For a few minutes after that, they laughed at V like maniacs, and instead of answering him, he received a hard punch to his wounded back. After groaning in pain, he walked in silence, consumed by a dark mood. But then he pulled himself out of it and inhaled deeply, trying to savor this harsh exterior environment as much as he could, until his death arrived.
Indeed the outside environment had become foreign for him of course, it wasn't because of the moon creatures or anything dangerous it was his own will to imprison himself after his entire family's death. Not to mention, he couldn't even find their dead bodies.
And here he was, groaning in pain on his first day of breaking free from his self imposed imprisonment into this wretched outer world. Even so, he was able to enjoy this exterior realm without a care for the white ghost.
They slowly approached that dark, shadowy place, which was indeed a cave. With growing exhaustion, V stumbled and fell several times to the ground. On a couple of occasions, they offered him a hand to rise, and on others, they delivered kicks of pain.
V watched them walk with well concealed malice.
"If only I could watch all of you die first, I wouldn't mind dying second. I don't know how, but just perish before me."
Thinking that, V turned his head and looked at the cave before him. Anyway, he was in good spirits. It was somewhat strange to feel optimistic amidst this disaster of his trial, but dying didn't concern him too much Not enough that he would struggle to live. He had no regrets, no one to protect, no one to care for, no one to make a living for, no concern for money, nothing... Even if he died here, there would be no one to collect his body. In fact, there wouldn't even be a body to collect if he failed his first trial he would transform into a moon creature, harming others, which really didn't concern him.
Thinking of that, V suddenly became relaxed and carefree. After all, he didn't have to worry about anything.
What worse could happen that hadn't already occurred? What else was there to fear? So, getting devoured sounded somewhat fearsome, but when life departed, he wouldn't even react, so dying wasn't that much of a shock.
Besides, he knew the cold wouldn't kill him simply because he was approaching a warm cave, about to enter.
"Night will pass in warmth, and day will become my night A night of darkness," V said, taking a step forward.
Just as they set foot inside, all could feel the radiant warmth emanating from within. V looked around to find himself a comfortable place to sit, while those two rough-faced men positioned themselves at the cave entrance not outside, but just inside enough.
Seizing the opportunity, V decided to examine his status again and summoned the Egg Shell. The last time, he had been too focused and bewildered by the branch and hadn't studied the Attributes thoroughly.
Attributes aren't as crucial as one's branch, but they're often considered a source of personal buffs and sometimes even passive abilities.
[Unwritten One] Attribute Description - Name given by the unwritten. Find the true name of the unwritten, and it will reward you with unwritten ?
...What the hell?
[Within] Attribute Description - You and your frame will become one.
"What? What does this even mean me and my frame becoming one... Ugh, all of this is just nonsense happening to me! I'll think about it later."
[Mark of Unwritten] Attribute Description - A mark will appear at the end of your left cheek when danger is detected or at your own will, slightly boosting your physical abilities. It's a growth-type mark that can act somewhat shitty sometime's
Interesting... but what the hell does it mean by "acting shitty"? Shaking his head, he focused on the next Attribute.
[Claim of Unwritten] Attribute Description - An unwritten frame will recognize you as its owner.
'Hmm... Interesting.'
All of his attributes were unfamiliar things he had never heard of and had no idea what they were supposed to do. But all of this sounded somewhat intriguing to him.
[Mark of Unwritten] seemed the most useful no, it sounded more practical.
"How do I use this attrib—"
"Here!" One of the men who had been leading their way was holding a pouch of water and a piece of bread.
"Here, have some! Tomorrow's journey will be long, and you don't seem in good health. We don't want to extend our journey any longer because of dead weight like you. Eat it and rest!" V gave him a silent stare and took the pouch of water and bread.
Returning to his position, the man sat beside his companion in the warmth of the bonfire, while V remained in the background, eating his rock-hard bread and taking sips of water.
Soon, the bonfire was blazing vigorously. Four of those men gathered closer to the fire, while the two men who had been dragging V appeared to be standing guard at the cave entrance. As for V, he was positioned far from the heat but still felt warmth compared to the frigid exterior.
"Damn bastards! How can they make me sit all the way over here by myself while they enjoy the warmth!" he hissed, clearly irritated.
After a while, one of the guards left his post and approached the bonfire to warm himself. Once he returned to his position, the other guard did the same, then resumed his watch.
V sat at a distance, cursing them while eating that hard piece of bread. Despite its unappetizing appearance, he forced himself to consume the entire thing, only to be left as ravenous as before. He didn't know how many days this ordeal had been going on before he regained consciousness.
Looking around, just a few steps away from him where the jagged rocks began merging with the cave wall, he noticed something glimmering in the dim light. Glancing back at the men, he slowly began crawling toward the gleaming object. It was hidden beneath the sharp rocks, and he sustained several scratches on his hands while retrieving it.
By its appearance, it resembled a stone more specifically, a luminous one. That was all he could discern, but he found himself admiring its beautiful glow of dark pink and crimson red. Before he could examine it further, however, one of the rough-faced men was standing before him with a grim expression.
"What do you have there, little friend?"
"Little—little! You bastard, you're trying to sacrifice me, and now you call me 'little,' you—you piece of shit!"
Of course, he didn't voice this aloud.
After exchanging several glares with the man, he looked down at his palm.
"Uh, I found this rock lying there," V said with obvious frustration, then looked up and added, "It was glowing, so I just picked it up."
The rough-faced man stared intently at the rock in V's palm until a word escaped his lips
"Ink stone?!"
"Ink stone?" V repeated his words, then gave him a questioning look.
The man called out to all those gathered by the bonfire and even the guard at the entrance. With just a single glance at the stone in V's hand, everyone's eyes glistened with avarice. One of the men with a sword snatched it from V's palm and smiled apologetically while regarding him.
"It's an ink stone! Capable of creating perfect hallucinations. There are several types of ink stones this one is among the rarest." Turning to V, he continued, "The dead don't need something this valuable." Looking at V with feigned pity, he turned aside as all of them followed him, beginning to search for more stones and questioning V about where he had found it, hoping to discover additional treasures...
Until four glimmering yellow eyes appeared at the cave entrance, accompanied by the thunderous sound of approaching footsteps...