The village was as quiet as ever but the same couldn't be said about the state of mind of the people living there. Not too long ago two foreigners died in their mountain, and now a third came in their mountain too.
Before now there had never been much death in these parts, and the only known cases were for being careless in the mountains.
They couldn't even reach the top, some claiming this to be the work of ghosts, leading to panic among the villagers.
The village chief had a frown on his face, as he was concerned about something entirely different.
"Grandpa, why do you have such a funny face right now ?" Laila asked while looking up at her grandpa.
"Nothing my sweetheart, just your grandpa is concerned about mister Spirit." The old man said, picking her up on his lap.
It had been a few hours after Rio visited them and asked them the questions he needed to ask. Laila had been referring to Rio as the Spirit from the start but thinking about Rio sent shivers down the old man's spine.
The young man, who called himself Zephyr, had a huge presence among the rest of them. Even if he could not say for sure, he could feel an overwhelming power coming from the young man as if something was sealed inside him and was barely holding it in place.
"I wouldn't be worried if I were you. He is the Spirit! The one we all worship. Of course, he would be strong." Laila said to her grandpa showing him a drawing that she drew of Rio using black paint and some blue.
Patting his granddaughter's head he praised her for the drawing. The more he was thinking back at the conversation with Zephyr, the more he was thinking maybe his granddaughter was right about the spirit part.
"Try giving them the best opportunities you can." Rio had said patting Laila and giving her a set of crayons and paper, after noticing her drawings on mud slates spread across the room.
"They have the highest potential to grow so don't limit their choices. It is not the strongest who survives, but the one who adapts the best." He said handing the chief a bag of gold coins and a beginner magic book.
Thinking about it now, the previous sense of danger had vanished and he had only one thought, 'A good person.'
.....
Rio used a small flight spell to break his fall and soon afterward he was falling slowly towards the bottom.
That was until the dimensional door was open, the moment it closed his flight spell got canceled as the magic got sealed and he fell as if there was no resistance from his spell.
He wasted no time and got ready for impact, but suddenly he fell on a pile of cushions.
".... I guess the owner would not want to break bones, but why pillows and not some trampoline or..... Ugh! Never mind, I should go on my way." He said as he stood up.
He took out the card-like thing that Angela gave him and hovered it in front of him to see if anything happened. Then suddenly lights started glowing around the card and it started to break into small pieces and fall on the ground.
These small pieces then again assembled themselves to form what looked like a butterfly.
"It looks beautiful." Just when Rio said it and was about to touch it, the glowing butterfly left the ground and started moving around the room as if to check every corner of it.
Just when he thought the place was dark, the lights around the room started glowing and he could find himself in a big room with no windows or such, only a few ventilation at the top and lights.
The whole room was made of silvery metal. The first thing one would notice was the corridor which seemed to lead somewhere far, far enough that one couldn't see the end even if the path was well lit.
He looked at where the butterfly was and saw it still moving around the room.
"Oh well... Seems I might just stumble upon some research stuff." He said to himself and started running towards the corridor.
...
Kal had a worried look on his face after reading the letter handed to him. He looked at the man who had brought it to him once more.
The man was sitting on the sofa opposite Kal, with one leg above the other. He was wearing a hood to cover his face and wearing a black cape. He was nearly 1.78 (5'10") meters tall.
This person's aura was giving the same pressure as Kal himself if not more. The very reason Kal was kind of worried about the situation. How many people were there, equal in strength of an Archlord?
"So you want to say if I agree to these terms then he would get every material he needs?" Kal said after taking a look at the letter once again.
This man in a black outfit had handed him a letter stating they wanted to recruit Zephyr on their guild, in return he would get all the materials he needed for his studies and magic research.
"Exactly, our young master has taken a fancy to him, as he is one of the rarest types of mages in history. Multi-Casting is a strange phenomenon after all, and I would also like him to teach its secrets if he agrees." The man replied with a bit of enthusiasm, which didn't go well with his mysterious looks.
Kal kept the letter at the table and looked at the man.
"First of all, the individual in question himself is not present, I won't dare make any promises on his behalf, once he returns from the mission you can personally discuss it with him. Good day." Kal said as he stood from his seat and motioned for his guards to escort the guest out of the castle.
The mysterious man didn't miss the choice of words used by Kal. The Association mentioned that Zephyr was not much old as he was registered under Kal's name. So Kal was supposed to act as his guardian.
After reaching his mansion the man entered his room and pulled his hood down.
"It seems I need your help in finding about someone." The man said as his cloak fell on the floor.
A black-dressed person came from the shadows and bowed to the man.
"Your wish is my command, young master."
The young master looked out of the window, towards the castle and smiled.
"I will get you, Zephyr Multicaster."
.
.
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