Chapter 31: Ashura (Part 1)
From his memories of the future timeline, William remembered that even after Samuel reached the Star Warrior level, his body had remained extremely weak.
Not only that, after becoming a Star Warrior, his condition seemed to worsen even further, making it difficult for him to even walk properly on his own.
’There is definitely something wrong with his body, and it is most likely related to this so-called divinity...’ William’s eyes were sharp as he thought while walking.
’When I leave for the academy, I will bring some of his blood with me and ask Vivian to examine it. If she confirms that there are traces of divinity in his blood as well, then it will confirm that his condition is related to this divinity.’
Using the same path he had taken while climbing the mountain, William began making his way back.
Because Vivian had released a portion of her aura earlier, he didn’t encounter a single monster on his way back.
Moreover, the sky was completely clear and filled with countless shining stars. With the help of the starlight, he could still see clearly despite it being the late hours of the night.
Since he had already cleared away the weeds and plants while climbing the mountain, it took him only an hour to reach the bottom.
"I am finally done with the most difficult part of the trial..." William stretched his body slightly and felt as though a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
Normally, becoming a Star Warrior should have been the most difficult part of his trial, while hunting five unranked monsters and one Star Warrior-level monster should have been easy because of his experience fighting in the war.
However, because of the Supreme Star Scripture, becoming a Star Warrior had become much easier, while the hunting portion had become more difficult due to the scarcity of monsters in the surrounding areas.
Now that he had finally completed the hunting task, he was completely at ease because he could easily complete the remaining task of becoming a Star Warrior.
He looked toward the climbing spots of the Kolva Mountain Range some distance away and wondered whether he should go and take a look at the blooming flowers there.
After all, he had told his parents that he was coming to the Kolva Mountain Range to admire the flowers.
’Forget it. It will be morning in just a few hours. I will camp here for the night and return after sunrise.’
Within just a few minutes, he had set up a simple tent.
Because of his vigilance, he didn’t forget to set up several alarms around his campsite in case someone tried to approach him while he was resting.
He was truly exhausted after fighting inside the Astral Rift the entire day.
As such, he simply ate the food Elena had prepared for him before lying down to sleep.
The moment he lay down, exhaustion washed over him, and he quickly fell asleep.
Nothing unexpected happened during the night.
When the first rays of the sun emerged from behind the Kolva Mountain Range and illuminated the land, William slowly opened his eyes.
Because his body was already far stronger than that of an ordinary person and he was accustomed to sleeping in harsh environments, he didn’t feel the slightest discomfort after waking up and was already full of energy.
He sat at the entrance of his tent without moving, quietly watching the rising sun with a peaceful expression on his face.
’How long has it been since I watched a sunrise with such a calm mind?’ He couldn’t help but wonder, remembering how much he had hated sunrises while fighting in the war against the Abyss.
Back then, every sunrise marked the beginning of another day, and every new day meant fighting the Abyssal beings once again while watching countless people he knew lose their lives.
He closed his eyes as those dark memories resurfaced.
When he opened them again, the tranquility in his eyes had vanished, replaced by an icy sharpness.
’Let’s make sure nothing like that ever happens again.’
He stood up and packed away his tent. Taking out a loaf of bread from his storage item, he ate it while calmly walking back toward Rosco Barony.
He didn’t run like he had when coming to the Kolva Mountain Range and simply walked at a relaxed pace since it was still only five in the morning.
Along the way, he encountered many people who were either returning to the barony like him or heading toward the Kolva Mountain Range in hopes of earning a living.
Around two hours later, the towering walls of the barony and its massive black entrance gate came into view.
William walked to the gate and entered the barony without any obstruction.
Even while returning, William’s thoughts remained occupied by the matter of divinity.
’Maybe I should look into my family’s history and see if I can find any clues about it.’
Vivian had said that it was highly likely he had a close relationship with a god.
But as far as he knew, both his father’s and mother’s families had been ordinary farming families, with not a single extraordinary individual among them.
Although the chances of discovering anything were slim, it was the only lead he had for the time being.
After entering the barony, William made his way toward his home.
While passing through the marketplace, he bought some fresh vegetables.
He still had some Iron Pig meat stored inside his storage item, and he wanted his family to enjoy it as well.
As for what he would say when they asked where he had gotten such meat, he had a hundred and one excuses ready to fool them.
Just as William left the marketplace and entered the farming district, he noticed a boy around Samuel’s age working in the fields alongside two adults, a man and a woman.
He was slightly surprised to see them working on the farm so early in the morning, but he didn’t pay much attention to them.
However, as his gaze swept past the young man, he felt as though he had seen him somewhere before.
He searched through his memories, and suddenly, his eyes widened in shock.
"Isn’t this guy Ashura... the madman who slaughtered Viscount Martin’s entire family?"
