The Unbidden: A New World (1) (Short Parts)

Part 39

She really knew how to play any guy's emotions well. I felt blood rush to my face, but out of embarrassment. If Thea were a normal woman, She would have every man in the world wrapped around Her fingers without any trouble at all. As I pulled away, a significant part of me told me not to let go. I stood up and took a deep breath before turning back toward Her.

"Then let us take down this evil God!" I said boisterously.

I could have sworn I saw sadness spread across Her face for a split second.

"Shall we not notify our fellow party member?"

Oh, I thought.

I had forgotten about Jayde for a while. It wasn't by fault of my own though. That's what I told myself.

"Indeed. I'll go find her. Do you think Khral has left that cave?" I asked heading toward the door.

"Yes. I do not think he plans on coming after me immediately. 'Tis probable that he will head toward the most powerful people on the verge of becoming Gods and devour their essence to strengthen himself. I think 'Tis also very likely his servants will hunt you down and try to capture me."

"This should be a piece of cake then," I joked, exiting the room.

I made my way to the training hall. I used Aurias to expedite the process and found Jayde quickly. She was sparring with Rougr. I called out to her, and when she turned to look in my direction, Rougr smashed the butt of his sword against her face sending her sprawling onto her back.

"Looking away from your opponent is the surest way to meet Death, Jayde!" his voice boomed.

She clambered back onto her feet, covering her nose. Blood poured out of it at a rapid pace.

"I'm sorry, Master. It won't happen again. Will you give me a moment?" she asked, tilting her head backward.

"Very well, but don't keep me waiting, or the training will be extra difficult," he laughed.

Jayde came over to me quickly, blood running over her lips and falling off her chin.

"Hey, where were you these past three days?" she asked in a nasally voice.

"I was forced to take care of something. Listen, we have an important task that needs to be taken care of. Do you want to join us? We'll likely be leaving the city for a long time."

She glanced back to Rougr for a second before returning her gaze to me.

"Yes, that's not even a question at this point, I'd think," she chuckled.

"I guess you got a point," I said, scratching the back of my head.

Jayde lifted a finger with her other hand and told me to wait a bit. She went back over to where Rougr was and talked to him for a few minutes. She returned with her sword and flashed me a bloody smile.

"I'm ready to leave whenever you are," she stated, sheathing her sword.

As we left, I glanced back to Rougr, who nodded in my direction.

Not sure what that means, I thought.

We mounted Aurias and headed back to the inn. When we arrived, we walked up to the room. Thea greeted us upon entering.

"So, where are we headed to?" Jayde asked, grabbing a cloth, wetting it with water and washing the blood off her face.

"I think our first course should be toward the Northeast where that one merchant said there were mages raising armies," I stated as I sat on my bed.

"'Twould be a good start. Alternatively, my network has told me of a few different areas. In the South there are tales of a tribe of dragons attacking the lands. To the Southwest, there are tales of otherworldly creatures that have made residence outside a major city. Any parties sent to explore have never returned," Thea chimed in.

"At any rate, we should decide where to go over the next couple of weeks. Killing creatures grants the slayer the magical and martial essence of said creature. 'Tis how all creatures gain power. The other method is to be born into the world by a powerful being, or beings," She continued.

"What do you mean by magical and martial essence?" Jayde queried.

Jayde had been with us for a while, but she hadn't really been given much information on Thea or how some of the wilder things worked.

"Every creature in this world holds an amount of magical or martial essence, sometimes both. Magical essence is the magical energy contained inside an individual creature, and amounts to the power level of the spells it can cast, as well as its magical aptitude with other schools of magic."

Jayde already looked like her mind was spinning. This was brand new information to me, too.

"Martial essence is the skill, training, and raw power a creature has. Humans are primarily a race without an aptitude for either magical or martial essence. As such, 'Tis rare to find a human with the ability to cast magic or possess an extreme amount of skills and abilities."

"What about the other races?" I asked.

She thought about it for a moment.

"Elves primarily have an aptitude with magical essence, but most of their race can't cast vast amounts of magic. Should say, a human kill an elf whom could cast even simple spells, that human would then be able to cast spells on the same level as well."

I furrowed my brows some.

"However, should the human, or any creature, have the same or higher amount of essence, they would be able to cast more powerful spells."

So that's what She meant back then, I thought.

Jayde looked at us, mind blown.

"How do you know this?" she asked.

Thea looked to me for confirmation, to which I nodded.

"I am the God of the Caedic faith. The true God," Thea stated plainly.