Chapter 27 - A painful tale (Part 2)

Tense silence ensued between the two figures sitting around the dining table. Lucien looked at the blonde woman with an unreadable, conflicted expression for several, arduously long seconds before he coldly spoke.

"I see. Continue."

Listening to the boy's once again cold, distant tone, Sera could only swallow the emerging pain from her heart and nod to continue as instructed.

"Whilst there still a lot we could discuss, let's leave the history lesson be for now, and instead let's get to your second question, the 'where'."

She took only a momentary pause before she resumed.

"This is a safe place. Here they can't find you. It's actually not that easy to explain…" She sighed as the wry smile returned to her face.

"We are still in New York state, but, at the same time, we are not. This is a place that we call a 'Sanctuary'. A hidden piece of land only accessible through special means."

Lucien raised an eyebrow upon listening to her weird explanation.

"What do you mean? What is a Sanctuary?"

"Hmm… It's kind of hard to explain… Let me show it to you instead. It would be better that way!" Sera stood up, waving at Lucien to follow along as she walked towards the door at the right end of the room.

"Come, let me show you!" She smiled at him warmly, hoping that she could once again, quell his anger and cross the chasm that once again appeared between the two.

With the boy following behind her, she swiftly approached the wooden door, and pushed it open, revealing a beautiful, idyllic sight for the duo to see.

As Lucien stepped out to the small terrace, he instantly turned wide-eyed from the scene that unfolded before him!

They were supposedly at the center of a lush, vibrant emerald green meadow somewhere inside an unknown forest biome. An interesting mixture of trees surrounded their little piece of heaven: oak, cherry, and beech. A lone big and wide willow tree perched behind the cozy wooden cabin, its large canopy providing a constant cool, and refreshing shadow to the cabin's residents.

He could hear a literal concert of all the chirps from a heavy mixture of birds from the distance. Even without asking, he was fairly certain that this place was rich with wildlife, and an abundance of species lived in this little slice of serene, tranquil land.

The sky was light blue, clear of any clouds, he could see the bright orange sun proudly standing atop the world, his omniscient rays reaching even to this supposedly hidden place.

As he took a long breath of fresh air in, he felt the same crystal clear quality that he ignored before. It was clean, devoid of any pollution.

Lucien took several long minutes before he managed to calm his senses. Even then, he could only blurt out a single word to voice his deep-seated astonishment.

"Incredible…" He mumbled, from which he only received a light chuckle from his side.

"It is, isn't it?" She added with a bright smile on her face. She walked towards the wooden bench that overlooked the entire place and took her seat at its right side. Not wanting to disturb his current peace, she silently waved at Lucien, inviting him to take his place next to her.

She waited patiently as the boy slowly sat down next to her, whilst darting his gaze all around the place as he was trying to take in everything he could see.

She waited a bit more before she eventually returned to her explanation.

"What you can see around us is all this Sanctum can offer. A special reserve, a separate world only accessible through special means. They are protected by nature itself, the average onlooker can never intrude to this place."

"A separate world? What does that mean exactly?" Lucien asked, his eyes not leaving the distant tree lines.

"An alternate world, a sub-world if you will… Eh…" Sera sighed, finding it increasingly difficult to put her thoughts into words. "If you are interested, I will teach you everything I know, but for now, just understand that this is like another world, different from the one you and I live in, but at the same time, it cannot exist on its own.

There are several places, Sanctuaries around the world, just like this. Some are similar to this, while others contain different sorts of secrets and mysteries…"

Heaving a loud sigh, she changed her tone a bit, she attempted to guide the conversation forward.

"What is best about this, is that here, you are safe for the time being. The people that are after you will not be able to track you here. You can safely recuperate and gather your strength."

In the next moment, her smile faded, replaced by the previously visible pained expression, she continued with a bit of sadness in her voice.

"Unfortunately, you cannot stay forever. There are certain… requirements to keep staying here, and at most, I can only keep us here for around another week. After that…"

"After that, we would be forced to return, right?" Knowing what she was about to say, Lucien finished her words, with an expressionless face.

Leaving the bench, he stood up, and walked to the edge of the terrace, looking towards the distant tree lines once again.

"I understand the who and where now. Now, before I can decide… I want to learn more about the 'what' as well."

"Certainly! Let me explain-" A gentle smile instantly emerged on Sera's face. She was about to resume and continue with another long-winded explanation, but before she could do so, she was immediately silenced when Lucien raised his left index finger in the air.

"Save it for now. Before you answer or sew great tales, I want to listen to you through your actions."

Surprised, Sera looked at the boy with an inquiring gaze. Before she could ask, he spoke again.

"I need to grow stronger. For that… I need to… hunt." Lucien found it surprisingly difficult to explain what he needed. After all, how could he explain what he himself couldn't understand? He needed something called EP or Entropy Points, a sort of substance for this system that seemed to be tied together with his existence.

After feeling a taste of defeat, he understood the need for growing stronger. He needed the strength to be able to defend himself from his pursuers and escape their clutches once and for all.

To do that, he needed to rely on this so-called 'Prime Evolver System' and hope that it could assist him to achieve his goal: True Freedom.

To grow stronger, he needed to complete the tasks that this ambiguous, magical existence thrown at him. First, he needed to hunt and absorb the essence from those he killed.

However, even this, seemingly easy task came with a slight problem: He never did anything like that. He had no idea how to begin, or what to do.

That's why he was willing to accept the offered hand and learn from this woman. Whilst he was conflicted and unsure of what exactly he was supposed to feel about her, right now he could only rely on her willingness to prove herself. She was clearly desperate to prove useful and to convince him to accept her help.

"Show me how to do that… Show me how to hunt…" He muttered as he kept his gaze at the distance, trying to not turn and look at the woman. He could already feel the emerging smile that stretched across her face.

"Certainly." She nodded, as she turned around to walk back into the house. "Give me a moment, let me grab some weapons for us to use. Don't worry, I will teach you everything you need!"

With that she hurriedly ran back inside, her figure soon vanished. Not too much time later, she was already rushing back with a huge bag in hand and a pair of quivers and longbows over her shoulders.

—

The gentle bell rang as the door was pushed open. A feminine figure wearing a black leather jacket and dark sunglasses walked into this run-down establishment. Despite her rigid aura, she actually looked quite svelte and sophisticated. She walked towards the grimy counter and hit the bell.

A few moments later a thin-looking man with long, greasy black hair and goatee adorning his head, appeared. He wore a black t-shirt with some metal band's logo on it. He leaned against the desk, gave a disgusting smile to the new arrival, and gave his learned greeting.

"Heya Missy! Welcome to the Flatiron Beavery Inn! What can I get for ya?"

The woman took off her dark sunglasses and shook her head. Her black, shoulder-length hair fluttered in the wind as she slowly opened her pair of dark, crescent-shaped eyes. A gloomy scowl appeared on her face as she looked at the disgusting specimen in front of her.

She took a couple of moments to calm herself before she responded with a cold, degrading tone.

"Give me an empty room… you cretin."