4 4. I don't plan on dying maidenless.

A woman in her 20s came out of the bushes in dawning leather armor and commented in disapproval with a raised eyebrow: "Whom are you calling a weirdo!? Also, is that how you greet a young, innocent maiden who got lost in this dark forest!?"

A smile formed on Luz's face before he replied in amusement while tightening his grip around his knife: "Sorry, but my mother always told me not to trust these hot single maidens living in my area.

After chuckling, she commented with a twinkle while showing a bit of her cleavage: "But couldn't you make an exception for me?~"

Stoically, Luz shook his head. He was not in the mood for sexual intercourse as he had more pressing issues in his mind.

Upon seeing how Luz rejected her attempts, the girl sighed. "Fine… Anyway, you are aware that you are currently on a private hunting ground of a noble family, right?"

The question surprised the latter, and a thought shot through his head. 'Who the hell would have such a giant hunting ground? These nobles must be something else.'

A smile crept onto the girl's face, and she immediately added with a twinkle: "The punishment for trespassing is three years of serfdom. But fear not, young maidenless man. I shall lead you out of this place before the guards find you. Please follow me.~"

Upon hearing the penalty for trespassing, Luz gulped before accepting her offer. "I gladly accept your offer. Please lead the way for me. I mean no ill intention."

After following her for ten minutes, Luz slowly grew suspicious, thinking something wasn't right. Occasionally, Luz heard a rustling coming from the bushes that did not sound anything like animals.

If Luz heard the sound just once or twice, he might dismiss it as his imagination running wild. But after hearing the sound five, six, seven times, his suspicion slowly grew. Something was definitely wrong with his current situation. But what was it? 'Why should a girl help me, a stranger? Shouldn't she rather be scared of me? Why do I have the feeling that I'm being watched by something? Are my senses playing tricks on me, or am I just paranoid!?'

Alerted, Luz began to notice subtle movements, which he would have dismissed minutes ago.

For example, the self-proclaimed maiden regularly stopped every few minutes, making weird hand gestures in some direction, for whatever reason.

Sensing that something was amiss, Luz slowly and quietly took out his knife, ready to strike at any moment. The moment for action came shortly after, upon seeing a man sitting on a branch, 5 meters above the ground.

Furious, Luz grabbed the maiden's wrist, dragging her to the side before pressing his knife against her throat.

Frightened, the girl stammered as innocently as possible: "W-What a-are you do-doing?"

Luz, upset by her betrayal, immediately pressed his knife against her throat while breathing against her neck.

Luz slowly cut the girl's throat with the edge of his knife while threatening her with gnashing teeth: "Do you think I'm stupid!? Call your damn friend down from the branch if you want to live. Also, tell him that I'm a mage. Fighting me won't end well for any of you two."

But before the girl could give her allies an order, the man standing on a branch jumped down, commenting: "Fine. We will do it the way you want, brat."

However, unlike Luz expected, the man immediately ran around him in a circle, while the girl who wasn't so pleased by her predicament began struggling against him, hitting with her fist against his nuts.

Enraged, Luz cut her carotid artery before kicking the startled bleeding girl down. "Blame yourself for dying due to your stupidity. Also, I don't plan on dying maidenless."

After ridding himself of a hostage, Luz immediately shouted: "[FIRE]" before using his right hand as a flame thrower in hopes of dissuading his attacker.

Due to his distraction by the running man, Luz never realized that the three of them weren't alone, as suddenly a giant emerged behind him from the bushes.

Startled by the rustle, Luz turned around as fast as possible and saw a huge bat swooping towards his skull.

Luz felt a large club smashing against his skull before toppling over. Only upon impact did Luz realize the fight was never a one versus two, but rather a one versus three, and he fucked up big time.

The woman on the ground pleaded for help while pressing on her bleeding throat with both hands. "Please, Elon, Dylan… save me."

However, the two laughed. "How can anyone be so stupid?" thought the girl's companions.

Slowly, Elon (the thin one) walked towards her, unsheathing his sword while looking down upon her with a smile that would make any girl shiver. "Why should we save you? After all, fewer team members mean fewer people to share profits with. Sorry, but there is nothing we can gain out of you."

"N-No. That cannot be. I thought we were friends?" the girl shouted, shocked with blood-dyed hands.

"Let me give you a quick death," Elon sighed pityingly before taking a step forward and plunging a knife into her heart.

A bone-chilling scream, which one could ascribe to a banshee, echoed through the darkened forest before the regret-filled girl died.

Only then did the two continue talking to each other.

"Elon, how do we plan on selling a mage? I thought selling them were sanctioned by the current kingdom?" Dylan asked in worry while resting his bat against his shoulder.

Elon rubbed his hands against each other before stating: "Don't worry. I know the right people to whom we can sell it. But let's better tie him up before we depart. Wait, don't forget to tie his mouth and eyes."

Nodding, Dylan followed Elon's orders, binding his limbs together, before carrying Luz to a cart and throwing him on it.

**********************************************************************

**Author note: If you don't like info dumps, you might as well skip right to the next chapter. From here on, only info dumps await you.**

The world is big but not well connected. People who live in settlements far away from cities sometimes have a hard time.

That was especially the case for Tron, a village far from any civilization, deep in the coniferous forest, in which the mid-18-year-old mage apprentice, also known as Luz, grew up.

That 200-man small settlement was on the border of the kingdom of Raneian, to which they regularly pay taxes once a year. But nevertheless, their history was once deeply rooted in the country's history.

The ancestors of this 200-man settlement were family members of followers of a prince who ended up on the losing side in the struggle for the throne.

Now more than 500 years have passed.

The inhabitants of these villages have long forgotten the name of their former prince for whom they once fought. But that wasn't all. These villagers didn't even know to which district their village even belonged.

Likewise, they consider the existence of cities a myth. Their vocabulary, as well as their alphabet, has degenerated due to isolation. Many letters belonging to the alphabet have disappeared, making the books belonging to their ancestors impossible to understand. At least they still learn to read.

Members of such settlements see mages as the children blessed by God to make their life easier and that it was God who sent his messengers to collect taxes.

Unbeknownst to them, every human has a chance to become a mage since everyone posses at least one or even several unawakened magic talents.

But to awaken one's magic talent, one should know the concepts of the respective magic branches.

For example, for someone with a fire talent to awaken, he needs to comprehend the creation of fire, which happens due to heat and the oxidation of wood.

(Author note: Please forgive me for the poor explanation)

More complex talents like spatial control or swarm control are more difficult to awaken alone, as their underlying concepts are harder to understand. If one's understanding of their respective element is close to the truth, then the awakening is only a matter of time.

There are only two ways to find out what magic talent one possesses. One can let others, such as higher-ranking mages or expensive machinery, detect your magic talent, or one can use expensive medicine.

But even then, the situation isn't so simple. For example, master mages can easily recognize talents that belong to elements with which they are familiar. But the moment one has a complex talent, the situation gets more complicated, as they are harder to identify. And these things won't be on the countryside available.