Taking his loss with disappointment, Astaroth walked over to the group of villagers who were standing in front of the tree's entrance. The villagers were fearful of the entrance since they had yet to go inside this massive tree.
Ever since their arrival, Teraria and Arborea had sent them underground, where it was easier for them to maintain the barrier hiding them. No one had gone up the tree to inspect it, not even Kloud or Aberon.
Flanking the group of about twenty refugees was Silent Light, as well as Genie and the newly formed Luna, in her Elven body.
Genie was sniffing at her curiously, eliciting giggles from the little girl, and Silent Light was slightly distraught by her new appearance. Having her suddenly look like a cute little girl, instead of a doe, was making him feel weird.
He glanced over at Astaroth, wondering if he had asked for this appearance change.
'Is he secretly a furry?'
Astaroth didn't like the look the teen was sending him, so he gave him a light punch on the shoulder when he arrived near him.
On the other side of the group of refugees was the small party of five that had escorted Silent Light here, and they looked thrilled to be making the trip back with their guild leader.
As Astaroth glanced over at them again, he noticed something he hadn't yet.
Around the little girl with the book, her wings pointing her to be of the Fey race, was a wisp of moving mana. But the wisp was moving in such an esoteric fashion, he doubted it was just mana particles reacting to her.
He walked over to the girl, his eyes locked on the wisp the entire time. The closer he got, the more he could feel a familiar pulse from the wisp of mana.
The pulse resembled closely a heartbeat. That's when he connected the dots.
'A spirit! Is she a spirit user?'
Stopping in front of the girl, who was suddenly in shock at being so close to their intimidating guild leader, he looked into her eyes.
"That wisp floating around you. It's a spirit, right?"
The little girl looked at him, wide-eyed, unsure how he had even spotted the spirit, which was currently hiding its presence from the people around. Even for her, the spirit, or pixie in this case, was only a semi-transparent form of itself, floating around her, being annoying.
Even the pixie stopped floating around, surprised someone was seeing it while it was concealed.
It floated its way in front of the Ash Elf, looking into his eyes, and suddenly looked delighted, flying back to the little girl's side, whispering into her ear.
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm "No! Ele, I can't say that to him!" the girl hissed.
But Astaroth was right before her, and he could hear her, as opposed to hearing the spirit.
"Say what?"
The girl looked at him nervously.
"I really can't repeat it, sir. It's very uncouth of her."
Astaroth frowned.
"Please. I want to know. Worry not about trivialities like being civilized. I know full well spiritual beings tend to be less inclined to them."
The girl twirled her hands together, nervousness overtaking her. She looked reticent for a moment before sighing loudly.
"She said she likes the colour of your soul. And that she would like to taste it…"
Astaroth raised an eyebrow for a second.
"Taste it? What is she, a dementor?"
"No! No, she is not something so repugnant, sir—"
"Drop the sir. Just call me Astaroth."
"I… I couldn't, sir. You are the guild leader. I need to uphold that decorum."
Astaroth clicked his tongue audibly, disappointed in the girl's lack of spine. But he was more curious about her spirit, and what others she might have.
"Then why would she taste my soul?"
"Ahh. Well, she is a pixie. And pixies link themselves to people by binding their souls together. Usually by consuming a part of it."
"Hmm. I assume even if she wanted to taste mine, she is already bound to yours. So where, might I ask, did you find this pixie of yours?"
Astaroth's curiosity was piqued deeply. If he could gather spirits for himself, without having to use souls of dead monsters or the such, he could possibly boost his power rapidly.
But the little girl frowned.
"They can't be found willingly, sir. I stumbled upon the spirits under my control. It is more likely they found me than the other way around."
A look of disappointment found its way onto Astaroth's face.
'It was worth a try, I guess.'
No longer interested, he thanked the girl for her time and headed toward the head of the group. He could only hope he would cross paths with one someday.
Until then, he had other things to take care of.
Reaching the head of the group, and standing on a tree stump, Astaroth gathered everyone's attention.
"Thank you for all making your way here quickly. Now, the path to the top of the tree is very direct, and as long as you don't wander off into any room or side paths, it will be a quick march. Once you reach the top, if you can just wait for me there, we shall depart shortly after. Questions?"
Seeing no one raise their hand or speak up, Astaroth nodded to Aberon, who started walking up into the tree, shouting to those behind him.
"Alright, people. Keep up!"
The group of refugees marched behind Aberon, following his lead upward in a spiralling motion, as the party of five players followed behind them, Silent Light following behind, with Astaroth and his little posse.
The march upward was not as fast as it could have been, with some refugees being elderly people, and their gait being much slower, but it was still an eventless trip.
Once they reached the large open room at the top, most of them stopped advancing, their mouths opening in awe. But Aberon snapped back to attention, barking at them to keep up as they walked into the center of the room.
Astaroth immediately went around the group once he reached the floor, and stepped toward Nemus.
The goddess looked at him; her smile still present.
"Are these the people that will accompany you?"
Nodding his head, Astaroth replied.
"Yes. Also, once we are gone, a few of the villagers have decided to stay. I would like for them to be kept safe, at least until I can send someone here that ensures the continuity of security. I also will be sending someone with the Property Deed in hand, and he will be taking possession of the lands instead of me. Will that do?"
Nemus looked thoughtful for a second, before slowly nodding her head.
"I will acknowledge whoever holds the deed. I trust you know what you are doing. Now, let us proceed to send you home with them."
Astaroth thanked her, walking back toward the group, and asking them to cluster together as much as possible. Once everyone was squeezed together, the goddess waved her hand, a wave of Aether leaving her body and washing over the crowd.
In a mere moment, they were gone.
"Good luck to you in the future, Alexander. You will need it now that we are separated. He will surely find out soon enough," Nemus whispered to herself, looking at the skies.
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