"I can't get close to people now, What good did I bring to people by staying close to them? just getting them killed even more I end up being the one doing so.." After another sparring session with Hamira, he was still in his thoughts sitting in the cave legs crossed.
After acquiring someone's skills, he instinctively knew how to use them, but that alone wasn't enough. For example, while Eldren's wind magic had granted him the ability to fly, his body had never experienced flight before. He still needed to adapt and practice maintaining balance in mid-air to truly master it.
Moreover, combining two skills like sword mastery, and air magic was not something he had gained on a whim. It was something he needed to work for to get better at.
After interrogating Hamira, he realized that some sort of spell prevented her from sharing anything useful, even if she wanted to. The fragments of information he managed to extract were far from helpful in tracking down Lisanna.
Now, his only desire was to kill people like Lisanna—those who thrived on deception, manipulating individuals and entire cities. What happened at Willowfield was a tragedy no one deserved. He was determined to prevent such atrocities from happening anywhere ever again.
Reibar still woke up in the middle of the night having nightmares of innocent children screaming and getting smashed by ogres.
What did he do then? Just wake up Hamira and let her go through agony again...
She had become quite obedient by now, even proving herself as someone he could consider keeping by his side. Of course, he didn't particularly care whether she stayed alive or not, but having someone nearby was preferable to enduring complete isolation.
A week had gone by, marked by a steady routine: sparring during the day to refine techniques and skills, and hunting in the evenings. By now, he had even managed to master proper flight. While air magic wasn't particularly offensive, its utility made it an invaluable tool.
Deep down, he knew there was another reason behind his relentless sparring sessions. He had made Hamira his benchmark—if he were to face a demon in the future, it would likely be as strong as her, if not stronger. Moreover, there was always the unsettling possibility that the Demon King, whom she couldn't even mention even despite of headmaster's spell, might find a way to undo her slave seal.
While Reibar doubted this scenario, believing his father's seal was nearly unbreakable, the thought lingered. What if it did happen? In that case, he needed to be strong enough to eliminate her instantly, even if she resorted to underhanded tactics or betrayal.
"Next time I face a demon like Hamira, I can't afford to be weak enough to get pinned against a wall, helpless," he thought grimly. "Father will kill me himself if I keep relying on him without showing any growth." His fear of the headmaster remained firmly intact.
Of course, the headmaster had been in an unusually good mood the last time they crossed paths, likely because Reibar had demonstrated progress by acquiring a few new skills. Even back at the orphanage, the headmaster had always appreciated and rewarded breakthroughs in growth among the children. It was one of the few moments when his harsh demeanour softened, and Reibar knew he needed to continue proving himself to avoid losing that rare approval.
"First things first, I need to get her out of those clothes," he thought, eyeing the shiny silver armour. "She'll stand out way too much if we roam around with her dressed like that. Besides, selling it could fetch some decent money."
His resolve to NOT kill any human was even more strong now after these past incidents but it was not like he was gaining any ability from any kind of animal or beast he killed in the forest for food. That was a shame...The only thing that comes to his mind is, was to evolve his already obtained skills.
"Man this had my brain all worked up, staying in the cave won't bring anything good to me now"
Reibar stood up, his voice as cold and unyielding as ever. "Let's go. We need to head to a town."
Hamira nodded silently, not daring to speak.
He had made up his mind. Staying in the cave and scrounging through the woods had proven utterly fruitless. Moving to a town was the only logical option now—if only to sell her armour and enjoy a long-overdue hot bath.
The past week in the cave had pushed him to his limits. If there had been decent food or a proper bathroom, maybe he could've handled it. But now? No way. He wasn't about to turn into some wild cave-dweller. He'd had enough of the smell of damp rock and the occasional rat for company. If he had to endure another day of this, he'd probably start talking to the moss.
The plan was straightforward: get to Marrowfield, the closest town to Willowfield, buy horses, sell the armor, and head to the Capital. Simple, right? But little did he know, the journey was far from being that easy.
They began their journey to Marrowfield on foot, taking two days to reach their destination. Nothing noteworthy happened during the trek, but as they moved farther from Hamira's cave, signs of beasts and wildlife began to appear. Reibar found it rather cheerful.
In fact, he even managed to catch a deer for dinner—well, it'd be more accurate to say he made Hamira catch the deer. Having a companion who obeyed every command sure made life a lot easier and lazy.
Upon arriving at Marrowfield, Reibar was greeted with something far more unusual than he had anticipated. What should've been a quiet, simple town greeted them with an air of strange tension—something was definitely off.