Chapter 16: A Mage
A cold wind passed through the trees around the village, making a sound like a quiet moan that spread through the mountain space.
Lian and Seris stood in front of the village’s wooden gate, while several village guards blocked the way.
The atmosphere was calm. But this calm felt more like the silence before a storm. Seris’s eyes were completely cold. At any moment, she might attack the ones who had surrounded them.
Aldric, the village elder, came forward with a flat and indifferent face. His old face did not have its usual kindness.
But for some reason... the more Lian looked at him, the more uncomfortable he felt.
"Sorry if we caused a misunderstanding. But these days, the situation around the village is not good at all." The old man put his hands behind his back.
Then he looked toward the distant forests.
"The number of monsters is increasing. Much more than before."
"If you go out and those creatures track you, they might come straight here."
"Then all the village people will be in danger."
A short silence followed. Lian looked into the old man’s eyes. His words were logical. There was no problem with them.
They had indeed killed a large number of monsters on their way. There was a chance that more monsters would be attracted. Especially because that Fallen Wolf was dead and other monsters were no longer afraid of being suppressed by it. More monsters would come to this area.
But still, that unpleasant feeling did not go away. The old man, as the village elder, was just protecting his people. There was nothing wrong with that.
But why did he not feel good about this? Too much paranoia?
"I understand." In the end, he just nodded.
"Thank you for your cooperation. I just want to protect the village people. If you want to leave and not come back, that is fine. But I cannot let you leave and then come back. That is dangerous." Aldric smiled.
Then the old man left with the guards. Lian and Seris stared at his back for a while until he was out of sight.
"He is lying." Seris was the first to speak. Her tone was completely emotionless.
"Do you have proof? I don’t feel good about him either, but his reasoning was not wrong." Lian glanced at her.
"No. I just feel it." Then the silver-haired girl turned and walked toward their accommodation.
Lian followed her. When they returned to the house, Aria almost jumped up from her chair.
"What happened? Weren’t you going hunting?"
Alisa and Ryan also looked at them with curiosity.
Lian explained what had happened. About the guards and being surrounded, about Aldric, and about the restriction on leaving.
After he finished explaining, Ryan was the first to react.
"Well... to be honest, what they said makes sense."
Lian raised an eyebrow.
"You remember how many monsters attacked us?" Ryan continued.
"If there really are more and they follow you, what then? The whole village could be destroyed."
"I think so too. After all, these people helped us. We shouldn’t cause trouble for them." Aria also nodded and agreed.
"That’s right. This place is the safest for now. You shouldn’t ruin our safety here." Alisa also agreed and said in a blunt and honest tone, but it was a bit too blunt.
"Well, what my sister means is, why don’t you just wait a little? After all, we might have to leave sooner or later anyway." Aria then interrupted and tried to correct her sister’s harsh tone.
Lian said nothing. He just glanced at Seris. The girl was sitting by the window. Her face was calm, but her eyes seemed colder than ever.
She did not even take part in the discussion. She just stared outside. It was clear she was angry and did not want to talk to any of them.
"I guess that is the best option." Lian did not say much and did not object. He went back to his room. He needed to organize his thoughts.
The others watched him leave and sighed. Then Aria and Ryan returned to their sweet talking.
A few hours later, the weather became strangely cold. Colder than it should be. Colder than was normal.
Even Lian, who was now an Awakened, felt the bone-chilling cold. The window glass slowly became covered with a thin layer of ice.
The sound of the wind howling could be heard through the wooden cracks of the house.
At that moment, Mira entered the house. She was carrying a large tray. The smell of food filled the room.
"I brought dinner." She smiled. But when her gaze fell on Seris, her smile trembled for a fraction of a second. Very short, very faint. She felt like Seris was so angry that she wanted to tear her apart.
But Lian saw it. Mira quickly turned her gaze away. She placed the food tray in front of them. Like last night, she had brought them meat soup.
"Meat soup is good for your bodies and speeds up recovery. I also put some herbal medicine in it. With this, you should be fully healed within a week." She then said with a big, innocent smile on her face.
"Wow! It smells so good. I always hated soup. How do you make soup like this? You have to teach me!" Aria felt like she was intoxicated by the smell of dinner.
"Well, sure." Mira laughed.
"Don’t you want to have dinner with us?" Lian also sat at the table and looked at her.
"I already ate. And I have to go back to my family. My mother has not been feeling well lately. I need to take care of her." Then she said goodbye and left.
After she left, they ate their dinner quietly. They planned to go to their bedrooms. But after dinner, the weather became even colder.
Their rooms had become so cold that they were not livable or suitable for sleeping.
In the end, they decided to gather around the fireplace. Lian went to the toolbox by the wall.
"Where are the matches?"
But before he could find them, Ryan raised his hand. A small flame appeared on his fingers. Then he threw it toward the wood. The flames immediately blazed up.
A pleasant warmth filled the room.
"I didn’t know you were a Mage." Lian gave him a short look.
"You didn’t ask." Ryan shrugged.
"Fair." He also sat by the fire. But he still looked at this Mage.
Mages are one of the six basic classes and one of the most powerful classes. Of course, their power also depends on their talent and innate skills.
And since this boy could use fire, his talent was probably related to elements, or only the fire element.
’Four-element or more Mages are rare. So he probably only has the fire element ability.’
He became a little curious about how many stars Ryan’s class had. Unfortunately, he had no information about him to base any reasoning or guess on. Asking such a question could also be rude.
’Now that I think about it, I never saw him in battle either. And yesterday on the battlefield, there was no sign of fire being used.’ He frowned a little.
Even though they were in a chaotic situation yesterday, he did not remember seeing any trace of fire being used there.
His gaze fell on Ryan. He saw Aria asking about Ryan’s fire abilities with excited eyes. It seemed that girl was also amazed by seeing those flames.
’Am I thinking too much about him?’
They all sat around the fire. The two sisters sat together. Alisa was holding her sister’s arm. Seris sat a little farther away, as cold and emotionless as ever.
Ryan also sat next to Aria.
For a while, no one spoke. As if no one knew what to talk about.
Until Aria suddenly whispered.
"Do you think we will go back?" Her voice trembled.
"I miss my family..."
The sound of burning wood and the wind outside the window replaced her voice.
Alisa held her sister’s arm tighter. She was scared too, but she tried to look stronger and not be a burden on her sister.
Ryan reached out his hand and gently took Aria’s hand.
"We will go back. We will definitely find a way."
Aria’s face immediately turned red. But she did not pull her hand back. She just lowered her head. A warm and sweet feeling spread through her being. Suddenly, that bone-chilling cold disappeared.
Seeing that scene, Lian sighed.
These two were still children. The two sisters had not even had their awakening ceremony yet. But now they were trapped in the middle of the most dangerous ruined realm.
He was quiet for a while.
"We will get out of here." He then said.
Everyone looked at him.
"Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow either. But sooner or later, we will get out of this hell."
His voice was calm but firm. There was a strange confidence in his words.
But the effect of his firm tone was clear. Aria became calmer. Alisa breathed a sigh of relief. Even Seris took her gaze away from the window for a moment.
"That’s right. As long as we are together, we will definitely find a way." Aria also said with shining eyes.
Time passed. The flames became smaller. One by one, everyone fell asleep. The sound of their quiet breathing filled the room.
But Lian could not sleep. No matter how hard he tried, he could not. The feeling of danger and that unpleasant feeling still boiled inside him. He had lost the sense of security he had in this village.
Finally, he got up from his spot and went to the window. He looked outside. The village was covered in darkness.
But suddenly, something came to his mind. Those ruined houses and the forbidden area and that stench of blood came back to him.
As if even from this distance, he could still smell it.
Besides, Mira’s fear... everything fell into place in his mind again.
He made his decision. If there was a secret in this village... that secret was hidden there.
Lian looked behind him. Everyone was asleep. Even Seris, or at least that is how it seemed.
He quietly opened the door without making any sound. The freezing night wind hit his face. Then he stepped into the darkness, heading toward the abandoned houses.
