"Umm.. We'll give it back..""Yes..""Just not right now..""I can see why..""We ask for your understanding.""No, it's fine.. Really. "Ash, Louis and Erza. They were talking about the shaft in Ian's arm, the stick he was holding onto for dear life. Erza didn't mind. She didn't think Ian was the type to run away with her father's stuff. Even though they knew each other only for a while, she found him at least that much credible."Is it alright if I stay though?"She asked. She actually wanted to stay and watch what else Ian was going to do while drunk. She found it quite amusing. "Um.. yes.. I'll grab you a chair."They were already back at their camping spot. The camps that they had set up yesterday, and even the food and bed, everything was left as they were. She looked around and observed the many new and unique things that she had never seen before. Some were new to her while common in their world, just because their tribe had no contact with the outside world.But some were
Warning: Description of accidental Self-harm"Soft"Ian mumbled as he brushed his hand through Henry's hair. The way his crumpled up brows softened and his posture loosened, it was clear he was letting his guard down. Everyone was relieved watching his reaction. But there was one problem. They didn't know how long this was going to last. "We should prepare lunch.. "Amber suggested out of nowhere. And although it seemed a little out of place, truth be said, all of them were more or less hungry by now. They had already missed breakfast and it was almost lunchtime. Ian always kept them in a regular routine and fed them three major meals a day along with lots of snacks. So even if their body didn't necessarily need food, they'd always get hungry when the time to eat came. It was more of a psychological thing rather than physical. "Yeah.. Brother should be hungry too.. Right, brother?"Louis asked, expecting to be ignored. To his consolation, Ian at least looked at him. "But what a
"Brother!""That's not what I meant!"Both Louis and Arthur grabbed Ian's hands from each side as they shouted. Ash hurriedly took out a healing potion and poured it over Ian's bleeding wrist hoping that the wound won't leave a scar. Louis on the other hand snatched the rock away from Ian's hand and kicked it far away from them. He wanted to smash it to dust but now wasn't the time."He's really drunk.. I think we should find a method to sober him up now."Erza finally came out of her stunned state and commented. It was all fun and games until now as they saw the drunk Ian pulling strange moves, but she didn't like it at the least how he injured himself so unhesitatingly. 'He didn't even flinch.'She remembered how smooth Ian was while cutting his own wrist and how he kept staring at the blood dripping down from his arm without blinking an eye. It was uncomfortable to watch. "Yes.. It's all my fault.. I wanted to see brother drunk..""No.. We also supported your choice so the faul
"Brother.. Are you crazy?!?"Ash asked as he looked at Ian innocently tilting his head. That was the only conclusion he could come to after listening to Ian's explanation.Of course, the truth was far from that. The only reason Ian was going so far to stop Ash from absorbing other living beings vitality had to do with halting Ash's growth. Not his physical growth, neither was it the growth of his strength, but his growth as a demkn. Demon's were a race that grew strong by feeding on negative emotions. The more bad energy they absorbed, the stronger they'll get. But that didn't always mean a good thing. The energy they absorbed also affected their own mind and actions. For example, the Demon King had to be the one with the strongest power in the demonic realm, meaning he must've absorbed the most amount of negative vitality. And that also meant that he was the most sinister and vile existence in that world.The stronger a demon was, the more evil they became. Ian didn't want that. H
"Are you sure?""This is a big mess.. a big one I tell you."The villagers who were suddenly woken up from their deep sleep due to the frequent earth quakes looked around in confusion. Erza, who was there to explain everything to her father after leaving Ian and his party behind found herself in the midst of all these shouts and confusions. The two people that had listened to her explanation, her father and an elder of the village, looked at each other with a troubled expression. They were the people that believed in Erza's word before anything."I'm sorry.. This is all my fault.. I shouldn't have went along with them.."Erza said dropping her head, feeling the weight of the guilt that was pressing on her. It was her people and her friends (Ian and the rest) that were in danger due to her miscalculation. Not receiving any type of reaction from her father even after a while, she raised her head only a little to peek on what was happening. To her surprise, both her father and the eld
"You finally found a trace?!"Arthur slammed his hands on the table as he asked the wizard in front of him. They were talking about Ian."Yes! Although it's in a weird location.."The wizard replied with a not-so-confident voice. Arthur's party, they were trying to track Ian down since forever. At the begining, Arthur was confident he'd be able to find Ian.But after a month passed by, his confidence started to grow thinner along with his patience.In the end, he decided to ask for help from one of his acquaintances, someone who had connection with a wizard. The wizard requested Arthur to get him something that Ian used on a regular basis. Since people used mana consciously and subconsciously, things that someone with a lot of mana used regularly will have a trace of their mana in it.Simply said, Ian's things should have small traces of his mana. The wizard intended to locate him using that mana. But even that wasn't possible at first. Since Ian was always hiding his traces along w
"Everything ready?"The village chief asked one of the elders. The nodded his head in return. They were ready. But all of them had grim expression on their faces, a sharp contrast from the night before. "Will it really be okay?"Erza asked, tugging her father's clothe from behind. Now that it had finally come to this, the reality was finally kicking in. "It'll be alright.. although.."The chief strained his sentence without saying anything for a while, making Erza curious. "Although? Is something not to your liking?"The elder asked from the side, seeing the slight expression of dissatisfaction on the chief's face."I would've felt a bit more at ease if I had my staff with me."He said, opening and closing his palm a few times. Erza wanted to say that he shouldn't worry since Ian and the rest would arrive any moment but the words failed to leave her mouth at the last moment.'Will they really come..? Knowing how dangerous things will get here..?'She couldn't help but ask herself t
"Hey..""We're here."Louis welcomed Ash and Ian into the village while the elders and the chief remained stunned still."Great! You're back!"Erza approached them trying to ease out the air and also to retrieve the staff that Ian was holding in his left hand like a stick. "Miss Erza.. You guys have made quite the preparation I see."Ash commented as he looked around. It was pretty impressive considering the short time they had in hand."Thanks. By now, we're used to sudden attacks."She said as she smiled. Life on the desert was tough. It was tougher than anything the people living in cities could imagine. The heat, the food shortage, limited supply of water were the least of their worries. The monster attacks that happened at least once a month, the drought, the storm, there was nothing that they didn't have to deal with. "I see.. Oh, your father's staff.. He must've been feeling anxious without it, right? I apologize once again."Ash said as he glanced at Ian who was standing to