First Meeting with Eblors (1)

Dungeons brought monsters to the world, and Awakened were born to face them.

But besides monsters, dungeons also brought more powerful and dangerous enemies.

The invading races.

The eblors were one of these races.

They wielded the mysterious power of magic, a kind of supernatural ability completely different from the skills of humanity's Awakened.

Using this mysterious power, they waged war against all the forces of humanity that tried to stop them. They unleashed their magic on human armies, razing them to the ground mercilessly.

In just a few months, they destroyed several countries and killed millions of humans, only stopping when the Protector Duke appeared.

Even then, they continued fighting skirmishes against human armies on the frontlines, and news of human soldiers and Awakened dying against them are heard every day.

Humans hated them and feared them. If you asked any person in the streets about eblors, it was likely they would tell you that someone in their family had been killed by them.

Because of that, humans gave them a nickname.

Tree demons.

And when these demons appeared suddenly in front of us, I could not help but stiffen.

Brown skin with trunk-like patterns on it, reptile-like vertical pupils, and hair of colorful colors.

They were definitively eblors.

I was not the only one who stiffened. Besides me, Ley and all the employees had surprised, scared, or pale looks.

"Eblors…" I muttered.

Unlike us, Dayana and Sylvia only showed a bit of surprise.

"Why are eblors here?" Sylvia asked her mother.

Just then, three more people came in behind the eblors.

One of them was a man wearing a suit and glasses. He was followed by the two security guards that had been at the entrance.

The man looked around the store and stopped his gaze on Dayana. He then walked toward her and introduced himself.

"You must be Dayana Quin, right? I'm David Martinez, a Tier 7 Awakened working for the government."

"As you already know, my name is Dayana Quin. I'm the owner of this place. What do you need?"

"Right now I'm on a mission to escort a group of high-level guests from the eblor race. I hope that you and your workers can treat them with the utmost courtesy. Don't worry, I will do my best to make sure you are safe during the process."

Dayana frowned slightly.

She looked around at the girls that worked in the boutique. All of them were looking at the eblors with pale and scared faces, and some of them seemed like they wanted to jump on them and bite their throats.

Just a glance was enough to know that they were not in a condition to attend them.

She sighed briefly and nodded.

"I understand. I will welcome the guests personally. However, I hope that the rest of my girls can leave. Is that possible?"

The man hesitated slightly, but after a while, he nodded.

Dayana then called one of the girls and whispered something in her ear. The girl put on a hesitant expression before nodding.

"Sorry, Jane, Ley, it looks like we will have to postpone the dinner for another day."

"Don't worry, we understand."

"Sylvia, show your friends out. I will go to attend the guests."

"Yes, mother. Jane, Ley, let's go."

We nodded and left the boutique together with Sylvia.

As we were leaving, I heard Sylvia's mom greeting the eblors.

Surprisingly, I could not find any sign of hostility or awkwardness in her voice. Quite the opposite, she was speaking as if she was just meeting another guest.

All of sudden, two eblors looked in our direction.

They were two almost identical girls, probably twins. One of them had a cold gaze that seemed to pierce through us, and the other was smiling friendly while observing us with a curious expression.

I did not know if eblors age the same as humans, but their age seemed similar to ours.

Although the girls looked at us, I noticed that their gaze was mainly on Sylvia.

One of them, the girl with a friendly smile, waved at us before looking away.

Strange…

When we left the boutique, I looked back with a complicated expression.

"I did not expect to meet eblors here."

"Me neither." Sylvia smiled wryly. "It's my first time seeing one."

"But your mother is amazing. She was talking to them so calmly. I don't think I can do the same." Ley said with a sigh.

"Well, my mother probably doesn't care."

Ley and I put on curious expressions.

Sylvia shrugged.

"Actually, I don't care about them being of a different race either. I was just curious because it was my first time seeing one."

I was startled.

Now that I think about it, neither Sylvia nor her mother showed any sign of wariness or disgust when they saw the eblors.

Any human seeing an eblor would react hostilely, but they seemed as though they were seeing something normal but unexpected.

That is unusual.

[It's because they see things from a higher perspective.]

'Huh?'

[I noticed it earlier with the celers, boy, but you are unnecessarily hostile to other races. Unlike you, they don't carry that hostility. They see them like living beings like you and me, but different.]

'Of course, they are humanity's enemies.' I replied in my mind.

[Your vision is very narrow.] The demon sighed. [Well, I can understand. However, rejecting other individuals without knowing them first is not wise, even if they belong to a hostile party. Just keep that in mind.]

I did not refute the demon's words.

He may be right, but I could not accept it easily.

Sylvia accompanied us to the street. "You should not have any problem stopping a taxi here."

"What about you?" I asked.

"I'll go back. I'm curious about the eblors."

"… Won't it be dangerous?" Ley asked hesitantly.

"Don't worry, my mother is pretty powerful. I think I will be safe with her."

I smiled wryly. Right, her mother is an Irregular.

[Boy, why don't you go back with her?]

Huh?

[You can use this chance to observe them. I think it's an opportunity for you to gain experience.]

I hesitated briefly. Even though I knew the demon was right, I was reluctant to be in the same space with eblors.

But after several seconds, I sighed and nodded.

Anyway, I don't think I'll lose anything, plus, I'm a bit curious about the eblors.

"I'll go with you."

Ley and Sylvia were surprised.

"Brother!?"

"Umm, are you worried about me? I told you, I will be alright."

"No. It's just that I think it's a good opportunity to learn about the other races. It's unusual to see an eblor in human territory."

"Well, if you think so…"

"… Then, I will go too." Ley finally sighed after a bit of hesitation. "Really, brother, did you never hear the saying that curiosity killed the cat?"

"I'm not a cat, though."

Ley rolled her eyes. "Lucky you, or you would be dead already."