Khadar.
Richard lazily dragged a long wooden axe across the sand as he sauntered to the back of the house.
He grumbled internally as his sleeveless leather vest kept poking at his skin. The leather within was very rough, scratching at his body with every step he took.
He would have gone topless, but he had to hide the bruises and injuries he got from fighting Lucas earlier today. The pain and bleeding might have stopped, but the temporary scars still lingered.
The temperature was also abnormal. The wind was cold.
He pulled the axe a few metres more, away from the house and sighted a big wooden stump. Next to the stump was a man with rough black hair and brown irises. Standing at a towering height of six feet and ten inches, his broad, bare chest, gleamed under the setting suns.
'Damn...' Richard muttered inwardly, setting the axe beside the stump and taking a step back. Raising his head a bit to look at the man's face, he continued internally, 'So this is my dad, Hunter Greylock. Is he a Berserker or what?' He couldn't help but ask, stunned by the man's physique. And, from what he could remember, Hunter was in his late fifties.
'Or maybe those in Ostaria have a higher life span than those on earth,' he surmised as Hunter gestured for him to go carry some wood.
He carried a few logs and sauntered back to the stump.
"Hmm..." Hunter's eyes followed Richard as he dropped one of the logs vertically on the stump. Grabbing the axe by the handle, he said, "Did something happen at the Academy today?"
Richard felt tense for a little moment there. He looked at his father with a raised brow, asking himself inwardly, 'He couldn't have known about me and Lucas, right? Or did he find out about what happened with Elora in the woods?'
'Nah, I'm only overthinking things again,' he heaved a subtle sigh.
He composed himself and raised his shoulders, "Nothing much. Only the usual revisions and all."
"I see..." Hunter nodded, lifting the axe with one arm and swinging it down in quick succession. It easily sliced the log of wood in half.
He continued splitting the logs, while Richard arranged the pieces before bringing new ones. Richard had asked to help with the cutting, but Hunter said he needed the warm up.
"Why?" Richard blurted before realising he had spoken.
Splitting the last log in half, Hunter stuck the axe's head in the stump and exhaled softly. Then he raised his right arm and pointed north, "You can see that, right?"
Richard turned and squinted his eyes as he gazed forward intently. He could see stormy rain clouds brewing many kilometres away.
Roughly calculating the distance from Chad's memories, he surmised, "Is that... The Elven District?"
"The Blood Forest to be precise," Hunter answered with a more serious tone. Everything about those clouds spelt nothing but disaster.
"Oh..." Richard muttered as he remembered his last conversation with James earlier. His friend had told him about the Blood Forest raid, to neutralise a Black Meelo.
Richard found the storm clouds odd. He felt that the Black Meelo wasn't powerful enough to control the weather.
"James said he and the elves would be hunting for a Black Meelo today. It was supposed to be this evening, but that storm cloud..." he paused, thinking briefly. "It's probably Hazel's mother. I heard witches have a liking with the weather and nature."
Hunter looked at his naive son and smiled tersely, "Good deduction, but that isn't the work of Achlys. It isn't just some storm cloud. The Black Meelo has probably evolved into a higher state."
"Huh?" Richard creased his brows, his father's words unclear.
Hunter patted his shoulder as he walked past him, "Take the woods inside. I have to go there and see what's happening--"
Little had he said that, when a loud, distant boom, filled their ears. By the time they took another glance at the storm cloud, it was gone, as though it was never there in the first place.
What had taken its place was a bright bubbling explosion, that soon died down.
"The hell...?" Richard was stunned.
Hunter gritted his teeth and rushed into the house.
Watching his father vanish into the bungalow, Richard was torn on what to do. Was he to just stay at home and continue packing wood, or should he follow his father to the source of the explosion? He was greatly worried for James and Hazel.
But he soon came in terms with the reality of things. He was a Mage that couldn't cast more than two to three spells a day. And even if he had a decent Mana Reserve, his Mana sub Path was mostly used as support. And lastly, he was still a Spellscaster.
He would only get in the way, or get himself killed if he went to the Blood Forest.
With his head raised and his eyes fixed on the drifting smoke far away, the young lad balled his hand and made a star sign on his chest, "Mother Ahraha, please keep watch over them."