Epic Of The Demonic Sage

508 Signs Of Struggle And Weakness 'As far as I've experienced in this world, the souls merely wander and are untethered. While the gods in these lands exist no doubt due to the presence of Gifts, I do not see their actual concern for the mortals here since their souls were mostly left for mine to take.'

For a moment, Lucius' thoughts lingered on the beliefs of the Tharian Theocracy, and even the Great Barrom Clan.

'Well, all of them promise one thing. Some would call it a reward for their duty and allegiances, but, regardless, it is far more weaker to protect others. The respect and camaraderie he may have experienced and being remembered fondly by these people… all of it will fade away, eventually. Already, these Ashen Raiders are actually dust and ash.'

Lucius realized it now, the desire to become the greatest in his past world had mostly been something of his ambition and it was something that the Great Barrom was capable of providing, but somehow, there truly was a far greater universe out there.

The Grand Void.

The sights, visions and all of it had struck Lucius's soul and made him aware of the far greater scale that everything operated in.

He understood the vastness of it all, and how little his own ambition had been, and it made him desire for more.

'However, these things are best kept to be put away. They're sign posts of what I am aiming for, but the current state of mine is far lesser, and it is far better to deal with the current circumstances and then work my way up. One step at a time while also keeping the long-term in mind. That is how one must proceed.'

Meanwhile, both Peter and Helm also became a little too lost in their own thoughts and nostalgia too.

It wasn't even about Bandit Lord Sable anymore.

"I… you really don't think anyone else made it out, Helm? Cass was always fast too. Maybe he escaped?" Peter glanced at his friend.

Helm didn't want to look at it that way. It was better to think they were all dead… they didn't have the opportunity to think about others at this point, but for a moment, Helm allowed a bit of hope into his voice.

"I wouldn't put it right past him to escape. He's got good senses too, like me. Who knows, maybe he pulled along Raul too. We were too busy running away to notice, Peter."

"Y-yeah, so we can't really say that they're dead." Peter said. He became focused on the thought and whispered underneath his breath. "Hey… once we're done here, do you think, do you think we could go out and look for them?"

Helm clicked his tongue. When he glanced at Lucius and noticed the man's silence, he didn't allow it to worry him, but Helm allowed himself to smile, even for a bit.

"Y-yeah, sure, once we actually get ourselves safe first."

"The others can also take care of themselves." Peter said. "There have to be other survivors than just us. I mean, even old man, Calder. Well, yeah…"

"If that old bastard lived long to that age, I think there's a reason for that." Helm said. "…He'd smack me hard with that cane of his. There's a chance he's alive."

Both Peter and Helm realized that they were talking too long and that Lucius had grown silent. Both the two bandits immediately stopped talking about it, but their thoughts were around similar wavelengths.

'We have to make it out here from Blind Crow's Tavern. Then, when we do, well, it'll be hard… trying to find the others will be like searching for needles in a haystack, but there's a chance that we can find them.'

'We were too afraid to find the safehouses since those six are most likely to have access to that information, but there are other areas too. If we could get to the Wickham Forest. Yeah, I think that's a place worth risking it. See if any left signs. Directions and clues.'

'Oh man, I know Bandit Lord Sable wouldn't want us to all completely die… he stood his ground that day for a reason. For some of us to get away, that was it, he even apologized for making us stay. But with me and Helm here, and when the others come, then we can revive the Ashen Raiders.'

'And hah. Even if it turns out that it's just really me and Peter. Well, who's to say that we can't recruit new people to fill up and we just use the same name, Ashen Raiders? No, we have to change the name, can't let those six find us again, if we keep using the same name. But hah, you know what, who cares? Maybe when we get stronger, we could reveal ourselves… '

'Pay them back. And Helm can be the leader, though I have to er, make him more positive from time to time. It'll be hard to live up to what Bandit Lord Sable was, but I think he wouldn't have wanted us to give up. Yeah.'

'And Lord Sable did always try to train us and say that he did bury some of his treasure in Wickham Forest. It'll be a little scavenger hunt… but that requires us to survive right now.'

"Ahem." Helm cleared his throat and spoke again. "Er, it was a difficult fight. I think when we last checked… there was also someone who had a Flame Gift. Saw some fire, er, it was probably greater than Common or Uncommon Rank, it was pretty big and the control on the flames was long range."

"That was maybe the Liquid Flame Gift, though er, I could be wrong. Uh… and there was that gift that causes you to loose your footing? Was that an earth type Gift or was that the Wind? It was storming hard on that day too. Yeah, the fire was strong even when it had been raining."

Both of them remembered that day far too well, the skies had been quite dark for them and everything was raging, like a howl of a storm, but they had run back then.

Did their best to live.

"What else, Helm?"