After eating a hearty meal together. Everyone was sitting near the fire. Even though the terrible monster was revered as a natural calamity, it was very tasty nonetheless.
"Brother! Where are you from? I never saw you in the town before"
Elsa asked her hands a few centimeters over the fire. Her almond eyes glistened with curiosity. Arsh smiled at her, before adding in a somewhat sad voice.
"...I will take you there tomorrow"
Arsh went silent again. And the cave was quiet for some time. Only echoing with random sounds of the forest.
But, the silence was neither still nor comforting. Instead, it was kind of overwhelming. Arsh looked at the band of adventurers, rustling uncomfortably in the back, stealing glances at him.
"I am also curious,...Arsh. You are not normal for a child"
Ethan voiced, adding the branches to the fire. And from the expression of the other adventurers, he could already guess, they were interested in him too.
'....Shit!'
He cursed himself inwardly. He shouldn't have shown them all of his cards. But, What other choice did he have at the time? They wouldn't even be alive right now if he wasn't going all out for them.
He had two choices in front of him now. Either to shut their curiosity forcefully by not answering and leave them with distrust and uncertainty. Or to trust them with his invaluable secret.
If it was a question for the Arsh a year ago. He wouldn't even blink after killing them all. But, after spending a year in the real world he had matured a bit.
"Where are you really from?"
And the dreaded question came forward. Arsh looked at Alan for confirmation, who just nodded at him lightly.
"I am one of the forsaken ones"
There was visible shock on the face of adventures. As the adventures started murmuring among themselves slowly, Arsh took hold of the dagger in his pocket. He was being cautious just in case.
Arsh was not so naive to trust perfect strangers, just because they have been in an alliance for a few hours. Rather he decided to drop tidbits of information slowly, and observe their reaction.
'If they showed any kind of hostility. That will be the end of them'
The reality was, he needed them to cross the forest of silence. So, he can't hide all the facts from them. They were going to see everything, it was just a matter of time.
But, he wasn't so keen on that idea himself. He sighed to himself, not able to come up with a solid conclusion. He decided to observe them for now.
"Do they exist? I thought they were just some made-up legends to scare kids."
This time it was the ax wielder, Joey. He stared at Arsh cautiously, his eyes trying to confirm something.
"....Yeah, they were USED to exist on this continent…. I don't know what kind of stories you heard about them. But, there is only one absolute truth"
"They were perfectly normal humans, not monsters, not supernatural beings. They were just normal people, who wanted to live peacefully. Away from the eyes of gods"
Arsh said in a somber tone. His heavy voice reverberated throughout the silent cave.
It was the reason for his life now. To find and give every being a grueling death, who had any involvement in the tragedy of his village….And for that reason, he needed something more from the adventurers.
"....I also wanted to ask for a favor. Can you guys teach me about your beginner's magic?"
Arsh needed more types of magic in his arsenal moving forward. He remembered being thrashed by the millennium like an insect just hours ago. He needed more power.
He was aware, that they already saw him using shadow attributes. So, they shouldn't have any reason to refuse.
At least, that was what he wanted to believe. But…
"Why though? You can't use more than one attribute, anyway. So, what even is the point of hearing it?"
Adam answered stead of the whole adventurer's group. Arsh looked at them agape. He didn't just fail, he also let them latch on more suspicion.
'Damnit! I didn't think about that…..Wait! No can't use more than a single attribute? Alan never told me that…..Maybe he did'
"He is only interested in your spell, imagination, and chants. He is a curious kid by nature, and likes learning magic"
Alan answered and the whole cave went silent again. Their trembling eyes were drawn to Alan, who was sitting alone a little far away from the group.
"And, you guys don't have to be so afraid of me, all the time. If you don't betray me till the last moment. I will consider not killing any of you"
The tension in the cave suddenly went extremely high, the adventurers shifted uncomfortably in their place, looking at Alan's sadistic grin.
"...As he said earlier. I am interested in learning more about the magic of every attribute. Can you guys teach me a little about your magic attributes?"
Arsh asked them, trying to act as excited as possible. Even though he didn't like it. He had to play the part of the kid, heavily intrigued by magic.
"Well, sure. I don't mind telling you. It is just beginners magic anyway"
The first one who agreed was Adam. He looked young and vigorous, having a slender physique with red hair with a sword hanging at his waist.
"I don't use beginner's magic, though. My attribute is fire, which is a highly offensive type. A weak flame, conjured by beginner's magic really can't do much. So, I never learned much from them. I only know two beginner spells. Which is completely useless to me. But, if you are still interested, then..."
Adam proceeded to explain the spell in detail, adding his experience while using them. Which was not much. As he only knew 2 spells.
Arsh was disappointed by the exchange. Only able to learn about two offensive spells, due to Adam having some kind of vendetta against beginner's spells.
"I am telling you beginner's spells are trash. You should keep your focus on the advanced spells. They will be more helpful, even though they drain more magic"
And Arsh was aware of a new fact now. Which was not much helpful with anything.
'Gosh! This guy is even more annoying than Alan'
Adam ended his long rant about dissing beginners' magic, and singing praises for advanced spells, after continuously speaking for the whole 15 minutes.
"Okay, Okay I get it. You can shut up now…..Ethan, what about you?"
Arsh felt tired, listening to Adam's nonstop ramble for 15 minutes straight. So, Instead, he turned to the most serious person in the whole group.
Arsh was genuinely curious about the attributes of the brown-bearded man. He never once saw him using magic.
"I am just a normal spear bearer. I don't have any kind of magic or attribute. Not that I am aware of, even if I have any"
The brown-bearded man silently replied, adding branches to the fire again. His voice was somber, with an unreadable expression on his face.
'This guy 100% had some kind of tragic backstory'
Arsh chose to ignore him for now, however interested he was in his story. He looked over to the other adventures, eyeing them carefully.
"Joey, tell me about attributes and magic. It is one of the rarest, I have ever seen. The way you manipulate the ground"
Arsh looked at him wonder-eyed, still trying to act all excited.
Joey was also the only adventurer other than Ethan, who had some remarkable power. Especially with his unique attribute.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Arsh. But, It is not all that unique. My attribute is Ground, or should I call it something else?"
"It takes immense precision to even manifest the spell. So, it doesn't have a whole lot of beginner's spells. I only know one 2 beginners spell myself like Adam"
Joey was the most sensible person in the group. He looked like the middleman between the bulky Ethan and slim Adam.
The type who will remain cool-headed and access the situation. Which made him more caring and cautious by nature.
He explained his beginner's spell to Arsh. It wasn't much either. But, it didn't take nearly any time at all, comparing it to Adam.
"Daddy, I am sleepy"
Elsa said, rubbing his eyes, interrupting the middle of the conversation and turning everyone's attention to her. Elsa turned to Arsh again, her eyes completely drowsy.
"It's okay, Elsa. You can sleep in my lap. I don't mind at all"
Leo replied in a soft tone, As he laid her down keeping her head on his Lap. Caressing her adorable little face slowly with care and love.
"Oh! Also, you didn't answer me before. Why is Elsa here?"
Arsh asked suddenly exasperated. He let the matter go last time. Because it wasn't the right time and place for that.
Leo tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible, with every person present in the cave, before replying in a low voice.
"....She wanted to see the forest. She was very clamoring about it. I couldn't say no"
"..."
'Is he being dumb on purpose'
"..."
"..."
"..."
Everyone present in the cave started glaring at him, silently and wordlessly. While he avoided eye contact with everyone and ultimately went to the side of the cave with Elsa in his hold.
Arsh let out a heavy breath, looking at Amanda to continue.
Amanda was a normal-looking woman, with no unique features whatsoever. Arsh tried to find something memorable in her. But, everything about her screamed normal. Her only visible specialty was her healing magic.
"Healing magic is very difficult. It takes a lot of magic power and concentration compared to other attributes."
"And healing a person with a beginner's spell is close to impossible. You have to know at least 30 spells for all 30 different parts of the bodies"
Amanda started explaining the basics of the healing magic. Her voice was a little tense. But, her explanation was the easiest to understand
"Their procedure and imagination are different, in every part of the body. So, Healing a major injury with a beginner spell might be impossible. While it maybe can work out for some minor ones"
"There is only one chant for beginners spells and that is ``Heal ``. You have to imagine the spot of the body being healed by the correct procedure. If you missed it, the magic will not activate"
Amanda explained to him with a long speech. About different procedures of healing including, the best way to imagine them in different scenarios and various parts of the body.
'...I don't think healing magic is my forte'
After listening to Amanda for the whole 2 hours, he began to think that Adam and Alan were still far better than her. But even with all the stupid thoughts. Now Arsh had a new level of respect for every healer.
"Thank you guys for your help. You should sleep for now. You should Rest while you have the chance. We don't know what kind of creatures we will face tomorrow."
Arsh gave them a reassuring smile, pointing at the entrance of the cave.
"Don't worry about safety and all for the night. Alan will take the watch tonight. And believe me, he is more than enough by himself"
Arsh stood up from the spot and started dusting his clothes. He looked at them one last time, before moving to the side of the cave.
'Let's see, what tomorrow will have in store for us'