When the beam vanished, John and Gina did not waste any more time and rushed to where Glenn was. They ran towards him, but stopped when they felt a strong presence that did not belong to their friend.
"This terrifying aura," Gina whispered. "It's even more terrifying than the black beam earlier. What is this?"
"Who are you?" John raised his dagger as he asked the question. "You're not Glenn, but what are you doing in his body?"
Saroth did not answer. Instead, he lowered his hand and sighed. "Switch."
The dark tint on the hololiths vanished and returned to their crystal appearance. The hint of the darkness that Glenn exuded earlier also vanished, leaving the pure black aura of Saroth.
"Excuse myself," Saroth said. "But this body does not belong to me."
With that, he closed his eyes and returned the body to Glenn where they both fainted and the body to drop to the ground.
John and Gina looked at each other, both speechless.
"What was that?"
–
A soft sound of the birds chirping outside the window woke Glenn up. He opened his eyes and found himself inside the room once again. This time, John wasn't sitting on the chair beside the bed.
Glenn sat up and walked out of the room, only to hear a muffled noise inside the conference room. When he entered, the voices stopped and all eyes landed at him.
"Glenn!" Gina ran towards the healer and hugged him tight. "You were sleeping for two days. We were so worried."
"I'm sorry," Glenn said. "But I really don't remember everything that happened that day."
"Then let us tell you," John offered.
John was the one who told Glenn about everything. From the time the Macatan Tribesmen received powers, to his sudden outburst and his loss of consciousnesses. There were also a lot of changes after Glenn's slumber. The Macatan Tribesmen now had more modern rules and way of life rather than the primitive ways they had before.
"And so, Lapis is still their chief but the next one will be elected," John said. "There are also a few changes with their political system where we had to abolish the lineage. Influence and the power to lead is much better than receiving the title because you're meant to be."
"I agree with this one," Lapis sighed. "I really had no intention of becoming chief, but I had no choice. It's still better if we get freedom."
"Lapis…" Martella trailed off. "I never knew you always felt like that."
"It's okay, mother," Lapis smiled. "I am still happy to become the chief nonetheless."
Glenn understood what they wanted to do and he was glad that John and Gina decided to take over while he was gone. It showed that these two can stand on their own and not just rely on him. After all, the three of them were partners that is planning on defeating the Dark Lord together.
"Alright," Glenn smiled. "I think this is the time that we bid farewell."
"What?" Everyone in the room chorused. Glenn smirked and then chuckled. "Our work here is done. We still need to get to Caracat as soon as we can."
"Right," John stood, followed by Gina. "We must take our leave now."
"But we haven't properly thanked you yet," Lapis said. "Please, just stay until tonight so we can prepare a feast as gratitude for the help you gave us."
Glenn pursed his lips. "Yeah. I think we can stay for a day more."
"Right!" Lapis slammed his palms together. "I'll go tell the kitchen staff so we can prepare the feast as soon as possible. This meeting is adjourned!"
The tribesmen that were in the room left, leavig the three Adventurers behind. They still had to discuss something amongst themselves, so they decided to stay.
"You saw right through my strategy, didn't you?" Glenn chuckled. "It somehow faield though."
"Glenn, I investigated this forest when you were sleeping," John said. "I have found that the only reason why you failed was because of the mixed magic surrounding these trees.
"When you first created the smaller tree so you could impress them later on, the magic that you gathered was too small to be noticed," John continued. "Then it went on to the giant tree where he mixture of dark and white magic gathered and became part of the tree, and then became part of you."
Glenn was listening intently. John was right when he mentioned the smaller tree. One thing Glenn learned from his previous job was to impress people with offers. Like the loans he offered, he would first show them an affordable package and then show them a much more expensive one. These two have the same benefits but through the name and the glorification, it looked like the more expensive one was better.
This was the technique he uses to impress the tribesmen elders. When he healed Elder Pacho with the small tree, they got a taste of his magic but their expectations were low. When he created the giant tree, it skyrocketed their expectations and made them worship him in a sense.
His plan was to let them trust him so he can have allies later on, but he didn't know about the external factors that would make him faint and then lose control.
"These magic are remnants from thousands of years ago," John revealed. "Since no one in these forests harnessed these magic, the air and everything around here is abundant with the magic."
"Glenn, you restored the magical capabilities of these people," Gina said. "The magic that lingered here belonged to their ancestors and you gave them back."
Glenn was speechless for a couple of seconds. "Do they know?"
"I told them," John said. "I know I acted on my own, but it's for the better. Their respect for you has increased even more and now they practically think of you as their god."
"That's great," Glenn chuckled. "It's a good thing that everything settled on its own."
"Not yet," Gina said. "We still have to talk about Saroth and how you lost control."
"And the symbols on your body," John said. "Mind telling us something, Glenn?"