Chapter 366: This One is Called... (2/2)

”What for?” Arthur asked with interest. The concept of spirits interested him greatly, as it allowed ordinary people to have abilities. However, he never heard of such a thing back in the Yalveran Union.

”I need to defend my village from the calamity,” The man said with a resolute face, even though his features were vague. Arthur nodded in response, admiring the man a bit. ”Are you here for the same?”

”I'm here for something else, but I'm also doing it for someone I care about,” Arthur said without revealing anything more. ”Do you know the way to the stairway?”

”What way is there but forward?” The man shook his head as if Arthur was asking the wrong question. ”As long as there is a way, there is a will.”

”It should be the opposite, but to each their own, I guess.” Arthur shrugged as he began walking forward. ”Forward we shall go.”

He indeed had no other direction to choose, and the man began following him as well. They passed the willow trees and kept walking until the trees turned orange like a flame.

There was not a single spirit around in the plains. Suddenly the sky turned dark despite being sunny a moment ago. Arthur looked up and felt that this was not night but a constructed mechanism by the spirits to feel the passage of time.

”We need fire.” The ancient man said, and Arthur looked at him in a speechless manner.

”We literally have no physical bodies. We can keep walking.”

”The gods are wrathful at nights,” The man said. ”That's why spirits never contract when they are sleeping.”

”Wrathful at what?” Arthur sighed. ”Are you sure that spirits won't contract at night?” He asked, to which the man nodded. ”Fine, we will wait here until there's light again.”

The two sat beneath a large flame willow tree, which the moonlight lit up. They didn't say anything and simply waited. The man was talkative if Arthur initiated a conversation but was otherwise silent.

Arthur preferred quietness over any form of communication. He wasn't interested in the man's background because of the issue he had on his plate.

Killing Gala.

Even though he tried to treat it as a quest unrelated to him, a debt he needed to pay, and a contract to fulfill, he miscalculated something crucial.

He never thought he would grow attached to the witch.

When he first met Gala, she was just a way to learn how to save Rae from her curse. Now, however, she mattered to him a lot more than Rae did.

Rae was someone Arthur met and fought a lot, but she was more of a responsibility than a friend. She ended this way because of him, so he wanted to help her out of guilt.

As for Gala, she was someone who helped him and stayed by his side in this world. He wasn't ready to be the one ending her journey in life.

But he had to.

”When I was a youth,” The man beside him began speaking. ”A giant meteor struck my village and killed everyone in it, including my family. I survived because I was in another village, stealing food.”

Arthur didn't say anything, and it didn't seem the man was specifically talking to him. It felt as if the man was talking to himself.

”I became a man,” He said. ”And I sought out the wisest man in the kingdom. I asked him for the reason the meteor struck our village. Did we sin in some way that the gods felt our punishment was appropriate? Maybe it was a twisted series of coincidences that led to their death.”

”And what did he say?” Arthur entertained the man.

”His answer wasn't complicated, but a single word.” The man turned to him. ”The sage said it was gravity.”

Arthur stared at the man, who he couldn't see his features. There was no hint of joking.

”He explained that all things attract each other and that our planet attracted a small rock from the sky. Gravity killed everyone I knew.”

”And are you here to get back at it?” Arthur asked, squinting his eyes.

”No,” The man stood up as the light began returning to the sky. ”I'm here to find a spirit that lets me control it. I won't allow gravity to kill the people I now hold dear.”

Arthur stared at the man silently. He never asked to hear his story, but maybe the man was also on a quest of his own and needed someone to tell.

”Wait,” Arthur frowned. ”What's your name?” He stood up from his spot after the man. The latter turned to him with puzzlement.

”My name?” The man looked hesitant but seemed to deem Arthur trustworthy enough to tell him. ”This one is called Li.”