CHAPTER 736: A YOUNG GIRL OF THE SPIRIT RACE - PART 2

"Where exactly did that sound come from?" Leon muttered, glancing around.

The forest was vast, and the sound had vanished completely, leaving him disoriented.

"Try tracking it with your Eye of Chaos, Master," Miranda whispered.

Leon gave a slight nod and began scanning an area of about four hundred meters. But even then, he found nothing. Only when he extended his range to five hundred meters did he spot a body lying between five trees.

"A girl?" he murmured in surprise.

At first, he had assumed the voice belonged to a man—but he was wrong.

Suddenly, he noticed movement near the girl’s right side. In an instant, a bear emerged from behind a bush, staring at her with a hungry gaze.

"We can’t just leave her! It’s going to eat her!" Leon exclaimed in alarm.

*Boom!*

Chaos power erupted from his body, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished from where he stood.

***

"Don’t touch her, damn it!"

Before the bear could reach the girl, Leon suddenly appeared above it and slammed a hard kick into its head.

*Bang!*

The impact sent the five-meter-tall bear flying, crashing into a seven-meter-tall tree to the right.

The force of its massive body brought down that tree—and several others nearby.

*Roar!*

The bear let out a thunderous roar as its huge frame slowly rose, eyes burning with rage and hatred.

Without hesitation, it charged at Leon, jaws wide open.

But Leon didn’t flinch. He leapt high into the air, fists clenched.

As the bear swung its claws, Leon twisted mid-air to dodge and slammed his fist—infused with the Power of Chaos—into its head.

*Bang!*

The blow landed with such force that the monster’s skull shattered, sending red blood spraying like a fountain.

Its huge body froze for a moment—then collapsed, lifeless, onto the ground.

If the sky had been clear and dry, the scent of its blood would’ve drawn other monsters.

But the heavy rain washed the blood away, preventing it from pooling and masking its scent.

"That monster was pretty tough," Leon muttered, staring at his right palm.

The monster was an Iron-Armored Bear, named for the tough natural armor that covered its body.

In fact, its hide was even more durable than standard military-grade armor.

That’s why these beasts were frequently hunted—their natural plating could be refined into high-quality armor and sold for a hefty sum.

But Leon had no interest in taking any of it. He didn’t need the materials, and he definitely wasn’t short on money.

Pushing the thought aside, he turned his attention to the unconscious girl.

He walked over, crouched beside her, and checked her condition.

"Those are some serious injuries," he murmured as he examined the wounds in her stomach and chest. "It’s a miracle she’s still alive."

For anyone else, injuries like these would have been fatal. Yet the girl was still breathing—weakly, but steadily. Her life force was clearly extraordinary.

Carefully, Leon slipped his right hand under her back and thighs, then lifted her into his arms.

Without delay, he began walking back toward the cave where he’d taken shelter earlier.

***

Leon gently laid the girl’s body on a large rock at the center of the cave.

Then he took two steps back and asked, "Miranda, do you know which race she belongs to?"

His gaze fell on the wounds across her body—and the white blood trickling from them. In all his life, he had never seen a creature that bled white.

Sure, he knew that humans had so-called "white blood cells."

But the blood flowing from this girl wasn’t something as simple as that. It was clearly abnormal—something no human, demon, or any race he knew of could possess.

And her appearance only added to the mystery. Her skin was extremely pale and looked fragile, as if it might crack from the slightest touch.

Her hair was pure white, matching the color of her eyebrows.

But the most striking feature was the strange symbol on her forehead: three vertical red lines running parallel, their lower ends merging into one.

"Master, you truly are incredibly lucky," Miranda said with a long sigh.

"Lucky?" Leon blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

Miranda paused for a moment before replying, "This girl is from the Spirit race. Her pale skin, white hair, and the symbol on her forehead make it obvious."

"What did you say?" Leon’s eyes widened in disbelief. "She’s from the Spirit race? Isn’t that a bit too much of a coincidence?"

After wrapping up his business with the Dwarf race, Leon had planned to visit the other hidden races.

His next destination was the region inhabited by the Spirit race. But unfortunately, he had gotten completely lost and disoriented.

Reaching their territory was out of the question—he didn’t even know where he was now.

And yet, by sheer accident, he had stumbled upon a young girl from the Spirit race. Wasn’t that far too incredible to be a coincidence?

"Yes, I was just as surprised," Miranda admitted in a helpless tone. "But I’m certain this girl is from the Spirit race. The symbol on her forehead gives it away—it’s the blood symbol."

"The blood symbol? What exactly is that?" Leon asked, his brow furrowed.

"It’s a curse placed on them by the Evil God long ago," Miranda said, her voice suddenly tense and serious. "You may not know this, but during the great war seven thousand years ago, the Spirit race played a key role in the Evil God’s defeat."

"They possessed six sacred artifacts—one of which is now in your possession: the Crystal Ball of Life. With those artifacts, they became nearly invincible and dominated the battlefield. But their victory came at a steep price. Before he was sealed away, the Evil God placed a curse upon the Spirit race and all their descendants—dooming them to die at exactly one hundred years old."

"To you humans, a century might seem like a long time. But to the Spirit race, it’s nothing. They normally live for two to three hundred years. That means the curse robs them of nearly seventy percent of their lifespan. Can you imagine how devastating that is?"

The curse had tormented the Spirit race for thousands of years. In the past, her former master—Amon Crimson—and the Hero Luminus Troya had explored every possible way to lift it.

However, all attempts failed. In the end, they concluded that the curse could only be lifted by the Fated One, who was none other than her current master.

Leon was at a loss for words. He had never imagined something so immense had taken place, and now he was only just finding out.

"My job just keeps getting more complicated," he muttered with a wry smile.