Trepidation

Under a shady tree, a force emerged like a whirlpool without shaking the tree. A man holding a sword stepped out of the whirlpool, standing momentarily before the whirlpool dispersed as though it was blown by the wind.

He took a glance at his surrounding, then closed his eyes while adjusting his breath with utmost concentration.

His view filled with endless black-pitch. Then, he slightly scoffed.

Hrmm!

A wave of energy flowed from his body, crushed the surroundings gently as it sent the visual image to him, made him aware of its circumstances.

Inside his closed eyes, he could see two birds were picking twigs, ants lifted various ingredients, insects perched on tree trunks.

'No human at least in one hundred meters.' He thought.

He abruptly opened his eyes; looking in a particular direction, then dashed with a curling smirk on his face.

There was a river at the end of the direction he was going to. Besides it, there was a cackle of hyena that formed a circle. They were having a meal.

The man observed it on a tree branch. His eyes gazed deeply at something in the middle of them as he poured some energy into his surrounding, worked as detection in case someone came.

He couldn't see clearly, so he had to come over. But, just as he was about to jump, a loud roar bellowed, chasing the cackle away

Rumble!

The ground was shaking heavily, even the tree that he was on got affected.

On a corner of his eyes, he caught a massive animal as tall as a tree. It ran towards him, crushing some trees along the way.

"The Robust Bison?!"

He immediately jumped down while expanding his sense; bison was a social animal. If one appeared, most likely the rest were around.

Behind the bison, there was a smaller animal, incomparable with its prey size. It had four swift legs, a shiny coat of dark fur, and its amber eyes locked the bison without a flinch.

"A Shadow Panther."

The man had no intention to throw himself into the fire. He would watch the catch and run, and interfere at the right time.

He would let them fight until they exhausted themselves, then he would deliver the final blow. This would save his energy.

Thinking about this plan, he couldn't help but curled a smile of satisfaction.

As the catch and run took place, the man took a turn to check something that had been eaten by the cackle.

An unpleasant smell immediately struck his smelling sense, making him pinch his nose while cautiously approaching a carcass that the hyenas ate. Apparently, it was badly damaged so he could not guess what animal it was.

He squatted, then picked some flesh with a shiny black scale intact. With a scabbard, he hit the scale that he put on a rock.

However, it was unscathed.

The man pulled the sword from its scabbard, then he casually swung his arm at the scale.

Clank!

He frowned as he realized he could not slice it nor caused any crack. Feeling tense up, he gathered his momentum for the next attack. Putting the black scale on a rock, he took a step back, an ideal distance to the scale.

Positioning the right leg upfront and both hands held the sword tightly, his eyes still locked on a palm-sized scale.

As he steadied his breath, the sword emitted faint violet lights, slowly covering the sword fully. He could feel his sword heavier and sturdier as he stabilized his breath more.

After finishing the preparation, he immediately landed a vertical slash, swinging the sword with all his might.

Boom!

Debris was scattered all over the place. The rock cracked into pieces, and he kept the slash until he hit the ground. No sweat formed, only a sense of satisfaction for being able to land such a blow.

After the debris and dust died down, he started to search the scale. Honestly, if it turned into ashes, that was within his expectation.

It took a while until he found a scale without flesh before his eyes. Its dark color gave an eerie impression as it was reflected by the sun.

"What on earth this scale belongs to…"

The man subconsciously swallowed a few times. He started to feel cold sweat on his body. Ever since he got this power, he never faced such a sturdy enemy.

On his current level, he could be the main battle prowess in this remote village. Furthermore, this was a mere scale yet he could not leave a scratch on it. How absurd!

Nonetheless, he felt glad it was a scale from the dead. Overthinking on this one scale could take longer and it needed more than one head; his knowledge was at a superficial level pertaining to the type of beasts.

He kept the black scale inside his pocket then immediately ran, catching up to the panther and bison.

***

Inside barn.

Lena held a tiny cup, red liquid mixed with some medicinal herbs inside the cup was scrutinized by her.

"Indeed, the blood is all we need." Yolk stood beside her; he could not hide his astonishment.

Before he expressed his further opinion, Lena said something that he never wish she would.

"I know how to cure them. They need our blood."

Yolk paled hearing this. He looked at his wife who stared at him deeply.

Blood meant something important to them as a person who could wield this mythical energy. It was not merely dripping blood and mixing it; it needed complicated preparation and many requirements.

However, one thing for sure was to sacrifice their lifespan. Otherwise, Yolk would not react this way. He did not care about spending wealth to help someone, but lifespan was a different matter.

Their blood was helpful so that Eldu and others could stabilize their blood that was tainted by something new; Eldu and others need something to overcome this new matter that made them unconscious.

Perhaps there was a substance that suppressed the patients' blood. The unconscious state was the way the patients adapted to it. Maybe with their blood, Eldu and others could adapt faster.

As to what substance? Lena and Yolk were not sure. They had no ability to find it out what exactly the matter was in the guest's blood.

"Are you sure?" Yolk asked with concern.

Lena nodded then she put the cup down. "We need to do it today. The sooner the better."

Yolk could not rebut. He had his own problems to deal with. Therefore, if this matter could be solved sooner, that would do him a favor.

It did not mean he was not willing to help them, but he was fundamentally a busy man that go back and forth with many things in hand.

"I will call Ziya and tell this to her to prepare the worst scenario," said Lena. She went to her sister-in-law's house. She had not revealed the guest's existence to others yet.

Yolk watched Lena's back as she left with a sigh. Blood treatment was one of the high solutions with high risk; people hardly approve of this method.

In trepidation with various feelings, he cleaned up the room and set off to a field where the treatment would take place.

After he finished, he glanced at the guest whom he had never spoken with. "Young man, heaven is watching you. Forgive me if I failed, but I promise I will do anything to cure you. Hold on a little longer…"