An eagle as big as a man was perched on a huge tree beside the mansion. It was the first thing Magnum saw. It raised its head as the mercs brought Magnum in front of the white house. They laid Magnum on the grass and the eagle looked at him. A deep look that felt like it was analyzing his soul. They also laid the merc who healed Magnum beside him.

Garza bowed in front of Don Cid, “I apologize for disturbing your—”, he cut off his sentence as soon as he saw the old man waving his right hand.

Don Cid, who was wearing simple and spotless white clothes walked in front of Magnum and looked at him. His hair and beard were long and in full white color. Upon seeing the old man walk to Magnum, the eagle flew down and was suddenly became smaller as it landed on the old man's shoulder. He brushed the head of the eagle with his left hand and shared a moment. He then faced his right hand towards Magnum. He chanted a few words and a surge of warm energy surrounded Magnum. It erased the cold feeling he felt earlier and replaced it with comfort. It felt like he was being carried by the wind into a safe place. His eyes were closed. He doesn’t want to open it. He wanted to hold on to the feeling of pain but it was slowly fading away.

“That was the King’s brother? Wow, I don’t feel any pain at all. This old man was most likely a knight but why is he even here? If he’s the King’s brother? Was he exiled?”

A few seconds later, Magnum opened his eyes. Don Cid also healed the person beside him and then the old man walked back to his house. Magnum felt an itch to say something to the Don but he realized it was not a good time. The eagle also flew back up the tree.

Garza checked on Magnum. He looked directly at his eyes. He inspected his arms and shoulders; holding it and moving it a bit. He didn’t see any reaction from Magnum.

“You’re good. Stand up!” Garza said.

Garza’s face came into Magnum’s view, “Get off Don Cid’s grass!” he whispered.

Magnum felt the seriousness on Garza’s face and slowly got up.

“They like him this much?”

Two mercs held Magnum’s arms as soon as he got up thinking he might do something crazy again. Garza thanked the old man and Magnum was brought to the long house where he saw the demon again. Several people were there writing and observing the demon. There were instruments all around the room that had lights and were blinking. They passed them all and he was taken to the back of the house where there were several rooms. He didn’t see any demon there but he was locked in one of the rooms. It didn’t look like a prison however, it had two windows which he could easily slip out if he wanted to and it was only made of wood, from the floor, walls, and ceiling.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Think about what you’ve done. I’ll be back later,” Garza said.

“Think about what I’ve done. Are they really this nice? They also quickly healed me. It's either they are stupid or they don’t see me as a threat. It looks like it's both.”

Garza came back after 4 hours and it was already dark. He softly knocked on the door and opened it after a few seconds. Magnum was sitting in a corner when he came in.

“Are you good now?” Garza sat on the floor crossing his knees and looking straight at Magnum.

Magnum nodded while looking at the ground.

“Good. Don’t do any stupid stuff, we’ll be watching you. Any questions?”

Magnum shook his head.

“Oookay, are you sure? I wasn’t expecting that. Hmm…” Garza touched his chin trying to think but he just stood up after a few seconds and then went to the door.

“Just before you leave this room. I just want to make it clear. This is a nameless town, you are free to do what you want here unless it's hurting anyone or anything. You can even check this house where we are studying demons, just ask. Also, Tanna will still be observing you.”

Garza then walked out.

Magnum walked out of the house several minutes after Garza. There were a few mercs standing around and looking at Magnum as he passed them. Usually, Magnum didn’t care about people looking at him but this time he wished no one could see him. He wanted to hide his face. He wanted to hide himself and for the first time in a long time, he felt shame.

As he went back to the town, Tanna was waiting at the gate and gave him a serious look. Magnum however did not look at her. He continued walking and could feel that she was following him. He didn’t care though. His mind was floating. He doesn’t know what to think and what to do. He entered the Inn. The attendant felt the change in Magnum’s demeanor so he didn’t say anything, he only bowed. Tanna stayed outside but it was clear that she would continue to observe Magnum.

Magnum went straight to his room and lay down on the bed.

“What am I doing? Can’t beat Knights. Can’t beat mercs. Can’t kill demons.”

Flashes of Magnum’s recent failures kept on running through his mind; the mother demon that almost killed him; the knights that saved him; the witch that easily got away, the mercs that were able to kill mother demons easily.

“I’m useless!”

Magnum fell asleep. He started dreaming. In his dreams, he heard a familiar voice. A voice he felt like he heard before.

“Human, I know what you want!”

Magnum was in the dark. He couldn’t see anything but the voice was clear and it felt like it was coming from a much darker place. It was close, he could almost feel the voice whispering in his ears.

“Do you?” Magnum said.

“Power!” the demon said.

“Power?”

“Yes! The power to kill the grand demon! That is your deepest desire!”

“Can I really do that?”

“Yes! And more importantly, you won’t be needing help from damned knights and even the stupid mercs here! You'll be independent! But It won't be free.”

“What’s it gonna cost?”

The voice laughed, a demonic laugh.

“Your soul….”

Magnum was silent.

“Do you still want this power human?”

Magnum’s failures started appearing again in front of him one by one. But something stood out, “If you want to kill the Grand Demon, you have to be ready to lose everything.”

“Yes. Who cares about my soul?” he responded.

“Find me in the ruins… I’ll be waiting…”