Chapter Thirteen

Aster's eyes cracked open. The sky above was dark, the morning ahead was still hours away. He had been meditating when he fell asleep. He had been practicing non stop since he gained the ability, sometimes even to the point where it was hard to discern between the barrier of sleep and practice.

Mulling that fact over, he wondered if his practice could even be counted as meditation. Aster felt better than he had during the nights of sleep prior, so he quickly brushed the thought off.

He silently opened his status page.

 `Meditation`

 - `Attributes: Active, Basic, Non-combat`

 - `Mastery: Unlearned (2%)`

 - `Description: It seems that there is more to oneself than meets the eye. You have chosen quiet introspection as a path to understanding. Who knows what you will discover?`

He didn't even try to suppress his smile, the percentage had increased once again. It was slow progress, yes, but it confirmed what he desperately needed to know: he was moving in the right direction.

Aster let out a satisfied breath before closing his eyes, but something stopped him.

The wind let out a ghastly wheeze. Almost instinctively, Aster rolled onto his side, facing his back towards the wind and preparing himself for the oncoming chill.

The air stayed stagnant.

It wasn't uncommon for the wind to whistle uncanny sounds through the frozen tundra. Avoiding the onslaught of cold, however, was unheard of.

Aster's heart felt taut, preparing for the worst. Something was wrong, he could feel it-

Scrape.

Something moved against the dirt. Aster's mind sprung into action. He tried to roll in the direction he was facing, turning his body towards the source of the noise, while creating some distance.

The soft wheeze of the wind transformed into a gnarled growl. Before Aster could see the threat, he thrust his right elbow forward to block his face.

Rugged teeth tore through the quilt and into his flesh.

Shi- His mind didn't have time to process the pain. The beast began gnashing its jaw, doing its best to take a piece of Aster with it.

Unluckily for the beast, it had bitten down on bone, and it didn't seem strong enough to bite through it.

As Aster finished his roll, bringing him face to elbow with the beast. It seemed to be wolflike in shape, but that's where the similarities ended. It was over half Aster's size, even when reduced to skin and bones, with matted fur and 6 hooves, gnarled to the point that it seemed like they functioned more similarly to claws. It glared at Aster with determined, deep maroon eyes. Intelligent eyes.

Aster swung his other arm around, attempting to grasp at the beast's neck and matted fur to grapple it off of him, but the beast's fur seemed to ooze a pus-like substance, making it almost impossible for Aster to get a grip on the beast's fur.

In a sheer panic, Aster began slamming his fist into the desperate beast's head. Each time it would shake slightly, but had no effect. He couldn't get the beast to budge even in an inch, its pointed hooves lodged themselves sharply into the frozen ground beneath them.

Aster's mind raced. If he could manage to get onto his feet, beating the beast seemed possible, but its firm hold made standing up next to impossible. His eyes darted around, looking for anything to help as the teeth slowly dug deeper into his elbow.

Warm blood dripped down his arm, and he was beginning to lose feeling in his arm entirely.

He flailed violently against the beast, but each movement seemed to exhaust him more as if the beast's bite was draining the energy from his body.

Even his mind began to quiet, no longer rampant as the pain faded from his numbing arm.

He had tried so hard, he had come so far, and this was all he had amounted to, unable to fend off a single attack from a dying animal.

It was pathetic.

After being given a second chance at life, After being given an important task, after heaving an unimaginable debt onto his family, he was going to die in the most pathetic way possible.

The beast's red eyes bore holes in Aster's soul.

The beast was fighting with absolutely everything it had because the only alternative was death.

Was this everything he had? Was this everything that he had amounted to?

His mind seemed to swim with excuses.

You're untrained. You've been traveling for days. You were doomed from the start. You tried your best, but it wasn't good enough.

An image of his mother appeared in his mind.

"You've done your best Aster. It's time to rest."

He wanted so desperately to believe her.

But he couldn't.

She wouldn't say that.

A memory resurfaced from the recesses of Aster's mind.

It was the day he began working at the factory.

"Aster, you don't have to do this, you know. We can figure something out. I can figure something out," his mother pleaded with him.

Despite this, the young Aster wore an innocent yet determined grin.

"Don't worry Mom. I am going to become a hero. I am going to save our family. So don't worry about me, no matter what happens, I'll be alright." He laughed loudly.

More memories began flooding in.

"Mom! Mom! I drew Aer as a superhero in art today!" Louis laughed.

"I'm not worried, I know big bro is on it." Ella smiled.

"If anyone can do it, I know he can!" Mia giggled.

And then, a memory that Aster had never seen before.

"If Aster is out there, then it will all be okay. I know it." His mother said, sounding more sure than he had ever heard her.

It had only been a moment, but his mind returned to the present, quieter than before. Even now, the doubts that played on repeat continued to plague him, almost as if they were coming from outside his mind.

Outside his mind...

Aster's eyes darted towards the bite, specifically the animal's teeth. They seemed to be coated with the same pus that was covering the beast's fur.

Poison?

Aster had an idea.