Standing firmly on the ground and holding his palm just a hairs width away from the core of the elemental, Fen finally attained the position of strength. If he didn't hold on to this trump card of his for so long, there was no way that the elemental would ever allow him to get so close, not to speak about actually pulling him closer by itself!

"What do you want?!"

Falling on all fours, the bear-like beast spoke up, while clearly preparing for an all-out attack. From the way its hind legs dug into the ground, Fen could tell that even the shortest lapse of concentration that would allow the elemental to recover for as long as it takes to blink would be enough for its companion to smash him far away, decisively burying his chance of escaping from this place alive!

"I will start with how this encounter will end. And it will be you snapping this token. I think you can already guess that it will call my master here, but there is some more stuff that we need to talk about before that happens."

Despite how dangerous the current situation was, Fen decided to push his luck a little bit. Given how he didn't know the day or the hour when his ruse of being a Draconis arcanist would be discovered, and with how those monsters were clearly plotting to go against the city in the near future, didn't that put him closer to their side?

"Speak."

Seeing how the young man didn't dare to put even a shred of his attention away from keeping the Elemental beast's core, the other monster managed to calm down a bit. After all, if the young arcanist wanted to shed the blood, or in the case of those monsters, aura, he would have done so already!

"Let's say… Even though right now I live and learn in the city, it's only a matter of time before I will have to escape from it. From what I heard, you guys don't like arcanists, but let me ask this one question. What do you think about the whole church and inquisition matter?"

This question was a long shot. It was hard to expect the monsters to understand the intricate power balance of the factions within the city, but just in the off chance that they knew anything about it, rather than keeping himself in the life-and-death situation, Fen could turn it around for a great opportunity!

"Church? Do you really think I care how you guys name yourselves?"

Initially, seeing how Fen was about to say something interesting, the bear-like beast appeared as if its mind could be changed, but given how the young man spoke something that could only be considered to be nonsense by it, the beast returned to its ready-to-attack position.

"You might recognise them by the sign of Draconis… By the skull of the dragon that they wear on their robes."

Seeing how using the names didn't seem to work, Fen changed the tactic. Since the beasts didn't know nearly anything about the matters of the city, he could only hope that such simple aspects would be enough to make them understand what he meant.

"Those bastards? Aren't those just your normal arcanists?"

For the first time ever since the situation turned tense, the fire elemental spoke up. While every single word of it was etched with audible pain, Fen's word apparently had big enough effect on it to speak up nevertheless.

"No, they are not. Even though they practice art, they belong to an entirely different group. In the city, those who belong to the church might be arcanist in their profession, but they are never called as ones. On the other hand, I am an arcanist apprentice, and I was sent here by my master to practice the art. The current situation happened only due to the unfortunate coincidence. If not for your attempt at killing me, I would be content in just hiding away for as long as it would take you guys to leave."

Seeing how strongly the monsters reacted to the description of the church robes, Fen couldn't help but feel his hope slowly growing. As long as he would play his cards right, then this situation could take a turn for better!

"I guess we reacted a bit… to aggressively. With that said, would you mind letting go of my friend's heart? You should realise by now how painful it is to have it held like that…"

For a moment, Fen thought that the situation was slowly improving, but seeing how the bear-like beast attempted to do him in, his hand inevitably clasped even harder, just the tiniest of the distances away from actually touching and shattering the elemental's core.

"ARGH!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

This one act was enough to put both of the monsters back on their high alert.

"It's not wise to try to cheat me like that. I still have yet to propose my offer, so you can either watch your friend die before killing me if you keep trying to fuck me up, or actually listen to something that could benefit both of us."

Using all of his willpower to keep his calm, Fen looked directly into the bear monster's eyes.

"Okay, go on."

Sensing that he finally got the attention that he required to explain his idea, Fen released his grip over the elemental monster's core just a tiny little bit, before opening his mouth.

"It just so happens that its only a matter of time before the church will discover who I really am, and as such, will do everything to catch and kill me. Given how you guys seem to not like the church just as much as I hate them, how about stalling your planned invasion for some time? This way, once they will discover that I'm something that they call the worst kind of heretic, I could lure them to this place."

Taking a breath due to the long sentences that he constructed, Fen raised his sight at the two monsters before finishing the proposition of his deal.

"This way, you will be able to catch them by surprise, and I will have a relatively safe way to escape from the city when the time for the desperate actions will come."

Releasing the last word from his mouth, Fen feel the anxiety rising up in his mind. Depending on how those monsters would react, not only his current situation but also his entire future could change!

"Before I will answer that question, would you mind explaining what did you mean by being different?"

For some reason, even despite how insanely hard it had to be for the elemental to speak, it still made this effort. It seemed as if this point was of insane importance for those monsters.

"So you want to have some kind of blackmail material on me as well? Well, it's a fair trade. While all of the arcanists in the city and the church members are either the descendants of the Draconis or its worshippers, I'm actually from the Phoenixian bloodline. That's why once the church learns about this fact, it will be their priority to burn me down to the cinders."

Given how Fen already flaunted what he eavesdropped from the conversation between those two monsters, it was given that they would be hesitant to let him go without getting some kind of hook on him in exchange.

"Phoenixian… Didn't they eradicate them in the great wars like a century ago?!"

At this moment, Fen realised that his revelation held way greater weight for those beasts that he had imagined it would. In fact, outside of how he would be persecuted for his bloodline, it didn't really make him feel like he was special or anything, yet from the shock in the bear-like monster's eyes, he could tell that there was some deeper story behind the entire matter!

"Well, I won't lie. Don't ask me how it happened, but it was Draconis himself that told me that. But let's not stray off the topic, do you take the deal or not?"

Feeling how this new topic that emerged was causing the situation to slowly slip out of his hands, Fen had no other choice but to pressure the beasts in front of him into making the final decision.

"I'm sorry, but your words changed the entire situation. It's a wonder that you don't even realise how much."

Shaking its head in a very human-like gesture, the bear stood back on its hind legs before pointing its paw at the depths of the forest.

"I'm sorry little one for how it is bound to startle you, but your case now belongs solely to our queen."