Rise of The Living Enchantment [LITRPG REGRESSION]

Just what kind of group was Aiden running with. Letto had been on Nastild long enough to have seen a lot of things. Perhaps not half as much as there was to see, but he had seen enough. Being in the castle had given him enough experience with the [Healer] class. Even being outside him had shown him a few variations.

If there was one thing he could say for a fact, hands trembling as he kept himself to the wall, trying his best to look as small and harmless as possible, it was this: Elami was no [Healer].

[Healer]s did not move that fast.

Elami had started an altercation all by himself. He had accused the girl, Taeli, and her alone of having made every move to sabotage the mission. Taeli had paled slightly, then she'd blown up, displayed her anger.

While all this had been happening, the large man, Oncot, stood in his place, sword in hand. He looked unwilling to move, uncaring, even.

Then the guide that Letto and his group had hired decided to step in, to find a peaceful recourse. Elami had warned him to silence in so derogatory a sentence that anyone would think that he was discriminating against the man for his occupation or class. Interestingly enough, however, the derogation had come when he'd called him 'human'.

When the fight had ensued, it had been because of Sir Thompfer. The knight had risen from where he'd been resting and placed a calming hand on Elami's shoulder, asking for peace.

Then Elami had moved. He was like a wild animal. In the blink of an eye, Sir Thompfer's spear had come up. Elami had broken it with a single swing of his arm then driven the arm into the knight before turning and slapping their own guide who'd moved on instinct.

"I do not like to be touched," he had said in a terrifying voice just before Taeli had stabbed him in the side.

He'd looked down at the woman and snarled at her.

"Traitor and without honor until the very end," he said before grabbing her by the head. "I really hope there will be more than enough left."

Then she'd crumpled to the ground like a dropped rag. Ariadne had gasped but said nothing. Derrick looked as if he had wet his pants.

The same man that had done all this was now standing with his hands held up as if he was at Aiden's mercy.

Just as daunting as what Elami had done, was the sound of Aiden's voice when he spoke.

"What have you done?" he asked, voice menacing.

Elami watched him warily, as if Aiden was a greater threat than he was. It took Letto a moment to realize that not too long ago, there had been a barrier behind Oncot that would've kept them from going in even if they had somehow gotten past the large man.

It was gone now, and Aiden was with them. Had he completed whatever quest he had come here for?

"Elami," Aiden said in a quiet voice. He sounded as if he was holding himself back.

Elami met his gaze, undaunted yet cautious. "I received permission."

"So, I've been told," Aiden bit out.

Permission from who? Letto wondered.

"If you are wondering why I did not get it from you, it is because—"

"I do not care for that," Aiden said, cutting him off. "I want to know what has made this necessary."

He gestured at Taeli's dead body.

Elami took a calming breath. "It was to save your knight."

Aiden moved his head to Sir Valdan who had been lowered to the ground in one corner. The knight laid there unmoving.

He frowned, as if warring with different decisions. In the end, he let out a sigh and returned his attention to Elami.

"We do not have time for this," he said. "Did whatever you have done work? Can you save him."

Elami's nod was slow but certain. "However, I will not be able to move right now. He has to be brought to me, and I have to begin. Only then can I move."

Aiden nodded. And just like that, Elami's actions were forgiven.

Letto and Drax shared a flabbergasted look. Drax was the one to speak.

"You can't be serious," he said in shock. "He just killed someone. Murder is a capital crime here."

Aiden spared him a momentary glance before ignoring him. Turning to Oncot, he moved his hands, fingers making intricate signs.

Without hesitation, Oncot strapped his sword to his back and picked Valdan up. He moved gently, holding the knight out in front of Elami.

"Aiden!" Drax barked.

Aiden rounded on him like a man with too much hate for one person. "If you want to uphold the justice of Nastild, then do it yourself!"

Drax backed away from him on instinct. Letto froze.

Aiden searched their friend's eyes, as if looking for something hidden beneath it all. Whatever he found calmed him a little.

"There is good in the world, Drax," he said. "But not everything is black and white. Sometimes, some things are grey."

Letto listened. Everyone listened. It was something adults liked to say on Earth a lot. And Letto knew how much Drax hated the saying.

Defiant, Drax leaned into Aiden until they were face to face.

"Grey is nothing but a mix of black and white," he said. "It's still black and white. Those who call it grey simply do not have what it takes to separate the colors."

"Are you confident that you are separating the colors properly?" Aiden stepped into him. "Are you confident that the white you've picked out is pure and true, Drax?"

Drax's hardened expression flickered. He didn't look so sure anymore.

After a while, Aiden stepped away from him. "There is no shame in not knowing how to make the differentiation, Drax," he said, turning to Oncot and signing to the man. "Once you accept that you are not good at it, instead of stubbornly insisting that you are, only then can you get better at differentiating them. But right now," he looked back at Drax from over his shoulder, "you are a child screaming your justice to the world. This, to you, is grey."

He walked away, back into the open clearing. Hand raised, he made one final hand sign. Oncot looked at Elami who had Valdan in his arms and Elami nodded. The light in his eyes were dimming now, but the glow had enveloped his body, enveloping Valdan's in return.

"I've got him," Elami told the large man.

Letto had a feeling he knew what was happening. It was simply a suspicion, but he had a feeling that Elami had taken the life force of Taeli and was using it for Valdan. It buttressed his suspicion. A [Healer] did not have skills designed to kill from everything he knew about them. They only possessed skills used to heal or protect.

It was unheard of that a [Healer] has a skill to kill, regardless of the reason.

Letto looked at Drax and Jen who stood relegated to the background. He locked eyes with Ariadne and knew that the same thoughts crossed her mind.

He pushed away from the wall and followed after Aiden.

"I'm coming with you," he insisted.

Elami, who was walking slowly with Valdan in his arms, snorted but did not say anything. Every little bit of the snort screamed condescension.

"Me, too," Ariadne said.

At this point, they were already within the area where Aiden and the others had gone to fight. Ariadne had spoken but she was looking far ahead, where Ted stood with the person they called Jang Su.

She didn't want to come with Aiden, she wanted to be with Ted.

Just how close did they grow in that short time? He wondered.

"My lord. My lady."

Letto didn't have to look back to know that Jen was the one calling out to them. Ever since the young lord had found out who exactly they were, he'd been nothing but a faithful follower.

The only person that didn't look eager to move was Drax. But Letto had seen it in his eyes. As far as he was concerned, Aiden could not be saved. Their friendship was no longer strong enough to hold them together. Their paths had since diverged, and Drax was finally making peace with it.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Letto was not ready to. Besides, he had never been on a redemption mission for Aiden. He just wanted to know that he was alright. And the Aiden in front of him was more than alright. He was…

The thoughts died away as Letto's legs slowed beneath him.

Ariadne paused, grabbing him by the arm. "Come on, we've got to…"

Her voice disappeared as her eyes focused on the same thing he was looking at. A beautiful girl laid in the ground. Her skin was pale, lacking of life. Blood flowed from somewhere beneath her, bathing the rocky ground crimson.

She was dead. Not far away from her, her twin laid unconscious on the ground. Letto gulped, saddened by what the twin would experience when she wakes up and finds out that her sister was no more.

"That is why you cannot follow me."

Letto and Ariadne looked up. Aiden was facing them across the distance. He had a solemn look on his face. It wasn't sad, merely certain, like a man accepting the darkness of the world. The others were behind him now, moving into a path that was there.

Aiden was the only one not moving. He stood with his hands held out to his side. In one hand was a crystal of ocean blue as large as a person's head. Still, for all the attention the crystal tried to drag, his actions forced them to take in the chaos around them.

"Those who follow me," Aiden said in a somber voice, "ultimately meet a dire fate."

"But Ted is alive!" Ariadne called to him.

Behind him, Ted paused in his escape, looked back, hesitated, then continued down his path.

"Those who live," Aiden answered her, "are those who I would die for. They will live until I die."

His words rang true in Letto's ears. Aiden would not die for them. And why would he want to? They weren't that close on Earth, and they'd barely spent any time together on Nastild.

"And if Ted chooses to protect me?" Ariadne asked, to Letto's complete bafflement.

She had to just be arguing for arguing sake at this point, right? She couldn't really be asking the question legitimately.

Aiden looked behind him for a very brief moment, as if to make sure that Ted hadn't heard her. The next words out of his mouth, however, corrected Letto's errors. It wasn't about what she had said, it was about what he was going to say.

"I'd kill you before I let my brother die for you."

Ariadne took a step forward and Letto grabbed her by the arm. He shook his head at her very slowly. It was not worth it. Aiden was strong enough to put them down and leave if he chose to. Following after him would be a waste. Instead, it was safer to report what had happened to the crown. He had a feeling that this was not the last time they would run into each other.

His decision must've shown on his face because Aiden finally relaxed. He held out his hand and a pouch filled with gold manifested, pulled from his storage space.

"This," he said, placing it on the ground, "is for the mercenary team. When they wake up, give it to them and offer them my apologies for their loss."

Letto opened his mouth to speak, to say words he didn't even know existed, but Aiden turned and was gone.

He and Ariadne stood there, watching the place where Aiden had been.

"He's become a monster," she said in a quiet voice. "Ted always said that he was the good brother. But that's not the brother he told me about."

Letto understood her, but he understood Aiden too. "People change."

"Yes," Ariadne agreed. "But they don't suddenly become monsters. Even after all this, he didn't care, he didn't bat an eye. Elami killed Taeli and all he needed to be forgiven was that he'd gotten permission?" She looked at him with rheumy eyes. "If people could be forgiven for anything, then where is the line. What will Aiden not do."

For a brother? Letto had the answer. Nothing.

But he was more interested in the look he'd seen in Aiden's eyes. It wasn't just about protecting his brother or growing strong. There was more to it.

He came here specifically for this.

Aiden had a purpose, a goal he was driving at. He had told Elami that they did not have time. The problem was that he did not have enough knowledge to even begin to fathom what Aiden's goal was.

Is he trying to go home?

It seemed an impossible task without the king and his [Mage]s. Yet, Aiden had a goal. No matter how he scratched at his brain, Letto couldn't come up with anything. The only possible goal any of them could possibly have would be finding a way back home.

"What is it?" Ariadne asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

Letto shook his head. "We need to get back to the castle."

With that, he walked forward. It wasn't long before he was next to the pouch that Aiden had dropped. It was a pouch full of gold.

It was a little too full, certainly more than they had paid their own guide. What a guide could've accomplished, Aiden had paid an entire mercenary team.

Letto did not like not knowing. He needed to return to the palace. He needed to learn more about this specific place and why it had been important to Aiden. Why Aiden had turned up in the same vicinity the king had sent them to even though he was no longer working with or for the king.

Letto needed information.

Holding on to that truth in mind, he turned and walked back to the others.

He would have answers.

…

"Why are we in a hurry?" Feira asked, confused and worried as she fastened the reins on the jepat next to her.

Zen was already fastening the reins around his second jepat. He had always been faster than her but now there was a precision to his speed, as if the last few days of training under the tutelage of Lord Lacheart had somehow increased his stats, which she already knew was impossible.

Stat increases only happened after every ten levels. It was common knowledge.

Fjord double checked the saddle on the jepat next to him, frowned, then tightened it a little more.

They were out in a section of the desert. The sun was high in the sky and the heat was bearing down on them in levels that was beginning to affect them. He already had beads of sweat accumulating above his brows.

He paused in what he was doing and looked around once more.

"What's happening, Fjord?" Feira asked. Her voice was soft, gentle. In the short time that he'd known her, he recognized the voice. It was the one she used when she was trying to work something you didn't want to say out of you.

Lord Lacheart was the only one who seemed immune to it. If anything, he always looked as if it was annoying him.

Fjord looked to the sky, gauged the position of the sun. Then he looked around. He hoped he had the coordinates correct. If the seller for the last jepat hadn't been so slow and unwilling to sell at a reasonable price, he would've gotten here sooner.

He was just glad that Zen and Feira had been quick in moving as well.

"I can't believe I almost didn't make it," he muttered to himself as he adjusted the last jepat. "The gods damned that merchant."

Feira took him by the arm in a gentle hold that slowed him. He turned to look at her. Her eyes seemed imploring. She was worried but doing her best to restrain it. For all the chaos in his mind, he paid attention to her. She was generally kind and gentle with him. She was also the reason he was being taught how to fight now—how to defend himself.

"We're meeting lord Lacheart here," he said simply.

Feira pointed at the extra jepat, a single addition to their group. "Are we expecting a guest?"

"No idea. He simply said to buy an extra jepat." He reached into the saddle bag next to him and pulled out a sac the size of his head. "He also asked me to get this."

The sac was brown with slight glitters on it that caught the sunlight when held out at a certain angle. He had no idea what it was supposed to do but he knew that it was more than just a bag.

"What does it do?" Feira asked.

Zen threw his arms up in sudden exasperation before Fjord could answer.

"It catches the sun and turns it into the moon," he said with a large touch of impatience. "Sister dearest, I know you like nothing more than to know everything, but sometimes you ask too many questions." He walked up to her and took her by the shoulders gently. "Sometimes you need to learn to stop and breathe and trust the process. The bag is just a bag. And we're waiting for Aiden. You'll have questions when they are asked at the appropriate time."

Fjord watched Feira hesitate. She had more to say or ask. She worried her lower lips between her teeth.

"We're supposed to meet Lord Lacheart in the middle of nowhere, Zen," she said, forcing her brother to groan. But it didn't stop her. "There's nothing but sand and sun and heat for as far as the eyes can see."

"Is it me?" he asked her, then paused and looked at Fjord. "Is it me? Did I spoil her? I know I answered all your questions growing up because being inquisitive is a good thing but…" he sighed deeply. "I think it's me. Maybe it's time to teach you how to start trusting people and not just yourself."

Feira frowned then looked down and away. In a low voice she said, "Like how we trusted Ebube?"

"One bad egg is not a representation of the world, sister. It is just—"

He was cut off by a small rumbling in the ground. It shook beneath their feet and the sand seemed to displace.

Fjord struggled to keep his footing while holding two reins to keep the jepats from bounding off. Zen and Feira followed his lead, keeping the others in check.

While they did so, they watched as a section of the desert floor rose, elevating like a hill above the others. Sand poured from it in waves. When it was done, they were left staring at what looked like the mouth of a cave.

"I'm not the only one seeing this, right?" Zen asked. "Has Aiden started working miracles?"

Fjord saw them before Zen and Feira.

"Get the jepats ready," he told them, hurrying over to the mouth of the cave.

They rushed into action while he rushed to meet Lord Lacheart and Ted and Valdan and three other men he did not recognize. One was a massive man who looked like his hobbies were eating and throwing himself into the side of mountains. He held a giant sword in one hand and ran as if he was trying not to fall.

The second man was tall and lithe. He wore the kind of armor that Fjord had never seen or heard of before. Three swords were sheathed at his waist. The third man wore a robe, and a staff hung behind him. He glowed a gentle green. As for his speed, he seemed to glide along the ground, keeping pace with everyone else.

In his hand, Valdan was unmoving.

Fjord didn't know if to go for Valdan or someone else.

"The bag!" Lord Lacheart called out as he rushed Fjord.

Fjord held out the glittering sac and Aiden snatched it from him without stopping. It was then that Fjord noticed the large crystal in Lord Lacheart's hand. It was beautiful. Even under the afternoon sun, it seemed to defy it with the color of moonlight.

"Get on your jepats!" Lord Lacheart barked as he slipped the crystal into the bag and fastened it.

As if he already knew how the sac worked, he drew the strings, stretching them longer than they had any right to stretch and wrapped the sac diagonally across his torso.

Mounting his jepat, he pointed at the jepat Valdan normally rode. "Elami, you'll ride on that one with Dan. Oncot," he pointed at the extra. "Get on that one and follow."

His orders came out rushed but everyone was already complying. Fjord moved quickly, helping the man called Elami to mount his jepat with Valdan before moving to his own.

When they were mounted, Lord Lacheart took a moment to breathe before turning to the only man still standing. The man with the unknown armor.

"Jang Su," he said to him. "The plan was to give you the option of riding with us, but things have changed."

Jang Su nodded. "I understand."

"If you head that way." Lord Lacheart pointed south. "And keep a straight path. You will find yourself at the heart of Trackback. Meet with your master. I will be glad if you do not tell him what I carry with me, but I cannot ask you to keep that secret."

Jang Su shrugged as if it didn't matter. "I think he would've liked you to have it. It was probably one of the rewards he wanted to give you for sparring with him to you rejected."

Lord Lacheart blanched, seemingly taken aback, as if what he had just been told was supposed to be impossible.

Jang Su smiled as a reaction to it. "What can I say? He's almost all knowing. You might be the first thing outside his calculations. It's probably why he took a liking to you."

"Aiden," Ted said, drawing Aiden's action from the man called Jang Su. "You said that we needed to hurry. Which way?"

Lord Lacheart took a moment to compose himself, then pointed east. Then he turned his jepat and kicked it straight into a gallop.

Fjord wondered why they needed to hurry. Were they being chased? Whatever the reason, however, he kicked his jepat into a gallop as well.

Looking behind him at the armored man, he was surprised to find the man not running. Instead, the man heaved a deep preparatory breath and drew two of his swords.

What is he doing? Fjord wondered.

Zen took the words right out of his mind.

"What's he trying to do?" he asked nobody in particular.

Lord Lacheart looked back and laughed. "Always trust the demon to find a fight to throw himself into."

Fjord was confused, but Lord Lacheart's words were explained a moment later.

As they rode farther into the desert, creatures, countless in number and white as snow, rushed out of the mouth of the cave like rabid creatures.

Without hesitation, swords drawn in both hands, the armored man stepped into them.

There was something terrifying about the sight as they rode off.

One man should not have faced such an army.