Ryu's Pov
It happened too suddenly even though it didn't hurt much, it was humiliating,
'Why in hell!?' I wonder as I stare directly at the face of this weirdo, who slapped me and was still staring at me with contempt,
What would a grown-up and smart person do?
"Why would you do that!?" he complained, demanding a reply,
"You bastard!!" I replied and slapped him back. It took a minute before we began going at each other, all with slaps and rolling down the floor,
"Why are you both fighting?" Jue asked, confused, and I wanted to shout,
'You brat didn't you see him smack me first!!' we kept exchanging slaps and kicks, literally rolling in-ground and getting dirty. His halo broke too,
"Why would you kill a healthy tree!!!" the guy asked with a shrill voice, and I slapped him as I replied,
"Yes, I should've instead let it kill us and prayed for its healthy life…. is a screw loose in your brain" we kept fighting for five minutes when that guy suddenly bound my feet with roots somehow, most probably using skill and came in front of my face ready to kick it?
'Not so fast….' I felt anger boiling in me and began chanting, Icicles shot, but before I could've completed, he fell face first on the floor, and Jue spoke
"Big brother, don't do that!!!" he turned towards me, and I sighed; he saw through me and knew I was chanting under my breath,
"He started it, Jue," I replied with a snort,
"But big brother, this person seems weak" the guy who was struggling to free himself looked humiliated being called weak by a smaller kid and replied,
"At least I am not the one getting help in one vs one fight," and Jue turned to him with a concerned look as he spoke,
"I am actually helping you" the guy seemed confused, but I stood up and did an Icicle chant towards the dead Trent, showing him exactly what Jue meant, and the guy's face went white as he looked disappointed,
"It is not my fault though… why would you kill him!!"
"We literally have our carriage seconds away from smashing due to it."
"That is no reason for harming nature," he replied, and I realized what kind of person he was in my last life; this kind of person was all over, but I did not think I would meet one in Pefrion,
'He is an extreme environmentalist,' I thought as I remembered the uncountable campaigns back on the earth about saving a tree, but the thing is, Pefrion has no shortage of trees, and no emission of fossil fuels as magic is present when I was wondering, and he added,
"Even though I give it mobility so I can move it in a better place."
"You what!?" I couldn't help but ask reflexively, and he repeated,
"I give him mobility."
"So let me get this straight that tree was a normal tree that you made into Trent?" I asked, shocked, and the guy nodded. I tried activating [Hide & Seek] again to no avail and decided,
'It is best to leave him and be on our way….'
"I am sorry for killing your big tree friend… but it nearly smashed us too, so I guess it is even, hope you luck in your journey" I turned to Jue and spoke,
"Jue, let's go. Rafa big sister is waiting" Jue nodded but looked a bit troubled and confused at my action,
We both bowed once and began to leave, and just as I happily thought that I avoided a troublesome person. I felt my collar pulled from behind,
"You can't get away with a murder by simple apology!?"
"What do you want then!!" I questioned, sensing trouble either way,
"Take me with you to Doran Village!!" he replied, and I began laughing,
"Hahaha…. Just one question, how does taking you there help the dead tree?" his eyes turned into dots as he thought for a while and then slammed his fist on his palm; he replied,
"I will do a funeral there for him."
"Now, now, as if I would believe it," I replied as it was completely made-up bull shit,
"I really have to do the funeral at the village as the murders who ruthlessly killed that young tree you must have the least responsibility of helping out with it" the guy pointed at the tree and asked dramatically to appeal emotionally,
Jue and I exchanged eye contact for a while, and I sighed,
'Just till Village then.'
"Come with us… but remember the carriage is ours. If you do something idiotic, you'll be kicked out no matter if in the middle of the way or nowhere" the guy nodded happily as if the anger just now was all a sham,
"Jue make sure to keep an eye on him," I said to Jue in a faint voice that was only audible to Jue and me, and he nodded. We all walked back through the forest, and I saw that guy using a strange skill making another flower and grass halo in his hands with flowers placing themselves neatly, and I thought,
'This guy would earn a fortune if he worked around Christmas,' I snickered and thought as the carriage came within our site, and Rafa rushed towards us,
"Ryu, who is he?" she pointed at our guest, and the guy moved towards her a bit, and Rafa sniffed the air a bit and spoke,
"You smell like a forest" the guy smiled as he replied,
"I feel the smell of nice trees from you too."
'Is this a tribal flirting technique!?' I thought, tilting my head and explaining what happened to Rafa. Aiena was still sleeping; she must've really been exhausted; we all boarded the carriage. I sat at the side of Aiena and Jue, and the guest shared the other side, and I spoke,
"What is your name? I don't remember you telling us."
"My name is Ardian Drasil. What is your name? Although I am not much interested in a murder's name."
"My name is Ryu," I replied quietly, not wanting any more argument with this obvious crackhead person,
The night after that was quiet as Jue and Ardian both fell asleep, and Rafa spoke,
"He is weak… why he was in the forest?"
Ryu felt confused as not being able to see his status through [Hide and Seek] would mean that the person is not weaker than him normally and replied,
"This lunatic was awakening trees and talking with them" Rafa looked a bit confused, but sensing my confusion too, she didn't ask questions further and kept driving when I shifted my attention to Ardian again and tried focusing with [Hide and seek] again,
(Level- 19
Title- [Contestant]
[Contestant] title is blocking the skill) I felt confused as I saw the familiar title, which I had seen a few times before with an unfamiliar effect,
'This guy is not normal after all' I resolved to part ways as soon as we reached the village and again began channeling my mana in the carriage's glyph,
Focused my attention on the circuits and placements of various lines to specifically control the level of coldness. Even though it was not a masterpiece of glyph like Snow's or an attacking glyph, it sure was something one could get a lesson or two from,
When cultivating in mana, I get lost in the glyph, and it's working. It is the best way for me to focus my ever-diverting attention that ended up going on animes I watched in the past or anything else, so for me, the best method to remain focused on mana channeling is exploring the glyph. A Mage is someone who can increase their mana capacity by using mana through active channeling, which makes their cultivation faster than Magic users and non-mages,
'Mom looked way younger than her age due to the amount of mana,' I thought. In the world of Pefrion, the higher amount of Mana one has, the slower aging becomes, and the person looks younger, although it differs from person to person,
"Ryu, we are freezing!!" I heard Aiena's voice, but I was too busy cultivating. I decided to ignore it, and suddenly I felt my body being picked up from the couch, breaking my mana network. I finally opened my eyes,
"Sorry big brother, it was necessary" Jue looked apologetic, and I looked around to notice that the dew drops on the glass were frozen, and Aiena was shaking from the cold,
"I am sorry!! I got lost in channeling" I bowed right on the spot in front of Aiena, whose cheeks got red due to coldness,
"It is fine, Ryu…. Achooo… but please make a heat glyph too, or we will end up freezing," and Jue nodded with her. Meanwhile, Ardian was still sleeping cozy, and now I felt cold too, and drew a simple heating glyph in the middle of the carriage floor temporarily with chalk we bought back at the town,
"Ryu, I can see Village," Rafa's voice came into my ears, and when we looked out of the windows, we all were shocked as our expectations were betrayed. The village looked far from what could be called a normal village, and I couldn't help but think,
'It is a barbarian camp!?'
-To be continued