Arisa stood there, facing the cave. Her eyes scanned the magic crystals with precise focus. For a moment, Arzoth didn't know what to do. He stood there for as long as he could remember. He wasn't expecting her to be here, not after what happened before.
Kya followed Arzoth's gaze, and her body tensed up; her senses were on high alert to block any attack coming from the threat. Arzoth, however, felt no such defense. He was lost in his conflicting thoughts to feel anything other than being dumbstruck.
"Arisa?!" He murmured.
Arisa's small hands clenched a ton of mana crystals with her bare hands. It burned her skin, making it bright red, but she didn't flinch, nor winced. Her blank expression gave nothing away. Before Arzoth could make a move, before he could get to her, she disappeared like a ghost in that same familiar green magic circle.
A sense of dread washed over him, first the attack on Skor, her uncharacteristic behavior, and now the mana crystals. It was adding up to something terrifying and messy.
Arzoth didn't dwell on Arisa's ghostly departure for more than a few seconds; his voice cut through the dense atmosphere as he said, "Can you get these crystals to Tashi?"
Kya seemed to give a curt nod without much hesitation, and she made a portion of the crystals get soaked in the thin air. Kya looked at Arzoth as he walked towards a large stone lying nearby and took a seat on it. His expression was calm, but his mind was racing with a chain of thoughts.
Kya said, "You seem too calm, then you should be."
Arzoth didn't look up at Kya, uninterested in breaking his carefully pictured chain of thoughts as he said in a low voice, "Just thinking…."
"Thinking about what? Your daughter?"
"No, about the queen. I am sure she is involved in this somehow."
Kya furrowed slightly, "Your mother? And how did you get to that conclusion?"
"Arisa seemed off ever since she met the queen. I am sure Skor felt it too, but just didn't tell me about it." Arzoth elaborated, connecting the points, "Why else would he go out of his way to intervene on the royal family meal that day, if it weren't for Arisa?"
Skor had no reason to save me from the queen's manipulation. He came to save Arisa alone, because he knew something was up, and in the way, got me out of the trap as well. But right now, from the looks of it, he seemed to be a bit late at that time. The queen already had Arisa under her skill. But how did Skor know that would happen?' He thought to himself.
Arzoth stood up, brushing off the dust from his clothes.
'He couldn't have told me, Arzoth from the past isn't someone anyone would trust….'
"You mean to say Valmira did something to Arisa? But you can't use your manipulation skills on anyone who is not in your sight. No one can do that." Kya Stated.
Arzoth finally lifted his gaze to look at Kya and answered, "Most likely she got something up her sleeves, I can't say for sure, but Arisa attacking Skor, and now collecting mana stones, it has to mean that she was involved one way or the other. Arisa wouldn't voluntarily collect mana stones like that; she had no reason to. If the queen is involved, then it could be because of…"
Arzoth paused, his eyes widened slightly at the thought, 'Could it be that the queen was after… that thing?'
"Shouldn't you go after the queen and check for yourself if your doubts are valid?" Kya suggested.
"Can you somehow communicate with Evren?" Arzoth asked.
"Only magic circles can do that. Until and unless you unlock those skills, I can't."
Arzoth thought for a while and then said, "I can surely exchange my EXP for the skills. Show me my stats."
Kay neither nodded nor said anything; she merely closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again with a red glow in them. Arzoth's system screen appeared before him, but it was different from his previous one. It glowed with burning red energy instead of cool blue.
[System]
[User: Arzoth Draven]
[Type: C]
[Status Window]
[Stats: Level
[Title: ---]
[Mana: 100%]
[EXP: 5000]
[Strength: ---]
[Skill: Swordsmanship Lv. 50]
[Unique Skill: ---]
'My stats have increased as expected, but I can see that I have already reached the eligibility for upgrading to a stronger system type, but I am still stuck at type C, for what good reason?' he thought.
"Before you could ask about the system type thing, let me tell you I have no specific answer for it. It can be because of the forest or some other factor."
Arzoth sighed softly and said, "Anyway, we'll figure that out later. For now, exchange my EXP for the skill."
[System Notice]
[Communication magic is exchanged for 200 EXP]
[Communication magic acquired]
Without waiting for the screen to fade, Arzoth said, "Do it."
Kya closed her eyes and then opened them again with the same glow in her eyes as a magic circle formed in front of them with matching energy.
Arzoth stared at it for a moment before glancing at Kay.
A faint sound came from the other side of the circle, and Arzoth's head snapped to it.
'It's Evren. That's his voice! It worked!'
"What is this…...? a magic circle?" Evren's voice, confused but guarded, pierced through the magic circle like a sharp blade.
Arzoth said, "Evren, it's me, Arzoth."
There was a small, deafening pause on the other side before Evren spoke, "Arzoth? Where are you? And why are you contacting me this way?"
"I'll tell you about it later. Can you tell me where Queen Valmira is?"
Another pause followed the question, for a second, Arzoth thought Evren went away or the magic flopped, but then Evren said, "The queen is not here. The King returned, but she did not."
'I knew it'