It wasn't too long after eating that we all headed outside, and began walking towards the gates. Martin had asked me to refrain from flying in the city if I could help it, as apparently people got scared over a silhouette with wings darker than the night sky flying through the air at incredible speeds. He said do what I needed to do, but this was a pretty simple request. When I told everyone we'd be flying there, those that hadn't done so yet both seemed a little skeptical, but also excited. I was sure it would be a cake walk to fly with everyone.
We made our way to one of the gates, and all of us exited together. Everyone was here to show their support for the siblings, and they were both very grateful to everyone. We all walked a good ways away from city, taking a path into the nearby forest that led us to a wide clearing. Everyone stopped and gathered together, looking at me expectantly.
"So... Elias." Terroth said, stepping up to me, "I do not doubt you. Hells, after what I've seen, how can I? It's just... no one knows how strong this Raizen fellow is, which the only reason why we haven't done anything yet. We've all been trying to get stronger, but progress slows down significantly the stronger you get. And now, you're saying you can just fly us all around like it's no big deal. Tell me... how strong are you? Really?"
I looked at him, as well as Marina who gave me the same questioning look, and it made me realize that they activated weren't present when I showed everyone my stats, or how strong I was. I trusted them, and I saw no reason to hide it from them. Really, I didn't see a reason to hide much from people besides my race, which people couldn't see anyways.
"Right. I suppose you should know, if to ease your mind, at the very least." I said, pulling up my Framework screens, and sending them over to the pair.
They looked, their eyes focusing. Marina suddenly gasped, and I saw her legs buckle as her body trembled. She looked at me with shock, surprise, and no little amount of fear that actually hurt me a bit. Terroth meanwhile had eyes so big I thought they'd pop out of his head like in those old cartoons I used to watch as a kid.
"Im... impossible." Marina said, her voice shakey and unnerved.
"Well... fuck me." Terroth said, and I was thankful not to see or sense any fear from the man.
"To answer your question, I am pretty strong." I said, and to my surprise, Terroth laughed loudly.
"THAT'S THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY!" He yelled, looking at me with newfound appreciation, "SSS+? Really? You just looked at the peak of power, and said to hell with that, huh?"
While this was not the reaction I expected from him, I did appreciate it. I kinda expected something more like Marina, who looked at me cautiously, like if she said the wrong thing, I'd hurt her or something. I turned to her, and she flinched.
"Marina, I am still the same person. I am showing this to both of you because I trust you. I'd never hurt you, or anyone else here. I only use my power against those who deserve it. I understand your reaction, but please believe me. I just want to keep you all safe, and protect my family, my friends, and my home." I said, and my words actually caused her to look at the ground, as some shame entered her eyes.
"Believe me if you don't believe him." Clarissa said, walking up to my side, and taking my hand in hers, "Eli has done nothing but help us, and help me. I wouldn't be with him if he wasn't a good man. I would have fallen in love with him either, and I wouldn't have given myself to him if he wasn't a man I could trust."
Her face has flushed a bit as she said the last part, but her words were full of conviction. I squeezed her hand, and smiled warmly at my newest love. It wasn't just the fact that both women loved me that made me grateful to have them. It was also because they had my back, and they stood by me and my decisions. Just as I would always defend them, they did the same for me.
"This is crazy, but Marina, this is Elias we are talking about. You've seen how he is. I'm surprised, but not scared. I just can't believe what I'm seeing." Terroth said, and actually gave me a grin, which I returned.
"Thanks, Terroth." I said, and he nodded at me.
Everyone else around us also put in their teo cents, and by the end of it, I actually felt my face become a little hot as people keep praising me. Who I was, my actions, and more than a few comments about how attractive I was, which I did like coming from the girls. I was just not good with receiving compliments. Marina took in their words, and seemed to have a realization by the end of it, and she looked at me with a guilty expression.
"I'm... sorry." She said, but I just shook it off.
"You don't have to be sorry. I know it's a lot, but I'm not like the other powerful people in this world, and I never will be." I said, and she actually looked at me with a question in her eyes.
"That's an odd way to say that." She said, making me realize what else I haven't told them.
"Right. I should probably tell you the other part." I said, and then quickly told them about how I wasn't from this world, or more so, I was but I wasn't. It was complicated.
Terroth listened to me with wide eyes, and Marina looked at me with even wider eyes. Once I finshed, Terroth struck his palm with his fist, coming to a realization.
"I see! It makes so much sense now!" He said, nodding rapidly to himself, "I thought you were just sheltered or something since you really didn't seem to know a whole lot about a lot of stuff." He said, and that made me feel a little self conscious.
Truthfully, I was kinda sheltered in way for most of my life. I didn't really get out and do much, and I felt like I was only now starting to learn things about life, and about myself. The only difference was I was doing that in a world I knew very little about. All that being said, I didn't want to waste anymore time today, as whenever I glanced at Serena and Benji, their eyes were filled with anxiety and fear.
"I can tell you all more about myself in detail later if you want. Right now, we have something to do." I said, and both of them nodded.
"You're right. I can freak out about all of this later. It's all just... a lot." Marina finally said, no longer speechless.
"It is. Sorry I forgot to tell you both sooner." I replied sincerely, and they both nodded at me, with Terroth giving me a thumbs up.
"It's fine. Like you said, we can talk more later. We got a village to save." Terroth said, and I smiled, as did everyone else. The siblings were the most grateful though, their eyes shining with their gratitude towards the leader of their party, and their friend.
I didn't waste anymore time after that, and soon, my wings manifested on my back. I looked around at the group, and many of them looked at me with wide eyes, as some had yet to see my wings. I just smirked, before I wrapped everyone in my manipulation skill.
"Take a deep breath, everyone." I said, and I waited for everyone to nod in ascent, before I began flap my wings, rising into the air, and taking everyone with.
"Oh, hell yes!" Terroth exclaimed, looking positively thrilled.
Cici and Clarissa remained near me, and they were also the ones more used to this, although Clarissa still seemed a little nervous. Marina looked like she was going to be sick, Sheila just seemed fascinated, while Valerie actually was smiling the higher we rose into the air. Part of me expected her to turn into a bat or something, but that was just me remembering the stories of vampires back home. Plus, she was only half vampire.
"This is cool!" Benji said, his anxiety forgotten as he looked around the open skies the higher we went.
"Please don't drop us..." Serena said, her face almost turning green.
Using my manipulation, I parted the group, and flew towards the pair with my women in tow. I arrived in front of them in short order.
"Okay, you two are going to be my guides. Point me in the direction we need to go, and I'll take it from there." I said, and they both nodded.
The pointed out the direction we had to travel, and it appeared to be northeast of Arbigold. Not sure how well my directional knowledge would pay off here. I just had to know where to go, and then simply go that way.
"All right. Let's do this." I said, and keeping them a little ways in front, we all took off, with a couple of the women screaming as we did so.
The forest below became more dense the further along we went, and it stretched along as far as the eye could see. I think they mentioned it was a couple weeks out, but it would not take us nearly that long to reach our destination.
"I can't believe this! We are nearly there already!" Benji exclaimed, and I was happy to actually hear hope in his tone.
"We're okay... we're okay..." Serena said, taking slow breaths in and out to keep herself calm.
We had gone pretty high up, although I did my best to keep everyone as comfortable as possible. As we flew, the two did their best to tell me more information, and it was a good distraction for Serena in particular, as she was not taking being so high in the air very well. They said there was roughly 60 people in their village, as it was pretty small. The average Class rank of their village was roughly C+, with a few in the B ranks, and I guess the leader of the village was in low A rank.
Benji could also inspect others. He had said that for some reason, Raizen was unable to be inspected. The only reason they knew his name was because that's what he called himself, as well as his men. I doubted he could hide from Abyssal Eye. He also added that while Raizen was hidden, his men were not, and that most of them were B+ to A rank, which is also why they feared him so much, or what he could have done. For him to command people that strong could only mean that he was even stronger.
They were also a yellow furred type of fox beastkin, which didn't really matter to much to me. It didn't really matter who or what they were. It didn't matter how strong they were. It didn't matter what they could do, or why they did what they did. In the end, I would kill all of them, and I would end my friend's torment. I just hoped that their loved ones were still alive. They had said they had left here roughly 8 months ago... so it really was just up to chance.
Either way, they would pay. For my friends, and all of those they hurt, they would feel my wrath. No sooner than I thought that, a small village popped up in the distance, and the siblings began to tremble.
"There... we made it." Benji said, the fear of what we might find evident in his tone.
"We're home..." Serena said, her voice shaking with her own fear and worry.
I flew up beside them, reached out, and put a hand on both of their shoulders. They turned to look at me, and I gave them the most confident smile I could.
"Are you ready to take it back?" I asked, my voice full of conviction.
They looked at me, back at each other, and then at me again. Fear was still present, but that fire of determination that burned brightly in their eyes once before came back, stronger than ever before. They nodded at me, and togerher, they answered me.
"Yes."