "I will just bring you somewhere safe, and you can make your way back to the city later."

"That’s... I definitely need to repay you, even if I have to pay you with my body."

"Is that an option, Teacher?" The kid jumped off Lindwurm.

"What are you talking about? You are just barely an adult, and you’re already questioning me?"

"I mean, you just saved her life. This is the first time I’ve seen you saving someone. Besides, she’s also a beauty, so it’s only natural for you to feel something." He nodded in understanding.

"You are playing with your teacher right now. I guess I need to punish you with some intense training."

"Oops!" The kid walked toward Natalia.

"What’s this? You’re the one whose heart is being stolen by her." Gran smirked, teasing the young man.

"What are you talking about? Just look at her face. It’s clear that she is someone who likes older men. If you don’t trust me, I bet she will pick King on this deck." The kid raised his hand before taking out a deck of poker cards and spreading them out. "Big sister, why don’t you pick one to prove yourself?"

"W-Wha—!" Natalia was startled and instinctively grabbed one, only to get a King of Hearts.

"See?" The kid smirked.

"How did you..." Natalia gasped.

Gran sighed and just grabbed the deck and turned it around, showing that all of them were King of Hearts.

"You’re just being tricked by a kid."

"I have just awakened, so I’m not a kid anymore."

"..." Natalia was speechless. This was the first time she had seen such a bizarre conversation.

"Big Sister, what is your name? Why are you here without anyone else? You don’t look like someone who can fight very well."

"I am... Natalia Crystal. I came here because I needed money to pay my tuition."

"That’s sad. I am Quill. Now that I think about it, can’t I have a maid, Teacher? How about we make her my maid? You pay her tuition."

"Since when did you become the one deciding what I want?"

"No, this is what I want. You just happen to be in the equation."

"..."