73 - New Identity

Terren was surprised at the cold voice of the man but didn’t waste his time as he quickly jumped down from the wagon. There, Bor was waiting for everyone.

“If you guys want to be warm tonight, then quickly go collect some firewood.”

After saying this, he turned to the second guard and beckoned him to join Bor and the first guard. Seeing them leave, Illyan pondered whether he should waste time on going for firewood or just ignore it.

After all, he didn’t need the warmth of a measly bonfire to keep him warm.

However, when he saw that others, albeit with grumbles, started to go towards the forest without hesitation, he also tread inside. He didn’t want to be suspicious or standing out the very first day he reunited with his fellow citizens.

Not that he had some patriotism in his heart or he felt some kind of connection to them, though.

It was just that he felt some complicated emotion after finally meeting Vanaras citizens. It had been a long time since he just sat and listened to others’ rambles or talked to somebody.

Humans were sociable animals, and Illyan was no exception. He was a loner, maybe, but there was still a desire to have someone to talk with.

‘Maybe that’s how Zephyr came to be…’

Not to mention, while Illyan was raised in the barbarian tribe, he still considered himself civilized. The desire for a proper house to live in was intense after living almost a decade in a tent.

So the first thought that came to his mind when he finally found a bigger village was to settle down. Of course, he wasn’t so foolish to really do that. Now that he was probably already beyond the Mortal Realm and knowledgeable in medicine, he wouldn’t waste his time in a no-name village no matter how much of time he could afford to waste.

After listening to some villagers’ gossip, he found out the northernmost town in this place was WinterFrost town and decided he would settle down there for at least a few years before deciding what to do later.

He still had a lot to learn about. While Kaoran traveled a little when younger, he didn’t tell him much. Instead, all of the focus was on Bakur’s legacy.

However, one piece of advice was given to Illyan.

‘Never offend anyone unless you are sure he won’t be able to bite back.’

They could be in the 13th realm, yet so many people probably wouldn’t even know about it.

Why? Well, the strong ones didn’t flaunt their strength in front of weaklings. Yet they probably walked in the midst of them, so it wouldn’t be weird if someone made the powerhouse angry and then disappeared without knowing how…

When he passed over the second wagon, he turned his head to assess the others and immediately noticed the man in a gray robe.

‘Speak of the devil…’

With his eyes having much better spiritual sight, he noticed small fluctuations of the spiritual energy around the man. It was just a small detail as those fluctuations were extremely small and close to the man’s body, but Illyan noticed. He didn’t slow down as he continued on his way. He didn’t dare to stare too much in fear of getting in conflict.

‘Is the south really that mighty that in just one day I would meet some kind of a master?’

Unfortunately for Illyan, he didn’t know what this spiritual fluctuation meant. He never noticed such fluctuation from anyone else. He got his [Eyes of Truth] only a few years back and didn’t meet anyone who had such a reaction from his eyes. Not even Kara, who was the shaman of the Bakur tribe, had any fluctuations.

‘The only man who would probably have it died the night before I obtained this ability…’

Because of that, Illyan didn’t have anyone else to compare the fluctuation. Those fluctuations weren’t the result of the presence that everyone had but something different altogether. Was the man stronger than him or not? He didn’t have a clue.

The strong fluctuation didn’t necessarily mean that the person is stronger. It could easily mean that he wasn’t able to hide it as he wasn’t that capable.

Not to mention, he still doesn’t know why he had those fluctuations.

There were hundreds or even thousands of professions that could cause this.

This kind of unknown made Illyan tremble. Not in fear but in excitement.

How long was it since he felt such curiosity?

If he wasn’t rational enough, then maybe he would even consider jumping the guy and then slicing open his body to explore his secre-

Cough Cough

He interrupted his thought process as he quickly started to collect firewood.

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‘Before considering anything, I must recreate my new ‘dices’ to assess the situation. Even if the result won’t be that useful, I need to use it until the spirits won’t mess with it.’

Back then in Blood Crow Forest, he suddenly remembered he lost his tools for divination and so he took a left hand of the Thereas Clan’s Shaman and deboned the last segments of the fingers.

They were still not usable since they were not cleansed and carved yet. He wanted to make them with as much quality as possible…

…

It didn’t take long before he took enough firewood into his right hand. However, he didn’t leave immediately and instead came to the pines to collect cones and then returned back to the wagon.

The sun was already halfway beyond the horizon, and the guards were trying to make fire from the firewood that others brought.

“Damn it, why would you bring such wet wood? Do you think that will burn?!”

“But everything is covered in snow. It would be wet obviously…”

“Shut up, I didn’t ask for your opinion. Bring something that will burn good.”

One of the impatient guards said this and chased away the peasant kids.

Thud

Illyan came before him and let go of the wood in his arm and then threw cones at him.

“Those burn well.”

“Oh, someone here is at least not so clueless.” The guard nodded as he took the pines and then with little effort made a fire.

At that moment, the sun already disappeared, and two bonfires became the only sources of light.

Once everyone came back, they brought all the firewood and then sat down around the fire to warm up. Most of them also started to prepare some food that they got from their home or those who didn’t have any started to buy some from Bor who already had his business smile.

Illyan watched all of this with an impassive expression as his mind was completely elsewhere. Especially on that robed man in another group. He sat around the fire with the second merchant while the ones surrounding them were armed men. Was it just cautiousness or-

“Eh, sir, you won’t eat?” Terran who was speaking with his friends the entire time noticed that Illyan didn’t take out his food or anything as he just sat there.

Illyan looked back at the boy who was probably a few years younger than him and immediately felt a discrepancy. While the boy was young and full of vigor, he already has gone through so many vicissitudes of life in just less than 20 years.

This naivety, while dangerous and stupid, was also something that Illyan lost at a very young age and now felt a tinge of envy

towards this young man.

“No need. I already had my fill today. You don’t need to worry about it.” Illyan said as he shook his head.

As someone with extremely quick regeneration, he was always in need of energy to make the ability to work properly. And food was one of the sources of energy he currently had. The normally lengthy process of digestion was always quick whenever Illyan was in dire need of energy. This trait was highlighted during his time in Blood Crow Forest where he quickly gained back all his weight.

However, after doing this so many times because of the [Blood Feeding Technique], he noticed that his appetite was getting bigger even when he was in no need of so much energy.

He deduced that after using this technique it would also change his muscles little by little as they always got destroyed and then recreated. Illyan felt his muscles were getting denser and a little leaner. Slowly but surely.

‘Aborigines probably didn’t have this privilege since they couldn’t get their muscles back at some point…’

And while this was an advantage in most cases, it also brought this little disadvantage when it came to food. It was harder to maintain his food supply. Because of that, before he visited the village, he ate the entire boar he hunted down as eating so much in front of normal people would be too conspicuous.

“But you should be wounded, right? You should eat more to recover properly.” But Terren still advised with good intentions.

This made others who sat around the firewood look at Illyan closely and then finally noticed that he had hidden his left hand in the robe the entire time.

‘This guy starts to be annoying. Next time, I will take food with me whenever I go so this kind of stuff won’t happen.’

Illyan immediately realized his mistake as he stared at the nosy boy. People who acted differently from the rest were standing out. Now, Illyan was such a person in other’s eyes.

“My arm is already healed. It is just weakened after not using it for a time, so it will take some time to rehabilitate it before it will be fine.”

“Oh, wouldn’t the kind sir consider Harn to inspect your arm? He was a soldier in his younger ages and learned something about healing.”

Bor who listened suddenly chimed in as he pointed at the older guard who just sat there. But when he heard his name, he lifted his head and just said.

“That would depend on what kind of injury it is. I know just a little to not die of infection.”

“My injury came from… Very greedy and hungry wolves. They were so hungry that they couldn’t resist attacking me…”

When he said this, most people just nodded in realization while others felt that Illyan’s words had some kind of different meaning.

“As for looking at the injury, there really isn't a need as I am a physician. This kind of injury isn't a problem for me.” He finished his take as he refused Harn’s check.

Hearing that Illyan was a physician, some of the present opened their eyes wide while others immediately became more friendly.

They didn’t know if Illyan was bluffing or not, but acting nice didn’t cost them anything. Instead, it was always good to be on someone adept in medicine’s good side. It could save their lives.

“Oh, sir, is a physician? I heard that you need to study for many years to be a capable physician. I would never be able to do that. I’m too dolt for that.” Terren laughed as he said.

Some of the friends he had nodded seriously at this as they agreed with it.

“Because of that, my dream is to become a knight of the kingdom! No need to think hard, only use your body to win the honor!”

Many laughed as they continued the conversation enjoying themselves. Some of the younger ones were nervous as they left their village for the first time.

Illyan, on the other hand, didn’t stop in looking at the man discreetly. He noticed that every armed man was careful and cautious as if they expected some kind of attack.

However, they ignored his group so it wasn’t them who they were beware of.

“By the way, sir, I didn’t catch your name?” The merchant asked with a smile. If before he mumbled badly about Illyan behind his back then now he was interested in getting acquainted with him as there was a big lack of good physicians in this region.

Getting to know one could be profitable for him.

“... You can call me Kaoran…”

Illyan said as he nodded at Bor. Illyan grew up in a group that believed in importance of names so there was no way he would just disclose his real one to random people.

“Oh, so it is sir Kaoran! What An exceptional name! My name is Bor if you haven't heard of it yet. You can call me as such-”

Swish

Suddenly, rain of arrows started to fall on the two groups. Fortunately the densest part was targeted on the second group that had many guards and so only few were hit in Illyan’ group.

However, then suddenly a horde of people started to run against them with all kinds of weapons while roaring.

“Kill everyone!”

“Ransacks the wagons and rape the women!”

The bandits, who were said to be not common in this area, showed up as they ran towards them with crazed expressions.