A few moments later, after Nate finished his story, Kaiju reflected.
"I see… It seems he didn't appreciate me taking his toy and wants it back."
Then, continuing his thoughts.
"(Even for an Elementalist, it's impossible to survive what he went through, especially at the boy's level… It's clear there's something special about him.)"
Nate interrupted his thoughts, saying:
"But there's another problem."
"What do you mean?"
"He's not alone. When he held me captive, he mentioned a count who seemed to be his superior. So if they come after me with their whole crew, I won't be able to keep up. I need allies too…"
After hearing this reasoning, Kaiju simply smiled at Nate, who continued:
"And to do that, I must find the other Elementalists!!!"
Kaiju burst out laughing, pleased with the boy's logic. Then he said:
"Excellent reasoning, kid. I like your plan… Things are about to get very interesting, and I'll help you!!!"
Hearing this, Nate's face lit up. He wouldn't have to part ways with his instructor, who still had much to teach him. Overflowing with gratitude, he exclaimed:
"Thank you so much, Kaiju sensei!!!"
Still smiling, Kaiju responded:
"Hmmmm… Pack your things, we're leaving today!"
"YES!!! Kaiju sensei!"
With that, Nate and Kaiju both went off to prepare. A few hours later, Nate had finished and went to pay his respects at Zada's grave, which was just behind the cabin.
"Sorry, Zad, but I can't stay any longer; I have to go. I promise I'll take my training seriously and become strong enough to make those bastards pay for what they did to you."
As he finished bidding farewell to his mentor, Kaiju called out.
"Are you done?"
"Yes, Kaiju sensei."
"Good, in that case, let's get moving. We have a long road ahead."
Nate nodded in agreement and began following Kaiju, who had already set off. In no time, they covered a distance of several kilometers. Though trailing slightly behind, Nate couldn't help but be amazed at the speed his master moved with. But he didn't dwell on it for long, focusing instead on their journey, leaping acrobatically over the obstacles that stood in their way. This went on for a while until Nate began to notice the landscape changing from the lush green area they had been in to a barren, scarred land, under a sky shrouded in dark clouds.
Seeing Nate's reaction, Kaiju remarked:
"You seem a little disoriented, kid."
"No, I'm fine. It's just that the landscape surprised me a bit."
"I see… Tell me, aren't you surprised that we didn't take the boat?"
"Actually, yes, but I figured it was also to train my endurance at the same time."
"Good guess, but that's not the main reason. Let me explain…"
"…"
"As you probably know, the country we're in, the Kingdom of Orion, is like an island surrounded by the sea and connected to the mainland by a mountain range. Normally, for traveling, you'd have to take a boat. But damn, that takes so much time! And honestly, I don't have time to waste. So, we're going to take a secret passage I built to reach a country on the mainland where we can find information on the other Elementalists. But…"
"But… what?"
Kaiju sighed before continuing.
"This place is about as close to hell on Earth as it gets."
"It's that bad?"
"Even if I explained, you couldn't imagine it. Just know that this land is lawless, where all kinds of atrocities occur that you can't even picture."
Hearing that, Nate swallowed the dry lump in his throat. Kaiju continued his thoughts.
"(The other reason we're taking this route is that he needs to toughen up more. He has to see the ugliness and cruelty of this world with his own eyes and understand just how ruthless it is toward the weak.)"
After finishing his reflection, Kaiju told his protégé.
"We're stopping here."
"What? Are we there?"
"No, but we're almost there."
"Then why are we stopping, sensei?"
"Because I want to try something. Do you remember what I told you about the 'inner source'?"
"Yes, I remember."
"Good. The training I've had you do so far was primarily to sharpen your senses and strengthen that weak body of yours, so you could access this 'inner source.' After all these weeks of hard work, I believe you're ready. So now, I'm going to teach you how to access it."
"WOW!!! That's amazing, Kaiju sensei. Does that mean I'll be able to breathe fire like dragons in fantasy stories or literally blow flames?"
"Don't even think about doing something that disgusting in front of me, or I'll shove a plug up your ass!"
"Ahahahahaha… I was just joking, come on…"
"It better have been for your sake!!!"
Nate thought to himself.
"(Wait, was he actually serious???...)"