We navigated through the forest until the sun was down as I and Jin-Woo was going to set up camp I heard Ashborn's voice in my head
"Movement in front of you around ten meters I sense twenty-four people with mana, three Carriages, and six mana beasts pulling the Carriages, I also sense around forty other living beings but it seems that they are either unawakened or their mana was sealed," Ashborn said
"sixteen augmenters and eight conjurers" Sylvia added
"Slave traders" My voice went grim
"I'll deal with them twenty of them Arthur you deal with the rest," Jin-Woo said as he stood up and walked towards the direction the people were
As we walked and jumped silently from tree to tree we made sure no one inside the Carriage could see our fight Jin-Woo summoned his summons which instantly killed twenty people while the remaining four ran towards me, as I augmented my body and sword that Jin-Woo gave me I lunged towards them chopping off one of the slave traders head while I chopped one of the hand the other slave trader. Spell suddenly bombarded me as I realized that there were two conjurers among them, as I cursed in my breath I lunged towards the conjurer first but was disturbed by the augmenter that lost his hand, his sword hitting a mine, redirecting the path of the sword to a tree. I immediately pulled my sword out and vanished in the bushes. As I sneaked behind one of the conjurers I got him by surprise while the other conjurer didn't hesitate to blast his friend knocking me to a bunch of bushes. As I continued moving my way around the bushes making sure I won't get spotted I lunged towards the augmenter with my sword aimed at his neck, the sword connected, but my right hand was blasted off by a wave of fire. As I struggled to keep myself standing I took the sword with my left hand and took a stance, we were distanced by a few feet but unlike the conjurer, I didn't have the luxury to cast range attacks since I haven't awoken any elements. As I cursed under my breath I started to control my breathing, and finally, when the conjurer fired a spell at me I dodged and lunged towards him, which he then fired another spell towards me three seconds after
"Three-second gap per spell I can make it" As I felt my body screaming at me to stop
I lunged towards him even faster as I fully augmented my legs, leaving the rest of my body unguarded as my sword was an inch away from his neck he used his staff, and hit my sword redirecting my blade, I jumped back and took cover behind a tree.
"Huf Huf Huf" My breathing was starting to hurt my chest I knew I needed to end this quickly As I tried to peek from the tree a fireball nearly hit my head
"He knows where I am," I thought as I moved to another tree branch, I ducked at his third fireball and focused all my strength in my last attack as the conjurer tried to deflect my sword again I lowered my sword down and raised it back up the at the last second resulting my sword piercing through his chin and up through his head.
"You look like a bloody mess," Ashborn said chuckling
"Agreed," Sylvia said but her voice filled with pity
As I try and stand up using the conjurer's staff as the support I walked towards where the Carriages were. And there I saw Jin-Woo sitting in front of a campfire, as he saw me he waved his hand to come to sit next to him. As I began to sit down the same ant I saw before appeared beside me. Healing me but as soon as he finished healing me.
"My lord I sense mana beast near us allow me to clear them for you," The ant said startling me
"No" Jin-Woo's voice came out cold
"Forgive me my lord if I offended you" the ant knelt in front of Jin-Woo
"It seems like your hate towards elves still lingers within you" I heard Ashborn say
"Yes how could I ever forget the one responsible for the murder of my family the frost monarch, and his ice elves" He answered telepathically but it was loud and clear that his voice was filled, and coated with killing intent even in our mental link
"Calm down, for now, they are different" Ashborn said
"I know, it's just trauma doesn't really go away that quick Ashborn and I'm still not as old and ancient as you are" He answered as he stood up and patted beru's shoulder
"Sorry Beru I'm a little mentally unstable right now you can kill a few but don't kill too much," He said as Beru also began tearing up
"No I'm sorry my lord it was my fault for not noticing your emotions, but I am also grateful for your benevolence my lord," The ant said as it bowed again towards Jin-Woo, and launched itself between the bushes, and not too long after there were loud rustling voices between the bushes
"Arthur go check the Carriages please," Jin-Woo told me with a solemn smile
I nodded as I understood the conversation He and Ashborn had. As I slowly opened the blankets covering the Carriage entrance I saw dozen of elves tied up their hands, legs, and mouths. As I also noticed some of the adult females had their clothes torn, and some cloth barely covered their upper body parts.
"Your safe now," I said while cutting one of the elves' ropes and gave him the knife to free the rest
I was mad and disgusted by those slave traders as I went to the second Carriage where there were kids in there, elve kids. Some barely even ten years old, at least they didn't touch them I thought as I headed towards the last Carriage I opened it to see one single elf girl with gunmetal hair, and green emerald eyes crying.
As I carefully told her the same thing I told the other elves in the Carriage and cut the ropes that were tied to her. At first, she was afraid when I got in the Carriage, but then she finally calmed down and let me cut the ropes that restraint her, as I was going to leave the carriage and go to Jin-Woo, Suddenly the elf girl pulled my left arm and said "Thank you" As she gave a bright and wide smile. I nodded and went out of the carriage but she then followed me. As I walked towards Jin-Woo who has calmed himself, and at that point, I was confused as to what I should do from the conversation he had with Ashborn it was pretty clear he HATES elves.
"What the Fuck am I supposed to do now," I asked hoping to get an answer from Ashborn or Sylvia but there was nothing but silence
"Ashborn?" I asked
"I am sorry but I am unable to comprehend emotions so I'm afraid I can't help you with this even I could only calm him down for a bit, but if seeing the elve for too long could end up bad" He answered
"Same with me I barely know anything about emotions I am sorry Arthur," Sylvia said
"Well I'm screwed first a girl is literally glued to me while my friend has a trauma against elves," I thought rolling my eyes
I then walked towards the carriage where the girl was and got in, and soon she came in with me and sat beside me.
"So what should I call you?" I asked
"Uh um Tess," The elven girl said
We then had a few conversations before she slept beside me her head resting on my arm. As I slowly moved her head without waking her up I saw Jin-Woo outside the carriage.
"Uhem Arthur I know you have unique adult fetishes that I won't judge but do please hold yourself from touching someone we just saved," He said as I felt my face getting hot
"Shu... Shut up" I said as I threw a piece of wood towards him which he caught, and threw it to the ground
"Hmm someone's feisty today," He said as I ignored his words
"What do we do with them it's not like we could just leave them?" I asked
"Oh Arthur I didn't know you wanted the slaves all for yourself what would your mother think of you," He said shocked his hand in his chest, and jaws dropped
"You know that wasn't what I meant," I said pointing at him
"It's fine they said that there should be elven guards looking for them right about now," He said, and then I heard a trumpet sound echoing through the woods
"We should go" I suggested
"No this might be our chance to find out about the beast will." He said as he punched my right arm as I felt pain run I dropped to the floor in pain
"You didn't have to punch it that hard" I shouted at him which made Tess wake up
"Uhm haaah" She yawned but then she saw me on the ground in pain, and looked at Jin-Woo
"Are we under attack?" She asked her voice scared
"No, we aren't he's a friend" I managed to say
"You look better than yesterday," I said as I turned to him
"I've calmed down as Ash gave me a few tips to forget about sour pasts" He replied
Sung Jin-Woo POV
As I clenched my fists trying to calm myself as I pictured the scene of my bloodied family, and friends frozen in an ice coffin. their heads separated from their bodies all I could do was watch them unable to help them anymore. What could I do Revived them, no that would've only brought me more pain. As I kept trying to convince myself that they weren't the same I realized how hard it was. It was different with Sylvia because Antares didn't torture any of my beloveds he just wanted destruction different from the Ice Monarch where he wanted me to feel every pain he could inflict upon me, to make it scar, to make it last for a long time, to make me remember about it. As thoughts, and emotions went to spiral in my mind I heard Ashborn's voice echoing through the many thought, and emotions raging inside me.
"Jin-Woo" I could finally hear his voice clearly
"What?" I asked my tone still cold
"You should rest," He said in a consoling tone
"For what I don't need sleep anymore," I said
"Sleep helps me relieve myself sometimes while staying awake is usually better, but even I sometimes sleep to forget about something'
I just stayed silent as I started to sit on the floor using the tree stump as a place to rest my back. I closed my eyes hoping to empty my mind as I heard the wind whistling through the forest. I felt peace as I slowly embraced the feeling of sleep.
I woke up to hear the captives hesitant to go near me as I realize I hadn't controlled my mana pressure properly, a few adult males came and bowed respectfully towards me expressing their gratitude. As they were explaining to me how they got into this situation two words caught my attention.
"We were all accompanying the Royal Princess from another city which she is right now inside the third Carriage but when I checked it seems like she kinda glued herself to your friend," The man said while chuckling
"All right I understand but how do you all plan on returning?" I asked
"The Royal Princess's necklace acts as a tracker so when we didn't arrive yesterday they should send out knights to find us" He replied
"Good it seems like they're near I said" As I sense a big amount of mana radiating a few dozen meters from where we were
"All right I'll talk to my friend for a while," I said as I stood up and cleaned my clothes from the dust.
As I arrived at the third carriage I saw how Arthur touched the Royal Princess gently trying to get her off him looking at this I decided to play with him for a bit
"Uhem Arthur I know you have unique adult fetishes that I won't judge but do please hold yourself from touching someone we just saved," I said as his face getting turning red
"Shu... Shut up" He said as He threw a piece of wood towards me which I caught, and threw it to the ground
"Hmm someone's feisty today," I said as he ignored his words
"What do we do with them it's not like we could just leave them?" He asked
"Oh Arthur I didn't know you wanted the slaves all for yourself what would your mother think of you," I pretended to be shocked my hand in my chest, and my jaws dropped
"You know that wasn't what I meant," He said pointing at me
"It's fine they said that there should be elven guards looking for them right about now," I said, and then I heard a trumpet sound echoing through the woods
"We should go" He suggested
"No this might be our chance to find out about the beast will," I said as I punched his right arm He felt pain run He dropped to the floor in pain
"You didn't have to puch it that hard" He shouted at him which made The girl wake up
"Uhm haaah" She yawned but then she saw Arthur on the ground in pain, and looked at Jin-Woo
"Are we under attack?" She asked her voice scared
"No, we aren't he's a friend" He managed to say
"You look better than yesterday," He said as He turned to me
"I've calmed down as Ash gave me a few tips to forget about sour pasts" I replied
"Now your highness lets get you to safety princess," I said
"Wait, Princess?" Arthur asked completely shocked
"Yes she is a princess the more reason for you to not touch her," I said as I saw Arthur's vein showing in his forehead I turned back and gestured them to go out of the carriage
As The captured elves met the knights they told the knights all about what happened and brought us along with them. As we arrived I was amazed at how the elven kingdom was. It appeared we had directly teleported right past the gates. What I saw before me were buildings that seemed to be built out of a jade-like material. These jade buildings were so flawless and smooth that each seemed to be carved from a single, huge stone.
Making this place look even more awe-inspiring were the huge trees that intertwined with the buildings, filling this whole city with a more distinctive and organic ambiance. Looking up, I see homes built on unnaturally thick branches extending out of the massive trunks even larger than the buildings with smoke drifting out of their chimneys.
The entire ground inside this city was covered in a lush field of soft moss, with only the narrow sidewalks and the main road paved with smooth stone. The dense array of branches that fanned out from the trees covered most of the city in a canopy of shade, but there was a warm, luminescent glow throughout the city thanks to numerous floating orbs of light situated in every corner and street.
And it seems like Arthur also had the same surprise as I turned towards him to see him gawked at the sights of the elven city. As we entered the carriage stopped as I saw another carriage approach with three figures coming out of the carriage. rushing towards us as all three of us exited the carriage.
"My baby! Tessia, you're okay! Oh, my baby!"
Running towards us was a middle-aged man and woman. From the crown on the man's head and the tiara encircling the woman's forehead, I assumed that they were the King and Queen.
The King's tall, built body was uniformed in a loose, decorated robe. His emerald eyes were pointed upwards and his thin lips were tensed, matching his short, military-style hair.
While the King had a dignified but somewhat reserved appearance, the Queen was breathtaking. Although she was a bit past her youthful stage, her age couldn't mask the beauty that she was. Her round eyes shimmered a light blue hue, contrasting well with her lush, pink-colored lips. Her silver hair was curled down, flailing past her back as she ran towards us, her well-proportioned figure visible underneath her dress.
The mother's cheeks were lined with tears as the father had a tense expression that looked like he was holding back tears as well.
I turned my gaze to Arthur but Arthur was gazing at tessia so I followe his gaze to see Tessia's face visibly soften as she started tearing up as well. Arthur then let go of her hand and gently pushed her towards her parents, making me feel a little sentimental myself.
Tessia landed in the arms of her mother who started sobbing at this point on their knees, both burying their face in their daughter's shoulders.
The last to arrive was an old man well past his prime. His facial features are all sharp, with a gaze that could kill someone on contact. His hair was pure white and was tied in the back, face cleanly shaven. This elderly man didn't say anything, but his eyes did warm up a little when he saw Tessia.
It took several minutes for Tessia and her parents to settle down. In the meantime, the guards were glaring at me and Arthur with daggers in their eyes, as even the elder was eyeing me curiously.
The King finally stood up and while his eyes were red, he still carried an air of dignity. "As the King of Elenoir and the father of Tessia, I must apologize for this unsightly appearance of mine, and more importantly, I wish to thank you for escorting my daughter back home safely," he stated, his voice coming out a bit hoarse. "Please accompany us to our home so that you may rest. After, you can tell us what happened."
His tone was gentle but implied that there wasn't an option, so I simply nodded in consent. As I was about to follow behind them, Tessia came to me and grabbed Arthur's hand again, filling the surrounding people with expressions of shock. I couldn't help but chuckle uncomfortably as Arthur scratched the side of his head, unable to muster up the appropriate words for a situation like this.
After a strenuously awkward ride that seemed a lot longer than it had been, we arrived at the castle. Rather than a castle, however, it looked to be an enormous tree. This tree, which probably needed at least a few hundred people locking arms to encircle it, was made of a white stone that, I could only guess, had gone through a petrification process somehow.
Stepping through the front doors of the tree, I was pleasantly surprised to see how impressive the interior of this castle was. Two curved staircases created a circle, with a gigantic chandelier floating in the middle of it. This chandelier seemed to be made of the same orbs of light that were dotted throughout the city.
Arthur had told the King and Queen that it wasn't necessary for us to rest and would rather tell them as soon as we arrived, so that's what we did.
Not even washing up, the welcoming crew was all situated around the rectangular dining table downstairs. Tessia's father was on the far end of the table with me directly opposite him. Tessa's mother sat perpendicular to her husband, with Tessia seated right next to her. The grandpa was sitting across from the mother and daughter, leaving a pretty big gap between us, while the five guards stood off to the side behind the King.
With both his elbows resting on the table, fingers intertwined, the King was the first to speak. "Child. What did you say your name was?"
"Forgive me for the late introduction. My name is Arthur Leywin, and I come from a remote town in the Kingdom of Sapin." Arthur said
A pleasure to make your acquaintance King, Queen, Elder, and gentlemen." He stood up and bowed slightly at each of them individually before sitting back down.
"My name is Sung Jin-Woo," I said flatly my face expressionless and body not moving still on my chair
"Brat how dare you not show respect before..." One of the guards shouted in anger but the old elf raised his hand silencing the guard.
Discussion wasn't going to progress if they were going to treat us like children. Both the King and Queen and the guards in the back showed evident looks of surprise from Arthur's mature behavior, while even the grandpa had an amused smirk on his face; Tessia giving Arthur a shy smile. While most of the guards had their eyes glaring on me.
Regaining composure, the King continued on. "It seems you are much more mature than your age Arthur. Forgive me for assuming. My name is Alduin Eralith and this is my wife, Merial Eralith, and my father Virion Eralith. As for what happened, please tell us. We would like to hear your side of this."
Waving off the apology, Arthur began telling the story. He made sure to be very vague in telling them how We got inside the Forest of Elshire in the first place; He simply told them We had gotten separated from my family after running into bandits, only managing to survive out of luck. Inevitably, Arthur had to tell them We were mages. This was followed by another wave of looks of utter disbelief from everyone, including Tessia. Because of the lack of obstacles we ran into on our journey back, We never really needed to use mana so We didn't bother explaining.
One of the guards told me that Arthur was a liar and to prove that We were actually mages making Beru in my shadow angry that Igris and Bellion had to step in to stop Beru from jumping out of my shadow, and killing the guard when, unexpectedly, Tessia's grandfather shut him down. He then clasped his hands together on the table and looked at Arthur with a renewed, eerie interest.
Arthur quickly moved on, telling them how We had spotted a carriage and observed them carrying a tied-up child into the back of one of the three carriages before going off.
At this, the King slammed both of his hands on the table, his eyes narrowing into a menacing glare.
"I should've known it was humans..."
Arthur corrected his mildly racist comment and said, "They were slave traders. They and bandits alike prey on, not just elves, but humans as well, speaking as a victim myself."
This caused the King to shut his mouth before sitting back down, letting out a soft cough. I found it amusing how someone like him could become a king with emotions clouding all of his judgment.
Arthur glazed over the details of the fight with the slave traders.
"Luckily, I, and my friend had caught the slave traders by surprise and managed to dispose of them before untying the princess and other captives and escorting her here," Arthur said
"So a four-year-old and another brat barely older than fifteen years old managed to 'luckily' kill off twenty-four adults, sixteen augmenters, and eight conjurers, and you simply wave it off like it's no big deal," chimes in the king's father seated across from Tessia, leaning back on the chair so only two of the legs are touching the ground.
"Arthur it seems like I've been too lenient towards them," I said to Arthur mentally
"No don't do anything stupid" He replied back his tone worried
"You dare lie to the king of this kingdom" A guard shouted as some unsheeted their swords
"All right do whatever you want but go easy on them," Arthur said to me
"It seems like because of my physical appearance, and patience you people thought that I fear you all ever since I came to this kingdom," I said my eyes glowing purple
As all the guards inside the room were subdued by my soldiers dismantling their weapons, and forcing them to kneel. I expected the old man to also be stunned in fear but he dashed towards me with fast speed but as he was about to reach me Beru's claw appeared from my shadow nearly catching the old man's wrist. Fortunately, the old man quickly retreated back had he not he could've lost his hand.
"Now do you believe us," I said making my voice intimidating
The guards just remained silent as I turned my attention back to the king. He coughed and said, "I am very sorry for my guard's actions and I am very grateful for your help so what could we help you with."
"I would like for somebody to help Arthur," I said
"You mean he needs help with," The old man said pointing at Arthur where his mana core resided
"He's decent," Sylvia said in our link
"Where have you two been this whole time I seriously thought that the connection was broken," I asked
"She was sleeping while I was learning more about aether from her explanations" Ashborn replied
"It seems like you've found a new friend, and decided to abandon me," I said
"Think of it however you like," Ashborn said as he sighed
"It seems like we've come to a deal then," Arthur said
"Yes, and I hope you enjoy your stay here, and could you possibly," He said while pointing towards his guards
I snapped my fingers, and all of the shadows sunk into my shadows disappearing completely. As I saw the whole room watching me
"For now make yourselves feel at home, while we get your second request," Alduin said
"Second request," I asked mentally
"I need a way to communicate with my parents" Arthur replied
"Right probably having my soldier appear before them, and tell them that would cause them a heart attack," I said
When he didn't reply I turned to him and asked "We're you seriously considering making me do that?" I asked which he also didn't reply I sighed and stood up from my chair leaving Arthur behind in the room as I asked a maid to escort me to my room.
"Where the hell are you going?" Arthur asked
"You didn't reply so I'm going to do the same thing to you," I said as I separated my link
"Was that necessary? you act like you are a child," Ashborn said to me
"Let him be he won't die" I replied as the maid opened the door, and I got in and went straight to the bed crashing down at its comfortable, and soft surface. I must've been too tired as I slowly drifted to sleep.
I was awoken by the agony screams of Arthur's voice
"Tess I give I give" I heard his screams literally through two walls
As I got up and went to the showers. I disposed of my old clothes and made a new pair of clothes a blue navy shirt, and black jeans. As I exited the door that leads in Arthur's room was still shut, as Arthur's agonized screams could still be heard.
"Good luck my friend" I prayed for him
"At least he's getting a direct blessing from a god," Sylvia said
"I wouldn't say getting direct blessing from a god of death would be a good thing. Where's Ash?" I asked
"Sleeping," Sylvia said while yawning
"You sound tired as well," I said
"You don't know how hard it is to sleep without getting disturbed by your friend every hour asking about aether, and other stuff so I nearly got no sleep yesterday, and I'm still healing from my wounds I need sleep" She pleaded
"Good luck," I said as I cut off the mental link
I opened the door into Arthurs room to see Tess bending Arthur's legs towards his shoulders. Entering the room I realized that the shouts were louder than when I was listening from the outside. I then manifested cold, and hot water balls, and placed the cold water on top of Arthur's face while the hot orb was placed on top of Arthurs's legs. As I lowered my finger down the two balls fell and awoken our beloved sleeping beauty from his slumber.
"Your scream could replace a chicken's job you know that?" I asked as I splashed cold water on his legs
"Go and take a shower," I said as I left the room and was greeted by Virion who was looking at me his eyes filled with curiosity.
"What do you want sir?" I asked
"Sir?" He replied
"Well this is the first time you've been formal" He continued
"I tend to do whatever I please when people like that are around," I said
"Just call me gramps," He said
"So what is he doing today?" I asked
"We're going to visit my friend who could get in touch with Arthur's parents," Virion said as he walked along the hallway gesturing me to follow him
"Alright," I said as I followed him
We then arrived at a carriage outside as soon I heard Tess and Arthur's voice behind me as they arrived and went inside the carriage.