The middle aged Fae Master nodded, digging his forehead deeper and deeper into the dirt beneath him.
Despite the fact that Arthur was only a Rank 3 Fae Master, he was extremely young, with a overwhelmingly high combat prowess that exceeded the limits of his cultivation. Despite the fact that he was with an obviously more average group of Fae Masters, this in of itself wasn't enough to cause such fear within the heart of these bandits.
It was the fact that this young man, possessed a Sovereign Boundary Physique.
He was one of thirty three Humans that possessed a power beyond the limits of normal Humans.
This bandit hadn't received an education like Nyssa, Parvan and Henrik all had, but during combat his experience and wisdom had allowed him to close the distance between the difference in Fae and ability.
The only "education" he had received was either a physical beating, or the ancient stories passed down through the
Every Human had the chance to read the
Even a bandit like this, had read the stories that were associated with this power.
"Lord Boundless, it would be my eternal honour to guide you to our tribe!".
So long as he could survive, this particular bandit would sell out every single of of his fellow "brothers" if it meant that he could live another day. In the face of the Boundless Forest Yearning, he was sure that there was no way he could escape alive otherwise....
Arthur nodded, gesturing for the vapour ruby origin essence Fae Master to stand up.
Arthur gestured for the man to start guiding them and nodded before pointing off in the direction past the muddy field.
"Our tribe has currently settled a few kilometres past the Mud Plains. There are approximately a thousand of us, not including slaves and captives. Additionally, the Leader of our tribe is a Rank 3 Fae Master....".
Arthur nodded, he turned towards Nyssa and the others, all of whom possessed expressions of shock and awe. Arthur could also feel a minute amount of distrust within Parvan and just sighed before shaking his head.
Glancing at the other nine Fae Masters, Arthur just shrugged his shoulders, looking slightly apologetic.
"Before you ask, I awakened it during the two years inside that.... thing. I didn't tell anyone because of.... her....".
Arthur clenched his fist tightly, pretending as though the heart in his chest had suddenly tightened. He raised his hand, rubbing his temples slightly.
"You all know of the powers that the Boundless Forest Yearning possesses. It possesses both the Wood Attribute and the Emotion Attribute as well, and as such, with its Secondary Origin Fae, can influence others with the seeds of affection".
Arthur gazes remained clear and his tone unfaltering. This was the person whom had taught them, and depending on this last year or so. Even before that if their time as Rank 1 Fae Masters counted as well.
Even without the Affection Tree Fae, Arthur had long since captured their minds. It only sped up the process even more.
"I didn't use the Affection Tree Fae on any of you. If you don't trust me, you can check it once we reach White Corpse City. You can make the decision to keep following me, or leave and head somewhere else afterwards. That offer has never once changed".
Dagen and Nyssa both nodded instantly, while Parvan and Zlatanna both nodded, albeit slightly worried.
Arthur could feel that the Emotions within them were in turmoil right now. Their minds constantly shifted from curiosity, to awe, to fear, then distrust, then worry... and back around again to kindness and gratefulness.
With the sole exception of Nyssa and Dagen, all of them, even Iryna felt slightly apprehensive.
Arthur could picture what they were all thinking right now.
"Why didn't he tell us?".
"Does Arthur not trust us or something?".
"Did he use the Affection Tree Fae on us?".
"How can we trust him after he hid something that big from us?".
"Aren't we a team?".
"Aren't we all supposed to trust one another?".
"Aren't we a family?".
Arthur glanced at Nyssa, who just nodded slightly before turning around and following the lone bandit.
She had kept this her little secret all this time, Arthur could trust her enough to push them back towards him if they started to pull away from his control. Nyssa had almost an entire year to tell everyone that Arthur possessed the Boundless Forest Yearning, and yet she kept her mouth shut, not even questioning him once about it.
Arthur couldn't say that he 100% trusted anyone in this world. Not with his back, nor with his knowledge or secrets either.
But love and affection did crazy things to ones mind. Even if Nyssa was under Arthur's control, she was too far gone to be pulled back out.
It would take something.... impossibly outrageous to force her against him. Him killing her nephew wasn't enough, so telling her that he also killed her older brother and sister, would probably not even force a tear.
The greatest power of the Boundless Forest Yearning, was its ability to inspire affection. The Spirit Affection Tree Fae could inspire affection within anything Rank 2 or below. And once it reached higher Ranks, it could inspire affection within the heavens and the earth....
Arthur had only seen it once before, but it was truly a beautiful sight to behold....
"Lord Boundless! Please take this Fae as a show of gratitude and as an offering to your power and glory! Just your presence alone is more than enough to satisfy me for a thousand different live times....".
Arthur rolled his eyes at the sheer shamelessness of this middle-aged man.
He was at least thirty something years old, and yet he was spiting out such blatant and obvious bullshit, trying to appease him.
It wasn't particularly common amongst all Fae Masters, mainly mortals who read the
Lord Boundless, was the title for those who possessed the Boundless Forest Yearning.
While Lord Depths, was the title for those who possessed the Overflowing Ocean Depths.
It wasn't used by the older generations, or those the same age as them, but juniors often referred to these figures as their title in respect of their power and ability. Those Sovereign Boundary Physique wielders who have been hiding for the last few thousand years were all known today by their titles, their names mostly forgotten by history....
The middle-aged man removed his connection to this particular Fae before placing it in Arthur's hand. The young man rolled his eyes at the gift, but then blinked a few times, noticing the exact Fae that was placed in his hand.
"This is a Music Attributed Fae".
The middle-aged man nodded vigorously, not wasting any time to praise Arthur's knowledge and wisdom.
"Lord Boundless is truly a man amongst men! To be able to discern such a rare and valuable Fae with a single glance, your Lordship is destined to ascend to even higher Ranks and become the strongest Fae Immortal to ever walk this-".
"Shut. Up".
Arthur sent a burst of killing intent towards this talkative man, causing him to shut up instantly.
"Where did you get this Fae from?".
The bandit gulped slightly before pointing towards the bandit tribe.
"Our Leader gave them out to all of us. He said that he was researching a new Fae Formula he had found in some ruins. He has been pushing all of us to plunder and steal as many resources as possible so as to fund his experiments....".
Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Take me to your camp. And hurry it up".
The man nodded vigorously, immediately sprinting in the direction towards his tribe.
Arthur frowned for a moment before shaking his head.
'No it couldn't be. It's about a decade too early.... Perhaps.... this is where she was born?'.
Arthur pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, following after the lone bandit. At any rate, the urge with him to kill was growing stronger within him by the minute.
In comparison to when Arthur killed his entire family, his heart was thumping wildly, causing the corners of his mouth to turn upwards as a sinister light flashed in Arthur's eyes.