Chapter 6 - Repaying Debts

A small feast was being held at the center of the village, around a bonfire. Some of the islanders were merrily singing and dancing. There was log benches for people to sit on while enjoying the festivities or food. Arnest, Rogar, Tanya and her Aunty sat on a bench together.

“Thank you for bringing back Tanya.” Rogar was feeling especially good today. There were quite a few villagers who were worried of a monster lurking in the mountains due to Tanya’s disappearance, including his wife, but now their worries seemed to subside. Now he could get everyone to concentrate on one last united effort to harvest as many herbs as possible before their expedition to Zanabo.

“Of course. I wouldn’t ignore anyone in distress.” Arnest said haughtily.

“Oh young hero, come dance with us!” a few of the older girls called out to Arnest.

But seeing the girls call out to him, his face stewed until boiling red and he looked down in embarrassment. Rogar started to grin and said “To repay you for saving Tanya, if you would like any of them as a wife I’m sure I could help you arrange it…” Pulling in closer to his ear, “Young hero~” he whispered in a falsetto.

Arnest jumped back with cat-like reactions. “No, it’s fine, Rogar.” he hurriedly said, still beet red.

“Ha ha! You should learn to not be so shy as a young hero.” Rogar continued to tease.

“Don’t be so hard on the boy, he did save my niece after all.” Aunty grinned while lovingly hugging Tanya.

“Alright, alright.” Rogar said while slapping Arnest’s back a few times forcing him to cough out his food.

“Arnest, I remember you said you were planning on sightseeing at some of the great cities. Would you be interested in sailing with us to Zanabo?” he asked.

Arnest paused for a moment and answered “I don’t see any reason why not.”

“Then we’ll set sail in a few days together. To Zanabo!” Rogar shouted while waving his cup in the air, spilling his wine everywhere.

“To Zanabo!” the rest of the villagers cheered with him.

The celebration lasted well into the night. Arnest managed to slip away after Rogar became exceedingly drunk, so much so that he started to undress. His wife, Gretta, tried to stop him by forcing his clothes back on or physically pushing him towards their hut. When all else failed, eventually she succeeded in luring him home, Rogar still completely naked, with another jug of wine.

The young hero walked towards his ship silently, where his men had been waiting for him since yesterday. A lazy sentry was lying down on the pier, snoozing away under the moonlight. Feeling the thuds of footsteps on the wooden pier, he awoke sluggishly, rubbing his eyes and looked towards our hero. Realizing who it was, he suddenly stood erect and saluted.

“Young master, you’ve returned safely. How was your trip up the mountain?” Rufus asked while quickly straightening out his clothes.

“It was pretty fun. Killed a monster, saved a girl. You know, the usual.” said Arnest proudly. He pointed towards Rufus’s waist. “Your pockets are inside-out too.”

Rufus immediately stuck both his hands into his pockets. “Sorry young master, I’ll try to be properly dressed next time.”

“And you’ll be standing guard properly as well, right?” Arnest's face was stone cold.

“Yes, yes of course.” Rufus hastily answered.

Arnest walked past Rufus and climbed onto the deck of the ship. He met with his second-in-command, Marcus, and explained what happened on the mountain. Marcus was quite surprised but was soon even more startled by the sudden appearance of a shadowy figure next to him.

Phasing out of the darkness, a pale and red eyed face emerged. “Greetings, Arnest.” it quietly spoke.

Unsurprised, Arnest turned towards the face. “Hey mons-, I mean Halphas.”

Marcus started to pull out his saber but Arnest raised his hand to stop him and shook his head. “Speak, why are you here?” Arnest questioned.

“I’ve come to repay you for saving mine and Tanya’s life.” he said while the rest of his body started to form out of the darkness. The bandage that Arnest had made was still wrapped around his chest, now with dried blood.

“What could a wounded man help me with?”

“Although I’m not very skilled in many aspects, I’ve noticed that you are a dark magus. I am also one.” With a whisper, Halphas’s hands started to turn black and shadow flames emerged. They curved and licked his hands, expanding perpendicularly to the direction of his arms. The shadows solidified into an ebony bow, which he firmly grasped in his left palm, and an arrow in his right. “I can show you how to form a [Shadow Bow] if you’re interested.”

Arnest’s eyes lit up wide with exhilaration. Another spell he could learn! Not only that, but an offensive one as well. Before he could only use surprise attacks or hide away. Now his power would surely rise in leaps and bounds.

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“Of course! Teach me right away!” Arnest said excitedly.

Halphas started to begin teaching Arnest [Shadow Bow] throughout the entire night. Arnest seemed to not feel tired because he spent his night and well into the early morning, practicing the spell with his new teacher. Marcus watched over Arnest and was slightly wary of Halphas but eventually returned to his quarters to rest sometime in the morning.

When Arnest finally emerged from his room at midday, his hair was disheveled, eyes strained red and hands pitch black. The soldiers looked at the crazily smiling boy with apprehension. “What is wrong with the young lord today?” they all thought.

“I finally did it!” he yelled but his voice slowly trailed off until his body seemed to become jelly, slumping down into the ground. His hands slowly became their normal skin color as he laid on the ground. The excitement he felt had kept him awake but the fact that he had been expending mana throughout the night and that it was definitely past Arnest’s usual curfew resulted in a totally exhausted boy.

The men all stared at each other, unsure what make of this sudden outburst or the sleeping young lord. Marcus came out of his quarters after being alerted by one of them and ordered “Don’t leave the young lord on the damp floor. Take him to his quarters.” Quickly adhering to the order a few men lifted Arnest carefully and carried him off to his bed.

Arnest, totally unaware of what was going on outside of his dreams, whispered “I did it, father. You don’t have to cry anymore.”

“Who told you to do this, Arnest?” the old man of his dreams spoke, slightly unsettled.

“Mother told me. She said it would make you happy.” Arnest happily replied.

“Arnest, you must understand. Aryea, your mother, went to the greater heavens. She can’t spe-” he stopped in the middle of his sentence, realizing something.

“Arnest. Listen carefully. That was god who spoke to you.” the king said.

“God Navul?” Arnest asked.

The aged man paused. “Promise me. Do not tell anyone of this.” he said with a serious and saddened face.

Before Arnest could promise, his subconscious was pushed back into the back of his mind and he abruptly awoke. He could feel the waves slowing rolling against the boat and looked to his side. Halphas’s shadow was quietly floating in a corner of the room.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“About half the day.” Halphas quietly answered.

Arnest pondered the dream he just had and slapped his face with both his hands. “Well, no use thinking about it for now.” he thought to himself.

“Let’s continue practicing.”

Halphas continued to help Arnest perfect his [Shadow Bow] for the next few days while the villagers of Heaven’s Isle earnestly worked together to harvest as much as they could before the voyage. The human soldiers also joined in the effort. This newly formed group of herbal farmers worked together, ate together and laughed together. By the end they were able to gather a small fishing boat’s worth of plants.

While Arnest was working on forming a straighter and more dense arrow, his mind wavered and so did the shadow arrow in his right hand. “Halphas, what was the monster in the cave exactly? What are you?” he asked.

“That monster and I are the same. He is my twin brother. We’re half human and half demon. Vampire, to be specific.” Halphas didn’t hesitate to share his origins.

“My mother was a demon slave who was owned by our father. When she gave birth to the two of us, he forced us out of his house and shipped us away to Lanex. We grew up in a secluded forest away from other humans but one day the nearby villagers discovered our mother and killed her. I was saddened but Haagenti, my brother, was enraged and took it upon himself to kill all the villagers.” Arnest was completely absorbed into Halphas’s past, deeply staring at him. Halphas closed his eyes, recounting the rest of his story.

“I had once met a small child who had shared her food with me after I collapsed in the woods. I felt that not all humans were evil so I tried to prevent him from massacring them all but he overpowered me and attacked the village. When I woke up and saw the destruction, he and I fought to a standstill, with me barely fleeing.” Halphas seemed to have a pained face because of reliving the past.

“I escaped to this island about five years ago and have been living quietly in that cave since I noticed that the villagers would not go past the clouds of the mountain. At least that was true for everyone but Tanya. But Haagenti somehow found me while I was with Tanya and I think you know the rest.” Halphas opened his eyes and the room became uncomfortably silent for a while.

“I’m sorry for calling you a monster.” Arnest said, dejectedly. “Also for killing your brother.” he added, almost forgetting that he had killed Halphas’s kin.

“It’s alright. I’ve been called far worse and as for my brother, he would have killed everyone on the island and myself.” Halphas slightly smiled, however the small pained creases on his face exposed his underlying feelings.

“I’m still sorry. For everything.”