Chương 16

Ethan hopped from the tree crest and [Blink]ed to the ground for an easy landing. He took out his makeshift shower and hung it from a branch. Before jumping under the water, he called for Beet, looking up.

''Keep an eye on them and let me know if they leave.'' Beet nodded slowly with a sinister look.''No, no!'' He pointed his index finger, narrowing his eyes.

''We are not going to kill them. Not unless they attack us first. Okay?'' Beet tilted his head.'' No killing sapients. Except for self-defense. Ugh, just follow my lead, and only attack when I say so.'' Getting a hesitant nod, he sent his clothes to his ring and started showering in a rush. After that, he waited for the couple to finish their business.

Once they were done and started to get dressed, he tied his hair back, smoothed the wrinkles of his cloak, and adjusted its collars, straightening up and turning to Beet.

''How do I look?'' He was still barefoot, and now bare-chested, since his t-shirt got shredded about a month ago. Half of his left pant leg was missing, and the rest of it was full of holes and tears. Meanwhile, his cloak looked good as new, hiding his talisman under its sleeve and covering his body that was packed with faint scars. The two tier-ups had actually healed all his old scars, while the new ones had faded to barely recognizable marks.

Still, they added to his wild appearance, especially with the monster part daggers on. Beet didn't answer, using his right to remain silent. With a snicker, Ethan turned around and started walking toward the couple. When they noticed his presence, they were startled and drew their weapons into a defensive stance. A black mace appeared in the girl's hand, and the elf picked up his bow, holding an arrow loosely against the string.'' Hello!'' Ethan called with his most amiable voice, raising his hands.

''I mean no harm. I got lost in the forest. Can you guys help me out, please?'' They looked at each other with confused expressions, slightly relieved. The girl turned at him.

''Why are you talking like that?'' Ethan blinked. Oh, right. Accents. He'd learned the language only from books, and while Ani helped with the pronunciation by analyzing the content, they didn't have any benchmark for speaking. At least he understood what she said with little trouble. They probably understand me even less. Though it shouldn't be a problem to adjust my pronunciation after listening to them for some time.'' Um, I actually only learned this language from books. Sorry.

This is my first time speaking it,'' he said with an apologetic smile, and added mentally, Except the times I talked Beet's ear off. They tensed up once again. The elf's eyes opened wide.

''What!? Are you from Noxara? How is that possible? The gates stopped working centuries ago!'' Noxara? The continent? Hmm–Nah, let's not flip the script. Ethan threw a confused look.

''I don't know what that is. I came from a secluded village deep inside the forest. We don't have any contact with outsiders. Some weird temple teleported me here by accident. Look, things have been pretty tough for me these past few months. I'd really appreciate it if you guys could help me reach the nearest settlement, and if that's too much trouble, just point me in the right direction, and I'll be on my way.'' The frown on their faces eased a little as they listened.

Though the girl still watched him like a hawk.

''A hidden village deep in the Ivory Woodlands?'' she asked.

''How did you guys even survive until now?''''They must have some powerful tier-9s,'' the boy guessed.

''The council isn't going to like this.''''Which direction did you come from?''''Northeast, I think.''''What weird temple did you–''''Alice,'' the elf interrupted his partner with an amused smile, lowering his bow.

''Stop giving him a hard time. He was clearly in a pickle for quite a while. Let's return to camp first. You can continue to interrogate him there.''''What? Are you serious?'' she asked, taken aback.''Why not? He seems like a decent fellow.'' The girl, Alice, furrowed her brows and considered for a time.

''Fine!'' she said, throwing her arms into the air and whipped her head at him.

''You better shut your mouth and behave yourself.'' Ethan didn't understand what she meant by shutting his mouth since she was demanding answers just now, but still followed them after. It only got clear when they reached their camping site. Another human was waiting for them there, skinning a crocodile-like beast next to an extinguished firepit. Alice ran to him with a big smile and gave him a long kiss before turning and glaring at Ethan as if daring him to blabber, while the elf watched him with a playful smile.

He stood there with a subtle, strained smile. Peachy. I can understand that affairs and intrigues are universal, but why do I have to stumble into one right off the bat?'' Welcome back, babe,'' the human boy said to Alice with affection, turning to Ethan.

''I see you brought company as well.''''Right, we never got your name,'' the elf said to him.

''I'm Nuvian, and these are Alice and Oliver.''''Nice to meet you, guys. I'm Ethan.'' Oliver arched a brow.''Yup. He talks oddly,'' Alice piped in. Nuvian put a hand on his shoulder and looked at Oliver.

''Ethan here was lost in the Ivory Woodland and asked us whether we could bring him to the nearest settlement or not. What do you think?''''I mean, we still need some time until you reach tier-3,'' Oliver replied, looking at the others.

''If he can wait until then, why not? Or maybe you can join us for a hunt, Ethan? Only when you feel comfortable, and against weaker beasts, of course.'' Oh, is that why they keep their guard low? They think I'm weak. And maybe I am, who knows? He only reached tier-2 recently. Among them, Alice was late tier-2, Nuvian was peak tier-2, and Oliver was mid tier-3.

''Sure, I can join. If you guys don't mind.''''How did you even get lost in the woods? Are you from the Union?''''Why don't we sit down?'' Alice interrupted.

''He has one hell of a story to tell.'' They sat down in a semicircle under a large tree's shade as he rehearsed his fabricated tale, adding more details to make his peculiarities and ignorance more plausible. In the meantime, he took a close look at the others. Oliver and Alice were both good looking brunettes, and a head shorter than him. Despite his small stature, Oliver had a heroic appearance with his focused eyes, firm jaw, and broad chest.

The pale blond elf, Nuvian, on the other hand, was a bit taller than Ethan and brought a whole new meaning to handsome, likely due to magical elf genes or the elegant, black leather armor he wore. They all looked about the same age as him, and seemed to have zero situational awareness, listening to him with rapt attention in a forest that was teeming with monsters. It made him curious if they had contingencies in place or some other reason. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen.

Please report the infringement. Once the storytime was over, Oliver looked pretty shaken up from the revelation.

''A secluded human village in the most dangerous region of the Ivory Woodland without any contact with the outside, protected by a powerful illusion array. A single family ruling generations after generations, hoarding not only the skills and the artifacts, but also the information about the outside in a tight, close circle. The only way out is getting stronger, and that's only possible by giving them your absolute loyalty. Wow. You're really lucky to have found that temple and escaped.''''

And they've taught you martial arts since you were a little kid, but never mentioned anything about cultivation?'' Alice asked, narrowing her blue eyes.

''Even after you were 16?'' 16? What happens at 16? He shook his head, feeling like the lie might spiral at any moment inside.

''No. The elders said cultivation is about self-growth. Anything they tell us might taint our own understanding, and that we can find new perspectives if we figure it out by ourselves.''''It makes some sense,'' Nuvian said.

''I know a few powerful families with similar approaches, but why wouldn't they teach the others alchemy, smithing, runes, formations, and so on?''''Why else? Because they only saw the citizens as cannon fodder!'' Oliver said fervently, making a fist.

''Why scatter the power instead of keeping it in the family? They trained the others physically so that they would be ready in case they joined the family. Even then, they would only get the worst skills and items compared to the senior retainers, and never have access to the goods the main family members have. I bet whenever a genius appeared among the residents, they either married into the family or disappeared suddenly!'' Ethan blinked as the guy shared the secret lore he didn't know.

Even the other two were left speechless. And where is my lore, goddamn it!? What is happening here? Oliver coughed into his fist, shifting his eyes.

''I mean, I'm just theorizing here. Sorry if I said anything offensive.'' He gave a wry smile.

''Well, it wasn't all that bad. I have many people I care about there. I don't know where exactly it is, but I wish to return there sometime in the future.''''Right, you don't even know if it's really in the Ivory Woodland, only that you have a similar plant life there. Isn't it all too convenient?'' Alice said.

''Also, I never heard anyone speaking a language other than Azoran and Noxaran.''''They speak a different language in the Velmora Archipelago,'' Oliver pointed out.

''I heard merchants complaining about it.''''Maybe, but that's not the issue, is it? We still don't know if he's lying,'' Alice countered, turning back at Ethan with an undeterred expression.

''Speak it, then. Speak your native language, and let's see if it's any different from Noxaran.'''' Sure. If that's what you want,'' he said in English. Taking in their surprise, he turned to Alice with a straight face and continued, ''That's right. Tremble before my linguistics. I even know enough Spanish to get by, and more than a hundred words in Japanese. Who do you think you are dealing with, kuso yarou?'''' Fascinating,'' Nuvian said with a tight, pursed smile.''

I've never heard anything like it,'' Olvier added, leaning in. Alice nodded, dropping her shoulders.

''Yeah, it didn't sound like he was faking it either.'' Suppressing a smile, he switched to Azoran and changed the subject.

''What's this Noxara you're talking about?''''A continent as big as Azora,'' Nuvian answered as he absentmindedly uprooted some grass in a not very elf-like way.

''In the past, it was practically our backyard. When their sirens entered a business partnership with our merfolk, it became a flourishing trade hub. Many influential families started establishing other branches there. Other than the elves, I guess. We never quite got along with the dark elves over there. Anyway, about 500 years ago, a huge war broke out and spread everywhere like a plague. The strongest faction of the time, the vampires, decided to conquer both continents and rule over the others.

They fought against everyone but their dwarf allies for decades. In the end, it became clear that their dream was a bit too ambitious. They cut their losses short and escaped to Noxara along with most of the dwarf population before destroying all the ancient continental teleportation gates. For the last half a millennium, we didn't hear anything from them, but everyone knows if travel between continents becomes possible once again, it'll likely bring another war with it.

That's why when you said you learned our language from books, Noxara was the first thing that came to my mind, and it made me freak out.'' Let's hope none of my friends ended up there, he thought with a mental sigh.

''Is the distance between them too far? Can you not reach there with a ship?''''Not only is it extremely far, but also full of dangers,'' Nuvian replied.

''Both the sea and the sky are full of high-tier creatures. It might be possible for some tier-9 powerhouses with high-grade flying artifacts, but even they wouldn't treat it casually. For everyone else, that kind of years-long journey is simply suicide.'' Years-long journey with flying artifacts? Just how big is this place? No wonder there were only 32 biochip users in the 10. 000 miles radius.

''What about the nearest settlement? Can you tell me how far it is and in which direction?''''Our hometown is the closest one,'' Oliver said.

''It's called Ehrendil, one of the four Free Cities. If you head southwest, you'll be there in about 2 or 3 months, but I wouldn't recommend going alone. You'll have to cross Emerald Forest to reach there, and while it's safer than here, the edge of Ivory Woodland, it's still too dangerous to solo travel for someone at early tier-2.'' Same place, then. Three biochip users are in Ehrendil. Are the other groups in different Free Cities? He shook his head.

''No, I was just curious. I don't mind waiting until you guys are ready to return. Can I ask–'' Alice let out a high-pitched scream, pointing behind him.

''W-What is that!?'' Ethan snapped his head back and saw Beet chilling on a tree branch and playing with the leaves in a bored manner, as he'd rather kill some babies than waste his time here. He turned back and raised his hands as the others drew their weapons.'' Wait! He is with me! Don't worry, he won't attack anyone.'''' He is with you?'' Oliver repeated in disbelief.'' Uh-huh. A friend of mine. Name's Beet. We've been traveling together for some time. Don't be misled by his appearance. He's a kind soul.

Very well-mannered.'' Alice looked between him and Beet a few times.

''Are we talking about the same creature?''''Could he be under some kind of enthrallment?'' Nuvian asked, looking at Ethan with worry. It took a few more minutes to convince them that the evil prince was harmless. Luckily, they mistook Beet's indifference for obedience and chose to trust him.''It's impressive that it reached tier-2, but I advise against having it as a beast companion,'' Oliver said, looking at Beet curiously.

''As far as I know, mantises don't have bloodline skills. It'll never break through to tier-3.''''Why is it even tier-2?'' Alice asked, bewildered.

''It should've been killing weaker creatures to feed itself. How did it gather so much essence in the first place?''''It might have eaten some natural treasure,'' Nuvian offered.

''Remember Tommy's mother? I heard that she found a tier-4 rabbit when she was a kid and kept it as a pet. It's still with her after a century, though its cultivation never progressed.''''What if I get skills for him?'' Ethan asked in worry.

''Wouldn't that work?'''' You can always buy some, but it's a big risk. He needs to understand the principles of the skills in order to advance them. Beasts aren't usually that smart at low tiers. They might have an easier time if they are truly talented, but again, as Alice said, the ones without bloodline skills only hunt to feed themselves.

It's not in their nature to kill others for their essence, and the cultivation manuals we use don't work for beasts, not unless they reach tier-9 first and decide to evolve into a hybrid form.'' Hunting to feed himself? Please. Little terror might not care about Exp, but that's because he kills for the sake of the game, Ethan thought with pursed lips.

''A hybrid form, huh? Interesting. What did you mean by talented? Is that some kind of cultivation affinity?'' Oliver chuckled and stood up.

''I understand you have a lot of questions, but we're wasting daylight. Let's go for a hunt and find ourselves a dinner. We can keep talking after that. You'll be with us for a good while anyway. Why the rush?'' What rush? This is me holding back. Ethan scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

''Oh, sure. Let's see how you fight.''