"Ahhhh!!!!" Cullen couldn't control the scream that came out of him after he stumbled over a dead body that was hidden deep in the forest, close to the outskirts of his village.
He wasn't scared of the sight of dead bodies and their distorted form; no, rather, he was used to it. But Cullen is taken by surprise at the pale sight of the boy he had met a few days back. Meeting him was an unforgettable experience, not because they had the same name, but because he was the first noble who had ever shown him kindness.
'He was first of all murdered by magic before an ordinary weapon was used to make it seem like he was killed with it instead.' Cullen thought as he examined the dead body. To him, playing detective and making wild suggestions about how a body died before he buried it was a hobby, an entertaining game he sometimes shared with Keal when no one was around. When Keal was in a good mood, he laughed at his made-up stories, but when he was in a bad mood, he yelled at him to stop.
Cullen knelt down and touched the skin of the dead body; from the coldness of it, he was sure that this boy was murdered last night and then dragged into the forest to either be eaten by wild beasts or to be buried by any of the villagers who came across him and couldn't stand the sight of his dead body.
Finding a dead body like this in the forest was nothing new. No one in the village would open their mouth about who they saw and which noble family the body belongs to. No one cared, and everyone in the village was too poor to risk their life exposing who died; they either ignored the body or hurriedly buried it in an unpleasant way.
"I should leave him and walk away." Cullen muttered to himself, but he was already setting aside the dry wood he came into the forest to pick up.
'I don't know what shady stuff he got himself into, but because of him, I was able to eat some good quality bread the other day; the least I can do is to give him a good burial,' he thought.
Cullen had a shovel with him; he always tied a little shovel around his waist. Another habit he had as a gravedigger. Keal wouldn't be happy to know what he was about to do; that's why he was going to keep it a secret from him.
Cullen grunts as he drags the dead body into the grave he had dug out. The grave was in a nice spot with enough sunlight, which he hoped could lead the boy's soul into a peaceful eternal sleep.
'It's hard to believe that his weight is this heavy when he was able to move so fast the last time I saw him.' Cullen thought as he took out a heavy breath.
In quick action, two heavy swords are used to slice Cullen back from behind. The man who had struck him used one of his legs to hit Cullen's wounded back; his body fell face-flat into the grave and landed next to the dead body he was attempting to bury.
'Somebody help!' Cullen thought, crying out in his paralyzed state. His mouth had sand in it, but that wasn't the reason why he couldn't talk. The sword used on him had been laced with poison.
The man who stood above the grave cackled evilly. "It seems we came back for nothing because the boy is dead." He said to his other 3 comrades who were with him. His gaze went to Cullen, who was a few minutes away from death. "Unlucky kid."
"He was just at the wrong place with the wrong guy."
"No, idiot!" Another voice shouted, "It's the wrong grave for the wrong body."
"Why do I have to work with you fools?" Another ask exasperated. "It's the wrong place at the wrong site." He stated confidently.
"Brothers." The one who had struck Cullen called out in an amused tone. "Don't you guys see what's truly funny here?"
For a few moments there was silence until a voice said, "I don't, do I?"
"Ugh. This little grave digger dug out his own grave." The man let out a loud laugh.
"An unfortunate boy destined to die in his grave." Another said, and the brothers laughed harder among themselves.
"We have completed the job. It's time for us to go and collect our sweet bounty." The man who stood over the grave grinned at his brothers.
"Oh sweet gold coins," one of the men licks his lip. "I can't wait. We are going to have some drinks with a lot of pretty big-boobed women tonight."
The brothers laughed hard among themselves again.
"Aren't we going to cover the grave?" One of the brothers asked as they started walking away.
"What are you? A grave digger? We don't do that kind of dirty job." Another replied in an annoyed tone.
'I'm going to die again.' Cullen thought. 'Whatever power is ruling this world, don't you dare try to reincarnate me again!' He was angry with himself and with the world for how lame both of his lives had been. 'I have always been destined for death anyway, so let me just die.' With those final thoughts, Cullen felt the dark swell in his sight and chew painfully at his beating heart.
Briar took off her dark hoodie; the mask on her face remained intact. Her short black hair, lean body structure, and cold hazel eyes that were void of all emotions made her look as though she were a boy. The boy her mother wanted at birth ended up being a girl instead.
It was late at night, but her sharp gaze laced with magic was able to see through the dark as though it was day. She walked deeper into the woods in search of any dead or living animals she could use for her experiment. It would be better for her if the animals were dead.
'What is this?' Briar thought as she came closer to an open grave. The cold night pierces her as equally as the sight of two dead bodies. Without hesitating, she jumped into the grave to have a closer look at the body.
One was a dead noble she had never seen before, while the other lying face down was a commoner. She turned the body of the commoner around and arched a brow up.
"It's that stupid kid again." She muttered to herself. She knew that commoners weren't destined to live a long life in their world. It's impossible when they had no magical abilities. The physical labor they did slowly gnawed their life span away, and they were weak creatures unable to protect themselves. Briar felt no pity for them, but she didn't expect this commoner to lose his life so soon. It hasn't been up to a week since she saw him poking his dirty head in the window of her lecture hall.
Briar let out a small grin. She didn't know how these two boys died, and she didn't care. Seeing a commoner die in this part of town that was meant for the poor wasn't a thing to question; how a noble dead body got here, on the other hand, was. Whoever killed him didn't want his body to ever be found, and this was the perfect hiding place, not just for dead bodies of nobles, but also for Briar and the magic she was about to practice. A magic her mother didn't want and had wished desperately for her not to have. Dark magic.
Briar stretched out her hand over the dead bodies. A magic circle appeared; she was an S-class magic user in her dark magic elements, although it was a secret no one was aware of, not even her mother. She didn't need to say out her spells for her magic to work.
Darkness moved between both bodies, and Briar watched and smiled when she saw their souls coming out of their bodies, and then suddenly her magic was cancelled out. Her experiment blasted her out of the grave, and her head hit hard against a stone on the ground.
Briar hissed in pain as she stood to her feet; she didn't want to give up on her experiment, but she had wasted too much time outside, and she needed to return home before someone realized that she was missing.
Before leaving, Briar used a concealing spell to hide the dead bodies so that no one else will discover her newfound test dummies. She was going to be back again the next day for them.
An hour passed after Briar left, and a loud sneeze came out from a body that was dead until now. Cullen's eyes snap open and he takes in a deep cold breath.