Moments after the earthquake stopped, Martin charged at priestess Lucie who was still on the ground watching in disbelief, pinning her down on the ground with his left hand and choking her.
Martin raised his right fist, which loomed above her, all of a sudden, black threads started releasing from it, which in the next moment got shot downwards, turning into a sword that pierced the ground just beside priestess Lucie's face, leaving a small cut on the side of her left cheek.
Looking straight at her with the purple mark still in his eyes, he growled saying, "leave this place at once, go back to that goddess of yours, and tell her that I don't need anyone's protection."
Letting go of her throat priestess Lucie raced to get back her breath, looking up at Martin in fright.
Standing up, the Hadrious sword in Martin's hand turned back into black threads and got sucked back into the ring.
He picked up his black steel sword, sheathing it, then took one last glance at priestess Lucie, then said, "you better not follow me", turning his back to her, and walking into the forest until his figure disappeared out of sight.
Back in heaven:
The goddess of justice, as well as a few other gods, felt their bodies burning. These gods bared the same mark as the one in Martin's eyes, carved onto a different part of their bodies, for example, the goddess of justice had this mark on her forearm, while other goddesses had it on her shoulder, each of these gods had it on a different part of their body.
Feeling a burning pain from this mark, the goddess of justice knew that something must have happened with its original wielder, as for other gods they started getting the suspicion that its true wielder was still alive.
After Martin left and was making his way back home, priestess Lucie got off the ground. Collecting herself she made her way back to the city, heading straight to the church. Reaching the church with heavy breaths, it was clear that she didn't take any time to rest on her way back.
Reaching the goddess of Justice statue, priestess Lucie kneeled in front of it, but before attempting to say her prayers a chilly voice sounded throughout the hall, it was none other than the goddess of justice speaking to her believer, "what happened?", the entire hall was freezing, which is completely different from the last time, when priestess Lucie was here, were the hall was had a warm and welcoming feeling. Clearly, the goddess was in a bad mood.
Looking at the ground, not daring to lift her head, Priestess Lucie replied, "My goddess please forgive me, I was following him just as you asked me to, but when I was pursuing him, he ambushed me catching me off guard, I barely was able to keep my life".
At this point, priestess Lucie felt the air surrounding her get even colder, noticing this change she hurriedly continued, "he then questioned my actions, and I had to tell him about your favor."
"What did he say?"
Hearing those words, and remembering what happened priestess Lucie's face turned pale, saying, " when I mentioned your favor he started screaming in pain, a purple mark appeared in his eyes, and the ground started trembling with his screams. I tried to calm him down, but it got worse. On my way back I tried to draw the mark, that was in his eyes, so I don't forget it, but whenever I try to do so, the mark ignites in fire, burning up."
"I see, so it was really him, we better give him some space for now, you did well, don't let this let you down I knew that he would catch us sooner or later, you can go back to your normal life."
The overworld:
After a day of walking, Martin finally arrived at the edge of the Lost Forest, which surrounded his house, he made his way through it reaching a wooden house by the riverside. Entering the house, Martin dropped on the bed and fell asleep.
For the next two months, all Martin did was strengthen his magic, hunt, and sharpen his mastery over the sword and other weapons. Trying different tactics and getting accustomed to building traps.
He also found out that the seal got weaker, back when the spell drawbacks first appeared, there were 9 chains wrapped around his magic core, and now there were seven.
The Lost Forest:
The Lost Forest was a home for many animals of different species, one of those animals is the three-horned boar, this boar was three meters tall, and it had three horns, one at each side of its head and one at the middle of it, getting slammed by this beast was the same as getting hit by a ballista.
This species of boar doesn't only live in the Lost Forest, but it's also scattered in different forests around the world, and this creature is a nightmare for adventurers, adventurers rarely try to hunt or get quests related to this boar.
Even though it has tasty and luxurious meat, and its hide is firm and flexible, it is used for making clothes and leather armor. But hunting it is a different story, the person who is hunting it, can't predict its movement, as it attacks randomly at a threat, with its tough skin that only can be pierced with either enhanced weapons or pure strength.
Sitting atop a tree, Martin was waiting patiently for his prey, where he left a small bait that consists of various berries and fruits, which are the three-horned boar's favorite food.
After a bit of a wait, the bushes started moving, which attracted Martin's eye, looking at the source of this noise, a huge boar with three horns on top of his head that was clearly over 3 meters tall.
It was an adult, where adults, especially male ones, can reach 4 meters. This boar was cautiously getting closer and closer to the pile of food, when it reached the bait, it stood beside the food, but it didn't directly go for the meal, the boar just kept looking around keeping an eye out for any competitors are predators.
Standing above one of the trees, Martin was out of the boar's view, closing his eyes and concentrating, Martin gestured with his hands as if he was holding an invisible bow in his hands.
In the next moment, black strings came out of the Hadrious ring, these strings started forming a bow along with an arrow. Aiming for the boar's neck, where its head is way too tough for the arrow to pierce through, Martin released the black arrow straight at the boar's neck, but its skin was too tough for the arrow to make it through, as well as the lack of his god's might which was a power only acquired by the gods, where the Hadrious ring uses it to achieve its true power. The boar jumped out of its place and started running for its life.
Martin chased after it, until it reached a line of trees, with one gap in between them. The boar charged at the empty gap, but when it set its foot behind the trees the ground collapsed under it, and it fell into a hole full of spikes, this was one of Martin's doings.
It was a trap he made, using earth magic to dig a hole, and form spikes at the bottom of it, then covering it up with a thin layer of soil, just enough to collapse under the three-horned boar's weight.
Jumping off the tree, Martin stood beside the hole looking at the boar's corpse with a grin on his face, he said astatically, " it worked, this idea worked, this opened doors to more traps", resting his chin over his hand, Martin got lost in thought, as now he had way more ideas for traps, and maybe some of them can keep his pray alive, after all, some animals sell better alive, especially ones that can be used as mounts.
Martin kneeled on one foot, and then placed his hand on the ground, in the second moment a green magic array appeared beneath his hand, the ground trembled slightly, as the spikes started to sink inside the ground, and the ground itself started rising until it reached Martin's level. Extending his hand in the air, a black portal appeared, which was Martin's storage space, he then started pumping magic into it, and slowly but surely the portal started widening up until it was just enough for the boar, after that, Martin started pushing with all his might until he was able to put the boar inside.
Getting back home, Martin got the boar out of his storage space, placed a couple of branches and sticks in a pile, and lit them up using magic.
He started butchering the boar, without wasting anything, he also started cooking and smoking a huge part of the boar's meat, storing it in his storage space, since time doesn't flow inside, so as long as the food is inside, it will stay fresh.
After finishing with the boar and cleaning its hide, Martin set it aside intending to sell it.
The night soon came, and Martin was sitting outside beside the fire, looking at the clear sky that was filled with stars, he thought to himself, "now I'm set for the trip and I'll still have plenty to spare, tomorrow I'll make my way back to the city, and try my luck with the Imperial Magic Academy's entrance exam, let's see if the chairwoman will keep her end of the deal.