They resumed their journey the next day with Noah feeling happy that he wasn't limping anymore and that the pain in his leg was gone.
Gemma was telling him about how she had learned how to fight when Nicholas came to join the conversation. He asked Noah how he was able to survive out there without any powers. Noah smiled
"I'm a very lucky guy, i guess" and they all laughed.
"How do the monsters not attack you?" Crane suddenly asked
"I'm also as surprised as you all are, Crane. I also want to know why they don't attack me" He answered
"Hmm...Maybe they're allergic to your blood" Crane replied, trying to think of a good reason why the monsters don't attack him.
"Monsters don't get allergies, Crane" Gemma said, rolling her eyes.
Mathew cleared his throat.
"Maybe he's a vampire and they know they can't mess with him" He said dramatically but they all laughed at him and asked him to keep quiet.
"Or maybe that's his superpower" Nicholas said, pushing Mathew out of the way.
"Not cool, Nick! Not cool" Mathew screamed at him as he came back to walk beside Gemma
"What's the superpower exactly?" Crane asked curiously
"You know, being immune to monster hunger" Mathew replied.
"You're right. I didn't think of that!" Gemma said, shaking Mathew excitedly
"I don't know about that.." Noah said, feeling unsure
"I guess...but I'll still rather stay away from them" he added with a laugh
"Yeah, definitely" They all agreed with him.
They were still talking when they got somewhere and heard Nicholas's voice telling them to halt. Noah looked around.
It was a small village and the whole place was in ruins. Everywhere was quiet and there wasn't a single soul in sight. There were many broken windows and shattered glass on the floor. Many doors were broken and most had fallen off their hinges and were just lying on the floor.
Some of the doors were stained with dried blood and there were some broken furnitures lying carelessly outside. There were many shredded clothes scattered on the floor and some of them were also stained with blood. A child's shoe was lying on the floor, not too far from where Noah stood and the second leg of the shoe was nowhere to be seen. Noah tried to imagine what must've happened here.
He felt bad for the people that lived here and wondered if some of them were able to get away. Nicholas looked around to make sure there weren't any monsters around and asked all of them to stop with the noise for now to avoid drawing attention to them.
They continued their journey wordlessly until they got to a small house with a heavy rusted iron door that looked abandoned. Nicholas tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge because of the rust. They later forced it open and inside was dusty and the room was not scattered like the house in the first village, but it was very dusty and wondered why the owner moved out.
Nicholas scanned the area and announced that they would be spending the night there since they were all tired and needed to rest and they all agreed with him. He then asked Crane to create and illusion to make it look like there was no house there and make the house appear like a giant wall and she did. They went inside and dusted quietly dusted the room before sleeping in it.
**********************
Noah looked around as he woke up. It was still dark and he had no idea where he was and wondered where the others were. He was in an unfamiliar forest and the light here was dim with very tall trees that looked scary because of the lighting.
An unknown man was standing in front of him and a monster was standing behind the man. Noah looked at the man cautiously and wondered why a monster was standing behind him and why the monster was not attacking him and concluded the monster was not attacking the man for the same reason the monsters were not attacking him and was determined to find out what that reason was today.
"Who are you?" Noah asked the man as he looked at the mark on the side of the man's neck. It looked exactly like the one on his own neck and even glowed just like his own.
Noah was shocked and asked the man to tell him about the mark, but the man ignored his words.
"I can't believe you're all grown and strong. You didn't have the making, but seeing how the monsters triggered your ability, i must say I'm impressed." The man said with a grin.
"What are you talking about?" Noah asked, confused.
The man ignored his question and asked Noah to come with him but Noah was still confused and unwilling to go anywhere with this strange man.
"Tell me who you are" he said, getting even more confused as his confusion turned into impatience.
"My identity isn't important. My goal is to help you know who you are and what..." The man didn't finish what he was saying before Noah interrupted him.
"No way!" He said and woke up.
Noah looked around as he woke up. This was not the room he and the others had slept in. This was the middle of nowhere. He couldn't hear or see anything. Just darkness. Thick black darkness.
"What just happened? Where am i?" Noah asked himself loudly as he was on the verge of panicking.
"You're with someone who can help you understand you're not an ordinary human" He heard the strange man's voice again. He looked around but there was nobody in sight. Suddenly, the darkness disappeared the whole place was bright and he saw himself outside.
This place was overgrown with bushes and there were dry plants everywhere. He looked around and the small house was nowhere in sight.
"How are you, Noah?" The man asked as he appeared in front of him.
Noah was scared by now because he had no idea who this man was and how this man knew his name. He wondered what the man was up to and how he kept disappearing and reappearing again.
Noah couldn't take it anymore and took to his heels, trying to get away from the man.
The man appeared in front of Noah as soon as he ran."Stay away from me!" He yelled and ran in another direction but the man appeared in front of him again. Noah was already getting annoyed by now and wished the man would stop appearing and disappearing in front of him."Can you stop doing that?" Noah said to the man in annoyance."Calm down" He said to Noah calmly but Noah wasn't ready to listen and ran in another direction again."I can help you, Noah. Just come with me and I'll teach you how to use your abilities." He said to Noah as he appeared in front of him again.Noah was shocked when he heard this because he didn't know he had an ability. All he knew was that he had this strange mark on his neck. He didn't know why or how he got the mark. All he knew was that he had a strange mark on his neck."What's my ability?" He asked the man as he suddenly calmed down to hear the man out.The man laughed as soon as the words left Noah's mouth. Noah just stared at him in confusion becaus
As soon as Noah turned away from Gemma, he regretted it. She was just trying to help and yet he was lashing out at her for no reason.The two suddenly heard a rustling in the bushes and they both turned towards the direction of the sound. They were both on guard. They were ready to either fight or flee if what was in the bushes turned out to be a monster."Why do the two of you insist on being total idiots?" It was Nicholas and he looked pissed. He turned to Noah and spoke in a very arrogant manner. "Ever since you came along, Gemma has been acting like her brain was eaten by a dog. You. are. weak." He said with an air of superiority. "You'll drag us down. The least you can do is to not cause any problems." Nicholas added."That's not fair Nicholas. I asked Noah to accompany me for a stroll. He said yes because he was being nice to me." Gemma immediately said to Nicholas. Upon hearing her words Nicholas finally seemed to calm down a bit. He then turned to Gemma and scolded her a b
Noah made his way over to the group in a daze. His hunger scared him and he was scared that one day he would be unable to control himself and he would do something unforgivable. He finally joined the group. Very soon, Crane started up a conversation with him and it was as if nothing had changed however, Noah knew that everything had changed. For one , he was now a monster. He sighed and decided not to dwell on the negatives. Noah soon noticed that Gemma was unusually quiet. This was very unlike her. she would normally be chatting and laughing with everyone. Crane explained to him that it was because they were getting close to where Gemma used to live. Villages and cities outside of the divine pockets were never safe. They could be celebrating today and be dead tomorrow. This was because they did not have a barrier to protect them from the monsters so they were always at risk of a monster attack. The group quieted down as they approached the ruins of a village. The village showed s
"That's right" he said. "I am your father" he added with a wide grin.Noah stumbled backwards, his eyes wide with disbelief, as soon as he heard those words. "No. I don't know anything," he said, his voice shaking slightly. "You're not my father. My father died years ago." He added, turning to walk away from the man in an attempt to distance himself from the unsettling revelation.But he heard the man let out a loud, menacing laugh behind him. He felt annoyed and turned to look at the man, wondering what was so funny that made him laugh like that."Oh, I forgot he's crazy," he said to himself silently, shaking his head before turning to walk away again. But the man's next words stopped him in his tracks."Let me tell you a story, Noah," the man said, his voice low and mysterious.Noah didn't stop, didn't look back, and just kept walking. But the man continued, undeterred. "The story is about a woman named Ulma and a man named Odin."Noah's heart skipped a beat as soon as he heard
Uma's eyes widened in horror as she watched from where she was. Odin's face descended, his presence drawing closer to the still form in his hands like a dark cloud enveloping the moon. The air grew thick with an unnatural silence. The moment seemed to suspend, time itself bending to accommodate the horror that was to come. And then, Ulma saw it - the unbearable truth: the man she loved was not who she thought he was. The sound of his contented sigh, the gleam in his eye, and the bloodstained smile that spread across his face all whispered a terrifying truth: she was bound to a monster.She felt a creeping sense of dread, and knew she had to escape, for in that moment, she feared for her very soul and that of her child's. Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she watched in horror, her heart racing with a mix of fear and disbelief. She was terrified and couldn't believe her eyes - her own Odin, the man she loved and trusted, doing something this terrible like a monster. She wondered
In that moment, he felt a million emotions swirling inside him. He could bear the thought of her leaving him, but he would never let her take his child away from him. Never! He couldn't tolerate the idea of being separated from his own flesh and blood. With a surge of adrenaline, he immediately dragged her back, his anger boiling over. "I'm done being patient with you!" he growled, his eyes blazing with fury.Ulma was shocked at the sudden transformation. She had never seen Odin switch from calm to menacing so quickly, and it left her breathless. Just moments before, he had been speaking calmly, but now his voice was low and menacing. She felt a chill run down her spine as she saw the fierce look in his eyes. He looked like he was ready to tear her apart, his anger and possessiveness radiating from him like a palpable force. "Odin, please..." she whispered, her voice trembling with fear.But he just spat out his words in a venomous tone. "I'm not going to hurt you, Ulma...yet. But I'
The next morning, Ulma didn't want to leave her house at all however, she had a few errands to run and she had promised the local fish vendor to help him man his store today in exchange for some extra cash and free fish. Her life since coming to this town had been more difficult than with Odin, She missed the luxurious life but absolutely didn't want the baggage that it came with. She'd rather live this simple life than stay with that monster.She got prepared and started to leave the house. She looked outside the house and saw that the weather was rather dark. The windowsill was dusty, the flaky rough feeling on her hands alerted her of that."I need to clean up this house and get an umbrella," she muttered to herself.She took her worn out umbrella and left the house. The outside of the house was very windy, she tightened her jacket around herself and shivered from the cold. She went off to the fish market shivering the whole way. Ulma hated the smell of the fish market. Raw fish s
Odin had gone back the next night but Ulma was nowhere to be found. Did She not understand that he was just trying to protect her? Demons were Crazy, powerful creatures and even the lowly ones could rip her apart with their bare hands. The thought was upsetting but he was slowly becoming angry and impatient with Ulma too. He had tried again and again to bring her to safety but she was so unappreciative of his efforts and kept seeing him as some kind of monster. Only his love for her spared her from the full weight of his displeasure for the blatant disregard that she had shown him. Odinlet out a deep, gloomy sigh as he gazed out into the distance. His time here was running out - he had only about a week left before he had to return to his kingdom. The weight of his responsibilities was crushing him; someone had to manage the kingdom, and he couldn't delay his return any longer. The timing was critical, and their plan was at a delicate stage. If he didn't return soon, everything could