"How about you let me explain?"
An Old Elf that neither Nial nor Mathias had seen before emerged from the Forest of Life.
His movements were slow, and he was limping while moving around with a cane.
The eyes of the old Elf were covered with a bandage, but one could clearly see huge claw marks on his head, arm, and leg.
He was clearly a retired Warrior or someone, who had survived a lethal predatory attack.
Nial's visualization with the use of his Innate ability [Mana Sense] did not allow him to perceive the scars on the old Elf's body.
However, what Nial was able to perceive was the fact that the old Elf's mana veins were severed.
Not only was the old Elf not able to advance his mana core anymore but it looked like his mana core itself had been injured as well.
'His rank deteriorated...' Nial deduced within seconds.
"Master Crevian, why are you out here? The mana outside is too impure for you, Master Crevian, please don't overwork your body! You know your condition better than anyone else..." Tessa exclaimed in the elven language, rushing to Master Crevian, who kept moving toward Nial.
He completely ignored Tessa's pleas, and only stopped, when he heard Nial mumbling,
"Master Crevian?"
Even Tessa halted for a moment while Bilarn looked at Nial with doubt.
'Did he learn the elven tongue?' An identical expression of doubt appeared on their faces as the question flashed through Tessa and Bilarn's minds at that moment.
Even Nial was not sure why he understood these two words, and nothing else.
It confused him a bit as well, but Nial didn't think much about it.
"Your name is Nial, right?" Master Crevian spoke, using the human language. Nial nodded in return, before making the specific hand signs for a formal greeting in the Elven language.
"You really are a polite young man, just like Valvian said. I can see why he is trying to find out more about you, the relationship between your powers, and why the nature of the Forest of Life, and its mana adore you.
I wonder how you learned about the Elven's hand signs to the extent that it was possible for you to converse properly." Master Crevian continued, however upon perceiving how troubled Nial felt at the thought of revealing his secrets, the Old Elf merely smiled.
"But I won't ask you anything about it. I don't want to pry into your secrets if you do not feel comfortable."
Nial nearly sighed in relief when he heard what Master Crevian said. Fortunately, he had his emotions under control and could prevent that.
Thus, he could listen to the explanation of Master Crevian, the Old Elf, who received the deepest respect from both Tessa and Bilarn as they distanced themselves from him before changing to a stance that could be considered the Elven race's equivalent of a military salute.
"Now to you, little fella. I should answer your questions, right?" The Old Elf asked with a broad smile. Nial nodded once again, which Master Crevian took as a sign to start speaking once again.
"First of all, the reason why we have not killed you, or why we don't even consider you as an enemy is the fact that the Forest of Life allowed you to enter it.
Nature and Mana love you, which is even less reason for us to hate, or fear you to the extent that we would kill a small child. In the future, you might change, and turn into a Destroyer, but that doesn't mean you will actually destroy entire landscapes just because you can.
If you do that, nature will start to loathe you and mana won't swirl toward you on its own.
As for why you are loved by nature and mana despite the powers you possess, even I am clueless. I watched your spar, and I can definitely say that your power is still in its early stages, and a bit weak in comparison to what it can become in the future.
However, it is definitely destructive, and worse than some fully grown destructive powers I've seen in my life....and let me tell you that I have lived a long life that was filled with numerous battles. The destruction someone at the Prometheus rank can cause is insignificant in comparison to what I saw in my lifetime."
For a short time, Nial was worried that the Old Elf belonged to the higher authorities, who had seen Damian's powers. Master Crevian's existence was an unknown variable, Nial hadn't expected to come across.
Fortunately, the situation wasn't serious, and Nial learned quite a bit.
Nobody seemed to know why Nial was loved by nature or mana, but that was not something he gave much thought to either.
It was advantageous, and if Nial were to look at the situation with a simple mind, he could only think that it had to do with the Ankh.
'But it cannot be the Ankh, or can it?' Nial started to wonder. If the Old Elf Crevian was not even sure why exactly nature and mana loved him, it could be related to the Ankh.
After all, it had invigorated him, and it caused subtle changes to the Odyssey seed, forcing it to beat. But on the other hand, there was no other change Nial noticed. The Ankh hadn't done anything special since then, and Nial had nearly forgotten about it.
'Still, it's the only thing that could be the cause of everything...was I lucky?' Unsure of the correct answer, Nial turned his focus away from his train of thoughts after hearing several people from further behind approaching them.
It was Tyson, a few other Prometheus Originals, and some other Originals, who had gotten impatient. It was a small group, with most of the people belonging to big trading firms, large and influential families, and many higher authorities of the government and the military.
'Their patience is over, huh?' Nial could only think, just to realize that he hadn't seen Silvian for quite some time.
Expanding his range of perception, Nial searched for him and a deep frown appeared on his face.
"He is not here?" Nial blurted out in confusion, making quite a few people turn towards him, including the Old Elf Crevian.
"Who is not here?" Mathias asked, understanding that Nial's expression and words meant that something was off.
It was weird for Silvian to leave just like that, which was why Nial was certain that he was still somewhere near the Forest of Life.
'He wouldn't give up an opportunity to become stronger just because he doesn't like the Elves...I don't believe that.' He thought, just to get proven wrong as Tyson appeared next to him.
"The Sacred Knights leader left not too long after you entered the Forest of Life. I think it was after the last Elf emerged from the green portal. It was probably shortly after the portal descended into the forest. He altered the teleportation circle temporarily and went somewhere, but nobody knows where exactly." Tyson answered Nial's questions and shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing important.
Even if he didn't adore or hated Nial, he would have to speak to him. This was something Tyson and many other Originals had realized. Nial seemed to have a special bond with the Elves, and from the beginning, he was the one who had approached them and established communication using weird hand signs.
It was obvious that he knew more about Elves than others and that this knowledge helped him a lot.
That was one of the many reasons the Originals wanted to approach Nial and get on friendly terms with him.
As long as they had a bond with him, they might gain something out of it. This was what many Originals had in their mind.
However, all of a sudden, the atmosphere in the area around Nial, his friend, master, and the surrounding changed drastically. The gravitational force seemed to increase too.
"Young man, are you sure about what you just said?" Master Crevian suddenly asked in a pointed voice. His expression had turned serious, and his eyes were ice-cold. The presence he released all of a sudden was terrifying, and everyone, including Tessa and Bilarn, flinched instinctively.
'So terrifying.' Mathias could only think as he felt as if the entire blood from his body had been drained. He had gone rigid like a frozen statue, feeling that a single move would break his entire body.
However, his gaze was fixated on the Old Elf, who retracted his overbearing presence and reverted it to the original. He began to cough up blood, and the little mana in his body got unstable.
Nial instinctively stepped forward, preventing the Old Man from falling over. Tessa and Bilarn had moved simultaneously, but Nial was faster.
'So cold...' That was the first thought in his mind when the Old Man's arm came in contact with him.
But it was merely a moment later that Nial felt something else. The Ankh within him began to glow. Nial's body was invigorated, and the sensation overflowed within his body.
Several seconds passed before the vigor within his body began to overflow, sweeping over to the Old Elf Crevian.
No human noticed what was happening, but the pale Old Elf Crevian gained more strength through absorbing the vitality. He was able to stand on his own two legs without the support of his cane though his hands were trembling.
Meanwhile, Tessa and Bilarn looked at Nial with shocked expressions, not daring to speak a single word, let alone touch either Nial or Master Crevian.
They didn't want to interfere in anything, however, their eyes and mana perception were fully focused on what was happening.
"Did he just transfer some of his life force to Master Crevian?" Tessa mumbled in the elven tongue. However, Bilarn just shook his head, not sure how to explain what exactly he had perceived.
"Life force is not that powerful...but it cannot be the Essence of Life either... I have no idea what is going on." Bilarn was annoyed that he could not solve the mystery.
Nial had definitely invigorated Master Crevian because he was able to stand on his own feet after releasing the presence of his old self when he was still unscathed.
It was not as powerful as it had been in the past, but Master Crevian's presence was still terrifying. And it was definitely not something his body could endure anymore!
Thus, the current situation was a wonder because Master Crevian was still able to stand, almost as if nothing had happened.
Nial was also not sure why the Ankh had suddenly reacted or how he had transferred the overflowing vigor to the Old Elf. He had simply done it, which bothered Nial a little bit.
'I'm glad that I could help him, but if the situation gets even more complicated than it already is, I might lose my sanity.' He thought, trying to calm himself down.
However, Nial was already bothered that Silvian had disappeared somewhere without letting anyone know where it was.
He had a premonition about the scheming of the God of Saints and Devils. Silvian was definitely not up to something good.
Nial couldn't afford to get pulled into another complicated situation. That was also why he was happy when the Ankh was deactivated a moment later.
The Old Elf held onto Nial for a moment without realizing it before letting him go.
'Is that why nature and mana love him, is that a special trait...or something else?' Crevian was not sure about it, but he could tell that the invigoration his body received from Nial was not something normal.
But it was also clear that Nial didn't want anyone to know about it because he let go of Crevian the moment it was possible.
'Well, let's think about that later...I think I have more troublesome things to figure out...' Crevian just thought, averting his focus back to Tyson once again.
"Please tell me more about this 'Sacred Knights leader'. Does anyone know more about him? Why did he leave all of a sudden when he saw the portal descending in the Forest of Life, for example? Who knows him best here?"
Crevian had many questions, and he wanted an answer for all of them. However, what the old Elf didn't expect was that everyone's gaze turned to a specific person after hearing his last question all of a sudden.
Crevian and the other two Elves could clearly tell that everyone thought of just one person when the question "who knows him best?" came up.
Yet, Crevian didn't expect this person to be the same human who had just helped him.
Everyone's gaze was on Nial, who sighed deeply before mumbling,
"I guess, one could say that I know him a little bit..."
'I really cannot escape trouble...' He thought before adding inwardly.
'But for real...why did Silvian leave after seeing the descending portal??'
**
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