They were just staring at him, wondering how he knew. And since Aria had already turned to another direction, they just followed her. They continued. He kept telling them where to go. Surprisingly, they didn't encounter any powerful magic beasts. They kept traveling like that for almost one week, avoiding any powerful magic beasts.
And at night, he always went up a tree. Even when he was blind, he didn't request anyone's help. And besides, he started eating rank-poison plants, but mostly Manamancer Awakener plants from stage 1-2. Anything above that would probably kill him for sure. He got so into it that he didn't eat any fruit or beast, just the plants. Somehow, he felt nourished.
After a while, the group stopped caring, thinking he was just looking for a proper way to die. He had already tested the limit of his healing capacity, but it still needed time.
After walking for a while, they stopped. He asked Aria, "Why did we stop?"
Then she replied, "There's a herd of Emberfang Boars, magical beasts. They are all Mana Sprout stage, with four being stage 5, and the leader being stage 8."
"Well, I already felt some disturbance in the air, and I could hear the sound. I just wanted to use it as a cover-up. I could hear that far." So I told her, "Take care of the rest. Leave the leader aside."
Then she went into action, attacking the boars. I could hear the grunts of pain. Though after five minutes, she returned with the leader chasing her from behind. She said, "It's done. And like you said, I didn't touch the leader."
Then I nodded. The leader had already stopped, seeing so many of us in one place, giving out a low, rumbling snort. It probably had a fire part in its body. From the name "Emberfang," I could tell that. Then I turned to Julia, "Fight it."
Then the huge guy shouted, "Are you crazy? That's a Mana Sprout 8th stage-level magical beast, and she's a level 5 Manamancer! She will probably die!" Because this past week, they had probably gotten closer, so he felt he could stand up for her. Not like I cared.
I turned to her, saying, "You want to serve me, right? Fight it. If you die, then you're not worth it."
Then I turned to Aria, "Give her a weapon."
I didn't say anything, just waiting. Aria had already brought out a spear, handing it to Julia. I could hear the twins telling Julia, "You know you don't have to do this, right?"
She didn't reply and just went forward. I had a reason for this, though I said nothing. Even if I couldn't see, I could still hear. So I knew they had already begun, with Julia standing in front of the beast.
She knew she wasn't as strong as the beast. Even if it was a Mana Sprout beast at 6th stage, she wasn't sure she could win. But she was ready to give it her all.
I turned to Aria, "Do you have any of those pills you made from me?"
And she replied, "Yes, although this was supposed to be the batch I was going to give him before you died, but he didn't ask for it."
Then I asked, "How many?"
Then she replied, "About 200."
I had no change in my expression. I just nodded. I turned back to the clash. By this time, Julia had already attacked the beast with her spear pointing forward. The boar made a snort sound, charging towards her. Maybe because it could probably feel that the one in front of it was weaker than it, so it just kept charging. When it was time to clash with the spear head-on, it used its tusks to deflect the attack, then directly charged at her, ramming straight into her.
She screamed, "AHHHHHH!" Then she flew all the way, landing on her back against a tree while puking out blood from her mouth. I could smell the blood.
Then I turned to Aria, "If those kids move an inch, kill them."
She nodded. This time, no one moved, just kept staring at Julia. Then the beast charged at her again. This time, the force was strong. We could hear her bones snapping, with her screaming. Then it started stomping on her with its hooves, trying to finish off this lowly human which was weaker than it yet dared challenge it, wanting to make sure it killed her. From the way it sounded, I could tell it wasn't very big, but the sheer force was enough to kill her. She had probably lost consciousness because I couldn't hear her screams anymore.
Then I told Aria, "Finish it off."
Then she attacked the beast. Though it took a while, it was dead. After that, I told her to carry Julia. Even if I couldn't see her, I could tell she was messed up badly from the irony scent. I could surely say all her bones were probably broken with the constant stomping.
Then I told Aria, "Drop her down, wash her body with water, and give her one of those pills. And put her in your tent. It's almost nighttime. We will rest here."
After saying that, I found my way to a tree, made my fingers into claws, then climbed it. I found a branch to rest on and stayed there. I could hear the elf sisters already preparing where to sleep. After a few minutes of thinking about certain stuff, I dozed off.
After 6-7 hours of rest, I woke up. I could feel the morning breeze blowing my way. Though I couldn't feel the sun up, I knew it was morning time. After a while, I could hear the tent Aria stayed in open. Then a familiar scent hit me. I knew Julia was up. Then she looked around. After looking at the tree I was in, she came there and knelt down, saying, "I failed."
It seemed like she figured I was awake. I looked down. Even if I couldn't see her, I knew where her scent was coming from. After a while, I asked, "Why did you think you failed?"
She then said, "I couldn't kill the beast. I couldn't prove myself."
I didn't reply to her. After a while, I asked, "Did I ask you to kill it?"
Then she didn't reply to me. Then I continued, "You've proven yourself just by facing something stronger than you. And I can tell you are stronger because from the way I see it, the mana surging around you is different from yesterday. So you likely broke through, making you a Manamancer 6th stage. And assuming you ran away from the talk about you serving me, I would have asked Aria to kill you there because you'd be of no use to me then."
By now, the others had already woken up, hearing what I said. They could tell Julia had already broken through because of the mana surging around her being different. Even Julia didn't know that and just looked at me with wide eyes, wondering how I knew when I was still a mortal.
Even I was thinking, maybe due to my blindness, I paid close attention to the things around me. That's why I could tell that she broke through.
Aria had already come out, looking at Julia. Then Julia turned to look at Aria, asking, "What pill or healing medicine did you give me? I was pretty sure I got my bones broken. It might even take a few days to heal up due to my natural healing capacity."
Then she simply shrugged her shoulders, saying while looking at me, "The one that's made from him."
Then Julia asked, "What kind of race is he?"
Then Aria said, "How would I know? From what I know, he was supposed to be a druid."
Then Julia shouted, "A druid? There's no way he's a druid! I can't even see the gem they all have on their gem they all have on their forehead."
Well, all druids have a small gem on their forehead. They use it to pin in the ability. Shapeshifters, you can tell a druid from the gem on their forehead. Even if they shapeshift, they still have the gem on their forehead. So it's common, a lot of people know them from the gem on their forehead. And even I used to have it when I was a child, same with my father. With time, they eventually disappeared, making me appear more human-like, apart from my abnormally long hair. But the gems are all green; the stronger you become, the darker the gem glows. But I don't have any gem right on me, so I can't really tell which race I belong to.
Then Aria replied, "Like I said, he was supposed to be a druid."
Then I turned to Julia, "You will face more challenges like that in the forest. And the time you turn your back, I will tell Aria to kill you. And if you can't defeat your next opponent, then there will be punishment."