Volume 1 Chapter 5: Part 1: A Promise

"Ugghhh." Onyx groans as he begins to wake up. Tsk! As he tries to move his body, his body reacts. A surge of pain came about, warning him not to move!

Why does it hurt so much?! Onyx's groggy eyes widen; what the?! He realizes his entire body is covered in bandages! In addition, the whole room smelled like medicine.

Where am I?! What happened to teacher?" Onyx remembers everything. From fighting the wyverns to dealing with the adult chimera.

He remembers it all. But this just makes Onyx worry even more.

I didn't see it.

Onyx couldn't witness the outcome of the final battle between Vargar and the beast.

After using up all of his magic, Onyx became unconscious.

As Onyx tries to get out of his bed, Vargar walks into the room. Seeing him trying to get up, Vargar quickly stops him, "What do you think you're doing? You're going to open up your wounds!"

"Teacher! Ughhh!" When Onyx notices Vargar, he can't help but shout out. Thank goodness his teacher is safe.

But his shouting caused his wounds to open up. Blood slowly seeps out, wetting the bandages.

"You fool!" Vargar pushes Onyx back onto the bed, "Don't do anything else, or you'll cause more blood to come out!"

Onyx asks, " What happened, teacher? Where are we? Did we win?"

"One: We're at an inn. And two." As Vargar was about to say the second point, his fist landed on Onyx's head!

"Of course, we won. If we didn't, how can we be here?" Vargar shakes his head.

After Vargar and Onyx defeated the adult chimera, Vargar almost fainted from exhaustion. However, it didn't stop him. He picked himself up and dragged Onyx to the nearest town to get medication.

And that's how they are here.

"..." We actually won? Hearing all of that, Onyx didn't believe it.

What Vargar said to him didn't register in his mind. It felt too surreal. He survived his first life and death battle against these monsters.

But it's the truth. A grin forms on Onyx's face. But then,

But then,

POW!

Vargar's fist landed on top of Onyx's forehead again. This time he used even more force.

"Idiot! Don't think what you did was good." Vargar makes a dark expression as he looks down at Onyx. He knew what the boy thought from his goofy grin.

"Jumping onto the back of the chimera may be the stupidest thing I've witnessed in my life." Vargar shakes his head as he continues, "If the beast had some sort of thought, he could've killed you instantly."

What made it worse was when Onyx used up all his magic. That made him an open target! If the beast had any mind left, it could have targeted Onyx.

The number of mistakes Onyx made were all fatal ones.

"..." Onyx doesn't know what to say. It felt like a giant hammer dropping down, shattering his pride. But, the following words that came out of Vargar's mouth are,

"Thank you."

"!"

"If you hadn't jumped in as you did, I would have died." Vagar was pinned down by the monster's paw, ready to finish him. But Onyx's actions caused the beast to shift targets.

That gave him the opening to land the finishing strike.

"..." Hearing this, Onyx's pride went from 1 to 5 to 0 and now to 50! It's ten times bigger than before!

I just got thanked by one of my heroes! This is the best day ever! Am I going to surpass him?! Even though Onyx was usually mature, but not right now.

Vargar's face twitches as he looks at that smug face. Why do I want to smack him so much? He doesn't know how, but Onyx's face channels power into his fist.

But he has to hold it in as Vargar warns Onyx, "Don't even think about doing something so stupid again. We got out of this situation mainly due to luck."

Vargar's also wrapped in bandages. Seeing the injuries they have, the reverse could have happened. They could be the ones on the ground, unlike the monsters.

"If you are ever in a dire situation, think about saving yourself. Nothing matters once you are dead."

"..." Onyx stays silent. He knows what Vargar says was right. And seeing this, Vargar sighs,

"Get some rest. We'll be leaving after a couple of days." Vargar needs to rest up as well.

"Understood." Despite waking up, Onyx's body was still weary from the damage. He slowly goes back to sleep.

...

Onyx and Vargar's injury healed after staying at the inn for a week or two. Onyx has fewer bandages on him, and he can move around.

Right now, the two are eating on the first floor.

Vargar tells him, "Onyx, I'm going to go back to the mountains to collect the materials back."

Hearing that, the soup in Onyx's hand smacks into his cheek instead of his mouth.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Onyx quickly wipes the soup off his cheeks. He asks Vargar, "Wouldn't all the materials be gone?" The corpses had been out there for a couple of days now.

Also, there's a high chance other people could have gone there and taken the materials too.

Vargar shakes his head, "No, I don't think the materials will be gone. Starfall mountain is too dangerous for people to go up there all the time. And wyverns won't be going there as well. The blood smell won't let them go close."

Hearing all of this, Onyx realizes this is true. He asks, "Are we going back there today?"

"You want to come too?" Vargar looks at him weirdly. You almost got killed, and you still want to come?

"Of course. And you don't have to worry about me, teacher. I can use magic to deal with the wyverns." Fighting against those small chimeras gave him a better idea of his magic.

"You're still injured."

"You don't have to worry about that. I can still move enough to protect myself." Onyx begins to wave his arm to show he's alright. But then his expression turns serious, and he gets closer to Vargar,

"If you go to the mountains, who knows what these women will do to me at night?!" Their stay at the inn was nothing short of living in luxury. For Onyx, especially. An innkeeper would come to his room to bring him food every day when he couldn't move.

Then came the sketchy part. The innkeepers would be overly excessive towards him. She tried to feed him and even tried to wash his back too.

And every day, it was a different worker to help him. They have consistently pampered him like a child.

How could Onyx not realize what was going on? Years of experience trained him to notice it.

The workers looked at him with lust and desire. They're tigers hiding in sheep's clothing!

Even now, those female workers are staring at his table. It was too scary.

If I stay here without teacher, who knows what will happen to me?! That is why Onyx wants to go with Vargar!

His manhood is at stake!

"..." Vargar doesn't know how to respond to that. But in his heart, he knew that feeling.

You don't think I can't feel it as well?!

One of the reasons why Vargar wants to leave is because of the workers. Like Onyx, he was treated the same way as well! But not like Onyx. Because he could move, the workers couldn't do anything to him.

"Alright, you can come with me. Stop making that face." Vargar can't say no to Onyx. Not with that expression. It's like he was throwing a baby into a pack of wolves.

"Thank goodness." Onyx drops back into the chair, sighing in relief.

"We'll be leaving in the evening then." If Onyx was coming, they might as well go there today and do it quickly.

"Yes, sir!"

...

"Wow, we really destroyed this area." The moment the two walk up to where they fought, Onyx couldn't help but be surprised.

Shattered rocks, corpses riddled everywhere, and the mountains are misshapen. The whole area looks like a destruction zone.

"It looks like nobody took the corpses." Even after a few days, the chimera's corpses are still there.

"But the demon crystal and items from the wyverns are gone." The ones Onyx hid in the cave have disappeared. The only thing that was left of them was a ripped-up bag.

"That's probably because of the wyverns," Vargar says.

What's done is done. There's nothing Onyx and Vargar can do about it.

There's something else he needs to find. Onyx continues to clear the rubble, trying to find it. His expression turns bright,

"Thank goodness it's here." What Onyx finds is a bag holding the goblin demon crystal.

Onyx brought the bag with him and had it tied to his waist. The bag fell off when Onyx was flung off from the monster's back.

Onyx takes out the yellow magic crystal and sighs in relief. Nothing happened to it. As he was thinking of this,

"Onyx, catch!" Vargar tosses him the chimera crystals. They're much bigger than the goblin one in his hand.

And this crystal is more transparent than the yellow one in his hand.

"We need to take these chimera bones as well. They can be used to make medicine and equipment." Vargar says as he places the corpses onto the wagon.

He rented the wagon to carry the corpses back. Onyx ties the bag back to his waist and begins to collect the bodies.

"Now, let's go back to the village. " Onyx nods, and the two walk down the hill. As they walk down,

"RAAAAWWWWWR!" The sounds of wyverns fly above them. Two wyverns circle around them, ready to swoop down on them once they show weakness.

But that chance never came,

Two black spears pierce through their chests, making them drop to the ground! The Wyverns never have a chance to realize this.

Onyx grabs the corpses and puts them onto the wagon, "Teacher, let's eat these. We can take our time to get down the mountain." Remembering the wyvern meat, it was delicious.

"..." Vargar doesn't say anything. He's gotten quicker. Onyx used his magic instantly.

As the two rest in a cave, Vargar asks Onyx, "Onyx. How were you able to use magic so quickly?" That was way too quick. He saw Onyx's magic before, so the speed he just showed right now is weird.

"Oh, it's because I practiced my magic." Onyx has a bright smile as he says this.

"Training? When did you have time to train?"

"I was training at the inn. Laying on the bed was too boring. So I decided to practice my magic to pass my time." When Onyx closed his eyes to sleep, he couldn't do it.

He wanted to get stronger.

Onyx continued to make dark spears, changing the size as quickly as possible. He was also increasing and decreasing the quantity. All of this to increase his control.

"....How long have you been practicing your magic then?"They only stayed at the inn for a week. If he wasn't resting, how long was he practicing?

"Hmmm, I think around 22 hours a day? There are times when I kinda fainted from overusing my magic. But you know, I got used to it." Onyx scratches his head.

"Whenever I overuse my magic now, I feel exhausted or nauseous for the most part."

2 hours? Vargar grabs his head. He can feel the problem coming in.

Let's ignore it for now. Vargar asks him, "How many spears can you create instantly?"

"The maximum I can make is 5." For quick release, Onyx could only make a few. If he focused on quantity, it would take time for Onyx to make it.

"..." Vargar goes silent. But then he asks, "How much can you make if you have time?"

"I don't know. The highest number I ever made was 100 small dark spears."

Remembering what Vargar told him, Onyx had to keep his magic hidden. He couldn't just go all out in the inn. So he made his magic smaller as he continued to practice it.

"Onyx, create a mana ball for me. Use all the mana you have to make it as well." Vargar's voice becomes tense as he says this.

"What if monsters come over here?" The two are still in the wyvern's territory. Who knows when a monster will come and attack them?

"Just do it. I'll be on point and protect you from any monsters." His voice becomes a bit impatient.

"Alright then." Onyx closes his eyes and concentrates all his mana on creating the mana ball.

And when he does, Vargar's expression turns wide!

In front of Onyx is a giant mass floating in the sky. It was about the size of a mountain!

How is it this large?!

"Onyx, you've done enough! Stop casting your mana ball!" Hearing that, Onyx deactivates the mana ball. The moment the mana ball disappeared, the strength in Onyx's legs was gone, and he fell on his butt.

"Here, eat this." Vargar hands him a piece of wyvern meat, "Eating is one way to help replenish your strength."

Onyx begins to chew on it quickly, not wasting any of his time.

He asks, "Teacher, why do you want me to create such a large mana ball?" The only thing mana ball was good for was to act as a dim light for him.

That was it.

"You don't have to worry about that. I was just checking something out. Also, it's time for us to split the loot."

"Oh." Onyx's still curious about the other subject. But the loot sounds nice as well.

"You will get the corpse of the wyverns and the 4 juvenile chimeras. I'll get the adult and juvenile."

"Teacher, you're the one who killed the three juveniles. I should be taking two, and you take the rest."

Vargar shakes his head, "No, you get 4. I was on the defensive throughout the entire battle. The only reason why I beat the two juveniles was because you cast your magic."

"It's still too much."

"You don't have to worry about that. The adult chimera's demon crystal is about the same as 3 juveniles. We got an equal share." The wyverns aren't accounted for as they were killed by Onyx.

"But-"

"No buts. Your teacher has spoken. With what you did, you earned these corpses."

"..." Hearing this, Onyx has no choice but to take these corpses. He adds, "What can I do with their corpses?"

"You can make armor from their bones. It won't be as strong as the adult, but it's much sturdier than other materials. When we return to the royal capital, you can ask a blacksmith to make one. "

Hearing that, Onyx has a smile on his face. But then he turns serious, "Teacher, can you give all my earnings from the demon crystals to my family."

"Hmm? But don't you need money as well."

Onyx shakes his head, " I don't need money." Who would need money when he's living in the king's castle.

"I want to give my family a better life. So please send the money to them."

"..." Vargar doesn't say anything. But he rubs the kid's head,

"You're a good kid. But I don't think your family would want you to send them all your money and leave nothing for yourself. Take at least 20 percent, and give the rest to them."

80 percent was more than enough for Onyx's family to live in luxury.

"Alright." Onyx smiles when he hears that.

"Now, let's get back to eating," Vargar says and begins to eat. Onyx does the same as well.

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