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!"

as he was about to open his mouth, a muffled shout

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

"What was—huh? Kevin?"

say anything, Kevin had

"Kevin, wait up!"

back, Emma called out for him and rushed from behind.

***

forest from above, with his hands

solemn

"Haaaa!"

scream that rang out, his brows

"Should we interfere?"

him, Waylan had a worried look on his

distance, from the way things were going, he could tell that something horrible was about

Douglas did

"Haaa!"

out. Turning his head,

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

costs, they couldn't let Ren kill Aaron. The

get over his mental demons, but from the looks of it, things may

"Haaaa!"

"I'm going."

Waylan decided to make his move. It would only take him a second

"Wait."

his hand towards the

of this?" Waylan asked in

pointed towards a certain spot in the

look over

"…huh?"

of

Douglas again, he

"You're not telling me…"

exactly what I'm

***

"Haaaaaa!"

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

I craved for more.

not have my face revealed, I

I stared at the dagger in

out of the poison long ago,

Don—

flask and removing the cap, I smeared the liquid inside of it all over my dagger. The

got the perfect replacement

my head and staring at Aaron who was barely

I took out a potion from my

spent quite a bit of

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

"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

his face slowly disappeared, pressing Aaron onto the ground I brought the

"Khhaaaaa!"

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

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

strange...it felt as though a part of

"Haaa…stop!…stop!…p-please."

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

his words, my hand suddenly came to

you just say

"Haaa…haaa…"

body forward to

'He already broke?'

of course, he didn't

I laughed.

could've broken

make you return to normal

I once again fed Aaron with another potion. The injuries in his body healed at an even faster pace. I

"Let's continue."

dagger, I traced it along his face once again. Fresh

"Why aren't you screaming."

My face froze.

along his face, I got no reaction from Aaron who just looked up toward the

My eyes became unfocused.

"Aaron?"