“Hey there, are you hurt?”

I said in a soft tone, not wanting to frighten the child. He didn’t even respond and kept crying.

“Are you alone?”

After making sure he was safe, I started searching around the place in case his parents or guardians were still around.

“M-mom.”

The boy uttered a single word between his trembling lips. I glanced at him as he was pointing a bit to to his side. There wasn’t anything there,

‘Unless there’s a trap door below the carpet...’

“Here, grab my hand. I will go check for you once you’re safe.”

I extended my hand for the child to take so that I could lead him away in case there was something he shouldn’t see. Not yet.

Without even the tiniest mutter, he took my hand and followed me away from the house.

“Just wait here, I’ll go check and come back.”

With that I parted with the child and went back to where he was standing. Sure enough, after pulling back the blackened carpet I discovered a trapdoor. I pulled up the folded door and –

‘Ugh! God, that reeks of burnt flesh.’

It was a small cellar, barely four squared meters in size. There wasn’t any reasonable explanation why his mother would be here, especially during a fire – you’d want to escape the vicinity. Unless...

I took out my trusted blade and held it in my right hand behind my back then proceeded to  slowly return to the child.

“Di-”

*hic*

“Did you find my mom?”

He was looking back at me with expectant eyes, without any trace of hostility. I imbued my arms and legs with essence to close the final distance far faster than he would have been able to react to.

‘If he were a normal child that is.’

Despite my tremendous speed increase, he was able to sidestep me without a problem and let out a menacing crackle.

“ThIs NoN-eLf ThInKs He CaN TaKe Me On?”

The child, no, it bellowed out in a monstrous cry I could barely make out the words. It drooped its arms and smirked, revealing fangs and yellow uneven teeth. In that instance, its lungs sucked in an immense amount of air,

‘Shit-’

I dropped the knife and brought my hands to plug my ears but it was too late. The horrendous screech shook my eardrums and an obnoxious amount of bloodlust oozed out of the ‘child’. I reached for my throwing knives the moment the screech came to a stop and threw two of them out at once, both aimed at vital spots. If he dodges in the wrong direction, the new wounds would severely cripple him.

“So YoU cAn StiLl MoVe!”

The monster started its mischievous applause.

“ImPreSsIvE.”

‘There is that damn shimmer again! It’s doing something to my head!’

The air around me began to reflect the light in a strange manner once again.

********

I looked around, a weeping child was just two meters from me, clutching a seared teddy bear at his chest. A loud crackling noise was coming from my left,

‘That child, is that his house?’

An inferno engulfed the building before me. Despite being a safe distance away from it, I could still feel the flame’s heat. There was no way someone could’ve survived that.

I turned towards the child,

“Are your parents in there?”

“J-just-”

*sob*

“... my m-mom...”

‘Good, at least his dad’s not in there.’

“Come, I’ll help you find your dad. Do you know where he is?”

I stepped closer and extended my hand for him.

“H-he went to visit my grandparents...”

I knelt down, my left arm behind his back and my right holding his head. All at once, I received all of his griefs, tension and anxiety. His tears raining down my shoulder. While he was gently being patted on the head, I tried to calm him down.,

“It’s alright, we’ll go and find him. Where do your grandparents live?”

‘If only there was someone to help us back then...’

*sniff*

“Opposite of us, south of the city.” Replied the boy with a hoarse voice.

Letting him go, I inspected my gear. My three remaining throwing knives were chipped and flawed while my dagger was borderline useless. Dropping by at the blacksmiths in the city would do me some good.

“Alright, let’s go there together. Follow me.”

I walked towards the city for the next two days with the boy in tow. We got our food by trapping the local bonis. Fluffy little critters, but damn fast with those two powerful feet of theirs. They are very fertile, meaning they reproduce fast and as such, would be worth little to the local butcher. But it would be enough to cover the cost of repairs and replacements.

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“Hey, what’s your family name?”

I asked the kid as we started nearing the shabby city walls.

“...Mo’laf.” A hesitant answer came out.

The child was still clutching his teddy bear and kept his gaze down. One word answers became the norm once we started moving through the woods.

“And what did your family do?”

“Hunt.”

‘Makes sense why their house is so far from the city. The best catches can’t be found so close to civilization.’

The two of us approached the gates without a problem, the town wasn’t very popular and few people passed through.

“Halt, state your business and present your ID.”

I took out my adventurer’s card and infused it with a blast of essence to shock the guards. Just to make sure they don’t doubt its validity. A magnificent blue light emanated from the card and the shock on the guards face’s didn’t disappear even after they waved us through.

“Esteemed… um... adventurer, you may pass.”

I was a bit strapped for cash so the first place we headed for was the butcher. I had several, perfectly skinned bonis, left over. It should be enough for a decent meal at a tavern and the cost of repairs.

In the end, I managed to only get five silvers, one for each of the bonis. And even then, it was only because the man wouldn’t have to pay the tanner to skin them.

A similar situation took place with the tanner, he gave the same amount for the hides as there was no animal to sell to the butcher afterwards.

With the ten silvers and some coppers left over, we headed for the nearest decent-looking tavern.

The Mud Horse it was called, fitting given the stench coming from the stable which sprouted out from the side of the inn. Regardless, we walked through and seated ourselves behind an empty table. It had a lively atmosphere, albeit being only half full. There were just enough conversations where you couldn’t make heads or tails of a single one, but not enough to completely drown out your own.

In the span of minutes a waiter came by. He wasn’t dressed in any special attire, just a simple apron over his normal clothes.

“Welcome to The Mud Horse, what would you be interested in today?”

The man smiled and gave a quick bow. I turned towards the child and asked if he was interested in anything but he didn’t respond.

“Just us each the best meal for half a silver. Here is the silver in advance.”

The man took the coin and pocketed it into the black apron,

“Two Broasted Mushroom & Garlic Mutton for table five!”

He shouted across the tavern for the cook to take note and left for another table. While the food was being prepared, I tried to get the boy to open up some more but to no avail. The emerald-eyed boy sat quietly while holding his teddy bear.

‘If only he lost his father instead of the mother, maybe then he would be feeling a bit better…’

The food was served shortly afterwards and the aroma alone was enough to cause a stuffed man crave in hunger. The mushrooms were placed on top of the mutton causing it to absorb the rich juices. This mixed with the touch of garlic surrounding the meat, locking in its juices inside while stimulating one’s appetite, was cooked and created with an extraordinary flavor.

Not having a proper meal to eat while traveling for the past weeks, this truly felt like a gift from heaven.

“Mom’s cooking is better.”

As I was taking the last bite the boy said something under his breath. I couldn’t quite make out what he said but he seemed upset.

While he was finishing his meal, I went over the bartender’s table and ordered a bit of alcohol. The man gave me a questioning look but after passing ten coppers he averted his eyes away from me and passed me a single cup.

“What? Then whose is it!?” A rough voice resounded across the tavern, causing all conversations to come to a halt.

A well-built man reached for his cup sitting atop the wooden table, his burly arms bulging out of an intricate, white gown covering his chest. He threw his head back, emptied the metal cup bottom up and wiped his mouth with his hand before slamming down the cup against the tabletop he was seated at.

The man rose from a nearby seat and after a single step, his body slanted, struggling to stay upright.

‘Great, a drunkard. Just what I needed to keep a low profile.’

With one arm he steadied himself on the bartender’s table and with the other grabbed the drink I ordered.

‘Best if I just defuse the situation now and leave.’

‘Wait, hold on. This guy seems awfully familiar…’

‘If I say this then he will…misunderstand me? But how do I know that.’

“Listen sir, I’m afraid I drank too much already. Here take mine, it will be a shame to waste it.”

“Take yours?! Ye ‘cusin me ‘o stealin? In mah own house?!”

The man’s brows flared as he misunderstood my intention – just as I thought.

‘I should just take him down quietly-’

“B-Bob-sir! Please calm yeself! Tis is not worth dealin’ with kids!”

“Quiet! I'm not standin’ here while them brats ‘cuse me o’somethin’ I ain't done!”

The man, slammed his fist onto the polished wooden table sending woodchips flying as it cracked.

As the chips showered the floor this scene came back to me,

‘Wait… I’ve seen this before!’

It was like a strange case of Déjà vu.

‘If this repeats right then he should knock down his servants with his hand next...’

Sure enough, the servants jumped out of theirs seats to try and stop him but he just batted them aside with his massive hand. Going by my previous memory I can just take him out and run to avoid any problems.

Following through, I knocked him out before he could even realize what happened. I rushed over to get the child. But when I grabbed his hand, his smile was amiss. Instead, lifeless eyes devoid of light stared back at me for a moment before they flickered and returned to normal.

“Who the fuck are you?”

I retreated several steps back and brought out my dagger, ready to attack him at a moment’s notice.

One of the people in the inn noticed my killing intent and stepped forward to intervene,

“Woah, let’s not get hasty here. He is but a chi-”

I didn’t have time to listen to some random stranger and silenced him with a quick blow to his sternum.

The air around the child started to shimmer once more – a shimmer I’ve seen numerous times already. I infused my dagger with as much essence as it could hold and slashed at the air.

To my surprise there was a faint amount of resistance and the shimmering stopped.

‘I can’t trust my memories anymore, I have to confirm it on my own.’

Pouring an excessive amount of essence into my body, I raced forward out of the inn, onto the rooftops and out of the town in the span of a minute. No one followed me. After an hour’s sprint, I took a break to confirm that I haven’t been followed and took a breather.

Feeling rested enough, I took off once more and after two more hours arrived where I thought the house would be located the first time I remembered the boy leading me.

At the time he corrected me to go slightly west, but this time I followed my earlier intuition and found burnt remains of a house similar to the other two. A child’s cry can be heard and I went onto the defensive, wary of the situation.

The cry rapidly grew in volume and as it did so, it turned into a monstrous laugh. It emerged from the ruins with a teddy bear and void-black eyes. Its eye sockets became dark as the skin on its face grew paler every second. As white as processed paper, the skin started to slide off its ‘face’, revealing the true monster within.

I heard a soft thud behind me and instinctively leapt to the side to keep the two threats within my line of sight.

There stood identical copies of the child I was in the tavern with, the one I saved and the one I treated to lunch. Both of the latter two had eyes that were devoid of life, no, they were completely filled with an empty black. As they opened their mouths in sync, without their lips moving, an empty bottomless void was revealed inside,

“The test has failed.”