Chapter 13 - The Young Lady With Silver Hair [1]

[a/n: as of 01/20/22, it is still unedited; I will edit it if I have more time, but the unedited chapters will remain that way until chapters 30 and above are more edited. Don't trust Grammarly if you don't have a subscription.]

When Lucas finally entered the forest, he initially started hunting for some monsters.

Despite the fact that he lacks a weapon, he can still attack with pure force and arms covered in spiritual energy.

From cultivating that for so long, he learned how to move spiritual energy from his body to his accord. However, since he didn't know much about it, he needed to buy a martial technique in which the idea of circulating the spiritual energy simultaneously is prominent.

'I can use magic, but I think I should not use it with my mana. I am more profound with mana. And this... third energy is somewhat weaker than the effects of mana on my magic.'

"I must practice my body with martial arts if that's the case. Maybe some improvement with my reflexes would be great," he mumbled after finally encountering his first hunt of the day.

A huge frog appeared only at the level of his chest. It appears to be an abnormally sized frog, but unbeknownst to him, this kind of monster is common in this world.

As a little disgust was written on his face, he initially started preparing his hands to attack.

The monster noticed him. It looked at him with its dark, huge eyes that seemed to be nonending darkness.

When Lucas started rushing into the monster, it launched its long tongue to inflict poison on him. However, Lucas smelled the strong liquid coming from its tongue. As the tongue looks like a whip, he was sure that if he got hit with it, the poison would enter his wound from the tongue.

"You look disgusting! Do you know why? Because I have hated frogs since I was young!" He exclaimed before dodging the whipping tongue.

He jumped to the side, ducked, and shot a pressure coming from his pointed arms that resembled a sword. As the pressure hit, Lucas hissed when the damage was only shallow.

"Despite my superior cultivation base, you've still protected yourself from that pressure. Sure, but how long are you going to survive from actual touch!"

Lucas took a deep breath and exhaled it as he dashed towards the monster.

When he got near to it, he didn't waste the momentum and immediately stabbed the neck part of it with his pointed hands. The result was messy as the green fluids gushed out. But it did not hit Lucas. He also followed by moving backward to not be sprayed by the fluids.

The monster died, and the strong, foul scent reached his nose. Even though it wasn't long dead, the blood has a funny smell.

He just didn't waste another moment and searched for a monster core from the monster.

He opened the forehead and, luckily, saw a monster core sticking inside. Touching it, he grabbed it immediately to reduce the amount of blood that would touch his skin.

When he was finally safe, he left the corpse and continued searching for another prey.

Hours were spent and he only got 3 monster cores, all in the 8th level of the Apprentice Spirit Realm.

While experiencing disappointment, he just continued looking for another monster in the area. But alas, the chances of a drop aren't as high as he expected. Materialized monster cores are rare, even in high numbers.

"What a trash. How can this help with my funds? I don't know how much a martial technique is sold at, but this one surely isn't good," he mumbled.

Then he continued, "If I judge by the price of Spiritual Station, I can sell one for 50 gold coins. However, I don't know how much one martial technique is."

Feeling disappointed with his hunt, he shrugged it off and decided to leave the forest. However, before he could do so, he felt a strong source of energy. It was so abundant and dense that he couldn't ignore it.

Thus, he searched for it. Even if it takes him to a formidable monster, he can at least use magic to defeat it. He would surely benefit from it, even if he needed to trade with his magic.

Though he wanted to limit himself to using magic, he could just use his third energy as fuel, even if the effect wasn't that similar to his actual magic fueled with mana.

Half an hour flew by, and he finally started feeling the source near him. Passing through several trees, he finally saw the source, but he was baffled before he could react in excitement after finally reaching it.

He saw someone lying on a bed of clover leaves – a lady with silver hair, covered with wounds on her whole body!

He dashed to the lady and supported her head in his laps, acting on instinct.

***

Inside a forest, a female with silver hair is covered with injuries, quivering in agony. The wounds, which seemed to be clawed, were barely exposing her white skin.

She was scarcely breathing, gritting her teeth in contempt towards those who did this to her. While her brain is playing that nightmarish memory of her being injured by her most trusted friend, she can only cry in pain and disappointment.

Why did this happen to her? Everyone in her circle knows this, but she was oblivious to it.

Everyone cursed her beautiful appearance, and every female in her circle would show her a fake smile of admiration while stabbing her in the back and spouting some negative opinions about her.

She was ignorant of those sweet faces of her peers, thinking that she would continue cultivating them until they reached the next Upper Heaven. However, after such a tragedy, she was thrown into the Mortal Heaven, only to be inflicted with wet and not-healing wounds because of the less dense spiritual energy in the environment.

She drained her spiritual energy just to save herself from the conflict that she faced. She was surrounded by the most beautiful women under her, but she was outcast and betrayed, and they were anticipating her death.

But alas, even though she did escape those attacks and dived into the Mortal Realm, she was still helpless.

She could only feel the air hurting her open wounds. The wound that seems to come from a monster's paw was actually from her previous friends' envy.

"Ah… Why… did I even… escape?..." She cried as if she was clueless as to why she did not face her death.

If only she accepted that hideous way to die, she could finally take her rest and send her spirit to the last stop of life.

However, she was stupid at that point, thinking that she didn't want to see her previous friends delighted and eerie smiles of pleasure.

She gasped, little air gathering in her damaged lungs…

She endured the stings that her tears inflicted on her open wounds…

She groaned at every injury she could feel…

And only able to utter a word of hope, "Help me… Please kill me." Hoping to die before she could only see a light coming behind a handsome young man, supporting her head on his lap.

As the lady started to feel hope that she would die, she cried once again.

"Please... kill me..."

But she received a question as a reply.

"Why do you want to die?" A voice of a young man resounded, reaching her ears.

"I… don't want… to suffer anymore…" she muttered in a low and inaudible voice. Given that no one in the Mortal Heaven can save her, it's the least she can hope for.

"If I save you, would you ask to die again? If I remove the pain, will you stop asking to die?"

The lady was speechless for a moment, not responding with even a short reply. And after a brief moment, she answered with a different context from her previous request.

"I won't… So... save me… please… I… at least… want to stop this suffering… suffer… I want... them to suffer..."

Even a little unsure of what she said, the young man smiled and put her back on the bed of clovers.

"I will save you then."

Seconds later, he started mumbling some chants. Light emerged from his palms, soothing her body in a warm sensation. Her wounds started to heal, and after another second, she felt her body starting to be lighter.

Hours later, her body became healthier. Even the abnormalities within her body vanish. However, it wasn't on the other side. The young man who was healing her started to break some sweat. His forehead is now a puddle of water from the fatigue.

And finally, after the long healing, the young lady's face became more vibrant without feeling any injuries from her body.

She groaned a little because of the sluggish reaction in her body. She lifted her body to sit and looked at the young man who was right now lightheaded from saving her.

She pondered as she saw a handsome young man with a low cultivation base. How did he save her?

The young man smiled, seeing her sit on her own.

"Thank you for saving me… If you don't mind, can I ask you how I can pay you back?" The young lady asked.

It wasn't the first question people should ask, but for her who thought of debts first, it was inevitable.

The young man shrugged his body to return from being lightheaded. Despite his healthy body, he is right now experiencing fatigue.

"Don't mind it…"

The young man almost fell, but fortunately, he was caught by the young lady.

"Please. Tell me how I can pay you back." She insisted.

The young man was silent for a short time before answering, "I really don't know."

For a moment, they were covered in silence, making the young lady ponder for a moment.

When she thought how hard it was to heal her and how absurd it was that a person in this realm succeeded, she decided to give him a favor. Not ignoring the fact that those injuries didn't heal because of special attacks.

There's nothing for her to lose, and this realm isn't the appropriate realm for her.

"Then… how about I assist you in ascending to the Upper Heaven?"