Have Free Will
On the western side of the duchy was a thin forest that stretches for miles away, bordering an elven territory. Eid spends most of his time here because of the serenity of the place and the privacy it brings for such an open space.
Most people think Eid wastes a lot of time there by lazing around. It would not be their fault to think this way since the person himself planned this to be his image from the start. He doesn't want the word of him training himself to reach the King of the Iron Kingdom.
Eid was aware of how paranoid the King was against him even when he was just a child...
The afternoon had arrived, and Eid had finished exploring his first Gift. It was exhilarating, to say the least.
At first, he wasn't used to throwing strings without a needle or effort. The first thing he noticed was how much energy this Gift saves for him. He would be able to do more while still using his string techniques to their optimum!
Not just that but the strings are considered to be a Jade Rank. This meant that the strings themselves are considered as an Imbued by Arin.
Imbueds are split into ranks. Because Imbueds are made with spirit crystals, they are ranked by what kind of crystal they were made from.
Spirit crystals are just the general terms used by the lay people. The irony was that jade is not technically a crystal but when most people speak of spirit crystal, they speak of jade since it's the most common.
This irony was only allowed to happen because crystals seemed to have the ability to store energy that can be used for many different things such as imbuing, and jade was found to be able to store energy as well, making many consider it as a crystal.
Jade is rare, but compared to other spirit crystals, it fails to compare. Other spirit crystals can store more energy and release it in bigger bursts than jade, making them highly in demand by different kinds of people.
However, albeit being the most common, having a thumb-sized polished jade is already worth around 10,000 cennies. This amount of money could feed a family full for a few months.
Meaning, the strings that Eid could use now are stronger than before since it is on the same level as a Jade-rank Imbued. This is only talking about the string itself and its physical properties. But the fact that it can be conveniently summoned out of anywhere within 1 meter of his reach would make it a rank higher in his opinion.
Not just that but it can be controlled within the 10-meter reach. Eid is no longer restrained with one bending trajectory. With this, the possibilities are endless!
Eid couldn't help but foolishly laugh by himself.
Thinking that he had done enough for the day, he went to his favorite spot where the scenery just hits the spot in the shade of a tree. At the same time, Ner could be seen running to him before jumping onto his stomach.
"Eid!"
It's Eid's birthday celebration today and he already knows why Ner is here.
"Teacher Erles asked why you didn't attend his tutoring again!"
After Eid shrugged his shoulders, the scene last year repeated. When they returned to their house, he was "surprised" by his family again.
They repeat this, again and again. Only a brain-dead person would not see this coming. But, every time they do this, Eid tears up.
Maybe this is why they kept throwing a surprise at him. How can a person be so grateful that they would cry at the same thing every year?
Maybe only Eid would know the answer. Every time they threw lavish parties at him, memories of when his mother giving him confectionery as a gift would resurface. He misses her and wonders how happy she would be if she saw this scene.
'I will forever cherish these memories.' he said to himself and that thought would always get him to tear up no matter how much he prepares himself.
Furthermore, everyone received the news that Eid didn't unlock the connection, so they went for the extra mile to cheer him up, making this a better year than before. Along the lines, the annual Ner versus Toko occurred as predicted...
Before the golden hour strikes, the curtains covered the windows of the venue and all eyes fell on the organic piano at the front. A convenient window opposite to it was opened, putting the piano under a spotlight. Sitting in front of it was Ner. For her gift, she decided to play a song for her brother.
When Ner began, she played the wrong note in the very beginning out of nervousness, making everyone giggle and her pout. Despite this, she continued with the play. She didn't stop making mistakes, but her piece was still something that captured the crowd's attention.
At the end of it, they clapped and cheered for her. Ner looked and saw her brother's face filled with tears and snot with an ugly expression. After that, Ner called Eid crybaby many times.
When the dusk was about to settle and the night watch guards began waking up, the celebration ended.
Before going back to his room, Eid brought Toko outside for a walk. Toko didn't know why they were outside, but she didn't say anything, feeling that Eid wanted to talk about something.
When they got to the place where he always spends his time alone, he finally spoke.
"You haven't seen my Gift, right?"
Toko replied with an enthusiastic nod.
Just as Eid spoke, a creature came out of the shadows. Upon seeing the creature, Toko, who had seen these creatures countless times before, couldn't help but shiver with disgust.
The creature was a deer. However, with the dusk already settled, no one would be able to find a single normal animal out in the darkness. This deer was possessed by a ghoul like all the others. An eerie human-like face with a huge grin could be seen pulsating from the side of the poor deer's face while its original face turned ugly with saliva dripping from its mouth. Limping toward their direction, eventually, the possessed deer spotted them.
Possessed creatures are bloodthirsty and destructive in nature. They were born in Deiterra with two and only two objectives: to kill and to consume. Horus, the Evil Demigod of Death, made them this way.
Thus, when it saw them, it went into a frenzy, and screeched.
Skrii------!*
Toko flinched back from the despicable creature. A creature with one face of a ghoul on its body is simply classified as a one-faced possessed. One-faced possessed creatures are harmful to the ungifted and weak gifted. What makes even the weakest possessed creatures dangerous is that they would attack unprovoked and would do whatever it takes to cause harm as much as possible to their target in the hope of death. Ungifted humans stood little chance against them.
Upon killing their target, there is a probability that the possessed creature would consume the soul of the target and a new face would emerge from its body, making one-faced possessed into two-faced. Their strength would increase with every consumption.
A five-faced possessed could kill a veteran Tier 1 Fighter while a ten-faced possessed could terrorize a whole village. A twenty-faced possessed could bite Daras' head off. A thirty-faced possessed could contend with a Priest.
Fortunately, with human carefulness, no possessed creatures with more than three faces could be seen near human settlements, posing them little to no danger.
That's why the first possessed creature they saw is one-faced and that's also why Eid's strings easily snapped this creature's head off before it could reach them.
Toko's eyes widened and was about to open her mouth to show awe but then, the night had revealed its true horror when several more possessed creatures showed themselves from the dark. Although most are one-faced, some are two-faced while there are a few three-faced possessed creatures. The kind of animals they originally were varies. Many are deer but there were also birds, wolves, reptiles, bugs, and more.
Eid didn't look back to speak. These creatures all went into a frenzy and charge at them with no regard for others. Toko readied her pair of daggers. Together with Eid, both of them slaughtered these despicable creatures one after another.
Toko's eyes couldn't help but glance at Eid's figure from time to time.
'So beautiful,' she thought.
Eid would dominate the battlefield with his strings strangling most of the creatures and him seamlessly cutting through them with his long dagger. This is one of the many perks of his Gift, his hands could now do other things than throw needles.
Furthermore, with how much control Eid has over his Gift, it didn't seem like he just received it last night. Blood of the possessed would spiral outward under the shine of the moonlight. Every time Eid's dagger flickered, another creature would onto the ground with its foul face slashed in half and in pain.
When they killed ten possessed creatures, ten would come and another ten followed. This is the true terror of the night. Any normal Tier 1 would've long drowned in the sea of evil, feasted on to become another damned ghoul, adding an ugly face onto one of these beasts. However, this duo was far from normal. Toko wasn't even a Tier 1 Fighter. Her sixteenth birthday was thought to come in the next month...
After an hour or so and after hundreds of possessed creatures were killed, Eid and Toko finally rested on each other's back, trying to catch their breath.
Moments later, Eid laughed.
"This is the first time we wiped off an entire horde of possessed creatures within a vicinity. Usually, we would get too tired before running off."
Toko sweetly smiled, "It's because of Young Master's strength. Young Master is unstoppable."
"You're exaggerating again."
Toko didn't know to reply as she replied honestly. After that, there was a brief silence. This silence was far from awkward. They enjoyed each other's company even in silence
Toko even wished that this would last forever. Thinking about this, she blushed.
But after a while, Eid finally broke the silence.
"The reason why I brought you out here is to speak with you about something."
Toko nodded and while both of their backs are still facing one another, Eid continued and told her about his plan to go to the capital and assassinate the King of the Iron Kingdom.
Hearing this made Toko's eyes bright. She knew how Eid had longed for the death of the king. Finally, Young Master would fulfill his desire... she thought and imagined going through many obstacles with her young master. Toko would do everything to support her young master until they reach the throne room and kill the king. How she loved that thought.
But unfortunately for her...
"Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, I'll start to travel. With me gone, I want you to take my place and look out of our home..."
Toko's breathing suddenly stopped. She's not going along?
Eid had a dark expression. He's not oblivious to Toko's feelings in wanting to protect and be with him. He understands that the most. However, unless Toko can say no to him; unless she stops treating him only as her Young Master, Eid could never bring her with him.
He didn't like the idea of bringing a "slave" with him on this dangerous path. Eid wants her to have her own free will, to consider her own desires over his.
Eid was guilty of the thought that his own existence caged Toko. He had given her so many options before, but she still chooses to stay with him.
'Ever since I saved her from the hands of the bandits, Toko had always felt obligated to serve me. How can I tell her that she had already given me enough?'
Eid waited for Toko to say something- to say that she wanted to come along even though she would leave the Rohde Household and even though she would go against her Young Master's orders.
However, no matter how much time passes, no words came out of her moubmth...