"I protect the source."
"Are you the fairy from the story? It can't be. You should find an adult and stay away because I'm about to begin the trial to obtain the Fountain of Eternal Youth," Damian said, his gaze devoid of hostility as he didn't want to harm a girl.
But this fairy was no ordinary girl; her age surpassed a thousand years, giving her vast knowledge that Damian had yet to grasp, and perhaps no one else would either. "This place will remain free of bandits like you; that is my mission, inherited from the other guardians."
As the fairy spoke these words, she flew in a controlled manner, as if the wind and she were one. Shortly after, she extended her hand delicately, which didn't raise any danger signals for Damian. However, at that moment, a powerful gust of wind sent him flying.
Boom!
How did she use magic without casting it in a magic circle? Damian hadn't seen anyone else do it besides himself. This belief had made him think he was the only one capable of such feats. But now he had witnessed a magical fairy expel him with a powerful gust of wind.
"I'll be back; I always come back!" Damian shouted as he fell down the precipice.
The fairy in the white dress watched as the magician, unable to fly, fell. She sighed in relief.
"Hehehe, so she's the fairy." Damian, who had landed on some trees, smiled nervously.
How long had it been since he talked to someone? At least two years, and it had affected him in some way, drastically changing his personality and making him unrecognizable from his past self. But that was alright; he changed like wine does.
"Never mind, I suppose I must defeat that fairy to drink that water... Hmm, will simply drinking the water be enough?" Damian smiled slightly as he contemplated his plans. He knew there was no need to harm the fairy guarding the Fountain of Youth; she was just a guardian who didn't deserve to be hurt.
...
Minutes passed, and the fairy named Elaine walked back to the fountain where the silver cup with the sacred water rested, as Damian had shown no signs of surviving.
"No problem anymore; the blind bandit is gone." Elaine murmured these words in front of the fountain. But at that moment, she turned around when she felt a presence stepping on the tree surface again.
Damian had jumped into a strange pose; without looking up, he murmured, "I told you, I always come back!"
Boom!
"Ahhh!"
Elaine looked blankly at Damian; she didn't think much of this persistent magician who refused to use his magic and kept climbing back up the tree, even though he had proven it was futile.
Damian, who had fallen again onto a huge mushroom, saw this as training. It was the first time he had encountered a fairy, so it was fair to learn from her and know everything she could do.
"Once more!" Damian murmured as he brushed dirt off his clothes and ran across the tree trunk at an unmatched speed.
Boom!
Again and again, Damian was forcefully thrown out of the tree's crown. He discovered that there was no way to pass through those huge air currents without using magic. It surprised him that his physical strength was not enough, but each time he tried to pass, he felt as if all the forest's air concentrated on the fairy's attack.
When Damian climbed up for the fourth time, he looked at the fairy in front of him and shouted with some anger, "Hey girl, enough!"
"I think the same; will you never give up?" Elaine asked, quite annoyed to see Damian had no intention of giving in.
"Well, I didn't want to use magic." Damian waved his hand, and in an instant, he appeared at the fountain, took the cup, and instinctively smiled, seeing how everything was easier using magic.
"It smells like roses. Incredible."
He thought he had passed some sort of test, something that would only make him worthy of drinking this water and becoming immortal. However, as soon as he looked at Elaine's face, Damian paused for a few seconds.
"Stop now!"
Boom!
Tree roots began to sprout from the surroundings, and at an impressive speed, they entwined around Damian, immobilizing him.
"Hey, it's okay; I failed the test." Damian didn't want to use high-powered magic because it would damage not only the tree but also the test area, possibly causing the Fountain of Youth to be lost.
Elaine walked toward Damian and murmured, "I don't expect humans to understand me, let alone you. Actually, I don't understand. What is a magician like you seeking immortality for when all you want is to fight demons? I can feel the resentment in your soul; I wonder why you're running away."
Damian's gaze changed; he smiled a bit and asked sarcastically, "Who doesn't want to be immortal?"
Damian was surprised that this fairy perceived his thoughts. He had been avoiding real battlefields because he feared more would die protecting him. He wanted to become strong enough so that nobody would need to protect him and die for it. Even now, he couldn't forget the people who died that night protecting him. And the fairy's next words threw him off balance again.
"You don't know, but if this Fountain of Youth is drunk, all the trees in this forest will wither and die." Elaine placed her hands on her waist and said, "Give up and leave once and for all; humans with intentions to harm this forest are not welcome."
"Alright, I agree..." Damian loved this forest; he had spent not only five years here but had also tasted every fruit it offered. It would be selfish of him to let everything die just to obtain immortality, something he had believed unlikely from the start.
Even if he did, guilt would torment him for the rest of eternity, something Damian didn't want to witness.
Upon seeing Damian's silence, Elaine thought, "This foolish magician doesn't know I can read human minds."
Using this ability, Elaine heard everything Damian was thinking: "What a waste of time; if I had known the trees would die, I would never have come here in the first place... The fruits are so good; what bad luck! I had always dreamed of being immortal; I never thought that when this opportunity was so close, it would vanish like this."
Damian showed a downcast expression, but after a few moments, he recovered and thought of an optimal way to escape without harming the surroundings.
But at that moment, Elaine removed the roots that had imprisoned Damian.
"Who are you? Explain; I'm intrigued." Elaine flew around Damian, full of curiosity about this magician.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm a magician who sought immortality." Damian sat on the ground as he rubbed his stiff shoulders that had been tightly squeezed by the tree roots around him.
The mere possibility of mentioning why he wanted to live longer was unnecessary; in the end, he wasn't begging for immortality as if he somehow deserved it.
Dwarves lived long, elves even longer, and humans, for some special reason, had shorter lives. In situations like this, Damian had long given up on something like immortality.
Elaine was greatly surprised to hear Damian's thoughts. In all her years of life, she
I had never heard of someone giving up on immortality without even fighting for it. Moreover, from what she could sense, Damian had very powerful magic. How was it possible for a human like him to exist?
"I'm not a child; my name is Elaine."
"You can call me Damian." Damian went to pick up his magical staff that he had left aside, then he looked around curiously to see what he could find. He had to at least give some value to the time lost in this place.
His gaze could only observe nature, so after a few seconds, he asked, "Do you have any magical books? You know, we can make a trade; I have good things we can exchange. I suppose you don't know about carrot cake, french fries, or hamburgers. I think you'll love chocolate; you can't imagine how many cocoa trees I came across on the way."
Elaine couldn't believe that Damian had suddenly changed his mind about obtaining the Fountain of Youth. He wasn't lying, given his lie-detecting abilities. Without a doubt, she was intrigued to know more about this human.