"I hope you kept your words, human."
"Do not worry, slavery in my kingdom is strictly forbidden and I already sent one of the four great Duke to escort your people out of the forest. I swear in front of Zenon's altar, following the conditions of our collaboration and the terms of our alliance : your people will be safe in Lyssandra."
"What do you plan to do when you meet the Chosen One ?"
"Hmm... To be honest with you, I don't know... If your prophecy didn't coincide with the story passed down by my ancestors, I wouldn't have trusted it. Yet today, I saw these otherworldy beings descend upon our world with my own two eyes."
"V-village chief !"
Both the Lyssandra King and the First Village chief were talking about the comet they saw crashing into the lake, when an elf from the scouting party came running to them...
"pant... The Chosen one... pant..."
"Calm down... Take your breath."
"Y-yes..."
The elf's face was flushed red from exhaustion ; he has been running without stopping for a single second. While elves are used to moving into the forest, the territory outside of the Oracle's domain is filled with so many dangers that it is extremely tiring and dangerous to travel a great distance at this speed.
"Village Chief... The Chosen one is coming with the scouting party. They sent me in advance to warn you."
"Really ??"
The Village Chief couldn't contain the excitement in his voice when he heard about the Chosen One coming to meet them.
"Yes but, the Chosen One...we should not get him angry...he is frigthening..."
"What do you mean elf ?"
This time, the King asked.
"He looks like us, but he is clad in a black armor so dark that no light is reflected on it. He came out of thin air without us able to detect him, he can surround his body with a red smoke that feels and tastes like blood, and he can make people disappear just by pointing at them with his finger..."
"What on earth is this... Did you fight against him ??"
"N-no we didn't ! At first we didn't know if he was the Chosen One, so we stood on guard and asked him. He was calm and didn't seem hostile...until we asked him to follow us. When we did, he expulsed a bloody mist from his body that numbed our senses, a mana of unknown attribute gathered in his left arm and he suddenly pointed at two people from our party ; they both disappeared in a flash of light almost instantly. Only after this, did he follow us."
"..."
All the people who listened to the scout report were dumbfounded. They couldn't believe what they just heard.
If the Chosen One could gather mana, it means that he had at least the mana blessing and could be considered a mage, which is already extremely rare. But even more surprising, he used skills that were unheard of, even among the few known spells above 6-circles.
Only from the fourth circle can a mage develop his own personal magic, and only from the fifth circle and above can he truly be efficient enough in his personal magic to create such absurd phenomena.
"Duke St Claire, what do you think about this ?"
"My King... if what this soldier said is true, I fear this person might be much more powerful than we could imagine. Even the best mage in our Kingdom, tower master Albius The White, can not make people instantly disapear without any chanting..."
The magic in this world has never been fully comprehended, yet the various society on Lunaris based their technological progress solely on mana. They were used to considering mages as powerful and mysterious entities capable of miracles, but even for them, what they heard from the scout was non-sense.
None of them knew that it was not thanks to mana that Jun teleported the two soldiers, but thanks to his flagship that was nearby.
"Hmm... elf, how far is the scouting party from us ?"
"I hurried back as fast as possible to warn you, but they might have caught up since then. They should not be further than a kilometer from here."
"Good. Village Chief, we should hasten our steps and meet this person you call a Chosen One as soon as possible. If I'm not wrong, he most likely displayed a part of his power as a warning, for us to not underestimate him. It might look bad but in reality, it's good news for us. If he decided to just show his strength instead of using it against us, it means that he also desires to speak and negotiate with us."
"I fail to see how this is good news for us, Your Majesty... If this person has the strength of a fifth circle mage and decides to attack us, it would take everything we have just to resist his spells and protect you. Please, do not put yourself in danger and let us meet with him first."
The King's personal guard, Matthias Enarve, couldn't help but worry about the safety of his monarch. What he feared was not confronting this otherworldly entity, but his wise King dying if a conflict erupted.
"It is too late for this, Matthias. I didn't come so far into this forest just to stand behind and send my men to their death. In my opinion, this show of force is good news for us as it proves that he is open to discussion. He used his power sparingly to warn us beforehand ; if he was seeking our death, he wouldn't have let the scouting party survives."
"Yes! The Chosen One is smart enough to show his sacred power before meeting with us ! If he really wants us dead I fear that nobody, not even the Oracle, could protect us from his wrath ! Do not fear humans, the prophecy announced his venue but never said he would be our demise. Instead, he will be our savior !"
The elf village chief standing next to the human king had his eyes glowing with hope and admiration. While the King was pragmatic and acted in the interest of his Kingdom, these elves were fanatics who revered the Chosen One as much as the Oracle.
"We must find out more about this being and his logic-defying powers. Maybe the Protector Spirit gave my ancestors these gems for us to be on good terms with this otherwordly being. Having someone who can cast a fifth circle personal spell without even chanting as an ally would be an incredible asset. It would definitely make Lyssandra the most powerful country in the entire region."
While the King was terrified of meeting this tremendous monster from another world, he was also concerned for the future of his Kingdom.
And so, the temporary alliance between elves of the fallen Ravaleth clan and humans of the Lyssandra kingdom resumed the march, all of them anticipating this meeting.
___
"What is your name ?"
"*ù...name...!)...Ron..."
"Ron, is it ? Pleased to meet you. I guess you can also understand a few words of what I'm saying uh ?"
Gladia continued to study their language while I was following these natives to their leaders, and she had already translated more than a third of its grammar structure and lexical base.
It wasn't a lot, but it was enough for me to comprehend more words and make them understand me. The sensation of speaking a foreign language so fast didn't bother me since I was used to speaking in the universal-galactic dialect that the Scylla had integrated into our neurological system.
[We are almost here Jun.]
"i know, I already have a clear visual on their main forces...they are waiting for us."
Thanks to the improved vision of my enhanced [Dark Visor], I could see through the vegetation as if everything was transparent up to a few kilometers. I never used thermal or X-ray vision as much as Douglas since I always preferred to see in the visible spectrum, but I had to admit that it was extremely useful for these kinds of situations.
The enhanced[Dark Visor]consummed a large amount of Void energy to keep functioning, but it was worth the price. Until I could analyze this strange energy the golden knight previously conjured around his body, I had to stay alert and keep enhancing my visor.
"We...$ù'...arrived."
"Who is your chief ?"
"Lyssandra...*ù''£¨€$...King."
"Oh, a King ?"
After meeting these knights so cliché that just looking at them brought back memories from my old life, I guess it was to be expected their leader would be a king.
I could see from afar that none of the soldiers in the camp had any type of modern equipment, nor could I feel any kind of gearing or circuitry from their weapons and armors. Like Alpha Zero said, they were all using primitive weapons except for a few individuals who kept in hand weird-looking staffs and wands.
At first sight, these wands and staff looked like simple pieces of wood ornated with various gems and materials, but thanks to my improved[Dark Visor]I could see their inner structure at an atomic level... and it was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.
Even more surprising ; I felt the same kind of radiations that I detected from Ron when he surrounded his body with a golden layer from the people wielding these strange weapons.
When we entered the encampment, Ron led me to a tent guarded by many other golden knights like him, paired with pointy-ear humanoids seemingly more experienced than those I met until now. I could see the face of all those pointy-ear natives from the first group ; they were all looking at me in awe. Compared to the bulky knights, I felt no hostility or ill intent from them.
'Are they not afraid of me, or are they so confident in their ability that their curiosity took over their fear ?'
I should be careful among these native humanoids. While they may look weak, they can also be hiding their true strength.
'Gladia, send a message to Jerome and Kat and tell them to come to our location and wait outside the camp. We went too far into the forest for me to contact them through telepathy.'
[Alright.]
Recalling the golden aura used by Ron earlier that even my visor sensors couldn't analyze, I stood on guard and asked Gladia to bring some reinforcement in case things went south.
I was still confident in my ability to deal with these natives myself, but I would rather avoid a useless confrontation against intelligent beings until I get more information about this planet, the local species, and the weird energies we keep detecting since we entered its atmosphere.
'Intimidating them seems better than just openly antagonizing them.'
[Just don't go too far.]
I followed Ron inside the tent, and when I passed through the line of golden knights guarding it, I felt all of them turning their heads and staring at me from behind with a profound ill intent.
There is no doubt that all of them will barge inside the tent at the smallest sign of something going wrong.
"Welcome, *$€^ù£...One."
The inside of the tent was poorly decorated, yet it still gave off a feeling of luxury that didn't fit well with the dirty forest outside.
'Do I have this impression because of the people present ?'
The first one who talked when I entered was most likely the King that Ron talked about. His heavy armor was made of an exotic metal that seemed more sturdy and resistant than the one used for his golden knights' armors.
He had two lion heads sculpted onto his shoulder plates however, compared to the golden knights, these lion heads had their mouths open and their eyes were decorated with glowing gems that radiated a powerful aura.
Despite all the cuts, scratches, and other evident fighting marks on his armor, it maintained a majestic appearance that felt authoritative and dominating over the whole area.
"*$€^ù£...One, I'm honored to €^*$ù*$ meet è*€ !"
After the King greeted me, the man standing right next to him stood up and deeply bowed at me. I didn't fully understand what he said, but he seemed...honored to meet me ?
I supposed this tall person was the leader of the group of pointy-ear humanoids. He was silver-haired, had a face more rough and gravelly than the other from his species and he wore no armor but just simple and plain leather clothes.
I noticed the curved blades hanging on his waist, and the long lance strapped to his back also excluded a particular atmosphere similar to the gems embedded in the King's shoulder plates.
Behind them, a dozen of other natives from both species were standing tall, not daring to move. They were probably high-ranking members in their social hierarchy.
I was surprised to see that all the natives from the second group were hiding their faces, even those who looked like nobles had a piece of clothes strapped around their faces. I could only see their eyes, and even the X-Ray vision of my enhanced[Dark Visor]couldn't penetrate these clothes and helmets.
It was probably due to the runes I noticed on their helmets and scarf. Why did they put so much effort to hide their faces ?
"I am also pleased to meet such intelligent beings." I responded to the greetings and nodded at them, but after seeing their puzzled reaction I realized that I still couldn't translate enough words to speak their language fluently.
I just hope this will be enough for them to understand me, or else communicating with these natives will take longer than expected.
I sat down on the wooden chair Ron prepared for me, and faced the natives without saying anything.
(author nt.: to facilitate the reading of the next dialogues, I'll stop using *$^ù'€£etc... even if all words are not understood by both sides.)
"Hum... Can you please enlighten us about the reason of your venue to this place ?"
Seeing that I was not going to say anything else, the King took the lead and asked a question first. Does he want to know why we came to their world ?
I didn't say anything and just raised my right hand, but the moment I did so the people standing behind the two leaders all unsheathed their weapons and moved forward to protect them.
I turned my head and glanced at Ron. As I expected, this golden knight was smart enough to understand what I was going to do. He talked to them, and after a moment they all lowered their blades and went back to their places.
'Gladia, show them.'
[Yes.]
I told Gladia to display the same hologram I showed earlier to the scouting party. After it ended, everyone in the tent froze in silence, looking at me with round eyes as if I have just shown them something unimaginable.
I couldn't help but laugh under my helmet after seeing the reaction of the pointy-ears guys. Unfortunately, I couldn't see the facial expression of the second group of humanoids, which I guessed were not of the same species as the pointy-ears.
"There are three things I need to know."
When the hologram disappeared, I conjured a little[Dark Blade]on my finger and started engraving something on the wooden table.
"Where is this planet and what are those strange moons ?"
I drew a big circle surrounded by three smaller ones.
"What are the properties of the strange energy present in this world ?"
Then, I drew what looked like waves of energy and a knight surrounded by an aura.
"And to finish, what kind of species are you ?"
Lastly, I drew an arrow pointing at both of them.
After I finished asking my questions, the king and pointy-ear chief looked at me in disbelief, then looked at each other and nodded.
"Please, give us a minute."
"Please excuse us, Chosen One."
They both stood up, lightly bowed to me, and left the tent to talk to each other in privacy escorted by one of the second group noble.
I closed my eyes and focused my senses on them to see what they planned to do. When they were far enough from the tent, the noble who escorted them picked a small but very beautiful wooden wand he had inside his pocket. He then created what felt like a space vacuum in which air couldn't escape.
It seemed like this vacuum area was a special measure to ensure they wouldn't be spied on, as they probably didn't want me or anyone else to hear them...
If only they knew how developed a Void Rifter's senses were... Bypassing this air vacuum is child's play.
___
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