Rende stormed out of the room leaving Arya flabbergasted. Although he was surprised, Arya couldn't care less about what had just happened or what reasons Rende may have had for his sudden outburst. Frankly, he didn't care one bit, he had become so detached from the humans in this world after all that he had gone through that he couldn't afford to care about anyone anymore.
After finishing his meal he decided to go exploring. Although Arya felt relatively safe amongst the common folk of the village he wasn't about to leave his survival up to chance. He decided to look around for strategic points in the case that things took a wrong turn.
As he was walking around a few villagers approached him. "Hi, we're really sorry about earlier. We just judged you without even hearing your story." said a young woman possibly in her early 20's.
"It's okay, I understand. I would've done the same," replied Arya giving off a far more mature ambiance than would normally be expected from a 5-year-old child.
"It's just that we were so surprised at finding someone in such a state coming from the forest. You know, ever since the d-" continued the young woman before Rende appeared prompting her to stop
"That's enough Eunice, Arya please come with me. I'd like to apologize for my actions earlier, and, if you still want, I could tell you what you wanted to know," said Rende in a low voice.
"Everyone has a past, and it seems I said something I shouldn't have. If anything I should be the one apologizing," replied Arya as he turned around to find Rende standing there with red eyes almost as if he had been crying.
"Are you sure you're only 5? Whoever your father was, he must've been a good man to have raised such a well-mannered lad. Oh sorry there I go again bringing up the past." said Rende, looking a bit disappointed in himself after he realized his mistake.
" It's okay, it seems we both need to let go of our pasts," replied Arya as he realized once again that he sounded decades older than his actual age. However it was too late, it would be more suspicious if he suddenly started acting like a 5-year-old when he already showed his mature personality.
" S-sure come with me," said Rende as he gestured for Arya to follow him. They walked to Rende's house and sat down on the chairs. " Before I tell you about what I know about magic and magical institutions, I first need to tell you about my past. It is linked to what you want to know and will act as an example on what not to do."
"I lost my wife many years ago when our village was in dire straits. Back then our village was very populated and was well on its way to becoming a minor town. But one day something began poisoning our crops and after a while, we found ourselves on the brink of starvation. We asked the lord of the land to help us but he didn't care about the common folk of some unknown village and wouldn't send food or reinforcements."
"At the time my wife and I were already the leaders of the village and we felt that it was our responsibility to save the people. Dina, my wife was always fond of magic. Vitas bless her soul. She thought that the only thing that could save us was magic, but none of us were magicians and magicians weren't easy people to hire."
"After searching many places for a mage that could help our village, we ran into a dark mage who acted like he really cared. He told us that he knew what was causing our predicament and that only a light mage could save us. I was skeptical of the man, but Dina thought I was just being overly cautious."
"The dark mage gave Dina an elixir telling her she could temporarily use light magic if she drank it. I urged Dina not to trust him but I saw it in her eyes. She had always dreamed of being a mage and now that she had something to help her achieve her dream, how could I shatter that. I loved her and wanted her to be happy."
"I was so naive, I never would've imagined that humans could be so despicable. Once she took the elixir her body became deformed. She was turned into a monster. At first I was in denial, I thought that maybe the dark mage could turn her back. But when I went to him for help he simply claimed that it was a failed experiment and told me to disappear."
" When I tried using force, he left me with this." Rende took of his shirt and showed Arya a gruesome scar on his back. "To be honest I was lucky to make it out with my life. So I continued my journey, hiding Dina under a cloak to disguise her deformity."
" After a year of searching, I finally found a light mage who was willing to help us. I asked her to take a look at Dina, but-" said Rende as he broke down into tears. " Rende you don't have to continue if its too hard for you." comforted Arya.
He didn't do it out of kindness, he did it because he knew how humans worked. They would become emotional, and when comforted they would try to act strong by themselves. Although Rende's story was emotional there were very important elements about magic within the story.
Arya was most interested in the part about magic elixirs. If he could find one himself he would be able to increase his magical power with minimum effort. And what about the side effects? Of course, he would make the dealer drink from it first, Arya wanted to become strong fast but he wasn't a fool.
"Bah, look at me. A fully grown man being comforted by a mere child. I'll continue." replied Rende with a hardened impression. "Knew it" thought Arya as he inwardly smirked.
"The light mage said that Dina was already gone. The thing I had been travelling with was a demonic spirit. Apparently, her body was too weak to handle its magical power so it became deformed. After reporting it to the lords of the county we proceeded to the village."
"However we were surprised at what we had found. The fields had been burned to the ground, and the people looked distraught."