“So that’s how one would use it…”

Holding the sparkling, forest green gem high above my head, I smiled as I leaned against the hard shell of a very large tortoise.

The tortoise answered with a gentle laugh, before laying his gigantic head on the ground.

On the spot where he laid his head, tiny flowers began to grow.

“Why that village though? Did the people there do something special?”

The tortoise was quiet for a moment, before he spoke in his gentle, low voice that caused a warm rumbling of the earth.

“The people there are kind. I’ve watched over them for a long time.”

I paused in the inspection of the gem.

Then, I let out a melodious laugh.

“I see! People you like, I like too~ If there ever comes a day when I can come to their aid, I’ll gladly do so.”

The gentle giant did not answer, but the pleasant buzzing of the earth below whispered to me his approval.

————————

“Looks like our great savior has arrived, Ere-ere.”

I continued smiling innocently at the back of our hero, as he held the enemy leader in a deadlock. At my words, he turned his face slightly to the side, his lips pressed tightly against each other in a firm, disproving line. Even without looking into his eyes, I could tell that he wasn’t amused with the situation.

“…Don’t call me that again.” He said coldly, barely paying attention to his enemy, who in comparison, was shaking all over in his attempts to overpower his opponent.

The enemy leader had the advantage in size, but to all who may be watching, was clearly losing in the strength department to the mysterious man who had suddenly appeared to save the day.

“Who are you!? Speak-”

“Then, what shall I call you? If you don’t want me to refer to you as the ‘great savior,’ then how about you give me your name?”

I cut the enemy leader off, completely disregarding his presence. At my obvious show of belittling him, the leader shot me a murderous glare, veins popping up on his bulky arms and forehead. He was getting more and more irritated by the minute, his neck and face now red like lava, threatening to burst from his oversized head.

“How dare you interrupt me, you scrawny little thing-”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was shoved away a few hundred meters, crashing right into a group of his minions. Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for them, the minions cushioned his fall, and the leader soon stood up, unharmed. His look of surprise though, seemed to be permanently imprinted into his face.

“We are having a conversation, so stay silent.”

The mysterious swordsman swung his gigantic mummy-wrapped sword over his shoulder as he spoke, having just knocked his enemy away with brute strength. It became increasingly more apparent just how drastic the power difference between him and the leader was. Did someone like him even have to use his sword against people like the enemy leader?

…

I couldn’t help but whistle at him in approval.

“Amazing! Splendid! Bravo! What a breathtaking display of raw power! I thought you were a swordsman at first, but you don’t actually need your sword, do you? I bet you can blast him into oblivion with your mighty fist, no, finger, alone!”

As I stood there, clapping, I felt a sharp pain on the side of my leg. Redirecting my gaze from the swordsman to the spot beside me, I saw Erebus, who was looking up at me with an exasperated expression on his face.

“What are you doing, idiot!? The villagers are dying, aren’t you going to do something?”

He was looking up at me with his clear, ruby-colored eyes. So clear and pure in that moment, that one might almost forget he was the god of chaos. The corner of my lips twitched at the irony of the chaos god asking me to save the villagers.

…

“Should I be doing something about it?”

As I gazed down at my smaller companion, my eyes were shining with an icy chill even though an eternal smile remained on my face. His eyes widened at my response, which seemed to be out of his expectations.

… I had to resist the urge to laugh. It seemed that all this time, I had given him the wrong impression.

“You’re right. As a human, I should help fellow human beings. But, there is a difference between what I should do, and what I can do.”

I paused, before turning my face to the side, observing the villagers. Countless bodies littered the ground, blood soaking through the earth like the roots of a cursed plant sucking the life of the soil beneath. No longer were there any cries of villagers being slaughtered. The ones that managed to survive were already escaping into the nearby forest, and the raiders now making their way back to their leader. They could sense that their leader was in a predicament, and had given up on pursuing the remaining survivors in order to back their ruler up. The mysterious swordsman soon found himself surrounded on all sides, enemies circling in, like a pack of wolves ready to pounce on their prey.

I looked back at Erebus, before grinning and grabbing him by the neck of his cloak. Lifting him up, I tossed him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, letting out a quiet ‘oof’ at his weight. Who would expect a tiny child like him to be so heavy?

“Let me rephrase. I can’t do anything right now, so I’m going to leave things to someone who can do something about it. After all, if I were to barge in the way I currently am, I would just be dead weight to him.”

I paused, before sighing softly.

“Kind of like how you are dead weight to me right now. So refrain from causing any more unnecessary trouble even though you are the god of chaos, alright?”

Erebus’ cheek puffed up like that of a provoked puffer fish, as he began to tug on my hair, acting exactly like a child.

“Coward! Let me down, I shall show those humans the true face of fear-”

I merely patted his small back, before taking a deep breath. Then…

“Let’s meet again, great savior! I’m sure you can handle all of them with no issues. Take your time!”

I shouted at the swordsman, waving goodbye with great enthusiasm, as I began to dash out of the village while carrying the complaining Erebus. Erebus was right in calling me a coward…but then again, I would rather be a coward in this situation than be a fool.

——————————

“To think you were once an entity who struck fear into the hearts of everyone on the battle field…”

As I panted, hands on my knees, trying to regain my breath, Erebus was standing nearby with his arms crossed. After running for a period of time, I was unable to continue on without a break. Running without any baggage was different than running with a kicking and biting child over one’s shoulder, and for someone who wasn’t used to burning this much stamina, it was already a miracle that I didn’t pass out half way.

Unhappy with my lack of endurance, he continued on with his remarks.

“We aren’t that far into the forest, and if that scruffy swordsman can’t last long enough, those bandits would be on to us in no time. I would’ve thought the so-called ‘Ice Overlord’ would be able to run for more than ten minutes at least.”

At him bringing up one of my old titles, I couldn’t help but laugh even though just breathing was hurting my chest. The ‘Ice Overlord,” “Ice Emperor,” “Conquer of Empires,” “Hero of Eden,” and so on and so forth. The list of honorary names that I had received in the past went on and on, so many of them that my real name was rarely mentioned. I was quite curious to find out how many of those names survived after my death. Perhaps now, I would only be known as “the traitor” in everyone’s eyes.

“I think I ran for double that amount of time at least? But…”

I smirked at him, before straightening up and breathing out slowly, trying to relax my body and recover quicker.

“…If I didn’t have to carry your majesty over my shoulder, maybe I could’ve gone for triple, or even quadruple that amount of time.”

Erebus blinked slowly in response to me, before smiling broadly. He closed his eyes, looking very pleased with himself, his chin tilted upwards proudly as he laughed.

“Ha, you should be thanking this great being for not requesting you to act as his horse. I bet you won’t be able to crawl for even five minutes with those noodle arms of yours.”

… He totally missed the point of my remark.

I sighed helplessly, shaking my head. Someday, I would have to teach him that not everything people say was a compliment to him.

I closed my eyes for a moment, and reopened them, sweeping my gaze across our surroundings. It was hard to tell how far we had gotten, and harder to tell which direction we had to go toward. It would’ve been better to have a guide in these forests, but that would be asking for too much. After all, I was the one who left our ‘guide’ back at the village to fend for himself.

“… Say, Ere-ere.”

I tilted my head to the side, deep in thought. There were a few things I was curious about.

“One at a time, answer my questions please~ First, what was the name of the village that we had just escaped from?”

He looked like he wanted to insult me for daring to ask him a question, but decided to answer me anyway.

“Those bandits mentioned the name ‘Hydrick’ when they were talking about the village.” He mumbled reluctantly.

“Hydrick, huh…”

The name triggered a cherished memory from my past. There was a dull ache in my heart as nostalgic images appeared in my mind, and I couldn’t help but smile slightly.

...

I shook myself free of the ride down memory lane, and refocused on the topic at hand.

“If names weren’t changed over the years, then that would mean we are now in Lakrak Forest, located near the southern tip of the Dionysus stronghold. In that case, we should move northeast, to the nearest city of Satyrs.”

As I thought about our next move, Erebus was staring blankly at me, silent for the first time since we had gotten out of purgatory. After a long moment of what seemed to be disbelief mixed with astonishment, he finally spoke up.

“…You…are actually not as stupid as you look.”

…

“Thank you, your majesty. You see…such geographical knowledge was beaten into me by my royal tutor at a young age~”

I bowed at him, laughing inaudibly at his insult-compliment, knowing how hard it was for Erebus to utter anything that loosely resembled a word of praise. Deciding to continue on with the questions, I followed up with a detail about the raiders.

“You’ve been calling them bandits, so I assume those people were mountain bandits that operated nearby. They probably picked you up this morning, and kept you alive in order to sneak into the village beforehand.”

But, that was a strange tactic for a group which could’ve easily outnumbered and overpowered the villagers. Instead of setting the village ablaze, and possibly drawing the attention of any patrolling imperial guards in the area, they could’ve snuck into the village while everyone was asleep and done the deed. What was more puzzling, was that they would pick a farming village to loot rather than individual, unsuspecting noblemen who often pass through the forest on their northward journeys. Was the gain truly worth the risk of getting pursued by the imperial guards?

“And oh, who was it that brought you into the village before the raid? Not the leader, right?”

Erebus eyed me with suspicion, unsure of what I was getting at.

“Not him. Some stick-thin weirdo with rigid blond hair that looks like a wig, and an annoying aristocratic attitude.”

He snickered to himself, before doing his best impression of the blond man.

“‘It’s good to be cautious against an unknown enemy, don’t you think, child?’” He said, in a high pitched, scratchy voice, snorting in amusement.

“A thin, blond man huh… I definitely don’t recall seeing anyone like that anywhere when I arrived.”

I took a moment to think deeply about everything, before laying our options out to him.

“Alright, Ere-ere. Listen carefully. We can proceed in one of the two ways.”

I held up a finger, smiling mysteriously, the moonlight dancing across my light sea-green eyes, turning them into translucent pools rippling with mischief.

“The first way, we can head northeast on foot. You may have doubts about my sense of direction after the events of last night, but I can guarantee you that I will be able to navigate through these lands much better after knowing where we are~ The second way…”

I added a finger, my smile widening as I heard the bushes rustle behind us, the movement so discreet that it would be easy to miss had I not been paying close attention to my surroundings.

“To lend a helping hand to the villagers. And of course, thank our great savior once again for rescuing him, and apologize on our knees for leaving him behind~”

Erebus sneered at my suggestions, before folding his arms across his chest once again.

“Why do we have to apologize on our knees to him? He suddenly jumped into the fight on his own, we owe him nothing. But, I do agree with going back. I have a score to settle with those imbeciles, and I won’t settle for anything less than beating them black and purple.”

…

As he finished speaking, I could hear the bushes rustle all around us. With a simple smile plastered on my face, I nodded, before turning around to address our ‘guests.’ For a while now, I had sensed their presence around us. Perhaps they chose to hide and observe first before making a move. The only issue was, it was nearly impossible to mask the presence of a band of at least twenty people, none of them trained in stealth and all of them staring in the same general direction. It would be an insult to my combat tutor to not feel their eyes burrowing holes into my back.

“…You heard us. So there is no more need to hide.”

Stepping back so that I was standing right next to Erebus, I watched as one by one, the villagers emerged from the nearby shrubbery, cautiously but steadily. When the last of them came out of hiding, I turned my attention to the man who stood in front of the group, pitchfork in his hand. His expression was tense, and one could see that he didn’t escape from the fight unscratched. His right arm was wrapped in some kind of cloth, acting as a makeshift bandage. Blood had drenched the cloth, dying it a dark red, but the man displayed no signs of weakness on his face. Just by the way he stood in front of the others, shielding them from me and Erebus, it was clear that he was their leader and protector.

“…Please help us, companions of the swordsman.”

I raised my eyebrows at his words. Companions of the swordsman?

“Ah, it seems like you might have made a mistake, good sir. We aren’t-”

“Please help us rescue our elder!”

The brave villager fell to his knees in front of me, taking me by complete surprise. Against his sincere plead for help, I was a bit lost for words.

“Well, I did suggest that myself first. But to be absolutely honest with you, I’m not sure how much we can-“

“Please!”

With a thud, the man bowed down to me, smashing his forehead on to the ground. He did it with enough force to cause it to bleed, but refused to take his head off the ground until I said something. I gazed from him to the villagers behind him, all of whom had pained, yet hopeful expressions on their faces.

...

I crouched down in front of the man, and placed a hand on his shaking shoulder. The shaking slowly stopped.

“We will help you. But first... tell us the location of the magic artifact.”

I heard a few gasps from the crowd, and their representative quickly lifted his head, drawing back from my touch, gazing at me with a look of deep suspicion. Erebus, who had been listening quietly, frowned slightly, but did not say anything.

I quickly explained myself.

“Before you put me in the same group as those bandits, hear me out. I’ll keep it short since we don’t have much time, but there aren’t a lot of things more valuable to a mage than an artifact. My companion who was kidnapped by the bandits recalled a blond haired man who was not seen with the rest of his allies back there. He was the one who first came into your village with my companion, and likely the fire mage who started those fires. Normal fire will die out without material fuel to burn on, but the fire of a mage is different.”

That was why the fire only got larger, and no attempts of putting it out would’ve worked.

“The fire is most likely a distraction for the mage to slip away. He alone would search for the artifact, probably in the temple.”

For a small village, they had a beautiful temple. If the artifact would be kept anywhere, it would probably be there. Except...

“... It’s not there.”

The representative finally spoke up, after listening to my conjecture. The corner of my lips twitched, as I waited for him to go on.

“... If you are talking about ‘that’... it’s actually nearby. The elder had kept it in a separate location in the forest, in case outsiders find out and come ransacking the village for it. I guess... that worry turned into reality.”

He smiled sadly, helplessness shining in his eyes.

... I reached forward to place my hand on his shoulder once more.

“Will you take me to the place where the artifact is kept? For the mage whose greed poisoned his human heart...”

A full smile broke out on my face.

“Let’s welcome him warmly with a big surprise.”

————————

“Tell me where it is!!!!”

The poor village elder was shaken viciously by a thin, blond man, who demanded to know the location of a certain object he was searching for.

The old man refused to utter a single word even after relentless verbal and physical abuse at the hands of the mage, who got increasingly frantic as time went on. He had taken the old man into the nearby forest, away from the burning houses and the metallic sounds of blows being exchanged. He needed to get his hands on the magic artifact, and leave quickly so that no trace of him would be left behind.

“I’m losing my patience, old man... if you don’t tell me in the next minute, not only will your life be at stake, but your people’s too.”

The elder, who was fully prepared to forsake his own life in order to protect the secret of their treasure, turned deadly pale. The mage noticed the change in his expression, and quickly jumped on the opportunity.

“I will hunt down every single one of them, and burn them to crisps just like how I had done to the village.”

Under the weight of his threat, the elder finally broke down.

“I’ll take you there...”

A sinister smile broke out on the mage’s face.

The mage forced the elder to lead the way, lighting their path with a fireball in his palm. The two journeyed for a considerable distance into the depths of the forest, until finally, the old man stopped in front of a small statue. Without a word, he tapped his cane on the ground in front of it, three times. The mage’s eyes widened as what first appeared to be an enormous boulder began to shake, the ground beneath it opening up to swallow a portion of it. It wasn’t a rock that lay in the corner of the forest that they were now at, but rather, a cave.

Unable to contain his excitement, the mage shoved the elder forward, forcing him to venture into the pitch black darkness. He was so close to what he wanted, so close to obtaining new powers for himself. So close to being able to teach all those who had looked down on his magic a lesson they would never forget...

“Welcome.”

The mage immediately shone his fireball at the voice, illuminating the figure in front of them. There, sitting leisurely on the stone pedestal, was a red haired young man with the most carefree of smiles on his face.

“Who-”

The young man placed a finger on his lips, silencing the mage.

“The quester answers, the guardian seeks. You should be answering my questions, not the other way around.”

Before he could respond, the young man lifted his balled up fist into the air, slowly releasing his fingers. A shimmering, forest green jewel swayed gently from side to side, dangling from a chain he held in his hand.

The mage’s eyes bulged out from his head, as he came to the realization of what the young man was holding.

“That... That is-“

The young man laughed.

“The magic artifact you tried so hard to obtain. Unfortunately, finders keepers... so that is now ‘mine-’”

A single blast of flames exploded near the young man’s head, and he dodged with mere inches to spare.

——————

“Ah, talk about an ‘explosive’ personality, not even letting me finish my sentence.”

I shook my head, putting the chain around my neck as I sighed dramatically.

“Hand that over, and I’ll let you off lightly.”

The mage, who had shot the fireball in his hand at me moments earlier, was stalking toward me, holding his hand out.

I gave him a wondrous look, before leaping off the pedestal lightly, landing a short distance away from him.

“Let me off lightly as in a ‘light’ death? Quick and simple, ‘lighting’ me on fire?”

I laughed at my own stupid pun, but my dear opponent wasn’t amused. It seemed like he didn’t quite share the same sense of humor as me.

“I have no time for you and your foolish jokes! Hand it over.”

His eyes began to glow a deep red in the darkness, his lips moving as he chanted, flames beginning to form in his hands. A fireball soon materialized, and the mage cried out one last time before aiming it at me.

“Burn in purgatory!”

My eyes shone in pure amusement, as laughter escaped from my lips. Burn in purgatory, huh...

“Been there, done that!”

I slammed my hand on to the earth below me, and uttered a single word.

“Earthquake.”

Before the fireball could leave his hand, the ground below him split open, cracking in a branch-like pattern. The solid surface gave away, and the mage lost his balance, his fireball flying completely off its intended trajectory, crashing into the wall to my right.

“Cocoon.”

The elder, who was unfortunate enough to be caught in the earthquake, was instantly encased in a ball-shaped structure, made of thick, thorny vines that sprung up from the crevices. The ball landed safely outside of the cave, its impenetrable surface protecting the elder inside from all harm that may come his way.

“Since you put so much effort into looking for this, I would assume you’ve done a fair bit of research.”

As the mage managed to regain his balance and find solid ground to stand on, I leaned with my back against the wall, the artifact around my neck pulsating with a warm green glow. I could almost feel his scorching resentment in the air, as he began to chant once again.

“This thing around my neck is a rare artifact that can grant the owner blessings of earth magic, even if they aren’t a child of Terra. But, it’s limited in its effects.”

Pillars of fire began to form around me, spinning and closing in like miniature tornadoes. Large pieces of debris were swept up by the flames, the whole cave shaking with the force of the magic that was being built up.

“Shut up and die!!!”

The mage, who looked to be so fed up with my attempts to chit-chat with him, began to laugh like a maniac as he watched his pillars spin toward me, his excitement and belief that he would come out victorious reflected clearly in his eyes.

…

I lifted my hand, holding it out in front of me.

“Ensnare.”

Tendrils shot out of the broken earth, binding the mage to his spot.

“Crush.”

My last command was lost in the thunderous rumbling of the ground below. The whites of the mage’s eyes stretched out so far, that he looked like he would pass out.

“What…in hell is this…”

In front of him, was a colossal stone hand, which moments ago, had crushed his fire columns out of their pitiful existence. The air around us seem to still, as dead silence accompanied the monstrous magic in display. Having finally realized the level of difference between us, the mage began to struggle against the tendrils, the color draining from his face.

…

“It is the power that you longed for, but a power you’ll never possess.”

I took a step toward him, my footstep echoing in the darkness around us. While the rays of the moonlight shone through the mouth of the cave, casting a soft glow around the area where he was standing on…

Only my eyes could be seen peeking out of the darkness that engulfed me. A gleaming pair of icy cold, unsmiling blue eyes, slowly approaching him with each echoing footstep.

“Don’t… come any closer…”

Pure horror could be seen on the mage’s face, as his lips quivered with each word.

…

I stopped right in front of him.

“I’m not going to do anything to you. Hunger, thirst, or insanity…”

I smiled in the darkness.

“You’ll be thankful if it is one of the first two that claims you.”

And with that, I walked right past him, the stone wall sliding back into place at the entrance.

Forever sealing him inside, inches away from the power he most desired.

————————

By the time we got back, the bandits were already dealt with, but the mysterious swordsman was nowhere to be found. The elder, who I freed from the cocoon as soon as I took care of the mage, was greatly thankful for our help. He insisted that we stay for the night, but I turned down his kind offer. The village was in no state to give a hero’s welcome, and I didn’t wish for one either.

Most importantly…

“May I borrow your artifact again, elder?”

The elder had even offered the artifact to me for saving him and his people, but I quickly turned that down as well. After all, I wasn’t the one who had done the most work around here, and plus, the artifact’s true magic could not be extracted in the hands of an individual.

Smiling, I crouched down on my knees, gently spreading the earth apart with my hands. To the villagers’ astonishment, I laid the artifact in the tiny hole that I dug.

“This artifact’s true power only comes out of a need to protect, not of selfishness and greed. That’s why the best place for it is right here, in the village that it wishes to guard.”

I asked for some water, and was speedily given a mug of the liquid. Tilting the mug toward the artifact, I watched as a tiny droplet of water landed on the stone’s smooth surface. The flawless green gem began to glow, and to everyone’s amazement, the stone opened its ‘eye.’

I stood back up, and retreated a few steps.

From the stone, a tiny plant sprouted, and before everyone’s eyes, tiny vines began to grow from the wreckage of the houses and ruined buildings. The broken foundations of the village, lifted up by the vines, was resurrected once more.

“This…This is…”

The village which was completely destroyed by the bandits, was slowly beginning to repair itself. It was a scene of revival, of renewal after a horrible disaster. Of new life sprouting from the fire-torn earth.

“That is the true use of ‘Terra’s Tear.’ When a time of need comes again, it will once again awaken.”

When the village was restored, the eye slowly closed, sinking deep beneath the surface. In its place, was a tiny sapling. A sapling which would one day become a tree that would stand tall and strong in the very heart of the village.

…

“Well then, I think it’s time to leave. Right, Ere-ere?”

My small companion opened his mouth to speak, before closing it. His eyes flickered with a mixture of emotions, but he chose not to say anything. The villagers too, seemed to want to ask me a lot of things, but swallowed their inquiries when the elder held up his hand.

They made way for the elder, who walked up to me with a quiet smile. He reached out with a wrinkled, yet steady hand, taking mine into his.

“I sense the roots of ancient magic deep inside of you.” The elder said, in his deep voice that reflected his wisdom, “Yet, you are without a core. Go westward, child… there, you will find the first hints to regaining the powers you’ve lost.”

At his prophecy, my eyes widened slightly.

…

It would seem that we were bound for a destination different than the one we had planned for.

A ghost of a smile appeared on my face, as the wheels of our fate began turning once again.

—————————

“So? Are you going to ask, or are you not?”

As we walked along the path through the forest that the elder had pointed out, I tossed Erebus a knowing smirk. For a while now, he had this conflicted expression on his face, and I knew without a doubt that he was struggling to keep his lips zipped.

“… Why did you suddenly change your mind about saving the villagers?”

After a lengthly period of deliberation, it seemed that he had finally settled on one question. I didn’t answer right away. An image of a giant tortoise flashed by in my mind, and a simple smile graced my lips.

“Because there was something I could do then that I couldn’t do before.” Was all I said in response.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but then closed it. With a grumpy expression on his face, he quickened his pace, so that he was walking ahead of me.

“Was my answer unsatisfactory?”

Erebus stopped walking, whipping around to face me with an annoyed expression painted on his face.

“You… You are really trying to get on my nerves, aren’t you?”

I laughed, before shaking my head. Placing both of my hands on his tiny shoulders, I spun him around gently, so that he faced forward once more.

“I wasn’t exactly talking to you, your highness.”

He looked like he wanted to smack me silly on the spot, but then froze. Moving his eyes from me to the forest in front of him, he soon spotted the lone figure standing with his back against a tree.

With our attention on him, the figure straightened up.

…

I held my hand out toward him.

“You know, I’ve been wondering how long my companion and I would last on our own these past few days. It would be much safer for us if a great swordsman like you could join us on our journey.”

Erebus’ mouth dropped open, as he gave me a disbelieving look.

“Wait… you aren’t thinking of-”

I smiled innocently.

“Would you like to join us, great savior of ours?”

At my words, the mysterious swordsman visibly flinched.

“… It’s ‘Novak.’”

Ignoring Erebus’ cries of denial, I laughed in delight at the arrival of a new stranger who now shared our destiny.

…

“Then, Novak. Shall we go?”