Chapter 160 160 I Want It



They searched around for a path that would lead them in but Zach discovered that there was no path at all. 

There could only be two possible reasons for that. Firstly, it was possible if no one had set foot on the island before him ever. Or the vegetation on the island had undergone massive growth during the gap between the last visitors and him which hid the traces of any such exploration visits carried out in the past. Zach believed that the latter was the more plausible of the two since humans were naturally greedy and no one wouldn't lust after such an island.

Since there were no paths, Zach naturally had to make one. He steadily walked through the vegetation surrounding him and walked inwards with Clara in tow.

Zach had his survival knife in hand and was chopping off any branches or vines that were blocking his path. The density of the vegetation grew the deeper Zach proceeded into the island. Even the sun was blocked out slowly as the vines grew in a dome like shape above his head and enclosed the island like some football stadium that kept it safe from all weathers and sunlight.

Zach had no choice but to squint as he tried to make out the dark outlines in front of him. Clara had it easy because she was holding on to his shirt from behind so as to not lose sight of him in the middle of the dark forest. She was being led around by Zach and had no need to struggle like him.

Moments after entering the depth of the dark forest, Zach heard the familiar *ding* sound. Thankfully, the system screen didn't need light to be viewed.

Zach pulled up the system screen and found that the notification was an alarm.

[Hostile intent detected in the vicinity.]

The system was trying to inform him that there was an enemy around him. Zach didn't delay and pulled up the map from the bottom right corner of the screen. The map showed a number of red dots moving towards him at a fast pace. 

Zach knew that Clara wasn't a porcelain doll and could hold her own in a fight. Therefore, he broke the news to her so she could remain alert during the confrontation that was about to begin.

"Stay on your guard. Something is approaching at a ridiculously fast speed." informed Zach seriously.

Clara who didn't have the system couldn't detect anything at all. She was wondering if Zach was hallucinating or being overly cautious but knowing what Zach was capable of, she didn't think that Zach would lie to her about such a thing.

"How do you know that?" Although Clara trusted Zach, she still needed to ask him the reason he believed such a thing was going to happen. After all, maybe it was just a misunderstanding on his part.

Before she could hear his answer, she heard a buzzing sound some distance away in the direction she was facing.

She jerked her head up and stared hard into the darkness to discern the source of the buzzing sound. Zach accompanied her efforts and glared at the approaching figures that were also growing closer on the mini-map.

"They are here. Stay focused." Zach cautioned Clara without looking at her.

"Hmm" Clara nodded and didn't question Zach's judgment this time. She already recognized his ability.

As the distance between the two parties diminished, the shapes of the hostile entities became clearer to both Zach and Clara. They were ridiculously large poisonous wasps who had all come accompanied by their families for the banquet that had presented itself in their forest.

The flying speed of the wasps was exceptionally fast and it didn't take long for them to arrive right in front of Zach and Clara.

Clara was already prepared as soon as she figured out what kind of beasts they were. She waved her hand and a curtain of reddish yellow fire fell down from above and engulfed the area in front of her. Freakishly shrill screams of the beasts rang out in the forest as they were cooked alive by her powerful fire magic.

Zach on the other hand looked slightly disappointed. He had already pulled out his lightsaber but didn't get the chance to use it. He hadn't even activated the hilt of the sword to pull out the plasma from the power source before Clara took care of everything. 

There were so many wasps in the horde but they were still unable to put any form of resistance when they encountered Clara's fire magic.

She was truly an outstanding warrior. She not only had a strong physical body that could tear apart the ground but the elemental magic she wielded was also sufficiently strong even though her true strength relied on reinforcement magic that made use of her already strong physical strength to deal damage to the enemy.

"I think there are many more from where these came from. We shouldn't head further in at the moment; at least not when it is just the two of us. Let's head back first before we encounter something even worse." 

Although Clara looked dignified as she persuaded Zach, her attention was fully focused on the surroundings. She was still vigilant even though the danger had already passed.

Zach admired her for a second before putting away his lightsaber back into the Weapons Arsenal. He knew that he would not be getting the chance to use it again today.

Zach didn't take the lead this time. He allowed Clara to walk in front this time and lead them back to the shore. Since they were on their way back now, they needed to watch their backs.

Therefore, Zach kept checking the map for any kind of hostile entity that might approach them from any direction while following after Clara.

They followed the same path that they had used to get to the heart of the forest. It was easy to spot the traces because the only things out of place were the branches Zach had cut off on his way in.

It didn't take as long to return as it had taken them to enter the depths of the forest. They were soon standing by the shore as they waved to the cautious boatman in the distance.

The boatman saw their actions and mobilized his boat by paddling the oar harmoniously. He picked them up swiftly and their return journey began.

As Clara had already stated, the carriage driver was waiting for them on the other side. The horses weren't as out of breath as before. They even appeared more energetic to him.

On the way back towards the Windsor family estate, Zach had already made up his mind about Greenland. His gut feeling had been right. The island was truly a wonderful place for him to establish his roots away from the high and mighty families and the reach of the government. The environment of the island could be improved with slight maintenance and there were countless opportunities to train his men on the island as well. Compared to raising them like greenhouse flowers, Zach preferred to train them in the wild which would give them a sense of danger and will urge them to improve further. Otherwise they would only grow more despondent with time since they wouldn't be able to employ their training in any of their daily tasks.

Moreover, building their home with their own hands would surely give them a sense of ownership and belonging with the place. They would surely work harder in the future.

"I have thought over my decision from earlier." Zach said out loud to Clara in the carriage with a solemn look on his face. The solemnity even gave Clara the illusion that Zach was about to accept her suggestion and had let go of his childish fantasies.

"Oooh~ what did you decided then?" Clara asked with some hesitation. Although she was still worried about his answer, she neither wanted him to be embarrassed at having made a bad judgment before nor did she want him to stay glued to his previous decision in order to satisfy his ego. Therefore, she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"I want Greenland." Clara's earlier agitation turned into anger. She couldn't believe that Zach still wanted to move to Greenland even after witnessing the harsh conditions of the place.

"You have already seen what kind of a place that is yet you still want to move there. Do you not care about your people's lives or are you too hard headed to accept reality?" Clara couldn't stay calm anymore and said whatever came to her mind.

Zach on the other hand listened to her criticism without a frown because he knew that she meant well.

"I need a place to train my people where they can truly experience the danger of the battlefield. I am not planning to protect them their whole lives. They need to learn to live independently no matter where they are otherwise they would scatter the moment I fall or become useless in battle. I want them to be capable of protecting their home with their own hands so they never have to leave their homes again. The city can't give them such an environment but the island can. Therefore, I would find it extremely helpful if you help me get this piece of land from the government as soon as you can." Zach explained his reasons for choosing the place because he felt that Clara wouldn't let him choose that place if he didn't state his motives. She wouldn't let him endanger the lives of his people for no good reason.