Chapter 71: Forest path

"How… How did you know?"

Looking at the huge crowd of the beings that he would initially call monsters, Fen's attention quickly returned right back on the queen. No matter how depressingly insane this small army was, Raksha still managed to overshadow it with her face alone.

Dressed in a strange suit, completely see-through and frail on one side, but surprisingly toned, beautiful and haste on the other, only Queen's body presented itself to the world. But her figure alone was more than enough to conquer it whole.

"How did I know what?"

Bringing the corners of her lips up, Raksha presented the young man with one of her natural killer-smiles. Teasing the young arcanist like that, the queen just stood there, clearly expecting Fen to spell his doubts out. 

Yet, it wasn't as easy as just spelling them out.

Right now, all Fen's problems and enemies, turned irrelevant. There was this great difference between matters that required humans alone to solve, and those where other races joined the fray. From a simple manhunt against the young man who dared to be born from the wrong father, the entire situation turned into something far greater. 

A conflict between humans and monsters.

"How did you know when I would appear and where I would do so?"

Obviously, there were limits to everything. Fen wasn't as naive to believe that every monster and arcanist could just fly like he just did. If that were to be the case, the young man would obviously learn about this beforehand. While it was possible that someone as powerful as Raksha or maybe someone as influential as the royal envoy from the city had their means to ascend into the skies, this was actually problem of a bigger scale than personal ability.

When it came to a single person moving and fighting, personal abilities would remain at the prime scale deciding the outcome. But a set to control entire groups of individuals, be it human or monsters, was entirely different. Instead of things like agility, strength and endurance, the most important factors of a huge conflict consisted of logistic, manpower and strategy.

Fen's question actually tackled more than just a single topic. His appearance in the forest could be said to be completely random. From how long he lingered in various places, how long it took him to move from one point to another, all the way to just where did he end up falling after flying out from the city. 

Even if someone capabl enough could guess or calculate the general way in which Fen's actions would go, with how messy and complicated the situation was at large, it was impossible to reach any level of consistent accuracy in that regard. That's why, the fact that Rakhsa managed to just stay exactly in front of Fen's landing spot meant that either her ability broke through the limits of what was realistically possible, or there were some forces at play that could easily make the impossible happen.

In short words, unless the queen could somehow predict Fen's movements accurately to the finest detail, this entire army would have to use teleportation in order for this meeting to happen.

The last possible option to explain the current development was quite random, making Fen despise it from the bottom of his heart.

'How could something so damn lucky happen just beacuse of… luck?'

As easy as it was to just use the randomness as the reason why Fen managed to accurately hit the ground right before the main force of the monsters, this kind of explanation wouldn't satisfy the young man.

Everything that he learned about arcanism and himself so far made his realise one thing about his life so far. There was no accidents in this world. For example, his power didn't act out randomly. Even though he had yet to find the reasons why he couldn't properly control it, Fen was sure that as long as he would understand the underlying truth about his bloodline ability, then everything that seemed to happen out of the heat of the moment so far, could find its explanation.

"Let's say, that there are bigger forces at play here than you could expect. I don't want to delve in this topic as you will learn it in due time, but when it comes to the arcana… Let's say the possibilities but also the drawbacks are nearly limitless. The stronger you will grow, the greater feats you will be able to accomplish… But everything in this world comes at a price. Once you reach land of Kinar… Once you join the academy, I believe you will learn about those kind of matters."

Suddenly raising her hand and pointing it at Fen's belt, the queen once again smiled at the young man. Following the suggestion, the young man reached to his single small sack that remained tucked into his belt. Sadly, due to how rapid Fen's movement were when his wings finally started working, most of his belongings were gone in the air above the city, with only this one, silly sack remaining.

"I… It would be to rude to ask how did you know again and again…"

Opening the small, leather bag, Fen's eyes were instantly drawn to a single, peculiar object. As hasty as the young man was back in the city, he could tell right away that it was this strange item that Firo threw to him just before he had to make his leave.

"It's a token you will need to get to the academy. If you would consider your school in that city to be a nest for hatchlings to learn how to live, then this place is where you will enter the real world and spread your wings. Both literally and methaporicaly."

Sending a quick wink to the young man, Raksha made his heart flutter just like that. Even the simplest gesture of her was capable of breaking through all his mental barriers, one he could be so prideful about after all his encounters with both Firo and Kashia.

"Tell me… Obviously, only if you can… But how the heck do you know about all this stuff? Schools, academies… Even the general politics within the city or history of my bloodline. How is that you know so much about it all, while even I am mostly in the dark?"

The spread of the information was one of the thing that blessed the society. Once someone lived within a greater commune, it was inevitable that the average level of information one would have would rise. Yet, this queen continued to prove that despite living in a desolate forest, she actually knew more about the world than Fen!

"You see, we appeared in this world first. It's humans that stole our lands and freedom, pushing us to those wild lands. But that doesn't mean our culture is any less developed than yours!"

Right now, it seemed as if Raksha was only capable of smiling. Either her mood was incredibly good, or this was just the only face that she was capable of doing.

But in the very next moment, Fen's both assumptions broke down, as the queen's face twisted. Even though her eyebrows pulled together and the look in her eyes sharpened… The aura that she had to herself was actually that of an… anticipation?

Surprised by this change, Fen was even more vulnerable when the noises of distant clattering reached his ears. It seemed that his pursuers finally managed to reach the forest.

"Go now. This matter is something between us and them. You do not belong in this place right now. Once you go due north from here, you should be able to avoid the main tract for a while, and only reach it beyond the Araram city. While it's far smaller than Akhaz here, you need to remember that you will leave some traces there. At least, skipping the route right now will save you some time."

With those words, queen's face turned from Fen's eyes to the source of the noise. Even though there was clearly a lot of distance between their current position and where Fen's pursuers were coming from, it was also audible that said distance was shortening with each passing second.

"Thanks for all your help. I will do my best to not waste it."

Even at this point, Fen wasn't sure why did this monster queen help him. From giving hints about his bloodline, through going against his pursuers… Explaining it with how all of her actions had some deeper meaning that Fen failed to fathom would be just lazy. Given how this world worked, Raksha most likely had some interest in helping him!

But that didn't change the fact that she did help him. And for that, Fen was always willing to express his gratitude.

"Go now. Let it be my last hint, after what you have done back in the city. Your blood does not possess the ability to explode. Your blood is a condensed fire itself. Now, go! You don't want to be anywhere near when the battle will start."

Decisively cutting the discussion, Raksha focused her sight on the distant source of the noise. Her face turned serious again, with her pleasant and sympathetic smile no longer lingering on her lips. 

Raising up from the small crater he made with his fall, Fen dusted out his robes before nodding his head to the army of the monsters and looking around. Locating the entryway to the path that Raksha mentioned was a walk in the park. Even so, just taking it still felt a little bit stifling.

Once Fen would go there, there would be no turning back. He would never return to his village, he would never return to this city that gave him a chance. As much as it pained him, given how enormous the empire was, the chances that he would ever meet anyone that he knew in Akhaz were abysmal. Even though there was no turning back for him anymore, taking this first step still came at a cost.

A cost, that Fen had to choice but had to pay.

"Let's show all of those human's cities what the true sons of this land are capable off!"

With Raksha's rousing speech for her army acompanying the young man as he plunged deeper and deeper into the shadowy darkness of the hidden, forest road, the young man had to completely close his heart in order to stop all the accumulated feelings from the last few hours from exploding his soul into shreds. 

But once some time passed, Fen calmed down. Right now, all he had to care about, was moving forward. A single step, a single hour worth of walk, a day of travel. Given how he never held a map of the region in his hands, Fen had no idea how long it would take him, but he was unwilling to give up.

Grasping the token, the last gift that he received in Akhaz, Fen continued to press forward, without looking back even once.