The air was filled with a strange sorrowfulness. A gloom settled between the enclosed volume of the irregular shaped cave as a scream tore through the air. For a final time.
Exhausted, David slumped on the ground as his breaths came out rugged and heavy. He rested the back of his head against the cave wall as he felt the uneven surface apply pressure on his head.
"Finally...finally I killed them all..." He whispered through heavy breaths, his eyes unfocused. His body felt like a piece of useless weight as his nerves appeared numb to any external stimuli. The wraiths had poked him too many times with their tentacles and now, the effects were clearly showing.
Previously, the strong surge of adrenaline had helped him resist the numbness spreading in his body. But now that he wasn't in any 'fight or flight' situation, there was no adrenaline to help him cope up with the effects of the toxins that the wraiths that injected in his body.
Across from him, the woman sat on a high rise rock that had been carved out of the cave floor. Her helmet lied at her side and her slender sword rested on her lap...well, on the cuisses of her full body armour, to be more precise.
Her sword looked completely undamaged and glistened as if proudly declaring no amount of fire licking on it could do it any harm. David was partially impressed by the quality of the sword.
The woman on the other hand, didn't look tired. She wasn't even injured except for the red marks of fingerprints on the white cheeks of her porcelian face. A gift from David.
She was looking at him with a piercing gaze, her breath in a steady rhythm as if she hadn't been running throughout the room.
'Also her mana reserves barely look like it has decreased.' David thought as he saw his own body through Vision, where many of the bright red spots now appeared hollow. But as he gazed at the princess in front of him, he saw only a mere difference in her concentrated mana reserves.
Suddenly she raised a hand to her cheeks as a wry smile appeared on her lips. In a self depreciating tone she asked, "It's weird no that you had to slap me to unlock my abilities?"
Her not so cold expression caught David off guard. 'Wow...she can smile as well, however sad it looks.'
But not wanting to keep the lady waiting - obviously because she might be the one who was leading the charge on their village and he had no wish to die for a stupid silence, he asked.
"So your powers only activate when you are slapped? I won't say it's weird but...rather unique."
"Hahaha" Her voice, free of any burden and booming with sudden bliss spilled out.
"I thought atleast you barbarians didn't deal with people in polite tones. I have always perceived your kind as a savage group of people - brutes, yes but atleast someone who would say the truth to your face."
She sighed, her head dropping down. In a rather disappointed voice she added, "....It seems human nature isn't that different, no matter the place. Here I thought you would say how bad and sickeningly weak my ability is. But look at you! Sweetening lies just so you can escape me."
David felt himself sweat, both from exhaustion and nervousness. 'Ahh...how could I expect mere words would get me on the good side of what looks like an insecure person?'
Very cautiously he chose his next words. "Why do you even expect a humble and a poor person like me to judge higher beings like you? That's courting death!" His melodramatic way of answering echoed in the silent cave.
Suddenly the woman across from him raised her head slightly...and smirked. Then she broke into a fit of giggles as she covered her mouth rather abruptly.
"That was fun. Don't you think so?" Her only exposed eye looked at David with a calculating gaze, the happiness failing to reach the cold goblet of vision.
David chuckled in response as his tone shifted to a genuine compliment. "I have to say you really are an unique woman. Unpredictable and fierce...maybe a bit crazy."
"And being crazy is an unique feature?" Her eye had suddenly hardened. She didn't look angry but wasn't happy either.
"No it isn't. But I am guessing you aren't crazy...if I had to take a gamble, I would say this influx in your emotions are a side effect of whatever ability you used when I slapped you."
David spoke, his eyes observant as he half laid on the ground.
The princess didn't say anything. Just looked at him with a silent appraisal. Then in a soft tone, she whispered. "You know... whatever god your clan worships really did a number on you. You seem to be intelligent in your ways but your light brown hair says otherwise. A sign of being cursed."
David smiled bitterly as he looked down.
His clan worshipped the Ancient Tree. Yes, the scammer who sold wraiths in the name of ghosts.
It was strongly believed that the first members of his clan had been blessed by the Ancient Tree itself. From then on, the colour of your hairs indicated the amount of potential one had.
Dark red would mean they have the potential to touch the level of the gods, light red would generally refer to an insane potential as well. However, the number of people with these two hair colours were quite rare and were worshipped by the clan members like gods themselves.
The majority of the people had a dark brown hair colour...indicating an average potential.
And then came people like David and the nameless girl...with light brown hair. The lowest in the tier of potential. As a clan that coveted the strong and despised the weak, people with light brown hairs were seen as a liability.
In fact, many heinous crimes happened against their kind. And among savages like them, accountability was a foreign concept.
David sighed as all his memories of being mistreated by the common people haunted him. But he smiled and asked, "So...am I allowed to go out of here or am I going to die at your hands just like the hundred others of my clan?"
"Would you like to join my kingdom?" The princess in response offered a rather strange offer that made David suspicious.
Thinking for a few moments, he shook his head and asked, "And denying would mean execution?"
The princess smiled wryly as she said. "No, you are in fact allowed to go out of here without any harm. I am not that bad...as you might think."
'That was kind of easy...huh?' Even though he felt something seemed off, he just shrugged it away. His survival was his first priority.
"I was not judging you...just stated a fact." He stood up on his shaky legs as he walked past the princess. His body remained on alert as he imagined the woman pouncing on him any time.
He soon came across a glowing portal. As he stepped through it, he couldn't help but wonder.
"What was even her intention if not killing me?"
He had heard a lot about the Windsor Kingdom. While it happened to be quite rich, it was notorious for its popular slave market. Barbarians like him were either killed in the name of glory or sold in slave markets for cheap and obedient labours.
And yet...the princess of the same kingdom didn't even raise a finger at him.
What he failed to notice was the woman was now looking at him with a focussed gaze. As he was about to step through the portal she sweeped away the hairs that were covering her left eye.
Unlike the black iris of the right eye, her left eye glowed like a crystal of frozen ice. It glinted as something invisible passed through the air.
And stuck itself at David's back, as if marking him. Without him even noticing it.
"Sigh...it was good to meet you. Sadly, my emotions are about to get wiped out. Again."