Chapter 23: Calamity Worm

The old man explained everything to Kendrick including how he found him lying on the ground in the middle of the forest, and carrying him in his little house.

"..."

Kendrick decided to trust him a little and was about to tell him what happened, however, due to the calamity worm inside his heart, Kendrick discarded the thought of it and kept silent.

Little did he know, it was so obvious from his face alone. The old man had guessed that the young man could possibly be being chased, that's why he's scared to let a single piece of information out of his mouth.

In truth, that wasn't really the problem. Although the problem itself was the calamity worm, it is true that he's being chased as well. The old man stood up and left him on bed, and soon enough came back with a piece of paper and pen.

"It wouldn't be bad to use this, drink yourself some coffee."

The old man handed the piece of paper and pen to him, before giving him a sign to use the paper instead to tell everything.

Kendrick thought about it for a second, and when he remembered the calamity worm only recognizes keywords, he took it and started writing on it.

The old man watched Kendrick write on the paper, and when he saw him write worms in it, he immediately recognized it…

'Could it be… No, it would be too impossible.'

There's no way his thought could be right, the old man fooled himself as he thought deeper about the calamity worm…

A worm that originated from the Euphoria Kingdom in the North. Supposedly, only the royalties have the possession over the tamed calamity worms but how come it could end up in the west…

"... Lie down on the bed… Let me examine you…"

The old man didn't let the young man finish writing and instructed him to lie down.

Kendrick stared at the old man full of confusion, and did as the old man had instructed.

Weirdly enough, the old man touched a few certain parts of his body, until finally coming to a conclusion…

He couldn't be wrong… Although this was Dhair Kingdom in the west, far from the north, there's no way he could be wrong… This was definitely the sign of the calamity worm from the north.

From what he observed, the young man's blood flow seems to be flowing in a slightly strong but weakening way. If it really was the calamity worm, then this young man in front of him only has a year left.

The old man seemed so troubled as he pondered how he would explain everything to the young man, and finally thought of a solution.

"I'm sorry to tell you this but, young man… You only have a year left."

Kendrick tilted his head in confusion, as his face seemed to be full of questions. However, he didn't know, the answer he was looking for all this time was right in front of him.

"The thing inside of you, is slowly consuming your body in your slumbers."

Kendrick processed his thoughts over what the old man was probably trying to say, and could only think of one thing.

Inside of him, it means the old man knew about the calamity worm… Kendrick only realized it later on and looked at the old man with his brows shaking vividly.

"How… How am I still alive…?"

Now that he realized it, the old man had been talking about the calamity worm since earlier and yet why… Why is he still alive.

When he thought about it, the calamity worm would be triggered anytime the moments the keywords were heard. But when he looked at his body, there's no signs about his upcoming death, any moment by now.

"It took you long enough…"

The old man contemplated before telling the young man about the information he didn't know about the calamity worm. It seems like the young man himself was stupid enough to not see through the holes.

"That thing only reacts when it hears certain keywords. It's not really much of a threat, except for one thing. Whoever its host is guaranteed to die within a year."

There wasn't much clear stuff about it. Why does any host of it always die within a year? Does it mean, any host it lands on would have their fate sealed away, and through death alone. In fear, Kendrick couldn't stop himself from asking the old man more about it.

"But… Why..? Why do they all share the same fate..?"

"That thing inside you is an ancient creature from ancient civilization that originated in my hometown, Euphoria in the North. It eats its host insides whenever they're in deep slumber, little by little. They're creatures with little intelligence abided by contracts."

"Contracts..?"

"Haaaaaahh… It's tiring to explain everything to you… Let me tell you a story instead…"

The young man seemed to have many questions in his mind, so the old man just decided to wrap everything else up by telling him a story.

"In ancient times, in the North, the homes of the citizens were woods, and they weren't that much improved in civilization. Contrary to the present which relies on the records of the past, they suffered the most in terms of survival. The beast were ruthless at their time, so they learned to hunt and fight back through creating magic and swordsmanship. The humanity of ancient times was strong, they created techniques that could defeat a dragon or even the most ferocious beings of the myths. However, that same civilization decreased in a short time…"

"In an unknown way, every year, a calamity would mysteriously unfold… People would get sick and die. No matter what they do, the ones who carry the same illness, don't get to see the light in a year nor last for two years. Because of those, the eyes of civilization changed in a swift way. They started seeing those deaths as the work of gods, and their way of punishing them for their sins. It didn't take long until they started making an altar and giving offerings to the gods they assumed to be…"

"...They offered the previous Kings, and its people, until the civilization was halved in half. There was one who disagreed about their way though and figured out the secrets of their assumed gods. It was none other than the 4th King of Aegis Kingdom of the North before it was renamed Euphoria, Midas Augustus. The calamity continued however King Midas never gave up, and spent his whole life researching about the calamity and how he would defeat them. And at the very last moment of his life, he found a cure…"

A glimpse of hope shone over Kendrick's dark pupils as he listened to the old man's small lips even more carefully. The daggers in his heart that seemed to be holding him back were now gone, only the little hope remains.

"The cure was scattered in the whole Kingdom. They found out about the identity of the fake gods, and contained them with a contract. The Kingdom recovered, and soon, it was named Euphoria Kingdom."