Chapter 294: Descending towards the Grotto (1/2)

A gentle smile appeared on Aiden's tired face as he listened to his servant's reassuring words. He was glad that they didn't hate him for how the events had turned out. He was truly grateful.

”[Goblin] I...  I will prom-” Struggling to phrase a sentence he wanted to renew his promise to them, but was quickly silenced, as a set of pained groans reached their ears, coming from the side.

The so-far unconscious baggage they carried through the mysterious tower has finally woke up. With great difficulty the silver-haired prince pushed himself up from the ground, and sat down next to Aiden, leaning against the wall.

He grabbed his temple, rubbing it whilst he was deep in his own muffled grunts and growls, ignoring the audience completely.

”W-what happened…” He grunted after a while, his eyes still closed, as he kept massaging his own temples. ”My head… hurts…”

”*Sigh* … You are finally awake man… You know, if I would have known that you would just be a nuisance all the way through, I would have left you in your cell, to pick you up when we are done.” Aiden replied with a smirky tone.

”Wha… What do you mean? W-wait…” Still unsure of the last events that happened before he fainted, he wanted to rebuke, but the images slowly started to come back to him, he shut up. Opening his eyes, he looked at the creature in front of him. ”Y-you! Wait… what are you? You looked different…”

When he opened his eyes and noticed the familiar cold look of the giant figure in front of him, he almost snapped at him. However, after taking a second, careful look at him, he noticed there were significant differences from the last time. Whilst the general figure of the creature remained the same there were many not-so-subtle differences. For once, the already towering height he had seemed to have further increased, giving the creature a dominating presence. The bulging mass of muscles he carried also seemed to have further increased, threatening to burst from the leathery container that tried to hide them.

Not to mention, his eyes that were dark as the night, were now vaguely similar in shape and in color to Aiden's exotic, golden irises.

All in all, whilst he looked similar, Drake felt that something important must have happened for this giant to change so much.

He only now noticed that besides this giant, there were three other figures present besides him and Aiden. Whilst they were of similar height then himself and had human-like features and faces, the tone of their dark green skins, and the similar, golden-colored eyes were a dead giveaway that they were, in fact, something else.

Confused by the strange audience, he turned towards Aiden, whom he could at the very least recognize, even if he sported the same look as the newcomers.

”W-what happened? Who are these… ehrm, creatures?!” Not sure of how to refer to them, after a brief moment of pause, he went with the general term, creatures. He asked in a curious tone, careful not to offend them, as he could feel a faint pressure emanating from each of these beings.

Facing Drake's question, Aiden chuckled before responding. He slowly glanced over each and every one of his servants, a gentle, kind smile dominating his weary, tired expression as he spoke.

”They are my friends… family even. The beautiful lady over there is Galina, the boy next to him is called Gob, the elder to their left is Glohn, whilst this towering giant that actually carried you all the way is Roas. Please don't refer to them as 'creatures' it is quite offensive. They are like you and me… Well, mostly me, but you get the idea.” He responded, pointing to each of his servants as he spoke their names.

”Sorry I didn't mean to be rude… it's just a bit…” Drake hurriedly responded with an apologetic look on his face. Before he could finish though, Aiden intervened with yet another chuckle.

”Overwhelming? Hehe, I guess I can understand that.” His face turned serious in the next moment, as he gazed into Drake's eyes. ”Anyway… do you remember the last moments before you lost your consciousness?”

After a moment of hesitation, Drake sighed and nodded with a wry look.

”Yeah… Sorry about that… I…” He paused, taking a deep breath, and exhaled it, to calm his nerves. Then, he turned towards Roas, standing in front of him with a cold, indifferent look. With a bit of difficulty, Drake pushed himself up from the ground, and whilst still leaning at the wall to stabilize his still wobbly legs, he gave a slight bow.

”Roas, right? I'm not sure if you can understand our language, but if you do, then I hope you can forgive me for my unsightly behavior from before. I shouldn't have acted like that, I was just… too agitated, too nervous. I know this is no reason to behave like that, but I just want you to know that I am sorry.”