Elegy For An Epilogue

Cecillia’s head snapped to the forest line as she pushed the wolf’s corpse off her body, her eyes narrowing as she crept to her dagger. Blackie stood in front of her, growling at the undergrowth as to issue a warning. The massive Twin-Tailed Wolf moved closer to Cecillia as a black aura surrounded its claws.

Seconds that seemed to be longer than seconds passed before a sudden rustling was heard. A figure stepped out of the shadows, hood covering their head and obscuring their face. Though Cecillia still noted his short stature and lean build.

The unknown person stepped closer onto the bank and seemingly stared at Cecillia whilst completely ignoring Blackie. Although, there was an air of caution surrounding his being.

[Hunter]

The results showing from her identification skill barely gave her any useful information, but along the bow strapped across the figure’s back, it was already obvious that the Hunter had saved her. The question was, why?

“Who are y—”

“Laen! How many times do I have to tell you to not go off by yourself.” The figure spoke but was quickly interrupted by a barking voice as another figure stepped out from the shadows.

[Hunter]

Blackie snarled and was about to step forward, but a wave of Cecillia’s hand caused the wolf to stand down. Blackie released a dissatisfied snort before crouching down into a position that would allow it to always be ready to react.

This time though, the newcomer didn’t wear a hood and Cecillia was clearly able to see that it was a tall man. The person looked just like a human over forty and had large broad shoulders, a gaunt face with thick gray hair, and cold green eyes. The bow strapped to his back was fashioned with a sleek wooden veneer and his attire was quite impressive as well. Armor that looked like a mixture between hard leather and metal protected his torso while a tattered green cloak finished off the look.

Clearly, they seemed to be affiliated with each other and were on friendly terms. As for the first figure, from the tone of their voice, Cecillia already deduced that it belonged to either a female, or an adolescent male. The language they spoke sounded odd and foreign, but she could clearly understand the words flowing into her ears as if they were english. Which meant that her Elysian Language skill was taking effect.

“Dad, she would have died.” The previous figure’s voice came out calmly, it was as if the notion of death was something common. The broad-shouldered man glanced at the wolf before his gaze landed on Cecillia. His eyes lingered on her frame as his brows furrowed and his lips turned into a frown.

‘So they’re family then,’ Cecillia thought, matching the man’s gaze as his frown deepened. For now, she wouldn’t make any sudden movements. The urge to speak was there, but she knew that if any sudden questions were thrown her way, she’d be under immediate suspicion.

“Doesn’t matter. She might be a threat to us, you had no reason to save her,” the man said, each word spat out in a harsh tone. “We aren’t in safe territory, this land is home to criminals. Do you not remember how many bandits we had to kill?”

Cecillia’s eyes turned hard as she heard the man. She knew he was right though, if she had been in their position then she would’ve done the same.

“...She’s different,” the former said bluntly.

The man scowled as his gaze swept across the stream. Blood pooled and seeped into the stream turning the color a murky crimson while the air was filled with the stench of decay. The corpses of the wolves depicted a painting of slaughter.

“Different doesn’t mean any better,” he said. “That girl looks barely older than you and she and that monster was able to kill fifteen of those wolves on her own.”

‘Technically, I’m twenty-seven but okay.’

“Fourteen, she killed fourteen.” the other corrected. “And so what, I could’ve done that too. These monsters are only le—”

“Laen.” The man’s voice was sharp and it was enough for the former to immediately quiet down.

“You already saw that she’s a mage—” he said, drawing his bow.“Yet where are the signs of magic?”

Cecillia frowned seeing the movement. She clenched her dagger tightly, but she could already feel the fatigue after the fight coming in. And if what the kid said was true—that he would easily be able to defeat the wolves—she was in deep trouble.

Slightly opening her mouth, she figured it would be best to speak up to avoid the worst of circumstances. However, she was interrupted as the kid stepped in front of the father with out-stretched arms.

“Dad, stop. She hasn’t done anything yet,” the kid insisted, glancing behind his back towards Cecillia. “I think we can trust her too. Maybe she knows something about the thing that happened a few days ago.”

The man’s scowl turned down even deeper, even further than Cecillia thought possible. He lowered his bow and placed a hand on the kid’s head.

“I thought your mother taught you better,” the man said, “If you really do trust that girl, then take off your hood.”

The kid froze for a solid second before their hands reached up towards their head and tugged the hood back. Long, golden hair messily flowed out from the darkness and a set of emerald eyes adorned a pale face. It was hard to tell for sure, but Cecillia judged that it was a boy about the age of fifteen—just four years under the body she was currently occupying.

‘So this is Laen,’ Cecillia thought as she inspected the boy.

His build was lanky, and from a first glance she wouldn’t have thought that he would’ve been the one to save her. But the arrow sticking out of the wolf’s head told otherwise as a shudder ran down her spine. Throughout the entire fight, she had not noticed the boy until the arrow had left its wielder. Certainly, it would be fatal to underestimate the two people.

The boy stared at Cecillia blankly before taking a step forward. “Where are you from?”

Blackie growled lightly, but again Cecillia silenced the wolf. She wasn’t too sure on how it worked, but she could taste the words of the new language on her tongue. The words left her lips slowly and she was able to deliver the best answer she could, although at this point, she didn’t understand whether she was still thinking in english or not.

“...I’m not really sure,” Cecillia said simply.

The father’s eyes narrowing didn’t go unnoticed by Cecillia and she held both hands up into a placating gesture. It was the worst question she could be asked, and she was already placed in suspicion. Sure she had the information from the system earlier, but if they were from that town then her sinking ship would become a wreck.

Laen’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean? How are—”

“Are you alone?” The man again interrupted, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Someone as young as you shouldn’t be here in a place like this.”

The irony of the statement caused Cecillia to stare at the boy, her eyes narrowed as she looked at the man. Wasn’t it irresponsible on his part to bring the boy to this forest, especially if it was your own child? These kinds of thoughts plagued her mind, but she didn’t voice her internal concerns.

“I’m here alone,” Cecillia replied but her words slowed as Blackie’s image entered her vision. “...Maybe not completely.”

The man raised a brow and signaled to the boy as Cecillia’s gaze followed. The boy’s expression became stiff and his eyes looked subdued and apologetic as he looked her way. By this time, Cecillia felt a strange, eeriness traveling down her spine. Her eyes scanned the clearing for an escape route, but there was nowhere she could go. Their arrows would reach her before she would be able to even move a muscle.

“Girl, from what I can see you’re a mage and a tamer. Both of which are the most dangerous of people, that is—if trained.” The father paused, and his eyes turned cold with a piercing danger. “You, a girl no older than twenty, with the ability to slay an entire pack of these wolves and not a trace of mana. Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you where you stand.”

Cecillia’s face hardened as her jaw clenched. She let out a shallow breath as the man reached behind his back and pulled out a feathered arrow, nocking it into his bow as the arrow-head gleamed perilously. The look in his eyes was unmistakable, it contained a resolve forged from countless years of battle. She knew from the days she got up in the morning and looked in the mirror, that he would not hesitate for even a single second to kill her.

“I’ll give you a set of questions to answer, and if you value your life, you shouldn’t dare think to lie.”

Her back turned frigid and drops of perspiration were starting to appear on her forehead. Blackie had already noticed the man’s change in demeanor and was snarling at the man. Though, all he did was give Cecillia a glance, the meaning clear in his eyes.

“Blackie down, we’re not going to fight,” she whispered.

The wolf looked up at her, big eyes asking for approval before finally complying. Cecillia sighed in relief, if the wolf had not listened so easily, things would become quite a bit more complicated than they already were. Now for the tough part, just how should she respond to the man?

“Girl, what is your name and age?”

“Cecillia, nineteen,” she replied.

The man slowly brought down his weapon, but she knew that she wasn’t yet in the clear.

“What lineage do you belong to, and where from do you hail?”

“I don’t know what a lineage is,” Cecillia said carefully, “And I don’t hail from anywhere.”

Cecillia watched as the man’s lips pursed, eye-brows slanting down in dissatisfaction.

“A lineage is the family you belong to, on your system screen it should be a surname,” he explained grimly.

Cecillia gave a hesitant nod as she started to think. Her lineage as listed on her system menu was ‘Black,’ or was her father’s last surname. Yet calculating the risks of revealing such information was difficult, and even more in the realm of impossible. She didn’t know if they would be able to identify that she was a person from a different planet, or if there was another ‘Black’ family out there that she would technically have ties to. But alas, in this situation, what choice did she really have.

“Then my lineage would be ‘Black,’ but I do not have any family that I know of,” she replied.

“That is a very strange name,” he said sharply. “Then I will assume that you were left in the woods as a child. A cruel fate indeed.”

The man continued whilst keeping his eye trained on her the entire time without a single blink. “Then as you are showing as a mage, what classes and jobs do you possess, and what is your level?”

Cecillia frowned, and the skin of her face went taut. She didn’t want to reveal her system information at all costs, just the thought of someone else knowing her entire strengths felt like a taboo. But as her gaze lingered on the man’s bow, his fingers were ready to pierce her heart at any moment—she reluctantly pulled up her status menu.

[Congratulations! You’ve leveled up. You are now level 3!]

[Congratulations! You’ve leveled up twice. You are now level 5!]

[Updated Available Stat Points: 30]

‘I’ll deal with that later,’ she thought as she scanned past.

Name: Cecillia Black

Class I: Cryomancer

Class II: Locked

Jobs: Cook, Tamer

Level: 5

Status:

Afflictions: Mana Corruption, Divine Seal (XX)

Health: 63/130

Mana: -/-

Stamina: 24/100

Attributes:

Available Stat-Points: 30

Strength: 10

Constitution: 13

Endurance: 10

Agility: 37

Wisdom: 18

Intelligence: 22

Soul: 0

Skills: [Collapsed]

“I have one class called Cryomancer, and I have two jobs, Cook, and Tamer. My level after the fight just became five.”

Two reactions were seen. The boy, Laen’s eyes went huge while the father’s face turned dark with a shadow as he shook his head.

“That’s impossible!” The boy exclaimed, but bit back his next sentence when his father shot him a glare.

“It isn’t out of the question. There certainly is a very low chance that she was able to kill this pack of wolves at such a low level,” the man said, and the space before his eyes started to glow with the green shape of a reticle. “But those scenarios are very rare indeed, there likely is a much higher chance that you are lying.”

Cecillia’s blood froze as she heard the man’s words. She hadn’t been lying at all, nothing she said wasn’t truthful.

“I promise you, I didn’t lie,” she said, taking a half step backward. Blackie instinctively leapt to move in front of her but it was seemingly too late.

“Sorry,” the man admitted. “It was a shame that you had to meet someone like me.”

A moment later, the green light ignited and the bow string was already pulled. A golden beam of light shot forth, and Cecillia could already feel her impending death.

“Farewell, young lady.”