Future.(5)

Nero extended his wings once again and just as he expected, the flames appeared. It seemed that it went hand in hand with his wings. If he tried to retract the flames, then his wings would follow and vice versa.

"Well, there's nothing I can do about that. I initially wanted to hide these eye-catching flames but now that this is the result, I can only let things be."

Nero then closed his eyes and started slowly moving his wings, trying to get a feel for him. Immediately, he realized that they felt even more natural to him than his limbs!

He could move every individual feather on it perfectly as if he had been flying all his life.

Thinking it was time to truly test them out, Nero started flapping his sings slowly and gradually upped the pace.

"Focus...slowly...slowly..."

whoosh...whoosh...whoosh...WHOOSH!

Nero flew up into the air with an incredible force, causing a powerful wind to shake the nuts nearby. He was like a fish in the water as he moved through the air, piercing through the currents completely unfettered.

However, he couldn't go too high as he remembered that this village had to remain hidden. Who knew if enemies were lurking somewhere close by and his carelessness would cause disaster?

There was no need for him to go higher than he currently was.

Nero stopped ascending and looked at the beautiful white sea of clouds floating harmoniously below him. It was breathtaking.

"This isn't the first time I've been here, but now that I'm in a real body, everything

...feels different. The wind blowing against my skin, the ambient sounds of the villagers bustling below, the way the clouds slowly move across the sky like a sea...this feels heavenly."

Nero closed his eyes and clasped his hands behind his back while enjoying the feeling of the wind hitting his body. This was surreal.

"After tonight, I'll barely have time to rest after I begin my training. Unfortunately, just being rich in this world wouldn't allow me to be free from worries. I'll need to be powerful to even do anything significant in this world."

Nero looked down at his body and clenched his fists as he felt the strength coursing through them. He felt a bit of strength, but he felt as if something was holding it back. For some reason, he couldn't completely access it.

Grrrrr...

"...of course. I haven't eaten properly for so long and my body is laughably thin. How could I muster any strength like this? Not to mention, I haven't even completely activated my vampiric powers. I need to feed on someone's mind..."

Nero looked down to the hut he came from and immediately descended. He did it slowly as he wasn't completely confident in his ability to land so after he got close enough to the ground, he just retracted his wings and dropped naturally.

As soon as he landed on the ground, he immediately noticed that the area around his hut seemed to be in an uproar. Nero raised an eyebrow and walked toward it only to see many guards surrounding two women, both of them with tears streaming down their faces.

"W-why did he leave? Didn't we treat him well? We took care of him all these years and still..."

The woman who spoke was Elder Winona. She had been bedridden all these years because of the amount of stress Nero's situation put her under. After hearing about his recovery, she got someone to quickly fetch her over only to find out that Nero disappeared. According to a few guards and bystanders, he left of his own accord.

This news broke her heart.

Elder Yushan was also greatly saddened by the situation. How could Nero leave without at least saying goodbye? He sighed and walked out of Nero's tent with his eyes watering as he saw the state of his wife.

As he got to his wife, Elder Yushan offhandedly looked behind him only to see a tall figure standing there.

"W-Winona, look...look!! He didn't leave!"

When everyone heard him, they immediately looked to where he was pointing to only to see Nero standing there with a blank expression on his face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't leave, I was only testing out my wings."

Nero slightly bowed and looked back at the people who were still standing there dumbfounded. A few seconds later, Winona finally broke out of her stupor and watched in awe as Nero walked towards her.

When he arrived close enough so that she could physically touch him, she grabbed his face and held it tightly as if she was scared that it would disappear from her life forever.

She immediately pulled him in and hugged him all the strength she could muster.

Aiyanna soon joined in.

Yushan didn't waste any more time and followed suit. This was a glorious moment.

"Alright, tonight, we shall feast! Let's welcome-"

Nero hurriedly rested his hand on Yushan's shoulder and said, cutting Yushan off, "Please, no feast right now. I would like things to be a bit quieter tonight. But...if you can, is there any way I can get some food?"

When Yushan and Winona heard him talk, tears started welling up in their eyes again. To them, those were his first words! This was the first time they heard his voice. It sounded...eerily calming.

Yushan didn't respond for a few seconds before he wiped his eyes, laughed, and said, "Guards, you can go back. Thank you for helping my wife. Aiyanna, let's head inside your hut! Prepare the best meals you can for Nero!"

Everyone quickly acted and a good while later, the relevant people were seated at a small table. Nero had about five large plates of meat laid out in front of him while everyone else watched him closely.

How would someone who had never learned to eat overcome this situation?

Winona wanted to teach him but Nero declined. He was already tired of being the center of attention and being treated like a baby, but he understood why they did what did.

Nero just ignored the gazes around him and dug into the meal, tearing apart the meat like a wild beast. The feeling that filled his stomach when he swallowed the first piece was akin to someone who had been thirsty for months getting their first drip of water.

It was surreal.

Before he knew it, the food was done. It was a bit disappointing, but he decided to make do with what he had for now. All he needed now was a fresh, succulent mind to feast on and this night would've been perfect. He thanked Aiyanna and amidst everyone's dumbfounded gazes, he left Aiyanna's hut to return to his own abode.

He was going to meditate within until the morning so he can begin his plans then and practice his psionics. Since he wasn't much of a fighter in his past life, he didnt know if the plan he thought up over the years would work but, he would try.

'I also need to practice covering my body with psionic energy to protect myself from the sun. I've been doing that for the past decade when they took my body outside and even though I've mastered it, I haven't completely perfected it.'

For now, he was going to work towards one goal: To enter the war.