A desperate screech sounded throughout the White Forest as Ethan pulled his trident out from a Black Boar’s back.
As the three-meter-tall Magical Beast crashed to the ground with a loud thud, Ethan clasped his hands in prayer.
After his traumatic experience a year ago in killing people, he vowed to himself that he would never take the life of others, whether it be Magical Beasts or even Monsters, unless it was absolutely necessary, for self-defense, and for survival.
It was very easy to lose yourself in killing others once you got used to it. This was why Ethan created an anchor for himself—he did not want to go down that path.
He didn’t want to be like the Necromancer who sacrificed the lives of others in order to strengthen himself, and neither did he want to be like the Barbarians of the North, who simply killed others for sport or to expand their territories. 𝒪𝓋𝑙xt.𝒞𝐎𝔪
With a wave of his hand, he stored the Black Boar’s body inside his storage ring and whistled.
A moment later, a Black Panther jumped out of a tree and landed beside him.
“To the city, Grumpy,” Ethan said as he jumped on the Black Panther’s back.
The Black Panther whined, but after Ethan lightly patted its back, the Magical Beast ran through the forest floor and made its way back to the City of Zentris.
This Panther belonged to Rex, which he borrowed from time to time whenever he wanted to hunt in the White Forest.
Naturally, Ethan only hunted for food.
When the Panther entered the city, it broke into a casual stroll, making Ethan shake his head helplessly. The Black Panther could be moody at times, and when it didn’t feel like listening to Ethan, it would just do whatever it wanted to do.
This was why Ethan called it Grumpy.
When the people saw the handsome young man, they all greeted him with smiles. But at the same time, there was sadness in their gaze that they just couldn’t hide no matter what.
It had been a little more than a year since they regained a semblance of peace in the land of Alastor, and after hearing Ethan’s announcement that he would be leaving tonight, the Allied Tribes decided to hold a grand feast in his honor.
Because of this, Ethan went to the White Forest to hunt a boar in order to add to the food that they would be partaking in tonight.
“You’re back, Ethan,” Rex said with a smile. “Did Grumpy not listen to you today?”
The Black Panther growled as if it was taken aback by Rex’s assumption.
Ethan chuckled and only patted the Panther’s back before climbing down from it.
“Grumpy has been good,” Ethan replied. “Although there’s also the fact that he chased away three of the boars that I saw early in the day. I would have returned sooner if not for that.”
The Black Panther used its head to push Ethan away as if trying to stop him from saying more.
Rex laughed at this scene and chatted with Ethan for a bit more, after which the blue-haired boy left. He still had to hand over his contribution to the festivities at the Grand Kitchen, where most of the hunted creatures were currently being skinned, bled, and prepared for the festival that would begin in a few hours.
After delivering his prey, Ethan returned to the Pyramid to look for Lily.
He found his “wife” at the center of a group of young ladies and aunties who liked to gossip.
Since there was no form of entertainment in this era, the beautiful young lady had developed a hobby of listening to the latest gossip and news within the City of Zentris.
Naturally, most of the gossip was about Ethan not taking another wife aside from Lily.
The Ethan of today was very different from the Ethan a year ago. Back then, he could still be considered an innocent teenage boy.
But now, he was considered a young man who was the apple of all the single ladies. All of them dreamed of becoming one of his lovers or even concubines.
When Ethan and Lily arrived in the Lands of Alastor, the young man’s body was lean and toned.
Now, his body was truly like a deity that had descended from the heavens. His chiseled muscles exuded strength, and manliness, that made the ladies who saw his naked, upper body swoon.
Lily, who got to enjoy this Godly Body nearly every night, couldn’t help but feel pride because these ladies were admiring her man.
Truth be told, with how often they did it, if it weren’t for the fact that she had been taking the contraceptive potion crafted by Safiya once a week, she might have already become pregnant with his child.
Although she didn’t mind if she did indeed get pregnant, she also understood that neither of them was ready to take this next step in their relationship.
In fact, there were times when they talked about getting married while they were in the Lands of Alastor.
But in the end, the two of them decided to wait until they were back in their own time.
They still had unfinished business, and they knew that they still had a bit more growing up to do in order to become responsible adults.
Although they still hadn’t formally had a marriage ceremony, both knew that they didn’t need to do such a thing to confirm their feelings for each other.
Of course, one of the reasons why Lily didn’t want to get married right away was due to the fact that she felt that she had cheated her way into Ethan’s heart.
She knew that Chloe and Luna liked the handsome young man.
If not for the fact that she had been trapped in the past with Ethan, those two girls or Ethan could have confessed their feelings to each other, making either of them his first lover instead of her.
But since what was done was already done, Lily had no intention of backing off.
When she told Ethan that his father had five wives, it meant that she was fine with Ethan having wives aside from her.
The teenage boy understood this part and accepted Lily’s determination.
Now that they were only hours away from going back to their own time, the young lady felt happy and reluctant at the same time.
Happy because she would be able to see her family again, and reluctant because the time that she had spent alone with Ethan was about to end.
She was quite certain that the moment her handsome lover returned to the academy, all the ladies would go gaga over how manly he had become.
How could someone ignore his handsome face, his deity-like body, his charisma, as well as his long blue hair she had personally tied up with a red ribbon before he left to hunt in the White Forest?
Also, there was one more thing that Lily loved about Ethan.
It was none other than the long scar on his back that extended from his shoulder to his lower waist.
This was the scar that he had received after saving her life.
For some reason, despite his powerful regenerative ability, the scar didn’t heal and remained in place.
Ethan didn’t mind it one bit because, for him, it was a badge of honor that he received for protecting the young lady that he loved.
As the two left to return to their living quarters, the single ladies looked at Lily’s retreating back with envy and jealousy.
If only Ethan agreed to make them his concubines, they would become the happiest women in the world.
Several hours later, the festive symphony of a grand celebration sounded as soon as the sun had set.
Members of the Three Great Tribes, the Nomad Tribes, as well as the Kobolds, arrived at the City of Zentris to participate in the celebration to send the Tide Bringer back to his home.
Ethan and Lily didn’t tell anyone that they would be traveling back to the future.
Instead, the young man told them that he would return to his home in the Sea, taking Lily with him, and would not be appearing ever again.
Although everyone was saddened to hear this news, they knew Ethan had his reasons for leaving, so they decided to give him a grand send-off to alleviate the sadness that they were feeling.
Ethan laughed, drank, ate, and even danced alongside the warriors. He even allowed himself to drink a little bit of their wine, causing his face to flush a bit.
Of course, Lily was there to ensure that he didn’t drink more than he should to prevent any unnecessary things from happening.
After all, leaving a drunk handsome young man around hundreds of single ladies who wanted to eat him up was a recipe for trouble.
Hours later, when almost everyone was snoring due to the effect of the wine, Ethan and Lily walked hand in hand to reach the top of the Pyramid where the Stone Trident stood, waiting for them.
They didn’t bother to say goodbye because they knew that it wasn’t necessary.
Both of them wanted to prevent getting teary-eyed as they left the people who had gotten close to them during the year that they had stayed in the City of Zentris.
Dantalion landed on Ethan’s shoulder and lightly nudged the young man’s head.
Ethan smiled and lightly brushed the White Raven’s chest. His Spirit Guide had helped him a lot on this expedition in the past, and without his loyal companion, he might have suffered a fate worse than death.
“I hope you enjoyed your vacation,” Sebastian appeared in front of the two with a smile.
“Yes, we enjoyed it very much,” Lily replied. “Thank you, Sebastian.”
Ethan nodded his head in agreement.
“Sebastian, about the city…” Ethan wasn’t able to finish the rest of what he was going to say because the Guardian had raised his hand to stop him.
“It’s already done, Ethan,” Sebastian stated. “This city will no longer be submerged under water, and it will remain that way forever. The Allied Tribe can stay here for as long as they want, and any other Tribe for that matter. After all, I am also leaving this place.”
“You’re leaving this place?” Ethan blinked. “Where are you going?”
Sebastian chuckled. “Where else? To the future, of course.”
“You’re coming with us?” Ethan was pleasantly surprised by this sudden turn of events.
“Of course. Do you think I’d want to stay in this place for another hundred years?” Sebastian snorted. “I’d die of boredom, even though I can’t technically die in that manner, but you understand, right?”
The Guardian of the City of Zentris clapped his hands twice, and the Sea God’s Trident materialized in front of him.
The Stone Trident glowed and shrank until it turned into a blue diamond that was an inch long.
It then flew towards the Sea God’s Trident and embedded itself at the base of its Three-Pronged Tip, right at the very center.
“With this, even if you return to your present time, you will be able to manipulate any body of water. This includes Water-based spells. Right now, you can use magic for three days after being kissed by a Witch, or any lady with magical power. While it is better than before, your magical circuits are still damaged, and your magic power is still leaking.
“Being able to use Water Magic as long as there is water around will compensate for your lack of magical power on the days when you cannot kiss your beautiful wife.”
Sebastian winked at Lily, which made the latter smile.
“I look forward to our future adventures together,” Sebastian said as he patted Ethan’s shoulders.
He then merged with the blue gem on the Sea God’s Trident and told Ethan what to do.
Ethan pointed the Trident in front of him, and the blue gem glowed with power.
A moment later, a white portal appeared in front of them, which was similar to the Nexus that they had entered when they were running away from the Wizards that wished to capture them.
Ethan and Lily glanced at each other and smiled.
Their hands intertwined together as they both took a step forward.
Regardless of what would happen in the future, the time they had spent together over the past year was filled with beautiful memories that they had created together.
“Lily,” Ethan said softly as he paused before entering the portal. “I may not have plenty of opportunities to say this once we return to the academy, so I’ll say it now…
“I love you.”
The beautiful young lady stood on tiptoes and kissed Ethan’s lips.
“And I love you,” Lily replied after pulling back. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to sneak inside your room from time to time in Dud Manor, so you won’t be lonely.”
Ethan chuckled before he planted a kiss on his lover’s forehead.
“Let’s go, Lily. It’s time to go home.”
“Un.”
The two held each other’s hand firmly as they took that final step.
They didn’t know what was waiting for them on the other side of the Nexus, but whatever it was, or wherever they would be, as long as they were together, everything would fall into place.
After the two teenagers passed through the portal, the Nexus flickered out of existence, leaving the Lands of Alastor with a Legend that would be passed on for countless generations to come.
A legend that would spread far and wide and make the entire world hear of the tales of the handsome Deity that would appear and disappear with the coming and going of the Tides.
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End of Volume 1: Resonance Of The Heart
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