Burial

Continuing his search for a shovel, Adam found something close enough and headed towards the village centre, which had an open area that brought back memories. Remembering all the children running around and the small stalls selling treats brought back a feeling of melancholy as he began digging away at the snow-covered land.

Whoosh! Swish! Swoosh!

In absolute silence, the white-haired youth with his left eye covered dug away for hours without stopping, his hair dancing about in the fierce winds. He couldn't tell how much time had passed, and if one were to look into his only visible dark eye, they would think that he was devoid of emotion.

But that wasn't far from the truth.

Moving on was all he could do and dwelling on the past would only bring him pain that was much more difficult to endure than any physical pain he had experienced.

-

With his hands bleeding and torn apart after all the digging he had done and also from previously being cut by shards of glass, Adam didn't show any signs of being in pain. And after digging a hole that he believed was large enough, he climbed out of it and began gathering anything left of the bodies of the villagers.

After being killed in gruesome ways by the Hyena Bandits, and then having the life sucked out of them by the Asura Eye, all that was left was skin and bones that had been gnawed on by all sorts of beasts during the night. However, he still wanted to give them some sort of burial and thoroughly searched around the village to gather all the remains of the villagers.

Then, placing them in the hole he had dug as respectfully as he possibly could, given the circumstances and time constraints, he began covering all the remains of the villagers. It was the only thing he could do for them. Meanwhile, their bodies were unrecognisable and could barely be considered corpses, so there was no point in burying them separately. To add to that, time was of the essence, and Adam didn't want to waste his day, wanting to leave the area as soon as he could. So he worked as quickly as possible, worried about who or what else might show up if he lingered in the area.

-

Panting, Adam was sweating profusely and his arms were aching after he had finished burying all the villagers in the village centre. Since it had taken him so long to do so, the hunters from the Acomb village had regained consciousness.

However, it had been quite a while since they had gotten up and none of them dared to approach Adam. They were too frightened to do so and, after sensing them getting up, Adam merely pointed his blade at them as a warning.

The next time they attacked him, he wasn't planning on letting them off the hook so leniently.

But that still wasn't enough to get them to back off completely, and they stood there and watched the white-haired man before them bury and pay his respects to the deceased villagers.

-

"Is he really a bandit?"

"Yeah, if he was, he would have killed us. And why did he bury the villagers?"

"I'm not sure, but doesn't he look kinda like that kid?"

"What kid?"

"The skinny white-haired kid that came over to our village yesterday to trade."

"Hmmm... Now that you mention it..."

The more they watched Adam and thought about how unusual his actions were, the more it sank in.

"Just what the hell happened here and how did he change so much?!"

"Well, whatever it is, it's not our business."

"That kid gave off creepy vibes yesterday. Now look at him. He's basically a monster."

"Hey! That kid spared your life, so don't jump to conclusions so quickly. Let's just head back to the village," the leader of the small hunting group scolded his subordinate before dragging the hunting group away.

The 6 of them all had mixed emotions and felt fear, anger and pity towards the white-haired youth, but it was evident that they had no chance against him in combat, so all they could do was head back.

'It's a good thing they didn't try to mess with me again. I'm really struggling to keep this eye of mine under control,' Adam thought to himself as he watched them head off before heading back over to his mother's corpse.

He felt a continuous thirst for blood and it was as if his body was itching to let loose. However, he managed to remain calm and in control as much as he could, not wanting there to be any more deaths.

At least not for the time being, as he began digging a hole near his mother's corpse, wanting to give her the most dignified burial possible. He gently placed her body in after he had dug a deep enough hole for her body. He then placed her severed head in a position that hid the fact that it had been cut off.

Which was not the easiest thing to do as he tried his best to suppress the tears that were gradually welling up in his eyes.

"I'll live on, mother. I'll become strong and get revenge for you and the others, and I'll make you proud. Just watch over me with Lily," were Adam's last words to his mother before covering her corpse with dirt.

After he had finished, he felt more comfortable moving on as he clutched Lily's necklace that he tied around his wrist as a bracelet to always remember her.

"I guess it's finally time to get out of here," he mumbled to himself before preparing to head off deeper into the mountains.

He didn't have time to sit around or wallow in sadness.

It was time to act, and he had a few things in mind that he wanted to accomplish.

Finding a suitable shelter that he could use, finding a suitable food source and also finding information about the Hyena Bandits. The last could wait, as although he wanted nothing more than to slaughter every single one of them in the most gruesome ways possible, he knew his own limits.

If that bandit he had killed didn't underestimate him and were to fight him as he was now, he knew he would struggle without using the Asura Eye. He would need time to recover after using his left eye, which was not a pleasant experience.

Knowing that, Adam wanted to take some time to grow stronger and prepare thoroughly.

And assuming that the Hyena Bandit Crew was made up of bandits much stronger than the one he had faced, he had a long way to go.

"I won't rush this process. I'll make sure to enjoy every second of it and grant the souls of the bandits' victims rest by slaying every single one of them."

With that, Adam had made up his mind.

The only thing left to do before he set off from the Linley Mountainside was talk to Luna and find out everything he could about the Ninja System and Asura Eye.