The figure drew closer, revealing it was Eleanor Gray, the third trainee; her long brown hair reflected light in the dim corridor.
Eleanor casually walked over to the duo, and layed a hand on the old guard.
She uttered a single word, "somnum."
The old guard collapsed to the floor, eyes shut.
"What? Why did you do that!" asked Ryan.
"To save you, idiot. Now, are you coming or would you rather die?" She responded sarcastically.
Eleanor dashed to the exit while Ryan contemplated whether he should just give himself up and try to explain what had happened… or escape.
"Come on!" Eleanor shouted back.
"And don't stop running! You won't be able to explain to them what happened to Toris; they will just think you are an elf spy." Eleanor said.
"Ho- How did you know that something happened to Toris?" Said Ryan, chasing after her.
"You left with Toris to go to the training hall, just you two. Only you leave the hall, and then with what you said to the guard? It's obvious! But why you did it? That I'd like to know."
The large doors were just up ahead. Only one guard had remained at the gate.
"Hey! guard! The others need help in the training hall." shouted Eleanor, who had slowed her pace down to a walk.
"I can't go! I have to protect the gate," responded the guard.
"Damn, my mana's being wasted… somnum," Eleanor cast as she touched the guard, sending him collapsing to the floor, asleep.
Ouch! He hit the floor at a bad angle, thought Ryan, looking at the guard who fell head first.
Eleanor casuall walked past the sleeping guard, opened the large gate and forced Ryan through the illusion.
Ryan went through, and straight into the torrential rain that awaited him.
And… I'm back in the forest already…
"Okay! Time to run!" shouted Eleanor as she heard rushing footsteps coming from the gate.
"Ignis Pila," A ball of fire smashed into the gate, erupting and splashing the door with fire.
Splashes of water fell onto the fire, rapidly extinguishing it.
The duo bolted off into the forest.
Trees whizzed past them as they ran full paced.
A few minutes later, they slowed their pace down.
Then Ryan turned on his brain. Why would she break me free if I just killed Toris… is she a… spy?
"Why did you help me? What are your intentions? Are you a spy who brought me out to kill me?" Ryan's eyebrows furrowed, he took a defensive stance.
"What? Hahaha, No, stupid. I am a human. I just didn't want a hero to die. We need you more than we need Toris anyway."
"How do you know for sure that I'm the hero?" Ryan asked.
"Because no one else could even ACT as foolish as you are."
Ryan's face drooped.
"Don't worry; I'll help you with that. I'll tell you everything you need to know about this world to survive, but first, what happened between you and Toris? I can't believe someone as weak as you could even touch him."
Ryan paused walking, and tried his hardest to recall the fuzzy memory. "I'm not entirely sure what happened—Toris tried to check what affinities I have, but I suddenly felt an intense pain and fell unconscious... When I woke up a minute later, Toris was dead with his head gone. I—I think something took over my body… and killed him." Ryan rubbed his temple slowly. "It also said something in a weird language… and then I woke up and took over control again."
"There's a myth quite similar to that… The daughter of Jupiter, Juventas, was attacked when she was young by another God and their cronies. With no one to protect her she was bound to die. But then, she suddenly collapsed where she stood, and a moment later she rose up."
"But when she rose… her eyes had turned perfectly purple. And she viciously murdered everyone attacking her."
She continued, "Some say it was a spell that Jupiter cast on his child, and when his daughter's life was in danger, the parent's soul took control. I believe it mentioned that the soul takeover can only happen once, and then never again or the caster might absorb the targets soul."
Creepy… but my parents couldn't have done that. There isn't even any mana on Earth.
"Does the caster have to be a parent? Mine were very ordinary. Oh and why did it kill Toris? He was only checking what element I was proficient in." Questioned Ryan.
A small frown creeped up Eleanor's face, "Do you think I know everything? I'm very young, younger than you probably!"
"What? You look like you are 29!" Said Ryan, surprised.
"I'm 21," she growled, her frown turned to a pout.
The two were now deep in the forest, and faint traces of moonlight seeped through the canopy above, keeping their surroundings bright enough to see as they kept trundling further and further away from the rebel hideout.
"Soooo, when are we going to stop walking?" Asked Ryan.
"When we find a suitable cave." Responded Eleanor.
Ryan pointed up into the sky. "Why not just go up that tree and sit on the branches?"
Eleanor's head twisted up. "I guess we could try that," she said, grabbing onto the branches of the tree and hurling herself upz
Ryan followed behind.
The duo, now settled into spots high up in the tree, began talking quietly.
Eleanor started by explaining the basic knowledge of this world, "Well firstly, there are four higher races: humans, elves, giants, and dwarfs. Dwarves are mostly against us, but they are split between joining the war and not joining. The other two were adamant on our destruction... Oh, and there are lower races, ones slightly intelligent like goblins and ogres but us four races are the only ones that matter. Another important thing to know is that we are in an Elven Kingdom near to a city called Foles and a border town named Elerea, which is led by an elf named Deuteros."
Ryan struggled to keep his eyelids open as he listened. He was exhausted after the day of constant training and running.
Eleanor gave up. "I can tell you're tired, I'll tell you anything you need to know another time. For now, try to get some rest. I'll wake you up when it's your turn to go on watch."