Arthur didn't even look back twice, after noticing that the screams of venom spiders and Elder Stas had gone completely silent.
The small liquid he had dripped down was a type of flammable liquid which was produced through mortal means.
It didn't burn for very long, perhaps only a few minutes, but the heat and intensity of the flames produced from that small liquid was enough to ignite water for a short period of time.
Even though the inside of the ancient tree was unusually damp, the webs of the venom spiders, as well as the venom spiders themselves were flammable.
Elder Stas, who also shot off fireballs left right and centre ignited most of the spirit beasts, causing the inner sanctum of the nest to instantly burst into flames.
Even if this Elder didn't specialise in flames, Arthur still had a few backups he could use.
But in the end.... he didn't need any of that.
He sighed.
Although Arthur regretted destroying all the Fae that Elder Stas had on him, he had to destroy everything, lest things get traced back to him.
Additionally, trying to take the Fae that Elder Stas had on him was too much of a risk. If Stas had a Fae on him that could mimic death, or put him in a death-like state Arthur would be the one to lose out in the end.
Getting rid of everything, no matter what it was, was the best possible plan.
The loss of this venom spider nest was inconsequential as well.
He had found this nest in his little trips outside the Village, after exploring the area where he killed the first venom spider.
Arthur marked this place in his mind as a place that he could use in the future if he needed to.
There were a few other places like this in Winter Rain Mountain, however this one was the closest to Parachenko Village. The nearest one after this would be another half a day's trek to get to.
Arthur through those thoughts to the back of his mind as he returned back to the main group, still exploring around the moon pond that he had found.
Actually, under the right conditions, it was possible for a moonsword fae to form here, but one would have to add certain Fae material during certain moon cycles in order for it to form.
Arthur didn't know this, but his moonslice fae had formed near here as well. Not that he cared about the origins of a fae that he had received from the Clan Reserves.
Chensa and Elder Vova noticed Arthur return before turning to the rest of the group.
"Alright everyone I believe that is enough time here! We will continue our trek towards the outskirts of the Clan territory!".
Some of the young Fae Masters seemed slightly distraught with having to leave so early, seeing that only Zoya truly benefitted from his little detour.
Moon mirror fae was pretty powerful, and its evolutions were quite diverse, depending on what the Fae Master needed.
All in all, it was an excellent fae.
Arthur had noticed that Andrea was still chatting happily to Alina and some of the other girls, so he returned to the rear of the group, between where Randolf and Chensa were standing.
The former seemed slightly lost in thought, or as if he was listening intently to something, while Chensa only glanced from left to right, occasionally giving Arthur a smile before turning back to her partner.
Ratimir and Alina seemed to have taken up the flanks with two of the Lecture Hall Elders, while Borik stood with Elder Vova at the front of the group.
Arthur nodded slightly before turning his head towards Randolf.
"Can I ask you a question?".
Randolf snapped out of his little daze before frowning slightly as he turned to look at Arthur.
He had a questioning expression on his face.
"Depends, on what the question is".
Arthur nodded slightly.
"Why did you need to enter the Clan Reserves so badly? You didn't need the rewards for first place, but you needed to get into the Clan Reserves. That means you didn't need Fae, you just wanted to look at them".
Randolf didn't make a single change in expression.
"I just wanted to look at all of them. I wanted to see what Fae were inside the Clan Reserves so I could plan for my future".
Arthur chuckled a little before shaking his head.
"Don't try and lie to me. Some of the Elders already gave you the full list of all Rank 1 Fae in the Clan Reserves. You already knew what Fae where inside the Clan Reserves before the moment you even stepped inside".
Arthur sent Randolf a piercing glance.
For a second there, Randolf thought that Arthur could see through all of his own secrets.
He suppressed a shiver.
"What about you then? What do you plan to do with Andrea?".
Arthur didn't even break a sweat and just shrugged his shoulders a little while raising his hands innocently.
"I have no idea what you're talking about? I like Andrea and even if she leaves the Clan and joins a Sect one day, my heart will still belong to her".
Randolf rolled his eyes at Arthur's words shaking his head from side to side.
Arthur smiled slightly before gesturing to one of the books in the hands of one of their classmates.
It was the
"In the
"His name was Luminous Golden Light", Randolf interrupted.
Arthur nodded ignoring Randolf cutting in.
"After she heard about the Light Race, the mortal enemy of the Shadow Race that had created her, creating a half-human half-Light Race member for the First Man, she instantly head towards the Light Race territory and snuck in, hoping to meet Luminous Golden Light".
"Luminous Golden Light was young, and immature to the ways of the world, so when he met Formless Night Shadow for the first time, he instantly fell in love with her. Despite her being half-Shadow Race, Luminous Golden Light seemed to forget about all of the hatred that she was emitting, causing her own hatred to die down".
"The pair, the only other "Humans" to exist in the world seemed to share a connection. Just like how any of the Myriad Races would act when they saw a member of their own Race. These two, were the only Humans in the world, other than their Father and creator".
"All the hatred just seemed to vanish, and replacing it was an emotion neither of them had ever felt before".
Arthur's gaze grew soft and Randolf let out a small sigh.
".... They weren't alone in the world anymore. Both of them, even the Formless Night Shadow who seemed to be engulfed by her own hatred acknowledged the existence of this emotion".
The
Some said it had to be love, while others argued against that.
Others guessed that it might be family, the existence of another "Human" seemed to cause Formless Night Shadow to forget her hatred.
Before Formless Night Shadow could even say a single word to Luminous Golden Light, she was captured by the Light Race, believing her to try and kill their creation.
She was thrown into the Eternal Light Prison, a place devoid of all darkness, and endless void of pristine white.
Randolf and Arthur walked silently for a few minutes before the former sighed and shook his head.
"Listen. I don't care what you want to do with Andrea. Nor do I care what happens to you either. But if aligning with you gets me the most benefits in the future, I'll gladly follow you".
Arthur's smile grew slightly.
"But....?".
Randolf glanced to his side, showing an equally merciless smirk on his face.
"But the moment I don't think you're capable anymore, I'll kill you, and take everything you own for myself. Even if I have to align with someone else in order to do so".
Randolf quickened his pace, leaving Arthur behind slightly, smiling politely as he gazed towards Randolf's figure.
Arthur closed his eyes, letting those words sink into the depths of his mind.
.... How long had it been since he said that to someone else, he thought.
Arthur let out a deep sigh, nodding gently as he gazed up at the boundless azure sky.
Perhaps.... grooming a couple pawns of his own would be a good thing in the coming days....