Liam watched the empty space in front of him where three of his travel companions had been standing just a few seconds ago. Now they had vanished without a trace.
"So I guess this is also a thing in this forest?" Liam frowned. He had reacted as fast as he could but that was only enough to take care of him. He did not have the time to pull Lunaria and Elira out.
But Liam was not worried. They had been staying here for many months now and the two of them knew how to handle themselves in the forest and keep their heads down. There was also Eldrin with them.
Besides, right now he was in no position to worry about others.
The moment the fluctuations from the mana storm vanished, Liam could already feel several auras approaching him from all directions.
It looked like the mana storm had caught the interest of quite a few beasts. Their auras were also faint which told him that these were rather dangerous beasts since the beast most probably knew how to hide the aura. He was not naive to think that there would be such weak beasts in this thick of the forest.
However, Liam did not plan on moving. While Eldrin's motive was for him to obtain the blessing of the guardian, he himself had other motives.
He wanted to train in this forbidden forest. For months he had been sharpening himself and now it was time to test the results of his hard work. The time for him to go back home was also here.
And when he did, he would have to undoubtedly face Crawford. These beasts in the forest would be a good stepping stone for him before he faced that old monster.
Of course, if something truly powerful stepped out, he already had his escape route in place.
With all the preparations complete, Liam unsheathed his sword and waited for the beasts to reach him. The auras came closer and closer and finally, a few figures emerged out of the dense foliage.
But unlike Liam expected, these were not beasts. Standing in front of him were a dozen beings that looked like elves except their skin was pale blue in color and their eyes glowed a mystical silver.
Liam did not even have to guess who they were as a palpable cold and frosty aura emanated from the group which they did not bother hiding.
They were seated atop magnificent white tigers, each with silver horns that seemed to shimmer in the fading light.
The elf in the lead, presumably their leader given the more elaborate markings on his armor, and the bigger tiger, regarded Liam with a stern expression. "You are a human, far from your kind's world. What are you doing in this part of the Forbidden Forest? State your purpose!"
Before the elf could finish his words, another set of fluctuations erupted in the distance and the next second, a new group of dark-skinned elves emerged from the woodwork, seated atop black panther-like beasts, except these beasts had many tails.
"Rastakhan, I knew it. You were colluding with evil forces!" An elf stepped forward, this one possessing a dark black skin.
"Funny, you should say that, Zylith," Rastakhan, the leader of the Frost Elves, retorted. "Because it's the first time I've seen this human, and you show up just moments after him. Suspicious, don't you think?" Zylith looked at Liam with piercing golden eyes and then went back to Rastakhan. "I don't care for humans. My concern is you, Rastakhan, being this deep in the forest. You seem to be in violation of the treaty."
"Cut the crap, my friend. Aren't you here as well? Which means you have also violated the treaty."
"Hmph. It doesn't matter what tricks you use. This time our youngest prince will be the one to clinch the guardian's blessing."
The frost elf snorted coldly at this remark. "Our princess will be the chosen one."
Liam's face turned cold seeing the two groups of elves argue with each other, completely ignoring him. However, he knew that things were not so simple.
Even though they were staring daggers at one another, and their behavior was one of hostility, he doubted that the two would actually fight each other.
It was clear that their enmity was not to that extent or perhaps they had the intention of forming allies with each other. Otherwise, they wouldn't be wasting time with just words.
This was bad news for him as he was hoping that the two would fight with each other and ignore him. But it was clear to him that the chances of that scenario happening now was pretty slim.
They were also casually chatting without considering him any threat which could mean that they had a bigger backup somewhere nearby or that they simply did not consider him to be a threat.
Liam's mind spun fast, thinking of the various possible scenarios. He did not want to wait around to find out what the reason was. He needed to act now. There were two paths ahead of him and he would choose the one that presented itself before him. While the two were distracted, he silently entered stealth mode.
But the next instant, a loud snort sounded as an icicle brushed past him, only narrowly missing his shoulder as he moved away at the last second.
"Necromancer. Do not move. I haven't allowed you to move, yet!" A commanding voice sounded from behind and it did not come from the leader. Another elf jumped out of the group, the paws of the tiger he was riding gliding noiselessly on the forest floor. This one had an air of authority that even Rastakhan and Zylith seemed to lack. His eyes were as cold as death, proud and impenetrable.
"Your tricks will not work on me. You are not strong enough to defy me. So when I tell you to stay down, that is an order you must obey."
The next moment a heavy frigid aura erupted from the frost elf spreading in all directions, silencing everyone present there.