Chapter 39: Chapter 38: A worthy opponent

Achmea never had to look at the ornate clock ticking ceaselessly on the wall. The dormant Divine Core within her chest kept her connected to nature regardless of her location. So, when the dawn came, she collected all the colorful vials and packed them in a neat wooden box.

She reached the tower’s door. Heaving a deep breath, she pushed open the tower’s door for any potential customers. Rarely people came to buy potions, even that was for curing common ailments. She still kept the shop running.

“Ha…”

She didn’t expect someone to be standing outside the door, holding a big platter with both hands. Smoke drifted from the soup and bread, carrying an appetizing aroma.

“My lovely sister, how’s your morning?” Drake asked with that freakish grin that was bound to terrify anyone. “Let’s go inside. I’m starving.”

Achmea couldn’t help but sigh. Her brother was nearly a decade older but he acted childish. He had spent over a hundred years inside a sealed coffin; that may have impacted his mentality. He couldn’t connect with many people; even Eldon, her late husband, was no exception.

Achmea let Drake into the shop and they began to indulge in the breakfast. She could go on for weeks without food as the Divine Core nourished her with the ambient life force as well its own Nature Essence.

“By the way, Achmea, I have a simple question. Where is my friend Zephyr? Has he returned from the Great Forest?”

“He hasn’t.” Achmea shook her head. “You really took an interest in him. Are you after his fiancée?“

Drake’s straightforward and venomous tongue put him at odds with nearly everyone. Somehow he went along with Zephyr and Sherine. He must have found something in Zephyr that her late husband lacked.

“Oh hell naw. Why will I go after my friend’s fiancée? You make no sense, Sister.”

Drake stared at Achmea as if she was stupid. Frankly, Sherine was more enigmatic than Achmea unless his sister pulled out her divine form. That was no reason to break Sherine and Zephyr’s heart melting relationship. Drake wasn’t having a relationship until he found the one that seized his heart. Sherine wasn't that one.

“Why do you care so much about him?”

“I don’t know myself.” Drake licked his lips. “He is a decent guy with plenty of confidence. He also doesn’t come off as a sinister fuck like Xander…”

His answer brought a tiny smile to her face. The fact that Drake complimented someone was already a big improvement.

“Truth be told, he reminds me of someone from our home.”

“Oh, who?”

“First Imperial Fae Knight…”

Achmea’s eyes widened momentarily. “Asher?”

Drake silently nodded. Zephyr’s unchanging calm was on the same level as Asher, the man who protected Drake whenever he traveled outside the Fae Realm Meracydia. Both of them hardly let down their stoic fronts. 

Achmea stopped her mind from indulging in the past. The Fae Realm was no more, and they were no longer the royalties.  “It’s taking Zephyr so long… How many creatures can he hunt in the Yellow Zone?”

Achmea hadn’t visited the forest for a long time. The enactment of the fire keeper stones border must have pushed back the magic beasts into deeper forest where they could thrive. There shouldn't be enough beasts for Zephyr to stick around for an entire day and night.

“I doubt there are more than a dozen,” Drake revealed while munching on the dry bread. “The great and mighty ones live in the Red and Black Zones. What is Zephyr even doing out there?”

Achmea had a growing suspicion, which she didn’t want to believe—that he wandered into the Red Zone.

‘No, Zephyr made a promise.’

She wished to keep the couple away from the unforeseen tragedies. She derived happiness from her selfless act even if she had given up on her own happiness.

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The peaceful breakfast came to an abrupt end when a familiar face came barging into the shop. A cheerful grin adorned Xander’s face as he strolled up to Achmea, flanked by his lackeys, the Jona brothers.

“Achmea, are my supplies ready?”

Xander’s happiness soured Drake’s mood. He glared at Xander, golden eyes unrelenting. “It’s our breakfast time, Xen Dog. Keep your tasks and such to the business hours.”

Xander forced a smile. He usually gave Drake a pass since he was an outstanding sorcerer and Achmea’s brother. But Drake was particularly aggressive today as if someone touched his reverse scale.

“It’s alright, Drake.” Achmea gave a professional curt and pointed at the wooden box stacked on top of each other. “Everything is in there.”

“Teach him some manners,” Xander said as he directed the Jona Brothers to check the box filled with potions. “You’re an elegant fairy but his mannerism leaves much to be desired…”

Achmea shrugged. “He is fine the way he is.”

“Do you know where Sherine is?” Xander flipped the topic to the new anti-magic tank in the town. “People of my guild want to introduce themselves.”

His entire battle party was in the town to conquer the Chronos Chamber.

“Forget about Sherine and Zephyr,” Drake said, a grin stretching across his face. “They departed for a new adventure.”

A lie was necessary to keep Xander off Zephyr’s back. They deserved a better guildmaster than Xander.

“What?! Zephyr said he’d join me for the Chronos Chamber. He couldn’t have left.”

Xander looked to Achmea for confirmation. When she remained silent, his face turned gloomy. “Where did they go?”

“Where the wind guides me… were his last words.” Drake continued pranking Xander, expanding the rift between Zephyr and Xander. It was all he could do to keep Zephyr away from Xander’s heinous guild.

Xander gave Drake a last look then stomped out of the shop.

***

Zephyr continued his rampage. The magic beasts in his path one-upped the cockatrice in every way and shape. But none of them survived a slash of his scythe. In a strange string of coincidences, none of the monsters exceeded Level 29.

Riven came to answer his curiosity even though nobody asked. Level 29 was the point of the first true evolution of soul and body. Mortal Soul to King Soul. Not all magic beasts had what it took to breakthrough. Metamorphosis of the body was easier for magic beasts but cultivating soul and conscience was difficult for lesser intelligent species.

Zephyr got tired of playing around with the relatively weak magic beasts in the Red Zone and went deeper into the forest. The mirror on Achmea’s gifted bracelet took on an eerie black glow.

They were in the Black Zone.

As he tried to find a noticeable difference in the two areas, a prickly sensation enveloped his scalp.

“Cha!” Athena’s shriek nearly deafened him.

He trusted his own instincts and Athena’s shriek, and threw himself at Sherine. They tumbled into the bushes. A thick mossy tree branch ripped through the trees where they previously stood.

Zephyr stuck his head out and narrowed his eyes. “Veil Witch. Finally a worthy opponent!”

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