Alhen stepped outside the cabin for the first time since he was brought in.

  What met him was not the familiar sight of the red forest, but something else entirely.

  The trees' leaves glowed under the moonlight with a bright white light, and many white flowers spread in front of him into the distance.

  The trees were thick, being wider than a house, and reached into the sky. The scene in front of him made him think that this was heaven's image.

  The bark was a solid grey color, and he could see what seemed to be yellow veins going up from the roots all the way to the top of it.

  He couldn’t help but gasp at the beauty; even with his colored glasses, it looked magnificent.

  When he returned his attention to Edith, she was already walking towards her destination, so Alhen quickly sped up to catch up to her.

  She was unimpressed by the scenery surrounding her, but she lived here, so she might have already gotten used to it by now.

  “I know what you are thinking,” she began. “You are thinking that this is a beautiful forest, and it is true. But have you ever heard of the saying everything beautiful is dangerous?” she asked.

  Before answering her question, Alhen looked around him, knowing what she meant by her words.

  “What makes this forest so dangerous?” He questioned.

  Edith slightly smiled, saying, “All wihts in the area are blessed, there are hundreds of thousands of them."

  "This forest is big, really big, and if it were not for the aura that I emanate as a Sol rank hunter, they would be swarming us by now.”

  Alhen frowned; all that Catherine had said started making sense. She said that he wouldn’t last a second on the outside and that going back by himself to the kingdom was foolish.

  “I have one question. When you are not in the cabin, why do the wihts not get close? I haven’t heard one in the vicinity during my stay,” he commented.

  “That is an easy question to answer. I leave a part of my aura outside the cabin so the wihts cannot get close. Once you reach a certain rank, doing things like these is essential and effortless."

  “The wihts instinctively avoid the cabin; they know that there is something they would never be able to defeat in there, that is why they leave it alone,” she explained.

  “I understand, thanks for telling me. Also, where are we headed? You are not going to kill me, are you?” he asked.

  Edith smirked, “Whether I kill you or not all depends on what you are. If I deem you a threat, then yes, I will kill you. However, if you are not, then I will think about what to do with you.”

  Alhen sighed. “That doesn’t sound comforting at all,” he said.

  She ignored him and kept on walking.

  After a few minutes, Alhen started getting goosebumps, his hair stood on end, and his body tensed. His breathing became shallow, but he forced himself to breathe fully.

  He looked around him for the source of his discomfort and found a wiht standing in the open from quite a distance away.

  The wiht resembled a man, fully clothed in Victorian clothing with a top hat on his head.

  Its skin was grey, and it had a disheveled silver beard and hair which flowed down to its chest.

  It had a slight hunch on its back, and it was breathing heavily, with its chest rising and falling quickly.

  Its hands were slightly opened, revealing the sharp claws underneath, and on his neck, he saw it, a sign.

  It wasn’t just any sign; it was a purple sign, the same danger level that destroyed the village of Drosrria.

  'I will have to take an extensive class in wihts and the power level. I will ask my mentor once I see him again,' he thought.

  “Hey, Edith, there is a wiht staring at us,” he informed her.

  “Correct your way of addressing me, I believe I explicitly told you to call me Ms. Edith. Also, so what if there is a wiht staring at us? It will not dare to get close lest he dies by my hands,” she answered.

  Despite her personality, Alhen found himself admiring her confidence, even if just a little.

  The way she was so calm and appeared in control in all situations was something he could admire, even if she wanted to kill him.

  He looked back at the wiht, and noticed that it wasn’t there anymore. He panicked and looked in all directions, but it truly appeared that it had left.

  Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself down, the memory of that wiht in the village was starting to give him bad feelings.

  After a few more minutes of walking, they found themselves in a small lake.

  Edith approached the water and gazed into it. It was then that he realized that the water was shining as well, just like his surroundings.

  “We are going to head down, follow me, and don’t lose me from your sight,” she said.

  The last thing he wanted was to take a plunge into the water, but he had no choice.

  It reminded him of his first contract with The Crying Halberd and that big creature that gazed at him when he landed in the City of Silver.

  Brushing those thoughts aside, he nodded in her direction and stood beside her. Edith, without wasting a second, dived into the water, her frame disappearing completely.

  He took a deep breath and followed after her. When his body hit the water, he noticed that the water was warm instead of the usual cold.

  He didn’t know how to feel about that, but he couldn’t dwell too much on it as Edith was moving, and if he didn’t follow closely, he would lose sight of her.

  It was as if he were moving through a thick fog; the only thing he could see was Edith’s bare feet. As he swam a few seconds after her, it was then that he noticed something concerning.

  ‘Crap! I forgot that I have no benedictio Lunae. I can’t use my sign!’ He started hyperventilating and got a strong urge to swim back to the surface.

  Alhen was just about to do that when he noticed that Edith had disappeared. In a moment of distraction, he had lost sight of her.

  With his oxygen levels running low, he wondered whether to return to the surface or keep heading straight.

  He saw in front of him a hole, through which he assumed that Edith had gone, so he decided to enter and hope there was a pocket of air or something that would allow him not to drown.

  It was a tight space, but thanks to his little body, he could pass through it without a problem, although he wondered how Edith did to fit through the opening if she went this direction.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Swimming further, he could feel his lungs burning, but thankfully, he saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

  There was a pocket of air in front of him, and when poking his head out, he saw a cave filled with bright rocks, which illuminated his surroundings.

  He took a deep breath and sighed in relief. Focusing ahead, he saw Edith looking at him with mild annoyance.

  Alhen pulled himself out of the water and touched the smooth ground. It was almost slippery, and all around him was a scene that seemed taken straight out of a movie.

  Various rocks and minerals, all of different colors, shone their light at him. It appeared as if he were in a marble palace with all sorts of natural decorations surrounding him.

  Taking in his surroundings with silent admiration, he couldn’t help but compare this place to the kingdom, where everything seemed depressing and oppressive.

  ‘To think that somewhere this beautiful existed in this world. Not everything is as bad as it seems,’ he thought.

  Just as he was starting to feel relaxed, he was broken out of his reverie when he heard Edith beside him.

  “What are you staring into the distance for? Follow me, we are close to our destination.”

  Alhen focused his attention on her with a bad look, but she didn’t mind. Edith started walking towards the end of the cave where a narrow passage lay.

  He followed after her, having relative ease going through the narrow passage filled with sharp, glowing rocks.

  To observe it better, Alhen took off his glasses, and a whole world of color appeared before him, looking even better than what he had previously thought.

  Such was the brightness and beauty that he had to squint his eyes, his eyes being sensitive as his whole world was dark before this moment.

  They came out to the other side, and a cold air immediately caressed his body, making him shudder. His pupils dilated as he felt something was wrong.

  There was a creature in front of him, stronger and more intimidating than anything he had met in his life. His heart beat accelerated, so much in fact that it started to hurt.

  His gaze locked with the four-legged creature that lay on the ground, surrounded and resting on beautiful crystals, making it look like its own personal throne.

  Its eyes were red, and he knew that it meant danger.

  It was wide, almost reaching the ceiling, and had pristine white fur with a black snout.

  This wasn’t what unsettled him, however. The creature was smiling; it had a wide smile, revealing huge human teeth.

  From above, air and moonlight came in through a crack in the ceiling. Alhen rapidly placed his glasses back on, and the creature didn’t take his actions lightly.

  Its smile dropped, and he felt the pressure on his heart increase so much, in fact, that he had a heart attack.

  He squeezed his heart and felt himself losing consciousness, but with one word from Edith, he was saved from impending death.

  “Stop, I want you to find the truth about this creature,” Edith said.

  Alhen breathed a sigh of relief when the pressure around his heart disappeared, and he could breathe normally, although he had to catch his breath before he could do that.

  Edith grabbed his hand and pulled him closer to the creature. The pressure around him had disappeared, but it didn’t mean that it wasn’t present around him.

  She threw him in front of the creature, and all he could do was hope that he wouldn’t be killed.

  The creature looked at him with a soft gaze, and before he could realize what was happening, he lost consciousness and fell to the ground with a thud.

  “Now let us see what you truly are,” Edith said behind him.

  “Alhen! Alhen! Alhen!” By the third time the voice had called out to him, he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings.

  He was in the same car where he had been riding with his mother and sister.

  It was then that the memories of what happened returned to him, and he frantically looked around the car, only to find his sister and mother in the same position.

  He felt a hand touching his shoulder and turned around to come face to face with his father.

  Everything about him screamed unassuming, but he was the only person he wanted to be with right at that moment.

  'Was everything just a dream?' Alhen wondered, remembering the black shadow that had lunged at him prior to his dad waking him up.

  “I am glad that you are fine, I will go and wake your sister and mother, for now rest,” he said.

  He nodded at his words, and for some reason, felt inexplicably sleepy. The feeling was such that he slowly closed his eyes and lay on the ground until he fell asleep.

  Alhen’s father stopped smiling, looking at his son's rhythmic breathing and the situation in front of him with a calculating expression.

  “I knew it… it found us,” he muttered to himself.

  Alhen woke up in the hospital. The sun shone on his face, making him open his eyes lightly.

  He could barely feel his limbs, and the white walls surrounding him made him feel as if he were in a psychiatric hospital.

  Looking around, he saw his family in the corner waiting for him to wake up. Looking at them, he couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong.

  His sister Lena and his mother had been injured during the accident, so how did they manage to look like they made a full recovery in one night?

  Lena didn’t have the cloth he had ripped and placed on her forehead, showing her clear skin that was devoid of injury, making him wonder how that could happen in such a short amount of time.

  “Alhen,” his father said, “We were worried about you, but you are finally awake.”

  He was at a loss for words. What was he supposed to say?

  “Is everyone okay?” he asked, and received nods from everyone, but their serious faces showed otherwise.

  Before he could think about what that could mean, he felt terrible muscle spasms that locked him, without being able to do anything.

  "I knew it!" His father exclaimed. He was the first one to react, rushing towards him and wrapping him in a hug.

  Alhen didn’t understand what was happening; he barely felt in control of his body.

  He felt his father's hand touching his lower back and placing his palm there. Something warm then traveled from his spine all the way to his brain, and a dark fog started coming out of his open mouth.

  It reached up and covered the room in a thick layer of darkness.

  Despite the darkness, they could see each other perfectly, and it was as if everything else disappeared.

  His mother and sister stood from their chairs and looked ready for confrontation.

  Alhen felt suffocated; he couldn’t breathe, and his head started becoming red.

  Without missing a beat, his father pulled out of the hug and touched Alhen's chest, which glowed a bright yellow light.

  Now he could breathe, but the dark fog didn’t stop leaving his body. His father frowned before placing his open palm on Alhen's head. His eyes rolled back, and he looked lost in a trance.

  Lena and his mother immediately rushed to his side, defending him in his vulnerable state.

  Alhen’s eyes rolled back into his head as well, a second later, and inside his mind, he was in another world.

  He found himself in a beautiful garden, and his happiest memories were being replayed in front of him.

  Happy moments with his family, the first time he went to school, a fight with a long-forgotten friend, which ended in them becoming best friends, and many more.

  All of these memories were in front of him, and he was alone, in the beautiful garden, experiencing every single one of them with a smile on his face.

  “Are you enjoying the view?” he heard his father speak from the side.

  Alhen looked at him, surprised that he had entered his mind.

  “Father, what is this?” he asked.

  His father didn’t answer, looking at him carefully. Alhen felt goosebumps being stared at by his father like that, and he couldn’t begin to understand why.

  “You, get out of my son,” his father said.

  Alhen didn’t understand what he was talking about until he felt something deep within him stir awake.

  It was a dark presence, something that shouldn’t exist, and shouldn’t be mingling with humans. It forced him to charge forward and attack his father.

  His hands wrapped around his father’s neck, but he didn’t seem to mind. Alhen squeezed with all his strength against his will, but nothing happened; his father didn't show a single sign that he was in pain.

  The darkness inside of him was mad; he could feel it. His father, after seconds of not moving, raised his hand and placed it on Alhen’s stomach.

  Whatever he did clearly bothered the thing inside of him, as the next second, a silhouette of darkness came out of his back, and he regained some of his bodily movements.

  Alhen looked behind him and saw the creature of darkness reaching out to touch him with its hands, desperately inching closer to take control of his body.

  His father grunted, and he turned his head to look at him. He saw blood flowing down his lips, but the look of determination on his face wasn’t extinguished.

  With a final push, he expelled the creature from Alhen’s body, and he returned to the hospital.

  Alhen breathed sharply, and the creature of darkness was in front of them for all to see.

  His mother, without wasting a second, went and held it still with her hands before his sister placed her open palm on the creature’s forehead.

  A bright yellow light came out of her palms, and the creature screeched without end, giving an agonized howl.

  Alhen covered his ears, which were overly sensitive at that moment, and watched as the creature slowly started fading out of existence.

  “W-What was that thing? And what happened?” he asked in bewilderment.

  Why did everyone seem to know what was happening except him? No one answered his question, and his sister Lena looked at him from the side before looking at his mother.

  “What should we do?” she asked her.

  “Of course, he can’t know anything. Do it,” her mother ordered.

  Without missing a beat, Lena’s hand detached from her body, being held together by a thin rope of light.

  She extended her hand towards Alhen’s direction, and before he could realize it, it had hit him, and the world went dark.

  Before he fully lost consciousness, however, he heard, "They are going to keep coming."

  “Ughh!” Alhen held the side of his head.

  He lay on the hard ground on his back, facing the bright crystals on the roof, which were starting to give him a headache.

  Before long, he heard footsteps approaching him, and Edith appeared in his vision, looking at him with a conflicted expression.

  She helped him up by holding his arm and lifting him to his feet. He almost lost balance and fell, but was able to hold on, albeit barely.

  “Graah!” he heard something sinister behind him, and that’s when he remembered that they were not alone.

  Turning around, he noticed that the creature’s gaze was fixed on him, but the strange thing was that it wasn’t looking at him; it was looking through him.

  ‘What happened after I lost consciousness? I can’t remember anything at all,’ he thought.

  Edith, from behind him, said, “You are very special indeed, creature.”

  Patreon Chapters have increased, will upload the one due today in a few hrs.