[Arya]

 

"What's the reason your group is out here?" I ask using common, leading the group of elves from behind them. Currently the hunting group today is all around them with alpha up at the lead. 

 

The elves take a bit to respond, talking amongst themselves in what I can only assume is the elven tongue. Once they are done, the younger sister is the one who responds. "We came looking for herbs that could help stabilize our mother. She fell ill earlier this week for unknown reasons. We asked the alchemist in our town what we could do and she told us about some herbs that might help." 

 

"And those herbs are?" I asked.

 

The elf I was talking to sort of panics before asking her companions something. "I don't know exactly what they're called in your native language, but our people call it caicena." 

 

"Ah, calcena, it's a little rare but it has properties to help patients with fatal wounds stabilize. Outside of that it’s useless though, so if she isn’t in dire need then I don’t see the point of acquiring it." Stella says scaring me at her sudden announcement. 

 

"What the hell Stella, why do you keep doing that, stop it." I whispered.

 

"Mhmm, no" She says, with a playful tone in her voice. "It's fun"

 

"What am I going to do with you?" I replied.

 

"Are you alright?" The young elf asks.

 

"Don't worry about it, we're almost there." I say 

 

"Arya, can you do something real quick?" Stella asks.

 

"Sure, what do you want me to do?" Slightly tilting my head as I ask.

 

"I want you to look at their souls real quick." She says.

 

"Okay?" I reply, activating the skill, the world around starts to darken as I see spots of white all around me. The small souls around us all seem to have a faint line between the major points. 

 

"Hey Stella, we're in the forest that's around the world tree right?" 

 

"Yes, why?" Stella asked.

 

"I can see the connection they have to the world tree." I say

 

"I’m not the only one then." Stella says.

 

“What do you mean by that?” I ask.

 

“Dawn doesn’t have the sense soul skill.” She explained.

 

“What. . . how?” I ask.

 

“I don’t know but it might have to do with her class seeing how it doesn’t show up underneath our racial skills.” Stella says.

 

I eventually look at the elves, seeing their souls mostly gray in color but still shining brightly. I can also hear a faint noise coming from them, like a soft whistle sounding within the wind. Deactivating the skill, I relay the information right as a system notification shows up, saying Sense Soul leveled up.

 

 

"Been a while since that popped up." I say.

 

"I didn't know souls had a sound to them, that's weird, glad to know that they're trustworthy at least." Stella says.

 

"How do you know?" I ask.

 

"Souls of people will almost always be gray in color, most exceptions being children as they typically have more clear souls. Everyone inherently will have thoughts both good and bad. Meaning that choices can be seen in both ways depending on the person. The glow coming from their souls is the important part, as a brighter glow means they lean more towards a goodwill nature." She says, "The darker it gets, the more morally wrong a person is, at least what some 'idealists' believe. It's a pretty interesting topic I've heard of before, about whether the skill's results should determine whether someone should be contained or not in prison." 

 

"That sounds like a flawed system." I point out.

 

"It is, as people will almost always be morally gray and depending on a situation, can have them go back and forth between a darker or brighter soul. Apparently there is a clear indication when someone is lost and that if you discover someone with one then if possible, take them out immediately." 

 

~~~~~

 

"What is all this?" Taleah asks, with a stern face from behind her desk. 

 

"They came looking for herbs, and I found them with one of the wolves tied up from a goblin trap." I say looking at the young man in her office visibly sweating as I feel my face scrunch up, "I killed the one who tried to keep and sell the wolf after he refused to comply."

 

Taleah just sighs, before grumbling something under her breath she starts to write something before folding it and handing it to me. "When you get to the adventurer guild, give this to the receptionist, she'll know what to do."

 

Looking towards the young man, she asks "What is the current date?" 

 

"The fourth day of Helene." He replies.

 

“Helene, why does that sound familiar?” As I think to myself I feel a sharp headache and my body stumbles a bit as I catch myself before Stella replies to me. 

 

"It’s the name of the week, one of the four moons. We have four weeks in a month, with only twelve months in the year. Helene is the third week of a month, the weeks go as such: Telesto, Dione, Helene, and Narvi." Stella says.

 

"Why those names?" I said while pinching the top of my nose.

 

"What am I, the moon's mother?" Stella says.

 

Having done what she needed to do, Taleah starts pushing me out of her office, "Go rest, and talk with the other elves, I'm going to continue my talk with the young man for now, since he's leading their party now." She says before closing the door on me. 

 

Walking towards the center room, I find the three elven women surrounded by the wolves, the adults keeping a close watch on them as the puppies hide behind them. Making my way towards the center as the wolves make a way for me. The elf woman I talked with earlier looks at me, hope in her eyes as she starts pleading to me. "Miss, can you please make them not stare at us like they're about to kill us please." 

 

Well what did she expect to happen, they were grouped with a man who wanted to take one of their own to sell. I'd expect nothing else than this type of situation. I need to talk to them though so I should help them get relaxed at least. 

 

I motion to the wolves that it's fine for now. Seeing me give the okay, they start moving towards the other side of the room, as if they're watching to make sure they can protect me if needed. I find a spot to sit near the elves, enough distance for the puppies apparently as they rush for my lap once again. Once settled they allow for me to pet them as they relax. 

 

"I understand the reason you wanted to come to the forest but I have to ask, were there not any stores that sold the medicine you could use?" I say, looking up towards the elves. "The herb itself isn't that rare, just a little uncommon, so I doubt you couldn't find any in town. And even then, from what you told me they wouldn’t even be that helpful."

 

"You would normally be right, but something is happening in our city, many people have been getting sick and growing weaker. Our mother only started getting sick earlier this week and when we checked the markets, the herb was sold out." The elf says.

 

"That's worrying” I say, scratching my head before asking, ”Is there a plague forming?" 

 

"To my knowledge, no, it doesn't spread but recently the only people getting sick are the traditionalists." She replied, before quickly clarifying what she meant. "The traditionalists are mostly of the older generation of elves, those who think we should stick to our old rules, one of those being that we shouldn't eat meat. Our mother is one of them, but she doesn't try to force it onto me and my siblings thankfully." 

 

"And how much flak is the other group getting because of this?" I ask.

 

"A lot." She says looking towards the ground. 

 

"Let me take over for a bit, have some questions I'd like to ask about the sickness." I hear Stella say. 

 

"You sure you want to? They'll know something is up by our eyes." I whisper. 

 

"It'll be fine." She says before taking over, the elf clearly notices something's up as she slightly shifts in her spot.

 

"How did you do that?" She asks

 

"Don't worry about it." Stella says. "How do the infected people look? And has anyone checked for anything magically wrong with them like a curse?"

 

"I don't think anyone has thought of that, at least that I know of. Symptoms though include their skin color getting paler, their veins start turning black starting from their heart as they spread out from there." She says.

 

"Oh, that’s not good." Stella says.

 

"Uh oh what?" The elf woman asks. 

 

"If it's what I think it is and it's magical, then the herbs you're trying to use won't help even if your mother was in a fatal condition." Stella said.

 

"What? Why?" She says quickly jumping to her feat. 

 

"What you described sounds eerily similar to necrotic poison." Stella says. "There are a number of creatures that can use them, most of them evil, and none to be underestimated." 

 

The young elf starts to tell the others what I said in their tongue, all of them visibly growing worried. The young elf looks our way wiping her eyes as tears try to fall before trying to speak. 

 

"We need to head back ho-" 

 

Taleah walks in with the young elf behind her. She looks at us, recognition in her eyes, "Stella change of plans, we need to pack our things and leave tomorrow morning, something is spreading necrotic poison into their city. Whatever it is, is doing a great job since no one has even tried to check for magical energies radiating from it. Meaning that the perpetrator is a master with their work. Either through magic or poisons."

 

"Wait, Stella? Didn't you call her Arya in your office?" The young man says, causing Taleah to look at him like he's an idiot. 

 

" Doesn’t matter, we don’t have time for this because of the situation back at the capital." Taleah says.

 

"I was just . . . uh . . . right. . . sorry." He says.

 

"It's personal anyways, you should worry about your own issues." Stella says before looking back to Taleah, "Will this affect any plans we have?"

 

"No, it's going to take time anyways to locate the source and how to cure everyone. I'll have to meet with those withered old bones leading the village when we get there." Taleah replies. "It's just one thing after the other I swear." 

 

Turgis, who had been lying down as he watched everything going on, reached out with his mind to Taleah and I, "How long do you think it will take?"

 

"Sigh, who knows, I'll leave you with a talisman in case an emergency or issue pops up." Taleah says.

 

"Much appreciated." He says before falling back asleep.