Chapter 116 - 024: Inner Confirmation

Chapter 116: 024: Inner Confirmation

This was a man with an exceedingly strange appearance.

Standing at only 1.34 meters tall, he had a rather corpulent figure and an exaggeratedly large mouth filled with two rows of sharp, serrated teeth, like two sets of saws shoved inside.

His highly distinctive features made him unforgettable at first glance—

Barton!

Lynch remembered the name of this senior, Richard, who had left a deep impression on him at the Wizard Market last time.

He recalled Barton mentioning he would return to the Ramos Duchy, never expecting to encounter him here!

Lynch couldn’t help but marvel at the wonders of fate.

Perhaps due to his increased power during this period, facing this formidable individual once more, Lynch was neither particularly fearful nor panicked. Silently preparing for battle, he carefully observed Barton’s every move.

Simultaneously, Barton was sniffing the air, taking one step at a time towards Lynch and his companion.

“What a sweet scent!”

“It’s those weak white lambs.”

“Hehe, are you lost?”

He quickly locked onto Lynch and Avery’s position.

That long, scarlet tongue emerged from his terrifying mouth, licking his thick lips with slick saliva.

His expression appeared excited and greedy: “Hide and seek, hehe, I’ve found you!”

Seeing this, Lynch decided against hiding because he knew that Barton’s nose was implanted with the olfactory cells of a Split Demon Hound. In this secluded, deserted place, if he could hide successfully, it would be a miracle.

If escape wasn’t possible, then let it come!

A fierce battle seemed inevitable, but just then, from a distance, a ’clatter, clatter’ sound came from the mist, like the sound of a mechanical piston in operation.

The silhouette of a figure could be faintly seen rushing toward them—the outline… was it that alchemic man?

Lynch’s heart tightened.

Before he could react, Barton suddenly cursed, “Damn it! So annoying!”

With that, he immediately abandoned Lynch and Avery, charging into the mist and quickly disappearing into its depths.

The alchemic man also vanished in pursuit, and the crisis dissipated instantly.

“What… just happened?” Lynch gazed in bewilderment toward the direction they had left.

“Lynch…”

Just then, Avery’s weak and frail voice emerged from his arms, and Lynch looked down to see her pale face.

Lynch frowned: “Is it serious?”

Avery forced a smile: “I can manage, but I can’t use magic anymore…”

A warm feeling unexpectedly rose in Lynch’s heart.

In truth, Avery’s condition was precarious. Without using magic, it wasn’t apparent, but once she utilized spiritual power, it would disturb her already fragile Spiritual Sea, which was on the brink of collapse.

Because of this, though Avery’s Light Attribute spells excelled at suppressing the negative energy particles here, she would rather endure the negative energy attacks than use magic to repel them.

Yet even so, when she saw Lynch was in danger, she risked the collapse of her Spiritual Sea to help him out of the predicament.

She hadn’t considered the idiom “the teeth are cold when the lips are gone,” nor had she pondered any other solutions. It was purely her instinctive reaction, selflessly deploying all available means without considering the consequences.

Her actions were irrational but genuinely sincere, the last time a woman treated him like this was his own mother.

Words of thanks were meaningless, so Lynch simply took a rope from his Space Ring and securely tied Avery to his back.

He said, “Just a few dozen kilometers left, hang in there.”

Avery retorted, “I’m just a bit mentally weak, don’t make it sound like a final farewell.”

Lynch chuckled: “Just trying to move you a bit.”

Avery rolled her eyes: “Don’t count on it, you’re not my type. A common lad can’t enter the castle or meet the princess.”

Nonetheless, upon saying these words, Avery felt an inexplicable ’thump’ in her heart and instinctively glanced at Lynch’s reaction. She didn’t know why she felt this way; it was a subconscious action, much like her spontaneous purifying spell use earlier.

She only relaxed when she saw he didn’t appear upset or displeased.

Yet immediately following, an inexplicable sense of loss overcame her.

’What’s happening!’

The rapid swings in emotions left her perplexed, a state she’d never experienced in her life so far, irrational and unlike herself.

So Avery quickly shook her head to calm herself.

With effort, she restored tranquillity, just in time for Lynch to playfully tease, “No such thing as an unassailable castle in this world; if you’re sincere, even a sleeping princess can be awakened, right?”

Rationality told Avery this was simply a joke from Lynch, no different from countless others along their journey, meant purely to amuse her.

But strangely, she felt.

What if it wasn’t just a joke?

Like ripples on a serene lake, the bits and pieces from their journey surfaced quietly in Avery’s heart, leaving traces, even if they didn’t stir grand waves inside her.

Avery couldn’t remember if she napped or pondered these jumbled thoughts.

Anyhow, when she regained focus, they had already left the Forest of the Dead.

Now they found themselves in a peaceful, lush forest where the night breeze gently rustled the treetops with a crisp whisper, and before them lay a lake, where the pale moonlight danced in shimmering waves upon the surface.

As dusk descended, the moonlight was at its finest.

“Finally out,” Lynch said, setting Avery down after having carried her for dozens of kilometers, even a Mid-level Knight was a bit out of breath.

Avery’s gaze inexplicably softened: “You didn’t have to rush.”

Lynch replied, “You weren’t in good shape.”

That forest made him uncomfortable as well.

Avery would normally calmly assess her own condition, allowing both to analyze their next moves. If the problem wasn’t too severe, she might even joke about it.

However, unexpectedly, Avery merely whispered, “Thank you.”

Lynch paused, puzzled: “What’s up?”

His first thought was that her condition was worse than expected, but it didn’t seem to be?

At the same time, Avery glanced at him with a complex expression.

Being shrewd, she had already figured out the cause of her inner turbulence. Though inexperienced in such matters, she knew it was unmistakably a sign of her heart being opened.

For a moment, Avery didn’t know what to say.

After all, romance wasn’t in her life plans, nor had she thought she would encounter these feelings.

These emotions contradicted her pursuit of absolute reason.

’When did it start?’

’When tending to wounds? Crossing the Snow Mountain? Or when she experienced hypothermia?’

Avery wasn’t sure.

Until just now, when Lynch entered his anomaly, she realized something was amiss: all rational analysis went out the window, risking her safety to cast spells…

’Liking someone is just liking someone, it’s no big deal!’

After a brief internal struggle, Avery resolved her feelings, and her chaotic thoughts calmed down instantaneously.

She wasn’t one to shy away from her feelings; liking someone was no big deal.

’Now’s not the time to dwell on this!’

Suppressing her emotions, Avery surveyed her surroundings and asked, “Where are we now?”

Lynch replied, “We should be nearing the border…”

As he spoke, his gaze turned enigmatic as he looked at her.

“What’s wrong?” Avery queried.

Lynch shook his head: “Nothing, it’s just your expression… was quite intriguing.”

He had witnessed her face shifting from perplexity to confusion, to bafflement, and finally to enlightenment before its usual calm, all very uncanny.

Avery laughed it off: “Nothing, just made a decision.”

“As for what decision…”

“We’ll talk when we’re back at the Tower, it’s not something that can be explained in a few words.”

With that, she walked over to the lake’s edge to wash her face.

The water, clear and pristine, perfectly reflected her beautiful visage.

Avery had never been concerned with her looks, but gazing at her reflection in the water, she was genuinely grateful the world had treated her kindly.

But then.

A gust of night wind blew, causing ripples across the formerly calm lake.

In these ripples, her reflection began to change.

Her long hair became short, her nose bridge higher, brow bone lower, turning her features more prominent.

The beautiful young girl transformed into a young man, as if swapped genders.

Avery’s pupils contracted sharply, her smile vanishing.

Simultaneously, the young man in the water suddenly opened his mouth to say, “I’ve finally found you, my dear sister!”

The next moment, hands shot up from the water, yanking her into its depths.

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