Confused at Marius and the viger''s actions, "You are re folks?" Elias couldn''t help but ask as he stood up abruptly


    Marius looked at him with a warm, weing expression, "Yes, we all are. Sit down, let me tell you our story," He said, guiding Elias to take a seat, "Martha, serve the child of light the best part of the Thunderhorn ram. A man who is hungry will only listen to his stomach and not others,"


    "re folks, huh? It''s better than cannibals at least," Margo shrugged as she took a bite out of her food. Even though she advocated against eating, she was one of the first people to eat it.


    A youngdy who looked just a bit older than Elias approached him with a bowl in her hands, and she offered him the meal with a bright smile.


    Her hair was a darker shade of brown, it covered part of her face, but one could still tell that she was not exceptionally beautiful like most of the other girls Elias had seen, but she wasn''t ugly either. She was somewhere in between.


    As she bent down to serve him, Elias'' eyes couldn''t help but drift to her ample breasts which were barely held back from spilling out by her dress.


    The youngdy, Martha, as Marius called her, noticed Elias'' gaze, and she giggled lightly before straightening herself up and walking away, seductively swaying her hips from side to side.


    Margo noticed Elias'' brief interaction with Martha, "You can''t control yourself, can you? Pervert," She rolled her eyes as she spoke


    Elias ignored Margo''s remark, and took a bite out of his food "Hmm! This is good!" His eyes lit up, "Finally, properly seasoned food," He added, his mouth filled with food


    Marius smiled, "I''m d you like it,"


    "You story, you wanted to tell me," Elias said after swallowing thest of his food


    "Ah. Yes. Where do I begin?... Okay, I got it," Marius replied


    His face took on a serious expression, "It all started when the king brought a decree out of nowhere; he wanted all of us, the res, to wear a cor because of the nature of our magic.


    As you would expect, nobody agreed who would want to wear a shackle that not only restricts his magic but also his sanity. The King saw this and decided to set a punishmentw for anyone who didn''tply with his decree.


    Gradually, people began to budge, and the re folk slowly started to be the cored people, but still, it was a minority of us. I saw how this was going to end for us; the res if we end up rebelling against the King.


    I thought long and hard for a n, and then it hit me; the king aimed to make sure that we were by all means ''harmless,'' so why don''t we find a way to show him that we were harmless through and through?


    I searched for an alternative to the cors,bing through books, tomes, and scrolls; I even went as far as sneaking into the Royal Academy''s library.


    They had some intriguing stuff, but there was nothing about an alternative to the cors. I decided to research the cors themselves, and all I could find was that it was a rare metal. There was nothing else on it, and even the little information it did have was very recent at the time. It was almost as if it magically appeared out of thin air.


    After my research failed, I was lost, I didn''t know what else to do, and that was when I came up with the most brazen n I have ever had.


    I found my solution in the same crystal that you two are currently in search of," Marius exined, he paused and took a generous sip of water


    Meanwhile, Elias had a confused look on his face after listening to Marius, ''Didn''t Carius and Loria''s father discover the crystal? And I am very sure Loria wasn''t lying to me, so what is going on here? Should I be wary of Marius?'' He mused as his expression switched from confusion to seriousness


    Marius cleared his throat as he dropped his cup, "Excuse me for that; it has been a while since I talked at length," he said, "Where was I? Oh yes, the crystal"


    "My n was simple; if I can not find an alternative for the cors, then I would simply create one…even if it wasn''t real.


    So I came to the Hignds with a few res, I remembered a rare crystal deep in a cave I once stumbled upon. It was a difficult journey; some got injured, and some even lost their lives, but we acquired a fair amount of the crystal.


    I brought it to the king and presented it as a crystal that serves the same purpose as the cor without its drawback, and it would have worked as we res disliked violence to the extent that we were almost pacifists.


    But the King immediately shut me down and ordered that I should be thrown in the cells for breaking thew.


    He didn''t even bother to confirm the effect of the crystal. As I was dragged away, I saw the king''s hateful expression, and it was then I knew that we, as re folk, were done for. The king never cared or worried about our abilities, he just wanted to get rid of us, as to why? I have no idea," Marius exined


    "The reason why I am telling you this story is for you to know that the crystal you are in search of…does not exist; it was made up by me," He added, a somber expression resting on his face.


    Margo''s eye twitched in annoyance, "You''re telling me," She paused and chuckled nervously, "You''re telling me that I traveled on foot for two days in search of a crystal that doesn''t even exist!" She said


    "What do you have to say about this Elia—" Margo paused as sheid eyes on Elias


    Eyes wide, Elias stared at therge bonfire, sweat trickled down his cheeks, he looked like he had seen a dead man