Even though Scott was lost in his own thoughts and had, to a certain extent, the demeanour of a person tired and on the verge of giving up, his sense of self-preservation was running strong. It was a result of both being in an unknown place fraught with dangers, and his well-honed instincts over the past decade, thanks to being on the run, looking over his shoulder all the time, and sleeping with one eye open. It didn't take long for his subconscious state of hyper-vigilance to detect movement on the opposite end of the tree.
Being alert was simply a state of mind.
~System, or whatever the hell you're called...can you tell me whether there is danger immediately behind this tree?~
His threat radar was silent, but that could very well be because the being on the other side of the tree hadn't registered him as a threat….at least not just yet.
Scott's eyes fell to his attire - the clothes and cloak that he'd appropriated from the killers that were after him. He had no way of knowing whether he'd appear 'alien' to this world to someone not outright hostile to him…but should he take the chance? To initiate the contact?
What if whoever, or whatever, that was behind the tree right now, was not inherently hostile? Would they understand his language? Scott remembered he'd picked up a skill called 'Polyglot'. He willed the Skill description inside his mind.
< Polyglot - The user can understand, speak and write all known languages of Athionia, which comprises of 14 major tongues and 23 regional dialects. It also involves 3 non-verbal gesture-dependent languages. >
~System…do I have to consciously speak a language of Athionia when I'm interacting with someone? Or would my own language get auto-translated somehow?~
<<… When you're about to interact with an Athionian, you'll have the option to switch your language in real-time if you so wish, to match the being you're interacting with. Doing so will pose you as a fluent speaker of said language, and you'll be speaking it as naturally as you would a language you're already fluent in. Your other option is to switch to interpretation mode. In this mode, you'll first have to form your speech in your mind and then select the 'Translate' option from the interface. Optionally, in this mode, you can choose to reply in any language that is known and recognized in Athionia …>>
'Interesting. I could either pose as a native, or a foreigner who 'knows' the language but needs time to formulate his speech. Both have their own uses, depending on circumstances.'
~System, which language is most spoken in this realm?~
<<… The language is known as 'Common'. Roughly spoken and understood by 76% of the population …>>
~Please change my interaction setting to real-time, and if possible, set the language as 'Common'.~
<<…Command initiated…Please wait….Command granted. You will be able to interact with beings of Athionia as a fluent speaker of the 'Common' tongue …>>
'Great. Well…here goes nothing. Let's hope I'm not making a colossal mistake.'
That's right, Scott had decided on the straightforward approach. He was somewhat confident in his…abilities…if things went sideways.
Scott took several paces away from the tree, as quietly as he could, and then spoke in a light, slightly high-pitched tone, perfect for someone who's alone in a forest and anxious for friendly company.
"Hello…Is anyone there? I'm…I'm lost here…Please, can we talk?"
***
Darkness was deeply entrenched within his own thoughts. Not a single care in the world seemed to bother him directly in that brief moment of serenity. Despite being a creature of the night - in fact, practically raised entirely in an environment that suited his name, to heighten his ability to function when others might be disoriented - as he had grown older, he had started to appreciate the sun, just a little bit more. It seemed like an abstract painting before his eyes, not quite able to take form, yet beautiful enough to detach the body from the world, and travel into a dimension where only the beauty of art existed. Though his transcended state of mind was as brief as the time he had been allowed to sit down, it was still enough to provide him much solace from his daily tribulations…so much so, that he realized he'd gotten sloppy.
Darkness was confident enough in his ability to detect danger at much greater lengths, even when absent-minded. When he heard the voice calling out in Common, he realized that the person must have been behind the tree all along, even before he came.
'The one time I get lazy and don't bother to properly recon the area around…Mentor was right after all.'
'Someone after me? Or truly a lost being in a forest?'
Darkness' mind raced as he placed a foot on the trunk and with a single, quiet kick, using only his toes at an angle perfect for launching, he 'flew' up. He seemed almost weightless like a balloon let loose in a windy field. The leaves rustled as he brushed past them, but that could easily be dismissed as the wind rustling the boughs. Moments later, his fingers managed to grab a thick branch and bring his ascent to a halt, his feet precariously resting on another set of branches right below him. The acrobatics he displayed was nothing special in of itself…. it was anyone could perform with a little bit of practice, and enough physique or skills. But only someone trained in the way he was, could do it as quietly as a bird hopping over a tree branch. Having found himself a nice little spot to scout whatever had brought him out of his moments of enjoyment, Darkness scanned the ground below with his sharp eyesight…and barely held back a groan.
There were no signs of a visible weapon. No tangible whiff of magic. No hard-to-penetrate armour. Eyes darting towards where he'd sat moments prior, face scrunched in…fear, apprehension, and…hope?
'Let's see. He doesn't look like someone sent after my skin. Nor does he carry the appearance of a hardened criminal, or someone used to dealing with the darkest vestiges of society. Sure, appearances could be deceiving, but unless he's that good of an actor….Oh…wait a moment. What's THIS?'
Darkness' senses, needless to say, were several times heightened than a normal individual, both due to his genetics and because of the harsh training he'd been subject to from a very tender age. He'd honed his perception to a level that could rival the realm's prime investigators. Those senses immediately warned him that something was amiss in the way this individual was dressed. The attire itself was hardly something worth throwing a second glance at, but this person was wearing the clothes…in a manner that was distinctly alien to him. There was not a single reason why Darkness knew this as a fact, it was in fact minuscule hints that his senses caught, from the individual's body language, appearance, gait…and countless other 'cues'. However, Darkness trusted his senses and his intuitive judgments more than anything. And since his senses told him that the person underneath the tree was wearing clothes he would not typically wear, and judging by the fact that the clothes in question were some of the most common adventurer gear, Darkness knew there was much more to this situation than what that man had loudly proclaimed - that of a lonely man lost in a forest.
Darkness was skeptical of the situation, but more importantly, he was extremely angry. His rare moment of peace had been shattered like thin glass, and he wanted some modicum of payback. He did briefly consider the fact that the person down below was indeed a crafty spell-caster who'd laid an elaborate trap in front of himself, to be triggered in the blink of an eye should anyone make a move around him. However, Darkness had the innate gift of sensing the presence of magic, and while his senses could still be deceived by a more powerful cloaking spell, people like that were truly rare.
Not that Darkness cared much at that point. His anger had already started to guide his actions. With a speed that was impossible to track via normal human senses, Darkness shot down the tree. His entire form presented itself as a dark blur as halfway down the tree trunk, he used his legs to propel himself towards the person standing below. Instead of approaching him from the front, Darkness went around the figure and arrived at his back. His hands held two blades, one across the neck of the man, ready to sever the arteries in a moment's notice; the second snaked in between his thighs, the tip held over the man's crotch. Despite not making any actual cutting motion, once the blade came in the vicinity of the man's clothes, the threads on the surface separated, signifying the terrifying sharpness of the weapons - a feat no doubt achieved via means not accessible to the common blacksmith.
"Move a single muscle, or try chanting, and I'll make you a headless AND dickless wonder. Even think about how you're going to get out of this and... Well... Okay, I got nothing for that, but I'm sure you get the point... Now, tell me... Who the fuck are you and why shouldn't I kill you right this second?"
***