Chapter 34: CH. 34 | The Birdfolk’s Judgment

"Wait!"

A mysterious woman’s voice rang out from somewhere in the clearing. Theo could feel the blade the man held pressed against the skin of his throat, but it hadn’t cut through yet.

Theo felt a wave of relief at that, but his curiosity got the better of him, he wanted to know who this woman was, the one who’d just stopped the blade, or more accurately, saved his life.

He opened his eyes and saw the man still standing in front of him, while from another direction, a woman in a black dress walked out from the forest.

What surprised him even more was how the men around Theo reacted. They instantly bowed their heads and placed their hands over their left chests, a gesture of respect.

"Princess Avara," the man in front of Theo greeted her, and that was how Theo learned the girl’s name was Avara.

Her face felt familiar. He tried to place her again. Theo was completely stunned once he realized Princess Avara was the very same girl who’d been bathing in the same waterfall pool as him earlier.

The two men holding Theo let go of him. He collapsed to his knees, clutching his stomach, covered in wounds from the beating he’d just taken.

"What is it, Princess Avara?"

"Do you plan on sparing a disgusting human like him?" the man asked.

Theo lifted his head and looked forward. The woman in the black dress, with her flawless pale skin, walked closer to him. The two of them locked eyes for a brief moment.

"Tell me, how many humans have ever managed to reach this place?" Avara asked, turning to the man.

He didn’t answer, and not a single person there answered either. Avara went on to say that no human had ever set foot in this place before.

Not just because the waterfall’s location was hidden and remote, but also because of a magic barrier the birdfolk race had activated specifically to keep humans from ever finding it.

"Seeing him sneak in and just take a bath in the pool, that alone was enough to make me suspicious," Avara explained.

One of the men glanced back at Theo, pointing straight at him as he asked Avara, "Is Princess Avara suggesting he has some ability to break through the birdfolk race’s magic barrier?"

"I haven’t confirmed that yet," Avara replied, "That’s just my guess. For some reason, I feel certain he and his power are somehow connected to our race."

The woman turned and gave the man an order, "Give his weapon back and take him to the village. Let my father check him directly."

"Understood, Princess Avara."

Take me where? What are they going to do to me?

Theo had no choice. He had no strength left to resist. All he could do was give in and watch whatever was about to happen to him unfold, hoping their intentions wouldn’t end with him dead.

With his hands bound, Theo was hauled off by the men, deeper into the forest, in a completely different direction from the waterfall.

Avara walked ahead of him, following a trail through the forest, leading the whole group toward the birdfolk village.

From a distance, Theo’s eyes caught the bright glow of oil lamps, quite a number of them, lighting up the small village.

The village wasn’t especially large compared to Tulu Village, but its population seemed sizable enough. One thing that caught his attention was their race itself.

They all shared nearly identical traits, webbed wing structures along their arms, covered in black feathers that looked soft to the touch.

The moment Princess Avara arrived with the others, all activity in the village came to a halt. Every eye turned toward Theo, the human being paraded through by the men.

They’ve lived here undisturbed by humans this whole time, I never imagined a race like this existed in these hills.

Could they be... the guardians of Nador Hill?

Theo’s steps stopped, and he was ordered to kneel on the ground, right in the middle of the village’s wide square. Ahead of him stood an elevated house with a dome shaped roof.

Compared to the other elevated houses around it, this one was easily the largest. If that was the case, Theo figured it had to belong to someone important in the village.

"I’ve brought him, Father."

Theo turned to look at Avara, then snapped his focus back forward. Through the hanging curtain at the house’s entrance, a middle aged man stepped out.

The man had a sturdy, powerful build, jet black hair, and carried himself with an overwhelming sense of authority.

"Our respects to the chief!"

Chief... of the tribe?

Everyone in the square instantly dropped to their knees and bowed their heads in a gesture of deep respect. The man beside Theo pushed his head down, forcing him into a bow as well.

"Have you determined his class?" the man asked, Avara’s father, the birdfolk tribal chief.

"No, Father," Avara answered, "But judging by his weapon, he is a knight."

"A knight with no magical ability couldn’t possibly have forced his way through our magic barrier," the man said, his voice deep and heavy with authority.

"Have you already checked the barrier for damage?" he asked again, and Avara answered firmly and respectfully.

"Yes, Father. There are no signs of it."

The man fell silent. But in the quiet that followed, Theo could hear the sound of someone’s footsteps approaching him.

As Theo tried to steal a glance forward, he saw a pair of bare feet standing right in front of him. The man spoke again, ordering Theo to lift his head.

Theo obeyed, since he clearly didn’t dare defy him. He forced his head up and met the man’s gaze directly, the chief of the birdfolk race.

"What’s your name?" the man asked.

"T-Theo..."

"What is your power?" the man asked.

"I-I don’t know, I never even saw your magic barrier," Theo answered.

"You don’t know?" the man asked again, "Are you trying to deceive us?"

The man swung his hand to the side, and thousands of black feather strands rose into the air. One of them shot forward, not aimed to kill Theo, but enough to leave a cut across his cheek.

Theo flinched, his eyes going wide. He never expected it, black feathers that normally looked soft had turned razor sharp, like arrows.

"I will bury your body in a thousand crow feathers if you don’t tell me," the man said firmly.

"I-I have an extraction skill," Theo answered, panicked.

"You think that’s enough to convince me?"

The man began counting down. Right as the countdown reached zero, he raised his hand forward, ready to unleash the thousands of sharp feathers straight at Theo.

Cornered with no way out, Theo had no choice left but to tell him the truth.

"I-I have an Authority talent!" Theo shouted.

He shut his eyes as the sharp black feathers closed in on him. But he felt nothing after saying those words. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the sharp black feathers hovering just inches from his body, stopped by the tribal chief’s command.

"An Authority?"

"Yes," Theo answered, "I don’t have a class. I’m classless. But I have an Authority talent."

Theo worked up the courage to lift his head, looking straight at the man before him. The man looked utterly stunned, his eyes widening slightly, his hands trembling.

"What is your Authority’s power?!"

"It’s... Mystic Eyes."

The man staggered back several steps and, to everyone’s shock, lost his balance and collapsed. Avara, startled, rushed to catch her father before he hit the ground.

"What’s wrong, Father?" Avara asked, clearly panicked.

"The Authority of Mystic Eyes... that’s the talent power belonging to my Lord!"

"Saint Knight Aslan?!" Avara asked, stunned, then turned to look at Theo.

Theo was just as confused as they were, especially since he’d just heard Avara say a name that wasn’t unfamiliar to him at all, a name that had haunted him constantly before his awakening.

Aslan! That’s right, that’s the name of the person who kept appearing in Theo’s dreams in the days before his awakening. But he never imagined that a man named Aslan actually held the title of Saint Knight.

"Tell me... how did you come to possess that power?!"

"What happened to my Lord?!" the man shouted.

"I-I don’t know," Theo answered, "I don’t even know who Aslan is!"