I stared at the dead Chimera, and managed to curl my lips up into what I hoped was a smirk. Darkness began to fill my vision, and I barely managed to get out a final thought.
Still a stupid dumb idiot.
Chapter 6: Leaving
Aria was not the type of woman to be nervous around men.
As much as she looked like one, she was not a damsel who had had no experience with love. On the contrary, Aria has had multiple romantic experiences throughout her life— experiences that were not limited to Human men. And yet, in front of Walden, Aria could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest.
She was not attracted to the middle aged man in any way. In fact, it was quite the opposite— she was afraid of him. He seemed docile and harmless, which was generally true if you only took into account his physical capabilities. He was even shorter than Aria, which made him a lot less intimidating considering she was close to the average height for most young women.
And even if Walden stood tall, with an imposing, broad shouldered figure and tree trunk sized arms, Aria would not have been afraid of him any more than she currently was. Because what she feared was not the man himself, rather it was the knowledge that he held.
Walden was the only person in Villamcreek to have traveled far outside the village, even studying in Rem’s Capital City of Remheart. The man only returned to Villamcreek a few years before Aria settled down in the village, and would have heard of Aria’s real identity in his time in the outside world.
Aria had a unique appearance which most Humans did not have. She had black hair and silver eyes— both of which were rare traits among Humans— who tended to have colorful hair and eyes. Coupled with the fact that she had not aged a single year in the last decade, it would not take a genius to realize her true identity if they knew of it.
Fortunately for her, most of the villagers were barely literate, and had little experience with modern technology that could have informed them of her true identity, or allowed them to inform the Church of her presence in Villamcreek. As such, she never bothered to disguise herself with magic— considering it would have taken a large ritual to even subtly alter one’s face.
Furthermore, the only man who could know who she was has never questioned her. So why should she have mastered magic she was not sure even existed, considering her identity was safe. That was what she thought until the night before.
Now, Aria was afraid. She feared that Walden figured her out, and used a message tool to contact either the Mercenaries guild or even the Holy Xan Empire. If he did that, it won’t be long before Inquisitors came for life, and Aria knew that if that happened, she could not protect her Melas forever. With that in mind, the mother and daughter decided together to leave Villamcreek for good.
They wanted to make a quiet getaway at night, whilst keeping up the illusion of normalcy during the day. But suddenly, Walden stopped her when she was in the village, and asked to speak with her in private. Did he figure out their plan to leave?
If he did, he would likely try to make some excuse to keep them here for as long as possible. Whatever it was, Aria knew she needed to respond delicately to ensure she did not get caught in a trap.
The two of them finally arrived at Walden’s house, and entered through the front door. They sat across from each other, at a small round table in the center of the room.
"Sorry for troubling you, Aria. I know you’re very busy, but I just needed to speak with you in private," said Walden, as he picked up a pot and poured himself a drink. "Would you like some tea?"
"I am fine, Walden. And no, it is no trouble at all. What would you like to speak about?" Aria inquired politely, gently refusing his offer out of fear of poison or any other concoctions he could have put in it. The young woman was certain regular poison would not have worked on her, but she just had to err on the side of caution.
"Very well, then." Walden took a sip from the cup for a moment, before continuing. "I was hoping to speak with you about your daughter."
"My daughter? Did something happen to Melas?" asked Aria, worry filling her voice.
"No, no. It is quite the opposite actually."
"The opposite?" Aria raised an eyebrow in response to his ambiguity. "Could you elaborate, please?"
"Yes. You see, Melas has shown herself to be an incredibly bright and diligent girl during my lessons. She learns quickly, and she always asks questions if she’s unsure of anything."
Walden paused for a moment to take a sip from the tea, before continuing.
"I have not seen a child as gifted as her in all my life. Not me when I was her age, and not Adrian, who’s shown to be quite intelligent as well. Even during my time in Remheart, I have never met a child like her. She is special."
Aria felt herself smiling upon hearing that. She knew that Melas was special. Of course, every mother believed that her child was special. But Melas was truly unique. There was no arguing against it.
It only took Melas an hour to learn how to use a mana crystal, an endeavor which would take most teenagers and young adults weeks or even months to do. Even Aria, who already knew how to manipulate mana from her magic, took a full day to understand how mana tools differed from spellcasting, before using one for
