Not a Human

Oblivious to what's happening outside since Alvin's family's house is located near the edge of the small town near the wall, they are currently holding a bountiful dinner as thanks to Mathias for helping Alvin get back safely.

It was not much, but Alvin's wife roasted some deer meat for them, a luxury for Alvin's family.

Living in such a small town there are not many hunters here, meat is a rarity and needs to be hunted as this town is self-sufficient without the help of other towns or cities. Although they are still under the rule of the Silerin Kingdom and need to answer to his majesty.

With the roasted meat, the four of them eat together smoothly without any hiccups.

Faran and Mathias didn't tell about the trouble they had with Luke and his friends earlier, there's no need to ruin the happy mood of the dinner. Despite enjoying the roasted meat, Faran steals a couple of glances at Mathias finding him rather quiet.

Not that he's a talkative person, but he kept silent and reply shortly throughout the dinner.

After Alvin and his wife thanked him properly through the dinner and also thanked him through words, Mathias went back to his room accompanied by Alvin and also said his thanks for the hefty dinner they prepared for him.

It must've been quite expensive for them to buy the meat which he feels undeserving for.

"Go sleep early, we'll go tomorrow at dawn so you can get the first wagon to the Avoerean Kingdom. We'll need to go to Khosa City for the wagon, If we're late then it'll be crowded", Alvin said before stopping just by the door.

Upon hearing this, Mathais nodded his head before getting inside his room.

But just when the door of his room was about to be closed, Alvin stepped his foot in to stop the door and looks at Mathias weirdly, "Are you okay, Mathias? Are you perhaps sick or something?", he asks finding that Mathias is acting weirdly.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired from the sightseeing", Mathias smiles lightly and shakes his head,

Albeit still unsure of the answer he was given, Alvin nodded his head before pulling his foot away. With that Mathias closed the door shut, he then wanted to sit on the bed but find himself pacing around the room while looking at the wooden ground absent-mindedly.

'It's getting stronger... I'm kinda scared of what's happening to me'

Even throughout the dinner, the uneasy feeling keeps getting stronger over time.

It was unbearable right now as he can't even sit still.

Mathias can feel it clearly within in, it's like something wanting to come out from within but he doesn't know what it is, and the feeling of not knowing is killing him right now. But a moment later, he saw a figure through the window who is sticking to the house wall.

Looking at the figure, he realized that it was Faran signaling for him to come out.

Upon seeing this Mathias frowned before he heads out silently not intending to alert Alvin and his wife in their room, he walks out the front door before going to the side of the house where Faran is waiting for him.

"What are you doing outside?"

"Just come with me for a second, I wanted to show you something"

Although a bit skeptical since Faran is heading back into the forest in the middle of the night, Mathias doesn't have any choice but to follow him. It's dangerous to be inside the forest alone, and two people are better than one.

Sticking close to Faran who seems to be heading somewhere, he's still looking around warily.

Mathias doesn't know where Faran is taking him but the path is cramped and they even need to ascend a slope which is quite difficult as the ground is damp and slippery. But then he stopped for a moment and glanced to the side with a frown.

Sniffing a couple of times, he then said, "Am I the only one smelling this? I smell something rotten"

"Don't worry about it, probably just a dead animal!", Faran replied without stopping.

Even though he knows that this rotting scent is a bit different from the scent given by an animal's corpse, he decided to not dwindle for too long regarding the rotten scent as it might be a dead Supernatural that got stranded here.

Mathias kept walking again before the both of them finally reaches a place that takes his breath away, a place that he didn't expect Faran to bring him to at all. It completely caught him off-guard.

It was an open place, turns out Faran brought him beside a pretty tall waterfall.

According to the map he gained from one of the Black Ardent Mages, this waterfall should be near the end of the forest which will lead to Khosa City. Now it makes sense that they need almost more than twenty minutes to reach here at a medium pace.

But seeing the sight of the entire forest from the top of the waterfall, it was all worth it.

"Such a beautiful scenery...", Mathias murmurs silently.

From the top of the waterfall, he can see the tall trees as far as the eyes can see along with the night birds that are active, fireflies also light up the place around them like a beautiful lantern provided by nature herself.

"Cool, right? I usually come here when I need some time alone", Faran said with a smile.

Upon hearing this Mathias can't help but nodded his head, this is by far the most beautiful scenery that he has seen ever since he got reincarnated here, or even anything that he has seen in his previous world.

It's simply a sight to behold.

A moment later,

Mathias and Faran are sitting on the edge of the cliff, hanging their feet while enjoying the night breeze that is refreshing. But then Faran suddenly said without even looking at him, "I wanted to thank you for standing up to me earlier with Luke, it's been a long time since I've felt someone having my back"

"Don't worry about it, I've met many people like that back in my world", Mathias replied softly.

But this makes Faran frown as he was questioning his hearing, "Your world?"

"I-I mean my home city in the Avorean Kingdom. Believe it or not, there are many people like that there", Mathias quickly replied, trying to hide the fact that he has mistakenly said something wrong.

Not that it would matter though, it's just a bit weird if Faran knew he was not from this world.

"Usually my brother always has my back, but now he's gone..."

"Is it recent?"

"Yeah, about a week ago. My brother was hunting, but he never came back again, we can't even recover his corpse. Supernaturals or strong animals probably got him, it's common here to lose someone in the forest during the mating season"

"Luke knows this and he started bullying me knowing that my brother is gone, he's also a mage"

Uncovering the truth about his brother, Faran's mood becomes gloomy as a single tear roll down.

Mathias on the other hand knows exactly how he feels as he just lost his sister technically yesterday, and the feeling is still so strong now. With that both of them dwell in their sadness in silence, accompanied by the nightly sounds.

As the both of them sat in silence, Faran suddenly takes out a piece of cloth.

"I've always brought this with me, it's my brother's, what's left of him we found at least", he mutters while showing Mathias a piece of torn cloth that has a bloodstain on it, and for some reason, Mathias smelled something weird.

Noticing the smell, Mathias then asks, "Can I hold it for a second?"

"Sure, what are you going to do with it?", Faran replied, giving him the piece of cloth.

Taking the piece of cloth from Faran, he then leans his face closer to sniff it a bit. Of course, Faran was weirded out by this but Mathias then said, "Weird, this scent is familiar... are you sure this is your brother's?"

"Yes, I know what he wears last before h-"

Just before Faran can finish his sentence, Mathias pushed him to the side, "Look out!"

Swish!

Mathias pushed Faran right on time as an arrow flew past them, missing Faran just by a hair's length. Upon realizing that it was an arrow, Mathias looks back before he slowly stood up with a darkened look, "Are you that petty to actually try to kill us...?", he said whisperingly.

From the darkness outcomes three figures wearing all-black outfits, almost like a ninja.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out who these three figures are, they are clearly Luke and his goons that for some reason bore hatred due to the incident earlier, "I'm surprised you managed to sense us, that's one heck of an instinct if I might say"

"And for the record, we're not petty. We're just teaching peasants like you a lesson...", he added.

Upon looking at Luke and his friend, Mathias frowned for a bit before his eyes widen in realization, he clenched both of his fists in anger as he glares at them, "You... You're the ones that killed Faran's brother aren't you?"

"Is that true?! Did you kill my brother?!", Faran quickly eyes with his eyes wide open.

As if he was not afraid of being caught, Luke laughs out loud alongside his friends.

Looking at the pair that somehow manage to suspect him of being the one that killed Faran's brother, Luke didn't bother hiding his evil deeds, "Quite sharp and yes, I'm the one that killed him. Well technically my dagger is the one that killed him for being impudent by surpassing me despite being a mere peasant"

Just as the both of them heard that two wild reactions happened.

Faran broke down in tears and covers his mouth realizing that his brother was killed by Luke, not the Supernaturals or animals residing in the forest. On the other hand, Mathias's eyes bulged as the anger within him sparked like wildfire.

It completely overwhelms his mind and erases the easiness he was feeling right now.

Back then he managed to try and suppress his anger but this time he wasn't able to, the anger is simply too much for him to deal with. In his mind, he imagined that it was his sister that got killed, and that puts his anger to a higher reach.

The moment is also right as Faran just told Mathias about his father, and even cries for a bit.

Sensing some changes from Mathias who is looking down to the ground with his fists clenched, Luke and his friends feel their instinct kick in. It surprises them how much Mathias's bearing puts fear into them.

"W-Wait, h-his eyes...!"

"Something is wrong, he's not right!"

Both of Luke's friends commented upon seeing Mathias's eyes that are glowing bright yellow.

Even though he's clearly a person, the feeling his eyes gave was akin to the feeling of being gazed at by a feral beast that is ready to tear them apart. It was terrifying enough to force Luke to use his ability and create a ball of fire in front of him.

From the fireball, it was clear that Luke has an affinity for the fire element.

Mathias kept on glaring at Luke ferociously, not minding about the fireball at all. But the last nail was hammered into the coffin when Luke saw that Mathias's human fangs starting to elongate, turning into sharp fangs that belong only to beasts.

Just as he stumbles back in fear, his eyes widened as a shiver runs down his spine.

It happened in the blink of an eye, but Mathias completely vanished from his spot which caught the three severely off guard as he already closed in the distance swiftly like a ghost in the night which induce terror inside their hearts.

'W-What the hell is he?! He's not a human!!'