Warden was quite irritated just imagining someone insulting May. They had to deal with so much trouble on top of the forsaken breathing down their necks.
"It's not their fault," she said after a while. "My healing power is dwindling the more time I spend within this space. Your food actually helps in recovering that, in that regard, just so you know. Anyway, they are scared, just like I am... So when I cannot heal them properly, some frustration gets the better of them."
Warden clasped her shoulder. Some people in the camp had used derogatory terms about her race. As if she didn't get enough trouble from elves, that she would have to listen to them too.
It takes a good man to understand their lapses in judgement, and an even greater person to forgive them for such lapses.
Unfortunately, it wasn't a problem he could simply solve by beating a bunch of people.
"Don't be too hard on yourself, you're doing great," he said, pinching her cheek. May was really cute, like a little sister. He wondered if he had any siblings...
"I know," she shook his palm away. "And don't treat me like I'm a child..."
"What, are you like other elves, who look young on the outside, but are an old granny inside?"
"You have to ruin the moment, huh?" she glared, though it had lost all its intensity. "You know, I should be the one in charge of you in the absence of Marcus."
"Really? I thought you're in charge even when Marcus was present. After all, you went above him to select me for your team."
May smiled.
"Hopefully, you don't have to regret your decision."
She stood up and left along with the full jar of cookies as Warden brought out scribing instruments. He stretched his limbs and spine and began working.
Hopefully, he would be done with everything by tomorrow.
***
It was also May who turned up in his tent after having her rest. She was probably going to ask him to cook something. Thankfully, he had already prepared some easy-to-make meals for them all after being halfway done with his runes.
"You didn't sleep at all, did you?" she said, her eyes darting at everything scattered around.
Warden was imbuing the cursed blood, full of dark essence, into the formation for the finishing touch-up to the formation when May joined along with Lady Cassandra.
Their expression changed immediately when they saw what he was dealing with.
"Is that..." Lady Cassandra began,
"Dark essence?" May completed for her, her nose wrinkling into an unsightly expression. Just staying near such a source of dark power made her stomach churn and convulse in disgust.
"Not the real thing, but you got it right," Warden answered. The blood was actually an even more twisted form of dark essence, with some life and death essence embedded in it.
"Where did you find such a thing?" Lady Cassandra questioned, her expression incredulous. "And why are you dealing with it just fine?"
Warden wrinkled his brows. "To answer your first question... I was dropped near the region of Moonspawn, and with some great luck, managed to score one against them."
"You hunted a moonspawn?" May gasped. "You know they are the living embodiment of a dead god, right?"
"I didn't do it alone," Warden shrugged. "And the forsaken helped a lot."
"You haven't answered the second question," Cassandra said, her nose wrinkling as well. "Why are you fine with handling dark essence?"
"I'm not fine, though," Warden said with a shrug. "My pain tolerance is just a little high for it to affect me too much. Still, it is making me pretty weak."
Like, he was weakened by about 12%. Thankfully, both his Void and Radiance essence were great forces against the dark essence. Void could break the twisted essence down to its minuscule particles, while the light was purifying the foreign will of the dead god.
Still, it would take him a few hours to dispel all the foreign will. As for the pure dark essence?
It turned out, like Agnes, it did not have much effect on him, either. It was actually strengthening his Void Vanquishing Physique.
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Mass 5/5... Finally done...
Today's chapter coming up later tonight...