At night, Firak and his father went to the village chief's house. The village was bustling with life, especially at this time. Firak and Doran entered through the main entrance, where two men dressed in fur stood on either side of the door. The sound of laughter and music could be heard from outside; you could see people dancing, looking intoxicated. Some were just sitting at the large table, simply eating. He looked ahead and saw a large table at the end of the room, where Richard and that boy had been sitting since the morning. Next to them were some elderly people, along with a few knights standing behind them.
Virak's father, Duran, was one of those people who did not like to be in the spotlight, just like his son. The two did not interact with many people, just some greetings from a few individuals. While they were sitting at the table and eating, Firak noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He looked and saw that noble boy staring at them. He glanced at his father and saw that he hadn't noticed it. He turned his gaze back to the boy and focused intently, realizing that he was specifically looking at his father. His head was filled with questions, but he found no answers to them.
Virak and his father returned home after the party. Virak's body was exhausted from the hunting and the noise at the party, to the extent that he went to sleep without having dinner, which is something that rarely happens. He woke up the next day full of energy, went and had breakfast, and then left the house. He still had many questions, but he knew he wouldn't be able to find answers to them, so he pushed them out of his mind.
Verak's body had changed since last year; he was now 10 years old. He had developed some muscles, and his height had increased. His appearance suggested that he was a young boy, not a child of ten. His fishing skills have also improved; he had watched and learned how to catch fish from some of the most skilled men in the village. His traps and methods of hunting have also improved. But today he had an important task.
Virak sat in the thick grass and waited for his prey. After many attempts to hunt this particular animal, he began to understand its behavior. This wild boar had an excellent sense of smell, able to detect scents from miles away, and its hearing was incredibly sharp; it could hear the slightest sound. However, it had a significant weakness: it could not see. This was what Virak relied on. He had already ventured deep into the forest, where it was quiet—so quiet that even the sound of the wind was barely audible. Virak scattered some rotten meat to mask his scent from the wild boar and placed some food on the iron trap, so that if the boar approached, it would easily snap its head off. Virak waited for a long time, almost dozing off, when suddenly he heard footsteps.
Virak lifted his head slightly and saw a wild boar with white fur, a faint red stripe running along its coat. The wild boar was sniffing the scent of meat, but fortunately for Virak, it caught the smell of rotten meat instead. This made it continue walking until it stood directly in front of the trap. Virak held his breath to avoid being detected by the wild boar, thinking to himself, "Come on, lower your head to eat." The wild boar paused for a moment, as if there was something it didn't understand. It looked at the food and scrutinized it closely, remaining in that position for a while.
Virak was standing on tiptoe, nearly holding his breath as he waited for the wild boar to lower its head slightly. Virak's patience was running thin until he shouted loudly, "Damn it, just lower your head a little!" He quickly covered his mouth in surprise when he heard the wild boar, which then ran away from the spot in a hurry.
The anger escalated within Virak; he tried several times to catch this wild boar, but each time it managed to escape somehow, as if it sensed a trap ahead of it.
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Virak emerged from his hiding place and followed the footsteps of the wild boar, with one thought in his mind: "This time, I won't give up like before; I won't go back with that damned boar still alive."
The matter began to feel personal between him and the wild boar, as if it were a feud that had lasted for years. As Virak followed the boar's footsteps, he started to delve deeper into the forest. The trees became so dense that sunlight struggled to penetrate. Virak began to feel fear because he knew that the deeper he went into the forest, the higher the chances of encountering dangerous monsters he could hardly imagine.
After a little while, Firak saw the wild boar from a distance. He hid in the nearby tall grass, waiting for the right moment to pounce on the boar, saying to himself, "Finally, I will kill it. This damn pig, I hope your taste is worth this suffering." However, there was something that made Firak wonder.
The wild boar was not moving, it was not moving at all, nor did it show any signs of life; the wild boar was like a wooden statue. There was no breath, not a single muscle was moving. Virak emerged from his hiding place and slowly moved toward the wild boar. When Virak walked close enough to touch the wild boar, he saw that it truly was not breathing or even moving a little, as if it were dead. Virak was very happy when he saw that; he wouldn't need to kill the wild boar to take it with him to the village, because it was already dead.
Virak was about to draw his knife to cut the wild boar's hide when suddenly the boar's body split in half and fell to the ground. Virak jumped back in fear, his eyes wide open. He immediately pulled out his knife and began looking around in terror, thinking that a monster had killed the wild boar and that he was next. But what surprised him even more was when he heard a sound coming from inside the boar's body; it sounded like something being chopped up from within the wild boar.
The fear escalated within Firak as he gripped his knife tightly, approaching the carcass of the pig. With each step he took, the fear grew inside him. Firak noticed that there were shapes moving within the wild boar. He stood directly in front of the boar's body, scrutinizing the severed pig. Suddenly, he saw something white emerging from the wild boar's body. At first, the shape that emerged appeared to be a white ball, but then it became clear that it had arms and legs, resembling a miniature human, but entirely white in color.
Many of these white creatures, no taller than 20 centimeters, emerged—about 15 of them in total. Although they had come out of a blood-filled body, their own bodies were as white as snow. However, what truly terrified Virak was when these creatures turned to the body of the wild boar and began to eat it.
Virak's legs couldn't carry him from the horror of the sight before him. The small white creatures, which at first glance one would say are gentle and peaceful beings, were now devouring the body of a wild boar, raw. The white creatures feasted on the wild boar's flesh as if they hadn't eaten in weeks; only the bones remained of the wild boar's body. Yet Virak still couldn't stand on his feet because something else made the thought of discovering what these creatures were grow in his mind. The white creatures had consumed the wild boar's body, but they kept its heart and lungs. They carried these organs and began to delve deeper into the forest, as if they were returning home with treasures or something similar.
The mind of Firak was still racing with thoughts from what he had seen; his eyes were wide open, and his hands trembled with fear to the point that he couldn't hold the knife properly.
Virak gathered all his courage and mental strength and stood on his feet. The first thing he noticed was the wild boar's bone; there wasn't a drop of blood or even a little bit of flesh left on it, as if it were the remains of an animal forgotten here for thousands of years.
Verak's mind was filled with questions about these creatures. He was known for his love of reading; there wasn't a book in his house that he hadn't read at least several times. The two books he read the most were "The Guide to Magic" and "The History of the Azforth Continent." In particular, he had read "The History of the Azforth Continent" many times. The book discussed the history of the Azforth Continent, covering everything from the races and creatures present in the continent to the wars and significant events that took place there. This book had been written by many famous scholars of the continent, and the travelers who provided much of the information in it. However, there was no description of the small white monsters or even any similar creatures.
Firak was naturally a curious person, which sometimes got him into trouble, like that time he entered the room of a married couple in the village chief's house after hearing some noises. He knew that what he was about to do was wrong, but he had nothing else to do.
After that, Virak began to delve deeper into the jungle.