He drifted aimlessly and unconscious he walked toward Shankar, who seem to have been surveying the caravan.
"Do you think we can recruit a master blacksmith?"
Shankar stunned and look over, after a while he came to his sense and said:
"Hmm? Unlikely, my lord. Why? What happened? Shouldn't we be focused on securing a foundation in Ravengarde first?....I know tinkering with gadgets is fun, but... we don't have that luxury right now."
Arvind smile bitterly and nodded forcefully acknowledged the concern of his butler. He also knew that wealth represent more than comfort, as it's their living straw during crisis. He just wanted to contributed his weak hand but now...
He continued walking aimless, attracting a countless glanced as he passed through, even the knights whispered among themselves. He eyes look hollow from Vitality, Like his soul had been quietly sucked out.
"Even the Church of Light abandoned this place," someone muttered tored through the quiet and optimistic atmosphere.
Arvind grabbed await by the words, he noted that the words spread like plague in the air, fear started to infecting them like its had pouring with oil, as their whispers continued.
"This is cursed..."
"We shouldn't have come in the first place."
"Ahh, my life and the beautiful sun..."
Heads turned and Shoulders hunched, their feet inched backward. As if ahead was presenting a deadly enemy
Arvind head crashed, his step stop abruptly. His hands unconscious grip tightly and blood drift over the grass.
At the moment.
"My lord! There's a village!"
Arvind came into his sense and surged forward. Thatched rooftops peeked through the trees. Then a scream tore through the air.
His breath caught. Their Hope slashed ruthless in half.
The knights raced ahead. After a few minutes later, they returned with faces darken and grim surrounding them.
Could it really be that bad?
A scout reported: magical beasts had invaded the village.
Arvind dug his nails into his palm. One thought gripped him like an iron chain over his sanity, and his brain start screaming 'Stay out'.
But the civilians also heard the news, the fragile hope were shattered by the threat, as it all paled when life was at stake.
Arvind instincts screamed for him to retreat. But the rising panic around him anchored him in place. As he was their lord and towering tree for them to lean in. The terrified cries weren't something he could simply ignore.
Shankar and Faelan moved fast in stabilising the shaken hope, trying to calm the crowd before complication take in. But the fear was spreading fast. Some had already begun to run and packed their belonging.
Civilians buzzed and the situation turn chaotic, they grabbed loved ones, scanned the trees vigilantly, as if monsters might crawl from the bark.
Under the waves of panic and desperate cry, all their eyes turned to their lord in silent. As if expecting he could come and save them from their predicament. However all he'd ever been was someone who didn't know how to save himself.
Seeing their desperate eyes, Shankar's helpless over calming the flame, the knights' quiet discipline. Arvind's instincts took over and stay in place. His past life whispered, "You can't just leave them here, right?", his mind turn into turmoil.
"They had come all this way, dragging hope behind them like a broken cart. If he turned back now, it would all be scrap."
At that moment, Shankar's voice cut in and shook arvind awake, the tension peak suffocated the air.
"My lord, please enter the carriage — it's dangerous out here. You don't need to worry; the knights will protect you."
Arvind's nerves eased slightly. But something felt off. The duty, pride of him as a human refused to let him retreat.
"No. How could I act like a coward while my people are in danger? I'm going with Aldric and the others. Don't try to stop me. I've decided."
Shankar looked helpless, and anxious in the face of his young lord's stubbornness.
Aldric exchanged a glance with Faelan, as if saying childish. Faelan smiled bitterly, watching Arvind's expression.
Sensing the suffocating atmosphere, Arvind sighed, defeated, and his shoulder slumped heavily. He stopped arguing in the end, even so the screams from the village spiral in his mind, as he walked back.
On the otherhand, Aldric turned toward the village, sighing and gritting his teeth, eyes fiery red.
Faelan approached behind, asked quietly:
"You're not going to help? You know our lord wants to protect the people."
Aldric grunted.
"Hah... what a shame. He's just a child. Shankar already told him to stay in the carriage. If it were me, I'd listen."
"But here he is, acting like this is some game. A little lordling playing war."
"But—"
"I know, I know. Knight's duty. But honestly? The injustice is on me. Look at this place. Don't you ever think there will be future here. A cursed land, a lord with low aetheric potential... can we even survive until winter?"
Aldric words were sharp, bitter, but not without truth.
Faelan wss stunned, left speechless. He didn't fully agree, but he understood.
On the civilian side, they were occupied, as they argued whether to even trust their lord would save them. Some were already questioning Arvind's decision.
The rest stayed silent, their eyes dim from their earlier high spirits, before they even set foot into the promising town. They slumped to the grass.
Arvind sat blankly inside the carriage. The screams still echoing in his mind. His chest ached as if something vital had been torn from him. His face twisted in pain,
"I'm also human. How can I not help?" He remembered his past life. The shame he felt and his naive ideals.
He stood firmly and walked out. Anika's cried resounded behind him, but he didn't stop.
The sudden movement drew all eyes. Civilians turned, confused, looking at each other. Some rose, gripped anything they could use as weapons. Their hands trembled, but something in them sparked.
"No! You're the lord — how can you go? Impossible!" Aldric barked. "Don't even think about it!"
Arvind met his gaze stubbornly, not wasting time speaking. His unyielding stared alone showed his determination.
Faelan tried to smooth the tension, but it was no use.
Shankar finally stepped in, offering a compromise: Arvind could follow, but he must stay far from the combat zone.
After a while, they left the convoy and continued on foot. But once they arrived, he didn't keep his distance; it seem his promise was just an illusion.
The first thing he saw were villagers kneeling by the roadside. They weren't visibly wounded, yet blood surprisingly dripped from their noses, ears, and eyes.
Some screamed in remorse over their dead love ones. Others vomited from grief, their bodies shook intermittently. Their souls looked shattered, Something was terrible wrong here.
At their sight, the villagers dart backward, screaming as if demons had arrived. But none could run; Their bodies seem to have failed, and blood poured freely.
Arvind looked up. The sky obviously look off. Time felt heavy, distorted, as if something was draining it away.
On the far side, two magical beasts grazed, casually devouring the grass. Their bodies glistened with blood. On one side were dying villagers, on other beasts that looked more or less ordinary.
The beasts ate leisurely, but everything around them withered; soil turned to dust, grass curled like old paper. Nearby animals and plants withered, vanished. Everything felt wrong.
Aldric's eyes narrowed. He drew his sword, glittering with sharp rays. The knights too drew their blades. They expression suggesting they face a deadly enemy. They vague knew this wasn't a normal battle.
Even breathing had become laboured. The air was thick with invisible toxic aura.
Arvind's chest tightened, he breath suffocating, and his legs shook on their own.
"What is this? This feels like something out of a horror film from my past life. These beasts look harmless but even my fighting spirit is suppressed."
A cold truth settled in: Aetherion was terrifying. He couldn't help but blurt a curse.
"Fuck"
"You, go! Keep the lord back!"
Aldric barked, turning away.
"Even if you're an aetheric, my lord — this is beyond you."
Arvind's mouth opened, leaving him left speechless. Was i such a fool, stubbornly clinging to pride?. However could he buried his head in the sand while his people suffered...
Faelan stepped in, speaking gently:
"Think of magical beasts as sources of dangerous energy, what we call aetherion. Just being near them can overwhelm ordinary people. The civilians didn't even need to be attacked."
"Please, my lord...step back."
Arvind sigh and nodded slowly, his mind in turmoil. "Is any of this even real? Is this how dangerous aetherion truly is?". Although the beasts were dangerous but he couldn't just stand still...
"Rescue the villagers. All of them. Now."
After a moment of pause, Aldric stepped ahead. His blade tored through the air, as he slashed forward, infused with furious intent.
But the male beast didn't just waiting it's doom; it roaring back, shaking the ground. Aetherion surged outward from its body. The pressure shattered the air, a suffocating weight pressing on them.
The knights breaths staggered, they fell, kneeling unconscious. But Aldric remained standing gritting his teeth. He raised his sword, his fighting spirit visibly pulsing throughout his body, and they moved toward the blade. After a moment, he let it fly.
"Sword Slash" Aldric cry out, a pure blue glow illuminated every corner of the blade, as it flew almost in a blink, slicing through the beast's scales, its momentum knocking the creature back.
However instead of pain, the attached brought fury. The beasts' eyes burned with manic rage, they roared and the Aetherion pressure became even more suffocating. The knights were left useless before even participating.
Then, the knights noticed too late: the soil beneath their feet loosen and fundamental rules seem to have been overwriten. Before they could react, the ground collapsed, dragging several knights deep underground.
Aldric jumped and landed hard, stabilizing his feet. "Hold the formation!" he barked. "Target the left flank — disrupt its stance!"
What aldric didn't know that his men were already helpless, their combat effectiveness questionable. But Aldric didn't have a moment to waste, his eyes never leaving the beast. He took a deep breath and muttered "One more strike."
Before he had time, Aldric was hit by a pulse of aetherion. A wave of projectiles tore through the air. Aldric raised a shield and dodged to the side, yet the surge blasted him backward like a broken doll.
The knights cried out. Those who could still stand moved to defend their leader. but even in their armor, they trembled, looking like children before giants.
"Shit… I can't even channel my fighting spirit!" A knight shouted, raising his shield to defend against debris and an invisible aura.
BAM!
He was kicked straight through a bush, which split in half from the force.
Morale cracked like damn breaking. Despair spread.
Each step the beasts took shook the ground, and the knights hearts thumped wildly.
Meanwhile, female beast moved away. With a lazy sweep of her tail, she summoned a swirling storm of Aetherion. Rubble and wind howled across the field, bombarding the knights like a siege.
Before they could retaliate, they were left broken and numb from pain all over their body.
While her male companion roared — a monstrous, bone-rattling sound almost shattered their ears — the beast charged.
The female stalked behind, her eyes sharp and cruel. She seem to be followed their commander's trail.
Outside the battlefield, Arvind and the others watched the storm roll in. They seem to hear no noise, yet the civilians could feel the palpable shift in the air.
Arvind unconsciously clenched his fists. From the corner of his eye, he saw bodies fly — knights thrown like dolls..They fell heavy and limp, lifeless and covered in dust. His vision was then blocked by a raising dust cloud.
At that moment, A roar echoed, shaking the trees violently as the magical beast drew nearer.
"Back! Get back!"
Arvind came to his sense and shouted. Trying to shield the civilian. This battle was far beyond their capabilities. Unfortunately, his eyes caught a child, crying and frozen in place.
The air turned icy. The wind howled, ripping at the trees.
Aetherion warped the world around them, civilians dropped, blood leaking from their noses and eyes.
The beast's piercing gaze locked onto the child.
Arvind didn't think; he ran and managed to shoved the child aside just in time. The beast's force struck him instead. He flew, hitting the ground hard as pain exploded through him.
"I forgot… I'm just an apprentice."
Although his fighting spirit flickered unstably, his limbs refused to obey. his consciousness faded, one thought remained:.The child is safe...
Faelan rushed, grabbed the girl and fled. He glanced at Arvind's helpless form but continued onward.
At the same time, Aldric arrived the battlefield, he saw Arvind but didn't speak. His blade flashed with torrent of blue aura. He lunged and Slashing the beast's neck again and again. Four phantom slashes followed, tearing through limbs and hide.
A shockwave cracked the earth, blood sprayed like a breaking dam .The beast howled in fear as its life drift away, then it collapsed.
Aldric spat at the body with indifference, then glared at his lord unconscious body.
"Fool."
The knights limped forward, dragging their weapons.They saluted Aldric.
Others carved the aetherion core from the beast's chest and collected the two beasts bodies.