Zarek arrived at a small village near the Moldylizard forest. There were very few people in the village as Zarek couldn't see many of them. As Zarek didn't know anything in the village, he walked toward an old man who was standing in front of a shop.
"Good afternoon, Elder. How's your day going? I was passing by this village but I don't know anything. Can you tell me where can I find an inn?"
"Afternoon afternoon. How can the day go well when bandits are becoming more and more aggressive? They don't even spare this bony old man. Sob Sob" The old man totally ignored Zarek's question and even started acting like a child.
"I hope they don't harass you anymore. And if they did harass you while I am staying in this village. Do let me know I will teach them a lesson for you."
"What can you do? You look even weaker than me." The old man looked at Zarek with narrowed eyes.
"Well I am an aura master so don't look down on me too much."
"Yeah Yeah"
"You still haven't told me where I can find an inn."
"Go South from here and you will find it."
"Alright. Thanks for the help."
Sometime later Zarek found the inn. Just after entering the inn, Zarek was somewhat surprised to see so many people in the inn. There were even a few aura masters in the inn. They must be here because Moldylizard forest was nearby. Many aura masters go to the Moldylizard forest to hunt animals and beasts to earn money and they stay in this village as it is nearby. As a result, the inns in this village can be said the busiest place here.
"Welcome to Buck's inn. How may I help you." The moment Zarek entered the inn a waitress welcomed him.
"I want a room to stay." Zarek replied with few words.
"Oh then please go to the counter."
Zarek didn't say anything more and walked forward to the counter. There was a middle aged man with beards sitting behind the desk.
"Hello sir, do you need any room to stay?" The middle aged man asked.
"Are you the owner of this inn?" Zarek asked back.
"Yes, I am Ed Buck. How can I help you?" The owner replied with some worry as he thought Zarek was finding trouble which is why he was finding the owner.
"I want a quiet place without any noise. Do you have any rooms that meet my criteria?" Zarek replied with a smile.
"Of course we have such a room. But it will cost a bit more than other rooms. Do you still want it?" Buck heaved a sigh of relief.
"It's not a problem. Book the room for me."
"How many days do you want to stay sir?"
"For now, book for 2 days."
"Here is your key sir. And it will cost you 30 silver coins."
Zarek placed 30 silver coins on the desk and took the key of the room. Then he opened his mouth again.
"But I want to have lunch first."
"Sure." The inn owner Buck replied and called a waitress to show the table to Zarek.
Zarek followed the waitress and ordered some rice and meat for lunch. When the waitress left the table Zarek closed his eyes and remembered the scene of the previous battle. The experience, the feeling, everything was precious to Zarek. The more he uses Zerik the more he gets accustomed to it. At first, it was hard to control Zerik after all he had to divide his senses. Zarek had to think from Zerik's perspective to properly utilize Zerik's ability. It was like controlling 2 bodies with 1 consciousness and it is almost impossible for a normal person to even think of doing something like this.
But the more Zarek used Zerik the more he was getting used to the unique feeling of using 2 bodies at once. And he was becoming more proficient in controlling Zarek. But it was still not that easy.
While Zarek was analyzing his previous battle to learn more about Zerik some intimidating bandits walked forward to Zarek's table. The guy in front had a scar on his face making him look scary while one of the bandits behind him only had 1 hand and the other one had a sly looking face. Three of them stopped in front of Zarek's table and the guy in front of the bandits who seemed to be their leader opened his mouth.
"You must be new here. Roaming here alone is dangerous. Give us the protection fee, we Red Bull bandit will protect you from any danger."
"But I don't have much money." Zarek replied with too little of emotion in his face, almost as though void of emotions.
"Give us whatever you have!" Said the Red Bull bandit leader with an angry voice. How could this guy stay calm and emotionless even after seeing himself, the leader of the Red Bull bandit? Everyone feared him in this village except for a few traveling aura masters. How can this weak and thin looking boy stay void of any fear against him? He doesn't even look to be in his 20s.
Zarek took out a gold coin and said, "I only have this, how can I give you all of it? Let me get a change."
Seeing the gold coin shining in Zarek's hand the Red Bull bandit leader just snatched the gold coin. 1 gold coin was still a big amount in these small and remote villages.
"Ahh that's my weeks of earning. How can I live without any money? At least give me some change." Zarek told some blatant lies.
"Life is more important or money? Be grateful that we are protecting you." Said the leader of the Red Bull bandits and left the scene afterward.
Zarek gave away 1 cold coin as he didn't want to make any ruckus and more importantly if they fought he didn't have the confidence to win easily. After all, Zerik can't fight them while also protecting Zarek. Even though he was sure he would be able to beat them, It would be really hard to fight with multiple opponents. And Zarek wasn't ready to take any risk.
Just after the bandits left the waitress came back and placed the food on the table. Zarek ate the food with delight.
"It's quite delicious." Zarek chowed down the food in hunger.
After finishing the food Zarek paid the bill. The bill actually took Zarek in surprise. Those delicious foods were just 3 silver here?! As Zarek doesn't eat much and ordered only rice and meat. But it was delicious. Even though it can't be comparable to the expensive restaurants and inns in the city it was ordinarily quite delicious which you can eat daily.
Zarek entered his room to rest also to increase Zerik's aura level. The room was quite spacious if you think from the perspective of the villagers. There was a bed, a table, and a window in the room. The room was quiet with not much of a sound. Just as Zarek wanted.
Zarek sat in the lotus position and made his breathing stable to increase his concentration. Also made Zerik do the same. Zarek tried to gather enough willpower to convert them into aura and then make the 3rd thin aura layer around Zerik's body till night. He just took a single break to eat the dinner and only focused on trying to advance in aura level. Finally, late at night, Zarek was able to make Zerik break through to the 3rd layer of aura master. But Zarek felt it was quite easy compared to when he did it himself. He also had an idea why it felt easy. It's mostly because his mental strength and concentration were already high. This is why it felt very easy to make Zerik break through. But his aura level was still stuck on the 5th layer for 2 years. And didn't improve much even though he tried for the whole day only Zerik improved and he was still stuck. But he was still satisfied with Zerik's improvement and layed down on the bed to sleep.
Author's Note: Sorry I wasn't able to upload the last 2 weeks. There was Eid al-Adha and then a lot of my assignments got piled up. So I wasn't able to focus on writing. Sorry yet again.