Chereads / The Copy Warrior / Chapter 36 - Temptation

Chapter 36 - Temptation

Two weeks after leaving Rosecoast, Seth's party had come a long way, leaving Werton Province for the first time since their arrival in Ihaes.

They were currently a week away from the capital of the Vridor Dynasty, having just passed the Hatrose Canal and reached Leowick Gulch.

They were heading south toward Wandering Wood, the forest they would pass just beyond Leowick Gulch, a large cliff in the central part of the dynasty's territory. Once they passed this point, they would reach the road to the capital.

For the moment, they were in the flying boat Seth had built. Atlas and Levi were at its front, commanding the vehicle, while Emery and Dax were side by side, facing Seth.

Seth held a small metal device resembling a bird in one of his hands while the two youths in front of him looked at it curiously.

"Seth, what is that?" Dax asked as he looked at the small metal bird his rival had been working on for the last few minutes.

Since they had passed through Rosecoast, Seth had begun to create all sorts of things and display abilities completely foreign to the natives of the Giant Island.

He didn't even bother to use his abilities to deal with problems for the group sometimes, just giving orders to the four of them to deal with situations for him while he worked on various artifacts.

The group hadn't seen a problem with his behavior, but little by little, they weren't putting up with it anymore and voiced their questions.

Seth explained. "I saw a similar artifact in Rosecoast. It was used to awaken a person from their sleep. It would sing near its owner's bed at a certain time of day." He smiled as he let the metal object float in the air.

"Do you want one of these?" Emery asked, thinking it was a waste of Seth's abilities for him to invest his time in ordinary things.

Seth looked at her and said. "That's what the device that inspired me to build it here could do. But this little metal bird can do more than that. It can force the awakening of someone cursed or even in a coma."

The two of them frowned as they looked closer at this simple-looking item, but its function was extremely valuable.

Seth was a skilled healer. If he said this artifact could do such a thing, it must be true.

"That..." Dax looked at it differently.

With something like this 'alarm clock,' you could wake someone up without the help of a healer!

Emery clenched a fist and asked. "Seth, how is what you're doing different from testing the magical resources of the people on this continent?"

Gulp!

Levi swallowed his saliva when he heard that next to Atlas, imagining it would annoy Seth since Emery was calling their leader a hypocrite.

Seth didn't care what Emery meant and explained. "It's pretty different. That doesn't affect my natural powers at all. I'm just using some of my abilities differently. I can still reach the Spiritual Apogee by developing my knowledge of the technologies that exist on this continent.

I can even make the pills and potions we know without harming myself or going against some of the ancient advice of our tribe's elders.

Knowledge is like a weapon, Emery. It can do a lot of damage, depending on the hands it's in. But a weapon alone is harmless.

If I use a special resource from this world to strengthen myself or heal an injury, I can unknowingly corrupt my essence and move away from the peak. That is something that nothing we've seen can confirm whether it's right or wrong, so I don't want any of us to use strange resources. But knowledge itself won't take us away from our purpose in life. 

However, I don't recommend that you do what I did." He was sincere.

"Because of Elder Glen's power?" Dax asked.

"Hmm, because of the Elder's power, I can easily resist the temptation of the knowledge I've accumulated so far. But there are certain things that, if you knew, you would unconsciously turn away from what we're striving for.

It's very easy to get carried away with the potential of certain ideas," he said calmly. 

"Your words lead me to believe that you agree with some of what Elder Snyder told us that day," Emery expressed. "You seem to have kept things from us that would do us good."

"Maybe not," Seth said, still very confident in his ancestors. "The mere fact of having a weapon doesn't corrupt anyone. But it's very tempting to do certain things when you have so much power in your hands. Without the proper skills to deal with the possibilities of this world, it would be effortless for one of our tribesmen to lose their essence."

Hearing the weight of Seth's words, Atlas asked in a serious tone. "Are you concerned about our companions under the leadership of Elder Snyder?"

"Yes, I am." Seth was sincere. "I fear for their lives, but even more for their souls. Unfortunately, whenever I think of them, I feel they are further away from Spiritual Apogee."

Seth had always been very sensitive about certain things, so even Emery took his words seriously, wondering if the path she thought was right was really so wrong.

'I wonder what the elders were hiding from us. Why did they hate the continent so much that they considered it a wasteland?' She closed her eyes and sighed.

After a moment of silence, Seth stated. "Anyway, I need to make more items like this awakening bird. Only then will I be able to build something that can assess our levels... Then, we'll know better where to look for our enemies and our chances of victory and defeat..."

Just as he was about to add something to his words, Seth closed his mouth when he felt something approaching them quickly.

Levi was the group's tracker, so he sensed it almost simultaneously as Seth.

"A beast and a group of humans are rapidly approaching us," Levi said as he looked to the east, where he could already see a four-legged, yellow-furred creature running toward them at high speed.

Behind this creature were four armed humans, each holding different items as they ran and attacked the approximately 2.5-meter-tall beast.

"Golden Mane Lion," Dax said out loud as he identified the creature.

Everyone in the group had learned to identify beasts and many other things in Ihaes after their time in Rosecoast. So they all noticed the breed of this creature and the symbols on the weapons and armor of the four men hunting this beast.