Becoming a Monster

While Noah began preparing for the humans, who had no idea he was aware of their mobilization, those same humans were finally setting out.

Outside the walls of Ashenveil City, a sizable gathering had formed.

It was difficult to determine their exact numbers with everyone scattered across the road and surrounding fields, but there were at least a hundred people preparing to depart.

Nearly half belonged to the three groups that had come together for the expedition.

Members of the Church remained gathered among themselves, their robes and armor making them easily distinguishable from the adventurers assembled under the Guild. The nobles and those accompanying them formed another group nearby, keeping enough distance between themselves and the others to make the separation obvious.

The remaining half belonged to Ashenveil itself.

They were soldiers of the city’s garrison, sent under the authority of the Baron who governed Ashenveil. Although Thalric and his Adventurer’s Guild were responsible for dealing with many of the greater threats surrounding the city, they weren’t its rulers. Ashenveil still maintained its own soldiers, and with the threat they were preparing to confront existing so close to the city, the Baron had ordered a sizable portion of them to join the expedition.

Behind them, the massive gates leading into Ashenveil remained open.

An even larger gathering had formed there.

Civilians crowded around the entrance while adventurers who weren’t participating in the expedition stood among them. Guards attempted to keep the path through the gates clear, while those fortunate enough to find space atop the walls watched from above.

For the number of people gathered there, surprisingly few of them spoke amongst themselves.

There should’ve been something reassuring about watching so many powerful people preparing to leave together, yet that feeling was noticeably absent. If anything, the atmosphere surrounding their departure carried more apprehension than reassurance.

Even those preparing to leave seemed to feel it. The usual excitement that came with adventurers preparing for a dangerous expedition was noticeably absent. Soldiers checked their equipment without speaking much to those beside them, while conversations among the other groups rarely grew loud enough to reach the people watching from the gates.

Perhaps things would’ve felt different on another day. Instead, the sky made their departure feel more like an omen.

Dark clouds stretched across nearly everything they could see, growing increasingly murky the further they stretched. The farther anyone attempted to follow them toward the horizon, the more ominous they seemed to become.

There was something unsettling about watching more than a hundred people about to march toward that darkness.

Eventually, the expedition began moving away from the city.

Those gathered at the gates remained where they were, watching as the first groups set off and the others gradually followed. The large gathering that had occupied the road stretched farther into the distance until their silhouettes slowly grew unrecognizable.

No one cheered or promised they would return victorious. No one seemed confident enough to offer either.

The people of Ashenveil depended too heavily on the Ashenveil forest to pretend they weren’t afraid of what that would mean for them. Hunters entered those woods for game. Adventurers relied on the creatures and resources found there. Merchants made their living from what those people brought back.

Now a demon suddenly appeared, threatening their way of life.

Whatever apprehension the people felt watching the expedition leave, none of them could bring themselves to say that they shouldn’t go.

Ignoring it wouldn’t make that threat disappear.

So they watched.

They watched the expedition grow smaller beneath an increasingly dark sky, until individual faces became impossible to distinguish and the different groups gradually blended into a single mass moving toward the forest.

Nothing about the sight made anyone standing outside Ashenveil believe good news would be returning with them.

All they could do was remain outside the gates and watch them go, hoping the unease surrounding their departure would prove unfounded.

And then there were those who were more informed about what they were about to face.

Elowen and several others who had followed Thalric for many years watched the expedition depart from the roof of the Guild in the distance. Unlike most of those gathered around the gates, they knew considerably more about what had led to this moment.

Their expressions reflected it.

Sensing the depressing atmosphere only growing worse the farther the expedition traveled, Robera, the white tiger beastkin, eventually tried to lighten the mood.

"We need to have more faith in Thalric. We have overcome worse than this. Behaving like this only dishonors the bonds we’ve built over the years."

Her words had the intended effect on three of the adventurers. Their expressions eased somewhat, with one even managing a faint smile as memories of everything they had survived together seemed to replace some of their earlier concern.

Out of all of them, however, Elowen’s expression only became darker.

It wasn’t that she doubted Thalric’s strength.

What she doubted was everything surrounding the demon they were going after.

If this had been before, Elowen would’ve considered many of her own worries ill-founded.

She had already possessed reasons to question whether confronting the demon was the right decision, but after bringing his identity to light when they confronted Paul and the others, she had a follow-up discussion with one of them, Levi, who was also her student.

A much deeper and longer one.

Levi wasn’t someone Elowen expected to hide what he truly thought for the sake of protecting anyone. He was as selfish as he was talented, and his habit of refusing to accept anything at face value had caused more than a few problems throughout the time she had taught him.

Levi wasn’t someone who observed or interacted with people based on how that person made him feel. He didn’t learn things or interact with others, accepting what was on the surface.

For once, Elowen found herself appreciating those qualities.

Everything was about understanding how it would benefit him.

Because of that, Elowen trusted his assessment more than she would’ve trusted the words of someone who was obviously emotionally indebted to the subject.

Even more than those who continued insisting that the devil was somehow good.

That wasn’t what Levi believed.

He didn’t believe that Noah was misunderstood either.

What Levi had given her was considerably more troublesome than either of those answers.

Noah, this... demon. Was truly someone that Levi believed that they should avoid messing with unless they were willing to risk everything.

From what Levi understood, there was nothing inherently good or evil about the demon. Everything Noah did revolved around himself and those he considered his own.

If helping someone aligned with that, he would help them.

If killing someone aligned with it, Levi didn’t believe Noah would hesitate much over that either.

That was what made judging him by the standards everyone else seemed determined to use so dangerous.

Calling Noah good because he protected people ignored what he might be willing to do to someone he considered an enemy. Calling him evil because of what he was ignored the fact that he didn’t appear interested in harming people without a reason.

Neither description actually explained him.

Levi’s warning to Elowen had been considerably simpler.

As long as Noah had no reason to consider them enemies, there was little reason to believe he would become one.

But if they willingly gave him that reason, they needed to be prepared for everything that came afterward.

Elowen still couldn’t forget the look in Levi’s eyes when he spoke of the demon’s strength.

It wasn’t Noah’s strength itself that made Levi consider him so dangerous. It was how he seemed to grow whenever that strength wasn’t enough.

The more desperate the situation became, the stronger Noah seemed to emerge from it.

Levi had spoken about that particular trait with a rare mixture of fascination and admiration, although Elowen hadn’t immediately understood what he found so special about it.

Everyone experienced moments where desperation pushed them beyond what they believed they were capable of. Humans and monsters alike sought stronger opponents for that very reason. Fighting something more powerful than yourself was dangerous, but surviving those encounters was also one of the fastest ways to grow.

But Levi hadn’t meant it that way.

The more Elowen tried comparing Noah’s growth to something she already understood, the more agitated her student became.

Eventually, he stopped trying to explain it patiently.

"Agh! This is why I agree with him. Humans are too ignorant when it comes to common sense."

Elowen remembered staring at him while Levi continued before she could respond.

"Noah, that demon, devil, whatever he is! You need to stop using your stubborn logic on something that defies logic. He thrives on danger."

There was something about the emphasis Levi placed on the word that finally made Elowen listen differently.

"We came from a world with no magic. None." Levi continued. "And look at what he’s become."

"If you still can’t understand something that simple, then I just hope you don’t end up regretting messing with something you shouldn’t have."

At the time, Elowen still could recall the last thing he said to himself after giving up the discussion. Even now, she still doesn’t know what it meant.

She could only remember that he spoke of opening something called Pandora’s box.