The Pillagers?

Ozul kept repeating his routine. He could not differentiate between day or night.

It was all the same for him.

So he never knew how much time had passed. Any sane person would go haywire with all this loneliness. But Ozul could never get enough of his dark surroundings.

He had seen that big source of light up in the sky when he was just a child. Honestly, he felt it quite annoying. Ozul would rather stay cooped up doing nothing. Instead of going under that annoying thing.

Ozul did not feel any weaker under the Sun, but it was just irritating as far as he could remember.

Time started flying.

Ozul may not know, but a year and two months had passed.

In between this period, Ozul noticed that the amount of the black mass that he could produce had increased ever so slightly. Albeit only a fraction of increment, he could now create something like an extra small needle.

Why would he need a needle?

His answer would be; What else can you make with this small quantity?

Nonetheless, Ozul was in a better mood after his discovery. Because he knew that he could increase the amount he can generate over time.

'Maybe there are other ways to increase the quantity of the black mass?' thought Ozul before shaking those random thoughts away. Whatever it may be, it was for the future. And the future was unpredictable. Ozul would not waste his time on these useless thoughts.

He had better things to do. Thinking is much more complicated than sleeping, and only an idiot would choose something complex over something so simple. And Ozul was no idiot! He kept his preferences straight and decided to sleep!

Even after being able to walk, Ozul never once tried to get out of the warehouse. It's just he never felt like doing it.

But after six years and a couple of months, things were not the same in the outside world.

Unknown to Ozul, his 'parts' had caused changes in some of the political positions of the kingdom. He had no visitors all this time, not because they were afraid of him. Though it may seem strange, It was because all the people who knew about him had already met their demise.

Ozul's father had arranged his loyal experts to set up a magical seal outside the warehouse. These types of magical seals were beneficial, but they were very delicate from the outside.

Even a child might break the seal from the outside if he messed up just a single rune!

———————————

Outside the warehouse, about fifty or so meters away, a group of people consisting of only men was marching towards it.

They looked haggard; some even had severe injuries. From appearances, all the men looked like typical thugs.

Abruptly, one of the seemingly short guys with no shirt excitedly ran towards a scar-faced guy.

"Boss! Boss Razor!" barked the half-naked man while some saliva dripped out of his mouth.

"What is it Now! If it is not something important, then don't blame me for feeding you to stray dogs, You toothless Bastard!"

The guy named Razor growled as he was quite annoyed already. He was the leader of these bandits. They had just escaped from a ferocious beast. Never had Razor seen death so near him.

He had fought many life and death battles, but just a look at that beast made his legs go numb. They had about one-third of their members killed before the monster became bored and just went away.

They were miserable after encountering that beast. Only less than fifty bandits had survived, and even all their loot got lost during their escape.

"Hehe... Boss! I sense something ahead! We might find someplace to stay!" replied the half-naked guy while cleaning his spit that flew all around.

Razor was thrilled, he had planned just to rest in an inn at the Azmar town, but it was still a bit far away! And not to mention that they were bandits, and always had to worry about the town guards recognizing them.

"It looks like we have used all our bad luck, brothers! They don't call us The Pillagers for nothing! We can recover our losses in a matter of days!"

Razor encouraged his group with a few words. He was a leader; after all, he couldn't just leave their mental state be.

All the surrounding thugs had their eyes lit up! With newfound strength, they advanced excitedly.

. . .

It took them less than a minute, and they could already see a worn-out barn-like warehouse surrounded by overgrown weeds but no signs of life nearby.

Some were disappointed due to the lack of quality. But mostly everyone just wanted to relax. The bandits had been on their nerves for the whole day, and it was quite taxing for their bodies.

They couldn't just rest out in the open; the forest was full of unforeseen dangers.

A place to stay was just what they needed right now, and they could make a do with some old warehouse. At least they'd have a roof over their heads

The bandits neared the warehouse. But due to the overgrown weeds and wild plants, No one noticed the old dusty runes drawn on the ground. They just stepped past the runes; some stretched the dirt with their feet.

Unknown to the bandits, they had removed many of the runes, which caused the magical seal to finally break but not before flashing a bright light and creating some air fluctuations!

All the runes began to disintegrate into thin air!

This scene confused all the men. The bandits' leader Razor was the only person who could discern that it was some kind of seal.

He explained it to everyone here, making everyone wary of the warehouse. You only put something troublesome inside a magical seal! They were bandits but at least had common sense.

"Should we check it out, Boss?" Asked the same half-naked man seemingly cautious of advancing any further.

"Hmm... The seal already came undone. I don't think there is any problem with just taking a look. Besides, If something dangerous was sealed here, there should have been some people at guard, no?" replied Razor after giving it some thought. He also did not want to walk another couple of miles.

All the men agreed as everyone lacked rest, and this warehouse was their best option.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Razor ordered two of the burly men to go ahead and open the gate.

The two were also worried about any possible dangers but obeyed Razor nonetheless and just removed the gate with brute force. After removing the big door, they quickly ran back to the group, not even taking a peek inside.

They won't take any chances with their lives. They were not alone, as no sane person would gamble on their own life.