Binding System

277  I Will Find Ice Lotus First

'Should I go to Nightshire City first before going to Framingburns forest?'

It had been almost a year since the last time she met Ace.

If her master were not sick and needed her, she would have gone to Nightshire city a few months ago because she missed him.

'But…'

There were two reasons why she suddenly wavered.

First, she needed to find ice lotus quickly because her master's condition was getting worse day by day.

And last, she left without saying goodbye in the past.

She believed Ace was disappointed in her because she only left a goodbye letter before leaving him.

'I…I will find ice lotus first.'

With that idea in mind, she flew toward Framingburns forest.

No!

It was not like she did not want to meet Ace.

She just did not know what to say or do when they met because she left without saying goodbye last time.

In other words, she needed to prepare herself first.

That was why she decided to find ice lotus first because her master was also important to her.

Her master was as important as Ace because she was the one who took care of her since she was little.

'I'm sorry, Ace.'

----

Nightshire City, Times Square.

"Ace, can you protect the residents who take wood in the forest?" Captain Noah inquired.

The citizens needed a lot of wood to build their houses, so they took the wood from Framingburns forest.

Even though Ace had killed Dezmavas and his subordinates, there were still many magical beasts in the forest.

There were even many 3-star magical beasts because not all magical beasts participated in the war.

Captain Noah asked Ace to be their protector because Ace had broken through to the Grandmaster rank.

The strongest magical beast in the Framingburns forest was only at 3-star, so they would be safe if Ace became their protector.

"Sure." Ace agreed without thinking twice.

"Good!" Captain Noah smiled happily. "Let's go."

Captain Noah and Ace immediately headed to where the residents took wood. On their way to their destination, Ace saw many city guards protecting the citizens.

However, they were only at Novice and Elite rank, so they could not protect the citizens if many 2-star magical beasts or a 3-star magical beast appeared.

"Ace…"

"Ace…"

"Ace…"

"Ace…"

The citizens greeted Ace when they caught sight of him.

Even though Ace did not say anything about the purpose of his visit, they knew he wanted to protect them.

Previously, several 2-star magical beasts appeared and attacked them. Although the residents were fine, some of city guards were injured.

They believed Captain Noah asked Ace for help because he did not want the same thing to happen again.

"Huft… I'm tired." After saying that, the blue-haired man sat on the ground.

"Me too. I'm exhausted." The green-haired man dropped his axe on the ground.

"I have been chopping trees for three hours straight. I need some rest." The brown-haired man said as he breathed heavily.

Ace, who heard their words, approached them slowly. "Let me help you guys."

They immediately turned their heads toward him. "Ace?"

"Please step back, or you will get hurt later." Ace did not want the citizens to get hurt.

The green-haired man and the others put some distance between them.

'What is he going to do?'

That was the question that appeared in their minds when they saw him retrieving his sword from his space ring.

Ace looked at the trees.

'Moon Slice.'

Ace swung his Phoenix sword, sending a huge wave of energy at the trees in front of him.

Boom!

Boom!

One by one, the trees were cut and fell to the ground.

The citizens widened their eyes in surprise when Ace's skill cut more than twenty trees.

They were shocked because they did not expect him to use his skill to cut trees.

*Slash…

Ace uses his skills again, cutting down many trees with one slash.

In less than a minute, Ace had cut down more than one hundred trees.

"Is this enough?" Ace inquired.

"It's enough for now." the green-haired man responded, "We need to cut the trees into logs first."

"Alright." After saying that, Ace stored his sword in his space ring.

To his surprise, a 3-star white monkey suddenly appeared in front of them. The white monkey was two meters tall and wore an angry face.

He was furious because Ace had cut down his trees. "Human, how dare you cut down my trees?"

Everyone instantly stood behind Ace.

The white monkey could talk like them, so they knew he was already at 3-star.

Ace, who saw the white monkey, approached him slowly. "We need it to build a house."

"Then you have to cut trees from other places. This is my territory." The white monkey tried to get the residents to leave its territory.

"No." Ace refused instantly. "This place is the closest to our city."

"Human, do you want to die?" the white monkey still did not know that Ace was much stronger than him because Ace did not release his power.

"I know it's not fair to you, but we need it to build our houses because Dezmavas and his underlings have destroyed our homes." Ace refused to leave that place.

"Then, die!" after saying that, the white monkey rushed toward Ace, intending to hit Ace's head.

However, Ace suddenly disappeared before he could hit Ace.

'Where is he?'

When he turned his head to look for Ace, he was welcomed with a kick in the stomach.

Due to how strong Ace's kick was, he was thrown several meters from where he was. Not only that, the trees were down when he crashed against it.

"Uakk…" the white monkey coughed up blood before finally rising to its feet.

'This human is already at 4-star. I can't defeat him.'

Even though Ace only kicked him once, he knew Ace was much stronger than him.

'I have to leave this place.'

With that idea in mind, he ran away.

However, he failed to run away because Ace used the Lightning Move skill to appear in front of the white monkey.

"Don't blame me for this." After saying that, Ace used the Deadly Shot skill.

He did not want the white monkey to hurt the citizens when he was not around, so he decided to kill it.

"Human, wait. I will lea-" before the monkey had finished his words, a deadly arrow pierced his head, creating a big hole.

*Sring…

The beast core slowly came out of its body and floated above the corpse.

Ace took the beast core before finally returning to where the citizens were.

"Did you kill it, Ace?" Captain Noah asked curiously.

"Yes." Ace gave an honest answer.

"Ace, come here. Let's have lunch together." the blue-haired man said as he waved his hand.

"I'm coming." Ace responded.

As Ace ate with the citizens, Evelyn fought against two 3-star magical beasts.

"Human, how dare you steal our ice lotus!" the male tiger retorted.

"I don't steal these ice lotuses. I found it." Evelyn responded, "Or are you saying you are the owner of this forest?"

"Grrr…" the male tiger gritted his teeth.

Even though he was powerful, he did not dare to say he was the owner of Framingburns forest because there were many powerful magical beasts in the forest.

"Husband, let's just kill her." The female tiger uttered.

"Alright. Let's kill her." The male tiger rushed toward Evelyn, intending to tear her body apart with his claws.

Like her husband, the female tiger also attacked Evelyn.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The impact of their fight destroyed countless trees and small mountains.

"What is that?"

"What a loud sound!"

"Is anyone fighting in that area?"

"Or are the magical beasts fighting each other?"

Captain Noah and the others instantly turned their heads toward the source of the sound.

Even though the distance between them was quite far, but they could hear it because several small mountains were destroyed due to the impact of their fight.

Ace immediately put his food on the table and rose to his feet.

"Let me check it first." He created one clone before finally flying toward the source of the sound.

"Be careful, Ace." The citizens said in unison.

Ace did not say anything and only nodded his head.

'Is it a territorial fight?'

That was the question that appeared in his mind.

When he arrived at the battlefield, his eyes widened in surprise.

'Evelyn?'