The adventurer was intrigued by this creature that was on the run from so many beasts, so muchh so, that he went out of his way to slay all the beasts in his way just to get to it. Of course, he didn't let the Mana cores they would drop go to waste as he quickly blazed through the burning forest. He was now closer to the other end, when he could finally see the teenager trying to run away.
Thanks to his speed, he was able to easily catch up with the teenager. Looking back, Kayden could see the strange man who had helped him getting closer to him. He knew that he wasn't fast enough to outrun the man in the first place, and it wasn't long until he eventually grabbed a hold of the teenager.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing out here on your own? Don't you know that this place is dangerous? There were numerous beasts in the area, and the forest is on fire! You could've gotten seriously hurt if you weren't carful!" the man lectured the teenager, before dragging him away from the burning forest.
Kayden had little to no energy to resist. Plus, this man seemed to have a lot more strength than he had expected. He was barely able to free his hand from the latter's grip. It seemed like the man was adamant on taking him away. Opening his mouth, he wanted to say something, but a beast had suddenly swooped down from above, barring its talons, ready to snatch away the two people below.
With his free hand, the man created a lightning attack and shot it out at the creature above, electrifying its whole body before it exploded in flames. Seeing this, Kayden was awestruck, and the man quickly placed him on his back before sprinting away through a wide stretch of grassland.
"Hey! I know you're concerned for my safety, but I knew what I was doing back there! I could've easily saved my self!" Kayden shouted, not wanted to be treated like a child in the current situation. In the first place, he was still technically as child, but after everything he had gone through both outside and inside the academy, he stopped feeling like a child a long time ago.
"What could you have done by yourself if that Dark Wing had attacked you and you were alone? Seeing your current state, it's quite obvious that you had been attacked before. You could barely stand properly on your own. That beast could've easily killed you before you knew that you were even being attacked!" the man shouted back in anger.
After running for a while, the two eventually made it to what looked like a cave beside a mountain area. Walking inside, the man then placed Kayden to lie on one side of the room, while he went on to do something else while saying a few things to him.
"Here, take this," he said, handing over a glass vile containing a glowing liquid inside. Seeing this, Kayden knew quickly that it was Mana potion. He looked up at the man with a questioning look in his eyes.
"Why are you even helping me? You don't even know me, yet you risked your own life just to ensure that I was safe," Kayden asked, shaking his head. He was glad that he was alright. But, he was still wondering why this man had decided to save him in the first place. Looking at his choice of clothing and the fact that he hunted beasts, he knew that this man was an adventurer, otherwise known as a beast hunter by certain people.
He thought that the ma wouldn't feel the need to risk his own life to save him. But now, seeing as he had done just that, he was wondering why was the reason behind it. Kayden was no fool, at his age, he knew that nothing ever came for free in this world. There was no such thing as a free lunch.
Back at the town, Dan and Marcus were walking around, feeling bored after spending a while at the Guild. Everyone there was way older than them to begin with. They felt uncomfortable talking to people who were old enough to be their parents whom they didn't even know in the first place. At this point, they were just killing time, hoping that Kayden would come back soon enough.
"Is he even going to come back?" Marcus asked, with a nervous look on his face. He was also getting tired of just walking around, seeing a bunch of people who weren't real and whom he had no connections with. He was more than eager to see a familiar face for a change.
"I don't know. He seemed so adamant on leaving the moment we got back here. Although I don't like how reckless he was being, I still hoped that he doesn't get himself killed out there," Dan said, taking a seat on a chair placed outside a small shop.
"Do you think we should head out and search for him?" Marcus asked, seating next to him. Dan, hearing this, gave the former a side eye, before chuckling to himself. It was far too early for anymore of them to be scared to death so soon.
"If you want to head out on your own, then be my guest, but me, I'm staying here," Dan stated, leaning back against the building behind them while closing his eyes. "If that idiot can't be patient, then he might as well die out there. Besides, it's not like he's actually going to die, this is all just a highly advanced simulation in the first place. And the instructor is watching everything we do."
It was then that a realization had hit him. The instructor was, in fact, seeing everything that they were doing. What would she think once the simulation was over about Dan himself. She may scold, or even severely punish him for being so nonchalant about the well-being of his classmate. He couldn't even bring himself to imagine the potential horror that awaited just beyond this vast illusion, causing him to jump back up to his feet instantly.
"C'mon, Marcus! We need to go make sure that Kayden's alright out there!" Dan yelled, quickly heading back into the Adventurer's Guild to receive another map from the Guild Master on the location where Kayden was heading to. Seeing as how Dan was suddenly interested in Kayden's safety, Marcus looked glad about it, following closely behind him as the two then made it out of the town and into the desert in search of their classmate.
Kayden looked hesitant on drinking the potion. What if he was poison. It might even kill him before he has a chance to react on time. This man before him may have just been sent to kill him for one reason or the other. And to top it all off, why was a single adventurer out in the open like that. Although it wasn't uncommon for them to travel solo, Kayden was wondering why such a strong adventurer would just decide to help out a weakling like him.
"If you don't want to drink it, then I'll just have it for myself. Besides, I'm sure your Mana will regenerate back with time. Until then, stay put! I'm heading outside to continue hunting more beasts," the man said, before walking out of the cave, leaving Kayden alone with his thoughts.
'Let me try total concentration breathing,' he thought to himself, as he tried to calm his mind while watching his breathing. Using this technique, he could regain his Mana twice as fast as he usually would as stated by the system. This meant that his Mana would ride by fifty after every minute that passed by.
This may not have been much, it was still something as Kayden had no idea when or who he way have to fight soon enough. He had no idea what were the intentions of the adventurer in the first place.
His gaze then fell on the glass vile on the ground. The adventurer had left the potion with him, thinking that the teenager would gulp it down the moment he was alone. Although he was still skeptical about it, he slowly walked towards the vile, before picking it up and even using his Inspect skill on it to check out its effects.
[Medium Grade Mana Potion]
[It will increase your Mana by 500 after consuming it]
Seeing as nothing was stated about the substance being harmful, he then proceeded to uncork the top and sniffing the substance. Then he raised the vile up before drinking its contents. Not long after, and he had finished consuming the potion. He could feel his body getting better already as the Mana now in his body was being used to further heal his injuries.
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