Visitors from the forest (5)

as the sky was slowly turning red as dawn was breaking Rex whose body was covered by morning dew opened his remaining eye and activated a spell that made all the dew on his body collect in the air before he stretched before he checked over his squad

"...looks like they will wake soon"

after determining their condition he gave a glance towards the cave where Mars and Victoria was sleeping

"...I might need to wake them now to explain the situation"

having decided his course of action Rex activated another water spell and made it hover over Isabel's head as water slowly dripped down on her face and less than 30 seconds she showed signs of waking as her eyelids trembled slightly as gave a groan and sat up and looked at Rex with some annoyance in her slightly groggy green eyes

"you know I hate it when you use that spell---"

"shh"

as Isabel was speaking loudly Rex quickly shushed her before he spoke quietly in a serious tone

"...do you remember what happened?"

listening to Rex Isabel's eyes cleared and she looked around before she quickly reached for her dagger only to have Rex stop her by grabbing her arm before he signaled towards the cave

"I will explain, just wake up Alvin and do it quietly"

Rex pointed to Alvin that was lying on the ground with his right shoulder and stomach warped in bandages when Isabel saw him a hint of grief flashed through her eyes before it was replaced with furry seeing her own little brother in such a state she let out silent killing intent but as she trusted Rex she did as he said and sat down beside him before she put his head on her lap and pulled her hand over his mouth and nose and soon unable to breathe his eyelids began to show movement she let go of his nose, and within a few seconds he woke up and called out to her only to discover her hand was covering his mouth

"...quiet"

looking up into his elder sisters eyes Alvin gave a small nod before she removed her hand and helped him to sit up, just as Rex brought over Chloe that seemed to be trembling slightly obviously a little traumatised after being hunted down by Victoria as Rex slowly spoke out after the squad formed a small circle

"...I believe all of us remember what happened yesterday?"

upon Rex asking the other 3 elves eyes flashed with all sorts of emotions from Isabel that was a little confused since she was the first to be taken down, Alvin that remembered how he had fought Mars and lost wondered why they were all still alive and then there were Chloe the most unfortunate elf here that been hunted down by Victoria and was slightly trembling, Rex looked at all 3 of them before he gave a sigh and Alvin asked Rex with a slightly confused expression

"...why did he not just kill us all?"

seeing Alvin go right for the question Isabel and Chloe was thinking Rex scratched his head and spoke

"because he wants us alive"

"...why?"

"...i'm not quite sure myself but I think he needs information"

hearing the mention of information Alvin stood up and paced around for a few seconds before he asked Rex

"...what kind of information?"

"all kinds of information how we measure time, what kinds of seasons there is in the forest, what countries border the forest, how many villages are in the forest... most likely he was born not to long ago"

hearing Rex suggest that the monster they all had fought yesterday was newborn 3 pairs of confused eyes rested on Rex before Alvin spoke up again

"...what do you mean he is newly born?"

Rex gave a sigh before he slowly spoke again

"...the elder did forbid talking about it, but I guess this situation requires it... he is a living god, I think he said he was the living god of energy"

hearing the new epic sounding term 'living god' Alvin rubbed his temples and sat down before he looked at Rex his expedition saying 'go on'

"... I don't know much about it either only a couple of things, there is more than one living god... this is the second one I have seen in my life"

hearing Rex talk about living gods that apparently forbidden by the elders the 3 other elves quieted down and waited for Rex to continue

"the first one I saw came to the village about 1100 years ago, back then we were even more isolated then now we would even kill humans and the beastmen if they set foot in the forest... well anyway this one day, a human figure appeared over the village, she had long black hair and wore a rope that looked like it was sewn with pure gold that glistened in the sun... she was just standing there mid air looking down on us, of course after the confusion settled we fired arrows and spells after her but... she just stood there mid air as all the projectiles bunced harmlessly of her, she looked like she was existing in another higher plane like a angel... well after about an hour of being fired apron she apparently lost her patience and slightly waved her hand, causing the barrier around the village to shatter instantly, and sending a shock wave that destroyed most of the village killing almost half of all the people in the village while wounding the rest... then among the chaos she descended down over the river and made a grabbing motion as a stone flew up in her hand before she floated up again and waved her hand again causing all the damage she had just done to come undone, restoring the barrier and the village completely and all the people she had killed were healed and came back to life instantly turning all the chaos quiet in a single instance... the village chief at the time understood that she never intended to harm anyone and kneeled down and loudly thanked her for her kindness and asked her for her name... she responded with a crystal clear voice that I still remember to this day... she was Tatiana, the living god of mana"

after Rex finished telling his story the other 3 elves sat in a daze for some time before Alvin asked Rex

"why did the elders forbid speaking of this?"

"...I believe it was on Tatiana's request, but i'm not entirely sure"

Alvin fell in deep thought for a while before he asked Rex

"do you think we have a chance to beat him if we have all of the forest patrol squads together?"

Rex gave another sigh and asked Alvin in return

"...why do you even want to fight him?"

"you said he was newly born, so even if he is a living god he should be much weaker than Tatiana... it might be a good idea to kill him before he gains more power"

Rex looked at Alvin and saw he had a strong will to fight and a young hot blooded fire seemed to burn in his eyes, Rex gave a deep sigh before he spoke again

"even if we had all 20 squads, we might only be able to wound him... not to make you feel bad Alvin but I don't believe that was his full strength he showed yesterday"

hearing Rex put him down Alvin stood up as his face showed his anger before he asked Rex only just managing to keep his cool and not yell

"why?"

seeing Alvin get like this woke Isabel and Chloe form their daze and as they both had known Alvin they knew his bad habit was showing and was about to try and calm him down before Rex spoke

"...do you know what race he said he was?"

hearing Rex ask him this Alvin got slightly confused and calmed down a little

"no, at least he's not human"

"he is a half dragon... do you remember him using any fire magic?"

hearing Rex Alvin calmed down and sat down again

"no"

Rex gave another sigh and looked at Chloe

"do you know what hunted you down in the forest?"

suddenly being asked by Rex Chloe's eyes flashed with a hint of fear as she quickly shook her head

"that was a mutated shadow death panther cub... as far as I know it's fully loyal to him, and he has somehow mixed his own mana with it and formed a contract with it"

as Chloe had a slightly stunned experssion Rex turned to Alvin again and asked him

"so to sum it up he, Mars is not only a half dragon capable of using high level fire magic without needing Mana, he is also a semi immortal living god and to top it of he has a mutated shadow death panther on his side... Alvin, no captain do you really want to fight again and make an enemy out of him?"

Alvin sat in silence for a little while before he bowed his head towards Rex and spoke

"thank you for calming me down... and to answer your question no I believe fighting him is a stupid idea"

seeing Alvin still bowed down Rex and Isabel showed a slight smile before Rex put his hand on Alvin's uninjured shoulder and spoke

"don't worry about Alvin, you are already brilliant at the age of 252 given more time and experience you will be able to lead the village in the future"