Chapter 18: Persuasion

Tristan stood tall under the tree next to the river while covering his sister with his body. Currently, he was staring at the flying grey ship getting closer with every second.

Noticing the incoming ship, Layla asked, "Are they coming for us? Shouldn't we start running?"

Upon hearing Layla's question, Tristan could only shake his head grimly, "No... I'm afraid we can't, Layla. I don't think we can outrun that thing."

Previously, Tristan had been worried sick about his sister. Now that his sister was already awake next to him, it was probably best for the two of them to hear what they want.

Tristan himself wondered who it was inside the ship that wanted to come for him. Was it the goblin? The space knights? Either way, that may not be a good news.

Therefore, Tristan held his sister's hand tight with one of his arms while his other gripped the huge sword. All of this preparation was in case they needed to run or fight.

The rectangular-shaped ship quickly came closer and was slowly descending in front of them right across the running river. Tristan could see the gushing water splashing everywhere because of the ship. The loud buzzing sound slightly hurt Layla's ears while the wind coming from the ship ruffled the grasses and trees around it.

Apparently , the ship didn't plan to land as it hovered one meter above the ground. It slowly turned its front towards the two of them and Tristan could see Cursaac standing in the cockpit. Furthermore, that damned goblin was also staring at him.

A moment later, Cursaac's voice could be heard from the ship, probably through some kind of speaker.

"Blood elf, I am happy to see that your sister is safe."

Upon hearing the goblin's words, the worry inside Tristan's mind immediately vanished as he flashed a slight smile. In addition with the goblin's decision of not landing the ship, he deduced that the goblin didn't have the power to catch him.

Therefore, the goblin tried to resort to the most basic way when one didn't have the upper hand, persuasion. This also meant the damned goblin managed to somehow outsmart those space humans and god only knew what happened to them. Hence, despite knowing his current advantage, Tristan still needed to be alert lest he ended up like those poor humans.

Not caring if the goblin could hear it or not, Tristan shouted, "What do you want?!"

It was evident that the goblin could hear him as he replied, "Blood elf, I want what's good for you.. You should come with me. This planet is not safe!"

Tristan was silent for a moment, as if he gave the goblin's suggestion a slight thought. Then, he said, "I can't really hear you with all of this noise! Come down and we can talk!"

"Kekekek! You truly are smart, blood elf. But unfortunately, I won't be fooled twice."

Knowing that his scheme had failed before it could begin, Tristan opted for the second plan, "All we want is to go back home! If you can't help with that, just leave us alone!"

As if he had heard the funniest joke of the century, the goblin laughed, "Kekekek! Blood elf, oh, blood elf.. You don't know how important you are right now. Do you know that you will always be hunted down by either the humans or the elves just for existing? Once again, you should come with me. It will be much safer for you, and your dearest sister."

"No thanks! I'll take my chances."

Naturally, Tristan rejected the 'good-natured' offer the goblin extended to him. The thing that Tristan most afraid of at the moment was that the goblin could somehow regain control over his body like before. If he did go with him, Tristan would have to be cautious all the time, which would exhaust him in the end.

Realizing that Tristan had made up his mind, Cursaac hollered, "You will regret this, blood elf!"

"No I won't!!" Tristan retorted.

Before the ship turned around and flew away, the goblin said his last piece to Tristan, "I really hope you will still be alive when I return, blood elf."

For a moment, Tristan was actually considering throwing the sword in his hand through the windshield, hopefully killing the goblin. However, thinking that the goblin was the only thing connecting both his past human and current elf, Tristan believed there would still be an important role for the goblin in his future. Therefore, he decided to let the goblin go.

Looking at the ship that was getting farther away, Layla pulled Tristan's pants and asked, "Are we safe now, Tris?"

Tristan turned around and looked at his sister, "You finally called me by my name again.."

"Well, after hearing all of that.. Fuck Tris! I'm not stupid!"

Just when Tristan thought they were finally left alone in peace, his enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of stomping in large numbers from a distance.

"I guess that's the group of elves.." Tristan woefully muttered.

"Elves?" Layla asked, curiosity clearly filled her.

"Yeah... the goblin seems to be right with the always be hunted part."

Tristan quickly thought of an idea, he called out the white tiger and ordered it to run fast along the river. Meanwhile, he took his sister into his arms, and quickly went into the forest which was the opposite where the tiger went. This way, Tristan hoped that it would be able to fool the elves and kept them off their trail.

However, Tristan was kind of sad to part with the tiger, as he knew there was a high chance he wouldn't be getting it back. After all, he did consume a lot of that Blood Essence for it and the tiger was really helpful during their escapade. But then, their safety had to come first.

The two siblings, or rather, Tristan with Layla in his arms ran nonstop through the woods like a gust of wind.

Layla was shocked to see her brother's capability. "Bro... You are so fast. How amazing.. So, are you like a superman now?"

"Nah... More like a super elf."