1 The Solitary Mage (1)

Within the Great Forest of Althea, loud explosions could be heard. The screeching noise of different beasts echoed throughout the surroundings.

It was a battle.

A battle between beasts and a young man.

"My flames of fury shall turn my enemies to ashes, [Fire Storm]!"

Boom!

A ringing explosion resounded. On the ground were burned bodies of magical beasts that were now almost impossible to identify.

Originally, these magical beasts were the fierce Rank 1 Land Boars that were a nightmare for most adventurers, but now, they were nothing but cooked meat that didn't really taste good.

If anyone were to see this scene, especially those adventurers who had just started their careers, it wouldn't be an exaggeration if their jaws drop to the floor.

Beside the corpses of the Land Boars, a man dressed in black clothes from head to toe was standing. That man even had a black mask covering the lower half of his face, and contrary to the fact that he had just cast a powerful spell, signifying that he was a mage, he looked more like an assassin.

At the moment, he was looking at the corpses below him. He sighed and muttered to himself, "Weak, my magic is still weak. I've been training so hard, but..."

In his mind, he was cursing himself. He had been practicing so hard for years, but he still wasn't satisfied with the strength of his magic.

He still hasn't reached the threshold he wished to achieve. Four years of hard work, yet he had only advanced his level once.

And… to reach that level, to achieve the same level as that person, he was still too far.

The man leaped towards a nearby tree. He sat on one of the stronger branches, then closed his eyes. He had consumed most of his mental force when he cast the spell, [Fire Storm], so he needed to rest, lest he was attacked by other magical beasts or thieves.

As he drifted to sleep, he remembered that in a month, his fifteenth birthday would arrive. Perhaps for other people, it was something to be excited about, but for him, it was something that continued to torment his lonely heart.

His fifteenth birthday would actually signify the fifth year since his solitary life began. It would be the fifth year since the father that took care of him vanished without a trace.

"Father, where are you now?"

As this question left his mouth, he had recalled memories of his distant past.

When he was born, he neither had parents nor relatives. He was raised by priests in a shelter with other homeless children.

Everything was satisfying, everything seemed fine, however, fate was sometimes cruel.

When he reached the age of 5, he was forced to leave the shelter. At that time, the people who once showered him with love and friendship… suddenly despised him. They loathed him—they looked at him with eyes filled with disdain, as if he was an evil creature that should just go on and die.

At that time, he was but a child, so he never understood it. The people who once shared laughter with him, who played and ate with him... suddenly had a change of heart.

They called him a demon, a monster, an object of disgust and anger... He was hated and isolated.

For days, he cried and cried. He neither had friends nor anyone to take care of him. He loitered around the outskirts of Althea, seeking food from people that he met. But all of it was fruitless; it was as if his existence was something that everyone in the city of Althea condemned.

For a whole month, he had lived with no one to take care of him. A five-year-old child roaming by himself without a food or drink, not even a single change of clothes, not even a single copper… Of course, still being alive at this point was nothing short of a miracle. But when he felt the light in his eyes were about to disappear, suddenly, someone who had turned around his life appeared.

Although his memories of that time were now hazy, he would never forget that gentle breeze of wind, which calmed him down and enabled him to feel that he was no longer alone.

"Father…" he muttered as he clenched his fist. At the moment, it was already a few hours since he had closed his eyes and reminisced about the past.

Although he had not completely recovered the mental force he had consumed when he cast [Fire Storm] a while ago, his condition had already stabilized.

He stood up, surveyed his surroundings, and quickly jumped down. He faced the north and began to run.

After an hour of running, he had arrived at a rather desolate part of the forest that was both dark and eerie. Overgrown plants had covered the surrounding area, and there were enormous trees that were packed together, completely blocking off the sunlight.

Arriving here, he suddenly stopped on his tracks, made some strange hand gestures, and spoke, "A treasured child, a treasured life, oh where might I find you?"

As he spoke these words, the countless plants covering the area suddenly moved, and after a few moments, a small yet clear path appeared directly in front of him.

Entering the path, the rays of the sun suddenly entered his eyes, as though he had entered another dimension.

Contrary to the scene before he entered this path, he was now in a small clearing that could only be described as tranquil and beautiful.

Just in front of him, two gardens of flowers and different kinds of plants were blooming, and between these two gardens, a path made of marble led to a house on top of a hill. The chirping of birds resounded in his ears as his eyes caught a few butterflies and bees here and there.

As he glanced around, a sigh escaped from his lips, and a bitter smile followed suit. He walked toward the house, and as soon as he arrived, he spoke softly, "I'm home."

...