"The Phantom," He thinks, his words filled with a lingering dread ever since his encounter with the mysterious man that slaughtered Eversmile.
"I imagine that wasn't the answer you were looking for"
"I'm sorry! My memory can't do better!" the beggar hides her face inside the fur hood of the cloak.
"It's alright" Das tries to calm the anxious girl before looking at Hans "It's a secret matter of the crown, that person is extremely dangerous and very powerful. He was the reason I was here, to begin with"
"He?"
"He"
"And I suppose you won't be telling me more about this person?"
"I..."Das thinks about it for a moment, he isn't supposed to, but he feels Hans is someone he can trust. His eyes fall on the beggar "Lead the way, we will follow you from behind and you can finish your story" it would be wise to finish listening to the beggar before saying anything himself. But if he decides to tell him more about it, he will have enough distance from the beggar to talk freely.
The beggar looks at the surrounding forests, a little frightened, but before Das can tell her to forget about what he said she hops forward, avoiding the roots of the surrounding trees. Das then summons a ball of light by hitting the end of his staff on the ground, causing the already fanatic beggar to look at it in amazement, almost mesmerized.
Owls can be heard singing, accompanied by the rhythmical chirping sound of crickets and the soft rustling of the leaves. A crow or two caws at the distance.
"I had never seen such a beautiful...man, the way he moved, it seemed almost like a ghost, an apparition! I thought it was an angel, so I followed him from afar, past the town, past the bridge" she turns her head around to speak to the pair behind her "Past the forest, he walked into Totesland"
"So that's where we are going. Have you ever been there, Das?"
"No, to be honest, this past month is the most I've ever gotten to explore outside the palace"
"It is an ancient place, filled with monsters and creatures that in times of old roamed the forests of Grunland, Kaltwald, and the human lands of Wiesenland. Before we, the Hunters, expanded and settled Jagerwald. You never know what you may find, as not even we have dared explore deeper than the borders of that cold hell"
A place filled with monsters where no man or beast dares to enter, the perfect hiding place for a strong being capable of raising the dead. Das has been maintaining the cold away from him by slowly draining his mana and warming his body with inner fire, it doesn't take away much from him thanks to the elemental affinity, but he wonders if that little bit he has spent would mean trouble in the case he is face to face with the Phantom again.
He wants to be sure next time he faces him, he won't escape.
Slowly, a thin but increasing mist begins to swallow the forest as the dirt becomes muddier and the tall pine trees begin to twist and turn. They are close to Totesland.
"I-I followed him, through here" the beggar takes the silence as her permission to keep talking "It was then that I was certain I must have begun to lose my mind, I swear, the man didn't touch the ground, he moved like a leave on the wind" she lifts the cloak a little bit, taking care of not making the ends of it dirty with mud "I wanted to leave, but it's a bad habit of mine, I couldn't help it. I kept following him deeper and then, after walking for a good while, I saw the monsters"
"Finally," Hans says, his foil swords twisting with anticipation.
"It was them, their red eyes. Five of them, along with a lot of hooded people, I couldn't see more. I felt terrified and ran away"
"Hooded people?" Das thinks. If a Hunter had the amulet the Phantom wore, then other people must have certainly joined him. But just how many were on the side of that monster?
"How did you manage to find the way back, or what's more, how do you know we are going the right way?"
The beggar looks at Hans and then quickly hops to a nearby tree, pointing with her feet at a tiny, yet perceptible mark made with mud that at first glance could pass by a wild animal accidentally leaving a mark, yet upon closer inspection, it is the feet of a human that has left a way to guide itself through the woods.
"I see, smart," Hans says with honesty, maybe even a little bit of genuine admiration for her ingenuity "I had seen the marks but I didn't think you could have made them, but if that's the case" Hans jumps forward with ease, ending up in front of the beggar "I can lead us, Das. Get rid of that light, we are practically announcing our arrival to whatever lies further ahead"
Das obeys and with a move of his staff the light vanishes, covering everything in almost complete darkness, not even the moon can provide more than the occasional ray of cold light, the dark clouds shielding the forest from it.
"Stick close to me, we are about to cross into Totesland"
Das and the beggar walk up closer to Hans, enough to not lose sight of him but giving him enough space to not bump with him or step on his cloak.
He then looks ahead, the trees are no longer pines, replaced now by large, twisted cypress trees that have vines hanging from their branches. The muddy dirt is thicker and countless large puddles of water litter the ground as far as he can see. Along with entire places covered by water.
Only insects fill the otherwise quiet cold bog, as well as frogs that croak and hop from place to place. Much colder than before, Das realizes he will have to use more mana to keep himself warm, especially since they will most likely have to cross through the water. The air smelled like rotten eggs.
"One last thing, Das" Hans looks at the young archmage over his shoulder "Don't even think about using any fire magic, or you will create an explosion big enough to kill us all. And keep quiet from now on"
Warning given, the group moves forward.
However, Das is hit with the realization that he can't use fire magic, the ground is little more than mud so he can't use earth magic, the air is toxic and heavy, he can't use air magic, and using light will only be effective against the Phantom, whom despite his surface thoughts, he doesn't want to face again in such an unknown place.
That means all he is left with is lighting, too bright and loud, only to be used when a fight is inevitable. Mana spells that take a moment to cast, and water magic, that he is only barely to cast.
He already feels the nerves crawling onto him.
A quiet whimper from nearby makes him look behind, the beggar is struggling to move in the darkness, and maybe because her mind is no longer clouded by Blisswater, but her head twists and turns with each sudden sound or creaking tree in fear.
A thief maybe, but still no more than a child in his eyes. He can't endure just letting her suffer, and even if she has the cloak on her, the rags she has for clothes must offer no warmth at all.
"Come" Das whispers as he extends an open palm to the beggar, who shakes her head furiously.
"I-I'm dirty!" replying quietly, she raises her hand in front of her frantically.
"We are all dirty, grab my hand" Das offers a compassionate grin.
"I'm dirty," she says again, this time looking down, a pained expression on her face.
But soon her hand is snatched anyways, Das pulls her closer to him. Standing side by side she is slightly taller than him, and he is grateful to The Lightbringer because the smell of the swamp is stronger than hers.
She feels her heart racing and tries to cover her face better with the fur hood. It was all new emotions, new feelings. Occasionally she steals glances of Das, who is busy looking at his side, cautious of whatever may be lurking in the shadows.
"Ida" she whispers, drawing the attention of Das "My name is Ida" she whispers again, the red spreading from her cheeks to her nose.
Das replies silently with a thin smile and a nod, enough to make her heart race even more than before so she quickly looks away. With her free hand, she tries to make her hair as presentable as possible. A sheepish smile on her face.
She then feels the harmful cold of her feet vanish, the freezing sensation of her face diminish as if standing near him was like standing out on the open field beneath the embrace of the loving sun. He calls himself mortal, but is that just humility? Could a mortal cure addiction? Could a mortal give such warmth? What is the problem with treating him as a divinity if, in her eyes, he is divine?
These delusions grow stronger each passing second as her fragmented mind continues to fabricate reasons to excuse her increasing devotion.
Taking Blisswater was the reason he cured her, so it must have been destiny. Living in the streets was the reason she meet him, so it must have been destiny. Every misfortune and suffering has to lead her to this day, so it must all have been destiny.
Das, on the contrary, feels a growing regret as time goes on. He already dislikes body contact so when Ida wraps her arms around his and snuggles close to it he feels the strongest desire he ever has of pushing someone away. But he was the one to offer her a hand, to begin with, so he tries his best to endure the uncomfortable sensation.
Instead, he tries to focus his attention elsewhere. Looking at the surrounding trees, the knee-high water all around him, the fireflies, the croaking frogs.
For Hans, however, the world is as if looking at a painting. His trained eyes can almost see through the murky waters, the smallest of tadpoles are clear to him as if he held them in his hands. Were Das can hear the frogs croaking, he can hear their very organs moving.
In a place as putrid as this, anyone with his sense of smell would be driven mad. But years of constant training give him the expertise necessary to smell past the stench of the swamp itself. The woody-earthy scent of the moss growing on the trees, the lingering trace of birds carrying with them foreign odors into the surroundings.
And he also smells decay. Death.
It is fresh, a creature has been slain. The smell of blood is still strong, and plentiful, either a large beast or a great number of beings have been killed, and it is a potent scent coming from the direction they are following.
Hans raises his arm to his side, a signal for the pair to stop moving, then he crouched and they followed almost instantaneously. Hans makes a gesture for them to remain quiet and then slowly moves to a nearby tree, big enough to shield them from view.
Several meters away, no more than stick figures at that distance, there is a small group of people. For Das and Ida, it is impossible to see more than the silhouettes of them. Yet, this isn't the case for Hans.
He sees them clearly, two men and a woman, their eyes a bright scarlet red, dressed in dirty clothes like those of the townsfolk. Their skin was white as if not a single drop of blood ran through their veins. Pointy ears, long nails, and each time they open their mouth, a row of needle-sharp teeth paraded.
"...Can't wait any longer, why don't just go elsewhere?" One of them, with brown hair and beard, complains to the other two, who seem to share his discomfort.
"No, we must wait and be patient, no matter how disgusting this place is. We are not enough" The woman, hair black and straight falling free past her shoulders.
"This whole place is repugnant, and all they bring us to eat are does like this" The other man, his hair blonde and short, kicks a body on the ground.
Hans then tries to discern what exactly lays in the middle of them, it is partially submerged and the smell of blood is the same in most creatures, luckily for him, the monster bents forward and picks up the dead body.
It is a beggar, her naked body is as thin and sickly as that of Ida, but she must have been much older. Dead for a while now, there are bite marks on her neck, shoulders, arms, and navel.
"This is it," Hans thinks, the grip on his foil swords tightening with resolve now that his targets have been confirmed, the question remains, however, how will he approach them?
And he finds it intriguing that he had never heard or seen monsters like these, they look so human, yet it is clear they aren't.
"I swear, can't they bring something more filling than this? And please, look at her, this is no better than eating a sick chicken for dinner" the blonde man throws the body nearby "If they don't get something better soon I will go hunt on my own"
"Absolutely not. We wait, and that's the end of it" the woman says loudly, enough for Das and Ida to hear.
"They must be talking about the other two monsters," Hans thinks and then quickly glances around him "Where are they?"
"I'm so hungry I can almost smell something tasty right now," the one with the beard says.
"I can too, almost like...is it two things?" the woman adds.
Han's heart skips a beat, the whole place is putrid with foul smells and they have been swimming in it for a while now, what could possibly be strong enough to...oh no.
A wicked smile grows on the face of the blonde monster as he turns directly in the direction where the group is hidden, his pupils turning vertical as his scarlet eyes lock with Han's.
"Turkey and wine"