Kind-hearted Grim Reaper

Upon arriving at a vast forest in the north-western region of the Varangian Province, Goris instructed the coachman to stop, paid the fare and dismissed him.

Looking at the vast forest before him, Goris was in excellent spirits. Only by coming back here could he feel a sense of satisfaction. Thirty years ago, he relocated here mainly because the Illusive Forest was rich with precious herbs and minerals. As time passed, he became accustomed to living here. Over the past thirty years, apart from occasionally going out to purchase everyday necessities and unique items, he seldom left this place. After thirty years of experimentation, he finally felt confident that he could accomplish the wish he harbored from years ago. The key to achieving this wish was Ah Dai, the silly fool.

"Let's go. We'll have to continue our journey on foot," Goris said indifferently.

Ah Dai, who had never seen such a boundless forest, excitedly asked, "Master, do you live here? The air here is so fresh!"

Goris didn't respond to Ah Dai and started walking into the forest on his own. Ah Dai hurriedly followed along, staying close on Goris' heels.

The main reason this forest was known as the Illusive Forest was because it lacked open space. Due to the dense vegetation, it was hard to discern direction within the forest. Coupled with the high terrain that was occasionally enshrouded in mist, it created an air of mystery. Even the people residing nearby rarely ventured deep into it, fearing they would be unable to find their way out. Upon arriving, Goris installed many magical mechanisms within the forest. His particular point of pride was a mechanism designed to attract mist.

After half a day's journey, Ah Dai was both tired and hungry. He gritted his teeth and kept up with Goris. The surrounding area was blanketed in mist, decreasing visibility to less than three meters. If he fell even a little behind, he would lose sight of Goris. The fear induced the potential within him, ensuring that he did not lag behind.

Upon entering the forest, Goris remained silent. The dense fog gave him a sense of extreme comfort. Like people mastering dark magic, Goris disliked the sun. With the help of the positioning magic array he had set up around his place, he didn't need to figure out the direction.

Ah Dai stuck closely to Goris. Suddenly, he tripped over an unknown object and fell down with a thud. Goris kept moving forward as though he hadn't noticed.

It hurt! Ah Dai used his arms to sit up. The morning's rush had left him exhausted, causing his vision to blur and his head to spin. He wanted to call out to Goris, but couldn't muster the strength to. The surrounding mist seemed to swirl, inducing dizziness. Eventually, he collapsed and passed out.

A bright light appeared before his eyes, and all the scenery became clear. A few small houses appeared in front of Goris.

"Ah, finally home." Looking at the unremarkable rooms in front of him, who could have thought that this was the lab of the flame wizard, Goris? Looking down at Ah Dai who was tucked under his arm, feelings of excitement filled his body. He was finally ready to make the last preparations for his experiment. Years of effort were about to pay off.

Once they had entered the forest, Goris intentionally ignored Ah Dai, curious to see if he would ask for help. However, Ah Dai's resilience surprised him. To have persisted for half of the journey before passing out was no small feat for someone his age, even after taking the Nine Generation Marrow Pill. Well, it was better for him to be a little more tenacious. Goris carried Ah Dai into the southernmost wooden house, which was empty save for a wooden bed and a few chairs. After tossing Ah Dai onto the bed, he sat down and drew a hexagram in the air. A red glow illuminated, and he quietly sensed the fluctuations of the magic elements. After a while, Goris opened his eyes and smiled with satisfaction. Through the magical inquiry set up around the place, he found that no one had come here during his absence.

Goris uttered a spell and drew a rift in the air from which a bamboo basket, which he'd bought in the City of Nino, floated out. When he initially left to find a suitable subject, he hadn't had a clear destination in mind. As he kept heading north, he ended up in the City of Nino. His choice of Ah Dai was because the child seemed controllable. Without genuine cooperation, it wouldn't matter how good the subject was. Ah Dai, seeming somewhat naive and easy to deceive, seemed like the ideal choice.

Carrying the bamboo basket, Goris ventured into a fruit grove not far from the cabin. Various fruit species grew within the grove and it took Goris a long time to figure out their names and which ones were edible. After picking some fruits to stave off hunger, he returned to the cabin, ate a few at random, and began to meditate.

Only by evening did Ah Dai wake up. The sour ache all over his body and the unfamiliar surroundings filled him with fear. He sat up beholding the relief of seeing Goris, who had been meditating by the bed. He didn't want to disturb Goris and just sat there quietly, observing his surroundings. His gaze soon fell upon the chair next to Goris — or to be precise, the colorful fruits in a basket on the chair.

The moment his right foot touched the ground, a stabbing pain nearly caused him to cry out. However, the allure of the fruit was too strong. Bearing the pain, he carefully hobbled over to the chair and, after a quick glance at Goris, who was still meditating, he quietly took the basket and returned to the bed. He carefully counted the number of fruits left — seventeen of many differing colors, with very few of the same kind. The gnawing hunger pushed him to disregard all caution. He picked up a pink fruit and bit into it. The sweetness flowed down his throat and invigorated his entire body. Even the pain in his foot seemed to lessen.

He didn't stop until he'd eaten eight fruits. Although he was still hungry, he decided to save the rest and carefully returned them to their place. Opening the slightly ajar door, Ah Dai stepped outside. What he saw was a swath of white. Including the cabin he just left, there were three cabins in total. The cabin in the north was the largest, spanning around fifty to sixty square meters. No mist or vegetation was present within thirty meters of the cabins. Past that limit, everything was veiled in mist. Faint outlines of tall trees could be seen hidden in the mist, even obscuring the sky above. Since it was already evening and the sky had started to darken, the outdoor surroundings had a somewhat eerie aura. Was this the home of his master?

As soon as Ah Dai stepped out of the room, Goris opened his eyes. He had already woken up from his introspection the moment Ah Dai got out of bed. He knew perfectly well everything Ah Dai had done. Watching the nine remaining fruits in front of him, Goris's heart underwent a series of changes.

Standing up, Goris let out a light sigh, walked out of the room and saw Ah Dai standing their blankly.

"Ah Dai."

"Ah! Teacher, you're awake. I ... I just ate some of your fruits." said Ah Dai, hanging his head.

Goris spoke gently: "Those were meant for you. This is your teacher's home, and now it is also your home."

Ah Dai was startled by the sudden tenderness of Goris. He had never seen such an expression on Goris before. The cloak covering his head had been removed, revealing a wrinkled face with a faint smile. "Tea...teacher, what can I do to help you?"

Goris took a deep breath and said: "You don't have to do anything today. Starting tomorrow, you'll be my assistant. I need to conduct some experiments."

"Oh, alright."

Early the next morning, before dawn, Ah Dai was waken by Goris. After getting dressed, Goris took him to the forest where they had picked the fruit from the day before, saying: "The fruit that grows here is our future food. Remember, when you come here to pick them, don't go too far, otherwise, you'll get lost. Understand?"

Ah Dai nodded, looking at the wide spread of fruit in front of him. Recalling the delightful taste of yesterday, he couldn't help but drool.

Goris casually picked off a few red fruits and handed them to Ah Dai, saying: "These are Mizi Fruits, they can provide most of the nutrients our bodies need. These will be our main food in the future. Remember how they look. While there are many fruits in this forest, not all of them are edible. Some are extremely toxic. I'll slowly explain it to you. Your task today is to remember the appearance of this fruit, understand?"

Ah Dai carefully studied the gourd-shaped red fruit in his hand, carefully memorizing its features.

"Eat this, it's your breakfast. We still have a lot of things to do when we get back."

After breakfast, Goris took Ah Dai to the biggest wooden house on the north side. Upon entering the house, Ah Dai was stunned. This room was quite different from the one he stayed in last night. It was filled with all sorts of strange things. The strangest of all were the row of large cabinets along the wall, which were made up of drawer after drawer, all marked with labels. However, to Ah Dai, the characters on these labels were just unrecognizable symbols.

Goris looked at these familiar experimental tools and sighed, "Starting today, you must remember the names of a few things each day. I will test you tomorrow. If you can't remember, you will be punished by eating one less meal. Today, you have to remember all the labels on this cabinet." Then Goris walked to the leftmost side of the cabinet and pointed to the top drawer, "These two characters mean 'saltpeter', it's something we alchemists often need. All these drawers store different things."

"Saltpeter? Saltpeter." Ah Dai kept murmuring.

Goris recited the labels from top to bottom of the leftmost row of drawers, and Ah Dai followed along. Goris left him there and started his own preparations.

Ah Dai's memory was poor. It took him an entire day and dozens of questions to Goris to barely remember the names of these ten labels. From this day on, Ah Dai began his memory training. At first, what he remembered the first day would certainly be forgotten the second day. Although Goris threatened to withhold meals, he always gave Ah Dai extra fruits during the second meal. Feeling the concern of Goris, Ah Dai became even more diligent in memorizing these characters he had never seen before. His daily task was to pick the fruits needed for him and Goris's meals and memorize the names of these labels. Meanwhile, Goris manipulated his experimental tools every day, continuously using magic for fusion and configuration of an unknown substance. In the evening, Goris wouldn't let Ah Dai sleep, but asked him to meditate instead. At first, Ah Dai was not used to it, and often fell asleep the next day while memorizing the labels. But after a while, Ah Dai's mental condition improved, and meditating became his best form of sleep, a night of meditation could fully replenish him for the next day. The only regret Ah Dai had was that since he came here, Goris had never taught him any magic spells. In his free time, he could only entertain himself with "Little Fireball" and " Flame Spell". Occasionally, when Goris was in a good mood, he would teach him some simple characters.