The Search for Knowledge: New Beginnings

The Search for Knowledge - Chapter 10

"I'll start then, who are you?" Said Lee, taking the initiative. Kara looked disappointed, like a child who had a treat snatched from her hands. "If you really are the Rox I know, then I'd also like to know what happened to you. We were not close, Rox was merely someone that I knew of, however his leaving was a surprise for the entire city; seeing as he was the captain of the guard at the time."

"I am the Rox you knew, I was the captain of the guard in Fira for over one hundred years. When I reached the age of two hundred and fifty, I took leave of my position to take on the Nihil family ceremony in the Forest of Giants. However, when I had completed it and attempted to leave, there was some sort of barrier or other unseen force preventing me from leaving. Whenever I attempt to leave the forest, I would wind up heading deeper into the forest. I can only guess that it was a space magic barrier." Rox paused to allow Lee to absorb what he had said, continuing after a few moments in a solemn tone. "It did not feel like over a thousand years had passed, however when I returned, everyone that I knew had passed away. My entire family, except the main branch, had also passed away."

He had already told all of this to Kara when he signed on with her, frankly, he was tired of repeating himself, but he figured he owed the man an explanation. It probably shed more light on his previous explanation, so his party more than likely had no qualms hearing this more detailed version.

Leyri was the next person to jump in with a question, speaking in a polite tone, causing Kara to start giving puppy eyes. "What sort of power was that at the end of your fight with Jeerae, the black sphere that annihilated everything around you, but caused no sound whatsoever?"

Rox hesitated for a moment, she had asked something which he did not particularly want to answer. In the end, however, he gave in. "It was a void, widespread annihilation attack. No sound, object, or creature can exist in the void except for the mediation god Nihil himself. What I did essentially summoned a small portion of the void to our world temporarily. Annihilation is too kind a word, to be honest. Anything that enters the void ceases to exist entirely, which is why magic involving it usually focuses on depriving mana, denial of ability, or basic destruction attacks."

Kara's puppy eyes ceased, not because it was finally her turn to ask a question, but because she suddenly felt something within herself change. One of her abilities had leveled up, which also caused her vision and eyes to glow golden momentarily. However, no one else seemed to notice. Given the timing, she could only guess her intelligence ability had just leveled up. That means the information about the void, or void magic, was information that no other half-elf had learned before. Looking around, she confirmed that idea by making sure there were no other half-elves nearby, which concerned her. It meant that Rox had knowledge of void magic that, at least, no other half-elf had ever learned before.

She was immensely curious about Rox's unusual knowledge of void magic, however despite her immense curiosity, she kept her eyes on her goal. "Rather than a question, I'd like to know about your seal. As well as why you never mentioned it, despite knowing that I'm researching them." Her voice sounded like she was forcing herself to keep calm and pronounce each word carefully, holding herself back.

In response, he averted his eyes and spoke timidly, "Well, I don't want to talk about all of it, but basically I didn't tell you because you can't do anything about it. Someone who is merely studying seals will not be able to decipher the runic writing of my seal. As for more about it, the simple answer is that it seals my abilities. It's why the Virrat reads them as level zero." He could not look her in the eyes even once as he spoke, the look she was giving him was too intense. It was a confusing mixture between her earlier puppy dog eyes, and staring daggers at him. He honestly did not know how to look at her with such a gaze directed at him.