Blade Of Life Energy:The Outcasts

3

 Eric POV

He was following the man who made his way through the silent darkness of the night, having no intention of turning him in just yet, merely curious to see what he would do. In Eric's view, the man was a thief with a plan to take advantage of the banquet to rob the house, so he continued to watch him.

However, there was one thing he couldn't understand: why would a life energy user, moving like a shadow, engage in petty theft?

According to what he had heard, individuals capable of using life energy became extremely powerful, and they were commonly known as hunters.

Hunters were a large community that hunted monsters in the wild lands belonging to the Kingdom of Arkadia.

When Eric looked ahead again, he saw the man climbing through a window. He was very excited, but at the same time, he rather enjoyed the feeling, imagining himself as a true hunter.

For Eric, who lived a monotonous and boring life, even the simplest adventure felt like something wonderful. He pushed his thoughts aside; he needed to form a plan. His opponent was physically much stronger than him, so fighting him head-on would be sheer foolishness.

He quickly hurried back to the stable, gathered everything that could be of use, and returned to the mansion.

He had set up a perfect trap. Now, all he had to do was wait for his prey to come to him. Hunting was truly wonderful.

For the first time in years, he had found something that genuinely made him happy, and he felt a deep hunger—a hunger for the hunt.

After a long wait, the man in black emerged from the window carrying a massive sack on his back. He looked down at where he stepped and realized he had stepped on a piece of wood. Just as he was about to lift his foot, he noticed a light coming from ahead: a child sitting beside a newly lit fire. The man stood up and shouted, "Who are you?"

Panicking, he had to make a quick decision to silence the child; channeling energy into his legs, he shot toward his target like an arrow released from a bow.

When he looked down, he noticed a small obstacle, laughed, and said, "You think you're going to trap me with your tiny brain?", accelerating even more.

Realizing he had panicked, the man leaped over the obstacle, but as he rose, his head struck a wooden streetlamp pole.

This unexpected pain made thinking difficult for him; he wanted nothing more than to kill the child in front of him.

Just as he reached out to grab the child, he felt his foot catch on something, lost his balance, and crashed to the ground.

As he tried to get up, the ground began to collapse beneath him. The man tumbled deep into a gigantic pit, and as he regained consciousness, his eyes went straight to his foot.

The piece of wood he had stepped on was stuck to his foot, and he noticed a long, thin string running underneath it.

The pit was quite deep, at least five meters. His legs were extremely weak; having used too much life energy to run, his legs were now paralyzed.

Eric approached the edge of the pit with slow steps and began to laugh: "What terrible luck to fall into a newly dug water well.

And I can't believe you ran all the way dragging a string tied to your foot—are you an idiot?"

Furious, the man began to foam at the mouth: "Wait just a little longer, you vile snake; you'll see what I do when my strength returns."

Eric stopped laughing, causing the unaffected man to break into loud laughter: "Ah, so you like mind games? Then let me ask you a question.

What will you do now? By the time you bring people here, I'll be long gone, and then one day I'll come back and choke you in your sleep before you can even scream, ending your pathetic life without you ever realizing how it happened. What will you do, do you have a plan to kill me? Out in this empty land, what are you going to throw at me, grass? From what I gather, there's no one else around. My strength returning is just a matter of time,

and your time is running out. You shouldn't have bitten off more than you can chew," and he burst into delirious laughter.

Luck was on his side; the fearful and anxious expression on the child's face seemed to validate his words.

The look of anxiety vanished from Eric's face. He sat on the edge of the pit and said in a calm tone:

"You're soaking wet. Isn't it strange that there's water in a well only four meters deep?" Terror gripped the core of the man's heart. He dipped his hand into the water that reached his knees, sniffed it, and then raised his gaze toward the child waiting above him like certain death; the look on his face was terrifying.

Eric said with a serious voice, "Kerosene, right?", and stepped back.

The man began to scream: "No, don't do it! The girl in that sack will die with me too!"

Eric began to laugh: "Which sack? The one hanging above the pole?" The man looked around, but there was no sack. When he raised his eyes upward,

he noticed a burning piece of wood falling down. He tried to catch it with his hand, but the moment it touched him, his entire body was engulfed in flames, and the kerosene on the ground ignited right after, as if he had fallen straight into the heart of a burning hell.

The man's screams and writhing in agony delighted Eric. He stopped watching, walked to the base of the pole, and lowered the sack hanging from the hook.

When he opened the mouth of the sack to see the girl the man had spoken of, he found Hayne unconscious.

"Damn it, I wish I'd let him escape. Should I throw this one into the pit too? This fire is enough for two demons."

While pondering what to do, a much better idea struck him; he was the hero of this night, and heroes deserved a reward.

All he had to do now was wait for people to notice the situation and come out looking for him.

If he suddenly appeared before them and announced he had saved the daughter, they might not believe him. Even if they did, they might brush it off with a meager reward.

To get what he wanted, Fergus needed to fall into despair; he had to catch him at his weakest moment.

Noticing that Hayne was beginning to regain consciousness, Eric quickly delivered a strike with his fist to the back of her neck, rendering her unconscious once more.

Smiling, he said, "I've always wanted to do this. I'm sorry, beautiful lady, but I need you unconscious."

Before long, shouts and commotion from the mansion could be heard as they searched for her. For someone as devoted to his daughter as Fergus, this event was an absolute nightmare, with screams and curses echoing all over the house. Eric just had to wait a little longer.

Finally, the words he was waiting for spilled from Fergus's mouth: "Please, find my daughter, I beg you."

Eric considered begging over a girl like this to be an utter absurdity.

Eric began to shout: "I've caught her, come over here!", his voice echoing throughout the entire hall.

Hearing the voice, Fergus rushed past his men to reach Eric first, embraced his daughter, and began to cry with joy.

This surge of affection sickened Eric's stomach. Realizing his daughter was safe, Fergus shouted angrily, "Where is that ignorant fool? I'll gouge his eyes out of their sockets and cut off his head, where is he?"

When Eric pointed toward the pit, Fergus rushed to its edge and looked down. The bottom was practically a pit of fire; the man's burnt corpse was barely distinguishable, and even Fergus couldn't have devised a better method of punishment.

He came over and hugged Eric, saying, "Thank you," while the onlookers stood with their jaws dropped in disbelief.

A slave trader hugging a slave!

Deep down, Eric wanted to laugh for driving them to this state, and he rejoiced in his good fortune.

Fergus looked straight into his eyes with an utterly sincere expression on his face: "Tell me, young man, what do you want as a reward? I'll do whatever you ask."

At that moment, the mansion's physician arrived, checked Hayne's condition, and they carried her inside.

Shortly after, the guests departed for their homes; that adventure was quite enough for everyone.

Outside, only Fergus, a few of his men, and Eric remained.

Everyone was curious about what Eric would ask for. Fergus was in a state where he would accept even the wildest and strangest requests;

fear and grief had stripped away the veil of arrogance from his face.

Clearing his throat, Eric started the conversation: "Sir, I want you to know that you played a major part in this too. If you hadn't ordered that pit to be dug,

I don't know what I would have done. I didn't do this for a reward, but purely for the happiness of your family and your daughter.

How could I ever allow a shadow of sorrow to fall upon the happiness of a family like yours?"

Eric knew his flattering words had hit their mark.

"Nevertheless, if you are offering me a single wish, I ask that you grant freedom to me and my friend Kayn, and enroll us in the kingdom's best hunting academy..."