The four were trying to get back to the human settlement just outside the forest. Issa was now at the very back and just telling the other two women which directions to go in. Meanwhile, Clailip was being dragged by Cordia on the ground, he was silent and unmoving.
Well, he looked like he wasn't moving, but as he was dragged around on the ground he'd occasionally look Issa in the eyes and make a rude gesture or two. This gesture can range from innocently sticking his tongue out, to making gestures with his hands that, in divorakk culture, would be like disrespecting the target's mother and saying distasteful things about their father. All of this were things he learned from the older children of their village, of course, his parents would have a heart attack if they were to find out that their precious little boy were using these kinds of gestures.
Once he stopped crying earlier, he went mostly back to his usual self, this unnerved all three of the humans out, understandably so. They didn't know if Clailip was unique, having this kind of overly apathetic behaviour and reactions to horrible happenings around him. They passed it off as a weird divorakk quirk, they were always told how divorakks were nothing more than unfeeling monsters that feign emotion for sympathy and manipulation.
But looking at those eyes that looked like the first few days of autumn, Issa couldn't help but start regretting the beat-down she gave the poor boy earlier. She would've never done such a thing to a human child, it's just that Clailip is a beast that she hurt him. She thought.
She further started rationalizing her actions by saying that magic-borns can handle rough handling, as they were beasts unlike humans. And that she was completely in the right as the boy tried scaring her with his odd language.
Unfortunately, this thought process is flawed, and she knows it. She knows how physically weak divorakks are. Jijian adventurers are taught these kinds of things with the monthly seminars that the General Adventurers' Guild would organize. She knows that she could've killed the boy with half the force of that throw if the boy had hit the ground head-first, and yet she didn't regret anything.
Until now, that is.
She started fidgeting and tried her best to not look at the child being dragged across the forest floor. As whenever she did, she felt a massive pang of guilt assault her. She didn't know why, but the boy's eyes were making her, someone who's killed numerous magic-born—both old and infantile—feel as if she did some sort of act that couldn't ever be forgiven.
Clailip, on the other hand, was using his easily-distracted nature to feel better.
Right now, he was distracting himself by teasing the woman that almost killed him.
"Your sins have no absolution, lady." As much as Clailip wanted to say this in the Eastern Isle’s universal tongue, he said it in Divoniac instead. He wanted to piss off Issa, but not to the point of her throwing him again, he didn't like pain after all.
A chill ran up Issa's spine, she felt something tearing at her from her insides as she heard the boy say those unintelligible words. She misinterpreted Clailip's childish taunting with actual hatred. Of course she didn't know what he actually said, but she doubts it was anything good as the boy was continuously making seemingly rude gestures at her.
Normally she would feel violent, seeing a lowly and dirty magic-born make all those indecipherable gestures toward her. But, somehow, she was feeling pained instead. Her insides retched as she thought about the violent outburst she just had earlier, and started rethinking her own values as a human being. She knew that magic-born were only hated in Jija because the nobles find them a convenient use for magical experimentation, their bodies were naturally perfect at storing mana and discharging it with ease was something that came naturally to all magic-born. After all, if the Jijian populace recognized them as something other than monsters, they would develop sympathy for them, and sympathy is bad for innovation.
While Issa's internal self was at a crossroads with what she wanted to prioritize and be like in the future, Clailip was checking his status. Sure, there definitely are better times for checking one's status, but he was bored and he didn't have anything else to do inside the net. He was definitely terrified of what might happen to him later on, but he decided that he'll let his future self deal with it instead.
'I mean, I might get the chance to see Mama and Daddy again. Plus I don't think my grandparents need my help anyway. They can just go and save us when they get back from the north.' He thought. He definitely held his grandparents up on a pedestal higher than the most legendary heroes of both his lives. He fully, and truly, believed, that they'll come and save him and his family if worst comes to worst.
He was right of course, but even then, he’s still unnaturally calm, if one was a bystander they wouldn’t think anything he was being abducted even if they could see that he was in a net. The only reason he's really calm is because he's pushing all the panic and misery he thinks he'll feel onto his future self. After all, the Clailip now wouldn't be the one that would act like some sort of magical battery for scary machines, the future Clailip would.
Or, well, that's what he thinks he's doing.
With all that said, it is time to look at his current status.
NAME:Clailip Diancia
AGE:5
RACE:Dianian Divorakk
VIT:203/203
MANA:205,190
INT:75
STR:25
AGI:42
SPD:39
RES:19
CORE ATTRIBUTE(S):Ice | Wind | Water
SKILLS:
Unarmed Arts - 2
Advanced Mana Recovery - 5
Mana Control - 4
Water Magic - 4
Wind Magic - 1
Ice Magic - 2
Unnamed Water Arts - 2
UNIQUE SKILLS:
Harmless Sweetie - 3
Spiritual Manipulation - 2
[???]
[???]
[???]
'Harmless Sweetie leveled up again… I wonder what leveling it up does?' Clailip thought, his face scrunched up as he tried to think of any possibilities. 'An analysis-type skill or a system voice would be amazing to have right now…' He sighed. 'No isekai is complete without them. But what do I expect? This is real life, not a web novel.'
He took notice of the new skills he has gained and his increased attribute values. He huffed in satisfaction, he was proud that he's gotten way better in just a short amount of time. Though, he suppressed the smile that was making his way onto his dirty face. He didn't want to make Issa think he was okay or that she was out of the clear just yet.
'How much time has passed since the first time I opened up my status? A month, I think? Wow, in just a month I got super good!' He thought, staving away the anxiousness by keeping his mind full of thoughts.
In truth, though he was calm, he was also very terrified, he was just roughly beaten and now being dragged across the forest's ground. In just a few days he'll likely become nothing more than fuel for human innovation.
But somehow he couldn't really care less about this whole chain of events. Sure he was terrified, but Nawa and Kabao went out to try and find the spirits. If he's lucky, he'll be saved by them before they reach the end of the forest, and if he's not well, he'll just thank everything he was bestowed up to this point and wait for death. Though he couldn't help but be worried, he just wasn't sure if the spirits would be able to fight the three humans here, he could tell the women were strong, but he didn't know how strong.
He silently hoped that the five spirits could take them on.
While he was lost in thought, he didn't realize that the woman called Issa had been staring at his eyes all this time. If he did, he would've most likely started mocking her creepy behaviour, and might have been beaten down again.
That said, his silence and blank face did have an effect on Issa, as she was the only one that could actually see the boy directly. She stared into Clailip's unfocused eyes as her heart twisted in regret over what she did earlier. She thought that she had traumatized the poor boy, leading to him making strange gestures earlier, and now, being completely unresponsive.
This went on for some time, Clailip was lost in his own world of thoughts, while Issa misinterpreted it into something that would dig her into a grave of her own guilt. Every single small movement Clailip would do, Issa would then think was somehow related to her beat down of the boy earlier. There even came a point that she thought she had affected the boy's organs, because he wasn't breathing properly, but really, Clailip was just trying to see how long he could hold his breath for.
It was an odd battle between Clailip's efforts to distract himself from his dreary fate, and Issa's misinterpretation of said actions. Though Clailip was definitely scared of her, she was overestimating how much the five-year-old fears her.
After a while of walking and maneuvering around the forest's greenery, it seems that something inside her finally broke.
"Cordia, give me the net. The boy might get bruises if you keep dragging him around like that." Issa suddenly spoke up.
"No." Cordia replied simply.
"I won't hurt him again, I promise." Issa said in an uncharacteristically soft voice, which surprised the two humans. Clailip was too busy trying to figure out the intricacies of eel intercourse to notice, however.
"... Should we?" Mandel asked Cordia.
Cordia was absolutely silent, she knew that Issa never liked showing her softer side to anyone. But right now she was using it as proof that she won't be doing the boy any harm. So she was conflicted on whether she was genuinely trying to show that she won't hurt the boy, or if it's just something she's willing to do to get back at the boy more.
Cordia ended up going with the former conclusion, Issa was definitely violent but she didn't think she was lying right now. Issa was too proud to do this if she wasn't being genuine.
"Fine. Here, take the boy." Cordia handed the part of the net she was holding to Issa. But to Cordia's surprise, she didn't take it, and instead, held the boy in her arms as you normally would a toddler. Though, she did make sure that the boy wouldn't be able to escape by tying the hexensteel net's ends tightly.
This startled the two humans and Clailip himself. When he was being picked up, he thought that he was going to be thrown again, so he braced for impact and made sure to steel himself for the pain he was going to go through. To his pleasant, or, well, unpleasant surprise, though, he was instead held close to Issa's chest and was being restrained gently, but firmly.
He didn't like this one bit, he felt embarrassed that someone who just threw him on the ground earlier was now trying to hold him in their arms gently. He felt like he was being humiliated, or something of the sort, so he started struggling.
Clailip was letting out loud yells as he struggled against the warm, hug-like, hold of Issa. Issa tightened her gentle grip on Clailip, restricting his movement but making sure that the boy wouldn't be uncomfortable.
Clailip tried to bite and claw at Issa, but unfortunately for him, the net was preventing him from doing so.
She kept walking as her two companions stood still, absolutely dumbfounded at her actions. They looked at Issa like she was replaced by some sort of shape shifter as they continued traversing the forest.
After some time, Clailip finally got tired and sleepy. He fought the fatigue with the best of his abilities, despite being absolutely exhausted after his consistent struggling, yelling, and being beaten up. This, along with the fact that Issa started awkwardly stroking the boy's head after noticing the boy's increasingly sluggish and drowsy behaviour, meant that Clailip couldn't resist the temptation and fell asleep with Issa gently stroking his head.
Since they've already mapped out a path out of the forest, they were already out by nightfall. However, they decided to camp out in the forest for a while, wanting to discuss what exactly they should do to the child Issa was currently holding.
"You, know, with you holding the child like that, you really do look like a moth-" Cordia stopped herself, not wanting to say anything more as Issa already shot him a half-angry, and half-sorrowful, look.
"Sorry, I forgot." Cordia apologized, realizing that she had just stepped on a landmine.
"It's fine." Issa replied.
"What's with the attitude change?" Mandel asked.
"Nothing." Issa replied once more.
An awkward silence filled the air. Well, actually, it was only awkward for Mandel and Cordia. Issa was too busy looking at the boy he was holding with eyes that seemed to reminisce of distant times.
"We can just take him back to the town right? If I'm lucky, and with the forest's bounties, I think I can get three gold with a few more commissions so I don't think we have to worry about my debt." Issa wasn't looking away from the boy as she said this. Causing great concern to plague the other two female adventurers.
"Issa? Are you okay?" Cordia asked.
"I am." Issa's voice was slightly shaking, she wouldn't pry her eyes away from the boy's sleeping face. She looked like she was in a deep trance, her mind was clouded with thoughts of raising the bite-sized sweetie as her own. She tried her hardest to suppress them but she just couldn't, she'd try to think of another thing but that would quickly be consumed by thoughts of motherhood.
"Issa…" Mandel muttered as she noticed the tears that pricked at her friend's eyes.
"I'm fine. The boy just reminds me of… well, you know." Issa shed her tears and cleaned up her face, she regained her composure in a matter of seconds. "But yes, I don't think we can just leave this boy anywhere in the forest. We should take him back to the town, make him wear a blindfold to hide that glowing mark and his eyes." Issa suggested.
"That's a stupid idea." Cordia definitely didn't want to leave a child all alone in this forest, divorakk or not. But Issa's plan was very dangerous, not just for the boy, but them too.
"I'm siding with Cordia on this one. I don't think it's a good idea to sneak in a magic-born when the kingdom is clearly thirsting over them." Mandel added.
"Well do you just want to leave this boy out to die then?" asked Issa. "It's going to be hard but if we don't do anything then we lose both the gold and the boy."
The other two went silent, they just stared at Issa and Issa stared back.
After a considerable amount of time staring at each other, they just dropped the topic and decided that they'll be sneaking the boy in. They didn't know why exactly they felt so close to the boy, like they had some sort of emotional attachment to him, but they were willing to do anything to make sure the boy was safe.
They were about to put the fire out, when a spear of mist came out of nowhere and pierced Mandel's leg, making blood gush out and the woman scream in agony.
From the bushes, five extremely angry spirits emerged.
