As soon as the Water Python escaped it tried to attack Kadyn.

"Truly a wild and stupid creature," Kadyn sneered and waved his hand and a light flashed under his feet. "Crushing Hand!" he shouted. A huge image of a hand descended over the beast and before it could even touch Kadyn, it was smitten into the ground, it twitched briefly and then became silent, turning into a drop of water again. Kadyn looked at the drop of water and put it inside another vial.

"Wow, what kind of spell was that, it was so powerful!" Kove, who was clinging to Khrom, said excitedly. "I have never even seen that element before."

"Oh, it is Space Element, one of the strongest elements in the world," Khrom patted Kove and explained like a good father. He knew that Kove wanted to be a mage. However, fate didn't allow him to be one. He could never become a mage. He sighed inside his heart but didn't show it on his face.

Kove wanted to say something but then became crestfallen. Khrom saw his expression and tried to comfort him. He had already accepted him. No matter what his shortcomings were, he would accept them as well. Then the group went into the house.

Actually the spell Kadyn used wasn't very powerful. However, inside the shop he could enhance his spells, even Rank 3 mage won't be his match here. He was the king inside the shop, after all.

After eating his fill Kadyn didn't go to sleep but walked towards the main building of the shop. He wanted to meditate as he had already wasted a month. He would have become Spell Caster by now if not for the delay due to his injuries. So now he wanted to increase his strength as soon as possible.

After encountering a Rank 2 vampire in the Orddono castle, he realised how insignificant his strength was. He was just a clown in front of them, a weakling whom they could slaughter whenever they wanted. Every mage wasn't as stupid and arrogant as Jinn, after all, giving an opening for a weakling like him to attack. He won't get that kind of chance every time he encounters his enemies. The vampire in the castle was a good example.

As he was lost in his deep thinking he arrived in front of the shop. It was still in the same shape and condition as it was in the Orddono. He pushed open the door and directly went towards the Meditation Chamber.

However, when he entered the room, a light flashed in the room and someone — or something — attacked him from the right side. Kadyn was caught unprepared. He didn't even know what hit him before he was smashed into the chamber wall with a booming sound.

He groaned in pain and blood dripped out of the corner of his mouth. He never thought that something would attack him inside the shop. He looked at his chest and saw a burnt mark at the centre and the shirt at the front was completely charred as if someone had thrown a fireball at him. He lifted his dizzy gaze and looked at the attacker.

"A Bird?" his mouth hung open when he saw a bird flapping her wings in the air. It had white feathers that looked beautiful and were at least about four to five times larger than its entire body which it was swinging in the air continuously — the white flames burned over it. It had blue sapphire eyes by which it peered at him.

Kadyn saw the bird and hurriedly turned his gaze towards the corner of the room where he found the broken shell of the egg. Then he looked at the bird and didn't know what to do when the bird opened its mouth. "You lowly human. How dare you establish a contract with me?!"

"Eh?" Kadyn glanced at the bird and his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets in shock. A… talking bird?

——

Kadyn walked out of the house. His body still aches due to the beating last night. It took a huge effort to solve the misunderstanding. Furthermore if he didn't have the power of the shop he might have been bedridden for a period of time once again.

He was still in shock at what had happened the previous night. He couldn't meditate after the encounter with that strange bird so he went to sleep, but he still couldn't calm his heart and just like that the entire night passed. He looked around, the surrounding was filled with fog and the cold wind whistled now and then. The sun was nowhere to be seen, hiding behind the cluster of clouds in the gloomy sky.

The trees rustled with every passing gust of wind while the water inside the pool was as silent as a graveyard. The morning dew had gathered on the grass around the pool the environment was tranquil and pleasant.

Kadyn checked the time it was 6:10 A.M. He sat on the chair near the pool in front of the house that was no smaller than an average pond. Then he brought out a vial from his robe and looked at the water drop inside. The water drop had already taken the shape of the python. However, it didn't dare to break out again like the last time. It seemed that the Elemental Essence realised that it would be asking for a beating if it tried to escape again.

Kadyn played with the vial for a moment and then pulled its stopper. The Water Python rushed out as soon as it found an opening and stood a few meters away from Kadyn. Hissing vigilantly towards him. It was more translucent than the last time. It had lost quite a bit of its strength after being beaten by Cecilia and then Kadyn.

When Kadyn didn't do anything, it became somewhat relaxed and looked around it, examining its surroundings. And as soon as it saw the pool, it jumped inside without even looking at Kadyn. It was made of water, it could recover its strength faster inside the pool. Kadyn yawned and stretched as he murmured. "Well, you can live here until I decide what to do with you. It's not practical to carry you everywhere I go."

"Big brother Kadyn, the breakfast is ready," a voice sounded from behind him.

Kadyn turned around and saw Kove was standing not far away. He sighed inside his heart. It seemed it's not easy to teach children. "Let's go," he shook his head and went inside the house.

However, before he entered the house he turned to look in the distance. On a tree branch was sitting a beautiful bird, also staring in his direction. 'Humph, one day I'm going to tame you, just you wait.' He thought and entered the house with a discouraged heart as he remembered his last night's encounter, the strength of the bird was unfathomable.

Even with the help of the shop, he could not get an upper hand in the fight against it. He didn't even know how long it would take for him to reach that level of strength. Furthermore, who knows what heights the bird would be able to climb at that time.

Kadyn couldn't wrap his head around as he thought about it. 'That damn bird is already so terribly powerful just after coming out of the egg.' He sighed and went inside the shop.

The bird stared in his direction and murmured. "Who would have thought such a thing happen. If you haven't saved me I would have already killed you, no matter how big the backlash I would face." It sighed deeply like a human and went on. "Well, fate is a strange thing." Then it flapped its wings and vanished from the tree branch.

——

The group didn't stay any longer after having their breakfast and started their journey. Kadyn had no intention of using Pengolla Portal. After all, the price he needed to pay was quite hefty. He could not afford such luxury. Therefore he decided to travel on foot with everyone.

Kadyn, Hot Rod, Barret, Slyff and Khrom went out of the shop while others stayed behind. The group looked around them and saw the pits all around in the ground. The battle has ended but the marks were still present. As the wind passed the water inside the lake gurgled and waves formed now and then and the bamboo trees all around them danced with a rustling sound. Sprinkling tiny water drops from above.

The fog was thick so they could not see too far away, but the scene in front of them was already quite compelling as it was. Kadyn sucked a deep breath of the morning dew and turned towards everyone. "Let's go."

He walked just around ten steps before he stopped. He looked at the side and a surprised expression appeared on his face. He dashed forwards and crouched down and a smile appeared on his face.