The sounds of the forest's creatures were unrelenting, and the deeper into the night, the more frequent the sounds became. Aldric would certainly not have ventured through the forest on his own; he would rather have opted to wait until daylight. However, his new partner offered a sense of security.
They now walked through the forest after having decided to reach the north of its outskirts as well. A comfortable silence had settled between them after a very long conversation. Rather than small talk, it was Aldric being informed on most things he should have known entering the trial.
When Aldric did give it some thought, he realized Gold Hair's ability was quite formidable; basically, unless self-inflicted, it seemed like she could not be harmed. This wasn't just defensive, as all intent to harm her would be reflected into physical harm on her opponent.
'Are all divine-grade Markings that overpowered?'
He was told about the Markings grade Robes had asked him about—Markings were divided into four grades: True, Soul, Saint, and Divine. The ability of the markings increases in power the higher ranked they are; however, likewise they are also rarer to obtain.
Aldric discovered one of his markings could also be of the divine grade, since Gold Hair explained titles can be obtained through two ways only: a divine-grade marking or an Awakened reaching the rank of Oracle—Aldric was hilariously far from the latter, so only the first made sense.
Additionally, him having two markings was also quite a rare feat, with the possibility of such happening very close to zero percent.
Although he still remained oblivious to how he could have obtained a marking at all, as it was explained to him that they were engravings on the soul of a user only possible but not certain to happen when one reaches the rank of Flawless, and more likely to happen the higher ranked they are.
'I'm not complaining though.'
Aldric shrugged internally; like the girl had said, he would be dead many times over—the fact he was alive is thanks to his marking.
As for the trial, he seemed to know almost as much as any of them, the only information Gold Hair had being that the 'lost men' were the originators of the three main branches of Power: Mana, Xai, and Creature taming.
Apparently, the creation of these three things had brought chaos and anarchy to a world the Firsts had deemed for order and peace, and in this trial, the final candidates are to be the judgment of the Firsts for that sin.
'How the hell are we supposed to kill people who made magic, Xai, and the other thing?'
Aldric, like most on earth, knew all about magic and mana, but little to nothing about Xai—aside from the fact that possessing it made him somehow more of a useless awakened than he already was; no guild recognized it as any reasonable source of power.
Aldric, still deep in a whirlwind of thought, trailed his mind back to what the girl had told him: Markings are a well-kept secret. Yet, Robes had openly announced his, and from what she told him about the "Sightless Blade" who had tried to take his head off, it seemed his Marking was no secret as well.
"You said Markings were secrets, but the guy in robes instantly told us all what his did, and you seemed to know about the blindfolded sword guy's marking; that doesn't seem very secretive to me."
Gold Hair glanced at Aldric before turning back forward and speaking.
"Markings such as that of the holy man have no reason to be hidden, as they are passive—knowing he can read your strength doesn't really stop him from doing so, does it?"
Aldric nodded in response; that made sense. Robes wouldn't be at a disadvantage by telling anyone.
"And Blindfolds?" he asked.
She let out an almost inaudible chuckle at Aldric's nickname for the swordsman before answering.
"You see, when going up against a divine marking—knowing how it works is far from enough to win against it."
Aldric nodded; this seemed true as well. If he wanted to fight Gold Hair, knowing all his intent to attack her would be reflected on him, it wouldn't help him one bit. Unless he somehow learned to fight with no intent, basically throwing all his attacks by mistake—which was ultimately impossible.
'A proposal of trust? Huh.'
Apparently, that was the reason she disclosed her Markings to him, but it was simply because she knew nothing could be done against it. Anyway, it's not like he trusted her words one bit.
"It seems we will be out of the forest soon," Gold Hair informed as they walked.
"Yeah, with all the sounds I've been hearing, I'm surprised we didn't encounter any creatures."
"Currently, we aren't worth attacking. They like to struggle for their meal so they hunt themselves... However, if we are still in this forest three hours after midnight when their bloodlust peaks... Well, let's just say we'll be better off killing ourselves right now."
Aldric raised an eyebrow as he watched her say such a terrifying thing with the calmest of faces, but it made things clearer now.
'So that's why the others were so quick to leave.'
Pupils dilating, Aldric stepped back—a gesture that would have been too late if the creature before him didn't aim for gold hair but him instead. He watched as the beast attempted to swipe its large claws at her, only to stumble back in a painful groan.
'Was its attack reflected?'
"I thought you said we aren't worth attacking?" Aldric panicked, sweat beads forming on his face.
"Yes," she began, not a single shred of calm leaving her voice, "but just like the Dark Stalker... Some prefer easy meals."