Moments before Zane arrived at the place Velrath had mentioned...
Zane had just finished his last class and was hurrying to his dormitory.
Meanwhile, Vale watched him strangely, noticing Zane's unusual behavior.
'What's he up to again?'
Seeing as Zane had left the room with the others, he also stood up and followed Zane to the dormitory.
Moments afterward, Zane arrived at their front door, while Vale waited right behind him for him to open the door.
Vale wasn't really spying on Zane; Zane was simply too focused on something to even notice Vale was right behind him.
After opening the door, Zane went inside their dormitory. He then headed to his bedroom, while Vale also entered the dormitory.
Vale didn't approach Zane at first, since he wanted to observe him.
Ever since Zane told him the truth about himself, about how he was cursed and it took almost all the space in his mana core, resulting in a low mana capacity, he couldn't help but be more curious about him. He also noticed that Zane had been acting really strange, doing things he never really did before.
Vale was worried that something might be wrong with him. For example, what if those things Zane told him were all lies?
What if Zane actually made a contract with a demon, and it gave him more mana capacity?
These thoughts had tormented him since yesterday.
'Zane, I can only hope I am wrong...'
Vale knew more than anyone how much Zane had gone through, from his life in the academy to his personal life. He knew how much torment Zane had experienced.
Usually, those who made contracts with demons were the kind of people who gave up on the sufferings that life had given them.
In exchange for something they wanted, the demon who made a contract with them would give them certain tasks to fulfill.
And Zane would usually just stay in his dormitory once classes ended, but now he would always go out every time he had the chance.
Was a demon giving him certain tasks he needed to fulfill?
...
'Hmm, let's see... since Velrath said he could just teleport me there, I don't really need to bring too much.'
'Well, I guess I'll just change to more comfortable clothes and bring all my Magic Formulas.'
Zane was deciding what he should bring and what he should not bring.
Well, since Velrath said that he could just teleport him near the place itself, his journey wasn't going to be a dire one.
Or so he thought.
The reason why Velrath couldn't just teleport him to the place itself was because doing so would consume a ton of mana; even teleporting Zane near the place was too much already.
And he didn't really want to spend too much of his mana, just in case things went wrong.
"Zane, are you ready?"
Zane had just changed into his new outfit and was bringing all the things he needed.
'What a pain... if only I had a dimensional box.'
Moments afterward, he was finally done preparing himself.
"Alright, I'm done."
As soon as he said those words, he sat down on his bed and crossed his legs.
Velrath was behind him, about to cast a spell.
Soon after, a magic circle started appearing below Zane. Then, a laser beam that could eradicate a person formed on the magic circle.
...
- Knock!
- Knock!
"Hey, Zane? Are you there?"
- Creak!
Vale opened the door, peeking inside Zane's bedroom. However, all he could see was Zane's belongings.
"Huh? Didn't Zane enter his room earlier?"
...
"You've got to be kidding me…"
Zane stared at the thick forest before him, feeling as if monsters could attack him any second.
In fact, as soon as he got here, he thought he was back in Dreadwood Forest, considering how thick the forest was.
"Hey, don't judge yet. You'll be surprised by what you'll see later."
Velrath said with confidence.
Zane remained frozen for a while, deciding if he should really trust Velrath.
And how did Velrath even end up in a place like this before?
As Zane froze, looking around his surroundings, Velrath went ahead of him and motioned for him to follow.
"Let's go."
Hearing Velrath's words, he started walking, following the human-like demon in front of him.
He walked through the uneven ground, carrying his bag.
It was hard, but because of Zane's consistency in his physical training, it wasn't that hard for him anymore.
If there was anything that could be considered good in this short journey, it would be that there were no monsters attacking him.
Perhaps this forest wasn't roamed by many monsters.
As they got closer to their destination, the path leading to it became even easier to walk through.
Zane could now see flowers around him, and the trees around him didn't look that ancient anymore.
It was hard to believe this was the same forest he had walked through earlier.
'How the hell did Velrath even get here in the first place?'
Considering that the place Velrath had mentioned was said to be in this place, it meant he had been here before. But, what the hell was Velrath doing here?
'Hmm...'
Moments afterward, Velrath finally came to a stop.
Seeing as Velrath froze, Zane also did the same.
A bunch of large leaves were blocking their way.
Velrath stared at them for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face.
Meanwhile, Zane was looking at Velrath strangely.
'What the hell is he smiling for?'
"Alright, we are here."
"Huh?"
As Velrath said those words, Zane's expression looked dumbfounded. He then looked around him.
Although his surroundings might not be as bad as they were before, it was still not a good place for his training, especially with all the trees around him.
"Zane, go through it."
"Sorry, what?"
Zane became even more dumbfounded as Velrath told him to go through the large leaves blocking their way.
"Don't worry, just do it."
Zane stared at him for a moment, then said:
"Alright."