Chapter 74 - Revelations

--- Point of View: Antonio Icefield --- 

After Gust had finished retelling his tale, a few things stuck out to me. 

First and foremost, was that the people he was traveling with were much more dangerous than he let on. A mage who can control an army of golems and the guild master of a grey guild?!

Just who had Gust found as 'trustworthy companions'! I wouldn't touch these people with a ten-foot pole let alone trust them with my life! 

You what, met Arnold for five minutes and suddenly you're buddy buddy with him?

You break Sylvia out of prison and suddenly she's a beacon for truth and honesty?!

No! They're a group of cutthroat bandits and murderers! Why would you ever trust these people after such little interaction!

Calm down. There are more pressing matters to attend to aside from who my father decides to surround himself with. 

"Hey Dad, can I see your hand for a sec?" I ask, pulling the Dad card so he can't help but show me the symbol on the back of his hand. 

As soon as I grab his hand with both of mine, I focus a bit and extend a bit of my mana to touch upon the symbol now branded into his hand. Yet, as my mana begins to touch and interfere with it, it completely disintegrates.

Of course, of course, he did. 

Of course, Gust would have a symbol fueled by Divinity right on the back of his hand. 

That means one of the members of Night's Edge is a fucking emissary. 

God, Gust is gonna kill me after I have to kill one of his friends.

"Do you know who started the symbol thing on your guy's hands?" I ask, looking up at Gust with the best curious child expression I could. 

"Nope, sorry buddy, I've told you all I know about this thing." He said, gesturing towards the symbol that now amounts to a magical tattoo on the back of his hand. 

Hmm, I really don't want to just randomly guess the real emissary, but I know I can count Gust out. If he was an emissary and I was an emissary, Ego would have told me already. 

Sighing deeply and glancing towards the stone hut that Arnold had made for himself and Sylvia, I could only be concerned. 

It does ease my worries a bit that Sylvia lacks any sort of mana, but I can't help but get an uneasy feeling from the both of them. 

"Do you have any more of the stuff they were injecting Sylvia with?" I ask, tilting my head and looking towards Gust's backpack. 

"I do, why?" He said, nearly reflexively grabbing it, yet stopping himself as he slowly opened it and brought out the rainbow-colored liquid. 

"Do you mind if I see it for a moment?" I ask, sticking my hand out to grab it from him. 

"What for? Don't tell me you're going to try and reverse engineer it." Gust says, slowly placing the vial into my hand. 

Of course, that's why I want to see it. I want to see if I can make any myself. 

"Of course not! Why would I want something like that, it sounds like absolute torture." Is what I end up actually saying. 

As Gust drops the vial into my hand, immediately I smother it with the best magical detection spells, Divine detection methods, and everything else at it in hopes of uncovering even a slight bit of the components of the formula. 

Unfortunately, the wills of nature and science do not bend to the will of man, and no matter what diagnostic spell or technique I threw at this thing, there wasn't much I could figure out about it. 

Man, I really need to get better at light magic, as well as develop more defensive spells, magical analysis spells, diagnostic spells, and so so many more spells to create. 

My plate is getting a little full, hopefully, soon I'll have some time to dedicate to the true study of magic and mana. 

Sighing and shaking my head, I hand the vial back to Gust after only about a minute of examining it. 

Unfortunately, all that accomplished was guaranteeing that there was no divinity or divine energy contained within the small vial of ever-changing liquid.

After handing the vial back over to Gust and continuing to have a bit of small talk, the night ended peacefully, finally allowing me and the rest of the group to get a full night's rest. 

--- Point of View: Arnold ---

Fear. 

That was the only thing that came over me when Gust's mini-monster froze all of my golems solid. 

If Sylvia and he had not been here, I most likely would have been a dead man against that brat alone. Which sounds pitiful, until you realize exactly who his parents are. 

A half wind spirit, raised by a village of warrior Tiamat's, just by describing him you could worry a town. 

Yet, that description does not do him justice. The sheer pressure of mana I felt leaking out of him was immense, it made me almost afraid to meet the eyes of the boy.

Good Lords above, his eyes. 

Those eyes did not contain the bright-eyed and curious glance of a young human boy, instead, it felt as if I was being analyzed whenever his gaze met mine, causing me to always look away or somewhere else.

For months, Gust has gone on and on about his two genius children, and I can see that he hand not been overstating anything. 

To be completely honest, those stories sounded absurd. Casting at such a young age, reaching maturity and full control over his mind and body whilst most human children are merely able to start stringing together comprehensive language, truly a boastful parent simply bragging about their kids.

But the thing about Gust is, he wasn't lying. 

There was no boasting or bragging to be had. 

Simply a confirmation of what he had already known and made clear, whilst reinforcing everything he had assumed correctly. 

The boy was a genius, a certified magical prodigy, similar to me, yet instead of one branch of magic, he seemed focused on learning everything about everything possible. 

That look in his eyes, always curious for more, always hungry for something is what really unnerved me. 

For some reason, I just can't shake the feeling that the boy is reading your every move before you make it. As if he knew exactly what I was thinking, as I began to peer out of my stone hut, his gaze shifted over to look almost right at the door. 

Ahh, too much to think about. I need to watch out for Boss and for Gust since if either of them goes missing, the mission is just another bust. 

God, I can't wait until we go our separate ways with Gust, that way that overly smart child will be unable to see or plot anything. 

As if she had sensed my restless thoughts, Sylvia arose from her exhausted stupor and gently approached me. 

"Are you okay Arnold? You look deathly pale." She said in a calm yet refreshing tone. 

"Yes yes, sorry for disturbing you. Simply planning our future. There are just a few things weighing on my mind as of late, pay them no attention" I say, sending off Sylvia with a gesture to lay back down. 

Something is telling me, from the deep recesses of my mind and body, that there are zero reasons to trust Antonio. Especially since that boy has done nothing for the party, most likely picking off strays that the vanguard couldn't take out herself.

Thankfully, most monsters understand at least on a primitive level not to eat other humanoids, but most do not signify all. Needless to say, I'm glad my tent is made of stone. 

Retreating to my side of the stone hut, it was time to lay my head to rest. No matter how dangerous the little brat is, there's not a chance that he would try anything funny to the close allies of his father. 

Even if he did, I doubt that Gust would let him make any weird moves or threats to our wellbeing. No matter how much he loves his children, he won't be blinded by their actions to that degree.

Surely not, right?

Ahh, I feel as if I'm worrying too much. I should trust Gust and his family. What they say about geniuses is true, that the line between talent and madness is always paper-thin. 

Hopefully, the people around the little ice monster are enough to keep him within the talented side of the equation, but I wouldn't be surprised if the son of an immortal had the tendency to become mad. 

Actually, is Antonio immortal? 

Hmm, more things to probe Gust on later. 

Getting into my bedroll on my end of the stone hut, even though I could still almost feel the piercing gaze of the frightening child, it's about time to go to sleep.

You never know, we've been traveling all day, so the feeling of uneasiness could just be due to the long journey and rough sleeping conditions. 

No matter what, there are many things I need to ask Gust when we depart from this campsite tomorrow.