The Author's POV

Swooosh—

A gentle wind blew past a forest as the leaves rustled.

The gentle moonlight shone from above, creating a tranquil environment.

"Hey, Kevin, hold up, where are you going?"

But the tranquility did not last for long as it was soon broken by multiple individuals who ran through the forest. To be more precise, it was four individuals chasing behind one individual, Kevin.

Halting his steps, Kevin scanned the surroundings. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he had not noticed the others behind him.

'The old man told me to go out this way, but where is he?'

The forest was huge.

So huge that Kevin estimated that it would take him a whole day to explore it. Finding Ren inside of the forest was like finding a needle in a haystack.

"Kevin!"

Suddenly, Kevin heard a voice coming from behind him. What followed after was the sound of rushed footsteps.

Kevin slowly lifted his head.

Coming over from behind a couple of trees were Emma, Amanda, Jin, and Melissa. They were all looking at him with weird faces.

"…huh?"

Caught off-guard by the unexpected sight, Kevin stared at them with a dazed look. Then, quickly recalling what he was here for, he spoke up.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"That's the question we want to ask!"

Emma frustratingly said, walking up to him. Stopping a couple of feet away from him, she looked around the forest.

"You suddenly started acting weird out of nowhere. I called out for you multiple times but you never replied so I followed you here."

"You followed me?"

"Well…hm, yeah. You had a very serious look on your face, I thought that something was up."

Emma turned her head.

"You guys also followed for the same reason, right?"

Everyone silently nodded. Clearly siding with Emma.

Staring at them, Kevin scratched his head. He had been so focused on looking for Ren that he had lost his composure and ended up worrying the others.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you guys like that."

"Whatever."

With a deep sigh, Emma rubbed her face and then looked at the moon in the sky. 'At least she doesn't look too pissed'. Kevin sighed in relief.

But then Emma frowned and glared at Kevin.

"Oy."

"What?"

"You still haven't told me why you're here."

"Oh, right..."

Kevin turned his head before he scratched the back of it.

"Not gonna say anything?"

"…you see, things are kind of complicated."

Not satisfied with the answer, Emma's glare intensified.

"I think we deserve an explanation after you made us worried and caused a whole scene."

"Ugh." Kevin groaned. Lifting his head and staring at the others who were looking back at him, Kevin let out a deep sigh. 'How should I tell them that I was looking for Ren?'

Would they even believe him? Maybe Amanda as she already knew, but what about the others?

"…Ehew."

Eventually, he let out another sigh. He trusted everyone here, and so he didn't mind telling them about his skill, inspection. Whether they believed him or not, it was up to them.

"Haaaa!"

his mouth, a muffled shout

snapped in the direction of where the sound came from. Then, everyone exchanged

"What was—huh? Kevin?"

to speak up, but before she could say anything, Kevin had already run off towards where

"Kevin, wait up!"

rushed from behind. Amanda, Jin, and

***

so far away from them, overlooking the forest from above,

a solemn and pensive

"Haaaa!"

scream that rang out,

"Should we interfere?"

a worried

Ren in the distance, from the way things were going, he could tell that something horrible

eyes, Douglas did not

"Haaa!"

out. Turning

If we don't stop him now, he'll

The consequences of such actions

done this in hopes of helping Ren get over his mental demons, but from the looks of it, things may

"Haaaa!"

"I'm going."

the scene any longer, Waylan decided to make his move. It would only take him a second

"Wait."

before Waylan could act, extending his

is the meaning of

Douglas pointed towards a

a look over

"…huh?"

look in the direction of where

Douglas

"You're not telling me…"

exactly what I'm

***

"Haaaaaa!"

scream felt like a beautiful piece

I craved for more.

my face revealed, I had to scar my face using

my eyes as I stared at the dagger in my

ran out of the poison long ago, or I would've used

Don—

small flask and removing the cap, I smeared the liquid inside of it all over my dagger. The liquid was pale yellow in color and was quite viscous, which was

got the perfect replacement for

my head and staring at Aaron who was

out a potion

a bit of

opened his mouth and chugged the potion down

"Drink up."

"Ugh…Mhh."

throat. A horrified look manifested on his face as he flung his arms around. It was clear that he was trying to protest, but I didn't care. I just watched his

Aaron onto the ground I brought

"Khhaaaaa!"

traced down half of his handsome face.

the dagger along his

dagger on his face, the dizzier my head became. It was strange...it felt as though a part of me was slowly losing control. But I couldn't

"Haaa…stop!…stop!…p-please."

of the potion I had given Aaron previously, his voice slowly returned to

I heard his words, my hand suddenly came to a halt. I then

just say

"Haaa…haaa…"

met with Aaron's rough breathing. Standing up and leaning my body forward to take a better look at him, I noticed that Aaron's eyes were

'He already broke?'

course, he didn't

I laughed.

could've

I'll make you return to

Aaron with another potion. The injuries

"Let's continue."

along his face once again.

"Why aren't you screaming."

My face froze.

reaction from Aaron who just looked up toward the sky with a

My eyes became unfocused.

"Aaron?"