Blade Of Life Energy:The Outcasts

4

Chapter 4

Eric POV

Fergus was quite surprised by what he heard. Fulfilling this request wasn't a problem for him, but to become a hunter, one needed to be able to use life energy, and such individuals came from specific bloodlines. The probability of a commoner possessing such a talent was one in 100,000.

Despite knowing this probability, Eric trusted his luck. Or rather, a gut feeling deep inside told him so. His instincts had never failed him up to this day.

With a surprised expression, Fergus asked, "Are you sure about this? Is there anyone in either of your bloodlines capable of becoming a hunter?"

Stepping in, Eric replied, "At least I want to try. If it doesn't work out, you can send my friend and me to another country, right?"

Fergus found this idea smart; either way, the children would benefit, and he would come out ahead.

Looking at Eric, Fergus said, "Alright, that works for me. Now go get some rest; I'll send you and your friend to the academy trials in 2 weeks."

Hearing this, Eric wanted to shout with joy, though he tried not to show it.

As he bowed to Fergus and turned to head back to the hut, another idea struck him. Turning back, he asked, "Sir, instead of the hut, can I sleep in the stable?"

Fergus nodded in agreement. Just as Eric turned around to leave, they were startled by the sound of applause coming from behind. Everyone abruptly turned around to look; an imposing, tall man was walking toward them, clapping his hands.

Fergus recognized this man; he was Sadan, the director of the hunting academy.

Sadan stopped clapping, looked at Fergus, and said in a polite tone, "Good evening, Lord Fergus. I thought I was late for the banquet, but it seems I arrived right on time. If you'll allow me, I'd like to speak with our new candidate myself."

With a surprised look, Fergus said, "Alright," and taking his men with him, he hurried back to his daughter's side. Sadan began examining the boy. He was a skinny, black-haired, brown-eyed, quite ordinary child; there was no glimmer of light, desire, or sign of willpower in his gaze.

"I heard you became the hero of tonight. Can you tell me what happened here, how you managed this, did you have a plan, or were you just lucky?"

Taking a deep breath, Eric began, "I first noticed the man while he was moving through the darkness of the night. From his movements, it was clear he was a life energy user."

Looking surprised, Sadan asked, "So you mean a hunter? You captured a hunter?"

Eric continued speaking, "I suppose so, as I said. Then I followed him, and once he entered your mansion, an opportunity presented itself to me. I started thinking; I thought about setting a trap right in front of the window he would exit from, but then I changed my mind."

Sadan asked, "Why did you change your mind?"

Eric explained, "As you know, a hunter's senses are superhuman, and since he was already doing something risky, he would pay attention to everything. So, I lit a fire 100 meters ahead of him. As you know, lighting a light at night illuminates its surroundings, but the areas the light cannot reach become darker than before. By doing this, I actually narrowed his field of vision, forcing him to focus all his attention on me. I placed a sticky piece of wood tied to a string right where he would step. Just as he noticed the wood and was about to remove it, I drew his attention to myself. He forgot about the wood on his foot and started running toward me; he had panicked."

He pointed to the streetlamp pole and the obstacle ahead of him. "I needed to bait him a bit; he had to think he was falling for it. He took the small obstacle for a trap and jumped over it, hitting his head on the pole. Unbeknownst to him, the sack carrying the girl on his back got caught on a hook. Because he was angry, he stopped thinking rationally, and walked right into my final trap."

"First, thanks to the string tied to the piece of wood on his foot, he tripped and fell to the ground, and then he tumbled straight into the hidden pit I had prepared. I knew he could get out of there without much difficulty. That's why I filled the pit with kerosene and set it on fire immediately after he fell, burning him."

Looking with curious eyes, Sadan asked, "Well, did you hesitate at all while killing him?"

With a serious tone, Eric answered, "He was my prey. If I had hesitated, the one lying dead right now would be me."

Looking at him again, Sadan said, "Then I want to ask you one last question: why didn't you inform anyone when you saw him?"

With self-assurance, Eric replied, "I think you know the answer to that better than I do."

Sadan was taken aback by the child, who was far too smart for his age.

He stood up, saying, "Alright, see you in 2 weeks. I'll be waiting for you at the academy," turned around, and walked back to the mansion.

Eric couldn't believe the events of the single day; good fortune had dropped right into his lap from the skies. While rejoicing for himself, he was also relieved for his friend. Kayn was a good kid, even if a bit foolish. He had helped Eric most of the time. He hadn't saved him out of pure charity; he simply didn't want to owe anyone a debt, and someone he knew could help him at the academy.

Stopping his thoughts, he set off toward the stable. Being able to sleep in a larger and quieter place after all those years made Eric happy. He was certain that if he was accepted into the academy, the conditions would be much better than this. Arriving at the stable, he piled up some straw against the wall and threw a cover over it.

Leaning back, he breathed in the scent of the summer night, listened to the sound of the wind, and began to dream. He thought of the exciting adventures awaiting him in the future. Drowsiness enveloped his entire body; he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, in a desolate valley gazing at the same sky, an old man shouted like a madman, "Finally, finally!" He woke up his companion, who was just as old: "Wake up and look at the stars, the sky is the exact same as it was 100,000 years ago. The heavens have sent us a message, just like our master said."

The awakened old man turned to his companion and said, "It's time to set off. Damn it, I'm too old for this."

"Stop whining and tell me the code."

"Easy for you to say, I forgot the code years ago."

Shouting, the old man yelled, "What did you do? How could you forget the code? Then how are we going to get out of here, tell me?"

"Alright, alright, stop shouting. I remember now, I wrote the code on a piece of paper so I wouldn't forget it; it should be under this stone."

The old man lifted the stone, took the paper from beneath it, and began to read:

Neither did I find the light, nor did I remain in darkness. I waited in a desolate valley for my time to come. Heavens be witness, earth be witness, my time to set off has arrived. May the fair-faced moon show us the way."

The moon shone and illuminated their path. The two companions began walking along the enlightened road. As they walked, they chatted with one another. One said to the other, "100,000 years passed so quickly, I hadn't even gotten used to this place yet."

The other replied, "That's exactly why we came here; this valley where time stands still sent us into the future."

When the two reached the end of the road, they found themselves inside a forest; they had finally escaped the dark valley.

The old man turned to his companion and said, "Well, it's time for us to part ways. If you find someone who is worthy, get in touch with me, and try to be careful and gather information about the current state of the world."

"I'm quite excited, the world is going to be thrown into chaos once again."

The other looked at him and said, "Yes, you're right, we're going to have a lot of fun."

"What do you think the outcome of the war will be?"

"To be honest, I don't know that myself."

For the sake of old times, the two embraced one another one last time and parted ways.

Running through the corridors of the Arkadia Palace, an old man was heading toward the king's hall. He pushed open the massive doors with all his might and entered. The people in the hall looked at him with curious eyes. The old man tripped, tumbled on the floor, then quickly got up and rushed to the king's side.

Seeing the terror in the wizard's eyes, the king understood the gravity of the situation. He quickly ordered everyone in the hall to step outside, rushed over to the out-of-breath wizard, and asked, "What happened, tell me quickly!"

The old wizard tried to catch his breath and pull himself together, and managed to let out these two sentences:

"THE HARBINGERS OF CHAOS HAVE SET OUT. THEY ARE LOOKING FOR HIM........"