Rio walked through the gate and reached the warp station situated in Wales City.
The place was bustling with merchants and their guards as winter was approaching so all were busy selling their goods and some others returning home before winter made traveling hard.
Rio walked up to the counter where he needed to register his traveling log so he could use the warp gates on his way back home. He then asked the clerk for a map of Wales City and the surrounding area.
He then started dashing towards the Adventurers' Association branch which was responsible for the Fenir region. The arrays in every big city made warping and flying impossible for security reasons.
Rio needed to submit his attendance for the mission to the nearest branch, from which the original mission was issued. Fenir region was not much prosperous as the Kellar region. It had only two S-class and five A-class adventurers.
After walking for a few minutes he reached in front of the building, the Association branch of the Fenir region.
The desk clerk stared at Rio suspiciously as in the eastern region of the continent not many people wore masks due to the ever-present heat.
Rio placed his ID on the counter and then the Quest Emblem.
The clerk stopped staring at him and asked Rio to enter the office of the Head of the branch.
"Nice to meet you my nam-"
"Nice to meet you too." Rio cut him short.
He shoved the emblem and his ID in front of the man's face and dashed out of the room.
The man was staring at the door blankly. No one ever showed this rudeness to him.
The fact was, Rio couldn't take the heat anymore and was getting annoyed. His magic was not working in the city, or more like he was suppressing his magic. If he was forced to use magic the arrays might break and he was in no mood to lose money.
He half jumped, half ran towards the city gate, and went straight for the Rock Mountain.
After he was away from the array's area of effect, he cooled down the temperature around him with magic and started flying.
He would first go to the village which was around the mountain, where the people first spotted the light. He needed to get first-hand information from the people who spotted the event themselves.
He spotted the village with his enhanced senses, but he was aware that any normal human would have trouble finding it. The village was inside a forest and was mostly covered by trees.
In the eastern regions, the plants got abundant sunlight to grow and would form forests here and there. This was a nice thing for the animals and beasts, and Rio was happy to see so much development in the environment as he moved deeper.
He landed nearly five meters away from the village and started walking. He didn't want to make the people afraid.
Sometimes even the simplest tricks of magic were like a little miracle for many.
He went through the list that Angela had given him to collect the ingredients. He planned to buy most of them and collect those that were too expensive himself.
The sun was still high and it was near 1 pm, Rio was sweating and increased the power of the ice spell by one notch.
On his way he sensed a few children playing near the village, he smiled and asked them to come to him so he could ask them things. Children were the best conversation starters.
Due to him wearing a mask the children feared his appearance and tried to run away.
Rio facepalmed, or more like maskpalmed.
While running away a little girl fell and hurt herself slightly. Rio went near her to see the wound.
"Runn! He will eat you!" A boy among the children shouted.
While looking at Rio the little girl said, "He won't eat me! He..... won't eat me... Right?"
Rio sighed deeply and touched his index finger on the wound the girl got on her leg. The wound slowly started to heal itself, and Rio helped the girl get up.
The girl looked at Rio in admiration, it was as Rio thought, they mostly never saw magic.
"Uncle, are you a forest spirit?" Now that the girl looked at Rio she viewed him to be a fox spirit in human form who healed her.
Kids would mostly be told stories about spirits and gods by their parents as bedtime stories.
Rio smiled at the girl's innocence and said, "I am not a spirit but a human who was blessed by magic." He thought it was best to not burst her bubble.
'A kid's imagination is like a delicate flower, they mostly get destroyed by the harsh reality which is akin to a boulder. If properly nourished then they can achieve more in every aspect.'
"That is what spirits are silly." The little girl giggled at Rio's 'naivety.'
The kids returned near Rio after seeing the girl not being eaten already and he laughing reassured them a bit. But by that time a few of the children already ran to their parents to warn them about Rio's arrival.
The parents, thinking that a beast came and attacked the kids, quickly took their weapons and ran in Rio's direction.
What Rio saw flabbergasted him, people running towards him with weapons and pitchforks.
'And wow, already being treated like a vampire.'
After the parents saw the kids were alright and that it was actually a human they all lost interest except one. The little girl still thought he was some spirit and pulled his dress.
"Spirit Uncle, would you like to go to my home? I will give you some food." The girl said innocently, her parents had taught her that she needed to provide offerings to the forest spirits.
Rio laughed nervously and decided to follow her, it was a start at least.
The girl took Rio by the hand and was leading him towards a house that looked the strongest in its neighborhood. There were few horses tied beside the house and it looked like the home of the village lord.
"Ohh by the way, Spirit Uncle, what is your name?" The girl asked.
"Zephyr. You?"
"Laila." The girl replied.
She took Rio inside the house and looked around the home.
"Grandpa, Mom! We have a guest, and that too a spirit!"
Rio once again maskpalmed and laughed nervously. He didn't know how to explain the situation to the girl's parents.
After some time an old man walked from behind a door and looked at Rio with vigorous eyes.
.
.
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