Chapter 22
…
He had tried to harvest points from others in the Valentine House, but they only yielded small amounts of orbs or Hatred Orbs, and even then, it wasn't much.
Most of them, possessed and emotionless, acted like robots.
He also feared that if he bothered or taunted them too much, they might lash out and kill him on the spot, as not even his mother at that time was actually strong enough against the ordinary guard, much less himself.
For ten years, he had read and practiced relentlessly like crazy, but it still wasn't enough by the end.
"I need to train harder," Kyren whispered to himself, a glint of resolve shining in his eyes.
This was no longer his previous life; this was a life inside a novel that was all too real and dangerous.
'Feeling sad now changes nothing…'
Crossing his legs, Kyren began to accumulate more Nirvana within his body.
It was a slow process compared to using Joy Points, but every second counted.
Veyra, noticing what Kyren was doing, took a deep breath to calm herself.
Soon, she followed his lead, circulating Nirvana within her own body.
…
Two hours later, one of the wolves signaled for Kyren and Veyra to follow him.
They arrived at a clearing surrounded by lush green grass, similar to the place they had rested earlier, but this time, an open sky revealed a full moon shining brightly above.
On either side of them stood many Beasts who had already taken on humanoid forms, silently observing the two humans.
This indicated that they were all at the Embryo realm or even higher.
In front of Kyren, Veyra, and Irelda, who led the children, sat a tall, muscular man.
From the length of his legs alone, Kyren guessed he was probably over two meters tall, dressed in white human pants from who knows where he even got that, and a brown mantle made of bear fur.
A bear's head was attached to the mantle, creating a mask that obscured half of his face.
He was the lord of this Sanctuary in the Whisper Forest, leaning casually against the belly of a gigantic white wolf that was twice the size of the wolves who had brought them here in this Sanctuary.
As Irelda stood before him, she transformed into a beautiful woman clad in a blue dress.
She subsequently knelt and said politely, "Lord Zephyr, I have brought the two children from the Raven Clan here as you requested…"
Hearing this, Zephyr rested his cheeks on his hands and grinned.
"Oh, C'mon, Irelda. You are one of my family and my longest friend. Can't you stop with that eti.. etti,.. hmmm. Anyway, stop with that nonsense etymological ettimelancholy whatever that my father taught you. The lord name is in my hand now. We have a new rule. And that is to be free like the real wolf we are…"
After he spoke, a big man with brown wolf ears guffawed loudly.
"Bwahahahahaa. That's right…"
But soon, seeing the other silently staring at him with those dead fish eyes, sweat trailed down his back as he shut his mouth as quickly as possible.
Irelda's lips twitched, but she didn't respond to Zephyr's antics.
Her face remained stoic and expressionless.
Instead, she stood up and walked to his side, remaining silent.
Though a whisper that only Zephyr could hear reached his ear. It was coming from Irelda.
"You better act like a proper lord when humans are here, or I'll report this to your father. Let's see who ends up locked in a cave again???"
"Cough, cough… Uhhmmm."
Zephyr cleared his throat, straightening his back as he stopped slumping.
"Hello to you… uh, children. Human children. Welcome to our home, to our sanctuary. Have you two had any meals yet?"
Kyren and Veyra exchanged hesitant glances before shaking their heads.
Meanwhile, Irelda discreetly gritted her teeth in anger, struggling to suppress the urge to slap the back of her lord's head for acting like a barbarian, especially since his parents had been absent for a week by now.
She glared at him, making Zephyr shiver.
The oldest among them closed their eyes, face-palming at his behavior, which often resembled that of a dog rather than the majestic white wolf he was meant to be.
Realizing Irelda was genuinely angry this time, Zephyr finally stopped acting like a brat.
"Anyway, you two human children need to know that the woman currently being tended to by our healer has promised us something in return for keeping you safe here," he continued.
"But the problem is, we don't want to leave our sanctuary. According to our scouts, demons are lurking in our territory, likely waiting for us to leave so they can attack when we're most vulnerable. With what the woman said about you all getting ambushed, it would be dangerous for us to retrieve it, especially since humans have devices to detect whether we are a human or a Beast in human form."
"We would likely be attacked by both humans and demons if we left to get it, which would be disastrous. But we still need that item. So, to retrieve it, you two will be the ones we send. But what can children like you even do? In the end, we concluded that we need to train you until you are strong enough."
"But I have no time! My father is still out there! I don't even know if he's still alive! I need to look for him!"
Veyra shouted, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
"And what? Letting yourself get killed? Congratulations, then. You would waste the sacrifice of your father and the people who likely died in that attack. A fool…"
Zephyr chuckled, amused by her outburst.
"They are not dead!" Veyra shot back.
She stood up, eyes glaring at him in defiance, as she refused to back down or have the notion to believe or accept what he said was right.
"Oho… not only are you weak and small, but you're gullible too. Believing in that stupid hope of yours. Stupid human! If he is dead, then he is dead! There's no excuse for that. You just need to get stronger to have your revenge. That is the way to move forward!"
Zephyr's yellow eyes glowed, and Nirvana leaked from his body, creating an invisible pressure that weighed heavily on those present.
Veyra and Kyren both felt the pressure.
But instead of backing down, Veyra held her ground.
Even as her knees threatened to buckle, she gritted her teeth and stood firm, her eyes locked onto Zephyr's.
Countless black feathers manifested around Veyra, as she fought back the pressure from the Nirvana that came from a being far above her in realms, with purity that could even suffocate the very air itself.
On the other hand, Kyren couldn't move.
It was not only because he was weaker than Veyra, but also because his talent was locked from that curse.
He found it hard to breathe.
Slowly turning his head, he looked at Veyra, who stood resolute, though a few drops of blood leaked from her nose.
Now that Kyren thought about it some more, he realized he hadn't yet scanned her with his upgraded Identify ability since their first meeting, which had only been at level 1 that time.
So, he used his 'Identify' on Veyra.
As a result, her status was shown…