CHAPTER 63: CHAPTER 62: A SLIGHT EXHAUSTION

He turned toward the sage and Aria, giving them a sharp, cutting look that made the sage tense up. Not just tense, actually very tense.

"What exactly are the two of you doing here?"

The moment the sage heard his voice, he stepped back and hid behind Aria like a frightened child. Aria raised her voice slightly, trying to keep some composure.

"You two were late. We came to make sure the boy was still alive."

The masked man lifted his eyebrow with obvious sarcasm.

"And now you pretend you care about him?"

Aria replied, her tone edged.

"What are you talking about? I care about him more than you do."

"And who said I care about him at all?" he said sharply, then added while pointing at her, "At least I don’t deceive him with incomplete contracts where you conveniently skip the real outcome and all the consequences."

Aria frowned.

"Excuse me? I explained everything to him already."

"Did you tell him he would die if the deal failed?"

"Yes. Of course I did."

The masked man shook his head.

"Nice try. And that, exactly, is why no creature with mythical blood can ever be trusted."

Aria’s eyes shifted between him and Oliver who was standing a distance away, staring at his hand. Then she looked back at the masked man who pointed toward Oliver.

"And what about the kid over there?"

"The same rule applies."

Aria raised her hands in mock disbelief.

"Doesn’t look like you’re treating him that way."

He turned to her coldly, his eye half closed.

"And who are you exactly? Your opinion means nothing."

Aria muttered under her breath, anger sharpening her voice.

"Of course you’d treat your son differently."

But he didn’t hear it, and even if he did, he wouldn’t have cared. He simply turned his back and walked toward the others sitting around the fire ahead.

He left them behind, leaving Oliver drowning in silence.

Oliver stood alone, staring at his hand that still trembled faintly from the force that had surged through him.

Then his eyes shifted to the corpse on the ground, bound by the plant threads that strangled it to death. The scene was heavy, filled with countless questions he had no answers for.

The sage approached carefully, lifting his pants a little so he wouldn’t step on the body. He stopped beside Oliver, eyes fixed on the dead vines around the corpse.

"So you really are a hybrid, it seems?"

Oliver slowly lifted his head, snapping out of a long spiral of thoughts.

"You didn’t believe that before?"

The sage sighed, clasping his hands behind his back.

"Honestly? It was hard to believe. Who would have expected that the little idiot running everywhere was actually half a mythical creature."

Oliver answered in a faint, hollow tone, his eyes still on the corpse.

"Yeah... I guess it’s hard for me to believe too."

The sage stepped closer and lightly patted Oliver’s shoulder.

"Don’t worry, kid. You’ll still be the same idiot even if we find out you’re the son of the great Spirit of Autumn."

He said the last line with clear sarcasm, dripping with mockery. Still, Oliver’s expression eased slightly.

It remained stiff, but he couldn’t hide the small trace of relief in his eyes.

He looked again at the corpse, and at the vines slowly decomposing into the ground.

The distant crackle of fire, his shaky breathing, and the lingering shock wrapped around him like a heavy circle, but he stood his ground.

He was trying to assimilate a truth he could no longer escape or ignore. He was truly a hybrid now.

...

The next morning, the group continued moving. Their sleep had been slightly better despite the screams they heard deep in the woods. But even that small bit of rest was enough to help them keep walking.

The sky above was gray and clouded, but only pale light slipped through the dense leaves of the towering trees that blocked almost everything.

The air was humid and the fog everywhere gave the forest an extremely grim atmosphere.

Lemur walked beside Oliver, his wide eyes filled with curiosity since morning. Eventually, he turned to Oliver.

"What were you doing with the leader last night?"

"Nothing important. Think of it as training or something close to that."

"Training between a father and his son?"

This time Oliver didn’t even try to deny it.

Not because he was tired of the question, but because the topic was hitting a place he could no longer avoid.

What started as annoying jokes had turned into a real possibility.

He saw the plant vines he had summoned. They were identical to the tendrils the Spirit of Autumn used when fighting the masked man.

Add to that the spirit’s sudden arrival in the forest to save him, then fighting for him repeatedly, then helping them all without asking for anything.

All of that made Aria’s so called stupid theory look far less stupid, even though he didn’t want to admit it.

But even then, he couldn’t bring himself to ask the masked man. And honestly, he didn’t think the man would answer even if he did.

So he kept silent, trapped in a whirlpool of questions without answers.

Behind them, the sage struggled to keep up with the group, panting and leaning forward as he tried not to fall behind.

Aria walked next to him, glancing at him before turning fully when she heard him exhale a very long sigh.

"Why do you look like you’ve been running for days?"

He lifted his hands a little.

"Because this is exhausting. We’ve been walking for days, and every time we get only a few hours of rest. Barely enough."

Aria pointed at Mariana who was walking beside her mother, then at Lemur who walked ahead near Oliver.

"They’re younger than you and they’re not suffering like this."

Before the sage could defend his pathetic state, the masked man suddenly stopped.

His halt was so abrupt the group nearly collided with him.

He raised his hand quickly, covering his gray eye with his palm as his shoulders dropped slightly.

He turned fast and said sharply before sprinting, "Do not move from your place. I’ll be back shortly."

He didn’t even give them a chance to understand. He was already gone between the trees.

Leaves scattered behind him with every step, and the sound of his feet on the wet ground faded as he went deeper into the forest.

His hand still pressed on his gray eye, purple light leaking through his fingers.

His breath quickened, his steps slowed, until he lost control and fell to his knees.

Half his body turned into unstable mist.

Tell flew out of his coat immediately, hovering above him, her wings trembling as she watched the strange transformation.

Before she could help, his body returned to normal. The mist vanished, and the purple glow in his eye disappeared.

He collapsed on his back, staring up at the sky hidden by branches.

She flew closer.

"What’s happening to you? You look like you’re actually dying."

He answered without looking at her.

"I’m perfectly fine."

She landed in front of his face.

"This isn’t the time for pride. If you’re dying, just say it."

"Funny to hear that from a spirit."

She flapped her wings sharply.

"No time for sarcasm. If you die here, we all die with you. Tell me what’s been happening to you since we left that place."

He went silent, clearly thinking.

Finally he said quietly, "Just a side effect. Nothing important."

"A side effect of what? Don’t start that mysterious master act now. I told you before, I’m not leaving the forest anyway, and I won’t tell anyone anything."

He shut his eyes for a moment, fighting a sharp headache, then opened them again.

"Don’t worry about it. As I said, I’ll get them out of here alive. Then we’ll follow the great Spirit of Autumn, as we agreed."

He pushed himself up with effort, managing to stand, leaning against a nearby tree trunk.

Tell hovered near him in silence.

As the masked man stood there for a moment, he didn’t do anything. He simply took several deep breaths while staring at the ground.

After he regained some of his strength, he pulled his hand away from the tree trunk, then began walking again toward the others, who were watching him without doing anything in particular.

He moved through the trees until he reached them again. They were just standing there, and when he got close, he motioned to them with his hand.

"We’re moving again."

None of them had any idea what was actually happening here, but even so, they eventually continued walking behind him without saying anything or asking him a single question.