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

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

"What was—huh? Kevin?"

anything, Kevin had already

"Kevin, wait up!"

rushed from behind. Amanda, Jin, and Melissa followed suit as their figures slowly

***

them, overlooking the forest from above,

have a solemn and pensive look on

"Haaaa!"

rang out, his brows would

"Should we interfere?"

Waylan had a

way things were going, he could tell

Douglas

"Haaa!"

out. Turning his head, Waylan urgently

If we don't

Aaron. The

his mental demons, but

"Haaaa!"

"I'm going."

take him a second to arrive at the scene, so

"Wait."

before Waylan could act, extending his hand

is the meaning of this?"

towards a

a look

"…huh?"

in the direction of

at Douglas again,

"You're not telling me…"

what I'm

***

"Haaaaaa!"

agonized scream felt like a beautiful

I craved for more.

my face revealed, I had to scar my face using this blade over

eyes as I stared at

ran out of the poison long ago,

Don—

liquid inside of it all over my dagger. The liquid was pale yellow in color and was quite viscous, which was perfect as it stuck on the dagger

I've got the perfect replacement for

at Aaron who was barely hanging

dagger down, I took out a potion from my

of money on this,

on his chin, I opened his mouth and chugged the

"Drink up."

"Ugh…Mhh."

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.

onto the ground I

"Khhaaaaa!"

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

doesn't it?" I asked, tracing the dagger

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

"Haaa…stop!…stop!…p-please."

previously, his voice slowly returned to him, and

hand suddenly came to a halt. I then lifted my

you just say

"Haaa…haaa…"

my body forward to take a better look at him, I

'He already broke?'

of course, he

I laughed.

he could've broken with

I'll make you return to

another potion. The injuries in his

"Let's continue."

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

"Why aren't you screaming."

My face froze.

reaction from Aaron who just looked up

My eyes became unfocused.

"Aaron?"