'Humans?'
It was the first time Isaac had seen someone who resembled people from his previous world.
The two men were tall and broad-bodied, fully armoured except for their heads. Their right hands lay lazily on the hilts of their swords. A three-headed wolf was embedded on their chests along with a shooting star.
"Rohan's soldiers."
Isaac heard Lancel's words come out through his clenched teeth.
He remembered the name Rohan — it was the town that was close to where they were living.
"Are we truly going to find Balera Nun's research in a place like this?"
The first soldier sounded more weary than doubtful.
Isaac quickly focused on the conversation of the two soldiers who were walking past them.
"It is well known she lived in this forest, you fool," the second one said, not bothering to soften his irritation.
"She died out here running experiments on different species. Her family confirmed it thirty years ago, around the time we drove the elves out."
'Balera Nun?'
Isaac filed the name away without moving a muscle.
"I'd be in heaven if we found her papers,"
the first soldier said, his voice warming at the idea, like he could already see himself living a comfortable life.
"She was an Ascendant of sequence seven. There is no way she wouldn't be loaded with money, and not to mention her research would go for thousands of Grivna at auction.
Though, I wonder if we can find it. Thirty years is a long, long time."
"Lancel."
Logan's voice was entirely quiet. All the warmth had gone out of it.
"Kill them."
"Yes." Lancel moved without hesitation, arrow already nocked, the bow rising to his cheek in one smooth motion.
Isaac's heart began to ram in his chest as he watched Lancel aim at the back of the soldier's head.
His body responded before his mind could catch up.
Bam!
The arrow buried itself in a trunk two metres wide of either soldier, the shaft still quivering when the sound split the silence.
Lancel's wide eyes snapped to Isaac, who had deliberately pushed him to miss the shot.
"Who's there!"
"Show yourself!!"
The two soldiers unsheathed their swords and turned toward them. They were fast, but it didn't help.
A sound like something tearing rose from the ground beneath their feet.
Before they could do anything, Isaac watched the earth itself begin to move.
Their bodies froze in place as the ground below them began to swallow up their legs.
A large amount of blood burst out of their ears, noses, mouths, and eyes.
"Ah!!"
Their cry of pain echoed through the forest as small plants began to crawl out from their skin and other openings.
Before long, both soldiers had turned into two bushes shaped like humans.
Isaac watched the entire process with a horrified look on his face, sweat trickling down his forehead.
His gaze slowly shifted toward Logan, whose hands were extended forward.
Logan let out a sigh and lowered his hands. "Would you be kind enough to check their bodies, Lancel?"
"….Yes."
The young boy lowered his bow and walked toward them.
"Isaac." The old man turned his attention toward the boy. "What was that?"
Isaac had no words to defend himself. What he had done was on impulse.
Having lived his entire life in a peaceful world, he just couldn't stand there while someone was about to die.
"Look at me, Isaac!!" Logan snapped when he tried to lower his head. "Do not look away!!"
Isaac did as he was told. However, he was having a hard time staring at that cold face.
"They are our enemies," Logan explained in a chilling voice.
"Every single human is evil and corrupt to its core. They kill, rob, and even rape our kind. They are the literal definition of evil — look at me!!"
Logan snapped again when Isaac tried to lower his gaze. Isaac looked up without responding.
"If they find our village, they will repeat what they did ten years ago," Logan said, pointing at them. "I lost my son because of them, and I would be damned before I lose my grandsons because I showed them mercy."
Isaac understood his mistake. "I am sorry."
Logan finally let out a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Don't do it again." He turned away. "That's all I ask."
Isaac nodded gently when Lancel returned. "They had nothing except some money."
"Keep the money," Logan said, grabbing the reindeer's body. "Let's head back home."
——————
When Isaac and the others reached the town, they went their separate ways.
Logan and Lancel moved toward the church to offer the meat to the goddess before eating.
Isaac headed back home, as he wasn't in the mood.
When he opened the door and walked inside, he was greeted by Rhea sitting on the sofa.
She smiled and stood up. "Welcome back, child."
"I am home," Isaac said with a tired smile. "I will be in my room."
Rhea looked confused as the boy walked past her and headed toward his room, though she didn't stop him.
Isaac reached his room and closed the door behind him.
He sat down on the floor with his back leaning against the bed frame.
"Haah…."
Isaac let out a deep breath, covering his face with his hands.
It was the first time he had witnessed a murder with his own eyes. The death of two people.
His body felt repulsed but not to the point of nausea, which was a surprise in itself.
'….I really am not on earth.'
Isaac thought, looking at both his hands as they trembled violently.
'A world where death is lurking everywhere.'
He rubbed his face and looked up at the wooden ceiling.
"…I need to get stronger."
Isaac had no intention of dying in this world. He wanted to return to his life where his family was.
Isaac closed his eyes and said the phrase out loud.
"The charm blessed by the god."
A sudden headache assaulted his mind, which made him frown. Isaac opened his eyes and found himself back in the garden.
Taking a deep breath, he walked toward the book placed in the middle.
He picked it up and began to read from where he had left off, ignoring the box on the side.
---
"Before we begin, you need to understand what a ritual is and what it does. From my understanding of this world, a ritual is a way of transferring energy from one being to another. The energy can be transferred into anything — living or non-living.
Along with energy, knowledge and skills transfer as well.
Each of the thirteen Ascendant Paths carries a fixed inheritance. Abilities that are not learned so much as unlocked, latent in the sequence itself.
Now, if you asked which path is best, my answer would be the knowledge path, commonly used by the Naga people.
But if you are an elf, as I was, the path best suited to your nature is the Life Ascendant Path."
---
Isaac rubbed his temples as he kept staring at the words written in the book.
From what he had understood through his conversations with Logan, to follow any Ascendant path you would need the corresponding flower.
And given the importance of those flowers, Isaac highly doubted he could find any of them except the ones Logan could provide.
'Better to have something instead of nothing.'
He flipped the page and began reading again.
---
"The Ascendant Path you choose does matter a lot, but to return home you would need something much more important than that.
…..And it's the Flower of Fate."
"Now, during my reign as empress, I burned down every flower of fate and made sure it could never grow again."
-----
'Then where am I supposed to find it?'
Isaac let out a sigh, his hopes of returning home slowly getting crushed.
----
"Lucky for you, I kept one. A single flower, preserved against the possibility that there would be another after me who deserved the chance I almost denied myself."
Isaac slowly turned his head toward the box on the table.
'….Is that?'
He decided to check, his gaze shifting back to the book.
There was not much left to read, as Empress Cassandra had explained how to use the flower of fate with the first ritual to become an Ascendant.
Along with it was a diagram that gave a detailed explanation of how to adjust the ritual in accordance with the flower of fate.
After the diagrams, the pages were sealed. Whatever came next, he hadn't earned it yet.
He closed the book and placed it back on the table. Then he reached for the box.
This time, he opened the lid, and a gentle smell flooded the place.
A single flower, silver-petalled, six petals arranged in perfect radial symmetry.
It sat in the centre of the box as though it had always been there.
As though it had been placed there specifically for him.
'…The Flower of Fate.'
He stared at it for a long time without touching it.