From the name and the short exchange, Zephyr could kind of infer a thing or two logically. One – it was something like an inspiration. An epiphany. Two – it was very vital. Cedric's expression after he failed to gain a Word during his fight, and Kathelyn's fixation on whether he got a Word or not told him all he needed to know.
He looked at Cedric talking with Anna and Helga. He needed to get some information from him one way or the other. Kathelyn was also another option, though he didn't know how that conversation would pan out. The girl was very... eccentric. On one hand, she could tell him everything he wanted to know, and maybe even delve further into other topics. Inversely, she could just not say anything, only staring at him blankly. The latter seemed to be the more likely scenario, so he was only going to explore the option if Cedric decided to keep mute for whatever reason.
He brought his attention back to the current conversation, Anna just about to throw him a question.
"What about you, Zeph? How many points are you on right now?"
"Fifty-one," he replied casually.
"Oh? Just one more than me..." Cedric muttered half-heartedly. It seemed he was still bothered by the earlier loss.
Zephyr debated taking the opportunity to switch topics toward what a Word was but decided against it considering the fact that Cedric was still salty about it.
"Wha— Fifty-one points?! With just you alone?!" Anna exclaimed.
"...Just me alone?" Zephyr asked wryly.
"No, I mean— Helga and I have only got fifty-five points split between both of us so far. She's on twenty-five and I'm on twenty, so how did you manage fifty-one..."
"I don't see you being shocked about Cedric's numbers though..." Zephyr quipped.
"Cedric has eight mana nodes. You have one," Anna deadpanned.
"Urgh— Alright, alright... Let's just say I got lucky." Zephyr gave in.
"What kind of luck could earn you fifty-one points within some five hours of the test? You and Cedric are most likely in the top five spots right now!"
Zephyr shrugged. "...The pie-falling-from-the-sky kind of luck?"
"Really?" Anna looked unimpressed.
"You'd be surprised..."
"Whatever." Cedric cut in. "It probably has something to do with his abnormal strength, so he's not gonna give any details." Cedric swung his warhammer onto his shoulder, walking away from the group.
"I'm off to hunt more Skarnids... seems I'm not doing good enough."
"We should go too." Helga pulled Anna away, not willing to be bested.
"Good luck to you guysss." Anna's voice trailed off as she was pulled away, leaving Zephyr and an amused Cedric behind.
"It's weird, this place. Like you just fade out of existence after some few steps," Cedric muttered, eyes scanning the trees where the girls had vanished.
"You chose the battleaxe you wanted eventually. Not a bad choice." Cedric pointed out.
Zephyr waved the axe around. "It's not bad. Still not as good as the axes at the training arena though..."
"Hmm." Cedric grunted, ready to leave, but he paused, pondering for a bit while Zephyr watched.
"Say... Would you be open to sharing the secret to your strength for info about a Word?" He smirked. "The whole lot of us could see the thirst for a scoop in your eyes the whole time."
Zephyr grimaced sheepishly before sighing, "I would love to, but I actually can't. I still don't know the exact reason why or even how I'm so strong. I only know it's related to my parents."
"Hm." Cedric motioned for Zephyr to walk in stride with him as they chose a random direction. "I think you've once mentioned your mother was a half-elf."
"Yeah... Died birthing me. Never saw her."
"My condolences... but still, I don't think a half-elf bloodline is strong enough to grant you such strength. It's not even a full elven bloodline, and even if it was, elves are known for their insane affinity for magic, not physical strength." He called out Zephyr's bullshit.
"I may have believed you if you said your mother had some orc or giant bloodline. Even dragonkin would be more believable than half-elf, at least they have insane strength coupled with their high magic affinity."
"But if your mother was truly a half-elf, I don't think your strength has anything to do with bloodline... unless your father wasn't human also..." He looked toward Zephyr, who was scanning their surroundings as they walked, his run-in with several Skarnids earlier in the day still making him cautious.
"I actually remember my dad, but not so clearly. But I know he was human." Zephyr stated, schooling his face. All through Cedric's analysis, he had been shocked more than once at how close the guy kept coming to the truth of the matter.
"So, your strength must surely come from something else." He studied Zephyr's face for any giveaway, but he found none. Zephyr perfectly played the role of someone clueless.
"Wait, so are you saying my father might not have been human?!" His head snapped toward Cedric, who stared deeply into his eyes, looking for any sign of deceit.
Cedric sighed, turning his gaze forward. "I don't know, but I'd say that should be a start."
There was a lull of silence for a while before Cedric started. "A Word is just the way I chose to describe it."
Zephyr snapped to attention, ready to glean all that he could from Cedric.
"It's more like a concept trying to actualize itself in a way you understand... That was how it felt... like my core was trying to tell me something... something about itself... something embedded naturally in it, something that if I could've grasped, would've opened the door to a new world to me." At this point, they had both stopped walking, Cedric staring at his raised palm, mimicking the motion of grabbing onto something, and Zephyr watching him express himself, all vigilance gone to the wind.
Cedric closed his eyes. "I can still vaguely remember the taste of that... Word. It tasted like... permanence... and quick use? If that makes any sense."
He sighed in resignation, opening his eyes. "I don't know, man. The feeling is gone now anyway. It feels like I'm talking about something alien, but back then, right at that moment... it felt right..."
"But what can I do?" He spread his palm. "I can only try to get to that state again, but deep down I know it would be hard. That felt like a one-time thing."
Zephyr stared at the ground, ruminating over what Cedric shared.
'Aegis. Did any of that ring any bells?' Zephyr asked inwardly, hoping to all the gods that Aegis responds with anything but Access denied. User privilege insufficient.
His heart skipped a beat when he finally received a response from Aegis.
'...Yes, Host. The concept he speaks of bears extreme similarity to something I know.'
'Finally!'