chapter 14

'I am hungry,'

Was his first thought when he woke up. That wasn't a good thing, living the way he lived he was rarely hungry since he learnt to control his cravings but on the rare occasion that he was he could eat a whole Rak and not figuratively, and not get satisfied. It did not feel like food hunger it felt like his body was begging him for power.

Eliphas called it a mana bust and given that he had been in a snowy environment and he was constantly using his power, his stomach felt like something was burning it.

He gets dangerous when he is hungry because his body was increasing the mana reserves and needed energy. If energy is not gotten, he becomes unstable and loses control of his power and considering his power levels one tiny mishap could raze the very mountain they were on.

He needs to hunt, maybe if he could have one of those huge Echo birds right now he would be fine, he thought his blue eyes glowing with the memory.

He walked out the castle doors, breathing in the refreshing cold air of the night completely different from the air of oppression in the castle. He walked towards the forest and sat down river hopping to catch some fish hoping the fish had mana. He watched the water moving for a while with no luck so he got up and followed the stream hoping to know where the water went.

He slowly moved towards the forest following the rapids as the path got steeper, he walk past the huge stones bordering the river bank and finally reached a small slope, right a head, he could hear the water dropping probably into an even larger stream. It smelt like nature, it reminds him of the times where he would wonder in the forests around his village for hours just to find something to eat cause no one wanted to help him.

As he watched the water's gentle flow, something struck him—it was too quiet. The forest seemed unnaturally still. The air grew heavy, as if an impending doom loomed over him. Instinctively, he turned and locked eyes with a stranger. Standing on a high point on the other side of the stream was a man, he looked like a saint in beauty but a demon in aura, hair as black as night flowing down his back and dancing in the wind like waves flowing in a stormy sea, his presence alone made the forest quiet, crimson eyes locked into his and Cerrise felt as if instead of a man what he was seeing was a beast in the husk of a man.

But before he could contemplate this eerie encounter further, a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts.

"You shouldn't be here Cerrise, I'm pretty sure you were told the rules," It was the Duke, reminding Cerrise that he had defied the rules by entering the forest.

He looked back at the other side of the stream there was no one there.

"I apologise?" he said with a dry tone and turned back to the stream.

"Do you really? Obeying is important in the royal capital, it's for your own good, the royal court is dangerous."

"I have self-preservation, I know not to extend my boundaries,"

"Yet you are here after being told not to be,"

"I just need to clear my head then I will leave,"

"You need to go back to the castle,"

"…oh," he said as he felt his head start spinning.

He heard a sigh.

"You need to learn to listen,"

"You seem busy,"

Cerrise was slightly unconscious and could vaguely hear another voice above him.

He was really hungry.

"How did you get here Azar?" Merhik asked holding the limp Cerrise.

"I am one of kings advisers,"

"So what do you want? You didn't come in the middle of the woods at night to visit me did you? did they send you to watch me or maybe warn me,"

"You need to restrain yourself, your questioning has become outrageous, the king has started to get worried you'll do something stupid,"

"Is that why he gave me a job as an escort, so that he could monitor me?"

"He has always been paranoid, be careful he might try to get rid of you,"

"You didn't come here just to tell me that did you?" Merhik asked in an impatient voice.

"Something is happening in the towns surrounding the capital, you are needed to investigate one of the fief's,"

"Which one?"

"The one that belongs to the baron of ecieve,"

"The one working under duke Casius?"

"Yes here is the mission information," he says handing something to Merhik. Then he looks at Cerrise with a complicated look,

"He saw him?"

Merhik remained quite.

"He's not dead,"

Azar said again.

"He just stared at him then left, no sign of attack," Merhik finally said.

"Should we be worried,"

"Just observe for now,"

"Aren't the least bit worried or even curious as to why he allowed him to enter this far into the forest,"

"He is alway unpredictable, just observe," he repeated.

Azar sighed and took out another paper and handed it to Merhik.

Merhik lifted his head. It was an empty paper filled with mana, the moment he touched it the words in it immediately flowed into his mind.

"This is?"

"I've looked into the individual you asked me to investigate, and it's not a straightforward case, sir. Balis mentioned that it resembles dier, but this is far from your typical mana and vitality consumption. It's as if this... affliction is consuming them from the inside."

"Consuming them from the inside? Explain."

"Well, Balis left the man unattended for one night, and when he returned in the morning, there was nothing left but bones and a small amount of flesh. It's deeply unsettling, to say the least."

Merhik frowned

"It gets worse. My men found two more people showing the same symptoms in the Ecieve. It's going to be a problem if we ignore it."

"Don't do anything else for now I will inform the king."