The hooded figure lifted its hood, and a beautiful face with a headful of dazzling pink hair came into view. Though she appeared to be in her twenties, she emitted a mysterious and ancient aura. Brushing some strands of hair behind her ear, she spoke, “Dammit! I didn’t think my disguise would be discovered so early!” She continued with a smile, “I’m Velina! Nice to meet you!” Though her actions and gestures were outwardly delightful, her words were outright rude.
Aldon and Orym carefully scrutinized her appearance and realized something unbelievable! Instead of pointed ears, which was a fundamental characteristic of the Elven Race, she possessed rounded ears. It meant that she was of a different Race!
Noticing Aldon’s and Orym’s baffled expressions, she chuckled lightly and spoke, “Oh! I didn’t mention this, did I!? I’m a Human.” She muttered under her breath, “Now how the hell should I explain this to them when they can’t even understand what I’m saying. Ah!! What a pain in the ass!”
Although Orym couldn’t understand what she was saying, he was completely stunned. Contrary to Orym, Aldon took it fairly well as he had come to the same conclusion the moment he had noticed her rounded ears. Noticing Orym’s reaction, Velina chuckled lightly.
Orym quickly recovered from his shock and looked at Velina with fascination. He had never before encountered a being of a different Race and had only heard about them in the legends. Aldon coughed lightly, reminding Orym why they had entered the tent. Orym snapped back to his sense and blushed lightly in embarrassment.
Orym turned to Aldon and curiously asked him, “What is this creature saying? According to the legends, this creature seems to be a member of the ‘Human’ Race. I recall that you are well-versed in the Human Tongue. Ask her how she entered our Realm? Isn’t it impossible for anyone to cross the Void Barrier surrounding the Elven Continent? Even when the First Elder tried to breach it, he failed miserably! Ask her how!”
Aldon speechlessly looked at the agitated Orym and placed his hand on his shoulder to calm him. After he had successfully calmed Orym, he turned towards Velina, and spoke in the Human Tongue, “How did you enter the Elven Continent? Did you cross the Void Barrier?”
Velina was motionless for a moment before turning red instantly. She stuttered as she answered, “You... could understand... me?” Clutching her head, she continued, immensely embarrassed, “Ah!! I spoke so rudely!! I didn’t think you would be able to comprehend what I was saying. That’s why I was so rude! Ah!!!!”
Aldon could somewhat relate to her as he had done the same when he had reincarnated into the Throm family. Waving his hand, he spoke, “Don’t worry about it. Just answer the questions.”
Regaining some composure, Velina replied confusedly, “What Void Barrier? I didn’t cross anything to get here! In fact, even I am confused as to how I ended up here! One moment I was walking down the streets of the Empire, and the next moment, out of the blue, I got sucked into a damn hole that appeared out of nowhere and passed out! When I woke up, I was inside this tent and could hear something outside. I soon realized that the gibberish I heard outside was a different language! Believe me when I say I don’t know how I ended up here!”
With a suspicious look on his face, Aldon continued questioning Velina, “If you are so innocent and don’t know anything, why did you disguise yourself? Isn’t it because you got something to hide?” Aldon couldn’t bring himself to trust another human because of his previous life’s betrayals.
Gesturing to the male elf who was still unconscious, Velina answered with a speechless expression, “I saw this guy lying unconscious beside me when I woke up. From this, the Magic Circles etched on the sides of the tent, and the gibberish I heard outside, I deduced that I had somehow become a captive of the mythical Elven Race! Fortunately, my hood was intact, indicating that nobody had bothered to remove it and see my face. Could you imagine my situation? If someone found out that I was a human, I would definitely be the top suspect for whatever crimes I was held captive for over the unconscious elf! That’s why I disguised myself as an elf, trying not to attract any unnecessary attention!”
Although Aldon was mostly convinced by her explanation, he still possessed a slight hint of suspicion in his eyes. Velina didn't notice this and asked him, “Now that I’ve come clean, would you mind giving back my pendant? It’s a keepsake of my grandmother.”
This sentence raised Aldon’s suspicion as he replied coldly, “It’s your grandmother’s keepsake, eh? Trying to pull the wool over my eyes, eh? Unfortunately for you, I know that this pendant is your Grimoire! I’m not as dumb as to hand over your weapon!”
Taken aback, Velina laughed wryly as she spoke, “I didn’t know that the elves had so much information on us Humans!” She continued, with her head held high, “I won’t deny lying to you about the pendant. You easily snatched away my pendant even when I was at full alert. It’s obviously evident about the immense gap in our prowess. It was my last-ditch effort to regain my weapon and protect myself.”
Noticing Orym staring at him curiously, Aldon stopped his conversation with Velina and brought him up to speed. After some discussion, they agreed to decide on what to do with Velina outside the tent.
Aldon ignored Velina as he turned around to exit the tent. In the exact moment, the Golden Tree tattoo on his back, the so-called ‘Mark of Divinity’, began to radiate heat with immense intensity. It was so intense that Aldon’s shirt burst into flames, and the Mark came into view of everyone. It began to glow brightly with a warm golden light.
Both Orym and Velina witnessed this bizarre occurrence. Though Aldon himself was taken aback by this occurrence, he noticed that it was not affecting his body in any manner and sighed in relief. He also noticed that it was resonating with something.
Discerning something, Velina’s expression drastically changed, and she hurriedly spoke, “You possess a Mark of Divinity? Who’s is it?”
Casting a glance at Velina, he found that a part of her dress that was covering her stomach was glowing in a similar shade of gold. Astonished, he questioned her, “Do you possess a Mark of Divinity?”
Velina was caught up in her own thoughts and didn’t reply to Aldon. After a few seconds, Aldon’s back stopped glowing, and it returned to normal. Sighing, he pulled out another shirt from his storage bag and put it on.
Aldon noticed Orym looking at him with a curious look in his eyes and gestured to him that he would explain it once they were out of the tent.
As both Aldon and Orym exited the tent, Velina muttered to herself, “Possessing not only the knowledge about the Human Race but also a Mark of Divinity. This guy, who the hell is he?”
***
Outside the tent, Orym asked curiously to Aldon, “What was that all about? What is the Mark of Divinity?”
Aldon sighed and narrated what had transpired. He excluded the events he experienced inside the Plane of Ascencion and just narrated what had happened after he had woken up. He continued, after finishing his narration, “It appears that Velina knows more about the Mark of Divinity. But, the question remains whether to trust her or not.”
Orym thought about something and exclaimed, “I have the Beads of Truth. It’s an artifact crafted using some of the rare Dungeon Beasts’ parts and can force the target to speak only the truth. We can use it on her and determine her true intentions.”
Aldon thought about it and nodded his head, “That sure helps.” He continued, “But, let's first interrogate the male elf who is still unconscious. I want to confirm whether what Velina said was true. Any discrepancies in his story will show us whether she is trustworthy or not.”
Orym nodded and ordered the soldiers standing guard over the tent. “Wake the unconscious elf and bring him to the main camp. Make sure he’s properly restrained.”
Once he issued his orders, Orym walked back towards the big tent from where they had set off. Aldon followed him without saying a word, immersed in his own thoughts.
***
After a while, the guards brought the elf inside the main tent and made him sit across Aldon and Orym. He still had groggy eyes from being awakened and was handcuffed with a pair of deep blue handcuffs. They were made of special material and restricted the Mana usage of the one who wore them.
Orym stared at him intently and pulled out two blackish-green beads from his storage bag. They were the artifact known as the Beads of Truth. Aldon observed him curiously as he placed each bead into the elf’s ears. The beads were not so large that they couldn’t fit inside the ear cavity and were also not so small as to get stuck in them. Once both the beads were placed in the elf’s ears, Orym infused some of his Mana into them, and they began to glow slightly.
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Suddenly, the elf’s eyes flashed green and drooped a bit. It appeared as though he was in a trance. Orym started to question him, “Who are you? What happened? Why didn’t you evacuate along with the other elves? Why were you, along with several elves, trapped inside a collapsed building?”
The elf slowly and monotonously answered each question, “I’m Noah Sallow, a member of the Sallow family. When we were evacuating the city of Cartos, I slipped and fell to the ground due to the chaos in the streets and hit my head hard against the pavement. I don’t remember much after that, but when I regained consciousness, I was inside a weird building with lots of other elves who were equally confused by the situation. Suddenly, a weird hole appeared in front of us, and a hooded figure came crashing from it. Before we could do anything, a sinister chuckle resounded within the building, and it started to shake violently. That’s the last thing I remember before waking up inside the tent here.”
Aldon took a cold breath as what he had feared turned out to be true. It appeared that the Eye of Eclipse guild was involved in the bizarre occurrences of the Dungeons in the Kingdom of Anae and was directly responsible for the early destabilization of the Dungeon in the city of Cartos. Orym seemed to have come to the same conclusion as his eyes betrayed immense fear.
Taking a deep breath, Aldon questioned Noah intensively. He answered everything slowly and monotonously. After several rounds of intensive questioning by both Aldon and Orym, they had obtained all the information they could from the elf. Practically most of them were of no use to them, but due to Noah’s memories, they were able to figure out some of the key pieces of information.
Finally done with Noah’s interrogation, Orym removed the beads from the elf’s ears and threw them into the trash. Apparently, the Beads of Truth was a one-time-use artifact. He called the guards inside and ordered them, “Give Noah a tent. He’s a citizen of the city of Cartos who was unfortunately left behind during the evacuation. He may still be injured, so look after him for a while.”
The guards replied affirmatively and escorted Noah outside the tent. He, who was now free from the trance, looked at Orym with a frightened expression and followed the guards hastily.
Orym sighed and rubbed his eyebrows wearily. He ordered the other guards to bring the hooded figure here. Aldon sat quietly, digesting everything that was revealed due to Noah. It seemed that what Velina was saying was the truth. She really wasn’t lying. Yet, Aldon couldn’t bring himself to trust her.
***
After a while, the hooded figure was brought to the main camp. Velina had put the hood back on after Aldon and Orym had exited the faraway tent. Therefore, except for them, no one knew that she was Human.
Orym promptly activated some magic circles which were present inside the tent after dismissing the guards. They lightly glowed and created an audio barrier inside the tent. Nothing spoken inside the tent would be audible outside it.
After doing all this, Orym once again pulled out a pair of Beads of Truth from his storage bag and played with it. Aldon chuckled lightly as he asked, “How many of those artifacts do you possess!?”
Orym smiled as he replied, “A lot.” Velina pulled back her hood and questioned cautiously, “What are those?”
Aldon stopped smiling as he answered seriously, “This is an Artifact known as the Beads of Truth. Its target can only speak the truth. We have decided to use this on you while you answer our questions.” Before she could say anything in objection, he continued, “This is the only way to gain our trust. If you don’t comply, we can just force you.”
After finishing his sentence, Aldon exerted some of his body’s Mana outside. The result was that atmospheric Mana in his surrounding quickly went berserk and exerted a lot of pressure on Velina.
Faced with this pressure, Velina felt suffocated and hurriedly bobbed her head in agreement. Orym stopped playing with the Beads of Truth and gestured Velina to sit on the chair in front of them.
As Velina silently and obediently sat on the chair, Orym placed the Beads of Truth in her ears and infused some of his Mana into the artifact.
Soon, Velina slumped on the chair as her eyes flashed green and drooped. She appeared to be in a trance. Noticing this, Aldon started to question her, “Who are you? Where do you come from? How did you come here?”
Velina answered slowly in a monotonous voice, “I’m Velina Pierre, the Seer of the Church of Laplace. I came here from the streets of the Crenata Empire after falling into an unknown hole that appeared out of nowhere in front of me.”
Confirming that the artifact worked properly, Aldon began to ask the real questions, “What is the Mark of Divinity? How do you know about it? Do you possess it? What is its significance?”
Velina answered, “The Mark of Divinity is the ultimate form of recognition given by a particular God or Goddess. Basically, the Mark of Divinity contains some amount of Divinity from the God or the Goddess who gifted it. Each God or Goddess’ Mark and the characteristics of their Divinity differs. If someone is bestowed a Mark of Divinity by any God or Goddess, it signifies that that particular God or Goddess has recognized the person’s talent and has taken him or her as their apprentice. No one knows what happens if you successfully complete the apprenticeship as no one in history has completed it. One can gain various mysterious Techniques from their Mark of Divinity. I know about this as I, myself, am bestowed with a Mark of Divinity.”
Shocked by Velina’s answer, both Aldon and Orym took some time to regain their senses. Aldon hurriedly continued his questions, “Do you know which God or Goddess bestowed you with the Mark of Divinity? Who do you think bestowed mine? Also, show me your Mark. I want to see if I can differentiate between the different Divinity present inside each of the Mark.”
Velina promptly answered, “I know who’s Mark of Divinity I possess. It is that of the God ‘Laplace.’ I don’t possess any knowledge that can identify who’s Mark of Divinity you possess.” After the last sentence, Velina struggled slightly for a while before falling back into the trance.
With a lifeless look in her eyes, Velina lifted her dress and showed her stomach. Though her undergarments were visible, Aldon’s eyes didn’t wander anywhere, and he was captivated by her Mark of Divinity. It was a large, golden eye with strange symbols etched on its eyeball. It was located slightly right to her belly button, and it emanated a similar aura to that of his Mark of Divinity. Eerily, it appeared to peer straight into any onlookers and discover their deepest and darkest secrets.
While Aldon and Orym were spooked out by this eerie eye, Velina once again struggled to break out of the trance. Realizing this, Aldon quickly discarded his aim to see if he could differentiate between the different Divinity present inside each Mark and questioned, “What is this Church of Laplace you mentioned? Does every God and Goddess have a dedicated following in the material realm? How did you become its Seer?”
Velina seemingly calmed down for a moment and answered, “The Church of Laplace is a religious entity that worships the God ‘Laplace’. Though many Churches, each worshiping a particular God or Goddess, exist now, numerous others have ceased to exist, lost to time. Every Church searches for the Marked, the one possessing the Mark of Divinity of the particular God or Goddess they worship. I was found by the Church of Laplace and appointed as its Seer.”
While Aldon and Orym were busy digesting the information, the Beads of Truth broke apart and fell on the ground. Velina had finally succeeded in breaking through the trance. As Aldon and Orym watched her cautiously, she slowly hugged herself and began to cry. Both of them were taken aback by this and Aldon scratched his chin, wondering whether he had struck a nerve somewhere.
Velina slowly stopped crying and composed herself. With tears still in her eyes, she spoke, “You didn’t have to go so far! Even as far as to force me to lift my dress! I would’ve shared all that information if you had asked normally! I don’t even know the way home! What would I have gotten from withholding information from my captors?”
Aldon realized that he had been insensitive and awkwardly apologized, “I’m truly sorry. We now know that we can trust you. Here, you can have this back.” He offered the Grimoire, the pendant, which he had snatched, back to her in a show of good faith.
Velina glared at him as she received her Grimoire and wore it around her neck. A golden light flashed within her eyes, and Aldon felt that everything about him was exposed. It lasted only an instant, and since Aldon hadn’t noticed the golden light in Velina’s eyes, he brushed it off as his mind playing tricks on him. Velina soon cast her disguise spell, and she instantly reverted back to the female elf Aldon and Orym had initially glimpsed.
Orym also realized that Velina seemed to be upset and apologized to her, though she couldn’t understand him. He called the guards, introduced her by name, ordered them to give her a tent, and accommodate her with utmost hospitality. He explained to them that due to a curse, she was unable to understand or speak in the Elven Tongue and could only converse in the Human Tongue.
Aldon translated what Orym was saying and conveyed it to Velina. The guards cast a look of pity in her direction and gestured to her to follow them. Before leaving with them, Velina turned towards Aldon and spoke hastily, “If some Humans had tormented you previously, please keep your anger, frustration, and distrust towards them. Don’t categorize us all Humans into one group. We are not all cut from the same cloth. If you take any Race as an example, not every member would be evil, nor would every member of the Race be virtuous. Please don’t judge others with prejudice. This is my sincere request. It will surely make your life easier.”
Without waiting for Aldon’s reply, Velina exited the tent after leaving behind those words. They stuck with Aldon as it resonated with his being. He suddenly felt as though she understood everything about him and had advised him with his well-being in mind.
Aldon quickly bid farewell to Orym as it was well past sunset and clearly time for getting some rest. Exiting the big tent, he walked towards the tent where he had woken up, thinking about Velina’s words throughout the whole way. He realized that he had doubted and distrusted her well before she had even spoken a word. His view of her had been prejudiced ever since he saw her rounded ears and realized that she was a Human.
Even after entering his tent and lying down to get some sleep, Velina’s words kept Aldon awake.
***
As the morning sun slowly broke through the horizon, loud gongs were heard in a particular rhythm. Fortunately, that particular rhythm did not indicate that the camp was in danger. It was quite the opposite. The rhythm relayed the message that the Kingdom’s scouts had come across the remaining elves from the Empire and were escorting them to the main camp.
Aldon immediately sat straight and started getting dressed to greet Taeral and the group. He had not slept a wink the previous night, contemplating over Velina’s words, and had made up his mind to sincerely apologize to Velina and ask for her forgiveness. He was also looking forward to meeting Taeral and hearing his adventures in this jungle.
Aldon pushed the flap of the tent outward and was greeted with the gorgeous sight of the sunrise. Smiling slightly and feeling refreshed, Aldon set out towards the main camp.