Arthur avoided the large patrols of Fae Masters that were passing through the areas he sprinted through. He didn't want to attract even the faintest, sliver of attention before he obtained this particular Fae.
Running through the fields and dirt pathways created by the Fae Masters of the Village, Arthur quickly noticed the degree of lush, greenery in comparison to the other sections of the Village.
The area in the western sections of the Village had a lot more vibrant colours, and bright shades of greens, reds and yellows. It was were the majority of the flower-type spirit plants were cultivated, in addition to where the largest and most popular fruit-type spirit plants were grown.
The degree of vibrancy wasn't anything special in the eyes of say a mortal, or perhaps even a Rank 2 or Rank 3 Fae Master. However, the difference between them and Arthur, wasn't just his cultivation or memories.
Arthur felt the wood type spiritual essence in the air grow thicker as he moved closer and closer towards the western edge of the Kovacs Clan. His attainment in the first level of Wood Laws: Flowering Seed made Arthur's perception towards the flora around him was even greater than Elder Vova.
He could naturally tell, that there was something imperceptible in the air that was promoting the growth of these spirit plants.
"Hmm? What's this?".
Arthur took a half step, before stepping on something hard, narrowing his eyes and glancing down at the dirt beneath him.
Pressing his hand into the soft, earthy dirt beneath him, Arthur narrowed his eyes before finding an extremely solid object, not even a foot underneath the ground. His expression became confused and he pulled out the solid object, feeling the veins in his arm bulge slightly as Arthur unearthed a large, watermelon sized piece of mortal Ranked ore.
His expression became bewildered, and his facial expressions turned confused before he placed the piece of ore back into the ground, heading towards this small cottage hidden in the forest.
Arthur couldn't feel it the same way that he could wood-type spiritual essence, but he had the strangest of feelings, that the environment around him possessed more than just an increased amount of wood-type spiritual essence.
Arthur glanced back at that piece of iron ore, unsure of what to think exactly. His face was frowning, as if not sure whether what he had just seen was real or not.
"Illusion Attributed Fae? Dream Attributed Fae? Or maybe the Mind Attribute?".
Arthur just shook his head and continued running towards the forest. The presence of so much wood type spiritual essence made him firmly believe that this wasn't an illusion.
Noticing the gap in the picketed fence around the field that Arthur was in, the young man narrowed his eyes, leafsword in hand and walked down the path towards the hidden cottage.
The moment he stepped down this path, Arthur was assaulted with a violent amount of spiritual essence. Almost to the point where he believed that this was the grounds of some Fae Immortal, not the outskirts of Parachenko Village!
Arthur steadied his posture, and ignored the painful sensation ringing out from deep within his mind. Such a level of pain wasn't unfamiliar to someone like Arthur, and so long as he could still feel the faint thrum of his heartbeat, he could still cut down anything that got in his way.
The mental pressure that Arthur was currently experiencing was unlike anything he had ever gone through before. Torture in a mental mindscape.... physical examination with all sorts of Flesh and Blood Attributed Fae..... watching the death of his friend in his previous life.... witnessing the destruction of his Immortal Clan, all for the sake of single Fae....
They all left marks within Arthur's mind, but over time, they never managed to reach Arthur's heart.
Arthur brushed his hair back, his expression slightly tense, and the grip on his leafsword growing even tighter. Seeing the cottage in the distance, Arthur could vaguely make out the figure of a burly man, or a burly young man gazing down at a boiling cauldron.
A faint red steam was being constantly emitted from the cauldron. Even though no flames existed to boil its contents.
The burly young man smiled slightly, turning around and noticing Arthur's figure standing before him.
Arthur's expression grew cold, and he gazed at the familiar face of the person in front of him, a boundless killing intent being released all at once.
"Randolf".
The maddened expression of the man whose name Arthur called out grew all the more jubilant, and his smile widened to the point where it exceeded the limits of the human body, as he raised his arms above his head and clapped.
"Arthur! You remember me! You haven't visited me at all since I got out of the Medicine Hall, I almost thought your forgot about little old me?".
Randolf's expression grew sombre, as if remembering a heartbroken experience. His hands covering his face, as if trying to hide the tears that flowed from them. The fact that his smile never once left his lips, made him appear all the more crazy, even if his posture and tone were bereaved.
The maddened young man peeked through the gaps in his fingers, before waving them off, the faint tears that he shed were the same colour as blood.
Arthur glanced at the area around them, feeling that the sheer amount of spiritual essence in this small grove exceeded even Fae Grounds.
The researcher within him wanted to stop this conversation and explore this area, filled to the brim with spiritual essence, but Arthur just narrowed his eyes and gazed at Randolf coldly.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't just kill you right here, Randolf?".
The expression on Randolf's face paused for a few seconds, before he turned his head sinisterly, the smile on his face widening to even greater proportions.
Randolf's figure flickered for a moment, before reappearing behind the boiling cauldron.
Arthur didn't even so much as flinch at that sudden movement.
Randolf's eyes hadn't even blinked once since Arthur arrived, and the large smile would've unnerved anyone other than Arthur.
Seeing that such a talented a strong Fae Master could devolve into such a creature.... even Elder Vova wouldn't be able to hide his disgust if he saw the current Randolf.
Randolf gestured towards the boiling cauldron, and the large grove that had grown around this small cottage of his. Only faint bands of sunlight, that managed to peak through the thick foliage above the cottage illuminated the area around them.
Making Randolf appear.... all the more crazy.
"If you kill me know Arthur, you won't ever be able to understand what "this" is. What I am about to do? And why it is that I find the absolute need to rend your flesh from your bone, and why I should let the carrion devour everything that I don't consume myself".
Randolf's tongue extended far outside his own mouth, licking every single corner of his enlarged cavity. Arthur got a faint glimpse at his teeth, and noticed that they had all become canines, razor-sharp, the same kind one might find on a shark, or some sort of large lizard.
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"I sincerely doubt that a single Foreigner would be able to prevent me from finding out what I want".
Randolf smile froze and he just slowly nodded, an expression of realization washed over him.
"Ah? So you knew that from the get go. I had my suspicions that we were the same, but after seeing "that" I finally know the difference between you and I".
Arthur snorted, rolling his eyes.
"Oh? And what's that exactly?".
Randolf smirked, lowering his posture and playfully tapping his fingers together.
"You may have knowledge of the future Arthur, but thanks to "that" I have gained the knowledge of the past".
Randolf's back lurched, and he narrowly avoided a a Falling Autumn Maple from Arthur's leafsword Fae. His back had been bent backwards, at a more than ninety degree angle, making him appear more dead than anything else.
With a loud crack, Randolf stop back up properly, albeit with his extremely hunched posture, smiling at the huge scar that Arthur had created on the cottage behind him.
Randolf just smiled, his eyes seeing through Arthur's suppression. A reflection of Arthur, one clad in a black coloured robe, with dark verdant coloured eyes and hair, could be seen within his eyes.
Arthur opened his mouth to speak, but found himself interrupted by Randolf.
"You already know what "that" is, and yet you are clouded by your preconceived knowledge of the future! You obtained the
Randolf took in a deep breath, and turned his gaze upwards towards the Myriad Heavens. The expression on his face transcended pleasure, transcended pain, transcended all sensations in existence.
An expression of pure euphoria took hold of Randolf, as for the first time in weeks, the smile on his face slowly shrunk, as be bathed in the radiance of understanding.
"Before there was anything.... before there was Time.... before there was even Space, Arthur....".
"There was only.....".
"Madness".