III. Forest Encounters: Elrufus Dax

Before me stood a wide river. The length from both sides is wide enough to hold ferry ports for passenger transport. You could see the other side of the riverbank but you could also tell by the distance that it’s really far from where you are standing.

But how will you be able to cross to the other side? You could row your boat, yes that’s a given. You might take hours. A mechanized or magic-propelled boat will save your energy so they would be better options. Builders could construct a bridge too, a bridge too long it would take decades of construction.

Why did I want to reach the other side at the first place? I stopped looking at the direction of the other side and looked alongside the riverbank. Maybe I could find something at the end of this river. What did I even needed? I started walking.

I walked and walked.

Walked for days,

walked for months,

walked for years,

Kept walking until I’ve lost track of how much time I have spent walking.

How long does this river even go? –is the only thing I could think for myself. It felt like I’ve walked about half of the whole landmass of Mytherion.

“Master, master…”

A faint voice of a girl was calling for me. I looked back, no one’s there. I stopped, assuming the voice would give me some sort of hint for what my goal really is. I stopped again to think: did I ever need to find the end of the river at first place? I’ve been trying to look at the picture wrongly.

I looked at the surface of the water. The mild waves indicated the depth of the river. The calming scenery helped me get back to my senses. It really hadn’t been long since I’ve started walking. In fact, it hadn’t been even minutes. I’ve just been clouded by thinking of an end goal, but what the river indicated is just: ‘It was just a scenery’. All I needed to do is to enjoy the view, sit by the riverbank, and throw stones towards it.

It was the longest river. Deep, long, wide, silent.

As I sit by the riverbank I noticed that there was a boy sitting beside me too. The face is quite familiar, it was the face of someone I recently knew. He had a deep blue-colored hair with a bright blue glow once hit with light. His brown eyes indicating he’s a native from a rural village glowed and reflected my very own image if I looked straight to him. His thin body and rag-like clothing showed that from where he lives, poverty is something normal to most of the residents.

“Master, master…”

The voice called out again, that time it had been repeating multiple times already.

“Master, master… master…….”

Slap!

---

“Morgianna, who gave you permission to slap me?” –I asked her as I woke up from my deep slumber. What was that dream all about?

“I apologize I needed to disturb you from resting, but our VIP is nowhere to be found.”

Elrufus Dax.

The situation heightened in an instant. I looked around to check the current situation in the camp. Everything was in chaos. From the civilians, to the guards, to the elite fighters, to the leaders, everyone had been in an alarmed state. Even Irish, who earlier took leadership and organized everything, can’t do anything to lessen the panic being caused by the convoy. The name Elrufus Dax, no, the title of the Patron had this much impact to the demi-humans.

“Morgianna, how long has it been since he’s gone?”

“I was also unsure. I was half asleep by the moment he went missing. I apologize for being useless.”

“No you’re not. For starters, let’s try talking with the Thelesmatas.”

I looked at the direction of the campfire where both the Thelesmata sisters are currently checking with the guards. Mae is sobbing. I can’t imagine how worried she was. What does it feel to like someone? That time I thought of how one could weep when they lose someone they love. Irish was no exception. You could see wither that she wanted to be as composed as she could, but she can’t. These twin siblings were in a complicated situation where they both love the same person. I just didn’t know whether Dax knows, or whether Mae knows, or whether Irish knows, or whether he or she, or she or she and so on... It’s really a complicated situation.

“Irish you should calm Mae down first. Isn’t this just his normal night-time walk?”

“Easy for you to say, but this is Gargantua Forest we’re talking about. Haven’t you forgotten the encounter we had a while ago? What if he encounters mid to high tier creatures. I doubt even Dax could handle those alone.”

“Sigh…”

I see your inexperience still wins you over at the end, huh?

Talent could be there, passives could be triggered as long as they’re bestowed upon you even without your knowledge. You could learn once you experience. But having vast experiences is different. What Irish was showing that moment was her lack of actual experiences regarding those types of situations. She’s a great leader once she’s composed, but anxiety was already getting ahead of her which clouded her judgment. I don’t consider any help from Mae anymore due to her nature. She could learn some other time later.

Considering the lack of leader plus the crisis the demi-human convoy currently was facing in, I had no other choice, since I was a VIP for them too, I decided to step up.

“EVERYONE LISTEN UP!!” –I stood at a log to level my height with theirs.

The supposedly panicking crowd silenced in confusion. There were whispering,

“Who was the guy again?”

“I’ve heard he’s the current Maou…”

“Seriously? You’ve got to be joking, there’s no way the Maou is a brat like that.”

“Ssssshhush!! Lady Irish might hear you.”

“Eh? For real?”

Morgianna gritted her teeth due to the disrespect the civillians have shown. The guards and the elites could have understand as they’re the ones who witnessed me during the last battle, but the majority of the group are civillians. In a group with a state of panic is hard to control. Nevertheless, I needed them to listen to me, so I needed to show off a bit of my capabilities.

“Demonic Aura*”

My voice echoed through the forest. What I activated is a unique demon ability that could be used by baptized demons within the royal families, especially those families that were known for long on the battle records. The ability heightens up your senses, reflexes, and enables you bypass incantations when casting a spell.

A sinister aura suddenly enveloped me. Only individuals with high affinity with magic could see the aura, but civilians could still feel the malice spreading out of me. Irish slumped down beside Mae, cowering in fear and were unable to talk. Mae, was looking towards me with a blank expression. I believe she passed out already. Amongst the group, only the elite fighters were able to resist me. Being appointed as an elite isn’t for nothing. After seeing the scene before me, I thought what I did was super effective. I apologized afterwards.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to cause an even greater state of panic, I just wanted you to listen to me… Your Patron is not someone who will take a walk around the forest in the middle of the night unprepared. And even though he’s still weak, I think he should not be someone who charges towards threat he knew he could not win against. Some of you should probably realize that by now. Please trust Dax.”

There were whispering again, but the crowd now looked like they’re in agreement and was now more organized than panicking.

Irish tried to stand up, with still shaking up legs.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to startle anyone.”

“I-its fine… I apologize for showing an unsightly side of me too.”

“Now listen up, If Dax is appointed already as the Patron of the demi-humans, I think he’s already capable enough.”

“Dax is still on a state of confusion, a part of him still tries to deny the calling that was assigned to him. You’ve seen his uncontrollable state a while ago. He hasn’t fully mastered Transcendence* yet.” –A quick follow up by Mae, which just came back to her senses.

“Then, how about this: we’ll form a small search party.”

“Make it three.” –Irish cuts in.

“No, too much search parties will lessen the people with combat capabilities that will be left here at the camp. There won’t be any defenders in case of attacks like what happened last time. What I propose is a party of four, including the most capable individuals available in our group right now.”

“You mean…”

“I will need the strongest one from your elite fighters, me, Morgianna, and Mae.”

“Wha—Why me?” –Mae asked in confusion.

“Yes. Why Mae? I would be fit for the search party due to my abilities.”

“Why you say, imagine if you are to leave this crowd in its state right now, who will try to keep them from the state of panic? Also, I think you might not fully trust us demon yet, but what would you think will happen if someone with a high-name of Thelesmata were to die in a convoy headed towards the demon territory? It would hugely impact our kingdom negatively. We won’t do any methods that would mean us any more trouble than our ongoing war with the humans.”

“I hate to admit it but you do have a point.”

Irish looked at Mae, who was still confused with the current event and things that are still going to happen. Irish began to talk to her.

“Be careful Mae, and make sure to bring Dax back, okay?”

“Sister Irish.”

“Ssssh, it’s going to be okay here, I’ll send one of the elite fighters with you so make sure you find him, okay? Besides, you seem to know him better than me…” –another painful expression filled Irish’s face.

“…” –Mae just looked up to her and then nodded.

With that, the search party had been formed. At first Irish had a hard time convincing the civilians as to why Mae is included to the search party. She explained that Mae will be more suitable for the position due to her vast wisdom and familiarity with Dax’s behaviour. It wasn’t too long before the the civilians were finally convinced. An elite fighter named Ricardo was then assigned to fill in the last member of the search party.

Ricardo was the most skilled elite fighter Irish could offer me. He was a man of around thirties, brimming with healthy body, and looks of a man with lots of experience in fighting. He had a tanned brown complexion which was a proof of his experiences and training under the brightest of the sun.

Carrying our torches, with Morgianna and the others following me, we stepped out on the forest wilderness in the middle of the night to find Dax.

---

As we carried our torches, us: ‘the search party for Elrufus Dax’ walked on the forest trails in search for the lost kid.

The eerie darkness tried to creep towards us and the only thing that kept the team intact were our light sources. Light is the only element that could counter dark but with the darkness of this forest during night, even the light on our torches was slowly being eaten. We’re like a group of four fireflies literally visible in an endless span of darkness.

We could have used light source using magic, but both Morgianna and I have low affinity with light element due to our race. Ricardo could generate light but I needed him to conserve as much mana as possible to fully utilize his combat ability of worse comes to worst. Regards to Mae, I haven’t asked. It’s not like I lost hope for her but I had her rack up her brain as to places Dax might wander to. For Morgianna, I had her only to focus on her Hearing* ability.

We’ve tried to lessen resource consumption as much because it will still take a few more days before the demi-human convoy reaches the demon realm. Also, travelling with brighter light is much more dangerous because it attracts attention of nocturnal creatures. I didn’t want to add more problem than the one we were currently facing.

We kept our volume minimal as we talked.

“Have you picked up any human activity?” –I asked Morgianna as she’s being focused on using her ability.

“I haven’t got anything yet, My master.”

“How about you Mae, any ideas coming up?”

“Flowers! I knew it! Dax loves flowers! Let us find a flowerbed!”

I’ve been wondering for a while now why I have brought this stupid airhead with me.

I’ve been making excuses about Mae being an excess baggage, but having experienced is first-hand, I even now couldn’t tell why she was even in this convoy. The fact that I had put my trust in her was an act of letting her try to redeem herself, but so far, not so good. She had been suggesting ridiculous ideas for the fifth time now and it hadn’t been any much help for the party. It was a good job for me and Ricardo to have kept up with her nonsense but Morgianna was about to break.

“Uhm, Mae, I really don’t think you could find a flower bed in the middle of this forest. Besides the geography, I think the soil isn’t something that could grow flowers.” –I tried to shut her up for a few more moments and delayed Morgianna’s breaking point.

Mae pouted and was teary-eyed. Was she irritated because I have been shutting her ideas down from the get-go? Was she excited because she got to go on an exciting adventure? Did she thought this was a game where you could restart once you hit a game over?

“I sense something few pans ahead my master, a nocturnal.” –Morgianna suddenly alerted the party.

“Quick, let’s hide behind that uprooted tree.” –It was a quick decision by Ricardo, the elite fighter that was assigned on the search party.

It was his sense and battle experience. Unlike me and Morgianna who was taught to swiftly confront creatures whose tier was lower than us directly, Ricardo’s experience gained from countless of battles sharpened his quick decision making and assessment of the current situation: either to have a direct confrontation or to have it pass by. In a sense, his quick decisions are more suited on our current situation. So did as told and hid under the roots of the huge uprooted tree.

“Quickly put out the fire.” –Ricardo added. We did as told.

“Could you determine the type and tier of the creature with just your Hearing*?”

“I’ll give it a try. Also Mae, please try not to panic as much it distracts me from my concentration.”

“Uwaaa—I’m being berated again.” –Cried Mae.

“Ssshh!!”

Morgianna concentrated. After a few seconds she gave a preliminary report.

“There are whooshing sounds around it, it must be a flying creature. It’s either a spirit or a bat, but there are no flapping sounds, it must be something that levitates and leaving ripples of magic traces which causes air to gather around it.”

I racked up my brain to distinguish the creature. I’m certain I’ve read it at one of the reference books back at the library.

“Something… Cluster… Energy… Spirit… Air…”

Shit… Shit shit shit shit!!

It was a high-tier spirit cluster. Element of Air.

What was a creature that tier doing in that forest at that time? Did it drifted towards it? Something must have been pulling these types of creatures at the very heart of this forest. But at that moment I disregarded the thought for a moment due to an even pressing situation: The camp needed to be alerted. Also, I didn’t want the current team to be in a state of panic. Of course confronting a high-tier creature with our current team would only mean suicide.

“Ricardo, Morgianna, I need you to listen to me carefully. Both of you are the only ones I could task with this.”

“Please tell us, my lord.”

“At dire situations like this, you always need to keep yourself composed. Ricardo I’ll trust you with your quick decisions, Morgianna you will keep track of the creature’s movements and destination. Keep yourselves distanced as much as possible and refrain from engaging unnecessary battles. Once you’ve reached the camp immediately tell Irish to put down all the campfires. Do it as quickly as possible.”

I haven’t told them about what tier of monster it was, I thought it was better of them not knowing. Spirit clusters are being created by diffused mana granules which were often excess or spoils of any spells being cast. Think of it as if you pour water on a glass and there were droplets that are sometimes being spilled. Think of it also as a huge falls where the impact of water falling towards downstream causes splashes towards every direction. Due to the unnatural form of mana in which same element attributes attract each other, and forms a non-intelligent artificial life form that knows only to drift and attack hostile movements. This is how Spirit Clusters are being born.

These creatures are classified as high-tier due to its irregularity. Usually it attracts same element magic granules scattered at the atmosphere until the capacity can’t hold on anymore and it will cause an explosion, an explosion big enough to cover several tens of meters (a tenth of Mytherion pan).

Lastly, the Spirit Cluster might have been attracted to the malice that was emitted by my Demonic Aura* a while ago. It was all my fault why a high-tier creature is nearing to be a grave threat to the convoy.

These are the information I hadn’t told them. I just hoped they were willing to follow and trust my instructions.

“…” –Mar stared on me, was she waiting for a command? I gave her the freedom of choice.

“And you, Mae, you decide, what will you do? Will you still accompany me on searching for Dax? Or will you come back to the camp and find some place safe and comfortable?”

“I understand the danger of the task you ordered Ricardo and Morgianna. I don’t want to be an excess baggage to them if worse comes to worst. Also I trust on Irish for keeping the convoy safe.”

“Good then, looks like I will still be needing your knowledge of Dax, continue to wring your brain for juice until it’s drained.”

But that was not really the case. If my hunch was right, the individuals who were facing the gravest situation right now will be: Me, Mae and Dax. Of course the Spirit Cluster will and will only follow the source of malice which was me.

Dax’s transcendence, if I remember correctly, should have an ability that controls mana granules within the atmosphere. It should serve lethal to the Spirit Cluster.

The key point of defeating this dire situation was whether we could find Dax first or the Spirit cluster finds us first. It was a do or die. I looked at the ground, and took a good glance of the people who’s with me right now. It might be the last chance I got to.

“Demons don’t pray to gods, but still, I hope for the success of this mission.”

Morgianna suddenly gave me a tight hug. She must have figured out, but she didn’t spoke. She must have know that I’ll be facing another life and death situation on my own. Well in fact, even though she was my slave I’ve always prioritized her safety, maybe because I’ve treated her more as one of my sisters than a normal slave and personal guard. Even though I didn’t see, I can tell how her expression look. It’s most likely those of a child who doesn’t want to be separated from their parents.

Mae was shocked but Ricardo just gave a smile. I really envied his real life experiences.

I gave both of them a signal and the four of us separated in groups of two.