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!"

open his mouth, a

the direction of where the sound

"What was—huh? Kevin?"

but before she could say anything,

"Kevin, wait up!"

behind.

***

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

have a solemn and pensive look

"Haaaa!"

out,

"Should we interfere?"

to him, Waylan had a

were going, he could tell that something

Douglas did not

"Haaa!"

Turning his

If we don't stop him now, he'll end up killing that

kill Aaron. The consequences of such actions were too detrimental for

in hopes of helping Ren get over his mental demons, but

"Haaaa!"

"I'm going."

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

"Wait."

could act, extending his hand towards the right, Douglas

meaning of this?" Waylan asked

hand, Douglas pointed towards

a look over

"…huh?"

in the direction of where Douglas

at Douglas again, he

"You're not telling me…"

what I'm telling

***

"Haaaaaa!"

rang out. His pained and agonized scream felt like a beautiful piece of

I craved for more.

face revealed, I had

as I

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

Don—

it all over my dagger. The liquid was pale yellow in color and was

got the perfect replacement for

head and staring at Aaron who was barely hanging onto life,

took out a potion from

quite a bit of money

I opened his mouth

"Drink up."

"Ugh…Mhh."

his mouth as I shoved the potion down his 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 body slowly start

disappeared, pressing Aaron onto the ground I brought the knife closer to his face

"Khhaaaaa!"

agony as a long black scar traced down half of his handsome face. Ignoring his screams, I continued to cut his

it?" I asked, tracing the dagger along his face, creating more

head became. It was strange...it felt as though a part of me was slowly losing control. But I couldn't quite grasp what was happening.

"Haaa…stop!…stop!…p-please."

given Aaron previously, his voice slowly returned

hand suddenly came to a halt.

just

"Haaa…haaa…"

and leaning my body forward to take a

'He already broke?'

course, he

I laughed.

could've broken

I'll make you return

another potion. The injuries in his body healed at an even faster pace. I

"Let's continue."

I traced it along his face once again. Fresh blood dripped down from the side

"Why aren't you screaming."

My face froze.

I got no reaction from Aaron who just looked up toward the sky

My eyes became unfocused.

"Aaron?"