Eternal Freedom - 7 ENCOUNTER WITH A DRUID

Param was sweating bullets. They had been surrounded by some elf like people. All of them had the signature long ears and attractive faces. Even the ugliest of them could work as a model.

The leader of the team seemed like a beautiful woman. Param was embarrassed when she stared at him. He wasn’t shy, it was because of his strainer like robe. A few dozen days had made multiple holes in it.

He didn’t feel weird when he was with Madhu, but it was different now. What irritated him was that he wore no undergarments under his robe- he was totally commando underneath.

The soldiers who surrounded the two people were tensed. Claire could feel it. No one who could stay alive in the forest be someone ordinary. It was wise to be polite now.

“Hold your weapons !” she shouted at her soldiers. “My apologies. I am Claire, the chief of the Fairy colony in the Gateway Island.”

She walked towards the two.

The white man seemed surprised.

“So you are all fairies ?” he asked.

Now it was Claire’s turn to be surprised. The white man didn’t know basic things regarding races. She was curious about their origin.

“No sir. I am an Oni, while these soldiers are Elfs.”

How could he not know such things when his companion was a Fairy ?

“I am Param, and this is Madhu” Param replied the chief named Claire while pointing his thumb at Madhu.

“Are you not a part of the Fairy royal family ?” Claire asked Madhu.

“Uh-huh” she denied shaking her head. “I’ve lost my memories and Param has been taking care of me.”

“Oh…” Claire was astonished. Every Fairy was a rare being even in the Fairy Continent. And here she was seeing a Fairy with amnesia.

Param was watching her reaction. He was afraid they might have some ulterior motives and might kill or kidnap them. Fortunately they weren’t hostile. Moreover according to her Madhu was possibly a Fairy.

She invited them to their colony and they both obliged. They talked about a few things and Claire tactfully avoided asking them about their origins. Param was grateful because it would’ve been difficult to explain that he was the son of a rock.

Along the way they talked about many things, and Param finally had some understanding about this world.

This world had many races and many continents. There were Races like Dragons, Druids, Fairies, Devils, Giants, Beastmen and Humans. What was more interesting that there were even variants of these species! That was a great deal to remember.

Claire was very thorough in explaining.

“Fairies are the topmost species of the Fairy Race with the thickest bloodline of the Fairy Progenitor. Oni were formed when the bloodline thinned. As the bloodlines and their innate magical talent deteriorated, various creatures were formed. First Elfs, then Dwarfs and finally the nasty Goblins.”

Param’s face was flushed. Truly a fantasy world. They even found a reason to insert fantasy species !

“Do all look the same ?” Madhu asked abruptly.

“No” Claire replied shaking her head. “The Goblins are short and look somewhat like kids while the Dwarfs,Elfs and Oni look like humans. The Oni is the only species which has small horns over their forehead.”

There were a few weak beasts who attacked their march and were killed by the escorting soldiers. Param was hoping for some display of magic, but unfortunately all he saw was the usual slashing and hacking.

“Can you do magic ?” he asked the Chief seriously.

When they stayed in the forest they only hunted small beasts (yes, those were small beasts) so he never saw any beast attack using magic. Although the existence of some humongous creatures was also some kind of magic, Param wanted to see some classical ones, perhaps a fire ball or an ice spear !

Claire was somewhat shocked by his question. He was leaking Profound Energy and yet he didn’t know about magic ! She thought for a moment that he was joking with her but seeing his dead serious face she knew he knew nothing about magic.

“Let’s rest first. I need to inform my superiors and then we can discuss more about this.”

“Sure”

They saw dozens of camps of the fairies and relaxed. They had arrived at the Fairy colony.

***

Yun Bao was one of the Druid Elders who’d come with the Fairy people.

The Druids were a female-only race, and were more passive to worldly affairs then the other races.

Perhaps to fill in the gap, the Druids had schemes more extensive than the Dragons.

The schemes found among the Dragons were simple yet brutal; while those of Druids were as complex as a spider’s web.

She was more than a century old, yet still looked like a young woman. She heard the arrival of the troop and came out of her luxurious tent. Her other companions weren’t as friendly as she so they won’t come out of their tents unless it was of prime importance.

The small troop came into her line of sight. They had various games with them. Beasts which were rare in their own worlds were cannon fodder in this continent. It was a pity they couldn’t move more soldiers. All continents of the world were filled with diverse vicious beasts who’d attack any civilization without any warning.

What caught her interest were two people walking beside Captain Claire- a White creature and a Fairy.

The fairy had old fashioned tattered clothing, and the white male creature was even more ridiculous- his robe had as many holes as stars on a starry night.

Claire changed her expression to formal when she arrived near Yun Bao. She was always like a trained soldier, constantly following hierarchy.

“We met them in the forest. He is Sir Param and she is Madam Madhu” Claire introduced them immediately.

Yun Bao nodded and said: “I am Yun Bao of the Druid Shrine, and an Elder of the Great Leaf Sect.”

She looked at the blank faces of the two. She’d purposely revealed her origin to find any reaction from the two.

The Druid Shrine was like the royal palaces of the other races. Being the first race of the world and to be only born asexually from trees, they had institutes known as “Sects”. These sects would adopt young Druids when they were born and would live under a master who would be like a mother to them.

The Druid Shrine was where the Druid Mother, the mother of all Druids lived. She was a spiritual leader of all Druids, and could influence the race in many ways.

Anyone who’d know that she was from the Druid Shrine would be shocked and nervous, even if they were someone from the Fairy royal family. Yet these two were completely calm and just nodding their heads as if saying: No big deal !

They clearly knew nothing about the world.

“Where are you from ?” She asked directly. These two people were just too different.

Claire was not surprised at her to-the-point question. She’d brought them here mainly because of their constitution. She’d achieved her goal.

***

“Where are you from ?”

Param looked at the person in front of him. Fair skin with well proportionate body, she didn’t look any different from the elfs except for the crown on her head. The crown had a tree like texture.

She was wearing a loose dress, something right out of a wuxia movie. He felt a pinch over his arm and softly yelped. When he looked he saw Madhu with narrowed eyes.

Ignoring her, he coughed a little and turned to the speaker.

This was a trial for survival.

“We do not know where we came from. A huge wild boar called himself Sovereign andtold us that he might need some people to do something for him, so he brought us here. I do not remember anything before it.”

Claire was confused while Yun Bao was stunned. Being a disciple of a major figure in the Shrine, she had access to many records.

Many such records were about a Divine Wild Boar called as Varaha, one of the Three Sovereign of the two Continents. Could it be him ?

“Did it tell you his name ?” she asked in anticipation.

Param snickered in his mind. Although he was not a person who schemed, sometimes desperate times called for desperate measures.

“He called himself….” Param acted as if recalling something very hard and built up suspense.

Yun Bao was becoming anxious and Madhu was wondering what he was trying to do. Of course she understood he was lying to help them. After all, they were in an unfamiliar place surrounded by unknown people. Although these people looked like herself, they were still strangers.

“…Varaha”

Param finally revealed the murderer….no, he revealed the name of the boar, and saw the smiling face of the druid.

Yun Bao seemed to have figured it out. These people most likely were forced to become underlings of the Divine Sovereign. They might be able to become allies of the Divine Beast if they favored these two.

Of course, she didn’t completely believe him. After all, the Fairy can be an illegitimate child of a royal family member and the white guy might be some sort of experimental subject of the Dragons.

Besides this, what was surprising was the Profound Energy Pressure released by the man named Param. It was enough to intimidate anyone, even the rulers of the all Continents.

This was enough reason to befriend them.