NOVPUB
Chapter 110: 110
Meanwhile, on the flipped version of the forest. A huge bird can be seen staring at its empty claw as it looked at Zephyr through that world to see that he was quickly turning into a dot off in the distance. Screeching out loud to the dark sky in that world, the bird was respond with a much harder screeching sound, a look of fear appeared in the bird’s eyes as it quickly left that world returning back to the forest as it took off to the sky opposite to where Zephyr was heading.
Zephyr never looked back as made his way back to the mountain, not even bothering to take a breather even after he felt how low his Mana was so he kept pushing until he saw a glimpse of the mountain.
Slowing down to calm himself, Zephyr looked back with caution as he made his way up this mountain. By this time the sun was slowly coming up, Zephyr could see some apelings who were already up as they walked out of their home yawning.
Looking down at the armor he adorned himself in, Zephyr shook his head as he jumped to the nearest roof, before taking off once again to make his way up the mountain.
As soon as Zephyr got back to the palace, he no longer hid his presence as the palace servants saw his fatigued figure as they walked towards him to take his armor off, at the same time they were preparing a bath for him.
Once he got to his room, the bath was ready which he showed no hesitation as he jumped into it. It didn’t take much time as Zephyr fell asleep in the warm water of the bath.
Stretching and yawning, Zephyr looked around to see himself surrounded by water. Recalling what had happened Zephyr smiled as he stood up from the bath, while grabbing himself a robe.
As soon as he walked out of the bathroom, he was greeted with a sight of his shrunken down father, holding a wine chalice with purple juice in it which he drank. Soon both their eyes met before his father smiled at him.
"Heard you were back looking really fatigued and tired, what happened?" Ikem asked as he handed the wine chalice he was holding to his son who hesitated for a while before taking the chalice.
Downing the drink, Zephyr swallowed the word back to his throat as he looked down to the empty cup, "Wow, please tell me there’s more where this came from"
"There is, Those barrels I came back with are filled with it" Ikem said seeing his son’s reaction.
Walking over to the door to Zephyr room, Ikem tapped at the door as it was opened from the outside to show an apeling in a palace dress waiting there, smiling at the apeling Ikem said "Bring us one of the barrel i recently came back with"
"Understood, your majesty" The apeling said as he closed back the door.
Walking to the small table setting in Zephyr’s room, Ikem sat down as he waited for Zephyr to change his clothes which didn’t take much time as Zephyr walked out newly dressed.
"Let me start with that the scouts came back with good news after one week looking for the rebels, according to the the so called rebel group may just be a group of humans who came together just to find a way out of the settlement for themselves which is why it was hard to locate them"
"Good, so what did you find out yourself?" Ikem asked as he looked at Zephyr.
Zephyr stayed quiet for a while as he looked at his father, "Nothing, I found nothing except for what the scouts have already reported back to us. Might have been different if i made my way into the settlement but that would expose me to the humans and it counter what we are trying to achieve"
Ikem nodded as he bruised his chin, when someone knocked at the door of the room they were in, Zephyr stood up as he walked to the door. Soon he came back carrying a barrel while holding onto a new chalice of his own.
Pouring both his himself and his thinking dad a drink, Zephyr said down as he slowly took a sip this time to appreciate the dull taste of the drink.
"I have already planned out the next step with the new clan representative, the question now is son are you ready? With the way things are going, you may be required to take action" Ikem said as he looked seriously at Zephyr.
Zephyr straightened up hearing his father’s words, "I am ready for anything father" Zephyr said.
Ikem didn’t react at Zephyr word or promise instated he said , "are you sure about that, the state you were in when i checked in on you was not great, you were so wore out that you didn’t even notice someone walking into your own room"
Zephyr, hearing his father’s words, suddenly recalled the dark figure perched on a tree looking at him, downing down the drink he had in his hand as he poured himself another one. "In my haste to bring the news back to you father, I met something I have always believed to be just a story of yours to scare us"
Ikem, hearing the words, immediately stood up from his seat causing the chair to fall behind him. "Did it catch you or do something else to you?" Ikem asked hurriedly as he already knew what his son was talking about.
"No, it didn’t catch me, Once I realized what it was. I didn’t hesitate to burn through my mana reserve to get as far away as I possibly can before it could make a move" Zephyr said as he downed his wine once again.
"I guess burning through my mana really wore me out more than I thought it would, which is why I was in such a sorry state but I guarantee you that I am ready father" Zephyr seriously said as he put down his chalice.
Meanwhile Ikem was preoccupied with his thoughts about those disappearing creatures. Himself, Aqua and Brix have always found the encounter with that panther weird but because such a thing only happened once they all thought it was just the creature having a weird ability, but now his son has encountered the same thing.
"That means that the other world is real," Ikem thought to himself. He didn’t even know where to begin understanding what was going on but he had to meet up with Aqua and Brix once again to inform them of this news.
"You did well in running away son, also quickly inform your siblings to be careful of such encounters from now on. Tell them that they are to never engage but focus on running, they are to only engage once they no longer have any choice but to do that" Ikem said, no longer feeling like sitting down.
"Rest well and prepare yourself son, we will be heading over to this Osita settlement in two days time, use this time to inform your siblings of the message I just told you" Ikem said as he walked out of Zephyr room.
The creature encounter was still in his mind but one thing at a time, This time they are close to getting what they need from the human settlement.
The days went by fast and today was the day Ikem and Zephyr with the soldier Ikem requested to join them as they discreetly left for Osita settlement.
To not attract attention to themselves, they all headed out very early in the morning while it was still foggy, and soon the team hastily made their way to the settlement. The journey to the settlement once again reminded Ikem why he and his people greatly are in need of a mount of their own.
The team unhurriedly made their way to the settlement, meanwhile Ikem and Zephyr took a detour to where Zephyr encountered the creature. Reaching the position of the encounter, Ikem and Zephyr both had a serious look on their face as they looked at the huge claw mark that dug deep into the earth.
A tense silence hung in the air. The sight of the deep gouges in the ground served as a stark reminder of the dangers lurking beyond their world. Ikem’s mind raced with questions, each one more unsettling than the last.
"This confirms it," Ikem muttered under his breath, his voice heavy with concern. "There are indeed creatures possibly from another realm among us."
Zephyr nodded solemnly, his gaze fixed on the ground. "Father, what do you think they want? "
Ikem shook his head, his brow furrowed in thought. "I wish I had the answers, son. But for now, our priority is different."
"One thing I can say for Sure is, this encounter is extremely rare and doesn’t happen all the time so we shouldn’t think too deeply about it. Once your grandfather wakes up things will be different" Ikem said as he turned around to join the team.
