Inside the cave, a figure sat up abruptly, her chest still heaving from the remnants of a nightmare.
Just a moment ago, her father had been smiling in the carriage, talking about all the wonders of Icarus Magic Academy.
The next, cold blades, splashing blood, her father’s falling silhouette, and an endless expanse of green and sneering laughter...
The massive goblin grew larger and larger before her eyes.
Intense fear jolted her awake.
Nora instinctively reached out to her side.
She felt thick fabric, and beneath it, a body heaving with steady breaths.
Her father was right beside her.
Her tensed nerves suddenly relaxed, and she felt a wave of relief wash over her.
She turned on her side, using the light from the fire at the cave entrance to carefully check Colin’s condition.
Though the color hadn't returned to his face, his breathing was steady, and the bandages on his chest were neat—clearly, he had been properly treated.
He was still fast asleep, his brow no longer furrowed.
Nora slowly surveyed her surroundings.
It was a shallow natural cave, dry and sheltered from the wind.
Outside the entrance, the night was deep. A few paces away, a bonfire burned quietly, dispelling the chill of the forest night and some of the darkness.
Several skewers of meat on fresh branches were propped over the fire, slowly turning and sizzling. Fat dripped into the flames, sparking small flickers and a tempting aroma of roasted meat.
Following the branch, the hand holding it was steady.
It was a black-haired young man, sitting by the bonfire with his side to the cave entrance.
He wasn't entirely focused on the roasting meat; instead, he slightly tilted his head, his gaze scanning the darkness outside from time to time.
The firelight danced on his clear profile, outlining a straight nose and lips slightly pursed in concentration.
His posture was relaxed, yet carried a hint of vigilance.
In this dangerous forest at night, this quietly guarding figure radiated a reassuring strength, as if he could block out all the darkness and danger.
Nora watched him, somewhat dazed. The trance of surviving a catastrophe mingled with this strange yet grounding sense of security.
“Awake?”
A calm male voice broke the silence.
Only then did Nora realize that at some point, the youth had turned his head, his gaze falling on her.
He didn't stop turning the meat, his eyes clear under the reflection of the firelight.
“Ah... yeah.” Nora’s cheeks flushed, and she quickly looked away, feeling both the embarrassment of being caught staring and an inexplicable sense of fluster.
She looked down to check herself and was surprised to find that most of her gruesome wounds had already closed, and even the deeper one was mostly healed.
The exhaustion and weakness remained, but the fatal injuries were no longer a concern.
“Did you... heal us?”
She looked up at Bai Xuan, her voice full of gratitude. “You must have used very precious healing potions, right? Thank you so much...”
“My name is Nora. Nora Finch. How should I address you?”
“Potions... I don't have the money for those.”
Bai Xuan shook his head and took off a skewer of meat that was almost done, placing it on a large, clean leaf.
“Just call me Bai Xuan.”
He paused for a moment. “I'm a... Healer. I used healing magic.”
“A Healer?” Nora was stunned, her eyes widening slightly.
The image of Bai Xuan smashing a great goblin’s neck with a rod like a god of war instantly flashed through her mind.
That violent scene could not, by any means, be associated with the rare profession of a “Healer,” which symbolized gentleness and being heavily protected.
Just then, a faint groan came from beside her.
Colin woke up in a daze.
He first snapped his eyes open in vigilance, his body instinctively trying to sit up, but it pulled on his wound, making him hiss in pain.
His gaze quickly swept the area. Seeing Nora unharmed, he relaxed slightly before looking at the stranger by the fire, Bai Xuan.
“Father!”
Nora quickly reached out to support his arm. “Don't move, you'll tear your wound. This is... Lord Bai Xuan, he saved us. He's a Healer.”
“Bai Xuan...” Colin repeated the name, his gaze lingering on him for a moment.
He saw the young face, the simple clothes, and a steadiness that didn't match his age.
He let out a long breath and said sincerely, “Colin Finch. This is my daughter, Nora. Thank you for your help, Lord. We can never repay you for saving our lives.”
“I just happened to be there, no need to be so formal.”
Bai Xuan took off another skewer of meat and handed it over. “Your injuries are quite serious. Recover your strength first. By the way... did you encounter a monster pack?”
He glanced outside the cave, referring to those goblins.
He only knew the father and daughter were besieged by goblins, but looking at their wounds and disheveled state, they had clearly gone through something else before that.
Colin took the meat skewer and gave a bitter smile. “It wasn't just monsters. We were traveling with a caravan from Blackcreek Town to Calais Town when we were ambushed midway.”
“The attackers... weren't ordinary bandits. They even had two mages and were very well-prepared.”
“The caravan guards suffered heavy casualties. My daughter and I barely managed to break through and escape into this forest, only to run into that pack of goblins...”
He shook his head and didn't continue, but the lingering fear and anger in his eyes were clear.
“Blackcreek Town?” Bai Xuan’s heart stirred. This was a place name he had never heard in his original body’s memories.
His expression didn't change as he listened quietly.
Nora added from the side, her tone full of resentment, “What’s even stranger is that the day before we left Blackcreek Town, a mysterious person paid a very high price to buy all of our healing potions!”
“Thinking back, he must have done it on purpose so we wouldn't have medicine for our wounds, making it easier for the attackers to succeed!”
Colin nodded, his face grim. “The buyer was heavily wrapped up at the time, but Nora caught a glimpse of a crest under his cloak... the design looked very much like the Cross family crest of Blackcreek Town.”
“If it really was them...” He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was obvious.
“The Cross family?”
Bai Xuan’s normally calm eyes suddenly narrowed.
The name instantly unlocked memories deep in his mind.
Zane Cross! The name that had appeared on the Ogre’s status screen!
Just as the cold killing intent brought by this name began to surge.
Inside the Space Ring in his arms, the separately placed Evil God Inverse Scale suddenly gave a faint throb! It passed through the spatial barrier to Bai Xuan.
Bai Xuan’s brow twitched slightly, and then his voice turned low. “The Cross family... is in Blackcreek Town?”
“Is there someone there named Zane Cross?”
Colin clearly felt the change in Bai Xuan’s mood.
Furthermore, as a mage, he was more sensitive to energy fluctuations.
Just as Bai Xuan’s emotions fluctuated violently and he mentioned the name “Zane Cross”—
He felt a faint, extremely obscure high-level aura flash from Bai Xuan’s body.
The aura was so thin it was almost impossible to catch, yet it made a primal chill rise from the depths of his soul.
He gave Bai Xuan a deep look, re-evaluating him in his mind.
This young man was definitely not just a simple Healer who knew a bit of healing magic.
He must have a significant grudge against the Cross family.
“Zane Cross...”
Colin suppressed the shock and suspicion in his heart and answered cautiously, “He is a core figure of the Cross family. It's said he comes from a main branch somewhere in the kingdom. He has a noble status and usually keeps a low profile.”
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