Chapter 81 - A Journey With Acquaintances (2)

The next morning the group met up once again and continued on their journey.

"Say, I just realized that you never told us your name," said Marya from behind Calder, breaking the silence.

"Arya. But I don't see how that's important," replied Arya, as he kept his eyes in front. He was still traumatized from the ambush he and Arcem had sustained to the demon beast, so he decided to always remain vigilant.

"Communication makes up a good part of a team's success," said Marya as if reciting something she was told over and over again.

"Sometimes I forget that she's just a child." thought Arya as he ignored Marya's mantra.

"So are you really a kid?" asked  Marya, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"What does it matter if I'm a kid or not? Shouldn't you just be worried about whether I can get the job done or not?" asked Arya getting annoyed by Marya's many questions.

"I don't doubt your power, I've seen it with my own eyes. I'm only asking out of curiosity because you look like a child but you don't act like one," replied Marya getting on Arya's last nerve.

"No, I'm not a child. I'm a grown man trapped in a child's body," replied Arya bitterly. Although he meant it sarcastically, he realized that it was more of a half-truth than a complete lie.

"You're not telling the truth. So you really are a child," replied Marya before turning back in front.

"What do you mean I'm not telling the truth? Can you tell if someone is lying?" asked Arya, confused by Marya's reply.

"Something like that. Elves can tell the nature of people's actions based on their expressions. You had one of malice meaning you weren't telling the truth" replied Marya briefly.

"This might be a problem." thought Arya as one of his greatest weapons was now effectively useless in front of the elven girl.

"You know, you're one of the most powerful kids I've ever seen. You might even be as powerful as the  Ai Vahish of the elven kingdom," said Marya.

"Ai Vahish?" asked Arya confused by the foreign tongue.

"It's elvish for "elite chosen". They're the group of young chosen to be the future leaders of the kingdom. The fact that I'm comparing you to them means you should be honored. Though even among them you might still be the weakest," replied Marya.

"How strong could a bunch of kids possibly be?" scoffed Arya, as the idea of an elite group of kids sounded absurd to him.

"The strongest among them, the future elf king is already a 4-star mage. And he's just 19," replied Marya, expecting to leave Arya in shock. However, Arya was indifferent.

Although the power that Marya had seen was just temporary, and he still had no idea how he used it, he was also planning on quickly reaching the peak of magic. For Arya who was just 5 but was already able to use magic, it wasn't an impossible goal to achieve.

"You shouldn't be talking about the achievements of others. What about you huh?" asked Arya, trying to find a way to make her shut up while embarrassing her at the same time.

"I was a nominee for the Ai Vahish as well. Although I'm not as powerful as you yet, I've already achieved the 2-star stage," replied Marya with a hint of dignity in her voice.

"2-star? Then that must mean she isn't a pushover." thought Arya as his image of Marya changed. In his mind, he had played many scenarios where he would just abandon or take advantage of her if something happened to Calder. However now he had to change his plans.

"But that's why I'm going to Belgard. In order to increase my magic power and join their ranks," said Marya as they arrived at a small town.

"This is the last town we are stopping at. After this there will be no other towns to rest at, so get whatever supplies you need before we enter the forest." said Calder before heading towards an inn.

After booking the two rooms, Calder and Marya went out to look for food, leaving Arya by himself in his room.

"Ai Vahish, why does that seem familiar." thought Arya as he pulled out the journal. He flipped a few pages before finally landing on the page. "Estrelum asperga Ai Vahish elumcora." read the line.

"So the book is in elvish?" thought Arya as he continued paging to see if he would find another line with the words Ai Vahish, but didn't manage to find any.

"You're still looking at that book?" asked the dark figure.

"What's it to you?" asked Arya as he continued searching.

"The book isn't written in a single language." replied the dark figure, prompting Arya to stop paging.

"How do you know that?" asked Arya.

"Because parts of it are in demon tongue." replied the dark figure before going silent again.

"Demon tongue? What is demon tongue doing in a book I found in a random shed?" asked Arya, but he got no reply.

"Bastard."

The next morning the group grabbed a few supplies from the town merchants and set off on the final leg of their journey. 

After traveling for a few hours the wide-open plains started to gradually become filled with trees. Soon the terrain around them was completely forest and a strange aura surrounded them.

"We're here," said Calder as he looked around. It was currently midday, but the sun's rays were being blocked by the tall trees.

"From now on stay on high alert. There are many creatures here who can blend in and camouflage, if we're not careful we might end up being someone's dinner before we even make it past the first part of the forest," said Calder before dismounting his horse.

"We let go of the horses here. Horses won't be able to make it through this terrain, and they would just be easy prey for the monsters," said Calder as he slung the satchel with all their supplies over his head.

He decided to play the role of leader since although Arya was a powerful mage, he highly doubted that Arya had any survival skills in the wilderness.