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6. The Rift

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Her buttocks hit the ground first.

“Waaaaaah! Ugh, huff, ack! D*mn it!”

Haniel, who had slammed her buttocks directly onto the ground, fell face-first onto the earth.

Just moments ago, Regan had clearly been holding her in his arms, but for some unknown reason, they had separated and were each rolling on the ground.

Well… actually, she was the only one rolling.

The moment Regan fell to the ground from mid-air, he had instinctively assumed a position to distribute the impact throughout his body, landing lightly.

It was a disciplined and elegant posture that contrasted with Haniel, who was eating dirt.

Upon realizing that Haniel was no longer in his arms, Regan pulled her back with a hardened expression.

“…Haniel.”

“Eh, ptui ptui. Ptui. What was that just now? Why did the ground suddenly collapse?”

Haniel spat out all the soil that had filled her mouth.

The shock of the collapsing ground was one thing, but…

“…Who was that boy just now? Regan, did you see him too?”

Haniel stared at Regan, who had been strangely silent.

The man’s face was unnaturally pale, to the point of being disconcerting.

“Regan?”

Haniel’s lips quivered.

Regan’s face, stained with the bear’s blood, was frozen solid, incomparably more rigid than when he had first come to rescue her.

Could one make such an expression after seeing a ghost, or something even more terrible?

If he had been in his wolf state, his fur would certainly have been puffed up with his tail stiffened.

As if he had witnessed his own death and miserable end, Regan was rigid not only in his face but throughout his entire body.

Growing serious in response, Haniel placed her hand on his arm and carefully spoke to him.

“Regan, are you okay? Did you hit something when we fell?”

“……”

A small hand resting on his forearm.

Regan, who had been frozen like an inanimate object, only moved his head to look at her after feeling that small touch.

A gaze that trembled with indecipherable meaning. After biting his lip, he slowly opened his mouth.

“…I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”

His voice was terribly hoarse.

“Suddenly?”

Why is he suddenly saying this, so uneasily…

An ominous feeling crept up on her. Haniel rolled her eyes and answered with an awkward expression.

“Well, the good news first?”

Regan gave a faint smile at those words and reached out to caress her chin.

“The good news is that perhaps after I just saved your life, you might be a little more careful in the future.”

“What kind of… hahaha… then what’s the bad?”

At those words, Regan lowered his arm again.

The smile that had momentarily appeared on his face like a breeze was nowhere to be seen, and a sharp edge honed like a soldier’s was now seeping out.

It was enough to make her body tremble just facing him.

“That there might not be any more chances for that ‘future.'”

“…What?”

‘What does that mean?’

As if answering her question, Regan declared with frost-like coldness:

“Because we just entered a ‘Rift.'”

⋆˚🐾˖°⋆˚🐾˖°⋆˚🐾˖°

It didn’t take long for Regan to notice that Haniel was not in her territory.

After their argument that wasn’t quite an argument, he headed to the training ground in a somewhat subdued state.

Then he began to move his body as if trying to forget his distracting thoughts. With the mindset that there was only him and the ground he stood on.

His boulder-like bulky body, despite its enormous size, had not an ounce of excess and was stronger than tightly wound steel cables yet as elastic as rubber.

The man, whose powerful physique was unmistakable even beneath his black clothes and who was a weapon in himself, flashed his ice-blue eyes.

A well-honed body was the only weapon he could truly control with his own will.

A weapon that only he could truly grasp the hilt of, even if someone else ordered him.

A weapon becomes sharper the more it’s honed, and stronger the more it’s hammered.

Regan was whipping himself beyond his limits when, at some point, he felt something catch at his feet and stopped his movement.

“…Oh no.”

When he came to his senses, he realized the interior of the training ground was almost half-destroyed with holes everywhere due to the force he had been wielding. The split pillars and distinct thick claw marks were just a bonus.

Haah. Sighing, Regan only then realized that his body had partially transformed into an animal form, and he changed his extended claws and furry hands back to human appearance.

But even in a half-transformed state…

“…Such power.”

Regan muttered, looking at the scene he had created.

Normally, even with diligent training, it wouldn’t have been to this extent… Certainly.

‘I’ve become stronger.’

It couldn’t be an illusion.

Regan coolly examined the half-destroyed dummy and damaged weapons.

Analyzing and evaluating had long been his specialty, and at this moment, Regan could coldly assess his own abilities as if drawing them in numerical values.

The flexibility when stretching muscles and joints, the agility when moving his body, the endurance of his muscles, the strength to grip and crush.

All of these had become much stronger than before… than before entering this forest.

Regan looked down at his body, which was starting to sweat.

A body without a single scratch. Not just the skin, but the entire physique had become more solid. It felt as if the material composing him had changed.

But what was the reason?

“…Is it because of the imprint… after all?”

He had heard that when a “soul imprint” is formed, one’s body and mind become more solid and stronger.

But if there was a problem with this assumption, it would be the fact that Regan had not yet formed an imprint with Haniel as a mate.

Then, was the reason for this dramatic growth and change in his martial prowess and physique due to meeting Haniel, who might be his soul mate?

Regan went to a nearby water tap to wash his sweat-soaked body.

Water as cool and clean as a spring deep in the forest gushed into his hands.

After rinsing his mouth with that water, Regan fell into thought.

‘Growth of body and soul.’

This territory was strange in many ways.

Lately, Regan had been feeling a peculiar sensation that the more he consumed the crops grown here and the water that sprang forth, apart from the magic Haniel maintained, the more his strength surged.

Especially when he ate certain fruits or the dishes that Haniel thankfully prepared herself, he would feel stronger for several hours and become more agile than usual.

Perhaps his remarkable growth was due to consistently consuming these things lately?

Like the crops of this land that grow larger and fuller day by day in the sunlight.

It was then, as Regan was wiping his wet mouth with the hem of his clothes.

Screeeeech!

“!”

A scream that pierced the eardrums. Regan looked up at the sky with lightning speed.

His pupils contracted to points as he soon discovered a massive bird circling in the sky.

‘That is…’

A bird. Its wingspan must be almost 15 feet.

A very threatening bird of prey with wings so massive that the sky seemed to darken for a moment was looking down at him from that high place.

He had never seen a bird of this size in Soleil or anywhere else.

With a threatening size that could dominate this forest and a chilling killing intent at the nape of his neck. Regan instinctively detected the threat and took a defensive stance.

Gripping the wooden sword and long spear in his hands, ready to throw and pierce if necessary.

“How could it enter this place?”