Arc | Chapter. 13: Bittersweet (Patreon)

Chapter. 13: Bittersweet

He had been a Guildmaster for a decade, he had gone through indescribable hardships, seen horrendous and heinous things, even met multiple individuals at the pinnacle of humanity, and yet…

A spear made out of ice was a blessed artifact? A spear that was created before his very eyes was valuable enough to be a family heirloom for high ranking nobility? What⁠— just, Arc was indeed S Tier, but he had just assumed she was at the beginning of that Tier, she was young and impressionable after all, but he had been wrong, so very wrong.

Still, at the back of his mind, he still couldn’t believe what he was being told by the [Appraiser], it was… too much. They were in Ranedale, the town of the Black Forest, a place that hardly saw any visitors or trade, and yet⁠— and yet⁠—

Dergan sucked in a deep breath, asking something utterly stupid.

“Are you sure?”

The [Appraiser] was in as much shock as he was. Breathing heavily. “I… it has to be.” The man looked down at the spear on the table. “My appraisal skill just said unable to identify… What else but S Tier could it be?”

“Y-You are right…” Dergan stuttered.

Had he just stolen an S Tier weapon from Arc? Had he just made an enemy out of her?! He was certainly at fault, not thinking about seeking her out. He had thought it was just an ordinary ice spear, but that clearly was much farther away from the truth.

“I think…” the [Appraiser] began. “I think this is best kept between us.”

Dergan slowly nodded. “Yeah… I think it’s for the best.”

“Still, what do you plan on doing with it?”

“Wait for its owner to return…” He closed his eyes, still shaken.

There was an awkward silence, before an unexpected question came Dergan’s way.

“And if the owner does not return?”

His expression twisted for a moment, as he looked at the ice spear lying on the table. There were so many things he could do with it, but in the end, it belonged to Arc. Finally, after thinking for a moment, a long sigh left the Guildmaster.

“I don’t know… Let’s hope she does.”

* * * * *

We walked for what felt like an hour before the traders gathered to discuss something. And after a minute, the woman approached me.

“We’d like to take a some time to rest.” She gave me a bitter smile. “We’ve been through a lot.”

“Sure that’s fine.” I shrugged. “If you’d like to sleep you can go ahead as well.”

The woman blinked in surprise. “We will take you up on that offer, thank you.”

And after a few minutes a camp was formed, though again, Ceylon and I kind of just stepped away from it. Or rather, I did and Ceylon followed after me. Soon, we found ourselves sitting under a tree, looking at the moon.

“Are you not going to join them?” I gestured towards the encampment behind us. There was no campfire, but the sense of community was there.

“I’m not.” She shook her head. “I don’t really know them.”

“Well you don’t really know me either,” I said with some awkwardness. “So what’s the difference?”

“Hey, I’ve known you for three days.” She crossed her arms. “And I saw you cry once, and you also saw me cry, I’m sure that's worth something.”

A dry laugh left me. “I didn’t see you cry, I heard you,” I corrected. “But yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

“Also, hm, I am unsure if I should say this. But I guess, I feel like it’s my duty to be as hm, friendly and nicest to you as humanly possible knowing I’m the first person you met…” She looked at the ground. “I mean, I don’t think my niceness is fake or anything, but I am more inclined to trust you and talk to you, I think…”

I nodded very slowly.

“Sorry, I guess, it’s not nice to hear.”

But I ignored her apology. “I think, I feel the same, but I am not sure.” I turned to look at the moon. “But I think, I’ll look fondly at the time we spent together.”

“Yeah…”

And then there was silence. I didn’t regret saying what I had just said, but in the end it was the truth, Ceylon was the child of a noble family, and she had her duties to uphold. Meanwhile, I had my own goals, in the end, we would go our separate ways sooner or later. It was a melancholic thing, but something I had come to terms with.

Finally, after a minute, Ceylon spoke up. “I’ll remember you for years on end Arc, thank you. But let’s not get caught in this grim atmosphere, you should try the candy. It’s meant to be eaten cold too, so I’m sure you’ll enjoy it a lot.”

I blinked, digging into my pocket. The wooden box was much colder than the air temperature, but her words just made me look forward to it. Slowly, with Ceylon by my side, I opened the lid to see the snow-white beads, except this time they had small dots of frost condensed around them.

Ceylon blinked. “Is your body temperature that low?”

“Well, my clothes are made out of ice, so…” I looked at the candy some more. “It makes sense.”

And Ceylon laughed to herself for a second. “And here I thought nothing would surprise me anymore, I mean, your clothes are extremely cold,” she said as she felt the fabric of my jacket. “But, the fact that they are made out of ice? Now that is new to me.”

A smile crept up on my face as I replied. “Don’t worry, there will be a lot of surprises throughout this journey.”

“I’m sure there will be.” She smiled before lightly shaking her head. “Anyway, let’s try out the candy.”

I nodded, grabbing a white bead, before offering the box to Ceylon so she could help herself to one as well. I didn’t know what it was made of, but I still held the white bead in my hand and marveled as it sparkled under the moonlight. It was, dare I say, quite pretty.

I could see more flakes of frost begin to form on the surface of the bead, as I continued to admire it for a few more seconds, before finally bringing it close; it didn’t smell like anything in particular, and so with burning anticipation I placed it in my mouth.

At first, it was like eating an ice cube, but the ice slowly peeled away to reveal a rather soft sweetness, it was… distantly familiar. Even though my body was devoid of warmth, at that moment, I felt it; a comforting warmth that filled my body. It tasted like… vanilla. I wasn’t entirely sure, but all my senses told me so.

It was… very nice.

Compared to the bland taste of raw meat, or even the soup, it was different. At the same time, it had a very soft sweetness, not an overwhelming one; subtly flavorful. And yet, in spite of how nice and soothing the taste was, I found that my hands were trembling, and that my eyes were becoming teary.

It was just a piece of sweet candy that tasted like very soft vanilla, and yet it was something that made me emotional. I hadn’t had anything nice for so long. But now, that I got to taste it, it was amazing⁠—

I found myself becoming increasingly more sentimental, but just as I was about to start shedding some tears, a cacophony of roars shook the forest. I paused, instantly frowning as all my senses sharpened once more and my emotions dulled, I sensed it. Dozens of monsters were rapidly heading in our direction. Intently and with the desire to kill.

Ceylon too paused as I just swallowed the rest of the candy and stood up, there was no joy left, and my enjoyment had been interrupted. Perhaps I was overreacting, but I found it truly annoying.

“Why now out of all times,” I grumbled as I started walking back to the trader encampment.

In just a few seconds, I found all of the people panicking and huddling together, that was until the trader woman saw me and immediately called out.

“Monsters are coming! Please stall them for time while we escape!”

I blinked almost innocently. “Stall?” And then I shook my head. “I’m going to kill them all.”

And then my expression changed as I turned around with a gust of chilly air.

“They’ll pay for ruining my moment…”

* * * * *

Ronan regretted his choices. He regretted his greed. Now for his own stupid mistake, everyone was going to die. He had filled his backpack with the dirt of the Black Forest, it was too valuable to be left behind. Just with the backpack alone, he’d be able to feed his wife and kids for six months; with the carriage he transported it would have been years.

Draliz was not in a good position, and so he sought to do everything in his power to ensure his family would survive these harsh times. However, his very own actions were now going to be his undoing; and he would drag everyone along with them… He regretted it.

All he could do was shiver behind a tree as the monsters approached, the escorted woman that they had hired had stepped up, her calm and cold demeanor had reassured him for a moment. Her actions reassured everyone in the group really. He could see the rest of the people huddled in the distance, all while he hid behind a tree.

Ronan clenched onto his backpack, unsure if to run or not. But at the same time, the monsters had been lured because of the dirt. Still⁠— their escort, a white haired girl, had killed a bunch of Nightmare Wolves with nothing but her fists, surely she could deal with the upcoming threat⁠—

And then Ronan immediately lost all hope as he saw the first monster of the tide.

The monster walked on two feet and had a rough blue skin littered with scars, it resembled a human except for its distorted ugly face with protruding fangs and hate filled eyes. Its nethers were covered with nothing but a mesh of leaves, and dangling from its hand there was a crude wooden club.

Ronan recognized it instantly, how could he not?

It was a monster at the peak of C Tier, much stronger than a Nightmare Wolf, the evolution of a goblin.

A Hobgoblin.

And behind the one he observed, there were dozens. Even the white haired girl paused, shaking in fear. It was too much for everyone. Ronan could feel the air itself grow cold; a clear signal to his impending death.

The white haired girl just watched on, shaking as the temperature kept dropping. She watched as the hobgoblins roared and marched at a fast pace. At first, they were dozens of meters away, but now; in just a few seconds everyone would die.

Ronan swallowed, before finally, the white girl spoke.

“This is it…?” Her chilly voice echoed for everyone to hear. “Just a bunch of… deformed humanoid creatures, interrupted me?”

Ronan couldn’t understand as he kept shivering, but rather than fearful, the girl sounded, angry. And then, she scowled and the temperature became even colder. But he could see his misty breaths dissolve into the air, all while the hobgoblins marched on. Finally, she shook her head.

“Still, I suppose you people cannot see what I’m about to do,” she said without turning to regard the traders behind her.

Ronan didn’t understand her, but she flicked her fingers, muttering something under her breath, and he saw the impossible. With a wave of air, the people behind her paused, froze, all their movements halted as if stopped in time. And finally, the white haired girl looked ahead towards the hobgoblins, her expression cold and uncaring.

She raised her arm, preparing a finger flick with her index finger and thumb. Ronan instinctually shivered as she spoke the following words with a misty breath.

“Disappear.”

And she flicked.

The forest exploded. Everything in a cone was wiped with a glacial burst of ice spikes. Chunks of hobgoblin flesh burst in all directions as Ronan gasped. It was as if a whole iceberg had formed, consuming every living being in its radius and killing it in an instant with a roaring boom.

And at that moment, Ronan realized he was looking at a monster.

He shivered, his teeth clattering to the cold as he attempted to back off. But as soon as he took a single step, her head snapped in his direction and her cold gaze met his. Fuck⁠— he felt his skin prickle all over as she walked towards him with a small frown. Her light blue eyes stared right into his soul.

“So you saw, didn’t you?”

Ronan fell over and stuttered incoherently as the white haired monster walked towards him with a small frown. And then, just as sudden as she started walking, she stopped. Her gaze landing next to Ronan’s feet where she saw his fallen backpack. Then, she turned back to him.

“So it was your fault…” she spoke with a darkened gaze. “It was your fault that all those useless hobgoblins showed up.”

Ronan backed off, crawling on his back as he pleaded. “P-Please, I-I did it for my family⁠— please don’t kill me!”

Meanwhile, she started to walk again, each of her strides freezing the ground she stepped on. Ronan couldn’t understand how it even worked, how she even froze the other people, how the hobgoblins had died with the flick of a finger⁠— she was a monster. He backed off, begging.

“P-Please!” His heart threatened to stop at any second. “Please, I-I have a family!”

Then hit a tree with his back, allowing her to finally reach him. The young woman towered over him with a cold gaze. Ronan knew it was a prelude to his death. Yet, he kept on pleading.

“I’ll do anything, please spare me!” And he slammed his head against the ground. “Please!”

“Anything you say?” Her voice rang in his ears with unbelievable coldness, then she tilted her head for a few moments, seemingly thinking, until finally she nodded. “Very well.”

And Ronan raised his head only to see her grinning, a maniacal grin of pure madness that sent shivers to his very soul, and she continued speaking.

“Then, you’ll have to give me lots of nice and tasty food.”

Ronan paused.

“Wait… what?”

Next: Chapter 14: Traitor