This particular area of the forest emitted a frigid aura and Reece covered his body completely with his cloak. The entire area was covered in fog and their line of vision could only cover about fifteen metres. Al Sahim didn't seem to need to see where he was going though, he navigated the area with complete ease.

  Reece shook his head, wondering how many times the man had actually visited this forest, looking for a special kind of plant. Foraging wasn't something that appealed to him — the idea of moving from one place to another while looking for something that might probably work would probably rile him up. He was already prone to anger as it is.

  “That plant over there, good for brewing vitality potions. A man once told me he put his woman to sleep thrice before daybreak.” Al Sahim was giving Marius a little tour speech as they moved through the forest.

  “I mean, after I retire, I am probably going to spend my days relaxing my nerves. I don't want to do that much work anymore,” the older man chuckled.

  “Ah, you will find that there is nothing more relaxing than knowing you still have what it takes even when you are this old,” the credent replied. “Captain Dale, how about you, can I interest you in such potions?”

  Dale, who had been on high alert since they'd been moving through the forest, gave Al Sahim an unfocused glance. “I don't need help in that area!”

  Reece admired the captain, although he seemed a little up tight but that was given, considering he was a soldier. “Why are men always concerned with these things? I don't think it matters that much,” Shalliah said from behind.

  “It matters, trust me,” Patelon replied with a cheeky grin.

  “And how would you know?” she raised her eyebrow.

  “None of your business,” the boy retorted and rushed to meet Reece who wanted nothing with the two of them.

  “What about you, empath, you think it matters?” She asked.

  “I think what matters?” Reece replied with an uninterested tone, his eyes were half closed under the hood of his cloak.

  “That you need to enhance your performance…” she paused, not finding the right words to use.

  “How would I know, I am a virgin,” he said with a straight face and a loud enough voice that everyone heard. Both Al Sahim and Marius turned their heads to glance at him. Even the soldiers gave him a weird glance.

  “And why is that young man?” Al Sahim asked.

  Reece realizing he just brought everyone’s attention to himself decided to emulate his best friend, so he retorted. “None of your business.”

  “Fair enough, but it isn't healthy for a young man of your age nor is it advisable in this world we live in. We all have a short time, it would be sad if you left this world without enjoying the little it has to offer.”

  Reece hated these kinds of conversations the most and he was always stuck in the middle of it. Most had even thought maybe he was physically impaired but that wasn't it, he just didn't have time. It also didn't help that he had perfect control over his emotions and desires.

  Most of his life he’d spent learning and training. Four years ago, when he first heard the symphony, his entire life had seemingly turned upside down. His ability wasn't necessarily an impressive one, all it did was allow him to sense the emotions of people and it became worse when he realized the emotions he sensed could overwhelm him.

  There were times he would be found under the table crying over nothing at all, he’d just resonated with someone's emotions so much, it had changed his own. For the first few years, he had to learn how to control his own personal emotion and desire. Which meant he had to learn to come to terms with his feelings instead of shutting them out. His other-parent’s were very good teachers but it still took time before he learnt control.

  It took even more time to learn what different emotions meant, how to recognize deep emotions without getting lost in people's emotional turbulence. All this took intense practice and focus, coupled with his combat survival training with his other-father he had little to no time for girls or any of those frivolities of life.

  “We are here,” the credent announced. “Or, we are in the general area, at least.”

  They were in a deeper part of the forest and through experience, Reece realized they were in the border between the safer parts of this forest and the mystical areas. The captain directed his cohort, giving them hand signals and the soldiers went around, looking for clues.

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  The soldiers found multiple tree markings and called the attention of the others. Reece recognized the runes immediately he saw them. They were similar to the letters of Isith but they were older. The language dated back thousands of years ago, and was used by a human kingdom that had vanished from the face of the realm.

  It was called the èdè. They were spoken by the ancient Aremo people. The language was said to carry an innate compatibility with the symphony allowing the ancient people to shape and bend it with just their words and their writings. Most herbalists find it mandatory to learn the language.

  In fact, there were four languages that were classified by the credents to be of utmost importance. The Elven tongue which has a rather unpronounceable name. The Hadith — A language that uses only sounds and the clicking of tongues to convey messages. This language has also been adopted by the military, although they seemed to have twisted it to shape their own needs. The language is also limited because it can't be written. The third language is the Equations or more primarily the Runes. Unlike the Hadith that has no written format, this one only exists in writing but has been adopted into hand signs.

  The fourth is obviously the èdè. Aside from the elven tongue, it is the oldest surviving language. Reece glanced at the first word he saw engraved into a tree, he didn't recognize it so he made a mental note to confirm what it means later when he is at home. The second word was written as Esu.

  Reece turned to Dale. “I don't know what the other words mean, but I recognize this one. It has three meanings I know of. It means to gather, also is the name of an ancient god that these ancient people used to serve. It also means to obscure, to protect or shield from view.”

  Marius was the one who replied. “So does that mean the words could actually serve a purpose and are not just random?” he demanded.

  “I don't know, but if someone were doing something bad, they would want to shield it from the view of others and that word actually means exactly that,” he explained.

  “Are you a scholar?” Al Sahim asked, appraising him from head to toe.

  “No,” Reece replied offhandedly.

  “Then how is it that you understand that language?” He asked.

  “I like to read,” he muttered.

  Al Sahim nodded. “Indeed, the boy is right. That word does mean to protect, and that other word means the mind or the spirit,” he pointed to a tree bark and then pointed to another. “That one means affirmation!” he paused, squinting his face. “It… it is something they used to say at the end of a prayer.”

  Dale frowned. “Then, those are not just random scribbles.”

  “It could be, the language itself is just a word, it takes a lot of things to align to even allow it to work,” Al Sahim shook his head.

  Patelon replied. “From what I can deduce, the person is trying to shield the mind and he put it in some sort of prayer,” he shrugged. “So maybe we are all under some sort of mental hex.”

  Reece frowned. He was aware of the damages that can be caused by mental curses because his own abilities were quite similar. Living things are usually more concerned about their body because it is what they can physically interact with and mental alterations are usually neglected, even by the brain itself. So if one were to be under an influence affecting one’s mental state, it was usually hard to fight against.

  He closed his eyes and then allowed his breathing to even out, he gritted his teeth, the sound of his premolars sliding over each other forced him into a cogitative state. He could hear the faint melody of the symphony swirling around him. When he opened his eyes, his vision had changed.

  He saw everything in a basic black and white, with different colour hues representing different emotional states. This was the safest use of his abilities, one he had shaped through years of dedication. Instead of sensing people's emotions through his own, he mastered the art of seeing it instead.

  Different color hues meant different emotions. Everyone appeared normal, but he wasn't necessarily interested in the emotions of everyone here, he was mostly interested in the residual emotions that surrounded this area of the forest. He stepped forward scrutinizing the area. Soon enough, he detected a foreign human emotion, one filled with anxiety and pain. He followed the emotional trial like a footprint.

  At this point, he was deaf to what was going around him because he needed focus when he was trying to unearth emotions that are fading away, any little distractions and he might not be able to find the same signature again. When he reached a certain area, he stopped.

  The emotional signature seemed to have vanished completely. He tapped out of the symphony and glanced at the others who were all staring at him with concerned gazes. He realized he’d walked away from their original position by quite a long distance.

  “Sorry, I was following a residual emotion, and it seemed to vanish right about here,” he gestured to the region where he stood.

  Dale trotted forward. “Yeah, your little tricks,” he shook his head. “There is nothing here and you just wasted our time.”

  “You seem to have a problem with the concept of thaumaturgy itself,” Patelon shot back.

  Hey, Pat, don't escalate…” Reece began.

  “As a matter of fact I do and apparently, rightly so!” Dale replied, gesturing at Reece.

  Reece frowned, he didn't need to tap into the symphony to see that their emotions were getting agitated at an unnatural level. “Oh, yeah?” Shalliah took over. “How about we show…”

  “Shut up!” Reece yelled. “Both of you!”

  “Or you will do what?” Jalin retorted.

  “Or I am going to bash your skull in with my fists,” Reece replied with a calm tone. “If you can't work together with us, maybe we should go back home and tell our superiors that they made a mistake putting us together. The queen herself will be very pleased to hear that a royal errand signed from her own ink will need to be rescinded, because her soldiers cannot work with her thaumaturges. It will look great on all of us, won't it?” he said.

  They all quieted down and he saw a small smile appear on Marius’ cheeks. “Also, all your emotions spiked dangerously now and I think that confirms there is something in here affecting our thoughts,” he added.

  Dale turned to the two carrying the talisman. “Unlock it, let's see if what he says is true.”

  The soldiers put down the iron cage and then opened it with a rusting key. At first the talisman didn't react, so Dale quickly made an announcement. “Remember to keep speaking,” he advised. Just as he spoke, Quiet floated out of the cage and the blue mist expanded, covering the entire area.

  Just as he did, Shaliah started a song and everyone joined in, singing to the top of their voice. After a few minutes of singing, nothing changed for most of them however, Dale, Reece and Marius noticed something. “Put it back in its cage,” the captain ordered and the two soldiers removed the keys and the mist shrunk back in.

  Then Marius signaled for everyone to step back, while Reece knelt down and began to dig through the ground with his fingers, after a while his hand hit something metallic. He quickly shifted the grass away from the place and the vegetation.just scattered like it had been placed there by someone.

  By the time he was done clearing, a metal lock was revealed. Everyone stepped closer while Reece stepped away so they could all see it. “Is this enough to report?” he asked.

  “We can get more concrete evidence if we open it, we can't just report a hint of an underground vault,” Dale replied.

  Al Sahim who had been quiet and shocked spoke. “How did you even know?”

  “The mental veil wasn't that much, but it was enough that we ignored the topography of the area. When the veil was lifted, we could sense the subtle change on the ground. Although I am surprised the acolyte sensed it too,” Dale answered before ordering his soldiers to break the lock.

  When they did, they pushed open the metal slab and the others had to help them due to the sheer size. An underground vault was revealed with a staircase leading into darkness. The underground wasn't just a deep one, no it was like a carefully constructed slope.

  “So what do we do?” Dale demanded.

  “We need to see what's in there,” Al Sahim said. “I won't forgive myself if this was a real threat and we’ve been ignoring it,” his voice was a little shaky.

  “Oh, don't work yourself up,” Marius patted him on the back.

  Dale then glanced at Patelon and two of his soldiers. “You three stand guard in case anything goes wrong, just make your way back to the town and send a report. No one complained, they were all complacent now because they just realized they might actually be making an interesting discovery and acting like a child could mess up the achievement.”

  “Alright, let's go!” Dale commanded.