"We’ll pass by it."
No one objected, their main goal was still the Giant Graveyard, and it made no sense for any of them to lose more time just hoping to find a few more Awakened.
So they changed their path slightly and moved away from the southern part of the city, everyone trying to move quietly.
One also slowed down his steps, and they continued on their way, thinking that everything was going smoothly, less than fifteen minutes later—
The light on one of the glass tree trunks changed, it was only a short flash, but Seris saw it.
Her head turned at that exact moment, something moved through the air, a crystal arrow came toward Tavern at terrifying speed.
She rose from One’s back, her foot pressed against the ant’s natural armor, and her body jumped into the air.
Her sword came out of its sheath.
Clang!
The blade hit the arrow, and the crystal broke in midair, dozens of clear pieces fell to the ground like rain.
The entire group stopped at the same moment, their weapons came out....they were under attack!
"Which bastard did that?" Tavern shouted angrily.
No one said anything, they only checked their surroundings, and at first, no one could be seen.
Then one of the reflections on a tree moved.
Then a second.
Then a third.
And suddenly, more than twenty creatures appeared among the glass tree trunks and branches.
Not that they had actually come out from inside the trees.
Their skin, clothes and armor reflected the light around them, and as long as they stayed still, the image of the trees was reflected on their bodies.
They almost disappeared into the environment.
The natives of Glassthorn.
Most of their skin looked human, but very thin, clear lines could be seen under their skin.
Glass-white hair was common among them, their eyes had no clear pupils, and the surface of their eyes looked more like smooth, polished stone than real eyes.
Each of them held a crystal weapon, bows, spears, thin swords, all of their weapons were made of glass.
"It’s them." Tavern said quietly.
One of the natives said something in his own language.
He frowned, it was clear that he understood nothing, after all, he did not know their language.
[What the hell is a Cindari doing here?] But for the Awakened, the System’s translation appeared immediately.
"He’s asking what you are doing here." Rindo slightly turned his head toward Tavern.
"How nice." Tavern said with annoyance.
"They are also... those creatures? Humans?" Another native moved his clear eyes over the Humans, and for a moment there was a sign of fear in his voice, which was strange.
"Apparently, they know us too." Rindo raised an eyebrow this time, and he also noticed that short moment of fear.
Several other natives moved on the branches, their weapons were still raised, and there was no sign that they were calming down.
One of them jumped down from the tree, he was slightly taller than Rindo and had short white hair.
A panel appeared above his head.
[Glass skins]
[Level: 21]
He came forward a few steps and did not lower his crystal spear.
"What are you doing here?"
"We are only passing through, we are not looking for your city, and we are not looking for a fight." Rindo stepped forward, keeping his hands away from his weapon.
"How are we supposed to know that? How do we know you are not Forsaken?" The creature, or rather, Siran, asked with distrust, and then his gaze became a little colder.
"Forsaken?" Rindo frowned.
"Those who lose their minds, see friends as enemies, attack their own families, even kill their own kind...there are many of them among you Humans." He looked at the Awakened again with eyes full of hatred.
The Student Council President’s expression changed immediately, so other Awakened really had reached Glassthorn.
"You attacked us without checking just because you thought we had lost our minds? You are the ones looking for a fight!" Liana raised her voice with mockery.
"All of you Humans are trouble." Siran stayed silent for a few seconds, then a short and rough sound came from his throat.
"How were we supposed to know you were not Forsaken? Killing you was the safer choice, it’s not like you are dead now." His eyes fell on the broken arrow on the ground.
Rindo said nothing, it was clear now, they were not only careful around outsiders, they hated Humans, and they probably had a reason for that hatred.
And according to what he had understood, they had definitely met Humans before, and since they knew about the Awakened becoming corrupted, that meant there had to be Humans inside that city.
The corruption had started less than a day ago, and if these creatures had learned about the condition of the Humans this quickly, it could only mean one thing.
Seris, however, had no interest in checking their past, she raised her sword and said in a cold voice.
"We don’t have time to waste, either get out of our way, or you die here."
The atmosphere changed in an instant, the natives raised their weapons higher, and mana gathered around the bodies of several of them.
Siran also pointed his spear directly at Seris.
Rindo said nothing this time, under normal conditions, he might have tried to stop the fight, but they truly had no time now.
If this group decided to stop them, they would have to go through them, and it did not look like they wanted to move aside, it was clear that they were mainly targeting them because they were Humans.
But before anyone could make the first move, a voice came from among the trees.
"Siran."
Everyone stopped, it was a man’s voice, calm, but that single word was enough to change Siran’s expression and make his body become slightly stiff.
"I am sure I told you not to leave your position." The voice continued.
The reflection of one of the trees behind the natives changed.
"And if you see a new Forsaken, report it first."
Someone stepped out from the light, a young man with dark hair, wearing simple clothes whose surface copied the reflections of the surroundings just like the natives of the forest.
But unlike them, he was completely Human, he was a Human! And the natives reacted immediately when they saw him, their weapons were still not lowered, but almost all of them lowered their heads.
Not out of normal respect, but out of fear!
"S-Sorry, Your Majesty." Siran’s face became a little pale.
Several of the Awakened looked at each other when they heard that title, why was this Glass skin, who seemed to hate Humans, calling one of them Your Majesty?
The young man looked at Siran without immediately paying attention to the other Humans, his gaze became colder every second, as if he would punish those Glass skins badly if he did not receive a good answer.
"We saw these intruders, we thought they might be Forsaken, so we came to check."
The man said nothing and then looked at the group, Rindo stood a little straighter and Liana looked at him with curiosity.
But Seris became completely still, she did not know the face, but she knew the resemblance, the jawline, the dark hair, the eyes, and the way he slightly tilted his head when examining the people in front of him.
For a strange moment, she felt like Lian was standing in front of her, but this man was not Lian, he did not have that constant coldness on his face, instead of coldness, there was cruelty on his face.
Even though the similarity between their faces was extremely strange, he looked strangely similar to Lian.
However, something about his presence bothered Seris, his cruel appearance matched the feeling of danger she got from him.
He was not weak, not at all, in fact, she felt that except for herself and Tavern, there was no one else here who could fight this man.
She unconsciously moved her hand slightly closer to the handle of her sword.
"I did not expect to see Awakened again this soon." The man noticed her movement, but smiled.
"We did not expect it either, I am glad that at least another group is still safe." Rindo also gave a short smile.
"Me too, anyway, you came from another forest, right?" The man laughed.
"We came from Emberroot."
"I guessed."
A few more short sentences were exchanged, and the atmosphere slowly moved away from its explosive state, Siran and his forces were still standing farther back, but they were no longer holding their weapons directly at the group.
"I guess you are traveling, right? Why don’t you rest in Crystaline for a while?"
Rindo wanted to politely refuse the offer, but Seris answered faster.
"No need, we need to reach our destination as soon as possible, we have already wasted too much time here." Her tone was cold, she could somehow smell a strong Vorhelm scent from this boy, and she did not like this smell at all.
Lian was an exception, of course, and in any case, he did not have a smell either.
Her words made the atmosphere become a little tense again, not enough to become a real conflict, but it was clear that her tone was not very friendly, and Rindo sighed.
"Your face looks familiar to me, and that sharp tongue reminds me of the Pendragons." Then the man’s gaze stayed on Seris, he looked at her more carefully for several seconds and finally said.
"You also remind me of the Vorhelms." The young Pendragon answered again in a emotionless tone.
"That’s natural, after all, I am a Vorhelm." The man’s smile became a little wider.
"Vorhelm?" Rindo was the first to react, had they randomly found a Vorhelm?
"What is your relation to Lian?" But Seris asked the main question directly.
"Where do you know my brother from?" This time, the man really paused.
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