Chapter 69: Money Problems (2/2)

Mei saw his expression and thought that he was probably reluctant to leave home and reassured, ”Don't worry, the Enchanted Hills is not as far as you think. In fact, the reason Old Zi wants to train you there is that he feels that one can synchronize with prana better at that place for some mysterious reason. That's how the mountain got that name. But since the mountain was said to be prone to Dreadling attacks, no one else dared to live there other than Old Zi, of course.”

Arion gulped, ”Then aren't we in danger here? How could we just stay in such a dangerous place? What if we get attacked by surprise?”

Arion couldn't understand how Mei seems calm about all this. He was no coward, but there was a difference between taking risks when needed and taking risks unnecessarily.

He still didn't fully get the concept behind the synchronization with prana and everything, but in his perspective, he felt that training in some normal spot was better than risking his life by training atop a dangerous mountain, especially where there were no people or other experts living nearby.

He had heard of the Enchanted Hills before and even seen it from afar because of how tall and big it was. He couldn't see its tip because it was covered with clouds. But thinking about how he has to climb such a large mountain while risking his life made him hesitate.

Unlike the protagonists in the novels he read where they were ready to brave any danger and risks in the name of 'training', even after knowing they had a 99% chance of losing their life, he wasn't that kind of a person, especially when he had no idea of how he was going to end up.

He always thought through things rationally and realistically and felt that these protagonists were, in fact, dumb and stupid to do things without thinking things through.

But then again, he knew that they were just fictional characters in a novel who could afford to do such things while he was a real person who only got one shot at his life.

So unless he feels that the end result was worth it, he would think twice. Being on the brink of death many times in his past life had taught him to be like that.

Mei heard his worries and calmly said, ”I know it sounds dangerous but trust me when I say that Old Zi and I wouldn't let anything happen to you. If it makes you feel any better, Aunt Yaro is also coming with us, saying that you will need her to cook a load of food for you during your training.”

”And the mountain is not as dangerous as you think. It has been a while since Dreadlings last made an appearance there, and even if they did, those are only weak ones that I can take care of. Besides, Old Zi has some traps and setups to prevent the Dreadlings from wandering inside the place where he lives or the place where we are going to stay. There are certain pranic items to ward off any possible Wild Dreadlings. Otherwise, how do you think he can sleep peacefully without being alert all the time?”

Arion's expression relaxed upon realizing that what Mei said made sense. He didn't know there were special pranic items to ward off Dreadlings and wondered why such items could be kept everywhere.

But then he thought that they should be quite expensive or rare; otherwise, people would have done it already.

He was also surprised that Yaro wanted to join him and wondered if she was that fond of him or if she was still trying to make up for what happened. Anyways, as Mei said, he felt better with her coming with him. At least, he would have one more familiar face around while getting to eat tasty food.

However, this still didn't solve his 'food' issue, and it was not like he could keep up his excuse of 'possible health issues' with Yaro to make her use her precious pranic food oil.

”It seems like you have some other worries in your mind. What is it?” Mei asked with a curious gaze.

She could see that Arion had some hesitations for unknown reasons, and it didn't seem like he was concerned about being homesick since she knew how badly Arion wanted to become a Dreadslayer.

But she had no idea that Arion was trying not to risk everything by not leaving anything to suspicion.

She then clicked her tongue as she remembered Arion asking about earning money on his own and said with a reassuring smile, ”If you are still thinking about earning money on your own, I think there is a way, and Old Zi could certainly help you with that.”

Arion's brows raised as he did not expect a sudden ray of hope to shine in and wondered how Old Zi was factoring into this equation.