"Aren't you going to the Tulalian Forest with me?" Luoya frowned at Asa, her face a picture of disappointment and surprise, like a little kid.

  Asa patted her head, wryly smiling: "I still have an important urgent matter to rush back to the imperial capital. Besides, you've also met the lord of Sedros City, he's a good friend of your elven tribe, General Gru will definitely be able to send you safely there."

  Luo Ya hummed in response, glanced at the tall and slender man who seemed human beside her, and nodded.

  "Are you at ease handing over the World Tree's Leaf and her to me like this?" General Gru asked Asa, his chiseled, handsome face always carrying an air of subtle majesty.

  Asa smiled and said: "I really can't think of a more secure bodyguard than you."

  Gulu said calmly: "Bodyguard? Do you know what's most important for a bodyguard?"

  "What is it?"

  "It's trust." General Gru's eyes flashed. "This is a divine object that everyone dreams of. The last time it was used on you, it was also an unavoidable thing. And our private friendship doesn't seem to be good enough for this. Let me say, I just happened to pass by the Dwarf King and killed two undead mages with my hands. I didn't think about helping you on purpose. You believe in me like that?"

  Asa smiled and said: "If you really want it, take it by force, it seems like we can't do anything about it. And I feel that you definitely won't."

  "Feeling? Can't you use your brain to judge?" General Gru still looked at him coldly. "Even if I'm not interested, Sedros might be interested, he's a magician. Even if the two of us aren't interested, such a magical item might be useful for Eufor. So even if we're not interested, we have to be interested now. Do you still believe me?"

  Asa furrowed his brow, thought for a moment, and let out a sigh. He looked at General Gru's calm, black eyes and smiled: "I believe you. Because I have no other choice but to believe you."

  General Ge Ru didn't say another word, he just stared at Asa with a cold gaze. His dark eyes showed no emotion, like a pool of solidified ink.

  After a while, the sculptural face finally had some ripples, although it seemed to have a mocking meaning, but the thin mouth corners were pulled up with an arc, and the black eyes also narrowed slightly. He took out a transmission scroll from his bosom and handed it to Asa. "This is the transmission scroll of your imperial city's transmission array. Originally, it was given by your emperor to our envoy from Europe for our convenience when we went there. If you're in a hurry, use this."

  "This thing has come at just the right time. I was worried that there wouldn't be enough time, but now there is." Asha took the scroll with great joy.

  "Hey, hey." Luya stopped behind Asa and pulled his hand. "Even this person himself says he's not trustworthy, why do you still believe him?"

  "Hehe, trust is just a feeling. Because I've interacted with him before, I can sense that he's not that kind of person."

  "So you trust me only because I almost killed you before?" General Gru looked at him, the smile on his face deepening a little.

  "Right. Haha... " Asa laughed loudly, holding the teleportation scroll in his hand and looking at the gloomy sky in the basin. He hadn't been this happy for a long time.

  In the conference room of Diya Valley. Two necromancers supported Master Aiden, who was found lying in the teleportation magic circle. His entire right arm and half of his shoulder had completely disappeared, with a thick and deep wound under his right ribs.

  The pure white magic glow floated on Master Aiden's body. Under the dual effect of the two advanced healing white magic 'Rebirth from Fire' and 'Divine Grace', his pale face finally had a hint of life.

  "This isn't damage that magic can cause, and it doesn't look like any weapon either. If this wound had been a bit further to the left... he would have absolutely not come back." A necromancer carefully examined the wound on Master Eaden's body. The bleeding had already completely stopped, and new flesh was even beginning to heal over the wound. To be able to receive treatment from two of the top white mages, aside from the Pope's side, there was only Deya Valley.

  "Did he come back alone?" a Death Speaker coughed to ask. Because of the rare gathering, most of the Death Speakers had not left Deya Valley after the meeting was over. If those two members who were good at healing magic had left, Master Aiden would have no way out.

  "He's the only one left... I wonder what happened to Aisley..."

  "Aisley is dead." Master Aidan struggled to open his eyes, gasping weakly. "We had that kid cornered in Carrendo, but then some helper of his appeared out of nowhere and stabbed Aisley in the back..."

  "What?" "What kind of person is this?" The necromancers were utterly astonished.

  "I don't know what kind of person, I didn't see." Master Aiden managed to squeeze out these few words with great effort. Two of the world's top magicians, members of the Necromancer's Guild, one was killed and the other escaped with his life, yet they couldn't even see their opponent, this is simply a joke.

  But the necromancers didn't laugh. They all knew each other's strength very well. The atmosphere in the conference hall was unprecedentedly heavy. This was a group of people who thought they were at the top of the world, but they found that someone could deal with them like pinching dead insects.

  "What about Hamna?" Master Aiden scanned his colleagues. "Only he understands that kid. The way the assistant and the kid work together, they must know each other. Why has he never mentioned it? This guy is hiding too many things from us." After saying all this in one breath, Master Aiden took a few deep breaths.

  "He has gone to kill Ronis." a death spirit mage said calmly.

  "Is he alone?" The excitement almost made Master Aiden faint. Ronis had been a master of white magic and air magic twenty years ago, recognized as the number one magician in the church, and there was also Sandru, the former deputy chairman of the guild. With these two joining hands, it's likely that everyone here would have to go all out just to be absolutely sure.

  "Of course, we also did some church and other preparations for him." The necromancer who was supporting the body of Master Aiden added another temporary physical enhancement spell. "Although I don't know specifically what he's going to do, but I think Ham should be fine since he wouldn't do something without being confident about it."

  "Alas, so much turmoil and upheaval has occurred in this period of time..." The old Death Spirit Master coughed laboriously, his strained appearance making it seem as if he was about to cough up his own lungs. "I truly miss the days when Sandru and Egrein were still here..." After a brief moment, he adjusted his breathing and spoke slowly. "Perhaps we should elect a proxy chairman..."

  Master Aiden's face was extremely unsightly, not just because of his injuries. He knew that this position would probably be out of reach for him.

  Asa ran with big strides, trampling the soft black earth. He breathed in deeply, filling his lungs with air thick with the smell of charcoal and iron. The sound of hammering and the shouts of dwarves from the tavern filled his ears.

  He had never thought the air was so beautiful, nor had he ever felt that the hazy sky above his head was so lovely. This was the air he had breathed for twenty years, and the sky under which he had lived for twenty years. Under such a sky and in such air, it seemed as if any magical fluctuations were impossible, and any conspiracy could not grow in people's hearts. Everything here was so peaceful.

  After running out of the basin for a whole day, I finally returned to that poor and dilapidated village. The familiar scenery finally appeared in front of me.

  That steamed bun shop I often visited was still sandwiched between the grocery store and the armor shop, two kids who looked like they were from the miner's house in the village behind were buying things, they had grown a lot taller. The ironworker's wife with one eye missing was drawing water from the well, the edge of the well was still missing two bricks, I remembered that one of them was dug up by me when I was ten years old and used as a weapon to fight against a hooligan, the brick broke at the same time. The wooden door of the carpenter who always looked down on me still had a big stone at the entrance, even the marks left by my urine when I was a kid were still vaguely visible. The girl's house who often invited me to eat was closed tightly, and the door was still missing a piece of wood...

  "I'm back!" Asa shouted loudly. The voice echoed under the gloomy foggy sky. Villagers all looked at him in surprise, and someone had already recognized him. "Hey, it's that blacksmith's bastard son, he's actually come back."

  The dozen or so gold coins in his pocket were heavy and swaying. This was what he had specifically asked General Gru for. The image of his father's honest and simple face floated into his mind, ordinary and unremarkable. It seemed that after expressing the concepts of honesty and blacksmithing clearly, there was nothing else that could leave an impression on people. But after being outside in the turbulent world for so long, he discovered that this extremely ordinary face was actually the most familiar one.

  I wonder what expression Father would have if he saw the money I brought back, enough to buy everything in his store? Would he be excited? But the father in my memory seems to have never had such emotions. Probably he would still ask me calmly as before whether I've eaten or not, and then take out the cold porridge or bread that seemed to always be prepared.

  Finally arrived at the village end, that familiar house was already in front of him. But Asa was stunned beyond measure.

  The place that should be familiar in my mind now looks so strange. The tools of father's, which were always placed under the grass shed regardless of wind or rain, are not seen anywhere, and the grass shed has collapsed by more than half. The stove is covered with moss due to the damp fog in the basin, indicating that it has not been used for a long time. The door is tightly closed, the roof is broken, and the dust everywhere indicates that no one has lived here for some time.

  A Sa stood in front of the door for a while, then stretched out his hand to push it. The door creaked and slowly opened with a "creak".

  The decorations in the house have not changed, the rack for placing weapons is still there, but it's empty. The dining table is still in the corner of the wall, and the stool that was broken by myself and then repaired by my father is still under the table. The familiar yet simple furniture is all covered with dust.

  Behind the village, a small cottage leaned against the foot of the mountain. An old woman sat in front of the house reading a book. She had a head of brown long hair and a thin face. It could be seen that she must have been a rare beauty when she was young, but her whole body emitted a kind of temperament that was completely different from other women. As she read, she suddenly looked up and saw Ah Sa running over.

  "Have you come back?" The old woman closed her book and stood up. "I know you have something to ask me, come on in."

  The small cottage was still the same as in Asa's childhood memories, just as tidy. The books and souvenirs from various adventures and travels were all neatly arranged. Asa asked anxiously: "Ail granny, where did my father go..."

  "He's dead." Old Lady Aill sat down in a chair and replied softly.

  These three words immediately blew everything in his mind clean. Asa was stunned.

  "Not long after you left, people came to the mine. They said you stole the fine iron ore from the mine. Your father didn't say anything, sold all the goods at home to compensate, and even went to work in a smelting factory himself. As a result, on the third day of going there, when pouring steel water, he didn't notice that there was a dead mouse in the crucible, which exploded immediately after being splashed with steel water, and the splashing steel water blinded his eyes. Although his life was saved, but he couldn't take care of himself, relying on the villagers for support, his body got worse day by day, and finally died two months ago due to chronic illness that couldn't be cured."

  "How did it end up like this......" Asa crouched down on the spot, hugging his head. He only felt that inside, it was as if everything was packed in, yet there was nothing at all.

  Ayi looked at him and let out a long sigh. She turned around, took out a ring from the drawer. "This was left to you by your father. He said it was something he put on you when he picked you up."

  "What did you say?" Asa vaguely heard the weight of these few words. "Picked up what?"

  "You are not your father's biological child. His wife had passed away long ago. You were abandoned at the village entrance one night and your father brought you back." Granny Aier's face and voice remained calm, but every word made Asa feel dizzy.

  My father's grave is just outside the village, not far away. Like him, it's an ordinary and unremarkable mound of earth that you'd forget as soon as you see it, with a rough-hewn tombstone bearing my father's name. Because everyone in the village believes that the runaway son will never come back.

  Asa half-knelt and half-kneeled in front of the grave, his hands touching the grave, feeling the cold silence of the mud, closing his eyes without moving. Granny Aier stood behind him, looking at him, also not speaking.

  After a long time, Asa finally spoke up in a low voice: "From childhood, I yearned for the outside world and spent all my time and energy on how to escape this ghost place. In the end, I escaped too. But the outside world also made me very confused, not knowing what to do. Now looking back, I just realized... what was I leaving here for?" His voice choked up and he couldn't continue speaking.

  "Ai Po said softly, 'I asked your father why he wanted to help you leave this place. He didn't say anything, just let you do what you want to do. Are you doing what you want to do now?'"

  "There are many things I don't want to... but can't help it... facing reality, I am powerless..."

  "Think of your father. He's an ordinary man, who forged a knife for you to run away with, what could he gain from it? What can you do by running away anyway? But he still did it." Old Lady Ail smiled and patted Asa on the shoulder. "Be like your father, do what you think is right."

  After a moment of silence, Asa let out a sigh-like groan and said: "I understand. I won't disappoint him, I'll do my best to do what I want to do." He took out the ring and put it on his left hand. The ring looked like it was just an ordinary jade, but Asa knew from the fluctuations emanating from it that this should be a very rare magical item.

  "Your father said your name is engraved on that ring, but it doesn't seem like it."

  Asa took a closer look. On the smooth ring, several faint floral patterns were engraved, and the engravings were very light. However, Asa saw that this was actually not his name. He had seen such symbols before, which were not the universal text of the empire, but an ancient language that only high-level magicians could master. This thing fell into the eyes of his father who was originally not very literate, and naturally became other characters similar in shape.

  The origin of his name was actually just such a misunderstanding.

  "Take a closer look, maybe you can find out your real parents and your real name from here."

  "It's not needed." Asa flipped his hand over, running the ring's smooth surface against the tombstone. The faint scratch on top was immediately worn away by the friction with the stone. "My father is right here. I'll take this name."