The sun was high in the sky above the Worth Woodsea indicating that it was roughly noon. Nature was blooming as always and many creatures were active and moving about. One such creature cut through the clear blue sky like a red bolt of lightning. Not many would be aware of its presence due to the canopy of trees below, and even fewer would notice the armored young man riding on its back. There wasn’t a saddle so the position that he sat in was a bit awkward, but there was still a smile on his face as they moved forward at the wyvern’s top speed.

That young man was Ikazuchi who had recently left the depths of the Worth Woodsea after a fortunate encounter. He didn’t have a particular destination in mind as he flew, but he was intent on seeking out a village to interact with other people after so long. He was constantly on the lookout for any visible clearings or signs of life like smoke that would indicate the presence of other people. This would continue on for a couple of hours due to the sheer size of the Worth Woodsea.

Ikazuchi finally encountered someone on his journey, but they were unfortunately someone similar to himself. The man was a guarded individual, but after seeing the young man swoop in while mounted on a wyvern he was still willing to answer a few of Ikazuchi’s questions in order to avoid trouble. The information offered was mostly useless, but he did learn that there was a village no more than an hour away by foot. What Ikazuchi didn’t know was that the man he encountered was a particularly petty individual who neglected to mention the current state of affairs and tense atmosphere due to this village’s relationship with another.

Ikazuchi wasn’t aware of that as he rushed off on his mount towards the indicated direction happily, what would be waiting for him when he arrived would be a clash between the current leaders of this village and a neighboring one over the rights to a certain territory and trade between the two.

WC - 350

As he approached the village Ikazuchi was able to see visible signs of smoke rising, likely due to the fires burning for the sake of cooking. It wasn’t long before his wyvern was circling the area above the village directly for Ikazuchi to observe the situation below. From above he was able to see what looked like most of the villagers gathered into a single group while facing another group towards the edge of the village. Two men in particular appeared very aggressive and intent on escalating the situation. ‘Let’s go down and check this out.’ As Ikazuchi thought this, he relayed his intent to descend to the wyvern.

The sound of the wind prevented him from hearing anything said as the wyvern rapidly landed between the two groups, and by then the area had fallen silent with shock. The members of both groups had their eyes trained on just the wyvern. Only a few individuals noticed the young man clad in armor on its back, and they were even more shocked as a result.

Neither group was particularly fearful as they had their own means of survival, but it was shocking to have the creature appear so directly. The leaders were the first to calm themselves though, and the others were able to follow the example set by them. That was when the apparent leader of the village spoke to Ikazuchi and broke the silence. “Who are you?”

Ikazuchi smiled slightly as he looked at the older man and the villagers around him. He had finally returned to some form of civilization, so he found himself growing more and more excited as he responded. “I’m Ikazuchi, and I’ve been exploring for a long time now...” He paused after speaking up to this point in order to contemplate what he actually wanted for a moment.

The leader seemed to want to speak, but could tell that Ikazuchi had more to say so he continued to restrain himself out of consideration for the potential threat. “Would it be possible for me to stay in your village tonight?” As Ikazuchi said this he made sure to give a glance to the other group in order to pressure them to leave if possible.

“...We’ll return at a different time.” The visiting group took the hint and left without much complaint. Even if they didn’t fear him particularly, they also couldn’t be aware of his strength. Ikazuchi was sure that their leaving was due to not wanting to make an extra enemy for no particular reason.

After the group left far enough away a young man who looked slightly older than Ikazuchi stepped forward and answered his request. “We would be more than happy to act as your hosts for the night. You’re more than welcome to stay with me for the night, how does that sound?”

Ikazuchi could see the older man walk away in a huff without saying anything. Ikazuchi smiled a bit wider as he observed this and looked back at the welcoming young man to inspect him and respond. “I would appreciate that a lot.” Ikazuchi was able to notice a faint resemblance between the young and older man as he responded.

WC - 510

After the tense initial meeting, there was a shift to a warm and peaceful atmosphere that was very welcoming to him. It finally felt like he could relax after so long, and he appreciated it more than words could describe. If there was one thing that he wasn’t used to, it would be the fact that he was constantly learning things about the various members of the village. The blessing he received forced him to uncontrollably learn things that he had never considered before, but the sheer amount meant that he had to constantly filter it himself. That was the only way for himself to not be overwhelmed, but he still had a natural understanding of the general situation despite his best efforts.

Something surprising was that once he returned to the young man’s home, he was soon faced with a request. The gist of the issue was related to the earlier confrontation. The young man’s father was attempting to make an unfair deal with a neighboring village after recently reaching a peace agreement. What he wished for Ikazuchi to do was restrain his father while he settled the issue and officially claimed the village head position. Ikazuchi readily agreed, but made it clear that he was a warrior. Understanding the implication, the only request was to not kill the man.

The situation progressed naturally from there as the son of the village leader had quite the following and had long since planned this. Most people were on board as they were tired of the clashes and simply wanted peace. As for Ikazuchi, his role was even simpler. For the entire duration of that day he continued to one-sidedly beat the older man whenever he attempted to cause problems. In fact, Ikazuchi didn’t even allow the man to approach the events related to establishing the trade deal and transfer of power. Nothing unexpected occurred after that, and the old man finally resigned himself to the changes that took place and became more docile. Finally, Ikazuchi spent an extra day before departing the village. One thing worth noting was that the new village head even directly offered him jewels as thanks for his efforts. It was like this that Ikazuchi’s adventure in the Worth Woodsea came to an end.

WC - 370