Chapter 21 - True Power

After hunting one rabbit down and eating, I started to startle rabbits, wait for them to run, and chase them.

It was a little annoying that the rabbits took quite a while to resurface when they dug down, but I still waited patiently.

I had attempted this many times, yet all the rabbits easily got away, without exception.

I was puzzled, what was I doing wrong? I remembered that when I was trying to evade the demons, I would try to get behind a tree, yet, another with an angle would see me. When trying to hide from someone you would have to get out of their vision...

So if the rabbit was running away from me, it would try to hide behind trees and while not in vision try to get behind another tree. That way, I would be unable to tell which place the rabbit went.

I tried to chase down a rabbit again. This time I tried to think from the perspective of a rabbit, where would I go?

When I saw the rabbit duck behind a tree, I started to run towards another tree further ahead. I caught a glimpse of the rabbit ducking behind another tree and went to another tree up ahead.

This time I did not see the rabbit, I had guessed wrong.

Turning back, I realized the path that the rabbit ran had footprint markings in the snow.

They were very vague, as the snow was already very uneven. If it weren't for the fact that I knew that the rabbit had taken this path, I would not have been able to recognize that these were the markings of the rabbit's footprints.

When I walked around I paid more attention to the ground. I eventually came across markings that I believed to be of something walking. They were larger than the markings left by the rabbit. I decided to follow the markings and see where they would take me.

I wasn't that confident in my deduction and came to various points where I was unsure what the next direction was, but I continued without thinking about it too much.

Eventually, I came across a wolf. It was leisurely walking around.

Without thinking about it too much I thought of ways I could kill it. I wanted to go even further and try to do it without Alyx's spell.

I started to stalk and follow it from behind.

Once I got close, I quickly climbed onto its back. The wolf had turned around but I clung to it and started to aggressively stab it. The wolf was trying hard to throw me off, but I clung to its fur tighter.

I don't know how long I was stabbing it for, I felt like I was in a haze. All I noticed was that I was on top of a wolf that no longer moved.

I remembered I wanted that coat, I figured that since Alyx's spell fixed the meat that any problems with the fur could similarly be resolved.

I cast Alyx's spell, feeling it drain the surrounding mana around me.

At this moment my head felt clear.

What... was I doing?

I realized I was slowly getting more impatient and bold. There were many unnecessary risks I had taken. There was little to no reason to fight everything I came across, why was I being so aggressive?

It was then the blue deer came to mind.

"Snow... Bad... Lose... Mind..."

The snow... seems to have the effect of slowly aggravating the mind.

I decided I was going to go back to the village. Although I did not want to back off, my mental state was getting dangerous.

But... I did not keep track of where I was going. Not to mention I do not know where the blue deer took me after I blacked out at that time.

Now that I think about it... why are there demons in the forest? They didn't seem to be looking for food as they walked in a straight and orderly fashion. Yet what reason did they have to walk around in the snow?

Then Osric's words rang in my mind.

"I am just curious why a human would be all the way out here during the plight between humans and demons. Are you a spy? Or are you an exile?"

There... was some sort of conflict between the demons and humans.

I decided to first make a coat from the wolf's fur. I cut off fur that I found was still usable, I had messed up most of the fur from my actions earlier. I went up into the tree and slowly worked on the fur I got so that it could actually be used as a coat without hampering me.

Putting the wolf coat on I felt a lot warmer. I decided to backtrack and make my way to the place where the demons were denser.

I saw various teams of one-horned demons and occasionally a two-horned demon. I slowly stalked my way around them with my head down.

After observing various demons I slowly got an idea of the general direction they were walking. It seemed certain demons were on patrol, to guard the surrounding area, while other demons decided to make their way forwards, closer to some... place.

Curious about what this place was, I went in the same direction.

As I went forward I ended up dangerously close to some demons in order to avoid their line of sight. Thankfully, I was stealthy enough to hide from them.

I eventually came to a clearing, where the trees stopped.

Looking ahead I saw a village. For a second I assumed the village was the one I came from. Looking at it more clearly I noticed that it had high walls that surrounded it. This only made me more curious and I decided to make my way towards the village.

I had put my stake in a fixture I accidentally made on my coat. I looked ahead to see a large iron-barred gate. As I started to get close I heard a voice.

"Stop, identify yourself!"

I looked up to see a few guards clad in iron armor looking down at me from the top of the wall. I had to use a few seconds to remember my name.

"Uh... it's Jay, what is this place called?"

The guard seemed confused.

"...uh this is the Earth Emperor's village are you not from here?"

I shook my head.

"I wanted to check out the forests but I didn't keep track of where I was going and got lost. I saw there were demons that were heading to this general location and decided to check it out."

"...What? I need to go report this!"

The guard that was talking to me left, I am not sure where to.

I looked at the other guards.

"So... Can I come in?"

The guards turned to look at each other, seemingly at a loss.

"Uh... Sure?"

The gates rose and I made my way inside. After I got in the gates closed. One of the guards came down from the wall and jogged over to me.

"Say, were you living in the forest?"

I nodded.

"It was very tough at first, but thankfully I was able to get used to it."

The guard nodded.

"Since you aren't a local here, I thought I could show you around the place."

I was a little surprised he was being so nice.

"Oh, thanks."

The guard tried to scratch the back of his head, but the iron helmet got in the way, making loud clanking noises.

"Haha, no problem."

I took in the overall state of the village. It seemed rather prosperous, there were people walking along in their heavy coats and nobody seemed that concerned about the early winter.

"So uh... what's your name? I am Jay like I said before."

The guard turned to look at me.

"Oh right, my name is Lucas, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well."

I looked around but didn't really know where to go.

"Hey what place do you recommend to check out?"

Lucas started to think.

"Hmm... I would say the tavern, it's a nice place for food and drink. I assume you haven't eaten any freshly prepared food for a while if you were in the forest."

I was interested.

"That does sound like a nice place to go, please take me there."

"Alright."

Lucas led me down the streets, sometimes people would stare at me curiously or with a bit of fright, but they soon ignored me after. It did not take too long for us to be taken to a tavern.

The tavern was quite big, with a few sets of doors. Lucas opened one and I followed him in. The inside was bustling, filled with people who were sitting at round tables talking with one another.

Now that I think about it I didn't have anything I could use to buy from them. I coughed awkwardly to get Lucas's attention.

"I just remembered I have nothing to pay with, do you think they would accept it if I hunted a bunny and brought it here?"

Lucas laughed.

"Oh don't worry about it, I will cover your meal."

I nodded and said my thanks. Lucas told me he was going to get the food and I should find a place to sit down. As I looked around I heard someone chuckle.

"Hey, young man, you look like you have no idea where to sit, want to sit with me?"

I turned to see a grizzled man with brown hair slicked back. He had large forearms that were exposed, revealing thick amounts of hair. There weren't any seats that were not already occupied so I decided to take him up on his offer.

"Oh yeah, thanks. My name is Jay, what about you?"

The man started to talk as I sat down.

"Hey Jay, my name is Jack. I don't recognize your face, you new around here?"

Jack had a big smile on his face as he held a mug. I nodded.

"Yeah I originally left my village to the forest, I got lost and ended up here. Lucas, over there is showing me around the place."

I pointed towards Lucas who was ordering some food. Jack looked over.

"Ah, that Lucas guy, he always tries to help people out, though..."

Jack leaned over to me and used his hand to block the sound from his voice.

"He is a bit of an airhead and accidentally hurts people sometimes, so take it easy on him ok? Also, don't tell him I told you this."

I smiled and nodded.

"Of course. Anyways, what has been happening in this village?"

Jack thought for a moment and sighed.

"Nothing really eventful, but I suppose around ten days ago, Prince Eternus was assassinated, it sent the village into chaos when that happened."

Lucas was walking back, carrying a tray of food and drinks.

"Thankfully the assassin was soon found and executed, hopefully, Prince Eternus can rest in peace."

Lucas set one of the trays in front of me, it had quite the amount of vegetables. Jack nodded.

"Indeed. Enough with the sad stuff, Jay you look like you have a story to tell, how was being in the forest like? Was that coat one you got directly from a wolf you slew?"

"Ah, well yes actually I got it pretty recently since the coat I originally brought into the forest got ripped up."

Jack laughed.

"What, you really killed a wolf all by yourself? You have got to be kidding me."

I pulled out the stake.

"I am not joking, I used this thing to kill it."

Jack looked a bit scared.

"That... is a heavy scent of blood."

I nodded.

"Well, yeah I made it from a branch and used it to hunt many things in the forest."

Lucas turned to me awkwardly.

"Uh... we aren't supposed to have people with weapons come in."

I was a little confused.

"...This is a wooden stake, it's not even like a sword."

Lucas looked sad.

"Sorry, we aren't supposed to have anyone that is violent come into the city, after you eat can you leave?"

I sighed. I guess he would at least let me have a meal.

"Alright, sure."

Jack let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for being so cooperative."

"No problem."

After finishing my meal I was led back out by Lucas. After saying my goodbyes I walked out and they closed the gate.

I made my way back to the forest but noticed that there were a lot of demons. It was going to be quite difficult to make it past them.

I peeked over the trees with my head down. I was able to see a three-horned demon. It was much larger than the two-horned demon and carried a massive mace.

Anxious about how I was supposed to get past, I suddenly felt a tremble in the ground. I turned to look at the village. There was a massive pillar in the middle of the village that was going up high into the sky.

I was shocked, the pillar seemed to look down on everything else around it.

The sky darkened and the trembling only grew stronger.

I fell to the ground. As I quickly tried to stabilize myself I saw countless massive meteors fall from the sky towards my direction.

I froze as I watched the meteors get closer.

When the meteors hit the ground I found myself back on the ground. Demons were dying like flies. Large craters filled the grounds and screams from the demons rang in the forest, the three-horned demons being no exception.

Was this true power?

In the face of devastation there was nothing that could put up a fight, the only thing left was to die.

I saw a meteor plummeting towards me, I simply watched as it crashed into me.

.

.

.

"Um, why are you here?"