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!"

he was about to open his

sound came from. Then, everyone

"What was—huh? Kevin?"

speak up, but before she could say anything, Kevin had

"Kevin, wait up!"

called out for him and rushed from behind. Amanda, Jin, and

***

overlooking the forest from above, with his hands behind his back, Douglas

a solemn and pensive look

"Haaaa!"

rang out, his brows

"Should we interfere?"

him, Waylan had a worried

at Ren in the distance, from the way things were going,

Douglas

"Haaa!"

scream rang out. Turning his head, Waylan

control of his rationality. If we don't stop him now, he'll end up killing that

they couldn't let Ren kill Aaron. The consequences of such actions were too detrimental

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

"Haaaa!"

"I'm going."

to make his move. It would only take him a second to arrive at the scene, so

"Wait."

act, extending his hand towards the right, Douglas

meaning of this?" Waylan asked

his hand, Douglas pointed towards a certain spot

look over

"…huh?"

to look in the direction of where

Douglas

"You're not telling me…"

exactly what I'm telling

***

"Haaaaaa!"

and agonized scream felt

I craved for more.

order to not have my face revealed, I

as I stared at the

out of the poison long

Don—

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

though. I've got the perfect replacement

Aaron who was barely

the dagger down, I took out a potion from my

of money

hand on his chin, I opened his mouth and chugged the potion down his

"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 healing right before my

the burns on his face slowly disappeared, pressing Aaron onto the ground I brought the knife closer to his face and

"Khhaaaaa!"

long black scar traced down half of his handsome face. Ignoring his screams, I continued

I asked, tracing the dagger along his face, creating more

dizzier my head became. It was strange...it felt as though a part of me

"Haaa…stop!…stop!…p-please."

his voice slowly returned

hand suddenly came

just say

"Haaa…haaa…"

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

'He already broke?'

course, he

I laughed.

he could've broken with just this

you return to

my knee, I once again fed Aaron with another potion. The injuries in his body healed at

"Let's continue."

it along his face once again. Fresh blood dripped

"Why aren't you screaming."

My face froze.

no reaction from Aaron who

My eyes became unfocused.

"Aaron?"