Chapter 11
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The first thing Arthur did was to check on the people around him. He was worried about their safety. Arthur started with the man that was closest to him, which was Emilio. Arthur shook the man's body and Emilio gave no response. His eyes were wide open but Arthur could not discern any emotion or soul from them.
Arthur was reminded of what the goddess said earlier, Emilio was in this state because she overloaded his senses with the collective voices of the world. It seemed like that had snapped Emilio's fragile human mind. He ended up in a state that was no different from a living puppet, completely unresponsive to external stimulus.
Arthur was unsure of his feeling to what happened to Emilio. The man did try to kill them but Arthur couldn't justify a punishment this harsh. He wanted a painful death for the man, not this life that barely constituted living. Arthur supposed this was the punishment should one try to swindle the divine. The Gods weren't actually known for using a light hands in their actions after all. After making sure there was nothing he could do for the man, Arthur hastily moved on to check on his two friends.
Billy was also unconscious and Arthur sighed greatly in relief when he realized the man had just fallen asleep. Billy woke up groggily after Arthur gave him a few shakes. The first thing Billy did was to question Arthur why did he wake up him from the sweetest dream.
Arthur did not answer, instead he gave Billy a few moments to orient himself. Billy looked around him at the unconscious black robes and his expression turned to relaxation to urgency. He demanded, "Arthur, where's that slimy Emilio? Are you and Felicia hurt?"
Arthur pointed at Emilio that was lying on the ground not far away and he saw a confused frown appear on Billy's face. He thus asked Billy what did he remember before he fell asleep.
Billy said he remember them being ambushed by Emilio and his gang, and then how Emilio forced Arthur to do his bidding, finally all his could remember was a lullaby calming his soul, sending him into the feathery embrace of peaceful slumber.
Billy realized something must have happened when he was unconscious so he turned to ask Arthur to give him all the details. Hearing Billy's description, Arthur realized Aoide must have wiped the man's memory. When asked, Billy couldn't remember any trace of a woman appearing to save their lives. Looks like any recollection that had to do with the goddess had been erased from Billy's memory.
This gave Arthur a prerogative whether to share the secret of Aoide with his friends or to keep it to himself. Arthur decided to delay making that decision for now because he told Billy, they should try to check up on Felicia first.
Billy, who wasn't the sharpest nail in the toolbox, did not realize Arthur's attempt at changing the subject. He agreed and when he tried to pick himself up, he realized another strange incident. The injury on his knee did not hurt as much as he thought.
Emilio and his men must have done a number on his knee but weirdly enough, the wound that remained was only a surface wound. Arthur knew the lullaby Billy heard must have a restorative effect other than lulling him to sleep, but instead of revealing the truth to Billy, he told the man to brush it off, saying perhaps he had a stronger physical constitution than he thought. This time, even Billy suspected the validity of that explanation but since they were both more concerned about Felicia, they abandoned that topic of discussion for now.
Felicia was mostly uninjured but she remembered even less than Billy. That was to be expected because she fainted before most of the action started.
Looking at the fainted group of black robes, the miraculous recovery on Billy's injury, the mysterious state that Emilio was suspended in, Felicia turned her eyes towards Arthur to ask what had happened.
When Arthur said why would she think he would know anything about what had transpired, Felicia countered with, "Because you are the one that looks the most collected after this whole incident. Billy would have told us everything because he's a man who wouldn't hide any secret, the group of black robes and Emilio wouldn't have kept us alive if they ended up with the upper hand so that leaves only you. What has transpired when we were unconscious, how did we get saved?"
Felicia wasn't pressuring with her questions, she was merely curious. If Arthur refused to say anything, she would have left it be.
In the end, Arthur decided to come clean. It wasn't really his intention to hide the truth from his friends anyway. It was simply because he too needed some time to process what had happened to him. After all, it was not an everyday ordeal that one got chosen to be a divine's disciple.
Billy pounded Arthur on his back, cheering, "My man!" while Felicia was a lot more cautious. She warned Arthur to be careful about revealing his identity in the future because many other people would have killed to get the blessing that Arthur received. Arthur nodded, thanking Felicia for her reminder.
With Billy egging him on, Arthur was asked to give a performance of his recently acquired Voice magic. Arthur eventually obliged. He tried the vocal materialization and Arthur could sense a wall of force pushing everything in his path away.
Billy was impressed and Felicia was glad on Arthur's behalf because this meant that he would have the qualification needed to become an official adventurer. Neither of Arthur's friend was a mage so they did not understand the full extent of the power Aoide had granted Arthur. They just assumed the goddess had untapped Arthur's potential to become a mage. Then again, Arthur himself did not really understand the potential of the power he had been given.
After that, with the quest completed, they prepared to leave for Armana. However, before that they needed to decide what to do with the black robes and their leader.
The black robes were still unconscious and they were bandits and robbers from the surrounding area. The three had no responsibility to rescue them so they would leave them where they were. However, things were slightly different with Emilio.
They would have no qualm killing Emilio in combat but killing an unarmed man in Emilio's current state felt wrong. They were not Emilio and would not take advantage of the man in his state of vulnerability.
Therefore, Billy said that they should carry Emilio back to the village with them to face the tribunal for what he had done. Arthur agreed with Billy because at the end of the day, Emilio was Armana's resident, he still had family back in Armana. Arthur did not think the black robes would volunteer to take care of their leader once they woke up and saw Emilio in this state.
However, Felicia proffered an opposing opinion and she raised a very valid point for why she think that way.
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The first thing Arthur did was to check on the people around him. He was worried about their safety. Arthur started with the man that was closest to him, which was Emilio. Arthur shook the man's body and Emilio gave no response. His eyes were wide open but Arthur could not discern any emotion or soul from them.
Arthur was reminded of what the goddess said earlier, Emilio was in this state because she overloaded his senses with the collective voices of the world. It seemed like that had snapped Emilio's fragile human mind. He ended up in a state that was no different from a living puppet, completely unresponsive to external stimulus.
Arthur was unsure of his feeling to what happened to Emilio. The man did try to kill them but Arthur couldn't justify a punishment this harsh. He wanted a painful death for the man, not this life that barely constituted living. Arthur supposed this was the punishment should one try to swindle the divine. The Gods weren't actually known for using a light hands in their actions after all. After making sure there was nothing he could do for the man, Arthur hastily moved on to check on his two friends.
Billy was also unconscious and Arthur sighed greatly in relief when he realized the man had just fallen asleep. Billy woke up groggily after Arthur gave him a few shakes. The first thing Billy did was to question Arthur why did he wake up him from the sweetest dream.
Arthur did not answer, instead he gave Billy a few moments to orient himself. Billy looked around him at the unconscious black robes and his expression turned to relaxation to urgency. He demanded, "Arthur, where's that slimy Emilio? Are you and Felicia hurt?"
Arthur pointed at Emilio that was lying on the ground not far away and he saw a confused frown appear on Billy's face. He thus asked Billy what did he remember before he fell asleep.
Billy said he remember them being ambushed by Emilio and his gang, and then how Emilio forced Arthur to do his bidding, finally all his could remember was a lullaby calming his soul, sending him into the feathery embrace of peaceful slumber.
Billy realized something must have happened when he was unconscious so he turned to ask Arthur to give him all the details. Hearing Billy's description, Arthur realized Aoide must have wiped the man's memory. When asked, Billy couldn't remember any trace of a woman appearing to save their lives. Looks like any recollection that had to do with the goddess had been erased from Billy's memory.
This gave Arthur a prerogative whether to share the secret of Aoide with his friends or to keep it to himself. Arthur decided to delay making that decision for now because he told Billy, they should try to check up on Felicia first.
Billy, who wasn't the sharpest nail in the toolbox, did not realize Arthur's attempt at changing the subject. He agreed and when he tried to pick himself up, he realized another strange incident. The injury on his knee did not hurt as much as he thought.
Emilio and his men must have done a number on his knee but weirdly enough, the wound that remained was only a surface wound. Arthur knew the lullaby Billy heard must have a restorative effect other than lulling him to sleep, but instead of revealing the truth to Billy, he told the man to brush it off, saying perhaps he had a stronger physical constitution than he thought. This time, even Billy suspected the validity of that explanation but since they were both more concerned about Felicia, they abandoned that topic of discussion for now.
Felicia was mostly uninjured but she remembered even less than Billy. That was to be expected because she fainted before most of the action started.
Looking at the fainted group of black robes, the miraculous recovery on Billy's injury, the mysterious state that Emilio was suspended in, Felicia turned her eyes towards Arthur to ask what had happened.
When Arthur said why would she think he would know anything about what had transpired, Felicia countered with, "Because you are the one that looks the most collected after this whole incident. Billy would have told us everything because he's a man who wouldn't hide any secret, the group of black robes and Emilio wouldn't have kept us alive if they ended up with the upper hand so that leaves only you. What has transpired when we were unconscious, how did we get saved?"
Felicia wasn't pressuring with her questions, she was merely curious. If Arthur refused to say anything, she would have left it be.
In the end, Arthur decided to come clean. It wasn't really his intention to hide the truth from his friends anyway. It was simply because he too needed some time to process what had happened to him. After all, it was not an everyday ordeal that one got chosen to be a divine's disciple.
Billy pounded Arthur on his back, cheering, "My man!" while Felicia was a lot more cautious. She warned Arthur to be careful about revealing his identity in the future because many other people would have killed to get the blessing that Arthur received. Arthur nodded, thanking Felicia for her reminder.
With Billy egging him on, Arthur was asked to give a performance of his recently acquired Voice magic. Arthur eventually obliged. He tried the vocal materialization and Arthur could sense a wall of force pushing everything in his path away.
Billy was impressed and Felicia was glad on Arthur's behalf because this meant that he would have the qualification needed to become an official adventurer. Neither of Arthur's friend was a mage so they did not understand the full extent of the power Aoide had granted Arthur. They just assumed the goddess had untapped Arthur's potential to become a mage. Then again, Arthur himself did not really understand the potential of the power he had been given.
After that, with the quest completed, they prepared to leave for Armana. However, before that they needed to decide what to do with the black robes and their leader.
The black robes were still unconscious and they were bandits and robbers from the surrounding area. The three had no responsibility to rescue them so they would leave them where they were. However, things were slightly different with Emilio.
They would have no qualm killing Emilio in combat but killing an unarmed man in Emilio's current state felt wrong. They were not Emilio and would not take advantage of the man in his state of vulnerability.
Therefore, Billy said that they should carry Emilio back to the village with them to face the tribunal for what he had done. Arthur agreed with Billy because at the end of the day, Emilio was Armana's resident, he still had family back in Armana. Arthur did not think the black robes would volunteer to take care of their leader once they woke up and saw Emilio in this state.
However, Felicia proffered an opposing opinion and she raised a very valid point for why she think that way.
The first thing Arthur did was to check on the people around him. He was worried about their safety. Arthur started with the man that was closest to him, which was Emilio. Arthur shook the man's body and Emilio gave no response. His eyes were wide open but Arthur could not discern any emotion or soul from them.Arthur was reminded of what the goddess said earlier, Emilio was in this state because she overloaded his senses with the collective voices of the world. It seemed like that had snapped Emilio's fragile human mind. He ended up in a state that was no different from a living puppet, completely unresponsive to external stimulus.Arthur was unsure of his feeling to what happened to Emilio. The man did try to kill them but Arthur couldn't justify a punishment this harsh. He wanted a painful death for the man, not this life that barely constituted living. Arthur supposed this was the punishment should one try to swindle the divine. The Gods weren't actually known for using a light hands in their actions after all. After making sure there was nothing he could do for the man, Arthur hastily moved on to check on his two friends.Billy was also unconscious and Arthur sighed greatly in relief when he realized the man had just fallen asleep. Billy woke up groggily after Arthur gave him a few shakes. The first thing Billy did was to question Arthur why did he wake up him from the sweetest dream.Arthur did not answer, instead he gave Billy a few moments to orient himself. Billy looked around him at the unconscious black robes and his expression turned to relaxation to urgency. He demanded, "Arthur, where's that slimy Emilio? Are you and Felicia hurt?"Arthur pointed at Emilio that was lying on the ground not far away and he saw a confused frown appear on Billy's face. He thus asked Billy what did he remember before he fell asleep.Billy said he remember them being ambushed by Emilio and his gang, and then how Emilio forced Arthur to do his bidding, finally all his could remember was a lullaby calming his soul, sending him into the feathery embrace of peaceful slumber.Billy realized something must have happened when he was unconscious so he turned to ask Arthur to give him all the details. Hearing Billy's description, Arthur realized Aoide must have wiped the man's memory. When asked, Billy couldn't remember any trace of a woman appearing to save their lives. Looks like any recollection that had to do with the goddess had been erased from Billy's memory.This gave Arthur a prerogative whether to share the secret of Aoide with his friends or to keep it to himself. Arthur decided to delay making that decision for now because he told Billy, they should try to check up on Felicia first.Billy, who wasn't the sharpest nail in the toolbox, did not realize Arthur's attempt at changing the subject. He agreed and when he tried to pick himself up, he realized another strange incident. The injury on his knee did not hurt as much as he thought.Emilio and his men must have done a number on his knee but weirdly enough, the wound that remained was only a surface wound. Arthur knew the lullaby Billy heard must have a restorative effect other than lulling him to sleep, but instead of revealing the truth to Billy, he told the man to brush it off, saying perhaps he had a stronger physical constitution than he thought. This time, even Billy suspected the validity of that explanation but since they were both more concerned about Felicia, they abandoned that topic of discussion for now.Felicia was mostly uninjured but she remembered even less than Billy. That was to be expected because she fainted before most of the action started.Looking at the fainted group of black robes, the miraculous recovery on Billy's injury, the mysterious state that Emilio was suspended in, Felicia turned her eyes towards Arthur to ask what had happened.When Arthur said why would she think he would know anything about what had transpired, Felicia countered with, "Because you are the one that looks the most collected after this whole incident. Billy would have told us everything because he's a man who wouldn't hide any secret, the group of black robes and Emilio wouldn't have kept us alive if they ended up with the upper hand so that leaves only you. What has transpired when we were unconscious, how did we get saved?"Felicia wasn't pressuring with her questions, she was merely curious. If Arthur refused to say anything, she would have left it be.In the end, Arthur decided to come clean. It wasn't really his intention to hide the truth from his friends anyway. It was simply because he too needed some time to process what had happened to him. After all, it was not an everyday ordeal that one got chosen to be a divine's disciple.Billy pounded Arthur on his back, cheering, "My man!" while Felicia was a lot more cautious. She warned Arthur to be careful about revealing his identity in the future because many other people would have killed to get the blessing that Arthur received. Arthur nodded, thanking Felicia for her reminder.With Billy egging him on, Arthur was asked to give a performance of his recently acquired Voice magic. Arthur eventually obliged. He tried the vocal materialization and Arthur could sense a wall of force pushing everything in his path away.Billy was impressed and Felicia was glad on Arthur's behalf because this meant that he would have the qualification needed to become an official adventurer. Neither of Arthur's friend was a mage so they did not understand the full extent of the power Aoide had granted Arthur. They just assumed the goddess had untapped Arthur's potential to become a mage. Then again, Arthur himself did not really understand the potential of the power he had been given.After that, with the quest completed, they prepared to leave for Armana. However, before that they needed to decide what to do with the black robes and their leader.The black robes were still unconscious and they were bandits and robbers from the surrounding area. The three had no responsibility to rescue them so they would leave them where they were. However, things were slightly different with Emilio.They would have no qualm killing Emilio in combat but killing an unarmed man in Emilio's current state felt wrong. They were not Emilio and would not take advantage of the man in his state of vulnerability.Therefore, Billy said that they should carry Emilio back to the village with them to face the tribunal for what he had done. Arthur agreed with Billy because at the end of the day, Emilio was Armana's resident, he still had family back in Armana. Arthur did not think the black robes would volunteer to take care of their leader once they woke up and saw Emilio in this state.However, Felicia proffered an opposing opinion and she raised a very valid point for why she think that way.
