50 Five Years of War

"Is the story really real?" Damian thought he was chasing a fairy tale that shouldn't be as real as described in words. The reason many knew about the Fountain of Youth was from a simple fairy tale; no one ever returned to tell of their experience in seeking that mythical sacred water.

The world was vast, and tales, just like stories, are written by people who can easily change the actual events to suit their desires, so trusting them would be a serious mistake for anyone venturing into magical and deadly adventures.

"Haha, who really knows what awaits us out there? It's all based only on our thoughts and desires... A friend tried to find that fountain; in the end, I found him agonizing when he was hunting, and the last thing he said to me was that he wasn't worthy." Theo didn't feel upset remembering this; he was glad his friend went doing what he always wanted, and he knew that a man's faith is hard to kill.

Damian had more or less understood the situation here. He stood up after eating and said, "I will take charge of protecting this village during my stay here; I will only kill monsters and demons. If you have any other requests, that doesn't fall under my list of jobs and interests."

"For how long?"

"At least three years..." That was the time needed to increase his strength; at least that's what he had planned. Damian also needed time to process his losses and understand what sacrifice meant.

Moreover, he didn't know how long it would take him to find the Fountain of Youth, but he wouldn't give up so easily on his quest. On the other hand, he also needed to learn a few spells that he hadn't mastered yet so that he could have the chance to create new attacks that would help him kill the Demon King.

He had to be strong, both for those who came for his life and to seek the lives of other demons. The war, after all, hadn't ended yet, even after fighting for so long and killing so many demons.

He didn't know what destiny had prepared for him, but at least he would make every second of his life worthwhile, and those who had given their lives for him would never be disappointed watching him from beyond.

The elder Theo looked at Damian's back and murmured, "Another one embarking on that adventure, eternal life... Ha ha ha, there must be a reason why we're humans and long life is reserved for the elves."

...

"Just a little more..."

Five long years had passed in search; during this time, Damian had been eliminating monsters around the village and ensuring that there were no demons nearby so that the village where he was staying remained peaceful.

But now he was not in the village; he hadn't returned to a place with civilization for years because he had finally found the path to the Fountain of Youth.

In the depths of a forest that many considered magical, Damian was walking with a big smile on his face. Now he was twenty-one years old and in his golden age, where he was both powerful and quite an attractive man.

But if there was something he had been doing non-stop during all these years, it was maintaining his focus on magic. He had learned numerous powerful attack spells and had even further mastered his magical power, which was becoming quite large compared to others.

"In that direction!" Damian looked at a huge tree that could be seen a few kilometers away and hurried towards it.

So many years of searching, learning, and fighting had given him a somewhat passionate character. After all, he never felt fear of death again after becoming quite powerful. There were few things that threatened his life, and he never had the need to hide or beg for something.

"It is said that if you use magic in this place, you will gain a lot of bad luck within the forest, so I suppose I must abide by those rules." Damian looked at some magical mushrooms that were seemingly watching him and thought that those rules for traveling through this magical forest were true.

"This forest has an isolated zone from the outside world, so I suppose that's why these magical creatures can live without being noticed by hunters." When he said this, Damian had disappeared from his position, and with a huge leap, he appeared on a thin layer of magical flowers.

Unlike other trees, Damian could see that this one in particular was thicker, surpassing by far all the largest trees he had ever seen before. Also, the leaves of this tree were all pink, which gave it a great resemblance to the Sakura trees he knew.

"A single lick will give me 10 more years of life... A sip will give me 100 more years of life. And if I drink it all, I will live forever." Whispering this with some happiness, Damian began to climb the tree without using magic.

Now his height was apparently over six feet, his body had been trained in a very tortuous way to improve his stats in close combat, and Damian couldn't find weaknesses even if he didn't have magic.

The situation on the battlefield was too critical, but Damian had focused on eliminating demons near villages and exterminating them completely until reaching their youngest members. Human cities would not fall, at least for now, and this seemed to continue given the great magical barriers that had kept demons at bay all this time.

That's why the war hasn't had a winner yet. Damian, for now, would leave that in the background; what mattered right now was what he had in front of him, and he couldn't deny that he was filled with happiness at finding something he had been searching for a long time.

Taking one last breath, Damian climbed the pink tree completely, and when he looked at what was at the top, he noticed a lake where, in the center, there was a silver cup that released a magical liquid.

"I found it, so this is the Fountain of Youth... The famous hidden treasure of the sacred woman, so if I drink that water waiting in that silver cup, will I get the famous eternal life of that old fairy tale?" Damian put aside his magic staff, touched his chin curiously, and looked very concentrated at that cup.

In his eternal life, Damian had never dreamed of anything like that. What sense does it make for a human to achieve immortality? For someone who comes from a world without magic, the possibility of something like that was reserved for the most impossible dreams to fulfill. But now he was here, in front of a cup that promised to give him immortality if he drank from it.

"Haha, I will be as old as the elves anyway; do I have to face some kind of guardian? Legend says that there is a magical fairy guarding that cup; where is it now?" Damian looked ahead suspiciously, but at the moment he fixed his gaze to his side, he found a girl looking at him with eyes full of curiosity.

Where did this girl come from? He couldn't feel her; she didn't have any trace of magic in her body, which made Damian a little scared, but when he saw that the girl didn't attack him, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't tell me you're also here to drink the water of eternal youth? Hmm, I understand that magic can't be used, so girl, let me tell you that you've cheated, and that will be punished by the trials of this place. Also, why do you seek immortality young? At your age, all I wanted was to reach the moon with my grandfather's wooden stairs; there's no doubt that the kids here have very wild thoughts." Damian didn't want to fight with a girl; that was absurd given her age, so he was about to take out some chocolates along with some gold coins when suddenly he thought of something.

Damian lowered his gaze again. This girl of small appearance had straight, shiny blonde hair that reached above shoulder level. Besides, her golden eyes, along with her white dress, gave her a certain dignity.

"That mana..." Damian muttered as he realized something.