Chapter 43 - Sun Appearance Gene Ingested

Instants after feeling the orb go down his throat, Luke heard the voice in his head:

[Sun Appearance Gene ingested, you have gained the simple ability 'Vind'! Now you can use signs of this element].

"You... ate? I thought you believed all that was sorcery." Nathalia said, finding the boy's decision strange.

The half-wolf ignored her because internally he was still conflicted about whether the decision he made was the right one or not.

Just as it happened the first time, the voice didn't explain how to use the ability, and he had no idea how to use them either. He couldn't even mentalize what those 'Normal Inventory' and 'Vind' skills were, so he gave in and questioned:

"Do you know someone who can teach me how to use the skills?"

Nathalia did not act like a teenager after being ignored, and promptly began to analyze who might be a good instructor for someone as serious as Luke.

"I believe Shiro could help you with that, or my mother."

Without a second thought, Luke said, "Your mother, then."

"Erghh... Wasn't that answer too quick?" The Elf inflated her cheeks and said, looking away in a corner.

"N-not that! It's just that she's simply is the best!" The boy tried to straighten things out quickly.

"What do you mean, 'best'?" This time, she had her hands on her waist and was squinting her eyes.

"I believe she has more experience and..."

"Hahaha, I'm kidding! You take things too seriously... I don't mind if I stay with my mom, after all, she's always focusing on work and family, and well... my dad is long gone."

The mood of the conversation got a little awkward after that, because it was the first time Luke had heard Nathalia mention her father, and he didn't know how to comfort someone in a situation like that.

When they got back to the busy streets leading to downtown Vasconcelos, he dared to ask. "What was your father like? You seem to miss him."

"Uh? No, you got me wrong. I don't miss my father specifically, just what he stood for. I'm not proud to say this, but he was not a good man."

Since it seemed to be a touchy subject for the girl, Luke didn't push it.

"By the way, I found a piece of paper while the monster was dispersing, can you read it to me?" said Luke, after pulling the small sliver of paper from his pocket.

Nathalia nodded, took the item carefully from the boy's hand, and read the note aloud.

"Latmenfar Kriolo Segundo."

After hearing these words, the Elf and the half-wolf looked at each other and came to the same conclusion. Without further ado, they started running towards the Necrotery, luckily they were not too far away, so they arrived very quickly.

At the corner of the empty alley, Luke already smelled blood so fresh he could almost see it. Precautious, he drew his curved saber and stayed alert.

When they reached the metal door of the morgue, the boy didn't even communicate with Nathalia and blew the door open with a kick, which startled her.

With a violent momentum, Luke seemed to blend in with the shadows of the compound and, because of the aid of his sense of smell, he went towards the monster there, however, he stopped his blade at the last second before decapitating the creature.

"You are alive. Good..." said Luke, looking at the big man in front of him.

Kriolo's two fists were stained with the blood of three lesser goblins, who were slumped around him. He punched them so hard that the monsters were unrecognizable, and their smell had soaked into his clothes.

The brute turned away and, looking serious, he questioned, "You came back...why?"

"We followed the lead we got on the dead man's body e-" Before Nathalia could continue her explanation, Luke interrupted her with his arm.

"He doesn't care about the whole story." The boy spoke, staring at Kriolo inexpressively. "We found a clue with your name on it and ran here." He then handed the man the piece of paper he had just obtained.

It was clear that the man had his misgivings about the duo's sudden appearance, all the more so because Luke had almost killed him.

The moment Kriolo read the name on the paper, his expression transmuted from skeptical to terrify.

"They really found me..." He stared at the item in his hand.

The half-wolf stepped back as he realized that the danger had subsided, and Nathalia approached the man.

"Who found you?" she inquired of him.

"Before we had children, my wife and I faced many difficulties, both financial and personal. Although we were newlyweds, we didn't even have a home, and when all seemed lost, we found a 'they'."

"Who is 'they?"

"We're not proud of it, but... they were a cult, or rather a sect. Their name was Followers of Chaos."

For the adventuring duo, it was impossible not to connect that name with the message written on the wall of the Dark One.

'Chaos is just beginning. Chaos will reign.' Luke repeated to himself.

"What were your activities?" Elfa asked for elucidation, not least because the name of the cult was self-explanatory.

"You may not believe me, but all we did was pray. Granted, we were just acolytes and had no contact with the higher-level followers. And well, over time our lives improved, however, the cult gradually demanded more and more of us, to the point that we chose not to remain in it."

"Let me guess, they didn't allow that, did they?"

Kriolo nodded as he looked down.

"Fucking proselytizers..." Luke cursed.

"We managed to escape from New Yukiat and since then it's been almost ten years. I never thought they would come after me after so long."

"How do you know they are the ones who did this?" The half-wolf questioned, after all, the lout only needed to look at the paper and already connected the dots with his past trauma.

Kriolo looked at Luke in confusion and questioned, "Can't you hear?" He then held out the paper to the boy, who opened his palm, into which the paper was dropped. "Put it in your ear, and you will know what I am talking about."

Nathalia, who was just watching, suddenly grabbed the half-wolf's wrist, before he had a chance to take the paper.

"Why are you trying to fool us? Do you think we're idiots?" Immediately after that, the girl summoned her Spear-type Panspermia Weapon.

------

Have you read it this far? Leave a review on what you think, because this helps me a lot!

Consider also joining the discord community:

https://discord.gg/kpbCr6SpHd