Becoming Legend

As soon as Prince Aesril's group stepped inside the Gate, a strong aura was sent to the Prince and Gelethorn. Even the humans, especially the Hunter, felt the sudden change in the surrounding. Even though Prince Aesril could not feel the chilling aura of the Limbo, his attachments to the three humans made him quiver. It was chilling and challenging at the same time. He joyed to the feeling of being in control. But what's more, was that the chill was only momentarily then a strong gust of warm air slapped them vigorously. The sun was overhead them, staring at them as if it had eyes of its own.

Prince Aesril did nothing but throw gazes at the humans. The seed of feeling superior and in control was slowly blooming inside him. Too much apprehension that he sent a thrill to the humans unconsciously.

"This place... " Gelethorn said, trailing off midway his words.

Prince Aesril did not wait for his friend to finish when he focused and extended his mana senses.

The blight could not do anything to him, unless he let his focus and control down, but touched the surface of his skin. His mana control was precise, honed with years of training. Yet, inside the Limbo, his mana senses could not even extend a kilometer away.

He frowned the moment his mana sense hit a stream with mana leaks that decayed almost a week already. As if not enough, he closed his eyes and forced to extend his senses.

And as if the Limbo had enough, his senses crumbled that sent pain to his core.

He bent to his knee and as soon as he does, he felt a strong grip of hand on his back.

"My Prince, are you okay?" Gelethorn asked, tapping his back.

"I'll be fine," he said, coughing, and feeling the joy of the three humans. He glared at them, sending pulses of his intent which threw the humans miserably.

Prince Aesril stood and focused once again and send waves of his mana to the surrounding. This time was worse than before. He felt nothing, sensed nothing, and saw nothing but the feeling that someone was watching him. Prince Aesril retracted his mana sense to a measly half kilometer and it was the lowest range he could feel safe.

He looked to his right, to where the stream was and gestured for them to move that direction.

***

Prince Aesril and Gelethorn followed the three humans as the lead. Or bait. He smiled at the thought of that. Them being a bait, he nodded.

"Prince," Gelethorn said, looking at the trees, then to Prince Aesril. "Why are you still keeping them?"

Prince Aesril could not answer directly his friend. He was worried that if he told him the truth that aside from his vengeance, he felt joy tormenting them. He did not want to accept it from the start. But killing the humans on the ship while thinking of Gelethorn, thinking of all the elves turned slaves. He felt joy burning them. As if he was meant to do the killings. Yes. He was meant for it. Pain struggling him. He was meant to be their savior, leave everything to him. The thought of tainting the elves' hands by killing the humans burdened him. He must be the one to do it. Gelethorn had enough. They had enough. The elves had enough. He was the Prince of Elves, and so he must be the one to do it. Yes. He must be. Prince Aesril nodded mentally, agreeing to himself. He deserved to be happy.

"I don't want to do it too," Prince Aesril said after a moment of long silence. "I hated what they did to you." His voice was determined trying to mask the joy he was feeling inside. Of the best perk the keen control of mana sense gave him was the ability to control his emotions. The ability to give a different aura as intended.

Gelethorn nodded, "I hated it too," and said. "I hated all them and you know that. But I put boundaries to it. Do only what is necessary."

Was making them slaves wasn't enough for him? Prince Aesril shook his head.

"I'll end them," Gelethorn said, his eyes laying flat on the three humans. "Here. Right now."

Prince Aesril stopped and looked at the honest wood-elf. "You will not," he said and tugged his friend's arm and slightly pushed him. "I'll dot it. Not now. Not until I deem them deserve to die."

Gelethorn, was, after all, made to serve the Prince of Elves. He did nothing but nod and walk side-by-side with the prince in a thick forest.

Snow fell and melted before they reached the mossy ground.

The three humans served as their scouts. Jack was the lead, instead of the Hunter and Prince Aesril wondered why? A human with no mana seemed to be much more capable than the other. And the captain was almost the same as the merchant. Upon deeper scrutinizing of the two, their life forces were far thicker than the hunter. They were much strong and had a bit of control over it. Unlike the hunter. Was it the luck of experience between the magic capable and the none-capable?

Prince Aesril's thoughts stopped as soon as he saw a thin thread of mana leaks scattered on the shores of the stream. He ran for it and plucked one on the ground.

"Gadsi was here," he said and the mana leak, in a thin ribbon form, dissolved on his fingers. Of the three humans, Edok was the only one who saw the thin mana.

"How long?" Gelethorn knelt beside the prince. Unlike the prince, he could barely sense mana leak so thin as a thread.

"A day or two," Prince Aesril replied, and looked up at the forces across the stream. Extending his mana sense did not reveal anyone in the forest. A scream however was so loud the three humans instantly readied themselves.

"More beasts." To the Prince's surprise, it was Jack who sensed them.

But the prince does not need his mana sense to determine the location of the scream. He stood, sent intent to the three humans to move towards the scream. A scream that becomes louder.

***

Six freybugs. Surrounding a lone figure in the middle of the forest. However, these freybugs were far from the usual they saw outside of the island. They were hounds wrapped in fiery flame, bones much sharper than the normal one, and their tails protruded of pointy bones, engulfed in a ball of fire. The balls were used as projectiles by one of the freybugs.

The lone survivor nimbly evaded the ball of fire and raised a hand and conjured shadows that pulled one of the freybug to the ground.

As they got closer, the freybugs looked much more horrifying. Hounds of thin legs with rotten flesh slithering off their bodies. Stinking flesh engulfed the air. Drooling of both saliva and dark rotting blood, the freybugs turned their eyes to the approaching group.

Freybugs weren't intelligent beasts. They moved only where their prey was. But not this kind of freybugs. One of them growled and four of them proceeded to race to their new prey.

Jack raised his blades and lunged to intercept four of them at the same time.

"Wait!" Captain Creft shouted and stopped as though he knew something what Jack was up to.

Prince Aesril arrived, boulders scattered in the forest. Trees as big as a normal human. He frowned as soon as he saw the slaughter in front of him.

Gelethorn brandished the blade he held and dashed toward the lone figure fighting the two rotten freybugs.

Jack, however, killed one of the freybug while half of his face was burned. The other arm fell out of existence while the other held a half-bent blade. He dashed forward. Slashed and dismembered a freybug's head and proceeded to deal with the rest.

Only he did not. Captain Creft threw the iron rod to the remaining freybug and a loud clunk reverberated on its head.

Edok rushed to hold Jack and help him to stand while Captain Creft dealt with the last remaining hound.

Dismembered limbs scattered on the ground, around the captain. He was once a formidable warrior. And he never thought he would still do the same.

No mere human can fight a freybug as big as him. No mana and no magic to exhaust. Yet, as Prince Aesril watched him fight the hound, it was becoming clear to him how.

Lifeforce.

Captain Creft coated the iron rod with his lifeforce that it became strong enough to deal with the fireballs the freybug was throwing at him. The fireballs dissolved as though they hit nothing but water.

The freybug's flaming eyes flickered in a look Prince Aesril thought was a surprise.

Has the human become so formidable that they could manipulate their own lifeforce even without them having any mana to guide it. Prince Aesril shook his head. Perhaps they were the ones who devolved. Trapped in a giant tree that they lost contact with the outside world.

Captain Creft smashed the head of the freybug so many times that Prince Aesril lost count. Rotten flesh spotted the ground black. Captain Creft wiped the blood on his arm and turned to glare at the prince before he proceeded to Jack.

Prince Aesril needed to know more. He needed to learn much about how the humans used lifeforce to aid their battles. All his elven life, he thought humans only won the Second Race war because they were taken by surprise and and aided by their technology. He raised an eyebrow to the merchant.

"I know what you're doing," Prince Aesril said as soon as he reached Jack lying on the ground. Edok knelt beside him holding Jack's arm.

"What now?" Jack said, gurgling blood. Smoke was still rising on half of his face. "Huh, elf? Going to let me die? I'd want that."

Prince Aesril hissed and conjured lifeforce on his hand. Then the dismembered arm was pushed by this green light and reattached itself to the shoulder.

"Just what I thought," Jack said as soon as the arm healed. Although half of his face did not. But this did not bother him at all.

Prince Aesril bent and pulled Jack by the collar. He was about to manipulate his lifeforce when a hand felt warm on his shoulder.

"That's enough, Prince."

Prince Aesril turned as soon as he let go of Jack. He already knew who the voice came from.

"Gadsi," he said even before he faced the dark-elf.