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The Gods are not gods.
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"...that's it?" Athelei scrutinized both the memory in his mind and the information supplied by the Cosmic Interface.
It really was a message that was composed of only five words. It was short and concise and that was something to be happy about. It was not any mountain of information that one had to sift through.
The only issue was how cryptic it was. Those five words could mean many things as if it was trying to be a prophecy but lacked the word count to do so.
"I wonder how many meanings these words have. It could be a code for all I know... maybe even a metaphor or an allusion to a place..."
Realising that such a small fragment of information went into his ignorant hands, Athelei was rather amused. His human-child-influenced mind imagined what these words told him: It could be an inspiration to another person or something that crushed their dreams. It may have been a trigger for war as well, or perhaps it could lead to buried treasure.
Athelei then recalled what Thallium Yan had cursed as she passed out.
'Blasphemers,' he inwardly said the word. 'Such a piece of information does fit them.'
Now, was it a statement made by someone who truly knew the truth? Or was it their creed? Was this something that could help them prove something?
Athelei sighed, 'Whoever you blasphemers are, you've got my attention.'
And so the fog child dispersed once more into nigh-invisibility. Its destination: Captain Yan's tent.
It didn't take long for Athelei to return to the Captain's tent where the wounded woman still lay motionless and wounded. Blood stained the ground under her and the destroyed furniture lay scattered about the area. The torches that brought the place light somehow survived and avoided laying waste to the flammable space.
"Now, let's see how Examine actually works."
Athelei cast the skill as the fog that was his body began to surround the Captain. It poked into her skin like a curious alien creature, searching for answers and fulfilling Examine's meddlesome requirements.
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Thallium Yan - Knight Captain
- Unconscious
- Wounded: Thigh, Lung, Shoulder
[ +0.5 Exp to Analysis Skill: Examine (Current Exp: 1/1000) ]
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Once more did Athelei execute Examine. The fog had begun to seep into the Captain's wounds as if to analyze them extensively. It began assimilating with her blood and running through her veins.
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Thallium Yan - Knight Captain
- Poisoned
- Wounded: Thigh (Shallow), Lung (Life-threatening), Shoulder (Deep)
[ +1.5 Exp to Analysis Skill: Examine (Current Exp: 2.5/1000) ]
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Athelei repeated this a few more times as he almost possessed the Captain like a ghost controlling someone's body. Though, it didn't seem like Nightwalkers had the ability to turn humans into their puppets... at least Athelei, with his powerful consciousness still couldn't do such a thing as replacing Yan's mind.
What his consciousness did however was that it nearly merged with the Knight's body, turning it inside out and extracting as much information as possible.
'Now, if only my Interface Authority Level was higher, I could've read more information...' thought Athelei as he glanced at the Cosmic Interface and felt that there were too many gaps in his information.
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Thallium Yan - Knight Captain
Gender: Female
Age: 27
Health: 7/18
Luck: Weird
- Poisoned (Effect: Sleeping)
- Wounded: Thigh (High possibility of being infected.), Lung (Seemingly life-threatening, but not dire.), Shoulder (Problematic if left without healing techniques.)
- Skilled in Illyas Swordsmanship
[ +3 Exp to Analysis Skill: Examine (Current Exp: 21/1000) ]
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Athelei wondered what information he could've gleaned if his Authority level was higher. The lines of info he got despite his tries were rather scattered and did not seem to reveal anything he wanted it to.
He tried a few more times to extract more information but it seemed as if he had reached the soft-cap on top of having insufficient Authority.
In the end, Athelei brought his Skill's experience up to 32 and found out a lot about Thallium Yan. Her blood type was A, her hair was specifically two feet long when let down, her eyes were brown, she brought around an ornamental dagger, and her sword was made out of some special material...
'Oh, the patrols have finally found their way here,' thought Athelei as he hurriedly separated from Yan's body and dispersed into a faint fog.
He watched as the knight was shocked by the sight of his Captain's blood and injuries. A small commotion was caused and Yan's injuries were dealt with. She was hurriedly brought to the medical wing and supplied with whatever medieval healing they had at hand. On top of that, a priest of Libra had been shaken out of his bed to perform rejuvenation techniques until Yan's liveliness was restored.
Athelei waited for a bit by the lady knight's side until she woke up and spoke of what had happened.
Her first words expressed her rage for Nightwalkers as well as worries for the rest of the camp.
"...I'm glad to hear nothing else happened," Yan sighed as she glanced at her wounds.
"Quickly send word that the Exiled are once more causing trouble and they retrieved some relic. Perhaps we could learn something from their movements." Captain Yan commanded her people. When they left, she bit her lip as she muttered under her breath,
"They must've absorbed the Manifestation of Spirit. I'm going to be scolded for this... Damn blasphemers!.. They shouldn't be paying too much attention to us anymore so it's the best time to follow them if we can spot their tracks..."
Athelei was practically right beside Yan when the latter spoke those words.
He tilted his nonexistent fog head as he thought, 'Yeah... about that—'
DING DING DING DING DING DING!
The sound of a bell rang out in a hurry. Athelei was pulled out of his mischievous chain of thought, 'Those should be the Exiled or the blasphemers Thallium Yan was cursing. They've probably realised their failure in retrieving the green shard... Oops.'
Meanwhile, Captain Yan had winced upon hearing the bell chime in distress. She reflexively tried to stand up to prepare for combat but unfortunately for her, her body was still recuperating from the special poison she was hit by. Her limbs felt limp and her joints were like rusty gears.
A few new curses became a part of Athelei's Illyasian vocabulary.
Outside and within earshot, the words, "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" were being thrown all throughout the camp.
Athelei belatedly realised that he also had a physical body he needed to keep away from harm so he accompanied Thallium Yan and left the medical wing in a hurry.
.
.
.
Back at Athelei's tent, the little boy was getting up groggily as he thought, 'Ugh, my body has yet to become as strong as those adults...'
His consciousness might be immensely powerful and versatile with special characteristics but his actual body would die from one stab or slash of a sword. He only had so much blood in him and he could bleed out in a moment's notice.
Thankfully, the adults still cared for him despite Athelei being the unknown cause of this attack. 'I should at least pay them back for their kindness. Mom's teachings are still important to follow. After all, she's a more experienced human than I am.'
"Orien! Wake up!" Harley came rushing into Athelei's tent. He looked relieved to see the kid already standing up with eyes being forced open.
"Great. You're awake! Here, take this scroll and find a way to stay alive. Captain Yan told me to leave you to make your own decisions because she trusts you. I also believe in you. But I'm sorry I can't do anything for you, kid. I have to fight."
'Thallium Yan trusts me?' Athelei thought, 'That's... curious. Why though?'
On the outside however, Athelei asked in clarification, "Scroll? Attack? Stay alive?"
Knight Harley was halfway outside when he heard those questions and knew that the child needed those answers. He kept his words concise while staying as informative as he could,
"The scroll will teach you things. We're being attacked like what happened to your village. Stay alive by avoiding the fighting."
And with that, he was gone as he roared a battle cry and unsheathed his blade. A trail of blue light trailed behind him and brought life to the dark night.
Meanwhile, Athelei was a bit dumbfounded. From what he observed, this attack wasn't the same kind as the one that destroyed his hometown. Even the simple fact that they were able to notice the attackers and notify the people was a big enough sign that the nature of the two was different.
'Humans against humans... I have no idea how they fight. How do I avoid the fighting? I can barely see above all your heads!' Athelei smiled wryly.
Whoosh!
"..."
Athelei froze. There was an arrow an inch away from his feet. It had pierced through his flimsy tent and nearly killed him.
"Avoiding the fights means staying nowhere near it." Athelei thought and got ready to run.
Unfortunately for him, the moment he took a peek outside, two men were wildly swinging their weapons right in front of his tent. The Harmonic Knight was swiftly knocked unconscious and slain. Whoever the attacker was, was wearing mostly leather armour and was roaring in triumph.
In the next second, the attacker's head was lopped off. Athelei subconsciously used his Cosmic Interface despite being stunned by the development of events.
=} Executing Analysis Skill, Examine {=
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A dead man.
- Killed by beheading.
[ +0.5 Exp to Analysis Skill: Examine (Current Exp: 32.5/1000) ]
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=} Executing Analysis Skill, Judgement {=
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A dead member of the Exiled.
- Slain by Illyasian Swordsmanship.
[ +0.5 Exp to Analysis Skill: Judgement (Current Exp: 3.5/1000) ]
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=} Executing Analysis Skill, Appraisal {=
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Corpse of an Exiled swordsman.
- Killed by the sword of a Harmonic Knight.
[ +0.5 Exp to Analysis Skill: Appraisal (Current Exp: 0.5/1000) ]
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"..." Athelei quickly hid himself in his tent again and thought, 'Is hiding the best way to avoid the fighting? But the collateral damage—'
Whoosh!
There was another arrow that landed inside his tent.
And so, the young boy cowered under his bed, praying to Libra that he would not meet his end like this. His mind was also running at full power but he had no idea what to do.
Inwardly he cursed, 'Human education sucks! Mom, Dad, you were great, but you taught me too little!'