Chapter 102: A New Beginning

The rain from last night had stopped. The sky was clear, with no wind or clouds—an excellent weather that's often depicted in legendary stories but rarely seen in real life.

However, the road leading away from Shadowcrest Ridge was still muddy and slippery, much like Rayan's current mood.

Step in, sink, pull out, covered in mud. His heavy steps felt as if he was carrying the weight of the entire world on his shoulders.

The road to Stonerock Kingdom was no longer unfamiliar to him. He had dreamed countless times of walking out of Shadowcrest Ridge, going to Stonerock City, killing Duncan, and retrieving the Twilight Blade, and he had awoken from such perfect dreams countless times.

Each awakening from a beautiful dream spurred him to train harder, striving to turn his beautiful dreams into reality...

And now, his beautiful dream had finally become a reality. He could leave with the Tenth Tier Battle Qi, with the knowledge and skills Duke had taught him, filled with grand ambitions—yet in reality, he felt no grandeur in his heart, only the sorrow of parting.

Additionally, slightly different from his dreams, he was no longer wandering alone; by his side was a small female slave who was completely devoted to him.

A penniless wanderer, yet accompanied by a devoted little female slave—just the thought of it made Rayan chuckle.

But he wasn't exactly penniless, after all, Duke had thrown him two silver coins before he left, but those were Duke's last gift, and he was reluctant to spend them.

The path under his feet became wider and wider, and Rayan dared not look back. He guessed that Shadowcrest Ridge was already hidden by the dense forest beside the road, and looking back would see nothing but would only add to his sorrow.

The path also became longer and longer, seemingly endless.

Rayan remembered the first time he stepped on this road, threatened by the poison and mysterious powers of the demoness Ella. If not for Lady Spring Rain, who disregarded her status to save him and find the reason for his weakness, he might have already died.

Of course, it was also near this road that Lady Spring Rain's well-intended help was exploited by the cunning and deceitful villain Duncan, and his Twilight Blade was stolen.

It was also on this road that crow and the boss saved him, treated him, taught him various knowledge, helped him break through the Battle Qi blockade, and even imparted to him the secret Stealth skills and concealed Battle Qi skills of the Assassin.

It was also on this road that he and crow caught up with the slave mercenaries who dared to insult the boss, making them pay the price for their "disrespect". Although he was criticized by the boss afterward for being too murderous, he never regretted it, and looking back now, he regretted it even less—he had at least done one thing for the boss.

Finally, it was on this road that he met sola—a small female slave who initially hated him, but later, influenced by her fire spirit affinity, became completely obedient to him.

Sola was completely different from Rayan. She didn't have the cold and merciless expression of her master; at this moment, her brow was filled with longing for Shadowcrest Ridge and the sadness of parting with friends, and she couldn't help but turn back every few steps, significantly slowing their progress.

It had only been a few months, yet she had grown fond of this small town in Auroria Continent, which she should have hated. She initially thought everyone were unforgivable villains, but now she found that most commoners were kind-hearted good people; only a small part was despicable.

Her clothes were still the first ones she wore, crisscrossed with patches, though worn, they were clean, especially when worn on such a youthful and energetic girl, if not looked at closely, one might even think they were a "special" style of new clothes.

However, her body was developing quickly, and no matter how beautifully the patches were sewn, they couldn't keep up with the growth of her breasts, the fabric stretched tight over her slender and wild body, appearing too shabby and cramped. And now that it was autumn, the temperature had suddenly dropped, and her beautiful tan legs were still covered by a short miniskirt that revealed her strong muscles with every step, quite eye-catching.

Every time Rayan saw his little female slave's attire, he felt guilty, especially when he saw sola turn her head, her clothes straining to the point of nearly bursting but still reluctantly looking back at Shadowcrest Ridge, his guts twisted like a knot.

He licked his dry lips and said to sola in a stern and unfeeling voice, "Stop looking, the boss won't come to send us off."

"Master, I'm not looking to see if the boss is coming to send us off..."

Sola sorrowfully explained, "I'm looking at Wu ah, I think I heard its call."

Rayan felt a sharp pain in his heart. Leaving Shadowcrest Ridge, the biggest regret was not being able to see Brother Crow. That black bird, superficially aloof but deeply emotional, was his best friend. It had rescued him from Duncan's hands, and they had eaten, sparred, slept, and avenged the boss together... Without crow, Rayan felt he wouldn't have grown so quickly, even though he could still grow quickly, he would have had much less joy and the feeling of home in this past year.

But crow didn't even come to say goodbye—did it also not bear to part, afraid it would cry? Oh, you silly bird.

When crow flies high, the day we meet again—must we wait until then to meet?

Rayan heaved a heavy sigh, and with a slightly soothing and gentle tone, said to sola, "You heard wrong, sola, that was the wind, not Brother Crow's call."

"Sola did hear it."

Sola shook her head, determination in her orange eyes, pointing to her chest and saying, "Here, Wu ah is calling, it's been calling all the time..."

Rayan felt his nostrils sting. He hadn't realized the deep bond between sola and crow, which was no less than his own bond with crow as her master, and he felt even more guilty. He had only noticed how sola played with crow every day but hadn't really cared about his female slave's changes.

"Silly female slave."

He stretched out his hand and gently stroked sola's smooth hair, "Don't worry, it won't be like this in the future."

What won't be like what? Sola was confused by her master's cryptic words, but the warmth of her master's palm on her head made her smile happily, not bothering to ponder what the future would be like.

Because, no matter what, she wanted to stay by Rayan's side, be his female slave, his woman...

Sola, I will take care of you with all my heart from now on—

Rayan kept these words in his heart, continuing forward with sola.

By noon, they had completely left the bounds of Shadowcrest Ridge. Heading west, they soon entered the territory of Stonerock Kingdom—Triumph Town.

Before entering Triumph Town, Rayan stopped and turned to his little female slave and asked, "Are you hungry?"

"Sola is not hungry, master." Sola secretly swallowed, but her stomach betrayed her with a rumble.

Rayan chuckled lightly, "If I can't even afford to feed you, how can I have the face to be called your master?"

Sola's pretty face drooped down, her orange eyes staring at her uneasy toes. "But sola... eats too much, causing the boss to drive master away..."

"Don't overthink it, sola."

Rayan stated in a cold tone, "What the boss said wasn't true, those words weren't aimed at you. He said them mainly to make me break through my bottleneck sooner. You must understand, sometimes the more you care about someone, the more you are hurt by their thoughtless words."

Sola deeply understood this statement. She silently nodded, then bit her plump lower lip, "But... sola still eats too much, and master... doesn't have money..."

"Who said you need money to eat?"

Rayan smiled faintly, "Do you still remember the book in the storage room, called 'Stonerock Hunting Guide'?"

"Is master going to trade that book for food?"

Sola's eyes widened, and she said with difficulty, "But I only brought 'Snow Love' with me."

"Trade for what food!"

Rayan was both annoyed and amused, unable to help but flick her smooth forehead lightly with a finger, "Books are the real wealth, because they put knowledge into your head, broaden your horizons and thoughts. With knowledge and thoughts, you can make your fate different from others, so sell what, but don't sell books, destroy what, but not the library, and don't look down on a person who is reading a book, got it?"

Sola blinked, somewhat understanding, "Our barbarian tribes don't have books, only prayers carved on stone tablets. Our faith is very strong, even summoning an elemental lord—"

"So your barbarian tribes, with such strong support, ultimately lost to a cunning and deceitful woman, and lost for three thousand years."

Rayan unceremoniously said, "You have faith, but the first throne knows how to dismantle your faith."

Sola's orange-red eyes widened, "The element elder said our failure was due to disunity, and then the disadvantages accumulated more and more."

"That's just the superficial reason."

Rayan smirked coldly, "The real reason is that you don't have books left by your ancestors, your culture can't accumulate and be passed down, a nation's war with another nation, the outcome is never on the battlefield, but in culture, whoever's culture is deeper, will ultimately assimilate the other."

Sola lowered her head, thoughtfully experiencing Rayan's words. After a moment, she raised her head and pouted, "Sola is just master's female slave, not concerned with those..."

Rayan nodded imperceptibly, training sola couldn't be rushed, only slowly instilling the right concepts in her, so when she returned to her tribe, she wouldn't be swallowed up by enemies.

"Let's go, I've memorized the 'Stonerock Hunting Guide,' I know there's a Second Rank bristle pig hunting spot nearby, I'll treat you to game."

"Really?!"

Sola immediately cheered like a child, the patches on her tight chest clothing nearly bursting, her thigh muscles jumping along.

"No jumping—"

Rayan said seriously, frowning and stern, "Before eating, you can't jump around, it's bad for... digestion."

A joke! Sola's digestion being bad? Even if she ate the lava from Dwarf Furnace Mountain, she'd probably digest it quickly!

Rayan felt he had given the least believable reason.

Fortunately, sola was naive enough, just sticking out her pink little tongue playfully, "Got it, master! Sola will jump after eating!"

"No jumping..."

"Eh? Why, master?"

It seems I must quickly buy sola a set of fitting clothes. Rayan didn't answer sola's question, just patted his slightly furrowed brow with his hand.