Growth of Them and Their Relationship

There were new plants budding and flowers blooming everywhere. The young, tender beasts who were born just recently were suckling their mothers. The whole Demonic Forest was exuding the kind of vitality that was reserved to the spring.

Mayton, now close to thirteen after nearly a year of training, was the only thing disturbing the peaceful atmosphere of the forest as he killed his way to the deeper parts of the forest. His clothes outgrown and tattered after over-usage during the past months, coupled with his unkempt hair made him look like a savage who lived in the forest instead of a vaunted cultivator of the peak qi gathering phase.

There were only three weeks left for his birthday which meant it has been about a year since he left his village together with his sister, but this past year had changed him so much if his sister saw him right now, it would take a few more looks before she recognized him.

He was now taller with well defined muscles for his age with a tint of redness ever present in his pupils. He did change psychically but what really changed was his aura. His demonic cultivation getting higher, together with his lack of contact with other people changed his aura accordingly.

He was a little boy less than thirteen years old, but instead of the naivety of a child, his eyes hid a potent fiery violence ready to erupt in a moment's notice. When you added the scars all over his body left from his various encounters in the forest, his aura was more like a ferocious beast's rather than a little boy's.

He was always a determined person after his reincarnation but now his skillful movements and utter disregard while reaping the lives of the beasts as he ran through the forest added ruthlessness to his determination, making his aura even more savage.

''Damn it. Seems like I won't be able to find him after all. Well at least I found this white furred ferocious rabbit.''

Mayton muttered to himself as he came to a halt, disappointment evident on his face. He knew that it was time to go back because he was the one hunting today and had to return before dinner.

Despite the thick cover of the trees, Mayton could sense the sun going down thanks to his cultivation technique. The technique he cultivated, Embracing the Sun, mainly used the fire qi from the sun, which gave him a heightened sensitivity towards the fire qi and especially the fire qi from the sun. Now he could roughly estimate the time according to the position of the sun, without seeing the sun at all.

Of course this was not worth mentioning compared to the increase in his strength granted by his cultivation. He was now more than two times stronger physically with also a remarkable increase in his speed. But the real improvement was in terms of the amount and the quality of the qi he had.

His cultivation of the Fire Manipulation Art was going well too. He was now closing in on the peak of the first layer of the Fire Manipulation Art, which gave him enough power to melt iron with a touch.

Unfortunately, despite the huge increase in his power, he was still unsuccessful in finding Ghorzhang before he left the vicinity for good. He learned that Ghorzhang returned to his tribe of wolf demons from Zgar and that the tribe lived in the depths of the Demonic Forest, but these past months he was unable to find a single wolf beast let alone Ghorzhang.

Mysteriously all the wolves vanished all of a sudden following Ghorzhang's departure. The only reason for Mayton's calmness about the situation was Leyzhen's assurance that the wolves won't harm Ghorzhang no matter what.

Today was Mayton's last shot at finding a clue about Ghorzhang's whereabouts because they were moving out next day towards the Tower of Screams. The Tower of Screams was open for only a single day every year, and he was keen on not missing this once in a year chance to collect some interest from the Cult of Unity.

It was already dark when he was back at the place of their makeshift residence. Zgar was resting next to the stream as he laid down on a nearby patch of grass with a torch sticking up on the ground to illuminate the surroundings.

Zgar had, like Mayton, changed a lot too. His facial outline that was just starting to mature was indicating that he was going to be a handsome guy with a few more years. While his bearing, with his strength increasing by leaps and bounds, was no longer that of a shy boy whose face reddened easily. Instead, he was now someone who knew what he wanted and strived to achieve his aim with confidence.

''Hey, Mayton you are late! We have this single night to rest and say goodbye to this place. We must make the most of it.''

Zgar said without opening his eyes with a slight smile visible on his face.

''Damn it. You won again. Let's see… This makes it 52 to 50. I am still winning overall heh.''

Mayton answered smugly while pretending to calculate. This was a game they have been playing recently. Zgar was cultivating a battle technique that let him sense the surroundings by the movement of the qi and normally a cultivator like Mayton who was loaded with qi was like a torch in the darkness, easy to spot. But Mayton, using the dispersing function of the Fire Manipulation Art was particularly good at avoiding Zgar's detection.

One day, when Zgar was cultivating his technique in his hut with tightly shut eyes, Mayton entered Zgar's hut without him finding out and took his meal which was near as a prank. After a few such mysterious disappearances, Mayton, in order to prevent Zgar losing his faith in his technique, got caught intentionally.

Then in order to spur their growth by competition, they decided to turn it into a game at which Mayton was currently winning. But if things continued like this, despite the advantage of Mayton, as Zgar's senses were getting better and better, he would probably take the lead soon.

''Hmph, be smug for a few more days. We will see who will have the last laugh.''

Zgar snorted as he joked and got up from the grasses. It was his job to prepare the meal at the days Mayton hunted. From the looks of Mayton's prey, today was going to be one of the best days in terms of the meal, so he didn't lack enthusiasm. The white furred ferocious rabbit was a well known delicacy only found in the Demonic Forest, and it was sold for more than twenty gold coins in the Flaming Heart City.

Thanks to Zgar being well practiced in cooking after experiencing a fair share of failures, soon there was a fire going on with the rabbit getting roasted on it. The tender rabbit meat was oozing with fat, making pitter patter sounds as they dripped on the ground.

The whole place was wafting with the rabbit's fragrant aroma. Combined with the wild herbs Mayton gathered in the Demonic Forest, the smell was utterly irresistible, making the saliva of Mayton making the same dripping sounds in concert with the fat.

Even Leyzhen was not immune to this heavenly smell, and couldn't help but come out of her house. When Mayton saw her, he felt like she was out of this world. He wasn't sure if the reason for it was Leyzhen looking more and more like the goddess from his previous world or his interactions with her during the last few months, but he was captivated by every smile or frown she showed.

Leyzhen's childish charm had blossomed, now including a hint of maturity while still maintaining the innocence of the youth, truly a beautiful teenaged girl but what really attracted the interest of Mayton was the occasional emotion she showed on her face, not her beauty. He was appreciating every reaction she showed like a sculptor appreciating his finally completed masterpiece after working on it relentlessly for all his life.

Actually, Leyzhen's facial expressions could really be counted as his masterpiece. During the time they spent at the edge of the forest together, Mayton who felt bad for reminding Leyzhen of her parents, erasing the first smile he saw on her face as a result, decided to make it up to her by getting rid of the roots of the problem. He tried to make her smile naturally like a proper girl her age should.

He was armed with all the necessary knowledge to succeed. He lost both of his parents early on in his previous life thus he knew the hardships and sadness of growing up without parents. This made him understand how she felt.

Despite being clueless about them in his past life, after reincarnating, he not only learned what he was really lacking by experiencing the bliss of having loving parents, more importantly, he also learned how to placate a little girl thanks to his sister.

Combining his experiences from his two lives and the fact that Leyzhen had to interact with Mayton once in a while whether she wanted to or not because of their unique relationship, his efforts finally began to bear fruit. Leyzhen, while still being pretty cold generally, was much more genial nowadays.

''My Lady, please come have a taste.''

Zgar said respectfully to Leyzhen before she could say anything. He changed the way he addressed her after Mayton convinced him saying that, mistress was too demeaning for him and if he would be lucky enough to marry Angeza in the future, it would be demeaning for her too. It was the way of addressing slaves used for their masters in this world after all.

''Mhm.''

Leyzhen nodded and skittered over to grab the piece of meat Zgar just cut from the rabbit, provoking Mayton's teasings about her waiting for the offer.

Following her, Mayton also cut a piece of the meat and started to chat with Zgar as they ate their dinner. Before long, Mayton and Zgar were joking around and letting out laughs as Leyzhen joined them with an occasional smile. They seemed like close friends making their last memories in a summer camp before departing.

What Mayton didn't realize was while he started to act differently in front of Leyzhen with a purpose in his mind at first, he was now treating Leyzhen more and more like his sister, Angeza.