Slowly, I raised my hands above my head and began to extinguish the fire on my arm. The female archer tensed, and I could see the drawn bow in her hands subtly begin to shake.
The world around us slipped into darkness again. The silence being broken only by our breathing.
The arrow she had aimed at me gleamed even in the dark, and I felt my body begin to tense. If she took the shot, could I dodge it?
I probably could, though I wasn't entirely certain.
'Don't turn this into a fight, Artorias. Just…deescalate the situation.' Yet, even as I thought that. My mind had already created multiple different plans for how I could not only escape but kill her.
I knew thinking in such a way was considered wrong, nearly psychopathic really. But under the influence of [Omphalos Mind], my desire to survive was the most prevalent instinct.
In my mind, this was only a logical response to her initial attack.
Unfortunately…this was the first human I have not only seen but also had the chance to interact with in three centuries. A part of me, the human part of me that remained, to be exact, was desperate to not turn this into a fight to the death.
"Well?" She asked impatiently. I could hear the string of her bow grow more taunt. There was an unsaid warning in both her words and actions.
"Artorias Regulus." I finally answered. My voice was calm, any nervousness or anxiety I felt had already been buried by my Aspect.
"I've never heard of you…" It almost sounded like she was accusing me of something. "…You don't look like a Mercury…you're too pretty looking for that. So, a Wolfram, or a Ferrum at least…"
I pointedly ignored her calling me pretty—I was beautiful, thank you—and waited patiently for her to stop muttering. Though, I didn't bother hiding my confusion. What did metals have to do with my looks, I had no idea.
"…So, what are you?" She asked me directly, raising her hooded head to pierce me with a hidden stare.
I decided to be honest…well, as honest as I could be.
"I have no idea." Silence met my declaration, and I could almost hear the female archers desire to release the arrow. "I woke up on the shore with only the clothes on my back, and no memories."
Like I said, I would only be as honest as I could be.
Revealing that I had not only spent three hundred years in limbo but had also reincarnated would have probably ended with her declaring me either a liar, or an insane man, and letting the arrow loose either way.
Going the amnesiac route was my safest option.
"Do you actually expect me to believe that?" The archer's voice was low, threatening and akin to a hiss. "You have some guts to so blatantly lie to me."
I watched her silently, beginning to subtly flow heat through my body. If this turned into a fight, I'd have her and the tree she sat on immolated within an instant.
"I'm not." I told her resolutely, not backing down. "Like I said, I woke up and couldn't remember anything."
"Really…then how did you kill that Leshen?" She asked, challenging me. "Even the mightiest hunters of my Clan have tried and failed to do such a thing, and they have years of experience and skill…experience and skill, which the likes of you could never attain."
I allowed her words to harmlessly pass through me. She was clearly looking for a reaction, trying to make me angry for some reason, but it wouldn't work. Not with [Omphalos Mind] activated.
At the very least, I was learning some things from her.
"You saw me use fire not even a minute ago, and the Leshy is—was—made entirely of wood. It is obvious how I was able to beat it." My words were calm, but there was no mistaking the biting tone I used.
If she wanted to try and talk down to me, I would gladly treat her the same way.
"Watch your tongue, or have you also forgotten that there is an arrow pointed at you?" There was a sneer in her voice as she mocked me. I was so, so, tempted to try and blast her out of that tree.
But not yet. I still held onto the hope that this could be resolved in a civil manor.
"My point still stands. I do not know what a Mercury or a Ferrum is, and I have no clue what it has to do with my looks, or ability to kill the Leshy. If I could do in a few minutes what your mightiest hunters couldn't in their entire lives, then that's not my problem."
Admittedly, that was probably the wrong thing to say.
But, in my defence, I have never been the best at either de-escalation or negotiation.
"Last chance, boy." She growled at me, her bow string straining as she pulled the arrow back further. "Who are you, and what is your purpose here?"
"I have told you once already. My name is Artorias Regulus, and I do not remember."
The bow string snapped at my words, but I was already moving. The arrow whistled as it pierced the air but only hit the dirt path behind me as I lunged forward. Really, I was ready to move before I had even finished speaking.
The female archer was just begging for an excuse to shoot at me, and I knew my words wouldn't be enough to stop her.
'The old-fashioned way it is then.'
My arms burned with a conflagration of fire that roared into existence. The heat which had steadily built beneath my skin violently exploded out of me. Everything around me began to catch aflame, and through the hell I created, the fire leapt at the archer.
I caught the quick movement of a flickering shadow, as the archer jumped from one branch and onto another, and like a serpent with a mind of its own, the fire twisted through the air and followed her.
I heard her curse, a strangled roar of anger leaving her lips, before she was turning and nocking another arrow. I didn't give her the chance to release it.
The fire trailing after her grew in volume as I manipulated the flames surrounding us. Then, with only a thought, I pulled my left arm back and threw another tide of orange flames into the air.
Just as I expected, she abandoned the idea of trying to shoot me, and instead, moved quickly to jump onto another tree branch.
My arms rose; the tidal wave of fire twisted in the air.
The archer froze. Turning her head to stare at the rising conflagration with a primal sort of fear.
Then, with a roar that rivalled the burning flames under my command, I pushed my arms down.
The fire twisted once more, flaring into swirling tendrils of heat, before diving back into the thick branches of the forest with a spear like point.
My sight blazed with shades of orange, red and gold.