NOVEL NEXT Chapter 122: Corfü Island
After selling the manuals and aura cultivation techniques, Kael, accompanied by the maid Roberta, continued exploring the city.
With the five hundred mana stones, he purchased a few simple items, only what was strictly necessary.
Shortly thereafter, they encountered Michel and Elizabeth in an area filled with shops. All kinds of products were sold there, most of them related to poison.
After traveling for a while longer, they returned to the mansion. During the day, the city offered nothing of interest.
Upon arrival, Kael and Michel went straight to the room where they were staying temporarily.
Although there was no bond between them, Kael had to keep him close. He needed him to complete the mission, obtain the inheritance of the Lord of the Stars, and finally leave the mountain.
Haste would only bring losses. Patience: that was the only way to reap greater benefits, especially from the Blander family.
The strange Zu's demonstration had been enough. Aiden would undoubtedly fix his attention on him to take advantage of him.
If he were his pre-regression self, he would have overlooked that detail and ended up exploited, a victim of his naivety.
Kael opened the status window. It was time to use his stat points.
Kael Medici
Title: Strayed Demon.
Talent: SSS.
Mana Core: Awakened.
Rank: 8
Knight Rank: 8 Stars
Magician: 2nd Circle
Traits: Refinement (A), Swordsmanship (A), Melee (S), Tamer (C)...
Strength: 95 +
Endurance: 93 +
Agility: 92 +
Vitality: 110 +
Mana Capacity: 97%
Stat points: 20
Kael glanced at his stats for a moment before tapping the "+" several times.
[+5 in Strength]
[+5 in Endurance]
[+5 in Agility]
[+5 in Vitality]
With the appearance of the status windows, followed by the increase in statistics, the stat points he had earned in the mission were reset to 0.
Kael braced himself for the excruciating pain that came with every improvement. However, this time the pain was not as severe as it had been before.
He felt as if millions of ants were biting his muscles at the same time; although it was still painful, Kael's expression remained indifferent, with several drops of sweat running down his forehead.
This did not last long compared to other times, when his bones and muscles moved as if they had a life of their own.
When the pain subsided, Kael looked at his stats, which had changed: his Strength was now at 100, Endurance at 98, Agility at 97, and Vitality at 115. With this, he already had two stats at 100, and the others were pretty close.
Kael closed his status window, feeling his body filled with vitality and strength. Once the upgrade was complete, he began refining his mana essence, feeling that he wasn't far from reaching Peak Rank 8.
Now he was closer to rank 7 and to undergoing a qualitative change.
...
Western Great Sea.
The sun shone brightly in a completely clear sky, casting its golden rays without any obstruction; not a single cloud stood in its way.
In the middle of the ocean stood a vast island teeming with life: tall palm trees swaying in the breeze, countless exotic birds soaring through the air, and rare creatures hiding in the thickets. However, upon reaching the shore, the view changed completely. In front of the beach stretched an endless horizon of sea, though it was not the usual deep blue.
Its waters seemed tinged with an indescribable mystery: three shades blended on the surface—blood red, black, and light blue—forming a contrast as strange as it was fascinating. It was unsettling, but at the same time, it gave the place a unique beauty.
All around them, enormous sea turtle shells slowly emerged and disappeared, carried by the current and waves up to two meters high that crashed forcefully against the shore.
From above, with the gaze of a hawk soaring through the sky, the island revealed even more of its secret charm: among the vegetation, a city full of houses could be seen, vestiges of humanity that seemed to defy the wild majesty of the surroundings.
In a large house overlooking the island town, a young man sat by the window. Sunlight bathed his figure, but there was no vitality in his face, only a dull, dead expression, as if life itself had been torn from him.
His appearance stood out despite everything: blood-red hair, cold, deep ruby eyes, and elegant features that, under other circumstances, would have attracted countless female glances. But now, those features were dulled by pallor and fatigue; even so, they retained the mark of a noble and proud lineage.
That young man was none other than Soren Medici, of the destroyed Medici clan, son of Zephyr.
His entire body was covered in bandages, every movement heavy and clumsy. He had regained consciousness more than a week ago, and since then, he had done nothing but silently watch the hustle and bustle of the city beyond the window. There was no interest or hope in his dead eyes, only the persistence of an unbearable memory.
The last memory engraved deep within him was the destruction of his clan and his family.
All his loved ones had fallen under the claws of the savage beasts. That truth weighed on him like an invisible fist squeezing his heart.
He, the young master of the Medici clan, could do nothing. Faced with disaster, he felt reduced to an insect: weak, insignificant, powerless.
He had seen clearly how his brothers were torn apart one after another, their bodies ripped apart like fragile rag dolls. The sound of their screams still haunted him at night.
He remembered, with painful clarity, his sister being torn to pieces, her blood and entrails spilling onto the ground. And he... paralyzed, unable even to move. Unable to save them.
That memory was like a hot iron branded into his soul, a humiliation he could never erase.
Even now, sitting in that strange place, he wondered how he had managed to survive and why he was in that house. None of it made sense. And yet, deep down, Soren knew the answer.
It was not fate, much less his strength, that had kept him alive.
The people who had rescued him did not do so out of compassion, or because they admired his features, or out of respect for his noble blood. They had done so because they saw him as a useful tool, a disposable resource that they could squeeze dry before abandoning him.
He knew it better than anyone: they had saved him to use him until he died.
And he had no way to refuse. He was wounded, weakened, broken.
The young master of the Medici clan had fallen so low that he didn't even have the strength to decide his fate.
Inside, there was only silence.
Just then, the door to the room opened with a slight creak.
A woman entered. She was beautiful, with tanned skin and hair as black as night. Her gaze was serious, but a barely perceptible smile played on her lips.
Soren looked up at her. He recognized her well: she was the same woman who, day after day, had been changing the bandages covering his wounded body. She had never spoken a word to him, and he had not bothered to ask her anything. His silence was as much out of disinterest as it was out of caution.
The woman, as usual, approached without hesitation. With agile, practiced movements, she removed the old bandages that hid Soren's torn skin and began to replace them with new, clean, tight ones. The process was quick, almost mechanical, as if she had done it countless times before.
Five minutes later, his task was complete. Soren's body was once again wrapped in white bandages that contrasted with the latent death in his eyes.
It was then that, breaking the silence he had maintained for over a week, Soren spoke in a low, harsh voice, as if his vocal cords had rusted:
"Where am I?"
The woman raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised to finally hear him speak. Her lips curved into a subtle smile, and with a tone laden with seduction, she replied:
"You're on Corfü Island."
Corfü Island... The name sounded strange and foreign to Soren's ears. He had never heard it before. In the Northern Frontier, where he was born, there were no islands.
The woman, after uttering those words, added nothing more. With the same calmness with which she had entered, she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Soren remained deep in thought as he processed what he had just heard.
...
On Mount Dubhu.
In the Blander family mansion.
Kael, Michel, and I were gathered once again with the head of the Aiden family, who had summoned us.
With a smile on his lips, Aiden spoke.
"I called you because we are about to begin the hunting competition. Before we start, I will explain the rules."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"The rules are simple: the winner will be the one who hunts the most animals. However, if someone manages to hunt a baron-ranked beast, the scoring will be different. You may only use bows and traps; the use of mana essence is prohibited. That's all."
Aiden stood up and kept smiling.
"Let the competition begin!"