Lander woke up the next day feeling hungry. He checked his body and was stunned to see that his wounds were already gone. He looked around his surroundings and forgot that he was still in an unknown place, "How careless of me to just sleep in an unknown place. If this was on Earth, I wouldn't even know what my fate would be."
Upon arriving at the place, the old man never bothered Lander and just left him alone, and then he remembered that he has lots of wounds so he gave him a medicine that instantly made him recovered. With no one to talk to, Lander just sat quietly and rested comfortably.
Because of tiredness and hunger and the comfortable vibe brought by the house, Lander can't blame himself if he was attracted to rest. It was just that he never expected that the rest he needed became a very long hours of sleep.
Looking around, Lander found himself in front of a door slightly opened. He peeked inside and was shocked to see a very big glass filled with water. Inside it was a beautiful bare Latina woman with her eyes closed and a tube was connected to her mouth. Lander gulped upon seeing such a beauty and his little weapon was getting agitated.
"Beautiful right?" An old man spoke right beside him.
"If I would describe her, the most beautiful Goddess," Lander praised with awe before he reacted as he was startled, "Dang! Old man!"
"You're quite an interesting outcast. Have you offended the Druid that gave you this letter?" The old man asked smiling.
"Wait? Druid? What Druid? And you? You are the Necromancer?" Lander asked confused? He thought inwardly, 'So that Elder Bobby's friend wasn't actually wearing a costume? It was actually part of his body. But necromancer? How could this old man be a necromancer? He's more like a scientist than a necromancer to me?'
"Indeed! Although I'm a human, I practice the ways and magic of the Dark race." The old man explained simply.
"I see." Lander nodded his head and turned his head back to the beautiful woman, "And may I ask who was she? And why was she inside that glass?"
The old man kept quiet as he went beside his utensils and made sets of potions. Lander didn't inquire anymore about the woman, "Excuse me old man, do you have some food I can cook? I'm so hungry."
"You can go and hunt," The old man replied casually.
"Hunt? You want me to hunt in this very dark forest with lots of ghosts and beasts lurking around? I've had enough trouble already. I just wanted to train and read for now." Lander complained, he just needed a day off from this forest.
The old man laughed and before Lander went out to hunt, a humungous white rabbit stopped in front of the house. It was about 10 feet high and has a scar on its left eye. It was the old man's mount.
"Robby, go hunt us some foods," the old man ordered as he smiled.
"Robby? Your naming sense is absurd!" Lander mocked.
While waiting for the food, Lander asked the old man to open his storage ring to get some of his stuffs and he went straight to the kitchen to prepare the other ingredients. After ten minutes, the rabbit came back with a dead boar and deer.
With his cooking skills and knowledge, Lander prepared a grilled boar meat, adobo, sisig and barbecued deer. He finished cooking for about two and a half hour. As usual, the smell of the foods permeated the house, it also went outside that attracted the attention of some beasts. Due to the existence of the owner of the house, the beasts were afraid to invade it because they knew that they would only suffer a tragic demise.
The old man stopped whatever he's doing and went straight to the kitchen. The rabbit transformed into a small rabbit and entered the kitchen. Also, the turtle that has been pocketed by Lander was always wriggling, it was only this time that Lander remembered it so he placed it on top of the table.
The old man can't suppress the aroma of the food so he grabbed one of the barbecued deer but Lander was fast enough, he used the ladle he was holding to hit the old man's hand, "If you want to taste my cooking, let me finish everything before we all eat at the same time. No one is privileged to eat first while the others eat afterwards."
After finishing his cooking, the four of them enjoyed every bits and meats of the served food especially the three- the rabbit, turtle and old man.
"I haven't had this kind of food in my entire life of existence!" The old man praised. Lander was silent as he never reacted. It doesn't mean that he's not happy. In fact he was, it's just he already expected this situation again and again. The recipes on Earth were more advanced than this world like the sauce, butter and any ingredients being mixed together that weren't yet discovered in this world. Also, there were more ingredients in this world that can be used as a substitute to any ingredients that could fit the style of cooking.
The rabbit and the turtle were also feeling the bliss of pleasure while eating. They can't stop munching seemingly as if they were addicted to it.
After eating, Lander went outside the house and did some light exercises. He wasn't dumb enough to go beyond the torches that surrounds the house because he knew that a lot of beasts and ghosts were waiting for their prey-him.
After the exercise, Lander went inside and started reading again about things related to beasts and souls. The old man noticed him and said, "If you want to freely control your beast's soul or slaves, you should first learn the Soul Affinity."
"Care to elaborate old man?" Lander asked.
The old man looked at him, "On one condition."
"State it old man," Lander replied.
"That old man who brought you from this world, I need you to find him!" The old man said seriously.
Lander was caught off guard due to shock and he stumbled on the chair he was sitting. "How.. How did you know?"
"Interesting! So you really are the one that came with that damned geezer?" The old man smiled interestingly.
"Wait! You just guessed?" Lander asked stupefied.
"Hmmm!" The old man nodded and continued, "In fact, I didn't know at first but when you were sleeping last night, I felt something different from you, an aura that doesn't belong to this place, more subtle and more peaceful than the aura of this world." The old man explained. Yes, this was the same old man who felt the existence of a great persona who could shake the world when Lander first stepped into this world.
"So you mean you are one of the so-called Legend? And do you have a way to take me back to my world? What are the conditions? I'm willing to take risks." Lander asked consecutively without letting the old man answer his first question.
"Legend? HAHAHAHA!" The old man laughed, "The so-called Legends were already gone, long before the existence of the Outcasts. And I don't have a way for you to go back to wherever you've came from."
"So the only clue I have is the old man who brought me here?" Lander asked with defeated shoulders, "Why do you need him anyway?"
"To kill him!" The old man answered straightforwardly.
"Wait! What? WHYYY?" Lander was curious.
"Because he's the only human who could open the rift of the Void Continent and he would simply let the Dark Force invade our world," The old man answered seriously clenching his fists.
"Then I'm sorry, I won't find him for you," Lander said seriously as he stood up ready to leave the place. He already has the things he needed and since the old man can't help him, there was no reason for him to last another day.
"Wait! Why?" This time, the old man was the one stunned from Lander's words.
"Because I need him to go back to my world." Lander answered straightly.
The old man nodded, "I see. But don't you know young man that your life would be bliss in this world if you are careful?"
"Bliss? Ever since I arrived in this world I have been mocked, degraded, insulted and abused just because of this tattoo? And you call that a bliss?"
The old man didn't say anything nor explained some things. He thought that it was better for some things to be left alone.
"Anyway old man, since you can't help me and I've delivered the letter, it's time for me to go." Lander excused himself.
"Wait, young man! What if I could have that damned geezer after he helped you go back to your world?" The old man stopped him and gave another suggestion.
"After I return to my world then it's a deal!" Lander said as he offered his hand for a shake hand.
Looking at Lander's hand, the old man was baffled. Lander faced palm as he again forgot that this was not his world, "In our world, this means that we came into an agreement, and its official."
"So old man, are you going to explain to me things related to soul affinity?" Lander asked with his eyes twinkling.
The old man nodded as he slowly told Lander everything he knew about Soul Affinity. It means having a soul that has compatibility with the main elements: fire, water, earth and wind or the rare elements: ice, thunder, metal and leaf. These rare elements are the hardest to have a compatibility with because thunder was a natural element, metal was the hardest to contain within the earth, ice was the most complicated to achieve and leaf was the ability to control plants. Only a few were able to have a compatibility with the rare elements.
Fire compatibility means having the affinity towards those people who uses fire and beasts that are fire related. The same happens to the other elements, as for the rare elements, the old man never told him anything because even though he knew that Lander would be an earth shattering persona in this world, he would only be affiliated to two or three elements but not the rare elements.
For Lander to be able to recognize his soul compatibility, he has to achieve complete understanding towards the elements through soul communication. He has to communicate within these elements.
**
Adobo – a Filipino dish: either chicken or pork , usually marinated but others cook it using soy sauce
Sisig – a Filipino dish that uses the pig head as the main ingredients: ears, tongue and some head meat and fats