The Moon Thief

After crossing the Neson Shores quickly and without problems, he entered the Curving Wind Meadows, the sun was just starting to rise slightly. He rode non-stop until the night hours, normally without the slightest sign of fatigue, but his poor horse was quite tired. So he found a secluded place and lit a small campfire there.

He just sat there doing nothing until the daylight rose again. With the first light of day, he got on his horse and continued his journey. He continued to ride his horse swiftly across the vast meadows. However, a sudden nasty surprise ended his so far uneventful journey.

He felt a sudden sense of danger rising up inside him as he rode at speed with his horse. Instinctively he looked up and saw a huge Roneg diving towards him.

Roneg were a type of winged snake and were not seen very often. Thanks to their agile body structures, they could maneuver in the air at least as fast as on the ground. Although their innate elemental abilities varied, most would be prone to the Poison Element, as with most snake species.

"As far as I can tell from the energy emanating from him, he has a maximum of a average Level 1 Ainsar power." Heinald let out a relatively sigh of relief. He thought he could deal with it easily, but it would be difficult to it him with magic since it was agile.

Heinald dismounted and sent his horse to safety.

Roneg circled above, looking for a suitable position to attack. Its tall black body and green eyes gave him a menacing aura.

When Heinald saw Roneg above start flying towards him, he immediately cast Whisper of the Wind and began to glide. Roneg had sent a cloud of poisonous gas to the area where Heinald had just been. All the grass in that area rotted within seconds and acidic vapors began to rise above them.

Heinald's growing spiritual power made the difference immediately. He could glide faster with Whisper of the Wind than before, but there was no difference in the duration of the spell.

Heinald began casting a spell called Dragon Instinct. Five fireballs shot out from his hands in quick succession, three of which hit Roneg while the others missed. Fire bonds began to form between the fireballs that just hung on different parts of Roneg's body, and a fierce burst of fire soon followed. Roneg's body began to fall rapidly down through the waves of fire in the sky. The violent explosion seemed to have injured it.

The ground shook slightly as Roneg's massive body crashed into the ground.

Heinald immediately cast a spell called Lightning Spear and sent it to Roneg, who was already crashed to the ground.

When Roneg, struggling to recover, saw the Lightning Spear coming towards itself, he immediately responded by sending an acid ball towards it.

When the Lightning Spear and the acid ball collided, there was a massive explosion. Fierce lightning blasts from the Lightning Spear destroyed hundreds of meters of area, resulting in a large crater.

Roneg's body lay motionless on the floor. The violent lightning blast had shattered half of his body. Roneg's mutilated and burned body parts were scattered around, an extremely foul odor pervading the area.

Acid began to be released disproportionately from the rest of Roneg's lifeless body. Toxic fumes were rising from the ground where the acid came into contact. Heinald thought it might be dangerous to stay in this area any longer, so he hurried to his horse. He got on his horse and immediately started to ride it at full speed, not wanting to face any more trouble for the rest of his journey.

Heinald traveled for days, taking only short breaks. Luckily, he had no more nasty surprises in the meadows.

The first thing he noticed when he entered the western borders of Neuor Theocracy was that the energy surrounding him had changed. More precisely, the feeling of energy had changed. Of course, it was still Elemental Energy that he felt around him, but it felt different from other places. According to the map in his mind, he was currently on the territory of the Stormend Region.

Saylam City, which he aimed to reach, was one of the cities located in the Polya Region, the central region of the Neuor Theocracy. Since the Neuor Theocracy was a large country, its borders were also quite wide. So it actually still had thousands of miles to travel to reach its final destination.

The closest city to him was Gulrand City of the Stormend Region, he wanted to go there first and see the city. Although he had seen many cities since he left his grandfather, he had a special interest in the cities of this country.

Heinald arrived in Gulrand City after a few days of travel. Unlike other cities, this city did not have any walls surrounding it. The city was built on a great hill, on the top of which was a statue shining in all its glory. The streets and structures of the city were quite similar to the cities he had seen before, but unlike them, there were quite a lot of temples in this city.

As far as he understood from his observations, this city did not have a market area in a specific place, the market area was spread throughout the city. There were many shops and stalls in the streets.

"Hello sir! Are you new here?" When Heinald looked to his side, he saw a dwarf staring at him with respect.

"This is my first time to this land." Heinald nodded. He was a little confused if he didn't show it, although he had been aware of the dwarves' existence from the books he had read before, it was the first time he had seen them with his own eyes.

"May I know why you came?" the dwarf asked.

"Why does it concern you?" Heinald's expression changed abruptly, anyone looking at him could easily spot his freezing gaze.

"You misunderstood me, sir." The dwarf shook his head hastily. "I was only going to offer to take you there if there was a place you were looking for. I realized that you were a stranger to this place from the way you looked around."

"Not necessary." Heinald shook his head and continued to ride slowly.

After Heinald had moved away from that area, the dwarf brought the ring on his finger close to his mouth and said, "The Stranger doesn't seem to have a definite plan."

*******

Heinald continued to ride slowly through the wide streets of the city and visited a few shops that piqued his curiosity. The shops he visited were, as usual, shops selling herbs or potions.

"I wonder if the cities in this country also have a secret market place?" Heinald posed a question to himself. Many rare resources were being sold in secret markets, thanks to Reulon, he had a chance to enter one of them, but he didn't think he would get that chance in cities that were unfamiliar to him.

Heinald did not want to travel on horseback any more. So he went to various taverns to find a good caravan, and after searching, he met a caravan owner. Heinald traveled in a very luxurious caravan for ten crystals. His journey took about a month as the caravans could not move quickly, but that was not a problem for him. During this time, he considered various ideas for creating a Spirit Potion formula.

After a month of caravan travel, he reached Saylam City. The only difference of this city from Gulrand City was that it was a little more crowded. Other than that, the market layout, buildings and temples were quite similar.

Redsand Mansion was located in the center of the city. The mansion was located on a large piece of land where no one could enter without permission. To enter the land, it was first necessary to contact the authorities and get permission from the Ainia Temple, which belongs to the Redsand Family. Heinald learned that the land and its surroundings were guarded by a very powerful defensive formation.

Heinald had learned this information from an ordinary shopkeeper. The people who lived in this city knew the magnificence of the Redsand Family best. After learning this information, he quickly went to the Ainia Temple. Even the Ainia Temple alone was more ostentatious than most structures he had seen.

"Hello, how can we help you?" A priest waiting at the entrance of the temple came to Heinald.

"I have a very important matter to discuss with Albin Redsand." said Heinald.

"Lord Albin has a very busy schedule, I must reject you." The priest quickly turned around and started walking back to where he had stood before.

"Wait, I came here on the recommendation of his son, Kunes Redsand." Heinald took out the gold medallion that Master Kunes had given him and showed it to the priestess.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Please follow me!" After carefully examining the locket, the priest put on a polite and graceful smile. He asked Heinald to follow him and led him to the interior of the temple.

Together they came to a building located in the middle of the temple. Two priests were waiting in front of the door of the building.