The Heritor of Illipia

Chapter 2

Not sure why but I keep having the urge to binge write except I can't. My ideas won't appear fast enough.
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He wasn't asleep so he sensed the presence before anyone else did. It wasn't too close but (y/n) still felt like he was being watched and didn't appreciate such. What bothered him the most was the familiarity of such a presence. He didn't specifically recognize it but it reminded him of something he didn't like. He was probably the only one awake despite it almost being daylight and time for the team to be heading off again.

(Y/n) carefully lifted himself off of the ground not making a sound as he moved. If he was being watched, his enemy knew that he was on the move and would likely attempt to flee or hide their presence. Just as he predicted, the source of the presence shifted and immediately (y/n) was on the move springing from the ground with his insane speed.

Already he'd gotten to a treetop to get a better look of his surroundings or spot whatever was bothering him. He saw nothing but his senses were starting to heighten and he picked up a scent. He could feel the slight breeze that allowed him to easily keep track of the new smell he'd caught a whiff of. His eyes adjusted well and he saw the soul of his target as his Zhu given abilities took full affect.

His prey must have noticed this or at least felt threatened. Before they could get too far, (y/n) lept from the tree and went after them. They were fast but he was faster, much faster. As he caught sight of the nuisance, he narrowed his eyes in disdain. It was clearly a demon but not the ordinary type. This one had some level of authority and was likely just gathering information. "You aren't making it out of this one," (y/n) muttered although he had no intention to let the demon hear him.

Within a few more moments, (y/n) had gotten the opprotunity to attack and didn't hesitate to tackle the demon to the ground. The poor guy let out a yelp of fright and maybe even pain as (y/n)'s claws sunk into his back. (Y/n) may have also accidentally let out a growl of intimidation but it was all unintentional. His goal was simply to stop the demon from escaping but his instincts of the fox sort of kicked in.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Let me go! Please let me go!" the captured demon yelped but (y/n) did no such thing. A slight look of surprise adorned his face but he didn't losen his grip as he pinned the demon to the ground. He seemed to be a middle aged child but (y/n) had learned from Lu that looks had nothing to do with age when it came to this species. "You answer my questions and maybe I won't kill you," he said ignoring the demon's continuous pleas to be set free.

"I'm not your enemy. I don't want to be your enemy," the demon whimpered but (y/n) wasn't falling for such deception. "Who are you and why are watching my team?" (y/n) inquired. "I wasn't. I promise I wasn't," the demon whimpered. (Y/n) sighed in aggitation and pressed the demon's face to the ground. "Avoid my question again and I'll end you without another word," he threatned although he didn't think he'd go through with it.

"Ykuei...my name is Ykuei so please let me go," the demon whimpered and were those tears? (Y/n) tilted his head at the sight of the demon seeming to cry. "Why should I let you go. You we probably about to report to your superiors before I caught you," (y/n) said, curious in what Ykuei had to say. "I was running from them. They need me for the revival and I escaped. Please, you don't understand. I can't go back but I don't want to die either!" Ykuei quickly stated.

It didn't seem like Ykuei was lying but it also didn't seem like he was telling the truth either. "What? You aren't making any sense," (y/n) said but Ykuei didn't say anything more and began to really cry. "Let him go. He tells the truth. I sense no underlying intentions from this child," Illipia's now familiar voice said. Even though Illipia instructed him to, (y/n) did not move. "Child you say. So he really is just a kid then," he muttered not knowing if Illipa could read his thoughts as Zhu once did.

"Yes. My guess is that he's a little over a hundred years old but given his heritage, he is but a mere child. He is an elf demon hybrid. A rather rare and valuable resource. Although he doesn't have much value as a living being, he emits a powerful aura and is capable of producing a pure form of mana that can be used for many purposes whether good or evil, now release him," Illipia explained. (Y/n) let him go and backed away from him but kept his eyes on Ykuei as his crying died out.

"You said he doesn't have much value as a living being. Is that by your standards because it sounds a bit too cruel coming from you," (y/n) said already used to Illipia's voice since he'd been talking to Zhu in a similar way for a while already. His people find him to be useless, a waste of life. I only know this because that is what his essence is telling me. I myself would never say such a thing about any living thing," Illipia said as (y/n) watched Ykuei.

He backed himself to a tree and started crying again. It was rather annoying but not intolerable. "You didn't run," (y/n) stated keeping his gaze on Ykuei who realized this fact too late. "Tell me...why were you keeping an eye on me? You said you weren't watching my team and it seems you weren't lying so what were you doing?" (y/n) questioned. Ykuei sniffled a bit before answering.

"Help...seeking help. You have a similar mana output to her...Commander Zhen. She helped free me...you seemed similar to her and just as scary too," he quietly said. Now (y/n) was no idiot. He knew immediately who Ykuei was referring to and stared at the so called child in slight disbelief. "You know my mother?" he ventured. Ykuei tilted his head and stared at (y/n) as if he'd said something bizarre.

"Mother? Is Commander Zhen your mother?" he questioned. "I'm not really sure...it sounds like it. How do you know her? Where is she?" (y/n) said. For a moment he briefly thought about leaving right then and there and have Ykuei lead him to her but he quickly got rid of the thought. He couldn't leave the search party behind for his own interests. That counted as a betrayal and he hated betrayals.

"I'm sorry but I can't go back there. I've gotten hurt too many times and no amount of begging will convince me otherwise," Ykuei said trying to put a measure of authority in his voice but failing. (Y/n) raised an eyebrow at his words though. "You shouldn't get too close to them like that. You could have been killed. Now go before I change my mind. Don't make me regret letting you go free," (y/n) said getting an idea.

"Don't you want to find your mother? You shouldn't send him off like that. He won't be coming back," Illipia said. (Y/n) ignored her for the time being. "So...you aren't going to help me?" Ykuei asked. "I didn't say that," (y/n) muttered. "So you will help me!" YKuei exclaimed. "I didn't say that either. Go ahead and go. I mean it. I will change my mind if you stay too long," (y/n) said waving the elf hybrid away.

Ykuei got to his feet and turned to leave but that was when (y/n) stopped him. "Wait a second before you go. I forgot I did that," he said seeing the still bleeding wound Ykuei had gotten from (y/n)'s earlier attack. Ykuei froze and looked back at him but took a leap away from him when he saw (y/n) reach out to him. "Calm down, kid. I'm just trying to heal you. It's the least I can do for almost killing you," he said.

Ykuei stared at him like a trapped beast planning its escape from a predator but slowly walked towards him again. This time all he did was flinch but as soon as (y/n) healed him, Ykuei made himself scarce. "Don't worry so much, Illipia. He'll be back. He's got no one else to turn to so for now I've established a temporary acquaintanceship," (y/n) said for the goddess' sake. He headed back finding that the search party was awake and getting ready to go.

"No one came to look for me this time?" he asked, not really concerned. "Lu said she sensed something when she woke up but assumed you'd gone to take care of it since you weren't here," Elesis informed as everyone kept going on with whatever they were doing. Everyone seemed tired except for Eve and Ain who did seem like they needed sleep to function properly.

"Nice to know you guys finally trust me to handle things on my own. It wasn't anything major. Just a wild boar that was getting to loud for my comfort," (y/n) said, easily coming up with a believable cover story. He didn't want the El Search Party finding out about Ykuei. He didn't really know who he was nor did he truly trust him so until he got answers, Ykuei's existence needed to remain a secret. It was just another step to reaching his mother in the end.
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I'm hope you guys liked the chapter but there may have been one little problem. How many of you were able to pronounce Ykuei's name? Pronunciation: ee-koo-ay. If you did, great! If not, you tried. Until next time you spectacular readers!