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 mouth, a muffled

the sound came from. Then, everyone exchanged glances with each

"What was—huh? Kevin?"

before she could say anything, Kevin had already run off towards where the

"Kevin, wait up!"

at Kevin's disappearing back, Emma called out for him and rushed from behind. Amanda, Jin, and Melissa followed suit as their figures slowly disappeared

***

from above, with his

have a solemn and pensive look on his

"Haaaa!"

out,

"Should we interfere?"

had a

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

Douglas

"Haaa!"

scream rang out. Turning his head,

already lost control of his rationality. If we don't stop him now, he'll

The consequences of such actions

get over his mental demons, but from the

"Haaaa!"

"I'm going."

take him a second to arrive at the

"Wait."

Waylan could act, extending his hand towards the right,

the meaning of this?" Waylan asked in

his hand, Douglas pointed towards a certain spot

a look

"…huh?"

direction of where Douglas had

Douglas again,

"You're not telling me…"

exactly what I'm

***

"Haaaaaa!"

pained and agonized scream felt like a beautiful piece of music to

I craved for more.

my face revealed, I had to scar my

as I stared at the dagger in

I ran out of the poison

Don—

all over my dagger. The liquid was pale yellow in color and was quite viscous, which was perfect

though. I've got the perfect replacement

head and staring at Aaron who was barely hanging

down, I took out

a bit of money

on his chin, I opened his mouth

"Drink up."

"Ugh…Mhh."

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

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

"Khhaaaaa!"

agony as a long black scar traced down half of his handsome face.

the dagger along his face, creating more and

I traced the 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 quite grasp what was happening. I

"Haaa…stop!…stop!…p-please."

previously, his voice slowly returned

words, my hand suddenly came to a halt.

just

"Haaa…haaa…"

Standing up and leaning my body forward to

'He already broke?'

of course,

I laughed.

way he could've broken with just

make you return

with another potion. The

"Let's continue."

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

"Why aren't you screaming."

My face froze.

along his face, I got no reaction from Aaron

My eyes became unfocused.

"Aaron?"