Aric was running through the forest. Blood was dripping from his wounds and he felt tired. It was quiet, you could hear the sound of the soft wind and leaves from trees moving slowly.
"I don't sense the Demon Lord's mana or the commanders. Did they not follow after me?" Aric thought to himself. "Wait, something's there."
Suddenly, something jumped out of the bushes in front of him. "What is that? I didn't sense anything or anyone near me or someone following me."
A man appeared. His silver hair moved with the wind as he jumped from the bushes, and his silver eyes shined in the sun that was barely seen, hidden by the trees.
"Who's this person now?" Aric stepped back. He put Tristan down and got his sword ready. "Wait, what is this? He is human no doubt, he has the appearance of a human and doesn't have horns or anything, then why am I sensing dark mana from him..? And there's something else, but I can't describe it. I haven't sensed something like this before."
"Who are you?" Aric finally spoke.
The man stepped one step closer towards Aric, showing his hand empty as if to say he didn't want to fight. "Please calm down, I'm here to help you," the man spoke.
"Help me? Like I'd believe that."
"Who is this man and why do I believe his words for some reason? I feel at ease just by speaking to him," Aric thought.
The man gave Aric a soft smile. "My name is Arian. I'm not your enemy and I'm here to help you. Just follow me to a safe place and I'll explain everything."
"Why should I believe you? You're a demon, I can sense your dark mana even if you have a human appearance," Aric said, glaring at him.
"Yet after sensing his dark mana I still don't believe he is a demon. What's happening with me? Am I so exhausted from the fight with the Demon Lord that I can't tell a demon apart from a human?" thought Aric.
"You're right not to trust me, but I'm not a demon. Well, I'm not a human either, but as I said, I'll explain on the way. The demons might come after you at any time and you can't run all the way to the city injured with your companion on your back. Night is approaching and more demons come out at night as you know."
Aric took a moment to think about what to do. Although he didn't fully trust him, it's not like what Arian was saying was wrong.
"And didn't you sense something strange when you saw me? Perhaps something that's telling you to follow and trust me, or at least a weird feeling about me?" asked Arian.
Aric was shocked at how he knew exactly what he felt. "How did you know that..?" Then he suddenly stopped and continued, "Never mind, I'll follow you, you explain on the way."
Aric followed Arian and asked questions on the way. "What exactly are you?"
"Straight to the point, huh?" Arian sighed. "As you sensed, I have dark mana, but I'm a human as you can see by my appearance. That's because I'm half demon and half human. Beings like me are called Demohyu."
Aric looked surprised for a moment but returned to his usual calm self fast. "Demohyu? I've heard only stories about Demohyu, but I never thought they really existed."
"Yes, we do exist. We Demohyu are created when one of our parents is human and the other is a demon. As crazy as it may sound, there are demons who are good and feel love. That's how we Demohyu came to be. Although, there were demons who just did this out of curiosity to see what would happen if a human and demon had a child."
"Still, that does not explain why you helped me." Aric still tried to stay calm.
"Why I help you?" A small smile appeared on Arian's face again. "It's because you're a Demohyu as well, Crimson Hero Aric."
Aric was shocked and confused. "How do you know that for sure? We just met like 5 minutes ago."
"Yes we did, but did you sense something weird when you saw me? Something that made you trust me?" Arian asked.
"Yes, but how do you know that?" Aric replied with a question.
"I know because when our kind comes into contact with one another, we can sense that they are one of us, a Demohyu. That feeling you had when you saw me was telling you that we are the same."
"What?" Aric stopped for a bit and almost made Tristan fall from his back. "That's not possible, I'm a human and have lived with humans since I was a kid."
"You are, but your demon side seems to have been sealed and the seal was just broken. That's probably what made you able to use dark mana as well."
"You were there?" Aric looked shocked. "How did I or the Demon Lord not notice?"
"I was using Mallus. One of the secret items. You know, the one that makes you basically invisible."
"That makes sense," said Aric. "But why were you there? Never mind, back to the Demohyu topic—"
"We'll talk about it later," said Arian. "For now, we need to get to a safe place before nightfall and before the demons come back. The fight and intense mana of the Demon Lord made them run off, but they will return soon."
"About that, where are we going anyway?"
"Oh, didn't I tell you? Guess I forgot, haha." Arian laughed awkwardly. "There is a village of Demohyu close here. I live in that village and we're going there."
After a bit, they arrived at the village. Aric was amazed. The village was hidden with a spell that made it invisible to the naked eye unless you walked past the barrier, but only Demohyu could pass through it. If they were touching another species, they could pass unharmed as well. That's how Tristan, a human, was able to pass the barrier although he was still unconscious.
As Aric entered the village, he saw and sensed all kinds of things. There were people that looked human but had dark mana, people who looked like demons with horns and tails but had light mana, people who looked like humans and had light mana but still had small demon features, people who had dark mana and looked like demons but had small human features, and many more kinds of people.
Some people recognized Aric from the rumors they had heard, but said nothing after seeing Arian with him.
"Follow me." Arian brought them to the doctor of the village.
While Aric and Tristan were getting treatment, Arian explained the situation to the other Demohyu and told them about Aric the Hero and that he was one of them.
"So who exactly is Arian?" Aric asked the healer while being treated. "He looks quite famous here."
"He is one of the 3 leaders of this village. Third in command, one of the strongest in our village, and the left hand of the leader of the village," explained the healer.
Aric learned a bit more from the healer about this place and rested for the rest of the time, wondering about what he had just discovered about himself and about the words the Demon Lord had said when he used dark mana.
There were so many mysteries, and they needed to be solved.