Orion pulled his sister Mila toward Eric. "B-Big Brother, thank you for saving my sister!" He bowed.
"Sister, this Big Brother is a strong guardian of the world whom I met in the woods. Big Brother, this is my big sister Mila." Orion introduced both sides like a responsible grown-up man.
Eric acknowledged with a bright smile, to which Mila blushed deeply and looked down.
Eric's lip twitched slightly. While Lyria and Livy's eyes flashed, they wondered if they had found a new sister in the wild.
"Big Brother, Big Sisters, come with me. I will show you around," Orion said with an enthusiastic tone.
Eric nodded and followed the siblings. Meanwhile, he also explained what had occurred so far to both Lyria and Livy.
Lyria and Livy smiled in understanding. They were excited about having their first proper battle against a Mana Beast. The Abyssal Grinner didn't count.
They were also happy for Eric regarding the reduction in difficulty for his special Training stats breakthrough requirement that would arrive soon.
Eric had long informed both girls of his extra 'bracket' of stats improvement back on the Training Island.
It was important to come clean about this, as he simply couldn't gulp drugs and candies in front of them without explanation. This also couldn't be hidden forever, as his improvements in stats were visible during sparring.
He could still hide, but what was the point? He had already trusted them both with the previous two breakthroughs.
He just provided them an explanation that it was all thanks to his special badass inborn talent, which wasn't entirely a lie either.
Lyria and Livy were very happy for Eric's extra stats improvement. They could clearly sense that they had reached their extreme limit of training stats. It was such a clear, peculiar feeling that they could mistake whether they were awake or dreaming—but this reaching of 'peak' sensation was crystal clear to them.
If Eric became stronger, they would only be the happiest, as he could survive better in difficult situations. It could also be counted as one of their trump cards during tough battles. And most importantly, as their one and only man in their hearts, how could they not celebrate seeing their man becoming stronger?
So, both Lyria and Livy were internally very happy after learning this.
While strolling, all three of them kept observing the village, which was the same as the front houses—old, run-down, and never maintained or renovated for decades or longer.
Roughly counting the number of houses and their mostly two-story wooden buildings, Eric estimated that the entire village could very well hold at least 500 people. Yet currently, the village probably had fewer than 200 people, which showed that either most of the villagers had already abandoned the village and moved elsewhere, or all of them had been pitifully sacrificed to an old, lazy Beast.
'Oh… I forgot to ask what type of beast it was,' Eric thought, shaking his head internally. It wasn't really a problem for them, as they had almost all knowledge on Mana Beasts up to Elder Stage Rank 2. Riya had also long passed the Mana Beast encyclopedia to Eric after the Abyssal Grinner incident.
The more Eric glanced around the village, the more he felt everything seemed too strange.
There were many questions in his head, but he doubted that either Orion or Mila could provide proper answers, while other villagers had shunned them like they were the main carriers of COVID.
After a while of strolling, they all arrived in front of Orion's decrepit two-story house, which didn't look any better than the others.
"Big Brother, I just learned from my sister that our father left something in the basement, but… it is nothing expensive or precious." Orion didn't know how to continue. He felt he had lied to their savior and the guardian of the world, but he hadn't done it intentionally—he truly had no idea that it was just some parting words and notes, nothing precious.
Eric waved his hand dismissively. He was never interested in any treasure from this broken-down village and villagers.
"I'll check on that after we've dealt with the village problem. Now, tell me, Orion..." Eric paused and looked around. Except for some children running around, he didn't see any adults. Some who were peeking from afar were clearly throwing an 'unwelcoming' gaze at him.
"Why aren't your fellow villagers welcoming or appreciating our help? And why are we so... denied?" he asked in confusion.
Orion also glanced around and was confused. However, Mila looked downward in depression upon hearing Eric's question.
After a moment, she finally answered with a helpless tone. "We don't have enough food, so they might feel that reducing our number can save food... If B-Big Brother helps us, then they will also have to continue sharing food and resources with me. I-I also can't fully comprehend many things, and other adults ignore us…."
"Some time ago, our father went out to seek help from another big village far away from here, but we don't know what happened—he still hasn't returned. A few others who went with him also haven't returned."
Eric nodded in understanding. It was obviously best to reduce the number of a family that only had two children left with no strong guardian. Thus, his intrusion was indeed a burden to the 'proud' villagers.
And possibly, the villagers thought their father and others had fled, so they ignored, hated, and even blamed Mila and Orion.
People always needed an excuse to blame someone, so how could they miss such a god-given opportunity to not only blame but also use them as a offering while feeling justified that they deserved it?
This process also saved them from the expense of visiting a psychiatrist!
Eric could understand righteous, heaven-going people's mentality at the back of his hand—he had a PhD in this!
But what were the villagers planning? Just how long were they going to keep sacrificing people like this? Also, with five freaking late-stage Rank 1 Mana Wielders, they still couldn't gather enough food? What heavenly joke was this?
Eric felt many things didn't make sense, and his instinct was still poking him that all the villagers were somehow strange—but he couldn't tell just where it was strange. He was also feeling a strange déjà vu from the villagers, just like with Orion previously—as if he had encountered 'them' somewhere in his life, but he couldn't figure out just where he had experienced something like this.
He originally hadn't wanted to bother Riya, yet she still took the effort to inform him that she also had no idea and wasn't in any condition to investigate this deeply.
Eric turned toward Lyria and Livy for confirmation. "Ly, Liv, I've wanted to ask you both for a while—did you girls feel anything strange from the villagers?"
Both tilted their heads together in confusion.
After some thought, Lyria answered with an unsure tone. "I don't know what Brother Eric is finding strange about. To me, the villagers seem normal—except the five leaders. They strangely gave me creeps. And the fact that the entire village is crumbling and in a decaying condition, as if it had been abandoned for decades."
Livy nodded at Lyria's explanation and didn't fight with her about 'taking away her answer.' They were currently in an unknown place, so no time to fight to show how smart she was to Eric.
Eric turned toward Mila, asking in a roundabout way, "Mila, those five Leaders or Elders—are they from this Village?"
Mila nodded in agreement while finding the godly handsome Big Brother's question strange.
Eric then asked the obvious. "Then why don't they find food for the villagers? They're very capable, no?"
Both Orion and Mila were startled by the question and went into deep thought. Eventually, Mila sighed. "I… we don't know... but perhaps the other adults might know."
Eric decided to stop asking any more questions. Asking further questions of these two abandoned siblings would only yield no correct answer. As for the beaten-down house's condition, he could guess that when these villagers couldn't even gather enough food, why bother with repairs? But he still found the entire situation too strange...
He eventually just shrugged it off and started looking around.
Though it was still dusk, due to the village being surrounded by trees—especially on the western side—it had already darkened considerably. This amount of darkness meant nothing to the village mortals, much less to him, who was born of darkness.
None of them spoke further, standing awkwardly outside Orion and Mila's house.
Orion thought he should introduce the 'Guardian of the World' to his friends. So, he brought Eric, Lyria, and Livy to his playing location, where he introduced his friends to all three of them.
The other children were similarly malnourished as Orion, but they were very friendly with Eric, Lyria, and Livy—unlike the adults.
After getting to know each other, the children invited Eric, Lyria, and Livy to play with them.
Lyria and Eric refused, and only Livy accepted. Though she couldn't fully understand what they were saying, it seemed they were playing a sport or game where they had drawn some squares on the ground and jumped on them with only one foot. Anyone jumping on the same square or outside or losing balance seemed like a loser, and they couldn't stay in one square for long.
They all laughed and played.
Both Eric and Lyria stood to the side and watched them with a smile.
---
In another well-covered house near the village square, five late-stage Rank 1 Mana Wielders sat on the floor in a circle.
All four 'men' looked toward the beautiful woman with questions and confusion.
"Sister Moira, why invite these human foreigners to fight that Beast? It will only provoke 'it', and it might hunt us down after it kills these humans," Keening asked while feeling baffled.
Though Keening asked nicely, if any human had heard 'her' voice, they would have felt a cold chill running throughout their body—as her voice was no different from two rough papers being rubbed together. No human would sound so horrible.
The remaining three 'sisters' nodded in agreement with the question.
The four androgynous beings were actually all 'females.' Their names were Caoineag, Morrigan, Keening, Aoibheall—and the leader female's name was Moira.
As Keening mentioned the 'Beast,' all five, including Keening herself, shuddered.
The Beast's Elemental power was something they all deeply feared.
After a while, Moira answered with her tranquil voice. "I think it's time to end that Beast. Just knowing it exists so close to us is a grave danger for all of us, even if it never leaves its cave."
Aoibheall agreed and spoke excitedly. "...And these human Mana Wielders are perfect for us. While they will all die fighting the Beast, they will also weaken it, allowing us to seize the opportunity to attack and destroy the Beast once and for all!"
Aoibheall's voice was as terrifying as Keening and the other two, yet they all understood that she spoke with eager anticipation.
"What Sister Moira and Aoibheann said makes sense. After these humans and the Beast die, they can be perfect food for us, too. Sadly, they aren't enough for us to progress..." Morrigan sighed with lamentation. It was pointless to talk about that when it was so impossibly difficult to evolve in rank."
"What if these humans manage to kill the Beast?" Caoineag couldn't help but ask.
Morrigan, Keening, Aoibheall—even Moira—turned to look at Caoineag in surprise, and then they all started to giggle.
Any human hearing their giggles would have nightmares from how skin-crawling their laughter was. However, these five were completely fine with their voices. Only Moira spoke to the villagers and others. She was also the longest-living individual among them—and the strongest and most experienced.
They all shook their heads in amusement, as if they had heard the funniest joke in decades.
How could there be such young human Mana Wielders that could fight an Elder Rank 1 Mana Beast and not die? A Young-stage or even a Newborn Rank 1 could easily kill these 'mid-stage' Rank 1s.
Caoineag shook her head in embarrassment. "Forget I said that."
Moira suddenly lapsed into brief thought. Slowly, her eyes began glowing with a chilling light.
"...There is indeed a possibility that these young humans might be able to do it, since they are traveling these plains by themselves. Perhaps they are far more capable than they appear. And if they are truly that capable..." She took a deep breath to control her exhilaration.
Moira didn't speak further, but the others understood her meaning well.
They all opened their eyes wide and leaped up in shock.
If it was really so, then this would mean far more to them than just the Whisperwood Village or the Beast.
After understanding the value of this, they all started to get giddy with excitement.
At this moment, Keening spoke pensively. "There are only three of them, and we are five..."
All of them came back to their senses and started glaring at each other warily.
Just as the tension was about to spike, Moira spoke calmly. "Let's not think that far. We will see if they can give us the surprise or not—but if they do..."
Moira's beautiful face suddenly twisted into an extremely chilling smile, which spread from ear to ear—one that could horrify any human to their core.
"We will swiftly kill them first. Then, we shall discuss distribution—or else they might escape while we waste time fighting amongst ourselves."