Chapter 6
Village of Plaas
Ester is a relatively large country, being roughly the same size as Weiss and Sauralis. The capital of Ester, Erith, stands as the largest settlement in the entire country, second in size is the Tribal Territory, which lies near the eastern coast of the nation. Between the Tribal Territory and Erith lies several small villages, the biggest one being the farming village of Plaas.
Most of the royal capital's food supply comes from Plaas, livestock included. Four days ago, the chief of Plaas was supposed to deliver his weekly taxes to the royal castle, but to everyone's surprise he didn't show. The king sent a few knights to find out the situation, and two days ago only one of them returned.
The knight that came back was immediately hospitalized on account of his numerous injuries and missing arm. It was then that the king decided to send Ginevra to find out exactly what was going on, and she was going to until a child (me) snuck into the castle.
In order to deal with said child she was forced to postpone her departure to the village. Last night however, a single villager came crawling to the church at midnight, rambling about monsters that attacked his village. According to the witness, who also happened to be the sole survivor of the incident, Plaas was attacked by a new breed of monster that's never been seen before.
"Now we're going to find out what that monster is." Said Ginevra, as she finished briefing us on the situation.
When Kai said they were assembling a small army I didn't know that they were talking about one as small as the one that was currently assembled.
There were seven of us, including me and Ginevra, riding on top of horses that were heading for the village. Due to my lack of vertical accumulation, I found myself riding the same horse as Ginevra, so in total we had six horses and seven knights. Ginevra and I were riding in front of the pack.
After Ginevra finished her report, a deafening silence fell on the entire pack. The sound of hooves was the only thing audible as we continued traveling. When I looked at the surrounding area all I could see was grass as far as the eye could see, there were no trees or mountains in sight.
It was a flatland among flatlands. By this point the sun had risen all the way up, letting it's deadly heat rays rain down on us. At the risk of sounding impatient I decided to ask Ginevra.
"Are we there yet?"
She didn't answer, instead she tightened her grip on the horse's reigns and urged it to move faster.
Alright I take it back! We might not need to hurry after all!
While I squealed for help internally the horse came to an abrupt halt on Ginevra's order.
"Oh no….." she murmured.
"What is it?"
Soon after, the rest of the pack came in rushing behind us and they too stopped dead in their tracks when they saw whatever it was that Ginevra was looking at.
"What is it?" I turned my head in the same direction as everyone else.
A huge cloud of smoke climbed from the ground all the way up to the sky. The sheer amount of it was staggering, I struggled to fathom just what could burn so violently to create so much smoke. I looked at the base of the black cloud to uncover it's origin.
That was the first time I'd ever seen so much fire in a single place.
"This is impossible!" Kai shrieked, jumping off his horse.
"Don't!" Ginevra commanded. "We don't know what's down there yet. Let's put out the fire first."
Ginevra's gaze turned to me. I could tell what she wanted without even having to ask.
Guess it's my time to shine.
I jumped off the horse, with a little help from the commander, and stroke up ahead of the others.
"Step back if you would, I've never used this spell before."
Those who heeded my warning took a few steps back, those who didn't , namely Kai and one other, stood in place like statues without purpose. I slapped my hands on the ground, feeling my mana flow all over my body. The humidity in the air grew noticeably thicker, signalling that it was possible to use this spell even if it was being performed outside.
I felt my heart race with excitement. This would be the first time I created a river without fearing the aftermath.
"Rapid River."
Like a hawk taking flight, vast amounts of water flew from my hands towards the burning village. I made sure to create enough water to douse the flames without destroying whatever was left of the village, so I limited the amount of water. What's more, while the amount of water wasn't enough to create a tsunami it still required a significant amount of focus on my part.
I spread the water throughout the entire village to douse any and all embers that may have survived the initial flood. After a while I stopped the water from flowing and just let it run it's course.
"I think that should be enough. If there are any other flames please tell me immediately."
I turned to face the knights that I came with only too see them flabbergasted by the water flowing from beneath my feet.
"Without….. incantation…."
"And to create so much of it.... How much mana does he possess?"
Ginevra huffed with pride. "Seems I was right, you are an Elemental God."
The knight's jaws dropped almost to the ground. The surprise in their faces was almost scary, horrific even. They struggled to collect themselves while Ginevra dismounted from her horse to lightly brush my hair.
"Well done. I suspected as much but didn't think anything of it because of your age but it seems I was right after all."
"Right about what?"
"Either you're playing dumb or you genuinely don't know, and if that is the case then what you've accomplished is far more impressive than I originally thought."
Lady, I don't know what you're talking about!
Ginevra turned back to address the other knights. "As you all saw, this boy is quite possibly one of the Elemental Gods. It is my belief that he is the second Water God."
"Incredible..."
"Him? That can't be."
"Say what you will but you all saw what he just did. The proof is undeniable."
Wait, Second, Water God? Here I thought I was the first.
I immediately unpacked what Ginevra meant by calling me the Second Water God. That title meant that there was another Water God before me. She also referred to me as one of the Elemental Gods, which implied that there might very well be others with dominion over other elements like I do with water.
I suddenly drifted off to the letter I received from Eren, and how he neglected to mention anything about the Elemental Gods that Ginevra spoke of.
"Eden, stay close to me."
Ginevra sussed me out of my daydreaming. She paved the way forward towards the village with the others following behind her. The closer we got the more I could smell burnt wood among other things.
We kept walking down the desolate village streets, our feet kicking up wet ash and soot. Seeing the remnants of different homes made me think about my own home, my own family. I started thinking about how we could've been the ones who had their home destroyed.
Thinking such things wasn't constructive, I knew that but my heart refused to occupy itself with anything else. This marked my first trip outside the capital city, I hadn't expected it to be so….. morbid.
"Are you alright?" asked Ginevra.
"I-I'm fine. Just a little shaken up is all."
"My apologies. This is no place for a child."
"No really, it's not a problem."
"Sir Kai!"
No! Not him!
I stifled my complaints, suffocating them before they could surface then like a puppy being called by it's master, Kai rushed over to us.
"Yes commander?"
"I want you to wait here with Eden, the rest of us shall split up and search the village."
"Understood ma'am."
Kai gave a salute to his commander and watched her leave after saying "very good". An awkward silence stretched between us.
"Sigh...do you mind if I ask what happened here?"
Kai glanced down at me in surprise. "We're aren't exactly sure ourselves, but we suspect that it may have something to do with the latest product that was imported roughly two weeks ago."
"You mean the enhancement potions?"
He nodded in agreement. "Indeed."
"How do they work anyway?"
I've never actually seen anyone use one of those potions before. Everything I know about them is either by rumours or by the incredible descriptions offered by merchants who sell the same potion.
"You're the one selling these products yet you don't know how they work?"
You don't need to know the goods in order to sell the goods.
I made a mental note to trademark that thought and make it a motto someday.
"I'm not really selling them, rather I work for the man who does sell them, alongside a few other items."
"I suppose that's true. Tell me, how much do you know about mana?"
"It's the energy that exists in all living things?"
Kai flicked his finger. "Correct. All living creatures posses mana and by extension, mana pools. Am I making sense so far?"
You just stated the obvious but fine I'll let you walk out of this with your pride in tact. Just for today.
"Mhmm." I nodded.
"In theory the enhancement potions were supposed to expand a person's mana pool, essentially making it limitless."
"You're saying there's a limit to how much mana a person can possess?"
"But of course. The amount of mana a person has is determined by their race, though there are a few exceptions. But I guess you wouldn't know that would you..."
You picking a fight!?
"Since you've only seen humans up till now." He continued. "No wait. Your older sister is the dark elf right?"
She's a dark elf.
"She is…."
"Take her for example. Elves in general are commonly known for having large quantities of mana, be it a dark elf or a high elf. But rumour has it that a dark elf's mana is cursed."
Believe me I know that better than anyone.
I thought back to seven years ago, back when I was four. Back to the night when I first received this tattoo on my left hand. I honestly thought I was gonna die that night.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend your sister in any way." Kai said in panic.
Was my expression so grim that he assumed that I was mad?
Never mind that, why's he acting like a whipped pup!?
You're still here!?
Calm down, we've already passed the threshold. This'll probably be my last chapter.
What does that mean?
It means that every choice you make from this point forward is entirely up to you. There'll be no interference or guidance from my part anymore. I look forward to seeing you walk down the same path again.... Author.
Wait what the hell!? What are you?
Everyone has an inner voice. This entire time I thought that the voice inside my head was, in fact, a shrieking voice in my head. My inner doubts made manifest. Not once did I ever consider it to be anything else but maybe...
"GROOOAAAA!!!!"
A sudden and extremely loud roar pulled me out of my own head. I looked around to check for the source of the noise only to find a single human body hurdling it's way towards me.
"Watch out!!"
***
While Eden struggled to come to grips with what was happening around him, a meeting was taking place between two individuals in an unassuming store in Erith.
"An employee of yours by chance?" asked the pink haired figure.
The elder that stood behind the store counter didn't answer, instead he turned his head away in annoyance. "I always knew he was a brat but I didn't expect this."
"Brat though he might be he is still the Water God."
"That little weasel!?"
"You didn't know?"
"Of course not! Why him of all people!?"
"You're asking the wrong person. If you want to know then you should ask the one who chose him."
The elder turned his attention to the figure curiously. "You mean the Dragon King?"
"Yes. Last I checked he is the one holding precedence over water."
"I'm not traveling all the way to that dead kingdom to ask a stupid question like that."
The figure let out a slight chuckle. "Well in any case my business here is done. I'm afraid our contractor is gonna have to find another way to acquire his ideal paws."
"Where does that leave me?"
"You're free to do whatever you want but make sure to clean up afterwards."
"Of course."
As the figure walked out the store a slight gust of wind blew on the figure's robe. The robe bellowed upwards with a handful of leaves as they climbed up the storefront, revealing a signboard hanging on the front door. The sign of the store read....
Moonlight Storefront.