Prologue

Black clouds covered the sky, adding a somber darkness to this night. The sound of raindrops could be heard clearly on the rooftop, occasionally accompanied by the rumble of thunder. The temperature dropped, signaling the lateness of the hour.

In a modest house with walls and floors made of wooden planks, I stood frozen with a sense of chaos. Tears might have fallen, but I still felt uncertain about it. One thing was certain, though: my mouth felt frozen, unable to speak.

Two young men could be seen each holding a blood-stained sword. Right in front of them lay the lifeless bodies of a man and a woman, also covered in blood. The situation was tense, making me almost forget to breathe.

The young man with long hair that covered one of his eyes, although it could still be seen that his right eye, which was blue, glowed in the darkness, said, "So, it's you, Ars?" He paused for a moment. "I'm sorry, but the Beast of our parents is only enough for me and Philiph."

"Big Brother Nick is right," said the other young man with short hair and a right eye that also glowed blue. "You're too late, Ars. Besides, the lives of our parents are only enough to exchange for one Beast each."

I could only remain silent, unable to respond. My legs grew weak and gave way as my two brothers left the room. I had known that someday this would happen, but I still couldn't accept the reality that today would truly arrive.

Slowly, disregarding the supposed cold temperature, my eyes closed, and my vision turned black as I fell. A heavy heart and a confused mind drained my energy so quickly that my consciousness vanished, swallowed by darkness.

***

"It feels terrifying to remember what happened that night," I murmured softly as I opened my eyes. Before me, a view of dense trees beneath the cliff where I was sitting now came into sight. "By the way, Neville, where do you think we should search next? Somehow, I feel like I've run out of ideas."

The young man with a scar on his left cheek, sitting next to me, replied, "I don't have any ideas either, especially since we currently have no clues whatsoever. So, what do you expect us to find, Ars?"

I sighed heavily. "I hate to admit it, but this time you're right. We don't have any clues, so how can we go searching?"

"Then what do we do now?"

"What else but continuing searching for clues?" I stood up and stretched my back. "However, there's no one we can ask inside this forest. Unless we can speak the language of animals, that would be a different story."

"So, what's the conclusion?"

"Isn't it clear? We have to go to a village or town to gather useful information. Although I personally think it would be much better if we could directly arrive in a city rather than a village."

Neville also stood up after hearing my answer. "In that case, it's decided that our current objective is to go to the city to gather information, right..."

I walked slowly towards our destination. "It would be even better if we could find a job and earn a salary, so we can have slightly better food. Huh..."

"Have you given up on chasing your brothers?" Neville asked, slightly sarcastic.

"Of course not! They are my main course!"