Chapter 82: Unfamiliar Territory

Jiaoying knocked on a wooden door before she stepped away.

When the door opened, Yari took one peek at her before trying to slam it shut.

“Wait!!” Jiaoying stuck her hand in the door.

“Pardon me, but I do not exactly wish to see you or Solomon for the time being!” Yari yelled frantically.

Jiaoying wondered when the full gravity of everything they had done would finally hit Yari. She guessed it was sometime this morning after she got up and went to her own room.

“L-Look, I’m not here to bother you, I just came to say goodbye!” Jiaoying blurts.

The pressure on her arm is released as the door slowly creaks open.

Even disheveled, Yari is breathtaking.

She clutches her robe tightly over her chest as she pushes her hair out of her face.

The lingering marks on her face cause Jiaoying’s cheeks to warm.

“Is it… because of last night?”

Jiaoying’s eyes suddenly widen. “O-Oh, no! I didn’t mean it that way! Gods, I’m sorry to make you think that it’s just… that time again, you know?”

She wiggles the sheathed sword on her hip as if she’s speaking in code, prompting Yari to realize her mistake.

“Ah, right… the week before finals. How can I forget?”

Suddenly, it seems as though another realization dawns on her.

“Then Solomon is…?”

“They’ve probably already grabbed him, yes.”

Yari’s eyes became slightly sad. “Ah. A pity I did not see him before the day ended.”

“Did you avoid him?”

“T-That is not a fair question!”

Jiaoying laughs halfheartedly as she turns away. “Farewell then-”

“W-Wait!” Yari abruptly blurts.

Jiaoying pauses.

“When you return… I hope to see you and Solomon again to discuss… things.”

“Y-Yari, I-”

“D-Don’t misunderstand. It’s just… I need a favor and y-you and he should both comply since you did all of those things to me!”

Jiaoying started to say that they were not the only culprits, but smiled in amusement instead.

“…We will atone however you deem it necessary, my lady.” Jiaoying curtsies politely.

The act makes Yari blush slightly, something that seems to fluster her once she realizes it.

She clutches the door hard enough to crush the wood.

“I… have recently begun to take an interest in swordsmanship. I would like instruction.”

Jiaoying was visibly baffled.

“…Surely you jest.”

“I most certainly do not. And since you have already accepted, I will see you both when you return.”

Yari shut the door loudly, leaving no room for further discussion.

For a while, Jiaoying lingers outside her door, wondering if she has just unknowingly agreed to something she shouldn’t have.

–

When Solomon wakes up, he immediately knows that he is not somewhere he should be.

The sun scorches his exposed back as the humid air clings to his skin.

He feels disoriented. Drunk.

He concentrates on the power within his core and circulates it through his body until he can recover.

Slowly, Solomon sits up and raises his hand to blot out the intense sun.

He takes his first look at his surroundings and he is floored by what he finds.

The world is red, jagged spires of rock underneath a deep green sky.

The sun above was not only more intense than Solomon had ever felt, but there were also three of them.

He sits within the mouth of a shallow cave.

Slowly, he shuffles backward until his back is against the wall and he has slightly more protection from the shade.

The veins in his skin begin to glow.

His knuckles clenched, he slams his fist into the wall and shatters it like glass.

There is only one place in his memory that matches the terrain sprawling before him.

Solomon feels an anger clawing in his stomach.

He stands up suddenly, not wanting to wait around for any longer than he has to.

He has to move somewhere more secure. This place would only get more dangerous the longer he stayed out.

He quickly inspects his clothes and the items he has on hand. His school jacket is gone, and so is his shield. His sword is his only tool for self-defense.

Angrily, Solomon begins trudging down a narrow path to his right.

His vision starts to turn red the longer he thinks about his circumstances.

He can’t recall the face of the man who attacked him back in Yari’s class. However, he knows that whoever it was couldn’t have targeted him randomly.

If this were another test, he was far from amused by it. There seemed to be no other goal besides torture.

The path he had chosen became smaller and smaller until it was no longer possible for him to advance without climbing.

He was originally quite confident in his ability to make it over the cliff, but the problem was that the foundation was far from stable.

The rocky wall was brittle and crumbled rather easily. Solomon knows that it will not support his weight if he were to attempt to climb.

With no more options, Solomon starts to retrace his steps and go backwards along the wall.

However, as soon as he shifts his weight, he hears a small crackle underneath his feet.

“…Fuck.”

The ledge underneath him instantly gives way.

Solomon starts to slide down the side of the mountain.

Reflexively, he summons his gauntlets onto his hands and buries his claws into the rocky wall.

His descent is slowed, giving him enough time to think.

Gritting his teeth, Solomon activates his spirit heart.

He kicks off the side of the wall and flips into the air.

His body lands on a large black cloud bristling with lightning.

Solomon was relieved that his creation was actually able to hold him up.

He sighs in relief as he looks around for the next place to go.

The only problem was that all of the scenery looked virtually the same. No place looked better or worse than another… it was all unwelcoming.

With no real preference for direction, Solomon began descending in his current position.

But as his thundercloud carries him to the ground, Solomon suddenly hears the wind whistling.

His senses scream at him to duck out of the way.

He is a hair too slow.

A serrated spear of bone pierces his upper chest.

The force of the thrown weapon knocked him off his cloud and sent him crashing through the air.

He hits the ground hard, splitting his head open instantly.

The world is dark for at most fifteen seconds.

Suddenly, Solomon sits up like the risen dead.

Groaning, he looks down at the huge spear jutting out of his chest.

With two hands, he attempts to pull the weapon out of his body, and immediately winces in pain.

The barbs of the weapon are caught in his lung. Trying to remove it is utterly excruciating.

Solomon roars deeply before he rips the spear out of his body.

For a moment, he is bleeding profusely, and the pain is so tremendous that he briefly goes into shock.

But then, the moment passes, and he is scrambling to get back to his feet.

He hears heavy footsteps behind him, and an excited chattering in a dialect that he cannot understand.

Turning around, he sees a herd of individuals approaching him with torches and crude weapons.

There were at least fifteen of them. All of whom had deep red skin andblack-ish purple hair.

The large tusks that curled from their mouths were a deeply grotesque yellow.

He could no longer deny his earlier impulse.

This was Darrod. The land of Feral Humanoids.

Solomon swallowed. He reflexively began to back away.

Never in his life had he come across anything like a high orc.

Orcs, in general, have higher physical strength and durability than the average human.

The gap closes a bit if humans undertake the path of knighthood.

However, high orcs are almost three times stronger than their green-skinned descendants.

Solomon didn’t need to trade blows with them to know. Every one of these orcs could outmatch him if they were to get into a clash here.

Perhaps he would stand a greater chance if he were to shift. But that would only aid him for around a minute or so.

Just by looking at them, Solomon could tell. This was a hunting party. And one that would specialize in bringing down large, unruly beasts.

Solomon swallows again as he tempers his nerves.

His eyes glimpse the rocky wall overlooking the ravine, and a crazy plan forms within his mind.

Once again, he activates his spirit heart.

The ground around them shakes like rolling thunder.

For a moment, the orcs look around in confusion while debris falls from the mountain above them.

Solomon holds out his hands and a small firestorm is condensed within his palm.

He hurls the ball at the mountainside, and the explosion is terrible.

The mountain that was already beginning to crumble suddenly begins to break apart into huge chunks.

Enormous piles of debris start to fall from the sky as sand and rubble begin to fill the ravine.

Solomon immediately turns tail and starts to run while the orcs are distracted.

However, escaping was going to be far more difficult than he expected. Because high orcs were apparently much more intelligent than humanity wanted to admit…

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