“Either it was your father, the King, or his superiors in the Knight of Forest army,” Acma guessed.

Nidhwen only stared dagger at him without commenting.

“...”

“Nevermind, let’s forget about the fight. We already on truce right now and I truly hope that your people will honour the treaty and let my people live freely,” said Acma after a few moments of silence.

“Do you have anything to ask about us? I mean about the human from Earth?” asked Acma.

“...”

“No question at all?”

“...”

Nidhwen turned her head away. An indifference look still plastered on her face. Understanding that the princess didn’t want to talk, Nurkac spoke.

“The questions will be asked by Her Eminence”

“I see, then I will ask the questions then,” said Acma.

“...”

No reaction from Nidhwen or Nurkac. This made Acma lost interest to talk any further so he turned around. Although it’s not wise to show his back, but he kept up his vigilance and ready to react if the duo behind him decided to attack.

“Open: Inventory”

Let see what do I have, thought Acma as he began to inspect the inventory.

He wanted a clear picture about what he have in his arsenal before facing the Holy Maiden two days later. He firmly believed that the invitation to Tirion Shrine concealed an ulterior motive. Although Nidhwen said that Lady Kylana hold her opinion about the human from Earth, it doesn’t mean she didn’t have any hostilities. Considering her responsibilities as the Holy Maiden and the recent battle between Acma and the knights, most likely that this invitation was to silently eliminate him. There is no way she was so generous to award him with a high position among the elves.

Meanwhile, at the Isengur, capital of Isebial Kingdom.

“My King, let me return to that city and annihilate all those human”, said Iandithas, who was kneeling with a lowered head to the king. He was completely recovered from his injuries and rushing to this study after he was given the permission to meet his father.

“It seems that your heart is still cloudy because of yesterday’s event”, the King replied. He raised his head a little before continued to examine the documents in front of him.

“Father.. I ...”, Iandithas stuttered.

“I understand, it’s your first loss after all. But, it’s not good if you’re still brooding over it. Go to the Pool of Serenity and calm your heart”

“Father, I must wash away this humiliation. I can’t go on like this. Please, allowed me to go”

“... Your enemy is not those human. Your enemy is that man only. He is your true enemy. But, that man have been called by the Holy Maiden, so you won’t have a chance of revenge anymore. That’s why I ordered you to go to the Pool of Serenity. Go. No more discussion”

“... I understand, My King. Please forgive my rudeness”

Iandithas stood up and walked out of the room.

“My Prince, are we really letting those human go?” an elf with a bearing of an experienced warrior spoke after Iandithas entered the carriage.

Iandithas’s face darken when he heard that.

“You know that I will failed?”

“Haha, yes”

“Hmph... Father want me to go to Pond of Serenity”

“Eeehhh.... So we’re really letting them go. My Prince, how about we just go and kill them. I heard that man wasn’t there anymore. This is a good chance for us”

“Do you want to go against His Majesty’s order?”

“No, but those human will bring a great danger to us in the future. We should prevent that from happened”

“Do you think I don’t know that? Where is that man now? Did you completed my order?”

“Oh, that man? He will arrive at Ulsenor City this evening and I already prepared a special banquet just for him. But, My Prince, how are we going to deal with the Guardians? He is a guest of Her Eminence, right?”

“Don’t worry about that. Just do your job”

“I understand... So, are we going to the Pond of Serenity right now?”

“Tsk”

On the back of the Golden Eagle, Acma already finished sorting out his equipment. Other than his original equipment, he also took the new addition of equipment like swords, knives, plant seeds into consideration.

Occasionally, he took a glance at the scenery below and it was a sea of green forest with rivers snaking between silvery mountain range. Nothing much could be seen since the forest canopy hid everything beneath.

But sometimes, he saw a cluster of huge trees towering above the rest of the forest and he thought it wasn’t an ordinary cluster of trees because of patterns, holes and empty space on the silvery trunk. He wanted to ask Nidhwen, but the latter moved her face away as soon as he turned around. Acma could only sighed.

“Alice, did you mapped everything?” he asked.

A cute and lovely fairy immediately emerged from his chest and hovering in front of his face.

“Yes, Master. I’ve mapped everything. Forest, mountains, rivers, a possibly safe route from Border Town and also the location of those tree clusters as you ordered”, Alice replied.

Acma wanted to praise Alice when he heard a commotion from behind.

“How.. how a human like you could have a high fairy as a companion?”

It’s Nurkac who spoke while Nidhwen covered her mouth and a face in between disbelieve, astonish, shock or even fright.

Is it that shocking? Thought Acma when he saw their reactions.

“This is Alice”, he gestured and introduced Alice to them. Alice just looked at them indifferently.

“How did you get this fairy?” Nidhwen asked.

“...”

“Why? Is it important how do I get Alice?” Acma returned the question.

“Hey, just answer the question”, Nurkac barked.

“Never before in history, a human have a companion either with fairies or other spirit creatures because they can’t communicate with them. Even among the elves, only a small number of us manage to form a contract with fairies. And that only with an ordinary fairy, not a high fairy like yours”, Nidhwen explained.

So, that’s why they’re so shocked, because no human ever have a spirit companion, thought Acma.

“What the difference?” he asked.

“Of what?” Nidhwen puzzled. She seems startled since Acma didn’t answer her question but asking a question instead.

“Between high and ordinary fairy”

“There are a few, but one of them is that the high fairy lives within the contractor’s body and they can move freely while an ordinary could only be summoned as they couldn’t leave the Spirit Realm”

“I see. Do you have one?”

“Me? No, I don’t have one”

“Are you going to have one?”

“I love to, but I already missed my chance. To make a contract with fairies, a children under 5 years old will be brought to the gate to the Spirit Realm. Then a contract ceremony will be held to allow the children to communicate with the fairies. If they’re lucky, a fairy will form a contract with them. If they’re not, then they will never have another chance”

“It seems that you’re longing to have one. Why was it?”

“You asked too many questions, human”, Nurkac interjected.

Nidhwen smiled when she heard that and shook her head a little.

“It’s okay Nurkac. You’re right Lord Acma, I longed to have one because there are so many benefits of having one. The fairies have a huge mana reservoir which the contractor can use them. They can shorten the time to cast a spell and serve as a support for the contractor with buff, magic shield or other spells they have. Usually a mage will chose a fairy as a companion and a fighter will chose a beast spirit because of the attributes they have”

“...”

Acma looked at Alice thoughtfully. He agreed with Nidhwen about being a support. Alice really helped him a lot but he wasn’t sure about sharing a mana reservoir since it’s Alice who is using his mana reservoir. Also, Alice didn’t have any inherent spells except the one she got from Void.

“Can a contractor teach an additional spells to the spirit companion?” he asked.

“I don’t know but I can help you asking Her Eminence”, replied Nidhwen.

“Thank you. About your question earlier, Alice was with me when I arrived at this world. No ceremony involved”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that”

“Liar!!! There is no way you will have a companion like that!” Nurkac screeched.

“Lord Acma, are you trying to keep a secret?”

“...”

Acma was thinking, should he tell them everything about the Overseer and how Alice originally an A.I and turned into a fairy?

“Actually, you shouldn’t compare the normal process in this world and my case”, Acma told softly with a smile. “Just like how we told you that we came from another world, it’s unbelievable, right?

“...”

“... You’re right. Are all of you have a spirit companion? I mean the human at your town”

“... I’m not sure myself. But probably no one other me”

Nidhwen let out a breath and looked at Nurkac. Acma was puzzled.

“Is there something wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing. It’s just that the people with spirit companion are highly respectable in our kingdom. If there are more of you that have a spirit companion, then we will be in bind”, Nidhwen replied.

“Owh, no wonder your attitude changed completely after you saw Alice”

“Don’t go overboard human. Those respect obviously not for human”, Nurkac splashed the cold water.

“Nurkac”

Nidhwen tried to stop her. Then she looked at Acma apologetically but she said nothing.

“It’s okay, we’re after all still an enemy”, said Acma while scratching the back of his head.

“Master, I want to show you something”, Alice suddenly spoke.

A hologram appeared in front of Acma, showing and image of a town similar to Boulder Town. But as far as Acma could remember, this town was located about 150 kilometres from Boulder Town. They have been flying for a few hours and the speed of these Golden Hawk weren’t comparable to an aircraft, but it still fast. So the location of this town has shifted to almost 750 kilometres.

“Zoom it”, he said.

The image changed and it made Acma’s face darker. It showed that the town has been raided since there were only a few buildings left intact while the others were destroyed or partially damaged. There were bodies sprawling everywhere and mostly converged at the center of the town. The people of the town probably put up the final fight over there but ultimately they failed.

Acma turned his head toward the direction of the town and the hologram disappeared.

He pinpointed the location and ...

‘TELEPORT’

... disappeared.