The moment Emery opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a lush grass bed, facing the blue majestic sky. Hearing the birds chirping and seeing verdant leaves falling slowly to the ground. He could not help but let out a faint smile. It was a familiar yet unfamiliar sight, one that was far different from all the marvel of the Academy.
Slowly getting up into a sitting position, Emery stretched his body and felt the gentle breeze caressing his skin all over.
"I have returned, haven't I?" murmured Emery, as his eyes wandered around, trying to find out where he was currently.
Emery took a deep breath, enjoyed the gentle sunlight, admiring the beautiful nature and smelling the fragrant grass. He said to himself with a smile, "I am home."
He gradually got up to his feet and finally realized he was standing just next to a horse trail.
It had been three months, but he could quickly recognize this was the exact spot where he chased the cart that took Morgana away. Remembering that, Emery subconsciously clenched his fist.
He began to scour through his memories, trying to recall what had happened at that time.
The last time before he left, Emery just received a quest from one of the three guardians of Lionhart Kingdom, Sir Badgemagus to eradicate the Crimson Fang bandit that had been plundering and wreaking havoc in the kingdom territory.
Right after the bandit group was routed, the situation turned ugly as Emery ended up killing the old knight and his men. Afterwards, he went ahead and chased the cart that took Morgana before eventually arriving at this spot.
Things had begun coming back to Emery. The last three months, the Magus Games and all the intrigue of the Magus Universe really occupied his mind. He finally knew the big picture outside planet Earth and indirectly felt burdened by it.
But now that he had returned, Emery had to keep all those problems aside for three years. After all, there was nothing he could do right now, except improving himself as quickly as possible.
Emery knew he had to start making plans for the next three years, however, before he did so, he had to do something first. He began checking the surrounding area to find the two objects that should have come together with him.
One was the leather bag where his old potions and Moon Dagger were stored, while the other was the unassuming special storage box.
Emery carefully opened the box he spent his hard-earned money for. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the items inside were still in good conditions. The small black sphere that was the Void Crystal, the Bloodmoon ritual parchment and the tiny little seed; all of them looked the same as the last time he had seen them.
Much to Emery's surprise, not long after he opened the box, the steel box suddenly began to disintegrate into ashes. He was startled and quickly took out all the items before putting them carefully on his old-looking leather bag.
The next thing he had to do was checking his current stats and, most importantly, the severity of the restriction.
Emery focused his mind into the symbol in his palm and the familiar, to be expected notification immediately materialized on top of it.
[Restriction spell has been placed]
[Emery Ambrose]
[Battle Power : 47 (32)]
[Spirit Force : 193 (118)]
[Plant Spirit – Mid-Foundation]
[Water Spirit – Mid-Foundation]
[Earth Spirit – Mid-Foundation]
[Spirit Core of Darkness – Stage 4]
[Fey Bloodline – Rank 3]
[Acolyte Rank: 7]
Emery was quite speechless as he saw the restriction placed on him. Seeing his power decreased for more than one-third was definitely not a pleasant feeling, not at all.
Fortunately, it seemed there were no changes in his cultivation realm. It was apparent the restriction did not change anything about his realm, but only sealed and weakened the power he had.
However, Emery's main concern with this restriction were his spells. Even though it still mentioned he was a Rank 7 acolyte, his spirit force was suppressed to below 150 points, below the requirement for casting Tier 4 spells.
This meant Emery would not be able to cast any Tier 4 spell during his time on Earth, which honestly left a bad taste in his mouth.
To be sure, he went ahead and tried to cast both of his Tier 4 spells, [Dark Matter] and [Jade Skin]. And, as expected, the result completely dissatisfied Emery.
For [Jade Skin], he only managed to make his body covered with the Tier 3 spell [Granite Skin], as it could not transform into the [Jade Skin] spell. As for the [Dark Matter], Emery did not even see a speck of darkness energy materialize above his palm. The spell simply could not form.
Other than those two spells, it appeared all the other spells in his repertoire were still functional, even though they were less powerful than the one he previously casted back at the Academy.
Emery released a long sigh thinking about his current 'pitiful' situation. But then, he remembered that compared to his previous self who could only cast Tier 1 spells, he was far more powerful right now. He was also more skillful in swordsmanship, not forgetting his impressive battle art skill [Immortal Gate].
Emery believes with his current strength, he would not find many threats that could defeat him other than Granny or the High Priestess Lady of the Lake.
Either way, he believed he still had the Dragon, Killgragah as a way to further increase his strength.
"This void crystal is so expensive, I won't let him take it without giving anything in return!"
Now Emery left with his plan. He had three objectives he wanted to complete. The first was to find Morgana, the second was Killgraga and the third was to find Fantumar, the noble who was responsible for the death of his father.
Looking at the horse trails that were splitting to two opposite paths, his choices were heading to where the cart that took Morgana or the other path to return to Venta City.
Unfortunately, Emery had no knowledge about where the cart was going other than the fact that it was heading out of Lionhart Kingdom. The only clue he had was the name of the knight who took Morgana. Sir Keane, Badgemagus's right-hand man.
Therefore, the best choice of action for him right now was to head back to the other path, returning to Venta town. He could go ask for some updated information from Luna Quintin in Venta town, as there was a high possibility that, with Sir Keane surviving, he could be the most wanted criminal for killing one of the three guardians of Lioness Kingdom.
Thinking about how many things were currently on his plate, Emery could not help but curse, "Damn… so many problems to solve…"
When Emery looked back to the two paths, he suddenly became confused. He did not know which one was going north or south. It appeared he was lost.
While Emery was trying to figure out which path was heading to Venta town, his attention was suddenly attracted by a loud sound. It was the sound of horses running through the muddy path.
With his enhanced senses, he could estimate there were at least five horses and from afar, Emery could see they were not simple villagers. In fact, all five people riding the horses looked like fighters or even marauders.
Seeing the incoming group, which probably had a hostile aim, Emery had no intention to hide. Actually, he inwardly thought their timing could not be better. He truly needed something to vent his frustration off and it delivered itself to his hand.