Chapter 31: The Foul Meets His Match

They were close; they had to be.

He didn’t know to what or who, but the unknown isn’t always a bad thing; that’s what his path says: to call the unknown to gain clarity.

It sounds like a bad joke, but if you truly know nothing, then isn’t everything clear to you? Is there any mystery in the world?

And that’s not the only line of his path that doesn’t make any sense on paper.

’While in the past they were blinded by the known… what a joke.’

He chuckled to myself.

What could this known even be, and how does it blind you, and the unknown gives you clarity.

But at the same time, when he thinks of his situation, he’s more blinded than ever before.

He doesn’t know anything, only fragments, and so nothing is clear to him, but if he were never to learn those fragments, then there wouldn’t be anything for him not to know.

So, in a way, isn’t he blinded by the little information he knows?

But if these are the meaning of the first lines of his path, in the end, what did it do?

’Shithole, you’re going against your principles by giving me this information and putting me in the fog.’

There was also his ability, which talked another nonsense

’If the unknowing is unknowing…. then it’s unknown, but the unknown is the known. Meaning… the unknowing is the knowing… if the unknowing knows the knowing.’

He almost had a stroke saying it, but deciphering whatever it says.

’How could the unknowing not be unknowing? Isn’t it the same thing?’

It isn’t. It’s quite surprising how different it is.

There’s a big gap between not knowing the truth about something and not knowing about it in the first place; that’s the difference.

But to be unknowing, you have to be unknown to have that clarity.

’But what is the unknown, not knowing anything? But how can a physical being be a concept?’

The unknowing is someone who doesn’t know anything, but for it to be unknown, it has to have no one know about its existence.

It’s strange, because if the unknowing calls for the unknown for clarity, how does he know about it in the first place if the unknown is something not known by anything?

It refers to the weird saying that if you know nothing, then you know everything.

Meaning that if the unknown, something that doesn’t know anything and isn’t known by anything, is everything.

By that logic, the unknowing, someone who doesn’t know anything, is the knowing, because they have nothing they don’t know.

’But for the unknowing to be knowing, they have to know the knowing…’

That’s the last line, and while the others were hard enough to understand, this one is the hardest.

For the unknowing, someone who doesn’t know anything, to be knowing, someone who knows everything, they have to know the knowing.

Truly, it’s extremely hard to understand if you don’t think of it as a specific thing, that being what the mask probably does.

So far, it covered his face, making people not know who he is, meaning he could be anyone, anyone that is known, that being the knowing, but as the unknowing can also be unknown, the known is also the knowing.

The knowing being someone who is known by everyone and knows everything.

…

’The unknown has to know the knowing to become them. So that’s what it does, how funny.’

He wasn’t amused.

The mask wasn’t some powerful ability; it was a utility, it allowed him to become someone else if he knew them good enough. That was what the description was trying to say.

’I guess I’m at fault for expecting something actually good.’

He was angry to say the least.

His footsteps fastened, becoming rougher and agile, digging into the ground with wrath.

Avrie even had to almost start running to catch up to him.

She had tried to call to him and make him walk slower, but he wouldn’t listen.

Only when she hit him on the head did he finally stop.

“Damn it, what was that for?”

Aether turned his head in rage, not enjoying being hit.

“For not slowing down! I’ve been calling you for minutes now, goddamit.”

He looked surprised, his anger almost all gone in a second; you could almost think he was bipolar.

He had gotten caught up in his daydreaming and hadn’t realized that she had been shouting to him.

It was funny, but pretty concerning.

Something could have happened, something bad, and he wouldn’t have even known until it was too late.

He had to control himself.

With this little occurrence behind them, they continued walking.

He had gotten quite bored; it had been a long time since they entered the forest, and they had done nothing but walk.

And while he didn’t want to meet someone like Chaos, he would enjoy some stimulation.

Maybe he was used to the Withered, where it was impossible to walk around and have nothing happen.

But as he was dreading, it seemed his prayer was answered.

Avrie put her hand in front of him, making them stop abruptly.

Aether snoored, expecting her to want a rest, or whatever.

That was why he had paled when he had seen the true reason for their stop.

It wasn’t to rest, it wasn’t because of a monster, no, it was something more horrifying.

He swallowed, speechless.

He gritted his teeth as his fists tightened,

He stared with calm eyes, but inside, he was furious, enraged to see such a scene.

In front of them, a tree rested.

And while he had gotten used to them having faces and human-like behaviour, this one had a whole body trapped inside, being eaten bit by bit and integrated into the organism of the arbor.

While he had heard the story from Avrie shadows, and he saw the aftermath of many, seeing someone being devoured in person was disgusting, outraging.

He wanted to see what Avrie was doing, if she too was having the same reaction as him, but she had already left and approached the tree.

She took out her dagger and cut the veins that wrapped around the body, separating him from them.

But before she took it out, she called out to him and pointed to something behind the corpse.

A core.

He nodded, clenching his sword with anger.

She counted to three, and when she dragged him out, Aether stabbed the core of the tree with his sword.

[You have slain a seeker beast, Devouring Arbor]

[Your knowledge grows stronger.]

’The tree had proved to be quite strong; if we hadn’t destroyed its core as we took its prey out, it would have probably lashed out at us, trying to replace the body with either me or Avrie.

He dragged his sword out of its core and walked over to Avrie and the corpse.

The body looked to belong to a young man, older than him, of course, but not much older than twenty.

“So what are you going to do?”

Aether asked, bringing the sword to his shoulder.

“Bring him back to life, while you look away and say if something approaches.”

He sighed in annoyance. He had really wanted to see her at work, but she did bring out a point.

It was going to last some time, and they were wide open; they could be attacked by a monster, or another of those arbors at that.

So as much as he didn’t want to, he let her do her thing, while he did his.

’Bring him back to life, yeah sure.’

There was nothing as brining back the dead.

And there won’t ever be.

Neither is immortality; no one is immortal, that’s something that only the gods can have.

By his guess, the tree had absorbed his core, and so just like she had done with her cat, she was going to make another for him.

That’s what she probably brought with her, the stuff she stole.

So did it mean her goal all along was to heal this guy?

But who was he? Could he help them on their journey?

’Or an even better question, is she even going to help me now that she got what she needed?’

They lacked trust; her now wanting him to see the process was a clear sign.

He frowned at the thought of being alone again.

He hated it, with all his heart; every time he found company, it came back to bite him.

[…]

It wasn’t long until Avrie had finished her work, and when Aether turned to see the man, he was very surprised.

Avrie looked at Aether with a happy smile, the kind that pretended to be warm but carried a private joke.

“Aether, this is an old friend of mine,” she said, stepping aside.

The man rose from where she’d tended to him, silver hair catching the faint light like a knight from a forgotten tale. His eyes held conviction, but also the quiet weight of someone who had seen the end of things.

“His name is Elpis. A knight.”

Aether’s grip on his sword tightened. A witch, a knight, and a fool, it sounded like the start of a story. The kind where someone doesn’t make it to the end.

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