After the end of the war that the divine beings had started, the peace achieved didn't last long. The reason behind it was simple: the two races that were considered prime throughout the continent desired another war.
Divine beings who went into hiding watched over innocent lives being sacrificed in the senseless battle. They could do nothing else but watch over such a cruel thing go on for decades.
Demons and humans, alike, looked down on each other and other races too. For them, no one else was superior to themselves.
The demon lord, who ruled over the demons, declared war on humans, who had been trying to suppress other races. This was the time when individuals strong enough to take on a nation's whole army appeared one after another.
The people who had such immense powers were called heroes. What weapons exactly did these people wield? What did they have that normal people didn't?
The human body is an interesting existence in itself. There were multiple dozens of secrets and possibilities unknown to the people.
The mana used by the magicians and some swordsmen, the aura used by the martial artists, and some unnatural powers that are derived from bloodlines in certain individuals. Aside from these, there was something that surpassed everything.
Knowledge. The more things a person knew, the stronger he was able to grow. Not physically, but mentally, and sometimes both. What if someone was omniscient?
Then such an individual would've been the strongest one. And the people considered heroes contained both those qualities: immeasurable mental and physical strengths.
Those existences were the ones that kept humans safe from the demon lord's army. There was no way that those people would've been left alone by the followers of the demon lord.
That gave rise to the formation of multiple organisations whose only goal was to deal damage on the human side at first. But then the situation changed.
The demon lord disappeared without leaving behind any trace. The demons that fought on the frontlines without an actual ruler started suffering major damage.
Seeing their strength decline rapidly, the demon generals thought of a solution. The remaining demons were ordered to go into hiding and infiltrate the humans's kingdoms.
The weaker demons agreed to their demand. And those who were against it formed their own groups and organisations while awaiting the return of their lord.
There were a few demons who preferred to work alone rather than in a group. Not particularly because they didn't trust anyone else aside from themselves, but because they were more than strong enough to handle things on their own.
That was how the Era of Heroes actually started. The ending of one thing marked the beginning of another.
"And who are the people aiming for the world tree?"
Jaden was walking when he asked that of Aliana. The path had no light illuminating it, which made the two take their steps forward carefully.
Quite a while had passed since they left the room created by Sierra. Now they were headed towards a certain place that even Jaden had no idea about.
Aliana had to explain everything to Jaden from scratch because he was unaware of most of it. And to him, it was nothing more than a story of the past.
The fact is that Jaden hated to study history in his original world. He always managed to score passing grades in history tests thanks to his good memorization skills.
But unlike back there in his world, Jaden was interested in what Aliana was telling him. Everything being new to him made it even more fun for him to listen.
"What will you even do after knowing them?"
Aliana's mocking tone didn't manage to get on Jaden's nerves. Actually, it did work, but he was simply bottling up his emotions again.
Noticing that Jaden had no reaction on his face, Aliana felt like it was a shame. Her taunt had gone to waste because of her bad timing.
Well, regardless of that, she was correct. What would've Jaden done? Hunt the members of that organisation down? He wasn't a maniac like Adrienne to do such a thing.
If Adrienne were to figure out their identity, he would've rushed to claim their lives without any plan. The confidence he had in his strength that he had built over the past few years was no joke.
"Anyway. What I mean is, you are better off not knowing about them."
Jaden couldn't comprehend why Aliana was trying to hide information that's almost completely unrelated to him. Maybe she was cautious, thinking that Jaden might spill the beans in front of Adrienne.
But did that even matter? It was already obvious that Adrienne would someday find out their identities and just wipe them out like nothing.
If Jaden were to be more accurate about this, then it would've been better to say that it wasn't time for it yet. Aliana always had a plan related to her every action.
"Is this also a part of your plan again?"
Her thinking wasn't something Jaden could predict by himself. And even if someone else had assisted him in trying to figure it out, it would've made no difference.
That's just how Aliana was: unpredictable till the end. Even at the moment, she was able to use her magic to illuminate the dark area around them.
Along with the darkness, the silence had become a bonus after Jaden's words. He wasn't expecting an answer from Aliana either way.
What should one say? They were walking down a path, the end of which was unclear and invisible. Where were they headed?
"We will be reaching there soon."
Aliana said this as they took a right turn. The light at the end made Jaden's vision occupied for a moment, but then it got normal.
The unknown destination was just a few steps ahead, yet Jaden was feeling nervous and uneasy. It was Aliana who was dragging him along, after all.
The brightness resembled the sunrays that used to fall on his face regularly. He remembered the two days he had spent at the Brimstone residence.
'Am I forgetting something?'
He was sure that he was forgetting, but unsure what it was. What could it be that everyone has forgotten by now?
----------------
Achooooo
The sudden sneeze made the birds sitting on the roof fly away. The flapping of their wings and their cries spread throughout the atmosphere.
The sun had just begun to rise, so the temperature was still a bit low. The person who just sneezed was lying in bed, staring at the faint sunrays visible through the window.
"Is it morning...?"
She murmured to herself while pushing aside the blanket that covered her body. Then she got out of bed and stretched her hands up in the air.
Her gaze fell upon the empty bed next to hers. That's where Claire was supposed to be sleeping. But currently, she has been absent.
"They haven't returned yet...?"
There was no one else but her in the room. Not that she preferred that solitude, but she didn't necessarily hate it. More like, she was used to it.
The only thing comforting her were the hands made out of her own shadow that rose above the ground. As if telling her that she wasn't alone, the hand patted her shoulder gently.
Rudia's lips curled into a light smile at the sight of that hand. She moved her own hand above them, firmly trying to display her gratitude.
"Yeah. I know."
She could tell that they were trying to make her loneliness fade away, but she didn't accept the fact that she felt lonely. Then she let out a heavy sigh.
Jaden, Aliana, Claire, and Melanie had sneaked out of the inn last night. Rudia was already aware of their departure, but she decided not to tail them.
'Maybe I should've...'
The reason that she didn't follow them was because she assumed that they thought of her as a burden. She didn't mind it, as she was still hiding her powers from everyone.
And here she was now, regretting that she hadn't followed them. What she expected was that the four of them would be returning by the time of sunrise.
But no, let aside their return, she felt as if they had completely forgotten about her. It was possible if they were in a situation where their minds were struggling to keep up.
She laid down on the bed again before closing her eyes. The serene silence was too peaceful for her, who was finally getting to live a humble life.
'If I think about it... This is better than the past...'
The life she had lived was beyond chaotic until she started working as a maid for the Brimstone family. The only memories she considered to be happy ones were about her time at the Brimstone residence.
She used to wake up early in the morning, before sunrise, and start cleaning up the empty rooms and hallways. Then she would be assisting other workers with their assigned tasks.
The young master she had served was quite an oddball himself. But surprisingly, her time around him was more amusing and worth it than the rest of the stuff.
Those were her honest thoughts back in the past, which still remained unchanged. Even though she sometimes wondered as to why it was so, sadly, she had no answers for it.
Was knowing the reason behind something really important? At least for Rudia, yes. She had lived her whole life searching for the reasons behind everything that happened.
Currently, she was thinking about those too. Why did they leave her behind like that? But she wasn't curious about it soon.
"I hope they are doing fine..."
She fell asleep again while muttering those words. The shadowy hands moved around in a cheerful manner because Rudia was getting some proper sleep.
-At some other place-
"WOW!"
Jaden exclaimed as the scenery of the sun rising while devouring the last bits of darkness in the sky became clear to his eyes. They had walked out of the dark path just a while ago.
Jaden was still unsure as to where they were. They definitely walked out from the room Sierra had taken them too, but that place was too different compared to the room.
Only Aliana knew the hidden spot from where such a marvelous scene was visible. It was actually a feast to the eyes of the observer who managed to reach that part within the Elven Forest.
At first, he thought that there would be something absurdly dangerous awaiting him. The present scenery was certainly dangerous, but in a different, good way.
Seeing the cheerful smile on Jaden's face, Aliana chuckled lightly. It had been a while since she last saw him making that face.
The expression that exposed his brightly shining blue eyes, along with a pleasant smile, was what it was. He only smiled that blissfully when he actually happened to witness something beautiful.
"There's something I need to tell you."
Aliana's stiff-toned voice made him flinch. The smile he had froze as it was on his lips. What was he even expecting when she brought him there?
He could think of three possible things that she might say. The first one was that she was about to ask something absurd from him. That was actually the easiest one to guess.
The second was that she wanted to end the soul contract and never see each other again. Yeah, no. Let's just leave that one out.
The third was that she was going to reveal some heavy secret to him. This one sounded more plausible to him, given everything that happened in the Elven Forest.
Her faint smile became visible when she stayed silent. Jaden's lips didn't move a bit for a while, and then he replied in a soft yet awkward manner.
"What is it...?"
He could feel his own saliva getting stuck in his throat when he tried to swallow it. Aliana replied rather too quickly than what he had been expecting.
"It's about our next destination."