Chapter 64: Zeth and Zaydra

Chapter 64: Zeth and Zaydra

Zeth narrates, “Following our meeting with my mother, Harmona, we ended up spending four months training. It also gave us time to finish up any remaining business as this may be the last time we get to see family and friends for a while. During these four months, Sasha, Emily, Joe, and Kurt had birthdays with Sasha and Emily now being 18, Joe being 19, and Kurt being 23. But now it’s time to get to work. After training, we went to RAG to check our magic power. I’m a mid E-Rank. Emily is a low E-Rank. And the other three are a high F-Rank. It’s now November, Year 118. We had received intel from one of my mother’s angels that Clora, the angel that left me with my step-parents, has gone missing in some shallow woods. We are on a mission to find her.”

The heroes are walking through shallow woods, filled with trees and plants, some of which have no leaves. Many trees have their bark carved in places, adding to their creepy factor.

“I hope nothing bad has happened to Clora,” Joe says with concern.

“We know nothing about what we are getting into so stay on guard,” Zeth cautions, keeping his eyes focused to spot any problems.

Just moments later, he spots a woman dashing straight for him, her fist ready to strike. At the last moment, he blocks the punch by crossing his arms to shield himself. However, the woman quickly kicks him, knocking him on his back. The other heroes raise their guard, ready to fight back against this new threat.

Following the kick, the woman ceases her attack, allowing Zeth and the others to get a good look at her. Her blonde hair is tied back and spreads outward from there. Her green irises of her eyes seem almost radiant. Her white battle tunic gives off heavenly vibes.

“Hello, brother,” she says in a serious tone.

Zeth looks at her curiously, “So, you are my sister, Zaydra?” His tone turns to anger. “Why did you attack me?!”

Zaydra smiles. “To see how up to snuff you are in combat. Look, you’re my little brother, so I care about you a lot. I don’t want you to be ill-prepared for fighting demons and then die. You may not be able to tell, but your death would leave our mother with depression. She was already hurt enough for having to leave you in someone else’s care for all this time. She may be a goddess, but she still has emotions.”

Zeth thinks, “She is right, I could tell when I was hugging our mother.”

He nods before asking, “Fine, how about a quick sparring match?”

“Okay, but I won’t be using much of my power because, otherwise, I would turn you into dust with just one hit,” she replies with a chuckle.

Zeth stands up and charges at Zaydra. He throws a few punches, which Zaydra blocks with ease using her arm. Zeth swings his leg horizontally to kick her, but she effortlessly blocks it with her knee.

Zeth stares her in the eyes with surprise and awe. She simply smiles back confidently.

“You’ve got a long way to go…” she says just before she lands a punch to knock him on his back once again. “…But I can certainly see your potential. Don’t feel bad about losing to me. I’m 536 years old, after all. I have had plenty of time to improve my skills.”

Zeth gets back on his feet and fully stands up as he says, “I guess I forgot you are that old since you look young.”

Zaydra chuckles. “Well, once you get your divine powers back and get to be my age, you will get used to it.”

The five heroes laugh, fully amused by the thought.

As Zeth finishes his laugh, he asks, “So, what magic rank are you?”

Zaydra shakes her head with a slight smile. “Oh, Zeth, that’s a silly question. The magic ranks are a mortal creation and don’t really mean anything. You can’t really quantify someone’s strength.”

Sasha holds out her arms, surprise and a bit of disappointment on her face as she pleads her case, “But we had our magic scanned and everything.”

“You did, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t mean anything,” Zaydra replies. “Those scans measure your magic strength at a base level and that’s it. It doesn’t take into account the strengths and weaknesses of your magic and it also does not take into account how far you can push your power. They don’t take into account strategies one can come up with for their magic either. Finally, some magics are just a straight-up bad matchup for other magics. Thinking you will win a battle just because you are a higher magic rank is a good way to get yourself killed.”

Zeth stares at Zaydra with a desire to learn. “Give an example of one of these matchups that would be bad for a certain type of magic.”

Zaydra holds up her index finger as she begins. “Okay, let’s say you had someone that used Plant Magic. Now, let’s say that the Plant Magic user goes up against someone who uses Lava Magic. Those plants are going to have a tough time not getting burnt to a crisp from the lava. The one with Plant Magic can be very strong, but they can be taken down by someone not as strong if they are in a bad matchup.”

Zeth nods. “I get what you are saying.”

Zaydra continues. “For us divine beings, we don’t have any sort of magic ranks. Our strength is looked at based on our accomplishments in battle. So, while there are obviously divine beings that are much stronger than others, we don’t have any sort of quantifying system to say that. Some do like to make lists of who they believe to be the strongest though. In other words, once you get your permanent divine power back, you will never even give any thought to that magic rank system ever again. It is annoying how the use of the mortal rank system has even spread to the underworlds too.”

“Underworlds?” Joe wonders, confusion.

Looking at Joe, Zaydra states, “They are other dimensions connected to Earth. It’s not something you need to think too much about right now.”

“So why are you here anyway?” Zeth asks.

Zaydra’s eyes narrow, her expression changing to a serious frown. “I’m on the trail of Korobu. He is one of the Dark Goddess’s most powerful weapons.”

That name immediately grabs Zeth’s attention. “The bastard who infected me with darkness?”

“Yes. I felt his power in an area nearby a while ago.”

“Do you think there is any connection between him and Clora’s disappearance?”

“I doubt it. He would gain nothing from doing so and probably would have just killed her on the spot. This is an abduction. I leave finding Clora to you and your friends. I must hunt down Korobu. Good luck.”

Zaydra jumps to the side, dashing away just as quickly as she arrived.

“She seems like she would be a big help in finding Clora,” Sasha notes.

“She is right though,” Zeth replies. “Taking down Korobu is a priority. Finding Clora is something we can handle. Let’s go.”

After an encounter with Zaydra, the heroes continue their search for Clora. What will they find?

Chapter 64 END

To be Continued in Chapter 65: Mansion of Horrors