Mystical Journey

"Well, that's enough." Raffaele was grabbing Garen's hand, she liked to see his helpless expression. "Speaking of which, recently there's been a lot of stuff happening on my side as well. When it rains it pours, all kinds of troubles are starting to pile up, making me extremely busy. If it weren't for my sisters who came back from their universities, I think I wouldn't have any time left for even myself."

"There sure are a lot of people coming to the town recently."

"Yeah, all the inns are fully booked, and a lot of tourists have no choice but to stay in the townspeople's houses. However that's not a bad thing, and it gives everyone some bonus side income." Raffaele nodded, "It's probably because word of ‘that' got out to the public."

"That?" Garen didn't notice anything out of the particular.

"The biggest bear species, the Mika Bear, is supposedly the world's biggest species of bears ever discovered, breaking even the Brown Bear's record. It's almost a third bigger than the Brown Bear." Raffaele softly answered, "A lot of tourists are here to find out more about the Mika Bear, but the amount of Mika Bears are very few, in my entire life here I've only seen 2 of them."

"Is it really that big?" Garen was interested.

"It is, when standing, it can go up to 4 meters in height, however, it is non-hostile in nature and won't act aggressively towards humans unless provoked." Raffaele explained, "The 2 times I saw them was when they were out fishing."

Although it sounded ferocious, Raffaele showed no fear in her eyes.

Noticing this, Garen decided to change the topic.

"Oh right. I loved the Buck Badge you gave me last time, Can you bring me to see other similar antique items?"

"Err... That requires my grandma's permission…" Raffaele hesitated.

"I just want to look at them and admire them, you know how much I'm interested in antiques." Garen sincerely asked.

Raffaele already knew how fond Garen was of antiques, it could even be said that his knowledge in antiques had surpassed even that of experts, at least those shown on television series anyways, or so she felt. The more she started to understand Garen's strengths and weaknesses, the more she adored and loved this ideal man.

Although she was hailed as Grano's Strongest Witch with the strongest affinity for Ancient Power and her domination of all the witches from all the regional towns, besides that, Garen outshone her in every way.

"I'll go ask my grandma then. Like they say, Antiques are like the precious treasures of elders. They are very protective of them, it's not within my control whether she will let you see them."

"I understand." Garen nodded, his potential points had not increased even after all these years.

Recently, his secret technique progression entered a slow state, and without potential points, all he could do was to grind it out with time. The degree of growth had hit new extremes of slowness, and if he wanted to get back to his previous form, it'd have to take a lot longer.

Potential points could largely decrease the needed time and give him a distinct advantage. As such, he needed to utilize it as soon as possible.

After killing that vampire and measuring his strength, Garen started to feel an urgent need to increase his abilities and get back to his previous form as soon as possible. Otherwise, if he met a stronger Blood Breed someday or faced an unknown power, he wouldn't know how to react. With the power he had right now, it would be a suicide mission.

His experience and technique did make up for some of his lack of power, but that was only in a situation where the power difference wasn't too huge. If he had to face an opponent much stronger than him, he'd be in trouble.

Furthermore, regarding whether the Blood Breed was actually immortal, that statement piqued his interest.

"I'll give you an answer latest by the day after tomorrow. As you know, my grandma is a very strict person, I'll try to ask her when she's in a good mood." Raffaele said apologetically.

"Thanks!" Garen gave her a kiss on her right cheek and pulled her back into his embrace.

Regarding Raffaele, he had very complicated feelings, his identity in this world naturally accepted her, but the Garen hidden deep in his heart seemed to treat this as nothing more than a game.

Maybe Raffaele felt that hence she was reluctant to give her first time to him.

Garen had lived through 2 worlds and he had already become used to keeping all his feelings to himself. In comparison with Raffaele's astounding age, he would not easily accept her as well.

He had already planned to take matters into his own hands if her grandmother declined his request and use the antiques in secret, hopefully activating an effect on his progression.

After chatting for a bit on the beach, catching and cooking some scallops, the two saw that it was almost time, so Garen got on his bike and bid farewell to Raffaele.

Raffaele saw Garen off, her long hair swaying in the sea breeze.

A young girl in a grey shirt walked out from the crevices of the rocks from a small distance away and stood next to her.

Looking at the infatuated expression of her chief, she let out a helpless sigh.

From the point of view of others, regardless of whether it was the Blood Breed or the Witches, their chiefs were prideful and cold. The monstrous beauty that people call the Strongest Witch had revealed her horns since the very beginning, during which she managed to recruit all of the witches in the Alice Forest area. She was known to the witches in the other areas as the Sun's Will. This nickname was due to her overwhelming willpower; as strong as the sun's rays, inexorable, and a powerful leader.

In the early years, after a meeting with North America's chief of the Witches - the Moonlight's Darkness, Raffaele was unanimously nominated to be the 3rd strongest witch in America. Her talent was monstrous, she had a strong heart, and left a strong impression on the Blood Breeds and the Witches from other countries who were there to witness her presence.

However, this great being, the Queen Witch of the Forest, was now infatuated with such a normal boy.

"What's the matter?" Raffaele looked at her sisters on her sides.

"Nothing much, we were just jealous of your pure relationship with Garen." The girl muttered, "Maybe I should follow your example and use a hidden identity to find a nice guy that isn't after my position. That kind of relationship should be pure, right?"

Raffaele started giggling, and her smile had a sense of warmth that no outsider had ever seen.

******

"Sis, can we really live here for a period of time?" Arisa asked, wide-eyed staring at Isaros.

The sisters were walking side by side in the town center, following closely behind Jason and Vivien who were leading the way. They seem to have not heard the sisters' conversation.

Isaros carefully assessed the surroundings.

"This seems like a place the Primary Colours cannot get into, they haven't found our trail, if we remain hidden for long enough, we can live here for quite some time."

"That's great!" Arisa couldn't resist the joy and started skipping around gleefully.

"Don't worry, if we plan this well enough, they might never be able to find us in this lifetime," Isaros smiled while patting Arisa's head.

The Primary Colours, Asia's strongest shadow syndicate, had countless connections with numerous governments and also a strong standing in the Asian underground world. Their leader was Rabstein Cairo, the board chairman of the third largest financial group in the world and the owner of numerous banks, energy companies, firearm dealers, and black markets.

The Primary Colours as a whole was like a monster, having a major influence in every field, from military to politics, and legal to black markets. The sisters were merely average European girls born in a wealthy family, but because their genes were appropriate for the human strengthening experimentations of the Primary Colors, their families and lives were destroyed. Miraculously, they'd managed to escape during one of the experiments, and their life on the run had somehow led them to Grano.

Thinking back to how the Primary Colors managed to send elite military-trained soldiers and their multiple attempts of kidnappings, it sent a shiver down her spine as she reached out to softly caress the scar on her sister's neck.

No one would have thought, that scar was the aftermath of a near-fatal slash to the neck that should've killed her. If it was not for the increased regenerative abilities from the experimentation upon her, her sister Arisa would have entered an eternal slumber.

She had originally considered claiming revenge, but against a monster that had completely dominated the entirety of Asia, taking care of them was as simple as sending out some hired soldiers, mercenaries, and assassins. There were even more rumors about their underground sector having acquired technology like mutant soldiers and killing machines. The entire organization had completely conquered Asia's underground world, if they used their true power against the sisters, they wouldn't even stand a chance.

Isaros did not want her sister to suffer anymore. She was so young, yet she already experienced countless near-death incidents...

Even if she wanted to get revenge, thinking of the amount of increasingly powerful opponents and the Primary Colour's seamless authority over Asia, it sent a chill down her spine. In the experimentation lab, she'd once seen that terrifying man - Rabstein Cairo. He had a nickname back there - Titan.

That man gave off a strong fear-inducing aura, making even someone like her, who'd survived the experiments, tremble uncontrollably in fear. That strong aura made a glance at him feel as though she was a baby facing off against a ferocious lion.

"Who cares about revenge… I should just give up. As long as Arisa is happy and safe…" Isaros lightly nudged Arisa's back, letting her walk together with Vivien. The two started happily chatting with each other.

From the front, Jason kept looking back to steal a glance at her, making her chuckle.

This household that lived peacefully in this little town of Grano, having no qualms with the world, left a strong impression on her. After chatting with Jason for a bit, Jason blurted out every detail he could about his family.

Their parents were the standard intellectuals, were kind to others, but spend a lot of their time on their own work.

Their children were all somewhat mature. The oldest child, Jason was very muscular, with a huge body. He liked to practice martial arts, and overall, was just a pure-hearted upper-secondary student.

Their second son, Garen, was the most mature of them all, his position in their household hierarchy seemed to be higher than Jason's. He was immensely handsome, had a calm demeanor, liked to play the violin, and was one of the most popular kids in school. There were even rumors that there were multiple girls fighting over him.

Their youngest daughter, Vivien, was still a young kid, pure and energetic, sometimes weird in a cute way. She adored his brother Garen but also liked to tease and play pranks on Jason.

This tight-knit family had Isaros a bit of envy. On the other hand, Arisa was completely immersed in the atmosphere, becoming best friends with Vivien within such a short period of time, even sharing all her treats with her, making the actual sister feel a bit jealous.