Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 17 (Part 2):

“Listen. This record was found by chance in a mage’s hideout while I was exploring the forest before settling here. The mage had hoped other mages would find his hideout and left marks. But when I found it, he had already become a skeleton. He must have desperately wanted to escape this place. He was a mage proficient in hiding magic, living in the Forest of Roots hidden from demonic beasts, researching a way out. Sadly, he died before he could put his research into practice.”

“Is this the place?”

Helmut pointed at an area marked with an ‘X’, alongside a red circle and wave symbols.

“The great waterfall at the end of the Forest of Roots. If you throw yourself into the waterfall, you can pass through the barrier following the water flow. Like how water isn’t contaminated by magical energy, it also excludes the purifying power of the barrier. In the water, the barrier’s power weakens. Although strong enough to shatter your body carrying the seed of darkness.”

Helmut became newly aware of the Vis inside him, enhancing his body.

To withstand the barrier, struggling to breathe in the fierce water currents.

‘It certainly won’t be easy.’

“In the past, I told Darien about this record. Hoping he would either leave the Forest of Roots or die trying. Either outcome was no loss to me.”

Yet, among those who knew of this record, Darien, with the highest chance of success, gave up on leaving. Now, his disciple stood before Erugo.

‘Surely, he will fail.’

Erugo smiled kindly.

“This is all I know.”

“Alright, since you’ve passed on the method, I’ll spare you.”

Helmut spoke readily. He considered Erugo expendable but had learned to honor promises.

And Darien did not wish for Erugo’s death. In their last conversation, he said,

[If it’s not unavoidable, let Erugo live.]

[Why? He’s a wicked sorcerer.]

Those with power bear responsibilities. Helmut learned about the duties he must uphold. That life should not be taken lightly.

But Erugo was an evil to be eradicated, not someone to be harmed without reason.

[That’s why. Though a wicked sorcerer, there are people who survived because of him. A life like livestock, but even such a life is a luxury in the Forest of Roots. If you’re not planning to take responsibility for those people, leave Erugo alive. He’s a necessary evil. That’s why I’ve left him be.]

[What does it matter what happens to those people…]

In the Forest of Roots, if you can’t protect yourself, you die. It’s natural for the weak to perish.

Darien’s gaze hardened.

[Do not take the weight of life lightly. Weren’t you also saved by the mercy of that leopard]

He was right. Helmut silently agreed, his mouth shut.

‘Annoying gaze, and the meddling bothers me.’

But a promise is a promise. If he killed him, Naho might appear. There were ways to kill slowly, but Helmut decided to leave Erugo unharmed. He knocked Erugo down to the ground.

“Ouch! What are you doing!”

Erugo’s clear voice echoed. Helmut tied Erugo’s hands and securely bound him to a pillar.

He knew that merely tying up a mage wasn’t enough.

Raising the Vis, Helmut pressed his fingers into several points on Erugo’s body, blocking the flow of magical energy.

“Ugh!”

For a few hours, until the Vis scattered and blocked the flow of magic, Erugo couldn’t cast spells.

To summon the dormant Naho, magic was necessary.

Bound and with his magic sealed, Erugo was just an ordinary old man for those hours.

“You, this is!”

“It’ll loosen over time. Live right from now on.”

Helmut left these words as advice to Erugo’s incredulous face and turned away.

Frustrated, Erugo shouted desperately.

“Do you think you can survive and escape the Forest of Roots!”

He wasn’t afraid of taking risks. If Erugo believed it was possible, he would have attempted it first.

But he was convinced of its near impossibility.

Without constructing magical energy strong enough to withstand the barrier, as a dark sorcerer, it was nearly impossible. Even the strongest demonic beast in the Forest of Roots couldn’t breach that barrier.

Moreover,

“Can you even make it alive to jump into that waterfall?”

There was something he hadn’t said. Something to be discovered at the very end.

The eyes of the dark mage flashed with malicious intent.

However, the boy with the calm eyes glanced at him and turned his back.

Step by step, without hesitation, he left Erugo’s laboratory.

As if Erugo was nothing more than a small stone tripping his steps.

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