Faerie

"The form of these runes is too ancient. I can't understand their specific uses. The only thing I can confirm is that a lightning spell above Lv. 7 is stored inside."

The palm-sized girl flapped her dragonfly-like wings and hovered in midair. Sparkling scale dust constantly fell from her body.

As she spoke, she supported her face with one hand and stroked the lightning flowing on the Sealed Magic rune with the other.

"Didn't you claim to be an old faerie who has lived for more than 200 years? Even you find it ancient?" Cass asked in confusion.

With a whoosh, the faerie flew in front of Cass and shouted angrily with her arms akimbo.

"I've said it countless times: you're not allowed to call me an old faerie, nor are you allowed to talk about age. It's taboo to talk about age in front of girls, understand? A taboo!"

She is already more than 200 years old, but she still calls herself a girl? I really don't understand these long-lived species' concept of time.

Cass turned his head slightly.

"You were the one who first revealed your age. I didn't even ask."

"It was an emergency back then, alright?! Moreover, you still have the cheek to say that. If I hadn't clarified my identity to you back then, you would've probably killed me as a monster. I was saving you back then."

At this point, she became even angrier. She flew to Cass's head and tugged his hair with all her might.

"After I killed several spider monsters with human faces and ran out, a woman with dragonfly wings suddenly flew out and sang above my head. What do you think ran through my head? Moreover, are all you faeries so weak that you were almost killed by a mortal like me who doesn't even know magic?"

As Cass spoke, he gently nudged her off his head.

The faerie charged at Cass's hair a few more times, but she was deterred by the other party's hand. Finally, she could only sit on Cass's shoulder helplessly and speak in a very indignant voice.

"That's because you humans focus all your energy on studying magic on how to kill more efficiently. Our race has never been good at combat, much less considering the use of magic to fight."

"But if one isn't good at combat, they can only be at the mercy of others. This is an ironclad rule of this world," Cass said seriously.

"But weren't you still saved by me? Do you really think you can just rely on fighting?"

The faerie rolled her eyes.

The faerie sitting on Cass's shoulder was called Liz, and she was the companion he had encountered in the Silverstream Mine.

Back then, he had just fought his way through the monsters in the Silverstream Mine. As the last survivor of the Bramble Mercenaries, the seriously injured Cass relied on his will to reach the cave entrance alive, but he eventually fainted from excessive bleeding.

Cass imagined that he was doomed before he lost consciousness, but in his daze, he heard an ethereal song. Then, he felt something warm land on his face; it gave him a sense of warmth.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a palm-sized girl flapping her dragonfly-like wings as she hovered above his head. As she sang, she scattered innumerable glittering scale powder on his face.

Without thinking, Cass grabbed her and used all his strength to pull out the dagger, preparing to stab her.

"Wait… wait! Human, let go. Don't kill me. I'm only 200 years old. I'm still very young…"

In the end, it wasn't the other party's pleas that made him put down the dagger, but his stamina. After Liz stopped singing, the little strength he had recovered immediately vanished, causing him to faint again.

When he woke up again, he was in a forest not far from Thorn City. The faerie who had saved him hid on a tall tree and looked at him warily.

Cass had seen faeries in the orphanage's comics when he was a child. It was said that they were beautiful and cunning existences that could lure curious children into disappearing into the depths of the forest's mist.

However, after Cass came into actual contact with them, he discovered that they were actually very conflicted creatures. They yearned for the rich life of humans, but they were also afraid of their capriciousness. They had always been in a state where they wanted to come into contact with humans but were also afraid of them.

Of course, he didn't know if all the faeries were like this. After all, he had only seen Liz.

"Speaking of which, are you sure that the mysterious mage disappeared in the blink of an eye?" Liz suddenly asked.

"Yeah, it only took a second or two."

Liz swung her tiny feet and deliberately kept hitting Cass's shoulder with her heel.

"Then, he probably used Teleportation. In that case, since a lightning spell is sealed in the Sealed Magic rune, it's very likely that this spell is also related to Teleportation."

"Why are lightning-type spells related to Teleportation?" Cass asked in confusion.

"You don't even know this basic level of magical knowledge? Lightning is essentially a spatial rift, so be it summoning magic or Teleportation, there will be lightning flashing when opening the portal."

Cass nodded thoughtfully before asking, "Then, what do you think that mage meant? Why did he give me this Sealed Magic rune?"

"He probably couldn't stand it anymore—just like why I stay by your side," Liz said angrily.

"You can actually return. Although I don't have the eyes of faeries and can't see through the disguise of those monsters at a glance, I can find some given time…"

Cass hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"And watch you die? Please, I spent a lot of effort to save you. Can't you live to the end of your life in peace and let me recover my scale powder?"

Scale powder was equivalent to an extension of one's life force. They could connect this life force to other lifeforms, but only when the lifeform who had accepted her scale powder died of old age could the scale powder be completely retracted. If that lifeform died from other accidents, about half of the scale powder would be expended in their struggle before death.

Typically, they would only sprinkle scale powder on flowers that didn't have long lifespans. Many people saw bright flowers blooming out of season, and most of them were done by the faerie.

Regardless, they rarely used their life force to save humans who were constantly embroiled in conflict.

"I'm very grateful that you saved me," Cass said.

"I'm not grateful for you saving my life, but for giving me a chance to seek revenge."

Liz looked at the man's expression and hesitated.

"I know that my life isn't mine now, but something you lent me. Therefore, I promise you that I will definitely do my best to stay alive."

As Cass spoke, he put the Sealed Magic rune into his pocket.

"But my former comrades died in that mine, and their bodies were occupied by monsters from who knows where. It's impossible for me to remain indifferent and live the life of an ordinary person while knowing this. Therefore, I won't stop fighting until I've finished off the mastermind behind the entire matter."

He paused and looked at Liz as he continued.

"But this is yours after all. If you don't want to take the risk, please take away your scale powder now. Although this will consume some energy, it's much less than dying on my path of revenge, right?"

Liz watched Cass in silence for a long time before speaking fiercely, "How annoying. When this is over, you'll be a slave in my garden for the rest of your life."

With that said, she flew out angrily.