In the evening, the house was wrapped in a quiet yet heavy silence.
Serina sat on the sofa, both of her hands folded in her lap. Her face looked calm, even though her eyes held exhaustion that had not fully disappeared. Lylia stood near the window with her back to the room, staring at the darkness outside with a cold expression that was hard to read.
Zevaron took a deep breath. "I will go to search for that old man's heritage, if I don't do it then we will only wait for bad things to happen to sister Rina," he said.
Serina turned first. Not shocked—just quiet for a moment.
"Go… now?" she asked softly, her voice almost like a whisper.
"I must search for that old man's heritage to find a way to save sister Serina."
Serina stood up and approached him. Her hand was raised, then stroked Zevaron's head.
"My little brother, don't gamble your life just for me," said Serina softly, "you can do other things, if something happens to me because of this unknown creature then so be it, I just want you two to live happily."
Zevaron looked at her, shocked. "Our happiness is for sister Rina to stay alive and be able to live happily in the future."
Lylia, who had been staring outside from behind the window, finally spoke, "That's true, we will feel a very deep loss if you die." Her gaze was still looking out the window, but the melancholic tone of her words could not be hidden.
Lylia turned around then looked at Zevaron, "Don't force yourself if you cannot find that person's heritage," she said flatly, "I will be the one to search for it if you are unable."
"I will definitely find it, sister Lylia just focus on taking care of sister Rina because I cannot use healing magic." Said Zevaron while walking toward the door.
Serina looked at Zevaron's back with a feeling of reluctance because there must be danger waiting inside a valuable opportunity—that was the thing she learned years ago.
"Zevaron, wait." said Serina suddenly.
Serina stood then walked closer to Zevaron, both of her arms wrapped around Zevaron's back slowly. That hug was warm, comforting.
"Come back safely," she whispered. "The two of us are always waiting for you."
"Alright… Sister." Answered Zevaron.
Lylia was already facing the window again when she said coldly, "Hurry up, don't take too long, the faster you get that old man's heritage then the better it will be."
"I will prepare first," said Zevaron briefly.
He then went out of Serina's room, his footsteps were fast.
A few seconds after the door closed, Lylia's voice sounded softly. "I want to go out for a moment."
Without waiting for an answer, she moved out of the house with high speed. The night wind swept her hair as she leaped lightly onto the roof, landing without sound. From that height, the place around her looked quiet—too quiet.
Lylia stood still, her eyes staring toward the dark sky.
The air around her suddenly changed.
Not wind, not sound.
Rather pressure—subtle yet suffocating.
A figure appeared just like that beside her, as if already there from the beginning. No steps, no signs of arrival.
"Express my thanks to him." said Lylia flatly, without turning at all.
That figure looked at her for a long time. Its face was covered in shadow, its aura cold and alien, as if not part of this world.
"Alright," it answered finally "Be prepared tomorrow, you must do that thing." Its tone of voice was calm, but every word felt like a nail driven into the air.
"Alright," replied Lylia emotionlessly. She was silent for a moment, then added, "However… can I get a protection tool?"
Silence wrapped over the roof of that house again.
The figure looked deeply at her, as if weighing something much heavier than a mere request.
Finally, it raised its hand.
A small object floated in the air before falling toward Lylia—a token with a strange pattern that shimmered dimly, emitting an unstable aura. "Take this."
Lylia caught it with one hand. "Thank you," she said briefly.
After getting that token Lylia jumped down from the roof. When her feet touched the ground, that pressure vanished—as if that figure earlier never existed.
A few moments later, the door opened and Zevaron came out of the house.
"Zevaron." Lylia stopped him. She, who was previously a few meters away from Zevaron, suddenly disappeared and instantly appeared in front of Zevaron.
Lylia held out the token she just got. "Use this… when your life is in danger."
There was no further explanation.
There was no emotion on her face.
Zevaron received it and put it into his storage ring.
"Thank you, sister Lylia, since that truth you became very changed but one thing that has not changed from you is your love for us."
Zevaron went silent for a moment before speaking. His gaze softened as he looked at the figure in front of him.
"Thank you, Sister Lylia." His voice was calm, but there was warmth hard to hide. "Since the day that truth was revealed, you indeed changed."
Zevaron smiled thinly. "But one thing remains the same… you always love us."
Lylia's gaze remained flat as she looked at Zevaron.
Zevaron let out a long sigh and before words came out of his mouth a cold voice cut in, "Enough, don't be too emotional, you go quickly search for that man's heritage."
Without answering Zevaron immediately ran, heading toward the forest of a thousand deaths.
A few hours later, Zevaron was already inside the forest of a thousand deaths, now he was walking along the path of the forest of a thousand deaths. The terrain around him changed—trees were denser, ground was damp, and traces of civilization were barely visible. His distance from home was already far; even the direction home started to feel blurry.
As he accelerated his pace, the scroll inside his storage ring suddenly vibrated.
That vibration was followed by a raspy voice, as if coming from a very distant place.
"There is someone… a descendant of an acquaintance of mine. Go and meet them."
Zevaron slowed his pace. His eyebrows furrowed "Who could be this far…? And what kind of acquaintance anyway?"
Without further explanation, the direction inside his mind changed. As if an invisible thread pulled him to one specific point. Zevaron followed that push, pushing through bushes and roots of large trees, until finally arriving at an open area.
He stopped suddenly, his eyes widened when seeing someone leaning on a tree trunk there, he reacted quickly and directly ran approaching them.
Now in front of Zevaron, a girl with short brown hair slouched weakly, her breath heavy and irregular, her black eyes dimmed a bit because of the wounds she suffered—her left shoulder, five long lines tore the skin extending along her arm, ending at the back of her hand. That wound was wide open, warm blood flowed following the curve of her arm before dripping from her fingertips.
On her stomach, another scratch mark ran diagonally, ripping her clothes open. Blood slowly seeped out, soaking her waist. Her thigh was also torn by several long claw lines. Blood flowed down her leg to her knee.
Around her calf and ankle, rough cut marks were still visible, some already mixed with dirt dust.
Zevaron's storage ring put out a bottle containing a murky potion liquid.
Zevaron then knelt down, his fingers pulled out the cork stopper then he slipped one hand behind the girl's head, lifting her slightly so she leaned on his arm. Her messy hair shifted slowly as her head was lifted.
That potion bottle was brought close to the girl's lips.
The girl's lips trembled softly as if about to say something but Zevaron cut her off, "Drink this first then speak."
A few drops of liquid dripped first, wetting her pale lips before slowly flowing into her mouth.
Her throat moved slowly as she swallowed with difficulty. Some liquid managed to flow out from the corner of her lips, dripping onto her chin.
Zevaron immediately tilted the bottle a bit, pouring more carefully this time. His other hand was still supporting her head, keeping the girl from falling back down.
Her chest rose and fell slowly while the girl remained leaning weakly on his arm, her breath slightly more stable although the wounds on her body were still bleeding.
Zevaron carefully leaned the girl's head against the tree trunk.
The empty bottle in Zevaron's hand started to shrink and entered into his storage ring.
A clean cloth came out from his storage ring, he wetted it with potion from the other bottle, his right hand moved slowly while cleaning blood from the wound on her shoulder to the back of the girl's hand.
Every time the wet cloth surface touched her skin the girl's expression hardened holding back the stinging pain.
Zevaron's storage ring put out a bandage, carefully Zevaron wrapped that bandage along the girl's left arm, the end of that bandage started to merge with the other part of the bandage, making it difficult to come off.
After the wound along the girl's left arm was bandaged—Zevaron's hand shifted to the girl's stomach.
The cloth wet with potion wiped the girl's wound.
Her stomach tightened a bit, her body almost bent over because of the sudden stinging pain.
"Endure the stinging pain." said Zevaron while continuing to clean the wound on the girl's stomach.
After finishing cleaning Zevaron took out a bandage again from his storage ring, he then wrapped the bandage around the wound part on the girl's stomach.
Both of Zevaron's hands tore that bandage, now that long bandage became two parts, Zevaron channeled magic energy to the end of the bandage, the torn part started to merge with the part of the bandage wrapped around the girl's stomach.
His hand shifted to the girl's leg part, Zevaron lifted her leg up to his knee height.
His fingers held the girl's calf so it wouldn't move while he cleaned the cut marks there. Afterwards the other part of the wrapping cloth that was torn earlier was wrapped around the calf and ankle, covering the wound lines that were still reddish.
Carefully Zevaron put the girl's leg onto the ground. "Keira, what happened that made you like this?" asked Zevaron in a light tone.
Keira whose breathing started to stabilize answered. "Earlier I fought a winged brown bear, after defeating it I escaped from the scene until arriving here."
Zevaron let out a sigh, "Then why did you come to the forest of a thousand deaths? This place is dangerous."
Keira leaned her head back against the tree trunk while staring at the sky between leaf gaps.
"I came to search for the fruit of life's dew."
Zevaron's eyes widened in shock at Keira's answer.