Willard sat there stunned with what he had just heard. ‘The village was raided by some outlaws’, kept replaying in his mind. “What do you mean? The chief and the warriors should have been able to fend off any outlaw.” Willard said snapping out of his daze.

“The village wasn’t raided by just any outlaw, they were raided by the blue mist bandit group,” Ayola said staring deeply at Willard.

“Did my parent survive?”

“I don’t know? I was in the forest picking wood when I saw the others running away. I followed them to safety.”

Willard immediately got up and dashed out of the restaurant. Thoughts of his mother came pouring into his mind. Although he had regained his complete memory of his former life, Willard’s memory of his childhood with his parents was still a part of him. For the first time since his true existence, he had experienced what it was like to have the love of a family. Although he hated his human existence, he had inherited a subconscious love for his parents. This was a feeling he had gradually grown fond of. ‘A mere mortal dares to take what is mine.’ Willard angrily thought as he ran. Within Willard’s elemental core, the strange red energy started slowly flaring. Every time he thought of the possibility of his parents being killed, the magnitude of the flares increased. On Willard’s neck, were the ring his father had gifted him before his trip was tied, started glowing a clear cyan blue color. This occurrence fell out of Willard’s attention, as his mind was completely occupied with the state of his parents.

Over at a distance location, within a different village, Aorah was drinking wine in the company of complete strangers. She had changed her appearance to that of one local woman who lived in that village. Suddenly Aorah mystically disappeared, leaving those people in a state of complete stupor.

As Willard ran, he saw Nana grooming the horses off in the distance. Without a word, he grabbed one of the straps attached to a horse. “What do you think you are doing?” Nana asked in obviously unpleased manner. Willard turned, with a sort of evil gaze It was almost as if he was in a state of blood lust. His stare was domineering and penetrating Nana had to take a couple of steps back while clenching onto a pendant on her neck.

Hovering up in the sky, Aorah was watching the whole thing with a frown. She disappeared from her current position and appeared right in front of Willard. “What are you doing?”

“I need to rush over to my village as soon as possible,” Willard said as he climbed and sat on the horse.

“Wait. Wait.” Ayola yelled running towards them.

“You can’t go there. The blue mist bandits will kill you.” she continued while she panted.

“I am leaving now.”

“You are not going anywhere,” Aorah responded.

Willard’s gaze intensified as he heard Aorah’s words. A sort of fiery aura seemed to permeate from him. Without a seconds notice, Aorah released a domain which had made everything within her surrounding to stop moving. Everyone living thing, animals or humans had stopped in place except for Willard who still had some his mobility.

“Think for a second before you act.”

“Do you know anything about the blue mist bandits? Who leads them and whether you are a match for them?”Aorah’s words made a lot of sense to Willard, but he was never the type to shy away from a fight.

“I do not care who it might be, but anyone who offends me must pay.”

“You will surely die if you go there tonight. Not even I can guarantee your safety.”

Willard was shocked to hear what she had just said. He knew quite well how powerful Aorah was, and for her to say what she had just said meant that this adversary was indeed powerful. Aorah had found out about the blue mist bandits through her hobby of mingling with the various villagers as they traveled. She had learned of the deeds this water fiend had been doing in those parts and had gotten a better understanding of the group.

“I promised to let you visit your village, but this is different. A water fiend leads the blue mist bandits. All fiends are comparable to saints in power.”

This was the first time Willard had heard the terms fiends and saint. Although he had learned of the martial cultivation ranks from his time in the Yellow Hew village, he had never heard of those ranks. This was due to the relatively low level of knowledge the villagers had and rarity of individuals at that level.

“If you want to be of any help to your parents and the villagers, if they are not already dead, you need to calm down and listen to me.” As Willard listened and thought about it, Aorah’s words seemed to make quite a lot sense. For now, at least, he had to understand who the blue mist bandits were. “When do suggest we leave?” Willard asked.

“When you are well rested, we shall depart.”

Aorah released her domain and everything went back to normal. Ayola resumed her panting, while Nana walked closer to Aorah. The group made their way to the inn Nana had gotten them on Willard’s request. Ayola had narrated the entire situation to Aorah and Nana, which helped to the ease the slight hostility Nana felt towards Willard’s earlier action. Of course, Willard could care less about Nana’s feelings, if it were up to him, he would have never joined them in the first place.

Willard sat on a bed in a meditative posture. He thought about his current state of mind and found that these feelings were completely alien to him. The reason for his state of complete anger couldn’t be correctly explained. Willard noticed the emotions he felt at the moment, had a new found effect on his soul. Willard noticed his soul was growing much more powerfully than it had ever done since he regained his memory. He couldn’t really find an explanation to the phenomenon and chose not to think much about it.

Ayola walked into the room where Willard was seated after taking a shower and having a fresh change of clothing. She had initially hoped to grab Willard’s interest but was disappointed to notice Willard wasn’t even paying any attention to her. Eventually, she could only leave and stay in the company of Nana.

“Come with me.” Aorah’s voice sounded in Willard’s head. Afterward, Willard had disappeared from the room to the top of the building.

“When one has a complete understanding of one of the universal laws, your body, soul and elemental core is transformed into a single entity,” Aorah said taking a slight pause. “This existence is what is referred to as a saint.”

“A fiend, on the other hand, is a person who receives the will of a god. I can’t really explain how this happens, but ever so often a god’s will descend and select a suitor. These people do not have the understanding of the universal laws, but they are able to draw a lot of power from the god and are somewhat comparable in power to saints.”

Willard knew a lot better than Aorah in regards to the so-called god’s will. This was something he had done countless times in the nine heavens. It was a means god’s used to gain followers in the different mortal worlds. According to gaya’s decree, all gods were forbidden from entering the mortal world. The gods used this method to instruct several mortals of their existence and make them serve him, thereby increasing the level of the god’s soul. After a suitable mortal gains the will of a god, the mortal gains a tiny portion of power from the god, who is also able to communicate with that mortal. The level of power the mortal is able to gain is dependent on the strength of the god and level of martial prowess of the mortal.

“Although I am at the level of a saint, I am still unable to guarantee your safety against this water fiend.”

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