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n'Why did he bring up evil?' Cephaphyr asked after Eldrian had shared with him what had happened. It had taken a few tries to successfully share it, Eldrian having needed to learn how to properly do this.

n'I have no idea.' Eldrian replied, this had also been bothering him. 'In any case, do you think you can help me find my other companions?' Eldrian asked after some silence.

nLooking at Sabrea who was now breathing peacefully, Eldrian felt greatly relieved. Now he was only worried about the others. But this worry was far less, not having gotten as close to them.

n'We won't be able to find them on our own.' Cephaphyr replied, 'Let's go find my parents. I am sure they will be able to help.'

nEldrian nodded, agreeing that they would not be able to manage alone. He had no idea where they might have run off to. The forest was far too big for them to search through on their own.

nHaving come to this conclusion Eldrian picked Sabrea up again, this time much more aware of her feminine charms. He tried his best to not think of this and placed his focus on talking with Cephaphyr.

n'What is this place, and why did a barrier appear to stop us?' Eldrian asked as they walked.

n'This is our home.' Cephaphyr answered innocently, adding later, 'The barrier is supposed to go up if any devils cross into our territory.'

nWait, devils... Eldrian thought, thinking back to what Elgar had said to him. Was one of the NPCs a Devil? No way, how could a devil not be identified by Old Sword?

nEldrian shook his head in denial, but this thought kept ringing in his head. Who can it be? There is no way it is Sabrea. Eldrian thought as he looked at her, peacefully sleeping in his arms. I also don't think it is Cadriel, nor Floyd. One of the others? Eldrian concluded.

nHe was certain Floyd was not a devil since devils could not use the same divine magic as humans. Eldrian did not really know what exactly differed between the divine magics, but he knew that Floyd was using normal 'human' divine magic. Which mostly focused on healing.

nHe also felt certain it was not Cadriel, She seemed far too soft to be a devil. Eldrian had no idea how she actually landed in the army when she disliked fighting so much, but she was good at it. Everyone will need to fight, maybe she realized this? Eldrian reasoned.

n'Can you tell me more about this place and, well everything?' Eldrian asked, realizing again that his knowledge of this world was shallow at best.

n'Sure! But can you be more specific?' Cephaphyr replied, happy to be able to talk to someone.

n'Um, what is this forest called, what are devils? What are you, like what is an Alicorn?' Eldrian asked, also asking if he could use Observe on Cephaphyr.

nCephaphyr had no problem answering Eldrian's questions, though most of his answers were a bit... Shallow.

nFrom Observe Eldrian learned the following:

nCephaphyr

nAlicorn, Mythical Beast

nTier 3, Level 11

nMythical Beast, wow. Eldrian was shocked by this realization, looking at the little Alicorn in a new light. So he would be able to wipe the floor with all of us? Eldrian found this extremely weird, Cephaphyr certainly did not look anywhere near to that strong.

nThrough talking with Cephaphyr Eldrian learned that this forest was called, Avgi. It was seemingly once the center of beautiful land, but then a catastrophe happened which ruined the very earth. Shaking the foundation of places even thousands of kilometers away.

nCephaphyr did not know what exactly happened, his parents were keeping this from him. But he was not dumb and had a feeling that this was linked to why he was shunned by everyone.

nCephaphyr next explained to Eldrian what Alicorns were, but most of this was simply romanticized stories. These stories praised the Alicorns as a divine race who will fight for everyone, yet Eldrian already knew this was false.

nSince if this was true then they would be helping against the monster invasion. Yet here they were hiding inside their forest. Heck the area surrounding them was not even safe. They had been chased into the forest by thousands of goblins, thus it seemed like the Alicorns had changed sides or stopped caring.

nBy the time Cephaphyr stopped talking of Alicorns they had reached a clearing in the forest. A wide-open space appeared before them, where many more magical creatures were. Some were Alicorns like Cephaphyr, others were Unicorns and Pegasuses.

nThey were either lying peacefully in the glade, enjoying the sunshine or shade. Others were playing happily with each other. There was one group who seemed much more serious, this group was a mix of all the different creatures. They were standing in a circle and clearly talking about something serious.

nEldrian assumed that they were talking since their stance looked similar to a group discussing a topic. Everyone seemingly fully focused on the topic.

nCephaphyr led Eldrian to this group, one of the largest Alicorns broke from the group and turned towards them.

nThis Alicorn was far bigger than Cephaphyr. Cephaphyr was only about as high as Eldrian's waist, while this Alicorn was easily a meter taller than Eldrian. Only one other Alicorn neared this one in height.

nThis Alicorn had a pure white coat, no blemishes visible in any part of him. His horn was the only thing that was not pure white, rather having a silver hue to it.

n'Who is this?' An irritated male voice entered Eldrian's head. He was getting more used to this, but being able to feel the other's emotions bugged him a little.

n'Dad, this is a friend I made.' Cephaphyr replied, Eldrian was then cut off from the conversation once Cephaphyr said this. No longer able to hear what they were saying.

nLooking at Cephaphyr who was clearly trying to explain himself, Eldrian hoped that talking would work. While Sabrea looked better, he had no idea if she was fully cured. Observe was also useless for him, since like with Old Sword, it only gave him her name.

n'Dad, he said they came here searching for someone. Could it be that person we found near death?' Cephaphyr said before his dad could get something in. He had learned long ago that if he did not immediately talk, then he would simply be left listening.

nHis parents were the leaders of this family of magical creatures. This was also one of the only reasons why Cephaphyr had not been killed as soon as he was born.

n'Quiet! How can you bring him here? You know we have rules!' Cephaphyr dad, Agamemas, shouted. Fury clear in his mental voice.

n'But... I am sure he is a good person!'

n'Good, good means nothing. I have already been informed that they attacked Elgar. His body had been found... He died brutally!'

nCephaphyr froze, shaking from shock and sadness. 'No! This can't be!' He shouted desperately, but his dad did not budge. Cephaphyr started doubting, but he was not ready to give in.

n'You should not have brought this elf. You know how the others treat you, they will blame this on you!' Agamemas's voice was softer as he said this, his concern being shared through the communication to his son.

nHe always worried about his son who had been born so different from all the others. Often shunned and cast out from the rest, Cephaphyr could often only look from a distance at them playing.

n'But... I am sure he was not part of this. Why don't you look at his thoughts?' Cephaphyr pleaded.

nHis dad snorted, 'Thoughts can be made up, it does not prove anything.'

n'Now dear, this one is a High Elf.' Cephaphyr's mother, Zamia, joined the conversation. Like her husband, she was also far larger than most other Alicorns, being only a few inches shorter than her husband.

nHer coat was not pure white, having a light shade of blue mixed into it. Her horn was also a silvery-blue color.

n'He is one of the weakest I have ever seen, look! His mana is static.' Agamemas replied, his stance already far lighter now that his wife had joined the conversation.

n'But that is-' Cephaphyr wanted to stand up for Eldrian, but he had no idea why his mana was static. All creatures Cephaphyr knew had moving dynamic mana, it was rumored that only humans had static mana. Yet Eldrian was clearly an elf.

n'Let's at least give him a chance dear.' Zamia replied, turning towards Eldrian. 'We can always read his mind if needed, we don't have to rely on his thoughts.'

n'You know as well as I do that even that can be faked.'

n'Really, are you saying someone so weak will be able to dupe you?' Zamia countered, causing her husband to stumble over his words.

nHow could he be duped by one so weak?

n...

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"Andreas! I am so glad you are still alive!

" Cadriel shouted as she saw Andreas stumbling towards her. She rushed forward to give him support.

"What happened?

"

nAndreas smiled wickedly in reply.

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