The Adventures of Rose Hood

”Is he awake?”

A voice I thought was gone awoke me.

“Mammon?”

“Yes, it’s me. Elren came and revived both me and you. Are you okay?”

“I can’t move.”

Elren spoke up.

“Yeah, I could revive you, but your body sustained injuries to the point that I couldn’t heal you fully.”

“Understandable, I fought a god.”

“Yeah, though the real damage actually came from the way you fought.”

“What?”

“You seemed to... level up in strength and fight on par with Kala. Your body couldn’t handle the stress and started breaking down.”

“Huh, I seem to remember Rose going through the same thing.”

“Yeah, but Rose had the solution to evolve, as you are an elf, you can’t.”

Celios spoke up from the side of the room I couldn’t see.

“Actually, that’s not entirely true.”

“What do you mean?”

“If a god regards one of their own in high regard, then they can elevate them to a new level.”

“So, we can evolve Dallel if we get the nature god to bless him?”

“Yes.”

I then heard Jalad’s voice.

“Hey, is he awake? Oh, hey, happy to see you awake.”

“Jalad.”

“Yes?”

“I’m... sorry... I said horrible things to you.”

I couldn’t help but start crying.

“Nah, I also messed up. I put too much pressure on you and started yelling.”

“Nowhere near as bad as I did, then I abandoned you because I was angry.”

Mammon sighed.

“Ya did some stupid things, but keep in mind that Kala amplified your emotions.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I did a bit of reading and found a book written by an unknown author called the Magic of Lies. Apparently, it gives power over others’ perceptions.”

“Is that why she was able to scare me and Jalad?”

Mammon nodded at Celios’s question.

“But why was I unaffected?”

“Because your will was at the same level as hers. Your will to save Rose was bigger than her will to make you afraid.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah, that was the start of your ascension.”

“How long was I out?”

“Two weeks.”

“Any sign of Kala?”

“No, it’s like she entirely disappeared.”

“Crap.”

“Hey, don’t move too much.”

“If I’m going to get the blessing of the nature god, I can’t stay here.”

“Where are you going then?”

“Haven.”

Celios nodded.

“I’ll come with you. Both Silith and Ausar are in that direction, I need to tell them of Kala’s true nature.”

“Got it.”

“We’re coming too.”

It was the squad.

“What? Why?”

“Even if it was a rage induced decision, you are still our captain until you die or resign, so we got to make sure you live to retirement.”

“I’ll stay here and keep the city organized. People still don’t know what to do.”

“How is the king?”

“He’s panicking and trying to track Kala.”

“Understandable.”

I got up, wincing at the pain, and Darsen caught me.

“First we need to get proper transportation, with you as you are, you can’t move.”

Then Thalia entered.

“I could carry you.”

I nodded.

“Thank you.”

She gave me a piggyback as we got closer to the gate.

People still looked at me angered and I hid my face.

“Goodness, it’s Calesen all over again.”

“Except this time there’s no excuse.”

“What?”

“Sure, Kala amplified my emotions, but they were still my emotions, my thoughts. She just gave a push.”

Jalad sighed.

“Yeah, you are right, but I let my concern get the better of me and snapped at you.”

“That doesn’t justify what I said.”

When we got to the gate, we noticed King Dalis.

“Well, Cousin, I wish you luck.”

Thalia was confused.

“Cousin?”

Dalis nodded,

“Yes, I am a quarter elf after all.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“I hope… that we can save Rose.”

“I do too.”

We left and Thalia transformed into a dragon and carried us.

Then we heard a shout and someone running.

“Is that?”

“No way!”

Asura was running a long at the same speed as Thalia was flying.

“HEY!!! MIND IF I JOIN THIS EXPEDITION?”

Thalia seemed to shake for a moment.

“S-sure…”

“WONDERFUL!!! CAN I MOUNT?”

“Of course!”

‘THANK YOU, RUNNING THIS FAST IS HARD.”

He leapt up to Thalia’s height and landed next to me.

“How are you all doing today?”

I smiled.

“Tired but good.”

I noticed that Thalia was a slightly brighter shade of red.

“Heh.”

“What are you laughing about?"

“Fine weather isn’t it, Thalia.”

“Shut up.”

“???”

“???”

Everyone else was oblivious.

_

We flew over a city where there was a massive temple.

“Hey, Thalia, land here, it’s Silith’s city, we should speak to him… Darsen may want to wait outside though.”

“Why?”

“Silith is Ausar’s enemy, so he isn’t fond of Beastkin either.”

“I’m not scared.”

Celios looked at him with annoyance.

“Fine.”

Thalia landed at the gate causing people to freak out, but then she shifted back into an elven figure, still holding me.

“Um… name and business?”

“Celios, me and my party want to speak to Silith if he is here.”

“I’m going to need proof you are Celios, and besides, you’re forsaken, Lord Silith wouldn’t want anything to do with you.”

Celios sighed and released his aura. People quivered in fear, but the guard merely nodded.

“Godly aura, check. Wings, check. Okay, you can enter, but I doubt Lord Silith will speak to you.”

We entered, then Celios said something odd.

“That guard was fun to talk too.”

“He’s probably used to Silith’s aura.”

“Probably, speak of the devil.”

“Hello brother.”

Silith was behind us.

“Hello, I need to ta-“

He blocked Silith’s blade, they fought with no power but pure technique.

Then they stopped and Silith laughed.

“I see you haven’t lost your touch.”

“I’ve continued to train.”

“Good, anyways what do you want to talk about?”

Celios’s look immediately darkened.

“Could we talk in your office, where less will hear?”

“Fine, but can we leave the pet outside?”

He looked at Darsen with disdain. Celios sighed.

“Now you see why I said it’d be better for you to wait with Thalia?”

“Nah, I wanna explore the city. Come on guys.”

He and most of the squad left to explore. Silith looked confused.

“That’s an odd wolf.”

“Indeed, he is.”

Me, Thalia, and Celios followed Silith into his temple where we entered his office.

“So, mind telling me why you are here?”

“Kala is not the god of goodness.”

Silith sighed.

“I thought she dominated you, doesn’t that show that she retur-“

“No, she never was.”

That caught Silith’s attention, he released a bit of his aura.

“And what does that mean.”

Despite the presence that made both me and Thalia shiver, Celios showed no fear of his brother.

“She is the god of lies, the ‘rightness’ her aura creates is what she made it feel like. I was forced to fight her again with the help of the crippled elf, and her aura became fear.”

Silith looked deep in thought.

“I don’t want to believe you, but that would explain that strange aura I felt from the direction of Selethon. And that sense of fear I would feel whenever she was mad despite me being stronger.”

“Indeed, I didn’t want to believe it either, but she tried to kill an archangel.”

“I see, but aren’t you dominated? I can see the brand still.”

“A trick that Purity made. She used the incantation without the power and used fire magic to scar me with a brand.”

“So, Purity managed to fool even herself.”

“Yes.”

“She was the core; therefore, I could definitely see her outsmarting, but why would she?”

“She was named.”

“That means.”

“She’s still independent.”

That surprised me.

“Wait, so Royce naming her allowed her to stay alive despite Kala’s awakening?”

Silith nodded.

“I’ll tell my faction. I assume your next visit is to the weakling kingdom?”

“Yes, our next visit is to the beast kingdom as Ausar also needs to be aware of this.”

Silith sighed.

“I agree, and if there is an actual threat, the being they summoned from another world could help.”

“I agree.”

We left and gathered the squad.

“Did you know that someone tried to sell me ice cream for 1000 gold? What a scam!!!”

Darsen was ticked off.

“Oh, I got it for 10 silver.”

“GRAH!!!”