CHAPTER 52

After getting scolded by Rodrik, I went to my room. just then, Imu poked his head out of my shirt and began to speak in a whisper-like voice.

-Masssta hungry...masssta hungry-

-you are hungry, hah? -

When I asked this question, his head started to nod.

-Do you want to hunt yourself, or shall we find you something to eat? -

-Me hunt-

-Hmm, then let's take a detour; let me drop you off at Godswood. You can find something to hunt there. -

Imu and Berus started talking four moons ago but can't form complete sentences like Poe and Erebus. They can only use simple expressions at the moment. I don't know why exactly; I wonder if the ravens are talking like a human because they are much more intelligent animals, or is it related to the twins being my familiar for more than a year?

I couldn't talk to animals yet when I was connected with twins. I gained this skill when I became level 2, and it isn't talking in the real sense of the word because most animals are not smart enough to talk even among themselves, but I can relay emotions and intent to animals with this skill or receive it.

They could always talk if we believed the siblings' words, but I didn't understand them. My hypothesis is that; I think the combination of the two possibilities is the cause. The natural intelligence of animals must have an effect, but it is a fact that they are starting to become as intelligent as humans as time goes on.

After I left Imu at the Godswood, I started to go to my room; I could see the soldiers and people around me whispering while looking at me. What happened must have begun to spread to everyone; there was a different expression in the eyes of every person who heard what happened. Some of them looked frightened, some of them disgusted, while some of the soldiers greeted me approvingly.

When I got to my room, I found Arya and Bran playing with Berus.

"Come on, Berus, come on, boy" she was trying to play fetch, but Berus was not participating. As I got a little closer, a childlike voice began to echo in my mind.

-no... no fetch... give, give stick-

it looks like Berus wants to play tug of war. Arya managed to free the stick from Berus' mouth and threw it. "Come on, boy, come on, bring the stick." Berus turned his head the other way as if offended and tried not to look at Arya.

-no fetch-

Just then, he saw me, and his eyes widened. He quickly ran towards me and started jumping excitedly, zigzagging around me.

-master, master, master... play, play, play, play- suddenly Berus' voice began to echo in every corner of my mind.

"Berus, no... sit down, listen to me, be good! good boy." He had calmed down a bit, and I started to scratch the top of his head; he liked this, but he was still nagging me.

-play... master play- his voice was no longer excited but more pleading, and at the same time, he was making a sound like crying. Ahh, he was wielding a puppy's biggest weapon. He made a begging sound with big tearful eyes while falling at my feet.

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Arya came to me while pouting.

"Aermir, why are you upsetting Berus, good boy… don't cry."

He began stroking Berus' head.

-okay, okay, I will play. go bring the stick-

as soon as I said that, Berus immediately stopped begging and went like lightning to pick up the stick that Arya had just thrown.

-master, master ... stick, stick ... fetch, fetch-

I took the stick from his mouth and threw it away. Berus immediately followed after it and immediately brought the stick back.

"Ahhh, why didn't Berus play fetch with me but plays with you."

"I don't know; maybe he likes me more."

While tugging at Berus's cheeks, Arya pretended to be offended and said:

"Berus, I'm the one who always brings you meat; why don't you love me more?"

-meat... meat... meat... meat... meat...-

As soon as he heard the word meat, he started sniffing around like crazy and sniffing everyone's hands in turn. Then he continued touring around, looking for meat.

- Berus, there is no meat; calm down.-

-no meat, no meat- his voice sounded sad.

"Arya, maybe he doesn't want to play this game with you because you've only been playing fetch with him since morning?"

She sighed as if suddenly realizing what she had done.

"Look, there's a short rope with knots over there; that is Berus' toy. he might want to play with you if you play tug-of-war using that.

While Arya went to get the rope, I was playing fetch with the stick that Berus always brought back. This time I pretended to throw the stick but hid it behind me. Berus seemed to run at first, but when he couldn't see the stick, he looked ahead and then at me; he looked confused.

-stick? No stick, master, no stick... master, stick?-

he started looking at me with questioning eyes, but when he saw that I was hiding my hand behind me, I guess he noticed, and after a slight growl, he ran around me to check.

Seeing the stick behind me, he said in an angry tone:

-master hide stick, master throw-

After half an hour of playing with Berus and the children, I left Berus in Arya's capable hands and entered my room. I was exhausted today, and hunting those thugs completely exhausted me both physically and mentally. That's why I decided to go to bed early today. I didn't have the will to train with either sword or magic.

Imu was sending me a message to come and get him, but I didn't want to go all the way to the Godswood. So, I teleported him here using the Vocadyni (summon beast) spell. As I used the spell while lying on the bed, Imu materialized right above me and fell on my stomach. It was obvious from the bloating in his stomach that Imu had a good meal, and since he usually slept under my pillow, he started to slowly crawl from the top of my stomach to the bottom of my pillow.

I slowly fell asleep too. I don't know how long it took, but I started having disturbing nightmares and suddenly jumped out of bed. The sun hadn't risen yet, and I didn't feel the slightest regret or remorse for killing those bandits, but my subconscious mind must be disagreeing with me because I was constantly seeing the terrified faces of the bandits I had killed.

I had utterly lost my sleep, and it seemed like it was not coming back any time soon, so I decided to practice magic. I don't plan to leave the castle for a while because of my hand injury. For now, I was going to do my training in the training space.

Over time, this area had grown from 4x4 meters to 20x20. First, I wanted to meditate to calm myself down, so I sat where I was and closed my eyes. Just when I started to feel tranquil, an unbearable pain struck my chest.

"AAHHHHH"

I opened my eyes with a scream of pain, and I couldn't believe my eyes. I had a spear in the middle of my chest. I started to feel as if I was underwater, drowning, but the cause was not water; it was blood. I opened my mouth and tried to say something, but nothing came out of my mouth except wheezing and blood.

Oh my god, what an unbearable pain. I couldn't move or even think because of this pain. Just at this moment, a second pain sprung up, and this time it was coming from my right shoulder. This must be a nightmare; I must still be dreaming. I tried to open my mouth and scream, but no sound came out except a low groan.

There was a sword sticking out of my shoulder. My throat was completely filled with blood, and because I couldn't breathe, I felt a burning sensation different from anything I had ever felt. The pain caused by weapons began to fill me, and only one thing reverberated in my mind. Is this what it feels like to die?