“Are you sure you've never seen this coat of arms before?” Veles asked as he handed an interesting patch of cloth to Davis.

Davis scanned it thoughtfully. It had a double-headed warhammer adorned in gold placed on top of a pristine white shield. “No, I never did. And I even doubt it belongs to some secret order back in Osvalen. It's too flashy for that.”

“Then, I guess my speculations were right about those newcomers. They do come from the east,” said Veles after snatching the coat of arms back. “How troublesome. They appear more magically advanced than I initially anticipated.”

“Is it that big of a deal? I mean, we’ve dispatched that guy quite easily. And he didn’t look anything special except that he was Fifth Stage,” commented Davis.

Olivia snored from behind while Veles held back his urge to smack Davis at the back of his head.

“You haven’t even touched him… that guy basically played with us,” grumbled Veles. “A light punch broke two of my ribs, and I had to burn my blood to use as energy for a mental attack. If he didn’t underestimate us, we would most likely be brutally tortured for the information before getting killed.”

“…” Davis stopped for a moment and kept silent. Probably shocked by how he hadn’t noticed the strength of the assassin guy, or how Veles was walking leisurely with two ribs broken…

“Keep in mind. He was even stronger than the Six Stages of Osvalen. So, if you had any funny idea of facing someone like him again, forget about it,” added Veles.

“Okay…” replied Davis. “What’s the plan then?”

“The plan for now is to stay in the forest and for me to get used to my body. While also training you two and sharing some of my knowledge. As for how long we will stay here, it heavily depends on the circumstances inside the forest. And by the looks of it, we will spend quite some time here…” Veles rubbed his chin. He wasn’t hundred percent sure yet how to proceed. Those soldiers that appeared were a minor nuisance, their presence was just one of the scenarios he’d anticipated could happen after his release—and by his calculation, he’d already dealt with them.

The real problem was the lack of information…

Perhaps, they were just one group of many? What about their numbers? What if there were even stronger individuals waiting for an opportunity?

Because of this and many other reasons, the best course of action would be to wait and see. Their safety was almost guaranteed as long as they stayed in the forest, his own ground. Even if some of the forest’s beasts refused to honor their deal, there were those whose loyalty Veles would never question. The only explanation as to why he got no assistance with the assassin was that someone harassed the beasts and prevented them from reaching him, which was also troublesome in itself.

“So, I guess we are currently in a very bad situation?” Davis asked. His confusion showed that he had no idea how important previous events were. Not that Veles could really blame him for that.

“Have you ever heard that the Heavens clearly showed themselves as they did?” Veles asked.

“No…” Davis shook his head. Osvalen practitioners always believed that the Heavens were a god-like existence watching over them and that the mana was its blessing. However, its existence was only speculated, never proved…

“Neither did I. And that is the reason why we must stay vigilant. It attracted a lot of attention,” said Veles. “This also shows how clueless I am about the rest of the world. The group that appeared just proved how behind you people of Osvalen peninsula are.”

Davis stayed silent, probably expecting Veles to explain everything in detail, which he planned to do anyway.

“From what I’ve figured so far, there are two major questions regarding those newcomers. The first one takes into consideration their readiness to exploit the events and their knowledge about the nature of the forest. They knew perfectly where to appear, and I noticed a guy who attacked us was wary of using mana. Meaning they know how this place works. Now, the only explanation I could give about this is that they have a Seer capable of peering into the future, something which should be impossible to directly affect me but still somehow worked.” He didn’t want to go into the details, but individuals dabbling into Fate were always a pain in the ass to deal with. Although Veles was one hundred percent sure a person who could read his Fate didn’t exist, it only opened the possibility that they could read major events or possibly activities of people who interacted with him.

“The second question is about their method of transportation. Even having no powers, I felt strong Spatial fluctuation, meaning they used some means of massive teleportation. This could be extremely costly and requires advanced knowledge. This proves the place they came from is a rather advanced civilization. And…” Veles fiddled with two blades he took from the assassin, “their craftsmanship is at least three times better than weapons you Osvalenians make.”

“In short, we are dealing with someone who can predict where we go and who can most likely kill us without much effort. And on top of that, we know nothing of them…” After Davis said this, he blankly stared into the air, gathering his thoughts.

“No, like I said, nobody can see my lines of Fate. And tracking us inside the forest is most likely impossible. That guy stumbled upon us due to sheer luck. However, what truly bothers me are the beasts,” said Veles. “Or, more accurately, the lack of them…”

“Now that you mentioned it, we haven’t faced a single one all this time,” commented Davis.

“That’s only normal. Beasts this deep into the forest have extremely good survival instincts and they wouldn’t dare to attack me. As for intelligent ones, they should’ve greeted me already. Strange, something serious distracted them…”

Davis suspiciously looked at Veles. “What? Beasts are scared of you?”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Hmm? Obviously, weaker beasts can sense strong bloodlines in their vicinity, and they tend to avoid them,” replied Veles. But as he observed Davis’s blank reaction, he had no idea how to react. “You should be aware by now that I’m not human. In fact, I don’t have even a drop of human blood. Beasts recognize this, which makes them extremely wary of me...”

After a moment of silence, Davis replied “Well, you certainly look human to me.”

“Look me in the eyes,” said Veles, after facing him.

Curious, Davis listened. But the moment he focused, he was forced to blink. And when he finally registered what had happened. Veles and Olivia were already a few steps ahead of him.

“W-What was that?” Davis exclaimed. He increased the pace and reached them.

“Nothing. I just made you zone out for a moment. Stop wasting your brain cells on stupid questions,” replied Veles with a smirk. “Tough, I wish I had mana right now. You are a perfect candidate for me to practice abilities I had long ago disregarded as useless.”

Davis gulped. He perfectly understood what Veles was implying. It would seem that his future as a test dummy was set in stone.

Nonetheless, it seemed like nothing would stop him from asking another stupid thing to state his curiosity, “So, you are something else under that skin? Like demons from myths?”

“No, I actually look like this. And if you compare me to filthy demons again, I will break your ankles,” Veles said calmly. “However, why are you surprised? You aren’t full human either.”

“Come again?” Davis suddenly stopped in his tracks… again.

And Veles did too. “You didn’t know?”

“That I’m not human? No, of course, I didn’t.” Davis stared, expecting an explanation.

“Oh, this is interesting. I thought you had already researched yourself? I mean, you probably noticed you were different, right?” Veles raised an eyebrow at confused Davis.

“No, I knew I was born with a defect that prevents me from projecting mana outside my body, which forced me to focus mainly on augmenting my physical strength. But I don’t think I’m any different than other people…” Davis then had a thoughtful look on his face. “Also, my parents, they are normal…”

It was now Veles’s turn to be confused. “Don’t think about nonsense. Bloodlines could be tricky, and you most likely inherited something from like ten generations before and awakened it. But what bothers me, though, is that you never had the instinct to serve as your guide. You never felt like something deep within telling you what to do?”

Davis just shook his head.

“How interesting,” added Veles. Now that he thought about it, it made sense. During his imprisonment, he found out that the majority of those born in Osvalen never developed the talents they were born with. It was like they were somehow, suppressed.

“We have to check this,” Veles pointed out. Which slightly spooked Davis and made the guy take a step back. “No, I won’t cut you open and literally check. I can perform numerous scans with mana and determine your strengths and weaknesses. Although, it would be best if you find it yourself.”

Davis nodded, relieved. “Okey. But how long till mana is available?”

Veles closed his eyes and concentrated. A small strand of psychic energy left his glabella and grabbed a particle of atmospheric mana. But just as he touched it, he pulled back. “Tomorrow morning.”

“Good,” Davis replied. “It is getting uncomfortable to walk without mana.”

However, Veles ignored whatever Davis said. Instead, his focus was on Olivia, who was looking at him, not directly, but a little above his head. “You can see it?”

“The strand of energy? Yes,” she replied.

“Like see it? Or just felt it is there?” Veles intriguingly asked.

Olivia tilted her head to the side and replied. “More like felt it,” she paused, taking a moment to think about something she asked. “Am I human?”

“Trust me, girl. You are the purest human there is. I doubt anybody can be more human than you,” Veles replied with a smile. Oh, only if she knew…

She nodded. Not showing any extra curiosity or care.

Veles was satisfied with this much. At least she showed some kind of interest in something. Ever since they left that cave, she was there, following them like a shadow without showing any emotion or anything at all. Which worried Veles, especially when they fought that assassin guy. She displayed no hesitation or cared if her life was in danger. It was disturbing, and Veles wanted to get to the bottom of it.

He could only hope she would regain a part of her previous self during their time inside this boring forest. No matter how many memories her ability ate, her core personality was still somewhere deep, waiting to resurface again.

“Can you still tell if we are in danger?” asked Veles.

“No, it passed an hour ago,” Olivia immediately replied.

“I guess it’s time then,” mumbled Veles. He checked his wounded ribs. They hurt like hell. However, he was confident he could handle it.

***

Sun was slowly setting on the horizon, a truly blessed sight. Its orange hue shone on vast expanses of green leaves, signaling that the night was about to come.

Veles and the two enjoyed this sight. All the struggle to climb one of the trees was totally worth it…

Davis was immersed in this beautiful atmosphere, while Veles and Olivia were looking in a certain direction.

“What are we doing here again?” Davis asked. Not understanding Veles’s sudden request to spend an hour climbing a giant tree.

“We are here to check if my message was delivered on time,” replied Veles mysteriously.

“Message? What are you talking about?” Not knowing what Veles’s intentions were, he focused on where the two were already looking.

“To not touch my stuff…It’s time.” Just as Veles said it, it appeared, a giant mushroom of destructive flame rising to the skies. Bringing with itself a cloud of pure destruction and leaving nothing in its wake.

“Hold onto something…” Veles warned as he held onto one of the branches hard. The two instantly obeyed, barely one time…

Boom! Following the loud sound of an explosion, gusts of hot air washed them over, making them sway backward. But it didn’t happen just once. It hit them in waves, each time scaring Davis and Olivia more and more.

Eventually, it stopped. Both Davis and Olivia looked terrified as they observed Veles, who casually looked at the aftermath. Of course, he knows what was on their minds…

“You see when one performs numerous experiments. It’s easy to learn one very interesting skill,” Veles then looked at them. “A skill to blow stuff up.”

Veles then continued, “A Tenth Stage Blaze Salamander's core combined with an essence extracted from a Frostbitter Lilac’s petal causes an extremely violent mana reaction. It surprised even me. And as you can see, effects are really destructive.“ Of course, Veles didn’t want to admit that he found out about this by accident…

“Was it that metal barrel?” Davis did nothing to hide his shock. He looked at his shaky hands, probably thinking how he touched something capable of causing this…

“Yes. But worry not. I doubt I could ever get another Salamander’s core like that. It was a hard bargain to convince the forest’s beasts to give me the core of one of the five Overlords,” then, Veles looked at wide-eyed Davis. “You good there?”

But Davis seemed to have come to some conclusion. “What kind of message was that supposed to send? And more importantly, how can someone even survive to spread it?”

“Trust me, someone did,” Veles slowly started descending the tree. “Now, get down. We are going to need a serious rest. Every bit of energy will be needed tomorrow.”

This would hopefully teach some people a lesson, especially the beasts of the forest who swore their assistance to him. The thing he hated the most was someone not honoring their promise and the beasts had tested his patience on this matter numerous times. If they thought he would act differently just because he was released and had no power, he would teach them a painful lesson…

On his way down the tree, Veles gave his all to ignore Olivia mumbling the word “Beautiful” as she watched from where the explosion came from. Honestly, that was more worrying than the whole beast thing, but probably… everything would be alright.