"Your master?!"
Ango didn't know many things but he was not stupid. He knew that even though Hawkwood was strong, his master might be strong but his master wasn't here and he could escape if he wanted to so he calmed himself down and asked
"Why do you serve a master willingly?"
"Oho? Why do you think I'm doing it willingly?"
Ango didn't answer and just continued to stare at him.
After a few moments, Hawkwood sighed and said with a 'you got me' expression on his face "Look, my master isn't like most people. He is strict but he isn't cruel; he taught me many things and I was more like his assistant than his slave"
'I don't buy it, no way someone would remain a slave just because of that'
Hawkwood then breathed in and continued "But that's not the most important reason. The most important reason is when they started purging humans, he protected me, even at the cost of his life."
"Huuuh???"
"He wanted to hide me at first but when that failed he decided to run away with me. On our way there were many instances when he could leave me to die but he didn't. Have you ever known anyone like that?"
Ango was in a daze and shook his head instinctively.
'Someone like that exists? I mean Talia wasn't bad but in the end she let me go because she would have died anyway.'
"So you decided to willingly serve him?"
"Yes" Hawkwood nodded without hesitation.
Ango went silent and started thinking with his head lowered 'even if I believed him, it's too great a risk to do it but … how long do I have till someone else finds me? I don't believe I'm lucky enough for the next one to be human too. And if I don't agree it's not like he can't take me away by force and torture me, better not push him in that direction'
He knew he didn't much of a choice, going with Hawkwood could either potentially cause him to become a slave or make him stronger and not being strong meant death if he met a beast, elf or anyone for that matter.
After reaching this point, Ango raised his head and looked at Hawkwood once again "I'll trust you this time, lead the way"
Hawkwood was surprised and relieved. Surprised that Ango had decided to trust him and relieved because he didn't want to torture the first human that he had seen for nearly two years.
"That's good, then…Follow me"
...
Half an hour of walking later, they reached a shabby wooden house, between some trees.
"Did you build a house here? Isn't that too ….conspicuous?" Ango asked
"Yes I built this, took some time and didn't turn out very well but still better than a cave. About being conspicuous, you are right but only if anyone approaches from the ground, and if they approach from the ground, a cave and a house don't make much of a difference"
'How are they the same, a house can be seen from so much further away and they can set traps for you or surround you, a cave, on the other hand, might be entirely missed, unless they want to search each and every one of the caves here.' Ango thought but didn't voice them out. They might have their own reasons for doing this and just didn't want to tell him.
When they got closer to the house, Ango's body hair became erect and a muffled explosion was heard.
Ango quickly held his stick with both hands and little snow started growling. He asked Hawkwood in a hushed voice, afraid that enemies might be lurking around.
"What's happening? Who's attacking??"
"Damn it's wrong again" a slightly high-pitched and angry voice was heard from the house, accompanied by a kind of accent that Ango had never heard before.
Hawkwood had a wry smile on his face as he said "Relax Ango, it's just master, his experiment probably failed again"
"Experiment?"
Hawkwood didn't answer him, instead he opened his mouth and called out "Master, It's me, lower the defenses"
'Defenses? What defenses?' Ango was confused, he couldn't see anything near the house that looked like it could provide any sort of defense.
"Ah you're back? didn't you just leave? Gimme a moment" the same voice that had cursed before replied.
A few seconds later Ango could feel something different, his erect body hairs were now back to normal.
'So they did have some sort of plan'
"It's down, come in" the voice said
Hawkwood told Ango "Come" and started moving, Ango followed behind alongside Little Snow.
They went inside and were greeted by what could only be described as a mess.
'Even Folium's castle during the fire was in better condition' papers, stones, crystals and alchemy apparatuses, which Ango didn't know of and only thought of them as weird-looking glasses, were scattered everywhere and smoke was coming out of a container.
Ango was looking around, trying to locate Hawkwood's master when he heard the voice with the accent again
"Down here"
Ango looked down and saw a child. No not a child, a very small man, even smaller than the dwarves. There stood a man, the same height as Ango's knee, with blown back red hair and a long red beard, some parts of his clothes and face were blackened, probably because of the explosion they had heard.
"Well, who are you lad? An elf half-blood? Noo you don't look like one, a human? Well why don't you sit lad, my neck is killing me"
Ango listened and sat on the ground, he was about to open his mouth and answer the small man but was a step behind Hawkwood
"Master, let me tell you" and he proceeded to also sit down.
…
After Hawkwood was done explaining how he and Ango had met, the man had an excited look on his face.
"Well lad, lemme tell you what my name is first. I'm Piere Mckenzie, previously a researcher."
"Um.. can I ask? What race are you?"
"Hmm? You never seen anyone like me lad? I'm a gnome"
'A gnome? What the hell is a gnome?' seeing that Ango still looked confused, Mckenzie mentioned some things about the gnomes. The Gnomes did not have a kingdom, they had an assembly where the greatest researchers would gather and make decisions together and Their focus was more on research, Alchemy and magical devices.
"Well lad, time to tell us about the purge"
Ango could say that if Hawkwood had not told him about the master-servant bond, he would not have figured it out by himself. When Mckenzie spoke, he didn't have a condescending attitude, he didn't order, he seemed to be simply talking to a …peer.
Ango nodded and opened his mouth "it started when a royal …."
..
..
"And that's everything she said about Fate Scribe Solomon's vision"
Hawkwood and Mckenzie were silent, they had a shocked look on their faces. Hawkwood at first didn't know who Solomon was his master explained to him.
"A human killing everyone? The kings, the dragons and all others?" Mckenzie murmured
"… No wonder they purged them"
It was Ango's turn to be silent, now that they knew the truth, Mckenzie could become a threat. While he was pondering this possibility, Hawkwood turned toward Piere and asked
"Master, do you regret saving me now?" his voice was heavy
"Hah? Oh so that's what's gotten you two so worked up, the vision showed a human killing the armies and the kings right? Well I think they damn deserve it. Having Servants is one thing but the higher races had enslaved all of humanity thousands of years ago, they deserve what's coming for them, of course, that's if the one in the prophecy is still alive"
"So to answer your question, no, I don't regret saving you"
Ango was still silent, he was really surprised that someone like this actually existed. He didn't fully trust Mckenzie but he could see why Hawkwood had decided to follow him.
Hawkwood let out a sigh of relief, and questioned "Are we sure it's not me? A human using magic, do you know any other than me?"
'Oh?'
Mckenzie scratched his head and answered "That's the thing, you can only use one kind, Some half-bloods can use two or three, the none-human ones of course, but the prophecy mentions pure magic"
"I don't understand pure magic, what is it?"
"I only know it's the original form of magic, which is scarce right now and turns into elemental magic suitable for the place it finds itself in. No one can use it and only some of the crystals are made out of it, they are very expensive since they can be used in almost anything. I only have two Tier 1 crystals of pure magic"
'So that's what it is, so it's a kind of magic that with it a person has access to all the elemental magics, now I understand why Folium was so shocked'
"Can you show me one of them? I'm curious about it" Hawkwood requested.
Hearing Hawkwood's request and seeing Ango's curious face, he nodded and said "Why not, they're in the brown pouch on the desk"
Hawkwood stood, went over to the desk and took one of the crystals out of the pouch.
"Oh, it feels … I don't know, it feels weird, different from lightning but also similar hm…" He then caught sight of Ango.
Ango couldn't see it properly and was straining his neck to get a good look. Hawkwood chuckled at the sight and said
"Do you want to take a look?" and Ango nodded in response
Hawkwood passed the crystal to Ango while Mckenzie was silently standing there. It was round, not perfectly so but enough that Ango understood it was cut into this shape. When Ango touched the crystal, a feeling overcame him, he felt like a pit, a whirlpool.
'What is this, is this the feeling Hawkwood was talking about?' Ango curiously thought but in the next moment something happened.
Right in front of Hawkwood and Mckenzie, bluish veins suddenly started appearing on Ango's skin. No not veins, more like lines, where the nerves were supposed to be.
'I feel hungry? I'm starving but not for food, my stomach is fine, but the crystal…something is inside the crystal' as Ango was thinking, a white-colored mist started to seep out of the crystal and enter the bluish lines on his body.
"What??? What's happening?" Mckenzie exclaimed loudly and Hawkwood wasn't sure what he was seeing.
"Is he absorbing the pure magic?"
"But how? Is he the one the prophecy mentioned???"
"I'm not sure, we need to wait but seeing as he is absorbing the pure magic, I would think so"
Ango felt like someone dying from thirst who was suddenly given cold water, he felt good but also in pain. His eyes were closed, groans and moans escaped his mouth constantly and he felt unable and unwilling to stop what was happening.
The only thing the master and servant due could do was watch, they didn't know if taking away the crystal would have any adverse effect on Ango.
'Ah this feels good, this feels…right'
The process continued for about ten more seconds and Ango could feel something strange happening inside him, it was like a second heart was beating inside him, filling him with power, not strength but power.
Then the crystal crumbled and turned to dust and Ango could feel something around him, could feel something inside and around the two in front of him.
And he voiced out with surprise and wonder "Is- is this magic? I feel a force inside me, I feel something comfortable in the air, and you two have … something different inside you, it's like a beating heart, one moment it's powerful, the next it's just there"
The due was stupefied, they had just seen a normal human absorb a pure magic crystal and then become able to sense magic.
Mckenzie stepped forward with curiosity burning in his eyes "How do you feel? Do you feel the magic inside you? How did you absorb it? quickly lad tell me". He was jumping up and down like a child who had found a new toy.
Ango was about to answer when suddenly pain filled his body and he fell to his knees.
"Aghhhhhhh What's happening"