Shadow parasite

One foot in front of the other, both of them reached Gorn's tree house, which was situated in the higher part of the city. On the way, he told Rebeca a few things in advance. Upon entering the house, Gorn saw Elisa as well as her three daughters present in the living room, waiting eagerly for him. For a moment, all eyes shifted towards Rebeca.

"This is Rebeca, my former classmate."

Rebeca assumed a more formal position while politely greeting everyone.

"It's a real pleasure to meet you."

Mara and Nora already knew her, while Elisa and the little girl were very sociable, thus the mood was not tense at all. Glancing at her mother, and seeing that she wasn't paying attention to her, Ella jumped from the sofa and ran towards Gorn, ultimately jumping in his arms. Her round black eyes shined brightly, exposing her mischievous behavior. Gorn took out a power-up potion and gave it to her while blinking with one of his eyes.

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After a short time, everyone except Rebeca reached a power level of five hundred. As for his classmate, Gorn stopped when she reached the amount of four hundred.

"You must all get accustomed to your new power. After a few days, Rebeca will be responsible for training you all."

Sensing the massive change in power, Rebeca trembled with excitement. She, as well as the others, had a lot of questions, but the answer to those wasn't so important at the moment. Gorn gave everyone leather armor, one iron sword, as well as some healing potions. "These potions can heal physical wounds to some degree."

Pausing for a short moment, he continued: "While I'm away, Elisa will be in charge. In case I don't respond to my phone and something is not right, or a great danger lurks around, and you don't feel safe in this city anymore, then run east for twenty kilometers. There is a huge tree there. Wait for me at that place."

Mara and Nora looked concerned: "Let's hope that moment doesn't come, or if it comes we will all be together at that time."

Gorn smiled: "That would be for the best."

Walking towards the sofa, Gorn sat down.

"I will now tell you some information about the area outside these walls."

He started by recapitulating the possible crises that might befall on the city and continued with what he experienced on his hunts, what he read in the library, and a few of his ideas. Everyone listened without making a sound, including Ella. In the blink of an eye, an hour passed. Gorn got up. "I'll go outside for some time. We will continue talking when I return."

It was high time he called Sara. Things were going south, but not that fast to make him panic or rush some things. Blinking a few times, Gorn reached the top of the tree. Looking at everything from above was a great feeling, like all things were under his control. After a few moments of peacefully looking around, Gorn took out the phone and called Sara.

"Have you calmed down?"

Sara did not know about his ability to teleport away, so she was still looking for him around her villa, trying to find his location, and at the same time any information about his peculiar abilities.

"Where are you?!" Her tone was still a little crisp, and unpleasant.

Gorn grinned, but no one was there to observe his facial expression. "Maybe I should call you later then?"

"Wait! I'm calm now. Let's talk," answered Sara in one single breath, afraid he might vanish entirely from her grasp. She could not let her emotions get the better of her.

"Good. I didn't have time to elaborate since you attacked me, so I'll make a few things clear right now."

Sara listened with great attention. Gorn was shrouded in a veil of mystery, and his real power and potential could not be measured. If possible, she wanted to make friends with such a person, not enemies.

"I said that I will build a new city on that island, but I don't plan to steal anything from you. That is merely an option. An option I will consider only if you sell the island and that device to me. The price I'm willing to buy them for is one low monster core and not a single penny more."

Sara felt another surge of anger but held it in. "In that case, can you please return that device to me?"

"Of course. Wait for me inside your villa. I will arrive there shortly," said Gorn then closed the phone.

That cube was useless to him at this moment, and it occupied a large portion of his precious space. The device was useful to expand the safe area, but it wasn't absolutely necessary. In a short time, Gorn appeared at Sara's place yet again. At this point, he was quite proficient in using his 'blink' skill, so his arrival was not detected by anyone. After a few more minutes, he found Sara in one of the rooms that led to her secret hide-out.

"Hey. So where do you want me to put the device?"

Gorn arrived as mysteriously as he disappeared. Sara analyzed him from head to toe, but could not find anything to answer some of her questions. "Please put it at the place you took it from."

"Lead the way then," said Gorn while also analyzing Sara's reaction.

She was an impulsive person from what he saw today. Of course, his behavior was at the least annoying, so her reaction could be considered normal if looked from a different angle. After walking for some time, Sara spoke: "What do you plan on doing now, after discovering all this information?"

This was a question Gorn already thought about during this short time. "I will, of course, try to help as much as I can."

Gorn stopped at this sentence while looking at Sara for a few moments. Surprisingly, even though one could easily tell she wanted to ask him a few more questions, she waited for him to continue.

"My way of helping is, however, very different from the way you would like it to be."

Sara stopped: "Are you honest about helping out?"

"I have nothing to gain from the destruction of the city. It will only make mine, and everyone else's life harder," said Gorn with a sincere face.

Sara nodded: "I see... Then I apologize for my behavior."

Gorn smiled briefly: "Apologies accepted. But please remember, if you attack me again, there will be consequences!"

Sara trembled slightly and then quickly changed the topic. "We have arrived. You can put it in the same spot it was previously."

Gorn did just that.

"Before coming up with a solution, you first need to know what the real problem is. I have some matters I must attend to now, so see you later!" With those words, Gorn made himself scarce.