Modern World Warlock

It had been three days since the warlock's party arrived at the Jade Palace, and the group felt more comfortable with the other members now that they had spent a few days together.

Wolfram had been working on the dictionary of the Terran language with English words, and thanks to Saris' help, she was able to speed up the progress.

While the warlock's party still couldn't speak the language, they communicated with hand signs or using single words that they were slowly picking up from listening to others.

During one morning, Zac was alone in the training room lifting weights when Soren, the massive warrior, saw him from the hallway with curiosity.

It had been a long time since Soren saw a berserker, and he was interested in testing the strength of the redhead who seemed to be excessively training, as if he was trying to get stronger as quickly as possible.

As an experienced warrior, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of admiration for the young man trying his best, but he was also aware that overtraining could have negative effects, prompting him to enter the training room.

When Zac spotted the large man, he felt a bit nervous for a brief moment as Soren's frame was truly intimidating, even when he wasn't trying to be.

"Train… Combat…" Soren said, throwing a few air punches to the side.

"You wanna train with me?" Zac asked, pointing at himself and making the warrior nod affirmatively.

*Gulp* 'Isn't this guy one of the strongest warriors in Terra!?' Zac pondered, remembering the time when Dante told him about his old party.

"Train… Good!" Soren continued, letting out a friendly smile.

Understanding that the warrior seemingly wanted to help him train, Zac nodded, and they made their way to another training room more fitted for combat.

Even though Soren was twice Zac's size, the redhead had been feeling more confident about his strength recently, making him think that the training match would be a bit more even.

When the two got into a combative stance with their fists up in guard, Soren moved forward so fast that Zac's eyes couldn't follow the massive warrior until he was standing less than a meter away.

Clenching his teeth, Zac blocked the first punch with his forearms, but the strength of the strike sent him crashing against the wall in the back of the room.

As he slowly stood back up, he noticed that his forearms were letting out smoke, and they were slightly burned, though the damage wasn't severe enough for him to feel the pain.

Wanting to retaliate, Zac launched himself towards Soren and jumped to land a punch on his face, which was quickly blocked by the warrior before skillfully jumping and kicking Zac in the stomach back to the ground.

'How does he move like that with such a giant body!?' Zac thought as he coughed and regained the oxygen lost from the strike.

Even though Soren truly looked like a tank who would take any attack head-on, his agility was utterly unmatched by Zac's.

The warrior was not only fast on his feet, but his reflexes were unnatural. His strength was impressive, but Zac had already expected him to be strong, given his physique.

After an hour of sparring, Zac lay with his back against the floor. His breath was heavy, he was sweating, and he had a few bruises on his face and body, though the injuries weren't nearly as bad as the ones he received in the battle against Netherius' Death Knights.

With a smile on his face, Soren extended his hand and helped him up, giving the redhead a few pats on the back as if congratulating him for a job well done.

"Heh, I can see why you are one of Dante's friends…" Zac said after a chuckle.

In the redhead's mind, Dante was pretty similar to Soren. While they didn't have the same physique, there was something about Dante that made him look a bit intimidating, especially when meeting him for the first time.

However, after spending just a few hours with them, they both turned out to be some of the friendliest people Zac had ever met.

Soren didn't understand all of Zac's words. Still, seeing the redhead laughing made him chuckle as well, and when both of their stomachs growled, the two of them decided to make their way to the kitchen for some breakfast.

After Sophia fed them a hearty meal, the warrior stood up and bowed to thank the blonde for the food, making her chuckle when she remembered that Dante had done something similar when they first met.

Sophia told the pair that the rest of Soren's party was hanging out in the playroom, and Zac thought it would be interesting to see them in such a room, considering it was quite different from anything they had seen in Terra.

When the pair arrived, Zac was surprised to see Sylas and Faelyn playing video games on a console with Saris.

"Hey, Zac. Look at this. I taught them how to play!" The banshee said, her voice laced with pride.

The elf and the assassin were utterly entranced in the game, and while their skills weren't up to par with others, they seemed to grasp the concept pretty quickly.

Soren showed interest and held one of the controllers, but his hands were way too big to press the buttons and move the joystick. Moreover, Faelyn showed concern when the warrior picked up the controller, afraid that he would break it.

"Hmmm, maybe Paige can make a custom controller for him… That probably wouldn't take her long to make," Zac pondered aloud.

For the rest of that day, the party stayed in the playroom, switching between video games, the pool table, air hockey, a pinball machine, and even a basketball hoop that kept track of the scores.

It was a new and fun experience for the warlock's party, and as nighttime came down upon the city, the news that Dante was returning the next day reached their ears.