Chapitre 44: Little bit lesson
The group had been traveling for more days on foot. They were making long detours in order to avoid any encounters with people who wanted to arrest them. It may take them some time to reach Westdenn but it was better than diving head first into chaos. They were currently walking along the border of small village. They have been following a small stream along the edge of a dense forest with high vigilance. Aside from the people who were after them, they also need to be wary of bandits and some ferocious animals that might be lurking around in the forests scattered around Glasfale.
They were walking casually when Arthur suddenly stopped them from going forward. He surveyed the area in vigilance, his eyes sharp as it looked for anything that was out of place. Arthur did not see anything but he could feel that something was coming for them. His body became taut, ready to fight at any moment.
Dreigh saw the change in Arthur as he copied the latter's action and also surveyed their surroundings but he did not see anything unusual, "what's the matter?"
"Something's here," Arthur did not even look at them. He could not figure out what was it but he was sure that something was there.
One of Arthur's wind spirits appeared beside his ear and whispered something. Arthur's eyes widened at the information given by his wind. He looked behind him and frowned.
"There are shadows around the area and some of them had gained sentience. One of them had also reached the Bloom Stage," he explained to the remnant before him.
"Shadows, are those like the ones that Commander General Rozen had used to attack us?" the remnants had frowns on their faces at what had Arthur said. He had said so many things in the past that were confusing to them.
"I'll explain later, let's get out of here first." Arthur moved forward and the others followed closely. They trudged through the forest steadily and as silently as they could. They did not want to alert the shadows that Arthur was so cautious about. No one talked all the way when Arthur felt that they are already on a considerable safe distance, they stopped and took a rest.
"What exactly are these shadows that you have talked about?" Vira asked in curiosity. "And what is that Bloom Stage you said a while ago?"
Arthur looked at them like they were from another world, he sighed and shook his head in disappointed. He was like a teacher who had seen his students that had not learned anything. He sat with his legs crossed on the ground and made himself comfortable. He played with the wind spirits he had summoned for a while before he began his explanation.
"Shadows, as its name implies is like the shadows that all things had before but the shadows who attacked you are very different from them. You are familiar with the falling of the stars event right?" Arthur looked at them and saw them nod. "After that event, these shadows had become alive. They possess low level intelligence and is only attracted to things or beings that emits strong light. I have encountered these creatures from the past and did not think that I would see them again in this place."
"Do you mean that they should not have existed here?" Rond spoke for the first time that day.
"No, I'm not sure about that. The king on the last kingdom I had been had sealed these creatures inside the kingdom so we had assumed that no shadows had escaped the barrier but it was not for sure since the falling of the stars all over the Continent of Prism." Arthur answered while looking in the distance. With the talk about shadows came some bitter and sweet memories he thought he had forgotten.
"This kingdom you are talking about, what is it called?" Arthur was brought back from his lost thoughts at this question. He looked at this person who was very much alike his last master and did not answer.
Dreigh figured out that this topic was a bit sensitive and did not continue to probe any further. He noticed that whenever they touched on a topic that can ignite Arthur's sensitivity, he would fall silent.
"How about that Bloom Stage that you were talking about?" Vira diverted the topic to ease the awkwardness building between them.
"Bloom Stage is a term we use to differentiate the power level of humans, remnants or basically any living thing that had gained sentience. All in all we categorize them into nine stages. Bloom Stage shadows means they had formed a thought of their own and could make decisions. Most remnants I've encountered are all categorized on the Enlightened Stage which is the next level from Bloom Stage. In this stage, a creature could already form a pack or a group that it can lead," he explained.
"So what stage are you now?" Endo became curious and could not help but ask.
"I'm currently on the Tempered Soul Stage which means my body has some kind of immunity to deadly physical attacks and had a complete immunity to non-deadly attacks additional to that is soul had formed a shield around it to avoid any damages to it when an enemy is using a mental attack or any attack that can damage the soul," he patiently answered while the others were intently listening.
After that answer, no one had questioned any longer since they needed to proceed. They can't stay on one place for a very long time. The night slowly crept in but they only covered a short distance.
"Stop!" a harsh voice stopped them on their tracks and four pairs of eyes looked at Arthur who became tense all of a sudden. The sun had just set but the place became eerily silent and the last light disappeared and even the animals fell silent.
A rustling caught the group's attention and their eyes all looked at the direction where the noise had come. The group readied their abilities as they waited in tense silent for the thing that made the noise to come out.
"Rond, Dreigh create a wall now!" Arthur yelled which brought the two in action.
Rond created a solid wall of soil while Dreigh reinforced it with rocks to make it sturdier. Not long after, the wall shook from the force of something big colliding with it. The force even pushed back Dreigh and Rond which made the wall they made a little bit unstable.
"Prepare yourselves, a Bloom Stage shadow appeared."
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
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P.S. Thank you so much to you guys who had been reading this novel for a long time now. To those who are new, welcome, welcome you are very much welcome. :)
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