Chapter 9: Basement // Dealing with trouble

Zed spent the entire day repairing their house and an entire week of repairmen's work was finished by Zed in a single day with the help of magic.

Lan'er also wanted to help, so she pulled the roots of wild grasses from their courtyard and cleared the overgrown shrubs.

With the two siblings' earnest work, their house looked clean and new.

Zed replaced the windows and the decaying parts of the house with the materials they bought, and Lan'er finished her work as she removed small debris and rocks from their courtyard.

The two children lay exhausted on the floor inside their empty bedroom. Zed had yet to clean the basement and buy furniture.

Unfortunately, their bathroom didn't have a water system that would release water by turning a faucet.

Zed learned that most commoners and servants would gather water from the nearby stream or well to use water for their daily needs.

This didn't pose a problem for Zed because he made the perfect heated bath for the two of them to enjoy.

And so after a long rejuvenating bath time, the two slept in the bedroom once more, with Zed sitting upwards and Lan'er using his lap as a pillow.

The shadow emerged once more as it observed the two with an interesting gaze. More so, it was looking mainly at Zed when it saw him using strange powers.

It had never seen anything like it before. It was thought that Zed was an immortal, but that was impossible since he was only a child, albeit more mature and responsible than a normal one.

Still, that wasn't enough to explain his way of moving things with his hand and forming water out of thin air!

The shadow was shocked when it first saw Zed using his magical powers and was even a little bit afraid, but more so, it was curious as to what secret martial arts Zed was using.

A martial art that allows one to do the impossible that only Immortals can do. Its eyes glinted as it waited for Zed to clean the basement.

On the other hand, the shadow was even more shocked to see Lan'er, but not because of her unearthly beauty, but...

'This little girl's body...'

The shadow inched closer towards Lan'er. After confirming its suspicions, it trembled in joy before retreating into the darkness.

-

The next morning, the two woke up before the sun rose and went to finish the last bits of their work. Zed disposed of the garbage and debris they gathered from cleaning the house.

Then they ate breakfast at a nearby restaurant. The owner of the shop was a middle-aged aunt who treated the two children with kindness.

She had heard that two peculiar children moved near them and that they didn't have guardians or parents since the older one was always seen taking care of his younger sibling.

The two were always together, never seen without missing one another.

The kind aunty put a little more into their food as she pitied the two children who could only buy the cheapest meal on the menu.

Zed accepted the kindness of the owner and they became friendly with each other. Zed and Lan'er learned many things from their "Aunt Mu Lin".

She had a husband who unfortunately passed away several years ago. He left his store for his wife to watch over, and because they were quite a famous eatery, the restaurant continued to run.

They were also friendly with most of the neighbors around their district.

Mu Lin sighs in pity as she watches the pair of siblings wave her goodbye. She wished that she could do more for them, but the best she could do was make sure their hunger was satiated while giving helpful advice and information.

She shared the circumstances of the two siblings and asked her regular customers, who were also her neighbors, to take care of the two when they could.

They agreed and admired the two children, especially the older one. They couldn't help but compare them to their children and sigh about their differences in attitudes.

After having breakfast, the two returned to their house, unaware that a certain group of people was following them.

-

Zed went down to clean the basement. With one open at the door, a large amount of dust swept past him.

It's as if the room had finally breathed after long years of abandonment.

Using magic, he cleansed all the dust and directed them outside the house. Once he was sure that the interior was breathable, he descended the wooden stairs.

Creak.. creak...

Each step he took made a creaking sound as he felt the wooden stairs were very weak.

[Basic-Level Fire Magic: Ignis]

A small ball of flame appeared on top of his index finger and used it to light the surroundings.

If Zed had an advanced-level affinity for fire, then the size of the fire would've been similar to a fist but since he only had normal-level, it only had the size of a match used to light cigarettes.

When he finally reached the bottom, he realized that the basement was quite deep. Cobwebs extended across the walls.

[Advanced-Level Wind Magic: Keto]

Half of his mana had immediately been drained as a force of wind sucked all the dust and dirt inside the basement.

He directed it all outside the house and finally, he had a better view of the basement.

He found many sealed wooden crates that are used to store items.

Some had rotted and with their stored items visible. He found some antiques and numerous rich and high-quality clothes and robes.

Unfortunately, most of them have been damaged by pests, rendering them useless. Zed was looking to see if he could salvage some of them, but he didn't have his hopes up.

He also found a crater full of weapons, but most of them had rusted. Only those with the highest quality managed to survive the passage of time, and with a little bit of maintenance, they would be usable again.

When he reached the end of the room, he found a door that was covered by numerous talismans with writings that Zed assumed were written in blood for their red color.

'Now this is...' Zed was stunned at the horror-like features of the basement.

Standing in front of the sealed door, he wondered. 'Is it true? That there is a ghost haunting this place?'

Just as he was contemplating what to do with a door, he heard a shout from his little sister.

"Brother, help!"

Almost by instinct, he instantly cast a spell on himself.

[Basic-Level Wind Magic: Meven]

He dashed outside his house, and what he saw shocked him.

Several men with brute-like attire were surrounding his little sister in the middle of the courtyard.

He found one of them had collapsed while four of them were closing in on her.

The leader of the group shouted. "Careful! the little runt knows how to move!"

Zed clicked his tongue when suddenly, he heard a movement behind him.

As it turns out, someone was waiting for him in front of the door and planned on knocking him out while he was distracted.

A cold glint flashed in Zed's eyes as he stepped to the side. As he expected, the man missed as he tried to hit him on the head with a club.

"Tch!" The man clicked his tongue and immediately swung again.

Zed unhesitatingly conjured a spell.

[Basic-Level Wind Magic: Meven]

Surprised by the sudden force, the man lost his balance and slipped. The next thing he realized was two thin yet strong arms wrapping around his head.

Snap!

The man's vision turned dark as his head twisted back.

Thud.

His body dropped down and Zed didn't waste time and cast another spell.

[Basic-Level Wind Magic: Quarite]

A soft gust of wind blew from Zed's position. It swept the surroundings for at least a hundred meters.

'Two more are hiding and observing... I need to finish this fast!'

Lan'er was focused on dodging and countering the four adult men that surrounded her.

Zed called out to her. "Lan'er, I'm here!"

Her face brightened as she felt relieved. With a fluid movement, she broke through the circle and ran towards Zed.

"Damn it! Get her!" The leader immediately ordered as the four of them chased after her.

'What do I do... I can't kill them outright and leaving trails of blood would be troublesome.'

Zed was also worried about the two observers.

When Lan'er reached Zed, he whispered to her an order, and she nodded while heading inside the house.

The leader of the kidnappers was a tall man with thick muscular arms and a protruding fat belly. He had a bald head and a fiendish grin.

Just the thought of this man touching his little sister disgusted him to no end. Zed immediately decided that there was no other way for them except death.

They stopped in front of Zed and the leader spoke to him. "Step aside and hand over your sister then maybe we'll let you off!"

But Zed remained quiet as he stared at them with an expressionless face. His accomplices grinned, thinking that Zed was frozen in fear.

But then they noticed one of their members collapsed on the ground, with his head twisting to his back.

"W-wha-" They couldn't finish their thoughts as they were suddenly dragged by the force of the wind.

"You shouldn't have messed with me... and my sister."

Zed's cold gaze and emotionless voice were the last things they remembered before losing consciousness.

-

The leader awoke when he found himself unable to breathe.

"Mmmfgh!"

The first thing he noticed was the dark room he was in. Next were the members of his group, all lying breathless on the ground with water leaking from their noses and mouths.

The leader became desperate as he continued to suffocate, but he didn't know the cause. It didn't take him long to realize that he was drowning as water leaked from his nose, but he didn't know-how.

His face turned blue as he continued to drink water, but no air would enter his lungs.

"H-h-he-" He wanted to scream for help, but he ended up choking on water.

He made a gurgling sound as he screamed while his mouth was filled with water.

Eventually, he collapsed beside his lackeys, and his last vision was a small pair of legs.

His eyes remained open as he died. When one looks at this scene, one will find out that all the men died with a similar pained expression.

It was understandable, since drowning was one of the most painful ways to die.

What Zed had just done was one of the cruelest crimes in the malpractice of magic law. His usage of magic violated human rights and ethnicity.

But he didn't care.

They should've been prepared for this kind of ending when they targeted his little sister.

A total of 9 adult men's bodies were gathered in their basement.

Lan'er helped in knocking the two observers unconscious as they were watching Zed's spectacle of using magic.

Zed didn't know whether the observers were part of them, but he couldn't afford to let them go once they'd seen what he was capable of.

At the very least, he didn't give them a slow and painful death like drowning.

It was nighttime when Zed finished. He left the corpses to burn in their basement, and he didn't worry about their house burning because the basement was deep enough.

As for the wooden craters, he had already moved the salvageable ones above, and the useless ones were added as coal to the burning pile of bodies.

Zed used the last bits of his magic to direct the smoke and smell to the air and gently distribute them in every direction.

This took up a large amount of his mana and he ended up overusing it, causing him to go pale.

"Brother.." When Lan'er saw Zed's state, she helped by guiding him to their bedroom.

They still didn't have any furniture, so Lan'er used her thighs as Zed's pillow.

"Haaa..." Zed let out a sigh, as this was only the third day they had moved to this house and they were already encountering this kind of problem.

He would always end the day by becoming extremely tired and the stress accumulating in his mind made him feel even sicker.

He never had the time to improve his magic circle because he could only use his free time to rest.

"Are you alright, brother?" Lan'er asked in worry.

Zed indeed, looked sickly pale.

He made a weak smile and replied. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine in the morning."

Lan'er clenched her hands so hard that they almost bled. She was angry and ashamed of herself. She wanted to avoid becoming a burden, but once again, she could only be saved by her brother.

She knew that her brother had already sacrificed many things for her, and although she couldn't repay it, at the very least, she wanted to lessen his burden.

That's why she wanted to grow up faster and become someone who could help her brother.

'But again!' Lan'er gnashed her teeth.

She felt that it was her fault that her brother was in this state.

She blamed herself for always being a burden and that her efforts in trying to become a mature person aren't enough.

"Little girl..." Lan'er almost jumped in surprise as she heard a woman's ethereal-like voice.

Slightly hesitating, she asked. "Who's there?!"

She was worried that there were more of those evil men from before.

The woman's voice laughed as if she found the Lan'er's reaction funny.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Lan'er nearly shouted as she tried to hide her nervousness.

Zed's brows slightly creased, but he only turned the other way.

Lan'er covered her mouth in reflex and let out a sigh when she didn't disturb her brother's rest. She couldn't move because her brother was still resting on her lap, so she could only warily look around the room.

The voice resounded once more. "Mhmm... how adorable..."

This time, Lan'er could tell where it came from.

From the dark corner of the room, a shadow emerged in the figure of an adult woman. She had pale white skin.

She had a beautiful cold face with fierce eyes. She was an ethereal beauty with her long dark hair that fell like waterfalls on her back.

She wore dark gray robes, embroidered with golden dragon patterns.

Lan'er gasped in shock, but looked at her with a very wary gaze.

The lady only smirked and spoke. "I only have one question for you, little girl..."

She moved closer and stopped in front of them. She leaned down and looked directly at Lan'er's eyes.

Her cold voice attracted Lan'er's full attention.

"Do you want power?"

A glint appeared in her cold eyes as she smirked and asked the little girl.

Edited By: WorthyAdversary