Chapter 30: Home Alone

It had been a little over an hour since Black Crow Koa had left for work, leaving Red Deer Rhos alone inside her apartment.

The place was unnervingly quiet, the only sounds were the groaning of old wooden beams and the muffled sounds of the city filtering through the walls.

Koa hadn’t locked the door before leaving. In fact, she made no attempt whatsoever to stop him from walking out of this place any time he wanted.

This greatly confused him because he wasn’t sure if he was a guest or a captive. If it was the latter, then she did a terrible job.

He leaned back on the sofa and rubbed the bridge of his nose, his gaze wandering toward the entrance.

Truthfully, after everything he went through, he wasn’t in much of a hurry to leave anyway.

To start, Ranger Division 14 had been annihilated. As one of the very few survivors – assuming Leopard Cat Nimra had survived too– he would immediately become the center of an investigation.

The Ranger Corps would want a full report. Then the higher Divisions would fight over him for information. Afterwards government officials would inevitably involve themselves because the appearance of a Wrath near the patrol boundary wasn’t something they would simply ignore.

The more he thought about it, the more troublesome it sounded.

"Hiding here for a few days honestly isn’t the worst idea"

He didn’t trust the young woman living here, but for now it was a sensible decision to just stay put. Just as she instructed him.

If she truly meant to harm him, she already had countless opportunities during the entire week when he had supposedly been unconscious.

"I could just walk out if I want to leave. Whatever Black Crow plans to do if I ignore her... I’ll deal with that when the time comes"

Pushing himself off the couch, Rhos stretched until several joints cracked. He didn’t know if it was because he had not moved in a week, but his body felt incredible.

The wounds that should have crippled him for life were completely gone. His limbs moved naturally, his breathing felt deeper than ever before, and there wasn’t the usual soreness one suffered from after exhausting every drop of spiritual energy.

He felt extraordinarily great!

He didn’t understand why, especially considering how hard he fought and pushed past his limits in that forest. But that did not matter now because...

"First things first... where exactly am I?"

With his thoughts settling on something far more important, he walked toward the large window, grabbed the shaded black curtains and pulled them apart.

"So bright..."

He narrowed his amber eyes at the morning sunlight that exploded into the room. When he pushed the window open, a cool breeze rushed in. It carried all sorts of wonderful scents.

It smelled of fresh leaves, rain soaked earth, flowers, fire smoke, cooked food and thousands upon thousands of different kinds of wonderful scents layered over each other. This was one of the perks of having an enhanced sense of smell.

Before he could properly enjoy the diverse smells of civilization .... Fwooosh!

An enormous shadow rushed past the open side of the building. The gust it generated nearly shoved him backwards, making the curtains dance wildly.

"What the...?!"

Rhos grabbed the window frame and followed the path of the shadow. What he saw was a gigantic eagle-like bird with feathers the color of polished bronze soaring past the apartment complexes before climbing effortlessly into the sky.

The giant creature continued flying until it landed atop one of the massive branches dominating the skyline.

The city unfolded before him.

Buildings constructed from wood and stone spread in perfect concentric circles, connected by suspended bridges and enormous walkways. Countless people went about their day below while flying animals carried merchants between districts high above the streets.

Yet none of that held his attention for long. At the very center of everything stood something that dwarfed the entire Biome.

Its trunk alone was so unimaginably vast that entire districts had been constructed around its roots. The bark resembled white stone rather than wood and its branches stretched farther than mountains. Some disappeared completely into the upper reaches of the World Shell barrier.

This massive tree was known as Yggdrasil, the Pillar of Elderwood. The giant bird that had flown past his window was heading in its direction.

From this apartment, despite being situated somewhere along the eastern lower ring, the view of Yggdrasil was almost perfect.

Even after living here for years, he still couldn’t get enough of its magnificence. He couldn’t stop smiling.

"I made it back..."

Saying those words out loud made his knees weaken. He leaned against the windowsill and laughed. As his laughter got louder, he clutched his stomach.

"Hahaha... hahaha... I actually made it back... I survived!"

The Keeper, Mountain Gorilla Taru, was dead. Most members of Ranger Division 14 were dead. Those arrogant bastards who had always looked down on him, treated him like disposable bait.

Every single one of them had perished.

"I survived..."

His smile widened into something uglier and his laughter twisted into that of a maniac.

"You hear that, you bastards?! While you’re all rotting in that monster’s stomach, I’m alive and well. I’m the one standing!"

He spread out his arms and looked at the sky.

"Not bad for a fucking Outborn, huh? Keeper?!"

For a brief moment, he felt the warm feeling of victory in his chest. However, that feeling was immediately soured by the tear filled eyes of Leopard Cat Nimra.

His smile dropped.

"If you’re dead, I hope it was a gruesome one"

After everything they had gone through together... Rhos shut the window with more force than necessary to force that woman out of his thoughts.

Thinking about her won’t accomplish anything. Right now, he needed answers. He inhaled a calming breath before he rolled up the sleeve of the borrowed sleeping shirt.

After suffering from fatal wounds, he expected scars, but he found nothing. Even the massive bite that should have torn apart half his torso was gone.

"What exactly happened after I accepted that deal..."

He remembered a proposal made by some strange creature and him accepting it. Everything went blank afterwards. He closed his eyes and really concentrated.

The apartment faded from his awareness as he searched through the scattered fragments of his memories.

Eventually, something surfaced, and he spoke it out loud absentmindedly.

"Neth"

The instant the word left his lips, a golden flash erupted right in front of his face.

"Uhh!"

Rhos stumbled backwards so violently that he tripped over the rug and landed flat on his butt. He quickly rubbed his eyes so he could take a look of what caused it, however what he saw... had him lost for words. It spoke.

[Congratulations, Human]