Gerald, Elise's father, sat at the edge of his bed, hands trembling as screams run through the wooden walls of his hut. That wall... Once a shelter from storms, a declaration of safety, happiness, and celebration, now rattled with the screams and sorrow of the living and dead. The sound of chaos, bones creaking, resounded within the walls. Gerald's eyes were hollow, staring at the scabbard of his old sword, a general-level knight reduced to a mere empty husk, sitting in clenched silence. --Did he have to kill his wife? The mother of his child?-- He clenched his jaw, subtle munching echoed through the hut, the voice of his wife, or what remained in the kitchen, laughing.
This... This wasn't joy,
It was fractured, laced with an overdose of blood-clenching insanity. Seraphine, apron soaked in blood, no longer cooking. No... Now she fed on something. The body of a neighbor's child lay across the chopping board like a slab of meat, his insides half gutted, torn with fingernails, blood-soaked butcher's knife in one hand. She giggled, scooping up the other child's intestines, cutting them gracefully before biting a large chunk of them. Gerald watched all this in silence. He could have saved the child, but was broken now for the loss of his love. He had lost any innate humanity, hoping and praying that by letting his wife feed on the child, she would return to normal. Gerald slowly got up, walking alongside his wooden bed, the wooden bed that had so many memories, memories of happiness now, spilled with blood all over. Gerald took a slow, hesitant step towards Seraphine. His hollow searching eyes searched for the woman whose smile illuminated the world. Arms stretched towards Seraphine, he grunted as he felt thick sticky liquids soil his boots. Ignoring them, He kept walking towards Seraphine as if trying to grab something precious. Seraphine slowly turned towards him, blood covering her frame. Gerald grabbed her into a tight hug, eyes closed, tears flowing down his cheeks.
He couldn't do it,
As Seraphine raised the butcher's knife, a red thin line drew across her neck, her hands slowly placed down, blood trickling across her apron.
Thud!, He heard.
Seraphine's head rolled onto the floor, scraping his boots. Gerald opened his eyes upon feeling the impact, his eyes widening as he looked up to see a pair of sorrowful eyes watching him.
"Gerald", a black haired man called. The scar on this man's eye brings back a string of unpleasant memories.
"Garrick," Gerald murmured. Garrick lifted his arm, which was followed by a crisp sound.
Pah!. "Is this our brave chief?". His voice resounded, causing Gerald's eyes to widen. "Our people are dying. Instead of helping us, you are here playing house to an undead?" Garrick spat. "We need the help all the help we can get. Elise needs it".
Gerald's eyes widened at the mention of Elise. His beloved daughter, the only product of his love for Seraphine. A cold light shone in his eyes. --If anyone was to survive this catastrophe, it would be her.-- Even if I have to sell my soul.
"Boss," a distant voice called out. A young man in his twenties appeared, with brown hair and uneven eyes, his mustache twirling up to the corners of his mouth.
"We have gathered the Survivors", he saluted Garrick. "Thanks, Edric. I found the chief here; he almost got injured and had to help. Right?" Garrick watched the youth named Edric with a cold gaze and a chilling smile. Edric, who had heard their previous conversation, swallowed deeply. He had experienced everything that happened here. If he divulged any information to anyone, he would be food for the wild. The thought caused him to swallow again as he slowly and mechanically turned away.
"The Chief will be coming with us". Garrick said as he narrowed his eyes. --Should I kill the kid? If he told anyone, it would cause a panic. Gerald is seen as a saint, and he is strong; only he can control the people. If they get wind of this, they might cause problems. I just wanted to enjoy my days in retirement. Tsk!.-- Garrick thought.
"It would be a blessing to have another combatant at the general level with us, might lessen some burdens," Garrick said with a shrug. Edric nodded his head hastily and walked ahead, fearing that Garrick might change his mind and kill him.
Gerald walks out of the hut, eyes full of renewed determination. He had to find Elise, No… He will find her. Gerald, in thought, suddenly sensed danger, his thoughts filled with only one desire --Eliminate the threat-- Gerald ducks completely, squatting immediately, sweeping the danger's leg. Gerald hears a muffled grunt, causing him to look at the target. His eyes landed on Garrick, who had been swept off the floor, falling headfirst to the ground. "Tsk, this is not my lucky day", Garrick grumbled.
Edric, clutching a short sword that almost looked like a dagger, swallowed deeply. He had been saved by Garrick as he wanted to hand over his waterskin to Gerald. Garrick caught hold of his shoulder and shook his head, taking the waterskin from Edric, walking towards Gerald with it to offer it to him, which led to the current situation. If Edric had been the one swept up, he would have lost his legs completely. A normal human couldn't have been able to withstand such a thunderous attack. Those on the path to strength are truly gods among men, he shuddered.
"Hey, Gerald, this is how you repay me for saving your life?" Garrick sat up, ruffling his hair with an annoyed smile, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Gerald. Garrick stood up, dusting his long white coat. But somehow his long white coat hadn't gotten dirty. Thinking about it again, Garrick realized that when Gerald had decapitated his wife, blood hadn't sprayed from her neck. This thought brought about an old memory he had. Gerald didn't know much about Garrick; he knew just the general summary of it.
Garrick, also known as the crazy alchemist of Gladstone village, was always a shy kid growing up. Fortune ended up smiling on young Garrick as he was found to have the potential to be a mage by the local Sanctuary. The Sanctuary, in this current Solarian Continent. We have the capital Solaria and other large cities. Though Solaria was the capital city and was the most resourceful, the Solarian continent had other large cities that were closely parred with Solaria. One had to have known that the Solarian Empire had conquered the continent, giving the current continent its name. By this cause, all the cities where comparable to nations of the continent. And these Cities had smaller, less developed cities known as Villages. In order to maintain order, connection, and communication, the Solarian council had created a force of powerful individuals called Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is divided into the lower Sanctuary and the higher Sanctuary. The lower sanctuary had lesser powerful individuals, but were powerful than your average warriors. Gerald didn't particularly know the factions within Sanctuary, but within the lower sanctuary was an organization that oversaw all the villages around the cities. That organization was called the local sanctuary. The local sanctuaries specialized in communications, reconnaissance, and information gathering, transmitting all information to the main sanctuary. They also handled threats that couldn't be handled by the village but didn't need the attention of the main sanctuary.
Gladstone village was one of the rest points of the local sanctuary when they were doing their usual recon or disposal missions. On one of those missions, the head mage of the group that was dispatched caught sight of little Garrick and took him as an apprentice. Unfortunately, with the aptitude of an average mage, Garrick had only made it to general-level. Trying to change his aptitude using various methods, Garrick had no choice but to be an alchemist, albeit a low-ranked one. He then left the local sanctuary, returning to Gladstone village for retirement. At least that's what Gerald's parents had been told. Tho Garrick was a general-level mage and a low-ranked alchemist, Gerald hadn't paid much attention to him as he was a general-level warrior of the expert rank, a rank higher than Garrick. Edric smiled wryly as he watched the sudden spark of enmity between Garrick and Gerald. It seems the rumors were true, he thought.
Warriors and mages never mix. Mages see themselves as chosen children of mana, refusing to believe people who have no mana are either equal to them or higher than them. The Warriors highly knowledgeable about this fact, spent no effort sparking conflicts with them. What did Gerald say about warriors? Yes, hating for the love of the game. Edric thought. Garrick sighed, staring at the cluster of purple thundered clouds covering the vast sky. This dreadful scene seems to be caused by an external factor. He then turned to Gerald.
"Care to fill me in?".
****************************************************************************************
ANNOUNCEMENT: Well, after dealing with a few issues at home, I have been finishing school. I can finally be able to continue writing my webnovel. Please like and comment. Thank you
****************************************************************************************