It had approximately been 5 hours since the second stage started. Many things happened such as Veritas disguising himself as a boy named Line, him clearing out a duo in less than 10 seconds, and also his ambush against another duo that was hiding in a tree branch.
But the most arduous task that Veritas was faced with was catching the boar. It took him about 5 minutes or so to catch up to that thing!
Well.. considering that he wanted to find the truffle mushrooms too, catching the boar wasn't the only task that he needed to achieve.
Veritas didn't mind eating the boar roasted, but he wanted to elevate the taste even more! So, he carefully watched it closely as it looked for a truffle underground.
And did it take long..
After defeating a duo of Pathbearers, he was met with the hurdle of capturing that thing!
But alas, he brought it back in one piece and headed over to the tree hole.
With a gush of winds, Veritas suddenly arrived in front of the tree.
There was an eye peeking through a small hall and Veritas knew who it belonged to.
"Jade, I did it."
"You took too long."
"I'm sorry, the boar was really tough to catch but hey- look!" He brought out 3 pieces of dirty dark-gray mushrooms and held it with his four fingers.
"The truffles!"
Immediately, Jade's eyes lit up and her enthusiasm had returned. She squeezed through the hole and inspected it with her eyes.
"Looks great and authentic! Good job Line.." She held her thumbs up towards him.
Thus, the two of them set up camp and prepared to cook the boar.
..That was what happened 4 hours ago.
But now..
They were running from a duo of Pathbearers that chased the both of them!
"Come on! Run faster!" Veritas screamed, disguised as Line.
"I'm trying!"
She was held back, her pace getting slower as the seconds passed by. Her legs seemed weak and sluggish.
"I can't.. anymore!"
Veritas wore a complaining look on his face and then he slowed his steps and walked beside her.
He reached his hands towards her and grabbed her legs with his frail arms, "Hup!"
With that, Veritas carried Jade on his shoulders.
"H-hold! Wait a second!"
She was surprised of course, if a boy suddenly approached her and then grabbed her legs, carrying her in their shoulders, then she would definitely be flustered!
Her cheeks become rosy-red as Veritas ran like the Winds and out-sped the pursuers.
He traversed through the massive trees, made his footsteps silent, and avoided the various dead logs along the way.
In mere seconds, he covered a considerable amount of distance, finally losing the Pathbearers behind them.
Seeing a secluded cave nearby, Veritas sent the Winds to scout inside and upon noticing that it was safe, he entered while Jade was still on his shoulders.
He conjured an illusion to the outside and made it seem like the cave was a mere wall of one of the hills.
Jade couldn't see this from the inside so there was no worries to be held.
And as far as he knew, Veritas saw no one watching them, including the scouting devices and tamed beasts that streamed the second stage to the kingdom.
He sighed.
'Phew.. safe at last.'
Veritas could just wipe the pursuers from back then in an instant but he had already established himself as a mundane Pathbearer that excels at nothing.
And also.. he was with Jade, showing his true strength was not ideal at all.
He sat down and lit up a fire using dead wood, and a fire starter that Jade had brought.
He could see clearly in the dark but having light in the surroundings was much better.
Upon looking at Jade's direction, Veritas noticed her cheeks had become rosy-red as she held it with her two delicate hands.
"I'm sorry for grabbing you out of the blue."
Using Line's soft voice, Veritas checked on Jade and walked towards her slowly. He kneeled and focused his eyes towards her face.
However, this gesture of his seemed to make her cheeks become even redder and if one were to focus closely, they could see steam coming out of her skin.
But she did not let her emotions get the better of her..
Jade calmly said:
"Can you.. leave me alone for a second."
She sighed and with a heavy breath, she looked Veritas in his eyes and requested for him to leave.
"Alright.."
Veritas saw this as an opportunity to sit on the farthest corner of the cave, several meters away from Jade.
He knew exactly what was happening. This situation has already occurred many times in the past, concerning women and... men.
Well, it was to be expected, his status and appearance as a Prince would charm anyone in his presence.
But now, he was disguising himself as Line, an average-looking boy with no notable features.
'Maybe it's because of my actions..?'
Veritas concluded so and came to terms with it. He was not oblivious to love and affection but Veritas needed to keep his composure.
No one has caught his interest for the past 16 years and he was also not allowed to fall in love.
Well it's mainly because of his status as a Prince that he is prohibited from falling in love. It was no problem though, Veritas had no plans to...
He took his time sitting in the cave to look at his runes, dismissing his thoughts of youthly love.
He gazed upon his Soul and summoned the runes.
[Veritas Alpas Elrod]
[Path: Visionshaper]
[Path Rank: Seraph]
[Soul Ran...]
He skipped his avatar and focused on his skills. With affection in mind, he got reminded of the new skill that he recently acquired from the Dream.
[Skills:
(1) Windsong.
(2) Will of the Winds.
(3) Galebreathe.
(4) Wrath of the Winds.
(5) Bestowment. ]
Veritas scanned the text and focused on a particular line.
'Bestowment!'
He pressed further and looked at the description of the skill.
[(5) Bestowment
- A gift given by the Crowned Dreamless and lesser version of her Path. Upon using this skill, you can bestow a considerable amount of your Soul towards a particular object, person, and anything that you want.
Once used, that object, or person will become a Bestowed, gaining power and growth akin to that of the user.
Note: Make sure that your Bestowed is a trustworthy individual or else, they may betray you as the skill doesn't instantly make a person serve you.]
Veritas already read the description in the past but he did not dwell too much on it. But now, getting reminded of affections and connections, he could not see why he wouldn't really use it.
'Why would I give a piece of my Soul to another person? Wouldn't it be better to keep it all on my own?'
He was right though..
As an Impure Pathbearer he would have no need for it and the skill would only make him weaker!
'Useless skill.'
There was the chance of betrayal too so once that happened, Veritas would lose his piece of Soul forever. Well, not forever, but only until he found the Bestowed.
So, he disregarded the skill and moved on to his Soul Storage.
[Soul Storage:
(1) Eye of the Kraken.
(2) Nihility. ]
There were only two Lost Souls in it but considering that he's only an Impure and the sheer rarity of Lost Souls, it was quite a great amount!
Even his Father only had at least 3 or 4 Lost Souls, not including the Faceless Mask that he borrowed.
It was that rare.
He focused on Nihility and read its description.
[Nihility]
[Soul Rank: Empyrean.]
'What?!'
Veritas almost let his composure get the better of him and if he were drinking water right now, he would've spat it out immediately.
An Empyrean! The black blade that the Queen of Elrod used! The one that is in his possession right now.. It was an Empyrean rank?!
He continued reading further.
[Origin:
Death once saw an eight-winged God and said, "Death no longer exists in thine mind, concepts are merely but a fragment of the past as thou exerts the Sun onto the world. As I pray, my Nihility shall devour thou and Death shall become whole once more.."
Their battle ensued, light and dark converged upon one another, covering the skies and enveloping the stars.
In the end, Death fell upon THEIR radiance, crashing towards the Land of the Fallen where THEY must rest until Death becomes whole once more.
THEY hid in the Tree of Life and upon many years of rejuvenating, a lonely white-haired boymade his way down and saw the injured feathered serpent.
"Are you alright?" The boy asked. To which Death replied in a weak tone, "I am hurt, child."
"Then I shall give you this remedy, the embodiment of Life itself." The boy handed over a vial of clear liquid, it glistened and radiated towards the darkness of the Tree.
With the reach of his hands, the boy poured the vial onto Death's mouth.
Suddenly, the scales of the feathered serpent began glowing uncontrollably, light particles floated off from it.
Death's mouth began to fill up with glistening water, overflowing onto the roots of the tree and forming a great lake under it. The feathered serpent swam on the lake and covered THEMSELF on the fountain of Life.
THEY rose up and looked at the boy on the middle of the lake.
"What is thine name, child?"
The boy responded in a somber tone:
"Elrod."
He stared directly at the feathered serpents onyx eyes.
"My name is Elrod.."]